Red River Rifles (Wilderness Dawning—the Texas Wyllie Brothers Series Book 1)

by Dorothy Wiley

  If the man was trying to stand out on the frontier, he’d certainly succeeded. Or maybe he was trying to flaunt his obvious wealth.

  “Texian forces?” Samuel asked. “Just why are you here at Pecan Point, Commander Long? Are there troubles nearby that we need to know about?”

  The man seemed to assess both Samuel and Thomas with haughty green eyes before he answered. “I assume you are both loyal citizens of our United States?”

  “Indeed,” Samuel said. “We are. As are my father and two other brothers.”

  The arrogant man seemed satisfied with his answer. “I am here to encourage the settlers at Jonesboro and Pecan Point to become comrades in arms and to cooperate fully with the struggle to make Texas independent of Spain.”

  Samuel was not expecting that answer. “What struggle exactly? Are you operating under the directive of the U.S. government?”

  “No. Washington politicians are slow to act and when they do it is not in our best interests. In fact, they are now writing the Adams–Onís Treaty to settle the Louisiana Texas border dispute. It will cede much of Texas to Spain. Prominent citizens of Louisiana, including myself, are opposed to the treaty and are recruiting men who are like-minded. Because of my background in the law and the military, I have been placed in command and we have established a provisional government in Nacogdoches.”

  “So you’re a filibuster,” Thomas said, getting straight to the point.

  Their father recently read a newspaper article aloud that explained that filibusters engaged in unofficial military expeditions into foreign countries or territories. Their purpose was often to ferment or support a revolution. The editor of the newspaper inferred that such illegal activities were developing in Texas and they’d all heard rumors of filibustering expeditions into the Province. But their father considered such activities ill-advised. Samuel agreed.

  Long raised his long, straight nose a bit. “Some might call me a filibuster. Others call me a patriot. And some call me a trailblazer.”

  “And I’d call him a born leader,” Pate said.

  Seated atop his tall horse, Long reminded Samuel of a cocky, crowing rooster sitting on a fence. He suspected this puffed-up citizen-soldier had never been tested in battle, much less a war. “Forgive me, Sir, for my bluntness, but I’d call your intentions foolish. I agree it would be unfortunate to see any of Texas ceded to Spain in a treaty. However, you can’t seriously expect the few hundred settlers in Texas, already preoccupied with fighting Indians and building their homesteads, to take on Spain’s army.”

  “Many of my forces are courageous men from Louisiana who no longer want Spain as a neighbor to their lands,” Long said. “The men here will feel the same.”

  “How many courageous men?” Thomas asked.

  “Enough, for now,” Long said evasively. “Soon, more will be joining us.”

  “Still not interested,” Samuel said.

  “I knew you were a coward,” Pate hissed.

  “Get down from your horse, Mr. Pate,” Samuel ordered. “It’s time someone taught you some manners.”

  “Let’s not get embroiled in a dispute, gentlemen,” Long said. “We are here to join forces, not fight each other.”

  “We will not be joining forces with you, Sir,” Samuel said. “Circumventing the U.S. government’s policies and plans can only mean trouble. In fact, many would consider it treasonous.”

  Thomas nodded. “Although your goal may be worthy Commander, your odds are poor. You can’t win. Spain has a mighty force in San Antonio. You cannot hope to win without a large, well-disciplined army, which you clearly do not have, or you wouldn’t be here.”

  Long shook his head. “But I will win. And soon. Spanish power in Texas is unraveling due to events elsewhere in their empire. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe for one thing. Troubles in Mexico for another. It is only a matter of time before we will be in position to take control.”

  “They say timing is everything,” Samuel said. “And in this case, the time is not yet here. I urge you to postpone this risky venture.”

  “That’s where we disagree, Sir,” Long said. “The time is right to gather our army. Texas has millions of unclaimed acres that I can promise to those willing to fight.”

  “Under whose authority will you give away Texas lands?” Samuel pressed.

  Long’s brows rose. “Under my authority. I intend to be the first president of Texas.”

  “We were just on our way to your place,” Pate told Samuel, pretending civility and changing the subject. “I want Commander Long to meet my daughter.”

  “Why?” Samuel asked although he had a good idea. His protective instincts flared as his stare bored into Long.

  “I am unmarried,” Long said, “and I desire to set up a home, a second plantation, in Nacogdoches. While I am recruiting for our cause, I am also keeping an eye out for a potential bride. Mr. Pate tells me Louisa is a rare beauty of marriageable age and I would like to meet his daughter.”

  “I plan to join the Commander’s cause and move to Nacogdoches,” Pate said.

  Long smiled with satisfaction. “If Louisa is as beautiful as Mr. Pate says she is, and I find her acceptable, he is agreeable to arranging a marriage.”

  Acceptable? Samuel’s dislike for this high and mighty man increased tenfold. His jaw tightened as his mind filled with contempt. Long was so big-headed and tedious it was no wonder that he should get into politics.

  He couldn’t stop Pate from taking Long to meet Louisa, but he could be sure he was there to protect her.

  “Come along, Thomas,” Samuel told his brother as he turned his horse around. “Our supplies can wait.”

  As Samuel and Thomas rode up to their home followed by Pate and Commander Long, he found his father and Baldy working together between their homes chopping wood. The unique thunk, kerracking sound of axes striking wood was always a sure sign that the chill of winter was not far away. But today, his temper heated at the thought of another man here to see Louisa.

  He had to come up with a way to stop this.

  Samuel, Thomas, and the Commander dismounted but Pate remained on his mount.

  Samuel curtly introduced Pate and Long to his father and Baldy and then told them briefly about Long’s intention to raise an army against Spain.

  “The Spaniard’s are foreigners in what should be our country,” Long said. “All we need is courage, confidence, and resolve.”

  “And about five-thousand well-armed soldiers,” Samuel said, shaking his head at the man’s naiveté.

  "The Spanish are nothing but crows who seek to pick out our eyes," Pate said from still atop his horse. “We must shoo them off.”

  It was difficult to believe but Pate was even more naïve than Long.

  “I assume you know that Governor Martinez has issued an order that all Americans exhibiting even the least suspicious conduct should be arrested?” his father asked Long.

  “And perhaps you’ve forgotten what happened in San Antonio five years ago,” Baldy added.

  Samuel hadn’t forgotten the Battle of Medina and what happened in 1813 to the last filibusters who challenged Spain. A large force of Spanish soldiers under the command of General Arredondo advanced on San Antonio. The disorganized filibusters met Arredondo’s forces in what became the bloodiest battle yet in Texas. Refusing to allow the filibusters to surrender, the Spanish killed more than a thousand rebels and executed every resident of San Antonio de Bexar who had conducted business with the usurpers.

  “Sir,” his father said, addressing Long, “no group can hope to gain control of Texas without the assistance of a well-disciplined, fighting force of great number.”

  “That’s what I told him,” Thomas said.

  Long continued to address their father. “I know that, Mr. Wyllie. That is why I am here now hoping to recruit some of you to our cause. And I would hope that you will encourage the other settlers to join us. We will muster our forces in Nacogdoches on October 1. I expect your full coopera
tion, or at least that of your sons, in our struggle to make Texas independent of Spain.”

  His father’s jaw grew rigid and his piercing blue eyes stared into Long. “You may expect it, Sir, but you will not get it. The time is not yet right. I did not raise fools for sons. They will be the first to enlist in the defense of Texas when called upon by the United States government or a legitimate, lawful government of Texas. But your ill-conceived filibustering efforts will only get you and those that follow you killed.”

  “Why not wait until the United States buys the rest of Texas?” Thomas asked.

  “I agree,” Samuel said. “Furthermore, since this part of Texas is already part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase, there’s no reason for us to raise the ire of Spain’s powerful army.”

  Pate gave Samuel a taunting look and then turned to Long. With a curl of his lip, he said, “I told you he was a bloody coward.”

  Samuel shot his long arms up and grasped Pate by his waistcoat. He yanked the man off his horse and hammered his legs into the ground. Samuel wanted to send his fist right down the man’s throat, but he settled for slamming it against Pate’s jaw. That sent the man’s hat flying off. Then his left fist smashed Pate’s face on the other side, drawing blood. Pate staggered backward, blood dripping from several spots on his face. Next, Samuel sent his clenched right fist upwards under Pate’s chin which made the man ignominiously topple to the ground on his backside.

  Samuel stood over Pate, fists still clenched. “That was the third time you called me a coward!” he spat. “I’d advise you not to let there be a fourth time.” The man would die if there was.

  “That’s enough, Samuel,” his father said. “You’ve hit him three times. One good blow for each insult. Let Baldy see if he needs any doctoring.”

  Samuel stepped back, breathing heavily, although his fists ached to deliver a few more blows. He wanted to beat the man senseless. Not for calling him a coward, but for his mistreatment of Louisa and Adam.

  “Do I have to?” Baldy asked, with a half-smile. “Seems to me he got exactly what he deserved.”

  Rubbing his bloodied chin, Pate glowered first at Baldy and then at Samuel. He pointed a dirty finger at Samuel but spoke to Stephen, “Your son beat me up!”

  “Keep a sharp eye out. He may beat you again,” his father said.

  Long turned to Pate. “I can see there’s nothing to be gained here. These men can decide later if they want to join our noble cause. Let’s get on with the other reason we’ve come. Where is your daughter, Mr. Pate? You said she works here?”

  Samuel’s fists clenched again.

  Chapter 11

  Samuel fixed a hard, heated stare on Pate as he watched the man shift his attention to arranging Louisa’s marriage. It was highly likely that this topic might warrant giving the man an even more robust beating. If Pate wasn’t Adam and Louisa’s father, he would have thoroughly trounced the infernal skunk instead of just giving him three thumps on the chin.

  “Where is my daughter, Mr. Wyllie?” Pate asked Samuel’s father as he wiped the blood from his busted lip with the back of his hand.

  “She’s working,” was all his father said.

  “Dr. Grant, where is she?” Pate asked Baldy.

  “Doing something useful,” Baldy told him. “Which is more than I can say for you, Sir.”

  “Louisa!” Pate yelled loud enough to be heard clear across the Red. “Louisa! Come out here. Now!”

  Samuel longed to hit the despicable man again. He hoped Louisa would ignore her father and just stay inside.

  Pate picked up his hat and dusted himself off. Then he mounted his horse and rode closer to Baldy’s home and called again. “Louisa! Adam! I’m calling you!” he yelled.

  Regrettably, Louisa stepped out of the Grants’ home. So did her brother and Melly.

  Samuel noted that Pate didn’t greet his children and they didn’t greet him.

  Louisa just looked at her father warily.

  Adam’s head leaned against Melly’s leg.

  “Follow me, girl,” her father ordered and turned his horse back toward where Long stood waiting.

  Samuel watched Louisa’s face as she bravely took steps toward them. Then he saw her grip her skirt with clenched fists. She was hiding her fear. Her eyes sought him out and when their gazes met, she seemed to gather her strength.

  Samuel’s mind raced. He had to stop this somehow. It was all happening too fast. He had thought he had more time. He’d been so distracted and grieved by Billy’s death, he’d hardly given much thought to her father’s plans for her.

  He wished now that he’d made his tender feelings for her known. Was it too late? He was definitely mightily attracted to her. And she seemed to enjoy his company. In fact, he often caught her gazing at him during mealtimes. But their responsibilities and the presence of his three brothers and her little brother left little time for courting.

  Louisa carried herself with dignity as she followed behind her father’s mount and closed the remaining distance to Long.

  Melly and Adam followed closely behind her.

  “What’s this all about?” Melly asked in a loud voice.

  “I have asked Commander Long to meet my daughter,” Pate told her. “This is none of your business, woman.”

  Melly harrumphed. “We’ll see about that. And my name is Mrs. Grant.”

  Long stepped forward and extended his hand to Louisa. “I am Herman H. Long, commander of the army at Camp Freeman at Nacogdoches. I am organizing a Texian army to take the Province from Spain.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Commander Long,” Louisa said.

  Then Long nodded to Melly. “Pleased to make your acquaintance as well, Mrs. Grant. You’re Dr. Grant’s wife?”

  “Yes, indeed I am.” Melly eyed him and then Pate with a cold-eyed glare.

  Baldy moved to stand next to his wife on the other side of Adam. He rested his big hand on Adam’s little shoulder.

  Pate turned toward Long. “I apologize for the state of my daughter’s attire. She’s obviously wearing borrowed clothes, too large for her petite frame. Her entire wardrobe was stolen by thieving Indians.”

  Entire wardrobe, indeed, Samuel thought. He doubted that she had more than two shabby dresses to her name before the Indian raid.

  “You should see her with her hair all fixed up and shining like gold. Isn’t she a beauty, just like I told you?” Pate asked Long. “She’s got perfect teeth. She’s slim, but she’s strong and long-legged.”

  Samuel bristled. The man was talking about his own daughter as if she were a horse to be sold and bought.

  “Indeed, she is a beauty,” Long agreed, staring at Louisa. “An enchanting young woman who could utterly inspire a man to gentlemanly feelings.”

  Gentlemanly? Samuel could almost hear the man’s lust in his flirtatious voice.

  “All she needs is a fashionable, quality gown and she’d be the belle of any ball,” Long added.

  Louisa’s cheeks flamed and she cast her eyes down.

  “The bloody Indians stole my son’s clothing as well. Oh, that’s my son, Adam,” Pate said as though it were an afterthought and pointed to the boy.

  Adam wrapped his arms around Baldy’s leg.

  “What are you hiding from, boy? Step out here and meet Commander Long,” Pate ordered Adam.

  Adam took two tiny steps forward. “Morning, Sir.”

  Long glanced only briefly at Adam and then waved him away with a flick of his hand. “What about her schooling?”

  Adam hurried back to Dr. Grant.

  “She’s a smart one,” Pate said, avoiding the question. “I’ve always believed an ounce of horse sense is worth a pound of book learning any day.”

  “Might I have a word with your daughter, in private, Mr. Pate?” Long asked. “We will only stroll for a little ways. Perhaps to that bench by that lovely tree.”

  Seeming enormously pleased, Pate nodded. “Certainly, Sir.”

  “Certai
nly not,” Samuel said. “You can bloody well talk to her right here.”

  Long ignored Samuel’s protest and wrapped an elbow around Louisa’s arm. “Discussing marriage requires privacy, doesn’t it, dear?”

  Louisa glanced over at her father.

  The man dismounted, leaned his head slightly forward, and gave her a cold, hard stare. The implication was obvious to everyone.

  Samuel saw the briefest glimpse of fear in Louisa’s eyes. She remained absolutely motionless for a moment and then nodded toward Long.

  Long stepped away with her, taking long strides toward the bench that sat under the shade of the nearby enormous oak tree.

  For an instant, Samuel stood there staring after them, feeling helpless. But what could he do? He had no claim on Louisa. He had no right to interfere. And no plan to stop this. Or did he? He turned toward his father who cocked a brow and then gave him a slight nod. That was all the encouragement Samuel needed.

  “Just a moment, Commander,” Samuel called after them, his voice hardened.

  Long and Louisa halted in their tracks and turned around to face him. The Commander appeared extremely displeased with the interruption.

  Samuel straightened his back and stood taller. “Louisa hasn’t given you permission to touch her person. And neither have I.”

  “Stay out of this, boy,” Pate warned, his face full of loathing. “This is none of your affair. I have given my permission.”

  In Samuel’s heart, there were no doubts. In his mind there were still questions, but not in his heart. “This is my affair. Very much so. For I have already asked Louisa to be my wife.”

  Louisa’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Fortunately, neither her father nor Long noticed for their eyes were focused on him.

  He stared at Long with possessive firmness. “Louisa will be my wife.”