Page 23 of Shoshone Sun (Native Sun #3)

- Peter Jacobs Homestead, Fall 1867

Ninety miles west of Fort Laramie –

The sight of Peter’s cabin, nestled in the valley like a beacon of safety, sent a wave of relief crashing over Jane. She urged her horse forward, the powerful animal responding eagerly to the squeeze of her calves against his flanks, her heart racing as she galloped toward the structure. The wind whipped her hair behind her, and the rhythmic sound of hooves pounding against the earth echoed in her ears. The familiar scent of the pine trees and the crisp mountain air was a comfort, yet she could feel an ache of longing for the love she had left behind in Flying Arrow’s village.

As the cabin loomed closer, a smile spread across her face. She was almost there. Soon, she would be in Susan’s arms, hearing Petey’s laughter again, and the warmth of family would fill the void that had grown in her heart since leaving Standing Buffalo behind. She was eager to be with her family, to settle the questions of their well-being and spend some time with them before returning to her life in the village.

But as she drew closer to the cabin, something caught her eye. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw an unfamiliar buckboard wagon parked near the barn. It was an old wagon, its wheels large and wooden and its body heavy with the weight of time. A shadow of unease crept up her spine at the presence of this strange wagon that seemed so out of place against the familiar backdrop of Peter’s homestead.

She shook the feeling off, willing herself to focus on the happiness she was about to share with her sister. Still, the sight of the wagon stayed with her, a lingering oddity she couldn’t explain.

Reining in the horse, she dismounted and hurried to the door as quickly as she could, considering the heaviness of her pregnancy. Before she could knock, the door swung open, and there was Susan, her face lighting up with the kind of joy Jane hadn’t realized she had missed so much.

“Oh Jane!” Susan cried, her voice full of disbelief and delight. She pulled Jane into her arms, holding her tightly as if afraid she would disappear again. “I didn’t expect you! What a wonderful surprise!”

“I had to come,” Jane murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “I missed you, Susan. I needed to see you before the baby comes. I’m so glad I made it.” She squeezed her sister tightly, overwhelmed with the relief of seeing her again.

Peter appeared behind Susan, his face breaking into a grin. “Well, look who it is!” he boomed, walking toward her with open arms. He enveloped her in a bear hug, lifting her off the ground in his excitement. “It’s been too long, Jane. We’ve been missing you.”

“I’ve missed you both so much,” Jane whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. The joy of seeing her family again was overwhelming, but there was a knot in her chest that she couldn’t quite shake, something still unsettling about the strange wagon outside.

Last but not least, Petey toddled up to her. She lifted him in her arms and swung him around joyfully.

“Baby?” he said, pointing to her tummy.

“Soon,” she responded laughing. “Soon.”

Susan began to say something to Jane, but stopped as the door of Jane’s old room opened and a man walked out of it, a man Jane had never expected to see again. He was tall, with dark hair and a strong build, but it was his eyes that froze Jane’s breath in her chest.

Fred.

Her former fiancé, the man who had broken her heart all those years ago back in England. The man who had rejected her after promising her a future together, whose father had sent her and her family away from their home with nothing but bitterness and betrayal. The sight of him here, standing in Peter and Susan’s cabin, was enough to make her stomach twist in disbelief.

He was still as handsome as she remembered, yet there was a new weariness in his eyes—and an emptiness that hadn’t been there before. As their eyes met, Jane’s world seemed to still. She felt as if the years between them had evaporated, leaving nothing but the echo of pain and unfinished business.

“Fred?” Her voice trembled despite her efforts to sound steady.

Fred stepped forward, a small, tentative smile forming on his lips. “Jane, for so long I never thought I’d see you again,” he said, his voice softer than she had expected. There was a sincerity in his eyes, but it didn’t erase the hurt that hung between them like a dark cloud.

“I—what are you doing here?” Jane stammered, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. She wanted to run, to flee back out the door and into the safety of the wilderness, but her legs felt frozen to the floor.

He seemed to hesitate before answering, as if he too were unsure of how to begin. “I ... I’ve been looking for you,” Fred said quietly, his voice strained. “I never wanted to hurt you, Jane. I was a fool back then, and I regret every moment of it.”

Jane felt a sharp pang in her chest, memories of the way Fred had looked at her before he’d broken their engagement, the way his words had cut through her like a knife. How could he stand here now, speaking to her as if everything could be undone? As if he could undo the pain he’d caused?

“You hurt me,” she whispered, the words tasting bitter on her tongue. “You broke my heart, Fred. I thought I would never be able to love again.”

Fred’s face tightened with remorse. “I know. And I’m sorry. But I didn’t know what I was doing back then. I ... I thought I was doing the right thing. My father forced my hand. I thought it would be a brutal betrayal of my family if I opposed him. But I was wrong. I should have stood up to him!”

Jane’s gaze dropped to the floor, her hands trembling. She couldn’t listen to him anymore. She had moved on. She had found something real, something true in Flying Arrow—something Fred hadn’t given her.

Then, in a voice that seemed to freeze the air around them, Fred spoke again. “The woman I married instead of you ... she died in childbirth. It was sad, but I never did love her. I’m free now, Jane. I can marry you, the only woman I ever truly loved!”

Jane’s heart stopped. The room seemed to spin around her, and the words that fell from Fred’s mouth were like an iron weight upon her chest. She could barely process them at first, but when the realization hit, she recoiled, her stomach churning with horror.

“No,” she said, shaking her head firmly. “No, Fred. I will never marry you. I’m married already. I’m with Flying Arrow now.”

Fred’s face shifted, a shadow falling over him. “But we were supposed to be together, Jane,” he insisted, his voice growing desperate. “We were meant for each other. Don’t you remember? The plans we had—everything we talked about.”

“I remember, but I’m not that woman anymore,” Jane replied, her voice trembling with the force of her conviction. “I’ve moved on, and I’m happy now. I’m married to a man who truly loves me.”

“We tried to tell him, Jane,” Peter interjected.

“But he refused to believe us,” Susan added. “He said he was certain that you still loved him and would come with him back to England!”

“Never!” Jane shouted. “I will never come back to you!” Fury enveloped her now. How could he believe she would simply drop her marriage for him? It was incredulous.

For a long moment, Fred stared at her, his face filled with anger. Then, without another word, he turned away, storming out of the cabin with such force that the door rattled in its frame. “I’ll sleep in the barn and leave in the morning,” he spat behind him.

Susan hugged Jane as Peter patted her back.

“We’re so sorry, Jane,” Susan said. “I thought we’d convinced him he was too late. When you arrived, we thought he’d just want to say hello to you and then be on his way.”

“We didn’t dream that he’d still expect you to come back with him after we told him you were happily married and with child!” Peter agreed.

Jane took a deep, steadying breath, her eyes travelling to the door. “I think he finally got the idea. I feel a little guilty if that hurt him but….”

“Don’t feel that way! He broke your heart!” Susan cried.

“I agree. You have nothing to feel bad about, Jane,” Peter reassured her.

Jane took another deep breath. “Yes, you’re right,” she said. “Of course I don’t ... not after what he did to me.” She sniffed back the tears that had been forming.

The rest of the evening passed in quiet but somehow tense conversation. Although Jane tried to shake off the encounter with Fred, her heart was still racing, her mind spinning with everything that had transpired, and she couldn’t truly relax.

Later that night, as the family settled down to sleep, Jane lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The moonlight filtered through the window, casting soft shadows across the room. But even in the quiet of the night, she couldn’t escape the feeling that something was wrong. Eventually she fell into a fitful sleep.

Suddenly, Jane was jerked awake. She gasped as hands grabbed her roughly, pulling her from her bed.

Before she could scream, a cloth was shoved into her mouth, gagging her. She struggled against the hands that held her, but they were too strong. Panic surged through her as she realized who it was—Fred.

“Don’t fight me, Jane,” he hissed, his voice low and filled with malice as he tied her hands and feet. “You’ll come with me, and you’ll be mine again. You don’t have a choice. I won’t leave you here with some heathen savage!”

Her heart pounded in her chest, and she tried to scream, but the gag muffled her cries. Fred dragged her from the bed, across the cabin floor, out the door, into the yard, and threw her in the waiting buckboard wagon.

Jane’s heart leapt with hope when she heard Peter’s voice cut through the night. “What’s going on?” he yelled, his voice sharp with alarm.

Fred didn’t hesitate. Swinging onto the wagon, he grabbed the reins of the horses, snapping them to life. The horses lurched forward, the chest of the closest one knocking Peter to the ground. Jane’s hope dissolved into despair.

The rest of the night was a blur of panic and fear. When Fred had tossed her like a bag of rubbish into the wagon, he’d knocked the breath out of her. She couldn’t move, her hands and feet bound tightly, the ropes digging painfully into the flesh of her wrists and ankles. Panic nested in her chest, the terror of being taken from her family, from everything she knew.

Her breath came in sharp, frantic gasps, but the gag in her mouth made it hard to breathe, the cloth stifling her cries. The night was quiet save for the pounding of hooves as Fred repeatedly snapped the reins, urging the horses faster.

No , Jane thought, her heart pounding in her chest. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.

It must be a nightmare! But the rough jerking of the wagon, the sound of the horses’ labored breathing and the pounding of their hooves made it clear that this was real. Fred was taking her. He was kidnapping her!

Her body rolled from one side of the box to the other as the wagon lurched forward, the rough wooden wheels clattering against the uneven ground. The path they were on was rocky, twisted with the uneven terrain of the wilderness, and each bump sent a jolt through her body. Her legs were throbbing, the ropes around her wrists and ankles stung like fire, and her arms pulsed in agony from being stretched behind her.

Still, she fought against the ropes, struggling with every ounce of strength she could summon. But the bindings were too tight and the more she moved, the more they dug into her skin. The gag made it hard for her to breathe as the darkness of the night wrapped around her like a suffocating cloak. The weight of the growing distance between her and her family was overwhelming.

Tears burned at the corners of her eyes as she thought of Susan and Peter. And of little Petey who would wake to find her gone. Her heart twisted in agony. She had just found them again, just stepped back into their warmth and love, and now she was being ripped away. The desperation she felt was almost too much to bear.

The wagon bounced again, and Jane’s head slammed against the side of the box. Her vision blurred as pain shot through her skull. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog in her mind, but it was no use. The journey was taking its toll on her body, on her sanity.

As they rode over the rough path, her thoughts began to race. What did Fred expect of her? Why had he come all the way here, after all this time? She couldn’t make sense of it. He had been cruel to her once—had broken her heart and shattered her life. She had thought him gone from her world forever, but here he was, dragging her away from it.

She swallowed hard, tasting the bitter salt of tears at the back of her throat, but there was no time for grief, no time for self-pity. She had to think. She had to survive. She couldn’t let Fred break her again. Not now. Not after everything she had fought for.

The horses continued to gallop through the night, the landscape blurring in the dim light as they moved deeper into the wilderness. Jane’s body ached with the brutal jolts of the wagon, but her mind was now sharp, focused on a single thought. She had to get free. She had to make it back to her family, back to Flying Arrow.

She tugged at the ropes once more, biting down on the gag as the wagon rolled over another rocky patch of ground. The pain in her hands and arms was excruciating, but she didn’t give up. Not yet. She couldn’t.

Fred’s voice drifted back to her as he shouted at horses, urging them to go faster, and the sound deepened her despair. The road was endless, the path leading into the unknown, and Jane had no idea how long it would take before she could find a way out.

What if she couldn’t?