The boy looked down as if afraid even to say the name. ‘‘Michael Catlin,’’ Jason whispered. ‘‘I’m sorry about speaking bad of your kin, Allie.’’
Allie felt Wes stiffen beside her. Somehow this trouble was her doing. Catlin was looking for her, she knew it. And he’d kill anyone in his path to get to her. She’d found her family. And they not only didn’t want her… they wanted her dead.
‘‘What will we do?’’ she asked, already knowing what she would have to do. She must get away from Wes and Jason as fast as she could so that they would be safe. Catlin had no reason to chase them. He wanted her.
‘‘We’ll go back to town,’’ Wes answered calmly. ‘‘It’s time to send a few telegrams. I could have you on the next stage to Adam’s place if you like.’’
‘‘No.’’ Allie wanted to run, but not back to Nichole and Adam. That might put them in danger. ‘‘I stay with you, or I go on my own.’’
Wes stood and pulled her from the branches into the morning sun so that he could read her expression. ‘‘Then stay with me, Allie. Promise. I can see the look in your eyes. There will be no running. If I found you when you ran, they might find you. Promise you’ll stay with me until it’s safe.’’
Allie didn’t turn away this time when he stared into her eyes. She knew what he was saying. He was telling her that he’d stand and fight for her. No one had ever done that. Somehow, this strange man had everything backward in the world. Somehow, he thought she was worth fighting for. Maybe even dying for.
‘‘I’ll stay.’’ She knew it would be a promise hard to keep.
SIXTEEN
AN HOUR LATER, WES WROTE A TELEGRAM TO THEonly man he could ask for help-Wolf Hayward. They’d fought on different sides in the war, but they were both bound by Adam and Nichole. Wolf was Nichole’s big brother. Wes was Adam’s, and, somehow, that one thread had started their friendship.
‘‘Last I heard, Wolf lived near Austin. If he’s close, he’ll come.’’ Wes glanced at Allie, who didn’t look pleased.
‘‘A man named Wolf?’’
Wes laughed. ‘‘Wait till you see him, he looks more like a bear. He’s the hairiest man I’ve ever seen. And big, my height, but double the width. But he’s an honorary brother in the McLain clan.’’
Handing the telegram to the clerk, Wes motioned to Jason, who was doing his best to stand still and be invisible. ‘‘How about we go over to the cafe for breakfast while I wait for an answer?’’
Allie followed along, her thoughts simmering in worry. Wes wouldn’t have asked for help unless he thought this trouble she’d caused was great.
She didn’t say anything while they ate, only listened as Jason asked one question after another about horses. She could hear people all around her talking. But she couldn’t think of anything that would change one way or the other if she said a word.
Wes showed Jason a compass he’d carried all through the war. He tried to explain how it worked, but Jason was more interested in food than direction.
While Wes finished his coffee and Jason his fourth buttered biscuit, the room emptied. Most folks hurried out to start their days. Allie wondered what it would be like to live in a town and be around so many people all at once. They were like one huge tribe. But many didn’t seem to know one another, for they didn’t even nod as they passed.
When they finished all the food, Wes leaned back in his chair and Jason hurried out to check on the horses. Wes watched the other people for a while, then turned his attention back to her.
Allie shifted in her seat. She was getting used to being alone with him, but she still wasn’t sure what he expected of her. Though his wife, he asked no duties of her. It seemed, in his world, the marriage would last only until she found a family.
‘‘I’m not much of a talker, even in the best of times,’’ he began. ‘‘But I figure we’ve got a few things to say to one another, and they need to be said while Jason’s not around.’’
She glanced at her hands and waited. Maybe the time had come for him to tell her he could no longer be responsible for her. After all, she was of no use to him, and she cost him money when she knew his supply was low. Maybe he would say some word, and the marriage would be over, just as his brother had said words to make it begin.
‘‘Will you talk to me, Allie?’’
The question surprised her. Most of their conversation to date had been him talking and her listening.
He drank his coffee and waited.
‘‘I don’t know what to say,’’ she finally admitted, feeling his gaze warm her. The phrases of her first language were coming back to her, but how could she just talk?
Wes looked up at the ceiling and took a long breath. ‘‘After the night in the barn, and the way you kissed me, I’ve been thinking of lots to talk about, but the words don’t seem to come out in rational order. I know there needs to be something said between us if you felt anything like I did. I’ve tried to give you time, thinking you’d tell me something about how you feel.’’
He looked directly at her as though he’d judge her answer carefully. ‘‘Why’d you kiss me like that?’’
‘‘Like what?’’
‘‘Like you were planning to crawl in and homestead my heart,’’ Wes answered, ‘‘when we both know you’re just waiting for a chance to leave me and all of civilization.’’
‘‘Is kissing you wrong?’’ Allie had no idea what he was saying. She’d only kissed him the way he’d kissed her, and she’d never told him she wouldn’t leave him until this morning, when he’d asked her to promise to stay until the danger was past.
‘‘No, the kiss wasn’t wrong. It was about the most right thing that ever happened to me.’’ Wes leaned closer. ‘‘I just wondered why.’’
Allie knew talking came too hard for her to lie. ‘‘I…’’
All the languages began to blend together in her mind. It seemed all her life people had told her not to talk. Now this strange man wanted her to tell him how she felt, something she could never remember anyone asking her.
She forced herself. ‘‘The summer I turned ten, I was traded from one tribe to another. The chief of the tribe had a widowed mother, so I was given to her. The old woman’s husband had been a great warrior, and her son would follow his path. But the old woman was dried up and angry most of the time. She wanted me as property, not as company. She told me if I talked, she’d cut out my tongue.’’ Allie swallowed hard, remembering those early days. ‘‘I don’t believe she would have, but for years I didn’t say a word in any language. She made sure I worked hard and only ate after she judged there to be plenty. I lived with her five winters. The dawn when the raid came, I ran. I didn’t even look back when I heard her death cry.’’
Blinking back tears, she whispered, ‘‘Until you, the old woman was the kindest person I’d ever known.’’
Wes leaned across the table and touched her hand. ‘‘I’m not kind, Allie. Most men I know would say I’m hard and cold. Before I thought of myself as grown, I fought in a war and proved myself a good soldier. Over the years, I didn’t think about much besides staying alive.
‘‘Once in a while, I’d need to be near a woman, and there were always those willing. But with you it’s different. When I’m around you, I’m not just near a woman, I’m near you.’’
Allie tried to listen closely, but his meaning was unclear. Was he talking of the war, of women, or of her?
‘‘I’m not making any sense,’’ Wes tossed his napkin on the table. ‘‘We’d better get over to the telegraph office. There should be a reply by now.’’
Allie reached out her hand and touched his, stopping him from rising. ‘‘I have a question,’’ she whispered. ‘‘Why did you take me from the cage?’’
Wes raised an eyebrow as if he thought the answer obvious. ‘‘I couldn’t stand the thought of them treating you like an animal. You were like some kind of wild creature with your hair flying all around you and dirt caking your face.’’ He smiled. ‘‘But when I looked in your eyes, I knew you were enchanted.’’
He seemed uncomfortable, but continued, ‘‘There you were, trapped in a hell, and you stared at me like you
