Kentucky Bride

by Norah Hess

  "He's got to be runnin' out of fresh meat pretty soon," Kane muttered. "In this hot weather when the meat spoils so fast, he should have been out in the woods two days ago."

  He stopped talking to himself, his body stiffening. Bracken was leaving the shack, his rifle on his shoulder. Finally, hunger was driving him from Raven's arms for a while.

  Kane soon came to the conclusion that the man he followed didn't intend to stay away from Raven any longer than necessary. He really had to stretch his long legs to keep up with the shorter man's hurried pace.

  Kane had followed his quarry about half a mile when the stocky man suddenly stepped behind a tree and stared up among its branches. Kane followed Bracken's line of vision and saw the bushy tail of a squirrel sticking out from behind the trunk. The hunter raised his rifle, braced the butt against his shoulder, and waited for the furry little animal to show his head.

  In a couple of minutes, the rifle spat, and Albert's supper hit the ground. "There's no better time than now," Kane said under his breath. "Get him before he can reload."

  His moccasin-shod feet making no sound on the needle-strewn forest, Kane slipped up behind the man stooping to pick up his kill and spoke his name.

  Bracken stiffened in his bent position, the squirrel in his hand. He froze that way for a few minutes, as though listening for the sound of death. "I should put a bullet in your head, you sneakin' polecat," Kane gritted when Bracken, gray-faced with fear, straightened up. "And I may still do it if I don't get some straight answers from you."

  His voice harsh with tension, Bracken croaked, "What do you want to know?"

  "I want to know why you've been shootin' at me, and if that bitchin' squaw put you up to it."

  Kane read in the man's scared face that he intended to lie, to deny that he had shot at him. His black stare dared Bracken to try it.

  With a helpless shrug, Bracken said, "Raven doesn't know that I've been shootin' at you. She did ask me once to kill your wife. When I wouldn't do it, she had a cousin of hers try it."

  "That bitch!" Kane's face turned as grim as death. "Do you think she'll try to get someone else to do it?"

  "I don't think so. Now that she's played that trick on your wife, she seems satisfied."

  "What trick is that?" Kane's eyes narrowed dangerously.

  "You know. The night she went to your cabin and took off her clothes and climbed in bed with you when you was drunk. She still laughs about it."

  Kane's voice trembled with rage. "But we hadn't done anything, had we?"

  Bracken gave him a look that said he was short of brains. "As piss-drunk as you was? That thing of yours was so limber I could have tied a knot in it."

  "So you were there too?"

  "I was outside lookin' through the window. I was makin' sure nothin' was gonna happen between you two."

  Kane stared silently at the ground so long that Bracken stirred uneasily. "What are you thinkin' to do with me?" he ventured finally. "I know you won't kill me in cold blood. And if you tell anyone that I admitted shootin' at you, I'll deny it."

  "Why, you—" Kane began, then spun around when the brush behind him crackled. His tightly held body relaxed when a half-naked Indian stepped in view. "Big Beaver, I thought you were back to your village by now."

  "No, I too have been watching this man with the yellow streak down his back. I thought it best you have a witness to what he might tell you." He grinned at Kane. "It was a good thought, was it not?"

  "It was a very good thought, friend. What do we do now?"

  "You do as you please about this one. I go now to speak to the woman who shames our village. She will either go to your wife and tell her what evil thing she has done, or I will sell her as a slave to another tribe. There she will do hard labor from sunrise to sunset. She will never again lie with a man."

  "No!" Bracken shouted. "Don't do that. I'll take her away from here. She'll never bother anyone again. I swear it. I'll beat her if I have to."

  "That is what she needs," Big Beaver grunted, "but first she will make her confession to my friend's wife." He turned and walked off in the direction of Bracken's shack.

  When Bracken would have followed him, Kane drew his gun and aimed it at his belt buckle. "Sit down and make yourself comfortable while we give Big Beaver time to take care of his business."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  D'lise had been up since the first pink strips of dawn lightened the eastern sky. At three o'clock this afternoon, Ellen and Samuel would become one.

  What a friend Ellen had been to her, she mused, lifting her wet hair so that the warm morning breeze could waft through it. She had washed it the first thing on rising, and for the last hour she had been sitting on a stump in back of the school-house waiting for the thick mass to dry.

  For that matter, all her friends had rallied round her, giving her moral support. Even shy little Abbey Davis, who never went anywhere, would slip through the woods at night when she was sure no one else was around to visit with D'lise for an hour or so. Sometimes she drew more courage from that little person's gentle silence than she did from all the others. Abbey never made denouncements against men in general like most of the other women did. She never mentioned men, other than her husband. You could hear the love she felt for him in her voice.

  Should the wives of Piney Ridge pity Abbey Davis so? D'lise wondered, rubbing a strand of hair with the towel. It was true the little woman didn't have much in the line of material things and that her daughters shamed her with their carrying on, but she had the wonderful assurance that she was deeply loved by her husband. Nothing could be more important than that in a marriage. She, D'lise Devlin, should know that better than anyone.

  Loved or not by her husband, D'lise was holding to the decision she had made last night. Unless Kane made it blatantly clear that he was unhappy that she was expecting, she was ready to resume her loveless marriage.

  An unexpected rush of desire swept over her. It would be good to have him make love to her again. They were suitably matched in that department. She had sometimes suspected that very reason was why Kane hadn't wanted to lose her. Maybe he didn't love his wife, but he certainly lusted after her.

  I guess that's better than nothing, she thought, rising from the stump and entering her quarters. She gave her nearly dry hair a final brushing, then placed two flatirons on the red coals to heat.

  She had to iron shirts and pants for David and Johnny. The boys didn't know it, but they were attending the wedding also. She smiled to herself as she placed thick padding on the table and covered it with a sheet. David would grouse about attending the affair and having to wear his Sunday best. He would complain that the starched collar was too tight and that it scratched, but fun-loving Johnny would be so excited he'd have to make numerous trips to the outhouse.

  D'lise brought the basket of clean laundry from her bedroom. She had insisted that the boys bring their dirty clothes to her every week. If it was left up to Kane, he'd let them wear the same clothes until they fell off them.

  No article of Kane's had appeared in the bundle that was delivered to her every Saturday, for which she was thankful. His clothing would carry the familiar scent of tobacco and piney outdoors. She wasn't ready to breathe in his particular scent yet. It would make her cry, she knew.

  She wondered if Kane was keeping the cabin clean, or had he let it get in the same shape as she had found the old place when he first brought her to it?

  She flinched, picturing in her mind muddy footprints on all the floors and grease splattered all over the kitchen.

  But that might not be the case at all, she told herself, spreading David's shirt out on the table. From the way the boys talked, it appeared that Kane took his meals with them in the old cabin. And Johnny had laughed one day about how he had accidentally kicked Kane in the head one night when he'd got up to go outside to relieve himself. He had finished his tale by saying that, after Kane got through swearing, he'd remarked that from now on he'd make sure he didn
't spread his blankets too close to the bed anymore. That sounded as though Kane might be living with them.

  The sun had been making its way westward for a couple of hours, and Big Beaver sat on in his perch high in a maple tree. His eyes never left the Bracken shack. Raven hadn't answered his knock on the door around noon, and he had gone inside and searched the single room thoroughly in case she had seen him coming and was hiding. When he had made sure she wasn't there, he had gone to the lean-to attached to the shack. Only Bracken's horse was there. There was no sign of the spotted Indian pony Raven rode. He had then climbed the tree to wait for her return.

  Big Beaver was beginning to wonder if Raven had seen him after all and had slipped off to their village, which was about ten miles away. The cagey bitch knew that her sly ways had never fooled him, that he could, and would, make her rectify the damage she had done to his friend.

  The big Indian was debating if he was wasting his time waiting for Raven to return when he saw her come riding up from behind the shack. He waited until she dismounted and stepped onto the small stoop. When she reached out a hand for the door latch, he slid down the tree and stepped up behind her.

  Raven gave a startled screech that could be heard a mile away when her arms were gripped by steel-like fingers. Dread spread over her face when Big Beaver swung her around and she read the dire message in his coal-black eyes.

  "What do you want?" she croaked. "I have done nothing to you."

  The long fingers tightened cruelly on her arms. "When you hurt my friend, you hurt me. I don't need to tell you how you have hurt him."

  Raven looked away from his grim face, muttering, "I don't know what you are talking about."

  Tears sprang into her eyes when one hand left her arm and slapped her across the mouth. "You well know what I'm talking about." Big Beaver shoved her off the porch and continued to shove her toward the pony. "Now you're going to D'lise Devlin and tell her about the trick you pulled on her and her husband. You are not to let her know that you are being forced to do this." He boosted her onto the little mount's bare back, adding, "You will pretend that you are filled with remorse for what you've done, that you couldn't rest until you told her the truth."

  Raven's eyes shot hate and defiance at Big Beaver. "I will not humiliate myself to that pale-faced bitch. She stole my man."

  "Kane Devlin was never your man. In your heart you know that." The Indian grabbed the pony's reins when Raven would have sent him sprinting away. His cold tone struck to her heart when he said, "You can either do as I say, or I'll take you right now across the river and sell you into slavery. You've never had to work like the rest of our women do. You have grown soft from bartering your body to the white man. How long do you think you would last doing hard labor for at least ten hours out of each day, never having a man in your blankets again?"

  Raven bent her head in defeat. There were women slaves in her own village, and she knew too well the life they led. They had to obey any order given them or feel the bite of a whip or a clubbing from the village women.

  When Big Beaver whistled up his mount and swung onto its back, she obediently followed him as he rode toward Piney Ridge.

  It seemed to Kane that he had been pacing for hours before he saw Big Beaver riding up the hill Raven meekly following him. He watched them disappear down the back of the hill, then climbed onto Snowy's back. "You can go now, Bracken." He looked down at the man's anxious face. "But don't let me see you in these parts again. Take that trouble-causin' squaw and get the hell out of these hills."

  Bracken rose from his seat beneath the tree and, without a word, strode off in the direction of his shack. Kane kicked the stallion's rump with his heels, sending him galloping in the direction of his own cabin. In another two hours the sun would be setting and he had much to do in that time.

  It was a beautiful wedding, D'lise thought, standing beside the radiant Ellen as she accepted the good wishes of her friends and neighbors. It had been bittersweet listening to the same words that had been spoken at her own wedding. Foolishly, she had believed every word Kane had spoken, for she had meant every promise she had made in God's house.

  She sighed and waited for everyone to leave to go to Ellen's house where a banquet awaited them. She still had to tell Ellen of her decision. Her friend would probably think she was limber-brained for still loving a man who sought out his old lover. But she did love Kane, and if he showed no reluctance to becoming a father twice, maybe the baby's arrival, and time, would make him forget about Raven and make him at least contented with his wife.

  When D'lise finally got Ellen alone, she was surprised and relieved at how the new Mrs. Majors took her news. Ellen smiled and gave her a big hug. "I've known all along that you still loved Kane," she said. "And truthfully, Samuel and I have had our doubts about what you and Claudie heard that morning. Oh, I know what you heard," she said when D'lise started to protest, "but I think you heard a lie.

  "Your husband adores you, D'lise. It's in his eyes every time he looks at you. Believe me, that Indian woman holds no allure for him."

  "Oh, Ellen, wouldn't it be wonderful if you're right." D'lise's eyes glowed with hope.

  "I am right." Ellen took her hands and squeezed them gently. "Now, go make peace with your man."

  D'lise could only nod, for she was too choked up to speak. After giving her friend a quick kiss on the cheek, she went to change her dress and to find David and Johnny.

  Big Beaver drew rein at the edge of the village, grunting to Raven to do the same. The single dusty street that wound its way around tree stumps was empty. He gazed toward its end, where apparently all the village's residents were gathered at the white man's house of worship.

  "Some kind of celebration going on," he said. "We'll wait here until we see Kane's woman alone."

  Raven made no response, only stared sullenly down the street, her hatred for Kane Devlin and his wife burning like a fire through her body. If not for this meddlesome man sitting beside her, she'd have had complete revenge on both of them.

  She looked at Big Beaver when he gave a surprised grunt. He was staring at the trapper she'd been thinking of with such hostility. "I didn't know he planned on coming to the village," Big Beaver said. "I hope he's not looking for his wife."

  "Whether he is or not," Raven said nervously, "he's going to see her. She's riding toward him right now."

  As Big Beaver watched, undecided what to do, Kane kicked his mount into a gallop, eating up the distance between him and D'lise. There was an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach as the mare and stallion came together. He gazed hungrily at D'lise, wondering if Raven had talked to her yet, and if so, if it had made any difference to her. In his hurry to get dressed, he'd almost overlooked a note David had left for him saying that he shouldn't worry if they got home after dark, that D'lise was bringing them home. The question burning in his breast now—was she coming home to stay, or to ask him for her freedom?

  D'lise gazed back into the slate-colored eyes, feeling the familiar leap of the blood and pulse every time she saw him. What would he say when she told him she wanted to come back? What would he say about the baby?

  "D'lise." Kane urged the stallion up alongside the mare until his and D'lise's knees were touching. "David left me a note sayin' that you were comin' back with them. I've got to know, is it just for a visit, or are you comin' back for good? I've got to tell you, if it's only for a visit, I don't want you there. It would be more than I could bear to watch you ride away again."

  He leaned from the saddle and gripped her arms, and she could feel the tension in his fingers. "I'm not as strong as these hills, D'lise. I'm just a mortal man who bleeds when he's cut. You cut me deep when you left me and I bled, woman."

  "No more than I did, Kane." D'lise leaned forward and covered his hands with hers. "Can you imagine what it did to me, hearing Raven say she was carrying your baby, and you looking as though it might be true?"

  "God, D'lise, I know how you must have felt,
but—"

  D'lise raised her hand to cover his lips, shutting out the rest of his sentence. "We will let the past go. I am coming back to you, but there is one condition, whether I stay with you or not."

  "Anything, D'lise. Just name it. I love you so much I'll agree to anything—except your seeing another man."

  D'lise's eyes flew to his face, wide and shimmering with happy tears. "You love me, Kane?"

  "Of course I love you, you silly woman. Why do you think I'm so desperate to have you back?"

  "You never once said it. How was I to know?"

  "I know I didn't." Kane shifted about in the saddle. "I'm not good with words, but my body screamed it every time I made love to you. Couldn't you feel it?"

  "I thought I did, but I didn't want to mistake it for lust."

  "Ah, honey." Kane stroked a finger down her cheek. "I admit that sometimes I lusted after you like a ruttin' buffalo, but I loved you at the same time." He tilted her chin. "Tell the truth now, didn't you lust after me just a little bit?"

  D'lise ducked her scarlet, embarrassed face. She had lusted after him—a lot. She forced herself to look back at Kane when he asked, "What was that condition you were talkin' about?"

  D'lise's lips curved in a soft, dreamy smile. "I'm going to have your baby, Kane."

  With incredulous joy flashing across his face, leaping out of his eyes, Kane lifted D'lise from the saddle and set her in front of him. When he would have kissed her, she braced her hands against his chest, holding him away. They had one more thing to discuss. She had to ask him about the other child he might have fathered, what he planned to do about it if it was true. In all honesty, she was not Christian enough to raise the child as her own, and she felt that Kane should know this from the start.