Comanche Sunset

by Rosanne Bittner

  The one called Pete obeyed, opening one of Jennifer’s carpetbags and pulling out her only remaining slip. They had gone to the stage station first to talk to the man called Seth, where they had picked up Jennifer’s belongings. Bill wondered how Seth was feeling today. In his anger he had landed a hard fist into Seth’s face, knocking the man clear across the room. He would much rather have killed him, but Howell would have arrested him and he wouldn’t have been able to come here to try to help Wade.

  Pete tore up the slip and handed pieces of it out to the others.

  “Keep your rifles in their boots and hold the white cloth up high with one hand,” Bill told them. “Let’s go.”

  The men rode off, and Howell watched, his fury and humiliation knowing no bounds.

  Wade spotted the five riders first. He raised his hand to halt the small, migrating band of Indians. Jennifer’s heart quickened at the sight of someone approaching. She looked over at Kathleen, who rode in front of Aguila on the man’s horse. “Don’t be afraid, Kathy,” she told the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. She kept her arms around Wade. No, she thought, we don’t have to be afraid. We have Wade. She felt safe and protected, her blood still rushing warm at the thought of their heated lovemaking the night before. Still, what was this new trouble coming? Would her dream of being with Wade forever end after all?

  One of the Comanche women uttered words of fright, and Wade sensed immediately that all of them, men and women alike, were thinking of fleeing at the sight of white men. “Wait,” he called out to them. “Don’t run! They’re carrying white flags, a sign of peace.” He turned to Jennifer. “Let me do the talking until we know who these men are.” He headed his horse farther ahead, and the others watched warily. “I’ll be damned,” Wade muttered then.

  “What is it?”

  “I swear it looks like my brothers.” He grinned more as they came closer, then he turned and hollered to Aguila. “It’s all right. Tell the others not to be afraid. It’s my white brothers. They mean no harm!” He laughed lightly. “Hang on!” he told Jennifer. He rode forward at a near gallop then, and Jennifer clung tightly to his waist.

  Bill and Henry drew their horses to a halt, hardly recognizing Wade at first because of his near-nakedness and the wild look about him.

  “Bill!” Wade called out. “You son of a bitch! Now you come! Where were you when I needed you?”

  Wade rode up beside the man to whom he had spoken, grasping his wrist, and Bill clasped his own hand around Wade’s wrist. “Wade? My God, what’s happened to you? You look so wild I was about ready to shoot you.” His eyes took a quick inventory. “Good Lord, man, you’re a sight. What the hell did they do to you?”

  Wade’s smile faded slightly. “It’s a long story.”

  Henry moved to the other side of Wade, and Wade turned and grasped the man’s hand. “You’re a damn good sight, Henry.” He looked back at Bill. “Both of you. A damn good sight. Thank God I’ve still got a family.”

  Jennifer felt warmed immediately at the sight of Bill and Henry Morrow. They were handsome, solid-looking men with a warmth in their eyes she was sure showed the kind of man their father was. Bill looked at her then, and she was immediately self-conscious of how she must look. He only grinned, looking back at Wade.

  “What the hell have you been up to, brother? Captain Howell tells us you went and lost your heart to a white woman. I take it this is her.”

  Wade grinned, twisting his body slightly to put a hand on Jennifer’s arm. “You’re right. This is Jennifer Andrews. I intend to make it Jennifer Morrow as soon as possible. We could write a book about what we’ve been through since we met a few weeks ago. Jennifer, these are my brothers, Bill and Henry.”

  Wade nodded to the other men, all men he knew from his father’s company, while Jennifer nodded to his brothers. “I’m glad to finally meet you,” she told them. “I’m sorry for the way I look. For a while I wasn’t sure either Wade or I would ever see anyone from the civilized world again.”

  Bill put out his hand, and she reddened. “I’m sorry. My hands—” She looked down at their red, puffy condition.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry,” Bill told her. “I forgot. Howell told us how they got burned.” He looked at Wade. “She’s beautiful, even without fancy clothes and hairdo. We’re both glad for you, Wade, damn glad. Ma and Pa will be happy as hell to meet her.”

  “Hey, Miss Andrews, you’ll be glad to know Bill gave that man at the stage station a good wallop for letting the Indians take you. And we got back all your things. They’re over the other side of that hill, with the rest of our men and Captain Howell.”

  “Captain Howell!” Wade sobered. “He’s with you?”

  “Him and about twenty of his men,” Bill answered. “We didn’t know what we’d run into, Wade, so we brought a few soldiers along for extra guns. We figured we’d have to rescue you from Wild Horse.”

  Their eyes held, and Bill saw the sudden sorrow in Wade’s. “Wild Horse is dead,” he told Bill. “I killed him.”

  Bill sighed, and Jennifer was amazed and pleased at the look of true love and concern in the man’s eyes for the Indian man he called brother. “I’m sorry, Wade. I know you wouldn’t have wanted it.”

  “The man left me no choice. Some day when we’ve got more time, I’ll explain. Right now I’m concerned about those soldiers. I’ve convinced Wild Horse’s people to go back to the reservation. If they see soldiers, they’ll think they’ve been tricked again and they’ll scatter all to hell.”

  “I had the men take their guns. I figured you might be here—and I was afraid if you weren’t, and Howell and his men went riding in shooting, those Indians would kill Miss Andrews. The scout said there was a little girl along, too, who looked white.”

  “Kathleen Williams,” Jennifer told the man. “Wade and I are taking her with us to California. She was a captive, but they’ve let her go, and she has no family left.”

  Bill grinned. “Ma will like taking in another orphan. You know how she is.”

  “Yes,” Wade answered softly, thinking of Slow Woman, remembering the feel of her in his arms. He loved Vivian Morrow all the more for being the mother he never would have had otherwise. He sighed deeply and met Bill’s eyes. “Let me go and try to explain to Wild Horse’s men before you ride back to Howell. I don’t care if you and the others have to shoot those soldiers’ horses from under them. Don’t let them come this way! There’s no use in it now. It’s Wild Horse Howell wanted, and he’s dead. Howell might as well go back to Fort Stockton.”

  “We’ll go back and tell him.” The man grinned, tears in his eyes. “Damn, it’s good to see you, Wade. I was afraid we’d have to go back and tell the folks you were dead. It would have been hard on Pa, worse for Ma. I’m just sorry the way things had to turn out. It would have been nice for you if you could have been friends with your blood brother.”

  Wade’s horse tossed its mane and whinnied. “I did find an uncle. And I have a cousin back at the reservation, a little girl. I’ve agreed to ride there with them. I’m hoping to convince all of them to stay there and stop the raiding, and I want to see the little girl once more.”

  “Sure, Wade,” Bill answered. He glanced at Jennifer once more. “Welcome to the family, ma’am,” he told her. “Anybody Wade loves, we all love.”

  Henry grinned and tipped his hat to Wade. He and Bill turned and rode off then with the others. Wade turned his horse and rode back to Aguila.

  “They brought soldiers,” he told the man in English so the others couldn’t understand. He saw the alarm come into Aguila’s eyes. “They only did it because they didn’t know what they’d find. They’re good men, Aguila. They can be trusted. I told them to tell Captain Howell to go back to Fort Stockton.”

  “Soldiers cannot be trusted,” Aguila told him.

  “My brothers won’t let them come here. I’m going back myself to convince Howell to give it up. All he wanted was Wild Horse, and Wild Horse is dead. You keep going
with the others. Jennifer and I will catch up. I give you my word, Aguila. The soldiers won’t follow. My brothers have enough men along to force them to turn back.”

  Aguila nodded. “I will trust your word—no one else’s.” He shouted to the others to keep going. He turned his horse, but Jennifer called out to him. “Let us take Kathleen for now,” she told the man. “If the soldiers see her, they’ll be even more convinced that you are keeping your word and are returning to the reservation.”

  Aguila nodded, handing Kathleen over to Wade, who plunked her in front of him on his horse. “We’ll see about borrowing an extra horse from my brothers or one of the soldiers,” he told Jennifer. He gave Kathleen a light hug. “Don’t worry, we won’t leave you behind. You’re staying right with us.”

  Kathleen leaned against Wade’s chest, some of her childish joy of life returning with each passing day that she was cared for by this kind Indian man and Jennifer, who had become her very good friends.

  Wade turned his horse and headed back over the hill where his brothers were already riding. He followed close behind, and as they approached the soldiers, Howell watched in astonishment.

  “Wild Horse,” the man muttered.

  “No. I expect it’s Wade,” one of the Morrow men told him. “Sit tight, Captain. I never heard no shooting.”

  Wade and his brothers came closer. “Wild Horse is dead,” Bill called out to Howell. “You and your men can go back.”

  “Is that so!” Howell moved his eyes to Wade, his shock evident at Wade’s battered condition. “What’s going on here?”

  “Get down,” Wade told Jennifer. She slid off the horse and reached up for Kathleen. Wade rode closer to Howell. “My brother told you,” Wade said, his anger immediately building at the sight of the captain. “Wild Horse is dead. I killed him myself. How else do you think I got these wounds?”

  “How do I know that’s true? Maybe you’re protecting him while he gets away.”

  In an instant, and to everyone’s surprise, including Jennifer’s, Wade’s knife was out and pressed against Howell’s throat, Wade’s other hand gripping the man’s uniform at the scruff of his neck. “And maybe I’ve just about had my fill of you, Howell! You turned Jennifer out, knowing the danger she would be in! You can believe Wild Horse is dead because I’m telling you he’s dead. I’m no liar, Howell!”

  Howell’s eyes widened in terror. At the moment Wade looked no less murderous than Wild Horse himself would have. “Those Indians over the hill are heading back to the reservation—peacefully,” Wade growled. “Why start something that isn’t necessary? Leave them alone, Howell! It’s over! You’ve got no Wild Horse to tuck under your belt and earn a promotion. And even though I had to kill him myself, I’d sure as hell rather have it end for him that way than for him to be imprisoned and hanged by the likes of you!”

  He shoved his knife back into its sheath but still had hold of the back of Howell’s uniform. With a strong arm he yanked hard, pulling Howell toward him so violently that the man fell from his horse. Jennifer gasped as Wade quickly dismounted himself, grabbing Howell up by the front of his uniform and landing a big fist into the man’s face, sending him flying.

  “That was for Jennifer,” he told the man.

  Howell rolled to his knees, spitting blood from his mouth, more trickling from his nose.

  “Here’s what you’re going to do, Howell,” Wade told him, while Howell’s men watched in surprise. “You’re going to leave those Indians alone, and you’re going to leave me and my family alone! In return, you’re welcome to report that Wild Horse is dead. You can say he was killed by me, because Wild Horse insisted one of us should die. You can report that once Wild Horse was dead, his followers decided to return to the reservation. Take all the credit yourself, if you want, even for the return of that little girl over there. She was one of Wild Horse’s captives. Her name is Kathleen Williams. Her family is all dead, and Jenny and I are taking her to California with us.”

  He reached down and jerked Howell to his feet. “Tell whoever you answer to that you were the one who convinced Wild Horse’s people to stop their raiding. That should win you a stripe or a star or whatever the hell you’re after! Do whatever you want about reporting this, but just leave us alone and leave those people over the hill alone!”

  Howell wiped blood from his nose. “Where is Wild Horse’s body? The authorities won’t believe me.”

  “Do you really think I’d tell any white man where he’s buried so they can go and desecrate his grave? The fact that his people are returning to the reservation is proof enough the man is dead. If he wasn’t, they would all still be out there raiding!”

  Howell’s face was beet red with embarrassment. “How dare you hit me in front of my men!”

  “How dare you send Jennifer away! Do like I say, Howell, and maybe I can talk my white father out of having you drawn and quartered!”

  Howell glowered at him. “Have your men give back my men’s weapons!”

  “Not until you all reach the fort. I gave those people my word that you wouldn’t come after them.”

  Howell looked him over. “All right. You win, Morrow. I’ll just be glad to be rid of you! The woman, too!” The man mounted his horse, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and holding it to his still-bleeding nose. “I’ll say one thing, Morrow. The body of Wild Horse might be buried out there somewhere, but he’s not dead! He’s standing right in front of me!”

  The man turned his horse and ordered his men to head back. The men who carried Jennifer’s bags untied them and set them down on the ground. “You might need this stuff, ma’am,” one of them told her. She looked up at him and thanked him, feeling none of the animosity and disrespect she had felt from Tony and the others for loving an Indian.

  “I’ll ride back with Henry,” Bill told Wade. “We have plenty of extra horses with the remuda. The woman and little girl can share my horse.”

  “Thanks, Bill. We’ll head north. Soon as we reach the reservation, we’ll head back south and try to intercept you. You should be returning from Galveston by then. You’ll be traveling slower because of the wagons.”

  “And we’ll all head for California,” Bill said with a wink. “I’ll bet home sounds good to you.”

  “It does,” Wade answered.

  “Bill,” Jennifer spoke up. “There’s a woman back at the fort named Alice. Please tell her I’m all right—and Wade, too. Tell her we’re going to be married and go to California. Tell her I’ll always remember her, and I’ll write her.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Bill replied, tipping his hat. “Be glad to.” He mounted up behind Henry then, and Wade walked up to Henry, grasping his arm. “See you in about three weeks, little brother. Ride easy now. Don’t lose your brother.”

  Henry laughed. “Sure!” He immediately took off at a gallop, Bill yelling and cussing at him until they were out of sight.

  Jennifer smiled and knelt down to open one of her bags. She rummaged in one of the inside pockets, pulling out the locket. She held it out to Kathleen. The child’s eyes widened, and she paled slightly. With a shaking hand she reached out and took the necklace.

  “Is that the one?” Jennifer asked.

  “Yes,” Kathleen whispered. She closed it in her fist and held it against her heart. “How did you find it!”

  “One of the soldiers back at the fort…saved it,” she told the girl. “He thought someone might want it,” she lied. How could she tell the child the man had ripped it off her mother’s dead body, thinking it might be worth something? “He gave it to me for safe keeping. Now it’s back where it belongs.”

  The girl’s eyes teared. “Thank you, Jenny.”

  Jennifer embraced her for a moment, then rose and faced Wade, who pulled her into his arms. “Once we’re on our way, I’ll wire my uncle, and Mattie,” she told him. “Mattie deserves to know I’m all right. My uncle doesn’t, but I suppose it’s only right he knows for certain what happened to me. Once we’re married, he can
’t hurt us.”

  Wade kissed her hair. “No one can hurt us. No one. I’m never going to feel guilty for this, Jenny, and you’re never going to hang your head in shame. I love you, more than my own life.”

  She looked up at him. “And I love you…so much.”

  Already they again longed to unite their bodies, but there was plenty of time for that now. They would go to California, and make a home there, for themselves and Kathleen. Their lips met in a sweet kiss, while Kathleen draped the locket around her neck.

  Wade helped Jennifer mount up on Bill’s horse then, handing Kathleen up to her. He tied Jennifer’s bags onto the horse, then mounted his own horse with ease and grace.

  They headed north, toward the Red River, neither of them aware that for years neither settler nor Indian would venture into Comanche Hills, for many who dared to do so would tell tales of a ghostly Indian who rode those hills on moonlit nights, his hair flying back in the wind, his hatchet raised. He would let out bloodcurdling war cries, so they would report, and when he came close, they could see that his eyes were blue.

  Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God…

  Also by Rosanne Bittner

  The Bride Series

  Tennessee Bride

  Texas Bride

  Oregon Bride

  Caress

  Comanche Sunset

  Heart’s Surrender

  In the Shadow of the Mountains

  Indian Summer

  Lawless Love

  Love’s Bounty

  Rapture’s Gold

  Shameless

  Sweet Mountain Magic

  Tame the Wild Wind

  Tender Betrayal

  The Forever Tree

  Unforgettable

  Until Tomorrow