Read Microsoft Word - OneGoodWoman Online
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She snorted. “Are you really such a good swimmer?”
“Best I know.”
She surprised herself by laughing, but then another thought occurred to her. “Could you swim across the river and reach the southern bank?”
“Maybe when the spring floods are done. It wouldn’t be easy. I was thinking if we can’t find another way, we might try building a raft, put in near the falls and try to paddle diagonally.
We might reach the other bank before we hit the sea.”
“You could probably swim it without me.” She looked at his profile in the dark. He stared up at the stars.
“I wouldn’t leave you behind any more than you would leave me. We’re in this together.”
The silence stretched for a while but it wasn’t uncomfortable. “I’m not afraid of the Savages. You can count on me.”
“I know I can count on you. There’s no one I’d rather have with me.”
“You’d be better served if you had Juston or Sky Turan here with you.”
He turned to her again with his grin that made her own lips curl in response. “Hell no.
Either one of them would have kicked my ass in that little wrestling match we just had. What would that have done to my male pride?”
“Realm men have so much of that you wouldn’t even have noticed losing a bit of it.”
His expression turned serious. “Oh, we don’t mind losing it for something important enough.”
She turned away. “We need to sleep.”
He sighed but before long his breathing settled into the steady, rhythms of sleep. She curled on her side facing him and stared at his broad shoulders and the dark curls riding against ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 39
his collar. A few wild curls stuck up across the top of his head as usual. He was such a good man. Her heart knew it but the rest of her refused to believe it of any man. He would have made a great husband for Mia. For any woman. Any whole woman. Not a broken one like her.
* * * *
Brady woke to full alertness. A sound, something not of the night, had startled him from sleep. His gun sat within comfortable reach as he waited to hear it again.
The out of place sound came again, from behind him. A soft, nearly inaudible whimper filled with pain and fear. His stomach tightened. A wave of fury, no less heated than the one he’d felt when she first told him, swept up from his gut and actually made his neck hot.
He turned, careful to make no sound, and found her still asleep and in the grip of her nightmare. She curled on her side with her tiny hands fisted and pulled against her chest.
Recounting her horrid experience had likely brought this upon her.
What should he do? Wake her? Would his presence frighten her even more? He stretched his hand out toward her shoulder but noticed the trembling in his hand. He pulled back and silently cursed his helplessness. He hunted and killed Savages for many years and for many reasons, but a new soul gripping hatred was now his.
That such animals had abused and degraded such a lovely, spirited woman was beyond his ability to imagine. They’d trampled her physically, crushed her pride and destroyed her sense of worth. Yet, she’d survived. Survived and now fought back. How could such a petite body hold so much will and determination? What might she had been like before?
With a few, deep breaths, he regained control of his temper. What did his feelings matter? How much had it cost her to share her story with him? He warily put his hand on top of her fists. His hand was large enough to cover both of hers. Her skin was cold and another small moan escaped her tightly pressed lips.
He scooted closer and slid onto her blanket. Even curled up, she took up only a portion of the blanket and left plenty of room for him. He pulled his blanket over both of them and settled himself so that his thighs touched her drawn up knees. Still she twitched and grimaced, caught in her memories. He stretched out ever so slowly until he lay on his side facing her.
A shiver shook her entire body. He willed his warmth and strength into her hands from his, but she didn’t need his strength. She was the strongest person he’d ever met. So much about her now made sense to him. The way she appreciated his friendship and then pulled back when he tried to take it further. The rudeness she pushed him away with that was probably really fear.
Now that he understood, she wouldn’t be able to push him away. He would earn her trust in him as a man and as a warrior. Even if it took him years.
Sleep eluded him though she slowly relaxed back into a deeper sleep. A rock beneath the blanket poked into his hip, but it was a small discomfort compared to the agony she faced everyday, awake and sleep.
Her body went limp as her exhaustion pulled her deeper to where mindless forgetfulness existed. He carefully maneuvered to his back and tucked her close to his side. He listened to her steady breathing and accepted he would like to hear the sweet sound every night. Every night forever? Maybe.
The moons both set before his eyes grew too heavy for him to deny. Though he wanted to savor every moment of her body pressed to his, he knew he needed to sleep. Tomorrow he would start his campaign to win and heal her heart.
* * * *
Cara stole another glance at Brady as he crouched behind the thick trunk of a walnut tree.
She’d waken to a chilly, gray dawn and found herself all snug and warm against his side. After lifting her head from his shoulder, she’d managed to carefully move away from him. Her heart still pounded in remembrance but she wasn’t sure it was fear.
“What do you think?” He gestured up the cliff side. They’d smelled the hot springs for nearly half an hour before they found it. Steam rose against the backdrop of the dark stone. This wasn’t a simple ledge like they’d slept on the previous night. It sat nearly halfway up the cliff-side and was fronted by a tumble of boulders and red dirt. It was large enough to even have a few small trees growing on it. “Should we go up and take a look? If nothing else, we might be able to see what’s ahead of us.”
“Good idea. Did you notice this is a walnut tree?” She walked around it a bit. “There should be lots of last fall’s nuts lying on the ground.”
“You’re right. They’ve been gathered.” He walked around the tree also.
They looked at each other for a moment and then both looked up at the cliff. There were at least three hours of daylight left.
“I think we can climb up there,” Brady said.
They helped each other over some of the more difficult parts of the ascent. The avalanche seemed to have happened years ago as there were many plants and saplings finding root holds between the boulders. But many of the rocks were unstable and dangerous beneath the unwary foot.
The air warmed as they climbed and the noxious odor of the hot springs added to the discomfort. The large shelf wasn’t nearly as level as the small ledges they investigated before.
The hot pool sat nearly in the middle with little plant life about it. Stinking bubbles popped to the surface in varying sizes and at irregular intervals.
Brady walked to the cliff way, searching as they always did for a way to the top. He had to make his way through some thick underbrush and a few young trees before finding purchase beyond the spring.
She looked at the plant growth nearer the spring. Solonia had a few hot springs so she knew the ground and air around such odd natural wonders were warmer than the lands around them. That meant it had been spring in this small climate for longer than at the bottom of the cliff.
It didn’t take long to find something. Wild yams. She knelt and used her knife to dig out the thick, orange roots. The plants grew in a small patch. A feast.
“My stomach is growling already.”
Cara jumped. The gurgling of the pool had hidden Brady’s approach.
“We can eat them raw or cook them.” She started digging up more yams. “Why don’t you gather some wood?”
He squatted beside her, his scent washing over her and overpowering the stench of the springs. “I don’t know if we should.”
She paused. “You mean the walnuts?”
“Do Savages eat walnuts?”
“Yeah, they’re gatherers of nuts, berries and wild grains.” She gestured at the pile of yams. “They eat roots too.”
“They might be close by.”
“The Savages around Solonia migrate with the weather in search of food. They don’t have permanent homes.”
ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 41
They didn’t build a fire. Brady climbed down to refill the water bag after they used all their fresh water to wash off the yams. She dug up more of them while he was gone. They’d passed a stream about an hour south so it took him a while.
He returned in less than two hours and rejoined her breathless and with his shirt wet with sweat.
“What is it?” She rose to her feet and touched her sword for reassurance.
He took a few deep breaths. “The wind shifted when I was coming back. Blew down from the north. I think there’s a storm coming.”
“So?” They’d been lucky with the weather and only been rained on twice since the accident.
“I smelled smoke on the breeze.”
She looked over her shoulder and saw only trees and rocks to their north. “They would have to be close for you to smell smoke.”
“Yeah. Let’s hunker down here through the storm. It should wash away any sign we left.
Tomorrow could be an interesting day.”
Interesting wasn’t how she might have termed it. There were only two of them and they might face an entire pack of killers.
ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 42
It might have been careless and not very clever, but they ate until they were full. The yams were a great treat after their recent diet of seafood and a bit of wild game. Brady knew they could easily tire of the tubers as they had crabs, but for this night it was a delicious feast.
The raw crunchiness of the fibrous roots was even a pleasure. He pushed Cara to eat but nothing he said could distract the worry crinkling her brow. There was no way to spare her the trepidation of what the morrow might bring. He could only give her the comfort of his presence.
“I wouldn’t have known to look for these,” he said after cleaning his knife and returning it to the sheath on his belt. “Never ate them raw before.”
She idly spread out the tubers they’d washed and set out to dry. The yams would be heavy to carry but worth it. “I’ve eaten them raw before, but they’re better baked with some honey or mashed with butter.”
The wind sighed through the trees, the taste of rain carried with it. They had little means to keep dry, and it promised to be a damp uncomfortable night. Not that Cara was likely to sleep anyway.
“Maybe we should travel at night.” She stopped playing with the yams and looked at him. Without the moons to light her expression, the night hid her emotions from him. Not that he could read her anyway.
“We could stumble into them.” But then again, they wouldn’t be cringing here in the storm and wondering about the morrow.
“If we travel after the rain stops, we’ll leave tracks.”
He stood up. “We better climb down before it starts then and makes the rocks too slick for safety.”
The pack was heavy but he’d carried much bigger loads. Cara tied the rolled blankets across her back while he took the bullet bag and the other pack. He went first and helped guide her feet to the most stable path.
It was very dark beneath the trees and far away thunder rumbled a warning. He flipped the leather loop holding his pistol in place off so he could pull it quickly. Roots and underbrush grabbed at their feet and legs. Both of them stumbled a number of times before he called a halt.
“Let’s go down to the beach. The wind and rain should cover out tracks and we’ll be able to move faster and see where we’re going.”
“We could miss them if they’re camped along the mountainside.”
“I can still smell whiffs of smoke. We’ll be able to see their fires. The beach between the cliffs and the sea is only about a quarter of a mile through here.”
She said nothing for a bit and he didn’t push. If she made the decision perhaps she would feel safer. “All right. Let’s go out there for a little while.”
Once out in the open, they could see the distant bolts of lightning though the sea drowned out the thunder. Behind them to the south, stars winked in the sky but in front of them boiling black clouds covered the celestial display.
They walked rapidly and soon fat drops of cold rain smacked against their faces. Not long after, the lightning moved close enough to light their way in brief flashes. He wasn’t sure ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 43
the open beach was the best place to be in such a storm, but he knew under the trees could be just as dangerous. The time between flashes shortened and the thunder made itself heard over the storm battered sea.
Cara stopped and clutched his arm, digging her fingers painfully into his muscle.
“Look!”
He stared toward the cliffs where she pointed. Lightning illuminated the scene to day-like brilliance for little more than a blink of the eyes. But it was enough. Simple, squat huts sat against the mountainside. Her grip on his arm didn’t loosen. They stood frozen until another flash proved it wasn’t an illusion.
“Let’s go check it out.” He shouted above the roar of the sea and wind.
She hesitated for only a moment and then drew her sword and moved up beside him.
They jogged through the steadily increasing rain and veered to the left of the village when they reached the trees. The thrumming of rain, the wind in the boughs and the crack of thunder made speaking impossible. He took his sword into his left hand and took her left hand with his right.