“Harris, that hurts.” Desire flares in his eyes when he glares back at her.
Kimani releases him quickly and stammers, “I’m sorry.”
“What the hell did he hit you with and how did it get through the layers…” his voice fades when he realizes she’s naked beneath the dress.
“My ribs couldn’t take it. They were confining, I took them off,” she murmurs.
Beautiful muscular, battered, legs, streaked in mud, and Harris grips her leg a little too tightly as images of bathing her clean and tracing his mouth all over her body, cloud his mind.
“I don’t think it’s broken.” He says hoarsely, “It will just hurt like hell for a while.” He covers her quickly and returns to get her settled on the log. Her leg needs to be elevated, and she needs time to heal.
“I have a back-up plan, thanks to Sutton. If we can make it to the mountains, there’s a trappers cabin they keep stocked for emergencies. We could stay there until you are well enough to travel. Now that Craig is dead, we should have time to figure out our next move. For now, you need to keep that leg still. Stretch your leg across the log.” Kimani does as she is told and pushes the skirt over her leg. Harris drapes a blanket around her shoulders and is thinking about staying put for a few days when they hear a low rumble.
“Damn, I forgot about them. Stay put,” he orders.
“Okay,” she replies, deciding to listen this time.
Harris pauses and glances at her worriedly. She is never agreeable. He grabs his binoculars and walks swiftly from the camp. Determined to get her to safety.
Kimani is sitting on the log when the noise grows louder, and she can hear the chugging steam engine. “That’s a train,” she swings her leg down slowly and limps from the camp after Harris.
“Oh, my God…” Harris starts to say but stops when he sees movement to his left.
She’s only a few yards from Harris when she hears the familiar rapid repeating bangs of a Gatling Gun. The bullets make a different sound when striking metal instead of flesh. Kimani’s drops to the ground in terror and covers her head with her hands.
Harris runs to her and tries to pull her up, “We need to go.” Kimani is shaking violently and whimpering on the ground. “I’ve got you.” He gathers her in his arms and sits against the hill.
Kimani buries her face in his shirt and holds on tightly as he whispers in her ear. Voiceless words, but the timbre of his speech soothes her. He strokes her hair and rocks gently.
Loud voices, screaming, and gunshots echo, causing Kimani to jump. “I need to check this out. Are you okay?” Kimani nods and crawls from his lap.
“I’m going with you,” she grabs his hand, and he doesn’t argue.
Together they crawl to the top of the ridge and stare down at the scene in front of them. The train is stopped and riddled with holes. The conductor and engineer, along with ten passengers are on their knees with their hands above their heads.
Angry words they can’t hear are spoken, as the train is unloaded by the soldiers. A soldier cracks a wooden case open and grins, lifting out a rifle. Wagons are pulled up, and they begin to transfer the supplies. The engineer stands up and shakes hands with the Captain in charge of the Army soldiers and points to a certain railcar.
“Why steal your own weapons?” Harris murmurs. This train is a seven car, supply train. Not passengers. One squad of soldier’s searches through the two cars shouting with success when they find another Gatling gun.
A squad of soldier’s steps forward with native Indian bows. The prisoners are swiftly shot with arrows and those that die too slowly have their throats slit. The Engineer mounts up and accepts a payment before riding out. When they begin carving the humans up and tossing Indian weapons on the ground, Harris has seen enough.
“They are blaming the Indians for the raids, but why?” Kimani asks in horror.
“It doesn’t matter. We have to get away from here.” Harris stays low as he pulls her from the hill and back towards camp.
Kimani doesn’t speak as they rush back down the path to the clearing.
“It does matter.” Kimani stops walking and stares at him. “Harris,” she walks close to him and looks up. “We have to figure out what is happening here and help.”
“Do you really think the two of us can stop the U.S. Army. They have sent trackers after you, and they will not stop. This is bigger than two people.”
“Why steal your own weapons. Where are they taking them? Don’t you want to know, why?” Kimani demands, ignoring him.
“I know why. They are making it look like the Indians are raiding and massacring to get approval to go to War, Kimani.”
Kimani flinches. “But, why?” she asks hoarsely.
“To eliminate the obstacle. The weapons being used against them are too great. They don’t stand a chance.” Kimani sits down heavily on the log. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you need to understand what you’re up against. This is why your father wanted you to live with us.”
Harris watches her closely and continues. He drops to a knee in front of her. “We can’t go to the Fort. The Army is using this track heavily. Considering the soldiers coming after you are Army, I’m thinking we should avoid them. Can you ride?”
“Do I have a choice?” she asks and feels bad at the guilt on his face.
