by Sara Orwig
Luke heard the jingle of spurs as the man crossed to him and began to untie his hands. “We’ll head back now. We’ re a full day’s ride away from Montello. If we start now, we should get back late tomorrow afternoon. We’ll camp outside of town tomorrow night and the first thing Friday morning, I want you to be there when the bank opens. I’ll be less likely to run into the wrong people during that early hour. I’ll take my money and get the hell out and gone.”
Luke wanted to get home as quickly as possible, but he didn’t think his arguments would matter. He was anxious to cooperate and get started back before something changed the man’s mind. Luke’s hands fell and pain stabbed through them. He inhaled sharply as he moved his arms and lifted his hands, feeling as if needles were jabbing him. He looked up at the man who stared at him.
“Don’t cross me, mister, or you’re dead.”
Luke stood up. “I won’t cross you. I want to go home.”
“Let’s ride.”
Within the hour they were headed back to Montello. Luke wanted to break into a gallop even as he prayed it had rained there, too, and kept Acheson busy at home. Dusty, stay with her, I’m coming home. Luke prayed she was safe, that Acheson would take his time, thinking he had days to go after her. Honor …
Dawn came and Luke stirred to find the bounty hunter eating jerky and gazing at him. Luke was tied to a tree again, the rope around his neck, and he moved his arms to stretch, wanting the hours to rush past, thinking about Honor, his pulse racing at the thought of getting back to her.
Hours later, on a sunny Friday morning, with saddlebags over his shoulder, Luke strode into the bank as soon as the doors opened. His spurs clicked with his steps across the polished oak floor. A clerk stared at him as he headed toward Jefferson Wilgert’s office. He paused in front of the desk, where Andrew Loring looked up. His brows arched as he stared at Luke.
“Morning, Andrew. I’d like to see Jefferson,” Luke said quietly, knowing he needed a shave and that he was covered in mud, his cheek bruised and his face cut.
The clerk stood up. “Are you all right, Mr. McCloud?”
“I’m fine, Andrew.”
“I’ll tell Mr. Wilgert you’re here.” He disappeared into an office and stepped out immediately. “He said to come in.”
“Thanks,” Luke said. He strode past the staring clerk and entered the president’s office, closing the door behind him.
“Great heavens, Luke! Were you in a fight?” Jefferson Wilgert asked, standing up and coming around his desk to extend his hand. His bushy red brows arched as he stared at Luke. His blue eyes were filled with curiosity.
“No, sir,” Luke replied, shaking hands with him. “I’ve been riding hard and had a bit of trouble a few days ago. I want to draw out my money. Six thousand dollars. I want it now.”
Pulling on the lapels of his black coat, Wilgert blinked and stared at Luke. “We can do that, but let me ask you, is anyone forcing you to come in here and do this? There have been some men from the H Bar R in town asking about you. Is there some trouble?”
“No, there’s not. I have to have the money for a transaction I want to make before I can head to market with my herd. That’s all.”
The two men stared at each other a moment, and then Wilgert waved his hand. “You have a seat and I’ll get your money. You’re carrying that much out of here with you?”
“Yes. I’ll be all right.”
Wilgert studied him again for a moment before he turned and left the room. Luke sat down, his stomach churning with hunger pangs. He still didn’t know the name of the man he traveled with and suspected he would never know it, but the man had eased up on the return trip, sharing some jerky and a canteen of water with Luke.
And now, Luke knew the bounty hunter stood across the street from the bank. Luke knew if he walked out without the money or tried to get away, he would be headed back to Missouri and treated more poorly than before. He thought about Honor. This was the day they had planned to start on the drive. Had they started on time? And Rake Acheson. Luke clenched his fists in rage, desperate to get his hands on Acheson for paying the bounty hunter to take him to Missouri.
It took a while to get the money so that Luke suspected the bounty hunter would be in a cold fury. Luke gazed across the polished mahogany desk and black leather chair to the window. Outside the sun was bright with a clear blue sky, and Luke’s spirits lifted. He would be home with Honor before sundown if she hadn’t left on the cattle drive.
Finally Luke hoisted the saddlebags to his shoulder and reached out to shake hands again with Jefferson Wilgert looking at his freckled face.
“Thanks. Now I have to start over on my savings.”
Wilgert shrugged. “Maybe savings aren’t quite as important now that you have the H Bar R and everything that goes with it.”
“That will be Jed Roth’s as soon as he comes of age.”
“You’ll do all right, Luke. I’d be willing to bet on it.”
Luke smiled and left, stepping into the sunshine, eagerness making him hurry across the street. His gaze roamed up and down the peaceful street, searching for any sign of Acheson. He didn’t expect to see him because springtime was a busy time for cowmen, but he felt relieved when he couldn’t spot Acheson or any of his men.
As his long legs stretched out, Luke glanced at the sheriff’s office, suspecting Whit Branigan would recognize the bounty hunter. But Luke noticed the hunter stayed back out of sight of the sheriff’s windows.
The man saw him crossing the street and jerked his head toward the alley, moving behind the dry goods store. Luke followed him, swinging over the saddlebags with his six thousand in savings.
The bounty hunter took it, an amused gleam in his eye. He draped the bags across his shoulder and turned toward his horse.
“You’re not going to count it,” Luke observed.
The man mounted up and looked down at Luke, a faint hint of a smile on his face. “You’re the kind who would keep his word. Anyway, I told you what would happen if I find out you’ve crossed me.”
He turned and rode to the corner, turning down the street and disappearing from sight. Luke was already mounted, heading to the livery stable, where he made a quick purchase, telling Abe Sorenson he would pay the next time he was in town. Changing his saddle to the new horse and leaving the old roan behind, he kicked the sorrel and cantered away, wanting to get home to Honor as soon as possible.
It was past three in the afternoon when he saw the house, and his pulse jumped. The place was quiet with red bougainvillea blooming in baskets hanging on the porch, two horses standing in the corral, bees hovering over a honeysuckle vine. He didn’t see the wagon, and he knew there should have been more horses around. He suspected they had gone on the drive without him. Hopefully they had only left this morning, and he could catch up with them by tomorrow night.
Right now, though, he was going to eat something Dolorita had cooked even if he had to faint at her feet to get her to fix it. Just then Will came out of the barn and strode forward. “Damn, didn’t expect to see you,” he said. “Everyone’s been huntin’ all over the place for you. Looks like you tangled with someone.”
Luke dismounted and turned his horse into the corral, then shook hands with Will. “Did they start the drive?”
“Yep. Dusty wanted me to stay and keep an eye on things.”
“I’ve got to get something to eat, Will, and then I’ll come talk.”
“You all right?”
“As soon as I get some food,” Luke said, backing up and then turning to walk to the house.
“Luke, Miss Honor’s gone,” Will called.
Disappointed, Luke waved and nodded, guessing she went on the cattle drive. He hurried toward the house, wanting to change and start after Honor, his need to be with her growing every minute. Dolorita came out the door, her eyes wide with unmistakable shock.
“Luke McCloud!” she exclaimed, suddenly forgetting that she had started addressing him as Mr. McCloud whe
n he married Honor. “What happened to you?” she exclaimed, placing her hand on her cheek, her gaze going over his face, her words tumbling out too quickly for him to answer. “Where were you? She’s gone to Missouri to be with you.”
“Honor’s gone to Missouri?”
“Sí. She thought you were going to Missouri, so she said she should be with you.”
“How’d she go?” He glanced around, a new worry gripping him. “Did Dusty take her?”
“No. He took her to Abilene this morning and put her on the stage, then they all left to take the cows to market.”
“Honor is going to Missouri alone?”
“Sí. Dusty said that Acheson would not know where she is and would think she was with the men going with the cows.”
Luke suddenly felt cold. He understood why Dusty would let her go and imagined that Honor had badgered him into it, but he was frightened at the idea of Honor traveling alone for hundreds of miles. Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit him and he reached out, grabbing Dolorita’s shoulder to steady himself.
“Luke, you all right?” Will said from behind him.
“Except for a tiny bit of jerky, I haven’t eaten since I don’t remember when,” he answered, rubbing his forehead. “I’ll be all right as soon as I have something to eat.” He straightened up and Dolorita was already headed into the house. Will held the door while Luke washed his hands at the pump, then started inside.
“I’ll be out to talk, Will, as soon as I eat. I just heard Honor has gone to Missouri. And she’s alone.”
“Yep, Boss. She thought that’s where you were. And she didn’t want anyone going with her or see any reason for it.”
Luke nodded and went inside. In seconds, cold chicken, hot fluffy scrambled eggs, a slice of beef, apple juice, and a bowl of steaming grits were arrayed in front of him while behind him Dolorita banged pots and stirred up more for him to eat.
“Dolorita, stop cooking for me. This is more than I can eat,” he said, just before he took a swig of juice and then a sip of black coffee. “Honor left here this morning,” he said, calculating. A stage would be slow in comparison to a lone rider because the stage has to make stops along the way. Luke wanted a bath and a change of clothes, and then he’d leave to go after Honor. He should be able to catch them tomorrow if he rode through most of the night.
“Dolorita, heat water for a bath and pack some food for me to take. I’m going after Honor.”
“Señor, you look as if you have not only missed food, but you have missed sleep also. Perhaps you should sleep—”
He twisted in his chair to look at her. “She may need me, Dolorita.”
Dolorita studied him and nodded. “I will pack the food. First, the bathwater heats.”
The sun was in the west, still high in the sky, when Luke swung into the saddle again and left the H Bar R. Instead of following the trail, he left it ten miles from the ranch and headed out across country, hoping to catch up with the stage.
He thought about Honor going to Missouri to be with him and he ached, wanting to be with her. He wanted Honor safely back in his arms. Then he would think about their future together. Honor. At the thought of her, he wanted to break into a gallop. He would be with her before the next nightfall.
Twenty-three
Honor sat in the swaying stage, with a hot, dusty wind blowing through the open windows. A man and his grown son sat across from her, the father dozing and snoring, and another man rode beside her. There was a journal on his lap that he wrote in, the stage causing his handwriting to be wiggly scrawls on the page. He had introduced himself as Nelson Parker, a journalist, who was writing about the West.
Honor looked at the green countryside and the wildflowers that were splashes of bright colors on the hillsides. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, thinking of Luke, wondering how far ahead of her he was, wondering if he would be shocked to see her when she reached Saint Joseph. She still hurt when she thought about his leaving without seeing her, yet she knew he might have a reason for the haste and broken promise.
By nightfall, when they stopped at a stage station in Cooley, she felt as if she had been traveling a week instead of a day. As she stepped down from the stage, she glimpsed a blond man hurrying around the corner of the stable. Her pulse missed a beat and she paused with a frown.
“Something wrong, miss?” the driver asked politely.
“No,” she answered. “I’m fine.” She headed toward the station, looking again in the direction of the stable. The man had looked like Rake Acheson. She shook her head and realized she was jumpy over all that had happened at home. Rake Acheson was miles away, working at a cow hunt probably, and had no idea she was traveling to Missouri.
The station was shaded by two tall oaks and a cottonwood. It was a long, frame building with open windows and wooden benches along the front wall outside. When she entered, she stepped inside a large room with a desk across from the door. To her left were rows of tables where passengers could eat, and behind the main room was a kitchen, from which came the tempting smells of meat cooking.
To her right, she saw a board placed on a bench, and a blanket draped over what looked like a body.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the station master said, pushing his rimless spectacles higher on his nose. His blue eyes swung from the covered body to her, and he raked his thinning black hair away from his forehead with his fingers. “We’ll get him buried soon. He’s from down your way.”
Her head swung around and her breath caught. “Who is it?”
“They said he was sheriff at Montello. Found him with arrows in his chest and his scalp missing. We’ve sent word back to Montello. He was carrying a fair amount of cash, so if he has any family, I want to get the money back to them, but one of my hands said he didn’t think the man had a family.”
“No, I don’t think he did,” she said quietly, glancing again at the covered body and thinking of the misery the sheriff had dealt Luke. She turned away abruptly, and soon after she saw two men removing the body.
Within the hour she had a simple meal with the others. They shared potatoes and venison and turnips, which were served by the station manager and his friendly, auburn-haired wife.
As soon as supper was over they went to their quarters for the night. Breakfast would be before sunrise, and by seven in the morning they would be traveling again. The room Honor was in was plain and small, crowded with four iron beds and a washstand. Since she was the only female traveler, she had the room to herself, while the men shared another room.
She changed into her white nightgown and stretched on the hard iron bed, hearing the rustle of the cornhusk mattress. Sleep wouldn’t come while she worried about Luke and longed for him. Lying in bed and feeling wide-awake, she kept gazing out the open windows. A full moon rose in the sky and she stared at the window, thinking about Luke. How long before they would be together again? Her throat burned, and tears stung her eyes when she thought about him going to trial for something he did so long ago in trying to defend his mother. “Luke,” she whispered, suddenly swamped with a need to see him and hold him, wishing she could have kept him from returning to Missouri, terrified at the thought he would turn himself in and stand trial.
Honor didn’t know how long she lay awake, but shadows shifted as the moon changed position in the sky, and finally she slept.
Suddenly her eyes opened and she blinked in the darkness, momentarily disoriented, uncertain where she was or what had awakened her. A shadow moved in front of the window and she saw the dark silhouette of a man, broad shoulders outlined clearly. With a gasp, she tried to scramble out of bed to reach for her portmanteau, where she carried the revolver.
Hands grabbed her roughly and shoved her on her face, mashing her into the mattress and muffling her scream.
A rag was stuffed in her mouth while she struggled and a bandanna was tied around her head, over her mouth to hold the gag in place. As she bucked and fought, a man’s breath fanned in her ear.
; “You’re mine, now, squaw,” Rake Acheson whispered. Honor felt a chill run down her spine and rage exploded in her, making her fight more.
He rolled her over and sat astride her, his legs on either side of her waist while his hand held her wrists easily and his other hand ran beneath her gown to fondle her.
“I’d like to stay right here and take you now, but we can’t do that.” He started to move away, stepping off the bed. Honor jerked her legs up, kneeing him.
With a grunt of pain, he doubled over as she broke free and slid out of the bed to dash for the door. Just as her fingers touched the knob, he caught her and spun her around, slapping her and knocking her down.
He pulled her roughly to her feet, yanking her wrists behind her back and tying them while she tried to get loose from his grasp. He shoved her against the wall, his breath warm on her ear.
“You little bitch, you’ll be sorry,” he said, running his hands beneath her gown, up over her backside, between her legs.
Honor twisted, rage still making her fight even though it was useless, loathing his touch as he fingered her. She heard him draw a deep breath. “We’re going. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner you’re mine.”
He tossed her over his shoulder and she bounced helplessly against him as he crossed the room to the window and dropped her outside. She hit the ground with a jar that took away her breath, but she was on her feet in an instant, running away. Hearing him coming behind her, she tried to run faster, but the gown tangled around her legs.
Rake caught her easily, yanking her up and throwing her over his shoulder again. He swung her onto his horse and mounted quickly, pulling her up against him. Honor twisted around, her long hair swirling across her shoulders, as she looked back and saw that he was leading another horse.
“They’ll think you took the horse and went to meet someone. I don’t think they’ll come searching, but we’ll put enough distance between us and them that it won’t matter. And I’m waiting until daylight when I can see you. I want to watch your face, Injun, while I have my fun.”