“And he was annoyed?“
“To put it mildly. He tried the usual beatings and threats, and when that didn’t work, he decided the lady would come to her senses if she spent a little time alone in the cave behind the falls.“
Diana’s eyes widened. “He chained her in that cave you told me about?“
Colby nodded. “So the story goes.“ He leaped lightly down to another rocky ledge and had to dodge Specter who was bounding down the hillside ahead of him. “Out of my way, you dumb dog,“ Colby muttered through his teeth.
Specter paid no attention.
“Stop maligning my dog, and tell me the rest of the story,“ Diana demanded.
Colby reached back to steady her. “Well, he stuck her in the cave and told her that she could come out only when she conceived.“
“How awful.“
“Every day just before sunset he came to her. He brought her food and made love to her and then he left her to face the darkness alone.“
“You mean he raped her on a daily basis!“
Colby’s eyebrows rose thoughtfully. “Yeah, that’s probably what it amounted to, because the lady still refused to allow herself to become pregnant. And after a time she even refused to eat the food he brought her. All the while she was plotting, trying to figure out a way to get rid of her unwanted husband. One evening she saw her chance.“
Diana looked up. “A chance to escape?“
“No,“ Colby said grimly. “A way to kill the warrior. She set a trap for him by pretending to surrender. He was so relieved to think he’d finally quelled her stubborn resistance that he apparently forgot just what kind of female he was dealing with. In his haste to get started on making a son, he got careless. Inexcusably careless, considering he was supposed to be a hotshot warrior.“
“What happened?“
“The lady got hold of his hunting knife and she used it on him just as he was, uh, reaching the grand finale.“
“She stabbed him to death while he was forcing himself on her,“ Diana concluded in awed wonder. “What a woman…“
“This story isn’t over yet,“ Colby warned. “I told you that it doesn’t have a happy ending.“
“Finish it,“ Diana urged, anxious to hear the conclusion.
“The warrior died at her feet, his blood running out of the cave entrance and mingling with the waterfall. With his last breath, he cursed the woman. Told her that her spirit would remain chained in the cave forever until a child was conceived and born there.“
“Then he croaked, and she managed to get out of the cave?“ Diana demanded.
“She was still chained, don’t forget. She had no way to get free after she’d killed the warrior. She died there, and the legend says her spirit is still trapped in the cave. After all, what are the odds that a baby is going to be created and born in Chained Lady Cave?“
“Pretty poor, I imagine.“ Diana glanced back at the impenetrable veil of the falls, trying to envision a hidden cave behind the wall of rushing water. It made her uneasy even to imagine it. “So that’s the end of the story?“
“More or less. But for as long as I can remember, kids from around these parts have always had a lot of fun scaring each other to death with rumors that the Chained Lady is still waiting inside the cave. They say she’ll kill any other male who dares to enter. The theory is that she’s still got her husband’s knife, you see.“
“What do the adults say?“
“For the most part they laugh the whole thing off, naturally. But whenever something strange or unsettling happens anywhere in the vicinity of Fulbrook Corners, you can bet someone’s likely to blame it on the restless spirit of the lady in the cave.“
“I can see you were one of those kids who got off on that story,“ Diana said with a rueful amusement. She paused.
“Tell me something. Did you ever risk going into the cave?“
He flashed her an unreadable glance. “What do you think?“
She tilted her head to one side, considering the question. “Oh, I think you probably did. You wouldn’t have been able to resist the challenge. After all, you were the toughest kid in town, right? You had a reputation to protect.“
Colby’s smile was ironic. “You’re right. I spent a night in Chained Lady Cave once when I was in my teens. Eddy Spooner and I were supposed to do it together on a dare. But when evening came and the falls turned red, Spooner lost his nerve. He opted to spend the night at a campsite down by the river.“
“But you stayed, of course.“
“Had to,“ Colby said with patently false modesty. “Like you said, I had a reputation to protect.“ His smile came and went.
“Were you terrified?“
The smile vanished. “I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve never told any other living soul, not even Eddy Spooner. I’ve never been as scared in my life as I was that night. The only other time that I even came close to being that terrified was the night Brandon ran a fever of a hundred and five, and I had to rush him to emergency. But even that fear was a different kind than what I experienced in Chained Lady Cave.“
The quiet forcefulness of that confession startled Diana. She had the feeling she had just looked through a window into a very dark, very private corner of Colby’s soul.
“Colby?“
But he had reached the flat terrain at the base of the falls where the Jeep was parked, and he had turned his attention to other matters. “Look at that idiot dog of yours,“ he said in disgust as he strode toward the vehicle.
“Sitting right up there in the front seat as if he owned it. Talk about nerve.“
“Love me, love my dog,“ Diana said lightly, unthinkingly. It wasn’t until Colby glanced back at her with a level, searching expression that she realized just what she’d said.
“Let’s compromise,“ he said with a slow drawl. “I will make love to you. I will tolerate your dog.“
“Let’s hope he’s willing to go on tolerating you for a while longer. Specter is a very opinionated dog.“ Diana slipped into the Jeep, and pushed Specter into the back seat. The dog went willingly enough. She hoped the act of maneuvering the animal’s large, furry body hid her faint flush.
How long would Colby want to continue making love to her? And how long would she fool herself into thinking that making love was close enough to the real thing to make the compromise worthwhile?