Then he lowered himself into a chair and sat beside her the rest of the night, staring at her as if trying to make up his mind about something. What made Storm Kennedy different from any other woman he had ever known? he wondered curiously. Was she really the Storm that Wakantanka had referred to in his vision, or was he being fanciful and imagining things because her name happened to be Storm? In his heart Grady knew he wasn't responsible for the death of Storm's husband. So why had he appointed himself her protector? Why did he want her with a fierceness that was more pain than pleasure? And why, after he had loved her only once, did he resent any other man who had ever touched her?

Nat Turner rushed past the dozing hotel clerk as if the devil was on his heels. He went directly to the saloon where both Fork and Purdy were known to hang out and found them playing cards at one of the gambling tables. He snarled out a command and they quickly joined him at a table in the far corner of the room. He motioned for a bottle and three gla.s.ses and, when they were delivered, quickly filled them to overflowing and tossed his down, hoping to settle his nerves enough to think clearly. Fork and Purdy drank theirs more slowly, waiting for Turner to speak. They could tell he was upset and figured he would spit it out in good time.

"That's it!" Turner finally blurted out. "I'm through playing good guy. From now on it's all-out war. The first to feel the brunt of my anger is Storm Kennedy. Next is that half-breed b.a.s.t.a.r.d who seems to know what's going on every minute of every day. It's uncanny, that's what it is."

"What happened, boss?" Fork asked. He had a good idea what had sparked Turner's anger, but wisely waited for Turner to tell him himself. Fork knew that somehow or other Turner's plans had been foiled again by the renegade. The rich Texas client wanted grazing land in the Cherokee Strip, and Turner hadn't succeeded in buying up one d.a.m.n acre. Homesteaders were a stubborn lot, Fork thought glumly. They hung on to their land till the bitter end, even if it meant starving to death.

"I was so close," Turner hissed. "So d.a.m.n close, she had already started to sign the bill of sale."

Purdy whistled softly. "How in the h.e.l.l did you manage that?"

"I got the woman drunk, that's how. Everything was going according to plan until the breed showed up. h.e.l.l, a dance was the last place in the world I expected to see the Injun. When I took Storm to the hotel for the night I thought I'd seen the last of him, but he came bursting into the room scant seconds before Storm signed the bill of sale."

"d.a.m.n!" Fork spat disgustedly. "I told ya the man ain't human. "What ya gonna do now?"

"It's not what I'm going to do but what you two are going to do," Turner said, his eyes gleaming maliciously. "Listen carefully and do exactly as I tell you."

Turner spoke in low tones as both men leaned close in order to catch every word. After a few minutes, Purdy said, "Tonight?"

"h.e.l.l, yes, tonight! The timing is perfect. Do as I say and you'll be amply compensated."

"We're on our way, boss," Fork said as he surged to his feet, dragging Purdy with him.

"Report to me when you get back."

Turner was still sitting in the saloon when Fork and Purdy returned shortly before dawn. The only thing that had changed was the level of whiskey in the bottle sitting on the table before him. It was empty.

"Well?" Turner asked anxiously.

"It's done, boss," Fork boasted as he plopped wearily into the chair across from Turner. Purdy slouched into the remaining seat at the table. "Everything went as smooth as silk."

"What about the breed?"

"He wasn't nowhere in sight. Neither was the woman."

Turner smiled with slow relish. "Good work, boys. There will be a generous bonus in your next paychecks. Now we just sit back and wait. It won't be long before Storm Kennedy comes begging me to buy her land."

Drops of water bathed her face. Gently at first, then in a raging torrent. Storm sputtered and came awake. Grady was standing above her, pouring the contents of a gla.s.s of water over her face. When mere sprinkles failed to awaken her, he upended the entire gla.s.s.

"d.a.m.n you, what are you doing?" Storm struggled to sit up, then flopped back down when the grinding pain in her temples made even the slightest movement excruciating. But Grady showed no pity as he continued pouring until the gla.s.s was empty and her face drenched.

"Wake up, Storm. It's time to start for home."

"Home?" Storm said, trying to remember where she was and failing miserably. "Where am I?"

"In a hotel room."

"What!" This time she managed to struggle to her feet. "With you?"

Grady's grating laughter made her stiffen with indignation. "I spent the entire night in a chair watching you sleep. Do you recall nothing of what happened last night?"

"Of course I remember. I went to a barn dance with Nat Turner. But-how did I end up in a hotel room with you?"

"I'll leave you a few minutes so you can freshen up," Grady said. "Then I'll explain everything over breakfast."

"d.a.m.n it, Grady Stryker," Storm said, stomping her foot, "don't you dare leave this room until you tell me if we-if you and I-"

"Relax, Storm, I didn't touch you. When we make love again I want you fully awake and aware of everything I do to you."

"You-"

Whatever she was going to say was lost on Grady, for he was already out the door.

Breakfast was the last thing Storm wanted. Her stomach was churning wildly and she knew if she put anything inside it she would promptly lose it. And her head was pounding with a hundred hammers. She did manage to keep down a cup of tea, but kept her face carefully averted from the huge plate of greasy eggs, steak, and potatoes Grady was shoveling down with such disgusting gusto. Once he had taken the edge off his hunger he began relating the events of the previous night. Storm listened in wide-eyed horror to the tale of how that skunk Nat Turner had very nearly succeeded in tricking her into selling her land.

Once Grady had finished with all the nasty details, Storm stared at him a full minute before speaking. "How did you know where to find me?"

"I followed you."

"Why didn't Nat see you?"

Grady smiled obliquely. "No one sees me if I don't want him to."

"Would I really have signed a bill of sale for my homestead if you hadn't arrived when you did?"

"You already had the pen on paper when I burst into the room. I lost precious time when that blasted hotel clerk refused to tell me which room you were in. Seems Turner paid him to keep quiet. He wouldn't have told me at all if I hadn't offered him something even more valuable."

"More valuable? Did you offer him more money?"

"I offered him his life," Grady said with quiet menace. His tone of voice sent a shiver down Storm's spine.

"I can't believe Nat would get me drunk. He told me the punch wasn't spiked. I was so thirsty from dancing, I must have drunk a gallon of the stuff."

"I tried to tell you what the man was like."

"You also kept interfering in my life when you had no right."

"Where would you be today if I hadn't interfered?" His intense gaze pinned her to the wall.

"I-don't know, and I thank you for last night, but that doesn't make you my keeper. From now on I'll know what to expect and be prepared."

Grady sent her an oblique look as he sc.r.a.ped back his chair and rose to his feet. "If you're able to ride, I'll take you home. We'll have to ride double, but the extra weight will be no burden for Lightning."

Though Storm didn't relish the idea of being so close to Grady for the ten-mile ride home, she wanted to return to her snug little cabin as quickly as possible. "I'll manage."

A weak sun broke through the clouds as Storm and Grady rode home. Though Grady kept their pace deliberately slow and easy, each jolt made Storm aware of his muscular form pressed in intimate contact with hers. Her hips rested snugly in the cradle of his loins, her back was warmed from contact with his chest, and everywhere they touched felt like a burning brand against her flesh. She stiffened her spine in a futile attempt to hold herself upright, but the position soon became impossible to maintain. In the end she grit her teeth and let herself absorb the comfort his huge body provided.

Storm even managed to doze in the saddle a time or two, barely aware when Grady eased an arm around her waist and pressed her more snugly against him. But Grady was more than aware of how perfectly she fit his arms and how small and vulnerable she seemed against his hardness. A surge of protectiveness such as he hadn't felt since Summer Sky's untimely death gave him an unsettling sensation in the pit of his stomach. He didn't need another woman in his life, he cautioned himself sternly. He especially didn't need a white woman whose independence and stubbornness were completely at odds with the qualities he admired in a woman.

A groan left Grady's lips as Storm shifted in her sleep, fitting her bottom more snugly against his loins. Was there no end to the torture he must suffer on Storm Kennedy's account? In his village, when he wanted a woman-usually one of the accommodating widows-he merely made his choice and took her with little fanfare or discussion. But it was different here in the white world, where a man must satisfy himself with prost.i.tutes or take a wife. And Storm was the last woman in the world he would take to wife. She'd probably make Little Buffalo a terrible mother. Or would she? Conflicting emotions were still waging a battle inside his brain when he reached the outer boundaries of Storm's homestead, never antic.i.p.ating the total devastation that awaited them.

The first inkling Storm had of impending disaster came when Grady reined in Lightning so violently, the poor animal reared and nearly unseated them. She came awake with a jerk, startled to hear a string of vile curses rush past Grady's lips.

"Wha-what's wrong?" she asked groggily as she tried to shake off the bonds of sleep.

His face was taut with simmering rage, his lips drawn back to expose his teeth in a fierce scowl. At first Storm thought Grady's anger was directed at her, until she followed the direction of his gaze. "You've had visitors during the night," he said tightly. The hollowness of his voice frightened her.

"Dear G.o.d, no!" The words were ripped from Storm's throat in a tormented shriek. Grady had reined in a hundred feet or so from where the cabin once stood. Nothing remained of the snug little dwelling she had left the night before except charred wood and smoldering ashes. Only the scorched, wood-burning stove she had been so proud of remained, virtually unscathed by the inferno that had destroyed her home.

Without waiting for Grady to dismount, Storm slid from Lightning's back, running, stumbling, falling, picking herself up, then running again. Cursing violently, Grady leaped to the ground and gave chase. Storm was within a few feet from the burnt-out hulk when Grady caught her.

"There's nothing you can do now, sweetheart," he said as she sobbed against his chest.

"Everything I held dear is gone," she choked out. "All my memories of Buddy, things my parents gave me to set up housekeeping, our wedding presents-everything. How? Why? I don't understand. What did you mean by 'visitors'?"

"Perhaps I spoke prematurely. Did you leave an unbanked fire in the hearth?" Instinct told him the fire hadn't started on its own, but he didn't want to alarm Storm until he was absolutely certain.

Still in shock, Storm shook her head.

"What about the stove? Could you have forgotten to douse the flame?"

"No, I distinctly remember banking the fire in the hearth, and the stove was cold when I left home. What am I going to do?" she wailed disconsolately. "There's not enough money left to rebuild."

The air was pungent with the acrid odor of charred wood, and thin wisps of blue mist hung in the cold air above the ruins, suggesting to Grady that the fire had started in the early hours after midnight and had burned quickly. It was suspicious, d.a.m.n suspicious, Grady thought as his keen eyes made a thorough search of the area. Even the smallest clue could tell him what had happened during the night.

"Stay here," Grady said as he set Storm aside and approached the remains of the cabin.

"Where are you going?"

"To look for signs," Grady tossed over his shoulder. "I don't think the fire was an accident. I believe it was set deliberately."

Only one wall was left standing, charred beyond redemption and ready to topple at the slightest provocation. The other walls had collapsed into a heap of blackened rubble. Nothing remained of the cabin's contents save for the stove and a few scorched pots and broken pieces of pottery. After a cursory glance at the rubble, Grady turned his attention to the immediate vicinity surrounding the cabin. Dropping to his knees, he examined a set of hoofprints in the soft ground, grunting in satisfaction when he located another set, neither of which belonged to him or Storm. From the depth of the print in the damp soil, Grady established that the riders were much heavier than Storm. And he knew with certainty that they weren't Lightning's prints; his mount wore shoes with distinctive markings.

Then he found a telling piece of evidence that proved conclusively that the fire had been deliberately set. He discovered the remains of a crude torch that had been used to set the cabin ablaze. He carried it back to where Storm stood, intending to put it in his saddlebag and show it to the sheriff.

"What did you find?" Storm asked anxiously. She was still in a daze, unable to fully comprehend the disaster that had befallen her. Everything of value she owned had been destroyed in one night's evil doings.

Grady held up the charred torch. "Hoofprints that belong to neither one of us, for one thing," Grady said, "and a torch that was probably used to set the fire."

"Oh, G.o.d," Storm said, sinking to her knees. She had never felt so alone or bereft in her life. Though her parents had many children and were barely able to sc.r.a.pe a living from the rocky Missouri soil, she had always felt loved and protected. And Buddy had always been there to lend her support. "Who would do this to me?"

"Someone who wants your homestead," Grady said grimly. "The d.a.m.n shame of it is, we can't prove Nat Turner is the culprit." He turned pensive. "I could always beat the truth out of him."

"If you do, you'll be thrown in jail for a.s.sault," Storm advised. "What am I going to do?" she repeated in such a forlorn voice, Grady experienced an emotion that was utterly foreign to him.

"First I'm going to take you to my place and get some hot coffee into you. After that I'm going back into town to talk to the sheriff."

"Is there nothing salvageable?" Storm asked in a small voice.

"Nothing, Storm. I'm sorry."

Hoisting her into the saddle, Grady swung in place behind her and turned Lightning toward his homestead. Though outwardly calm, he feared he'd find his own cabin destroyed. He knew a man who committed so vile a deed once would have no qualms about attempting it a second time. Grady knew Nat Turner hated him for having spoiled his plans on more than one occasion, and if he found his cabin still intact it was only because Turner feared Grady's retribution.

Grady's worst fears were realized when he was close enough to see tendrils of smoke rising from the vicinity of his cabin. Storm saw them also.

"Oh, no! Not your cabin too!" Tears that were still so close to the surface flowed without restraint down her cheeks. Grady dug his heels into Lightning's flanks, and Storm clung to the pummel to keep from falling as the stallion shot forward.

Grady uttered a cry of relief when he saw that the smoke they had seen from the distance came from one charred wall, not from the burnt wreckage of his cabin, as he had expected. The other walls were virtually untouched. By some miracle the torch had been carelessly thrown and lay beside the charred wall, half submerged in a puddle left from a recent rain. Evidently the arsonists hadn't waited around long enough to watch the conflagration. The torch had been quenched before it did more than scorch one wall and destroy a few shingles. When Grady saw that the smoldering flame threatened to burst into a blazing inferno at any moment, he reacted swiftly.

Leaping to the ground, he found two empty buckets he had left in the yard, grasped one in each hand, and raced to the river. He was back in minutes, dousing the charred side of the cabin. Then back to the river again for more water. Storm saw what he was attempting and hurried to join him, using a large kettle she found nearby. After several trips Grady was satisfied that the smoldering fire couldn't be rekindled into a full-blown blaze and called a halt.

"Another hour and it would have been too late," Grady said as he surveyed the damage to his cabin. In addition to the charred wall, parts of the roof had been destroyed. Fortunately the damage was minimal compared to the devastating loss Storm had suffered. "The wind could have fanned the smoldering embers to life and then we'd both be without a roof over our heads. Our 'friends,' whoever they may be, play rough."

The cabin smelled strongly of smoke as Storm stood just inside the door. Her weary eyes swept Grady's home with a desultory glance. It wasn't nearly as fine as hers and there was no cookstove or comfortable bed, but at least it was still standing, she thought dully. The charred wall was a grim reminder of her own loss and she turned from it with a brave show of defiance. Despite the grievous loss she'd suffered, she would survive somehow.

The bone-chilling cold had penetrated the room, and she shivered as she hugged her wrap closer around her. Grady noted her discomfort and squatted beside the hearth to light a fire. He waited until the blaze took hold before turning back to Storm, who stood suspended in the center of the room, still in a state of shock.

"I'll make some coffee," he offered. "Sit down, Storm. Worrying will serve no purpose.

She moved woodenly toward the chair, perching gingerly on the edge. When the coffee was boiled, Grady poured her a cup and sat across from her, sipping the dark, rich brew and watching her. She hadn't moved since she sat down, or even appeared to know where she was. Her head was lowered and she appeared to be studying the tips of her fingers. Grady a.s.sumed the shock of finding her home destroyed had sent her deep into depression.

"Are you all right?" he asked. The obvious concern in his voice brought her head up. She nodded. "Do you want to talk?"

"What can I say? My home is gone; there's not enough money left to rebuild or put in crops. What little cash remains from Buddy's inheritance is earmarked for the purchase of cattle."

"Do you have enough money to get you back to Missouri? If not, I can offer you a small loan."

"And give up my homestead?" Storm shot back, startled that he would suggest such a thing. "You expect me to surrender meekly after what Turner did to me? The land is mine! Do you hear me? No one is going to take that away from me." Her voice rose in fierce defense of what she and Buddy had worked so hard for. Owning land was her dream, and she had won the coveted homestead despite the obstacles she had been forced to overcome.

"What do you intend to do?" Grady asked, amazed by her fierce determination to see her dream through. Most women would be too stricken to continue on alone after suffering losses such as Storm had known. But then, he knew of no other woman who had the gumption to join the rush for land and homestead without a man beside her. Storm Kennedy seemed to thrive on adversity.

"I-don't know. Get a job, maybe, until I can earn enough money to rebuild my cabin."

"That will take years. I'm sure there will be no problem with keeping the homestead, for you did fulfill the necessary requirements. It's not your fault it was destroyed by fire. You probably wouldn't be required to rebuild till spring, but you couldn't possibly earn enough by then to start a new cabin. Then there are taxes. Have you considered that?"

The thought of paying taxes on her homestead nearly defeated Storm. If she was a coward, she could give up everything and go home, but she hated to burden her parents with another mouth to feed. Buddy's parents weren't any better off than her own family, though they only had two children left at home. Besides, she feared the Kennedys would blame her for Buddy's death and hate her for keeping what remained of Buddy's small inheritance from his grandmother instead of returning it to them. She had always gotten along with the Kennedys, but they had never fully forgiven them for taking off for Oklahoma to claim land when he could remain in Missouri and eke out a meager living on the farm.

I'm homeless and virtually penniless, Storm thought with humbling insight. The only money available to her lay in the sale of her homestead. But failure didn't sit well with Storm. She was a pioneer in the true sense of the word, and claiming a homestead had been the ultimate experience of her life. It had been a proud day when she drove her stakes into the ground. To sell it now would utterly devastate her.

"I'll think of something."

Grady grew pensive as he watched Storm fight back tears. She appeared on the edge of collapse, and he wondered what had held her together this long. He had thought her white blood made her different from the People, but he was learning that she possessed as strong a spirit as any Sioux warrior. And though he hated to admit it, responsibility for her husband's death weighed heavily on him. He fervently wished he could turn his back on her and let her solve her seemingly insurmountable problems on her own, but he could not.

Then, somewhere from the inner chambers of his brain came the thought that Storm actually did possess qualities that would make her a good mother for Little Buffalo. He loved his son and missed him fiercely. It was time he and Little Buffalo were reunited. It suddenly occurred to him that he could discharge his responsibility to Storm Kennedy and make a home for his son at the same time. He smiled at the simplicity of the solution to all their problems. Storm would have a home, he could have his son with him as he'd always intended, and have a pa.s.sionate woman to share his bed.

"I have come to a decision, Storm Kennedy."

Storm's eyelashes flew up as she regarded him with mild curiosity. His gaze was so intense, she felt herself drowning in the deep blue pools of his eyes. A thrill of apprehension shot down her spine and she instinctively knew something of tremendous import was about to be revealed. Something that could change her life forever.