Rapture's Gold

by Rosanne Bittner

  She turned to leave.

  “Miss Harmony?”

  Still pale and perspiring, she looked back, but her eyes were cold and impatient. “What is it?”

  “If…if your men find him, won’t you at least give them orders to take it easy on him…till he gets here and tells his side?”

  She smiled wickedly. “I think dead or alive will do.” As she tossed her head and walked off, Hank wiped his brow.

  For three days after she’d received the news about Buck Hanner Harmony seemed overly busy. She needed to be occupied, to keep her reawakened memories of Buck Hanner from overtaking her common sense. Secretly, she sent a telegram to the sheriff of Colorado Springs giving him a description of Buck Hanner and requesting that he be arrested and brought to Cripple Creek on a charge of stealing gold. She paid the telegrapher to keep quiet about the message, and she instructed him to say nothing to her husband about it.

  Wade thought she seemed nervous as a cat. Suddenly she was interested in going with him every day to make the round of their businesses, and she was talking too much, jabbering away about unimportant matters, although sometimes she seemed pensive and far away. She was pale and jittery, and he noticed that she ate very little. At night she took him with surprising wantonness, as though determined to prove, perhaps to herself, that he was the only man in her life now. It mattered little to him whether she loved him, for his feelings for her were purely physical. And although her abandon made the nights quite exciting, he sensed there was something she was not telling him.

  There was. Harmony was preparing herself. If Hank was right, she must be ready for the day she would face Buck Hanner. She wanted to be venomous, to show him she didn’t care for him any longer, to flaunt her marriage to Wade Tillis, and to watch, smiling, as he was hung. She would testify to what had happened on the mountain, not caring what people thought, so long as Buck Hanner hung. In her mind, she practiced what she would say, how she would act.

  Never had her soul been so filled with a burning desire for vengeance. Indeed, she had trouble hiding her feelings from her husband, so she threw herself into playing the good wife. Revenge would be hers, and it would be sweet.

  Three weeks passed, however, with no word of anyone sighting a man who fit the description of Buck Hanner. There was a report that someone who looked like him had been in Colorado Springs at approximately the same time Hank had said he’d seen him. Harmony began to relax. Perhaps Hank had merely seen a man who resembled Buck. Perhaps he wanted Buck to come back so badly that he’d allowed his eyes to play tricks on him. After all, he’d only gotten a glimpse of the man, and it had been well over two years since Buck had left.

  She gave up the search, for the moment, but she told the authorities in Colorado Springs to continue to keep an eye open. Surely if Buck Hanner meant to reenter Cripple Creek, he’d have done so by now or he’d have retreated. If he had any sense at all he’d stay away. Perhaps if he had been in the area, he’d heard about her marriage to Wade Tillis and it had cut him so deeply he’d left. Perhaps he’d hoped to find Harmony Jones still free and still in love with him. She couldn’t imagine how he could ever think that was possible, but she felt that it was very unlikely Hank had seen Buck Hanner.

  At the time rumors of a possible miners’ strike circulated, and shortly thereafter involvement in negotiations and in a struggle to keep the mine open took Harmony’s mind off the unnerving news that Buck Hanner might have come back. She and Wade could not afford a strike, for the mine was beginning to be played out. They had to keep it going awhile longer, so Harmony convinced Wade to give in to most of the miners’ demands. She did not want to see a vicious clash between mineowners and workers, for she’d been told what had occurred in ’94, when over a hundred strikebreakers had been hauled in by train from Denver. A small war had broken out then. Such an event could damage property and cost them more than it was worth.

  As much trouble as it was, the strike was of short duration, and it provided a welcome diversion for Harmony. Soon the small processing plant that had been built at the site of Harmony’s mine was running again, doing in minutes what it had once taken Harmony hours of painful picking away at rocks to do. Chunks of ore were deposited into crushers, then totally smashed beneath half-ton stamping machines, after which the crushed ore was passed through fine screens and on into vanners, that automatically separated out most of the lead and some of the silver. The remaining mixture of gold and silver was dumped into amalgamating pans and was cooked for several hours with mercury and other chemicals; then it was deposited into settling tanks. There were other much bigger mills in and around Cripple Creek, but Harmony and Wade had had theirs built right at the site of the mine so the ore-laden rocks didn’t have to be transported to Cripple Creek for processing.

  Harmony had not been back up the mountain to see the mill. She had said the trip was too long and the mill did not interest her, but she knew deep inside that it would be devastating to see the ugly mill built into the side of her mountain. She tried not to think of the mountain as belonging to her and to Buck, but she couldn’t help doing so, although she now kept her feelings about it so deeply buried that she didn’t even recognize them anymore. She simply had no interest in the mill, she told herself. She was only interested in what it produced. By this time, the mine was just about spent, but she was not worried. They would hire men to do some more exploring. And if no more gold was discovered, her other moneymaking ventures ensured that she did not really need the mine any longer. Nonetheless, it was difficult for her to picture the mill at the site of the mine, and to realize the output such an operation could attain, compared to her first crude panning. How things had changed since that winter she’d lived there alone and had panned and separated her own gold. It had only been a little over two years since she’d come down from there with news of her strike, but now everything was all done automatically, except chipping the gold ore out of the vein. It was too bad machines couldn’t do that, too. Then there would be no bothersome strikes.

  But this one was not really bothersome. It was almost welcome. She smiled at the thought of Buck Hanner coming back, possibly going to the site of the mine first. What a surprise he would get! Thinking of his reaction almost made her laugh out loud. Indeed, she did chuckle as she put down her cup of coffee.

  “Something funny?” Wade asked, biting off a piece of bread and gazing across the breakfast table at her.

  She smiled seductively. “Sort of.”

  “Want to share it?”

  She looked at her coffee and shrugged. “No.” She met his eyes again. “You going to the mine?”

  “I don’t think I need to now. Sage went back with the final settlement. Besides, that mine will be closed completely within another six months, and we still haven’t found a sign of a new vein. I’m glad we invested wisely.”

  “So am I,” she answered with a smile, totally unaware that most of what she thought she owned was now in Wade Tillis’ hands. “It’s strange how fast a mine can play out. You hit a vein and think it will just run on and on.”

  “Some last longer than others, but they all play out eventually.” He winked. “But we’ll keep the town going, Harmony Tillis, won’t we?”

  She tossed her head and her long, blonde hair swung back over her shoulders. “Of course we will.”

  He chuckled lightly and rose from the table. “I’ll be back tonight.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” she answered with a suggestive look.

  Wade Tillis smiled his crooked smile and his laugh had an almost evil ring that pleased Harmony. He was wonderful, because he was powerful and untrustworthy and didn’t care if she loved him or not. Life was so easy this way—no feelings, no worries over how he responded to her, no pressure to trust someone explicitly.

  “Maybe we’ll go to Denver next week,” he told her. “We could have some fun, and look into more investments at the same time.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  He frowned and b
ent down to kiss her lightly. “I do so like you when you’re still high on revenge,” he told her. “I wish I could find someone else you could do in. You’re even more beautiful when the venom is flowing.”

  She laughed lightly. “Find me Buck Hanner, and I’ll be the most beautiful woman who ever lived.”

  Wade laughed loudly as he put on his hat and descended the steps of the veranda. Although it was nearing the end of September, it was warm and beautiful, nice enough to eat outside. Wade got into his rig, whipped the shiny black horse into motion, and was off for town. Harmony stood and watched him ride away while a servant took away the breakfast dishes. She descended the steps then, turning to the right and walking to a flower garden that had become her favorite spot. Its loveliness did not fit the kind of woman she had become; its beauty and softness provided a stark contrast to the bitterness of the woman who walked among the colorful array of blossoms. But the garden brought peace to her troubled soul, its sweetness momentarily softening her hardness, its fragrance reminding her of the kind of woman she might have been had she not been abandoned and abused.

  She stooped to pick a rose, then held it to her nostrils, sniffing its delicate scent.

  “Harmony.” The voice was soft.

  She turned and suddenly went white. Buck Hanner stepped from behind a thick shrub, his sky-blue eyes studying her with a mixture of love and anger.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Harmony…Tillis, I believe it is now,” Buck added, stepping closer, running his eyes over her as though to take inventory.

  She stepped back, unable to do anything but stare. Then she grasped a trellis of ivy for support. He was more handsome than ever, but thinner, honed harder and, she suspected, stronger. She could not know what had made him so. His thick, sandy hair was a little longer, falling gracefully around his neck; and he wore a white, open shirt with loose flowing sleeves, tight pants, and high boots. Harmony thought he looked the way she imagined a man of the sea would.

  Her hatred of him rose to the surface, buoyed by hurt, humiliation, and emotional devastation. Her green eyes blazed, and he knew her well enough to know exactly what she was feeling.

  “What in God’s name are you doing here!” she managed to choke out.

  He looked around the garden, then back at her. “I might ask the same thing of you.”

  Why did he look so handsome, so sure? “I am Mrs. Wade Tillis,” she hissed, stepping back again. “That’s why I’m here!”

  She saw anger and jealousy flash in his eyes, and she enjoyed seeing his response. He took a prerolled cigarette from the pocket of his shirt and lit it. “You love him?”

  Her whole body was now wet with nervous perspiration. This was not the way she had planned to meet him. She was not prepared. She wasn’t even dressed! She still wore her gown and robe. She turned away. “That is no longer any of your business.”

  “It is,” he said coldly. “Because I plan to kill your husband, Mrs. Tillis.”

  She whirled, her eyes wide. “Kill him? Because he married me and gave me some respectability after you ran out on me? Do you know what people thought? Everyone knew!” Her breathing quickened. “You…you bastard! How dare you say that to me! You knew I trusted you! And now you dare to come back here and tell me you want to kill my husband!” She turned away again. “My God, I wish I had a gun in my hands right now!” she declared. “I’d shoot you myself!” Striving for control, she took a deep breath and stood quietly for a moment before turning to face him again. So far he had said nothing more. He was confusing her. Why had he come at all? “Do you know I’ve had men looking for you, to bring you back here so you could be hung for stealing my gold? You’re taking a risk in coming here, Mister Buck Hanner! Wade and I will have you hunted down, and when you’re hanged, I’ll celebrate!”

  He watched her, his face sad. “You never answered my original question. I asked whether you love Wade Tillis.”

  She glared at him, love raging in her soul but hate darting from her narrowed eyes. “I said it was none of your business! You get off my property, Buck Hanner! And you’d better ride hard, because men will be coming for you! I can’t imagine why you came here, unless it was to laugh at me. But you’ll not be laughing long! Now get out of here! I’m going to get dressed.”

  She started to storm past him, but he grabbed her arm, squeezing it hard. “Answer my question, Harmony Jones!” he growled. He threw down his cigarette. “You’ll not leave this garden until you do!”

  The touch of his hand on her arm brought forth waves of warmth and desire, responses she’d thought long dead, even though his grip hurt her arm. She turned green eyes up to his blue ones. Close! So close and so handsome. Yet it had all become so ugly. She could have loved him with such utter devotion, but she was hard now, perhaps beyond sweetening.

  “Of course I don’t love him!” she sneered. “I married him because all decent women get married! I married him because I was lonely! He wanted my body, and I wanted his money! But most of all I wanted to hurt you! I wanted that more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

  He felt her tremble, and wondered if she would fall if he let go of her. But he hung on to her arm, forcing back an urge to slap her. He knew Harmony too well. This was an act, an attempt to hurt him and thereby mask her own hurt.

  “Did you really believe I’d run out on you?” he asked, searching her eyes.

  She looked away, on fire from his closeness, wishing he could hold her again and tell her none of it had happened. She’d been so sure she would hate him when she saw him again. She wanted to hate him, needed to hate him.

  “Of course I believed it,” she answered quietly. “Why shouldn’t I? Everyone else I ever cared about left me. That’s what’s so nice about being married to Wade. Neither of us loves the other, so no one gets hurt.” She looked directly at him, her green eyes colder than he’d ever seen them. “Wade told me about you, about how you go around using women to get ahead, about why you really wanted to marry Mary Beth—for her money! For her ranch! He told me what a drifter you are. I should have seen it, but I had to learn the hard way!”

  “And you believed what he told you,” Buck said almost sadly. “After all we did together, all my vows of love and devotion, all our talks, our friendship. My God, Harmony, is it that hard for you to believe someone could really love you?”

  His words cut her like a knife, wedging into her determination to be cold and hard and cruel, weakening her resolution not to let the love she’d once felt for this man cloud reality. She swallowed and tried to wrench herself away, but he continued to hold her arm, and she felt tears coming.

  “No one has ever really loved me!” she choked out. “You promised to come back…and I waited…and waited! Now, after all the hell I went through, you show up! How can you be so cruel! Do you know what it was like…all that waiting…the hurt…the horror of realizing you weren’t coming?”

  “Of course I know,” he said gently. “I was going through my own hell, Harmony.”

  She tossed her head, glaring at him again, tears on her cheeks. “Your hell?” she hissed. “I lost a baby up there, Buck Hanner!” Her body jerked as she choked back a sob, and Buck’s eyes widened, a look of terrible sorrow appearing in their blue depths. “I was all alone.” She was crying now. “All alone up there! I lay all night in horrible pain—bleeding—losing the life you planted in me! If Hank hadn’t come along the next morning…I might have died!” She hung her head and wept. “It was the most horrible thing I ever went through! I screamed and screamed for you, but you weren’t there. Nobody was there! I’ve never been so frightened. Then Hank came, and he…buried it for me. I don’t even know…what it was!”

  Bitter sobs escaped her, and suddenly his arms were around her and he was holding her tightly, so tightly, just as he used to do. For a moment she let him hold her. She wept against his chest and forgot she was supposed to hate him.

  “My God, Harmony, I didn’t know,” he said quietly, kissing her hair.r />
  She pushed away from him then. “Of course you didn’t know! You had already left me! Thank God Hank was kind enough not to tell anyone. But my reputation had already suffered from our being up there together. When I came back to town I could feel everyone’s eyes on me! I knew what they thought!” She stopped and sniffed, wiping at her eyes. “Finally, to stop the gossiping, I married Wade. At least he stays around!”

  Buck sighed deeply and shook his head. “I’m goddamned sorry about the baby, Harmony—sorry you had to go through that. I suffered too, and it was worse because I couldn’t tell you what happened, couldn’t explain. Don’t you even want to know where I’ve been?”

  She wiped at her eyes again. “What difference does it make now?”

  He began to unbutton his shirt. “A lot of difference. It’s your husband’s fault I never came back, Harmony, and I don’t doubt he figured I’d never survive my ordeal. He made a tidy profit on me, and he figured he was rid of me so he could move in on your fortune. I’m not the one who’s made a fool of you, Harmony. Wade Tillis has done that.”

  She frowned as he removed the shirt. “What are you doing? What are you talking about?” she asked, pushing a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.

  He held the shirt in his hand and turned around, and she gasped at ugly scars on his back, some still pink. It would be many years before they faded, but it was obvious they would never really go away.

  “There are more on my legs,” he told her. “I earned these stripes trying to escape to get back to you,” he added. “I hope that satisfies your vengeful little heart.”

  He turned to face her, pulling his shirt back on while she stared at him in surprise. “What happened to you!” she whispered.