AN HOUR LATER, WHEN LOGAN RETURNED WITH THE story of how the drifters had just happened on Win, Kora was convinced the men were lying. They claimed he’d been floating in the shallow water with his horse only a few feet away. One suggested the mount must have thrown him. Kora glanced from Cheyenne to Logan.
Kora barely noticed Jamie silently slip from the room as Logan went over every detail of the men’s story for the third time.
While the others talked, Jamie tiptoed down the stairs and approached the dining room. The three men were whispering at the far end of the table. She crawled on her belly until she slipped under the tablecloth and crept to the center of the table, her body within inches of their legs.
‘‘Well, how do you like the old guy? He offers us a place to sleep in the bunkhouse. You’d think we’d get to stay in the main house after what we did bringing the boss in and all.’’
‘‘Shut up, Miller. We ain’t got time to sleep. If McQuillen ain’t dead yet, he just might pull through, and where is that going to leave us? I knew we should have left him in a little longer until he took a few more bites.’’
‘‘We held him till he stopped jerking. That should have been long enough.’’ The man called Miller added, ‘‘We’d best hightail it out of here. I ain’t dealing with a man six cottonmouths can’t kill.’’
‘‘No,’’ the third man, smaller than the others, interrupted. ‘‘We’ve been paid by the lady to get Win McQuillen off the blockade line by tomorrow night. ‘Whatever it takes,’ she said. If this don’t work, we’ll have to find another way.’’
‘‘But how?’’ Miller whined. ‘‘I’m not charging up those stairs with that Indian and that wild girl standing guard. Even the wife wears a gun. These folks aren’t going to let us just kill him.’’
‘‘No’’-the little man giggled-‘‘there’s a way he won’t be thinking of minding the blockade even if he wakes up. And we don’t have to kill anyone.’’
‘‘How’s that? I only went along with the snakes ’cause I wouldn’t have to do the killin’. I’ll do just about anything, but killin’s where I draw the line.’’
‘‘Since when did you get religion, Miller?’’
‘‘I ain’t got religion. My dad used to tell me no matter what I did, don’t do nothing that would get my neck stretched. He said a man can always break out of a prison, but there ain’t much you can do to survive when you’re dangling from the end of a noose.’’
‘‘Hush up, Miller. We ain’t got time,’’ the third man whispered. ‘‘What’s the plan, Al?’’
‘‘When the wife comes down, we take her for a little ride. She’ll have every man on the place looking for her, and we can probably drive a herd within sight of the house. She ain’t more than a snip of a girl. It shouldn’t be too much trouble to collect her and drop her off at the hideout.’’
Jamie pulled back, biting her knuckle to keep from screaming and charging out and killing all the men. She crawled away as they went to refill their coffee.
Cheyenne met her on the landing. He’d been sitting in the blackness, waiting. She almost bumped into him before she saw him.
A frightened scream died in her throat as she took an angry swing at him. ‘‘You scared me to death!’’ she whispered. ‘‘What are you doing here?’’
‘‘I wanted to know what the men said. I could tell they were scheming with their heads all together, but I couldn’t hear anything. Then I see you sliding from beneath the tablecloth.’’
Jamie debated telling him. The chances were good he wouldn’t believe her. But he was her one hope. He might irritate her to the breaking point, but for once they had a common goal, to keep Win alive. She leaned close beside him in the darkness.
‘‘They’ve been hired by some woman to make sure Win isn’t watching tomorrow night. She must be the one planning to run the cattle past. Since the snakes failed, the only other plan those three toads can come up with is to kidnap Kora.’’
Jamie placed her hand on Cheyenne’s leg to keep him from reacting. ‘‘Settle down. I already thought of killing them in the kitchen. It would just make a mess.’’
He relaxed slightly, but his breathing grew rapid with fury.
‘‘If we kill them, we’re no closer to knowing who’s behind this than we were before. The woman who hired them may not be the boss but just a hired hand like those three downstairs. If we’re going to help Win, we need to find out who is behind all this trouble.’’
‘‘So what do you suggest?’’ Cheyenne asked. ‘‘We let them kidnap Kora?’’
‘‘Exactly.’’ Jamie didn’t let go of his leg for fear he’d bolt. ‘‘Only it won’t be Kora. It’ll be me.’’
Cheyenne’s breathing stopped.
Jamie leaned closer, frantically pleading her case. ‘‘We don’t have time to get the sheriff and let them spend a few days in jail before they decide to talk. One man said a herd will pass through here tomorrow night. If we don’t know who wants to stop Win by then, we won’t know who to trust. Our men will be sitting ducks all along the blockade.’’
‘‘But they won’t take you instead of Kora,’’ Cheyenne whispered.
‘‘Not dressed like this. But if I put on a dress and tie my hair back, I’d pass for her in poor light.’’
‘‘No, it’s too dangerous.’’
‘‘Give me some credit! I’ve spent my life running with the boys. Some towns we lived in, the neighbors thought I
Cheyenne groaned. ‘‘It’s a lame plan.’’ He removed her hand that was resting on his leg, putting her plan aside as easily as he did her touch.
‘‘Well, I’ve got a lame partner.’’ Jamie laughed as she patted his leg, discovering how much her touch bothered him. ‘‘I’ve waited all my life to pay Kora back for all the sacrifices she’s made for me. Now’s my chance. I can save her and Win’s ranch.’’
‘‘We’ll probably both be killed.’’
‘‘Got any other ideas? Anyone else we get involved will be pulling men off the guard. Logan will be here to protect Win and Kora.’’ Jamie rested her hand on his leg, rooting her fingers into his flesh so she wouldn’t be so easy to cast off again. ‘‘It’s just you and me.’’
Cheyenne was silent for a long moment. ‘‘All right. But don’t do anything foolish. Once you’re in their camp, just play the frightened woman. I’ll find a way to get in and save you, maybe without having to fight our way out.’’
Jamie nodded. ‘‘I’ll go get dressed and then start making myself an easy catch.’’ She patted his leg once more before disappearing.
Cheyenne slowly climbed the stairs, shaking his head. It was a crazy plan that would probably get them both killed, but Jamie was right. It was the only one they could think of. Win had told him to talk anything new over with Kora, but he wasn’t about to tell her what Jamie was planning. Kora would never go along with it, and if he had any sense left, he wouldn’t, either.
Kora sat beside the bed as Cheyenne entered. ‘‘He’s better,’’ she whispered. ‘‘He mumbled my name a few minutes ago and asked for water. He’s pulling out.’’
Cheyenne stood over the bed, staring down at Winter.
He’d do anything for Win, even die, and Win would never know why. The time had come to tell someone in case he didn’t come back and Kora was the one. ‘‘When Win’s village was attacked years ago,’’ Cheyenne began more to himself than Kora, ‘‘I was away with several of the older boys training to be a ‘dog soldier.’ I wasn’t there to help my mother or her tribe. The soldiers killed her without even knowing that she’d been a white woman, raising her sons among their father’s people.’’
Kora listened, knowing the Indian was speaking words long in his heart.
‘‘I returned to find only bodies, mostly women and children. My mother and two little brothers were among the dead. My father lived the night, but didn’t want to face dawn without my mother. I was holding him in my arms when he just stopped breathing.
‘‘A few of the tribe’s children had managed to run and hide. When they returned to camp weeks later, the leader of our people made a little half-breed named Winter go back to the white man’s world. All my family was
