Wildest Dreams

chapter 23

May 1878

"I swear, Luke, it's just not fair." Joe Parker laughed, and finished a cup of punch. "You've got the prettiest wife and prettiest two daughters of anybody around."

Luke gave Katie and Pearl each a light hug, his arms around both of them. He was proud to bring his family to the spring dance being held at Billings's new, larger town hall. It felt good to rejoin society after a long, cold winter, good to be out in public as a family again. The past winter had been one of discovery. He had made a point of staying home more, sharing wintry nights with Lettie and the four children around the fireplace. There had been a lot of talking, and more than a few tears. They had read together, played games together, and Pearl had entertained them nearly every night with her piano playing. The family had never been closer.

Behind the refreshment table, Lettie dipped more punch into Joe's cup. "These pretty girls get their looks totally from their mother," Luke answered Joe with a grin.

"Oh, Luke, Katie looks just like you," Lettie answered, handing the cup back to Joe.

Joe nodded. "Pearl there, now she gets her looks from her ma; but Lettie's right about Katie. She's tall like her pa and has your dark hair, Luke. I guess she's just a real pretty mixture of the both of you. How old are you now, Katie?"

Katie blushed, always shy. Tonight she worried that the elegant, mint green dress her mother had had specially made for her fit her too perfectly. The darts in the bodice drew the dress over her developing breasts in a way that made them look too big for her thin build, and she felt that she should hide them, wear something looser. Lettie had insisted she looked beautiful and not at all out of proportion. Part of her enjoyed the fact that she was becoming a woman in many ways, but the child in her was embarrassed by her blossoming body. "I'm almost fourteen," she answered Joe.

"Fourteen! Girl, you look closer to sixteen."

Katie wondered why he said that. Because of her breasts? She folded her arms over them self-consciously.

"You see that line of boys over there?" Joe pointed to four young men who stood across the way, watching other couples dance. "They're all wanting to ask you to dance, Katie, but they're afraid because you're so pretty, and because you're Luke Fontaine's daughter. They're not sure you pa wants you dancin' with young men yet."

Katie reddened more. "I don't really want to dance anyway," she said shyly.

"Katie, it's all right if one of them asks you," Luke told her, giving her another squeeze.

"I don't think so, Pa." Katie wasn't sure how she felt about boys. Only lately had she begun to look at them differently, with a new curiosity.

"I'll dance with them," Pearl spoke up with a dimpled grin. "I'm only ten, but I can dance."

"Pearl! Ten-year-old girls don't dance with anyone but their brothers or father," Lettie scolded, a teasing smile on her face.

Katie wished she could be more like Pearl, who didn't have a bashful bone in her body. It was easy to see that Pearl was going to be the most beautiful sister, at least in Katie's eyes; and Pearl was the most talented child in the family. She could picture her sister attending a fancy school far away and making a great splash with her piano playing. She didn't fear anything, and she loved attention. Katie, on the other hand, wanted only to stay close to home and maybe teach school and read quietly in her spare time. She hated attention as much as Pearl loved it, and sometimes she even wished she were not a Fontaine. Then people wouldn't stare at her as the oldest daughter of the richest rancher in Montana Territory.

"Right now I think it's Lettie and I who will dance," Luke told his daughters. He let go of Pearl and put his hand out to Lettie, already aching for her again just from the sight of her this evening. He had spent less time on the roundup and branding this spring, had let the Double L men do most of the work. For the first time since they married, he gave more of his attention to his wife that spring than he did to the ranch and cattle. He had come to realize how important his family was, and all winter he had felt like a newlywed. It was good to have his wife back in their bed.

Lettie asked Pearl to come around the table and serve punch for a while. The girl gladly obeyed, and Katie told her parents she was going to find Robbie. Luke whisked his wife onto the dance floor, fully agreeing with Joe Parker. He did have the prettiest wife in Montana. Tonight she wore her deep red hair twisted into a pile of curls on the top of her head, and her sea green silk dress matched her provocative eyes. It fit her slender waist perfectly, accented all the right curves, curves he intended to trace with his fingers later tonight.

Because the ranch was so far from town, they would stay the night in Billings. Outlaws and wild animals still made travel at night dangerous, but that was not the reason for Luke's decision. He simply still had not gotten over the worry that the vengeful Zack Walker might try to harm his family. He had taken rooms at the Billings Inn, a new hotel built by William Richards, who had come to Billings six months ago to open a bank, then had built the hotel.

Richards was himself the son of a wealthy banker from Illinois. He had come to Montana with his wife, Betty, and their daughter, Alice, to branch out on his own in a growing community. Alice was twelve, too young to be in love; but it was obvious that the girl was infatuated with thirteen-year-old Tyler. She had met him when Luke and Lettie had invited the Richardses to the ranch for dinner as a welcome to the area. Ever since then, Alice made a point of finding a way to be near Ty whenever they were at the same social event.

"I see Alice and some of her friends are over there giggling and having a good time with Ty and a few other boys," Lettie told Luke as they danced.

Luke looked in their direction. "Young love," he said with a grin.

Lettie watched them a moment longer. "Maybe. I have seen Ty and Alice just talking sometimes, like good friends. I suppose being good friends is the best way to start, if you are going to fall in love."

Their eyes held. "I suppose," Luke answered. "We didn't have time for such preliminaries. The friendship just sort of developed right along with the rest of it."

"Thank goodness," Lettie said with a smile. She sighed deeply, looking him over. "Luke, you look so handsome tonight in your suit. I haven't seen you dressed this way in so long."

He made a face. "I hate it. I can't wait to get back into my work clothes." He pulled her a little closer, making her blush at his boldness in front of others. "You, on the other hand—" His eyes dropped to drink in the tantalizing fullness of her breasts, which showed teasingly above the white lace of the scooped neckline of her dress. "I doubt any man here is noticing my suit. You look good enough to eat."

The suggestive remark sent a ripple of passion through her as she held her husband's gaze. Since their physical and emotional reunion, the sex between them had never been better. They had gone beyond anything they had ever shared before, rekindled hot coals into raging flames. She felt like a whole woman again, beautiful, alive, glad to have her husband back, grateful for her remaining four beautiful children. "I'll be glad to get to our room tonight," she said softly.

"We'll gather the kids after a few more dances and do just that," Luke answered, hunger in his eyes. He whirled her around the dance floor, thinking how far they had come over the fifteen years they had been in Montana, and how he couldn't have made it through those early years without this woman at his side. It was Lettie's wisdom that had brought in Jeremy Shane's men, who ran the Fontaine copper mines; her forward thinking that had compelled him to try raising Herefords; her faithful strength that had gotten him this far.

It was just too bad that the Herefords had to be Nial Bentley's idea. The thought of the man trying to steal his way into Lettie's bed still brought on anger, jealousy, and possessiveness that would probably never leave him, even though Nial had married Chloris Greene. The newlyweds were in Europe, and Luke was glad. Married or not, he still did not like Nial being near Lettie. At least Nial's marriage had helped quell any rumors about Lettie and him, and gossip about himself and Annie had settled. He was glad to be able to show others tonight that the Fontaine family was just as strong as ever. He just wished Will and Henny were still with them.

"I've been thinking about investing more in Billings," he told Lettie. "What do you think about another hotel, bigger than the Billings Inn?"

"A hotel!"

"Sure, why not? Something really elegant. Martin Stowe, the man who bought Will's place for a boarding-house, could manage it for me. I've already talked to him about it, and even though he's enlarging the boardinghouse, his wife can do a fine job of running it during the day by herself. Stowe knows the hotel business. He seems very willing to run the Hotel Fontaine."

"Oh, so you've already named it?"

"Sounds pretty good, don't you think?"

"Maybe you think Billings should change its name to Fontaine."

"Not a bad idea." Luke grinned. "At any rate, if we built our own hotel, there would always be a guaranteed place to stay whenever we have to spend the night in town. One suite could be held at all times just for us. And we wouldn't be hurting Bill Richards's business, or Marty Stowe's. Billings needs another hotel, at the rate it's growing."

"I suppose that might be a good idea at that."

Luke turned her to the music, wanting to kiss her but knowing how embarrassed she would be. "I think it would be a good investment, bring in good money."

"Don't we have enough money?"

His eyes dropped to drink in the sight of her full cleavage. "Not for my Lettie."

"All I need is you, Luke. That's all I have ever needed. It's never been a question of money."

He sobered. "I love you, Lettie."

"And I love you." She smiled again. "And if you want to build a hotel, then build it. Just so the project doesn't keep you away from home too much."

The waltz ended. Luke led her back to the refreshment table, where two of the other ranchers' wives gathered around Lettie to talk about the next women's club meeting. "I'll go round up the kids," Luke told her. "It's getting late."

Just as he started toward the door Robbie came running inside. He looked a little pale, and his eyes were watery with tears that planted a sick fear in Luke's gut.

"Pa! I think somebody took Katie! I was... she was with me one minute... and then I heard horses, and a man gave me this note!"

Luke grasped his arm. "Calm down, Robbie, and tell me slowly!"

Lettie turned away from the other women as several men gathered around Luke. He yelled for the musicians to stop their playing. People whispered and stared as Luke took a tattered and soiled piece of plain paper from Robbie. Tyler pushed his way through the crowd to go to his father and brother, and Pearl hurried to her mother's side. Luke read the note silently. Terror slinked through Lettie's blood as she watched a gray color come into Luke's face.

"Jesus," he muttered in a near whisper. He grabbed Robbie's arm tighter and shook the boy slightly. "Where is she? What the hell happened?" he nearly shouted.

Tears began to trickle down Robbie's cheeks. His lips puckered.

"Luke! You're scaring your own son!" Lettie moved behind Robbie to put her hands on his shoulders consolingly. She kept a steady gaze on Luke, seeing devastation in his eyes. "What does the note say?"

The blue eyes that had looked at her so lovingly only a moment before began to change to ice. "It's from Zack Walker!"

"My God," Joe Parker exclaimed. Some of the other men muttered among themselves. "What does it say, Luke?" Joe asked.

Luke handed the note to Joe. There was anger and murder in his eyes, but also a terrible fear. Lettie knew what that fear was—that he would lose another child, that maybe Lettie would blame him for this one, too. After all, he had been the one who first chased Zack Walker off his land.

"'Got your girl,'" Joe read aloud, "'the tall one that's nearly a woman now. If you want her back, bring ten thousand dollars to Pine Creek, where you hanged my sons. Come alone, day after tomorrow. If you ain't alone—'" Joe stopped to look at the others. "He puts 'ain't' right in the letter—spelled most of these words wrong, too, the ignorant bastard!" He sighed with concern for Luke, then finished the letter. "'If you ain't alone, we'll hang your girl. Makes no difference to us that she's female.'" He shook his head. "It's signed Zack W."

Lettie closed her eyes and breathed deeply for strength. She pressed a sobbing Robbie's shoulders tightly. "What happened out there, Robbie?"

The boy shuddered and wiped at his eyes and nose with his shirtsleeve. "Katie... came out to find me. I was looking at that... that horse we saw earlier outside... the one that looked like something was wrong with its leg. I was going to see if I could find out whose it was... tell them they shouldn't ride it home because it was hurt." He shivered before continuing. "I told Katie I'd be right in, and she left. I thought... I thought I heard some man say something like... like... 'Can you help me a minute, little girl?' When I turned to look, it was too dark to see anything. I heard... horses riding off... and some man came up and gave me the note... like he was in a big hurry. I didn't even see him good. He just said 'Give this to your pa, and tell him he better do what it says... or he won't see his girl again.' Then he rode off real fast. I... looked for Katie... called for her... but she didn't answer."

Luke's jaw flexed in rage. He looked down at Robbie. "If you had come right in with your sister instead of worrying about that lame horse—"

"Luke!" Lettie interrupted. "Don't you dare say it! This is not Robbie's fault. And if he had come back with her, Zack Walker might have taken Katie and Robbie!" Did he realize how much harder this was on her, thinking what such ignorant, evil men might do to her daughter? The emotional scars of her own rape had never quite left her. The thought of such a horror happening to Katie... and she was so young! For a moment she thought she might pass out, but she knew she had to be strong now, not just for Luke and the family, but so that she could be there for Katie when they got her back... and they would get her back! Luke Fontaine would make sure of it, maybe even die in the effort.

"What do you want us to do, Luke?" An aging Sheriff Tracy stepped closer. "I can get a posse together."

Luke took the note back from Joe, read it again, while the room hung silent. "No," he answered. "He said to come alone, and that's what I'll do."

"How are you going to get your hands on that much money that quick?" Henry Kline asked him.

"I know how," Lucy Kline answered, moving to put an arm around Lettie. "We can everybody in this town temporarily withdraw our savings from the bank. It won't create a run, because Bill Richards over at the bank knows Luke is good for it. Right, Bill?"

Richards stepped out of the crowd and nodded. "Luke and Lettie and my own family have become close. I've got no worries Luke would pay it back."

Alice Richards was glad her father could help. She felt like crying, imagining what it would be like to be stolen away by bad men. Poor Ty! Awful things could happen to his sister!

Luke crumpled the note in his hand. "You, uh, you all know I'm worth a hell of a lot more than ten thousand dollars, but what a man is worth and getting that much in cash within a few hours are two different things. I've got money in a bank in Denver, but it would take too long to get it, and withdrawing that much from the local bank without taking it from all of your savings would be impossible." He felt like weeping over the generous offer, and he looked around at all of them. "If I can find a way, Zack Walker will never even get his hands on any of your money," he told them, rage emanating from him.

Lettie felt an aching fear at the words. How was he going to keep from giving over the money, and would he really go out there alone? Zack Walker probably wanted Luke Fontaine dead worse than he wanted ten thousand dollars.

"However I handle this, you have my word you'll get your money back, with interest," Luke told the rest of them. "If something happens to me, Lettie will see that you get it."

"We don't want no interest," Joe Parker told him.

Luke quickly rubbed at his eyes, as though to hide tears. "I, uh, I can get my hands on a thousand or so at home. I just hope there's enough cash in the bank to make up the difference."

"If there isn't, we'll come up with it somehow," Henry assured him.

"I'll take you over to the bank right now," Richards told him. He looked around the room. "All of you willing to withdraw your savings come with me and sign for your money."

The crowd grumbled and shouted, some of the men cursing Zack Walker, as the room nearly emptied because of people heading over to the bank, ready to hand their money to Luke in total trust. The daughter of one of Montana's own was in trouble, and they would do what they could to help her.

Luke looked down at a still-sobbing Robbie, knew the boy still had nightmares about Paul dying while he was trying to help him. "I'm sorry, Robbie. Remember our talks about none of us blaming another for anything that happens from here on?"

Robbie just nodded, wiping at his eyes again.

Luke touched the top of the boy's head. "I meant that." He looked at Lettie, and she knew that at the moment he could not quite apply that opinion to himself.

"Luke, the man was determined. If not this way, he would have found some other."

"Pa, I want to go with you!" Tyler spoke up. "They've got Katie, Pa, and you know I'm a good shot. I can help you."

Alice felt alarm at the words. Ty could get hurt! How she loved the handsome Tyler Fontaine, but she was too young to speak of such things. Right now she just wanted to cry, and to hug Tyler for his bravery and his love for his sister.

"I don't know just what I'll do yet, son. I've got to talk to the men when we get back to the ranch. You heard what Walker said. He wants me to come alone."

"He'll kill you!" Tyler protested. "That's all he really wants! He's probably got a whole new gang of men."

Luke ran a hand through his hair and walked over to where he had hung his hat. "Maybe," he answered. "Get everybody else into the buggy and take them to the hotel. Lettie and I will walk over to the bank. Before we can do anything else, we've got to get the money together. Walker probably doesn't even intend to keep his promise, but if he does, he won't be giving Katie back over until he actually sees the money."

"Come on, Robbie." Tyler took hold of Robbie's and Pearl's hands. "We'll go to the hotel and start packing, Pa." He led his sister and brother outside to the family buggy and drove off. Some of the people still at the hall whispered among themselves, a couple of women crying.

"What a terrible way for such a lovely time to end," one woman grieved.

Luke turned to Lettie, who wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. He touched her, and she turned, embracing him. "Oh, Luke, we can't lose another child," she said softly.

"We aren't going to," he answered, a determined, steely edge to the words. "Not this time, Lettie. Zack Walker just made the biggest mistake of his miserable, stinking life!"

Lettie thought how only moments ago they had all been so happy. "You can't take that money to him alone, Luke."

"I have no choice."

"Then I am going with you."

He grasped her arms and pushed her away. "What in God's name makes you think I would let you go?"

She turned away and walked outside so others could not hear. Luke followed her out, grabbed hold of her arm again. "Answer me, Lettie."

"If you don't take me with you, I truly won't ever forgive you this time! We both know what could happen to Katie. When and if you get her back, she is going to need a woman, preferably her own mother—and God knows I understand rape better than anyone! I can help her."

Luke closed his eyes and turned away, his hands forming into fists. "Not my little girl. Not Katie! I have to kill them, Lettie! I have to find a way!"

"Wait until you can talk to Tex and Runner. Whatever you do, I'm going with you. They won't question why you'd want to bring Katie's mother."

Luke turned to face her. "They could rape and kill you, too, if I'm unable to get you out of there."

"I'll take the risk. I know what Katie is going through. Besides, I can shoot pretty well myself, you know. Please let me go with you, Luke!"

Luke threw back his head and took a deep breath. "I could lose both of you. I'd kill myself if I lost you, let alone another child."

"You probably wouldn't have to. If Zack Walker kills Katie and me, he'll probably kill you, too. We're all taking a chance. Maybe after you talk to the men at the ranch, you can come up with a way out of this."

Luke studied her by the light of an outdoor oil lamp, surprised at how well she was holding up. "You've grown a lot stronger, Lettie."

She put a hand against his chest. "Because of you, and the love this family has found these past few months. We've come too far to let the likes of Zack Walker defeat us now, Luke. We'll find a way to help Katie. At least we know where Walker is holding her. That's a start, isn't it?"

Luke's eyes began to glitter with hope. "You're right. He told us more than he should have. He ought to realize how well I know my own land. I know every inch of Pine Creek Canyon."

"He's meeting you on your own territory. A stupid move by a stupid man."

He smiled through tears, touching her face. "I'll be damned. What would I do without you, woman?"

Lettie could hardly see the front of the bank for the tears in her own eyes. In spite of what they had suffered settling here, they had been blessed with one very important gift, the gift of true friendship, love, and support from people who pulled together when times were rough. What they were seeing now, people lined up to withdraw their life savings and hand it over to another in a time of need, this was Montana... the people, not the land. She took great hope in what they were doing. Surely God would not let this come to a terrible end. Please comfort and protect our Katie, she prayed silently, and let us get her back.

"We'd better get over there," Luke said. They walked together to the bank, and as soon as they entered, an old widowed woman named Tilly Gray handed Lettie some money. "Here's fifty dollars," she told Lettie. "I hope it helps."

Lettie embraced the woman. "Thank you, Tilly," she said softly.



Lettie had never felt so alone and exposed. She rode beside Luke across the wide, flat grassland that led to Pine Creek

Canyon, now only about a half mile distant. Already she could see someone standing on top of the eastern canyon wall, watching them. She had never even been this far west on Fontaine land. Luke had owned this piece only four years, and since it was so far from the main ranch, and in the opposite direction than she would take to go to Billings, she simply had never had reason to come here. Here was where Luke and the vigilantes had hanged the Walker brothers nearly a year ago, where poor Will was buried. And here, they hoped, their daughter waited, alive and well.

The carpetbag full of money hung over Luke's saddle horn. Her own heart pounded with fear, not for herself, but for Luke and Katie... and Runner, Tex... and Ty. Ty had demanded to be allowed to be a part of Luke's plan to capture these men, although they had no idea just how many men they were talking about. Luke and Ty had argued, but Ty was so upset about his sister that Luke had not had the heart to forbid the boy a chance to help. He had allowed Ty to be a part of his plan to save Katie and the money, and to kill Zack Walker; but that rescue and capture would never take place if Runner had been unable to accomplish his part of the plan last night. Today they could all die, and for all they knew, Runner was already dead.

The man at the top of the canyon wall raised his rifle. "Stop right there, Fontaine!" he shouted.

"Zack Walker," Luke muttered, the name spoken with seething hatred.

"I told you to come alone!" Walker shouted.

"It's just my wife!" Luke yelled in reply. "She has a right to be here. Our daughter might need her!"

Lettie cringed at the way Walker laughed. "What for? To talk to her little girl about what it's like to get poked for the first time?"

As though sensing his master's burning rage, Luke's Appaloosa snorted and bolted slightly. Luke yanked on the reins. "Where's my daughter, Walker?"

"Where's my money?"

Luke held up the carpetbag.

"Bring it on into the canyon and we'll make an exchange! You ride easy now, Fontaine, and you'd better be unarmed. I'll be watchin' your every move, you murderin' son of a bitch!"

Luke glanced at Lettie. "You know the plan. You wait here," he said quietly. He handed her his rifle and six-gun.

She took the weapons, her heart sinking at the thought of how defenseless he would be now. "I love you, Luke. God be with you." She watched him ride toward the canyon, making sure she did not glance back to the high boulders surrounded by a thick stand of pine behind them that hid Tex and Ty. She dared not do anything that would make Zack Walker suspect they were not alone, but she smiled inwardly at the knowledge that she had been right. Zack Walker was stupid to pick Luke's own land for the meeting. Luke knew every inch of what he owned, and he knew a man could get to that rock formation and stand of trees behind her without being seen from the distant canyon wall. On the other side of that wall was Pine Creek, and beyond that another canyon wall with a sheer drop of several hundred feet. The only escape from the canyon was out both ends and into the clearing where she sat now. If they could close off the north end, Walker and his men would have to come out the south end, where Luke was riding in. Once they did that, they would be close enough for Tex and Ty to shoot them down as they came out. Luke had not dared to bring any more men than he had, afraid too many men would create too much dust and noise and somehow give away his plan. She was afraid for poor Ty, worried he could be hurt, just as worried that her son, barely thirteen, would be shooting at men for the first time. He was a very mature young man in many ways, but neither she nor Luke liked the thought of him possibly having to kill another human being.

Zack Walker apparently believed that she and Luke had come alone. At least that much of their plan had worked. Now they had to depend on Runner, who had snuck in after dark last night with dynamite. He could move with a silence only an Indian was capable of, and he, too, knew this area. Under cover of darkness last night he was to make his way to the northern end of the canyon and set sticks of dynamite in strategic places that would, they hoped, close that end of the canyon, or at least scare the outlaws' horses enough to force them to flee out the other end, to the waiting guns of Tex and Ty and herself. It had been a long time since she'd had to fire a gun in self-defense. She had hoped those days were over, but as long as men like Zack Walker existed, and there were not enough lawmen to handle the problems, citizens would have to keep doing the job for themselves. Runner should be hidden right now somewhere up in the canyon wall, waiting for just the right moment to begin lighting dynamite fuses. She prayed he would not be seen or hurt.

She watched Luke disappear around the southern end of the wall, and Zack Walker left his guard post and disappeared down the other side. From here on, Lettie would have no idea what was going on. Luke intended to grab Katie if he could and simply ride like hell for the south end, leading Walker and his men on a chase that would, they hoped, take them right into a death trap. Then again, Luke might never come out of that canyon, especially if Runner had been unable to accomplish his end of the plan.

The sun shone down hot on her shoulders, but she only felt a shivering cold.