“Then shet yore mouth, you dumb bumpkin, and sit right down and behave yoreself,” Sam said.
Sam lowered himself back down beside the fire, ignoring the stares of the other men.
“Give me a plate of that jackrabbit meat,” he demanded, thrusting his tin plate close to Ace, who reached over to the spit above the fire and used his knife to cut more meat from the carcass.
Sam took the plate, spat out the tobacco, then with his fingers reached for a piece of the meat and shoved it into his mouth as he looked from man to man. “She couldn’t jest disappear into thin air,” he said while chewing. “She must be somewheres. Today, gents, we’ll find ’er. I bet yore bottom dollar we’ll find ’er.”
“Dead or alive?” Ace asked, lifting an eyebrow as he spat the juice of his tobacco into the fire, causing sparks to fly in all directions.
“If’n we’re lucky, she’ll be alive,” Sam said, frowning at Ace.
Ace frowned right back at him. “If’n we’re lucky, we’ll find her dead and then we can git back to playin’ poker,” he said. “I didn’t join up with you to hunt down some gal that ain’t never done me no harm. Sam, I wish’d you jest let this go. I’m itchin’ to play a hand of cards. Now tell the truth. Ain’t you?”
“I bet your bottom dollar the Injuns got ’er,” Tom said, laughing throatily. “Now, wouldn’t you jist love to see that flame-colored hair hangin’ from the chief’s scalp pole? Sam, as I see it, you might as well kiss the plan of having her yourself good-bye.”
Sam glared at Tom. “You don’t give up, do you? Shut yore trap,” he growled. “I’ll find her. She’s going to pay for her father’s crimes as her ma and pa have already paid.”
Sam paused, wiped his mouth with the back of a hand, then frowned from man to man. “Listen well, gents,” he growled. “I’ll never give up lookin’ for ’er. Killing Nicole is my final revenge against her damn gambler father. I won’t rest until she’s dead. She was her father’s ‘little princess,’ his pride and joy. And she had the nerve to think she was too good for the likes of me. Well, when ol’ Sam gets finished with her, she’ll not be fit to be anyone’s pride and joy. Actually, after we all get through with her, she’ll welcome her death.”
“I wish you’d listen to reason. We’d best not stick around here for much longer,” Ace grumbled. “I’d hate to think of gettin’ caught up in a snowstorm. We ain’t familiar with surviving snow in this mountainous area.”
“I’ll worry about that, if, or when, it happens,” Sam said tightly. “Right now my only concern is finding the wench. And we will find her before the weather turns. Then we can hightail it outta this area and go back to good ol’ St. Louie where the pickings are good. We always know the best gambling houses and can spot a mark at a mere glance. Yep. Gents, the fun is just ahead of us. But for now, let’s not miss out on the fun we can have with that little ol’ gal.”
“If’n you can guarantee we’ll not get caught up here in the snow, I’m game, Sam,” Tom said, then chuckled. “When we spot the wench all alone on her horse, it’ll be like when we chased down that jackrabbit this mornin’. It didn’t have a chance in hell of gettin’ away from us.”
“The difference is, Tom,” Ace said dryly, “we clubbed that critter to death. We’ll be just a mite gentler with the lady.”
They all fell into a fit of laughter, except for Sam, who was picturing just how pretty Nicole Tyler was. He could not help thinking it was a waste, for he was not going to have any mercy when he found her.
There that pretty thing was, born only to die a death no pretty woman should have to endure.
But she wasn’t just any woman. She was the daughter of the man who had been his most hated enemy.
It was only right that she join her pa in hell!
Chapter Twenty
The wind whispered soft and low through the yellow leaves of the aspen trees that stood close to where Eagle Wolf and his warriors sat on their horses. Like falling rain, the leaves seemed to murmur quietly.
Eagle Wolf and his warriors had just arrived at a bluff from which they could see much of the countryside below them.
Eagle Wolf’s eyes narrowed as he gazed down at the Mormon community that he had seen more than once during his travels. Today his interest was spiked as he wondered whether Nicole might not have sought shelter there.
He had always been impressed when he saw how industrious the Mormons were. They planted many crops, corn, beans, squash, and other vegetables. They also had sheep and other animals he had heard were called cows.
He knew from having sheep at his stronghold that they were used for food, and also for clothing after the sheep’s wool was removed from them.
As for the cow animals, he had learned that they produced a delicious white drink called milk and something else called butter.
The Mormon women all dressed alike, in long, plain cotton garb. They had no decoration on any of their long dresses such as the Navaho women loved having on their clothes.
All of the Mormon women’s skin was pale, and their hair was worn atop their heads, wound and secured to form some sort of knot.
These women were nothing like Nicole. He would never forget her loose, flaming red hair, or her face, which was so beautiful, especially when he caught her in a blush.
He had never known anyone like her, and doubted that he ever would again.
He could see people coming and going in the town, but he saw no children anywhere, and that puzzled him. The sun was warm in the sky this late autumn day, the sky was blue, with fluffy white clouds floated past overhead. The air was sweet with the aroma of autumn flowers that he saw growing over the ground, the color of those flowers as beautiful as their scent.
Why would the children not be outside playing in this sunshine and sweet air?
He knew that the Navaho children would be out now, busy at their games. He smiled as he thought of how the braves enjoyed foot and pony races while the girls enjoyed playing house.
He hoped to have his own children to watch and enjoy someday. He suddenly envisioned a son born in both his and Nicole’s images. A boy with long, black hair, and grass green eyes.
He wondered, though, about whether his Navaho people would accept such a child.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and again focused on why he had left the safety of his village on this beautiful autumn day.
Nicole!
Suddenly the sound of a bell ringing echoed up to him and his warriors, and he spotted a building that sat in the center of the small community.
He had heard of white people’s schoolhouses and believed that this might be one.
Or was it a place of worship? Did a church not also have a bell at the top of the building?
His eyes narrowed again when he recalled that Nicole had spoken about wanting to be a teacher. She had even attended a special sort of school in order to be able to teach children.
Although he had already guessed from the way she spoke and behaved that Nicole was a woman of much intelligence, it had been even more impressive to know that she was a woman with an education that none of his Navaho people had, or ever would have.
His heart raced at the thought that Nicole might have found her way to this community. When these people realized that she was a teacher, would they not have invited her to stay, to teach their children?
Eagle Wolf smiled as he imagined the petite flame-haired woman standing before the classroom. He knew about classrooms and teachers from a scout who had once spied through a schoolhouse window to see just what this teaching was all about.
His scout, Two Birds, had brought his newfound knowledge back to Eagle Wolf and explained to him all about a black sort of board that was on the wall of the schoolhouse, and how the woman teacher there used a small white object to make letters on that blackboard.
Two Birds had even stayed long enough to listen to the children sing beautiful songs, quite different from the Navaho’s songs and ways of singing them.
Two Birds had frowned at one thing that he had seen…an American flag that stood at the front of the room. It had been a sore reminder of the emblem that white soldiers carried with them into battle.
When his scout had heard the arrival of horses at the front of the schoolhouse, he had fled. He had hurried back to his people and directly to Eagle Wolf with his report.
Having heard firsthand about the schoolhouse and how fascinating it was, Eagle Wolf had wanted to see it, himself, but he had not dared go there for fear of not being as lucky as his scout.
If he were caught spying through a window, surely his enemies would not hesitate to hang him without even questioning why he was there. Curiosity would surely not have been an excuse they would have accepted.
Ever since he had sat and listened to Two Birds talking about this school and the blackboard with white markings on it, Eagle Wolf had secretly longed to have the same for his people’s children.
But he had fought off those longings, for he knew the impossibility of giving this special gift to the Navaho children.
That had not stopped him from thinking that having a white man’s education could benefit his people in so many ways. Knowledge.
Ho, knowledge of all the things taught the children in the white people’s schoolhouses could take his Navaho children into adulthood with many ways to fight back when confronted by greedy whites. No one would then cheat the Owl Clan with trickster papers as the Navaho had been cheated before.
While Eagle Wolf had sat with Nicole beside the campfire, he had actually envisioned her among his people, teaching their children. He had planned to ask her this favor on the morning that he woke up and found her gone.
His heart skipped a beat when he spotted children running from the schoolhouse building. His heart sped up when someone else stepped from the schoolhouse, too. Even at this distance he could recognize Nicole’s flame red hair.
He could not deny the feeling of relief that washed through him. At this very moment, he knew that she was his destiny. And he would not allow anything to stand in the way of their future together.
He turned to his warriors. “Dismount,” he said flatly. “I have found the woman. We will wait for night to fall, and then I will find a way to go to Nicole and tell her that we have come for her. We will take her back to our stronghold, where she will be safe, forever.”
“But the woman is safe now,” said one of the warriors. Striped Wing was puzzled by his chief’s persistence concerning this woman whose skin was white.
It was true that she was beautiful, her flaming red hair fascinating also to Striped Wing. But the fact remained that she was white, and white people had taken so much from the Navaho. How could any Navaho warrior want to share his life with someone of that skin color?
“It might seem so, but I do not believe she is happy there,” Eagle Wolf said. “Being safe is not everything. I must at least go and speak with her. And then I will know if what I believe is true, or false.”
“You will chance everything in order to get that answer?” Striped Wing dared to ask.
“It is not for you to question, but to follow, and do as your chief tells you,” Eagle Wolf said in a way that he hoped would not be too hurtful to his warrior. He knew that Striped Wing was only thinking as most Navaho would think.
Right now the safety of one woman surpassed all else in Eagle Wolf’s mind, for she was his heart, his very being!
“Chief Eagle Wolf, I understand what you are saying, but—” Striped Wing dared to say, stopping when Eagle Wolf interrupted him.
“I will go and speak with her tonight,” Eagle Wolf said flatly. “So do not waste any more words arguing with your chief. I am just not certain how safe she is with those people, for I know little of the habits of Mormons. All I wish to know is that she is content. I will soon go to her and ask her how happy she is. If she answers the way I believe she will answer me, I will then ask her to leave with us.”
“And if she refuses?” Striped Wing asked blandly.
Eagle Wolf did not openly respond to that question, but he knew that if Nicole refused to leave with him, he would be lonely for her, forever!
Chapter Twenty-one
Dreading having to leave this haven that had been offered her by these gentle Mormon people, Nicole paced the floor of the cute home that she had been given as her very own.
But she knew that her occupation of that house was to be only for a short time if Jeremiah Schrock had anything to say about it. He expected her to be so grateful for his kindness that she would actually marry him, and make him that third wife the children spoke of so eagerly.
“A brother,” she whispered, shuddering at the thought.
Even though I must go, I dread leaving, she thought, tears filling her eyes at the thought of being all alone again out where she knew there were dangers everywhere.
If she was not attacked by men like Sam Partain and his gang, then there were the animals that roamed, both day and night, in search of food.
She recalled seeing one particular wolf more than once, as it skulked nearby, almost hidden behind thick brush.
She knew it was the same animal because there was an identifying mark where bare skin was exposed on its side.
She still couldn’t understand why that wolf hadn’t pounced on her when it was so close. And it was strange how the wolf would suddenly appear, then in one blink of Nicole’s eyes, disappear again.
It seemed as though the wolf was looking for someone in particular, or something. She was glad that apparently she was of no interest to the creature.
It was such a mystical being, Nicole even now felt a shiver race her spine to think about it.
Anyhow, no matter whether there were evil men out there searching for her, or a mystical wolf, Nicole had no choice but to leave the Mormon community.
And she would.
Tonight.
After the lamps were blown out in each house and everything but the moon’s glow was dark, she would leave.
“Yes, I must escape,” she whispered as she went to a mirror on the wall and gazed at her reflection.
Her hair was brushed until it shone. Her face was shining and fresh from a washing only moments ago.
The rims of her eyes were slightly red. More than once this evening she had not been able to keep from crying at the thought of the danger that lay ahead.
But now she had one other thing to do.
She knew that she must be the only one who had not visited the large dining hall for the evening meal.
She had watched the families entering the building in groups. Her front windows faced so that she could see the dining hall, and now the lamplight streamed from the building, and she could hear the sound of voices.
She was afraid to join the others for the meal, for fear that they would somehow read her mind and know what she had planned. Nicole hesitated to take her shawl from its peg on the wall, thinking that perhaps she could get away with not going there tonight.
But she knew better.
If she didn’t show up, Jeremiah would most certainly come to check on her. Already, he was strangely possessive of her.
As she grabbed her shawl and placed it around her shoulders, she realized how much her fingers were trembling. She would have to get hold of herself if she was to get through these next moments without anyone being the wiser as to what caused her nervousness.
Escape!
Yes, she had to make certain no one realized what she was planning.
If there was even an inkling of suspicion, Jeremiah would lock her in the cabin tonight.
Sighing heavily, Nicole stepped out into the dusk of early evening.
She shivered when the air brushed against her face. The evenings were cool now that autumn was soon to fade away and turn into the coldness of winter.
That, alone, should be a deterrent to what she had planned. But she had to believe that before winter set in, she would find a place where she could live safely and put all the ugl
iness of these past days from her mind.
She stopped and inhaled a nervous breath as she came to the steps that led up to the dining hall. She didn’t have time to take many breaths, for Jeremiah suddenly emerged from the building. Smiling, he held a hand outstretched before him.
“I thought you would never come,” Jeremiah said, taking Nicole by the hand even though she tried to pull it away. “I imagine you were resting after your first day of teaching. I expect it was quite tiring. Was it, Nicole?”
“Yes, very,” Nicole said softly.
She hated that his hand still held her own, as though she belonged to him. He led her into the large building, as though she was his trophy for everyone to see.
She was very aware of how everyone turned and gazed at her as Jeremiah took her to the table, where she was made to sit between him and one of his children, Kathryn. Nicole found that quite peculiar, for she knew the children usually ate away from their parents at another table.
Yet as she looked quickly around her, she noticed that all of the children were at their parents’ tables tonight.
She suddenly realized that there was something else unusual about the meal. A cake with burning candles sat in the center of the main table.
She wondered whose birthday it was.
“Surprise!” the children suddenly boomed out as they jumped to their feet so that they could see Nicole better.
“What?” Nicole gasped, her shawl falling away from her shoulders and onto her chair. “It’s not…my…birthday.”
“Well, no, it’s not,” Jeremiah said, drawing Nicole’s eyes quickly to him. “This was the first day of your teaching our children. We are all so happy to have you, especially the children, we felt that we needed to have a celebration of sorts, with you the person of honor.”
“Truly?” Nicole said, stunned by the sweetness of what these people had done for her.
She looked around her at the smiling faces of the children, and guilt spread through her with a strange coldness.
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