But that's how dreamers were. They were convinced the rules didn't apply to them, that they'd be the exception, that somehow fortune would favor them above all others. That's what her father thought. But instead of doing anything about it, he had sat around reading, talking, and wasting the money he did have.
"Why don't you sit down and read one of those books," Zac suggested.
Daisy's gaze focused on the title. She had forgotten she was still holding the book on mines. "I'm not interested in lost mines," she said, shoving it back in its place.
"He's got plenty more."
"I don't want to read."
"If you don't stop pacing, I'm going to tie you to a chair."
Daisy walked over to the window and looked out. Her spirits rose. "It's getting lighter outside."
"Good. Maybe Tyler will find something beside a deer. I don't like venison."
"Then why didn't you bring something when you came?"
"I don't go shopping," Zac replied, shocked. "I wouldn't know where to begin."
"You go in the store and ask for what you want," Daisy said sarcastically. "They find it and give it to you." Zac was more useless than she was, yet he didn't seem the slightest bit apologetic. In fact, he seemed to think it was other people's obligation to take care of him. Why couldn't she feel that way?
"If the sun comes out, maybe we can go out for a few minutes," Daisy said.
"Tyler said to stay inside."
"I didn't mean to go far. Just walk about the yard a bit."
"Tyler said stay inside," Zac repeated. "He gets real irritated when people don't do what he wants."
"I get irritated when people tell me what to do," Daisy snapped. She was startled at her second outburst in the same morning. Her father made her furious all the time, but she had always kept a tight rein on her tongue. Yet she hadn't hesitated to speak her mind to Tyler or Zac. More surprisingly, they always seemed to take her objections in stride. At times she wondered if they even heard her. Her father would have had a fit.
She walked back to the bookcase and began to take out one book after another, but she didn't pay any attention to them. She kept wondering why Tyler didn't mind anything she did. More than that, she wondered why he thought she would be able to learn to manage her own ranch.
She was terribly afraid she could never succeed, but the possibility kept her mind spinning out of control, kept her nerves on edge.
"I'm going outside," she announced. "I can't stand being cooped up in here one more minute."
"Damn!" Zac exclaimed as he slammed his cards down on the table and got to his feet. "Why can't females ever do what they're told?"
Chapter Eleven
Weak sunlight shone through the thin layer of clouds. After so many gloomy days, it almost seemed sunny. Daisy hugged her coat under her chin to keep out the bitter cold. Beneath the snow, ice crunched with each step she took.
"It's miserably cold out here," Zac said, picking his way across the snow.
"Then stay inside."
"I don't trust you not to get into trouble."
"That's no skin off your nose."
"Tyler will make it skin off my hide," Zac complained. "He has the mistaken notion I can keep you from doing exactly what he's told you not to do."
"He'd pick me up and carry me back inside," Daisy taunted. She didn't understand why that thought should excite her.
"I wouldn't carry any female across this ice."
Daisy abandoned her attempt to goad Zac. He wasn't a bit like Tyler. She didn't want Zac to pick her up, but she practically skipped through the snow imagining herself being carried in Tyler's powerful arms.
"You promised to stay in the clearing," Zac reminded her.
"I just want to walk a little way along the ridge," Daisy said. "Somebody's already made a path."
The clouds suddenly parted and the sun shone brightly. The warmth seeped into Daisy's bones, radiated throughout her body. It made her feel so good, so full of energy, she couldn't possibly consider returning to the cabin. She had never seen the mountains from this vantage point. They were magnificent.
She trudged along, drinking in every sight and sound, ignoring Zac's litany of complaints interspersed between warnings. The tree branches hung low with their weight of snow and ice. She broke off an icicle she found on a sapling bare of leaves, she put it in her mouth and sucked on it like candy. Birds huddled on tree branches, feathers puffed out to twice their normal size in an effort to insulate against the cold. A squirrel dashed along a tree limb causing a chunk of ice to hit the ground with a thump. Daisy didn't know whether its rapid chatter was a greeting or a complaint about the weather.
She looked back, but Zac no longer followed. She laughed and hurried on. In a short while the cabin was out of sight, but she didn't stop. She knew she would be locked inside the cabin as soon as Tyler returned.
She hadn't gone much farther when she noticed movement up ahead. Memory of the cougar flashed in her head, and she stopped. She glanced behind her, but a stand of snow-covered firs blocked Zac from view. Even as she turned to go back, she realized the animal wasn't the right color for a cat. It was much too dark. Besides, it appeared to be hiding behind a fallen tree.
After studying the animal for a few moments, Daisy decided it was struggling, not hiding. Drawing closer, she found herself looking into the deep brown eyes of a small doe. It had somehow become trapped under a fallen tree limb. Its struggles had brought it to the point of exhaustion. As Daisy came close, the animal made one last feeble effort to get to its feet then lay still.
"You poor thing," she murmured. "I'll help you."
But the tree limb was six inches in diameter and partly frozen into the snow. Try as she might, she couldn't lift it. She was relieved when she thought she heard Zac come up, stunned when she turned and saw Tyler advancing toward her with a rapid and purposeful stride. She couldn't see his expression because of his beard, but if his eyes were any indication, he was furious.
Involuntarily she backed away. She hadn't ventured out to defy him, but it would probably look like it.
"What do you mean running away every time I turn my back?"
He grabbed her by the shoulders. Even through the thick layers of clothing, she could feel his fingers dig deep into her flesh. She felt helpless in his grip.
"I just wanted to get a breath of fresh air."
"Couldn't you find any air closer to the cabin to suit you?"
In spite of his anger, Daisy had to laugh. "No, I could still hear Zac's complaints. What did you do with him?"
Tyler shook her. "Is it worth getting killed to escape Zac? Those men are still out there."
"I didn't mean to come this far, but I saw where you'd made a path. And the sun felt so good--" A second shake wiped the smile from her face.
"It felt so good you thought you wouldn't mind getting shot."
"I admit I forgot about the killers. You said they couldn't follow us with all this snow."
"They wouldn't have to follow you. You keep along this ridge, and you'll soon be exposed. A man with glasses could see you from five miles away."
Daisy glanced around her, but her view was cut off by stands of fir, pine, and aspen.
"What can I do to convince you to stop running away?" Tyler didn't seem so very angry now, just disheartened. "If I thought you'd be safe, I'd take Zac and move to another cabin."
"I wasn't running away. And don't you dare leave. I'd be scared to death."
"Are you sure? You're not lying to get me off my guard?"
Daisy hated for Tyler to think she was so desperate to escape from him, but she couldn't think of anything to say that would change his mind. Only completely different behavior could do that, and the best time to start was now.
"I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to get out of the cabin for a few minutes. I thought Zac was following. What happened to him?"
"I sent him off with Willie."
"Why did you come b
ack?"
"I had a feeling you might not stay put." He didn't look upset now, just resigned.
"Did you find a deer?"
"No, but Willie's still looking."
"I did. Right here."
Tyler's gaze followed where she pointed. Catching sight of the deer, he climbed through the branches until he reached the trapped animal.
"Are you going to kill it?" she asked.
"No."
"You said we were almost out of food."
"I don't kill helpless animals. Let's see what's wrong with it."
Daisy didn't understand Tyler, didn't suppose she ever would, but she was too relieved to care just now. She marveled at how gently he handled the deer. The animal seemed to know he didn't mean it any harm.
"It's got a gash where the limb hit it, but I don't think anything's broken," he said. "I won't be able to tell until I move this limb."
Daisy hadn't been able to budge the limb. Tyler lifted it without seeming to try hard. Daisy couldn't deny the thrill that shot through her. She'd never met a man she felt was big and strong enough for her. Tyler was big enough with room to spare. She never felt overgrown or unfeminine around him.
She vividly recalled the feel of his arms around her, the pressure of his thigh against her leg, the shivers that lanced through her when his arms brushed the side of her breasts. Despite the cold, liquid heat warmed her entire body. Why couldn't he have been the man for her?
Daisy told herself it was useless to dwell on what couldn't be changed. She would do better to think about the deer and the gash where the limb struck it. The animal struggled to rise then fell back. "Poor thing, it can't stand up."
"It's mostly just tired. It'll be fine after some rest." Tyler bent down and gathered the struggling doe into his arms.
"What are you going to do?"
"I hope it doesn't mind sharing the shed with the mules."
The deer made one final attempt to escape, then gave itself up to its fate.
"Is the shed strong enough to keep the cougar out?"
"It's kept him away from the mules."
Daisy couldn't stand the thought of the cougar getting the little doe. She didn't know why it should bother her so much. Maybe it was the doe's helplessness. Maybe it was because she felt the same way.
"We'll have to give it something to eat."
"I've got hay and oats in the shed."
"Wait until Zac sees it."
Tyler laughed. "He's likely to want to eat it."
"But he doesn't like venison. I heard him say so."
"He likes it better than nothing."
"Are we out of food?"
"We're close."
Daisy jumped in front of Tyler. "Promise me you won't let Zac hurt it."
"He won't slaughter it, if that's want you mean. He's more likely to get Willie to do it for him."
"Nobody can hurt this deer. Promise."
Tyler smiled, and Daisy's heart turned a flip. His eyes were so warm, so inviting, she hardly noticed his beard.
"While we have it in the shed, nobody will touch it," Tyler said. "But I can't promise you it won't end up on somebody's table after we let it go."
Tyler started toward the cabin again, and Daisy followed still feeling a little giddy. "Maybe we can keep it."
"No."
"I don't mean in the shed. You can make a corral for it."
"It wouldn't stay in a corral. If it did, the cougar would surely get it. Wild animals are meant to be free. If you're going to lock them up, you might as well kill them. It would be a greater kindness."
Daisy walked behind Tyler, knowing what he said was true, angry because it was.
"Not all deer get eaten by cougars or men," Tyler said. "I saw a magnificent twelve point buck this past fall."
"Did you shoot it?"
"No. I let it stay with its harem. This doe might be one of his offspring."
Daisy felt a little better. Tyler wouldn't let anybody harm the deer.
She wasn't too sure the mules and the burro felt the same way. They didn't seem pleased to be sharing their home.
"I'll need water and bandages," Tyler said. "There's warm water on the stove, bandages on the shelf."
By the time Daisy returned, Tyler was bending over the deer, his knee on its neck.
"Now that it's safe, it doesn't want to lie still," Tyler explained.
As she watched Tyler work with the deer, Daisy tried, and failed, to make sense of the last half an hour.
She had found the deer, but she had only meant to let it go. Tyler, who would have killed it for food if it had been running free, had carried it back to the shed, cleaned its wound, and bandaged it for protection. He even put some poles across the end of the shed to protect it from the mules and burro. It didn't seem like it was her deer any more. It was Tyler's. He was always protecting the vulnerable or weak. First her, now the deer. She suspected he was protecting Zac as well.
Daisy leaned over and patted the doe. Its coat was coarse and rough. It lay still, its big eyes watching. "Why doesn't it eat?" she asked.
"It's too tired now. It'll be time enough to worry if it hasn't eaten anything by morning."
Daisy wanted to stay to assure herself the deer would be okay, but Tyler clearly meant for her to leave with him.
"Let's hope Willie and Zac found a deer," he said as they returned to the cabin. "If not, I'm going to have a hard time explaining why I'm keeping one in the shed."
* * * * *
A hard time hardly covered it. Zac and Willie came back empty handed after a long, cold afternoon.
"Of course we didn't get anything," Willie said. "I couldn't surprise a deaf coyote with your brother talking his head off and floundering about making more noise than a bull moose in rut."
Willie received the news about the deer in shocked silence. Zac's reaction was more vocal.
"You got what in the shed?" he asked.
"A young, female mule deer," Tyler said, his brown eyes glittering with amusement. "It's at the end of the shed, behind the poles, if you want to go take a look at it. Daisy will show you. She'll even let you pet it if you promise to be gentle."
Zac stared at his brother, his mouth open. "Here we are about to starve, and you got a deer in the shed eating its head off."
"It's too tired to eat," Daisy explained.
"I'm surprised you're not feeding it by hand," Zac snapped.
"You should have cut its throat while it was down," Willie said. "It can be right tricky once it gets on its feet."
"Nobody's going to cut its throat," Daisy said. "It's hurt. We're going to keep it until it get's well."
"Next you'll be taking in badgers and coyotes," Zac said, turning unbelieving eyes on Tyler.
"He already took in one coyote," Daisy said.
"Of all the ungrateful brats!" Zac exploded. "After everything I did for you."
"What did you do for me?"
"Take a bullet for one thing," Zac reminded her.
"I told you I was sorry about that, but that's no reason to want to kill Tyler's deer."
"It's not his deer. It's--"
"There's no point in discussing this," Tyler interrupted. "The deer will stay in the shed until it's able to survive on its own. In the meantime, we'll eat the rest of the venison, then the bacon. If we must, we'll boil some of the harness leather. But nobody is eating that deer."
Daisy hoped Tyler still felt that way when the food ran out. She didn't think Zac would defy him, but she wasn't sure about Willie Mozel.
* * * * *
The huge cat circled Daisy, its fangs dripping with saliva, its breath billowing out in thick, white clouds of moisture that almost reached her cheek. Daisy tried to run away, but her feet seemed too heavy to move. Each step was more difficult than the last. The snow seemed to become deeper with each step.
The cougar circled in an ever tightening ring. Daisy tried to scream, but no sound came from her throat. She searched for some weapon, something to fend o
ff the beast, but there was nothing around her except an endless expanse of pure white snow. The beast crouched, bared its fangs, and launched itself at Daisy.
Daisy woke up with a pounding heart and heaving lungs. Inside her nightshirt her skin was damp. It was a dream. A horrible nightmare of a dream, but a dream nonetheless. She fell back on her bed, but over the pounding of her heart she detected the sound of crunching snow and claws on wood.
Her body stiffened. The cougar.
She jumped out of bed and ran to her window. She used her warm palm to melt the frost that covered the pane in a lacy pattern. Weak moonlight left most of the yard in shadow, but Daisy had no trouble seeing the cougar.
He was trying to get into the shed. She could see claw marks all over the boards. The mules and burro brayed their fear.
Daisy gasped in shock when Tyler came around the corner of the cabin, yelling and swinging a long club. She couldn't believe he would attack the cougar without a gun, but he charged the animal like he was bigger, stronger, and had nothing to fear.
The big cat whirled to face Tyler, but rather than attack, he started to give ground. He uttered bloodcurdling snarls, his enormous fangs snapping at the club, claws capable of eviscerating a full-grown deer swiping at Tyler. Tyler kicked a spray of snow in the cougar's face and jabbed at it with the club. The animal whirled and bounded away. It screamed then disappeared into the pines down the trail.
"You awake?" Zac called out.
"Yes," Daisy answered, still staring out the window, wondering if the cougar would come back.
"There's nothing to worry about. You might as well go back to bed. Tyler has to chase that damned cat off about once a week. It's practically a game by now."
Daisy took a last look before she crawled back into bed. She snuggled deep in her blankets. She'd forgotten how cold it was in the cabin after the fire went out. The Randolphs were crazy. There could be no other explanation as to why a supposedly sane man would attack a cougar with a stick.
* * * * *
Willie left at dawn the next morning. "I gotta see what those creeps have done to my cabin," he said.
"What creeps?" Daisy asked.
"Some prospectors who couldn't get through to their own cabin," Tyler said. He left with Willie, a rifle under his arm.
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