Beauty From Ashes

by Lynnette Bonner

  An hour later, with the sun just beginning to set behind the mountains to the east of Wyldhaven, a shout echoed down the ridge from behind them.

  Tess’s eyes grew wide, and Liora could feel a tremble in her arm. She spun to look back.

  Barreling toward them on a steel-dust-gray Appaloosa, John’s guard had a hard glint in his eyes.

  Nothing but open fields surrounded them, and the house was still fifteen minutes away. They had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

  Liora tucked Tess behind her, lifted her chin, and sent up a fleeting prayer.

  Joe hadn’t been able to relax for a moment since he’d gotten back to Wyldhaven. Agitation had him pacing through his rounds of the town. All remained quiet, which was probably good for the criminal element of the area because in his current state of mind he itched for a fight. He headed back to the jailhouse, but only sat for two minutes before he lurched to his feet and took to the street again.

  Walking was infinitely better than sitting and wondering. Not that it stopped the wondering. But at least it gave the pent-up energy thrashing around in his chest a form of release.

  He had just started on his fifth round of Wyldhaven when he saw Reagan drive back into town and help Mrs. Hines down from the carriage in front of the mercantile. Charlotte was also in the carriage so Reagan would probably head to his mother’s place next, since Charlotte rented a room there.

  Joe tipped his hat to Charlotte when she glanced his way, prepared to stroll on by and continue his pacing. However, Reagan lifted a hand and motioned for him to approach.

  “If you’ll give me but a moment, Mrs. Hines,” Reagan said as Joe stepped over, “I’ll escort you to your door.”

  Mrs. Hines offered a curtsy of acceptance. She tugged on the lace at the wrists of her gloves and gave Joe a once-over.

  He tipped his hat to her, wondering what Reagan needed.

  Mrs. Hines busied herself with swiping invisible dust from her skirts and tried to look like she wasn’t paying attention, yet obviously paying attention was the only thing she was doing. She might as well hold an ear trumpet in their direction.

  And Reagan didn’t seem to want to let the town’s biggest gossip in on their conversation, whatever it might be.

  Reagan clapped him on one shoulder. “Join Charlotte and I in the carriage, would you? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. I’ll be back in just a moment.”

  Joe ignored the huff that emanated from Mrs. Hines, and swung up to the back seat of the carriage.

  “Good evening, Joe.” Charlotte turned to him and offered a nod.

  He snatched off his hat and pressed it to his chest, returning her greeting. The polite thing to do would be to fill the silence with conversation while they waited for Reagan to return from escorting Mrs. Hines right to her door, but worry still churned through him and made small talk illusive.

  He watched Reagan escort Mrs. Hines up the mercantile steps.

  Should he have taken time to find Liora’s trail and gone after her? Despite the fact that it would have been overstepping, he couldn’t help but feel it had been a big mistake to leave her on her own. There were all manner of dangers that could befall a woman. Especially one as beautiful as… He gritted his teeth and crimped the crown of his Stetson.

  Reagan stood to one side of the door to the mercantile now, hat pressed to his chest, obviously waiting for Mrs. Hines to enter, but the woman groused about something in a low voice, leaning in to make sure Reagan understood her concerns. From this distance, Joe could only hear a strident note every once in a while, not make out her exact words.

  Reagan said a few low words of his own, then leaned past the woman to unlatch the door and nudge it open. He actually put his hand to her back and, despite the heaviness of his own heart, Joe had to bite down on a grin as Reagan practically pushed Mrs. Hines into her husband’s store and shut the door behind her.

  Reagan had barely reached the carriage and swung aboard before Joe noticed Mrs. Hines’ face in the window above the mercantile. She peered down at them, cheek practically pressed through the glass in her attempts to see them best. He looked down, scrubbing at the grin that wanted to break free. The woman had made singularly excellent time up to the home she and her husband and stepson shared above the store.

  Reagan clucked to the horses and snapped the reins. “Get up now.” He waited only until the carriage was rolling before giving Joe a glance over his shoulder. “Liora say anything to you about going out to Camp Sixty-Five today?”

  Something like a boulder fell into Joe’s stomach. He shook his head. “She told me she had plans, but didn’t want to say what they were.”

  Reagan scratched at the stubble on his chin, jaw jutted to one side. “Might be best for you to ride out to her place to check on her. We ran into her on our way home. She was walking out to the camp. I didn’t think much of it at first, but the more I think on it, the more something doesn’t feel right. I’d just feel better if we made sure she was all right tonight.”

  Joe didn’t need a second urging. “I’ll go right now.” And as Reagan slowed to take the turn onto his mother’s street, Joe leapt from the carriage and sprinted for his horse at the livery.

  As he galloped out of town, he saw the curtains above the mercantile flutter.

  He shook his head as he snapped the reins against his horse’s haunch. Mrs. Hines wouldn’t rest until she learned what had taken him down the road at a gallop. She’d probably made it halfway across town to Jacinda Callahan’s already.

  He only hoped he wouldn’t have to bring back word of a tragedy.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Liora stood her ground, Tess trembling at her back, as John’s thug rode up and dismounted. He slapped his reins against one palm and gave her a once-over. “The girl there works for John Hunt.”

  Tess’s feet shuffled.

  “She quit.” Liora thanked the Almighty that her voice emerged steadier than she felt.

  “She can’t quit.”

  “Last I heard, slavery has been outlawed in this country.”

  The man huffed a sound halfway between a laugh and a grunt of disgust. “She ain’t no slave. Just under a contract, of sorts—and she gets paid.”

  The response riled her. Liora knew just exactly how much John’s girls got paid and it could hardly be called pay at all. “Is that right? Did she sign a paper?” She glanced at Tess over her shoulder. “Did you sign anything?” She swallowed, knowing that sometimes John did make girls sign a paper. Yet other times he overlooked it. Was Tess legally bound to him?

  Eyes wide with fear, Tess shook her head.

  Liora took a breath, relief coursing through her. “There, you see? She never signed anything. So, she can quit whenever she wants.” She spun on her heel, took firm hold of Tess’s arm, and set out at a good clip. “We bid you good day, sir.” She leaned close to the girl and whispered fiercely, “Give me your pistol!”

  She tossed a glance over her shoulder. The man still watched them, one hand fisted against his chin.

  Tess fought with the material of her pocket, but was finally able to remove the gun and hand it over. Liora assessed it. She’d never seen anything quite like it. The gun was so old that the wooden grip had cracked in several places and separated a bit from the metal housing. There was a little ramrod-looking piece that she didn’t remember seeing on the gun Joe had given her, and the barrel of the thing looked about as rusty as a crosscut saw blade left too long in the rain. Why hadn’t she thought to bring along the pistol Joe had given her? Because she had no idea how to use one, that was why.

  “Is it loaded?” she whispered to Tess.

  Tess gave a dip of her chin.

  Liora used both thumbs to lever back the hammer and glanced at Tess with brows upraised.

  Tess nodded affirmation.

  “I said she can’t quit!” The angry words were accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a rifle cocking.

  Liora and Tess froze.

 
Tess’s blue eyes flickered in fear from the gun to Liora’s face. She pressed close to Liora’s shoulder. Her barely audible words quavered. “I should just go back with him. I’ll be in powerful trouble as it is. If I cause more problems, things will only get worse.”

  “They can’t force you to work for them!” Liora whispered. “Just stand your ground. He’ll have to leave us alone.” She patted the pistol. “Especially when he sees this.” Or shoot me and take her back by force. The thought did nothing to comfort. Especially when or take us both followed fast on its heels.

  Summoning every ounce of courage she possessed, Liora spun to face the man once more. She kept the pistol carefully hidden in the gathers of her skirt. “Mr.—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

  “Pike.” The man spat a stream of tobacco against the embankment, eyeing her over his rifle. “Burt Pike. But civilities ain’t gonna help you none.”

  “Well, Mr. Pike, please return to Mr. Hunt and let him know that Teresa Trenton no longer wishes to remain in his employ.”

  “Can’t do that. You’ve got exactly ten seconds to hand her over or I’m going to drop you where you stand and take her anyhow.”

  Liora raised the pistol to arm’s length and pointed it right at the man. “Not if I drop you first.” If only her arm would stop trembling!

  Pike blinked, took in the weapon, and then burst out laughing. “You’d be lucky if that old musket worked to club a mongrel over the head.” His voice and expression lost all traces of humor. “Now drop it, or I will shoot.”

  Liora lowered her aim, and pulled the trigger, hoping merely to maim the man in the leg. But the gun only emitted a soft click as the hammer fell into place. Liora’s heart stopped.

  Pike, who had momentarily flinched away from them, set to swearing so loudly that a hawk perching on one of the seed trees took to flight. He raised his own rifle to his shoulder and Liora had no doubt she was about to enter into eternity.

  Tess gasped and leapt forward to spread her arms wide in front of Liora. “I’ll come. Don’t go shootin’ her now. I’ll come!”

  But at that moment another voice spoke from behind them. “Drop the gun. Now.”

  Liora’s eyes fell closed in relief at the sound of that oh-so-wonderful voice, even as she tugged Tess behind her once more.

  Pike jolted and searched the hills beyond them. “Who’s there?”

  Liora chanced a glance. Not a soul in sight. Just the clear-cut fields of rolling hills. But there were any number of stumps or low-lying bushes he could be behind, she supposed.

  “Deputy Joseph Rodante from Wyldhaven. Don’t make me tell you again.”

  The reply allowed her to pinpoint the place where Joe must be, but a search still didn’t reveal him.

  “Show yourself!” Pike’s tone rose almost as high as a schoolboy’s.

  Joe’s reply came in the form of a shot that knocked Pike’s hat from his head.

  The man cursed, and lunged behind his horse.

  “Get on your horse and ride back to camp. Let Hunt know that both these ladies are now under my protection.” Joe may as well have been discussing the price of wheat.

  Despite his calm, his statement made her heart lurch and her mouth go dry. What had she just done? No way could he protect them and keep his distance. This could very well mean the end of his reputation—something she’d been fighting hard to protect for quite some time. But she could consider on that quandary another day. For now, she’d like to get Tess to the cabin in one piece.

  Joe’s boots now crunched through the brush on the hillside and Liora glanced back once more to see him descending toward them, rifle held ready, his eyes never leaving Pike. A three-foot-tall stump must have been his hiding place.

  “Coward!” Pike challenged.

  Joe didn’t miss a step. “If you’d like to put your weapons down and step over here, we can see just which one of us is the coward.”

  Pike swung astride his horse. “You want me to deliver a message to Hunt, or do you want to fight?”

  “Any man who forces a woman to do something against her will is the coward in my book. And you can tell Hunt I said so.” Joe’s voice remained low and steady, but there was a tightness about it that told Liora he remained on high alert. He stepped between them and Pike now, putting himself in the line of fire should the man decide not to comply with his orders.

  But Pike only reined his mount around and kicked his heels into its side.

  Joe didn’t move until the man had ridden out of sight, and then he turned and gave her a hard look. He thrust his chin in the direction of her cabin. “Let’s go.” A muscle bulged in his jaw. “And give me that.” He snatched the pistol from her hand. “Don’t you know that you should never point a gun at someone unless you plan to actually use it?”

  “I did use it. It just didn’t shoot.”

  Joe pulled back the hammer with his thumb and then looked over at her. “You didn’t put on a percussion cap.”

  “A what?”

  Joe only narrowed his eyes on her, jaw bunching. “Where did you even get this thing?”

  “It’s Tess’s.”

  Joe’s hard gaze flicked to Tess, who still cowered behind her, peering out at him with wide eyes. Something in his expression softened subtly. He motioned in the direction of Liora’s cabin. “We need to go.”

  Liora took a breath, the sting of his reproach settling in the region of her heart. She’d never seen Joe this angry before. But there was something she needed to say. “Joe, John Hunt shot a man.”

  “What?”

  She nodded. “Just a bit ago. In Camp Sixty-Five. In front of a whole crowd of people.”

  Beside her, Tess nodded.

  Joe scrubbed at his jaw and studied the road in the direction of camp. “He dead?”

  “I think so. Though I can’t be certain. I followed Tess to her cabin and didn’t see much of what happened after.”

  “All right. I’ll look into it. First, let’s get you home.”

  She put one arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Come on. Everything is going to be all right now. Joe won’t harm us. Let’s get home.”

  The problem was, she felt very certain everything was not going to be all right.

  At least not for Deputy Rodante.

  And the fault for it lay squarely at her feet.

  Joe whistled for his horse, and waited as the mustang descended the hill. Gathering up the reins, he counselled himself to take deep breaths, then trudged down the road behind the scurrying women.

  He could still feel his heart beating so hard that his pulse throbbed in his throat. He could honestly say he’d never been so scared about anything in his entire life, and it had nothing to do with facing down a man with a gun.

  No. Not at all.

  He’d faced down gunmen plenty of times and he’d never had that wash of terror wing through him.

  Earlier when he’d swung by her cabin and found it empty, he’d cut across the back of her property and taken the shortcut to the road. When he’d come out on top of the ridge and seen Liora below with a gun pointed at her, the fear had been instant and strong enough to make his legs weak when he’d quickly dismounted from his horse.

  And that had been the moment he’d known…

  Despite all his efforts over the past few years, he’d gone and fallen in love with a woman he could never have. At least not if he wanted to keep his place in polite society.

  And yet what had he done only a moment later? Declared that both Liora and this other woman were under his protection. It wouldn’t take long for word of that to spread back to town.

  Still, he’d do it all again. And maybe he could pass it off as just a deputy doing his job of protecting the citizens of his town. Maybe. But after only a moment more of consideration, he gave a soft huff. He’d be a fool to think he could pass this off as just a deputy’s duty. Like it or not, Liora’s actions today had sealed his fate as well as hers for the days to come. Because she would need pr
otection. And he wasn’t about to leave her without it again.

  By this time tomorrow, the people of the town would be demanding his resignation, or worse, voting on his termination.

  Teeth clenched, he paused to study the road and hillsides behind them. The last thing he needed was for Pike to double back and take a shot at them from a hidden position. The tight ball of tension in his gut eased only partially when all seemed quiet.

  A few minutes later, he followed the women across the yard and up onto Liora’s porch.

  Liora used the key he had given her, and unlocked the door.

  Thankfully, she’d at least taken that much of his advice, earlier. But he couldn’t fathom what had made her think going out to the camps without a man to protect her had been a good idea.

  Blast. He was still shaking like a dry leaf in a full-blown autumn windstorm because a picture just wouldn’t release him. A picture of Liora lying in the roadbed, eyes staring lifelessly, and blood seeping across her chest. If he’d been too late…

  Stepping through the kitchen, Liora nudged the girl toward one of the spare rooms she’d specifically requested be built into the cabin.

  He scrubbed his hand across the back of his neck. She had been planning this all along, hadn’t she? Anger burgeoned. He yanked off his hat and tossed it onto the kitchen sideboard. Pressing his palms against the cool surface, he let his head hang and pulled in a calming breath. This anger coursing through him was not a normal emotion for him. And he knew the emotion had been born out of fear.

  Grabbing up his hat, he banged back out the door, and tugged his horse toward the three-sided lean-to. It wasn’t even tall enough for the Paint to have some cover. Hard as he’d ridden the animal from town, it needed some rest before he rode out to Camp Sixty-Five. He would ride out after dinner. The horse might need rest, but he needed anything but rest. He knew Liora planned to build a barn. Maybe he could work off some of his pent-up emotions before having a conversation with her. But they would be having a conversation.

  He tied the Paint off to a bush and looped a feedsack over his head. After rolling up his sleeves, he took up her shovel, and set about clearing the area that would make a good floor for the barn.