***
“You what?” Colt rolled up another blanket. Most everything else was packed into their gear.
“I told potential investors I would pay the required ten percent on their stock if they would sign and say they bought the stock. When the U.P. begins making a profit, they’ll get their share and they can pay me the ten percent. In the meantime, I actually own much of the stock myself. Dr. Durant sold many shares that way.”
Colt put on his hat. “Why doesn’t that sound legal to me?”
“Probably because it isn’t. But we had to get things going, Colt. Congress was stalling, demanding that a certain number of stocks be sold first, making us prove we had plenty of investors. So what if it’s just names on paper? The money is still there.”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t do business that way.”
Sunny checked the cinch under her horse’s belly. “Oh, Colt, it’s done all the time in my circle. We’re even using our own construction company to supply the railroad. The government pays so much a mile, and we base our costs on cost of supplies, and so forth. We pad the prices for our own construction company, the government adjusts its share accordingly, and we make back some of our own invested money before the U.P. even starts taking on passengers and freight.” She straightened and faced him. “It’s called survival. Just like out here, Colt. The strongest, wiliest, most seasoned scouts like yourself live. The others die. In my world there are other ways to be strong and wily.”
He stared at her a moment, wondering at how different she seemed when she talked this way. This was not the sweet, innocent, vulnerable woman who slept in his arms last night and to whom he had made love twice more this morning before they finally bathed again, ate, and dressed. This was the Sunny he didn’t understand, the one who did not fit into his world, or he into hers. “If I was involved in all that, I’d have to be honest about everything. That’s the only way I could run a business.”
“Honest!” She laughed lightly. “Talk to our own congressmen about being honest. If I hadn’t had to do so much bribing to get the railroad act passed in the first place, I wouldn’t have to be thinking of ways to get my money back out of them. It’s a common business practice, Colt. You scratch their backs, they scratch yours.”
He kicked around at the fire to be sure it was out. “And you stab their backs, they stab yours,” he added.
Sunny mounted up, watching him a moment. “Sometimes. Colt, are you angry with me?”
He met her eyes, breathing in a deep sigh. “No. I just don’t like your kind of enemy. Mine come at me with real weapons and a look to kill. Yours smile and shake your hand, and to fight them you have to be just like them. That’s not the Sunny I know and love.”
She smiled softly. “This Sunny is nothing like the one who will return to Omaha. The wrong decision, or sometimes just being too honest, can cost you millions in the business world, Colt.”
He mounted his own horse, turning the animal to face her. “Isn’t there a saying that honesty is the best policy?”
“You would soon learn that doesn’t often apply where I come from.”
Their eyes held, both of them feeling the burden of their differences. He rode closer, studying the proud way she sat, her blouse now neatly tucked again, her hair twisted up and pinned at the back of her head. She had to look proper when she returned to the train, and he wanted it that way too. He remembered the remark the man in Billie’s saloon had made about her, and he wanted none of that kind of talk. When they made this public, it would be in the right place at the right time, in a way that would create the least gossip. Each of them was worried about the pain the other might suffer at the hands of the public because of their relationship.
“Well, Miss Landers, when you become my wife, I am going to have to show you that things can get done without all that bribing and scheming. Maybe your father thought that was the only way to do it, but I happen to disagree. I might not understand all the ins and outs of your little empire, but I understand human nature, and I understand right and wrong.”
She shook her head, smiling sadly. “You make it sound so simple, Colt.”
“It can be simple.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Just remember what we said, about our love getting us through this.”
Her eyes teared. “I’m scared, Colt.”
He took her hand. “You want to know something? So am I. But all I have to do is look into those blue eyes of yours and I know I can take just about anything to be with you.” He squeezed her hand. “And all you have to do is trust me, lean on me, and not worry about how I’ll be treated. I’ve been through a lot in my thirty years, Sunny. I can take it.”
She clung to his hand, tears sliding out of her eyes now. “I don’t want to leave this place. I’ve never known such happiness as I have had the last two days. I’m scared I’ll never be this happy again.”
Thunder rolled in the distance, and to Sunny it seemed ominous. “We don’t have much choice now,” he told her. “Storm’s coming.”
Yes, she thought. I feel it too.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “I love you, Sunny. That’s not going to change. And remember, if you need me, you send me a wire. I might get fired, but I’ll come running.”
She managed a light laugh through her tears. “Who’s going to fire you? I’m your boss, remember?”
He winked, trying to overlook his own sadness at leaving the place where he had found such happiness, “I guess you’re right.” He leaned over more and met her mouth, moving a hand to lightly caress one breast as the kiss lingered. He left her mouth and kissed her tears. “We’d better go before we end up spreading the blanket again. If we do, we’ll get caught in the rain.”
She reached out for him, grasping him around the neck, and he pulled her onto Dancer. “Hold me a little longer,” she whispered. “Let me ride with you until we get in sight of the train.” She sat sideways and rested her head against his shoulder. Colt took the reins to her horse and headed up the bank away from the river, through cottonwood trees and out to the sandhills, heading southeast.
They rode for over an hour without seeing a soul, neither of them talking, wanting only to enjoy the feel of their bodies touching, the strength they found in each other’s arms. Sunny breathed deeply of his scent, wanting to remember. Colt in turn enjoyed the smell of her hair, and he was sure he would not forget the sweet taste of intimate places that belonged only to him. She had offered herself so willingly, with so much trust and love. Whatever lay in their future, they would always have this to remember, and nothing could change the fact that he had been her first man, first in her heart and first to invade her virgin depths.
They were in love, and it felt good to finally admit it, finally consummate that love, no matter what the odds against it. Bucking those odds could not be nearly as difficult or painful as it had been to try to stay away from each other. It simply could not be done. The attraction, the love, the need were all too powerful.
The storm moved closer, black clouds billowing on the western horizon and coming fast. Thunder again rolled through the heavens, and shortly afterward Colt heard the signal—one long blast and two short ones. It was followed by another signal, and he recognized it was for Quinn Dix, another scout. “You’ll have to get on your own horse, Sunny. There’s some kind of trouble. That’s my signal—and one for another scout. For all we know, we’re in danger. We’ve got to ride hard.”
He gave her a quick kiss and pulled her horse up next to his own. She reluctantly left him and moved onto the black mare. “You’re the one who wanted a good ride,” he told her. “Let’s get in one more on the way back. Maybe we can beat out that storm.” He kicked Dancer into a gallop, and Sunny followed, her heart pounding, not with fear of trouble, but with dread. The glory and ecstasy of the last two days were ending too quickly now. The thunder on the plains seemed
to echo her fear of what was to come.
Chapter 23
The black clouds rolled in hard and fast on a high wind that brought the storm quickly as Sunny and Colt approached the construction camp. At least thirty army tents were stretched out in a neat line near the trains, their canvas billowing with the wind, flags flapping. Soldiers’ horses grazed farther to the east, a few uniformed men keeping watch over them, having a difficult time keeping them from bolting because of the coming storm. More soldiers milled about the camp, some heading for their tents as a few large drops of rain began to pelt them.
“I wonder what’s up,” Colt shouted through the high wind. Stinging dirt lashed at their skin, and they both had to duck against it. “Those soldiers must have arrived yesterday.”
“We sent for them,” Sunny yelled back. “It doesn’t mean there’s trouble.”
“They wouldn’t signal in all the scouts if there wasn’t.”
Lightning slashed through the rumbling dark clouds, followed by a crack of thunder that made Sunny’s horse whinny and balk. She urged the horse forward, feeling as though the coming storm only signified the storm that lay ahead for her. She had lied to Colt about wanting to go back to Omaha alone. She wanted nothing more than for him to come with her. It seemed that every time she said good-bye to him, it was always months or years before she saw him again. Still, she knew the ugly publicity that lay ahead once she broke her engagement to Blaine, and she did not want him involved in it. At least now she knew just how much she loved him, and that he loved her. She had no doubt in her heart that he would wait for her.
If only they could make love once more, just once more before she had to leave him. She still felt on fire with the want of him, burning inside at the memory of his naked skin touching her own, of letting him see and touch and worship every part of her, of taking Colt Travis in all his glorious manhood inside her own body and giving him pleasure. It all seemed too wonderful to be true, and sometimes she felt like pinching herself to make sure she was not dreaming. Now when she read her old journal entries, she could smile instead of weep, rejoice instead of fantasize.
As they drew closer, it became obvious that daydreaming would have to stop for the moment. Yet another train had arrived, and two men in top hats stood on the platform of Sunny’s car, waiting expectantly. They clung to their hats so they would not blow off in the wind. Sunny recognized them as part of Durant’s elite ten, a group of the Doctor’s top people to which Blaine and Sunny belonged. General Casement was running toward Sunny and Colt with a couple of extra men, who grabbed the bridles of their horses.
“They’ll take care of your mounts,” Casement hollered. “Some of Durant’s men are here, Miss Landers. We need to talk. Come inside your private car. The scouts are to come too!”
Colt grabbed her arm and they hurriedly climbed onto the platform and followed the two top-hatted men inside, where more men waited, a total of six. They all rose when Sunny entered, and those wearing hats removed them and bowed slightly. One of them, a tall, thin man with hard blue eyes and small, tight-set lips, looked Sunny over with a hint of contempt. Colt caught the look, knew what the man was thinking about her being out riding alone with a scout. He felt an instant defense of Sunny, but for the moment he hung back as Sunny greeted the men.
“I’m glad you were close enough to get back right away, Miss Landers,” Casement told her.
“Yes. Your presence is needed,” the thin man told her, glancing from her to Colt. Colt met the man’s eyes boldly. When the man looked away again, Colt scanned the looks on the faces of the others, some of whom were also looking from him to Sunny with smirks on their faces. A few just stared, intrigued by his size and looks.
“What is happening? Why are all of you here?” Sunny asked, still a little breathless from the ride as she shook a few hands. She called out to Mae to go and see about bringing some tea and coffee, as well as a bottle of whiskey.
“The soldiers arrived late yesterday,” Casement told her, “and just in time, I might add.”
Colt moved to stand beside the scout Quinn, who had also been summoned. He could see by the man’s eyes that Quinn, too, was wondering about Sunny riding alone with him. There was more a look of curious humor in his eyes than malice, and Colt gave him a scowl. It irritated him that all these men were here when they got back. He knew Sunny had planned on just the normal work crew, not this group of men who were so close to Blaine and who would be full of curiosity and ready with judgment. Colt had to admire her sudden poise and air of authority as she took the only seat left in the elegant parlor car, which seemed suddenly too small now that it was filled with so many people.
“We have an Indian problem,” Casement was explaining. “One of our graders arrived last night on horseback. He was gravely wounded, said three other men are dead. We wired Omaha, and these gentlemen came out in representation of Dr. Durant. They said I should signal in the scouts so we can discuss what to do.”
Mae brought in the drinks, and Sunny quickly became the gracious hostess, offering coffee, tea, and whiskey to the men. Mae poured whatever each man asked for. The men continued to glance at Sunny in curious wonder, and Colt figured it was not just from the fact that she had been out riding alone, but that probably none of them had ever seen Sunny looking quite so plain, wearing only a blouse and a riding skirt, her cheeks flushed from a hard ride—or was it from something else? He wanted her again already, wondering if he could bear to go more than a day without holding her beautiful body next to his own, without invading her again, enjoying her bold abandon, savoring every part of her. He liked her this way, no makeup, no frills, just plain, beautiful, wholesome Sunny.
“According to the surveyor, we have quite a problem,” the thin man said again, apparently considering himself the spokesman for the others. He took a sip of whiskey. “We have a decision to make, Sunny, and Dr. Durant said it has to be made among us six and you. Blaine couldn’t make it out just yet.” He glanced at Colt on the last sentence, his blue eyes like ice. “He’ll be in Omaha in another three days, but we don’t have three days to wait.”
Outside, the storm hit, the thunder making Sunny jump. She glanced at Colt, aching to go to him and let him hold her. How nice it would be if they could be alone, lie in her private bed and hold each other while the storm raged outside. She remembered another prairie storm, when she was in the covered wagon.
“Why the rush, Mr. Canary?” she answered. She looked at Mae. “You can leave us now, Mae. Thank you.”
Mae nodded and hurried off, glad to leave the presence of so much wealth and power but full of questions for Sunny about spending the last two days with Colt Travis.
“We took a train out last night,” Canary answered. “Got here only about a half hour ago. It seems the surveyors laid out a route directly through some Cheyenne Indian burial ground over the winter while the Indians weren’t around. Now the Cheyenne have discovered what’s been done, and they’re furious. They attacked the graders and are camped at the burial ground now, refusing to let us come through.”
“Then go around,” Colt said. “You’ll save a lot of lives and trouble.”
Canary shot him a look that told him he had not been asked to speak. Colt did not flinch. He glared back at the man, thinking how his name fit him—thin as a little bird. The smell of arrogance was so thick in the now-cramped car that Colt was on full defense.
“That is just the problem,” Canary answered. He looked back at Sunny, as though to remind Colt he had been talking to her, not to him. “We came out here to discuss the matter, because to go around this gravesite, or whatever it is, would mean many extra miles of track. Its location is on the best soil, right in the middle of some very rugged, hard-rock country that does not offer a good path anywhere near on either side. Because of the past winter, we’re falling behind, Sunny. Normally, we don’t mind a few extra miles of track—it’s just m
ore government money in our pockets. But this time Durant does not want the delay. We have a lot of lost time to make up for, and it’s time to be as efficient as possible, both with money and material as well as speed.”
“But going straight through as planned will mean a heated fight with the Indians,” another man put in. He reached over and poured himself more coffee from a silver pot that sat on a round oak table in front of the men. The rich elegance of Sunny’s private car again reminded Colt of the kind of money and power and social standing Sunny represented, a way of life that was ingrained in her very blood. At the same time he was reminded what this kind of living did to him. Already he felt choked, needed to get out of the close confines of the parlor car.
“In other words, we’re choosing here between putting on a lot of extra miles, which means lost time and money, or going through the burial ground and losing a lot of lives,” Sunny was saying.
“That’s about the size of it,” Canary told Sunny. “You know the kind of money we’re talking about, and you also know how important it is to the Doctor to keep up with Strobridge.”
Sunny sighed, putting a hand to her head. How she hated coming back to a car full of men who were after her to make another decision. This one was made more difficult by the fact that deciding to go through could endanger Colt’s life.
“We brought in the scouts to get their opinion,” Casement was saying.
Sunny looked at Colt, thinking how he stood out from everyone else, so big and rugged-looking. It was almost humorous trying to picture him in a silk suit and top hat. An odd fear gripped her. Now that they were back to reality, had they been wrong to think they could be together? Yet she could no longer imagine her life without him in it. She saw the love there in those hazel eyes, knew he was telling her not to be afraid, not to give it up. “You know the Cheyenne, Mr. Travis,” she spoke up, addressing him formally to help stave off the unspoken gossip she knew filled the minds of her business cohorts. “You even lived with them for a while. What are we in for?”
Thunder on the Plains Page 41
