Yellowstone Deception (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 5)

by Peggy L Henderson

  “Hi Daniel,” Jana said quietly. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, either.”

  “I am anxious to return to my cabin. It is only because Aimee asked me to come and bring you back with me that I left her side to follow my brother.”

  “Aimee knows I’m here?” Jana asked eagerly. “How is she?” She released Dan’s arm.

  “She is well, and looks forward to seeing you. She guessed correctly that it was you when my brother described you to her. This man,” he nodded toward Dan, “I am sure you will enlighten me as to who he is and why you brought him here.”

  “I think we should talk about why I’m here when we’re all together,” Dan said quickly, before Jana could speak.

  Daniel stared at him. “How is it that you and I share such a likeness?” he asked. “You are from the future, are you not? From my wife’s time?”

  “Yes, I’m—”

  “Bia, bia.” Elk Runner’s toddler son suddenly broke the silence around them, and waddled toward Daniel, his chubby little arms outstretched. Daniel kneeled, and in one swift move swung the little boy into his arms and over his head, holding him upside down. The toddler laughed with delight.

  “You grow fast, little nephew,” Daniel said in Shoshone, and settled the boy on his shoulder. The smile on the man’s face transformed him from the hardened mountain man into someone much less imposing. He turned toward Elk Runner.

  “I must return to my wife. I will take this man and woman with me.”

  Elk Runner’s eyes widened. “You cannot take Spirit of White Wolf with you, White Wolf,” he said adamantly. “If you refuse to do your duty, he will take your place, so that you may be by Dosa Haiwi’s side. It is what the spirits want. That is why he was sent here.”

  “I do not believe that is the reason he is here.” Daniel waved him off with a casual flick of his hand. He turned his attention back to Dan, ignoring Elk Runner’s incredulous look. “My brother says you have news of danger?” The smile vanished, and he once again stared with those penetrating eyes.

  Dan inhaled deeply. “Yes. I think there’s another man here from the future, and your son is in grave danger.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows drew together. “My son?”

  “Yes, your son, Matthew.” Dan groaned silently. He realized a second too late that he said something he probably shouldn’t have said.

  “I have no son, at least not yet.” Daniel’s forehead wrinkled. For the first time, his self-assurance wavered.

  “Ohmygod!” Jana shot a wide-eyed look at Dan, then at Daniel. “Aimee hasn’t given birth yet, has she?”

  Daniel stared at her stoically for a moment, then his features softened. Dan was surprised to see something close to fear or panic in Daniel’s eyes. “I am glad that you are here, Jana. Your knowledge of medicine eases my worries about my wife. Although my mother and sister-in-law are at her side, I worry about the birth of my . . . son.” He shot a quick look at Dan.

  Dan kicked himself mentally for sticking his foot in his mouth. “We really need to get to your cabin,” he said quickly.

  Daniel stared at him, then at Jana, and nodded. Turning to Elk Runner, he said, “I trust you to remain here. Speak to the elders. Perhaps they can tell you why the spirits have sent a man who shares my likeness. Until then, he will come with me, and give me his own explanation. Something you would not allow him to do.”

  With those words of finality, Daniel set the little toddler on the ground, and patted him on the head. He nodded to the people standing around.

  “Come,” he said with a wave of his hand. Without a backwards glance, he headed into the forest from where he first emerged.

  “I guess that’s our cue to follow,” Dan said to Jana. “Go ahead.” He nudged her in the arm. “I’ll catch up. I have to get my backpack.”

  ****

  Daniel set a fast pace after leaving the Shoshone village. His silence was unnerving. He picked his way easily through the dense forest, never glancing back to see if Dan or Jana followed. Something told Dan that Daniel knew exactly how far back he and Jana were. In his mind, he replayed his first encounter with the man who’d been painted as someone to look up to by his grandfather’s stories. Mountain men were always portrayed as larger than life, and their deeds exaggerated. Dan was sure that the stories about Daniel were closer to the truth than fiction.

  His grandfather’s tales weren’t filled with stories about a man who killed a grizzly with his bare hands, or crawled hundreds of miles after being nearly mauled to death, or had defeated an entire war party of bloodthirsty Indians single handed. His grandfather had simply portrayed Daniel Osborne as a man of great integrity, who forged a living in this vast wilderness long before many other white men ventured into these mountains. He’d been brave enough to live here all his life, making his living as a free trapper without joining a fur company. Later on, he’d run a successful trading post to supply others who ventured into these mountains. He’d done all this, and raised a family that he protected with the fierceness of any wild predator, leaving behind a legacy that would forever shape the destiny of the Yellowstone area.

  Dan clenched his jaw and cursed silently as he followed in this man’s wake. His lack of judgment, his own ambitions, might be the ruination of all that Daniel Osborne and his family had accomplished. Dan felt smaller than the caterpillar inching along on the moist leaf of the wild huckleberry bush he brushed up against. Self-loathing consumed him again, even as Jana’s words from earlier this morning echoed in his mind. Everyone makes mistakes, or loses sight of what’s important. Let go of your guilt.

  Dan reached for Jana’s hand and held on tight. Her eyebrows drew together. She was his crutch, his anchor. As if she read his mind, she spoke in a hushed whisper, “The first time I saw him, he was coming out of anesthesia. He fought like a bear. He was scary even then.”

  He grinned. “So, you don’t think I could take him?” he teased. “I’m not scary enough for you?”

  “Dan, you and Daniel may look alike. It’s bizarre that you two are the same age right now, too. But no, I don’t think you could take him. You’re a teddy bear compared to him.”

  “Teddy bear, huh?” He enjoyed the easy banter at the moment. It took his mind off the turmoil within him.

  “Yes. And you’re my teddy bear,” she said, and hugged his arm, stumbling over a downed log at her feet. Dan gripped her around the waist and pulled her up. “And I wouldn’t want you any other way,” she added after she stood securely on her feet again.

  “Daniel wouldn’t have sold out the park, and certainly not his family,” he said before he could hold back what was on his mind.

  Jana stopped in her tracks. Her amber eyes searched his face. She reached up and touched his cheek. “Dan, we’re not too late. Daniel didn’t know anything about Hastings. He obviously hasn’t reached the valley yet. We’ll make it right again.”

  “I sure made a mess of things when I said his son was in danger.” Dan shook his head.

  “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t mention the other baby.” Jana whispered almost imperceptibly, and smiled.

  “What happens if Hastings shows up, and Matthew isn’t even born yet?” Dan asked suddenly. He spoke in hushed tones, wondering how good Daniel Osborne’s hearing was. He certainly didn’t want to give the impression of talking behind the man’s back. He glanced at the figure walking some twenty yards ahead. He couldn’t possibly overhear them.

  No sooner had the thought entered his mind, when Daniel stopped abruptly, and turned, waiting for them to catch up.

  “Do you need to rest?” Daniel asked, directing his question at Jana.

  “Am I holding you up?”

  Daniel’s lips raised in a grin. “There was a time when Aimee said the same thing to me. I should have learned by now not to question a woman from the future’s abilities. They take offense much too easily.” He directed his grin at Dan.

  “Twenty-first century women are a bit harder to handle, I wou
ld imagine, than a nineteenth-century woman,” Dan said.

  Jana shot them both an annoyed glare. “I see you two are going to get along just splendidly. How much further is it to your cabin?”

  “Perhaps another hour,” Daniel answered. “If you are not too tired, we should keep moving. I do not like leaving my wife. Her time is close.”

  Daniel started walking again, but he didn’t move ahead of them. The forest wasn’t as dense in this area, and they could all walk side by side.

  “Elk Runner said you refused to leave the valley, and it made the spirits angry. My Shoshone is a bit sketchy, so that’s what I understood,” Dan said, eager to engage Daniel in conversation. There was no doubt Daniel would be a fierce adversary, but Dan was also curious about Daniel as a person, not just the legend.

  Daniel smirked. “The Tukudeka are a highly spiritual people,” he said. “You understood him correctly.”

  “But you were raised by them. Don’t you share their beliefs?”

  Daniel turned to look at him. “I do share their beliefs. I believe that everything we see before us,” he swept his hand in an arc in front of him, “is connected. Without the trees, there can be no birds in the sky, or beaver in the water. Without the beaver, the trees become too numerous, and grasses will not grow to feed the elk, which in turn feed the wolves, and the people. This is the way of the spirits. They connect everything from the smallest fish to the fiercest predator.”

  He paused for a moment, and his chest heaved in a visible sigh. “Then there are the things we cannot see or explain. I am alive because of the gift of the sky people. Because of this gift, my wife would not be here also.”

  “So, what did you do to make the spirits angry?”

  “Just as everything you see before you is in balance, so are the traditions of the Tukudeka. I am choosing to ignore one of the traditions in favor of remaining at my wife’s side when she gives birth. It is customary for a father-to-be to go hunting to supply his clan with meat as a gift in celebration. I have explained to my brother, and to the elders of the clan that I will do what is required after my child is born. The elders have accepted this. My brother has also accepted it, but he enjoys tormenting me.”

  “Siblings like to do that to each other,” Jana chimed in. “Don’t you think, Dan? Some things are just timeless.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I’m an only child,” Dan said, and his eyes met Daniel’s. It was another thing they shared in common, Dan suddenly realized. His ancestor’s gaze revealed nothing of what he could be thinking.

  “Oh,” Jana said softly. “You never talked about your family. I didn’t know.”

  Dan laughed. “I’m the last Osborne in Montana,” he said quietly, and met Daniel’s penetrating stare.

  “Perhaps you should tell me who you are, before we reach the valley, and why you are here.” Daniel said suddenly. “I do not wish to upset Aimee.”

  Dan ran a hand through his hair. How much should he tell him? This was not going to be easy. He glanced briefly at Jana. Her eyes widened.

  “Your wife, Aimee, writes in a journal.”

  “Yes.” Daniel nodded.

  “Several years from now, she will leave that journal for Jana to find.”

  “I remember her telling Jana this on the day I came for her in the future,” Daniel said, looking at Jana.

  “Well, I met Jana right after she found that journal, and she guessed right that I am one of your descendants.”

  Daniel’s features softened. He looked Dan over out of the corner of his eyes. “I have assumed as much,” he said, the hard edge to his tone gone. “But how is it that you are here? Aimee and I made sure the time travel device is gone forever.”

  “We found it with the help of the sky people, I think,” Jana chimed in. “An old Indian came to me in a dream, telling me where to look for it.”

  Daniel’s eyebrows rose. “The sky people wanted you to come here? Why?”

  “Because I made a terrible mistake,” Dan said solemnly. He stared at the ground as he walked, unable to look his ancestor in the eye.

  “When a man realizes he has made a mistake, it is the first step to undo what he has done wrong,” Daniel said, as if he spoke from experience.

  Dan scoffed. “Yeah. Well, because of my mistake, I’ve put your child’s life in danger. Someone else from the future has found out about the time travel device, and has come here to kill your child because of something one of his children will accomplish in the future.”

  Daniel tensed, and his eyes hardened. “Where is this man now?”

  “We don’t know. We assume he came here after we did. He has the time travel device. I don’t know how long it took him to figure out how it works, but I’m sure he will come here, if he isn’t here already. And without that device, Jana and I can’t return home.”

  Daniel stopped, and faced him. Holding out his hand to him, he gripped Dan’s arm with the other. “This man won’t have the opportunity to harm any member of my family. We’ll find him, and you can return to the future.”

  Daniel pointed with his rifle straight ahead. “Keep walking east. This forest will open up into the valley of the Madison very shortly. Follow the river, and you will come upon my cabin.”

  “Where are you going?” Dan asked, perplexed.

  “I must get to my wife. If you say there is a man here somewhere who wants to do harm to my family, I need to get back home quickly.” He nodded briefly, then took off running through the trees, and was soon out of sight. Dan stood with Jana, and clenched his jaw. Daniel wouldn’t be so welcoming once he found out about the events that led him and Jana to come to the past. Once Daniel knew that it was he, Dan, who had brought danger to Daniel’s family, he might not live to return to the future.

  Chapter 27

  Jana’s heart sped up with excitement. She knew they were getting close to Aimee’s home. The forest gave way to a narrow, steep-walled canyon some time ago, and the Madison River flowed beside them. She and Dan walked along briskly, following the river’s banks. The sweet smell of the grass that grew green and tall in this area was intoxicating and lifted her spirits. All these weeks of trekking through harsh wilderness, they had finally reached their destination. And they had surely beaten Hastings here.

  Jana hadn’t realized how fast she was walking until Dan grabbed her by the arm and held her back.

  “Slow down,” he said, a lazy grin on his face. “If you’re in such a hurry, you should have gone running off with Daniel.”

  “Sorry.” She couldn’t suppress a giggle at the image coming to her mind of trying to keep up with Daniel running through the forest. “I’m just anxious to see Aimee.”

  Dan pulled Jana to a stop. He stepped toward her, close enough for their bodies to touch. His eyes darkened, and the soft smile from a moment ago vanished, to be replaced by a serious look.

  “I know how much you miss her,” he said, his voice deep and sensual. Ripples of desire ran up and down Jana’s back, and a knot coiled in her stomach. It was almost frightening how she responded to his nearness. She inhaled deeply of the clean masculine scent coming from his skin, watching his pulse throb along his neck.

  “Our time alone is over,” he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek. “And I’ve enjoyed every minute of our adventure together. You can be my backpacking partner any day.”

  “First we have to get back home to the future,” Jana whispered, and raised her head to look into his eyes. “What if Hastings doesn’t come?”

  The muscles in Dan’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “He’s here. I can feel it.” He looked up, his eyes scanning into the distance, as if expecting the man to materialize from the forest. Abruptly, Dan cupped her head between his hands, and kissed her. Jana leaned into him, and wrapped her arms around his middle.

  Sucking in a deep breath of air when he broke the kiss, she rested her head against his chest. His heart beat loud and strong against her ear. Dan held her to him, stroking the back of her head, ru
nning his fingers through her hair. He kissed the top of her head, and his chest heaved.

  “How will you explain us to Aimee?” he asked quietly.

  Jana pulled away from him. “What do you mean?” she asked tentatively.

  “You know. Girl talk. What am I to you? A casual friend? The guy you just met and are having a summer fling with? Or . . . your husband?”

  Was that uncertainty she saw in his eyes? Hadn’t she convinced him that she loved him? A summer fling? Jana’s eyes narrowed.

  “You didn’t want to go out with me because of my relation to Aimee, remember?” he reminded her when she looked at him, too dumbstruck to speak. His eyes roamed over her face, as if looking for answers. When had Dan become so unsure of himself?

  What was she going to tell Aimee about her relationship with Dan? Jana hadn’t really thought about it. After Daniel had shown up at the Indian village, there hadn’t been a whole lot of time to think about it. She was sure Daniel knew that they were more than casual friends. There wasn’t much that slipped past him, and surely he had seen them hold hands. Perhaps Elk Runner had even told him that she and Dan had spent the night together in the lodge. Obviously he knew that they had been alone together since coming to the past. She hadn’t noticed any signs of disapproval from Daniel. And why should he care? It was none of his business.

  What Aimee thought about her relationship with Dan mattered more to Jana. Aimee would be happy to hear that Jana had finally found someone she wanted to have a long-lasting, if not permanent relationship with. How she would react to that person being her descendant, and looking a lot like her own husband, that would remain to be seen. Oddly, Jana didn’t think about it with trepidation like she had weeks ago when Dan first asked her out.

  “I haven’t really thought about it,” Jana finally answered, looking down at her feet. What did he want her to say to him? Dan had told her he considered them married in the Indian tradition, but did he seriously consider her his wife? He hadn’t said anything about when - if - they returned to the twenty-first century, what kind of relationship they would have then. He’d hinted that he wanted a commitment, but he hadn’t asked her to marry him, either. The rules were different here than they were two hundred years from now. Surely he realized that.