Spirit Warrior (3 page)

Jonathan was about to reply when the ground began to vibrate and a low growling noise filled the air further down the road. Jacob and Billy’s horses danced nervously forcing Billy to grab for the reins while Midnight remained calm. The dogs stood in the middle of the road and began to bark in excitement.

“What is it?” Jonathan called out, nudging his horse over to where Billy was standing.

“Help, I hope!” Billy grinned. “My ass can’t take much more of riding a horse and Rosalie will kill me if I don’t find the truck.”

*.*.*

Jacob’s eyes widened and he started cursing under his breath when a huge beast, monster, something, came around the curve of the road. Smoke flared on each side like the dragons in the pictures he had seen back East at one of the museums. His hand went instinctively to the gun at his waist as it continued toward them.

He vaguely heard Jonathan’s choked curse as well and knew his brother was thinking the same thing he was… shoot at it and run like hell! A shudder ran through him when he saw the face and shoulders of a man through the beast’s clear belly. The man’s face was shadowed behind his hat and his hands were gripping something round in its stomach.

“What the fuck?!” He growled when Billy started waving his hands at the creature and yelling.

A moment later, the thing stopped in the middle of the road and a door opened. A large man, about Billy’s age, climbed out of the machine. Now that it was close enough for Jacob to see, he decided it looked more like the Steam Engine trains that came through North Platte, Nebraska, that he saw last year. Only this one didn’t use tracks and was smaller and sleeker than anything he had seen there.

“Hey Ansel,” Billy called in a relieved voice. “You got your cell phone on you? Mine's dead.”

Jacob listened as Billy and Ansel chatted back and forth. He nudged his horse a little closer to the metal machine while Billy talked to the man. If he had any doubts about whether or not they had traveled to the future, they were gone now.

“What is it?” He asked Jonathan as his brother came to a halt beside him.

“It looks like what Indy called a truck, only bigger,” Jonathan replied with a grimace. “Hell, her telling me about it, even showing me pictures of it on her small box, didn’t prepare me for anything like this.”

Jacob glanced at his brother’s pale, tight face. A wave of sympathy swept through him as he realized that knowing, and really knowing, were two different things. He tried to picture how he would handle it if he’d been the one to find Indy and claim her. A grimace of distaste flashed through him at thinking of Indy as anything, but his new little sister. Still, he knew this had to be a huge shock to his brother.

They both turned their attention back to the man called Ansel as he opened the door and climbed back inside the truck again. This time, he left the door open. Jacob watched in fascination as Ansel picked up something and began talking into it. He was too far away to hear the response, but it sounded like a woman’s voice answered him back.

“What’s he doing now?” He asked in frustration, hating that he had to keep asking. “It sounds like there is a woman inside the beas… machine with him.”

“I’m not sure,” Jonathan admitted. “Whatever he is holding looks different from the box that Indy showed me.”

“I don’t like this,” Jacob said under his breath as Billy turned and gave him and Jonathan an uneasy grin, as if knowing they were talking about something important. “How are we going to find Indy in this world? We don’t know anything about it!”

“I’ll find her.” Jonathan turned, determination was clearly written across his face. “I’m not leaving without her, Jacob.”

Jacob shook his head at his brother. “I’m not asking you to,” he insisted, straightening when Ansel made the machine roar out again. “I just hate going into any situation not knowing what we are going to find.”

Jonathan relaxed slightly before he gave a sharp nod. “I don’t either,” he muttered before he repeated himself. “I don’t either.”

They broke off their conversation as Billy walked up to them, leading his horse. His face was creased into a grin and he was shaking his head. He waited until he was a few feet from them before he started talking.

“The good news is we have a ride into town which will save my ass in more ways than one,” Billy said as he slipped his foot into the stirrup and pulled himself into the saddle with a groan. “Right now, my ass is sore from riding. I’m looking forward to sitting it on a nice plush seat.”

“You said that was the good news. What is the bad news?” Jonathan asked with a dark scowl.

“The bad news is that Allie Whitewater is the one giving us the ride. I can just hear her now if she finds out what I’ve done. Hell, I’ll be lucky if SHE doesn’t shoot me. Indy is her best friend. Those two are always together when they come into town,” Billy explained with a wince as he sat back in the saddle. "God, I just hope Allie doesn’t make me ride in the back like she did the last time she picked me up,” he groaned, shifting as he tried to find a place that wasn’t hurting.

Billy tugged on the reins and tapped his heels into the side of his horse. Jacob followed behind his brother as they moved to the side of the road so they could skirt the huge black and silver machine as it rumbled. He touched the brim of his hat when Ansel waved his hand to him and Jonathan.

It hadn’t been as far or taken as long as he expected to get to the spot where Billy said this Allie person was supposed to meet them. One reason it hadn’t taken very long was because they were traveling on the wide road. Still, he suspected Billy wanting to get off the back of a horse was the biggest reason they completed the almost half mile trip in record time.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief when Billy slowed down as they neared a hard covered road. Except for almost getting unseated when the loud truck that Ansel was driving spooked him and his horse as he pulled away, they hadn’t encountered anyone else. He nodded his head when Billy called for them to stop.

“Allie should be here any minute,” Billy said as he shifted again in his saddle.

Sure enough, another ‘truck’, this time smaller than Ansel’s and completely silver, came over the small rise in the road. Jacob scowled when he saw a bright, yellow light suddenly start to flash as it slowed down. It pulled off onto the gravel at the side of the road about twenty feet ahead of them and came to a halt. Behind the silver truck was another long, silver and black container with the words Whitewater Ranch painted on the side.

“I think I should go out first,” Billy said, throwing his leg over the side the horse’s hindquarter and sliding off with a groan. “I never would have made it back in my ancestor’s time. Give me a soft seat and a cold beer any day.”

“Why should we wait here?” Jacob asked Billy suspiciously when he started to turn away. “What are you going to tell this Allie?”

Billy turned back in surprise at the hostile tone he couldn’t quite hide. Jonathan watched silently from the side. He would keep an eye on whoever was in the new truck. Billy’s widened when he noticed Jacob was fingering the gun at his waist. It was obvious Billy had forgotten why they were there, but Jacob hadn’t. His first and foremost thought was to protect his brother.

“I’m just going to let them know I’m not alone, is all,” Billy muttered with a nervous glance at the truck. He could see Aleaha in the passenger seat. “You aren’t going to do anything crazy, are you? I mean, it is bad enough about what happened, but I won’t let you hurt Allie and Aleaha.”

“Will they know where Indy is?” Jonathan asked in a husky voice.

“Hell, yeah,” Billy replied with a shaky grin. “I told you, Indy and Allie are like sisters. Besides, their dad, Sam, knows everything about everything that goes on with Indy. She practically grew up at their place all during high school.”

“Then, let them know that we are here and they are to take us to Sam, nothing else about what has happened. I want to talk to this Sam first,” Jonathan ordered, glancing at Jacob who nodded in agreement.

They both watched as Billy walked stiffly out of the shadows of the trees and down the road to where the silver truck had stopped before they dismounted themselves. The door closest to them opened and a slender woman with long, black hair slid out. She called out a greeting to Billy as he walked toward her before stopping near the back of the long silver and black wagon.

Jacob frowned as another figure came around the side. He could feel his brother’s eyes burning a hole through him when he drew in a sharp breath of surprise. Blinking rapidly, he fought the urge to rub his eyes as he gazed at the figure of the woman.

She was small and had shoulder-length black hair. His eyes swept down over her. She was wearing the dark blue trousers that Indy liked so much.

That wasn’t what had him clearing his throat. It was the top she was almost not wearing that had his attention. Hell, he thought Indy had looked pretty damn good in her shorts and top, but this… this was just… A dark scowl crossed his face when she turned to Billy and he caught the look of male appreciation in the other man’s eyes.

“Hey Allie,” Billy said with a boyish grin.

“Who the hell did you get into a fight with? You look like shit,” Allie commented in return as a greeting before she opened the back of the large horse trailer.

Jacob’s scowl darkened when he saw a flash of white lace when she raised her arms to pull the locks down on the metal doors. The top she wore clung to her slim figure and left her arms and midriff bare. Her skin was the color of honey and made him wonder if it tasted as sweet. A faint flush rose in his cheeks when he saw her looking at him with a raised eyebrow before she turned away.

“Hi Billy,” the other woman said. “Oh my, what happened to your face?”

“I ran into something,” he joked, glancing over to where Jonathan and Jacob were standing.

“Let me look,” the woman demanded.

“Ah, Aleaha, it’s nothing,” Billy muttered in embarrassment. “I just ran into a wall.”

“More like a fist,” Aleaha snapped before her eyes widened in alarm and she paled. “Allie.”

*.*.*

Allie swore silently to herself as she glanced under her eyelashes at the two men standing in the shadows. She had caught Billy's lanky figure coming out of the logging road right away, but something else had caught her attention as well when she rounded the back of the trailer. That something was two cowboys straight out of the Wild West judging by their long coats, chaps and hats. These were no city slickers pretending to be cowboys.

All we need is the music to start playing!
She thought as she reached up to pull the safety clips on the trailer.

She had been so busy trying to bury old hurts that she almost missed them. Now, she was doing everything in her power not to let the one glaring at her know that it was beginning to piss her off. She assumed they were probably going to need a lift as well. She should just change the name to Whitewater’s Equine Chauffeur service. It took a moment for the horror in her sister’s voice to break through her thoughts.

“What?” Allie retorted, looking over to where Aleaha was staring in horror. Shock washed through her followed by pure, unadulterated rage! They had Indy’s horse, Midnight. “Son-of-a-bitch! Where did you get Indy’s horse! So help me, if you’ve harmed one hair on her head, I’ll kill you!”

“Jonathan,” Jacob muttered quietly, taking a step toward the furious woman who looked like she would do it too. He reached out and gripped her wrists even as his brother signaled for the two dogs.

“Allie, Aleaha,” Billy interrupted. “It’s not what you think. They need your dad’s help. Indy’s in trouble.”

“Why?” Allie heard her sister ask in a husky voice.

Allie glanced wildly around as Chester and Tweed ran up to Jonathan. It wasn’t until he gave another signal that they came over to her with their tails wagging. It was a signal only Indy would have known. Something wasn’t right! Indy would not have shown anyone else how to handle the dogs the way she did. Hell, the dogs wouldn’t have responded to another living soul the way they did to Indy unless they trusted the person.

“Listen to him. We don’t want to hurt Indy,” Jacob murmured in a low, soothing voice as he released her wrists as if they were burning him. “She’s in danger and we are trying to help her.”

Allie’s head jerked up and she stepped away from him. “What is she to you?” Allie demanded, glancing back and forth with suspicion and unease. “Why do you care what happens to her?”

“She's my wife,” Jonathan informed her in a voice filled with anguish.

*.*.*

Twenty minutes later, Allie continued to glance repeatedly in the rearview mirror at the two men sitting in the back seat of her truck. To say she had been shocked by the man’s revelation would have been an understatement. She was floored by it! Indy? Married? She shook her head as she pulled the truck back into her own lane when a car passed them honking in annoyance.

I need to stay focused before I get us killed,
she thought to herself as she listened to Jonathan explain what had happened to her best friend.

It was hard to do, though, with the two unusual men behind her. She glanced in the mirror again to check on Billy, who was riding in the back with the dogs before flickering her gaze over Jacob's taut features again. He and his brother had removed their hats before they reluctantly slid into the back seat of her truck.

She swore they both acted like they had never been in one before. Their faces had been a mask of unease as they pulled the truck doors closed. When she'd ordered them to buckle up, panic and confusion had darkened their matching blue eyes before they scrambled to comply. She hadn't missed the fact both of them were watching Aleaha as she pulled hers on as well.

There was no mistaking that they were not just brothers, but identical twins, unlike her and Aleaha who were fraternal ones. Allie couldn't ignore the dry humor that always swept through her at other people's looks of amazement when they found out she and Aleaha were twins. They were polar opposites in everything from clothing to personalities to their likes and dislikes.

The men, however, were identical except for the scar above Jacob’s his left eye. They had the same dark brown hair, blue eyes and six foot plus muscular frame. It was obvious they were also both accustomed to a life filled with hard work.

A man didn’t have muscles like that unless he worked out at a gym all the time or did hard work for a living,
she silently admitted.

Her eyes glanced back and locked on the pale, stiff features again. A shiver went through her as she remembered his hands wrapped around her wrists. She could feel the strength in them, but he had been gentle so as not to bruise her. She had also felt the rough calluses on his palms as they pressed against her skin. The combination of strength and roughness was a total turn-on for most women, but Allie had learned the hard way that appearances could be deceiving.

No matter how big and tough a man appeared, there were some things in life that were even stronger and tougher, she thought bitterly before she stiffened as Jacob suddenly looked up and caught her gaze. For just a brief second, confusion filled her as they locked gazes in a silent battle of wills. The sound of another horn blowing and Jacob's sharp admonishment released her.

Allie forced her eyes back to the road and focused on where she was going. Reaching forward, she grabbed her sunglasses off the dash and slid them on when Aleaha touched her arm in warning. She swallowed the sarcastic rebuttal she was about to unleash on him. Instead, she pressed her foot on the accelerator for just a moment. Her lips pulled up at the corners when she heard Jacob curse once again.

That makes six. Six muttered curses in less than half an hour,
she thought as she reduced the speed and stuck her hand out in apology in response to Billy's harried thump on the back window. She wondered if she could make it seven, not that she was counting, of course.

“Great!” Jacob muttered darkly. “Now she covers her eyes so she can’t see at all! We’ll all be dead before we get to this Sam for help.”