Read Online Reckless Heart by Madeline Baker - Free Book Online Page A

Distraught, I slammed my bedroom door and threw myself across my bed. Burying my face in my pillow, I cried until my throat was raw and my eyes swollen. And still the tears came, until, exhausted and discouraged, I fell asleep. Only to toss and turn all night long.
     
    I woke before dawn and left the house. Outside, the air was cold and clear and still. A thin blanket of sparkling frost covered the ground, and my breath came out in little clouds of white vapor.
    Nellie humped her back and flattened her ears when I laid the cold saddle pad in place, stubbornly refusing to budge when I climbed onto the saddle. Even my horse is against me, I thought angrily, and pounded her sides with my heels. Finally, with a soulful look at the cozy barn, she broke into a shambling trot.
    In spite of my heavy coat and wool scarf, I was shivering and my teeth were chattering when I reached the river crossing. Shadow was there, waiting for me, and I saw that he had spent the night beneath “our” tree, wrapped in a furry brown buffalo robe.
    “You have been crying,” he observed as I dismounted. “Was it bad after I left?”
    “No,” I lied.
    “Hannah, you are as easy to read as the stars in the sky,” he chided gently. “I told you it would be better if I stayed away.”
    “Please don’t scold me,” I begged. “I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”
    “You’re cold,” Shadow observed quietly. “Come, let me warm you.”
    And so saying, he spread my coat beneath our tree, sat me down beside him, and drew his buffalo robe around our shoulders. It was very cozy, bundled in the heavy robe, and I lifted my face for his kiss, desperately needing to feel the strength of his arms around me and feel the reassuring warmth of his lips on mine. As always, his touch left me breathless and yearning for more. But he held me away from him, and I raised troubled eyes to study his face.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked tremulously.
    “Hannah, you must persuade your father to leave the valley. There is going to be war, if not this year then the next.”
    “What has that to do with us?”
    “Everything. When my people fight, I must fight with them, and I do not want to fight you or your parents. I would not like to see any of you killed.”
    The thought that we might be killed had never entered my mind. War, and talk of war, had always seemed vague and far off, something that only happened to other people, in other parts of the country. Even when the Henrys had been burned out, it hadn’t affected me personally. No one had been hurt, and I didn’t know them anyway, not really. They were just a placid, middle-aged couple with three tow-headed kids who had come into the trading post now and then.
    “Maybe there won’t be any war,” I suggested hopefully. “And even if there is, surely your people won’t harm us. They never have before.”
    “This is not like before,” Shadow said gravely. “The buffalo hunters are killing the buffalo for their hides and leaving the meat to rot in the sun. My people cannot live without the buffalo. This summer, ten new families moved into the southern end of the valley. Soon there will be ten more, and then ten more. The hunters are bad enough, but the settlers are worse. They come with their families and their cattle and fence the land. We must stop them now, while we can.”
    We must stop them now, while we can. The words sent a shiver down my spine, and yet I knew what he meant. The valley was growing every day. Counting the ten new families Shadow had mentioned, there were now seventeen families in Bear Valley. We had a church now, and a school. Charlotte Brown, Paul’s mother, was a bona fide school teacher. Charlie Bailey, Lucinda’s father, was talking about building a hotel next year. And Frank Fitch was making plans to open a saloon, though there was some doubt that the ladies in the valley would allow it.
    Yes, we were growing. There was no doubt about it. I could understand why the