dead, so I followed Winter. I guess I figured since we were both of mixed blood, we were the same somehow. He looks like his father from the white man’s world and I look more like my father from the Indian world, but we are the same inside. A part of no world.’’
Silently he drew his knife and cut the bandage on Win’s arm. Without hesitation, he then slit into his own wrist.
Kora made a little sound but didn’t move as Cheyenne lowered his bloody wrist over Winter’s open wound. The Indian didn’t explain, he didn’t have to. Kora knew he was offering his own blood to Winter.
After a few minutes Kora gently lifted Cheyenne’s arm and bandaged his wrist. He didn’t make any speeches by telling her he’d die for Win, or how much Win meant to him. He’d proved his point with the action.
As she finished wrapping the cut, Logan stepped into the attic. ‘‘I thought I’d relieve you on guard. Our three guests are preparing to leave. They said they’d like to pay their respects to Mrs. McQuillen before they go.’’
Kora glanced at Winter. ‘‘I don’t want to leave Win.’’
‘‘You stay,’’ Cheyenne volunteered. ‘‘I’ll see them off.’’ He took a few steps, then looked back. ‘‘Promise you’ll stay up here.’’
‘‘Of course.’’ She smiled. ‘‘Where else?’’
She sat back down beside the bed.
Cheyenne hurried out of the room. He met Jamie at the bottom of the attic stairs.
‘‘How do I look?’’ Jamie asked as she spun in her dress. Her bun was not as smooth as Kora made and her boots showed from beneath the hem, but in a poor light it would be hard to tell them apart.
‘‘You’ll pass. Same hair, same size, but try to move in smaller steps like Kora.’’
‘‘I know what to do!’’ Jamie scolded. ‘‘You just make sure you follow. If I have to kill those three fellows, I don’t want to have to walk back here in this dress.’’
Cheyenne nodded. ‘‘Logan says the men are saddling up now. I’ll move out and get my horse ready, then wait behind the barn. You go stand on the porch. The light is dim there. And don’t do anything foolish like fight when they grab you.’’
‘‘This is my idea, remember.’’ Jamie poked him in the chest with her finger. ‘‘I know what I’m doing.’’
‘‘I’ll remember that when this plan falls apart,’’ Cheyenne answered.
Jamie turned to go, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her. ‘‘One more thing,’’ he said as he closed the distance between them. ‘‘Before you get yourself killed, I want to give you back something.’’
Before she could react, he kissed her hard on the mouth like she’d kissed him that morning.
When he released her, Jamie’s eyes stung, her lips tingled, and her heart raced. She felt the kiss all the way to her toes. ‘‘How dare you!’’ she stormed, more angry that he had such an effect on her than that he’d kissed her.
Cheyenne moved toward the front door. ‘‘I’ll take it back if we live through this.’’
He was gone before she could answer that she’d make sure he did.
TWENTY-FOUR
THE WIND WHIPPED AROUND, CONFUSING THE DIRECTION of sounds. Cheyenne crept in the blackness of the night until he could see the lights from the house. He’d saddled his horse and now all he had to do was wait.
Jamie stepped off the porch just as the three strangers emerged from the barn. They were talking among themselves. One pointed in Jamie’s direction while the other two huddled around him.
Cheyenne saw her walk toward the well, a bucket swinging at her side. Good, he thought, look natural. She was doing a great job of shortening her step to act more like Kora. In the dress he could almost believe she was a lady. Before the three men had moved more than a few feet, a blackness passed between Cheyenne and Jamie. One second she’d been walking toward the well, the next she vanished as though the moonless night had swallowed her whole.
Cheyenne twisted uneasily. There were too many black spots in the yard. He couldn’t see her. The three men were still standing by the barn door mumbling. They seemed to be arguing about something as they tossed a blanket between them like children playing hot potato.
Somewhere in the shadows at the side of the main house, Cheyenne heard the jingle of a harness and the groan of a wagon beginning to roll out. The lonely sound of a harmonica drifted from the bunkhouse, and the cook yelled from the kitchen, reminding Cheyenne that the ranch was still very much alive, though Win was near death.
Cheyenne searched the darkness once more, fear climbing up his spine. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Then he saw Jamie step off the porch once more. She was safe! He’d worried for nothing.
She walked slowly toward the trees as though just out for a stroll. Since earlier, she’d grown restless. Her steps were jerky, not nearly as smooth. Cheyenne reminded himself she was young, and despite her bravado, games like this one were new to her. He hoped she wouldn’t panic and run before the men could kidnap her. If they were going through with this plan, everything had to go right. Her life was the ante.
The three strangers finally took the bait. They were in the saddle and heading toward her before she had time to turn around. Cheyenne heard her muffled scream as one man tossed a blanket over her head and another lifted her off the ground and onto the front of his saddle.
Somewhere in the darkness a guard sounded the alarm. Men hurried from the bunkhouse pulling weapons ready as they moved. Cheyenne raised into the saddle, allowing the strangers enough lead not to know they were being followed.
But Jamie’s reaction was too natural to be forgotten as planned. She fought wildly, kicking and screaming. Her actions frightened the poorly trained horse, who began circling instead of running. She kicked violently, knocking the man from his horse and landing on top of him. The two others slapped their animals into action without staying to help the downed man. Jamie was on her feet whirling a knife at her captor even before she could pull the blanket from her face.
Suddenly she realized what she’d done. ‘‘What kind of kidnapper are you?’’ She stormed at the injured man, kicking him hard in both legs and banging him on the head with her fist as though he were a drum. ‘‘Can’t you even stay in the saddle?’’ She booted him again and continued her pounding beat against his ears. ‘‘Don’t you even know how to grab someone and hold on? I should kill you for not even knowing how to hold a frightened mount!’’
Cheyenne grabbed her around the waist from behind before she could deliver another blow to the poor man balled on the ground.
‘‘Stop it!’’ Cheyenne shouted in her ear. ‘‘Don’t kill him before he answers a few questions.’’
‘‘Keep her off me!’’ the man yelled.
‘‘Where are your friends going?’’ Cheyenne asked as he struggled to hold Jamie.
The man hesitated. Cheyenne lowered a still kicking, fighting Jamie to the ground.
‘‘I’ll tell.’’ The man held up his hand. ‘‘Just don’t let her at me.’’
Cheyenne pulled her back against his side. ‘‘Then you’d better talk fast, because as you know, she’s hard to hold.’’
‘‘They’re heading for the Breaks Settlement. We was just going to keep her there for a day or two. We weren’t going to hurt her none, I swear.’’
‘‘Who’s paying you?’’ Cheyenne fired the next question as other men came running from the barn.
‘‘I don’t know. I swear. I just saw a woman on horseback bring the money. She told us to make sure Win McQuillen was busy for a few days. I don’t know nothing else.’’
‘‘What’d she look like?’’ Cheyenne shouted over Jamie’s death threats.
‘‘I couldn’t tell.’’ The man crawled away a few feet. ‘‘I couldn’t tell nothing. It was night and she had on a black duster.’’
Several ranch hands reached them, pulling the man to his feet and removing his weapons.
