Jodi Thomas - To Wed In Texas

“It wouldn't do to have Allie on her way and me have to kill her brother before she gets here,” he added as he finished off the apple.

“He knows why you have him tied.” Valerie's voice came from the kitchen doorway. The young girl stood with her arms folded as she leaned against the frame.

“You think so, little lady?” Wolf laughed. He obviously irritated Valerie by treating her like a child and not the woman she thought she already was.

“I know so,” she replied calmly. The girl knew Wolf well enough to have no fear of the man. “I told your Apache why he was here when I took him water yesterday.”

Wolf knocked his chair over as he stood. “He speaks English?”

“No.” She smiled. “I speak Apache. Or at least enough to communicate. My grandfather made sure I could, just as my father insisted I know a little French.”

“And what does our friend have to say?” Wolf looked doubtful.

“He says he has no white sister.” She glanced to see if the twins were listening, then lowered her voice. “And he says he will kill you all and sprinkle the ground with your blood before the next full moon.”

“Did he tell you his name?” Wolf was starting to believe her story.

“Niccohoma,” she replied. “It means ‘without fear.’”

“I don't want you going near him again,” Wolf ordered as he realized just how dangerous the boy, still a year short of being a man, could be to all of them. “He might just kill you, little lady.”

“He said he wouldn't harm me. The blood of his people flows in me.” Valerie held her head high.

“But the blood of the Apache doesn't flow in that kid. He was captured during a raid on a settlement northwest of here. I talked to an Apache who remembered the day they dug him, half dead, out of a plowed field and took him home with them like a war prize.”

“But how can you be so sure he is the brother of Allie all these years later?” Karlee interrupted.

“The Apache described the same scene Wes's wife did of seeing the bodies of her family and others piled in front of the settlement. Then everything was burned. The old Apache that told me about John, not Niccohoma, also said another warrior carried a little girl about the same size over his saddle. Only he went to another village and by the time the two warriors met again to hunt, the little girl had been traded. Like I've heard of them doing, they adopted the boy as a son and traded the girl as a slave.”

“I told him you thought him a captive,” Valerie answered. “He said you lie. He is Apache. He has no memory of any other world. Of any other people. His mother is the wife of a chief and she has no sons but him.”

“He can say anything he wants, Valerie, but that doesn't make it true.” Wolf didn't like to be called a liar, even in another language.

The kitchen door popped suddenly as if the wind caught it and threw it open in a wood-splitting snap.

A cry, not quiet human, shattered the air, frosting the stillness with fear. In one heartbeat, everyone turned toward the sounds from the kitchen and cried one thing.

“The twins!”

KARLEE BUMPED INTO THE BACK OF VALERIE, AND Wolf ran into them both as they bolted into the kitchen. The twins were nowhere to be seen, but the wild savage Wolf had called John stood next to the pump with a knife in each hand.

His body glistened with sweat. His eyes were wild with fear and hate. Bloodred rope burns circled his wrists, and dirt covered his body almost to his shoulders.

“Now, hold on there!” Wolf ordered. “Put down those knives, son.”

The boy raised the blades, preparing to fight.

Karlee held Valerie's shoulders, pulling her back a few inches to the relative safety of the doorway.

“No!” The girl jerked free and ran deeper into the room. “I can talk to him. He'll listen to me.”

Niccohoma glared past her to the others crowded at the door. He obviously considered the girl little threat. But she drew his attention when she spoke Apache.

Wolf inched his way along the wall. A knife would never stop a man like Wolf Hayward. Judging from the boy's gaze darting from Wolf to Valerie, he guessed as much.

Someone from behind Karlee gripped her shoulder suddenly, causing her to jump and cry out almost as loudly as the captive had when he burst into the kitchen.

The intruder hardly appeared to hear her. He backed against the counter and prepared to make a stand.

“Help me,” Daniel commanded, pulling himself beside her.

His hands were wrapped and the blindfold covered his eyes. He didn't seem to be able to put any weight on his injured leg, but still he moved forward.

Karlee slid her arm around his waist and donated her strength to his useless quest.

“What's happening?” he whispered. “Are the twins all right?”

Karlee glanced around the room and noticed the blanket tent wall move slightly. “They're safe in the tent for now. Valerie is talking to the boy, moving closer as she speaks. He stands at the pump.”

Karlee tried to keep her voice low so the Apache wouldn't turn his anger toward her. She wanted to argue that Daniel should be back in bed, but she knew it would be wasted time. “What can I do to help?” she asked.

“Get us between him and the twins.” Daniel's powerful arm pulled her against him for strength.

“Can you move with me?”

“Yes!” The word came between clenched teeth.

Guiding Daniel slowly forward, Karlee tried to remember to breathe. The table waited only five feet away. When they reached it, he leaned on it, allowing the wood to take as much of his weight as he dared.

“He'll come toward me,” Daniel predicted. “When he does, it will be your one chance. Grab the twins and run to the front door. Don't look back, just run.”

“He has a knife in both hands.”

“Good.” Daniel almost smiled. “I can take several blows and still fight. With a weapon in each hand, he'll have no way to guard. I might get in a few swings. It'll give you more time. If he's been trained for battle, he's been trained to kill the men first. Even wounded I must be killed if I stand to fight.”

The savage spit words angrily at Valerie in Apache, arguing with her.

“Valerie, be careful!” Karlee cried. If she could have turned loose of Daniel, she would have run to the girl and pulled her back. Valerie was getting far too close. Her youth made her unable to see the danger of death so near.

She took no heed of Karlee's cry. For her, there was only the boy, almost man, almost warrior. But for now, only a boy.

She waved her hands in front of him as if erasing what she heard him say. To the girl's credit, she faced the man with no sign of fear. In fact, she placed her fists on her hips and raised her voice in argument. Her boldness might be the only thing keeping him from attacking.

“Where's Wolf?” Daniel leaned closer to Karlee depending more on her strength.

“He's moving along the wall. He's near the pie safe now, halfway.”

Karlee watched as Valerie took a step closer and pointed her finger at the savage's bare chest. She'd been raised in this wild country with generations of pioneers in her blood. “One savage with two kitchen knives isn't going to kill my friends!” Valerie screamed, more angry than frightened. Rapidly, she translated her own words into Apache. “And I'm not going to let you commit suicide by rushing Wolf.”

The words of several languages blended as she spoke, drawing the boy's full attention.

Karlee's low voice told Daniel of each movement. They stood at the end of the table, protecting the twins. He held his head high, listening. If the savage sprang toward them, he would not be taken unaware.

“Talk to the twins.” He fought to maintain his balance. “Tell them not to be afraid and to be ready if you call them.”

Karlee nodded. She knew if Daniel spoke above a whisper, he would draw the boy's attention. Yet the youth paid no more notice of Karlee than if her voice had been a gnat's buzz around the room.

The savage seemed fascinated with Valerie. Karlee wasn't sure if he thought the girl brave or crazy. The beauty of several cultures flowed in her along with the fire.

“Where's Wolf?” Daniel brushed Karlee's ear with his words.

“Six feet away, on the left,” she answered. “He's ready to move.”

“When I yell, step back and dive under the table with the twins.” He touched her hair with his cheek. “And stay there.”

Karlee opened her mouth to argue, but there was no time.

Daniel braced himself against her and shoved hard, almost knocking her off her feet. In one step, he covered a third of the distance between the table and the sink.

“Move away, Valerie!” Daniel yelled stumbling toward the well-armed intruder. “Move away now!”

The sight of a blind man with wrapped hands charging across the room caused the boy to hesitate. Karlee had no doubt he would have fought another. But he was like everyone else in the room. All he could do was stare as Daniel made his way across the floor like a raging bull.