Wild Roses

by Hannah Howell

  “Didn’t you just know it about Ellen?”

  “No.” A short, faintly bitter laugh escaped George. “All I saw was Ellen’s beauty. All I knew was that I ached for her. She could clear my mind of all questions, all thought, with one inviting smile. There were rumors, whispers of scandals, but my lust for the woman made me deaf to them. That and the arrogance of youth. I was sure that, if what people said about her was even partly true, I would be the one who would make her change her ways.”

  Harrigan echoed George’s bitter laugh and shook his head. “I had some of the same stupid ideas about Eleanor.”

  As George began to speak, Harrigan tensed, and held up his hand to silence his friend. He lifted himself up a little in the saddle and listened intently, then slowly smiled. The soft spring breezes were carrying more than a refreshing coolness. They also held the faint sound of voices. Harrigan could see nothing amongst the scattered trees and tall grasses they rode through, but he was certain that they had finally located their quarry.

  “Gird your loins, old friend,” he said to George even as he nudged his horse in the direction of the voices. “You are about to get another look at your cantankerous, gun-toting lady love.”

  “You intend to taunt me with that for a while, don’t you,” George murmured as he followed Harrigan.

  “Quite probably. Now, let’s go get little Miss Ella.”

  “We have to get back on our horses,” Louise said, her voice weak and unsteady as she tried to stand up.

  Ella gently but firmly pushed her aunt back down onto the blanket spread beneath a gnarled tree. “You are staying right there until we can get the swelling in your foot to go down.”

  “I can ride.”

  “Of course you can. That’s why you fell out of your saddle. You’re lucky you didn’t break your damned neck. Do you think all of us are squatting here staring at you out of pure admiration?” Ella briefly exchanged a grin with a chuckling Joshua.

  When Ella had watched her aunt turn white and tumble out of her saddle, she had felt choked with panic. Louise was the last of her family, certainly the last one who cared anything about her. The moment Louise’s body had hit the ground, Ella had felt the impact deep in the pit of her stomach. As she had rapidly dismounted, Joshua and the others swiftly joining her as she knelt by Louise, the fear that she was now completely alone had almost overwhelmed her. She had nearly wept when she saw Louise breathe and realized that the woman had only fainted.

  As the four young men had helped her settle Louise on a blanket in the shade of a tree, Ella had seen clearly how much Louise meant to her boys. Even Joshua had paled when she had tumbled to the ground. Louise was their family. For most of them she was probably the only one who had ever given a damn about them and they adored her for it. Although Louise was only seven and twenty, not much older than many of her boys, it was not a romantic love Ella had glimpsed in the four hard faces. Theirs was a love born of Louise’s freely given friendship, trust, and respect.

  “Your bedside manner could use some softening, Doctor Carson,” Louise muttered as she raised herself up enough to take a good look at her injured foot. “What is that rag draped over my foot? And why is it set on top of Joshua’s saddlebags?”

  “The cloth is wet with cold water from the creek to bring down the swelling and your foot is set up on the saddlebags so that it is raised, which will also help. Margaret turned her well-bred little ankle once and this is what the doctor told her to do to reduce the swelling. It seemed to work.”

  “We can do this back at the ranch.”

  “We will do it here and now.” Ella handed Manuel the rag. “Could you please go to the creek and soak this in the cold water again?” As soon as Manuel left, Ella sat back on her heels and gave her aunt a stern look. “You will rest here until the swelling eases and I can think of a way to let you ride while still pampering that foot.”

  “When did you become so autocratic?”

  “When you fell off your horse in a swoon because you stuck your foot in front of a train. You scared us all to death, Auntie, and now you will placate us by trying to take care of yourself. At least for a little while.”

  Louise stared at Ella, Joshua, Edward, and Thomas, sighed, and laid back down. “Oh, as you wish. I suppose the horses could do with a little rest.”

  “Such a gracious concession. I wonder what happened to Manuel? It shouldn’t be taking him this long,“ Ella mused aloud as she gently settled her aunt’s swollen foot more comfortably on the saddlebags. “It already looks better.”

  “I’m glad of that,” Joshua said in a tight voice as he, Thomas, and Edward slowly rose to their feet, “because everything else is looking pretty damned bad right about now.”

  Ella looked in the direction the men were staring in and echoed her aunt’s curse. Manuel was returning from the creek, the wet rag held tightly in one of his raised hands. Close behind him was Harrigan Mahoney, holding a rifle on the youth. George trailed behind the pair, leading the two horses. Ella decided that Harrigan looked far too pleased with himself. She briefly wondered why George looked so downcast as she carefully stood up.

  “I see that you decided not to ride the train back to Philadelphia and concede that this battle is lost,” Ella said, ruthlessly silencing that reckless part of her that was dangerously pleased to see him.

  “You’ve lost this battle, not me,” Harrigan said, stopping just out of their reach. “Now, everyone toss their weapons over to George—very carefully.”

  “Better do it, boys,” Louise said when Joshua hesitated. “We can’t be sure how desperate this rogue is to collect his blood money.”

  “Taking a fee for returning a runaway child to her family is not taking blood money,” Harrigan responded in a tone that revealed his sense of insult. “Tie them up, George.”

  “Louise is injured,” protested Ella. ”You can’t tie an injured woman up and leave her out in the middle of nowhere. Even you can’t be that callous, that brutal.”

  “I can, and she wouldn’t be hurt if she hadn’t stuck her little foot in front of a train.” Harrigan nudged Manuel toward the others. “Now, arrange yourselves prettily around that tree. All except you, Ella.” He grabbed Ella by the wrist and tugged her close to his side. “Don’t worry. George is a gentleman. He will tie them up in a way that will allow them to squirm free in a little while, but not soon enough to catch up with us.” He caught Ella eyeing his rifle speculatively and smiled. “If you try to grab this gun, darlin’, it could easily go off. You might want to take a minute to recall who it is aimed at.”

  Ella paled slightly and stood very still. She ached to put up a fight, but knew Harrigan was correct. That would not be the safest thing to do when there was a cocked rifle aimed at her family and friends. She did not really believe that Harrigan wanted to shoot anyone, but his gun was loaded and ready, and that made him dangerous. It pleased her to see that George allowed Manuel to cover Louise’s swollen foot with the cold cloth before he tied them all to the tree, but that was the only thing she could find to be pleased about.

  “When I get free of this, I’m going to hunt you two bastards down and gut you,” snapped Louise as George finished tightening the last knot and stepped back.

  “Now, I am sure you don’t really mean that, Miss Louise,” George said.

  “You’ll think differently, little man, when you’re staring at your own innards.”

  “Oh, I like that one, Auntie,” Ella said. “That has to be the best of all your threats.”

  “Thank you,“ Louise said. ”The heartfelt ones are always the best,“ she added, meeting George’s nervous glance with a too sweet smile.

  “You are both quite mad,” Harrigan said as he shook his head. “George, get one of their horses for Ella.” He looked down at Ella, who was not able to hide the hope glinting in her eyes fast enough. “And you can stop plotting. You will have your own horse, but not the reins.”

  “Mine is the brown mare,” she called to Georg
e, inwardly cursing over Harrigan’s uncanny ability to read her thoughts. “At least this time I will have a change of clothes when I am kidnapped.”

  “You are not being kidnapped,” Harrigan snapped as he tossed her up onto the saddle of the little mare George led over.

  “If you don’t like the name, quit the job” she said. “You are taking someone where she does not want to go. Sounds like kidnapping to me.”

  “I have already discovered that you have your own unique way of seeing things.”

  “Yes, I suppose someone as pigheaded and ignorant as you would see the truth as unique. Or is it because I am a mere woman that you refuse to listen to a word I say? If I was a man you would listen, would you?” When Harrigan said nothing, just stared at her while George mounted his horse, she finally demanded, “What are you gawking at?”

  “I was just wondering how you could make the word man sound like the vilest curse.”

  “Sometimes that’s just what it is.”

  “Now, look here.”

  George moved his horse close enough to Harrigan’s to bump it and draw Harrigan’s attention. “If your plan is to get so far ahead of these people before they free themselves that they can never catch up, I suggest you have this argument later,” George said, casting one last, sad look toward a glaring Louise before he spurred his horse to a trot and rode away.

  Muttering a curse, Harrigan quickly followed his friend. Ella Carson certainly had a sharp tongue, but he did not understand why he allowed it to stir his anger. He had dealt with sharp-tongued women before and had been able to do so with calm. Their complaints and insults had simply bounced off him. Ella’s went straight to his heart and that disturbed him, almost frightened him. After Eleanor’s deceit had cost him so dearly, he had sworn that no woman would touch him. He spared one quick glare for Ella before concentrating on the route they rode over, and decided that he needed to toughen his hide. No tiny, green-eyed girl was going to make him forget the hard lessons he had learned.

  Ella looked back, but only got one last glimpse of Louise and the boys before they disappeared behind the scattered trees and high grasses. She prayed that Harrigan was telling the truth and that George had tied them in such a way that they would be able to free themselves. It could be deadly to be left so helpless in the wilderness. There were dangerous animals and dangerous men wandering the unsettled areas.

  She scolded herself for such selfish thoughts, but she also worried that Louise and the boys would not be able to ride to her rescue this time. Even if they got free, Louise was in no condition to go galloping across the countryside. The boys might try it on their own once they got Louise settled safely and comfortably, but that could bring new problems. Because of their mixed heritage, they were not often welcomed by people, no one would listen to them so they would be unable to enlist any help, and they could even come face to face with the dangerous prejudices that had caused them so much trouble in the past. Louise’s presence sometimes softened those threats. People might think some very unpleasant things about her and her companions, but Louise had the presence and the training to overcome those difficulties or at least cause people to hesitate long enough so that she and the boys could get out of harm’s way.

  Ella forced herself to accept that she might well be on her own this time. It was hard not to give in to the fear that welled up inside of her. Fear was a destructive emotion and stole her ability to think clearly. While she was still in Harrigan and George’s hands, her life was not in danger. She did not believe either man wanted to hurt her in any way. That was certainly something she could use to her advantage.

  There was only one thing she had to give some very careful thought to and that was what she should do if she did have the chance to escape. She did not know the country they rode over. She had grown up in Philadelphia and spent her time at her aunt’s within the confines of the ranch and the town. There was also the fact that she would be traveling around alone, at least in the beginning. It was a daunting thought. Only the certainty that Harold wanted her dead kept her from casting aside all thoughts of escape. She was in a fight for her life, whether Harrigan Mahoney deigned to believe her or not, and she could not let timidity stop her from grasping any chance to escape.

  As carefully as she could, not wanting Harrigan to catch her at it, Ella studied George Morgan. He was suffering from a change of heart. Whether he was beginning to believe her or was simply infatuated with Louise did not matter. Ella was sure that George was heartily regretting signing on for this job. It was another thing she could use to her advantage if she could get some time alone with the man. Harrigan could have been overestimating his friend’s loyalty when he had said that George would never work against him no matter how much the man hated the job he was doing. Harrigan had never considered the possibility that his friend would cast a covetous eye at their prisoner’s aunt, something Ella was now sure George was doing. If she had not been so distracted by the need to run and by Harrigan, she probably would have noticed George’s infatuation back at the train.

  “I can almost hear the plots hatching under that gorgeous hair of yours,” Harrigan murmured, smiling when Ella glared at him.

  “You have a vivid imagination,” she said as sweetly as she could. “If you heard anything it was the stiffening of your stubborn backbone.”

  Harrigan grinned. “Now there is an image. Did you learn your witty turn of phrase from your mad aunt?”

  “My aunt Louise is not mad.“

  “The woman put her foot in front of a train.”

  “Which, if you could push aside your inclination to ridicule everyone but yourself, you would see as a very clever plan. She needed to stop the train, but did not want anyone to be hurt. The safest obstruction she could put in front of the train was herself, something that would cause the engineer to stop if he was warned about it, but which could also be immediately removed if the man ignored Joshua’s warning.”

  “The only way she could have removed that foot was to cut it off.”

  “Well, I will admit that her plan went a little awry.” She gave Harrigan a disgusted look when he laughed. “It was still a brilliant way to bring the train to a stop without hurting the machine or the passengers it carried. And, if you were not so arrogant, you would admit that.”

  Very soon after he had been the victim of Louise’s plan, he had been able to see the cleverness of it, but he was not about to admit that to Ella. He was certainly not going to admit that he was not sure he would have the courage to do such a risky thing. One thing he had become certain of was Louise Carson’s abiding love for her niece. It told him that, for as long as she was able, the woman would continue to try to rescue Ella. He did not think the woman’s injured foot would hold her back for very long either. Louise would soon be on their trail again and he intended to get as far ahead of her as possible.

  “Well, that clever plan of hers has now put her out to pasture,“ he said, not believing it for a moment, but curious to see if Ella did.

  “A little twisted ankle will not keep my aunt down for long,” Ella said, praying that she sounded far more confident than she felt.

  “Are you sure it was only twisted?” asked George.

  Ella almost smiled. That one shyly asked question proved that she was right about George’s feelings for Louise. The way Harrigan scowled at his friend only increased her pleasure at gaining such knowledge.

  “Yes, George,” she answered politely, blatantly showing George the courtesy she refused to extend to Harrigan. “With a little care the swelling will subside and my aunt will be her old self again. Of course, you will soon see that for yourself, when she takes me away from you again.”

  “As I have said before, Ella,” Harrigan said, “I believe you have far too much faith in Louise Carson.”

  “And as I have said before, Mr. Mahoney, you don’t know my auntie.”

  “I can’t believe some green, fancy dresser from back East managed to follow us and steal Ella back,” gr
umbled Joshua as he struggled with the slowly loosening ropes that bound them all to the tree.

  “Harrigan Mahoney may be from back East and he may dress well, but I don’t think he’s green,” said Louise. “The man has skill, more than I gave him credit for. That was a mistake, one I will not make again.”

  “You’re not thinking of running right after him, are you?” asked Manuel as he managed to squirm free of his bonds and began to help the others get loose.

  Louise stared at her swollen foot and grimaced. “I was thinking of it, but I believe my foot has other plans for me. I hate it, but I have to concede to my injury for a little while.”

  “Then we have lost.” Joshua crouched by her side and handed her the canteen of water. “They’ll be too far ahead of us. We’ll never be able to catch up with them.”

  “Harrigan may be a lot more clever than we thought, but he’s still a stranger to this land.” Louise took a long drink of water and handed the canteen to Edward. “He’ll have to follow the well-traveled routes, if only out of a fear of getting lost. Taking a wrong turn would cost him time, and he won’t want to risk that. Don’t worry, we’ll catch up with the bastard, and this time I will make sure he can’t follow us.”

  Joshua grimaced. “I’m willing to give it a try, but I don’t feel as sure as you do.”

  “That’s because you didn’t consider our Ella.” Louise smiled. ”She knows we’ll need time to follow, and she’ll do everything she can to buy us some.”

  Chapter Five

  “I need to have a bath,” Ella said the moment Harrigan ordered a halt to their long ride, and she dismounted.

  “Shall I call the servants?” he muttered as he began to unsaddle his horse.

  “Very amusing. There is a little creek over there.” She pointed toward a thin line of trees. “That will do.”