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“I won’t.”
There was a moment’s hesitation, then he felt her physically relax against his back. “Promise?”
Instead of replying to that, he asked, “Are they closed?”
“Aye.”
Gripping the back of her thighs more securely, Sam made his way across. Slower than he would have preferred, but faster than they had been moving earlier. He planted his boots with steadiness on each tier, straining every muscle in his legs to keep them from buckling. Mindful of his own words, he kept his attention straight ahead and refused to look down.
The moment he reached the other side safely, he dropped her legs and allowed her to slide down off his back. She collapsed on the ground with an exclamation of joy. Turning, he saw her sprawled out on the grassy slope as if she were worshipping the soil. He arched his brows and waited.
It was when she finally lifted her face that he noticed the sickly gray tint to her skin, and knew its color had nothing to do with the fear she endured crossing the bridge.
Dropping down next to her, he reached out and carefully lifted her leg, she automatically cried out in pain. “Please don’t touch it.”
His eyes shifted to her momentarily, saw her eyes water and felt something inside jerk painfully. Turning his attention back to her foot, he told her, “It’s swollen pretty bad. Not to mention has turned a lovely shade of purple on you.”
Her brows cut a zigzag across her forehead as she tried to suppress the pain he knew she was feeling. Without another word, he scooped her up into his arms and turned them toward the village.
She grunted as her tiny body slammed against his. Again he wondered how such a small woman could be so dangerous. She hardly weighed anything as he moved easily through the bush. If he had done this earlier, he would have saved them a lot of ground. Then again, he would have been appalled at how easily his body softened to the touch of her arms clasped around him.
They emerged into a clearing where several buildings sat. There wasn’t much life about, but the building that looked like some kind of trading post, had smoke spewing from its chimney. As he neared, he grew suspicious of the town’s deserted state. Instead of heading to the store, he led Ivy to a small shed next to a wood supply. Not only would she remain dry from the oncoming rain, she would also remain unnoticed.
“You wait here. I’ll go in and see what I can do about getting us some horses.”
Not waiting for a reply, he left her tucked inside the wood shed and cautiously made his way across the deserted street and entered the shop. Two men stood alone near the counter. They looked up in unison at Sam’s entrance.
“Hello, mister,” the one behind the counter spoke first, sounding surprised. “What brings you out to these parts?”
Sam glanced at the other man. He recognized his sort. His dark eyes watched Sam with a mix of interest and deviousness. “Where are the rest of the townsfolk?”
“Most gone and cleared out a few years back when the railroad moved south of here to Fort William. There are just a handful of us left now.”
“I’d recognize your mug if you were from around here, cowboy. Where’d ya say you came from? No roads leading into town,” the second man said.
“The train. It derailed a few miles east of here.”
The shopkeeper produced a heavy frown. “Got word it crashed. Heard there were no survivors though.”
“Mighty interesting you were the only one to survive that accident, cowboy.” The second man pushed away from the counter, slipping his hand into the breast pocket of his coat.
Automatically, Sam went into alert mode, his fingers not straying far from his gun. He narrowed his gaze on the man before slanting his attention back to the shopkeeper.
“Is there a doctor in town?”
“Nope. Closest would be Fort William.” He eyed Sam from head to foot. “You needing a doctor, mister?”
His attention shifted back to the second man, noticed the look of suspicion light his distrustful eyes and thought better than to mention Ivy’s presence. But before he could offer any form of reply, the door to the shop opened and the storekeeper’s agreeable face suddenly turned to peer vile.
Chapter 9
Sam turned to see who the new arrival was. A tall, darkly tanned Indian carrying an armful of fur pelts stood in the entrance watching silently the other three occupants. He was dressed mostly in western attire, and except for of his long black hair and dark skin, he looked like any other man. But it was the large necklace he wore around his neck that made his heritage very obvious. And had Sam frowning.
Immediately, he recognized it as a shaman’s charm necklace and thought of the shaking tent he and Ivy had spotted. He had told Ivy it was a way for a shaman to gain wisdom from a spiritual guidance. But he had refrained from telling her that the shaman also believed it gave him great pleasure. And not always in a good manner.
Because the tent had been abandoned, Sam realized the ceremony had taken place prior to their discovering it, and whatever trouble the shaman considered himself under, was still possible cause for concern.
Now, as he stood there in the shop with the Indian looking coolly at the shopkeeper, Sam wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
