Issue #16

At first Alaina couldn’t locate Jared. Afraid the renegades would hear her if she called out to him, she scanned the camp frantically. Panic was clawing at her throat by the time she saw him untying the horses on the other side of the clearing. She wasted no time hurrying over.

“Did you change your mind about the horses?”  she asked hopefully. “Can we out run them if we ride bareback?”

“Not without a pretty good head start.  But our only hope lies in convincing them that’s exactly what we did.”

“What are you going to do?”

“No time to explain. Head for the trees, I’ll catch up with you.”

Without another word, Alaina turned and ran as fast as she could toward the forest where the trees were the thickest.  She was almost there when their three horses nearly ran her down. Frozen with shock, she was still staring after them when Jared seized her arm and dragged her back into the trees.  They were barely out of sight before their camp was suddenly filled with men on horseback. 

“Get down!” Jared said and pulled her to the forest floor.

Frantic to escape the renegades, Alaina struggled to get away, wiggling and twisting until Jared finally had to lie on top of her and pull her hands above her head. “Damn it, Alaina, they’re going to hear you,” he whispered in her ear.

The words seemed to have no meaning for her, as she stared up at him with huge frightened eyes. The muscles in her throat worked convulsively as she sucked air in through her mouth in a whistling gasp. Jared could almost see the scream building and knew if he didn’t do something fast she’d bring the men down on them like ants on a peppermint stick. If only he could keep her distracted long enough for the hysteria to pass. In desperation, he did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her.

She tasted like sunshine and clean mountain air, fresh and intoxicating. As he felt the tension go out of her body, Jared realized he could easily forget the men in camp if he wasn’t careful. 

Reluctantly he pulled his mouth away. “Don’t make a sound,” he breathed in her ear. “They won’t even think of looking for us here until they catch up with the horses and find out we aren’t on them. We’re safe here for a little while.” He felt her nod and lifted his head slightly to look back at their camp through the trees. While Jared watched, a man came out of the tent waving Alaina’s extra dress.       

“Hot, damn there’s a woman with them,” he shouted excitedly.  “This is our lucky day.”

“Only if we catch them,” said another as he rose from the ground where he had been studying the hoof prints that led out of camp. “Looks like they saw us coming and decided not to wait around for company.  Should be able to catch them, though.  They can’t be that far ahead. You five stay here in case they double back on us. The rest of us will track them down.” He remounted his horse and headed out of camp with most of his men following right behind.

“That’s our signal to leave,” Jared whispered in Alaina’s ear.  “Be as quiet as you can.” He rose silently to his feet, and reached down to help her up.  Praying the men wouldn’t start searching the woods for them until dusk, he rescattered the pine needles, destroying the evidence that they’d been there. But when he pointed to the west, she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

It wasn’t until she moved around behind him that Jared remembered the precious cargo he carried on his back. A moment later she was back, indicating that Little Bright Eyes was sleeping peacefully.

Jared motioned for Alaina to follow him and headed toward the sinking sun.  A short distance away from camp, they came to the rocky outcropping that Jared had seen earlier. “If we walk along the top of the rock they won’t be able to figure out which way we went,” he whispered.

 Alaina nodded and started the difficult climb.  Jared felt a flash of admiration as he took her hand to help her over the worst of it. Most women he knew would have succumbed to the hysterics that had threatened earlier, but Alaina had miraculously pulled herself back together. Even now she tackled the rugged outcropping without complaining.

Once they reached the top, Jared stopped to take his bearings, then headed north. The sun dropped below the horizon and twilight enveloped them in its welcome shadow. Jared breathed a sigh of relief.  The renegades wouldn’t be able to track them until morning now.

His relief was short-lived. They had traveled less than half an hour before full darkness made walking treacherous.  Snow and ice still covered the uneven rock in places. One misstep could easily result in a serious injury.  Jared took Alaina’s hand to guide her, but after the fourth time he stumbled, she pulled free from his grip.

“You can’t see where we’re going can you?”

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “That’s a pretty stupid question.”

“Not really. Some people can see in the dark, and others can’t. I take it you’re one who can’t.”

“I suppose you can.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. Why don’t you let me lead the way?’

Jared frowned. “You don’t know where we’re going.”

“Do you?”

“To Whiskey Jug ’s. You won’t have any idea where we need to take off across country.”

“And you’ll lead us off a cliff long before we get there because you can’t tell where you’re going. Seems to me, we can sit down and wait until morning, or you can let me lead the way.”

Jared glared at her in the darkness. “All right,” he said grudgingly, as he moved aside and let her take the lead. “Just watch out for holes and ice-covered rocks.”

“Don’t worry. I have no desire to break a leg up here. How will I know when we get there?”

“I think there’s a small spring along here somewhere.  That’s where we turn.”

“You think?” she asked in surprise. “I thought you said you knew where we’re going.”

“I do, I’m just not real sure how to get there.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” she said sarcastically.

He looked up at the stars. “I know where we are, and I know where we want to go.  It’s just a matter of putting the two together.”

 “Have you ever been here before?” she asked suspiciously.

“Not precisely here, but I’m pretty sure we surveyed the other end of this outcropping last summer.”

“Are you sure it’s the same one?”

“I’ve been all over these mountains and others like them and never seen another formation quite like this one. As far as I know, it’s unique.”

“But there could be another like it?”

“It’s possible. Still, if we head north, we’re bound to hit an area I’m familiar with sooner or lter.”

“And you won’t recognize it when we do because you’re blind as a bat in the dark.”

“Do you have a better solution?” Jared asked irritably. 

She stared at him for a moment, then turned and began picking her way through the rocks.  “Be careful, there’s a hole just to the left of us.”