Spirit Warrior (4 page)

It had taken almost two hours to get back to the Whitewater ranch. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief as he peeled his fingers from the soft handle attached to the door. A wry grin curved his lips when he saw Jonathan do the same thing. There would be imprints from their fingers on each side.

He was just glad he had kept the contents of his stomach down. He’d ridden the train a few times, but that was nothing compared to Allie’s truck. The train had reached speeds of almost twenty-five miles an hour on the straight, flat sections and he had felt like he was flying. If the little needle pointing to the numbers in the round circle in front of Allie was what he thought it was, they had been doing over seventy miles an hour at times.

His eyes focused on the narrow opening between the front and back seats and he watched as Aleaha pulled on the silver lever. The lever released the lock on the door and it opened. Searching next to him, he saw a matching one and pulled it. Relief swept through him as the door opened with an ease that almost sent him tumbling out onto the ground.

Jacob slid out the passenger side and locked his knees as his feet hit the ground. He drew in a deep, calming breath as he straightened and took in the sight around him. Two men hurried over to the horse trailer the moment the dust settled and went to work taking care of the horses. A series of huge barns, larger than anything he had ever seen before and made of metal, stood off to the side. Huge, alien looking machines, some red, some yellow, others green, were parked in neat rows beside them.

He swallowed over the lump in his throat as he followed Aleaha around the front of the truck. Overwhelming uncertainty gripped him as he watched one of the strange machines with a man in it pause at a gate not far from one of the buildings. The gate opened without anyone touching it before closing again after the man and machine passed through.

Magic
, he thought in fascination and fear.

“Hey, you coming or not?” Allie asked in a short tone. “I’ve got to go check on some mares about to foal. Aleaha will take you and your brother to my dad.”

“Where…,” Jacob started to ask before he saw the huge house. “How long will you be gone?”

Jacob bit back a curse and flushed at her surprised look. He hated that he couldn’t see her eyes. She still had them covered by the dark eyeglasses. He watched as she placed a dark brown cowboy hat on her head before pulling on a light blue, long sleeve shirt over her short top as she slipped out of the truck. The combination was incredibly… sexy…well, without the glasses, he decided.

I’d want to make love to her without the dark eyeglasses on so I could see her eyes,
he thought.

He flushed even more when he saw her knowing grin. A sense of unease washed through him as he wondered if there was something about women from the future that let them read a man’s thoughts. Hell, that was another thing he was going to have to ask Jonathan.

“If the mares are doing good and haven’t dropped their foals yet, I’ll be back for dinner,” she replied. “Don’t worry, cowboy, we don’t take scalps anymore. Dad won’t hurt you.”

“I respect your people and do not fear them,” Jacob retorted with a dark scowl.

Allie’s amused laughter echoed through the yard, drawing a few grins from the men working around it. She shook her head and stepped forward to pat Jacob on the chest. Her smile faded when his eyes darkened and an intense look came into them.

“Who are you… really?” She asked in a quiet voice. “There’s something that you didn’t tell Aleaha and me. I can feel it. There’s something more than just Indy, isn’t there?”

“I’m Jacob Tucker from the Twin Rivers Ranch. We are here to get Indy back where she belongs. That’s all you need to know,” Jacob answered in a low tone. “We are hoping your father would know where her brother Hayden might have taken her.”

He watched as Allie’s mouth tightened and she pulled back a step. Her head rose and he knew she was shooting daggers at him behind her dark glasses. The tight line of her jaw showed him that. He hoped she never played poker. Even with her expressive eyes covered, he could tell when she was aggravated. Her whole body moved with her emotions.

“Well, then you’d better follow my sister,” Allie replied in a short, clipped voice. “Right now, I have work to do. A ranch doesn’t run itself, cowboy. If you are from the TR, you should know that.”

*.*.*

Sam Whitewater looked up from the report he was reviewing. A frown creased his brow as he read over the information the investigator had sent him about Hayden Wild and some of his recent meetings. He also looked at the signature on the Will that Hugh Wild had made out with Sam as a witness and the newest one that Hayden said Hugh had signed right before his death. Either Hugh’s handwriting had gotten better, and changed, or Hayden had forged it.

He glanced up when a soft knock sounded on his office door. A smile lit up his face when he saw that it was Aleaha. He was so damn proud of her decision to return to the reservation after she finished her residency to work as a doctor in the local clinic.

“Hi, Papa.” Aleaha greeted with a warm smile. “There are two men here that would like to speak with you.”

“Do you know what they want?” Sam asked, rising from behind his desk.

Aleaha’s smile faded and her eyes grew very serious. “Yes,” she replied. “They say they are here to get Indiana. They said she was in danger and they needed your help.”

Sam’s eyes narrowed. He was well aware of the lengths Indiana’s brother, Hayden, would go to get his hands on her. He was also aware of some of the not so legal things that Hayden had been up to, including hiring someone to come in and bug his house.

“Where are they?” Sam asked in a hard voice.

“In the reception room,” Allie said in concern as she stepped aside so her dad could walk by. “Should I have sent them away? One of them had Indy’s horse Midnight, and Chester and Tweed were with them, as well.”

“Damn it,” Sam muttered under his breath. He heard Aleaha’s startled gasp at his curse. He seldom cussed, but when he did, there was a good reason for it. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

“They were with Billy coming down the old logging trail off of Wilson’s Creek,” Aleaha explained quickly as she followed her dad down the long hallway. “Ansel called Allie and asked her to pick him up. The men were with him. One of the men, Jonathan, knew the hand signals that Indy uses with the dogs and they obeyed him.”

Sam started to pause, but shook his head instead. He didn’t need to ask. A sinking feeling began in his stomach. Wilson Creek wasn’t far from the entrance to Spirit Pass. All a person needed to know was how to look for it. Sam knew Billy’s dad, Billy, Sr., had taken Billy up there when he was younger against the council’s wishes.

He stopped in the doorway to the sitting room when he saw the two men standing with their backs to it. One tall, imposing figure was standing in front of the fireplace looking up at the portrait of him, Claire and their six children while the other was staring at the globe in the corner.

“Papa, this is Jonathan and Jacob Tucker,” Aleaha introduced as she stepped into the room. “They are from…” Her voice faded and she frowned as she realized she didn’t know where they were from.

“Montana Territory, ma’am. Mr. Whitewater,” Jonathan said, holding his hand out to Sam Whitewater.

“Territory?” Sam replied, growing pale. “Thank you, Aleaha. I’ll see them. Can you go ask your mother to make us some refreshments and bring them to the office, please?”

“Sure, Papa,” Aleaha said with a smile before she nodded her head to Jonathan and Jacob. “If anyone can help you, it will be Papa.”

Sam waited until Aleaha left the room before he spoke. His face was grim as he took in the long, dust-covered long coats, the chaps, and the glimpse of a gun belt strapped around the men’s waists. He nodded his head to them before he turned.

“Follow me,” he ordered in a gruff voice.

*.*.*

Sam motioned for both men to enter his office before he entered, shutting the door behind him. He knew they were studying him as much as he was studying them. He could feel the threat of danger and barely controlled violence in the men.

“What year is it?” Sam asked bluntly as he stepped behind his desk and turned to look at both men.

“Now, or before we came through Spirit Pass?” Jonathan asked in a steady voice.

Sam slowly lowered himself into the chair behind his desk as his legs gave out from under him. This was worse than he realized. Indy had gone through the Pass, and into a world that was totally different from her own.

“Who are you and what do you want with Indiana?” Sam asked as he sat forward in his seat as the two men sank into the chairs across from him.

“My name is Jonathan Tucker,” Jonathan said in a quiet, firm voice. “My brother, Jacob, and I own and operate the Twin Rivers Ranch in the Montana Territory. Indiana is no longer Indiana Wild. Her name is Indiana Tucker and she is my wife. I’ve come to get her back from the bastards who kidnapped her.”

Sam reached for the thin piece of paper that Jonathan had pulled from his vest pocket and held out. Taking the yellow paper, he picked up his reading glasses off the desk in front of him. His eyes widened as he read the short paragraph.

Marriage Announcement of Jonathan Ryan Tucker, Meeteetse, Montana Territory to Miss Indiana Indy Wild of Montana Territory, by Rev. A. R. Blackburn on May 3, 1867.

Sam raised his eyes back up to the dark blue eyes staring intently at him. His mouth tightened in concern. He had no doubt that the paper in his hand was real. He just needed to figure out how to handle this new and unexpected development.

For the next hour, Jacob and Jonathan explained to Sam Whitewater who they were, why they were there, and asked for his help. Sam slowly began to explain about Indy’s life before they met her. Jacob could tell that Jonathan already knew a lot of it. His eyes wandered over the room as he listened. He noted the differences between his and Jonathan’s home and this one.

Even the interior of the house was foreign to him. Aleaha had escorted them into a small room off the foyer earlier and explained that she would get her father. That room hadn’t looked too unusual at first. Small, delicately crocheted doilies sat under several lamps that did not have oil or wick to them. There were two armchairs sitting in front of the window, a floral printed couch sat before the fireplace, and dozens of family portraits big and small covered the walls.

The large picture over the fireplace was unbelievably detailed. Neither he nor Jonathan had ever seen an artist capable of capturing a person on canvas the way the artist, Olin Mills, did. The other paintings were just as detailed. Jacob had paled when he saw a round globe on a stand in the far corner of the room.

The world has changed a lot,
Jacob thought as he remembered some the cities and the names of different states and territories.

If that wasn’t enough, the globe had raised indentions showing the line of mountains, both on land and below it. How anyone could know for certain what lay below the oceans, Jacob had no idea.

“This is incredible, Jonathan. The number of cities and the detail on it is unbelievable. How can they make something like this? How can they know?” Jacob muttered under his breath before glancing up at the doorway.

His eyes narrowed on Sam Whitewater as the man stood in the entrance to the small receiving room. Jacob hadn’t known what to expect, but the stately Lakota Indian had not been it. He didn’t know why, it may have been that he had never seen an Indian brave from the future before.

Neither he nor Jonathan questioned the man when he ordered them to follow and turned away. They had come looking for help. Jacob had no doubt in his mind, that Aleaha was correct when she said her father could give it to them.

*.*.*

Later that evening, Jacob sipped on the ice cold drink in his hand before he set it back on the table. He absently followed one of the water drops as it beaded and began to slide down the outside of the glass. His eyes followed the floating cubes of ice in the light brown liquid.

Ice tea,
he thought, touching another droplet.
Even their drinks are different.

They were finishing up the evening meal and were just sitting around talking. His eyes flickered to where Allie sat in brooding silence. She kept glancing at the clock on the wall behind him, as if she was just waiting for the right time to be able to make her escape. She had come in almost ten minutes late with a swift apology on her lips. She brushed a kiss on her mother’s cheek, before grinning and announcing the two mares had their foals without incident.

He watched as color stained Allie’s cheeks when her mom smiled down the table at her. He could tell she had missed much of the conversation as Sam and Claire told him and Jonathan more about Indy. A frown creased his brow when he saw the sad look in her eyes that she hid, when she looked up at her mother.

“Indy came home at every opportunity. She hated being away. She was born to ranch-life, unlike her brothers who couldn’t wait to leave. Much like our Allie,” Claire said softly.

“Ah mom, they don’t care if I prefer horses and cows to living the high life in some concrete jungle,” Allie snorted as she glanced at Jacob. “Does anyone want something to drink?”

“Would you mind making a pot of coffee, Allie?” Sam asked.

“Sure, Papa,” Allie murmured with an affectionate grin.

“I’ll help you,” Aleaha added, rising out of her chair to follow Allie into the kitchen.

Jacob’s eyes followed Allie’s slender figure as she walked out of the room. He grimaced when Jonathan shot him a questioning look. Shaking his head, he focused back on what Sam was saying.

“Neither one of the girls knows about Spirit Pass. I never took them or our boys up there. I knew what could happen and how dangerous your world is, especially for a half-breed,” Sam explained in a low voice.

“Sam,” Claire protested softly before she looked at him and Jonathan. “We both decided our children did not need to experience the trial of going through the Pass to prove their worth. Many have agreed that it may be too dangerous and the elders have decided to no longer allow it after the last ceremony this past spring.”

He didn’t know why he was surprised to find that Indy and their journey through Spirit Pass were not the only ones to occur. He listened as Sam and Claire Whitewater shared what happened to them when Sam traveled.

“I was twenty-one when I came home from college,” Sam explained in a quiet voice. He glanced at the kitchen where they could hear Allie and Aleaha moving around. “The tribal council was still adamant about the young warriors completing a spiritual journey. Only a handful of warriors actually complete it. My father decided as one of the tribal leaders it was important that he support their decision. I was chosen to journey through Spirit Pass.”

“I’m glad he did,” Claire admitted, squeezing Sam’s hand before she looked at him and Jonathan. “If he hadn’t, my younger brother, William, and I would never have survived.”

“I was young, arrogant, and full of myself,” Sam chuckled. “I was also
not
prepared for the journey that I suddenly found myself on. After three miserable days in the mountains, I stumbled across a beautiful young white woman named Claire, and her younger brother William,” he said, raising Claire’s hand to his lips where he pressed a kiss to it. “She and William’s parents had died after becoming ill. The wagon train they were traveling with had left her and William behind as fear that the illness that had killed her parents would spread.”

“They had a right to be afraid. Shortly after we were left behind, William became ill as well.” Claire added with a sad smile. “I couldn’t care for William and keep up. I would have lost him if not for Sam’s arrival.”

“I was shocked to find myself in the past,” Sam admitted. “It was not a safe place to be, especially for an Indian from the future who couldn’t truly appreciate the hardships. I should have warned Indiana. I didn’t think about her finding Spirit Pass. If I had, I would have told her to stay far away from it.”

“Yes,” Claire whispered, squeezing Sam’s hand tightly. “But, if anyone can survive back in the past, it would be Indiana or…” Her voice faded and she looked down at her and Sam’s tangled fingers.

Jacob listened as Sam told him about Indy’s grandfather and his fears of what Hayden might do. A reluctant smile curved his lips when Allie returned with a tray of coffee, cups, and saucers.

He watched as her eyes flashed in defiance and her hair swirled as she moved. Each movement was like a cleverly orchestrated assault against his senses. There was something about her that attracted him to her. She was the same height as Indy, but she definitely had more curves. Still, it was more than a physical attraction.

He liked the fire in her eyes. He couldn’t help but wonder if she would be as passionate in his bed as she was about everything else. He imagined that she would be and the need to see was beginning to create a constant, steady ache inside him that was growing more persistent in just the few hours since they had met.

Jacob reached out and wrapped his arm around Allie as she suddenly sank into the chair next to him in shock. His eyes narrowed in concern when he saw her hand tremble as she pushed her shoulder length hair behind her ear. Reaching under the table when her hand fell back to her lap, he threaded his fingers through hers in comfort.

“How could he do that to her? He’s never had a thing to do with her when she was growing up,” Allie argued in a hot, throaty voice filled with horror when her father mentioned that Hayden wouldn’t be above drugging Indy to use her. “You have to help her, Papa!”

“I will, Allie. Or should I say, you will,” Sam said in a grim, determined voice. “Allie will fly you both to Los Angeles.”

*.*.*

Allie listened in grim silence, nodding her head as her father explained what to expect. Her eyes wandered to the clock again. She needed to leave. She was already late and if she was going to be gone, she had to go tonight. Forcing her mind back on what her father was saying, it took a moment for her to realize that something very warm and strong was holding her hand.

She glanced down at her lap, stunned to see her fingers wrapped protectively inside Jacob’s. Her mind rebelled, but her body didn’t appear to be listening to the alarms going off in her brain. Drawing in a deep breath, she finally pulled her hand out of his and laid it on the table.

A shiver ran through her when Jacob carefully draped his arm over the back of her chair. A sense of panic began to choke her as the overwhelming urge to lean into him suddenly swept through her. She sat stiffly as her mom rose from her seat at the same time as her dad did. Allie looked up at her mom when she paused.

“This world is very different from yours, but in many ways things have not changed,” Claire stated in a quiet, sad voice. “Men are still greedy and the world is still a dangerous place. If… No, when you find Indy just love her with all your heart. I know she would be happier in your world than here.” Claire smiled in reassurance before she turned and left the room.

“What did she mean by ‘your’ world?” Aleaha asked in a puzzled voice as she stood up as well.

Allie rose and turned as Jonathan snapped his fingers for Chester and Tweed. The two dogs, who had been lying in the living room, scrambled to their feet. The loud sounds of their claws against the wood floor did little to muffle Jacob’s reply.

Allie turned and stared at Jacob for a moment in confusion. She rubbed her hand against the soft cotton of her jeans as she imagined him still holding it. She had to get out. She had to leave. Her eyes flew to the clock on the wall. She would still have time if she hurried.

“Let’s show them to their rooms,” Allie said, turning toward the opening leading to the stairs. “I still have a lot to do tonight.”

*.*.*

Jacob followed Allie as she walked down a long hallway. He tried to keep his eyes from roaming her lush figure, but damn if his eyes would listen to him. A slight grin pulled at his lips as he thought back a few minutes ago when he had held her hand.

When he saw Allie’s face pale and her hand tremble, it had drawn a protectiveness from him that had surprised him. The fierce need to comfort her pulled at his consciousness, and he had reacted instinctively when he reached for her. The feel of her warm hand in his, had shocked him.

Jacob felt his body respond to the thought of what it would be like to have her touch him elsewhere. His body definitely liked the idea. Just the thought of her caressing him had blossomed in his mind until he felt like a young boy touching a girl for the first time. His cock swelled to the point it was uncomfortable in his pants and he had to refrain from shifting in his seat.

He jerked back to the present when Allie touched the wall and a bright light lit up the interior of a bedroom. He was still a little nervous about how a room could be lit up as bright as day with just the touch of a switch. When the house had started to darken as the sun sank on the horizon, he wondered how they would be able to light the lamps he had seen earlier. After all, there was no wick or oil in them.

Just before dinner, he had watched as Claire walked around and touched them without a match and they came on. He had been both fascinated and confused. Unable to contain his curiosity, he had reached down inside one of the shades. Sure enough, there was heat, but no flames.

“It’s called electricity,” Claire had murmured when she turned and caught him. “It scared William and me the first time we saw it. It really is a marvelous thing.”

“How does it work?” Jacob asked as he pulled his hand back.

“I really don’t know,” Claire had admitted. “I just know that the wires outside bring it into the house and buildings. There are many things here that I’ve just come to accept without question. William, now he’s different. He was curious about everything and wanted to know how it worked.”

Jacob breathed in a sigh as he focused back on Allie, who was now standing in the middle of the room looking back at him. His gaze swept over the bedroom, pausing on the massive bed centered against the far wall. The interior of the bedroom was done in soft whites, yellows, and blues. He would have thought the colors would have been too feminine, but the combination, along with the dark cherry wood furniture, provided a neutral environment that could go either way.

His eyes swept over the bed again before they moved to Allie. Her face flared with color and her eyes flashed in warning before she turned and walked to the small table next to the bed and picked up a long, black rectangular box. With a flick of her wrist, a larger, flat box on the wall lit up with bright colors and loud noises.

A startled curse escaped him and he twirled. His fingers immediately going for the gun he normally had strapped to his hip. He muttered another expletive under his breath when he remembered that it was hanging under his long coat in Sam’s office.

“Are you okay?” Allie asked with a raised eyebrow. “If it is too loud, you just press this button.”