Wild Roses

by Hannah Howell

  Ella could not help herself, and she giggled. “You tiptoe so carefully around that name.”

  “Well, we agreed not to talk about him.”

  “I hadn’t realized that meant we could not even say his name.”

  “Supper’s here,” Harrigan said when there was a soft rap at the door.

  He was glad of the diversion. It was suddenly uncomfortable to even think about Harold and Philadelphia. Harrigan did not want Ella to know that.

  As he set their food on the table, he idly glanced out of the window and inwardly winced. The sight of the mountains had been troubling him since they had first appeared on the horizon. He did not like the idea that he would have to see them every time he looked out of the window.

  It struck him as very contrary to work so hard to take Ella to a place he did not even want to think about. The closer they had drawn to Philadelphia and Harold the harder he had worked to keep both the place and the man out of his thoughts. Deep down he was very troubled by what he was doing, yet he saw no way to get off of the path he was treading. It was childish just to ignore it all, to push it all out of his mind, but he began to think it was the only way to keep his sanity.

  “It feels a little odd to be sitting here having a quiet meal,” Ella murmured in between bites of hot, buttered carrots.

  “We have had one or two before this,” Harrigan replied before taking a drink of his beer.

  “Only in the beginning and at the Lindons. Every other time we stopped in a town my aunt appeared.” She was a little surprised when Harrigan laughed. “You think that’s funny?”

  “It is. I was standing outside enjoying a cigar and realized that I was looking all around for Louise. She looms large for such a tiny woman.” He was relieved to see Ella smile.

  “Louise is a very determined woman and she loathes that man whose name we can’t say.”

  “That’s been clear from the beginning. What amused me a little was what others would think if they knew how hard I was working to avoid her. They would look at Louise, a delicate, pretty little woman, then look at me, and laugh heartily. I could almost hear the ridicule.”

  “If it happens, just find some way to set my aunt on their trail and they won’t be laughing for long. Most of the townsmen near her ranch go softly around her. When I first went to live with her, I did think she rather overdid the tough and sassy woman role, but I soon saw that it was necessary. The men out there do not like a woman owning land and ranching. That’s a man’s job. That she does it well only annoys them all the more.”

  “Is that why she has such a mixed group of workers?”

  “Very politely said,” Ella murmured, and silently toasted him with her glass of lemonade before taking a sip. “Half-breeds and outcasts is what everyone else calls them. It is true that Auntie had trouble getting any of the white men to work for her. They wanted her to fail. Anytime a man considered accepting a job at her ranch, he was quickly discouraged. Then she rescued Joshua.”

  “Rescued him?”

  “Yes. He was beaten badly by a group of cowhands and left in the road just outside of town. Seems he had the audacity to ask for a job. Auntie found him when she was returning from getting some supplies. She took him home, healed his injuries, and offered him a job. She now has twelve young men working for her and only two are what most people would consider white men. They’re bastards, and their mothers were whores. People seem to think they’re somehow responsible for the bad behavior of their parents, or that they’ll act the same way.”

  “And they’re all incredibly loyal to her, correct?”

  “Correct, but that’s not just because she helped them in some way. She didn’t spit on them, didn’t treat them like they were dirt, or as if she was doing them a big favor by letting them clean the muck from her stables. She treated them all like equals. It was a new thing for most of them and they’ve decided that they like it.”

  Harrigan nodded. “That’s something I can easily understand. The Irish were not welcomed with open arms when they arrived by the boatload. It’s gotten a little better, but the prejudice isn’t completely gone.”

  “Auntie’s boys, as they are not so affectionately called, see her as their mother, their aunt, their sister, even their guardian angel. She’s the family they’ve never had or lost at too young an age.”

  “And Joshua is the smart-mouthed child.” He smiled when Ella laughed.

  “He does feel a little responsible for her.” She caught him glancing out the window at the mountains and wondered if they affected him in the same way they did her. “It won’t be long now before you’re home.”

  She smiled faintly at the quick, guilty look he gave her. Although she knew it was a mistake to do so, she tried to guess what he was feeling about the rapidly approaching end of their journey. The possibilities were wide-ranging and few of them were comforting or encouraging. Harrigan could simply be eager to get back to Philadelphia, back to his work, and his family. A little voice told her not to do it, that she could be asking for additional hurt, something she did not need, but Ella decided to try and get some hint about his feelings from him.

  “You don’t look exactly pleased to see those mountains.”

  “Ella,” he said, a warning note in his voice, because an answer to her statement would bring them dangerously close to the very kind of discussion they had agreed they would not have.

  “It was just a simple observation.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if you ever say anything simple.” He pushed aside his plate, sighed, and dragged his fingers through his hair. “If we start talking about how close we are to home—”

  “Not my home.”

  He ignored that and doggedly continued, “—we will be edging very close to that topic we said we wouldn’t talk about any more.”

  “We’ll be face to face with that topic in just a few days. We’ve reached the point where we don’t even dare to say the man’s name. Maybe it’s time to stop that game. It seems clear to me that, even though we do not talk about it, it’s on our minds a lot. And the moment those damned mountains came into view, it began to weigh more and more heavily on our minds.”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. In truth, I can’t think that you’d really want to hear anything I have to say about how near the end of the journey we are, about Philadelphia, or Harold. You won’t agree with me and I can’t afford to agree with you. So, what’s the point of talking about any of it?”

  “Probably none, but I think I’m just tired of trying to pretend the whole mess is not hanging over our heads like a big, black rain cloud.”

  Harrigan nodded, a somewhat bitter laugh escaping him. “I’ve felt like that too. Perhaps I’m just afraid of hurting your feelings.”

  “I think we’re far past the point where that can be avoided,” she said quietly, then briefly feared that she might have revealed too much about the state of her heart.

  “Yes, seeing the mountains bothers me. Knowing that we only have a few days left before we ride into Philadelphia also bothers me. And I am damn well not looking forward to seeing Harold Carson.”

  “And the part of all that which you fear will trouble me is that you still intend to do it all, to cross the mountains, go to Philadelphia, and see Harold.”

  “Well, doesn’t it?”

  “Of course it does. You’ve known from the start that I don’t want to go to him and why I don’t. My aunt is taking time away from her ranch at the busiest time of the year and spending a small fortune to come after us and stop you. I would praise God for one good chance to get away.” She shook her head. “That’s been the way of it from the very first minute, so, how can talking about what you feel now make any difference at all?”

  “It can’t make anything better, true enough, but it could make it all worse.”

  Before she could say anything, there was a sharp rap at the door. The look of blatant relief on Harrigan’s face was almost amusing. He leapt up to answer the knock so quickly
he nearly knocked over his chair.

  “You’re having some very opportune interruptions today,” she said as she watched him go to the door.

  Harrigan did not bother to reply to her gentle sarcasm. He started to remove the door chain, then hesitated and wondered why. Recalling how badly things had gone the last few times he had ignored a sudden uneasiness, he left the heavy chain on and eased the door open. A harsh curse escaped him when he saw who was in the hall and he hastily slammed the door shut.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What’s the matter?” Ella demanded when Harrigan began dragging the dresser in front of the door.

  “This interruption is not as opportune as I had thought,” he replied as he began to throw their things in their bags.

  “Open this damned door, Harrigan,” yelled an angry female voice as the door shook beneath the pounding it began to receive from outside.

  “Auntie!”

  Harrigan quickly caught Ella as she ran to the door. Although she fought him, he managed to get the wrist shackles on her. Ella stared at the shackles then at him and Harrigan felt like the very worst of scoundrels.

  “We’re getting out of here now,” he said sharply, more angry with himself than with her or the persistent Louise.

  “There’s nowhere to go.”

  He started to tell her what he planned to do, then realized that would be stupid. Ella could tell her aunt and, unless he gagged her, he would be hard put to stop her. He began to drag her toward a door that connected the room they were in with the room next door. When he had first asked for connecting rooms, his main thought had been to give Ella’s much-damaged reputation some protection. Now he was grateful for that brief moment of chivalry.

  It did not surprise him to hear Ella curse him as he unlocked the door to the other room. He knew she was wondering what else she might have done while she was alone if she had known about the second room. One sharp look and a brief touch of his handkerchief was enough to make her keep her mouth closed. He did not want to gag her and he was very glad that she understood his silent threat, that she obviously did not want to be gagged.

  Once inside the other room, Harrigan crept toward the door. Even as he pulled out the key, he looked at Ella and sighed. He might not want to do it and she was going to hate it, but he was going to have to put a gag on her. There would be very little time for him to get out of the door and start running before Louise and her boys spotted him. One little sound from Ella and that tiny window of opportunity would be slammed shut and there was a look on her face that told him she was preparing herself to make that sound.

  Ella’s eyes widened when he pulled out his handkerchief and wrapped it around her head. She muttered a curse as he knotted it, tightening it so that it forced itself between her lips. It would not completely silence her, but she would not be able to make any clear, understandable noise. It was going to be really hard to forgive him for this, she decided as he slowly eased open the door.

  Harrigan hesitated only long enough to grab their bags in one hand and her by the other before he bolted down the hallway. As he had feared, an outcry was raised by one of Louise’s boys before he had even reached the top of the back stairs. Praying that Ella could keep her feet, he scrambled down the stairs and out the back door of the hotel. The workers in the kitchen were so startled they dropped a few things but no one got in his way.

  Once outside, Harrigan ducked down a shadowy alley, and quickly removed Ella’s gag. “Are you going to be quiet or shall I put it back on?”

  “When and if we get out of here, the first time we stop on the trail, I am going to make you eat that.”

  “Shall I take that as an agreement to behave yourself?” he asked, even as he began to lead her in and out of a tangled series of alleys and narrow passageways.

  “Fine, I agree. It won’t make any difference. This time you can’t get away.”

  “I made a close study of this place while you were having your bath. I know it far better than Louise and her little gang. I think I’ve got a chance of slipping away from her.” He glanced at her as he edged into a store, walked brazenly through and out the back. “And, if worse comes to worst, I will just sic the law on them.”

  Ella gasped, wondering if the man ever listened to a word she said, or if he was really so consumed with his need for the money Harold had promised him that he did not care what he did to get it. “You can’t do that,” she protested. “You know how people treat her and the others. It won’t be just an inconvenience; it could be a real danger. ”

  Although Harrigan did not like her to think that he was so heartless, at the moment it served a purpose. “Then you had better be a very good girl, hadn’t you?”

  For a while Ella just let him drag her from place to place, shove her in dark little corners, and pull her across open spaces so quickly she was in danger of tripping. She was not really sure if she was being quiet to save her aunt and the others, if she was just sulking over such ill-treatment, if she was struggling to decide how she felt, or all three. Being an uncooperative participant in the chase made it difficult for her to get a firm grip on her thoughts and feelings. It was not until Harrigan stopped at the corner of the saloon and peeked around the corner at the stables, just one building away, that she finally decided to push aside her confused feelings and concentrate on what was happening now.

  “Auntie will have a guard on the horses,” she said, and recognized the strong hint of gloating in her voice.

  “I’m aware of that,” he snapped, not really angry with her, but unable to completely suppress his annoyance over being forced to run yet again.

  “I think you had better just give up,” said a deep voice from right behind them.

  Harrigan turned even as he drew his gun. He cursed when he saw Manuel standing next to a relaxed George. The youth had his gun out and Harrigan wondered how he was going to get himself out of this confrontation. He did not want to put George or Ella into any danger and he did not really want to hurt Manuel.

  “Do you think you might lend a hand here, George?” Harrigan asked, wondering why his friend and partner was just standing there.

  “I wish I could,” George said, subtlely keeping his body between Manuel and Harrigan. “Unfortunately, Louise has extracted a promise from me and you know how I feel about promises. I’m not allowed to help or warn you.”

  “So you’re just going to stand there and let the kid shoot me?”

  “Ah, well, probably not. I didn’t promise to let them hurt you.”

  “George, I think you’ve been out in the sun too long.” Harrigan looked at Manuel and could see the uncertainty in the youth’s eyes. He inwardly thanked the powers that be that he was not facing Joshua. “There’s only one answer to this standoff,” he said.

  “And you have it, of course,” drawled Manuel.

  “We both just back off and go on with what we were doing before we met.”

  “Sounds like you’re asking me to let you win again.”

  “No, just trying to forego some stupid tragedy. I don’t want to hurt you and I sure as hell don’t want any harm to come to George or Ella. If either of us makes a move they’ll be caught in the middle.”

  “Oh, just shoot him, Manuel,” snapped Ella.

  “I’m truly devastated at this apparant lack of affection, Ella,” Harrigan murmured, keeping a very close watch on Manuel and beginning to feel confident that the youth would just let him leave.

  “Now you have to shoot him. Such nonsense deserves to bring a little pain.”

  “You won’t get very far even if I let you go,” Manuel said.

  Sensing the youth’s hesitation, Harrigan replied, “I know that. I suspect there’s someone in the stable just waiting for me.” The way Manuel furtively glanced toward the stable told Harrigan that he was right. “So, let him get me.”

  For one long tense moment, Harrigan waited as Manuel considered the situation. Each time he tried to step away from George, George suddenly app
eared directly in front of him. The youth then looked toward Harrigan and Ella. Harrigan was not using Ella as a shield, but he could tell that Manuel was nervous about her even being there.

  “Get out of here,” he finally snapped. “I can’t see how either of us can disarm the other one without someone getting hurt. Louise won’t be happy that I let you go, but she would be real unhappy if Ella got hurt while you and I fought it out.” He looked at George and smiled crookedly. “Begin to get the feeling that she wouldn’t really want this slippery devil hurt, either.”

  After checking to be sure the way was clear, Harrigan began to back toward the stable. “You’ll have to show me how you did that, George.”

  “Did what?” George asked with a blatantly feigned air of innocence.

  “Kept moving without appearing to take a step.”

  “I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about.”

  “Of course. Well, say hello to Louise and tell her I’ll see her in Philadelphia.”

  “I think you’ll be seeing her before that,” said Manuel.

  Harrigan just smiled, determined not to reveal his own uncertainties to the youth. With a firm grip on Ella, he made a dash for the rear of the stables. One swift peek inside revealed a pacing Thomas keeping a very close eyes on the horses. He edged back and looked at Ella.

  “You’ll stand right here, say nothing, and do nothing,” he ordered her, watching her eyes narrow as she grew even more angry with him.

  “You demand an awful lot of a prisoner,” she said.

  “I ask you to remember how much the law loves your aunt and her friends. If you leave or warn them, I’ll go to the sheriff. They won’t be able to get you out of town before the law is after them.”

  “Fine. Not a word, not a move. I’ll be like a statue.”

  He knew that what she had not said was more important. He was going to pay dearly for this, for his threats and the faint possibility that he might have actually meant them. The rest of the journey to Philadelphia was going to be a long, cold one if he couldn’t placate her.