“Not likely.”
This was her cue. She had to move now.
Racing toward Will, she pushed him to the floor landing on top of him. Jake’s gun discharged. A stinging pain tore through her right upper arm. She slumped to the floor. Supporting her, Will’s strong arms were beneath her. She gazed up into his agonized face.
“You shouldn’t have done that, darlin’,” he said.
“It worked,” she whispered. “I’m still here.”
He cradled her close. “What kind of crazy, fool thing was that to do? I thought I’d lost you.”
She flinched as a sharp wave of pain knifed through her arm.
“My, my, what a touching scene.”
Erin looked up at Jake, who stood over them.
“You son of a bitch,” she said. “You shot me!”
“I do believe you got in the way. It’s him I want.” He waved his pistol at them, then leveled the barrel at Will’s face.
****
Jake grinned. He had them right where he wanted them. He’d finish off Montgomery first, then deal with Erin. If she cooperated, maybe he’d keep her around.
Until he got tired of her.
“This will atone for all the punishments you dealt out, Captain,” he said. “I joined the army to escape my father, but you were no better than the bastard that raised me.”
“I was always fair with you, Wagner. If you were punished, it was because you did something to deserve it.”
Jake scowled. “All you officers are alike. You order us about and send us out to be blown to bits by Yankees.”
“I was right there with you,” the captain ground out.
Enjoying the heady feel of power, Jake smiled. “I saved your life at Cedar Creek, but now, I’ll just take it back.” He waved his pistol in front of the captain’s face.
“Jake, please,” Erin said. “Just leave us. You go ahead and find that life for yourself wherever you want.”
His hand wavered. “No. You...and him, you both caused me to suffer. You’re both going to pay.” He leveled the barrel at the captain.
“Damn you, Wagner.” Montgomery pushed Erin aside, then dove into Jake’s legs, throwing him off balance.
They fell to the floor, the captain’s full weight on top of him. Montgomery knocked the gun from his hand just out of his reach.
****
Will growled in anger. This man had hurt and nearly killed Erin. He’d never allow him to harm her again. He pummeled Wagner with both fists until he slumped beneath him.
Erin was hurt, and he needed to get back to her. He started to rise. The sergeant’s body heaved. He knocked Will onto his back and rolled on top. Will tried to push him off but froze when he felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against his cheek. “Got you now, Captain,” the sergeant whispered.
Will thought with regret of Erin. How could he save her now?
Chapter Twenty-nine
After Will pushed her aside, Erin watched him wrestle with Jake. She had to do something fast. Jake’s pistol lay on the other side of the scrabbling men. She’d never reach it in time.
The packs! Cradling her right arm in her left to give it support, she raced to the bags and found Will’s revolver. Now she knew why she’d learned to shoot. She could save his life.
She grasped the gun with her good arm. A shaft of pain radiated from her wounded arm up through her shoulder and threatened to bring her to her knees. She couldn’t fail. That would mean death for both of them. Cocking the gun, she leveled it at Jake as he pressed his pistol against Will’s face.
“Jake!” she screamed.
He half-rose and smirked. “Put that down before you hurt somebody.”
“Oh, I fully intend to hurt you, unless you get up right now.”
He rose slowly, one hand out, the other still clutching his pistol.
“Give the gun to Will,” she said.
Jake glanced down at Will, who pushed up onto his elbows. Instead of handing the pistol to him, Jake pointed it at his face.
“No!” Erin screamed. She pulled the trigger. The recoil sent a shaft of white-hot pain up her arm into her shoulder, and she collapsed onto a pile of hay, but she held onto the smoking gun.
Jake flew backward, his pistol falling to the ground.
Erin carefully placed Will’s revolver beside her. The pain in her arm and shoulder burned. She bore down as best she could and made it to Will’s side where she sank into his arms.
Glancing over her shoulder, she asked, “Is he...?”
“I don’t reckon he’ll be getting up.”
Erin turned her face into his wool coat, inhaling his comforting masculine scent. After being away from him for so long, she felt safe.
“I’d best check on Wagner,” Will murmured against her hair.
She nodded. He rose and gently positioned her so as not to hurt her arm.
“Stay here.” He moved cautiously toward Jake, scooping up the sergeant’s pistol. After inspecting the body, he turned back to her. “He’s dead.”
“Oh, God!” Erin gasped. She’d never aimed a gun at anyone before. Knowing she’d killed a man, even one as dastardly as Jake, chilled her to the bone. She’d done what she had to do to save Will, but, damn it, this was such a horrible feeling to know she’d taken a man’s life.
Will sank to her side and gathered her into his arms. “You did what you had to do, darlin’. If you hadn’t fired, I’d be the one lying there.”
Erin nodded. He turned her away from Jake’s body.
“He’d have killed us both. You know that,” he said.
“I know. I had to. He wouldn’t put the gun down. But, damn it, why did he make me do that?”
“It’s all right, darlin’.” He brushed his lips against hers.
His touch lit a fire in her. She opened to him, allowing the kiss to erase all the lonely months of her recovery, when she’d thought he had been just a lovely dream. She melted against his strong hard body. “I love you,” she murmured between kisses.
He pulled away, gazing into her eyes. “I love you, too. I just didn’t realize it until I thought I’d lost you for the second time.”
Erin searched his eyes. He made her feel like she was the most beautiful woman on Earth. “I thought I’d lost you, too. I’ve been gone for six months.”
“Pardon me?”
“I went back to the twenty-first century.” She ran her fingers through the thick hair at the nape of his neck. “And the whole time I was there, all I could think of was how I could get back to you.”
“But you did come back.” He kissed her again and drew her lower lip into his mouth, sending a delightful shiver through her.
When he released her, she asked, “Do you believe me?”
“Of course I do.”
“You do?”
“You’re an amazing woman. I should have known from the start that you didn’t belong here.”
“But my story sounded so far-fetched. It’s no wonder you didn’t buy it.”
“Buy it?”
“It’s just an expression from my time. It means you didn’t believe what I’d told you.” She shifted in his arms. A white-hot shaft of pain shot through her arm and shoulder, making her wince.
“I think I’d best take a look at that arm.”
He left her sitting amidst the hay while he went through his pack. As she waited, she couldn’t help but glance in Jake’s direction. Blood coated the hay beneath him. She didn’t see any movement and was afraid to examine him closely. She’d take Will’s word that the man was dead.
Will returned and gently unhooked her bodice, then slid her dress and chemise off her shoulder to get to the wound. While he worked, she was unable to take her eyes off his face. The face she’d feared to never see again.
After examining her wound, he determined the bullet had gone through soft tissue. “I don’t believe it’s done any major damage. I’ll clean it the best I can, then bind it up until we can get you to a doctor.”
Erin loved the way he took charge and cared for her. If she had to stay in this century, she believed she could endure it as long as he was by her side.
After he cleaned the wound with water from Jake’s canteen, he stuffed it with lint, then wrapped it in muslin he’d gotten from his pack. Using a larger square of fabric, he fashioned her a sling. He ordered her to sit still while he saw to the horses and prepared their packs for departure. He didn’t want to stay any longer than necessary.
“What about Jake?” she asked.
“Reckon we’ll have to leave him.”
“Just lying there like that?” She found it hard to stomach. No telling how long it might be before someone found him.
“We have no choice. We need to skedaddle before someone finds us.”
She nodded. He was right.
“We’ll take his mare for now,” Will said. “And I’ll go through his pack to see if there’s anything we can use.”
He obviously expected to leave on horseback. “Will,” she said, “there’s something you need to know.”
Turning back to face her, he said, “What is it, darlin’?”
“I can’t ride a horse.”
“Because of your arm?”
“No. I’ve never ridden a horse before.”
He frowned, then nodded. “He brought you in the wagon.”
“We could ride back in that.”
He shook his head. “Horses would be faster and easier to maneuver around obstacles. We need to keep off the roads.”
“I’m too scared to get on a horse,” she admitted. “If Jake hadn’t taken me in the wagon, I’d have died of fright.”
“My poor darlin’.” Will glanced at Jake’s inert form. “The man deserved what he got.”
“Damn straight,” Erin agreed.
Will shook his head. “Should I even ask what that means?”
“It means, I agree with you.”
His lips curved up at the corners. “Reckon that’s more of your future-talk.”
“Reckon so.”
“You’ll have to teach me those words and their meanings.”
“I’d love to tell you all about the twenty-first century.”
“Well, for now,” he said, “you’ll have to ride with me. We’ll bring Wagner’s mount along for our gear and switch when mine gets tired.”
“But where will we go? Back to camp?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid we can’t do that. Wagner’s cast suspicions on you, and I deserted when I came to look for you.”
“But where else...?”
“I thought we’d head north for now.”
“But you’ll be captured,” she protested.
“Right now, we’ve got to get you to a doctor.”
Erin opened her mouth to make another objection, but he shushed her.
“You rest while I get things ready.” He busied himself preparing for their departure.
She settled back against the hay and imagined riding with Will. When he’d told her he loved her, she’d thought her heart would melt. Warmth rushed through her when she realized he’d actually deserted the army for her.
What were they going to do now?
Chapter Thirty
They made their way north through the back roads of rural Virginia. Will recounted how relieved he’d been to find Erin alive and unharmed. And now the threat of Wagner was gone.
Since Erin had never ridden before, he’d hoisted her onto his gelding and mounted behind her. This way he could hold onto her and protect her arm and shoulder. The sergeant’s mare cantered beside them, carrying their packs.
Every mile or so, they stopped to provide Erin rest. He checked her wound and cleaned it. The last thing he wanted was to lose her to an infection.
Along the way, when she wasn’t dozing, she’d been entertaining him with stories about the future.
“People in my time still ride horses, but not as a form of transportation,” she told him. “We ride in cars.”
“Railcars?”
“No. These cars, called automobiles, are self-propelled. They’re powered by gasoline and have a steering wheel and gas pedal, so the driver can control where and how fast the car goes.”
He tried to puzzle out what she described. “Are these cars like carriages?”
“Sort of. But they have pneumatic rubber tires, and they go much faster than carriages.”
“How fast?”
“Fifty or sixty miles an hour.”
He whistled. “Why is everyone in such an all-fired hurry in the future?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s just the way we are.”
“So, you all travel by car.”
“No. We also have trains and planes.”
“Planes?”
“Airplanes. They fly in the sky.”
“Like birds?” This future world sounded amazing.
“They’re machines, like cars. They’re powered by fuel, and a pilot controls them.”
“Do you fly?”
She laughed. “As a pilot? No. But I have flown as a passenger.”
“And what’s that like?”
“Sometimes it’s a hassle, but when you’re in the air looking below from so high up, it’s all worth it.”
Will shook his head. “I think I’d like to see this fantastic world you come from.”
She settled back against his chest. “I wish I could take you there.”
****
Most of the journey was uneventful. They encountered nothing but wildlife along the way. On the afternoon of the second day, the sound of hoof beats behind them put Will on alert. He couldn’t afford to be seen by either Confederate or Yankee patrols. Even the locals could present a problem. They had to get off the road.
“Someone’s coming up the road behind us,” he told Erin. “I have to find us someplace to hide.” He dismounted, then moved both their packs onto his gelding behind her. Slapping Wagner’s mare on her rump, he sent her down the road, while he led his gelding with Erin still astride into the woods.
After they’d gone several yards, the hoof beats grew louder. Men’s voices echoed around them. Will hurried his gelding along trying to avoid noise that might alert the riders. At the same time, they had to hurry. This last day of November, there wasn’t much foliage to hide them. They would certainly be seen from the road when the men passed.
“Look,” Erin said.
Will swiveled his head to glance up at her. His gaze followed her outstretched arm. They approached a series of hills. Several openings in the rocky hillside suggested caves.
“Maybe we can hide in there,” she said.
He smiled. “You must be an angel from the future, because you’ve just performed a miracle.”
Fortunately, one of the caves was large enough for them and the horse. He couldn’t afford to lose their last means of transportation. He just hoped he could keep the animal quiet, until the riders passed.
He used piles of fallen leaves and blankets from his pack to make Erin comfortable, then examined and cleaned her shoulder, using the last of the muslin he carried for a fresh bandage. He had to get her to a doctor. Surrendering to a Yankee patrol might be an option. At least she would get help. A Confederate patrol, however, would spell trouble for both of them. And since they were still in Confederate territory, that was most likely the identity of the men on the road behind them.
After tending to his gelding, he returned to Erin. Although wrapped in several blankets, her teeth chattered. He knelt, enclosing her in his arms, trying to warm her.
“Once that patrol passes, I’ll start a fire to keep us warm for a spell.”
She nodded. He warmed her ice-cold hands between his.
“You take such good care of me,” she murmured against his shoulder.
“You saved my life, darlin’. Just like an avenging angel from the Good Book. What ever did I do to deserve such a guardian angel?”
“You’re the man I love,” she said.
<
br /> He felt her eyes on him in the dim light.
“The man I always loved.”
Cupping her cold cheeks in his hands, he moved his mouth to her face warming her with kisses. When he reached her lips, she responded, opening to him, sending shivers through his body. If it weren’t for the danger of being discovered, he’d likely lie down beside her. But he had to stay on guard. And more importantly, he had to find her a doctor.
****
Erin woke alone in the cave. She patted the still warm blankets beside her where he’d lain during the night. The fire he’d built was now nothing but smoldering embers. Sitting up, she winced. Her arm and shoulder were still sore, but the sharp pain had subsided. She hoped that meant her wound was healing.
Where was Will? She wondered if he’d gone outside to relieve himself. Squinting through the darkness toward the back of the cave, she realized the horse was gone, too.
No way would he have left her alone here. Could something have happened to him? Sunlight flooded the cave entrance. She rose, groaning and favoring her arm. Gathering the blankets around her to ward off the chill of the late fall morning, she approached the entrance to gaze outside.
A clear blue sky greeted her. Barren trees, brown grasses, and brush predicted the change of season. They were about three weeks from the winter solstice.
Cracking brush alerted her that someone approached. She ducked back inside the cave to avoid being seen, until she could make out who was there. Two horses appeared. She breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized Will atop his brown gelding. But who was the other rider? A gray-bearded man wearing glasses and a large black hat rode alongside him.
Will dismounted, and Erin ran to him. He caught her in his arms.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” he said.
“I just woke up. I didn’t know what happened to you.” She glanced up, puzzled by the other man’s presence.
Following her gaze, Will said, “I told you I’d fetch you a doctor. This is Dr. Hoffman. He’s a Quaker from a nearby farm.”
Dr. Hoffman removed his hat and smiled down at her. “Good morning, ma’am,” he said in a German-accent. “Thy young man explained thy situation. I will be glad to help.”
“The doctor’s wife and son are just down the road with a wagon. They’ll take you back to their farm and tend to your arm.”
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