Tried and True (Wild at Heart Book #1) (5 page)

She had to have let her loneliness fill in something frightful. As her breathing slowed, she thought she heard a sound in the darkness.

“Kylie.”

So soft, only a whisper. So still it could have been the wind gusting between the trees.

Shaken, she stood still for long moments. But there was no more sound, until finally she knew it really had to be a trick of her mind.

Looking down at her trembling hands, she knew that as tricks went, it had been a very good one. She’d gone out to stand on the porch without lighting a lantern. Now she knew that to light one might make her visible if someone found even the smallest crack in the logs of her cabin.

Terrified to think of those watchful eyes—eyes that were almost certainly just some forest creature—she went to bed, determined to find a way out of this life before it drove her mad.

K
ylie swung off her little gray mustang. She’d ridden to Shannon’s first thing when she’d gotten up—wearing a dress. Yes, she was desperate for company, but there was more. Meeting Aaron, meeting Coulter, their both knowing she was a woman, the trouble with her claim, the fright caused by her loneliness last night.

She’d awakened this morning determined to make some changes.

Today was the beginning of a new day and a new life. She felt reborn. She was a woman and she was going to live like one, and no one was going to stop her.

Aaron had left the night before, intent on changing her homesteading papers to disallow her the service exemption. So there was no point to her manly masquerade anymore. Still, she rode astride. It wasn’t the first time she noticed that although she longed to dress and behave as a woman, there were a few things she didn’t like. Riding
sidesaddle was one bit of nonsense by which she refused to abide.

“Kylie!” Shannon’s voice whipped Kylie’s head around, searching for the source. “Help!”

Shannon was nowhere to be seen.

“Behind the barn.”

Her sister wasn’t visible now, but Shannon must’ve seen Kylie ride up.

Kylie dropped the reins of her horse and ran, knowing from the tone of her sister’s voice that there was trouble. She rounded the barn to find Shannon neck-deep in the fast-moving stream that ran off her mountain. She was clinging to a fat sheep.

“Shannon, for heaven’s sake.” Just as Kylie yelled, Shannon’s head went underwater.

Kylie picked up speed, sprinting for the stream. Her skirts were heavy enough they’d pull her under. Kylie tore at her buttons and shed her dress while she ran. Next she shed her petticoat. She wore only a shift by the time she reached the water’s edge.

Kylie wasn’t a strong swimmer, and while the time pounded at her, she took the time to rip her shoes away, knowing anything that held her down might be the thing that cost Shannon’s life. Kylie ran into the water and was instantly swept along. Shannon’s head appeared again and in the same place. She still held that stupid sheep.

Flailing more than swimming, Kylie hoped Shannon got a good breath while her head was up. “Let the sheep go,” she hollered.

“I can’t!” Then Shannon went under again.

Can’t or won’t? Kylie wasn’t sure. She knew Shannon’s
favorite Bible verse was the one about the good shepherd giving his life for the sheep. Shannon might be taking that a bit too far.

The current swept Kylie along. When she came even with Shannon, there’d be a single chance to grab her, because Shannon wasn’t moving. Something had her anchored to the spot, even while the water battered at her and tried to pull her under.

Kylie drove herself, got every ounce of strength out of her arms. A wash of water went over her head just as she inhaled, and she choked as she forced herself forward.

Calm down. Remember
the war. Keep going. Ignore the fear.

Why did so much in her life remind her of the lessons she’d learned in the war? That didn’t seem fair.

Kylie kicked with all her might and grabbed Shannon’s shirt as the water swept her past. Her grip held.

“What happened? Why are you out here with that sheep?”

They both went under. The sheep kicked Kylie in the stomach, and Kylie fought to keep from gasping while she was submerged.

When they broke the surface of the water, Kylie saw that Shannon’s skin was white, her fingers wrinkled. How long had she been stuck out here fighting for her life?

“This sheep is saving my life. He’s the only thing keeping me from drowning. I fell in and rode the current, and then my foot got tangled in a branch or root or something.”

Kylie realized the kicking sheep was swimming, trying to escape but also keeping Shannon from going down for good.

Shannon produced a wickedly sharp knife. “Cut me loose.”

Kylie shuddered to think of diving down, maybe getting entangled herself. But there was no choice. She took the knife and clung to it as if it were life itself. Which it very well might be.

“Which leg?” They both sank down, and it was a long time before their heads were above water again.

“My right, at the ankle. I tried to slip my ankle free, but it’s knotted up somehow.”

Kylie sucked in as much air as she could, using Shannon’s body to drag herself down, using one hand so the other could hang on to the blade. Fumbling, her eyes open in the clear water, she saw thick roots twisted tight around Shannon’s ankle. They came up from the stream bed. Kylie tried slipping Shannon’s booted foot free, but the roots were caught all through the hooks on the boot, until it was impossible to get the boot off. Kylie had to cut Shannon free. Desperately trying to figure out where to start, she caught hold of the root closest to Shannon’s leg and slashed. A white nick appeared in the brown coil, a tiny one.

She cut again, hacking and sawing. The wound on the root deepened. Sawing with every ounce of her strength, she added a fraction of an inch at a time.

Her lungs began to protest. The root wasn’t going to give way easily.

Kylie was halfway through when, finally, she had to come up for air. She clung to Shannon as she bobbed to the surface. If she got washed downstream, she’d be a long time getting to the bank, walking back upstream and starting this all over again. Kylie came up and was face-to-face with that dumb sheep.

Her conscience nudged her on that. The sheep, with
its thin legs thrashing at the water, was keeping Shannon alive. She was too tired and too battered by the current to keep treading water.

“I’m almost done,” Kylie panted—not telling the truth, dragging air into her starving lungs. She prayed for the gumption to go back down there and get on with saving her sister.

Shannon nodded. She trembled all over. Kylie wondered how long Shannon could hang on. Pulling herself down, she chopped and sawed some more with the blade. At last a root gave way, but there were at least two more needing to be cut.

Kylie started again, battling her sister’s snare. A second root gave just as she ran out of air again and surfaced. “One more!” She gasped for breath. “I’ll have you free the next time I go down.” Her heart pounded with exhaustion and fear.

Shannon, who was far tougher than Kylie, barely responded. Her fingers were clamped deep in the wool of the sheep. Even the sheep looked exhausted. Kylie had to do it this time. Shannon had nothing left. The sheep, well . . .

Shaking her head, Kylie inhaled deeply one more time, and then down she went. One last root bound Shannon’s foot, this one the thickest yet. It was like hacking through a tree branch. She gouged and sliced, knowing she fought for her sister’s life. At the halfway point she knew she’d need more air. But Kylie kept at it, pushing herself to the limit.

Her lungs near to bursting, with a desperate slash her knife snagged on the almost-severed root and tore out of her hand. It was gone instantly, vanished downstream. There was no way to get it back without letting go of Shannon. No way to break free this last root without the knife.

A silent scream slashed Kylie as surely as a knife. Her clumsiness had just condemned her sister to death.

The root was still too thick. Yanking on it frantically, Kylie knew there was no give. The knife was gone. Her air was gone. Above her, Shannon quit moving. A splash told her the sheep was swimming away. Shannon had lost her grip on the animal.

Kylie surfaced to see Shannon’s head underwater and pulled her up. She was unconscious, limp. She couldn’t even think of letting go, getting to shore, and coming back with another knife. Shannon would drown.

A sharp cry drew Kylie’s attention to the shore in time to see Bailey cutting into the water with a shallow dive.

Bailey was here! Bailey would save them both. Tears burned Kylie’s eyes, even as she clung to Shannon and both of them clung to life. Within seconds, far faster than Kylie, Bailey reached them.

“Shannon’s ankle. It’s tangled in a root. I was cutting it, but I dropped Shannon’s knife.”

Bailey drew her knife from the scabbard she always wore, clamped it in her teeth like a pirate, and vanished underwater.

Before Kylie could even give a thought to Bailey going to work, Shannon snapped free. Because she was holding her, Kylie and Shannon were both swept downstream.

Kylie, with her poor swimming skills, fought to keep Shannon’s head above water and used one hand to flail away, trying to get to the shore. The banks got dangerously high before long and would be impossible to climb, so their getting to shore fast was vital.

Then Bailey was there again. She flipped Shannon on
her back and grabbed her under her chin in a way that left Shannon floating on top of the water. “Swim for shore fast, the banks get steep. I’ll bring Shannon.”

In other words,
Leave. You’re useless. I
’ll handle everything, just like always
.

Kylie was too exhausted to block the pain of Bailey’s dismissal. She took the barb straight to her heart, let Shannon go, and struck out for the shore. Bailey got to shore, even dragging Shannon, before Kylie did. Finally, about twenty yards downstream of where Bailey reached shore, Kylie managed to wash up into shallow water. Getting to her hands and knees, she crawled across the small but sharp river rocks. They tore at her knees, but she had no strength to stand.

Looking back, she saw Bailey kneeling over Shannon, who lay facedown. Bailey pressed on her back rhythmically.

The sight of Shannon, unconscious, possibly dead, gave Kylie the strength to get up and run, in stumbling steps, to drop at Shannon’s side. Kylie opened her mouth, ready to ask for orders. Bailey would assign her something to do, and Kylie could feel like she was helping. Before Kylie could speak, Shannon gagged, and water erupted from her mouth and spewed onto the rocks. Because she was facing Bailey, the big sister also got a bellyful of water and vomit on her pants.

Bailey did everything well. She even took this bit of unpleasantness without reacting as she continued to press on Shannon’s back. Another gush of water came out, and Shannon drew in a ragged breath, then vomited again but only a bit. The breathing became a cough. Each breath sounded painful, but moments passed as Shannon’s heaving
settled down. Taking steady breaths again, her eyes flickered open.

“Bailey, you came.”

Another arrow to the heart. Every syllable Shannon spoke said clearly that Bailey’s arriving had been her wish. Her big sister was the one she wanted to see in a time of trouble, not her foolhardy little sister.

Kylie didn’t take it as hard as Bailey telling her to leave. She’d found the walls that guarded her heart.

They stayed by Shannon’s side for a while. Finally, with feeble movements that told how completely spent Shannon was, she pushed herself to her knees. With Bailey’s support on the left and Kylie’s on the right, Shannon staggered to her feet. Only then did she notice Kylie, even though Kylie had her arm around Shannon’s waist and bore as much of Shannon’s weight as she could.

“Kylie.” Shannon smiled. Not for the first time, Kylie thought how beautiful her dark-haired sister was. It was said she took after their ma. No men’s clothes and short hair could conceal her beauty. “Kylie, thank you. Thank you.”

Shannon flung her arms around Kylie’s neck. Shannon was the sweetest of the three of them. The mother in many ways, with a soft heart for motherless sisters and woolly sheep. It was like Shannon to think of others and make sure Kylie’s feelings weren’t hurt. Even if she had been useless.

“Bailey got you cut loose. I couldn’t do it.” Tears threatened again, but Kylie knew the disdain Bailey had for crying.

Shannon let go of Kylie, rested one hand on her cheek, then turned to Bailey. “You both saved me. Thank you.” Shannon’s voice broke, but she steadied herself, not one for weeping.

“Let’s get you back to the house.” Bailey slid an arm around Shannon’s waist, just above where Kylie had her. Kylie’s eyes met Bailey’s, and it was a good moment, the three of them together. Kylie shook away the hurt of Bailey saving the day while Kylie failed. She hoped to one day be strong enough that her sister’s criticism couldn’t hurt her feelings.

They were so different.

Bailey with her fierce pleasure at living like a man. Shannon with her soft heart and those stupid sheep. Kylie with her love of feminine things, her discontent with their ridiculous masquerade, and her stubborn dream of living near civilization. They did a lot of sniping at each other, but it was over surface things. Where it really counted, they never forgot they were sisters. Their bond had been forged in their lifelong battle with their pa. In their shared sacrifice in the war. In their mourning over losing their beloved big brother, Jimmy.

Pa had become nearly crazed when Jimmy died in the war. He’d always been a curmudgeon, but the family had limped along decently enough—until Jimmy died.

They’d been living with the results of Pa’s unending grief ever since.

Kylie knew she’d allowed herself to be manipulated, not just out of Pa’s grief but also out of her own. A big part of her had
wanted
to fight the South. She’d
wanted
to avenge Jimmy’s death . . . and then she’d faced the reality of war. By the time she had a real notion of the horror of it, it was too late. After her first battle, she’d decided to confess that she was a woman, even though to do so would reveal that she’d lived all this time camping with and living with men.
It would be a disgrace. But before she could confess, she found a way to stay in uniform but avoid battle. So she’d stayed in and served out the duration. She’d found some satisfaction in her work as a spy. She’d endured two years of it before the fighting ended.

The three sisters had been sent in different directions. And now here they were, still living a lie. Until yesterday.

Kylie felt like she’d been born again. She had a chance at a new life and she was taking it. She thought of that awful moment last night when she thought a man had watched her from the dark woods. She had to get out of here before she started jumping at every shadow she got near.