Eric swallowed his first bite, then managed to explain about the meeting and the fight in a few sentences. "Jericho said I could come back at noon today." He glanced back at the position of the sun, but he didn't have his bearings enough to use it to decipher what thetime might be.
"We can be there." Two Stones motioned toward Eric's face. "And there is even time for you to wash." His eyes crinkled at the edges in the hint of a smile.
Eric accepted a larger piece of bread from Mrs. Two Stones—did they have a surname? He couldn't remember how she'd been introduced. His brain must still be addled from yesterday's pounding.
After giving him the rest of the food, which tasted more like fruit cake than bread, she moved away for a moment, then returned with a wet cloth. “You can wipe your face with this. Careful you don't scrape the scab from your lip. It may start bleeding again.”
He accepted the rag and wiped the blessed coolness over his face. As good as it felt, the cold started his limbs trembling.
Two Stones must have noticed. "God did not let the ground freeze. That was a gift to you."
Eric eyed the man as he eased the cloth across the dried blood on his chin. "I suppose." The way he felt now didn't seem like a blessing from heaven, but things would be worse if he'd frozen in the night like a block of ice.
He finished wiping the crusted mess from his hands, too, then glanced between the pair. "Do I look more presentable?"
Two Stones didn't smile, but his wife did. Then she glanced up at her husband as though not sure which of them should answer.
Two Stones took the lead with a single nod. "Will do."
Not great then.
He moved onto his hands and knees again, then worked his way up to standing, clutching his ribs as he straightened.
The couple's horses stood grazing a few steps away, along with his own gelding, whose reins were tied to one of their saddles.
He started toward them. "Thanks for catching my horse."
Two Stones walked at his side. "We saw him drinking at thecreek. The dirt on his saddle told us he had been wandering all night. That is why we search for you."
He glanced over, and Two Stones met his gaze with one that seemed both understanding and frank. "Thank you for that. I might not have wakened if you hadn't come." And missing time with his daughter would be the real tragedy in that.
Two Stones held Eric's horse while he mounted, and it took everything he had not to groan with the effort. When he made it into the saddle, he kept one hand around his middle to hold his insides together while he gathered his reins with the other.
"We need to make sure Doc Dinah checks your injuries when we get to the ranch." Mrs. Two Stones waited beside her horse until her husband came to assist.
"You're going to the ranch?" He eyed them. "Is it on your way home?" Hadn’t Jude said they lived in a native village a few hours away from the Coulters' place?
Two Stones nodded. "We will see you reach it in safety. Then we will ride with my father and mother to our village."
He wanted to protest, but the way he felt, when the terrain grew steep, he might topple off the horse. And he wasn't altogether sure he could find the clearing where the house and barn sat.
A thankful nod was all he could manage without letting another groan escape his lips. The bread had grounded him some, but the aches in his body still screamed.
Somehow, he had to regain his strength of will before they reached the ranch.
CHAPTER 5
Eric gritted his teeth against the pain as they set off down the slope, weaving through the trees. Two Stones led the way, and his wife rode behind Eric. It seemed all these people felt the need to surround him on the trail. Did he look so much the weakling? In truth, he felt fragile as a newborn right now—thankful for the protective way they sandwiched him.
When they reached the base of the mountain where he’d slept, Two Stones stopped to let the horses drink in the creek. As Eric's gelding gulped greedily, the other man studied him. "Do you have a better place to sleep this night than the cold ground?"
"I had hoped to stay at the Coulters' ranch. Maybe in their barn or something." Jude had intimated they had places he could sleep, though he'd never made an official offer. He pressed a hand to his ribs. "I’m guessing that’s not an option anymore." He focused forward and set his jaw. "I can pitch a tent and build a campfire." He wasn't usually as weak as last night's collapse made him look. Sure, his nights away from home were usually spent in hotels—with soft beds and restaurant meals—but he’dmade this journey all the way from Washington D.C. He might be accustomed to luxury, but he could handle sleeping on the ground until he worked out a better situation.
The captain of the steamer he'd traveled on to Fort Benton said his was one of the last boats going west before the Missouri River froze for the winter. Eric had wired his father from the tiny town when he’d disembarked, letting him know he would be gone longer than the six months he'd anticipated. Aside from two months each direction on the Missouri, he'd thought he could work things out with Naomi in a couple months. But he'd have to wait for the river to thaw now, which meant an extra three or four months at least. He'd promised to continue the negotiations he was working on through telegram though.
Which would be a challenge since the nearest town was a full day's ride away. At least, according to Jude, Missoula Mills possessed a telegraph.
They'd started up the opposite slope before Two Stones spoke again. The path proved wide enough for two to ride abreast, and Two Stones kept his spotted horse beside Eric's gelding.
