Wildest Dreams

by Rosanne Bittner

  Lettie asked Pearl to come around the table and serve punch for a while. The girl gladly obeyed, and Katie told her parents she was going to find Robbie. Luke whisked his wife onto the dance floor, fully agreeing with Joe Parker. He did have the prettiest wife in Montana. Tonight she wore her deep red hair twisted into a pile of curls on the top of her head, and her sea green silk dress matched her provocative eyes. It fit her slender waist perfectly, accented all the right curves, curves he intended to trace with his fingers later tonight.

  Because the ranch was so far from town, they would stay the night in Billings. Outlaws and wild animals still made travel at night dangerous, but that was not the reason for Luke's decision. He simply still had not gotten over the worry that the vengeful Zack Walker might try to harm his family. He had taken rooms at the Billings Inn, a new hotel built by William Richards, who had come to Billings six months ago to open a bank, then had built the hotel.

  Richards was himself the son of a wealthy banker from Illinois. He had come to Montana with his wife, Betty, and their daughter, Alice, to branch out on his own in a growing community. Alice was twelve, too young to be in love; but it was obvious that the girl was infatuated with thirteen-year-old Tyler. She had met him when Luke and Lettie had invited the Richardses to the ranch for dinner as a welcome to the area. Ever since then, Alice made a point of finding a way to be near Ty whenever they were at the same social event.

  "I see Alice and some of her friends are over there giggling and having a good time with Ty and a few other boys," Lettie told Luke as they danced.

  Luke looked in their direction. "Young love," he said with a grin.

  Lettie watched them a moment longer. "Maybe. I have seen Ty and Alice just talking sometimes, like good friends. I suppose being good friends is the best way to start, if you are going to fall in love."

  Their eyes held. "I suppose," Luke answered. "We didn't have time for such preliminaries. The friendship just sort of developed right along with the rest of it."

  "Thank goodness," Lettie said with a smile. She sighed deeply, looking him over. "Luke, you look so handsome tonight in your suit. I haven't seen you dressed this way in so long."

  He made a face. "I hate it. I can't wait to get back into my work clothes." He pulled her a little closer, making her blush at his boldness in front of others. "You, on the other hand—" His eyes dropped to drink in the tantalizing fullness of her breasts, which showed teasingly above the white lace of the scooped neckline of her dress. "I doubt any man here is noticing my suit. You look good enough to eat."

  The suggestive remark sent a ripple of passion through her as she held her husband's gaze. Since their physical and emotional reunion, the sex between them had never been better. They had gone beyond anything they had ever shared before, rekindled hot coals into raging flames. She felt like a whole woman again, beautiful, alive, glad to have her husband back, grateful for her remaining four beautiful children. "I'll be glad to get to our room tonight," she said softly.

  "We'll gather the kids after a few more dances and do just that," Luke answered, hunger in his eyes. He whirled her around the dance floor, thinking how far they had come over the fifteen years they had been in Montana, and how he couldn't have made it through those early years without this woman at his side. It was Lettie's wisdom that had brought in Jeremy Shane's men, who ran the Fontaine copper mines; her forward thinking that had compelled him to try raising Herefords; her faithful strength that had gotten him this far.

  It was just too bad that the Herefords had to be Nial Bentley's idea. The thought of the man trying to steal his way into Lettie's bed still brought on anger, jealousy, and possessiveness that would probably never leave him, even though Nial had married Chloris Greene. The newlyweds were in Europe, and Luke was glad. Married or not, he still did not like Nial being near Lettie. At least Nial's marriage had helped quell any rumors about Lettie and him, and gossip about himself and Annie had settled. He was glad to be able to show others tonight that the Fontaine family was just as strong as ever. He just wished Will and Henny were still with them.

  "I've been thinking about investing more in Billings," he told Lettie. "What do you think about another hotel, bigger than the Billings Inn?"

  "A hotel!"

  "Sure, why not? Something really elegant. Martin Stowe, the man who bought Will's place for a boarding-house, could manage it for me. I've already talked to him about it, and even though he's enlarging the boardinghouse, his wife can do a fine job of running it during the day by herself. Stowe knows the hotel business. He seems very willing to run the Hotel Fontaine."

  "Oh, so you've already named it?"

  "Sounds pretty good, don't you think?"

  "Maybe you think Billings should change its name to Fontaine."

  "Not a bad idea." Luke grinned. "At any rate, if we built our own hotel, there would always be a guaranteed place to stay whenever we have to spend the night in town. One suite could be held at all times just for us. And we wouldn't be hurting Bill Richards's business, or Marty Stowe's. Billings needs another hotel, at the rate it's growing."

  "I suppose that might be a good idea at that."

  Luke turned her to the music, wanting to kiss her but knowing how embarrassed she would be. "I think it would be a good investment, bring in good money."

  "Don't we have enough money?"

  His eyes dropped to drink in the sight of her full cleavage. "Not for my Lettie."

  "All I need is you, Luke. That's all I have ever needed. It's never been a question of money."

  He sobered. "I love you, Lettie."

  "And I love you." She smiled again. "And if you want to build a hotel, then build it. Just so the project doesn't keep you away from home too much."

  The waltz ended. Luke led her back to the refreshment table, where two of the other ranchers' wives gathered around Lettie to talk about the next women's club meeting. "I'll go round up the kids," Luke told her. "It's getting late."

  Just as he started toward the door Robbie came running inside. He looked a little pale, and his eyes were watery with tears that planted a sick fear in Luke's gut.

  "Pa! I think somebody took Katie! I was... she was with me one minute... and then I heard horses, and a man gave me this note!"

  Luke grasped his arm. "Calm down, Robbie, and tell me slowly!"

  Lettie turned away from the other women as several men gathered around Luke. He yelled for the musicians to stop their playing. People whispered and stared as Luke took a tattered and soiled piece of plain paper from Robbie. Tyler pushed his way through the crowd to go to his father and brother, and Pearl hurried to her mother's side. Luke read the note silently. Terror slinked through Lettie's blood as she watched a gray color come into Luke's face.

  "Jesus," he muttered in a near whisper. He grabbed Robbie's arm tighter and shook the boy slightly. "Where is she? What the hell happened?" he nearly shouted.

  Tears began to trickle down Robbie's cheeks. His lips puckered.

  "Luke! You're scaring your own son!" Lettie moved behind Robbie to put her hands on his shoulders consolingly. She kept a steady gaze on Luke, seeing devastation in his eyes. "What does the note say?"

  The blue eyes that had looked at her so lovingly only a moment before began to change to ice. "It's from Zack Walker!"

  "My God," Joe Parker exclaimed. Some of the other men muttered among themselves. "What does it say, Luke?" Joe asked.

  Luke handed the note to Joe. There was anger and murder in his eyes, but also a terrible fear. Lettie knew what that fear was—that he would lose another child, that maybe Lettie would blame him for this one, too. After all, he had been the one who first chased Zack Walker off his land.

  "'Got your girl,'" Joe read aloud, "'the tall one that's nearly a woman now. If you want her back, bring ten thousand dollars to Pine Creek, where you hanged my sons. Come alone, day after tomorrow. If you ain't alone—'" Joe stopped to look at the others. "He puts 'ain't' right in the letter—spelled most of these
words wrong, too, the ignorant bastard!" He sighed with concern for Luke, then finished the letter. "'If you ain't alone, we'll hang your girl. Makes no difference to us that she's female.'" He shook his head. "It's signed Zack W."

  Lettie closed her eyes and breathed deeply for strength. She pressed a sobbing Robbie's shoulders tightly. "What happened out there, Robbie?"

  The boy shuddered and wiped at his eyes and nose with his shirtsleeve. "Katie... came out to find me. I was looking at that... that horse we saw earlier outside... the one that looked like something was wrong with its leg. I was going to see if I could find out whose it was... tell them they shouldn't ride it home because it was hurt." He shivered before continuing. "I told Katie I'd be right in, and she left. I thought... I thought I heard some man say something like... like... 'Can you help me a minute, little girl?' When I turned to look, it was too dark to see anything. I heard... horses riding off... and some man came up and gave me the note... like he was in a big hurry. I didn't even see him good. He just said 'Give this to your pa, and tell him he better do what it says... or he won't see his girl again.' Then he rode off real fast. I... looked for Katie... called for her... but she didn't answer."

  Luke's jaw flexed in rage. He looked down at Robbie. "If you had come right in with your sister instead of worrying about that lame horse—"

  "Luke!" Lettie interrupted. "Don't you dare say it! This is not Robbie's fault. And if he had come back with her, Zack Walker might have taken Katie and Robbie!" Did he realize how much harder this was on her, thinking what such ignorant, evil men might do to her daughter? The emotional scars of her own rape had never quite left her. The thought of such a horror happening to Katie... and she was so young! For a moment she thought she might pass out, but she knew she had to be strong now, not just for Luke and the family, but so that she could be there for Katie when they got her back... and they would get her back! Luke Fontaine would make sure of it, maybe even die in the effort.

  "What do you want us to do, Luke?" An aging Sheriff Tracy stepped closer. "I can get a posse together."

  Luke took the note back from Joe, read it again, while the room hung silent. "No," he answered. "He said to come alone, and that's what I'll do."

  "How are you going to get your hands on that much money that quick?" Henry Kline asked him.

  "I know how," Lucy Kline answered, moving to put an arm around Lettie. "We can everybody in this town temporarily withdraw our savings from the bank. It won't create a run, because Bill Richards over at the bank knows Luke is good for it. Right, Bill?"

  Richards stepped out of the crowd and nodded. "Luke and Lettie and my own family have become close. I've got no worries Luke would pay it back."

  Alice Richards was glad her father could help. She felt like crying, imagining what it would be like to be stolen away by bad men. Poor Ty! Awful things could happen to his sister!

  Luke crumpled the note in his hand. "You, uh, you all know I'm worth a hell of a lot more than ten thousand dollars, but what a man is worth and getting that much in cash within a few hours are two different things. I've got money in a bank in Denver, but it would take too long to get it, and withdrawing that much from the local bank without taking it from all of your savings would be impossible." He felt like weeping over the generous offer, and he looked around at all of them. "If I can find a way, Zack Walker will never even get his hands on any of your money," he told them, rage emanating from him.

  Lettie felt an aching fear at the words. How was he going to keep from giving over the money, and would he really go out there alone? Zack Walker probably wanted Luke Fontaine dead worse than he wanted ten thousand dollars.

  "However I handle this, you have my word you'll get your money back, with interest," Luke told the rest of them. "If something happens to me, Lettie will see that you get it."

  "We don't want no interest," Joe Parker told him.

  Luke quickly rubbed at his eyes, as though to hide tears. "I, uh, I can get my hands on a thousand or so at home. I just hope there's enough cash in the bank to make up the difference."

  "If there isn't, we'll come up with it somehow," Henry assured him.

  "I'll take you over to the bank right now," Richards told him. He looked around the room. "All of you willing to withdraw your savings come with me and sign for your money."

  The crowd grumbled and shouted, some of the men cursing Zack Walker, as the room nearly emptied because of people heading over to the bank, ready to hand their money to Luke in total trust. The daughter of one of Montana's own was in trouble, and they would do what they could to help her.

  Luke looked down at a still-sobbing Robbie, knew the boy still had nightmares about Paul dying while he was trying to help him. "I'm sorry, Robbie. Remember our talks about none of us blaming another for anything that happens from here on?"

  Robbie just nodded, wiping at his eyes again.

  Luke touched the top of the boy's head. "I meant that." He looked at Lettie, and she knew that at the moment he could not quite apply that opinion to himself.

  "Luke, the man was determined. If not this way, he would have found some other."

  "Pa, I want to go with you!" Tyler spoke up. "They've got Katie, Pa, and you know I'm a good shot. I can help you."

  Alice felt alarm at the words. Ty could get hurt! How she loved the handsome Tyler Fontaine, but she was too young to speak of such things. Right now she just wanted to cry, and to hug Tyler for his bravery and his love for his sister.

  "I don't know just what I'll do yet, son. I've got to talk to the men when we get back to the ranch. You heard what Walker said. He wants me to come alone."

  "He'll kill you!" Tyler protested. "That's all he really wants! He's probably got a whole new gang of men."

  Luke ran a hand through his hair and walked over to where he had hung his hat. "Maybe," he answered. "Get everybody else into the buggy and take them to the hotel. Lettie and I will walk over to the bank. Before we can do anything else, we've got to get the money together. Walker probably doesn't even intend to keep his promise, but if he does, he won't be giving Katie back over until he actually sees the money."

  "Come on, Robbie." Tyler took hold of Robbie's and Pearl's hands. "We'll go to the hotel and start packing, Pa." He led his sister and brother outside to the family buggy and drove off. Some of the people still at the hall whispered among themselves, a couple of women crying.

  "What a terrible way for such a lovely time to end," one woman grieved.

  Luke turned to Lettie, who wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. He touched her, and she turned, embracing him. "Oh, Luke, we can't lose another child," she said softly.

  "We aren't going to," he answered, a determined, steely edge to the words. "Not this time, Lettie. Zack Walker just made the biggest mistake of his miserable, stinking life!"

  Lettie thought how only moments ago they had all been so happy. "You can't take that money to him alone, Luke."

  "I have no choice."

  "Then I am going with you."

  He grasped her arms and pushed her away. "What in God's name makes you think I would let you go?"

  She turned away and walked outside so others could not hear. Luke followed her out, grabbed hold of her arm again. "Answer me, Lettie."

  "If you don't take me with you, I truly won't ever forgive you this time! We both know what could happen to Katie. When and if you get her back, she is going to need a woman, preferably her own mother—and God knows I understand rape better than anyone! I can help her."

  Luke closed his eyes and turned away, his hands forming into fists. "Not my little girl. Not Katie! I have to kill them, Lettie! I have to find a way!"

  "Wait until you can talk to Tex and Runner. Whatever you do, I'm going with you. They won't question why you'd want to bring Katie's mother."

  Luke turned to face her. "They could rape and kill you, too, if I'm unable to get you out of there."

  "I'll take the risk. I know what Katie is going through. Besides, I can shoot p
retty well myself, you know. Please let me go with you, Luke!"

  Luke threw back his head and took a deep breath. "I could lose both of you. I'd kill myself if I lost you, let alone another child."

  "You probably wouldn't have to. If Zack Walker kills Katie and me, he'll probably kill you, too. We're all taking a chance. Maybe after you talk to the men at the ranch, you can come up with a way out of this."

  Luke studied her by the light of an outdoor oil lamp, surprised at how well she was holding up. "You've grown a lot stronger, Lettie."

  She put a hand against his chest. "Because of you, and the love this family has found these past few months. We've come too far to let the likes of Zack Walker defeat us now, Luke. We'll find a way to help Katie. At least we know where Walker is holding her. That's a start, isn't it?"

  Luke's eyes began to glitter with hope. "You're right. He told us more than he should have. He ought to realize how well I know my own land. I know every inch of Pine Creek Canyon."

  "He's meeting you on your own territory. A stupid move by a stupid man."

  He smiled through tears, touching her face. "I'll be damned. What would I do without you, woman?"

  Lettie could hardly see the front of the bank for the tears in her own eyes. In spite of what they had suffered settling here, they had been blessed with one very important gift, the gift of true friendship, love, and support from people who pulled together when times were rough. What they were seeing now, people lined up to withdraw their life savings and hand it over to another in a time of need, this was Montana... the people, not the land. She took great hope in what they were doing. Surely God would not let this come to a terrible end. Please comfort and protect our Katie, she prayed silently, and let us get her back.