Missie sat with her back resting against a tree as she fed Alice. He hastily turned his head away on seeing a flash of bare breast.
The flames in the camp fire quickly burned down so he rested his trusty old coffee pot on the coals. They would stay here for an hour or so to give the horses a rest. No need to hurry now with the baby having a steady supply of milk. It would give him more time to assess Missie before he let her into his home.
She wasn’t coarse or vulgar, quite ladylike in fact. Her hands were slightly work roughened. A farm gal if he was any judge. She wore no rings, yet there was a white mark on her left ring finger. Could she have once worn a wedding band?
Ignorant and all as he was about such things, even he could see she was familiar with handling a baby. Her child must have died. What a terrible thing to happen to any woman, no wonder she was deranged.
She changed the baby after she finished feeding, arranging the drawers much more neatly than he had.
“I’ll get the cradle out and put Alice in it while you have your coffee. We’ll eat some of the bread, too.”
After the baby was tucked up in the cradle she lay gazing around, her little rosebud mouth slightly pursed. He sat next to her, waving away any insect who dared fly near her. He should have bought netting to cover her. Why hadn’t he thought of it? The pesky varmints would feast on her soft white skin.
“We’ll have to drink the coffee black, I don’t want to use the milk in….”
“In case I run off?”
His cheeks heated up. “I didn’t say that.”
“It’s what you meant, Logan. I’m not crazy, I’ve just lost my memory. You can’t know how terrible it is.” A tear slid down her cheek. “Not knowing who you are. Where you come from. Maybe the shock of losing my baby brought on the amnesia.”
“It could have done. You’ve taken a beating by the looks of it.”
“You brought two cups.”
“Yeah. I used one for the baby, I had to feed her the milk with a spoon.”
Missie came back carrying two coffees and a chunk of bread. She handed him his coffee and placed hers on the ground while she broke the bread into equal portions.
They ate in silence until Missie said. “Why don’t you have a sleep?”
“Why would I do that?” He jumped to his feet.
“Surely you don’t think I’d run off with her?”
“I don’t know, do I? From what the Marshal said, you’re capable of anything.”
Shock registered in her one good eye, her lips trembled. “You’d believe what an oaf like him told you?”
“I didn’t say I believed him exactly, but I can’t take any risks when it comes to Alice’s welfare.”
She pushed a swathe of hair behind one ear. “What will it take to make you trust me?”
“I don’t know. Be quiet. Do you hear anything?”
“No, only the leaves rustling through the trees.”
“Horses. Quick, get into the wagon.” He picked up the cradle and dashed over to the wagon, put the baby in and pushed Missie up. “Stay there. I had a feeling we were being followed. Here, take this.” He handed over his colt. “Use it if you have to.”
Three riders charged toward them. A bullet whistled over his shoulder as he reached for his Winchester, which lay under his seat. Who in tarnation would want him dead?
The men wore kerchiefs over their faces, hats pulled down so only their eyes were visible.
“Hands up, Mister,” one of them yelled.
It was the boy from Abbot’s Mercantile. The others fidgeted nervously, obviously new to the hold-up business.
“Where’s the bed faggot you said we could have?” one of the outlaws whined.
Logan fumed. How could he have let them get the drop on him?
“Drop the rifle nice and easy. Where’s the gold dust?” asked the boy from Abbot’s Mercantile.
“We want the woman like you promised, Benny.”
“Shut up,” Benny snapped.
“You ain’t gonna shoot him? I ain’t gonna have murder on me conscience,” said the third youth.
“I don’t aim to kill him, just hurt him enough so he won’t follow us. Get the woman if you want her.” Benny dismounted, while the other two kneed their horses forward.
If he didn’t fear Benny might hurt Alice, he would have tackled him right then and there. He’d have to outwit them. None of them seemed over bright, which made them dangerously unpredictable.
Once Benny held the gun on him, the more daring of the other two dismounted and reached over to the canvas flap. A shot rang out followed by a curse as a bullet knocked off his hat. The next shot slammed into the outlaw’s hand.
“Come any closer, and it will be right through your heart,” Missie yelled, seconds before shooting the hat off the second youth. The noise woke Alice who started screaming.
Benny turned around and Logan jumped him. “Now.” He twisted the youth’s arm up his back and Benny yelped with pain. “You little sonofabitch, climb on to your horse and get out of here before I change my mind and shoot you where you stand.”
Logan punched him in the stomach, and he doubled over, Benny stumbled to his horse. His friends had already fled.
“Have they gone?” Missie poked her head out of the wagon.
“Yeah. Thanks to you. Where did you learn to shoot like that?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “Once I picked the gun up I instinctively knew how to use it.”
“Maybe you were a gunslinger in a previous life?” He grimaced. “I knew the owner of the store couldn’t be trusted.”
“You shouldn’t have paid in gold dust.”
He poured the dregs of his coffee pot over the fire then kicked dirt over it to make sure it was out. “I had to use it, I dinna have enough money.”
“What did you say?
“I said I didn’t have enough money….”
“You said I dinna….”
“Oh, my parents were Scottish. My Pa had a strong accent, so now and again I lapse into it.”
She gnawed her lip. “I’ve heard it before.”
“You definitely aren’t Scottish,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.” He checked on Alice who thankfully had quietened down now the commotion had stopped. “You come up the front with me.”
Putting out his hand to help Missie out of the back of the wagon, he was annoyed when she ignored it, and jumped nimbly to the ground. If this was the way she wanted it, he wouldn’t offer her any help.
He climbed up on to the driver’s seat and watched without speaking as she scrambled up beside him. “Giddup.” He released the brake on the wagon and they started moving. By his reckoning it would be about another two hours before they arrived home, longer if the baby needed to be fed.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the fading light, Missie gazed around with interest as they turned into Logan’s ranch. It would be hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. He was obviously a man who valued his own company.
Perhaps his wife couldn’t stand the loneliness and isolation. To leave her baby behind was unforgiveable. I’d kill to keep my baby. Maybe she had. Perhaps someone had killed her baby and she had killed them. She didn’t think she was a violent person. There again, she hadn’t hesitated to shoot at the young outlaw to protect Alice. If only she could remember.
Images, which did flitter through her brain were hazy and so fragmented they didn’t make sense. Had she been married? It seemed likely with the white mark on her left ring finger. Had her husband and child been killed?
Her head ached with trying to remember. A tear squeezed itself out of her good eye. She sniffed it back, weeping wouldn’t help her remember.
“Are you all right?” Logan asked gruffly.
“Yes.” Logan was a fine looking man with his copper colored hair, which was slightly unruly. His deep blue eyes were his best feature she decided, wondering why she was acting so foolishly.
By the grim set of his lips
he wasn’t happy having to bring her to his ranch. There was no doubting his affection for baby Alice. He wasn’t the only one, the moment she held the baby in her arms to give her the breast, she had been surprised at the strong connection between them.
“Well, this is my ranch, Inverness.”
“Inverness?”
“I named the ranch after my mother’s birthplace in Scotland.”
“You’re proud of your Scottish heritage?”
He shrugged. “Guess I am.”
His cabin was hidden behind the trees. It was built of split logs with a stone chimney. The floor of the porch looked to be made of packed earth. Would the cabin itself have an earthen floor she wondered?
There was no garden whatsoever. What kind of woman would live here and not try to pretty it up?
He pulled the wagon up in the front yard. “I’ll see to Alice then unload the supplies.”
“I’ll look after her, Logan. You can trust me.”
He hesitated. “Well, how about I sit on the porch and feed her. You can watch me as you unload.”
He scowled. “That won’t be necessary. Go into the cabin, I’ll carry her inside.”
The interior of the cabin was one large room, sparsely furnished. There was nothing to indicate a woman had ever lived here. All very strange. Had he been telling the truth? His devotion to Alice was genuine, so what of his wife? A cold chill ran down her spine. Had he murdered her? She couldn’t believe he would do such a thing, although his story had holes in it big enough to drive a wagon through.
He carried the cradle into the room, Alice was whimpering by this time. She would start crying in earnest soon.
“I think she needs feeding again,” he said, picking her up. “Are you hungry again, little darlin’?”
His soft, almost crooning tones went straight to Missie’s heart.
“You can sit on the sofa to feed her. You’ll have to sleep there, too. I’ll put a blanket up to give you privacy.”
“Where do you sleep?”
“On top of you.”
She gasped in shock.
He grinned, and what a difference it made to him. “My bed is in the loft space above you.”
Glancing up, she realized what he meant.
“It was an idea I copied from my father, to give me more space. He was in the English navy, and this is how they did it, bunks on top of each other. You could fit twice as many men into a cabin that way. Look at the extra space it gives me? I’ll build an extra room up here when Alice gets older.”
“You built this place?” She took the baby out of his arms. Turning away, she undid her bodice, the baby quickly latched on to her nipple and sucked strongly.
“I’ll get the stove going while you attend to her needs. Can you cook?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to try it and see.”
He stepped away. The firewood was neatly stacked on the hearth, and she realized Alice’s cradle had once been the wood box.
When he returned she said. “Why hasn’t she got any proper clothing or a proper cradle?
“None of your business,” he snapped.
“It is my business. You might have murdered your wife, or kidnapped Alice.”
“I did neither.” He turned his head, fiddling with the supplies he had brought in.
She wondered why she persisted with this questioning, he could be an axe murderer. She might have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.
“She um, left with her fancy man and purposely took everything with her, leaving Alice with nothing. She hated the baby and me, and first chance she got she took off.”
He strode outside. It seemed a plausible enough story, didn’t it? Anyway, who was she to question him or his motives when she could remember nothing about herself?
“You’re such a darling little baby, Alice McGregor, Missie said. “I feel as if I’ve known you forever.” Was it fate letting her be bashed, and bringing her into Golden Square to meet up with Logan and his baby? Perhaps God was making it up to her for taking away her child? Her baby had to be dead, no way on earth would she not have fought to the death for it.
Alice was a sweet name, which suited the child. If she made herself indispensable to Logan would he let her stay here once Alice was weaned? She had nowhere else to go. What a frightening situation I’m in.
Once the baby finished feeding, Missie changed her and gently laid her back in her cradle where she lay sucking her fingers.
Logan returned with his arms full of neatly chopped logs.
“If you tell me where everything is kept I’ll put it away then you can see to the horses.”
“Thanks.” He gnawed his lower lip.
“She’s safe with me. I swear, I’d never hurt her. She eases the pain of knowing I lost my baby.”
He stared at her, but didn’t respond to her soulful words. “I won’t be long. I like to have my livestock bedded down before it gets dark.” He strode off.
Making sure the fire was burning, she sat the coffee pot on the stove. They still had plenty of the store bought bread left over, although they needed something more substantial for supper.
She lit the lamp, which cast shadows around the room. In the morning she would have to explore the place. She climbed up the ladder and looked at Logan’s bed. It was neatly made up and there were two pillows. She reached over and grabbed one. Alice would be happier being propped up so she could see them.
Missie didn’t know how she knew the baby’s back was strong enough if she had some support. Well, for a short time at least. She figured she would be four or five months old. She eased Alice up and placed the pillow behind her. “That’s better, you can look around and see what’s going on.” Alice gave her a gummy smile. “When your Pa gets back he’ll think what a clever girl you are.”
Keeping an eye on Alice, Missie checked through the supplies he had bought. Flour, sugar, salt, oatmeal and molasses. Most of the basics. There was a parcel of bacon, and several tins of beans. It wasn’t all that much, but many of the shelves in the store were empty. The Marshal had mentioned something about a lost wagon train passing through. They must have grabbed up everything.
She found a cupboard containing Logan’s clothes and a pile of neatly folded flour bags, a couple of towels and three grey blankets. No linen by the looks of it. What kind of woman would leave her husband with practically nothing, especially with a baby in the house? No wonder he was sullen and disinclined to talk. It must have been devastating for him, particularly if he had loved her.
A bucket sat on a bench, also a tin dish. She washed her face and hands and dried them on a piece of towel. The door banging had her spinning around.
“Why is Alice sitting up? It can’t be good for her. You want Pa to lay you down, darlin’?”
“She’ll be all right for a little while.”
“It might injure her spine.”
“No it won’t, that’s why I put the pillow at the back to support her.”
“It can’t be good….”
“It won’t harm her.”
“How would you know? You can’t even recall who you are.”
“I don’t know how I know, I just do. I’ve looked after a baby before I’m sure of it. If she wasn’t happy she would be crying.”
He grunted something she couldn’t quite catch. With the savage expression on his face she didn’t dare ask him to repeat it. He dumped a tin bowl filled with eggs on to the table.
“You have chickens?”
“Well, I certainly didn’t lay them, and yes, I have a few chickens. I had a rooster up until a while ago. It died so I’ll have to get a new one.” He used his foot to pull over a wooden chair.
“You must be tired after the long drive, I can cook us supper. How does pancakes sound, with bacon and eggs?”
“Good.” His smile showed even white teeth and a dimple at the side of his cheek. Why did she notice that?
“I’ll feed Alice after we’ve eaten, it might see her through the nig
ht.” She lay the baby down, placing the pillow on the floor. “Move the cradle next to the sofa, then I won’t disturb you if I have to get up to feed her.”
He looked ready to object. “Where could I go in the middle of the night? I don’t even know what town your ranch is near. Bolt the door if you’re worried.”
She knew what he was thinking. She was a crazy woman with no memory. He went up in her estimation because he cared so much for his daughter. How could a person condemn a man for that?
She busied herself at the stove. The pancakes were ready first; she piled them on a plate and took them over to him.
He nodded his thanks. “Aren’t you having any?” he asked, reaching for one then cursing when he burnt his fingers.
“I will once everything else is cooked.” She turned away to fill his cup with coffee. “Will we use the tinned milk?”
“No, I want to save it, just in case Alice needs it. In a day or two, we’ll head into Trails End, I’ll be able to stock up there.”
“Why did you go to Golden Square?”
“I had my reasons. I’m sorry I went there now.”
“I’m not, you wouldn’t have rescued me from that horrible jail.” She shuddered. “Luckily the Marshal didn’t arrest anyone else. He said I’d have to share a cell with them.”
“What!” Logan’s fork clattered against his plate. “It’s immoral.”
“The man was an oaf.”
“There was something wrong with the whole town if you ask me. The pancakes taste good.” He reached for another one.
Once the eggs, bacon and beans were dished up, she took the plates over to the table.
“Thanks, this is the best meal I’ve eaten in a while. I’m not much on cooking.”
“If you let me stay here, I’ll do all the cooking and other household chores as well as care for the baby.” She was safe while she nursed Alice, but if her milk happened to dry up he would probably banish her.
Logan (Bachelors And Babies Book 2) Page 4
