If anything happened to him, it would be her fault.
She refused to let herself believe that after having waited so long to fall in love with Will, she would lose him now. She was still trying to come up with a plan when Newt returned.
“You’ll tell them,” he announced.
“Tell them what?”
“That I’m faster than the sheriff, that you saw me kill him in a fair fight.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was only temporary. Was Will really faster than Newt? Would Newt really stick with a fair fight? What would she do if he didn’t?
“I won’t lie,” she said. “If you try to cheat, I’ll make sure everyone knows.”
“I could kill you, too.” Newt’s face was a mask of hatred.
“You do, and every man within a hundred miles will be on your trail. No Texan will stand for killing a woman.”
Newt dropped into the shade of a cottonwood.
“You blew up my dam, didn’t you?” Idalou asked. “I know you ran off our cows. Did Frank Sonnenberg pay you to try to drive us off?”
Newt didn’t answer, just stared down the trail as if he was waiting for Will.
“I’ll bet you were the one to hide our bull in the canyon, too. What else did Frank tell you to do?”
“He didn’t tell me to do nothing!” Newt exploded. “I thought of all that myself.”
Idalou didn’t believe him, but decided not to say that just yet. “It didn’t work. We found the bull and we’re still here.”
“If Frank’s stupid son hadn’t been trying to impress you, you wouldn’t be.”
“What are you talking about?”
“After Van knocked up that Winslow girl, Frank didn’t trust that boy to do anything right.” Newt laughed. “I had to pull him off the kid, or he might have beaten him to death.”
Idalou had never guessed that Frank would beat his own son. Maybe that explained why Van was so mean. “What did Van do wrong?”
“What did he do right?” Newt said. “He helped the sheriff find the cows I ran off. He told Carl where to look for the bull.”
“How did he know all that?”
“Frank used to make him ride with me. He knew about the canyon because I used it once before. I told Frank he ought to tell the boy what was going on so he wouldn’t mess up anything, but Frank likes to keep everything to himself. If he’d done like I told him, there wouldn’t have been any need for this stupid kidnapping.” Newt suddenly grinned. “But it did give me the chance to get even with the sheriff.”
They’d all played right into Frank Sonnenberg’s hands, but she couldn’t prove it. She couldn’t prove Newt had done anything, either. Though people in Dunmore would believe anything of Newt, they wouldn’t believe that Frank Sonnenberg could be so cunning and so cruel. But none of that mattered now. The important thing was getting everybody out of this alive. She just didn’t see how it could be done.
When Will saw Idalou tied to the cottonwood tree, he knew they were both in big trouble. He knew immediately that Newt Mandrin figured in this somewhere, that kidnapping Idalou wasn’t part of Frank Sonnenberg’s plan. Newt was out for revenge, and he planned to use Idalou to get it. Hoping they hadn’t seen him approach around the bend in the creek, Will pulled his horse off the trail to give himself time to think.
It looked like Newt had set him up for a confrontation using Idalou as bait to draw him into the trap. But what kind of trap? He was certain Newt planned to kill him. He’d taken away Newt’s reputation as a fighter and a fast draw, which was pretty much saying he’d destroyed Newt. The only way to get his reputation back would be to beat Will in a fistfight or a gunfight. Knowing Newt, his choice would be a gunfight.
Just killing Will wouldn’t be enough. He had to do it in a way that would prove he was faster with a gun. Did Newt plan to get him into a fistfight, hopefully hurt him, then force him into a gunfight? Will reached the conclusion that only a fair fight with Idalou as witness would achieve Newt’s purpose. But was Newt intelligent enough to see that?
What about Idalou? Did she know what Newt was planning? Did he mean to hurt her? Even Newt had to know that harming a woman was practically a death sentence in Texas. No, this was all about revenge. Will had to make a choice: Should he ride straight ahead or should he circle around and try to come up behind Newt? Finally decided on his course of action, Will rode back onto the trail.
Chapter Twenty-three
The sun was going down, lengthening and deepening the shadows among the trees when Idalou heard the sounds of an approaching rider. Her body tensed, fearful it might be Will, fearful it wasn’t. When the riderless horse appeared around the bend in the creek, her fear turned to confusion.
“Whose horse is that?” Newt had retreated to the shadows when he heard the horse approach. Seeing it was riderless, he was confused and angry.
“I’m not sure,” Idalou replied.
“I think it’s the sheriff’s,” Newt said. “Nobody else around here has a horse that good.” Newt peered into the shadows of the trees that lined the creek. “Where is he?”
Idalou didn’t answer because she had no answer to give. She noticed that Will’s rifle wasn’t in its scabbard.
“It’s a trick to fetch me out of my hiding place so he can kill me,” Newt said.
“The sheriff would never ambush anybody.” Idalou was shocked to hear herself sounding like a woman in love. She was trying to embarrass Newt into a fair fight, not give him something to hold over Will. “He’s so good he doesn’t have to.”
“Then why isn’t he on his horse?”
“I guess he figured if you were planning to face him fair and square, you wouldn’t be hiding in the shadows. You’d be out in the open, waiting for him to come to you.”
“Sheriff, are you out there?” Newt shouted.
Silence.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then prove it,” Idalou said. “Step out of the shadows.”
Newt glared at her but didn’t move.
“What do you want?” Will’s voice was so close it startled both Newt and Idalou.
“We got a score to settle,” Newt said.
“That score doesn’t involve Idalou. Let her go.”
“No.”
A bullet smashed into the cottonwood trunk only inches from Newt’s head.
“I could have killed you,” Will called. “Next time I will.”
Newt’s eyes searched the tangle of bushes, vines, and tree trunks for Will’s hiding place. Idalou couldn’t find it either. Newt hesitated, then came over to Idalou and slowly untied her.
“Saddle her horse and help her mount up,” Will said. “I want her well away from here so she’ll be safe.”
“She’s my witness,” Newt called back. “Nobody’s going to believe I killed you in a fair fight if nobody sees it.”
“I’m not leaving,” Idalou called to Will. “If Newt doesn’t fight fair, I intend to tell everybody in Dunmore the kind of coward he is.”
“I’m not a coward!” Newt shouted.
“Then saddle Idalou’s horse and let her ride out.”
Idalou waited while Newt caught her horse and saddled it. She let him help her into the saddle, rode out into the sun, then turned around when she was about twenty-five yards from the creek. “I’m not leaving,” she said, her eyes still searching for Will. “I’m going to make sure this is a fair fight.”
“How are you going to do that?” Will asked.
Idalou’s body shook with fear, but she was determined to keep her voice clear and steady. She had established a tenuous influence over Newt only because of his conceit and need to be acknowledged as the best. It was her fault that Will was in danger. She had to do everything she could to make sure he had a fair chance.
“I want both of you to step out where I can see you. No rifles, and keep your hands where I can see them,” she said.
Idalou held her breath. A moment later Will stepped out from a tangle
of grapevines. She nearly sobbed with relief but managed to remain calm. “I’m waiting for you, Newt.”
“Can you see the sheriff?”
“Yes. Step out where I can see you.”
Newt stepped just far enough clear of the trees for her to be certain he didn’t have a gun in his hand. Idalou had decided that this meeting was inevitable. Acting on a decision she’d already made, Idalou rode forward.
“What are you doing?” Will’s voice was sharp with worry.
“I’m going to stand in between you until you’re in position. Once you’re in position, I’ll back away and give the signal. I’ll brand anyone who draws before my signal a yellow-bellied coward.”
“Move back,” Will said.
She looked hard at Will. “This is the only way I can make certain no one draws until both of you are ready.” She hoped he understood that she loved him, that she was sorry she’d gotten him into this mess, and that this was the only way she could figure out to help him.
“What about it, Sheriff?” Newt yelled.
“Okay,” Will said.
Idalou’s body tensed. “We’re going to walk to the trail. I’ll keep my horse between you until both of you are standing with your hands well away from your guns. When I’m satisfied you’re both ready, I’ll back up.” Idalou’s throat was so dry she had to swallow a couple of times before she could finish. “I’ll count to three slowly. When I say draw . . .” She let the sentence die away. Both men knew what to do.
Keeping their eyes on Idalou and their hands out from their sides, both men sidestepped until they reached the trail. They stood perfectly still . . . waiting. Idalou knew what she had to do next, but she couldn’t make her muscles move. Will was safe as long as she was between them.
“Move back,” Will said to Idalou. “We’re both ready.”
Idalou had to force herself to give her horse the signal to back up. Her eyes went from one man to the other, to Will for fear of what might happen to him, then over to Newt for fear of what he might do.
“Back farther,” Will said when Idalou stopped about a dozen feet from the trail. “Keep going,” he said until she was ten yards back.
“You’re wasting time,” Newt said. “Your woman can’t save you now.”
“You can start your countdown,” Will said to Idalou. “We’re both ready.”
Will stood still and calm, no emotion on his face. Fifty feet away, Newt was nearly dancing with anticipation.
“One.”
The word was swallowed by the vastness of the space around them. It disappeared, leaving no trace, only the feeling that something really terrible was a little closer.
“Two.”
Idalou didn’t know why the thought occurred to her, but today was as sunny and warm, as calm and idyllic, as the day the dam broke. It seemed that Mother Nature had turned her eye away from the ugliness about to happen. Idalou wished she could do the same, but she watched the two men with near-hypnotic intensity.
“Three.”
Idalou didn’t know how men could move so fast. Almost before the word had left her lips, two guns were out and firing. She stared at Will, petrified of seeing him sink to the ground, blood seeping from a mortal wound.
For a moment neither man moved. Then Newt’s knees buckled and he leaned to the left.
“I was faster,” he said, staring at Will in shock.
“You weren’t as accurate,” Will answered. “You have to make sure the first shot counts.”
“But I was faster,” Newt repeated.
He looked down at the small hole through his vest pocket, the pocket over his heart. He sank to his knees and tumbled softly to the ground.
Carl was waiting for them when they rode into town. After Idalou finished telling her brother what Newt had tried to do, Carl went over to Will. He looked at the body of Newt Mandrin draped across his horse.
“We were stupid, weren’t we?”
“You played right into their hands.” Will studied Carl, paying close attention to the many signs that he’d been in a fight. “How did things go with Van?”
“It was pretty touch-and-go until Mara got tired of waiting and decided to take a hand.” Carl grinned, then grimaced in pain. “Got to remember not to smile until this lip returns to only three times its normal size.”
“Where is Van?”
“Emmett put him in one of the cells. I thought he’d put up a fuss, but he walked right in. Said it was better than what his father would do to him.”
“Where is Mara?”
“Talking to her father in the other cell. She promised she’d tell him she was never going to marry Van.” He grinned and winced again. “I figure after she hit Van over the head with a full coffeepot and kicked him in the ribs, Van will refuse to marry her no matter what either of their fathers says.”
“What about you?”
Carl looked at his feet. “I don’t know. I think Mara needs some time to grow up. Besides, I don’t know what I’m going to do with the ranch now that you’re going to marry Idalou. How about giving me a job on that new ranch of yours?”
“You thinking about leaving Dunmore?”
Carl looked up. “Only for a short while. What about you?”
Will looked to where Idalou stood talking to Junie Mae, who’d come running out of the hotel as soon as they rode into town. People had begun to come out of stores, offices, homes. Soon the street would be crowded with people wanting to know what had happened. “I’m taking Idalou and heading back to the Broken Circle, where she’ll be safe. I, on the other hand, will be in mortal danger.” He felt a contented smile bloom on his face. “She’s promised to protect me.”
“What about Van’s father?”
“Newt told Idalou how Frank planned the whole thing, even trying to frame Jordan.” He unpinned the sheriff’s badge from his shirt. “I’m going to let Lloyd and Andy deal with him.”
Epilogue
Idalou had never seen so many people in one house in all her life. No matter where she turned, there were more adults waiting to greet her, and an endless succession of children anxious to find out why their Uncle Will had been gone so long and what he was going to do with that bull.
“Don’t let my family overwhelm you,” said a young woman who’d introduced herself as Eden. “They just can’t believe that someone finally managed to put a lasso around Will.”
“Your family is so large and so active,” Idalou said. “How do you keep your sanity?”
“I was born into this,” Eden said, laughing. “I don’t know anything else.”
Idalou’s parents had been a quiet pair, but the house had been nearly silent during the years since their death. Eden laughed again. “Leave it to Will to come home with two women. My family has always taken in orphans, but this is the first time we’ve taken in a child who hasn’t even been born yet.”
Their gazes went to where Isabelle was making sure Junie Mae was comfortable.
“It was smart of Will to find somebody for Mom to focus her energy on,” Eden said. “She’s not happy about Will leaving, but having a baby to prepare for has softened the blow.” Eden giggled. “But not as much as your engagement.”
“She’s not telling you any incriminating stories about my misspent youth, is she?” Will had walked up behind Idalou and began nuzzling her ear.
“Just that you made blatant use of Junie Mae and me to blunt the family’s displeasure at your moving out.”
“I warned you I was underhanded.” Will nuzzled her other ear.
“So you did.” Idalou tilted her head to give him better access.
“If you’re going to carry on like that, you’d better go outside before one of the children wants to know why you’re biting Idalou’s ear.” Eden grinned. “If you’re lucky, I can keep them away for about fifteen minutes. Don’t waste any time.”
“It’s going to take me a little while to get used to your family,” Idalou said once they had settled into a love seat Jake had built in
a stand of maples.
“None of us are used to us. We all threaten to move away at least once a year.”
Idalou pulled Will’s arm around her and settled back into his embrace. “They all love you. I thought your brother was going to cry when you introduced me. He was so happy.”
“More likely it was relief that I’m now somebody else’s problem.”
Idalou gave him a love tap. “Stop running yourself down. Everybody thinks you’re wonderful. I do, too.”
Will sat up. “If they told you that, they’re boldfaced liars. If you only knew half the things they’ve said about me to my face you’d—”
Idalou put her hand over his mouth. “Why is it your family has so much trouble admitting that they love each other? Your mother is the strongest woman I’ve ever seen, but she doesn’t hesitate to let everybody know she adores every one of you.”
“She’s a woman. She’s supposed to—”
“Nonsense. Do you love me?”
“You know I do.”
“Do you have any trouble saying it or showing it?”
Will grinned. “Not a bit.”
Now it was Idalou’s turn to grin. “Then you’re going to practice on me until you get it right. When you get to be really good, you’re going to help me teach the rest of your family.”
Will kissed her on her nose. “I’m a very slow learner, but I promise to practice every day.”
Idalou kissed him back. “I plan to make sure you do.”
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