Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,39

If he had not been such an easy child, she wasn't sure she could have survived the winter being cooped up in the tiny cabin, but the boy had seemed totally unaffected by the confinement. He was almost three now, his hair turning just a little bit darker blond, his eyes a pretty blue. She stuck the flowers into the bodice of her dress, between two buttons, then turned to take down a little more wash.

It was then she saw them coming, several riders and a herd of horses. Her smile faded as alarm set in. Could they be the outlaws Will and others had warned them about? Luke was leading one of the mules toward a pile of logs he was cutting and gathering for the new cabin. She was sure he didn't see the riders' approach, and she called his name as loudly as she could. Luckily the wind was behind her, and it carried her voice. When he looked up, she pointed across the valley. As soon as he saw what she was pointing at, he grabbed his rifle and headed up the hill toward the cabin.

"Get Nathan inside!" he yelled. She could barely make out the words. She picked up Nathan and ran into the cabin. Minutes later Luke got there, panting. He closed and bolted the door. "Get the other rifle down and make sure it's loaded!" he ordered. "Get the ammunition out here where it's handy, and get my handgun, too."

Lettie obeyed without question, her heart pounding with fear. She ordered Nathan into a corner, telling him it was a game and it was very important that he stay there. "Do you think it's outlaws?" she asked Luke.

"Who else would be heading here with a herd of horses?" He cocked the rifle. "Let's just hope they'll deal with us. I'm glad now that those bales of hay are still stacked around the cabin. They're still wet from the spring melt. They'll keep bullets from crashing through these thin cabin walls if those men out there decide to start shooting."

Lettie almost laughed at the remark. She had been after Luke to get rid of the hay bales because they were starting to smell, but now she was glad they were still there. She cocked the second rifle and knelt at the small window, which was hinged. She pushed it open and pointed a rifle through it. The wood that had been stacked outside the window had been used up to the point that it was below the window now, so she had a good view of the front of the cabin. No one could approach from behind because the little building was set against the side of a hill, and there were no other windows.

Luke strapped on his handgun, then checked to be sure his repeating rifle was fully loaded.

"Hey, somebody's buildin' a cabin down there!" someone shouted in the distance. "Looks like somebody's been livin' here, Cade!"

"Two riders are coming," Lettie told Luke. Her stomach tightened into a knot when Luke unbolted the door.

"Be ready to bolt this again if something happens to me," he warned her. He stepped outside and closed the door as two men arrived at the front of the house. They drew up their horses, looking surprised. Neither of them was cleanshaven, nor were their clothes clean. They looked well armed. Lettie shivered at the realization of how outnumbered Luke was. She felt suddenly naked, exposed to the lawlessness of this land, where the only code was survival of the fittest... or maybe the meanest.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" one of the men spoke up, a thin cigar between his teeth as he spoke. "Trespassers."

"You're the ones trespassing," she heard Luke answer. "This is Fontaine property now, all legal under the Homestead Act."

Lettie felt cold perspiration under her dress in spite of the warm afternoon. She gripped her own rifle tightly, watching both men carefully. She had never shot anyone in her life, never even imagined such a thing; but if they tried to hurt Luke, or Nathan...

"Who the hell do you think you are, mister, takin' over another man's cabin?" the one with the cigar asked.

"This place was deserted when we got here last fall, and I checked in Billings. Nobody had laid legal claim to this land, but now I have, so you boys can just ride on and take your stolen horses with you."

The man with the cigar just grinned. "Who says they're stolen?"

"I might