Shadow Walker by Connie Mason Read Free Book Online Page A

and potatoes. Vegetables consisted of dandelion greens she’d dug up in the yard. And fresh meat was unheard of unless she managed to trap a small animal.
    Cole returned to the cabin in a foul mood. He picked up the plate Dawn had prepared for Duke and took it out to the shed without a word. He returned twenty minutes later with the empty plate. Dawn had dinner on the table. He sat down and dug in with gusto. His mood lifted when Dawn brought the pie to the table.
    “I can’t recall when I last had a piece of homemade pie,” he said, sniffing appreciatively at the warm apples and cinnamon.
    “Neither can I,” Dawn said as she served them both generous slices.
    Between them they finished off half the pie. Afterward, Cole offered to help with dishes. Dawn looked at him as if he’d just grown horns. No man had ever offered to help her with anything. She shook her head, too moved by his offer to speak. He helped anyway, drying while she washed.
    “Think I’ll turn in,” Cole said, yawning hugely. “It’s been a long day. I imagine you’re tired, too.” He headed for the door.
    “Wait!”
    “What?”
    Dawn flushed. “I mean … You can bring your bedroll inside tonight if you’d like. The lean-to is all but destroyed, and I don’t suppose you’d get much sleep in the shed with Duke. Besides, it looks like rain. You’ll get soaked sleeping outside tonight.”
    “Am I hearing right?” The invitation nearly floored Cole. He knew how intensely Dawn distrusted men.
    Dawn fidgeted restively. It was the first time she could recall asking a man for anything. Even when Cobb beat her she hadn’t begged or pleaded with him to stop. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. What if Duke frees himself? What if Sam or Spider show up tonight and you don’t hear them?” She was being foolish, she knew, but couldn’t seem to help herself.
    Something stirred inside Cole. He didn’t dare examine his feelings for fear of finding something he wasn’t prepared to deal with. “You’d trust me inside the cabin with you?”
    Her chin rose fractionally. “You haven’t hurt me yet. I suppose I trust you as much as I trust any man.”
    Cole smiled thinly. “That’s not saying a lot.”
    “Well, maybe I do trust you more than the others, but that doesn’t mean I’m inviting liberties.”
    “Did I ask for any?”
    “You kissed me.”
    “You wanted me to kiss you. I’m over thirty years old. I think I know when a woman wants to be kissed.” He sighed raggedly. “Go to bed, Dawn. I’ll check on Riley and get my bedroll. That should give you ample time to ready yourself for bed.”
    When Cole returned fifteen minutes later, Dawn had scrambled into a threadbare cotton nightgown that could have wrapped around her three times with material to spare and was in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. Cole spread out his bedroll in front of the door, extinguished the lamp and settled down to sleep.
    Dawn tossed and turned for over an hour, listening to the even cadence of Cole’s breathing, aware of the exact moment he fell asleep. Only then did she succumb to slumber herself. The dream came much later. It was vivid in its clarity. She felt the horror, relived the pain, suffered unspeakable humiliation at the hands of her cruel husband as he pounded her face with his fists and wielded his belt with ruthless dexterity against her tender flesh.
    She refused to beg; she had learned long ago that he enjoyed her groveling. She forced back a scream but could not restrain the small cries gathering deep in her throat. She thrashed against the cornhusk mattress, wishing for a gun, imagining herself emptying the chambers into Billy’s wiry body.
    Cole awoke with a start, trained to react instantly to the slightest noise or disturbance. He reached for his gun. A survivor of many dangerous situations, he knew enough to keep it within reach at all times. Nothing seemed amiss, but he was taking no chances. Then he heard some rather