Heart of the Hunter (10 page)

“It’s…ah, past due now.”

“Past due! Why didn’t you let me know?”

“You’re not the bank’s only client, Kelly. I’m afraid I was
unaware of the problem until my secretary brought it to my attention. The
foreclosure papers have already been drawn.”

“When’s the money due?”

“Closing time tomorrow. Shall I expect you?”

“Damn right!”

Quivering with anger, Kelly stood up and slammed out of
Renford’s office. She had the feeling that the man was up to something, but
what? He had nothing to gain from foreclosing on the ranch.

And what about Lee? She couldn’t shake the feeling that he
knew about the gold, that the only reason he had come to the ranch was to look
for the treasure. And when he found it, he would leave without a backward
glance.

Heavy-hearted, she slid behind the wheel of her car and
headed for home.

Chapter Thirteen

“You look worried,
tekihila,”
Blue Crow remarked. “Is
something wrong?”

“I’m having trouble with the bank.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I owe them some money for the ranch. If I don’t have it by
tomorrow, the bank will foreclose.”

“Foreclose? What does that mean?”

“It means I won’t own the land anymore. It will belong to
the bank and they’ll sell it to someone else.”

Blue Crow traced the curve of her cheek with his fingertip.
“Then you have no problem. The gold is there. Take what you need. Take it all,
if you must.”

“Not very long ago you told me quite emphatically that the
gold was yours.”

“I remember. And I also said I would decide who should have
it.”

“But you’ve spent an eternity guarding it. Somehow it
doesn’t seem right for me to take it.”

“The gold is yours,
tekihila,”
he murmured. “I want
you to have it. You may do with it as you wish.”

Kelly smiled at him, relief mingling with gratitude as she
murmured her heartfelt thanks.

As always, Blue Crow had come to her in the dark of the
night and now they were sitting in the living room on the Navajo rug in front
of the fireplace. Shadows danced over Blue Crow’s bronzed chest and broad
shoulders, sliding over his bare torso like a lover’s caress.

The vast expanse of heavily muscled male flesh drew Kelly’s
hand. He shivered at her touch, a sensual shiver that bespoke his pleasure at
her touch.

“Why don’t I ever see you during the day?” she wondered
aloud.

Blue Crow shrugged. “I guard the cave.”

“What’s it been like for you all these years?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ve been…you’ve been dead for over a hundred years. Have
you been in the cave all that time?”

Blue Crow nodded.

“Do you ever get hungry?” Her gaze skimmed his bare chest.
“Or cold?”

He smiled, his dark eyes bright with amusement. “No,
tekihila,
I don’t get hungry or cold. Only lonely.”

She covered his hand with hers. How had he stood it, staying
in that cave, alone, for over a hundred years?

Blue Crow laced his fingers through hers. “Most of the time,
I sleep,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “And when I sleep, I dream,
tekihila.”

“Do you? Of what?”

His beautiful black eyes caressed her. “I dream of you,
skuya.
You have been my companion, the light in my darkness, my only weapon
against the loneliness of a hundred years.”

The man had the soul of a poet, Kelly thought.

“How could you have been dreaming of me all that time? I
mean,” she grinned at him, “I’m only twenty-two.”

“I cannot explain it to you. I only know that when I saw
you, I knew you were the woman I had seen in my vision quest.”

“You saw me in a vision?”

“Han.
When I went to seek a medicine dream, I saw a
woman with hair as brown and curly as a buffalo’s and eyes as blue as the sky
above. All my life, I searched for you. And now, too late, you are here.”

His hand cupped her cheek. “You are in danger,
tekihila.
I
have seen a man scouting the mountain. He has a bad heart.”

“A man?”

“A
wasichu.
He has dark hair and yellow eyes, like a
coyote.”

Her relief that he wasn’t describing Lee was almost painful.

“You should leave this place,
skuya.
You are not safe
here.”

“But this is my home. I don’t want to leave.” Tears burned
her eyes. “Will you go with me?” she asked, her voice thick.

“I cannot.” He brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “I
cannot leave this place.”

“Then I’m not going, either.”

“You must.”

“No, I won’t leave you.”

“You are a young woman,
tekihila.
You deserve a man
of flesh and blood, one who can share your life, give you children.”

“I won’t leave you,” Kelly said.

“Ah,
tekihila,”
he murmured, drawing her into his
arms. “What a warrior’s wife you would have made.”

“I wish I had known you before,” Kelly said, the tremor in
her voice speaking of the pleasure his touch gave her. “Tell me, how did you
come by the gold?”

“It was in the time of Long Hair,” Blue Crow said. “The
government had promised the
Paha Sapa
would belong to the Lakota for as
long as the grass was green and the water was blue, but then Long Hair invaded
the sacred hills and found the yellow iron that the white men crave as they
crave firewater.”

Kelly nodded. She’d never been a history buff, but she’d
seen enough movies to know about Custer and the Black Hills and the Little Big
Horn.

“The government tried to buy the
Paha Sapa,”
Blue
Crow went on, “but
Tatanka
lyotaka
, the one your people call
Sitting Bull, said no. He was a man of vision and cunning and he knew that if
the white man could not buy the hills, he would steal them. Another of our
chiefs who was wise in the ways of the whites decided we should gather as much
gold as we could find. He, too, believed the whites would steal the hills, but
he thought if we could gather enough gold, we might be able to buy them back.

“We picked up gold whenever we found it and hid it in the
cave, along with whatever gold was taken in raids. But then Custer was killed
at the Greasy Grass and the Army began to hunt our people. Those who were
caught were sent to the reservation.

“I refused to surrender. I came here to guard the gold,
hoping that one day I might be able to buy freedom for my people.” He shook his
head ruefully. “I never had the chance.”

“And you’ve guarded it all these years. Has no one ever
found the cave?”

“Some have come looking for the gold. None have lived to
tell the tale.”

Kelly bit down on her lower lip as she digested that bit of
news.

“The yellow iron is mine,” Blue Crow said. “I gave my life
for it. Now I give it to you. Take it and leave this place. Find the happiness
you deserve.”

“You might as well stop trying to send me away,” Kelly said,
“because I’m not leaving.”

“You are a stubborn woman,
skuya.”

“That’s what Lee says.”

Blue Crow grunted softly. “Roan Horse is blood of my blood,
but he has strayed from the true path.”

“That explains it, then,” Kelly mused.

“Explains what?”

“Why you look so much alike. When I saw you riding the
stallion, I thought it was Lee.”

“He would have made a fine warrior in the old days. The
blood of fighting chiefs runs hot in his veins.”

“He has hot blood, that’s for sure,” Kelly muttered,
remembering the two times when they had kissed. She had felt his hunger, the
desire that arced between them whenever they were together. Kelly frowned in
confusion. She loved Blue Crow, not Lee, yet she felt the same desire for both
men. It was most disconcerting.

“Has he touched you?” Blue Crow asked.

“No.”

“You would be good for him,
tekihila.”

Kelly stared at Blue Crow, too astonished to speak. Good for
Lee!

“He needs a woman in his life, someone to believe in him, to
reawaken the softness that he has buried beneath his anger and bitterness.”

“You’re talking about the girl that hurt him, aren’t you?
How do you know about her?”

Blue Crow shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it.
When I am asleep in the cave, visions of my relatives sometimes come to me.
Roan Horse was shamed and dishonored by the father of the white girl. I felt
his frustration when he was locked in the white man’s iron house. I felt his
anger, his need for vengeance. It festers deep within him.”

Blue Crow put his arm around Kelly and drew her close.
“Think about it,
tekihila.
Perhaps Roan Horse would be good for you, as
well.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Kelly asked. She tried to
keep her voice light, but failed miserably.

“No,
tekihila,
never think that. I love you more than
life, but it is a love that can never be.” He smiled at her, his expression
melancholy. “The thought of you in another man’s arms is like a knife in my
soul, but I cannot have you,
skuya,
and since I cannot have you, it
would give me great joy to know that you are still a part of me, a part of my
family.”

Kelly shook her head. “I don’t trust Lee.”

“Why is that?”

“I think he knows about the gold. I think he came here to
steal it from me.”

Blue Crow grunted softly. “I fear you may be right,” he
remarked thoughtfully, “but clouds do not always mean rain and rivers do not
always run true.”

“What do you mean?”

But he wasn’t listening to her. He was staring at the front
door through narrowed eyes. Kelly followed his gaze, wondering at his sudden
wariness. When she turned to face him again, he was gone.

“I hate it when you do that,” she muttered, and a moment
later she heard a knock at the door.

“Kelly? You in there?” The knocking came again, louder and
more insistent. “Kelly!”

It was Lee. Scrambling to her feet, she opened the door.
“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing now. I heard someone moving around behind the barn,
but whoever it was was gone when I got there.” He held out a small can of
gasoline and an oily rag. “I found this.”

Kelly frowned. “So?”

“So I think someone was planning to torch the barn.”

“Why would anyone do that?”

“I don’t know. You got any enemies around here?”

“No…well, not that I know of, anyway.” She chewed the inside
of her lip a moment. “What about you?” she asked.
“Have you
got any
enemies around here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the one who sleeps in the barn.” Kelly took a step
backward, one hand holding the door open. “Come on in. I’ll fix some coffee.”

Leaving the can and the rag on the porch, Lee followed Kelly
in and closed the door, then turned the key in the lock before making his way
to the kitchen. He noticed she had to turn the lights on as she went.
Apparently she’d been sitting in the dark.

He straddled a chair while Kelly brewed a pot of coffee.
He’d assumed whoever had been prowling around was trying to drive Kelly away to
get at the gold, but what if she was right, what if they’d been after him? But
that was ridiculous. He didn’t have any enemies around here, or friends,
either, for that matter. His death wouldn’t mean a thing to anybody. He didn’t
own anything other than a beat-up truck, a wild stallion, an old saddle and a
moth-eaten war bonnet, certainly nothing worth killing for.

Lee shook his head. It had to be because of the gold. That
was the only reason that made sense.

He lifted his gaze to Kelly. She was standing near the
stove, her arms crossed over her breasts as she waited for the coffee to boil.
Her hair, unbound, fell in a mass of unruly curls down her back and over her
shoulders, a perfect frame for her tanned skin and sky-blue eyes.

He felt the first stirrings of desire as he let his gaze
move over her, lingering on the swell of her breast, her narrow waist, her long
shapely legs.

He cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably on the hard
wooden chair.

“What are you doing up so late?” he asked, hoping to take
his mind off the enticing image of Kelly writhing beneath him.

“Nothing.”

She took two mugs from the shelf over the sink and filled
them with coffee. Lee took his black, but she added a generous amount of milk
and sugar to her own before carrying the cups to the table. She set one down in
front of Lee, then sat in the chair across from him.

“So,” Lee said after taking a sip of his coffee, “you got
any ideas about who might have been prowling around at this time of night, or
why?”

“No.” Her gaze met his, unblinking, unflinching and slightly
accusing. “Do you?”

He felt a sharp stab of guilt as he shook his head. “No.”

Was he imagining things, or did she look disappointed?

“Maybe it was just some kids,” Kelly suggested. “You know, a
prank, or an initiation of some kind.”

“Maybe. Do you sit alone in the dark often?”

“What if I do?”

Lee shrugged. “Hey, calm down. I didn’t mean to ruffle your
feathers.”

“Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind, that’s all. And that
reminds me, I’ve got to go into Coleville tomorrow. I’ll be gone most of the
day.”

“Want some company?”

“No,” Kelly said quickly. Too quickly, but she couldn’t have
him with her when she cashed in the gold. “I mean, well, you are working for me
and I’d like to have the roof done as soon as possible. They’re predicting a
wet winter this year.”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll get on it first thing in the morning.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Lee.”

“Didn’t you?”

He laughed softly, bitterly, his dark eyes blazing with such
anger she was surprised she hadn’t been incinerated on the spot.