“I …” How could she tell him all that had happened in the last ten minutes?
“The Comanche rode away again,” he said, still holding her close. “They may come back. I was worried about you.”
“I am not hurt,” she said. “Well, not much. But they will not return.”
“How do you know?”
“Please,” Billie said. “I tell you. Not here.”
He looked around at the crowded chapel and the snuffling horses. “All right. We’ll go somewhere else.”
“Mr. Bright, I’m afraid I damaged your rifle,” Sister Adele said. “I have it here.”
Ned took it from her. He kept his other arm around Billie and drew her toward the doorway.
When they reached the hall, he said to Sister Adele, “Please tell me what happened.”
“Perhaps we should go out to the front room and let everyone hear.”
“Go ahead.” Ned held the rifle out to her. “We’ll come right along.”
Sister Adele took the rifle and walked toward the sitting room.
By the light of the lantern in the hallway, Ned studied Billie’s face. “What happened on the roof?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Numinu come with torch and throw on kitchen. I crawl over and throw torch away.”
Ned’s jaw dropped.
“Then I see Peca come with torch. I jump …” She held her breath and waited for his reaction.
“You jumped? What do you mean?”
“I kick Peca hard. Horse not … not on all feet.”
“Off balance?”
“Yes. He turn, he off balance. Peca fall off horse. Chano come. He say, ‘Taabe Waipu, you count coup.’ And Peca go to catch his horse.”
“What?” Ned grinned and shook his head. “You counted coup on the leader?”
Hesitantly, Billie nodded. “Not my thinking—I just want to stop him burning mission roof.”
“Oh, you amazing woman.” Ned hauled her back into his arms. “I wish I’d been there to see it, but in some ways I’m very glad I wasn’t.”
She pulled away from him and put her hand to his cheek.
“Ned.”
“Yes?”
“Sister Adele have your gun. She kill Chano.” Ned sobered. “Oh, no.”
Billie nodded. “I not tell her.”
“She didn’t know?”
“She knows she shoot him, but she did not know he help me. Not know it was Chano—my sister husband.”
“Slow down,” Ned said. “This Comanche that Sister Adele shot—it wasn’t Peca?”
“No. Peca … disgrace. Woman count coup on him.”
“I understand that part.”
She nodded. “Chano tell me he help me get back into mission. But Sister Adele not know. She think he kill me, so she shoot.”
Ned let out a deep breath. “What should we do?”
“I think … nothing. They take him away.”
“Yes,” Ned said. “Comanche always take their dead if they can.”
“I not tell her who she shoot.”
“But he was a friend?”
Billie shrugged. “Taabe love sister Pia. She marry Chano. He treat me well. But … he tell me to marry Peca.” She looked up into his brown eyes. “How can friend help Peca chase me and raid mission?”
Ned stroked her cheek gently with his thumb. “Billie, sweet Billie. I’m afraid there will always be difficult times for you. I’m very sorry.”
“You tell brother?” she asked.
“Do you want me to?”
Billie nodded. “When sisters not there. You tell him Chano help me. And we not tell sisters what he did. Sister Adele is my friend. I don’t want her to …” She shrugged.
“You don’t want her to feel guilty.”
Billie nodded.
“All right. Did you see the buffalo hunter when the Comanche rode in close?”
She shook her head. “Not see buffalo man.”
“We think he may be out of it, but we’re not sure. Are you ready now?”
“Yes. They not come back.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Ned walked with her, keeping his arm about her. It felt warm and safe to walk next to him. Billie felt more secure than she had in twelve years.
As they entered the sitting room, Sister Adele was telling Jud Morgan, “… and the next thing I knew, she wasn’t there. She’d jumped down off the roof. I climbed up to where I could see the barnyard, and she was on the ground below me. An Indian was reaching to take her up on his horse. I shot the savage right out of the saddle.”
Jud looked toward the doorway and saw Billie. He strode forward.
“Are you all right?” He took hold of her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
“Yes.” Billie glanced at Ned. “Comanche gone.”
“That’s right,” Ned said. “She assures me they won’t come back.”
“But why?” Sister Natalie asked.
Ned sighed. “Can someone get Tree, please? And I think we can let the girls out of the cellar.”
“They should stay in there,” Jud said. “We’d better keep watch until morning at least.”
Sister Natalie eyed Ned and Billie. “I think we’ll let them out for a while, Mr. Morgan. Let’s all hear what Billie has to say, and then we can decide what to do.”
Sister Marie hurried to the kitchen, returning with Tree and the four girls. Quinta settled in the armchair with her father, and the other girls sat on the floor.
When all of them had gathered, Billie told her halting story, with embellishments by Sister Adele. She left out the words Chano had spoken to her and his offer of help, ending the story with her recovery of his horse and Adele’s aid in getting back on the roof.
“She was so brave,” Sister Adele said. “I couldn’t believe she’d done what she did.”
“We must thank God for her safety,” Sister Natalie said. “Shall we pray?”
They all bowed their heads, and Sister Natalie said, “Dear Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy goodness to us. We beseech Thee for wisdom now.”
After the “amens,” Quinta, from the comfort of her father’s lap, gazed at Billie with huge brown eyes. “I wish I’d been there.”
“Be thankful you weren’t, little one.” Tree squeezed her.
Jud, who had insisted on keeping watch at one of the windows, called out, “A big section of the barn roof caved in. I’m afraid the fire’s done its job, even though the sod slowed it down.”
“At least the house roof is intact,” Sister Natalie said.
“Maybe we can get the horses out of the chapel now,” Ned said. “It’s quite a mess in there.”
“We can’t put them outside tonight.” Jud turned from the window and stared at him.
“They not come back,” Billie said. She didn’t want to sound defiant, but she knew Peca would not return.
“We could at least venture out and cut some grass for the horses,” Sister Riva said.
“Tree and I could do that.” Ned looked at Patrillo. “What do you think?”
“In a while. Let’s wait a little longer to be sure.”
“Yes,” Jud said. “Let’s not get overconfident.”
Billie longed to assure him the crisis was over, but she kept still. Knocking Peca from his saddle was one thing. Lives were at stake then. But there was no need to belittle her brother’s thoughts in front of the others. And if she explained that Peca’s shame and the death of his friend had driven Peca away for good, the others would realize she knew the warrior Sister Adele had shot.
“If you think it’s safe, I’d like to use a little water and light the stove now, so I can prepare a hot meal,” Sister Marie said.
“I will help you.” Billie rose.
Quinta squirmed around to see Sister Marie. “Can we make a cake?”
The sister smiled at her. “Perhaps tomorrow, my dear.”
When Sister Marie called them all to the dining room to eat
a belated supper, Ned touched Jud Morgan on the shoulder.
“I’d like to speak to you.”
Jud hung back as the women and girls, along with Tree, left the room.
“What is it?” Jud’s face was set in hard lines, as though he expected bad news.
“Your sister. She’s a courageous woman.”
“I gathered that.”
Ned nodded. “Sit down for a minute.” Jud sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa, still holding his rifle. “You got something to say?”
“Yes. The Comanche the nun shot—he was trying to help Billie.”
“What?”
Ned ran a hand over his stubbly chin. “She told me he was her brother-in-law. I mean, the husband of her Comanche sister. He spoke kind words to her and offered to help her get back inside. But Sister Adele saw him, and she thought he was threatening Billie, so she shot him.”
Jud stared at him. “Are you sure that’s what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“Billie wasn’t planning to go back with them, was she?”
Ned eyed him keenly. “No. If she’d wanted to go back, she’d have left here long ago.”
“Garza told me she offered to surrender to them to save the rest of us.”
Ned sighed. “That’s like her. But she didn’t do it. She kicked the leader off his horse. That was the worst shame for him—having a woman count coup on him. If Billie were going to surrender and marry the man, she certainly wouldn’t have humiliated him first.”
Jud leaned back and stared at the opposite wall. “I suppose you’re right.” He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “I’m so tired. I just want to take Billie home.”
“I know. But there’s something else I should tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“I love your sister.”
Jud let out a short laugh. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Ned smiled. The relief of saying the words astonished him. “All right, then. Let’s get something to eat. You should sleep after that. We can take turns keeping watch, at least until the sun is well up.”
“Right. Just in case.” Jud rose.
A sound Ned had come to dread came faintly from outside. “I hear horses.”
“I knew it!” Jud ran to the nearest window and poked his rifle’s muzzle into the opening.
Pulling his Colt, Ned hurried to the other one and peered out. Several horses galloped into the yard and stopped.
“What are they up to now?” Jud asked.
“Wait! Whatever you do, don’t shoot.” Ned squinted into the starlit dooryard. Voices reached him, calling softly to each other in Spanish.
He turned to Jud and grinned. “It’s Tree’s boys. I guess they were worried when Papa didn’t come home.” He holstered his gun and strode to the hall. “Come on, Morgan, help me move this chest.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
During the boisterous reunion of the Garza family, while Quinta delighted in introducing her four brothers and Brownie Fale to all the nuns and students, Billie slipped around the edge of the room and stood beside Jud. He looked down at her with thoughtful eyes. “Is there someplace quiet where we can talk?”
She nodded and walked out into the hall. At the far end, she opened the door to her chamber.
“My room,” she said. She went to the small table and lit the lantern, then placed the stool for Jud and sat down on her bed.
He sat opposite her and looked long into her face. “I’m so happy to be here with you.” Tears glinted in his eyes. “I can’t tell you how much we’ve prayed for this day.”
“I pray too.” She reached out both hands. Jud took them and held them gently, rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs.
“Billie, I’m so sorry for what happened to you.”
She ducked her head so he wouldn’t see her tears. “Not your fault,” she said.
“I’ve felt as though it was. Ma said she let you ride out to find me and show me something you’d brought from school. But I wasn’t where I’d told her I’d be that day. I’d gone farther than I’d planned, looking for a few strays.”
Billie bit her lower lip as the memories cascaded in her mind. Something from school. She reached for her parfleche and dipped her hand into it.
With a shaky laugh, she held the tattered paper out to Jud. “Here. I bring this.”
Slowly, Jud unfolded it. The ink had faded and the creases nearly obliterated some parts. He stared at it for several seconds. A bittersweet smile touched his lips.
“Dear Mrs. Morgan, I wanted to inform you that Billie is the top scholar in our school. She will receive a special honor at the Christmas assembly. I hope you and your family can attend. Sincerely, Miss Thurston.”
He looked at Billie. “Your teacher sent this. Do you remember Miss Thurston?”
Billie frowned. She put a hand to her eyes. “Not see. Spectacles?”
Jud laughed, and the care slipped away from his face. For the first time, he looked to Billie as he had twelve years earlier.
“Yes, she’s short-sighted. Wears eyeglasses all the time. Oh, Billie.” He reached for her hands again. “I need you to know how much we all love you. How much I love you. Will you please come home to the ranch? Ma and Marion are so excited. They’re getting ready for your return. I do hope you want to come.”
Billie nodded, and her tears spilled over. “I come.”
Jud let out a deep sigh and nodded. “What about Ned Bright?”
Billie blinked. “Ned?”
“Yes. He loves you. Surely you know that.”
Billie sat very still. Inside she felt warm and eager, hoping Jud’s words were true.
He leaned toward her. “I … wasn’t sure you’d want to go so far from him.”
“I go home,” she said firmly.
Jud smiled. “Good. And if you want to see Ned later, we’ll arrange that.”
Billie withdrew her hands and tried to marshal her thoughts and the words to express them. “What is it?” Jud asked. “Ned … he not know.”
“What doesn’t he know?”
Her throat tightened. “I … I have husband. Comanche husband. Not my choice.”
Jud stared at her. “You are married? I thought this savage who attacked us wanted to marry you. Don’t tell me it’s already done!”
“No, no.” Billie patted his arm. “Not Peca. Husband dead now. He …” She needed to be sure she spoke correctly, that there was no misunderstanding. “He went raiding.”
“Yes?” Jud studied her closely. “He went raiding.”
She nodded. “He die on raid. Chiefs give his bow to his little son.”
Jud inhaled sharply. “You have a child?”
Billie shook her head, tears flowing freely. “He die too. Sick. But Ned not … he does not know.”
“Oh, Billie.” Jud slid off the stool and sat beside her. She curled into his arms, weeping against his shoulder.
For a long time he held her, letting her cry. At last she sat straighter and sniffed. If this knowledge drove Ned away, she would still have her family. Jud wouldn’t hold her if her news repelled him.
“I should have a handkerchief.” His voice cracked.
Billie patted his cheek. “You good brother.” She rose and went to the table. A wash cloth hung on the side, near the pitcher of water. She took it and wiped her face.
“Billie …” Jud rose and stood close to her. “I want you to know that if you had been able to bring the child back with you, we would have loved him too.”
A new wave of tears streamed from her eyes, and she caught them with the cloth. She choked out a muffled, “Thank you.”
In the hallway, a horse whinnied. Billie stepped to the doorway and looked out. The front door was open, and one of the black-haired Garza boys was leading his father’s horse outside. Behind him, Ned came from the chapel leading his paint.
Billie turned to face Jud. “They take horses out.”
“They might as well. The
Garzas’ horses are out there anyway. I expect the boys will stand watch while they graze.”
Captive Trail (The Texas Trail Series Book 2) Page 25
