by Tracey Cross
Cheng returned with coffee and Mai. “Very pleased to meet you, Mizzuz,” Mai said. “You come with me?”
Franklin waited until he and Coop were the only two left in the room. He looked at his brother. “I’m relieved you’re here. We’re working on a plan to get them all out of there.”
He told him about Andy. “He keeps us informed about Jane and the children’s well-being. He’s been a godsend.”
Coop’s face hardened. “When are you going to be back in the saddle?”
“Another week. If I try before then, I won’t be much help.”
Coop nodded. “So long as Jane and Jenny are both reported safe, we can gather some men we can trust, make a plan, and storm the house and saloon. Bedlow won’t know what hit him until it’s too late.”
The two men talked for hours. By the time Bess reappeared, looking relaxed and lovely, there was no doubt in the mind of either men that the plan would work.
This time next week Bedlow would lose his grip on the woman Franklin loved.
Mid-September
Jane gently laid the satisfied baby in his cradle and buttoned the front of her dress. His eyes drooped as he smiled his sleepy, three-week-old smile. Her heart lurched.
When she stood up, arms encircled her from behind. Trent was becoming more and more aggressive over the past week since Danny’s jump. She feared he soon would stop giving her a choice and demand she come to his bed. She prayed every night for mercy. If he insisted, she would have no choice but to surrender to him. There was too much at stake.
“You look beautiful this evening,” he murmured against her neck.
“Thank you.” She tried to move away, but he held her tighter.
He kissed her earlobe. Her stomach tightened and threatened to rebel.
“Do you like the gowns?”
He had purchased her several gowns after noting that her own was threadbare at best. She had worn trousers on the trail and had only packed the dress she’d worn to Sidney the day she’d put the laudanum in Franklin’s coffee and hightailed it for Sidney with Danny and the oxen and wagon.
She stood completely still as he nuzzled her cheek. “The gowns are lovely, but I only took one. I don’t have time to pay you back anymore.”
He swiftly turned her to face him. “My wife doesn’t have to pay me for anything. I gladly provide her needs. Including beautiful gowns that make her eyes shine like sapphires.”
Jane cringed inside. How foolish she’d been to choose this gown to replace the one that was too large for her now that her pregnancy had ended. Her vanity had caused her to choose the gown that would flatter her eyes the most. And now look what that pride had gotten her.
“I’m sure your wife will be a very blessed woman.” She nearly tripped over the words as they left her mouth. “But I’m not going to be that woman.”
His eyes darkened. “Don’t say what you know isn’t true, Jane. I’m doing you honor by offering to marry you before I take you into my bed.”
“And yet you first demanded I become your mistress to pay my debt to you.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve changed my mind.” He cupped her head in his hands and kissed her with such intensity that Jane was left breathless, her mouth bruised.
He pulled away, his eyes so full of emotion it scared Jane. “I want you, but I can wait a little longer, because I don’t want you to come to me without marriage. I know you’d never forgive yourself or me.”
Relief nearly overwhelmed her. “I appreciate that. But I don’t want to marry you, Trent. I want to go home with my children and live on our homestead.”
“Well, that is not going to be possible, so just get it out of that head of yours.”
He released her and paced the room. “Why are you being so stubborn?”
And then it hit her. Trent Bedlow was that child she’d been worried Danny would become. Expecting to receive whatever the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life offered him.
“Is this about money? Do you want a settlement? A promise in writing that your children will receive an inheritance? What is it you are holding out for? You needn’t worry about that. I have already started the process of adoption. And my lawyer is remaking my will so that even if there are children born of our union, Danny and the baby—you really do need to name that baby, Jane—Danny and the baby will be cared for as though they were mine by blood.”
A gasp tore at her throat. Why, though, should she be surprised after all this time? How could anything shock her anymore? She turned her back.
Behind her she heard him release a breath. “Let’s not fight anymore. I’ve brought you a surprise. Not that you deserve one.”
Dread moved through her. She hated his surprises. They usually consisted of jewelry or fine foods he’d ordered. But this time she turned around and squealed with delight. “Jenny! Is it really you?”
The child rushed into her arms and clung so tightly, Jane felt she might squeeze the breath from her.
“Shh,” Jane said. “It’s okay. You’re here with me now.”
Remembering that Trent was still there, she looked over Jenny’s shoulder. “Thank you for bringing her, Trent. It was a good thing to do, and I appreciate it.”
He gave a short laugh. “I’m going to Sidney in the morning. I will be taking Danny with me. I won’t be at dinner, as I’ll be getting things ready for the trip. I’ll bring Danny in to say good-bye in the morning before we leave.” He left her staring at him as he turned and left the room with long, confident strides.
Jane disentangled herself from Jenny’s arms. “Stay here and watch over the baby.”
She followed Trent into the hall. “Wait. What do you mean you’re taking Danny?”
“Precisely what I said.”
She stomped her foot. “No. You can’t take my boy.”
“I can do as I choose.” He cupped her chin. “This is my assurance that you won’t run away and take the children while I’m gone. I thought about taking Jenny, but I wasn’t quite sure if Jenny would be enough incentive to keep you here. But I know Danny is.”
Jane’s eyes filled with tears. “Please don’t take him. Don’t you think you’ve kept me from him long enough?”
“All you have to do is say the word. You can come along too. But the baby stays with Mam.”
She stared him down. “No.”
“I didn’t think so. You will have six weeks to think about things. Danny will have a good time. I won’t let any harm come to him. And when I return, I expect that wedding gown to be made and you to be ready to put it on and marry me. But either way, we will be sharing the same bed.”
“Oh, Trent. This lunacy must stop. Who do you think you are?” She could hear her voice rising, on the verge of hysteria. “You play with people’s life to suit your own.”
“Tread carefully, Jane,” he warned.
But Jane was beyond the point of treading carefully. She was on the verge of losing too much. “Jenny is a little girl. She needs a mother and a father. Not to live in a filthy saloon while a disgusting pack of men wait for her to get a little older. And Danny. He needs to be playing on the homestead his father built. It’s his legacy. It’s not much. Definitely not the sort of inheritance he would get if you raised him as your son, but a heritage nonetheless, and I want him to have it. And that’s what I want for him.” She swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure as she stared up at him, chest heaving.
“Who do I think I am?” He towered over her, his hands gripping her arms as he forced her gaze. “I think I am the one with the cards. All of them. You are a card. Jenny is a card. Danny and the baby are cards. Your precious Frank is a card. All of you cards in my game. And I hold all of you. I decide who I play today and who can wait.” He leaned in close. “And honey, I decide who gets thrown away.” He reached out and snatched her by her hair, pulling her painfully. “I could take you right now, and there would be nothing you could do about it. I could ride away with
Danny, and you might never see him again.”
“Trent, let go, please,” she gasped. “You’re hurting me.”
“Do you think I want to hurt you, Jane? Do you think I want to separate you from your son and use a little girl to keep you in line?” He shook his head and turned loose of her hair. “I don’t want to do those things. I want you to love me, to want me. To let me love you. Don’t you understand that? I have never loved a woman like this before.”
When he stopped speaking, he breathed heavily, as though just completing a race. His eyes held hers, and she knew he was waiting for a response.
“I’m sorry, Trent. I can’t give you what you want. I can’t love you.” Jane said it quietly, calmly. She closed her eyes and waited for the blow that she was sure would come. She could feel his breath, hot on her face. Could feel his hands on her arms, the heat seeping through the silk sleeves—but not a blow.
“Open your eyes,” he commanded, his voice so eerily calm that her insides began to quake.
She met his gaze.
“I poured my heart out to you just now. I’ve never done that. I told you I love you, and I want you to love me.”
She nodded.
“Tell me you love me.”
“What?”
“Tell. Me. You. Love. Me.”
“But Trent, I just told you—”
“So help me, Jane, I need you to say it.”
“If I say it, it will be a lie.”
“Then tell me a lie or, so help me, I’ll kill you.”
“I love you, Trent.”
His body relaxed. Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
Chapter Seventeen
Through the store window, Franklin recognized Mam Truman’s wagon rattling to a stop in front of his store. The old nag she used to pull the cart looked about on her last leg. But that was the least of Franklin’s concerns.
He hurried out to meet her, smelling the yeast and baked dough even before he reached the back of the wagon. She was already standing there with the gate down, rummaging through the crates for his order. “Mam,” he scolded, “why don’t you ever wait for me to help you down from that wagon?”
“Good Lord gave me two strong, sturdy legs and a will to do all I can.” Her eyes squinted in the predawn light as she scanned his face. “Glad to see you is well, Mistah Franklin.”
“Thank you, Mam.” He reached into the wagon and lifted the crate piled with baked goods. “I’ve been craving the taste of that twisty cinnamon bread.” He smiled at her and headed into the store, allowing her to hold open the door. “We’ll settle up at the counter,” he said.
Mam craned her neck, clearly looking for someone or something.
“Casey isn’t here yet,” Franklin said. “If that’s who you’re looking for.”
The early morning rush of customers wouldn’t begin for another two hours at least—until right after sunup. Most of Mam’s sweetbreads would sell within an hour.
He opened his metal money box and lifted out a few bills.
Mam counted them and handed two back. “That be too much, Mistah Franklin, and you knows it. I don’t take what I don’t earns.”
Franklin smiled at the old woman. “All right, Mam. I didn’t mean to insult you.”
She gathered her shawl around her frail shoulders. “Take a lot more’n that to insult me. Now let me say what I gots to say b’fore your boy gets here.” Mam dropped her voice to hushed tones. “Mastah Trent is leavin’ today and gwine to Sidney to check on his businesses there.”
Franklin’s heart jumped. “How many men is he taking with him?”
“Not enough for you to waltz into his house and take Miss Jane, if that’s whut you thinkin’.” She shook her head as though he were the biggest fool. “He takin’ little Danny with him to keep Miss Jane in line.”
Anger welled up inside Franklin. “Have you seen Jenny lately? And Andy? I haven’t heard from Andy in days.”
“Mistah Andy been busy with helpin’ Mastah Trent get ready for the trip. But I thinks Andy be stayin’.” She leaned in close. “Miss Jane is ’bout at the end of her rope and so is Mastah Trent. He say she marryin’ him when he gets back and that be all there is to it.”
“Why are you telling me this, Mam, unless you have a plan?”
She smiled around toothless gums. “I gots a plan. Yes, I do.”
“Now, Mam, don’t get yourself in trouble.”
“Honey, I’s had trouble all my life. Jesus never said otherwise. You be watchin’ your house this mornin’.”
“I’m working. Why so mysterious?”
“Let your boy work. You gwine home.”
“What’s this all about?”
The old woman shook her head. “You just do as ol’ Mam says. Gwine home. Yessir, I gots me a plan.”
“It won’t work!” Franklin said, pacing the library as he listened to Coop’s hairbrained scheme. He shook his head vehemently.
Coop sat in the leather wingback, confident as a prince. “I know we can make it work.”
“He’ll have too many men with him, Coop,” Franklin said. “There aren’t enough in this town who aren’t loyal to Bedlow. I have ten men I can honestly say I’d count on to keep the secret and follow through with the plan without backing out in fear.”
“Then we will have to appeal to the husbands and fathers. The men who don’t frequent the saloons.”
A short, bitter laugh left Franklin. “You’re looking at him.”
“There have to be more men in Deadwood. A few years ago, this place was a sight more rowdy than it is now. I bet if we go to the mines or to where the tracks are being laid, we’ll be able to appeal to men who might see their own daughters in Jenny.”
He made sense. Mining these days was hard labor with little reward, and most of the drifters and single men out to make it rich quick had moved on. The men left were the ones looking not for a big strike but enough to feed and clothe their families. They might be persuaded to ride with him. He wasn’t a rich man compared to Bedlow, but he could pay for men to ride with him. “If we go in after Jenny, we take Jane and the baby also. She’ll be in danger otherwise. And we’ll have a fight on our hands because Bedlow is taking Danny with him to Sidney as a form of insurance that Jane will be there when he gets back.”
Coop nodded. “She’ll just have to come with us and trust that we’ll get Danny too as soon as Trent gets back to town.”
“Why not stop him on the trail?”
Coop shook his head. “Too much like we’re trying to steal from him. We don’t want to get hanged for outlaws.”
Franklin huffed out a frustrated breath. “Then what’s to be done about it? This is the right opportunity to make our move while his men are split in numbers. Part with him and part at home to protect his property.”
“There’s got to be an answer,” Coop said. “We just have to think harder.”
The door opened, and the men turned to find Cheng. “We don’t need anything,” Franklin said.
“Got visitor,” Cheng replied.
“It’s a little early for company, isn’t it? If it’s a salesman, Cheng, please tell him to go away. I’ve told you over and over I don’t want to see them.”
Cheng scowled. “Not salesman. You come.”
Franklin followed Cheng to the kitchen and through the back door. On the ground, leaning against the house, were two small figures, lying side by side.
Coop sucked in a breath. “I take it those two are—”
“Jenny and Danny,” Franklin provided.
Jenny’s body lay curled around Danny’s, and her arm covered him like a wing.
Reaching down, Franklin gently pressed her shoulder. “Jenny,” he whispered, so as not to startle her. “Wake up, honey.”
Jenny gave a scream as she awoke and jumped to her feet, raising a stick that Franklin hadn’t noticed. It must have been lying between the two children.
“It’s me, Jenny.
” Franklin reached forward. “Give me the stick.”
She turned it over to him, and relief washed across her face. “We got away.” She shook the boy next to her. “Danny, wake up. We made it to Mr. Lloyd’s house.”
The little boy opened an eye and grinned, giving a little chubby-handed wave. “Hi, Mr. Lloyd.” Then he frowned. “We ran away from Uncle Trent. He wanted to take me away from Ma again.”
“Well, let’s get you inside and warmed up. You can eat some breakfast.”
Jenny waited for Danny, placing her hand on his shoulder as they preceded Franklin inside.
Coop gave a long, slow whistle. “Well, now, this changes everything, doesn’t it?”
An explosion of pain awakened Jane. She opened her eyes as Trent grabbed her by her arms. The fury in his eyes was terrifying. She’d never seen him angry to this extent.
“Where are they?” he demanded.
“What are you talking about? Who?”
Raring back, he slapped her hard across her face. She tasted blood. “Don’t play me for the fool, Jane. I’ve warned you about that. I want to know where Danny and Jenny are, and I want to know now.”
Fear scrambled inside her, and she tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Do you mean Danny and Jenny ran away? But how would they have gotten past all the men?”
“That’s what you’re going to tell me.” He yanked her from the bed, dragging her through the room.
“Trent, for heaven’s sake, stop!”
He ignored her. His fingers bit into her soft, fleshy upper arms, and she fought back tears of pain. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
His chest heaved with anger and exertion as he stared down at her on the floor. “You know. I know you do.”
“Think about what you’re saying. Would I be sound asleep in my bed if I had knowledge that my son and Jenny had gone in the night?”
“You might have sent them away.”
“With whom?” she asked, incredulous. “Every single man, woman, and child on this ranch is loyal to you. If I had the power to send Danny and Jenny away, I would have left myself.”
