by Merry Farmer
The spell was broken a moment later when she caught Emma tearing past her. “Emma?” she called out. Enough sense rushed in on Katie that she could see her friend was upset. Emma held a hand to her mouth and her eyes were red and glassy. Katie’s heart went out to her.
“You’d better go after her,” Aiden said. He let go of her, his smile smug once more. “Besides, I have a fiddle to play.” He winked at her.
Katie frowned, though for half a second, the world seemed to have set itself to rights again. She shook her head at Aiden, then rushed off after Emma.
She caught up to her on the far side of the fort. “Emma?” she said, reaching for her. The field beside the fort was dark and deserted with only the moon to give light, but that was enough for Katie to see that Emma was beside herself. “Great Jehosephat, what’s wrong?”
With a strangled cry, heavy with sorrow, Emma launched herself into Katie’s arms. She rested her head on Katie’s shoulder and wept, “It’s all gone so horribly wrong.”
Katie’s own problems were forgotten in an instant. She hugged her friend tightly, brushing hair back from her hot, damp face. “Surely things can’t be as bad as all that?”
Emma wept harder.
“Is it the men?” Katie asked.
Emma nodded, and with what Katie could tell was a supreme effort of will, raised her head and stood straight. She brushed tears from her face with shaking hands. “Mother wants me to make a match with Dr. Sandifer because if I don’t love him I can’t be hurt if anything happens to him, the way Alice was hurt when Harry died.”
Katie blinked as she struggled to keep up with the rush of story.
Emma pushed on. “I love Dean, but he’s angry with me because I do everything my mother tells me to do.”
In a flash, all the tears and all the heartache made sense. Katie huffed. “Men. They don’t know what’s best for them.” They were saints when they should be sinners and sinners when they should be saints. It was true after all. “Aiden thinks he can tell me who I love, thinks he can sneak up and kiss me when I’m not expecting it and I’ll….” Fall into his arms and kiss him right back. She finished the sentence in her head. She had. Only now she was no longer certain it was a bad thing.
How could she live with herself if she gave up and returned Aiden’s affections? And yet, the temptation was there, and it was strong.
She was spared having to think about it as Emma burst into tears once more.
“How do I tell him, Katie?” she pleaded. “How can I make Dean see that I do love him, but I also love and respect my mother? He has to understand that her concern and her fears won’t last forever. Why can’t he just be patient?”
Why indeed? Why couldn’t Aiden let her come to her own conclusions in her own time?
Then again, was that what she was doing now?
“I have never once known a man to be patient,” she said in spite of the doubt that squeezed her chest. “It’s not part of who they are. But they learn. They have to learn in time. And it’s our job to teach them.”
That was right. She could keep her pride if she taught Aiden his place at the same time that she admitted that she might be wrong. Renewed pride bolstered her and she held Emma at arm’s length.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. You and I will go back to that dance and spend the whole night dancing with no one but each other. Not your Dean, not Aiden, and definitely not Sandifer’s Special Serum.”
Emma giggled at her plan, as good a sign of their future success as any.
“We’ll show them that in the end, they don’t matter as much as a good strong friendship. In fact, we’ll—”
A blood-curdling whoop cut her speech short. It was followed by a second whoop, just as loud and furious. Somewhere in the darkness, horses were galloping toward them. Katie searched the night-shrouded hills to the side of the fort. She didn’t have to search long. Two Indian braves in full paint were galloping straight for them.
“Indians,” Katie shouted, her fear mixed with equal parts wonder and excitement. “Indians!”
At last, the adventure she dreamed of was riding right toward her.
Right toward her.
With a sickening rush, the truth of the situation hit her. The braves didn’t slow as they drew closer. There was nothing Katie could do to help herself or Emma.
“Oh no,” she screamed. “No!”
She could have been telling the waves of the ocean to lie flat for all the braves listened to her. At the last minute, they slowed their horses, but only enough to reach down and snatch both her and Emma. Emma was pale as the moon, her face frozen in fright. The brave who grabbed her had her up and over his saddle almost without stopping. Katie wouldn’t go so easily.
“Get off of me,” she screamed as the brave wrestled her up off her feet. “Let go, let go!”
It was no use. The brave was strong. She could feel the hard cords of his muscles as they clamped around her back, splaying her sideways over his horse’s shoulders. He kicked his horse to a run as soon as she was halfway settled.
Still, she refused to be carried off without a fight. She kicked, she screamed, she even gnashed her teeth when the brave’s arm came close to her mouth. The brave grunted and growled words over her that she didn’t understand. She ignored them and continued to writhe and squirm. She had to get away. She had to rescue Emma. She had to—
With a hard, quick blow to the back of her head, the world went black.
Chapter Six
It was hard not to feel self-satisfied after his dance with Katie. Aiden had worked to be the perfect gentleman, worked to understand what he was doing wrong and how he might change tactics and win Katie after all. He had worked, and that work had paid off. He had seen the spark in her eyes, felt the way she leaned into him, almost as if she wanted, needed another kiss. He was on the right track letting her go after Emma as well. Women needed to be with their friends when any one of them was upset. Everything was working out so smoothly that as he played, pouring his heart into the melodic notes of a slow song, he daydreamed of having a wedding before the trail reached its end.
Then he heard the scream.
It was distant, muffled by the bulk of the small fort, but he would know any sound Katie made anywhere. Still, if he hadn’t been playing a quiet song and if they hadn’t just finished the last soft notes, he wouldn’t have heard. In an instant, his body snapped to alert.
A moment later, Pike sprinted around the corner of the fort and into the crush of people. “Injuns,” he shouted. “Injuns. Two of ’em. They made off with two women.”
Heavy, burning fear pulsed through Aiden. There was not a shred of doubt in his mind that those two women were Katie and Emma.
“Is it an attack?” someone asked over the anxious whispers of the revelers.
“An attack?” another took up the idea.
Chaos ensued. Women screamed and men shouted in alarm, half a dozen of them barking orders. Everyone wanted to move—to run and hide or to fight—but no one knew which way to go. The result was people tripping all over each other as they scrambled.
Aiden spotted Dean with Emma’s mother and the charlatan, Sandifer. Fiddle still in hand, he hopped off the dais and rushed to join them, pulse pounding.
“The militiaman thinks that two Indians made off with two women.” Aiden caught the end of Dean’s conversation.
“Oh no,” Mrs. Sutton screamed then dissolved into hysterical tears.
“That was Katie’s shout,” Aiden added. “I’d know it anywhere.”
“Then the other must have been Emma,” Dean agreed.
The two of them looked at each other, and instantly knew they had to act. It was just a matter of how and how fast.
Around them, the chaos was beginning to settle into directed panic. Lt. Barnes had taken up a position in the center of the dance floor and was issuing orders.
“Get these people inside the fort,” he commanded. “Saddle the horses. Be on the look-out for more of
them.”
Aiden looked from Dean to Barnes, then back. Dean caught the unspoken suggestion and nodded. He started through the thinning crowd toward Barnes.
“Sir,” Dean called. Aiden, Sandifer, and Mrs. Sutton followed him. “Lt. Barnes. We need to ride after the Indians that took the women.”
“They took Katie Boyle and Emma Sutton,” Aiden added.
Lt. Barnes spared them half a look as he gestured for his militiamen to get moving. “Did you see them taken?”
“No, but one of your scouts did,” Dean answered.
“Which one?”
“I don’t know,” Dean said. “He was tall and blond, young.”
Before Aiden could add that it was Pike, Barnes caught on and nodded. “Somebody find Pike and bring him here.”
“Yes, sir,” a voice echoed from the side of the dance floor.
“There isn’t time for this.” Aiden’s patience was wearing thin. “Where’s a horse? We need to go after them now.”
“I advise you to wait until a posse can be formed,” Barnes said, shaking his head as though they were debating going berry-picking.
“We can’t wait,” Dean said. He turned to Aiden. “Do you have a horse?”
“No,” Aiden answered. “Do you?”
“No.” Dean turned to Barnes. “Can we borrow horses from the fort to go after them?”
Barnes sighed and frowned, studying the mess that had become of his fort. Whatever he said, Aiden was going to go find mounts for him and Dean, even if he had to steal them.
“Fine.” Barnes made up his mind. “You can take whatever you need. Let my quartermaster know, though.”
Aiden nodded and swept a glance over the abandoned dance floor and the side of the fort, looking for what he needed.
“Good.” Dean touched his arm as he started off. “Get whatever horses you can find fastest.”
“Right.”
His mind was already working as he rushed back to the dais to pack up his fiddle. Katie’s father and his brothers were gone, but he didn’t have time to worry about them. He trusted they were safe. They could take care of themselves and Mr. Boyle would certainly see to his own family, though if he had been within sight Aiden would have begged him to help rescue Katie. But every moment he wasted was a moment Katie slipped farther away. As soon as his fiddle was safe, he looped the case over his shoulder and dashed around the side of the fort to the entrance.
Horses were not hard to find. The militiamen had already saddled several to ride off in pursuit of the Indians. Aiden said a quick prayer of thanks that so many were lined up and ready, equipment and all.
“I need two horses,” he shouted over the din of preparation, striding toward a young groom.
“These horses are the property of the U.S. Military,” the groom began to argue.
“Lt. Barnes’s orders,” Aiden told him. He marched right up to the man and took the leads of the two horses he held. The groom didn’t know whether to argue or shrink away from Aiden and his determination. “If you don’t believe me, you can argue with Barnes yourself.”
“Feiser. Give him the horses,” Barnes shouted from somewhere behind Aiden.
It was the stroke of luck Aiden needed to speed things along. Feiser handed over the two wide-eyed and ready mounts. Aiden took the leads and jogged with them back out to what had been the dance floor to find Dean. His friend was still talking to Emma’s mother and Sandifer. He finished what he was saying and broke away from them. When he reached Aiden, he took the reins of one of the horses and mounted.
Even with his fiddle case strapped to his back, Aiden was able to mount as though he’d been riding all through the journey west. “Did the scout say which direction they rode off in?” he asked.
They tapped their horses into a fast walk, heading around to the far side of the fort where the girls had been.
Dean shook his head. “He didn’t, but it must have been this way.”
“‘This way’ isn’t very reassuring,” Aiden said.
There was nothing to see in the immediate area and no time to stop and study what stretched beyond. What little Aiden knew about Indians told him they weren’t the type to stick around and gloat when they’d kidnapped girls. He and Dean kicked their horses into a run, shooting off into the night. The full moon was their only guide in the unfamiliar terrain. Panic coiled in Aiden’s gut as he studied the vastness of the wilderness beyond the fort. The Indians could have gone in any number of directions. They knew the land, he was certain. All he and Dean had to go on was instinct and a lightning-quick evaluation of which would have been the easiest path of retreat for two Indians with captives.
About ten minutes into their tentative search, Aiden spotted dark shadows moving at the top of a hill. They were much farther to the left than the path he and Dean had been heading down. The moment he saw them, he knew they were the Indians and the girls by their shapes. He knew how close he had come to losing them. “Look!” He pointed them out to Dean.
Dean glanced where Aiden pointed. The more Aiden looked, the more certain he was of what he was seeing, two Indian braves on horseback with wide bundles in front of them. One of the bundles struggled as the Indian handled her.
“It’s them,” Dean shouted. He leaned low over the neck of his horse and kicked it to run.
Aiden followed, and in a flash the two of them were tearing off across the distance that separated them from their targets. The Indians had stopped. More the fool them. It was the break that Aiden and Dean needed. They drew closer, close enough to make out the woman who was struggling, kicking and flailing. Aiden was sure that would be Katie, but no, the struggling woman had bright golden hair—Emma. Katie lay limp over the front of her brave’s horse.
“Katie,” Aiden shouted.
His cry alerted the braves that they were being chased. They suddenly sat straighter in their saddles. The one who had Katie shot off to the right, rounding the crest of a small hill and disappearing on the other side. Aiden cried out in fury and galloped after him, trusting Dean to rescue Emma on his own.
Aiden may have had the advantage of riding unencumbered while the brave had Katie’s limp form to contend with, but the man clearly knew the terrain better. He nudged his horse deftly around rock formations and scrubby trees while Aiden had to slow down and watch his every step. He learned just how careful he had to be when he followed the brave down a slope and into a thin stream. His horse stumbled, nearly throwing him, while the brave galloped on.
Time ceased to matter as the chase continued. The brave zipped this way and that, dancing in and out of Aiden’s line of sight. The full moon above was the only thing that kept him from losing the brave altogether, but even that wasn’t much help. Bit by bit, the brave pulled ahead. The agony of panic welled up in Aiden’s soul. If anything happened to Katie, he would never forgive himself. If one hair on her head was hurt, Aiden would kill her abductor.
His determination was on the verge of turning to despair when the brave stopped. He was still far ahead, maybe as much as a mile, but without warning, he pulled his horse to stop. Moments later, Aiden saw why. Katie had come to and was struggling.
Fight, a ghrá, fight, he thought to himself and kicked his horse to run harder.
Whatever fight Katie put up lasted for only a moment. The brave was off at a gallop again within seconds, but Katie had bought him enough time to get closer. The chase was on in earnest once more. Moonlight glittered off the dappled back of the brave’s horse, lighting Katie’s hair. She was no longer draped across the horse’s shoulders. Instead she sat astride.
Unfortunately, that made it possible for the brave to ride faster. He tore up a steep hill, then disappeared over the other side before Aiden could get within a hundred yards. Aiden clenched his teeth and pressed himself low over his horse’s back, praying he would reach the crest of the hill in time. His horse labored up the slope, growing tired.
When he reached the top of the hill, Aiden’s heart sank. Ahead of him
was nothing but more hills, a few trees, a stream to one side, and miles upon miles of wilderness. He searched the darkness for any sign of movement, any sort of tracks left by the brave’s horse. They had to be all around him, waiting to be seen and followed, but with nothing but moonlight to see by, Aiden would have to slow down to a near crawl. Every moment he took to study the ground, Katie was slipping out of his grasp.
There was nothing he could do. With his shoulders as heavy as if he carried a thousand ships, Aiden growled in frustration. “Katie,” he called across the barren night landscape. “Katie Boyle!”
The only sounds that met him were the wind and the distant cry of night birds. Katie was lost, and him with her.
Katie was groggy and her head pounded. Every inch of her ached. The world was tipped upside down. Her stomach clenched as her mind raced to orient itself.
In a rush, it all came back. She had been taken. Emma too. She lay face-down over the shoulders of a horse, her throat dry and raw with panic. The Indian who had taken her held her in place as they sped farther and farther from Ft. Caspar.
She screamed, but the sound came out weak and muffled. She flailed against the horse, trying to sit up, to roll over, anything to fight back. She didn’t even care if she fell off.
A heartbeat later, her struggles caused her to tip dangerously to the side. The pounding of hooves close to her head shocked her to stillness. All right, she thought, maybe she did care if she fell off, but she had to do something. She twisted and pushed against the brave.
He snapped something at her in a low, sharp voice, but she wasn’t deterred. She kept fighting.
Moments later, the brave pulled his horse to a stop. With a quick, jerking movement, he hauled Katie up against him.
“Let me go,” she growled, trying to use her elbows to fight him. Her hair hung in tangles across her face, making it impossible to see anything. “Let me go,” she cried, louder.