Warrior's Heart by Georgina Gentry

Author:Georgina Gentry [Gentry, Georgina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Frontier and pioneer life, Historical, Single mothers, Fiction, Romance, Shoshoni Indians, Western, Historical fiction, Overland journeys to the Pacific, Cultural Heritage, Love stories
ISBN: 9780821770764
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2001-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Eleven

* * *

Francie fought like she had never fought before, trying to break free of the unseen hands that had reached out of the darkness to grab her. Injuns, she thought. They’re gonna rape and scalp me.

The thought terrorized her into greater action. She twisted her head, wrenching her mouth so that she got the hand that imprisoned her between her teeth and bit down hard.

The man shouted and hit her across the face even as she screamed. When she screamed again, he turned her loose and fled. She heard him crashing through the bushes as she screamed and screamed. In the camp, she saw lanterns light up as sleepy people came out of their wagons and grabbed weapons.

Rider’s heart was in his throat as he gripped his gun belt and ran through the dry grass toward the screams. If the Lakota managed to surround them in the darkness . . . Behind him, men were shouting questions to each other, women’s voices cracked with hysteria, and newly awakened children cried.

The moonlight revealed Francie in a heap on the ground, her dress torn and her face bloody. “Are you all right? What happened?”

She didn’t answer for a long moment, only sobbed as she stumbled to her feet. “Injuns! An Injun reached out of the dark and grabbed me, tried to carry me off!”

Rider remembered abruptly how Sky Eyes had been spooked. It could have been the blonde who’d been grabbed rather than tough little Francie.

Now they were surrounded by men of the wagon train, all shouting questions.

“My Lord,” swore the banker, “Francesca, darling, are you hurt? What were you doing out here alone?”

Rider made a gesture of dismissal. “Never mind all that — she’s not hurt.”

“But the blood — ” protested the banker.

“I bit him,” Francie said. “He tore my pretty dress.”

“You poor dear,” the banker said and gathered her into his ample arms. “I’ll buy you ten dresses when we get to Oregon. As for that war party — ”

“They’ve fled by now, if it was Indians,” Rider said. “I’ll take a look around.”

The Adams boy and Stott ran up just then.

Stott asked, “What happened?”

“You two see anything?” Rider asked. “Someone tried to grab Mrs. Pettigrew.”

Under the shapeless hat, Stott’s eyes grew round with fright. “Injuns? We got Injuns?”

Rider ran his hand through his black hair in frustration. “You sentries didn’t see a thing?”

They both shook their heads.

“Well, try to keep a little better lookout the rest of the night — and you women don’t venture outside the circle, no matter what.”

The banker handed his handkerchief to the sobbing Francie. “Dear, what were you doing so far from the wagons?”

“I-I was doing something personal,” Francie said and looked away modestly.

“Never mind.” Roscoe patted her shoulder. “You come back to the wagon now. I think I may have some brandy. You’ve had quite a scare for a lady.”

“I could use a stiff belt,” Francie said.

“What?”

“I-I mean, a sip of sherry might revive me.”

Rider motioned the men back toward the camp. “I’ll take a look around and see if I find anything.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.