by Jodi Thomas
Ramon woke him when he unlocked the door, saying he had to take Anna for a walk before she started her duties in the kitchen.
He chased her until Duncan could smell the big man’s sweat. Finally he grabbed her arm. The girl fought him, but he dragged her out of the room.
Duncan managed to sit up, but without clothes or a gun he knew he’d never make it beyond the door even if he was strong enough to stand.
A few minutes after Ramon and the girl had gone, he heard the lock slide open once more and two middle-aged women hurried into the room. Neither looked to be more than five feet tall, and he guessed from the sweet smells surrounding them that they were cooks.
“You see, Sarah J. I told you he was still alive,” the shorter one said.
The second woman leaned close, looking ready to jump back if he snapped at her. The two of them were as out of place as bear cubs in a church. They both had red hair dusted with gray and pulled up in braids circling their heads. Not only their dress, but their talk told him they were from Ireland.
The one called Sarah J poked at Duncan with a wooden spoon. “He looks more dead than alive, if you ask me. All those men next door are eating us out of winter stores waiting to see who kills him.”
“I’m right here.” Duncan glared at them. “I can hear and understand everything you’re saying, ladies.”
The both jumped back a step and stared, as if it never occurred to them that he was in his right mind and could speak.
“What’s your names?” Duncan said, simply because he could think of nothing else to say to these two women who looked like round little gingerbread cookies and smelled the same.
“I’m Rachel Elizabeth,” the first one who’d stepped into the room said, “and this is my older sister, Sarah J.”
“Duncan McMurray, Texas Ranger, at your service.” Curiosity got the better of him. “Mind telling me what you two are doing at a place like this?” He couldn’t see them as whores, and they didn’t fit with the mission trappings at the roadhouse.
“We’re murderers on the run,” Rachel whispered. “After we committed our crime, we loaded up our wagon and took off. I told Sarah J we should go north, but she thought south would be better. Warmer climate. Toledo found us lost, out of money, supplies, and luck six months ago. She offered us both a job as cooks. Apparently, she’d fired the one before, or shot him. We’ve heard conflicting reports. His food was so bad, half her guests and most of her hired help was sick.”
“You can’t arrest us and take us back, can you?” Sarah J asked, obviously finding no need to follow her sister’s chatter.
“No,” he said, not believing a word Rachel said. These two didn’t look like they could murder a goose, much less a person. “But I can’t believe you like it here.”
“We don’t,” Rachel whispered, “but we’ve not enough money to leave, and where would we go? Murderers can’t settle in just any place.”
“Good.” Sarah J smiled. “I didn’t think you could take us back.” She looked like she might break into a dance at any moment. “Well, Ranger McMurray, if you see a crime, you can go stop it, can’t you, even if you’re not in Texas. That is, if you have time before you die or get killed.”
Duncan saw his chance. “I’d need my gun and, of course, my clothes in order to do a proper job.”
“Rachel, go get them,” Sarah J said without moving. “I’ll tell the ranger of the problem.”
Duncan wasn’t sure he could stand, much less solve any problem, but this might be his only chance to get away and he planned to give it his best effort.
Sarah J crossed her hands in front of her, looking very much like one of the mission sisters as she began. “We first thought of asking you to kill Ramon. He’s no good to anyone but Toledo, and he bothers little Anna all the time, teasing her as if she were a mouse on a string. But Rachel pointed out that Toledo would just hire another guard for the kitchen rooms, and he might do more than tease little Anna.”
Rachel rushed back into the room with a stack of clothes and whispered before her sister stopped talking, “We love the girl and can’t stand how she’s treated here. I’ve thought of getting the butcher knife. . . .”
“Now, Rachel,” Sarah J said, “we’re finished with that kind of thing.”
Rachel closed her mouth and smiled sweetly. “Ramon doesn’t have use of all his parts anyway, maybe he wouldn’t mind if we cut off one small one.”
Duncan raised his eyebrow, wondering if he should be worried about these two. For all he knew they were cutting up everyone who crossed them and cooking the bones for stew. “What do you want me to do, ladies?” he asked as the room started to spin. Forget standing, sitting up now became his challenge.
Sarah J must have sensed he had little time left before he passed out. “If we can, we’ll help you escape, but if we do you have to promise to take Anna with you. The old woman will kill her in a fit of anger one of these days. She has no reason where the child is concerned. Some on the place say she’s a fair boss, but in the months we’ve been here she beats the child several times. Just ties her to a pole and hits her with whatever is handy.”
“I was already planning to take her with me,” Duncan managed as the darkness flooded his mind and he leaned back against the pillow.
As if in a dream, he was aware of Rachel shoving his clothes under the bed, and then Anna ran into the room and curled up in a corner, her knees tight against her chest.
Ramon rushed in but stopped when he saw the two cooks were there. “You’re not supposed to be in here!” he yelled.
“And you’re not supposed to leave your post!” Sarah J yelled back. “If you say a word about us bringing this poor man water, we’ll tell Toledo how you chase Anna around every time she’s gone.”
“I’ m not hurting her. Go back to the kitchen where you two belong.”
Rachel followed her sister out of the room. “I’ve heard,” she whispered, “that a finger from a fat man’s hand can sweeten the beans. You’ve a worthless hand. You shouldn’t miss a digit or two.”
Ramon glared at her. “Don’t come in here again.”
“Don’t leave your post.” Rachel smiled. “And if I were you I’d sleep with my hands inside the covers. With no feeling in that arm, you might not even miss the finger until you’re eating the beans and think they taste sweeter than usual.”
The door closed and the room was silent except for the crackle of a dying fire. Duncan drifted in and out of sleep, reminding himself over and over to remember that his clothes, and maybe his guns, were under the bed.
Sometime in the hours of stillness, he felt Anna curl up beside him. “I’ll take you with me,” he mumbled, as if he believed he might find a way out.
“I know,” she answered in a soft voice, almost touching his ear.
When he awoke sometime later he tried to figure out if her answer had been real, or if he’d only been dreaming.
Duncan had no idea of the passage of days or nights. Sometimes it seemed colder; now and then he could see into the other room, which appeared to be a large kitchen, and in there it would be day. He slept on and off, not knowing if he’d been out an hour or a night. The only measure he had was Ramon bringing in wood. Once he’d said something about it being Anna’s daily supply. To the best Duncan remembered, he’d delivered wood three, maybe four times.
Anna brought him soup many times, feeding him a few ounces at a time. She never spoke again, if she’d talked the first time, but he slowly talked more and more to her. He thanked her for the meals and for her care. He told her soon she’d be safe and hoped he wasn’t lying.
Each time Toledo came into the room, Duncan pretended he couldn’t respond to her yells or slaps, but he knew the ruse wouldn’t last long. After a week, when he wasn’t dead, she was bound to notice that he was improving. The wound on his leg was healing, thanks to Anna’s constant care.
Anna stayed locked in the room with him for hours at a time. She didn’t escape even when the
door was open. The two cooks were now delivering food to both him and her as well as fresh water for bathing.
Late one night, when she’d washed his body and he’d drifted off to sleep, he awoke, more aware that she wasn’t curled up beside him than of any noise. He slowly opened his eyes and saw her in the light of a single candle she always kept burning. She was taking a bath, one limb at a time, using two buckets of water.
He watched as she soaped and scrubbed one thin arm and then the other. He could see several bruises on her legs. Her back was turned to him, but he noticed the flare of her hips as she washed. When she turned to pick up her towel, her body was shadowed in the candlelight. The child was not a child. She was small and bone thin, but her breasts were fully developed.
The shock of it brought him fully awake.
Through slits in his eyelids he watched, unable to turn away. She lifted a band of thin cotton and wrapped her breasts, flattening them out against her chest. Then, using a thin cord belt, she circled her waist and looped more cotton bandaging between her legs.
Duncan tried to make his mind work as she slipped into the plain, simple clothes all children wear. Shapeless, comfortable. But Anna wasn’t a child, and if he was guessing right, she was in her time of the month.
Not that he knew all that much about women, but he did know animals. He asked his father once about the workings of women, and Travis McMurray said there are things in this world a man shouldn’t learn about and if he does, he’s the sorrier for it.
Once she was dressed, she washed out rags in the clean water, scrubbing all blood away, and then she placed the bits of cloth near the fire to dry.
Duncan closed his eyes and tried to think. Anna wasn’t a mindless child about to grow into womanhood. She was a full-grown woman pretending in order to survive and, thanks to being locked up in a room every night, she’d managed to keep her secret.
When the rags were dry, she folded them and slipped them into a tin box. She lifted a piece of paper from the lid of the box and looked at it a long time in the light, then put it back and hid the box beneath the pile of wood. She crossed to the bed and curled up beside him.
Duncan fell asleep wishing he could ask her questions, but he knew he’d frighten her if she thought he knew her secret.
CHAPTER 23
LEWT RODE TOWARD TOWN, FIGHTING BETWEEN worry over his friend and fury over Em thinking she had to come. He’d argued with her even while they’d saddled the horses, but she’d said over and over that she was in charge of the ranch while the men were gone and she’d been told by Teagen to do whatever she thought he would do if trouble came. Teagen would go after Duncan, and so would she.
Halfway to town, he pulled up beside her and tried again. “You can stay with us until we board the cattle train, and then I want you to go back to the ranch. We’ll be sleeping in a stock car with the horses. That’s no place for you, Em. Go back and take care of the ranch like you were hired to do and stop pretending to be someone you’re not.” He thought about adding that he was an expert at pretending. He’d been doing it all week.
“Once we get to Anderson Glen, I’m stopping to talk to Rose and Bethie while Sumner buys supplies.” Em’s voice was calm, too calm. “I’ll meet you at the station. I’m going after Duncan, even if I have to step over your body to board.”
“I thought we were friends,” he said, fighting down swear words by the dozens. “Now just because I’m thinking of you, you’re threatening to kill me.”
“We were friends, maybe we still are, but a few kisses does not give you any power over me. You’re not my father or my husband. Even if you were, I’m not sure I would listen to you on this. Duncan is in trouble and I’m as good with a gun as most and, if he’s hurt, I brought medicine.”
“Fair enough.” He gave in. “Go with us, but when we reach the border, stay on the Texas side in camp. We’ll go over, bring him back, and turn him over to you for care. How does that sound?”
She didn’t answer.
He guessed she saw no need to argue ahead of time, and he doubted she’d listen when they reached the Rio any better than she’d listened when they’d left the ranch. He decided she was the most stubborn woman alive. If she ever did get married, she’d drive her husband to drink within days.
She tried to pull ahead, but he stayed right beside her.
“Don’t do this, Em,” he said, more to himself than her. “Stay here where it’s safe.”
“End of discussion,” she snapped.
Anger boiled over in him. “You’re right, I’m not your husband. I’m through talking. It’s easy to see why no man would want to be married to you. It appears you’re more man than any husband could ever be.”
She shot off at full gallop, and he didn’t try to keep up again. As always, the minute his words were out, he was sorry. He didn’t understand. He’d spent years learning to get along with every type of person from governors to drunks, but he couldn’t seem to get along with her. She was headstrong and proud and toxic. He’d probably get himself killed trying to protect her, and she hated him more often than not.
Sumner caught up to him. He had two extra McMurray horses on a lead line. The man walked with a limp, but his old body seemed molded for a horse. He rode with the ease of one born in the saddle.
They rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Lewt said, “She shouldn’t come along. It’s too dangerous. Can’t you talk some sense into her?”
“She’s a better rider and better shot than most rangers I’ve ridden with. I’ve watched her for years, that one. She’s shy, afraid sometimes, but she’s got spirit. She’ll be fine.”
“So you’re not going to try to talk her into staying here?”
The old man shook his head. “It’s been my experience no one can talk a McMurray into anything. You just got to ride with them or stay out of their way.”
Great, Lewt thought, the old man is playing along with the lie that she’s really Emily McMurray. In two days he’d be crossing the border with two crazy people and a ranger who had a death wish. The odds weren’t good. If he had any brains left, he’d turn around and go back to the ranch himself. Maybe it wasn’t too late to talk the real Emily McMurray into marrying him. Or maybe he could give Rose one more try? She didn’t seem near as crazy about Boyd as Boyd seemed to think she was.
Lewt shook his head. He knew he wouldn’t, couldn’t turn back. For once in his life he had to play full-out against all the odds. Duncan was the best friend he’d ever had, and he wasn’t prepared to lose him without a fight. Even if he hadn’t known Duncan, he couldn’t let Em ride into trouble alone. Much as he hated to admit it, he cared about her.
Heaven knew why. She hated him right now. She was a thousand miles away from what he wanted for a wife, and even if he did want her, she’d made it plain she didn’t want him or any other man.
Lewt decided he fit right in with this group of nuts. He was as crazy as the rest of them. “What do you think our chances are of coming out of this alive?” he asked Sumner.
“Does it matter?” the old man answered.
Lewt laughed. “No.”
CHAPTER 24
EM WALKED TO THE LITTLE HOUSE HER FAMILY owned in town while the men talked the station manager into letting them ride on a freight train at least as far as Austin. If he let them travel farther south, they could save a day’s ride.
The railroads had a strict policy against riding with the animals, but a few dollars in the right palm usually got a cowboy a straw bed for the night. The main office might set policy, but the men who worked the line knew that times were hard and folks needing to get from one part of Texas to another didn’t always have money. So, for the price of transporting a horse, the cowboy sometimes got to ride free, even on trains with no passenger cars.
She tapped on the door to the “little house” and was glad to find her sisters home. Mrs. Allender had decided to take an afternoon nap, so the women came back to the house while the men elected to have a
drink at the saloon.
Em followed her sisters to the kitchen, where Rose poured tea and they talked quietly.
After Em explained what had happened to Duncan, Bethie cried. They’d all hated and loved him as a child, but he was family, and family to the McMurrays came first.
“There’s no sense wishing Papa were here. He’s not. We’ve got to do what we can. I’ll go get him, guessing he must be injured somehow or he would have come out with the others. Rose, you and Beth will have to take turns watching over the ranch as soon as you say good-bye to our guests. Sumner tells me the men know what to do, but have Danny, the kid who’s always hanging around the barn, ride with you on rounds. Sumner says he’s a good shot if trouble comes up.”
Beth nodded. “I’m sure Davis will go with me while he’s here. He rides well and I feel comfortable with him on guard. That will relieve one hired hand to work in the barn. With Sumner gone, they’ll have their hands full.”
Rose stared at her sisters. She hadn’t been out riding with her papa for years. The idea of spending an entire day in the saddle didn’t appeal to her. “I’m not even sure I know who Danny is,” she complained. “Em, don’t you think we should wire Papa and ask him to come back?”
“No,” Em said. “I promised I could handle whatever came up. I’ll handle this. I’ll bring back Duck. Papa’s got his hands full taking Jamie around to the doctors. He doesn’t need to worry about what’s happening at home right now. We’ll have Duck back and recovered before he and Mama get home.”
All three women agreed. They silently stood and hugged one another.
“I’ve never remembered a time when there were only two McMurrays on Whispering Mountain,” Beth whispered. “It’s frightening.”
They held hands as they used to do as children, forming a circle. “We’ll get through this.” Em clung tightly to her sisters. “Remember when Rose and I had to go off to finishing school. We used to stand this way and say, ‘Though apart, I’m in your heart.’”