Trail of Dreams (Hot on the Trail Book 4) Read online

  She expected something to happen the next day, but all that happened was more of the same. She was put to work while Aiden was made to play his fiddle for hours and sing. He also spent a fair amount of time talking with Grandfather, and through him, several other members of the tribe. Katie saw him now and then through the day, always busy, always talking or singing or playing. Had the two of them been forgotten by the rest of the world?

  It wasn’t until the third day that something actually happened.

  Fast Doe, the old woman teaching Katie to treat hides, was prone to chatter away in Cheyenne as they worked. Katie didn’t understand a word of it and assumed she was telling stories to pass the time. When she stopped in what felt like the middle of a sentence and sat straighter, a jolt of excitement and fear shot through Katie’s stomach. When Fast Doe stood, staring at something at the other end of the village from where they worked, that fear dropped to dread.

  Katie stood and twisted to see what the old woman was gaping at, but it was only a small group of Cheyenne riding in from the rolling wilderness. Katie raised a stained and dirty hand to shield her eyes. The group consisted of a young brave, an old man, an adolescent girl, and a woman with a bundle in her arms. When they dismounted, it became apparent that the bundle was a baby. Still, many of the women and a few of the men within Katie’s earshot murmured and left their work as though these people were special.

  When Fast Doe abandoned the hides they were treating to go see, Katie went with her. Halfway to an open area at the side of the village where everyone seemed to be meeting, Two Spots jogged up to Katie’s side.

  “Who are these people?” Katie asked her.

  “It is Brave Wolf. He is returned,” Two Spots said in awe.

  Katie blinked. “Who is Brave Wolf?”

  “Brave Wolf is Sky Bear’s friend. They are like brothers. Brave Wolf’s wife, Laughing Waters, was Sky Bear’s wife’s sister. She was with child, but the medicine man said there was something wrong and that Laughing Waters and her baby would die. Brave Wolf did not like that answer. He took Laughing Waters and her little sister and her uncle away with him to seek magic that would save his wife and baby.”

  “It looks like they found it,” Katie said, full of as much wonder as the people around her. They all pushed on to see the baby.

  “Sky Bear left here many days ago to find them,” Two Spots went on as they reached the heart of the crowd going to see the tiny miracle. “He said he would tell Brave Wolf there was no medicine that could help Laughing Waters and he should let her walk with Death along the starry road to find her sister, that he should get another wife.”

  Rage bubbled in Katie’s gut. “That man is a barbarian,” she huffed.

  Two Spots shrugged, lowering her eyes. “He is full of grief and anger.”

  Katie would have argued the point, but Aiden joined the crowd, accompanied by an old man Katie knew by sight but not yet by name. “Aiden,” she called over the curious cluster of Cheyenne.

  She broke away from Two Spots and pushed through the people to get to him. Since Magpie Woman wasn’t around, no one stopped her, though Two Spots followed. She reached Aiden and launched herself into his arms, hugging him tight. A few of the Cheyenne standing near gave them curious and disapproving looks. Katie didn’t care one bit. She would have kissed him if she didn’t think it would go straight to his head.

  “Are you well, a ghrá?” Aiden asked her. “I see you working all the time, and I try to go talk to you, but someone always keeps me back.”

  “I’m fine,” she answered. “I’m tired. And your voice and fingers must be tired. I always hear you playing.”

  Aiden laughed. “The Cheyenne like my music, and as long as I can keep them happy, I have a chance of finding a way to get you out of here.” He hugged her again and kissed her forehead, then stepped back from her with a serious look. “Has that brave bothered you at all?”

  Katie shook her head. “No, not really. I’ll say one thing in favor of all the work I’ve been doing, it keeps him away.”

  “Good.” Aiden nodded.

  He opened his mouth to say more, but was cut off. Brave Wolf spotted him and Katie and called something to them. The people who had gathered glanced from Brave Wolf to Aiden and Katie, parting to make a path so Brave Wolf could approach. He brought Laughing Waters and his baby with him. When he came to stop in front of Aiden, he said something long and full of question.

  “Brave Wolf says the man of great medicine whose magic saved the lives of Laughing Waters and his son was a white man, like this one,” Two Spots translated. When one of the older women standing near them added something, Two Spots said, “Old Trees says that this white man is full of magic too.”

  Brave Wolf looked both Aiden and Katie up and down, then said something. Laughing Waters gaped at Katie and her red hair.

  “Brave Wolf says the white man whose medicine saved his son was shorter, and the woman with him had hair as yellow and fine as corn silk.”

  “Emma?” Katie exclaimed. She grabbed Aiden’s arm as her heart pounded with hope. “Emma and Dean. This must be the other brave, the one who took Emma. Where are they?” she asked Brave Wolf. “Are they safe? How is Emma?”

  Two Spots translated. Brave Wolf said something, but Laughing Waters was the one who truly answered. All the while, she smiled and gestured at Katie.

  “Laughing Waters says she owes her life to the medicine man and his corn-haired woman. She says that her uncle advised them to leave and go home before Brave Wolf returned. They were afraid Brave Wolf would be unhappy that a white man had touched his wife, but they were wrong. Brave Wolf wishes to find this medicine man and corn-haired woman to thank them. He owes them many horses.”

  “They’re safe.” Katie breathed out, sagging against Aiden. “It sounds like they’re safe. Thank God above.”

  “They’ve gone home?” Aiden asked. “Back to Ft. Caspar?”

  Two Spots translated. Brave Wolf answered, then asked a short question. “Brave Wolf says he does not know where they have gone. He asks if you are a friend of the medicine man.”

  “I am,” Aiden answered with a nod.

  Brave Wolf extended his hand, clasping Aiden’s arm in a firm grip when he offered his hand, and thumped him on the back. He said something more. “Brave Wolf says that the friend of the medicine man is a friend of his,” Two Spots translated.

  The people watching hummed and murmured in approval, but the moment of good will was short-lived.

  Sky Bear and his cronies came striding through the gathering. He glared at Aiden and Katie as he made his way up to Brave Wolf. The men exchanged greetings, but their moods were as far apart as could be. Brave Wolf smiled while Sky Bear glowered. They launched into a conversation that Katie didn’t understand, but that could only be a retelling of both Brave Wolf’s and Sky Bear’s stories. Katie studied the faces of the people watching as their expressions flashed from excited to wary to hopeful to disapproving as each story progressed, giving her an idea of what was being said.

  Inevitably, the conversation between the two braves turned into more of a confrontation.

  “Brave Wolf says that we should trust the friends of the medicine man,” Two Spots explained, “but Sky Bear says you are an enemy,” she glanced to Aiden, “and you are to be his wife and become Cheyenne,” she looked at Katie. “Brave Wolf says this thing is wrong and that you should be honored guests.”

  “Listen to Brave Wolf,” Katie blurted before she could think better of it. “I have nothing against the Cheyenne, but I’m not one of you.”

  Two Spots nodded, but she had as little voice in the argument that was brewing between the two friends as Katie did. Katie had a feeling the men would have gone on until they came to blows if Laughing Waters hadn’t stepped in and ended things. Whatever she said, it must have been practical. The two men stopped arguing and shook hands. Katie had a feeling she would like Laughing Waters a lot if she could speak to her.

  “Laughi
ng Waters says she is tired and wants the comfort of her own tipi for her son,” Two Spots said.

  She seemed to be a step or two behind the conversation. Already Sky Bear and Brave Wolf had started off toward the tipis, following Laughing Waters. A few of the Cheyenne trailed them, but most returned to their work.

  “Which one of the two has more influence?” Aiden asked Two Spots.

  “Influence?” Two Spots gave him a confused look.

  “If they continue to talk, who will win the argument? Will Brave Wolf convince Sky Bear to treat us as guests or will Sky Bear convince Brave Wolf we are enemies?”

  Two Spots pursed her lips and stared at the retreating backs of the two men. “It is difficult to say. Sky Bear is fiercer, but Brave Wolf is persistent.”

  A sudden, lopsided grin pulled at Aiden’s mouth as he turned to Katie. “That sounds like a tune I’ve heard before.”

  A rush of heat and prickles swirled through Katie’s insides at the words and the look Aiden gave her. He had the same spark in his eyes as he’d had the times he’d kissed her. That spark filled her with the confidence and grit she had almost lost.

  “It will be Sky Bear then,” she said. “Ferocity always wins in the end.” Though she wasn’t sure whether her own ferocity would continue to insist on keeping Aiden in his place or claiming him like a mountain-climber claimed a summit.

  Aiden shrugged. “The wind can blow and blow on the rock and wear itself out,” he said, leaning closer, “but the rock will still be there in the end, standing firm. I say Brave Wolf will win.”

  “Are you willing to bet on that?” Katie inched toward him, one eyebrow arched.

  “I’d be willing to bet both our lives on it, a ghrá,” Aiden finished. There was enough seriousness in his teasing to fill Katie’s stomach with butterflies, especially when he murmured in a rich, warm voice, “I will get you out of here and bring you home.”

  He would. She knew he would. If only he was given the chance.

  Fast Doe padded up to Katie’s side and touched her arm. She said something in a voice that was firm, but not unkind.

  “Fast Doe says it is time to return to work,” Two Spots translated. “The buffalo hide will not scrape itself.”

  Katie turned anxious eyes up to Aiden, her feisty mood gone. “I’ll run whenever you say to run,” she told Aiden, regardless of Two Spots standing right there beside her. “Just say the word and I’ll drop everything and go with you.”

  Aiden answered her promise with a wry grin. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say those words, a ghrá.”

  “Well enjoy it while you can, Aiden Murphy,” she fired back. “If we don’t find a way to leave here, it might be the last time you hear them.”

  Aiden’s smile melted to determination and he nodded to her before she was dragged away.

  For the rest of the afternoon, Katie worked as diligently as she could. All the while, her mind raced. If Brave Wolf did win his argument, if Sky Bear and the rest of the village was convinced to treat her and Aiden as honored guests, then they would have to let them leave. Guests were not held hostage, and in spite of the stories she had heard to the contrary, the Cheyenne were not savages. They had rules and codes as much as the Irish did. How she would follow all those rules when she didn’t know them was another story.

  When Fast Doe sent her down to the stream to fetch water to clean up, she obeyed one rule, at least, and went without question. The older woman had done nothing mean or cruel to her, and if she was going to be treated as a guest, Katie intended to behave as a good one. She filled the bucket-like water skins to the brim with as much water as she could carry, then turned to head back up the hill to the village.

  Sky Bear was waiting for her halfway up the hill. Katie didn’t see him as she fiddled with her burdens, but as soon as he spoke to her she gasped. A cold chill swept down her back and she froze where she was. Sky Bear frowned and marched down the hill toward her. Desperate, Katie searched the hillside and the stream behind her. A few children were playing farther upstream, but there were no adults, no one who could intervene, anywhere nearby.

  “What do you want?” she asked, knowing full well he couldn’t understand.

  When he reached her, Katie took a step back. Sky Bear clenched his jaw and let out a breath. He glanced down—as if contemplating what to say—then up to meet her eyes. He said something slow and deliberate, his voice even and calm.

  Katie only stared at him. Her heart thudded in her chest. “I don’t want anything from you,” she changed her tactics, shaking her head and holding the large water skin in front of her to prove her point.

  Sky Bear replied, taking a step closer to her and raising a hand to touch a lock of hair that hung over her shoulder.

  “No.” Katie flinched away. “Don’t touch me.”

  Sky Bear clenched his jaw and let out a frustrated breath. He held up his hands and said something long and patient to her. Explaining. He was explaining something. Could he be explaining why she should be his wife? How he intended to take her as his wife whether she wanted it or not? Could he be explaining what her duties as a wife were? It was anyone’s guess.

  When he touched her hair again, Katie snapped, “No. I said don’t touch me. I don’t want to be your wife.” Fear fueled her anger, even though she knew it was risky to offend him when no one else was around.

  And Sky Bear was offended. His carefully neutral expression vanished to impatience and the next thing he said to her was harsher. He grabbed hold of the water skin she carried and tugged it away from her.

  “Give that back.” Katie fumbled to keep her hold on the skin.

  The two of them wrestled with it, splashing water everywhere. In the end, Sky Bear was much stronger and tore it away from her. He shifted it easily into his left hand, then gestured for her to come with him with his right.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she protested, crossing her arms. At the back of her mind, it dawned on her that he was trying to be nice and carry the heavy water skin for her, but she wasn’t having it.

  Whatever had inspired Sky Bear to be nice, it vanished. He turned to her and threw down the water skin, growling out something halfway between admonishment and complaint. He stood toe-to-toe with her, towering above her as if he could intimidate her into submission.

  “You can’t bully me,” she told him, keeping her arms crossed as she began to shake with fear. “I won’t go anywhere with you and I certainly won’t marry you.”

  Sky Bear growled in frustration. He touched her hair again, saying something decidedly not happy this time.

  Katie jerked away from him. “Get away from me.”

  It was the wrong answer. Sky Bear grabbed her arm and tugged her closer to him. When she tried to free herself, he took hold of her other arm and pressed her close. Fear so strong that it made Katie’s knees weak flared in her. Sky Bear was bigger than her, he was stronger than her. She could fight all she wanted, but he had the power to overcome her. He held her close in spite of her feeble struggles to break free and barked orders at her, all of his patience gone.

  “I don’t want to marry you,” Katie shouted, tears stinging her eyes. “I want to go home. I won’t be your wife. I love someone else.” The words came as such a surprise and with such a rush that she repeated them, louder, “I love someone else. Let me go.”

  Sky Bear shook her, his frustration at its peak. Katie continued to struggle and shout until Sky Bear raised a hand as if to hit her.

  “Stop right there!”

  Aiden hadn’t known what to make of it when the woman called Two Spots came to warn him that Sky Bear had followed Katie down to the river. He had dropped everything to follow her, and when he saw the way that the bullish brave was manhandling his Katie, he was glad he did. The second he rounded the top of the hill that led down to the river and heard Katie shouting her protests, fiery rage had taken him.

  Sky Bear let Katie go and backed away, hands forming into fists
, pure hatred in his eyes.

  “If you lay one more hand on her, I swear I’ll kill you,” Aiden threatened as he drew close. He could have beaten the brave to a bloody pulp right then, but Katie needed him more. He ran straight to her and scooped her into his arms to comfort her.

  “Thank God, Aiden,” Katie whispered as she sagged against him.

  “Did he hurt you?” Aiden asked, knowing that if the answer was yes, Sky Bear would die.

  Katie shook her head. “No. No, I think he was trying to help, but I don’t want his kind of help.”

  As they spoke, Sky Bear said something to Two Spots. “Sky Bear says the white music man has no right interfering with his bride.” She lowered her eyes, her blush making the white-pink spots on her face stand out even more.

  “I’m not his bride,” Katie said.

  “Katie will decide who she wants to marry or not,” Aiden underscored her statement. He held her tight.

  Sky Bear spoke, practically spitting his words.

  “Sky Bear says you have no honor. You are barely a man,” Two Spots translated. She seemed embarrassed to repeat his words and glanced sideways at him, full of wary emotion.

  There was something in that look. Aiden wasn’t certain what it could be… unless mild little Two Spots was in love with Sky Bear. The prospect threw him off guard.

  “A real man doesn’t bully women,” Aiden said, more calm than he felt. “A real man doesn’t force a woman into marriage against her will.” Two Spots translated his words as he spoke. “A real man takes a willing woman, a woman who loves him, to be his wife.” He glanced at Two Spots as he spoke, testing his theory.

  Two Spots stopped halfway through her translation. Her eyes flickered up to meet Aiden’s, half in fear, half in surprise. She closed her mouth, swallowed, then continued with her translation, slow and reluctant. As she spoke, she raised a hand to cover the discolored spot on her cheek as if hiding her flaw.