The Ruination of Essie Sparks (Wild Western Rogues Series, Book 2) (16 page)

She shook her head slightly as Little Wolf raised his hands to defend himself against the stick, then her gaze darted back to the old man, who was speaking to her now and gesturing at him. She answered Chen Lee in a whisper, with her head bowed and eyes averted. Then she bowed to him and took a step closer, coming between the stick and Little Wolf.

She beckoned to him with her hand, then reached for him. "Lookee, boy. You come. Now."

Her hand was small and her fingers slender and long. Her nails were clean, but bitten to the quick. Anything seemed better than letting the old man hit him again, so he reached for her hand. With a quick crack, the stick came down on his knuckles and he snatched his hand back, biting back a cry. Again, the girl shook her head at him so that only he could see, then tipped her chin to get him to follow her.

Seeming satisfied at last when Little Wolf got to his feet, the old man gestured, with a grunt of impatience, for him to follow. Little Wolf looked back at the girl, but she refused to meet his eyes. They moved through the smoky tent, past foreign men smoking pipes with half-dressed young girls lying beside them. Or on top of them. Or under them.

None of them looked much older than sixteen summers, and one looked younger than him. And the smoke coming from the pies was not from tobacco or red willow bark, but something noxious that made him feel lightheaded just walking through it.

He'd heard of places like this. Here, in Magic City, there were many places men could go to lie with women, but only one with these dark-haired girls from across the sea. He'd caught sight of them once, each chained by an ankle to a stake in a tent, calling out to men passing by.

On the mountain, he'd heard Nestor and the other one talk of going to a brothel after they sold him, but Chen Lee had made it clear they weren't welcome at this one.

There were plenty of brothels that welcomed their kind in town. At least he would know where to look for them when he escaped this terrible place.

Attached to the smoking tents was a two-story building and they entered up a small flight of steps. Chen Lee shoved him toward a room down the hall where a disheveled young girl stood alone with her back against the wall, eyes downcast as they entered. There was one small, barred window in the room that opened to the street outside and the men passing by. The room was empty save a dirty cup on the floor and a pallet. In the corner, a covered wooden bucket stank in the close room. The man shoved him into the room and Little Wolf tripped and fell to his knees. More foreign words and the pretty girl leaned her head down to him and spoke.

Pointing to the bucket, she said, "You takee. Clean.
Kuai dian!
Quick, quick!" She let out a breath. "No go. Stay. Or else..." Slicing a hand across her throat, she laid her hand on her small breast and patted her chest.

Or what?
"He will kill you?"

She bowed her head. "
Shi.
Yes
.
"

He slid a disbelieving look at the old man who simply grinned back at him, rolling a pair of coins in his hand.

Was it possible that he'd actually found a place worse than the school? A place where these girls were no better than slaves? A look at the poor girl who was trying to blend in to the plain wooden walls answered that. No one would care about a Cheyenne boy any more than they would about these girls. They would not help him, or her. Even if someone did rescue him, he'd just be sent back to the school. Or worse. He was lost here unless he could find a way out.

Tears burned his eyes, but he bit them back. He would not cry or show that old man weakness. Instead, when Chen Lee yelled again, Little Wolf pushed the hatred from his expression and stood to face him.

"Where?"

"Come," the girl said, flicking a look in the direction of the old man. "I show."

* * *

Naturally, Essie did the exact opposite of what Cade had told her to do. She didn't run. Instead, she waited with the rifle propped on the ancient remains of a fallen tree, twenty yards from the edge of the cliff, above the entrance to the cave.

She was nearly completely exposed here herself, but that didn't matter. If they saw her, she would shoot them. She would not let them get as far as Cade.

A half laugh, half cry bubbled up inside her. Maybe she'd lost her mind a little out here in the wilderness. Imagine her, kissing him. Or plotting to murder two men. Even stranger, doing it to protect the man who'd kidnapped her. Though somehow, she'd begun to think of him differently. Not as a renegade. As a flesh-and-blood man, not an enemy.

About the staying, she had no choice, really.

Even if she ran, they'd chase her down. But first they'd kill him in some horrible way, if he didn't beat them to the punch himself.

She sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve. She'd lost her shawl somewhere en route, days ago, snagged on some branch somewhere and ripped away from her. The temperature was falling and she wished she had a fire. She pictured fire in her mind and let it warm her as she shivered. But soon, she imagined Cade's arms around her instead.

She squeezed her eyes shut to deny herself that fantasy. Because it wasn't just about his arms or the weight of him against her keeping her safe. It was him. Kissing her.

Gad!

Her feelings for him had changed, blindsiding her there in the dark, surprising her in their intensity.

But it wasn't possible. For either one of them. And that kiss notwithstanding, he'd made it clear he'd rather have died than let her stay to fight for him. He'd put a knife to his own throat! Right now, he was probably relieved not to have to worry about her anymore. She supposed—no, she was quite certain—he wished he'd never taken her at all.

Three hours had crawled by since they'd jumped, and the moon was hanging up high in the sky now. It was bright, though clouds were sweeping down from the north. Where the clouds weren't, stars smeared the blackness, twinkling with no concern for her and Cade's little lives. Their little disasters. For the first time since this whole misadventure had begun, she wished for darkness. Full, utter darkness.

Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled and another answered.

She huddled closer to the trunk and shivered, having almost forgotten about the wolves. There were more dangerous predators than wolves out there hunting her now. She clutched her locket, allowing the warmth of the metal to warm her fingers.

The men would reach the bottom soon and search for their bodies. Finding nothing, they would either retrace their steps or give up. The second option wasn't likely. But if they didn't return by morning, she would...

What? Try to find his horse?
Lost cause, probably.
Run back to the school? Downhill, mostly, it might take her more than a day. And then what? No one would help him. The opposite, in fact.

There was no good answer. She was alone in the wilds of the Montana mountains with nothing but a rifle and her wit. Which felt about to fail her.

In her wildest dreams, she couldn't have pictured her adventure to the West ending like this. Maybe she would die tonight. Eaten by wolves or killed by animals of the human sort. Nor could she have pictured meeting a man like Cade Newcastle at all.

It wasn't as if he'd been nice to her. The opposite, really.
Except when he thought I wasn't looking. Or when he touched me. Or held me against him.
And she found herself imagining being held by him as if he actually cared about her. His strong arms around her in an embrace instead of... instead of whatever it was.

He had kidnapped her. But he'd been right all along. Laddner and his bunch had not worried at all about hitting her when they'd fired at them back at the school. They would have taken her death—if a bullet had hit her—as an inevitable, necessary evil. For once a white woman was taken, apparently, there was no coming back. No redemption.

But now look what she'd come to. Standing guard over the man who'd taken her. The man who'd treated her more gently than her husband ever had. Who made her feel like a woman for the first time in her life.

Remember who you are, Essie. Remember where you've come from.
Was it only a few days ago she'd vowed not to allow herself to care again?

The farm of her dream came back to her then and she closed her eyes, thinking of Aaron. For a moment, she allowed herself to walk in that verdant green field with him, with the birds lifting off into the sky and the sound of cows in the distance. If she could only take back that day he'd died, when his sleep had taken him so deep that he'd never awoken. Her husband had blamed her, of course, for not being more careful. For not noticing that his little life was coming to an end. And though she wasn't the first to lose a child to a mysterious cause, Nathan had made certain she felt responsible. He couldn't forgive her. Or, more importantly, himself.

Which she understood, of course, because she couldn't forgive herself either. Fit for neither motherhood or marriage, she was destined to be alone. She'd made peace with that idea. Until Cade had barged into her life and turned it upside down.

It was starting to rain. Small drops at first, then fat, unrepentant splats against her skin.
Oh, God. What next?
She shivered and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She should know better by now than to ask such a question.

A clip-clop of a shuffle sounded behind her above the drizzle of the rain.
A horse
. Essie froze. One step. Then another.

She whirled, pointing the rifle into the thick blackness. She could see nothing, but she tightened her finger against the trigger. The gun's tip wavered violently. Blood pounded against her eardrums. "Stop right there," she called out. "I have a gun."

Don't be stupid. There are two of them. You could never kill them before they killed you.
Maybe he was right. But now, she would see. Because whoever it was wasn't stopping.

The hoofbeats came closer.

And then a horse emerged from the shadows like some kind of ghost. Slowly, head down, sniffing its way toward her. Dark, drenched with rain, splotches of white dappling its coat.

Náhkohe!

She let the tip of the gun collapse to the ground as all the strength left her arms. She threw the gun aside and got shakily to her feet, slipping twice before she managed it.

Walking slowly toward her, reins dragging on the ground, the horse dropped its head and exhaled an equine snort of a greeting. Essie threw her arms around Náhkohe's neck and kissed him. "You... you wonderful, handsome, brilliant horse!"

She was still shaking with cold and the horse's damp warmth bled into her. Giddiness flooded her and she began to shake with laughter. Who could have imagined the twists these last few days had brought to her life? And apparently fate was not finished with her. She would not die here. She would live. And so would Cade Newcastle.

Hurriedly, she tied Náhkohe's reins to the log she'd been hiding behind and slid down the rocky ledge to Cade, all the way praying he hadn't given up on her.

His eyes were closed as she slid the last bit down the rocky outcrop to him. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him. "Wake up. Wake up!"

With a flutter, his eyes opened and, after a moment, focused on her. The knife in his hand jerked up and he nearly stabbed her, but stopped himself an instant before it was too late. "
Séaa
! Essie?"

She stared down at the knife with a shaky breath, then back at him. "It's all right now. It's going to be all right."

"What?" He blinked up at her in the moonlight that spilled across the open ledge. "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to—"

"We're getting out of here. Can you stand?"

"I told you. I can't—"

"Náhkohe came back."

"What?"

"He came back. He's right up there. We're getting out of here. Both of us. C'mon. Let me help you. We don't have much time."

Chapter 10

The rain got worse as they crossed the plateau, turning the dirt to mud. They rode back into the forest, wandering up into the rocky outcrops. Behind them, the rain dissolved their trail, hiding it as no amount of cunning could. They rode for hours through the dark, skirting the plateau to the east. Except for the body heat they shared where her back met his chest, they were freezing cold. Behind her, Cade shivered, but she couldn't be sure if it was the fever or the miserable cold that made him shake. It became clear that they would have to stop soon and get warm.