Golden Roses

by Patricia Hagan

  Cord hoped Valdis would be asleep, and not with Amber and Dolita.

  “You do remember for sure where Valdis sleeps?”

  “Yes. I was here not long ago. On our right, after we get into the big tunnel, there will be three alcoves. His is the middle one. We must be careful, though, for coming in from the secret way, there is a crack in the earth, perhaps as wide as we are tall. We have to jump across it.”

  Cord frowned. He still did not totally trust the man.

  “Here,” Puetas called softly. “It is here. Ayah! The thorns are sharp. We cannot make our way through.”

  “Hell yes, we can.” Cord groped in the dark and pushed Puetas aside. Feeling about gingerly, he winced as the sharp briars pricked his fingers. “Pull your shirtsleeves down around your hands,” he ordered. “We’ll just have to push our way in.”

  They unbuttoned their cuffs and doubled their hands up beneath the fabric. Ducking their heads, after pulling their hat brims low, the two men began to push into the tangled cluster of cactuses.

  Both felt the sharp needles rip at their clothing, then at their flesh.

  At last, Puetas stumbled forward into the vertical opening and was almost pitched down into the cave. “We are here,” he gasped. “Now we have to bend to our knees and drop down.”

  “Wait!” Cord pushed on through. “If I go first, it might be a trap. I could be falling to my death. If you go first, you might just keep on going and sound the alarm.”

  “I think it is time you trusted me,” Puetas said solemnly.

  “Uhn-uh.” Cord took his gun from his holster. “We’re going to drop down at the same time, and if I hear one sound besides your feet hitting the ground, the next sound will be this gun going off. Understand?”

  Puetas nodded wearily.

  Cord crouched, toes hanging over the edge of the hole. Quickly, he holstered his gun. “Go!” he commanded. They dropped together, landing a second later on their feet. Straightening, they listened for noise. But there was only silence and damp darkness.

  Puetas tugged gently at Cord’s arm, motioning for him to follow. They moved several feet, then Puetas leaned close. “We must crawl forward on our knees very slowly. The crack is nearby. We will jump across it.”

  Cord fell to his knees, side by side with Puetas, crawling. Soon his heart quickened. “This is it,” he whispered.

  They stood, backed up to get a running start, and charged across. Fear was a rock in Cord’s throat as he felt himself leaping into nothingness. How wide was the crevice? How deep?

  They landed suddenly, pitching forward onto their hands.

  “Not much farther,” Puetas hissed breathlessly as they got to their feet. “Come.”

  They moved forward, inching their way. Suddenly, with instinct honed during his years in the war, Cord froze to absolute stillness. Someone was near. He could hear breathing, could sense a rapid heartbeat.

  Cord hesitated, but only for a second. Whoever was near had most likely heard them. His impulse was to shoot, but he knew that would bring all of Valdis’s men, so he held himself in check. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, calling softly, “I’ve got a gun on you. Don’t move.”

  There was a sob, then the anguished whisper. “Cord. Dear Cord, is that your voice?”

  “Amber!”

  He was nearly knocked off-balance as she threw herself into his arms. He gathered her closely with one arm, holding his gun tightly with the other. “Let’s go,” he whispered to Puetas, “before someone sounds an alarm.”

  “Wait.” Amber trembled against him. “Dolita. Over there. She’s fainted.”

  “I will get her,” Puetas murmured, moving blindly forward.

  Cord continued to grasp Amber against him until Puetas whispered, “I have her. She is unconscious. How are we going to get her across the crevice?”

  There was no way they could leave her behind, and they could not risk trying to wake her up because she might start screaming.

  “There’s a big crevice back there, maybe six feet wide,” Cord told Amber. “It’s the only way to get out of here without going out the front way. Do you think you can jump across?”

  Amber took a deep breath. Jumping six feet in the darkness seemed like a leap straight into hell. “I don’t see that I have a choice,” she replied. “But what about Dolita? Cord, I won’t leave her.”

  “Neither will I,” he said gruffly. Turning to Puetas, he ordered, “Give her to me. I’ll make the jump with her. Then I’ll come back for Amber and hold on to her as she jumps. You go on ahead.”

  Puetas made no move. “Did you hear me, man?” Cord said harshly. “Give her to me and you go on and jump.”

  “No,” came the stubborn reply. “If you cannot trust me by now, then go ahead and kill me. You take Dolita and go across. I will hold Amber’s hand when she jumps.”

  It was, Cord told himself, one of those times when a man has to trust another man. “All right,” he said finally, taking a deep breath as he holstered his gun, then reached out to take Dolita in his arms. “We’ll do it your way, Puetas.”

  “Puetas?” Amber echoed softly as she felt Cord drop her hand and unfamiliar fingers clutch at the hand. “But didn’t you used to guard me? Cord! He…he’s one of Valdis’s men!”

  “Amber, I don’t have time to explain,” Cord snapped, hoisting Dolita’s limp body over his shoulder. “Just jump. And don’t worry.”

  Amber looked about wildly in the darkness. There was no time to argue. Allowing Puetas to lead her forward, she prayed Cord knew what he was doing.

  Puetas explained brusquely, “We will take several steps backward. When I squeeze your hand, begin running. When I give your hand a yank, jump as hard as you can. I will pull you as much as I can. Can you do it?” he asked.

  Amber was barely able to choke out her reply. Fear was spreading, making her believe she was smothering.

  Cord, with Dolita, made the jump safely. Clutching Puetas’s hand tightly, Amber took the steps back, and then, feeling the hard pressure of his fingers, ran forward. When she felt him tug and leap, she called on every bit of strength within her.

  They threw themselves into the darkness, feeling suspended in midair. Time stopped. And then, with a painful thud, she pitched forward, crying out painfully as her chest hit the side of the chasm, smashing the air from her lungs.

  Puetas’s hand was torn from Amber’s as she fell. He landed safely on the far side of the chasm, knowing even as he landed that Amber hadn’t made it. He heard the awful thud as her body smacked into the earth.

  Amber made no sound. There was a slicing pain in her lungs as she fought to suck in precious air. Her hands, clutching rocks, were torn and bleeding, and the blood made her hold slippery. She could not hang on much longer, and she knew it.

  Cord shoved Dolita into Puetas’s arms and crawled down the side of the chasm, grasping Amber’s arms. He hauled her up over the side and, with only a pause for one deep breath, held her to him and began running with her in his arms.

  They made their way to a jutting path leading up, Puetas carrying Dolita. Suddenly, light appeared behind them. Cord did not stop to turn and see what it was. His single thought was to get Amber out of the way. He set her down, dropped into a crouch, and whirled toward the light, gun drawn.

  Beyond the crevice they had just crossed was Valdis, moving steadily forward, a rifle at the ready. Another man was beside him, carrying a torch and a gun.

  Valdis screamed, “Goddamn you! For this you will die!” He fired, and Cord leaped behind a jutting rock, the bullet hitting stone with a whining echo.

  “Leap across the crack, Gerras!” Valdis commanded.

  Cord fired at the two men. He heard an agonizing scream and knew he had hit one of them. Then, knowing the gunfire would bring all of Valdis’s men running, he scrambled quickly up the path. Puetas and Dolita were far ahead, and he dragged Amber with him, both gasping.

  Puetas pushed Amber behind him and moved to help Cord. “Aya
h! What has happened?” Puetas’s words were lost in the echoes of other gunshots. Cord gave a short gasp of pain and began to lose his handhold on the earth. He slid backward, and Puetas barely caught hold of his wrists before another shot was fired. Without hesitation, Puetas jerked Cord up and out of the hole.

  “You are hurt,” Puetas protested to Cord as he and Amber reached Puetas. “I must see to your wound!”

  “Later,” Cord snapped, gritting his teeth against the pain. “You’re going to have to carry Dolita through the brush to the horses. Amber can hang on to your belt and follow. I’ll try to keep up, but if I fall back, keep going. Get the women out of here as fast as you can.”

  They pushed their way forward, struggling through the tearing thorns and the brush. The skies opened and rain came down in torrents. Amber’s long hair became tangled in cactus, and Cord told her to grit her teeth as he yanked it free.

  Stumbling their way in the drenching rain, they finally reached the horses. Cord knew his foot was bleeding badly, for he could feel the stickiness inside his boot. He struggled into the saddle, pulling Amber up behind him, leaving Dolita to Puetas.

  “Follow me,” Puetas cried.

  They rode through the stormy night, hair plastered to their faces, clothes drenched. Puetas led the way, Dolita lying across his lap. Cord winced with pain, and Amber clung to his waist, her head pressed against his back. Behind them, they heard, very faintly, the shouts of Valdis’s men. But as they continued deeper into the mountains, the sounds grew fainter, and they knew that they were going in opposite directions.

  After they’d plodded through the mud and brambles and brush for an hour, the rain let up and the clouds parted to give a little light.

  “Up ahead,” Puetas cried. “Another cave. Perhaps a wolves’ den. We must be careful, but at least we are far away from Valdis, and soon it will be light. We can rest.” He turned in his saddle to look at Cord. “Are you badly hurt? Where did the bullet hit?”

  “My foot,” Cord told him dully, seeing that the way was wide enough for them to ride two abreast, and urging his horse to fall in beside Puetas. “I think the bullet went all the way through. It’s bleeding bad, but I’ll be all right. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. Where are we, anyway? It seems like we’ve been climbing steadily.”

  “We have. We are in the mountains of Sierra Madre Occidental, just south of the Yaqui River. Nogales is about a two days’ ride. Valdis and his men will not look for us here.”

  Puetas went inside the cave first to make sure there were no animals there. Cord lowered himself gingerly from the saddle and turned to help Amber, who said, “No. I can take care of myself. Let me help you inside. I want to look at that wound, and then we need to see about Dolita.”

  Puetas hurried to gather twigs and scraps of dry brush lying just inside the mouth of the cave. Everything outside was soaked. He built a fire and then, placing Dolita nearby so she would be warm, he went to Cord, slumped against a wall. Slipping a knife from its hiding place inside his pants, he sliced through the leather of Cord’s left boot.

  “I should have searched you,” Cord said tartly when he saw the weapon.

  Puetas grinned. “I could have killed you any time I chose. It was my pleasure to know this.”

  Cord raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you?”

  Puetas shrugged as he tugged gently at the boot. “I felt sorry for the women, and I thought I could help, then go back to my life. Now I am running with you.”

  “I’m not running, and neither are you. I’ll take care of Valdis in my own good time. All I wanted to do was get Amber out of there.” Cord winced with pain as the boot was removed from his injured foot.

  Amber knelt beside him, using the hem of his shirt against the wound. She had been wearing it and now she was naked again. Puetas averted his gaze. “I think the bullet did go all the way through,” she said, lifting worried eyes to meet his in the glow from the fire, “but you’re still bleeding. We need a tight bandage to stop it.”

  “I will get my saddle blanket and tear it into strips.” Puetas hurried to the horses, tethered just inside the cave.

  Cord reached out to cup Amber’s face in his hands. He gazed at her, pushing his pain from his mind. “Are you all right?” he asked, eyes searching hers. “Did the bastards hurt you, my Amber?”

  “No,” she murmured, stirred. “I’m not sure what happened, but I think Valdis was too drunk to bother me. I’m afraid Dolita wasn’t as fortunate…” She saw the way he was looking at her and fell silent, then reached for what was left of the shirt and put it on.

  They heard Dolita moaning and turned to look in her direction. Cord urged, “Go see to her.”

  Both Amber and Puetas moved to the girl’s side, and she stared up at them with wide, frightened eyes. Amber clutched her hand and told her they were safe, but Dolita looked from Amber to the man beside her, then shrank back and cried, “It is you! Puetas!”

  “No, no! He helped us,” Amber explained quickly. “He carried you on his shoulder through the brush and thorns and rain. He’s our friend now, Dolita. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

  “It is true.” He nodded, eyes twinkling. “It is my shirt you are wearing.” He tugged at the sleeve, baggy on her thin arm. “I will look after you while Amber looks after Señor Hayden. He was wounded. I must bandage him now.” He did so, quickly.

  “I’ll tell you everything in the morning.” Amber gave Dolita what she hoped was a reassuring smile and turned back to Cord.

  It didn’t take him long to fall asleep. She brushed a dark tendril back from his forehead and kissed him, then lay down close beside him, in case he should need her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  It was late in the day when Amber awoke, groggy and sore throughout her body. Lifting her head from Cord’s shoulder, she looked around, disoriented. Slowly, it all came back. The capture…Valdis. Thank God for Cord. She smiled down at him, saw that he was sleeping peacefully. Checking the bandage on his foot, she was satisfied that it had stopped bleeding at last. She stood and stretched, uncomfortably damp in the rain-soaked remnants of Cord’s shirt. The fire Puetas had built was out, so she began gathering more twigs and scraps of wood to light it again. Then, since everyone still slept soundly, she removed the ragged shirt and propped it on a stick near the fire to dry.

  Checking on Dolita, she smiled to see that she was asleep with Puetas’s arms protectively about her. Moving away, she tiptoed to the cave entrance. It was, she guessed, midafternoon, for the sun was beginning to make its descent behind the surrounding mountains. The landscape that greeted her was painted in a golden haze, fringed by fertile green grasses of the valley below. Hills and gullies and rock formations spread as far as she could see, and great whitecaps of clouds floated by in the cerulean-blue sky as though directed by an unseen pulley. Amber felt as peaceful as she had in a long time.

  Stepping outside, she found a flat rock, warmed by the sun, and sat down, pulling her knees up to hold her chin as she wrapped her arms around her legs. The sun felt wonderful. She thought about returning to retrieve her shirt, then decided not to risk waking the others. Besides, she wanted the time alone for reverie. She sat there, still for a long time, going over all that had befallen her since she’d left the States. By the time Cord spoke, she was so lost in her daydreaming that she jumped, startled. “A true sun goddess,” he said.

  “Oh! I didn’t hear you!” she gasped, covering her bare breasts with her arms and pulling her legs up against her even tighter. She stammered, “I…I left your shirt to dry. It was still wet.”

  He limped over and sat down beside her. His face was shadowed by beard stubble, but he seemed without pain despite his wound. “Naked you came into my arms, and naked you shall leave,” he murmured, reaching out for her.

  She pulled away and cried, “No, Cord. We mustn’t. And your foot—you shouldn’t even be walking on it. You’re going to start it bleeding again.”

  “It’s fine,�
� he said evenly. Suddenly he gripped her arms. “Why did you run away?” he demanded fiercely, eyes devouring hers. “You did run, didn’t you? Don’t you know I’m trying like hell to love you? I want us to make a future together. I thought you cared for me—until I woke up to find you gone.”

  “It’s the boy.” She began to cry, looking up, beseeching his understanding. “My heart went out to him before I even knew he was Armand’s. I can’t abandon him to the kind of miserable life I know he’s living.”

  Without replying to her statement, he informed her, “I’m taking you back to the States with me and leaving you somewhere safe. One day, I’ll come back and find you. If you’ve met another man, I’ll have to accept it. But by God, I’m going to get you out of Mexico.”

  “You can force me to go with you, but you can’t make me stay. I’ll find a way to get back.”

  He leaned forward, eyes blazing. “Woman, why do you have to be so stubborn? I told you. Those Indians won’t let the boy go.” He shook his head slowly. “You beautiful, stubborn little fool.”

  Ignoring her protests and the pain of his wound, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to a grassy knoll conveniently hidden by thick shrubs. He lowered her to the ground, and they gazed into each other’s eyes, the magic beginning. With a deep moan, he pulled her over him, taking turns fastening his lips to each nipple. Amber sighed deliciously, thrusting her bosom in offering.

  He devoured each nipple to rosy hardness, then slipped his hand between her legs, moving gently. She was ready for him, he knew, but instead of taking her, he teased, teased until she was writhing, begging for fulfillment.

  “I will love you forever,” he whispered. “Say you love me, Amber. Say it!” he commanded.

  “Cord, I do love you,” she whimpered, clinging to him. “But—”

  He kissed her, long, hard, as he turned her over and lay on top of her. He gave a hard thrust, and she cried out, but the cry quickly turned to sighs and moans as he cupped her buttocks and rocked her to and fro.