Yellowstone Homecoming: Yellowstone Romance Series Novella by Peggy L Henderson

Author:Peggy L Henderson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2015-04-25T12:00:00+00:00

* * *

Matthew woke with a start. He pushed himself to a sitting position. Sweat covered his face and neck, and he sucked in a hiss at the sharp pain to his back from his quick movement.

“Addy?” he rasped.

He blinked to focus his eyes. Judging by the sun to the west, it was late in the day. How long had he been asleep? All morning, he’d worked on making a bow that would at least give him some kind of weapon other than his ax and the knife Addy had taken from the Pawnee. Proper bow making would take more time than one day, but it gave him something to do while waiting for his fever to subside.

Several hours must have passed since he’d fallen into a fitful sleep. He’d finally given in to Addy’s pleas that he close his eyes for a while. Feeling weak and helpless hadn’t sat well with him, but she was right. If he was to get better faster, he needed rest. The willow branches he’d chewed on hadn’t done their job as effectively to bring his fever down as if he’d had some willow bark tea.

His mother had often said that a fever wasn’t always a bad thing, that it was the body’s way of fighting off, what she’d called, an infection. As a young boy, he’d fought a raging fever for days when his leg had festered after he’d accidentally cut himself with a blow of an ax to his foot while chopping wood.

His mother hadn’t let on at the time, but she’d been worried for his life. She’d told him much later that she’d feared she’d have to amputate his leg. She’d treated him with all the medicines at her disposal, and she’d made him better. All he had at the moment was willow bark. It would have to be enough to fight off any infection and keep his fever down. Addy depended on him to get her back to her family.

Matthew stood. His head was much clearer now, and his fever was gone. Addy had hovered over him like his mother had done, trying to keep him cool and comfortable. The feelings and sensations she aroused in him with her tender woman’s touch were anything but motherly. Matthew cursed silently. She was a woman beyond his wildest dreams.

She might not know it, because she’d never been allowed to do anything on her own, or live life the way it was meant to be lived, but she was a survivor. She did the right things without being aware of what she was doing. She might be afraid, but she was fearless.

Matthew frowned. Where had she gone? He couldn’t call out to her. It would make too much noise. His eyes scanned their makeshift camp. A strip of her petticoat lay on the ground, still damp from when she’d placed it on his feverish forehead earlier. His water bladder was gone.

Damn. Had she gone to get water? He should have told her not to go to the creek until it was dark.

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