Texas Blue

chapter 34



EM WATCHED FROM THE RIDGE AS LEWT JOINED THE band of guards they’d been running from. She wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said, but she could tell by Lewt’s slow movements that he wasn’t happy about going with the outlaws. There were no guns pointed at him, which was a good sign.

When the men surrounded him, she knew he was, at the very least, an unwilling guest of the outlaws.

“What do we do?” she whispered to Duncan a few feet away.

“Nothing,” Duck answered, as he swore under his breath. “It would take all four of us to even have a chance in a fight, and that would mean leaving the cooks and Anna without anyone to protect them. Whatever happens to Lewt, he’s alone from here on out.”

Em didn’t like the plan at all, but she could see Duncan’s point. They crawled down off the ledge they’d been watching from and rode back to the gully, where Sumner and Wyatt waited with the others.

For a few minutes she listened to the men talk, guessing how much trouble Lewt was in, wondering what they could do about it.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. “We have to do something,” she said.

Sumner met her gaze and nodded, but Duncan kept his head low. “I’ve known Lewt Paterson for years. He grew up in saloons. If anyone can handle those men, he can. I’ve seen him, unarmed, talk his way out of being shot. I say we give him a few days. He knows where we’re heading. He’ll catch up with us in Austin.”

All the other men seemed to agree with Duncan, but Em couldn’t see the logic. Lewt had risked his life to save them, and now they weren’t going to do a thing.

“You’re all cowards.” She fought down a scream. “I’m going after him, and I swear I’ll shoot any one of you who tries to stop me.”

To her surprise, Duck smiled, then Sumner, and finally Wyatt.

“Have you three lost your minds?” she asked, feeling sick that they might call her bluff.

“No, Em, we just wanted to see how much this gambler meant to you. Sumner told me, but I didn’t believe you could care for any man as much as you do a horse. It appears I was wrong.”

“Nonsense,” she argued. “I just know he’s your friend.”

“He’s more than that to you,” Duncan answered directly.

“Maybe he is, but don’t tell him. I’d rather he be the last to know.”

Wyatt laughed. “That right there is why I never considered marrying. There is no logic to women. Seems to me if you care for him, Miss Em, you should tell him and ease him out of his misery.”

“That’s not the way it works,” Sumner said. “First a woman keeps a man guessing until he puts a ring on her finger, and then she goes to work at driving him slowly mad. I’ve rarely seen a man married over ten years who wasn’t completely insane. Once a woman gets them mixed up, she just leads them around and points to what she wants done.”

Duncan moved to his horse. “Why don’t we debate this later? Right now we need to get the women back to the mission and start looking for Lewt. We’ll lose four or five hours, but we can make it up. A few of those outlaws looked like they hadn’t been in the saddle for months and had grown fat on beer and the sisters’ cooking. They’ll be needing to stop often and long. If I know Lewt, he’ll put out a deck and try to extend each stop with a little game.”

“We’ve got better horses and better riders. We’ll catch up to them and then we’ll figure out what to do.” Wyatt grinned at Em. “But I can tell you right now, when we find him, I ain’t the one who’ll be kissing on that gambler.”

Em had no more time to talk. She simply made a face at the ranger as Sumner turned the wagon around and they doubled back to the mission.

Duncan told her to stay close to the wagon while he and Wyatt lagged behind to make sure the outlaws hadn’t decided to double back. “If you hear gunfire,” he whispered to Em, “ride hard toward the mission.”

“Aren’t you going to tell Sumner the same?”

He laughed. “Sumner knows. He’s been in a few fights before, but for you, cousin, this will be your first. Up to now, you’ve been a virgin.”

Em didn’t miss the glint in his eyes. He was teasing her, but she wasn’t sure exactly about what.

Duncan was born for this life. He loved the adventure, the fight. She simply hoped they all lived to tell the story.

He tipped his hat and yelled, “I’ll catch up to you before you reach the mission doors.”

She rode with her rifle across her legs, ready if needed, but her thoughts were on Lewt. She’d told herself that last night had been more dream than reality. She’d found him alone and wanted to kiss him one more time. His life would never blend with hers, but she needed the memory of this one man. He’d touched her body and soul deeper than anyone else ever had. He’d made her feel desirable and wanted beyond all reason. Even when she knew what he was, she still longed for the touch of his hand and the taste of his kisses.

Before she faced Lewt again, Em knew she had to make up her mind about how she felt about him. She thought she knew how he felt about her. He hated her for making a fool of him. For lying to him and letting him share his secrets about wanting to marry rich without telling him who she was. She also knew he wanted her. Not just a woman or a wife, but her.

It took them more than two hours to get the wagon back to the mission. Her cousin rode in at full speed just as the priest closed the gate. She saw no sign of Wyatt and guessed he was somewhere up ahead scouting things out.

Duncan spent thirty minutes convincing Anna that she would be safe there without him. Finally, he put a second lock at her door and a tiny hole so she could look out before she unlocked either bolt.

With Sumner and the two cooks promising to stand guard over her, Anna finally turned loose of Duncan’s hand.

Em hugged Sumner.

“I should be going with you,” he whispered. “I need to look out for you.”

Em smiled. For the first time she saw that the old man liked her. “I’ll be all right with Wyatt and Duck. You’re needed here.”

He looked at the two cooks and frowned, as if worried he might be the one facing true danger. “You take care of yourself,” Sumner warned, “just as I plan to. Bring that wild cousin of yours back in one piece along with that gambler. He’s starting to grow on me even if he’ll probably never be much of a horseman.”

She smiled. “He’s growing on me too.”

Duncan and Em left the mission at a run. They rode McMurray horses bred for strength and distance. It was time to put them to the test.

An hour later they reached the spot where she’d last seen Lewt playing cards on his bedroll and talking with the outlaws as if he were just passing time. Wyatt was waiting for them. He’d ridden ahead and knew the direction so they didn’t have to worry about tracking, which was a good thing because a winter rain began to fall. Not a soft dribble of a rain, but large plops that erased the trail of a road completely.

It was afternoon when Duck called a halt. Without a word, they moved into the shelter of the trees and climbed down to let the horses rest.

“The trail’s gone,” Wyatt said. “We’ve gone beyond where I saw them turn off. They could have veered off to the east or west by a few hundred feet and we couldn’t see them in this rain. We’ve no way of tracking them now. We’d be better off to stay here for a while. With any luck they’re holed up somewhere just ahead of us.”

Em stared out into the sheets of rain curtaining her view. Lewt was out there somewhere alone, and there was no way for her to get to him.

“When this rain stops, we’ll ride on. We have to give it another try.” Duncan’s words didn’t sound like he held much hope.

As she often did when she rode the range, Em ignored the cold. She felt wet to the bone, but she wouldn’t complain. Her thoughts were on Lewt and finding him. In the rumble of the winter storm, she thought of Lewt’s arms around her and how he’d said he’d wait forever for her to come to him.

As soon as the rain stopped they raced across the land, each studying the afternoon shadows, each hoping for one sign. A campfire. A shot to kill game. The reflection of a rifle off the aging sun.

Nothing. Finally, it was too dark to continue. They camped in a dry spot beneath an old elm. Em curled up in her blanket and thought of Lewt holding her hand and wondered if he was close, thinking about the same thing. Wyatt offered her jerky and a biscuit, but she was too tired to eat.

Before dawn the next morning they were back in the saddle, three shadows moving beside a muddy road. If the gang stopped for the night and didn’t leave until morning, they’d be leaving a trail in the mud now.

If they were following the right road, Em thought.

If they were even going in the right direction.

If Lewt was still alive and with the band. She feared that the outlaws might think him worthless and kill him, or worse, discover that he was lying and torture him for information.

The sun was high when Wyatt found a camp by a swollen stream. Seven or eight horses, he guessed. The same number of men. From the remains of a fire, it looked like they had stopped long enough to rest the horses, cook rabbits, and maybe warm themselves. The ground was still wet enough to follow their tracks across the campsite.

Em stood very still as Wyatt read the tracks. “There’s blood,” he said, “but it looks like it’s from the rabbits. This could be our men, or a dozen others traveling. Whoever stopped here did so after the rain. I’m guessing they left one, maybe two hours ago. They must feel pretty certain they’re not being followed if they stopped to cook.”

“Wyatt,” Duncan called from twenty feet away. “Look at this.”

They all moved to a muddy spot behind a rock. No footprints stomped across the spot, but someone had drawn a circle and inside written WM.

“What’s it mean?” Wyatt asked.

“Whispering Mountain,” both Duncan and Em said at once.

Wyatt picked up a playing card tucked just beneath the rock. “Maybe it’s Lewt telling us not to follow but to meet him back at the ranch.”

“Or maybe he wanted to leave a symbol that would mean nothing to the men he was with, but would let us know he’d been in this camp.”

“We should still try to follow.” Thunder threatened again as if calling her a liar.

Wyatt shook his head. “From the looks of it, they crossed into the stream here. We have no idea which way.”

Em wouldn’t give up. “Why don’t we separate until the rain starts? I’ll do upstream; Duck, you go downstream. Wyatt, you cross and ride north like they’ve been going. With luck, before it starts raining we’ll pick up some hint of a trail.”

“Once it starts raining there will be no trail to follow. We all agree to come back here even if we find something.” Wyatt didn’t look like he liked the plan, but like the others he didn’t want to stop hunting. “If it doesn’t rain, we turn back in one hour no matter what.” He looked straight at Em. “If you find something, anything, don’t get too close, just turn around and come back here.”

She nodded.

“Em, watch for the place where horses have come out of the stream.” Duncan turned his horse downstream. “That’s the only clue we’ll need to pick up the trail.”

“I know what to look for,” she snapped. Both of them were treating her like a child on a rabbit hunt.

Duck laughed. “That’s my Em. Nobody could ever tell you anything.”

She was already heading upstream and didn’t answer. The stream was shallow, not more than three or four feet in the center, but wide enough that two or three horses could easily ride abreast.

Now and then she felt the splash of water but blamed it on a branch she’d brushed or her horse splashing. She didn’t, couldn’t feel the rain, for if she did it would mean that she would have to stop, and Em had no intention of stopping. Her horse fought the current, so after a few hundred feet, she rode the edge of the stream, not caring that she left a trail. No one was following her.

The trees grew denser, with dead moss hanging off their branches that reminded her of huge spiderwebs wide enough to swallow her if she wasn’t careful. In places, thanks to the rain, the water splashed over its banks. Twice, her horse stumbled, tossing her into the water, but she didn’t stop. She had only an hour to find the trail, and if she didn’t, she’d have to turn around and pray that Wyatt or Duck had found something.

In a bend in the river, she slowed, searching both banks for any sign. Her horse was tired and she knew the outlaws’ mounts would have been also. They couldn’t stay in the water much longer or they’d be traveling on foot.

Her teeth were chattering, but she didn’t care. She wouldn’t stop. In the stillness just before she rounded the corner, she thought she heard voices. Em walked her horse onto the bank and listened, then moved slowly forward.

After only a dozen steps, Em froze. Men not thirty feet beyond the trees lining the stream were talking. Yelling almost. Laughing. Swearing.

She looped her horse’s reins over a branch and moved as silently as she could toward the noise.

Ten feet into the brush and trees, she saw the men she’d been looking for circled around a campfire. For a moment, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Lewt was in the middle of them playing cards.

She counted them, unsure if there had been six or seven tracks in the mud. She counted five men around the fire besides Lewt. One on the ground looking more like he’d passed out than fallen asleep. Frantically, she watched the trees. Were they all present, or was one missing?

Again and again her gaze traveled to Lewt as if her eyes were hungry for just the sight of him.

All day in her mind she’d pictured him suffering, maybe even dying. It had never occurred to her that he might just be playing cards with the outlaws. She didn’t know whether to feel angry or relieved. She’d found him. He was surrounded, and worse, he appeared to be one of them. The man was a chameleon. Change his clothes, change his company. It didn’t matter. He blended in.

A twig snapped from a few feet behind her and Em felt something slam against her head a moment before the world went black.