The Shepherd's Heart Series: A Boxed Set Book Bundle Collection Volumes 1-4

by Lynnette Bonner

  Sky stepped back from the hug. “We’ll do that. You take care of yourself now.” His attention paused on Sam and held a hint of appraisal. “Be careful with my little sister.”

  Sam tipped his hat. “I wouldn’t dream of being anything else.” He touched Sharyah’s elbow, escorting her out onto the boardwalk as Sky and Rocky headed up the stairs to their room.

  They rode in silence for a time, the only sounds the soothing rustle of the wind through the junipers, the occasional squeak of wagon wheels, and the jangling of trace chains. The moon, hanging low and perfectly round, highlighted the road with a wash of milky light. She angled her head and studied the sky. Strips of clouds scuttled across the surface alternately concealing and then revealing the pinprick glimmer of the stars. Off to their right a whoosh of wings drew Sharyah’s attention to an owl swooping through the moonlight to snatch up a poor, helpless critter.

  Sam broke the silence with a soft cough. “So… This Cade… He mean something to you?”

  Sharyah felt the heat that climbed into her face, and smoothed an invisible wrinkle in her skirt, thankful for the concealing darkness. “N-no. Not really. Just a childhood friend.”

  He turned and pierced her with an assessing gaze, the reins draped casually between his knees. “I see.”

  She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I’d like to stop by the Greens’ if you don’t mind.”

  “The G-Greens’?” He returned his attention to the road. “Certainly.”

  Curiosity brought her focus to his face. Surely he wasn’t like others in town who didn’t want anything to do with the poor girl now, just because of the terrible thing that had happened to her? But Sam’s face remained composed. Perhaps she’d only thought the name had startled him.

  “I’ll only be a moment,” she said when he pulled to a stop outside the Greens’ small farmhouse just a short ways out of town.

  “Hold on, I’ll come with you.”

  Was that cold determination she detected in his tone?

  Missy herself answered the door and Sharyah gave her a quick hug.

  “Miss Green.” Sam tipped his hat and shifted from one foot to the other.

  “Sam!” Missy’s eyes widened and she paled slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. “How is Kat?”

  Sam’s mouth quirked up. “The same as ever, I’m sorry she hasn’t been by to see you. She’s… out of town.”

  Curiosity piqued at Sam’s and Missy’s reaction to each other. So it was Missy who’d broken Sam’s heart? And who was Kat? Sharyah brushed her inquisitiveness away. She could ponder more on that later. “How are you?” She tilted her head, really trying to assess if Missy was alright.

  Missy shrugged, then looked down at the floor. “I’ve had better days.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry. I brought you something.” Sharyah dug through her satchel and pulled out The Black Arrow pressing it into her friend’s hands. “This is a brand new book. I just finished reading it to the children this week and I thought you might enjoy it. Maybe it will help take your mind off of… things for a few minutes.”

  Missy took the book without a word. She rubbed her hand across the cover and tears sprang to her eyes.

  “Oh Missy, I’m sorry. You don’t have to read it. I just thought—”

  “No. It’s not that.” Missy’s gaze darted to Sam, before she met Sharyah’s eyes, her tears spilling over to course down her cheeks. “The book is wonderful. Very thoughtful. Thank you.” She smiled. It looked forced but it was a smile none the less. “You have no idea how much this means to me, Sharyah. Really. You are the only—” She pressed her lips together. “Well,” she lifted the book, “thank you. Would you like to come in?”

  “I’m sorry I can’t. Mr. Perry needs to get me home. My contract stipulates that I must be home by eight thirty. My brothers were in town and he drove me in to have dinner with them. But maybe later this week?”

  “Sure. That would be fine.”

  “Good.” Sharyah pulled her into another embrace. Lord, give her comfort in this trial. “I’ll see you later then.”

  Sam was silent on the drive home and Sharyah didn’t press him for details about the woman who’d obviously broken his heart. Whatever strain lay between him and Missy was really none of her business.

  Sam reined the team to a stop outside the teacherage, walked her to the door, and tipped his hat. “Goodnight, Sharyah.” He started away.

  She touched his arm. “Thank you for dinner with my brothers.”

  He smiled and tipped his hat. “Anytime. My pleasure.”

  She watched until he disappeared into the darkness, then bolted the door, made herself a cup of tea, and looked over her lessons for the next day. As she banked the fire and prepared for bed she thought over how truly wonderful it had been to see Sky and Rocky. She missed home so much. She would be teaching there still if she hadn’t made the fateful mistake of slapping Cade Bennett that day in Victoria’s sitting room.

  He never would have realized she had feelings for him, if it wasn’t for that. But he had figured it out, and he made it more than clear that he thought of her only as a little sister and nothing more.

  And since she hadn’t been able to stand the sympathetic looks she kept getting from everyone around town, here she was. Far, far, far away from Cade Bennett and his brotherly affection.

  Sam was a good man. She would be happy with him. If he ever decided he could be happy with her too.

  With a sigh, she crawled under the covers and blew out the lamp. She had nearly drifted off to sleep when a thought struck her and she bolted upright. Sam had said he’d hired Cade, too. Could Cade be working somewhere in the vicinity?

  With a little groan of helplessness she flopped back against the pillows. Why couldn’t she simply forget about that man? With a frustrated huff, she flipped over onto one side, mashed her pillow into a compliant lump, and forced herself to close her eyes and breathe normally.

  She wouldn’t give the man another thought.

  3

  An hour outside of town, Judd turned off the main trail and swung down from his horse at the mouth of a narrow canyon. He glanced over his shoulder, “We’ll walk for a time, but from here on in you’ll wear a blindfold.”

  Cade had expected as much. He shrugged and gave a nod of understanding. “A man can never be too careful.”

  Half an hour later Mick thumped him on the back. “We’re here.”

  Cade pulled the bandana from his head and blinked several times. His eyes readjusted quickly as the sun had set and a dusky gloam had settled over the meadow before them.

  Several men sat on logs around a camp fire. A group of horses cropped grass a few paces away, corralled by a make-shift rope strung around three scrawny trees. But it was the woman ladling stew from the blackened pot hung over the fire who caught Cade’s attention.

  Katrina Perry. So, Sam’s deductions had been right. His sister was here. Would she recognize him? He’d sold Sam horses on a number of occasions and eaten at their table just as often.

  Katrina glanced their way. She blinked and quickly resumed stirring whatever was in the pot above the fire.

  So she did recognize him. Good. That would make it easier to get her to trust him.

  Judd and Mick stripped the saddles from their mounts and Cade followed suit. They corralled the animals and then joined the others at the fire.

  Judd paused at the edge of the firelight and gestured to Cade. “This here is Cade Schilling.” If Katrina was surprised by the strange surname she didn’t react. However as the infamous name registered, a murmur of awe rippled through the rest of the men. Thankfully, Judd didn’t give it time to build. “And this here,” he turned to face Mick, “is the whelp that nearly got us killed in town!” He gut-punched Mick, and as the kid doubled over, brought his knee up into his face, sending him sprawling onto his back, blood streaming from his nose.

  “Judd stop!” Katrina snatched up a towel, rushed to Mick’s side, and dabbed at the
blood on his face. “You okay?”

  Fury ignited in Judd’s eyes. Two strides and he had Katrina by the hair. “The law came down on us today and you are coming to his defense?! There something I should know about you two, since there isn’t a woman Mick’s ever seen that he could keep his hands off?”

  Cade forced himself to stand still.

  “I ain’t never touched her!” Mick pulled the towel away from his face and spat to one side. “I swear, Judd, she’s only yours. Leave her be.”

  Vibrant fear radiated from Katrina’s eyes. “It’s true Judd!” She clutched at the hand he still had wrapped in her hair. “He’s never touched me. There’s no one for me but you.” She left off trying to loose his grasp and rested her palm against his face. “That’s the truth.”

  The taut line of Judd’s shoulders eased slightly and Cade released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. The last thing he needed was for her to get killed before he could get her out of here.

  Sensing that the worst of the confrontation was over, Cade sat down next to a large man with a long red beard who shoveled stew into his mouth as though nothing were out of the ordinary.

  Leaning forward, Cade rested his elbows on his knees. The sooner he did his job and got out of here the better.

  “Good. Now get me some o’ that stew. I’m right hungry.” Judd shoved Katrina back toward the fire so hard that for one horrific moment Cade thought she would sprawl head long into it.

  Katrina stumbled her way to balance and hurried to pick up a bowl and spoon.

  By the tremble in her hands as she ladled up the food, this job should be over by tomorrow. A curl of satisfaction wended through him. This would be some of the easiest money he’d ever made.

  As Judd settled onto a log across the fire, the big man next to Cade set his bowl aside and stretched out one hand. “Name’s Hendrix. Tom Hendrix. Most just call me Red.”

  Cade nodded and shook the man’s hand even as a chill rushed down his back. Red Hendrix had more bounties on his head than most cabins had shingles. “Schilling. Cade Schilling.”

  “Fool thing for Judd to bring you here this night.”

  Judd leapt to his feet in an instant. “What’d you say?”

  Red picked his teeth, eyeing Judd with calm confidence. “You heard me.”

  “Schilling saved our lives today. Shot a lawman clean through. Weren’t for him, Mick’s neck would be stretching from a hemp-rope noose by now. So don’t be telling me who I should or shouldn’t trust!”

  Red shrugged. “Just sayin’ with all we got planned for tomorrow, it weren’t such a smart thing to bring a new man in.”

  Cade’s skin prickled. What did he mean, all they had planned for tomorrow?

  This job was supposed to be easy. Infiltrate the gang. Get proof of their rustling. Convince Katrina to return home. Deliver her to her brother. Set up a trap to arrest them all. And that was it. But Sam’s instructions had been clear. Get Katrina out first. He didn’t want her getting hurt during the arrests.

  Cade suppressed a sigh. This sounded like a complication. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

  “You running this here operation, Red?” Judd’s hands hung ready only inches from his guns.

  Cade wished he hadn’t sat quite so close to Red.

  Red shifted uneasily. “No, Judd. That’d be you.”

  “You forgetting your place then?” The fingers of Judd’s right hand flexed restlessly.

  The short blond man on the other side of Red stood and stepped to one side. “I think I’ll get me some o’ that coffee.”

  Smart man. Cade took his cue and stood, too. Stepping over to his saddle roll, he retrieved his mug. Making sure that his path back to the fire kept him out of the line of any bullets that might start flying, he squatted down by the glowing coals and pulled the coffee pot from its perch on a rock, sloshing the inky black liquid into his cup.

  Red still hadn’t responded.

  “Red?” Judd wasn’t going to back down.

  Red raised his hands to shoulder height, palms toward Judd. “No, I ain’t forgettin’ my place.” Resignation tinged his tone.

  Judd relaxed and resumed his seat on the log behind him. “Red, you’ll now be part of the distraction in town, and Schilling, Mick, and I will go in to kidnap the teacher.”

  Cade’s jaw went slack and he covered the lapse with a quick swig of coffee.

  Why were they planning to kidnap the teacher? What could they possibly gain from that? Several scenarios came to mind. But none that seemed to make sense.

  He glanced at Katrina. She didn’t seem fazed by the plot. Maybe she would be harder to turn than he’d first expected. In any case, he couldn’t walk away now. Not when an innocent teacher’s life was at stake.

  He tossed the rest of his coffee to one side and stalked toward his bedroll. This was definitely a complication. He hated complications.

  Missy Green laid The Black Arrow aside with a sigh. Sharyah Jordan’s thoughtfulness still had her blinking away tears. Sharyah, the only one who’d come to visit since that terrible night, seemed to understand her desire for simple normalcy.

  Actually… She smoothed a hand over her skirt. Sharyah wasn’t the only one who had come to see her. Sam had come too. He had called every day for the first week after the incident but she’d always stayed in her room and sent down an excuse that she didn’t feel well. There had been truth enough in that statement.

  Mother was angry because Sam’s status as a banker and a wealthy rancher would keep her comfortable for life. But Missy didn’t want anyone marrying her out of sheer pity.

  Sam was a smart man. It had only taken that week for him to realize she didn’t plan on seeing him any longer. He deserved someone better than her. Someone unsoiled and pure. Someone like Sharyah Jordan.

  Besides, his life lay rooted here in Beth Haven and she planned on moving far away as soon as she found a suitable place to live. She couldn’t ask a move of him, not when he’d been working so hard to build up his ranch here.

  She pulled the hanky from the cuff of her sleeve and stroked the lace along its edge.

  Why oh why hadn’t she simply stayed at the Sachar’s until daylight, that night? After the birthing Mr. Sachar had invited her to stay till he left for his mercantile in the morning. But with the new baby and all, she knew Mr. Sachar would probably sleep better in the spare bedroom than he would in with his wife and the new baby. It was only three blocks, she’d assured him. She would be fine and he needed his rest.

  She groaned and leaned her head against the settee. Three blocks that ruined her life. Three blocks and Mick Rodale.

  Just the thought of the man made her tremble. A sick feeling coiled in the pit of her stomach and clambered up into her throat. She swallowed hard.

  She should have run faster. But by the time she’d noticed him, he’d been only a few paces behind her.

  She should have fought harder. But he had been so strong!

  She laid a fist against her stomach. A sob escaped and she pressed the hanky first to one eye then the other. Oh God, what am I going to do?

  Cade unfurled his bedroll a good twenty paces from the nearest man. He laid awake for a long time staring at the stars and trying to determine the best way to handle the fact that he knew the local school teacher was going to be kidnapped tomorrow. His first inclination was to ride out and tell the sheriff, but he’d been blindfolded on the way in, and there had been plenty of twists and turns in that trail. A couple times he’d heard the stirrups on his mount brushing both sides of a narrow path. And if a man got lost in a labyrinth of canyons, he could wander for days and never find the route back to town. Besides, even if he could find his way out, Judd was no dummy. He’d have a guard constantly posted to watch the trail. Anyone fool enough to attempt to get through would be an easy target. And sad to say, a whole heap of distance separated Sheriff Collier from the smart wagon.

  Judd would no doubt keep a keen eye on him once they got
to town, so there probably wouldn’t be time to let the sheriff know then. Besides, he didn’t want a shoot out to start where innocent bystanders might be harmed.

  He considered and tossed aside idea after idea until he finally came to the conclusion that his surest bet was to simply do his best to make sure the woman didn’t get hurt in the exchange. He’d have to figure out a way to help her escape later.

  He doubted Judd would blindfold him on the way to town tomorrow. He’d thrown down the gauntlet with Red tonight and would want to prove to the whole gang that he trusted Cade implicitly, even if he didn’t.

  With a sigh of resignation he turned onto his side and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was sure to be a challenging day and he needed to get some rest.

  Someone stepped up by his side.

  He came to full alertness in an instant, leaping to his feet as he palmed his gun with practiced ease and jammed it into the intruder’s chest.

  There was a squeak, then a whisper, “It’s me! Don’t shoot.”

  He huffed at her stupidity. “I might have killed you!” It felt like he’d just closed his eyes, but it had to have been several hours because the first pale hint of dawn drew a line against the horizon. “Katrina,” He glanced back toward the others. “If Judd catches you here….”

  “Cade, you have to help me! I—”

  Someone stirred and just that quickly she melted into the darkness.

  Cade sighed and reholstered his weapon. Yes. This might just be more complicated than he’d first hoped.

  Sharyah ignored the caricature of her that had been scrawled on the chalkboard sometime during recess, and faced the class. “Alright everyone, we are going to do our math lessons now, and then just before lunch we will head out to do our leaf collecting. Raise your hand if you brought a sack.”

  Every student but Brandon raised their hand.

  “Good. Brandon, I have a sack for you but it will cost you two days of washing the black boards after school.” She arched a stern eyebrow, hoping to see at least a hint of remorse on the boy’s face.

  He shrugged. “Yes, ma’am.”