by Becky Lower
“There. All put together. You can turn around again.” Elise ran her fingers through her hair before she grabbed her brother’s arm. “It’s all right, Raoul. This is James Garnett. He’s been helping me from the moment I boarded the riverboat. And we’ve been trying to get back to the boat ever since.”
Raoul’s angry gaze seared Elise before he glared at James. “You were alone with him? For how long? You have been missing for five days! Did he take advantage of you? What has happened to your hair?”
“Calm yourself, Raoul. I’m fine. Oh, I see Joseph.” She ran over to her other brother and gave him a hug.
Joseph took a spot next to Raoul and growled as he narrowed his gaze on James. “Do we need to take care of this man, as well as the two men who took the saddlebag?”
Elise laughed. “No, not at all. If anything, I took advantage of him. I stole some of his money in order to get back home, and he followed me. We’ve been canoeing our way to New Orleans to meet up with you. But we lost our canoe yesterday and had to camp out here. Our clothing was drenched, which is why it’s been strewn about." She sidled up to James, and stretched up to kiss him. “James is an honorable man, who served as a spy for the Union army during the war. He saved me from drowning yesterday. And he’s won my heart.”
Joseph and Raoul speared him with their stares. “We will see just how honorable he is.”
James had stared down some really bad men in his day, both as a spy and as a gambler. But staring down two very large, muscular Indians while he only had his pants on definitely made all his other efforts a piece of cake. His skin crawled as he picked up his shirt from its perch on a bush and poked his arm into a sleeve.
“How did you find us, anyway?” Elise kissed both her brothers and hugged them.
“We finally found your boot tracks on the riverbank.” Joseph picked up the boots and handed them to her. “I suggest you put them back on.”
James and Elise finished getting dressed while Raoul and Joseph plotted their next course of action. James had always prided himself on his nerves of steel, but he’d been rattled since yesterday, when he’d almost lost Elise. And having her two fierce brothers at the campsite where she’d lost her virginity made his insides quiver. He tried for nonchalance, but kept a watchful eye on them both. If they threatened him again, he’d defend himself. He hoped not to, since this was Elise's family–the family he hoped to impress, to become part of. But he wouldn’t take another kick in the ribs, either.
“We will head out now,” Raoul stated in a low tone that left no room for discussion. “Gaston and Etienne are probably already in New Orleans, waiting for the riverboat. We will meet them there, and apprehend the two thieves, if we can get there in time.” He glanced at James. “When we get to the city, we will decide what to do with you.”
James had a feeling this would be the longest leg of their journey. He glanced at Elise, who shrugged and took a seat in the canoe. She had said nothing more to her brothers in their defense. She hadn’t even pulled out the all-important registration papers to show them what she’d managed to accomplish on her own. As she’d probably done for years, she would follow her brothers’ lead without so much as a whimper. He wouldn’t rock the boat either, so to speak, at least for a while. He took a seat next to her in the center of the boat, with one strong Indian in front of him, the other at his back. His shoulders twitched, but he kept his tongue in his mouth. No sense in irritating the brothers any more than they already were.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Clay and Cody stood on the upper deck, surveying the crowd waiting for the riverboat to dock in the New Orleans harbor. Neither could see any lawmen, and they slapped each other on the back.
“Seems we’re in the clear. No one has been able to tail us from St. Louis. And no one on the riverboat has figured out we took the necklace from Garnett’s room. In fact, neither he nor the woman has been seen since they won the big pot. Do you think they ran off together?” Cody took a deep breath. “As far as I’m concerned, the sooner we leave this boat, pawn that necklace and get out of town, the better.”
Clay glanced over at his brother and smiled. He withdrew a couple dollars from his pocket. “I think we should get a bit further out of town before we pawn that necklace. But we have enough money to buy ourselves a night at Josie’s before we head out.”
“We’ve been starving for days, not able to afford a meal on board ship and all the time you had money in your pocket?” Cody sputtered and stared at the money as if it had grown horns.
Clay wiggled the dollars in front of Cody’s face. “Now really. Which would you rather have? A night with one of Josie’s girls or a full belly?”
Cody nodded. “Yeah, Josie’s place is a good way to end this trip. Let’s go. We’ll figure out what to do next in the morning.”
• ♥ •
One long, uncomfortable day behind them, Elise and James took their places in the canoe again the following morning along with Raoul and Joseph. The couple didn’t have any time to spend together, since Elise’s brothers kept them at opposite ends of the campsite. Elise glared at Joseph. She’d had just about enough of him staring a hole through her. When he wasn't staring a hole through James.
She decided to ignore the two stoic men, fore and aft, who were paddling furiously and churning up the miles. Instead, she decided to concentrate on James. She laid her hand over his, smiling as Joseph’s cheek muscle flinched in response to her actions. Although she’d never been to New Orleans, she could see a large cluster of buildings on the horizon and figured it was their destination. The buildings fanned out in a crescent shape, following the contours of the river.
“It’s a good thing we’re so close to the city,” Elise glanced around, searching for the dock where the riverboat would tie up. “I’m hungry and I can almost taste those beignets you promised me. Right after we apprehend Cody and Clay, we’ll have to get some.”
Joseph made a noise in the back of his throat in reaction to her declaration to James.
As the canoe slid through the water to the dock, Elise waved at some men on shore. “There they are! Etienne! Gaston!”
Her brothers on shore didn’t wait for Elise and company to disembark–they stormed into the water and drug the canoe on shore. Four handsome, strong, tall Indians with murder in their eyes formed a line across the riverbank, daring James to cross their path. Elise ran to the two who had been waiting on shore and embraced them both.
Gaston brushed his hands over her arms and stared into her eyes. “Are you truly all right, Little Bird? Has anyone molested you? What has happened to your hair? Who needs to be punished for their actions?”
Elise rose on tiptoe and kissed her fierce brother’s cheek. “So many questions. I’m fine. You can have arrested the ones who stole from Father. They must be still on board the riverboat. I’ll point them out to you, but I’m sure once they see you men, they’ll jump overboard.”
Gaston wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “The riverboat you’d been on docked yesterday, and everyone has disembarked. There were several rough-looking men that came off the boat, but without you to point them out, we could not apprehend them.”
“Oh, no! We’re too late.” Elise caught James’s gaze. “Do you have any idea where they might have headed?”
James shrugged. “They talked about Josie’s place. It’s a fairly well-known bordello in Storyville. If they were able to win some money during the latter part of the trip, they could have gone there before they head off out of town back to their home in Texas. Your brothers and I can check things out.” James appeared uncomfortable at the thought of being alone with her brothers. Even if he hadn’t been nervous about being alone with her brothers, she wouldn’t let them go on such an adventure without her.
“It’s because of me that this whole thing started. I refuse to be left behind. Those men are dangerous, yes, but so are a ton of others roaming the streets. If you leave me alone to search for those two, what’s to prevent
someone else from harming me?” Elise shook her short hair back from her eyes.
“We will leave you in the care of one of us. The rest will go with Garnett to this place.” Raoul spoke for the group.
“No!” Elise’s gaze roamed from one brother to another, then to James. “Unless we stick together, the only place we’re going is back to St. Louis.” She stared them down. “So what is it going to be? Storyville, or St. Louis?”
“We can’t let those two get away scot-free,” James growled. “They’re desperate and dangerous. They were nearly out of money our last night on board and I’m sure they didn’t fleece too many men aboard the riverboat by their poor attempts of cheating at cards. Which means they’re still desperate and dangerous.” He stood alongside the band of brothers. “We’ll get them.”
“And why might you care, other than to make us focus on something other than your mangy hide?” Raoul’s words were clipped.
Elise wrapped her arms around James, and stared down the brothers. One on one she’d faced off against them before, but she’d never stood up to them as a unified group and her stomach tightened. She brushed a hand over her whip. She’d use it on her unruly siblings, if needed. The men glanced at each other, then turned their piercing gazes to James.
“This man has not done anything wrong. All he’s done, from the first time he laid eyes on me is to help my circumstances. Let’s go apprehend the true criminals, shall we?” Elise headed toward the city streets. “Which way to Storyville?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
James took the lead, but Raoul stayed by his side. The rest of the group followed a step behind. Raoul kept his gaze straight ahead, but that did little to ease the tension James could feel radiating off the man. And the tension was aimed straight at him. James ran his finger around his too tight collar, in an effort to take a full breath.
“You are very familiar with this part of town, it seems.” Raoul didn’t even bother to glance over.
“I’ve been in New Orleans a time or two, yes.” James decided to ignore the bait.
Raoul grunted. “Why do you think the men are at this particular brothel?”
“They talked about it as if they’d spent a considerable amount of time there. Let’s say it’s a hunch I’m following. They’re the type of men who would head to a bordello the first thing after five days on a boat.” James shook his head.
Raoul finally glanced at James, skewered him with his stare. “Did you take advantage of our sister?”
“We plan to marry. I’ve proposed and she agreed.” James’s collar tightened even more as he sidestepped the question.
“We will see. Perhaps we will string you up alongside the pair who stole from our family. They stole from our father, but you threaten to steal our sister.” Raoul quickened his pace, as if the thought of stringing James up was something he looked forward to.
James rubbed his hands over his face.
Soon enough, they were at Josie’s front door. This bordello appeared no different from every other one in Storyville, a fairly grimy part of town. The house trim needed painted and the yard was wrapped in a rusted wrought iron fence a couple feet high, dueling with the weeds for dominance. Raoul rapped on the door.
A woman, wearing too much makeup, a pink feather boa and little else, answered the knock. She glanced at the group suspiciously before a smile lit her face, showing a dazzling set of white teeth. “Hello, gentlemen. What a fine spectacle you make. If you all want to stay a while and imbibe with my ladies, Josie herself may be called into service.” She ran her hand over Raoul’s muscled chest. “Not that I’d mind, since I’ll get first pick.” Her voice purred.
Raoul removed her hand from his chest, but placed a twenty-dollar bill in it before he let go of her. “We are not here for our personal enjoyment, but hope we can pay you for some of your other services. We are searching for two men who stole from us.”
The woman’s glance bounced from one to the next, assessing them. She landed on James. “Why are you traveling with a band of Indians?”
He raked his hand through his hair. “It’s a long story. But there were two men aboard a riverboat, wearing Confederate uniforms, claiming to be from Texas. We all have a score to settle with them. Do they sound familiar?”
“Well, Josie don’t kiss and tell.” She glanced at the money in her hand. “Not without a lot more motivation than this.”
From his pocket, James removed the roll of bills that had started this whole chain of events. They were still damp, and dirty, but he had no doubt Josie would take them. He peeled off four more twenties. “Motivation enough?”
She plucked the bills from his fingers. “They were here, last night. Took their pleasure but left before dawn. Said something about heading out for home. Haven’t seen them since.”
“See, you unruly bunch?” Elise’s voice called out. “They’re planning their getaway, back to Texas. We have to find them.” She strode to the front of the group and stared Josie in the eye.
Josie gave her the once-over. “I would pay well for you, my dear. Especially if you can use that whip wrapped around your waist. If you’re interested in some easy money, you can stay here.”
Elise grinned. “Thanks for the compliment, but no. We have criminals to catch.”
Josie’s gaze sauntered over Elise’s brothers and James one more time. She sighed, heavily, her ample bosom heaving. “Are you sure I can’t change any of your minds? Haven’t seen the likes of your kind in far too long.”
Raoul tipped his hat to the woman. “As our sister said, we have criminals to catch. Thank you for your kind words.” He and James led the group out from the seedy neighborhood. Once they got to a better part of town, they stopped in the middle of the street.
“Now what?” James held Elise’s hand. “Have we come to a dead end?”
Elise leaned into him and stole a kiss. “Nope. You’re traveling with Indians now. If we can’t find Clay and Cody in New Orleans, we’ll find them on the trail back to Texas. All we need is one clue.”
Shots rang out from the next street over. Elise’s brothers bounced glances off each other and, as a unit, began to head in the direction of the noise. A pair of galloping horses careened around the corner, nearly running them over. A trail of dust followed the horses as they made their mad dash through the streets. The uniforms on the backs of the two men were very familiar.
“How about two clues?” James kissed Elise’s hand as the local authorities hustled around the bend and came to a halt, staring at the four brothers.
“You’re the Lafontaine brothers, aren’t you?” The one with the shiny badge asked. Raoul nodded. “The young ’un,” he motioned at Etienne, “he came in to the office the other day, and told us about the sister that was tailing some thieving idiots.” He pointed to Elise. “I guess you found her without my help, eh?”
Raoul nodded again.
“And I’m for sure betting those men who just hightailed it out of town are the thieving idiots you’re after?” In unison, six heads bobbed at the sheriff’s statement.
The sheriff took off his Stetson and plowed his fingers through his graying hair. “Sure could use your help now. Those two just robbed the bank. Took off with a lot of townfolks’ money. Stole some fine horseflesh, too. Any idea where they’d head?”
Elise and James stared at each other. “Yes, we have a clue where they’re heading. They’re going to Texas, to buy a ranch for themselves.”
“Not with our town’s money, they’re not. Would you boys like to be deputized to follow them? Sure could use some good trackers.” The sheriff’s gaze flickered from one to the next.
Raoul whispered something to Joseph, who stood even taller. “Raoul wishes to return to St. Louis, since he needs to take his family back to Ohio before winter sets in there. He will escort our sister home. The rest of us will help you track that no-good pair. We have a score to settle with them ourselves.”
“I’m the one with the score to settle,” Elise
spit out. “I’m not returning home until those men are caught and imprisoned, so they don’t cause any more harm to anyone.” She faced her oldest and fiercest brother. “I’m sorry I interrupted your trip home, and that Susannah is waiting for you so you can return. If you must go back, do so. But I’m heading in the opposite direction, going toward Texas.”
Despite their predicament, James couldn’t help but be awed by Elise. Her brothers were a sight to behold, but she stood up to them just fine. This was the kind of woman he needed on his life’s journey. He only hoped he could survive long enough for them to begin their life together.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Cody only thought he’d been scared silly when in the middle of a battle. But he’d take the Civil War battlefields any day over robbing a bank. At least he wouldn’t be up to his eyeballs in trouble. The back of his neck grew hot as he envisioned a passel of men coming after him and Clay, ready to string them from the tallest tree.
“It was a really stupid idea to rob a bank, Clay.” Cody glanced back at his brother. “It’s one thing to steal from a single person, but robbing a bank? We have to be out of our minds, plumb stupid, to think we’re not being followed. That we’re not gonna pay for it. We could have had enough money to buy back at least part of the ranch just from the necklace. Now we’ve got a posse following us from town. I can feel their eyes on us now.”
Clay hunched his shoulders. “You never did have a sense of adventure, Cody. I’ll admit robbing the bank was probably foolhardy, but we’re two desperate men. If we come home empty-handed, or with just a few dollars to our name, Daddy will give us a thrashing. And we’ll never be able to get back our ranch.”
Cody barked out a laugh. “You think we’ll be able to sleep at night with a price on our heads now? Even if it is on our land, don’t you think it’ll be the first place the authorities will search?”
“Well, we’ll start covering our tracks. No one at the bank knows who we are or where we’re headed. If we can throw them off the trail, we’ll be all right, little brother. You worry way too much.” Clay got off his horse and picked up a tree branch, erasing their tracks from the dirt. “We’ll go slow and careful. Will that make you feel better?”
