Heart of the Hunter (20 page)

Sitting in front of the fireplace, she tried to sort out her
feelings for Blue Crow, for Lee, but to no avail. She’d never believed it was
possible to be in love with two men at the same time. Realistically, she
supposed she wasn’t in love with two men, since one of them was a ghost…

Right or wrong, flesh or fantasy, she was in love with Blue
Crow. He was everything a man should be, kind, honest, loyal, trustworthy,
gentle, tender…

And then there was Lee. He wasn’t honest or trustworthy. She
doubted his loyalty. But he could be tender, so tender. Even now, she yearned
to be in his arms again, to hear the husky rasp of his voice whispering her
name, to feel his arms enfolding her, to know the touch of his lips on hers,
trailing fire…

She had never dreamed that loving a man could be so
fulfilling. Being in Lee’s arms, his body united with hers, had been almost
spiritual.

“And all he wanted was the gold.”

She spoke the words aloud, hardly recognizing the sound of
her own voice, she sounded so empty, so bitter.

Maybe he was telling the truth.

She tried not to listen to the little voice of her
conscience. He had lied to her from the beginning. He never wanted to buy the
ranch, he’d only wanted to steal the gold.

He said he loved you.

“Another lie!”

How do you know?

“Stop it! Just stop it!” She put her hands over her ears in
a ridiculous effort to shut out the voice in her head. How would she ever know
if he truly loved her, or if all he wanted was the gold? A lot of men married
women they didn’t love to obtain wealth, or power, or position. Lee’d been poor
all his life. He believed the Triple M belonged to his people, that the gold
should rightfully be his.

With a sigh, she buried her face in her hands. “What should
I do?” she asked the empty room. “What should I do?”

“Follow your heart,
tekihila.”

“Blue Crow.” She sniffed back a tear as she lifted her head.

“Do not weep,
skuya.”

“I can’t help it. I don’t know what to do. Lee said he loved
me, but I’m afraid to believe him. What if he only wants the gold? What if…?”
Kelly shrugged. “He hasn’t asked me, but what if we got married and then he
took the gold and left me?”

“What would you miss the most,
tekihila?
The man, or
the yellow iron?”

“The man, of course.”

“Then that is your answer.”

“Lee thinks I should exchange the gold for cash and put it
in the bank so no one else can touch it,” Kelly remarked.

“Perhaps that would be wise.”

“I guess so.” Kelly gazed into Blue Crow’s eyes. “What will
happen to you when the gold is gone?”

Blue Crow shrugged. “I will follow
Wanagi Tacaku,
the
spirit path, to
Wanagi Yata,
the place of souls.”

“No!”

“Do you not think it is time?”

“But…what will I do without you?”

“You will no longer need me,
tekihila.”

With a wordless cry of protest, Kelly wrapped her arms
around Blue Crow and hugged him close. She could not bear the thought of never
seeing him again.

She felt his arms go around her, felt his lips move in her
hair as he murmured her name over and over again.

“Please don’t leave me,” she whispered.

“Would you have my soul trapped forever in the cave,
wastelakapi?
Have I not wandered this part of the earth long enough?”

Kelly bit down on her lip. Selfishly, she had thought only
of herself, of how much she would miss him when he was gone. Now, she thought
how lonely he must have been all these years, caught between two worlds,
belonging to neither. Kelly had always had a strong belief in an afterlife; now
it occurred to her that he might have family waiting for him on the other side.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” she asked, her voice
muffled against his chest.

“If you wish.”

“I do.”

Wordlessly, Kelly took him by the hand and led him to her
room. After shutting the door, she drew him down beside her on the bed, sighed
as his arms enfolded her.

She tried not to cry, but she couldn’t stop the tears.

She clung to him all night long, memorizing the sight of his
face, his touch and taste and smell. She whispered his name, vowing that she
loved him, that even death would not dim her love.

He held her until she fell asleep in his arms, held her
until dawn began to chase the stars from the sky.

Covering her, he placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Ohinniyan,
tekihila,”
he murmured. “Forever, my love.”

* * * * *

Kelly rose early in the morning, her mind made up. She would
take the gold from the cave, cash it in, deposit the money in the bank and then
take a long vacation.

A long cruise, she thought. Perhaps a few weeks away from
the ranch, away from Lee, would help her to see things more clearly.

It was still dark outside when she went to the barn and
saddled Dusty. The yard seemed empty without Lee’s truck.

Dusty balked at being saddled before breakfast, but Kelly
was too impatient to wait. It would take several trips to haul the gold down
the mountain. It would be so much easier if she had someone to help her,
someone to drive her car to the foot of the mountain so she wouldn’t have to
make the long ride from the cave to the Triple M on horseback. And where would
she hide the first bags of gold while she went back for the rest?

Frowning, she urged Dusty into a lope. Having a fortune in
gold was turning out to be more of a curse than a blessing. It had come between
her and Lee; when it was gone, she would lose Blue Crow, as well. What good was
money if you had no one to share it with?

Black clouds were gathering overhead when she reached the
cave.

Taking a deep breath, she ducked inside, feeling for the
lantern beside the entrance.

Holding the lantern high, she made her way toward the back
of the cave. Toward Blue Crow’s body.

It was there, on the shelf. Unable to help herself, she drew
the blanket from his face and placed her fingertips on his cheek. The first
time she had touched him, his skin had felt supple and warm. Now, it felt cool,
hard.

Frightened without knowing why, she replaced the blanket,
then began to fill a burlap bag with handfuls of gold nuggets.

She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt the
dampness on her hands.

She didn’t look at Blue Crow’s body as she dragged the heavy
burlap bag out of the cave to where Dusty stood cropping a patch of yellow
grass.

Grunting softly, she lifted the sack onto the gelding’s back
and secured it in place.

A faint sound from behind drew her attention and she whirled
around, her heart hammering with anticipation.

But it wasn’t Blue Crow.

“Lee!”

“Kelly.”

Her gaze moved over him, her curiosity at his appearance
quickly turning to fear when she saw the gun shoved in the waistband of his
jeans. “What…what are you doing here?”

“What do you think?”

She didn’t want to put it in words. He’d wanted the gold all
the time and now, it seemed, he’d come to take it.

Oddly enough, it no longer mattered. She thought of Blue
Crow and suddenly she wasn’t afraid anymore. If she couldn’t be with him in
this life, perhaps they could be together in the next.

“Go on, take the gold,” Kelly said. “I don’t want it.” A
faint smile played over her lips. “I guess I won’t need it where I’m going.”

Lee frowned at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He took a step forward and then, to her astonishment, he
staggered forward and fell face down at her feet.

She saw the other man then and the sight of his cold yellow
eyes sent shards of fear slicing through every fiber of her being.

Eyes like a coyote.
In the back of her mind, she
heard Blue Crow’s voice warning her about a man with yellow eyes.

“Back off,” the man said. “That’s better. Now, turn around.”

Kelly did as she was told. Behind her, she could hear
muffled footsteps, the clink of metal, and then she felt a man’s hand on her
ankle, followed by the touch of cold steel. Looking down, she saw that he had
shackled her feet.

“What are you doing?” The question escaped her lips before
she could stop it.

The man looked at her as if she weren’t very bright. “Just
fixin’ it so’s you don’t try to run off afore I’m through with ya.”

Kelly glanced at Lee, still lying on the ground, and saw
that his ankles were also shackled. While she watched, the man took Lee’s gun
and shoved it into the waistband of his trousers.

The man kicked Lee in the ribs, hard. “Come on, Injun, we’re
wasting time.”

Lee groaned softly. He rolled over, one hand massaging the
back of his neck. The chains around his ankle rattled, drawing his gaze.

“What the hell,” he muttered. He looked at Kelly and then,
very slowly, glanced over his shoulder.

“Get up, Injun,” the man said. “We’ve got a lot of gold to
move and we’re wasting daylight.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Get up, Injun.”

Keeping one eye on the pistol in the man’s hand, Lee climbed
to his feet and stood beside Kelly. “What now?”

“The two of you are gonna haul that gold down here.” He
jerked his head to the side. “My truck’s waiting.”

Lee glanced down the hill. A tan pickup was parked below.

The man grinned at the look of comprehension spreading over
Lee’s face. “My partner was a lousy shot,” he remarked affably. “I’m not. Now,
get movin’.”

Lee followed Kelly into the cave, his mind racing. He had to
distract the man long enough for Kelly to make a run for it. Run for it, he
mused bleakly. She couldn’t run with those damn shackles. Somehow, he’d have to
overpower the man.

But their captor wasn’t taking any chances. He kept well out
of arm’s reach. The gun in his hand never wavered.

It took a dozen trips down the hill to load the gold into
the pickup. Kelly and Lee were both sweating profusely as they made their way
up the hill the last time.

It was now or never, Lee thought. The last of the gold had
been loaded into the truck. All that was left was for the man to shoot the two
of them and leave their bodies in the cave.

Kelly tripped on a root and sprawled face down in the dirt.
For a moment, she stayed as she was, too numb with fear to move or think.

She was going to die. Somehow, she hadn’t felt any fear when
she thought Lee was going to kill her, but now, facing death at the hands of
this stranger, she was suddenly terrified.

She lifted her head to find Lee standing beside her. He was about
to offer her a hand up when the yellow-eyed man struck him across the side of
the face with the butt of his pistol.

Lee reeled backward, thrown off balance by the shackles on
his feet.

Kelly scrambled to her knees, then gained her feet, her eyes
widening as she saw the ugly gash on Lee’s cheek. The blood trickling down his
cheek seemed very red.

The gunman walked up behind Lee. “Put your hands behind your
back,” he said curtly, and when Lee hesitated, he hit him across the side of
the head with the barrel of the pistol. “Come on, redskin,” the man said
impatiently, “I’ve got places to go and things to do.”

Kelly felt a sudden overwhelming sense of hopelessness as
she watched the yellow-eyed man lash Lee’s hands together.

“Let’s go,” the man said, and gave Lee a shove toward the
entrance to the cave.

Kelly followed Lee, the urge to scream rising in her throat.
She was going to die. Where she had once counted her future in years, she now
had only minutes.

She tried to pray, tried to force her thoughts away from the
bloody images that were filling her mind. images of herself and Lee lying in
pools of blood, their bodies left to rot, or to be torn apart by scavengers.

And then they were inside the cave and she knew time had run
out.

The man stood with his back to the entrance of the cave, the
gun in his hand seeming to grow larger with every passing moment.

She wished she’d had time to tell Lee she loved him, that
she could have seen Blue Crow one last time, and then there was no more time
for thought.

The gun was pointed at her chest, the man’s finger was
curling around the trigger…

She screamed as Lee elbowed her aside, the shrill echo of
her cry rising above the sound of the gunshot to echo off the walls of the
cave.

And then everything happened in slow motion.

She saw Lee fall, his shirt front covered with blood.

She saw the gunman’s face turn deathly pale as the body on
the shelf rose to its feet and walked toward him. But it was not the body Kelly
had seen when she lifted the blanket. This was a skeleton draped in hanging
shreds of rotting flesh.

A wordless cry was torn from the gunman’s throat as the
walking corpse took the gun from his hand.

Was it only her imagination, or did the man look grateful
when the skeleton put the gun to his chest and pulled the trigger?

She blinked in horror and the corpse was gone.

A low moan drew her attention to Lee. With a wordless cry,
she dropped to her knees beside him and cradled his head in her lap.

She pressed her hand over his chest in an effort to make the
wound stop bleeding.

“Oh God, Lee,” she murmured as she freed his hands. “What
can I do?”

“Nothing, Kelly.” His voice was faint. “I didn’t come
here…to take the gold…”

“Don’t talk. You’ve got to save your energy.” She grabbed
the scarf from her hair and pressed it over the wound in his chest. “I’ll go
get help. You’ll be fine.”

“No. Too late. I came…to help you…take…gold to town.”

She nodded, the tears running down her cheeks. “I know, I
know.”

“Believe me.”