The Lone Texan

by Jodi Thomas

  It had been more than a month since the night with her cowboy, and even if she wanted to forget it, she knew she couldn't. She never would. For the proof of it already grew in her belly. The very proper Bonnie Faye Pierce was pregnant.

  She'd thought there was no label worse than old maid. Now she realized there was one: the label of fallen woman.

  CHAPTER 30

  DRUM SPENT TWO WEEKS ROAMING AROUND WITH THE Rangers, trying to find a way into the outlaw hideout. They even attempted to lead their horses up the incline that he'd rolled down, but the slope was too steep. The horses wouldn't climb, and the risk of breaking one of the animals' legs seemed too great. All the men agreed that they wouldn't want to go into the hideout on foot, so they regrouped several miles east and sent out scouts, hoping to find another way in.

  Daniel Torry had Drum draw out a map of the back way in. He claimed if he ever went in again with his old man, he wanted an exit if things turned bad.

  Drum found it strange that the Rangers talked to him now. He wasn't used to being included, and for the most part, he found it bothersome. The only peace he seemed to have was at night after everyone turned in. He'd slip from his bedroll and move far beyond the firelight. In the stillness, he'd take a deep breath and try to remember the exact way Sage's hair smelled or how she'd tasted when he'd kissed her. He'd never missed anyone in his life, but he missed her all the way to his soul. She was a part of him; she had been since the first time he saw her.

  The world had always been dark and dangerous for him. Even staying alive before he grew to be a man seemed sometimes a waste of effort. She didn't just offer light, she made him want to be a better man. He thought of all the things in his life that he'd done because of her, and she wouldn't ever know about most of them.

  Drum smiled in the darkness. He'd even talked Mrs. Dickerson into teaching him to read one winter, and he'd spent a day in a fancy hotel dining room watching people eat so he wouldn't embarrass her if the McMurrays did ever invite him to Sunday dinner. He bought his clothes tailor made and his boots were custom. It seemed like everything he did, he wondered what she'd think about it or if she'd even care.

  He'd wait until almost dawn, then go back to bed.

  One night. Daniel rolled over when he returned. "I figure you must be part wolf or coyote, Roak. You hunt at night while the rest of us sleep."

  "You're drunk." Roak mumbled. "Go back to sleep."

  Daniel didn't argue with the diagnosis. "Not drunk enough." he said as he took another long draw on a flask. "I still remember where I am”

  "Where are you?" Drum asked, just to pester his friend.

  "I'm wandering around trying to get myself killed. That's were I am." He grinned. "It's my absolute favorite thing in the whole world to do”

  Drum laughed. "I don't know which one of us is crazy, you for trying to get yourself killed so you'll die a hero or me for going along with you just so I can spoil your plan”

  "I'll drink to that," Daniel answered. "At least I'm not mooning over a woman."

  "What makes you say that?"

  Daniel snorted. "You're crazy about that little doc. I seen it the first day. But you're going about it all wrong."

  "I am”

  "Sure. If you want a woman to like you, you got to act like you're not interested in her. The minute you turn away, they run toward you."

  Drum knew that would be impossible. "You have experience at this?"

  "Sure. I'm always acting like I don't much like the girls I meet. My problem is they all return the favor and act like they don't like me. If I ever find one willing to come after me, I'll toss the whiskey and run just long enough for her to catch me” He was silent for a while, then he asked, "Did you ever wonder what it'd be like to live with a woman, day after day? Sleeping with her every night through the seasons? Talking to her about important stuff and about nothing at all? Having a woman worry if you ate enough and dust you off like she was proud to be with you?"

  Drum knew without asking that Daniel was like him; he'd never had a woman care about him. "I've wondered,” he said.

  Daniel laughed. "I'm wild as a mustang, but I tell you, if a woman ever roped me, I don't think I'd mind being corralled” He took another drink, and neither of them said anything else. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

  Drum offered Daniel no sympathy the next morning when he had to dunk his head in the stream to clear it enough to ride. Daniel was one of the best Rangers, levelheaded and dependable in a fight, but like half the troop, he medicated his fear with whiskey from time to time. Drum never asked him about his past, but he'd heard the captain tell someone once that he'd lost his mother and sister in a fire over near Victoria when he'd been about four or five. His old man hadn't slept beneath a roof since. By the time Daniel was old enough to join the Rangers, he'd rattled around most of the state with his father selling whiskey on weekdays and preaching on Sundays. For him, being out on the land was the only home he could probably remember.

  Drum offered Daniel a towel when he walked from the stream with his brown hair dripping. "You might want to think about drinking a little less at night” he said.

  Daniel nodded, then moaned. "I think about it every morning. Trouble is, once I start drinking, I stop thinking.”

  Drum laughed as he watched two Rangers riding in hard from the direction of the opening to Skull Alley. One led a horse with the rider bound and blindfolded.

  The lead man pulled ahead and yelled, "Cap, we caught one of Hanover's guards riding out alone.”

  All the men in camp gathered round as the Ranger swung off his horse. "He gave up without too much of a fight”

  Everyone watched the other Ranger pull the prisoner off his horse and remove the blindfold. In a heartbeat Drum recognized the outlaw as the one who'd brought Sage into the saloon and looped the rope, tied around her neck, over a beam so she'd choke if she didn't stand up straight and still for the auction.

  Anger boiled in every part of his body as Roak moved blindly toward his guns hanging over his saddle.

  Daniel slapped a hand against his chest and warned him to stop.

  "You know who he is” Drum hissed.

  "I know, and I want to kill him only slightly less than you do right now."

  Daniel held him back while Drum swore. He knew Daniel was right, but that didn't make standing still any easier.

  "Roak, calm down. Let the captain have his say; then I'll help you string the bastard up."

  Captain Harmon walked past Drum as if he didn't hear his newest Ranger threatening to kill the prisoner slowly and painfully. "I'll have your name” he shouted over Roak's swearing.

  "Luther Waddell." The big man stood up straight, chest out, like a prisoner expecting a bullet any moment and refusing to beg for his life.

  The captain studied him. "Want to tell me what your business is? And don't try to lie. I got two men here who saw you in the count's hideout, and one of them is mighty anxious to kill you” He glanced in Drum's direction. There were two Rangers holding him back now.

  Luther measured Drum. "If I tell you what I'm doing, I want your word that you won't let that fellow decide my fate. I don't much mind dying, but he's promising I'll beg for death before he's through, and I can see in his eyes he's not bluffing.”

  Captain Harmon nodded. "Agreed, but only if you're honest. I can smell a lie”

  Luther turned to Drum and yelled, "I figured she might be your lady that night in the saloon. Ain't never seen a man pay two hundred dollars for a night. Except she didn't look too happy to be climbing the stairs with you. I still thought she'd be safer with you than with most of the other men wanting her."

  Drum stopped swearing and began listening.

  "I know you don't believe it, but I tried to help the little doctor. I locked her in a cell at night so none of the men could get to her. I clubbed the man who bruised her face, just for the hell of it. But you should know she weren't hurt none while she was in camp. I saw to that. The night o
f the auction, if I hadn't tied her up to the rafter, the men would have pawed her and passed her around. I've seen it before.”

  Drum didn't buy a word the outlaw said. "You're a talking dead man," he whispered loud enough that the stranger heard.

  Captain Harmon paced restlessly. "So, if you're one of the count's personal guards, what are you doing outside the hideout?"

  "Hanover trusts me. He's got my wife and son to ensure I come back."

  Drum stilled. Daniel removed his grip as they both listened. Neither of them liked the idea of a child being in the camp. They both knew firsthand what he'd face.

  "The count's got a fever. He thinks he's dying. He's so weak he's messing himself like a baby. He's got it in his head that the only one who can help him is the little doctor. I'm on my way to get her. If you kill me, he'll just send someone else until he gets her back. To him, she's his property.”

  The captain raised an eyebrow. "Why are you telling us this?" The man was writing his own obituary.

  Luther looked directly at Roak. "Your woman asked me to help her escape, and I didn't. I was worried about my family first, and second, I didn't think he'd mistreat her. I figured the worst he'd do was keep her in camp as the doctor, but I underestimated his hatred of women. She'd be dead today if you hadn't come for her, and my wife's not safe, even if I do what he tells me”

  "But you were heading to find Sage and drag her back," Drum shouted.

  "No." Luther shook his head. "I was going to warn her to get as far away as she could. Then I planned to go back and tell the count I couldn't find her. If I'm lucky, he'll be dead or feeling better and deciding he doesn't need the doctor. At worst, he'd still be crazy with pain and have me killed.” He looked straight at Drum. "I don't care anymore. The only reason I've gone on as long as I have is for my wife and boy, but my boy is sickly, and my wife cries all the time.”

  Drum almost felt sorry for the man. Almost.

  Captain Harmon motioned for them to untie Luther, then he offered him a cup of coffee. The man would have been a fool to reach for a gun; a dozen bullets would hit him before he could clear leather.

  "Do you know of a way into the hideout besides the slow ride through Skull Alley?"

  Luther held the cup with both hands. "No. If I did, I'd bring my family out. That narrow canyon keeps everyone in line. I've seen a few men try to run it on horseback. They started at night and made it past the first checkpoint, but by daylight the second guard picked them off as easy as shooting fish in a bucket. One man who tried to make it traveling only on foot got lost and ended up coming right back to camp, where Hanover had him hanged."

  He looked up at Drum. "I'd given up any hope till you got out. You got the doctor out too, and neither of you crossed through Skull Alley." He took a drink of coffee. "I know, 'cause I sat up there for three days waiting to shoot anything that moved in that canyon.”

  Captain Harmon drew his attention back. "How'd you know the doc was back in Galveston?"

  "We got a man there who sends word on anything he thinks the count might like to know. He sent a note that he'd keep her occupied until we got there

  "How'd he know who Sage was?"

  Luther shrugged. "He was at the robbery when Charlie and his men took her. He says he's an almost relative, whatever the hell that is”

  The captain kept questioning Luther, but Drum had listened to enough. Bonnie had told him there was only one man who was in the room with Sage when the robbery happened: Shelley Lander.

  When the captain took a break from questioning, Drum moved beside him. "Cap, I know who the spy in Galveston is”

  "So do I, a scum of a gambler named Lander." He put his hand on Drum's shoulder. "I also know what you're thinking. Someone needs to warn Sage. When he sent the note, he must have not known that she'd be leaving with her brother. But if she told Shelley where she was headed, this count is just crazy enough to go after her."

  "I'm on my way," Drum said.

  Captain Harmon nodded, then added, "Take Daniel Torry with you. A hard ride with a hangover will do him good”

  Drum motioned to Daniel. "Saddle up. I'll explain on the way."

  Daniel looked confused. "What about killing Luther? I don't want to miss out on that”

  As much as he'd like to stay around and beat Luther to death. Drum knew he had to get to Sage before Shelley had time to send word of where she had gone. He'd find out they'd left for Austin, and from there someone would have probably noticed what direction they took. Drum doubted Travis would speak to Shelley, even if he rode all the way to Austin. Travis wasn't friendly with his relatives on most days, much less someone else's, but there were those who knew where the wagons were heading, and Shelley might luck out and talk to one of them.

  Captain Harmon waved them off. "We'll try to hold him long enough so he'll be waiting when you get back. If I have any luck, he'll be in the cell next to Lander.”

  Like two wild kids dismissed from school, Roak and Daniel took off at a full gallop.

  CHAPTER 31

  A NOVEMBER ICE STORM. WHICH HAD MELTED INTO miles of mud, slowed Drum's progress.

  He'd talked Daniel into riding north of Galveston in hopes of saving a few days, but they were almost three weeks behind Sage. The shortcut helped little.

  Drum missed her in Austin by two weeks, as he figured he would. Travis talked them into staying one night. He wanted details about Luther. Drum could see it in his eyes; Travis was making his own list. He might wear a suit and look to all the world like a respected lawyer, but part of him was wild and always would be. Drum wouldn't be surprised if Travis McMurray went after the man. He was probably thinking the same thing Drum was. One lone man could get in and out of the camp, leaving no sign behind, only one dead count.

  After everyone went to bed. Drum walked the streets of the capital city. He couldn't sleep without knowing Sage was safe, so he tried to picture asking her to live here with him. Austin was exciting, but he couldn't see either of them being happy to ride their horses around a park. The stores were fun to look into, and there were more places to eat than he could name. He'd never thought about where they'd live or what he'd do to make a living: he'd just wanted to be with her.

  When Drum turned Satan toward Elmo's Trading Post the next morning, he was on familiar ground. He'd made the trip many times and knew where all the best roads were and where to stop for the night. Daniel stayed up with him at every turn. He even stopped drinking, claiming it was a waste of time to try to swallow at the speed they rode.

  The winds blew from the north, and mud slowed them more than rain. Both had good mounts, but Drum knew not to push them too hard. Satan was a McMurray horse, one of the finest in the state. If he rode Satan to ground getting to Sage, she'd never forgive him. The woman was almost born on a horse and probably loved them far more than she'd ever care about any man.

  When they stopped to rest the horses, Daniel slept and Roak paced.

  One afternoon. Daniel leaned up from his nap and said, "What's bothering you? You know Sage is safe. They couldn't have gotten to her yet. Even if the count sent another man after Luther, he couldn't be traveling faster than we are. Something else is festering like a burr under your saddle!'

  Drum squatted down beside Daniel. "It's that boy of Luther Waddell's. I can't stop thinking about him there in the camp."

  Daniel sat up. "I didn't see any kids while I was there. My guess is the women who have them keep them out of harm's way. As many years as the hideout has been there, you know a few kids are there somewhere. I saw clothes on the lines near the little houses along the pasture line. Maybe that's where the wives stay. There wouldn't be many. The kind of man who lives that life picks his mates by the hour."

  Drum agreed, then added, "Do you think if I showed Luther the back way, he could go in and get them all out before the firing starts?"

  "There's a chance he'd turn on you and warn Hanover we were coming. Or, just as likely, one of the wives would tell her man and blow th
e plan.”

  Drum nodded. "Maybe, but I don't think so. He looked real sad when he talked about his family. Surely he'd know who to trust."

  Daniel stood. "We could ask the captain when we get back. I'm kind of hoping the count dies of the fever before then, but in camps like that, there is always someone else to take the big snake's place."

  "Time to ride.”

  Daniel stepped into the saddle. "I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  They crossed through open country and reached Elmo's Trading Post by mid-afternoon the next day.

  Daniel pulled his horse. "Holy smokes, Roak, I thought we'd be riding into a little cluster of buildings around a trading post, not a town”

  Roak stared. "I don't know what happened. The place looks like it's doubled." There was a regular main street with stores and a church next to the bank. A block away was a dance hall and a couple of saloons as well as homes lined up in rows.

  They walked their horses down the dirt street, noticing construction happening all around them.

  "Folks are moving to Texas faster than sugar ants move into a molasses pantry.” Daniel pointed at a café. "You think we could stop for some food? I've been eating your cooking for so long, my teeth are thinking about falling out in protest."

  Drum shook his head. "Between you and Sage I'm starting to question my skills as a cook."

  "What skills?" Daniel grumbled.

  He made no move to turn in at the café. "Come on. I want to see Sage before we eat. Then I'll buy you the biggest steak we can find.”

  Daniel took a deep draw on the air as they passed a bakery. "I figured that. How about we take her some hot rolls? Women like it if you bring them something.”

  "Rolls?"

  Daniel grinned. "Works better than flowers, I'm told. It would on me anyway.”

  Roak pointed to an old building with a crooked porch wrapped around it. "I'll check with Elmo, the old trading post owner. He'll know if Sage is staying in town. I'll meet you back here in five minutes. You get the rolls.”