Sagebrush Bride

chapter TWENTY FOUR





What had she expected? Elizabeth reproached herself. That he would have demanded they stay and role-play the rest of their lives? Why should he have wished to? Just because she’d never wanted it to end? Besides, the longer they remained, the more difficult it would’ve been to leave. And she’d been right in pressing Cutter to go. She had obligations to see to in Sioux Falls.

‘‘Nothing lasts forever,” she reminded herself petulantly.

Cutter arched his dark brows. “What was that?”

Katie, who was sitting in Cutter’s lap—wearing his hat—looked up at her new uncle adoringly, and Elizabeth felt more than a twinge of guilt for deceiving the poor child. How was she going to feel to find that the uncle she was beginning to fall in love with, to trust in, was not her uncle after all, but only a man hired to play the part? Why had she ever thought it a good idea? It was a ridiculous idea! And one that was bound to break hearts—Katie’s as well as her own!

Though Katie was obviously excited about the trip to Sioux Falls, she seemed a little blue, as well. Elizabeth thought it was likely she was already missing her grandfather, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. Elias had made it clear that, though he loved his granddaughter, he was too old to be raising her. And he was probably right. Besides, he and Miss Mimi deserved time for themselves.

“I think Aunt Lizabeth said that this ride is way too long,” Katie told him, with an exasperated sigh. “And I think she’s right! I think it’s gonna last forever and ever and ever!”

Cutter chuckled, and Elizabeth smiled at the indignant tone of Katie’s voice.

“Because I’m sleepy!” Katie added plaintively.



“I know,” Cutter sympathized. “Think you can hang on awhile longer?” In the week since he’d met the kid, he’d grown as fond of her as Elizabeth had. When he looked at her sometimes, he could almost believe she was his own, with her dark hair and eyes. Falling into the role of father could be so easy.

“Uh-huh,” Katie replied as she began to squirm.

But Cutter didn’t notice her desperate gesture, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have understood what it meant. As it was, his thoughts were somewhere else entirely. He patted her head in answer, pulling her back to rest against his chest. She’d ridden for the last three hours in his saddle, speaking little but for an interjection here and there to her whiny little dog.

She’d insisted on bringing Shiftless along—swore she couldn’t live without the mutt. And Cutter thought he understood. From what he’d gathered, Shiftless had become her living anchor. Shiftless, for his part, seemed a little less loyal. Every so often the dog would stop to whine and wag its tail, then it would dash a few feet to the rear, only to stop again and bark for them to turn around. But because there was nothing Cutter could do about the dog’s distress, he ignored it, and Katie usually managed to solve that problem on her own.

With only a gently spoken word or two from her, Shiftless would once again follow blindly, wagging his tail as he dogged the Palouse’s hooves. As Cutter saw it, Katie had been raised with the dog, and Shiftless was, more like than not, the one link to her past she couldn’t let go of—didn’t have to, as far as he was concerned.

But that was the problem. Unconsciously his hand went about her waist, hugging her fondly as he acknowledged the facts: As it stood, Katie wasn’t legally his concern. Nor was Elizabeth. And he was contemplating how to best bring that subject up. And wondering how it would be received when he did.

Did Elizabeth really hold his ancestry against him? She’d said that she’d lost her mother and sister because of his people. He could only wonder at the meaning of that. Did she really blame him because Cheyenne blood burned through his veins? It burned for her. With a sigh, he rubbed his jaw, his gaze drawn like a magnet to Elizabeth. Despite the fact that she was exhausted from a night gone without sleep, she sat straight in the saddle; the only sign of fatigue was the fact that her eyes were squinted.

Katie began to rock frantically. “Gotta go!” she whispered urgently, but only an instant later, before Cutter could even blink an eye, a telltale warmth crept under his hindquarters. Katie stiffened. Cutter froze, glancing down warily at the child in his saddle.

Naw, he thought, shaking his head. She couldn’t have. Could she? His face screwed with disbelief. Damn him, if it didn’t feel like it, though! His nostrils flared and he swore he could smell it, as well. But hell, it couldn’t be! Not in his brand-spanking-new saddle? Damned thing was little over two months old!

“Ya know what, Uncle Cutter?” Katie said impetuously, lifting her chin high. But she didn’t look up at him as she spoke, and her little shoulders were still tense. Cutter dreaded her next words.

“I’m soooo proud of myself!”

Just as sure as eggs were eggs, the wetness seeped up from his good saddle into his denims. Cutter silently cursed a blue streak. Stunned as he was, he couldn’t find his voice to answer the kid. Had he really thought he’d make a good parent? Hell, he hadn’t even considered asking whether she’d needed to relieve herself! Neither had Elizabeth, for that matter. He turned to give her a cutting glance, and was surprised to find that she returned it.

“Why is that?” Elizabeth asked Katie, when it was apparent Cutter wasn’t going to.

Katie nodded soberly. “Because, Aunt Lizabeth. I held my pee for sooooooo long!” There was unconcealed pride in her tone.



Elizabeth’s eyes went wide at Katie’s revelation, and her first instinct was to laugh, but Cutter’s disgusted scowl and Katie’s anxious expression kept her from it. Her hand flew to her mouth.

“Son of a-”

“Cutter!” Elizabeth gasped, stifling her mirth. And then, unable to restrain herself, she burst into shrieks of hysteria, doubling over in the saddle with the force of it.

Cutter only gave her a narrow-eyed look, warning her without words that she was gonna pay with the skin of her ass if she didn’t quit.



Damn her anyway—Katie hadn’t uttered a word until she was actually pissing in his lap! How was he supposed to know to keep asking after her personal needs? In that respect, the kid had everything in common with her blasted aunt; one would rather chew sand than ask for a toothbrush, while the other would just as soon pee where she sat than mention the fact that she had to take a leak. Cussin’ females!

Elizabeth, who had been trying so desperately to control her hilarity in light of Cutter’s brooding expression, suddenly burst out laughing again.

Hauling roughly on the reins, and making an immediate turnabout, Cutter gave Elizabeth his most lethal scowl, though it didn’t seem to faze her in the least. “We’re taking the train,” he barked.

At that declaration, Elizabeth shrieked all the louder.





“So how long you reckon they’ve been gone?”

Still stunned by all that had been disclosed to him, Elias, his complexion pasty, only shrugged and shook his head feebly. He stared blankly at the half crumpled dispatch in his hands and read the signature at the bottom of the page for the fourth time: Brigadier General Alfred Sully. And then he ground his teeth as his eyes returned to skim the message above one last time. It read simply:

C MCKENZIE TO REPORT TO BRIGADIER GENERAL A SULLY, ASAP RE: ABSENTEEISM WITHOUT LEAVE WILL CONSIDER LENIENCY IN RETURN FOR ASSISTANCE

“Desertion?” Miss Mimi repeated once again, her lips trembling and her hand going to her mouth in alarm. A watery sheen appeared in her eyes as she looked to Elias and then back to the lieutenant seated atop the U.S. Army-earmarked stallion. “I—I don’t know—but it couldn’t have been more than two hours ago. Are you certain he’s dangerous?”

Lieutenant Magnus Sulzberger shook his head in a gesture of frustration that was far from feigned. Colyer had caught up with him a couple of days earlier with the dispatch while he and O’Neill had been hot on the trail of the renegade Indians. Setting eyes on that sweet little document had made his day, and he’d gladly left off the chase for the greater gain. Only, by the time they’d returned to where that half-breed McKenzie had set up camp, he and the woman had already pulled up stakes. From there, he and his men had come straight to the Bass spread, as was Colyer’s initial directive, only to find that, once again, they’d been thwarted.

But he wasn’t going to let it go.

He might have: if General Sully weren’t looking for McKenzie; if Doolittle, the head of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, weren’t determined to roll some heads; if McKenzie hadn’t heaped accusations his way before walking out on his position; and finally, but most auspiciously, if Sully hadn’t sent a man who hated this particular breed as much as Magnus did to slap a golden opportunity into his waiting hands.

He might have let it go.

But Sully had sent Colyer with the dispatch. And it was just a matter of time before Sully caught up with McKenzie. As far as Magnus was concerned, it wasn’t gonna happen. If Sully intended to campaign into the Dakotas, he was gonna require Cutter McKenzie’s services. Without it, he wasn’t going to find the first hostile. And because of that, there wasn’t much of a chance Sully would give up. Sully needed McKenzie, and he’d find him, come hell or high water.

Thing was, as Magnus saw it, Sully’s bluff wasn’t going to work, anyhow. Furious as McKenzie was about Sand Creek, there was no chance he was gonna give his assist—damned redskin-lovin’ breed! The only thing McKenzie was likely to do was nose into ongoing investigations—three of them if the rumors Magnus had heard were correct; two by Congress and one by the military commission. And by damn, if they were looking for someone to court-martial, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be him! He’d done nothing more at Sand Creek than the others had... and McKenzie wasn’t going to live to testify otherwise.

Unknowingly, Sully had seen to that.

Though most folks felt that McKenzie was at least a moral deserter, he, in fact, wasn’t a deserter at all. His argument with Sully had been over the fact that, because of the massacre at Sand Creek, McKenzie wouldn’t renew his commission. Magnus was aware of that fact—but the document in Elias Bass’ hand implied otherwise, and that was good enough for Magnus. Wasn’t a man alive who wouldn’t applaud him for shooting a deserter... even if it did happen to be in the back—most especially if he was a breed.

“Ma’am...” Magnus sighed for emphasis, while he adjusted the wad of tobacco in his mouth. “Look, I can see why you’d be disinclined to believe me. Your granddaughter’s safety is at stake here... but I’m more’n sure—I’m damned sure!” Impulsively he looked over his shoulder at the two men waiting silently at his flank. He waved the fairest of the two forward. “Why don’t you ask Colyer here about his ear?” Scratching at his beard, he watched the expression on the old woman’s face intently as the man he called Colyer nudged his horse forward and raised the hair away from his bad ear, relishing her revulsion at seeing only half an ear where there should have been a whole.

The animosity in Colyer’s icy green eyes completely negated his boyish good looks, prompting Miss Mimi to take a step backward. “He slashed m’ ear, ma’am,” the young man said without emotion. “Without any provocation at all.” His eyes narrowed, spilling hate, though he tried to conceal it. “Scariest sight y’ ever saw. McKenzie was sane as you or I one minute, and the next—”

Magnus spat the wad of tobacco out of his mouth suddenly. “That’s enough, Colyer,” he said. “Can’t you see the old woman’s fainthearted already? Can’t take hearing the rest.” He made a dismissing motion with his head, and Colyer immediately fell back again to wait with O’Neill.

As was intended, Miss Mimi looked ready to swoon. With a pained expression, she turned, clutching at Elias’ arm. “Oh, Elias,” she moaned. “What have we done?”

His face turning white, Elias straightened to his full height and took Miss Mimi’s hand into his own, bringing it to his lips. His anger was apparent in every taut line of his face. “We did what we thought best, Mimi. There was no reason not to trust them,” he reminded.

Miss Mimi nodded, her expression pained.

With a nod, Elias released her hand and turned to face the lieutenant, nervous perspiration beading on his upper lip. “If McKenzie’s so dangerous,” he charged, “Then what the hell took you so long to get here? Dammit—I wired Sully about him as soon as I heard he and his wife were on their way.”

Magnus lifted a brow. “Don’t know who the woman is,” he interjected, “but she ain’t his wife.”

Miss Mimi choked at his disclosure, her fingers going to her throat, but Elias spared her only a glance in his concern for Katie. “She’s Elizabeth Me—hell, I dunno her blamed name—reckon it’s Bowcock if not McKenzie. She’s my daughter-in-law’s sister!”

Magnus lifted the other brow. “You sure about that, Mr. Bass?”

“Course I’m sure,” Elias countered. “Damn you people! Was I informed back then that McKenzie was any army deserter? Hell no! Damn me, too, for not looking into it further! Christ—don’t give a hoot about the half-breed part, but that’s all you people bothered to reply about!” He waved the paper up at Magnus in outrage.

Magnus nosed his mount closer to the old man and woman, snatching the document from Elias’ hand. “Now, now,” he said, his tone patronizing. He leaned forward in the saddle with intimidating slowness. “Don’t reckon you ought to be takin’ that tone with me, Mr. Bass. We came as quick as we were able.” He glanced back at his men, then again to Elias. “You’re the ones who trusted that roughneck savage with your grandkid,” he took great pleasure in reminding them. “Not us.” His lip curled suddenly. “And if you already knew that much about ‘im, Mr. Bass, then you should’ve considered yourself forewarned. Breeds are breeds are breeds. They ain’t no different from the full-blooded bucks! Every one of them savages’ll lift your scalp in the blink of an eye.”

The veins in Elias’ temple stood out as he shook his head in rebuttal. “No, sir, Lieutenant Sulzberger,” Elias countered, “I’ve known my share of half-breeds, and that just ain’t true. But it doesn’t matter—that’s my granddaughter we’re talking about. If what you say about McKenzie is the truth, then instead of sitting here jawing, you ought to be out there searching for her.”

Magnus’ eyes glittered with open contempt now. “Yes, sir, Mr. Bass,” he agreed. “We should be. I reckon that’s why you ought to be tellin’ us where they’re headed.”

Miss Mimi started to sob in earnest. “Elias,” she pleaded, her voice breaking. “We can’t risk leaving Katie with them.”



Elias gave her a look of intense frustration before glancing back to the lieutenant. He considered himself a good judge of character, and the picture Sulzberger was painting just didn’t ring true. Still, he couldn’t take chances, couldn’t risk his granddaughter. And the man did have his papers—from General Sully, no less. He eyed the document with revulsion. He’d just never figured Cutter McKenzie for a deserter—or, for that matter, Elizabeth for a liar. “Sioux Falls,” he snapped out. “But I’m coming with you! Just let me go in and get my gun.”

Ignoring his declaration, Magnus surged upward. Standing in his stirrups, he waved his men ahead with an eagerness that sent a chill down Elias’ spine. “You heard ‘im, boys! Burn the breeze! Fulton City—in case they decided to take the Gulf. And you, sir,” he barked, his head snapping back to Elias, “aren’t going anywhere.” His eyes were intimidating in their brilliance. “This is army business, sir, and you’ll just stay put.” He tipped his hat in a mock gesture of respect. “We’ll get back to you real soon.” Having imparted that, he slammed himself down into his saddle, driving the full force of his brass heels into his mount’s belly.

His expression screwing with suspicion, Elias watched the lieutenant sprint after and catch up to his men. All three suddenly threw victorious punches into the air, and then one of them, the one called Colyer, unsheathed a rifle and held it high, discharging it once while the others whooped.

“Mimi,” he said ominously as he continued to watch, “something ain’t right here.” And there wasn’t. All three seemed to take an unnatural enthusiasm in their appointed task. He turned toward the house, springing into a run, intending to get his rifle. “I’m going after ‘em,” he called out. “Either way, Katie’s gonna need me.”