Dawes’s eyes were half-closed. With a dull moan, his hands fumbled with her skirts and then slid under the hem.
His fingers found the inside of her calf and inched upward. Her breathing stopped. A wild rushing filled in her ears, shades of red and white flashed against her eyes as she held his head against her chest with one hand while the other tightened. Her arm swung high, the blade pointed at his back.
Suddenly, Dawes jerked forward, his hands thrust outward and to the side, his eyes white and wild. Then he bolted forward, falling against her.
Gabe stifled her screams, one hand pressed hard against her mouth, as she hurled herself backwards, shoving him off her. He dropped to the ground, a knife protruding from his back.
McLowry stood before her, his face gray, his body swaying and faint. Despite her own shock and dizziness, she lunged at him, grabbing him so he wouldn't fall.
McLowry crushed her against him as he spun her away from the blood-splattered sight at her feet. She couldn’t speak, her head reeling with loathing and horror at what she'd braced herself to do, and at the death so swiftly delivered.
Then she let go of him, ran back to Dawes’s body, and picked up his guns and cartridge belt. Weakly, McLowry nodded.
They crept to the corral. As McLowry sat, doing his best not to pass out again, Gabe saddled two horses, tossed nearby saddlebags on them, then quietly opened the corral gates to free the other horses. The moon was only half full, but in the way of the desert, the cloudless sky was bright with stars.
Gabe helped McLowry mount, then they quietly walked the saddled horses along the hillside path. The tunnel opening was just ahead when they heard Cramer bellowing about the horses being set free.
Above Cramer and Lomax’s voices, Melissa called out. They saw her running toward them, waving her arms. "Jess. Wait for me! Don’t leave me here! Please, Jess!"
Gabe urged her horse into a canter, but McLowry stopped.
"Jess, ignore her!" Gabe cried.
He faced the camp, listening to Melissa’s cries.
"No, Jess!" Gabe cried. "We’ve got to hurry!"
"Damned whore!" Cramer shouted, his rifle aimed point blank at her back. The rifle blast reverberated through the canyon. All was quiet for a moment, then they heard another shot, and Cramer fell.
Gabe peered down at the camp. Lomax stood behind Cramer’s body. He tossed aside his gun and ran to Melissa. Kneeling, he pulled her body into his arms, his head bowed.
McLowry’s eyes met Gabe’s, then he followed her into the shelter of the black tunnel.
An eternity seemed to pass before she saw distant starlight. She urged her horse faster, knowing that safety and freedom could only be found far from this boxed canyon. They stopped at the far entrance to the tunnel. They wanted to descend the mountain there, but it was craggy and pocked with cliffs. It would be necessary to follow the trail. Gabe remembered, though, that three of Cramer’s men had gone to rob a neighbor of meat, and hadn’t yet returned. And sometime, soon, Will Tanner was supposed to arrive.
Anyone approaching would be coming up that mountain trail. They couldn’t chance meeting any of those desperados, not with McLowry hurt so badly. And when Tanner and his men found the carnage at the camp, they’d surely come after them. She knew they couldn’t confront or outrun Tanner or the others. They had only one chance--to outsmart him.
Chapter 18
Gabe led McLowry up the mountain.
The scarred, rugged bulk bore no trail that they could find. As the massive red walls, crisscrossed with ledges, crevices and pinnacles, grew higher and wilder, Gabe dismounted and pulled, pushed or smacked the horses' rumps to force them up the steep slope, with only the moon and night stars to guide her.
It was all McLowry could do to stay in the saddle. Gabe could see the little strength he had failing rapidly. Avoiding the sandstone walls with their unstable, crumbling crags, they began traveling crossways on the mountain instead of going any higher. To hide, they had to make their way deep into the range with its myriad canyons and valleys.
The moon had descended and darkness was all around when they stopped at a shallow indentation on the hillside. McLowry took one look at the flat area and all the strength he'd called upon to escape Cramer evaporated. He leaned forward, hugging the horse’s neck, knowing only that he couldn’t allow himself to fall or it would be all over.
Dizziness, fatigue and the wracking pain of his back drained him. His gaze found Gabe pulling the reins, stopping only to catch her breath. He didn’t know where she found the strength, especially after all she’d faced that day. As he watched her, he was filled with admiration, with pride, and with more feelings than a gunfighter had the right to when looking at a fine, honorable woman. She’d endured in the face of Cramer and his men. To rescue him, she was prepared to take on a man with her bare hands. His heart had nearly stopped when he saw her there with Dawes, and saw her fingers close around the knife.
As her hand soothingly patted her horse's neck she glanced at McLowry. Their eyes held, wordlessly expressing all they felt. She shouldn't be doing this alone, he thought. He had to find strength...had to help...but instead his eyelids closed. The last thing he remembered was the strong but gentle touch of her hands as she helped him from the saddle.
o0o
Pale morning light peeked through the sharp crevices of the mountain. Gabe gave a start when she opened her eyes and got her first look at the heavy, precariously balanced rock they'd slept under. The enormous boulder looked as if a strong wind could have sent it tumbling down on top of them. Despite reminding herself that these pinnacles sat piled that way for centuries, she hurried to get moving again. She didn’t remember stopping here, only remembered being so mind-numbingly exhausted she could no longer pull the horses into the darkness. She must have helped McLowry from the saddle. He lay face down, sound asleep.
Her stomach rumbled with hunger. She made a quick search of the saddlebags for food. On the desert, where edible plants were scarce, a man would be a fool not to have food stashed in his saddlebag and a filled canteen of water with him at all times. Cramer's men might be uncouth outlaws, but they weren't fools when it came to survival. Sure enough, there was a small amount of jerky, dried beans, and ancient looking dried biscuits in each bag.
When she turned to face McLowry, two biscuits in her hand, she saw he had awakened.
"We have to return to Dry Springs," she said, handing him one. "Doc Shannon needs to treat your back." If it didn't get proper treatment soon, she feared infection would develop.
"It’s too dangerous," he said, his voice raspy. "That’s the first spot Tanner will go to look for us. We’ve got to get over these mountains."
They traveled throughout the day and the next night, stopping only to eat and sleep briefly. The flush on McLowry's cheeks, and the weariness that he struggled against, worried Gabe constantly. They had to find a town, a doctor, but as they traveled through the mountain range, she didn't know which way to turn to lead McLowry to safety.
On the afternoon of the third day, they found a deer trail that also showed signs of coyote and mountain lions. Abruptly, the trail dropped away into a small canyon with a stone floor and curved, sheltering walls. At the back of the canyon a thin waterfall trickled through a crevice in the cliff. The water had sculpted a deep, rocky pool with a single, stunted cottonwood on one side of it.
Rocky, gravel-filled and barren though the little canyon was, it had water...beautiful, fresh, running water. The air smelled fresher and cleaner, and the soft splash of water into the pond was music. Gabe felt as if she'd ridden into a corner of paradise.
They headed straight for the pool. Immediately the horses bent their long necks to drink. Gabe helped McLowry from the saddle, then he, too, lay down by the pool. Gabe ran water over her face and neck, and McLowry did the same. Even with the cooling water, though, he couldn't stop the fiery heat of his brow. He'd never been sick for long before--a few days, and he'd be fine. This time, though,
he couldn't shake the fatigue and pain. He swore he'd kill or be killed before he'd ever again let a man do to him what Cramer had done.
Gabe didn't take her eyes from him, sick with worry over his pale complexion and the bluish-gray skin beneath his eyes. "Let's camp here," she suggested.
"There's still a good three or four hours of daylight."
She couldn't let him grow more tired. "It's so pretty here. Please, Jess?"
He sat on the ground, his strength gone. The yellow canyon walls towered above him. This little spot felt sheltered and secluded, and the nearness of the water eased his spirit. "You win."
"Good!" From her saddlebag, Gabe lifted the fruit they'd gathered from a patch of prickly pear cactus that morning.
In moments she’d sliced through the fruit’s outer skin to the soft, seed-filled orange pulp inside. It wasn’t quite ripe yet, but it was food, and chewable, and moist...and not old, dried beef jerky.
As soon as they finished eating, Gabe said, "I'll be right back." She climbed toward the entrance to the canyon.
"Hold on. Where are you going?" McLowry called.
"I want to find something. It won't take me long," She soon disappeared over the crest of the canyon wall.
McLowry pulled off his boots and dipped his feet into the water. He half expected it hear them sizzle like a hot frying pan dropped in a washbasin. The water continued to beckon. He retrieved the small piece of soap that he'd found in a saddlebag and stripped, except for Gabe's petticoat-bandage, which had stuck to the suppurating gashes on his back. In the pond, much of his fatigue washed away along with the dust and grime of Cramer's camp. He dipped his head and washed his hair, then sank down, sitting on the bottom of the shallow pond much as if it were a bathtub. Water reached his neck, covering his back, letting the bandage slowly fall away, and cooling and easing the fiery pain.
He was out of the rocky pool, his trousers back on, when he heard Gabe crashing back through the brush and gravel. He looked up to see her running and leaping down the path toward him.
"I found it!" she cried, holding a strange looking plant in her hands.
"Found what?"
She ran to his side. "It’s the root of a young mescal plant. My pa once said he’d heard Indians use these plants for all kinds of things, including juice from the roots to help heal flesh wounds." She showed him the thick root. Placing a blanket on the ground, she had McLowry lie down on it. With his knife, she sliced the root in half, then wet more of her petticoat cloth and rubbed it hard against the root, trying to get as much of the liquid on it as possible. She placed the cloth on his back.
He shuddered, then relaxed. "It stings a bit--I guess that means it’s doing some good," he murmured.
"I hope so." She bent forward and lightly kissed his back, near the torn flesh, careful not to hurt him. Then she kissed another spot, and another, and another.
"That feels even better, Gabe."
She grew still after a while, kneeling there beside him. His breathing deepened and his eyelids flickered shut.
She stood.
"Are you going to bathe?" he asked.
"I thought you were asleep."
"And miss this?" He gave her one of those lop-sided smiles she hadn’t seen in such a long time.
Heat rushed to her cheeks at his unexpected remark. "I don’t want you to pay the slightest bit of attention to me in that water!"
"Who, me?" His voice was filled with mock innocence.
She never dreamed how much some simple little joking could lift her spirits. She sat at his side. "A couple days rest here, with this medicine--"
"No."
She looked at the high walls surrounding them, then brought her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. "It feels so safe here."
He sat up as well, his legs crossed in front of him. "That's the problem. If anyone else stumbled across it, they'd look for us here right away."
Her head bowed, her lips pursed in a firm line much like a child fighting not to show tears or disappointment.
He glanced upward again. Could they chance resting here an entire day? Two nights in one place? If Tanner's men were nearby, they'd be captured again, if not dead, by sundown. But they were exhausted, in body as well as spirit and the thought of leaving was hard. Too hard. It was like a dice game and he was rolling. He could only hope lady luck was on his side at least one more day.
"We'll make camp here tonight," he said. "Then see how we feel in the morning."
She smiled, and a stab of desire slashed across his gut. He’d thought he was in too much pain for such feelings. He lifted his eyes to the canyon top. "Go take your bath, Gabe. Sundown comes early with these rock walls blocking out the light."
McLowry sat on the ground with his back to her, his imagination running overtime at the splashing sounds she made. In vivid detail he remembered the sight of her after she was pushed into that water trough in Tombstone. And there she wore a heavy shirt...now she wore only some flimsy little cotton things.
The swishing sound coming from the pond told him she was walking out of the water. As a boy he remembered looking at an art book his father owned, with a picture called the "Birth of Venus." God, the things he'd learned about women's bodies in the name of art.
"Are you decent yet?" he asked after a while.
"I've got my dress back on."
He grinned, then turned, but his smile disappeared quickly and his senses reeled. Without the camisole, waist cinch, pantaloons and petticoats, the dress clung softly against her damp body, outlining its soft and feminine curves, light swells and dark crevices. Desire coiled through him.
His eyes followed the sway of her hips as she walked over to lift her undergarments from the rock and spread them over some branches of the cottonwood to dry. As she lifted her arms, the dress billowed, but when she lowered them again, it clung once more to her breasts, legs and belly. He dropped his gaze, cursing himself for wanting her.
"I can wash your clothes, too," she said.
Suddenly, she stood in front of him. He glanced up, unable to mask the longing in his eyes.
The heat from his gaze roared through her like a firestorm. She dropped to her knees and touched his cheek. The sharp intake of his breath made her heart hammer.
He grabbed her wrist, needing to stop her. He couldn't let her touch him, not now, not while he was so captivated by her, and much too vulnerable to protect her, even from himself. His eyes consumed every detail of her face, the beautiful, saucy, gamin face he...cared about...more than his own life.
Trust, love, and anticipation were written in her eyes. He couldn't fight them. The already harsh grip on her wrist tightened. A tremble rippled through her at his touch. He rose to his knees, too, still holding her wrist. She swayed nearer and slowly, his head lowered, his lips lightly brushed hers once, then again and again, before he pulled her hard against him and crushed her mouth to his.
Trembling, her hands lifted to his face. "Jess," she cried, her voice ragged.
He knew he should stop this, but her kisses pulled him like the earth did a shooting star. His blood pounded and the feverish heat of his brow intensified. She was refreshment, her lips cool sweetness. Everything he could ever want...ever hope for. Like a dying man his mouth captured hers once more. The kiss arced between them, shuddering in its intensity.
He needed her now, more than he'd ever needed anyone or anything in his life. His hands trailed along her spine to her hips, molding her against him as his tongue thrust between her lips, dancing with hers, caressing the inside of her mouth.
Somehow, he found himself lying beside her on the blanket, her cool hands stroking his brow, his world reeling. Where she touched, he felt cool and free of pain.
But even as he looked at her, the earth seemed to shift uneasily beneath them. He felt the fire that consumed him, from Gabe, from illness. "Rest now. You’re so weary, Jess," she whispered. "You’ve got to rest."
Exhaustion overtook him, and his eyes shut
even as his body cried out his feelings for this girl...this woman.
Chapter 19
The next morning McLowry felt strong enough to ride again. Much as they had both loved the tiny canyon they’d found, it could just as easily become a sepulcher if Tanner found them there. They rode deeper into the mountain range, traveling through a narrow, barren wash. Watermarks on the rocks over their heads told them the power of a flash flood through this peaceful spot. They followed the wash for a while, but by noon, they turned north and began an ascent once more.
Purple hued peaks loomed high above them, and they trudged onward. As the afternoon approached, the day grew hotter, and once again, Gabe saw the unnatural fatigue wear on McLowry, the pale color leave his skin to be replaced by a gray pallor. Anxiously, she watched his every move, and looked for his slightest change of expression.
Late that afternoon, McLowry found a treeless ledge that jutted out over the valley offering an expansive view of the entire area through which they’d ridden.
"Let’s stop here," he said. "We’ll be able to see if we’re being followed. We’ll know who’s there and the direction they’re traveling in."
Gabe dismounted and tied her horse beside McLowry’s in a tree and shrub-filled area far back from the ledge where they wouldn’t be seen. The slowness of his movements as he dismounted, the way he lowered himself to sit on the ground, told Gabe he was in terrible pain.
She helped him removed his shirt so she could put a clean cloth on his back. The angry welts were inflamed now. An infection had developed. Her heart sank, and she tried to hide how scared she was for him. Somehow, she had to get him to a doctor quickly. But even Dry Springs, which they could circle around and perhaps reach in three or four days, seemed much too far.
Jess was forced to rest before having the strength to crouch low and make his way to the ledge overlooking the small mountain valley. Gabe followed. At the ledge, they dropped to the ground, lying flat.
Only a lone buzzard circling in the distance broke the complete stillness.
Dance With A Gunfighter Page 18
