Not a moment later, she tripped down a slight incline, and the hand that held hers in a vice-like grip yanked her to the ground. What was he doing? Every instinct in Josie screamed at her to fight, to get away from the impending danger, but a voice of reason in her head quickly took over and convinced her that Travis wasn’t going to take advantage of her out here in this storm.
The dust and wind swirling around her and Travis was nearly unbearable now, sucking all the air from her lungs. The heavy weight of a man’s body descended over her as he pinned her to the ground. She momentarily wanted to scream, but no sound came from her lungs as she gasped for air.
“Lie still, Josie. We have to wait here until it’s over. I’ll cover you as best as I can.”
Travis spoke in a loud voice by her ear over the onslaught of the wind, but his tone was strangely comforting. While her body remained tense, the fear from the storm overshadowed everything else. Having this man’s body covering her was different than before. Travis was shielding her from the dust. She ducked her head into her chest and curled up as best as she could. Travis remained motionless, holding her to him while his body sheltered her from the storm.
She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her heart to stop pounding and the fear to go away. She hadn’t fully recovered from her ordeal with the rattlesnake and her senses were on heightened alert. Josie forced away the horrible memories that threatened to invade her mind. Not since that awful day had she been trapped beneath a man.
This was different. She wasn’t trapped and held against her will by a man who wanted to hurt her. She was in no danger from Travis. He was nothing like that other man. Travis had no intention of hurting her. Quite the opposite. He was saving her life. He’d already saved her life when he’d shot the rattlesnake.
Time passed as if it had come to a standstill. Travis remained motionless on top of her, keeping his weight off her body and shielding her from the continued onslaught of the wind and dust. The deafening roar of the wind was almost unbearable. At times, it seemed as if any air she managed to breathe into her lungs was immediately sucked out again.
Large and small particles of debris pelted her where she wasn’t shielded, sometimes painfully slamming into her. What must Travis be enduring? He had nothing except the clothes he wore to protect him from the forces of the wind.
When he shifted slightly, Josie tensed. Her hand came up to grab his shirt to anchor herself to him. Fear for herself and for Travis in the howling storm overrode any of her former, horrible memories.
Her muscles stiffened the longer she lay motionless, waiting for the nightmare to end. When silence finally gave way to the ear-piercing noise, she continued to remain still as death. Was it over?
Travis stirred. He groaned, then slowly, his weight lifted off her. Josie coughed as she inhaled more of the dust that fell around her. A moment later, strong hands reached for her arms and helped her to her feet. She blinked, her eyes stinging and watering from all the grit.
It was a mistake when she rubbed her hand across her cheek. The sand on her hands and face scraped against each other like bristles from a porcupine.
Next to her, Travis slapped his palms against his britches and shirt, creating a cloud of dust around him. “It’s gonna take a long bath to get rid of all this dirt,” he spewed.
Josie blinked and glanced up at him. The unexpected grin on Travis’ face left her staring. He was covered from head to toe in sand. He shook some of it out of his hair, but he was right. It would take a lot of scrubbing to remove all the grit. If he looked like a badger that had covered itself with dirt while digging out its den, what must she look like?
“We both must be quite a sight,” he answered for her.
His hand reached up, hesitated, then picked something from her hair. Their eyes met again, but this time he wasn’t grinning. “Some sage twigs got caught in your hair,” he mumbled and held up what he’d removed.
Josie nodded. She swallowed, but her throat burned from loss of moisture. She coughed, not only to rid herself of the awful feeling of having swallowed a bucket of dirt but also to conceal the sudden awkwardness around Travis. He stood so close, his breath tickled the side of her face.
The sensation of him lying on top of her lingered, making her body tingle all over. No. It must be all the dirt particles that had gotten under her clothes, making her itch all over.
“Thank you, Travis,” she stammered.
No other words would come. He’d saved her life, twice in the span of the day, and that was all she could say? She was beyond grateful, but she couldn’t voice the thought. Feeling weak and vulnerable around Travis had never been a good feeling. This time, however, it didn’t seem to matter. He wasn’t sneering at her or laughing the way he’d done in the past whenever he’d thought he had the upper hand.
He continued to look at her, then finally took a step back and broke out in that smile that was so familiar. It had always been a source of irritation before. This time, it was a comforting smile. Even coated in a layer of dirt that made him look like he’d rolled in Anna’s crumb cake mix, his smile accentuated his handsome features.
Josie’s heart fluttered. She sucked in a long breath to ease the renewed tension in her body. It was a similar, but not quite the same feeling that came over her whenever she thought she was in danger or when she woke from a nightmare.
Where had the thought of Travis’ looks come from? Admittedly, she’d always thought of him and his brothers as handsome men, but she’d never dwelt on it. It had always been a passing observation, not something to ponder further, just as she noticed a nice-looking horse.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, pulling her attention fully to his face. He leaned forward, and a concerned look replaced his grin. “You didn’t get snake-bit, did you?”
Josie shook her head, both to clear it and in answer to his question. “I saw the dust cloud growing larger and was heading back to camp when my horse spooked and threw me. I thought for sure that snake was going to strike, but you got there just in time.”
Travis nodded, and his features softened in relief. His eyes were still on her. The look on his face seemed like he wanted to say something, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he rubbed a spot on his arm and rotated his shoulder. His lips formed a slight grimace. The back of his shirt was torn in several places. No doubt he was scraped and bruised all over from all the debris that had pelted him.
“I should ask you if you’re hurt.” Josie echoed his question and stared at his arm.
Travis shrugged. “It’s nothing. It’ll be fine. The wind must have knocked something into me.” He smiled, then glanced around the vast prairieland, which was as calm as could be despite the violent dust storm that had passed.
Josie’s eyes lingered on his hand, which still clutched his upper arm. Whatever had slammed into him must have hurt more than he was letting on. She blinked the renewed moisture in her eyes.
Damn the dust!
For the second time in as many days, Travis had acted selflessly and with a level head. First, his quick thinking had saved a child’s life, and now he’d saved hers. Twice. He was so unlike the man she’d known all these years. How was it that he seemed so different all of a sudden?
She needed to talk to Cora. Her big sister would be able to help her make sense of these strange thoughts. Maybe it was simply that she was away from her family, and Travis was the closest person to remind her of Harley’s Hole.
Admittedly, she was homesick, but she’d also enjoyed this time on the trail, working hard each day and helping the women get home. Her thoughts about Travis were most unexpected.
“Well, I suppose if you’re not hurt, we should start heading back to the wagons.” He glanced around. “It’s going to be a long walk. I’m afraid my horse ran off, too, when the dust storm got bad.”
Josie blinked and stared at Travis. His brows were raised in an expectant look. Her thoughts had been elsewhere, and it hadn’t even occurred to her that they woul
d be walking back to the wagons. They were several miles from camp.
“Yes, we’d best get back.”
“Our horses are probably back in camp. I just hope I can find my rifle.” Travis led the way up the incline. He combed the nearby ground with his eyes, walking back to where Josie had been thrown by her horse. It didn’t take him long to find his weapon under a layer of dirt.
Josie slapped at her britches. It was a futile attempt to get rid of the dust on her clothes. She licked at her dry lips. The closest source of water was the lake, and that was several miles away. Her rifle was still on her saddle, so the only weapon she had was her hunting knife. Hopefully Travis was right, and the horses had found their way back to the wagons.
“I wonder if the dust storm reached our camp,” she whispered as she fell in step beside Travis, who was heading in the direction of their camp.
Travis stared into the distance. “If they got hit, I’m sure it wasn’t bad. The storm probably played itself out before reaching the lake.”
They walked in silence for a while. Travis had moved faster when they’d first started, his strides long and evenly paced, but without saying anything, he’d soon slowed down when Josie had fallen behind.
“We’ll be back by nightfall.”
Josie glanced up to see Travis looking at her and smiling. There was something close to concern in his eyes. What was going on with him? The Travis she knew would have told her to keep up or fall behind.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t have kept up with him. Her legs were simply too shaky after today’s ordeal, and too many unsettling thoughts swirled in her mind.
“If you need to rest, we can stop. Falling from your horse and facing that rattler must have knocked the wind out of you.”
“I can manage.” Josie lengthened her steps. Part of her wanted to simply run away and not look back. If he’d act like the man she knew, it would be easier to deal with him, but Travis wasn’t behaving like himself at all.
“I wonder if Anthony will come looking for us if the horses returned to camp without us.”
If Anthony was out looking for them, she’d get back to camp and away from Travis a lot quicker and could explore the unsettled feelings swirling around in her head more fully. Hopefully, though, he’d realize it was not a good idea to leave the others unprotected if he rode out to find her and Travis. Chances were good that he’d go looking in the wrong place, unlike Travis, who must have ridden from camp shortly after she’d left.
Travis visibly tensed the moment she’d voiced her thoughts about Anthony.
“I have no doubt he’ll come looking for you.”
Josie glanced his way. A hard stare into the distance and a clenched jaw had replaced the smile on Travis’ face. He gripped his rifle and increased his pace, this time leaving her lagging behind.
Chapter 13
Travis broke through the water. He shook his head like a wet dog, letting his hair whip around his face. He rubbed his scalp and rinsed one last time to remove all the sandy grit from his body. The cold water was a welcome reprieve to the anger that smoldered under his skin.
He fished his clothes that he’d balled up and flung into the lake before diving in after them from the water, then strode to the lakeshore. Snatching the piece of cloth Loretta Colby had given him, he dried off.
The spot on his shoulder where something hard had slammed into him during the dust storm throbbed dully. The other countless cuts and scrapes on his back stung as the towel rubbed over his skin. Travis turned his head to see the area better. A large red welt covered his skin, but it would end up being nothing more than a bruise.
He slipped into his only other clean pair of britches and shirt, strapped his belt around his waist, and reached for his rifle that he’d left propped against a rock. Finally, he wrung the water from his dirty clothes with more force than necessary and hung them over a willow branch to dry.
His shoulder ached whenever he moved his arm, but it was a bearable pain. A bruise would heal quickly. The same couldn’t be said for the battering his heart was taking. The feeling was as unpleasantly painful as stepping into a steel trap. As much as he’d tried, he couldn’t shut out the raw sensation any more than he could get Josie Hudson out of his mind.
Laughter came from the camp, along with the delicious smells of dinner delectables cooking over campfires. Travis’ stomach growled, but he didn’t have much of an appetite. He followed the aromas anyway. It would be rude not to show up for the supper that the women had prepared.
He passed several wagons that had seen better days. One of them had a broken wheel, and its owner was working on making repairs. Two others had the canvas torn in places.
When he and Josie had returned to camp, these three wagons had already been there. The people had been members of another party heading west, and they too had been caught in the dust storm. Unable or unwilling to go on, these families had asked Anthony Hammond if they could join his train and return to Independence. Of course, Hammond had accepted them with open arms.
Hammond. Travis gritted his teeth. He was genuinely friendly with everyone, which made Travis’ entire predicament more difficult. There was nothing to dislike about the man. Nothing to dislike, except that he had his sights set on Josie Hudson.
Travis forced a smile and nodded at the man who was making repairs to his damaged wagon.
“That was some storm, wasn’t it?” the man called. “It was the last straw for me and my girls. Sure nice of Hammond to let us join your group. You must be the scout he’s been talking about.”
Travis glanced toward the campfires, then at the man, and changed course. He nodded and held out his hand, forcing his face to remain impassive while his heart beat stronger at the mention of Anthony Hammond.
“Travis Wilder.”
The man wiped his hand on his britches, then clasped Travis’ and shook it.
“Eli Dansforth. Hammond had nothing but praise for you. Said you’re the best scout around.” The man scoffed. “If the man scoutin’ for our company had been more competent, we might have missed the dust storm. Heard you got caught out in it, too.”
Travis ignored the snide remark about the other scout. Getting caught in the storm could have happened to anyone. “I’m just glad it didn’t reach our camp. Glad you folks didn’t get hit any worse than you did. It could have ended badly.”
Dansforth chuckled. “I’ve had enough, and so have a few of the others that joined me in heading back to Independence.” He shook his head. “Should have never left the farm and thought to come west. Maybe I’ll be able to buy it back, who knows?” He shrugged, then wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. “It’s hard work providing for three girls. Never thought I’d be stuck out here with them this long. Oregon sounded like a good place, but I just can’t take all the complaining anymore. Three daughters, all nearly full-grown. My wife up and died last winter, leaving me to tend to the bunch alone. The complaining they do can drive a man to drink.”
Travis curbed the impulse to roll his eyes. The man was clearly eager for an outlet to voice his own complaints.
“There are a lot of women in this outfit. Maybe your daughters will mingle more with them and give you some peace.”
Dansforth’s eyes lit up as if that hadn’t occurred to him. “A man can hope. What I really want is to get a couple of them married off, so they’re out of my hair.”
Travis chuckled. “For that you’ll have to wait until you’re back in Independence. This company is made up of mostly widows and children.”
Dansforth scoffed. “I noticed that already. Wouldn’t mind a wife to take my girls in hand, but then I’d most likely be stuck with more kids.” He looked at Travis with his head cocked slightly to the side. “Care to join me for a little drink? I’ve got a couple of good bottles of whiskey stashed away.”
Women’s laughter came from somewhere in camp and Travis glanced over his shoulder. Josie was probably with the women, or more likely, with Anthony Hammond. He m
ade eye contact with Eli Dansforth. The man’s offer was tempting.
“Maybe another time. I’m late for supper. You should join us.”
Dansforth waved a hand in front of his face. “I’m gonna enjoy some peace and quiet while my girls are socializing with the other women. Might hold off finishing fixing the wheel until morning. It’s getting late.” He grinned and reached under the seat of his wagon, producing a bottle. “Let me know if you change your mind, Mr. Wilder.”
Travis nodded, then walked away. By the eager look on Eli Dansforth’s face, he was planning on getting drunk. Hammond might regret his decision to allow these newcomers to join his group. The good preacher probably wouldn’t condone rowdy behavior.
Ada Hammond was laughing at something little Salita Jane said as Travis strode toward the fires. Crates had been set up as chairs, along with a few makeshift tables. The kids all looked eager for food, and the women were dishing up plates.
“You’ve finally decided to join us, Mr. Wilder.” Loretta Colby came up to him and hooked her arm through his. “We thought you’d never show up.”
“Had to get all that trail dust out of my hair and clothes,” he mumbled.
Mrs. Colby laughed, but her face quickly took on a serious look. “That had to be quite the terrifying experience. Josie told us what you did for her and that you saved her life.” She glanced at him appreciatively. “You’re quite the hero, Mr. Wilder. Thanks to you, my little Salita is alive, and now Josie.”
Travis shifted weight from one foot to the other and ventured a strained smile at Mrs. Colby. He was no one’s hero. He’d simply acted in both instances to do what needed to be done. He certainly hadn’t expected to . . . Travis blinked.
He hadn’t expected to develop feelings for Josie Hudson. She certainly didn’t think of him as a hero. Travis glanced around the gathering. Where was Josie? Anthony Hammond sat with the two other men, biting into a biscuit. There was no doubt who the empty seat next to him was for.
Mrs. Colby’s comment took him back to earlier in the day, lying on the ground and shielding Josie from the worst of the dust storm. His blood pulsed strongly through his veins at the memory of her soft body beneath his, and the way she’d clung to him as the worst of the storm raged overhead.
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