The Texan's Dream by Jodi Thomas Page B

price.” She stared directly into his intense eyes. “No price can be put on a child.” SEVEN
    KARA SAT SILENTLY STARING OUT THE WINDOW AS the train moved through the rain. The job she thought was so perfect when she first heard about it now appeared muddled and complex. She hadn’t just been hired because of her skill or the interview, but partly because of her black hair.
    Jonathan seemed to relax as the train migrated into open country. He looked younger with the man called Wolf by his side. Kara knew Jonathan was far more a man and less a boy than Wolf’s treatment might imply. Both men knew it also, yet they each played their part, she assumed out of comfortable habit. She wasn’t sure she’d call them friends, but there was no doubt the two men respected one another.
    Kara watched Jonathan Catlin out of the comer of her eye. Whatever bothered him lay all the way in the core of his being. It almost seemed that he wanted to be a spectator in life but kept colliding with the cast. She had to admit his dark good looks attracted her, but his formal manner silently warned her not to step too close.
    “We’ll need a reason for going into the Apache camp.” Wolf rubbed his beard. “We can’t just drop by for a visit.”
    “I’ve thought about that.” Jonathan looked directly at Wolf, leaving Kara out of the conversation. “We wrap a shawl up like a baby bundle, and I’ll tell the guards my wife wants the medicine man to take a look at our baby. When we walk out a few minutes later with a real baby, it won’t seem strange. Quil told me he’d be watching for me to return. I’ve no doubt that if the guards show any interest in the baby, Quil will draw their attention.”
    Wolf shook his head. “Fort Elliot has got an army doctor stationed there. No settler is going to have a medicine man look at a baby when there’s a doctor available.”
    “What if I say my wife’s out of her head and insists on seeing the medicine man?” Jonathan looked at Kara for the first time in several minutes.
    “Oh, thanks,” she snapped. “How about we just say my husband is crazy.”
    Wolf looked from Kara to Jonathan. “It’s a close call. Neither of you have all your brains if you’re even considering this. The army won’t take kindly to removing folks they’ve put under guard. Even little ones.”
    “I have to try. I promised Quil.”
    Wolf nodded at Jonathan. “If it means that much to you, I’ll go along. Besides, my Molly would never forgive me if I didn’t try to save a baby. I don’t know about helping Quil though. From what I’ve heard, he’s been nothing but trouble for the army.”
    “I don’t care about that,” Jonathan answered. “If you’d seen his eyes like I did, you’d understand. It took a great deal out of him to ask for help, from me or anyone. That baby’s all he’s got left to live for. His family is dead, his wife, hell, his whole way of life. His child is all he has left. It’s what keeps him breathing.”
    Kara turned back to the window remembering her own loved ones and wishing she’d been allowed to stay and fight. She didn’t want to think her father might already be dead and she didn’t even know it. If he was, she hoped she never found out. Somehow it was easier thinking of him just living away somewhere apart from her, than knowing he might be cold in a grave.
    The men continued to make plans to get in and out of the stockade without causing suspicion. Most of the captured were Comanche, but the army had called it an Apache camp. According to Jonathan, the captives knew they were in no great danger and would simply be shipped to reservations, so there was no need for a heavy guard.
    Wolf finally came up with the idea that Kara would be looking for her long lost brother who’d been kidnapped by the Indians. Jonathan was along as an interpreter, and Wolf would fit in because families looking for relatives often contacted the Texas Rangers. He’d played out this scene for real so many times it should be no problem making believe this