Would-Be Wilderness Wife

by Regina Scott

“James, John and Levi,” she finished. “Very clever.”

  Drew frowned as if he thought his father had taken the matter too seriously, but John grinned as he used his ax handle to push back a set of brambles. “James always says we should be glad Beth was born, or we might have ended up with a Judas Iscariot, and no child should have to be saddled with that name.”

  Despite her fears, Catherine felt laughter bubbling up. By the similar smile on Drew’s face, the sound had warmed him, as well.

  Ahead, something rustled in the bushes. John dropped the ax and aimed the rifle. Before Catherine could think, Drew had shifted around her, blocking her path. He was like a sturdy stone wall between her and the danger.

  “Oh!” a higher-pitched male voice exclaimed. “Didn’t know you were in the woods this morning.”

  Drew relaxed his stance enough that she could peer around him. Half tangled in blackberry vines was a youth about Levi’s age. In other circumstances, she might have wondered at the state of his worn, wrinkled and stained shirt and trousers and the matted thatch of his brown hair, but what caught her attention now was the blood tricking from his crooked nose.

  She pushed past Drew. “You appear to have broken your nose, sir. I’m a nurse. Let me help.”

  He took a step back, vines snagging his sleeve and fingers going to his nostrils. “It ain’t broke. It just naturally looks that way.”

  Catherine didn’t believe him. She’d seen any number of noses through the years, and that lump near the bridge and the sideways cant were decided clues that something was wrong. She was only surprised there was no sign of swelling.

  “Miss Stanway,” Drew said, voice a warm rumble behind her, “meet Scout Rankin. His pa has the closest claim to ours to the south. And he doesn’t look any different to me than he did the last time I saw him.”

  So the break had to be old. Then why the blood? As if to remove any trace, Scout rubbed his nostrils with the back of one hand and sniffed. “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’d best be going.”

  He started to ease around John, but Drew put out a hand to stop him. “What are you doing up this way, Scout?”

  “And does it happen to have anything to do with Levi?” John added.

  Scout froze like a squirrel started by a carriage, brown eyes wide. “Levi? Are you all looking for Levi?”

  “We are,” Catherine told him. “Do you know where he is?”

  His hands were starting to shake. He must have noticed her watching him, for he shoved them behind him. “Saw him up by that tree you all are working on,” he said, gaze avoiding hers. “If you find him, tell him I sent you that way.”

  It was an odd thing to say, but he darted past Drew, branches clutching at his clothes, and dived into the bush for all the world as if he expected the Wallins to hold him captive otherwise.

  “Is there some disagreement between your family and his?” Catherine asked Drew.

  He shook his head, but more at Scout’s behavior than at her question, she thought. “Not that I know of,” he answered.

  “They’re not the friendliest sorts,” John said, lifting the ax once more. “Ma tried to be hospitable when they first took over the claim a few years ago. Scout used to come up for lessons in reading and arithmetic. It doesn’t seem to have done much good.” He, too, shook his head as he turned toward the path once more.

  Catherine fell in behind him. She had her suspicions as to why Scout Rankin might have trouble learning, but she could not voice them without more evidence. Given where Scout and the Wallins lived, any number of accidents might explain why a child would receive a broken nose in the past and a bloody nose now.

  But so could something other than an accident, such as a beating. She made herself a promise to find a way to look in on the boy in the future once they had Levi home safe and sound.

  * * *

  Drew pushed back a clump of wild grapes to allow Catherine to move ahead. Perhaps it was the cock of her head, the filtered sunlight sparkling off her pale hair. Perhaps it was the fact that she’d grown silent, the only sound the swish of her blue skirts against the rough path. Either way, something about their meeting with Scout seemed to have troubled her.

  It troubled him, too. There was no reason for Scout to be on their land so far from the house. And he’d seemed surprised to find them in the woods, when some set of his brothers could always be expected out among the trees any day but Sunday. Then again, Scout had known right where to find Levi. What were those two up to?

  “And here we are,” John announced, lifting a branch out of the way for Catherine. Ahead lay the area Drew and his brothers had cleared in preparation for removing the graceful fir destined for the deck of the Merry Maid. The tree reached for the sky, the floor surrounding it covered in a thick carpet of shed needles and dotted with the leafy fronds of ferns.

  Drew didn’t spot Levi right away, but Simon and James must have made good time along the lake, for they had beaten Drew and the others to the tree. James was crouched near the base, and Drew sucked in a breath when he realized Levi lay still on the ground next to him.

  Simon came to meet them at the edge of the cleared area. His face told Drew the news before he spoke.

  “He must have missed John on the way back,” Simon said. “It looks like he went up the tree to clear some branches. You know how he is about widow-makers, Drew.”

  The words felt like a punch in the gut to Drew. He knew how Levi felt about the broken branches higher up. Every Wallin understood that a loose branch had killed their father.

  “How bad?” Drew asked.

  Simon was paling. “He isn’t conscious.”

  Drew felt ill.

  “It may have been the jar from hitting the ground,” Catherine said. “I won’t know until I examine him.”

  She stood beside him, head up and one hand fisted in her skirts as if to give her freer movement. All he could do was nod.

  Simon reached out and took her free hand. “Thank you, Miss Stanway. This way.”

  Levi was spread out not far from the base of the fir. Either James or Simon must have pulled a branch off him, for it was bent off to one side. Their brother’s shirt and trousers were rumpled, as if he’d hit a few branches as he fell, and his pale face was bruised and swelling. Beside him, James met Drew’s gaze, his usual humor fled. John went to his other side as Catherine knelt next to Levi, skirts belling out among the needles.

  Drew could see her head turning as she surveyed his brother’s form. As if Levi felt the look, his eyes opened. He stared at the branches overhead, then focused on Catherine.

  “How’d you get here?”

  James leaned back with a chuckle that was all relief. “You kidnapped her, remember?”

  Catherine ignored him. “You seem to have met with an accident, Mr. Wallin. Should we be concerned?”

  To Drew’s surprise, Levi’s face darkened. “No, ma’am. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” He started to lever himself up with his elbows, then gasped and dropped back onto the ground, eyes tearing.

  “Easy,” Simon advised. “Looks as though you fell out of the tree going after a widow-maker.”

  “The tree?” Levi blinked as if recognizing the branches above him for the first time. “The tree. Right. I fell out of the tree.” He turned his head and met Drew’s gaze. “Don’t be mad, Drew.” He coughed, and blood trickled out of his mouth.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Drew said, throat tight. “Right now, we need to get you home.”

  “No.” Catherine put a hand on Drew’s arm as if to hold him in place. “First we need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.”

  She didn’t wait for Drew to respond, turning instead to his brother. “I’m going to ask you some questions, Levi, and then I’m going to touch you. I want you to tell me what you feel.”

 
His gaze darted between her and Drew, as if he sought permission.

  “Do as she says,” Drew told him.

  “Just think what a lucky fellow you are,” James said, his usual teasing tone strained. “Lying there while a pretty lady gives you all her attentions.”

  Levi managed a weak smile.

  Catherine set her hand carefully on his chest. “Can you breathe? Swallow as good as usual?”

  Drew could see Levi’s Adam’s apple bob as if he was testing. “Yes.”

  Relief washed over Drew, but he knew he could not trust it, not yet.

  “That’s good,” Catherine encouraged the boy. “Does anything hurt a lot?”

  He sighed as if too much hurt. “I can’t rightly tell. Everything is sort of sore right now.”

  “Well,” James said with a grin, “that does tend to happen when you fall out of a tree. A shame you didn’t just land on your head. That’s hard enough to absorb anything.”

  Levi glared at him.

  Catherine’s smile was prim. “Perhaps we should test your brother’s theory, Mr. Wallin. I have a feeling your legs are more sturdy than he thinks.” She rested her hand on his right thigh. “Can you feel that?”

  Levi nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Thank You, Lord! Surely the fact that his brother could feel sensation in his leg was good news. Yet Drew’s body couldn’t seem to relax. He watched as Catherine moved her hand to Levi’s knee.

  “Here?” she asked, watching him.

  “Yes.” Levi’s face was brightening. He wiggled on the ground as if he thought he could jump right up, then sucked in a breath and blanched. Drew felt as if he was the one who’d fallen.

  “Where does it hurt?” Catherine asked.

  “Left leg,” he grit out. “Below the knee.”

  Gingerly, she reached across him and touched his calf. Levi jerked.

  “Hold him down,” she ordered Drew.

  How could she be so calm? Drew blinked sweat out of his eyes, though the day was still cool. His stomach was a knot; his hands shook. While James kept an eye out for trouble, all merriment gone, Simon held Levi’s shoulders and John leaned over his brother’s hips. Drew grasped Levi’s ankles, anchoring him to the ground.

  Catherine never hesitated. Levi grunted as her hands passed down his leg and over his ankle-high boot. “The leg’s broken,” she reported as if relaying the expected weather for the day. “I can feel the crack, but I see no blood, so I don’t think it’s come through the skin. Still, I need to set it and splint it before we move him anywhere.”

  “Drew,” James murmured.

  He wasn’t sure why James would protest, and he wasn’t in the mood for one of his brother’s jests. Drew released Levi and leaned back. “I’ll find sticks for a splint. John, help Miss Stanway.”

  “Drew.” James said his name more forcefully this time. Glancing toward him, Drew saw that his brother’s face was nearly as white as Levi’s.

  “What is it?” Drew demanded as Simon, John and Catherine frowned at James.

  “Cougar,” James said as if the word would barely leave his lips. “In the tree over your right shoulder. And he looks annoyed we’re about to deprive him of a meal.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Catherine saw the blood drain from Drew’s face as she stiffened. The big catamounts were the stuff of legend in town. Men talked in hushed tones of the nine-foot-long monster an early pioneer had shot. Massive footprints were still seen along the edges of the community. Cougars devoured stray calves and colts, and they sometimes stalked people. Maybe this one had heard Levi’s fall and come to investigate.

  “Won’t it be frightened by so many people?” she murmured to Drew.

  “Bears run from noise,” Drew said, back straight and hands stilled. “Nothing scares a cougar intent on prey.” He glanced at Simon, James and John. “Whatever happens, we protect Catherine and Levi. Agreed?”

  Catherine knew she should protest. He had his family to consider. But she could feel her legs starting to tremble, and she knew she’d never be able to outrun the big cat in her skirts.

  Simon and John nodded, faces determined.

  “I would love to be included on that list,” James said. “But agreed.”

  “What do we do?” Catherine said. “We can’t run with Levi in this condition.”

  Levi glanced among his brothers. “Leave me. I’m the least important person in the family. All I do is cause trouble.”

  Drew jerked as if the youth had struck him. “No one is running. We go together or not at all.”

  “Besides, running would only encourage it,” James said cheerfully.

  “But if you leave me behind, it won’t follow you,” Levi protested.

  Had he hit his head on the way down so he didn’t know what he was suggesting? The idea of abandoning the boy raised bile in her throat.

  “That is entirely enough of that sort of talk,” Catherine told him. “No one is leaving anyone, not even for a splint.” Still, she had to do something. She had no doubt Drew could carry his brother, but jostling that leg could turn a simple fracture into a compound one. There had to be something nearer to hand that she could use, something stiff enough, firm enough.

  She eyed James. “Mr. Wallin, remove your waistcoat.”

  James glanced down at the garment that covered his cotton shirt. Catherine suspected it was made from heavy brocade and probably lined with satin. It was certainly stiff enough to stand on its own, and the firmest piece of fabric among them.

  James fingered the collar. “I paid a pretty price for this.”

  “Is it worth more than your brother’s life?” she challenged.

  He began loosening the silver buttons.

  Drew’s head was turned as he watched the carnivore. “It hasn’t moved. What do you have in mind, Catherine?”

  Did he realize he’d used her first name twice now? Every time he said it, she felt as if he’d run his hand against her cheek in a caress.

  “We’ll wrap the waistcoat around Levi’s leg and use the laces from his boot to secure it. Then one of you can carry him on your back while the others protect us from the cougar.”

  She waited for him to disagree with her plan. What did she know about surviving in the wilderness? But he merely nodded and rose. “I’ll carry Levi. James and Simon, keep your rifles at the ready. John, the ax is yours.”

  The plan made, they set to work. John unlaced Levi’s boot, fingers moving with quick efficiency. Levi clamped his lips shut as if to hold back sharp words as Catherine tied up his leg. Then she and John helped him climb to his good foot, and they hefted him onto Drew’s back. Above them, dark clouds obscured the blue of the sky as if in sympathy with their plight.

  “Try not to jiggle him,” she told Drew as he adjusted his hold on his brother. “We don’t want to make the break worse.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” James said, gaze on the tree where he’d spotted the cougar. “A little hobble might give him character.”

  Behind them came a soft thud. James stiffened. “It’s jumped down.”

  For the first time, Catherine looked toward the brush at the edge of the clearing. Through the thicket of bracken and blackberries, she made out the shape of something long, sinuous and tawny. Baleful amber eyes met hers, unblinking. It was as if she were being evaluated for her best parts.

  “Walk,” Drew advised. “John, lead the way. Simon, take the rear. James, keep an eye on that cat.”

  “The blond Cat or the tawny one?” James quipped, but Catherine could feel him behind her as John started for the trees.

  He hacked away a bit more of the brush as he went, trying to make a path for the others. Simon remained between the rest of them and the cougar, James at his side. Drew used his shoulders to widen the path
and carry Levi through, Catherine right behind him.

  “I’m sorry, Drew,” Levi said, clinging to his brother’s shoulders as his feet stuck out on either side. “It’s all my fault. I should never have left John.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” Drew agreed, stepping over a log. “You know we agreed no one would go up a tree alone. You should have waited until someone else was near in case you needed help.”

  “We don’t make the rules to annoy you, you know,” James added from behind Catherine. “Though that is a nice benefit.”

  Catherine wanted to smile, but she felt as if those fiery eyes were watching her every move. She chanced a look back around James and Simon and saw the cougar slipping from sunlight into shadow, tail looped up behind its body, less than twenty feet back.

  She spun forward again. “It’s following us.”

  “That it is,” James replied. “Sorry, I assumed everyone knew that.” He reached out to lift a branch so that Catherine could cross under it.

  “It will follow until it sees whether we’ll give it an opportunity to strike,” Simon said.

  Drew hitched Levi up, and his brother grimaced. “Cougars tend to pick off strays,” Drew explained to Catherine. “We won’t allow that. We stay together.”

  Catherine nodded, drawing in a breath. She couldn’t help moving a little closer to him. Drew’s strength seemed to radiate out from him as they walked, his steps firm and back barely bent under Levi’s weight. His gaze was focused ahead, as if he was determined to make the Landing at all costs. Once again, he reminded her of a knight, intent on his noble quest, determined to prevail.

  “Still a good fifteen feet back,” James reported. He started whistling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Rain began to fall, pattering down softly on the boughs over their heads.

  Catherine wished she could be so calm as to whistle. She’d faced with equanimity mothers crying in fear as their babies struggled to be born, men with wounds spurting blood. That was her profession, her duty. This was something else entirely. The thought of that big cat leaping on Drew or his brothers made her chest hurt. She couldn’t seem to stop the panic from rising.