Dangerous Heart

by Tracey Bateman

  “How far ahead do you think they are?”

  Sam held up his fingers to his lips and pointed into the woods. Grant’s stomach tightened. Were they that close?

  Sam placed his hand on his pistol.

  “Don’t shoot,” called a voice from the direction Sam had pointed. “I’m coming out with my hands up.”

  The stranger rode tall in his saddle, sinewy, with a broad brimmed hat slanted downward across his forehead.

  “Hey, Elijah,” Buddy called. “What are you doing back here?”

  “Good to see you, Buddy,” the stranger said.

  Grant stiffened at the realization this man rode with the outlaws. Was his gun the one that had shot the fatal bullet into Sarah? “Like Buddy said. What are you doing apart from the outlaw gang?”

  “I’ve been trailing them.” He cast a quick glance to Buddy, then back to Grant. “Ginger’s in trouble.”

  “We figured that. Miss Sadie made it back to the camp with Mr. Harrison.”

  Elijah nodded. “Good. I expected Lane to kill them.”

  His words sent a cold chill up Grant’s spine.

  “Lane who? I thought Web was in charge.”

  “In theory.”

  The man’s demeanor and speech pegged him as an educated man. “What’s a fellow like you doin’ riding with a bunch of thugs?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  “Thieving and murdering?” Grant heard the bitterness in his voice. For the life of him, he barely contained his anger.

  “Do you have a bone to pick with me, stranger?”

  The important thing now was to find Ginger and bring her back safely. Confronting the outlaws that killed Sarah could wait.

  “No.”

  “I’m assuming you three are going after Ginger?”

  Two Feathers nodded. “We are.”

  “So am I. May I join you?”

  “Can you be trusted?” Grant heard himself saying.

  “You should know right now that I’m not part of this outlaw gang.” He shot another glance to Buddy. “I might as well go ahead and tell you. I’m here to get you and Ginger away from Web once and for all. Your brother Clem sent me.”

  “Clem?” Buddy frowned. “That ain’t true, Elijah. Clem died when I was just a kid.”

  Grant decided it was time to remove all the assumption from the air. “No, Buddy. He didn’t. I was there. I pulled the bullet out and cleaned the wound.”

  Elijah nodded. “That’s exactly the way Clem told it. What he didn’t say is that Lane’s the one that shot him. They’d got into an argument about Ginger that day. Clem caught Lane staring at her in the lake. They had a terrible fight, and Clem turned just as Lane shot.”

  Buddy shook with fury. “I’ll kill him.”

  “No, son,” Elijah said gently. “Clem doesn’t want that. He’s forgiven Lane for what he did.”

  “Where is he?”

  “Clem was sent to prison for his part in the stage robbery. Because a woman died, he was sent up for a long time. Only the fact that his gun hadn’t been fired saved him from getting hanged.”

  “There’s more, Buddy.” Grant nudged his horse toward the boy. “The woman that was killed was my wife, Sarah.”

  Buddy stared at him wordlessly, as though robbed of speech. But his eyes reflected his sorrow. He cleared his throat. “All this time, we blamed you for Clem’s death, and here you saved him. But we killed your wife.”

  Buddy’s words hit Grant like an anvil. “You blamed me?”

  “Ginger said you wouldn’t help him and that he died before she left.”

  Grant gathered a ragged breath. That’s why Ginger always seemed to be angry at him. And why lately she’d been playing hot and cold. She was clearly struggling between her feelings for him and her anger that he had allowed her brother to die. “Listen, Buddy. After Ginger ran off, I went to your brother. He wasn’t dead—just passed out from blood loss.”

  “Basically,” Elijah said. “The doctor, here, saved your brother’s life even though his own wife had just died.”

  “We have to tell Ginger before she shoots Grant.”

  Elijah smiled. “I’ve already told her, but I don’t expect she still wants to shoot him, anyway.”

  Grant’s stomach jumped at the implication of the words.

  “It will be fully light soon,” Sam broke in. “We should move on.”

  They moved single file. As the sun rose, the sound of gunfire in the distance froze Grant’s blood. Without waiting for a reaction from the others, he kicked his mount into a gallop and headed toward the shots, praying he’d find Ginger alive.

  Ginger stood, chest heaving, disappointment searing her gut as Lane held her gun and nearly growled as he paced in front of her. She’d only fired off one round when Lane got the jump on her and grabbed her gun. “What did you think you were going to do?” he demanded. “Fight us all?”

  She jerked her chin. “If I had to.” And she still would, next chance she got. Two things she could bank on: there was no way she was going to let them hurt Web, and she’d take a bullet before she’d marry the likes of Lane Conners. “You aren’t touching my pa. You hear me? And you aren’t leaving him for the wolves, either. He needs help, and I’m not leaving him.”

  She didn’t see the blow coming, but in a flash, the ground rose up to meet her amid an explosion of pain across her cheek from his fist. “Don’t you tell me what you’re gonna do, woman. You’ll do as I say. I’m the boss here now.”

  “You’re an idiot.” A kick to the gut sent her sprawling, gasping for breath.

  Ames stepped forward. “Enough, Lane.”

  “You want what she’s getting?”

  Ames still hadn’t recovered his full strength, so Ginger didn’t blame him when he backed down. Lane nodded. “Smart move.” A sneer curled his lip, and before anyone knew what to think, he fired point blank. Ames eyes widened, his hand clutched the bleeding wound in his gut. He dropped to his knees and fell face-first, his blood staining the fresh snow that had fallen overnight. Lane eyed the shocked group of men. “Anyone else want to challenge me?”

  Apparently no one did.

  “You’re all a bunch of cowards. Lane’s the biggest idiot in the whole camp, and you’re going to follow the likes of him?” She braced herself for another blow but dodged just as he reared back to kick her. She grabbed for his foot and sent him sprawling, and her gun dropped to the ground. He roared with rage, but Ginger sprang to her feet and snatched her gun from where he’d dropped it. This time, she kept her back to the woods so she could keep her eye on the whole group. One sweeping glance confirmed that no one was missing. “Now, you listen to me closely. Those so-called letters were nothing more than a scam. If any one of you fools knew how to read your own name, you’d have been able to figure out that Clem wrote them to Elijah. They were trying to get me away from this group when Clem gets out of prison in February.”

  “It’s a lie!” Lane snarled.

  “Don’t even think about trying to get up, Lane.”

  She turned toward the group.

  “The reason Lane doesn’t want to believe Clem is alive is because he’s the one that shot him.”

  “Don’t believe her. She’s just tryin’ to turn you agin’ me.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  Greely stepped forward. “It’s true. Lane did it. I seen him with my own two eyes.”

  Ginger turned to the man. “Then why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  He shrugged and looked away with shame. “You was so all-fired set to blame the doc, it just seemed better to let it go.”

  “But the doctor saved Clem’s life, and all this time…” Ginger fought back tears.

  “All this time what?” Lane sneered. “You blamed the doc, then you went and got sweet on him.”

  “That’s my business!”

  “Ya see? She’s lying, and so is Greely.”

  “No, they aren’t.”

  From the woods, Elijah emerge
d, pistol brandished, eyes like steel. On the other side of the camp, Grant did the same thing. And Buddy came to her. His eyes grew big when he noticed Web lying unconscious on the ground. “What happened? Did he get shot?”

  “No, Buddy. He’s sick.”

  Grant spoke softly. “We’ll get him back to camp and try to ease his pain some.”

  Ginger looked across the camp once more. “Elijah is the one that told me about Clem. I read my brother’s letters. No one could have faked them, because he mentioned things that only Clem and I discussed.”

  “Clem’s still alive, huh?” Lane said, his face white.

  “Yes, even though you did your best to kill him.”

  Two Feathers took charge. “Everyone take off your gun belts and give them to Buddy.”

  As Buddy came to Lane, the man swung around and pointed his pistol, just as a gun went off. Ginger gasped and jumped back. Web’s hand shook, but his shot had been true. “He tried to kill my boy,” he whispered. Then he lost consciousness once more.

  Within a few minutes, all of the men were mounted, their hands tied together and secured to the saddle horns. Sam stood in front of Grant and Ginger. “Grant will escort you two and Web back to the wagon train. They’ll likely be at Fort Boise by the time you meet up with them. We’ll loop back and meet up with the sheriff back at Fort Hall and then catch up in a few days.” He peered close at Ginger. “You’ll let Toni know?”

  Ginger smiled. “I will. Thank you for coming, Two Feathers.”

  He nodded. “You were doing pretty well on your own.”

  “Yeah, but who knows what might have happened once we rode out?”

  Without a wagon, Grant constructed a travois to transport Web back to camp. Ginger could barely speak or look at him while they traveled. She simply didn’t know what to say. He knew now that Sarah had been killed by Web’s gang. And yet he’d been gentle and kind so far in caring for him.

  Within a day, they reached the walls of Fort Boise. Just outside the fort, the wagon train had made a temporary camp. Miss Sadie rushed out to meet her. “Oh, thank the Lord.”

  Barely conscious, Web insisted on speaking to Mr. Harrison before going any further. In moments, the man appeared. He hunkered down next to Web. Slipping beneath the covers, Web pulled out two saddle bags. “This is part of the money. The rest is in the other two saddle bags on Ginger’s horse.”

  Charles’s eyes misted. “This will mean a new life for everyone here.”

  Ginger wasn’t too sure what that meant, but she sure was glad to see that money in the right person’s hands.

  That evening, Blake called a meeting.

  “Listen, folks. The snows are too deep for us to make it to Oregon this year.” He held up his hands to silence the groans. “Several of you have come to me with your intention to continue on together. I wish you’d reconsider, but I’m not going to stop you. For those of you who have decided to stay on at the fort for the winter, Mr. Harrison has an announcement and a proposition.”

  Ginger watched with interest as Mr. Harrison stood on the tailboard of a wagon. “I know we’re all getting low on supplies. Many of you have wondered how we can make it through the winter here and still get to Oregon in the spring. God has blessed me, folks. And I’d like to offer each of you the loan of enough for supplies. I intend to start a mercantile when we get settled. You can pay me as crops come in. I am prepared to loan a certain amount, so this will be first come, first served. When I reach the point where my family might suffer, I will not offer any more.”

  Ginger smiled. This was the way these people would survive. They would rely upon one another and God, and He would bless the land.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder and instinctively knew Grant was ready for their talk. Turning, she drew a breath as their gazes locked. He held out his hand and without hesitation, she locked her fingers with his and allowed him to lead her away from the wagons to the river. They stood next to an evergreen tree.

  “How do we go forward?” Grant asked, his palm warm against hers.

  “However you want, I guess.” Ginger swallowed hard.

  “You joined the wagon train to kill me?”

  Miserably, she nodded and dropped her gaze.

  Tucking his finger beneath her chin, Grant raised her head. “You had a lot of chances.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. Why couldn’t she breathe?

  “Why didn’t you do it?”

  Ginger knew it was time to stop lying. She didn’t want anything between them ever again. “Because I recognized what a good man you were. And…”

  “And?”

  “I fell in love with you almost from the beginning.”

  His lips twitched. “I remember a lot of choice words from you when I took that arrow out of your leg.”

  “And you kept your word and never told a soul that I fainted.”

  “I wanted you to trust me.” His gaze never left hers. He unclasped their hands and slipped his arms around her.

  Ginger’s heart nearly beat out of her chest. “You gave me a crutch.”

  Nodding, he pulled her closer. “Because I knew you wouldn’t want to be stuck without a way to get around.”

  Lifting her face to his, Ginger’s eyes filled with tears. “You saved my brothers’ lives. Both of them.”

  “Because I’m a doctor, and it’s what God’s given me to do.”

  Ginger’s gaze dropped to his lips. “You do Him proud.”

  Grant drew a quick breath. “Will you marry me?”

  The abrupt question startled Ginger. Her eyebrows rose as she lifted her eyes back to his. “Marry you?”

  “I love you.”

  “But it was my fault Sarah died.” Tears spilled over and flowed down her cheeks. “How can you possibly move on from that?”

  “It was not your fault. Sarah was killed by an outlaw’s bullet. You were as much an innocent victim as she was.”

  She could see in his eyes that he believed what he said. Relief flooded her. “Are you sure?” she whispered. With all of her being, she wanted to be this man’s wife.

  “Does that mean you’re saying yes?”

  Ginger’s mouth curved into a smile. Grant didn’t wait for another second, he lowered his head. Ginger had never experienced the new emotions rising inside of her as his warm lips moved over hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed herself to surrender to his kiss, his touch, his love.

  Oregon might be the destination for many of the pioneers, but as far as Ginger was concerned, as long as she remained in Grant’s arms, she had reached her promised land.

  Epilogue

  Three years later, Oregon

  The soft strains of “Amazing Grace” filtered softly into the fresh air of a warm summer day in the Willamette Valley as Ginger, Toni, and Fannie walked together from the barn. Ginger loved Sundays, when their friends came and Sam conducted a barn service. It would have to do until the little community had the funds for a real church. For now, Ginger enjoyed watching the children running around the yard and pestering the chickens and working up the dogs into an excited frenzy.

  Fannie and Toni each had two children, and Ginger and Grant were well on their way to joining them in numbers. Little Clementine had joined the family nine months after the wedding. And the new baby was due any time.

  Sam had been especially long-winded this morning, and by the time he said the final amen, the sun beat down on the barn, and everyone was drenched.

  “Goodness,” Toni said, fanning herself with her hands. “He’s going to have to tone it down until this hot spell lets up, or we’ll all be cooked before harvest comes.”

  The three women laughed. Fannie turned to Ginger. “How are you feeling?”

  “Hot,” Ginger said, grinning. She knew full well what her friend meant.

  Nudging her, Fannie urged, “Do you think it’ll be this week?”

  “I’d be surprised if this baby didn’t come before next Sunday.”

  Truth be to
ld, she’d be surprised if she lasted the night.

  “Where do you want these things?” Blake called from the wagon. He held up a basket that Ginger knew from experience would be laden with all sorts of delicious food. Enough to feed an army.

  Fannie smiled, blowing a puff of soft red curls from her face. “Set it on the table over there.”

  “Did you hear we’re getting a teacher?” Ginger asked. “That means when our children are old enough, they’ll have a real teacher and a real school to attend. Isn’t that marvelous?”

  “It sure is,” Fannie replied, her enthusiasm flashing in her brown eyes. She turned to Toni. “Why are you so quiet all of a sudden? Don’t you like the idea of getting a teacher? The township is growing by leaps and bounds.”

  “I’m thrilled there’ll be a teacher for the children. Only…” Toni drew a slow breath. “Sam and I won’t be here that long.”

  “What do you mean?” Ginger asked, placing a restraining hand on her friend’s arm as she halted her steps and faced Toni. “Where are you going?”

  “Oh, Ginger. We can’t raise our children here.” She swept the air with her hand. “They’ll never be accepted by whites. I doubt the school board would even allow half-Indian children to attend school with white children.”

  “Hogwash. Sammy and Lilith are only a quarter Indian,” Ginger said, knowing that didn’t matter.

  Fannie expelled a soft sigh. “Blake and I have been expecting this. When will you go, and where?”

  Brightening, Toni smiled. “We’re going to live close to Fort Laramie. The Sioux have a camp close by and come there often to trade. Sam feels a call from God to live close to them and teach them about Jesus. I will also teach the children to read and write.” Her voice broke. “I’m honored and grateful that God would choose to use me after all I’ve done in my past.”

  Ginger slipped an arm around her friend. “He’s given all of us second chances. But I’m going to miss you. And what about our services?”