Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) by Peggy L Henderson Page B

his head, and his eyebrows drew together. He didn’t get it. “But your parents are white,” he argued.
    Sarah laughed. “My father trades with them as well as all other tribes in this region. My mother is a skilled healer. If anything happens to them, the wrath of many other nations will descend on the Blackfoot, and they know it. They would not harm my parents.”
    Chase sat on the hard ground, the chill of the earth seeping up into his body. The fire crackled loudly. Sarah’s features danced in the shadows, illuminated by the flames. He held his head between his hands.
    One month.
    Somehow he had to convince Sarah to take him to her parents sooner. He didn’t want to be here that long. He needed some answers now. He glanced at her. She sat quietly, stroking her dog’s neck. Her fingers moved slowly through the mutt’s fur. Chase pictured her hand in his hair, stroking him . . . Irrational jealousy swept over him. You’re insane, Russell. Jealous of a dog?
    These feelings for her confused, and scared, the hell out of him. All the more reason he needed to get home.
    “All right. I’ll go back to Madison with you,” he blurted out. “I hope your mother can give me some answers.”
    Her blue eyes stared at him from a few feet away. She nodded slightly. “Then you’d better get some sleep,” she said softly. “The trip back is not any easier.”
    “We can take our time. I’m not in a rush now.” He got up and moved to his blanket on the opposite side of the fire.  For a long time, he gazed at the Big Dipper. 
    *****
    An animal howled in the distance, the ominous sound reverberating through the trees. Chase woke with a start. His breath created whitish swirly patterns above him each time he exhaled. The gray sky held no hint of sunshine in the early dawn. With a groan, he rolled onto his side. His back ached from lying on the hard ground. The campfire crackled loudly, and the flames eagerly consumed the wood that looked like it had been freshly added. The flames were just beginning to envelop all the branches.  He raised his head. Sarah’s blanket was empty. Did this girl ever sleep?
    He sat up and rubbed at his stiff neck. Reluctantly, he pushed himself off the ground. How many nights had he been here in the past now? Yesterday he’d hoped to be home again. Today he would return with Sarah to her home. Memories of the day before came back to him. The way she’d trembled in his arms, and the tears in her eyes. Her vulnerability had stirred something in him unlike anything he could remember. Would it really be so bad to spend some time with her?
    No, Russell. You can’t get involved with her. She’s not that kind of girl.
    He had to figure out a way to get to this rendezvous place, and find her mother. She had to know how to get back to his own time. But what if she didn’t? What if she’d come here the same way he had? It was unthinkable for him to remain here.
    “Okay. Just take it one day at a time,” he said out loud. He looked around between the trees. He had no intention of walking up on Sarah again the way he’d done yesterday.
    “Sarah,” he called. His voice traveled through the trees. A few birds chirped in the canopies of the lodgepoles, announcing the new day. Sarah’s dog barked in the distance. He called her name again, and followed the barking. Pushing through the trees, his eyebrows raised in surprise.  Sarah was perched precariously on one of the lower branches of a pine tree, a stick in her hand, swinging it at some of the higher branches above her head. What was she doing? Chase laughed.
    “Is this your early morning exercise routine, or did a bear chase you up that tree?”
    She glared down at him. “If you must know, I’m trying to get us some breakfast.”
    “We’re eating pine needles?” He grinned up at her.
    “I’m trying to reach that cluster of pine cones up in the higher branches. This is a white bark pine tree.”
    Pine cones didn’t sound any more