Mandy was sorely afraid she was blushing again, which was ridiculous for a woman with three children. But being with Tom as his wife was an all new experience, and the dreadful blushes kept surprising her. For the moment, she diligently kept her back to the marshal.
“I think we need to hear how this all started, Mrs. Linscott. Between the Cooters and this strange feud business and all the mystery that surrounded the witch woman, Lady Gray, about half of what I’ve heard is probably exaggerated or outright lies.”
The coffeepot made a sharp clink of metal on metal as Mandy set it on Tom’s squared wood-burning stove in his kitchen, which had the same strange slits in it rather than windows. Mandy should have found it smothering, but those thick log walls felt like the strong arms of God to her. Safety. “I’ve kept to myself for a long time, marshal. I’m out of the habit of trusting folks or leaning on anyone.”
Tom’s strong hand settled on her lower back. His fingers slid up her back slowly, touching each bump in her spine. Beth called them vertebrae, and somehow, when Tom did that, it was like he was sharing his strength with her, offering her his protection, lending his strong hands to help her find her backbone. “Time for new habits, then. Come on.” He urged her toward the table.
Though she felt panicky at the thought of talking through the troubles, she wanted Tom’s hand to support her enough to go along.
Dragging out a wooden chair, Tom waited for her to sit straight across from the marshal. Then he sat at the head of the table.
Mandy thought of the majestic wooden table in the formal dining room in her mountaintop home and much preferred this rustic rectangular one, clearly made by hand from split logs.
“It didn’t start out as a feud. The Cooters wanted Sidney’s gold. Cord Cooter worked as his bodyguard, and I always thought he had a sly, cruel look. But then so did the other bodyguard, and he was loyal to Sidney.”
“I met ’em both, Zeb,” Tom interjected. “One time in Helena when I sold Sidney a team of horses. Both tough men. Didn’t care for ’em myself.” Tom leaned back in his chair, watching Mandy in a way that told her he’d protect her from hard questions as surely as he’d protect her from gunfire.
“Sidney fired Cord, and there was a run-in between Cord and my sister, who was coming to visit. Which led him to find a brother. They teamed up with it in mind to get their hands on our money. I heard—” Mandy’s throat seemed to quit working, and her eyes shut.
A warm touch brought her eyes back open. Tom had leaned forward and clasped her hand.
It settled her enough to go on. “Cord intended to kill Sidney and force me to marry him. I know his main goal was to get his hands on Sidney’s gold. Sidney heard something like that when the Cooters ambushed him and his bodyguards shortly after my sister’s visit had ended. Sidney lived, thanks to his guards, a Cooter died, and shortly after that we found that guard dead, shot in the back. A note was pinned on his shirt telling us we’d started a blood feud by killing a Cooter and that every Cooter in the country would come boiling up out of their Tennessee hills to wipe the Grays off the face of the earth. We had incidents that came hard and fast after that. Luther was shot.”
“Who’s Luther?” the marshal asked.
Mandy explained about the mountain man who had helped raise her pa and been like a grandfather to her all her life.
“But he survived the attack?” Tom slid his hand from hers and went to fetch the coffee.
Distantly, Mandy realized that should have been her job. “Yes. Then there was an attack on the men who were building our house. It was as good as done, which was for the best because the whole work crew quit. We were safe in our gap because there was only one entrance and Sidney kept a lookout posted. But when people would go through it, to town or for any reason, they were at risk.”
“You said you shot a man?”
Tom poured her a cup of steaming liquid, and the curling steam helped keep Mandy’s shivers away. Even so she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Yes, another Cooter. He had the look of them, but I’d never seen him before, so I knew they were telling the truth about the feud.” Her fingertips touched the ugly scar on her shoulder. “I was shot myself, but it wasn’t serious.”
She’d cared for her three children with her arm in agony, because by then Sidney had almost completely cut himself off from her. He sat in his regal office by day and watched the stars by night, and he took every excuse he could think of to ride into town and stay away as long as he could. A risky business considering the Cooters, but Sidney couldn’t stay home. In the end his restlessness killed him.
“Sidney was shot down in the streets of Helena. A man was arrested, also a Cooter. Sidney’s guards rode out to tell me. I guess I went a little crazy at this new attack. I convinced Luther to leave. He didn’t want to, but he knew I was about at the breaking point, and his leg was healing so slow he just made one more person for me to guard. I sent a letter with him to tell the rest of my family to stay away.”
“And the Shoshone people who helped you?” The marshal took a long drink of his coffee, which still had to be boiling hot.
Thinking of Buff’s new wife made Mandy smile, though her heart was heavy. “Wise Sister is the wife of another good friend of my family, Buff. The Shoshone are Wise Sister’s family and friends. She figured out a way to keep me safe. The Shoshone consider the land around my house their ancestral hunting grounds, but the government had moved them off. They came back, but very quietly. They made themselves known to me and occasionally brought in food and a few reports of Cooters who had tried to invade. And they didn’t set up a regular village, mainly to keep the government from knowing they were there but also because the Cooters were just as evil to them as they were to me. Since it was my land, private property, no one much cared who lived there. And all my problems stopped. The Shoshone kept the Cooters back, though there were run-ins with them.”
Mandy frowned over the trouble she’d caused those fine Shoshone folks. Well, their trouble ought to be over … since it seemed to be following Mandy. “With Sidney dead and the gap and land near it guarded, as long as I stayed close to home, I was safe.”
Tom and the marshal nodded in nearly identical motions. They were quiet, thoughtful as they drank their coffee.
Mandy joined them, thinking of what it meant now that she had left her fortress. The Cooters had already attacked once. But even while she dreaded what was to come, she looked at these two men.
Tom, much better looking but cut from the same cloth. Western men, forged by harsh elements. So like Mandy’s pa. The kind of man she loved, respected, and wanted in her life.
What in the world had she been thinking to marry Sidney?
It was a wonder God didn’t strike her dead with a lightning bolt for her stupidity.
Fourteen
It’s a wonder God didn’t whack you with a lightning bolt for being so dumb as to marry that sidewinder, Mandy honey.” Tom meant it kindly. He’d added honey at the end, hadn’t he? How much sweet talk did a woman need?
Mandy’s eyes flashed a lightning bolt or two of their own. Tom decided maybe calling her dumb hadn’t been the right thing to do. But for heaven’s sake, she was as smart as any woman he’d ever met. And she’d done a mighty dumb thing. Pointing it out shouldn’t get him in any trouble.
“But he’s dead, and now you’re married to me. I won’t be wandering off to town for weeks at a time. You just leave all this Cooter business to me and the law and don’t worry your pretty head about it.” Tom expected a smile and a thank you.
“This is my problem, not yours.”
He was doomed to disappointment. Women were a mystery. Looking at Mandy’s beautiful, flashing eyes reminded him that they were a wonderful mystery.
Tom ignored her foolishness. “So, Zeb, what do we do next?”
“I’m going out to where you saw those Cooters camping. I want to read their sign and get an idea what kind of men I’m dealing with.”
“They
’ll shoot you down from cover.” Mandy got up and fetched the coffeepot.
The tinkling of the coffee into the tin cups as she gave them a refill warmed Tom’s heart. He’d gotten himself a good little wife, except for her stubbornness … and her preference for shooting people. And the pack of killers on her trail. And—
“I’ll ride careful, ma’am.” Zeb interrupted Tom’s dark thoughts, which was just as well. Zeb tested the coffee then took a careful sip.
“I hear you’re mighty good with that shooting iron, Mrs. Linscott.” Zeb gestured at Mandy’s rifle with his coffee cup.
That’s when Tom noticed she was wearing it across her back, in the kitchen. Partly it amused him to realize he’d gotten so used to her and that always-handy rifle that he barely noticed. Partly it irritated him that she didn’t feel safe and trust him to protect her, not even inside his home.
“Why don’t you hang that rifle up?” Tom was tempted to disarm her. He’d done it before.
“I never do. Even at night, rocking the babies to sleep, I keep it on the floor close to hand. It’s a good habit to have it close.”
Tom reckoned she was right, but it pinched to think of how self-sufficient she was. He wanted his woman to trust him to protect her.
Zeb finished his coffee and set the cup down, then swiped his hand across his moustache and rose. “I’m going to do some tracking. If I think those four Cooters are ones from a Wanted poster, I’ll bring ’em in.”
“Be careful.” Mandy’s brow furrowed.
Was she just nervous after years of being hunted? Or did the coyotes really deserve this level of caution from Tom’s sharpshooting wife?
“Appreciate the concern, ma’am. And maybe by the time I get back to Divide I’ll have some answers to those wires I sent about the Cooters.” Zeb headed for the door.
Mandy met Tom’s eyes. He could see she was holding back more words of caution.
“He’s good, honey.” Tom stood and followed Zeb out, Mandy trailing along. Since it wasn’t her nature to follow, Tom decided she was hanging back to keep her mouth shut.
Zeb rode off, and Tom came back inside.
“We’ll give him a few days and see if he can iron this all out.” Tom slid his arm around Mandy’s waist. She moved before he could get ahold and remind her how much fun it was to be married.
Snatching her Stetson off the nail where she’d hung it, Mandy slapped it on her head.
“Where are you goin’?” Tom blocked the door or she’d have stormed right out.
Jamming her hands on her hips, Mandy said, “I’ve got two choices.”
“You’ve got one choice.” Tom grabbed her hat. “You stay inside where it’s safe and let the law do its job.”
“Two choices and neither of them include staying inside.”
Sighing, Tom regretted even asking but knew he might as well get it over with. “What are your choices?”
“I can go to my children. They’ll be so worried. They’ve never been away from me.”
“And maybe bring gunfire down on them.”
“Except you seem to think the Cooters have ridden off so no one’s around to follow me.”
“What’s the other choice?” Tom knew he wasn’t going to like this one either.
“I know in my gut that the real reason the Cooters won’t quit coming is that gold. They may not even have a notion of getting their hands on it, but they sure enough let it push them into the crazy way they’ve been acting.”
“You don’t know that for a fact.” Though it sounded pretty reasonable to Tom, unfortunately.
“So, my other choice is to ride to … Denver and get that gold out of my life.”
Why had she hesitated when she’d said Denver? “What are you going to do? Throw it into the streets?”
“I might. I just might.”
“We’ll be days riding to Denver.”
“Not we, me. You stay here and defend your ranch. I’ll go deal with that gold.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me, and I can’t be away that long. It’d take two weeks going there and back. Are you going to leave your children for that long?”
Mandy flinched, and Tom figured he’d just stopped her in her tracks.
“So, you’re saying I can go to the children, then?” The expression on her face almost tore Tom’s heart out. She could go there, and her location might remain secret, at least for a while, maybe for long enough to let Zeb straighten this whole mess out. But if the Cooters got wind of it, they could come at the Harden clan, and turning a pack of back-shooters loose on the Hardens wasn’t Tom’s idea of being neighborly.
“You’re staying here, woman.” Tom stalked up and leaned over her. He was nearly a foot taller and outweighed her by close to a hundred pounds, he figured. That put him in charge. “You heard those wedding vows. Love, honor, and obey!” He jabbed his finger right at her nose. “You’re obeying me, and that’s the end of it. I gave you one choice, and you’re taking it. Stay inside.”
“I’m not going to sit around inside a log fort while men hunt and kill you and anyone else they think has a connection to me.”
“Instead you’ll go traipsing off and hope when they dry-gulch you that rifle will be able to settle things your way?”
“Which gives me an idea for a third choice.” Mandy stepped closer to Tom. Not backing down and agreeing sweetly like a woman had oughta.
“What’s that?” He shouldn’t ask. He knew it before he opened his mouth.
“Instead of going to Denver or my children, I can take this rifle and head for those Cooters and finish what you interrupted yesterday. I can hunt them down like rabid skunks.”
Well, he’d known what he was getting into when he set his sights on marrying the fastest riflewoman in the West. He didn’t expect her to be all that easygoing. Still, in this instance, she was going to mind her husband. She’d do things his way or he’d know the reason why.
“You’re staying here.” Tom put his hands on her waist and lifted her right off her feet until she was eye-to-eye with him. What was she going to do about that? Whatever else her skills were, she couldn’t beat him in a wrestling match, and he wasn’t about to change his mind.
Mandy’s arms went wide, and Tom braced himself for an attack. Then those arms wound around his neck, and her lips near to swallowed him up.
Mandy tried to stay mad at Tom as he brought up the rear on the trail to Divide. She managed it mainly because the man would not stop complaining.
“This is the most ridiculous plan I have ever heard.” Tom pulled his stallion up beside Mandy and glared. “We need to stay at my ranch.”
Mandy wasn’t so much leading the way as making a run for it. True, Tom had agreed to this madness, but only after three straight days of nagging. And she was deliberately riding so fast he had his hands full keeping up. It gave him less time to think.
It also made them harder for a hidden gunman to hit.
She’d heard Tom send men out to scout ahead. The main trail to Divide was the one Tom had chosen. He’d said there was only one spot on that trail that made him nervous. One narrow stretch, lined with trees so thick they would have their hands full turning around if needed. There was a rocky overhang on that trail that would be a perfect position for a shooter. But the Cooters weren’t from around here, and Tom assured her they’d need to do a lot of scouting to figure out just how Tom rode to Divide. There were several routes, and if they picked the best way then they’d have to scout for a solid lookout spot. There was one. But though it was well-known to Tom, he also said only a knowing man would be able to get to it. It was encouraging, but still, Mandy didn’t ride easy.
She’d spent three straight nights doing her best to persuade her cranky husband to see things her way.
Not even her best persuasions had worked until this morning when Tom had come storming in from riding herd to announce one of the herds had been run off, some of them injured, many missing, all exhausted and turbulent and
threatening to stampede again.
“Those varmints are just going to keep coming.” Mandy threw him a furious look. “And we didn’t see a thing until it was too late to do anything but clean up the mess. That’s just the way they operate. We have to do something. We can’t just sit here like big fat targets waiting for them to hurt us.”
Tom glared at her, the fire in his eyes mostly for the Cooters and the damage they’d done, but Tom’s grip on his temper was always shaky. “We can handle this, Mandy. I’ll hire more hands. We’ll bring the herds in closer.”
“How much will that cost you, Tom?” Mandy snapped her fingers in front of Tom’s face and made sure he heard the sarcasm when she said, “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we go to Denver and get the gold I have in the bank? We can use it to put a bounty on the Cooters’ heads that will run them off for good.”
Grabbing her wrist, Tom shook his head. “This means they’re back. They’re watching the ranch. I’ve got men combing the hills, and they’ll eventually find this bunch and bring them in. We’re not leaving. You’re safe here.”
“You’re not safe.” Mandy tugged on her captured wrist.
“I’m fine.” Tom held on tight.
“Your cattle aren’t so fine, are they?” Mandy wrestled against his grip. It was hopeless to try and get him to let loose, but she was in the mood to fight with him, so she went on with it.
“Stand still.” Tom jerked her forward.
“Let me go.” She crashed into his rock-hard chest and nearly knocked the breath out of herself. “Not just my arm. Let me go to Denver.”
His arm came around her waist, and they stopped arguing. Stopped wrestling.
“Tom, please.” Mandy’s fist opened and pressed against his shoulder. “I can’t stand to think of all I’m costing you. I can’t bear to think cowhands and lawmen might die trying to settle my troubles.”
“No one’s died.”
“Yet. And now you’ve lost some animals.” Mandy went on her tiptoes. She couldn’t be this close to him and not want to be closer. “You might die. I survived it when Sidney died because I’d quit caring about him and I blamed him for so many of our troubles. I don’t mean I wanted him dead. I just … what I felt wasn’t the grief a wife should have for her husband. All of that had died over the years.”
Sophie's Daughters Trilogy Page 76