She was pleased to see that only Thomas and Captain Monroe were in the barn when she arrived. They were inspecting their own rifles and storing ammunition.
It was a stark reminder that this ride would likely be dangerous. The men were determined to hunt down the trespassers, and they undoubtedly expected trouble.
“You ready to ride with a bunch of worn-out soldiers, Miss Tracey?” Captain Monroe asked when he spied her lurking at the barn door’s entrance.
She rolled her eyes. “I doubt there’s a person in Texas who would describe any of you men in that fashion. But to answer your question, yes, sir, I am ready.”
“I admire your gumption, but don’t forget that gumption and fortitude can get one only so far. Be sure to stay close to Thomas’s side.”
The captain’s blue eyes were solemn. Looking in Thomas’s direction, she noticed that he, too, was looking at her in complete seriousness. “I’ll do my best to keep up with you, Sergeant.”
But instead of smiling at her, he shook his head. “That ain’t good enough. You need to promise you will.”
She didn’t believe in promising what she couldn’t be sure she could do, but Laurel understood his point. She needed to set her mind on success, not just hopes and dreams. “I promise to keep up with you. I will.”
“Good. I need to know you’re going to be there, no matter what. The other men would no doubt rather have us stay here while they fan out and look for your intruder. We have both allowed our vanities to go against our better judgment.”
Laurel felt a chill run down her spine. She believed in herself and knew she wanted to do everything in her power to help save her ranch. That included joining these men and helping out however she could.
Just as important, she needed to prove to herself and her parents’ memories that they’d been right in leaving the ranch to her. She loved the land as much as they had. She was willing to make sacrifices for it too.
However, she also didn’t want to risk putting other people in harm’s way to feel good about herself. “Gentlemen,” she asked hesitantly, “am I being foolish?”
“You are not,” Captain Monroe said. “All of us need to put ourselves in harm’s way at one time or another for something we believe in. If a person wants to be a person of worth, that’s part of the territory.”
His words reinforced her resolve. “Thank you for understanding,” she murmured.
“Oh, I certainly do understand,” he said with a kind smile. “However, I beg you to be honest with us. If you are having second thoughts, say so. There’s no shame in letting a group of men do what they are trained to do.”
“I’m not having second thoughts,” she answered, though she was certainly a bit more nervous about what was going to happen next.
Thomas’s reassuring hand on her arm drew her eyes to him. “It will be all right,” he said. “I’ll look after you. Plus, chances are better than good that we’ll ride out and see nothing.”
Relieved, she gave him a tremulous smile.
“Uh-oh, looks like our sergeant has brought out his game face,” Major Kelly called with a touch of humor in his eyes as he and Lieutenant Truax walked into the barn. “Don’t let that scare you, Miss Tracey.”
She giggled. “I’m afraid I don’t know what ‘game face’ means.”
Lieutenant Truax answered that one. “Thomas here was known to put on a fierce persona before each battle or skirmish. He’d march up and down the line and spur our poor privates on, leaving them shaking in their boots.”
Thomas grunted. “Hardly that.” Holding up a canteen, he appeared eager to drop the subject. “We all have water. Let’s ride out.”
Immediately, Lieutenant Truax and the major became serious. “We following last night’s plans, Devin?”
Captain Monroe nodded. “Thomas and I talked some more just now. Robert and Ethan, you head south and west. Thomas, Miss Tracey, and I will ride north and east. If you spy trouble or need assistance, shoot three bullets into the air. Otherwise, we’ll convene back here in five hours.”
“What if we don’t see anything in five hours?” Laurel asked as she handed Major Kelly one of her food pouches.
“We probably won’t. But that’s long enough to keep the horses out in this heat. Plus, we’ll need to check with each other and report findings.”
Major Kelly swung onto the saddle of his fine-looking Tennessee Walker. “Gentlemen, miss, I suggest we get on our way.”
“We’ll see you at noon. God be with you,” Captain Monroe said as he led his own horse out of the barn.
After helping Laurel onto her saddle, where she secured the other food pouch and her rifle, Thomas mounted Yellow, then directed the horse to follow Captain Monroe. Taking one last look at Laurel, he said, “You ready?”
She inhaled. Exhaled. Then finally answered, “I am.”
“Then let’s go.” He smiled before motioning Yellow into a good clip.
Doing the same with Velvet, Laurel gripped her reins with one hand and her hat with the other.
They were off.
They’d been riding for three hours. With the exception of a few broken branches and a vague feeling in his gut that they were close to trouble, Thomas had nothing to report. Though he had known their hunt wasn’t going to be easy, he felt disappointed for Laurel’s sake.
It didn’t help that as the sun rose higher, the faint wisps of clouds that usually formed in the sky vanished. The sky was now a vivid shade of bluebonnet blue, coloring the sky and making it possible to see for miles across the horizon. Because of that, Thomas was very aware that any movements they made could be observed by whomever they were after.
He also couldn’t seem to stop worrying about Laurel. Though she was an excellent rider, he found himself concerned with the sun burning her nose, the heat burdening her, whether she was thirsty or becoming too tired.
Every thirty minutes or so, Thomas would slow his horse and make sure she was all right.
Captain Monroe no doubt noticed his inattention to his surroundings, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he constantly moved from the front of their group to the back, circling his horse expertly. Taking up Thomas’s slack.
When they came to the area by the creek where he and Laurel had come under gunfire, Thomas showed the spot to the captain. “They came from that bluff,” he said, pointing. “Laurel and I ended up crouching next to the creek bed.”
“Looks as good a place as any to make a quick stop, I think,” Monroe said. “Let’s stretch for a minute and let the horses get some water.”
After Thomas dismounted, he walked to Laurel’s side. “Here, honey, let me help you,” he drawled, no longer caring that he was uttering a number of endearments. He was glad she didn’t refuse his aid. Instead, she merely murmured her thanks and rested her hands on his shoulders as he swung her out of the saddle.
“You feeling all right?” he asked quietly as she held on to him a little longer than was necessary. He wondered if she was trying to get her bearings or was simply tired.
“I’m fine.” Looking nervously around, she said, “This spot brings back bad memories, doesn’t it? It feels a bit vulnerable.”
“It does, but we’re well prepared now,” he replied, hoping he spoke the truth. “Before, we never would have imagined that someone would fire at us. Now we know better.”
Laurel looked warily at Captain Monroe, who had also dismounted but was gazing around them with an alert expression, his rifle at the ready. “I hope the other men are faring better than we are.”
“If something happens, we’ll hear three shots. If not, it will be no more than we expect.” Leaning closer, Thomas said, “Now I’m going to see to the horses. You take a rest or move your legs a bit. They’ll thank you for it.”
Laurel looked at Thomas gratefully as he walked Yellow, Velvet, and the captain’s dark quarter horse to the creek. The captain’s horse seemed able to follow the smallest command with high-stepping elegance. Velvet and Yellow loo
ked ill trained by comparison.
However, she couldn’t deny they had conducted themselves with honor so far that day. As had she, she reflected as she moved a bit to the side and stretched her arms over her head. When they’d first set out, she had been a nervous wreck. She’d been just as afraid of proving the men right by not controlling Velvet well or getting in their way as she was of encountering their attackers again.
But as they’d split up and quietly continued on, focusing on any faint shadows they spied on the horizon or noises heard in the distance, her body had relaxed. While she might not have been able to lead the search party, she had certainly been able to keep up.
“I must say you’re doing a fine job, Miss Tracey,” Captain Monroe said as he approached. “I have never been on a mission with a woman before, and I have to admit I was a little worried about how you’d do. But you are proving to me that you can handle just about anything.”
“Hardly that,” she said. “This has been hard, but even though we’re out in the open, I feel safer with you and Thomas out here than I would at home, even if one of you had stayed with me.”
“I’m glad you aren’t there too.”
After realizing Thomas was now taking watch, she smiled her thanks at the captain. “I was just coming to the conclusion that I was glad I had accompanied you,” she admitted. “Now I’m torn between hoping we see those men and praying we do not.”
He smiled in return. “I would be lying if I said I haven’t experienced those same thoughts more than once this morning.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. It’s the danger of the unknown that reminds a man he’s only human. After all, only the Lord knows our future.”
“Indeed.” As she drew in a breath, ready to ask the captain about some of his past missions, Thomas cocked his gun.
Both Laurel and Captain Monroe froze.
“Report,” Captain Monroe called out.
“Three o’clock,” Thomas replied.
She had no idea what that meant. “What—”
Immediately, the captain pulled out his pistol. “Go to the creek, Laurel,” he ordered. “Go there and crouch low. Now.”
She didn’t waste time arguing. She ran as fast as she could to do as he bid. And had just fallen to her knees on the soft, cool ground when a gunshot rang out.
She covered her head and prayed as Captain Monroe fired into the air three times.
It seemed their prey had become their predators.
32
THOMAS HAD ALWAYS CLUNG TO HIS FAITH. HE’D CLUNG to it when he’d been hiding during the Indian raid that had killed his parents and brother, and during the hard, lonely years when he’d suffered so much on the streets of Fort Worth.
He’d trusted in the Lord to get him through each battle and mission he’d fought during the war and had prayed for strength and grace when he’d been imprisoned on Johnson’s Island. In short, he’d always hoped and believed he was never completely alone.
But he’d never feared being forgotten by the Lord as he did at that very moment.
Standing by the captain’s side, he watched two men scramble forward, their pistols drawn. One was a stranger. A wiry fellow with a desperate, almost scared expression on his face.
The other man was Laurel’s neighbor, Landon Marshall.
Marshall looked grim and determined. Deadly determined.
While the captain raised his Colt, Thomas attempted to talk some sense into the man. He absolutely did not want Laurel to have to witness him killing Marshall. “That’s far enough!” he called out. “Lower your guns. We can talk this through.”
“I’m done talking!” Marshall yelled right back. And though his steps slowed, he continued forward.
He could sense Monroe closing one eye beside him. “Right or left, Baker?” he murmured, already choosing a target.
“Left,” Thomas replied instantly. “But give me a minute.”
“You got thirty seconds.”
Only because he knew Laurel was witnessing their actions, Thomas attempted to get Marshall to talk. “What is this all about, anyway?” he asked. “We should be able to talk. There’s no reason for you to be firing at us.”
Marshall sneered as he stepped forward. “Of course there is. Haven’t you learned anything in your sorry life? Some matters simply can’t be settled without a show of force.”
“I agree, but this ain’t one of them,” the captain said. He’d lowered his gun slightly. In fact, the pistol looked as if it were hanging limp in his right hand. “Now, what exactly do you want?”
“This land. I tried courting Laurel for it. I’ve even tried to scare her. Killing her cattle, staging property theft, that fire this morning . . . all so she’d sell it to me, if not marry me so I could control it. But nothing has worked. And now she’s got you hunting us down.”
“It’s only one thousand acres,” Thomas reasoned. “I was told you have over double that amount.”
Landon nodded as he continued to approach, one slow step at a time. “I do. But this property here has two water supplies. Around here, water is more valuable than gold.”
“You threatened to poison the creek.”
“If I had, the water would have run clear after a matter of days. I need it.”
Landon Marshall still wasn’t making sense. “Why?”
“Rumor has it that the railroad has plans to come through this way. Anyone who can cater to the railroad is destined not only to survive but to prosper.”
Monroe narrowed his eyes. “I was a Ranger before I was a captain. You and I both know a man can’t go around staking his claim through poison, bullets, and fires.”
Marshall ignored that statement. Glaring at the horses, he said, “There are two of you and three horses. Where’s your other rider? Who else is with you?”
“No one you need to be aware of,” Thomas said. There was no way he was going to give up Laurel’s position if he could help it.
Marshall raised his pistol again. “How about you try answering me again?”
“Lower your weapon,” the captain ordered. “There’s no need for you to start murdering more people.”
“More?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah. You already took down one of my men,” Monroe said, lying easily. “You or your partner there shot him.”
Marshall’s pistol wavered. “Show him to me, Baker.”
“If you want to see him, you’ll have to dismount and check him out on your own. No way am I leaving my friend alone with you.”
Marshall turned to his partner. “Orr, go down to the creek and take a look.”
Without a word, the man started heading down the sloping hill toward the creek. Toward Laurel.
Thomas’s heart was beating so hard he felt as though the other men could probably see it pounding in his chest. Not daring to even look in that direction, he prayed that Laurel had followed the captain’s command and hidden herself well.
The air felt thick and cloying as the three of them watched the man disappear into the brush around the creek. Soon all they could hear was the snap of twigs as he searched.
While Monroe looked a bit bored, Thomas stared at Marshall and attempted to think of reasons not to simply fire a shot into his heart right that minute.
“You’re looking a little tense, Baker,” Marshall jeered. “What’s wrong? Is freedom not suiting you? Or is it that you are coming to realize that Laurel Tracey ain’t worth the effort?”
“If I’m tense, it’s because I’m trying to convince myself not to kill you for the trauma you’ve put her through.”
“I wouldn’t have put her through anything if she’d agreed to marry me in the first place.”
“She can’t marry you. She deserves better.”
“Why?” His voice was filled with thick sarcasm. “She’s nothing. She’s nothing more than a plain, quiet woman with too much land and too high an opinion of herself.”
The captain shifted one foot forward, resurrecting an old
move that he’d perfected during the war. Inconspicuously following the direction of his boot, Thomas could see Robert and Kelly approaching from the south. They were on foot and walking stealthily enough not to attract Marshall’s attention.
Thomas knew he needed to keep Marshall talking until the other men got close enough to help take him down.
With that in mind, he lowered his gun. “Laurel might have a high opinion of herself, but that don’t mean her cattle deserved to be slaughtered.”
Landon stepped closer. “Slaughtered? All Orr did was poison them. Half a dozen cows and one calf are hardly worth thinking about.”
“Most men value livestock a bit better,” Monroe drawled.
“Most men are too afraid,” Marshall scoffed. “Most men aren’t willing to do whatever it takes to get what they need.”
Thomas saw that Kelly and Robert were less than fifty yards away now. They had separated and were approaching Marshall from either side. With luck one of them would be able to take him by surprise before he could fire.
Knowing he needed to goad him a bit, Thomas smirked. “Unfortunately, your plan didn’t go so well. You were no closer to obtaining Laurel’s land than before. I’m starting to understand why you didn’t see much action during the war.”
“I saw enough.”
“Of the cathouses,” the captain scoffed. “That’s where you rescued those women, isn’t it? Because you were with the harlots instead of with your regiment.”
“I was doing what I needed to do.”
Monroe’s gaze was filled with pure loathing. “No. You were doing what you—”
“Marshall,” his partner called out. “I found something, but it sure ain’t a dead man.”
Thomas’s heart sank as he turned to the thicket of brush and saw Orr holding Laurel’s elbow in a death grip. She looked shaken and frightened . . . and mad.
“Laurel!” he called out. When she turned her head his way, he pleaded with his eyes not to give up. He also sent a quick prayer to the Lord for his help. He needed to caution Laurel to keep quiet and meek-looking. Thomas needed her to do whatever it took to stay unharmed.
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