The Bride Series (Omnibus Edition)

by Bittner, Rosanne

  “Well, maybe so, but everybody knows it was your desire to get to Marybeth in one piece that really did it. By God, you don’t know how good it is to see you walkin’ like this. Soon as Marybeth had them babies, she called me in and said for me to get goin’ and come for you—bring you back no matter what shape you was in. It was awful hard on her, Josh, havin’ to leave you behind. She’s stayin’ in a cabin in Portland now with Delores and Aaron. Delores had a baby boy last Christmas—name’s Stanley.”

  “Good. I’m glad for her and Aaron.” Both men reached the campsite and Josh introduced Cap and Orville, who remembered each other vaguely. Orville offered Cap some beans and coffee, and they all sat down around the campfire.

  “You think Marybeth is all right?” Josh asked. “You say you left soon as the twins were born?” He turned to Orville. “Marybeth had twins, Orv—a boy and a girl.”

  “I heard Cap telling you. Congratulations, Josh!” The man put out his hand and Josh shook it, grinning. He turned back to Cap.

  “What about it, Cap?” He picked up the cigar he had laid aside on a rock and relit it. “Was she okay?”

  “Far as I know. I reckon she’d be a little weak for a while—had kind of a hard time of it. And keepin’ up with twins ain’t gonna be the easiest thing in the world, especially with Danny runnin’ around gettin’ into things. That boy is walkin’—I should say, runnin’. He’s growin’ fast, Josh. Gonna’ be big, no doubt about it.”

  Josh’s smile faded. Big as any MacKinder, he thought. “How about Mac,” he asked. “Where’d they settle? They give Marybeth any problems?”

  Cap sobered. “We wouldn’t have let them. As it turns out, they’re no longer a worry. They was both killed crossin’ the river up in Cayuse country.”

  Josh frowned with surprise, his emotions mixed. “Both of them?”

  “You know how Mac is…or was. He wouldn’t let Ella come across in a canoe with the Indians like the rest of the women—said Indians had likely killed his son and besides, he could look after his own woman. Damned, bull-headed bastards those MacKinders were. I said to hell with him and let him do what he wanted. He made Ella ride inside the wagon. The oxen was loaded onto one raft, and the wagon on another. The oxen started acting up, and Mac started yelling like always. Got them all excited and the next thing you know most of the oxen and two Cayuse was in the river. One raft rammed another—the wagon toppled over.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast I can’t hardly remember how it happened. Devon and that Bill Stone, they found the bodies and we buried them beside the river.”

  Josh sighed. “I’ll be damned.” He puffed on his cigar for a moment. “The only thing that bothers me is the fact that there is one body that hasn’t been found, and that still leaves me uneasy.”

  “John MacKinder?”

  Josh met his eyes. “Anybody ever catch sight of him around Portland?”

  Cap shook his head. “Not the whole winter.”

  Josh looked around at the distant mountains, breathing deeply of the spring air. “I’m worried he’s still alive and he wintered it out somewhere like I did and he’ll still try to find Marybeth. At the least he’ll surely try to find his parents. If he finds out they’re dead, he’ll be on a real rampage. You know how he is. He’ll say it was my fault, yours, Marybeth’s—everybody and anybody but his own fault.”

  Cap ate a spoonful of beans. “I think he’s dead, Josh. Everybody figures if the Crow had a repeating rifle, it was probably John’s. Hell, most of the men up in those mountains don’t have one of those yet.”

  “That’s true,” Orville told Josh. “All me and the others have at the Fort is muskets. Frank, he sent a man to Fort Laramie to see about getting some new repeaters.”

  “I figure with that Indian attack bein’ so soon after we kicked MacKinder off the wagon train, that gun couldn’t be anybody else’s but his.”

  Josh puffed the cigar quietly for several minutes. He glanced at Cap. “I’ve had a lot of time to think these past few months, Cap. And I’m thinking, what if the Indians didn’t take that gun off John MacKinder?”

  Cap frowned, setting his plate on his knee. “What are you talkin’ about?”

  “Cap, I’ve gone over that day in my mind a thousand times. Those Indians had a few old muskets—most of them had only bows and arrows. Just before I was shot, they were riding off. The ones from my back side were running through the trees to their horses. During all the fighting, not one emigrant or animal was shot with the kind of bullet that hit me. Why was I the only one? If they had a rifle like that, why weren’t they using it throughout the battle? If an Indian was a good enough shot to hit me, he could have hit a lot of others. They could have killed half the people on that wagon train, but I was the only one who got hit—and even then, it was while the Indians were running off.”

  Cap frowned, weighing Josh’s words. He met the man’s eyes. “You think it could have been John MacKinder that shot you?”

  Josh’s voice was sober and firm. “I think it’s a strong possibility.”

  “Hell, them hills was alive with Indians! MacKinder didn’t know nothin’ about Indians. There ain’t no way he’d have run into Indians and lived through it.”

  “Maybe he was just sneaking around up there following the wagon train. Maybe even the Indians didn’t know he was there. And maybe he took advantage of an ideal situation—he could kill me, and everyone would think it was the Crow that did it. Then he just waits for Marybeth to get over her grief, and he moves in on her again. If I’m right, and John finds out about his parents, Marybeth won’t be safe. Neither will my babies.”

  Cap shook his head. “I don’t know, Josh. It sounds pretty far-fetched.”

  “Maybe so. But as far as I’m concerned, I can’t get to Portland soon enough. I think I’m in a foot race with John MacKinder. I wasn’t really strong enough to leave, but I knew I couldn’t waste any time about it. It just pisses me off that I can’t seem to get in a full day’s ride.”

  Cap leaned forward and put a hand on his arm. “Look, Josh, you want to be as healthy as you can be when you reach Marybeth. Don’t overdo things just because of a wild notion. Ain’t many men who would live through a wound like you had. You could even have a setback yet. You just take it easy. Marybeth is surrounded by friends, and she’s right in town. Ain’t nothin’ gonna happen to her, you hear? I’ll ride back with you, and I ain’t leavin’ Portland till I know there ain’t no more problems for you and Marybeth.”

  Josh breathed deeply, giving him a faint smile. “Thanks, Cap. I hope I’m wrong about all this. But I’ll tell you one thing. If I’m right, there won’t be any place John MacKinder can go to get away from me.” His jaw flexed with repressed anger and hatred. “I’ll not forget that pain for the rest of my life. I think MacKinder deliberately shot me in the back, and if I find out that’s true, the man is going to pay!”

  “A lot of us will want him to pay—and we’ll see he does, Josh. Don’t go tryin’ somethin’ alone, not the shape you’re in. You remember you’ve got a wife and three babies who need you to be well.”

  Josh puffed on the cigar again, staring at the flames of the campfire. “I know.” He pictured John MacKinder grinning, aiming a rifle at his back. “But he’ll pay, Cap, and it’s me who will make him pay. It’s my right.” He sighed and looked at Orville. “Dish me up some beans, and let’s get some sleep. I’d like to pull out before sunup. How long will it take us to get to Portland, Cap?”

  “Oh, about three weeks.”

  Josh took the beans from Orville. “I’ll try to stay in the saddle longer from here on. I just hope to hell I’m wrong about John MacKinder.”

  Marybeth laid little Emma into the small bed Aaron had made for both babies to sleep in. They were five weeks old now, and Marybeth was feeling stronger, but tired from almost constant feedings. Her bleeding had stopped, and most of her old dresses fit her again, although still tight in the waist. She walked over to the mirror she ha
d bought and hung on the wall of her room. She brushed at her hair, studying her face, trying to decide if it still looked too pudgy. She had lost most of the water and weight she had gained with the babies, but the strain of childbirth and keeping up with double feedings showed in her eyes. She tied her hair back at the sides and hoped Josh would still think she was pretty.

  Josh. Perhaps he would be so crippled, her looks would mean little to him. She contemplated how she could provide for her children and her husband if Josh was unable to be the provider. Even if she could find some kind of work, who would look after the babies? How could she keep up with their feedings? The worry of it left her more tired than taking care of them.

  Also she hated being such an intrusion in Delores’ and Aaron’s lives. They had not planned on adopting an entire helpless family when they headed for Oregon. Never once had they given any hint that they minded, but Marybeth minded. She did not like being a burden on anyone, and she again took down her rosary and knelt by her bed, praying fervently that Josh would return a healthy man.

  She rose then, checking the sleeping babies, smiling at the wonderful gift Josh had given her. In spite of the tremendous responsibilities she would shoulder if Josh was dead or crippled, she would always treasure the beautiful little boy and girl that had come from her union with Josh Rivers.

  She walked over and checked on Danny, who was napping, and she smiled at his puckered lips and dark, curly hair. Although his conception was far different from the twins’, her firstborn had for a while been the only shining light in her life. He would remain a MacKinder, and for Ella’s sake alone, Marybeth was determined Danny would grow up to bring pride to the MacKinder name.

  She leaned down and kissed his cheek, then left the room to go into Delores’ room and check on Stanley. It was a rare moment when all four children slept and the house was quiet. Delores had gone marketing. Aaron and Sam had left for Oregon City to see about filing papers on some land there. They had promised to be back by the end of the week for a spring dance being held by the businessmen of Portland, an event they had been told nearly everyone for miles around attended. Marybeth was not so sure she wanted to go, but Florence and Delores had both convinced her it would be good for her, especially since one of their older neighbor ladies had offered to mind the children. It was just one more thing to help pass the time until Cap returned with Josh. Florence had volunteered herself and Delores and Marybeth to contribute home-baked cakes as part of the refreshments.

  “It sounds like fun,” Delores had said just that morning. “All the women bring food, and the men roast a side of beef, and there are games and contests before the dance. Everyone goes; I was talking to a banker’s wife just yesterday about it.” She herself had gone out that morning to buy baking supplies.

  Marybeth sighed, wondering what she should wear, but really caring little how she looked to anyone but Josh. Someone knocked at the door then, and Marybeth supposed it was Delores with her arms full of packages. She went to the door and opened it, then froze in place for a moment, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

  “Hello, Marybeth.”

  She stared at John MacKinder, who at the moment seemed even bigger and more menacing than she remembered, standing there in a wolfskin coat and sporting a beard. He literally smelled of danger, and she forced herself to overcome her shock and fear. She tried to slam the door so she could bolt it, but he caught it with a big, strong hand and slammed it backward.

  Marybeth backed away. “You’re alive!”

  John grinned bitterly. “You disappointed, Marybeth? I suppose with my mother and father dead, you thought you were finally free of the MacKinders.”

  She backed farther away, realizing what the news of their deaths would mean to him. “I am sorry about that, John, I truly am. It was an accident, like so many other sicknesses and accidents on that wagon train.”

  He stepped inside, looking around the room. “Where is Danny?”

  “He’s taking a nap.”

  “Get him. I have built a cabin farther up in the hills, and I will find a job. My father wanted nothing more than to keep Danny in this family, and I am going to see that it’s done.”

  “What are you talking about?” Her heart pounded with fear and dread. “How did you find me? And where have you been all winter?”

  “I found a place to live—with an old miner.” He grinned again. “Don’t you understand by now that you can’t get rid of me, Marybeth? You should have known I would survive up there and come here to find my parents—and you and Danny. Now I am here, and Josh Rivers is dead.”

  She backed away even further. “How do you know that?”

  A strange, guilty look moved through his eyes. “I asked around.”

  “No one knows for certain that he’s dead. Cap has gone to find out. He could still be alive.”

  “Makes no difference. He’s not Catholic, and you are not his legal wife. You and Danny are coming with me where you have always belonged. You have no Josh Rivers or anyone else to defend you now, woman. You are coming with me, and when I am through with you, you will wonder why you ever refused me.” His eyes moved over her as though she stood there stark naked. She breathed deeply for control, told herself she could be just as determined as John MacKinder. She had to call on the courage Josh had helped her find. Josh could come back any time. She couldn’t go off with this man, not now and not ever!

  “I am not going anywhere with you. Whether you want to consider it legal or not, I am married to Joshua Rivers, and I’ve had twin babies by him, John. Josh will be coming back any day now, and I believe he’ll be well and able to take care of his family.”

  “Get your things together,” John hissed, his fists clenching. “And bring just Danny. I’ll not be taking on the responsibility of the Rivers bastards!”

  Her eyes widened with disbelief. “You’re crazy! You’ve completely lost your mind.”

  He only smiled. “If I have, it’s because of the want of you. I’ve done everything I could do to make sure you would be mine, Marybeth. And my father wanted nothing more than to keep Danny in the family. That is the way it is going to be.”

  “What do you mean—you’ve done everything you could do to make sure I was yours?” She thought about how Josh was shot: Devon’s remark that the Indians couldn’t possibly have got hold of repeating rifles yet. They all thought John’s had been stolen and that he was surely dead. Yet here he stood.

  “Why are you so sure Josh is dead,” she asked, moving around the table, trying to keep away from him. “Is it because it was you who shot him?”

  He only grinned, and her heart filled with anguish. Her problems with the MacKinders had caused Josh so much pain and suffering. “It was you, wasn’t it? You followed the wagon train! You saw the Indian attack and you took advantage of it!”

  “You belong with me!” His voice was raised now. She could see the MacKinder temper rising, knew how unpredictable that temper could be. Dear God, if only Josh were here. What could she do alone against this madman? It sickened her to even look at him. His huge physique seemed to fill the whole room.

  “What about Dan,” she asked, suddenly realizing for the first time the lengths to which he would go to have her for himself. Back in Ireland, before she married Dan, she remembered the vicious fist fights he and Dan used to have over her. “You said you did everything you could to make sure I was yours…Was it really an accident when Dan fell into that molten steel?”

  His eyes suddenly flickered, but his fists were still clenched. “Maybe you understand now. I love you; I always have. And you are coming with me! You and Danny are the only family I have left.”

  “Love me! After all the hell you have put me through? You call that love? What makes you think I could ever return that love, knowing you—my God, John, you killed your own brother, didn’t you? You killed Dan!” Her mind reeled with the impact of this hideous nightmare. He had killed Dan, and tried to kill Josh! His determination to have her had twisted h
is mind, and she knew that if she didn’t think of something fast, he would drag her and Danny off with him and make sure no one ever found them.

  Danny came toddling out of his room then, awakened by the loud voices. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the huge man in the room. “Hi,” he said, giving John a sweet smile. The boy obviously didn’t remember him; and being afraid of no one, he toddled closer to John.

  “No, Danny, stay back,” Marybeth screamed at him.

  John grinned. “Well, now, look at you, Danny, getting so big—walking, too!” He reached out his arms. “Come to Uncle John.”

  Marybeth rushed over, stepping between Danny and John. “Danny, go back to your room,” she said sharply.

  John grasped her arms painfully, jerking her close. “You’ll not keep yourself or that boy from me,” he growled. He tried to kiss her, but she jerked her face away. His lips moved along her neck, but then he pushed her away and landed a hard open-handed slap to the right side of her face, sending her sprawling. He walked over and knelt over her then, jerking her to a sitting position and shoving her against the wall.

  Marybeth could hardly see him at first. Everything seemed to be spinning. She felt his lips pressing against hers then, tasted the blood in her mouth. His rough beard scratched at her chin, and a big hand moved over her breast, then up to her face, which he grasped then in both big, powerful hands.

  “Give it up, Marybeth. You know I’m the only man you ever really wanted. You know I can satisfy you better than any other. You get your things and come with me now. Do like I say so I don’t have to hurt you any more. You don’t want me to have to do that in front of Danny, do you? If you push me too far, I’ll have to drag you into that bedroom and let Danny watch his mommy being hurt. I don’t want that any more than you do, Marybeth.”

  He kept hold of her face in one hand, and she felt his other hand jerk at the bodice of her dress. His hand slid inside it. “I’d rather make you feel good, Marybeth, than hurt you. Every woman gives in once her man makes her feel good. You’ve just never given me that chance, Marybeth.”