Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5)
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Authors: Peggy L Henderson
YELLOWSTONE ROMANCE SERIES
4 Book Bundle (Books 2-5)
By Peggy L Henderson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author.
Coppyright © 2011/2012
by Peggy Henderson
All rights reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Book 2
Acknowledgement
Without the constant support and help from my critique partner, Carol Spradling, this book would not have been written. Sometimes I think she knows my characters better than I do, and doesn’t hesitate to point out to me what works, and what doesn’t. So, thank you, Carol, for keeping me going on this journey, and helping me bring these characters to life. Also, once again, to my husband Richard, for supporting me in my writing efforts, and continued advice about basic survival skills.
Chapter 1
Madison Valley on the Yellowstone Plateau, 1835
“Please, Mama, why can’t I go?” Sarah Osborne implored in a high-pitched voice. She followed close on the heels of her mother, who stormed through the front door of the cabin. Although her legs were much longer than the older woman’s, she almost ran to keep up with her strides.
Her petite mother ignored the question, threw her hands in the air in an overly exaggerated movement, then quickly brought them back to her sides, and balled them into fists at her hips. She turned more fully towards the man sitting at the table in the middle of the room. The thick long braid of her blonde hair swung like a whip behind her back. The man finished tying an obsidian arrowhead to a long wooden shaft, biting off the end of the sinew strings. He set it aside and raised a questioning brow in her mother’s direction. Her eyes glowered, and she took a step towards him.
“Daniel, talk to her. She’s your daughter.”
Sarah watched her father push the chair away from the table. He didn’t look at her. Instead, his brown eyes met her mother’s stare unflinching, and he raked a hand through his black hair to sweep back some unruly strands that had fallen into his eyes. Threads of silver mixed in with the black and reflected like icicles off the bright sunlight streaming into the room from the glass-paned window on the wall to the right. A lazy grin spread across his face, creasing the lines in the corners of his eyes. Her mother’s features appeared to relax. His hand shot out, and he grabbed her wrist, then pulled her onto his lap with one swift pull. She gave a little squeal, and placed her hands on his shoulders. Good grief! Not now! Why did they always have to act this way? Heat rose up Sarah’s neck into her cheeks, watching her parents’ display of affection.
Her father nuzzled her mother’s neck, and whispered in a low growl, “No,
gediki
. She’s most definitely your daughter.” Her mother turned her neck to give him better access, and reached a hand up to caress his cheek. His arms tightened around her waist.
Sarah stood just inside the front door, arms around her waist, and shifted weight from one foot to the other. She rolled her eyes, and let out an exasperated snort. Her parents always acted like a newly wed couple, even though they had been married for twenty-five years. Time to put a stop to this outlandish display. “Would you two stop it already,” she cried out. “Honestly, Mama. The way you and Papa carry on is downright embarrassing.”
Sarah watched her mother sit up on her husband’s lap, then turn blue eyes on her. A warm smile brightened her features, the annoyance from a moment ago apparently forgotten.
“Sarah, one day you’ll meet a man and fall in love. Time will stand still whenever he’s near, and the outside world forgotten when you’re with him.”
Sarah laughed and let out a most unfeminine snort. “I can ride, track, and hunt better than any man in these mountains, including my brothers.” She lifted her chin, then paused and met her father’s amused gaze. “Well, maybe with the exception of you, Papa.” She flashed him a smile she knew always won him over. “So what would I need a man for?”
With his eyebrows raised and lips drawn up in a boyish grin, he shot his wife an unmistakable
I told you so
look. Sarah’s insides swelled with satisfaction, and she gloated silently, her chin raised high in a defiant gesture towards her mother. Too late, she realized she should have approached her father with her request first.
“I recall words like those coming from you at one time.” Daniel swiped a finger down his wife’s nose, a devilish grin on his face.
“Yes, well, a girl has the right to change her mind,” Sarah’s mother replied haughtily and patted his cheek, then pushed herself off his lap. She turned to face her daughter. “But I’m not changing my mind about this.”
Sarah groaned silently at the stern look in her mother’s eyes. “Why not?” she challenged.
“Do you remember what happened last year?” Her hands were back on her hips.
Daniel rose from the table, his size dwarfing his wife. He stood next to her, and put a hand around her shoulders, pulling her up next to him
“What’s going on?” her father directed his gaze on her.
Sarah’s shoulders drooped. His dark eyes stared right through her. Trying to convince him might not be so easy after all.
“Mama says I can’t go to the rendezvous this year,” she blurted out. “She doesn’t think it’s appropriate for me anymore.”
“Darn right it’s not,” her mother’s voice sounded adamant. “You’re nearly nineteen years old, Sarah, and not married. You know what sort of riffraff shows up at those gatherings. Last year, your dad, Matthew, and Sam spent all their time fending off your wannabe suitors. You have no idea what effect you have on men. And most of those characters have questionable morals.” She took a few steps forward.
Even though Sarah was a couple inches taller than her mother, the woman had an imposing presence, and didn’t leave much question as to who was in charge. She stood no chance once her mother was this unyielding. Worse, she had her father completely wrapped around her fingers.
Sarah didn’t begrudge them their happiness. She’d met other trappers’ wives before, mostly Indian women, and had to listen to complaints of how unhappy some of them were, and how badly their men treated them. The way some made it sound, they were nothing more than a commodity to their husbands.
Not so with her parents. Daniel and Aimee Osborne were equal partners in everything. Neither did anything without the other’s knowledge or approval. The love between them was unmistakable in the way they looked at each other and touched whenever they were within reach. Sarah was proud to be their daughter. What would life be like with a father who beat her mother, or made his woman work from dawn to dusk with little regard for her well-being. Without a doubt, both her parents would lay their lives down for each other without hesitation, as well as for their children.
Along with her three older brothers, she’d been raised here in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, a place her mother called the Madison Valley on the Yellowstone Plateau. No one else she knew used these words. It was a man’s world, and she had learned early on to adapt. Her father had taught her how to survive in this harsh environment right alongside her brothers. And Sarah loved him dearly for it.
She had the best of both worlds. She could go out into the woods and hunt and foray like a man, but she also enjoyed the chores more associated with her gender, such as cooking, tanning hides, and making pottery. Her Tukudeka aunt and cousins had certainly never let her forget that she was female. Her mother encouraged her to follow whatever made her happy, and also taught her in the art of healing. That was her mother’s special gift, and Sarah was an eager student.
Just the idea of being tied down to a man made her shudder. It would have to be quite an exceptional man to draw her attention. Her father had set a pretty high standard of how a man treated his woman. Over the last few years, she’d become more curious about men, she had to admit. She’d watch some of the Tukudeka hunters discreetly, especially in the summer months when they wore no shirts, fascinated by the movements of the muscles on their chests and arms. However, no man she’d met thus far had made her heart beat faster, or sent her mind spinning. That’s what her mother told her love for a man was like. Sarah doubted she would ever find a man who could elicit such a response from her.
“Sarah Marie Osborne. Are you listening?”
“Huh?” Sarah was pulled out of her thoughts at her mother’s voice in her ear.
“I also need you here to take care of Snow Bird. She’s due to have her baby while we’re gone, and she needs you to midwife for her. We’ve already discussed this.”
“There are other midwives,” Sarah mumbled.
“I agree with your mother.” Daniel’s deep voice brought Sarah to full attention, and she looked to her father. “With your brothers gone to St. Louis this year, it’s too dangerous for you. And I don’t wish for you to be exposed to the sort of men - or women - who attend the rendezvous. Understand this is for your own good. We trust you to be safe here by yourself while we are gone.”
“But no doubt you’ll have Elk Runner or one of my cousins checking up on me regularly.” Sarah tried to keep her eyes from twitching. She swallowed her disappointment. She had lost the argument. Once her father sided with her mother, it was all over. She ventured a glance at him. His dark eyes glowed warmly at her. His slow smile melted her anger.
“I understand your disappointment,
bai’de
. But I intend to keep you out of harm’s way. No matter how much you may fight it, you have become a grown woman, and men take notice of such things.”
Sarah swallowed, lowered her eyes, and nodded in defeat. The annual trapper rendezvous held to the south of here amongst the Teewinots drew mountain men and trappers from all over the Rocky Mountains. It was an event that lasted for weeks, a time for men to gather and trade furs, supplies, and adventure stories. She looked forward to these meetings every year, which her parents attended to trade necessities to other trappers.
Her father hadn’t trapped for beaver in years. At her mother’s suggestion, they had set up a trading post to supply other trappers in this remote wilderness. Her mother had predicted a decade ago that the beaver would be trapped out in the mountains soon, and demand in the east would cease. Her prediction had come true. Now, along with offering supplies to the dwindling number of fur trappers, the family supplied the ever-increasing number of westward explorers.
“Your mother will be busy tending to the sick and injured,” her father’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“But I’ve always helped her with that,” Sarah tried one more time. At this point, she had nothing to lose. She glanced from one parent to the other. Her mother strode towards her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a warm embrace, then held her at arm’s length.
“Sarah, I know this is disappointing. But you’re a beautiful young woman, and you don’t have a husband’s protection. Where I grew up,” she turned to glance at her husband. Sarah wondered at the conspiratorial look that passed between them. “That wasn’t such an issue. But here, an unmarried woman is fair game. You know that.”
Yeah, Sarah sighed inwardly. She did know that. Her mother was right, as usual. She’d been revolted and alarmed at some of the ways men tried to fawn themselves at her at last year’s rendezvous. It had gotten worse each year. And she had caught the hungry looks of some of the men who came to trade here with her father.
She was well aware that the only reason none of them had ever acted on their obvious intentions was her father’s reputation. Daniel Osborne was known throughout the mountains as a man who protected his family fiercely and without mercy. There wasn’t a trapper who had heard his name who dared make rude comments or suggestions towards his wife. And the services and goods her parents provided to the mountain men in this remote wilderness were highly valued. No one wanted to get on Daniel Osborne’s bad side. But at the rendezvous, trappers came from all over the Rockies. Her safety, and virtue, may not be ensured simply based on her name.
Sarah nodded in defeat, hanging her head. She resigned herself that she was stuck here in the valley this summer, doing . . . what? She’d be bored out of her mind for the six or so weeks while her parents were gone.
