by Maggie James
Skelly’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“She’s acting funny. Won’t eat. Won’t talk. She just lays there and sleeps all the time. Says she doesn’t feel good.”
“You just have her up here in the morning, and I’ll decide whether to take her back to town with me and let the doc look at her.”
Careful not to let his excitement show, Curt suggested, “Maybe you’d like to take a look at her now.”
Skelly snickered. “You really do take me for a fool, don’t you? You ain’t gettin’ me back there in the dark where you can get the jump on me. I got sense enough to know that’s just what you’re thinking. You just haul her up here in the morning.”
“Sure.” Curt nodded. “But she might be bad off by then.”
“Well, I’d rather chance that than you jumpin’ me.” Skelly got on his horse and tied the empty bucket to his saddle. “And just to be on the safe side, I’ll bring Wilbur with me. You try anything, and he’ll blow you to hell.”
He rode away, swallowed by the first shadows of night. Curt stared after him, not in the least worried about Wilbur.
He was just as stupid as Skelly.
And, heart soaring, Curt dared to hope there might be a way out, after all.
Tess hummed to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair. She wished for a brush, soap, perfume…everything she had packed in her trunk. But, despite the absence of things she now considered luxuries, she was not miserable. How could she be, when for the first time in her life she felt like a woman, desired, cherished.
Her lips were still warm from Curt’s kisses, her body still tingling from the glory of longing fulfilled.
He made her feel this way, and for however long they had together, she intended to savor each and every second, determined not to think of the time when it would end.
Hearing him approach, she brought her gaze up, met his eyes, and was surprised to see a grin on his face wider and brighter than ever before. “Why are you so happy? Did Skelly bring something decent to eat for a change?”
She was sitting cross-legged on the blanket in front of the fire and, dropping beside her after setting the tin pans aside, he gave her a big hug before exulting, “More than that, sweetheart. He gave me the answer to how we’re going to get out of here.”
She pulled back from his embrace to stare at him. “How—”
“It’s simple. So simple I didn’t come up with it before, because I didn’t stop to think he would fall for the oldest trick in the world.” He recounted his conversation with Skelly and the plan for her to pretend to be sick so he could lure Skelly inside.
Tess was still skeptical. It sounded too easy. “But what about the man he’s bringing with him—Wilbur? I’ve seen him a few times when he brought the food instead of Skelly, and he’s awfully big, Curt.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Leave that to me. All you’ve got to do is pretend to be unconscious, and I’ll take care of them both.
“Then,” he continued, “we’re getting your money from the assay office and we’ll find a place to hole up for a few days. There are plenty of abandoned mines around here. Caves, too.
“Maybe…” He drew away from her to absently scratch his beard as he mulled the situation. “Maybe we could head for Fort Verde. There’s a new fort there, built just last year. Some men went there from Prescott to start a farming settlement in the Verde Valley, figuring the mining camps around the new capital would pay well for fresh food. They dug an irrigation system, and the Army built the fort to try and protect them from the Indians. There’s bound to be an old shaft, much like this one, carved into some of the mountains there.”
Suddenly Tess gasped, “The map!”
“What are you talking about?”
“The map to Saul Beckwith’s shack,” she rushed to explain. “Lulie gave it to me at the same time she gave me the mule and buckboard. She said I should hide out there after I got the money. Saul had given it to her when he was sweet on her and wanted her to visit him. I had it pinned in my clothes, but when I washed them, I took it out and stuck it behind a rock. We can stay there.”
He was skeptical. “Let’s see the map first.”
She gave it to him and, after examining it by firelight, he said, “I can find it easy. He probably had food stashed there, too. We should be safe, because when Lulie hears you escaped with me and that we robbed the office, it won’t occur to her we’d hole up. She’d figure I’d know my way and would ride hard to put distance between me and a posse. She won’t say anything.”
“She’d never remember the way without the map, anyway, so she couldn’t give directions to anybody else,” said Tess.
He gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s eat and then get some sleep. We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
He looked at the cold, curdled food and made a face. “No matter what food we find Saul had stored, it’s bound to be better than this garbage.”
They ate what they could, knowing they needed their strength, then snuggled down on the blanket, arms about each other tightly.
But then desire ignited once more, and passion was more demanding than their craving for real food. They satiated themselves with their bodies till they could consume no more.
Afterward, Curt slept, but Tess lay awake for a long time staring into the softly glowing embers of the fire as she dared, for the first time, to truly contemplate freedom.
Curt had said they would claim her money, they would hide out.
The two of them.
Together.
But for how long?
She had given him her body.
And she knew, beyond doubt, her heart was also his for the taking.
Yet it remained to be seen whether he would want either her body or her heart once they were no longer forced to be together.
She moved against him, and he smiled in his sleep and drew her closer.
He had to want her with him always, she prayed, for she knew beyond doubt that she could never, ever feel the same about another man.
She wanted Curt Hammond.
For all time.
Only she was afraid to tell him so.
Afraid that, for his part, what they had shared had merely been a way to compensate for the misery and frustration of their plight.
But Lord, she prayed, don’t let it be that way. Let it have meant something to him…as it has to me.
Chapter Nine
The next morning, Curt was glad to see the steady downpour of rain, explaining to Tess, “Wilbur won’t like waiting in it. He’ll come inside, and I can get the jump on him instead of having to shoot our way out using Skelly for a shield.”
Tess shivered at the thought of a gunfight.
Curt’s arm was around her, and he gave her a reassuring squeeze. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Are you sure?” She sure as heck wasn’t.
“Trust me.”
She wanted to…desperately.
He turned her to face him. “I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to live to be an old man, I had to be good with a gun. It will be all right. I promise.” Pointing to a spot near the wall, he said, “Now I want you to lay down on the ground over there. Keep your face turned from the gate and don’t move. Play like you’re dead.”
She did as he said and prayed she would not do something stupid, like sneeze. Then thinking about it made her nose itch, and she did sneeze.
Curt was quick to warn, “You can’t do that.”
“I couldn’t help it. I was thinking how I hoped I wouldn’t, and I did.”
“Then don’t think about it. Press your face against the ground.”
“I won’t be able to breathe.”
“That’s the whole idea.”
His tone was light. She knew he was teasing to try to make her relax, but she felt like sticking her tongue out at him all the same. She was about to raise her head and do just that when he said, “Get ready. I hear them
coming.”
She heard it, too—the sound of horses approaching. A few moments later, Skelly yelled to Curt, “Goddamn this rain. You better tell me that woman don’t need seein’ to, Hammond. I ain’t wantin’ to hang around in this weather and catch my death of cold.”
“He’s got Wilbur with him,” Curt whispered before shouting to Skelly, “Can’t say as I blame you, but she’s worse than she was last night. I think she might be dying.”
“Dying?” Skelly was no longer concerned with the rain and slid off his horse and rushed to the gate. “Let me see. Where is she?”
Curt pointed. “I dragged her up here this morning. She hasn’t moved. She might be dead by now. I don’t know.”
“And Worley’ll have my ass if she is. I shoulda taken her in last night, but I thought you was lyin’. Still do,” he added suspiciously, then called to Wilbur as he fumbled in his pocket for the key to the lock. “We’ve gotta get her back to town. Cover me.”
“Cover you, hell,” Wilbur shouted back, already scrambling off his horse. “I ain’t stayin’ out here and drown, damn you. I’m goin’ inside till you’re ready to leave.”
The lock popped open. Skelly looked at Curt. “You make one wrong move and he’ll blow you away. Now, you keep your distance while I see if she’s fakin’, and if she ain’t, you’re gonna help me throw her on the back of my horse.” To Wilbur he said, “Keep your gun on him, and if he tries anything, blast him.”
Tess willed herself not to move as she heard Skelly coming toward her.
“She hasn’t eaten enough in the last few days to keep a bird alive,” Curt was saying. “Probably starved.”
Tess knew he was waiting for just the right moment to make his move.
“Maybe if we had some decent grub once in a while…”
“Shut up,” Skelly yelled so loud Tess almost jumped. He was right over her.
Wilbur stepped into the shaft with gun drawn, but made the mistake of taking his eyes off Curt for a second as he removed his hat to shake away the dripping water.
It was all the time Curt needed. Jerking the gun away, he swung it across Wilbur’s face.
Tess heard a painful grunt and the sound of bone crunching.
Skelly went for his gun, but before it could clear the holster, Tess grabbed his ankle to make him lose his balance and pitch forward. Curt was right on top of him to slam his head with the butt of the gun he had just taken from Wilbur.
Skelly slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Triumphant, Curt grabbed Tess and yanked her to her feet. “All right, let’s get them tied up so we can get out of here. We’ve got an assay office to rob.”
“Not rob,” Tess corrected. “I’ve got a right to that money, or I wouldn’t be taking it.”
But Curt was not listening, already on his way to retrieve ropes hanging from the saddles.
Once Skelly and Wilbur were bound, Curt took Skelly’s gun and holster, then told Tess, “Make sure you’ve got everything. We can’t come back.”
She had the map, which was all she needed. The few clothes she had been given were in tatters, but she could buy more once she had Saul’s money and they got to a store somewhere. Meanwhile, she had only what she was wearing.
“I’m ready,” she said with finality.
“Then let’s ride.”
She plunged into the driving rain right behind him. He turned toward one horse, and she started for the other, but he grabbed her arm. “We’ll have to ride double,” he said, grinning. “I doubt you know how to ride this kind of horse, sugar.”
He was teasing again, making reference to their uninhibited lovemaking, but it still rankled to be reminded how incompetent she was.
The rain did not let up, but Curt spurred the horse to a full gallop, careful to avoid arroyos where a flash flood could trap them without notice.
When the town finally loomed ahead, Curt slowed and said, “I’d better leave you somewhere out here, so you won’t be in danger if things don’t go according to plan.”
“And you don’t think I’d be in danger out here?” she yelped in protest. “What am I supposed to do—make a tent out of my hands and try to keep from drowning? In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t see any trees or barns or anywhere else I can take shelter. And what if you get caught and don’t come back? I’m stuck here with no horse, and—”
“And you couldn’t ride if you had one,” he cut her off, exasperated. “Damn almighty, you sure talk a lot for a little girl.”
“I am not a little girl,” she said, chiding herself for sounding like one. But she was soaked to the bone, hungry, miserable, and not about to be left behind, and so she said as much.
“Have it your way, but if we get caught, they’ll probably go ahead and hang us, not even bothering with the judge.”
“Then we won’t get caught.” She was clinging to him as they rode along, and, despite how he had her riled, could not deny liking the feel of his strong flesh beneath his wet shirt and his warm, masculine scent.
He swung around to glance at her, then laughed at how her curls were plastered to her face. “You look like a doll somebody threw in a river and then fished out.”
“You really have a way of making a woman feel good, don’t you?” she fired back. Then, framing her eyes against the rain, she said, “I don’t see anybody out.”
“That’s due to the weather. But it won’t last long. Never does in this part of the country. Just comes down fast and hard—which is how I’ve got to hit that assay office.”
“What if Harville doesn’t have cash? Will we have to take the silver instead?”
“He’ll have it, but we wouldn’t be able to carry the ore. Do you have any idea how much it would weigh to be worth ten thousand dollars?”
“I’m afraid not.” She knew as little about prospecting as she did everything else in the West.
“Over a ton. You see, refined silver winds up being worth about one-tenth of the equal weight in gold, but an exceptional vein of silver-bearing ore, which is what Saul had to have found, can fetch around seven thousand a ton, which is a lot more than the average gold-bearing ore.
“Saul,” he went on to say, “had to have known what he was doing, because silver hunting is tricky. There’s no simple test a prospector can make in the middle of nowhere. The only sure way to identify silver ore and determine its richness is to test samples with nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, both of which are dangerous as hell to carry over rough terrain. So Saul would have taken samples to Harville for testing to make sure he’d made a strike before bothering to haul in over a ton of ore.
“Harville,” Curt went on, “knew then that Saul had a rich find and encouraged him to keep bringing it in.”
Tess finished, “And Harville couldn’t stand it and had him killed so he could keep it. Then I came along to interfere.”
“Exactly. Except with him and Branson running the whole town, you were never a problem. He probably timed killing Saul with your arrival, figuring with Saul getting married he would be wanting to start hard rock mining in a big way. Silver ore has to be hacked out of rock and processed, so he was probably trying to get up enough money to buy the equipment he needed.
“You would have been a very rich woman,” Curt concluded with a wry smile, “instead of an outlaw.”
She made a face. “I don’t consider myself an outlaw and certainly not a horse thief—or maybe I should say mule thief—but the fact remains Saul would have wanted me to have that money, and I’m going to get it.”
“And then what do you plan to do?”
Tess longed to ask him if he still thought she should go back east after what had happened between them but did not dare, fearing disappointment would show on her face if he said he did. “I’m not sure. Would I have enough to get started in ranching?”
“You’d have a fair start and then some, but you’d be crazy to try it. A woman? And especially a tenderfoot like you?” He shook his head. “Go home, lady.”
“Somewhere south of Dallas. If I had the money I’d buy land there, have a nice life, and give up being a gunfighter.”
“Gunfighter?” she echoed in surprise.
“That’s right. I guess I’ve done a little bit of everything in my life, from soldiering to wrangling. But I’ve also hired out as a gunfighter sometimes when I was needed.”
Tess sniffed with disdain. She might not be worldly-wise when it came to life in the untamed West, but she had sense enough to know what he was talking about. “You were paid to kill people.”
“To protect people,” he corrected.
He had cut behind Main Street, and Tess pointed out the back door of the assay office. “That’s how I went in.”
He grinned as he dismounted. “Then maybe I should go in the front, because I don’t want to do anything like you did.”
She scowled at him, and he laughed.
After peering in the rear window to make sure no one was around, Curt quickly broke the lock on the door, and they went inside.
A counter ran along one wall, with delicate scales in glass cases and shelves above with strange-looking instruments and bottles of different shapes and sizes—tools for the complex tests on ore samples.
Curt saw the safe. “He’s liable to show any minute. Get on the other side of that and stay out of the way. I don’t want to get caught again because you’re in my line of fire.”
“Again? What do you mean?”
“I mean”—he frowned to remember—“that if you hadn’t been between me and Branson at the hotel that night, I’d have got away. I couldn’t shoot my way out because of you.”
Recalling the scene, she realized he was right. She had been the reason he had surrendered without a fight. “I think I owe you a thank-you,” she said.
“You don’t owe me anything.” He was brusque. “Just stay out of sight and—”
At the sound of the front door opening, he raised a finger for silence, then pointed to the safe.
He waited till she was safely hidden between it and the wall before positioning himself behind the door leading from the outer office.
