The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress

by Carol Finch

  Raven felt his heart slam into his ribs—and stick there—when he heard gunshots in the distance. When Eva’s wild shriek echoed in the darkness, his heart stopped beating altogether.

  Frantic, he nudged his horse and trotted up the sloppy trail, wishing he could call out to Eva but refusing to alert James to his whereabouts. If James commenced shooting wildly at him, he might hit Eva—if he hadn’t already.

  When lightning flickered overhead, Raven spotted his stepbrother hobbling up the trail on foot. Eva was nowhere in sight. Conflicting emotion rippled through Raven. He longed to chase down James to avenge Eva, who had risked life and limb to avenge her sister. Not to mention that Raven wanted to skin the son of a bitch alive for taking Eva hostage.

  Yet, Raven didn’t dare leave the area until he knew what had happened to Eva. She could be anywhere in the wild tumble of boulders, trees and underbrush. She could find herself at the mercy of vicious predators and she might be seriously injured already.

  Raven didn’t know what had happened to her and the uncertainty was killing him, bit by excruciating bit. All he knew was that she had to be somewhere between where he sat on his horse and where James had disappeared around the bend of the trail. Where the blood-red bay had gotten off to was anybody’s guess…

  The image of the horse Eva called Hodge popped instantly to mind and he wondered if James had forced Eva and her mount off the road and left them tumbling down the jagged slopes. James had disposed of a few miners and their horses in the same heartless manner already. The thought of Eva lying in a broken heap beside her horse tormented him beyond measure.

  “Eva!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

  He waited anxiously but there was nothing but the sound of whipping wind and rain. Feeling helpless and frustrated, Raven dismounted to lead his horse to the nearest tree for shelter. Unless Eva called out to him there was little to do but wait until daylight.

  Then he suddenly remembered the bottle of whiskey he had tucked in his saddlebag. Hurriedly he grabbed the bottle and dug out one of his shirts. Groping in the darkness, he found a tree branch that would serve as a makeshift torch. He wrapped his shirt around the top of the branch then doused it with whiskey. Careful to keep the match dry, he lit the improvised torch and watched it flare to life.

  Fortunately, the storm let up gradually as it swept southeast. Pounding rain became intermittent sprinkles. Raven scanned the terrain. One side of the trail sloped upward and Raven noticed the tree that had been struck by lightning. He was greatly relieved when he saw the bay gelding, its reins dangling, munching on weeds. The other side of the trail tumbled into a labyrinth of deep crevices, boulders and scrub bushes.

  Instinct sent him striding across the path to sidestep down the rocks, hoping he could locate Eva before his torch burned itself out. He called her name repeatedly but received nothing for his efforts.

  “Raven? Is that you?” Blackowl shouted in Cheyenne.

  His shoulders slump in relief. Two sets of eyes were better than one. “Down here!”

  “Where is that sidewinder James Archer?” Blackowl asked as he appeared above Raven on the edge of the path. “Dead, I hope.”

  “No such luck. He ran off,” Raven muttered.

  “Why’d you let him get away?” Blackowl asked, baffled.

  “Because Eva is out here somewhere and I can’t find her,” he breathed as Blackowl veered around the obstacles to join him. “I saw the flash of gunshots in the darkness then I heard her scream, but I couldn’t see what happened.” He handed the torch to his cousin. “Light the way while I search.”

  “Paleface!” Blackowl shouted. “Where are you?”

  With meticulous precision, Raven and Blackowl reconnoitered the area. After thirty frustrating minutes, they heard a faint moan below them on the hillside. Raven scrambled toward the sound, calling Eva’s name every step of the way. He stopped short when the torchlight glowed down on the deep crevice that had practically swallowed her up.

  “Eva? Can you tell how badly you’re hurt?”

  “No,” she mumbled dazedly. “I hurt all over and I’m not sure which pain is serious.” There was a slight pause then she said, “What are you doing here?”

  He sent her a withering glance. Did she really think he would abandon her to his stepbrother? “I don’t negotiate with kidnappers. I don’t follow their commands, either. Besides, I was worried about you.”

  “Oh, well that’s nice to know.”

  Eva smiled, despite the pounding ache in her head and the throb of pain in places she wasn’t aware she had. Raven had come after her, bless him. She had figured she was as good as dead after her hapless fall down the mountain at night.

  When she took inventory of her scrapes and aches, she realized her hands were bloody from checking the gunshot wound on her shoulder and her arm was stinging something fierce. It hurt to breathe and she figured that couldn’t be good. Overall, she felt battered, bruised and exhausted. Nonetheless, she was so relieved to see Raven that she wanted to fling her arms around his neck and hug him for rescuing her from certain death.

  As he came toward her, it dawned on her that he wasn’t alone. She saw Blackowl holding a torch over his head. When he saw her wave at him, he scurried downhill.

  Raven sank down on his haunches to reach out to her, but Eva winced when she tried to grab his offered hand. She heard him swear foully when the torchlight spotlighted her, revealing the bloodstains that trickled across her throat.

  “The son of a bitch shot you!” Raven growled in outrage.

  “That’s because I broke his nose and kicked him in the crotch, as Blackowl instructed,” she panted. “When I made a run for it in the darkness he fired blindly. I don’t think the wound is deep. It just burns like hell blazing and so does my arm.”

  “I don’t care if all you sustained was a scratch,” Raven muttered bitterly. “James will pay dearly, count on it.”

  When Blackowl joined him on the ridge to offer a helping hand, Raven crawled into the crevice. Eva whimpered slightly when he hooked his arm around her waist to drag her up beside him.

  “You scared me half to death,” he murmured against the side of her neck.

  “What? Over a piddling little fall down the mountain? That’s child’s play compared to what you and Blackowl endure on a regular basis.”

  She saw him crack a faint smile, saw those hypnotic green-gold eyes glow in the torch light. “You can drop that tough-as-nails act, sweetheart. I know you’re hurting. It’s okay. I won’t think any less of you if you want to bawl your head off…”

  His voice trailed off as he brushed his hand over her hip. “Blackowl, hold the light directly over my head.”

  “What’s wrong?” Blackowl asked worriedly as he leaned out as far as he could to illuminate the V-shaped crevice Eva had fallen into. Then he barked a laugh. “Like father like daughter, I see.”

  Bemused, Eva watched Raven rub his fingers together then she saw the golden flakes sparkling in the light. “Gold?” she chirped, incredulous.

  “Yep,” Raven replied. “The rich just keep getting richer. The rain exposed the vein of ore and it stuck to your doehide clothing.”

  “I suppose you’ve heard the tale about how my father’s stubborn mule suddenly set his feet and caused him to tumble downhill. He unknowingly unearthed a bonanza while he was trying to scrabble uphill,” she said as he lifted her carefully.

  “I hadn’t heard the tale,” Blackowl said, and snorted. “Typical paleface. Wandering around Cheyenne haunts and taking what doesn’t belong to him.”

  Eva gasped in pain when Raven handed her off to Blackowl. Her ribs throbbed painfully and she struggled to breathe. She tried valiantly not to cry, but tears slid down her muddy cheeks nonetheless.

  “Did you find my horse?” she panted raggedly. “James didn’t kill him, too, did he?”

  “Not to worry, the bay gelding is grazing on the west side of the trail,” Raven reported.

  “And James?
Did you apprehend him?” she asked eagerly.

  “No, I came looking for you first and he ran off on foot.”

  Eva should have been pleased to learn she was his first concern. And she was, but having that slippery bastard race off with no more than a broken nose and a wet set of clothes offended her strong sense of fair play. She had yet to accomplish her mission. Now she would have to contend with injuries that would slow her down.

  “He can’t be too far ahead of us,” she mumbled as she held her throbbing rib cage. “We can still—”

  “No.” Raven’s tone of voice brooked no argument. “First things first. We will treat your wounds and make camp here for the night.”

  She expelled a sigh that indicated her displeasure.

  Raven curled his hand beneath her skinned chin and uplifted her gaze to his. “James won’t go free, I promise you, Evangeline. He will answer to me for abusing you.”

  “No, he will answer to me for humiliating my sister.”

  “You two can argue later,” Blackowl said dismissively. “First we tend your injuries and mark your claim.”

  “Ouch!” Eva hissed in agony when Raven lifted her into his arms again then strode to the opposite side of the road. “You don’t happen to have some of that Indian tea with you, do you?”

  “Something better,” Blackowl answered for Raven as he hurried over to dig into his saddlebags.

  He returned a moment later to place strange-tasting seedpods between her lips. “Chew vigorously,” he instructed.

  Eva did as he asked then sipped from the canteen Raven held up to her. The foul-tasting pods prompted her to take another large gulp of water.

  “I need to look at your shoulder,” Raven said before he turned to Blackowl, who had spread a pallet beneath the shelter of a tree. “Give me a few moments to see how many injuries we need to treat, will you?”

  He nodded agreeably. “I’ll mark the claim site.”

  When he left, using a small torch he’d made for himself, Raven eased the shirt from Eva’s shoulder. “You’re damn lucky James is a lousy shot.” He dabbed poultice on the wound. “Where else do you hurt?”

  “My arm,” she replied. “And my ribs, though I doubt there is much you can do about that.”

  “The peyote will help you relax.” He bent down to press his lips to hers. “I’m glad you’re still alive.”

  Eva smiled drowsily, amazed at how much she enjoyed the taste of him and relieved that the Indian remedy took effect immediately. “Even if I’m a pain in the ass?”

  “Even if,” he whispered back to her before he kissed her gently.

  And that’s the last thing she remembered before the world turned pitch-black and swallowed her up in silence.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The next morning Blackowl frowned disconcertedly as he watched Raven give Eva another strong dose of peyote. “Why are you knocking her out completely again?”

  “If I don’t she’ll insist on chasing down James and she is in no condition to do anything except recuperate.” Raven carefully repositioned her broken arm against her abdomen. Then he wrapped her in the bedroll so he could strap her to the travois he had made at first light to transport her.

  Blackowl smiled wryly. “I don’t want to be you when she comes to her senses and realizes we are heading in the opposite direction than she anticipates.”

  Raven wasn’t sure he wanted to be him, either, when the ranting and raving commenced. But he had been through everything else with this headstrong hellion. Why not endure a temper tantrum of gigantic proportion?

  “I think we’ll let James come to us.” Raven scooped Eva’s limp form into his arms and carried her to the travois he had hooked up for the bay gelding to drag behind him. He let the horse sniff Eva on the way past before he strapped her into the Indian-style carrier.

  Blackowl smiled perceptively. “So you think James will try to intercept the gamblers and steal the ransom they are supposed to deliver.”

  Raven nodded as he swung into the saddle. “James was so overly confident that he sent Lydia Hallowell a ransom note before he knew whether he would be able to capture Eva. He’ll try to take the money before Frank and Irving discover she is free. By now I imagine James has confiscated another horse in Hell’s Corner and has ridden down the trail from Hell to Purgatory.”

  “Maybe the spirits will prevail and he will take a fall that breaks his neck,” Blackowl said cheerily as he handed off the bay’s reins to Raven.

  Raven would like nothing more than to have his cruel stepbrother meet with disaster. James certainly had it coming, considering the long list of crimes he’d committed. Taking shots at Eva on several occasions and then leaving her to die intensified Raven’s thirst for vengeance. He knew Eva would pitch a fit, but she had to wait in line to have her revenge on James until after Raven finished with the bastard.

  Glancing back to ensure the downhill jaunt didn’t cause Eva more discomfort than necessary, he headed to Satan’s Bluff. He planned to take the timesaving Indian trail that led to his cabin so Hoodoo could care for Eva. Raven smiled, knowing the older man would relish the duty since he’d become overly fond of Eva.

  When they reached the mountain meadow that led to the Indian trail Raven handed off the bay’s reins to Blackowl. “I’m going to stop in Satan’s Bluff long enough to file Eva’s claim. I’ll catch up with you as soon as possible.”

  Raven urged the paint pony into a swift pace while Blackowl veered across the mountain meadow. He considered trying to overtake James and let his cousin tend to Eva. However, she was so banged up and bruised that he couldn’t bring himself to leave her for too long.

  None of this would have happened if he hadn’t shouted her name while she held James at gunpoint, he reminded himself sourly. Now she was battered and exhausted and James still was running loose. Raven owed Eva for her pain and trouble and he would be there to care for her.

  Eva moaned groggily then opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling above her. It looked vaguely familiar but the strong sedative Raven had given her left cobwebs in her mind and she had trouble formulating thought. When she tried to roll onto her side, every muscle screamed in pain.

  “Dear God…” she groaned as she raised her arm to rub her throbbing head. Thunk. “Ouch…” Bleary-eyed, she stared at the splint on her left arm that she had unintentionally clanked against her skull.

  Obviously, she had broken her arm during her fall. She wasn’t surprised because she remembered that it had hurt like hell. When she noticed the bandage on her shoulder, the events of her harrowing escape from James returned in full force.

  She glanced around the room and realized she was in Raven’s bed in his cabin. Eva frowned, befuddled. How had she gotten here so quickly and without remembering the journey? And where was James Archer? Surely Raven and Blackowl had captured him by now.

  “Hoodoo!” she croaked, surprised that her voice sounded as if it had rusted from overexposure to the rain and wind.

  “You’re finally awake? Well it’s about time,” he called from downstairs. “I’ll bring up leftovers from lunch.”

  Eva blinked, disoriented. Lunch? What time was it? She couldn’t determine the time of the day because the curtains upstairs were closed. Thanks to the sedative, she barely knew where she was, but she did admit she felt famished.

  A few minutes later Hoodoo hobbled up the steps with a plate of food. Eva smiled in eager anticipation when the appetizing aroma wafted across the loft to greet her.

  “I’ve missed you and your cooking, Hoodoo,” she rasped as she pushed herself up against the pillows. She glanced down to note she was wearing her nightgown, but she didn’t recall how and when she’d come to have it on. Raven was responsible, she presumed.

  Hoodoo smiled as he sank down on the side of the bed. “You’ve had a rough few days, I hear,” he said as he spoon-fed her stew.

  Her taste buds went into full-scale riot at first bite and she eagerly waited for him to offer her another gul
p.

  “I can tell you for sure that the three of us were beside ourselves when we realized you had ridden off alone to capture James.” Hoodoo’s disfigured face puckered disapprovingly. “If I had known it was James who had been hounding you and Raven, I would have taken after him with my shotgun. I’ve heard too many infuriating stories about that scoundrel. After what he did to you, I want to carve him into wolf bait. But I know Raven and Blackowl will deal severely with him.”

  Eva swallowed her food then frowned. “They haven’t captured him yet?”

  Hoodoo shook his frizzy brown head. “No, they figure he’ll try to intercept the two men you saved from a hanging. They are headed to the cabin with the ransom money.”

  Eva angled the spoon away from her mouth then sat upright in bed. “The meal is incredible, as always, but I need to dress,” she said hastily. “Could you grant me a moment of privacy? I need to be on hand when James is captured.”

  “No!” Hoodoo protested. “Raven gave me strict orders to make sure you received plenty of bed rest. He’ll have my head if you go haring off again.”

  “I’ll have his head for sedating me to such extremes that I didn’t know where the blazes I was,” she grumbled as she flung back the quilt to note her legs were a mass of scrapes and bruises.

  “See there? You got no business riding off,” Hoodoo lectured.

  “Then at least let me bathe at Phantom Springs.” She requested. “You claim the water has healing powers that work wonders.”

  Hoodoo smiled agreeably. “That’s exactly what you need.”

  Eva walked over gingerly to retrieve her satchel and grab a clean shirt and breeches. When Hoodoo went downstairs, she pulled on her clothes.

  “How long have I been sedated?” she called down to him.

  “Two days.”

  “Two?” Eva howled in dismay. “Frank and Irving will be transporting the ransom money and James might be lying in wait already.”