Restoring Hope Page 11

  Gary kissed her and the thoughts faded as the slow burn of desire began to spread through her body. It hadn’t been this way with Gary in the first months of marriage. Her desire for him had stemmed from the need to be safe and protected. But as she got accustomed to his touch and kiss, she learned to relax and enjoy it. Now she could fully enjoy the way he kissed her neck, caressed her breasts, and stroked the area between her legs.

  That part of lovemaking had been the biggest surprise. Thankfully, Hothlepoya had never touched her there. So it was something completely unique that she could connect with Gary, and so it made it her favorite part. She concentrated on the moment and how Gary was being wonderfully intimate with her.

  He took his time, not in any hurry to bring her pleasure that was new to her. It wasn’t until a month ago that she discovered her body was capable of the heightened sensations that made her forget everyone and everything until all she could do was get caught up in her body’s urgent need for release. When she climaxed, she cried out and tightened her hold on his arms. His fingers gradually slowed, bringing her softly back to her awareness of everything that was going on around her.

  When she was ready for him, she propped her lower half on the pillow to better accommodate his entry. Being with child made this part of lovemaking a challenge, but they’d worked on different ways to enjoy the act. She watched him as he proceeded to make love to her. She liked to watch him because it reminded her that she was with him, loving him and being loved in return. It was wonderful. Not cold. Not painful. But beautiful and full of pleasure. She smiled to herself as he came, happy that she was the one who gave him this joy that completed the marital act.

  He spent a good ten minutes holding her before the baby kicked. She didn’t want to tell him, but he’d felt it and spread his hand over her stomach so he could feel the next round of movement. “I can’t wait to see our baby.”

  Despite her apprehension, she smiled at him. This could be Gary’s child. It was possible. She took a deep breath to steady her anxiety. A month and a half and they would know for sure...wouldn’t they? Was it possible that they would never know? Then she could easily pretend the child belonged to Gary. No. She shouldn’t think ‘pretend’. If she couldn’t tell, she would assume Gary was the father.

  Gary kissed her. “Stay put. I’ll get breakfast.” He quickly stood up and slipped into his clothes before he headed for the kitchen.

  Relieved for the moment to be alone with her swirling emotions, she rolled onto her back and stared out the window. Even as she turned her gaze to the sky, she wondered if she was wasting her time in prayer.

  ***

  The next day, Julia sat in church—her arms crossed and back stiff against the wooden pew. Once again, her aunt was doting over Woape on the other side of the church. So what if Woape was with child? Why did that make her special? Julia hated her. Ever since Woape came, Gary’s attention had been drawn to her. It was always Woape this or Woape that. Even her aunt was won over by her.

  Her aunt gave Woape a hug and Julia felt her blood come to a boil. She couldn’t take this anymore. She was the one who sacrificed all of her life, devoting herself to her brother and aunt, giving up on the simple joys of a husband and children. Responsibility always came first. But then her brother went off to pursue his dreams and came back with a woman who was no better than a whore.

  She groaned. She couldn’t take this again. Not today. She jumped up and strode out of the church, ignoring the curious looks from the congregation. What did they care about her? They didn’t have to endure being constantly pushed aside because someone else was more important.

  As soon as she was outside in the bright sunlight, she stopped for a moment. Where could she go? There wasn’t anywhere she could run to. Her life was here. It was here since the day her parents died, and it would be here until the day she died. She was doomed to be a spinster. And her wayward brother who sought out his own pleasures was married with a child on the way. Where was the justice? Where was her reward for years of obedience? She’d done everything according to the rules. And all for what?

  Nothing. She did it all for absolutely nothing.

  Huffing, she marched along the road, pretending not to see old Nelly and Jim as they approached the church. What did they care if she said hi or not? They didn’t. Not really.

  If she hadn’t been so angry, she might have cried. But the time for tears was in the past. She was tired of letting life drag her along its long, lonely road. It was time she did something for herself. She didn’t have to die here. She didn’t have to keep sacrificing and waiting for life to come her way.

  Her purposeful steps paused on the edge of town. The land spanned out before her—as endless as the possibilities. Did she dare do it? Did she dare do the same thing Gary did? What were the chances that a woman could manage on her own in the middle of nowhere?

  Well, she didn’t have to travel on her own. She could wait for the stagecoach and go to the nearest train station. She had some money saved from the inheritance from her parents. Places out there needed school teachers. As a teacher, she’d be dissuaded from marrying, but what did that matter to her? She wasn’t going to get married anyway. No. Love was out of the question for her. Instead, she needed to find a place where she could live—to be her own person. Yes, she could be a school teacher. Sure, it didn’t pay much. But she would be away from this town.

  Even as her spirits lifted at the thought, she lost heart. It was a big world out there. Much too scary. Much too unknown.

  She glanced toward a movement on her right, and her gaze fell upon three riders heading her way. Squinting, she tried to make out who they were. From the looks of it, they were Indian.

  She wondered what they were doing out here. Tapping her foot on the ground, she debated whether or not she should wait for them to arrive. What were the chances that Indians would be here? Until Woape arrived, none had come here before. Was there a connection between these men and Woape? She glanced back at the church. Service had begun. Naturally, no one went to search for her...even though she wasn’t there. Bitterness welled up in her throat like thick bile.

  Turning her attention back to the men, she decided to walk further out of town, but not too far from the nearest building, and waited for them. She took a deep breath as they neared. Something in their stature made her uneasy. She couldn’t explain what it was that intimidated her. Maybe it was their stoic expression, as if they were statues. It made them seem cold.

  The one in the middle held his hand up to his companions, and they followed him over to her.

  She stepped back, suddenly questioning the wisdom of her decision to wait for them.

  “Greeting,” the one in the middle said.

  “Uh...hello,” she replied.

  “Do you have Indian woman here?”

  She knew it! “Woape?”

  The man’s eyebrows rose. “Yes.”

  “Is she your wife?”

  “She belongs to me.”

  That explained why she sensed something deceitful about Woape. Sure, maybe Woape wasn’t married to this Indian...yet, but he told her that Woape belonged to him. He wouldn’t come all the way there to look for someone he didn’t love. And if Woape left this man, she might leave Gary. What good would that do Gary? All it would do was cause pain and heartache. Her brother might have such a thing coming, but she decided she would spare him the inevitable.

  Yes, she had to protect her brother, even if he was too stupid to appreciate it. “Woape is here.”

  His eyebrow rose in interest. “Where is she?”

  “Right now, she’s in church.” She pointed to the building located in town.

  “She’s with people?”

  “Of course. There’s a service happening right now.” And that meant there wasn’t anyone lingering outside but her. But she wanted to be alone. At least she wanted to be alone until they arrived.

  “Where does she live? With you?”

  “No.” She fough
t back the urge to make a sarcastic retort about how Woape had manipulated her brother into marriage. As far as she was concerned, the marriage between Woape and her brother was illegitimate, especially in light of this. “She lives there with my brother.”

  The man’s gaze turned to the house located farther out on the prairie. “She has a man with her?”

  “She tricked him.”

  His sharp eyes returned to her. “You do not like this.”

  “Why should I?” She shrugged. “She doesn’t belong here. She belongs with you, just as you said.”

  “Yes. She is my property.”

  For a moment, apprehension slithered through her.

  “Thank you.”

  To her surprise, he gestured to the two men with him and they rode off in the opposite direction. She frowned. Whatever was that about? Obviously nothing. After all, they were leaving. Sighing in disappointment, she turned and went back to the church. So much for getting rid of Woape.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was in the middle of the night when Gary woke Woape up. Her eyes flew open, automatically knowing something was wrong. Before she could ask him what was going on, he pressed his hand over her mouth.

  “Shh...” He turned his attention to the window and then the bedroom door.

  Despite the sudden anxious thudding in her heart, she listened. All was quiet. What did he hear?

  “You have to hide,” he whispered.

  The very fact that he was afraid prompted her to action. She got out of the bed as fast as she could while he got dressed. She wondered if she should take off her nightgown and pull on a dress, but there wasn’t time to do anything but follow him to the closet in the hallway. In haste, he climbed the shelves and removed the portion of ceiling leading to the attic.

  “Come on.” He held his hand out to her.

  She hesitated for a moment but a creak from the porch startled her forward. Someone was outside. But who would be there in the middle of the night?

  Gary touched her arm and pulled her closer to the shelf. “Reach up to the hole.”

  Without further thought, she obeyed as he lifted her up. She stepped onto the middle shelf and pushed herself up through the hole. It wasn’t easy to climb when her belly got in the way but fear was a terrific motivator. Whatever was out there wasn’t good. She didn’t need Gary’s apprehensive movements to tell her that. She felt it deep down in her gut.

  As soon as she was in the attic, she turned and held out her hand to Gary, fully expecting him to join her. But he didn’t. Instead he flipped the rectangular board that sealed the entrance to the attic so she could grab the hook when she needed to get down. She understood what he was doing. He was making it so no one could go up there while allowing her to get out.

  “Gary. Come,” she pleaded in a soft voice, unwilling to be separated from him.

  He didn’t answer. He turned his head, notifying her that he heard something from their bedroom.

  Her hands gripped the fabric of her nightgown. More than one intruder. This wasn’t good! She didn’t dare say anything else, lest she give Gary’s location away. It didn’t surprise her when he sealed the opening and closed the door to the closet. All at once, everything was dark. The moonlight from the bedroom was gone. Everything grew silent. All she could hear was her fast breathing. She stayed still, waiting for any sounds from below.

  What was happening? Where was Gary? Where were the intruders? How many were there?

  The baby kicked, distracting her—but just for a moment. She had to focus. And that meant she had to calm down. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths. She spread her hands out along the hardwood floor. It was cool to the touch...and dusty. She wiped her hands on her nightgown and swallowed the lump in her throat.

  Opening her eyes, she noticed a sliver of light from the corner of the small triangular space. Shadows formed slowly, but it looked like a trunk and several crates were her only companions. The musty smell finally penetrated through the sense of doom hovering around her. Turning her attention back to Gary, she held her breath and listened. Everything was still quiet, and she didn’t know if that was a good sign or not.

  She glanced around the eerie room. The stream of moonlight penetrating the darkness beckoned to her. She slowly made her way toward it, taking great care in being quiet. As she neared the source of light, she realized that most of the window had been boarded up. If she removed the boards, she’d probably make noise. Maybe she could see enough through the exposed section.

  Peering through it, she caught a glimpse of the grassy plain. She caught sight of the barn that had seen better days. In there was the buggy and horses. Farther out, she caught sight of a coyote minding his own business. A movement behind the tree close to the house caught her attention.

  Her breath caught in her throat. She’d recognize that spear anywhere. Tecumseh. And if Tecumseh was there, then Hothlepoya couldn’t be far away. Tecumseh, after all, did everything for Hothlepoya. Currently, that entailed being a lookout.

  How did Hothlepoya find her? How did he know she came here? And after all this time? How many months had it been since she’d last seen him? Seven months. About the length of her pregnancy. The child! Hothlepoya must not see her like this. If he did...if he suspected he might be the father... She didn’t want to think about it.

  A gunshot vibrated through the house and with it, she jerked. She held her breath and waited. Within a second, a crashing sound exploded below her. The struggle raged as she tried to figure out who was doing what and where they were. Since she had nowhere else to look, she looked back out the window.

  Where had Tecumseh gone? Her fingernails dug into the boards. She scanned the land, but she didn’t see anyone. Gritting her teeth, she concentrated on the ruckus in the house. Banging. Loud thuds. Another gunshot. Her stomach tensed, and the baby kicked harder against her ribs.

  If only she knew what was going on! But did she really want to know?

  The front door burst open, so she anxiously peered out the window again. Hothlepoya came into view, fleeing as another gunshot echoed through the night. Her heart leapt with hope. That meant Gary was still alive! And maybe Gary would get rid of her nemesis once and for all. Then she could really be safe again.

  Don’t miss the next shot!

  But another shot did not ring through the silent night. For one long agonizing moment, nothing happened. And then, without warning, another gunshot did penetrate the darkness followed by the image of Gary chasing Tecumseh toward the barn.

  “No!” she screamed, despite the fact that she was supposed to keep quiet.

  Hothlepoya came up behind Gary and struck an arrow into his shoulder.

  Gary fell into the tall grass, and Tecumseh turned around and stopped running.

  Get up! Get up!!

  Despite her silent pleas, Gary reminded on the grass and Hothlepoya came upon him. As soon as Hothlepoya lifted the axe, Woape fell back against the adjoining wall and collapsed on the floor.

  The scene was much too familiar. She couldn’t watch another loved one being beheaded and then scalped. She’d seen it once...when Hothlepoya killed her mother. Bitter tears slid down her cheeks. Not again. Both times Hothlepoya had robbed her of someone she loved, and each time, she couldn’t stop him.

  She heard the door open and knew he returned to find her. She didn’t dare give into her urge to wail in sorrow. That’s how Hothlepoya found her after he killed her mother. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and urged aside the guilt. It was her fault both had died. When she ran away to avoid marrying Citlali, her mother had followed her. Except Woape hadn’t gone to Hothlepoya’s set of teepees. She’d stayed on the edges long enough to steal some food, but her mother had stopped by to ask after her.

  How many nights did Woape spend awake, wishing her mother had never searched for her? When her mother turned to leave, Hothlepoya wouldn’t let her. And then... Woape bit her lower lip until she drew blood. Refocusing on the physical pain allowed her the te
mporary reprieve from the sight of watching her mother die.

  Below her, someone moved with stealth. Part of her wanted to give up, to have this nightmare over with. But the baby tossed and there was that part of her that thought Gary might be the father, and if he was, this was a part of him she still had with her. And so she remained quiet and waited.

  ***

  Woape waited until dawn was breaking before she made a move to leave the attic. She hadn’t heard anyone shifting through the house for roughly three hours. It was because she knew the position of the moon in relation to the hour of the night that she could guess the passage of time.

  Lifting the board that had protected her, she tentatively found her footing on the shelf beneath her and slowly made her way down. The house was quiet—so much so that she could hear the pounding of her heart. She recognized the smell of death and had to force back the bile that rose up in her throat. Gary had managed to kill someone last night. In light of his death, that was little consolation. Still, she had to get out of there. She had to go to Erin and tell her... Bracing herself against the onslaught of tears, she turned her attention to getting to Erin. She could cry later. Right now, she had to get out of there. What if Hothlepoya came back? She couldn’t risk staying there.

  The hallway loomed long in front of her. She didn’t want to make the rounds through the house to see what had transpired the night before, but her dreaded curiosity prompted her to examine the damage. Shattered glass from the bedroom window, broken furniture, clothes strewn through the room... Sighing, she forced her feet down the rest of the hallway and to the edge of the staircase.

  She screamed when she saw Agwe lying on his back at the bottom of the steps. As soon as she realized his neck was turned at an odd angle and dried blood covered his chest from a bullet wound, she relaxed. But only slightly. He was dead. He wasn’t a threat anymore.