by Jodi Thomas
“Take her to Whispering Mountain, I guess.” Duncan didn’t sound too sure.
Lewt smiled. “Well, while you’re planning, what do we do with the two little cooks? Send them to jail? Let them go? No jury will find them guilty if they can’t find the bodies.”
Duncan didn’t look like he liked dealing with a problem he couldn’t shoot to get rid of. “I don’t know. I’ve asked them for details. You know, did they hate their husbands, were they worth killing? They seem to talk about everything else. Without proof of a murder, they can’t be arrested. For all I know their husbands just had enough of their chatter, ate supper one night, and then decided to ride off.”
“So take them home with you. Rose could use some help. Near as I could see, she does the lion’s share of the cooking.”
Duncan looked at him. “I’m not sure I like you knowing all about my family. It doesn’t set right.”
Lewt laughed. “You’ve got a gang of bad guys chasing you with a leader who wants you dead, two cooks who confess to being murderers, a woman/child who won’t get two feet from you, and you’re worried about me? Duck, you’ve lost what little brains you had.”
Duncan laughed. “You have a point. But stay away from my cousins. Much as I like you as a friend, I don’t want you in the family.”
Before Lewt could say anything, Duncan kicked his horse and circled back to Wyatt riding trail.
Lewt slowed, letting the wagon and Em catch up to him. Sumner was driving the rig and didn’t look too happy about the chatter around him. For once, the cooks were riding in the back of the wagon, and Anna sat beside the driver. She didn’t appear happy about it. Her back was straight as a rod, and she held herself as far away from Sumner as she could manage.
“Everything all right?” Lewt asked.
Sumner nodded. “Watch this.”
He pulled off his gloves and laid them on the seat between him and the girl.
A few moments later Anna picked them up and slipped them on her small hands. Then Sumner handed her the reins.
“She’s not sure of herself, but she’s a good driver.” He motioned her to ease up on the lines. “I tried this a few times yesterday. It’s the only time she’s not shaking with fear.” He turned away from Lewt and instructed her in a low tone.
Lewt moved around the wagon and pulled up even with Em’s horse. “Did you see that?” he asked.
“I did,” she answered, without looking at him.
“Any chance we’re about to have a normal conversation?”
“No.”
He fought the urge to circle his arm around her, pull her onto his horse, and kiss her soundly, but with his luck she’d fight and kick and they’d both end up on the ground. He would have liked to tell her how wonderful last night had been, but she didn’t look to be in a listening mood.
An hour later Lewt was still trying to think of something to say to reach her when they heard horses riding in fast.
“Get off the road!” Duncan shouted. “We’ve got company coming.”
Sumner didn’t take the reins but directed Anna where to go. They moved onto a rocky side and down an incline to where the ground sloped into almost waist-high grass. Beyond the grass were trees growing along a gully.
As the wagon disappeared from the road, Duncan reached Lewt and Em. “Looks like men coming up fast about a mile away. I’m guessing six, maybe seven. We have little chance of outrunning them with the wagon, and if we stand and fight, we’re outnumbered.”
Lewt and Em nodded as Wyatt joined the group.
“How about I face them?” Lewt said. “They saw me at the ranch, but they don’t know I’m involved with you. I could talk to them, act like I haven’t seen anything. Maybe head them off in the wrong direction.”
“I don’t know.” Duncan shook his head.
Lewt smiled his slow easy smile. “Look at it this way, all I’m doing is bluffing and we both know I’m an expert at that.”
Duncan finally agreed. “It’s not much of a plan, but it might work. Em and I will take cover between you and the wagon. If they head toward it, we’ll open fire, so make sure you stay out of the way.”
Wyatt headed down the rocky incline. “I’ll stand with Sumner at the bottom of this gully. Any man who makes it past you and Miss Em will be walking straight into our fire.”
They all moved into action. Duncan and Em climbed the rise to watch and be ready. Wyatt brushed any tracks away where the wagon had left the road, and Lewt unsaddled his horse in the grass on the far side of the road. He brushed the animal down with the saddle blanket, hoping no one would notice the sweat where the saddle had been. There was no time to build a fire, but he tossed a few things around to make it look like he’d been there for a while.
He’d just sat down on his bedroll and pulled out a deck of cards when he heard the men coming.
Lewt glanced back in the direction Em had gone. He scanned the ridge, but he saw no sign of her. The need to see her was an ache inside him. He touched two fingers to his hat in a salute, hoping she could see him.
As the riders came into sight, Lewt stood and began rolling up the bedroll he’d just tossed on the ground.
The band slowed. They were dirty and muddy and looked madder than hell. Lewt recognized the leader as one of the guards from when he’d gambled the night away. The man looked more animal than human on a good day, and this wasn’t a good day.
“Morning,” Lewt said, as if the men were in their Sunday-go-to-meeting best. He counted seven men. One man behind the leader pulled his gun, but the rest just slowed their horses and stared.
“If you’ve come by to rob me, you’re out of luck. I left all my money back at Three Forks. I’ll play you a round for any food you can spare, though. It’s a long way to Austin.”
The leader raised his hand to signal the other outlaw to lower his gun. “I remember you,” he said. “Where’s your vest with all the colors braided with gold?”
“I don’t wear it when I travel,” Lewt said with a smile. “Sun bounces off it.”
The leader laughed as one of the men behind him mumbled something Lewt couldn’t catch.
“My friend says one of the girls claims you spent the rest of the night in her bed, then shot out the window like a coward when you heard shooting.”
Lewt stood tall, facing them straight on. “Look, I’m a gambler, not a gunfighter. I don’t even carry a gun, so of course I took off as soon as the shooting started. I want to live to gamble again. I paid for my time with the rather drunk lady with my last twenty.”
Lewt was doing what he always did when being confronted. He was blending as much truth into the lie as possible.
It worked. The leader of Toledo’s band believed him.
“How long have you been here, Gambler?”
Lewt shrugged. “I had too much to drink last night. To be honest, I’m surprised I got my bedroll on the ground before I fell asleep.” Lewt scratched his head. “If I was guessing, I’d say I’ve been here since about midnight.”
“Did you see anyone pass?”
Lewt shook his head. “Who you looking for?”
“A man traveling with a child almost grown. He’ll be limping, but he’s a dead man if we catch him. He kidnapped the child. One man who thought he saw them ride away said he had two, maybe three men with him.”
Lewt shook his head. “Nobody like that has passed by here.”
Lewt was an expert at reading people, and he could tell the leader didn’t believe him but hadn’t quite found the lie in his story.
“Why don’t you saddle up, Gambler, and ride along with us for a while? We’re headed in the same direction.”
“Thanks for the offer, but . . .”
The leader smiled and added, “I insist.”
Lewt had no choice. If he made too much fuss, it would make the leader even more suspicious. Maybe if he rode along he could draw the group away from the others. So, much as he hated the odds, he saddled up and went along.
&
nbsp; If he’d had any sense, he would have been worried or at the very least plotting his escape, but all Lewt could think about was that he wished he’d seen Em one more time before he left. He wanted to see those Texas blue eyes looking at him, and somehow that seemed to matter as much as his life at the moment.
CHAPTER 34
EM WATCHED FROM THE RIDGE AS LEWT JOINED THE band of guards they’d been running from. She wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said, but she could tell by Lewt’s slow movements that he wasn’t happy about going with the outlaws. There were no guns pointed at him, which was a good sign.
When the men surrounded him, she knew he was, at the very least, an unwilling guest of the outlaws.
“What do we do?” she whispered to Duncan a few feet away.
“Nothing,” Duck answered, as he swore under his breath. “It would take all four of us to even have a chance in a fight, and that would mean leaving the cooks and Anna without anyone to protect them. Whatever happens to Lewt, he’s alone from here on out.”
Em didn’t like the plan at all, but she could see Duncan’s point. They crawled down off the ledge they’d been watching from and rode back to the gully, where Sumner and Wyatt waited with the others.
For a few minutes she listened to the men talk, guessing how much trouble Lewt was in, wondering what they could do about it.
Finally, she could stand it no longer. “We have to do something,” she said.
Sumner met her gaze and nodded, but Duncan kept his head low. “I’ve known Lewt Paterson for years. He grew up in saloons. If anyone can handle those men, he can. I’ve seen him, unarmed, talk his way out of being shot. I say we give him a few days. He knows where we’re heading. He’ll catch up with us in Austin.”
All the other men seemed to agree with Duncan, but Em couldn’t see the logic. Lewt had risked his life to save them, and now they weren’t going to do a thing.
“You’re all cowards.” She fought down a scream. “I’m going after him, and I swear I’ll shoot any one of you who tries to stop me.”
To her surprise, Duck smiled, then Sumner, and finally Wyatt.
“Have you three lost your minds?” she asked, feeling sick that they might call her bluff.
“No, Em, we just wanted to see how much this gambler meant to you. Sumner told me, but I didn’t believe you could care for any man as much as you do a horse. It appears I was wrong.”
“Nonsense,” she argued. “I just know he’s your friend.”
“He’s more than that to you,” Duncan answered directly.
“Maybe he is, but don’t tell him. I’d rather he be the last to know.”
Wyatt laughed. “That right there is why I never considered marrying. There is no logic to women. Seems to me if you care for him, Miss Em, you should tell him and ease him out of his misery.”
“That’s not the way it works,” Sumner said. “First a woman keeps a man guessing until he puts a ring on her finger, and then she goes to work at driving him slowly mad. I’ve rarely seen a man married over ten years who wasn’t completely insane. Once a woman gets them mixed up, she just leads them around and points to what she wants done.”
Duncan moved to his horse. “Why don’t we debate this later? Right now we need to get the women back to the mission and start looking for Lewt. We’ll lose four or five hours, but we can make it up. A few of those outlaws looked like they hadn’t been in the saddle for months and had grown fat on beer and the sisters’ cooking. They’ll be needing to stop often and long. If I know Lewt, he’ll put out a deck and try to extend each stop with a little game.”
“We’ve got better horses and better riders. We’ll catch up to them and then we’ll figure out what to do.” Wyatt grinned at Em. “But I can tell you right now, when we find him, I ain’t the one who’ll be kissing on that gambler.”
Em had no more time to talk. She simply made a face at the ranger as Sumner turned the wagon around and they doubled back to the mission.
Duncan told her to stay close to the wagon while he and Wyatt lagged behind to make sure the outlaws hadn’t decided to double back. “If you hear gunfire,” he whispered to Em, “ride hard toward the mission.”
“Aren’t you going to tell Sumner the same?”
He laughed. “Sumner knows. He’s been in a few fights before, but for you, cousin, this will be your first. Up to now, you’ve been a virgin.”
Em didn’t miss the glint in his eyes. He was teasing her, but she wasn’t sure exactly about what.
Duncan was born for this life. He loved the adventure, the fight. She simply hoped they all lived to tell the story.
He tipped his hat and yelled, “I’ll catch up to you before you reach the mission doors.”
She rode with her rifle across her legs, ready if needed, but her thoughts were on Lewt. She’d told herself that last night had been more dream than reality. She’d found him alone and wanted to kiss him one more time. His life would never blend with hers, but she needed the memory of this one man. He’d touched her body and soul deeper than anyone else ever had. He’d made her feel desirable and wanted beyond all reason. Even when she knew what he was, she still longed for the touch of his hand and the taste of his kisses.
Before she faced Lewt again, Em knew she had to make up her mind about how she felt about him. She thought she knew how he felt about her. He hated her for making a fool of him. For lying to him and letting him share his secrets about wanting to marry rich without telling him who she was. She also knew he wanted her. Not just a woman or a wife, but her.
It took them more than two hours to get the wagon back to the mission. Her cousin rode in at full speed just as the priest closed the gate. She saw no sign of Wyatt and guessed he was somewhere up ahead scouting things out.
Duncan spent thirty minutes convincing Anna that she would be safe there without him. Finally, he put a second lock at her door and a tiny hole so she could look out before she unlocked either bolt.
With Sumner and the two cooks promising to stand guard over her, Anna finally turned loose of Duncan’s hand.
Em hugged Sumner.
“I should be going with you,” he whispered. “I need to look out for you.”
Em smiled. For the first time she saw that the old man liked her. “I’ll be all right with Wyatt and Duck. You’re needed here.”
He looked at the two cooks and frowned, as if worried he might be the one facing true danger. “You take care of yourself,” Sumner warned, “just as I plan to. Bring that wild cousin of yours back in one piece along with that gambler. He’s starting to grow on me even if he’ll probably never be much of a horseman.”
She smiled. “He’s growing on me too.”
Duncan and Em left the mission at a run. They rode McMurray horses bred for strength and distance. It was time to put them to the test.
An hour later they reached the spot where she’d last seen Lewt playing cards on his bedroll and talking with the outlaws as if he were just passing time. Wyatt was waiting for them. He’d ridden ahead and knew the direction so they didn’t have to worry about tracking, which was a good thing because a winter rain began to fall. Not a soft dribble of a rain, but large plops that erased the trail of a road completely.
It was afternoon when Duck called a halt. Without a word, they moved into the shelter of the trees and climbed down to let the horses rest.
“The trail’s gone,” Wyatt said. “We’ve gone beyond where I saw them turn off. They could have veered off to the east or west by a few hundred feet and we couldn’t see them in this rain. We’ve no way of tracking them now. We’d be better off to stay here for a while. With any luck they’re holed up somewhere just ahead of us.”
Em stared out into the sheets of rain curtaining her view. Lewt was out there somewhere alone, and there was no way for her to get to him.
“When this rain stops, we’ll ride on. We have to give it another try.” Duncan’s words didn’t sound like he held much hope.
As she of
ten did when she rode the range, Em ignored the cold. She felt wet to the bone, but she wouldn’t complain. Her thoughts were on Lewt and finding him. In the rumble of the winter storm, she thought of Lewt’s arms around her and how he’d said he’d wait forever for her to come to him.
As soon as the rain stopped they raced across the land, each studying the afternoon shadows, each hoping for one sign. A campfire. A shot to kill game. The reflection of a rifle off the aging sun.
Nothing. Finally, it was too dark to continue. They camped in a dry spot beneath an old elm. Em curled up in her blanket and thought of Lewt holding her hand and wondered if he was close, thinking about the same thing. Wyatt offered her jerky and a biscuit, but she was too tired to eat.
Before dawn the next morning they were back in the saddle, three shadows moving beside a muddy road. If the gang stopped for the night and didn’t leave until morning, they’d be leaving a trail in the mud now.
If they were following the right road, Em thought.
If they were even going in the right direction.
If Lewt was still alive and with the band. She feared that the outlaws might think him worthless and kill him, or worse, discover that he was lying and torture him for information.
The sun was high when Wyatt found a camp by a swollen stream. Seven or eight horses, he guessed. The same number of men. From the remains of a fire, it looked like they had stopped long enough to rest the horses, cook rabbits, and maybe warm themselves. The ground was still wet enough to follow their tracks across the campsite.
Em stood very still as Wyatt read the tracks. “There’s blood,” he said, “but it looks like it’s from the rabbits. This could be our men, or a dozen others traveling. Whoever stopped here did so after the rain. I’m guessing they left one, maybe two hours ago. They must feel pretty certain they’re not being followed if they stopped to cook.”
“Wyatt,” Duncan called from twenty feet away. “Look at this.”
They all moved to a muddy spot behind a rock. No footprints stomped across the spot, but someone had drawn a circle and inside written WM.
