Miracle Jones

by Nancy Bush

  Want to bet? Harrison thought grimly. “You’ll have to keep up the search without me,” he said through his teeth as he aimed his mount in the direction of Danner property, “while I take care of a few things at home.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gray never had been known for his speed, so Miracle tamped down her sense of urgency and let the plodder lurch onto the main road. Hellfire and damnation, but the beast was slow! If she escaped from Blue and Harrison it would only be by the luck of the gods.

  That thought turned her mood so black that she scowled at the swaybacked gelding. “Giddyap, you.” She kicked him in the sides – sides that were so huge it damn near split her in two just to ride the monster.

  An hour outside of Rock Springs, on the road west of the city, Miracle changed her mind about leaving. She’d never run away from a fight before; she wouldn’t run away now. Harrison needed her information if he were ever going to protect himself. What could have possessed her to think otherwise?

  Furious with herself, Miracle yanked Gray around. She’d been afraid to become his mistress and have people call her an Injun whore. Her pride had smothered her good sense. What could Blue do if Harrison were prepared?

  Remembering her black-hearted brother, she shuddered. She knew well and good that he could, and would, hurt Harrison, maybe even kill him, but he could do that anyway, she argued with herself. Best to let the man be prepared. She would want to know if someone were threatening her life!

  The knife was strapped to her thigh, and she felt its comfort as she turned Gray back to the faint twinkling lights of Rock Springs. She felt a kinship with those lights. This rural town with its pompous members of the Ladies Aid Society, its raucous saloon, its elegant hotel, and its Danner family of doctors was where she wanted to call home.

  “Where’s your courage?” she demanded aloud of herself. She loved Harrison, well and truly. She would give him an ultimatum. Marriage or nothing. She could at least give him the chance to reject her, and if he did… maybe she wouldn’t love him as much.

  But if he accepted her, the potential risk to her pride would have been worth it.

  Billy Greaves was standing outside the infirmary, looking toward the eastern sky as Miracle slowly reached the edge of town. She followed his gaze. The moon was shrouded by a blanket of smoke.

  Smoke?

  “Billy,” she called to him. He ran over to Gray, which was certainly faster than waiting for the gelding to come to him. “What’s happening?” she asked sharply. “Where’s that smoke coming from?”

  “Danner property, ma’am.”

  “Danner property?”

  “Someone set fire to the fields. Dr. Danner thinks it’s Jace’s doing.”

  “Which Dr. Danner?”

  “All of them.”

  “But isn’t Jace still in the infirmary?” She glanced through the window of the front door.

  “Yess’m, but they believe Jace ordered his hands to do it. He’s plenty upset that Dr. Danner was allowed to cut on him. Says if he don’t walk again, he’ll have Dr. Danner brought up on charges.”

  “That’s ridiculous! Jace had a bullet in his thigh and Tremaine had to take it out. Besides, Harrison said Jace’ll be fine.”

  “Well, Jace don’t seem too upset about goin’s on at the Danner place. He just lays in bed and smiles.”

  “Is Tremaine at the house?” What about Harrison? Had this disaster brought him back from his search?

  “Yep. Wish I could go, but someone’s gotta keep an eye on Garrett.” He shot her a hopeful glance. “You wouldn’t mind taking care of him, would’ja?”

  “I would mind.” Miracle smiled to take the sting out of her words. “I’m going to help.” She kicked Gray again, and the animal moved forward with a faint burst of speed, which Miracle sought to maintain by cooing to him and slapping him lightly with the reins.

  It was normally about an hour’s buggy ride from Rock Springs to the Danners’; it should be half that time on a fast horse, which unfortunately Miracle didn’t possess. She chafed at Gray’s lack of speed, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was passing the drive that led to the Garretts’ when the sound of rushing wheels brought her swiftly around. Gray shied backward and snorted as the Garrett carriage careened onto the main road.

  It was Emerald at the reins. Spying Miracle, she pulled up short, quivering with fury. “Damn you, you half-breed bitch! It’s all your fault!” She jabbed her finger at Miracle, declaring as if she were the voice of judgment, “You started this feud!”

  Miracle was speechless, a state so rare that she couldn’t honestly say she’d ever experienced it before. But then her temper rescued her. “I started it?”

  “Harrison broke his engagement to Kelsey because of you! That was a slap in the face! Then you have the nerve to claim to be a Garrett! You’re nothing but a dirty, trouble-causing Indian, that’s what you are! All you Indians should be put on reservations, or thrown in jail!”

  “Who set fire to those fields?” Miracle demanded, gesturing toward the billowing smoke. She was so enraged she could hardly speak. “It was a Garrett. If anyone should be thrown in jail, it should be you!”

  Emerald half rose out of her seat. Miracle jumped down from her horse, stalking toward her. No, it wasn’t ladylike to fight, but hellfire, how she itched to get her hands around Emerald’s lily-white neck!

  “Get on!” Emerald yelled at her team, slapping the reins down hard. Miracle had to jump back to keep from being smashed beneath the carriage’s wheels.

  Emerald had escalated the feud at Jace’s suggestion, Miracle realized. She wondered what Kelsey felt about Emerald’s and Jace’s evil deeds.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  “The fields’ll burn out,” Harrison said to one of the neighbors who’d come to help. “There’s no wind. It was just a mean-minded trick to let us know what they think of us.”

  The man spat out a stream of tobacco onto the ground. “Them Garretts is nasty.”

  “I’m more concerned about the cattle. We lost three of them.”

  Harrison voice was so grim the man didn’t have to ask what had happened. The poor animals had broken their legs, and Harrison, because it was part of his job, had to put them down.

  Thanking the man, Harrison walked back toward the house, where his father stood by the back fence, watching. Lexie had helped him with the animals, then had gone back to her family, tears of fury and helplessness blinding her. Tremaine had taken one of the Danner hands into the house to treat some minor burns. Both of them were ready to burn and lynch Jason Garrett. Harrison felt the same way.

  Joseph Danner saw his son’s face and shook his head. “It’s Jace’s way of getting even. It’ll pass.”

  “Getting even for what?”

  “For Kelsey. For you falling in love with Miracle Jones. For Miracle being half Garrett.”

  Joseph, because he’d known Joshua Garrett, was convinced Miracle was indeed a Garrett. But Harrison was surprised that his father thought he was in love with Miracle. He hadn’t told him that.

  “Well, I’d sure as hell like to pay Jace back in kind,” he growled.

  “That would really get the feud going.”

  The burning field was under control, so they turned wearily toward the house together. A horse’s hoofbeats sounded, and Harrison whipped around, ready to confront another onslaught of Garrett mischief.

  But the hoofbeats were slow and steady. A rider appeared at the edge of the drive, urging her mount with sharp kicks and sharper words.

  “Miracle?” Harrison asked, crossing to her exhausted plodder.

  “Oh, Harrison!”

  She slipped from her mount and ran straight to his arms, a move so unlike her that he held her tightly for several moments before demanding, “What’s wrong?”

  She scarcely knew how to begin. But there was no time to save herself. “It’s – it’s Blue.”

  “Blue?”

  “My brother. He’s here in Rock Springs
, and I think he’s one of the highwaymen.”

  There was utter silence. It was Joseph Danner who finally spoke. “I thought you didn’t know your brother.”

  “I don’t.” Miracle pulled herself away from Harrison, who let her go without resistance. Her chest was tight. “I’d never met him until he showed up at the shop.”

  “When?” Harrison was terse.

  “Several weeks ago.”

  “Weeks ago? You met him several weeks ago and you never told me?”

  Miracle took offense at his harsh tone. “I didn’t know who he was at first. He said his name was Gil and he was a bounty hunter, but then, the night you were shot, he – he was the one who pushed me in the mud.”

  She was suddenly yanked away from Joseph, Harrison’s hard hand encircling her upper arm, dragging her away. “You said it was Brody,” he reminded her through his teeth.

  “Brody was with the woman, at the wagon. I was running to tell you when Blue suddenly jumped out and threw me down. He told me who he was, and he –”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? For Chrissake, Miracle! Why the hell did you lie?” His voice was thunder, the crack of doom.

  “Because he threatened you! He said he would kill you if I told!”

  “You should have told me anyway! The man’s a murderer. We’ve been searching for him for weeks, and you decided to keep that little secret to yourself?” He was in full fury now. “You promised not to hide anything more from me.”

  “He told me he’d hurt you, and Uncle Horace, if I said anything. Hellfire, Harrison! All I wanted to do was keep you alive.”

  “I can keep myself alive,” he ground out. “But that other woman is still missing, and my bet is she’s dead. We might have been able to save her, if you’d told the truth.”

  The blood drained from Miracle’s face. “Harrison…”

  “Shut up and let me think.”

  She’d never seen him so angry. God’s truth, she didn’t blame him. But he blamed her for someone’s death… no, she couldn’t bear it.

  The blaze of orange brightened the western sky. Miracle turned dully in its direction. The air was already thick with smoke from the burning fields. It caught in Miracle’s throat and made her feel sick. But this was different. Brighter. And it was coming from Garrett property, not Danner!

  “Harrison!” she shrieked.

  He’d been striding toward the house, but now he whipped around, following the direction of her pointing finger. Joseph, too, glanced around at her screech of fear.

  “It’s the Garrett house,” he said quietly.

  “No, it’s the barn,” Harrison contradicted, breaking into a run toward the stables.

  Miracle didn’t wait. She knew Harrison was too angry with her to ask for her help. She jumped back onto Gray and turned the reluctant beast toward the Garrett property. She’d barely gotten a hundred yards when Harrison came thundering out of the stables on a coal-black stallion that passed Miracle as if she were standing still.

  Blue had set fire to the barn. She just knew it. None of the Danners had done it, and it was too much of a coincidence to have been an accident. He’d even promised to help her get back at her father!

  I’m going to help you take care of the Garretts…

  She’d been wrong to keep the news about Blue from Harrison. Because of it, she might have lost him. Heart heavy, she turned Gray up the Garrett lane. Harrison had disappeared long before.

  It seemed to take forever before she reached the scene of the crime. Smoke billowed in choking black waves. Gray stopped short, trembling and snorting. She slipped off him and tied him to a nearby tree which was safe from the fire.

  Harrison’s horse was also tied to a tree, carefully out of range of the fire. It was snorting and trembling, too, but it was safe.

  There were people everywhere, looking like demons running in front of a raging hellfire. She couldn’t make out Harrison. Shouts and screams could be heard, people and animals. A group of men were trying to herd frightened cattle into a field. The crackle of burning hay was loud even in the roar of the flames.

  Then two men were squaring off, and Miracle realized one of the Garrett hands was shoving Harrison back, yelling at him.

  “…miserable… son of a… your goddamn fault…”

  Harrison, in turn, gave the man a full-force shove. “Calm down, you fool. I’m here to help!”

  “…Kelsey’s gone… all your fault!”

  Miracle ran forward against all common sense. “Stop!” she screamed.

  “Stay out of this, Miracle! I can take care of myself!” Harrison bellowed in a towering fury. “Just get the hell out!”

  The Garrett farm hand belted him in the jaw the moment he turned Miracle’s way she would have jumped in, but Harrison didn’t need her help. He threw a left-handed punch that stunned the man enough to crumple him at the knees. As she watched in amazement, she was suddenly hauled backward and slammed against the bole of a tree.

  “Stay right here,” Harrison bit out. “I haven’t finished with you, and I don’t want to have to come looking for you.”

  “But I could help.”

  “There’s nothing to do. It’s too late for a bucket brigade. We just have to make certain nothing else burns.”

  “Blue did it. I know he did.”

  “We’ll deal with that later. Now stay put!”

  It wasn’t in Miracle’s nature to stand around and do nothing, especially at the scene of a disaster. But she’d heard the warning in his voice. She’d pushed him to the limit. She supposed she should rejoice that he cared at all, but she was too frightened of what he would do when he truly calculated all the damage her silence had caused. Come to that, she blamed herself, too. How could she have used such poor judgment?

  I love him.

  She closed her eyes, aching inside. Her love for him had blinded her reason. A roar of hoofbeats penetrated her misery, and Miracle opened her eyes, alarmed. Who…?”

  About ten men on horseback burst into the clearing. Sheriff Raynor and his men. Miracle had never been quite so glad to see the law. She rushed forward, intending to help, but Raynor had spied Harrison on the fringes of the crowd. Dismounting quickly, Raynor strode toward Harrison, his face full of shock.

  “Danner!” he bellowed above the noise. Miracle snatched up her skirts and hurried after him.

  Harrison was busy helping others dig a trench between the house and barn. There was no wind, but sparks were falling, and though the ground was damp, patches of grass were burning and smoldering.

  Hearing Raynor, Harrison swiped smoke from his face and frowned. “Did you find him?” he demanded tersely.

  “We found the woman. Dead. Tied to a tree and left there. It was one of the Half Moon whores. He’d shot her.”

  Harrison gaze turned to Miracle. “He also set fire to this barn,” he said emotionlessly.

  “How do you know that?”

  “Call it a lucky guess.”

  “We’ve got to find him. Fast. He’s crazy. Like he’s got a vendetta against the whole town.”

  “No. Just some of us.”

  Raynor’s men pitched in to help. Miracle wanted to die. It was because of her that Blue had come to Rock Springs and killed several women. It was because of her that the Garretts’ barn was burning to the ground. And it was because of her that Harrison now had a killer stalking him.

  She watched Harrison work for several moments, fighting back the urge to tell him to be careful. Then she stumbled away. She’d done what she intended to do. She’d told him all the truth. The fire appeared to be under control, and most or all of the animals had been saved.

  She was untethering Gray when more people arrived to help. Joseph Danner and Tremaine rode right past her, not even seeing her. Lexie was next; she’d obviously seen the fire from her own property and had rushed over to help.

  Miracle wished she could stay, but she didn’t dare incur more of Harrison’s wrath. She was responsible for all the tragedy in
his life. And the way he’d stared her down had convinced her he held her solely to blame.

  Since Emerald was driving like a madwoman into Rock Springs, Miracle wondered if any of the Garretts knew about the fire. They’d started the feud again, but it was the Danners who were trying to save the Garrett farm. Deciding someone should tell Jace, Miracle led Gray down the Garrett drive, determined to go straight to the infirmary and tell him herself.

  Kicking Gray hard, she set her jaw and aimed him back down the now familiar road from Danner and Garrett property into Rock Springs. She had a lot to talk about with Jace, and this might be her one and only opportunity. She believed now that Joshua was her father. She wanted to tell him that before she left.

  Emptiness filled her heart. She’d lost Harrison. No, that wasn’t even the truth. She’d never had him to lose. She’d merely been the instrument he used to face his true feelings about Kelsey. Her own lying had destroyed what little trust and respect he had in her. She was now no better off than Isabella.

  Miracle was so deep in thought she didn’t acknowledge the crack of a broken twig until it was too late. Gray snorted and shied as a hard arm grabbed her, tossing her to the ground. She leaped up instantly, but her captor pinned her arms behind her, binding them so tightly she had no chance to reach for her knife.

  “Blue,” she gritted through her teeth.

  “No, ma’am,” Blue’s voice answered through a grin. “It’s Gil. The part about being Blue was a lie.” He spun her around to face him. “I just told you that to get you on my side. But since you went and told Danner about me anyway, there’s no need to keep lying, now, is there?”

  Miracle was stunned. “What do you mean?” she demanded. “How could you possibly know all about me if you aren’t my brother?”

  “Blue told me all about you. He was following your trail up to Rock Springs. So when he died, I just kept right on where he left off.”

  Before Miracle could reply, he stuffed a kerchief in her mouth and tied another around it. Then he tossed her easily over his shoulder, carried her to a waiting horse, and threw her over its withers, climbing up behind her.