Her stomach flipped sickeningly, and a blistering shot of fear burst into her veins, searing around her system.
She lunged for her rifle, scooped it up, and pressed it into her shoulder with the business end pointing at her unwanted visitor.
“Ah, at last we find you, Miss Alice Bennett,” Old Conner drawled, pulling to a halt. A nasty smirk spread on his ugly face, and his mean eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” She hoped she sounded braver than she felt. Truth was, the rifle was shaking, and so were her suddenly watery knees.
“I’m going to ask you that question, wench. You should be with the wagon train, not holed up in some…mountain lodge.” He glanced at the cabin and spat on the ground.
A rush of burning bile winged its way to her throat. “I choose to leave. It’s no odds to you, one less mouth to feed.”
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong.” He turned to look from left to right. “Ain’t that right, boys?”
Two more men she recognized from the group arrived at Old Conner’s side. Both mounted, both known for being pigs with few Christian morals.
“Yeah, that’s right,” one said.
If she remembered rightly, his name was Del and he was one of Old Conner’s revolting brothers. He had a thick ginger beard.
“Ah, you found her,” the other added, wiping the back of his hand under his nose and sniffing.
“Aye, I told you that smoke would be her. Nice but dim, that’s our Alice.” Old Conner chuckled. “Just like her dead ma and pa.”
Alice wanted to kick herself. She shouldn’t have had the fires lit in the daytime. But she’d needed them to keep safe from sharp-toothed, razor-clawed wildlife.
If only the flames had kept these bastards away, too.
“Go, leave.” She swung the gun between the three of them. If she wanted to, she could shoot them all, right here, right now. “I mean it.”
“Trouble is.” Old Conner slipped from his horse and thumped to the ground. “Your parents promised you to me.” He took a step closer, his gun still holstered but his hand hovering over it.
“They did not.” She knew darn well that wasn’t true.
“Well.” He shrugged and laughed again. “Perhaps they didn’t entirely agree to it, but I told them my intentions.”
“Aye, you’re to wed Old Conner,” Del said then cackled. “You lucky old goat, Con, she’s got a fine body, her cunny will hug your cock like a noose.”
Old Conner cupped his groin. “Sooner I get some of that the better.”
“I’m not going with you,” she shouted. “And I’ll never wed you, or…or get in a bed with you. I’d rather die.” She aimed the rifle at his head. “So stop, don’t take another step, because God help me I will shoot you.”
Old Conner came to a halt.
His two men, however, dismounted, landing on the ground squarely. Del reached for a length of rope from the pommel of his saddle and stepped in line with Old Conner.
“I’ll shoot you all. Just try me. I’m a good shot and you darn well know it.”
“A little gal like you. I don’t think so,” Del said, unravelling the rope.
The other man plucked a long blade of grass and shoved it between his teeth. He chewed noisily on the end.
“Don’t make this harder on yourself,” Old Conner said. “You never know, you might even enjoy it.”
His grin was sickening. She tightened her finger on the trigger and steadied her breathing. Her aim hadn’t wavered despite her fear. There was no shake now, this was why she’d practiced for so many hours. She could sink a bullet between his eyes if she needed to.
And she was nearly at that point.
“So put the goddarn gun down, you stupid wench,” Old Conner said. “And we can be on our way.” His attention swung to the cabin again. “Though it seems there’s a nice little place here we can use first, and now I’m in the mood.” Once again, he cupped his groin, his beefy fingers clasping the wedge of flesh behind his breeches.
“Me, too?” Del said. “I’m in the mood for cunny.”
“Mmm.” Old Conner eyed both men. “I’m feeling generous, and you have traveled all this way from the wagons with me. Aye, you can both have a go, after I have. I don’t want your slop on my cock.”
His vile plan sickened her. This was it. She’d have to shoot. Alice knew she wasn’t always as faithful to God’s word and the Bible as she should be, but she’d never thought she’d have to take a life.
A blur in her peripheral vision. A streak. A flash of yellow light that soared through the air.
Three arrows with yellow-feathered ends stabbed the ground—one in front of each of the men prowling menacingly toward her.
“What the?” Old Conner withdrew his gun.
“Injuns!” Del shouted, also reaching for a weapon.
“Leave,” Alice said, hope filling her despite the fact she couldn’t see who had fired the arrows. “Before they kill you.”
In the name of the good Lord, she hoped it was Mahpee and Hinto and they’d returned sooner than expected. If it was another tribe who weren’t so friendly, she could be out of the pan and into the fire.
“They’ll kill you, too. The Indians. Come with us.” Old Conner waggled his gun at her. “Stop this nonsense.”
“No, I’ll stay and take my chances.”
“Darn you, you idiot wench.” Old Conner turned to Del. “Grab her. We have to get outta here.”
“Aye, sir.” Del stepped toward her, but the moment his foot touched the ground another arrow landed a fraction beyond the point of his boot. “Jesus Christ!” His eyes widened, and he stared past her to the trees.
Alice swung another glance behind herself.
A wave of relief soared through her chest.
Mahpee, Hinto, and another man she hadn’t seen before—huge, broad-shouldered, bald and with what appeared to be a bird claw hanging around his neck. His legs were encased in white pants and his broad chest bare. Like Mahpee and Hinto he held a primed bow, his head ducked slightly, one eye narrowed as if taking aim.
Quickly, she spun back to Old Conner, steadied her own aim on him. But this time she didn’t set her sights on his head, she zoned in on his right hand.
“Who the hell are you?” Old Conner snapped. “I’ve got a gun, can’t you see?”
“We can see that,” Mahpee said.
“And we have bows and arrows,” Hinto added.
The other man with them was silent.
“And I’ll use this gun, too,” Old Conner said. “So will my men here.”
“You need to leave,” Hinto said. “You are on Chochmi land.”
“This is white man’s land now.” Del took a step back from the arrow. His gun was shaking—clearly the sudden arrival of the dreaded natives had spooked him.
“You are wrong,” Hinto said. “Our ancestors and theirs before them all lived and roamed here. The Chochmi allow you to pass through, nothing more.”
“That’s what we’re doing,” Old Conner said. “Except this wench took it upon herself to stray.” He turned to Dell. “Would you just get her. Tie her up, throw her on your horse. If you don’t you won’t be getting a go at her.”