Randall Renegade

by Judy Christenberry

  “Do you think we can?”

  “Sure. I’m going to get you out of here, one way or another, Patience, I promise you.”

  “Jim, I… Be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  He grinned and her heart raced. She’d dreamed so long of his smile. It held everything she loved about him.

  “I don’t, either,” Jim said cheerfully.

  Then he extended his hand into the tent to stroke her cheek. “You take care of yourself and Tommy.”

  “I will.”

  Then he was gone.

  Patience cupped her cheek, wanting the feel of his warm skin against hers to last. Could he do as he promised? Without getting hurt? She feared Kane would shoot him, or order him shot, if he discovered Jim had come to rescue her.

  She did not want Jim Randall’s blood on her hands.

  Chapter Three

  “Mommy!”

  Patience came awake with a jolt. She stared at the little boy. “What? What is it?” she whispered.

  “The general didn’t come get me this morning. And they’re making a lot of noise.”

  He was right. Patience could hear the sound of guns being fired. She was amazed they hadn’t woken her. “Stay here,” she said, and crawled the couple of feet to the tent opening and peeked out. Five men were lined up, their backs to their tent, firing at a target, a tin can, perched on a log about fifty yards away.

  To her surprise, Jim was walking among the men, giving them tips on improving their aim. Kane was watching them, a satisfied look on his face. His lieutenants, who were always near him, didn’t look happy. Maybe they were jealous of Jim, she thought.

  Then she saw Roger approaching her tent, carrying a tray.

  “Miz Anderson, I have some breakfast here for you and the boy,” he said. “I have to clean up the breakfast things, and I’m afraid you won’t get anything if you don’t take this.”

  She immediately pushed the tent flap wide. “Thank you, Roger. You’re very good to us.”

  He grinned shyly. “Yes, ma’am. If you’ll give me your cups, I’ll bring you some water, too.”

  She hurriedly handed him the tin cups she and Tommy had been given. “Thank you, Roger. Much appreciated.”

  “No problem, ma’am.”

  He returned in moments with the water, and Patience remained at the opening of the tent as Roger moved away, her gaze focused on Jim. He didn’t exhibit any of the pompous authority Kane employed. He moved among those learning to shoot as a friendly helper, and it was obvious he was earning the respect of the men in a way Kane could never do.

  As if her thoughts had conjured him up, she heard Kane’s harsh voice. “Patience! You and the boy should be out of your tent. We have things to do.”

  Patience’s gaze swung to where Kane was standing a few yards away. He’d caught her staring at Jim. Not good.

  “We’re eating now,” she replied. “We’ll be out after we’ve dressed.”

  She withdrew from sight. Could she keep Tommy hidden from his father for the day? The boy wouldn’t like being trapped in a tent all those hours. The storm had passed during the night, and he’d want out to run in the snow.

  “Tommy, here’s some breakfast. Some eggs and meat.”

  “I don’t like that. I want pancakes.”

  Patience took her small son by the shoulders. “Listen, Thomas. We’re in danger. If we’re ever to get back home to Grandma, we need to be strong. To be strong we’ve got to eat. There’ll be time for pancakes when we’re safely back home.” She knew she sounded stern, but it was important the boy understand.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Tommy said softly, his head down.

  “Roger brought us some toasted bread, too,” she said encouragingly. “It’s probably cold by now, but it’ll still taste good.”

  They sat together, trying to stay warm, and ate silently. She took a swallow of the water Roger brought them and then offered the cup to Tommy. He didn’t complain about not having milk to drink and dutifully took a few sips. Then they brushed their teeth with the water in the other cup and the toothbrush she’d brought from home.

  “What do we do now?” Tommy asked.

  “Well, I think you should get back under the covers. I have a new book for you to read. I have to go talk to Joseph, but you will be safer in here.”

  “A new book?” Tommy asked with excitement.

  Patience was glad Tommy focused on the book. “Listen, baby, when I tell you to do something, I need you to do it at once. I can explain later, but…the bad man could hurt you if you don’t do what I say.”

  Tommy nodded mutely.

  She leaned over and kissed him. “Okay. Here’s your book. Stay in here and read it until I come back.”

  Patience pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt over her long underwear. Then she added a big coat, actually her father’s old sheepskin-lined leather coat, and gloves.

  “I’ll see you in a little while, Tommy.”

  When she emerged, the men were no longer target-shooting. Instead, the soldiers were donning all the outer clothes they had. She watched them, trying to figure out what was going on.

  “Patience! Where’s the boy?” Kane yelled. He was standing outside his tent.

  “He’s staying warm in the tent.”

  “Dammit! Get him dressed. We’re taking a training hike.”

  “He wouldn’t be able to keep up!” Patience was determined to keep her small nephew from going with the troops.

  Jim stepped over to Kane and said something she couldn’t hear.

  “Never mind,” Kane called after his consultation with Jim. “We’ll train him later.”

  “Over my dead body,” Patience muttered. She watched as the general called his men together. It appeared they were leaving behind four soldiers to prepare lunch, Roger among them. But Jim and all three lieutenants were being included in the hike.

  Patience breathed a sigh of relief. In spite of her hatred for Kane, she knew she’d be safe from the soldiers he’d left behind because his men feared him too much to hurt her. Which made her wonder not for the first time why any of them followed him.

  When the men filed out of camp, she wandered over to the big campfire. Roger and the other three soldiers were trying to figure out what to cook for lunch.

  “But we gotta chop more firewood, too,” one man said.

  “I’ll be glad to help cook while two of you chop wood,” she offered.

  “Oh, no, ma’am,” Roger protested. “The general wouldn’t like that.”

  “I don’t think the general would care. And I’ll tell him I insisted on it.”

  She organized the men and suggested they cook stew, which could be heated up whenever the men returned. After they chopped the meat and cut up what vegetables they had, Patience began mixing up the ingredients for biscuits.

  “Ma’am, I can see you know how to cook,” Roger said. “Too bad the general doesn’t put you in charge of the meals.”

  “It’s easy today, Roger. When we run out of vegetables, it won’t be so good,” she pointed out. “What does the general provide for your food when winter really takes hold?”

  “I don’t know, ma’am. We’ve only been here a couple of months.”

  Patience studied the man for a few minutes. “And do you agree with what the general wants to do?”

  Roger looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “Why have you formed an army?”

  “The general said we could be hired to protect people and make lots of money.”

  The three other soldiers nodded in agreement.

  “I see. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll check on my boy.”

  She hurried back to her tent. Tommy was asleep, with his book on top of him. The past few days had taken a lot out of him.

  When she thought the stew must be done, she returned to the campfire, filled two bowls and took them, along with some hot biscuits, to her tent. She gently roused Tommy to eat his hot meal. Then she allowed him to leave the tent so
he could get some exercise.

  With the general not around, life in camp was almost pleasant. Roger even indulged in a snowball fight with Tommy, letting him try to hit him with his little snowballs.

  When Patience heard the others returning, she insisted Tommy go back with her to their tent.

  After a while Roger called from outside, “Miz Anderson? I told the general about all your help and he was pleased.”

  “That was kind of you, Roger, but not necessary.” She preferred that neither she, nor Tommy, be mentioned to the general. To her surprise, she didn’t hear from the general the rest of the afternoon. She caught glimpses of him and Jim, but they seemed to be involved in either intense discussions or in training the troops. Judging by the grumbling of the men, she gathered they hadn’t been trained until now.

  She wasn’t sure what Jim’s purpose was, but he seemed quite happy to order the men about and keep them moving. He made no attempt to contact her. Even though that was best, she couldn’t help being a little miffed.

  How was he going to save them if he never spoke to her? Maybe she should’ve left this morning while they were out of the camp. She didn’t think Roger or the other three cooks would stop her.

  When Roger informed her she was invited to the general’s tent for dinner, Patience asked him to feed Tommy again. She had no qualms about leaving Tommy with Roger.

  The three lieutenants and Jim were again present for the meal. Good. She was anxious to see Jim again.

  Kane greeted her with a big smile. “Good evening, Patience.”

  She immediately became more cautious. “Good evening,” she muttered, not making eye contact with anyone.

  “I understand I owe the delicious lunch to you,” Kane continued.

  She frowned and quickly looked up, wondering if the man was being sarcastic. She shrugged. “It gave me something to do.” She paused, then decided now was as good a time as any. She would even placate him by using his title. “General, I need to return to Rawhide to care for my mother. I’ve been gone too long as it is.”

  There was a change of demeanor in the general. “I’ve said you can leave whenever you wish. I’m not holding you.”

  “But you know I can’t go without Tommy.”

  “My son must remain here with me.” His words were cold.

  She fell silent and no one spoke again till halfway through the dinner. The general looked at her and said, “This meal isn’t as good as our lunch. You make a much better cook than my men.”

  “Thank you,” she muttered, not sure where he was going with this. She began to regret she’d made the stew. She would do well to keep to her tent tomorrow.

  There was more silence.

  When the meal was over, she rose to escape for the evening, but the general stopped her.

  “Wait, my dear. I have made a decision.”

  She braced herself for what he might say.

  “I think we shall marry.”

  She stared at him, completely taken aback.

  “But, General,” one of the lieutenants began. The general silenced him with a hand motion. “If you are to remain here, anyway, because of the boy, you must accept my protection. After all, you are an attractive woman. The men might think you were here for their, uh, entertainment. Instead of just mine.”

  Patience felt her cheeks flush, but she spoke clearly. “I am here for no one’s entertainment. I am here for my son.”

  “Ah, but he’s my son. Not yours. However, with our marriage, I can give you more children.”

  Patience stared at him. “No! Never!”

  “Mind your manners, my dear. You have no choice. Either you leave my camp or you marry me. Tomorrow would be the perfect day, don’t you think, Jim?”

  Patience looked at Jim for the first time. He hadn’t shaved since he’d come to camp. He didn’t look like her Jim. He met her gaze with a steady look. Then he said, “As good as any other day, if you intend to keep her in camp.”

  “You heard her. She refuses to leave. And it will be a long winter without a woman.”

  “Your men will feel the same urges, General,” Jim said, meeting Kane’s gaze. “If they see you enjoying such things, it will make their longing for female company more acute.”

  “He’s right, General,” one of the lieutenants said. “Send her and the boy back to town. They’ll only cause problems.”

  The general banged his hand on the makeshift table. “I am the man in charge! As such, I deserve special benefits.” He turned to Patience, still standing. “Tomorrow, my dear, we will marry. And tomorrow night, you will warm my bed.” He leered at her, and Patience couldn’t hold back a shudder.

  “You may go now,” he said with a smile that made her ill.

  JIM WATCHED HER leave the tent, his mind working furiously to come up with a plan to get them out of here safely.

  One of the lieutenants said, “General, you’re making a mistake. The men will either leave or riot at your having a woman.”

  Again the general slammed his hand on the table. “Silence! I have made a decision. The woman might try to escape. Put double guards on her tent.”

  “But you said she could go,” Jim reminded him.

  “Neither of them are going anywhere.”

  “We could go into town, find some willing women,” one of the lieutenants suggested.

  Jim could tell the man was thinking of his own enjoyment, as well as his leader’s.

  “I will certainly let you go to town on occasion, but I need a woman close by. Patience chooses to remain with the boy. She will have to suffer the consequences. Plus, she’ll help with the cooking. Quite an ideal arrangement,” he said, smiling.

  “Shall I do a guard rotation?” Jim had tried to work his way into the general’s favor by training the men today. It also served another purpose by tiring the men out so they’d sleep soundly.

  “Not a bad idea,” Kane said. “Why don’t you take the midnight-to-four shift?”

  “Fine.” That was perfect. He didn’t bother to listen as the general assigned two of his other men. The third he gave the night off. They would each be supervising four men, double the usual two.

  But Jim knew he had no choice about their departure. It had to be tonight. The general roused him from his thoughts with a question about the schedule for tomorrow’s training.

  The general loved the training they’d done that day. It made him feel powerful to have well-trained soldiers at his command. Of course, the men were not well-trained, Jim knew. In fact, they were rather weak and unskilled.

  The general’s encouragement came in the form of screams and threats. The men would soon rebel at such treatment. In Jim’s opinion, this “army” had no chance to survive the winter. Inactivity or, worse, training at the general’s hand, would discourage them. Finally, lack of entertainment, women and good food would push them over the edge. He still wondered how the general had held them together for so long.

  “Your men were willing workers today, General. I commend you for motivating them so well. Do they all hold your political views?”

  The general laughed. “No! I’ve told them we will be hired by people needing protection and we’ll be highly paid. They think they’re going to get rich.”

  “Do you pay them now?”

  “Yes, with these.”

  He tossed a coin to Jim. Jim realized it matched the four he had with him. Frowning, he said, “I’ve never seen this kind of coin before.”

  “Of course you haven’t. I had them made. I’ve told the men they will be able to exchange their coins for gold in the spring.”

  “What does the ‘30 p’ stand for?”

  The general laughed again. “It stands for the thirty pieces of silver Judas received for betraying his God. I was betrayed when God took my wife. Until he rewards me, he owes me. I use those coins to buy anything I want.”

  Steal, not buy, Jim thought.

  “Unfortunately,” the general went on, “the store owners don’t seem to ap
preciate my coins. We have to spread our patronage around.”

  Jim nodded. “Will you be able to feed your men all winter?”

  “Yes. I’m using my savings. It’s not much, but enough to finance me for a year or two. By then, I will have gotten established.”

  Inwardly Jim marveled at the man’s naive arrogance. He also doubted the “soldiers” intelligence for believing the man.

  Jim brought the subject back to tomorrow’s training, wanting to give the impression he intended to be there. He kept all thought of the escape out of his head—for the moment.

  When they ended their discussion, Jim asked the first man on guard to wake him at midnight. Then he unrolled his bedroll and lay down. Now he had the time to plan their escape. He had to consider all the details because of the boy. And because the general would kill him if he caught them. Maybe Patience, too. And if he didn’t kill the boy then, he would do so with his harsh treatment of him later.

  With three lives at stake, he had to be prepared.

  PATIENCE FOUND Roger still with Tommy when she got to the tent. “Thank you, Roger, for taking care of Tommy.”

  “I enjoyed myself.” He paused and then asked, “Are you really going to take Tommy back home?”

  “Why do you ask that?”

  “That’s what everyone is saying.”

  “I have to, Roger. Otherwise that madman will kill him. You do realize he’s crazy, don’t you?”

  Roger looked uncertain.

  “It’s all right. You don’t have to answer, but you should try to get away, Roger. You’ll end up in jail or dead if you keep following him.”

  “But he killed the last man who tried to get away.”

  “Either wait till he’s asleep and you have guard duty to run away, or do it when he next leaves camp. But do it.”

  “You’re right. I will. I’ve been kind of drifting.” Roger shook her hand and left the tent. Patience watched him go, hoping she hadn’t made a mistake by being frank with him. But she hated the thought that gentle Roger could die at Kane’s hands.

  She hoped she and Tommy wouldn’t die at his hands, either. But they probably would if she didn’t escape tonight. And Kane wanted her to marry him. She shuddered at the thought. Surely she could elude her guards tonight and get herself and Tommy away. Certainly Jim would realize they had to leave tonight. After all, he’d been present when she’d received her “proposal.”