“You could try it and see,” Lucas prompted.
“You’ll not get me with that trick,” Carrie said, preparing to get out of bed. “I know you’re going after those men no matter what I say, so you’d only be trying to take advantage of me again. I’ve got a stage coming in soon, and I can’t leave all the cooking to Katie.”
“You can’t leave just yet. We never decided when we were going to get married.”
“You never asked me.”
“Well, when do you want to get married?”
“This very second, but I will settle for the day after tomorrow. Then this dreadful business of the gold thieves will be over, and I can marry you with a mind free of worry.”
“I’ll have the stage driver send the preacher from Fort Malone. Or do you want to go into town to be married? You could always wait until we reached Denver.”
“No, I want to arrive in Denver as your wife. I imagine there’ll be some mighty disappointed women there, and it might save everyone a lot of trouble if it’s all said and done when we arrive.”
“You afraid I’ll back out?”
“Never of that,” Carrie said, bending over the bed to give him a gentle kiss. “I just want to get about the business of being your wife, and it’ll be a lot less trouble this way.”
“Forever the busy little bee,” Lucas groaned. “I wonder if Denver has any idea of the terrible force I’m about to turn loose on them.”
“You stop making fun of me, Lucas Barrow, or I’ll turn my attention to your stage company, and I promise it won’t be the same when I get through.”
“You can have Denver. You can have all of Colorado,” Lucas said in mock terror. “Just leave my poor company alone.”
Carrie abandoned her dressing to teach Lucas a lesson, and she found him a more than willing student.
Chapter 24
Carrie’s back was to the door when Jake hurried in with none of his usual nonchalance. That man you were supposed to marry is coming up the road,” he said to Katie. “I saw him from the hayloft.”
Carrie looked up and was surprised to see Jake breathing heavily. He had obviously come up from the barn at a run. Behind his customary vacuous expression, Carrie could see an element of anxiety she had not seen in him before. Jake was obviously uneasy about something.
“Do you want us to stay, or do you want to see him by yourself?” Carrie asked, turning to Katie. She seemed to have lost a little color, but otherwise she was her usual calm self.
“Let him say his piece, and then we’ll decide,” she said. “For all we know, he may be coming to tell me he doesn’t want to marry me.”
“I don’t know why he should do that, staying away as long as he has,” Jake said. He was not looking at Katie, but Carrie was sure his words were meant for her.
“It would only be fair if he wanted to break it off for I’ll not have him as me husband, and I mean to tell him so right off.”
An uncomfortable silence followed. Katie was composing her thoughts, Carrie was wondering what Katie meant to do after she refused Brian, and no one knew what Jake was thinking. The women continued about their tasks and Jake poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. It was clear he wasn’t going to move until required to do so. Carrie wondered why he had rushed to tell Katie that Brian was coming. He still loudly professed to dislike women, though he was careful not to do it in Carrie’s presence, and Katie was still loud in her disapproval of just about everything Jake did. She had hoped Jake would moderate his stand on women, but lately she had begun to fear that Katie’s hopes were doomed to disappointment.
Carrie moved to the window and then out on the porch when she saw Brian ride into the yard. She was struck again by how young and handsome he looked—he looked hardly old enough to be out of his teens—and she wondered if Katie was doing the right thing. He wasn’t as tall as Lucas nor did his face have the same force of character, but then Katie was a much more mild-mannered individual than Carrie. She probably wouldn’t want the kind of cantankerous man Carrie found exciting.
“Morning, Mrs. Simpson,” Brian said as he dismounted. “I hear they’re going to turn this into an overnight stop. I also heard the contract is yours for as long as you want it.”
“That’s Mr. Bickett’s proposal,” Carrie said. “It’ll probably take a while before we learn what the company has decided to do.”
“If Duncan Bickett recommends it, they’ll do it. They think a lot of him in Denver.”
Carrie didn’t know what was the matter with her. She had never met a more polite, well-behaved man, but she found herself feeling like Katie. There was no reason for it, but she just didn’t trust him. “I imagine you came to see Katie,” she said, preceding him through the door. “She’s inside.” She didn’t know if Brian had hoped to see Katie alone, but he displayed no signs of distress when neither she nor Jake showed any signs of leaving.
“I’ve come for your decision, Katie O’Malley,” he said without preamble. “I’ll be getting my money soon, and I want to start looking for a place.”
Katie looked a little white about the mouth and her hands twisted nervously under her apron, but she didn’t hesitate or stumble over her speech. “I’ll be mighty remorseful if you have been putting off looking for your place because of me decision, Brian, but I find I cannot marry you. I’m sorry for it because you are a well-set-up young man, but me mind is made up and there be no changing it.”
Brian looked rather taken aback, but there was little he could say, if indeed he had wanted to say anything, with Carrie and Jake both in the room. “Are you certain?” he asked after a pause. “I can give you more time if you want to get to know me better.”
“She’d have to see you once in a while to do that, now wouldn’t she?” Jake said, and the antagonism in his voice surprised Carrie.
“I know I haven’t been as attentive as I should, but as I told you, “I’ve been traveling for the company, and I haven’t had any time to come out here.”
“It wouldn’t make any difference if you was to come to see me every day,” Katie said, still showing few signs of the perturbation Carrie knew raged inside her. “We won’t suit, and I won’t marry you. Let’s have an end to it.”
“I’ll say no more,” Brian agreed, and Carrie was convinced he was genuinely disappointed over Katie’s rejection.
“You can’t turn right around and go back to Fort Malone now” Carrie said, “not after that long ride. Sit down and have some coffee. We still have some pie if you would like a slice.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Simpson, that would be most welcome, that is, if Katie doesn’t mind.”
“Not a bit of it,” Katie assured him. “You stay as long as you like. It won’t bother me.”
Katie served the pie and coffee, and Brian sat down at the table with Jake, who showed every indication of out staying the young Irishman. Conversation languished, and after trying unsuccessfully for several minutes to fill the gap, Carrie gave up and let the silence reign undisturbed.
“You look like you’re holding a wake” Lucas whispered into Carrie’s ear when he entered the station a short time later. “I never saw such a solemn bunch.”
“Katie has just turned down Mr. Kelly’s offer,” Carrie explained. “Naturally things are a little strained just now.”
“Then maybe you can come outside with me. I’ve got a few things to talk over with you before I leave.” A look of dread flitted across Carrie’s face, but the others in the room were too occupied with their own thoughts to notice it.
“Who was that?” Brian asked idly when the door had closed behind Lucas and Carrie. “Somehow he doesn’t strike me as the cowboy type.”
“He’s not,” Katie said uncommunicatively.
“That’s Lucas. He’s the wrangler” Jake told him. “He just come from Denver because his Uncle Max died there sometime last week.” Brian’s gaze suddenly zeroed in on Jake.
“His last name wouldn’t be Barrow, would it?”
“Are you sure of that?” Brian asked. His face seemed to retain its outward calm, but Katie was certain she read surprise and fear in his eyes.
“Sure we’re sure,” Jake said cantankerously. “You don’t think a body would be confused about something as simple as that, do you?”
“No, I guess not,” Brian agreed. He seemed to think no more of it, but Katie noticed he ate no more of his pie and took only one swallow of coffee before excusing himself.
“It’s a long ride back to Fort Malone, and I think I should get started,” he said. Neither Katie nor Jake disagreed with him.
* * *
“You’re not leaving already, are you?” Carrie asked as soon as the door closed behind her.
“The shipment is going through tomorrow, and I’m going to meet my men first then scout around a bit” Lucas explained, leading her over to the shade of his tree. “I’m going to try to come up on them after dark. They’ll be gathered around the fire then, and sound carries better at night.”
“Please be careful” Carrie begged.
“That’s part of the reason for going in at night. It gives me better cover.”
“What will they do if they catch you?” Carrie asked, knowing all the while that she didn’t want to hear the answer.
“I’m not certain, but I won’t like it whatever it is, so I’m going to make sure I don’t get caught. Now I want you to go about your business like nothing has happened. If anybody should ask about me, you tell them I’ve gone after more mustangs.”
“You know I can’t act like nothing has happened. And if anybody were stupid enough to believe you were going after more mustangs when the corral is full of unbroken horses this very minute, then they wouldn’t have brains enough to know what to do with you if may caught you.”
“That’s what I like about you,” Lucas said, amusement dancing in his eyes. “You’re always so loving and supportive, and you’ve got unlimited confidence in me.”
Carrie hit him in the shoulder with the butt of her palm. “I do love you, you stubborn mule, but I’d rather be supporting you in a lawful endeavour. I also have complete confidence those thieves will kill you if they get the chance. You just make sure you don’t give them that chance, because if you do, well, I don’t know what I will do, but I’ll think of something.”
“Probably clean out the whole bunch with your little pistols,” Lucas said, gathering her into his embrace with a fond smile.
“And don’t you think you can sweet-talk me into agreeing with you by grinning at me like that. You know I can’t think straight when you do.”
“Yes, I do,” Lucas said, still grinning as he kissed her.
“I’ll recover my senses as soon as you let me go.”
“Probably,” Lucas said, and kissed her again.
“You can’t hold me here forever.” Carrie sounded as if she hoped he would prove her wrong.
“I’ve been thinking about it.” Carrie subsided into his embrace, content to remain there even if every minute she was in his arms hadn’t meant one less minute he would be exposed to danger. It seemed incredible to her that after such a long search for the one man she could love, everything should be risked for a few gold thieves. Her mother’s family had already been called upon to make too many sacrifices. Bitter and disillusioned by the Civil War, her Uncle Wesley Cameron had left Virginia to lose himself in the wilds of Wyoming, and Aunt Cornelia had died of a broken heart, leaving Carrie’s Uncle Stuart Cameron to raise his young daughter, Sibyl, alone. Surely no more could be expected of one family.
“When will you be back?” she asked, disengaging his arms reluctantly.
“I hope to come back sometime tonight, but it may not be until after the stage goes through tomorrow.”
“Will you take Found with you? You can send him back with a message telling me what you’re going to do.”
“No. I don’t want to have to worry about anybody else. I’ll be safe enough. Now you go about your work and try not to worry.”
Try not to worry, Carrie thought bitterly as Lucas rode off toward the canyons a little while later. He might as well have asked her not to breathe. She had known him for barely a month, but in the nights they had spent together, she felt as though she had become merged with him, almost as much physically as spiritually. It was no effort to feel his arms around her, to remember the feel of his strong limbs beneath her fingers, or experience the heat of his longing for her. It was a near impossibility to remember what it was like before she knew him. It seemed that her life had only really begun the day she stepped off that stage in front of this dilapidated station, and she was determined it was not going to end now.
She headed toward the barn, walking so swiftly and with such purpose that the swish of her skirts caught Pound’s attention before she called his name.
“I want you to follow Mr. Barrow,” she told him. “You can take any horse you want, but I don’t want you to let him out of your sight for one minute. You’ve lived in these hills and you know them better than he does, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making sure he doesn’t see you. He’ll be furious if he ever finds out I sent you after him. If anything happens, you’re to come tell me right away. You’re not to wait a minute, do you understand, but come tell me at once.”
Found nodded his understanding, and Carrie felt a little better. She might not be able to protect Lucas from the danger that threatened him, but she wouldn’t be ignorant of what was happening and unable to help him either. She might be from an old Virginia family, but some of the pioneer spirit was still alive in her veins. Together, she and Lucas would carve a place out of this wilderness for themselves, and if he wouldn’t protect himself while he did it, then she would do it for him. Lucas moved through the birch grove with the stealth of an Indian. He had been unable to hear anything from the canyon rim and was coming up to the gang through the trees that lined the sides of the canyon. He had to be careful not to make any noise that would attract their attention, Jason Staples probably wouldn’t kill an unknown wrangler, but Lucas didn’t want to stake his life on it. The cover was sparse and grew even more scant as he neared the end of the canyon; he would never have tried this approach except during the dark of night.
There had been no difficulty in finding signs of their presence. The gang had evidently thought itself safe in the canyon and made no attempt to hide the evidence of their activity. And Lucas knew that if he hadn’t already known of the hidden canyon, he would have lost their trail on the rocky ledges and sandy patches of ground that led to the mouth of the canyon.
He had already met with his men, and by now they should all be settled into their positions for the next day. He figured Staples would try to stop the stage on a steep incline about seven miles from the station. The stage would have to slow down and there was plenty of cover close up to the road which would make an ambush easy. There was also plenty of cover for Lucas’s men, and by being in position before the outlaws arrived, their presence would not be detected.
Lucas reached the edge of the thicket and paused, looking around for some cover he could use to get closer. He could see the fire and the men garnered around it, but he still could not make out what they were saying. He remained perfectly still and stared into the darkness around him. He had had an uneasy feeling from the minute he had come into this canyon that eyes were following his every move, but he had paused to listen every few yards and he had failed to detect a sound. Even a bat makes some sound as it flies through the air, and these men were not bats. In fact, the men around the fire were making an unusual amount of noise. Lucas wasn’t concerned with what they might be arguing over, only with getting closer, and after making sure there was nothing in the darkness around him, he sprinted on silent feet for the cover of a large bolder about thirty yards closer to the camp.
He paused a moment to catch his breath and look for his next cover. He could catch some snatches of the
ir convenation, but he had to get even closer if he was going to be able to understand everything they said. He also had to be extremely careful. It was not a dark night and the light from the fire was illuminating some of the shadowy corners of the canyon. He sighted another boulder and was almost in the act of dashing for it when the sound of a familiar voice at the campfire caused him to freeze in his tracks, unfortunately setting his foot squarely on a twig that broke with a loud crack. Brian Kelly was standing at the fire with his back to Lucas. He had to be the one who was leaking the information.
“Mighty thoughtful of you to step on that twig,” a voice spoke out of the darkness, a voice that belonged to Jason Staples himself. “Me and the boys have been watching you ever since you got here, but it was right convenient to have your location pinpointed so exactly. Now you rise up and come out from behind that rock. And if you’re thinking about going for your gun, you just look around.” Lucas did, and he could see at least two other men not counting the men at the fire who had stopped talking and were now looking in his direction. Lucas didn’t have any choice. This was no time to attempt to escape.
“You don’t seem to have left me any choice, Staples,” Lucas said as he stepped from behind the rock.
“Naw. I don’t like people having choices” Jason said, coming closer to Lucas. “It tends to make things a mite too complicated.” He motioned Lucas toward the fire with his gun, and they moved as a group toward the light.
“Good evening, Brian,” Lucas said when he approached the young man, who was obviously horrified to come face to face with the owner of the company he had just betrayed. “I see they’ve captured you too.”
Jason shouted with laughter. “You might say gold fever captured him.”
“Apparently it captured you as well,” Lucas said to Jason.
“I’ve got it terrible bad,” Staples said with a bark of alaugh. “So bad I’m going to take that gold off your stage tomorrow?
Lucas was thinking rapidly. Brian had obviously told Staples about Lucas’s presence, had probably even trailed him out to the canyon, and that meant he knew about the men stationed along the road. Now they were useless to Lucas and to the stage. “And I suppose you invited me here because, knowing where the gold is, I can get it more easily for you.”
Colorado Bride Page 35