Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance) (28 page)

“Antonio, no! Please don’t tie me. I’ll do as you say. I’ll stay here
and wait.”

“Be still.”

She squirmed against the restraints. “But I promised.”

“I have no choice.” He grasped her legs and forced her ankles together.
“If solders find you bound, they will think you were taken captive. They will
treat you better.” He tied her ankles, then rolled her onto her back. The fear
he saw in her tear-filled eyes broke his heart.

“Don’t leave me” she whispered hoarsely.

Tears blinded him. He turned his face, not wanting her to see him cry.
“If they ask about me, tell them you don’t know me. Deny everything.” He pushed
up from the ground. “You never knew me, Halle. We never met.”

“You’re tying me because you don’t believe I’ll wait here for you! You
think I’ll follow!”

“I bound you so you will not be harmed!” he yelled, wishing he could
make her understand. “If they find you—if they think you’ve been intimate with
me or any man in this tribe...” He stopped short of telling her they would take
turns abusing her. “Tell them no man here has touched you.”

As an afterthought, he shoved up her dress to wipe away a smear of blood
on her inner thigh, evidence of her lost innocence, proof of their afternoon
together.

A pang of guilt tore at his heart as he walked away. He promised he
would return, although he wasn’t certain he would. If he were killed, Sonny
would
take her as his third wife and provide well for her. She only cried harder as
he left which made it worse. Taking his rifle, he stormed from the hogan, tears
scalding his eyes.

Women’s and children’s shouts and screams echoed through the canyon as
he tore up the ridge toward the village. He had to find Lukachukai, Diego and
Tani —and that damned, crazy dog of Halle’s.

Gunshots rang out, followed by more screams. He ascended the trail at
breakneck speed, not certain what he would find over the rise, but praying to
God—to any god who would listen now—that the people
he loved most would
not be forever lost to him.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The bed in the small cabin dipped and creaked beneath the shadowed
figure’s weight. Max growled low and Halle gripped his hind legs, then yanked
him beneath the cover again and clamped two fingers around his stumpy muzzle.
She hadn’t heard the door to her private quarters open, hadn’t seen a light
from the sentry’s torches, but she remained still, her back turned, afraid to
move or breathe. For a moment, she wondered if the person sitting on the side
of her bed were even a person at all—a living,
breathing one.

Rumbles erupted from Max again, but she kept her hand closed tightly
over his mouth. She turned slowly and dared a peek over her shoulder. No one.
But she had felt the bed move, felt the warmth of another body in the room. Had
it been a dream? No. Max was still clearly disturbed by an unseen presence. A
ridge of hair stood erect on the back of his neck. Besides, she felt it in
every taut nerve of her body. Someone or
something
was sitting beside
her. Then she smelled peppermint.

“Stella?” she whispered into the darkness. “Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me, baby girl,” came the honeyed voice that was unmistakably
Stella’s.

Halle rolled over and stared at the dark outline ringed in a shimmering
gold mist.

She released Max who dashed toward Stella, this time not with the intent
to rip her to shreds, but to lick her to death. “Where have you been? I’ve been
summoning you for weeks. What’d you do—go on vacation? It’s about time you got
here. I’m in big trouble.”

“You’re telling me, Halle girl. But first I have a question. What ever
possessed you to hatch a blackmail plot against Frank Cole?”

“Oh, yeah, that. I thought if could squeeze some money out of him, I
could start fresh somewhere else.”

“I don’t think part of the plan was for you to get involved with one of
Elena’s ladies in some hair-brained scheme.”

“Hair-brained scheme? I needed money. Besides, I called for you so many
times I lost count. You didn’t come. I got scared, thinking you’d abandoned me,
too.”

“I’ll never abandon you, Halle.”

“Really? Well if my own mother would dump me—my own flesh and blood—you
probably would, too. ”

“Your mother did what she had to do.”

“Don’t even try to justify her running out on me, Stella. She hated me.
I tied her down and she only wanted her freedom.”

Stella sighed and took Halle’s hand in hers. “Oh, baby girl…I knew this
day would come and I’ve long dreaded it. I probably shouldn’t tell you this
yet, but you leave me no choice.”

“No choice about what?”

“It’s time you know the truth about your mother.”

Halle held a breath, braced herself. “Oh God. That woman—N. Brooks in
Las Cruces—really was my mother?”

“No.”

All feeling left Halle’s body. “Who is she?”

“Your aunt.”

“My aunt?”

Stella drew in a deep breath. “Your mother was protecting you from thugs
who would have hurt you. True, the woman in the photograph given to you by the
children’s home wasn’t Naomi Brooks. That was a picture of your aunt, your
father’s sister, Norah.  He’d disappeared two years earlier. Apparently
the same dangerous people who killed him later came after your mother so your
aunt delivered you into foster care so you’d be safe, so they would never find
you.

 “I always thought…”

Stella squeezed Halle’s hand. “All your life you thought your mother
didn’t love you, that she’d abandoned you. You couldn’t have known the danger
you were in, the sacrifices your mother made to keep you alive or the danger
your aunt put herself in to hide you. True, Naomi and your father made some bad
choices in their associations, but your mother didn’t want you to end up hurt
because of her mistakes. That’s real love, Halle, not some greeting card version
all sugared up. Love is sacrifice, doing the right thing, even if it hurts and
you don’t get what you want out of the deal.”

“Why didn’t my aunt come back for me?”

 “Apparently there was a miscommunication. Norah
did
come
for you when you were about ten years old, but she was told you’d been adopted
and the records were sealed. She believed you were better off—happy with your
adoptive family. She didn’t want to destroy your new life.”

Halle flicked away tears with her fingertips, and drew a deep, steadying
breath. All these years she believed no one cared. So many nights she’d cried
herself to sleep believing she’d been unworthy of anyone’s love. She struggled
to stave off another round, but failed. A river coursed down her cheeks as
deep, choking sobs overtook her.

Stella’s comforting arm went around her shoulder. “That’s right, baby
girl. Let it out. You’re certainly entitled.”

 Halle wept a moment, grieving for the frightened little girl she’d
been. For most of her life she believed the lie that she’d been abandoned, that
her parents hadn’t cared. She allowed others to define her—who and what she
was. But someone
had
cared. Her aunt Norah Brooks. Just knowing that
Norah tried to find her, gave her heart peace.

Halle sniffed hard and fought to compose herself. “Why didn’t you tell
me about this before?”

Stella sighed. “It wouldn’t have meant anything if you’d known too soon.
Now you understand what it is like to lose everything, to feel abandoned, to be
endangered. Think of Lukachukai and Tani and Diego
.
Those children are
innocent, yet there are those who wish to do them harm. Can you imagine what
Antonio’s maimed son must have endured, watching his own mother and baby sister
die, knowing his father wasn’t there to protect them. He was old enough to
remember the loss of his family and to grieve for them every day of his life
since—just like you have remembered the loss of your mother and carry the
unhealed wound deep in your heart.”

Halle’s eyes teared up again. “How does all this involve me? You’d said
my presence here is supposed to help bring Hope Brannigan justice. How? What
was the great purpose I was supposed to serve by going back in time?”

Stella reached up and cupped Halle’s cheek in one warm palm. “You
will
bring closure to Hope’s tragic death, Halle. But there is so much more coming.
But right now, you are the only one who can reach Lukachukai, and his father.
Antonio is fighting for a lost cause, not out of loyalty to his mother’s
people. That was his original intent. In his conscience, he believes he’s
failed his son and his dead daughter. He’s still beating himself up with guilt,
trying to make it all right by ‘saving the world’ in the end. It will never
happen. You know the history that has gone before. Soldiers are coming, and
soon. While the Navajo can hide for a while, eventually, they will
surrender.
But the one most at risk is young Lukachukai. That poor child hasn’t spoken
since his mother’s death two years ago. You didn’t speak either for a few years
after you went into foster care, remember?”

Halle hadn’t
remembered that fact until now. “They thought
something was wrong with me. I was sent for special tests at a doctor’s office
every week and speech therapy for a few years.”

“You’d been traumatized by losing your mother. Wasn’t a thing wrong with
you except you’d shut the world out. In your innocent mind, the only person
you’d ever loved had betrayed you. You closed up inside and built a protective
cocoon around yourself so that your little broken heart wouldn’t hurt anymore.”

“But I don’t know what to do for these people—for the kids, for Antonio.
How am I going to help anyone now? We’re trapped in this fort and the women and
children are behind bars.”

Stella laid a warm, reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Halle girl, you
can’t save the world and no one is asking you to, but you do have the power to
change Antonio and Lukachukai’s lives, to heal their hurts and be the influence
on them that will help them to grow into the people
they were destined
to become. Think about the positive effect you’ve already had on Tani
.
She’s becoming her own woman thanks to you. You have been the strongest source
of inspiration for these people in a long time.”

“This means I’m not ever going back to the future, doesn’t it?”

Stella hesitated. “I also knew this time would come and I’m ready to
address that question. Do you want to return to your former life in the
future?”

Halle’s heart beat sped up. Stella wasn’t serious, was she? “But you
made it sound like I’d be trapped here a long time. Are you saying I can go
back to the future at any time?”

“No.”

Halle’s heart dipped. “Well, gee, thanks for dangling the carrot in
front of a starving rabbit.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t go back to the future, Halle. I merely said
you couldn’t go back any time you wished
.
But you can decide right now,
and when the time is right, you’ll make the transition back through the vortex
to your old life in Albuquerque.”

“Can Antonio and the children go too?”

“No, baby. It’s just you and Max as it was in the beginning.”

“I can’t abandon the kids.”

Stella squeezed her hand. “That’s because they’re your family now, the
one you never had but the one you always deserved.” Stella shifted to face her.
“Look, baby girl, it wasn’t your fault your mother got mixed up with the wrong
people, or that she couldn’t be there for you when you were growing up. You
deserved better than you got, I’ll admit, but in your new life in the past,
you’ve gotten more than you ever thought you’d have. These people are your family—your
future, your destiny
.
Embrace the opportunity you’ve been given. It is
your only hope for survival, and theirs, too.”

“I hate the harshness of this era. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to
it.”

“Shhh. Keep your voice it down. There’s a guard outside the door again.”

Halle snorted. “Why, that old fart is deaf as the wall and twice as
stupid.”

“Don’t be fooled. He can hear every word you say.”

“Help us all escape, Stella. I don’t think they’ve fed the children in
days.”

“Don’t worry. Antonio is bringing skilled warriors, the likes of which
this fort has never seen before. I’d hate to be in these men’s boots tomorrow
night when his men descend upon this place.”

“Promise me Antonio won’t be hurt.”

Stella released her hands and stood. “Believe that everything is going
to work out the way it is supposed to. You are
here for a reason and
your life in the past counts. Don’t ever doubt that. This is where you are
supposed to be Halle girl.”

“Antonio asked me to marry him.” Fresh tears bubbled up.

“I know.”

“Should I? I mean, I want to, but…is there any time left for us?”

Stella drew in an audible breath. “That’s not a decision I can make, and
you know I can’t foretell the future, but after your romantic interlude the
other day, you might seriously consider such a move.”

Halle gasped, feeling heat suffuse her cheeks. “You saw us together?”

Stella waved a hand. “Now don’t worry. I didn’t see anything, but I am
privileged to certain information.”

“Are Lukachukai and Diego and Tani all right?”

“They’re hungry tonight, but doing as best they can. But there
is
something
you must do. Once you are free of this place and back with Antonio, you must
convince him to take you and the children to Albuquerque—specifically, to
Elena’s.”

What was Stella not telling her? “Why Elena’s? Do you know she was going
to sell me, then hand me over to Frank Cole?”

“I certainly do, but with a bit of quick thinking on Antonio’s part you
were saved. You’ll be spared that woman’s wrath again, but you must go back.”

“What if Antonio refuses?”

Stella blew out a breath. “Oh, baby girl you wear me out sometimes! If
you never believe anything else, know that your fate is sealed with this
man—your past, present and
future. You must do whatever is in your power
to convince him it is for the best. You’re a crafty sort. I’m sure you’ll think
of some clever way.”

“He’s a stubborn mule, Stella.”

“Then I’d say he’s met his match in you. Knock him over the head with a
pan or hog tie him if you must, but all of you must get to Albuquerque—that
means, you, Antonio, Tani, Lukachukai and Diego. When the time comes, you’ll
know what to do.  Oh, and one more thing before I go. You stay away from
that Frank Cole character. No more blackmail letters. No contact period. He’s a
murderer and a rapist, Halle, pure evil incarnate. If you get into trouble with
Frank Cole, I can’t guarantee that anyone this side of heaven can help you.”

Stella vanished into the darkness and Halle hugged Max tight, feeling a
cold chill settle in the room. Her stomach did a flip flop at the thought of
having to face Elena Costanza again. Would the madam suspect she and Antonio
had become lovers? Would she imprison her at the house and then turn her in to
Cole?

Faced with only one choice and too many variables, she let out an
exasperated breath. Perhaps she could outsmart Elena, or better yet, slip into
the brothel undetected and retrieve the hidden cash.

“Max, did you hear what Stella said? We have to convince Antonio to take
us back to Albuquerque.” Well, she’d just have to play this one by ear. Wasn’t
that what she’d been doing these past months anyway?

For now, she would pray that Antonio and his men would safely free all
of them. But in the mean time, she had to cook up a plan to get him to go back
to Albuquerque.

* * * * *

The next evening, Colonel Simmons sat across the roughly hewn log table
from Halle, grumbling as he sawed through the tough slab of charred beef steak
set before him by Conchita, the fort’s cook.  Halle stared at the burly
pig of a man, half wishing he’d choke on a bite of the tasteless, unchewable
meat. After what she witnessed—the manhandling of women and the colonel
ignoring his soldiers abuse—she despised him.