by Norah Hess
Milly was much like her mother, serious and practical, while Becky was fun-loving, with a teasing nature. Milly had a strong yen for Kane, but D'lise could tell he didn't return the girl's sentiment. When she found herself feeling glad about that, she snatched her mind away from the Pattons and gave her attention to her surroundings.
The maple trees were flushed with pink and yellow around their edges from the heavy frosts they'd had three mornings in a row. Winter wasn't far off, she thought, and Kane's cabin wasn't any better weatherproofed than Rufus's had been. She sighed softly, recalling how she used to dread those cold dark days of winter. One was never completely warm.
As though in tune with D'lise's thoughts, Kane remarked, "I can't believe that November is only a week away. I've got a bunch of work ahead of me preparin' for it."
"And what is that?" D'lise asked, riding up beside him as they came to a wide stretch in the trail.
"For one thing I've got to chop a mountain of wood. It gets damn cold in these hills in the winter. Then, there's my traps. I've got to dig them out of the barn and grease them up. I figure I can start layin' my traps in another two or three weeks. Course, I can do the greasing in the evenin's sittin' in front of the fire."
Where it's warm, D'lise mused with a wry smile. But what about when you take your squaw to the barn? You're going to freeze that appendage she seems so fond of.
And how was she going to pass the cold days shut up in that dark little room with Raven always underfoot? Could she tolerate the woman's sullen face and rancid odor?
When they began to climb the hill to their cabin, D'lise glanced at the top to see if Raven sat on her usual rock waiting for their return. Something up there winked back at her, and squinting her eyes, she peered up at the distant building.
"What do you make of that, Kane?" she asked. "What could the sun be reflecting off?"
Kane made a disgruntled sound, then growled, "Dammit, D'lise, the sun has gone and ruined my surprise."
"What surprise?" D'lise thumped the mare with her heels, hurrying her up the hill. A couple yards from the cabin, D'lise reined her in, a glad light in her eyes.
"Oh, Kane," she cried, "you've installed glass in the window! What a difference it's going to make this winter."
"It does brighten up the place." Kane's pleased smile at her delight threatened to split his face. He was also glad that she was mounted and wouldn't be able to throw herself at him and kiss him again. For as sure as the sun came up in the east, he'd grab her again.
They drew rein in front of the cabin and D'lise sat and gazed at the clean, clear glass for several minutes. The place even looked better, more welcoming.
"Why don't you go on in and I'll take care of the mounts." Kane took her arm, steadying her as she slid to the ground.
D'lise pushed open the door, hoping that Raven wasn't inside, that she hadn't got to see the window before she did. She smiled. The cabin was empty. She turned around slowly in the small area. Every corner was now brought out of the darkness by the red glare of the setting sun. A frown creased her forehead. The sunlight was cruel to the room. It brought into stark relief its shabbiness, the total lack of anything homey or attractive.
For a moment she felt like running to the window and slamming the shutters.
"The place could use some fixin' up, huh?" Kane had quietly entered the cabin.
D'lise could only nod her head. She was too near tears to speak.
"I could clean out the corners some." Kane looked around at the accumulation of broken traps, pieces of raveling rope, scraps of animal pelts, old moccasins, and worn-out buckskins that for some reason he'd never thrown away. When D'lise only nodded her head again, he began picking through the rubbish, tossing anything that would burn into the fireplace. When the only things left were the pieces of traps, he gathered them up and carried them outside.
"My goodness, the place looks so much larger with the corners cleared out," D'lise murmured. She began to take more interest in the room, seeing some possibilities for it. If Kane would make her some more shelves she could get all the cookware off the floor, along with the supplies stacked by the fireplace. That would neaten up the cabin considerably. And there was the yellow-flowered calico she had bought for curtains and a matching tablecloth.
It was with a much lighter heart that D'lise started supper. She even had a smile for Kane when he returned to the cabin, a wooden mallet in one hand, a bunch of wooden pegs in the other.
"I'm gonna fasten down these furs," he explained. "I'm tired of havin' them bunching up under my feet all the time."
D'lise hid an amused smile. How many years had it taken him to realize what a hindrance they were?
By the time she had supper on the table, Kane had pegged down the furs that reached to each corner. D'lise was amazed at the difference the stretched pelts brought to the room. It was beginning to look cozy. She was about to bring up the subject of shelves when Raven entered the cabin.
"Where'd you get off to today, Raven?" Kane asked, taking his place at the table and reaching for the bowl of mashed potatoes.
Raven didn't answer; her attention was on the window. Her lips curled in displeasure. "More cold air will enter the cabin this winter," she grunted. "Indian never do anything so foolish."
"But I'm not an Indian," D'lise said, passing Kane a platter of fried steak. "The lack of sunshine bothers me."
Raven muttered some inaudible word and sat down next to Kane. As she piled her plate with meat and potatoes and baked squash, she waited for Kane to ask her again where she had been. When the question wasn't repeated, her lips drooped in her usual pout.
Later, as D'lise and Kane sat before the fire, she working on another dress, he smoking his pipe, their ears were assaulted by the noise Raven made as she angrily slammed pots and pans and pewter ware.
Kane tolerated the din for a while, then turned his head to look at her and growled, "You're giving me a headache, Raven."
The Indian woman lifted a belligerent chin, but the noise of washing up diminished considerably. She knew she had pushed him far enough.
When everything was washed and dried and put away, and the dishwater thrown out, Raven sat down on the hearth and waited for Kane to take her to the barn.
The clock struck seven, then eight, then nine, and still Kane sat on. He was reluctant to leave the lovely girl sitting quietly beside him, taking tiny stitches in the material spread out on her lap. There was a serenity about her that soothed him in a way he had never known before. He glanced often at the neatly made-up bed, wishing that he could share it with her.
But as he watched her beautiful face bent over its task, another face, equally comely, floated before him. The memory of what that woman had done to his uncle made him jump to his feet and say harshly, "It's time for bed, Raven."
D'lise watched them leave with an unexplained tightness around her heart. She hurriedly dropped her lids against the sly, gloating look Raven sent her just before closing the door behind them. She folded the unfinished dress and laid it in the basket she had found in the barn, trying to tell herself that she was glad it was Raven and not she who would receive Kane's lust. Certainly she had no intention of ever letting a man touch her in such a manner. She remembered too well how demeaning the act was to a woman.
Nevertheless, she was a long time falling asleep. She blamed the moonlight coming through the window, the cat purring loudly in her ears. She blamed everything but the image of Kane and Raven together for keeping her wide awake.
Chapter Nine
October arrived with cool days and cooler nights. Kane shivered slightly as he stood in the barn door, lacing up his buckskins, an angry scowl on his face as Raven's irate words still rang in his ears.
"The white woman has taken away your maleness," she had accused him when he repulsed her stroking fingers.
"You're crazy in the head," he'd retorted. "I just don't feel like doin' anything."
"You no feel like doing anything ever since th
e skinny girl come here," Raven shouted. "Maybe when Raven sleeps you sneak back to cabin and climb between her legs."
It had been all he could do not to slap the sullen face when she looked at him closely and sneered, "Can she make you groan louder than Raven does?"
"You open your mouth about her again and you're gonna groan from the effect of my hand against it," he'd ground out. He turned around and walked back to where Raven still lay sprawled in the bed of hay. "I've been thinkin'," he said, not unkindly, "that maybe it's time you went back to your people. As you just pointed out, things aren't the same between us anymore."
The taunting look immediately left Raven's eyes as she sat up, staring at Kane. "You don't mean that," she whispered, her voice suddenly weak. "Winter will be here soon, and you know well that hunger is ever present in my village. I doubt that anyone would take me into their lodge."
She spoke the truth. Kane heaved a troubled sigh. Rations were scant in Indian villages during the winter. Big Beaver had spoken of it often. And he had been quite satisfied with Raven until D'lise came into his life, which was no fault of Raven's.
He raised his gaze from the barn floor and looked at the anxious-faced squaw who waited to hear whether she would go or stay. The relaxing of her body was visible as he said, "Let me think on it for a while. In the meantime, take your blankets to the other side of the barn. We will no longer share the same pile of hay."
Raven readily agreed, jumping to her feet and grabbing her blanket. But as Kane passed through the barn door, a look of triumph glittered in her black eyes. He would be hers again. All she had to do was get rid of the pale-faced beauty who—for the moment—had the big trapper acting like a moon-struck buffalo.
Smoke curled from the chimney, and through the new window Kane watched D'lise moving about, preparing breakfast. He stood where he was for a minute, enjoying the graceful way she moved between the table and the fireplace, the way the rising sun shot sparks off her black curls, giving them the sheen of a blackbird's wing.
She reached up to take something from a shelf, emphasizing the thrust of her breasts, making his manhood rise and throb against his buckskins. Damn! He rubbed the hard ridge through the soft leather of his trousers. Why couldn't he get stiff like this when he lay with Raven?
He took off for the cabin, cursing the fact that the Indian woman could no longer stir an interest in that part of him, while just to look at D'lise made him as randy as a buffalo. Maybe he should make a trip to the village, spend some time with a whore. Maybe he was only growing tired of Raven.
Kane walked into the cabin and D'lise greeted him with her usual bright smile, and for the time being he forgot about visiting the whorehouse. It seemed that lately everything flew from his mind when he was with his lovely little ward.
D'lise served him bacon and eggs and fried potatoes on the yellow tablecloth she had stitched to match the curtains at the window. The sun shone on their heads and reflected off the bright patchwork quilt Kane had purchased from Sarah Patton.
When the meal was eaten, and they were sitting over coffee, Kane said, "I've been promisin' to take you to see the army fort. How would you like to go today? If we put it off much longer the snows will be here and we'll have to wait for spring."
"I'd love to go today, Kane." D'lise's eyes sparkled. Then a second later she looked out the window and frowned. "There are some dark clouds building up in the north. Do you think we might get some rain?"
"I don't believe so. Why, are you afraid you'll melt if you get wet?" he teased.
Her laugh rang out. "It's never happened before," she said.
"All right then, let's get started. The fort is a far piece."
"How far?" D'lise asked, rising from the table and gathering up the dishes they had used.
"It's about five miles of woods-runnin', but we'll be goin' by river, which is almost double the distance because of all its twists and turns."
"Oh, that will be fun. I've always wanted to ride the Ohio. As soon as I feed Scrag and Hound we can leave."
She gave the cat a portion of the scraps left over from breakfast, then handed the larger part to Kane to take outside to the dog. The cat and dog still weren't the best of friends, but they were learning to tolerate each other, which was good. When the snows came and the weather dropped below zero, it would be too cold to keep Hound outside all the time.
When D'lise and Kane struck out toward the river where he had a boat stashed, the wind came up, cold and blustery. D'lise took a scarf from her pocket and tied it around her head as her long legs easily kept up with the pace Kane set.
"I hope the wind won't whip up waves on this ornery old river," Kane said as he helped D'lise into the deep-bottomed boat.
"Do you think we should postpone the trip?" D'lise asked worriedly.
"Naw, I've paddled this river in a canoe when it was in full flood." He smiled reassuringly at her as he picked up the oars. "You're in safe hands, lady."
"I trust you completely, Kane." D'lise smiled back, and knew suddenly that it was true. She did trust him, in all ways.
A strong push sent the boat into the river, and Kane began paddling upstream, closely hugging the shore to escape the full strength of the current. D'lise settled back, listening to the swish-click, swish-click of the oars.
In most places the forest grew right down to the river, and the time flew as she watched deer darting among the trees, wolves slinking along, and once a great black bear swiping at fish across the river. She also looked often at Kane's broad back, fascinated by the sight of his muscles rippling beneath his buckskin jacket.
She looked up in surprise when Kane said, "There she is."
The fort sat on a spit of land jutting out into the Ohio River. It was smaller than D'lise had anticipated, but was nonetheless impressive looking. Kane backed the boat ashore, jumped out, pulled it out of the water, and lifted D'lise over its side.
D'lise pulled the scarf off her head as she and Kane passed through the garrison gates, her eyes full of curiosity as they scanned troops of soldiers practicing formations, cavalrymen putting their mounts through their paces, and others just walking around. She and Kane were soon spotted, and greetings were called to Kane. She soon became aware that he knew many of the soldiers, and that he was popular with them, had probably fought with them.
"Devlin! You son of a gun, how've you been?" A redheaded giant of a man came to meet them, a dozen or so others quickly following him. Kane's back was slapped, but most of the attention was given to D'lise.
"Did you go and get married after all, Devlin?" a man with sergeant's stripes on his sleeve asked.
Kane put a possessive arm around D'lise's shoulders. Neither denying nor affirming the question, he said, "Fellows, meet D'lise."
The women-hungry men gathered round her, hands coming from all directions to shake hers. Just to touch her was all some asked, but there was a look in other eyes that said a handshake wouldn't be enough.
Kane was proud of the way D'lise's beauty affected his friends, but his eyes were a little anxious as they roamed the fort looking for a commanding officer who could step in if the men got out of order. He had been a damn fool to bring her here. He sighed his relief when he sighted a portly general.
Kane's marksmanship with rifle and knife was well known by the soldiers, and it wasn't long before he was challenged to a shooting match. He was tempted to show off before D'lise but didn't trust some of the men not to get familiar with her while his attention was on the target.
He shook his head. "Some other time," he promised. "I think it's time we head up the river for home now. It looks like it might start raining anytime."
He was cajoled into staying a little longer with assurances that the rain would hold off until nightfall. "We'll come another time," Kane said, taking D'lise's arm and leading her back toward the river, his friends following them. When he pushed the boat into the water, half a dozen men tripped over each other in their rush to be the one to help D'lise into the
craft.
"You damn fools, you're gonna knock her into the river." Kane's angry voice rang out, stopping the soldiers in their tracks. These men also knew how handy Kane was with his fists, having seen him in many a rough-and-tumble fight.
They stepped back and watched enviously as he swept D'lise up and placed her in the boat. He climbed in behind her and picked up the oars. "It was good seein' you men again." He grinned and dipped the oars into the water.
No one paid any attention to him. All eyes were on D'lise.
"I hope those yahoos didn't frighten you with all their attention," Kane said several yards down the river. "It's just that they haven't seen a white woman in a long time."
"They didn't scare me, just made me a little nervous with their staring."
"You gotta get used to that, D'lise. You're somethin' to stare at," he said softly, making her blush.
The overcast sky grew darker with each passing minute. Kane lifted and dipped the oars a little faster, anxious to get off the river before dark, before the rain came. The Ohio was treacherous during a storm.
They had been on the river about an hour when a beating rain started, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The boat began to fill with water and Kane cursed himself for a fool for setting out without a bailing pail. In this deluge, the boat would swiftly fill and sink to the bottom of the river. Could D'lise swim? He hesitated to ask her at this time. She was probably scared enough without him hinting that the boat might disappear from under her.
Putting his strength into each swipe of the oars and peering through the blinding slash of rain, Kane turned the boat toward the shore. He had to get them off the river for more reasons than one. Lightning was striking the water all around them, and the river was rising, whipped into a fury by the raging wind.
The boat grated on gravel and Kane scrambled over its sides and turned quickly to D'lise sitting in the prow, her feet in three inches of water. He lifted her out and stood her on the bank where she stood shivering.
