She breathed a sigh of relief several hours later when it looked like the heavy mist that had hung over them was beginning to dissipate. She nudged her horse a touch faster as they broke through into an outcropping of thick woods. Turning, she waited for the rest of the mules and horses to make it through. She pushed down on the feeling of relief pouring through her when she finally saw Jacob.
“Pretty weird, huh?” Indy said, nodding toward the pass.
“Pretty? I would say that Rod Sterling would have been right at home in there,” Allie replied. “So, how far is it to Twin Rivers?”
“It will be at least two days with the supplies,” Jacob answered as he rode up beside them. “We don’t want to take a chance of harming any of the animals.”
Allie just nodded and started to turn away. She stopped when she felt a hand on her arm. Indy, she noticed, had discreetly pulled back to ride over to Jonathan. Pulling her arm away, Allie raised her chin and looked Jacob in the eye.
“What?” She asked.
“This isn’t like where you are from, Allie,” Jacob cautioned her with a serious look. “I want you to stay close to Jonathan, Indy, and me.”
“What do you mean, ‘like where I’m from’?” She asked, looking at him with a frown. “I know how dangerous the woods and mountains can be. Papa made sure we respected what nature could do.”
“It isn’t the mountain or the forest that is different, Allie,” Jacob interjected. “It is the people.”
Allie frown as Jacob nudged his horse around her and went down to where Jonathan was adjusting one of the packs. Shaking her head, she didn’t bother trying to understand his cryptic words. Instead, she slid off her horse and began checking each pack to make sure it was secure as they headed down the mountain.
*.*.*
Allie gazed around the wide open pasture land. Her eyes swept over the herds of cattle and the scattering of men on horses. She breathed in a deep breath of the fresh, clean air. A smile curved her lips as she felt the weight lift from her shoulders. Maybe she’d needed a break worse than she realized.
It had taken two days of riding to make it down the mountain. They had to take it slow due to the amount of weight the mules and horses were carrying and number of livestock involved. They reached the western pasture of the Twin Rivers ranch just after noon.
Allie thought she would’ve had trouble sleeping the last two nights, but between the riding, the fresh air, and having exhausted herself before the trip, she had passed out the moment her head touched the sleeping bag.
She watched as several riders approached as she slid off her horse to check a strap on one of the mules that looked like it might be coming loose. They greeted Indy by name before turning to look at her in curiosity. She tilted her head and smiled politely in return.
“Howdy ma’am,” Trace said, pulling his hat off his head and running his hand through his disheveled hair before nodding.
“Ma’am,” Butler said, eyeing the opening of her shirt with appreciation.
The two men reminded her of some of the guys that Taylor hung out with. They were about the right age as well. Her eyes danced in amusement as they both tried to flatten their hair. She could have told them they would need more than a little spit.
“Hi guys,” Allie replied with a grin. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going just fine,” Jacob snapped as he reined in next to Allie and slid off his horse. “Don’t you two have work that needs to be done?”
“You need to get a life,” she muttered. “Now that you’re back home, maybe you can look up one of those widows, or two, or three.”
“I’ll…,” Jacob started to say before breaking off.
Allie didn’t wait around to hear what he was saying. Now that they had met other people, it was as if the world was closing in around her again. Her eyes flickered up to the mountain.
Perhaps…, Allie shook her head at the crazy thought.
She and Indy pulled out some sandwiches that her mom had made for their trip and ate while Jacob and Jonathan caught up what was going on with some of the men. Allie washed down her sandwich with a bottle of water. Wiping her mouth, she frowned as she gazed around the area. It sure did look familiar, yet different.
“Hey, you okay?” Indy asked as she finished her sandwich.
“Yeah,” Allie said, watching Jacob as he listened intently to what one of the men was saying. “I have to admit, I liked it better when we were in the mountains. Now that we are around other people, it seems strange.”
Indy gave an uneasy laugh and nodded. “I know. I felt the same way when I first came here,” she admitted.
“Are you ready to get home?” Jonathan asked, walking up to them.
Allie rolled her eyes. Well, he walked up to them, but he only had eyes for Indy. Standing, she wiped her hands over her butt to knock off any dirt or grass that might be clinging to it. She started when she felt another pair of hands helping her.
Glancing over her shoulder, she drew in a deep breath when her eyes locked with Jacob’s dark blue ones. Her lips parted before a flush rose up into her cheeks. He didn’t say a word to her, just gave her a look that warned her that he was tired of her running away from him. He turned and walked away. Allie watched as he remounted his horse.
A little over an hour later, Indy stopped next to her on the small rise above the ranch house. Allie heard Indy’s chuckle when she gasped at her first view of the beautiful homestead.
A frown creased her brow as she suddenly recognized it. She had been there several times over the years when she was buying or selling livestock. She shook her head in puzzlement. There were plenty of roads leading to the Tucker’s ranch.
“This looks just like the Tucker place over near Meeteetse. You didn’t tell me that Jonathan and Jacob were related to them. They own one of the biggest ranches in the Montana/Wyoming area. It makes Papa’s ranch look like a kiddie farm,” Allie said with confusion. “There are tons of roads into it. Why didn’t you just have the stuff we packed in delivered?”
“I never thought of it,” Indy replied. “Allie, there is something I need to tell you.”
“What?” Allie asked with a raised eyebrow. “If you are afraid I’ll act all weird because your hubby is related to one of the richest families in the country, you don’t have to worry. I mean, I don’t really give a damn if a guy has a lot of money or not.”
Allie winced as she said the same words that she had told Chris. Grief rose unexpectedly as she thought of his life wasted because he thought he needed to be rich to make her happy. Pushing her pain down, she wondered if it would ever really go away.
“It’s not that,” Indy replied, hesitantly as she turned in her saddle to gaze down at the ranch house. “Do you remember telling me about how weird you felt when we went through Spirit Pass?”
“Yeah, it was all misty and cold and stuff. The hair on the back of my neck was like standing on end. Even the animals were all freaky. What was up with that?” Allie asked, looking at Indy with a frown.
Indy gave her friend a shaky smile. “You are no longer in 2013, Allie. Welcome to my new home. The year, by the way, is 1867.”
“You’re shitting me, right?” Allie asked with a laugh that slowly faded when Indy shook her head. “Right?”
“Nope,” Indy replied.
Allie listened in shock and growing dismay as Indy told her how she had really been married to Jonathan. Panic, fear, and the sudden suspicion that she had been tricked swept through her. Anger began to grow as each one took root deep inside her and began to grow faster than Jack’s Beanstalk.
“What do you mean, when he tied you up? Why the hell did he do that?” Allie demanded as she tried to absorb everything Indy was telling her.
“Because a woman’s reputation is ruined if she is with a man and has no chaperone,” Jacob replied as he rode. “Jonathan had to marry Indy to protect her.”
“That’s bullshit. Shit like that doesn’t really happen,” Allie retorted as she started t
o pull back on the reins of her horse to put some room between them. She glared a warning at Jacob when she saw the tight, determined glint in his eye. A shiver ran through her when he followed her movements until his horse was pressed up beside hers. “It would be a cold day in hell before I let some guy tie me up and force me into marriage just because I spent some time alone with him! Hell, I’d have been married dozens of times by now if that were the case.”
“There is one thing you forgot about, Allie,” Jacob replied with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Yeah, what’s that?” She asked in a tight, wary voice. “That all guys are assholes?”
“No,” Jacob whispered as he reached for her. “That you are no longer in your time, but mine.”
Allie jerked in shock as Jacob pulled her out of her saddle and onto his lap. What shocked her even more was how quickly he not only did that, but wrapped a line of rope around her wrists as if she was a calf in a rodeo.
“Let me go!” Allie demanded as she struggled to get her hands free. “Damn it! Indy! Help me!”
“Jonathan,” Indy started to say.
Allie glanced over Jacob’s shoulder as Jonathan swept Indy out of her saddle and onto the front of his horse as well. Betrayal, hurt, and rage mixed as she saw the guilt reflected in Indy’s eyes. Her best friend had sold her out.
Tears glittered briefly in Allie’s eyes before she allowed all the pain and anger that she had bottled up for the last year to boil over. This is what she wanted to avoid. All she had wanted was a couple weeks to get her life back in order. Two weeks to think about what she wanted to do and where she was going. Hell, just a chance to find out who she was.
She had already made plans on how she could avoid Jacob. A ranch was a big place. It wasn’t hard to get lost during the days and at night she could disappear into her bedroom. She would have been the perfect guest, seen on occasion, seldom heard, and vanishing for most of the time.
“I hate you,” Allie hissed, struggling against the strong arms holding her. “How could she? Do you really think I believe any of this? That I’m suddenly back in time? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
“Ridiculous or not, it is the truth, Allie. The sooner you realize that, the safer it will be for you,” Jacob countered.
“How could something like that even be possible?” Allie scoffed as she wrung her hands in an effort to loosen the rope. “Ouch!”
“Stop it before you hurt yourself,” Jacob ordered. “When we traveled through Spirit Pass something happens. It is like a corridor between our worlds.”
Allie tilted her head backwards and glared at Jacob. “My dad would never have let me go through it if it did something like that,” she snapped. “He knows the history of our people and what happened to them.”
“Yes, he does,” Jacob replied in a quiet voice. “And he made sure that Jonathan and I knew as well before he agreed to let me bring you with me.”
“No!” Allie’s sharp cry of denial echoed in the air as she realized just how far the duplicity went.
The more she thought about it, the more she remembered her parent’s odd behavior before she left that morning just a few days ago. She remembered their worried look and there had been a sense of sadness in them. She hadn’t thought much of it with everything going on. Now, her mother’s words were coming back to haunt her.
“Never forget who you are in here. Be proud of who you are and where you come from and you will always be alright.”
Allie fingered the gold chain around her neck. Fury exploded out of her at the thought of being manipulated by her family. The people who she should have been able to trust above everyone else had lied to her. Renewed determination filled her as she made up her mind that she should have listened to her heart when it told her it was time to leave.
I should have just disappeared like Indy did, she thought as she fought to get free from Jacob’s powerful embrace.
Chapter 18
Jacob held the struggling figure firmly against his body. Allie was still cussing at him, but he could feel her body beginning to relax the further they rode. He had been terrified when he overheard Indy telling Allie about traveling through time. His first thought was that Allie might bolt back to Spirit Pass and try to return home.
He knew she thought she would only be here for a couple of weeks. He had planned to court her properly, but all thought of that went out of his mind with the realization she might not give him a chance. It was as if she had built a wall around her to hide behind. She had become more withdrawn since the morning she woke in his bed, and the last few days before they left, she had made it almost impossible for him to get close to her.
“I don’t know what you think you are doing, but you better let me go! When I get loose, I’m going to beat the crap out of you and leave your bloody corpse for the wolves,” she threatened in desperation.
Jacob chuckled as he jerked his head out of the way from the blow as she flung her head back. She wouldn’t even come close to hitting him in the face if he didn’t have her perky little body sitting snugly on his thighs.
It was only the second time he had really held her this close. The first time was after Chris’s death. His mind then had been on comforting her.
This time, his mind was totally focused on her. He realized that she was a little thing, but feisty as hell. Just like he knew she would be.
He loved the fire burning in her blue eyes. She had the same rich black hair as Sam, he realized, but everything else came straight from Claire.
“You have a very vivid imagination,” Jacob commented, before tightening his grip around her when she tried to kick out. “Don’t! Curse all you want, Allie, but don’t try anything stupid that could hurt either us or the horse. I thought more of you than that.”
“That’s what you get for thinking,” Allie snapped as she flushed at the admonishment. “Where are you taking me anyway? The ranch house is back that way. Better yet, Spirit Pass is that way!”
“I thought it would be best to take you somewhere, where we can get to know each other,” Jacob admitted as he touched his heels to the gelding’s side.
“You mean somewhere where no one can hear you scream once I get free and bust your balls?” Allie muttered as she realized that Jacob wasn’t joking about taking her away. Panicking, her mouth suddenly seemed to have a mind of its own. “I hope you never planned to have any kids. Because I have to tell you, by the time I get done, you’ll be able to apply for a job guarding a harem with no problem.”
Jacob bit back another laugh. His Allie had a wicked mouth on her that was proving as entertaining as it was frustrating. He had decided to take her to the little place he had built up in the mountains northwest of the ranch. It was a place where he could go when he needed somewhere to just think.
It wasn’t much, a little one room cabin built into the side of the mountain, but it would be perfect for what he needed. There was an abundance of wildlife and a fairly decent river nearby for fishing. The cabin was high and protected on three sides.
He had even opened up a place further back into the mountain where a natural cave system ran in case he needed to escape in a hurry. No one would be able to find the entrance and even if they did, it would take weeks to find their way through the dark tunnels without a map.
Yes, he thought as he rubbed his fingers along Allie’s side. All I need is a little time alone with her to show her how good living here can be. Then, maybe she won’t be so anxious to return to her metal wagons and flying carriages and her flameless lights. Maybe she’ll decide there is something here worth giving up all those things for. If not… His thoughts closed down on the only other alternative.
*.*.*
Allie jerked away from Jacob as soon as her feet touched the ground. She stumbled, but regained her balance before he could touch her again. Her eyes swept over the rustic cabin built into the rock overhang before sweeping back the way they had come.
“Don’t,” Jaco
b said in a soft voice. “You wanted to disappear, Allie. I’m giving you what you wanted.”
“When I said that, I meant alone,” Allie retorted as she turned and watched him remove the saddle from the gelding. “Are you going to leave me tied up?”
She held up her tied wrists when he glanced at her. A low grunt escaped her when he turned back to what he was doing. Her lips twisted in satisfaction when she saw what looked like the handle of an ax sticking out from behind some wood piled by the door.
“So, this is the place you were telling me about?” She asked as she walked over to the door of the cabin. “No locks?”
Jacob looked up and smiled. “No people,” he commented. “This isn’t exactly easy to find. Besides, there isn’t much here that anyone would want.”
Allie just nodded and pushed open the door. The interior was very dark and it was hard to see what it looked like from the filtered light pouring through the door. She stepped inside and turned to the right. There were two windows, one on each side of the door.
Allie pushed the wooden bar locking the first window and opened it. The feel of something running over her foot pulled a startled scream out of her. She twisted, losing her balance and fell sideways knocking over a large pan.
“Allie!” Jacob called out as he burst through the door.
“I’m okay,” Allie said, as she pushed herself up against what looked like an old fashion bathtub. “Sorry, a rodent of some sort startled me as much as I startled it.”
*.*.*
Jacob scowled when he saw her try to push her hair out of her eyes. Pulling the knife from his boot, he walked over and motioned for her to raise her hands. He slid the blade between thin rope and sliced upward.
Bending to replace the blade, he took her wrist in his hand and rubbed on the faint red marks. His eyes connected with hers as he lifted her right wrist to his lips and pressed a kiss to the reddish line marring her skin. Her soft gasp echoed in the room as he did the same to her left.
“Jacob,” Allie murmured. “I… I can’t do this.”
“I’m just asking for time, Allie. I just want a little time to show you my world. It will also give you a little time to disappear,” Jacob whispered. “Two weeks. Please, just give me that.”