Deborah Camp (16 page)

“Copper?” Tucker stepped closer, his voice hoarse with concern. “If my being here puts you and Valor in danger, then I think I should leave. Maybe I can bunk with Gus.”

“Done.” Micah slapped his thighs as if it were his decision to make. “I’ll take you there tomorrow, then I’ll come back and stay here with Copper to make sure nobody bothers her and the baby.”

Tucker scowled. “Now wait a damn minute. Why should you stay here with her?”

“I’m not being hunted. You are. You’re the one bringin’ trouble down on her head, not me.”

“She just said the Gros Ventre haven’t been around since they saw the grave marker.”

“But they’ll probably hear the rumors just like I did and they’ll be back to sniff around again. It’s a matter of honor with Feet Like Wind. He don’t
like havin’ one of his kills walkin’ around with braggin’ rights. I’ll stay here until I’m sure Copper doesn’t need me anymore.”

“Micah McCall, you built this cabin, but you don’t live in it. I do.” Copper placed the knitting in a basket and stood up. She glared at Micah, then at Tucker. “Both of you get out of here. Sleep in the stables and give me a night of peace. There are horse blankets and fresh hay out there. Make a fire if you want. And while you’re out there tonight, try not to come to blows or tie each other’s common sense into knots.” She made a shooing motion. “Go on. I’m tired of you acting like young bulls trying to claim your first cow. This cow isn’t interested, so take it outside.” She plucked the cup from Tucker’s grasp and set it on the table. With one hand, she pushed Tucker toward the door, and with the other, she grabbed Micah’s hand and pulled him out of the chair. “Shoo, flies! Shoo!” She herded them outside into the lightly falling snow and threw two heavy buffalo robes after them.

Both men were staring stupidly at her when she bolted the door in their faces.

T
he storm blew over quickly, leaving only a powdering of new snow. Copper tucked the silver wolfskin around Valor, then moved away from the cradle to stand by the window. She could hear the
whack-thump
of the axe, but she couldn’t see Tucker, who was cutting firewood at the side of the cabin. She had a clear view of Micah building a hitching post. She stepped outside, and Micah greeted her with a toothy smile.

“Did you get that baby down?”

She nodded. “She’ll sleep for a couple of hours. If you hear her cry, come get me. I’ll be at the stables.”

“Doing what?”

“Preparing that moose hide,” she said, lifting her heavy deerskin skirt to her ankles as she moved across the snowy ground.

“We staked it out last night,” Micah called after her. “Scraped it some, but not enough to suit you.”

Inside the stables, she examined the stretched moose hide pinned to the ground with tepee pegs, hair side down. It would be better outside where the sun could bake it, but the sky was gray and burdened with more snow and sleet. The tough hide would make good winter moccasins. She’d smoke this one, so that it would repel water and still remain soft.

Taking up a flesher tool, she dropped to her
knees and began scraping off dried bits from the underside. Micah was right; she wasn’t satisfied with what they had done. Using the sharp tool, she hacked at the skin, scraping and cutting away the dried meat and vessels. She’d been one of the best tanners in the tribe, and she’d taken great pride in it. A woman who could tan buckskin to cottony softness and sew straight seams was considered industrious. A woman who did slipshod work was considered lazy and worthless. Her beadwork was also highly praised by the Bloods. Many a brave had asked her to tan shirts and decorate the garments with intricate patterns of beads and bone.

Sometimes she missed not having others to do for. It had been a big part of her life, doing for others, being part of a whole and working to make that whole strong. She yearned for female companionship, which was why she had wanted a daughter. Some of her happiest hours had been spent in the company of other women. There was great peace to be found working side by side, speaking in hushed conversation about the rhythms of womanhood, laughing together about the single-mindedness of men.

Women had taught her how to survive and to make the best of the life given her. Women had taught her to make shelter, fire, clothing, food, and all other necessities. From men she had learned to watch her back and to keep her opinions to herself unless told otherwise. Much Smoke had been good to her, but he’d not raised an objection when Stands Tall had claimed her and taken her away, even though he and Goose Down Woman had known that Stands Tall wouldn’t make a good husband.

“There aren’t any short rows for women to plow,” she murmured to herself.

“That so?”

Copper looked up and pushed her hair back
from her face. Tucker moved closer on quiet feet. His eyes were a mossy green and compassionate.

“We did our best on the hide, but McCall said it wouldn’t be good enough for you. I’d be glad to help you finish it if you want.”

“No, I’m nearly done.”

“What will you make out of it?”

“Moccasins and a swing for Valor.” She sat on her haunches. He braced his back against a post and slid down it. “Your leg seems to be holding you up pretty good.”

“It trembles.” He frowned and massaged his knee and thigh. “The muscles are like wet rope.” He perused her through fans of sable lashes. “Sleeping out in the cold didn’t help it any.”

“If you were cold, you should have lit a fire.”

One side of his mouth tipped up. “You’re a hard woman.”

“So you’ve said before.” Her eyes smiled at him. “You’ll sleep out here again tonight if you keep strutting around like a rooster in a hen house.”

“If there’s any strutting, McCall’s doing it. You should have told me you had a beau.”

She frowned and shook her head. “A beau? You mean, a man I fancy?”

“That’s right.” He placed a silly smile on his face. “A boyfriend. A suitor.”

Picking up the fleshing tool again, she cut away another bit of inner skin. “He’s not that. He’s a friend.”

“He wants to marry you.”

She glanced at him. “That’s not true.”

“He told me.”

Her breath whooshed down her throat in a gasp. “He didn’t!”

“Sure did. Told me he had first claim on you and that I’d better stand clear.”

“You’re making this up.”

“Ask him. He’ll tell you.”

“He’s not courting me. I told him how I feel. I don’t want another husband.”

“How about lovers? Would you accept any of those?”

“In your mind, I already have and any one of them could be my child’s father.” She paused in her work to deliver a stony stare that made him avert his gaze guiltily.

“I have a bad habit of opening my mouth when I should close it.” He ran a hand down his face. “I don’t suppose it would do any good to apologize.”

“It wouldn’t hurt any.”

“Well, then I’m sorry.” He leveled his green eyes on her. “I’m a son of a bitch for suggesting you’re anything but a lady.”

When she smiled, Tucker’s heart lifted into his throat. Her beauty overwhelmed him and he could do nothing but stare, transfixed, by her bewitching face, framed by her lustrous, luxuriant hair. The loose braid let the flame-colored locks around her face wave against her temples and forehead. In that moment, she looked achingly young.

Hell, she is young, he thought. She’d lived through enough horrors for a whole lifetime, but the shank of her years was still ahead of her. Her unlined face and flawless skin, her taut hips and stomach, her high breasts and her vitality, all testified that this was a woman in her prime. She lifted a graceful, slim arm and backhanded a lock of hair off her forehead. Tucker wished he could close the distance between them, crush her against him, and plumb her mouth with his ardent tongue, but he knew such a display of raw passion would undo all his apology had done. She was smiling at him, and that would have to be reward enough for now. He shifted his gaze to the stretched moose skin.

“I bet you’ve done many of them,” he said, giving a nod to indicate the hide.

“Yes, many. I like preparing rawhide and tanning it. I mostly like the end result. When I locate some buffalo, I’m going to fell a few and make lodge covers.”

“Why, when you have a cabin?”

“So Valor and I can strike out for better hunting grounds. The trappers and settlers are killing too much game and the animals are moving to higher ground earlier each year. This area is nearly trapped out of beaver and otter. Hard to find a deer or elk anymore, too. The buffalo move right through and hardly stop to graze on their way up the Elk River. If I have a lodge, I can go hunt them for a couple of weeks, and then return home. As it is, I have to limit my hunting to a day’s ride.”

He chuckled. “I’d hate to see the kind of lodge I’d build.”

“It’s not man’s work. Women build the lodges.”

“Says who?”

She looked up from her work, saw that he was sincere, and sent him another one of those heart-soaring smiles. God, she’s a beauty! he thought. His groin tingled, tightened. He wanted to please her, to earn her respect again after losing it yesterday.

“I think a man should learn to take care of himself
and
his family. Work should be shared and not labled as ‘his’ and ‘hers.’ ”

“I believe you’re trying to turn my head, Tucker Jones.”

“Maybe, and soften your heart toward me a little. I do mean what I say, Copper. I’d like to learn how to survive in this country. It would please me no end to know as much as you about providing for yourself. I never thought of myself as a city slicker until I met you. I’ve lived close to general stores most of my life. You were tossed into this vast country and lived in a cave. You did for yourself
without proper clothing or weapons.” He shook his head in amazement. “You’re the stuff of legends.”

She made a scoffing sound. “You could survive if you had to, Tucker. The spirit gets strength from hardship.”

“Is that an old Indian saying?”

She nodded. “And true.” Copper knitted her brow and sliced at a stubborn bit of flesh. Her breasts moved freely beneath her bodice, winning Tucker’s avid interest.

“I dreamed of you last night.” His admission prompted the response he’d wanted. She stopped working and fixed her wide, earthy eyes on him. Her lips parted, but she didn’t say anything. For once, he’d rendered her speechless.

“In fact,” he continued, “I dream of you most every night. I’d be willing to bet that you’re in McCall’s dreams, too.” He let a grin crawl slowly across his face as luscious bits of his nightly vision harkened back to him. “But mine were better, I’d wager.”

“What kind of dreams?” she asked, although she told herself this was most probably a trick. Men were known to say just about anything to get a woman’s interest.

“You really want to know?” he teased.

Copper swallowed hard and nodded. Tan his hide! He knew she wanted to know how she figured into his dreams. Tucker crossed his arms and ankles and angled his gaze upward in contemplation. Copper brushed her hand over the moose skin and tried to appear only mildly curious. She sensed, however, that he could hear her pounding heart.

“We were in a glade where the shadows were damply cool. You were wearing some slip of a thing … yellow as sunshine, and your hair was loose and free.”

“What were you wearing?” she interrupted.

He shrugged. “Damned if I know. I was too busy looking at you to bother with me.” His gaze flickered over her. “I could have been as naked as a new chick. All I know for sure is that you’re an eyeful, Copper.”

She ducked her head and busied herself over the hide again, scraping with a new intensity. She recalled what he looked like naked and found herself wishing she could see him again that way. His body fascinated her with all its swirling, sable hair and ropy muscles. She’d seen more muscular bodies, but she liked his because it was sturdy and still graceful. When his leg was healed, she knew that his would be a light-footed, fluid gate.

“In the dream you looked at me with encouragement and tenderness,” he said, his voice a little foggy, as if he were speaking to himself. “Your eyes told me that I could touch you and love you, so I took you in my arms and we kissed. Kiss.” He frowned. “Such a small, trifling word for what we did. The earth trembled beneath us and the sky whirled like a kaleidoscope above us. You melted into me and I was lost in you. It was the most … what I mean to say is that it was …” Words failed him and he grappled for just one that would describe the maelstrom. “Rapture.” He felt utterly foolish the moment he released the fanciful word, but the appreciation in her expression redeemed him. For once, he thought, he’d said the right thing to her.

“All that from one kiss?” she asked, so softly he had to strain to hear. All sound seemed to have diminished. She heard no birdsongs, no shuffling of hooves, no whisper of wind. All she heard was her pulse booming in her ears, responding to his tender words. She wanted to believe that a kiss could move the earth and lower the heavens so that mortals could reach up and touch them. More importantly, she wanted him to make her believe such things were possible.

“It was some kiss, Copper.” He picked at the leather nap covering his thigh. “The kind that can bring a man to his knees.”

“You like to kiss, don’t you?”

He lifted one brow and met her gaze. “Well, yes. Yes, I do. You don’t?”

She examined the skin in front of her before tossing the fleshing tool against the wall. Looking at him, she wiped her hands on her skirt and battled her fluttering nerves. Why was he staring at her as if she were a dream and not real? His tongue played on the inside of his cheek and she wondered what it would feel like on the inside of hers. Hot shame washed over her and she averted her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing … I … you make me uncomfortable.”

“Me? I thought we were talking about kissing.”

She lifted one shoulder and let it sag. “That makes me uncomfortable, too.”

“You need to be kissed, Copper.”