Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 1) (3 page)

Daniel carried the woman to a sheltered area about a mile from the canyon. He placed her on a bed of leaves and covered her with his blanket. Gathering kindling and wood, he quickly built a fire. He observed the woman’s body shivering violently. She would not have lasted much longer on that ledge. It was remarkable that she had survived an entire night.

Every few minutes, he knelt beside her with his water bag, carefully dribbling the liquid into her mouth. Several attempts to speak produced no coherent words. Daniel had plenty of time to openly study her while he sat waiting for Elk Runner to arrive with some fresh meat.

Who are you? How  is it even possible for you to be here?

His eyes drank in her angelic face as she slept. The color of her long wavy hair reminded him of autumn buffalo grass, and his hands curled into fists to keep from reaching out to touch it. The memory of her soft small body in his arms, and the curve of her breasts brushing against his chest, sent an unexplained heat through his veins. The intoxicating scent of flowers on her clothing and hair, even through the layer of dust, lingered in his mind. Despite the numerous cuts and streaks of dried blood on her face, Daniel wondered if her skin would feel as soft as it looked if he ran a finger down her cheek.

Most curious about her appearance was her clothing.  Daniel had never seen a woman in britches before, and it intrigued him. None of the Tukudeka women wore leggings, even in winter. Certainly no white woman in the eastern cities, or even in St. Louis, would wear britches. The many layers of material they covered themselves with kept a man guessing as to the woman’s shape underneath it all. Those pants, along with the shirt this woman wore, hid none of her feminine curves.

He couldn’t even begin to explain where she might have come from. With the exception of his birth mother, he had never heard of a white woman in this region. She must be the wife of some French trapper. Was she a willing wife, or had she met a fate he’d heard about. River pirates were abundant along the Missouri, and women were often bought and sold. Perhaps she had been one of the unfortunate ones, and had been traded or sold to some Frenchman. Was she alone because she had escaped him? Daniel scowled. Men got lonely in these mountains, but to take a woman against her will was despicable. He swore that if he found this woman’s man, and she had been an unwilling wife, he might have to kill him. He stood abruptly and ran a hand through his hair, clenching and unclenching his jaw as he paced by the fire. Why this sudden strong emotion to hurt someone over a woman, a white woman, he didn’t even know?  

Elk Runner found Daniel’s camp sometime after dark. He brought two rabbits and a grouse. Silently they skinned, plucked, and gutted the meat, then skewered it on sticks to roast over the fire.

“What will you do with her?” Elk Runner finally spoke.

“You are the one who found her.”

“I already have a wife.” Elk Runner shrugged. “I give her to you. Besides, she is too small for my taste. She hardly has any meat on her bones.”

“Take her to your village and have Little Bird tend to her until she is recovered.” Daniel didn’t relish the thought of spending any time with this woman. He had learned his lesson well years ago. Thankfully, he only encountered white women in St. Louis when he traveled that far to trade his furs. That amounted to once every couple of years.

“We do not speak the white man’s tongue,” Elk Runner reminded him again. “She would be better off with you at your cabin. You know the white man’s ways.”

“Perhaps we should find her man,” Daniel suggested.

“I did not see any tracks that indicated she had a companion,” Elk Runner said. “But I will go in the morning and retrace her trail. Perhaps I can find out where she comes from. Someone is probably looking for her. No one leaves a woman behind in these mountains. Unless,” he added thoughtfully, “she is crazy like I said, and her man was trying to get rid of her.”

Daniel’s eyes perused the feminine creature lying there. She appeared small, frail, and helpless. Was she crazy? No man would deliberately get rid of her. In this wilderness, she would be a most sought-after prize.

“You can help me build a travois in the morning before you go. I can’t carry her all the way back.” Elk Runner was right. He didn’t have a choice but to take her back to his cabin with him. As he studied her some more, a peculiar sense of protectiveness took hold in him. The sensation was puzzling. Hadn’t past experience taught him that a white woman was nothing but trouble? Even so, he would make damn sure no more harm came to her while she remained in his care. He would do no less for anyone else in need of help.

*******

Aimee stirred awake. Faraway voices echoed in her head. There wasn’t a spot on her body that didn’t scream out in pain. Her pulse throbbed painfully in her injured foot. Lifting her heavy eyelids slightly, reality set in. Someone had rescued her. Her skin tingled as life-giving heat seeped into her body, although she still shivered under the blanket. Her mouth and throat didn’t feel as if she’d swallowed a wad of cotton anymore, but she knew she had to be dehydrated. When she opened her eyes a bit more, the silhouettes of two men sitting by a campfire several yards away came into view. They were talking in a strange language. They had to be Indians.

Oh God, I hope they’re friendly
. Her mind conjured up a vague memory of strong yet gentle arms carrying her. Or had that been a dream? If these two meant to hurt her, wouldn’t they have done it by now?

 The vulnerability of her situation hit her full force.  Dammit! Zach should have known better than to send her off like this on her own, or at the very least, prepared her better. What had he been thinking? He must have known how dangerous this would be for her. Then again, what had she been thinking? She’d been thinking he was lying, that’s what. And she had convinced him she was up to the challenge of a wilderness survival trip.

Snippets of her conversations with Zach echoed in her mind as she lay there, wondering how she was going to deal with this new predicament.

“If you had the chance to go back in time to the era of the trapper, live in the wilderness, just for a while, and experience it for yourself, would you do it?” . . . “Can’t tell anyone” . . . . “I’ll come for you in three months to send you home . . .”

She shouldn’t be angry with Zach. He had warned her, and she just hadn’t taken him seriously. But who in their right mind would believe stories about time travel? The last few days had certainly made a believer out of her. And wasn’t this exactly what she had wanted for so long – to escape her reality - if only for a while?

One of her rescuers rose from his spot near the fire and moved toward her, jolting her mind back to the present. Her heart pounded in her chest. She tried to take deep calming breaths.
Okay, Aimee. You deal with all sorts of people on a daily basis in the ER. You can handle this.

The man knelt in front of her and wordlessly held out a water bag.

“Thank you.” She reached for the offering while straining her eyes to see his face. She could barely make it out in the darkness, and the only light coming from the campfire’s dancing flames cast moving shadows on his features.

“Are you hungry?” His deep voice and perfect English startled her.  She hadn’t expected him to speak her language.

“A . . . a little, but I need water more than anything else right now. I’m really dehydrated.” She eyed the man, what she could see of him, warily.

“Let me know if you need more.” He gestured to the water bag.

“Thanks.” Aimee smiled weakly. He hadn’t moved, and she could feel his eyes on her. It was quite unnerving. If only he’d leave. As if he heard her thoughts, he abruptly stood and turned away to return to his place by the fire. He said something unrecognizable to his companion.

As soon as he turned his back, she managed to raise herself to a sitting position. She waited for the pounding in her head and the dizziness to subside, then put the tip of the water bag to her mouth, and moaned in pleasure at the wonderful sensation of the water soothing her parched throat. She warily eyed the men several yards away from her. The one who had brought the water sat with his broad back to her again. The other man sat across from him, staring at her boldly while picking pieces of meat off one of the skewers over the fire. 

If you think you’re going to intimidate me, you’re going to be disappointed
, Aimee told him silently. I’ve stared down much worse. Dr. Ashwell immediately came to mind. The man had the uncanny ability to make nurses cry.

The Indian’s relentless stare annoyed her, along with the fact that she couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying. Most likely they were discussing her.

*****

Daniel called himself a fool for gawking at the woman after handing her the water bag. The light of the flames from the fire had illuminated different parts of her face, but soft eyes looked back at him, and her smile made his heart beat faster. He mentally shook his head, pondering his reaction to her. The woman’s soft voice and manner of speech, which sounded different than anything he’d ever heard, even in the big eastern cities, held his attention.

“Maybe if you paid more notice to the meat, it wouldn’t be burnt now,” Daniel said gruffly, and sat in his place by the fire again.

Elk Runner grinned. He reached for a skewer of rabbit while looking in the direction of the woman in the shadows. “The woman has spirit,” he remarked. “She is not afraid.”

“Why would she be afraid of you?”

“All white women are afraid of my people.”

“And how many white women have you known?” Daniel snorted.

“I’ve heard it to be so.” Elk Runner shrugged.

“Maybe I will have a bite of food,” she called out from behind him. Elk Runner was right. This little woman sure didn’t seem to fear them, which was foolish. She should be afraid. A woman alone anywhere, much less in this wilderness, was a prime target for a lonely man.

Daniel reached for another skewer and brought it to her, once more kneeling in front of her. As she reached for the meat, her hand brushed his lightly. His own hand lingered, her satiny touch sending a tingling sensation up his arm. He held on to the skewer longer than necessary. The bewildered look on her face finally prompted him to let go. The memory of her cold hand on his remained, however, and burned into his skin. He wanted to touch her again.

“I’m sorry for being an inconvenience,” she said. “I don’t want you to have to wait on me. I injured my foot when I went over that cliff. I don’t think it’s fractured, but I’ll have to take another look in the daylight to be sure.” Her soft melodious voice kept him rooted to the spot in front of her.

“I’m Aimee Donovan, by the way, and it goes without saying that I am very grateful for the rescue. One more night on that ledge, and I would have been done for.” She extended her hand in offer of a handshake.

His gaze moved from her face to the delicate hand she offered. No woman had ever wanted to shake his hand before. Here was his chance to touch her again, to feel her soft skin on his once more, but he held back. A moment later, she frowned slightly, and her hand moved away to rest in her lap.

Ask her where she comes from.

Her confident and self-assured manner had him question his original assumption that she might be on the run from a captor. This was not the behavior of a woman who had been abused by a man.

“We will travel in the morning. You should eat and rest.”  He turned and headed for his place by the fire.

****

Aimee chewed the meat slowly. She waited several minutes between bites to make sure she could keep the food down, and drank small sips of water in between. When she felt sure her stomach would not reject the nourishment, she pulled her backpack toward her and unzipped it. She cringed. The sound of the zipper seemed to be amplified a hundred fold. She threw sheepish glances at the men by the fire. The Indian who faced her shot her a curious glance, but his companion didn’t react to the sound. Once she found her ibuprofen, she discreetly opened the bottle and popped a couple of pills into her mouth.