What was going on? Why did Bullins sneak into her room and scare her half to death? And how did he get a key in the first place? She thought she had the only key. Ty didn’t even have one.
Her thoughts turned to the events of the day. If Ty had only let her go with him to wherever he had to go to handle his ranching business, this would never have happened. Now, he was in the hall trying to discover what had happened to her, and she couldn’t make enough noise to let him know she was in the room across the hall. Oh, Ty, please find me. I don’t know what this mad man has in mind for me, but I’m sure it’s nothing good. I should have listened to Father and stayed in Richmond. No! If I’d stayed there, I never would have met you and had the chance to get to know you. Now, I’m not sure I ever will. I may not live through whatever Lou Bullins has decided to do with me.
Then, her mind drifted to her reason for being here. Why had her uncle brought her and Mea Ann to Deer Meadow under false pretenses in the first place? Did he have some sort of plan to extort money from her father? Franklin Poindexter had often said his brother-in-law hated him and planned to punish him for not giving Seymour enough money to establish a gambling house in Richmond. Was this his way to get back at her father? If it was, would her father be willing to pay money to get his daughters back in Richmond? For some reason, she doubted that he would…and this made her sad.
On the other hand, if her uncle wanted to punish her father, she and Mea Ann had never done anything to make him mad at them. When she’d last seen him, he’d entertained them with his stories and said he hoped to have daughters like them someday. If this was true, then why would Lou Bullins say he figured her uncle would pay him well for kidnapping her? Or had Bullins lied when he said he was doing this because he knew Seymour Longstreet would pay him if he brought her to him?
She could still hear Ty shouting at people in the hall. He demanded someone go for the sheriff. He yelled at Alvin Stoneman and told him he’d tear the hotel down if he didn’t find Xenia. A woman’s voice was mingled with Ty’s, but Xenia couldn’t understand what the woman said.
Oh, Ty, you don’t know how hard it is for me to sit here and know you’re so near yet I can’t get to you, or you to me. What can I do?
She looked over to the bed where Lou sat sneering at her. “Don’t you wish you could call out to him, Miss Poindexter?” He’d emphasized her name to let her know he was using it as a taunt instead of respect. “I bet he won’t be so interested in finding you after you go to work in your uncle’s saloon.”
Where did he get such an idea? Xenia knew the man had to be crazy. There was no way she would ever work in a saloon.
“You may believe that Eldridge man thinks you’re special, but when I get through with you, no man, including him, will ever think you’re very special again.” He sneered at her. “You’ll just be another whore at the Golden Door.”
His words infuriated Xenia, and without thinking it through, she kicked the table beside her. The table wobbled and Lou leaped to his feet. Before he could catch it, the table turned over and the lamp sitting on it crashed to the floor.
Lou whirled around and slapped her.
He must have thought he didn’t punish her enough because he hit her again—this time, in the side of her head with his fist.
Xenia’s last thought was, Please find me before he kills me, Ty. Then, the darkness and the pain carried her into nothingness.
****
Ty frowned. “What the hell was that racket?”
“Something fell in one of the rooms. Sometimes a customer will drop a valise or something.”
“That wasn’t any valise. I heard glass breaking.”
Sheriff Tim Ferguson appeared at the end of the hall. “What the hell is going on here?”
“A guest is missing. A Miss Poindexter.” Stoneman explained. “She’s a friend of Mr. Eldridge.”
“She the woman you told me about today, Ty?”
“She’s the one.” Ty headed toward the door where he thought the noise came from. “Come with me. I have an idea she might be in here.”
“I’m right behind you.”
Ty beat on the door. “Open up.”
There was no response to his demand.
He yelled, “I’ll shoot the lock if you don’t open up.”
Ferguson put his hand on Ty’s shoulder. “Calm down man. If she’s in there, you might hit the woman. We’ll get in.” He rapped on the door. “This is the sheriff. Open this door immediately, or we’ll break it down.”
The sound of a window opening reached Ty’s ears. “The bastard’s trying to get away.”
“Stand back.” The sheriff pulled his gun and aimed downward to keep from hitting anyone in the room. In less than a second, the shot burst the lock.
Tim shoved the door open and Ty saw Bullins going out the window. He didn’t pursue him. He was more interested in the woman who was tied to the chair that had turned over on the floor. In two steps, he fell to his knees and began untying her. He noticed the blood on her face and grew livid. How dare anybody treat a woman this way? He took one look at her face and yelled, “Get the doctor!”
He began to untie Xenia’s bonds and made up his mind at that moment he was going to punish Lou Bullins for this. He might even kill the sonofabitch.
“Doc’s in the dining room,” Stoneman said.
Throwing aside the rope that bound her to the chair, he lifted her in his arms and carried her out of this room to the one she was staying in.
Stoneman followed him, and he ripped the bloody spread off the bed. “I’ll have clean linens brought right up.”
Ty nodded as he gently placed Xenia on the bed. “Come on, sweetheart. Open those pretty blue eyes.”
There was no response.
He didn’t know what to do. His mind was going in all different directions. Should he wash away the blood? Should he take her boots off? Or her dress?
He didn’t have to make a decision, because Doctor Jesse Odell walked in. “If you’ll move, Ty, I’ll see what I can do for this lady.”
Though he didn’t want to leave Xenia, Ty knew the doctor had to have access to help her. He stepped back.
“Tell Stoneman to send up some clean, warm water and some rags.”
“I heard him,” Stoneman said. “I’ll be back with it shortly.”
“Get everyone else out of here. I want privacy to examine the patient.”
Ty shooed the crowd that had gathered in the room out through the door. He closed it behind them.
“I meant that for you, too, Ty.”
“I’ll be damned if I’ll let her out of my sight again, Jesse. I’m staying.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow. “I’m smart enough not to argue with a man in your mood. At least get on the other side of the bed, and stop breathing down my neck.”
Ty obeyed.
“Do you have any idea what happened to her?”
“All I know is Lou Bullins had her tied up in his room. I assume he’s the one who hit her in the face. I don’t know what else he did to her. There was a lot of blood on her bed.”
“So you think he might have molested her?”
Ty took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
Stoneman called from the other side of the door. “I have the water and rags.”
“I’ll get them.” Ty went to the door and brought the items to the doctor.
Jesse had already cleaned most of the blood from her face with a dry rag. It was swollen, and the cuts and scrapes were visible.
The closer Ty looked at Xenia’s face, the madder he became. He gritted his teeth. “I want to kill that sonofabitch.” He narrowed his eyes. “If he’s hurt her in any other way, I will.”
“Why don’t you step out for a minute, Ty? I need to check her over.”
“I told you I wasn’t leaving her, Jesse. If I hadn’t left her in here after dinner this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Don’t start blaming yourself.” The doctor lifted Xenia’s eyelid
and looked into her eye. Putting his instrument aside, he said, “She’s out cold. I’m going to unbutton her dress and listen to her heart.”
Ty didn’t move.
“That was my way of telling you to go look out the window or something. I’m sure if she’s the lady you say she is, she wouldn’t want you watching the examination.”
Ty nodded and muttered, “I suppose you’re right.” He walked to the window. He was glad he did when he saw the sheriff walking down the street with Lou Bullins in handcuffs. That was probably a good thing. At least it would keep Ty from getting his hands on him. The way he felt at this moment, he wasn’t sure he could keep himself from tearing the man apart.
He then looked toward the general store and the doctor’s office. There was nothing to catch his interest, and he shifted his eyes toward the dress shop. He lifted a brow when he saw Seymour Longstreet coming out the door with a pink dress trimmed in black across his arm.
Was he was headed toward the hotel? Could he possibly be coming here to force Xenia to wear that fancy dress? Did he arrange for Bullins to kidnap his niece because he’d learned she was in town? But how could he know Xenia was in the hotel? Did he have spies all over Deer Meadow? Ty knew he was on the right track when he noticed Seymour stop and watch as the sheriff and Lou passed by on the other side of the street.
Ty decided he was going to get to the bottom of what was going on or die trying. He just wanted to be sure Xenia was safe while he looked into the situation, and he figured she would only be safe at the ranch.
The doctor’s voice interrupted his observations. “You can come back now, Ty.”
He hurried back to the bed. “How is she?”
“She’ll be coming around soon.”
“That’s good.”
“And the answer is no.”
Ty frowned. “What do you mean, no?”
“He didn’t rape her, Ty. The blood must have all come from her facial injuries and the cut I found on her arm.”
“Thank God,” he whispered. Ty felt a weight lift off his chest, though he knew he wouldn’t have thought less of her if Bullins had molested her. Nothing that had happened was her fault.
“Other than the cut on her arm, some small bruises and the rope burns where he tied her up, the big bruise on her hip and the facial injuries seem to be the extent of the wounds. But they’ll heal. Her nose caused most of the blood and it’ll be sore, but it’s not broken.”
Xenia moaned.
“Is she waking up?”
“Yes, Ty. I think I already told you she’d be awake soon.”
He ignored the doctor. Kneeling by the bed, he took her hand. “It’s time to come back to the living world, Xenia Poindexter. I don’t like seeing you helpless like this. You’ve got to get your sassy self back here to the present. I don’t have anyone to argue with when you’re not around giving me a hard time.”
Her mouth quivered and Ty knew she was trying to smile. He couldn’t help it. He smiled back.
“Keep talking to her, son. She seems to be responding to your voice.”
Ty nodded. “I mean it, Xenia. If you aren’t back at the ranch tonight and telling everyone what to do, Mea Ann will shoot me. She didn’t want you to come to town in the first place.”
Her mouth opened as if she was trying to say something, but no sound came out.”
“There you go. I can see you’re trying to tell me something. Do you realize I now have the advantage? I can do all the talking and you can’t snap back at me.”
“I… I…I…” Her eyes fluttered and she seemed to float away.
Ty frowned and looked up at the doctor. “When is she going to wake up and make sense, Jesse?”
“Don’t worry, son. She will. It’s just gonna take a little time. She had a hard bump to the head.” He tied off the bandage on her arm and sat back.
“Lou Bullins should be hung for this.”
“I agree, but you and I both know that’s up to the judge. Not you or me.” He began poking around in his bag. Pulling out a bottle, he said, “I’m going to give you this bottle of laudanum to give her if she’s in a lot of pain when she gets good and awake. I figure her head is going to hurt like hell and she’s going to need something.”
“When will I be able to take her to the ranch?”
“Why not let her stay here for a few days?”
Ty shook his head. “It wouldn’t be seemly for me to stay in this room with her for a few days, and I sure as hell am not going to leave her alone in here again.”
Jesse shook his head. “I guess you’ve pretty much made up your mind?”
“Yes, I have. She’s not safe here, but she will be at the ranch.”
“Even though the sheriff probably caught Bullins?”
“I have a feeling Bullins wasn’t the only one involved in this.”
The doctor looked again at Xenia. “Well, she seems to be breathing alright and her color is coming back, but she shouldn’t be moved for at least a day.”
“Ty?” Her voice was raspy and low.
He turned to her. “Yes, Xenia, I’m right here.”
“I’m scared.”
“Relax, Xenia. You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m here now.”
She reached out a shaky hand. “Don’t leave me.”
He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
She didn’t say anything else as she went to sleep again.
“I can see how scared she is,” Doctor Odell said. “If you have to take her to your ranch, rent a buggy. There’s no way she could ride a horse. When you get there, have Chapa change the bandage on her head and the one on her arm tomorrow. Also tell her to give her some of that special tea of hers. That stuff seems to work as good as any medicine I have, and I’m sure it’ll do wonders for your woman.”
“I’ll do that, doctor. I’m sure Chapa will take good care of her.”
“I know she will.” He closed his bag. “I’ll come back later today to check on her. If I think she can make it, you might even get to take her to your ranch tonight.”
“Thank you, Jesse.”
****
“Aunt Chapa!” Ty shouted as he entered the front door at the ranch.
Chapa came running into the entry and stopped short when she saw Xenia in his arms. “Why are you yell— What happened?”
“She’s been hurt, Aunt Chapa. Would you turn down her bed?”
“Follow me.”
Mea Ann came hobbling into the hallway and stopped behind Ty. “Why are you carrying Xenia? Oh, no! There’s a bandage on her head. What happened? Is she alright?”
“Let me get her into bed and I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Xenia can you hear me. What happened to you?”
“No, she can’t hear you, Mea Ann. She’s had a dose of laudanum.”
“Bring her in here, Ty.” Chapa opened the door and rushed ahead to turn down the covers.
Ty gently put her on the bed.
“What happened?” Mea Ann asked again.
“Please, Mea Ann,” Ty said. “After I get her settled and comfortable I’ll explain everything.”
Chapa looked at him. “Take Mea Ann into the parlor and I’ll get Xenia settled. I need to get this tight dress off her and put her in a comfortable nightgown.”
“I don’t want to leave her,” Mea Ann said.
“Neither do I,” Ty said.
“Now, both of you listen to me. I’ll get Xenia in bed, and you can come back in to see her. I promise, I won’t leave her alone.”
“Maybe we better listen, Ty.”
He nodded. “You’re right. I’m sure Aunt Chapa will take good care of her.” Ty took Mea Ann’s arm. “Come with me. I’ll help you back to a chair.”
As they stepped into the hall, Johnny’s loud cry came from the parlor. “Oh, my. He can’t be hungry. He’s probably wet.”
“Then you take care of him and I’ll get Xenia’s valise out of the bugg
y and put the horse in the corral.”
“But I want to know—”
“I know you do, and I intend to tell you everything, but it’s a long story and I can’t tell you in a few words.”
She nodded. “Alright. I’ll be waiting in the main parlor for you—and if you find Wilt, bring him in, too. I think he’s working in the barn and he should hear what you have to say.”
“I will.” He didn’t take the time to tell her he planned to find Wilt because he wanted his cousin’s input into getting to the bottom of the things going on in Deer Meadow.
After giving the horse a quick rubdown and some oats, he turned it into the corral and headed back to the house. He saw Wilt standing beside the bunkhouse talking to Kerry, the bunkhouse cook. They were smoking.
He headed toward them. “Evening, fellows.”
Wilt threw down his smoke. “I saw you put a buggy in the barn. I was surprised you didn’t ride your horse home.”
“Had to bring Xenia back to the ranch and didn’t think she needed to ride a horse.” He nodded to Kerry. “Chapa told me to find you and tell you she needed to see you about something.”
“You better go, Wilt,” Kerry said. “You know even you two bosses have to listen to Chapa.”
Ty chuckled. “That’s for sure. I wasn’t about to go back into the house without him.”
“We’ll see you later, Kerry.”
“Sure, Boss.”
As they walked toward the back door, Wilt asked, “What in the world does Chapa want with me?”
“Actually, that was a lie. I need to talk to you and I don’t want anyone else on the ranch to know about it just yet.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you when we get inside.” He opened the back door and followed Wilt in.
In the parlor, they found Mea Ann rocking Johnny. “Oh, I’m glad you found him, Ty, but it seems like you’ve been gone for ages. Now, please tell me what happened to Xenia.”
Wilt frowned. “Something happened to Xenia?”
“Yes. Have a seat and I’ll start talking.”
“Why don’t I get you men some coffee, and Mea Ann some tea?” Chapa asked as she stepped into the room.
Ty frowned. “Is Xenia—”
Xenia’s Renegade Page 11
