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The Lone Texan

Page 15

by Jodi Thomas


  He rested his chin on the top of Sage's head and closed his eyes. She was in his arms; that was enough for now.

  Drum slept.

  CHAPTER 24

  BONNIE MADE SURE THE BOYS WERE ASLEEP BEFORE she went back to the parlor to talk to Sage's brother-in-law, Shelley Lander. He'd insisted on coming to see her as soon as his doctor had said he could move from his bed.

  She looked at him now, grateful that he hadn't come to her to be doctored. It was hard enough seeing the man. The last thing she wanted to do was touch him. In the days she'd been back, she'd learned that he'd let the robbers take Sage, and that fact alone made her hate him.

  Bullet lay on the settee. Shelley tried to shoo the cat off without touching her. "I hate cats” he said. "Can't you do something about this animal?"

  Bonnie picked the cat up and took a seat on one of the chairs. She didn't try to make small talk. She wasn't sure she could. After a full minute of silence, she lifted her new glasses and picked up her sewing. Shelley Lander could stay if he liked, but he'd not waste any more of her time.

  Finally, he found something to say. "What kind of name is Bullet, anyway? The cat's fat, slow, and looks blind in one eye."

  Bonnie petted her cat. "She's the color of a bullet."

  Shelley brushed one of the cushions off and took his place on the settee, ignoring her explanation. "I've come to see if there is anything I can do” he began as if he'd been waiting for the curtain to rise so he could start his act. "We need to face the fact that there is a possibility that Sage might not be coming back, and as her nearest, if not next of kin, I may need to make some arrangements."

  Bonnie had already faced that. She'd sent a telegraph to Sage's brother in Austin. She'd also dipped into Sage's money belt, kept locked away in the hotel safe, for enough money to continue to pay the bill at the hotel and buy her and the boys' meals. With each withdrawal, she'd replaced the bill with a detailed note accounting her expenditures.

  "Sage will be back," Bonnie said without doubt showing in her tone. "As long as Drummond Roak is hunting for her, it's only a matter of time." She stood and moved to the door, but he didn't get up. "Good night, Mr. Lander. It's late and not proper for you to be in this room any longer."

  "I'm not leaving until I know where my dear brother's wife's valuables are…"

  Bonnie opened the door, and a young Ranger stepped inside. He didn't look a day over eighteen, but he seemed to know his job. She didn't have to say a word; he'd probably been listening through the thin door.

  "Mr. Lander." He smiled politely, but his hand rested on the butt of his gun. "I thought I'd help you down the stairs. A man with the use of only one arm could easily fall and break his neck."

  Shelley looked like he'd been threatened, but he didn't say anything. He gathered his cane and hat. "I'll be back," he said as he stood.

  The Ranger continued to smile. "We'll be waiting to help you up and down when you return”

  Shelley glared at the man. "I don't understand the Rangers' interest in my brother's wife. There must be far more important things to guard than a nurse and two wild children”

  "No, sir” the young man said without explaining. He turned to Bonnie. "You let me know if you need anything, Miss Pierce. I'll be right down at the foot of the stairs or on the landing if someone comes up”

  "Thank you. I'm glad to know I'm safe” She glanced at Shelley. "I don't expect any more visitors.”

  He nodded once in understanding.

  She heard Shelley huff from the hallway in indignation.

  Bonnie closed the door. She'd noticed a Ranger in the lobby every time she'd gone downstairs. The man usually only tipped his hat and fell into step behind her and the boys. This was the first time she'd seen one outside her door, but then, this was the first time anyone had climbed the stairs to their rooms.

  Ruffling Bullet's hair, she whispered, "He doesn't like cats. That's as good a reason as any to keep you around”

  When she checked on the boys, Bullet jumped up and took his place on Andy's bed.

  Crossing the hallway, Bonnie washed her face and pulled on her long cotton gown. In the mirror, she studied her reflection. She was plain. Not homely, not ugly, but plain. Turning away, she remembered the way her cowboy had looked at her. To him, she'd been beautiful. She knew his name had been Bradford, but she simply thought of him as her cowboy.

  Each night she lay awake as long as she could and tried to remember every detail of what had happened. Then she'd read her Bible and confess the sin she'd committed. She didn't ask for forgiveness. She didn't want it.

  In the mornings as she dressed, she'd try to list all the ways they were different. He hadn't had a book in his cabin, not even a Bible. Guns hung on the walls, not pictures. His life was outdoors, working the land, living in a place still wild. His brother was an outlaw, and maybe he was too. But at night, she remembered the way they were the same. They both wanted one taste of love, and they wanted it so badly they'd give away any future happiness for the one night.

  Sometime during the third day after he'd dropped her at the Ranger station, Bonnie made up her mind. If Sage didn't make it back, she'd ask one of Sage's brothers to help her find employment at a hospital in Austin. If there was no work available, she'd go back to Boston where she belonged. She'd even talk to the captain about letting the boys go back with her. Both boys had told her that they wanted to stay with her. Will even said she could have all the money from the sale of their land if she'd let them stay with her until they were old enough to join the Rangers.

  Bonnie wasn't sure what she'd do if Sage didn't return. Maybe she'd stay. Maybe she'd go home.

  It didn't matter where she was; her memories would be with her. Her life had been forever changed.

  CHAPTER 25

  SAGE TRIED TO IGNORE DRUM AND KEEP SLEEPING but when he said they had to get back to Will and little Andy, everything, including the danger they were in, registered.

  "Where are the boys?" she asked as she sat up and pushed back loose strands of hair. She'd spent the last week so worried about herself, she hadn't thought of the boys. She assumed Bonnie would look after them.

  "They're safe with the Rangers.”

  "Bonnie? Isn't she with them?" It seemed like a lifetime ago that she'd called for the nurse's help in Shelley's office, and Bonnie hadn't answered. Drum hesitated too long. She knew something was wrong. "What has happened to Bonnie?"

  He didn't try to sugarcoat the news. "She's missing.” He hurried to add, "She wasn't among the body count, but someone said he thought he saw a man dragging her out of Shelley's place and dropping off the dock into the shallow water below."

  "Did anyone go after her?"

  "There were no tracks to follow. We don't even know who could have taken her. Six men rowed in. Six men and you rowed away. Whoever took Bonnie wasn't one of them, so maybe he was saving her. She's probably fine back at the hotel by now and wondering where you are."

  Sage collected her things. "I hope so. She's not like me. She was raised in a city by parents who never allowed her to do anything. She puts on a good act, but this whole country frightens her.”

  "Maybe she ran off with a fellow. Maybe some man looked at her and saw six feet of love at first sight."

  "No, not Bonnie. Even if someone did fancy her, she'd never go along. She'll never marry. She believes her mission as a nurse is as great a calling as a nun's to the church.”

  Drum handed Sage the reins to her bay. "Well, if she jumped off that dock with a man, you might want to reconsider your measure of her.”

  "No. Trust me, Bonnie would die of fright before she'd ever let a man touch her hand.”

  He offered Sage a step up into the saddle, then brushed her leg as he made sure her boot was solid in the stirrup. "How about you? You ever going to let another man touch you?"

  "No," she answered. "And do me a favor; don't ask me again."

  They didn't speak for an hour. She followed close behind him as he picke
d a path through the rocks, heading northeast. Since Skull Alley was to the south, she guessed most of the men chasing them would be searching in that direction. The few who came north, if any did, had the rain to slow them down. There was also a good chance none of them knew about the passage. Only a boy climbing around on rocks would have found it.

  Drum pulled up and climbed off his mount. When he reached her, he whispered, "We'll have to walk for a while. The ground slopes off in a long slide from here on. If we make it down, we're home free, but it's too dangerous to risk riding”

  She understood. A horse tumbling with a rider could very easily crush the rider in a fall.

  They led the mounts. The slope was steep, but the rain had softened the earth. Sage dug her heels in with each step, knowing that if she tumbled, it would be more than a hundred feet before she stopped.

  The moon seemed to follow them down the incline. She kept her distance from Drum. If she fell, she didn't want to take him with her. Halfway down, they both froze at the sound of a coyote howling in the distance. The black, sleeping earth spread for miles before her. She felt so alone and couldn't help wondering if the coyote felt the same. She'd never been afraid of the dark, but being alone was another matter. Her vision of hell wasn't fire and brimstone but isolation.

  Drum started down once more, leading Satan. As they neared the bottom, shadows crossed one another over uneven ground, making it impossible to see the solid footing clearly. The coyote howled again, causing both horses to grow uneasy and jerk against the reins.

  Drum fought to control Satan with his one good arm while holding the injured one against his side. About the time he gained control of the huge beast, Drum's foot slid on a loose rock, and he tumbled. Satan pulled free and whirled, almost hitting Sage.

  She grabbed the flying reins and spoke to the horse in a language she'd learned as a child, calming nonsense words that settled Satan. With both horses in tow, she carefully continued down.

  "Drum?" She moved into the blackness of a ravine. "Drum, where are you?"

  Satan pulled at his reins, determined to move to the left. When Sage followed, she found Drummond. Dried brush had stopped his roll a few feet from a shallow creek bed. She tied the horses to the brush and felt along his body, trying to see if he'd broken any bones.

  Warm blood dripped from a cut on his forehead, and he moaned when she touched the bandaged wound on his arm. Other than that, he seemed alive and intact.

  "Come on, Drum," she whispered. "Get up”

  He didn't cooperate.

  "Come on." She pulled on him. "We made it out of the canyons. We're almost to safety. Come on! We can't be here come dawn, or they'll be able to pick us off.”

  He moaned and tried to stand.

  Sage slid her arm around him and walked him to Satan. He was heavier than she thought he'd be. The horse was well trained and didn't shy as she helped Drum up.

  "Can you stay in the saddle?"

  He nodded.

  "Then we ride”

  Sage headed north, having no idea where she was going. The land leveled out, and Drum managed to stay in the saddle, but he leaned forward as if fighting to stay conscious. She pushed as hard as she dared in the darkness, and by first light they were into a wooded area. Sage turned southeast and began following a stream, hoping it would lead her toward Galveston.

  Drum hadn't said a word. When it was light enough to see his face, she wasn't surprised to find the head wound still bleeding. He'd nodded that he was fine every time she'd offered to look at the wound. Now, from his eyes, she could tell that he'd lied. Even before the fall he must have been in trouble. He hadn't allowed her to doctor him. Getting her away was far more important.

  She found a cove well covered on three sides. The one side that faced the water was open, but unless someone rode in the stream, they wouldn't spot them camped. The morning was cool and the sky busy with clouds so low they almost touched the treetops.

  Sage built a fire and took care of the horses. When she returned to the water's edge, she found that Drum had stripped to the waist and waded into the stream. He was using his shirt to wash away blood from both his face and arm.

  Smiling, Sage kicked off her boots and walked into the cool water until she stood in front of him. "You remind me of a wounded bear."

  He looked at her. She saw the fever in his gray eyes once more.

  "Drum. let me help” He looked like he might push her away, but she moved closer. "We need to get you out of here and to the fire as soon as possible. You're in no shape to be standing in a stream." She tugged the wet shirt and bar of lye soap from his hand and began washing the infected wound.

  He didn't argue or make a sound, but she knew the lye would burn against the wound.

  She cleaned away the blood and then pulled him out of the water. By then he was shaking from fever and cold. After helping him strip off his remaining clothes, she insisted he lie on one open bedroll by the fire, and she covered him with the only blanket.

  Near panic, she rushed to do everything that needed to be done. Without her bag of medicines, Sage drew on what she'd learned from her grandfather years ago. The Apache knew natural treatments, if only she could remember them.

  She bound the cut on his forehead with a strip of cloth from her shirttail. Then she packed the infected bullet wound with a mixture of dried willow leaves and the soft interlining of elm bark. She found another shirt in his bags and helped him put it on, then she hung the rest of their clothes over branches to dry. Her underwear dried quickly on her body as she moved close to the fire.

  She couldn't tell if he was sleeping or had passed out, but she made a soup from the last of his supply of jerky and wild turnip roots she found growing near the water. He had coffee and beans in his saddlebags as well, but she'd save them for later. The horse she felt sure Daniel Torry had stolen for her had nothing of use in the saddlebags. One broken gun, a pile of old clothes, and several cheap knives. The clothes were too dirty to use for bandages.

  She finally decided to use the rags as a pillow for Drum. By nightfall she'd eaten half the soup and had even gotten him to eat a few bites. His fever still raged.

  Sage built the fire as big as she dared and then curled beside him. He was so warm she had no need for the blanket but kept it wrapped tightly around him. She'd been so busy she hadn't had time to think about the men chasing them, but in the stillness, she worried. If they did find them, she needed to be prepared for that as well.

  She moved the guns within easy reach and listened. The lone coyote reminded them that he was still trailing them. Logic told her he wouldn't go near the fire, and coyotes never attacked humans.

  Sometime in the night Drum's fever broke, and he slept soundly. She was furious that he hadn't told her the wound on his arm wasn't healing. When he came to his senses, she planned to give him a piece of her mind. He was impossible to understand. He'd risked his life to save her, then he'd made her mad by telling her he wanted to bed her. The coyote probably had better courting skills than the man beside her. If her brothers knew half the things he said to her, they'd probably shoot him.

  Sage smiled. She was flattered and insulted at the same time. Maybe Drum was right for her. They were both crazy. In the morning, if he was better, she'd explain one more time why she wasn't interested in him.

  When she awoke with a start, her first thought was that he'd died. She moved her hands over his cool body until she spread her fingers over his heart and felt the steady beat.

  "I'm all right?" he whispered, turning to face her.

  She rose to an elbow and looked into his wonderful clear gray eyes. "You gave me quite a fright.”

  "Sorry.” He ran his fingers through his hair. "Yesterday was a fog. I remember falling and then riding. I remember you taking my clothes off.” He lifted the blanket off his chest. "That last part I wish I could remember more clearly.”

  Sage smiled. "I think you'll live. How about some breakfast? We've got beans and coffee."


  An hour later, they'd eaten and she'd checked his wounds before allowing him to dress. Drum wasn't shy about his body; he had no reason to be. She told herself she was a doctor and had seen hundreds of bodies, but she still caught herself admiring him. Drummond Roak was a sight to see as he walked out of the water, his nude body sparkling in the morning sun. She knew she shouldn't, but she took her time looking.

  He dried off and pulled his pants on before she stepped close enough to wrap the wound on his arm. It looked much better but would still require watching.

  "That cut in your hairline has stopped bleeding.”

  "I'm fine.” He pushed her hand away.

  "You were almost dead yesterday. You'll be weak today." He nodded. "All right, we take it slow. Stop bossing me around."

  She tied off the dressing around his arm, knowing that he was angry. He didn't like being hurt or bossed. Her first urge was to yell at him, but she decided to take another route. "Can we start over, Drum?"

  He frowned at her.

  She didn't meet his gaze. "I feel like I've been fighting with you since birth. Can we just start over and be friends from here on out? If we work together, we'll have a better chance of staying alive and making Galveston.”

  He was silent for so long she wasn't sure he would answer. Finally, he said, "I don't want to be your friend, Sage. I want to be a great deal more than that, but if friendship is all you're offering, I'll take it for now.”

  She nodded. "It's all I'm offering. Despite how I hate you and you drive me crazy sometimes, you're one of the few people in this world I trust. When I was kidnapped. I knew you'd come after me.”

  "Then trust me now, Sage. I'll get you home safely. I promise."

  When she stepped closer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Friends?" she whispered.

  "Friends," he said, kissing the top of her head.

  They mounted and headed back toward Galveston, staying in the tree line so no one could spot them easily. After five hours of riding, they stopped long enough to rest the horses and let them graze on the small clumps of grass still green beneath tree branches.

 

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