“Get going!” Brodie barked at the men. “You two have got a long way to go.”
Rufus’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“You’re both going to walk all the way back to town.”
For the first time since he’d laid eyes on Tyrell, Brodie saw the other man’s face turn pale. “You ain’t giving us our horses?”
“I’ll keep them,” Brodie stated. He grinned. “I like horses,” he said sarcastically. Tyrell and Rufus grunted. “If you two get going now, you might make it back to town early tomorrow morning. Be a mighty cold night, though.” Brodie grinned at the men. “I’m betting you’re both used to living rough. You’ll be fine.”
Tyrell scoffed. “Give us our horses, Cameron.”
Brodie shook his head slowly and emphatically. “Ain’t gonna happen.”
Tyrell and Rufus exchanged shocked looks. When Brodie glanced at Bethany he saw her brows were furrowed in puzzlement.
Brodie took a step toward the two men. He searched them and found neither was carrying any hidden weapons. “Move,” Brodie growled.
After a brief moment of defiance when Brodie thought Tyrell and Rufus might try something reckless, he was relieved when they started to make their way to the edge of the clearing. “All the way down the mountain,” he told them. “You hear? I’ll be keeping an eye on you, just in case you get the fool idea of coming back up.”
Near the edge of the trees, Tyrell halted and glared at Brodie. “This ain’t the last you’ll hear from us, Cameron.”
“Your boss is going to be so disappointed in you both.”
“Who’re you talking about?” Rufus asked.
“When he hears what you boys just did, Shadley will probably be looking for replacements,” Brodie said and laughed when he saw the men’s faces. “Tell him not to bother me, or Mrs Hoxton, again. If he does, we’ll need to involve the sheriff.”
Brodie could tell the men wanted to try one last act of resistance, but they were covered by his gun and by Bethany’s rifle. Finally, Tyrell and Rufus walked into the trees and started down the trail. Brodie glanced back at Bethany. “I’m going to trail these two for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
Bethany lowered her rifle and her shoulders sagged. Brodie expected she might object to his return, or even tell him she wouldn’t be here when he got back. However he was glad when she nodded. “I’ll wait for you.”
For a short while, Brodie followed closely behind Tyrell and Rufus. As he moved down the mountain he heard both men complain and finally begin to argue. From time to time the men turned to see if Brodie was still following them. All it took was a wave of his pistol to persuade them to continue on their way down the mountain trail.
Brodie gradually dropped farther behind the men and finally he halted his descent, watching Tyrell and Rufus carry on until they were lost in the trees.
Satisfied with his work, Brodie started back up through the trees. He moved quickly because he knew what he needed to do. Thinking about what he was about to tell Bethany, he prepared himself for the backlash he knew was coming. Worry gnawed at him. Now that he’d gotten rid of Tyrell and Rufus, it was imperative that they wouldn’t be able to trail Bethany. Even without horses and weapons Brodie thought the men might be reckless enough to double back and seek revenge.
As Brodie quickened his pace he recalled how he’d felt when he’d caught up with the men, only to find they’d already captured Bethany. Shock had rippled through Brodie when he’d heard Tyrell’s threatening words. And when he’d finally reached the clearing he’d known instant action was called for. Luckily he’d taken Shadley’s gunmen by surprise. He’d been trailing them ever since he’d seen them leaving town soon after Bethany. They’d led him straight to her. Brodie shivered in the cool afternoon when he thought about what might have happened to Bethany if he’d arrived late.
His spirits lifted when he emerged from the trees to find Bethany waiting for him. She had found the two horses of Shadley’s men and was using a rope to tie them to her pinto.
When Bethany smiled at him, Brodie felt his heart warm. That sensation was becoming delightfully familiar.
“You ready to go?” he asked abruptly.
Bethany frowned and didn’t immediately reply. She busied herself with the horses for a few moments. He wondered what she was thinking about.
She lifted her head and peered at Brodie. “You think they’ll come back?”
Brodie shook his head. “I followed them down as far as I could. They’ve got no horses and no guns. They’ll want to get back to town as fast as they can.”
Her brows softened. Maybe she believed him.
“I’ll take one of those horses,” he told her.
She seemed surprised by that, but nodded. “Okay.”
Brodie took the rope and tied the horse to his own. Once she’d completed her own preparations Brodie went to his own horse and rose up into the saddle. She peered at him for a long moment. He saw genuine gratitude in her eyes, and in her warm smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Bethany got settled in her saddle and started to ride away. Brodie followed close behind. Bethany halted her mount and stared at Brodie. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“What!”
“I’m not going to leave you on your own. Not after what just happened.”
Bethany’s eyes widened. “You can’t come with me.”
“Why not?”
She gasped, and looked disbelievingly at him. “I’ve told you why.”
Brodie leaned on the pommel of his saddle. “Things are different now, Bethany.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. Was she indignant, or just angry? Probably both, he reflected. Or maybe she liked him using her name, Brodie told himself hopefully. He liked saying her name. It slipped easily from his lips.
She reached down and rested her hand on the stock of the Henry rifle in its scabbard. “I won’t let you come with me.”
Brodie lifted a skeptical brow and tilted his head. “You’re going to shoot me?”
Bethany scoffed and took her hand off the rifle. “Just because you saved me from those horrible men doesn’t give you the right to know where I live, Brodie.” She peered at him from beneath furrowed brows. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”
“I just want to make sure you get home safely.”
Bethany sighed. “And to invade my privacy at the same time.” Her jaw tightened. He could see frustration etched on her features. She was trying hard not to explode, Brodie told himself.
“I’m not going to let you out of my sight, Bethany,” he told her firmly and gently. “It doesn’t matter what you say. You’re not going to change my mind.”
She glared at him, silently, for a few long moments. Then she smacked a hand on her saddle and scowled. “Fine! After what you just did for me, I guess I have an obligation to you. But once you’ve taken me home, you must promise to leave.”
“Okay. That’s a deal.”
She sighed noisily, and then rode ahead of him. Brodie was getting used to Bethany being angry at him. And, if he was completely honest, he liked it. She looked attractive when she was throwing a tantrum. It was strange, and something he couldn’t quite understand.
Bethany twisted in her saddle and glanced back at him. Brodie guided his mount alongside her. He grinned at Bethany. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, letting me come with you. It isn’t as if I’m your enemy.”
“I never said you were my enemy.”
“I don’t expect you to be grateful for my help,” Brodie said.
“How very modest of you.”
Brodie grinned mischievously. “I’m probably the nicest guy in this territory.”
“Is that right?”
Brodie nodded. “Sure. Just ask around. Everyone likes me.”
She lifted a brow. “I never r
ealized you were such a humble person.”
From her tone of voice Brodie could tell she was teasing him. “Humble is my middle name,” he joked.
Bethany’s shook her head and scoffed as if she she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She pouted her lips and dragged her gaze away from him.
They rode for a while in complete silence. Brodie reckoned it might be wise to give her a chance to calm down. She’d been through a lot and needed the chance to concentrate on following the trail home. Also, he knew she was more familiar with the trail than he was.
After a while they left the timberline behind and, climbing higher, followed a trail which ran southward along the mountainside. Brodie hadn’t expected that Bethany lived this high up. Conditions up here were harsher than they were down on the plains. It was cold and vegetation was sparse with just occasional clumps of trees.
The trail snaked its way amongst clusters of massive rocks. The terrain this high up was hard and dry. Progress was treacherous with the ground under foot loose and slippy.
On one occasion, Bethany’s pinto lost its footing and nearly fell into a ravine taking her with it. Brodie quickly grabbed the reins of Bethany’s horse and prevented its fall. Bethany didn’t offer a single word of gratitude. She just rode on with an even more determined look on her face. Maybe slips like that were commonplace, he told himself.
Finally they reached a broad plateau over halfway up the mountain. Bethany led Brodie to the face of a cliff. She tugged aside a pile of what appeared to be fallen branches, revealing an opening in the cliff wall. The gap was wide and high enough for a mounted rider. Bethany met Brodie’s puzzled expression with a challenging one of her own.
“You wanted to know where I live?” She gestured with a hand. “Well, I guess you could say this is my front door.”
“You live in a cave?”
For the first time since the events with Tyrell and Rufus, Bethany smiled. “Of course not.”
Brodie tipped up the front of his hat and leaned on the pommel of his saddle. “I don’t understand.”
“You will,” Bethany declared. She dug her heels into the pinto’s sides and led the other horses into the semi-darkness of the gap in the rocks.
Brodie followed Bethany. The passageway was narrow and damp. It opened into a narrow crevasse overhung by looming rock formations. The remnants of the recent heavy snowfall sat on the rock face, threatening to tumble heavily into the crevasse. The wind, cold and sharp against his skin, blew flurries of powdery snow onto Brodie’s shoulders as he rode behind Bethany. It was so dark there were times when he couldn’t see where he was going.
After a few minutes of progress he asked: “How long is this thing?” he asked, his voice echoing in the semi-darkness.
“We’re almost there,” Bethany replied.
Brodie wondered what he’d find at the end of the passage.
Finally, the light up ahead began to brighten. They were coming to an opening. Brodie felt relief that he’d get an answer to the mystery of Bethany’s mountain refuge. Because, that was it must be, he reflected. A refuge from the world. This far up, so isolated that no-one could ever find it, it was almost as if she was determined to hide from the world. Why had she chosen to do that? Maybe he’d never get an answer to that question, he told himself.
A blast of cool air swept across his face as he emerged out onto a flat area at the entrance to the fissure. Bethany halted her mounts and Brodie drew up alongside her. The view that filled his vision dragged an involuntary gasp from him.
Brodie ran his gaze across the broad valley. It was enclosed by high cliffs on all sides, a few hundred feet high, so that it was shaped like an elongated bowl. He guessed the valley was about half a mile wide and stretched for almost a mile from end to end. Mountains thrust high around all sides of the valley. Grass grew across the valley floor and groves of trees clustered across it creating the appearance of a partially forested terrain.
To his right, a few hundred yards away, a waterfall tumbled from its source in the mountain range which towered above the valley. From the pooled waterfall a stream snaked its way across the valley. And there, close to the pool, Brodie saw a log cabin.
Bethany’s home.
Even from his vantage point he could tell it was crudely constructed.
“Is that home?” Brodie asked Bethany.
Her eyes were shadowed with tiredness, and she looked pale, but she still managed to smile. “Our home.”
Brodie looked out across the valley. “I’ve never heard anyone talk about this place.”
“Why would you? No-one knows it’s here.”
“You saying it’s some kind of a hidden valley?”
She nodded. “My husband found it during one of his travels and decided to bring us all here to live in peace.” She paused and then added. “Away from the world.”
Brodie took note of the way she’d referred to it as some kind of refuge. He still didn’t understand what had driven her and her husband to make such an extreme and dangerous choice. Living up here, surrounded by all kinds of dangers, just wasn’t the place you expected to find a family. He was still having trouble figuring out how she could survive in such a place when he heard the sound of a child’s voice.
“Ma!”
Bethany waved and called out. When she started to ride quickly, following the trail down toward the cabin, Brodie trailed behind her. Soon they arrived at the cabin where Brodie saw a young boy, no more than about seven years old, dressed in buckskin jacket, pants and dirt-covered black boots. He was standing in front of the cabin. The boy was peering straight at Brodie, grasping a rifle in his small hand.
Bethany got down from her pinto and went to the boy. “It’s alright, Noah. Mr Cameron is a friend.”
Brodie lifted a hand. “Howdy, Noah.”
Noah’s gaze didn’t shift an inch from Brodie. “Why’d you bring him here, ma?” Noah asked suspiciously.
“It’s a long story,” she said and stroked the boy’s dark hair. “I’ll tell you all about it, later.”
In spite of his mother’s reassurance, Noah’s eyes were still filled with cautious skepticism.
Brodie got down from his horse and walked straight to Noah. Stretching out a hand, he said: “Glad to make your acquaintance, Noah.”
Noah glanced at his mother. After Bethany nodded and smiled softly, Noah took Brodie’s hand and shook it. Brodie asked himself how long it had been since the boy had seen a stranger.
Then just as Noah released his hand, Brodie heard a voice speaking in an urgent, low growl.
“Step back, there!”
And when Brodie heard the cocking of gun his own hand instinctively reached for the pistol hanging at his waist.
As he did so, he heard Bethany cry out. “No!”
And then Brodie began to turn quickly toward the voice of the unknown man. He saw a man, probably aged in his fifties, and dressed in dirt-stained buckskins.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Nate!” Bethany cried out. “It’s okay. This is a friend.” She turned and saw Nate standing at the corner of the cabin. He was pointing his rifle straight at Brodie who was twisting his body and getting ready to draw his pistol free of its holster.
Panic seized Bethany as stepped between Nate and Brodie. She saw Brodie’s brows furrow with obvious consternation. To her relief, Nate lowered his rifle. Brodie’s hand slid away from his gun. He glanced inquiringly at Bethany seeking an explanation.
“Nate. This is Brodie Cameron. He helped me on my way here today. I ran into some trouble,” Bethany explained.
“What kind of trouble?” Nate asked as he stepped forward. He glared at Brodie, sizing him up. Brodie was the first visitor ever to have come to the valley.
“Some men from town followed me,” Bethany said. She saw Noah’s eyes widen with shock. “Nothing happened,” she told her son. “Go inside the cabin, Noah,” she said. “I’ll come and speak to you in a minute.”
After a moment of hesitat
ion, and after glancing worriedly from Brodie to Nate, Noah did as he was told. He made his way into the cabin. Once the door was closed, Bethany saw the confusion in Brodie’s eyes as he peered at Nate.
“Nate is our friend,” she explained. “When Richard came here, Nate helped him get settled. We wouldn’t have been able to have the life we have here without Nate’s help. He knows everything there is to know about living in the mountains.”
“You’re a mountain man?” Brodie asked Nate.
“I guess you could call me that,” Nate admitted.
Nate went to Brodie and the two men shook hands.
“How come I’ve never seen you in town?”
Nate shrugged. “Ain’t ever seen fit to go there.”
“Not even for supplies?” Brodie asked in an incredulous tone of voice.
Nate looked back up at the towering mountains which loomed above the valley. “A man can find everything he needs in these mountains.” He lifted a brow. “If he knows what he’s doing. And that’s one thing I know. How to survive.” Nate’s voice was filled with a sudden pride. “I guess you could call it my home.”
“How long have you lived up here?”
Nate ran a hand across his stubbled chin and furrowed his bushy brows. “More years than I can count. I came here before the settlers started coming west. I was trading with the Indians in these parts for years. Then, the military came. The only places I did go were the forts to sell some stuff.” Nate’s features soured at the mention of the military. “All that was before the war, of course. Once I heard about that, I reckoned it was time for me to stay up here. Life is simple in the mountains.”
Brodie seemed astonished by Nate’s tale. She knew Nate had probably been in the mountains for over twenty years. From conversations with the mountain man she also knew he had no intention of ever giving up the life he’d made for himself up here. Nate had all he would ever need. His dislike of civilization had been one of the things which had helped unite him to her husband, Richard.
Montana Mountain Valley Bride (Western Romance) Page 6
