by Jeanne Allan
She didn't know what woke her. The air was cold, her body stiff and cramped. When she stretched, pain shot from her ankle and nausea rose in her throat. Night had fallen, but a full moon bathed the landscape with light. Dallas heard the tortured sound of a truck in low gear attacking the rough pasture, and her body went limp with relief. Clay. Her mouth was parched and the noise from the truck's engine swallowed her cry.
The headlights were out on the truck. Clay must be afraid of startling the cows. She wasn't keen on the idea herself. A stampeding herd headed towards her…Dallas shuddered. The truck stopped at the end of a nearby draw she remembered seeing earlier. Dallas crawled in that direction, no longer tempted to yell to Clay. The cattle were already restless, their hoofs stamping the hard ground as they headed away from her down into the draw. The dark shadow of a man separated from the blackness cast by a patch of scrub oat directly in her path. 'Clay!'
The man whirled at her voice. 'Who's there?'
'It's me, Dallas.'
Clay didn't move. 'What are you doing here?'
'I fell off Molly,' Dallas said, confused by Clay's attitude. 'Weren't you looking for me?'
There was a pause. 'Are you hurt?'
'My ankle. I think I sprained it.' The man's face was in shadow. 'You're not Clay,' she suddenly guessed.
'Are you expecting him?'
The voice sounded familiar. Dallas strained to see the man's face. 'Yes.'
The man chuckled. 'No, you're not. He went to Pueblo.'
'How do you know?'
'He ate breakfast at the cafe before he left. News travels fast in a small town.'
'He's back by now,' Dallas said.
'How would he know where you are even if he was back?'
'My horse went home. Clay will be looking for me.'
'But will he know where to find you?'
'Of course, I—'
'You're lying. Can you walk? No, not with a sprained ankle,' he answered his own question. 'I'll be back.'
The man disappeared down into the draw and over the sound of the moving cattle Dallas thought she heard snatches of conversation. There were at least two men.
A pick-up pulled up beside her, and a man got out. Dallas gasped. No wonder she hadn't been able to recognise him. He was wearing a ski mask that covered all but his mouth and eyes. 'What—what… who are you… where are you taking me?'
He picked her up and set her on the front seat of the pick-up. 'Somewhere you can wrap up in a blanket.'
Minutes later they parked in front of the old cabin. Dallas had used those minutes to think furiously. 'You're stealing Clay's cows, aren't you?'
'It's safer to mind your own business.' The man unbolted the cabin door and carried Dallas inside, depositing her on the covered bunk.
'How did you know about this place?'
'You ask too many questions,' he said. 'You'll be OK here, if a little uncomfortable.'
She couldn't let him leave. Not when he was stealing Clay's cows. 'I'm freezing. Can't you start a fire in the Fireplace?'
'And have someone out here immediately to investigate? If you're cold, use the blanket. I'll call Clay in the morning and tell him where you are.' He started for the door.
The angry sneer in his voice as he'd said Clay's name sparked Dallas's memory and suddenly she knew where she'd heard the voice before. 'Terry Brock.' The name popped out before she could consider the consequences.
He turned and looked down at her. 'I'm real sorry you said that, Dallas.' He tugged the knit cap from his head.
She scrunched into the far corner of the bunk. 'Why are you stealing Clay's cows? He's a relative of yours.'
That didn't stop Pete from stealing our ranch.'
'You admitted yourself that he paid more than it was worth.'
'You can't use logic with Terry.'
'Clay!' Intent on Terry, she hadn't seen the cabin door open. 'I'm so glad to see you.'
Standing in the doorway, holding a lantern, Clay didn't take his eyes from his cousin. 'You OK, Dallas?'
'I'm fine. That is, a little sprain… How did you…?'
'Sara saw Molly return to the barn. When you weren't with my dad, Sara tracked me down in Pueblo.'
'Terry found me and brought me here,' she said.
'A stroke of luck you happened on her,' Clay said, his voice hardening at the word 'happened'. 'Just out for an evening ride in the moonlight?'
'That's right.'
'No, Clay, he was—'
'Never mind, Dallas. I know what he was doing.' Clay kicked the door shut and walked into the cabin. He set the lantern on the table, banishing the shadows to the corners.
'You can't prove anything,' Terry sneered.
'I was looking for Dallas when I ran across your little operation. It was interesting, but not as interesting as you carrying a woman to your pick-up. Why bring her here?'
Dallas could sense the rage beneath Clay's words. She couldn't blame him. Terry had been stealing his cows.
'Not why you think,' Terry said. 'I wouldn't hurt her. Not Alanna's cousin.'
'If that's true, you won't mention Alanna,' Clay said. An unspoken message seemed to pass between the two men.
'Now what?' Terry asked.
'I'll make a bargain with you. I'll forget about tonight, and you'll cease your rustling activities. I'm not the only one suspicious of you, you know.'
'Clay, you can't—'
'Be quiet, Dallas. This is between me and Terry.'
Terry smiled insolently. 'The truck's probably already loaded.'
'There are search parties out for Dallas. Think you can evade all of them?' Clay asked.
'I'll manage,' Terry said.
Clay shrugged. 'Your gamble. I'll do nothing this time, and you keep your mouth shut. About everything.'
Terry sketched an airy salute. 'Your wish and all that.'
'Don't cross me on this,' Clay warned.
Even in the shadowed cabin Dallas could see the bleak look in Terry's blue eyes. 'Don't worry. I can keep a secret.' He hesitated. 'Apparently so can you.'
What Terry and Clay weren't saying suddenly seemed significant to Dallas. This wasn't the first time that Terry had indicated that Alanna was special to him. And how did Terry know there would be a blanket in an abandoned cabin? And why did he refuse to tell Dallas how he knew about the cabin? She couldn't ask him why Alanna was so special to him. There was only one question that he might answer. 'What does D.P. stand for?'
Both men were puzzled by the question. Terry answered it. 'The Dusty Penny, my family's ranch. D.P. was the brand.' He gave Clay a wry look. 'Well, Cuz, see you around.'
The silence was loud following Terry's departure. Mingled hope and doubt took root with Terry's answer. Was it possible that Terry, not Clay, had been Alanna's lover? Clay wasn't Kyle's only flesh and blood. Terry was Kyle's cousin. Had she been too quick to condemn Clay?
Clay was at her side. He reached down. 'Which ankle?'
Dallas gasped with pain as he touched it. 'Why did you let Terry go?'
'What did you expect me to do? Beat him up?' Pulling off the boot, he gently examined her ankle.
Dallas bit her bottom lip. 'You could call the sheriff… get the licence number of the truck…' She hardly knew what she was saying.
Clay released her leg and wrapped the blanket around her. 'What happened?'
'Some birds startled Molly and I fell off.'
'Tenderfoot.' He hoisted her up and then his arms tightened painfully around her and he buried his face in the curve of her shoulder. 'You scared the hell out of me. Speeding back to the ranch, I kept seeing you, lying hurt somewhere, and when we didn't find you right away and it got dark…' He cleared his throat. 'I'd better get you to the doctor.'
Dallas couldn't think of anything to say as Clay carried her out to his pick-up. She knew he was remembering his mother. Finally she changed the subject back to Terry. 'You've got to stop him.'
'I can't.' Clay went around the truck and settled be
hind the wheel. 'He is my cousin.'
'That's not why you let him go. You don't want anything to blacken the sacred Dalton name.'
'Drop it.' Clay slammed his pick-up into gear.
Dallas stared blindly out into the night. Her foot ached abominably and her throat was raw with unshed tears. It wasn't the Dalton name that Clay was protecting. He might not have been the D.P. of Alanna's diary, but he had obviously cared a great deal for her. Why else would he be protecting her name? That was what Clay's deal with Terry was all about. Cows in exchange for Terry's silence about his affair with Alanna. 'He'll do it again,' she said. 'It's nothing more than blackmail. You may as well turn the whole ranch over to him now.'
Ignoring her, Clay spoke into his CB radio. 'Dad, can you hear me? I have Dallas. Call everyone in.'
'She OK?'
'Looks like a sprained ankle. I'm taking her into town.'
'How'd she go and do that?'
'Molly dumped her.'
'Any dude could handle Molly. How come you let her ride without a keeper? Dadburned woman. She's more trouble than—'
'She's also sitting right here,' Clay said wryly.
Peter snorted. 'Tell her she ought to spend less time messing with perfectly good houses and more time on a horse.'
Clay didn't look at Dallas. 'Dad always gets a little testy when he's worried. It doesn't mean anything.'
Dallas wrapped the blanket tighter around her. 'It doesn't matter.' She knew what Clay's father thought about her.
'Clay? You still there?' The panic in Peter's voice came clearly over the radio.
'Nicky's gone!' Sara must have grabbed the speaker from Peter. 'I went up to tell her that Dallas is OK, and she's not anywhere in the house. Her coat is gone, but…' Sara's voice caught on a sob. 'She's in her nightgown and slippers.'
Sara's announcement signalled the beginning of a nightmare. Dallas insisted on staying with Clay until Nicky was found. The CB crackled again and again with voices as one area and then another was unsuccessfully covered.
'Why would she leave? Where would she go?' Dallas asked.
They could almost hear Sara wringing her hands in distress. 'I tried to keep it from her about Dallas being missing, but she must have heard Pete talking to the sheriff.'
'But Nicky wouldn't go looking for me.' Dallas appealed to Clay for reassurance. 'Would she?'
'No.' He hesitated. 'I think she ran away.'
'But why?'
Clay's face was white and bleak in the moonlight. 'Lisa's mom brought Nicky home about the time I was organising the search party. Nicky isn't dumb. She knew something was going on. She kept bugging me, and I told her I had to go out. She wanted to come along, wouldn't take no for an answer. I snapped at her, said I was busy and sent her to her room. I should have seen how upset she was and been more patient with her.'
'You can't blame—'
'The hell I can't.' He shrugged her hand off his arm. 'You were right. I failed Kyle and now I've failed his daughter.'
'Berating yourself won't find Nicky.'
'What will? You're the one with all the bright ideas. Where would she go?'
Dallas ignored the anger in Clay's voice, knowing it was directed less at her than at his own frustration. 'We need to concentrate on how Nicky would think. Where she would run.'
Clay drummed his fingers on the steering-wheel. 'Dad's at our house. Nicky's friends live so far away that even Nicky would know she couldn't walk there.' He went back to the CB and checked to make sure no horses were missing.
'Teddy,' Dallas said suddenly. At Clay's perplexed frown, she explained. 'The baby calf. Nicky's crazy about him. Maybe she ran. to the barn. When kids are upset they frequently head for their pets because pets are so accepting.'
'But the calf's not in the barn—Nicky knows that. I told her yesterday that we were taking him and his mother back out to the pasture. I even told her which pasture he…' Clay's gaze locked with Dallas's. 'Do you think it's possible?' At her nod he hit the brakes, bringing the truck to a screeching halt. They were soon headed back in the other direction.
Straining to find one small child in the enormous landscape, Dallas crossed her fingers and prayed, afraid to ask Clay if there were bears or wolves in the area. Suddenly she spotted the forlorn little figure stumbling over the rocky ground. 'There!'
Clay wrenched the pick-up around to head in the direction of her pointing finger. The truck had barely halted before he was running to sweep Nicky up in his arms, hugging her as if he'd never let her go. Dallas opened her door and Clay lifted Nicky over her, depositing the child in the middle of the seat. 'She's chilled, but OK,' he said, his voice hoarse with the strain.
Dallas struggled from her blanket and wrapped it around Nicky while Clay jumped in and turned the heater on full blast. Taking Nicky's feet on her lap and warming them between her hands, Dallas was giddy with relief. 'These aren't toes, they're piggicyles,' she teased. Nicky's nightgown was wet around the bottom. Dallas stripped it from the child and re-bundled her in the blanket. Nicky snuggled up against Dallas as Clay notified everyone that the child had been found and that he was taking her and Dallas to the doctor to be checked. Dallas knew she ought to scold Nicky, but she was so thankful the little girl was safe that all she could do was sit and hug her.
'Are you mad at me, Dallas? Is that why you went away?' Nicky asked in a little voice.
'Silly girl. I didn't go away. I fell off Molly and hurt my foot so Clay had to come to get me. Wasn't that silly of me, to fall off Molly? Is that why you left the house? You know better than to wander around outdoors after dark.' She squeezed the child. 'Everyone was so worried about you.'
'Wanted to talk to Teddy. Everybody was too busy.'
Dallas caught the stricken look on Clay's face. 'You know Clay loves you, don't you, Nicky?' At Nicky's nod, Dallas said, 'Clay was scared that I might be hurt. When grown-ups are afraid, they holler and yell so other people won't know how scared they are.'
'Why?'
'I don't know. Grown-ups are kind of silly sometimes,' Dallas said.
Nicky giggled. 'You think all peoples are silly. You called me silly 'cuz I thinked you'd gone, you're silly 'cuz you fell off Molly, and now Clay is silly, too.'
'Clay is just happy to have his favourite little girl back,' Clay said. 'Honey, don't ever scare me like that again.' He reached over and tousled her hair. 'I'm sorry that I yelled at you. Friends again?'
'Friends,' Nicky solemnly agreed.
Friends, Dallas thought drowsily several hours later, as the pain medicine the doctor had prescribed took effect. Nicky, exhausted, had fallen asleep in Dallas's arms on the way back to the ranch. Clay had handed her over to his father while he'd helped Dallas from the truck. The doctor had given Dallas crutches, but Clay had insisted on carrying her to her bedroom. Then he'd tucked Nicky into bed while Sara had helped Dallas. Now everyone was gone. Except for the three of them. Three friends. Brother, cousin, niece. Father, mother, child. Husband, wife…
Dallas's eyelids felt leaden. Life hadn't been easy since she'd moved out here. She and Clay were totally different people whose only common ground was Nicky. On second thoughts, maybe their problem was that they were too much alike. Clay was used to running things and, as an only child, she was used to having things done her way. And yet, in spite of the many strikes against them, Dallas felt confident of their success—for the first time. She smiled to herself. They were too stubborn to admit to failure.
She fought off sleep. Clay said he'd be back after Nicky fell asleep. Perhaps he would lie on the bed and hold her in his arms and the sound of his heart would lull her to sleep. A little giggle escaped her. Lying in Clay's arms was not normally the prelude to sleep. At least not immediately. Her pulse quickened in recollection. Clay was a very satisfactory lover. More than satisfactory.
Her bedroom door opened. 'How's the ankle?' Clay asked.
'Hurts, but I'll live. How's Nicky?'
'Asleep,' Clay said absently, as he p
rowled restlessly around her room.
Dallas frowned at Clay's back. He was obviously still perturbed about Nicky's running away. 'I'll bet being a husband and father is more exciting than you anticipated,' she said lightly.
Clay jammed his hands in his pockets, his shoulders taut with tension. He spoke without turning. 'I want you to file for a divorce.'
CHAPTER NINE
'Divorce,' Dallas echoed in a hollow voice. 'Why?'
'Because this whole marriage idea is asinine.'
'Isn't it a little late to come to that conclusion?'
Clay whirled. 'Are you pregnant?'
'No! It's just… I can't think…' She rolled her head in anguish on her pillow.
Clay moved to stand by the bed. 'I'm sorry. You're in pain, and this is a bad time to bring the subject up.' He bent and pressed a warm kiss on her forehead. 'We'll discuss it when you're feeling better.'
Dallas could only stare blindly at the closed bedroom door. The pain medicine addled her brain, and she was so tired. Divorce. The horrible word whirled around and. around inside her head. What a muddle she'd made of this marriage. She'd been so busy trying to maintain her identity and keep Clay from steam-rolling over her that she hadn't even considered his feelings. She'd redecorated his house, argued with him over raising Nicky and interfered with his ranch. A tear slid down her face. No wonder Clay had decided to get rid of her. What good was she to him? If he couldn't have Alanna; he at least deserved a wife who could stay on a horse.
The events of the day belatedly caught up with her, and tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks. Falling off Molly. Hurting her ankle. Lost. The beastly cows. Terry frightening her with his ski mask and threatening to leave her in the cabin. The terror when Nicky had disappeared. And now Clay serving notice that he didn't want her around any more. Not until Dallas had wept herself into exhaustion did she fall asleep.
Only to suffer horrible nightmares. Huge, horned beasts and faceless creatures with piercing eyes tormented her slumbers. One fiend had Terry's sneering voice and he laughed maliciously as she tried to escape from him. Clay was in the distance, but, no matter how hard she ran, she couldn't reach him. 'Clay!'
'It's OK, I'm here.'