Was her father somehow responsible for what had happened in Tyler City? Had he gone back on his word and begun gambling again? Had he cheated one man too many?
Although her father had promised Nicole’s mother that his gambling days were over and done with, deep down inside, Nicole had always believed that was impossible.
When gambling got as deep in a man’s gut as it had her father’s, there was no way on earth that he’d ever be able to look the other way if he was challenged to a game of poker.
Chapter Three
Feeling sick to his stomach from the raging temperature that had invaded his body, Eagle Wolf drew rein beside a stream.
He dismounted from his horse and stumbled to the water, falling to his knees beside it.
He hung his head over the water, but nothing came from his stomach. He had actually wanted to vomit so that he might feel a little better.
He raised his head and gasped when he saw his reflection in the water. His face was flushed from the fever and he knew that he must find a place to rest while he battled the disease that had weakened his body.
With knees trembling and broad shoulders drooping, he turned and looked at the place his horse had brought him. He had ridden the last mile with his eyes half closed, his ability to reason all but gone.
He had just hung on to the reins and let his horse take him where it would.
It seemed to Eagle Wolf that his steed had sensed the importance of finding the right sanctuary for the man who had always treated him so well.
His stallion seemed to have understood the need for Eagle Wolf to be in a place where he could rest and get well without having to concern himself with passersby. The animal had brought him to a small, hidden canyon, where there was plenty of water from a stream trickling out of cracks in the mountainside, and where there were soft pine needles upon which he could sleep.
Not taking time to build a campfire, he secured his horse’s reins, then took a blanket from his travel bag.
Just as he had spread the blanket on the soft pine needles, and had turned to lie down, something in the distance caught his eye.
He crept over to the edge of the bluff that overlooked the land below.
In the distance he could see black, rolling smoke and he quickly realized where it was coming from.
He knew of a small town that had recently been established not far from Navaho Mountain. It was a town called Tyler City.
Word had been brought to him that the man who established this town was a well-known gambler who had come to this area from a place named St. Louis.
Eagle Wolf knew that the reputation of such gamblers followed them wherever they went, and trouble followed them, too. There was always someone ready to challenge the one who was said to be the best.
Eagle Wolf had heard that often such duels with cards led to duels with firearms…and death. He wondered if this time someone had gotten angry enough to set fire to the entire town.
He watched the flames rolling upward from first one building and then another, as the smoke billowed into the sky.
If he were not alone, and he were well, he would ride down to that place of devastation and see if there were any survivors who needed help. Although he hated the U.S. government and its pony soldiers, he did not bear ill will toward the ordinary people, who had nothing to do with the decisions that had almost destroyed his tribe.
But as it was, he was alone, and his warriors were many miles up the mountain. And even if his warriors were close enough for him to go to them, he was not strong enough, either in body or mind, to even ride in his saddle now.
Suddenly he saw a lone rider traveling hard on a magnificent steed, toward the burning town.
He wiped at eyes that were blurring with fever, hoping to get a better look. When he lowered his hand, he realized that the lone rider was not a man, but instead…a woman!
He was awestruck by the woman’s long red hair, which fluttered and blew in the wind behind her as she raced onward, obviously intent on arriving in the burning to
wn as quickly as she could.
He wondered what she was doing alone when danger lay everywhere. A lone woman attracted the worst kind of men, those who would not hesitate to take advantage of her.
Where had this woman come from? He saw no other riders anywhere.
Suddenly he was overcome by dizziness. The land below him became a swirling mass.