Compromised Hearts

by Hannah Howell

  “You are most assuredly mad if you think you can get away with this.”

  “Nonsense,” Chilton said coolly as he took off his coat and began to undo his vest. “I’ve thought this all out very carefully.” He glanced at Dorothy and Catrina. “Are you ladies intending to stay?”

  The very thought of such a possibility turned Emily’s stomach and it was a struggle to keep from gagging. She would never have thought there could be anything as appalling as being raped. Now she knew differently. It would be far more appalling to have people watching and gloating over her shame. She could not feel confident that the two women who had helped Chilton had the sensitivity to turn away. “I’m staying,” Dorothy said softly. “Well, I’m not. After all"—Catrina smiled and kissed Chilton’s cheek—"watching you, darling, would undoubtedly make me very hungry for your attentions myself, and there is no time for that now. Later, at my place, we can gloat and celebrate this triumph.” “You two are lovers?”

  Something in Dorothy’s tone of voice pulled Emily from the grip of fear and horror long enough to pay attention to what was going on around her. That Chilton and Catrina were lovers was clearly a surprise to Dorothy and not a pleasant one either, Emily mused, judging by the look on the woman’s face. A flicker of hope pierced Emily’s despair. Chilton’s plan required cooperation between the women. It looked to Emily as if that was soon to be lost. Neither woman was the sort to appreciate sharing what she had.

  “Of course we are.” Catrina placed a possessive hand on Chilton’s arm. “Cloud came between us once, but Thomas and I have resolved our differences and are together again. I don’t see that it should matter to you.”

  “No? He’s my lover too.”

  Both woman glared at Chilton. Emily thought he looked briefly discomforted but could not be sure. She could only hope that he lacked the skill to soothe both women and thus keep his plan viable. Emily knew that the greater the rift that developed, the better it would be for her. So too would an argument waste time, allowing her friends more time to worry and, perhaps, to decide to come looking for her. It was a small chance, but it was all she had.

  “Thomas, explain yourself.”

  “Cat, what is there to explain? And what does all this matter now? We’re in reach of a goal we all seek. Shall we let petty quarrels destroy our chance at revenge?”

  Catrina looked to be thinking that one over. Dorothy did not looked soothed, however. In fact, the look on Dorothy’s face chilled Emily, even though the woman’s precarious emotional balance could work to her advantage. She was not sure, however, that a complete collapse by Dorothy would be good for anyone, and Emily sensed that Dorothy was very close to just that. There was a wild, frightening look in the woman’s eyes.

  “You used me.”

  “No more than you used me, darling. Shall we get on with this?” Chilton yanked off his vest.

  “I thought we would be getting married.”

  The look that flashed over Chilton’s face revealed all too clearly that that conclusion had been solely Dorothy’s. “You are still married to Harper, I believe.”

  “And he’s going to marry me, aren’t you, Thomas?” Catrina gloated.

  Chilton did not answer immediately and Emily knew that the man had no intention of marrying either woman. If the situation was not so precarious, Emily suspected she would have found some enjoyment in the situation Chilton now found himself in. The man would soon pay for what had clearly been a very busy winter.

  “It seems he was using you too, Catrina,” Dorothy said.

  “What does all that matter?” Chilton said. “We’re all getting what we want—a chance to strike at Cloud Ryder.”

  “What does it matter?” screeched Dorothy. “I lost my husband because of you. The whole town is laughing at me.”

  “You imagine it. Besides, what do you care about your husband?”

  “I became your lover to save him from losing everything.”

  “You became my lover to save your jewelry, your crystal, and your silver. You also had yourself a fine old time.”

  “I will ruin you.”

  “About this? I think not. You say one word against me and I will implicate you without compunction.”

  “Implicate me? How?”

  “You were the one who led Emily here.”

  “He has you there, Mrs. Brockinger.”

  Catrina was clearly gloating but it was the truth of her words that worried Emily. There had been a break in the alliance, but Chilton’s words could well mend it. Dorothy was one who would consider her own safety over anything else. Chilton had just shown her how clearly her rebellion was putting her at risk. When the mud slinging started, Dorothy would find herself as splattered as the other two. Emily was sure Dorothy would never risk that.

  Looking at Dorothy made Emily’s convictions waver slightly. She could not feel certain that Dorothy was thinking rationally, nor that it would do her any good if she was. Abruptly, Dorothy left the room.

  “What happens now, Thomas?”

  “We continue, my dear Catrina.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise? Dorothy can’t be counted on any longer.”

  “She can be counted on to keep her mouth shut. Dorothy won’t want her name blackened. She’s had a taste of that since her husband walked out on her. I meant it when I said I’d take her down with me and she knows it.” He looked at Emily. “And now, my dear, where were we?”

  “You were about to do something that is certain to get you killed.” Emily was glad that her terror did not reveal itself in her voice, for she did not want to give Chilton the pleasure of knowing she was afraid.

  “As I told you, Cloud will face murder charges. He’ll know that.”

  “He just might not care.” She smiled when he hesitated. “Or he might find a way to make you pay that won’t dirty his hands—just as you’ve thought of how to commit this crime and get away with it, so can Cloud think of a way to make you pay and get away with it.”

  She knew by the look on his face that she had given Chilton pause for thought. Catrina looked terrified. When Chilton’s face hardened again, Emily knew she had lost. The man had enough arrogance to think he need not worry.

  “I’ve decided this was a stupid plan,”

  Catrina said suddenly, and headed for the door.

  Grabbing her by the arm, Chilton hissed, “And where do you think you’re going?”

  “Away from here. She’s right. Cloud Ryder won’t swallow this insult quietly or meekly. Law or no law, he’ll see us pay.”

  “You always were clever, Catrina.”

  Emily joined Catrina and Chilton in gaping at the man standing in the doorway. She had been so intent upon the quarreling lovers she had not heard anyone approach. Standing behind Cloud in the doorway were Skye and Giorsal and the men. Seeing Cloud and knowing that she was safe brought Emily close to tears.

  Cloud looked at Emily, enraged to see her tied as she was. Despite the logic that warned him not to act too rashly, Cloud had to fight the temptation to shoot Chilton on the spot.

  “Has he hurt you, Em?”

  “No, Cloud. Not yet.”

  “Untie her, Skye.” He waited until Skye moved to do as he commanded, then looked at Chilton. “And now for you.”

  Chilton made an attempt to elude the fist Cloud swung at him but Catrina, cowering behind him, impeded him. He screeched with pain and dismay when Cloud’s fist connected brutally with his nose. The impact sent him, and Catrina with him, sprawling on the floor. Even as Catrina struggled to get up, Chilton clutched at his fiercely bleeding nose and alternated between bewailing the loss of his good looks and issuing empty threats. Cloud’s spasmodically clenching fists revealed how much he wanted to continue hitting Chilton, but he shook his head and moved to where a now-freed Emily stood with Skye and Giorsal.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked her quietly, stroking a small bruise on her neck with his fingertips.

  She nodded, still fighting t
ears and annoyed with her weakness. “I hadn’t dared hope you would come looking for me so soon.”

  “I didnae like it when ye left with that witch and I kept disliking it, so I went after your mon.”

  “Thank you, Giorsal.”

  Giorsal frowned even as she tried to put some order into Emily’s tattered gown. “I’ve still got a bad feeling about all of this.”

  “So do I,” muttered Skye.

  “I should’ve paid more heed to those bad feelings from the beginning.” Em managed a faint smile for the two women.

  “Yes, you should have.”

  Turning to say something in response to Cloud’s sharp remark, Emily frowned. Chilton was on his feet and Catrina was trying to stop the bleeding of his nose with a uselessly frilly handkerchief. He was paying the woman little mind. His gaze was fixed upon something behind her and Emily felt the hairs on the back of her neck stiffen with warning.

  “Dorothy,” Emily whispered and turned to look behind her, oblivious to the vicious curse Cloud spat out.

  Standing in the second doorway of the bedroom was a faintly disheveled Dorothy. That was unusual for Dorothy, but it was not what held everyone’s attention. There was an intense look on the woman’s face and a strange, chilling glitter in her eyes that hinted at derangement. What made everyone tense, however, was the gun she held in her hand.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Well, I’m glad to see that you came to your senses, Dorothy, and mean to lend your friends a hand.”

  Dorothy stared at Chilton. “You’re a mess, Thomas.”

  “That animal broke my nose. God, it probably won’t heal right.”

  “Afraid it will spoil your looks? Don’t be. Emily was right. You do look like a weasel.”

  “You never had any complaint.”

  “No, but I always thought your looks could use some altering. Say farewell to the face you love so much, Thomas.”

  The look of horrified realization had barely touched Chilton’s face when Dorothy fired the gun. Emily barely had time to see

  Thomas Chilton flung backwards by the impact of the bullet that struck him full in the face before Cloud shoved her aside in an attempt to shield her behind the bedside table. Even as she huddled there with Giorsal and Skye, Emily could hear someone screaming. She had just recognized the voice as Catrina’s when another snot rang out and the screaming stopped.

  The men were hesitant to shoot a woman, but nothing they said eased the look of madness on the woman’s face. When the pistol swung towards Cloud, Emily acted without thought. She flung herself in front of Cloud even as Dorothy fired. She gasped as something slammed into her back with enough force to send her and Cloud staggering backwards. There was such a look of horror on Cloud’s face, that Emily was glad she was unable to see what Dorothy’s bullet had done. As blackness started to overwhelm her, she realized the shooting had stopped.

  Giorsal moved stiffly to pull her knife from Dorothy’s chest. Looking up, she saw that Harper was now crouched by his wife’s body. Although she felt bad for him, as bad as she felt about being forced to kill, she made no apology.

  “Someone had to stop her.”

  “I know, Little Red. l know. I’m sorry you had to do it.”

  “You men couldnae seem to see past her being female. You were too slow to act. Get her out of here. I can hear folk coming to see what’s happened.” She hurried to where a stunned Cloud held Emily.

  “I can’t stop the bleeding,” he rasped as he pressed strips torn from Skye’s petticoat to Emily’s wound.

  “Get a doctor, Wolfe.”

  Wolfe moved to obey Giorsal’s command only to be blocked from leaving by the sheriff and his deputy. Several other men, making no attempt to hide their curiosity, were behind them. There was a moment of confusion, the tension growing so high it was nearly tangible, before Wolfe was allowed through to race for the doctor.

  “What the hell’s happened here?”

  “I fear my wife went mad and started shooting people, Sheriff,” Harper replied flatly, then smiled faintly at an astonished Giorsal. “To hide her guilt might save her name, but it would point the finger at someone else.”

  Cloud paid little attention to the talk around him. His sole interest was in Emily. With Giorsal’s and Skye’s help he struggled to stop the bleeding from Emily’s wound. His fear for Emily was so great he felt sick with it.

  When Wolfe returned with the doctor, Cloud blindly followed the man’s directions. He carried Emily into the master bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. When he was told to leave, however, he came out of his stupor long enough to vehemently protest.

  He made it clear that nothing short of violence would move him.

  Emily never fully regained consciousness as the doctor worked, for which Cloud was grateful. He felt everything the doctor did to her as if it were his own wound being treated. Even though he knew she could not hear him, he tried to soothe her with words when she moaned or tried to twist away from the pain being inflicted upon her. When the doctor was done, Cloud pinned him with a gaze that caused the man to instinctively step back

  “Well? How is it?”

  “The bullet’s out, the wound’s closed. Nothing vital was hit and the bleeding’s stopped. The wound has been taken care of.”

  “And Emily?”

  “It’s in God’s hands.”

  “You better give me a better answer than that—and fast.”

  “I don’t have a better answer. She’s lost a lot of blood, and she’s small. There’s also the chance of infection or fever. However, she’s healthy, and I’ve done all I can now. I’ll do whatever else I can if she suffers any complications.” The doctor quickly left.

  Cloud sat by the bed clinging to Emily’s hand. She looked so small and wan that none of his purposefully encouraging remarks did much to ease the gnawing fear inside him. All he knew for certain was that something in him would die if she slipped away from him. He was so engrossed in trying to make her wake up that he never heard Thunder approach, and he gave a convulsive start when the man laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “The sheriff wants to talk to you.”

  “I’m not leaving Emily.”

  “You have to for just a short while. I’ll stay with her. You either go down and talk to him or he’ll be tramping up here.”

  “Can’t you or Wolfe or Harper tell him what he wants to know?”

  “We have and so have Skye and Giorsal, but he wants to talk to you. You were there as well. It was also your wife that was smack in the middle of it all.” Thunder shrugged. “Maybe he’s just making sure all of our stories match.”

  Reluctantly, Cloud left Emily and went down to the parlour to speak to the sheriff. With clear impatience he answered the man’s questions. It was not until the sheriff declared himself satisfied that Cloud recalled that he had a few questions of his own.

  “What about Chilton?”

  “Man’s dead. Mrs. Brockinger blew a hole clean through his head. The woman might live, though.”

  “The woman? Dorothy?”

  “Nope. Mrs. Brockinger’s stone cold dead. Harper’s gone to take her to the undertaker. I was meaning Miss Catrina. She was bad shot. Looks like Mrs. Brockinger was trying to shoot her in the face too. Took Miss Catrina’s ear off and messed up her face bad.

  Miss Catrina might not be too happy to find herself alive when she finally wakes up.”

  “Are you intending to press charges against Giorsal MacGregor?” At the moment Cloud felt no sympathy for Catrina, could only feel that the woman had gotten what she deserved.

  “Nope. Seems a clear case of self-defense. Fair fight, leastwise. Seems to me the guilty ones in all of this have all been taken care of. ‘Less you’re of a mind to charge Miss Catrina with something.”

  “I don’t think so. It’d serve no purpose except revenge, and although I damn well feel like taking some, I won’t.”

  “Fine, then. I hope your missus gets better,” the sheriff said
quietly, then left when Cloud only nodded.

  Rushing back to Emily’s side, Cloud asked Thunder, “Where is everyone?”

  Moving to let Cloud retake his seat by the bed, Thunder began, “Harper went—”

  “That’s the only one I do know about. The sheriff told me. Has everyone else left, then?”

  “Wolfe took Skye and Giorsal back to the ranch. Skye said she’d stay with the children. Giorsal’s gone to get a few things, then will come back here to help. Wolfe will be busy for a while trying to find a wet nurse for the twins.”

  “Oh, Christ, the children.” Cloud put his face in his hands. “The twins are too young to be affected.”

  “Ye be acting like one.” She sighed. “Look, ye cannae go on not eating and not sleeping. That leads to illness as surely as I’ve got red hair. What good will ye be to her then? She’ll be needing you strong to help her get back her strength and to make sure she doesnae try to do too much too soon. And if she doesnae"—her voice broke slightly but she pressed on despite her own reluctance to voice the possibility—"if she doesnae live, ye’ll need to be strong for the bairns.”

  “She will get better.”

  “Ye cannae wish that any more than I do. ‘Course with no food or sleep, she’d open her eyes to a sorry sight of a mon.” She nodded and gently sat on the edge of the bed as he started to eat. “It probably tastes like ashes, but t’will do its work.” She frowned slightly as he struggled a little to eat because he would not release Emily’s hand. “Best ye let go of her for a while.”

  Keeping his gaze fixed on the meal he ate but did not taste, Cloud shook his head. “I don’t like to let go. I’m afraid—afraid if I do she’ll slip away from me.”

  The quiet admission brought tears to Giorsal’s eyes, but she blinked them away. “I’ll hold her while ye eat.” She calmly met his brief gaze, then took Emily’s hand in hers when he reluctantly released it. “I cannae feel she’ll die.”