Denver

by Sara Orwig

  He built up a roaring fire, because once the sun went down, the air chilled. “I slept today, Mary. You go to bed and I’ll sit with him.”

  She nodded, and once again he had to go through the same agonizing ritual of listening to her move around, watching her bare feet, and trying to fight his rampant imagination. He stood up, wanting to go to her, knowing he shouldn’t. He crossed the room and stood beside the blankets, aware she had become suddenly still.

  “Dan?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you want something?”

  He stood there, knowing what he should answer, thinking: Yes, I want you. “No, Mary. I’m just tired of sitting.” He moved away, walking to the fire. He drank some brandy and sat back down beside Michael, who seemed to be sleeping better than before. Dan dozed beside Michael’s bed for a while until he heard Michael groaning.

  “Water,” Michael said, and Dan picked up the cup. Holding Michael’s head, he helped him drink. He heard a rustle and looked around as Mary came across the cabin.

  “Michael?”

  “He wanted water,” Dan answered. He studied Michael intently, trying to keep his attention away from her. She moved opposite Dan and felt Michael’s forehead.

  “I think he still has fever. Michael, do you want anything?”

  “No,” he whispered, and finished the cup. Dan helped him to lie back, and his eyes closed.

  In a few minutes his breathing returned to normal. Dan looked at Mary as she sat beside her brother, her hand on his arm, her fiery tresses falling over her shoulders. His gaze lowered to the rise of her breasts beneath the white cotton gown. He moved away to the fire.

  “He’s asleep, Mary. Go back to bed.”

  She stood up, and he noticed she was shivering. She clutched her arms to her waist. “Dan, I’m cold.”

  “Come get warm.”

  There was a long pause, and then he realized she didn’t want to come stand beside him at the hearth. “Come on,” he said quietly. “I’ll sit with Michael.”

  A sudden eerie howl came from outside. She jumped, and her eyes opened wide with fear.

  “What’s that?”

  “I think it’s probably a timber wolf out there close to our cabin,” he said, moving to pick up the Henry.

  “You’re not going out?” she asked, sounding stricken.

  “No. I just want to be ready in case it isn’t really a wolf.”

  Mary shook with cold and fear. The haunting howl had unnerved her, and she was freezing from moving around barefoot in her gown in the cabin. She watched Dan open a shutter a crack to gaze out the back.

  Another long howl came, and she shook violently. She moved to the fire. “Should I get a pistol?”

  “Not yet. I think it’s a wolf. It sounds like one, and I don’t see anyone moving around.” He crossed to one of the front windows and looked out. “It’s a wolf. I see men building up the campfire.”

  “Why don’t they stay in their cabins?”

  “They’ll go in if it’s a wolf, but they probably just ate and are sitting around talking and drinking. It’s tiresome to go off alone in a cabin if you don’t have a wo—” He looked at Mary and bit off his words.

  Another howl cut through the silence, and she jumped. Dan closed the shutter and placed the rifle where he could get it in an instant. He buckled on the gunbelt.

  “I thought you decided it was a wolf.”

  “I did, but I like to be ready.”

  When it howled again, he saw how it was unnerving her. He walked over to her to console her, and he wrapped his arms around her. “It’s a wolf, Mary. It can’t get in here. I’m armed to the teeth.” He moved closer to the fire, turning her so her back was to the flames because she felt like ice and she shivered violently.

  “It sounds so eerie. You don’t hear them in town. Coyotes are almost as bad. I don’t hear them as often as I used to.”

  “No, Denver’s become too civilized for them.” He tightened his arms, letting his chin rest against her head. She smelled sweet and clean, and he knew he was only fooling himself if he thought he was holding her to comfort her. She felt marvelous in his arms, and there was only one layer of cotton covering her. Her waist was so tiny he could almost circle it with his hands.

  The wolf howled again and she covered one ear with her hand, placing her other ear against his chest. “I hate that. It scares me.”

  He smiled, brushed the back of her head. “You can single-handedly fight off big tough men, and yet you’re afraid of a wolf’s howl.”

  “It sounds so alone. And it scares me. It scares me for Michael.”

  “Honey,” he said tenderly,” that wolf isn’t going to make Michael any worse. The wolf is just a big shaggy animal howling in the wind.”

  She shivered in his arms and he realized she was terrified. He tightened his arms around her, holding her close against him. They were standing so close to the fire, he didn’t see how she could continue to shiver. He bent his head to look at her, and was amazed. She seemed almost invincible, running the boardinghouse, tending her injured brother, riding hard through the night to get to the camp, dealing with Brian and taking her father’s disasters in stride, yet now the simple howl of a wolf had undone her completely.

  Mary clung to him, thankful for his arms tightly around her. She wanted desperately to shut out the long, lonesome-sounding howling that frightened her. It made the isolation of the cabin and Michael’s injuries seem worse. She knew she was acting foolishly and she was embarrassed, but she couldn’t stop shaking or stop her fear.

  “Honey,” Dan said, his voice a deep rumble as she pressed her head tightly against his chest, “Do you know what a wolf looks like?”

  “I saw one once in a cage someone brought to town, and I’ve seen wolf skins.”

  “Then you know they look just like big dogs. And beautiful big dogs at that. Their fur is soft and thick. Some people keep wolves as pets.”

  While he talked, she remembered the wolf and how she had pitied the creature, hating to see it caged. And it had been beautiful. Her fear began to subside as she thought of dogs and remembered one they used to have at the boardinghouse. He had been shaggy and friendly and she loved to hug him and sink her fingers in his thick coat.

  She became calm, but along with the vanishing of her fear came an awareness of Dan. She clung to him tightly and he held her hard against him. His hand moved over her back and his strokes that moments ago had been reassuring were now disturbing and tantalizing.

  Dan became aware that she no longer covered her ear. Her shivering had ceased and she became silent. He stroked her back, feeling her warm flesh beneath the cotton, feeling her shoulder blades.

  He held her tightly and he couldn’t let go. He shifted, tilting up her face. Her eyes met his gaze and tension flared between them.

  “Aw, Mary,” he whispered, and bent his head to kiss her.

  Mary let him, clinging to him. His lips felt so light on hers, and then they were firm, pressing hard. His tongue touched her lips and delved deep into her mouth, storming her senses. She yielded to the passion he stirred, clinging to him, feeling his hard arousal pressing against her. His kisses went on, and she wanted them to never stop.

  His hand drifted to her shoulder, her nape and throat, and then down to her breast. She gasped and suddenly pushed against him. “No!” She stepped back, her eyes wide.

  “Oh, damn, I’m sorry Mary.” He ground out the words and spun around to stride to the far side of the cabin. “Sit there by the fire. I’ll stay over by Michael.” He pulled a chair beside the bed and sat with his back to Mary, his body burning with longing.

  Mary watched him, standing and shivering again. She rubbed her hands together, and when the wolf howled again, she jumped.

  Dan glanced over his shoulder at her. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes. I’ll be all right,” she said, hating the howling. But now she was not quite as unsettled by it as she was by the reaction Dan’s kisses had stirred.<
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  He went to her bed and came back with a blanket and her shoes. “Here, wear this. You can wrap yourself up in it and sit in a chair or go back to bed.”

  “I’m sorry I’m so foolish about the wolf, but it scares me.”

  He gazed at her solemnly. “That’s all right. All of us are scared of something.”

  “What are you afraid of, Dan? I can’t imagine you being afraid of anything.”

  “I guess the thing I’ve been most afraid of is hanging,” he said, looking into the fire. His gaze shifted to her. “And that the woman I love won’t love me in return.”

  “I’m sure you don’t have much to fear there,” Mary said quietly, thinking of Louisa and Silas, knowing her kisses with Dan were wrong. “I’m going to sit here by the fire for a while if you don’t mind.”

  “No, stay there as long as you like,” he answered politely, moving away from her. He sat with his back to her again.

  “Dan, have you ever killed a wolf?”

  “No.”

  “I wonder if they’re vicious.”

  “Probably only if provoked. I don’t now much about them,” he answered softly, turning his chair to look at her. She sat in front of the fire, and the flames made her hair look more fiery than ever in the reflected orange glow.

  “What have you hunted?” she asked after a time.

  “Things we could eat. Venison, turkeys, doves, prairie chickens,” he said, suddenly wanting to lift her heavy mane of hair and kiss her slender nape.

  Another howl came, and she jumped, squeezing her eyes closed.

  “You want me to come closer?” he asked.

  “No!” she exclaimed, and then blushed, glancing at him and away. “It’s so foolish. I know a wolf can’t get in here after us. But why does he keep howling?”

  “I don’t know why a wolf howls,” Dan answered slowly, thinking he would like to howl himself. He felt keyed-up, tense, and disturbed by Mary, although he knew his feelings were caused by their isolation. “How’d you escape growing up in a frontier town without learning how to use a pistol?”

  “Pa and the boys weren’t about to teach me!”

  “You’re a beautiful woman, Mary,” he said solemnly, knowing he shouldn’t say it, but unable to resist.

  She turned to look at him, her eyes wide. “Thank you.”

  He couldn’t remember feeling this way about a woman before. He ached to touch her and he couldn’t stop watching her.

  They talked quietly for over two hours while the fire died down. The wolf had stopped howling long ago, and the wind whistling around the cabin was the only sound. Michael slept more quietly than he had any night since their arrival, and Dan realized that each day now, Michael was improving. He turned back to Mary and saw her head loll over and realized she was asleep sitting up in the chair. He crossed the room and picked her up.

  She stirred and opened her eyes, stiffening in his arms.

  “Dan?”

  “You were asleep. You should be in bed.”

  He carried her to her corner, kissed her forehead, and set her on her feet. “Good night, Mary,” he said quietly, and left without looking back. Mary saw him jam his hands into his pockets, and she stared after him, all sleepiness gone after finding herself in his arms. She spread the blanket over her bed and crawled beneath the covers, lying awake and listening to him move to the fire and put on more logs.

  Dan stood watching them burn, thinking there was one thing about Mary that was different from Louisa and Melissa Hatfield: he never tired of talking to Mary. Even Dulcie wasn’t as interesting as Mary. He couldn’t remember spending much time talking to Melissa at all, and he couldn’t remember enjoying conversations with Louisa, because the only time they talked were the long evenings spent in her parents’ presence. Mary was fast becoming the best friend he had ever had.

  The thought made him pause and turn to stare at the blankets surrounding her as if he could see her through them.

  He sat beside Michael and dozed, only to waken when the fire had died and the embers had turned to gray ashes. Dan looked first at Michael, who still slept quietly. His gaze circled the cabin and he wondered what had awakened him.

  A tapping came at the back door, and Dan got up cautiously. Mary appeared, a pistol in hand.

  He motioned for her to remain quiet. He picked up the Henry and moved to the door.

  15

  Reuben Knelville stood before Sheriff Borden’s desk discussing the robbery of the stage. “Can’t you put a man on the stage when I receive the next order? I wired Kansas City, and they’ll have everything ready to send in four weeks. I want a guard on that stage!”

  “Sorry, Mr. Knelville. I told your pa that if you want someone to guard your own goods, you’ll have to hire them yourself. Now, you can talk to a Pinkerton man if you want. I’ve got the name of one who works out of St. Louis.”

  “All right, give me his name, but remember, Borden, you’re hired by the city fathers to control criminals. If you want to keep this job, see that it gets done!”

  “Yes, sir!” Sheriff Borden snapped, his face flushing. He rummaged through his desk. “Just a minute. Maybe I stuck it in the cabinet.” He pushed back his chair with a scrape and went to a scarred cabinet that stood along the back wall. A cabinet filled with rifles was mounted on the wall beside it, and wanted posters hung next to the gun cabinet.

  Reuben’s gaze drifted over the cabinet while his fingers drummed impatiently on the counter. Louisa was shopping and he wanted to be finished with the Sheriff in time to get back to talk to her. His gaze swept over the wall to the window onto the back, where the sheriff’s horse grazed in a small area fenced by rope.

  Reuben’s gaze went back to the posters, and he stared at one. Something about it nagged at him. He looked at the name: Tigre Danby Castillo. Wanted for murder, theft, bank robbery. Reuben looked again at the picture.

  “Here’s the fellow’s name, Buster Brawne, with his St. Louis office address.”

  “Doesn’t sound like a real name.”

  Sheriff Borden shrugged. “Here’s his card. Take it. No one else is interested in a Pinkerton man.”

  “Soon we can get things sent in here by rail. In the meantime, think it over, Sheriff. You might change your mind about putting a guard on the next stage. The election comes up in a few months.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Knelville,” he said in a tight voice.

  Reuben left, letting the door bang shut behind him. He jammed the card in his pocket and climbed into his buggy. Life had taken a strange turn. Dan Castle had left town with the O’Malleys to tend the injured brother. Paddy was still in town, but Reuben hadn’t seen Brian, although he assumed the young man had gone with Dan and Mary O’Malley. To Reuben’s delight, the trollop, Dulcie, knew exactly where Dan was. Castle had taken time to tell her before he left, a bit of information Reuben might find useful.

  As Louisa came out of a dry-goods store, Reuben slowed his team. “Good morning, Louisa.”

  When she turned, he was struck again by her beauty. Since she had all but actually become engaged to Castle, Reuben had been comparing her to other women he knew. In all honesty, the only woman who could come close to Louisa’s beauty was the whore, Dulcie. And that amazed Reuben every time he stopped to think about it. Some of the whores he had known were pretty, some attractive, and some downright plain, but many of them looked as if life had been hard on them. Not Dulcie. She was beautiful. Naked or clothed. It pleased him to buy her favors, knowing she was Dan Castle’s woman, hoping it annoyed Castle. He couldn’t get much information out of her, but after the first time with her, he really didn’t care. He was also amazed that his taste in women was exactly the same as Castle’s. He supposed it was simply a matter of having an eye for real beauty.

  Reuben’s gaze ran over Louisa with what he hoped was a bold, blatant look of desire, because he knew how she loved to have him show that he desired her. He climbed down to stand beside her. “Shopping early this morning?�
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  “Yes, we wanted to finish before we made our morning calls.”

  “And tonight is the Haskinses’ dinner. Have you heard from the wayward fiancé yet?”

  Her eyes became stormy as she gazed up at him, her red lips pursing in anger. “You know I don’t care to discuss that, and if you want to talk to me, Reuben Knelville, you will kindly change the subject!”

  “And your father, who is so taken with Castle. Has he heard from him yet? Or is he still out in the woods with Mary O’Malley?”

  “I’m going now.”

  Reuben laughed and took her hand, leaning down. “How I wished I were to be allowed to take you tonight. I’d steal a kiss, Louisa. A long kiss.” His fingers tickled her palm while he whispered in her ear.

  He saw the anger in her eyes change to a look of desire. She was as hot-blooded as that tart. Sometimes Dulcie was more of a lady in her own way than Louisa. And Dulcie wouldn’t torment a man to death, something Louisa delighted in.

  “Maybe I can escort you home if you indicate you’d like to let me,” he said. “Just a few kisses, Louisa, before you’re engaged.”

  She slanted him a coy look, and he knew she would let him take her home tonight. “Perhaps, Reuben.”

  “Perhaps you might like me to ask your mother if I can take you. Then I could steal two kisses?”

  She laughed, a merry peal. “How could you talk Mama into that, when—” She stopped, and realized she had thought of Dan. The anger returned to her eyes and she lifted her chin. “You do that, Reuben. See if you can talk Mama into allowing it. Our carriage is right there in front of the confectionery.”

  He smiled. Louisa would be his, never Dan Castle’s. He knew that when Castle returned he could make amends, but Reuben intended to cause such a wide rift between Dan and Louisa that Castle would never win her back. And Reuben had decided he wanted Louisa for his wife. She was the most suitable woman he knew.