Free Rue Allyn by One Night's Desire Page B

ordered the younger chief. “You will leave at dawn. If you do not both return within one cycle of the moon, we will kill the hostage.”
    Ev rose in protest. “But … ”
    “Don’t,” Muh’Weda hissed, pulling Ev down. “This chief survived the Bear Creek Massacre and is not known for his patience with whites.”
    “Then why didn’t he kill me and Boyd right away? Why this travesty about the proof?”
    “The chief may have done the talking, but he wasn’t alone in deciding what would be done. You have others to thank for your lives.” The brave tipped his head slightly toward the medicine man. “Even he would have asked for your blood, if Kiera hadn’t argued against it.”
    Ev turned speculative eyes toward where Wildcat still glared at him. She clearly didn’t like him any more than he did her, so why would she argue for his life and Boyd’s? Especially when getting rid of them would be in her best interests, allowing her to disappear into the wilderness where even the best trackers might not find her. All he could think was that she felt she owed him for not shooting her in the back when she held a rifle on Boyd. If she’d been the stone cold killer she was reputed to be, wouldn’t she have shot Boyd instead of telling him to sit and turn over his pistol? She’d been close enough to kill him no matter how bad a shot she might be. Once again Ev was left with evidence that didn’t fit. Was she stupid, crazy, or innocent?
    “Wildcat wanted to save us? Why?”
    Muh’Weda shrugged. “Who knows what a woman thinks. You’ll have to ask her.”
    At that moment a youth entered the council. He was breathing heavily as if he’d run a great distance. The young man walked up to the elders at the center of the room. A brief conference was held.
    The older chief stood and spoke to his people in their tongue. The lodge emptied with astonishing speed. Muh’Weda left, taking Boyd with him. The chiefs followed. When the others were gone, the medicine man spoke.
    “Dabai’Waipi, you and the Marshal must go now. The men of my vision are half a day’s journey from our camp and much blood will be shed if they find you here.”
    “I want to see Boyd, first.” If Ev could delay long enough, the men approaching might help him get Wildcat back to Laramie. “I also must persuade the chief to talk with the army and another man about the horses you claim Big Si stole.”
    The medicine man studied Ev. The Shoshone’s gaze penetrated, making Ev feel exposed in a way he hadn’t felt since the one and only time he’d tried to lie to his father.
    The Shoshone shook his head. “Any time lost will give the ground more blood to drink. Do not be foolish in this. Leave now and you will get what you need. Hesitate and your heart will die before it has lived.”
    The man left, leaning heavily on the decorated stick that he carried.
    Ev turned to the only other person in the room. “What did all of that mean?”
    Wildcat shrugged. “We’d better get saddled up and on our way. If Spirit Talker says staying will lead to bloodshed, I’m all for high-tailing it out of here pronto.”
    She turned for the exit.
    Ev gave two seconds thought to escaping, but he knew the chances were small of finding Wildcat once she hit the deep forests. The only choice that made any sense was to go with her now.
    • • •
    Ev followed close behind as Wildcat urged her horse up the slope leading out of the Yellow Stone prairie. The sun beat on his head. Sweat trickled down his back and damped his shirt. She had to be just as uncomfortable, and the thought soothed most of the physical irritation.
    They climbed the forested mountainside for several hours. Waded innumerable trickles of snow melt. Switched their trail back upon itself. Scampered over treacherous shale slides and wove through stands of lodgepole pines so tight that Ev would have sworn no space existed between the sturdy trees. He noted that Wildcat was careful to ride around soggy