Back to Tomorrow

Chapter 11

Chapter 11“No, I don’t think so,” Zach replied. “There were enough tracks in the wash—cowboys and maybe cavalry—I doubt they’ll realize they missed us before morning. Rusty is getting tired. The best thing we can do is go a little farther up this wash and rest until daybreak.” As he spoke, he turned and started off, leading the horse.

“I can walk too,” Emily offered. She lurched in the saddle as the bay stubbed a toe on a rock and stumbled.

“No, you’re so light he doesn’t even know he’s carrying anything. It won’t be much farther.”

True to that prediction, Zach rounded another bend and stopped.

There the smooth sandy wash-bottom ended in a short cataract of stone.

Occasional running water had dug out a basin at the bottom of it, which had half filled with soft sand. He dropped the reins to ground tie the bay and turned to lift Emily down.

As her feet touched the ground, she wavered a minute, her legs numb and stiff from the long ride. He held her until she steadied.

“There, are you all right now?”

She nodded. “Just took me a minute to get my land legs back.”

Zach turned away to unsaddle the bay, slipped off the bridle and put a pair of hobbles on the horse. He patted the gelding’s sweaty neck.

“Sorry, old boy. I wish I had some oats for you, but we’ll get to a stable tomorrow.”

Zach turned back to Emily. “This isn’t going to be too comfortable.

But you can use the saddle blankets to soften the ground a bit and lean on the saddle for a pillow.”

“How about you?”

“I think I’d better stay awake, just in case.”

Emily stiffened indignantly. “We can take turns keeping watch, then. Don’t try to make a pampered lady out of me!”

“And there might be snakes or something,” Zach added. “The cowboys say this helps.” He released a coiled lariat from the saddle and made a large loop, which he placed on the ground, encircling the saddle and the makeshift blanket bed.

“They say a snake won’t crawl across the rope.”

Emily couldn’t restrain a slight shudder. “Well, I hope they know what they’re talking about. I don’t like the idea of sharing my bed with a snake!”

She sat down, leaning back to wriggle into a halfway comfortable position and tried to relax. For a few minutes, Zach paced up and down in the little sandy pocket, but then he too settled down, sitting near Emily, with the saddle between them.

“You really should try to nap a bit,” Emily said. “I think I slept about half the time since we left Jake’s cabin, but you were picking the way and staying alert. I’ll wake you if I hear anything.”

Zach was clearly reluctant to accept her idea. “Are you sure? It doesn’t seem right.”

Emily snorted, exasperated. “I don’t know why not! We’re in this together, and I’m more than willing to do my fair share.”

Finally he agreed, reclining to rest his head on the saddle. Emily sat up, locked her arms around her knees, and gazed at the star jeweled sky overhead. It had to be well past midnight, but she had no idea what the hour might be. There was yet no trace of dawn, which could mean it was any time from midnight to four or five in the morning. She knew the sun rose about five-thirty and that it started getting light some time before that.

In spite of how hot the afternoon had been, the temperature had dropped many degrees since then. A thin breeze drifted down the canyon, raising chill bumps on Emily’s bare arms and making her shiver. She huddled down, trying to find shelter behind the saddle, but that did no good.

Finally, when she was sure Zach was asleep, Emily crawled around to his side of the saddle, bringing the lighter of the two saddle blankets.

She lay down beside him, unfolding the blanket to cover both of them.

Although she had every intention of staying awake, the last thing she heard was the soft shuffle of the horse’s hooves as he moved to nibble on some green mesquite leaves. At least she was warm now…and again feeling safe.

* * * *

May 17, 1889

Zach awoke with a start, briefly confused as to where he was. The prickly edge of the saddle blanket rubbed his face and he inhaled the scent of sweaty horse and damp wool. And what was that warmth at his side, a soft and yielding warmth that shaped itself to his body?

He opened his eyes, catching the first rosy glow of dawn and a few fading stars overhead. The previous night’s events came back in a rush.

Emily—the warmth was Emily. He knew a moment’s misgiving that they had both slept, no one standing guard except the faithful Rusty, but clearly no harm was done.

When he moved, Emily made a small mew of protest and snuggled closer. Zach smiled at her actions. He turned to look at her. Hair sweetly tousled and her face reflecting the dawn’s tender light, she was lovely. Even with a smudge of dirt on her cheek, he’d never seen anything half so appealing. And what a game little trouper she was.

He’d heard not one complaint from her in spite of the primitive conditions and the dangers they faced.

At that moment, she opened her eyes and their gazes met, meshed, and held. Without any thought, he raised one hand and brushed the hair back from her brow. She smiled, her rosy lips parting and curving into an inviting portal.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too.” He had to smile back and then he had to taste her smile. As their lips met, her right arm found its way up around his neck, her fingers tangling in the hair that had begun to grow down over his collar. Her taste was as sweet as her smile, as welcoming and inspiring as the sunrise.

Forgetting all else for the moment, he lost himself in the kiss, feeling, smelling, and tasting only Emily. Surely there wasn’t another like her in the whole world. But she was here and for the moment, she was his. What more could he ask?

* * * *

Before Zach’s lips closed over hers, Emily was only half awake.

Upon waking, she’d been caught up in confusion of where she was and why she wasn’t in her bed at Nellie’s—if not safely back in an even more familiar place. But at the first timid touch of Zach’s warm mouth, every thought fled, replaced by her total absorption in the marvelous sensations the kiss invoked.

This time, fueled by the fear they had both endured and the unaccustomed intimacy of waking together, no shyness or restraint limited them, as it had in their first kiss. Emily slipped her free arm around Zach’s neck, first because it seemed the right thing to do, and second to detain him if he showed any tendency to break away too soon.

She soon realized there was small danger of that. He made a leisurely exploration of this kiss, wandering from her lips to her chin, down to the hollow of her throat and back again to her lips, leaving every skin cell tingling with pleasure. Emboldened by the thoroughness of his attentions and the intoxicating way he nibbled and caressed her lips and face, she opened to his kiss and invited him to deepen it.

Just to be sure he got the message, she darted her tongue out to taunt his and withdrew, urging his to follow. He needed no second invitation. As they continued to kiss, they both moved, drawing closer together and tangling limbs. Zach kicked aside the confining folds of the blanket, no longer needed since the heat flowing through their veins canceled any coolness of the hour.

Emily’s skirts bunched up around her knees, and then higher, as Zach’s knee slipped between hers. The gathered neckline of her blouse slid off one shoulder, taking the strap of her bra with it and baring pale skin that hadn’t seen the sun since her childhood. Zach shifted to rain kisses along her collarbone and the upper swell of her breast, igniting a sizzle of sensation that zinged through her whole body before settling low in her abdomen.

With her eyes closed, Emily could forget the bruises and scrapes that still marked Zach’s face, trophies of his fight with the Hulk. She could ignore nagging thoughts of pursuit by Jake, and the danger looming over them still. Apparently the injuries didn’t pain him as much today, and his lips felt smooth, supple, warm, and eager.

Of its own volition, her body arched. She pressed closer to him, flattening her breasts against the solid heat of his chest. He slid one hand beneath her to caress her back, using his leg and another hand to keep his weight from bearing on her too heavily.

Rusty, perhaps growing curious, chose that inopportune moment to shuffle over to them and stick his muzzle down to see what was going on. At first Zach swatted absently at the animal’s exploring nose, but then he suddenly seemed to realize where he was and what he was doing. Emily opened her eyes as he surged up to a sitting position and let out a long shuddering breath. He shook his head as if chiding himself as he rose to his feet.

When he finally looked back at her, dismay warred with many other emotions in his expression. “I know I should apologize,” he began.

“My mother did teach me how to treat a lady, and I know you’re a lady, even if manners are different in your time. But I really can’t say I’m sorry. Will you be offended if I admit kissing you is most pleasant?”

“How could I be offended? I enjoyed it too, whether or not it was quite proper.” Emily sat up, trying to wipe the giddy grin off her face.

His chagrin was endearing, a refreshing change from the attitude of most of the men of her prior acquaintance who took all they could without so much as a by-your-leave.

Although she felt a sharp twinge of disappointment at the interruption, she knew they’d have been foolish to go any farther. She’d rarely been that passionate with Rich, even after they were engaged.

Guilt assailed her along with a certainty that Zach must think less of her for her wanton behavior. What should she say to him? A sense she dishonored Rich’s memory added to her misery. How could she even think of another man so soon? She’d loved him with all her heart, and Zachary Tremaine, though pleasant and charming, was still practically a stranger.

She scrambled to her feet and shook out her wrinkled skirt. What a mess! Between riding and sleeping in the cotton garment, hardly an inch was without wrinkles and even a serious scrubbing would probably not make it clean again. She’d have to buy a new outfit for Angelina—assuming she made it back to Tombstone in one piece and was able to do so.

“For safety’s sake, we’d best be up and out of here shortly. Now that it’s light, Jake may decide to backtrack and see where he missed us.”

Zach’s reminder came like a dash of ice water in Emily’s face. How foolish to have forgotten, even briefly, the danger that stalked them.

She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, either. The realization that someone could have crept up while they slept and captured them or worse sent a chill through her body.

Fighting back tears of frustration and distress, she watched while Zach gathered the tack. He soon had the bay saddled and ready to go.

Before he mounted, he offered Emily a drink from his canteen and took one himself. The tepid water hardly made a satisfactory substitute for breakfast, but they were both glad to have it.

Even without oats or hay, the bay appeared rested and ready to go.

Zach swung into the saddle. Once settled, he extended his hand to Emily. She got a toe in the stirrup, and with his help swung up behind him, bunching her skirt around her legs. By unspoken agreement, they both seemed to realize it would be best if she didn’t ride any farther in his lap.

Rather than lock her arms around his waist, Emily took hold of the saddle strings at either side of the cantle and held them to maintain her balance. They started off at an easy pace, heading back down the long wash for a short distance and then climbing a hill on the south bank.

Zach stopped short of the crest. He swung his leg across the front of the saddle and slid to the ground. “Wait here. I’m going to go on up and look around. I can crouch down and be much less obvious than a horse and rider—to say nothing of a horse and two riders.”

Emily couldn’t disagree with that wisdom. She took the reins and held the bay still while Zach made his way to the crest of the hill. He disappeared behind a jumble of rocks along the rim. She waited for what seemed a long while before a rattle of stones around the hill, almost out of sight, drew her attention.

Zach emerged and beckoned for her to ride over to him. Without moving into the saddle, she tightened her knees against the bay’s round barrel and urged him ahead. He picked his way daintily along the rocky slope, pausing when he reached Zach without so much as a tug on the reins.

“I’ve decided we’ll go to Bisbee,” Zach said. “It’s a pretty long ride, but Jake won’t be likely to look for us there.”

Emily digested Zach’s surprising announcement in silence. Not go back to Tombstone? Why, when it had to be much closer? “What about Mary Ann?”

Zach hesitated a long moment. “I trust Mrs. Cashman to take care of her, don’t you? I can’t imagine even Jake daring to threaten or harm anyone in her care. She has a lot of friends and a great deal of respect among the citizens of Tombstone.”

Emily nodded. “Yes, that’s certainly true. I don’t feel good about sneaking away, but perhaps you’re right.”

“We aren’t sneaking! But I’m not going to run the risk of Jake getting his hands on you again. True, he hasn’t done you any real harm yet, but now he’ll be really angry.”

Emily shivered. Remembering the gambler’s black stare gave her the creeps. He looked as if no soul lived behind his eyes—they were as flat and cold as a lump of hard coal. And having seen how brutally he had beaten Mary Ann, she knew she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of his rages. She might be spunky, but she wasn’t a fool.

“Yes, I—well, yes, I wouldn’t want that either. But can your horse manage such a distance with both of us?”

“I’ll walk part of the time. With luck, we may catch the stage or a freight wagon going over the Mule Mountains to Bisbee. Then one or both of us can ride part of the way. Here, you slide up into the saddle and I’ll walk until we get down off this hill.”

Emily scrambled awkwardly over the cantle and settled herself into the saddle. Her legs were much too short to reach the stirrups, which were set for Zach’s long-legged height, but the smooth leather was easier on her bottom that the horse’s spine and rolling muscles.

Zach started off down the hill, dodging among the cactus, ocotillo, and creosote bushes with the horse tagging at his heels.

Emily simply held on and let the animal choose his path. Her experience with horses would make a very short tale indeed. She looked around at the rugged landscape, starkly painted by the rising sun.

Though harsh and barren, the mountains had their own kind of beauty. The morning air smelled fresh and clean, scented with mesquite blossoms and the wild desert flowers that lingered at the end of spring.

Birds trilled in the bushes and a ground squirrel scolded them with his whistling cry. Overhead, a hawk rode the updrafts, swinging in wide arcs, higher and higher.

Watching the hawk, she didn’t see the ocotillo in time. One branch caught her hand, the sharp thorns scoring furrows across the base of her fingers. She stifled a cry as she raised the injured hand to suck the blood away and sooth the wound with her tongue. The desert was unforgiving of any carelessness or lack of caution. She would do well not to forget that.

When they reached the bottom of the hill, Zach mounted again, this time behind her. He let her guide the horse around the bases of a couple of other hills and then along the bottom of another wash that ran in a southeasterly direction.

The sun beat down on them now, climbing steadily higher in the sky. The cool of early morning long gone, birds and even lizards hunted sheltering shade. Emily wished she had a hat, even the sunbonnet she’d left behind at Jake’s shanty. She raised one hand to shade her eyes, squinting against the glare where the sun reflected off endless white rocks and sand.

Zach took off his hat and set it on her head. Though it was too big, if she bunched some of her hair up underneath the band, she could keep it in place. “Thank you,” she said, forcing the words out through parched lips. “I’ll let you have it back in a little while, but the shade is wonderful!”

Near noon, not far from the foothills of the Mule Mountains, they came to the track that led from Tombstone to Bisbee. Zach dropped to the ground again, and walked along beside the bay, who moved now with a hanging head and slow steps.

Emily handed him back the hat. “Here, you wear it for a while.

You’re beginning to get sunburned.” When the bay stumbled, she checked him and scrambled down.

Zach looked at the horse and shook his head. “He needs water,” he said. “I heard there’s a spring in this canyon, about a mile up. It’s off the road, but I think we’d do well to stop there a few minutes.”

Emily agreed. She tagged along behind Zach now, feeling the heat of the dusty ground even through her shoes. Although they probably took no more than an hour to reach the spring, she had begun to wonder if she could last the distance before they got there.

Even though she felt as if she couldn’t draw enough air through her nose, she didn’t dare try to breathe through her mouth. Her tongue felt thick and stiff, her lips chapped and cracked, and a dry, dirty taste lingered in her parched mouth and throat. She tore a ruffle off her petticoat to make a crude shade around her face, but she knew she was still going to have a nasty sunburn. Her arms itched and stung, the skin now nearly scarlet and dust-dry. To make the endless walk bearable, she kept setting goals a short distance away, telling herself she could at least make this rock or that bush before she collapsed.

The spring in Banning Creek made an oasis amidst the red rocks and scraggly desert foliage. A sparkling stream ran a short distance before vanishing into the ground, and along the watercourse, a grove of cottonwood trees grew, casting a welcome shade on the grassy margins.

Emily, Zach, and Rusty stumbled into this shade, headed for the cool water at its center. When Rusty reached the steam, the horse dropped his head and drank until Zach tugged him away. Even Emily realized the horse shouldn’t drink too much at once after being so hot.

She sank to her knees on the bank and eagerly slurped up handfuls of water. Cold and sweet, the water tasted better than any frosted drink she’d ever enjoyed. After she drank her fill, she splashed water over her parched face and arms, finally soaking her makeshift kerchief and letting the cool water drip down around her head.

Zach also drank, bathed his face, and even filled his hat with water, slapping it over his head and letting the liquid stream down his face, neck, and shoulders. Once they had all drunk their fill, Zach unsaddled the bay and staked him where he could graze on some of the lush grass.

Emily flopped down under one of the trees and closed her eyes. She barely noticed when Zach sprawled down beside her.

* * * *

Zach dozed for a while, savoring the cool shade after the morning’s long, hot journey. Although he rested, he remained alert to any unusual sound or motion in the vicinity. He felt an urgency to reach Bisbee and find Emily a safe place to stay, but he recognized they must rest a while if they were going to survive crossing over the mountains.

He glanced at Emily curled on her side in the grass. Her face and arms glowed with sunburn. They had to hurt, but she hadn’t made a squeak of complaint.

He’d make her the heroine in his next dispatches to the paper. What a game little trooper she’d turned out to be! No woman of his acquaintance would have endured the last twenty-four hours as she had, staying calm and never voicing a word of protest at her tribulations.

His doze was gradually deepening, until the distant jingle of harness and the tramp of heavy hooves penetrated his awareness. A freight wagon! The spring was about a quarter mile from the road, but if they hurried, perhaps they could hitch a ride with the freighter. He jumped up to saddle the bay again, only calling Emily when he was ready to go.

She stumbled to her feet, blinking in confusion. “Huh? What?”

“I hear a freighter coming. If we hurry, we can catch a ride to Bisbee.”

She stood, rubbing gritty eyes and looking like a waifish refugee from Hades. He caught her up in his arms and lifted her onto the bay.

He saw she grabbed the saddle horn before he started off, trotting and pulling the horse to the same pace. If their luck held, he’d reach the road before the freighter passed.