Raven and the Cowboy: A Loveswept Historical Romance by Sandra Chastain Read Free Book Online Page A

the treasure those men are after?”
    “Don’t know a thing about a treasure. Don’t know who the old man was or where he came from. I just didn’t like those
pistoleros
shooting somebody who was just reaching for a piece of paper.”
    She reached the canyon wall and stood, closing hereyes, as if waiting for something to direct her steps, until they heard a low moan.
    “Here, Tucker, he’s in here.”
    Behind a boulder in a shallow recess lay the old man, crumpled, pale, afraid.
    Until he saw Tucker.
    “Señor.” He smiled in recognition. “The sunlight you bring with you is bright. For a moment I could not see.”
    “It’s you.” Tucker knelt beside him. “I thought you got away.”
    “No. In spite of your help, I’m afraid the bullet was more lethal than I thought. I have lost much blood. I was a foolish old man and now I will die.”
    “Nonsense. You just got a nick in the shoulder. I’ve had worse. Let me have a look.”
    “Luce,” he reminded Tucker again. “My name is Luce Santiago.”
    Tucker glanced at the wound and confirmed what he already suspected. It was bad. If the man weren’t so old, if he hadn’t ridden all night, maybe the story would be different.
    Tucker glanced around the harsh confines of the area with a sinking heart. The old man was going to die. Tucker couldn’t see a damned thing they could do about it. He looked at Raven, but she was staring at the old miner as if she’d seen a ghost.
    “We’ll build a fire and get you warm,” he began.
    “No—no, you must take me home. I must not die before I reach the place where I am to be buried.” He turned to Raven as if he’d just noticed her presence. “Yes,” he whispered. “It is you for whom I have waited. You must see that I am properly buried, daughter of the moon.”
    Raven nodded slowly. She could see the smoky veil of death surrounding him. And she understood that hewas the guardian she’d been sent to find. Tucker had brought her to him. Three wounded strangers had come together. Each had their part to play.
    “Where are you to be buried, old man?” Tucker asked.
    “At the barren base of the sacred mountain where the sun and the moon meet.”
    “Where the light of the moon meets the light of the sun,” she whispered. Grandfather’s words to her, the location of the treasure.
    But Luce didn’t answer. He’d closed his eyes.
    Raven turned to Tucker, this time with a stern expression on her face that boded no good. “Do you, too, look for the sacred mountain that hides the treasure?”
    “Lady, I don’t know anything about any treasure.”
    “Then how do you account for this?” She slipped her fingers beneath her dress and drew out the gold watch fob and the nuggets.
    “I forgot about them. I’ll be damned.”
    “Most likely,” Raven agreed, skepticism written across her stoic face.
    “The old man bet with them in the poker game.” That’s what had started all the trouble, Tucker thought. “I was going to return them.”
    “Don’t deny that you would like to share in the treasure. I wouldn’t believe you.”
    Tucker turned guilty eyes toward his Indian companion. He hadn’t considered it before, not consciously, but he could use the gold to buy land, to start his ranch. “This is where you were coming all along, isn’t it?”
    “Yes,” she admitted. “I was sent by the Grandfather, Flying Cloud, to find the sacred treasure of the Arapaho.”
    “And what makes you think it belongs to your people?” Tucker asked.
    “It belongs to the Ancient Ones,” the injured man said without opening his eyes. “You will be the keepers ofthe treasure. But know this, Mother Earth jealously guards that which has been entrusted to her. Your hearts must be pure.”
    Raven nodded. “Yes, Tucker. It was meant to be. You will help me find my people’s treasure, and I will share it with you. Will you do it?”
    Here it was, commitment, the future he’d avoided, the tomorrow he’d never expected to have,