Shepherd's Song

by Moore, S. Dionne

  He went to one knee as a wagon jostled into view. His breath came easier when Rich Morgan raised his hand from the driver’s seat. Tyler eased his finger on the trigger until he realized a man sat next to Rich. A gun in his hand. Aimed at Rich.

  Marv.

  He pivoted on his knees and pushed to his feet to see Renee struggling into the saddle as she tried to turn Sassy around. Raising his hand, he slapped the horse’s rump just as a bullet rang out, kicking dirt at Sassy’s right flank. The horse reared, spilling Renee to the ground. He fell to his knee as he jerked back toward Marv and the oncoming wagon. Others joined the wagon, coming up from behind on horseback, rifles raised. Marv stood up in the wagon and swung to the ground as Rich brought it to a halt.

  “Cover him, Lance,” Marv ordered, venom in his voice. Lance guided his horse to the side where Rich sat and dug his gun into Rich’s side.

  Marv’s hard eyes never left him. “It’s been a long time, Sperry. We have to thank this gentleman for leading us to you. Dirk heard of a sheepherder in the mountains. Sounded a lot like our good friend. It took us awhile, but then this gentleman’s ranch hand let us know he was on the way up to see you. Simple, you see?”

  Tyler didn’t dare take his eyes off the man. Renee slid beside him. “Get behind me,” he commanded in a raw whisper, hating it. All the protection he had to offer Renee, stripped from him in seconds.

  “Lay that rifle aside now, nice and easy-like, Rand!” Marv barked. The potbellied man rode up to him. “Appears like Sperry has a friend of yours. Think you can manage to keep her from getting away this time?”

  Rand’s eyes narrowed to points, a laughable tough-guy expression for the little man. “Won’t let her get away this time, boss.”

  So they recognized Renee. He felt her fist his shirt, and a mangled sob shot a dart of hot air against his back where she leaned, trembling, against him. He had no choice. Every man of them held a gun or rifle.

  “I like this,” Marv crowed with a twisted smile. “Two hostages to make sure you do exactly what we want.”

  “It’s a long way down the mountain, Marv.”

  The man threw back his head. “Sure it is. We’ll let you walk it. The girl can ride with the old man. And then. . .”—Marv nodded—“then, my boy, you can show us where that money is you stole.”

  ❧

  Rigid with cold, Renee slumped against Rich Morgan on the driver’s seat, grateful for the human contact. It had taken two days to get to this point. Miserable, long days of clawing through narrow paths and staring down the barrel of Rand’s gun every time she made a move. When the trail widened, Rand made her ride with him in the bed of the wagon behind Rich and Marv.

  When Rand ordered her to sit beside Rich on the driver’s seat instead of the bed of the wagon, she had welcomed the company, even under the circumstances. Whether Rich had given away Tyler or not, she didn’t know, but she’d observed the man over the days and nights. His quiet demeanor, the strange twinkle in his eyes on the rare occasion their paths crossed. None of it made sense, and if she seldom saw Rich, she almost never saw Tyler except from a distance.

  Marv rode Rand’s horse and Rand rode in the bed, his ever-present gun a sharp reminder of the precariousness of the situation. But Rich’s solid presence comforted.

  It was Tyler she was most concerned for. They kept him walking the whole trip, hands bound with ropes, the ends held by Lance and Dirk, who rode on either side. Every time Tyler fell, he was cruelly jerked to his feet. When they broke for camp, they offered food to her and Rich. Tyler, from what she could see, got very little if anything.

  Rich’s shoulder felt solid and reassuring beneath her head. She didn’t know if they would let them talk but she had to try.

  “You making it?” Rich’s question caught her by surprise. She waited for the poke of Rand’s gun or his terse command for silence, but it didn’t come. Emboldened, Renee answered.

  “It’s cold.” Funny how she had so much to say, yet all she could get out were those two words.

  “It’s the fear talking,” Rich offered as he guided the team along the rock path.

  They jolted along in silence before she could form another question. “Tyler?”

  “He’s tough.”

  She closed her eyes, her throat a burning ache. He didn’t look tough. She dared not turn around in hopes of catching a glimpse of him. Rand would surely bark a threat and wave the gun in her face. But the nightly stops showed her how much the walking had worn on Tyler. It pained her to see the slump of his shoulders and the constant rotation of guards who woke him as soon as he nodded off.

  Oh how she wanted to believe he was tough enough to endure. She wanted so much to talk to him. Touch him. Tell him. . . She gulped and bit down on the wave of tears.

  “You can’t imagine my surprise when I saw him up here with a girl. Do you know these men?”

  She sniffed and sat up a little, losing herself in the explanation. Her rescue and the subsequent weeks she’d spent with Tyler, it all tumbled out. She told him of Thomas, their search for the gang, and her rescue, all in a whispered voice that Rand either didn’t hear or ignored.

  “Tate took sick right before he was to leave, which is why I’m here. Didn’t know about these varmints following me, though, or their talk with Tate. Blindsided both of us, they did.”

  She held her breath. His explanation seemed reasonable. She wanted to believe the man hadn’t betrayed Tyler. “He told me a lot about you.”

  She felt the rich rumble of near-silent laughter roll through Rich’s chest. “I’m sure he did.”

  “Good things.”

  “Tyler tell you about his first month with the sheep?”

  Had he?

  “Had those sheep so scared of him. They weren’t feeding well and were dropping weight. He had a lot of anger in him then.”

  Anger. Tyler?

  “You know about Anna?”

  She nodded against his shoulder.

  Rich shifted in the seat, and she looked up to see his expression of surprise. “Reckon he must love you, then.”

  She didn’t know how he drew that conclusion from the fact that Tyler had told her about Anna.

  “Hurts don’t heal easy-like. He was pretty bad off when I found him. Almost dead. . .”

  It was her turn to listen. Rich told her of those first days of Tyler’s recovery, when Rich didn’t know if Tyler would live or die. “When I knew he’d live, I thought he’d die from the hurt and the hatred he carried.”

  “The sheep,” she breathed.

  “What’s that?” Rich asked above the din of rattles and creaks.

  “The sheep. Tyler said the sheep taught him so much. Psalm 23.”

  Rich’s silent laughter vibrated through him again, and for the first time since their capture, Renee smiled. It wasn’t hard to see why Tyler held such respect for the man.

  They didn’t stop until after dark since the trail was broader. When they finally stopped, the blanket of night smothered everything. Rand kept close to her and Rich until Marv and Lolly came out of the dark and motioned for her to move.

  “Lolly’ll take care of the team tonight.” Marv pointed with his gun. “I want the two of you over here.” She and Rich followed him to a spot where Dirk and Lance were busy building a fire. Marv motioned them to a spot on the ground and held the gun on them until Lolly returned with rope to bind their wrists in back of them and take over guard duty. The campfire lit the area enough so she could see Dirk and Lance, but there was no sign of Tyler, Marv, or Rand.

  By her best estimate, they had another day on the trail. She longed for a glimpse of Tyler. She felt a nudge from Rich the same moment there was a grunt off to their right, and Tyler fell to his knees within the circle of firelight. Marv loomed out of the darkness behind Tyler and stabbed a knee into Tyler’s back. Marv’s fingers grasped Tyler’s hair and pulled, arching him backward. Tyler grunted in pain. Renee’s heart slammed in panic. “No!” She struggled to get to her
feet but Lolly shoved her down again.

  “Stay put,” Rich cautioned her.

  “I can’t—”

  “Shut up!” Lolly exploded. He raised his hand in threat.

  “Hitting a woman is a good reason to die,” Rich growled at the man.

  Lolly spit a laugh and lowered his hand. “Coming from a man with his hands tied behind his back, that’s a real threat.”

  Rich kicked out hard and fast. His foot slammed into the back of Lolly’s knees and sent him sprawling, the gun flying from his hand.

  Marv released Tyler. Unsupported, Tyler slapped hard against the ground. Marv scooped up Lolly’s gun, his face slashed with rage. He lifted the gun and brought it down on Lolly’s head.

  Rich grunted low in his throat. Renee cringed back, shuddering breaths taking tears to the surface. She pressed her eyes into her knees. Afraid of the rage she’d just witnessed, of the harm that Marv threatened upon them all.

  “Now listen here, old man,” Marv growled. “You think you’re so smart. Don’t think I won’t hesitate to put a bullet through you. Got it?”

  Renee strained for Rich’s response, not daring to look up or even move.

  “Good. Then we understand each other.”

  His footsteps retreated and she raised her head, afraid Marv would return to torment Tyler who still lay sprawled on the ground.

  “Not so smart,” she heard Rich whisper. A little grin played at the corners of his mouth when he caught her glance. “He knocked out the man who was guarding us.”

  She looked back at Tyler, holding her breath as Marv hovered over his inert figure.

  “He’ll leave him alone,” Rich predicted. “Marv needs him alive.”

  Renee studied the man, comprehension dawning. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

  Rich’s smile held no humor. “He’s like a son to me.”

  twenty-nine

  “Tell me about the money,” Renee asked when the camp quieted.

  Rich nodded. “He told you about Anna, so you know she was killed by that bullet.”

  “He never mentioned money.”

  “I suppose he didn’t. It was his insurance, and his revenge for Anna. Marv got hit in the heist, along with Lance, so instead of changing their plans, they went to the same meeting place they’d agreed on when they trusted Tyler. He followed under cover of darkness. Found the money and was hauling it off on Sassy when one of ’em woke up. Tyler took two bullets before Sassy got enough distance between him and the man firing. Must have rode for a couple days like that.

  “I was out riding fence when I saw a lone horse at the edge of my property. Sassy never left Tyler even though she was bleeding from her right shoulder. Took some tending to get her back together.” He sighed heavily. “Don’t know how Tyler got there, but he must have been awake and riding hard for at least a couple days to get up from the Basin.” Rich went quiet, and Renee thought he was done talking when he started again.

  “Near lost him. If it weren’t for Jesse, one of my hands whose daddy’d been a doc, Tyler wouldn’t have pulled through.”

  “The money?”

  “Yeah.” He chuckled low in his throat. “It was obvious to me right off that the bags tied over the saddle were full of money. Hadn’t heard of a robbery, but decided it best to let him tell his story. Hid them in the barn to keep them away from my hands and prevent unwanted questions.

  “It took near a month for me to get the whole story from him. The gunshots messed him up and his memory was spotty, but he was messed up on the inside even more. That kind of healing takes time and patience in a man like Tyler.”

  A man like Tyler. An outlaw, Rich meant. “But he did heal,” Renee breathed. “I never would have guessed him capable of doing. . .well, the things that outlaws do.”

  “That’s the beauty of it all.”

  Rich’s words lingered. She thought she understood. It was the change in Tyler, the inside healing to which Rich referred. “What about the money? He stole it from them.”

  She felt Rich shift next to her. He rolled his shoulders. “His intention was always to give it back to the town.”

  “Then why hasn’t he before now?”

  Rich pursed his lips. “You’ll have to ask him that.”

  ❧

  Sweat poured down Tyler’s face. His arms ached. Tendons unused to stretching pulled hard against bone as he forced his hips backward through the circle of his arms. If he could just get his bound wrists in front of him. His shoulders screamed for mercy as he wiggled backward, jaw clenched, his breaths measured lest he gasp too loud and awaken one of the men nearby.

  When his hips cleared the circle of his arms, he rested. Beads of sweat burned his eyes and he shrugged the stream away, ignoring the searing pain in his arms. It had to be done. He had to get Renee out of here. Rich, too. They kept Sassy with the other horses during the night and Marv had ridden her a few times, knowing a quality animal when he saw it. Sassy’s long-legged gait had appealed to Marv even when they worked together. Now that they were close enough to the end of the trail, it was the perfect time to free Rich and Renee. They could ride Sassy off the mountain and summon help. Tyler had no doubt that Marv would get the location of the money out of him then shoot him. Dying didn’t scare him, but if he had to watch another woman die for his mistakes, or even Rich. . .

  Lord, please. I can’t let this happen. Please don’t let it happen.

  ❧

  Renee detected movement beside her. In a heightened state of semi-consciousness, she realized the shifting and sawing sound had been going on for some time. It was still dark. She’d fallen asleep stretched out on the ground. Her arms and shoulders, even her neck, ached from the pressure of having her wrists tied behind her back.

  Through the darkness, she saw Rich. He still sat upright, and the sound was coming from him. She bit down hard on saying his name. Noise wouldn’t be wise until she knew Marv hadn’t sent back a guard. Judging by the snores coming from behind the glowing coals of the campfire, she guessed Dirk and Lance still slept. No sign of Marv or Lolly, or even Rand, and that made her cautious.

  A low grunt beside her brought her attention back to Rich. Moonlight was scarce, and they were closer to the tree line than the dying campfire. She squinted into the darkness, able to make out his form but nothing else. She saw him move then scoot closer until his face was near to hers. She leaned in toward him before it dawned on her that his arms were free. “Find Marv, Rand, Lolly. Dirk and Lance at the fire. Move quiet. Get their guns.” She felt tugging at her wrists and his heavy fingers working at the knots. “Hands are numb,” he apologized. “I’ll bring Tyler. Wait by the horses.”

  thirty

  Renee’s nerves stretched to the breaking point. She moved with great care through the dark, expecting any minute to step on a stick or roll a rock that would bring one of the gang stabbing a gun into her side. She tried to keep an eye on Rich and the direction he took, but she couldn’t see him.

  She wished Rich had told her how fast she needed to move, or how long he thought it would take him. She concentrated on finding Marv, Lolly, and Rand first, since Dirk and Lance slept almost in plain sight. Movement at the dying fire caught her eye. She stilled and crouched.

  It was Rich. His body passing in front of the glowing embers had been what alerted her. She hoped he found Tyler. That Tyler was able to walk. That Rand or Lolly or Marv weren’t guarding him, keeping him awake as they had since capturing him. She bit her lip hard. No time for tears, she forced herself to move and concentrate on her task.

  A still, dark form lay on the ground. She leaned over the man. Lolly. If any of them would sleep heavily, he would. With narrowed eyes she tried to make out the form of a gun. Tried to remember what she’d seen him carry over the last few days. A gun, not a rifle, she decided. When her hand touched the coldness of the barrel, a thrill shimmied through her. She pulled air into her lungs through her mouth and eased the weapon away from the still form. With delicat
e fingers, she picked it up and placed it in her waistband. She crept farther around the perimeter where she found another dark form, this one just outside the light of the fire where Dirk and Lance lay. She would have to work fast.

  Her only assurance as she worked to find the man’s gun was the heaviness of his breathing and, if she wasn’t mistaken, the smell of alcohol. This man’s rifle lay next to him. His arms almost hugged the weapon. Fighting for time, she left him and moved to Dirk and Lance, trying to keep low to the ground. A gun lay on top of its holster, along with a rifle, both in easy reach of Dirk’s hands.

  She faded into the darkness at the perimeter, searching for a stick. A long, thin, sturdy stick that wouldn’t snap under the weight of the holsters. The rifle she could carry. She hurried back to the fire, startled when Dirk mumbled and rolled over, almost on top of the gun.

  ❧

  Tyler saw the movement in the dark. His mind, muddled with lack of sleep, couldn’t grasp who it was. He resigned himself to getting caught. His bound hands lay in his lap, arms numb from the effort he’d put them through, wrists chafed raw from the war to break the bond by sheer brawn.

  The dark form knelt beside him. “Where’s Marv?”

  Through the haze of exhaustion, he recognized that voice. Blood flowed freely into his cold, numb hands as the bonds at his wrists were loosened. Rich was free, giving them a chance to escape. Renee? He wanted to ask the question but refrained, his mind alive with new hope.

  “Come on, son,” Rich whispered against his ear. “Go get Sassy and a horse for Renee. Be alert. Marv.”

  Tyler struggled to his feet. His legs ached with the effort, but he moved. Rich faded away, his warning about Marv heavy in Tyler’s mind. That Rich had already assessed all the men and their whereabouts didn’t surprise him. Tyler slipped away as quietly as he could, alert for any sign of the one wild card in the deck. He tried to reason out where Marv would have gone.

  Marv had always been a restless sleeper. Never one for more than two or three hours before he started prowling. Tyler remembered waking to find him whittling by the fire or working on a bottle of whiskey. He never drank enough to get drunk, but he did drink enough to make him meaner.