‘‘Dan!’’ Kora screamed and dropped the rifle.
‘‘Dan?’’ Andrew staggered back.
Without a sound, Dan let the power behind the hit turn him. The belt wrapped around his throat as he whirled. Blood from his forehead splattered the walls as he slowly crumbled across the bed.
Kora ran toward her brother, almost catching him. ‘‘Dan! Dan!’’ she screamed.
Andrew recovered slowly. ‘‘Who is he? What’s he doing here? It wasn’t my fault.’’
Kora looked up at Andrew. First, she’d felt sorry for him, then she’d feared him, now she hated him. ‘‘He’s my brother, and if you’ve killed him, I’ll shoot you. I swear I will.’’
There was something so certain in her tone, Andrew tried to blink away his own fear. ‘‘I didn’t kill him. He stepped in my way. I just cut his forehead. It’ll bleed a lot, head wounds always do. But he won’t die.’’
Kora took her shawl and wrapped it around Dan’s head. ‘‘We’ve got to get him to a doctor. He’s been ill. If it bleeds much, he might die.’’
‘‘No,’’ Andrew said. ‘‘I ain’t going near no doctors. The last one I saw had me in the grave. I woke up arguing with the undertaker.’’
‘‘Then leave us here and go. Someone will help us. Just go.’’
Andrew rubbed his face, trying to think. ‘‘No. I’m not leaving you. You’re my wife. You’re coming with me.’’
‘‘I’m not leaving Dan.’’ Kora crossed to the shelf and lifted down a box of clean rags she’d left there a lifetime ago. While Andrew tried to decide what to do, she slipped the knife he’d used to cut her ropes from the table and into her pocket. She wasn’t sure she could kill Andrew for kidnapping her, but she knew she wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever she must to protect her brother.
He was motionless as she knelt by the bed and removed her bloody shawl. She wrapped the wound as tightly as she dared. ‘‘He needs stitches badly.’’
‘‘All right!’’ Andrew yelled suddenly, as if the room were full of screaming people. ‘‘We’ll go and take your brother.’’
Andrew was sobering up. Drunk, he might try a great many things, but sober he was far more of a coward. ‘‘I ain’t taking you or him to town, but there’s an old woman, name of Rae, at the Breaks who’ll look after him.’’
‘‘I’ll go to the settlement with you. It’s closer than town,’’ Kora agreed. ‘‘But that’s all. I’m not going anywhere else with you.’’
Andrew looked at her. He opened his mouth as though about to argue, then closed it again. ‘‘We’ll talk about it later. You’re just upset.’’
Kora touched the knife in her pocket. Now that she wasn’t tied up and helpless, or worried about Andrew seeing Dan, Andrew didn’t seem near as frightening.
Suddenly she realized something. In the time she’d known Winter, she’d grown stronger. She’d do whatever she had to do. Jamie might be right, they might just be weeds in the garden, but she was ready to fight for her right to live. All her life all she’d ever thought of was running, but now she knew she was strong enough to stand and fight if she must.
Fighting his way back to the light, Win opened his eyes and blinked away the glow of a candle only a foot from his face.
‘‘Win?’’ someone said.
‘‘What?’’ he grumbled and turned to find Doc Gage sitting by his bed. For a moment he thought he might be in some kind of strange dream. But the doc was too real, just like the pain in his head.
‘‘Can you see me? You’ve been out quite a while.’’
‘‘How long?’’
‘‘All day.’’
‘‘Kora?’’
‘‘How’s the head?’’ Gage asked as he offered Win a drink.
Accepting the water, Win leaned forward on one elbow. He felt weak, as if he were moving in water.
‘‘The ranch. Has anything happened?’’
‘‘No,’’ Gage answered. ‘‘Cheyenne says all is so quiet it’s spooky on the range.’’
‘‘Where’s Kora?’’
Gage looked uncomfortable. ‘‘You’re still very weak. You’ll need at least another twenty-four hours in bed for the poison to work its way out.’’
Win’s tone hardened. ‘‘Where’s Kora?’’
‘‘Tell him the truth!’’ Logan snapped from the landing. ‘‘Even half dead, he can face whatever he has to.’’
Gage nodded. ‘‘We think she was kidnapped this morning before dawn. Jamie heard some men talking about ways to get you off guard. One was to take Kora. But Cheyenne had tracked down the men who were talking, and they weren’t the ones who took her.’’
‘‘Hand me my clothes!’’ Win ordered.
‘‘No, Win.’’ The doc held his hands up, as if the barrier would stop Win. ‘‘You’re far too weak. I know how you must feel, but we’re doing everything that can be done.’’
Logan moved to the chair and handed Win his trousers. ‘‘I’ve kept a buggy waiting. Cheyenne spotted the trail almost an hour ago. He and Jamie have gone ahead.’’
‘‘But…’’ Gage looked frustrated that no one was listening to him. ‘‘Win, you could black out at any moment. You’re in no shape to sit up, much less travel.’’
Win jammed his pants on, gritting his teeth at the pain. He wasn’t sure he could stay conscious, but he wasn’t waiting. ‘‘You have no idea how I feel, Doc. If you did, you’d be helping me.’’
Gage picked up his bag. ‘‘Well, I’m coming along. I have a feeling before this night’s over, someone’s going to need me.’’
TWENTY-SEVEN
JAMIE RODE SILENTLY BESIDE CHEYENNE ACROSS THE open land. He followed a trail only he saw, but at least they had a direction. She’d wasted most of the day riding first one way then another while he’d checked on the ranch and looked for clues. By midafternoon she’d been near hysterics from worry. Kora might think she was the oldest and the leader of their family, but Jamie had always been there to protect her. To make sure she was safe. To prevent anyone from hurting her.
Finally, when Jamie had nowhere else to turn, Cheyenne told her he’d found a trail of wagon tracks and planned to follow them as long as daylight held. Now, not only darkness threatened, but also rain. The clouds were as dark as her mood. If he hurried, he might lose the trail. But if he didn’t hurry, the rain would wash it out before they could find her sister. With each passing minute Kora could be farther away.
After riding beside him an hour, Jamie wasn’t sure he’d been telling the truth, for she could see no trail even though Cheyenne kept watching the ground and moving slowly. Kora had vanished. Even with all her plans and the guards watching, somehow she’d vanished. Jamie knew the men who’d brought Winter home hadn’t taken Kora, so who had?
Jamie glanced around her. Far into the distance she saw two hills that looked familiar. It took her tired mind a minute to figure out where she’d seen them.
Suddenly they registered. ‘‘Saddleback! The farm. Andrew Adams!’’ She’d completely forgotten about the weasel of a first husband. ‘‘Of course, he’s taken Kora!’’ One of the guards had even mentioned seeing his freight wagon crossing Win’s land.
Kicking her horse, Jamie knew exactly where the tracks led. Cheyenne yelled at her to slow down, but she wasn’t listening.
She reached the rundown farm a few lengths ahead of Cheyenne. After jumping off her horse, she ran through the open door with a gun in one hand and her knife in the other. She’d teach Andrew Adams a thing or two.
Cheyenne was only a few feet behind her. What they saw froze them both in place. Blood was everywhere-on
