by Linda Broday
He wouldn’t take trouble to Nora.
To hold her in his arms again would erase all the lonely days and nights when his heartbeat had been the only sound to break the silence in his head.
The thought of holding her, sleeping beside her, caring for her, sent heat through his body.
They’d dream of their life together and plan.
If this was real, he’d be as happy as a man could ever expect.
Only life had taught him not to count on tomorrow. Or even the next hour.
Sixteen
The baby finally cried herself to sleep. Nora wrapped the moth-eaten blanket around her and laid her on the hard box bed, then plucked the chicken and put it in a pot to cook.
She felt so grimy. Maybe Willow would sleep for a while and she could wash a bit at the creek. Even getting the dirt off her face and arms would help. She gazed down at her dirty, torn clothes, wishing she had something else to wear. But one look at the dress hanging on the nail and she could tell it was too small. Even though she’d lost a few pounds since the stage wreck, her curves were still far too generous.
Feeling along her hem, she found the book of numbers and names she’d risked her life for and pulled it out. Some instinct told her to hide it in the house—just in case. There were too many people hunting them for the ledger to be safe. She could always come back for it later. Spying a loose board on the floor where the table sat, she lifted it and stuck the book into the cavity, then placed the chair over it. There, that should keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
Before she could head for the creek, Willow woke, again crying. Nora changed her, but she wouldn’t hush or take milk.
“There, there, little one.” She glanced around for something besides the glove and grabbed the thin flour sack she’d used as a dish towel. It wasn’t the cleanest in the world, but maybe it would work. “If only Jack would hurry,” she whispered.
She dipped the cloth in the milk and Willow sucked at the soft cotton fabric. Yes!
Although it was very slow, she at last got enough into the baby to satisfy her hunger temporarily, and she drifted back off to sleep. Nora patted her small back, loving how Willow cuddled against her shoulder. After Willow burped, Nora laid her down and covered her, then hurried around to the creek.
Midafternoon, she glanced anxiously in the direction Jack and Sawyer had taken. They should be back soon—unless trouble had found them. But only the tall grass moved on the distant horizon.
Maybe Willow’s mother had waited anxiously in vain for her husband just like this, never seeing him again.
“Hurry, Jack. Please come home to me.” But no voice answered back.
* * *
The chicken soup had finished cooking and was cooling on the table by the time she heard Jack’s call. She rushed to the door, her heart leaping with joy to see him walking toward her with long, confident strides and Sawyer with his shorter ones. From the looks of it, Jack’s leg wasn’t hurting a lot from the walk either. Praise be.
She hurried to meet them. “What kept you? I was getting worried.”
“We found a dead man,” Sawyer blurted.
Nora slipped an arm around Jack’s waist. He ran the backs of his knuckles lightly across her cheek. “Who was he?”
Jack pulled a lamb’s wool blanket from his shirt. “I’m almost positive he was Willow’s father. It looked like he fell into a steep gully and landed on the rocks. He must have been coming back from the trading post. I guessed that by a few staples lying nearby, along with a woven basket.”
Sawyer took their purchases into the house, as though sensing they needed to be alone.
“The mystery is solved.” Nora inhaled a deep breath. “That poor baby girl in there is an orphan. She’s ours now.”
Jack tenderly brushed a tendril of hair from Nora’s eyes and kissed her. His touch melted her, and her knees trembled. This lean outlaw had the uncanny ability to make her weak with a single crooked grin.
“Woman, I’d do most anything in the world for you.” He studied her, his face somber. “You know that, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Lord knows I wish I could, but I can’t let you believe that we can keep this baby girl. We owe it to Willow to try to find her kin first.”
Tears blurred Nora’s vision. “Jack, don’t you realize how impossible that would be? We don’t even have her mother’s last name to start with. How can we find her relatives without some information? Even if you put up handbills in nearby towns, how would we know they’re who they say? I won’t let Willow go with just anybody.”
“True. But if anyone comes looking for a couple of sheepherders, we have to speak up.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of keeping Willow a secret.”
With a quick nod, he brushed his lips across her temple, and she clung to him, not wanting to let him go. “How is she?” he asked.
“She’s sucking milk from a piece of flour sack, refusing the glove. Did you get a bottle?”
“Yep.” He lowered his voice. “We may have more trouble though. Two men from the trading post tried to force a showdown. They asked if I was Bowdre and made no bones about the fact that they want the reward money.”
“Oh, Jack.” She clutched his hand, her stomach knotting. “Maybe we should leave tonight and try to make Hope’s Crossing ahead of them.”
“This night chill wouldn’t be good for the baby or Sawyer. We’ll leave come daylight.”
“All right. I trust your instincts.” Nora kissed his cheek. “I missed you, Jack. I’m finding it hard to think about anything but you.”
He gave her a wisp of a smile and drew in a ragged breath. “You’ve ruined me, lady.”
The declaration, the man, the feeling that washed over her made Nora’s pulse race. It seemed like there was nothing but the two of them in the entire world. She sucked in a breath, melting into him.
A slow sizzle began at her toes and ran the length of her body like some kind of current.
His gaze settled on her mouth, and the late afternoon grew increasingly warm. His gray eyes twinkling, he kissed her upturned lips, and the familiar heat she’d come to embrace raced along her limbs. This man she’d married beneath the stars made her feel like the luckiest woman on earth, and as treasured as a piece of fine bone china.
The powerful arms securing her were strong and capable and there was no place she’d rather be. He pushed her dress aside where the buttons were missing and caressed her skin. An unexpected stirring made her stomach dip as though she’d been thrown from a horse.
The scent of his sweat mixed with sagebrush and mesquite swam up her nose. The kiss was the kind that made a woman forget her name, where she was from, and where she was going. Her breath mingled with his, and raw need settled deep in her core.
When he released her, she drew back, shivery and breathless, not only thankful for each day she had with her new husband but for all the ones yet to come.
“I’ve waited the entire afternoon to do that.” Jack’s deep, smooth rumble sent warmth washing over her.
“Is it always like this between husbands and wives?”
After a long moment, he troubled himself with a reply. “Yep.”
“Then I’m going to be preoccupied for the rest of my life.” She traced the fullness of his lips with a fingertip. “I love you, Jack Bowdre.”
He opened his mouth to speak when Sawyer appeared in the door. “Are you going to kiss all night? I’m hungry. And Willow’s awake.”
Nora laughed. “I guess we’d better feed you.”
A short time later, they sat down to bowls of chicken soup, and Nora thought it was the best thing she’d ever eaten.
She glanced at Jack, holding baby Willow, then at Sawyer. She wondered how she’d gotten so lucky. Tears clogged the back of her throat.
Ple
ase, let them all get safely to Hope’s Crossing.
And please let her make love to Jack before she died of longing.
* * *
Jack rose before daylight, eased from Nora’s side, and slipped from the house. He couldn’t say what spooked him—a feeling more than anything. He’d known they should’ve left yesterday, but the cold night air wouldn’t have been good for Willow.
He’d rather risk capture than to bury that tiny baby who still didn’t have a firm grip on life.
The darkness was his friend, and he moved silently through the whispering grasses, his eyes scanning right and left. The goats and sheep milled about, restless in their pen. They, too, sensed trouble.
Twice around the area revealed nothing, yet the unease persisted. Jack sat down in the shadow of a stand of mesquite to await the dawn within the hour. A sudden light shone in the window, telling him Nora was up. Minutes later, he caught a wisp of smoke curling from the stovepipe on top of the house and knew she’d put coffee on. He could almost smell it, his yearning for a cup and his wife was so strong.
But Jack didn’t move.
Riders were coming, and he had to protect Nora. If they caught him inside the house, they wouldn’t even give him a chance to surrender. They’d just open fire. And Jack wouldn’t risk her or the children’s lives. They only wanted him. But they wanted him so damn bad they’d do anything, even kill everyone in their path.
At least in the open, he had better choices. And so did Nora and the kids.
* * *
Nora lit a candle, then started the fire in the little stove. She didn’t like what her instincts were telling her, but to ignore them might put her and the children in danger. Not only was Jack gone, but so was the bow and arrow lying next to the door. He’d gone hunting.
But for animals or humans?
She shook the boy. “Sawyer, wake up.”
The instant terror on his face and the way he threw his blanket aside pierced her heart. He immediately expected something bad.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure. Jack went out and hasn’t returned. I have this feeling that we need to get moving. Can you hurry and milk one of the goats while I get the baby ready?”
“Okay.” He stood and folded his blanket. “Did the lawmen get Jack?”
“I don’t think so. I never heard gunshots or anything. I do think that posse is close by though. If we hurry, we might escape.” She put her arm around his shoulder. “Go milk the goat now. We have to take some with us for Willow.” She kissed the top of his unruly hair, loving the smell of the little boy.
In no time, he’d milked the goat and she’d filled a mason jar, plus the baby’s bottle. Buttoning her coat and clutching Willow, snugly wrapped in the lamb’s wool and one of the other blankets, she stepped out with Sawyer as dawn broke.
She jumped back, her heart pounding.
Pink light revealed riders surrounding her, and she stared into at least a half dozen gun barrels.
Nora swallowed hard and drew Sawyer close.
“Raise your hands, ma’am,” barked a steely-eyed older man with white hair, wearing a marshal’s badge.
“I have a baby. Unless you’d rather hold her…”
The lawman frowned. “Just keep ’em where I can see ’em. The boy too.”
Her gaze swept the group. Jack had explained that out here a posse was made up of only one or two lawmen and the rest were ordinary citizens. Most wouldn’t meet her eyes.
Sawyer pressed close to Nora, and she could feel him shaking.
A raw-boned younger man she recognized as Deputy Marshal Seamus Belew dismounted. His mouth set in deep lines, he stalked to her, so close she could smell his rank breath. “Your name?”
“I’ve done nothing wrong.” Nora raised her chin at a defiant angle. “I’m Lenora Kane.” Another rider dismounted, his bearing and manner instantly reminding her of a cold, deadly snake. He stepped from the shadows and her breath lodged in her throat. Her stomach knotted.
Darius Guthrie.
For now, he hung back, but she knew he wouldn’t stay there. She’d have to face him.
Her stomach knotted, and she forced her attention back to the older, white-haired marshal. “Will you let us go? I need to get these children somewhere safe. Please.”
“Over here, Marshal Hays,” someone hollered. “We found a bloody mattress and a trail. Bowdre has killed again.”
“He killed no one.” Panic-stricken, Nora grabbed Hays’s arm. “Please listen, Marshal. We found a dead woman here, this baby’s mother, and buried her. That’s all, I swear to it.”
“You’ll say anything to save his rotten hide,” Belew snarled.
“Sorry, ma’am. I have to go.” Hays glared at Belew. “Deputy, touch this woman and you’ll answer to me. That goes for your friends too.” Hays shot a glance at two rough onlookers dressed in buffalo robes.
Sawyer tugged on her dress and whispered, “I saw those two men at the trading post. They’re mean.”
She could believe it. They looked like uncivilized mountain men.
Hays hollered out orders. “Deputy Belew, keep Guthrie and the two over there with you. The rest of you men fan out. Bowdre is nearby and we’re gonna find him.”
They galloped away, and Nora’s heart sank. She and the children had little hope.
Belew gave his disappearing superior a mocking salute and waited until the men were out of sight, then grabbed Nora’s arm and jerked her up against him. Willow let out a sharp cry. “I want Bowdre. And Darius here wants that book you stole. If you don’t want these children to get hurt, you’d best start talking.”
Sawyer launched himself at Belew, kicking and hitting. “Leave her alone! We ain’t afraid of you!”
The mean, raw-boned deputy stuck his face into hers. “Where’s Bowdre? If he’s in the house, you’d best tell him to come out.”
“Be careful what you wish for,” Nora said softly. “If he were in there, no one would have to ask him to come out. He’d be in your face and shoving his gun down your throat before you could swallow spit. But go ahead and look.” Belew headed for the house, but Nora’s gaze was on Guthrie, hurrying toward her. She wasn’t sure who she felt safer with—Belew or Guthrie.
Or the two rotund onlookers from the trading post.
Truth be told, she wasn’t safe with any of them. All wore the kind of cold expressions Flynn O’Brien had been fond of giving her. The kind that made her blood run cold.
“I want that book you stole!” Guthrie hollered. He didn’t slow as he came closer. A foot away, he drew back his arm and slapped her. The sound rent the air like a rifle shot.
The explosive violence whipped her head back and she tasted blood.
Nora staggered backward, her grip on Willow giving way. She grabbed, catching the infant in time and pulled her close, wrapping the blanket securely around the child.
“You bastard!” She wiped a trickle of blood from her mouth. “You think that makes you a big man, Guthrie, but it just shows how weak you are. I don’t have your damn book.” She was confident about that. Even if he raised the loose board, he wouldn’t spot it directly.
Guthrie slapped her again, only this time she’d steeled herself for the blow and stayed upright. “Give me the damn ledger.”
Deputy Belew ran from the house, apparently drawn by the commotion.
A shot rang out. Blood stained the deputy’s sleeve. He yelled and dropped to the ground.
Guthrie dragged her toward the door of the house, but never made it inside.
Nora heard a soft whirring sound and an arrow flew from the rugged landscape into Darius’s thigh. He screamed and grabbed his bloody leg. “Dammit! Pull it out!”
Satisfaction shot through Nora where she stood with Sawyer against the side of the house. Jack was protecting them the only way he c
ould.
“Damn you!” Belew crouched, holding his arm, his gun drawn, searching for movement in the deep shadows of the early morning light. “Bowdre, come out or I’ll kill her!”
Silence.
“Pull it out,” Guthrie managed, his face blanched, eyes filled with agony. “Get this thing out of my damn leg.”
“Quit your whining. Be a man!” Belew barked, getting to his feet but keeping low.
Nora watched, quiet and still, ready to act if she got an opportunity. If only she were carrying one of the guns Jack had tried to give her. But she did have the knife strapped to her leg.
She inched her hand into the folds of her dress, slowly lifting it, when Belew swung around. “You and the boy get inside. Now!”
Putting an arm around Sawyer and clutching Willow, she did as he ordered. A second later, Belew pulled Guthrie inside by the collar of his shirt and the two men in buffalo robes raced in as well. The small house bulged at the seams with dangerous, angry, smelly men.
The deputy marshal yelled an impatient curse, grabbed one end of the arrow that pierced Guthrie’s thigh, and snapped it off amid horrible screams. Then he pulled out the bloody end and threw it aside. “Satisfied?”
Shaking, Guthrie blew out a breath and tied his bandana around the wound, glaring at Nora. He stood, and rage radiated off him. She took one step back. He snatched Willow from her arms with bloody hands and thrust the baby at Sawyer. Willow wailed, flailing her small arms. Guthrie jerked Nora’s coat open and ran his bloody hands over her breasts and down her body, searching for the ledger.
One of the buffalo men moved closer. “She’s sure a looker, ain’t she, Joe?”
“Yep. She can fill a man’s mind with all sorts of pleasurable thoughts, Toad.” Joe’s mouth slack, he reached for a lock of Nora’s hair with a dirty fingernail.
“Get away from me.” She slapped at him and jerked back.
The rough men jumped when Belew bellowed, “Where is Bowdre? I want him now!”
“What you want and what you get are two different things. He’s far away from the likes of you.” Nora pulled her coat back over her and took Willow from Sawyer.
