Sweet Prairie Passion (Savage Destiny) (17 page)

“All I realize is that I hate it out here!” the girl snapped. “And I love Quentin. How dare that savage even suggest that a fine gentleman like Quentin Robards could do me any harm?”

“Zeke knows people good, and he thinks Quentin Robards is a gambler who’s taking you for a ride,” Abbie replied quietly.

“He’s a half-breed Indian! I don’t listen to uneducated, backwoods people like that! And you’d best keep your tail away from him before he gets under your skirts like some kind of woman he can just trade off—like Yellow Grass!”

To Abbie’s surprise, she was undaunted by LeeAnn’s remark. “Zeke would never do that to a woman he truly loved,” she replied.

LeeAnn sniffed and did not reply. But Abbie hated Robards even more, for she was sure he had done his share of talking Zeke down. She’d lost the companionship she’d once had with her sister, and after Fort Bridger she’d lose Zeke, although she’d never really had him in the first place. She was beginning to feel an odd loneliness. It struck her that what was happening paralleled Zeke’s vision, and she was frightened at
the thought of being totally alone. She shuddered and looked out at the prairie that never ended, wondering when she’d see the big mountains Zeke had told them about.

Up ahead, Quentin Robards smiled at the thought of what a lucrative prize LeeAnn would be for Tina’s whorehouse. And Morris Connely, growing more concerned that Cheyenne Zeke would discover who he really was and banish him from the train, pondered ways in which he might be able to get rid of their half-breed leader.

Seven

It was nearly the end of June when the weary group of travelers approached Fort Laramie. The six weeks of travel had been hot and tedious. Mile after mile of the same monotonous landscape made them all look forward to seeing new faces at the fort. The horizon still had not changed, but their hearts lightened somewhat at the thought that they at least were getting closer to the great Rockies and higher, cooler land.

Abbie had seen little of Cheyenne Zeke after the day she’d dressed the wounds he’d received in his fight with the Sioux warrior. She could only suppose he was healing well, for he quickly returned to his job of scouting, riding astride the big Appaloosa and acting as though he had no pain at all. She knew he avoided her to prevent hurtful gossip, but she would have gladly suffered the gossip if she could just speak to him and be close to him. Yet she knew it was hopeless to let her thoughts dwell on Cheyenne Zeke, for she could never have him. After Fort Bridger he would be gone, a fact that brought a terrible ache to her heart in the
still of the night when she lay awake thinking of him.

She hadn’t seen Zeke at all for three full days before they reached the fort, and she often wondered where he slept and what he ate. He seemed as much a part of nature, and as elusive, as a wild animal. But no matter how invisible he was, she felt safe in the thought that he was out there somewhere, protecting her.

Shouts and cheers went up when they spotted the fort, and drivers urged their animals to move a little faster. At first the tired animals balked, but they soon obeyed. Those with only horses, like Quentin Robards, rode on ahead at a fast gallop, and LeeAnn watched Quentin ride by on his fine, black stallion, her eyes lighting up with desire and pride. Kelsoe and his three men broke the line and passed the other wagons, all of them hooting and hollering, while the Brown wagons brought up the rear with what was left of Willis Brown’s cattle and the horses he’d nearly got them all killed over. Preacher Graydon rode by on his horse, sitting tall in the saddle and clinging piously to his Bible.

Anxious to go into the fort, where there were new people to meet and where there was considerable activity, Abbie eagerly helped set up camp. All the people from the train were laughing and talking, relieved to finally be at a place where they could rest and stock up on supplies. Even LeeAnn, who had become quiet and distant, was excited and acted more friendly as she walked with Abbie and their father and little brother into the fort, where they spotted Kelsoe already dealing with a trapper.

Abbie’s heart raced when she spotted Zeke inside the gates of the fort. He was standing off to the side
with Olin Wales and four other men—all of them big, burly trappers dressed in skins. As they were laughing and passing around a bottle of whiskey, one of them spotted Abbie and LeeAnn.

“Hey, now, what do we have here?” the man said with a pleased grin. He started toward the girls but Zeke caught his arm.

“The ladies of the train are to be left alone,” he said in a friendly but stern tone.

The man stopped short and backed off, apparently not eager to cross Cheyenne Zeke. “Sure, Zeke,” he replied with a nervous grin. “Can’t blame a man for lookin’ at somethin’ that pretty, can you?”

Zeke grinned a little, but eyed the man warningly. “No, I can’t,” he replied. “But those two aren’t for the likes of you or me, that’s for sure. Looking is as much as you’ll get, Talis.”

The men all laughed a little, and Abbie smiled to herself, satisfied that Zeke was looking out for her.

“Just the kind of trash that Zeke would hang out with!” LeeAnn said under her breath.

“He set them straight,” Abbie replied smugly.

“Honestly, Abigail, what do you see in that man?”

“I see just that—a
man. All
man. He’d die for me in a second—and for you, too, only you don’t even know it. He’d give his life for you a whole lot quicker than that Quentin Robards would, I’ll bet you that! A woman doesn’t have to worry around a man like Zeke.”

“Well, you can have him! And stop insulting Quentin! He’s a gentleman in every sense, and he would
too
die for me. And you needn’t worry about having to put up with him too much longer. We may not go on much farther with the train.”

Abbie stopped in her tracks and stared at her sister, as her father and Jeremy walked on, unaware of the statement. “LeeAnn!’ she exclaimed. “You know pa would never let you run off with that man! And neither will Zeke! And quit referring to Zeke as mine. A man like that doesn’t belong to anyone but himself. There’s nothing between us. He’s dead set against it. It has something to do with what happened to him back in Tennessee.”

LeeAnn looked down and sighed. “Abbie?”

“What?” Abbie replied, folding her arms, surprised at the girl’s sudden humbleness. LeeAnn Trent had become as changeable as the skin on a lizard.

“Can we … be friends again?” the girl asked, suddenly realizing that if she made her sister mad enough, she might tell Zeke LeeAnn was planning to leave the train. “I mean … we’ve hardly spoken since … since Zeke insulted Quentin. I know it was mostly my doing—”

“Oh, LeeAnn, it warms my heart to hear you say that!” Abbie told her, hoping perhaps the girl had not changed as much as she’d thought. “And I’m sorry for the things I’ve said about Quentin. It’s just that… I love you. And I wish you wouldn’t talk about running off with that man. It would be dangerous. I can’t help but think that Quentin couldn’t
possibly
love you if he’d consider submitting you to the dangers out there!”

She immediately realized she’d said the wrong thing, because LeeAnn’s eyes hardened again.

“Oh, there I go again!” Abbie fretted. “You know what I mean, LeeAnn. It’s
you
I’m thinking of.”

“Stop mothering me!” the girl spat out. “My God,
Abbie,
I’m
the older sister, remember? It’s
me
who should be doing the mothering, not you! And I
know
what I’m doing!” She turned to walk away, and Abbie put a hand on her arm.

“LeeAnn, don’t do something that stupid!”

The girl whirled. “I belong to Quentin now, and
he’s
the only one I listen to!” she pouted. “Not an inexperienced little sister!”

LeeAnn’s eyes flashed when she said that, and full knowledge of the situation suddenly hit Abbie. Her eyes teared. “LeeAnn … has Quentin … has that man laid his claim on you?” she asked quietly. LeeAnn jerked her arm away.

“Yes!” she replied haughtily. “So don’t be advising me about men, because I already know all about them! I’m Quentin’s woman, and nothing is going to stop me from doing whatever my man
wants
me to do! He hasn’t quite made up his mind yet, but whether we go on to Oregon or go back East, he’s going to marry me and I’m going to be a fine lady and live in a fine house.” She glanced over at Zeke, still standing and drinking with the other men. “That’s more than you’ll ever get out of Cheyenne Zeke—if you’re ever able to capture that coyote. The most you’ll get out of
him
is a tepee and sixteen kids!”

“Well, that would be fine with
me!
” Abbie snapped. “There’s nothing I would like better than giving that man sixteen kids, and I expect I’d have a lot more fun getting pregnant than
you
ever will!”

LeeAnn’s eyes flared, and Abbie wished she’d not said things that would cause hard feelings between them again. But her sister’s stupidity irritated her, and she couldn’t stop herself from trying to make the
girl see what Quentin Robards really was.

“Think what you want of Quentin,” she said heatedly, nonetheless keeping her voice down. “But I’ll do whatever he asks, and you’d better not tell that Zeke, or you’ll regret it! Quentin could probably get him kicked off this train if he wanted. And he could make things bad for you, too!”

Abbie paled. “What are you talking about?”

LeeAnn looked somewhat regretful, but she kept her mouth in a hard line. “
You
figure it out! Folks don’t take kindly to a half-breed who moves in on young white girls!” As her sister whirled and walked on to the supply store, Abbie watched, tears stinging her eyes. Apparently there were no limits to what LeeAnn would do for Quentin. Her father and brother, who’d been talking to the blacksmith, walked toward her now.

“Let’s go in the supply store, Abbie,” Trent said with a cheerful smile. But he sobered when he saw the tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, honey?”

Abbie shrugged and wiped at her eyes.

“Is it LeeAnn?” her father asked, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Abbie swallowed, tempted to tell him LeeAnn might leave the train with Robards, but afraid of what the girl meant about Zeke. Besides, her father had enough worries without adding to them. How could LeeAnn and Robards possibly leave anyway, stuck this far out in the wilderness? Surely they wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to go back alone, and it was doubtful there would be anyone at the fort to take them.

“It’s nothing, pa,” she told the man. “I’m … just tired.”

“Don’t you be fretting over LeeAnn,” he told her. “She’ll come around. That Robards will show his hand one way or another. Come on inside and I’ll buy you some new material. Would you like that?”

She smiled. “Thanks, pa.”

He patted her shoulder. “You’re a good girl, Abbie. A good girl. I don’t know what I’d do without you—or what little Jeremy would do.”

Zeke approached them now, obviously in a good mood from his whiskey. “Mr. Trent, I’d like to introduce you to the man who runs the supply store,” he told Abbie’s father. “He’s a personal friend of mine and he’ll give you more than a fair deal on whatever you want, especially when I tell him what good people you are.” He glanced at Abbie, his heart torn by the obvious tears in her eyes. Having seen LeeAnn storm away, he felt he knew the reason for them. He longed to hold her and tell her not to cry, but that was an impossibility, so he covered up his concern, casually returning his gaze to Trent.

“That’s mighty nice of you, Zeke,” Trent replied. “But we don’t deserve any special favors.”

“Oh, but you do,” Zeke replied. “And so do the Haneses … and Kelsoe. There are good and deserving people in this world, Trent.” He glanced over at the preacher, who stood off by himself. “And there are those this world could get along fine without.”

“Well, I have to agree with you there, Zeke,” Trent replied, as they headed for the supply store.

“Look there!” Jeremy said, tugging at Zeke and pointing to some Indian children standing with some Indian men and women. “Would they play with me, Mr. Zeke? I never played with Indian kids before!”

Zeke grinned softly and knelt down in front of the boy. “Those are Arapahos,” he told Jeremy. “And of course you can play with them. I’ll take you over, but I doubt they speak English.”

“Then how can we play?” the boy asked curiously, pursing his lips. Zeke chuckled and tousled his hair.

“Hell, kids don’t need to talk the same language to play together,” he told the boy. “I’ll tell them in their tongue who you are, and I’ll find out their names for you; and in no time at all, they’ll be showing you their bows and arrows and their hoop game and—”

“Hoop game?” the boy asked with a smile.

“You’ll see,” Zeke told him.

“How come they’re over there by themselves?” the boy asked. “How come nobody here talks to them?”

Zeke’s eyes saddened for a moment. “You know, Jeremy, if adults could sometimes think like children, we’d all be better off,” he replied. He took a blue stone necklace from around his neck and held it out to Jeremy. “Here. A gift from Cheyenne Zeke to Jeremy Trent, a young man who might someday help bridge the gap between the Indian and the white man.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “For me?”

“For you. But only if you promise to always try to remain friends with the Indian.”

“Sure I will!” Jeremy answered, taking the stones and placing them carefully around his neck. “A real Indian necklace!” he exclaimed. “Does this make me your friend forever, Mister Zeke?”

Zeke grinned. “Forever,” he replied. “You are now officially a friend of the Cheyenne; that’s what the necklace means. If a Cheyenne warrior saw it around your neck, he’d not harm you.”

“Golly!” Jeremy replied, fingering the stones and studying the half-breed he considered the strongest, bravest, and wildest Indian he’d ever known. Zeke just chuckled and shook his head, as he stood up and led the boy over to the Indian children.

Abbie watched them for a moment. Zeke spoke in both tongues in order to help Jeremy get acquainted, while the Indian children stood obedient and quiet, staring at Jeremy with the huge, brown eyes set in their lovely, round, brown faces. She wanted to walk up and hug them. They were beautiful children, and she thought of giving Cheyenne Zeke babies with such large, dark eyes and bright smiles.