The Texan's Reward

by Jodi Thomas

  CHAPTER 36

  JACOB WATCHED THE SUN SET, FEELING EVEN LONELIER than usual. With the rain, he’d gone two days without seeing anyone. Nell hadn’t come for her swims, and when he’d ridden over to the bend in the river, the basket of supplies was already there with only a note keeping him informed about Hank’s recovery.

  Two more days, he thought, maybe three, and the boy would be able to travel. Once they were on the road Jacob knew enough back trails that he wouldn’t worry too much about them being followed. Right now was their dangerous time with Kelly still nosing around in town and Walter Farrow’s men hanging about trying to learn what happened to both the ranger and Hank.

  Jacob stretched. He didn’t feel like turning in for the night, yet he had nothing to do. Dusty stomped, seeming as restless. “Want to go for a run?” Jacob mumbled to the horse.

  He laughed when the horse nodded as if he’d understood. Jacob patted the dog’s head. “Stay here, Fred, and protect the camp.” The old dog would be doing good to fight off a rabbit. “I think I’ll ride close enough to watch the train come in.”

  As he saddled up and, out of habit erased all sign of his camp, Jacob wondered when he’d started talking to animals. He must be cracking up, but after days alone, it felt good to hear a voice, even if it was his own. The note Harrison had left with the supplies said Dr. McClellan would be coming in on the last train. Jacob admired the doctor. It would be good to see them, even if it was from a distance.

  He pulled his hat low as he climbed onto the horse and rode off, enjoying the wind in his face.

  When Jacob moved into the shadows beside the station, the train had just pulled in. He’d noticed Nell’s buggy at the far end of the platform. Harrison must already be waiting to help the doctor and his wife with the luggage.

  Suddenly, the horses harnessed to Nell’s buggy bolted. He first thought he’d have to strangle Harrison for driving so carelessly, but then he realized something had to be wrong. The people hadn’t had time to get off the train, and two men in black rain slickers sat on the driver’s seat of the buggy.

  As it galloped past him, Jacob caught a glimpse of someone on the back bench wrapped in blankets. Surely Harrison hadn’t loaned the buggy out only minutes before the doctor arrived.

  He rode closer to the platform, but the fog made the people standing around seem more like ghosts than real. Something was wrong; he could feel it.

  Jacob was almost to where the buggy had been tied when he saw Harrison. The ranger moved closer and started to dismount, when he caught a glimpse of the terror in the bookkeeper’s expression.

  “What is it?” Jacob yelled. “Someone steal that rattle-trap of a buggy?”

  Harrison nodded once. “Nell was in it.”

  Jacob pulled his horse hard into a turn as fury galloped through his veins. “Get the sheriff and follow. I’ll go after her.”

  He didn’t know if Harrison heard him. Several others surrounded the bookkeeper, all talking at once. Jacob thought he saw the doctor and his wife, but he didn’t take time to check. If Nell was in the buggy, he had to get to her fast.

  The buggy headed out on the road he’d just come from, so Jacob had no problem following. They were away from the lights of town by the time he caught up with it.

  “Stop!” he yelled from twenty feet behind.

  Gunfire answered his demand.

  Jacob pulled his horse and put some distance between them. With one man driving and one firing, it wouldn’t be wise to get too close. The man riding shotgun would be firing back with Nell directly in the line of fire.

  The ranger swung off the road. He might be able to get ahead of them and pick the two men off with a few shots, but then the buggy would be out of control and Nell would never be able to climb from the back to the front.

  He couldn’t risk exchanging any more gunfire. Not with Nell in the buggy. His only option was to follow and see where the men were going.

  Within minutes their destination was obvious. The Stockard place.

  When they turned off the main road, Jacob saw the buggy rock and knew Nell must be in great pain. Every time she rode in the buggy everyone around her took great care to protect her. These men had no idea they might be killing her.

  Anger boiled in Jacob. He wanted to ride in and take both men on, but he had to pick his time for Nell’s sake.

  The trail up to the dugout was rough, so the men had to slow the buggy. Jacob waited, knowing there was no way he could follow without being an easy target. The fog offered him some cover, but not sufficient to get close enough for a clear shot.

  “Wait,” he mumbled to himself, pulling his years of training into play when all he wanted to do was storm forward. “Wait.” One thing he’d learned was that in every standoff there came a window—a second—when he would have the advantage. One chance. His ability to take that chance had kept him alive.

  Only this time Nell was in danger.

  He moved as close as he could. They knew he was somewhere watching. They’d be prepared. And so would he. Waiting for the window.

  CHAPTER 37

  NELL FOUGHT THROUGH THE PAIN AND TRIED TO focus. The buggy had finally stopped. She hadn’t died from the ride. She was surprised. The blankets had protected her some, but all she wanted to do was curl up and cry. Her back felt like it was on fire.

  “Miss Nell,” a voice shouted. “Nice of you to drop by.”

  She forced herself to open her eyes. Walter Farrow stood beside the buggy smelling heavily of whiskey. The two cowboys behind him couldn’t be much older than twenty, but their faces looked distorted with pride in the wrong they’d done. “What do you want?” Nell managed to say.

  Walter leaned close, flicking a match with his thumb before lighting the lantern latched to the side of the buggy. “The fellows just thought you’d want to come out here and have a little private talk.” His words were smooth, but the light made his fat face look twisted and evil. “It’s about time you came to me. Every time I come to you, there are always too many people around for us to get to know one another. In fact, I made a visit to your place tonight and was surprised to find you absent.”

  His smile made her skin crawl.

  “When we saw you waiting in the wagon, you fell right into my plans for tonight.”

  Nell looked around. This had to be the Stockard place, but she saw no sign of Jacob. Knowing her ranger, he left little trace when he was staying somewhere. But where was he now?

  She looked over to the north where the ground turned rocky and jagged. He’d be there. As close to her as he could get without being seen. She could feel him, and somehow his nearness gave her the strength she needed. “What do you want to talk about, Mr. Farrow, that can’t wait until a proper time?” She saw no point in reminding him that his men had kidnapped her.

  He swayed and smiled. “How about we stop playing games, Nell. I know why you’ve been stalling selling me this place.”

  “All right, why?” She watched the two young cowboys. They were standing a few feet away listening.

  “You found a clue to Zeb Whitaker’s gold. I had to find the one in the painting myself, but it’s no good without others,” Farrow hissed. “Hand your clue over. You know it should be mine.”

  “What!” Nell yelled. She’d been trying to guess why he’d brought her here, but Zeb Whitaker or his gold had never crossed her mind. “I have no gold, and I have no clue.”

  Farrow smiled and pulled a twenty dollar gold coin from his pocket. “That preacher who lives with you had this. So, you know something.”

  Nell finally understood. Farrow didn’t want the ranch, or even to marry her; he wanted the gold. “I have nothing. The preacher only found a coin, nothing more.”

  He didn’t look like he believed her.

  “I don’t know about any gold.” She watched him frown and knew she’d better act fast.

  “Maybe not,” he shrugged. “But you know it’s near. I thought the preacher might have some idea, but he didn
’t seem too willing to talk.”

  “I’ll sell you the ranch.” Nell sensed Walter’s madness. Maybe if she promised him the ranch, he’d let her go.

  He smiled. “No longer necessary. You see, I’ve become friends with the people in town. Your lawyer, for one. He told me an interesting fact. It seems you visited him after your accident and made out a will leaving most of your property to friends. Only . . .” He raised one fat finger. “You left this place to the town. So you see, Miss Nell, if you died, I could buy what I want without any trouble.

  “I know the gold is here on this property somewhere, and with you gone, I’ll have all the time in the world to look for it.”

  “You’d kill me in the hope of finding gold that’s been lost for years?”

  Walter Farrow laughed. “I’d kill you for far less. I’m not a man who allows people to insult me.”

  That was it, she realized. He might want the land and even Whitaker’s gold, but what pushed the lawyer over the edge was simply the fact that a cripple had turned him down in marriage. She’d seen it in his eyes that day—a promise to get even—and tonight, he had his chance.

  “But, my dear, I’m not going to kill you. The whole town talks about you. About how crazy you are. Poor little bastard crippled girl who takes in strays no one wants. Folks even know about how you try to swim in the river. Only, tonight you’ll go beyond where you can touch bottom, and they’ll find your body where the river bends.”

  “You’ll never get away with it,” she whispered.

  Farrow reached in and tried to pat her cheek. “Oh, but my dear, we already have. Your friend the bookkeeper will never get here in time. I’ve already taken care of the misfits at your house, and then there is your ranger. I’m planning on him showing up to try to save you. But don’t worry; no one will ever find his body. As far as they know, he’s already been gone for days.”

  Walter Farrow glanced into the shadows by the dugout. Nell followed his gaze and saw them, a dozen or more men, waiting. “We’ll be ready for him. If he steps out close enough to be seen, he’s a dead man.”

  Nell could barely breathe. The lawyer had it all planned. He must have been waiting for days to pull this off. The rain had slowed him down.

  “We’re wasting time.” Farrow pointed to one of the men. “Take her to the river.”

  “Alone?” the tall cowboy said.

  “She’s crippled, what’s she going to do, jump out?” Farrow laughed again. “Just toss her in somewhere that the current is strong. You’re not killing her; the river will do that.” He nodded to the men in the shadows of the dugout. “You’ll have plenty of company, but they’ll be riding out of sight, waiting for the ranger to show up.”

  The tall man hesitated.

  “I’ll see your share is a hundred more when we find the gold.”

  The man nodded and climbed in the buggy.

  “Make it fast down the hill. I don’t want you running into the sheriff just in case that old dog was smart enough to follow.”

  Nell fought down panic as men saddled up around her and vanished into the fog.

  A hundred yards away, Jacob rushed back to his horse. He hadn’t been close enough to hear anything, but he could tell they were getting ready to move.

  When he slid down the incline to where he’d left Dusty, he saw a man swing down from a mount. Jacob rolled and pulled his Colt as the shadow whispered, “Ranger, is that you?”

  Jacob stood. “Hank?”

  The boy nodded and moved out from between the horses. “I was hoping to find you. A few days ago the preacher told me where you were.”

  “Why didn’t you ride up to the dugout?”

  “I figured there were too many people up there, so I thought I’d hide out here. Then I spotted your horse.” He patted Dusty’s neck. “We got to be friends when I was packing you home.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Two men are holding Gypsy and Wednesday at the house. I heard Wednesday crying and snuck down to see what was up. The preacher was on the floor, maybe dead. I didn’t know what was going on, but I figured I’d better come get you.”

  “You did right, kid.” Jacob swung into the saddle. “I may need your help. You coming?”

  The boy pulled onto his horse. “All the way,” he answered.

  Jacob stayed back until he heard the buggy pass at top speed. He had no idea where they were taking Nell this time, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be home. He followed, waiting for his chance.

  “Stay in the shadows, Hank,” he whispered, “Or you’ll be a dead man.”

  Nell fought to hold on as they bounced over the rough road. She thought of the gun by her bed and the other in the main room of her house. Harrison and Jacob had given them to her for protection, and she’d left them both at home.

  She had to do something fast. A sudden bump sent her to the floor of the buggy. Her hand reached out for something to hold onto, and she touched the leather belt Mrs. O’Daniel used to hold her up.

  Nell grabbed the leather with one hand and gripped the seat in front of her with the other. Using all her strength, she stood and whirled the belt at the driver’s head.

  She heard a yelp, and felt the buggy shift as the cowboy tumbled out.

  Nell fell backward, unable to stand a moment longer. Suddenly, she was in her nightmare. The horses were wild with fear, the road turned just ahead, and they were running toward it at full speed. She felt the pain in her back as the buggy ran out of control. Nell closed her eyes and cried for Jacob when the horses missed the turn and the buggy rolled.

  Nell tumbled out, flying weightless through the air for a moment before slamming hard into the earth.

  Jacob saw all of it from the edge of the tree line. The driver tumbling out, Nell falling back into the buggy too far away to reach the reins, then the buggy capsizing and her body hitting the earth.

  Jacob jerked his rifle out. “Ride down to the main road and tell the sheriff where we are.” He was surprised how normal his words sounded when he knew his heart was in his throat. “I’m going to Nell.”

  “But you’ll be cut down.” Hank’s voice was high with panic. “She may already be dead.”

  “Then bury us side by side,” Jacob yelled as he kicked his horse and thundered at full speed directly toward Nell.

  He made it to within ten feet of her before a bullet stopped Dusty. Jacob rolled as the horse fell then was on his feet running. When he reached Nell’s crumpled body, he had no time to see if she still breathed. He stood above her and fired at every shadow that moved.

  They were all around him and still on horseback. The fog had cleared some but played tricks with the shadows.

  Jacob felt a bullet hit his arm. Another bushed his ear, knocking his hat off, but he didn’t stop firing. He’d fight until he fell and know one satisfaction. When he fell, he’d die next to Nell.

  He emptied the rifle and reached for his Colts as another shot knifed through his side. In the distance he heard more gunfire. He prayed it was the sheriff and not men who were shooting at Hank.

  Jacob stopped firing long enough to listen. The men who’d been shooting at him were gone. He could hear horses disappearing back up the hill while more rode in from the road.

  “Dalton!” A rider yelled. “We’re here.”

  Jacob lowered his guns as he recognized Harrison’s voice. A moment later he crumpled like a shattered statue. As he passed out, he reached and took Nell’s hand in his.

  CHAPTER 38

  BRIGHT SUNLIGHT BLINDED HIM AS JACOB TRIED TO open his eyes. Maybe he was dead and this was heaven? No. He was in too much pain to be dead. He had to still be alive. He could see the tops of the bookshelves in Nell’s study. He’d been here before.

  Dr. McClellan leaned over him. “About time you woke, Ranger. I’m tired of digging bullets out of you. You got to find another line of work if we’re going to stay friends.”

  “Nell?” Jacob mumbled. “Is Nell alive?” He didn’t see how she
could be after the fall she’d taken.

  “She made it through the surgery fine, yesterday. Theda’s with her now.”

  “Surgery?”

  “How about we talk later?”

  Jacob grabbed the doctor’s arm. “How about we talk now.”

  McClellan laughed. “Dalton, it’s a wonder to me how Nell could like you, much less love you, as bossy as you are.”

  Jacob didn’t turn loose of the doctor.

  “All right. The bullet in Nell’s back moved when she took the fall. I took a big chance and operated, but I knew if it had moved a fraction of an inch in the other direction she’d be dead. We got it out, but I don’t know how much damage I did to her back.”

  Jacob closed his eyes. She was still alive. That was all that mattered. He fell back into the blackness.

  Two days later, he managed to sit up, but there was no change in Nell. A week of worry later, he left by train with Hank for Fort Worth without knowing if the operation worked.

  He’d sat with her every day. She looked so peaceful, sleeping. So fragile he decided he’d never risk even touching her again.

  Harrison took care of Nell’s business as always. The sheriff rounded up the men who’d helped Walter Farrow. The fat lawyer hadn’t been hard to find. He’d been at the doctor’s in town suffering from a dog bite. He talked all the way to the sheriff ’s office, but Farrow couldn’t manage to talk himself out of jail.

  Jacob leaned back on one of the benches as the train rolled along and realized he didn’t care about much of anything but Nell. He’d fight for Hank, and he’d see that Farrow was punished, but his thoughts were with her.

  “You all right?” Hank asked.

  “Stop mothering me,” Jacob grumbled. “You’re worse then Mrs. O’Daniel.”

  Hank smiled. “She told me if you got mean you’d be healing.”

  Jacob looked skyward. Not even the kid was afraid of him anymore.

  “Ranger,” Hank said.