The Prospect: The Malloy Family, Book 10 (17 page)

“I cannot possibly kill this noble creature.” She threaded her fingers through its mane. “He was brave and strong.”

Declan nodded. “He was that. I’ll take care of him.”

“I was not very brave.” She spoke into the horse’s shivering neck. “I hid in the water.”

“Facing a wolf would scare anyone. Hell, it scared a year off my life.” He was not convinced the wolves were done with them yet, but he didn’t tell Jo. “We need to stop his suffering.”

She made a sound between a yes and a sob, then whispered in the horse’s ear. He didn’t know what she said, but it appeared to calm the horse. It still shook and shuddered, but it no longer high-stepped as though it could shake off the injuries.

Jo stepped away, folding her arms, and glanced at him, surprisingly dry-eyed. “Let us proceed.”

“We’ll need to leave right after. Those beasts might come back and bring friends. I don’t want to be anywhere near the dead carc—the horse. The blood is going to bring all kinds of animals out.”

He pulled himself away from the situation, far away, until he was able to perform the task at hand and not feel. Jo watched him, but he didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. Declan unsaddled the horse as gently as he could. They could carry the saddlebags and bedroll. The rest they would have to leave behind. The saddle blanket could double as a bedroll too.

With more than a bit of awkward wrangling, he helped the gelding to the ground. The feel of the great beast struggling against the pain cut through the armor he’d thrown up around himself. He fought against it, pushing away any emotion. Now wasn’t the time to remember he had a heart, or that it beat for the woman who knelt beside the horse, petting his neck in comfort.

He set everything aside, away from the blood, and picked up the rifle.

“You might want to turn around.”

She shook her head. “No, I will not leave him.”

“Are you ready, then?” He didn’t know what would happen when they lost the horse, but he did know they had to get moving. Yet he hesitated, the weapon pointed at the ground while the horse stared at him with one pain-filled eye.

“Are you?” She was so damn calm. Weren’t women supposed to fall to pieces? Jo didn’t act like any woman should. Perhaps that was how she broke through the man Declan had become to show him who he always wanted to be.

“No, but I must do it.” He pressed the muzzle of the rifle to the horse’s ear and gave him a silent apology. The shot echoed through his arm in the quiet afternoon air. Jo flinched, but she didn’t cease touching the horse until it stilled.

Declan reloaded the rifle, counting four more bullets in his pocket. They didn’t have much left, but he couldn’t tell her. Not yet. He met her gaze. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Seven

They walked for hours until the stars twinkled in the skies above and the moon reflected on the ground before them. Jo was beyond exhausted. She’d slept only a couple hours in the last two days and the emotional, physical strain was tearing away at her.

After they put the horse down, she was numb. The entire terrifying experience with the wolves had shocked her. Books had always been her salvation, the one true source she could count on. However, they did no good when faced with the snarling visage of a vicious beast. She had panicked—no, worse than that, she had been
frozen
in fear. Thank God Declan had the good sense to take action.

He had protected her, kept her safe and alive. Now they marched single file, not talking, not stopping, barely drinking or eating. They were punishing themselves. For what, she could only guess. Perhaps failing that brave gelding that had brought them safely away from the fort. Perhaps for letting their passion take time away from their journey. If they hadn’t taken the time to explore each other, they might have missed the wolves.

If, maybe and perhaps. All words that were useless. They drove her to distraction but changed nothing. Yet she couldn’t help but bemoan their current state. Things could not possibly be any worse.

A rustle in the trees made her jump a foot in the air. Declan stopped, his hand reaching out for her arm.

“Stay still,” he barely whispered.

The sound grew louder and her heart thudded while her body prepared for battle. She could barely hear over the sound of her pulse thundering in her ears. Her exhausted body was flush with energy and her feet ready to move.

“What is it?”

“Shh.” He let go of her arm and pulled up the rifle. “Run.”

Jo didn’t know where she was going, but she ran. Declan was behind her, urging her along.

“Go for the trees up ahead. We’re going to climb and fast as you can.”

Jo could hardly form words with her cotton-dry mouth. “What is it?”

“Doesn’t matter because it’s chasing us.” He almost carried her the last ten feet, then threw her up on the first branch. “Climb!”

She scrambled for purchase, her hands scraping on the rough bark. There hadn’t been trees to climb in Brooklyn except at the park. She had done her fair share as a small child, but that had been fifteen years ago. The dress and petticoat hindered her, and she wished for a moment for a pair of trousers to wear. Life would be simpler if she didn’t have female trappings. The pack on her back clanked and thumped against her spine, but she ignored it. A few bruises were nothing but an inconvenience compared to death and dismemberment.

Her wayward thoughts blew to the wind at the first growl from below. She kept climbing, higher still until the cool breeze hit her sweat-soaked brow and she was able to take a breath. Her faux husband was nowhere in sight.

“Declan?”

“I’m here.” He was to the right and at least ten feet lower than she was. “How the hell did you get up there so fast, little one? Are ye part squirrel?” His tight chuff of a laugh told her he wasn’t feeling at all humorous.

The snapping and growling from the ground told her she wasn’t either.

“What is down there?” She peered through the gloom, but with the branches of the tree and the thick darkness, she could see nothing.

“I think it’s a bear, but I’ve only seen pictures. Big son of a bitch too.” He didn’t apologize for cursing and she wasn’t about to ask him to. There were more important things to worry about.

“Is this land full of creatures who want to eat you?” Jo knew the answer to the question but voiced it aloud anyway. She had read everything she could find on the West and it included information on the wildlife. There were mountain lions, bears, wolves, elk, bobcats, rattlesnakes and various other deadly insects to be had. It appeared they were welcoming the couple to the wilderness.

“Why is it chasing us?” She tried to focus, search her memory for information on bears, but there were several kinds and they behaved differently. “Is it a grizzly bear?”

He made a strangled sound. “I don’t have a fucking clue, Jo. I didn’t ask the thing to tell me his life story.”

Stung, she swallowed the lump in her throat. “I was hoping to remember information about the bear’s behavior but I would need to identify its species first.”

The only sounds in the night were the bear’s claws scrabbling at the bark and the snapping sound of its jaw. She was completely terrified the branch she sat on would break. It wasn’t that thick. Why had she climbed so high? No grizzly bear could reach this high, but black bears could climb. Their flight might have been for naught.

“You know, if I were a man who wrote books, I would write a story of two city folks caught in the wild. Bad men, wolves, bears, possible starvation.” His soft voice surprised her. “Now all we need is a snake or two and possibly Indians.”

She smiled into the darkness. “I had been thinking that things could not be worse, but I was mistaken.”

“That’s where you went wrong. Put a jinx on us with that.” He sounded serious. “You don’t ever tempt fate by throwing circumstances in its face. It’ll bite you in the ass every time.”

She didn’t believe in fate or jinxes, but something had definitely bitten them in the ass, crude as the expression was. They would likely have to spend what was left of the night in the tree and hope the bear could not climb high enough to reach them.

“My apologies, Declan. I did not intend to bring the wrath of Wyoming on our heads.” She was not given to sarcasm, but the moment called for it. “Perhaps if I apologize to the bear?”

He growled. “Not funny a’tall, Jo. I was serious and so is that goddamn bear. If he’s persistent, we could die in this tree.”

“We have water and food.” She didn’t want to argue with him, but his perspective was skewed from reality.

“No, darlin’,
I
have water and food. You have a coffee pot, your book and some odds and ends.” His voice grew strained. “I can’t climb that high or I’ll break the branches. So unless you come down farther…” He trailed off.

Jo’s stomach tightened again, as impossible as that was. When they had divided up the goods, she hadn’t considered what she carried. An empty coffee pot would not be a comfort when she perished from thirst.

“Oh my.”

“Yep, oh my. Hell, shit or dammit would work too.” He sighed hard and long. “Some fake husband I am.”

“I do not believe either of us will be called appropriate or normal.” She certainly didn’t want to be compared to her mother. Jo would come up wanting. “That does not mean we cannot be happy.”

He was silent and she couldn’t help but wonder if he regretted their earlier actions. Until that moment, they could have gone their separate ways. Now there was no turning back. He was tied to her and she to him.

“I don’t know if I know how to be happy, little one. I ain’t had much practice.”

Her heart pinched at the aching loneliness in his voice. She had felt alone in her life, but never like that. She’d always had her family, her sisters, to rely on. Now she had none of those. Instead she had a new family, a man who would be her husband, who needed her as much as she needed him. Literally and figuratively.

They had nothing but each other against the world. It was a sobering thought.

“I have. I can teach you.” She hoped with every fiber of her being he would allow her to.

The bear growled long and loud, sounding very much like a dragon of old. Snarling, smacking sounds filled with the frustration of not being able to reach its intended target. She didn’t want to die in that tree, but she would not climb down even an inch until it was gone. The beast sounded enormous, deadly and utterly horrifying.

Jo wisely kept quiet although she was certain the bear had a better sense of smell than hearing. Both its senses were likely fine-tuned. Human scent undoubtedly filled the air, tantalizing its bear nostrils. She also knew sweat exacerbated the situation but could not stop herself from perspiring. Fear coated her from top to bottom and everywhere in between.

The growling continued, reaching a fever pitch. She’d never heard such a primal sound before. It sent shivers up and down her spine with each screech. She clung to the trunk of the tree, the aroma of pine and something foul drifting on the breeze. It had to be the bear, the scent of death and decay.

She wished Declan were closer. At that moment, she had never felt so alone. Darkness surrounded her, the thick trees blocking the starlight. She couldn’t see the bear or Declan—nothing but thick blackness.

A shuffling sound at the branch below made her heart jump in her throat and she was in danger of soiling her drawers. The bear was far below her, wasn’t it?

“Jo?” Declan’s soft voice made her cry out.

She swiftly climbed down toward him until she found him, warm and comforting. His arms closed around her and she found herself weeping. Tears were not common in Jo’s life, but she could not stop them. When she needed him most, he was there.

“Are ye crying, little one?” He rubbed her back with his big hand. Warmth flooded her at his touch.

“I fear I am.” She snuffled, a most unladylike sound, and buried her face in his shoulder. “I have never been more glad to see another human being. Well, not see, in actuality. It is darker than pitch.” A hysterical laugh burst from her throat.

“Shh, it’s all right. I’m here now. I couldn’t let you die of thirst, now could I?”

She cried harder, great hiccupping sobs she could not seem to stop. Perhaps it was a combination of exhaustion, anxiety and terror that turned her into foolish girl. Jo hadn’t felt as feminine as she did at that moment. Declan was so big, strong and blessedly warm. He also felt safe, as though nothing could hurt her while he was there.

Oh yes, she was a foolish girl.

Touching him, breathing in his heat and scent, helped the fear subside. The bear continued to roar, scratching at the base of the tree in what she would call a frenzy. It seemed to be reacting to her emotional outburst with fury. She had read about wildlife and their behaviors, knew how to read their tracks and scat, even how they mated. Yet nothing had prepared her for the reality of facing one of them.

She felt small and not very smart, a feeling she had very little experience with. Jo had always been the smartest sister, the reader, the one who knew the answers. Now she was a scared human being with scrambled thoughts and a thumping heart.

“Tell me about bears.” Declan’s voice cut through her confused haze.