Spirit Horses (28 page)

“No, Tara, there is nothing to be sorry for. I
appreciate the concern you’ve shown for me, and we’ve become close enough
friends for you to know. I just didn’t know how to tell you. The last thing I
want from anyone right now is sympathy, especially yours.”

As Tara moved around in front of Shane, it was
obvious that she wanted to console him for the terrible truth that her
curiosity had inadvertently drawn out. Now face-to-face, she placed her open
hands on his chest, and for the first time since she had met him, she was able
to look beyond his features into his soul.

Shane’s pulse began to race as he slowly and
unsurely slid his hands around her waist. For a moment he found himself lost
and confused between past and present feelings. But one glance into her still
tearful blue eyes, and he became rapt in her gaze.

Tara spoke her next words softly, “You have a big
heart, Shane Carson. Do you think there’s some room in there for me?”

Shane lifted his right hand, then gently brushed the
hair from her cheek, “The truth is I haven’t been able to stop thinking about
you since we met. And even though I wasn’t looking for this, I think you’re
already in it.” No one made the first move, it just happened. The kiss was soft
and gentle, but so revealing.

Neither of them could shy away from their attraction
anymore. As they slowly separated, they each could sense the fear and
apprehension that still lingered. For a while they stood there stunned, looking
into each other’s eyes, but soon the feelings that had been growing between
them overcame their doubt. Shane now knew in his heart that enough time had
passed, and this was okay. He felt his family would want him to take this step,
to find a way out of the prison of loneliness where he’d been trapped for so
long.

He’d become comfortable in his odd and lonesome
existence. This really was the last thing he was seeking out in his life. It
must be this particular woman and this special place that was the catalyst for
this to be happening. Tara was definitely a woman whom any man would desire,
but he also saw her as a person with a good heart, a person that he could trust
and believe in. She was beautiful down to her core.

With a smile that could melt any man’s heart, she
looked deep into his eyes and asked, “Are you all right with this, I mean, I’ll
understand if you’re not ready.” Shane just pulled her in close to let her know
he was willing.

Suddenly, the door of the cabin slammed shut as
Tashawa barreled outside toward the corral to get the horses ready.

“I guess I should go up and throw some sort of
breakfast together, before we leave.”

Shane nodded. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Tara only took a few steps before turning to give
him another heart-stopping look, then slowly walked away.

Shane took a deep breath and knelt down at the
creek’s edge to splash some water on his face. “I don’t know if I’m ready for
this.” He smiled at how good it felt to have this attractive young woman show
an interest in him. Jokingly, he let his male ego surface, mumbling, “Looks
like this ole man still has it.” He grinned at the thought as he looked down at
his reflection in the now settling water. Knowing there was a busy day ahead,
he shifted his mind back to the job at hand and hustled up to the camp to help
Tashawa tack up
the
horses.

After joining Tara inside for a quick breakfast of
instant oatmeal and coffee, they went back outside. Tashawa reached into her
saddled bags and handed Shane a silencer that she said would work on his rifle.
He noted both women already had one mounted on their guns.

Tara explained, “You can hear a gunshot out here for
miles, so Tigee asked us to use these. We don’t want the whole valley to know
we’re here when we’re shooting for food or protection. If we get separated, we
have the radios that are set on our own channel.”

“You ladies are old pros at this, aren’t you?”

“You just wait and see her tracking skills,” Tara
remarked as they mounted their horses and headed out.

Tashawa had them riding at a fairly fast pace. She
hoped to arrive at the northern border in a little over an hour. Shane noticed
the two dogs slipping into the woods when they left the camp. He knew they were
in the vicinity and would be following.

Tashawa led the group to an area she thought would
be the most likely place for the oilmen’s camp. Unfortunately, this was a
low-lying area and the morning’s fog had settled in, which made for poor
visibility. Even though they could hardly see their hands in front of their
faces, Tashawa could sense there was no one else around. She suggested they
ride further east.

She guided them to a place on higher ground. By now
the fog had lifted, so from the top of this canyon wall they could see for
quite a distance along the property line in both directions. Shane pulled out
his binoculars and began to scan the area while still sitting on his horse. The
two women stepped off their mounts and propped their rifles on low tree limbs,
while looking through their scopes. It was Tara who spotted the camp. “There
they are,” she said, “look northeast from here, at about one o’clock.”

The camp was about two miles away. It was set up
near an old logging road that ran across Vince Nethers’s land.

“You sit up here and keep an eye on them,” Tashawa
told Shane. “Tara and I will go down and see if we can find signs of them
coming onto the reservation with that equipment.”

Just then, the three heard the rumbling sound of
thunder off to the west. The dark sky indicated that a bad storm could be
heading their way. Tashawa, thinking out loud, suggested, “We better get down
there quick and have a look around before the rain washes away any tracks. The
storm is still pretty far away; if we’re lucky it will go around us. Down
below, there is an overhung cliff about a hundred yards east. If the storm
comes, we’ll meet you there. It’ll be a good place to stay dry until the
weather clears.”

With that said, the two women rode out at a fast
trot. Shane sat on the high ridge watching the oilmen. All the trucks seemed to
be staying put, and the men were just lounging around. Tory was resting calmly;
the two dogs had shown up and were lying contentedly nearby. Watching the storm
move in his direction was quite a sight from this high perspective. It was
still several miles away, but the whole western sky was dark and angry.
Lightning was bursting through the black clouds, and every now and then, he
could see one of the bright jagged streaks make it to the ground. The storm was
growing in strength, minute by minute.

Chapter 19

He waited impatiently as the hour passed, and finally decided it was
time to make his way to cover. Feeling the first drops, he hastily rode down
the slope, barely making it under the ledge as the dark sky opened to a
drenching downpour. He was surprised and concerned to see that the women
weren’t there. All he could do was hope they found shelter. He, Tory, and the
dogs sat and waited out the storm for the next forty minutes. Shane attempted
three times to contact the women on the radio with no luck. He figured the
storm was interfering with the reception and finally gave up trying. When it
ended, he tried to contact them again, still with no answer.

Tigee picked up his call at the ranch. “What’s going
on, Shane? Over.”

“We were separated by a storm. I’m still waiting to
hear back from them. I thought something might be wrong with my radio. Over.”

“I can hear you fine. If we can’t reach them soon,
you’d better go look for them. I’ll stay in touch. Over.”

“Roger. I’ll give them a few more minutes, then head
north to see if I can locate them.”

 
A short time
later, Shane rode out in the same direction as the women. He’d seen them ride
off from the high ridge, and since the heavy rain had now washed away their
tracks, his memory of watching them leave was the only way he could follow.
That’s when he noticed the dogs had picked up their scent. With their noses to
the ground, they were now moving at a fast pace. He cued
Tory into a slow canter and
followed for about twenty minutes.

Suddenly, the wolves slowed down and started acting
very anxious. Butch and Jessie both trotted over to Shane, then looked ahead
toward a thick group of trees before starting a low, deliberate growl.
Obviously, the dogs were trying to tell him something was wrong. Shane slowed
his horse through the heavy foliage. The last thing he wanted to do was to ride
in on a feeding bear.

During the storm, the women had made it into a
large cave. It was well hidden behind the thick patch of trees through which
Shane was now riding. Tashawa had used this cavern many times before for cover.
When they first arrived, Tara tried to contact Shane via radio to let him know
they couldn’t make it back to him before the storm hit. Just like Shane, they
couldn’t get through on the radio due to the weather.

When the bad weather passed, Tara decided to try
again. As she took the radio from her saddle, someone grabbed her from behind
and snatched it away. The two women looked back toward the cave opening to see
three very wet male figures standing there. Tashawa, who was sitting on a rock,
made a quick dash for her rifle that was in its scabbard on her horse. Just as
she got to her gun, one of the men tackled her and wrestled it away.

“What the hell do you think you’re gonna do with
that, you little bitch?” he shouted. Two of the men were Indian, whom Tashawa
knew as hunting guides from the Arapaho tribe. She also knew these guys were
bad news and had been in and out of trouble with the law their whole lives.

The Arapaho tribe were a proud and honest people,
but these two men were different. They’d been bad seeds since the day they were
born and had shown no respect for the Shoshone, or anyone else for that matter.
Tashawa had heard a couple of months ago about their latest stint with the
authorities. They were the only suspects of a convenience store robbery in a
nearby town where the clerk had been violently beaten. The prosecutor handling
the case couldn’t put together enough physical evidence to convict them. Their
names were Jack and Thomas. The third man with them was Vince’s son, Bo.

The two Arapahos were familiar with this shelter,
and had headed over to escape the storm. As they arrived, they could tell
someone was already there. They tethered their horses out of sight and sneaked
in on the unsuspecting women.

“Let her up,” Tara yelled as she tried to jerk her
own arm away from Bo, who had a tight grip on her. “What do you guys want?”

“Oh, we’re just out on a little hunting trip,” Bo
said. “We didn’t expect to find you two sweet things way out here. What do you
say we have us a little party.” Bo pulled out a flask of whiskey and shoved it
in Tara’s face. She struggled to get free, knocking the flask out of his hand
and spilling it. He laughed maliciously, “Don’t worry blue eyes! I’ve got more
in my saddlebags.” As he leaned over to pick up the flask, Tara kneed him in
his throat as hard as she could. Bo dropped to the ground letting her go while
he grabbed his neck, struggling to inhale. Tara ran for her rifle but was cut
off by Jack. With Thomas holding on to Tashawa, and Jack gripping Tara, both
men began laughing uncontrollably at Bo, still on his hands and knees, gasping
for air.

Bo crawled over to a rock he could lean against
while he tried to catch his breath, cussing and gesturing obscenely at the two
men.

Jack took a close look at Tara and sneered, “Look at
you, you’re a fine little bitch. You and me are going to have some fun!”

Thomas, who was still holding Tashawa, looked down
at her and said, “When I’m done with this one, I want a turn with the pretty
one.”

Jack, a big, strong guy, picked Tara up, kicking and
screaming, and carried her outside. He threw her down on a wet grassy spot,
tore off her shirt, and slapped her hard across the face. “Stop fighting me you
little whore. You know you want it.”

At the same moment, Shane happened to be cautiously
slipping through the trees to see what had bothered the dogs.

In spite of Jack’s hard slap to her face, Tara
continued to hit, kick, and fight back with everything she had. It only took
Shane a second to realize what he’d ridden up on. He spurred Tory to a full
gallop through the rest of the woods and into the clearing where Jack had Tara
pinned down. The Indian saw the horse charging him and scrambled to get to his
feet. Tara, adrenalin pumping, got herself off the ground and made a quick
getaway. As Jack stood up, he reached for a long knife from a sheath attached
to his right boot. He wasn’t entirely upright, so the knife had barely cleared
the sheath when Shane smashed into him with his horse. This sent the knife
flying out of his hand and the Indian tumbling across the ground. Jack stared
at his knife that was now lying on the grass a few feet away. By this time,
Shane was out of his saddle, and had reached Jack just as he was stretching for
his blade. With one swift, accurate kick, Shane used his spur to slice the
Indian’s face open from his mouth to his ear. Jack grabbed his cheek and
hollered in pain as the deep wound began to gush blood. Enraged, the Indian
reached down and pulled a second knife out from his left boot. He let out a
screaming war cry and then charged Shane with every intention to kill him.