“Chin Lee is the grandfather of my half sister, Lin and half brother, Sung. After my father brought them and their mother back to San Francisco, I went to live with them for a time. A few years later, I struck out on my own. That’s when I met Father Jake, who was still Montana Murphy at the time. He taught me about tracking, fighting and hunting. Mostly fighting.” Noah let out a rare laugh.
“Then I went east to join the army. Even though it was the last year of the war, I served as a scout. Not long after that, Colonel Duncan was reinstated in the army, and I went to serve with him in the Indian country. During that time, Montana found his religion and dropped out of sight, only to reappear as Father Jake. The sisters joined him sometime soon after that.
“I met up with him on one of my assignments. He’d established this mission to help the bands of Indians displaced by the immigration of settlers westward. Surrounding us right now are two men whose families he helped, Waiska and Taima.” He chuckled as Micah looked out into the forest. “Don’t try to find them. You won’t see them until they want you to.”
“Why are they here?”
“Guarding Patrice was repayment of a great debt they owed Father Murphy. My brother Sung is out there also. They’ll spell each other for a meal later today. In the meantime, I think it’s time you were filled in on our plans for your brother.”
The two men hobbled back into the cabin. They were served a strong smelling dish of stew and cornbread. As he ate, Micah watched Patrice from the corner of his eye. She refused to look directly at anyone, concentrating instead on the sewing in her lap.
How could he bring back the vivacious girl he’d left behind fifteen years before? Was there anything left of her in the shell of the woman before him?
He chanced a glance at Noah. The younger man also watched the pale blonde woman. Pity showed on his face, but he steeled his look when he found Micah watching him. He turned his attention to his meal, preventing anyone from seeing his feelings.
Was there something more Howard felt toward his sister? Did she know?
“Things are set up as you asked, Noah, me lad.” Father Jake sat across from the two battered warriors. “Your brother, Sung has planted his surprises throughout the forest. Taima and Waiska have set traps at several weak spots in our defenses. When trouble comes, we will be ready.”
“What surprises has your brother set up?” Micah pushed his empty plate to the side, watching Noah finish a second helping.
“Have you ever heard of Chinese fireworks?”
“Yes.”
“Sung placed them around the perimeter of this clearing. Be sure to stay on the inside when they go off. Taima and Waiska are arranging pits and arrow traps where we think they will attack first. Once we hear the screams of our enemy, then Sung and Chin will fire up the rockets. That could equal out our chances.”
“What if they get through your defenses?”
“Then you will meet them man to man.” Mr. Lee joined them at the table. “Once they are inside this circle, you will fulfill your destiny, Micah. The outcome is known to you as it is to me. You must be prepared for what is to come and not question what you know to be inevitable.”
Flashes of fire and smoke rose in front of him, Stephen and Patrice, blood.
“How long do you think it will be before they find us?” Micah shook his head, trying not to let the vision become too real. He needed to save his anger for what lay ahead.
“My best guess is that they could be here tomorrow.” Noah sat back on his bench. “They had a full week’s head start on us. Given the extra time it took us to travel here, they’ve had more than ample time to discover our whereabouts.”
“Then,” Micah stood up from the table, “you’d best show me where I can sleep.”
* * * * *
Blood ran from his fingertips. He smelled the fear all around him. Stephen rose in front of him, pointing his weapon at the blonde woman next to him. Patrice’s scream froze on her face. Micah flew at them, his own scream breaking the night’s silence.
Micah sat up in his bed, sweat pouring over his body. The sound of his own terror rang in his ears. He was surrounded by the night. Had he screamed out loud? Only the crickets and frogs in their nightly serenade greeted his ears.
Damn, he hated this. He hated losing control. His dreams controlled him and there was nothing he could do to stop them or alter their outcome.
Rising from his bedroll, he walked over to where his sister lay. He expected to find her fast asleep. Grey eyes met grey eyes.
“Are you okay?” Her voice was flat.
“They’ve been getting worse. They haven’t been this bad since the war. In the mountains I would go months without one disturbing my sleep. Now,” he took a ragged breath, “now I haven’t slept in weeks.”
Not since he left Claudia.
He sat down on the floor next to Patrice’s bed, running a hand through his hair. “And why are you awake? Did I wake you?”
“I don’t sleep. My dreams are not visions of things to come. They are simply nightmares of my past. I don’t just wake myself with my screams. I wake everyone for miles. Sleep is not my friend.”
“My God, Patrice. I wish I’d been able to keep you from having to go through what you did.”
“Don’t.” She turned to face the wall. “It’s my pain, not yours. I don’t need—nor do I want—your pity.”
Micah reached out and touched her on the arm. The tense muscles beneath his hand were cold and unyielding. Not knowing how to comfort her, he withdrew. She was right. It was her pain, but it was killing him.
He walked to the door of the cabin. Father Jake and Noah appeared out of the forest. Behind them came a smaller figure, dressed in the denim pants and homespun blue shirt of a wrangler. The low-pulled hat hid the hair and features from view. For a moment,
Micah thought of another time when he couldn’t see the face of someone at night.
Claudia?
Micah stood straighter, hoping against his better sense that it would be her. The light of the moon caught the stranger’s face and Micah realized this was Howard’s half brother, Sung. He pointed up into the trees at something Micah couldn’t quite see.
Micah chided himself. Fool! By now, Claudia hates you. She more than likely is sitting at home, cursing you for the cad that you are, not chasing you halfway across the country.
He stood, indulging himself in memories for a moment. Memories of Claudia’s dark-auburn hair glowing in the firelight, spread out across his chest after they’d made love. The spark of mischief in her golden eyes when he plucked her out of that warehouse. Her quiet thoughtfulness while they made plans or discussed the reasons for this conspiracy.
She was a unique package in a woman. Honest, loyal, intelligent, beautiful and shy. She was all these and more. Passionate and loving beyond anything he’d ever known and damn if he didn’t miss her.
Shoving the memories out of his mind, he stepped onto the porch as the men neared the center of the compound. He had to concentrate on the fight ahead. Further thoughts of Claudia could cost lives.
“Thought you were going to sleep the night away, Turner,” Noah greeted him when he approached the trio. “Sung, this is Patrice’s older brother, Micah. Turner, my brother, Sung Howard.”
“What were you looking at up in the trees?” Micah asked as he shook the small man’s hand in greeting.
“We have several surprises for our visitors when they come.” Sung spoke without the eastern flavor of his grandfather. “See there?” He pointed approximately six feet in the air, directing Micah’s attention to the line of trees in question at the exact level of a rider on horseback. Micah couldn’t see anything unusual.
“I don’t see anything.”
“We have a small supply of flash powder hidden on the trees. They’re connected by a very small wire, which, when tripped by a rider, will spark them in a series. Our guests will believe there are many men here.” Sung explained with great pride.
&
nbsp; “Won’t that set the trees on fire, and pin us all in?” Micah walked closer to the trees, trying to see the tripwire.
“It is a small enough flash to prevent igniting the trees, but large enough to startle our prey.” Sung reached up to show Micah the exact position of the wire and charges. “I have also placed charges in back of the house, so be careful going back there until I have shown you exactly where they are, sir. I would not want anything to happen to the brother of Miss Patrice.”
“You do know one of the men we seek is also the brother of Patrice?” Micah turned to study Howard’s brother.
“Miss Patrice has only two now, sir. Noah explained how the third one destroyed his right to call himself brother. I’ve been with your sister since the day Noah brought her to Lin and my grandfather. She’s traveled a great distance from that time until now.”
“A great distance?” Micah asked.
“Physically, she has traveled from San Francisco to here.” Sung spoke evenly as they walked back to join Noah and Father Jake. “But as my grandfather would say, her spirit still has many miles to travel. The battle yet to come may not bring her to the end of her journey.”
Micah nodded his head in understanding. “I’m here to seek out her revenge, but she will find her own healing, right?”
“That is what my grandfather believes.” A slow, cold smile spread across Sung’s face.
“And what do you believe?” Noah asked, unsmiling at the look of pure pleasure on his brother’s face.
“I believe exacting revenge will feel very good, my brother.” The smile died on his lips and he walked back into the trees.
Micah watched him leave, his body bearing a purposeful, almost angry stride to it. Something about the man’s last statement gnawed at him. It wasn’t just his and Patrice’s revenge the young man talked about. He was planning his own revenge. His gaze turned back to the other two men. They met his eyes with the knowledge that he was right in his assumption.
“Tell me,” Micah commanded quietly.
“Remember, Turner, it isn’t just white slavery and the takeover of our government this group is involved in. The driving force behind all of this is the opium. It’s powerful enough to corrupt major figures in government, and destroy the lives of all who touch it.” Noah looked out in the direction in which his brother left, sighing deeply. “Despite her pain, both past and present, Patrice will survive this ordeal, this I promise you. She is one of the lucky ones. Sung’s wife, Lily, was not so fortunate.”
“He had a wife?” Genuine surprise laced Micah’s question. “He doesn’t look old enough to be in long britches, let alone married.”
“For a long time, my brother followed the spiritual and traditional customs of his grandfather, living a life of peace and spiritual fulfillment,” Noah explained. “In the tradition of his people, he agreed to marry a young woman from China. Lily traveled here without her family and they were married in their teen years, living with our family as they matured. She fell victim of the Tong’s opium trade in San Francisco.
“She became so desperate for the white powder, she traded the only thing she had left of value, herself. Joining your brother’s ship, she sailed from California to the east coast. She gave herself to whoever could provide the powder she needed. The night I managed to get myself shanghaied onto the ship, I found her semi conscious below decks. Before I could get her off the ship, she awoke, recognized me, and threw herself overboard into the Potomac.”
“Damn.” Micah shook his head.
“Between the effects of the drug, her own despair, and the frigid temperatures of the water, she never came up.” Noah’s fist suddenly smashed into the porch rail post, shaking it with his violent anger. “My brother asked me for only one thing in my life, to bring back his wife and I couldn’t do that.”
First Patrice, then Claudia and Adam, and now Noah’s sister in law. Was there no one left untouched by his brother’s cruelty?
Micah walked out to the circle of trees, allowing his anger to exercise itself for a moment. He wanted to keep it healthy, but under control. He’d confront Stephen soon and he’d need his anger then. This time, he’d put an end to his evil brother and the nightmares he caused.
Claudia’s face flashed in his mind. He’d do whatever it took to protect her. Thankfully, she was safe back in Washington.
* * * * *
The fumes of burning coal from the ironworks and meat-packing plants mixed with the mildew and fishy scent of the Ohio River, and the mustiness of the surrounding hills assailed Claudia as she stepped off the train onto the platform at the train station in Cincinnati.
Quickly she covered her nose and mouth with her lace hankie and fought back the bile that surged from her roiling stomach. Having never traveled far from Washington, she never realized how the rocking of the train and the weaving motion as they rode through the Appalachia Mountains into the Ohio valley would cause such continuous motion sickness.
She’d hoped stepping off the train into the Midwest’s Queen City would ease some of that feeling.
Apparently not.
“Are you okay, Claudia?” Robert asked beside her.
She gave him a wan smile. “It would seem I am a very poor traveler.”
“There is a small area inside where you can rest while I check to be sure our crates and luggage are unloaded.” Robert held the door to the station open for her. “Then we’ll find a hotel.”
Their plan was to take a rest from travel before venturing farther west to St. Louis and then on to Denver.
“Adam, Joey, come away from the tracks, please,” she called to the boys who were watching the trains leaving the busy station.
As they hurried over to join them, she placed a hand on Robert’s arm. “Do you think he came?”
“Yes, I do.” He pointed inside the station house.
On the third row of pew-like benches filling the passenger waiting area sat a young man. Sunlight streamed through the windows, shining on his blond hair. He hadn’t grown into Micah’s height or build, but the breadth of his shoulders and the way he watched the people around him reminded her so much of her husband, that her breath caught halfway between her lungs and her throat.
“He came,” she whispered, but the building carried her words and the young man turned his head and stood, grasped his carpetbag and headed toward them.
She watched as he maneuvered his way through the milling crowd, his walk an almost identical cat-like prowl of his father.
“Hank?” she asked when he stopped in front of her.
“Yes, ma’am. You’re Micah’s wife?” Hank said with the same southern drawl as Micah, if not the deep rumble of her husband, a tentative smile teasing his lips. He’d removed his hat and his hair was a shade of blond similar to Julia’s, but Micah had been right, he had his eyes.
“Yes, I am, please call me Claudia. I believe you met my dear friend, Robert Henderson.”
“Pleasure to see you again, sir” Hank shook hands with the older man.
While she’d been closing her house in Washington and preparing for their trip west, she’d sent Robert down to Micah’s former home in Georgia with a missive inviting Hank to travel with them to Colorado and visit Micah on his ranch in the mountains. Robert returned with a tentative reply that the young man would consider the offer.
When they left Washington, she’d sent a telegram letting him know when they were scheduled to stop in Cincinnati, suggesting that if he didn’t wish to travel to Colorado, perhaps he could come there to visit and meet Micah’s family. She’d been so nervous wondering if he’d come or not, and here he was.
“These are my sons, Adam and Joey,” she said, introducing the boys.
“Pleased to meet you,” Hank said, shaking their hands. He nodded at Adam. “You’re the one Mr. Henderson said Stephen shot?”
“Yep. Right in my arm.”
Hank’s face tensed. “I’m not like him, you know.”
“We know. Micah is gonna get
the crum, too.”
“I hope he does. Someone needs to stop him. I’m just sorry I couldn’t before he hurt you.”
Adam nodded, but respect for the young man shone in his eyes as he stepped back.
Eyeing Hank’s carpetbag, Claudia changed the subject. “Will you be going with us to Colorado or just visiting before returning back to Georgia?”
“I thought about it long and hard. I’d like to go out west and see what’s kept Micah out in the mountains for so long, if the offer is still open.”
She smiled. “Of course the offer is still open. We’re going to stay in Cincinnati for a day or two. The boys have been cooped up on trains for several days. I thought we might explore the town before heading to St. Louis.”
She drew him away from the others a moment and looked him straight in the eye. “What’s between you and Micah, the two of you will have to work out yourselves. I want you here, because I need you.”
The young man swallowed a few times, then nodded.
“Good.” She slipped her arm in his elbow. “Why don’t we find a hotel and deposit our things.”
Just as she started to stroll through the station house a hostess came by bearing a tray of coffee. The one smell that had triggered her stomach as they’d rolled along the railways.
“Oh, dear,” she said, stopping in her tracks and covering her mouth.
“Claudia?” Hank looked at her, his eyes full of concern.
She closed her eyes, shaking her head, her other hand pressed firmly against her roiling stomach.
“Quick boys, find a spittoon,” Henderson called to the boys, dropping their overnight bags.
The idea of looking into a tobacco and spittle filled container was all it took.
She promptly threw up all over her stepson’s new boots.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Come and get me, Stephen, you son-of-a-bitch,” Micah murmured as he checked the barrel of his gun once more. All six cylinders were loaded and ready. He slid it back into his belt next to its mate.
Turner's Vision Page 22
