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“Chuck, what did you do when you thought that I was abducted?” Hannah asked, her heart pounding.
“Chuck, what . . . did . . . you do?” Hannah persisted when he still did not answer her.
When he still failed to respond to her questions, she clasped his shoulders with her trembling fingers. “Chuck, for God’s sake, tell me,” she said, her voice rising in pitch as alarm arose within her. “What . . . about . . . Strong Wolf?”
“I sent several of my cowhands to the nearby fort to ask for their help in finding you,” Chuck said, his tone worried. “Of course, I told them to tell those in charge at the fort about Strong Wolf’s threats, and that . . . he . . . dynamited the dam.”
He waved a frustrated hand in the air. “Damn it, Hannah, he stole dynamite from my storage shack,” he said, his voice tight. “Why the hell did Tiny have to ignore my orders about the dam? None of this would be happening.”
“So you are saying that right now, at this very moment, a posse might be out there looking for me?” Hannah rushed out. “They might even be on their way to Strong Wolf’s village to arrest him?”
“My cowhands haven’t been gone for long,” Chuck said softly. “I waited until I couldn’t wait any longer. Maybe they haven’t reached the fort yet.”
“I’m absolutely stunned by what you have done,” Hannah said, trying not to shriek at her already distraught brother.
But because of her brother’s fears and insecurities, Strong Wolf was in danger.
“How could you?” she said, her voice breaking. “Don’t you know that Strong Wolf wants nothing but friendship from you? This damn man you have hired as a foreman is a ruthless son of a bitch. Chuck, you’ve got to fire him.”
She looked toward the bunkhouse, then over at Chuck. “You have fired him, haven’t you?” she asked warily.
“No,” Chuck said, his jaw tight. “And I’m not about to. He knows my business front and back. I couldn’t do without him, sis. Not yet, anyhow.”
“I just can’t believe this is you letting someone like him get the best of you,” Hannah said, her eyes wavering as she gazed at her brother.
Then another thought came to her that made her feel ill at her stomach. “Where is Tiny?” she asked. “If he’s not here, please don’t tell me that he’s among those men who were sent to the fort.”
“Yes, I . . .” Chuck said.
But Hannah didn’t wait to hear any more of his explanations. She ran from the porch toward the corral, where the pinto had just been taken. She was glad that the saddle was still in place. She shouted at the cowhand to leave it on the horse.
Ignoring her brother’s shouts to stop, Hannah rode away, urging the pinto in a hard gallop. If at all possible, she had to get to the fort in time to ward off a conflict between Strong Wolf and the military.
But if she was too late, and Strong Wolf had already been incarcerated, she would plead his case and tell those in charge at the fort that he was innocent of all crimes accused. Yes, he stole the dynamite, but only to do what Tiny had neglected to do. But she was going to side with Strong Wolf for having used her brother’s dynamite to destroy the dam.
And no one but herself and Strong Wolf knew of his intention of abducting her. That, for certain, could not be held against him! No one but herself and Strong Wolf would have to even ever know about it!
But one thing that she couldn’t understand was the fact that her brother had excused Tiny’s blatant refusal to obey his orders. She might have a struggle on her hands to get rid of the conniving little man.
“But I will find a way,” Hannah whispered to herself.
She wasn’t going to allow this man to get any more of a foothold on her brother’s life than he already had. She would find a way to discredit him.
She only hoped that she would be in time. This man might have more tricks up his sleeves.
But for now, she only wanted to concentrate on Strong Wolf and his welfare. He and his people had suffered enough at the hands of white men!
She sorely regretted that one of those white men was . . . her . . . beloved brother.
Chapter 9
The cold fear that follows and finds you,
The silence that bludgeons you dumb.
—ROBERT SERVICE
Holding his hat at his side, Tiny Sharp stood before Colonel Patrick Deshong’s desk at Fort Leavenworth. Chuck’s other cowhands were standing at the back of the room, listening, as Tiny tried to explain the day’s events that centered around Strong Wolf being accused of not only stealing dynamite and using it on a dam, but also of having possibly abducted Hannah.
