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“I was just leaving,” Lauralee said, smiling awkwardly at the doctor.
Dr. Kemper nodded, gave Dancing Cloud another glance over his shoulder, then left the room.
Lauralee knelt down beside the bed and gently stroked Dancing Cloud’s cheeks with her hands. “Darling, are you going to be all right?” she murmured. “If you insist that I stay, I shall.”
“You heard the doctor,” Dancing Cloud said, taking one her hands, kissing its palm. “It is best that you leave.”
“And you don’t want me to come again until tomorrow?” Lauralee asked, searching his eyes for the truth in his response.
“Ii, yes, that would be best,” Dancing Cloud said softly. “Then tomorrow I shall leave this place. We shall never be apart again.”
“You do understand, don’t you, that you won’t be able to leave Mattoon until you are truly better?”
“I would not rush into anything that might in the end harm my people. I will not plan my lengthy travel to the mountains until my body is strong and able.”
His eyes widened. He leaned quickly up on an elbow again. “My so-qui-li, horse,” he gasped. “My horse is lost to me!”
“No, darling,” Lauralee said, gently placing a hand on his cheek. “Don’t you remember me telling you? Noah Brown. The man who brought you to the hospital? He also rescued your horse.” She swallowed hard at the thought again of what lay ahead of her. Her meeting with Paul. “Your horse will be waiting for you at the Petersons’ whenever you have a need for it.”
Dancing Cloud eased back down on the bed. “My mind is not as clear and as alert as it normally is,” he said, sighing heavily. “This Noah Brown is a man of good heart. I owe him much. So very much.”
Lauralee nodded. When she realized that he had drifted off into a sound sleep, she tiptoed from the room.
As she stepped out into the corridor she glanced over at Nancy’s closed door. She was torn between needs.
A need to go and sit with Nancy.
And a need to go and end this thing with Paul Brown!
She went and placed her hand at the doorknob of Nancy’s room, to at least tell her that she loved her. She stopped when she heard Abner’s voice wafting from the room.
Realizing that Nancy had Abner for the moment to keep her company, Lauralee turned and fled down the corridor.
When she reached the front door and opened it she stood frozen in place when she found herself face to face with the very man of her many midnight nightmares.
The damn Yankee from the Civil War!
The man who raped and killed her mother!
The sight of him made Lauralee’s knees grow limp as a dizziness swept through her.
Clint stared disbelievingly back at her. He had come to Dr. Kemper’s to see if it was true that Sheriff Decker had actually placed a guard outside the Indian’s door to protect him. Never had he expected to come face to face with Abner Peterson’s niece! And he knew for certain this woman was Lauralee Johnston. He had stalked Dancing Cloud while she was still with him.
As she stood in a strange sort of trance, as though she knew him enough to be frightened of him, a plan came quickly to his mind. He would abduct Lauralee. This was one way to lure Dancing Cloud into his clutches. Then Clint would finally end this vengeance that gnawed at his insides like a sore.
And this time, Noah Brown wouldn’t get a chance to interfere! This would be between only Dancing Cloud and himself.
And to hell with Judge Peterson, Clint thought bitterly to himself. After hearing that the judge was in on actually protecting the life of a Rebel, Clint saw him as no better than a gray coat himself!
Another thing. Clint needed to get this damn thing over with. He had other pressing matters, both personal and business, that needed tended to in North Carolina. His wife should have had her baby by now. He was anxious to see if the baby resembled him, or her. If it took after her, he’d yank it from her arms and get rid of it so fast her head would swim.
But Clint sure as hell had to take care of Dancing Cloud before he left Mattoon. The opportunity might never be there again to kill the Cherokee.
Clint looked quickly around and made sure that no one was in the corridor or waiting room.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming up the steps.
Then when he realized that the coast was clear, he grabbed Lauralee around the waist.
