The Reluctant Bride

by Leigh Greenwood

  “You got a look at him?”

  “I was taking a short walk to wake up when he came in. I don’t think he saw me, but I caught a glimpse of his face when he opened the door.”

  “Okay. Be very quiet and let’s see if we can hear anything.”

  Tanzy put her ear to the wall, but she couldn’t make out anything they said. After several minutes of trying different spots in the wall with no success, she said, “You try listening at the wall. I’m going outside to see if I can hear anything through the keyhole.”

  “What if he catches you?”

  “I’ll be careful. Now be quiet and listen very hard.”

  Tanzy eased open the door and tiptoed into the hall. The noise from the saloon was louder out here. She reached Stocker’s door and put her ear against it but couldn’t make out more than an occasional word. She knelt down and put her ear against the keyhole.

  “Have you got the herd together yet?”

  “Yeah. Right now my boys are holding a couple of hundred cows, some from every rancher within a hundred miles.”

  “Good. Tomorrow I want them on the move so we can drive them into Russ’s valley. I’ll organize a posse from town to arrive before he can chase them out again.”

  “We’ll have to kill the guard at the pass.”

  “Nobody will care. I’ll see to that.”

  Stocker went on, “I’d love to be with you, to see Russ’s face when those cows stampede into his valley, but I have to be in town to lead the posse.”

  “Get your sheriff to organize it. It’ll look better if you’re not involved.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”

  Tanzy started to stand, but her muscles had cramped from being crouched down for so long and she stumbled and fell against the door. The man wrenched it open before she could get her rebellious muscles to work.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  “I twisted my ankle and was coming to tell Stocker I’m going home,” Tanzy said, scrambling madly to think of some excuse to explain her presence. “I must have stepped on an uneven board because it gave way right as I started to knock on his door.”

  The man gave her a hard look, but he reached out to take her arm and help her stand. She might have gotten away with it if Tardy hadn’t burst out of the other room at that moment. “What are you doing to her?” he asked.

  “What’s he doing here?” Stocker demanded.

  “He studies in the room you gave me,” Tanzy said, hoping to stave off any ill-considered remark Tardy might be encouraged to make.

  “Take your hands off her,” Tardy said to the man. “If you hurt her, I’ll tell Russ.”

  “Why would Russ care about her?” Stocker asked.

  “Tardy thinks I ought to marry him,” Tanzy said. “He won’t believe me when I tell him I want nothing to do with Russ Tibbolt.”

  Tardy had finally recovered enough to shut his mouth, but it was too late. The look the man was giving her was definitely menacing. Before she had time to guess what he might do, he’d pushed her inside Stocker’s office, grabbed Tardy, and shoved him in behind her. When Tardy tried to fight, he hit him so hard he knocked the boy out. He pulled his gun and aimed it at Tardy.

  “What are you doing?” Stocker demanded.

  “We can’t let them go.”

  “Why not? They don’t know anything.”

  “You can’t be sure.”

  “You can’t kill anybody in my saloon. You’d have everybody in here before you could get out the door.”

  “Tie them up and leave them here. Afterwards we can get rid of them.”

  “I forbid you to touch either one of them. If you don’t let them go, I’ll turn you in to the sheriff.”

  The rustler turned his gun on Stocker. “You may think I’m a fool, but I’m far from it. I’ve sold all the cows I’ve rustled before this last batch and none of the guys in jail know who hired them, so I’m clean. As soon as I get rid of that herd tomorrow, I’ll be clean again. Now help me tie them up or you’ll be the first one I shoot.”

  Tanzy screamed and fought, but it didn’t do any good. She soon found herself tied and gagged, pushed into a corner opposite the still-unconscious Tardy, the door closed and locked. She lay there cursing her stupid mistake, racking her brains for a way to escape and warn Russ.

  Ethel Peters marched into the hotel, planted herself in front of the desk, and demanded to see Tanzy immediately.

  “She hasn’t come down yet,” Archie said. “She usually sleeps late.”

  “I don’t care if she’s had no sleep at all. My worthless nephew didn’t come home last night and I’m sure she’s responsible. I wish to speak to her immediately.”

  “I can’t wake her,” Archie protested.

  “I can. What is her room number? I won’t wait long,” she said when Archie hesitated. “You’ll tell me or you’ll tell the sheriff.”

  “It’s twelve,” Archie said. “She won’t like being waked.”

  “My poor, foolish nephew came home begging me to take him back, saying she’d bewitched him. He was fine for two days and now he’s disappeared.”

  With that she marched off up the stairs, only to return moments later.

  “She’s not in her room and her bed hasn’t been slept in.”

  “She’s got to be here. She has nowhere else to go.”

  Archie hurried off but came back almost immediately. “Something’s wrong. She didn’t take anything. It’s just like it was when I straightened up after she left for the saloon.”

  “The hussy. I expect she’s run off with some man.”

  “She’s no hussy,” Archie said. “The men are all talking about how she makes them behave or she won’t pay them no mind.”

  “I still say any woman who works in a saloon is a hussy. I’m going over there right now and demand that she tell me what she’s done with my nephew.”

  “I’m going with you.”

  “I don’t need help.”

  “Something’s happened to Miss Gallant and I mean to find out what it is.”

  “You think she might be in trouble?”

  “Miss Gallant wouldn’t spend the night anywhere but in her own bed, and she wouldn’t go off and leave all her belongings behind.”

  “We’ll soon find out,” Ethel declared.

  Tanzy had given up on anybody finding her before Stocker returned. She couldn’t call for help because the rustler had gagged her. She was worried about Tardy. He’d regained consciousness before the rustler had tied him up. The boy had attempted to drag the man off Tanzy and had been rewarded by a blow to his head. The trickle of blood down his face worried her. He had come around a couple of times, then faded off again. Why had she thought she could do everything by herself? Why hadn’t she let Tardy tell Russ what she meant to do? Because he would have stopped her, and then they’d never know about Stocker’s plans. Not that it would do any good with her locked up in this room.

  She ought to be worrying about herself. Would Stocker let the rustler kill her to gain his revenge on Russ? What about Tardy? The boy was innocent. She was responsible for the threat that hung over his head. She tried once again to loosen the knots that held her hands behind her, but it was useless. She couldn’t budge them.

  She wondered what time it was. There was no window in the office. How long had she and Tardy been tied up? She’d tried to stay awake, but she’d slept off and on. Would they have time to stop Stocker if she got free right now? Why couldn’t she think of something? She’d never felt so stupid in her whole life.

  In the silence she detected a faint sound. It sounded like someone in the saloon was trying to open the door that led to the offices in the back. Apparently Stocker had locked that, too. It must be time to open the saloon; someone probably needed to get to the stock of liquor.

  Her body sagged with defeat. It was too late. The sheriff and his posse would have stormed the valley by now. Russ might
be dead. He might be on his way to jail, with Stocker and the sheriff having all the proof they needed that he had been rustling cattle. That meant she and Tardy were in even more danger.

  Suddenly the voices were much louder. Somebody had unlocked the door, but it couldn’t be one of the men who worked behind the bar. She heard a woman’s voice. She heard Ethel Peters.

  Frantically, Tanzy looked around for some way to make noise, any sound that would attract Ethel’s attention. She tried to roll toward the door, only to discover the rustler had tied her to Stocker’s desk. Furious, she jerked on the rope, but it wouldn’t give. The desk was too large. Tardy was tied to the other side.

  In frustration, she threw her head back. It hit the wall, sending a pain down her spine. She cursed herself mentally until she realized the voices had stopped.

  “I heard something,” she heard Ethel say.

  Tanzy banged her head against the wall again. Despite the pain, she kept hitting it until she was so dizzy she could hardly see straight. Someone banged on Stocker’s office door.

  “Is there anybody in there?” Ethel called.

  Steeling herself against the pain, Tanzy hit her head against the wall again. When she didn’t get an immediate response, she did it again. If Ethel didn’t figure out someone was in this room soon, Tanzy was going to have addled brains for life.

  “There’s somebody in there,” Ethel said.

  “They can’t be all right,” Archie said, “or they’d be calling out and opening the door instead of banging on the wall.”

  “Somebody open this door,” Ethel said.

  “Stocker has the only key.” Tanzy recognized the voice of the barman.

  “Then break the door down. My nephew is missing. I’m sure he’s in that room.”

  The barman continued to argue, but the only man who’d ever stood up to Ethel was Russ. A few minutes later, Tanzy heard wood splitting. They must be using a crowbar to pry the screws out of the door frame. She heard the welcome sound of metal against metal. The padlock was off. It took only a moment to force the regular lock. The door flew open and Ethel charged into the room.

  “You!” she exclaimed when she saw Tanzy. “What are you doing here?”

  “She can’t tell you with that gag in her mouth, can she?” Archie said. He rushed over to remove the gag.

  Meanwhile, Ethel had found Tardy. “Richard! Oh my God. He’s bleeding. What have you done to him?” she demanded, turning on Tanzy.

  “The rustler hit him when he tried to help me,” Tanzy said, her mouth sore, her voice thick, and her words hard to understand.

  “I don’t believe you,” Ethel said. “Why would a rustler be in Stocker’s office?”

  “Because Stocker hired him to steal cattle so he could blame it on Russ. I overheard him planning to drive them to Russ’s valley so they can convict Russ of rustling and hang him. Tardy attacked the rustler when he started tying me up. He’s planning to kill us when he gets back.”

  “I never heard a more ridiculous story in my life,” Ethel declared. “You can’t expect me to believe that Stocker—”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Tardy said, sitting up and holding his head.

  “He’s got it all planned,” Tanzy said. “Stocker didn’t want to kill us, but the rustler threatened to kill Stocker if he didn’t help him tie us up. Then he made Stocker go along with him. They’ve left someone here who’ll bring the sheriff and a posse to Russ’s valley after they’ve driven the rustled cattle in. That way Russ can’t deny he has rustled cattle on his property.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Ethel said. “Stocker has been accusing Russ from the beginning.”

  “And foiling every attempt Russ made to have the ranchers go to his valley and inspect it for themselves. Stocker knows there aren’t any stolen cattle there. He knew if the men went, they’d see that, and his case against Russ would collapse.”

  “She’s telling the truth,” Archie said. “I was working the desk in the hotel when the ranchers met. They was getting together a group to go out and inspect Russ’s herds. Stocker wanted them to go in shooting. When they wouldn’t, he walked out, saying he’d have no part of it.”

  “He did the same thing at the meeting in the saloon,” said the barman. “I was working that night. I heard him.”

  “You’ve got to talk to the sheriff,” Tanzy said to Ethel. Archie had untied her and she was trying to stand on unsteady legs. “He won’t believe me, but he’ll have to believe you.”

  “You can’t expect me to defend Russ Tibbolt.”

  “Do you still hate him so much you’d stand back and see him hanged? This town has already sent him to prison for one crime he didn’t commit.”

  “He’s not a rustler, Aunt Ethel,” Tardy said. “I rode all over that valley with every one of his men. There wasn’t nothing I didn’t see, and there was no rustled cows anywhere.”

  “Yet twice he was attacked,” Tanzy said, “once when I was there and the second time when we were in town. Someone is determined to destroy him. And if he can’t do that by fair means, he’ll do it by foul.”

  “I’ve heard Stocker in the hotel hundreds of times saying he wants Russ dead,” Archie said. “He’ll never forgive him for being a better shot then Toley. Toley was nothing but a Sunday cowboy. Russ learned how to be the real thing when he went to Texas. It hurt Stocker’s pride that Russ seemed to always get the better of him in the end.”

  Tanzy could see the conflict raging inside Ethel. To believe what Tanzy said would mean admitting she’d been wrong all these years, and Ethel Peters made it a point never to be wrong.

  “What do you mean, Russ was a better shot than Toley?” Ethel asked Archie. “Russ drew first.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Archie said. “I didn’t see it myself, but I heard from more than one of the fellas who worked for Stocker that Toley drew first. They wouldn’t say nothing because Stocker paid them good to lie, but men will tell you just about anything when they’ve had too much to drink.”

  “I’m riding out to warn Russ,” Tardy said, trying to stand on legs even more unsteady than Tanzy’s.

  “You’re going straight to the doctor,” Ethel said.

  “Somebody’s got to warn Russ.”

  “What time is it?” Tanzy asked.

  “It’s just past eight o’clock,” Ethel said. “I went in to wake Richard for breakfast at seven and discovered his bed hadn’t been slept in.”

  “Then we still have time,” Tanzy said. She no longer felt tired. There was time to warn Russ, time to stop Stocker. “Ethel, you’ve got to convince the sheriff what I’ve said is true. You’ve got to convince him to gather a posse and ride to Russ’s valley. Russ has forgiven this town for what it has done to him. He’s tried to forget what Stocker and his brother did to his family, but you kept manufacturing hatred, remembering old grievances, inventing them when there were none, and bullying people into treating him like a pariah.”

  “I saw something else happening,” Archie said. “People nearly always know what’s right and wrong even when they don’t do it, and they start feeling guilty. Because they feel guilty about doing something that’s not right, they do it even more, like they’re trying to convince themselves they’re doing the right thing.”

  “It’s a vicious cycle,” Tanzy said, finally able to stand unaided. “Nothing can compensate Russ for all the lost years, but you have a chance to end a great injustice. You also have a chance to free this town from the yoke of Stocker’s tyranny. If you don’t do it now, you’ll continue being his sheep for the rest of your life.”

  “I’m nobody’s sheep,” Ethel declared.

  “Prove it,” Tanzy challenged. “I’m leaving now. The rest is up to you.”

  “Do you really love him?” Ethel asked. For the first time in Tanzy’s experience she didn’t sound like the domineering town spinster.

  “Yes, I do. I spent weeks telling myself why I shouldn’t, but when I started teaching him to read, I saw a
whole different man.”

  “He can’t read?” Ethel exclaimed.

  “He can now. He’s the best student I ever had.”

  “Then he never knew what I—” Ethel caught herself before she finished her thought. “Never mind,” she said, her customary commanding presence reasserting itself. “I will talk to the sheriff. If he won’t raise a posse, I’ll do it myself. Now, young man,” she said, turning to Tardy, “I’m taking you to the doctor.”

  “Can you find me a horse?” Tanzy asked Archie.

  “I’ll get you a buggy,” he said.

  “I’m about to become a cowboy’s wife. I want a horse.”

  Tanzy was relieved to see no sign of activity as she approached the pass into Russ’s valley. She had ridden as fast as she dared, praying she would get there before Stocker and the rustlers.

  “What are you doing back?”

  It was Tim. He stood exposed on the rocks above with his rifle across his arms.

  “I don’t have time to explain,” Tanzy said, “but I left to get proof Stocker was trying to pin this rustling on Russ. He’s hired rustlers to steal cattle. They mean to force their way into the valley so when the sheriff and posse arrive, there will be proof Russ is doing the rustling.”

  “Nobody’s getting by me,” Tim said, beginning to unbend a little.

  “Stocker means to kill you first. I’ve got to warn Russ.”

  Tim called out something, but she didn’t hear. She was already galloping toward the man she loved, hoping he still loved her.

  “I think you ought to go outside,” Welt said. He’d entered the cabin in a hurry, tension showing in his eyes.

  “Why?” Russ asked.

  “Just go.”

  Russ turned and reached for a rifle.

  “You won’t need that,” Welt said.

  “What’s going on?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Russ didn’t understand, but he didn’t much care. He hadn’t cared very much about anything since Tanzy left. The cows that represented his success had become empty possessions that required much of him but gave nothing back. Even the friendships that had been so vital to him during prison and so essential to his success since had lost some of their meaning. Tanzy’s departure had ripped the heart out of everything that was important to him.