Westward Moon Read online

  Sasha wasn’t sure they were going to make it to Riverton by the designated date, but if Jack loved Sparrow as much as the girl had told her, he would wait.

  The three men arrived in Riverton on the 14th of December and Jack immediately went to the hotel there to inquire after Sasha. He knew better than to mention Sparrow because it would have been dangerous to do so. The hotel clerk didn’t have Sasha registered, however.

  Dean and Reckless had waited for him. They could tell from Jack’s disappointed expression that the women hadn’t arrived yet.

  “I hope they’re ok,” he said as they rode their horses to the town stable.

  Dean said, “They probably got held up by the weather, son. We did arrive a little early, too.”

  “If they’re not here by tomorrow, I’m goin’ after them,” Jack said.

  “Jack, you don’t know which route they took. They might get here and you wouldn’t know it because you went a different way. I know you want to see her, Jack, but you have to keep a level head here. Be patient a little longer,” Dean said.

  Reckless said, “If they do not show up, I will go after them. You stay. That way if they come, you are here to greet them. I will only go so far and if I do not see them, I will come back.”

  Jack nodded. “That’s a good plan. Thanks, Reckless.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Sparrow was trying to be patient, but when the 15th came and they were still not in Riverton, she became anxious. She was afraid that someone from her tribe was going to catch up with them before they could reach Riverton. Sasha was relieved when they came to clear roads and she was able to set the horses at a good pace again.

  Late the next day, a lone Lakota brave came riding towards them going in the opposite direction. He turned around and started riding alongside them. He motioned for them to stop. Sasha reluctantly pulled the team to a halt. She opened the door so they could talk.

  “Hello. Are you Sasha McCall?” the brave asked.

  Sasha debated whether to admit that she was.

  Seeing her hesitation, he said, “My name is Reckless and I came along with Jack Samuels,” he said with a friendly smile. “I came to find her and Sparrow when they did not show up in Riverton yet.”

  Sparrow whipped off her bonnet and smiled at Reckless. She recognized him even though he’d grown. In Lakota she said, “Reckless! It is good to see you again. You look even more like your mother.”

  Reckless grinned and said, “The same to you, sister. You are even more beautiful than I remembered. Wait until Jack sees you.”

  Sparrow said, “Is he well?”

  “He’s well, but a pain in the rear because he wants to see you so badly,” Reckless replied.

  Sparrow was afraid to ask her next question, but she needed to know. “Did he marry?”

  Reckless shook his head. “No. He has never loved anyone but you, Sparrow. He did not have room in his heart for anyone else.”

  While his words make her heart fill with joy, Sparrow also felt guilty because she had been with another man other than Jack. “I am glad to hear that he is not married, but sad that he has been hurting,” she said.

  “That will all be over soon,” Reckless said.

  “How close are we to Riverton?” Sasha asked Reckless.

  “Perhaps three hours or so. How tired are your horses?” Reckless asked. “Can they keep going? It will be dark soon, but the road is clear and the moon will be full tonight.”

  “I think they can make it. We’ll just keep at a more sedate pace,” Sasha said. Her team had great stamina and heart, but Sasha didn’t want to tax their strength more than necessary.

  Reckless said, “Ok. I will keep an eye out for any trouble. Go ahead and start out.”

  Sasha shut the door and got the horses moving again. Sparrow’s relief was great and she thanked the Creator over and over again for getting them safely to Riverton. Having Reckless ride along with them made Sparrow and Sasha feel safer. A weight began to lift from Sparrow and she wished the horses could faster. She was so close to the man who held her heart.

  Jack couldn’t stay still. He sat in a chair in their room. Then he would get up and go outside and wait. As it became dark, his fears of some catastrophe happening increased and he didn’t bother going back inside even though the cold seeped through his clothing. Dean came outside and tried to get him to come in for a little and get something to eat.

  “Pa, I can’t eat. I just can’t. Something’s happened. Why aren’t they here?” Jack said.

  When Jack didn’t want to eat, he was either very sick or very upset, Dean knew.

  “Reckless will find them and get them here safely, son. You gotta hang in there. Don’t fall apart now, Jack,” Dean said as he put his hands on Jack’s shoulders.

  Jack took a deep breath and said, “You’re right. Reckless knows what he’s doing and it’s probably just the snow that held them up. I’m sure they were careful and that they’re ok.”

  Dean shook him a little. “There’s the deputy I know.”

  Jack smiled and said, “I don’t feel much like a deputy right now. I’m a wreck, Pa.”

  “I noticed. But it’s gonna be ok,” Dean said.

  Chapter Five

  Almost an hour later, Jack and Dean watched Reckless ride up to the hotel. Reckless saw Jack and grinned as he pointed behind him. A pretty pair of Morgans came to a stop. Jack ran over to the carriage and saw Sparrow smiling at him from the opposite side of the carriage. Dean had never seen Jack move as fast as he did to get around the horses.

  He flung the door open and Sparrow jumped into his arms. Jack held onto her for dear life and Sparrow didn’t care that his embrace constricted her breathing a little. He laughed and spun her around before sitting her down and taking her face in his hands.

  “You’re really here! Am I dreaming?” he asked.

  Sparrow looked into those sky blue eyes she loved so much and said, “If you are then so am I.”

  Jack looked her over to make sure she was all right. Her soulful, dark eyes shone in the moonlight and her face was even lovelier than it was in his memories. She had matured. “You are so beautiful and I love you so much,” he said. “I have hoped and prayed for this day for so long, sweetheart.”

  “Me, too. Every day, all day, I thought of nothing but you,” Sparrow said. “I did not want to marry him. You have to believe me, Jack. I never wanted anyone but you, but they forced me to marry him.” She clung to Jack as she started to cry. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t say goodbye to you. I tried to get out of camp, but Father watched me all the time.”

  Jack held her close again. “Shh. It’s ok. I know you didn’t want to leave me. I’m not mad at you. Everything’s ok now. I’m gonna take you home with me where you belong,” he said as she shook with sobs.

  Her tears were Jack’s undoing and he couldn’t stop his own from falling. He inhaled her scent that was all her own and happiness surged through him even as he cried with her. Then Jack held her face again and pressed his lips against hers. Both their mouths trembled at first, but then the contact changed. Their shared passion ignited and their kiss became more urgent as they tried to convey all of their feelings to each other in a wordless expression of love.

  While the couple talked and kissed, Reckless introduced Dean to Sasha and they shook hands.

  Dean said, “We were getting really worried about you ladies. I’m glad Reckless found you and that you were ok.”

  Sasha said, “It wasn’t easy. The snow drifts were awful and we had to dig out quite a few times.”

  “I figured that was the case,” Dean said as he watched Jack with Sparrow. “They could be a while. How about we go in and get something to eat? I’m sure you’re hungry. I know I am. Their dining room is pretty good.”

  Reckless said, “I’ll take care of your team and be in soon.”

  Sasha said, “Thank you very much, Reckless.”

  “Sure thing,” the brave said.

  De
an led Sasha inside to the dining room and they sat a table near the large fireplace. He judged Sasha to be somewhere in her late twenties. Her gray eyes reminded him of Marcus’. Her blonde hair was braided in a simple style that was becoming to her. He noted that she wore a wedding ring and wondered about her husband. Sasha ordered tea and Dean asked for coffee. They declined ordering dinner until the others came along.

  Jack eventually raised his head from Sparrow’s and looked around for the others. They were alone. He had no idea how long he and Sparrow had been standing there. Time had ceased to exist for them.

  Sparrow moved away from Jack a little and said, “I think they have gone inside.”

  Jack laughed and took her gloved hand in his. “Yeah. They probably got tired of waiting for us. Let’s go in and get out of the cold.”

  As they shed their coats and gloves, Jack saw that Sparrow wore a white woman’s dress. It was a deep blue wool dress and the color suited her very nicely.

  “You look beautiful,” he said and wanted to take her in his arms again.

  “Thank you,” Sparrow said. She saw the desire in his eyes and knew that he could see the same thing in hers. “You have grown. You are taller and even more handsome than I remember.”

  Jack grinned. “Yeah, Pa’s not too happy that I’m a little taller than he is. I keep tellin’ him he shrunk. He hates it.”

  Sparrow let out a soft laugh. The sound was a balm to Jack’s bruised heart. He had missed hearing her laugh. “I’m sure he does. Your voice is deeper, too.”

  “Is it? I guess I don’t listen to myself very much and now I don’t remember what I sounded like before,” Jack said as he began guiding her to the dining room. Suddenly he was ravenous and he knew it was because of Sparrow being with him again.

  Sparrow smiled. “I missed hearing you say things like that.”

  “Like what?” Jack asked as he saw Dean waving at them. He waved back.

  “Um, I forget the word in English. All I can think of is confusing, but I know that’s not right,” Sparrow said.

  “I get your meaning,” Jack said.

  Dean stood up as they neared and enfolded the girl in his arms. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes,” he said. He’d been very fond of Sparrow and had been extremely worried about her safety. He kissed her cheek and noticed how cold it was. “Jack shouldn’t have kept you out there so long.”

  She couldn’t meet his eyes as she said, “I didn’t mind.”

  Dean chuckled and said, “I can understand that.”

  Jack had waited to hold her chair for her and Sparrow was touched by his gentlemanly behavior. Other than Sasha, Sparrow had had little contact with white society the past three years. She would need a refresher on some things.

  Sparrow could hardly take her eyes off Jack. She was relearning his features because her memory of him was slightly different. Jack actually was slightly taller now. It wasn’t Dean’s imagination. He had also become broader across the shoulders and his hair was a darker shade of blond than before.

  One thing that hadn’t changed was Jack’s appetite. She couldn’t hide her smile as he ordered two of everything. When Dean told them it was because he hadn’t been able to eat all day because his nerves had been so bad, Jack had scowled at his father and Sparrow laughed.

  “Big mouth,” Jack said. “You wait ‘til I tell Mama the kinds of jokes you been tellin’ us.”

  Dean regarded Jack calmly and said, “What makes you think she hasn’t heard them or that she wasn’t the one who told them to me?”

  Jack almost choked on his coffee over that and Reckless thought it was hysterical. “She told them to you?”

  “Some of them. You don’t know what a hellion your mother was in her younger days,” Dean said. “She did run away from home to marry me, you know.”

  Sasha was very intrigued. “She did?”

  Jack said, “Yeah. Mama was a rebel. I just didn’t know how much of one she was. You’d never know it.”

  Sparrow said, “She told me a few stories.”

  Jack looked at her and smiled. “You’ve been holding out on me. You never told me that.”

  “It was just between some of us women,” Sparrow said.

  “What women?” Jack asked.

  “I cannot say,” Sparrow said.

  Jack sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “Am I gonna have to interrogate you?”

  Sparrow laughed. He’d always asked her that when she wouldn’t tell him something. “You can try, but it won’t get you anywhere.”

  “I can think of a few ways to make you talk,” Jack said. “You know, when Sparrow was a little girl, she was afraid of butterflies—‘”

  Sparrow tried to cover his mouth, but he evaded her hand and grasped her wrist gently.

  “Shut up, Jack,” she said.

  “That was rude, Sparrow. I’m in the middle of a story here,” Jack said and laughed when she hit his leg.

  Dean and Sasha laughed over their playful antics. They had always been like that, Dean reflected. Sparrow was shy until she got to know you, but once she did, she could be feisty. It seemed like the two were picking up where they’d left off.

  Jack relented and said, “Ok. I’ll tell that story another time.”

  Their order came and Sparrow smiled as Jack attacked his food as if he hadn’t eaten in a month. She ate, but she was too preoccupied with him to truly taste her food. Sparrow could have sat all night watching him and been happy. Jack caught her watching him and laughed.

  “Nothing changes. She always watches me eat,” Jack said.

  Reckless said, “Most people do.”

  Jack reached over and poked Reckless hard with his fork.

  Sparrow said, “It is, um. I’m sorry. My English isn’t as good as it used to be.” It disturbed her that she’d lost some of Jack’s native language.

  Jack put a hand on her forearm and said, “It’s ok, honey. I’ll translate.”

  “Tell them that it’s fascinating to watch you eat because I can’t believe it’s possible for someone to eat as much as you do,” Sparrow said with a smile.

  Jack smiled good-naturedly as he told them what she’d said and they laughed.

  Sasha watched her young friend and seeing how much in love Sparrow and Jack were made the exhausting escape worth it. By the time the meal ended, Sasha was exhausted and had to stifle a yawn. Dean noticed and said, “I think we all need to get some shut-eye so we can get an early start tomorrow.”

  Dean had rented a second room for the women when they’d checked in two days prior and the men showed them the room right across the hall from theirs. Neither Jack nor Sparrow was ready to say goodnight to each other, but there was no way to avoid it. Sasha bid the men goodnight and retired. Dean said goodnight to Sparrow and pulled Reckless into their room with him.

  Jack and Sparrow laughed.

  “I don’t want to leave you so soon,” Sparrow said as she encircled Jack’s waist with her arms.

  He stroked her sleek hair and said, “You’re not. Meet me out in the stable in an hour, ok? By then they’ll all be asleep. I’ll get us a bunch of blankets. It’ll be like we did when we were kids.”

  Sparrow smiled against his chest and then looked up at him. “Yes. I will meet you.”

  Jack smoothed her hair back from her face and said, “I could stand here looking at you all night and it wouldn’t be enough.”

  She put her hand on his cheek and said, “Me, too.”

  Their kiss was soft and brief because they didn’t want any other guests to see them. It was merely a promise for more to come later on.

  Sparrow waited until Sasha’s breathing slowed and became deeper. Then she rose, silently dressed and slipped into her warm moccasin boots. Sasha never stirred as she slipped from their room. No one saw her as she descended the stairs and out the door. The bitter wind hit her but in her haste to get to Jack, Sparrow never noticed it. Swiftly she ran to the barn and stopped a moment while her eyes adjusted to the d
immer light inside.

  Jack was already there. He motioned to the haymow and Sparrow nimbly climbed the ladder. No sooner did Jack join her than she was in his arms. Sparrow ran her hands over his strong shoulders and down his chest, but she couldn’t really feel him with her gloves on so she took them off and threw them to the side.

  When Jack felt her bare fingers run through his hair, he groaned and kissed her harder. She’d matured as a woman and the way she felt against him was intensely exciting. Her lips were so soft and her powerful response told him that she desired him as much as he did her. They’d always had a strong sensual connection and it was only their mutual agreement to wait until after they were married that had kept them from making love.

  Jack had made a bed of sorts for them by spreading a blanket over some loose hay. Three more blankets were ready to be put over top of them. Playfully, Sparrow hooked a foot around Jack’s leg and pushed him over into the hay. He lay laughing as she pounced on him and continued kissing him. Jack threaded his fingers through her soft, straight tresses. He’d always loved the way her hair had felt like spun silk.

  It was as if the past three years had never happened and her and Jack had never been apart. Their playful banter had come back easily to them and their desire for each other had only grown stronger with the passing years. Though she had been married, Sparrow had never felt any passion for Panther and had submitted to him because it was required. Inside she had wept because she felt as though she were cheating on Jack.

  This thought entered her mind as she kissed Jack and she pulled away abruptly and sat up. Jack was confused and thought he’d done something inappropriate.

  “Sparrow, I’m sorry,” he said as he sat up with her. “What did I do?”

  Sparrow shook her head because speech was impossible for her at the moment. Her throat was too constricted with tears. “Not you,” she finally got out.

  Jack put an arm around her and pulled her back down with him onto the hay. He held her close as she cried. “What is it, Sparrow?” He spoke in Lakota so that she would be able to fully explain things to him.