Tracie Peterson - [Land of the Lone Star 03]

by Taming the Wind

  “William had a good plan, Laura. I think he can pull it off. The sheriff thought so, too, and I guess we’ll know soon enough. The money is supposed to be in place for pickup tomorrow.”

  She nodded and felt him relax his embrace. She wanted to believe the plan would work—that Carissa would be safe. But an overwhelming sense of worry would not be stilled.

  26

  I’ll go ahead alone. You keep watch, and if anyone shows themselves, do what you need to do,” William told Tyler.

  The men had carefully staked themselves around the area where the money was to be left, and now the time to see the plan through had come. Tyler looked at William and shook his head.

  “I still think you ought to let me go.”

  “Lockhart wants me . . . not you.”

  “But if his plan is to have us leave the money and return to the ranch, there might not be anyone here.”

  William tugged on his hat. “That’s always possible, but I know Lockhart. He’s not going to let sixty thousand in gold sit alone for long. He won’t know until he checks out the site that there’s no gold, but I know he’s not far away. That’s why I need you to keep watch. You’re the best shot here. If things start going poorly—you’ll know what to do.”

  “I’ll see to it.” He put out his hand, and William took it. For a moment they shook, but then William embraced Tyler.

  “You’re like a brother to me,” William told Tyler. “Promise me . . . if anything happens . . . to me . . . you’ll see to it that Hannah and the children are taken care of.”

  Tyler pulled back and nodded. “You know I will.”

  William nodded. “Then let’s get this done.”

  He mounted his horse and headed down the path. Tyler watched from his position for a short time, then set out to parallel William and get as close as possible to the rendezvous point. He had been one of the most skilled soldiers at sneaking around battlefields and staying unseen. More than once his ability to scout forward without being discovered had helped his men to avoid ambush. This time wasn’t that much different; even some of the same men were keeping watch over him. Sidley had Tyler’s horse and watched with a spyglass from a safe distance away. Tyler had only to signal the man to move in and he would bring the mount, but for now Tyler was on his own to crawl through the grass and use whatever means to hide his movements.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, Tyler reached the clearing where William was to leave the money. He could see William standing to one side of his horse. He scanned the trees with an expert eye and Tyler did likewise. Then without warning, a man came riding in from the far side. The man spurred his mount and rode fast and low until he reached William and the clearing. Then just as quickly as he’d appeared, the man reined his horse back, causing it to rear. The animal gave a harsh whinny and settled back to the ground, but not without stomping the dirt in protest.

  “Where’s the money, Barnett?” the man asked.

  “Jesse Carter. I should have known you’d be at Lockhart’s side. You always were his lackey.” The men’s voices carried well.

  Carter grinned and pushed back the rim of his hat a bit. “I ain’t no man’s lackey, Barnett. That’s why I’m here. I’ve come for the gold. I saw you comin’ from a mile away, but I didn’t see no lock box.”

  “That’s because I didn’t bring one. Instead, I brought men. Men who have you in their sights even now. You’re surrounded.”

  Carter frowned and gave a quick glance around. “I don’t believe you. I would have seen.”

  “Well, it doesn’t much matter if you believe me or not,” William replied. “Tyler, you wanna join us and show this man we mean business?”

  Tyler took the cue and cautiously moved into the clearing. Carter’s eyes widened and his jaw clenched. Tyler stepped forward with his rifle leveled.

  “Throw away your gun and get down,” William ordered Jesse. The man didn’t seem inclined to comply. William pulled his pistol. “I said disarm and dismount.”

  “Lockhart will kill her if I don’t come back with the money. You aren’t the only one with men on the watch, you know. He’s got a small army to help him in this. I ain’t the only one.”

  “Whether you are or not, if you don’t climb down from that saddle right now,” William ordered, “you’ll be the only one with a bullet hole in the leg. Having experienced that, I can tell you it’s excruciating, and if care is delayed, it’s almost certain to mean amputation.”

  Tyler saw Carter glance down at William’s leg and then nod. “Suit yourself.” Carter reached for his revolver, and Tyler raised his rifle for emphasis. Carter carefully tossed the pistol and held up his hands.

  “Now climb down.”

  Carter did so and stood completely still. Tyler stepped forward. The rifle was now level with Carter’s heart. “Where is she?” he demanded.

  The man grinned. “You ain’t got a chance of findin’ her. We know these parts better than anyone.”

  “We’ve got a couple of men who are pretty knowledgeable about the area,” William said, reholstering his gun. He turned and retrieved some rope from his saddle and came back to where Carter stood. “Put your hands together.”

  Carter hesitated, and Tyler set his sights down the barrel of his rifle, ready if the man actually attacked Will. But finally the moment passed and the man complied. William tied him up and then pushed him to the ground.

  “Now we’re gonna have us a little discussion,” he told Jesse.

  Tyler knew the best thing to do would be to bring the boys down to join them. He worried, however, that Jesse might very well have men in hiding, so he delayed. Surely if the men were nearby, they would do something to rescue Carter in the next few minutes. Lowering his rifle, Tyler tried to strike a more casual pose, hoping that if any enemy were watching, he would believe Tyler and William had grown lax in their vigil.

  “I was supposed to leave the money and go. I presume you were supposed to retrieve the money and take it back to Lockhart. Do I have it right so far?”

  Carter spit and looked up. “He’ll kill her if I’m not back by midnight.”

  “But you made mention of coming to get the money for yourself. Seems you’re not too worried about what would happen to Mrs. Lowe after that.”

  He shrugged. “The woman don’t mean nothin’ to me. If you stop me from takin’ the money to Lockhart, her blood will be on your hands. I know that you bein’ an upstandin’, law-abidin’ man . . . well . . . you’d find it harder to live with. So if you don’t let me go now, Lockhart will kill your friend and it’ll be your fault.”

  Tyler was unnerved by the man’s nonchalance. He wanted to knock the man in the face with the butt of his rifle and see how calm he was then.

  “How many men do you have out there and where are they positioned?” William asked.

  “Enough to get the job done. Fact is, one of them is probably already riding back to let Lockhart know we’ve been taken for fools. The woman is gonna be dead as soon as he knows.”

  Tyler hit the man with the rifle, just hard enough to get his attention. “You wanna answer the questions?” Tyler asked.

  Carter eyed him with great hatred. “I’m not tellin’ you nothin’.”

  “This is futile,” William declared. “Signal Sidley’s group to join us and we’ll track Carter’s horse. I doubt he was any too worried about hiding his trail.”

  Tyler gave the agreed wave, knowing Sidley was watching him through a spyglass. He then turned to William. “What about him? He coming with us?”

  “I ain’t gonna go anywhere with you. If they see me ridin’ in your company, they’ll shoot me, too. They won’t know it’s me.”

  Tyler smirked. “That’d be a real pity.”

  William considered the situation for a moment. “I’ll tie him to his saddle, and we can take him with us. If he’s so concerned with getting shot, maybe he’ll keep us apprised of the situation and where those other men are located.”

  Tyler s
houldered the rifle and reached down to yank Carter up by his shirt. “I’ll get him on his horse.” The man grunted in protest, but in one move Tyler dropped his hold on Carter and slammed the rifle butt into his belly. Carter gave a whooshing sound as the air went out of him and he doubled over.

  “Guess we can do this the hard way if you want,” Tyler told him.

  Carter looked up and tried to straighten. “It’ll take you a long time to track it. What say we make a deal? I didn’t take the woman. If I had, it would be your wife instead of Mrs. Lowe that’s waiting now. You make it worth my while and I’ll show you the way.”

  “What will make it worth your while?” William asked, stepping to within inches of Carter.

  “You let me go after I get you close.”

  “And what’s to keep you from ambushing us on the trail home?” Tyler asked.

  Carter looked at him with cold indifference. “Nothin’, I suppose. I could give you my word, but I don’t think you’d take it.”

  “You’re right there,” Tyler said.

  “We’re getting nowhere at this rate,” William said.

  It seemed like a good old-fashioned standoff to Tyler’s way of thinking. He decided to risk another method. “What about money? If I offer to pay you and pay you well—can we work this out?”

  Carter smiled. “I’m listenin’.”

  “Well, I’m thinkin’ that maybe you could show us the way, and once we have Carissa safely away from Lockhart and back to the ranch, I could reward you.” It made Tyler’s stomach turn to even imagine rewarding this man for his part in Carissa’s disappearance, but he was desperate.

  “And what makes you think I trust you any more than you trust me?” Carter asked. “What’s to keep you from turning me over to the sheriff when I come for my pay?”

  “You said you had nothing to do with taking Carissa,” William countered. “You’re only here to pick up something your employer sent you to retrieve. If you haven’t broken the law, the sheriff isn’t going to have any reason to arrest you. Look, we’re losing time.”

  Carter said nothing for a minute, and Tyler thought for sure he would refuse. Then he shrugged. “All right. I reckon I don’t have much choice. I want a thousand dollars. I know Lockhart figured you to have sixty thousand from the sale of your cattle. A thousand won’t set you back that much.”

  “Done,” Tyler said, not even bothering to haggle. “As soon as we’re safely back to the ranch with Carissa, I will meet you at the bank in Cedar Springs and get you the money. Agreed?” Tyler figured this would keep the man from attempting to ambush them on the trail back to the Barnett ranch.

  Carter looked pleased. “You got a deal. But I’m only takin’ you as far as where the guards are posted. They’ll shoot first and ask questions later if they see more than me ridin’ up.”

  “Good enough,” William replied. “Now let’s get on with it.”

  Carissa’s stomach burned, and her thoughts were muddled and confused. When she closed her heavy eyelids, it felt as though she were scraping her eyes with grit. Moaning, she used all her strength to roll to one side. She saw the cup on the floor beside the bed, and it only served to remind her of the futility of her situation. If she’d had any tears left, she would have cried in agony.

  How long had it been since she’d had water? Food? She didn’t even know how many days had passed by, but she felt certain that death was near. She had heard Brandon talk once of going for nearly a week without much to eat, but it hadn’t hurt him because he had water. Without water, he had told them, a person would die within days.

  I’m sorry, God. I tried to make changes and be a good woman. I tried to learn my Bible and pray. I don’t know where I went wrong, but I pray that you forgive me all my wrongdoings and that when I pass, you’ll take me to be with you in heaven.

  She felt at peace with her prayer. There was nothing more to do or say. She had done everything that needed to be done. The panic she’d often felt at the thought of Gloria being without her faded. God would see to it that Gloria had a home and people to love her. Of this Carissa was sure.

  Her last thoughts were of Tyler and how she wished she would have told him of her feelings prior to his leaving for the cattle drive. She’d let jealousy halt her actions then. She hoped Laura or Hannah would tell him just how much she’d come to care for him . . . to love him.

  Closing her eyes, Carissa felt her strength give out. There was nothing to do but wait for the end.

  “There are two men on top of that rock on the other side,” Jesse told William and Tyler. “They’re guarding the entrance to the slough that will lead you to the hideout.”

  “Just two?” William asked.

  Carter laughed. “Yeah. There’s a couple more out there, but they’re closer to the shack.”

  “And is that it? Is that Lockhart’s army?”

  Carter looked rather sheepish. It was a strange look on the normally fierce man. “Yeah.”

  “How do you want to approach this, Will?”

  “If they see Jesse coming with two additional riders, I’m sure we’ll be in trouble,” William said. “Looks like we’ll have to climb over the rock and take them by surprise.”

  Tyler turned to the man. “You better be right about this.” He climbed down from his horse and asked William, “What do you want to do with him?”

  William shrugged. “We’ll tie Carter up and gag him. We’ll have to come back for the horses. Sidley and his boys will catch up with us soon enough and find him. Hopefully the sheriff is already in position.”

  “Sheriff? Wait a minute—you didn’t say nothin’ about the sheriff.”

  William looked at him and shook his head. “No, I suppose I didn’t.”

  “Well, that ain’t fair. You said you’d let me go. You said you’d pay me.”

  Tyler undid the rope and yanked Jesse from the back of his horse. “Shut up and get over there.” He pushed Carter toward a tree. “We’re losing the light, Will. I figure if we move in and wait until dark, we can sneak up on them.”

  “I did my part! I brought you here,” Jesse protested.

  “I agree and like I said, if you didn’t break the law, the sheriff won’t want anything to do with you.” William walked over to Carter and pulled the kerchief from his neck. Tying it snug around his mouth, William silenced the man.

  The sound of something moving toward them from the trees caused Tyler to snap to attention. He saw that William had also heard and was moving to cover. Leaving Carter securely bound, Tyler slipped into the trees and pulled his revolver.

  27

  Lieutenant, it’s us,” Sidley called. He stepped through the trees with Reggie and Dave.

  Tyler returned the gun to his holster. “You scared about ten years of life outta me, and I’m not a lieutenant anymore.”

  “Sorry, boss. Didn’t mean to give you a scare.” Sidley smiled. “We’ve been trailing you pretty close, and since you stopped, we thought we’d better come in this way just in case something was wrong.”

  “Carter just told us that Lockhart has men stationed on the other side of this ridge. Will and I are going to climb up that rock face and see if we can surprise them. I’ve got Carter tied to a tree over there, but I’d feel better if one of you stood guard.”

  “We can see to that easy enough, but are you sure you won’t need our help gettin’ those other men?” Sidley asked.

  Keeping his voice low, Tyler replied, “The fewer of us the better. No sense in risking a lot of noise. If you stay here with Carter, I think William and I can get the two men. If there happen to be more, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  William returned, bringing a coil of rope. “Ready?”

  Tyler nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They took off across the dry grass, crouching down just in case anyone might be of a mind to shoot them. Within a matter of minutes they were in the rocks and heading up the side of the small hill. Tyler knew the climb wouldn’t be that steep or
difficult, but he feared the loose rock would give them away. He prayed that the men keeping watch wouldn’t hear them.

  When they neared the top, William motioned for Tyler to go one way and he’d go another. Tyler nodded and moved around to the left. He was almost to a place where he felt he might be able to see the two men when he heard the hammer cock on a pistol.

  “Hold it right there, mister.”

  Tyler froze in place. A man stepped out from a crevice in the rock and pointed the gun at Tyler’s head.

  Hoping the man wouldn’t know him, Tyler held up his hands. “Whoa there, friend. I mean you no harm. I’m lost. My horse and I got separated. I’m trying to find some shelter for the night.”

  The man looked at him for a moment. “Who are you?”

  “Just an old soldier makin’ my way west. Do you have a camp I might share for the night?”

  This seemed to relax the man a bit. “We got a cold camp. No hot coffee or grub. Nothing in the way of hospitable.”

  “I’d take a cup of water at this point. I don’t have a canteen with me.” At least that much was true, although Tyler knew if the situation demanded it, he’d tell the man whatever lie was necessary to save Carissa.

  “I can get you water,” the man said, lowering his gun. “Then you’ll have to be on your way. Boss won’t like you bein’ around these parts.”

  “Boss? Maybe I could get hired on? I’m a good worker.”

  The man shook his head. “Ain’t lookin’ to hire nobody. Now give me your gun,” he said, motioning to the pistol at Tyler’s side. “I don’t want to be shot in the back for doin’ a good deed and givin’ a man a cup of water.”

  Tyler didn’t want to give up the weapon, but he figured it might well help his cause in the long run. If the man put his guard down enough, Tyler could get the jump on him when William showed up.

  He handed the man his weapon and smiled. “Name’s Atherton.” He hoped the man hadn’t heard of him.

  “Folks call me Sage,” the man replied. “It ain’t my rightful name, but that’s such a mouthful most prefer Sage.”