Twin of Ice (Montgomery/Taggert 6)

At one point, the trail took a sharp right, and the sky became hidden by the overhanging trees and rock formations. All about her were mushrooms of bizarre structure and unreal colors. Some were tiny and yellow, some as big as her foot and brilliant red. Large patches of five-inch-tall grasslike mushrooms stood upright on the forest floor.

Always, she was climbing upward, and the air was thinning as the area around her became more and more like a rain forest, rather than the semiarid region that surrounded Chandler. Twice, she had to stop and look for the trail, and once she followed a path for a mile, only to have it end abruptly in a sandy-bottomed cavelike rock formation that had a natural window at the top. The place had an odd feeling about it: half frightening, half like a place where one should attend church services.

She walked her horse out of the rocks and back onto the path, where she again tried riding.

An hour later, she had her first good luck: she found a piece of Kane’s wedding suit caught on a sharp edge of rock. Her relief at finding out for sure that he was indeed at the top of the trail was great. With renewed spirit, she urged her reluctant horse upward.

She might have made it perfectly well except that it began to rain. Cold, cold sheets of water came from the sky, then, as the water collected on the overhead rocks, it flooded down on top of her, making visibility impossible. She tried to keep her head down and her eyes on the nearly invisible trail in front of her at the same time.

Flashes of lightning began to make the horse shy and dance about on the skinny little path. After quite a while of fighting both the rain and the horse, she dismounted and led the animal as she gave most of her attention to searching through the deluge for the way.

At one point, the trail ran along a little ledge, sheer rock above and below her. Houston took one step and soothed the frightened horse, took another step and calmed the horse. “If you weren’t carrying the food, I’d let you go,” she said in disgust.

At the edge of the cliff ledge, the lightning flashed and she saw the cabin. For a moment, she stood perfectly still and looked through the rain dripping off her nose. She had begun to doubt the cabin’s existence. And now what did she do? March up to the door, knock and, when Kane answered it, tell him she thought she’d drop by and leave her calling card?

She had half a mind to turn around and leave, when all hell broke loose. The idiot horse she’d had to practically drag up the mountain called out, was answered by another horse, and so proceeded to run toward the cabin. Never mind that Houston was standing in the animal’s way. She screamed as she fell into the mud and began rolling down the side of the mountain, but the blast of a shotgun aimed in her direction covered her voice. “Get the hell out of here if you wanta keep your skin,” Kane bellowed over the rain.

Houston was hanging over the edge of the drop-off, clutching the roots of a little piñion tree and trying to find a place to stick her dangling feet. Surely he wasn’t so angry that he’d shoot her?

Now was not the time to ask questions. She was either going to slide to her death or take a chance on Kane’s temper.

“Kane!” she screamed and felt her arms giving way.

Almost immediately, his face appeared over the side. “My God,” he said in disbelief as he stretched out his hand to grab her wrist.

Quite easily, he hauled her to the top, stood her on the ground and stepped back from her. He didn’t seem to believe she was there.

“I came to see you,” Houston said with a wet, crooked smile, as she began to weave about on her feet.

“Nice to have you,” he said, grinning. “I don’t get much company up here.”

“Maybe it’s your welcome,” she answered, nodding toward the shotgun in his hand.

“You wanta come in? I gotta fire inside.” His voice was highly amused—and, Houston hoped, pleased.

“I’d like that very much,” she said, then squealed and jumped toward him as above her a tree limb gave a loud crack.

She was standing quite near him and, as he looked down at her, his eyes were questioning. It was now or never, Houston thought, and there was no sense in being shy or coy. “You said you’d be there for the wedding if I’d show up for the wedding night. You fulfilled your part of the bargain, so I’m here for mine.”

With breath held, she watched him.

Kane’s face went through several emotions before he threw back his head and laughed loud enough to be heard over the rain and the thunder. The next moment, he swept her into his arms and carried her toward the cabin. At the doorway, he stopped and kissed her. Houston clung to him and knew the arduous climb had been worth it.

Inside the little one-room cabin was a stone fireplace that filled one whole wall, and a warm, cheerful fire blazed within it.

Kane held up a blanket. “I ain’t got any dry clothes up here so this’ll have to do. You get out of them things while I find your horse and pen it up.”

“There’s food in the bags,” she called as he left.

Alone, Houston began to undress, peeling the soaking garments from her cold, clammy skin. She couldn’t help glancing at the door every few minutes. “Coward!” she said to herself. “You’ve propositioned the man and now you have to live up to your boasts.”

By the time Kane returned, Houston was wrapped in the scratchy wool blanket with only her face sticking out. After a quick, smiling look of understanding, Kane put the food on the floor.

The only furniture in the room was a big bed made of pine, covered with an odd assortment of blankets that didn’t look overly clean. Against one wall was a mountain of stacked canned goods, mostly peaches like she’d found in the kitchen of his house.

“I’m glad you brought food,” he said. “I guess I left in too much of a hurry to get any. I don’t guess Edan’d believe it, but even I get tired of peaches after a few cans.”

“Edan packed the food, and your cousin, Jean, had him put in some wedding cake.”