Raven and the Cowboy: A Loveswept Historical Romance (32 page)

And then they heard it, a shout in the small cave behind them. It echoed across the cavern, bouncing off the walls.

“Porfiro!” Raven said, defeat written across her face. “He’s found us. All was for naught.”

“Not so, Spirit Woman,” Tucker said. “There’s one thing that we know that Porfiro doesn’t.”

“What?”

“To beware the bronze dagger.”

Raven looked at Tucker with fear in her heart. She’d brought him to this place and now he was going to die. All her life she’d been convinced that she was destined to do something remarkable. Flying Cloud had never told her what the future held for her, only that she’d been chosen by the spirits, that someday she’d understand why.

But she hadn’t known that it would mean such sacrifice. Losing Tucker would take a piece of her heart, but she would survive if the spirits ordained. Being responsible for his death was different. How could she sacrifice someone she cared about?

Yet she had.

And now she was going to lose the man she loved.

Love
.

When had that happened? Gradually, without her even realizing it, he’d made a place for himself in her life. Announcing that he’d stay around to protect her, that they’d see the treasure hunt through to the end, taking care of her.

She’d watched her sisters fall in love, each in a different
way. But she’d never thought about what it meant. To love a man was to give him every part of yourself.

Raven Alexander could never do that, for she had a higher calling, a goal she was putting in jeopardy. The spirits were angry with her. She was being punished.

Now her throat tightened and her heart thumped wildly. She wanted to put her arms around Tucker, hold him, tell him how sorry she was that she’d brought him here. If he died, a part of her that she was only just now discovering would die with him.

She wanted to tell him she loved him, but she couldn’t. The feelings were too new.

And she’d never know his heart, never know if what he felt for her was anything other than a responsibility and a physical attraction.

The earth rumbled, its growl intensifying. Overhead, Lucky said that Porfiro had set a guard, then disappeared into the mountain with his men. Lucky couldn’t move without either falling or being discovered. Then there was a scuffling noise in the outer chamber.

“Look, amigo,” a voice called out, “there is another passageway beyond.”

Raven backed away from the statue. But there was nowhere to run. Belatedly she wished they’d followed Tucker’s suggestion that they leave the cave and the treasure behind. But she’d been so consumed by their discovery that she hadn’t thought she might endanger Tucker or that they might die.

“Look, there is a pale light through the hole in the wall,” one of the bandits yelled.

The constant shifting of the earth beneath them rattled the bars of gold, clanking them together. The sound signaled to the intruders that there was something more than light through the hole.

Any minute now the bandits would be inside, and Raven’s quest would be over. They’d come so far.

There was a loud crash and a wrench of the rock overhead. Mother Earth closed the two sides of the ceiling together, shutting out the light from above.

From outside came curses and heavy thuds as the men were flung about in the darkness.

“Porfiro, I cannot see. What shall we do?”

“We strike a match.”

There was a scratching sound, then a feeble light flickered for a minute and died.

“It is no use, Porfiro, the match it’s not big enough. I think we need to go back.”

“Juan, I will not lose the treasure before I’ve found it. What we need is a torch. Crawl through the hole and fashion one, quickly.”

Another tremble of the earth set off dust and debris that fell in chunks from the ceiling.

“Raven.” Tucker started toward her.

At that moment the ground shifted violently. A portion of the overhead rock gave way, dropping a startled Lucky into the midst of the treasure with a thud.

As the dust settled, Tucker and Raven made their way to Lucky’s side.

“Are you hurt?” Raven asked, trying to maintain her balance with the very earth heaving beneath their feet.

“No, I don’t think so. But—oh my, look at all this!” Lucky gathered handfuls of the jewels, letting them trail through his fingers. “You found the treasure!”

“We found the treasure,” Raven said.

Sunlight slanted down through a newly formed large hole in the ceiling, catching the jewels and reflecting the light across the granite walls. The shaking walls caused the patterns to flicker, casting a ghostly illusion around the cave.

“We found it, Lucky,” Raven said. “But the bandits have found us. And now you’re in danger.”

Scuffling and more curses filtered through the opening.

“Light the torch,” Porfiro directed. “And you, you take it inside.”

Raven watched as an arm extended into the cave. An arm, followed by a familiar body.

“Benito!”

“Señora, is it you? And you, Señor Farrell.”

Quickly Luce’s cousin stepped farther inside the cave, glanced around at the treasure, and let out a strangled cry of amazement.

From outside, the bandit called, “You there, Benito. What do you see?”

The bronze statue swayed ominously. Tucker slid his arm around Raven, and the three treasure hunters and Benito backed away from the warrior. As they watched, the false wall began to disintegrate, thundering to the floor, exposing the full height and majesty of the giant bronze figure.

“Forgive me, Mother Earth, for offending you,” Raven whispered.

Speechless, Porfiro and his men stared up at the ancient warrior.

The earth continued to tremble, setting off a maelstrom of dust. Another section of the ceiling fell, grazing the bronze idol’s back, bouncing off a protrusion at its waist, dislodging a piece of the ancient metal.

With that action the arms of the statue creaked and began to move.

In horror they watched as the dagger shot across the space and speared Porfiro in the chest, pinning him to the wall above the opening. For the others, awe turned to
shock, then to fear. They shoved their leader aside and scurried back through the hole and out of the mountain.

The statue teetered precariously until it toppled forward, carrying earth and rock with it. When the dust settled, they could see that the exit was totally blocked.

“Christ, we’re trapped in here,” Tucker said.

“The top,” Raven suggested, “let’s try to climb up there.”

They started toward the rock pile that had formed beneath the opening above. But like a bucking bronco, the earth beneath their feet continued to heave, making it impossible to find a footing.

One screaming jolt split the earth between Tucker and Raven, and before he could pull her back, she and most of the treasure slid down a crevice.

A clod of earth grazed her arm, leaving a red welt. Her eyes and nose filled with grit, but she came to a sudden stop. She and part of the treasure were trapped halfway down the rift.

“Raven, are you hurt?”

“I’m all right, Tucker. It’s just a bit narrow down here. What about you?”

Tucker glanced at Lucky and a wide-eyed Benito. “We’re fine.” Cautiously he crept to the edge and looked down. “It’s just like in my dream. I saw this happening.”

Lucky moved to the edge beside Tucker. “How are we going to get her out?”

Frantically Tucker looked around. There was no rope, nothing that could be used as a ladder. Even looking down at the jagged rocks between Raven and the top turned Tucker’s stomach to a quivering mass of jelly. How could he get down there?

“Hang on, Raven, I’m coming to get you.”

To the sounds of Benito’s frantic prayers, Tucker slid
over the edge and began to work his way down, every step a potential disaster as the earth continued to shake.

“I’m right behind you.” Lucky blocked Tucker’s light as he started to climb over the side above.

“No, stay there. I might need you and Benito to help me.”

The rocks dripped with moisture, making it difficult to hold on. Every step set off small tremors, and the way grew narrower.

“I’m sorry, Tucker,” Raven said. “If I’d known what I was getting you into, I’d never have offered you a stake in the treasure. I’m responsible for you being in danger.”

“I didn’t have to come with you. It was my choice.”

She shifted slightly and heard the sound of coins falling even deeper into the earth. “I think there’s another cave below where we are, Tucker. There’s an opening. I can hear the coins falling through.”

“Don’t move,” he instructed as a rock tore from the earth and fell away beneath his feet. “Look out, Raven.”

Lucky was leaning dangerously over the edge. “What do you think is happening, Tucker?”

“Earthquake. I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never been in one like this. Usually they come and are gone in minutes.”

“It’s the Ancient Ones. We’re going to die,” Benito said.

Tucker reached the ledge where Raven and a large amount of the treasure had landed.

“Do you have some kind of attraction to ledges?” Tucker asked.

“I seem to, don’t I?”

“We’ve got to find a better place to meet,” he said, covering his fear with teasing as he pulled her into his arms.

“Yes.” She snuggled against him. “You’re much too big for ledges. Why’d you do it, Tucker?”

“Do what?”

“Climb down here. How will we get back?”

“You two okay?” Lucky called from above.

Another tremor threw Tucker and Raven against the side wall, dislodging a bar of silver and more coins, which slid from the ledge and fell in silence. Then he heard a splash below.

“Water,” he said. “I think I heard water down there.”

“The valley drain. Maybe that’s how the flood water got out of the valley.”

Tucker didn’t want to think about where the water went, or what would happen to them if they fell farther. Climbing down was one thing, but getting a grip on the wet, moving rocks was going to be almost impossible.

But they couldn’t stay here. If the rumblings got any worse, they needed to be as far away from this place as possible. He didn’t look forward to being sealed up inside a mountain with the treasure.

“We’ve got to climb back up, Raven. This whole area is unstable. We don’t have much time.”

“But the way out is blocked by the statue and the collapse of the wall.”

“There’s still a crack in the top. If we can work our way up, we have a chance. Let me get you started.”

Raven looked up and then back at Tucker. He was right, they were in danger of being crushed or sealed up inside the mountain. She reached for a handhold, feeling Tucker lift her to the first ridge in the surface of the wall.

With Tucker behind her, pushing and encouraging her, they clawed their way up. They were almost there when the tremors intensified. With falling rocks hitting their faces, Tucker and Raven held on, pressing themselves against the damp wall of rock.

But this time the shaking didn’t subside. It grew.

The fissure widened. More of the treasure slid into the abyss below. And then the entire wall they were clinging to fell, carrying them, Lucky, Benito, and the treasure straight down into the icy water below.

For a moment Raven was stunned. Then she struggled to raise her head above the rapidly moving water. Where was Tucker?

“It’s an underground river,” he yelled, close by. “Hold on, I’ll get to you.”

In the darkness he could only hope that Lucky and Benito had survived the fall. Then he heard a roaring sound as something hit the top of the cavern, something bearing down on them. The branches of a tree touched his arm.

“Grab the tree,” he yelled. “We’ll float down the river.”

Lucky’s voice came from Tucker’s other side. “What if there’s no way out?”

“This mountain is going to collapse. We’ll have to take a chance.” Tucker reached out in Raven’s direction. “Raven!”

“I’m here,” she answered. “I’ve got it.”

“I too!” Benito’s strangled voice came from behind.

Tucker worked his way back through the limbs until he could feel Raven. He hauled her against him, securing her with one arm and holding the thrashing tree with the other.

The shock of the cold water turned Raven to ice. She felt Tucker’s hand lifting her up on the tree trunk as he pulled himself up beside her. The tree was bucking and whirling through a darkness so terrifying that she accepted their imminent death.

Mother Earth was displeased. They were being thrust
from her like bad children. They were going to die before she ever told Tucker that she loved him.

Then, in the vortex of whirling motion, everything went still. It was as if a cocoon of silence encased her, and she heard it, the sound of drums, then chanting voices, low at first, then louder. There were fires, along a ledge where warriors danced. She could see their ceremonies, the ancient drawings on the cavern walls. At the end of the tunnel, the water tore through the mountain and plunged into the rocks below.

“Tucker, there’s a waterfall ahead. We have to get to the riverbank or we’ll be swept over the edge.”