It never occurred to him, as he guided his band of wild horses back to the station, that struggle and challenge might be just as necessary for her as it was for him.
Chapter 11
The tracks made by the stolen horses were the first signs Lucas saw to indicate that something was awry. The hoof-prints had been badly trampled by his own herd before he noticed them, but it was relatively easy to see that the hooves were headed in the opposite direction and that they were shod whereas his wild horses were not. Lucas tried to come up with an explanation which would account for the tracks and not involve Carrie, but he couldn’t.
The second sign was impossible to ignore. His corral was empty and the bars were down. That made it easy to drive his mustangs into the corral, but he knew something was wrong and headed for the station at a gallop. He was greeted by the sight of the empty corral behind the barn and moments later by Katie running from the station, calling and waving to him as though her life depended on it. A chilling fear seized Lucas. Where was Carrie, where was Jake, and did their absence have anything to do with the missing horses?
Indians stole the horses,” Katie said, between gasping breaths as Lucas slid out of the saddle, “and Mrs. Simpson has gone after them by herself.”
For an endless moment Lucas was unable to move. Visions of what the Indians might do to Carrie if they caught her, and they would catch her if she didn’t recover her senses and turn around, raised the hair at the back of his neck.
“Quick, tell me what happened,” he demanded, snapping out of his trance.
“They took the horses just before breakfast,” Katie told. “Jake wouldn’t go after them, so Mrs. Simpson went herself.?
“Did she take any guns?”
“Her pistol and two shotguns.”
“But she doesn’t know how to use a shotgun. She told me so herself.?”
“I only know what she took.”
“Where is Jake?”
“He went to town to borrow some horses and to hire some men to go after the horses with him.”
“And he let Carrie go alone?”
“He tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“How long has she been gone?”
“Maybe a couple of hours.”
“Is there another horse in the barn?”
“No. Jake took the only one.” Lucas didn’t wait to hear any more. He leapt into the saddle, wheeled his mount, and headed back to where he first saw the tracks. He prayed he would catch up with Carrie before she found the Indians. He wanted the privilege of wringing her neck himself.
Carrie had no trouble following the tracks of the stolen horses. She had never been trained to track anything, in fact she had never tracked anything in her life, but a child could have followed the trail of the nearly twenty horses, all except two of them equipped with iron shoes that left clear impressions on the sand, numerous scuff marks on rock, and churned-up earth at entrances to and exits from streams that were impossible to miss. No, following the horses was not the problem. The question teasing Carrie’s mind was what was she going to do when she caught up with them?
It was all well and good to say the horses were her responsibility and she couldn’t let the Indians steal them, but it was quite another to face real, live Indians who were not likely to give up their booty just because she asked them to. And suppose she did somehow manage to capture the horses. What was she going to do with them? She had never herded loose animals in her life. It had taxed all her ingenuity to figure out how to get the harnesses on the team that first day. These horses weren’t in a corral; they were in the hills, free of any restraint.
Carrie kept up her pace, but she became more anxious as the minutes went by and she still hadn’t found answers to her questions. Time and time again her mind said that if only Lucas were there she wouldn’t have to worry. Lucas was away chasing mustangs, and she had to figure out how to recapture the horses herself.
She hadn’t been on the trail very long when she heard the sound of a galloping horse behind her, and she nearly panicked. Suppose one Indian had somehow gotten behind her and they planned to pin her down by attacking from opposite sides. Frantically Carrie looked for a place to hide, and finally drove her mare off the trail into the mouth of a small canyon. It never occurred to her to cover her tracks; her only thought was to get out of the way of the oncoming horse.
She had barely slipped into her hiding place when she recognized Jake as he galloped by. Calling his name in welcome relief, Carrie drove her mare out of the canyon and gave chase. Jake had not gone far when he, too, heard the sound of a galloping horse behind him. He turned with a curse only to see Carrie racing toward him, and he slowed his horse to allow her to catch up with him.
“I was never so glad to see anyone in my life,” she said, almost laughing with relief. “What made you change your mind?”
“I thought about what Lucas would do to me when he heard I let you go off on your own, and a few Indians didn’t seem so bad anymore. A fella can’t die more but once. I’m not sure but what I prefer an arrow through the heart to having my guts torn out right before my eyes.”
“Lucas doesn’t care what happens to me,” she said, selfconsciously blushing, wanting Jake to say more.
“You can keep telling yourself that if it’s what you want to hear. Me, I ain’t such a fool, and I know that Lucas is just about eat up with thinking about you.”
“What makes you say that?” Carrie asked, desperate after five lonely days for any proof that Lucas still cared for her. “You don’t know much about men out here, do you?”
“They aren’t different from men anywhere else.”
“God almighty, and you were going after Indians by yourself! Ma’am, back East a man might make up to a girl, take her places, make all kinds of promises, and have every intention of leaving town the next day. Out here, if a man looks at a woman, he’s interested; if he speaks to her, you’d better keep your hands off; if he follows her around, and ma’am, your shadow don’t follow you any closer than Lucas, then she is his woman, and any man who thinks otherwise is asking to get killed.”
Carrie blinked. “But suppose the woman doesn’t want to be followed about?”
“I don’t know about that, but I do know she’s a staked claim until the first fella gives her up.” Carrie wasn’t at all sure she approved of that practice and was inclined to argue the point, but Jake had lost interest and turned his attention to the problem at hand.
“Wonder why these Indians don’t seem to be making any attempt to hide their trail. We ought to come up to them pretty soon. How are you planning to get these horses away from them?” “I was hoping you were going to tell me that.” “I just knew you were going to dump it back in my lap. Before I get shut of this station, I’m liable to think a shotgun wedding’s a Sunday afternoon picnic.”
Lucas slowed his horse to a canter. The trail was easy to follow, but his mount had already covered a lot of distance this morning, and he had no idea how much farther he would have to go today. He kept a careful watch, but he had seen nothing in the tracks to indicate that Carrie had come up to the Indians yet, but by this time he had figured out that there was a second horse with Carrie. He had no explanation for that unless the Indians had somehow surprised her and she was being forced to ride with one of them. The horse was shod, but that only meant that someone else had found her, maybe an outlaw, maybe Jason Staples. Fear for what might happen to her made him try to plan ahead, but he knew there was nothing he could do until he found them and got a look at the situation. It would depend on how many Indians there were as to whether he would attack right away or wait until dark. He didn’t know of any Indian village or encampment nearby, so they would probably have to travel at least one more day before they reached their camp. They would be unlikely to do anything to her until their reached their destination. That was small consolation, but it did give him time.
He was getting close now, and he had to be exceptionally careful
so they wouldn’t see him before he saw them. He was Carrie’s only chance, and if he got himself killed, well, he preferred not to think of the consequences. If he could somehow get Carrie’s attention without alarming them, he knew she was intelligent enough to keep quiet and wait for him to make the first move. He just wondered what she would do on her own. Carrie had never been one to sit back and wait for someone else, and he couldn’t imagine her doing that now. And that worried him a lot. She didn’t know how much danger she could be in.
He suddenly pulled his horse to a stop and listened intently. He thought he had heard the sound of a horse whinny. His own mount’s ears were pricked forward so he was certain he was coming up to someone. He kept to the side of the trail hoping the loose dirt would muffle the sound of his approach and he moved forward as quickly as he dared, his eyes sweeping the area for a sign of anything unusual and his ears keenly alert for the slightest sound.
Then he came around a curve in the trail and he saw them, two riders well down the trail, a man and a woman, the woman undoubtedly Carrie and the man most likely Jake. They were riding with no attention to their back trail, intent only upon catching up with the Indians. Lucas spurred his horse forward, not daring to call out or fire his rifle for fear the Indians would be close enough to hear. It was Jake who first heard his approach and without waiting to look around, he drove Carrie’s horse off the trail into the brush.
“You can both come out,” Lucas called as he pulled up his horse at the spot where they had left the trail. Relief banished his fear and he was suddenly furious. “You’re not going to lose your scalps today, though I’ve a good notion to take your hide off myself.?
“Lucas,” Carrie called with happy relief and quickly left her place of hiding. Jake was not so anxious to put himself in the path of Lucas’s anger, and he tarried in the shadows a little longer.
“Lucas was so thankful to hear the sound of her voice he felt dizzy with relief. “Whatever possessed you to take out after Indians by yourself? Didn’t they teach you anything in your schools back East? I won’t put up with this kind of nonsense.”
“But they took my horses,” Carrie said simply.
“You could always buy or borrow some, or wait for me to round up some more mustangs.”
“But I needed them for the stage this afternoon. The company wouldn’t be inclined to keep me on if I let anybody who wants come in and help himself to the stock.”
“The company, the company, the company!” Lucas repeated in a crescendo. “Can’t you ever think of anything but my blasted Overland Stage Company? Indians aren’t just anybody. Not even a man would be expected to go after them alone, even if there are only two of them.” In the heat of the moment, no one noticed Lucas’s slip of the tongue.
“And if a man can’t do it, it’s foolish for a woman to even think about it, is that it?” Carrie demanded, her eyes dangerously bright.
“It usually is,” Lucas said, then added, “but not always.” It was a small concession, but it mollified Carrie.
“How do you know there are only two Indians?”
“By the tracks. Now where is Jake? Come out of those bushes, you sniveling coward, or I’ll wring your neck for you.”
“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” Carrie fired back. “He volunteered to help me even though he told me to wait for him to hire some men from town.”
“You should have listened to him.”
“But they might have gotten away.”
“It’s better to lose your horses than your scalp. Hasn’t anybody ever told you that Indians are not especially friendly?”
“I didn’t expect them to be. I came armed and so did Jake.”
“You may be armed with guns, but as far as knowledge of the wilderness or Indians is concerned, you’re no more able to defend yourself than a baby.”
Carrie wasn’t feeling nearly so glad to see Lucas anymore. In fact, she was thinking what a nice hole one of those pistols could make in his hide.
“Come on, I’m taking you back to the station. Than Jake and I will go after those horses.”
“Why go back? You’ll lose too much time. They can’t be too far ahead.”
“Because I’m not tackling any bunch of Indians with a woman in my camp. I couldn’t concentrate, and that’s a good way to get killed.”
“But I can help, and three guns are better than two.”
“I can’t take the chance on you being captured. Suppose the shots bring their friend. We’d be outnumbered, and you have no idea what the Indians do to women.”
“He’s right, Mrs. Simpson,” Jake said, speaking for the first time. “It would be much better if you let us take you back.”
That’s a foolish waste of time,” Carrie stated indignantly, “and I won’t allow it.”
“I’m not one of your employees and I’m not asking,” Lucas told her, anger making his eyes hard. “Now turn your horse around or I’ll do it for you.” Carrie suddenly spurred and whipped her horse forward, but Lucas had anticipated her move, and he reached out and grabbed the bridle of the bucking horse. Carrie was furious!
“Take your hand off that bridle, Lucas Barrow, or I’ll use my crop on you.”
“Not unless you want it across your backside,” Lucas replied, and Carrie had no doubt from the blazing anger in his eyes that he would be as good as his word. “You may be intent upon getting yourself killed, but you’re not going to do it where people can say I should have taken better care of you.”
“Leave me alone. I don’t want you to protect me. I’m not your responsibility.”
“I know that, but out here menfolk feel obliged to take care of a woman, all of them. Other people, not knowing what a stubborn, hard-headed female you are, might think I neglected my obligation.” Carrie reached for her shotgun in anger, but found her scabbard empty.
“I thought we’d all be a mite safer if I was to hold on to the weapons,” Jake explained apologetically. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, ma’am, but you’re wrong, and the sooner you let Lucas take you back to the station, the sooner we can get after those horses.”
“You forgot my pistols.”
“No I didn’t,” replied Lucas, leading her horse back toward the station. “You’d never shoot me in the back.”
“Maybe not, but you’d better not turn around, or I’ll shoot you between the eyes.” Carrie couldn’t swear to it, but she thought she saw Lucas’s shoulders shake. If he was laughing at her, the black-hearted, bullying monster, she would shoot him in the back and be proud of it. But instead she sagged in her saddle and allowed herself to be led home. No matter how furious she was at having to go back without the horses or how much she would have liked to murder him for the high-handed way he had treated her, she was honest enough to admit she had bitten off more than she could chew. At least this once she probably was better off back at the station, but she would die before she would admit it to Lucas.
She looked at his broad, powerful back as he sat easily in the saddle, powerful legs hugging the side of his horse, the reins held loosely in equally powerful hands, and realized how relieved and happy she was to see him. It was impossible to feel threatened when he was watching over her. She tried to drive away the memory of his kisses, of how it felt to be held in his arms, but it was impossible to be this close to Lucas and ignore him. It was almost as though his body reached out to hers and found an answering response. She felt the now familiar surge of excitement, the acceleration of her heartbeat, the release of adrenaline, and she felt supercharged, as though her body were threatening to jump out of its skin.
Suddenly she didn’t have any time to think of Indians or missing horses. Lucas was all that filled her mind. He had come back and had come after her. He was furious and had acted like the pigheaded male he was, but he had come after her, and she knew that whatever he was looking for in a woman, no matter how much he was sure they didn’t fit, he could not give her up. And for now, that was enough.
The lines of a
nger were set firmly in Carrie’s face. If there was one thing she meant to do before she grew much older, it was to prove to that insufferable Lucas Barrow that no matter how much she might want to have him and his big shoulders around, she’d be damned if she was going to depend on him to help her run her station. She had been almost in charity with him by the time they reached the station. He had been wise enough not to open his mouth and give her any more reason to be angry with him. Unfortunately, he could not see that what worked perfectly in one situation might not work at all in another, and he had made the serious mistake of leaving without saying anything. Well, he had said one thing, but it would have been better if he’d preserved his silence.
“I’ll be back to get you in a few hours. You be ready.”
“Get me?” Carrie echoed furiously.
“Yes. We’ve got a lot of talking to do.”
“You set one foot on this porch and what you’ll be getting is the business end of a shotgun” Carrie had shouted just before she slammed the door hard enough to pull one of the slats loose.
“Unless you’re good at trimming wildcat claws, you’d better stay on your side of the corral tonight,” Jake said, a half grin on his face as they headed back after the Indians.
“Unless you’re good at dodging bullets, you’ll do nothing to attract my attention. I still might skin you alive for letting Carrie go off alone.”
“What was I supposed to do,” Jake asked plaintively. “Tie her up?”
“If you had to.”
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