Rebel Outlaw

by Carol Arens

  Her only hope was to wait here and pray that Colt came for her.

  He would realize by now that she was missing...but did he miss her? There was something he had wanted to tell her...and he had kissed her in front of everyone. That had to mean something.

  She huddled deeply into the dog’s fur, praying that it did mean something.

  How long could a civilized woman get by out here?

  She couldn’t help but wonder what would become of her if Colt didn’t come. Would he even imagine that his cousin had taken her? Would he be willing to come back to a place he hated, if he did know?

  Just because he wanted to ride the elephant with her didn’t mean that he loved her.

  Miles of stark, empty land lay between her and those she loved. Loneliness chilled her as much as the cold night air.

  She snuggled into Butcher’s fur, seeking warmth and a friend. When she couldn’t call back the single tear that rolled down her face, the dog whined and licked her cheek.

  * * *

  Colt lay flat on a hilltop and watched Cyrus hand Holly Jane over to Edith.

  “Damn you,” he grumbled when he saw Edith lead Holly Jane to the hostage shed.

  When, a few moments later, his cousin came out wearing the red wool dress, he wanted to strangle her, blood relation or not.

  Colt shifted his weight to ease the pressure of a rock under his belly.

  At least Cyrus had managed to get Holly Jane safely here. Worry had gnawed at his insides the full two days he’d been waiting on the hill. The Good Lord only knew what trouble his cousin might have gotten into along the way...and dumped Holly Jane smack in the middle of it. He’d wager ten dollars that the horses he had ridden in on were stolen.

  Colt had taken the train most of the way here, and as he figured would happen, he arrived well before Cyrus.

  As much as he had wanted to run his cousin down and snatch Holly Jane right there on the spot, there were other things to consider. He needed time to plan.

  Last time he was here, all he’d cared about was seeing his father in the ground and taking Grannie and Aunt Tillie away, clean and fast.

  With Holly Jane kidnapped, everything had changed. The Broken Brand had to be destroyed. Some folks might say that he was disloyal to his kin, but there were some relatives who didn’t deserve loyalty.

  He couldn’t spend the rest of his life watching over his shoulder to see if someone he loved was going to be abducted.

  This time he couldn’t simply ride away. While most of the Traverses were a hair shy of bloodthirsty, they were thieves and cheats. Nearly all of them deserved to go to jail. A few didn’t. There were the children to be considered and one kidnapped bride, who hadn’t wanted to be forced to the altar.

  For their sakes, he didn’t do what he wanted to do and sneak Holly Jane away as soon as it turned dark.

  It was some comfort knowing that the Traverses would take to their beds tonight not realizing that this would be their last night at the Broken Brand. It was a shame that some of them were not at home. He’d like to see every last one of them behind bars.

  His family had taken their last hostage and stolen their last horse.

  He watched Edith go into the bunkhouse, the red dress a flame against the dusty earth. His cousin was jealous, a bitter woman as different from Holly Jane as a dove was from a snake.

  No doubt, Edith believed that putting the dog in the shed would make Holly Jane tremble all night long, terrified and sleepless. Dogs on the Broken Brand were not pets. They had been raised to intimidate.

  Edith would be shocked to know that Butcher was probably wrapped around the prisoner keeping her warmer than anyone in the main house was.

  Knowing this is what allowed him to shimmy back from the rise of the hill to join Molly and Silver in a nearby cave.

  He wished he had a big furry dog to sleep with since he couldn’t light a fire. Smoke would give him away. Also, there were several jugs of kerosene on the cave floor. The warmth of a fire would be only a dream tonight.

  He was half tempted to sneak into the shed with Holly Jane and spend the night there. But the ranch dogs would bark. The ones he had been friendly with were long gone.

  Everything would be ruined if his presence were discovered too soon.

  He reckoned he could ride a mile east, spend the night with the marshal and his deputies, but that would put him out of earshot of Holly Jane in case there was trouble in the night.

  He didn’t expect there to be, at least not as long as Cyrus kept everyone in check. His cousin, for all that he was a criminal, had odd notions about family loyalty. He would protect Holly Jane if he believed that she was to be the wife of the leader of the pack.

  Molly whinnied for his attention so he fed her from a bag of oats, then offered some to Silver.

  He was glad that he had brought the horses with him. They were his link to home.

  “Sorry, you’ve got to spend the night in the cave again,” he said, because that is what Holly Jane would say to the animals. He patted Molly’s neck in the way he had seen her do.

  Hell and damn, the horse bumped him affectionately in the ribs with her nose.

  It made him feel good, not quite so cold and lonely.

  The sun went down fast over the rocky, rugged land. One moment it was dusk and the next dark, no pretty lingering in between, like at home.

  It hadn’t taken an afternoon for him to feel that William’s ranch was the single place on earth where he belonged. It had a way of calling to a man, even over all the miles. It was no wonder that Holly Jane was set on buying the place back, even though that was impossible.

  Colt pulled up the collar of his duster and stepped outside of the cave. The wind was a beast, damned if he didn’t feel its teeth ripping through the canvas.

  He sat on a rock at the top of the hill, watching the hostage shed. It wasn’t likely that anyone would venture out tonight, but he couldn’t be too careful.

  Glancing up, he saw the night sky speckled with stars. If he didn’t look down, he could imagine he was home.

  * * *

  Holly Jane huddled close to the dog. He was warm, so she didn’t mind that he smelled dusty.

  It had been daylight for hours but so far no one had stirred in the main house or the bunkhouse.

  Hours ago, before dawn, Butcher had growled and another dog had barked briefly. Far in the distance, she heard footsteps. Probably someone visiting the outhouse.

  “Looks like they sleep all day. No wonder the place is a ruin.”

  The dog licked her hand. She patted his wide head, and watched dust motes twirl in the light streaming through the gaps in the wood walls.

  When it seemed that the half the morning had passed and she might die of boredom, the shed door burst open to reveal Edith, probably as warm as a simmer in the pretty wool gown.

  The woman inhaled a long draw on a cigarette and let it out slowly.

  “My brother says you can cook.”

  The spray of dark curls crossing Edith’s forehead ought to make her look softer, but no curling iron could undo the harsh lines of her face or the nastiness of her scowl.

  “Don’t sit there staring at me, girl. Get to the house and fix our breakfast.”

  Holly Jane stepped into the sunshine. She wanted to dash about in relief, to stretch her arms and legs. After being shut up in the shed for so many hours it felt like heaven just to breathe the fresh air.

  Edith quashed that jubilation by shoving her in the spine and pointing the burning tip of her cigarette at the house.

  Butcher trotted beside her swinging his ropelike tail.

  “I’ll fix something special for you,” she said to him and rubbed his furry neck. It was interesting and rather nice to be able to stroke a dog and not have to lean dow
n to do it.

  “You’ve ruined him,” Edith grumbled. “Next thing you know the beast will be romping with the children.”

  Edith marched Holly Jane up the front steps.

  “Something doesn’t smell right.” Holly Jane stopped to sniff the chemical odor that lingered near the porch.

  “This is the Broken Brand—better get used to that.”

  Evidently, it was true. Stepping into the house, she had to hold her breath. The scent of sweat and dirty clothing was overpowering. Disorder reigned. She doubted that she would be able to bake a bun if the kitchen looked as bad as the rest of the house.

  As it turned out, the kitchen was worse. There was a stove and a table, but grime coated both surfaces.

  “Fix something.” Edith glared at her then went outside.

  A young woman sat on a bench nursing an infant while she told a small boy to put down a knife.

  Holly Jane rushed forward and plucked it from his chubby hand.

  “Thank you, ma’am.” The woman nodded her head. Her face was pale and drawn, framed by strings of lusterless brown hair. Holly Jane figured she was young, although she didn’t look it. “You the new bride?”

  “That’s what Cyrus thinks.”

  “Don’t let them hold on to you, ma’am, or you’ll end up like me.”

  How long, she wondered, would it take for Colt to come, if he intended to?

  Already she felt the hopeless depression of the place. Her hair itched. Her fingernails were imbedded with grime. It wouldn’t take long to be so broken of spirit that she had no pride of appearance.

  If Colt didn’t rescue her, she would, somehow, find a way to escape and bring her friend Butcher with her.

  Holly Jane sat down on the bench beside the woman.

  “I’m Holly Jane.” She stroked the baby’s fat little foot.

  “You marrying Colt Wesson is all Cyrus talks about. Are you going to do it?”

  “I reckon we’ll see.” Her heart squeezed. She wanted that more than the world, but did he?

  She snatched the little boy as he dashed past then set him on her lap. “Are you hungry, little man?”

  Cooking was bound to boost her courage.

  “I’ll get us something just as soon as the baby is finished eating. Shouldn’t be but a few minutes. I’m Hattie, by the way. The baby is Seth... That squirmy bit is Flynn.”

  “I’ll take care of the food.” She set Flynn down and began to look about for what she could make a meal of. “How many need to eat?”

  “There’s me and Flynn. There’s Joe—he’s thirteen—and Libby, who’s sixteen, then her little sister, Pansey, who’s three. If you could see that they eat first...their folks have died or gone to prison. The others don’t pay their welfare much mind.”

  She would need to sift bugs from the flour, but she could make some flapjacks in a hurry.

  “Who else lives here, Hattie?”

  “There’s Cyrus and his sister Edith, but you’ve met them. There’s a cousin named Charlie and he has a wife, Elise. There’s one here who’s not a Travers, but a criminal just the same. He’s out to wed poor Libby. Doesn’t much care that she’s no more than a child.”

  Holly Jane got the bugs out of the flour then scooped a fly out of the lard. In normal times, she wouldn’t even serve this food to Lulu, but it looked as though this was all there was at hand.

  She must have grumbled...or maybe even cursed, because Hattie sighed.

  “I know it’s not much, but with Cyrus gone to fetch you and the weather so cold, no one wanted to go on a food raid. They figured they’d wait for Colt Wesson and let him do it.”

  Holly Jane poured fresh milk into the flour and cracked three eggs into it. The Traverses must have stolen a cow and some chickens.

  She stirred the batter harder than she needed to. The man she had fallen in love with would never be a thief like them. This band of ruffians would be sorely disappointed in him.

  “Hattie, do you like it here? Do you choose to stay?”

  “I have no choice. My hus— The man who brought me here, the father of these babies, was killed in a raid not long ago. I’d like to say I’m sorry...but, what I want more than anything is to go home to my folks.”

  “Would the rest of them stop you from leaving?”

  “Maybe not, but they wouldn’t help. I can’t take my children and just walk away. The ranch is right in the middle of wasteland. That’s why the Traverses are partial to it. In all these years the law never bothered to come and oust them out. I’ve often wished they would.”

  Hattie was right—there was nothing for miles but barren earth, fit only for lizards and snakes.

  The land was confusing, too. She’d watched, coming in with Cyrus, trying to remember the way. All she’d learned is that on her own, she would become lost in an hour.

  The back door squeaked on its hinges.

  “Morning, Sunshine. Hope I’m in time for breakfast.”

  * * *

  Holly Jane spun about.

  Relief and joy flashed in her eyes a heartbeat before she threw herself against him. She hugged him so tight that he felt her slender arms tremble.

  He cupped her head to his chest and figured he was trembling, too.

  Thank the Good Lord that no one in this viper pit had harmed her.

  After a long moment with her squeezing and him cradling her back, the trembling eased. She pulled away to gaze up at him.

  Thank the Good Lord, again, that Cyrus hadn’t been able to dash her sunny spirit.

  It shone out of her eyes, the only warmth for miles around.

  “Have you come to claim me...and your rightful place?”

  In spite of the fact that she had been kidnapped, spent several days being dragged across Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, she looked radiant.

  Even the drab, filthy clothes she had on failed to dull her luster.

  He brushed his knuckles across the blush on her cheek. It remained even after spending a frigid night in the shed.

  “I claim you, Holly Jane, but this hellhole isn’t our place.”

  “Take me home.” She stood on his boots, lifted up on her toes and kissed him. Her lips made it feel like they were already back in Friendship Springs and this mess taken care of with nobody having gotten hurt.

  “We’re going, and soon, but there’s something I’ve got to take care of first. I’ll need your help.”

  She stepped down from his boots and nodded her head. “Whatever you want, as long as we leave here together.”

  That was his aim, to make ashes of this place then take his woman home.

  * * *

  “Get the children away from the buildings, the farther away the better. I aim to burn this place to the ground and I want everyone well away.”

  “That was you I heard this morning?” Butcher ambled into the kitchen. Hattie held her baby close and cringed against the wall. Holly Jane held out the palm of her hand and the animal that used to be vicious slid his head beneath it. “I knew I smelled kerosene.”

  Too bad Holly Jane didn’t have the same effect on his family as she did on critters. Today’s outcome would be a hell of lot more predictable.

  “But what will become of us?” Hattie, who had looked ready to give birth last time he was here, held her infant to her heart and looked at him with equal amounts of fear and hope.

  Some folks might say he was the devil for betraying kin, and maybe he was, but the Traverses had caused enough trouble for honest folks. He aimed to stop them this morning.

  “Come with us if you like.” He didn’t think this girl had come to the ranch and been happy about it.

  “I’ll help Miss Holly Jane see that the buildings are clear.”

  Hattie glanced at the dog. She
braved three steps away from the wall then hugged Colt in a breath-stealing embrace, much as Holly Jane had done. He didn’t kiss her, though. There was only one woman he was planning on kissing ever again.

  “I’ll lay low in the kitchen until I see you’ve got the young’uns safe.” He reached over the dog and drew Holly Jane close. He kissed her quickly one more time. “All hell’s likely to break out after that. Molly and Silver are in a cave just over the ridge of the hill just in case something goes wrong.”

  “Don’t say ‘just in case’ to me. I won’t hear anything except that were going home.”

  “I love you, Holly Jane.”

  “Don’t say that, either. It sounds like goodbye.”

  He didn’t intend for it to be, but he was one against many until the marshal and his gang saw the smoke and came riding in. Anything could happen.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Colt pinched a flapjack off the griddle. Interesting, he thought while he munched it, that it was Holly Jane to have cooked the last meal in this kitchen.

  It felt wrong not to bank the fire in the stove, but what did it matter? It was all going to burn anyway, just as soon as innocent folks were clear of danger.

  As far as the others went, seeing the inferno would clear them out of the other buildings like rats on the run.

  He walked to the front window and peered through the grimy glass, swallowing the rest of the pancake in a gulp. Churning nerves turned it into a great lump of dough in his belly while he watched for Holly Jane and Hattie.

  “So, you came, after all.” Edith’s voice spoke from behind him. She must have come in through the kitchen.

  Curse it, her presence in the house was a complication he didn’t have time to deal with. Couldn’t very well set the flame with her inside, though.

  “You didn’t expect me to?”

  “I told Cyrus his scheme was harebrained. I never thought you’d come back. I’m surprised it was for a woman. Especially this one—she isn’t our kind.”