“Are you sure you’re not hit?” Eden cried.
“Pretty sure. I think the bullet struck my watch.” He hadn’t had time to look at the timepiece. Gold was soft metal and normally wouldn’t stop a slug. “I guess it glanced off or something. I felt the impact, and it stunned me, but near as I can tell, I’m not hurt.”
“Thank God!” Eden laughed a little hysterically. “And thank you, Livvy!”
“Thank you for insisting I keep the watch on me.” Matthew turned to look over the log. “Have you spotted them yet?”
“Up there on the slope behind those rocks.” She sank behind the downed tree to reload. “I have no more rounds in my belt!”
“There’s more in the pack.” Matthew brought the butt of the Winchester to his shoulder, settled the barrel on the rough bark, and watched for movement behind the rocks. When he glimpsed the crown of a hat, he tightened his finger over the trigger, took careful aim, and fired. He heard a deep-throated wail, which was quickly drowned out by a volley of retaliatory shots. “Keep your head down, Eden.”
“You son of a bitch!” one of the brothers yelled. “You got James! You’re a dead man, Coulter!”
Matthew hoped to take as many of them with him to hell as he possibly could.
Eden slithered on her stomach to reach the packs. When she crawled back moments later, she had the large leather pouch that held his spare ammunition. Matthew dropped behind the log to reload. While he shoved bullets into the cylinders, Eden returned fire. Stealing a quick glance at her, Matthew’s admiration for her grew. She watched for movement, took careful aim, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. Glorious was the only word to describe her. She was absolutely glorious.
He heard another Sebastian cry out in pain. “Good job, partner!”
She grinned but kept her gaze fixed on the hillside. “Two down, only three to go.” She sighted in and fired again. “Damn, I missed by a mile.”
Matthew turned to hunker beside her. “They’re a little too far away for a Colt.”
“Bite your tongue. If I got one of them, I can get another one.”
Matthew drew in on the rocks with his rifle again, but the Sebastians had two men down now and were being more cautious. Taut with tension, Matthew never took his eyes off the boulders. In order to shoot, the Sebastians would have to show themselves, however briefly, and he meant to be ready.
Wrong. Steel flashed in the morning sunlight, and bark exploded on the log just under Matthew’s chin. He ducked his head. “Holy hell.” His heart hammered like a fist against his ribs. “Keep down!”
A spray of bullets hit the other side of the fallen pine, the vibrations jolting through Matthew’s shoulder. He waited for a break in the volley, pushed up, and returned fire, not because he saw anything, but because he hoped to discourage the Sebastians from leaving the protection of the rocks. If one of them made a run for it and managed to circle around behind him and Eden, they’d have lead flying at them from two directions. When he shared that concern with Eden, she slanted him a worried look.
“We can’t keep firing indefinitely, Matthew! We’ll run out of bullets!”
He had already thought of that. He carried a goodly amount of spare ammunition, but it wouldn’t last forever. “When you see we’re running low, save one round. Promise me.”
She locked gazes with him. “I won’t let them take me alive, Matthew. No need to worry.”
He nodded. “Same for me. If it comes to that, we’ll both be better off dead.”
Her eyes sparkled with tears. “I love you, Matthew Coulter. No matter what happens, remember that.”
A tight, choking sensation filled Matthew’s throat. “I love you, too.”
They returned their attention to the rocks. After a while, Matthew lost track of time. He knew only that he’d fired the Winchester so often his trigger finger ached and the barrel was fire hot. Eden was probably tiring, too, but they had no choice except to continue shooting. Their lives depended on it.
The sun was sinking toward the western horizon when Eden said the words Matthew had been dreading to hear. “I just put the last of the forty-five bullets into my Colts, and you have only six rounds left for the Winchester.”
“Save one round,” he reminded her.
Face pale, her lips pulled thin against her teeth, she nodded. “This is it, isn’t it?”
Matthew bit down hard on his back teeth. “I’m sorry, Eden.”
“Sorry for what? This isn’t your doing, Matthew, none of it.”
She shot toward the rocks again, and he heard her say, “One,” under her breath. He felt sick. Eden. She was going to die out here. He’d done everything in his power to keep her safe, but sometimes a man’s best just wasn’t good enough. God, she was so young. She should have a long life ahead of her. He wanted her to live to have babies, even if they couldn’t be his. He wanted her to know the joy of waking up every morning beside the man she loved, even if that man couldn’t be him. He had to do something. He just wasn’t sure what. Then suddenly it came to him.
“Eden, I’m gonna circle around and get on the slope above them. That big ponderosa will give me some cover.”
“What? You’re nearly out of ammo. You can’t go up there.”
Matthew sank down behind the log and met her tear-filled gaze. “I have to. When I get there and draw their fire, I want you to run. Try to find the horses. Smoky knows you now. I think he’ll let you ride him. Head south. When you start seeing oaks, turn east for Denver.”
“No! You can’t do this. Please. You said we’d stick together, Matthew. You promised.”
Sometimes promises had to be broken. She was too precious and dear for him to lie here behind a log and let her die. If he did this, at least she would have a fighting chance.
Matthew jerked his gaze from hers and belly-crawled toward some brush about thirty feet behind the log. He ignored Eden’s pleas for him to come back. Whether she understood it or not, this was something he had to do.
Heartsick, Eden held off on returning the Sebastians’ fire, saving her ammunition so she could help Matthew once he circled around. Run? If he thought she would do that, he had another think coming. He would never leave her behind, and she wasn’t about to leave him. They’d do this together. If that meant she had to die with him, so be it.
She kept her eyes peeled for any movement higher on the slope above the rocks. How long would it take Matthew to circle around? All she could do was pray that God would keep him safe.
Finally she glimpsed a flash of blue. Matthew, zigzagging through the ponderosas. Like a baseball player running for home plate, he turned his feet sideways to brake and slid on his hip to the base of a thick tree. She saw the barrel of his Winchester flash in the fading sunlight.
“Drop your guns!” he yelled. “I’ve got you dead in my sights! Drop them now.”
Instead of dropping their weapons, the Sebastians turned on him and opened fire. Eden let loose with two rounds, hoping to get the attention of at least one of them. Three. She had only three bullets left, and one of them had her name on it. Tears nearly blinded her as she popped off another shot. Matthew. He’d gone up there to die for her. She wished he’d stayed beside her. If she had to use the gun on herself, she wanted his face to be the last thing she saw.
It wasn’t to be. She saw a head appear above the rocks, fired, and missed. She was now down to her last round. She slumped behind the log. That was it. She could do nothing more to help Matthew. Only, when she looked down at the revolver, she couldn’t bring herself to put it to her head. Life was precious. She’d wait until the last second—when she saw the whites of the Sebastians’ eyes. Miracles could happen. By her count, with the six cartridges she’d given him, Matthew still had about ten left. Maybe he’d pull a rabbit out of his hat and make at least three of them count.
The hillside erupted with even more gunfire. Eden had become inured to the sound after so many hours. Then her numb brain finally registered that some of the
shots were coming from off to the right of the rocks. She twisted onto her knees to peer over the log. Sure enough, she glimpsed a flash of denim on the slope where no one should be. Afraid she was seeing things, Eden rubbed her eyes and looked again. There! Another man. She could scarcely believe it, but someone had come to their rescue.
Dodging the hail of bullets that now peppered them from two directions, the three remaining Sebastians scurried from behind the rocks, running from tree to tree for cover. Before Eden could blink, they had disappeared into the forest. A moment later, she heard the unmistakable tattoo of galloping horses’ hooves receding into the distance. Gone. Just that quickly, it was over.
Matthew emerged from behind the pine. He tossed down the Winchester and put up his hands. “Don’t shoot! I’m not one of them.”
A tall man emerged from some bushes to the right of the rocks. Ace. Eden nearly shrieked with joy. Her brothers! They’d finally found her. Mindless prayers of thanksgiving bounced around in her brain as she scrambled over the log. And then she was running, at first toward her siblings, and then, with a sudden change of mind, she veered toward Matthew, who still stood on the slope with his hands up.
“Don’t shoot him,” she cried out. “He’s a friend!” Her lungs screamed for breath. The slope was steep, and it was all she could do to keep her legs churning to scale the incline. “Matthew? It’s all right.”
She reached him, threw her arms around his neck, and held on for dear life, even though it took him a moment to lower his hands to return the hug. Eden was shaking so violently that the tremors rocked both his body and hers.
She heard footsteps approaching.
“Eden?”
It was Joseph. She released her frantic hold on Matthew to turn and face her brother. He stood a few yards away, his legs spread, his Colts dangling loosely in his hands. His stance was unthreatening, but Eden knew his tension ran high, and Joseph was lightning fast with those guns. The breeze caught his shoulder-length blond hair and the straight strands drifted across his blue eyes. He never blinked.
Hoping to defuse the situation, Eden stepped forward to hug Joseph’s neck. “I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in my whole life! How on earth did you find us?”
Joseph holstered his weapons and returned her hug, but he never took his gaze off Matthew. “We heard the gunfire late this morning and followed the sound all afternoon. Looks like we got here none too soon.”
Ace finally reached them, and Eden flew into his arms. He embraced her fiercely and pressed his face against her hair. “You,” he whispered huskily, “gave me a lot of sleepless nights. We had about lost hope of finding you.”
“Thank God you didn’t stop searching.” Eden leaned back to grin up at him. “I saw your tracks and knew you were out here somewhere.”
“We’ve been all over God’s creation looking for you for five weeks. Initially we headed for the border, hoping to cut across the gang’s tracks. When that turned up nothing, we went to the scene of the train robbery and finally found their trail. At first we followed the gang, hoping to run them to ground, but then we determined you were with someone else. The two of you have led us a merry chase.”
Eden hugged David and Esa when they arrived. Then she returned to Matthew’s side and took hold of his hand. “This is Matthew Coulter. He saved my life.” She turned her gaze to Ace. “He’s become a very good friend.”
“Looks to me like he’s more than just a friend,” Joseph observed dryly. “I’ve never seen you hug anyone but a family member like that, not even that faithless bastard John.”
Eden had been through too much over the last several hours to deal with Joseph’s temper, so she cut right to the point. “You’re right. Matthew is more than a friend. I love him with all my heart.”
Joseph’s gaze shot to Matthew. “Well, now, that’s just fine and dandy. Question is, does he love you?”
Ace and David flanked their brother. Esa stood off to the left. Ace, the tallest, looked like a mismatched bookend compared to his shorter siblings, but in some strange way, despite his greater bulk, he didn’t seem all that much bigger. He’d raised his younger brothers to be strong men who stood tall regardless of how many inches they measured in actual height.
“Joseph, keep your temper,” Ace warned.
“Yes, Joseph, please do,” Eden inserted. “For the last several hours, Matthew and I have been through hell. We’re tired and need to recuperate before we’re subjected to the third degree.”
“Keep my temper?” Joseph’s blue eyes blazed. “I guess I have a right to demand some answers when it appears my baby sister has moved past the handshaking stage with a man I’ve never clapped eyes on.”
To Eden’s dismay, Matthew moved down the slope to stand directly in front of her brothers. “As Eden told you, my name’s Matthew Coulter. I hail from Oregon, and unless Eden changes her mind, I mean to marry her.”
“Without asking one of us for her hand?” Joseph curled his lip in a sneer. “In our family, that isn’t how it goes. One of us will decide if you’re going to marry her or not.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” Eden stepped down to stand beside Matthew. “I’m a grown woman, Joseph. That’s a decision I’ll make for myself.”
“Eden, let me handle this,” Matthew said, an edge in his tone that was new to her. “I’ve never hidden behind a woman’s skirts, and I don’t plan to start now.”
“I’m not wearing any skirts.” Looking from one man to another, all she saw was stony anger or foolish male pride stamped on their faces. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “Stop glaring, Joseph. He’s my friend. If you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you!”
“Eden,” Matthew said softly, his voice filled with warning.
She clamped her mouth shut, her worried gaze fixed on Joseph, whose temper was the most volatile. David, who was slower to reach a boil, spoke then.
“Forget all the handshaking bullshit. I want some plain answers. Have you taken liberties with our sister, Coulter?”
“She’s a consenting adult, and we love each other,” Matthew replied. “Don’t make something dirty out of it. That’s an insult to her, and I won’t have it.”
“You won’t have it?” Joseph’s voice had gone low and silky.
Eden braced herself. This wasn’t going well. Joseph was about to blow. She glanced frantically at Ace, but all he did was smile slightly and rub his jaw.
“I think this is a conversation we should have in private,” Matthew said, not backing down an inch. “Eden’s been through enough for one day. If you want a piece of me, Joseph, you can have a go, but not in front of her.”
Joseph tensed and stood ready. “I don’t recollect any introductions. How do you know I’m Joseph?”
“Your brother called you by name, and Eden painted a pretty clear picture of all of you in my mind. Joseph, the hothead. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out who’s who.” Turning toward her, Matthew said, “Sweetheart, go back down to the log. We’ll be along in a few minutes.”
Eden gaped at him. Didn’t he understand how dangerous her brothers could be?
“Go,” he insisted, his tone brooking no argument.
Eden doubled her hands into fists and started down the slope. When she came abreast of her brothers, she said, “I mean it. Harm a hair on his head and you’ll answer to me.”
“Eden,” Matthew said, his voice sharp. “Enough said. Go.”
She went, but it was the longest walk of her life. As she passed the rocks, she saw that Pete had been the second Sebastian to die. The realization that it had been her bullet that had killed him almost sent her racing into the bushes to empty her stomach. But the nausea soon passed, followed by a sense of rightness. Of all the brothers, he’d been the cruelest to her. Maybe this was God’s way of giving the horrible man his just deserts.
Chapter Fifteen
Matthew waited until Eden was well out of earshot. Then he met Joseph’s gaze. “I’m only going to say this once
, Paxton, so listen sharp. Your sister is one of the finest people I’ve ever known, and a lady through and through. What happened between us was my doing, not hers.”
“She had no choice in it? What are you saying, Coulter, that you forced her?”
“Of course I didn’t force her. I’m just saying it was more my fault than hers. I’m older and more experienced. If I’d kept my britches fastened, nothing would have happened. I don’t blame you for being mad, but don’t make her suffer for it.”
Joseph worked his mouth and spit in the dirt. “You’ve got bigger balls than a whiteface bull, Coulter, and only half the brains.”
“I may not be the smartest man who ever walked,” Matthew replied, “but I love that girl. Say whatever the hell you want to me, but not in front of her. That’s all I’m asking. She was abducted by monsters and held for five days. Beaten, kicked, treated like a dog. She’s been to hell and back. When I left her behind that log to come up here, she had only three bullets left. She was down to her last round and probably about to shoot herself when you showed up. I think that’s enough for her to deal with in one day.”
Joseph hung his head, staring at the dirt with his hands hovering over his Colts, but the starch had gone out of his spine. The tallest brother, dark of complexion, with coffee brown eyes and black hair, was the one Matthew figured to be Ace. He looked a little older than the other three. Shifting his stance, he folded his arms across his chest. “It sounds like a fair request to me, Joseph. Coulter here got the cart before the horse, no question about it, but that doesn’t mean Eden should pay the price for it.”
Joseph glanced at him. “Have you taken a good, hard look at him, big brother? He’s not cut from fine enough cloth to be our sister’s husband. More along the line of a saddle tramp, if you ask me.”
Early Dawn Page 31
