“I don’t have time for you tonight anyway! I’ve got more tracks to make before I stop to have my pleasure under them skirts.”
She began crying harder, mostly from relief at being spared for the moment.
“Shut up!” he barked. He jerked her back up and threw some water in her face from his canteen, then held it roughly to her mouth and let her drink. She coughed and sputtered and sniffled, her head aching fiercely, her mind whirling with her predicament, combined with the torture of not knowing what had happened to Moss. She could not believe what Duncan had said about Moss and Etta. It couldn’t be true. It was impossible. She did not and would not believe it. This man must be crazed with some insatiable love for Etta Landers.
“They’ll…kill you,” she said in a shaky voice. “My husband…and his men will kill you!”
He laughed sarcastically. “They’ll never find me. And by the time they find you, you’ll have been bedded by so many men that neither Moss Tucker nor anybody else is gonna want you for a wife.”
She felt like vomiting. What kind of place was he talking about? She had to try to discourage him.
“You don’t know Moss. You don’t know. He has ways. He’ll find you. If you let me go now, perhaps I could talk him into not coming after you.”
“That won’t work, lady. I’ll tell you how it’s gonna be. You and me are goin’ to Tucson. I know a man there who delights in takin’ in young women who are innocent and turnin’ them into whores. He drugs them.” He laughed. “I’ll be on my merry way to Canada, where Ralph Landers will have Etta shipped to—tied and waitin’ for me to come and show her who she belongs to. It will be easy to move in on her once Moss and his men find out about you and leave Etta to come down here and rescue you. Only it’ll be a cold day in hell before they figure out where I took you!”
She tried to shake the grotesque picture that he painted from her mind. If she thought about it too much she’d go crazy. She had to think of the present and Moss.
“Then, my husband…he’s alive?”
“Most likely. I checked with Landers when I got to Hanksville. He hadn’t heard otherwise. But if he is alive, he ain’t got any arms, lady.” He snickered. “No arms. That ought to be a sight—a big man like that with no arms!”
Amanda closed her eyes. Her lips began moving as her body trembled and dry sobs made her jerk intermittently.
“What are you doing?” he growled.
“Praying for my husband,” she said quietly.
“Well, quit! All that damned prayin’ makes me nervous!”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “God loves you, Mr. Duncan. If you take me back right now, He’d forgive you. He understands how much you must love Etta Landers, and—”
His hand slammed across the side of her face.
“I said to shut up!” he yelled. She cried out and whirled facedown to the ground.
“No more prayin’, understand?” he growled. “Tomorrow we’ll be far enough south that I don’t have to worry too much about soldiers or the men from your ranch! Then I’m gonna test out the merchandise that I’m gonna sell in Tucson!” He adjusted the blanket over her and shoved a jacket under her face. “Sleep tight, my lovely,” he told her.
Amanda wondered how long she could go on without completely losing her sanity. She curled up, filled with pain, and the awful sorrow of thinking Moss must truly be armless. But the thought gave her strength, for if she could survive the horrors of what Lloyd Duncan was promising her, then she would be alive to help Moss. Surely he would need her more than ever. Moss. That was what she would concentrate on. Moss. Just Moss. Her sweet and gentle husband who would come for her. Of that she was certain. Armless or not he would come, just as he had come once before.
Moss poured himself a drink and paced, feeling restless. He felt a heaviness in his chest, as though something terrible were wrong, yet he couldn’t understand why. It had nothing to do with matters at hand. He had spent the past two days getting his strength back by riding in the fresh Wyoming air and visiting the other neighbors, who now sympathized with him and Etta both. They had heard what had happened to Moss in jail, and who had been responsible for putting him there. These were not violent people, and they did not like being identified with people like the embittered rancher, Paul Simpson. And Moss seemed to speak sincerely when he told them they could have water rights. Moss felt things were coming to a head. In a day or two he would ride into town and he would have it out with Ralph Landers and Miles Randall; he would get a confession out of them and clear his own name. If people could only hear the truth Etta would win her battle, especially now that neighbors were being offered water rights.
He should be in fairly high spirits, but a morbid coldness penetrated him, a strange depression. Amanda? Surely if something were wrong, he’d have heard by now. Besides, she was at the ranch, and everyone in the territory knew her. He couldn’t think of one man who would harm her. Maybe she was sick! No. They would have wired him. He swallowed the drink, trying to shake the feeling of loss. Perhaps it was just simply that he missed her so much. He heard footsteps and turned to see Etta entering the parlor, dressed in a sleek, black dress with a plunging neckline that revealed deep cleavage and milky-white skin. She smiled with pleasure when Moss’s eyes took inventory.
“Do you like it?” she asked, turning around for him. She walked over and closed the parlor doors, then turned to face him again.
“Still at it, I see,” he mumbled, pouring another drink and cursing her for her cruel seductiveness.
“You won’t be around much longer, I’m afraid. I have to fight to the last straw.” She smiled and walked up behind him, putting her arms around his waist from behind.
“Don’t do that, Etta. I’m in a bad mood,” he muttered.
She sighed and let go of him. “Moss, I’m sorry about the other night. Truly I am. I just—I’d seen you suffer so, and I was so afraid you’d lose your arm and it would be all my fault. It all made me love you so much more, Moss. I wanted to…please you, to do something…nice for you. You’d—”
“Do you have a purpose for comin’ in here and interruptin’ my drinking, Etta—besides to seduce me, I mean?” He swallowed his drink and took a cigarette from his shirt pocket. He turned to look at her, put the cigarette to his mouth, and lit it. She studied the dark, handsome face, the rugged lines etched into it from the equally rugged life he had led. He stood there, more man than she could hope for, and the time had come for her last try at having him for herself.
“I wish you wouldn’t look at me like that,” she said, her eyes conveniently tearing.
Moss sighed. “All right, I’m sorry,” he said, softening slightly. “I’ve got Amanda on my mind tonight. I have this heavy feeling, a sad feelin’—like somethin’ is wrong. But I know if it was, somebody would have wired me by now.”
She quickly turned away, not sure she was able to hide the guilt in her eyes and not wanting him to see if it was there. Her heart pounded with dread that he would somehow find out. But how could he? Of course he could! Ralph Landers must know. Her mind raced, and she felt confused, desperate.
“Moss, I—I’ve done something to show how much I love you. I came in here to tell you about it. I’ve been corresponding with an attorney in Montana.”
“About what?” he asked, frowning with curiosity. He took a deep drag on his cigarette and walked over to stare out the window.
“About the ranch, you and me.”
He turned to face her. “It’s the ranch and you, Etta. Not you and me.”
She dropped her eyes in disappointment.
“I know that now. Perhaps some day, if you should ever be alone, you’ll think of me, Moss.”
“Why should I be alone?” he asked suspiciously.
She quickly smiled nonchalantly. “I’m only speaking figuratively, Moss.”
“Well, what’s this about an attorney in Montana?”
She walked over and poured herself a drink now.
He nodded. “Congratulations, Miss Graceland.”
She laughed lightly. “I’ve done something else, Moss. I got the wheels rolling before I even went down to Utah to get you. Actually, at the time, I thought you’d still be free, and that perhaps you’d let bygones be bygones and still want me.” She took another sip and set the glass down. She walked up close to him. “I wanted to share my ranch with you, Moss. To make you a rich man, make up for what my father did to you. So I—I’ve put the ranch in both our names; you own half of this land and all its proceeds, Moses Tucker, which means you are now a rich man.”
She smiled, but the smile quickly faded when he did not return it.
“I thought you’d be a little more grateful.”
“The two thousand dollars is enough, Etta.”
“Don’t be foolish, Moss! Besides, the deed is already done. You’re part owner of this place, whether you like the idea or not. But I must say, I’m deeply hurt. I’ve done few decent and nice things in my life. Let me do this.”
“What am I supposed to do? Bring Amanda up here so you two can live in the same house together and share me?”
“Well, I—I didn’t know when I first made the decision that you were married, and I—”
“I’m not the fool I was eighteen years ago, Etta. Don’t lie to me. You did know I was married, and your spoiled little mind just figured that the good old bastard from Illinois would just fall down pantin’ after your heels the minute he saw you again! And that he’d leave his plain little wife for the beautiful Etta Landers. Excuse me—Graceland, isn’t it?”
“Moss, I hate it when you’re angry with me,” she whimpered, her lip quivering. She turned away from him.
“Well, I am angry! It only shows what a fool you took me for! And it shows how cold you can be. It wouldn’t bother you one bit how much it would hurt Amanda if I left her for another woman. Or perhaps you figured I’d bring her up here with me and let her watch as you paraded around in front of me in your flimsy nightgowns!”
“Moss, stop it!” she said in a near scream. She covered her face and cried. “I love you! Why won’t you let me love you?” She stood there weeping and trembling, and Moss rolled his eyes and sighed, deciding it was impossible to know any more when she was serious and when she was acting. He had thought for a while that he had her figured, and that she’d changed a little. He walked up and grasped her shoulders.
“Etta, I do appreciate the gesture but I can’t share this place with you, and you know it. It’s impossible.”
She turned and looked up at him, deliberately remaining close enough that her breasts brushed against his chest.
“Moss, we could be so happy together! We could get married in St. Louis, maybe honeymoon in New Orleans! Maybe we could even go to New York City or Europe! Wouldn’t you love to see Europe, Moss?”
His eyes turned cold again, and he stepped back.
“What you don’t understand, Etta, is that I could never marry you, even if I did lose Amanda for some reason. ’Cause right now I’m seein’ a side of you I could never live with. And I’m my own man, Etta. I make the decisions—not the woman. And I make my own way. I don’t go snivelin’ after a rich broad like I was nothin’ but her prime stud!”
She raised a hand to slap him, but he caught her wrist.
“I’m sorry, Etta. But you’ve dug your own hole and you’re layin’ in it. I’m damned sorry about Ralph Landers. But if you want another husband, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I came here to help out a woman who had no help and no friends. And now I’m probably the best friend you’ve got. Why can’t we leave it that way, Etta? Just let it go and let me be your friend.”
“Then you might as well know that if you turn down this partnership, you’re also turning down gold, Moss Tucker! How many men would turn that away for any woman?”
His eyes narrowed in surprise and suspicion.
“What gold?”
“My gold! Right here on this land!”
He let go of her wrist and put out the cigarette that had rested at the corner of his mouth. He studied her eyes. So this was the ultimate weapon.
“Where?”
“The southeast section where it’s so rocky, not far from the stream.”
He just stared at her a moment. “That why you wouldn’t share the water?”
“I was afraid someone would figure it out, and if Ralph Landers knew about the gold he’d stop at nothing short of murdering me to get this land! Look how hard he’s tried already! And he doesn’t even know about the gold. Only my father and I knew about it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before this?”
She smiled resignedly. “I wanted to win you with my charm, not my gold. But if that’s what it takes—”
“You really think that? You think you can buy me? That I’d sell out on Amanda for gold?”
“It’s high-grade, Moss. Father never bothered with it. He was saving it for the future, and for me. Then he died. I’ve never mined it because Ralph has been on my back for this place ever since, and I didn’t want him to know about it. Besides, I never had a hired man who was capable of mining it correctly. But you could, Moss. You had a mine once. Think about it, Moss! You—me—five thousand acres of prime Wyoming land, good beef, and a gold mine all to ourselves. With you here, neither Ralph nor anyone else would give us any more trouble.” Her eyes lit up as she spoke. “And with the gold, you could buy up more land! We could have ten thousand acres! Twenty thousand! Fifty thousand! Moses Tucker would be one of the richest men in Wyoming!”
He reached out, grasping the back of her neck and wanting to break it. She panicked slightly under his almost painful grip.
“Moss?”
“You’ve missed the whole point, baby. I’m already rich. One of the richest men in Utah. And my wealth don’t lie in land or gold, Etta. My wealth has a name. It’s Amanda Tucker!”
Hatred, surprise, anger: they all passed through the blue eyes that stared at him in shock. Then they filled with terrible disappointment, and her lips quivered, and she screwed her face up like a little girl whose doll had just been broken.
“But I want you!” she wailed.
“You’re eighteen years too late, Etta,” he said softly, suddenly feeling sorry for her. “It’s just not the same no more.”
“I see,” she whispered, trying vainly to put on an air of unconcern.
“No. You don’t see at all. And that’s the sad part. I’m tryin’ to save your land for you, Etta. But there’s nothin’ I can do about the rest. I—”
They heard running, and a pounding at the parlor doors. They tore their eyes from each other, and Moss hurried over to open the doors. Pappy stood there, slightly breathless. At first he said nothing, looking from Moss to Etta’s low-cut dress and the drink in her hand.
“What the hell’s the matter?” Moss asked him. Pappy quickly looked back at Moss.
“Riders. About forty men. Comin’ into the E.G. Kuntz just rode in ahead of ’em and they ain’t more than five minutes away.”
“Landers men?”
“He’s sure of it.”
Moss looked back at Etta. “This is it. You get yourself down behind somethin’ and don’t come out till you hear me callin’ you out, understand?”
She nodded, fear enveloping her. Moss turned back to Pappy.
“Get your ass on your horse and ride for help. I think we can at least count on the Websters and the Tullys to come to our aid. Has everyone else been warned?”
“Yes. The men are shorin’ up now. We’re down to thirteen. Danny Greene makes fourteen, but he ain’t much of a shot.”
“Well, our thirteen is as good as twice that many, the way they shoot. Get going, Pappy.”
“Right.”
Pappy l
eft quickly and Moss turned to Etta. “Come into the kitchen and help me buckle on my gun belt.”
“Yes, Moss.” He hurried out and she followed behind. They moved quickly now, blowing out lamps as they walked through the house. Moss grabbed his shotgun from the wall near the door, clicking it open with one hand and loading it with nearby shells, while Etta wrapped his gun belt around his hips, buckling it with nervous fingers.
“Hurry up,” he said quietly, slamming the shotgun closed with a startling snap.
“I’m hurrying as fast as I can,” she whispered. She wiggled it around on his hips. “Does that feel right?”
“It’ll do. Tie the leg strap.”
He reached for his Winchester and snapped the lever back to load it; she tried to ignore the provocative manliness he exuded when he was tensed up and armed for a fight.
“Does Amanda do it better than this?”
“She’s become an expert,” he replied with a grin.
“And I suppose you practice a lot,” she said, straightening.
“All the time,” he replied.
She jumped slightly when he banged the bolt on the rifle.
“You lay low,” he told her, as the sound of horse’s hooves came closer.
“Be careful, Moss!” she whispered.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Spread out!” he heard a voice. He glanced back at Etta again, and they both were surprised. It was Ralph Landers’s voice. “I’m going inside and get Etta out of there!”
Moss moved back from the door, astounded that Ralph Landers himself would risk his neck riding into a snare of Tucker men. Etta ducked around the wall into the hallway, and footsteps thudded on the porch outside the kitchen door. One lamp remained lit in the kitchen. Moss waited quietly, knowing his men would wait until he gave a shout for them to start firing. In the meantime, they would all pick a target and be ready.
Landers walked confidently through the kitchen door, brandishing a small pistol.
“Come on out, Etta! You and I are going for a little ride!” he shouted on the way inside.
Lawless Love Page 41