White Wolf (36 page)

It was late; the sliver of the moon was high when Jessie’s captors were forced to stop and rest their exhausted horses. Daisy shoved Jessie against a tree and then shoved Alison at her. The whimpering child crawled into her lap; then Dan wrapped the rope around both of them, tying them to the tree. She was tired. So tired. Despair washed through her. There had to be a way to get free. She leaned her head back against the rough trunk and closed her eyes. A sharp kick to her side jerked her eyes open. Daisy stood over her.

“Thinking of your husband, Jessica?” Her eyes narrowed to furious slits. “I wouldn’t hold any hope of his coming to your rescue. Maybe I’ll let you live long enough to see him die by my hand,” she gloated.

Jessie gave a short bark of laughter. “Ha, you have to see him first. He’s Indian. He’ll see you long before you even know he’s there—and the darkness won’t stop him. Indians can see in the dark and move without making a sound.” She smiled sweetly. “You know, Daisy, Wolf could be out there right now, and you’d never know it. You haven’t a chance!”

Daisy kicked her again. “Shut up.”

Jessie gasped against the pain and shielded Alison from Daisy’s wrath. She tilted her chin. Maybe she could scare the woman into leaving them behind. “Wolf is going to sneak up on you, and you finding an arrow in your black heart will be your only warning.”

Daisy bent down and smiled coldly. “Maybe I should just kill you now. Dan’s right. We’d go a lot faster without you and the brat.”

Alison dug her fingers into Jessie, crying hoarsely. Dan moved forward and yanked Daisy away. “Go sit down and rest.” He glared at Jessie. Leaning over her, he said, “I don’t want to see either of you harmed. Do as you’re told, and I’ll see if I can convince her to leave the two of you here, but for God’s sake, stop taunting her.”

Jessie glanced down at the little girl who was crying silently, but there was nothing she could do except hold and comfort her.

White Dove and Jeremy moved through the forest, from tree to tree, from shadow to shadow. The group had split into twos and threes to keep from being spotted. She cocked her head when another signal sounded. Pointing, she indicated the direction.

“How are we going to catch them if they are on horseback and we are on foot?” Jeremy asked, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

Dove stopped and frowned at him. “Their horses tire. They move through underbrush less easily than we.”

“You can tell that from the tracks?” Jeremy asked, his voice incredulous.

Dove glared at the tall, handsome man beside her. It angered her, the overpowering attraction she felt for this white—especially as he was no great warrior. “No more talk.” She continued on. Another signal sounded, this one different. She changed directions, making sure her unwanted charge stayed with her. After a few minutes she stopped and crouched.

“Have they found them?” Jeremy whispered, coming up behind her.

White Dove motioned Jeremy to silence and watched her brothers. Leaning to speak into his ear, her voice soft as the wind, she said, “They are over there.” She watched Striking Thunder position his warriors simply with movements of his hands and head. When he was done, she reached back to motion to Jeremy that they should move into their positions. She grimaced.

Because of her charge, her position was out of the range of the action. Her head whipped around when her hand encountered emptiness. She searched the darkness but found no sign of him. She
swallowed her groan of frustration, knowing that if he did anything stupid, she would bear the blame.

Peering intently in the direction Jeremy must have gone, she searched for any shifts in the shadows around her. Her patience paid off when a dark shape pulled away from one tree trunk and crept to another, moving toward the enemy. Keeping low, she followed and grabbed his arm. “We wait,” she whispered.

Jeremy shook his head and pointed. “There they are,” he mouthed softly.

Dove glanced to where he pointed. From where they crouched, they could see Jessie tied to the tree, her back toward them.

Jeremy pulled a knife from his pocket and turned his head to Dove’s ear. “I’m going to cut her free from behind.”

Dove started to tell him no, then gasped when she found his lips mere inches from hers. Startled, she drew back, furious at her wayward thoughts. Though she judged him to be around her own age of nineteen winters, he was just a boy—not a man as the warriors in her tribe were by his age.

Jeremy slunk away, blending in with the shadows once more. She went after him, catching sight of the wink of the metal of his blade. She bit her lip. He held his knife in his hand, the blade out, catching the beams of light from above. She held her breath, moving quickly behind him, praying he’d not reveal their presence. Dove was within touching distance when once again he left the concealing shadows and scurried to another thick bush. To her dismay, the knife blade caught a branch and startled a raccoon, which shot out from beneath the bush, scolding loudly.

She rushed forward, but in her haste to stop Jeremy, she stepped on a twig. Horrified, she stopped and looked down as the sharp crack ripped through the silence. This time it was Jeremy who reached out to grab her arm and pull her down into a crouch behind the bush. Silently, they glared at one another, each accusing the other, not daring to move. But when they heard loud voices, each went into action. Dove grabbed her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver at the same time that Jeremy inched his way to the tree, his knife clutched between his teeth.

Jessie was watching her captors when the twig snapped.

Dan had dozed off but woke with a start. She saw him glance over at his sister, and Jessie saw that she too was listening, her face pale in the moonlight. Just then a raccoon ran out of the brush, making loud, angry noises.

“It’s all right,” Daisy whispered, to her brother, “it’s only a raccoon.”

Glancing around him, Dan looked uneasy. “Let’s get outta here,” the man whispered. “It doesn’t feel right.”

Daisy went still, “You’re right. It’s quiet, too quiet.”

Standing, she pointed the gun at Jessie. “Get the horses. We’ll leave them here.”

Dan fetched the horses and handed his sister the reins of her mount, then started to ride off.

Jessie stared at Daisy, who hadn’t moved. She had drawn her pistol. Sweat beaded between Jessica’s breasts, and her mouth went dry. Her heart had already stopped. This was it. She was going to die, and there wasn’t a thing she could do. Keeping her gaze on the gun, she braced herself. At this close range, the other woman wouldn’t miss. Even as fear filled her, Jessie’s biggest concern was the child sleeping fitfully against her. She prayed that Alison would be spared.

“Well, haven’t you any last words, Jessie dear?” Daisy asked with a smirk.

Jessie thought fast. She glared at the woman standing in front of her. Her eyes went wide with surprise for a split second when she felt something or someone tugging on the ropes binding her to the tree. Had help arrived? She took a deep breath. She had to stall Daisy. Quickly she schooled her features into a mask of indifference. “You won’t get away.”

Thankfully Daisy hadn’t noticed anything amiss. She laughed scornfully. “Brave to the end. I like that. But now we must go. So long, Jessie.”

Jessie watched Daisy’s trigger finger as the gun pointed at her. When the ropes loosened some more, she tensed, ready to throw herself to the side.

Wolf swore in frustration when Daisy aimed her gun at Jessie. He motioned for his brother to hold off. It had been a stroke of luck to catch Daisy and Dan dozing, and in just a few seconds it would have been over. He and the other warriors had arrows ready to make their mark. His rifle had been too risky at this distance with warriors surrounding Daisy and Dan. But the raccoon had alerted the quarry to their presence, and now he didn’t dare risk having Daisy’s gun go off. He kept his arrow centered on Daisy. Beside him, Striking Thunder did likewise, his bow taut.

Dan had ridden off, but Daisy kept her weapon trained on Jessie. Time slowed. Wolf waited, his gaze never wavering. But when he heard the cocking of the gun, sweat ran down his back, and his heart stopped. He was out of time. Daisy wasn’t going to leave her hostages alive. Wolf adjusted his aim a bit lower and pulled his arm back. With a silent prayer, he let his arrow fly. It hit Daisy’s hand. Two gunshots filled the air. Daisy screamed. Pandemonium broke forth. Warriors poured from the woods, their arrows aimed at Dan, who immediately dropped his gun.

Wolf ran toward Jessie, past Daisy, who lay on the ground, her eyes staring blankly at the canopy of stars. His only concern lay with his wife. She lay huddled and still on the ground. “Jessie, oh, God, Jessie,” he cried, his heart lodged in his throat. With a hoarse cry he fell to his knees and rolled her over, pulling Alison from her grasp. He handed the hysterical child to Jeremy, then gathered his wife in his arms. “Talk to me, Jess. Tell me you’re unhurt.” Desperation laced his voice, and his fingers shook as he skimmed them over her body, searching for a gunshot wound.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her wavering grin was the most beautiful sight he figured he’d ever see. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice quavering.

“Are you sure?”

“I think so.” She trembled, then fell back against him. Suddenly she lifted her head and glanced around wildly. She struggled in his arms. “Where’s Alison?” she cried. “Is she all right? Oh, Lord! She wasn’t shot, was she?”

Wolf didn’t know. He’d been focused only on her. He looked over his shoulder and met Jeremy’s nod. “She’s fine. She’s with Jeremy and my sister.” He held his wife close. They sat for a long time, oblivious to the activity around them.

“If anything had happened to you—”

Jessie brought her bound wrists up and pressed her fingers to his lips. Tears coursed down her cheeks. “I was so afraid I’d never be able to tell you how much I love you.”

“I love
you,
Jessica Jones,” he said, holding her tight. “God, I love you. I’m sorry for being such a fool.”

Jessie smiled through her tears. “I love you too, Wolf. We’ve both been too full of stubborn pride.” She buried her head in the curve of his neck. “Don’t let me go. Hold me.”

Wolf cut the rope binding her wrists, then stood, cradling her to his chest. “I’ll never let you go. You’re mine. My wild rose. So beautiful, so sweet.” He kissed her. “You’ve given my
life meaning. Without you I’m no more than an empty shell.” He stared down into her eyes. “For better or worse.”

Jessie pulled his lips back to hers. “Till death do us part,” she whispered.

Neither was aware of the grinning men watching them or the byplay between their siblings as Dove took Alison from Jeremy, telling him that the child needed a woman’s touch.

Jessie snuggled, happy and content in her warrior’s arms.
Her
warrior. She still couldn’t get over the change in Wolf. Her fingers smoothed and played with the curls on his chest. Another grin, wider, appeared when she thought of what he was wearing—or more precisely, what he wasn’t wearing. She definitely had to convince him to wear that breechclout more often. Sneaking a look at his face, she marveled at the change caused by a few smears of paint. In the predawn light, he looked every bit as Indian as those warriors around them, and she thrilled to the fact that he was hers. “I can walk, Wolf. You don’t have to carry me.” She tried once more to convince her husband that she was fine, able to walk on her own. Already the nightmare reality of the past days was fading into what seemed to have been simply a bad dream.

“I will carry you.”

“You’re just plain stubborn.” But her heart warmed to know he was reluctant to put her down. Smiling, she gave in and rested her cheek against his shoulder, finding comfort in the warmth of his bronzed skin. Her gaze traveled over his shoulder, and found Dan, who walked with his hands tied behind his back. He was surrounded by warriors. Jessie couldn’t bring herself to look at the horse bringing up the rear. Daisy’s lifeless body was slung across its back.

“What’s going to happen to Dan, Wolf?”

Wolf hugged her tight. “We’ll take him to the fort. It’s up to the law now.”

Shuddering, Jessie whispered, “He saved us, Wolf. He shot his own sister to keep her from killing us.”

“I know.” Wolf stared down into her troubled gaze and could find no words of comfort except: “I love you, Jessica Jones.”

Her gaze softened. “I love you too,” she whispered.

The sun was just peeping over the eastern horizon when the weary rescue party arrived at the makeshift camp. Wolf watched as loud greetings and cheers woke Alison. The little girl, along with his wife, had fallen asleep on the journey back. When Alison saw James, she began crying and held out her arms to him. He took her, and after she calmed down, he coaxed her to eat and drink some water, as she’d had very little for nearly three days.

Jessie woke too. Wolf set her down, and she too ran to her brother. They hugged and cried. Tears flowed freely as each begged the other for forgiveness.

Wolf watched with an indulgent smile. Striking Thunder approached, and Wolf turned to him. “All is well, my brother.”

“Yes. All is well.”

Striking Thunder grinned. “Your spirit is at peace.”

“I have found love. The rest will come. Of this I’m sure.”

“I wish you well, my brother. She is worthy of you.”

Wolf laughed. All
was
well. “It is I who am worthy of her. You have not seen her in action. She makes Dove look tame.”

Striking Thunder laughed and briefly relayed his first encounter with Jessie in Westport. He confessed to following her back to the livery and witnessing the scene that had followed.

Wolf narrowed his eyes. “You knew, yet said nothing to me?”

Striking Thunder shrugged, his eyes gleaming with humor. “It was meant to be.”

Laying his arm across his brother’s shoulders, Wolf led Striking Thunder away to give his wife time with her family. “Let me tell you a couple of stories, my brother. This trip has not been dull. Then you must tell me about this maiden who has caught your eye. Meadowlark, I believe Dove said? A fine-looking maiden, if I recall.”