Still, seeing was better than not.
Every once in a while O’Neill would ride out of her field of vision, and Katie’s face would become nothing more than a shadowed blur. It was in those endless moments that Elizabeth’s heart cried out the most, for she wanted so desperately to know that Katie was holding up. Her ears strained to hear even the slightest whimper, but there never was any, and Elizabeth had to conclude finally that Katie had been right.
She never cried.
They didn’t stop until late afternoon, and then only to water the horses. Without explanation, Magnus shoved Elizabeth down onto a fallen log to wait. After a moment, a fitfully sleeping Katie was thrust into her arms.
Watching her abductors with a knot in her throat, Elizabeth sat, rocking Katie and feeling her anger mount with every blasphemy Magnus heaped upon Cutter’s head. But she said nothing, only listened, and tried desperately to keep her fragile control. For Katie’s sake, she suppressed her anger under the appearance of indifference. But had she been alone, she might have clawed Magnus’ eyes out for the insults he hurled at Cutter in his absence. How bold of him to insult a man who wasn’t even present to defend himself! The more she heard, the more difficult it became to keep silent in the face of his bigotry.
When Magnus insulted Cutter yet again, saying that he was no man, that he was an animal fit only to be skinned and worn like the buffalo his kind hunted, Elizabeth couldn’t keep herself from speaking up any longer—in spite of her resolve not to draw undue attention to themselves for Katie’s sake. She flashed Magnus a look of disdain and, as instructed, handed Katie back up into O’Neill’s arms before turning to face him again. Her legs wavered slightly.
“I don’t recall you being so vulgar and insulting to Cutter’s face,” she taunted in a low voice, taut with anger. “Perhaps you aren’t so much a man yourself, Mr. Sulzberger?”
Magnus only smiled, his eyes slitting cannily, and then he turned to address Colyer with a belligerent grin. The look they exchanged infuriated her. “She’ll ride with me now,” he said with relish, and then he turned back to leer at her.
Colyer sniggered. “ ‘Bout time you showed some emotion, dove. I was beginnin’ to worry I’d nabbed the wrong woman.”
Her gaze snapped back to Magnus as he spat a wad at her feet, but Elizabeth stood her ground, ignoring his crudeness.
Magnus nodded in agreement. “Ain’t seen no sign of that bastard trailing us either,” he added. “For a while I was thinking that worthless half-breed might not even care enough to come after her.” Excitement flared in his eyes as he turned to face her. He grinned. “Anyhow, you just set my mind at ease, darlin’. He’ll come. And when he does… I’m gonna take real pleasure in showing you, while he watches, just how much a man I can be. Now,” he barked, “you just get that pretty little butt of yours up into my saddle.”
His grin widened, his gaze roving up the length of her, lingering at her fully concealed breast, yet making Elizabeth feel stripped before him. She shuddered at his look.
“We’re gonna do some powerful riding, you and I,” Magnus vowed.
A frisson of panic rippled down Elizabeth’s spine and the color drained from her face as she recalled Cutter’s passionate plea—Ride me, Lizbeth, ride—the rawness of his voice. She closed her eyes momentarily, wishing to God that she’d had no notion what that word meant between men and women, but she did, and by the look on Magnus’ florid, self-satisfied face, he knew she understood, as well.
Cold fingers swept over her as he sniggered, and she swallowed convulsively, shuddering inwardly, her stomach turning with revulsion at the merest thought of his touching her. Averting her eyes, she glanced over her shoulder at Katie. She was still sleeping—thank God! She couldn’t bear for Katie to hear.
“Well, whattaya know, ‘pears that savage trained you real good.” His eyes shot her with cold contempt as he gripped her by the upper arm, forcing her into motion. She gave a startled little cry, her throat closing up with fear. “Now,” he mocked her, “why don’t you just mount up so we can see what kind of moves you learned for us.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
“Bastards want us trailing ‘em,” Cutter hissed through his teeth. Barely tempering his fury, he swiped at the beads of sweat that dotted his forehead, his mouth set grimly.
Riding silently beside Cutter, Elias glanced up from the rifle he was examining. “How do you know?” he asked, scanning the area ahead before returning his scrutiny to Cutter.
Cutter’s s gaze was fixed on the horizon, his jaw taut with a rage that had been growing since the moment he’d discovered Elizabeth and Katie missing. He’d checked every last railcar and then had hurled himself off the train and run like hell back into Fulton City to find Elias waiting on him, already set to ride.
Elias had already stabled Cocoa in the nearest livery, and for a few extra dimes, the man in charge had leashed Shiftless to a post outside, promising to feed the mutt until they returned. In the meantime, Cutter had picked up Magnus’ trail with a little preliminary backtracking, and they’d been following close on his heels ever since. As of yet, Sulzberger didn’t seem to realize it.
“Because we should be tracking a blind trail,” Cutter replied finally, “and we’re not.” He turned to consider Elias, worry deepening the shadows in his eyes. He wasn’t certain the old man was up to the trouble they were courtin’—he looked almost as bad as Cutter felt—but there was no choice. Because Sulzberger was a dirty player, Cutter knew he would need all the help he could get.
Aside from that, he wasn’t feeling quite right—wasn’t exactly sure what it was that was wrong, but knew it had everything to do with his foot. The last man he’d known to snag an infection had had his leg carved off, and he sure as hell wasn’t willing to live like that, so it had been easier to let it go, tell himself it would pass.
But it wasn’t going to.
The fact that his eyes were burning a hole in his face told him as much. Still, he couldn’t risk the time it would take to see to it now. Besides, he’d never known a sawbones to be anything other’n saw-happy, and he fancied himself rather attached to his leg—didn’t particularly care to part with it.
“Sulzberger’s ridden alongside me enough to know how to trash a trail if he wanted. He’s not even trying.” He pointed out the wet tracks in the soil as they passed them. “He started out at a dead run, but since late afternoon he’s been moving at a snail’s pace. Now that we’re out in the bush, with no witnesses for what he’s planning, he’s no longer in a hurry.”
He glanced again at Elias, then heavenward, to scrutinize the skyline, recalling with a twist of his gut the way Magnus had ogled Elizabeth. He vowed to himself in that moment that the misbegotten bastard would pay with his life if he so much as lifted a finger to Elizabeth’s body—or, for that matter, Katie’s. He wouldn’t put anything past the man.
“Aside from that,” he added, “they seem to go out of their way to dip their heels into water—tracks stay wet for a long time afterward… more easily identified that way.” He hauled on the reins abruptly, something catching his gaze in the distance.
In the next instant, he’d unsheathed his Spencer carbine and was holding it before him in his lap, inspecting it to be sure it was loaded. When Cutter had completed his inspection, he looked up again, studying the sky in the distance. “Unless I miss my guess,” he said, “that’s them ahead.” Lifting the barrel of his carbine, he pointed out a column of smoke that coiled upward like a wicked serpent into the graying sky.
Elias shook his head. “Don’t make sense,” he muttered in puzzlement. “Why would they chance a fire? Seems if they’re gonna shanghai someone, they’d make real sure not to get caught.”
Cutter gave him a swift glance, his black eyes gleaming savagely. “Makes all the sense in the world,” he countered. “They didn’t count on you riding with me, Elias. There are three of ‘em, aren’t there? Should have been only one of us. Namely, me.” His mouth set in a g
rim line. “Reckon they figure even I’m no match against three—not alone… and not in an ambush.”
“Think they know we’re here?”
Cutter shook his head. “Not yet… too busy gloating, I suspect. Don’t think they expected us to sniff them out so easily. Judging by the signs they’ve left for us to follow, they think they’re baiting an idiot.” He inclined his head toward a small grove of trees that grew to the right of them—a procession of them that marched halfway up the hillock from where the smoke unfurled behind. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to climb, would ya?”
Elias nodded, though his expression turned baffled.
“Good. ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t aim to give those sons a bitches what they’re after tonight.” A chill black silence surrounded them in that moment, and then he added, “Not till I know what it is.”
“Now, McKenzie, hold on.” Elias shook his head adamantly, coughing discreetly into his hand. “You can’t mean to leave Katie and Elizabeth in their camp all night—ain’t no telling what they could do to ‘em!”
Cutter gave Elias a look of lethal assurance, beginning to wonder if he should make Elias turn back. The old man had taken great care to keep his fatigue to himself, but it was becoming apparent he wasn’t up to snuff. Helluva pair they made. “That’s what they’re counting on us thinking,” he answered finally. “But like I said… I don’t aim to oblige.” He pointed his carbine casually at the hillock in question. “If that were me on the other side, I’d have set up camp so that I could see everything coming over for miles, knowing they wouldn’t be able to spot me until they’ve cleared the hill. Way I see it, you can be damned certain they’ll have their barrels trained on us the moment we charge over.” He pointed the carbine in turn to the thicket of trees at their right. “Instead, we’ll ride up through those, climb the bastards, and then spend the night watching every move they make.” He gave Elias a cold, calculating look. “Maybe they’ll make a mistake, maybe they won’t—but I don’t aim to risk either Elizabeth or Katie by getting my eyebrows blown off.”
Cutter’s glance returned to the hillock, but his expression was unreadable, as though he were searching beyond it. “No, we’ll play our own game,” he said abruptly. “And if they lay a hand on either of ‘em… I’ll make each and every damned one of them regret they ever took their first breaths.”
Sensing Cutter meant every word in the most violent way, Elias shuddered at the grim promise he saw in Cutter’s black expression. In spite of the deep, revealing shadows under Cutter’s eyes, and the sweat that rolled from his temples, marking his fatigue, Elias could sense the iron will and determination in him.
As well as the danger.
As he’d decided when he’d first laid eyes upon Cutter McKenzie, half-breed or not, he was one man Elias wanted on his side, not otherwise. He gave a conciliatory nod, not that he felt he’d had much choice in the decision. The tone of Cutter’s voice didn’t invite question. “All right, McKenzie… reckon you know best.” Once again, he took in the flush of Cutter’s face, a flush that had persisted despite the fact that the sun had long since begun to set and the air had long cooled, and he worried. “You all right?” he asked guardedly, watching Cutter’s expression. Something wasn’t right about the man. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the man was ailing. But Cutter hadn’t said a single word to indicate it was so.
Tipping his head, Cutter swiped die back of the arm that held his carbine against his forehead, soaking up the sweat with his sleeve. “Fine,” he replied brusquely, shrugging off the question. He grimaced at the pain that shot through his foot as he removed it from the stirrup to hang free. “You sure you’re up to this, old man?”
“Much as you are,” Elias countered. “That is my granddaughter out there,” he reminded Cutter.
Cutter nodded, knowing they were at an impasse. “All right,” he said, “let’s just get our butts into that thicket before someone spots us.”
Katie clung to Elizabeth’s neck, shrieking as Magnus tried to pry them apart. The carnal look in his eyes panicked her, but she didn’t intend to be a willing victim. Vowing to make his violation of her person the most difficult conquest he’d ever attempted, Elizabeth twisted her arm out of his grip. And he wasn’t going to touch her in front of Katie! That, she swore. “Let go of me, you swine!”
He smiled maliciously. “See you found your tongue finally, huh?”
“Haven’t you any conscience at all?” Elizabeth spat, ignoring his taunt. “No heart? You’re frightening her!”
Magnus merely laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself, bitch. I don’t aim to touch a hair on that head of yours. Pretty as it is… turns my gut.’’ He made a motion with his chin, grinning through his beard. “Now, Colyer over there might feel differently. Fact is, he might even like to even the score a bit.”
Elizabeth followed his gaze to where Colyer stood, his back against a tree. She couldn’t see his face at all, just his obscure silhouette. Still, there was an aura about him that sent a quiver of apprehension down her spine.
Tamping down her hysteria, she turned again to Magnus, her tone as calm as she could manage, for Katie’s sake. “If it’s his battle, then let him fight it for himself. Please… let us go… ”
She gave Colyer a scathing glance, then, feeling herself failing in that tactic, she turned to plead with O’Neill, who was standing faithfully at Magnus’ side. “How can you bear to hurt an innocent child? How can you involve us? Have mercy!” She tried to capture his eyes, to communicate with him, but he steadfastly avoided her. “Coward!” she spat. Feeling defeated, she turned again to Magnus, her voice breaking yet full of contempt. “And what do you have to gain in all this?” she spat. “Surely something.”
“Dead men don’t carry tales,” he said cryptically, slanting a glance toward O’Neill. O’Neill flinched visibly.
“My God, what cowards you are—all of you! Are you so afraid to face Cutter McKenzie alone that you would have to use a child for your shield?”
Lunging forward, his face red with fury, Magnus gripped her again by the arm and shoved her down to the ground. Hard. “Bitch! Shut the hell up before you earn yourself and that noisy kid an early grave!”
Clutching a screaming Katie before her with one hand, Elizabeth tried to break their fall to the ground with the other. Her lips trembled as they formed the beginning of the question that had haunted her all day. So many times she’d stifled it, afraid to ask it with Katie in earshot. “Just tell me… w-what do you plan to do with us?”
Magnus arched a brow at her. “Well, now, why don’t we just wait and see,” he taunted.
Elizabeth shook her head slowly, swallowing the lump that rose in her throat. Her eyes pricked with tears, but she lifted her chin bravely. She had absolute faith Cutter would come for them, but she loathed the man for using Katie as his decoy. “You’re nothing but a coward, Mr. Sulzberger.”
“I said shut up, ya breed-lovin’ bitch! O’Neill, tie her hands and feet! Behind her back. Now!”
Katie’s shrieks intensified at his command, and she clutched wildly at Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s heart twisted painfully.
“And you,” Magnus barked, pointing a finger at Elizabeth, “get that sniveling brat to shut the hell up!”
From his perch in the treetop, Cutter could see almost everything. He kept his carbine trained on Colyer, knowing that until he determined Magnus’ motive, Colyer, of the three, had the biggest ax to grind.
It had taken every ounce of his will not to squeeze down on the trigger when Magnus had shoved Elizabeth to the ground. Gutless bastard that he was. He liked using that muscle of his with women and babies. Cutter shook his head suddenly, the image of Sulzberger sweeping down on a small group of Cheyenne children, running his bayonet through the smallest of the band, coming back to his mind with sickening clarity.
The barrel swiveled suddenly to Magnus.
Sweat streamed from Cutter’s templ
es and down the sides of his face as he fought the command of his soul to squeeze. The aftermath of Sand Creek was so vivid in that moment that he tasted the metallic tang of his own blood as he battled his way through the images.
Women. Children. Mutilated. Magnus and his boys coming across a small child, not much older than Katie, buried in the sand. They pulled out their pistols and shot her, then dragged her out and shot her again, leaving her for dead. Christ, he’d never wanted to kill more than he had in that instant… as he did now.
The only thing keeping him from it was the knowledge that once he pulled the trigger, there would be hell to pay. Wasn’t a breed on American soil who could spill full-white blood and not end up in the skookum-house. If they were lucky they might get an unlawful trial before the string-up. If not—hell! He hadn’t lived as long as he had by being careless!
His gaze shifted abruptly from his target to Elias Bass, who was perched in a branch slightly above him. If there was business to settle, then the last thing he needed was witnesses. He’d known good men, half-breed men, who were hired by John Law to do their dirty work, and then the minute the deed was done, Johnny washed his hands.
Only this time, it didn’t appear as though he was going to have much choice. Again the barrel shifted… to Colyer, his vision blurring. Squeezing his eyes shut against the pain in his foot, Cutter blinked hard, turning his head to regard Elias, who was staring a hole through him. Damn, what was wrong with him?
“McKenzie? You all right?”
“Fine,” Cutter snarled, his gaze shifting abruptly back to Colyer. Muttering an oath, he watched in silence as all three men picked up their gear and walked away, leaving Elizabeth and Katie alone.
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