For the Love of Suzanne (19 page)

“You steal these horses?” Boris asked
loudly, still holding the gun on him.

“No, sir,” he replied easily, offering
no explanation as to how he’d acquired them.

“Boris, put that damn gun down before you
hurt somebody,” Marda scolded her husband indignantly and
looked at Cody again. “We have food and a warm place to stay,
if you like.”

“Oh yes, ma’am,” he said with
subdued eagerness. “We sure would appreciate that.”

She gave him a careless wave. “It’s
nice to have some company. We never see anybody up here, you know.
Come on. Our cabin is right up the path a ways.”

Cody would have offered her a ride on Titan, but
he didn’t; he was sure he was keeping Suzanne as warm as she
was keeping him, and she desperately needed that.

Boris walked beside Cody, eyeing him with
distrust.

“Do you trap, Mr. Clayborne?” Cody
asked Boris conversationally.

“In the spring. We manage to do a fair
business, but we’re done for the winter,” he growled and
noticed Suzanne’s foot hanging down by the calf of Cody’s
leg. “What ‘cha got under that there blanket?” he
asked suspiciously.

He knew there was no point in hiding Suzanne, not
that he wanted to. He just didn’t know how to explain their
relationship. “My wife,” he said quietly. They would have
to pretend to be husband and wife for awhile…until she was
well enough to make the trip back to the scene of her burning
contraption. They were more than a few days away from it now, but he
was determined to get her back there.

Marda turned with a look of surprise on her round,
wrinkly face. “Wife?” she echoed in surprise.

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he said
meekly. “She’s very sick and with child.”

“Well, let’s get her inside and into a
warm bed,” she said and started to hustle through the deep
snow, leading the way across the short distance to the cabin that had
a barn a few hundred yards away from it.

“Boris, you tend to the horses. I need him
to help me with his wife.”

“Whatever you say,” he grumbled.

Suzanne was delirious from the cold and her fever
was back. She was so weak. She slept a lot and hadn’t awakened
earlier when the Claybornes had confronted Cody, but she did feel him
lift the blanket off her face and shake her gently.

“I need to get off the horse, honey,”
he told her softly. “Try to hang on until I can get you. Okay?”

She nodded weakly, but couldn’t muster the
strength to move away from him.

He steadied her as much as he could then leaped
off the back of the horse.

She threw the blanket off herself. “Don’t
leave me, Cody,” she wept suddenly.

He caught her as she fell off the horse and
grabbed the blanket. “I’m not going anywhere,
sweetheart,” he assured her as he covered her again.

She cried out as her broken arm got tangled, but
he was able to free it and gather her close as she sobbed. “I’m
so sorry, honey,” he said in a tormented voice as his heart was
breaking. She was a mess and it was his fault. She was battered, her
arm was broken, and now she was freezing to death.

“Bring her in here, Cody,” Marda said
gruffly from the open door of the cabin.

He trudged through the deep snow and up the three
steps to the door, carrying Suzanne as she wept helplessly against
his shoulder.

Marda pointed to a bed in another room. “Right
through there.”

“Thank you,” he said gratefully. He
carried her into the cold room, laid her on the bed and sat beside
her. “It’s going to be okay now, honey,” he said in
a hushed voice.

Marda came in still wearing her coat. “I’ll
get some water going for her so she can take a bath. There’s
some wood by the fireplace so you can build a fire and get warmed
up,” she gestured to a stone fireplace in the wall that had a
lot of wood stacked beside it.

“Thank you,” he said politely.

“I’ll get some water,” she
murmured and walked away,

Cody heard the door slam and knew she’d gone
outside. He stood up and took off his heavy duster and spread it over
Suzanne before building a fire, needing warmth as badly as she did.

Suzanne sat up, pushing the duster and blanket
off. “Where are we?” she asked hoarsely, looking around
the room.

He went to her and sat down. “We’re at
the Clayborne’s cabin. The woman is going to get you a bath and
they’re going to let us stay here, hopefully until you’re
well.”

She began to shiver uncontrollably and pulled the
blanket back to her chin. “It’s cold in here,” she
said breathlessly and began to cough.

He could see his breath. It was definitely cold,
but still warmer than being outside in the driving snow and the
bitter wind. He pulled the duster back up to her chin. “I’ve
got a fire going,” he told her softly as he bundled the stuff
around her. “Just give it a little time,” he said
patiently and dropped a kiss to her feverish forehead.

Marda came in through the open door and saw that
Suzanne was shivering. “Oh, the poor dear,” she said
sympathetically. “Bring her out here by the fire, Cody.”

He stood and helped Suzanne to her feet only to
have her fall against him, dropping the blanket to the floor.

She tried to bend over and pick it up as he did
and, despite his efforts to keep her standing, fell to her knees.
“I’m sorry for being such a pain in the ass,” she
said sadly, holding onto his shoulders, looking into his dark eyes.
“Maybe you should just let me die.”

He could see that she wasn’t coherent and
pushed her hair back affectionately. “I’m not going to do
any such thing,” he told her in a quiet voice and wrapped the
blanket around her shoulders again.

“I haven’t done anything but cause you
trouble.”

“I’ve caused you more trouble than you
have me,” he said so only she could hear and kissed her bruised
cheek. “Come on. Marda has a fire going in the other room.”

She shuffled along beside him to Marda, who guided
her to a blanket-covered rocking chair near the fire. Cody covered
her again with his duster, wishing again that he’d left her by
her machine. He had caused her nothing but pain and misery and now
that her baby was dead, he’d cost her more than he could ever
repay. How would he make it up to her? It wasn’t like he could
say he was sorry and replace it. It had been a child with a soul and
a spirit and something she’d created with love with her
husband.

To think about it was an exercise in futility.
There was no way he would ever be able to make this right. The best
he could do would be to take her back to where he had found her. That
was all he could do and hope and pray for the best.

In the meantime, they were snowbound in the Rocky
Mountains.

The men left Marda and Suzanne alone while Suzanne
bathed in the kitchen with Marda’s help.

“Is Cody beating you?” Marda asked
Suzanne as she sat in the big tub of hot water and helped her to wash
her hair.

She shook her head. “No. Cody would never
hurt me,” she said drowsily.

“You’re bruised and battered with a
broken arm and burnt hair. I’m sure you didn’t do that to
yourself.”

She shook her head again. “No, but Cody
didn’t do it. He would never hurt me,” she said softly as
she dozed in the water. “He saved me and I love him. He’s
so sweet and gentle and strong and fierce…” she trailed
off.

Marda wasn’t sure what to think.

~~~

“So, what’s your story?” Boris
asked Cody curiously as Cody covered Titan with his saddle blanket
and fed all three horses. They had the company of a mule and a cow.
“It ain’t right that you should be wanderin’ round
these parts with a sick woman who is gonna have a child.”

Cody knew he was going to have to be careful with
what he told Boris. He didn’t know him and certainly didn’t
trust him. But he thought they were far enough from his enemies to be
somewhat truthful. “Suzanne was captured by some Indians and I
rescued her,” he said simply. “Now we’re on the
run.”

“What Indians?” he asked gruffly.
“You’re one yourself, ain’t ya?”

“Half-breed. My father was white. My mother
was Chiricahua. I lived in the white man’s world, went to their
Indian schools where they taught us to read and write and speak
properly. After my father died, my mother returned to her people and
took me with her. I’ve been in and out ever since and before
all of this happened, I was an Indian agent.”

He gazed at the taller, younger man. “Then
why ya runnin’? You steal the woman?” he asked
suspiciously.

He wasn’t about to confess to that. He
hadn’t actually stolen her until he took her from Chief Tall
Deer, but he had a feeling Boris wouldn’t understand that. “No,
sir. We’re married.”

“I can hardly believe a white woman would
pick up with an Injun,” he said wondrously.

Cody gave the man a conciliatory smile. “It
happens more than you know.”

“She’d be a might purty woman if you
hadn’t beat her an’ all,” he muttered with
distaste. “It ain’t right that a man beat a woman like
that.”

“I didn’t beat her. I’ve never
beat a woman in my life,” he said a little defensively. “The
men who took her were very cruel to her.”

“You stole her,” he stated flatly.
“You ain’t married t’all, are ya?” he said
suspiciously.

“We are married with a child on the way,”
he said calmly, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

“Where you from?” he asked narrowing
his eyes.

“Here and there. I don’t want any
trouble,” he said seriously. “God knows I’ve had
enough of that.”

“Neither do I,” he said coldly and
pulled the gun from his holster and shoved it under Cody’s
chin. “You’re a lyin’ son of a bitch,” he
snarled.

Cody didn’t flinch, but stared unwaveringly
into the man’s stormy green eyes, saying nothing to defend
himself.

“You bringin’ the law?”

“No,” he said calmly.

“You an outlaw?”

“No.”

He cocked the gun and glared into his dark eyes.
“I’m gonna blow your brains all over this here wall if
you’re lyin’,” he threatened.

“Boris!” Marda yelled at her husband
in horror. “Put that damn thing away before I use it on you.”

He reset the gun and slowly slid it back in the
holster, still eying Cody with deep distrust and hostility.

Cody didn’t turn away. He held his gaze
until Boris turned away, feeling his heartbeat return to normal. It
was never an easy thing having a loaded gun held on you like that,
but he never showed his fear. It also made him realize they couldn’t
stay here for long. Once Suzanne was well, he’d take her back
to where he’d found her.

“Cody, your wife is done with her bath. I
fed her and put her to bed,” she said casually.

“Thank you very much,” he said with
genuine gratitude. “Is she asleep?”

“She barely made it through the bath,”
she said with a slight smile. “She sure looks sore, though,”
she added thoughtfully.

“She is,” he agreed quietly. “She’s
been through a lot.”

“Not that it’s any of my business, but
you didn’t do any of that to her, did you?” she asked
uncertainly.

He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I would
never hurt her or any woman for that matter.”

She believed him and gave his forearm a squeeze.
“We’ll set her arm again in the morning.”

“Thank you, ma’am” he said
humbly. “We appreciate it very much.”

She smiled. “My pleasure. I would like to
get her back on her feet again so I can have another woman to talk
to.”

Boris scowled.

Cody wasn’t sure if that was an invitation
to stay awhile or if she was just being kind. “I’d like
the same, ma’am.”

“We have a doctor not too far from here.
Maybe when the storm breaks, Boris can go get him.”

“I can go get him if you tell me where he’s
at,” he volunteered.

“She’ll be okay until the storm
breaks. Besides, I don’t think she wants you to go anywhere
without her. She loves you,” she said with a soft smile.

He nodded. “I love her, too.”

“I think you do,” she said quietly.
“Come along now. I’m sure you’re tired and hungry,
too,” she said cheerfully.

He was both and was about to follow her when Boris
pulled him back by the arm and pointed the gun at his chest. “You
lay one more hand on that woman of yours and I’ll kill you,”
he snarled. “Ain’t no man got a right to beat a woman.
Injun or no Injun.”

“I have never beat her, Boris. There was a
problem at the fort with Major Richards and he had her in jail and
was trying to beat information out of her that she didn’t have.
That’s when it started. There was a raid on the fort and every
cavalryman was killed and the women were taken as slaves. That’s
when it continued and I caught Chief Tall Deer and his son, Walking
Bull trying to rape her while some others watched and cheered them
on. That’s when it ended. I killed all of them and led all the
white women out of the village and took my wife with me,” he
said impatiently and shoved the gun away from his chest. “Now
quit waving that damn gun at me before somebody gets hurt,” he
huffed.

Marda came back in. “Boris,” she
bellowed. “Stop being so damn territorial and let that young
man come inside and eat.”

~~~

With every lie comes some truth
, Cody thought,
looking at Suzanne as she slept. He’d told Boris more than he
ever wanted to and still made him believe that he and Suzanne were
married. He didn’t know if that was the right or the wrong
thing to do, but it was easier than trying to explain why he was with
her since she was a white woman and he was a half-breed. That was
usually viewed as hostile on the part of the Indian since no
self-respecting white woman would ever willingly be with an Indian
man. Then it would lead to even more questions about how it came to
be that she was pregnant without a husband. Yeah, it was easier to
lie. He would have to tell Suzanne to go along with it if she ever
became lucid again.