“I don’t give a hoot,” Harrison stated, scowling at her.
“You don’t give a hoot if Nathan found Marissa’s missing daughter alive and well?” she inquired evocatively, grinning at him.
Harrison set aside his paper and stared at his obnoxious child. “What in blazes are you blabbering about?” he demanded.
“I thought you might be interested in knowing that Nathan located the girl and brought her home… a girl, I was told, who looks like her mother, or better,” she casually revealed. “Evidently your hired men aren’t as well informed or as talented as I am, Papa. They arrived Sunday evening, so I went to work obtaining information for my dear father. Rana Michaels could ruin your plans, so you might have to take care of her quite soon. From what Travis told me, she’s quite a handful.”
“Get on with it, girl,” he commanded sternly when Clarissa returned her attention to the book in her hands.
The clever Clarissa had added up the clues and had realized how Nathan had learned about Rana: Thomas Mallory. “As I said, Papa, Nathan found Marissa’s daughter, Rana Michaels, living with Indians as a chief’s daughter. You remember how the Kiowas butchered Marissa and Raymond and abducted her little girl,” she reminded him spitefully. “Nathan never gave up hoping and searching for his little Rana. When he heard about this girl who looked like Marissa, he and Travis took off to find her and look her over themselves. It was Rana, so he paid five thousand dollars for her release. Such an expenditure should have left him penniless and right where you want him with his loan at the bank coming due soon. From what I was told, Rana’s beauty puts her mother’s to shame. Fiery red hair and big blue eyes… I believe Travis said it was like looking at Marissa’s old portrait, or seeing her ghost.”
Harrison’s mind began to race. His respiration increased and he paced unnaturally. “You don’t seem distressed by having her in the house with your Travis,” he taunted as he tried in vain to conceal his turbulent feelings.
“Why should I? She’s a little savage and she doesn’t have a claim on the ranch. Thanks to Ruth Crandall’s friendship with Mother, we both know Marissa isn’t Nathan’s daughter, so how could Rana be Nathan’s heir? After all, Travis is Nathan’s legal son and heir. If Nathan tries to hand the ranch over to Rana instead of Travis, we’ll just have to tell the old buzzard the truth about Marissa—all of it.”
Harrison continued to pace the room, and his excitement was as obvious to Clarissa as the flush on his cheeks. She suppressed an evil grin to speculate, “I wonder if we should get rid of her, just to make certain she doesn’t cause us any problems. I’m sure Mister Monroe and Mister Hayes would love to handle her for us. They seemed to enjoy their work on the McFarland ranch. Are you sure those men can be trusted, Papa? They seem awfully evil and dangerous to me.”
Harrison grinned smugly and chuckled. “Don’t worry, Clarissa dear, I’m holding Monroe and Hayes tightly in hand. Besides, I plan to get rid of them after they handle a few more problems for me. We’ll lure them out to that old mining site on the Lazy J and drop ‘em into that abandoned shaft. Hell, girl, I know their kind can’t be trusted, but I’ll get them before they catch on and strike at me.”
“Let me lure them out there, Papa. You can depend on me to fool them and to handle this secretly.” She watched her father pour himself a sherry without offering her one. Yes, she would lure them out there, and push all three down that shaft after she had what she wanted! But she would need someone to blame for Harrison Caldwell’s death, a dangerous, despicable villain whose wicked reputation was well known and feared. Everyone knew Wes Monroe was working for her father, and it would not seem suspicious if that evil beast robbed and murdered him. Afterwards, she could shoot Wes in self-defense for trying to rape her. Yes, that plan was perfect! She knew what her father was feeling now— hunger for another Marissa. She would let him discard Mary Beth and make his move on Rana Michaels. It would keep him single and occupied until their final success. But if he were to get too cocky or too close, she would reveal an astounding weapon and use it to stop him from marrying Rana Michaels…
“You’re a wicked little bitch, Clarissa. Are you sure I can trust you? I’ve seen your malicious side.”
Clarissa laughed as if her father had told a joke. “If you can’t trust your own family, Papa, who can you trust?” she teased. “We’ll be neighbors too one day. I’ll be married to Travis and we’ll run the Rocking C Ranch, and you’ll have Mary Beth and run this beautiful horseshoe empire around us,” she remarked, pointing to Harrison’s holdings, which were shaded brightly on the map on one wall.
“Are you sure you can snare Kincade?”
“As certain as you are you can snare Mary Beth. As you tell me all the time, Papa, success is the result of clever planning. You taught me to look for a person’s strengths and weaknesses, then use them against him. That’s exactly what I’m doing, and I’ll succeed.”
“Then let’s both get busy on our conquests tomorrow. This final battle is lasting too long. I’ll give Nathan until August first to get out peacefully; then I’ll let Monroe and Hayes handle him.”
“Why a reprieve, Papa? He might get suspicious.”
“Oh, I don’t plan to ease up on him, girl, but I don’t want to damage property too severely that will soon be mine.”
“Mine, Papa,” she corrected him boldly, “for all of my help. Maybe if Travis gets nervous about this Rana taking everything away from him, he might be convinced to side with us.”
“Don’t count on it, not if she looks like her mother. If I were you, girl, I would be plenty worried about losing him completely.”
“Come now, Papa. Marissa was a cheap whore. Like mother, like daughter. Travis Kincade doesn’t want a woman like that.” Harrison eyed Clarissa up and down and laughed wickedly, to which Clarissa angrily replied, “I keep my affairs secret, Papa, so he doesn’t know what I’ve done for you. You should be grateful that I obey your orders—all of them—and not be mean and insulting.”
“I was only teasing you, girl. If your mother’s blood had been as hot as yours, I would still be missing her today. A real man likes his woman to be a whore in bed and a lady in public. Just make sure you don’t ever confuse those two roles and use them unwisely.”
“I take after you, Papa. I’m insatiable, and selective.”
“Well, how about using some of those insatiable and selective skills on Kincade? Don’t tell me they don’t have any effect on him.”
“You’re being mean tonight, Papa. I’m going to bed before I start doing the same,” she playfully warned, leaving the room before she was tempted to do just that. How she longed for the day when she could fling his evil crimes in his face before having him killed. She decided angrily that if he did not curtail his hateful treatment of her, she would watch Wes beat him brutally before allowing the crude bastard to slay her father. Or, she mused with a grin, she might demand that privilege herself! The thought of such evil aroused her.
In her room, Clarissa pulled out the small painting of Raymond Michaels that she had kept hidden all these years. She eyed the image of the man who had once enchanted her briefly, then smiled sardonically. Perhaps she would give it to Rana, and tell that little bitch all about what her mother had done for Raymond. Perhaps she could drive Rana away, and prevent her from enticing Travis, for such a day might come if she lollygagged too long. She was all too aware of Travis’s potent appeal and Marissa’s magical allure, which Rana easily could have inherited. Oh, the destructive tales she could relate to Rana about her mother and Raymond! She remembered Raymond telling her how he had discovered the truth about Rana’s conception, and how he had strangled the only person who had known about it besides Marissa. Now, only she possessed that valuable weapon…
Clarissa stood by her window, trying to catch the mild breeze. The storm had not struck last night or today and it was still humid, making her restless, but tonight she would be satisfied with the stimulation provided by her evil thoughts.
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br /> The next day, Travis spent the morning teaching Rana how to load, fire, and clean a rifle and a pistol. She learned quickly, for she possessed good instincts and had no fear of the weapons. They practiced for hours, with the sounds and smells of gunfire filling their senses. They halted finally in order to partake of the noon meal before Aaron Moore’s scheduled arrival to begin Rana’s afternoon lessons.
Rana spent four hours with the patient and somewhat timid teacher, who seemed smitten with her. When Aaron Moore left for the day, Travis teased, “Don’t tempt him too much, micante, or he’ll be staring at you rather than keeping his mind on your lessons.”
“He is very nice, Travis, and very smart. Do not be jealous. My eyes and heart belong to you. He will not come tomorrow. He explained about the white holiday on July the fourth. It is sad that my people, the Oglalas, cannot win independence from the whites.”
“I know, love, but there’s nothing we can do to help them. One day, this period will be a bitter memory in history.”
“Mister Moore told me about history, so I understand that word.”
“Pretty soon, you’ll know more words than I do, and you’ll be teaching me. What do you say about us starting supper?”
Without knocking, Cody Slade rushed into the house and shouted, “Boss, you’d best get out here pronto! Mace and the boys are back, and it ain’t good news. We sent those extra guards too late.”
Travis grimaced knowingly at his words. “Please stay here, Rana, and I’ll be back soon.” He left instantly with Cody.
Rana hurried to the front window and observed the action taking place near the stable. She wished she could hear what was happening, or understood what had happened. She knew it was something terrible, but she also knew she should stay in the house as Travis had requested.
It seemed a very long time before Travis and Nathan returned to the house, both looking worried and angered. She went to them and asked, “What is wrong, Grandfather?”
“Bad news, Rana. The worst,” he admitted sadly. “Mace was robbed on the way home. Without that money, I can’t pay the bank what I owe it, and they’ll take my ranch as payment.”
“I do not understand, Grandfather. Who will steal your ranch? Can you not fight them? You have many war… men to help you.”
As Nathan dropped wearily into a chair, Travis patiently explained about money, banks, loans, foreclosures, and the laws governing such things. Their predicament became clearer to her when Travis described how Harrison Caldwell could buy their ranch at a debtor’s auction. “By losing that money, we’ve fallen right into his greedy hands, and there isn’t a damn thing we can do to stop him; the laws’ on his side this time, and he’ll use it to get this ranch.”
“What about the enemies who stole Grandfather’s money? Can we not go after them and recover it?” she inquired gravely.
“We could, if we knew who stole it and where they were hiding it.” Travis laughed coldly. “Oh, we know Caldwell is behind the robbery, but we can’t prove it. I wouldn’t be surprised if those saddlebags are locked in his safe right this minute.” When Rana questioned the meaning of “safe,” Travis guided her into Nathan’s office, showed her theirs, and explained how it worked.
“Why do we not ride to his lands and force him to open his safe and return Grandfather’s money? Will the white law not help us?”
He caressed her cheek and smiled. “It isn’t that simple, love. Caldwell would only deny our charges, and then he’d know we were on to him. He would hide those saddlebags where we’d never locate them. If I could sneak into his office in town and the one in his house, I could search them, for more than our stolen money. If I found something to incriminate him and his men, the sheriff would have to force him to open his safe to prove he doesn’t have our money. Those saddlebags have rattlesnakes carved on them, so they’re easy to recognize.”
“Why do your men not tell this sheriff who did this black deed? How could they not see their faces and know them?” she reasoned.
“Harrison Caldwell is very cunning and dangerous. He’s hired some deadly and clever gunslingers to do his dirty work. They sneaked up on Mace and the boys where they were camped for the night. The two cowhands Mace set out as guards were killed without a sound, their throats sliced Indian style; then one of Caldwell’s men slipped into camp and took the money from Mace’s side while he was sleeping. None of our cowpunchers heard or saw a thing. I should have joined them on the trail as soon as I got you and Nate home, but I had other things on my mind,” he informed her with a wry grin.
“Mace said they searched the entire area the next morning and tried to track them. They finally had to give up their search because those varmints had covered their trail completely. Mace and the boys feel as bad as we do. They know we trusted them and depended on them. They don’t want us to lose this ranch either. Dad-blame-it! We’re out the cattle and the money, and pretty soon we’ll be out of time. We know Caldwell’s guilty, and we can’t do a thing about it.”
“These white laws and customs are bad, Travis. They do not allow the capturing of enemies and their punishment. It is wrong for the innocent to suffer.”
Travis sighed heavily. “I know, micante, but we’re trapped. We don’t have any witnesses against Caldwell; we can’t make accusations against him without proof and he knows it, so he’ll be real careful to hide his guilt and evidence of the dirty deeds. Remember how you had no choice but to obey and yield when Lone Wolf and the Oglala Council spoke their commands, even when you disagreed with them?” She nodded her comprehension. “Until we can get evidence against Caldwell, our hands are tied. Right now, we need money, plenty of it. We have to figure out a way to get enough to exist and to repay that loan in four weeks.”
“Why do you not sneak over to the Caldwell ranch and steal your money from his safe? If he does not hide it there, take his money to replace what he has stolen from us.”
“That’s too dangerous, love. He knows we’re desperate, and he’ll have plenty of guards around his place. Even if we could get into his house and safe, if we were caught we’d be in worse trouble than we are now. Much as I hate him and want to defeat him, this isn’t the time to do anything reckless. It doesn’t show courage, intelligence, or honor to ride into battle blind or without weapons. We have to be patient and cunning until we can
trap him. I wouldn’t be any use to you or Nate if I were dead or in jail. Caldwell would pounce on you two like a starving wolf on a slow rabbit. I know from experience that being innocent doesn’t help much in some situations.”
“This safe only opens with certain secret numbers?”
“That’s right, and we don’t know them. It’s too heavy to steal and we can’t blast it open. Too much noise. And if I know Caldwell, he’d let me beat him and shoot him before giving me those numbers.”
“It’s useless, son,” Nathan stated dejectedly, entering the room. “We’ll never see that money again, ‘til Harry uses it to buy this ranch. The bastard!” Nathan exploded angrily. “I can’t let him get away with this, Travis.”
“Don’t worry, Nate. Somehow I’ll stop him. Somehow I’ll find enough money to…” Travis grew silent and his gaze narrowed as he fell into deep thought. “That’s it,” he suddenly announced. “Why not? It’s already been paid for with plenty of lives and suffering!” he murmured aloud, confusing Rana and Nathan.
“What are you talking about, son?”
The Rocking C foreman replied shockingly,”The gold, Nate—the gold my father took from the sacred burial grounds. I know where it’s hidden, and I doubt anyone’s found it yet. If I ride like the wind, I can get it and return here before Mason’s bank can take our ranch and sell it to Caldwell with our cattle money. I’ll be careful. It’s our only hope, Nate,” he reasoned when he saw Nathan begin to shake his head as worry filled his faded blue eyes.
“That gold nearly got you killed once, Travis, so don’t go tempting those Hunkpapas by trying it again. Let it go, son,” he pleaded. “I�
��d rather lose this ranch than lose you, boy, and that’s God’s truth.”
“I can’t, Nate. That part of my life is still an open wound. It’s time I healed it once and for all, and this is the perfect time and way. I deserve that gold, Nate, and I’ve already paid for it. I’ll leave in the morning, and I’ll be back before this month’s gone.”
“I will go with you,” Rana told him.
He declared gently, “No, Rana, you won’t. I can travel faster and more safely alone. There isn’t much time, and I need you to stay here to help Nate take care of things. Just tell everybody I went looking for the bandits’ trail. Once this loan’s repaid and the ranch is safe, we’ll find a way to defeat Caldwell. You keep studying your books and white ways and practicing your shooting while I’m gone; then we’ll take on this enemy together when I return. I need your understanding, trust, and help until this matter is settled. Nothing will happen to me, love; I promise. I’ll go see Lone Wolf and get him to help me.”
“Maybe Harry will settle down now that he’s got our money. Ain’t no need for him to do more than wait us out,” Nathan speculated.
“I hope you’re right, Nate, but I doubt it. It might be wise to keep guards posted. You know what kind of men he’s hired, so both of you be careful. Before I leave, I’ll write Clarissa a sweet little note to keep her panting after me; maybe she can keep her father in line while I’m gone. It’s worth a try. Cody can deliver it for me after I’m gone. Speaking of Cody, why don’t you help him and Mary Beth get married soon to get her out of Caldwell’s reach? There isn’t anything her father or Caldwell could do after the fact. You might want to tell Rachel to come back to work Friday, so Rana will have some company and help. Rachel can keep her too busy to worry about me.”
“No, she cannot, Travis Kincade. And if you do not return in one full moon, I will come searching for you,” she threatened mildly. She was so afraid for him to return to the Dakota lands, but she knew he had to go, and alone. By being stubborn or defiant, she could endanger both of their lives and his victory, so she would stay behind and do her part here at the ranch. “Perhaps you only seek to run away and not marry me again,” she teased to lighten his burden.
Sweet Savage Heart Page 39
