For the Love of Suzanne (16 page)

His heart shattered when she did that and he
wondered if she blamed him for her situation. He blamed himself and
deserved whatever she gave him. He should have left her with that
burning thing. He could have pulled her away from it and left her
there for someone from her own world to find. It would have been
better.

The redhead took Suzanne’s arm to pull her
back only to have her cry out in pain. “I’m sorry,”
she said quickly and looked at it to find it disfigured, realizing
that it was broken.

Suzanne began to sob softly. “No more,”
she begged.

Cody died inside at the sight of her tears. He
hated to see her cry and guilt went through him like a tidal wave. It
was his fault that she looked so tired and haggard. It was his fault
that she was bruised, bloody, and broken. It was his fault that her
beautiful hair that shined like the sun was half gone on one side of
her head. If she died or lost her baby, that would be his fault, too.
He’d had no right to take her away from what she knew. “I’m
sorry,” he whispered.

“Luanne,” the redhead called over her
shoulder to one of the other girls who was wading in the river.

The young dark-haired girl came to her. “Yes,
Miss Jenny?” she said breathlessly.

“Go find me some solid sticks or something
for settin’ her arm,” she said brusquely, holding her
hands apart to indicate the length.

She dashed away without question.

Cheri approached them, panting with the exertion
of having to climb the slight incline. She dramatically ran the back
of her hand over her forehead. “Oh, it’s so hot,”
she complained.

Cody had had enough of her whining and
complaining. It’s all she’d been doing since they’d
left the village. But he stayed quiet and just looked at Suzanne.

“She’s just slowing us down,”
she said in her whiney voice, pointing at Suzanne. “You should
just shoot her and bury her. Nobody would care.”

The redhead glared up at her. “You are one
mean bitch. Go sit down and shut up.”

Cody was already edgy and that sent him over. “You
get out of my sight or I’ll shoot and bury
you
,” he said
between clenched teeth. “And nobody will care.”

“We would be a might grateful if ya did,”
Miss Jenny murmured to Cody and gave him a little wink, making him
smile.

Their attention was drawn back to Suzanne who
tried to roll away from him, still crying tears of delirium.

He was powerless to his urge and pulled her back
into his arms, cradling her to his chest. “Sh-h, honey,”
he whispered to her. “We’re going to help you out.”

She leaned against him wearily. “I-I think
my baby is dead,” she said shakily.

He looked at the redhead, silently asking her if
she could tell.

She met his eyes with a slight shrug before
placing her hand on Suzanne’s swelled belly. “Well, honey
there is no way to really tell until we get some peace and quiet,”
she said in a serious voice. “I can listen, but you have to be
very quiet.”

She took a deep breath and sniffed heavily,
holding onto Cody’s arm.

He watched the woman as she laid her ear against
Suzanne’s rounded belly, dreading the outcome. If she lost her
baby because of him, he would never forgive himself. He should have
left her alone.

The woman smiled at Suzanne. “Mama Mama,”
she said in a childlike voice.

She laughed a little through her tears. “You
heard a heartbeat?” she asked hopefully.

She straightened with the smile still pasted to
her face. “I sure did. You’ve been so sick an’ all,
you probably haven’t noticed him movin’. He’s
okay, sweetie,” she comforted her patting her on the shoulder
affectionately.

“Thank you. You are so kind,” she
rasped and began to cough again.

Cody held her as she drifted back to sleep and
looked at the redhead with doubt in his eyes only to have the woman
shake her head sadly.

He threw his head back and gritted his teeth in
anguish. She had lost her baby and it was his fault. What was he
going to tell her? She would blame him for everything and she was
justified. It was his fault. He’d had no right to take her out
of her surroundings. If he’d left her there, she would still be
fine.

“She’s pregnant?” Cheri
exclaimed in surprise, pointing at Suzanne who was still lying across
Cody’s knees with her cheek against his chest.

He looked up at her. “I’m getting
mighty tired of you,” he seethed. “You’ve done
nothing but complain since we left. I’m about to leave you here
for the other warriors to find.”

“Well,” she huffed indignantly and
spun away and headed back for the river.

The redhead stood up and looked at Cody. “Are
you the child’s daddy?” she asked him quietly.

He nodded as he looked into Suzanne’s
bruised and battered face, feeling terrible for what had happened to
her. “Are you sure about the baby?” he asked quietly.

“As sure as I can be,” she said
sympathetically. “It’s hard to tell, ya know, but I
didn’t hear nothin’. I’m sorry.”

He nodded sadly. “Thank you for helping us
out.”

“You’re helping us. My name is Jenny,”
she said in a soft voice.

“I’m Cody. This is Suzanne,” he
said in a hushed tone, giving her a slight nod as she still slept on
him.

She nodded. “I’m glad to meet you.
I’ve seen you around the fort and in the saloon.”

“I did spend some time there. I’m an
Indian agent. Well, I was anyway. It’s good to meet you, too.”

“I wish I could say the same about that old
chief of yours. He and that younger guy were ornery sons a bitches,”
she said thoughtfully.

He nodded. “They were, but they won’t
be hurting anyone again. I’m sure we’re being followed.
We need to get moving.”

She thought for a moment. “I think what we
need to do is get the two of you hidden. Then I can take the others
into the next town.”

He looked up at her with surprise. “You know
your way?”

She gave him a small smile. “I was married
to the scout who led the army out here. He used to take me scoutin’
with him sometimes and let me tell ya, there wasn’t a whole lot
of scoutin’ goin’ on,” she said with a teasing wink
and a little laugh.

He couldn’t help but smile at her charm.
“I’m sure. So, where is he now?

“He was shot and killed in a saloon shootout
in Kansas a few years back,” she said thoughtfully. “Anyway,
I’ve been from Canada to Mexico and I think I can lead these
frail little gals out of here,” she said a little more
brightly.

“I assume you can handle a gun.”

“Honey, I was born with a gun in one hand
an’ a knife in the other,” she said proudly with her
hands on her hips. “I’m a good shot, Cody. I can do
this,” she said seriously. “When we get to the next town,
we’ll send somebody to help you.”

“They won’t help me, but she
desperately needs it,” he said quietly, looking at Suzanne
again.

“I can see that. The next town is four days’
ride. Give us ten to get somebody back here.”

He nodded. “Thank you,” he murmured
and looked around for a place to rest.

She pointed toward a distant wall of rock. “There
is a cave behind that wall. It’s farther than it looks and it’s
not as close to water as it could be, but you would be safe.”

He knew the desert well, but didn’t know
about that particular cave. “How do you know this?”

“My husband and I camped there.”

He nodded. “Okay. We will go there. In the
meantime, you need to get going and ride hard. The warriors aren’t
far behind us,” he told her seriously.

“We will,” she assured him. “We’ll
leave you an extra canteen and some food.”

“Thank you,” he said gratefully. “Lame
Bird,” he called to his friend who wasn’t far. When she
got to him, he explained what was going on and told her to go with
Jenny. Her safety depended upon it.

Cody gave Jenny one of his pistols and a few extra
bullets that she slipped into the bodice of her dress with a sassy
smile, getting a smile from him.

Luanne came back with a bunch of sticks and set
them next to Jenny. Then the four of them set Suzanne’s arm,
getting a cry of pain from her as Jenny tied the sticks to her arm
with strips of cloth from her own dress.

Cody gave her a slight smile. “You’re
not going to have anything left of that thing at this rate.”

She smiled. “I can assure you that I don’t
care.”

Jenny and Lame Bird helped with getting Suzanne
back into the saddle before heading off in a different direction than
Cody and Suzanne.

Cody inspected the cool and spacious cave when
they got there several hours later. He cleared the brush off to one
side and lit a small fire before he brought in Suzanne. He wanted to
be sure it was free of snakes, scorpions and anything else that would
cause her more harm. He shoved a few scorpions out the door with his
foot, but found nothing else. He went to the horse where she was
slumped over his neck and pulled her out of the saddle, carrying her
inside.

He made a bed for her with his blankets, but not
so close to the fire where she would get hot. He helped her to lie
down, giving her a little drink of water before making her more of
the concoction he’d received from Lone Wolf’s wife.

He slowly fed her the entire cup and was glad that
she didn’t throw it up. It smelled bad and he knew it tasted
bad, but it was helping her and she didn’t seem to mind it so
much anymore.

After he had her settled in, he went hunting and
got two more rabbits. He dug some edible plants out of the ground and
cleaned them in the river, getting more water before he headed back
to the cave to make some stew.

~~~

Suzanne woke up feeling much better, although her
arm was killing her. She smelled the stew and her stomach growled as
she watched Cody stir the small pot. She couldn’t remember when
the last time was that she had some real food.

She looked at him, thinking he was very handsome.
Dressed in jeans and a loose white shirt and boots with his long hair
flowing down to the middle of his back, he reminded her of a movie
star or even a rock star. His skin was deep bronze, probably from
being out in the sun all the time, but she knew his heritage had
something to do with it, too. He was tall, muscular with chiseled
facial features, dark eyebrows, and dark eyes. He was brave and
fearless yet kind and gentle. He didn’t look like he was much
older than herself, but she didn’t have the nerve to ask him.
It didn’t matter. After all, wasn’t this just a dream?

Cody looked at her and smiled a little. “You’re
awake,” he observed. “How are you feeling?”

She struggled to a sitting position, but made it
on her own. “I’m better. Thank you.”

He knew she sounded better, but that didn’t
mean she really was. He moved over to her and eased her back down.
“You should rest,” he told her gently. “You aren’t
well yet.”

She didn’t fight him, feeling exhausted.
“I’ve been sleeping a lot,” she said
apologetically. “I should be helping you.”

“Do what? There’s nothing for you to
do. You just rest,” he said with gentle insistence. “You
need to get your strength back.”

She tried to sit up again. “But I feel
better. I can help,” she protested lightly.

“I know,” he said patiently, easing
her down again. “But you need to take it easy.”

“I feel better.”

“You’re still rattling in your chest.
You’re still sick. You stay where you are and I’ll take
care of this.”

She coughed heavily for a long moment, spitting up
phlegm from her lungs. “Sorry,” she panted. “Do you
have a Kleenex?”

“A Kleenex?” he asked in confusion,
never before having heard the word let alone know what it meant.

She couldn’t help but laugh. He was so
innocent sometimes. “Don’t make me laugh,” she
begged breathlessly. “It hurts.”

He smiled and cleaned up the mess with his
handkerchief. “I don’t know what a Kleenex is,” he
said good-naturedly.

“I know. I’m sorry,” she said.
“It’s a thin piece of paper that’s really soft so
you can blow your nose into it or fix your makeup or, in my case,
spit into it. It comes in different colors, too. Blue, white, pink,
yellow…” she trailed off. “Some are even scented
and have lotion in them.”

He gazed at her in awe. “You never cease to
amaze me. You say something new all the time. I need to see your
world so I can see this Kleenex.”

She sobered. “I need to get back to my world
before my baby comes,” she said softly.

He nodded, not wanting to tell her that the baby
was gone

“Are we any closer?”

He tossed a twig into the fire. “We’re
farther now than ever,” he admitted glumly. “We’re
headed north toward the mountains.”

She sat up with amazing speed. “But I need
to get back to Arizona,” she cried. “My baby won’t
survive in these conditions because
I
can’t survive in these
conditions.”

“Suzanne—“

“Are we going back?” she interrupted
him. “My baby can’t survive, Cody. He will die. I can’t
let this happen. I just can’t.”

He still didn’t have the heart to tell her
that Jenny hadn’t heard a heartbeat. He wondered if she knew
what had happened to her in the past days. The brutality and the
torture, the inhumane conditions, the sickness…did she have
any idea what had happened to her? Yet he still didn’t tell
her.

“Where is your husband?” he asked
abruptly with irritation in his voice. “Why did he let you go
out alone?”

“I always go out alone,” she responded
quietly. “Women do that in my world.”

“Do you want to go out alone now?” he
demanded.

She shied back as if she’d been hit. “Are
you sending me away?” she asked uncertainly.

He saw that damn fear again and hated it. She had
many things to fear; he didn’t want to be one of them. “No,”
he said softly, wanting to put her at ease. “You wouldn’t
make it out here. You need to stick with me. I’ll get you back
to where you need to be.”