Page 88 of I Do, I Do, I Do
“Somehow the tide has turned. I think we’re in a bit of a pickle,” Juliette said in a small voice. “I think we might get killed or badly wounded unless someone in camp hears the shots and comes to our rescue.”
“Don’t count on it. A hundred men are hunting in these hills every day. Shots are as common as tobacco juice.”
“It’s beginning to look like this isn’t as positive a situation as it first appeared.”
Zoe bit off a string of stinging comments about positive situations, because however annoying Juliette could be, she was, by God, a brave and loyal friend. She was here on the hillside getting shot at, and it had been her idea. Although Zoe had never believed she would have such a thought, she admitted that Juliette had many good qualities. And so did Clara. The two people she had hated most in the world had become her dearest friends.
Closing her eyes, she leaned back against the rock. The question now was how good a friend was Zoe Wilder? She had come here to save Clara, but she’d ended by placing Juliette in danger. Never mind whose idea it was. Zoe knew about weapons and fights, and she should have thought this through more thoroughly.
Juliette didn’t deserve to die. After all, Zoe was the one who had come to the Yukon to hang. And she reminded herself that it would never have ended well with Tom in any case.
“Juliette, listen.” She drew a deep breath. Actually, getting shot didn’t terrify her as much as being hanged. And she might even survive. Her hands were steady as she pushed bullets into the rifle’s chamber. “When I stand up to shoot, you make a run for it. Don’t use the path. Go through the trees. I know the snow is deep and it will be hard to move. But stay in the trees until the cabin is out of sight.”
“I don’t wish to be impolite, but…have you lost your mind? If you stand up, Horvath will kill you!”
“If we keep sitting here, we’ll freeze.”
“I’ve been thinking, Zoe. This was a bad idea, and I’m sorry.” Juliette’s voice cracked. “It’s my fault that we’re going to get killed.”
“No, it’s my fault. I acted on impulse instead of thinking this out more carefully.” Zoe waved a hand, though Juliette couldn’t see her. “Never mind that. Just get ready to run.”
“Zoe? Whatever happens…I love you.”
The air ran out of her chest. “I love you, too.” She bit her lips. “Tell Tom…and tell Clara…Well, you’ll know what to say. Make it sound nice.”
“Oh, Zoe. Damn it.”
“Get ready. On the count of three, I’ll stand and you run.” She sucked in a cold breath and pictured the cabin, the doorway. If Horvath hadn’t overheard their loud whispers, she might get him first. It might happen that way. “One…” She turned to face the rock and gathered her feet beneath her. “Two…” The rifle was ready to fire and she was a good shot. “Three!”
Popping up, she fired into a hail of bullets. Bullets coming toward her, bullets flying past her. She could see Horvath, and he was shooting past her, at the path.
“Get down!” Tom’s voice? But it couldn’t be.
Completely confused, Zoe dropped behind the rock and peered down the path. At least a dozen men rushed toward her, with Bear in the lead and Tom and Ben right behind. All of them had weapons and fired steadily at Horvath’s cabin. And none of them had the sense to seek cover, she noticed, her heart in her mouth.
Bear had one arm strapped to his chest, and his face was red with the exertion of climbing the path. But he was firing and roaring like a grizzly.
“You no-good, cowardly, worthless piece of garbage! First you shoot me in the back and try to kill my woman, now you’re trying to kill my friends! Defenseless women!”
The mountainside reverberated with a fusillade of gunshots flying back and forth between the cabin and the men on the path, so many shots that no one could have kept count. Zoe covered her ears as the men rushed past her.
And then, finally, silence. Slowly, Zoe and Juliette stood behind their rocks. Horvath was dead, and the men stood in a circle around his body, quietly wondering whose bullets had found the mark. As she watched, Tom turned, and his eyes met hers. He and Ben walked away from the others and climbed down the path.
“Are you injured?” Tom asked in a clipped voice.
“No,” she said as Ben passed, moving rapidly toward Juliette. “The cut on my cheek is just a scratch.”
“Good. Miraculously, no one else is injured either. Now, what in the hell were you thinking of?” His fists came down on his hips, and his green eyes blazed. “God knows what might have happened if we hadn’t had a couple of men up there on the hillside watching Horvath! You could have gotten yourself killed!”
She stared. “You have men watching him?”
“Of course!” Exasperation roughened his voice. “He threatened to go after Clara and Bear again. Do you think we were just going to let him do it?” Sweeping off his hat, he pushed his fingers through his hair. “Damn it, Zoe. If Abner hadn’t rushed down and sounded the alarm, Horvath would have killed you two!”
“We didn’t think anyone was doing anything to stop him.”
Bear came down the path. “Abner saw part of it, but Cal Rye heard and saw everything. These ladies tried to make a citizen’s arrest. Horvath refused to be arrested.” Bear rolled his eyes. “Horvath fired first.” He glanced at Zoe’s rifle. “Everything that happened from then on was self-defense or a rescue. There won’t be any trouble with the Mounties. We’ve got a dozen men who will swear they saw Horvath firing at Zoe and Juliette.”
Tom continued to stare at her. “I see the outlines of this. You thought you were going to save Clara and Bear, right? Was that your plan?”
