Their eyes held. “Then take the time.” She sniffed.
She stepped closer, holding his eyes. “Josh, you know how Father would feel about this. He would question Brand, talk to him, get to know him. He might not have accepted it at first either, but it wouldn’t have been because Brand has Indian blood. It would have been for the same reason any other father is cautious about the man his daughter will marry. And Mother went through this same thing, Josh. You know that. Her love for Father held them together. You know what they went through. But you also know how much they loved each other. That’s how it is with me and Brand.”
Joshua sighed. “Sometimes I think you’ve been away too long, Rachael. You have forgotten just how deeply most folks around here hate the Comanche. I’m not near as bad as most, because of Pa, I suppose.” He frowned, studying Brand. “And how do you know this man is going to stay this way? Maybe someday that wild side of him will take over and he’ll abuse you, maybe even get tired of you and sell you, maybe start drinking, decide to take a second wife. Comanche men usually have more than one wife, you know.”
Rachael closed her eyes and turned away. “Comanche men take more than one wife for survival,” Brand spoke up. “If a woman is widowed, she usually goes to her sister’s husband because she could never survive on her own. Most babies born to the Comanche die very young, so a man takes more than one wife in order to have enough surviving children to make sure the race does not die out. There are many reasons for taking more than one wife. But I am Comanche by blood and in my spiritual beliefs only. I have not lived as a Comanche for a long time—long enough to show that that life is over for me. I do not drink the firewater and I never have. And because of my white mother, even when I lived among them I never harmed a white woman.”
Joshua faced him. “So, it was your mother who was white. A captive?”
Brand held his eyes. “At first. But she loved my father. When she had a chance to escape, she chose to remain with him.”
“She still alive?”
“No. Both my mother and my father are dead. My father was killed at Plum Creek.”
Joshua nodded. “I was only fifteen then, but I heard about Plum Creek. That was the last really big battle.”
“Massacre.”
Joshua watched his eyes, seeing something there that he liked but not wanting to admit to it. “Yes, I suppose it was. At any rate, that chased out most of the Indians except for the renegades who roam the borders now. You probably know who they all are.”
“I know them. I tried to convince them to stop, but men like Jason Brown keep the hatred alive. After he raped the little Indian girl and his superiors did nothing about it, I quit scouting and left this area for a long time.”
“Why did you bother coming back here?”
“To be in Jason Brown’s territory again. I intend to prove he deals with Comancheros—at least that was my plan. Then I met Rachael. Now it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I just want to be able to marry her and be at peace.”
The words were spoken in quiet passion. And Joshua knew that half-breed or not, if this man truly loved his sister, he would be a wildly protective husband. Surely he was a gentle man in spite of his size and appearance, for he had stolen Rachael’s virginity and she was certainly not upset by it. A girl as innocent and trusting as Rachael would not still love a man who had been brutal with her. But it still ate at Joshua’s pride that it had happened at all, and he actually struggled with jealousy. Rachael Rivers was his sister. No man should have touched her without Joshua Rivers’s permission. Who else was there to look after her best interests now?
“Well, there sure isn’t much I can do about it now, is there?” He shook his head again, confused by all he had just heard, especially by the stories about Jason Brown, who he had always felt would marry Rachael. “I can’t give you my blessing, Rachael, not yet. I’ve got some thinking to do. I’ll be coming to Austin next Monday or Tuesday. I was going to come earlier and go to the dance Saturday, but there’s too much to do around here. Besides—” Disgust came back into his eyes. “I’m not exactly in the mood for a dance now.” His jaw flexed in repressed anger. “Can you do one thing for me and hold off on things ’til I come? Will you wait for me at Lacy’s before you two go riding off?”
Rachael looked over at Brand, not sure how to answer her brother.
“You can have the time,” Brand answered. “We owe you that much. Rachael and I will marry just the same, but we will not leave until you come to Austin and see her once more. If you approve of this and accept it, it will help our own decision on whether to stay in Austin or leave. There is strength in numbers, Joshua, but if we must do this alone, we will do it.”
Joshua moved hurt eyes to Rachael. “You staying the night?”
“Yes. We will leave early in the morning and try to make Austin by nightfall. I don’t want to be gone too long and arouse suspicion. Lacy will tell anyone who asks that you came for me and I came out for a short visit.”
“I must get back as soon as I can myself,” Brand put in. “One of my prized horses was very sick when I left. And I have only two young Comanche boys to watch my place. They do not have the experience of you and your brothers. I want to be back by tomorrow night.”
“I intend to go to the dance, Joshua. I don’t want this to come out until afterward. People are all wound up for Saturday and I’m afraid an ugly mob would form if people learned about me and Brand beforehand. I don’t want Brand to be hurt. We’ll wait until after the dance and then quietly leave. I pray it will be with your best wishes. My biggest hope was that Brand could sell everything he has and pool the money into the Double ‘R’ and work together with you and Matt and Luke. Together we could have an even bigger ranch, Josh—more horses and cattle. We could all be together, and I’d be here to keep the house and cook for you and—”
“Stop it, Rachael!” The disappointment on her face tore at his heart, but he could not bring himself to listen to such an outlandish idea.
Rachael blinked back tears. “I’ll make some supper and clean things up a bit before we go,” Rachael told him. She looked pleadingly at Brand. “We can at least all eat a meal together, and I want to see Matt and Luke.”
Brand nodded. “We will eat together and I will meet Matthew,” he told her. “We will tell both your other brothers about us.” Rachael was grateful for the strength and determination Brand showed. He folded his arms and turned his eyes to meet Joshua’s. “We will talk about horses,” he continued. “That is one thing we both know about. Perhaps if I tell you how my sick horse is acting, you will have some idea what is wrong with him.”
Their eyes held, and Joshua realized the effort Brand Selby was making to befriend him. He was indeed more civilized than the average Comanche. If Brand Selby was the vicious Indian others made him out to be, Brand would have gladly continued their fight and would probably have done a fine job of carving him up.
Still, the man was a half-breed, worse than a full-blood in most peoples’ eyes. Anger and disappointment still boiled in his gut that his sister would not only marry such a man, but also that she had already given herself to him. Surely Brand Selby had used some kind of trick to seduce poor Rachael. He told himself he must not trust a half-breed. How did he know what Brand said about Jason was true? He had known Jason Brown a lot longer than he had known this man standing before him.
“All right,” he said aloud. He looked at Rachael. “We’ll eat supper together. I appreciate your offer to make it. There’s some deer meat in the smokehouse and a few potatoes down there in the bin where Ma always kept them. I hope to God you know what you’re doing, Rachael.”
She straightened more, lifting her chin. “It’s God who means for us to be together, Josh. I know it in my heart. Some day you’ll know also.”
Joshua stepped closer. “You just think about what you’re doing. Think about it, damn it, Rachael!”
“I have thought about it.”
Joshua sighed and head
ed for the door, turning to face them both before going out. “We’ll have supper together, and I’ll try to keep it pleasant. Matt and Luke can make up their own minds, but I don’t think a few days of mulling it over is going to change my mind at all.” He turned his eyes to Brand. “You might love my sister and be a good man and all of that, but you’re still a half-breed; and I can’t stomach the thought of my sister marrying you. It’s wrong, Selby—she’s going to be hurt and hurt bad.”
“The only people who can truly hurt her are those she loves,” Brand answered, anger in his own voice. “The others do not matter to her. If you love your sister you will help her through this by accepting it. And I see behind those angry eyes the goodness that is in Rachael.”
Joshua’s nostrils flared with indignation. “You see a man who loves his sister and wants the best for her; a man whose right to decide what is best for her has been stolen away without a word!” He looked over at Rachael. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this,” he growled. “I love you, Rachael, because you’re my sister. But I’ll never understand what you’ve done.”
He walked out, slamming the door behind him. Rachael turned to Brand. “I never thought it would be this bad,” she said brokenly.
“I was afraid it would be. That is why I wanted to be with you.”
“Now what do I do, Brand?”
“You go back with me and we will wait as we promised. After he has had time to think about this, he will know the right thing to do is to come and tell you it is all right with him.”
“I don’t think he will. I just lost my father to death, and now it’s like…like Joshua has died, too. I’ve lost him.”
Brand came closer, taking her into his arms. “You have not lost him, Rachael. You share the same blood. He will not turn away forever.”
Outside Joshua walked straight to the graves of his parents. He stared at the stone markers as a hot Texas wind ruffled his thick hair. “Jesus, Pa, what should I do?” He closed his eyes and lowered his head, wishing with all his heart that Joe Rivers was still alive. It was so hard suddenly being the one in charge. “Rachael. My God, Rachael,” he wept.
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you a real Indian?” Luke asked Brand.
“Finish chewing before you speak, Luke,” Rachael said quietly. She glanced at Joshua, who was glowering at his little brother.
Brand swallowed a piece of venison, keeping his patience with the question. He detected only innocent curiosity in Luke’s dark eyes.
“I am only half Indian, Luke,” he answered.
Matthew turned blue eyes to look at Brand Selby again. He was undecided on the whole subject of his sister marrying this half-breed. It didn’t seem right, a sister of his marrying a man who was half Indian; yet there was something about Brand that he liked, and both he and Luke admired Brand’s powerful build and obvious abilities, but Matthew was not so sure he was the right man for his sister.
It gladdened Rachael’s heart to realize that both younger boys at least seemed more tolerant of the whole idea than did Joshua. If she could win them over, perhaps they could eventually win over Joshua.
“Did you live with them?” Luke was asking.
“When I was young.”
Luke rattled off more questions—about Brand’s parentage, his scouting experiences.
“Luke, your stew is going to get cold,” Rachael reminded him. She turned to Brand. “You have hardly had a chance to eat for all the questions.”
“I don’t mind. Your brothers should know all they want to know about me.”
“Like whether you have connections with the Comancheros?” Joshua put in sarcastically. “And like what your real plans are for our sister?”
“Joshua, please stop it,” Rachael told him, her cheeks turning pink.
“I have no connections with the Comancheros,” he told Joshua. “It is Jason Brown who deals with them, and some day I will prove it.”
“Jason would never deal with men like that,” Matthew put in. “He’s a Texas Ranger.”
Brand moved his eyes to meet Matthew’s. “There are bad men in all walks of life, Matthew. There are good and bad white men, and good and bad Indians. Most Rangers try to do good, to keep law and order. I have worked for them myself, remember? But just because Jason is a Ranger, it does not mean he is a good man.”
“I bet you’re real good with guns and knives and things like that, aren’t you, Mr. Selby?” Luke asked, unperturbed by the rest of the conversation.
“As good as most,” Brand answered.
“You ever been in a knife fight? I always heard Indians were real good in knife fights.”
“Luke, finish your stew,” Rachael told him.
The boy grudgingly dipped his spoon back into the mixture of potatoes, vegetables, and venison.
“Yeah, I reckon he’s real good with a knife,” Joshua answered for Brand. “You ever lift any pretty blond scalps, Selby?”
Rachael closed her eyes and bowed her head, still clinging to Brand’s hand. “Oh, Joshua,” she whispered.
“I have never touched a white woman,” Brand answered.
“Not till you touched my sister. Maybe she’s stupid enough to trust in you, but I’m not, Selby.”
“Joshua, why are you talking like this in front of Matt and Luke?” Rachael asked sadly.
Brand stood up and turned to Rachael. “I am going to check on the horses. I think we had better leave yet tonight. We can make a few miles even in the dark.”
He walked out and Rachael rose from the table. “I never thought I could be so ashamed of my own brother, Joshua.”
Joshua threw down his spoon. “Damn it, Rachael, I only want what’s best for you.”
“Then be happy for me! I love him, Joshua. Don’t you understand?”
“No! He’s half Indian. My God, Rachael, what is wrong with you?”
She stiffened, facing him squarely. “I am our mother’s daughter. Emma Simms Rivers would have acted no differently.” She swallowed back tears. “I’m going outside with Brand. I’m sorry for how you feel, Josh. I guess we needn’t bother waiting for you to come to town. We’ll be leaving Monday, whether you show up or not. I’m really sorry you can’t understand, sorry I have to go. I had hoped we could live right here and be a family, because I love you.” She looked at Matt and Luke. “All of you.”
“I like him, Rachael,” Luke spoke up. “Don’t go away forever.”
Rachael smiled sadly. “That’s up to your brothers, Luke.” She looked challengingly at Joshua. “I’m glad Mother and Father aren’t here to see you acting like this.”
After she turned and walked out, Matthew turned a pouting face to Joshua. “Why don’t you hold a gun on him and make him leave Rachael here and ride out?” he asked.
Joshua leaned back in his chair. “That wouldn’t work,” he said. “She’d call my bluff and go with him anyway. I can’t shoot him down in front of Rachael.”
Matthew shrugged. “Why don’t you tell Jason then? He’d stop it. Jason loves Rachael anyway—wants to marry her.”
Joshua stared at the table, trying to decide if Jason Brown could possibly be as bad as Brand Selby claimed. “I don’t know. Trouble with that is Jason probably won’t even want her for himself after this.” He leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “But at least I bet he could stop it. Maybe I will go to that dance and have a little talk with Jason.”
“I like him, Josh,” Luke said, a scowl on his face. “You shouldn’t be mean to Rachael like that. She likes him, too.”
“You’re too young to know what’s best for our sister, Luke. The man is a half-breed. He could turn on her at anytime—go back to his Indian ways.”
“Pa didn’t have anything against the Indians.”
“Comanches are different from the Indians Pa knew best. I bet Pa wouldn’t approve of this either.”
“I bet he would.”
“Shut up and eat your stew, Luke,” Matt put in. “What do you know?”<
br />
“Just as much as you. You’re only two years older. What makes you think you know so much?”
“Both of you be quiet,” Joshua said, rising. “This is up to me.” He walked to a window, looking out to see Rachael and Brand standing out under the elm tree, at the graves of Joe and Emma Rivers. The two of them embraced, and he could see Rachael was crying. Joshua felt torn inside. He wanted his sister to be happy, but marrying someone like Brand Selby was only going to bring her heartache. He couldn’t let it happen, no matter how much she might hate him for a while. He decided he had no choice but to tell Jason Brown. Jason would know what to do.
They made their way by the light of the moon, through a night of breathless quiet. Rachael held no fear, for she was with a man who knew this land like the back of his hand, knew every rock, every stand of trees, every turn of the river. In the moonlight the rock formations looked to her like grotesque beings guarding the night, and distant trees were just jagged, dark lines. Alone, this land would be one of wrenching isolation, and Rachael realized that was how she felt about Joshua—isolated now from his love.
Brand pressed her close against him. “We’ll sleep soon,” he told her. “I know you’re tired.” He kissed her hair. “You can still change you mind, Rachael.”
“No. You’re as good as any man in Austin. I’m just…so ashamed of the way Joshua talked to you.”
“I wasn’t completely surprised.”
She couldn’t help the sob that jerked at her body. “Oh, Brand, I don’t want my brothers to hate me.”
He halted the horse, getting off and lifting her down. “Rachael, they don’t hate you. They’re just disappointed and confused right now.” He kissed her forehead. “Behind all the yelling and insults I saw a lot of love down deep inside Joshua Rivers. That’s all it is. He loves you and he isn’t sure I’m the best man for you. What we have to do is prove that I am—prove to him how much we love each other. If he’s anything like you, was raised the way you were, he’ll come around.” He gave her a hug. “Besides, I’ve got at least one of them on my side. Luke likes me.”
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