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Earl’s mind was calculating things, and his thoughts led him to what Morris Murdoch had said about having taken care of things. Could Morris have somehow attacked the village?
The thought sickened him, and now he wished that he had investigated his partner’s credentials more than he had. In truth, he did not know much about him, except that he had had the money to back up his desire to be Earl’s partner in the fishery venture.
Strong Heart rose to his full height and began walking slowly around the fire toward Earl. “You must show me proof that you had no part in the raid,” he said, his voice cold. “Your partner, Morris Murdoch? Did you not know that he is the leader of an outlaw gang? Do you deny aligning yourself with such desperadoes? Do you deny that you rode with them that day, side-by-side with your partner, purposely murdering my people?”
Earl took a shaky step backward, his heart thumping, his eyes wide. “Morris . . . is . . . the leader of a gang of outlaws?” he said, his voice thin. “God. God in heaven. No! I did not know. Tell me it isn’t true. Tell me it is a ploy you are using to trick me.”
An involuntary shiver coursed through Elizabeth, after learning the news about Morris Murdoch. But she wasn’t truly surprised, when she recalled his eyes—how cold and empty they appeared.
And she could not help but feel sorry for her father, his voice revealing to her that he had not known this about Morris, and that he was most definitely innocent of everything.
Seeing that her father was concerned, she did not want the confrontation to continue. She feared what would happen to Strong Heart if her father ended up dead and the authorities were brought into the matter. Elizabeth saw no other recourse than to stop what had begun.
Elizabeth stepped hurriedly from behind the curtain and rushed toward her father.
Earl was shocked by her appearing from nowhere.
“Elizabeth?” he gasped. He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her at arm’s length as he looked her up and down. “Good Lord, Elizabeth. What are you doing here? And why are you dressed in such . . . such garb as that?”
Then in a flash he remembered the Indian saddle that he had found hidden in the stable and the horse that had not been theirs. He recalled Everett telling him about Elizabeth wearing an Indian dress, and began putting two and two together.
“I’m safe, Father,” Elizabeth said, her voice trembling. “That should be all that matters. Not how I happen to be here, or why I am dressed in such a way.” She swallowed hard. “But that you are here, and that you are being accused of what I know you are innocent of is why I revealed myself to you. Otherwise, Father, I would have stayed hidden behind that curtain. It was my intention never to return home again.”
Earl turned pale. “Never?” he gasped. “Elizabeth, why? Never is a long, long time. Have I been this unbearable to you? Did my neglect turn you totally against me?”
“It was not your neglect that made me fall in love with Strong Heart,” Elizabeth said. “That alone is the reason I have decided to stay with Strong Heart—to be his wife.”
Earl gasped and slowly shook his head. “No,” he said thickly. “You can’t be serious.”
“Very,” Elizabeth said, then turned her eyes to Strong Heart. “Darling, I grant you that my father is capable of many things, but he could never kill anyone. My father wouldn’t come to your village, killing and maiming. Please believe me. Please don’t harm my father.” She swallowed hard again. “I know that he didn’t know about Morris Murdoch. I could tell how shocked he was when you revealed this to him. He had no idea he had aligned himself with such a man as that. Please let my father leave the village unharmed. For me, Strong Heart? For me?”
Strong Heart and Chief Moon Elk exchanged troubled glances, then Chief Moon Elk broke the silence. “White man, you can go, but leave my people in peace,” he said with a grumble. “Do not bring your words to us again. This is our life. We want to live it without your interference.”
“I understand,” Earl said, then reached for Elizabeth’s hand. “Come home with me, baby. It’s safe to now. The sheriff and deputy are both dead, and all of the records were burned in the fire that ravaged the prison. Come home with me, Elizabeth. Let me make all of this up to you. Take some more time to . . . to consider these plans to marry someone of such different customs. Please? For me? Give me another chance?”
“The prison caught fire?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide. “What of all those people who were imprisoned there?”
“It seems whoever set the fire also set everyone free,” he said, then paled again as he realized that whoever had set Elizabeth free, had most probably set the fire. Yet she seemed genuinely surprised to know that the prison had burned.
“Thank goodness for that.” Elizabeth said, sighing. “Those poor women.”
“Come home with me, baby,” Earl persisted.
Elizabeth was suddenly torn, fearing that rejecting her father might make him become bitter toward Strong Heart, making him do something foolish—like turn Strong Heart in to the authorities.
For this alone she knew what her decision must be.
She went to Strong Heart and took both of his hands in hers. “Darling, trust me when I say that I must return with my father for a while,” she said softly.
She stood on tiptoe and leaned up near his ear, whispering, “After I am assured that I have made all the wrongs right between me and my father, I will return to you. We shall be married then. Trust me, darling. This is best for all concerned.”
Strong Heart glowered down at her, silence like a wall between them as Elizabeth awaited his answer.
“I feel that what you are doing is wrong,” he finally said. “But I will not stop you from going. Soon I will come for you, after the salmon harvest.”
Tears welled up in Elizabeth’s eyes. She flung herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, dreading leaving him, yet knowing that she must.
Always and forever she would do anything and everything to protect him.
