They gathered back together and began to press forward, and Serena was shocked to see several warriors coming out of the plantation house, carrying valuable items. They loaded the items onto horses that didn’t have riders, laughing and clapping each other on the back.
Serena couldn’t hold back any further and she kicked her horse hard, breaking free of the group of squaws that were supposed to be holding her. She pushed her horse hard and made it almost to the front where she encountered the large warrior that had been both kind and cruel to her the night before. “Thieves!” she cried. “Murderers! Look at the crimes you commit, and the joy you have in doing these things! You are doing terrible things to these people who have done nothing to you.”
He turned his full attention on her and she saw a wide variety of emotions cross his face, and one of them was fear. Fear of what? What others would think of him for talking to her? Fear of her getting hurt for moving up the line away from the squaws? The second seemed to be an impossible notion. He cared less for her than an irritating fly on his horse.
“Return to the squaws now!” His voice was low and firm, with the expectation that she would listen to him.
“Do you see what your people are doing? Do you have no remorse?” she demanded.
He turned his horse so that he was facing her and was close enough he was able to grab her upper arm tightly. “What have your people done? What have your people done to us? Think about it! They kill us if we are on land they want, even though it has been our land forever. They kill the buffalo for sport, knowing that we need the buffalo to live, to maintain our ways. They bring us diseases that kill so many—too many. They have stolen our land, our way of living, and kill us when they see us. So who are the true thieves and murderers? Answer me, damn you!” He shook her hard.
“We have done wrong by your people. Terribly wrong. But what you are doing won’t change it. It will only make things worse!”
A sadness crept into his eyes, and she realized he knew what she said was true. He felt the same way. But the look quickly changed to one of anger. “You have put me in a position where I must punish you now and then you will return to the squaws. And I don’t want to hear another word from you for the remainder of the day.”
She had barely processed what he was saying before his hand cracked across her jaw and she nearly fell off the horse, but he caught her so that he could strike the other side of her face. Dazed, she clung desperately to the horse’s mane, as he nudged it then gave it a slap on the rump back into the direction of the squaws.
She arrived back to the group of women, and many of them looked at her with fury, and several of them looked at her with humor. “Serves you right.” One spat at her.
“You are lucky I’ve been told not to harm you.” A woman’s voice growled in her ear, and she turned to see the beautiful squaw with her claw marks down her face. “If I could, I would cut you so that no man would ever desire you again.”
Serena turned to face her, cringing at the pain in her jaw from the recent blows she had endured. “I don’t know you. But I have a fairly good idea why you hate me so much. My people haven’t been good to you, and I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry for my behavior. I attacked you like an animal, and it was wrong. If I could take it back, I could.”
The woman looked stunned, then quickly schooled her expression to show none of her emotions. “You are very strange, brown woman. I’ve never-I never-your apology confuses me.”
Serena stared ahead, knowing they would come upon a town soon. They wouldn’t have passed a plantation without there being a town within a short distance. Not far ahead, she could see the large Comanche warrior and wondered at his name. And she wondered if she had just opened a door with the Comanche squaw that was stunned by her apology.
“What name do you go by?” Serena asked softly.
“I could be whipped just for talking with you,” she said, glancing anxiously around them. “I am known as Dancing Spirit.”
“I am Serena. You belong to him, don’t you?” Serena tilted her head towards the large warrior.
Dancing Spirit’s lips pulled thin and she seemed to not want to talk any further. They rode in silence for several minutes before Dancing Spirit finally spoke. “I did belong to him. But the chief has made a decision for him. He wants Noble Strength to take someone else as a bride.”
Serena’s heart went out to the beautiful young woman. “That must be incredibly difficult for you.”
The woman turned and gave her a smile that wasn’t pleasant. “The woman replacing me is you.”
The militia and rangers woke early and didn’t bother with breakfast before mounting up and riding hard. They would pause long enough for the men to stretch and for the horses to be watered and fed, but Trevor was so anxious he didn’t even want those delays. He had further to go than the others, because he was going to ride through the night until he came upon Serena. He wanted to take some of the men with him, but they needed to be entirely focused on finding the large band of Indians. He didn’t know who had Serena—whether it was the large band or a smaller group that were riding to join the larger group, he couldn’t be sure. And he couldn’t risk the lives of any more men than he had to.
It wasn’t a very sound plan, but it was the only one he had, and he would not give up on her. Ever. Logan and Ryder had talked long and hard about what the best course of action would be, and it had been all they had been able to come up with. He just prayed it worked.
His father’s killer, however, lingered on his mind. The man was among them. He could almost feel it. But his rangers were still having trouble identifying the man. Perhaps Trevor had been wrong. Perhaps all of his tracking had been off and his father’s killer was not even in Texas. But his gut told him his work had been right, and that he had been tracking the right man. And, at that very moment, that man rode with his troops for... for what?
It was close to lunchtime when they arrived in Victoria, and they all stopped without direction to do so. The town was ravaged. Bodies lay in the streets, clothing and furniture dumped out of houses, the remaining people looking lifeless as they walked aimlessly through the streets, some of them crying, others just shaking their heads over and over again.
Trevor, Logan, and Ryder swiftly dismounted, taking note of the arrows imbedded in the walls of buildings everywhere. They walked towards the only man who seemed to have his wits about him, but could tell he was grieving. They removed their hats as they neared him, and nodded in greeting to him. He nodded in return.
He was an older man, with weathered skin and hands that had so many callouses built on top of each other, he could probably grab a hot poker and not feel a thing. But his rough exterior was softened by the tears that slid silently down his cheeks. He stood still, staring at one of the buildings that looked like it might have carried some jewelry, fine women’s gowns and day dresses.
Trevor approached the man, while Ryder and Logan stayed back, ready to jump in to help if needed, but not wishing to intimidate him. “Sir?” Trevor asked as he approached.
The man didn’t seem to hear him. He was holding an old, ragged hat in his hands and was rotating it slowly, crushing the edges of it.
“Sir?” Trevor said again, a little louder, and the man jumped slightly, as if he had just realized he was no longer alone.
The older man’s eyes filled with tears. “She was right in here. She had wanted to look at the beautiful dresses and I was going to surprise her and order one for her. But then—they just all—I was too far away from her, down the street. And they came so fast...”
“How long ago, sir? How long have they been gone?”
“I could hear her screams. She is my sweet baby, and they took her from me.”
Trevor suddenly realized he wasn’t talking about his wife, but instead about his daughter. “They took your daughter? They took her with them?”
The man’s eyes slowly focused on Trevor’s face, and then he saw the shine of his Ranger Sta
r. “Yes, sir. It was my daughter, Jerelyn. Can you find her? Can you hunt down these savages and save her?”
“I will do my best, sir. When did they come through here?”
The man looked around, his brow creased in confusion. “I—I don’t remember. It was yesterday, I believe. Yes, yes, that’s it. It was yesterday afternoon. We thought they were horse traders that come to see us from time to time. But they had this horrific cry—this, this scream—and they swung their spears and tomahawks without mercy.”
Tears began to run down the man’s face again. “Jerelyn is all I have left. I was down the street, getting our vittles for the week when they came. I couldn’t get to her fast enough. They had pulled her out into the street and she was fighting them like a madwoman. That’s my baby. She doesn’t like cruel people and she knows how to fight—I taught her myself. But they were too strong for her to fight off. I was yelling and running towards her when the Indians started letting loose arrows. We all dodged for cover. I was a coward. I found a safe hiding place that the Indians didn’t look around. I stayed there, cowering from them, while my baby girl screamed to be set free.” The tears were spilling rapidly down his face now.
Trevor wanted to comfort the man, but had no idea how to go about it. “I’m sorry for what happened to your daughter, sir. But we will do everything in our power to stop them and save her. Try to remember again, sir. When did they come through here?”
“Jerelyn and I had lunch with my sister around noon. Then we began our shopping, and it couldn’t have been later than two o’clock. I should have done more!” He looked beseechingly at Trevor, and Trevor patted the old man on the back. “If you had tried, you’d probably be dead now, and we’d have no one to bring Jerelyn home to.”
The man’s eyes lit up in appreciation and hope. “Find her for me, ranger. Bring my little girl back to me. Please—for the love of God, please.”
Trevor nodded to the man, then turned back to Logan and Ryder, quickly placing his hat back on. “They came through here yesterday afternoon. They’ve taken at least one more hostage.”
“And from what I see, they looted the place with careless abandonment.” Logan pointed out.
The other two men slapped their hats back on their head. “If we ride hard we may catch up to them,” Ryder said, looking back at the men. “And we haven’t really pushed the men or the horses hard yet. I think they can handle it.”
“Then let’s ride.”
They mounted up and rode out, pushing the horses and the men harder than ever before. They were determined to catch up with the Comanche. It was going to be the battle they had all been waiting for, and it was one they all needed. This war had to come to an end.
By nightfall, they had discovered the Comanche were leaving a trail as they discarded some of the loot they had acquired that was proving to be too burdensome to carry. It was an obvious sign that they were trying to move faster. They knew the militia was closing the gap. But by the dark of night, they would be easy prey for the Comanche, who had experience hunting and scouting in the dark.
Reluctantly they stopped and made camp, though the reluctance seemed to only belong to Trevor, Ryder, Logan, Cade, and Lorenzo. Because the remainder of the men were quick to unsaddle their horses, get them fed and watered, and bed down for the night without fires so they couldn’t be seen.
Trevor found himself exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. His mind had been racing about what he would do once they came upon the Comanche and how he could actually save Serena and any other hostages without them getting killed. Physically, he was drained for more than one reason. He hadn’t been able to sleep since Serena had been taken from him. And emotionally he struggled with his feelings for Serena and his need to have her by his side again.
He fell into a restless sleep long after the rest of the camp was asleep, but he was plagued with nightmares of Serena being tortured. Finally, exhaustion took over and he fell into a deep, black sleep.
He was jolted awake when hands suddenly clamped down on his throat and a knee pressed into his chest, pinning him to his cot. Startled out of the deep sleep, his first reaction was to grab the hands at his neck and pull hard on them to try to loosen the grip. But the man who had him pinned down was far too strong and he couldn’t break the grip.
He threw his body weight to the side and the cot fell to its side, knocking his attacker free of his grip. Trevor quickly pounced on the man and slammed his fist into his jaw. The man reacted by punching Trevor hard in the side, nearly knocking his breath out of him. With a growl in his throat, Trevor slammed the man back down on the ground again and hit him hard in the side and landed another punch to his jaw.
The man Trevor was fighting was stronger than he had anticipated. The man shoved hard with his body weight and threw Trevor to the side and drew his leg up sharply and nearly hit him in his most delicate parts. Trevor kicked the man on his shin and was rewarded by a grunt of pain.
He then began to strike the man with his fist in the face over and over and over, even when he heard the crunch of broken bone as he struck the man’s nose. Finally, the man’s body went limp, and Trevor pushed away quickly, struggling to quickly fire up a lamp.
The tent came to life with light and Trevor grabbed his gun, keeping it pointed at the man that was now moaning and rolling onto his back. With barely repressed anger, he approached the man, ready to kill him if he gave him the slightest reason. “Who are you?” he demanded, placing his foot on the man’s chest.
The man refused to answer him, just glared up at him, casually wiping at the blood on his face, making it only look worse. And that’s when Trevor saw it. The jagged scar over his eye. It was the sign he’d been hunting for so long, he was almost stunned to actually see him.
He stumbled backwards, then moved to the flap of the tent and hollered for Logan and Ryder. They came rushing in, quickly followed by Cade and Lorenzo. They all had their guns drawn, and it actually would have seemed comical if it weren’t for the emotions coursing through Trevor.
“This is the bastard,” he said to Logan and Ryder.
“How the hell do you know who I am?” The gambler growled trying to push himself to a seated position.
All the men aimed their guns at him. Trevor stepped towards him and yanked his hat off his head, then searched him quickly and found a revolver tucked in the back of his pants.
“Why did you want to kill me?” he demanded, fighting the urge to shoot the man on the spot.
“You’ve had your hounds tracking me for weeks now. Why? Why, damn you!”
“Because you’re a murderer. I’ve been tracking you my whole life. Now there will finally be justice.”
“I only took a few of the things you had from the Indian raids. Only a few gold coins and some money. I’ll admit I’m a thief, but I am no murderer.”
His voice was still as smooth and refined as Trevor remembered from all those years ago. Were it not for the blood on his face from the beating he had given him, the man would still look as polished as he had before. And like before, he still had the jagged scar above his eye.
“Are you sure this is him?” Logan asked, moving to lift the man to his feet.
“Without a doubt. What is your name?” Trevor demanded.
“I’m Lucius Willford. Maybe you’ve heard of me. I’m a professional gambler.”
“Yes, I’ve heard of you. It’s funny... every time I’ve come to watch you play, you leave in such a rush that no one can see where you go. Is it because you’re afraid you’ll be caught with the cards up your sleeve?”
“I am an honest gambler,” he said, squaring his shoulders as he finally stood with Logan’s help.
“I’ve watched you play. I’m surprised you weren’t caught. But when I made my move to catch you, it seemed you would vanish into thin air.”
A half smile touched his lips. “A good gambler always has a solid exit strategy.”
“But you didn’t have one twenty years ago, did y
ou?”
“Twenty years ago? Ranger, I know you are very competent at your job, but I doubt you were watching me twenty years ago.” He tried to yank his arm free of Logan’s grip with little success. “I’m genuinely sorry about the events of tonight. I merely meant to scare you, not to kill you. I just wanted you to order your men to stand down. I need this money.”
“Gambling not paying off any more?” Cade asked, his gun still aimed at the now fidgeting man.
“Of course it is. I’m one of the best. I just need a little more money to get into a tournament and, well...”
“I’ve heard enough about your illegal activities. For these crimes alone I can take you to prison. But I want to hear from you is about the time you murdered a man in cold blood.”
“I would remember if I had done something like that, son. Murder is nasty business.”
Trevor felt a vein throbbing in his neck when Lucius called him “son.” His hand clenched into fists, and he was ready to punch the man again, this time until he stopped breathing. “If it is such nasty business, then you should remember it. Small town just north of Austin. You were caught cheating at cards. You and your accomplice were going to jail.”
Lucius yanked harder on his arm and Logan landed a solid punch to his gut. “Try to get free from me again and I’ll hit you just as hard, only six inches lower. Understand?”
Having the breath knocked out of him, he wheezed a “yes” before returning to gasping for air.
Trevor gave him a few more minutes to gather his breath before speaking to him again. “Does any of that sound familiar to you, Lucius? Bringing back any old memories?”
Lucius fidgeted even more. “I don’t recall ever being that far north. San Antonio is usually as far north as I go. North of Austin would just be too far for me.”
Trevor glared at him, feeling his body beginning to shake with anger and pure rage. “Were you ever captured by a sheriff for cheating at cards?”
Lucius looked at all the men surrounding him, and then at all of the guns. “Y-yes. I have been caught before. And a sheriff took me to jail for it once, too, so I learned my lesson. I’m mighty good at cards now without the cheating.”
Texas Heat Page 20
