Gambling on Forever

by Becky Lower

  Cody brushed his hand over the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I’ve still got a bad feeling about this.”

  Clay slapped Cody on the back. “Grow a spine, will you? We’ll stop in the first town we come to and pawn that necklace. That should give us a couple hundred dollars. With what we got from the bank, we’ll be heroes in Daddy’s eyes. Isn’t that what we both want?”

  Cody searched the area around them, on the lookout for the posse he was sure followed them. “I felt safer when we were back at Vicksburg, being used as target practice for days on end than I do now. Spine’s got nothing to do with it. I can feel the noose around my neck already.”

  Clay laughed. “Or maybe it’s the necklace we’ve got in the saddlebag.” He climbed back on his horse. “Let’s head out. Those Texas bluebonnets are calling my name.”

  • ♥ •

  In front of the sheriff, Elise locked gazes with Raoul. They’d locked more than gazes over the years, both of them headstrong and obstinate. But this was Elise’s fight. As much as she loved all her brothers and knew they only had her safety in mind, she would not give in today. They stared at each other in silence. Then, Raoul broke eye contact and glanced at the sheriff, who seemed incapable of drawing a breath while he waited. In fact, the entire group didn’t move a muscle.

  “If you will loan us six horses, some food and badges, Sheriff, we will go after those men.” He nodded in the direction the pair had taken.

  “Are you sure about this? You want the girl to ride along? And the white man?” The sheriff shook his head.

  “We ride as one, or we do not ride at all.” Raoul dared the man to refuse.

  The sheriff smacked his hat on his thigh and laughed. “Six horses, comin’ up.”

  Elise puffed out a short breath. She had two reasons for pursuing Clay and Cody. One was to make them pay for stealing from her father, but the bigger one was so her brothers could spend time with James and get to know the man behind the polished exterior. They arrived at the stables where the sheriff selected the horses they’d need for the trip. He handed over a saddlebag of food and six badges. Within a half-hour, they were on their way, headed west toward Texas. Elise doubted they’d even get out of Louisiana before the pair was apprehended.

  Raoul took the lead, following the trail the pair left behind on their mad dash from town. They had done nothing to hide their tracks, but Elise didn’t for a second buy the idea this would be an easy takedown. Sooner or later, Clay and Cody would figure out they were being tailed, and would start backtracking and wiping out their trail. For now, she would enjoy being on horseback again, with her man by her side.

  • ♥ •

  “When we take a break, I want you to regale my brothers with your exploits as a spy.” Elise whispered to James. “Let them get to know Jack Diamond.”

  James raised his eyebrows at her. “James Garnett isn’t good enough?”

  “You haven’t exactly been welcomed into the bosom of the family yet, have you?” Elise chuckled.

  James’s perpetual grin returned. “I see what you mean. Might have had something to do with the state we were in when we were discovered.”

  “And how you butchered my hair,” Elise brushed her fingers through her now chin-length hair. “I have to admit, though, I’m enjoying having it short.”

  “Shouldn’t they be forcing me to marry you, since I’ve taken your innocence?” James leaned over his saddle to whisper his question.

  “That is the white man’s way, not the Indian,” Elise let out a short laugh. “Mere proof you have man parts does not assure my brothers you can actually provide for me. That’s why this trip is so important. If they can witness your tracking skills, your ability to make a fire and find us something to eat, they will agree to our union.”

  James shifted his gaze from Elise to the brothers, who were hunched over their mounts, following the trail. “They won’t discount me because I’m a white man?”

  “No, they are all married to white women. Except for Gaston, of course. He’s not yet married. But it’s the way of the west. It’s the reason our grandfather agreed to the marriage of our mother and father. He could see which way the wind blew. Sooner or later, America will be a real melting pot of nations.” Elise straightened, her eyes shiny as she thought of each of her brothers and their women. She never cried. Yet, with James by her side, she had. Not once, but now twice.

  “Why is it your brothers all speak without contractions, yet you do?” James kept his gaze ahead, checking for the trail.

  “Because when they started marrying their white women, I was still a child. So I grew up surrounded by women who spoke the way most Americans do. But I also learned French and Ojibwa, as well.” Elise mentally patted herself on the back. “It’s one of the reasons you find me so fetching, remember?”

  Raoul scowled at the pair, who were bringing up the rear, and raised his finger to his lips. He slid from his horse, and the others followed. They stood atop a hill overlooking a rocky landscape.

  “They have begun to cover their tracks. Which means they are aware they are being followed.” Raoul and Joseph surveyed the ground before them, and stared out into the valley below.

  “Probably they could hear the two of you laughing and talking.” Gaston bumped Elise’s shoulder before he skewered James with a glare that would make a dead man roll over.

  Elise returned the bump. “We were just planning our future.”

  “We will see about that,” Gaston growled and bored another hole through James before he headed toward Raoul and Joseph.

  James shook his head.

  Elise put her arms around him. “They’re just testing you, James.”

  “And so far, I’m failing.”

  “Their main focus right now is on capturing the bad guys. They are reserving judgment on you.” Elise patted his back and could feel his shoulder muscles jumping.

  “Nice to know the torture hasn’t yet begun.” She didn’t glance at him but could tell by the tone of his voice that his smirk was in place. He would be more than an equal to her brothers when they did focus on him alone. Together, they made their way to Raoul, Joseph and the others.

  “We are close.” Raoul whispered and pointed toward the valley below where they could see the pair. Clay and Cody had slowed their mounts to a walk, picking their way over the rocky path on the valley floor.

  James rubbed his chin. “Why don’t we get ahead of them and ambush the pair, rather than follow behind?”

  “What a great idea,” Elise whispered. “We can do it the same way you circled around me when I made my way back to the fort and I didn’t have any idea you were nearby. Let’s go.” She grabbed James’s hand to lead them back to the horses.

  Raoul latched onto her arm. “You are not going anywhere alone with this stranger, although it is a good plan. Gaston will accompany you and the rest of us will continue to follow the men.”

  Elise glanced from Raoul to James and then to Gaston. She took a breath and nodded. “All right, then.”

  The trio mounted and picked their way down into the valley, James in the lead with Elise and Gaston following close behind. Elise didn’t speak and it only took a few minutes before she could no longer see Raoul, Joseph and Etienne. Nor could she see the pair of thieves they were tracking. James seemed sure of his path, though, and she trusted his instincts.

  Several hours later, he raised his arm, stopping their forward movement. He dismounted, as did Gaston and Elise.

  “We are ahead of them now, and this is a good spot for an ambush,” James whispered. Gaston nodded his agreement. “How shall we confront them?”

  Elise glanced at James and noticed the sparkle in his eyes as he replied, “I vote for the woman with the whip.”

  She began to unfurl the whip from her waist, nodding in approval of the plan.

  Gaston gasped. “No! We men should confront them, not you, Little Bird.”

  Elise grabbed Gaston’s arm and hissed, “I started this
, Gaston. It should be me who finishes it. You and James can hide in the bushes with the horses and corral the pair when they try to make a run for it. I’ll be the decoy.” She grinned and slid her whip through the tall grass.

  The men and horses melted into the woods, leaving Elise standing alone in the clearing, her shoulders back and her head high. Within a few minutes, the Confederate duo came around the corner leading their horses, and nearly collided into each other as they quickly screeched to a stop. Elise’s lips flattened into a thin line as she sized them up. Nerves tightened her stomach.

  The pair tied their mounts to a tree and entered the clearing. “Well, if it isn’t the little lady from the riverboat. What are you doing way out here? Where’s your red gown?” They began to circle her, as if they were a pack of wolves and she a calf who strayed from her mother.

  “I traded in my red gown for something far more useful.” She cracked her whip to bring the weapon to the men’s attention. The man in front of her jumped slightly as the whip snaked across the ground, but he still circled her. She cracked the whip again and this time the end of the strap of leather caught the man on his cheek. He howled and covered his face with a hand, his steps faltering.

  The man behind her came too close, and she whirled around, her whip ringing out again, encircling his legs. He landed with a hard thud on the ground.

  “Clay, isn’t that your name?” she pointed with her whip to the man in front of her who held his cheek. At his nod, she replied, “You’ve got something that belongs to me and I want it back.”

  He brushed the blood from his wound as the other man rose from the dust and the pair began to advance on her. “What do we have of yours? We’re near broke.”

  She shifted her gaze from the pair in front of her to the surrounding woods. “All right, men. You can take this worthless trash back to town.” Gaston and James slid quietly out of the woods, only steps away from the duo, whose surprised glances spoke volumes. Gaston held them while James tied their hands behind their backs. Elise shook her head and, keeping the whip handy, she made her way to their horses, who pranced about nervously. She lifted an arm to pat the neck of the one carrying the load before she took the bags from his back.

  “You have just robbed a bank, so you’re not near broke. But you will be when we return this money to them. What I want is far more precious than money, though.” Elise slung her father’s saddlebag over her shoulder. “This bag is what I came for.”

  Clay and Cody stood in front of her, but out of range of the whip. “Why would you want that old thing? There’s nothin’ left in it. It’s just a bag.”

  She whipped open her father’s bag, pulling out the ruby necklace James had bought for her. “Nothing left, eh? I’d say this is stolen property too, since it hung around my neck just a few nights ago. I’m certain the riverboat captain will be interested to hear you two obviously robbed some of the staterooms. Because if you took this necklace, you must have found other things to take, as well.”

  Her whip snaked across the ground, captivating the attention of both men. “The necklace is an added bonus, but what I really want is the bag itself. My father’s brand is emblazoned on this old thing, as you call it. This happens to be the very first saddlebag he had made with our family insignia on its flap. It means a great deal to him. And a great deal to me.”

  They were joined within minutes by the rest of the posse. Soon, they and the bag full of money from the bank were on their way back east, to New Orleans, where the authorities waited.

  Dusk was closing in by the time they got back to the city limits. Elise slid off her horse’s back when she came in sight of the sheriff and handed over the bag full of the bank’s money. “You can take these two scalawags off to jail, and charge them with theft, for what they took from the bank and the boat. I’m not going to press charges, since I retrieved all they took from me.”

  Raoul glanced at her and then at James. “Those men may not have anything of yours, Elise, but it seems to me this one,” he motioned at James, “has taken something very precious from you.”

  Elise nodded to her four brothers. “True, he’s taken something very precious from me. My heart. He’s asked me to marry him, and I agreed. He’s proven himself over the past several days to be worthy of me. The only thing left to do is to have you approve.”

  Then, she raised herself up and kissed James on the lips. In front of her brothers. The four men circled the couple and Elise held her breath.

  Elise noticed a tightening around James's mouth, but he held his tongue.

  Her brothers glanced at one another and then took a long look at James. “Despite his part in the war effort and his superior tracking skills, he is not the man we would have you spend your life with. Let us take you home.” Raoul spoke for the group.

  Elise wrapped an arm around James’s waist as they stood in front of her formidable brothers. “I am home.” She faced James, and her heart opened to him. He may not be the hard-riding cowboy she’d always thought she’d end up with, but somehow he was the right choice for her. “Right after he buys me a beignet, we’ll head back to St. Louis for a wedding ceremony. I won’t deprive Mother of planning a ceremony for her only daughter. Then, James and I will head to San Francisco to begin our new life.”

  Despite her brothers’ initial reluctance to approve of her choice, she had decided on her fate. If her brothers witnessed her happiness over the next few days, they’d certainly come around sooner or later. Their baby sister was all grown up. Little Bird needed to leave the nest. She would take the gamble with this man.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The wedding would be one the likes of which St. Louis had never seen. As Elise expected, her mother, Mary Tall Feather, spent about thirty seconds feeling sorry about losing her only daughter before she started planning the wedding.

  “You would be lovely in a long white gown, especially since your hair is now so short.” Her mother wove her fingers through Elise’s chin length hair.

  “I’ve spent most of my life in either gauchos or deerskin, so I see no reason to switch to white man’s clothing for my wedding. Although the gown I wore for one night on the riverboat was beautiful.” Elise sighed.

  “Where is this gown now? Perhaps you can wear it again.” Mary suggested, with a twinkle in her eye.

  Elise laughed. “No, Mother, even though it would appeal to your frugal ways, there are several reasons why I can’t reuse the gown. First, it’s still on board the riverboat, or someone stole it. Either way, it’s no longer in my possession. Second, the color would be all wrong for a wedding ceremony, since it is a deep scarlet color.”

  Mary hugged her daughter. “You must have been beautiful in it.”

  Elise sighed. “Even though I’m unaccustomed to wearing such finery, it did the trick. We got Big Mo’s papers back, and a wad of money along with the document, so James can begin his business. The ruby necklace I wore that evening has also been recovered. My only regret is the lost matching earrings.”

  “Your father has told me to spare no expense, so we can buy you new earrings if you would like.” Mary gently tugged on Elise’s earlobes.

  “It won’t be the same, Mother. And the wedding won’t be the same without Raoul and Susannah, even though I realize they have to get back to Ohio before the snows start in earnest. Let’s ride into town and see if we can find anything already made for me to wear. James and I need to get to San Francisco before Christmas.” She put an arm around her mother’s shoulders and they went to the stables to ready a buggy for a hasty trip to town.

  • ♥ •

  A mere week later, all was in readiness. Because the wedding planning took so much of her time, and because James’s tracking abilities had been noted during the roundup of Clay and Cody, Elise’s father took James along as they rounded up the next batch of wild horses. She hadn’t even seen him for three days. Tonight, the night before the wedding, was the first they’d been able to talk to each other. They held hands as
they skirted the paddock.

  “I take it you passed muster on the trail, since you came home with a nice group of horses.” Elise stopped and propped her foot up onto the paddock fence while she stared at the new horses milling around.

  “Your father put me to the test, for sure. But we managed to find and wrangle the stallion he’s been trying to capture for years.” James pointed at the largest, blackest horse in the paddock.

  Elise studied the horse. At least seventeen hands, its glossy black coat with its blue sheen reminiscent of the hair James had to cut while trying to free her from the chicken coop. The horse’s muscles jumped under his skin as he pranced around the area, his head craning back and forth, obviously distressed at being penned.

  “He’ll be a handful to break, from the looks of him. But he’d be such a great steeplechase horse.” She slanted her gaze to James. “Or as a stud horse.”

  The smirk she’d come to love appeared and the dimple in his right cheek winked at her. “Speaking of studs, tomorrow’s the big day.” He took in a deep breath.

  “Are you having second thoughts, James?” Her voice quavered a bit when she said his name.

  He reached into his vest pocket. The one that up until a few weeks ago housed a handkerchief from his long-ago love. He plucked out a small jewelry box. “No, sweetheart. No second thoughts. In fact, since we met, I’ve been having trouble forming any coherent thoughts at all. But I did have the presence of mind after we drove the horses back here to make a quick trip to town. I hope you like them.” He cracked open the box and Elise’s mouth dropped open.

  “They’re beautiful, James.” Elise picked up one of the ruby drop pendant earrings and examined it. “Even more so than the ones from the riverboat and they were lovely.”