Humes backed toward Nina, wiping wildly at his face, screaming a string of chilling cuss words. He turned to grab at Nina, pulling at her, making her choke on the rawhide cord around her neck. Desperation to breathe, combined with her hatred of the man, made her push the six-gun against his chest and fire. Humes’s body jerked, then crumpled to the ground. Nina jumped back, falling to her knees and grasping at the cord, trying to get her breath.
Suddenly someone was beside her, taking the gun from her hand and tossing it aside. She started to fight him, but he wrapped strong arms around her from behind.
“Relax, Nina,” came a firm but soothing voice. “It’s Lieutenant Youngblood. Calm down so I can get this thing off your neck.”
Her breathing came in quick gasps as a million thoughts swam through her mind. She stood still, not sure if she should trust this gringo any more than she could trust Jess Humes. She heard him curse as he felt the cord at her neck. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered. “Corporal Mills, bring a burning stick of wood over here, something to give me some light!”
Nina shivered and waited, and the lieutenant’s arm tightened around her. Strangely she did not feel threatened by the grip, but comforted. “It’s going to be all right,” the lieutenant told her.
“He is…dead,” she sneered, the hatred flowing out of her. “Dead! I killed him, and I am glad!”
“Quiet!” Clay told her, tightening his grip. “You’re in enough trouble! You didn’t kill him, understand? I did! Remember that!”
Nina frowned, her thoughts scrambled. Was this gringo somehow trying to protect her? He must know that she and Emilio were horse thieves. Was he saying she would be in less trouble if no one knew she had killed someone?
Another man approached then, carrying a torchlike branch. “Sir! You’re wounded.”
“It’s nothing serious. I’ve got to get this cord off the woman’s neck before she chokes to death. It’s so tight I can’t do it without a light. I might cut her.”
The man brought the light closer, and Clay told Nina to lie down on the ground. She was still afraid of him, but not as afraid as she had been of Jess Humes. After all, he had risked his life to rescue her. She lay down, and Clay gently pushed her long dark hair back away from her face to expose the cord. Her half-torn blouse, still not fully buttoned, fell away from her just enough to reveal a goodly portion of one breast, and Clay forced back thoughts he should not be having, trying to forget about how beautiful and vulnerable this woman was. She was his prisoner, wasn’t she? In spite of what she had been through, she was still a horse thief.
He took out a knife, and the corporal, also noticing the full breast, forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand. He held the torch closer as Clay managed to slide his knife under the cord. It cut her neck slightly and Nina whimpered.
“I’m sorry,” Clay told her. “I’m being as careful as I can.” With all his strength he quickly yanked, cutting through the cord and releasing Nina’s neck. “Stay still,” he told her. Nina gasped, putting a hand to her throat as Clay shouted for someone to bring a blanket and search through the outlaws’ gear for something to stop the bleeding.
Nina looked past the corporal to see the man in the turban talking softly to three camels, tending to the one that had been wounded. Two of Humes’s men, Billy and one called John, were still alive, although John was groaning and holding the back of his head where the lieutenant had landed his rifle into it. One of the other soldiers held a rifle on the two outlaws, while another scrambled to find the things the lieutenant had ordered. Hayden, Humes, and Brad all lay dead.
Nina realized her ordeal at the hands of Jess Humes was over. It mattered little at the moment what the lieutenant had planned for her. He surely would never do what Humes had intended, and much as she wanted to hate him, tears of relief filled her eyes at the touch of his hand on her shoulder. With his other hand he stroked her hair back from her face. She lay on her side, trying to stay calm, but she wanted to weep at the knowledge that she would not be taken to that bad place in San Antonio.
“My brother!” she gasped, her gruff voice an aftereffect of nearly choking to death.
“He’s all right. He’s waiting back at our camp, about a half-mile away,” Clay told her. “He’s the one who led us here.”
As Nina fought tears, she noticed that someone brought a blanket and some bandages to where she lay. “Cover her up,” Clay said. Nina was surprised and grateful at his order, aware that her blouse had fallen open. “Cut some of that bandage for me so I can hold it against her neck,” came his next command.
“What about your arm, sir?”
“The hell with it. She needs help.”
Nina felt a hand press gently against the wound on her neck. “Lie still until the bleeding stops,” Clay told her.
“Gracias,” she said in a whisper. She suddenly felt ashamed. He must know how she had been manhandled, what Humes and his men had intended to do with her. Just the thought of it brought great humiliation, let alone the fact that she reeked of urine and vomit.
“Soon as the bleeding stops, we’ll see about cleaning you up,” Clay told her then, as though reading her thoughts. “I’ll send one man back to get the others and we’ll camp right here tonight, bury the dead bodies. We can use the fire to heat some water. Our cook wagon has a big washtub along. We’ll fill it with hot water so you can bathe.”
“No,” she answered, drawing up her knees.
Clay kept pressing on the wound. He leaned closer. “Nina, we aren’t here to hurt you. We’ll set up a make-shift tent with blankets. No one will see you or bother you.” He realized he should have no feelings for this woman. She was a thief and his prisoner, but he could not help feeling sorry for her. It was obvious from her condition that although she had not been raped, she had been badly abused. After what Emilio had told him about her mother’s attack, he knew how devastating the ordeal she had recently suffered must have been.
Nina lay feeling suddenly numb and weary, her mind confused by all that had happened. Why had the lieutenant helped her and Emilio? Just to catch some horse thieves? Surely that was the only reason. Still, he had stroked her hair so gently. He had risked his life for her, refused to tend to his own wounds until she was taken care of. His voice was so reassuring. This was the first time a strange man had touched her without bringing fear and revulsion to her. Until the incident with Hernandez and her attack by Jess Humes and his cohorts, no man had ever gotten near her. She never dreamed she could take comfort in any man but Emilio, certainly not a gringo soldier!
“Please, go away,” she said, suddenly sitting up and grasping at the bandage.
“You’ve got to lie still, Nina.”
“Just go away.” She pulled the blanket around her. “I can take care of myself.”
He moved around in front of her. The soldiers had built up the campfire, and she could see his face clearly. There were those amazing blue eyes, and such caring she saw in them! “I’m not here to hurt you, Nina. Your brother will arrive soon. He can help you then.”
“And then what?” She swallowed, her throat aching. “Prison? Hanging? You might as well have left me to die.”
She caught a trace of a smile at the corner of his handsome mouth. “Is that so? Well, I’m sorry I rescued you then.”
Their eyes held, and she could see he was holding back a full smile. She dropped her eyes. “All right,” she admitted. “I thank you for what you did, but you said I was in trouble. Does that mean I am your prisoner?”
He sighed, studying her dirty but still very beautiful face. “I haven’t decided yet just what to do with you. I have to get those damn camels to Camp Verde, and now I’ve got horse thieves to watch after. You and your brother have certainly complicated my plans.”
Her dark eyes shone with concern. “Emilio is really all right?”
“He’s hurting pretty bad, but he’ll mend, so there’s no sense in you thinking about trying to escape. Don’t think I don’t know yo
u’re already considering it. Emilio is in no condition for that, and he needs you. From the looks of your wrists, and the way I found you all bound, I think you’ve probably had your fill of being tied up, so please don’t make me have to do it again.”
She shook her head. “I will not try to escape. I just want to see Emilio.” She looked over at the camels. “You brought them to frighten and confuse Jess Humes and his men, didn’t you?”
Clay nodded. “Worked pretty good, didn’t it?”
She met his eyes again, and this time he was smiling fully, a warm, melting smile that made her want to trust him. “Sí. If it were not so dangerous at the time, it would have been a very funny sight.” She frowned. “Why did you tell me not to say I killed Jess Humes?”
He glanced at the other men, all busy cleaning up bodies and setting up a new camp. He leaned closer to her. “Outlaw or not, Humes was white, a Texan. You’re Mexican. Need I say more?”
He saw the resentment and hatred in her eyes. “No,” she answered, still holding the bandage to her neck.
“It’s bad enough that you’ve stolen horses. Why mention that you killed a man? A jury might think you’re capable of killing innocent people in a raid. Being a woman, young, maybe pleading you stole horses to survive, that might win a jury’s sympathy. But adding a dead man to your notorious accomplishments won’t help.”
She searched the blue eyes that fascinated her. “Why do you care?”
His eyes moved over her, but she did not feel naked and shamed the way she had felt when Humes and his men had looked at her. She felt a sudden warmth, a stirring that was new to her. “I don’t even know,” he answered. He started to rise, but she let go of her bandage to reach out and touch his arm.
“You could just let us go,” she pleaded. “I want no more of this. Just let us go back to Mexico, Señor Lieutenant.”
He sighed. “That really isn’t my decision to make, Nina.” He walked away, and Nina watched after him, feeling sick at the thought of being imprisoned, going before a jury of white Texans. What would happen to her and Emilio? Would the gentle, blue-eyed soldier really turn them over to people who would hate them and want the worst for them?
She watched the lieutenant strip off his shirt so that one of the other men could tend to his wounded arm. In the firelight she could detect a long white scar across his chest. Indians? He was apparently a man accustomed to combat, most likely very skilled or he would not be sitting here tonight. For the first time she was fascinated by the sight of a man’s body, noticing that the lieutenant had a broad chest, covered with deep golden hairs broken only by the scar. He was much bigger than Emilio, his fine muscles glistening in the firelight.
She glanced away, amazed at her own thoughts. Never before had she looked upon a man with fascination and…what was this other feeling? Desire? Never! She turned from him, wrapping the blanket closer around herself.
When Emilio finally arrived, she managed to get to her feet and go to him. They sat beside each other and he took her hand. “I am…so sorry, Nina.”
“It is all right,” she answered, her voice becoming stronger. “At least Jess Humes is dead now. I…” She hesitated. Others could hear her. “The lieutenant shot him,” she said, deciding to tell him the truth later.
“What did they do to you?” he asked, his eyes wide with fear for her.
“Nothing. They hit me and tied me up. But they did not…” She looked away. “I am so dirty, Emilio. I got sick. The lieutenant says I can take a bath. He said no one will come near me. Do you think it is safe?”
Emilio looked around suspiciously. “I think so. The lieutenant seems to be a man of his word, even though he is a gringo.”
Nina looked down at herself, feeling ashamed of her condition. “I have little choice.”
“We have brought your things from the shack,” Emilio told her. “You can get some clean clothes.”
She nodded. “I will clean up, and then I will stay with you,” she answered.
The camp was busy, with men heating water and setting up a tent of blankets. Nina took the gauze from her neck. The bleeding seemed to have slowed. “Once you clean up, I’ll bandage that for you,” Clay told her, coming over to where she sat beside Emilio. He reached out and pushed some of her hair away, looking at the cut. “It’s still bleeding a little, but not as bad as before. You feeling all right? You aren’t going to pass out on me, are you?”
Nina held her chin proudly. “I do not faint away easily like weak white women.”
Clay grinned, and Emilio noticed how the lieutenant looked at his sister. He did not like gringo men looking at her at all, but considering the fact that their fate was in this man’s hands, perhaps it was good that he had an eye for Nina. They might be able to put that to good use.
“I had a feeling you weren’t the wilting type,” he told Nina, then left them.
Emilio touched Nina’s arm. “He likes you.”
She looked at her brother with a frown. “He is just a hungry gringo like all the rest. And it makes little difference how he feels. That one is a soldier first and a man with emotions second. He has already told me we are his prisoners. He is turning us over to the Texans. You know what that means.”
“Be nice to him, Nina.” Emilio grimaced as he moved to get more comfortable. “Maybe he will let us go. I do not think he wants to turn a woman over to the authorities. And I helped him capture some wanted men. Maybe if we promise to go back to Mexico, he will release us.”
Nina looked over at Clay. She had to admit it would not be difficult to be nice to such a man, for he had been much kinder and more caring than any gringo she had ever met. Still, she could hardly look at any white-skinned American man without dredging up ugly memories.
“Maybe,” she answered. “I cannot be too nice, or he would be suspicious.”
Clay was ordering men to get the washtub from the cook wagon, which had to be left at the top of the ravine because of the steep bank. Some of the men would camp above for the night, watching the horses and mules and camels. Sergeant Johnson went for the tub, bringing it back down and setting it inside the blanket tent. Men began filling it with water they had been heating over the campfire.
“Go and get your clean clothes,” Emilio told Nina. “And remember what I told you.”
Nina touched his battered face, leaning down to kiss it. “I will remember.” She left him to go through her gear, pulling out a clean blouse and another riding skirt, along with clean underclothes. She hugged them to herself, walking over to the tent, where Clay handed her two white Army towels.
“Take your time,” he told her. “No one will bother you.”
Nina felt a pleasant shiver at the way he looked at her. She took the towels, upset with herself for the way he made her feel. “Gracias,” she told him, then ducked inside the blankets. Clay stared at them a moment, pleasantly disturbed by thoughts of the beautiful Nina Juarez inside, sinking her dark, naked body into the warm water.
He felt terribly irritated, almost angry. What use was it to think of her that way? Not only was she a thief and his prisoner, but she was young and untouched. Even if she were available, after what she had been through, a man would have a hell of a time convincing the fiery little woman to let him have his way with her. He had no business toying with these annoying thoughts anyhow. He had a job ahead of him, taking in the camels and the horse thieves. Then Nina and Emilio Juarez would be out of his hair and he would be on his way to California. That would be the end of it.
He heard a splash of water and felt an ache deep inside. He turned to see Corporal Mills watching him. The man grinned, and Clay scowled at him. “Have someone get some coffee going,” he said irritably.
Mills grinned sheepishly and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter Seven
Nina came out from behind the blankets, her wet hair combed away from her face and tied at her neck. She wore a short-waisted wool jacket against the cool night air. She felt stronger and more sure of
herself now that she was clean and fully dressed. The camp had quieted, most of the men, and all the livestock they guarded, camped at the top of the ravine.
She approached Clay, holding her torn and soiled clothes to her breast. Clay sat near a campfire, which crackled warmly, the nearby creek adding a soft splashing sound to the still night. The lieutenant raised his eyes to greet her, and Nina met his look proudly, holding her clothes out over the fire and letting them catch the flames. As soon as they began burning, she dropped them into the hot coals to watch their full destruction. “I never want to see them again,” she said, a hard edge to her voice.
Clay watched sympathetically as the clothes burned. He took a drink from the cup of coffee he held. In the dim firelight he was unaware of the slight crimson color at Nina’s cheeks. She wondered what the gringo had seen when he was cutting the cord from her neck. She was embarrassed at remembering how he had found her, more at remembering how she had allowed herself to take comfort in his touch and voice.
“I thank you for allowing me to bathe,” she said to him. She came to sit near him, and in the firelight he could just make out the dark bruises on her face. She raised her chin defiantly and met his eyes. “Now I will at least be more presentable when you take me before a judge,” she said.
Clay subdued an urge to smile at the sarcastic remark, secretly admiring her stubborn, sassy attitude. He was totally confused by his fascination with this young woman, disgusted with the knowledge that she was a horse thief, intrigued by her beauty and bravery, touched by the innocence that showed through the hard shell she tried to present to the world.
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