Return To Yellowstone: Yellowstone Romance Series Novella Sequel to Yellowstone Heart Song

by Peggy L Henderson

  Aimee ceased her struggles, making the Indian an easier target without fear of hitting her. Daniel raised his bow and released his arrow. The projectile found its mark in the Indian’s upper thigh. He cried out. The impact caused him to release Aimee, but he grabbed for the knife at his belt.

  Daniel ran, pulling another arrow from his quiver. Quicker than he could blink, Aimee kicked the man in the back of the knee of his injured leg, sending him to the ground. She lunged for the Indian’s knife that he’d dropped, and stood in front of her opponent with the weapon held toward him.

  Daniel reached them at that moment, pointing his strung bow at the Absaroka on the ground. The man’s face glistened with sweat and his chest heaved as he breathed hard with pain. He clutched at his leg, the arrow still buried in his thigh.

  “You have been told once that I will not barter my wife,” Daniel growled in the language of the Absaroka.

  “I found her alone,” the Indian answered through gritted teeth.

  “My arrow did not fail. It is only because of my wife’s plea to spare you that you are still alive. I will not show mercy a third time.”

  “Don’t kill him, Daniel.” Aimee came up beside him, the warrior’s knife still in her hand.

  She stood tall and confident, but there was unmistakable fear in her eyes. Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession as if she was out of breath. Daniel glanced at her, keeping the Indian in sight. He lowered his bow.

  “My arrow found its mark,” he said dryly, speaking to her in English but keeping his eye on the warrior. “And I spared the other one also, because it was your wish.”

  Aimee stared up at him, a faint smile on her face. She nodded in thanks.

  “I have to take that arrow out of his leg,” she whispered. “Tell him, Daniel.”

  Daniel’s head turned and he stared at his wife. Love and pride for her swept through him. Killing another man was not something he relished, and he’d only killed when his own life had been in danger, or Aimee’s.

  He stared down at the Crow. “My wife is a great healer among the Tukudeka. She asks to see to your wound.”

  The Absaroka shot him a perplexed look. His forehead scrunched when his eyes went to Aimee.

  “Let it be known that Dosa Haiwi is a kind and forgiving woman. Her nature is not to do harm, but to heal people of all clans and tribes. Your life is spared because of her kindness.” Daniel leaned forward. “I am not that generous,” he added in a warning tone, glaring at the warrior on the ground.

  The Absaroka swallowed. He averted his eyes and looked instead at Aimee. She offered a smile and dropped to her knees beside him.

  Daniel stood to the side with a watchful eye on both warriors as Aimee tended to her assailant’s injury. The younger Indian hadn’t yet regained consciousness. Aimee set to work boiling water and collecting hair from her horse’s tail. The warrior cried out in pain when she pulled the arrow from his thigh, but he gritted his teeth as she cleaned the wound and sewed his skin together.

  Digging through her satchel of herbs, she made a poultice to apply to the wound and wrapped it with a strip of leather. Daniel smiled, watching her. She was back to her confident self. Treating injuries was her strength. Her lack of knowledge with medicinal plants and herbs would lessen as time passed. She hadn’t hesitated for even a moment with the herbs she’d chosen for the poultice.

  Once she was finished, she stood and examined the other warrior.

  “I didn’t kill him,” Daniel reassured her. He stepped up next to her, staring down at the unconscious man.

  She smiled. “He’s going to have quite a headache when he wakes up, though.”

  The warmth and love in her eyes when she looked up at Daniel brought a tightening to his chest. Her hand went to touch his arm.

  “Thank you, Daniel,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “You have proved again how strong you are in spirit and body. Even when you are faced with danger, you keep a level head and have a quick mind. Had you not stopped your struggles with the warrior, I would not have been able to release my arrow for fear of hitting you.”

  “I know.”

  Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you make it easy for me to shoot if you asked me not to kill him?”

  “Because I knew you wouldn’t aim to kill. And I also knew that this was the only way to get him to release me. I trusted you completely, Daniel. I will always trust you.” Her smile widened. “I think we make a pretty good team, don’t you?” She leaned up to kiss him.

  Daniel nodded slowly. There had been unspoken understanding between them in that moment when she’d looked at him and ceased her struggles against the Indian. He touched the pouch around his neck. The feeling that she was meant to be here and that they’d been destined for each other grew stronger than it had before.

  “Yes, we make a good team,” he said, even though he merely guessed at the meaning of the phrase.

  Once the younger man regained consciousness, Aimee offered food to both Absaroka. The two stared at her in silent awe and confusion. Daniel escorted them to their horses, but kept their weapons.

  “Return to your people. If you ever bother my wife again, your lives will not be spared,” he warned a final time, glaring at both warriors.

  The Indians mounted their ponies. The man who had tried and failed a second time to take Aimee from him grimaced, and adjusted his thigh, then stared at her for several seconds. Finally, he nodded and raised his hand in a gesture of respect.

  Aimee held up her hand in farewell, then stepped up beside Daniel. She looked up at him, her eyes pulling him to her.

  “You’re right, Daniel. I’ve put too much pressure on myself. I’ve barely been back for a week, and I have so much to learn. I thought I could do it all at once. I’ll keep learning herbs and plants from the shaman. I’ve always worked best in trauma medicine, but I didn’t learn that overnight, either.”

  “I predict that by this time next season, your name will be well known in these mountains. Not only as a great healer, but also as a woman of mercy.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist. “And you? What are you known for?”

  Daniel’s eyes darkened with the intensity of his stare. “That I protect what’s mine.”

  “And I think you made your point crystal clear to those two. I doubt they will be back. They seemed rather grateful that you didn’t kill them.”

  Daniel smiled. “I do not wish to kill any man. But as I’ve said before, no man touches my wife and lives.”

  “I know.” She fell into his arms. “And I’m the luckiest girl alive because of you. I think right now, we have somewhere to go.” Her eyes widened in a meaningful stare.

  Daniel held her in his arms. “We will get there by day’s end, but first, there is something I wish to show you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Aimee adjusted her seat on the horse, lifting her thighs away from the saddle to alleviate the dull ache in her sore muscles. This particular ride going to the canyon was definitely better than the last time she’d been on horseback heading in the same direction. An involuntary shudder passed through her.

  Despite the horrible memories the thought evoked, it also brought a smile to her face. She pushed aside the images of those two disgusting trappers who had snatched her away from Daniel’s cabin. She’d never been more terrified in her life. The only thing that had kept her from falling apart during her ordeal of being forced on horseback to an unimaginable fate had been Daniel, and that he would find her.

  Her smile widened as her gaze focused on the broad-shouldered man riding in front of her. Like Jana had proclaimed, Daniel was her personal Superman. He’d not only found her, but the day that had started out as her worst nightmare had also been the turning point in their relationship. The fear of loss they’d both experienced had finally prompted them both to admit they loved each other.

  A lone hawk soared overhead, screeching as if in protest against the intrusion on its valley. They’d ridden ac
ross the plateau that led them over what would someday be known as Mary Mountain, and headed into the vast Hayden Valley.

  Aimee’s eyes roamed in all directions. Grassland, rich in golden fall colors, stretched out over rolling hills as far as the eye could see. In the distance, dark evergreens dotted the horizon in a mosaic pattern, sometimes interrupted by the brilliant yellow and red hues of aspen leaves proclaiming the changing of the seasons.

  Daniel led the way around deep mud wallows and through dry creek beds that broke up the rolling grassland. Ducks and geese sought out the occasional bodies of water that would flow freely as wide streams in the spring and summer. Plumes of steam rose into the air in the distance like an old locomotive, and the distinct smell of sulfur hung in the air. A low banging noise, as if someone were shooting off a gun, echoed through the valley in a predictable pattern.

  “Don’t tell me you’re taking me to see the mud pots and sulfur pools near the Dragon’s Mouth,” Aimee called to Daniel.

  If they were this close to the thermal area that she could hear and smell it, the Yellowstone River couldn’t be far away.

  Daniel twisted in his saddle to look at her. “No, I have no desire to visit any of your guy soors at this time.” He reined his horse to a stop and waited for her to come up alongside him. “Perhaps we will visit some of them in winter. The contrast between the heat and the cold is quite something to witness.”

  Aimee nodded. “I’d like that.”

  Daniel pointed into the distance. “The river isn’t far. It’s low in water this time of year, and it can be quite muddy along the banks in places. We’ll no doubt see bison as well. I want to caution you to stay close.”

  “Now you caution me about bison?” Aimee’s eyebrows rose in a teasing gesture. “As I remember, you scared me the very first day we met, when you practically took us through a herd, and I couldn’t walk on my injured foot to get out of their way.”

  Daniel’s lips twitched. “It was the quickest way to the cabin.”

  “Yes, and I’m sure you couldn’t wait to get rid of me, or maybe you were hoping one of them would step on me so you’d be rid of your unwanted burden.”

  Daniel shrugged. “Perhaps I was merely testing you.”

  “And to your great surprise, I passed the test.” She sat straighter, smiling in smug satisfaction.

  Daniel reached for her hand, but before he took it, his body tensed and he stared off at something in the distance. Aimee craned her neck. A subtle dust cloud which quickly grew larger, rose into the air. Several dark shapes formed on the horizon.

  “Bison?” Aimee guessed.

  “Three men on horses.”

  Daniel untied his buffalo robe from the back of his saddle and handed it to her. Aimee frowned.

  “Put this on, and cover your hair.” The hard look on his face left no room for argument. He gripped his flintlock, laying it across the front of his saddle.

  “Stay behind me and keep your head down.”

  He nudged his horse forward to meet the riders. Aimee followed. Her heart sped up as apprehension flowed through her. Daniel’s behavior was much like the time he’d locked her in his cabin when two other trappers came to visit. Out here in the open, he couldn’t hide her away. Judging by Daniel’s demeanor, the riders couldn’t be Indian.

  Aimee wrapped the bulky buffalo hide around her shoulders and over her head. She’d learned her lesson that day, and wasn’t about to argue with Daniel. Although it wasn’t a hot day, the heavy hide quickly made her uncomfortably warm.

  The men raised their hands in greeting long before they reached each other.

  “Dan’l Osborne,” one of them shouted.

  Dressed in leather britches and shirt, the older man wore a coonskin hat on his head. Much of his weathered face was concealed behind a bushy beard that was in dire need of a trim and wash. The other two were dressed in a similar fashion, but one of them was clean-shaven and looked to be a boy in his late teens. He led two packhorses behind him.

  “Josiah Butler,” Daniel said. He leaned over his horse’s shoulder and reached his hand out to the man.

  The mountain man gripped Daniel’s wrist. “Yore far from yer valley along the Madison,” he said.

  He glanced toward Aimee, his eyes lingering on her for several seconds. His forehead scrunched, giving away his confusion.

  “How’s ol’ Zach?”

  “My father passed on several weeks ago,” Daniel answered.

  Josiah pulled his fur hat from his head. “Shore sorry ta hear it. I’ll shore miss the ol’ coot.” He wiped his hand under his nose, then nodded to his companions. “That thar is Will Parker. He met your pa in St. Louie a couple’a years ago. And that greenhorn is Jasper Williams. He’s still wet behind da ears, but me an’ Will’ll make shore he toughens up in a few years. Fool kid insisted on joining up with us back in St. Louie.” He laughed heartily. “Caught mountain fever like the rest’a us.”

  Daniel nodded at the other trappers. His shoulders relaxed, and his rifle lay casually across his thighs. He turned in the saddle, meeting Aimee’s eyes. His lips rose in a faint smile, and the nudge of his chin indicated she should come up beside him. His dark eyes conveyed that he had no reason to be worried.

  Aimee sighed in relief and lowered the suffocating robe from her head, but kept it draped around her shoulders.

  Josiah Butler’s eyes widened. “Wa’ll I’ll be bufflered.”

  “My wife. Aimee.” There was a distinct note of pride in Daniel’s voice, but also an undertone of warning.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Butler,” Aimee greeted, reaching her hand out to the trapper. His eyes widened even more, then he laughed. His rough hand swallowed up her smaller one.

  “Ain’t she a plucky little thing?” He grinned from ear to ear, looking from Daniel to his companions.

  Aimee stared at the trapper. “I’ve been called a lot of things, Mr. Butler, but I don’t think plucky was ever one of them.”

  She greeted the other two men, then smiled at Daniel, who watched her like a hawk. His lips twitched when their eyes met. He’d been leery and overprotective with the last trappers they’d met, which had turned out to be justified, but he seemed at ease with these men.

  “Aimee is a healer, elevated to status of puhagand among the Sheepeaters,” he said with pride in his voice. “My father brought us together.”

  “I’ll be,” Josiah chortled again, apparently at a loss for other words. “Old Zach always said he didn’t think women belonged in the mountains. A healer.” He shook his head. “Them Sheepeaters take their spirits and magic seriously. Ya musta done sommat purely miraculous ta hold the status of a medicine man.”

  “I’m not sure about miracles. I help people, that’s all.”

  Josiah laughed again. “Yore a lucky man, Dan’l.” He leaned forward over his horse and whispered loud enough for all to hear, “Jes’ make shore ta keep the upper hand.”

  Daniel smiled. His gaze drifted to Aimee. “My wife and I understand each other.”

  His eyes locked on her, the deep brown growing in intensity. Aimee shifted in the saddle. When he looked at her like that, no words needed to be spoken.

  Josiah Butler cleared his throat. “Wa’ll, we got a long way ta go. Trappin’ further south where the winter ain’t as harsh.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Always thought Zach and ya was crazy ta stay the winter on this here plateau. A bit too cold fer my ole bones.”

  He reined his horse to lead his companions away, then stopped and turned in the saddle. “If’n ya happen ta see a couple’a Frenchmen, one of’em goes by the name of Pierre, tell ‘em his cousin is waitin’ fer ’im at Fort Raymond.”

  Aimee’s heart thumped against her ribs. Her eyes darted to Daniel. His facial expression remained impassive, but a murderous gleam flashed in his eyes.

  “There is no need for him to wait at the fort,” Daniel said in his quiet deadly tone. “Pierre and his companion, Franscois, are dead.”

  Josiah
’s bushy brows rose, then his eyes darted to Aimee.

  “They tried to violate my wife,” Daniel continued. He stared at the trapper, then at the other two men. “Anyone who touches my wife, or even thinks about behaving disrespectfully in her presence will meet with the same fate. You can send that message to his cousin and anyone else.”

  Josiah met his stare. He cleared his throat. “Right ya are, Dan’l. An’ I’ll be sure ta spread the word.” He nodded to Aimee, then rode on.

  Daniel nudged his horse close to Aimee’s mount. He peeled the buffalo robe away from her and retied it to the back of his saddle.

  “You can’t hide me away forever,” Aimee whispered. “Like you said, word will spread about me.”

  “Josiah Butler was a good friend of my father’s. I trust him, and his companions looked like decent men.” Daniel reached for her hand. “The color of your hair makes you stand out like a swan among a flock of ravens. I know I can’t hide you from the men we will encounter, but it’s good to be cautious. And that is why I let every man - both Indian and white - know what will happen if anyone has ill intentions toward you.”

  Aimee’s gaze roamed over Daniel’s face. The serious look remained on his features, but his eyes had lost their cold intensity, replaced with a warm sparkle, which was no less intense.

  “So, what did you want to show me?” She shook some hair from her face, and smiled to dispel the bad memories from their encounter with Pierre and Franscois, which no doubt lingered in Daniel’s mind, too.

  “It’s not far from here, along the river.”

  He led the way through a dry creek bed toward the muddy banks of the Yellowstone River that meandered gracefully through the valley. Geese gaggled along the shoreline, ducks of various species swam in several of the inlets, and otters played in the water. Aimee’s eyes widened with delight as several pairs of trumpeter swans floated gracefully through the current.

  A large herd of bison spread out along the river and into the hills, their low grunts mixing with the high-pitched bugle of a bull elk calling to his harem somewhere among the distant trees.