Cowboy from the Future (18 page)

He
dipped his head to her ear.  “Everywhere I touch.”  Ideas and images danced in
his head.  Gods, he wanted to make her come with just his hands.  Again and
again.  For once, the Voltyn powers didn’t feel dirty to him.  Not if they
could accomplish something so beautiful.  “Tell me where you’d like to feel the
energy and I’ll show you, Addy.”

“Jesus,
this is going to be
so
good.”

Cade
smiled.

“Oh,
you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”  Deke snapped from the darkness, ruining
the first perfect moment of Cade’s life.  “Cade, put it back in your pants and
let’s get out of here, huh?  There’s about to be lynch mob after us and I’m not
in the mood to die.”

Devils
Tower National Monument is a sacred site for a half-dozen Native America
tribes.

According
to Lakota legend, it was created when children were running from a huge bear. 
They prayed to the Great Spirit to protect them and he lifted the ground to
create the flat-topped rock.

The
children were safe atop it, while the bear was left scratching huge ridges in
the sides, trying to reach his prey.

Maybe
that’s why it’s such a wonderful retreat, even today.

Brown’s
Glampling Tours Official Pocket Guide

“I
can’t believe I helped break you out of jail and you punched me for it.”  Deke
complained for the ninety-eighth time.  “It’s just wrong, man.”

“You’re
lucky I didn’t take your head off.”  Cade retorted.  “Not only did you risk
Adeline and our kid brother in that rescue plan…”

“How
was I supposed to stop them, huh?  Chain ‘em to the wall.  Your woman was
determined and Jakey listens to every crazed word she says like she’s a
character from one of his stupid adventure tales.”

“You
were with us on every step of the jailbreak, so don’t be blaming me and Addy.” 
Jake retorted.  “And I’m
not
a kid, Cade, so nobody was going to stop me
from helping you.”  He arched a smug brow.  “Besides, the plan worked, didn’t
it?”

Cade
kept going, ignoring the interruptions.  “…but you
also
have the worse
fucking timing in the polis, Dekon.”

“I’m
sorry.  I thought we should actually
escape
during your escape.”  Deke
mocked.  “I guess we should’ve just followed
your
lead:  Hold hands with
a pretty girl and wait to get recaptured. 
Much
better idea, asshole.”

“Are
you three ever going to shut-up?”  Addy asked, barely listening to their
bickering.  It was cold, she was tired, and she wanted off the damn horse.  Riding
through South Dakota was different than at the Scottsdale Country Club and not
in a good way.  She should’ve invented a padded saddle instead of a wind chime.

It
didn’t help matters that Mr. “I Like Horses” rode like the frigging Lone Ranger. 
Cade and his mount moved as if they one being; graceful and sure.  Watching his
casual athleticism, it was clear the guy understood the animal in some magical,
Horse Whisperer
way.  From the second he’d swung himself into the saddle,
Cade looked confident and at ease.  Like he was right where he belonged.

Addy
was
not
where she belonged.  Madonna was a lovely horse, but Addy
belonged in a car.  A big, shiny, comfortable
car
.  She just wanted to
get wherever it was they were going, so she’d be one step closer to reuniting
with her loyal Mercedes.

Of
course, the problem was:  Where in the hell where they going to go?  So far,
they were just traveling away from Shadow-of-the-Gods, but they needed
someplace to hide from the posse.  Lord, in her whole life, she never thought
she’d be running from a frigging
posse
.

On
the plus side, the Black Hills were stunningly beautiful.  Everywhere she
looked there were massive ponderosa pines and amazing stone formations.  Addy
used some of her depleted iPhone battery snapping pictures of the endless,
pristine views.  Even in the snow, the colors were incredible.  The sky was an
impossible shade of sapphire blue.  The rocks were richly painted in golds and
reds.  It was the most magical setting she’d ever seen.

Too
bad she was the only one present who appreciated it.

“We
should try to reach Big Rock.”  Jacobi suggested from the horse beside her, not
even noticing the landscape.  Unlike Addy, the Westins were used to living in a
Currier and Ives calendar.  “We might be able to hold up there.”

Deke
had stolen four mounts from Hugo’s stables.  They weren’t Arabians, but Addy
was still delighted with them.  Everything else in the future might have been
Avatar-
ed,
but horses still looked like horses.  Mostly.  It was a little unusual to see pintos
with royal blue markings, but Addy figured it was close enough.

“Only
criminals go to Big Rock.”  Deke complained.  He was very insistent that they
were the White Hats of this Western, posse or no posse.

Jacobi
beamed.  “I
know
only criminals go there, so we’ll fit right in!” 
Unlike his sibling, he was exultant over their new outlaw status.  Possibly, he
felt that being the family’s designated screw up, he’d finally found his moment
to shine.  “This is so
cool.
  We’re like that guy you told me about,
Addy.  James Jesse!”

“Jesse
James.”  Addy corrected, digging around in her pack.

“See?” 
Deke arched a brow at Cade.  “I told you.  He memorizes everything she tells
him.”

Cade
sighed loudly and glanced at her.  “Stop spinning yarns about villains from
your polis.  It puts thoughts in his head.”  He paused.  “And desist with
teaching him Yellowstone slang, unless it makes sense.  I don’t understand why
you would use the word ‘cool’ to signify that something is ‘good.’  Being cold
is rarely good, in these parts.  Believe me.”

He
really didn’t have to remind her that freezing sucked.  She would never
complain about the heat of an Arizona summer, again.  “I have no idea why slang
works the way it works.”  She informed him.  “I just know cool is cool, wicked
is cool, sick is cool, and is not knowing that…  is
not
cool, cowboy.  Sorry. 
I gotta keep Jake cutting edge.”

She
finally found
Brown’s Pocket Guide
in her backpack and flipped to the
map of the Mount Rushmore area.  Damn it, there were so many lines.  Why had
she never learned to read a map?

Cade
did a double-take when he saw the glossy cover of the book in her hand.  “Holy
shit
.” 
He blurted out.  “How much did
that
cost?”

“Nothing. 
It came with the Glamp-pack™.”  Addy muttered distractedly, all her attention
on the map.  She shook her head at the confusing landmarks around her.  Did
everything look different in the snow or did everything just look different?

“Someone
gave
you that book?”  He scowled, not happy about that news.  “Was it a
man?”

“No,
it was Becky-the-glamping-ranger.”  Addy shot him a mystified look.  “Why?”

Cade
relaxed when he heard that handsome strangers weren’t plying her with travel
guides.  “I am used to the fact that money has little meaning for you, lady. 
But, do you really not understand how much it must have cost to create that
book?  The colors alone…”  He sighed dismally.  “You have so much more than any
ordinary male could ever give you.”

Addy
studied his tense expression for a beat. 
Ordinary?
  Sitting on his
horse, his hat pulled down to shade his eyes, the guy was a living, breathing
ad for why every girl needed a cowboy under her tree this Christmas.  Someone
so amazingly
wow!
couldn’t possibly be insecure about anything, right?

Of
course, this
was
Cade Westin.  He was always on the lookout for new
things to brood about.

“Cade,
this book,” Addy tore out the title page and wadded it into a ball, “means
nothing
to me.”  She tossed the paper to the ground, ignoring the Westins’ cringes of
pain at the destruction.  “It’s very inexpensive, where I come from.  We have millions
and billions of them.”

“Well,
books are
not
inexpensive here.”  Cade insisted.  “You should be with a
man who can give you treasures like that and you won’t find one if you come
with us.”

“I’ll
stick with the man who tells me I’m beautiful, thanks.”

Cade’s
jaw ticked, looking more than a little frustrated.  “You
are
beautiful.  That’s
far too simple a requirement for a mate, Adeline.”

“Twenty-eight
years has taught me that it’s not so simple, at all.”  She arched a brow. 
“Besides, I’m
not
coming with you.  Technically, you guys are coming
with
me. 
Which, considering the way Deke dresses, is pretty generous of
me, I think.”

Deke
frowned down at his abysmal outfit like he had no idea what she was complaining
about.  “What’s wrong with the way I dress?”

“Even
when those clothes were washed, they were like something from Jason Voorhees’
closet.  You need new a new wardrobe.  And a haircut.  And a bath.  Your
brothers might let you get away with wallowing, but I won’t.”  Someone had to
take their family in hand and Addy figured that someone was her.

Deke
grunted, but he didn’t argue.  He knew better.

Jacobi
stopped his horse and jumped down into snow to grab the page she’d thrown
away.  “You have millions and billions of books like this in Why o’ Ming?”  The
kid seemed entranced by that idea.  “No wonder Dr. Quinn is so learned.”  He
smoothed out the paper, studying the words.  “What does it say?”

“It’s
says that the book is a guide to the West.  To
here
.”  Addy realized she
was going to have to teach him to read English.  The languages were close
enough that it shouldn’t take him long.  She could piece together written
future words faster than the spoken ones.  “When I started my trip, they gave
it to me so I wouldn’t get lost.”

“Then,
it’s broken.”  Deke deadpanned.

“Oh
zip it.”  She refocused on finding their way.  “What’s on the other side of
this tunnel thing?”  She pointed up ahead, trying to orient herself on the
outdated map.

“Nothing. 
Cade sounded surly.  Maybe he was still bent out of shape over her possible affair
with the bookmobile guy.  “This trail will soon dead end and we must pick a new
direction.”

“We
should go to Big Rock.”  Jacobi insisted.  “They have gambling.”  Addy shot him
a glare and he quickly backpedaled.  “Not that I’m playing cards anymore, but I
can still
watch
.”  He craned his neck, trying to see more of the travel
guide.  “Can I look at the book when you’re done, Addy?”

“Of
course.”  Addy murmured, studying her map.  “The trail dead ends?”  She flipped
the guide upside down and frowned in confusion.  Maybe they were near Custer
State Park.  …Maybe.  The topography had changed so much that it was hard to
figure out.  The only thing she recognized was Mount Rushmore and it was
getting closer.  Giving up on the map, she pointed to the monument.  “Well, I
think we should get up to the heads and get our bearings, then.”

Three
sets of eyes turned to stare at her like she was out of her mind.

“You
wish to go the Great Mountain?”  Even Deke was shocked by that idea.  “
No
humans
go near the gods.”

She
squinted.  “Why not?”

“You’ll
awaken them.”  Jacobi whispered dramatically, off on a new topic.  “When they
feel trespassers on the mountain, they rise up.”  He lifted himself in the
saddle to illustrate their ominous movement.  “Their bodies are buried under
the ground and are nearly a gantii tall.  They’ll slowly stand, shaking the
earth, their stone eyes blinking open…”

Addy
cut him off.  “A parking lot is under the ground.”  She corrected.  “The heads
don’t have bodies, because it would’ve cost too much to carve them.  And they
aren’t gods.  They’re men who ruled this land a long time ago.  That one?”  She
pointed to Washington.  “He had wooden teeth.”

Jacobi
pouted a bit at that less dramatic version of the story.  “How do you know that?”

“I
just do.”

Cade
shot her a strange look.  Like he believed her, but he had no idea why.  His
gaze flicked down to the map in her hand and he frowned.

Jacobi
didn’t seem convinced by her claims, but he liked stories enough to press for
more details.  “Alright.  Tell us about these men with wooden teeth, then.”

“Fine.” 
Because, she wasn’t much of a historian, Addy gave the Westins the quickest
social studies lesson ever taught.  “That is George Washington.  The first
president of a… polis called the United States of America.  Next to him is
Thomas Jefferson.  He wrote a document called the Declaration of Independence,
which says everyone who lives there is created equal, and entitled to life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Cade’s
head tilted.  “Everyone?”

“Yep.” 
She nodded, even though old Tom might have disagreed with that broad an interpretation. 
“Next is Theodore Roosevelt.  He cared about the environment, so I’m not sure
how he’d feel about having his face blasted into the pristine landscape.”  She
gestured to the last head.  “And then there’s Abraham Lincoln, who freed enslaved
people, but was assassinated at the end of a terrible war.”

Deke
looked intrigued by that.

She
looked at Jacobi.  “See?  Not Gods.  Just ordinary men.  Who did great things,
and even some
not
so great things, and who their people wanted to
remember.”

All
three Westins stared at her.

Addy
realized she might have said too much.  “Trust me.  They won’t hurt you.”  She
summed up, clearing her throat.  “That’s what I’m getting at.”  She glanced
back at the book, remembering what she’d read about the Hall of Records.  “If
no else ever goes near that mountain, then we
should
.  We’ll be safe from
the posse there.”