Sagebrush Bride

by Tanya Anne Crosby

  Elias threw another right that landed at Cutter’s jaw, the force of it snapping his mouth shut. He shook it off, telling himself that there was no way he was going to allow himself to be goaded into thrashing an old man—especially one who likely felt he had good reason to be doing what he was doing. “Damn y’, you old codger!”

  “Not so old I can’t clean your plow!” Elias returned, wheezing as he hurled another. “That’s for lying to me, you son of a bitch!” Cutter ducked it.

  Swearing, Elias hurled himself at Cutter, grabbing him by the shirt. “Where’s my granddaughter?” He released Cutter’s shirt to take another furious jab at his jaw.

  Cutter caught it this time, struggling with it in midair. “She’s fine!” he shot back, beginning to lose his resolve not to fight back. Damn the old man if he didn’t have a powerful right for such a feeble-looking fellow. “All right, Bass, you’ve had your sport. Now, why don’t ya tell me what’s got y’ so riled?”

  Elias didn’t answer; instead he hurled his left fist. Cutter blocked it, hurling one back, knocking Elias off with one clean blow. Surging to his knees, Cutter rubbed at his jaw, immediately throwing his hands up into the air when Elias came after him again. “You made me do it once, but I’m not gonna trade punches with you, old man, so you can just calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

  Elias gave him an accusatory glare but held himself in check, his chest puffing with fury.

  “Katie’s fine!” Cutter repeated. “Now, what the hell’s the matter with you that you feel you hafta come at me thowin’ punches without explanations?”

  His eyes bloodshot with anger, and his lip bleeding from Cutter’s blow, Elias rubbed at his own jaw. “You’re the one that has explaining to do, McKenzie-damned four-flushin’ deserter!” He began to cough violently.

  Cutter lifted one knee to rise and then froze. A chill went down his spine, and his brows collided violently. “What’d you call me?”

  At this point the crowd was beginning to thicken around them, and there were startled murmurs.

  Elias cleared his throat, his eyes watering. “You’re a lying tail-between-the-legs deserter, is what you are!” he spat, wiping the trickle of blood from his lips with the back of his hand.

  Black rage shot through Cutter at Elias’ accusation, but it was tempered by the knowledge that those words had to have come from someone else. And it was that thought that set his teeth on edge and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. “Who the hell told you I was a deserter?”

  It was the lethal calmness in Cutter’s voice that gave Elias reason to pause. His brows furrowed in confusion over Cutter’s response, and dread trickled down his spine. He met Cutter’s gaze without wavering, wanting to see the truth in Cutter’s eyes. “Lieutenant Sulzberger,” he answered slowly. “He showed us the papers from General Sully and wanted to know where to find you—”

  Elias yowled in surprise, closing his eyes instinctively as Cutter shouted unexpectedly, leaping at him. But Cutter never landed.

  Elias’ eyes flew open and he watched, dumbfounded, as Cutter surged to his feet and bolted away in the direction he’d come. Shouldering his way through the crowd, he left the horses behind, with Shiftless cowering at their feet.

  Elias looked from the whining dog to Cutter’s retreating back, his eyes widening as he perceived the danger. Snatching up his rifle suddenly, he sprinted after Cutter.

  “But I don’ see him!” Katie insisted, her nose pressed against the window.

  “Don’t worry, Katie. Cutter will catch Shiftless. Come away from the window now.” Katie moved away from the window, into Elizabeth’s lap, and Elizabeth snuggled her closer, thinking that there’d be so much to do once they reached Sioux Falls—in spite of the fact that they’d brought so few of Katie’s things: just a few of her dresses, a small doll, and her dog. Just as soon as they arrived, Elizabeth planned to move her own things into her father’s room. Katie could have hers. And then Elias had promised to bring the rest of Katie’s belongings in the fall, when it would be cooler and would be easier to travel. Her brows knit. What would she say to Elias when he came and found Cutter gone? Well, she’d think of something. In the meantime, she only hoped Cutter would be able to catch Shiftless.

  But then her brows furrowed as she considered another matter entirely. How would she manage Katie and continue her practice at the same time? She glanced down at the small child curled so cozily in her lap and resolved that whatever needed to be done, would be done. If it meant bringing Katie along as her father had done with her, then so be it. And if it meant hiring someone to watch Katie when Elizabeth wasn’t able to, then that could be arranged, as well. In the meantime, there didn’t seem to be much sense in worrying over it. As her father used to say, everything was certain to work out as it should.

  “Ma’am?”

  Startled from her musing by the deep voice at her ear, Elizabeth glanced up to find a pair of intense green eyes looking down at her. Aside from his astounding good looks, the man wore military blue and a smile that easily disarmed.

  “Ma’am?” he inquired again, his lips quirking. “You Mrs. McKenzie?”

  Elizabeth hesitated a moment over the falsehood, staring at the man as though she’d momentarily lost her wits. But then she glanced down at Katie, and Katie stared back so expectantly that she turned immediately back to the soldier. “Yes,” she said firmly. “Yes, I am.” She lifted her chin as though to dare him to dispute her. “Is something wrong?”

  The soldier smiled. “Well, no, ma’am… it’s just that… well, your husband asked me to tell you that he needed you to join him outside.”

  Elizabeth’s brows knit in confusion. “But I don’t understand. He told me to wait aboard the train—that he would join me as soon as he… Oh, no, is that it? Has he had trouble securing passage for the horses?”

  The soldier cocked a brow at her, and once again Elizabeth was struck by his remarkably good looks. The only thing that detracted was the fact that his hair was too long over his ears, and a bit unkempt. Other than that, his appearance was impeccable.

  “Dunno, ma’am,” he said. “Your husband just asked me to deliver the message, is all. He did still have the horses. But you can ask him yourself, if you like… I’ll escort you right to him.”

  Something about the way the man looked at her sent a shiver of apprehension down Elizabeth’s spine. His smile, though warm, didn’t seem quite genuine. Tamping down her sense of unease, Elizabeth shook her self out of her daze, irritated with the stifling sense of paranoia she’d recently developed. Why should she suspect the man wished to harm her? Clearly Cutter had asked him to come—otherwise how would he have known they were man and wife? Playing at man and wife, she reminded herself. Besides, he was an officer of the U.S. Army, sworn to protect… and they would be stepping off the train in the broad light of day, besides. What harm could possibly come to them? “Yes, of course,” she said decisively. “Thank you.” She started to rise at once, rousing Katie and lifting her into her arms.

  Katie clung to her. “I hope he didn’t lose Shifless,” she mumbled sleepily.

  Elizabeth patted her back reassuringly. “No, sweetheart, I’m certain Shiftless is just fine.” Praying to God that it was the truth, she edged out into the aisle, and readjusted Katie’s weight on her hip.

  “This way,” the soldier directed, clearing his throat.

  “But I thought the cattle and horses were loaded from the other side,” she said.

  “They are,” he said quickly, “but I don’t think he could get them on. Seems everyone decided to ride the rail on the same day.” He laughed and then stopped her as she shrugged and started in the direction he’d indicated, gripping her by the shoulder. “Maybe you should leave the kid here?” he suggested with a curt motion of his head.

  “Leave her? Here?” Elizabeth glanced at the seat she’d occupied and then gave him an incredulous glare. “I’m afraid not, Mr…. er…

  “Colyer,” the man repli
ed with an engaging grin. “Jack Colyer.”

  “Yes, well… ” Elizabeth gave him another reproachful look, and then turned to make her way down the aisle. “I could never leave Katie to wait alone,” she said with certainty.

  Katie’s head popped upright, her sleepiness shrugged away for the moment. “Yeah! Because I’m only this many,” she was quick to inform him. She held up five fingers, glared at them fretfully, and then shoved one down.

  Colyer shrugged. “Whatever,” he said. Didn’t mean anything by it, kid—just thought you might wanna save the seat for your mother, is all.”

  “She’s my new mommy!” Katie proceeded to tell him. “An’ you know what?… We’re going to my new home now. An’ my uncle, you seeeee, he scared away my dog, but don’ worry, he’s gonna get him back,” she assured him brightly.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  No sooner had Elizabeth stepped off the train when Colyer lifted Katie out of her hands. “Here,” he offered graciously, “let me help. She looks awfully heavy for you.”

  “No—really!” Elizabeth protested, her hands flying out to bring Katie back.

  Colyer gave her a look that sent another shiver of apprehension coursing through her. “I insist,” he told her firmly, and then he bent to whisper into her ear so Katie couldn’t overhear. “Walk or I slit the kid’s throat.”

  Elizabeth came to an abrupt halt, too stunned to believe that she’d heard him correctly. Her chin fell and she started to ask him to repeat himself, but the look in his eyes as she turned kept her from it. She shook her head.

  “Walk,” he instructed, shoving his jacket aside to reveal the leather sheath where his knife was buried.

  Icy fear gripped Elizabeth at the sight of it. The color drained completely from her face. Her heart racing with terror, she considered screaming for help, but Colyer gave her a look that chilled her to the bone, paralyzing her momentarily, and she wondered how she ever could have thought him handsome. The look transformed him completely.

  “Walk,” Colyer snarled, when Elizabeth only stared. “And just in case you’re thinking to scream, just remember that we have your husband trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey ready to be spitted.” He snickered maliciously, letting her know that he knew, without a shadow of doubt, that Cutter was nothing more to her than her lover. He shoved her forward abruptly, and she stumbled over her feet. But she turned and managed to do as she was told, her mind racing frantically.

  “At least let me carry Katie,” she said quickly, her voice wavering slightly.

  Colyer chortled, nudging her forward again. “Think I’m stupid?” he asked viciously. “Get a wiggle on it, dove… before my fingers get itchy.”

  Elizabeth needed no further urging. She walked blindly through the crowd, aware of the fact that Colyer was directly behind her, ready to thrust her forward when she didn’t move quickly enough. Aware, too, that he held Katie’s fate at his will. And Cutter’s?

  What could he want with him? With Katie? She couldn’t fathom. Biting into her lower lip to stifle her cry of panic, she shook her head in denial, for there was no reason she could determine.

  The buildings Elizabeth passed became a blur, the people faceless. Her heart hammered with fear. Unexpectedly Colyer thrust a hand on her shoulder, shoving her abruptly into an alley, where two men waited, one mounted, the other not. Both she recognized at once. But there was no sign of Cutter, and she knew at once that Colyer had lied. The knot tightened in her stomach as she looked frantically about for some means of escape.

  There was none—not while Colyer still held Katie.

  “She’s frightened—please! Let me hold her now!” Elizabeth said anxiously, and tried to take Katie from his arms. “We’ll do as you say,” she swore. “Just let me hold her!”

  Colyer dodged her, boosting Katie up into the arms of the youth Elizabeth remembered only as O’Neill.

  The look on O’Neill’s face mirrored the horror in her heart.

  “Y’ didn’t say you was bringing the kid,” O’Neill objected, his Irish brogue coming out with his agitation. “I won’t be havin’ nothin’ ta do with killin’ a babe!”

  Katie began to whimper in his arms. Elizabeth tried to take her from O’Neill, but Colyer snatched her by the waist and dragged her away, lifting her up onto his own bay. He mounted behind her.

  Magnus nosed his horse closer to O’Neill’s, and the hostile set of his shoulders made Elizabeth’s breath snag. “You got a problem with this, Blue-boy?” he asked, borrowing the epithet Cutter had used for him. “If so… you can just take off right now.” He made a motion with his head for O’Neill to leave, but his hand went to his revolver in a clear warning. “Just turn that yellow tail of yours around and ride.”

  O’Neill’s gaze shifted from Magnus to Colyer to the child in his arms, and then back, narrowing shrewdly on Magnus. “I’m no’ stupid, man. I turn this horse about and you shoot me in the back. Is that how it works?”

  “Well, now,” Magnus said, baring his teeth in some semblance of a smile, his tone taunting. “Why don’t you try and see?”

  O’Neill shook his head slowly. “No’ bloody likely!” And then, as though suddenly realizing his tenuous position, he told them. “I’m with ya now—don’t ya doubt it. I just don’t ken ta killin’ the girl, is all. It’s no’ right! Besides, you said it would just be the woman—you said she didn’t matter because she was a breed-lovin’ whore!” He gave Elizabeth a quick, assessing glance, and then his eyes reverted quickly to Magnus, but Elizabeth noted the fact that he was unconsciously petting Katie’s back, soothing her. In spite of his comforting, Katie’s eyes were wide with fright, and Elizabeth’s heart cried out for her.

  Magnus noticed, as well, and gave O’Neill a narrow-eyed scowl. “Yeah?” He flicked a look to Colyer, then back to O’Neill. “Well, don’t shit yourself over it, kid. Let’s just get the hell out of here before McKenzie finds us. This ain’t the place for what we got in mind.” He turned to wink at Elizabeth, and then motioned for O’Neill to move ahead of him, before he fell back to ride momentarily beside Colyer.

  “Thought you said the boy would go along with anything,” Colyer hissed at Magnus. “Thought you said he had stars in his eyes. All we need is for him to go causing trouble for us now!”

  Magnus gave Colyer a cold-eyed glance that shifted to include Elizabeth. “We’ll take care of it,” he said simply, and then he moved to take the lead.

  Elizabeth stiffened with the import of those words, but Colyer only snickered at her response, nuzzling his nose into the back of her hair. It sent another chill down her spine. “You’ll never get away with this,” she hissed, shrugging away in disgust.

  Colyer lunged forward abruptly, pressing himself against her, flattening Elizabeth against the horse’s mane as he dug his heels into the mare. The saddle horn dug painfully into her stomach, but Elizabeth resisted the urge to cry out in pain, sensing that it was what Colyer wanted.

  “Already have, dove,” he informed her contemptuously. “Already have.” His tongue snaked out suddenly, flicking the back of Elizabeth’s neck through her hair, and she surged forward as far from him as was possible, cringing against the revolting feel of it.

  Colyer chuckled nastily. “Hafta wonder, dove… if you lay as good as you taste.”

  With a sense of foreboding wringing his gut, Cutter vaulted onto the railcar in which Elizabeth and Katie had boarded. In his recklessness, he cleared the steps completely. Racing blindly, he tore open the door and hurried down the aisle, ignoring the stares and curses flung at him for inspecting each and every occupied seat like a man possessed.

  She wasn’t there. Christ, she wasn’t there—she wasn’t anywhere!

  “Elizabeth! Katie?” He grabbed a small child who dashed out into the aisle and into the seat directly across, where a woman was drowsing, her face to the window. Blond was all Cutter saw in that instant. The woman in the seat was blond. And the child was dark-haired, but the little girl he swung about to f
ace him definitely wasn’t Katie, and she started to squeal in fright.

  The blond woman sat up in her seat with a start and began to shriek at him. She lunged forward, her eyes wide with terror, and seized the child from him, clutching her protectively.

  Cutter didn’t linger to soothe her.

  “Did you see that?” the woman shrieked at his back. “He tried to steal my baby!”

  “I think he’s insane!” yelled another.

  Cutter’s brows knit as he deliberated his next move. Christ Almighty, he felt insane! The train jerked forward in that moment, taking the decision from his hands. His gut twisted. Having no choice but to examine each and every railcar, he bolted toward the back of the train at a dead run, ignoring the pain that burned through his left leg.

  After two exhausting hours of riding before Colyer in the saddle, every muscle in Elizabeth’s body screamed from the awkwardness of straining forward.

  From the snatches of conversation she’d overheard, she’d been able to conclude that it was Cutter they were after, and not Katie or herself. They clearly despised him; Jack Colyer, for some injury done to his person. What, she didn’t know, but she was sure she’d find out soon enough. Magnus’ reasons were less a mystery. The simple fact that Cutter inhaled the same air he did seemed to provoke him. Every other word out of his mouth was either “breed” or “half-breed”—or some other less-than-flattering epithet.

  Of the three, O’Neill seemed to be the least embittered. He said nothing as they rode, but the care he gave Katie spoke volumes. In him, Elizabeth sensed their greatest chance for escape. But she didn’t dare meet his gaze for long to confirm it. Nor did she speak to him for fear of drawing attention to his regard for Katie. Because of his solicitousness, Katie’s fear seemed lessened considerably, and Elizabeth was thankful for that. Yet, in spite of it, Katie’s eyes seemed perpetually wide and on the verge of tears, and it tormented Elizabeth that she couldn’t reach out and take her niece into her arms, couldn’t comfort her. Her eyes glazed every time she happened to catch the stoic expression on Katie’s beautiful little face.