Tales of Western Romance (10 page)

He lifted one brow. “Scared?” He set the tray
aside, then pulled her up against him. “Why should I be scared?
I’ve got you.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
Well, you know your way around here. I
reckon I can learn how to get by. And I kinda like the idea of
being your husband.”

“
Do you?”

“
Yeah. I figure that gives me the right
to do this,” he said, brushing a kiss over her lips. “As often as I
want.”

“
You’re incorrigible, you know
that?”

“
I’m not even sure what that
means.”

“
In your case, it means
impossible.”

“
Honey, I’m very possible. And as soon
as my side heals up, I’ll prove it to you.”

“
Oh, you will, will you?”

He nodded. “In every way I can.”

* * * * *

To Bonnie’s amazement, Gray was up and around
the next day. When she suggested he should stay in bed another day
or two, he shook his head.

“
I want to see this world of
yours.”

It was an adventure, touring the ranch with
Gray. He was fascinated with everything she showed him – cars, TV,
computer games, cell phones, instant coffee, stoves and washing
machines, the swimming pool behind the main house.

They were standing by the corral that held
Relámpago
, admiring the stallion, when Bonnie heard a
scream.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a
riderless horse racing across the yard at a full gallop, stirrups
flapping.

“
Olivia!” A woman came running out onto
the porch of the main house, her face pale as she ran down the
steps toward the little girl sitting on the grass, playing with a
doll.

Bonnie felt like screaming herself as the
horse ran on, apparently headed straight for the little girl, and
the barn that lay beyond.

Bonnie turned to look at Gray, only he was no
longer beside her. She watched, aghast, as he sprinted forward,
grabbed hold of the horse’s mane, and vaulted onto its back. How he
did it, she never knew, but, somehow, he managed to bring the
wild-eyed animal under control, turning the horse away from the
little girl, bringing the horse to a halt on the far side of the
corral that held Relámpago.

Sobbing, the girl’s mother scooped Olivia
into her arms and carried her into the main house.

Gray grabbed a rope from a fence post,
fashioned a loop, and dropped it over the horse’s head before
dismounting. Moving to the horse’s head, he rubbed the animal’s
neck, speaking softly to the frightened animal.

Mr. Collins came running up to Gray. “Son,
that was a brave thing you did,” he exclaimed, thumping Gray on the
back. “And some of the best riding I’ve seen. If you ever need a
job, you’ve got one.”

“
Obliged.”

“
You’ve got quite a man there,” Mr.
Collins told Bonnie. “Come on up to the house. Mrs. Perfilli will
want to thank you, too.”

One of the ranch hands showed up a few
minutes later. “Hell of a show,” he muttered. Taking the rope from
Gray’s hand, he began to walk the horse to cool it down.

Up at the house, they learned a rattlesnake
had spooked the horse. A couple of men from the ranch backtracked
the horse and found its rider near the trail. The rider, one of the
trail guides, had a broken leg.

“
Could have been worse,” Gray remarked.
“He coulda been snake-bit.”

After dinner, Mr. Collins approached Gray.
“My guide’s gonna be laid up for a spell. I was wondering, that is,
I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could fill in for him while
you’re here? We’ll refund the cost of your trip. And pay you for
your time, of course.”

“
I don’t know.” Gray looked at
Bonnie.

“
It’s up to you.”

“
Looks like you’ve got yourself a
hand,” Gray said.

“
You know,” Bonnie said as they walked
back to her cabin, “maybe you should take Mr. Collins up on his job
offer and work here full-time.”

“
Is that what you want?” Gray
asked.

“
I was just thinking about you. I mean,
the job seems perfect.”

He stopped walking and turned to face her.
“If I decided to stay here, what would you do?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Your life is not here.”

“
Oh. Right. My life.”

“
What we had, in my time, is it over
now?”

Bonnie stared at him. “Is that what you
think? That I’m trying to get rid of you now?”

“
Are you?”

“
No. If you want to stay here and work
on the ranch, I’ll stay, too, if you want me.”

Gray drew her into his arms. “What do you
think?”

“
I think
Relámpago
saved us
both,” she murmured. She hadn’t been in danger, at least not
physically, when
Relámpago
carried her into the past, but
she’d been in danger of living a life bereft of love and
excitement. “I love you, Gray.”

“
Bonnie!” He kissed her then, his arms
tightening around her as if he would never let her go. “Will you
marry me?”

“
Just as soon as I can.” There would be
problems, of course, like getting him some ID, teaching him to
drive a car, stuff like that, but for once in her life, she
believed – no, she knew - that love would conquer all.

Happiness bubbled up inside her as Gray swung
her into his arms, carried her into their cabin and closed the
door, cocooning them in a world all their own.

Epilogue

Relámpago
paced the corral. His hooves
struck the earth like the echo of Apache war drums, the wind
sighing through the trees whispered his name, calling him home.

When the last light winked out in the main
house, he vaulted over the fence railing. A flash of lightning lit
the night sky, a rumble of thunder shook the earth as, tail waving
like a battle flag in the breeze, the great white stallion went
home.

The End

Injured and captured, Riley Culhane faces
death at the hands of the Cheyenne. Winter Star is put in charge of
caring for the white captive until his fate is decided. As she
tends him, she is drawn to learn more of him.

Culhane is also attracted to the Cheyenne
maiden with the tender hands and heart. Will she watch him die at
the hands of her people, or does fate have other plans?

Passion’s Promise

Chapter 1

Riley Culhane knew they had ridden into a
trap even before he saw the Indians descending in a howling fury
down the narrow canyon. He drew his Winchester.

Captain William Frye hollered, “Retreat!”

But it was already too late. The sibilant
hiss of a deadly hail of arrows pierced the late afternoon
stillness. Over half the patrol went down before a single shot was
fired.

What followed was every cavalryman’s
nightmare come true as over a hundred paint-streaked savages
mounted on fleet, bareback ponies swarmed into the ravine from both
ends. Their voices rose in an inhuman cacophony of noise as they
effectively cut off any hope of retreat.

Troopers clad in sweat-stained Army blue ran
for cover, leaving their frightened horses to charge up and down
the gorge, eyes wide and rolling with fright.

Culhane took cover behind a large dun-colored
boulder, his gray eyes narrowed against the hot prairie sun as he
sighted down the barrel of his rifle. He gently squeezed the
trigger and a screaming Cheyenne buck fell backwards over his
pony’s rump to be lost from sight in the gritty yellow dust
swirling through the air.

Grinning with satisfaction, Culhane took aim
again, cursed softly as his bullet went wide of the mark.

The soldiers of Company B fought valiantly,
but with the losses they sustained, they were badly outnumbered.
One by one, they fell before the vicious onslaught of the
Indians.

Tossing his empty rifle aside, Culhane drew
his sidearm and fired point-blank into a sweating, paint-daubed
face. The warrior pitched off the back of his horse without a
sound, his face a grotesque mask of blood and tissue.

Culhane swore as another warrior charged
toward him. Time seemed to telescope as he raised his gun to fire
at the same instant the warrior threw his lance. Culhane imagined
the bullet and the lance passing each other in mid-air. He muttered
a vile obscenity as the head of the shaft buried itself in his
right side, the force driving him backward, slamming him into the
unyielding wall of the ravine.

Culhane knew a brief moment of satisfaction
as he watched the warrior topple to the ground, and then he knew
only a deep sense of resignation as a half dozen angry warriors
surrounded him.

He took a deep breath, an intense sense of
sadness filling him as he realized there was no escape. He was
going to die. With regret, he realized he would never see his home
again, never make that trip to San Francisco, never...

Two of the warriors jerked his arms behind
his back while a third took hold of the lance. A sudden nausea rose
in Culhane’s throat. He knew what they were going to do. An
anguished cry erupted from deep in his throat as the warrior jerked
the lance from his side. Then there was only excruciating pain and
the wet heat of blood running down his flank as he plunged into a
deep, black void.

Chapter 2

A great shout went up as the returning war
party rode into the village. Women and children surged forward,
their eyes bright with interest when they saw the many cavalry
ponies, blankets, rifles, and scalps the warriors brought home.
Winter Star ran forward with the other women, her gaze sweeping
over the faces of the returning warriors as she searched for the
tall figure of her father.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw
him riding near the head of the long column of warriors. Offering a
silent prayer to
Maheo
for bringing Elk Hunter safely home,
she made her way through the chattering crowd to walk beside her
father’s horse.

The warriors came to a halt in the center of
the village. Elk Hunter smiled warmly at his daughter as he
dismounted and handed her the reins of his favorite war pony. It
was then Winter Star noticed the rope in her father’s hand. Her
eyes widened in surprise when she saw the other end of the rope
looped around the neck of a white man. His hands were bound behind
his back.

She had seen only a few white men in her life
time and she stared curiously at the prisoner, the same way she
would have stared at a wild animal. As tall as her father, he was
broad-shouldered, well-muscled. She knew a moment of fear when she
noticed he was dressed in the hated blue uniform of the
soldier-coats. He stood with his head bowed, his chin resting on
his chest, so she could not see his face.

Amid the noise of the returning war party, a
sudden wail rose into the air. Looking around, Winter Star saw Blue
Robe sobbing loudly. Her husband, Chases the Buffalo, had been
killed in the battle with the
vehoe
. Soon, other cries
filled with pain and anguish were added to Blue Robe’s.

“
We lost six warriors,” Elk Hunter told
Winter Star, his voice grave. “All died bravely.”

Winter Star looked at the
vehoe
again.
He would die slowly at the hands of the women. She wondered if he
was aware of the fate that awaited him.

Elk Hunter tugged on the rope. The white man
groaned low in his throat as he staggered forward. It was then
Winter Star noticed the dark stain on his shirt front. Even now,
fresh blood oozed from the wound low in his right side. Lifting her
gaze to the white man’s face, she saw that his eyes were gray and
clouded with pain.

“
Ne-naestse, natona,”
Elk Hunter
called over his shoulder.
Come, my daughter
. Winter Star’s
mother, Eagle Woman, met them at the door of their lodge. Her dark
eyes filled with loathing when she saw the white man trailing
behind her husband.

She jabbed her finger in the prisoner’s
direction. “What is this dog of a white man doing here?”

“
He killed the husband of Blue Robe,”
Elk Hunter replied. “I think he will be good entertainment on a
warm night.”

Eagle Woman looked skeptical. “In his
condition, he will not last very long.”

“
True. But I think he is a strong man,
perhaps a brave man. I saw him kill three of our warriors. He did
not whine or beg for mercy on the long journey to our village. I
think he will be good sport for our women when he is
stronger.”