by Merry Farmer
“I can’t believe that the American West could be so big that we could ride for a day and a half and still not see a hint of other people,” Katie muttered around noon as they reached the crest of a higher hill.
Aiden peeked sideways at her as he scanned the vast horizon. “It’s certainly not Ireland,” he said.
“It’s certainly not,” she echoed.
He studied her as she scanned the wilderness, biting her lip. Her red hair was a wild tangle framing her beautiful, determined face. Riding in the sun had given her color. Her eyes were sharp and calculating. But as Aiden stared at her, his heart flowing over with love for her, he saw a promise unfulfilled. He had vowed to take her home. Until they were safe with their families once more, he couldn’t consider that promise fulfilled.
“Is that smoke over there?” She pointed far over the valley before them, past the trees and the winding path of a small stream.
Aiden looked, raising a hand to shield his eyes. Far against the horizon, the faintest wisp of something that could be smoke curled up against the haze that met the sky.
“I think it could be,” he said. “What do you think? Do we chase after it?”
Katie turned to him. A sudden smile lit her face, chasing the worry away. “You’re asking me what we should do?”
“Of course,” he laughed. “You’re the adventurer here.” She could adventure ’til her heart was content, and he would silently protect her through every step of that grand adventure.
Her smile grew, though she shook her head. “You really are a new man, Aiden Murphy. But it’s not my decision, it’s our decision.”
“Then let’s decide.” He winked at her. If he were closer to her, he would have taken her hand—taken it and never let it go.
“I say we chase the horizon,” she replied, bubbling with energy once more.
“Then let’s go.”
He kicked his horse into a run, or as close to a run as he thought he could go without a saddle and with his fiddle case and Magpie Woman’s sack strapped across his back. To his surprise, by the time they made it to the bottom of the hill, Katie had pushed her horse to run beside his. He held on to his horse’s mane and checked on her. Instead of the frown of concentration she’d worn for the last day and a half, Katie grinned, eyes bright with competition. She tapped her horse’s flanks with her heels, urging it to go faster.
Aiden wasn’t about to be outdone. He leaned low over his horse’s back and urged it to a full gallop. Without a saddle, he could feel the horse’s muscles tense and surge as he caught his full stride. He shot ahead of Katie, the wind whipping at his face and fluttering the fringe of his Cheyenne tunic. He tore across the valley and on across a wide field toward the edge of an outcropping of forest, exhilarated.
As he neared the forest, he twisted to check over his shoulder for Katie. She had fallen behind, but not far enough for him to stop and wait for her. Even with the distance between them, he could see the determination in her eyes. She would be insulted if he slowed down or let her think he was giving her an edge. Protecting her was not just about guarding and shielding her at all times. If there’s one thing their time with the Cheyenne had taught him, it was that. No, he thought as he darted around the corner of the woods where the trees met the field, protecting Katie was much more about—
The loud bang of a rifle being fired from the thick of the trees to his left blew all thought from Aiden’s head. It was followed a second later by a second shot. Sharp pain flared in his leg. He lost his balance as a third shot sounded, flying from his horse and hitting the ground with force that knocked the wind out of him. Something struck his head and the world went black.
Katie’s heart pounded in her throat as she toyed with the idea of pushing her horse to go faster. She could barely keep on the beast’s back at the speed he was going. Every time she felt her balance slip, she tugged the horse’s mane to slow it down, only to kick it to speed up as Aiden ran farther and farther ahead of her. By the time she crossed the valley and neared a patch of forest, he disappeared behind the trees, at least fifty yards ahead of her, maybe more.
She heard the shot a moment later. Shock made her gasp and tug on her horse’s mane. It heard the shot too, and skittered to a stop that nearly unseated Katie. Two more shots followed.
“Aiden?” Katie called out.
No answer came. She scrambled off of the horse, stumbling as she hit the grass, her legs rubbery.
“Aiden!” she tried again.
This time, the indistinct shouts of men came back to her from the other side of the trees. She forced herself to run in spite of her weak and sore legs.
“You got him.” The words of the shouts came clear to her as she tore through the trees. “You got the Indian!”
“Grab his horse,” another voice said.
Katie dashed through the trees, skittering to a stop when she reached the other side. A shriek of terror froze in her throat. Aiden lay face down, far away from her in the clearing beyond the trees. Three men in rough clothing, two of them with long beards, rushed toward him, rifles raised and aimed.
“Is he dead?” one of them asked.
“If he isn’t now, he will be when I get to him,” another answered.
“No,” Katie screamed. She didn’t think. She didn’t hesitate. Ignoring her aches and her fear, she sprinted toward the men closing in on Aiden. Aiden, who had risked everything to save her, who had made love to her as though they were made for it. Aiden, who loved her. He couldn’t be dead. “Aiden, no!”
The hunters whipped around in surprise. One of them fired off a shot that flew well wide of Katie. One of the others cursed. “Look at her hair,” the third one bellowed.
Katie didn’t stop to curse them out or to demand what they meant by her hair. She kept running, tore straight past them as they lowered their guns. Aiden was the only thing she cared about.
“Hold it there, missy,” one of them shouted at her as she passed them. “That there Indian is dangerous. He—”
She didn’t listen to whatever else he had to say. She reached Aiden’s side and flew to her knees, reaching out for him. She pulled the fiddle case and Magpie Woman’s sack off his shoulder and threw them aside.
“Aiden. Aiden!” she cried as she gripped his arm and turned him over. Blood poured from a cut along his forehead. One leg of his Cheyenne breeches was soaked with blood as well. She swallowed the wave of panic that threatened to take her under at the sight. “Aiden, wake up. Wake up, a ghrá.”
She wiped the blood away from his face as best she could without a cloth. The three hunters jogged up behind her. As soon as they saw Aiden’s face, they murmured and cursed.
“He’s white,” one of them gasped.
“Quick,” Katie shouted, whipping to face him. “I need water, a bandage, anything.”
The man without a beard nodded and dashed off.
Katie turned back to Aiden. “Wake up, Aiden, wake up.” She did the only thing she could think to do and bent over him to kiss his lips. “You can’t be dead, you can’t. I can’t live without you. My life is your life and yours is mine. It’s always been that way, it will always be that way. Wake up.”
“Aiden?” one of the hunters said behind her, though she barely noticed. “Not Aiden Murphy?”
Katie straightened and snapped to face him. “Yes,” she said, staring at the hunters with wonder and suspicion.
“Are you Katie Boyle?” the other asked.
“Yes, I am.”
Both hunters hissed and hummed. “Folks have been looking for the two of you from here to Ft. Bridger and back again.”
She had no response to that, no reaction at all. She whipped back to Aiden, shaking his shoulders. “Did you hear that? They’ve been looking for us. Wake up and tell them that we’re found.”
“I’m awfully sorry, ma’am,” one of the hunters said. “I didn’t know. Dressed like that, with his hair all black, he looked like an Indian brave.”
Katie igno
red the man. “Stop this at once, Aiden,” she begged him. “You’re scaring me.” She patted his face as she spoke, harder and harder, panic pulling her under, until she slapped him outright. “Stop scaring me.”
With a sharp jerk, Aiden sucked in a breath. Katie was so relieved that he wasn’t dead that she cried out, tears springing to her eyes. He tried to move, but moaned at his efforts. His eyes fluttered open.
“A ghrá,” he said, hoarse and groggy.
“Thank God,” Katie breathed out in relief, tears streaking her face.
“Don’t worry, ma’am,” one of the hunters said. “Trent here will patch him up good. He’s used to doctoring out here when someone gets shot by accident or nicked by an Injun.”
Katie barely heard the man, hardly noticed when he crouched by Aiden’s leg and peeled back the leather to get a look at his wound.
“Aw, that ain’t nothing,” Trent said. “Soon as Bob gets back with the water and supplies, I’ll get you fixed up enough to take you on to Ft. Bridger.”
“Thanks,” Aiden said through gritted teeth. He tried to sit up.
“No.” Katie pushed him back down again. “Stay where you are. Keep your strength for the ride to the fort, wherever it is.”
“It’s about a day’s ride southwest of here,” the other hunter said.
Katie nodded. “I’ll get you there,” she promised Aiden. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Aiden chuckled. “That’s my job, a ghrá.”
“It’s both of our jobs,” she argued with him.
He lay back, lifting his hands in defeat. Trent continued to do what he could for Aiden’s leg, pouring water on it from the canteen at his side. Katie watched the whole thing, dizziness settling over her as the full impact of what could have just happened settled over her.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked through a wince of pain. “You’ve gone as pale as a ghost.”
“You scared me,” she confessed, shaking as the truth swirled through her. “You scared me so much. I love you, Aiden. I love you, and I don’t ever want to be without you.”
“I love you too,” he told her, reaching out for her hand and squeezing it. Of all things, he laughed. “I thought you were never scared.”
“I am now, you daft fool.” She threw herself on him and hugged him for all she was worth. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Never,” he said, lifting his arms to hug her. She could feel the effort the gesture cost him, but it was exactly what she needed. “I’ll never leave you.”
“You’d better not, Aiden Murphy,” she scolded him. “You’re my heart, the hero of my dreams.”
“I know,” he hummed.
She laughed at his audacity, at the familiarity of his teasing. She laughed because he was alive and so was she, and now they could finally be as one and build a life together. They could finally go home.
Epilogue
Ft. Bridger was a welcome sight. Katie had searched over every hill for any sign of the fort, craned her neck to peek around every outcropping of forest, and searched the horizon for a glimpse of it since they started out shortly after the hunter named Trent bandaged Aiden’s leg and head. It was slow going with Aiden’s injury. They spent an anxious night packed into an old hunting shack that marked a milestone of sorts on the way back to the fort. The rest of the journey was tedious and anxious, but by the afternoon of their fourth day since leaving the Cheyenne camp, Ft. Bridger was finally in view.
It was an oasis, and to Katie it was a bit of a disappointment. As they drew near, she saw militiamen and horses, whitewashed cabins and barracks, a palisade wall and a few cannons. There were few women though, no children that she could see, and not a hint of singing or laughter. Her relief at making it back quickly turned into an ache in her heart. She missed her friends in the Cheyenne village, missed Two Spots most of all.
That sadness was short-lived, though. The moment she rode through the gates into the fort, with Aiden on a makeshift travois pulled by Trent’s horse, a jubilant cry rose from the far end of the fort. Katie would have known that cry anywhere.
“Mam?” She sat straighter on her horse, twisting and turning until she spotted her mother and half of her pack of younger siblings running toward her. “Mam!”
She jumped down from her horse and dashed to meet her mother, exclaiming with wordless delight when they collided and hugged each other close.
“Oh, Katie.” Her mother gasped and sputtered, happy to the point of tears. “We were terrified for you, utterly terrified. And Aiden. When he raced after you, when we heard that he and Dr. Meyers had been forced to split up….” The rest of her words were drowned in emotion and tears. She hugged Katie again.
“Mam, what are you doing here?” Katie asked, bewildered.
“We wanted to stay behind at Ft. Caspar or spread out and search for you,” her mother explained, unwilling to let Katie out of her arms, “but that blasted trail boss forced us to move on. Said if we delayed only a few days we could be caught in the mountains when snow set in, like the Donner party. He wouldn’t stand for any of us staying behind until we got here, just a few days ago. The rest of the wagon train’s gone on without us.”
“Where is Aiden?” Aiden’s brother Liam called from one of the fort’s long buildings. Liam and the rest of Aiden’s family raced to join the gathering just inside the gate.
“I’m over here,” Aiden called to him. Liam rushed to help Aiden muscle himself off of the travois to stand.
“What happened to you?” Liam asked.
“Uh, Bob here mistook him for an Injun,” Trent confessed.
Katie winced at the derogatory use of the word “Injun,” but let it go. She was too happy to hug and kiss and cuddle all of her younger siblings to care what prejudices people had for the moment. She would give the lot of them a piece of her mind later.
“I’m fine, really,” Aiden insisted with a laugh as Liam and his other brothers checked him over. Liam glared at the sheepish Bob as if contemplating revenge. “It was an honest mistake.”
“You’re far more generous than I would be,” Liam said.
“I’m far more handsome and stronger than you are too, brother,” Aiden teased him.
Katie laughed, her heart swelling in her chest. After everything they’d been through, Aiden was still very much her Aiden. He’d taken a bullet, he would have a scar, but the heart of who he was hadn’t been damaged. Instead, it had grown.
“We had quite an adventure,” he went on, limping across to Katie. Even though she had her youngest sister in her arms, she slid an arm around Aiden’s waist and helped him walk toward the central building of the fort. “It was everything that Katie here has always dreamed of.”
“What about your clothes?” Katie’s mother asked. “They look like Indian clothes.”
“They are,” Katie answered. “We were with the Cheyenne, in their village, for nearly two weeks.”
“Saints preserve us.” Her mother slapped a hand to her chest.
“No, no,” Katie corrected her. “They’re fascinating, peaceful people. Well, most of them. I’d like to show some of them the backside of my hand.” She shook her head, brushing Sharp Arrow and Wolf Walking Alone, and even Sky Bear and Magpie Woman in a bad temper, aside. “I’ll tell you all about it, but right now, more than anything, I just want to sit down.”
“Of course,” her mother said.
“Katie? Is that you?”
Katie glanced up from where she was walking to find Emma and Dean walking toward them from the other side of the fort. As soon as she saw that it was, indeed, Katie, Emma burst into a run. The two friends met in a furious embrace.
“Emma,” Katie said.
“I was so worried about you,” her friend answered. Katie had never seen her looking so happy.
“And I was worried about you. Thank God you’re all right.”
“We had a very interesting experience with a small group of Cheyenne,” Dean said, crossing to Aiden and eyeing the cut on his
forehead like a good doctor would. “By the look of things, you did too.”
“Yes, we did,” Aiden said. “Brave Wolf returned to the village and told us all about how you delivered his wife’s baby when everyone thought mother and child would both die.”
“He did?” Emma asked, fear in her eyes.
“Don’t worry,” Katie told her. “Brave Wolf and Laughing Water had only good things to say about you. They told everyone who would listen.”
“They did?” Emma asked, awed.
“I’m glad,” Dean said, and quickly went on with, “We need to get you inside where I can take a look at that leg.”
“I already patched him up,” Trent said. “He’ll be fine in a few days.”
“I’m more worried about any lingering mistreatment by those savage Indians,” Liam said.
“Well, don’t be,” Aiden set him down in a hurry. “You’d like them, Liam. They’ve got a lot more in common with us than you might think.”
“I thought so too,” Dean added.
Bob, the hunter, snorted. “If you two like them Injuns so much, maybe you should go work as one of them Indian Agent folks.”
“Indian Agent?” Dean asked.
“That’s those people the militiamen were talking about,” Katie’s mother said. “They work as a liaison between the Indians and the government.”
Aiden and Dean exchanged looks. Katie smiled, the thrill of another adventure on the horizon. She still held Emma around the waist in a friendly hug and gave her a nudge with her hip. “Why do I have the feeling that the two of them together would get into all sorts of trouble?”
“Because they would,” Emma answered. She leaned closer. “But it will have to wait. As soon as Alice gets back, we’re going to have a wedding.”
“Is that so?” Katie never would have guessed that there would be so much happiness waiting for her at the end of her adventure.
Emma nodded. “Dean and I decided that we can’t wait until we get to Oregon. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure we’ll even continue on to Oregon. Especially not if Dean can find a way to help the Cheyenne and the other tribes. As soon as Alice gets back, we’ll talk about it.”
