Reese spun his horse around and galloped away from them while Saber frowned worriedly. "I want to wait for him," she said.
"Nope," Zeb told her, waving the others forward. "Reese said we'd ride on, and that's what we'll be doing."
After they had been riding for a short time, Zeb started on one of his long tales, trying to distract Saber.
But Saber was no fool. She knew Reese sus pected someone was following them, and she was afraid for him. Everyone said he was the best tracker in the state, and he certainly wouldn't ride into another man's trap, she told herself. She only half listened to Zeb recount a story she'd heard many times. Oh, why had she let Reese ride away without her?
Reese rode among the hills, his gaze on the ground. After he crossed a small, dry creek bed, he picked up fresh hoofprints. He followed the tracks along the winding creek until they headed toward Fort Worth. Whoever it was, he was trying to stay out of sight.
He turned his horse toward town. Felton was waiting for just the right moment to strike, and he seemed to be a very patient man.
Saber had made her purchases and added them to Reese's account and was assured by Mr. Potter, the shopkeeper, that the supplies would be delivered the next day. She noticed that Zeb stayed right beside her, and he wasn't one to accompany a woman from shop to shop or to worry unnecessarily. Something was definitely troubling him. Where was Reese? Surely he should have rejoined her by now.
In her nervousness, she knocked a roll of silk thread off the shelf and bent to retrieve it. As luck would have it, the spool unwound across the floor. Going down on her knees, she picked it up and began rewinding it.
She heard the tinkle of the bell over the door and saw two young ladies enter. She could see them clearly, but they hadn't yet seen her. One of them giggled and ran to look out the window.
"There he goes," she said, sighing. "I'd just die if he'd ever look at me."
"Well," her companion said in a superior tone, "he spoke to me once, and I thought I would swoon away at his feet."
"Pity he's married," the first girl said. "You might know he'd marry someone beautiful like Saber Vincente. He surely didn't show any interest in any of the women around here."
Her friend giggled. "Wouldn't you like to be Saber for just one night."
Saber smiled to herself, knowing she had to stand up, and that when she did, it was going to cause the two young girls embarrassment.
Zeb was grinning from ear to ear. Apparently he'd been listening to the girls' conversation, too. He took Saber's arm and led her toward the door. Saber looked neither left nor right, but she couldn't keep from smiling. When they stepped outside, Saber broke into laughter. "It seems I broke all the young ladies' hearts when I married Reese."
"It'd 'pear so. Looks like you're going to have to get you a gun so you can keep all the women 'way from him."
Saber looked serious for a moment. "Don't think I wouldn't if I thought there was a reason."
They both laughed and went to find Reese.
Dust hung heavily in the air as Reese watched Earnest Maddingly from Casa del Sol direct his drovers to cut the bulls from the herd. The trail boss pushed his dusty hat off his forehead and turned to Reese, grinning.
"Easiest drive I ever had. Looks like they made it without losing much poundage."
Reese's gaze went over the thousand head approvingly. He'd never seen a finer breed. "They look good to me."
"You want a head count? As far as I know, we only lost two."
"Your word is good enough for me, Earnest. If you'll come up to the house I have a bank draft for you to take to your boss."
Earnest blotted the sweat from his brow. "Can't do it, Mr. Starrett. I don't handle the money side of the business. Mr. Vincente will take care of that."
Reese had taken a mortgage on the ranch to get the money to pay Noble, so he wanted it in his brother-in-law's hands as soon as possible.
"There's food at the bunkhouse. Take the men up there and see that they're fed."
"I heard tell Zeb's been cooking," Earnest said meaningfully. "There ain't a man of us that can drink that old man's coffee."
Reese laughed. "I heard that about his coffee that's why I've steered clear of drinking it. But I believe my wife helped him cook today."
The older man nodded in approval. "Then well feast. Miss Vincente er, Mrs. Starrett's quite a cook."
Reese motioned for Jake and Gabe to drive the cattle onto the mesa, where there was more sweet grass. "Come on, Earnest, I'll ride to the house with you."
It was after sundown before Reese got a chance to look at the herd. Noble had chosen prime beef for him. He shook his head. This was a mighty fine herd, and they would yield good beef for the army.
He glanced over the valley dotted with cattle. Life was good, and with Saber beside him, it got better every day!
It was a beautiful midsummer day, the sun was shining, and a warm breeze blew from the south.
Reese had workers building a new bedroom and enlarging the parlor, as Saber had wanted. She had been stuck in the house for over a week because the men had been too busy with the large herd and unable to ride with her.
She needed fresh air, and she was tired of listening to the hammering of the builders. Reese had said he'd be riding to the west pasture that morning, and she made up a basket of food and decided to ride out and surprise him.
She thought Zeb might be in the barn, because he was never far away from her. He wouldn't mind riding out with her. There had been no word of Graham Felton, so she'd begun to relax. Word had reached them that Matthew had been transferred to serve under the command of Capt. George Armstrong Custer in the 7th Calvary, so there would be no point in Felton pursuing her any longer. Probably Mr. Felton had left Texas, because every lawman in the state was looking for him. She knew that Noble had put a large bounty on Felton's head, and most likely every bounty hunter in the country was after him, too.
But Reese was still worried about her safety, and she tried not to take any unnecessary chances.
Zeb was nowhere in sight when she reached the barn, so she saddled her horse and mounted. When she rode away from the ranch house, she still hadn't seen Zeb.
She rode to the top of the hill and glanced about her, overcome as she always was by the beauty of this land. Reese had a fine ranch here, and now with the army contract he would soon have nothing to worry about.
She nudged her horse toward the herd of cattle Reese and Noble were breeding for experimental reasons. The cattle scattered as she passed through, and she smiled when she saw several cows heavy with calf. Apparently the experiment was working. Put a bull with cattle, and you were going to get calves, she thought.
She reached down and touched her abdomen. She hadn't told Reese yet, but she was sure she was going to have a baby. Warmth flowed through her as she thought of his baby growing inside her. She hoped it would be a boy with fierce silver eyes and dark hair like his father's.
Lately Reese had been more relaxed, and she no longer felt such tension in him. She also no ticed that he laughed more these days. Would he be happy about the baby? She was almost sure he would be.
She'd tell him tonight. As she rode along, she planned just what she would say to him. Laughter bubbled out of her, and she spurred her horse to a faster pace, anxious to see her husband.
Graham Felton had been watching the Starrett ranch for weeks, just looking for the chance to catch Saber Vincente alone. He never thought of her by her married name, because in his mind she still belonged to the bastard who was responsible for the death of his sister.
He'd grown a beard and let his hair grow long, and no one seemed to recognize him, not even in Dallas or Fort Worth, where he was known. Of course, he took care not to draw attention to himself when he was around people.
He had set up camp in a secluded, rocky canyon where grass wouldn't grow; Reese Starrett didn't run cattle there, and it was unlikely that any of his hands would ride that way.
He climbed up
a hill from which he could see the entire valley, just as he did every day. He spotted a dust cloud, and as he watched it for a few moments he could see it was a lone rider. He lifted his field glasses and trained them on the rider. His mouth curved into a smile.
It was Saber Vincente, and she was alone!
Saber loped at an easy pace, thinking she should have seen Reese by now. When she heard a rider behind her, she reined in her horse and waited for him to approach. It wasn't Reese the man wasn't tall enough. When he rode closer, a prickle of fear spiraled down her neck. He wasn't one of Reese's men, or Noble's, either. He was a stranger to her.
Instinct warned her to get out of there. She jabbed her horse with the heel of her boot, and the blooded animal shot forward at an all-out run. But when she glanced back, the man seemed to be gaining on her.
"God," she prayed, "help me it must be Graham Felton!"
Reese was on his way home ahead of his men when he saw something on the ground just ahead. Puzzled, he dismounted and discovered that it was a basket with its contents scattered about as if it had been dropped. He recognized the basket as the one Saber always used when she brought him lunch.
His heart stopped beating, and he glanced about, taking in everything around him. Something had happened to her! He bent down and looked closely at the hoofprints. She had been riding fast. He walked a little farther and found the prints of a second horse; it had also been running fast.
"Oh, God, no," he cried, leaping onto his horse. With the expert eyes of a tracker he followed the trail, kicking his horse into a run. The tracks were fresh. He had to find Saber before Felton caught her!
He felt as if someone had reached inside him and ripped his heart out. That crazed fool was bent on killing Saber, and Reese had to find her fast.
Felton drew even with Saber and called out for her to stop. When she didn't obey him, he leaped off his mount, dragging her off her horse to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and pulled her up beside him.
"Didn't you hear me tell you to stop?" he yelled at her.
Saber was trying to catch her breath. At the moment all she could think about was whether the fall had harmed her unborn child. She drew in several painful breaths before she was able to stand straight.
"What do you want with me?" she asked angrily.
"Don't you know who I am?" he asked, staring at her for a long moment. "Surely you can guess."
She looked him over carefully, finally able to put a face to the man who had caused her so much pain. His pockmarked face and pale blue eyes made him look like a wild man, but the most frightening thing about him was the crazed look in his eyes. "You're Graham Felton, and I have no reason to think well of you."
"Now that I see you, Miss Vincente, I know why that fancy major was so hot to have you."
"I am Mrs. Starrett," she corrected him, hoping she could make him see reason.
"Not to me, you're not. To me you're the reason my sister's dead."
Reese dismounted and grabbed his rifle. Silently he made his way up the cliff, taking care to stay out of sight. He could hear Saber talking to someone, and he flattened his back against the cliff, his heart drumming with fear for her.
"Mr. Felton, I don't know why you are doing this to me. I don't even know you."
"Well, I know all about you."
"Then you know I'm not married to Matthew Halloway. If you have something against him, take it up with him."
"I'm not a fool, though many people think I am. Do you know the kind of man Major Halloway is?"
"I know he caused the death of your sister."
Reese could hear the fear in Saber's voice. Every instinct in his body cried out for him to rush to her aid, but he knew he had to be cautious or Felton might hurt her. He slowly edged closer until he could see them. Felton had Saber's arm twisted behind her, and his other arm was about her waist. He couldn't get a clear shot at Felton because Saber was between them. Somehow he had to distract the man.
Pain shot through her arm, and when she tried to move, Felton only pulled it tighter. "Mr. Felton, the reason I didn't marry Matthew was because I discovered that he wasn't the man I thought I knew."
"He's a devil! My sister was just sixteen, blue eyed and pretty. She always watched Major Halloway when he swaggered into town. He always teased her and asked her if she could like an older man."
"She was only sixteen?"
"Yeah. I didn't see what was happening before my eyes. She'd disappear from the house for hours at a time, but I was used to her riding off alone, so I didn't pay it much mind."
Saber saw tears in the man's eyes, and she felt pity for what he must have suffered. "I'm so sorry."
He yanked on her arm, and she cried out in pain. "You're not half as sorry as you're going to be."
"I told you I had nothing to do with your sister's death."
"Maybe not. But killing you will tie a knot in Halloway's gut. He'll know what it feels like to lose someone he loves."
Saber realized that Felton's grief for his sister had driven him to the brink of insanity. There would be no reasoning with him. She only prayed that someone would miss her and come looking for her. But no one would look for her here.
"My sister killed two people that day," Felton continued. "She killed herself and the babe Halloway put in her belly."
Saber gasped in horror. "Please let me help you. I know what you must be suffering. Let's sit down and talk about it."
"You don't know how I feel." He wiped a huge hand across his eyes, blotting his tears. "You didn't have to cut her down from the barn rafter where she'd hanged herself. You didn't have to see her beautiful face distorted and red from the rope cutting into her neck. You didn't see where she'd clawed her neck, trying to undo the rope at the last moment."
Saber was sobbing now. "I had no idea. Mr. Felton, I am so very sorry. It must have been hideous for you. I wish there were something I could say to make the pain go away, but there just isn't."
Felton paused, turning her face up to his. "Are you crying 'cause you're scared, or 'cause you're sorry about my sister?"
She drew in a breath of air, wishing her body would stop quaking. "Both, I think," she admitted honestly.
He loosened his hold on her arm. "You look something like my baby sister. Her hair was about the color of yours, and you both have blue eyes." His eyes hardened. "That's probably why that bastard picked my sister to practice his fornication on. She reminded him of you."
"I'm as appalled by what Major Halloway did as you are. That's why I could not marry him."
Felton grabbed his head. "No, you're just trying to confuse me. You've got to die. I can't let him get away with this." He unholstered his gun and held it to Saber's head. "I'll give you time to make your peace with God. That's more than my sister got. They buried her in unconsecrated ground away from the Christians because they said she was unclean and unworthy."
Saber raised her head, feeling the gun barrel cold against her temple. "If you think this will make your sister rest easier and make you grieve less about her death, then go ahead and pull the trigger, Mr. Felton."
Reese waited to hear no more. He stepped forward, his eyes on the man who held Saber's life in his hands.
"Put the gun down, Mr. Felton. My wife is as innocent as your sister. She was duped by Major Halloway just as your sister was."
Felton's eyes held a desperate light, and Reese recognized a man on the edge of madness. Suddenly Felton shoved Saber away from him and aimed the gun at Reese. "You can die for Halloway. I hear you're his friend. Though I never knew friends took women away from each other."
"I'm your man," Reese told him. "Let my wife go and shoot me instead. She had nothing to do with any of this."
Felton frowned and again grabbed the side of his head with one hand, keeping the gun pointed at Reese with the other. "You're confusing me! I came to kill the woman."
"Saber, make him a promise," Reese said, thinking quickly. "Promise him that if you live, you wil
l see that his sister is buried in consecrated ground."
She shook her head. She thought of telling Mr. Felton about her own baby, but she decided against it. Reese would only grieve twice as much if he knew she had died carrying his unborn child. "Reese, I can't let him kill you."
"Promise him, Saber! Tell him you'll see to his sister's burial in the churchyard," Reese said forcefully.
"No!" she cried, reaching for Reese. "Mr. Felton, don't listen to him! He's only doing this so you'll let me live." She turned her sad gaze on Reese. "Don't you know I wouldn't want to live in this world if you weren't in it? I love you - I have from the first."
In that moment their gazes locked, and their eyes said the many things that had gone unspoken between them from the first. Love radiated from Reese's silver eyes, and Saber's tear-bright gaze was gentle with love.
Saber was the first to see Felton cock the hammer on his gun. All she could think about was that he was going to shoot Reese, and she couldn't allow that to happen. She whirled around, her feet almost tangling in her gown, and dove at Reese. "No, not him," she cried. "Not my husband!"
Reese caught her in his arms and tried to shove her away, but the gun fired, and her body jerked as the bullet tore through her back.
As he cradled her to him, a tear rolled down her cheek. "I... couldn't let him hurt you, Reese." She licked her lips. "Don't grieve for... me."
Rage and unbearable grief tore at Reese's insides. He felt the hot, sticky blood beneath his hands, and Saber's head slumped over on his shoulder.
Felton seemed to be shocked into stillness by the sight of Saber's blood. But the urge to kill coiled inside Reese like a venomous snake. Gently he laid Saber down and touched her cheek. Her eyes were closed. She had sacrificed her life for his. Like her, he didn't want to live in a world without her.
"You murdering bastard," Reese cried, diving at Felton. The gun flew out of his hand, and the two men struggled on the ground. Reese, being the stronger, pinned Felton's hands above his head. "This is the day you die!" he said in a growl.
Grasping the now docile man about the waist, he rolled them both to the edge of the cliff, where there was a two-hundred-foot drop. When Reese's intentions became clear to Felton, he began struggling and clawing to get away from the edge.
Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) Page 22
