by Sara Orwig
He took her hand and together they went downstairs. As they entered the large front parlor, Abeyta was watching for them and crossed to them to take each one by the arm to introduce them to her guests.
In minutes Rachel was separated from Dan, standing in a cluster of women who were talking about the latest play at the Casino Club. She saw Dan across the room with the men, a drink in his hand. His gaze met hers and he winked before his attention shifted back to the men.
It was after one in the morning when Dan thanked them and was the last guest to leave. As he walked outside, he took Rachel’s hand to draw her out with him.
“Tomorrow I have business to take care of here. Eb said three of Abeyta’s men are riding back with you, so I’ll come later.”
She nodded, knowing that with tomorrow, problems would return fully. “Earlier tonight before we were on the river road, the evening was wonderful.”
He tilted her chin up. “And afterwards?”
“That was wonderful too,” she whispered, feeling a rush of shyness and a tingle of excitement, remembering their lovemaking.
“I’ll be there tomorrow night before sundown or sooner,” he said, drawing her to him to kiss her. When he finally released her, her heart was pounding. She opened her eyes slowly to find him watching her.
“Rachel, I’ve needed you for so long; I’ve waited when I didn’t even know why I was waiting.”
His words made her tingle and she placed her hand against his cheek. “I’ll dream about you.”
He turned his head to kiss her palm, and then he was gone, striding to the buggy and in minutes disappearing down the street.
As Dan rode away, Rachel filled his thoughts. He was aroused again, wanting her with a yearning that seemed to overwhelm him. He had made love to her and satisfied himself only hours earlier, yet he wanted her again now as if their loving had never happened.
He drew in a deep breath, knowing he should get his mind on Eb and try to think of something to do to get Pinkerton’s off Eb’s trail because it might be the only way he would get to marry Rachel.
Dan turned a corner and in minutes passed the Plaza on his way to the livery stable. Wrapped in his thoughts, he rode past open saloons.
Dan left the buggy at the livery stable and walked toward his hotel. His revolver was tucked into his waistband. He carried both empty rifles to take them back to the hotel. He was on a dark, deserted street. He could hear piano music from a saloon and two blocks ahead, light spilled from a cantina.
The night was still and dark with only a sliver of a moon. A spur jingled, a faint sound, but unmistakable, and all of Dan’s senses came alert.
His boots made little noise on the dusty street and he listened, his gaze sweeping his surroundings. His hand went to the grip of his revolver.
He heard only a momentary hiss of a rope snaking through the air before it dropped around him and was yanked tight, pinning his arms to his sides. Dropping the unloaded rifles, he struggled to get free and get his hand on his revolver. As men moved out of the darkness, Dan was jerked off his feet.
A man yanked up Dan’s revolver while a boot slammed against Dan’s head, another in his ribs.
With a bellow of rage Dan scrambled to his feet, struggling to break free of the rope holding his arms. Lyman McKissick loomed in front of him, his fist doubled as he struck Dan with all his force. Dan fell, pain shooting through him.
McKissick walked up to kick him in the stomach, more pain bursting in his middle. Dan bit back a yell, grinding his teeth as he lunged up to slam into McKissick. Instantly hands grabbed him and he was pummeled by fists.
“Get him tied and on a horse,” McKissick ordered.
Knowing his life was at stake, as well as Rachel’s future, Dan fought, slamming into one man to send them both rolling, but soon they had his hands and arms bound. Two men tossed him onto a saddle and McKissick led his horse while another man rode with a rifle aimed at Dan.
Blood ran down his face and he ached. He was surrounded by men and his mind raced for some way to escape. All he could think about was Rachel.
As soon as they were out of town, McKissick reined in and turned. “Get him down.”
A man swung his rifle, clubbing Dan and knocking him off the horse to the ground.
McKissick dismounted, coming up to Dan as a man hauled him to his feet.
“You dirty breed,” McKissick snapped, “you’ll get all you deserve.” McKissick moved closer, his voice lowering. “One of my men saw you tonight with Rachel. Well, you won’t be the man to take the dead husband’s place. We’re going to get both those pretty women tomorrow night.”
Enraged, Dan pulled against the ropes cutting into his wrists, but he was tied securely.
McKissick laughed. “Won’t cry out, will you, Injun? I’m going to take you out and leave you, the way redskins leave their enemies, staked to the ground. Let the buzzards and the coyotes eat you while you’re still alive.” He raised his hands, holding Dan’s rifle in one, running his other hand over the studded stock.
“You Injuns like the fancy guns. Well, I’m going to show this to her when I take her. I’ll tell her how you died.”
With a laugh he turned around and mounted his horse, securing to his saddle one end of the rope that was fastened around Dan’s wrists. “Get the other rope off him, boys,” McKissick said.
As the rope was removed around his body and arms, Dan yanked against his captors. Using all his strength, he jerked his arms forward and kicked one man, sending him sprawling.
“Get him!” McKissick shouted.
Dan fought, but in seconds four men had him pinned to the ground. A boot slammed into his ribs and he bit back a groan.
“We’re going for a ride, damn Yankee Injun,” McKissick said. He spurred his horse, and they lunged forward. Dan’s arms were jerked up as he was pulled behind.
He bounced over the ground that scraped against him. Turning his head, he tried to protect his face as his body was dragged over cactus and brush and rocks. Dirt and rocks bit into his flesh and filled his nostrils and mouth.
Pain came in waves, the ground battering him as McKissick galloped across the land. Dan’s shoulders felt as if they would pull from their sockets. He slammed against a rock and bounced off, unconsciousness coming, and then he was aware of pain again.
Blackness enveloped him and when he came around, cold water washed over him. He hurt everywhere. His back felt as if it were burning in flames. Spread-eagled and naked, he was staked on the ground; his wrists and ankles were bound tightly so he couldn’t move.
Another canteen of cold water was poured on him, and he coughed. One eye was swollen shut, the other he could open a fraction.
McKissick leaned close. “That’s it. I want you alive. We’re leaving you, Injun. The animals will come. I figure the buzzards will eat your eyes first. Then the coyotes will come. You’ll be a feast for them. I hope you live for another day or two.” He held a knife close to Dan’s face. “You’re bleeding, but maybe not enough to really draw the wild animals. I’ll help you attract them.” He held up the knife and slashed Dan’s thigh to his knee. Pain was white-hot, and he arched against the bonds, gasping and falling back.
McKissick laughed and squatted down beside him. “Blood will draw them now. I’d slit your throat, but that would be merciful and too fast. Sun will be up in an hour or two. It ought to be good and hot out here and you’ve had your last bit of water. I’m leaving a canteen of cold water just beyond your head where you can turn and look at it as long as you have eyes left to see. Remember that, water is only inches away. And think about me between her legs.” He laughed and stood up.
Leather creaked as McKissick mounted. “Let’s go, boys! So long, bastard.” They galloped away and finally silence came. Enveloped in pain, Dan drifted in and out of consciousness.
Once he opened his eye to daylight. The next time he came around, his eye fluttered open and he saw dark birds circling in the sky high above him. He jerked ag
ainst the ropes but he was held fast, his hands numb from the bindings.
The sun rose higher, and he longed for unconsciousness. He heard a squawk and saw a vulture fly past. He tried to yell to frighten it away, but only a croak came from his throat.
Unconsciousness came. He stirred, and felt a sharp tear on his cheek. A vulture stood over him.
Dan yelled, snapping his teeth at the bird, catching a mouthful of feathers. It flapped away, soaring up and flying off, circling and coming back to swoop down to the ground. Dan followed its flight and when he turned his head, he stared at six large turkey vultures standing only yards away, waiting.
How long could he frighten the birds away? The sun was a white-hot ball overhead, blinding when he looked up, scorching on his body as the hours passed. His throat burned and he twisted to stare at the canteen, his fist clenching. A bird swept up, and then dropped down only feet from him. He tried to yell, as it turned its head.
Dizziness came, and he fought to stay conscious, knowing if he drifted into unconsciousness, the birds would close in. He heard their wings flapping, yet he didn’t have the strength to lift his eyelids.
In minutes he stirred when another sharp pain came. He opened his eyes to look up at a vulture on his chest, tearing at his face, only a fraction from his eye. He yelled, his voice a croak while he tried to lean forward and snap at it. It flew only a few feet away and settled.
With a faint scrape of pebbles something approached. The vultures flapped their wings, their dark shadows moving over him while they flew skyward. He tried to look around. A shadow fell across him, and he struggled to lift his head.
Chapter 23
All the long ride home excitement hummed in Rachel. Tonight Dan would be with them and she was anxious to be with him again. She glanced at the five new men riding with them. Pa had hired two more hands and Abeyta had sent three men. When Dan joined them, they should have a formidable force and for the first time in days, Rachel felt as if they would succeed in fighting McKissick if it became necessary.
When they reached their place, halting the wagon in the same spot as before, she climbed down to begin chores to get ready for supper. For the rest of the day Rachel was too busy to think about Dan as much as during the ride home, but often she glanced toward the eastern horizon with eagerness, hoping she would look up to see him riding in.
Long shadows stretched across the ground when supper was over and by the time she and Abby had cleaned and put things away, it was dusk. Rachel walked out on a hill to wait. She sat on a log until it was dark and stars twinkled in the sky and the first foreboding of trouble came. Where was Dan? She thought about Walker Marland. Dan had been so confident Marland would not try again soon. Suppose Dan had been wrong?
He had said he would be here by sundown or sooner, but it was night and he hadn’t come. Finally she stood up, frowning as her gaze swept the horizon. Something caught her attention and she frowned, staring at movement far in the distance. Her breath caught as she could discern a man on a horse. And then she saw another and another and her breath went out. Her first thought was that it wasn’t Dan. He would be coming alone. Knowing it wasn’t him, disappointment filled her. And then thought shifted from Dan. She squinted at the riders again and as she saw figures moving into moonlight she could tell there were many riders.
She became cold with fear, staring intently at them. She turned and ran back toward the wagon, holding her skirts up as she skimmed over the ground.
“Pa! Abby, where’s Pa?”
“Down by the barn.”
She raced across the ground, looking at the new structure, remembering Horace White’s smoldering ruins. Lanterns burned while men worked, but Pa had said no hammering now at night because they couldn’t hear anyone coming. The work now was being done inside the barn. She caught sight of Eb. Standing in the light of a lantern near the corral, he was sanding a board.
“Pa!” As he turned to look at her, she rushed toward him. “Pa, men are coming! A lot of men!”
Eb drew in a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder to the east. “Where, Rachel?”
“From the southeast.”
“How far away do you think they are?”
“A mile or so.”
“Get Abby and Lissa and come to the barn. I don’t know whether Josh is with them or around here working with the men.”
“I find them. I’ll hitch up the wagon and we can take it into the barn and protect most of our things.”
“That’s good. I think everyone will be safer if we hole up here. I’ll spread the word. Rachel, bring the guns.”
He strode toward the dinner bell and rang it twice. Men dropped what they were doing and began to scramble off ladders and grab up gunbelts.
Rachel rushed back toward the wagon. “Josh, where’s Lissa and Abby?”
“Lissa’s on her blanket asleep. Abby walked down to the creek with Will.”
“Lordy, I’ve got to find them. McKissick and his men may be on their way here. Get the team hitched up, put Lissa into the wagon, and pull the wagon into the barn.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She barely heard his answer as she raced away. And over the fearful clamorings of her heart, she kept wondering where Dan was? Had McKissick run into him on the trail?
The last thought made her blood run cold and she tried to get it out of mind, but she had a grim feeling that something bad had happened.
She ran to the trees, hurrying toward the creek. “Abby! Will!” she called loudly, cupping her hands to her mouth.
Behind her she heard the clang of the bell again as Pa alerted everyone.
“Rachel?” a deep voice called, and Will loomed up in front of her with Abby behind him, her hand held in his.
“I saw riders coming. It could be McKissick. Pa wants us all to get to the barn.”
She heard Abby’s gasp and Will turned to put his arm around her. “Let’s go,” he said, moving quickly as Rachel turned to run ahead.
Men strode back and forth around the barn and corral and she saw two men mount up and ride into the night. In minutes another three mounted and rode away to the east. Pa came striding toward her with his rifle in hand.
“Will, you come with me. Rachel, you and Josh get into the barn and bar the doors. Get into the loft and try to keep anyone from coming close. If it’s McKissick, my guess is they want you and Abby and they’ll try to burn us out the same way he did the Whites. Oscar and José will be on the roof.”
“Where are you going, Pa?”
“We’re spreading out and going to try to keep McKissick from ever getting close enough to burn anything, but he may get through. Let’s go.”
She left him, hurrying to the barn and climbing into the wagon. “Abby, you stay with Lissa and keep a revolver with you.”
Abby nodded, her face ashen. “Rachel, what if the barn catches on fire?”
“We’ll open the doors and ride out of here. You can get on the floor and I’ll drive the wagon.”
“I wish Will were here instead of out there with Pa. I hope everyone is safe.”
Rachel turned to get a rifle and then she climbed down from the wagon, going to the loft where she could look out. Silence descended. She heard the chirp of crickets and the night looked still and peaceful. The moon rose in the sky, the land becoming silvery bright. She wondered if all the riders she had seen had been a tribe or warriors or travelers that knew nothing about her family’s existence and they had ridden on past.
Her nerves stretched taut, and she wiped her brow. Her eyes burned from squinting into the night at shadows. Where was Dan? The question plagued her constantly.
“Rachel? It’s been a long time,” Abby called from below.
Rachel twisted around. “I know, Abby, but I don’t think anyone can take chances. You’ll just have to stay with Lissa.”
“It’s hot in here and maybe it wasn’t anyone headed this way.”
“Maybe not, but we can’t take a chance.”
&nb
sp; Suddenly shots blasted the air, shattering the quiet. Rachel jumped, raising the rifle to her shoulder. Men whooped and she heard the thunder of horses galloping.
“Abby! Here they come! Get ready to drive the wagon out of the barn if it’s torched. Just keep riding and try to get away.”
In seconds to the east she saw a line of men top a rise and she felt a rush of panic, wishing Dan were with them, because it looked like an army riding toward them. How could they stand off McKissick? Frightened, her heart pounded as the men rode toward the barn.
Some of them held torches in one hand, blazing away with their rifles in the other. She saw one of the charging men go down and then another. She raised the rifle to her shoulder, aimed and fired and in seconds her fear was gone as she fired steadily, seeing some of the riders turn and scatter. Four men galloped toward the barn and flickering fire from a flaming torch revealed Lyman McKissick in the lead.
She fired, feeling a sense of panic as if he were rushing to get her. In spite of all the shots and blazing guns, McKissick rode straight for the barn. She had to stop to reload, her fingers shaking as she fumbled with cartridges. When he was almost below her, she raised the rifle. Flickering firelight from the torch bathed him and he fired toward the roof, his rifle blasting. In the bright orange glow of the torch, she saw the brass studs on the stock of his rifle.
A wave of faintness made her head swim. Dan’s rifle! McKissick had Dan’s rifle!
Then he was almost upon the barn and he tossed the torch. It made a flying arc and disappeared out of her sight. The men turned, galloping away as another tossed a torch at the barn. When they rode away, the other man suddenly jerked and fell across his horse. McKissick glanced over his shoulder, rode closer, grabbed the reins and was gone into the darkness, leading the horse with the injured man.
In seconds they were gone. She heard thuds overhead and guessed the men were coming down off the roof. She scrambled down the ladder and ran to lift the bar to the door.
“They’re gone, Abby, unless they circle and come back. The men are getting down off the roof. Lead the team out, in case the barn catches fire.”
