“You’re not running away again, Victoria, now that I’ve finally been able to find you. Whatever it takes, you’re coming back to St. Louis with your mother and me. I don’t like to lose something I’ve set my sights on.”
“Over my dead body,” she hissed through clenched teeth. He closed the flaps of the tent behind her, leaving Tori alone in the dim space. She glanced around, and paced the small area.
She could have simply ridden out of camp on her own, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her to leave her mother behind. Paul would hurt her, there was no doubt. He no longer needed Molly in order to find her.
Tori continued to pace. She eyed the cot in the corner, but was too restless to sit. She would find a way out of this situation. She didn’t trust Paul for a second. He would try something before they reached Captain Raynolds’ company.
Darkness quickly descended, and no one, not even her mother, had come to see her. Voices, laughter, and the sounds of a camp settling in for the evening drifted from outside.
Tori finally settled on the cot after the fires stopped flickering outside, but she couldn’t relax. Several hours must have passed. Where was Mama? Wasn’t this her tent? Her stomach growled. She’d passed the time thinking about ways of escaping. She shivered as a wave of fear washed over her. If Paul could convince a couple of soldiers so easily to arrest her for no reason, could he somehow convince Captain Raynolds to hand her over to him? She was legally married to Lucas. There was nothing Paul could do to change that.
He can kill Lucas. The look of pure hatred in Paul’s eyes when Molly had mentioned that Tori was married made her tremble all over. Paul wouldn’t hesitate to murder again. She couldn’t let that happen.
The flaps on the tent moved, and a slight breeze drifted in. Tori bolted upright from the cot. Purely by instinct, her hand flew to her belt.
“Victoria, are you awake?” A soft voice whispered.
“Mama?” Tori rushed to her mother, her heart racing in surprise.
“Your horse is still saddled, and I managed to saddle another one. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you about Paul, Victoria, but I’m beginning to understand. You were right, and I’m worried for your safety. I couldn’t convince Paul that you weren’t sick in the mind or dangerous, but he seems to have convinced the soldiers that you are.”
Tori hugged her mother, whose body trembled. The woman pressed something into Tori’s hand. Her knife!
“Where are the horses?” she whispered.
“Just beyond the light from the camp.”
“Where’s Paul?”
“Playing cards with the artist and one of the surveyors. I expect he’ll be asleep soon.”
“We’ll wait another hour, until everyone is asleep. Then we’re leaving.”
Tori fingered the hilt of her knife, the feel of it in her hands giving her confidence. If Paul had any crazy notions of coming to her tent before she was gone, she’d be ready for him.
Chapter 28
Lucas rode into camp, several minutes ahead of Captain Raynolds, leading the supply mule that carried the captain’s surveying equipment. Early this morning, they’d left camp to survey a section of the Snake River from atop a rise that gave them a spectacular view of the Teton Range. When the captain was satisfied with his measurements and notes, he’d told Lucas to ride on ahead, an order Lucas had been only too willing to oblige. To the east, he’d spotted the main expedition heading in their direction. By the time he reached camp, Tori would most likely be waiting for him. The thought brought a smile to his face, leaving him aching with a need to touch her, to have her in his arms.
The mule had balked coming down a steep section of the mountain, and Lucas had wrestled with the ornery beast until it finally gave up the fight, braying loudly in protest as it followed Lucas’ horse down the trail.
“Looks like there’s a critter more ornery than you,” Lucas had told his gelding, patting the animal’s neck with new appreciation. By the time he reached camp, the area was bustling with activity. Wagons were being unhitched, and tents raised. Dr. Hayden was yelling at his assistant for dropping one of his fragile surveying instruments.
Lucas skirted the main throng, scanning the people and animals for the one person he needed to see, longed to hold. Twenty-four hours was too long to be apart from Tori. Hell, it hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours, and his heart yearned for her. He tossed the mule’s reins to one of the privates standing nearby, and continued to search for his wife. She should be easy to spot, but she was nowhere. Neither was Molly Williams.
Lucas nudged his horse through camp. David Matherson was talking with Sergeant Newell. The man saluted to the lieutenant, then moved his hands through the air in an agitated manner. Matherson glanced his way when Lucas approached.
“Have you seen my wife? Or Mrs. Molly Williams, Sergeant?” Lucas addressed the visibly upset man. Newell glared up at him.
“Why the hell did you leave that woman in camp with us yesterday, Walker?” Newell spoke loudly, glaring up at Lucas, who hadn’t dismounted his horse. He leaned over his saddle, his forehead scrunched. His hand itched to grab the stocky man by his shirt collar and lay his fist into him for his tone of voice when he spoke of Tori. He inhaled slowly.
“If you’re referring to my wife, Tori, I don’t understand why that would get you so riled, Newell. I left her to visit her mother.”
Newell snorted in disgust. “Well thanks to your . . . wife, we have two members of the expedition missing, and I had to send a couple of soldiers to go out looking for them.”
Lucas stared down at the man. “What the hell are you talking about?” Apprehension shot through him. What kind of trouble had Tori gotten herself into this time? “And who’s gone missing?”
“Mrs. Molly Williams and Paul Holden, the newspaper man.”
Something slammed into Lucas’ gut. Paul . . . Holden? Paul was the name of the man who had accused Tori of murder. Had she ever told him his last name? He was the journalist? Lucas cursed. He’d seen the man plenty of times during the last three months, but if they’d been introduced at the start of the expedition, he hadn’t paid much attention. Tori had only mentioned his name once all those months ago, but it hit him like a kick to the gut now, because she’d said it yesterday after he told her that her name had been cleared. Sudden dread washed over him.
“When were they last seen?” he demanded.
“Last evening. That crazy female pulled a knife on Holden, who was trying to stop her from forcing Mrs. Williams from camp.” The sergeant shook his head. “Women ain’t got no business in the wilderness, I tell ya. They plumb lose their minds. She must have thought she was some crazy Injun squaw.”
Lucas clenched his hand into a fist to keep from wrapping it around the soldier’s neck, even as dread washed over him. Dammit! He’d led Tori straight to the man whom she feared above everything. His jaw muscles worked furiously.
“Then what happened?” He forced the question from between clenched teeth.
“For Mrs. Williams’ safety, we placed the girl in custody in Mrs. Williams’ tent with a guard at the entrance. But she somehow got away in the middle of the night, Mrs. Williams right along with her, and Mr. Holden disappeared, too. Maybe he saw the girl take Mrs. Williams by force, and rode after them. I dunno, but like I said, I sent a couple of men to find them.”
Lucas glanced at David Matherson. “My wife’s life is in danger. I need to leave.” His tone left no room for arguments.
Matherson frowned. “Why would her life be in danger?”
“I have no time to explain. If you follow the Snake due north, you’ll reach my folks’ homestead. I’ll meet back up with you there.”
Lucas reined his horse away from the two soldiers.
“Do you need someone to come with you?” Matherson called after him.
“I can make better time on my own.” Lucas kneed his gelding into a lope leaving the camp, and urged him into a full run once he was clear of the throng of
people.
Gritting his teeth, he leaned over the gelding’s neck, cursing himself repeatedly. If Tori had pulled a knife on Holden, she’d felt threatened by him. Hadn’t her mother known what a bastard the man was? All of her fears and apprehension from yesterday slammed him in the gut. This was his fault. He’d left her alone to face the man who’d almost sent her to the gallows.
Lucas followed the wagon ruts and tracks of the expedition back to where they had camped the night before. He leapt from his horse and scoured the perimeter of the camp. There were too many tracks coming and going in all directions to make sense of any of them. He glanced up.
Tori, if you’re running again, where did you go?
Where would she feel safe? His eyes scanned the distant hills, then a slow smile formed on his face. If she headed in a northerly direction through the mountains, she would reach her old cabin. Lucas sprang back onto his horse, and urged him into a trot, keeping his eyes on the ground and surrounding shrubs as he left the campsite. Sure enough, three sets of hoof prints, two made by shod horses, the other by an unshod horse - his mare - led further into the mountains, and he reined his gelding in their direction. Clearly, if these prints had been made by Tori, her mother, and Paul Holden, the soldiers had gone in a different direction and were probably lost themselves. Lucas scoffed. Inexperienced fools didn’t belong in the wilderness.
His smile was quickly replaced by a frown. Why would Tori head into the mountains rather than ride for the other camp? If she was in danger from Paul, why hadn’t she come to him for help?
“I don’t want to put your life in danger. By being with me, you’re not safe.”
She was convinced she was putting his life in danger, that this Holden bastard would kill him just as he’d killed her former beau.
Dammit, Tori! Have a little faith that I can take care of myself, and you. When he found her, they were going to have a serious discussion about letting him take care of her.
Lucas followed the tracks as fast as his winded horse could handle. The gelding had a lot of endurance, but he’d already pushed the animal hard and fast to get this far. The tracks led further uphill, following the course of a river coming out of the mountains. If they continued this way, there were some treacherous rapids, steep inclines, and narrow canyons to navigate.
Tori knew in which direction to go, but did she know the terrain well enough to reach her cabin from here? The other nagging question was, were the women being pursued by Holden, or was he with them? They’d been chased, judging by the spacing of the hoof prints, which indicated the horses had been pushed into a fast run.
Lucas had his definite answer a short while later. On one of the steeper trails that had become more dangerous due to recent rains, turning part of the soil slippery and treacherous, Tori’s unshod mare had slipped on the uneven ground. Fresh scuffmarks from a hoof marred several protruding rocks, as if the horse had skidded. He dismounted his gelding, and knelt to the ground to study the prints.
A few paces further up ahead, the hoof prints became uneven, indicating the horse had gone lame. Tori’s footprints were right next to the horse. She had dismounted, then remounted the other horse, which presumably had been ridden by her mother up to this point. So now they were riding double. The third set of prints tracked inside several of Tori’s footprints. Their spacing hadn’t changed, which meant the horse hadn’t stopped with the others. Paul Holden was pursuing the women.
Every muscle in his body tensed in anger. If that bastard hurt Tori in any way, there would be another murder committed, and it would be justified. Paul Holden would wish he’d never laid eyes on Tori after he was through with him.
Lucas glanced up toward the mountains. Tall conifers obstructed much of his view into the distance. The river below churned wildly on its course through the canyon, the roar from the water making it nearly impossible to hear any unusual sounds. He swung back into the saddle, and nudged his tired mount forward. His mare stood cropping at some sparse grasses a short distance ahead. Lucas glanced at her. He frowned. Tori’s rifle was still in the scabbard. The animal greeted him with a soft nicker. She bore weight on all four legs, so her injury must not be too bad.
There was no time to assess the horse. She looked content, and he could find her again later. He nudged the gelding onward. The terrain became progressively steeper and more treacherous, the trail following along the canyon’s edge, the river some distance below. A sparse forest of conifers grew up the side of the mountain. If they continued their present course, Tori was heading straight toward a dead end.
Lucas continued on, when, a short while later, the horse stopped, its ears pointed straight ahead. He reached his hand down toward his rifle, keeping his eyes trained on the terrain up ahead. Movement through the trees caught his attention.
“Ah, hell. Not now.”
Lucas clenched his jaw. His body tensed. He pulled his rifle fully from the scabbard, and took aim. An arrow whirred past him, missing him by mere inches. If the gelding hadn’t decided to step sideways at that moment, Lucas might have been hit. He kicked his horse into a run up the slope, and fired. The Indian who had shot at him from behind a tree fell to the ground, writhing.
“That’ll slow you down,” Lucas mumbled under his breath. He reloaded his Sharpe’s, and reined his horse into the trees.
Dammit! He couldn’t afford to lose time now, fending off a bunch of Blackfoot. He glanced over his shoulder. Shrill whoops reached his ears, followed by three warriors charging after him, a familiar figure in the lead.
“Black Sparrow, you worthless excuse for a warrior, go home and weave some baskets,” Lucas shouted. He twisted in the saddle, pointed his rifle, and brought down another one of the Indians. It hadn’t been a fatal shot, only a hit to the arm to keep the Indian from pointing any more arrows at him. He didn’t care for senseless killings, but he needed to get the warriors off his trail. Black Sparrow and the remaining warrior, at least the last one that he’d seen, disappeared through the trees.
Lucas charged through the foliage, the forest becoming denser around him. He cursed under his breath. In his efforts to escape the Blackfoot, he was heading away from where Tori’s tracks had been leading. Slowing the gelding, he swung his leg over the horse’s neck and leapt to the ground. The animal trotted off through the trees, and Lucas ran back toward the canyon’s edge. An Indian darted between tree trunks somewhere behind him, but Lucas kept running uphill. He reloaded his rifle without slowing his pace.
Near the canyon’s edge, he joined up with the tracks again. A few minutes passed, and the hoof prints veered off in one direction while two sets of small footprints continued up the slope of the mountain, some partially trampled by a horse’s hooves. Tori had decided to abandon the horse and continue on foot.
That’s my girl.
Lucas smiled, despite the raw fear that sliced through him. She’d done the smart thing and continued on foot, unlike Holden, who’d remained on horseback. This terrain was becoming increasingly difficult for a horse to traverse under the best circumstance. There would also be better places to hide on foot.
His legs burned from climbing the steep slope, but he redoubled his efforts. Soon, the terrain leveled out somewhat, then headed downhill, before making another ascent. Up ahead, the loud roar of rapids drowned out all other sound. Had Black Sparrow given up his pursuit? There was no time to stop and find out. He’d deal with the Indians later, once Tori and her mother were safe.
Pebbles and larger rocks rolled downhill toward him, and Lucas sprinted up the hill and over the rise. He stopped short of colliding with a horse that lay in his way, struggling to rise to its feet. One leg was snapped at an odd angle, the bone protruding through the skin.
“Bastard,” Lucas cursed under his breath. What kind of man abandoned his horse in such a state, to suffer a slow and painful death? Lucas touched the horse on the head, running his hand along the animal’s neck. There was nothing he could do for the dying creature. He aimed his r
ifle between the horse’s eyes, and pulled the trigger, ending the animal’s suffering. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder. Black Sparrow darted on foot between boulders, apparently intent on continuing his pursuit.
Lucas gritted his teeth. This was one hell of a time for the warrior to want to play cat and mouse. He reloaded his rifle, and continued up the mountain. He had almost reached the rise, when his heart lurched. The trail had reached its dead end. Up ahead, a lone, sparse pine tree grew between the rocks, leaning precariously at an angle out over the gaping canyon. Pushed up against the tree was Tori, her mother sitting on the ground a few feet away. A man stood over Molly Williams, his gun pointed at the older woman’s head.
“Sonofabitch,” Lucas hissed between clenched teeth. His muscles coiled, and his heart pounded in his chest. The urge to charge toward Paul Holden and rip him to shreds, limb by limb, rushed through his veins like the churning river below him. Taking in a deep breath, he inched behind a boulder and aimed his rifle, sighting his target. If his shot wasn’t true, he might hit Tori, or her mother. At the same time that he pulled the trigger, an arrow whooshed past his ears.
Lucas turned his head for the briefest of moments. Black Sparrow stood a few feet behind him, his bow in his hand, stringing another arrow. With no time to contemplate the warrior’s actions, Lucas snapped his head back around to the scene in front of him. He darted from behind the boulder, and sprinted toward the women. The scene before him took on a surreal feeling, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
The impact of Lucas’ shot and the arrow from the Blackfoot warrior pitched Paul Holden forward against Tori, pinning her against the tree. The weight of his body against the trunk of the tree sent the precarious conifer over the edge of the canyon.
“No,” Lucas roared, and he sprinted toward the canyon’s edge to reach the woman he loved. He couldn’t lose her. She couldn’t die, dammit.
The tree trunk lurched a few times, then stilled, hanging over the gaping mouth of the canyon almost vertically to the wall, some of the limbs swaying in the wind. A few sparse roots clung to the rocky soil, preventing it from falling completely over the edge. Molly Williams’ shrill scream pierced the air. Paul’s body tumbled over the rim, dragging Tori with it.
Teton Romance Trilogy Bundle: Includes Yellowstone Proposal (Short Story) Page 75
