Fury was rising inside him, a savage urge to shove the man’s tongue down his throat and make him choke on it.
“Wohitika Olowan,” Duncan spoke quietly. “Hee.”
She went to him immediately, and Conner gently pushed her back, putting himself between her and the two strangers. Both men watched with interest, Bo in particular letting his eyes cling to her body.
“Stop staring at my wife,” Duncan warned in a low growl. Bo spat sideways with a careless shrug.
“White man can’t really marry an Injun woman, so call it what you want. Wife or squaw, it’s all the same to me.”
“Touch her, and you won’t feel much of a difference in how fast I’ll kill you.”
“Easy, mister,” Ben tried to head off an ugly confrontation. “There ain’t no need for-”
“Don’t let ‘im get under your skin,” Bo interrupted, his gaze pinned to Duncan. “He’s got a squaw to impress and has to talk big or she’ll lose respect for him.” Slanting a glance to her, he licked his lips. “Ain’t that right, honey?”
“Bo,” his companion spoke suddenly. Something about the blue-eyed stranger gave Ben a cold chill. “We got a lotta miles to travel yet. Let’s not burn daylight.”
“No hurry, Ben, no hurry a’tall. We should be sociable, after all, these is the first folk we’ve come across in nigh on five months.”
Duncan was fed up with being taunted and having to swallow it. He knew Bo was just itching for a reason to start a fight. Holding the rifle in readiness, he met the trapper’s mocking gaze.
“A man should do as he sees fit, but we’re pullin’ out this morning. Alone.”
“What’s the hurry, stranger?” Bo leered, his meaningful gaze lingering over She-Cat’s body. Her features stiffened in anger as she glared back. “Name’s Bo Mason. Maybe we can parlay some, do some swappin’.”
“You got nothin’ I want, Mason, an’ I got nothin’ I’m willing to give you.”
“Why you-!”
“Bo, cool it!” Ben urged his horse forward, the gelding neighing loudly in protest to the sudden action. “Just leave it! These folks got a right to do as they please. If the pass gets snowed out, it’ll be two weeks to go around.”
“Mind your own business, Ben! This fella thinks he’s so tough, I wanna see it!”
“You don’t-!”
“Let him.” Conner’s voice dropped to a rumble his features hardened by the prominent scar. “I figure a man has a right to speak his mind.”
“Bo, don’t!” Ben’s pleading was also a warning as he faced his partner. “Just let it go! There’s other women, white ones, that ain’t spoken for!”
“He thinks he better’n me, Ben. I can’t abide that in a man.” His gaze flicked to his partner. “Why you lettin’ him scare you off?”
“Lookit him Bo! He ain’t no tinderfoot! He’s been over a hill an’ through a crick.” Ben had edged his mount further between the two men. “We’s had our diff’rences, Bo, but we always made out ‘cause we thought the same. I can’t trap without you, you know that, an’ we got a good run up north! Don’t risk it over no stranger.”
Finally Bo nodded, shifting his brooding gaze to his partner. His smile was forced.
“Sure, Ben. If that’s how you want it.”
“That’s how I want it.”
“Well then,” Bo lazily turned his horse, his eyes lingering over She-Cat. “Let’s get goin’.”
YOU ARE READING
the LEGEND of She-Cat
Historical FictionDuncan Conner was a man full of anger and anguish, having lost everything he loved, and nearly his own life. Living in self-imposed exile, he wasn't seeking out companionship, hoping to heal from the deep wounds of loss. What he found in the scorchi...
