Her Shadow
by
Aimee Thurlow


Fate had been cruel

A silent tear fell down Marlee's cheek.  Of all the people to come
through her bed and breakfast, fate had to bring Lucas.  Every day it
taunted her.

Her love for Lucas was real and the kind that would last a lifetime.
But sometimes the best way to love was to let go... Marlee sensed his
presence in the room before she ever heard his footsteps.  She turned
to face him, and yearning squeezed her heart as he strode up to her,
shirtless, jeans slung low on his hips.  He moved with grace and power,
and stopped only inches away.

Let him go, her mind said.  But she lifted her arms and walked into his
embrace... "Suspenseful, sexy, compelling.  Aimee Thurlo's journey into
Hillerman territory is a definite page-turner."

--JoAnn Ross

"Nobody can do romantic intrigue better than Aime Thurlo."

--Talisman

Dear Reader

November's not usually anyone's favourite month, but if you're an
Intrigue TM reader you can buck the trend this year as we have four
very different and enthralling novels by very talented writers to help
speed up those long evenings.

The award-winning Anne Stuart is back once more with A Dark & Stormy
Night, and of course as is her wont, she's given us a dark, mysterious,
rather special hero.  Is he your type?

Aimee Thurlo and Leona Karr both bring a mini-series to a close this
month.  Her Shadow is the last of the FOUR WINDS books and Follow Me
Home completes ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESCUE, the stories surrounding the
Rescue team based in the Colorado Mountains.

Finally, there's The Brother's Wife by Amanda Stevens, which continues
THE KINGSLEY BABY stories--three complete and separate stories
surrounding the kidnapping of Adam Kingsley thirty years ago.

Irresistible reading all four--enjoy!

The Editors

Her Shadow

AIMEE THUR LO

SILHOUETTE Intrigue

DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?

If you did, you should be aware it is stolen property as it was
reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer.  Neither the author nor
the publisher has received any payment for this book.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the
imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone
bearing the same name or names.  They are not even distantly inspired
by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents
are pure invention.

All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in
part in any form.  This edition is published by arrangement with
Harlequin Enterprises H B. V. The text of this publication or any part
thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the
written permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of
trade or otherwise, he lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated
without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar
condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.

Silhouette and Colophon are registered trademarks of Harlequin Books
SA."  used under licence.

First published in Great Britain 1998 Silhouette Books, Eton House,
18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 ISR

Aimee and David Thurlo 1998

ISBN 0 373 22457 5

46-9811

Printed and bound in Spain by Litografia Roses SA."  Barcelona

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

With thanks to Jennifer West, who gave me such wonderful insights into
her profession.

And to our special friend, Dr.  Cum, who took time to share his
knowledge.

Prologue

Cloaked in the shroud of night, he crept forward, knowing the risks and
not caring.  The need for revenge pounded through him, pumping equal
parts of courage and hatred with every beat of his heart.

She would pay, as she should have before, and justice would finally be
served.  It would go down as an accident.

Then he'd move on and begin a new life, putting the past behind him. He
was the only one who knew of her corruption and the fabric of lies that
protected her.

As he approached his target, a vision flashed before him.

He saw the accident and sudden flames engulfing the car.

The vision thrilled and warmed him, protecting him from the icy cold
wind that cleared the black skies above.

The purity of the flames would cleanse her soul.  In that way, he'd be
doing her a favor, which was more than she deserved.  Acknowledging his
own nobility filled him with a sense of purpose.

People around here insisted that Four Winds was a town of magic, where
dreams came true.  He was certain that his was about to.  He slipped
quietly underneath the old sedan, clenching a small penlight between
his teeth.  Wrench in hand, he located the brake line, then loosened
the connection just enough to cause a drop of brake fluid to appear.

His work finished, he crawled out, moving back noiselessly into the
shadows.  Satisfied, he knew all he had to'd now was wait.  She'd been
called an Angel of Mercy one but now that Angel of Mercy was about to
meet the Ange of Death.

Chapter One

Lucas Blackhorse enjoyed walking down the rough, timeworn sidewalk that
bordered Main Street in Four Winds.

He was on his way to meet his two brothers at the sheriff's office.
Dressed in his denim jeans, a bright red Western shirt and a new pair
of boots, he was ready to do his bit in today's parade and planning to
enjoy it.  The ladies in town always turned out in style for the event.
It was going to be a great day.

He looked around at the old, Western-style storefronts, unable to
suppress the smile on his face.  He loved Four Winds.  It was a part of
him, though he had spent many years trying to deny that.  Not that he
regretted the time he'd been worlds away from New Mexico.  He'd learned
a great deal about himself and about life during his hitch as a Navy
corpsman with a Marine recon unit in the Middle East.  Being away from
his older and younger brothers had given him a chance to get to know
himself, learn his own strengths and his limitations and, most
important of all, to accept himself just as he was.

Lucas smiled at Rosa Gomez, who was attaching the Stars and Stripes to
the flagpole in front of her grocery store.  A hundred years ago, it
had been the Four Winds Emporium and it still fulfilled much the same
purpose for the town's residents.  A few doors down, Darren Wilson was
sweeping the sidewalk in front of the feed store with a push broom that
was more wood than bristles.

Ortega, the town's only mail carrier, was up on a ladder with a
squeegee, helping Postmaster Clyde Barkley clean the post-office
windows in preparation for hanging the huge Harvest Festival banner. It
would soon be displayed across the three storefronts.

The parade wasn't scheduled to begin for an hour, yet people were
already gathering on the sidewalk, setting out folding chairs and
buying soft drinks from the concession stand run by the high-school
band.

As he tuned the corner, Lucas practically tripped over Muzzy, Mrs.
Burnham's terrier, trailing his leather leash.

The small animal was the town's number-one escape artist.

Lucas snagged the leash and held the animal back so he couldn't run out
into the cobblestone street.

Mrs.  Burnham came running up a moment later, still trying to catch her
breath.

"There you are, you terrible little boy!"  she said in a tone that the
animal clearly interpreted as praise.  He barked happily, his whiplike
tail wagging.

n. Lucas han de the leash over to her.

"There you go, Mrs.

Dmmmm, you better keep a firm grip on that leash today.

Muzzy running underneath a float once the but he's wonderful company,"
the said, scooping up the little beast and hug;

to her chest.

"He's going to be in the Pet Parade dressed as a biker dog in his black
leather vest.

My niece Charlotte wants to show him."

The Pet Parade was an annual feature of the Harvest Festival.  Kids of
all ages would walk down the street with their favorite animal,
everything from pigs on a leash to white rats on their owners'
shoulders.  Today everyone in town had the chance to be a celebrity.

Lucas checked his watch and picked up the pace, knowing Gabriel would
be fuming by now because he was late.

His elder brother's adherence to schedules during the once-a-year
parade was necessary, but it also made him hard to deal with for about
a week beforehand.  As sheriff, Gabriel was always on edge until the
parade was over, but there was no denying that Lucas's older brother
loved the town's yearly celebration as much as anyone.

Joshua, the youngest Blackhorse brother, held a different opinion.  But
then, that wasn't unusual.  Although Joshua loved the parade, he hated
anything that made him the focus of attention.  Every year, Lucas and
Gabriel had to pressure him into taking an active role.

As Lucas turned the corner and stepped into the alley behind the
sheriff's office, he smelled the horses and heard the clicking of
hooves against the cobblestone pavement.

As arranged, Gabriel and Joshua were waiting with their mounts. Gabriel
looked authoritative and impeccable in his sheriff's uniform. His giant
of a younger brother looked formidable, too, wearing a bandanna around
his forehead and a harvest gold shirt tucked into a leather-and-silver
concha belt.  His style, like him, spoke of the old ways while honoring
the new.

"Where have you been, Shadow?"  Gabriel snarled.

"We don't have time to pick up your horse and you, too."

"Why don't you write me a ticket for loitering?"  Lucas baited.  The
nickname "Shadow" had always gotten to him, especially back when it had
seemed he'd had no identity at all, except when he'd been tagging along
after his big brother.

"Don't start, guys," Joshua warned.

"We have other things to do."  A head taller than Lucas, and as strong
as any horse, Lucas's younger brother reached into the bed of his
pickup and lifted out his heavy Western saddle with one hand.

Lucas had to admit that his brothers had some cause to be angry.  He
was way behind schedule today.  An emergency had come up at the clinic
just as he'd been about to leave.  Fortunately it hadn't taken him long
to handle it, but he wasn't about to start whining to his brothers
about how busy he'd been.  He'd just buckle down and get ready.  Joshua
and Gabriel were working diligently, grooming the horses they'd be
riding in the parade.  Although Lucas was the only one who actually
owned his mount, he was the furthest from being ready to ride.

"You two have become such sticklers for details you're starting to
worry me," Lucas said good-naturedly.

"Ease up a bit, will you?  Where your spirit of adventure?"

Gabriel stopped brushing the bay gelding he was going to ride and gave
Lucas a narrow-eyed stare.  His sense of humor was obviously out to
lunch.

"Right now, my spirit of adventure would like to pound your ugly
face."

"Wishful thinking, Fuzz.  You're getting soft and out of shape now that
you have a wife to coddle you," "After this is over," Joshua
interrupted them, "I'd be more than happy to watch the two of you pound
each other silly," he told his brothers, "but right now we owe it to
the town to look sharp out there."

"Of course, that applies to me far more than you two.

You guys don't have to look good anymore, being married and all," Lucas
goaded playfully.

Gabriel slowly and deliberately placed the saddle blanket he was
holding on his horse, then turned toward Lucas.

"If there wasn't an ordinance against brawling, I'd make sure you'd
have a real hard time impressing anyone today."

Joshua glared at Lucas.

"Shadow, if you keep baiting Fuzz, he's likely to forget he's the
sheriff and take a swing at you.  I don't think you want to ride out
today with a black eye."

"You're assuming Gabriel can land a punch," Lucas said casually,
placing his saddle on his horse.

"It shouldn't be hard if I yank your head off and throw it right at his
fist," Joshua said in a matter-of-fact voice that they both recognized
as the last word in this discussion.

The joke was definitely over.

"So I was a little late.  What's the big deal?"  Lucas shrugged,
shaking his head and feigning innocence.

"Shadow, get a move on' Gabriel snapped.

"We're already behind schedule.  Remember that riding in this parade
was your idea.  You've been waiting for a chance to show off that
mustang of yours."

Lucas patted the animal's neck, glad he'd taken the time to groom the
magnificent beast this morning, before things got so busy.

"Don't listen to them, Chief.  They're just jealous because they know
all the women will be looking at us today.  Though why that should
bother them when it's their own fault they both married, I sure don't
know."

Joshua looked at Gabriel.

"When the parade is over, I say we throw him into the nearest horse
trough."

"Deal.  But after the horses drink."

Lucas gave his brothers a smile filled with feigned sympathy as he
finished adjusting Chief's bridle.

"Remind me not ever to get married.  It's made you both much too ...
sensitive," he said, and slipped easily onto the animal's back.

"Not to mention slow."

Laughing, he rode to the end of the alley, stopped and waved for his
brothers to join him.

MAR LEE STOOD on the weathered old sidewalk, taking in all the sights.
Four Winds was a special town.  There was a kinship here between the
citizens that really became apparent on a cool autumn day like today.
She saw people stepping aside, giving Lanie Blackhorse all the room she
needed to maneuver and a helping hand, as well.  Lanie was so pregnant
she had trouble sitting or standing for long, but nonetheless, she was
here for the parade.

As Marlee watched the mother-to-be, a sad twist wrenched at her soul.
Years ago, she'd given her heart and her life to helping expectant
mothers.  Walking away from that career had torn her apart for a long
time.  Lost in thought, she ran her fingers over the jagged scar that
ran from her left temple to her chin, a brutal reminder of days long
past.

A loud cheer from the crowd brought her thoughts back to the present.
Life went on, and so had she.  Dwelling on the past would accomplish
nothing.

Marlee edged closer to the street as the Blackhorse brothers came into
view, signaling the start of the parade.  The three Navajo brothers
looked as different and as individual as any men could be.  Gabriel
wore his sheriffs uniform and cap.  Joshua, the gentle hataalii, took a
position between his two brothers, as he often did.  Then Marlee's gaze
drifted to Lucas, and her heartbeat quickened.

His lean, muscular build made him look fabulously masculine as he sat
astride his horse.  He exuded an easy confidence that made her breath
catch in her throat.  Then he smiled, and Marlee heard her own soft
sigh echoed by the other women in the crowd.

In her opinion, and that of many others, Lucas was the handsomest of
the Blackhorse brothers.  A yearning for something she didn't dare
define filled her as she watched him ride down the street.  Refusing to
analyze her feelings any further, she joined the others in the totally
partisan crowd and cheered as the three horsemen rode by.  As they
passed, Lucas caught her eye and grinned.  She smiled back, suddenly
glad she'd worn her new Western shirt with a red yoke that exactly
matched his.

The Harvest Festival float came next, a crepe-paper-and-tissue-stuffed
cornucopia fashioned of chicken wire.

Underneath, almost completely covered by the float decorations, was
someone's old pickup.  The high-school band followed, playing a loud
and enthusiastic approximation of a Sousa march.

Marlee hurried along the sidewalk, staying just behind the Blackhorse
brothers as they made their way to the high school football field,
where the parade would end.  There, booths were set up for folks
selling crafts, candied apples and just about anything imaginable.
There'd be games for the kids, and all kinds of contests.  Harvest
Festival was definitely the biggest day of fine year in Four Winds.

As she approached the football field, Marlee's gaze kept returning to
the Blackhorse brothers.  They moved as a unit, their superficial
differences nowhere near as important as the family ties that bound
them.  As she arrived on the field, she saw that Nydia, Joshua's wife,
had given Lanie a ride in her Jeep so they could be there to meet their
husbands at the end of the line.

Marlee was close enough to see the pride in Lanie's eyes as she greeted
her husband.  Gabriel smiled tenderly at his pregnant wife as he
dismounted.  When he went to give her a hug, Lanie tilted her head up
and gave him a long kiss.

"Hey, if I'd have known I'd get this kind of welcome at the end of the
ride, I'd have galloped the whole route," Gabriel teased.

Lanie smiled and playfully reached up to kiss him again.

Nydia helped Joshua unsaddle his mount.  They complemented each other's
efforts, working together beautifully as a team.

Marlee felt like a fifth wheel as she looked at her friends.

Nydia and Lanie looked radiant, having found what they were searching
for here in Four Winds, something Marlee knew she would never have. She
sighed.  She had found something valuable, however--peace from the
false accusations that had followed her for so long.  She had also
found a way to feel useful, running the boardinghouse.  And she had
found friends, particularly the Blackhorse family.

Marlee walked past the pen holding Bradford the buffalo, the
high-school team's mascot.  Bradford was the last of the bison herd
Mauro Martinez had owned when he'd attempted to raise and sell
beefalos, a cross between cattle and buffalo.  When the venture had not
proved profitable, he'd sold off the herd, except for the placid
Bradford.

Bradford had found a new home here at the high school, in the barns run
by the agricultural club.  The animal had lived up to expectations,
remaining docile even through the rowdiness of high-school football
games--just as long as the kids brought a few chocolate-chip cookies to
bribe him with.  This particular animal had developed a passion for
chocolate-chip cookies when Mauro had used them as a training aid.

Marlee heard the buffalo stamping the ground as she walked past.

"Sorry, Bradford.  I don't have any cookies today."

Marlee heard something snap, then the animal grunted loudly.  Surprised
by the noise, she turned her head.  As she did, Bradford butted his
massive head against the gate, forcing it open.

She wanted to run, but fear and shock paralyzed her.  In the time it
took for her to draw her next breath, the beast turned in her direction
and bellowed angrily.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she became aware of the thunder of
hoofbeats behind her.  Then, the next instant, she felt herself being
lifted off the ground and pulled up onto the rider's lap.  Strong arms
enveloped her as the horse brushed past the immense beast.

Marlee was aware of everything.  The hard muscles of her rescuer's
chest, the warmth of his breath against her cheek.  Without turning to
look, she knew the man holding her was Lucas.  Her body knew his on an
instinctive level she would never have been able to explain.  As her
hips pressed intimately against his thighs, a shudder traveled up her
spine.

Lucas reined in his mount fast, turning to block the way between
Bradford and the crowd as Gabriel and Joshua jumped into action, trying
to herd the bison back into his pen.  But Bradford was angry, and not
in the mood for cooperation.  He never quite charged at either Gabriel
or Joshua, who were on foot, but instead tried to get around them,
showing less patience after each foiled attempt.

"I think he's seen too many football games," Gabriel yelled.

"He knows about head fakes and fancy footwork."

"They have to entice him, and for that they'll need cookies," Marlee
told Lucas.  Moving quickly, she slid off Lucas horse, on the side away
from the angry bison, and ran to Mrs.  Tapia's booth.  The woman made
the best chocolate-chip cookies in the county.  As she drew near, Mrs.
Tapia held out a paper bag full of cookies.

"Here you go.  If you can't bribe him with these, then it's
hopeless."

Marlee thanked the woman, then circled around behind Gabriel.  Taking a
handful of cookies, she waved them in the air for Bradford to catch the
scent.

"These are hoofs-down the best you'll ever get, Bradford.  Want a bite?
Come on.  Let's go back to your pen."

Marlee felt like a new kind of pied piper as the animal's focus shifted
away from Gabriel and Joshua.  He lifted his nose high, sniffing the
air.

"Don't take your eyes off him," Lucas warned.

Marlee tossed one cookie on the ground before the animal, then moved
toward the pen.  Bradford snatched up the fallen cookie, ate it in one
gulp, then happily trotted over to where Marlee had set down the open
bag on the far side of the pen.  As the animal discovered the cache,
Marlee hurried out the gate.

"What happened to the latch?"  she asked as Lucas swung the gate closed
behind her and fastened it shut.

"Did he break it?"

Lucas shook his head.

"It works fine.  Whoever fed him this morning must have been in a hurry
and didn't close it properly."

Joshua gestured toward the animal.

"Something aggravated him.  Maybe it was a bee or wasp."

"Or some troublemaker looking for a little excitement," Gabriel said,
bending down to pick up a large rubber band that was on the ground just
inside the stall.

"I'll ask around and see if anybody was watching Bradford just before
he got out.  I'd like to talk to the idiot responsible for this."

As more townspeople arrived at the school grounds, Lucas and Gabriel
checked the latch again to be sure that the gate was securely
fastened.

Lucas took Marlee's hand and gently pulled her aside.

The warmth of his touch spread through her like fire.

"Great idea about the cookies," he murmured.

"You deserve a reward."

His deep voice reverberated, dancing along her nerves like thunder from
an approaching storm.

"What did you have in mind?"  she asked.  She'd wanted to keep her
voice steady, to act cool and collected, but as she heard her voice
waver, she realized she'd failed miserably.  She cleared her throat and
hoped Lucas hadn't noticed.

"What do you say we skip the booths and take some time for ourselves?
I've arranged for backup medical help here today, so I won't be missed
for a few hours."  He gestured toward his horse.

"I understand you've been unable to get out to the spot in the
mountains where you planted your camomile.  Come with me now.  Chief
can carry double.  Your car may not make it on that sorry excuse for a
road, but Chief won't have any problems at all.  We can put what we
gather in the saddlebags."

The thought of riding with Lucas anywhere made Mar-lee's heart race,
but she recognized it as a foolhardy and reckless temptation.  She
wouldn't torture herself with what could never be hers.  She started to
say no, but Lucas interrupted her.

"I know your herbal remedies help a lot of the senior citizens.  The
tea you make with that camomile is important to you and them.  This is
your chance.  Are you game?"

She couldn't say no, not when he'd put it that way.

"I

do need that camomile."  Actually, she'd probably need tons of the
soothing drink herself after she came back from that ride.  Lucas's
company was anything but calming.

"It's settled, then."  Lucas turned Chief around, lifted her onto the
saddle, then mounted behind her in one fluid motion.

"Hang on to the horn and don't worry about a thing.

I'll have my arms around you.  You won't fall."

Marlee forced herself not to tremble as she felt Lucas's body against
hers again.  She was playing with fire, but surely even she deserved
some carefree moments on this special day.  His strong arms encircled
her, imprisoning her in a tender trap as they trotted away.  Having
ridden as a teen, Marlee soon moved in rhythm with the animal and
Lucas.

A melting warmth seeped through her.  She was nestled securely between
the horn, the saddle and Lucas.  As she shifted, she felt his body
tighten.  Knowing she could affect him like that filled her with an
intoxicating exhilaration.

They rode in Silence to where she'd planted her herbs, and soon were on
the way back, the saddlebags filled.  As they crossed an old logging
road on the way to town, she caught a glimpse of movement to her right.
It was only for an instant, but Marlee saw the peddler clearly.  He was
walking slowly back to his van, which was parked just off the
little-used track.

"Did you see him?"  she gasped as they started up a nearby trail.

"See who?"

"The peddler.  He was back there on the logging road," she said,
cocking her head.

Lucas sucked in his breath with a hiss.

"Let's go take a look."  He reined the horse in, turned him around
expertly on the narrow trail and trotted back to the spot in the road
Marlee had indicated.  There was nothing there now except a set of worn
tire tracks and the faint impression of a pair of boots.

"Are you sure it was the peddler you saw?"

"He's not a person anyone from Four Winds would ever mistake," she said
in a muted voice.

"Good things happen whenever he comes, but the town always pays a price
in blood and tears."

"From the tracks, I'd say he's on the way to town now.

If we hurry, we may be able to cut him off before a new cycle of
trouble begins."

Chapter Two

Lucas kept a sharp lookout for the peddler on the way back to Four
Winds, but neither the man nor his distinctive old van was anywhere to
be seen.

"Are you sure it was the peddler?"  he asked for the second time.

"Yes, but I just don't understand this.  Where could he have gone?  We
should have spotted him by now, cutting cross-country like this."

Lucas urged Chief forward at a steady lope.

"There's no telling what'll happen if he shows up in town today.  He
won't exactly be the guest of honor at the festival."  Lucas remembered
the peddler's last two visits.  The girl he'd given Lanie before she'd
become Gabriel's wife had almost destroyed the eldest Blackhorse
brother and the woman he quickly came to love.  Lucas's brother Joshua
and his wife had fared no better when Nydia had accepted the peddler's
gift to her.

The blackening clouds overhead suddenly flashed white, and an enormous
clap of thunder shook the ground.  Chief's ears went flat back, and he
broke into a gallop.

"Easy boy," Lucas said, tightening his hold on Marlee as he eased the
mustang back to a trot.

"He hates thunder, but he'll settle down.  Don't worry.  I'll hang on
to you," Lucas murmured, pulling Marlee back against his chest.

She was soft against him, trusting, though Chief's reaction had scared
her.  Lucas felt a fierce sense of protectiveness stealing over him,
though he knew he had no right to those feelings.  His life, his
loyalties, belonged to Four Winds.  They needed a medic here, and he
was it.  There was no room for a woman in his life.  But it was more
than that.  Theirs was a town filled with secrets.  Marlee had never
pried into his, and he'd returned the favor, though it was obvious
she'd had troubles in her past.  The town's convention of privacy was a
barrier that had kept them both safe.

Still, as she leaned back against him, desire knifed at his gut.  Her
hair smelled of wildflowers.  He felt her stir against him, and knew
that she was as acutely aware as he that the desire burning between
them did not require their consent to exist.

Sometimes it felt as if some unnamed power in Four Winds was trying to
bring them closer, though neither of them had given in to that
attraction.  Of course, if Marlee had allowed it, and he could have
been sure of not hurting her, he would have been willing to see things
through--to explore his hunger for the sweet, gentle woman he now held
in his arms.

He let that dangerous thought die right there.  Marlee deserved better
than that.  She didn't need halfway propositions any more than he did,
and he wasn't able to go more than halfway.  He needed his
independence.  They were both better off not taking things to a point
neither was prepared to handle.

As he slowed Chief to a fast walk, his forearm brushed against her
breast.  That contact seared through him, and instinct guided him to
lower his head to press a kiss against the soft column of Marlee's
neck.  As his mouth drew close, the skies opened, and thick sheets of
rain poured down on them.

Marlee shivered.

"If the peddler is in town, it looks like nature just found a way to
cool off any hostility people might be showing."

It cooled off a few other things, too.  Frustration ate at Lucas as he
cradled Marlee against his body, knowing she was cold and hoping the
fires within him would help warm her.  He wished that it could have
been different for them, that duty didn't demand that he continually
suppress his feelings for her.  It would have been so easy to just let
go, to let passion rule.  But that would have been a dangerous course
for them both.

By the time they arrived at the end of Main Street, the roads and
sidewalks were empty.  The town's residents peered out from behind
storefronts and doorways.  As Lucas and Marlee approached the
high-school campus, they saw that the water-soaked booths had been
abandoned.

It took about a half hour to assure them both the peddler's van wasn't
in town.  Marlee was shivering by the time they approached the
boardinghouse she operated.  Although the rain had all but quit, the
wind had risen and was cutting right through their damp clothing.  Her
house looked warm and welcoming.

"Why don't you come in with me?  Chief can graze on the lawn while you
dry off."

"You talked me into it," Lucas said, a shudder traveling over him.

"You're freezing, too, right?"

As Lucas dismounted and reached up to help her out of the saddle, he
stopped suddenly, listening.  Before she could move away, he reached
for her hand, stopping her.

"Wait.

Stay still for a minute."

A stint with the Marines had taught him to trust his instincts, and
something sure didn't feel right here.  He waited for a long moment,
listening, his body tense, poised for trouble.

"Do you hear that?"  he asked at last.

"What?"  she whispered, slipping down to the ground easily.

"It sounded like a car engine."  He crouched down and studied the
imprint of tires evident in the sandy gravel of Marlee's driveway.

"Someone came through here a very short time ago, and these tracks look
familiar."  He slipped the bridle off his horse so it could graze
easily, then led the way down the narrow drive into the backyard.

An old VW van had been driven all the way around to the rear of the
house, and was parked out of sight of the road.  Marlee inhaled
sharply.

"It's the peddler's van.  I'd know it anywhere."

"Yes, but where is the peddler?"  Lucas turned around in a circle,
trying to spot the old man.  The van's engine was off now, but still
ticking occasionally as it cooled.

"Let's go find him."  Marlee walked around Lucas before he could stop
her.

"Slow down.  Something isn't right here," Lucas cautioned as they
approached the vehicle.

As they drew near, the sliding door opened halfway.  The peddler
appeared at the opening, soaked to the skin, and looking pale and
disoriented.  He stepped down slowly, resting against the side of the
vehicle.  His breathing was labored.

"I need help," he mumbled weakly.

Marlee didn't hesitate to offer him a hand.

"Let's get you inside the house where it's warm.  Lucas will take a
look at you there."

"Wait," Lucas protested.

"I'd rather take him to my clinic.  I've got my equipment there, and
some medical supplies.

Besides, it may be dangerous for you to have him here, particularly if
anyone sees his van."

The peddler turned, took a step, then suddenly collapsed.

Lucas reacted instantly, dropping the bridle he was carrying and
catching the old man before he hit the ground.

"Looks like the choice is out of our hands," Marlee said, picking up
Chief's tack.

"You can't take him anywhere until you assess his condition, and to do
that, we're going to have to get him out of this weather."

"I don't have my medical kit here," Lucas objected, hurrying toward
Marlee's house with the old man in his all'ns.

Marlee paused for a moment.

"There's a doctor's bag in the house.  It's been here a long time, but
it should contain enough to get you started.  It has a stethoscope, a
BP cuff, a positive-pressure ventilator, sterile packs, sutures, all
kinds of things."

Lucas was reminded once again that Marlee's past, like that of so many
other Four Winds residents, was tucked away behind a closed door that
hid many secrets.  But something about her assessment of the situation,
and her familiarity with' medical terminology, attested to experience
in the field.  Wondering about her more than ever, he followed Marlee
down the hall carrying the peddler.

By the time he stepped through the doorway of an empty guest room,
Marlee had already pulled down the covers of the bed.

Lucas lowered the peddler onto the mattress, and was pulling off the
man's wet boots when Marlee came in holding a towel and a dry change of
clothes.

"This shirt and pants aren't in the greatest condition, but they're
clean and dry and about his size.  They were here in an old trunk when
I moved in.  While you change his clothes, I'll go find the medical
bag."

Marlee left the room, and returned a few minutes later holding a black
medical bag.

Lucas met her gaze as he took the bag from her, not asking but hoping
she'd offer some explanation.

"Use whatever you need from it.  It's been sitting around gathering
dust for years."

Lucas started to ask, unable to suppress his curiosity, but a soft moan
from the peddler brought his thoughts back to the business at hand.

As she left him alone again with the patient, Lucas opened the bag.
Everything looked used, but in good condition.  Taking out the BP cuff
and the stethoscope, he began to work.

Lucas checked the man over thoroughly, verifying there were no signs of
trauma, but the peddler's skin was hot and feverish.  Using a digital
ear thermometer from the bag, he verified that the peddler's
temperature was elevated, but not dangerously so.  Finding such a
modern piece of equipment in the old medical bag, however, disturbed
him.  It didn't fit with Marlee's story that the bag had been sitting
unused in the house for a long time.  Of course, she might have added
that item recently herself, but he had a feeling there was more of a
story behind the bag than she was telling him.

Lucas continued his examination.  He knew nothing about the peddler,
except that he appeared to be Navajo.  There were lots of crazy stories
linking the peddler to Four Winds, some connecting him all the way back
to the time when the town was founded.  But those were nonsense.  The
man would have had to be a century old.  Of course, it was possible
that the business had been handed down in the peddler's family.
Unfortunately the man was in no condition at the moment to be
questioned.

The only thing Lucas could say with any certainty was that the peddler
was over fifty, though he exuded an agelessness that was not uncommon
among the Dineh, the Navajo people.

The peddler's faded gray eyes slowly blinked open, and he tried to pull
himself up onto his elbows to look around.

"Easy there.  You're safe here," Lucas said, gently pushing the man
back onto the bed.  Lucas silently noted that his patient's pupils were
not dilated.  He seemed alert and aware of what was happening.  That,
in itself, was a good sign.

"How are you feeling?"

The man brushed a lock of salt-and-pepper hair from his eyes, and tried
to moisten his parched lips with the tip of his tongue.

"Thirsty."

Lucas went to the bathroom, returning with a glass of water.

"I'm going to need to get some medical information from you before I
can help much.  Do you have any idea what's making you so weak?"

The peddler closed his eyes, then nodded slowly.

"It is the flu, nothing more.  Many years ago I would have shrugged
this off, but I am an old man now, and my body complains at the
slightest problem."

"Okay, let's start there.  How old are you?"

His eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't really know.  Nobody's ever asked, and it was never important
to me."

The answer didn't sound as odd to Lucas as it might have seemed to an
Anglo.  He'd heard similar explanations from others of his tribe.

"Can you approximate?"

He exhaled softly.

"I remember buying gas at twenty cents a gallon, if that helps.  Years
are just memories of the seasons to me.  Time passes, that's all I
know."

Hearing those words from this peddler, particularly because of all the
crazy stories, made the hairs on the back of Lucas's neck stand on end.
That was the problem, he concluded.  An undeniable mystique followed
this man.  The legend had grown from a grain of truth, like a misshapen
pearl.

"Your name?"

"I was called "Gray Eyes' when I was a boy.  Now I'm just the peddler.
No one asks my name anymore.  It isn't necessary for buying and
trading.  I don't take checks."

Frustration tugged at Lucas, but he knew the futility of giving in to
it.  He decided to concentrate on the present.

"How long have you been sick?"

"Two or three days.  I was on my way here to Four Winds when my body
began to hurt.  My skin burned.  I had some herbs, and I used them, but
they weren't enough.  Not this time.  That's why I came into town.  I
knew I could find a place to rest here at the boardinghouse and, once I
found you, I was also certain you'd help."

"Have you ever been to a doctor?"

"No.  It hasn't been necessary."

"But you came to find me.  Why?"

The eyes that held Lucas's seemed to gleam with an inner fire that
spoke of power barely contained.  Lucas saw himself reflected in the
silver pools and, for a brief instant, he felt a sense of recognition,
an acknowledgment that fate was demanding its say.

"You and I are alike in many ways, nephew," he said, using the
traditional Navajo term to denote respect or friendship between an old
man and a young one.

"When others come to us for help, we are honor bound to find ways to
meet their needs.  That's why I know I can count on you.  You've walked
that difficult road between the old and the new.  I knew you would help
me while still respecting my ways."

The words disturbed Lucas more than they had a right to.

"You and I are not the same.  I try to make things better for people,
but every time you come into town, trouble is close behind."

"I've heard those rumors.  But what.  of the blessings?

You should learn from your brothers and stop seeing only the darkness
in the world.  The gifts I gave their wives brought good, too, not just
evil.  Remember what you were taught.  Everything has two sides, and
only by seeing and accepting that reality can you find harmony and
peace."

Lucas studied his features carefully.

"You sound like a Navajo, Uncle."

"I come from no tribe and all tribes," the peddler said, and closed his
eyes again.

"You're speaking in fiddles."

"I'm tired now.  If you can, find something that will ease the ache in
my body so I can rest.  I won't be staying any longer than I have
to."

"As always," Lucas muttered, stepping toward the door.

"Yes, as always."

Lucas heard the whispered words.  They touched him like an ill wind,
and left him feeling more unsettled than ever.

He quickly uttered a Navajo blessing, one Joshua had taught him.

As Lucas stepped out into the hall, he saw Marlee there, waiting.
Compassion and determination were etched in her features.  He had no
doubt that, even if the entire town had stormed her front door
demanding she run the peddler out, she would have refused.  The peddler
had chosen wisely all the way around.

"Our patient should recover.  It appears he's got a mild case of the
flu, What he needs is rest, and some aspirins to bring the fever down.
He's unlikely to accept more than that."

"I'll bring him something warm to drink.  He needs to build his
strength up, even if he's not hungry."

"That'll be good, but my advice is for you to stay away from him as
much as you can."

"Why?  What are you worded about?  I'm not afraid of the flu."

Lucas shrugged, hating the vague feeling he had that assured him
something was wrong, without giving him the ability to define it in a
more logical manner.

"I don't believe in superstition.  That means I don't believe all the
crazy stories about the peddler.  But I'd be a fool to discount the
things that I do know about him.  This man is the perpetual outsider,
stirring up trouble, yet never really becoming part of it.  I have a
gut feeling a lot of what he does is premeditated."

"Maybe it's a skill he's had to acquire.  He survives with very
little," Marlee said quietly.

"People learn to get by."

The empathy in her voice surprised Lucas.  She had revealed much about
her own life with that statement, which was something Marlee seldom
did.  He was about to explain why he was worded about leaving her with
the peddler, a man who'd caused so many problems for his family, when
the pager on his belt went off.

"I have to use your phone," he said quickly.

Lucas hurried to the living room and dialed the number on the display.
It took only a few minutes to learn that the Ayers boy had taken a bad
fall off a haystack while rushing to get their last cutting under a
tarp before the rain.  His parents were worried.  Lucas checked his
watch and swore briefly under his breath.

"Don't move your son at all, and keep him warm and dry.  I'm on my
way."

As he hung up the phone, Lucas saw Marlee watching him.

"I have to go," he said, checking his watch.

"By now my backup medical help has already left for Santa Fe.

He only promised to give me a few hours, and there's an emergency I
have to take care of.  A boy's been hurt, and I need to go check him
out."

"Do whatever you have to.  I'll be fine.  I'll heat some soup and give
the peddler that and some aspirin, as you suggested.  I'll also monitor
his temperature, if he'll allow it."

"I'll be back as soon as I can.  Hopefully there won't be any other
calls, but with the storm and it being Harvest Festival, who knows?" He
drew in a long, deep breath.

"The peddler came here to find me.  He's linked to my family, you know,
not just to Four Winds, so do me a favor and be careful.  I don't want
you hurt in any way, not because of me."

Marlee smiled gently.

"Stop worrying.  I can handle it."

He stood there, sensing her fears, yet knowing that she would not
welcome any comfort from him.  Despite the friendship that had grown
slowly between them in the past two years, to Marlee independence meant
the right to her secrets.  It was her lifeline.  His, too, he had to
admit.  It was in freedom that he'd found his purpose.  He didn't want
to tie himself down to any responsibility that could interfere with his
duty to Four Winds.

Lucas opened the door to the occupied guest room for a last quick look.
The peddler's even breathing told him that the man was dozing.  Lucas
walked to the bed and studied his patient.  Had he really been in pain,
in the throes of a high fever, would he have been able to sleep so
quickly, without even having taken one aspirin?

Lucas sensed a change in the sleeping man, and the atmosphere in the
sick room suddenly became charged, as if the air itself had been
sparked with a burst of electricity.

"You have no need to worry.  All is as it should be," the peddler
mumbled, his eyes still closed.

Lucas knew the old man's response shouldn't have unsettled him.  His
brother Joshua had that same ability to sense another's presence
without having to rely on his vision.

Still, his body grew tense again in readiness for trouble.

"See to it that you repay in kind for the help you've been given here
today.  I want no harm to come to the woman in whose house you've taken
shelter."

The light in the hallway dimmed as a loud clap of thunder echoed
outside.  Inside the guest room, lightning illuminated the walls and
bed in strobe-light flashes.

"Go.  You have a patient who needs you now," the peddler whispered.

Lucas looked down at the old man, aware of how little he knew about his
new patient.  The peddler's face was hidden in shadows, only a memory
in the reduced light.

"I'll be back," Lucas said.

The peddler's breathing became slow and even again.

Lucas met Marlee in the living room and reached out to take Chief's
bridle from her.

"If you need me for anything at all, call my cell-phone number.  I
won't be far."

"Would you like to take my car?  I'll make sure Chief's okay."

He shook his head.

"I can take a shortcut if I ride, and be there in half the time It's a
good thing you had that medical bag or I'd have to go over to the
clinic first."

Their hands touched as he took Chief's bridle.  Marlee laid her hand
over his gently and held it there for a second.

"Call me if there's anything else you need.  I can drive out to the
clinic for it.  And be careful out there.  The rain's picked up again,
and it's one heck of a night for a ride."

Her touch sent a rush of desire through him like lightning.

He wondered if she'd pull away if he leaned to kiss her, and hated that
it mattered to him.  Either way, there was no time to find out now.

As another peal of thunder shook the house, he heard Chief whinny.

Marlee stepped back.

"Call me when you can.  I'll be worried until I hear you're back at
home--or at least the clinic."

The words filled him with pleasure.

"Friends are important to me," Marlee added, her voice husky with
emotion.

"Take care."

Lucas hurried through the rain to where Chief was standing, pawing the
ground.  He quickly replaced the bridle, adjusting it deftly.  Marlee's
explanation hadn't fooled him.

Whether she was willing to admit it or not didn't change the fact that
they were more than just friends.  The attraction between them had been
too strong from the day they'd met.

He'd made sure Marlee had thought he wasn't interested in her.  That
had given her the illusion of safety around him, something he'd felt
she'd needed, particularly when she'd been his patient.  But there was
no safety for either of them whenever they were together now.

"I envy you, horse.  Everything you need to be happy is out here at
your feet."  Lucas climbed lightly into the saddle and rode off,
ignoring his wet clothes and the cold, driving rain.  As he left the
boardinghouse behind him, his thoughts remained on the woman he'd
wanted to kiss, and the peddler who'd appeared out of nowhere and
stepped into their lives.

Chapter Three

Marlee went into the guest room, feeling a bit apprehensive though she
couldn't explain why.  The truth was she wasn't scared of the peddler.
She wasn't even afraid of what the townspeople would say if they
learned he was here.  She'd met opposition before and knew exactly how
to handle it.

She also knew she'd done the right thing by giving the old man
shelter.

The memory of Lucas's concern still warmed her, and maybe that was part
of what was troubling her.  Sometimes it felt as if destiny was
determined to bring them together.

Yet she knew she could never allow that to happen.  She was a woman
with an unforgiving past, and an uncertain future.  A man like Lucas
could never be a part of her life.

As she stepped inside the room with a tray of soothing herbal tea and
some aspirins, she saw the peddler was sitting up.

"You look better," she said cheerfully.  Hiding her thoughts was
something she'd learned to do well around everyone, except maybe
Lucas.

The lines of weariness on the peddler's face eased, and he smiled.  His
eyes gentled, and as they captured hers, she saw compassion mirrored in
them.  For a brief instant, another emotion flickered there, but it was
hard to identify.

Resignation, perhaps?  In the time it took her to consider it, his
expression became inscrutable again.

"I brought you some camomile tea, and these are the aspirins Lucas said
to give you.  Is there anything else you'd like?  Maybe something to
eat?  I have some soup warming on the stove."

"If it isn't too much trouble," he said.

"It's been a while since I've been able to eat."

Marlee nodded, then returned to the kitchen.  She dished up some of the
homemade soup she'd made earlier that day.

Placing a hot bowl and two slices of oatmeal bread on a tray, she
returned to the room and placed the tray on the bed before the
peddler.

As she watched the old man eat, she realized just how hungry he was.
She turned away to the window and looked out, hoping she hadn't been
stating.  Protecting a person'S pride was important.  She knew how hard
it was to be on the road all the time, making just enough money to keep
body and soul together.  It must have been particularly hard for a man
the peddler's age.  Remembering the lean times she'd experienced before
she came to Four Winds, and the loneliness of that life-style, she felt
a pang of sorrow and sympathy for the peddler.

Hearing the phone ring, Marlee excused herself and went out to the
living room to answer it.  As always, the sound of Lucas's rich, deep
voice sent a thrill through her.  For one heart-wrenching moment,
longing for what she knew she could never have filled her.

"How are things going?"  he asked.

"Everything's fine."  She knew her voice sounded too soft, and she
cleared her throat to mask it.  There was no way she was going to
burden Lucas by allowing him to think that he owed her anything or was
responsible for her safety.

"The Ayers boy will be okay, but I have two more patients coming by the
aid station.  I won't be able to get back to your place for a while."

"You don't have to come back tonight.  Your patient's doing just fine,"
she explained, wondering why she'd hesitated to mention the peddler'
specifically.  Was it a touch of paranoia about conversations held via
the phone?  She shook free of the thought, and tried to concentrate on
the present.

"If there's a problem, I can always call you."

Marlee heard someone start speaking quickly on Lucas's end of the line,
and he put the phone down.  When he picked up again, he said, "I have
to go.  But I'll stay in touch."

Marlee hung up the phone slowly.  Something undefinable always
shimmered in the air between her and Lucas.

Denying that was as useless as trying to ignore the way the scar on her
face tingled whenever she grew aware of her appearance, which happened
often when she thought of the handsomest Blackhorsc brother.

Regret clung to her spirit, chilling her like a winter storm.  Lucas
was free, and it was in that freedom that his love for life shone
through.  He made the most out of each minute.  That was what she loved
best about him.  Capturing Lucas would be like trying to still the
breeze or stop the river from flowing.  She wouldn't do it if she
could, and she doubted anyone else could.  That thought comforted
her.

When she went back into the guest room, Marlee was surprised to find
the peddler sitting at the desk.  He was leaning over something he was
working on, holding something small and dark in his hands.

"Are you okay?"

He looked over at her and smiled.

"I'm not used to all the luxury you have here in your home.  The
roughness of this wood I'm whittling helps me relax."

"That's beautiful," she said, peering over the table to take a closer
look.  The delicate carving of a bird captured her attention
immediately.  Scarcely aware of what she was doing, she ran her index
finger over the carved feathers.  It looked so lifelike.

"It's a raven.  Raven is said to carry magic, and give a person the
courage to face all the mysteries about themselves and the world around
them.  It brings awakening."

"That's a beautiful thought," Marlee said, letting him know gently
that, while she appreciated that beauty, she did not believe in such
things.  She looked at the empty bowl and cup.

"Shall I bring you some more food?"

"You have been very kind to me, and at some risk to yourself.  I don't
forget a kindness.  It's not something I encounter very often."

Once again her heart constricted.  She, too, knew a little about the
cruelties of life.

Marlee picked up the bare tray.

"If you feel up to it, I'll just bring you a bit of dessert.  I hope
you like apple pie."

He nodded.

"I will continue to work on this."

Marlee went back to the kitchen.  As she started to cut the pie, a soft
rustling sound outside caught her attention.

She froze in mid motion listening, and heard the sound again, followed
by the faint rumble of a car engine.  Wondering if Lucas had returned,
she walked to the front door and stepped out onto her porch.  She
looked up and down the street, but there were no vehicles anywhere in
sight.

Disappointed, she decided to go back inside.  That's when she heard a
scraping noise nearby.  Marlee turned her head just as a blur of white
fur came crashing down on her.

She yelled and staggered back, but the bundle in her arms attached
itself to her, digging its claws into her shirt.

"Winston, you dumb cat!"  she said, recognizing the trespasser as her
neighbor's pet.

"Don't you know enough to stay off rooftops on a blustery night like
this?"

The cat began to purr, completely undisturbed by her reprimand.

"Oh, never mind.  Come on in.  It's cold out here.  Mrs.

Sanchez must have locked you out again.  I'll give you something to
eat, then let her know where you are."  She put the cat down, and he
shot through the doorway, making a dash for the sofa in the living
room.

Marlee walked over, picked him up and carded him into the kitchen,
where she placed a small dish of tuna on the floor before him.

"You stay here while I take care of my other guest."

When Marlee returned to the guest room with the peddler's dessert, she
found him leaning back in the chair, his eyes closed.  For a moment,
she thought he'd fallen asleep again, but then his eyes opened and she
realized he'd only been resting.  She placed the tray on the table, and
he eagerly took a forkful of pie.  While he was eating, Marlee reminded
herself again not to watch or hover like an annoying waiter.

Finally, after he'd taken his last bite, he picked up the carving of
the raven from the table and held it out to her.

"I want you to have this.  It isn't much, but it's all I've got to pay
you for your kindness."

She started to reach for it, but then drew back her hand.

He had few enough things, and this he could sell for food or gas.  She
wouldn't take what little he had.

"You don't have to repay me.  I was glad to be able to help."

"Don't deny an old man the dignity of repaying a debt," he said
softly.

Marlee knew all about the sentiment he was voicing.

Pride was sometimes the only thing left to a person.  She could not
turn down the gift he offered.  After all, this wasn't like the
artifacts he had carried.  It was a new carving, not something with a
history or curse attached.  Surely there was no harm in accepting it.

"If you think of it as magic, it may not seem quite so ordinary," he
said eagerly as she took it from his hands.

"Let's say it will give you one wish, if you wish really hard," he
added with a gentle smile.

"Oh, but this isn't ordinary at all," Marlee protested.

"It's really a beautiful carving."

"Just remember that true magic always reaches an open heart."

His insistence on weaving a fairy tale just for her was touching.

"I'll treasure the gift always.  Thank you."

"A debt has been paid," he declared somberly.

As Marlee walked out of the room, the raven carving grew warm in her
palm.  She studied it carefully, entranced by its lifelike quality. The
bird's eyes were so beautifully carved and hand rubbed that they
appeared to glow with their own natural light.  She placed the raven on
the bookshelf in the living room, then as she walked toward the
kitchen, she felt a gust of wind and heard a loud bang.

Marlee hurried, knowing that the back door must have blown open.  The
catch was worn, and it sometimes came open when the front window wasn't
completely shut and the back door wasn't locked.  As she stepped into
the kitchen, she saw she'd been right about the door.  Marlee shut it
and made sure it latched securely, then looked around for the cat.
Winston was gone.  So was the tuna and most of the pie that she'd left
on the counter.  The rest was on the floor.

As she began to clean up the mess, she saw vehicle lights flashing
through the window.  Wondering if she was about to have company, she
went out for a closer look and saw the peddler's van backing out of her
drive.

Horrified, she stared at it for a stunned moment.  Someone had stolen
the old man's vehicle; that was the only explanation.  Marlee ran out
into the street, but by the time she got there, the only vehicle within
sight was the tail end of a pickup rounding the corner.

Worried about how the old man would take the news, Marlee hurried back
to the guest room, trying to think of a way to break it to him
gently.

She stood by the closed door for a minute gathering her composure, then
knocked.  There was no answer.  Opening the door slightly, she looked
inside.  The bed had been made, and the peddler was gone.  On top of
the desk was a scrawled note with a one-word message, "Remember."

LUCAS SLAMMED HIS HAND down hard on the steering wheel as he headed
back into town.  His last call had been a wild-goose chase.  Someone's
idiotic idea of a prank.  He thought of Marlee, picked up the cellular
phone, then set it back down on the seat beside him.  She wouldn't
appreciate another call.  She'd see it either as meddling, or maybe as
proof that he didn't trust her to take care of things on her own.

He really liked Marlee, but her pride could be like an impregnable
wall, Sometimes he just wanted to push past that, to force her into his
arms, feel her softness against him, to know the taste of her.  So far
sanity had always prevailed and he'd reined in those urges, knowing the
danger of indulging those crazy thoughts and feelings.  He knew himself
too well.  The attraction he felt for Marlee was too strong to ignore,
but hormones had a way of scrambling a man's brain.  The fact was he
had his life exactly the way he wanted it.  It had taken him years to
get this point.  He was finally satisfied to be himself, not Gabriel's
shadow.  And he had stopped feeling guilty every time he lost his
temper.  Who cared if he couldn't match his little brother's
self-control, either?

As far as he was concerned, the middle kid had the worst of it.  Fuzz
had always known he'd follow in their dad's footsteps, and Joshua had
always known his heart was in the old ways.  Lucas, on the other hand,
hadn't had a clue as to who he was or how he'd live his life until just
a few years back, when he'd joined the military.  He'd been a good
warrior, but an even better medic.  It was while serving as a corpsman
that he'd discovered his talent.  He was an excellent diagnostician,
with an unerring gift for getting to the root of what was ailing a
person physically or emotionally.

After completing his enlistment, honing those skills, he'd returned to
Four Winds, where he'd become a valuable asset to the town as the only
full-time medical professional.

At long last, he'd earned his place here alongside his brothers.

He was an integral part of Four Winds by his own right now, and he had
no intention of letting anyone or anything interfere with the duty he'd
accepted.

As Lucas pulled up in front of Marlee's house, his truck backfired
loudly.  He cursed.  One of these days, he was going to buy a truck
that didn't announce his presence with fireworks.

Marlee pulled back the curtain, then came to the door.

She wasn't smiling, and as he left the truck, he wondered if she was
going to read him the riot act for waking her and the neighborhood up
at midnight.  He had to admit she'd have a right to be mad.  As he drew
closer, stepping up to the front porch, he noted that she wasn't
dressed for bed.  The expression on her face wasn't anger or even
annoyance.

It was concern.

"What happened?"  he asked quickly.

"The peddler left.  I gave him something to eat, and he said he felt
better so I left him alone to rest.  But when I went to check on him
later, he was gone."

Lucas wasn't sure whether to be relieved or angry.

"His temperature was above normal.  I hope that he didn't mistake the
relief the aspirin gave him for actual health.  His symptoms will
undoubtedly persist for a few more days, if it was the flu."

"I wish he'd stayed, but I expect he'll be okay.  He's used to taking
care of himself.  When you're on the road, you get really good at that
after a while," Marlee said quietly.

Lucas followed her inside, and dropped down on the living-room couch,
surprised by the weariness he felt all of a sudden.

"Were you, like Lanie, on the road awhile before you ended up here in
Four Winds?"

The question hadn't been one he'd meant to pose out loud.  He knew
better.  It was a violation of the code of Four Winds.  Everyone's past
was' his or her own.

She shrugged.

"Let's just say I know that life-style very well.  You've got to be
tough to make it."

Her proud strength felt like a challenge to him.  He stood, walked
across the room and looked out the window, putting some physical
distance between them.  He needed to keep his thinking clear around
Marlee.  As he stared outside, he saw that only one star was visible at
the moment.  It peeked through a break in the cloud layer, bright
against the gloom of night, but utterly alone.

"Believe me when I tell you that I can't imagine anyone freely choosing
that peddler's solitary life-style," she said.

"I wonder what he's running from."

"Interesting choice of words," Lucas commented, regarding Marlee
intently as he returned to the couch.  Marlee was physically close to
him now, yet she couldn't have been further out of his reach if she'd
been in a separate galaxy.

"Don't get me wrong.  I don't think the peddler' san bad.

He honors his debts, and he cares about people in his own way.  He knew
I wouldn't accept any of his wares, but he still insisted on repaying
me, though he had no money."

Lucas sat up abruptly.

"What did he give you?"

She scowled at him.

"Relax.  I told you I wasn't going to accept any of his antiques. Those
always come with a history.  This was just something he was making,
It's a little bird.  A raven.  It's about the size of my thumb, but
it's very pretty.  And it's brand-new.  He finished carving it here."

She went to the bookshelf and took it down.

Lucas stared at the little carving suspiciously.  It looked new; Marlee
was right about that.  Maybe the gift had been an act of kindness from
the peddler, and the object wasn't cursed.

"It's okay.  He really was just trying to repay me, not create more
problems."

"Yeah, well, I've heard similar stories before.  It seems he's always
trying to repay someone's kindness when he gives them a gift that
throws their lives into chaos."

"Ease up.  This is just something he was whittling.  It's perfectly
harmless, Unless you're ready to believe that he's some kind of
supernatural being.  And near as I can figure, supernatural beings
don't get the flu, do they?"

"I still don't trust him.  There's too much history between that man
and Four Winds."

She held the fetish out to Lucas.

"See for yourself.  It's harmless."  He took it from her hand, half
expecting it to burn him the way the skin walker bowl had done to
Gabriel.  Instead, the fetish felt completely ordinary, just a piece of
wood.

As he returned the carving to her, their fingers touched.

He felt the shock of that contact all through him.  There may not have
been any heat coming from the fetish, but there was plenty of warmth in
her touch.  He forced himself to look at something other than Marlee as
he put his thoughts back in order.

Marlee moved away, replacing the carving on the shelf.

"You look really tired.  Since I don't have any boarders right now, why
don't you just sleep here?"  she asked.

"I've got plenty of rooms."  A restless breeze blew through the
half-opened front window, tossing a curl of her hair onto her cheek
where the scar lay.  She tugged her hair down, trying to cover the
scar, and turned away from him.

Lucas longed to touch her, to kiss away that aching
self-consciousness.

The scar did nothing to hide her beauty, though she couldn't seem to
recognize that, and would never have believed him had he told her.  His
gut knotted with the effort it was taking for him to stay away from
her.

Slowly one thought formed and became crystal clear in his mind.  He
couldn't stay here tonight.  To be separated from her by only one thin
wall he wouldn't get any rest.

Lucas came up with the first convincing excuse he could think of.

"I need to get back and work on my grant requests.

The first-aid station depends on the town and the state for funds, and
I've got to make sure the paperwork is completed in time.  If it's not
ready, I may not be able to get the funds to keep the place supplied."
It was the truth, though he certainly didn't intend on working on all
of those tonight.  Still, though he'd given it his best shot, he knew
he hadn't sounded very convincing.  He hoped Marlee would understand.

She nodded, her neutral expression making it impossible for him to say
if she was disappointed or not.  It didn't matter.  He had to leave
now, before he said or did something they'd both regret.  He was tired,
and that always made him less cautious.

As he walked to the door, she picked up a feather duster she'd left on
the end table.

"You're going to clean house now?"  he asked, surprised.

"I can't sleep, so I might as well clean."  One of the feathers of the
duster got stuck in the crack of a drawer that was slightly ajar.  As
she tugged it loose, something fell with a thump onto the floor.

Marlee picked the object up and stared at it, eyebrows furrowed.

"What the--?"  Recognition flooded over her features, and she suddenly
held a finger to her lips as she showed it to him.

It took him a moment to realize that what she was showing him was a
small microphone.  Before he could stop her, she dropped it back onto
the floor and stepped on it hard.

He expelled his breath in a hiss.

"I wish you hadn't done that.  My brother Gabriel might have been able
to track the bug back to its owner."

She stared at the pieces on the floor.

"You're right.

Sorry.  My temper got the best of me.  This is my home, and having
someone do this to me..."

Lucas rubbed his eyes, wishing he could will away the cobwebs around
his brain.

"Who do you think wanted to listen in on your conversations?"

"Nobody's been here recently except the peddler, and somehow I have
real trouble believing he left that behind.  I think we can rule you
out, too," she said with a thin smile, "and I certainly wouldn't bug
myself."  As she looked at him, her expression suddenly gentled.

"Look at you, you're practically dead on your feet.  You really
shouldn't be driving anywhere right now.  Take one of my guest rooms
before you fall on your face."

Lucas hesitated.  If someone had placed a listening device in her
house, it was possible she was in danger.  The way he felt right now,
he expected he wouldn't be much protection even if he stayed.  He was
so exhausted, a two-year-old's punch would have probably knocked him
out cold, Still, whoever had left that bug here wouldn't know that, and
he'd feel better knowing Marlee wouldn't be alone in the house.

"I do need some rest--you're right about that.  I have several calls to
make tomorrow, and unless I get some sleep I'm going to be worse than
useless."

"Then that's that--you'll stay.  I'll get a room ready and I'll even
stop cleaning.  It's time I got some rest, too."

"In the meantime, try to think back and pinpoint when someone could
have left that little microphone here."  As he followed her to a guest
room down the hall, another thought struck him.

"Assuming it wasn't the peddler's bug--and I, too, doubt that--whoever
planted that bug knows by now that the peddler was here tonight.  That
may turn out to be a problem."

Marlee thought back to her last conversation with the peddler.  No one
would take that story about the wish seriously-if they'd even managed
to overhear it in the first place.  At least that was one thing she
wouldn't have to worry about.

She placed fresh towels by the bed for Lucas and turned back the
bedspread.

"Get some sleep now.  There's nothing pending that can't wait until
tomorrow."

"Have you considered the possibility that wasn't the only mike?"  he
asked.

"Yes, but it still doesn't matter now.  It's not like we're going to be
chatting up a storm in our sleep," she answered.

As she left the room, Lucas dropped down onto the bed.

The room smelled like Marlee, of the meadow flowers she loved.  That
special touch she gave everything around her imbued even the air itself
with the gentle power of her femininity.  It was like her, an
undeniable comforting presence that made no overpowering demands.

He stood, unsnapped his jeans and stripped off his clothing.

With one careless yank, he tossed back the covers and crawled into bed.
As the gray mists welcomed him and he fell asleep, he felt Marlee's
presence enfolding him, offering him peace.

Chapter Four

Marlee was fixing breakfast in the kitchen when she heard Lucas start
moving about.  His footsteps had been welcome this morning.  These past
few months had been especially .

lonely for her.  It was rare for her not to have at least one boarder,
but since the end of summer nobody had come to stay.

It was late fall now, and the house had begun to echo with a desolate
emptiness that unsettled her.  She really didn't like living alone. She
needed to feel needed.  These long stretches of silence made her feel
as if everything in her life were standing still in preparation for
something that had yet to be defined.

Marlee thought back to another lifetime, when her career had defined
who and what she was.  Her love for her work and her passion for life
had been a circle she had thought could never be broken.

Those days were gone now, and the present was all she had.  She stroked
the scar on her face absently, reminding herself of something she could
not ever possibly forget even without that physical reminder.

"Good morning," Lucas greeted, heading directly for the coffeepot.

The sight of him made a slow fire burn within her.  His shirt was
half-open, hanging loose over his jeans.  He exuded an easy
masculinity, a rumpled sexiness that only some men could carry off.

"We need to talk," he said, spooning some sugar into his mug.

She placed two strawberry 'waffles on a plate for Lucas and poured more
batter into the waffle iron.

"What about?"

"We have to search for other hidden microphones, and we have to go talk
to my brother and see if he has any ideas who'd want to bug your home
or, for that matter, who'd even own a bug like the one you found in the
first place.  It's not the sort of thing you can just pick up at Rosa's
in case you ever need one."

"There are no other listening devices here.  I've already searched the
house--well, all except the room you were using, which I'll do while
you eat."

"Let my brother and me help you look around some more.  It can't
hurt."

Marlee stiffened, then forced herself to relax.

"It's not necessary."  Now, more than ever, she needed to firm up the
emotional barrier between them.  The incidents of the past day seemed
to be tearing down the defenses that had kept each of them safe from an
involvement neither was prepared to handle.  But the effort to resist
him was tearing her apart.  She felt as if something heavy were slowly
collapsing inside her.

"You may be in danger.  You can't ignore this," he insisted.

"I'm not planning to."  She set down the waffles before him.

"In fact, I've been thinking all night about who could have left that
bug here, and why."  She sat down across from Lucas.

"I know it hasn't been here long.  I clean the main rooms every day and
I would have seen it.  My guess is that it has been here less than
twenty-four hours.  I think someone must have seen the peddler arrive.
They sneaked in and hid the bug to find out what was going on.  I heard
someone outside last night, and the back door flew open at one point.
An intruder could have easily taken advantage of the high winds and the
noise of the storm."

It was the only thing that made sense.  Her past hadn't caught up to
her here, at least not yet.  If it had, the signs would have been
clearer and as inescapable as the darkness that descended each night.

He poured honey on his waffles and started eating.

"Did you see anyone?"  he asked between bites.

"I saw a pickup going around the corner right after the peddler left,
but it wasn't Visible long enough for me to identify."

Lucas's fists clenched and unclenched on the table.

"This peddler has targeted women my brothers have befriended in the
past.  I don't want his games to hurt you.

Will you get rid of that carving he gave you?"

Lucas's hands were strong and supple.  His restless energy teased her
imagination.  Those hands were meant for caresses that would add warmth
to even the coldest winter night.  The walls around her heart
shuddered.

Aware suddenly of the direction her thoughts were taking, she turned
around and got busy cleaning the counter.

She had to pay attention to what he was saying, not to her own
daydreams.

"The raven is just a simple carving.  I won't give it away out of fear
of what some ignorant person might think about it.  The day I start
doing things because people are pressuring me to act in a certain way,
I'll lose what I like most about myself--my ability to be my own
person.  Can you understand and accept that?"

"I'll have to, won't I, darling'?"

"True."  She smiled, pleased he'd used the endearing term, though she
knew it was just a word and nothing more.

"You're too stubborn for your own good."

His deep voice, low and rough, danced over her skin, making her feel
vibrantly alive.  Even the air itself crackled with expectancy as they
both stood their ground.  For a breathless second, neither spoke.

Finally, with a smothered oath, Lucas stood.

"If you won't let Gabriel and me search this place, I better get
started on today's other jobs.  I've got to stop by home, change
clothes, then go on my rounds."

"I think I'll go up to the high school and check on Bradford.  I like
animals, even that crazy buffalo.  I hope I didn't make him sick
yesterday by giving him all those cookies."

"I doubt that," Lucas said with a smile.

"Ask around and see if anyone's figured out whether somebody did shoot
him with that big rubber band Gabriel found.  That sure might have been
the reason he got so riled up."

Her body tensed.

"Are you thinking that what happened was more than just a kid's
prank?"

He shrugged.

"Maybe I just worry too much."  His hand circled her wrist, and obeying
an instinct that demanded it, he pulled her toward him.

"I won't be far if you need me--for anything."

He brushed her hair away from her face so tenderly that a soft sigh
escaped her lips.  For that moment, the scar didn't matter to Marlee.
Only Lucas's touch and the spiraling world of emotions it sent through
her held any reality.

As if sensing her response, he drew her closer.  A silver heat ribboned
through her, making her tremble.  There was no question of her pushing
him away.  An endless wanting overwhelmed any thoughts of resistance.

His kiss egan slowly, with all the patient skill of a man experienced
in the art of pleasuring a woman.  He teased her mouth gently,
insistently, showing her a need so primitive and so powerful it tore
apart her caution and logic.

Danger, pleasure and longing combined, making her weak at the knees. It
felt so right to be in his arms.

An eternity later, when he eased his hold reluctantly, she drew in a
long, shaky breath.

"I've got to go now," he said, his eyes dark and smoldering.

"Watch yourself."

Marlee shut the door behind Lucas, still tasting him on her lips. She'd
wanted that kiss for such a long time.  A silent tear spilled down her
cheek as she forced herself to face her situation clearly.  To Lucas it
had only been a pleasant kiss, nothing more.  To pretend differently
was only to lie to herself.  Lucas could have any woman he wanted.  He
was the most eligible bachelor in town.  What had just happened between
them changed nothing in the overall scheme of things. It had been
nothing more than a bright flicker of light in the darkness of her
soul.

Marlee took several deep breaths.  At long last, when her hands stopped
shaking, she went to the shelf and picked up the beautiful raven.

"One wish ... wish upon a star," she said, smiling.  She'd give
anything to believe in magic, but real life wasn't so easy.

"In this case, I guess it would be cravin' upon a raven," she
continued, replacing the carving with a self-conscious laugh.

"Nope, it just doesn't have the same ring to it."

After searching the room Lucas had slept in for any listening device,
she came out empty-handed.  Marlee considered everything that had
happened, weighed her options and decided it would be a good idea to at
least meet Lucas's request halfway.  In light of her intruder, perhaps
placing the carving in her safe-deposit box for now would be the wisest
thing she could do.  Marlee wrapped the tiny wooden bird carefully,
tucked it inside her purse and walked out to her car.  She'd had enough
stolen from her in her life.  Nobody was going to take anything else.

As the rickety old engine started up, Marlee caught a whiff of a
peculiar scent.  It reminded her of the odors inside Charley's garage.
Her car had certainly spent a lot of time there in the past year.  She
eased out of the driveway in Reverse, but when she moved her foot to
the brake to stop before she reached the street, the pedal went all the
way to the floor.  The sedan continued to roll backward, picking up
speed as it rolled out into the street.  The fires squealed as she
turned sharply to stay in the road.

Marlee straggled to contain her rising panic.  Driving backward down
the hill was hard enough with working brakes, let alone without any
means of slowing down.  She pressed her foot down harder on the pedal,
her mind rejecting the undeniable certainty that hope and force would
not be enough this time.

Suddenly a small toddler ran out into the road, oblivious to danger.
The tiny girl was busy chasing a bright red ball that was directly in
the path of Marlee's car.

With a scream lodged in her throat, Marlee turned the wheel hard,
catapulting the sedan over the low curb and into a field covered with
scrub brush and weeds.  The car bounded and squealed as it crashed into
a waist-high thicket.  Marlee pulled frantically on the emergency
brake, and finally the car came to a jarring stop.

A young woman came running up a few seconds later as Marlee tested her
limbs, verifying nothing was broken.

"Are you okay?  What on earth happened?"  Marlee's young neighbor,
Jean, forced the driver's-side door open against the brush, then
crouched by Marlee, looking for injuries.

"The brakes wouldn't work at all," Marlee managed to explain in a shaky
voice.  She took several deep breaths, assuring herself that she was
fine and the danger was past.

The problem was she knew better.  The danger wasn't past.

Not at all.

"Do you want me to call Lucas?  He should check you out to make sure
you really are okay."

Marlee gathered herself enough to shake her head.

"I'm not hurt.  Your daughter?"  She managed to push the last two words
past the formidable lump that had formed at her throat.

"She's back in the yard.  You swerved so sharply you never even got
close to her."

When she heard the news, Marlee's heart started beating again.

"I saw her running out into the street, but there was no way for me to
stop!"

"Come over to my house," Jean said.

"I'll fix you something warm to drink, and you can try to relax."

Forcing her body to move, Marlee pulled herself out of the car.  Jean's
offer was tempting, but it was becoming clear that something was very
wrong in her life right now, and the last thing she was about to do was
get her neighbor any further involved.  If there was one thing this
last incident had brought home to her, it was that someone was after
her.  It was beginning to look as though she'd been wrong.  The past
had caught up to her.  What frightened her most was the knowledge that
as long as her enemy remained faceless, there was little she could do
to fight him.

THAT AFTERNOON, Marlee stood in the repair bay at Charley's garage.
He'd come by and towed her car, promising to fix whatever was wrong.

"You've got a loose connection in your brake line," Charley said,
crawling out from beneath the car.

"The fluid all drained out."

"I found that out this morning--the hard way.  How did it happen?"  she
asked, forcing her voice to remain steady.

"Age, wear, take your pick.  Your car is old, let's face it.  There are
probably more rebuilt parts on that chassis than original ones by now.
But no matter how many things I replace, there'll always be something
else wearing out.

You've hit that point with this car."

"Can you fix the brakes for me just one more time?"

"Sure, but you better start thinking of getting yourself another
vehicle soon.  This one's on its last legs."

Depressed, Marlee slowly crossed the street to Sally's Diner,
desperately wanting some company to cheer her up.

Marlee walked inside the door just as Sally stepped out of the kitchen,
wiping her hands.

"Hey, I heard about your accident this morning," Sally began, concern
evident in her voice, "Sounds to me like you were awfully lucky?

Hearing that her accident was already public knowledge in town didn't
surprise Marlee in the slightest.  She sat on one of the counter stools
and forced a smile.

"The price of having an old car keeps going up," she said, and
explained.

"Well, just be glad that here in Four Winds nobody really needs a car
except teenagers," Sally added with a chuckle.

"I mean it's hard to go parking at Serenity Hill if you haven't got
transportation."  She placed a cup of coffee in front of Marlee.

"This is on the house."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Marlee said, reaching into her
purse.

"It's just a friendly gesture, not charity," Sally answered with a tiny
smile.

"Don't get your feathers ruffled."

Marlee chuckled.  Everyone knew she had a giant chip on her shoulder
about accepting handouts.

"Thanks.  By the way, if anyone comes through town looking for a place
to spend the night, send them my way."

"It's been a while since you had a boarder, hasn't it?"

Sally noted with a thoughtful nod.

"But don't sweat it.

There's something really weird about the way things work around here.
Your back is against the wall one minute, then your luck turns and
everything's fine again.  That's the way it works here in Four Winds.
You know that."

"Yes, it seems that way, doesn't it?"  she observed, not really
expecting an answer.

Marlee finished her coffee, said goodbye to Sally, then went outside.
The air was crisp today, and the sky a beautiful shade of blue.  She
set out for home, determined to enjoy the walk as she came up with a
plan.  There was nothing better than action, the right kind, to restore
her confidence.  All her life, she'd prided herself on achievement,
knowing that it was the greatest gift anyone could give to themselves.
She'd found purpose through it, following her own course, setting her
goals with single-minded determination.  To her, few evils could have
matched dreams without motion, without the power of direction only the
dreamer could give them.

It was that philosophy that had given her the strength to go on when
everything she loved had been taken from her.

Now she was being challenged again.  This time, however, she had much
less left to lose and was in a far better position to fight.  No one
would ever force her into doing anything she didn't choose to do.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Marlee stopped and turned around.  The
street was empty, yet she knew someone was back there.  She hadn't just
imagined it.

A stab of fear shot through her.  The suspicion that some:

one Was stalking her made it difficult to think clearly.  Her mind
instinctively drifted back to another time when she'd known only too
well the stark terror occasioned by helplessness.

Marlee straggled to gain control.  She wasn't helpless now.  Time had
taught her how to survive.  Marlee continued walking until she reached
the alley that led to the library, then she ducked down it, out of
sight.  Hidden in the shadows, she held herself motionless, barely
breathing.

She listened, keeping her body still until every single muscle in her
body ached.  Minutes passed, but no further sounds reached her.  She
peered out, but no one was near.

Blaming it all on a case of nerves, she stepped out of the alley.
Unfortunately Rosa came around the corner just then, and ran right into
her.

Rosa yelped, dropping the case of pickles she'd been carrying.
Startled, Marlee also jumped back, slamming into the wall.

Rosa crouched down, picking up the shattered glass jars and placing the
pieces into the cardboard box.

"Oh, no!

See what you made me do?"

"I'm so sorry!"

"What were you doing?  Were you waiting to pounce on me, or did I just
get lucky.5 "I ducked into the alley--" She stopped speaking abruptly.
She couldn't tell Rosa what was going on.  The woman would gossip about
it to the entire town.

"I discovered my blouse had come unbuttoned.  I ducked into the alley
to button it up again, out of view."

Rosa sighed loudly, "Every jar of pickles is broken."

"Let me pay you for it," Marlee said.

"It was my fault."

"Well, yes, it was."  Rosa considered the matter for a moment, then
shook her head.

"No, never mind.  It was an accident.  Let's just forget it."

As Rosa returned to her grocery store, Marlee resumed her trip home.
Everything seemed to be unraveling for her now.  In a way, it was
almost as if every story she'd ever heard about the peddler was coming
true, and the bad luck that preceded the good was just starting.  Of
course, that was utter nonsense.  Curses and magic didn't exist.

Twice on her way home, she thought she heard faint footsteps, but
invariably no one was there when she looked back.  The incidents
disturbed her despite efforts to brush her concerns aside.  By the time
she arrived at her boardinghouse, her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Marlee walked inside, and as she turned to lock the door, she felt a
wave of relief wash over her.  She'd be safe now.

Exhausted, she went to the sofa and dropped down unceremoniously onto
it.  Looking across the room, she began to wonder how much of what had
happened had been nerves, and how much of it had been real.  That's
when she saw her face reflected in the mirror.  Dark red lines had been
drawn on the surface of the glass.  As her face stared back at her, the
crimson network of trails made her appear hideously disfigured--a
portrait of pain and ugliness like nothing she'd ever seen.  It made
the scar she actually bore seem almost insignificant.

Her heart in her throat, she stood up, covering the scar on her cheek
with her hand as she walked to the mirror.

She was staring at her reflection in shocked silence when she saw a
shadow flitter across the wall.  The realization that someone was in
the house with her made her blood turn to ice.

Terror swept over her.  Forcing herself not to run, she headed for the
door.  To her surprise, no one tried to stop her.

She'd just reached the porch when she heard something fall onto the
tiled kitchen floor with a crash.  Without hesitation, she raced down
the driveway toward Jean's house.

Chapter Five

Twenty minutes later, Marlee stood in her front yard, shivering and
waiting for Gabriel to give her the all-clear.  Time passed slowly.
Finally he came out onto the porch, and waved for her to come in.

Marlee was walking up to the door when a loud backfire echoed all
around her.  The sound, though jarring, was familiar by now.  She
turned her head in time to see Lucas pulling up in his old pickup.

As he got out of his truck, Marlee could see the concern on his face.
She wasn't sure how much he'd already heard about the accident or the
break-in, but she was glad he was there.

As Lucas came toward her, that clean, pure strength he used to face the
world emboldened her, supporting and bolstering her courage.  There was
no doubt that he'd seen the best and worst of human nature while he'd
served his country in the military, but Lucas had the kind of nobility
that belonged to a man who could not be compromised.  He faced the
world on his own terms.  That bravery was the quality she admired most
about him.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.  That those had been his first words meant the world to
her, though she knew that she was probably giving them more weight than
they merited.

"The house isn't in bad shape," Gabriel said, coming out the front door
to join them, "but the damage was certainly calculated to hurt you."

"I already saw the mirror.  Is it like that in the other rooms?"

He nodded.

"All the mirrors, and any paintings or photos that had a woman's face,
have been scratched up, too.  But the intruder is gone.  You can come
in now."

Marlee followed Gabriel inside, and Lucas followed close behind.

"Whoever did this wants to remind you of your scar in a major way,"
Gabriel stated.

"As if I could forget?"  she said, smiling mirthlessly.

Then she noticed the magazines on the kitchen table.  The face of each
model had been ritually savaged with a red marker.

"He's made them all ugly," she observed, forcing her voice to remain
steady.

"My police experience tells me something like this is often the work of
a jealous suitor.  Have you been seeing someone, or have you broken up
with anyone recently?"

Gabriel asked.

"No, and let's face it, even if I'd tried to keep it a secret, if I had
been dating someone, you and everyone else in town would have known.
Four Winds is a very small place in that respect."

"Tell me about your scar," Gabriel said quietly.

"How did you get it?"

She looked at him in surprise.

"That happened a long time ago, before I came to Four Winds."

"I'm aware that no one in Four Winds is used to being asked about their
private business.  But if there's anything that might link that injury
with what's going on now, I have to know about it."

"My scar is a result of a car accident.  There's nothing mysterious
about it.  My guess is that someone's decided to remind me it's there
just to hurt my feelings."

Gabriel held Marlee's gaze for several seconds, and she forced herself
not to flinch.

"I'll accept that for now, but I don't think you should stay here alone
until we, find whoever is responsible for this.  Lucas told me about
the hidden microphone you uncovered, and I heard about the problem with
your car from Jean.  That's too many nasty surprises to be
coincidental.

Something's going on, and it's not good."

"I think Fuzz is right," Lucas added in a gentle, persuasive voice.

"If you had boarders right now, it would be different, but it's not
safe for you to be here alone."

"I'm not afraid, and I'm not about to allow anyone to run me out of my
house."

Lucas expelled his breath in a rush.

"Let me tell you something I learned while I was in the military. Young
soldiers want to handle everything with a head-on assault.

The ones with experience learn the value of an aggressive defense.
Theywait for their enemies to expose weaknesses, then they strike.
That's how they live to keep fighting."

"I can't ask anyone to put me up.  If someone is after me, I'd be
endangering my host.  That's not right."

"Then I'll stay here with you," Lucas said.

The thought sent a spiraling warmth all through her, but somehow she
found the strength to say no.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can stand on my own.  I'll get out my
shotgun and keep it handy.  I'm perfectly capable of defending myself
if it comes to that."

Lucas started to protest, but stopped when he saw the determined look
on her face.  Marlee knew he hadn't given up.  He was just trying to
find another suggestion she wouldn't object to.

Marlee walked them to the door, keeping her hands in her pockets so the
men wouldn't see them shaking.

"I appreciate your concern and your help, but I'll be just fine."

After saying goodbye, Marlee shut the door, and looked around the empty
room.  Though she'd put on a brave front for the benefit of the
Blackhorse brothers, the fact was she was scared.  She had no way of
knowing for sure if her enemy was part of her past or her present.  But
one thing was clear.  Whoever it was wanted to destroy her, body and
soul.

LucAs FELL INTO STEP beside his brother as they walked to their
vehicles.

"There's more to this than she's saying," Gabriel said.

"So she's got secrets.  That's no surprise in Four Winds, and you know
it."

"Yeah, but there's something way out of the ordinary going on here,
Shadow.  That's why you've been hovering over her since yesterday
morning.  You want to tell me what's really going on?"

Lucas said nothing for a few moments, then finally broke the silence.

"Follow me to my clinic.  We'll talk there."

When they arrived, Gabriel settled into the chair across from his
brother's desk, and put his feet up on the blotter.

"So tell me, Shadow, what the hell is this all about?"

Lucas pushed Gabriel's feet off his desk, then leaned against the front
of it, regarding his brother thoughtfully.

"I've got some news you're really going to hate.  The peddler paid
another visit to Four Winds."  He filled his brother in on the details
of the events at Marlee's, then added, "He was genuinely sick when I
saw him, but he recovered too quickly, and that bothers me.  I wonder
if it could have been a trick."  Lucas shook his head.

"No, never mind.  I'm just being paranoid.  That fever was real--I know
my job."

"I'll keep an eye out for him," Gabriel said.

"Maybe this time I'll get to catch up to the son of a gun before he
disappears," "I wish you luck," Lucas muttered.

"Meaning you don't think I'll catch him?"

"No one ever has.  I think a new series of events is about to unfold,
like before, and there's not one damn thing you, me or anyone else can
do to stop it."

IT WAS MIDAFTERNOON.  Marlee stood waiting for Earl Larrabee, the bank
teller, to bring her the safe-deposit box.

She'd intended to put the peddler's gift in the bank earlier that day,
but she'd never quite managed it.

"Will you be long, or shall I wait?"  Earl asked.

"This will just take me a moment."  Marlee smiled at him.

Earl was always willing to help.  He was also one of the best sources
of information around.  She'd heard from Sally and several other local
women how much Earl loved gossiping with the ladies.

"Did you enjoy the Harvest Festival?  The rain almost ruined it for
everyone this year," Marlee prompted, hoping to get him started.

"Rain or not, it was sure exciting.  That incident with Bradford was
totally unexpected.  Of course, right now everyone's more worried about
the flu bug that's going around."

"Flu bug?"

"Haven't you heard?  People have been coming down with it all day. Mrs.
Torres and several of the high-school kids ended up having to go home.
The feed store is short-staffed, and only Clyde is still at the post
office."

"When did this all start?"

"Beginning this morning.  It's hitting people hard and fast."

As they left the vault and stepped out into the lobby, Marlee saw the
elderly Mrs.  Murray standing by the teller's window.  She seemed
agitated and abnormally pale.  Before Marlee could figure out what was
going on, Mrs.  Murray suddenly sagged against the counter, then
crumpled to the floor.

Marlee rushed to her side immediately.  The woman's breathing was
strong, but she was clearly feverish.  Flu among the elderly wasn't
something to fool with.

"She's fainted.  She'll need to be taken to the clinic now," she said
quickly.

"Let me," Earl said.  He tossed his safe-deposit key ring to the bank
manager, then picked up Mrs.  Murray as if she weighed no more than a
child.

"I'll take her over there in my car."

"I better ride with you and hold on to her," Marlee said.

"If she regains consciousness, she may be frightened and need some
reassurance."

As they drove over to Lucas's, Marlee's thoughts began to race.  These
symptoms were similar to those she'd seen affecting the peddler.
Although his recovery had been fast, she doubted Mrs.  Murray would be
quite as lucky.  The woman was in her eighties, and at her age, any
illness carried a potentially high price.

"Looks like Lucas already has his hands full here," Earl said as he
pulled up.

Several cars and pickups were in the small parking area.

When they entered, half the people were milling around nervously, and
more slumped in chairs waiting to be called.

Just then, Lucas came out to call his next patient.

Seeing Mrs.  Murray cradled in Earl's arms, Lucas threw open the door
to the examining room.

"Hurry.  Bring her in," he urged, giving Marlee a concerned glance as
he held open the door.

Earl stepped through the doorway, carrying Mrs.  Murray.

A moment later, the door swung closed behind them.

Marlee studied the people around her in the waiting room.  The younger
ones didn't look quite as ill as Mrs.

Murray, but their flu symptoms were pronounced.  Half were coughing,
and all were pale as ghosts.  Worry and exhaustion marred the
expressions of the parents who had brought in their children for
treatment.

Marlee took in the room at a glance, assessing the situation and
suspecting that the worst was yet to come.  Epidemics like these seemed
relentless at first because of the explosive nature of an outbreak, and
influenza was particularly contagious.

There was only one sure thing she could really count on now.  She'd pay
a high price if the news ever got out that she'd housed the peddler
when he'd come into town sick with similar symptoms.

Deciding to make herself useful instead of worrying about things she
couldn't change, Marlee helped the patients in the reception area as
much as she could.  Though an illness like whatever was striking down
these people wasn't in her area of expertise, she knew she could at
least help the moms by keeping their kids distracted.

She played with some toddlers, finding herself wishing that her life
gave her more time with children.  As she sat on the floor with a fussy
two-year-old, entertaining him by playing with a hand puppet from the
clinic's toy chest, she realized just how much she missed the life
she'd left behind.

But those days were gone.  They were part of the price she'd paid to
restore peace to her troubled soul.

THE HOURS PASSED QUICKLY.  ]VffS.  Murray was transported to a hospital
in Santa Fe by private ambulance service.  The other patients were
eventually attended to, and sent home with instructions.  As stillness
finally descended over the clinic, and a sense of hard-earned peace
filled the rooms, Marlee stood by Lucas's office window watching the
first snow of the year.  It was late October, but still a bit early for
snow.  Tiny flakes fell silently, dancing in the beams of the
front-porch lights.

"We're supposed to get several inches tonight, and the temperature is
expected to keep falling," Lucas commented, looking outside and rubbing
the back of his neck wearily.

"That'll be a blessing.  School will probably close, people will stay
indoors and maybe that'll help slow down this flu outbreak."

Compassion filled her as she studied his expression.  A network of
lines radiated from his eyes, and Marlee felt an uncontrollable urge to
touch and smooth them.  But aware of the temptation their slightest
contact evoked, she remained still.

"I appreciated your help here today," Lucas added.

"I

can't thank you enough for sticking around."

"It felt good to be useful.  If you ever need an extra pair of hands
here, I hope you'll call me.  I enjoyed it."

"You may regret that offer, but I'll remember it," he said with a weary
smile.

"By the way, you came here with Earl and he's long gone.  Are you ready
for me to take you home, or can I talk you into helping me bring in
supplies from my storage building first?  I've depleted almost every:

thing I keep in here, and I'll need to have things accessible in case
of a crisis later tonight or tomorrow."

"No problem.  I'll be glad to help you restock.  Let's get to it."
There was nothing waiting for her at the boardinghouse anyway, except
the howling loneliness of a stormy night.

They worked hard for the next hour.  As they brought in the last of the
boxes, Marlee stood by the door for a moment, kicking the snow off her
boots.  The wind raged like an angry god whose fury had just been
awakened.  Flecks of icy snow hit her face, numbing her cheeks.

"Looks like the heater's going to be working overtime tonight," Lucas
said.

As she closed the door, a blast of warm air from the furnace enveloped
her.  The heat felt good.  Though the first-aid station, a clinic only
in the strictest of terms, was almost Spartan, there was a homeyness to
it, particularly when viewed against the blizzard outside.

She moved back to the window.  The world outside looked like those
paperweights one shook to produce a beautiful, self-contained
snowstorm.

"Will you consider staying here tonight?"  Lucas asked.

"I'd rather not drive in that snow if I can help it."

The offer to stay was tempting, but she needed to justify it to
herself.

"Do you think you might have more patients?

If you'll need my help..."

"I never know what's going to happen here.  It can be peaceful one
second, and chaotic the next.  I like my work, don't get me wrong, but
the best way for me to do my job is to take things as they-come and
never plan too far ahead."

"I can understand that."  It had been that way in her work, too, she
mused silently.

"Four Winds is really lucky to have you.  You're a wonderful medic.
You've got an intuition for medical matters that's amazing.  When
you're with a patient, you see the whole person, not just the illness
or the injury."

"That's part of Navajo teachings, as well as what I was taught as a
medic.  Being observant becomes second nature."

"It's more than that.  It's a gift, a very useful one."

"It doesn't always guarantee answers, though," he murmured.

The way he was looking at her made her feel vibrant and wanted.  She
shivered, fighting the onslaught of feelings that swept over her.  An
excitement she didn't dare define, yet as wild as the wind howling
outside, filled her.

"You have your own gifts," Lucas added gently.

"The way you helped the kids and their moms here today was really
something."

She smiled, pleased by his praise.  It wasn't empty flattery.

He wasn't a man to dole compliments out easily, and she knew it.

"I really would like you to stay at the clinic tonight.

You'll be safest here, you know.  Look at the storm as a quirk of fate.
Sometimes you just have to trust destiny."

His voice was a husky murmur.

Her heart and her mind warred with each other, each struggling for
supremacy.  Do you know how tempting you are?  I want to stay, I want
to lie with you, to feel your touch and your tenderness.  I need you.
She heard the words in her mind, framing emotions she'd never before
allowed herself to dwell on, hoping that by the simple act of denying
them, they would disappear.

Lucas touched her face gently, caressing her cheek.

"This is the best place for you tonight.  I'll see to it that you're
okay.  Nothing will disturb you here."

Could he be that innocent, thinking that the physical attraction
between them could be tamed by sheer will?  Or was he that strong?  His
touch sent ribbons of warmth winding through her.

"I'll stay," Mlee whispered.

"Let the storm rage out-' side.  We have all we need in this station.
If anybody in Four Winds needs help, this is where they'll call."

As another gust of wind shook the rafters, she shuddered.

"I can't remember the last time the wind was this strong."

"It's this building.  It's right at the mouth of the canyon, and the
wind always sounds worse than it is."

A branch hit the window hard, and Marlee jumped.

"It is bad out there."

He smiled teasingly.

"Don't tell me that I've finally found something that scares you!"

She looked out the window again and nodded, half-ashamed because she
knew it wasn't really the storm.  It was her feelings for Lucas as they
stood here alone, isolated by the storm, that frightened her.

He gathered her into his arms, enfolding her in a tender embrace that
left her weak at the knees.  She should have protested, but the
temptation to enjoy their closeness while it lasted was too strong to
resist.

"Don't ever be afraid when you're with me," Lucas whispered fiercely.
He wrapped his hand around her hair, tugging gently so she tilted her
head to meet his gaze.

The hunger and passion in his eyes stole her breath away.

In a heartbeat, his tongue invaded her mouth, commanding, persuading.
It was more than a kiss.  It was a possession, a touching of souls that
nothing in her previous experience had prepared her for.

When he finally eased his hold, she blinked slowly, like someone waking
from a wonderful dream.  Everything seemed wrapped in a smoky, warm
haze that softened the colors and rounded all the edges in the room.

Lucas tore his gaze from hers and moved quickly to the window, looking
out.  St/ddenly he urged her toward the front door.

"We're in trouble," he said quickly.

Marlee started to take a deep breath, hoping to clear her thoughts, but
immediately began coughing.

"What's happening?"

she managed.

"Keep your breathing shallow," he warned.

"This building's on fire.  Considering all the accidents lately, I
think someone may be trying to kill us."

Chapter Six

The frigid air cut right through Marlee's clothing.  She tugged the
folds of her navy wool coat tighter against her as she stood outside
the rudimentary clinic.  The old pumper truck had showed up remarkably
fast, considering the weather, but most of the fire-department
volunteers had been in bed, either sick, sound asleep or both.  Aided
by the failing snow and two fire extinguishers, she and Lucas had been
able to put out most of the fire by the time help had arrived, but
extra hands had been welcome.

Her fingers ached from the cold.  Making fists and jamming both hands
into her pockets, she watched Gabriel and Lucas walking around,
searching the hot spots for clues.

The possibility that the arsonist had come here because of her preyed
on her mind.  Confused, miserable and frightened, she stared at the
charred outside wall of the clinic.

The town needed this facility, particularly now, with the flu outbreak.
She studied Gabriel's expression, hoping against hope that he'd be able
to tell her that it had been an accident, faulty wiring or something
like that.  Yet in her heart, she knew not to expect that.

Gabriel came toward her as Lucas went inside the building with two of
the firemen.

"You never saw or heard anything?"  Gabriel asked without preamble.

She shook her head, not trusting her voice.

"You seem to be at the center of a lot of mishaps lately," he
continued, his eyes boring holes into her.

"I

need your help to get to the bottom of things, and I have a feeling
you're holding out On me."

"I honestly don't know anything.  Was what happened here tonight really
arson?"

"My guess is that someone poured charcoal-barbecue starter fluid
against the side of the building, then put a match to it.  It's a good
thing the snow slowed the spread of the flames.  You're both very lucky
to have escaped injury."

She stared at the clinic, blinking back tears.  The exterior was
blackened by smoke and charred wood, and the door was burned half-away.
Smoke and flames had penetrated to the front rooms, also, as if an evil
wind had propelled the heat down the path where it could do the most
damage.

Water rested an inch or so deep in the waiting room.

The fight exterior wall of the clinic looked slightly better, but not
by much.  It resembled a skull, with empty eye sockets where the
windows had been broken.

As Lucas approached, she saw that worry and exhaustion lined his face.
Her heart twisted inside her.

"The damage wasn't as bad as it might have been," Lucas said, trying to
put a positive spin on things, as usual.

"I suppose," she answered, trying not to sound gloomy and failing
miserably.

"How much help will you need to get this place up and running again,
Shadow?"  Gabriel asked.

"The medical equipment is mostly in the back and it wasn't damaged, but
the front rooms are unusable at the moment.  It'll be impossible for me
to see patients here until we have the structure checked out
completely.  If it's safe, then we'll have to' resurface the exterior
and interior walls, put in new windows and a door and reshingle part of
the roof.  The wiring in this section of the building will need to be
replaced, too."

Lucas stroked his jaw pensively.

"All that will take time, and I've got to have a new lase of operations
here in town as soon as possible.  Any suggestions?"  He glanced at
Gabriel, then Marlee.

"Use the boardinghouse," Marlee suggested without hesitation.

"I'll clear out the rooms and do whatever it takes to make it workable
for you there."

"Bad idea," Gabriel said.

"The boardinghouse is right in the center of town.  If the arsonist
pulled something like this again, he could reduce the entire town to
embers.  I won't risk that."

"You're not looking at the whole picture," Lucas argued.

"Marlee needs protection.  If the clinic was being run from the
boardinghouse, she'd be protected simply because-of the volume of
people around.  There's only one of you, so you can't adequately
protect her and the clinic if they're in separate places.  This is the
only solution."

"No.  The cons outweigh the pros, Shadow."  Anger laced through
Gabriel's words, adding a dangerous edge to them.

"This town needs a clinic right now.  With the damage from the fire, I
can't operate from here.  You may not have the manpower to do your job,
but I'm not going to let that keep me from doing mine."  Lucas's voice
cracked through the air like a whip.

The brothers' iron wills collided, and Marlee felt the force and
determination that held each of the men as he stood firm.  She wanted
to do something to defuse what was happening, but she didn't know how.
Frustration and sorrow tore at her as she accepted the knowledge that
she was, at least partially, the cause of what was happening between
them.

"Maybe there's an alternative," she offered.

"Like what?"  Gabriel turned to Marlee, his gaze as ice-cold as the
wind.

"The high school.  Maybe they would let you use the gym or a classroom.
You could take your equipment there and then set up room dividers' of
some kind," Marlee suggested.

Lucas shook his head.

"I can't bring people who could be seriously ill into a school
environment."

Gabriel pursed his lips.

"What about the portable classrooms the county brought in?  Those stand
alone, and have separate heating units and their own water supply.
They're not right next to the main building, either.  They're on the
other side of the track and playing fields."

"That might work," Lucas said thoughtfully.

"But it still doesn't solve the problem for Marlee.  She's the target
of some lunatic now.  How are you going to keep her safe?"

Marlee started to protest and assure them she'd watch out for herself,
when Gabriel unclipped his cellular phone from his belt and handed it
to her.  Here, take this," he said.

"The recharger is built-in.  I have a spare in my vehicle.

Take the phone with you whenever you leave home.

And avoid going anywhere where you'll be alone.  If you even think
something's wrong, call me.  I won't be far.  I wish there was more I
could do, but there isn't, unless you'll allow me to put you in jail
for your own protection."

Marlee grimaced.

"Gee, thanks, but I think I'll pass on your kind offer."

Jake Fields, the town's librarian and one of the volunteer firemen,
jogged up to them.

"Boys, we have a problem.

The snow's starting to come down heavy now.  We've got to get the
medical equipment and supplies out of there and put the stuff someplace
where it'll stay warm and dry.  We better do it quickly, too.  In
another thirty minutes, if the weather doesn't let up, this road's
going to be impassable and we're going to be stuck out here."

"Get the pumper back to town now," Gabriel said.

"We can't risk it being snowbound here.  But ask the men who came up in
their vehicles to stick around.  We're going to be packing up
everything Lucas needs and taking it over to the high school.  We're
commandeering one of the portable classrooms on the north side."

Marlee worked alongside the men carrying the medical equipment and
supplies into waiting trucks.  By the time the clinic had been emptied
of all the necessary equipment, Marlee's entire body ached.  The wind
had picked up again, too, and snow was blowing into her eyes and
stinging her cheeks.

She looked at the men around her and noted that they looked as weary
and sore as she felt.  Yet it was when she glanced at Lucas that her
heart almost broke.  He was beyond exhaustion now.  The man needed
rest, but it would take time to get beds set up in the high school's
portable building, and if her guess was right, no amenities would be
available there for at least another day or so.

Marlee approached Gabriel, who was sitting in his Jeep, talking on the
radio.  She waited a discreet distance away until he racked the mike.

"What's up?"  he asked.

"Your brother is going to need a place to stay, and I'm not sure your
home is the best place for him now.  Keep in mind that Lucas is going
to be exposed to this flu that's going around, plus everything else
that crops up.  It may not be wise to have him around Lanie right
now."

He nodded slowly.

"Good point."

"It's also not a good idea for him to be alone, either, in case either
of you are considering having him stay at Joshua's home.  Whoever did
this tonight came after both- of us, and there's no real proof that
Lucas wasn't the real target."

"You think this could have been the result of a grudge someone has
against my brother or the clinic?"  Seeing her nod, Gabriel considered
her point.

"That's possible.  So what's on your mind?  You know I'll do my best to
protect both of you, but there are limits to what I can do," he said,
biting off the words.

Marlee knew all about pride.  Gabriel's had been stung badly, but he
had integrity enough to admit his limitations, and that spoke well of
him.

"I wanted to get you started thinking of a safe place for him, because
I'm afraid he'll want to stay with me at the boardinghouse.  In my
opinion, that could be dangerous.  If it turns out that I'm the target
after all, then being around me will increase the risk to him, and I
don't want that.  If I come right out and say that, though, nothing
will dissuade him from staying with me.  I was hoping you could think
of something else.  He's this town's only medic, and he needs to stay
safe."

"I can't talk Shadow out of anything he wants to do," Gabriel said.

"But I wouldn't worry about his safety.  My brother is very good at
handling trouble.  All the Blackhorse brothers are," he added with a
crooked smile.

Lucas strode up.

"I'm going over to the high school to get everything set up, then I've
got to get some sleep.  I'm ready to drop."

"Let me take care of moving this equipment for you," Gabriel offered.

"I'll see to it that everything's taken care of.  In the meantime, I'd
like you to go take a look at my wife.  I just spoke to her a few
minutes ago, and she's not feeling well.  She says it's nothing, but
I'd like you to take a look at her anyway."

"I'll go over there right now.  I've been exposed to this flu, but I'm
in good shape so she should be okay as long as I take a few basic
precautions, like wearing a mask and gloves.  Afterward I'm heading for
the boardinghouse," Lucas added.

"I'd rather get some sleep there than on the floor of the portable."

Marlee started to protest, then changed her mind and remained silent.
It didn't seem likely that the arsonist would strike twice in one
night, and she didn't have it in her to refuse Lucas, not when he
looked as if his body would have slumped from sheer exhaustion if not
for his raw, uncompromising will.

"I'll join you at my house as soon as I can, but if there's anything
you think I should know before then, call me," Gabriel said.

Marlee walked with Lucas back to his truck.

"Maybe I should go with you.  New mothers have a way of getting jumpy
when they're close to their due dates.  I may be able to help."

After letting Gabriel know she'd be going with Lucas, they got under
way.  The ride to town took much longer than usual on the snow-packed
road.  The storm had turned into a blizzard that seemed as unrelenting
as it was fierce.

In the headlights, the curtain of snow glowed with an iridescence that
made it appear as if a ghostly shroud Were engulfing them.

"Your brother has a lot of responsibilities right now.  The news of the
peddler and these other incidents are added burdens.  I think you may
have been too hard on him," Marlee said, keeping her voice soft.  She
wanted to try to ease the tensions between the two brothers, not start
an argument with Lucas.

Lucas said nothing for several long moments.

"My brother has worries and concerns fight now, but so do I. We all
hoped we'd seen the last of that peddler, but it looks like the
troubles he brings are already starting.  You're caught in the middle
of it, and so am I."

"We can't change anything, so we'd better find a way of dealing with
it."

AN HOUR LATER, after Lucas had examined Lanie, Gabriel finally arrived
home.  Worry clouded his features.

"Is my wife okay?"  he asked, shutting the door behind him before
another icy blast could invade the living room.

"Lanie's okay.  She's in bed now.  Don't worry.  She's bound to be sore
and a little achy at this stage in her pregnancy.

She could deliver safely any time now," Lucas said.

Gabriel leaned back against the wall.

"I know.  That's why I check on her often.  I'm glad to hear things are
okay here, though, because we have to go back to the school," he said,
rubbing his eyes.

"The portable doesn't have as much room as I'd thought, so a lot of the
equipment is still in the middle of the floor.  We had to stack the
desks against one wall, and won't be able to get them moved out until
morning.  We need your guidance in setting up the equipment for maximum
efficiency.  I know you wanted to get some rest, Shadow, but I need you
to supervise that part yourself."

Lucas took his jacket off the hook by the door and picked up his
medical bag.

"No problem.  Let's go.  I'll rest later."

Lanie came out of the bedroom just then, and smiled at Gabriel.

"I'm glad you're home!"

"Not for long.  I'm just on my way back out, at least until our medic
has a place to work."

Marlee saw Lanie's expression change in the blink of an eye.
Disappointment and a touch of loneliness shone there.

"I'll be sticking around for a bit, though, if you don't mind," Marlee
said.

"I'd like to fix myself a cup of your coffee before I set out.  I'll be
walking home, and I still haven't warmed up again after being outside
for so long."

"I'll be glad to get you something warm to drink.  It is freezing
tonight."

"If you'll point me in the right direction, I'll take care of it
myself."

As the men left, Marlee stepped into the kitchen with Lanie.  She could
sense Lanie's concern for her husband, and for the child she carried.
She remembered giving comfort to many young mothers in the past and, as
the memory flickered alive in her mind, she grieved for the work she'd
given up.

"They'll be okay," Marlee assured, putting the teakettle on.

"It's not really as bad as it looks out there."

"But my family is in trouble again," Lanie said, and settled down in
the nearest chair with a long sigh.

"I've been hearing bits and pieces of conversations, even though
Gabriel and I haven't had much time to talk lately.  I know about the
fire, and I know that you've seen the peddler.  I also heard Gabriel's
tone when he spoke about Shadow earlier.  There was anger there."

"All families fight a little, or a lot.  I heard that even the
Blackhorse brothers get embroiled in a little rivalry from time to
time."

Lanie smiled.

"You're right about that.  I guess I'll have to remember that they
always work things out in the end."

"What binds them is stronger than anything that tries to split them
apart."  Marlee nodded.

"Don't worry."

"I know," Lanie said softly.

"But sometimes something evil strikes at people here, undermining them,
turning friends into strangers.  I became part of this town willingly,
and I've grown to love the people here in Four Winds.  But I've seen
this town's other side, too.  Things turned ugly here when Gabriel's
father was killed, and it could be happening again.  The peddler has
come back.  The troubles are starting and when that happens, Four Winds
doesn't seem like such a safe place."

Marlee remembered the recent troubles, when Joshua and Nydia had almost
been killed by people who had once been counted as friends.  And her
own life had acquainted her well with another kind of treachery.  She
knew how an enemy could come from nowhere.

"It won't last forever.  Troubles never do," Marlee Said, wondering if
it would be better for everyone if she left.  But would her enemy take
revenge on Lucas and others here if she did?  It was hard to predict
her enemy's actions, especially when she knew nothing at all about him,
or them.

"I know you're thinking of running as fast and as far as you can from
Four Winds.  I've been in your shoes."  Lanie raised her hand to
interrupt Marlee's protests, then continued.

"I don't know what secrets you're hiding, and the specifics really
don't matter.  You're part of Four Winds now, and whatever happens,
you'll be better off facing it here."  It startled Marlee that Lanie
had guessed her thoughts so accurately.

"I just don't want anyone to be in danger because of me."

"I'm not talking to you as the sheriff's wife now, but as your friend.
If someone is after you, then face them here on your own ground.
Otherwise, the trouble will follow you for the rest of your life.  You
have friends here, Marlee, people who will stand by you.  If you have
to make a stand, Four Winds is the best possible place for you to be. I
found that out myself because of people like Gabriel, Lucas and you."

Marlee weighed Lanie's words.  If her enemy was someone from her past
who'd tracked her here, he would continue to endanger her and others
wherever she went.  It was time to stand and fight.  And if this
trouble wasn't connected to her past, but was something to do with the
peddler or linked to Lucas's own past or his work, then she was needed
here, now more than ever, to help him in this fight.

"I won't run away.  I didn't start this fight, but I will see it
through."

"I have a feeling that you're about to experience firsthand why
everyone talks about the peddler with awe and a touch of fear.  The
path that lies ahead of you may not be an easy one.  It wasn't for me
or for Nydia, but remember that neither of us has ever had any reason
to regret where it ultimately led us."

Those words warmed Marlee, and filled her with a strange sense of
expectancy.  She'd denied her own dreams for so long, she'd almost
forgotten the blessing they could be in and of themselves.  Marlee
stood at the sink and rinsed out her coffee cup.  The bright yellows
and deep golds her friend's kitchen spoke of a life filled with radiant
possibilities and hopes for the future.  But there could never be hope
without courage.

Marlee knew that she'd allowed the past to chain her.  If the trouble
she was facing now was a result of who and what she'd been, the time
had come to finish what she hadn't had the strength to fight so long
ago.  Lanie was right.  It was time to take a stand.

BACK AT THE boardinghouse, Marlee sat in the stillness and warmth of
her living room.  It seemed more lonely than usual tonight.  Outside,
the storm raged.  The snow was still falling beyond the porch.  The
light kept back the chaos of the storm, but she couldn't stop worrying
and thinking about Lucas.  He'd called her just a few minutes ago.  He
wouldn't be back till the early-morning hours, if then.  Jake and Lucas
planned to get some sleep in the camper of Joke's truck over in the
school yard, using the former Ranger's down sleeping bags.

In a way, she was glad that Lucas was there, not here.

Gabriel wouldn't be far away, and Jake and Lucas, though tired, would
guard each other's backs.

She lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes, intending to rest only
briefly.  She knew she'd have to leave a key under the mat by the front
door as she'd promised Lucas, but since he wouldn't be back before
dawn, there was still plenty of time.  Before she knew it, Marlee
drifted off into the deep, dark cavern of sleep.

She wasn't sure how much time had elapsed when a sharp scraping noise
at the rear of the house startled her awake.  Marlee jumped up and
hurried to the window.  It was still dark outside, and she couldn't see
far beyond the circle of light that escaped outward through the part in
the curtain.

Marlee turned off the living-room lights and waited for her eyes to
adjust before trying to peer out again.  The winds had died down, and
everything was still.  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she parted
the curtain and looked out.  A thick blanket of snow covered the
backyard.  As she studied the ground, she spotted fresh footprints
leading toward the back of her house.

Fear stabbed through her as she heard a soft scrunching sound coming
from outside, near the corner of the house.

Marlee hurried to the phone, called Gabriel and breathed a sigh of
relief when he answered on the first ring.  In a soft voice, she told
him about the intruder.

"Don't leave the house, and make sure the doors and windows are locked.
I'll be there in minutes."

Marlee went to the closet and pulled out the shotgun she kept in there.
She'd never be a victim again.  After standing by the window a moment,
she heard faint padding footsteps and caught a glimpse of a figure
standing by the back door.

Her heart lodged at her throat.  He was bent over the door handle, and
from what she could hear, she was almost sure he was picking the lock.
She stared at the shotgun, suddenly realizing there was no way she'd
really use it unless she was being physically attacked.

Out of necessity, a new plan formed quickly in her head.

She headed for the front door.  If she could take the prowler by
surprise, and use the shotgun to detain him until Gabriel arrived, then
a lot of the mystery about her attacker could be solved.

After clipping the cellular phone to the belt loop of her jeans, Marlee
slipped out the front door and crept around the side of the house.  The
cluster of trees and shrubs that bordered the back of her home would
give her plenty of cover.  Intent on her quarry, she kept the shotgun
barrel up, not wanting it to become clogged with snow.  As she ducked
under an old pine tree, the barrel of the weapon suddenly struck a
snow-laden branch.  Wet, heavy snow pelted down on her, and a heartbeat
later the branch struck the side of the house with a sharp thwack.

Marlee held her breath, knowing with certainty that the intruder had
heard her.  She inched forward and, as she peered out from behind the
trees, saw that the man had vanished.

Icy fear shot through her.  Marlee hurried around to the front door,
intent on reaching the safety of her home.  She was only a few steps
from the porch when someone tackled her from behind, throwing her
face-forward into the snow.

Chapter Seven

Marlee struggled to get free before the snow choked the air out of her
lungs.  In desperation, she shoved the stock of the shotgun into her
attacker's middle as hard as she could.

She heard him gasp and, as his grip loosened, she rolled away and
scrambled to her feet.

As her assailant rose to his knees, she saw his face for the first
time.  For a moment, she couldn't speak.

"Lucas!"

she managed to say, helping him up.

"What the beck are you doing out here?"

He brushed the snow off his body, wincing as he touched his stomach
where she'd slammed him.

"I was trying to protect you.  I saw a figure creeping around the
house, heading for the front door."

"I heard someone tampering with the back door, so I called Gabriel and
then figured I'd try to detain whoever was out there.  I had no idea it
would be you," Marlee explained.

"You told me there'd be a key underneath the mat in the front, but
there wasn't one.  I figured I'd try the back door.  The house was dark
except for one small lamp in the living room, so I assumed you were
fast asleep.  I didn't want to wake you."

"You said you weren't coming until the early-morning hours!  It's
nowhere near dawn!"  She brushed the snow off her wet clothes.  Without
a coat, she was freezing.

"Let's not stand out here arguing.  It's too cold, and now we're both
wet.  Let's get inside by the fireplace."  She reached back for the
cellular phone, intending to call Gabriel, then realized that it was
gone.

"Help me look.  Gabriel's cell phone has to be here somewhere," she
said.

Lucas stirred the snow with his boot, searching the place they'd fallen
to the ground when he'd tackled her.

"It shouldn't be that difficult to find it.  It's not that small, and
it'll be dark against the snow.  When's the last time you remember
having it?"

"I clipped it to my belt loop before coming out of the house.  The loop
is torn now."

"Trace back your steps.  It probably fell in one of your tracks or
close by."

Together they walked around the side of the house.

"We're going to need flashlights," Lucas said.

"It's too' dark out here right now, in spite of the white surface."

"I've got a couple inside the house.  Let's go get them, and I can call
your brother at the same time and let him know that there's no
danger."

"I'll keep looking while you're inside.  I don't think it's something
you should be without, and if it stays here in the snow for long it
could short out."

Marlee went inside the house, called Gabriel, then returned outside
with a pair of flashlights.  The shotgun was now safely in the closet,
and her wool coat was securely fastened around her, helping her stay
warm.

"Your brother was relieved to know it was you I'd heard, not an
intruder, but he's coming over anyway.  He wants to talk to both of us.
I don't think he's thrilled I went on the offensive."

"Neither am I. I can see why you did it, but you shouldn't have taken
the risk."

"Would you have waited?"

"No, but that's different."

"Is it?  I wanted to see the face of my enemy.  I knew Gabriel was on
his way over and I figured I could hold the person until he arrived.
The shotgun was my way of getting his attention and keeping him at a
safe distance.  I knew the intruder was trying to get inside my
house."

Lucas shook his head.

"Would you really have shot him--or me, I should say?"

"I had no intention of shooting, and I certainly wouldn't have fired
without identifying my target."

"You should have left the house and just kept on going to the
neighbors."

"And bring the danger over to them?"  Marlee shook her head.

They followed Marlee's tracks all the way around the house, but failed
to spot the phone.

"I thought about having Gabriel call me, then listening for the ring.
But I didn't want him to know I'd lost it.  And I don't know the number
myself."

"Let's go over your steps one more time, and if we haven't found it by
then, then we'll go back inside.  I know the number and you can call it
from inside while I go back out and look."

As they worked their way around the house, the beam of her flashlight
fell on a gray metal-and-plastic object partially hidden under a
rosebush beside the driveway.

"What is that?"  she said, reaching down and scooping it into her
palm.

"Is it another listening device?"

"No, it doesn't look right, and besides, why stick one out here?" Lucas
took it from her hand and studied it.

"Wait a minute.  Wasn't this about where the peddler's van was
parked?"

She nodded.

"You think he left this and that microphone here?"

"No.  This, I believe, is a tracking device that was placed on
someone's vehicle, but it fell off and got run over."  The flat plastic
box had a magnetic surface on one side, and contained a small circuit
board loaded with electronic parts.

"You don't usually park this far down your driveway, do you?"  Lucas
added.

She shook her head.

"No.  I park by the front, so that rules out my car as a candidate."

"I think someone discovered the peddler was in the area, and maybe even
followed him here.  They hid the bug in your house to find out what he
was doing, and then decided to track him when he left.  The peddler
must have discovered the device and left it behind."  Lucas paused.

"It could have just fallen off, but that seems unlikely."

"Nobody's ever been able to follow the peddler when he leaves.  Even
the sheriff tried and failed, according to what I heard Lanie say once.
I can see someone wanting to find out once and for all where he goes,
but I wonder who was willing to go this far."

An undeniable sense of relief washed over her.  All of a sudden, the
incidents appeared to have less to do with her past than with that of
Four Winds.  The listening device she'd found in her home did make more
sense now, when connected to the peddler.

"Here it is," she said, finally spotting and retrieving the cellular
phone from where it had been caught on a pyracantha bush.

As headlights bathed the area where they stood, Lucas glanced around
the side of the house.

"That's my brother now.  I bet he's going to be real interested in what
we have to show him."

A SHORT TIME LATER, after changing out of their wet clothes, Lucas and
Marlee were seated in the living room with Gabriel.

"I remember seeing similar tracking devices at a law-enforcement
seminar," Gabriel said.

"It's not a state-of-the-art device, but it does its job.  I've got to
tell you, though, it's just not the sort of thing I ever expected to
see here in Four Winds.  Then again, that's one thing about our town.
Nothing is ever the way you expect."

Though she avoided looking directly at him, Marlee felt Gabriel's gaze
on her.  He knew she was holding back, but for the first time, she
didn't feel guilty.  This time she was certain her past had nothing to
do with what was happening.

"I can use my law-enforcement contacts to track down the manufacturer
and that way maybe get a lead on who purchased it, but I want you two
to leave this to me.  Whoever bought this device and the bug already
had them on hand, ready for the occasion, which means somebody in this
town was a snoop even before the peddler showed up.

We have no way of knowing who these devices were used on before."

"I suppose I could ask around and see if there's anyone with a
particular interest in electronics in town," Marlee said.

"No.  I don't want you looking into this.  You'll end up raising
questions in people's minds, and folks are already tense enough with
this illness that's going around."

"Someone's coming after me," Marlee said.

"You can't expect me to sit tight and wait to see what he's going to do
next."

"If you start playing amateur detective, you may uncover more than
you're capable of handling.  Trust me to do my job."  Gabriel stood.

"There's not much else I can do here tonight.  Watch out for each
other, and don't take matters into your own hands again.  Think about
what happened earlier tonight.  You could have easily hurt each other
out there."

Marlee watched in silence as Gabriel left.

"He's wrong to think I might have hurt you.  I knew it was you out
there the minute I felt you in my arms," Lucas murmured, coming up from
behind her and pulling her back against him.

Marlee had no armor against the husky promise of his voice.  Longing
filled her until she ached.

"We have to be careful," Marlee said, forcing herself to step away,
though everything feminine in her begged to stay in his embrace.

"The danger to both of us is real, and it seems to be coming from many
directions."

Without turning to look back at Lucas, Marlee went to her room and
closed the door.  Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.  She'd hoped never
to care deeply about anyone or anything again.  That was a road that
led only to pain and heartache.  But now, it was too late.

LUCAS WENT to the guest room she'd prepared for him earlier.

The bed had been turned down, and a pitcher of water and a glass had
been set on the nightstand.

He walked around the room restlessly.  What was it about Marlee that
affected him so much?  With her, he felt whole, as if fate had brought
her to him, and given her the power to rock his world.  She filled him
with a warmth he'd never known.  Yet there was nothing he could do to
change the situation between them.  He closed his ees for a moment,
remembering the feel of her in his arms.  So sweet, so soft, so
tempting.

Muttering an oath, he walked to the window and opened it, hoping the
sudden and icy blast of air would help clear his thoughts.  As he stood
there, staring at the dark emptiness outside, his thoughts drifted back
to another time.  He hadn't always known the high cost personal
involvements could exact from someone in his profession.  Yet back
then, inexperience and circumstances had conspired against him.

Now he had no excuse for repeating the same mistake he'd sworn to avoid
for as long as he lived.

Wartime memories filled his mind.  That one wounded man, his best
friend.  Loyalties were too easily divided when emotions took over.  He
shut the window and, with it, shut off the flow of his memories, then
moved back into the room.  He wouldn't let himself or Four Winds down
by allowing anyone or anything to interfere with his duties here.
Marlee tempted him with dreams he had no business indulging.  A man who
weighed his convictions against the cost they would exact wasn't much
of a man.

Lucas stripped off hig clothes.  Despite everything, as the cool sheets
touched his body, his thoughts returned to Mar-lee.

He drifted into a restless sleep with images of Marlee, and what might
have been, playing in his mind.

LUCAS REALIZED it was morning when the buzz of his cellular phone
stirred his brain.  He reached for the phone, forcing himself to come
quickly awake and alert.  Whenever calls began this early, he knew he
was in for a long day.

He listened as the high school's journalism teacher spoke.

"They all look terrible this morning," Jennifer Sawyer said.

"Yet all the kids were fine last night.  We met to go over article sing
the local paper and gather ideas for human-interest stories of our own.
I'd like you to come over and take a look at them.  I'm really
worried."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes.  My temporary clinic is in the
portable building across from the track.  If they can make it over
there, that'll save us some time," Lucas said, dressing quickly.

A few minutes later, as he strode down the hall, Marlee stepped out of
the kitchen.

"More kids at the high school are ill," he explained.

"I've got to get there right away."

"You should eat something.  If you don't eat and get enough rest,
you'll end up catching whatever this is that's going around."

Marlee quickly filled a plastic sandwich bag and held it out to him.

"Here.  It's just a couple of breakfast burritos, but they'll hold you
until you get a chance to eat a decent meal."

Lucas took the food gratefully, aware all of a sudden of how hungry he
was.

"Thanks," he said, heading for the door.

"You know, I just wish my brother Joshua hadn't left town with his
family right after the Harvest Festival."

"I like Joshua, but I'm not sure he would be a help to you now.  His
kind of medicine is different from what folks around here rely on."

"That's true, but there's something about my little brother that puts
people at ease.  And he does know a great deal about herbs that can
help relieve symptoms.  The older ones here believe in the power of
remedies, the herbal remedies that have been handed down for
generations, as much as they do medical science."

"I may be able to help you with that.  My knowledge isn't anywhere near
as extensive as Joshua's, but I do know some local remedies."

"Good.  I'm glad to hear it.  That may yet come in handy.

At this point, I think we have to be prepared for almost anything."

"If while you're making your rounds, you discover that you need an
assistant to help you keep records or give you a hand whenever it's
needed, give me a call.  Just keep trying if you get a busy signal.
I'll be using the phone a lot today."

Lucas's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are you planning to do some investigating on your own?"

"I'm going to do some research," she corrected.

"I

want to find out if there are any companies in the Southwest that carry
listening and tracking devices.  Then I intend to call them and get
some information as if I'm a potential customer."

"Be sure to pass any information you get along to my brother, but don't
expect him to thank you," he added with a wry smile.

Lucas hurried out to his truck, then drove slowly down the snow-packed
road.  Four Winds was testing him, just as it had his brothers, but
would learn soon enough that no Blackhorse had ever backed away from a
fight.  And when a Blackhorse fought, he always came out the winner.

MAR LEE WATCHED Lucas go, thinking how well his nickname fitted him. 
He moved with the fluidity of a shadow, controlled, never revealing the
secrets he harbored within himself.  There was much going on inside
Lucas.  He'd been at war with himself recently.  That much she could
sense with the certainty of someone who also battled inner demons.

Marlee dressed warmly, then, grabbing the cellular phone and her purse,
headed for the library on foot.  She'd start her search there, using
their computers.  Charley had dropped off her car earlier with the
brakes fixed, but she'd just parked it in the driveway.  The roads were
bad, and most of the places in town she usually visited were within
easy walking distance.  She saw no use in risking a fender bender.

After saying good-morning to Jake, the librarian, who was're shelving
returned books, she sat down by the terminal.

The computer search was more complicated than she'd expected, but she
managed to get a list of ten electronics shops that seemed good
possibilities.  Though she was aware of Jake's questioning looks, she
didn't stop to explain.

It was better not to trust anyone.

"I've got the information I need," she told Jake.

"Thanks for the use of the terminal."  Ignoring the questioning look he
gave her, Marlee quickly gathered her notes and left the library.

Contacting the companies whose phone numbers she'd gathered took
another two hours, but at least she was home, where the calls she was
making wouldn't raise questions in anyone's mind.  Slowly a picture
began to emerge.  The items were not generally available except through
mall order, but there were dozens of such catalogs in existence.

Trying to track down the exact source of the devices she'd found at the
boardinghouse would take days, or longer.

Gathering the information she'd compiled, she placed the papers inside
a file folder, bundled up warmly once again and walked to Gabriel's
office.  He was on the telephone as she walked inside, still scraping
the snow off her boots.

Rosa, the grocery-store owner, was seated on one of the pine benches,
waiting for him, too.  She scowled at Marlee.

"The sheriff is really busy this morning.  Every time I start to talk
to him, the phone rings."

"What's going on?"

"From the bits and pieces of conversation I've overheard, I think folks
want him to call in some outside medical help from the state.  This flu
bug is going through town like wildfire.  Did you know they could
quarantine the whole town?  Can you imagine what that would do to us? I
couldn't get any of my stock in if they did, so I'm not sure what we'd
do for food."

Mariee looked at Rosa in surprise.

"Things aren't that bad, surely.  I mean flu bugs come and go."

"Nobody's getting better, no matter what Lucas does, and that's scaring
people.  Who knows what could happen next?"

Gabriel set down the phone, then turned to Rosa, continuing where he'd
left off.

"You'll have to pay the fine.  That's all there is to it.  I've written
you two warning citations already.  You can't park in the red zone.
That's the only access the fire track has in case of an emergency."

Rosa scowled as she placed the ticket and two five-dollar bills on his
desk.

"You're as stubborn as an old burro, Sheriff," she said, then stormed
out.

Marlee suppressed a laugh as Rosa slammed the door shut.

"Looks like you're having a bad day."

"I've had better.  Now, tell me what I can do for you.  Is there a
problem?"

"I came to give you some information I thought you might find useful."
As she placed the papers before him, he quickly closed the file on his
desk.  She'd only had a quick glimpse, but it had been enough.  Her
name had been at the top of the page.  Gabriel Blackhorse was looking
into her background.

Marlee said nothing and, as the phone on Gabriel's desk began to ring,
she let herself out of his office.  With the attacks on her, she should
have expected it.  She'd raised more questions in his mind than
answers, and he was the sheriff, after all.  The prospect saddened her.
She'd tried very hard to leave the past behind her, but no matter how
far she'd run, it still dogged her footsteps.

LUCAS PARKED HIS TRUCK in the snow-covered driveway beside old man
Simmons's home, killing the engine before it could backfire.  Arnold
Simmons was the only current resident of Four Winds, not related to the
Blackhorse family, who had experienced the peddler firsthand. Simmons's
destiny had taken him from abject poverty to the fortune of a wealthy
man.

Arnold was ill a lot nowadays, but not from the flu.  His complaints
were mostly those that came with old age.  He had to be past ninety.
Although Simmons could have easily afforded the hospital stay Lucas had
recommended, even a private suite, he'd refused to leave his home and
go among strangers.  As a Navajo, Lucas understood that decision far
better than most people could have.

Lucas knocked on the back door, then, knowing it was always left
unlocked, entered.  He called out to his patient, but only silence
greeted him.  This was unusual, because Simmons usually had the TV on,
tuned to a news channel.

Uneasiness spread over Lucas as he walked toward Simmons's back
bedroom.  The house didn't feel right.  He couldn't quite put his
finger on it, but he knew something was very wrong.

Lucas reached the last door of the long hallway, and looked inside.
Simmons appeared to be asleep.

"I'm here, Mr.  Simmons," he called out, then stopped.

The curtains hadn't been opened, though it was nearly noon, and the TV
remote was on the nightstand.  That wasn't at all like Arnold.  He
loved daylight, and felt the night with all its secrets was only one
more enemy of the aged.

Lucas approached the bed, but Arnold didn't move at all.

As he touched the old man's wrist to feel for a pulse, he had his
answer.  The body was cold.  Arnold Simmons had passed away sometime
during the night.

Lucas exhaled softly.  He'd liked the old man, as most people had.
Lucas admired the way Simmons had faced the world on his own terms.
He'd bought one shovel from the peddler, and through a series of
events, had come into a fortune.  Yet, for him, nothing had essentially
changed.

He'd remained a man who took pleasure in little things, from a sunrise
to his much loved potted marigolds sitting on the windowsill.  It
looked as though they needed water.

Lucas poured a generous portion from the bottle on the nightstand.

Lucas left the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and sat down
wearily on the living-room couch, As he filled out the form required by
the state, he felt an oppressiveness settle over him.  Navajo teachings
taught that Death was not an enemy.  Without it, old men wouldn't give
way to the young.  It was part of the balance and the harmony of
things.

Yet, as it was with many of his tribe, he did not like being around the
dead.  Unlike Joshua, he didn't believe in the chindi, the evil in man
that stayed earthbound and vas said to pose a danger to the living.
Still, he'd never quite been able to develop the ability to remain at
ease around the dead like most of his colleagues who helped the ill or
injured.

Lucas telephoned the Santa Fe funeral home that served their community,
but was told that because of highway conditions, it would be hours
before the body could be taken away.

It was not natural for the living to remain with the dead.

Pushing such thoughts aside, he called his brother to report the death.
Gabriel was at the high school, dealing with other issues.  Two teens
had decided to square off, and the administration hadn't been able to
cool their tempers with threats other than jail.  Lucas asked about the
boys' physical condition, but they'd only inflicted bruises on each
other, and he wasn't needed.

He called next to find out about repairs to the clinic.  One of the
local contractors, a friend of Joshua's, was making a written estimate
now, but thanks to the weather, work couldn't begin for another day, at
the earliest.

Lucas paced around the room, then stopped by the window to stare at the
snow outside.  The temperature had risen slightly throughout the
morning, and the snow was starting to melt a bit.  But that wouldn't
last long.  Once the sun went down, the temperature would drop by
thirty degrees or more and the partially melted snow would, by morning,
become a layer of ice, as treacherous as it was beautiful.

Beautiful things were often the most dangerous.  He thought of Marlee.
Her softness called out to him, offering him things he'd long denied
himself.  Lucas stared at the phone, thinking of calling her, yet
knowing he wouldn't.

Suddenly the cellular phone rang.

"It's me," Marlee said.

As he heard her voice, he wondered what link had formed between them
that had compelled her to call at just that moment.

"Is everything okay?"  he asked.

"Yes.  I was just wondering how things were going for you, and whether
you had any more news on the flu epidemic.  I'm going to be visiting
the seniors' center this afternoon, and I know they'll have lots of
questions."

"Reassure them as much as you can that there isn't anything to worry
about."

There was a lengthy silence before she spoke again.

"Then why do you sound so depressed?  What's happened?"

He smiled.  So she could sense his moods now, too.

Maybe he'd become too easy to read.  He told her about Arnold
Simmons.

"I'm really sorry to hear that.  Let me come over and keep you company.
Duties like that are easier when they're shared."

"It's not necessary."

"No, probably not, but I'd like to."

"Okay.  I'll see you shortly, then."

Marlee arrived fifteen minutes later, and Lucas couldn't deny he was
glad to see her.  Desire tugged at him, tormenting him even in this
place that, until now, had been filled only with death.

Marlee handed him a thermos of coffee, and opened the sack she was
carrying.

"I know you're probably not hungry, but I brought you something to eat
anyway.  It's mostly snacks you can pick at through the afternoon."

"Thanks."  Lucas took the thermos from her and, as their fingers
touched, he forced himself to suppress a shudder.

He wanted to hold her, to feel her softness and warmth against him.  In
this house of death, she was a light burning bright, beckoning to
him.

He did his best to concentrate on her words as she told him about her
meeting with Gabriel.

"People are sure getting scared," she said.

"Your brother has his hands full right now."

"There haven't been any more emergencies this morning so, with luck,
maybe the flu outbreak has already started to level off."

She met his gaze and held it.

"Do you really think so?"

Her eyes, so pleading, so soft, almost destroyed him.

There was an intensity in their depths that spoke of hidden passions
held in check.  Lucas wanted to kiss her, to drive all the fears and
concerns out of her mind and fill her only with a need for him.

"Do you?"  she insisted.

He struggled to remember her question, but before he could answer, his
cellular phone rang again.  Lucas identified himself quickly, listened
for a moment, then spoke.

"I'll be there in ten minutes.  Keep her warm.  And don't worry.  High
temperatures aren't that unusual in children her age."

He concluded the call, clipped the phone to his belt and grabbed his
jacket from the chair.

"Mrs.  Vega's baby is ill, and so's her husband.  She's worried about
the baby's temperature, but from what she's told me, I'm more worried
about Bob.  He's got another medical condition that makes anything like
the flu much more complicated.  He's not one to complain, so things
usually get out of hand before I'm called in.  I've got to go."

"I'll stay with Mr.  Simmons's body until the mortuary people come
by."

He looked at her in surprise, grateful that she'd offered but unwilling
to force such a task on her.

"You don't have to do that."

"I know, but I think somebody should be here.  Mr.  Simmons always
treated me well.  Just leave whatever papers I'll need to turn over to
them to make it legal."

"I'll do that.  And would you do another favor for me?

Keep your ears open when you go to the seniors' center later.  Senior
citizens tend to speak their minds, and I'd like to know what they
think this illness is.  From what you told me about your conversation
with Gabriel, there's a lot of speculation going around and I'd like to
know what's on people's minds.  Can you do that?"

"Is there something in particular that's worrying you?"

Lucas handed her the papers she needed.

"When I'm treating a patient, I usually know exactly what's needed to
restore them to health.  It's an instinct that has never steered me
wrong.  Yet lately all I get is the gut feeling that I'm missing a
vital piece of the equation."  He rested his hand on the door handle
and looked back at her.

"I need answers, and unless I find them soon, superstition and fear may
deal Four Winds a fatal blow."

Chapter Eight

Marlee sat by the window, waiting.  Two hours had passed, and no one
had come by for the body.  The snow had continued to slowly melt
outside, but now a thick, blanketing fog had crept in, reducing
visibility to a dozen feet or less.

She'd never seen weather like this in Four Winds before.

She tried not to think of it as an ill omen, but it was difficult not
to do so.  First the flu epidemic, and now this crazy weather was
forcing her to pay closer attention to the stories she'd heard about
the peddler, and wonder if there'd been more truth to them than she'd
thought.

She heard a sudden dull thud, then another.  Gooseflesh dimpled her
arms as she realized the sound had come from the back, from Mr.
Simmons's room.

Wild images rushed into her mind.  It didn't seem very likely, but
perhaps Lucas had made a mistake and Mr.  Simmons wasn't dead.  She'd
heard of cases where a patient's heart had started beating again
without any medical intervention at all.  The possibilities urged her
forward, and she ran back to the bedroom.  If he'd awakened suddenly,
he'd probably need her help.

Marlee threw open the door, then stopped in midstride.

The blanket still covered the body.  She reached underneath, intending
to check Mr.  Simmons's pulse, but the cold temperature and pallor of
his skin told her that the man was indeed dead.

She was standing next to the bed, trying to come up with an answer to
what had happened, when something hit the windowpane hard, making it
rattle loudly.

Marlee's hands began to shake.  Someone was trying to scare her.
Holding on to that knowledge, and determined not to give them the
satisfaction, Marlee picked up the cellular phone Gabriel had given
her.  She dialed, but the call wouldn't go through.  All she could hear
was the sound of loud static.  She tried Lucas's number next, but ended
up with the same results.  The weather was obviously playing havoc with
cellular-phone communications.  Once again thumps rattled the door,
this time in the back.

Hoping that a land-line call to the sheriff's office would get through,
Marlee used Simmons's phone and dialed the dispatcher.  A young woman
answered and quickly assured her that she'd radio Gabriel and he would
respond.

While she was waiting, Marlee took another look out the living-room
window.  The fog was as thick as before, and whoever was out there was
using it as a smoke screen.

Marlee studied the snow on the ground just below the window and saw
fragments of snowballs beside the house.  She stared at them in muted
anger.  Someone had been pelting the house.

Suddenly a loud backfire cut through the gloom of the fog, and she saw
the approaching headlights of Lucas's truck.

She walked out the front door, glad to see he was back.

As Lucas stepped down from the vehicle, the strength and confidence he
exuded with each step bolstered her own courage.  Lucas's bearing sent
out a challenge that few would have dared meet.  With him around, she
knew nothing would be allowed to harm her.

"Did they pick up the body?"  he asked softly.

Marlee suspected that Lucas had avoided using Mr.  Simmons's name out
of respect for Navajo traditions.

"No.

He's still here."

Lucas's gaze was keen and thorough as it searched her face.

"Something else is wrong.  What's happened?"

She filled him in quickly" telling him about the snowballs.

"It's probably just a kid who ditched school, but I'd still like to
throttle him."

"Let's go take a look around," he said.

Gabriel arrived just as Lucas and Marlee found a trail of footprints
leading to the road.

Marlee repeated her story to Gabriel.  As she finished speaking, Lucas
looked at his brother.

"Normally I would have said that it was some teenager out messing
around, but recent events put a whole new slant on' this incident."

"It's not a young kid, either, not by the size of those tracks,"
Gabriel said, crouching down.

"This isn't a stunt I would associate with the same person who
vandalized my home," Marlee commented thoughtfully.

"I wonder if it's a high-school kid cutting class because he's angry
that his friends are all out sick.

Throwing snowballs at a house is an act of frustration more than
anything else.  And if it's a neighbor trying to pick on poor old Mr.
Simmons, they're too late to bother him anymore."

"You may be right, either way," Gabriel said.

Lucas stood up slowly, hearing the sound of another vehicle
approaching.

"The funeral-home people are here," he announced, then walked out to
meet them.

After the body was taken away, they locked up the house and took
another look around outside.

"Are you getting on top of this health problem our town is having?"
Gabriel asked, photographing the imprints in the snow.

"I'm getting a lot of pressure to pull in troops from Santa Fe's state
labs."

Lucas shrugged.

"They won't come, not unless we start having a string of deaths.  Bad
as it is, what we're facing here isn't a crisis, not by their
definition.  We'd be lucky to get the doctor I work with to make a
special trip out here.

I've got a feeling he'd be reluctant to stay even for a few days,
because then he'd have to refer his patients to another doctor."  Lucas
lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

"What's bugging you?"  Gabriel prodded.

"There's more to this, right?"

Lucas nodded.

"I've been keeping tabs on my patients, and by now, some of them should
have shown improvement.  But that's not the case.  They're not worse,
mind you, but they're certainly not getting better, either."

"When exactly did this whole thing start up?"  Gabriel asked.

"About the time of the peddler's visit.  For a while, I thought maybe
it was a wires that he'd brought with him to town, but I've looked into
that.  It just doesn't fit.  The people I treated had not been in
contact with the peddler, or with us, prior to their coming down with
the flu.  And it would have to be a real short incubation period.  He
was only here a few hours before the first cases were reported."

Gabriel nodded slowly.

"Shadow, you're good at what you do.  You'll find the answers."

Just then Lucas's cellular phone rang.  It was such a bad connection
Marlee could hear the static even from where she was standing.  The
transmission faded in and out, and Lucas had to repeat much of what he
was hearing to confirm the caller's message.

As Lucas closed the handset, Gabriel gave his brother a worried look.

"Did I hear that right?  The girls' volleyball team has come down with
this?"

"Yeah, and it all came about in just a matter of hours.

They'd volunteered for a recycling project earlier today, gathering
newspapers and cans, and all were fine then.  But now they're in the
locker room, most of them too sick to go back to class.  Their coach is
worried about even letting them go home."

"Let me ride over with you and see if I can help," Mar-lee said.

"I can keep records, and help you interview the kids.  Maybe we can
come up with a theory as to how this started and why no one's getting
better."

"I could use a hand," Lucas agreed with a nod.

"Normally I can deal with this town's minor aches and pains, and
there's a doctor I contact for advice, prescriptions and referrals. But
as I'm sure you've noticed, times aren't normal."

Gabriel accompanied them to Lucas's truck.

"Keep me apprised, Shadow."

TWENTY MerES LATER, Marlee and Lucas walked into the school gym.  A
woman wearing slacks, a school sweat-shirt and a whistle on a rope
around her neck jogged up to them.  Marlee recognized Mrs.  Peterson,
the girls' head coach.

"These kids are really sick."

"Tell me everything you can about what led up to this, and how the
symptoms started," Lucas said.

"I--" Mrs.  Peterson stopped and looked at Marlee curiously.

"I know you run the boardinghouse, but why are you here?"

"I'm helping our medic today.  There are too many sick people for him
to also have to handle the record keeping and all that."

"Oh, okay."  She led them into the locker room.

The entire room had an eerie silence marred only by sporadic bursts of
coughing.  Kids were lying down on the benches or sitting on the floor,
leaning back against the lockers.  A couple of the girls, apparently
untouched by the sudden illness, were off by themselves in a corner,
talking quietly.

Marlee followed Lucas from one patient to the next, lending her
support, asking pertinent questions and filling out the medical forms.
As she listened to the descriptions of how each of the kids had become
ill, and what they'd been doing before that time, a pattern began to
form in her mind.

While Lucas spoke to the gym teacher, Marlee went to talk to one of the
girls who seemed particularly unaffected by the symptoms that were
plaguing her classmates.  She listened closely to Tina, a
sixteen-year-old with long brown hair and a hesitant smile.

"What have you been eating or drinking, and where?"

Marlee asked, repeating the same questions she'd asked all the
others.

"I've been on a really strict diet.  But it's good for me.

Heck, I'm not sick, and that's a big plus.  I feel a little woozy from
time to time, but that's because of the diet."

"How do you keep from getting really hungry?  You must drink lots of
liquids, like water and juice, or coffee?"

"No, just soft drinks.  The carbonation fools my stomach into thinking
it's full.  If I were to drink all the water this diet calls for, my
stomach would get really upset."

After Marlee finished talking to Tina, the coach took Marlee aside.

"Don't let her kid you about what she's eating or drinking.  At lunch I
saw her wolf down a sandwich she'd mooched off one of the boys.  And
this morning, during the recycling effort, she kept going out to get a
drink of water from the fountain."

It was late afternoon by the time the kids had been checked out and
sent home.  Marlee walked with Lucas to the portable building that had
become his clinic.  Together they fixed up cots and stowed blankets and
supplies that they'd managed to salvage from the fire-damaged
building.

The radio equipment he used to contact the consulting physician in
Santa Fe had been acting up before, but now, curiously enough, worked
perfectly.  Maybe the drop in humidity had done the trick.

Marlee told Lucas about her conversation with the dieter.

"For a short time there, I actually thought I might have found an
answer.  When she told me she wasn't drinking much water, and I could
see she wasn't sick, I figured I'd found the link.  But unfortunately
that didn't pan out."

He said nothing for several long moments.

"But you know, that's the closest to a connection we've found.  It's a
long shot, and the illnesses are too random to attribute what's going
on to bacterial or viral contamination of the water supply.  But it's
worth checking.  Take water samples from the school and different
locations around town," he said, handing her a tray of vials.

"What if someone sees me?"  Marlee said.  She knew only too well what
panic could do to people in a small town like Four Winds.

"I see where you're heading," Lucas said, considering the problem.

"We'll need to come up with a standard answer for people when they
start asking why we're checking out the water."

Hearing a knock at the door, Lucas turned and saw Gabriel and Lanie.
Lucas hurried over and helped Lanie to a chair.

"Are you okay?  Don't tell me you've got a touch of this flu bug,
too?"

She shook her head.

"I'm okay.  My husband worries too much, that's all."

"You really shouldn't be working so hard," Lucas said.

"What's wrong with taking it easy until the baby arrives?"

"I only came in to help with the plans for an assembly, since the other
teachers have their hands full today."

"What she's not telling you," Gabriel added, "is that she has been on
her feet all day trying to do everything by herself.  So now her back
hurts, and her feet are swollen."

"All par for the course at this stage," Lanie said with a gentle
smile.

"Lanie's right, you know," Lucas answered, checking her vitals, then
glancing at Gabriel.

"You're going to have to stop worrying about her so much or you'll be
the one who ends up sick,"

"Yeah, yeah," Gabriel answered, then sat down in of the metal-backed
chairs.

"What were you saying about the water when we came in?"

Lucas filled him in.

"It's Marlee's lead, and one that's certainly worth checking out."

Gabriel looked over at his wife.

"Until this question is cleared up, I want you to only drink water
that's been bottled or boiled."

Lanie nodded.

"But what about the rest of the town?

Will this warning go out to everyone, even if there's only an off
chance that it might be the reason people are getting sick?"

Gabriel nodded.

"I'll have to make sure people know about this, but I'm going to
explain it to them very carefully.  I don't want a panic on my hands."
He lapsed into a thoughtful silence for several seconds before
continuing.

"This is going to put a different slant on your situation," he added,
looking at Marlee.

"I don't understand.  What do you mean?"

"I'm the only law enforcement in town, and this business is going to
make me busier than ever.  You're going to have to stay alert and be
very careful, because I may not be as available as I'd hoped."

"Which makes me real glad I decided to stay at the boardinghouse,"
Lucas finished, giving his brother a guarded look.

"Yeah, in retrospect, I think that was a good idea."

After Gabriel and Lanie left, Marlee picked up the vials from the tray
and placed them in her handbag.

"I think this will call less attention."

"Let's do that job together.  I may be able to help my brother keep a
lid on things if I take time to explain what's happening to people who
see us collecting water samples.  I also want to pay Rosa Gomez a
visit.  I need to tell her what's going on, and encourage her to start
ordering a bigger supply of bottled water."

They made several stops, filling and carefully labeling the vials of
water collected at each location, then finally they drove to Rosa's
grocery store.  It was open, though it was past closing time.

Marlee smiled.

"You know, in her own way, Rosa is as dedicated to that grocery store
as you are to your job as medic."

"Yes, I think you're right.  She can always be counted on, which is a
good thing because this town needs her."

"That's probably one of the reasons she operates that store and why she
works so hard.  Everyone needs to feel needed."

"You don't," Lucas said.

"Not really."

"I don't allow myself that luxury," Marlee answered quietly.

"But sometimes I do envy you.  Your job is vital to this town.  You're
doing something that makes you indispensable."

"It exacts a price," he said quietly.

Marlee heard the tension in his voice, and glanced over at him.  His
jaw was clenched, and a muscle stretched taut across his cheek.  On an
instinctive level, she understood exactly what he was saying.  Lucas
loved his job, but its demands took a toll.  Though the work took
everything he had to give, it also left a void in his heart.

She observed the pride in his features.  It defined his strength, but
also his vulnerabilities.  A new realization dawned over her.  Lucas
was afraid of needing anyone, just as she was.  Questions filled her
mind as she wondered what secrets the middle Blackhorse brother held
safe within the iron walls of his heart.

Chapter Nine

While Lucas stood outside and spoke to Clyde Barkley, the postmaster,
Marlee went inside Rosa's grocery store.  The moment she stepped
through the front door, Marlee felt the tension in the room.

"If you're here for bottled water, you're out of luck.  I sold my last
case about fifteen minutes ago," Rosa said.

"Word got around about the sheriff's warning, and people rushed over.
It's just too bad he didn't tell us about the water before now."

A murmur of assent went around the half-dozen customers there.

"It wasn't even suspected until a few hours ago.  And it may not be the
water anyway, remember that," Marlee cautioned, surprised by the
harshness in Rosa's voice.  As she studied the woman's expression, she
saw something else there that chilled her.  There was a haunted look on
her face that spoke of fear barely kept in check.

Disturbed by the realization, Marlee walked over to the produce section
and started to pick some apples from the bin.

"By the way, I'm not taking credit anymore," Rosa called out from
behind the counter.

"I'm going to have to pay plenty to get a delivery truck into this
town.  My regular wholesalers have started postponing shipments because
they've heard people are getting sick left and right in Four Winds, and
none of the drivers want to be exposed."

Mrs.  Tapia, whose famed chocolate-chip cookies had kept the bison from
stampeding at the Harvest Festival, strode up to the counter.  ""The
problem is that we need real medical care in this town.  If our medic
wasn't so proud, he would have already called the state for help.  Then
maybe we wouldn't all be trying to figure out who's going to get sick
next."

"You're all free to drive all the way to Santa Fe to see a doctor, if
you can get an appointment.  Meanwhile, Lucas is doing his best,"
Marlee argued.

"Everyone knows he always consults with a doctor by radio.  Stop
jumping to conclusions and overreacting.  This may not be anything more
than a nasty outbreak of the flu."

"Oh, sure, and that's why you're going around testing the water,
right?"  Mrs.  Tapia challenged.

"It's just a precaution, nothing more.  He has to consider all the
possibilities."

Lucas caught the last of Marlee's words as he came inside.

"She's fight.  I have no reason to suspect that this is anything other
than a virus that's going around.  People have become sick, but no one
is dangerously ill."

"That's exactly what I would have expected you to say," Mrs.  Tapia
said.

"But the facts are plain enough.  We have to watch out for ourselves
now."

"The real danger is what's happening to all of you.

You're letting fear overrule your common sense, and that is going to be
the biggest threat facing Four Winds," Mar-lee warned.

"Well, I, for one, have to say and do what I feel is right," Rosa
said.

"I'm going to need to take care of me and my family, too, so all
accounts are cash-and-carry, and everything is on a first come, first
served basis."  Rosa glanced at Marlee.

"And stop handling the fruit so much.

Nobody wants your germs on it."

Marlee settled her bill quickly and walked outside with Lucas.

"Did you see the shelves?  They're almost half-empty.

Your brother didn't let out that information more than a few hours ago,
and it's already like a war zone in there."

"And this is only the beginning."

THEY WERE HALFWAY to the boardinghouse when Lucas suddenly slowed down
and pulled to the side of the road.

"Do you have to go home right now?  If not, there's one stop I'd like
to make."

"We can go wherever you like," she answered, glad for the chance to
extend her time with him.  She glanced at the way his strong hands
gripped the wheel and remembered their gentleness when he'd caressed
her.  As a delicious warmth spread through her, she glanced away,
afraid he'd guess the direction her thoughts had taken.

"Do you need to see a patient?"

"Yes and no.  Riley Sayers boards Chief for me out on his farm, but he
hasn't been feeling well.  I thought I'd go see if he needs a hand with
the livestock.  Would you mind?"

"Not at all.  I can certainly help clean stalls and feed the animals."
She found herself wishing it were summer.  The image of Lucas stripped
to the waist, working hard with the animals, almost made her shiver.
Determined not to dwell on that, she forced her thoughts onto the
passing scenery.

LUCAS DROVE SLOWLY up the snow-packed hill that led away from town,
making sure his snow tires didn't lose traction.  A flash of light to
the right, somewhere uphill, caught his attention, but before he had a
chance to consider it, he heard a loud pop and the wheel jerked out of
his hands.

The truck pulled sharply to the right, and he fought the natural
impulse to swerve in the opposite direction.

He held on to the steering wheel tightly, letting, off the gas and
slowly straightening out the sliding truck, which had gone almost
sideways 'in the road.

"We just blew a tire.  It's a good thing nobody was coming, or we'd
have hit them for sure.  This road's a disaster.  I wish the county
would get a snowplow out here every once in a while, or at least sand
down the hills."

After they coasted to a stop, Lucas climbed out of the truck and
reached behind the seat for the jack and lug wrench.  Marlee got out,
too, and picked up a big rock to block a rear tire.  He smiled, noting
that she wasn't interested in just watching from the sidelines and
looking pretty, like a few other women he'd met.  Maybe that was what
he liked the most about her.

As he began to loosen the bolts holding the damaged tire in place, the
crack of a rifle reverberated in the air.  He dived to the ground,
taking Marlee with him.

Lucas pushed her underneath the truck and followed her to a spot next
to the drive shaft

"Keep your head down."

"No problem.  What the heck's going on?  A stray shot from a hunter?"

"It's not hunting season yet, though we do have poachers now and then.
It also could be somebody's sighting in their rifle.  Stay down until
we find out."

He crawled toward the engine, hoping to get a better look.  It was
twilight, but his vision was excellent.  Suddenly a bullet kicked up
the snow just a few feet ahead of him, whining away in a ricochet off
the asphalt.

Anger filled him as he thought of how close he'd just come.  He'd been
in a few tight spots before, in the military, carrying bandages instead
of a rifle.  But since he'd left the Middle East, no one had used him
for target practice, let alone endangered a woman he cared about.  At
the moment, there was nothing he would have liked better than getting
his hands on the gunman.

"What are we going to do?  Even if you can get to your rifle, we can't
shoot at a target we can't see," Marlee whispered, her voice taut.

"I've got news for you.  We can't shoot--period.  My rifle isn't in the
truck."

The revelation surprised her.

"I thought you always carried a gun of some kind in that rack behind
the seat.  A lot of men around here do, and a few women."

"I used to, but I gave it to my younger brother.  He goes out to the
mountains to gather different things for his medicine bundles and to
visit the shrines.  I figured he needed the protection more than I. The
only thing I carry with me is a pocketknife."

Another bullet whined through the air, and she heard glass breaking
overhead.

"So we're sitting ducks, then," she said, crawling up beside the
engine, trying to put more solid truck between her and the gunman.

"Not quite."  He maneuvered over to the driver's side, then reached up
into the cab of the truck and felt around for his cellular phone.

"Overseas during a mission, we could usually call for a gunship or
artillery.  In this case, my brother will have to do.  He'll be here,
pronto."  After a brief conversation, Lucas handed the phone to her.

"Gabriel's on his way.  In the meantime, I'm going hunting."

"With what, your pocketknife?  He's got a rifle."

"Sweetheart, just because I'm not carrying a firearm doesn't mean I'm
harmless."  He gave her a lopsided grin as he moved back toward the
tailgate of the truck.

"Keep the engine compartment between you and the shooter, and stay
low."

"If you think you're leaving me alone while you go off, you're crazy.
If you want to sneak up on the shooter, you'll need someone else
working with you to create a diversion.

Otherwise you're going to get your head shot off."  Another round
impacted against the truck, striking the right side of the cab.

He hadn't considered the possibility that Marlee would insist on taking
part.  He was willing to put his own neck on the line, but not hers.

"All, I'm going to do is flank him and get close enough to have a look.
I'm not going to confront him.  It'll be better if you stay."

She shook her head as she crawled up beside him on the ground.

"Not a chance.  I'm getting to know you, Shadow.

You'll be more careful if I'm along.  Besides, there's no way I'm going
to lie here on my stomach on the snow and sniff hot engine oil While
you're out sneaking around the forest, hunting whoever is shooting at
us.  This concerns me, too."  She rolled out behind the tailgate, and
scrambled into the brush beside the road before he could stop her.

Muttering a curse, Lucas followed, diving behind cover beside her.

"Will you slow down?"  he whispered softly.

She could be the most exasperating female at times, but he couldn't
help admiring her courage.

"I think I know where he's at."  She pointed to a rocky outcropping
halfway up the adjacent hillside.

"He's behind those rocks.  I saw the last muzzle-flash."

Another shot rang out, but this time it wasn't aimed for the truck. The
round struck a fallen pine tree several feet away.

"He's seen us," Marlee said.

"No, he couldn't have seen us.  He anticipated us moving out from under
the truck.  Whoever is out there knows us.

In another few seconds, I was planning to go over to that log," Lucas
replied.

Lucas was certain he was right.  It would have been difficult for
anyone to have seen them in the underbrush.  That meant their enemy had
accurately predicted their next move.  The realization filled him with
a cold rage, but tempering that emotion was fear, not for himself, but
for the woman who refused to allow him to protect her.

"So we won't follow the path he expects," he said quickly.

"It's our best chance."

"What do you have in mind?"  Marlee asked.

"He doesn't know for sure that we aren't armed, or he would have walked
right down the hill and shot us at close range.  He'll expect me to
circle around, and you to either stay put or go with me.  We can use
that to our advantage.

Let him see you go off to the side, like you're circling.

He'll figure I'm with you.  But I won't be.  While he's keeping an eye
out for us to the side, I'll go straight up the hill toward the shooter
and maybe get close enough to identify him.  If you're his primary
target, we'll be keeping you further away," he said.

"In view of what we heard at Rosa's, it's just as likely he's after
you.  And you'll be going up right under his nose."

The point took him by surprise.

"Why do you think that?  I'm the only medical help in town."

"People are scared.  If something happened to you, then the state would
have to send a doctor--or at least a nurse practitioner--to take your
place."

Lucas pursed his lips.  There was a warped logic to what she was
saying.

"Yeah, I can see how that might occur to some."

"I still think your idea is too risky," Marlee warned.

He waited for a moment, thinking.

"Hang tight a little longer.  The shooter will fire another round soon.
His shots have been about two to three minutes apart."  As time ticked
by, Lucas found that the silence bothered him more than the
intermittent shots.

"We can't know for certain where he is until he fires again, so until
then he's got the advantage."

Another shot rang out, this one hitting some brush a little up slope of
them.  Lucas nodded, having spotted the shooter.

He touched Marlee lightly on the shoulder to get her attention, then
whispered, "Let's use this time to put some distance between us and the
truck.  Stick with me, but stay low."

Lucas chose the densely wooded areas, though the snow-laden scrub brush
grabbed at their clothing and made passage nearly impossible in
spots.

Marlee stayed up with him, appreciating the trust he was placing in her
as they worked together against their enemy.

As they reached an area close to the shooter's last known position, a
place thick with scrub oaks and pine, Lucas slowed down.

"We'll lay low here until we can pinpoint his new location.  There's no
way he can get a clear shot at us now," Lucas whispered.

"Comforting thought--I think."

He smiled at her.

"Don't worry.  Even if he comes after us, we'll see or hear him before
he spots us.  I'm good at escape and evasion, and there's more cover
here than there was in the desert.  Trust me on this.  It's one of the
things that I had to learn on the recon team."  He saw the questions in
her eyes, but shook his head.

"Another time."

"I trust you."

His gut tightened.  He wanted to know she trusted him as a man, not
just because of the training he'd received, but because he was worthy
of her trust in every way.  He pushed the thought from his mind.  This
wasn't the time to dwell on that.  She was relying on him, and for now,
that was enough.

They remained perfectly still, listening.  Soon Lucas heard the sound
of a vehicle somewhere behind the hill driving away, then another one
approaching along the highway.

He took her hand in his, and tried not to think about the softness of
her skin or the way she held on to him tightly as he led her toward the
road.  He edged past the brambles, keeping them hidden in case there
had been two men after them, and the vehicle leaving was a ruse.
Sheltered behind a large rock, he caught a glimpse of the red flashing
lights on top of his brother's Jeep.

"The shooter must have seen the sheriff's vehicle approaching and
high-tailed it out of here."

Gabriel pulled up alongside Lucas's truck and jumped out quickly,
taking shelter from possible attack from either side of the road by
staying between the two trucks.

Lucas punched out Gabriel's cellular-phone number, and brought him
up-to-date, telling him where they were, as well.  He was frustrated
but not surprised that the attacker had left the scene and no one had
gotten a good look at either the shooter or the vehicle.

As they hurried to meet his brother, a coldness seeped through him.  He
didn't like the idea that, as it had been many times during his
boyhood, Gabriel's presence had affected the fight and swung it in
their favor.  Lucas glanced back at Marlee.  When he saw the relief in
her eyes, the iciness coursing through his veins intensified.  He would
have given anything to have seen that look on her face because of
something he'd done, rather than because of the arrival of the sheriff
of Four Winds.

When Gabriel met his eyes, Lucas saw the flash of awareness there.  The
last thing he needed right now was a lecture from his older brother
about calling for help sooner.

If Gabriel said one word about this matter, he'd bury his brother's
face in the nearest snowdrift, and worry about it later.

"What happened?"  Gabriel asked, his tone crisp and businesslike as he
continued to watch the hillside, rifle in hand.

Lucas filled him in succinctly.

"We didn't ever see him.

Did anyone pass you heading into town?"

"No, but maybe one of the rounds lodged in your truck will lead us
somewhere.  "He found one flattened against the engine block and peeled
it loose with his pocketknife.

"This is a soft-point hunting round from a .30-.30 Winchester.  It's
too damaged to do a match, even if we found the rifle.  Half the people
in this county have one of these weapons anyway."  He looked inside
Shadow's truck, and saw the empty gun rack.

"Start carrying a rifle, again.  Your aim's lousy, but the boise might
scare them away.  Things are getting ugly in town, Shadow."

Lucas's hands balled into fists.

"Don't forget my aim's gotten better since I was away, but if I ever
get five minutes with whoever did this, I won't need a gun--just me and
him..."

"I know how you feel," Gabriel said, "but let me take care of this.
Don't you go hunting for trouble."

Lucas glanced at Marlee.

"The truck's going to need some repairs, not just the tires, either.
You'll have to ride back with my brother."

"And where the heck do you think you're going?"  Gabriel challenged.

"I'm going to need both of you back in town to sign statements about
all this."

"I came out here to talk to Riley Sayers, and I'm going to do that
first."

"You're going to need more than Chief to get around now," Gabriel
said.

"The town council should be able to provide you with a vehicle."

"Yeah, no doubt, but I don't want to get stuck with the one they'll
undoubtedly come up with."

Gabriel gave him a puzzled look, then suddenly he nodded.

"Yeah, you're right.  You'd probably be offered the old man's truck,"
he said.  Like Lucas, he avoided mentioning Simmons by name out of
respect for Navajo tradition.

"I'm not worded about the chindi, but I'd just as soon not drive his
van around.  It might unnerve some of my patients to see me coming in a
dead man's vehicle."

"You have a point," Gabriel said.

"I'm going to ask Riley if I can borrow his son's Blazer.

The boy's off going through basic training now, and left the thing at
home."

Gabriel took his brother aside, leaving Marlee standing by his Jeep.

"What's eating at you, Shadow?  You had someone gunning for you and
her, yet your mind doesn't seem to be focused on what just happened."

"You're wrong.  It is focused.  It just occurred to me that our town is
going crazy again, like it did with you and then Tree.  Only this time
it's my turn, and Marlee's, too."

"Maybe you should keep your distance from her, then.

It's easier to handle your own problems without combining them with
hers.  I bet Coach Jenkins over at the high school would keep an eye on
Marlee.  He's asked her out twice that I know of.  I could speak to him
about it."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you.  Matlee is my business, not yours or
his."  The words came out before he could stop them.  He glared at his
brother as he saw the smug grin on his face.

"Well, son of a gun!  Looks like Lanie was right.  You're really stuck
on her.  Well, it had to happen sooner or later."

Lucas contented himself by giving his brother a stony glare.  When
Gabriel's grin got wider, Lucas fought hard to suppress the impulse to
deck him.

"Stop by my office after you get through at Riley's place," Gabriel
said.

"And here--" Gabriel handed Lucas his rifle "--take this.  There are
fights you can win with your fists, Shadow, but this isn't going to be
one of them."

Lucas turned his head and walked back over to Marlee, who had decided
to get into the Jeep where it was warm.

"I'll catch up to you later."

"Go take care of your patient," she said with a brief nod.

"Gabriel will get me home safely."

He knew she'd meant to reassure him that he was free to go, but somehow
the words irked him more than he'd thought possible.  He didn't want to
need Marlee, but for some reason he wasn't ready to define, he wanted
Marlee to need him.

His grip on the rifle was tight as he strode down the road to the
turnoff, then uphill in the snow.  He'd always prided himself on being
able of handle any situation.  Yet right now his biggest baffle was
against himself--between logic and feelings that defied his attempts to
ignore,

THE NEXT MORNING, after a disappointing shopping expedition, Marlee
returned to the boardinghouse with only a few groceries.  Her thoughts
were more troubled than ever.

Lucas had come in late and left early, and she'd heard while trying on
boots at the feed store, that almost a third of the schoolkids were now
at home with the flu, and the town council was thinking of suspending
classes.  Most of the businesses along Main Street were closed.  Only
the grocery store, the feed store and the post office had remained
open.

She'd gone into Rosa's briefly, having no other place to buy food, and
the treatment she'd received was more chilling than the icicles
dangling off the roofs.  She was used to having people's eyes stray to
her scar when they spoke to her, but at least before now they'd tried
to hide it.  Today she'd even heard one Woman whisper something about
how difficult it must have been for Lucas not to stare when he was with
her.  The words had hurt, though she hadn't let anyone know.

The worst was that the feeling of danger hanging over the townspeople
had changed everything she loved about Four Winds.  All of the
friendliness that she'd come to associate with the town had vanished.

Marlee kept busy in her own kitchen, finishing the pies she'd promised
to take over to the senior citizens' center.

Since her supplies were getting short, she'd considered not doing the
baking.  Yet, unwilling to disappoint anyone, she'd decided to go ahead
anyway.

As she set the pies out on the front porch to cool, a vehicle pulled
up.

Lucas stepped out of the borrowed Blazer and walked up her front steps.
Something about his expression chilled her spirit.

"What's wrong?"  she asked.

"I was just at my brother's office.  The news that the peddler paid
Four Winds a visit is out."

"Do they know he was here at the boardinghouse?"

"Fuzz isn't sure about that."

"I was afraid this might happen, but I was really hoping it wouldn't
come out until the flu epidemic was under control.

Now people will start trying to find out who the peddler met.  The
Blackhorse family and you, in particular, will be at the top of that
suspect list."

"Which means you're going to have to watch your back more than ever,
because you've been with me a lot lately," Lucas warned, coming inside
with her and dropping down on the couch.

"I've got to tell you, in all the time I've lived here, I've never seen
people acting this badly toward each other.  Folks who've known each
other for years, ones I'd thought of as fast friends, barely look at
each other."

Marlee had never harbored any illusions about the nobility of people.
She was a realist, but Lucas's observations were filled with the pain
of betrayal and it nearly snapped her heart in two.  She wondered just
how badly he'd been treated by the townspeople he served.

"When people are scared, they say and do things they don't really
mean," she said.

"I learned something in the military about situations like these--where
nothing seems to stop an enemy.  People's fears erode their confidence,
and they begin to lose hope.

When that happens, a kind of dry rot of the soul takes over, and they
lose the battle all that much faster."" Marlee nodded thoughtfully. She
knew intimately the feeling he was describing.

"When dreams die, when people think they have nothing to lose, that's
when they're at their most dangerous."

Lucas met her gaze.

"That applies to all of us--the good guys and the bad."

Marlee didn't look away.  An alliance was forming between them.  He was
acknowledging that they each had secrets, and their pasts each held a
share of darkness.  Yet it was through the lessons they'd learned there
that they would find the courage and the cunning to fight the battles
that lay ahead.

Knowing she didn't stand alone, that she had an ally who would remain
at her side, renewed her determination and courage.  Yet at the same
time, she desperately wished her feelings for Lucas could have given
him comfort and provided a haven for him, instead of propelling him
headlong into danger.  A dark rush of sadness filled her, weighing her
spirit down.

As Lucas's cellular phone rang, she left him alone, giving him some
privacy.  Remembering she hadn't checked for mail, Marlee went out to
the box.  It looked like the seeds she'd ordered for next spring had
been shipped early.

Maybe that was a good omen, a sign that, like spring and the new life
it brought, the situation in Four Winds would undergo a regeneration
soon, bringing new hopes and peace.

Feeling better, she returned inside and walked to the kitchen.  As she
tore the small box open, a handful of dead insects fell out.  Marlee
yelped and jumped back.

Lucas, who'd only got as far as the living room, rushed to her side in
an instant.  He stared at the insects, then scooped them into a paper
towel and placed them in the trash.

"Throw the box out, too, will you?"  Marlee asked, and shuddered.

"I don't mind bugs so much when they're someplace you'd expect.  But
this was too much."

He picked up the box by the edges and studied it.

"There's something else in here," he said, then shook it.

A small, black plastic rose fell out with a note taped to the stem.

""The fruits of corruption,"" Lucas read.

"What's that mean to you?"

"Not a thing," she said, staring pensively at the block-lettered words
written in pencil.

Lucas placed the box and plastic flower back on the table.

"Leave these for my brother."

"They're not much use as clues.  What can you tell from a cheap plastic
flower that's been painted black?  It's not even new."

"It's still revealing.  Look at the way it's worn around the edges, as
if the elements like the rain and sun have taken their toll on it.  My
guess is that it came from a grave-site, which means it's meant as a
threat to you, and also to me as a Navajo."

Chapter Ten

Marlee stood to one side as Gabriel studied the box and plastic flower.
When she'd first seen the seed package, she'd thought of it as a sign
of things to come.  She'd been right, though not in the way she'd
hoped.

"I agree with you, Shadow.  This probably came from a grave at the
cemetery."  Gabriel glanced at Marlee.

"Still no ideas of who might have sent you this?"

"No, but I bet it was tampered with after it was put in my mailbox. The
return address is genuine, and so is the box.  I've placed plenty of
orders from that catalog company before."

Gabriel looked at his brother.

"If this had happened a little later today, I would have blamed the
article in the paper.  Now I'm thinking that whoever leaked that story
also arranged for this, but his timing was off a bit."

"What article?"  Marlee asked.

"I haven't seen the paper yet."

"You didn't miss much.  Alex wrote another long editorial pointing out
that Shadow is the only member of the Blackhorse family who hasn't been
involved with the peddler-until now.  He hints that the illnesses are
linked to the peddler and to you two."

Shadow grimaced.

"He's always been a thorn in our side.  He reacted the same way before,
with you and Joshua.

What I really need now to fight these allegations are the test results
on that water.  I asked it be given priority because of the town's
situation, and requested it be faxed to me at your office.  Have you
received anything yet?"

"Not that I know about, but I haven't been in for several hours.  I do
know your medical supplies came this morning.

The truck wasn't sure where to deliver them, so they came to my office.
My dispatcher signed for them."

"I'll go over there and get them right now."  He glanced at Marlee.

"Will you give me a hand?"

"Sure, but I'd like to drop off the pies I baked for the seniors at the
center first."

"No problem."

After delivering the pies and taking a few moments to say hello to some
of the regulars at the center, Marlee returned to the Blazer with Lucas
For what seemed to be an eternity, they rode in silence.

Desire ribboned through her, as unexpected as it was powerful.  She,
who'd always held to the belief that keeping secrets meant trusting no
one, felt the desperate urge to trust this man.

"Do you think Gabriel will catch whoever shot at us?"

she asked at long last.

"I really doubt it.  That's one of the things that worries me most. The
person will know he got away with it, and that'll just build up his
confidence.  Then he'll try again."

He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"I really hate being the target of someone who doesn't have the guts to
face me."

"Maybe we should hedge our bets.  If we stay away from each other, we
may deter the attacks, or at the very least force this person to target
only one of us."

"If I thought you would be safer without my being around, I would have
offered to do that, but until we know who and what we're up against,
any action we take could turn out to be making things worse.  There's
also another factor to consider.  Right now, with my caseload getting
heavier by the hour, I need your help.  I've read through the notes and
records you took for me back at the high school, and they're excellent.
They're concise yet thorough, like someone trained and experienced in
medicine."

Their eyes met as he probed her face for answers.  She said nothing. He
was fishing.  Eventually, of course, he'd learn the whole story.
Gabriel would dig into her past until he got to know her far better
than she would have ever wanted.  And, of course, he'd tell his
brother.  But until then, she would continue to guard her secrets.  For
now, she'd enjoy the closeness she shared with Lucas, and allow it to
soothe the ache in her heart.

When they arrived at Gabriel's office, Lucas and Marlee began the
process of checking the shipment of medical supplies that had arrived
them.  Several minutes later, Gabriel came in holding a fax.

"Hem's the report on the town's water.  I took the liberty of giving it
a quick read.  It's only a preliminary screening, but they've given the
water the all-clear so far from viral or bacterial contaminants," he
said.

Lucas studied the lab's findings.

"So it looks like it is the flu after all."

"We can all use news like this."  Gabriel looked at the contents of the
two open cardboard boxes.

"That isn't much by way of supplies," Gabriel commented.

"Do you have enough medications?"

"This is my normal order, and it's usually more than enough, but it
won't be now, not at the rate I'm using up my stock.  I'm going to have
to get the town council to okay more funds.  If we still had a mayor,
I'd go directly to him.  Since we don't, I have to do things by
committee.

That's slow and usually a hassle."

"We really do need to elect a new mayor," Gabriel said.

"But nobody wants the job."

"That's no surprise," Shadow answered, "and I can't say I blame them.
It's a truckload of paperwork, and very little by way of rewards."

"The problem goes deeper than that.  Our town operates on the legend
that holds us together--Flinthawk's legacy.

Most people believe there's no need for something as structured as a
mayor, because, one way or another, things will work out for us here in
Four Winds."

"Yes, but even so, there's still day-to-day business that needs to be
handled," Marlee said.

"Sure, but convincing anyone that it's worth their time is another
matter.  Our last mayor had money already, and needed the job to keep
his own loneliness at bay.  But there's no one here now who has a need
the job can fill.

Until that happens, the post will remain empty, and the town council
will keep trying their hardest to avoid any real responsibility."

Marlee had always driven herself mercilessly, focusing on achieving
whatever goals she set for herself.  The way of thinking Gabriel had
just described was as alien to her as the moons of Neptune.  She had no
equivalent, and no response.

Gabriel's phone rang, and he grabbed it immediately.

"What's going on?  Slow down, Mrs.  White."  He paused, then Marlee
heard him add, "Yes, they're both here."

Giving his brother a questioning look, Lucas waited, his back erect,
his shoulders tense.

"Shadow, you're needed at the senior citizens' center," Gabriel said,
hanging up.

"Two of the people there became ill a short time after you left."

Lucas glanced at Marlee.

"Come on.  You can help me document the onset of symptoms and gather
information."

"That may not be a good idea," Gabriel said.

"Why not?"  Marlee asked.

"Mrs.  White also asked that you pick up the pies you'd dropped off.
They think that somehow you're responsible, and now everyone's afraid
to accept anything you've touched."

The words cut Marlee to the quick.  She'd visited these people once or
twice a week for years, and looked on many of them as friends.

"They nh ink I put something in the pies?"

"No, nobody's even touched them.  Apparently after you left, Mrs.
Gonzales got really sick and then Mr.  Archuleta.

What they're thinking is that maybe the peddler put some sort of curse
on you."

Marlee exhaled softly.

"Gabriel's right," she said to Lucas.

"Maybe I shouldn't go with you.  It could make your job tougher, and
these people are going to need treatment.

The flu isn't something the elderly can afford to ignore."

Lucas's eyes narrowed, and she saw the flash of something dark and
dangerous there.

"You're going with me.  I need an assistant, and nobody else has
exactly jumped up and volunteered.  It's my job to treat them, and I'll
do just that, but I won't let superstition dictate my actions.  If they
want a sacrificial goat, let them pick on someone besides you.  I won't
stand for this nonsense."

"It may be nonsense to you, Shadow, but it isn't to them," Gabriel
warned.

"I heard Mrs.  White's voice.  That woman was really upset."

"Then reason is the only thing that will change that," Lucas
countered.

"Reason only works when the mind is open to it.  Fear denies reason as
near as I've been able to tell, and is immune to it," Marlee said.

"You can't back away from this," Lucas insisted, his eyes hard as they
held Marlee's.

"In an attempt to be kind, you may be doing serious damage to your
reputation--and to the people I'm trying to help.  I need your help
with the paperwork.  There are times when a person should back off out
of respect for another's beliefs, but this isn't one of them."

Marlee knew that to Lucas, things were either right or wrong.  There
were no shades of gray.  That was one of the qualities she admired most
about him.  He set a course himself based on his highest sense of
right, and followed it whatever the odds.

"Let's see how it goes," she said at last.

"If their fear of the peddler and my connection to him prevents them
from accepting the help you need to give them, then I'll leave.  It's
not worth the fight if it'll endanger people."

MAR LEE AND LUCAS ARRIVED at the senior's center a short while later.
The atmosphere there had always been pleasant and friendly, but it was
far from that today.  From the moment Marlee walked inside, she felt as
if the temperature had suddenly dropped by fifty degrees.  People
refused to meet her gaze and moved back out of the way as she and Lucas
strode down the hall, avoiding any chance of physical contact with
Marlee.

As they reached the games room, Mrs.  White took Lucas to Mr.
Archuleta, the retired barber, who now lay on a cot against one wall.
His breathing was shallow, and his eyes were almost closed.

As Lucas began questioning the patient while he took his vital signs,
Marlee decided to collect information from those around him.  She
approached Sherry Stinson, a woman in her seventies who had knitted her
a gorgeous set of slippers last Christmas.

The woman Marlee had always thought of as a friend backed away from her
now.

"Wait.  Don't do this, please," Marlee said quietly.

"What happened here was not my fault."

"I'm not blaming you, but I am afraid of the peddler.  I don't trust
anyone or anything associated with him."

"He's just an elderly Indian man."  She studied Mrs.

Stinson's face.  The rational woman she'd known had vanished, hidden
under deeply seated prejudices and fears.

"If you really want to help those who are sick, like Mr.

Archuleta over there, you have to get involved.  Talk to me, please?"
Marlee pressed gently.

The expression in Mrs.  Stinson's dark gray eyes shifted slowly from
wariness to acceptance.

"I don't know how much help I can be, but I'll try.  I was here when
they both got sick.  It started a few minutes after you left.  Mr.
Archuleta had just come in--he'd been with his grandson over at the
high school watching him during basketball practice.

We kept telling him to stay away, that too many kids were getting sick,
but he wouldn't listen."

"What about Mrs.  Gonzales?  I didn't think she got out much, except to
come here and visit."

"That's true.  I have no idea at all why she got sick.  She's the last
person I figured would have a problem with this."

Hearing someone moan, Marlee turned her head and saw Mrs.  White
clutching the back of a chair, swaying unsteadily on her feet.  Marlee
hurried to her side, and helped the woman sit down on a sofa.

"I'm sorry.  I thought I could handle this.  I've been feeling queasy,
but it wasn't bad, not until right now."

As Lucas worked, Marlee recorded the events leading up to the onset of
symptoms.  There was only one common denominator that every one who'd
become sick shared--the water.  The center had just recently switched
from their own well to using town water.

An hour later, Lucas and Marlee finished their work and left the
center.

"I've arranged to send blood samples over to the county hospital,"
Lucas said.

"I doubt I'll get anything more specific than an elevated white count,
but we'll see.  I just can't shake the feeling we're missing something
extremely important, that the clue to what's making people so sick is
right in front of me."

"You really don't think this is the flu, do you?"

Lucas shook his head.

"No.  The symptoms aren't quite right, and let's face it, the flu
proceeds through several stages that most people have experienced in
the past and recognize.  What we're facing here comes on fast, then
lingers on, without much change or development."

As they pulled up in front of the boardinghouse, they saw Gabriel's
Jeep.  He was standing on the front porch, waiting.

Lucas climbed out of the Blazer quickly.

"Everything okay?"

Gabriel waited for them to join him on the porch.

"Let's go inside before talking.  There's been a new turn of events you
should know about."

Gabriel was silent until they were all seated in the living room.

"We've got problems.  The town council decided to call the governor,
telling him that we didn't have adequate medical help here.  They
threatened to call a press conference, contact federal officials and do
whatever it took to make the state pay attention.  They insisted the
governor send help before whatever is making people sick here spreads
to other communities."

"What happened then?"  Lucas asked.

"The governor ordered the state health department to send a doctor
down, and they managed to get the same physician you've been consulting
with, that doc from Santa Fe.  He'll assess the situation.  If, in his
opinion, it's warranted, a doctor from the county hospital will be sent
here until the crisis is over."

"Fine.  I can use the help."

"So this doesn't bother you?"  Gabriel pressed.

"I didn't say that.  I think the town council should have consulted
with me first, out of courtesy if nothing else.  But my first concern
is for those who are sick."

"You can expect the doc either tonight or tomorrow morning.  He'll be
staying here at the boardinghouse, of course."

"I'll get a room ready," Marlee said, seeing Gabriel out.

Gabriel's phone rang as he reached the door.  Marlee watched his
expression change from one of worry, to something much darker and
infinitely more dangerous.

"They're doing what?  I'll be there shortly."

Marlee felt a chill pass over her.  Everything about Gabriel's stance
and expression told her a fight was brewing.

"We've got serious trouble, Shadow.  I can use your help.  There's a
group of families trying to leave town.  Only right at the city-limit
sign, near that big road cut in the hillside, there's a bunch of men
from the next town blocking the highway.  They're stopping anyone
coming from Four Winds who tries to go through, and turning them
back.

The mountain roads are impassable, so there's no getting in or out any
other way.  We've got two groups standing eye to eye, and half of them
are women or children.  Jake was coming back from his cabin and saw
what was going on, so he called me.  He's still there trying to keep
the lid on this situation, but from what he said, some of the
out-of-towners are armed, and it's getting nasty."

"Let's go, then," Lucas said, following his brother out the door.

Marlee started to go with them, but Lucas stopped her.

"No, you need to stay here in case the doctor shows up."

"He won't be able to get past their roadblock, and if people are hurt,
you're going to need an extra pair of hands--I'm it.  Let's not waste
any more time."

Lucas looked at Gabriel as Marlee strode to his vehicle.

"If you don't want her to go, then you better be willing to arrest
her."

"Women," Gabriel muttered.

Marlee sneaked a quick glance back and saw the hint of a smile on
Lucas's face as he rushed to join her.

"IT COULD GET ROUGH, Shadow," Gabriel warned, slowing down as they
approached the row of cars parked on the road ahead.

People were gathered on both sides of a crude sawhorse barrier that run
across the narrow cut in the hillside.  The roadblock effectively
blocked the only way out of Four Winds during the winter.

"Jake's a great ally," Gabriel added, "but this isn't a fight we can
win by just smashing a few heads."

"I know, and it's too bad, because that's just what I'm in the mood
for."

"Yeah, that's why I figured I better say something now.  I need you to
stay cool, no matter what happens."

Gabriel pulled over into the left lane and drove down the line of cars,
stopping about fifty feet from the barrier.  On the other side of the
barrier, half a dozen armed men blocked the way, their vehicles parked
a few dozen feet across the highway.

Gabriel, Marlee and Lucas stepped out of the Jeep, spoke to Jake and
learned nobody had been hurt or threatened directly yet.

"This is not the answer, folks," Gabriel said when he reached the
barrier.

"What's going on here is illegal, unnecessary and dangerous.  You all
should go home before you catch colds."

"Maybe unnecessary to you, Sheriff," a young mother clutching a
bundled-up toddler argued.

"But we have a right to take our families out of Four Winds to
someplace where they'll be safe."

"Then you'll all have to fly or walk out through the mountains," a
muscular dark-haired man standing behind the makeshift barrier yelled
out.

"Your township ends here, and we're establishing a county citizens'
quarantine at this roadblock.  We're not letting anyone from Four Winds
come into the rest of the county.  We've heard what's going on over
there.  People are getting sick, and you have no idea why.  You're not
spreading that over here."

Lucas stood to one side of Gabriel, and Jake was on the other.  His
brother had one hand over the butt of his revolver, though Lucas knew
he would never use it in a situation like this.

"Listen to me, and listen carefully," Lucas said loudly.

"People are sick--a lot of them, I grant you that, but it's flu season,
so it's to be expected.  There's no reason for anyone to panic, either,
on either side of this hill.  Nobody's died--" "Yes, they have," the
big man behind the barrier shouted.

"We heard that a corpse was taken out of Four Winds and is slated for
an autopsy.  I saw the hearse myself, or at least my wife did."

"What are you talking about?"  Lucas demanded.

"No-body--oh, wait a minute.  You're talking about a man close to
ninety years old, who passed away because of a bad heart.  Why should
anybody be surprised about that?  And there was no autopsy ordered,
either.  Hisbody was simply taken away to a funeral home.  You can
verify that in Santa Fe."

"We don't believe you," the man answered.

"And you're not passing through."

Lucas looked around him.  Fear held all these people in a stranglehold.
He captured the gazes of two women he'd known since high school.

"Jenny, Lucinda, your kids are fine, and so are both of you.  Why are
you so frightened?

Are you both willing to leave Your homes and your husbands?"

"Our men have to stay and look after the livestock, but our kids need
to be someplace where they're safe from whatever is going around.  I'm
willing to believe that Mr.

Simmons died of a heart attack, but you can't deny that nobody's
getting better.  This fill," she said, almost spitting out the word,
"if that's what it is, just wears you down, taking away your will to
fight it.  I don't want my kids exposed to this."

"That's real touching, but what about the rest of the citizens?  You
want your kid safe," the man by the barrier shouted, "but you're
willing to risk spreading this illness to the rest of the county in the
process."

Lucas glanced over the man.  He was over six foot six and looked as if
he could have taken on Gabriel despite his brother's police training.
It might take two of them just to make an arrest, and that would leave
only Jake to deal with the others.  The odds weren't good.  He wished
Tree were with them now.  He could make any man back up.

"Our quarantine stands.  None of you are coming any further down this
road, so you might as well all go home," the man said, a smug look on
his face.

Gabriel muttered a curse.

"I'm going to have to get county and state police to help clear the
roadblock.  We're outnumbered.  Jake, Lucas, could you two try and get
our people back into their cars?"

Marlee, who had been noticing how people backed away from her, smiled
wryly.

"It looks like I can help you there.

They don't want to be anywhere near me.  I can use that now to our
advantage."

As Lucas watched, Marlee did as She'd promised.  When she approached
the families, the mothers would quickly gather their children and hurry
back to the cars.  His gut wrenched knowing how their reaction hurt
her, though she showed no sign of it.  She had too much pride for
that.

Suddenly they heard the reverberating blast of a track's air horn.  The
racket made everyone shift their attention to the road leading back to
town.

"I'm coming through," Bill Riley shouted through the driver's-side
window of his eighteen-wheeler.

"Get out of my way."

The men behind the barrier stared at the truck, then most stepped
closer to their own vehicles in the road.  Marlee's job suddenly became
easier.  People hurried back to their cars without much prodding.
Nobody wanted to be in the way of a semi.

The burly man who'd been giving the orders from across the barrier
stood his ground, and laughed.

"I expected this."  He turned his head and waved to another man who
stood halfway up the steep hillside.

Lucas's instinct for danger kicked into overdrive.  He saw a second man
up on the hill move out of the shadows of a big rock overhang,
unwinding a cord from what looked like a small reel.  Lucas's neck
prickled, and an edgy feeling filled him as his senses became almost
painfully alert.

"That looks familiar," Jake said.

"You don't suppose they plan on doing something unbelievably stupid, do
you?"

Lucas saw one man produce a small flame, probably from a lighter, and
light the cord.

"He's got explosives!"

"Get everyone back!"  Gabriel shouted to Lucas, then turned and ran for
the hillside.

"Clear the road unless you have a death wish," the man behind the
barrier said.

The people who remained outside panicked, and scrambled for their cars.
Lucas heard a little boy scream as he got separated from his mother.
The next instant, Marlee grabbed him and, lifting him off the ground,
run toward the cars, locating his mother in seconds.

Lucas's chest swelled with pride and another feeling he didn't want to
define as he watched Marlee risk herself to help the people who'd
treated her so badly minutes before.

He fought the desire to go to her side and pull her into his arms right
there and then in front of everyone, Hearing Jake call and realizing he
was needed elsewhere immediately, Lucas ran back toward the barrier.
Jake was trying to direct traffic as people started their cars at
once.

"You'll never make it in time, Sheriff.  If you don't want this place
to become your grave, you'd better slide back clown that hill and run
for it.  This whole area is going to be filled with rubble in thirty
seconds," the burly man called out, and began to back his truck away
rapidly.

Lucas saw Jake taking Marlee to his truck and silently thanked the
former Ranger.  Looking around, he searched for his brother.  Just as
Gabriel reached the road, the dynamite went off.  The concussion
knocked him halfway across the road.  Seeing his brother fall, Lucas
rushed up to him.

Grabbing Gabriel's arm, Lucas pulled him diagonally toward a drainage
culvert.  He heard the ominous rumble, and felt the ground shake as
tons of rock started to slide down the hill.  Lucas pressed on,
refusing to look back.

In less than five seconds, both men were off the road and inside the
culvert.  Rocks and debris rained down just outside.  Lucas grinned at
his brother.

"Good thing for you I was around."

Gabriel rubbed his knee.

"You've been dying to say that for years, I'll bet."

"And how."

Gabriel laughed.

"You okay?"  Lucas asked, checking his brother over for injuries.

"I'm fine.  I smacked my knee when the concussion threw me to the
ground, but it's no big deal."

When the rumbling stopped, both men crawled out, working together to
remove a few boulders that had nearly blocked the end of the pipe.

The cut in the hillside was piled high with car-sized rocks, rubble and
mud that had been produced from the heat of the blast melting the snow.
Turning back toward Four Winds, Lucas could see Jake checking that
people were unhurt.  A few were outside their cars already, stating at
the spectacle of a road completely obliterated by tons of earth and
rock.

"Well, we won't have to worry about the roadblock being a source of
contention anymore.  It'll take days to clear this road now.  Not even
a bicycle could get over that mountain."

Gabriel brushed the dust and snow off his uniform and called out to the
stunned citizens standing by their cars.

"Go home.  I think you've all done enough out here today."

"Sheriff, you better pray your brother finds an answer, and fast.
Without that road, there's not going to be any food, gas or anything
else coming into town except on foot.

Between shortages and this sickness, we're going to be fighting for our
lives," Lucinda said.  She looked at the crowd, then threw her
shoulders back in a gesture of deft-ance and got back into her car.

Lucas stared at the massive rock pile that now blocked the road.

"You realize that I'm going to have to hike around this rubble and get
to a car on the other side before I can send the samples I've collected
to the county hospital," he said to Gabriel.

"And we still have to get the doctor through."

"I'll find a bulldozer and get men to clear a lane or make a detour. We
can't let the road stay blocked."

"They won't be safe.  I have a feeling that group of charmers on the
other side will do their best to make sure this road stays closed."

"I have options.  I'll be calling in the state police to break up that
little gathering and to protect the road crew."

Marlee and Jake approached a moment later.  Lucas's gaze stayed on
Marlee as she walked toward him Her gentle smile touched him, stirring
his blood.  He needed her softness, her tenderness, her warmth.  Desire
clawed at his gut, overwhelming and fierce.

Unaware of his thoughts, she came to stand beside him.

"They don't know the harm they've done," she said, her gaze on the
blocked road.

"We're going to be pretty isolated for a while."

"I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, Shadow," Jake commented, his
voice weary.

"Yeah, I know," Lucas said.

"If I don't offer Four Winds some answers fast, the threat our own
people will pose to each other will rival that of the deadliest
virus."

Chapter Eleven

The following morning, Lucas sat with Marlee in Gabriel's office.  The
doctor they'd been expecting hadn't managed to get through on the
blocked road, but he'd managed to contact the police dispatcher,
leaving word that he would complete his journey by helicopter.

Gabriel looked at his brother, then at Marlee.

"He'll be landing in the field next to Riley's cow pasture.  This Dr.

Soto has already had an eyeful of our situation, Apparently he'd been
held up by some of those county residents who set up the roadblock.  He
saw the explosion and rock slide, then was told to go home and forget
all about it.  So he turned back and made alternate plans."

"Any doctor who has worked in an emergency room or attended trauma
patients has seen people at their best and worst.  I'm sure he's aware
that when panic sets in, anything can happen."  Lucas rubbed his right
shoulder, trying to work some kinks out.

"But why is he landing so far out of town?  There are other possible
landing sites closer in."

"I'd rather people didn't know when or how he's arriving.  I think
that'll be safer for all concerned.  Come to think of it, I'm going to
have to find a vehicle I can place at his disposal.  I suppose
you-know-who's vehicle is still out of the question for a doctor."

"He won't need the old man's van, or any other vehicle, for that
matter.  I can take him wherever he wants to go," Lucas volunteered.

Gabriel shook his head.

"Sorry, Shadow, but as he pointed out, his business is to find out
about this mysterious illness and see how much of a threat it poses.
Daily medical emergencies are no concern of his while he's here.  He'll
still serve as your consultant and adviser, as he normally does from
Santa Fe, but that's it."

"Oh, great.  So I have to talk to him by radio?  I thought he was here
to help us, not study Four Winds."

"The man won't win any popularity contests with his superior attitude,
but he's supposedly got a great reputation.

The town council was told Dr.  Soto used to work 'for the CDC in
Atlanta."

"How did he end up in Santa Fe, then?"  Marlee asked.

"Apparently he wanted a less stressful position."  Gabriel leaned back
in his seat.

"I'll need to have someone deliver my wife's sedan to the doctor.  I
was hoping you'd take it out," he said, looking at Marlee, "then ride
back into town with Shadow."

"No problem.  Glad to do it," Marlee answered.

Lucas looked over at her.  She was tired.  It had been a while since
she'd had a full night's sleep, yet she was always ready to help
whenever she was needed.  Sorrow and frustration knifed at his gut as
he realized that no matter how badly he wanted to, he couldn't protect
her from a town that had gone crazy.  But it was the intensity of his
desire to protect her that rocked him clear down to his boots.

As they walked outside, Marlee looked up and down the street.

"The town looks deserted.  I've never seen anything like this.  It's
nearly ten in the morning, but no businesses appear to be open at all.
Did you know that Rosa's taken to keeping her door locked?  She opens
it only if you tell her specifically what you want and if she has it
available in the store.  She's also raised her prices by fifty
percent."

"After seeing what happened out there at the roadblock yesterday, I'll
believe anything."  As his gaze traveled over Marlee, he wondered about
the life they might have had if things had been different.

They'd just reached Lanie's car when Lucas's cellular phone rang.  He
spoke into it briefly, then turned his attention back to Marlee.

"I have to go check out Mrs.

Davenport.  She hasn't been able to eat much of anything for three days
now.  She's young and strong, but she'll need to get some liquids
down."  He glanced at his watch.

"Looks like the doc will have to wait."

"Let me deliver Lanie's car to Dr.  Soto, then.  I'll catch a ride back
into town with him."

Lucas exhaled softly.

"The roads are icy and treacherous on that stretch, so be careful."  He
gazed into her eyes and caressed her cheek with his palm The way she
leaned into him, like a cat being stroked, made a rush of desire fork
through him like lightning.

He felt her shudder and nearly lost his control.  Flames raced down to
his groin.  He had to let her go now, or they'd both be very late to
their next destination.  With effort, he stepped away from her.

"Stay in touch."

Lucas held Marlee's gaze a moment longer than was necessary, hoping to
convey with that one look all the emotions he couldn't put into words.
As he drove off, he saw her nod as if she'd understood and had listened
to the silent words his heart had spoken.

MAR LEE DROVE Lanie's old sedan down the access road bordering Riley's
snow-covered alfalfa field.  The helicopter was scheduled to arrive
soon, if the weather hadn't delayed it.  As she waited, she glanced at
the bare branches of a row of apple trees along the road.  They jutted
out toward the sky like skeletal limbs, imploring heaven for help.

She'd only been there for a few minutes when the unmistakable thump of
rotor blades signaled a helicopter circling in from the south.

Marlee stepped out of the car and walked out into the field to greet
the middle-aged, energetic-looking doctor who jumped down from the
chopper.  He was thin, too much so, but his strides were filled with
purpose.

He came toward her, holding a medical bag in one hand, while pulling
his wool coat closer around himself with the other.

"Don't tell me.  You're my escort, whether or not I want one, fight?"

"I'm only here to deliver a car to you, and tell you you're staying at
my boardinghouse, but I'd sure appreciate a ride back to town, too,"
Marlee said, introducing herself.

"I'm Dr.  Soto," he said, shaking hands with her.

"I saw what happened on the road leading out of town yesterday.

Things are certainly tense in this little burg of yours.  I sure hope
people aren't thinking that I can work any miracles."

The abrupt statement took her by surprise.

"I don't think so.  They just want answers."

"It sounds to me like that medic Blackhorse is handling things fine.  I
probably won't have any new answers to give them, not for a while."  He
threw his bag in the back seat of Lanie's car, then got into the
passenger's side.

"Time's wasting.  Let's go."

Marlee got behind the wheel and tried not to smile.  She'd worked with
doctors like him before.  To them, there was purpose in motion, in
pursuing a goal.  Resting was purposeless, and had no place in the
field.  She'd shared that philosophy most of her adult life, too.

"I've checked the samples Blackhorse sent in to our lab for testing,"
he said.

"Nothing's come back positive.  What I'd like to do now is interview
some of the people who've come down with this mysterious flu."

"All right, no problem."

He glanced over at her.

"You haven't been infected with this, I gather.  Do you have any
theories as to why not?"

"I'm hardy?"

"In other words, you have no theory."

Poor Lucas would have his hands full with this one.

"I

can't come to any conclusions without more information, doctor.  You,
of all people, should know that."

They spent the next hour gathering data.  Marlee stayed out of his way
as Dr.  Soto talked to Lucas's patients, asking the same questions over
and over with the tenacity of a pit bull.  She had to hand it to him;
he didn't know the meaning of the word no.  Whenever he was denied
anything, he simply overrode it by refusing to accept any answer
contrary to the one he wanted.

Two hours later, after a thorough look at the grocery and Sally's
Diner, which included taking numerous samples for testing, Dr.  Soto
sat at one of the tables in the lunchroom at the seniors' center,
entering data into a laptop computer and sipping coffee.  Marlee didn't
interrupt him.

"I have no answers, conclusions or even theories, so looking at me with
a million questions in your eyes won't help," he clipped, not glancing
up.

"I can feel you staring at me, but you might as well stop wasting your
time.  Now, let's go take a look at your medic's records, those
specific to this outbreak.  I want the latest data he's got."

"I've been helping him gather information, so I can tell you with
absolute certainty that transmission, host factor and cause still
remain a mystery."

His eyebrows shot up, and this time he extended her the courtesy of
actually looking at her.

"You've worked in the medical profession.  Were you a nurse or a
tech?"

"I picked up the terminology along the way," Marlee hedged.

"My job here is to run the boardinghouse," He held her gaze for a
second, unconvinced, then leaned back in his chair and rubbed his
eyes.

"I've entered all my data, and from what I see, what we're dealing with
here doesn't appear to be an airborne virus.  Otherwise, we would have
had a greater incidence of cases, particularly among families and here
where people are most susceptible.

But, of course, that's only a guess at this stage.  The good news is,
that since you haven't had any deaths due to this illness, I don't
think it's something to be overly concerned about."  As they traveled
to the high-school portable, Marlee filled him in about the fire at the
clinic that had forced the move.

"Pets," Soto mused after a pause, "and livestock.  Do any of the people
who are sick now also have pets or livestock who are, or were, sick?"

Marlee thought about it.

"No, and I would have heard by now if that had been the case."

"What about wild animals turning up sick or dead around here?"

"None that I've heard about, and certainly not in the numbers you have
in mind.  Whatever's happening here is more understated than that."

As they headed out the highway, it started to snow heavily.

"Law-enforcement personnel and the medic all have separate food and
water supplies now, correct?"

"No.  Everyone buys from the same grocery store, and except for some
outlying farms with their own wells, we share the municipal water.  The
water supply has been checked for viral and bacterial contamination,
though."

Marlee glanced in her rearview mirror and saw a vehicle approaching
rapidly down the snow-covered highway.  She gripped the wheel even more
tightly, wondering what idiot would speed under road conditions like
these.

Heating the cellular phone ring, she reached into her purse and brought
it out.  Her heart did a little dance as she heard Lucas's voice.

"How's it going?"  he asked.

The rich, throaty timber of his voice sent a delicious shiver up her
spine.  Sensing Dr.  Soto was looking at her curiously, though her eyes
were on the road, she kept her voice businesslike as she gave him a
rundown.  After a moment, she handed the doctor the phone.

"Lucas Blackhorse would like to speak to you, Dr.  Soto."

Marlee continued driving, only half-tuned to the segments of the
conversation she could hear.  The truck behind them was too close, and
getting closer.  The driver's recklessness angered her.  She studied
the road ahead, peering through the blanket of windswept flurries,
searching for a place to pull off to the side and let the other driver
pass.

She didn't want him tailgating all the way back to town.

"The symptoms vary in severity, but they're consistent with an
intestinal flu, a virulent one to be sure," Dr.  Soto said.

"What's especially significant is that there doesn't seem to be any
upper-respiratory involvement."

Marlee kept a close watch on the truck through, her rear-view mirror.
It looked like Bill Riley's monster truck, not the semi he used for
work, but the pickup with the oversize fires and spotlights above the
cab.  But she'd never known Bill, who regularly brought supplies into
Four Winds, to drive so recklessly.

She heard the blast of the horn as the truck came up behind them.  It
wanted to pass, which was all right with her.  Without a clear place to
pull over, Marlee moved to the right, pumping her brakes to avoid
skidding as she slowed down.

Suddenly the truck's grill filled her rearview mirror.  Panic filled
her as she guessed his intent.  A heartbeat later, the truck slammed
into the back of their sedan.  The doctor cursed loudly, the phone
dropping out of his hand.  Marlee's mouth was dry.  Panic burned
through her.  Fighting the wheel, she managed to keep the vehicle on
the icy road, and sped up, trying to pull away from their pursuer.
Dr.

Soto didn't say anything; he was too busy looking for his seat belt.

Just as she thought that perhaps they would make it, the truck caught
up and slammed into them again.  This time the force and weight of the
larger vehicle sent them hurtling off the road.

The snow-covered field provided nothing for the wheels to use as
traction, and the sedan rocketed down the hillside.

Seeing a large pine ahead, Marlee tried desperately to force the wheel
to the right.  The wheel turned but the sedan continued on its course,
slower but sideways.  Fear twisted through her as she realized they
were going to crash.

Chapter Twelve

Marlee knew her only chance was to try something desperate.

She swung the wheel all the way to the right, hoping against hope that
the car wouldn't roll.  Something in the front grabbed, and the car
straightened out.  They slid backward, but missed the tree by three
feet.  Steering by' the rearview mirror, she fought to keep the car
from slewing to the left or right.

As they reached the bottom of the hill, the car slowed, and Marlee
touched the brakes gently several times.  Finally they came to a
jolting halt against an old wooden rail fence.

She sat there for several moments, her gaze frozen in the rear view
mirror.  Eventually Marlee looked out the front windshield.  For one
terrifying second, as she squinted through the snow-smeared windshield,
she wondered if her vision had been damaged.

"Are you all right?"  Dr.  Soto's voice brought her back to reality.

"I think so.  You?"

"Well enough to move--which is a good thing.  I detect the smell of
gasoline.  The fuel tank must have sprung a leak.  Let's get out of
here."

Marlee picked up the cellular phone from the floor.  Lucas was still on
the line, his voice frantic as he tried to find out what had
happened.

She explained quickly as she unbuckled her seat belt with her left
hand, an awkward move.

"We're okay, but we'll need help."  After she and the doctor climbed
out of the vehicle, she gave Lucas a description of the vehicle that
had run them off the toad, and asked him to let Gabriel know.

Cold flakes of snow stung her face as she ended the call.

The flurries were turning into a full-fledged blizzard.  Snow~ flakes
swarmed around her face, clinging to her hair and coat.  Taking a good
look at Dr.  Soto for the first time, she noticed he was holding his
left arm with his right, and he had a long cut down one finger that was
dripping blood onto the snow.

"You're hurt.  Are you sure you should be moving?"

"I'm positive my ann is broken, but the rest of me works, and I intend
to see to it that it stays that way.  This car could catch on fire, and
if it does, I want to be as far away from it as possible."

They moved away from the vehicle, then Marlee wrapped Dr.  Soto's
handkerchief around his finger and tied it in place, stanching most of
the bleeding there.  Once done, they continued walking, Marlee carrying
the doctor's bag and laptop.

Her body was sore, but she'd been lucky this time.  Her mind went back
to another accident, when no one had been there to ease her fears.  She
reached up and stroked the scar that remained on her cheek, a reminder
of that lonely night on the highway.

"Here comes help now," the doctor said as they reached the road.

Lucas was the first to arrive on the scene, with Gabriel directly
behind him, Lucas jumped out of the Blazer and ran toward them.  As he
drew close, his gaze ran over Marlee with a thoroughness and a
gentleness that tore her breath away.  Assuring himself that she was
okay, he stepped toward Dr.  Soto.

"My temporary clinic isn't far from here.  We'll stitch your finger if
it's necessary, and we're going to have to x-ray that arm."

"It's broken," he said.

"I'll get the cut cleaned up and take the X ray, but I want an
orthopedic surgeon to have a look at this before I have it placed in a
cast."  He turned to Gabriel.

"Have the helicopter sent back here to pick me up as soon as
possible."

Gabriel nodded, took out his phone and placed the call.

"It's your decision if you want to leave, Doctor," Lucas said.

"In the meantime, I'll be glad to set the ann and put it in a sling so
you won't damage it further enroute."

"Let's go, then."  Dr.  Soto glanced back at Marlee.

"Did you recognize the madman who did this?"

Marlee shook her head, then looked at Gabriel.

"Like I told Lucas.  It was someone in Bill Riley's pickup, the one
with the big tires, but I doubt it was him.  This was no accident.
Whoever was driving was trying to kill us."

Gabriel's dark eyes flashed with anger.

"I'll look into it, but it couldn't have been Riley.  He's not in town.
He parked his semi and decided to snowshoe up into the mountains and
camp out.  His off-road truck has been parked over at Charley's garage
all week."

Lucas had bandaged Dr.  Soto's finger and he and Marlee were helping
him into the Blazer when the thump of an explosion shook the earth
around them.  They all jumped, and Lucas instinctively reached out and
pulled Marlee protectively against him.

"It's not Lanie's car.  It's over there."  Gabriel pointed to a spot
about two miles away from where they stood, where a column of Orange
flames was turning into thick black smoke.

"You attend to the doctor.  I'll go check it out.  If you're needed,
I'll let you know."

Lucas drove Marlee and the doctor back to his clinic.

Dr.  Soto's silence was stony, and Marlee told herself it was his ego
that kept him from groaning in pain.

Once they arrived at the portable building, it didn't take long for
Lucas to x-ray and set the doctor's arm.  He was just placing it in a
sling when Gabriel contacted them on the phone.

"The explosion crime from Riley's truck," he said.

"The fuel tank was torched, and it went off like a firecracker.

But there was no sign of a driver, and the snow has already covered up
any tracks.  Riley, by the way, is up at his friend's cabin.  I got him
on the radio, and he has no idea who might have stolen his truck."

Lucas hung up and explained what he'd just heard to Marlee and the
doctor.

"From what I've seen, whatever's making people sick here won't kill
them," Dr.  Soto said.

"Your own people will do that themselves.  That's your real threat, and
I can't help you with that."

Marlee faced Lucas, and felt the power of feelings neither of them
could acknowledge.  An ineffable longing wrenched her heart.  She could
stand by him, assist him and even act as a sounding board when he
needed it--but she didn't dare believe him hers to love.

HOURS LATER, after the snow stopped falling and the sky had begun to
clear, the doctor was airlifted back to Santa Fe.  Marlee left the
boardinghouse and walked to Rosa's.

Her cupboards were nearly bare.  Gabriel had a crew of men with heavy
equipment working to clear the road, but progress was slow.  It would
be some time before anyone could restock.

When Marlee arrived at the grocery store a short time later, she
knocked and Rosa opened the door.

"There is precious little on the shelves," Rosa said.

"You might as well come in and see what you can find."

As Marlee walked inside, she felt the other customers staring at her.
For a brief moment, she remembered how it had been for her years ago,
before her face had been scarred.  People had often said that she
looked like the All-American girl, wholesome and pretty.  Now she
received stares, never appreciative glances, and when she caught
people's eyes, they'd look away quickly, embarrassed.

As she wandered the aisles, she felt the weight of her neighbors'
suspicions.  Finally, with a burst of courage, she met their gazes, one
by one.

"Okay, what's the problem?"

Two women turned away quickly and pretended to look through the canned
goods, but Rosa came out from behind the counter.

"We heard about your latest accident.  It seems you're in the middle of
a lot of trouble lately."

"Which makes me a victim, not a perpetrator.  And it wasn't an
accident, it was intentional.  So why are you treating me as if I'm
responsible?"

"We know the peddler paid you a visit.  It's all over town.  Alex wrote
an editorial about it, and what he had to say made a lot of sense."

"I hardly ever read anything Alex writes, so you'll have to enlighten
me," Marlee said.

"The peddler always either gives a gift to the person be meets, or
sells something to them.  That cursed object brings trouble, and
everyone pays."

"I've heard the stories," Marlee answered.

"Yet you insist he didn't give you anything and that doesn't make any
sense.  As far as we've been able to tell, you're the only one who has
had any contact with him.

Well, you and Lucas Blackhorse."

"How can you be sure of that?"  Marlee challenged.

"The way people around here like you react, who here would tell if they
did meet up with him?"

"Well, you certainly didn't," Rosa said with a shrug "The problem with
people who keep secrets is that they always try to divert attention
from themselves, no matter what the cost to someone else.  I know you,
that fancy doc-t or and Lucas have been trying to make everyone believe
that people are sick because of something in the food I'm selling."

"That's ridiculous.  Nobody's accused you of anything."

"That doctor you brought here earlier took samples of my flour, of the
fruits, of anything that wasn't canned, even the soaps!  How else do
you explain that?"

"He was doing the job the town council brought him here to do.  Ask any
of them."

Rosa glared at her.

"You don't fool me, not for one minute.  You're trying to cover for the
peddler, or for yourself.

But you're not passing the blame on to me.  It's not my food.  I eat
from what's here just like everyone else."

Rosa stood by the door and held it open.

"I want you to leave.  I don't want you in my store again."

"You can't do that," Marlee protested.

"There is no other grocery store."

Sally, who was just entering the store, cleared her throat.

"No, Rosa, she's right.  The sheriff won't stand for it, either.

She's well connected."

Rosa put her hands on her waist.

"Then you get what you need, pay for it in cash and get out."  She
glanced at the others and, seeing them nod in approval, continued.

"Your lack of honesty is endangering our town.  I want no part of
you."

Marlee paid for the few staples she could find, then walked out into
the street.  She felt cold all over, and it had nothing to do with the
weather.  She thought of the little carving the peddler had given her.
Had she told them about it now, more fear would have spread, and it
would have been impossible to predict the damage it could have done.

As she approached the feed store, the doors were quickly shut and the
Closed sign hung on the door.  So this was the way it was going to
be.

Lucas drove by, and slowed down as she passed the post office.

"Where are you headed?"  His gaze seemed to look right into her soul.
His eyes narrowed and he quickly added, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Marlee said, and looked away.  It made no sense to drag him
into the problem.  Nothing could be done about it anyway.

"Why don't you get in?  We can talk on the way back to the
boardinghouse."

She didn't have the energy to argue, nor was she looking forward to
another walk in the snow.  The chill that held her already went all the
way to her bones.  As they got under way, she noticed Sally staring at
her from the street corner.

Lucas followed her gaze.

"Okay, level with me.  What happened?"

She could tell from his tone that he was not going to give up.
Reluctantly she told him about her encounter at Rosa's.

"I'll talk to her."

"No.  This is my problem."

He exhaled slowly.

"Then remind them that there are certain unwritten rules we all abide
by here in Four Winds.

Rosa has the only food store, and that carries certain responsibilities
with it, just like being the only medic does.

She's bound by the same rules I am.  I can't refuse a patient, and she
can't refuse service to a customer.

"It's a code that goes back to the days when Flinthawk blessed the
town," he continued.

"He had been persecuted and falsely accused, but in Four Winds, he
found a haven.

We've prided ourselves on that legacy.  The way they're treating you
now is the same as if they'd turned their backs on what Four Winds has
always stood for."

"People aren't concerned with history right now.

They're only worried about themselves and their families."

"Then they better wake up to other realities.  Flinthawk was persecuted
and almost lost his life because people were too quick to judge.  If
Four Winds adopts the that almost claimed the life of my ancestor, it
will destroy itself.  The legacy that blessed Four Winds would become
its curse."

"You mean the part about the wicked never knowing peace here in Four
Winds?"

"That's exactly what I mean."  He pulled up by the boardinghouse to let
her out.

"I've got to go to the temporary clinic and check on things them.
Although people know how to reach me, some will invariably just wait
there until I show up."

"Do you think Dr.  Soto was fight to suspect some kind of food
contamination?"

"It's possible, I suppose.  Food poisoning can be either immediate or
take several hours, depending on the toxin.

But to have it be something that continues indefinitely like this has,
even after the person stops eating ... I think it's unlikely, to be
honest."  He glanced at her.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I keep thinking of a point Dr.  Soto made.  He kept asking me about
the livestock and pets around town.  If it was anything in the food or
water, they would have been affected, too.  I'm thinking in particular
of Muzzy, Mrs, Burnham's terrier, He's always running away from her and
getting into the neighbor's trash or digging up someone's garden.  I
tend to think that if a contaminant was the problem, he would have come
across it by now."

Lucas considered it.

"You're fight, but come to think of it, I haven't seen either Mrs.
Burnham or Muzzy in a while.

Have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"Let's go pay her a visit."

"It may be better for you to go alone.  I have no idea where she stands
on the issue I encountered at Rosa's."

"I don't care where she stands.  You're going with me.  I need your
help.  You've been documenting everything for me.  You could end up
spotting something vital in our conversation."

"All right.  I'll do my best."

"If she does give you any problems, keep at her.  I need your help more
than ever now.  I can't do it all.  That's the truth.  I'm barely
getting any sleep.  With you taking over the office duties, like
keeping up the charts and patient information, there's a chance I may
be able to keep the work from being completely overwhelming."

Four Winds needed her now, but most important of all, Lucas needed her,
and she had no intention of letting him down.

"You can count on me."

"Thanks."  He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Her heart was drumming fiercely against her sides.  His hands were
strong, yet so gentle, like the hands of a lover who could arouse a
storm of passion, then soothe it with the magic of his touch.

She forced the thought away.  Lucas needed her support now as a
co-worker and a companion, but he needed nothing more than that.  She
brushed aside the despair that touched the edges of her mind.  Someone
else would win Lucas's heart someday, and that woman would have a
lifetime of love and the most loyal of friends by her side.

Refusing to yield to the sadness that realization left in its wake, she
looked away from him and out the window.

"You've had some medical training.  I know that already.

But it would help me to know to what extent."

"I don't talk about my past, but because of what's happening, I think
you should know I'm not a doctor or a nurse.  I can help you only in a
supporting role."

His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.  Without the need for words,
she knew how much her lack of trust hurt him, but there was nothing she
could do.  Her past formed a barrier between them that would always be
there.  The death of that young woman would haunt her for the rest of
her life, and she cared too much for Lucas to allow him to share that
nightmare.

"Four Winds isn't perfect," he said, watching a new storm building on
the horizon, "but it's the kind of town where people can come to accept
themselves, whatever their pasts hold.  It could happen for you, too,
if you gave yourself a chance."  "You left town for a long time while
you served in the military.  When you came back, did you see Four Winds
in that light?"

"Experiences do change a person," he admitted.

"In my case, I left Four Winds to get out of my two brothers' shadows
and find myself.  By the time I tame back, I knew how I could make a
place for myself here.  My job as medic gave me a sense of self and
purpose."

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, thinking about what his
words meant.  Lucas had already given his heart away--to Four Winds and
to his work.  Although she'd always suspected that, she'd never seen it
as clearly as she did now.  Many times she'd been filled with sadness,
thinking of the day he'd fall in love and she'd lose him forever.  This
new revelation made her ache everywhere as she thought of the high cost
he'd pay for his dedication to their town.  She knew what it was like
to go it alone.  It was not what she would have wished for a vibrant
man so full of life.  She would have wanted far more for him, even if
that meant her own heart broke in the process.

They arrived at Mrs.  Burnham's and knocked on her door, but no one
answered.  From the window that faced the front, they could see Muzzy
running around, trying to bark without dropping the sock he held in his
mouth.

"Well, at least we know he's okay."  Lucas laughed.

"Mrs.  Burnham's car isn't here.  She must be in town somewhere."

"Then let's head on over to the school portable," he said, returning to
his vehicle.

"You know, I just can't get comfortable in that place.  It's either
boiling hot or colder than a duck pond in winter.  The heating unit is
about unreliable as the weather itself."

"Do you have any idea how long it will be before clinic is ready for
use again?  I saw men working earlier."

"I'm not holding out much hope that they'll get any time soon.  Between
illness and fear, manpower is at new low, lately, and if any materials
have to come out of town, I can forget it until the road is
reopened."

As they started down the street that led to the school, only one truck
shared the newly snow-packed with them.

"That's Jake now--I recognize his camper," Lucas said as the other
truck approached.

wonder what he's doing out in this weather.  We're in another wave of
this storm soon."

"He's weaving everywhere, like someone who has drinking too much.  But
I've never known Jake to alcohol."

As they drew near, Jake pulled over to the shoulder the road and leaned
hard on the horn.

Lucas slid to a stop beside the still-running track jumped out, medical
bag in hand.  Marlee was close behind him, ready to give a hand, but
nothing prepared her for what she saw next.  As Lucas threw open the
door, she saw Jake's shirt was covered with blood.  Two bullet holes
were at the center of the crimson stain, near his heart.

Jake mouthed something neither Marlee nor Lucas could make out, then he
tried to climb out of the truck.

"Easy there," Lucas said, stopping him.

"He has to know," Jake said, more clearly now, though the effort was
obviously costing him a great deal of pain.

"You can tell us later," Lucas said firmly.

Jake started to say more, but his body went suddenly limp, and his eyes
closed.

"Loss of blood," Lucas said.

"He's going to need a hospital, and fast."

"The road is impassable.  We can't get him them," Mar-lee said.

"And I doubt they'd fly another helicopter in here with the weather so
bad."

"We can ask.  But if they can't, Jake's got the best four-wheel-drive
truck around.  Help me put him in the camper.

I'll do my best to stem the flow of blood while you telephone my
brother.  If he can't get a chopper or a bulldozer to make us a quick
road, then you and I are going to make our own.  If any truck can make
it past that rock slide, it'll be this one."

Chapter Thirteen

Jake had a lot of friends in town.  When it was learned how badly he
was hurt, and that bad weather had grounded the helicopter, even people
who were sick turned out to help.

Lucas rallied them to work together, trying to clear a row lane in the
road that would allow the truck to through.

The spirit that had always held their town together in a crisis finally
reappeared, if only momentarily.  And thanks to the state police, who
prevented any outside interference with their efforts, the people of
Four Winds managed to move enough rubble to allow the truck to attempt
passage within thirty minutes.

Rocks and boulders shifted unpredictably beneath them as the truck
climbed through the narrow gap.  Lucas encouraged Marlee to keep the
acceleration rate steady, knowing that if she got stuck or had to stop,
it would mean failure, and possibly Jake's death.

Every bump and slide to one side took a toll on his patient, but Lucas
had seen worse.  Jake would make it, and if he knew the former Ranger,
Jake would be ready to take on whoever had ambushed him just as soon as
he was back on his feet.

After five minutes of chaos, the ride suddenly became very smooth.
They'd made it through the narrow pass.  Lucas could finally do more
than just keep his patient on the bed and the IV of plasma flowing.

As Lucas continued to work, he wondered what could have happened to
Jake.  The only thing he knew with certainty was that it had ben an
ambush.  No one could have managed to get close enough to Jake to do
this much damage otherwise.

AN HOUR LATER, Lucas came out of the emergency room of the county
hospital to talk with Marlee and Gabriel, who bad followed them in.

"Jake regained consciousness just before they took him into surgery, He
wanted to tell me something, but I couldn't make it out."

"I went through his truck while you three were in here," Gabriel
answered.

"The only odd thing I found was an empty thermos bottle, and I doubt
anyone shot him for that.

Any idea where he'd been before you found him?"

"No."  Lucas glanced at Marlee, who shook her head in response.

"I have to figure out where he went, and why.  You've been seeing a lot
of people, Shadow.  Ask around for me," Gabriel said, then dropped
heavily into a chair.

"You look like you're not doing so well, Fuzz," Lucas commented, and
reached for his brother's wrist to check his pulse.

Gabriel pulled his hand away.

"It's just this weird flu.

Don't worry about it.  I'll be okay, and I'm going to be staying away
from my wife.  She's still healthy, and I intend to see to it that she
stays that way.  You two go on back to Four Winds.  I'm going to stick
around until after Jake comes out of surgery."

Lucas walked out of the hospital with Marlee ten minutes later.

"In case I didn't tell you before, you did one beck of a good job
getting us here."

The respect that shone in his eyes made her shiver, but she suppressed
it quickly, not wanting him to see how deeply he affected her.

"I wasn't at all sure we'd fit through that gap the people made for the
truck.  I just kept going and hoped it would be okay.  Will Jake be all
right, do you think?"

"He'll pull through, and when he does, the person who shot him is going
to be in a world of trouble.  I'm no wuss, and I could eventually take
him, but I sure wouldn't want to go one-to-one with Jake."

"I hope the person who shot him does worry big time."

Marlee paused, then continued.

"Maybe he'll get careless and we can spot him.  Will Jake have a guard
at the hospital?"

Lucas nodded.

"My brother hired one of the local cops to sit outside his door." Lucas
flexed his hands on the wheel.

"Something's been nagging at me about that thermos my brother found in
the truck.  Jake periodically checks the town water for minerals, and I
know he uses a thermos to gather the sample directly from the pump
house."

"So you're thinking that's where he was?"  Marlee considered it.

"It would make sense, but there's no way we can be sure."

"I'm going to call and find out if the lab ever checked the water
sample I sent them for other than bacterial or viral contaminants.
They've had it long enough."

The ride over the narrow pass dug through the roadblock was a little
easier coming back, because even more rabble had been removed.  Still,
any vehicle that didn't have four-wheel drive and/or was low to the
ground would have no chance of making it through.

When they arrived at the school-based clinic, Lucas went directly to
his desk.  Finding the lab's direct number, he dialed, then waited. The
conversation didn't take long, After two minutes, Lucas set the phone
down hard.

"Every lead just turns into another question," he said.

"There we reno known poisons or heavy metals in the water, but they ,
found minute traces of organic compounds and plant material--basically
some kind of herbs.  They haven't identified these yet, but the
concentration was so slight that they assure me it's highly unlikely
that it's the source of any existing problem."

"That may not give us any answers, but at least it is some good
news."

He shrugged.

"Maybe.  There are some herbs that have a strong initial effect, whose
potency decreases quickly.  I'm not saying that there's anything to
worry about--I'm just not quite willing to dismiss this, not now after
someone ambushed Jake.  I'm going to recommend that the town stick to
canned foods and bottled water, until we're positive we're not getting
something like nightshade, for instance, added to our water supply."

"I think you're right."

"We also need to go up to the pump house to examine the source, but
right now, there's no way anyone can get there, not in this weather."
He gestured toward the window.

Snow was coming down again, heavily, creating a ghostly landscape of
white evergreens.  Many were so snow laden they were starting to droop,
like giant ice-cream cones.

"I can't imagine any resident of Four Winds doing something like
tainting the water supply.  Pure drinking water is such a scarce
natural resource in New Mexico."

He thought about it for a moment.

"Maybe that's the trail we need to follow.  Let's find out who the
newest resident is in Four Winds."

"Let's see.  There was Lanie, and after that, Nydia.  Who else am I
forgetting?"

"What about the new bank teller?  He's been here less than three
months," Lucas added thoughtfully.

"Do you know the one I mean?  The guy with the beard, or is it a
mustache?"

"Earl Larrabee?  I've met him.  He's harmless.  He loves to gossip but
he wouldn't hurt anyone."

"It's too late to catch him at the bank, but I'd still to talk to
him."

"The custodian, Garry Johnson, works there until midnight, usually.  He
might know where Earl lives," Mar offered.

"Larrabee's so new he won't be in the latest ph book.  If Garry doesn't
know, we can always check your brother when he is back in his
office."

They arrived at the bank a little past seven.  When knocked on the
locked door to get Garry's attention.

attractive young teller, Mary Sandoval, came to the and greeted him
warmly.  Her nod to Marlee was polite.

"Well, look who's here!  The bank's been closed hours, Lucas.  Is there
something I can help you with?"

Lucas gave Mary an apologetic grin.

"I'm trying to Earl Larrabee's address.  He's not working late too, is
he?

She scowled.

"No, he's the reason I'm here now.  Earl been out all week, and I'm
stuck with a lot of work that should have been his.  I've got to say
I'm surprised he hasn't called you.  Earl's never been the type to
suffer in' silence.  I've got his number if you want it, but not his
address.  That would be in the personnel cabinet, and I have a key to
that.  Let me go ask Garry if he knows."

With a wave, she rushed back across the lobby, and of sight.

A minute later, Mary returned with a number on a note, pad.

"The best we can come up with is his phone number.

Will that help?"

Lucas thanked Mary, then they both returned to his car.  il "We'll go
to my brother's office, see if we can get Larrabee's address, then go
check on him.  That'll give me a chance to see Gabriel, too.  I want to
make sure he's okay."  I When they arrived at Gabriel's office, they
found him working on the reports of the day's events.

Lucas noted the pallor on his brother's face, but seeing the
determined, challenging look Gabriel gave him, refrained from
commenting on it.  Gabriel told them Jake had come through the surgery
fine, but wouldn't be able to answer any questions until tomorrow at
the earliest.  Lucas filled him in on their speculations about the
thermos, telling him what they'd learned, and explaining his suspicions
about the water.

"Soto's got a point, but so does Mm'lee.  If it was the water, the pets
would have also become sick," Gabriel said.

"Yeah, maybe.  But animals don't always react the same as humans."

"Good point."

"There's something else that I want to follow up on," Lucas added,
telling him about Larrabee.

"Be careful.  You're starting to speculate now, and maybe going off on
a wild-goose chase."  Gabriel leaned back.

"I appreciate the help, but you've got your own job to do."

"And I'm doing it.  I'm going to see Larrabee in my position as the
town's medic.  Of course, while I'm there, I intend to do some
digging."

"You do have the perfect reason to be there."

Lucas's muscles tensed as he looked at his brother.  Between his pallor
and the unsteadiness in his hands, he knew Gabriel was a lot sicker
than he wanted anyone to know.

"You'd better get home and to bed, Fuzz.  You can't afford to push
yourself now.  This illness will push back, and then you'll be no good
to anyone."

"I'm leaving soon, but I'll be sleeping in the spare room and not
letting my wife get close."  Gabriel reached for the loose-leaf
telephone book that covered the entire county, including monthly
updates from the phone company, and looked up Larrabee's address.  He
scribbled it on a piece of paper, then handed it to Lucas.

"Let me know how it goes, Shadow."

"Before I leave, let me check your temperature and--" "Go.  I have
enough problems without you hovering."

Lucas nodded once, understanding far more than his brother's words had
said.  As in his own case, frustration and uncertainty met Gabriel's
investigation at every turn.

People were counting on them, including the people they both loved, and
their efforts were meeting with failure.

As they left the sheriff's office, Marlee reached for Lucas hand almost
as if she'd guessed his thoughts.  For that brief instant, he felt a
closeness to her that transcended touch.  The need to make it a more
intimate physical contact pounded through him, but he held back.  Those
feelings would lead only to one major heartache.  That was the last
thing he'd wish for her, or himself, though he had a feeling it was
already too late for him.

"We will find answers.  And don't worry about your brother.  Lanie will
call you if he gets worse.  She'll take care of her husband, just as he
takes care of her."

Lucas was close enough to Marlee to pull her into his arms, but he did
not.  He simply held her gaze, staring down at her with desire and the
hunger that came from too many nights of wanting her.

She looked away, but he couldn't tell if it was because she didn't want
to face what she read in his eyes or because she was afraid he might
read the same feelings in hers.

LAmA BEE LIVED at the end of a long driveway, in a cottage that
bordered a wooded area.  The snow was really deep out here, having
accumulated in drifts.

As they reached the front door and knocked, Marlee glanced at the path
going around the side of the house leading to the woodpile.

"He's been up and around.  There are fresh tracks out there."  She
pointed.

Before Lucas could answer, the door opened.  Earl Larrabee looked
surprised to see them, but politely invited them in.

Lucas glanced around, studying everything, though he tried to appear
casual.

"I heard you've been ill," he said, focusing back on Larrabee.

"I was in the area, and thought I'd come over and check on you.  How
are you doing?"

"Oh, it's just this flu that's going around--I'm sure of it.  Rather
than spread it to everyone at the bank, I figured I'd stay home for a
few lays."

"Let me take your temperature and check your vitals, then.  Maybe
there's something I can give you that'll help."

Larrabee shook his head.

"Thanks, but don't worry about me.  It's nothing, really.  My stomach's
queasy, and my muscles ache a bit, but that's about it, except for the
headaches."  He picked up the can of cola on the table, finished it in
one gulp, and then tossed the can into a paper bag next to his desk.

"I'm glad that you're drinking a lot of liquids," Lucas said.

"Water, too, I hope."

"Nab, I prefer colas, always have."

"If you do switch to water, remember to only drink the bottled kind.
I'm also recommending that people restrict their food intake to canned
goods or prepackaged foods."

"You think it's food poisoning of some sort, then, from the water, or
maybe ground beef or produce?"

"Not really, but we can't afford to leave any stone unturned."

Charts and paper in hand, Marlee began asking questions about
Larrabee's food and water supplies, the same questions she'd asked
others around town, Larrabee answered patiently until she was finished,
then showed them to the door.

"If there is anything else I can do to help, all you have to do is
ask," he said.

Lucas was quiet as they drove back to town.  He had an instinct that
had always served him well as a diagnostician.

Right now, that instinct was telling him that Larrabee wasn't sick.

"I hate to say this, Lucas, but Earl looks healthier than any of the
people I've seen in town.  You know what I think?  He wanted a few days
off from work, and took the first opportunity that came his way."

Lucas gave her a surprised look.

"That's exactly what I was thinking.  His so-called symptoms seemed
based more on what he's been hearing about the condition of the others
who are sick than on fact.  It sounded to me like he added that
headache as an afterthought.  Physically his color was good, and he
didn't looked dehydrated or weakened by symptoms at all.  But what
bothered me most was his reliance on sodas."

"I've known people who hardly ever drink plain water from the tap. It's
not that unusual, especially if you come from a community where the
water has a taste to it."

"But it sends up a flag, particularly in view of the possibility of
water contamination.  I'm bringing this up with Gabriel first thing
tomorrow morning.  Right now--" he yawned "I'm'm ready to get some
sleep.  It's been a long day."

RIGHT AFTER BREAKFAST the next morning, they stopped by Gabriel's
office.  Lucas had used the pretext of reporting on his visit to
Larrabee to check on his brother, and now he was glad he had.  Brushing
aside Gabriel's protests, he checked his brother's vitals and
temperature.  Gabriel accepted some pills for nausea, but quickly got
back to the business of the day.

As Lucas filled him in, he could see the suspicion growing in Gabriel's
eyes, and knew it matched his own take on Larrabee.

"I'm going to start a full background check on Earl Larrabee.  I know
very little about him."

Lucas and Marlee were ready to leave when Gabriel stopped them.

"One more thing.  I've been hearing some talk around town.  I've tried
to squelch it as much as I can, but it's going to continue--I'm sure of
it," he said, then glanced at Marlee with a worded frown.

"It's about me, isn't it?"  Marlee asked.

He nodded.

"There's a rumor going around that herbs were found in the water."

"How did they get that information?"  Lucas demanded.

"I checked it out.  Appdtrently Alex has a source up at the lab in
Santa Fe."

Lucas swore loudly.

"I'm going to talk to the people at the lab.  They're supposed to keep
test results confidential."

"I've already taken care of that," Gabriel said, "but the damage has
been done.  I've heard there's an editorial coming out in this
morning's edition of the paper."

Lucas paced around the room.

"I hate that rag," he growled.

"If Ralph was here, he'd keep Alex on a tighter leash, and that idiot
sure needs somebody looking over his shoulder."

"I agree, but I can't interfere with what he's doing," Gabriel said.

"Freedom of the press and all that."

"Looks like I better buy a copy," Marlee muttered.

Hearing a loud thunk at the front door, Gabriel stood up.

"You may not have to.  I think that's probably it."

He went to the door, and retrieved the paper from where it had bounced
off the wood and into the snow.  He opened the wet plastic wrapper,
then reached for some paper towels.

Gabriel laid the paper on his desk and read the headline, which
reported the attack on Jake.  Then he opened to the editorial page.

"That idiot."

Lucas skimmed the op-ed page, reading over Gabriel's shoulder and
growing angrier by the minute.

"Without actually saying so, he's connecting Marlee's herb garden and
knowledge of herbs to the contamination of the water and the fact that
people are getting sick."

Marlee read it over.

"If I fight him on this, it'll just perpetuate the story.  Since it's
under the editorial banner, he'd claim he hasn't actually said anything
libelous, and that he's entitled to state facts and print his opinion.
I can't win either way."

"He knows that, too," Lucas said.

"This sentence about Mrs.  Burnham's dog, Muzzy, really surprises me,
though.

He's the only pet that's become ill since this started, as far as I've
seen or heard.  Of course, this vague reference makes it impossible to
tell what's wrong with Muzzy.  He may have sprained a leg jumping, for
all we know, and that would have nothing to do with the illness we're
facing here."

"This is going to terrify Rosa," Marlee said.

"She's already afraid that people will hold her responsible.  She's the
only grocer in town, and we've been considering a food or water
contaminant.  That's why she's been giving me such a hard time.  She
needs to hold me up as a suspect, because without that, suspicion will
turn in her direction.

This news is going to make her really come after me now.

She'll want people focusing on me as a suspect, because without that,
she's the only other candidate."

"I can see why she's worried.  Rosa sells herbs at her store," Lucas
said, "and has access to all the pickers and growers here.  I think she
also gathers a lot of herbs herself, and even has a small herb garden.
She knows about home remedies, and carries some of the more common ones
in her store."

"I've heard something else recently that just didn't make sense to me,"
Gabriel added slowly.

"I understand that she's having money problems.  She applied for a loan
recently, but her accounts were in such sorry shape the bank turned her
down."

"How did you--?"  Lucas smiled.

"It's Mary Sandoval, right?  She's always had a thing for the
Blackhorse brothers, but I always knew she liked you best of all.  It's
that trustworthy look in your eyes."

"You're full of it, Shadow," Gabriel growled.

"And nice try, but how I found out is none of your business."

Marlee glanced at her watch.

"It's too bad that editorial came out now.  I really needed to stop by
and get a few cans of beans and some vegetables.  But going to Rosa's
now will definitely create problems."

"Come on," Lucas'said, almost eager for a confrontation that would
force things out into the open.

"I'll walk over with you.  It'll be a way for me to show this town what
I think of all the gossip."

"I'll stop by, too, but first I have a couple of things that need to be
done here," Gabriel added.

"Neither of you have to do anything," Marlee protested.

"You're wrong.  We do," Lucas said, then grabbed her hand and led her
outside.

Lucas was aware of the way people they encountered watched as they went
by.  He could feel their fears and the weight of their suspicions as
they stared at Marlee.  Near as he could tell, they couldn't make up
their minds whether he was a conspirator or a dupe.  It hurt him to see
this side of the townspeople he'd known for so long.

They'd just passed the bank, and were walking past the alleyway, when a
flicker of movement caught his eye.  Lucas glanced back, searching the
shadows.

"What's Lam-bee doing meeting with Rosa in an alley?  I thought he was
supposed to be sick."

Making sure they both stayed out of view, Lucas and Marlee stood beside
the entrance to the alley, but they were too far away to hear.  Marlee
sneaked a peek, then ducked back.

"It looks like they're having an argument."

"Earl works at the bank," Lucas said, thinking out loud.

"I wonder if Rosa's trying to convince him to help her get / that
loan."

"Maybe, or they could be arguing about an unpaid bill.

Earl downs that soda by the case."

Lucas heard footsteps approaching and hurried Marlee away.  For now,
he'd rather Earl and Rosa didn't know he'd seen them.  It could turn
out to their advantage later on.

When they went inside Rosa's store this time, no one stared or made
accusations.  Lucas remained by Marlee's side, steadfast and undaunted
by the situation.  Marlee felt like a prisoner being escorted by a
sympathetic guard.  Resentment built up inside her, knowing that it was
Lucas's presence that was making the difference.  She shopped quickly,
determined not to let it get to her.  They were acting out of ignorance
and fear, not malicious ness

Because one van carrying foodstuffs had made it through the roadwork,
the canned goods weren't completely depleted.

Marlee managed to get enough to take care of her and Lucas for a few
days.  At the counter, she tried to meet Rosa's gaze, but the woman
refused to look directly at her.

Aware of Lucas directly behind her, Marlee fought the shame that filled
her.  She felt dirty, and tainted by false accusations.

Marlee took a deep breath.  She would not go through this again.

"Rosa, I'm not guilty of anything and, deep down, I think you know
that.  I don't deserve to be treated this way."

Rosa's eyes narrowed.

"If you're trying to shift the blame to me in front of everyone here,
you're wasting your time."

"I'm not trying to do anything.  I am willing to believe anyone is
innocent until proven guilty, a luxury that you haven't extended to
me."

"These are dangerous times," Rosa said, her eyes filled with anger.

"We can't afford to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.  But I know
dam well that I had nothing to do with the herbs that tainted the water
supply."

Lucas moved forward, stepping closer to the counter.

"The test results said that there wasn't enough of anything in the
water to harm anyone."

"Go tell Muzzy that," Rosa countered.

"That dog could be sick from just about anything, and you know it.  The
editorial wasn't specific."

"He was sick to his stomach, and wouldn't eat anything Mrs.  Burnham
gave him.  That's enough for me."

"It shouldn't be," Marlee retorted, angrier than she'd wanted to
become.

"That little dog is always running away from Mrs.  Bumham.  "He could
have eaten something that was spoiled when he raided a neighbor's
garbage, or maybe he dug something up.  I understand he's big on tulip
bulbs.

Besides, there's another point you haven't considered.

There are others around here besides you and me who know about
herbs."

"All that's true," Rosa said slowly.

"But the fact remains that you are the one who housed the peddler, and
then tried to keep it a secret.  That's enough in my book to make you
an enemy of this town."

"I gave shelter to an old man who needed it," Marlee said.

"If a bit of kindness makes me an enemy of the town in your book, then
some of your pages must be missing!"

Marlee stormed out, then slowed down once she hit the sidewalk.  She
shouldn't have allowed herself to become so angry.  She was reacting
more to the injustices in her own past than she was to anything Rosa
was doing.  She should have handled it differently, but having Lucas
hear and see all that had hurt.  They were forcing him into the role of
a protector, and that stung her pride and her feelings.

Lucas came out a moment later.

"You shouldn't have lost your temper," he said.

"That only made things worse."

"Yeah, I know.  But I have to tell you, it's hard to stay calm when you
know you're being used.  The town desperately needs a scapegoat, and I
happen to be convenient."

"I know, but you also have good friends here.  Remember that."

The deep, level tone of his voice and the fire in his gaze made the
harshness melt away from her heart.

"Why can't they see that I would no more hurt them than I would hurt
myself?."

"They will.  Give it some time."

"You know, the peddler's said to bring bad luck and then good.  I
wonder when the good luck is going to start.  I'm overdue, don't you
think?"  She managed a thin smile.

"Yes, you are," he said as they reached the Blazer.

"But then again, maybe the good fortune he brings has already started,
and you just haven't noticed it."

Marlee looked up at him quickly.  She wanted to ask him to explain, to
tell her what she already knew, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
She knew her hesitation hurt him.

She saw the brief flash in his eyes, though a second later it was gone.
She knew he wanted her to need him, and not be afraid of that feeling.
He wanted her trust.

"Some blessings are too dangerous to accept," she whispered.

Her words had been barely audible, but she knew he'd heard them.  When
he remained quiet, she knew it was because he couldn't argue against
the truth.

THE DAY HADN'T IMPROVED as it passed, but finally it was close to
midnight.  Marlee stood in the darkened living room, staring
thoughtfully out the window.  Bathed in moonlight, the snow glistened
like jewels against the black sky, and covered the ground in ice and
shadows that swirled in the breeze.  Though Lucas was in the
boardinghouse, she felt more isolated and alone than she'd ever been.
No matter how tempting it was, or how badly she yearned to reach out to
him, she knew she could not.  She wouldn't involve him in her problems
any more than he already was.

She thought about the peddler and that little raven carving she'd
accepted from him.  He had claimed it would grant her one wish, if she
wished hard enough.  But what good would one wish be when the one
person she wanted most in this world could never be hers?

A silent tear fell down her cheek.  Fate had been cruel when it had
brought Lucas here to her boardinghouse.

Every day it taunted her with her heart's most desperate wish.  Her
love for Lucas was real and the kind that would last a lifetime for
her.  But sometimes the best way to love was to let go, and that's what
she had been trying to do.

She would not have Lucag share the hell her past held.  He stood for
life, for freedom, and she Would bring him neither.

Marlee sensed his presence in the room before she ever heard footsteps.
She turned to face him, and yearning squeezed her heart as she watched
him stride up to her, shirtless, jeans slung low on his hips.  He moved
with grace and power, and stopped only inches away.

He took her face in his hands and captured her gaze.

"I

know you, my heart, because I know myself.  To you, being strong means
standing alone.  But standing with another, with me, will increase your
strength.  It won't take anything away," he said, his words a cracked
whisper.

Desire smoked in his dark eyes.  She felt the shudder that traveled
over him as she placed her hands on his naked chest.  He had come to
offer the only comfort he could give her, the kind that would take the
winter from her soul and replace it with the radiance of a new dawn.
Longing pierced her.  Every cell in her body wanted him to love her in
all the ways a man could love a woman.

His gaze dropped to her mouth and remained there, caressing her without
narrowing the gap between them.  Her pulse was racing.  Marlee
shivered, yearnings rib boning through her until she couldn't think.

As if sensing her willingness, he lowered his mouth to hers and pressed
her to him.  Suddenly Marlee was overwhelmed with sensations that left
her aching and exquisitely vulnerable.  His needs burned through her,
kindling her own.  The roughness of his mouth, the hardness of his
chest, the tenderness of his arms, wove a spell around her she didn't
want to break.  She surrendered to his kiss until only her connection
to Lucas sustained her.

Instinct guiding her, she tightened her lips around his restless tongue
and then loosened them, letting him taste her as she tasted him.  She
felt him shudder, and that violent need that he barely kept leashed
fueled the fire within her.

Dark, heated images danced in her head as she pressed herself against
him.  She could barely breathe for the intensity of the feelings.

The phone rang four times before they parted, and Lucas picked up his
cellular phone with a muttered oath.

"I hope I didn't wake you," Lucas heard Gabriel say.

"But I've got some news that might interest you.  I did a background
check on Earl Larrabee, and found out something interesting.  The
reason I kept coming up against a brick wall was because he had his
name legally changed."

"Why?"

"I haven't got a clue, but I will find out."  Gabriel paused.

"Were you asleep?  You sound odd somehow," "It's late, that's all.  Are
you okay?  Why aren't you asleep?"

Gabriel didn't answer right away.

"I was just up checking on my wife.  She's fine and sound asleep."

Lucas closed up his cellular phone and smiled.

"My brother misses his wife.  He's lonely sleeping in the spare room,
though that's not why he said he called at this hour."

"What happened?"  Marlee moved away, needing to put some space between
them.  She could still taste Lucas on her lips.

"In a town like Four Winds, this shouldn't come as a big surprise, but
it looks like we now have another wild card in the game.  Earl Larrabee
turns out to be a man very intent on keeping his own secrets.  He
changed his name before he came here."

"The people of Four Winds, for the most part, share one thing--pasts
too dark to forget."

For a few precious moments, she'd almost forgotten all the logic and
all the reasons why their relationship couldn't be.  She'd never been
reckless, yet in Lucas's arms she'd become a new person, someone she
scarcely knew.

A million different kinds of wanting filled her.  She welcomed the
emotions.  Despite the pain they caused, they proved that she was
'still alive.  She moved to the window and stared at the emptiness
outside, feeling as cold and as desolate as the moonless night.

"It's too late to turn the clock back," Lucas murmured.

"You're not alone.  I'm a part of you, my heart, as you are a part of
me."

She started to answer, to protest, but when she turned around, he was
gone.  She walked to her room alone, undressed and slipped into bed.
The cold sheets touched her, making her long for Lucas's warmth.

"Good night, my Shadow.  Whether we're together or apart, you are and
will always be the dearest part of me."

Chapter Fourteen

Marlee was in the living room with Lucas, going through and updating
medical charts, when they heard a vehicle pull up.  Lucas stood up and
walked to the window.

"Now, this is good news!  Both my brothers are here," he said.

Gabriel and Joshua came to the door a moment later.

Lucas grinned at his youngest brother, who practically took up the
whole doorway, but according to Navajo custom, Lucas refrained from
giving him a hug.

"Hey, Tree, when did you get back to town?  Or better yet, how did you
manage that feat?"

"The roads are icy and treacherous, but at least there's a lane, of
sorts, cleared through that rock slide.  When I heard what was going on
here, I figured I was needed, so I came back as quickly as I could."

"He figured right, too," Gabriel said.

"He planted a few prayer sticks in the snow, and already I'm feeling
much better," he added.

"Planted?"  Joshua glared at his brother, "I'll plant you?"

Gabriel smiled.

"Lighten up, Tree.  I was only joking.

You know I'm grateful for your skills as a medicine man."

"Did your wife and son return with you?"  Lucas asked his youngest
brother.

"My wife came, but because of the illnesses here, we felt it best to
leave our boy with his grandparents."

"Good choice."

"I understand our good friend the librarian was shot and nearly
killed," Joshua added.

Lucas nodded.

"I checked on him earlier."  He followed his brother's example, knowing
a traditionalist would not speak of Jake by name.  It was said that
names had power, and if that power was guarded, it could help that
person in a time of crisis.

"He's still in intensive care, but he's doing better."

"I've been keeping close tabs on him, too," Gabriel said.

"I'd like to question him as soon as possible."

"Have you been up to the water tower yet?"  Marlee asked Gabriel.

"I went out today, or should I say, I tried.  Between the high winds
and the road conditions, I couldn't make it.

Even if I'd risked life and limb getting there, climbing to the top of
the tower would have been impossible."

Lucas nodded.

"Next time, don't go up there alone.  I understand the need to check
the town's main water source, but you'll need backup.  Look at what
happened to Jake."

"We're still not sure that he was shot there," Gabriel cautioned,
"though admittedly, it does seem probable."

Marlee sat with them, but even working together and exploring different
theories left them with no clear answers on how to proceed.  As the
howl of the wind grew stronger, Lucas went to the window.

"You two may end up as boarders if you don't get going soon.  It looks
like we're in for even more snow."

"Part of the legacy the peddler left us this time, some would say,"
Joshua mused, pulling on his jacket.

"Or just rotten luck," Lucas answered.

"Could we hire you to go out and do a sun dance?"  Teasing his younger
brother was always a fun game, one Lucas enjoyed even more than
Gabriel.  Joshua, despite his size, was too gentle to haul off and slug
anyone.

Gabriel laughed.

"Better make that your last jab, Shadow.

Nydia said baby brother pushed his legendary patience to the limit
while visiting with her relatives this past week."  "I'm disappointed
in you, Tree," Lucas said, "you a married man, and all.  Your ability
to take abuse should be limitless by now."

Joshua just smiled.

"You're lucky this town needs a medic.  That's the only thing that
saves you half the time."

Lucas laughed as his brothers walked off, then glanced at Marlee, who
was standing with him on the porch, shivering.

He put his arm around her.

"Let's go back inside before you freeze.  We need to catch up on those
progress reports."  Two hours later, as they finally finished updating
the patient records, Lucas's cellular phone rang.  He answered it, and
while he was speaking, picked up his medical bag.

"I've got to go," he announced after the call.

"I'm headed up to Bill Riley's cabin.  It's a long hike up there in
this weather, but from the sound of it, he's sick and needs help."

"I'll get my warmest boots."

He shook his head.

"No, I'm going to have to ride Chief up there.  There's no way I'd want
to walk that distance in this weather, and I'm not at all sure any
vehicle could make it up the trail that leads there in all this snow.
And I may need to bring Bill down with me, so I can't afford to be
riding double going in."

Accepting the necessity, Marlee saw him off, then, after turning up the
house heat, went to the kitchen to take inventory on her supplies.
Suddenly a loud crash and the tinkling of broken glass made -her jump,
and set her heart pounding.

Marlee rushed into the living room.  A blast of icy wind brought her
attention immediately to a gaping hole where most of her front window
had been.  A large rock lay against the far wall.

Anger ripped through her as she picked up the rock.  A folded piece of
paper' had been attached to it with two rubber bands.  She slipped the
rubber bands off carefully, unfolded the paper, then read the message:
"We don't forgive traitors."

Taking her jacket from the coat rack, she bundled up and tried to
figure out how to cover the opening until the glass could be replaced.
As the gusts whipped the curtains, and the room temperature plunged,
the unfairness of it all filled her with outrage.  She'd done nothing
to deserve this.  She crumpled the note and stuck it into her pocket.
The town was set against her, just as it had been in another place,
another time.

Marlee pushed back the sense of betrayal that nearly overwhelmed her.
What she needed to concentrate on now was covering the gaping hole in
her living-room window.

Once that was done, she'd call Gabriel.  He was the town's sheriff and
would need to be told.  She considered trying to call Lucas, but he was
riding across country, and probably having to concentrate on staying
warm and not losing his direction.  The last thing he needed was a call
on his cellular phone.

A half hour later, she'd sealed the window using duct tape and a piece
of plywood she'd found in the garage and cut to the right size with a
hand saw.  She'd called Gabriel but had learned he wouldn't be back in
the office until later.

Figuring she'd have to go in and sign a statement, she decided to make
sure the window patch was secure, then walk into town.

She was just adding more tape to hold the plywood in place when her
phone began to ring.  She picked up the receiver, and heard Alex on the
other end.  Her guard went up instantly.  She didn't trust the little
creep.  His newspaper editorials had been the main reason the town had
turned against her.

"I wanted you to know that I've only just found out how badly people
are treating you.  I never expected that here in Four Winds."

Marlee didn't believe him for a second.

"Without using my name, you practically came out and told people I'm
the one responsible for all the bad things that are happening here. Yet
you're telling me now that you still expected everything to go on as
usual?"

"I never slandered you.  When you know folks here as well as I do, it's
easy to think you can second-guess them.  I expected a lot of gossip,
but nothing like the persecution that's going on."

"Someone just threw a rock through my window on the coldest day of the
year.  My living room is freezing, and it'll get worse tonight.  I
should bill you for the expenses."

Alex paused.

"I'll find someone to help you fix it, but this isn't my fault.  You
made a big mistake bringing that peddler into your house.  And that's
what's haunting you now.  Give me a chance to help.  Talk to me on the
record.

Right now people in town are worded that since the attempt to poison
the water was discovered, the criminal will find another way to injure
them.  They'll be out gunning for you unless you do something to clear
your name.  Let me take a few photos of the vandalism and get your side
of the story."

"First get your facts straight.  There's still no definite proof the
water was poisoned.  And I don't want you coming here."  The idea of
having him at her home repulsed her.

"If you want to see me, I'll stop by shortly.  But first I've got to go
by the sheriff's office," she declared, then hung up.

Hearing the wind outside and watching the thin plywood strain where it
was taped in place, she shivered.  She'd hoped to stay home today
buried in a good book.  Cursing her luck, she changed clothes, picking
out her warmest outfit, then began the walk toward Main Street.

It took her twice the usual time, because of the cold and snow.  At
least the wind seemed to be slowing down a bit.

But if that happen el and the sky cleared up, the temperature would go
down even further.  By the time she arrived at Gabriel's office, she
was chilled to the bone.  Gabriel saw her as she came in, and came to
help her take off her coat.

He still looked pale and a little shaky from the flu.

"I heard from my dispatcher that you were coming.  I meant to tell you
that I'd stop by and save you the walk, but I got sidetracked."  As he
finished saying that, his phone began to ring.

"It's been like this ever since I stepped through the door this
morning."

As he spoke on the telephone, Sally Jenkins, the owner of the diner,
stepped into the office.  She glared at Marlee, then moved to the other
side of the office.

Marlee was about to ask Sally what was wrong, when Gabriel hung up.

"What can I do for you, Sally?"

"You won't believe what's happened," she said, her voice breaking.

"Someone poured powdered detergent into my flour bin."  Sally glared at
Marlee just as someone else came into the office.

Marlee stared back at her in shock.

"Oh, Sally, surely you of all people know I would never do that!"

"Well, you have been in my diner recently .... "She met Marlee's gaze
then, after a second, sighed.

"No, I don't think you did it.  I apologize.  You would never do that.
I'm just so angry, and it would make things easier if I could blame
someone."  She glanced at Gabriel.

"Now I'll have to close the diner, won't I?  I can't guarantee other
things weren't tainted."

"You should close until you can throw out any food containers that
might have been tampered with.  It's not worth taking a chance."

Sally's shoulders slumped.

"I don't know how I'm going to weather this financially.  No customers,
then I lose inventory..."

Marlee put a hand on her shoulder.

"This craziness can't last much longer.  Then you'll be able to open
the diner again."  She nodded absently.

"I guess."

Heating footsteps behind her, Marlee turned, remembering that someone
else had come in while Sally was so upset.

It was Alex.  Yet, from the spark in his eyes, she knew he'd heard
enough about the incident at Sally's to know there was a story there.

Alex remained until Sally had finished giving her statement and signing
it, then left with her instead of staying to talk with Marlee or
Gabriel.

Gabriel glared at the doorway long after Alex had left.

"I'm torn between wanting to come down hard on him, and the instinct
that warns me I'll only be making things worse."

"He's asked me to talk to him on the record, but must have not wanted
to do that in front of you.  In view of this latest incident, I think I
will go by his office and do just that.  At least I'll get my side of
the story out, if he doesn't decide to edit the facts, that is."

"Good luck."

Five minutes later, after giving a complete account of the broken
window to Gabriel, Marlee stepped into the newspaper office.

Alex came out of another room to greet her.

"Looks like my theory was right.  The culprit couldn't hurt anyone with
the water now, so he picked on something else--Sally."

"I wish someone had good news for a change," Marlee said.

"I can help you there.  Mrs.  Burnham's Muzzy is going to be fine.  The
vet said it was a stomach upset, but he couldn't determine the cause."
Alex offered her a chair.

"But that doesn't let you off the hook.  Unless you come clean publicly
about the peddler's visit, people simply will not trust you."

"What more is there for me to say?  He came, but he didn't even spend
the night.  There was a storm that evening, and he wanted shelter.
Driving that old van of his can't be a picnic in high winds."

"What about the gift he gave you?"

"What gift?"  Marlee asked, fighting to keep her expression neutral.

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Give me a break, okay?  He always gives the person he targets a gift,
or lets them buy something.

Remember old man Simmons and the shovel?  The medicine bowl Lanie got?
And Nydia's blanket?  Telling about whatever it was he left you will go
a long ways in getting people's trust back.  Right now, they know, just
like I do, that you're covering something."

"I've had my home vandalized, I've been the target of accusations that
give new meaning to the word unfair, and now you're asking me to add
fodder to the rumors.  Nydia and Lanie both suffered at the hands of
this town once word got out they'd had contact with the peddler, so
your argument about trust just doesn't ring true.  For the last time
and for the record, I am not stupid enough to risk accepting any of
that peddler's sale items, nor would I purchase anything from him."

"If you believe he's harmless, why not?"

"Because people like you use him to create a problem for others."  She
stood up.

"Instead of looking at the peddler so intently, people in this town
should start taking a good look at themselves.  That's where the real
problem is.

Think about how people behaved after each of his visits.

Maybe the peddler does serve a purpose, when you look at it from that
perspective--he shows all of us just how shallow and nasty ordinary
people can become."

"I will quote you, but I still say you're holding back--and it's going
to cost you."

Marlee left the office, and without turning back down the street.  The
weather was as bad as ever.  The wind had eased, but the temperature
had dropped.  That made the walk just as miserable, but it was better
than driving on the icy roads.  She tucked her chin down into her coat,
and continued at a brisk pace.

Snow was piled in thick drifts on the walkways, and in her heart, she
felt as cold as the cobblestones that the wind had cleared of
everything except the ice.  No matter how hard she tried, nothing was
working out for her.  As she passed the feed store's loading dock, a
big manila envelope lying on a clear sheet of ice caught her eye.  It
was between the delivery truck and the concrete platform.  She drew
near, and saw her name had been scrawled on it.

Marlee looked around suspiciously, but no one was in sight.  She
thought about the slippery surface, which sloped downhill toward the
dock, then curiosity overcame, her and she inched out onto the ice.  As
she bent over carefully and picked up the envelope, she heard a creak
and the slam of a car door.  She was aware of the sound of running
footsteps, but her eyes and her attention were on the track, which was
suddenly rolling toward her.

It was silent, since the engine was off, but it was certainly going to
crush her against the four-foot-high concrete barrier unless she got
out of there fast.  Marlee tried to dive out of the way, but her feet
slipped out from under her and she fell facedown on the ice instead. 
By the time she got back up to her feet, it was too late to dodge or
try to climb onto the dock.  Someone had released the brake, allowing
the dock area's incline to do the rest.

Marlee reached over and grabbed a heavy metal mop bucket from atop the
dock, and held it beside her, lodging it against the dock wall and
giving herself some clearance.

The truck crunched against the bucket, but the container held, and the
truck stopped.  A second later, the bucket began to groan in protest.

With only the bucket maintaining a gap between the truck and the
concrete dock, Marlee was trapped, almost compressed, in a space about
a foot wide.

Marlee sucked her stomach in, and yelled for help at the top of her
lungs.  Subely someone inside the feed store would hear her.

Then she heard a familiar voice shouting her name and footsteps rushing
from the street.

"Marlee, where are you?"  Lucas shouted.

"I'm here, behind the truck, but I can't get out.  A bucket's all
that's keeping me from getting crushed, and it's not going to last much
longer!"

She heard the sound of the truck door opening, then a loud curse from
Lucas.  It didn't sound promising.  Then his face appeared in the
narrow opening between the truck and the dock.

"Hang on.  I'm coming in there with you."

"Wedge something else in here, not your own body!

We'll both be crushed."  Marlee tried to push him back out with her
arm, but she couldn't move him.

"If you work with me, we'll both get out of this in one piece," he
said, scooting in closer beside her.

"I've got a plan."

Chapter Fifteen

Despite the freezing cold, Marlee's sweater was with perspiration.  Her
legs were weak from fear.  She turned her head, no longer willing to
face the track that could crush them both to death in another moment.

Lucas suddenly grunted, and she saw him straining against the truck.

"I can move it back a little," he said.

"Help me push.

The brake lines were cut, so it'll roll the other way if we put some
muscle into it.  We just have to get the rear wheels past that little
slope at this end.  Put your feet against the dock, and don't slip on
the ice."

Marlee used every last bit of her strength, pushing with Lucas,
coordinating her efforts with his.  She yelled once more at the top of
her lungs, hoping someone inside the store would finally come out.  I
She felt the track inch back, and realized that they were making
headway.  Before she could catch her breath to yell again, she heard
help arriving on the loading dock.  Darren Wilson and one of his clerks
grabbed a two-wheel dolly, and Darren wedged it between the truck and
the dock to keep the truck from rolling back toward them.  Then the two
men began to help Lucas and Marlee push the truck away.

In a few seconds, the truck had been pushed well away from the dock and
past the patch of ice.  Darren placed a wooden block behind each rear
tire to keep the truck from rolling again.

Darren rushed toward them, shaking his head in confusion.

"What the beck happened?  That's my track, but I've been inside the
store with customers.  We only came out when we heard you yelling.  How
did you get yourselves in that fix and how did that sheet of ice get
there?"

"I don't know," Marlee said, recapping the events as Gabriel came up.

"Did you see anyone?"  Gabriel pressed.

"No," Marlee admitted, "but I heard someone.  And if Lucas is right,
those brake lines didn't cut themselves."

Lucas glanced at his brother.

"Just take a look for yourself.

The brake line was severed with something like a pair of tin snips, I
bet."

Mrs.  Burnham stood on the dock, Muzzy in her arms.

"Trouble does follow you doesn't it, dear?"  she asked.

Her tone was far from sympathetic.  Marlee stared at her in stunned
disbelief, then glanced at the others who'd arrived from the store. How
would she ever be able to live here and treat these people as friends
again, even after the truth came out?  They'd turned on her as if she'd
been a stranger or a criminal.

She tried to speak, but was shaking too much for words.

Too close to tears, she remained silent.

Lucas's eyes were as cold as a frozen blade as he stared at the people
gathered around them.

"I've known most of you for years now.  You've always seemed like
decent people.

But the way you're acting now is enough to make me ashamed that I've
ever called any of you my friends.  Consider this.  will you be able to
look at yourselves in the mirror when you finally find out that you've
been victimizing an innocent person?"

A murmur went around the crowd, and as they dispersed, Marlee grieved
for lost friendships.

Rather than yield to despair, Marlee chose to focus action.  She wasn't
helpless as long as she could still act her own behalf.  It wasn't an
assurance of victory, was a way to fight, and sometimes that was all
that left to a person.

"Let's talk with the people inside, and then walk up and down the
street and see if anyone saw who was in the track It's a long shot, but
it's worth a try."

"Good idea," Gabriel conceded.

"You mentioned an envelope, Marlee.  Do you have it?"

Marlee pulled it from her pocket.

"It's empty," she said handing it to him.

"I'm not surprised," Gabriel said.

Thirty minutes later, they still had no answers.

walked with Marlee back to his track.  His presence the fears she was
trying so hard to keep locked inside herself.  Though Lucas couldn't
always be around he did seem ready to stand up for her, to equalize
whenever they were together.  He had the heart of a lion.

Marlee glanced up at him, feeling the quiver of desire replacing the
fear she'd experienced just an hour before.

He'd touched her in a way no one ever had.  She wanted to trust him, to
give herself the freedom to experience the love that burned in his eyes
whenever he gazed at her.  He'd made her forget the scar that had not
only marred her face, but cut her soul.  For brief moments in time,
Lucas had reminded her what it felt like to be whole and be admired.

"Looks like Alex printed a special evening edition," Lucas said,
bringing her out of her musings.  He gestured at the newsletter-sized
papers stacked in the box near the bank.

Marlee placed a coin in the slot.

"By the way, bow's Bill Riley doing?"

"Miserable for now, but I think it's just a case of bronchitis.

He should be okay soon."

Marlee picked up a copy of the newspaper.

"Oh, yuck, they're all wet."  She opened it carefully.

"I hate to buy this rag, but I better see what he wrote about me.  We
had a rather--" she cleared her throat "--shall we say, substantial
difference of Opinion?"

She skimmed the lead story, not at all surprised by its contents.

"Do you realize what he's doing?  He's blaming everything, including
what happened at the diner, on the peddler's influence," Lucas said.

"Then, after he documents his theory with half truths, he quotes you as
insisting that you didn't receive anything from the peddler despite the
fact that everyone knows otherwise.  He makes it sound like you're
pursuing your own agenda at everyone's expense."

"Alex has made a serious vocational error.  He should be working for
the tabloids."

"When Ralph comes back, I have a feeling Alex is going back to
delivering papers and running the press, not writing," Lucas said.

"I'd bet on it."

When his cellular phone rang, Lucas answered, spoke briefly, then
closed the unit up.

"I've got another patient I need to see.  I won't be able to give you a
ride back home.

Will you be okay?"

"Sure.  It takes more than a little thing like attempted murder to keep
me down."  She managed a reassuring smile.

His eyes were luminous and filled with purpose as he leaned down and
covered her mouth with his own.  His kiss was urgent, demanding and
rough.  Sparks travelled down her, bone by bone, leaving her shuddering
helplessly.  Her lips parted under his, and as she tasted him, the
blinding power of emotions she'd tried to ignore took away her will to
resist.  She pressed herself into his kiss, longing for more of the
white-hot pleasure she found there.

An eternity passed before he eased his hold.

"Look after yourself, my heart."

Marlex: watched Lucas continue down the street at a rapid pace.  Heat
swirled through her, an aftermath of the storm he'd created.  With a
sigh, she looked around the empty street.  Since nobody had seen them,
at least may bell she'd be spared an editorial in the next iSSUe of the
paper about how she was corrupting Lucas.  she smiled ruefully,

Marlee glanced at her watch.  She would have to hurry.

but she could still make it to the bank before it closed.  If I blamed
she was going to be connected to the peddler and for things that were
not her fault, then the least she could do for herself was enjoy the
carving the peddler had made for her.  It was small enough for her to
carry around in her pocket if she chose.

Earl was still at home faking illness, apparently.  It was Mary
Sandoval, the pretty young teller who'd flirted with Lucas not long
ago, who accompanied her to the vault then left her alone, giving her
privacy.  Marlee took out the carving, placed it in her purse and was
on her way home a shorl time later.

As she recalled the look of suspicion on Mary's Marlee's heart sank.
She'd never felt so utterly alone, so;

rejected.

Marlee was almost home when she suddenly began to feel ill.  Despite
the cold weather, she was burning up, and her body ached.  She touched
her cheek gingerly.  Her scar ached like it had right after the
accident three years ago, By the time she reached the boardinghouse,
her entire cheek was throbbing painfully.  She wondered if perhaps the
cold had triggered the pain somehow, but she couldn't remember ever
having that happen before.

Sheltered in the privacy of her living room, she took out the small
carving and held it in her hand so she could look at it.  Marlee was
sure it was her imagination, but a pleasant warmth enfolded her as she
held the carving.  Within a few minutes, her body quit aching and the
scar stopped throbbing.

As she placed the raven on the coffee table to admire it, Marlee became
aware again of the aches and pains that had bothered her only minutes
before.  Refusing to credit superstitions, she went to her medical bag,
found the thermometer and took her temperature.  It was a little
elevated, but not enough to worry about.

Marlee crawled into bed.  Maybe if she rested for a while... Placing
the carving beneath her pillow, she drifted off to sleep.  She never
got up for dinner, sleeping all the way through the night.  As she
slept, jumbled images of Lucas, of the comfort of his love and the
despair losing him would eventually bring, haunted her dreams.

LUCAS WOKE UP early the following morning.  The sun was barely up, and
though he was almost as exhausted as he'd been the evening before, it
surprised him that he'd beaten the old alarm clock by his bed.

He'd been quiet when he'd come in last evening so as to not wake
Marlee, who'd obviously gone to bed early.

Though it had worded him, he'd decided to let her sleep.

She'd been through a lot yesterday, and for several days before.  If
anyone deserved a little extra rest, it was Marlee.

As he walked into the kitchen, he was glad to see Marlee there
preparing breakfast.  Today it was oatmeal and toast with tea.  Coffee
had sold out at Rosa's quickly.  He knew Marlee's supplies were
dwindling, just like everyone else's in town.  Even though the road had
been cleared, only a few small truckloads had come in because of the
weather.

That was yet another factor adding to the tensions around town.

"What are your plans for today?"  he asked.

"I'm going to have to see about getting the front window fixed," she
said, then explained about the rock, leaving out the part about the
note.  He had enough to worry about.

Lucas's eyes blazed with anger.

"I saw the damage when I came in.  You should have told me about it
when it happened."

"You had a patient to see, and besides, it wouldn't have made any
difference.  As long as I keep the curtains closed and the tape secure,
I can keep the weather out.  The rest I can live with."

"Darren will probably have to order the glass, and it's going to take
some time before he gets it in.  Why don't you ride with me today while
I make my rounds?  I could use your help.  Something strange is
happening."

"What do you mean?"

"The flu symptoms are disappearing, but now we've got a rash of people
sick to their stomachs, getting dizzy and complaining that they're
sweating all the time, despite the cold.  I'd like you to record all
the details for me, so I can enter it into my database."

When she placed the bowl of oatmeal before him, Lucas saw that the scar
on her face seemed darker.

"Are you okay?"

He'd always been said to be a gifted diagnostician, but lately his
instincts only told him when a patient was in serious trouble.  Right
now he couldn't shake the conviction that something was wrong with
Marlee.  With her, though, he couldn't trust his intuitions, because
his personal feelings for her confused his perceptions, making even the
simplest observations suspect.

"I got chilled on the way back home yesterday, and I felt really achy,
so I decided to go to bed early."

"Are you running a fever?"  he asked, searching for an answer that
would explain the change in her scar.

"Not this morning.  I feel fine.  I haven't even needed an aspirin."

He stood and brushed the hair back from her face, studying her scar,
though he knew she'd resent it.

"This is getting darker.  AnY idea why?"

Marlee pulled away quickly.

"I don't know, but there's no infection, so just leave it alone."

Lucas reached for her hand and held on to it.

"Nobody in this town is perfect, including me.  The only difference is
that your scar is visible, and the ones most of us carry aren't."

He took her into his arms and held her.  He wanted to love her, to feel
her need for him become as great as his for her.  Yet despite his own
wishes, he struggled to keep himself under control.  He would not
betray her by pushing her to give him more than she was prepared to
offer freely.

"You don't have to pity me," Marlee murmured, but she didn't struggle
against him.

He pulled her roughly into the cradle of his thighs, feeling the shiver
that went up her spine.

"This isn't pity, my heart.  What I'm feeling has nothing to do with
that."

Lucas kissed her, driving his tongue deep into her mouth, searching out
secrets and making the fire within his veins rage.  He almost cried out
in triumph as he heard her soft moan.  Then, with a tenderness he
hadn't known he possessed, he kissed her again, gently, patiently,
drawing out the moment.  He wanted her more than he ever dreamed
possible.  But this was not their time.

He released Marlee at long last when he'd reached his breaking point.
He had to walk away now while he was still able to do it.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?"  he asked, his breathing
jagged.

"You've made me feel things I never dreamed were possible," Marlee
whispered, "but we are not meant for each other.  Deep down, you know
that as well as I do."  She tore her gaze from his, then started down
the hall.

"Let me change my clothes.  I'll need to wear something warmer if I'm
going to make rounds with you."

Lucas watched her walk away, his body shuddering with needs that would
not be sated.  He was playing with fire.  It was reckless and
dangerous, yet he couldn't force to stay away from her.

When Marlee returned to the living room, he she looked different.  He
studied her face for a second.

de ring what had changed, and realized that the color of scar was now
back to normal.  He couldn't decide if it makeup skilfully applied, or
just a change in the "Let's go," she said, jamming her hands into her
ets and keeping them there.

"Don't you want gloves?  I have an extra misplaced yours."

"I've got a pair in my pocket, but this jacket is fleece lined, so it
keeps my hands warm anyway."

She was hiding something from him, but he couldn't figure out why.  He
decided to let it pass for now.  He had other business to attend to
right now.

Halfway to the home of his first scheduled received a phone call.  He
heard the hurried words of frightened parent, and felt his blood turn
to ice.  By the he returned the phone to his pocket, Marlee was him
intently.

"We have a full-blown emergency.  Little Eric James fell down a mine
shaft.  His father hasn't been able to reach him.  All they know is
that he's hurt his leg, and may have additional injuries."

"I know Eric.  He's a very comes into town shopping with his mom.  It's
hard to get him to stand still long enough to listen."

"Yes, that's my recollection, too."  Lucas increased his speed, going
as fast as he dared on the snow-packed road.

"Hang on.  I have a feeling there's no time to lose."

They arrived at the James's farmhouse just outside town ten minutes
later, and scrambled out of the vehicle.  It didn't take long to see
where the crisis was centered.  Across a snow-covered pasture, Josiah
James was standing at the base of the boulder-strewed hillside that
bordered his land.

With a hammer, he was trying to pry loose a board blocking the entrance
to an old mine shaft.

"Stop!"  Lucas yelled out.

Before the man could react, a rock above the entrance came loose,
triggering the collapse of one side of the opening and blocking even
more of the tiny entrance to the mine.  Delia James screamed, and tried
to lift one of the massive stones blocking the way.  Her husband pulled
her away.

"Lucas, help us!"  Delia cried out as she saw them approaching.

The massive Great Dane beside her barked furiously, but she held on to
him.

"Tell me what you know.  Have you seen or been able to talk to Eric?"
Lucas asked, pushing the dog away and peering into the darkness beyond
the twelve-inch opening that remained.

"Yes, at first.  But he hasn't said a word for the last ten minutes.
His voice kept growing weaker," Delia explained, "but we couldn't reach
him.  Every time we try to get inside, more of the entrance caves
in!"

Lucas pressed his face to the opening.

"Eric!"  he called out as loudly as he could, but there was no
response.  He stepped back; concerned about the air quality in the mine
shaft.  Whatever they did, they'd have to be careful not to attempt
anything that would make the passageway any smaller.

"Have you called my brother?"  Lucas asked.

"I left a message for him, and I've called the fire department, too,
but they haven't responded yet.  I think that they were having trouble
getting theft track started, or maybe it had stalled, I'm not sure."

The town's emergency vehicles were old, and there was no telling when
help would get there, though it would eventually arrive even if the
volunteers had to walk.

One thing was clear.  They couldn't afford to just sit around and wait
for he's probable injuries, and the uncertain air quality inside the
mine, worded Lucas.  I

"We have to get in there ourselves.  We can't wait," he stated.

Marlee stood by the hole.

"I can squeeze through.  I'm a lot smaller than any of you."

"No," Lucas answered.

"We can't jeopardize anyone::

else, and you're not trained for this kind of thing."

"I'm the only chance you've got, unless you want to sit I

around and hope somebody shows up with a better idea.  il

Lucas knew she was right, but he had no idea what she'd il be getting
into, or even if the risk would be worth it'll There'd been no recent
sign that the boy was even still alive.  He crouched and peered into
the opening.

"How far il back does this mine go?"

"I have no idea," Josiah answered honestly.

"I've looked inside with a flashlight, nothing more.  It' never:1
looked safe enough to explore, because it slants downward at a pretty
steep angle."

Delia began crying.

Marlee put her arms around the other woman.

"It's okay.

We'll get him out."  Then she glared at the men.

"Are we going to stand here debating this, or is somebody going to find
me a rope and a flashlight?  I figure I can carry Eric out if it's
necessary, or tie him on to me.  I've carded him before, but if I have
to climb back out, I'll need at least one hand free to hold on to the
rope."

Delia ran inside the house, and came back out with a coil of rope and a
powerful flashlight.

It took several minutes before they had everything ready, including a
two-way radio and emergency supplies Lucas brought from the Blazer.

Lucas tied the rope around Marlee's waist with a bowline.

"This will keep your hands free, and the knot won't slip or tighten.
Once you find Eric, check him for injuries and don't move him until I
tell you."

"Got it."

Lucas's hands shook as he checked the knot one last time.  He hadn't
wanted her to see that, but it was too late.

As he met her gaze, Marlee gave him a hesitant half smile.

"It's okay.  This is my choice, and my responsibility."

He would have given anything to stop her, but knew he could not.  Even
if he refused to allow it, the parents of the trapped boy would have
been on her side.  Marlee and the two of them would have proceeded
without his approval or help.  This was little Eric's only chance.

"Be careful," he said at last.  He did his best to keep his voice
steady.

"I'll be fine.  Now, let's get started."

Lucas saw the fear in Marlee's eyes, and his gut clenched.

"You don't have to go," he whispered fiercely.

"Yes, I do.  This is not just for Eric--it's for me, too."

His heart slammed against his ribs while his brain screamed that Marlee
was in danger.  Anything could happen down in that damp, narrow
passage.  Drawing strength from within himself, Lucas forced his
thoughts onto the situation facing him.  Determination and fear held
him steady, and he stood his ground.

"Find your way back to me soon, my heart," he whispered.

THE MINE SHAFT WAS nothing more than a steep, narrow tunnel leading
down into the bowels of the earth, as far as Marlee could tell.  She
closed her eyes for a moment, gathering courage, and remembered the way
Lucas's hands had trembled.  No words, no caresses, could have ever
touched her more deeply than that evidence of his feelings for her.

She'd never felt so loved and cared for, though at the moment only
danger surrounded her.

"Eric, can you hear me?"  she shouted down the shaft.

There was no answer.

"How are things in there?"  Lucas called on the two-way radio.

"The tunnel gets wider the farther I go, and it looks little less
unstable down here," she answered.

Stepping carefully down the steep slope, she saw a side passage
branching to the right.  It was cluttered fallen timbers and debris.
Shining the flashlight down, spotted what looked like a tiny
footprint.

down and inched her way inside.  After covering a feet or so, she heard
a soft whimpering noise.

"Eric?"  She hurried forward, toward the sound, the beam of the
flashlight ahead of her until she saw him Eric lay huddled against the
rock wall, holding his leg.

"He's here and he's alive," she called as she went ward him, stepping
over fallen beams and around of rock on the floor of the tunnel.

"From what I can see this section of the mine is partially collapsed.
There rocks and wooden supports lying all over the floor of tunnel."

"Hey, Eric," she greeted, crouching down next to little boy.

"Remember me from your visits to town?"

She'd mentally prepared herself for the worst, but seemed more scared
than injured.

Eric nodded.

"My leg hurts," he said, pointing to knee.

"Really bad," he said, his voice shaking.

"It won't bend."

"Okay, I'll take care of it."

There were several small cuts on his face, and his leg appeared broken,
from the angle at which he held it.

Marlee tried the radio, but either it wasn't working, or the signal
wasn't reaching the surface anymore.  Since she knew what she should
do, she went ahead and did what had to be done.

She winked at Eric.

"You ready to go?"

He nodded, Marlee stepped into the main tunnel, and found the radio
worked out there.  She quickly filled Lucas in on what she'd done, and
announced she was on her way up.

It was a struggle up the incline, which was nearly as steep as a
stairway.  On that stretch, Eric seemed heavier than she'd thought.  At
least the rope gave her something to hang on to, and Lucas was pulling
her along, as well.

As she got closer to the surface, she heard the earth and rocks above
her shift as a wooden support cracked.  The soft rumble continued as
she hastened toward the entrance.

She was close enough to see daylight through the opening when the roof
of the mine began collapsing.  Fear paralyzed her for a second, but the
weight of the boy in her arms gave her the courage she needed.  She
flattened against the rock wall and waited, protecting the boy with her
body.

Then, as abruptly as it had begun, the chaos stopped, replaced by
silence as dust swirled in the narrow beam of her flashlight.

Lucas called out to her on the radio.  Shaking, she set the boy gently
down and directed the flashlight around the mine shaft before
answering.

"We're okay," she replied, "but the opening I used to come in is about
half the size it was.  I can still see light trickling through, though,
so we're still getting air."

"The overhead supports out here have been sagging," Lucas radioed
back.

"We can remove rubble from the bottom, but we'll need to brace up the
wooden beams before we can bring you out.  That'll take us a few
moments, so hang tight."

Marlee gave Eric a smile.

"You know, I think you could make it through the crawl space that's
left, even though it's too small for me."  She pointed the flashlight
into the opening leading to the outside.

"My leg won't bend, but I can pull myself along and make it.  That's
how I got in, by crawling," he said.

"I just want to get out of here!"

Marlee called out to Lucas.

"Eric says he can make it, and I believe him."

"His parents agree.  Send him through.  Two additional supports are in
place."

Marlee watched Eric crawl and drag his way through the narrow opening
in the rocks with the agility only children possessed despite his
injuries.

It, wasn t long before she heard the happy shouts of Eric's mother as
she was reunited with her son.  A tear streamed down her face.  Today
she'd helped make a miracle unfold.  She felt filled with a wonderful
sense of accomplishment and wonder, something she hadn't felt in a very
long time.

"Okay," Lucas's voice came over the two-way.

"It's up to you now to clear your own path.  We've got this side
covered for you.  But work slowly and carefully, and check before you
start to shift things around."

Marlee crawled on her side, reaching ahead to find the large rocks in
her way.  Moving them one at a time, she inched forward.  It was
backbreaking work, far more difficult than she'd anticipated.  She'd
Shredded her gloves long before she was halfway done.  Finally, close
to the outside, she radioed Lucas that she was moving the final big
rock blocking her way.

"We'll be waiting.  Watch yourself."

His voice, so filled with tenderness, gave her courage.

She reached her hand around the boulder, pulling it along past her face
and neck.  The cold, crisp air brushed her face like a lover's caress,
and she could suddenly see a lot more light ahead.  She was only inches
from emerging when she heard a loud creak directly above her.

She glanced up and saw that the support beam overhead was bending, and
would snap any second.  Marlee tried not to think about it.  She looked
up and saw Lucas ahead, right outside the entrance.  One of the support
beams above the opening had sagged, and Lucas was jamming a post
beneath it, preventing the support from collapsing farther and closing
up the mine.

"Lucas, no!"  He couldn't let go now, or he could be crushed by the
beam.  He was trapped.

As she began to move toward Lucas, Josiah's arms clamped around her and
pulled her clear of the entrance.

Marlee struggled to get free.  As they tumbled out onto the snow, the
entire structure collapsed behind them.  Mar-lee screamed and tried to
run back, but granite arms held her, making it impossible.

Choking back a sob, she stared at the dust that trailed upward in
spiralling clouds, and the mountain of rubble that now covered the area
where Lucas had stood only a few seconds ago.

Chapter Sixteen

Despair swept over Marlee until she couldn't even draw breath.  A
bitterness as corrosive as the most potent acid left ," her aching,
then numb and utterly without hope.  Her fingers curled around the
carving she had in her pocket until it cut into her palm.  As a shape
began to rise from the rubble, her heart suddenly began pounding and
her knees almost buckled.

Lucas stood up, coughing and shaking off dust and debris.

Marlee ran to Lucas and threw her arms around him, kissing his dusty
face and lips.

"I thought I'd lost you," she sobbed.

"I rolled away and managed to avoid most of what came down," Lucas
managed to say, coughing from the dust.

"Guess the ladies who've said I move fast were right."

"Not fast enough," Marlee whispered in his ear.

Lucas held her tightly against him.

"My heart, watch what you say.  I might misinterpret you, and think of
all the trouble I'd be in then."

"Everyone needs to be a little reckless now and then.

We've been too cautious."  She felt his body respond to her whispered
words, but before he could answer, Josiah came up and Lucas reluctantly
released her.

"I won't forget what you two did for my boy--for my wife and for me,
too."  He shook Lucas's hand, then looked at Marlee, taking her hand in
a gentle but firm grip.

"I've heard the rumors going around about you, and I want you to know
that I'll personally punch the lights out of anyone who dares say
anything bad about you in my presence.

Whatever you need, whatever we can do for either of you, all you have
to do is name it."

Before Marlee or Lucas could answer, the sound of a siren echoed up the
narrow valley.

"Better late than never," he said, smiling ruefully.

IT WAS ANOTHER five minutes before the emergency airlift helicopter was
dispatched, and another twenty before the boy was airlifted with his
mother.

They said goodbye to Josiah, and filled Gabriel in on what had
happened.

They entered the living room of Marlee's boardinghouse and stood inches
away from each other, neither one breaking the silence.  Marlee's gaze
was filled with a gentleness that swept over him, stealing a piece of
his heart.  He felt her desire.  Knowing she needed him made him ache.
Soft and beautiful, Marlee stood close enough for him to feel the sweet
warmth of her body.

"We came too close today," she managed to say in a strangled voice.

"I kept thinking that all our efforts to protect ourselves had come
down to being nothing more than a waste."  He reached for her hand and
pressed a kiss to the hollow of her palm.

She drew in her breath as he traced a tiny circle on its center with
the tip of his tongue.

The soft sound she made almost broke him.  Desire clawed into him
fiercely and suddenly.  Tonight they'd know fires so hot that neither
would ever be the same again.

But he wanted all of her, not just her body.  He cared too much to have
it be otherwise.

"Can you finally bring yourself to trust me completely?

Will you stop holding back those secrets that keep you locked away from
me even while you're in my arms?"

"What you ask..."

"Shouldn't frighten you, my heart."

Lucas could have made love to her, fast and mindless, but he wanted so
much more than that.  He was offering her his love, but he would make
no attempt to seduce her into overcoming any reluctance she might
harbor.  It had to be her choice.  Then, when he slid into her sweet
body and felt her encase him, he'd know that they were truly one.

"Everyone has a past, but some pasts hide more ugliness than others."
Marlee stepped back, then faced him.

"You want all of me, and that's what you'll get tonight, though you may
regret it."

"Never," he said in a fierce whisper.

"Everything about you stands for life, but my past is marred by a death
that should have never happened."  She dropped down onto the sofa
cushions, then took a deep breath.

"Before I came to Four Winds, I was a licensed midwife.  I'd been
attending a young mother-to-be.  She was having a very difficult time
with her husband, who had a tendency to be nothing short of
dictatorial.  I suggested she get away for a week and go someplace
where she could relax, because she really needed to bring her blood
pressure down.  When the woman's husband found out, he called me up,
fired me, then threatened to call the police if I ever came into their
home again.  He said I was trying to ruin his marriage by turning his
wife against him."

Marlee's voice was strangled as she continued.

"She was only a few weeks from delivering her baby, I told the husband
right then that they'd need to make arrangements for some kind of
medical care, and I even offered to make those arrangements for them.
Her husband was indignant, saying he'd take care of it himself.  This
was to be their first child, and he seemed very excited about it, so I
never dreamed he wouldn't do as he said."

Marlee took several deep breaths, then continued.

"She ended up having her baby at home, with the help of a neighbor who
had no training.  A week later, she called me.

She was terrified because she couldn't breathe.  I called an ambulance
for her and rushed to her home."  Marlee took a deep breath, then let
it out slowly.

"She died of a pulmonary embolism before we could get her to the
hospital."

"You weren't to blame for that," Lucas said quietly.

"You had no way of knowing that the husband wouldn't do as he said. The
mother wasn't blameless, either.  She could have called you at any time
and told you she needed help."

Marlee shook her head.

"I knew this woman would never go against her husband.  He was a real
control freak.  I just never dreamed that he'd risk her health and that
of the child in that way.  I only met him once, when I first started
caring for Ruthie.  Yet from the way she spoke of him and their
relationship, I really believed he loved her.

What I didn't realize was that there's a big difference between love
and possessiveness."

"What about the child?"

"The baby survived the delivery without complications, but that young
woman died needlessly.  Had I been less trusting and more alert, Ruthie
might still be alive.  Maybe that's why fate punished me."  She ran a
finger over her scar.  It didn't hurt anymore.  She kept one hand in
her pocket, encircling the carving of the raven.

"I had my car accident the same night she died."

"What happened was beyond your control.  No amount of medical training
will ever give you the ability to read minds."  "But there is something
to intuition.  We both know that.  I shouldn't have ignored mine.  I
was uneasy about that situation, but because I had nothing to go on, I
ignored it."

She stopped and faced him.

"When I got out of the hospital after my accident, I walked away from
midwifery.  I traveled for a while, and made a living at whatever odd
jobs I could find.  Finally I ended up in Four Winds."

"People tell me that I'm an excellent diagnostician, and I do rely on
my instincts to help my patients.  But that's a gift that only goes so
far," Lucas explained.

"You can't blame yourself for something you couldn't have known
about."

He made no attempt to hold her, though the need to do so drummed
through him with each beat of his heart.  He was certain she'd see it
as a form of pity, or worse, consolation.

Guilt was a powerful emotion.  He knew from experience that she would
have to deal with it in her own way.  Yet unless he allowed her to see
the darkness in his own past, she would slowly draw away from him until
he lost her forever.

"You said you see me as a man who stands for life.  If by that you mean
that I'll do my best for my patients, you're right.  But if you think I
haven't made mistakes, costly ones, you're very wrong."  Lucas stood by
the window, then turned to face her.

"I served during the Gulf War.  I was a Navy corpsman attached to a
Marine recon unit.  During a mission we got turned around, and my team
walked right into an unmarked mine field.  It took just a few unknowing
steps to decimate our unit.  I had my hands full.  There were badly
injured men that I couldn't get to right away without risking
triggering another mine.  Everyone was calling out to me for help, but
I had to probe the sand with a bayonet, checking every step of the way
to get to each one."

His body began to shake as he remembered, but he allowed her to see the
way the memories still knifed at him.

It was suddenly very important to him that she see him just as he was.
When he made love to her, he wanted her to know that he was a man with
a past, but one who would treasure all she had to give.

"One of the Marines with me was a Navajo who was a close friend.  We'd
even enlisted together.  He stayed right by my side, helping me get to
the injured men as quickly I:

as possible, marking each mine he found.  While I was working on the
last wounded Marine, he tried to mark a lane out of the mine field so
we could get everyone to safe ground.  He brushed a trip wire.  An
antipersonnel mine went off right in front of him, and he and another
Marine were hit by shrapnel.  He called, out to me, and I got to him as
quickly as I could, but by then it was a triage situation.

The other Marine hit would make it if I got the bleeding stopped right
away, but my friend was already too far gone to save."  Lucas turned
away from Marlee for a moment, trying to get himself back under
control.  He didn't want to remember.  It was like pouring salt into
wounds that had never truly healed.

"You don't have to--" He raised one hand.

"Let me finish.  I need to do this--for me--for you."  He took a long,
deep breath, then continued.

"My friend needed something for the pain and needed it badly, but I
couldn't seem to get the bleeding stopped on the man I knew had a
chance.  It seemed to take forever before I finally succeeded."  He met
her gaze, letting her see him for the flawed man he was.

"My friend died in agony that day.  I will never forget the way he kept
calling out to me, pleading, begging me to help him, and how his voice
eventually grew weaker, then stopped."

Marlee walked over and hugged him hard.

"We're two of a kind, you and I. We care too much.  Somehow we both
missed the part of our training that teaches us to distance ourselves
from the pain."

"We are two of a kind, two imperfect beings who have made mistakes. Yet
in your eyes, I still see myself as the man I've always wanted to
be."

"What you see reflected in my eyes is the man you are," she murmured,
burying her head against him.

"If you understand that, then why don't you believe how beautiful you
are to me?"  He bent down and touched his lips to hers, then brushed a
kiss against the scar on her cheek.  He heard her gasp, but this time
he knew she would not pull away.

"Two people who need and care for each other more than they have a
right to, that's what we are."

As Marlee's lips parted, Lucas savored the taste of her.

Her body flowed into his, fitting into him as if they'd been created
for each other.  His tongue penetrated her lips, and stroked her mouth
until it was more a possession than a kiss.

"Lucas," she sighed.

The way she called out his name made him reckless.

He'd wanted it to be slow tonight, but he wasn't sure things would go
that way now.

Marlee's hair was like silk in against his palm.  He buried his hands
in it, wanting to memorize the feel of this woman until it became a
part of him forever.  Emotions turned to substance as he felt her
rubbing her hips against him, cradling his hardness.

His blood thundered; her breath seared his skin.  He was aware of
everything about her, but more than anything, he knew he needed more.

"Make love to me.  Make me cry out until I beg you to stop, then just
keep loving me," she whispered.

It was pure male instinct that drove him now.  He wanted her wild in
his arms, aching for him to fill her.

"I will love you--I do love you."

He hadn't meant to bind her with that admission, but the words had been
said, and it was too late to take them back, even if he had wanted
to.

Clothes fell to the floor around them.  She was beautiful, all silk and
softness.  He fell to his knees before her and ravaged her with his
hands and his mouth until she cried out, begging him to stop.

"It's just beginning.  Know me.  Feel me inside you.

You're a part of me, a part of my heart."

She whimpered with desire, unable to manage anything but another
passionate kiss as he lifted her into his arms and sat with her on his
lap in the chair by the window.

A sliver of moonlight streaked through the blinds, playing over her
skin.  As his lips closed over her breast, she arched against him.

He lifted her up, then lowered her onto him, filling her in one smooth
stroke.

Marlee's passion consumed him.  His body was on fire.

"Say it," he growled.

"Tell me you love me."  He thrust inside her, losing himself in the
moist warmth of her body.

"I do love you," Marlee cried out in one ragged breath, then clung to
his shoulders.

He wrapped one steadying hand around her waist, loving the way she
clung to him.  As she gave in to that sweet weakness of surrender, his
strength enfolded her, keeping her safe.

He trembled as he looked at her, his body sheathed by hers.  The hard
walls that had protected him from love crumbled before the passion he
saw in her eyes.

"No more holding back," she begged.

"Take me over the edge."

It was too much, more than he'd expected.  His tongue danced with hers,
mating, as he drove into her and shudders racked his body.

He had no time to think, no time for anything except the raw sensations
that heated his blood.

"It is as it was meant to be," Marlee whispered, desire burning in her
eyes.  She pressed down against him, meeting his thrusts.

It was the force of her passion that shattered him.  He felt her
muscles around the part of him that was within her, touching him,
giving him more pleasure than he'd ever dreamed possible.

It was at that moment that the man who'd held himself in perfect
control all his life, who'd lived his life bounded by a code of
discipline, lost the final battle.  He had found the love that could
sustain him, and there was no turning back.

Lucas plunged deeper, mindless, driven by the need to give himself to
her as she'd done with him.  It was the only gift worthy of what she'd
already given him.  The night flashed with lightning and fire.  Then,
as a blinding flash of heat seared through his veins, he shuddered and,
holding her tightly, surrendered.

As he held her through the last of the aftershocks, he realized that
the only real freedom he'd ever known had come through the power of
this love.

"This should have happened in a bed filled with rose petals, not here,
not like this," he whispered in a raw voice.

"No, this is exactly the way it was meant to be," Marlee sighed.

"No planned rituals, just our love, as strong and as wild as the
wind."

And that was the way she made him feel.  Nothing had ever touched him
so deeply, and no matter what their future held, she'd remain in his
heart forever.

His CELLULAR PHONE RANG early the next morning, but Marlee never even
stirred.  Lucas had carried her to her own bed halfway through the
night.  Now, with regret, he walked quietly out of her room so the call
wouldn't wake her.

A new report had come in from the lab, but the technician there had
been instructed to follow up the faxed report with a phone call.

"The water sample has shown minute traces of corn cockle.  Despite the
innocent-sounding name, that's a dangerous and poisonous herb. However,
there wasn't enough of it in the water for anyone to have experienced
adverse effects, and the symptoms you've reported aren't consistent
with a toxic reaction caused by corn cockle.  You've reported flu like
symptoms, and corn-cockle poisoning would create nausea, severe stomach
distress, sharp pains in the spine and so on."

"Could the herb have lost its potency after it had been in the water
awhile?"

"The contamination level was so low that we don't believe that there's
any way it's responsible for what you're facing there."

Lucas pondered the problem as he hung up.  If anything, this new
information raised more questions that it answered.

He went to his room, showered and got ready to go to the clinic.
Hearing a knock at' the front door, and hoping he could get there
before it woke Marlee, he quickly went to answer it.  Gabriel stood
there, looking ashen and worried.

"You don't look so good, Fuzz.  How are you feeling?"

"I'll live, but that's not why I'm here.  You and I have to talk."

"Come in."

"Where's Marlee?"

"Asleep."

"Can you come over to my office now?  I'd like to talk to you in
private."

"Let me get a few things, and then we can be on our way."

As he headed down the hall, he saw Marlee come out of her room.

"My brother's here.  I'm going with him to take care of a few
things."

"Okay.  I'll see you later, then."

He knew by the noncommittal tone of her voice that Marlee was drawing
into herself again, and pulling away from him.  He understood, because
he knew all about fear.

She'd opened her heart and soul to him, and now the full import of what
she'd done had hit her.  She was vulnerable again, and that was the
last thing she'd wanted.  Most painful of all was the realization that
he might not be able to help her through this.  Four Winds needed him
now more than ever, and he had a responsibility to the people here, a
duty that went above and beyond anything in his personal life.

Lucas fought a stab of loneliness as he accepted the fact that he might
lose the woman he loved because of that responsibility.

Not knowing what he could say, he turned without a word and joined his
brother.

They arrived at the sheriff's office a short time later.

"First the good news.  I spoke to Jake last night.  He's out of
intensive, and he's going to be okay.  But you were right, he doesn't
have a clue as to who shot him."

"He was checking the water, right?"

"Yeah, he figured that it was worth testing it at the source, but he
never expected to be ambushed and never saw what hit him."  Gabriel
stared at the file in front of him in pensive silence.

Lucas knew his brother well enough to realize that something else was
eating at him.  His guess was that Gabriel had uncovered bad news, and
intuition told him that it was something he wouldn't want to hear at
all.

Gabriel regarded Lucas thoughtfully.

"Are you getting serious about Marlee, or am I misreading things?"

Lucas didn't answer right away.

"It depends how you want to define serious.  If you're asking me if
I've made permanent plans for the future, then the answer is no."

Gabriel let out his breath in a slow hiss.

"I've got something hard to tell you.  If it turns out that you already
know about this, then I'm going to wring you out good.  But if you
don't, then it's going to broadside you badly."

"Just spit it out."

"I was doing a background check on Earl Larrabee, as you know.  I kept
at it until I found out his real name, then I stumbled onto something
else.  It turns out that Marlee and Earl come from the same town, and
neither is using the same name they had back then.  Marlee Smith is her
legal name now, but it used to be Marla Samuels."

The news hit Lucas hard.  He'd thought there were no more secrets
between him and Marlee--or was it Marla?

He silently cursed the way Gabriel had to think everything through
before speaking.

"Does she have a record or something?"  Lucas pressed.

"No.  What I found is an article that had come out in their local
paper.  Earl had filed charges against Marla Samuels for wrongful
death, but then the charges were thrown out of court."  Gabriel pushed
a computerized copy of the article that he'd downloaded across the
table.

"You can keep that one.  I have another one for my files here."

Lucas studied the photo of Marlee before the accident.

Her hair was longer back then, but to him, she looked nearly the same.
In another frame was a photo of Earl Larrabee and his wife.

"It appears the mother had complications after delivering her first
child.  Marlee had been the midwife, and the father went off the deep
end.  He threatened her at first, then later charged her with
negligence."  Gabriel pulled out a bottle of water from a cardboard
carton and fixed himself a cup of instant coffee in the microwave.

"She told me some of this recently, but she never mentioned Earl by
name."

"Earl looked a lot different back then.  Look at that photo.  His hair
was darker, and he had a beard and mustache.

He also weighed about thirty pounds more.  What I'm thinking is that he
tracked her here, and he's the one responsible for the things that have
been happening to her.

The writing on the note, the one attached to the rock that smashed her
window, is similar to Earl's."

The news of the note took him by surprise.  Another secret.

He was about to ask his brother about it, but it wasn't necessary.

"It was a simple note, just your basic get-out-of-town threat, and
there were no prints on it, so it's pure conjecture.  I'm certainly not
qualified to make any kind of official handwriting comparison."

Lucas struggled to keep his expression neutral.

"I can't tell you anything that you don't already know.  But I don't
believe that Marlee knows who Earl really is.  She's not that good at
hiding her emotions, and certainly knowing this guy was around would
upset her."

Gabriel focused on his brother.  After several long moments, he
nodded.

"I believe you didn't know about this."

Gabriel allowed the moment to stretch.

"You care for that woman--that's plain enough.  And something really
worries you.  Is it that she has secrets, or is it more?  Are you
worried that with a woman in your life you won't be able to have the
freedom to pursue the job you've chosen?  You've always prided yourself
on being a loner, and giving everything to your duties here."

"There was a time in my life when everything was simpler, when nothing
was more important to me than my duties here," Lucas admitted.

"But everything's changing.

No, I'm changing.  I don't know if this is a good thing or not.  I'm
not even sure what, if anything, I should do about it.  Whatever
happens, I won't neglect my duties here.

That's the only thing I can say with complete conviction."

He felt as if a great weight were slowly crushing him.  It was
disappointment, in himself and in Marlee for not fully trusting him.
But he couldn't get over what a gray and ugly feeling disappointment
was.

"I'm probably talking out of turn, but I need to say something.  For a
long time, I've seen you hiding behind that air of professionalism.
Nothing touched you, even the occasional death of a patient.  You
always quickly put it into perspective and went on.  That distancing
enabled you to do your job, but your way of coping with the demands of
your profession left you with no room for compassion.

Logic and reason alone don't allow for that, and it's a quality that's
very much needed in the medical profession.  I realize it comes at a
cost to you, but without compassion, you can't reach the heart of the
patient."

"Treating the whole, as the Navajo way teaches..."  Lucas
acknowledged.

"Joshua does that."

"You're learning that there's a price to pay if you allow yourself to
become vulnerable," Gabriel observed.

"But what you now have to decide for yourself is whether the cost is
worth what you're trying to attain."

Gabriel stood up, swayed back and forth like a willow in a breeze and
then fell back down into his seat.

Lucas was at his brother's side instantly.

"It looks like your work day is over, Fuzz."  He reached for his
medical bag.

"Just relax, and let me do what I do best."

AFTER TAKING GABRIEL back home, Lucas returned to the sheriff's office.
Gabriel had assured him that he'd drunk only the coffee that had been
made with bottled water, yet the symptoms had been ones Lucas had
recognized.  He hadn't said anything to Lanie or Gabriel, uncertain of
his own theory, but he'd made sure he'd administered the necessary
treatment for corn-cockle poisoning.

If he was right, Gabriel's throat would be raw for a long time, and the
nausea would also persist until the poison was completely out of his
system.  There were other symptoms that they'd have to stay on the
alert for, but Tree had come over to help.  Gabriel would have
round-the-clock care, and the best of both worlds--the Navajo Way and
medical science.

He walked to the carton filled with water bottles and inspected each
container.  All were intact.  Next he opened the can of instant coffee.
Corn-cockle seeds were black and, ground up, would be undetectable in
the coffee.

Without hesitation, he hurried out of his brother's office and went
directly to the clinic.  He would make arrangements for the private
service that was coming into town to deliver emergency supplies to also
pick up the coffee and take it to the lab for testing.  It would mean
another rush job for the lab, but he had to know if someone had
deliberately poisoned his brother.  After that was taken care of, he'd
go see Marlee.  Her lack of trust, even after the closeness they'd
known, knifed at him.

He'd made the arrangements to have the coffee tested, and was hanging
up the phone when Marlee came in the door.

"I need to talk to you," she said.

"What a coincidence.  I need to talk to you, too," he said, his voice
low and very controlled.  He wanted to shout at her, or kiss her until
she melted in his arms, and then demand that she tell him why she
didn't, or perhaps couldn't, trust him.

"Me first.  It's very important.  I went by your brother's house, and I
know he's been poisoned."

"He's going to be fine."

"I gathered that, but I don't understand how this happened.

Gabriel wouldn't have drunk or eaten anything that wasn't
prepackaged."

Lucas didn't look directly at her, not wanting her to see the pain
raging inside him.  Instead, he stared at the dust motes floating
lazily in the faint rays of the sun that trickled in through the
window.

"I don't know how for sure yet, but I think it's corn-cockle poisoning.
That's the same herb that showed up in the water."

"But how could that happen?  Gabriel only drank bottled water."  "I
suspect the instant coffee," he said.

"Corn cockle doesn't grow around here, you know.  The flowers are quite
attractive, but you can only get the seeds from specialty catalogs."

He sat up slowly, his eyes never leaving her face.

"How do you know this?"

She hesitated.

"I'd ordered some myself along with a dozen or so other packets from
the mail-order company.  It was that same shipment, by the way, that
someone took from my mailbox and replaced with dead bugs."  She shook
her head slowly.

"If those seeds were taken from an order I placed, and then used
against Gabriel, I'll never be able to convince anyone that I had
nothing to do with what's happening."  Her voice broke, but she cleared
her throat and turned around to face him.

"What about you, Shadow.

Do you still trust me?"

"If you're asking me whether I believe you poisoned my brother, the
answer is no.  But do I completely trust you?"

He shook his head.

"No more than you do me."

Her eyes widened as she turned around.

"I don't understand."

"I thought there were no more secrets between us."  He took out the
article Gabriel had given him.

"My brother found this when he was looking into Earl Larrabee's
past."

She stared at the photo.

"What has this got to do with Earl Larrabee?"  she asked, staring at
the photo.  As she saw the woman in the picture with Larrabee, the
light of recognition and understanding changed her expression.

"Now I know who my enemy is."  She looked up and held Lucas's gaze.

"But the real question is, can you believe me when I tell you that I
didn't realize who he was?"  Her gaze stayed on him.  Then, when he
didn't answer right away, she looked away.

"How much harm has this man done to my life this time?"  she added in a
tortured whisper.

"My guess is that he's the one who marked up your mirrors and photos,
and maybe did some of the other things that have been happening to you.
He probably also wrote the note attached to that rock.  The one you
never told me about."

Marlee never flinched.

"I told your brother.  He's the sheriff.  I figured you had enough on
your mind."

"The real problem is that you don't know how to trust.

Until you can come to terms with that, we don't really have much we can
give each other."  He saw the hurt that flashed in her eyes, and knew
that it went as deep as his own.

Marlee took a halting step back, then another, then turned and strode
toward the door.

"I'm going to confront Earl right now.  He's destroyed enough in my
life.  It's got to stop."  She ran out before he could catch her.

Lucas muttered an oath, then went after her, but she was already
driving off in her car by the time he reached his Blazer.

Without hesitation, Lucas jumped behind the wheel of his vehicle and
sped after her.

Chapter Seventeen

Catching up to her was more difficult than he'd expected.

Although the roads were better today than yesterday, the Blazer skidded
on the icy patches as he pressed down on the accelerator.  Marlee was
driving much too fast for the conditions of the road, and he hoped her
old tires would still grip the surface.

Anger filled him as he thought of what had happened.

He shouldn't have been so rough on her, but she'd hurt him far more
than he'd ever dreamed anyone could.  He finally reached her as she
slid to a stop at one of the town's two stoplights.  Lucas threw open
his door and strode up to her Car.

"This is crazy--you can't face Earl alone.  There's no way you can
predict his reaction.  He may have been the one trying to kill you.  As
a matter of fact, it's a good bet.

But you don't have any real proof against him, you know."

"So you're telling me to do nothing?"

"All I'm advising is that you postpone going to see him for a little
while.  We're going to need proof before we can make any public
accusations.  There's something else I think should be Checked out
first, and with Gabriel sick, I need your help to do it."

A HALF HOUR LATER, Marlee was riding with Lucas to the water tower.  He
was right.  They'd all wanted to check out that place for a long time,
but nobody had been able to get up there because of the weather.  This
was the first time the trip had seemed even remotely possible.

"If Earl is behind this, I'm going to do everything in my power to put
him in jail or an institution.  I won't allow him to run me out of this
town.  ly life is here now--I don't want to start over again someplace
new," Marlee said, her voice shaking with the strength of her
conviction.

"You won't have to.  My family and I will stand by you.

We'll all do whatever is necessary to protect you."

"In honor of Flinthawk and his legacy?"  she asked.

"Yes, but it's more than that.  In this case, it's personal."

The implications of that took her breath away.

"I don't know what to say.  I never wanted to endanger anyone, nor did
I ever expect to have such loyal allies."

"You don't see the good that is all around you because you're too
intent on protecting yourself from the bad."

Marlee started to protest, but something else caught her attention as
they approached the water facility.

"Look over there," she said.

"Jake may have broken the lock on that gate, but somehow I doubt it,
since he has a key.  My guess is that someone else came through here
with a pair of bolt cutters, and this is exactly how Jake found it."

"Let's check out the water tower itself first.  If someone tampered
with things up there, we should be able to see evidence of it plainly
enough."

When they reached the water tower, Lucas crouched down and began to
carefully remove the layer of snow that had accumulated around the base
of the ladder.

"This is interesting," he said.

"Right below the newly fallen snow there are tracks frozen in the mud.
Help me brush aside more of the snow."

"These tracks may be Jake's."

"One set probably is, but there are two sets," Lucas said, continuing
to work.

"Jake's is the larger size boot, I'd be willing to bet on that, but
this other person's footprints ... there's something odd about them."
Lucas brushed away more of the snow, finding more prints frozen into
the earth.

"This man has an unusual stride."

Marlee studied the footprints carefully, crouching beside Lucas.

"How can you tell?"

"This person walks with a limp.  See how one foot goes in deeper than
the other?"

"I can't think of anyone around here who walks with a limp, can you?"

Lucas considered it.

"There's Mrs.  Carey, but she's in her nineties.  I can't imagine her
coming out here for a walk, much less anything as athletic as climbing
the water-tower ladder."  He stood up slowly.

"And this isn't someone who walks with a cane, but rather someone with
a disability that leaves one leg slightly weaker."

Marlee touched her scar.  She'd left the small carving beneath her
pillow, and for the first time since she'd started carrying it, her
scar was now beginning to ache.  Brushing the thought aside as
coincidence, she continued.

"Maybe it's not something that's a constant problem."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Good point.  I know Alex hurt his foot a long time ago.  He used to
limp during the cold months, if I remember right.  He never came to me
with the problem, but maybe because of the damp weather, he's having
problems again."

"I've never noticed him limping, but then again, it may be that it's
only a problem in cases of extreme physical duress--which is how I'd
qualify a trek up here.  Interestingly enough, Earl doesn't have a
limp.  Maybe I was too quick to condemn him.  It's possible he has
nothing to do with any of the threats to me."

"The problem is, we could be dealing with two separate things here.
What's happening to the town, and what has been done to you, might not
be connected in any way."

They checked the water tower and, finding nothing out of the ordinary,
proceeded to the pump house.  Marlee and Lucas walked inside to look
around.  After looking under and around the machinery, Marlee saw
something on the floor, and crouched down.

"These could be corn-cockle seeds.  But it would take an awful lot more
than these to poison the town's entire water supply."

"Maybe this was only meant to mislead us right from the start.  What
got in the culprit's way was the weather, since no one could come here
to check things out."

"You mean whoever was doing this wanted us to investigate and believe
it was the water that was making people sick?"

"Yes, because then the real source of the illness would have remained
hidden, and he could continue doing the harm he intended."

She stood up slowly.

"We're dealing with a very sick person.  To randomly poison the entire
town, from infants to the very old, and to use wiles to lead people to
the wrong conclusion... Who, or maybe I should ask what are we dealing
with here?"

"Good question," Lucas answered thoughtfully, collecting some of the
Suspect seeds.

"Let's go back to Four Winds.  I need to check on Fuzz, and bring him
up-to-date on what we just found."

THEY WERE HALFWAY into town when Lucas's cellular phone rang.  Marlee
could only hear his end, but it wasn't hard to figure out that Lanie
was ill.  The ramifications chilled her to the bone.

She waited when the call was over, wondering whether to ask him to
explain.  He now knew that she'd been a midwife.  If anyone was capable
of taking care of Lanie now, it was her.  But whether or not Lucas
would trust her to care for his brother's wife was another matter.

"My brother, believe it or not, is now up and back at the sheriff's
office, taking care of a crisis there.  There was a major problem at
Rosa's.  Supplies are dangerously low again, and although Fuzz made
arrangements to have emergency supplies airlifted in, it won't be
anywhere near what's really needed.  People are running out of the
basics, and the tension is getting to them.  To make matters worse, the
weather has caused a rock slide that has reblocked the lane out of
town, and it's going to be a while before they can get it cleared
again.  I don't see things getting easier anytime soon."  She noted
that he hadn't mentioned Lanie.  The knowledge stung her, but she
remained quiet.  She hadn't told him about the note on the rock,
because at the time it had seemed pointless.  Yet because she'd kept so
many secrets, he wasn't sure of her anymore.  She couldn't blame him,
though his lack of faith in her now was breaking her heart.

"Lanie needs my help.  I'm going to stop there first.  Do you mind
going with me?  It would mean putting off dealing with Larrabee for a
little longer."

"He can wait."  She still didn't ask for any particulars about Lanie,
though she wanted to more than anything.  If he wanted to share that
information with her, she knew he would have.  To ask, particularly
under the circumstances, would have been an intrusion.

"I've got to tell you.  I'm worried about my sister-in-law.

She's in her last month now.  I know she doesn't drink coffee, and I
know my brother hasn't let her drink or eat anything that could have
been contaminated.  He takes far better care of her than he does of
himself."

"But you're thinking she may have been poisoned?"

Lucas nodded.

"And I'm worried about what that might do to the child she's
carrying."

His voice was taut, and she longed to offer him comfort, to hold him,
to let him know how much she cared.  But their time had come and gone.
Perhaps it was better this way.

They arrived at Gabriel's house a short time later.  Marlee felt
Lucas's fear as keenly as her own, but as they walked inside the house,
they both masked it well.  Lanie was at the kitchen table, sipping some
carbonated mineral water.

Marlee noted with relief that Lanie's color was normal.

As Lucas worked, checking vitals, she recorded what he needed on the
charts.  Finally Lucas stood up.

"You don't have any symptoms that are out of line with a mother-to-be,"
he assured her.

"Your baby's heart sounds strong, tOO."  Lanie placed one hand over her
stomach protectively.

"I

was feeling really queasy earlier and I guess I panicked.  I don't want
this child to arrive early.  I was afraid .... " Marlee crouched in
front of her.

"You're doing great, but you have to remember that the baby will make
its own rules.  From everything that Lucas determined from your
condition and vital signs, you shouldn't be worried."

"Lucas is so busy right now, Gabriel's gone back to work and Nydia and
Joshua rode out into the mountains to take care of a Navajo couple.  I
guess I got scared.  I keep worrying that the baby will come
unexpectedly, and nobody will be around to help."

Lucas looked at Marlee with raised eyebrows, then as she nodded, said,
"I bet that if you ask, Marlee would stay with you.  She's a licensed
midwife."

Lanie looked at Marlee in surprise.

"You never said anything!"

"I haven't worked in that profession for over three years, but believe
me, you never forget what you learn."

Lanie asked a string of questions, barely giving Marlee a chance to
answer one before she would fire off the next.

Marlee answered everything, and was glad to see Lanie relax.  Like so
many new mothers-to-be, she was afraid and excited all at once.

Soothing Lanie's fears, and knowing that she could help Lanie make the
wonderful transition to motherhood, filled Marlee with a sense of
purpose and fulfillment she hadn't experienced in years.

At long last, Lucas took Marlee aside.

"I don't think that she's in any trouble, and I highly doubt that she's
ingested any of the poison.  It would have had a more pronounced effect
on her physically.  I'm not worried about the child, either, at this
point.  Everything looks good on that score.

What I'm worried about is that we need to keep her calm, and with all
that's going on, that's a tall order."

"I'll stay with her, then.  Go find your brother and do whatever you
have to."  Marlee hadn't meant to volunteer.

She'd wanted to be asked, but it was too late now.

"That is, if you trust me to stay with her," she added quickly.

His expression grew intense, but an undeniable tenderness shone in his
eyes, something she'd never thought to see there again.

"I've already trusted you with everything that matters to me, with my
very life.  This is no different."

His words were like silk gliding over her naked flesh, but before she
could respond, he hurried out.  She watched the door for a second,
gathering her thoughts.  He was everything she'd ever wanted in a man,
and more.  But love often required sacrifice, and that was no different
now.  Lucas had made his commitment to Four Winds, and she would never
tie him down and tear him in two by forcing him to divide that
loyalty.

Hearing Lanie in the kitchen, Marlee went to join her.

Lanie was wadding up the newspaper with a fury.

"Here, let me do that.  What's going on?"

Lanie sat back down.

"I used a newspaper my neighbor wrapped a baby gift in to clean the
window.  Newspapers generally do a real good job, but the ink Alex is
using now, not to mention the paper, is a disaster.  It even smells
funny.  I used my window cleaner, wiped the pane, and now everything's
streaked.  I was going to throw it away, but I started feeling really
queasy again."

Marlee looked at Lanie's fingertips.  They were covered in blue-black
ink that smelled vaguely like insecticide.

"Wash your hands right now, okay?  You may be allergic to that
stuff."

Lanie washed off in the kitchen sink, and Marlee followed suit, a new
thought forming in her mind.  They'd been intent on looking for
contaminated food or water, because the illness had been so widespread.
But an awful lot of people in town took the newspaper, or had contact
with it.  She remembered the journalism class at the high school, and
all the kids they'd treated, kids who had yet to completely recover.

"I'm really tired.  I think I'm going to take a nap," Lanie said.

"Do you mind terribly?"

"No, not at all.  Get some rest, and don't worry about a thing."  As
Lanie went down the hail to the bedroom, Mar-lee picked up the phone
and called Mrs.  Burnham.

When Marlee identified herself, Mrs.  Bumham's voice became instantly
cautious.

"I'm just calling about Muzzy," Marlee said, trying to set her at
ease.

"I was wondering how he's been feeling."

"He's just fine, but I don't dare let him out of the house unless I'm
with him anymore.  I just worry too much.  He was really a pretty sick
little dog for a bit."

"Did you or the vet ever figure out what happened?"

"No."  Once again her voice grew hard.

She considered being more circumspect, maybe trying to make small talk,
but she was too excited for patience.  If she had found the missing
piece of the puzzle, she wasn't going to wait one more second to warn
people.

"Mrs.  Burnham, tell me something.  Do you buy the newspaper, by any
chance?"

Mrs.  Burnham didn't answer right away.  Finally, after several long
moments, she broke the silence.

"If Mrs.  Perez has been complaining, I've got to tell you, she just
likes to make trouble.  Muzzy likes to play.  Sometimes he'll bring in
my paper and get so excited he'll bring in every other paper on the
street, too.  But I always return them.  And if Muzzy chews them up, I
always replace them."  There was another pause.

"But why are you asking?  Is there an article in the paper about my
Muzzy?  Is Mrs.  Perez making trouble for us again?"

Marlee considered her answer carefully.  She was getting more certain
by the minute, but she didn't want Mrs.  Bum-ham spreading an
unsubstantiated theory at this point.

"I've been thinking of adopting a dog," Marlee said lamely, unable to
think of anything else, "and I was wondering if that's how you found
Muzzy--through the want ads, that is."

"Oh, not at all.  I went to a kennel in Santa Fe and picked him out
myself," Mrs.  Burnham continued talking so quickly, Marlee could
barely get in a word edgewise.

Finally, as Mrs.  Burnham paused a millisecond for breath, Marlee
quickly jumped in and excused herself.  As she hung up the phone, her
mind was racing.

She had to contact Lucas and Gabriel.  The Blackhorse family had
trusted her with everything that mattered to them, and now, finally,
she had found a way to repay their trust.  If this new information
proved true, perhaps they could finally solve the puzzle that had
haunted Four Winds.

But there was more than that at stake here, and she knew it.

She owed Lucas a debt of gratitude.  He'd reminded her what it was like
to feel desirable and wanted.  He'd shown her how to start truly living
again, and for that she owed him far more than she would ever be able
to express in words.

No promises had been made between them, and she would not bind him to
her in any way.  She loved him, and for her, that was enough.

LUCAS WAS AT Gabriel's office when Marleecalled and I told them what
she'd learned and suspected.  There was no proof, but it did open an
entirely new avenue of investi gation none of them had considered before.  Then, just about 
the time Gabriel and Lucas had decided to go have a talk 
with Alex, a call came in.  The emergency airlift helicopter 
was scheduled to land within fifteen minutes.  Gabriel had to meet it,
deliver the sample of coffee and a copy of the 
newspaper that needed to go to the lab for analysis, then supervise the
distribution of supplies that had been flown in.  Their plans to
confront Alex about the ink had to be postponed.

Lucas agreed not to confront Alex on his own and went to check on some
patients, planning to meet up with his brother later.  Lost in thought,
he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.  The question
of Larrabee's involvement still weighed heavily on his mind.  Gabriel
had spent quite a bit of time trying to locate the bank teller, but the
man, so far, was making himself scarce.  The thought that perhaps the
man had escaped disturbed him.

As he drove past the newspaper office and saw Alex leaving, a new
thought formed.  Gabriel had made him promise that he wouldn't try to
question Alex.  In that respect, Lucas's hands were tied.  He wouldn't
break his word to his brother.  But there was another way to get
answers.

It certainly couldn't hurt to take a look around the newspaper office.
With Alex gone, there was no one to stop him.

The idea tempted him.  He might be able to find out what, if anything,
had been put in the ink, or the paper.  Knowing that could make it a
lot easier to treat those who had become ill.  If everYthing was
locked, he'd leave.  And if he did get in, he'd wear his gloves so he'd
be sure not to leave any fingerprints that might later jeopardize
evidence in court.

He went to the back of the building and looked around.

Nothing was open.  He tried the back door, then the windows.

They were locked tight.  Then he spotted a Small high window that
probably led to a bathroom or janitorial closet.

He stared at it for a second or two.  If he had any chance of finding
an open window, the inaccessibility of that one made it the logical
choice.  Whether he'd fit through it was another matter.

He pulled one of the trash cans closer to the window, hopped on it,
then tried the window.  It gave, but not much.

Putting all his strength into it, he gave one merciless shove, and with
a creak, it slid open.

He squeezed through, and ended up with bruised ribs and a scrape on his
ann, but he was inside.  He looked around the darkened janitorial
closet, then tried the door.  It was unlocked.

Lucas went down the hall to the room where he knew the presses were,
and turned on the light switch.  He walked around, studying everything,
yet touching nothing, despite his gloves.  A large metal cabinet stood
alone against one wall, and had a new-looking hasp installed on the
doors, equipped with a combination lock.

Instead of trying random numbers, Lucas considered human nature.  He
looked around the cabinet, then opened the top drawer of a nearby desk.
On the side of the drawer, normally out of sight, was a piece of
masking tape with the numbers "36-4-18" written on it.  Lucas had the
lock off in thirty seconds.  Inside the cabinet were the supplies for
the printing presses.

Next to the bottles of printer's ink, which were double-bagged in clear
plastic, he found a heavy-duty painter's respiration mask and a set of
thick rubber gloves.  He wasn't sure if that was standard practice when
dealing with newspaper ink, but somehow he doubted it.  Most printers
used a nontoxic soy-based ink, he'd read once in this very newspaper.

As he searched behind the ink bottles, he found his answer.

Double-bagged in plastic were two bottles of Aldicarb, a highly toxic
pesticide.  One had been opened, and chemicals had stained the label to
the point of unreadability.  Lucas read the small print on the warning
label on the other bottle, and learned that it was readily absorbed
through the skin.  The symptoms--poisoning, nausea and muscle weakness,
dizziness and stomach cramps--matched the illnesses that had recently
affected the residents of Four Winds.

Lucas looked over at a big worktable where newspapers lay in stacks.
About half of the papers had been folded and placed inside plastic bags
that would protect them from the snow.  The bags were labeled, too, so
maybe the poisonings hadn't been quite as random as he'd thought.

As he was pondering that question, he heard the floor creak.  Lucas
turned around and caught a glimpse of Alex's face just before something
hard impacted against the side of his head.  Lights exploded in front
of his eyes, then vanished, engulfed by l-consuming darkness.

Chapter Eighteen

Lucas woke up slowly and painfully, aware that someone was pulling him
roughly up to a sitting position.  His hands were tied behind his back.
Before he could gather his wits, he was grabbed by his hair and
something was jammed into his mouth.  He tried to jerk his head aside
to get rid of the spout of the big squeeze bottle, but the gritty
liquid cascaded down his throat anyway.

He coughed, spitting out what he could, but he had a feeling it was
already too late.

"Goodbye," Alex said quietly.

"This wouldn't have been my choice, but you chose your own fate when
you got nosy.  Did you really think I hadn't seen you driving slowly by
my office?  You underestimated me, and that's going to cost you your
life, and more.  When they find your body, and learn you've been
poisoned with corn cockle, your girlfriend will be blamed for your
death.  Think about what your curiosity has cost you--and her--while
you're dying."

Lucas heard the door slam.  His throat burned badly.  He knew Alex had
ground up the seeds and mixed them with water, then sprayed it down his
throat.  Tasting the bits that lay burning on his tongue, he tried to
spit them out.  It was a pointless gesture.  Unless he got help soon,
he would die.

It didn't seem long before sharp pains began in his stomach and spread
to his spine.  As he felt the poison work, he tried to hold on.  Nobody
knew he'd detoured to stop at the newspaper office.  It would be some
time before anyone even realized he was missing, and by then, it would
be too late for him.  He filled his mind with thoughts of the woman ha
loved.

"Marlee," he whispered her name in the dark, as if the sound alone
would bring her to him.  Navajo ways taught that names had power. Lucas
wasn't sure if he believed that, but he believed in his love for
Marlee.

He concentrated on her face, on her softness, on the sound of her
voice.  He clung to the images, knowing that they were his lifeline.
His love for Marlee was the only thing that would help him find the
strength to endure.

MAP, LEE STARED at the phone.  She hadn't heard from either Gabriel or
Lucas in hours, and Lucas wasn't answering his cellular phone.  Lanie
was asleep, and the house was quiet.

Restless, she paced around the living room.  The uneasiness she felt
was like a poison that undermined everything she tried to do.

She paced around the room, then, catching a glimpse of herself in the
mirror, stopped abruptly.  Her scar was a dark, angry red, just like it
had been right after the accident.  She couldn't understand it.  She
ran her fingertips over it gingerly.

Was she being punished?  Was it her desire to return to midwifery that
was exacting such a painful toll on her?

The more she studied her reflection, the darker her scar seemed to
become.  She tore her gaze away from the mirror, and renewed her
pacing.  She couldn't understand why she hadn't been able to reach
Lucas.  Every instinct she possessed was warning her that he was in
grave danger.

Fear tightened its grip around her as she dialed his number again.  He
still wasn't answering his pager or his cellular phone.  It didn't make
sense, not unless he was... No.  She pushed the thought back.  She
wouldn't give in to panic.

She'd just decided to try Gabriel's number when the phone rang.  Even
as she picked up the receiver, she knew it wouldn't be Lucas.

She was right.  She listened as Gabriel asked about his wife.

"Lanie's okay, but I'm afraid Lucas might be in trouble," she said
quickly.

"I've been trying to reach him, and it's not like Lucas to be out of
touch this long."

"Something might have gone haywire with his cell phone."

"Gabriel, listen to me.  My feelings for your brother tie me to him in
a way I can't really explain.  It isn't anything magical.  It's simply
a gift women have.  Believe me when I tell you it can be relied upon,
and right now it's telling me Lucas is in trouble."

"Women's intuition," he acknowledged.

"I'm not one to discount that easily.  All right.  I'll see if I can
track him down and I'll keep you updated."

"After what we discussed earlier, I think you should probably check
either at Earl's house, at the newspaper office or wherever Alex
lives."

"Earl hasn't been seen for some time.  I already' told Shadow that.  I
also made Shadow give me his word that he wouldn't approach Alex.
That's a tricky situation, and I didn't want him to muddy the
waters."

"Lucas wouldn't break his word," she said thoughtfully, "but if he
thought there was a way to get some evidence against Alex..."

"Oh, yeah.  That sounds like Shadow, all right.  I'll head over to the
newspaper office right now."

Marlee glanced down the hall.  She couldn't leave Lanie alone.  Yet
every fiber in her body told her Lucas was in danger.  She desperately
needed to do more than simply wait for Gabriel's call.

She telephoned Nydia, hoping against hope she and her husband had
returned from the mountains.  If Joshua or his wife could come and stay
with Lanie, then Marlee would be free to help Gabriel search.  As she
dialed, Marlee heard Lucas call her name.  The whisper touched her mind
like a soft, warm summer breeze.  Marlee held her breath as a feeling
of love swept through her, then slowly gave way to a profound sense of
loss.

Marlee gasped as horror and fear drove the air out of her lungs.  Lucas
needed her; and there wasn't much time.

LYDIA WALKED into Gabriel and Lanie's house a short time later.  Her
eyes widened as she looked at Marlee's face.

"Are you okay?"

Marlee reached up and touched her scar.  Nydia's gaze had unconsciously
stopped there.

"I'll be fine--it's Lucas I'm worried about.  I need to go find him."

Lydia nodded once.

"You're lucky you called when you did.  We'd only just returned from
the mountains."  She tossed Marlee her keys.

"Take my car, and go do whatever you have to.  I'll stay with my
sister-in-law."

Marlee was surprised that she'd asked for no explanations.

"Lanie's sleeping right now, and should be fine.  I still have
Gabriel's extra cell phone, If there are any problems, call me.  I'll
be back here in a flash."

Marlee went to the boardinghouse to see if Lucas had left any message
there.  Not finding one, she retrieved her carving of the raven from
her room before heading out the door.  The moment her hand closed
around the carving, her body seemed to relax.  She knew she was
reacting like someone given a placebo, but it didn't matter.  She'd
take all the help she could get now.  A new sense of confidence filled
her.  She was halfway to the car when the cellular phone rang.  Her
heart froze as she heard Gabriel's somber voice.

"I just found my brother, and you were right.  SadoW's in bad shape.  I
think he's been poisoned, He was fled up and dumped in the shed behind
the newspaper office.  Lanie says you've had some medical training.!
could really use your help.  I'm on my way to the first-aid station
with him right now.  The airlift helicopter can't get here because of
high winds in the Santa Fe area, so I need to use the radio he has
there to communicate with the doctors over at county hospital.  The
doctors will give us all the advice they can, but my medical training
doesn't go beyond first aid."

"Mine does," Marlee said.

"I'll meet you there."

Marlee pressed down on the accelerator, knowing every minute was
critical.  The headlights would do little to reveal the glare ice on
the darkened road, but if Lucas had been poisoned, there wasn't time
for caution.  The thought of losing him filled her with such anguish
her body began to tremble.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing herself to focus only
on the present.  She hadn't lost him yet.  This was the time to fight,
not the time to grieve.

Using every bit of her driving skills, Marlee managed to keep the
unfamiliar vehicle on the road.  Then, just as she carefully negotiated
a curve, she saw a brief flash of light in her rearview mirror.

In the darkness, she couldn't make out who was behind her, but the
elevation of the headlights told her it was a pickup.  She focused
again on the road ahead, but the high-beam lights of the truck behind
her were getting brighter in the mirror, distracting her and blinding
her, as well.  She reached up to adjust the rearview mirror to divert
the light.

Just then, the pickup accelerated to ram the rear bumper of her car.

The steering wheel jerked out of her hand, but she quickly grabbed it
tightly again, fighting to stay on the road.

She tried to get a look at the driver behind her, but it was impossible
with the blinding light from the high beams.

Using all her willpower, she concentrated on one thing only, staying on
the road.  She was fighting for Lucas's life now, not just her own. Her
enemy would not win.

All she needed now was one break.  She'd try something unexpected. Just
as her attacker moved up to ram her vehicle again, she picked a spot
that looked free of rocks and turned off the road.

Bouncing around like a pebble in a can, Marlee struggled to keep her
vehicle under control.  Unless she slowed down, she'd crash into the
big rock ahead, or worse, go over the cliff just beyond it.  Marlee
managed to swing the car sideways without rolling and slide to a stop
about a foot away from the rock.

Still shaking, she saw the driver of the pickup rocket past her, the
rear end of his track fishtailing as he tried desperately to brake in
the icy snow.  The momentum of his heavy truck now worked against him,
but still, he almost succeeded.

A heartbeat later, she saw the ruby taillights slowly rise up into the
air as the vehicle tipped over the rim of the canyon.

Marlee threw open her door.  She didn't want to stop now, particularly
not for someone who'd just tried to kill her, but she had no choice.
There had been no sound of a crash, so maybe something had slowed the
descent of the pickup.

As she made her way through the snow, she called in the accident using
her cellular phone.  She got no answer from Gabriel, and the dispatcher
told her there was no one available to respond except for the volunteer
fire department, and they were already pulling someone back onto the
road who'd gone into a ditch.  It would be a half hour before they
could get to the scene.  She knew it was her responsibility legally and
ethically to help the crash victim, if she could without endangering
herself any further.

Marlee stood at the top of the incline and looked down.

The pickup had dropped about twenty feet, and was now sandwiched
precariously between two slender trees growing out of the cliff side
The driver's-side window had shattered.

The man inside was struggling to open his door, which was further
blocked by a thick stand of scrub oak brush.  The vehicle shifted as he
pushed from the inside, and one of the trees crackled with the
strain.

Marlee climbed carefully down toward the pickup, intent on learning the
identity of the man who'd tried to kill her.

She was not surprised to see Earl Larrabee inside the cab his face
covered with blood and embedded glass fragments.

Again he tried to force the driver's door open.

"Don't move," Marlee yelled.

"If you keep shifting your weight around, you'll shake the truck loose
from the only thing holding it up here."

"I can't ... won't ... stay here," he managed to say, and leaned over,
trying to go out the passenger's side.  Hehur- I ried back as the truck
began to swing dangerously.

Did you, come to gloat?

'

"I

I came to help You.  But if you keep trying to get out of there, you'll
rock the truck so much it'll fall.  You'll die.

Why don't you try crawling out the driver s-side window I

instead?"

"I can't, not without your help.  Give me your hand."

Marlee fought against her common sense, which warned her clearly
against getting within reach of this man.  She should leave this
would-be murderer to face the consequences of his own actions and hurry
to Lucas's side.

"Please, give me a hand.  I think the truck is about to go," he
begged.

Marlee knew she'd never be able to live with herself if she just walked
away from someone, anyone, in need.

Overcoming her reluctance, she extended her hand, and braced herself as
he tried to climb out of the car window to reach her.

"Ironic, isn't it?  Here you are helping me stay alive when I just
almost killed you."  He reached out the window and took her hand, his
grip tightening painfully.

"Don't you know who I really am?  I scarred up those photos your house,
and I broke your front window.  I did everything I could to ruin your
cozy life here in Four Winds.  I even blackmailed Rosa, forcing her not
to take credit from anyone to make things even more tense here in town
while I spread rumors about you everywhere.  I wanted people in this
town to turn on you just as you made my wife turn on me."

"I know who you are.  I'm really sorry that you've never been able to
accept the responsibility for your own actions.

Your wife loved and trusted you.  You were the one who refused to get
medical care for her, and she paid for your negligence with her
life."

"Your friendship with my wife is what changed her.  She stopped
listening to me after you came into our lives."  He managed to get half
his body through the window, but then, with a groan, settled back.

"What's wrong?"

"A piece of glass," he muttered.  He broke the remaining fragments from
the bottom of the shattered window then tried to crawl through again.

"You ruined my life.  You left me with a baby who had no mother to take
care of her."

"Where's the baby noW?"

"I gave her up for adoption.  I had no way of taking care of her."

His grip on her hand was viselike now, and Marlee realized he wasn't
trying to crawl out.

"I wanted you to pay for everything you stole from me--my family, my
future.  I tried to kill you and myself that night after you left the
hospital, but you swerved and ran off the road.  You survived the
crash.  But maybe it was better that way.  The scar on your face marked
you, like a leper.  You had to live your life with something that made
you as ugly on the outside as you were on the inside."

"You were in the car that almost hit me head-on?"  she repeated dully.
For so many years, she'd thought of it as divine retribution.  Now she
understood the crash that had scarred her had been no accident, but the
work of a man crazed by guilt.  The knowledge lifted a heavy burden
she'd shouldered for far too long.

The truck began to slide as Earl deliberately started rocking back and
forth.

"But it all ends now," he said.

"Judgment day is finally here, and we're going for that last ride
together."

Marlee struggled to get free of him as the track began to slip down the
incline, but his fingers clasped her wrist in a death grip.  As the
truck gathered momentum she was dragged alongside, slipping along the
icy ground.

"Let me go!"

He gave her a peaceful smile but said nothing.  His grip never
wavered.

Marlee leaned back and pushed off with her feet against the pickup. The
sudden force knocked her free of Earl's grip.

She hit the ground rolling, and reached out with her hands to grab the
brush to stop herself.  Her arms were almost pulled out of their
sockets, but she held on fight.  As I she clung to the brush, she saw
Earl scrambling to get out I of the pickup, without success.  A second
later, the vehicle carried the trapped man over the vertical drop, out
of sight.

Seconds went by, then there was a distant thump.  An explosion
followed, rocking the ground, and flames leaped out from the canyon
below.

She approached the edge slowly.  Fifty feet below, Earl's body,
illuminated by the flames, lay twisted like a rag doll upon a pile of
refrigerator-sized boulders.  Turning away, she hurried back to her
car, ignoring her own cuts and bruises.  The man's death, the hatred
he'd harbored, had all been so pointless.  Freed of her past at long
last, her thoughts turned to Lucas.  It was time to concentrate on the
living.

She managed to get Nydia's car back onto the road, and raced to the
clinic.  She prayed that she would reach Lucas in time and that there
would be something that could save him.  Breathless with fear and
desperation, she wondered how she'd cope if he were to die.  Shaking
away momentary tears, Marlee tried not to think such thoughts.  Fate
couldn't be so cruel as to rob her of love after all she'd been through
to find it.

When she arrived at the clinic, she found Gabriel by his brother's
bedside.  He glanced up at her, and then shook his head.

For a heart-stopping minute, she thought that Lucas was dead.
Everything began to spin, and her knees almost buckled.

"No, you misunderstand," Gabriel said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"The doctors say we have to wait it out.

Shadow was lucid long enough to tell me he was poisoned by corn-cockle
seeds.  The doctors told me how to treat the symptoms, but that's all
that can be done at this point."

Marlee felt Lucas's pulse.  He was weak, and his breathing was shallow.
Her knowledge of herbs told her that if he went into a coma, death
would follow from respiratory arrest.

"He needs to be in a hospital," she said.

"There's no way to get him there.  The road is completely blocked.  It
could be hours before weather permits a helicopter flight.  And he'd be
dead from exposure to the cold and climate in his condition before he
could be carried over that rock slide to an ambulance on the other
side," Gabriel answered.

"His only chance is right here in Four Winds."

"Will you give me a moment alone with him?"

Gabriel looked at her, and with a heaviness of spirit she'd never seen
in any of the Blackhorse brothers, he stood, and walked outside.

Marlee took out the raven carving from her pocket, then, taking Lucas's
hand, pressed it between their palms.  She'd never believed in magic,
nor trusted in the power of love, but now they were her only hope.

She closed her eyes and concentrated.  She remembered what the peddler
had said about the wish, and pleaded with all the strength of her
yearning heart for the life of the only man she'd ever loved.

When she opened her eyes, Lucas remained still.  There was no sign of
improvement.  It hadn't worked.  She chided herself for ever thinking
it could.  But she wouldn't give up, no matter what.  Her gaze stayed
on Lucas, tears streaming down her face.

"Lucas, please find your way back to me.  I can't come to you, my love.
You'll have to find me.

I'm here."  She pressed his hand to her heart and, as her tears
moistened his fingertips, she felt him stir.

She watched him move again, afraid to even breathe.

"It's Marlee, I'm here.  Fight with all your strength and find your way
home, Lucas," she whispered He opened his eyes slowly.

"Hello, my heart," he managed to croak in a weak voice.

"I heard your voice calling me, guiding me back."  He squeezed her hand
gently.

"I'm here."

"I love you," she said past the enormous lump at her throat.

He smiled.

"I know."  He picked up the carving of the raven that had dropped onto
the blanket covering him.

"What's this doing here?"

She picked it up quickly.

"It's my good-luck charm," she said.

"I figured we needed all the help we could get."

Hearing footsteps behind her, Marlee turned her head and saw Gabriel
had returned.  Relief was etched clearly on his face.

"Let me talk to my brother.  When I'm finished, you and I will have to
have a few words of our own.  This isn't over.  Someone out there has
gone to a lot of trouble to make our lives miserable, and now it's our
turn to return the favor."

Marlee stood up and glanced down at Lucas.  His eyes were filled with
tenderness as he gazed at her.

"You'll need to get some rest now," she said softly, then looked at
Gabriel.

"Take it easy with him."

"I'll transport him to my house, and Tree will watch over him there.
He'll be safe.  Nobody gets past my little brother," Thinking of the
huge, youngest Blackhorse brother, Mar-lee nodded.

"I have no doubt of that."

As Gabriel sat down and began talking to Lucas, Marlee allowed herself
one final glance.  Lucas was getting stronger by the minute; she could
see it.  Knowing that he was going to be okay was all that really
mattered to her now.  She wasn't sure if the carving had made the
difference, or if it had been the power of love, or if it had all just
been a coincidence.  But in her heart, she knew her actions had sealed
her fate.  Lucas had heard her' words pleading for his return, and
before long he'd figure out how she tried to use the carving.  It had,
been an act of desperation, one she wasn't sure had worked, hut it had
also revealed the only secret she'd still kept from him.  She wasn't at
all sure how he'd react when he realized that still another secret had
continued to exist between them until now.

Marlee could try to tell him the truth, that she'd never really taken
the peddler's promise of one wish seriously until fear had forced her
hand.  Yet she wasn't sure he'd ever understand or forgive her for not
telling him about it.

She touched the scar on her face gingerly.  It was now raised and
tender, and she didn't need a mirror to know that it was probably
bloodred again.  Marlee tilted down the rearview mirror and stared at
her reflection, her eyes riveted on the scar.  It wasn't red, as she'd
thought.  If anything, it was less noticeable than usual.  Yet inside,
she felt weary and scarred in a different way.  Although she'd come to
terms with her past, some experiences left permanent scars that went so
deep they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

Her biggest mistake had been to discount the power and the magic of
love.  Lucas had been right when he'd said that she'd forgotten how to
trust.  That would now cost her the love of the man she loved.

She regretted all the time she had spent protecting herself from the
one emotion that could have healed her, in whose light scars
disappeared as darkness gave way before the sun.  Now it was too late.
Her soul had been made whole through love, but it would shatter again
as she lost what mattered most.  And this time, she had only herself to
blame.

MAR LEE DROVE around town aimlessly, not knowing what to do next or
where to go.  Yet she knew she wouldn't leave Four Winds until she
faced whatever happened now between Lucas and her.  The thought of
seeing him every day, and knowing their time had come and gone, made
sadness swirl around her like a heavy cloud.  She'd always known, in an
intellectual way, that losing love could hurt, but she had never
dreamed that the devastation could be so total.

She wanted to fight to keep Lucas, but she had no idea how.  She could
beg him to forgive her, and it was possible he would, but whether he'd
be able to love her, to trust her again, was something else entirely.
She didn't believe that was possible, after all the secrets she'd kept
from him.

She stopped at Charley's gas station and filled up the five-dollar
maximum allowed during this crisis.  A few people glanced in her
direction, but it was late, and in the darkness no one saw her crying.
A sign on the self-serve pump said the lane in the highway had just
been cleared again.  She could leave, it seemed, but why should she?
She had no place else to go.  Marlee paid for the gas by leaving five
one-dollar bills on the counter for Charley, who was in the bay
underneath somebody's pickup.

She slipped back behind the wheel, and was reaching for the ignition
key when someone threw open the passenger's door and slipped inside.

Marlee jumped and stared at Alex.

"What the beck do you think-- ?"

"Shut up.  No more games, Marlee.  I know the peddler gave you
something.  I've know since the day I saw him at your house.  I want it
now!"

"The carving?  It's nothing, just a pretty raven.  It's not worth
anything."

"Yeah?  Well, I'll be the one to decide that.  Hand it over."

When Marlee hesitated, Alex pulled a small pistol from his jacket
pocket.

"I know how to shoot this.  Ask Jake if you don't believe me," he said
with a cruel smile.

"Don't make me do it again.  I've already burned all my bridges in this
stinking town.  I'm sure Lucas told you I'm the one responsible for the
illnesses here.  After shooting Jake and poisoning Lucas, killing you
wouldn't be that big a deal.

Don't push your luck."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Marlee snapped.  Reaching into her purse, she
pulled out the raven carving.

"Here.  It won't do you any good; you know.  It has no powers.  It
isn't like the bowl or the rug."

"I heard what the peddler said."  He glanced around.

"I

bugged your house.  I bought the bugs to get better stories, but this
was the best of all.  I heard the peddler say the carving grants one
wish.  If it turns out to work only for you, then it'll be your job to
make my wish for me--if you want to stay alive, that is," he said,
pressing the gun to her side.

"What makes you think I haven't used that one wish already?"

"Your lifestyle hasn't changed, and you still have that scar," he
countered.

"That does puzzle me, though.  Why didn't you use if before and get out
of this nowhere town?

It can't be much fun looking at yourself in the mirror."

"I probably have an easier time of it than you do," she retorted.

Alex shrugged.

"I'm reaching out for what I want in life.  You've spent so much time
hiding, you've forgotten how to live."

The truth in his words stung.  She wasn't sure if she'd get out of this
alive, but if she did, she meant to rebuild her life, not just mark an
endless parade of days.  If her love for Lucas was not to be, she still
owed it to herself to go back to the work she loved, to embrace life
and build a future.

"I've had it with this town, personally," Alex continued.

"I came here hoping that a miracle would happen and I'd finally find a
way to make something out of my life.  But all I've found here is
frustration and more broken dreams.

Four Winds owes me big time, and you're the one who's going to help me
get paid."

"Give me back the carving.  I'll make the wish for you.

Then you can get out of my car, and out of my life."

"No way.  We're leaving town together right now, while the road is
still open.  I know the sheriff found his brother, and that the medic
is going to live to squeal on me, so it's only a matter of time before
the law comes gunning for me.  But any roadblocks he sets up won't be
on the lookout for your car, so you're my ticket out of here.  Get
going."

Alex shifted nervously in the seat, his eyes darting all around.

Marlee saw Charley inside the garage moving around, but she couldn't
cry out.  She had no doubt that Alex was desperate enough to shoot her
at the slightest provocation.

She pushed down on the accelerator pedal several times, trying to flood
the engine.  It worked.  The smell of gasoline filled the car, and
although the engine turned over, it wouldn't start.

"Look, this is a very old car.  You could do better for yourself by
stealing another vehicle.  I'm not sure how far this bucket of mine is
going to take us."

"Try the engine again."

"Why are you doing this?  You can't really hope to get away.  Where
could you hide, now that the sheriff knows what you did to the
newspaper ink?"

Alex just laughed.

"It's too bad my plot to frame you failed.  I was rather hoping the
town would go after you a lot harder.  Then it would have been easier
to trick you into giving me the carving willingly in exchange for my
help getting out of town.  I'm not sure if my forcing you to give it to
me will make a difference, but you better hope not."

"You scattered the seeds around the pump house?"

"Sure.  I did anything I could to shift suspicion to you."

She said nothing, but continued to try to flood the engine.

"Stop that," he said.

"Keep your foot off the gas pedal.

Just turn the key."

Marlee felt sick to her stomach.  This man had almost killed Lucas, and
now he was going to use her to make his escape.  She couldn't let that
happen.

He pressed the barrel of his gun against her face.

"I

know you've always been bothered by that scar.  You know what?  Unless
you get this car started, you'll never have to worry about it again."

She heard the click as he pulled back the hammer.

"Get that thing out of my face," she said, keeping her voice steady.

He drew the gun back and laughed.

"You have more courage than I gave you credit for.  But don't push me.
Get this car going now, or I'll go shoot Charley.  Would you like
that?"

Marlee's car spluttered and then started.  She wouldn't let this maniac
get away.  Though Alex didn't know it, she was about to give the Four
Winds legacy a helping hand.

Chapter Nineteen

Lucas felt his strength returning with each breath he took.

Although Gabriel wanted him to stay in bed, he knew he had to get
going.  He'd heard Marlee making her wish, pleading that he be restored
to health.  Her love had bathed him in a warm light filled with
promise, and it was the strength of her feelings for him that had shown
him the way back.

He wasn't sure what part the carving she'd brought along had played in
restoring his health, if any.  Maybe it had all been part of the
blessing Flinthawk had bestowed on their town so many years ago,
promising that no evil would ever prevail here.

The only thing he knew for sure was that Marlee loved him.  Though she
had kept yet another secret from him, the love he felt for her was so
strong, so binding, that nothing else seemed important in comparison.
If anything, through her actions she'd tested the strength of their
feelings.  If she had truly believed that the carving had power, the
one shining truth that had come out of that moment was that she'd used
the wish to help him, not herself.

"I've got the state police manning a roadblock on the only open road
out of town.  If Alex tries to drive out of Four Winds, we'll catch
him.  Now, let me get you over to my house.  Tree will keep an eye on
you there."

Lucas sat up slowly, surprised by how quickly his strength was
returning.

"What if Alex doesn't try to leave town?"  "Why would he stay?"

"Think about this.  Earl Larrabee wouldn't have had any reason to bug
Marlee's home, he already knew who she was.  He'd tracked her here.
That means Alex must have been the one to plant the bug.  That man must
have hated Four Winds with everything he had.  Look at his life here.

He wanted to be the one who ran the paper.  He wanted respect.  Then,
when he finally gets his chance during Ralph Montoya's absence, there's
no real news except Bradford the buffalo and the early storm.

"But he spots the peddler's van in Marlee's driveway, or followed it
there, more likely.  He thinks this is his big chance to make a name
for himself.  He bugs Marlee's home, and figures that the real story
will lie in whatever the peddler gives Marlee.  But she refuses to tell
him or anyone else what that is, or even admit a gift exists.  What he
wants most of all is a once-in-a-lifetime news story.  He may have been
waiting for the peddler's return all this time, and kept an eye on me,
knowing I'm the only Blackhorse brother who hadn't been affected yet by
the old man's visits.

Why else would he have purchased an electronic bug and a tracking
device beforehand, unless it was for something like this?

"But the peddler thing turns out to be no news because this time
nothing happens, so he decides to punish Four Winds and come up with a
big story all at the same time.

This 'epidemic' sold a lot of papers, and he must have gained perverse
pleasure knowing he was spreading an illness with his very words, at
least in the ink.  He could even select who got sick by how he
distributed the papers.  Some had the poison, some didn't.  That
explains the labels on the newspaper bags, which he'd never used
before.  He knew it would point suspicion toward those who didn't get
sick.  But ultimately his style of reporting gets him even less respect
than before.  Alex is still Alex, and he hated the lack of attention
people paid him.

"At that point, he's still got one chance.  The peddler's gift to
Marlee -and that one magic wish.  It's the only thing that Four Winds
can give him now, and he figures it's his just dues.  But Marlee's
standing in his way."

Gabriel stood.

"I'll go find her right now."

"We both will," Lucas said, getting to his feet.

"Alex is not your responsibility."

Lucas stepped around his brother, surprised that he felt as strong as
he did after being so ill.

"You're right, Alex is your problem.  I'm not concerned about him.  I'm
going after Marlee."

Lucas went to the boardinghouse first, but neither Marlee nor her car
were there.  He drove around, determined to find her.  As he came
within sight of the police roadblock at the rock slide, he was
surprised to see her parked by the side' of the road.  Then he noticed
Alex was with her.  Unfortunately Alex saw him, too.

Lucas turned abruptly, but it was the wrong move on the icy road, and
he nearly spun completely around.  By the I time he was back in control
and headed in the right direction, Marlee's car was racing back toward
town.

Lucas didn't dare take his eyes off Marlee.  Determination and fear
filled him.  If Alex harmed Marlee, no hole on earth would be deep
enough for him to crawl into.

Marlee was blood of his blood and bone of his bone now.

No one, not even his brothers, had ever been so close, so much a part
of him.

"Hang on, my heart.  You're not in this fight alone."

Ahead Marlee turned off onto a dirt road that led into the mountains.
Lucas raced the Blazer down to the turnoff.

He had just reached the road when he saw Gabriel's vehicle
approaching.

Lucas stuck his head out the window and in a few sentences filled his
brother in.

"I'll call Tree.  You try to keep them in sight, and I'll see if I can
cut them off," Gabriel said.

Lucas nodded and roared off, his eyes focused on the forest road ahead.
He'd have help now.  Lucas knew there were few things that could' stand
against the Blackhorse brothers, and nothing had the power to keep him
from the woman he loved.

Less than five minutes later, his cellular phone rang, and Lucas heard
his youngest brother's voice.

"I'm in this with you," Joshua said, letting Lucas know he'd joined the
chase.

"My guess is that Alex will try to go through the south pass.  It's the
only unblocked road, and though it might take hours, a car could
possibly get through."

"They won't make it that far," Lucas said.

"I can see her car up ahead."

To his surprise, Lucas saw Marlee's sedan slowing down.  It didn't make
any sense until he noticed the peddler's old van ahead, blocking the
road.  Marlee skidded to a stop.

Alex hauled Marlee out of the car, keeping her in front of him and his
back to the sedan.

"Old peddler," Alex shouted.

"I want you to look into that bag of tricks of yours, and find
something that will make it possible for me to get out of town."

Alex tied Marlee's hands to the car door handle with his belt.  Then he
glanced back at Lucas, who had stepped out after blocking the road
behind Marlee's car.

"If you come any closer, I'll shoot her.  Clear?"  he said, stroking
Marlee's cheek with the barrel of his gun.

Lucas stopped cold.

"You can't get away, Alex.  Give it up."

"The game's not over yet, Blackhorse, not by a long shot."

The peddler waved for Alex to approach.

"I'm an old man.  I won't fight yOU.  If you want my wares, then come
over here and pick something out for yourself."

As Alex turned and hurried toward the van, Lucas met the peddler's
gaze.  The old man smiled.  Suddenly a thick cloud of dark gray smoke
billowed from the van, obscuring everything around them.  Three shots
rang out, then all they could hear was Alex cursing.

Lucas ran toward Marlee blindly, more afraid of the peddler's magic and
the cost it exacted than of Alex and his gun.  The air shimmered around
him.  He wasn't sure what was real and what was illusion.

Lucas reached out, sensing Marlee wasn't far.  Then he felt the warmth
of her body near him, and his hands tangled in her hair, skimming its
softness.  She was here, with him.

He untied her quickly.  For that one brief eternity, nothing else
mattered to him except that she was okay.  He wanted this woman in his
life, to love, to take care of, to share the things that mattered and
the things that didn't.  And he needed to tell her so.

"I won't let you go without fighting for you, my heart," he whispered
as he guided her to the safety of his vehicle, hoping to reach it
before the smoke cleared.

"You're mine.

It's as it was meant to be."

Instinct guided him through the worst areas where he couldn't even see
his own hands, much less the car tracks.

Feeling for the door handle, he helped her inside, then followed her.

Alex suddenly stopped cursing, and was deathly silent for a moment.
Then Lucas heard a curious crackle in the air, and the sound of a siren
rose up around him like the cry of an angry war god.  As the smoke
cleared, Lucas saw that the peddler and his van were gone.  Alex was
standing alone in the middle of the road.  He was looking around
fearfully, waving his pistol, yet he didn't make a sound.

Then Gabriel's Jeep came into view, and Joshua's truck appeared from
the other side, locking him in.

As Gabriel stepped out of the Jeep, Alex made the woods, his bad leg
slowing him down.  Joshua cut him off before Alex could get far.
Picking him off the ground by the collar, Joshua carried him back to
Gabriel.

Lucas and Marlee went to join Gabriel as he handcuffed Alex to the back
seat of the Jeep.

Gabriel grinned at his mid He brother.

"Looks like you finally caught her.  The question is, now what are you
going to do with her?"  He gave Marlee a wink.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," Lucas said, smiling down at Marlee,
his ann draped over her shoulders possessively.

"Where did the peddler go?"  Marlee asked.

"I'd like to talk to him about that magic trick of his."

"Wouldn't we all?"  Joshua said.

"He's a part of Four Winds.  I expect he'll be back someday.  If we're
lucky, we may get to talk to him then."

As Gabriel took Alex off to jail, and Joshua drove away to rejoin Nydia
and Lanie, Lucas pulled Marlee into his arms.

"It was thoughts of you that kept me alive, kept me fighting, when I
Was locked up in that shed."

Marlee leaned against him, savoring his touch.

"Then we're even, because you've given me back my life.  For the first
time in years, I want to do more than just mark the passage of days.
You don't have to trust me again--I don't expect that--but I hope that
someday you will forgive me."

Lucas continued to hold Marlee.  He had no idea how, but he had to find
a way to make Marlee believe he had faith in their love.  When a heart
was filled with love, there was no room for fear or the need for
caution, or room for doubt.

Lucas groaned as his cellular phone rang, but ethically knew he
couldn't ignore it.  Hearing the news on the other end, he smiled.  It
was definitely a time for miracles.

Lucas closed up the phone and smiled at Marlee.

"It seems our presence is required right away."

"Our presence?  What are you talking about?"

"Four Winds is about to get a new resident, and Lanie wants you to
handle the delivery.  Do you suppose you'll want an extra pair of hands
to help out, or maybe even a cheering section, 'cause I'd sure like to
be there when my new niece or nephew is born."

Sin HOURS LATER, Marlee took the small blanket-wrapped bundle and
presented it to Gabriel.  The look on the baby's father's face made a
piece of her heart melt away.

Lucas stood close beside Marlee as his brother and sister-in-law
celebrated their new daughter's arrival.  You were magnificent, my
heart," Lucas whispered in her ear.

"This work is a hard-earned gift that's rightfully yours, and you
obviously love it.  It also insures you'll always be needed here in
Four Winds."

Holding her tiny daughter, Lanie looked up, her eyes weary but filled
with joy.

"Shadow is a great medic, but having a midwife around would be
wonderful.  I hope you're planning to set up an office here in town."

Marlee smiled.

"Already Planning on the next baby, are you?"

Lanie laughed.

"Well, my daughter will need brothers and sisters."  "Have you settled
on a name for her?"  Marlee asked.

"Hope.  It's what Four Winds offers everyone whose motives are
right."

Marlee nodded.

"It's a good name."  Giving the child a kiss, Marlee walked outside,
leaving the family to celebrate their new addition.

Lucas followed her a moment later.

"Listen to what your heart is telling you."  He turned her to face
him.

"We belong to each other.  Four Winds has offered us a gift, but we
both have to accept it."

Marlee fought the tears that stung her eyes.

"I do believe in your love for me.  We've come too far for me to doubt
you."  Deliberately she moved her hair aside and touched her scar.

"But are you really ready to live with this reminder of my past, waking
to it every morning, seeing it every night?"

He pulled something out of his pocket, then took one step back.

"If my face was scarred like yours, is that all you'd see when you
looked at me?"  In a flash, Lucas flicked open the blade of his knife,
then pressed the steel to his face.  A trickle of blood began where the
tip dug into his skin.

With an anguished cry, Marlee pulled his hand away, then sighed with
relief, seeing the wound wasn't deep.

"Maybe it's time to stop thinking and just let our love guide us," she
said, stepping into his arms.

He held her tightly against him.

"I couldn't have put it better myself, my heart."

Lucas heard his brother inside the house laughing and celebrating with
his wife and new daughter.  It was a time for healing and new
beginnings in Four Winds.  Most important of all, it was a time for
love.