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She stood on shaky legs, her eyes frantically searching for her brother. Finally she spotted him at the helm of the boat. He met her eyes, a look of panic in his gaze. One of his hired mountain men suddenly darted in front of him, a knife in his hand. With a forceful thrust, he buried the knife in Henry’s belly, and pushed him overboard.
“No!” Evelyn screamed, and she raced to the front of the boat. Her hat flew from her head, and her long hair spilled around her face and down her back. A forceful grip on her arm broke her momentum and she was hauled up against a solid form.
“Do not make the same mistake your brother made, mademoiselle,” a voice she’d come to trust breathed in her ear. There was no hint of warmth or kindness in Laurent’s tone.
“What do you mean?” Evelyn squirmed against the Frenchman’s hold on her. He wrapped one steely hard arm around her waist, and dragged her away from the middle of the boat.
“Let me go,” Evelyn demanded, gritting her teeth. “You have to help Henry.”
“Your brother is dead, mademoiselle. Did you not see him fall overboard?”
“How do you know he’s dead? We have to try and find him. You were hired by him to take him safely into the wilderness.”
Laurent began to laugh. It started as a low rumble in his chest, then grew louder as he threw his head back.
“Your brother was a fool. And you, ma petite, are an even bigger fool.”
“You vile, evil creature,” Evelyn shouted, and pounded her fists against the Frenchman’s chest, which only seemed to amuse him more. All around her, the gunfire slowly ceased, and the shouts of the men quieted.
“I believe we killed everyone,” someone said gleefully behind her. Evelyn turned her head as far as it would go. The man who had leered at her earlier stood in front of Laurent. The hungry, savage look in his eyes startled her.
“Let’s bring this boat to shore,” the man yelled to no one in particular, then fixed his evil eyes back on her. Evelyn shuddered. “Who knew that the greenhorn would offer more than just a fat wallet?” His hand reached out and he weaved his fingers through Evelyn’s hair. “What a delectable morsel we have here.”
“She will fetch a good price at rendezvous,” Laurent said.
“I’m thinking we need to sample the goods before then,” the man sneered. Laurent stepped back, keeping a firm hold around Evelyn’s waist.
“If I had not offered her my help, she would not be here now,” Laurent said firmly. “When we get to rendezvous, you can bid for her just like everyone else. Until then, she will not be touched.”
The other man opened his mouth to speak, and Evelyn heard a pistol being cocked right next to her.
“She will not be touched, or you will meet the same fate as her brother,” Laurent said in a menacing tone. “She is worth more as pure as she is.”
Evelyn listened as the men argued, but her mind and body were too numb to respond. Henry was dead. The last of her family was gone. She lowered her head, unwilling to look into the eyes of the evil men who had done this to her and her brother. Tears rolled silently down her face.
Henry. Why did you have to do this? Why couldn’t we just go on as before? As much as she wanted to see her parents’ killer brought to justice, it had cost more than it was worth. Evelyn wished a stray bullet had hit her during the gunfire. Death was certainly preferable than what she knew was in store for her.
Chapter 3
Alexander Walker rolled from his stomach to his back, and stared up at the cloudless sky. Stars twinkled brightly overhead; the only light illuminating an otherwise moonless night. Gripping his Hawken Rifle in his left hand, he laid it across his chest, fingering the familiar smooth trigger. He cradled the back of his head in his right hand, and closed his eyes.
The rhythmic chirping sounds of crickets surrounded him, almost drowning out the faint rustle of leaves in the underbrush. Probably a rabbit or vole scurrying around. The screech of an owl in a nearby tree silenced the crickets momentarily, and Alex seized on the opportunity to listen for anything unusual. Thankfully his companions had followed his suggestion and camped about a mile away. If his plan was going to be successful, he wanted to do it on his own, not with a bunch of crazy, trigger-happy trappers to ruin everything and possibly get them all killed.
Alex shifted his weight and stared into the blackness of the night. Visions of an auburn-haired girl crept into his mind. He gritted his teeth. Of all the times to be thinking about her, why now? Focus, dammit! He grimaced, and rubbed at the sore spot on his chest where the bullet from a hunting rifle was still lodged in the flesh below his collarbone. If the shooter’s aim had been a little better, it would have been a fatal shot.
