“No!” Alice snapped. “I will not go with you.”
“Shut your stupid mouth, woman, you do not know what is good for you.”
“I’m staying here.”
“Ha, so these Indians can scalp you, rape you, burn you alive.”
“They will not hurt me.”
“If you believe that you are more foolish than I thought.” Again he spat on the ground.
“We will not harm her,” Hinto said.
His deep, solid voice was a blanket of reassurance around Alice. He was definitely a man to have on her side. In that instant, she knew that.
“Ever,” he added. “We will never harm her.”
“See.” Alice tipped her chin, her confidence in Hinto as well as Mahpee growing. “These are good men, with morals, not like you.”
“You do not know what you’re saying, gal.”
“I do. You are not fit even for Hell, Old Conner.” He really did look devilish.
“She is staying with us, old man,” Mahpee said. “So leave now.”
Old Conner swung his gun in Mahpee’s direction. “You have until I count to three to get out of my sight, then a bullet with your name on it will be arriving in your heart. You understand my language so that should be crystal clear.”
The mention of Mahpee’s heart, one she knew to be good and pure and brave, had Alice bristling. Anger swirled inside her, the way the dust on the wagon tracks did. Her jaw tightened, and she locked her knees, braced her spine.
One.
She held her breath. Aimed.
Two.
Her shoulder stiffened, she closed one eye.
Three.
Bang!
Old Conner reeled backwards. His gun flew into the air then landed in a patch of long grass. Alongside it a bloodied, severed finger rose in a long graceful arc then was swallowed by the greenery.
Faith neighed and spooked into the shadows. A branch caught on her mane and twanged.
Old Conner yelped, a shocked, high-pitched sound, and clutched his right hand. A plume of blood spurted upward, spraying into the air then onto his stunned face.
She’d taken his trigger finger clean off. A risky move when he’d been holding a gun. But it was better than landing one in his head, and it did mean he’d never be a danger with a gun again. His shooting days with any kind of aim were over. She believed God would forgive her for that.
“You goddarn evil wench!” he shouted as Del dragged his shirt off and attempted to stem the flow of blood by balling it over Old Conner’s hand. In an instant, ruby red seeped through the material.
“Now is your time to leave,” Mahpee said, walking up close behind Alice.
Body heat from his bare chest radiated onto her back. His breaths touched her hair. She wanted to lean into him, fall against him, but resisted.
“I’ll kill you for this!” Old Conner staggered backward. “I swear I’ll cut out your heart, Alice Bennett, with a dagger and feed it to the vultures.”
“Leave. Now.” Hinto stepped up to her right side, towering a head taller than her. His arrow was still held high and aimed at Old Conner.
To her left, the other huge Chochmi appeared, brows pulled low, a red-tipped arrow pointed at the third man who was waving his gun around wildly and had turned pale.
Yellow-livered idiot.
“Come on, Conner,” Del said. “We gotta get you to the women, they’ll know what to do.”
“No, I have to finish this, finish her.”
“Today is not the day.” Del half dragged Old Conner to his horse, then along with the other man, shoved him on.
The shirt was dark now as Old Conner held his hand aloft, gripping it at the wrist.
“Find my darn finger!” he shouted, when both men mounted, spinning their horses in a circle. “Get it.”
“What use is it?” Del shouted, then glanced at the primed arrows aimed his way.
“I want it…and kill her. Kill her now!”
Twang.
Three arrows clipped the ears of each man.
“In the name of God.” Del dug in his heels into his horse’s flanks. “I’m outta here.” He bolted onto the track.
The other man followed, head ducked low, legs flapping in his stirrups.
Old Conner’s horse gathered energy then burst into a gallop from standing. Not wanting to be left behind, it careened onto the track and was gobbled up by the darkness.
“It seems,” Mahpee said, slipping his arm around Alice’s waist and placing his lips by her ear, “you’ve got a very good aim, Brave Flower.”
Chapter Three
Alice blew out a breath and lowered the rifle. Her arm was shaking from holding the weight. The rest of her body was shaking because she’d just taken a man’s finger clean off.
“Are you well?” Mahpee asked.
She nodded and wished her heart rate would slow. It was making her feel sick rattling behind her sternum. “Yes. They just gave me a god-awful fright, that’s all. One minute I was on my own, the next they were there, in front of me.”
Hinto took the heavy rifle from her. “They are…what would Henry say…er…idiots, fools, which makes them very dangerous.”
She shuddered. “Add evil to the list. Old Conner wishes me to wed him.”
“What?” Hinto said, his eyes widening. “That old man? You could never mate with him.”
“That’s exactly what he wanted.” She gulped.
“Had I known that…” Hinto grabbed an arrow from his quiver, quickly put it in his bow, and fired it into the air, in the direction of the track. “I’d have pierced his heart the moment I saw him. Maybe I still should.”
The passion in his tone and the tensing of Hinto’s jawline left Alice in no doubt this man could have killed Old Conner easily should he have put his mind to it.
Maybe that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.
“We should get out of here,” Mahpee said, tugging her a little closer against his body.
Hinto turned, looked at where they connected. His eyebrows pulled low.
“Where?” Alice asked. “I have nowhere else to go, this cabin has quickly become my world.” She stared up at Mahpee. “As have you.”
“We will protect you,” Hinto said before Mahpee could speak. “You will come to our home. Stay with us.”
She spun to him as Mahpee’s grip on her increased. “Your home? The Chochmi’s home?”
“It is what the Elders would want.”
“It is?”
Mahpee pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger and urged her to focus on him again. “Yes. We have been instructed not to leave you alone, we must care for you, Brave Flower. And we are happy with our orders from the Elders, they are wise, and with this…” He tapped the center of his forehead. “This old wisdom they are able to understand what the future may hold.”
“Oh well, in that case.” She paused. “And what future do they see for me?”
“That you are unsafe here. Old Conner will be back.”
She swallowed and glanced at the track.
“Yes.” Hinto rested his hand on her upper arm. “That is not a man who gives up easily. Again, a dangerous sign.”