Holding Out for a Hero

by Ana Leigh

  After about a quarter mile, Rico told them, “Let him go. He’ll do better on his own.”

  The women released the horse’s reins and Bucephalus continued down without their guidance. As they continued down, they tried to steady the travois to keep it from tipping over and dumping Don off.

  By the time they reached the bottom, they were exhausted and splattered with mud, but the travois had held together and the horses had made it down without mishap.

  Jenny slumped to the ground, and Andrea staggered over to make sure Don had made it without damage to his wounds. Rico took time to catch his breath, then began to check the legs and shoes of both horses.

  Glancing down at her torn, mud-splattered gown, Jenny said, “It will give me great joy to burn this gown when we get home.”

  “I thought you might want to launder it and hang it up to show your grandchildren one day,” Andrea teased.

  “No, thank you. The sooner I put this all behind me, the happier I’ll be.”

  “I never want to forget it,” Don said weakly. He reached for Andrea’s hand. “I can’t wait for the day we can tell our grandchildren about it.”

  Andrea blushed and put a hand on his brow. “I’m afraid he’s delirious.”

  “I know everyone is exhausted, but let’s get moving,” Rico said. “If that gang spots us, they’re as capable of getting down that mountain as we were. Ladies, we have to pick up the pace, so get back on Bucep.”

  As Jenny climbed on behind Andrea, she grumbled, “Doesn’t Dan’l Boone ever get tired?”

  “Honey, I’m sure he’s more tired than any of us. Every time I woke up last night, he was awake sitting at the entrance. I bet he didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

  Jenny felt a stab of remorse, remembering the same thing. “You’re right, Aunt Andrea. I’m being cranky and childish. I just wish he was more tactful and less bossy.”

  “He takes his responsibilities seriously, honey. I’m sure he wants to be rid of us as soon as possible.”

  “And collect his reward. I’m sure my father’s will sweeten that pot, too,” Jenny declared.

  “And a well-earned reward, indeed. If I had any money I’d throw it into the pot, too. Jenny, why do I have to keep reminding you that none of us would be alive right now were it not for Rico. I think you’re trying too hard to convince yourself that you aren’t attracted to him. I don’t believe you’re fooling him, either.”

  “I know I’m not.” Jenny sighed deeply. “He laughs or shrugs off my insults, then orders me around as if I’m stupid and inept. But not knowing how to build a campfire, or preferring to sleep in a bed rather than on the hard, damp ground, are personal choices. They don’t reflect a lack of intelligence. So why should I try to please Rico Fraser with capabilities I don’t have, when he makes no effort to recognize the ones I do possess?”

  She sighed again. “I tell myself not to be foolish enough to succumb to his occasional charm, but I am attracted to him. Yet I abhor what he does for a living.”

  “My poor darling, I understand what you’re going through. Last night you told me you’ve only exchanged a kiss. I hope that’s true, and that he and you haven’t—”

  “We’ve only kissed, Aunt Andrea.”

  “It was forward of me to ask, honey, but as you said, he has a persuasive charm when he chooses to use it. I was only thinking of the consequences if…”

  “I understand, and I’m not offended.” Jenny tightened her hold around Andrea’s waist and leaned against her back in a hug. “I love you, dearly, Aunt Andrea.”

  They hadn’t been riding for more than an hour when Rico reined up and motioned to them to get off the road.

  “I thought we were going straight through to the fort,” Jenny said.

  “That’s my intent, but there’s a dust trail coming up from behind us. Andrea, do you think you can handle the travois? I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “What do you plan on doing?” Jenny asked.

  “If it’s that gang, he intends to try and stop them. Don’t you, Rico?” Andrea said.

  “You said there were six of them, Rico. You wouldn’t have a chance against six guns,” Don protested.

  “I see some good cover over there in those rocks. With two rifles and my Colt, I can hold them off for a few hours. By then it will be dark enough for me to slip away and catch up with you.”

  Troubled, Jenny’s full lower lip curved down. “If you’re still alive. Why don’t we just try to outrun them?”

  “They’d overtake us—and the travois isn’t built for that kind of speed. It’s a miracle it held together up to now. We’ve saved a lot of time and miles, getting down here the way we did. Andrea, stay on this road and don’t stop. I figure you’ve got about a six-hour ride from here to the fort.”

  “Why don’t I stay with you?” Jenny said. “I can keep loading the rifles for you.”

  “Not on your life, Princess. Get going—you’re wasting precious time.”

  Jenny slipped her arms around his neck, tears misting her eyes. “You’re not fooling me for a minute, Dan’l. You’re just hoping to get out of that date we have for tomorrow night.” She drew his head down and kissed him, then turned away quickly and climbed on the horse behind Andrea.

  “God be with you, Rico,” Andrea said, and goaded the horse forward.

  11

  “Let’s find us some good cover, Bucep.” Rico stationed himself behind a slightly projected boulder near a curve in the road. He figured he could pick off a couple of them right away as they came around the curve.

  Within minutes, he heard the thundering pound of approaching horses. Hope leaped into his heart when it was followed by the sound of creaking wood and the crack of a whip. A coach came jostling around the curve.

  Rico lowered his rifle and stepped out on the road and waved his hat. “Hey, Sam, pull up.”

  With grinding gears, the driver pulled it to a halt.

  “Damn blast it, if it ain’t Rico Fraser!” A shot of tobacco juice splattered the road. “You’re lucky Tucson here didn’t fill you full of lead with a trick like that. What in hell are ya doin’ out here?”

  “Looking for a ride to town. You got room for a few more passengers?”

  Rico explained the situation, then galloped ahead and quickly caught up with the others.

  The two coach passengers, a man and woman, moved together in one of the seats, making the other seat available for Jenny and Andrea. With the help of Sam and Tucson, Rico lifted Don off the travois and stretched him out on the top of the coach.

  “No, Andrea, you are not riding up there with him,” Rico declared, when she climbed up onto the box. He lifted her down, then plunked her firmly on the seat next to Jenny. With a wink at Jenny, he said, “Tie her down if you have to.”

  “Let’s get movin’, folks. I wanna get to town afore it shuts down for the night,” Sam grumbled.

  Rico tied the two horses to the rear of the carriage and climbed up on the box, then onto the roof. “What are you waiting for, Sam?”

  “Yah-h-h!” the driver shouted, and whipped the reins. The coach bounced forward, jostling the passengers inside.

  “How are you doing, Masters?” Rico asked after a short time.

  “No offense, Rico, but it’s more comfortable than that travois.”

  Rico chuckled. “This was the break we needed, Don. We should reach the fort in a few more hours, and you can finally get proper treatment.”

  “I don’t believe it; you finally called me by my name,” Don exclaimed.

  “Like Andrea said, you’re delirious. Go to sleep, Captain Masters, you’ve had a busy day,” Rico grumbled.

  “You can say that again—and the day’s not over yet.”

  As the stagecoach raced down the road, Rico rested drowsily, his mind on Jenny and her kiss good-bye. Even though it had taken him by surprise, he had returned the kiss and it had felt good. Lord, how good it had felt!

  The kiss was a reminder that they still had
unfinished business between them. It had intensified their desire for each other, but as much as he desired her, he couldn’t give in to the temptation of remaining at the fort. Until he knew Slatter was dead, he couldn’t let anything or anyone deter him.

  His head began to bob as his mind and body succumbed to exhaustion.

  A gun blast startled him awake, and he turned his head to see six riders with blazing pistols pursuing the stagecoach. He handed his Colt to Don and grabbed his rifle, then faced the attackers. Tucson, kneeling on the seat of the box, was already returning their fire.

  Dust swirled around them, pebbles bounced against the coach, and amid the sounds of thundering hooves, guns blasting, screaming from inside the wagon, and the crack of Sam’s whip to prod the horses to a faster gallop, the noise was intense.

  Two of the riders went down when Rico and Tucson’s shots found their mark. Then Tucson dropped his rifle when a bullet shattered his arm. He slumped forward onto the top of the coach.

  With only Rico returning their fire, the attackers gained ground on the coach when he had to reload. One of the outlaws succeeded in reaching the wagon and leaped onto it. Rallying his strength, Don raised himself on an elbow and fired the Colt Rico had given him. The blast caught the man in the chest and he fell to the ground.

  Suddenly the front of the coach crashed to the ground when the right wheel rolled off. The women’s screams filled the air as the stage rocked from side to side, threatening to topple over. Rico threw himself across Don to keep the helpless man from being thrown off, as Sam strained to rein up the galloping team.

  When Sam finally brought the coach to a stop, Rico grabbed his rifle and jumped down. Able to take a steady aim for the first time in the attack, his shot found its mark and another of the gunmen perished. The two remaining attackers wheeled their horses and galloped away.

  Rico opened the door of the coach and discovered the source of the screaming: the female passenger, who was crying hysterically.

  “Anyone hurt in here?”

  “Just our eardrums,” Jenny said.

  Andrea moved to the doorway. “How is Don?” she asked worriedly when Rico extended his hand to help her out.

  “Last I knew, he was fine.”

  The man exited next. “My name’s Walter Crane.” Then he reached in and lifted the woman out of the coach. “This is my wife, Olivia. Can I be of any help?”

  “We’ll soon need help to get the coach rolling again, Mr. Crane. Until then, it would be a big help on all our nerves if you could quiet her down.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “I think the worst of it is over now, Mrs. Crane,” Rico said kindly, but the woman continued bawling. Crane put an arm around her shoulders and led her to the side of the road.

  Jenny was the last one to exit. Their eyes locked in a deep gaze as she slipped her hand into his.

  “You okay, Princess?” he asked tenderly.

  “I am now,” she said softly, as his hand closed tighter around hers.

  “Rico, I need you,” Sam yelled.

  Rico released her hand and moved to the box. Tucson had regained consciousness, and Sam had folded his bandanna into a tourniquet.

  “That shot busted a bone, Tucson. You won’t be wieldin’ that Winchester for a spell,” Sam said. He followed it up with a splat of tobacco.

  “It’s worth a busted arm to get away from that durn tobacco spittin’ of yours,” Tucson grumbled despite his pain.

  Andrea appeared with more strips from her petticoat. Between the three of them, they managed to tie a compress on Tucson’s wound and help him off the stagecoach.

  “Sorry about puttin’ you folks out. As soon as we mend that wheel, we should be on our way,” Sam said, relieved to see that the passengers were unharmed. “What’s that woman wailin’ about?”

  “Try to understand this has been a very harrowing experience for her,” Crane said.

  “Reckon it has for the other ladies, too, Mister Crane. Her wailin’ ain’t makin’ it easier on none of us. Let’s get that soldier boy off the top of that stage.”

  Under Andrea’s watchful eye and orders to be careful, Rico, Sam, and Walt Crane lowered Don to the ground and carried him to the roadside.

  Rico then went to check the horses that had been tied to the rear of the coach, and encountered bad news. A stray bullet had hit the army horse. The animal could no longer stand, and collapsed.

  Rico patted the dying horse’s head. “Sorry, old boy,” he murmured sadly. He drew the Colt he had reclaimed from Don and put it to the horse’s temple. Then he pulled the trigger.

  There was little Jenny could do to be of help, except to try to calm Olivia Crane, who was still sobbing. Listening to the woman’s continous litany that they might have been killed, Jenny realized the shallowness of the crying woman. Obsessed with self-pity, the woman was oblivious to all the pain and suffering going on around her, and Jenny had little sympathy for Mrs. Crane’s anxiety. Not once had the woman even walked over to offer a sympathetic word to the two wounded men lying on the ground.

  With startled awareness, Jenny realized that she was guilty of such an attitude herself. Her own welfare had always been foremost in her mind, whether dealing with her father or with Rico—and Andrea, too.

  Was this how she was seen by others? Shallow? Self-absorbed? Dispassionate to others’ suffering? Jenny lowered her head in shame and prayed to God to forgive her.

  Then she glanced at Rico. Though she had been frightened during the attack, she also knew that Rico would bring them through it. She had developed the same trust in him that Andrea and Don had, a trust that had nothing to do with the physical attraction she felt for him.

  Her heart ached for the grief he was suffering as she watched him attach the dead horse’s reins to Bucephalus’s saddle to pull it off the middle of the road.

  She went over to him. “I’m so sorry, Rico. I know how much you love horses.”

  He looked up at her as he untied the reins. “Horses have great hearts. And army horses deserve medals when they’re killed in action, the same as the troopers who rode them. But the horse losses are only measured as a head count.”

  Sam had backtracked and now appeared toting a couple rifles, with the wagon wheel tied to the rear of a horse.

  “We’re lucky, Rico. The wheel’s bent a mite, but we should be able to get it back on the coach. It might not be the most comfortable ride, but Lord knows it’s better than walkin’ and totin’ a couple wounded men.”

  “Where’d you get the horse?”

  “It was standin’ beside that last fella you shot. Couldn’t have been a day over eighteen. Asked me to take care of his horse. He also told me his name, and asked me to let his mom know he died. Said her address in Missouri was in his saddlebags.”

  “Did he say why they were after us?”

  “They wuz plannin’ to rob the stage. Sure picked a bad time to try.”

  Sam doffed his hat to scratch his head. “Funniest thing I ever did see, though. The kid had this little bunch of wildflowers tied to his saddle.”

  Jenny gasped when she saw it, and tears rose to her eyes. It was the nosegay she had dropped at the stream the previous day. Rico recognized it too, and they exchanged glances.

  “May I have it?” she asked.

  “Reckon so, ma’am,” Sam said and handed it to her.

  Although the night’s rain had preserved it, the small bouquet was now wilted. Tears rolled down her face for the dead young man who had seen the beauty in it, too.

  “Let’s get that wheel back on and get out of here, Sam,” Rico said quietly.

  The sun had long set by the time the coach wobbled through the gates of Fort Redemption.

  Within minutes, Don and Tucson were in the healing hands of the fort’s doctor. A protesting Andrea departed with Jenny and the doctor’s wife, who insisted Jenny and Andrea spend the night at their quarters, since her husband would be remaining with his patients at the dispensary for the res
t of the night. With a promise to Tucson to return in the morning, Sam departed the fort to deliver his passengers to the hotel.

  Rico remained until the doctor assured him Don’s condition was under control; he wouldn’t be performing surgery on Tucson until morning. His patients were now sleeping peacefully.

  Rico was too tired to report to Colonel Hardy, and returned to his quarters instead. Knowing Hardy, he figured the colonel would probably show up.

  His hunch proved right. Rico had no sooner pulled off his boots when a knock sounded on the door, and Hardy entered without waiting to be invited.

  Abandoning all military formality, Hardy rushed over, grabbed him in a handshake, and slapped him on the shoulder. “Dammit, Rico, if you were a woman I’d kiss you.”

  “A handshake’s fine, sir.”

  “I knew you could do it, son,” Hardy said, continuing to pump Rico’s hand. “Doc said the Burke women are fine and are spending the night in his quarters. Tell me, Rico—were they abused?”

  “If you mean raped, Colonel, the answer is no. Miss Andrea has a sprained ankle, and Miss Jennifer sustained some facial bruises and a cut knee, but other than that, after a hot bath, a good night’s sleep, and a decent meal, both should be fine. They’re two very remarkable women. And I wish to add that Captain Masters is an excellent officer.”

  “I knew he would be,” Hardy said. “No one can say that Colonel Tom Hardy doesn’t recognize an officer’s capabilities in his command. And what about the Slatter gang?”

  “All dead for sure except Slatter. I got a couple slugs into him but he got away, so I’m heading out tomorrow to find out if he’s dead or alive. If I ever get some sleep tonight,” he added.

  “Doc said the shotgun rider’s got a busted shoulder. How’d you hook up with the stagecoach?”