Teton Sunrise (Teton Romance Trilogy) (17 page)

“Let me bring you some broth. Alex wants to head out in the morning. You’ll need all your strength.”

Yancey nodded, and Evelyn pushed herself up off the ground. Silently she wondered how he could possibly travel with his injuries. By the fire, Alex stared in her direction, his lips drawn in a tight line. Squaring her shoulders, she strode toward the men.

“I need a bowl to bring Yancey some food,” she said, meeting Alex’s stare head on. The man was as unreadable as a stone statue. Laurent handed her a cup, and she leaned toward the kettle hanging over the fire to dip it into the hot broth that simmered within. Alex stood and took the cup from her.

“Laurent can bring it to him,” he said quietly. “You’ve done enough today.” His penetrating gaze locked onto her eyes, and for a second that look of longing that sent her heart racing emerged.

Evelyn tore her eyes away, and glanced from Laurent to Jasper, who had stopped talking when she approached. He seemed to find great interest in the lacings of his tobacco pouch that hung from around his neck. Laurent stood and relieved Alex of the cup.

“I will see to our young
jeunot
.
” He dipped the cup in the kettle, and headed for the lean-to.

“Walk with me,” Alex said, and took hold of her hand. Evelyn’s pulse increased. He pulled her along with him away from camp toward the creek. A loud chorus of crickets and frogs greeted them, and swarms of insects fluttered above the water in the twilight. A lone coyote barked nearby, and a soft golden glow shimmered along the snow-capped mountain range in the distance.

Evelyn dared not speak first, and waited for Alex to say something. A soft breeze grazed against her cheeks, and she shivered involuntarily.

“Are you cold? We can go back.” Alex stopped walking, and turned to face her.

She shook her head, unable to speak. Her mouth went dry, and she ached for his embrace. Disappointment flooded her when Alex released her hand. She stiffened her back and glared at him. It was time to set some things straight.

“I’m not going back to St. Louis,” she stated firmly. “Why all of a sudden are you so eager to be rid of me, Alex? We had an agreement. You promised to protect me. You can’t do that if I’m in St. Louis, and you’re here in these mountains.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “By sending you back, I am protecting you,” he said. “Can’t you understand that, woman?” His arms clenched at his sides.

“Protecting me, or
yourself
?” Evelyn challenged, and stepped closer. She reached out and touched his uninjured arm. The muscles beneath his shirt bunched taut.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” His eyes blazed, but Evelyn refused to back away.

“I’m not afraid of you, Alex. You can continue to push me away, but I’m not leaving.  Six years ago, you broke the heart of a thirteen-year-old girl when you left St. Charles. I’m no longer a little girl. Now that we’re here, together, I’m not letting you break my heart a second time.” Her heart pounded as she whispered the words. How would he react to such a confession?

Alex pulled away from her and ran his hand over his face. He wheeled to turn around.

“I’m no good for you, Evelyn,” he said, his voice strained as he stared off at the distant mountains. “I’m sorry for what happened to your folks and Henry, and that you ended up here. I made a mistake when I decided to take you further into the mountains with me. I didn’t know what to do at the time when I . . . when I bartered for you.” He paused, and glanced at her before turning his head back toward the mountains. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of in St. Louis.” His jaw muscles clenched and unclenched.

Evelyn stepped around him, and stared up into his hardened face. She reached up and touched his cheek, forcing him to look at her.

“What if I want you to be the one to take care of me?” she whispered. “As you’ve reminded me before, according to the law of the land, you’re my husband. I see it in your eyes that you have feelings for me. I can feel it in the way you kiss me.”

Alex’s chest heaved. “It doesn’t matter what I might feel for you,
Evie
. Don’t you understand?” His words sounded forced. “Your safety is more important to me than what I want.” He pried her hand away from him, and held on to her wrist.

“Alex Walker, you are making no sense.”

“I hurt you once,
Evie
. Remember?” He lifted her wrist to her eye level. “I don’t ever want to hurt you like that again.”

“Then don’t,” she said in a sultry voice.

“Evelyn . . .” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head, avoiding her eyes.

Evelyn yanked her arm free of his grip, and fisted her hands at her hips. “Don’t be a warthog, Alex Walker.”

Alex’s head shot up, and his eyebrows furrowed. For a moment he just stood glaring at her. He sighed audibly. His eyes roamed her face, and Evelyn held her breath. The firm set of his jaw tensed even more. Abruptly, he stepped away from her.
“Time to get back to camp.
It’s getting dark.”

Without another glance at her, he turned and headed toward the glow of the campfire. Evelyn stood in stunned disbelief.

“I’m not going back to St. Louis. You hear?” She stomped her foot and yelled after him. “Damn you for the stubborn mule that you are.” With her hands still on her hips, she stared after him. Her vision blurred, and she sniffed. Had she been mistaken about him after all? She’d almost declared her feelings for the one and only man she ever loved. Perhaps she was just being naïve, and he truly didn’t care about her.

Evelyn listened to the crickets chirp and the soft gurgle of the water as it flowed past. She didn’t know how long she stood at the creek’s edge, but something was different all of a sudden. The frogs stopped their chorus.

Her head shot up just in time to see Alex in the distance wheel around and pull his pistol from his belt. He was almost back at the campfire. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. He called her name, but it sounded like a faraway echo, just before a firm hand clamped over her mouth, and someone dragged her away from the creek. She tried to kick out at her assailant, but a steely hand slapped her across the cheek, making her head snap to the side. She blinked away the pain and darkness before her eyes, and a firm arm wrapped around her middle. The breath left her lungs when she was thrown over someone’s shoulder. She tried to call Alex’s name, but no words escaped her lips. Her captor ran through the brush and into the forest as the sounds of gunshots reverberated all around her.

****

Alex realized something was wrong the instant it happened. The crickets and frogs ceased their loud noise for a brief moment. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end, and by pure reflex he pulled his pistol from his belt. At camp, Laurent and Jasper both shouted at the same time. Several horses whinnied, and shots rang out.

Evelyn!

Everything seemed to happen at once. With his pistol in one hand, he yanked his knife from his belt. A scream filled the air; the scream of the woman he cherished above everything else. He wheeled around, his pistol cocked and ready to fire.

Evelyn struggled against the hold a Blackfoot warrior had on her arms. He backhanded her across her face, and her head snapped to the side. Rage like a wildfire out of control consumed Alex. Visions of his father hitting his mother flashed before him. He raised his pistol and took aim. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the warrior threw
Evie
over his shoulder and took off into the thicket. Alex cursed loudly. He couldn’t fire his weapon for fear of hitting her. He charged after the Indian, determined to overtake the savage. His fingers gripped the knife tighter. The Injun would pay with his life for touching her.

“Evelyn,” he shouted, wanting her to know that he was coming for her. An arrow whirred through the air, narrowly missing his chest. Alex twisted to the left, raised his gun, and fired in the direction the arrow had come from. With a small sense of satisfaction, his target fell to the ground. Instantly, he bolted forward again to renew his pursuit. A loud war cry and the pounding of horse’s hooves behind him alerted him to another attack.

Alex spun around, his knife raised. He tossed his useless pistol to the ground, and yanked a tomahawk from his belt. A warrior on horseback charged at him. The Indian held his war club above his head with the obvious intent to strike him down. Rather than avoid the charge, Alex stood his ground. The Indian swung his arm back, and Alex lunged forward at the same time, blocking the warrior’s blow. His forward momentum pulled the Indian off of his horse’s back, and he landed with a loud thud in the dirt as his animal kept running.

Alex ran toward his opponent, and kicked the weapon from his hand. The Blackfoot pulled his knife and sprang to his feet. Alex leapt back, and widened his stance. He waited for the warrior to make the next move. Leaning forward, he gripped the knife in one hand, the tomahawk in the other. He cursed under his breath. He was losing precious time while the savage who carried
Evie
off was getting away.

His opponent bared his teeth, and lunged. Alex held his stance. Moments before the Indian reached him, a shot rang through the air and the warrior fell forward, and dropped to the ground. He didn’t move to get up. Blood ran freely from a bullet hole in his back. Alex’s head shot up to see Jasper grinning broadly. He tipped his fingers to his fur cap and raised his rifle.

Alex spun around. The warrior who carried
Evie
away was nowhere to be seen.

“We run ‘
em
off, Walker,” Jasper shouted. “
They’s
all
hightailin
’ it outta here like a
buncha
squaws. Damn Blackfoot.”

Alex raced toward camp. “Where the hell’s my rifle?” he shouted, his eyes darting frantically around camp.

Laurent rushed to him, tossing his rifle at him. “It is freshly loaded,
mon
amie
, but I do not believe we will need it. Jasper and I killed four of them, and there were six more who thought it best to retreat.”

“They took Evelyn,” Alex called loudly. Blinding rage consumed him. He had to get her back. He would get her back. The warrior who had hit her was as good as dead.

“
Mon
dieu
!”
Laurent exclaimed.

No sooner had the Frenchman exclaimed his words, when a war cry resonated across the meadow. A lone Indian on his horse far across the creek raised his war lance high in the air. Alex recognized the man who took
Evie
, but something else looked familiar about him, even though his face was painted black with a broad white stripe below his eyes. Where the hell had the bastard taken her?

“You steal my horses, Shadow Walker, I take your woman,” the warrior hollered in his native tongue. He yanked on the reins and pulled his horse’s neck around, kicking it into a gallop, whooping loudly as he raced away.

Comprehension dawned on Alex as to why this warrior looked so familiar. He was the Blackfoot whose horses he took the night he stole back his own animals.

“Goddammit,” Alex cursed. The rider was too far away to shoot at. Without a second thought, he ran for where his horses stood tethered and hobbled. With one swift motion, he cut through the leather thongs that bound his saddle horse’s front legs together, and untied the bridle from the picket line. He swung up onto his mount’s bare back.

“Where are you going?” Laurent shouted, running at him, his eyes wide.

Alex circled his excited mount. The animal’s muscles bunched up underneath him while it pranced in place, as if sensing Alex’s urgency.

“To get my wife back,” Alex retorted between clenched teeth.

“Don’t be a fool. Wait for us to come with you,” Laurent implored frantically. “It is suicide to give chase by
yourself
.”

“They’ll kill her, and you know it. I don’t have time to waste.” Alex glared at Laurent, who had no response. He eased up on the reins and kneed his horse in the sides. The gelding sprang forward. Alex raced his mount toward the creek, and the animal plunged through the water, sending up jets of cold spray. He gave his horse its head and leaned low over its neck, racing in the direction the warrior had taken. His heart pounded fiercely in tune with his horse’s hoof beats. Visions of the terrified look in
Evie’s
eyes as the warrior slung her over his shoulder spurred him on.

The setting sun cast a golden glow in the western horizon, the last of the light disappearing quickly behind the mountains. It would be completely dark soon. Alex pressed his thighs against his gelding’s sides, urging the horse to go faster. If he lost the trail in the impending darkness, he’d never get
Evie
back alive. Clenching his jaw as the cool evening air whipped around his face, Alex was well aware of the fate a white captive encountered among the Blackfoot. No man had ever escaped with his life. The Blackfoot enjoyed toying with and slowly torturing their captives. What would they do to a white woman?

Blinding fury tore through his heart. Had it really only been minutes since he told
Evie
that she was better off in St. Louis so she’d be safe from him? If he hadn’t walked away from her by the creek, her life wouldn’t be in danger at this very second. Alex growled in frustration.