Fair Is the Rose (48 page)

"Be careful. Please." The last word was like a prayer.

He took up his old Sharps repeater and unbolted the door. With the greatcoat wrapped around her, she ran to the threshold, surprised to see it was dawn again. The entire valley was awash in gray light.

The
Ap
had wandered near the lake. Even in the dimness she could see its ears pricked forward, its tail up in fear and excitement. It smelled something in the air.
Something dangerous.

Cain turned to her, his eyes dark with warning. She closed the door as much as she could without totally blocking her view. If it was a bear, she'd see it charge the door long before it could get to it. In the meantime, Cain would have to endure her surveillance. She wasn't going to let him disappear without knowing what happened to him.

She watched while he stealthily made his way down the lake's embankment. The
Ap
seemed relieved by his appearance; the animal gave him no trouble at all when he grabbed its mane and led it toward the cabin.

But suddenly there was a disturbance. Branches waved and snapped above an embankment of half-melted snow. Christal held her breath, the scream swallowed by sheer will. Cain didn't move. The
Ap
danced around, terrified by whatever lay in the brush to their left.

Against her better judgment Christal ran out of the cabin, nearer to Cain. She was thirty yards away when she skidded to a halt, her fear freezing her as much as the snow froze her bare feet.

It was a grizzly. The animal appeared at the top of the embankment, grinding through the brush with all the finesse and serenity of an earthquake. It was thin, its heavy gold-tipped coat hung loose on its frame, its claws were unbelievably long, proof it hadn't killed in weeks, not since snow had blinded the valley and frozen it into a wasteland.

The
Ap
released a high-pitched whinny, and Cain threw his arms around the horse's face and forced its head down into his chest. If it couldn't see, it wouldn't be as frightened.

"Cain. Cain." She whispered the words. She was surprised he heard her.

"I told you to stay in the goddamned cabin." His words were even and showed no fear.

The grizzly stopped on the embankment and looked straight at Cain.

"Shall I make a diversion, Cain?" she asked in a low, trembling voice.

"No, goddammit."
The
Ap
threw its head. It took all of Cain's strength to hold it down.

"Should I—" Her words choked in her throat.

The bear rose up on its hind legs to a height of more than eight feet. Up on two feet, it looked unnervingly human. Below, Cain struggled with the
Ap
, clearly taking great pains not to lock stares with the bear.

"Go back to the cabin, Christal." His words were calm and gentle. "Don't look into his eyes, don't make any loud noises. It'll irritate him."

Christal thought he'd gone mad. "Shoot him!" she rasped in a harsh whisper.

"Back yourself up, girl, and get into that cabin.
Do it!"
He held down the
Ap's
head and looked at her.

She glanced at the towering bear and swallowed an
other scream. "He's going to attack. I can't leave you. . . ."

"
He smelling
me, that's all. If he were going to attack, you'd know it. He'd be snarling and angry like a dog. Now he just wants to know what we are, so go back to the goddamned cabin. I need you to do that."

She backed up slowly, her bare feet slipping in the snow and ice. Suddenly she could see the bear was indeed trying to discern Cain's scent. Its nose was
up,
its huge front paws limp and useless in the air. The
Ap
gave a weary nicker. Cain tried to muffle it in his chest.

She was in the doorway when the bear finally dropped to all fours. Its eyes were too small for her to read any of its thoughts, but its face was screwed up into an expression of extreme repugnance, as if it had detected a dark, alien stench. But then, the bear turned away. It slid down the other side of the embankment. She, Cain, and the
Ap
stayed perfectly quiet while they watched it lope up the incline to Warrior Peak.

Christal grabbed the doorway, weak from relief. Cain still stood frozen by the lake until die bear was far enough away that the
Ap
wouldn't irritate it. She almost laughed with relief when she heard another of the horse's weak nickers.

Then the sky fell on her. At least she thought it was the sky. Something heavy dropped from the roof of the cabin, covering her body with a heavy, muscular weight. Her breath knocked clean from her chest, she lay on the floor of the cabin, gasping for another lungful.
And staring at the large shadow of the half-breed.

He drew a gun, kicked her into the cabin, and bolted the door. She scrambled to a corner, leaving Cain's greatcoat in the middle of the floor.

"Why—why are you here?" she panted, every breath giving her pain and renewed terror. "What do you want?"

"Another dance."

He laughed, and the sound sent stabs of fear through her heart.

His shadow fell on her. She huddled into a ball. Doomed, she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"A man in St. Louis told me to find you. He paid me gold." He knelt and touched her hair as if he'd waited for a long time to do it.

"My uncle."
Her words were hardly a whimper. Terror choked her.

"I don't know who he is to you, but he paid me to kill you. So I'll kill you."

"It's you who'll be killed," she said, somehow summoning the courage. She couldn't let this man kill her and destroy whatever happiness she would have with Cain. "The man outside will kill you if you hurt me. I've seen him kill before. He won't let you live."

"He did not kill the bear."

The half-breed's expression, or lack of expression, froze her. The bear had more humanity than he did. She could see the man had no thoughts other than his goal, however perverse that goal might be.

"The—the bear went away," she stammered. "If you leave here and leave me unharmed, Cain will let you go too." She stared at him, desperate to find some compassion in his eyes.

"I waited all night for the cabin door to open. When I saw the bear, I was glad. I'm not afraid of the bear. I'm not afraid of
him."
He nodded toward the door.

Huddled in the corner, she looked up at him. She'd forgotten how tall he was. How muscular. He was like the grizzly in every respect, but there was malice in his eyes, whereas the grizzly knew none.

"The bear went away. You must go too. Save
yourself
," she whispered, her heart hammering against her chest.

"Christal! Open the door! Why have you locked it?" Cain called angrily from outside.

"Help—" Her answer was muffled by the half-breed's filthy palm. He stared down at her a long time, his eyes captured for some reason by her hair.

"Goddammit, open the door, Christal!"

She could hear Cain's fury now. And the edge in his voice that said he was worried.

"Do not speak." The half-breed put a finger to his lips.

She watched the half-breed while he stared entranced by her hair. It was the end of the line. Her uncle had caught her and won. The half-breed would kill her, and as soon as Cain came through the door, the half-breed would kill him too.

"Don't do this," she whispered, her eyes imploring him for mercy.

The half-breed smiled. He had crooked yellow bottom teeth. "What choice do I have? You think he'll let me take you away?"

Helplessly, she thought of all the times Cain had protected her. Even when she thought he was an outlaw, he'd always protected her. He didn't deserve to die for her now. For all that he'd done, she owed him a life.
If her end had come, then so be it, she would instead fight for his.

She grabbed for the pistol, suddenly leaping to her feet, fighting like a wildcat. Shock crossed the half-breed's face. He lost his grip on the gun. She pointed it at him, but he hit her and she fell against the wall, stunned. He grabbed the gun. Dominant once more, he stared down at her while she lay panting in the corner, defeated.

Then she realized Cain had stopped shouting. It was artificially quiet.
Ominous.

The half-breed took her wrist and dragged her to her feet. He ran his dirty fingers through her hair. His rancid smell burned through her nostrils. Her gaze searched every corner of the cabin for a weapon, but there was nothing.

"I'm going to take your hair with me."

The idea shot icy fear through her. "A hank of hair is not much company." She forced the panic from her voice. "Wouldn't—wouldn't you like the whole—the entire woman to come with you? Why, I—I can cook for you—" She groped for something more to entice him. "I —I can even keep you warm at night. You see—I've run with outlaws before. Why—I could run with you."

He looked down at her. She wasn't sure but she thought she finally saw the mortal flash of emotion in his terrible dark eyes.

"You lie to me. You know you won't stay with me and give me comfort. You'll run the first chance. Then I'll have nothing."

Bewilderment set in. She hadn't expected his reaction. "No, no ... I would stay. I would owe you for my lover's life."

"When we leave this cabin your lover will try to kill me. Then I will kill him. I won't spare his life."

She closed her eyes, weak with terror. "Unbolt the door. Let me talk to him. I'll tell him I want to go with you. That I met you at Faulty's."

He stared at her for a long moment,
then
he placed the pistol to her head. "Open the door."

She slid back the bolt, her heart near to bursting.

The half-breed walked her out, the barrel of the pistol resting at her temple, a hair's breadth from firing.