Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,59

away from her face. Yes, Henny knew why she was talking about nothing. "They'll find him, Lettie," the woman told her gently. "God will help them find him."

Tears began to spill out of Lettie's eyes. She had to believe that, didn't she? If she didn't believe that, there would be little reason to go on living. Henny helped her put on a warm, dry flannel gown, and Katie curled up beside her. Luke came into the room then, looking like a wild man. His blue eyes blazed with determination, but he looked pale and bruised. One side of his face was still puffy from the grizzly scratches, and he had lost weight from being sick. He half stumbled to the bed, a mixture of horror and guilt and sorrow on his face.

"I'm so goddamn sorry, Lettie," he groaned, his own eyes tearing. "We'll find him. I'm not coming back without him. I don't care how long it takes."

"You can't... go out there, Luke. You'll die. I can't lose you, too."

"If I can't find Nathan, I deserve to die! This is my fault, for bringing you here, for not understanding how in hell to deal with Indians. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have let Half Nose's son come at me and bury an arrow in my chest. Right now I feel like that's exactly what he did anyway!"

He turned and limped out of the room. Lettie heard men's voices again, someone telling Luke to get into some dry clothes, to get some rest. They would get organized and head out in the morning.

CHAPTER 10

Luke rode to the crest of the hill with Will, two Shoshone scouts, and the handful of soldiers he had been able to convince to help him. He had found them camped near Last Chance Gulch, where the last of the original posse who had ridden out with him from Billings two months ago finally had given up and gone home. They had families, businesses, farms to tend to. Luke couldn't blame them, wondered himself if he would ever be able to get back on his feet after this setback. Was anyone taking care of the ranch? Was there anything left to go home to?

There was only one thing that kept him going, and that was the realization that Lettie and Katie needed him... if Lettie even still loved him. And by now there was probably another child, maybe the son he'd wanted. He had promised Lettie he'd be with her the next time she gave birth. It was just one of many promises he'd had to break. He didn't mean to break any of them, especially his promise to Lettie and her parents that nothing would happen to her or Nathan.

He felt so guilty now for wishing for another son. Little Nathan was all the son he needed, and now he was gone. For sixty days he had ridden in a good hundred-mile radius of

Billings, sometimes farther, searching, sleeping in a tent at night or under the stars, asking questions, chasing the wind. That was what finding Half Nose was like. This was his country, his and his father's and his grandfather's. The man knew every creek and mountain, every ravine and forest. He was as elusive as a puff of smoke. Several men had helped him those first few weeks, then had fallen away one by one. Only Will remained at his side now, and these two new Indian scouts and the few soldiers they had picked up.

It was June, and surprisingly hot for so early in the summer. The scouts had been sure Half Nose was probably camped deep in these mountains, and now, at last, they had come upon an encampment of tepees nestled below them at the dip of two rolling hills. A hundred times Luke had got his hopes up, but until now their search had turned up nothing. Yet all the while they had felt watched. Luke did not doubt that at any time an army of Sioux Indians could have come swooping down on them from out of nowhere to massacre them all. But no. Half Nose wanted him to live. He wanted him to suffer this agony of a lost child.

Only a few days after they had begun their search, they had found a few of Luke's horses, then Nathan's little fur slippers he'd been wearing the night he was taken. They were tossed beside a river. Farther downstream they had found the