Before she could move away she heard him give a deep sigh, and with a look of resignation on his handsome face, he looped a rope around her waist, giving her several yards of slack before securing the other end about his own body.
Meagan was unable to suppress the sob that rose to her lips.
“What’s wrong now?” he demanded impatiently.
She lifted the rope in her hand. “Now I truly feel like a slave,” she replied.
Josh looked at Meagan. He looked at the rope and then he said, “So do I!”
* * *
With Meagan lashed to his belt, Josh managed to turn the horse out to graze, make a fire and distribute the last of the pemmican and bread between them. He then spread blankets on the ground and motioned Meagan to lie down on one of them while he stretched his body across the other.
“You can’t expect me to sleep there,” she squeaked as she realized his intention. “The judge specifically forbade us to sleep together.”
Josh looked at the girl. At first he thought she was trying to pull a fast one, but the concern on her face and the tears reflected in her eyes told him different.
“We’re not sleeping together. You have your blanket, I have mine. Now be quiet and go to sleep.” He handed her an extra blanket, but Meagan remained standing, unsure as to the exact meaning of Judge Osborne’s orders.
In pure exasperation, Josh gave the rope a tug and toppled the girl over onto him.
“Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, you’re freezing!” He jumped to his feet, dragging her with him. “Get out of that wet dress,” he ordered. Then, seeing the look on her face, added, “You got something more to wear, don’t you?”
Meagan had other clothes, but she certainly couldn’t change into them while bound to this man’s belt like a partridge.
“You’ll have to untie me so I can change,” Meagan told him. “I can’t get my clothing off or on trussed up with this rope.”
Josh grumbled all the way to the wagon as they retrieved her bundle. The minute he untied Meagan he expected her to run. “Will you give me your word that you won’t try to escape again?”
Meagan’s eyes searched the shadows. The fact that she did not care to explore the dangers of the night reflected in her expression. “I won’t try to run away,” she promised.
“Very well.” He thrust the bundle of clothes into her arms and untied the noose about her waist. “If you try to run this time I’ll never believe another thing you say.”
“You haven’t believed anything up to now, so what’s the difference?” she asked aloud, but for some reason, there was a difference.
With all her worldly possessions in her arms, Meagan had actually given consideration to trying once more to escape. Nothing had seemed as devastating as spending the rest of her life in virtual slavery. But Josh’s threat never to believe her brought her up short.
It mattered that Josh should know he could believe her. It mattered that he might someday be willing to trust her, regardless of the circumstances that had thrust them together. “I told you I wouldn’t run away again,” she said defensively, and slipped behind the questionable protection of a small bush where she changed into dry clothing.
After spreading her dress near the warmth of the fire, Meagan realized that Josh had taken her at her word and spread her blankets on the side of the fire opposite his. With a grateful smile she lay down and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. Even with the warmth of the little fire the night was cool, and her teeth continued their incessant chattering no matter how she tried to silence them. The dress she wore was lightweight gingham and did little to protect her from the cold.
The tribulations of the previous weeks had taken their toll, and even though Meagan fell into a troubled sleep her thoughts would not allow her to rest.
As the night wore on a light rain began to fall. Josh cursed under his breath. Above the sounds of the night he could hear Meagan’s teeth chattering and the little sobs she emitted during her sleep.
Picking up his bedding, Josh got to his feet and went over to awaken the girl. “Come with me,” he ordered once she opened her eyes, her expression a mixture of bewilderment and dread.
Obediently Meagan followed, half dragging her damp blankets. Josh threw an oilcloth under the wagon and quickly spread his blanket over it. “Get under there.” He shoved her toward the wagon and she obeyed without argument.
Even when he joined her beneath the shelter of the wagon she did not speak. It never occurred to Josh that she had clamped her mouth closed so he would not hear her teeth chatter. But Meagan could not hold her mouth closed forever, and before she could be certain Josh was sleeping her teeth again began clacking in her mouth and her body shook so violently she could have sworn it shook the ground.
She felt the tears squeeze from her eyes and burn down her cheeks. Then a hand closed on her shoulder and rolled her onto her side.
Without a word Josh pressed her against the warmth of his body. Within minutes his body heat permeated her clothing, skin and bones. She wanted to object to the close proximity. She knew she should object, but his warmth was like a narcotic. The chill dissipated from her body, leaving it soft and pliable against his. Her whole being relaxed as she inhaled the scent of buckskin, brandy and man.
For the first time since the death of her father, Meagan was able to relax. Her fate had been decided for her. Her future laid out without any possibility of deviation. She might spend the rest of her life serving this man and his family, but she would never stop trying to prove her innocence. The very fact that she was to remain near the scene of Lily’s death gave her hope that someday she would find a way to clear her name.
She felt herself drifting off to sleep and forced herself to whisper drowsily, “The judge said we shouldn’t sleep together.”
Josh absently patted her arm. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’m not going to sleep.” And he knew it was true, because the sweet agony of again holding a woman’s soft body in his arms was enough to keep him from batting an eye—especially a woman who had caused his wife’s death. The memory would no doubt haunt him for many sleepless nights to come.
They rose with the sun. After breaking their fast, Meagan gathered up her dress and climbed up onto the wagon seat where Josh waited. Without a word they started off down the rutted road toward their destination. But the day was all but spent when Josh finally drew Meagan from her reverie. “There it is,” he said.
Meagan’s eyes swept the valley below.
The land was rich and fertile. The green of the grass and trees was vibrant, and the earth black and rich.
Josh skillfully guided the horses along the narrow road, opened the gates and stopped the wagon between the house and the barn.
Meagan glanced around. The outbuildings consisted of a barn, chicken house, several covered stalls for animals, a smokehouse and outhouse. The double cabin was really two buildings connected by a dogtrot.
She wondered if Josh would actually make her stay in the barn as had been suggested before they left town. She glanced at him surreptitiously but he paid her little mind as he climbed from the seat of the wagon and started toward the house, every line of his body alert for whatever he might encounter.