by S. E. Smith
*.*.*
Two hours later, Billy was cussing up a storm as he stomped back and forth along the long, narrow road they had come out on. Jonathan could see the unusual tracks in the dirt. He had no idea what could create them. They looked similar to what a wagon would do but were much wider and had strange wiggly lines in them. Jonathan called out at the same time as the ground beneath them began to rumble.
“Earthquake?” Jacob asked looking around nervously and trying to hold his horse under control.
Jonathan’s horse danced around Billy who was trying to calm him down while Midnight just shifted from one foot to the other. He looked down the road and saw a huge, black beast slowly approaching them. He jerked back on the reins hard in alarm causing Midnight to raise his head and whinny. His hand went for the gun on his hip and he drew it, aiming at the creature as it approached.
He would have fired on it if not for the fact Billy was waving his hands up in the air. The huge creature lumbered to a slow, growling stop about twenty-five feet from them. Jacob pulled back on the reins of his horse until he was even with Jonathan as a huge puff of smoke belched from a long, narrow silver pipe sticking out of its head before it went silent. A moment later, the side of the beast opened and a skinny man in his twenties jumped out of its stomach.
“Hey Billy, watcha’ doing up here?” Ansel called out pulling his bright red baseball cap around to shade his eyes from the sun. “I thought I saw your truck in town earlier.”
“Hey Ansel,” Billy said walking up and gripping his arm in greeting. “You happen to have a cellphone on you? Mine’s dead. I need to call Sam and see if he can come pick us up,” Billy asked in relief.
“Hell, I can do better than that. I just heard Aleaha and Allie were headed this way. They have Allie’s pickup and horse trailer. Cole called in to say the beauties were on their way back. You know he’s had a crush on Allie since the second grade. They were passing mile marker 125 about ten minutes ago. If you ride down to the cutoff at the highway you’ll probably get there about the same time as they do. I’ll radio Allie and let her know to stop and pick you up,” Ansel said with a grin as he turned back toward the cab of the truck.
Billy called out his thanks and told Ansel he would see him at the bar tomorrow night for a game of pool and an ice cold beer. Ansel waved his hand at Jonathan and Jacob before he climbed back into the stomach of the beast and closed the door. They could see him talking into a small black box. After a few minutes he leaned his head out the window and grinned down at Billy.
“Allie says to get your ass down there. She’s tired and pissed. She said if you don’t hurry your ass is going to be eating her dust. Aleaha says to tell you hi and wants to talk to you about how Rosalie and the kids are doing,” Ansel chuckled out.
Billy slid his foot into the stirrup and pulled himself into the saddle with a groan. “Right now my ass is sore from riding. I’m looking forward to sitting it on a nice plush seat. I just hope Allie doesn’t make me ride in the back like she did the last time she picked me up,” Billy groaned, shifting as he tried to find a place that wasn’t hurting.
Ansel waved as he started up the huge truck again. He waited until Billy, Jonathan and Jacob rode by before he put the huge diesel into gear and headed up the logging road. Jonathan watched nervously as he rode by, reaching out to touch it with the tips of his fingers. They were about ten feet behind it when the ‘truck’ as Indy called it pulled away. Jonathan grinned when Jacob almost landed in his lap when the huge metal beast made a loud roar.
Jacob slid back into his saddle with a shake of his head. “What in the hell is that thing?” He whispered. “Where the hell are we?”
Jonathan grinned at his brother and shook his head. “That is what Indy called a ‘truck’. In the images she showed me they didn’t look as big. This is the world Indy came from,” he said as the grin faded. “I hope she doesn’t miss it,” he muttered looking back over his shoulder at the cloud of dust left by the huge truck.
“You aren’t the only one,” Jacob cursed as he kicked his heels into the side of his horse so he could catch up with Billy. Jonathan whistled for Chester, and Tweed, who had finished sniffing the nearby trees, to follow them.
The journey down the road proved to be the easiest so far. The ground was compacted from the huge truck and was wide enough that they could trot. They came out along a long hard black surface road the likes Jonathan and Jacob had never seen. It went as far as they could see in both directions. A moment later, a large silver truck, similar to the one in the images Indy had shown him, came into view. It slowed down before a light began blinking on and off and it pulled up just past them onto the gravel.
Jonathan nodded to Jacob and they dismounted, holding the leads tightly in their fists as they watched the doors open. Jonathan glanced at Jacob when he heard him draw in a sharp breath. He turned his head to see what had startled his brother and watched as a small, dark haired woman wearing the dark blue trousers that Indy liked so much walked toward them. The difference was she was wearing a top that clung to her slim figure and left her arms and midriff bare. Her hair was short and fanned out around her face, highlighting her startling blue eyes.
“Hey Allie, thanks for the lift,” Billy called out as he walked toward her.
“Who the hell did you get into a fight with? You look like shit,” Allie said walking around to the back of the empty horse trailer. “You’re lucky I had the trailer with me. Boseman is on my shitlist. The asshole was supposed to have the horses we requested ready but he didn’t. I’ve wasted my whole day driving to St. Mary’s and back,” she added, dropping the ramp down so they could load the horses. “I have two mares expecting anytime.”
“Hi Billy,” Aleaha said coming from around the passenger side of the trailer to help load the horses. “Oh my, what happened to your face?” She asked in concern coming to take a closer look.
Billy glanced over to where Jonathan and Jacob were standing. Aleaha’s eyes narrowed as she took in the two cowboys standing side by side. She turned her attention back to look at Billy who was trying to skirt around her.
“Ah Aleaha, it’s nothing. Just walked into a wall is all,” he muttered, turning red as she jerked his chin around so she could examine it.
“More like a fist,” she snapped glaring at the two men standing silently while Allie loaded Billy’s horse. Her eyes widened as she took in the horse Jonathan was holding. “Allie,” she whispered slowly taking a step back from Billy, suddenly nervous.
“What?” Allie snapped looking over to where Aleaha was staring in horror. “Son of a bitch, where did you get Indy’s horse!” She snarled taking a step toward Jonathan and Jacob with her fist clenched. “So help me, if you’ve harmed one hair on her head I’ll kill you!” She jerked to a halt when Chester and Tweed suddenly came running out of the woods up to her whining for attention.
The two dogs had been waiting on the edge of the woods for Jonathan’s signal to come. He wanted to make sure of their situation before he had the dogs come out into the open just in case Billy tried anything. He felt fairly confident that the Lakota Indian was being upfront with them but he was in a strange world and didn’t want to take any chances.
“Allie, Aleaha,” Billy began. “It’s not what you think. They need your dad’s help. Indy’s in trouble.”
“Why does he have her horse?” Allie asked suspiciously, kneeling and putting her arm around both excited dogs. “She would never leave Midnight, Chester, and Tweed. What have you done to her?”
“We haven’t done anything to her,” Jonathan stated coolly, staring into Allie’s furious eyes. “We are looking for her.”
“Why are you looking for her?” Aleaha asked huskily keeping her eyes on both men. “Can’t you guys just leave her alone! She hasn’t done anything to you.”
Jonathan took a step closer to Aleaha. Allie stood up and moved a step closer to her sister only to find her path suddenly blocked by the silent cowboy who had been stand
ing next to him. Jacob jerked his head at Billy who nodded and took the reins to both of their horses and started loading them.
“Move or be moved, cowboy,” Allie growled out in a low voice.
“Listen to him. We don’t want to hurt Indy,” Jacob said in an equally low voice. “She’s in danger.”
“Why should you care if she is in danger or not?” Allie asked, ignoring Jacob’s narrowed eyes as she pushed him so she could walk by him. “What is she to you?”
“She’s my wife,” Jonathan replied calmly.
Chapter 15
Jonathan ignored the dark looks Allie was throwing at him in the mirror. After he dropped his little ‘bombshell’ as Billy called it, both women had erupted into a flood of furious questions. It was only after Billy suggested that they could talk and drive at the same time that the women reluctantly walked back to the front of the metal wagon. Jonathan had taken the same side as Aleaha while Jacob had followed closely behind Allie. Billy had grunted in resignation when Allie snapped at him to get in the back of the silver wagon. He had grumbled as he climbed over the back of it and settled on a stack of horse feed with Chester and Tweed.
“Why should we believe that you are Indy’s husband?” Allie asked glancing in the mirror again.
Jonathan would have loved to tell her he was not going anywhere and to please keep her eyes on the black road in front of her. He had a death grip on the ‘armrest’. He didn’t know why it was called that. At the speed they were traveling he would have called it a ‘lifegrip’ or something else. He swallowed when the vehicle crossed over the center of the line and another metal wagon coming toward them honked. Allie stuck her hand out the window and raised her middle finger as they passed in response to the other person’s gesture. He wondered if that was the way people waved to each other in this time.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not,” he forced out over the lump in his throat as she swerved back onto her side of the road. “Indy and I are legally married. She is my wife and I mean to get her back from the men who took her or from her brother. I don’t care how I do it. If I have to kill them, all the better.”
Allie turned her head and suddenly grinned at him. “You might be likable yet,” she said.
“Will you please look at where you are going before you kill us!” Jacob suddenly snapped out as the truck weaved across the line again.
Allie turned to face forward again but she was glaring at Jacob in the mirror this time. She opened her mouth to say something but Aleaha put her hand on her sister’s arm to quiet her. Allie glanced at her older twin and rolled her eyes before she reached over and picked up a pair of sunglasses on the dashboard and slipped them on.
“Great!” Jacob muttered darkly. “Now she covers her eyes so she can’t see at all! We’ll all be dead before we get to this Sam for help.”
Allie snorted and sped up a little in retaliation to Jacob’s comment. Billy’s loud curses and the thump of his fist on the back window caused her to ease her foot off the gas a bit as she remembered she had a full trailer instead of an empty one behind her now. She stuck her hand back out the window to let him know she heard him.
“Why didn’t Indy ever mention you?” Aleaha asked turning in her seat. “She tells us everything.”
Jonathan looked deeply into Aleaha’s soft concerned eyes considering how much he should tell her. “Our marriage was a little unexpected but I promise you it was every bit legal. The preacher and his wife both signed as witnesses,” he assured her. “My biggest concern is finding her and taking her back home where she belongs.”
Aleaha studied him carefully before she nodded her head. “Papa will know where she is,” she murmured and turned back around as Allie slowed down as they came into the city limits.
None of them talked as Allie pulled into a dirt parking lot filled with metal wagons of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. Jonathan and Jacob looked on in amazement at everything around them. Allie stopped the truck and Billy climbed out of the back with a mumbled thanks.
“Billy, you get home and take care of Rosalie,” Aleaha admonished as he came up to her side of the truck. “I saw her today. She is doing better but she still has some swelling. You need to help her with the little ones for a while.”
“I will, Aleaha,” Billy said with a grin before he turned to look at Jonathan.
He waited until Allie pressed the button for the window to slide down. Jonathan jerked back in surprise as the clear glass disappeared into the door. Billy leaned in and nodded to Jacob who was staring stonily at the back of Allie’s head.
“Good luck,” Billy said quietly. “I’m sorry for what happened. I want you to know I really like Indy. She is a good woman.”
“Thank you,” Jonathan replied just before Allie pressed the button on the window again and impatiently pulled away.
He watched as Billy ran over to a large black truck and climbed in. He glanced back as they pulled away. It was starting to get dark out and bright colors of light were beginning to light the buildings as if by magic. He shivered as the world around him changed again.
“This isn’t right,” he heard Jacob muttering.
“We’ll be home before you know it, Jacob,” Jonathan murmured. “We just need to find Indy first.” Jacob didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at the bizarre world they had found themselves in.
*.*.*
Almost an hour later, Sam and Claire Whitewater sat at the table in their dining room looking at the two men sitting across from them. They had never told their children the full story of how they met. William, Claire’s younger brother, was the only one that knew and he had remained quiet after Sam had brought them to live on his ranch. William had told Sam when he was fifteen that it was as if his life before he came had been a dream. He was happy that he and Claire were safe and that was all he really cared about. William was now an engineer working over in Germany. It looked like now their two daughters were about to discover their secret.
“Can you help me?” Jonathan asked as he sat on the edge of the chair and rested his forearms on the table. “Indy was terrified of her brother. I need to find her before he hurts her.”
Sam squeezed Claire’s hand in comfort when she made a distressed sound. “Yes, I can help you. Hayden lives in Los Angeles. He is a powerful and ambitious man. I have always worried that he had plans to use Indiana. Hugh was concerned with Hayden’s sudden interest in Indiana as she got older. It was at Hayden’s insistence that she completed her degree in nursing, telling her it would help their grandfather as he got older. She didn’t want to go into it but she would do whatever she could to care for her grandfather. Hugh showed me some of the letters Hayden sent as her graduation came closer. He wanted Hugh to send her to him to live with him as soon as possible. Hugh knew it would kill Indiana to leave the ranch.”
Claire smiled at Jonathan and Jacob. “She came home at every opportunity. She hated being away. She was born to ranch-life unlike her brothers who couldn’t wait to leave. Much like our Allie,” she said softly.
“Ah mom, they don’t care if I prefer horses and cows to living the high life in some concrete jungle,” Allie snorted out throwing a seething look at Jacob that dared him to say something negative. “Does anyone want something to drink?” She asked getting up from the table.
“Would you mind making a pot of coffee, Allie?” Sam asked.
“Sure, Papa,” Allie said giving her dad an affectionate grin as she turned toward the kitchen area.
“I’ll help you,” Aleaha said getting up to follow her sister.
Sam waited until both of his daughters had gone into the kitchen before he continued. “Neither one knows about Spirit Pass. I never took them or our boys up there. I knew what could happen and how dangerous your world is, especially for a half-breed.”
“Sam,” Claire admonished gently before she explained in more detail. “We both decided our children did not need to experience the trial of going through the Pass to
prove their worth. Many have agreed that it may be too dangerous and the elders have decided to no longer allow it after the last ceremony this past spring.”
Both Jonathan and Jacob nodded in understanding, there was a huge difference between the past and the present worlds. “You were telling us about Hayden and his plans for Indy,” Jonathan reminded them. “How can I find him?”
“Hugh believed Hayden had promised Indiana as a prize for support in his upcoming race for the Senate. He told me a few days before he had his stroke that he wanted to keep Indiana as far away from her brothers as possible and was worried about what would happen to her if something should happen to him. He had an appointment to change his will, giving her the ranch. I’m not sure if he was able to finalize it before his stroke,” Sam said with a heavy sigh.
Jonathan sat back, his jaw tightening in anger. “What do you mean as a prize?” He bit out.
Sam looked at him sadly. “Some powerful men like to have a sweet, young beauty on their arm. The men Hayden is dealing with play what is known as ‘hardball’. Indiana has everything they want, beauty, money, and connections.”
“Yeah, but she’ll eat them up and spit them out like yesterday’s chewing tobacco,” Allie said carrying a tray loaded with cups and a huge pot. Aleaha followed with another tray containing milk, cream, and sugar. “She won’t let Hayden use her.”
“I worry she won’t be given a choice,” Sam responded to his daughter’s statement.
Allie set the tray down and put her hands on her hips. “And, why do you think that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Hayden is a desperate, hungry man. He wants the Senate seat and he has made a lot of promises he has to fulfill if he gets it,” Sam explained patiently. “The men he owes are no different. If they want Indiana, they will use whatever means they have to in order to control her, including drugging her or using physical violence.”
Allie sank down in the chair next to Jacob, unaware that he slid his arm around her when she turned pale. She raised a shaking hand to push the short, dark silky strands of her hair behind her ear. Jacob reached under the table when her hand fell back into her lap and cupped her slender palm with his own.