The first man shrugged. “Beats the hell out of me.”
“I’d say less than that,” the second man said.
The man with the whip smiled maliciously. “Only one way to find out, I reckon.”
“Well, you can waste time with him if you’ve a mind to,” the first man said, “but she’s more to my liking.”
And so saying, the first man picked Chumani up and carried her into the shadows beyond the trees.
“I’m next,” the second man called.
Reese struggled against the rope that bound him. He had to get free before it was too late, before the three wasichu defiled Chumani. Ignoring the rough bark that scraped his chest, arms and legs, he turned and twisted, trying to loosen the rope, but to no avail. He’d been so intent on trying to escape, he had forgotten the man with the whip. Until it came whistling down across his shoulders. He choked back a cry of pain, his body going rigid as the whip fell again and yet again, driving everything else from his mind. His skin split beneath the onslaught. Blood flowed down his back, hot against the chill of fear.
As from far away, he heard Chumani struggling against the men who held her.
The whip fell again, driving the breath from his body. Just when he was certain he couldn’t stand it any longer, one of the men hollered, “Look out! She’s got a knife!”
The man wielding the whip tossed it aside. With a whoop, he went to join in the fun of helping the other men disarm Chumani.
Weak with the loss of blood, knowing it was useless, Reese renewed his struggles to get free. He had to save Chumani before it was too late, before the wasichu violated her.
Ignoring the pain that engulfed him, he fought against the rope, felt it begin to give. His blood made the hemp slick. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his body back and forth, loosening the rope still more until he was able to slide it down over his shoulders.
Breathing heavily, he stepped away from the tree. The men had Chumani cornered now. No one paid him any mind as he moved as stealthily as possible toward his weapons. There was a sharp cry from one of the men as Chumani’s blade found flesh.
Another man shouted, “Look out, he’s loose!”
All three men glanced in Reese’s direction. One of the outlaws pulled his gun and leveled it at Reese as Reese dove for his rifle.
There was a moment when he knew he was a dead man.
And then Chumani threw herself in front of the man with the gun.
Reese screamed, “No!” as time slowed to a crawl. He saw the dark stain that blossomed over Chumani’s left breast, the look of pain and surprise in her eyes as she took a step forward, one hand reaching out to him. A thin ribbon of blood trickled from a corner of her mouth as she stumbled forward, then fell at his feet.
With a wild cry, he raised his rifle.
There was a flurry of gunfire. When it was over, the three men were dead.
Reese dropped to his knees beside Chumani. Oblivious to the blood oozing from a gunshot wound in his shoulder, he gathered her into his arms.
She stared up at him. “Husband…”
“Shh,” he said. “Don’t try to talk. You’ll be all right…”
“Do not be sad…do not…” She lifted one hand, only to have it fall limply to her side.
He shook his head as the light went out of her eyes.
“Chumani, no!” He clutched her body to his, willing his strength, his life, into her, but to no avail. “No! No!” He sobbed the words over and over again, not wanting to believe she was gone.
He held her until his strength gave out, until the pain and the amount of blood he had lost took its toll and he pitched headlong into unconsciousness.
When he woke, it was morning. Chumani lay stiff and cold beside him. He wrapped her in a blanket and laid her body over the back of her horse. Teeth clenched against the throbbing agony in his back and shoulder, he mounted his own horse and started for home.
He left the white men where they had fallen.
Hantaywee met him before he reached the village. Later, he learned that she had seen the whole thing in vision.
It had been Hantaywee who treated his wounds, who cared for him while he wandered in and out of consciousness. Hantaywee who spoke to him in the quiet of the night when he couldn’t sleep, Hantaywee who soothed him when he woke in a cold sweat, tormented by nightmares.
When his back was healed, he left the land of his mother’s people, certain he would never return…
“Reese? Hey, earth to Reese.”
He looked at Kelsey blankly.
“Where were you just now?”
He frowned at her, then shook his head ruefully. “I guess you’re not the only one living in the past.”
Chapter Nine
Kelsey studied Reese. His face was drawn and pale, his eyes tormented. What had he meant about both of them living in the past?
“It’s obvious that something’s bothering you,” she remarked after a moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“It might help.” She remembered the dark days after Nick had died. If she hadn’t been able to talk about it with her mother and Nana Mary, she never would have gotten through it. Sometimes they had just listened. Wise women, both of them, they had known she needed to get it all out, the anger she felt because her marriage had ended so abruptly with nothing solved between them, the regret she had felt because Nick had been on his way to meet her when he died, the relief she had felt that it was over, the guilt she had suffered because Nick’s death had solved the problem of whether she should end their marriage or keep trying to make it work.
“Nothing helps,” Reese said. He had tried pickling himself in alcohol, hoping to find forgetfulness. He had turned to soiled doves, seeking comfort in their arms, only to find that his body refused to cooperate. He had tried running away from his memories. He had tried facing them head-on. Nothing had eased the guilt that tormented him. She was dead and it was his fault. If he hadn’t wanted to get the best of Wahchinksapa, if he hadn’t been so certain he knew what was best for Chumani, if he hadn’t talked her into running away with him, she would still be alive. She might be married to Wahchinksapa, but she would still be alive…
Kelsey bit down on her lower lip. She couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes. She didn’t know what had caused it, but she knew that look. She had seen it reflected in her own eyes often enough after Nick died.
Taking a deep breath, she laid her hand on his arm.
Slowly, Reese turned to look at her.
She waited, certain he was going to brush her hand aside and tell her to mind her own business. Instead, he rested his head on her shoulder.
That simple gesture of defeat tore at her heart. She didn’t know what tragedy lay in his past, but whatever it was, she knew he hadn’t yet come to grips with it.
Murmuring, “It’ll be all right,” she patted his back lightly.
He went rigid at her touch and then, with an effort that was almost visible, he relaxed again. They sat that way for some time, until a couple of boys came running down river, yelling and splashing in the water.
Reese sat up and put a little space between himself and Kelsey. “Do you want to go for a swim?”
“Here?” She looked upriver to where the mothers and children were frolicking in the water. “I don’t think so.”
“We can go down river a ways,” he said, “if you want some privacy.”
It was tempting. The sun was warm on her back, the water looked cool and inviting.
But she shook her head. “I don’t have a suit.”
He frowned. “A suit? For swimming?”
Kelsey laughed. It was obvious that he thought she meant a business suit, like men wore to work. “A bathing suit,” she explained. “It’s something people wear to swim in.”
“Doesn’t it just get wet?”
“Well, yeah.”
He shrugged. “So, why bother?”
“For modesty’s sake,” she said,
her mind filling with vivid images of Reese swimming in the buff.
Rising, he held out his hand to help her up.
She might have rejected such an old-fashioned gesture in her own time but here, in this time, it seemed charming and chivalrous. Putting her hand in his, she let Reese pull her to her feet.
They walked a while in silence. Kelsey was a little nervous about skinny-dipping with Reese, although it had little to do with being naked in front of him and everything to do with her growing affection. Maybe she would just wear her bra and panties. They covered a lot more than some of the bathing suits she had seen lately.
Rounding a bend in the river, they came to a sunny spot where the river widened. Grass lined the banks, trees provided shade, a large flat rock offered them a place to sit.
“This is nice,” Kelsey remarked, sitting on the rock.
He nodded. “I’ll be just down there a ways.”
“Oh.”
“Something wrong?”
“No, I just thought… You can swim here, if you want.”
“I thought you wanted privacy?”
“Oh, sure, whatever,” she said, but she couldn’t help feeling a little twinge of disappointment that she wouldn’t get to see Reese in the buff, after all. Of course, his clout and vest didn’t cover all that much anyway.
She watched him walk away, thinking it was odd that he was even more modest than she was. Stepping out of her buckskin dress, moccasins and underwear, she slid into the water. It was cool but not cold, deep enough in the middle to cover her up to her shoulders. She swam for a few minutes, then sat in the shallows, enjoying the eddy and flow of the water around her. She had never been skinny-dipping in a river, though she had gone swimming in the nude in a girlfriend’s pool late one night during one summer vacation. She had been fourteen at the time and remembered feeling very daring and naughty.
It was pleasant, sitting in the shallows with the sun warming her head and shoulders. Birds chirped in the treetops. A squirrel scolded her from a branch overhead. A lizard sunned itself on a rock.
But it was thoughts of Reese that crowded her mind. Had he shed his clout and vest and gone swimming in the river’s other fork? She imagined all that bronze skin sleek and wet, his long black hair glinting blue-black in the sunlight… Just thinking about it did funny things in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t looking for anything permanent. She wasn’t looking for a new husband, especially here, in the Old West, but…she felt a rush of heat climb into her cheeks. She had never had an affair, never indulged in casual sex like so many of her friends. She had been a virgin when she married Nick. But she wasn’t a virgin anymore…
What on earth was she thinking? She didn’t know how long she was going to be in this time, this place. Even as she tried to tell herself it would be a mistake to get involved with Reese, a little voice in the back of her mind said this might be the perfect time and place for an affair. No one knew her here. She could do whatever she wanted, within reason, because sooner or later, she was bound to find her way home and whatever she did here, in the past, would stay here, in the past…unless she got pregnant!
With a shake of her head, Kelsey waded out of the river and stood in the sun to dry herself. She didn’t know where this line of thinking had come from but, as Don Knotts used to say on the old Andy Griffith show, it was time to nip it! Nip it in the bud! Besides, she didn’t think she could give her body to a man without giving him her heart, as well.
Said heart skipped a beat when she heard Reese’s voice calling her name.
With a start, she grabbed her tunic and yanked it over her head, then rolled her underwear into a ball to put on later. She was sitting on the rock, pulling on her moccasins, when he appeared.
“You about ready to go back?” he asked.
She nodded. His wet hair proclaimed that he had also gone swimming.
The village was humming with activity when they returned. Kelsey saw women cooking over open fires, sewing, nursing their children, hanging meat to dry on long wooden racks, laughing together as they watched a baby take a few wobbly steps. The Indian women glanced up as she passed by, their dark eyes filled with quiet curiosity. She saw a few of the younger women looking at Reese speculatively, saw recognition in the eyes of some of the older ones.
A few of the warriors nodded at Reese. One older man glared at him, his eyes filled with hatred. Reese saw it, too. He paused briefly, his body tensing, and then he continued on, his gaze focused straight ahead.
Kelsey hurried after him, her own curiosity mounting.
Hantaywee was waiting for them when they reached her tipi. She handed them each two bowls, one filled with soup, one filled with strips of roasted meat. Kelsey looked at the meat, wondering what it was.
“It’s venison,” Reese said, noting her wary expression.
“Oh.” Relieved, Kelsey sat down in the shade of Hantaywee’s tipi. She knew that some Indians ate their dogs and even their horses when they were starving.
Reese sat beside her, apparently intent on what he was eating.
“How long has it been since you’ve been back here?” she asked.
“A long time.”
“I thought so.”
He looked over at her. “What makes you say that?”
She shrugged. “Just the way people look at you.”
He grunted softly. “I’m not welcome here.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’d like to hear it.”
“Maybe someday I’ll tell you.”
“If you’re not welcome,” Kelsey asked, frowning, “why did we come here?”
“Because Hantaywee is here and I needed her help.”
“Is she related to you?”
“No.” He blew out a sigh. “But she raised me after my parents were killed.”
At his words, a number of questions rose in Kelsey’s mind. She swallowed a spoonful of soup, wondering if she dared ask any of them. One thing she was sure of, he didn’t want to talk about his past.
With a sigh, she reined in her curiosity and drank her soup.
* * * * *
Reese stood at the outskirts of the village, grateful to be alone. He had been aware of the looks cast his way earlier in the day. There were those in the village who didn’t know who he was or what he had done, but most of them were familiar with the story. He had ignored those who had regarded him with ill-disguised interest, but he couldn’t ignore Chumani’s father. A cold and bitter hatred had burned in the older man’s eyes. Reese had looked away, stricken by the pain and loathing in Iron Wolf’s expression, by the sharp stab of guilt that had pierced his own heart.
He had been near death when he arrived back at the village all those years ago. As soon as he was able, he had gone to Chumani’s mother and father to tell them how sorry he was about what had happened, but they had refused to listen. Hantaywee had advised him to give them time to grieve, time to heal, but he had taken the coward’s way out. He had left the village, left the blatant accusation, real or imagined, that he saw on every face, the sorrow and condemnation on the faces of Wahchinksapa and Chumani’s parents.
Now, standing there in the moonlight, he wondered again why he had come here. Better to have died out on the prairie than to return home and reopen old wounds that had never fully healed.
But his death on the prairie would have meant Kelsey’s death as well. She was a stranger in this place, ill equipped to survive in the wilderness alone.
Kelsey… He wished fleetingly that he was a whole man, one whose heart didn’t lie cold and dead under a bier of bitter grief and regret.
* * * * *
Kelsey stood in the shadows, watching Reese. In the moonlight, his face looked like something carved from stone. She wondered what it was that tormented him so. If she went to him now, would her presence comfort him? Or would he be angry because she had followed him?
As she watched, he bowed his head. At first, she thought he was
praying, but then she realized he was crying. Harsh sobs racked his body.
The sound tore at her heart. She was tempted to go to him, to wrap her arms around him, to cuddle him as if he were a little boy in need of comfort. But he was a man grown, not a child. And she didn’t know him well enough to know if he would welcome her touch or turn away from it.
Another sob was her undoing. Unable to watch any longer, she went to him, overcome by the need to take him in her arms, to whisper words of solace and assure him that everything would be all right.
“Reese.” She whispered his name.
He looked up, startled, so lost in his own misery that he had been unaware of her presence.
Wordlessly, she drew him into her arms and held him while he cried, wondering, as she did so, if he would hate her now that she had seen this vulnerable side of him.
Not knowing what to say, she remained silent, one hand stroking his hair, his hard body pressed against hers.
Gradually, his sobs subsided and he stood quiet in her arms, his forehead resting lightly against hers.
Gradually, the atmosphere between them changed until she wasn’t just a woman holding a man in a comforting embrace, but a woman keenly aware of the man in her arms—the heat of his skin, the thick texture of his hair beneath her hand, the sudden increase in his breathing, the sexual tension that blossomed between them.
He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. Desire flared between them, hot and unmistakable. The urge to console him was still there, but now Kelsey wanted to pull him down onto the ground, to comfort him with the warmth of her body, to make him forget, if only for a little while, whatever it was that caused him such distress.
She wanted to give him solace.
She wanted to ease his heartache.
She wanted him.
Taking a deep breath, she lowered her arms to her sides and took a step backward. In spite of her earlier thoughts, this really wasn’t the time or the place for an affair. She had to concentrate on what was important and that was finding her way back home. She didn’t belong here, in the past and she never would. Letting herself care for Reese was a mistake she couldn’t afford to make. Getting physically and emotionally involved with him was just asking for heartache and she’d had enough of that to last a lifetime. Or so she told herself.
Shadows Through Time Page 10