One of the soldiers fell to his knees and looked up at her. "San Antonio Rose, are the Americans going to kill us?"
Pity swelled in her heart for the poor unfortunate men who had done no more than their duty to their country. She knew that many of Houston's troops had attacked the enemy without mercy, taking vengeance for the men who had died at the Alamo and Goliad, but she also knew that Houston would not allow these prisoners to suffer the same fate.
"General Houston is not a butcher like Santa Anna. Now that the fighting is over, you will be treated fairly."
"You will speak to the American general for us, senorita."
"Si, I will speak to him on your behalf. I have little doubt that you will soon be allowed to return to your homes."
"Gracias, beautiful one. I will remember you in my prayers from this day forward."
She smiled and moved away. It was heartbreaking to see the proud Mexican soldiers reduced to begging for their lives. They had fought a valiant fight and lost. Texas would soon be a free and independent country. Al though her father would have been proud of that, she could find no reason to rejoice. All she wanted to do was find Santa Anna. Then her duty would be finished and she could leave.
When the sun set on that first horrible day, Santa Anna had still not been found. Domingo found Emerada standing on the riverbank, gazing forlornly across the water.
"Knowing it was a worry of yours, I found out that Ian McCain came through the battle unharmed."
Relief ripped through her like a cleansing tide, and she drew in a long breath. "I knew he had to be safe. What about General Houston? I heard he was wounded. How bad is it?"
"General Houston has a minor, but painful, leg wound. Not so bad, considering he had three horses shot from under him during the battle."
She closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. "And they still have not found Santa Anna?"
"No. But General Houston begs you to come to him. He wants to tell everyone what you did for Tejas."
"Go to him and tell him one of the favors I ask of him is to keep my part in all this a secret." She thrust a note into his huge hand. "Deliver this to Houston. Tell him I will call in my debt when Santa Anna is in his custody. Remind him of his promise to me."
Emerada wandered aimlessly around the small space afforded by the cone-shaped tent where she had been staying since the battle ended the day before. She had no intention of leaving until Santa Anna had been found.
Domingo was quietly watching her as she threw up her hands in disgust.
"Domingo, can you tell me what good Houston accomplished in defeating Santa Anna's army but letting the dictator slip through his hands?"
He shrugged. "A man accustomed to every comfort cannot hide for long, Emerada."
The sound of cheering erupted, and Emerada rushed outside to see what had caused the jubilee. Men were darting about, clapping each other on the back, obviously happy about something.
"What has happened?" she asked one of the men closest to her.
"Haven't you heard, ma'am? They've caught Santa Anna! He was dressed like a peasant and was hiding in the swamp. Our men brought him back as a prisoner, not knowing who he was. Santa Anna must've felt he'd made fools of us even though he was in our custody."
"How did they discover his identity?"
"It happened when they were putting him with the other prisoners, ma'am. His own men recognized him and commenced to bow and scrape, calling out `Presidente.' Wish I could've seen that devil's face when he was taken straightaway to Houston."
Emerada walked hurriedly toward Houston's tent. This was the day she'd waited for. Now was the time to ask Houston to honor his debt to her.
When she was within fifty yards of her goal, a guard, tall and slender, with shoulder-length hair and an apologetic look on his face, pointed his rifle in front of her, not threateningly, just to get her attention. "No one goes past this point, ma'am," he told her. "Houston's interrogating the Mexican president."
She shoved his gun aside and walked past him. "If you are going to stop me, senor, you will have to shoot me in the back."
The frantic guard hurried after her. "But, ma'am, I have my orders."
She paid no attention to him. Her gaze was on the men who were crowded around Houston's headquarters. She elbowed her way through and pushed the guard aside at the entrance.
Houston lay upon a cot, his foot bandaged and elevated on a folded blanket. He smiled at Emerada as she approached him.
"Well, Senorita de la Rosa, it seems Texas owes you a great debt."
"I have no time for your accolades, Houston. Where is Santa Anna? I want to see him."
Houston rose up on his elbow. "Now, Emerada, you know I can't let you see him. Ask anything else of me, but not that."
She went down on her knees to him, not to beg, but so that she would be on his eye level. "I told you I would help you in your war, Houston, and I have kept my word, have I not?"
He nodded. "You did, Emerada. For all I know, we might have lost the war but for the information you supplied us. We would have many dead, and possibly would have been beaten soundly if you hadn't kept Santa Anna occupied so we could surprise him."
"You cannot know what it cost me to keep him occupied." She lowered her gaze and gathered her courage before looking back at him. "If you are a man of your word, Houston, I have come to collect my debt."
"And what would that be?"
"I want to be alone with Santa Anna for five minutes. That is all I ask."
"You want to kill him, don't you, Emerada?"
"I will kill him, Houston-make no mistake about that!"
He shook his head and laid his hand gently on her shoulder. "You know I can't allow that to happen."
"Then you will not keep your word?" She looked at him with contempt. "I sometimes thought you a coward, Houston, and at times I thought you a little pompous, but I never thought you dishonorable. I always believed you were a man of your word."
Sam Houston was silent for a moment. "Take her to Santa Anna, Ian. But see she doesn't harm him. I have given my word that he can go free, and I will keep my word."
Emerada had not known that Ian was in the tent with them. When she felt his hand on her shoulder, she shook it off and stood on her own. "General Houston, have you lost your mind? You allowed your own men to die at the Alamo, and yet you let their murderer go free. What kind of justice is that? Do you not know that if you allow Santa Anna his freedom, he will be back? You will only have to fight him again, and next time he may win!"
"War makes strange demands on us, Emerada."
"You will honor your word to the man who murdered your countrymen, but you will not keep your word to me. I spit on your honor, Houston."
Without a backward look, she left the tent and took a big gulp of air when she was outside. She turned to Ian, who had followed her.
"So this is what we can expect from the man we both served, the man we trusted to free Tejas?" Angry tears welled in her eyes and ran down her cheeks before she brushed them away angrily. "Take me to the dictator. I want him to know what a fool he was to trust mejust like I was a fool to trust Houston."
"You're wrong, Emerada. General Houston instructed me to take you to see Santa Anna. But I have to remain with you the whole time. And I can't allow you to harm him in any way."
She looked upward. "Then everything I have done has been for nothing."
He gazed into the distance, his eyes narrowing. "What did you do to keep him distracted?"
She jabbed her finger into his chest. "You do not want to know."
Ian and Houston were the only ones who knew the part Emerada had played in bringing about the downfall of Santa Anna, and he realized that she was feeling betrayed.
He guided her toward the tent where Santa Anna was being held. "Emerada, you aren't the only one who thinks Santa Anna deserves to be executed. But Houston feels that the Mexican president will be punished severely by his own government for signing away Texas. We are f
ree, Emerada, and that's what this war was all about. It wasn't about personal hurts or even revenge. It was about freedom!"
She paused and glared at him. "That might mean something to you, but not to me. I want Santa Anna's death!"
Ian wanted to kill the dictator himself because Emerada must have been forced to give in to his lustful urges to keep him distracted. It hadn't escaped his notice that she had avoided looking directly into his eyes. It must mean that Santa Anna had made love to her. "Santa Anna must have left his tent in a hurry when we attacked," Ian said, changing the subject. "When he was found, he was wearing red leather slippers."
"When the firing started, you never saw such a coward. He was out and gone before I could stop him."
Ian nodded to a tent that was under heavy guard. "He's there. It would seem Santa Anna has many vices, among which is an opium habit. He asked Houston for his opium box, which had been confiscated along with his other belongings."
"And Houston gave it to him?"
"He did."
Ian saw her shoulders straighten and her chin quiver. "You do not have to come with me, Ian."
"Oh, but I do, Emerada. I don't trust you to be alone with him."
"As you wish." She moved forward, and when the guards would have stopped her, Ian nodded for them to let her pass. But he stayed right next to her.
Santa Anna was sitting at a writing desk when they entered. On seeing Emerada, he smiled and put down the pen. "Emerada! My dear, who would have thought you would come to me in my time of need, just as you did the night of the battle?" He stepped toward her and reached for her hands. She did not pull away.
"How did you know I needed you?"
Ian watched as she stiffened and pulled her hands out of his grasp. "You are a fool, Antonio! You still do not know what happened that night, do you?"
"Si." He gripped her hand and raised it to his lips. "You knew that I was on the eve of my darkest hour and you came to comfort me."
Ian wanted to rip the Mexican general's heart out, but he knew he could not take his eyes off Emerada or she would do just that.
She shoved Santa Anna away. "I did not go to comfort you, fool. I was there to distract you so General Houston could sneak up on you."
Santa Anna's face drained of color, and he dropped down on a stool. "I see it all now. That is why you convinced me I did not need double guards."
"It was easy to make you believe anything I wanted you to," she said. Hatred curled through her mind and dominated her thoughts. "And now you are a beaten man with nowhere to go. You lost Tejas to the Americans, and that will not make you a popular man in Mexico."
Santa Anna buried his face in his hands. "I thought you cared for me. When you-" He glanced up at Ian. "Many things are clear now. It was you who persuaded me not to shoot that man because you were working with him and Houston. What a fool I was."
"None of that is important," Emerada said, moving closer to him, her hand going to her waist, where she had hidden her dagger. "Do you really want to know why I helped bring about your downfall, Senor Presidente?"
His eyes were dark and searching. "What have I ever done to you but love you-yes, I could have loved you more than any other woman I have ever known. Why did you do this to me?"
She wanted to strike him, to smash his face, to make it so he wouldn't be able to seduce innocent young girls so easily. She took a deep breath and asked in a steady voice, "Do you remember Felipe de la Rosa and his three sons, who lived on Talavera Ranch?"
Santa Anna nodded. "I always recall the names of traitors. They housed Stephen Austin, whom I imprisoned. I should have had him put to death, as I did the de la Rosa family."
Before Ian realized what she was going to do, Emerada whipped out her dagger and pressed it against Santa Anna's throat. "You demon from hell, on your feet!"
Santa Anna stood up slowly, licking his lips in fear.
"I never told you my full name, did I, Senor Presidente?" She pressed so hard on the dagger that a drop of blood ran down the blade. "My name is Emerada de la Rosa, and you had my father and brothers murdered. They never did anything disloyal to you, but I have. I have deceived you at every turn, and I have helped bring you to your present state."
"Don't do it, Emerada," Ian cautioned, slowly moving closer to her. "He's not worth it. Think about it."
"Stand back, Ian, or I promise you, I'll spill every drop of blood he has in his body. Why should he live when better men than he have died for his glory?"
Emerada looked into Santa Anna's eyes, which were glazed with terror. "Can you think of any reason that I should let you live?"
He nodded. "I am sorry about your family. Had I known they were-"
"I do not want to hear anything you have to say, dictator."
"Emerada," Ian said, as he moved ever closer to her. "I don't believe you are capable of killing anyone-not even him."
She turned to Ian, and he saw hatred burning in the depths of her eyes. "I could kill this man, and the world would be a better place for it."
Ian knew that if he moved any closer she might just drive the dagger into Santa Anna's throat. He decided to trust his instinct; if he was wrong, Houston could have his head afterward. "Go ahead, Emerada, kill him. If you really believe it will bring you peace of mind, drive the knife into his throat. If you think your father and brothers would expect it of you and would be proud of such a deed, do it!"
"Are you crazed, Colonel McCain?" Santa Anna said, his gaze never leaving Emerada's. "Have you forgotten that I spared your life?"
"Do not speak to him, Antonio," Emerada warned. "Speak to me. I am the one who holds your life at the tip of my blade."
"What do you want from me?" he asked, his glance now darting to Ian for help. "Say what you want, and I will do it."
"You had your soldiers burn Talavera-what I want to know is..." She faltered for a moment, trying to put her worst fears into words. "Did my family burn in the house? Did you have them burned... alive?"
"No, no, beautiful one. They died mercifully. I'm sure they did."
The knife in her hand wavered. "You do not even know how they died, do you? You or dered their deaths, but you did not even bother to ask the men who murdered them how it happened."
"I do not burn people," he said, his voice trembling with fear.
"What about the defenders of the Alamo?" she reminded him.
"They were already dead when I had their bodies burned." His eyes went again to Ian. "For God's sake, Ravens Claw, help me!"
"Are you going to kill him," Ian asked casually, "or are you going to talk him to death?"
Emerada's eyes bore into Santa Anna's, and the dagger in her hand wavered. She saw sweat appear on the dictator's face. She wanted to drive the knife into him, but when the moment came, she cried out and dropped the knife.
"I cannot do it!" She shook her head. "I lived for this day, and I cannot kill him."
She covered her face with her trembling hands and turned away, while Santa Anna dropped to his knees because he could no longer stand.
Ian slipped his arms around her, and she looked at him, stunned. "Why could I not kill him?"
"If you had, you would be no better than he is. I believe your family can rest in peace now. You have done many brave deeds, Emerada, but the most heroic of them all was what you did just now. You could have killed him, and yet you spared his life."
She pushed Ian away and ran outside, calling for Domingo.
Ian picked up her dagger where she'd dropped it and looked at Santa Anna. "You don't know how close you came to death. She would have been justified if she had killed you. And I have little doubt that if Houston knew her story, he'd have let her do it."
"So," Santa Anna said, feeling braver now, "will you tell Houston?"
"The story is not mine to tell." He wanted to ask the man if he'd laid his hands on Emerada, if he'd made love to her, but of course he couldn't do that. He was afraid to know the truth.
"Let us hope you sleep light
ly," Ian taunted. "One never knows with Emerada. She might change her mind and pay you another visit."
"It is your duty to see that I am protected."
"Yes, you sniveling coward. I'd like to give you the same chance you gave Travis and Bowie, and so would many others." He shrugged. "Yes, if I were you, I'd sleep lightly."
Ian went outside in time to see Emerada riding out of camp, with her ever faithful Domingo at her side. He knew where she was going. When Houston could spare him, he would ride to Talavera.
He walked in the direction of Houston's headquarters. Emerada had been ill-used by all of them. He could only guess what unspeak able acts she'd been forced to perform to keep Santa Anna occupied.
Emerada was in a pensive mood as she rode away from the encampment. Her work for Houston was over. He had won, and Tejas was free. But she found little gratification in that. Perhaps one day she would, but not now. She'd had Santa Anna under the blade, yet allowed him to live. She had made terrible sacrifices, and for what?
She felt every mile that stretched between her and Ian. She loved him, and probably always would. In the deepest recesses of her mind, she must have known it from the beginning.
"Where do we go, Emerada?" Domingo asked.
"We go to Talavera. I will remain there for a while. Then we will go to New Orleans and possibly France. I want to see my aunt."
"We will not rebuild the ranch?"
"It is not mine, Domingo. If you recall, Santa Anna confiscated it."
"I feel sure Senor Houston will give it back to you if you ask him."
"No. I will never ask Houston for anything else-I will never see him again."
"Or Ian McCain?"
"I will not see him either. He told me that he has a woman waiting for him in America."
Domingo said nothing more. Emerada had lost her heart to the tall American. And it seemed to him that her affection was returned. Why, then, was she running from Ian McCain, and why had Ian McCain allowed her to leave?
Emerada moved through the charred ruins of Talavera, pausing beside the fireplace and chimney which were still standing. It seemed to her that she could hear the echo of laughter from the past, but, of course, it was only the wind whistling through the chimney.
San Antonio Rose (Historical Romance) Page 16
