It wasn't just her looks. Beautiful, raven-haired princesses weren't exactly common, but he'd had his share
of beautiful women. It wasn't her figure. Nice as it was, it wasn't spectacular. It certainly wasn't the fact she was rich or a princess. Those were the two most compelling reasons to have nothing to do with her. Certainly it wasn't her pleasing manner. She hadn't shown any liking for him in the beginning.
Then what the hell was it?
He'd reached the tiny trickle of water that passed for a creek. The horses walked into the creek bed, searching for a small pool from which to drink. Luke sat down on a boulder next to a willow tree to wait until they had drunk their fill.
The moon bathed the canyon in its soft light. The soft gurgle of water flowing around rocks, the peaceful solitude, should have worked to soothe Luke's troubled spirit.
But they didn't.
He hadn't lost his honor, but he'd compromised the one thing he'd held onto from the day he'd left Jake and Isabelle's ranch. His reputation was no longer beyond question. He couldn't be depended on to do what he said, regardless of the risks. His own feelings had gotten out of control. What if she decided to marry Rudolf after all? He'd have to kill him.
Suppose she wanted to run the ranch on her own? He'd have to stay and help her.
He was a fool! She'd go to New York and make a big splash in society. That's where an ex-princess belonged. He didn't know people in New York. He couldn't help her there. They would have to separate.
So that's what he ought to encourage her to do.
But no sooner had he reached that conclusion than he started to worry about the sharks who would try to strip of her of her money, the rakes anxious to take her honor, the hangers-on willing to flatter and praise until the money ran out, men swearing eternal love and devotion who only wanted her for her title. She couldn't have any instincts for self-preservation, not if she would trust him.
Where would she be safe?
Her uncle still wanted to kill her, and getting married was no guarantee she'd be safe. Luke knew of more than one wife who'd died mysteriously, leaving her husband the sole beneficiary to her fortune.
Luke told himself it wasn't his problem, that once he delivered her to the ranch his responsibility would be over. But he couldn't turn his back on her. He'd been responsible for telling her about the opportunities in America, whetting her appetite for freedoms she'd never enjoyed. She hadn't been thinking of duty tonight when she'd kissed him.
She had developed a whole new way of looking at men, and he was responsible for it. Now that he'd ruined her for her old life, it was his responsibility to see her safely settled into a new one. It didn't matter that staying away from her would be the hardest thing he'd ever done. He had to do it. It was the only way he could reclaim his honor.
But how could he help her?
Luke went through several possible plans in exhaustive detail, going backward and forward as he discovered problems and worked toward possible solutions. He didn't know how long he might have remained there, absorbed in thought, if a horned owl hadn't captured a wood rat practically under his feet. The fluttering of wings and the squeak of the rat brought him out of his musings. He looked up. The horses had left the stream and were searching the slope for grass.
Luke got to his feet. Valeria had surely gone to sleep long ago. He hoped that would be enough to keep him on his side of the campfire. If he could just get through these next few days, he'd be okay. If she refused to marry Rudolf and didn't want to stay at the ranch, he could take her to a city, hire a companion or maid, and settle her in a boardinghouse with some woman like Mrs. Brightman to take care of her.
He'd be safe then.
He didn't allow himself to look in Valeria's direction when he reached camp. He busied himself with the horses. He gathered extra wood for the fire. But as he laid the limbs on the still-glowing coals, he couldn't resist any longer. He raised his gaze to Valeria's bedroll.
It was empty.
That was so unexpected that for a moment he didn't know what to think. She couldn't have gotten mad and gone off in a huff. There was nowhere to go. She wouldn't be hiding from him. She was afraid of wild animals. She couldn't have run away because he had both horses.
Luke searched behind boulders, under trees, along the creek more than a hundred yards in both directions, thinking she might have wanted to take a bath in private, but he couldn't find her.
Valeria had disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-one
Valeria had begun to wonder about the wisdom of her strategy long before she saw the lights of the small town nestled in the bottom of the valley. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wouldn't be devoured by a mountain lion before Luke found her. She had assumed he would follow her quickly, but he hadn't. She had tried waiting, but the innumerable tiny sounds that filled the night made her too nervous to remain still. As long as she walked, she made enough noise to cover other sounds.
She didn't know how long she'd been gone. Her feet told her it had been an eternity. Her boots weren't made for walking on rocky, uneven ground. Her feet were hot and sweaty. She was certain she had blisters forming on both. Where was Luke? Even if he didn't love her-and from the intensity of his kisses, she had every reason to believe he did-his unending worry over his reputation should have sent him chasing after her the minute he knew she had gone.
Valeria stumbled down the hillside and onto a rough track that served as a road to the small town. She wondered why Luke hadn't mentioned it. He probably didn't want to force her to sleep in a warm, soft bed when he knew she'd be much happier sleeping on rocks, wondering if she'd be sharing her bed with rattlesnakes and scorpions before the morning. She was determined to learn how to live in this country regardless of the discomforts-and there did seem to be a great number of thembut she didn't understand why they couldn't avail themselves of a few comforts now and then, especially when they didn't know what kind of animals might be prowling around their campsite. She didn't have much faith in horses as a first line of defense.
She had to bend her mind to deciding what to do when she reached town. She'd love to find a boardinghouse like Mrs. Brightman's, but she didn't know if all towns had boardinghouses. This one looked a lot smaller than Oxford. It had only one street with about a dozen buildings on one side, fewer on the other. None of them looked very large or very nice.
That didn't matter. She'd only be here as long as it took Luke to find her. She expected him to come hurtling down the hillside any minute. In the meantime, she was thirsty. And hungry. She hadn't eaten more than a few bites of her dinner.
The closer she came to the town, the more uneasy she became. She didn't see any houses with yards and flowers. She didn't see a church or anything that resembled a school. The decent businesses had closed for the night. At least half of the buildings appeared to be saloons, all open with lights in the windows. But it wasn't the abundant light of open, cheerful saloons welcoming passersby in for a drink. It was a dull, subdued, sullen light that offered little cheer.
Valeria stopped and looked behind her. Luke was nowhere in sight. What if he wasn't coming?
She couldn't believe that. She didn't know what had happened, but sooner or later Luke would come after her. The question was, what to do in the meantime. She couldn't continue to stand in the middle of the road. She was tired and thirsty. She would examine all of the saloons, then choose the one that appeared to be the cleanest and most genteel.
She rejected the first saloon with no more than a glance. The stench of whiskey, tobacco, coal oil, and human sweat that poured through the open door nearly made her gag. The second and third saloons were only marginally better. The next saloon had a second floor. It appeared to be a combination of saloon, restaurant, and hotel. But Valeria didn't see any women inside. She continued down the street, rejecting each saloon as she passed.
She crossed the street.
Most of the buildings on this side were dark, closed. One was a
law office. Another, an assay office. A third, a barbershop. A fourth, a laundry. The fifth, another saloon. Valeria saw a brightly dressed woman inside. Her momentary hope was dashed when she saw a man fondle her as she laughed and teased him by tickling him under the chin with an egret feather.
Music came from the next saloon, but since the men were dancing with each other, Valeria assumed there were no women inside. She had no intention of being the first. As she stood there, trying to make up her mind, two men stumbled out of the first saloon. Valeria moved back into the shadow of a doorway.
They stopped at the steps going down from the boardwalk to the street. One grabbed onto a pole to steady himself. The other leaned against a post and lit a cigarette. "I can't wait to get out of this place," he said to the other man. "What's the use of getting rich if we ain't got any women to spend it on?"
"We ain't rich, not by a long shot."
Drink slurred their speech, but Valeria could understand every word.
"I got twice as much money in my pocket right now as my brother back in Alabama makes in a year, and I got nothing to do with it."
"You can spend it on Squirrel Annie."
"That woman is uglier than a swamp hog. She'd have to pay me to spend an hour with her." He leaned back and blew smoke rings into the hot night air.
"Probably just as well, since there ain't no nice looking women about. We wouldn't know what to do with them." "I would, too."
"Neely, you ain't nothing but a dumb dirt farmer from Alabama. You ain't even started shaving regular. A real woman would scare you to death."
"I'd still know what to do." "And just what would that be?"
When Neely elaborated, Valeria could feel the heat all the way down to her toes.
"Well, there ain't no point in getting yourself all worked up," the other boy said. "There ain't no women around here, so we might as well go off to bed. Tomorrow ain't going to be no easier just because you're horny tonight."
Neely tossed his cigarette into the street. "I'm horny every night."
"Don't think about it," his friend advised. "I can't stop thinking about it."
"Well, I'm going off to bed. You coming now, or you going to have another beer?"
"I ain't going back in there," Neely said. "Any more needling about my pretty face, and I'm going to smash Navez right in the nose."
"Yeah, and get beat to rat bait."
"I ain't afraid of him."
"If you had good sense you would be. Come on, I'm worn to the bone."
They started down the boardwalk toward Valeria. She pulled farther back into the doorway, hoping they'd pass without noticing her. They did, only Neely changed his mind and decided he wanted another beer. When he turned around, he saw Valeria.
He turned white, looked like he had come face-to-face with an apparition.
"Gawd Almighty!"
The exclamation startled Valeria into darting from the safety of the doorway.
"She's real," Neely exclaimed. "I ain't seeing things, Albie."
Albie appeared beyond speech. Neely started toward Valeria, his hand outstretched as though he had to touch her to believe what he saw.
"She's beautiful," Albie whispered reverently, "purtier than any angel."
"Shush!" Neely said. "Don't talk so loud. Somebody might hear you. I want her all to myself."
"Me, too," Albie said. "Don't forget me."
"What's your name?" Neely asked. Valeria backed far ther away. "We won't hurt you."
"We just want to have some fun."
"Shut up, you fool. You're scaring her."
"I ain't the one trying to grab hold of her."
Neely looked at his hand as though he hadn't been aware of what it was doing. He dropped it to his side. "You're mighty pretty," he said. "I ain't never seen a girl as pretty as you. Want me to buy you a beer?"
Valeria shook her head.
"Maybe she wants whiskey," Albie suggested.
Valeria shook her head more vigorously.
"You ought to know a pretty girl like her wouldn't want none of that rotgut," Neely said. "She'll want something fancy."
"Like what?" Albie asked.
Neely clearly wasn't able to think of a drink he considered fancy enough. "What would you like?" he asked Valeria. He rattled the coins in his pocket. "I'll buy you anything you want."
"I'd like some water," Valeria said.
"Water!"
Now that she could see how young they were, she didn't feel frightened.
"And something to eat," Valeria added. "I'm hungry."
She realized as soon as the words were out of her mouth that she didn't have money to pay for food. She wasn't naive enough to think these boys would pay for her dinner without expecting something in return. And Neely had been kind enough to explain exactly what that was.
"But I don't have to eat," she added quickly. "Just some water."
"You come with me, babe," Neely said, trying to act like an older and more experienced man. "We got plenty of water in our room."
"Why don't we go to a saloon?" Valeria said, pointing to the saloon she remembered as being part restaurant.
"You don't want to do that," Neely said. "It's full of men who'll grab at you. You come on with us. We'll be real nice to you."
"I'm not the kind of woman you think," Valeria said. "My guide is camped over that hill. He's taking me to a ranch in the Rim country."
Both boys looked taken aback, but Neely recovered quickly. "You don't need to haggle over price. We'll pay you real good."
"But I don't want to go with you," Valeria said backing away. "I really am going to the Rim country."
"Yeah, and you've got a handsome cowboy who'll come riding to the rescue. Look, you and I know there ain't no female within ten miles of this place what doesn't wear her price painted on her chest. Whatever it is, Albie and me will pay it."
Albie nodded enthusiastically as Neely reached out and took hold of Valeria's wrist.
Valeria backed away. She had a notion the men in the saloon might be very much like Neely said, but they wouldn't do anything to her in public. If Neely and his friend got her into their room, she was quite certain what would happen. She wrenched her arm from his grasp and darted off the boardwalk into the street.
"You go up the street and I'll go down," Neely told Albie. "We'll cut her off."
The young men were faster than Valeria. Though she ran first one way and then another, she couldn't get around them. She could either stay here until they caught her and dragged her into their room, or she could run into the saloon and depend upon the public nature of the place to be her protection.
With a single backward glance toward the hills and a silent plea to Luke to come quickly, she turned and headed toward the saloon.
"Don't go in there!" Neely called when he saw what she intended to do. "Please, lady, don't go in there." But Valeria had already stepped inside the door. "Now look what you've done," she heard Albie say. "I didn't mean to."
"We have to go after her."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Valeria hadn't gone two steps into the saloon before every eye in the place was on her. She'd spent her entire life on public display, but never like this. There was admiration in the gazes all around her. There was also hunger and lust that didn't hide behind polite smiles, well-rehearsed compliments, or hooded gazes. Here it was in the open, naked, raw, and unrestrained.
She was aware of a low sound that gradually filled the room, settling into corners and behind tables. It sounded unnervingly like the growl of a hungry animal when it sights food.
Keeping her gaze straight ahead, Valeria approached the bar, where a man was serving drinks. No one moved to give her room, so she went to an empty space at the end.
The bartender looked at her for several seconds before he moved in her direction, a look of disbelief on his face.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"I'd like a glass of water."
The growl
stopped. For an instant, the room was completely silent.
"Okay," the bartender said, disbelief turning to a sneer.
"You want a glass with some water in it."
Valeria took an instant dislike to him. "Thank you." "Now what do you want in it, and which one of these men are you going to con into paying for it?"
"You charge for water?" Valeria asked. "I charge for whiskey."
"I don't want any whiskey. I want water." "I don't serve water." "But that's all I want." "Give the lady her water."
Valeria turned to see a huge man get up from one of the tables and come toward her. She wondered why she thought there was something familiar about him, then realized he was a miner. He looked like the men she'd seen in Bonner.
"You gonna buy some whiskey, Soderman?" the bartender asked. "I don't run this place to serve up water."
"Sure, I'll have a whiskey," Soderman said. "Make it a bottle. I might be able to talk the little lady into changing her mind."
"Thank you, but water is all I want. I have to get back to my camp."
Soderman's smile made Valeria uneasy. One missing and one broken tooth made him look dangerous.
"No use playing games, girl. We know there's nothing in those hills but snakes and scorpions."
"My guide is out there," Valeria said.
"I just can't figure where you come from," Soderman said, ignoring her words. "There's no way this lousy town could hide a beauty like you."
"She came with me." Neely strolled into the saloon with a show of bravado. A less courageous Albie followed.
Soderman took one look at Neely and broke out laughing. "No woman with her looks would settle for a kid like you. I bet she ran away 'cause she wanted a man."
Neely walked up and grabbed Valeria's hand. "I'm man enough. Me and Albie is more than enough for any female."
Valeria didn't trust Neely, but he was obviously trying to protect her. She'd go with him and worry about his intentions later.
But she didn't get a chance. Soderman backhanded Neely and sent the boy stumbling halfway across the room into Albie, both of them going down in a heap.
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