“That’s just it,” Lou said. “Your pa had always put your ma and you and your sister before everyone and everything else. A lot of men don’t do that. They’d rather drink and carry on with their friends than spend time with their families.”
Zach was puzzled by why she was talking about how they got along at a time like this. There were more important things, such as how they were going to escape.
“They’re not stopping us,” Lou said.
“What?”
“They’re letting us talk. I was testing to see if they would, or if they would make us stop.” Lou stepped on a pine cone and her foot slipped, sending a sharp pain up her hurt leg.
Zach noticed. “Is it getting worse?”
“I can manage.”
Zach had his doubts. She could barely walk. What would she do when they had to run for their lives? “I want you to stick close to me from here on out.”
“You and only you.”
The next slope was thickly forested. High above were sheer cliffs. A game trail bought them slowly and sinuously higher, until they came out on a short grassy bench. From there they could see for miles.
Lou paused to admire the view. She could see the lake and the brown square that was their cabin. She would give anything to be back there now, rocking in her chair or cooking, or maybe taking a stroll along the shore. She loved that more than just about anything.
The warrior behind her pushed her.
Lou stumbled. She tried to recover her balance, but her bad leg flared and she grabbed at Zach to keep from falling.
The warrior cuffed her.
So unexpected was the attack that Zach was rooted in rage for all of five seconds. Then he exploded. Whirling, he kicked the man in the leg. The warrior doubled over and Zach kneed him in the face. He drew back his foot to kick again, but a blow to his back sent him tottering toward the edge of the shelf. His heel came down on slick grass, and the next Zach knew, he was tumbling out of control. For harrowing moments he thought he would slam into a tree, but he came to a stop unhurt.
Two Heart Eaters were coming after him.
Heaving upright, Zach ran. It took some doing with his hands bound behind him. Angry shouts followed, and the crackle of underbrush. He rounded a boulder and nearly collided with a large log. Vaulting over, he dropped onto his side and pressed against it.
Feet padded. A warrior flew around the end. The second man leaped over the log as Zach had done—and over Zach, as well. Both raced on down the slope, unaware they had gone past him.
Scrambling erect, Zach stayed low and paralleled the bottom of the bench. He ran until he was out of sight of the warriors up above. Casting about, he searched for a flat rock with a serrated edge. He’d about despaired of finding what he needed when a godsend appeared at his feet. He set to sawing at the rope.
Angry yells told him more Heart Eaters had joined the search. From the sound of things only a few were guarding Lou.
Zach sawed and sawed. A few strands parted. Back and forth, back and forth, until his wrists and fingers ached. The rock was no knife. At the rate he was cutting it would take minutes he didn’t have. He pressed harder. The rock bit into his palm, but pain was the least of his worries.
Below, the Heart Eaters went on hunting him. They had gone quiet, save for an occasional yell.
Zach felt blood on his palm. He kept cutting. More strands were severed. Impatient to rescue Lou, he stopped slicing, bunched his shoulders and tensed his arm muscles and exerted all his strength. He wasn’t as immensely strong as his pa, but he was solid muscle. His body protested, but he strained and strained until, with an audible snap, the rope broke.
Quickly, Zach climbed to the top of the bench. He peered over. Forty feet away stood Lou, staring down the facing slope, her pretty face mirroring concern. Two warriors had been left to guard her. Beyond were the bay and the pinto.
Zach debated. Forty feet was a lot of open space. Both warriors had arrows notched to the strings of their bows. He couldn’t possibly reach them before one or both of those shafts transfixed his body.
The warriors were talking.
Zach hefted the rock he had used to cut the rope. Then, cocking his arm, he threw it as high and as far as he could toward the other end of the shelf. Luck favored him and it came down in a tree, clattering from branch to branch as it fell. Both warriors whirled. Raising their bows, they moved toward the tree.
Zach exploded up over the bench and sprinted toward Lou and the horses. He remembered that one of the Heart Eaters had put his pistol, tomahawk, and knife in the parfleche on the bay.
Lou heard him and spun. She beamed in relief, only to have her husband fly past her. He was so intent on the bay that he didn’t see what she saw—one of the warriors had gone into the trees, but the other had turned and was sighting down a barbed shaft. Lou went to cry a warning.
Zach had to pass the pinto to reach the bay. He was almost to it when the pinto whinnied and stepped directly into his path. He thought he was the cause until it wheeled and he saw blood welling from a long cut on its flank. In its flight it collided with the bay, and both horses bolted toward a warrior reaching for another shaft in his quiver.
The man leaped aside to avoid being trampled. He did not quite have the arrow out when Zach launched himself like a cannonball. His shoulder caught the warrior full across the chest. Down they went with Zach on top. Both grabbed for the hilt of the knife the warrior wore. Zach got his hand on it, but the warrior clamped hold of his wrist.
Zach punched him, a jab to the jaw that rocked the warrior’s head. The man didn’t let go. A second punch did no good, either, so Zach drove his forehead into the man’s face. There was a crunch and moist drops spattered Zach’s brow. But still the man held on to Zach’s wrist.
Zach hit him in the throat and the warrior broke into convulsions. He raised his fist for a last blow, only to have small hands seize his forearm.
“Forget him!” Lou urged. “We must flee.”
Shouts from below warned Zach why. The horses had made such a racket in running off that Skin Shredder and the others were hurrying back. Snatching the knife, he grabbed her hand and headed up the mountain.
Lou grit her teeth and did her best to keep up. She couldn’t stop limping, though, and they went only a short way when before Zach slipped an arm around her and practically began carrying her.
“I can manage on my own.”
“Hush and run.”
The last thing Lou wanted was to slow him down. She pumped her good leg and put as little weight on her bad as she could. For a while that helped. They went more than fifty yards, into growth so thick the Heart Eaters would have to be right on top of them to see them. She began to think that maybe, just maybe, they would get away.
Zach was listening to the sounds of pursuit. Four or five warriors were spread out in a line.
Lou hurt worse with every step. She clung tight to Zach, furious at herself, yet elated they were eluding their pursuers. Or were they?
Zach sought a place to hide. A cave, a crevice, anything, so long as it would shelter Lou while he led the Heart Eaters away. He would gladly sacrifice himself for her sake and the sake of the baby.
Lou looked back. A swarthy, scarred form was plowing through the vegetation. Any moment he might spot them. She pulled on Zach, whispering urgently, “We need to find cover! Now!”
Zach did as she wanted. He didn’t ask why. He darted into some aspens and threw himself to the ground, pulling her after him.
Lou’s heart hammered. When the warrior flew past, she breathed a little easier.
Zach didn’t linger. Helping her up, he bore to the north. He hoped the change of direction would confuse the Heart Eaters.
The woods became ominously still. The wind died, and not so much as a pine needle moved.