Frontier Bride. Ana Seymour

of subjects. A dark thought entered his head. Perhaps some unscrupulous lout like Hugh Trask had hurt her in the past, and that was what made her look at him like a rabbit caught in a trap.

      “What was it you needed to talk to me about?” he asked gently.

      “Nancy Trask. This pace is too much for her. She’s growing weaker each day, and Eliza says if she doesn’t rest, she’ll not have the strength left for the birthing when the time comes.”

      Ethan tore his thoughts away from Hannah and her past. “I warned the Trasks before they came that it would be difficult for her.”

      “Perhaps it was a mistake for them to come, but that doesn’t alter the fact that she’s wearing out, and we have to do something about it.”

      Ethan stood and paced to the other side of the fire. “We can’t stop yet. I have to think of the welfare of the whole group.”

      Hannah stood up, indignant. “So ask them. I’m certainly willing to stop. And I’m sure Mr. Webster and the Bakers will not object.”

      He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

      Hannah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Just a few moments ago Ethan had sounded caring and tender. He’d implied that he had some feelings for her, and she had begun to believe that those feelings involved more than the male lust her mother bad talked about. But perhaps her mother had been right, after all. She glared at him across the flames. He looked big and menacing as the firelight flickered red across his dark face. “I can’t believe you won’t stop and let her rest for just a day. Why should there be such a hurry?” Hannah asked, her voice pleading.

      “I told all of you who signed on this trip that my authority on the trail has to be absolute. We head out tomorrow as usual.”

      Hannah would have shouted at him if she hadn’t been afraid of waking up the entire camp. Instead she put her hands on her hips and said as forcefully as she could, “Mrs. Trask’s life is in your hands!”

      “All of your lives are in my hands,” he replied with irritating calmness.

      Hannah removed her hands from her hips and crossed her arms. Then she uncrossed them. She tried to think of something more to say. Ethan continued to watch her silently. Finally she gave a huff of irritation and marched back to her tent.

      Hannah was not willing to give up and let Captain Reed have the final word. He might be their guide, but he evidently didn’t have the humanity to see that one of their group was suffering. She approached Randolph as he was leading two of the horses down to the river for a drink. He turned to her with the new, special smile that seemed to be just for her and that still startled her each time she saw it. “Good morning, Hannah. Did you and my bairns sleep well last night?”

      “Good morrow, sir. We slept fine, but I’ve a concern I’d like to discuss with you.”

      Randolph dropped the horses’ leads and let them move to the river’s edge. “What is it? You look up-set.”

      “It’s Mrs. Trask. She needs some time to rest before we move on. I talked to Captain Reed about it last night, and he absolutely refuses to stop.”

      Webster frowned. “You talked to Reed?”

      “Aye. He gave me no reason whatsoever, simply refused to slow down our progress for any cause.”

      “When did you talk to him, Hannah?”

      Hannah had the impression that her employer was more concerned about her conver-sation with the captain than about the health of Mrs. Trask. “Last night by the camp fire. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take the opportunity to approach him after everyone else had retired.”

      “I don’t like you talking with him alone.”

      Hannah shook her head in exasperation. She had yet to sort out her feelings about her meeting with Ethan Reed. But it frustrated her that Randolph was focusing on that rather than the matter at hand. First the captain, now Randolph. Why was it so difficult for them to pay attention to the health of a pregnant woman? They seemed to have everything else on their minds but what she was telling them.

      “Mrs. Trask is too weak to travel,” she repeated in a slow, deliberate voice. “I’d like your help to convince Captain Reed that we should take a day of rest.”

      Finally Randolph seemed to grasp what she was telling him. “Is she sick?” he asked.

      “No. But the babe is weighing heavily on her. Eliza says that if we’re not careful, she could have it right out here on the trail.”

      Randolph grew pale. Hannah remembered that in the first year of her indenture Mrs. Webster had suffered a miscarriage. Her disease was already in evidence by then, and Hannah had privately thought the loss was a fortunate thing for the health of her mistress. But Mr. Webster had been extremely upset. “Then we must stop and let Mrs. Trask rest,” he said.

      Hannah gave a wan smile. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

      They left the horses drinking and went to find Ethan, recruiting Eliza along the way. The captain was at the back of the campsite fixing a broken cinch. He looked up as the three approached him, his smile fading when he saw the determined expressions on their faces.

      “Good morning,” he said mildly.

      “I understand that Hannah talked with you yesterday about Mrs. Trask’s condition and you refused to listen,” Randolph started out bluntly.

      Ethan put the saddle to one side and stood, towering over all of them, even Randolph. “I listened to her. I just wasn’t able to accede to her request.”

      In the harsh morning sunlight he looked every inch the woodsman, his broad chest filling out his buckskin jacket and his dark brown hair flowing freely down to his shoulders. Hannah felt her pulse quicken as she watched him facing her employer, his full mouth set in a pleasant smile that did not reach his eyes. She couldn’t believe that last night he had pressed that mouth to her skin.

      Randolph appeared not the least intimidated by the captain’s size. “It so happens, Captain, that we are paying you, not the other way around. Which means if we want to stop a day, then that’s our decision.”

      Ethan’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “You’re wrong, Webster. I take it you’ve never been in the army? You can think of this as a campaign. You all are the soldiers…and I’m the general.”

      “You can call yourself a captain if you like, Reed, but we’re not in any damn army. You’re a hired hand, and we’re your employers. You’ll do as we say.”

      There was no longer any pretense of a smile. “That’s not the way it works, Webster. If you feel that way, I have no choice but to take you all back to Philadelphia.”

      The two men sized each other up like rival bulls, but Hannah could see that, whereas Randolph was losing his temper, Ethan kept his on a careful leash. There was no doubt in her mind who was the more dangerous. And she was not about to let their antagonism flare into open combat.

      “Gentlemen,” she said sharply. “It’s not doing any good to have the two of you glaring at each other. Can’t we sit down and discuss this like civilized people?”

      Ethan turned to her. His voice was calm enough, but it was obvious that his irritation now extended to her. “There’s nothing to discuss, mistress. Perhaps I should have explained to you more fully last night, but it seemed I had other things on my mind.” His eyes skimmed briefly over her face. Hannah tried to hold steady, but finally dropped her gaze and engaged herself in smoothing her cotton skirt. After a moment, Ethan continued, “I also did not want to alarm the group.”

      “Alarm us about what, Captain Reed?” Eliza Baker asked.

      Ethan turned toward her, instantly respectful. “There are Seneca through this stretch of the trail, ma’am. They aren’t normally any trouble, but there’ve been a few rumors lately, and I didn’t