My Savage Heart (The MacQuaid Brothers) (37 page)

“You should have said you were tired.”

Caroline didn’t look up, but she knew her captor was near. “Would it have mattered?” Caroline felt his hand on her and jerked away, but he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“It will do no good to fight me.”

Caroline said nothing, only glared at him.

“Do you hear me, white woman?”

“I hear the pounding of footsteps as the king’s soldiers hunt you down.” She anticipated the blow, but even though she’d steeled herself, the force still knocked her over. She lay on the hard ground, tasting her own blood and shut her eyes.

“I will break you, English woman. Then you will be mine.”

They rested for only a short time. Caroline tried to sleep, to rid her mind of reality, but even that relief wasn’t within her grasp. As soon as she began to drift off, she was jerked to her feet.

By nightfall the temperature had dropped. Where before the cold had kept her alert, now her feet and hands were numb, and she couldn’t stop shivering. Still, when they stopped for the night, Caroline’s heart sank when a campfire was built. Even as the flames licked over the wood, offering her some relief from the cold, her heart froze. Tal-tsuska wouldn’t chance their smoke being spotted if there was any possibility someone might be following them.

Hopelessness washed over her when Tal-tsuska untied her hands. The thong remained about her neck.

“Sit,” he commanded after spreading a blanket near the fire’s warmth. When she hesitated, he settled his hand over her shoulder and pushed. “It will do no good to defy me, white woman. I have time. You are smart. You will see the wisdom of doing as you are told.”

She wanted to scream at him that she would never, ever do anything but resist him. But she was so tired. When she finally spoke, her tone sounded no more than annoyed. “Why do you take this trouble with me, Tal-tsuska? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply kill me?”

“Easier for who?” he said, dropping to the blanket beside her. “For you perhaps, but I find you worth the effort, white woman.”

Trying to pull away only made him chuckle. And tighten his hold on the tether about her neck. “You did not turn from the touch of Wa`ya did you, white woman? Was it his English blood that made the difference?”

“No.” Caroline stared at him and her eyes glittered in the flickering firelight. “It is the English blood that stains your hands.”

He pushed her back on the blanket then, and Caroline tried to prepare herself for what was to come. But he left her alone, rising to his feet and seeming to melt into the woods that surrounded them. Another Cherokee, whom she didn’t know, took his place beside her, wrapping the end of the rawhide thong around his wrist. But he neither spoke to nor touched her, and eventually she drifted into a troubled sleep.

When she woke a blanket covered her and light snow swirled through the morning air. She chewed on the dried deer meat she was given, grateful for something to eat. Sometime during the night, she realized her survival depended upon her. And it wasn’t just her survival. She must think of her child... Wolf’s child. It was up to her to protect them both.

So she ate what Tal-tsuska gave her, forcing her stomach to stop rebelling against the unfamiliar taste. She accepted the blanket he threw about her shoulders, resisting the urge to toss it to the ground in a show of contempt. She would escape. Caroline knew that. It was only a question of when. Until then she would pretend compliance.

They traveled north and west over terrain that gradually grew more mountainous. There were seven Indians, but no one spoke to her except Tal-tsuska. It seemed as if she were his personal responsibility... his personal property. He fed her, walked beside her, tugged on her bindings if she slowed her pace. Slept beside her. This last was the most unnerving, though as yet he had done nothing but share her blanket.

And he talked to her. Of the mighty defeat the Cherokee would inflict upon the English. Of the departure of the hated white man from his land. Of his dislike of Wa`ya, the son of the treacherous trader.

“If you despise us so, I don’t see why you insist upon dragging me with you,” Caroline said as they trudged through a mountain pass.

“You are still of a mind that I should kill you?” When Caroline didn’t answer, he continued. “You, I shall keep as a reminder of all we have overcome. I will look at you and remember that you were the lying one’s wife, that you were his son’s woman. That I have you now, long after they have gone to the ‘darkening land.’”

After two days, they reached a Cherokee town, smaller than Keowee. Catherine didn’t know for sure where she was, for Tal-tsuska refused to tell her their destination. However, by piecing together the things Wolf had told her, she imagined they had traveled to one of the Middle Towns.

Even though she could understand little of what was said, it was obvious Tal-tsuska was treated as a returning hero. And that she was looked upon with scorn. If she hoped for any help from this quarter, she soon realized it would not be forthcoming. The women yelled at her, some of them leaping forward and shaking their fists in her face as Tal-tsuska lead her into the town.

The cabin he put her in was small and illkept. The mats on the packed earth floor were dirty. Caroline shook them out, then looked around. Even though it was only late afternoon, the interior was dark. The only light came from rays of weak winter sun that slanted through the chinks between the logs and the smoke hole in the center of the roof.

There were no windows. The only way out was the way she came in, and it opened onto the center of the town. When an old woman brought her evening meal, nearly tossing it at her, Caroline ate it eagerly, then lay down to rest. If she was to escape, and she was determined to, she would need all her strength.

But as the drums began beating, their rhythm pounding through the earth beneath her ear, Caroline’s resolve faltered. The Cherokee were chanting, their sing-song words growing ever louder and more frantic. She lay in the dark, her eyes open, wondering how she would ever get away from them.

She must have drifted off to sleep, for when the door opened, she jerked awake. For an instant a large figure loomed in the doorway, a grotesque silhouette against the light of the giant bonfire in the background.

Fear shot through her, and Caroline scooted back across the dirt floor, clutching the only weapon she’d been able to find, a potato-sized rock. The door closed and darkness fell around her like a heavy wool blanket. She could hear him moving toward her, and she drew back her arm. She would wound him at best, and then he would hurt her more. Caroline knew that. But now that the moment was upon her, she knew she couldn’t simply submit to him.

Her heart pounded as he took one step, then another. Closer.

“Caroline?”

At first, she thought her ears must be deceiving her. “Raff. Oh, God, Raff.” She was up and into his arms before she even caught her breath. He held her tightly, nearly crushing her in his embrace. “How did you find me? Tal-tsuska said you were his prisoner or... or dead.”

“It is a long story. And we have to get out of here.”

“But how? There’s no way but the front door, and there’s a guard.” Caroline pulled away enough to look up at him even though she could only discern a vague outline. “If they let you in, it’s a trap. Tal-tsuska hates you.”

“He did not
let
me in.” Wolf grabbed up a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, but—”

“Pull this over your hair and keep your head down.” He tucked the gathers under her chin, his hand lingering a moment on hers when she reached up to hold the blanket in place. “No matter what happens, you are to run south toward the river. Edward is there and—”

“Ned? Ned is alive?”

“Yes and he is waiting with a canoe. Run there as quickly as you can.” He grabbed her arm, propelling her toward the door, not realizing at first that she pulled back.

“What about you?” The drums and chanting rose and fell in waves.

“What about me?”

“What are you going to do while I run toward the river?”

“I will be right behind you.” He said it with as much conviction as he could, though he knew if need be, he would sacrifice himself to insure her escape. She apparently knew it, too, for she threw her arms around his neck and held on with all her might. He could feel her heart pounding against his chest and knew his own beat just as frantically.

Her voice vibrated against his skin. “The baby,” she began, but he found her mouth with his fingers, silencing her.

“I do not need to know.”

“But I want to tell you. I should have from the very beginning.” Now with their very lives at stake, her concerns about Seven Pines seemed ridiculous. Nothing was important besides the love she felt for him—and hoped he felt for her. “Your father never... It’s—”

The silence, so sudden and overwhelming was deafening. No noise would have silenced her as effectively. Caroline sucked in her breath as Wolf shoved her behind him. Cautiously he moved toward the door.

He inched it open just as the drums began again and the villagers erupted into a loud war cry that reverberated through the cabin. Without looking back, he reached for her hand and pulled her through the door. Caroline managed to keep the blanket over her head as she was yanked forward, out into the open.

The fires and burning brands made the square of land in front of the council house nearly as light as day. Caroline could plainly see the Cherokee milling about. There was no guard in front of the cabin, and she idly wondered what had become of him.

But there were more important things to worry about as she silently followed Wolf. They skirted the cabins, trying to stay in their shadows. Could the Cherokee see Wolf and her as clearly as she could see them?

When Wolf ducked beside one of the log buildings, Caroline breathed a sigh of relief until she heard a grunt of recognition. She glanced up in time to see a warrior blocking their path. They’d obviously surprised him as he returned from tending his bodily functions, or he would have shouted for help. And even though the drums were loud, there was a chance he would be heard.

As it was, he raised his war club over his head, arching it down toward Wolf’s head. Pushing her out of the way, Wolf yelled, “Run,” before propelling himself toward the man.

She couldn’t. She simply couldn’t run away and leave him even when both men ended up on the ground by her feet. Caroline looked around frantically for something to use against the Cherokee. Wolf hadn’t had time to draw his knife, and she noticed he hadn’t brought his rifle.

There was nothing. She did run then—into the woods, searching for a branch, anything to bash over the warrior’s head. Seconds seemed like hours as she dropped to her knees, grabbing for a thick branch fallen from a hickory tree. She would bring it down over the Cherokee’s skull. She could see the scene in her mind’s eye, almost feel the crush of bone beneath her hands.

But when she raced back to where she left Wolf, neither man was there. If not for the rustle of fallen leaves, she wouldn’t have known where to look. Without care for herself, she rushed toward the sound, gasping when something grabbed her from behind.

“Damnit, Caroline.” The familiar voice hissed in her ear. “Is this what you call running toward the river?”

Caroline ignored his question as he let her go. “What happened to him?”

“Back there.” Wolf nodded toward a dark shape huddled on the ground. She was tempted to ask if he was dead, but thought better of it when Wolf clutched her arm. “Let’s go,” he began, only to stop when he saw the branch. “What in the hell is this for?”

“I was going to hit—”

“Never mind. Come on.” He turned, and Caroline dropped the branch and followed.

They crept back into the woods then circled around toward the south. They said nothing to each other, and Caroline tried to keep her step as quiet as his as they slipped between trees and sloshed into a stream. Her feet were numb with cold within seconds, but she did her best to keep up.

Wolf climbed up over a rocky outcropping and leaned down to help her up. Then they hurried on.

Caroline heard the river before she saw it. She was wet and cold, miserable, but she didn’t care as she did her best to keep up with her rescuer.

She nearly screamed when Edward stepped out of the shadows, but Wolf pulled her toward him, covering her mouth till she broke free and enveloped her brother in a tight hug. “I was so worried about you,” she said before Wolf hustled her toward the shore.

“There is a canoe down here.” Wolf hesitated, his hand on her back. “Where is the blanket? The blanket?” he repeated when she didn’t answer immediately.

“I—I must have dropped it.”

“Where? Think, Caroline.” He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him, ignoring Ned’s noise of protest.

“Stop it, Ned.” Caroline pushed at her brother’s hand where it rested on Wolf’s arm. Caroline swallowed. “It was when the warrior surprised us as we left the village. I remember now, it slipped from my shoulders and I... I let it go. Does it matter?” Now it was she clutching Wolf.

“Before I came for you, I tried to buy us some time by making a false trail east through the forest. But if they find the blanket—”

“They’ll know we escaped by the river,” Caroline finished for him.

“I am going back for it.”

“No, Wolf,” Caroline cried, but he paid her no heed as he handed her over to Ned.

“Take care, boy. If I have not returned by the time the moon rises over those trees, go. Paddle as hard as you can till you come to a fork in the river. Take the southern branch and follow it till you get to Fort Prince George. It should take you two days and a bit. Then as soon as you can get an escort to Charles Town, go. Drag her kicking and screaming if you must, but get her back to civilization.”

“Raff.” Caroline reached out toward him, and he paused. In the dim light she couldn’t see his expression, but she felt his eyes on her. There was so much she needed to say, so much she wished she’d told him before. But now it was too late.

“Take care of her, Edward,” was all Wolf said before he disappeared into the woods.