Part 19 (1/2)

Sweet Jesus. Twelve hours at least, and he'd kept up a steady trot, without a break. He'd never have imagined she could maintain such a pace. ”What about those clothes?” he demanded. ”Where did you get them?”

”I found the clothes some time ago, in the room where your maman keeps the household linens. I think you must have known they were there, since you gave me the moccasins.”

”Yes, I knew. But-”

”I had to take them,” she interrupted. ”I left a note for Madame Hale, to apologize. But I could not go off with you, wearing one of the beautiful dresses she gave me. I thought you would take a horse. I would need-” She glanced down at Pohantis's leggings.

”You can't ride a horse in woods like these.” He nodded toward the thick forest all around them. ”The Indians will take a different route, but I know where they're headed. I'll get there faster on foot.”

”All the same, to go with you these are better clothes.”

”You cannot go with me whatever you're wearing. Do you have any idea what I'm about to-No, of course you don't. But that doesn't matter either. You have to return to the house, Nicole. We're still on the Patent. It's safe enough.”

”I do not know my way back. I told you, I followed you; I didn't pay attention to the trail. And how safe can it be if a band of murdering savages attacked us?”

”You can't come with me. It's out of the question.”

”I kept up with you all night and most of this morning. And you didn't know I was there.” She couldn't keep the pride from her voice. She had kept up with Uko Nyakwai, the Red Bear. She'd driven herself to the point of almost total exhaustion, to where she thought she couldn't take another step, and then she'd taken ten more. And not once had she forgotten the woods lore she had learned from Quent and Monsieur Shea in six weeks of trekking with them. How to be silent, how to stay dose enough to see but not be seen. ”I kept up.”

”Yes, you did.” He had to admit his admiration for what she'd done. Wrong and pointless though it was, it was remarkable, and she was indeed what he'd suspected from the first moment he saw her up close, ripping up her petticoat to stanch the blood of a wounded soldier. Much woman. Very much woman.

”And you didn't know I was there.”

He couldn't let her continue to believe that. Not because of his pride but because to overestimate your strength is to be weak. ”I knew someone was there. Only not that it was you.” Still, she deserved to know how well she'd done. ”I thought it was a man.”

She needed to sit down. The water had helped, but she had eaten only the few mouthfuls she could grab as they pa.s.sed by some highbush blueberries. She needed desperately to rest, but she couldn't give in to her need until she was sure he would take her north. ”Then it's settled. You will take me to Quebec. That's the direction you're going, isn't it? You're heading north.” She'd remembered what he and Monsieur Shea always said, the thickest bark and the heaviest concentration of moss were on the northern side of the trunk.

”Yes, I am. But ... Confound it, Nicole, look at you.” Her face was as white as her clothes, and her legs, were trembling with fatigue. ”You're half dead with thirst and exhaustion, and we're nowhere near where we have to go.”

”I came all through the Ohio Country, didn't I? With you and Monsieur Shea. And you never heard me complain, or-”

”Exactly. With me and Corm. We could take turns helping you, and we weren't in that much of a hurry. But now there's a man's life at-”

”You must take me north, Quent.” She would not listen to his explanations. ”I must go and if you will not take me, I will go alone.” She would probably die in these woods, but surely le bon Dieu would accept that sacrifice.

Quent watched the play of emotion on her beautiful face. He took a step in her direction and reached out for her. Nicole backed away. ”Don't,” she whispered. ”I am sorry. Truly. But you must not.”

She sounded the way she had when he'd found her in the cave behind the waterfall. He let his arms drop to his sides. ”Nicole, you have to trust me. If there's to be anything real between us, anything that lasts, you have to believe that I know what's best. I can't talk about it now. Whatever the problem is, whatever you've become afraid of, I can't address it until I have gone where I have to go and done what I have to do. You must return to the house and wait for me there.”

”I cannot,” she repeated. ”I do not know the way. I swear by Almighty G.o.d that is the truth.” She made the sign of the cross to attest to her oath.

He hated the popery, and hated that she was dressed in a wh.o.r.e's white buck-skins. ”You can't go with me. I told you, it's out of the question.”

”I don't want to go wherever you are going. I want you to take me north, as you promised. To Quebec. Monsieur Shea made a vow. He pa.s.sed the responsibility to you, and you told me it was a sacred trust, the same as if he were doing it himself. Now I am asking that you keep your word.”

He was torn between wanting to spank her because she was acting like a stubborn child, and wanting to smother her with kisses. Worse, he was wasting precious minutes while Solomon ... A solution to the stand-off came to him in a flash. Not ideal, but better than any alternative. ”Very well.” There would be more remonstrations he knew and probably tears, but he'd deal with them when they happened. ”We'll sleep for an hour first. Then we'll go on.”

She sighed, and having won, gave in to the needs of her body. The trembling spread from her legs to the rest of her, and she sank to her knees. ”Quent, is it possible ... Could we eat something before we rest?”

Christ, she must be starving. ”Here, chew on this.” He took a piece of dried beef from his haversack and gave it to her. ”Kitchen Hannah's best jerky. Have you tried it before?”

She shook her head, concentrating on chewing. Her eagerness made him smile, and while she ate he swept pine needles into a pile to make a bed.

The jerky disappeared quickly. He had more and she was probably still hungry, but he didn't offer her another piece. Better if she didn't get too comfortable. She had to remember how difficult even this, the easiest part of the journey, had been. Later, when she was as furious with him as he knew she would be, she had to remember what it felt like when hunger gnawed at her belly and she had been parched with thirst and tired blind. He mustn't push her too far, though from the look of her she was ready for whatever he asked.

Quent felt tenderness rising like a river inside him, tempting him to take her in his arms; to turn and run back to the house and make his peace with Ephraim and claim what could be his and hers. He'd guessed his mother's scheming all along and seen the changed way his father looked at him. He pushed such thoughts away. For both their sakes. They could have no future built on the agony of Solomon the Barrel Maker, or on him turning his back on what he knew to be his duty. ”Sleep now.” He nodded toward the heap of pine needles. ”I'll wake you in an hour and we'll go on.”

”You always wake up when you tell yourself to,” she said softly, remembering what he'd told her back in the Ohio Country.

”Yes, I do.” He'd thought to rest a short distance away from her, leaning against the gnarled old elm. Not letting himself get too comfortable was one way he controlled the amount of time he slept. But watching her stretch out on the pine needles, with a sigh, he was suddenly hungry for her again, with the same overwhelming need he'd felt the day before in Shoshanaya's glade. Christ, had it been less than twenty-four hours? Maybe if they made love now, finished what hadn't been finished yesterday, she would know how truly she was his. Maybe it would make what was going to happen later today a litte easier for her to bear. He knew he was only finding excuses to do what he wanted to do, but he couldn't stop.

Quent knelt beside her, placed his hand beside her cheek. ”Nicole ...”

She looked at him but didn't move to push him away. ”No. I am sorry, but no.”

”Nicole, yesterday-”

She reached up and moved his hand away from her face. ”No,” she repeated. ”It is no longer yesterday. I am sorry.”

d.a.m.n her! If she didn't want him as much as he wanted her, then so be it. He wouldn't-Ah, he wasn't being fair. She hadn't been brought up to this life-she was white, not Indian. There were conventions he couldn't expect her to overcome. At least not twice. Later, when they were married, it would be different.

He went to the elm and sat beneath it, leaning against the hard, unyielding trunk. And because he knew how much his body needed it, he closed his eyes and allowed himself the one hour's sleep he had decided was justified.

”What is this place?”

”Do Good; it's the Shadowbrook trading post. I told you about it, remember? The folks who live here are Quakers.” It was the first question she'd asked since they woke and started walking again, and more words than he'd spoken since she had refused to let him touch her.

He hadn't intended to go through Do Good, but it wasn't far out of his way, and it occurred to him that Lantak and his band might have caused trouble here as well. But Do Good looked as it always did. Neat, clean. The black-on-white sign, the whitewashed meeting house, the weathered gray barns and houses: everything was exactly the same as always.

Quent pushed open the double swinging doors of the split-log trading post and walked inside. Esther s...o...b..rry was standing behind the counter. ”Good afternoon, Esther. I hoped I'd find you here.” He hadn't seen Esther for five years. Her hair was entirely white now, and her face was lined.

Esther turned to him with a broad smile. ”Good afternoon to thee, Quentin Hale. Of course I am here. And thee is most mightily welcome. We'd had word that thee had returned to Shadowbrook and I was hoping thee would visit us soon. Sit down and rest thyself. Thee must-” She caught sight of the woman behind him, wearing white bearskins. Long ago there had been a squaw on the Patent who wore such things, but she'd thought ... No, this woman was young, and white, not Indian. ”Perhaps thee can introduce me to thy guest, Quentin.”

”This is Mademoiselle Nicole Crane,” Quentin said. ”I must ask permission to leave her with you, Esther. Until someone from Do Good can find the time to take her back to the big house.”

Nicole whirled on him. ”No! You promised, Quent! You promised!” This betrayal after he had given his word was too much, too cruel. She could not entirely choke back the tears of fury and frustration. The white-haired woman was looking at her. No doubt she believed the problem to be that Quentin Hale did not want her. As if she had thrown herself at him and he-Mon Dieu, forgive me. Forgive my pride. Sainte Vierge, help me. ”Please forgive me, madame. I do not wish to be rude, but-”

”I need no t.i.tle, child. I am called Esther s...o...b..rry. And thee must not excite thyself so.” The girl was distraught. There were blue circles beneath her eyes and her cheeks were sunken with fatigue. ”It is no trouble to us to have thee here. My son-in-law will happily drive thee to Shadowbrook tomorrow. He will take the wagon and bring back a fresh cask of rum for our stocks here, so the journey will be as useful for us as for thee.”

Nicole started to say something, but Quent cut her off as if she were a disobedient child. ”I've not got a lot of time for explanations, Esther. There's been an Indian attack on the Patent, Huron renegades.” He ignored her gasp of shock and went on. ”They did much damage. It well may be there's no rum ready for you. But in any case Mademoiselle Crane must be returned safely to my mother's care, and I cannot take her.”

”You promised,” Nicole whispered. ”You made a sacred vow.”

”Later,” he snapped, turning his head and speaking directly to Nicole. ”I told you. I'll take you north later.”

”Thee can settle thy business after thee has rested and eaten,” Esther s...o...b..rry said. ”It is not possible to make wise decisions when thee is hungry and thirsty and without ease. Come, sit over here.” She indicated the pair of benches that flanked the big fireplace. ”I will send for food.”

Quent started for the door, pretending to believe her words had been meant only for Nicole. ”Quentin Hale.” Esther's voice stopped him. ”Thee can make far better time wherever thee is going with a bit of proper food in thy stomach. And it will be quicker to have it here than to find it and kill it and cook it in the woods.”

Her tone did not permit defiance. He walked to the bench and sat down. The fire was banked because of the August heat, but smoldering enough so it could be revived if it were needed. Nicole sat opposite him. She did not speak. He expected her to argue further, tell him what a scoundrel he'd been, say he'd lied to her-he hadn't lied, just hadn't told her all the truth-but she only looked at him as if he were a dog t.u.r.d, blast her. There was no denying that's exactly what he felt like.