Meade’s attempts to calm her down and reason with her hadn’t worked, and some of her anger with Case had spilled over onto him. He had made love to her last night with a passion that was heartbreakingly tender at times and at other times breathtakingly tempestuous. He had kept his promise to wake up with no regrets, but the sweet words they had exchanged that morning didn’t change the way she felt that afternoon.
As they neared the ridge, Rayna caught Meade looking at her a number of times, but she ignored him. If she looked at him, he would probably give her a tender look of understanding that would disarm her completely, and she wasn’t ready to be disarmed. She needed her anger if she was going to survive another disillusionment.
They reached the base of the ridge, but before they began climbing, Case stopped and dismounted.
“What are you doing?” Rayna asked.
“The horses need rest,” he told her.
She started to protest as she patted Triton’s lathered neck, but she bit back the ridiculous complaint. As usual, he was right, and even that irritated her.
She climbed down and joined Case and Meade. “How far to the ravine?”
“Thirty minutes, maybe a little less,” Case replied. “We don’t want to arrive too early, or Sun Hawk may suspect that we’re there to lay a trap.”
She wanted to ask again what made him so positive that Sun Hawk would even be there, but she restrained herself. No matter what he replied, she wouldn’t believe it, so it was pointless to question him. She slipped her canteen off the saddle horn and drank, then let Triton have some water, too. The men followed suit, and Meade looked over at Case.
246
Constance Bennett—Moonsong
[ e - r e a d s ]
“Do you think one of us should take to the hills just in case Sun Hawk decides to try an ambush?”
“No. If he doesn’t see all three of us coming in, he’ll think we’re the ones setting a trap. We’ll leave the horses at the mouth of the ravine and walk in.
It’s the only way.”
Meade accepted his decision and was surprised when Rayna didn’t take the opportunity to argue. “All right. We’ll do it your way.”
Case looked at Rayna. “There is one thing you must do, though.”
She squared her shoulders and faced him belligerently. “If you’re going to tell me I have to wait behind or stay in the background like a good little girl, you can just go—”
“Take off your hat and unbind your hair,” he said, cutting her off. “From a distance Sun Hawk thought you were a man. I want him to see that I didn’t lie, and the sight of your hair will make you much easier for Skylar to recognize.”
It was a reasonable request, and she was happy to comply. She was less happy about having to apologize because she suddenly felt ashamed of her cantankerous behavior. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. Case.” She sighed heavily.
“I know I haven’t given you much reason to believe this, but I do appreciate everything you’ve done for my sister.”
“She’s my sister, too,” he said calmly.
Rayna felt her ire rising again as a burst of uncontrollable jealousy swept through her. “So you keep reminding me.”
Case frowned slightly, regarding her more with curiosity than with displeasure. “Why does knowing that Morning Star is my sister trouble you so much?”
“Because I don’t know any Morning Star. I only know my sister, Skylar.”
“And you’ve never had to share her with anyone, have you?” he asked quietly.
Rayna felt unwanted tears stinging her eyes, and she hated the weakness at a time when she needed all the strength she possessed. “No, I haven’t, and I’m not sure I like the idea,” she said crossly. “You have a blood tie to her that I can never share.”
Case nodded slowly. “And you have had her love for twenty years. You have seen her smiles and heard her laughter. You know what makes her cry, what she dreams of, and where she goes when she is sad. I have nothing but a memory of a bright-eyed little girl who made arrows out of sticks and brought joy to the hearts of all who knew her.” He paused a moment when he saw the twin tears that carved a path down Rayna’s face, but he couldn’t stop himself from adding, “It is I who should be jealous of you.”
“Damn you,” she whispered as a sob escaped her control. “Damn you.” The tears came in a rush and nearly buckled her over, but Meade was there to hold her up. She turned to him, resting her forehead on his chest until she con-247
Constance Bennett—Moonsong
[ e - r e a d s ]
quered the tears. Case’s words made her feel selfish and small. Resenting him for loving Skylar as much as she did was so wrong.
When Rayna finally collected herself and turned back to Case, her resentment of him was gone.
“Skylar goes to a place called the Enchanted Mesa to weave her dreams,”
she told him, her voice as soft as a sigh. “And she feels sad only when she tries to touch the memory of the family she lost but can’t quite reach it. If I am jealous, it’s because you can give her back those memories, where I’ve never been able to.”
Case smiled at her. “You have given her everything else. Don’t begrudge me that.’
“I don’t,” she said with a little shake of her head. “All I’ve ever wanted is her happiness.”
“As have I,” Case replied.
Meade placed his hands on Rayna’s shoulders and looked at his brother-in-law. “I think we’ve reached an understanding.”
“Yes,” Case said.
Rayna nodded, then glanced over her shoulder at Meade. “Yes, we have.
But if he’s wrong about Sun Hawk being at the ravine, he’s still going to have to reckon with me.”
Both men laughed, and Rayna smiled at them. “Can we go now? I don’t know about the horses, but I’ve had all the rest I can handle.”
“Mount up,” Case said, and they did.
The confrontation with Case had released a number of Rayna’s emotions, including the ones that had been shielding her expectations. She felt raw and vulnerable as they approached the ravine, and when they dismounted and left the horses, her heart began beating so hard that it nearly leapt out of her chest. Sandwiched between Meade and Case, she walked over the rocky ground on legs that seemed barely strong enough to hold her up. And then they reached the mouth of the arroyo, and Case stopped.
“Go,” he told Rayna. “Walk ahead.”
“No, Case,” Meade protested. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s not,” Case replied, looking down at Rayna. “Our sister is in there. I feel it. Call to her and she will come to you. Now, go.”
Balling her hands into fists, Rayna stepped away from them and walked slowly into the arroyo. It was sunset, and darkness had begun to gather, making contorted shadows of every rock and stunted tree. The fear she felt had nothing to do with the ghostly landscape.
She stopped and opened her mouth to call out, but nothing came. She tried again, whispering, “Please, God, please,” before the name she needed to say was ripped from her very soul.
248
Constance Bennett—Moonsong
[ e - r e a d s ]
“Sky-lar!” Her cry echoed off the walls, and before the sound had died, she shouted it again, “Sky-lar! Sky-lar!”
A strangled cry blended with the echo, and from above her, stones tumbled as Skylar came running down the hill. When Rayna looked up and saw her, she began running, too, and somewhere on the shadowed hillside they fell into each other’s arms.