He appeared insulted. “You can ask the sheriff and banker in the next town. They know my family. They’ll vouch for my honesty. We can go to the bank and I’ll give you enough money to live on until I return.”
“You forget one thing, Marshal. I saw them torture my husband after they had killed our chickens and our cow. I can identify them. You cannot know how much I want them killed for what they did to Abram.”
“I know exactly how you feel. They murdered my best friend and his wife. She carried their unborn child. I wanted to catch them and kill them with my bare hands, but that isn’t right. I secured a job as Federal Marshall so I would have the authority to capture them and let the law and court decide their punishment.”
Anger sharpened her tone and she spat out, “Law? A mob of men killed my father in Abram’s village in Bavaria. Before that another mob murdered all of Abram’s family in Russia. And what did the law do? Nothing in either place. The guilty went free because the village they raided was Jewish.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I guess that farm back there is yours?”
“No. He farms…farmed on shares so we can keep our money.” She looked at him. “We had a great deal of gold and jewelry. He said we would be safer if people thought we were poor. Then he could save for my future. He said when he is dead a dowry I have.”
“Sounds like a smart man who planned well.”
She shook her head. “His plan failed. Even the poor cannot escape the greed of wicked men.”
His beautiful purplish-blue eyes pleaded. “But I’ll find them and return your gold to you.”
“Why are we riding so slowly?” She urged her horse into a gallop.
Chapter Two
Storm rode toward the next town. He puzzled over a woman younger than his twenty-five years married to a man who had to have been near eighty. Thinking over the circumstances, Storm figured this Abram Dmitriev must have been quite an honorable and intelligent man. He had to be smart and resourceful to have figured out that hiding place that offered his wife protection.
And forward thinking. Somehow Rena—he refused to think of this girl as Mrs. Dmitriev—had learned English well enough to be understood. Through a thick accent she spoke properly. Good thing, because his own knowledge of German ranged only to simple greetings and phrases he’d learned living in the Texas Hill Country.
With so many German immigrants in Texas, he wondered why Rena had no friends she could turn to now. He supposed a Jewish man and a Christian woman fit nowhere. Not one to cast people into lots, he struggled to think of a family with whom he could leave Rena. That is, if he could disavow her of this crazy notion of chasing the killers.
Her hair put him in mind of pale moonlight. She wore it in braids under an old crumpled hat that must have belonged to her husband. Although, Storm doubted the man functioned as a true husband. Stop it. He had no business thinking about other folks’ marriage, especially when he’d remained single.
He called to her. “No point killing the horses. We’ll rest at that creek.”
She nodded and slowed Thunder. When they’d dismounted and watered the horses, he passed her his canteen. She drank deeply, and then handed it back to him. He swallowed all he wanted and then moved upstream to refill the container.
She emerged from the brush straightening her trousers and shoving her pistol back into her waistband. “Where do you think those men are going?”
“Indian Territory. They’ll steal all they can before they reach the Red River and leave no survivors to identify them. They’re selling off the stolen stock along the way so that will slow them some.” He wondered if she knew how to use the gun.
“But I saw their faces.”
He sent her what he hoped was a frightening stare. “If they knew that, you’d be dead for sure.”
She shivered, but glared at him. “Do not think to frighten me. I will do everything I can to kill these men and reclaim my gold and my mother’s locket. It is not that I care about the jewelry that once belonged to Abram’s wife. But to him, it meant a great deal, and I want it because he gave it to me.”
Storm wanted to shake her. Not that he hadn’t lived all his life with stubborn women. At least his oldest sister Pearl made sense. He’d worried about shy Sarah, especially when she’d appeared head over heels with a con man. Now that Sarah and Nate were married, she had life figured out. Nate had surprised everyone, even himself. Storm suppressed a smile and worked up his anger again at his traveling companion.
“We can be in Llano by nightfall. We’ll get a couple of rooms there and you can rest.”
She shot him a suspicious glare. “You think to abandon me in that town. If we stay somewhere, we will be in the same room so I can watch you.”
Shocked, Storm wondered what he could do with this woman. “We wouldn’t be allowed to stay in a decent hotel. You want to sleep over a saloon? Besides that, folks will be shocked when they see you in those trousers. You want people to think you’re a fallen woman?”
With her chin raised, she placed her hands on her hips. “I am a good woman. You can tell them we are married and I wear britches to ride more easily.” She held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. “I have a wedding band, see?”
He raised his hands and backed up a step. “Oh, no. I’m not even pretending to be married. If I were ready to marry, which I’m not, I’d pick a woman who knew when to let a man do his job.”
“Ha, and when I recover my dowry, I will marry a man who knows a woman can do as much as a man.”
He swept a formal bow. “And when you marry, will you be wearing the lovely gown you now wear?”
She appeared angry enough to use that Colt on him. “You are wrong to…to talk so. I do not have the English words to tell you what I think, but do not try to leave me behind. If you do, I will go after the men alone.”
Disgusted, Storm stomped over and retrieved the horses. “Then let’s go.”
They rode into Llano in late afternoon. Since they arrived mid week, the town appeared peaceful and quiet. Storm spotted a hotel by the livery he remembered.
“If you’re determined to stick to me like glue, let’s stable the horses.”
At the stable, she staggered when she dismounted and he thought she might fall. He grabbed her arms. “Steady. You’re not used to riding so long.”
“Ja, my legs do not work so well. Do not worry, I will be fine in a minute.”
She remained quiet while he dealt with the hostler and insured his rifle and saddle would be safe. He threw his saddlebags over his shoulders and retrieved the two pillowcases and box he’d tied to the saddle pommel. They ambled the block toward the hotel.
He indicated a mercantile. “Just what we need. After we get our room, let’s head for that store before it closes. You probably need to replace a few things that burned.” When she glared at him. “I’ll give you the money, all right? I don’t want folks thinking my wife runs around in men’s clothes. If anyone gets nosy, tell them you lost your bag crossing a river.”
She sniffed and sashayed as if she wore a ball gown instead of ill-fitting men’s trousers. “I will keep track and repay you when I kill those men.”
“Shh. Don’t be talking about killing men or chasing anyone. You don’t know who’s listening. We’re just traveling to visit relatives.” He couldn’t help watching her hips twitch an invitation she probably didn’t know she issued.
“Oh, I see.” She looked around and waited for him. “Do you think those men are here?”
“I doubt they’d risk coming into Llano, but we don’t know for sure. They have to sell their stolen stock and pick up supplies somewhere. Stop gawking and stay at my side. Pretend you’re eager to get rested up and go visit…how about a sister or an aunt?”
“Ja. Always I wanted lots of family. We will visit my sister.” She smiled for the first time since they’d met. “Where?”
His insides did a funny flip when she smiled. Dang, he must be hungry.
&nbs
p; “I figure Quanah in Hardeman County is where they’ll cross the Red River, but they might head to Wilbarger County and Vernon.”
As if the idea appealed to her, she appeared excited. “What is her name? My sister, what is her name?
He laughed. “She’s your sister. Can’t you figure out what you call her?” When a perplexed expression shadowed her face, he prodded. “If you had a sister, what would her name be?”
She appeared deep in thought. “I think she would be…Varina. And her husband, he would be…Gunther Vortman.”
“So her name is Varina Vortman? Weird name.” He chuckled. “We’re married less than a day and already I don’t like your family.”
She shook her head, but still smiled. “You know, you Texans are very strange people.”
“Do you realize you’re a Texan now? You think you’re strange too?”
Her face sobered and she appeared sad. “Ja. Always I have been strange.”
He opened the door for her and they entered the hotel. Though not large, stylish furniture dotted the lobby. Through a doorway, Storm spotted a dining room and his stomach sent messages to hurry and send food.
He stopped at the reception desk. “We’d like a room for tonight.”
The clerk frowned and acted as if he would turn them away. Storm leaned forward and met the man’s glare with one of his own. “I said, we want a room for tonight.”
The clerk opened the registration book and handed Storm a pen. “Till I saw your eyes, I thought you was a injun. We don’t allow their kind in here.”
Without comment, Storm signed as Mr. and Mrs. Storm Kincaid, and then laid the pen beside the inkwell. “How late is the mercantile open?”
The clerk who’d frowned at Storm’s heritage turned up his nose at Rena’s attire. “They’ll be closing in half an hour. Dining room’s open for two more hours.”
Storm leaned over the counter. “And is Sheriff Braddock’s office still a block west?”
The clerk widened his eyes. “It is, but you’d be wasting your time. He and a posse rode after men who killed a family and burned their home.”
“Thanks.” Storm pocketed the key.
They hurried up to the second floor. They’d been given a room at the back of the hotel over the kitchen. Storm realized the slight, but Rena didn’t appear concerned. Fatigue and grief etched her beautiful features.
“So the sheriff and his men are after the same men we are, this is right, ja?”
“Sounds like it. I’ll check around later.”
The room included a bed, a changing screen, and a washstand. At least the bed linens appeared clean and the mattress didn’t sag.
“You want to change into your clothes while we’re in town?”
Looking forlorn, she shook her head. “They would be too wrinkled to wear in public. I have no way to iron them.”
“You’d better plan on filling out your supplies while we’re here. We may not hit another town for a long time.”
After a cursory glance, they left their belongings and hurried downstairs. He guided Rena from the hotel and across the street.
At the mercantile, Storm bought another saddle, saddlebag, valise, and bedroll. Apparently stuck with an extra mouth to feed, he increased his food supplies. Would you just look? He wasn’t even married, but this woman cost him money as if they were wed.
She’d gathered up a hairbrush, comb, small mirror, and other women’s fripperies. Nothing extravagant, but she reminded him women needed more for travel than a man.
She peered around. “You have soap?”
The man behind the counter showed her a display. “This is French and scented. Lavender is our most popular fragrance.” He handed her a bar to smell.
She sniffed and then smiled. “This is very nice. I will have two.”
Storm laid his collection on the counter beside hers. “You’d better get a pair of riding gloves while we’re here. Otherwise, you’ll have blisters on your hands.”
“Ja, already my palms are very red and stinging.” She looked through an assortment handed her by the store owner. After trying on two pair, she selected the tan leather. “These fit my hands.”
The mercantile owner totted up their purchases. “You folks must have run into an accident and lost part of your gear.”
“Yes, we did.” Storm paid with no interest in satisfying the nosy man’s curiosity.
They stored her few acquisitions in the new valise and Storm carried saddlebags and the bedroll. When they were outside, he gazed at her.
“How many baths you figuring to take on this trip?”
She’d insisted on carrying a bar of soap and now held it to her nose. “I thought you also would like to use one.” She extended it for him to sniff. “It smells wonderful.”
He shook his head. “No thanks. My sisters both favor the scent you chose. Men don’t use lavender soap, and I have my own.”
“You should have said so. I could have used it.” She looked crestfallen. “Ach, I should have asked you, and saved money. I’m not used to so many choices. Always I make the soap, and almost never did I go with Abram to town.”
“You’ll enjoy this then. Don’t worry. Right now, let’s put this stuff in our room and go eat. I’m starving and I’ll bet you are too.” They’d ridden over six hours.
In their room, he tossed the bedroll and his supplies on the floor near his things and set her saddlebags and valise on the bed. “Look, I know you’re exhausted and so am I. As tired as I am, I could sleep on a bed of rocks.” At the same time, he worried about sharing a room with this attractive woman.
“Ja, I am tired. Much trouble and sorrow and anger has drained all my strength.”
“You can wash up first.”
She sniffed and sashayed as if she wore a ball gown instead of ill-fitting men’s trousers. Meanwhile Rena rummaged through her bag. She shook out a skirt. “People stare at my britches. As bad as my clothes look, a dress will cause fewer stares when we eat.”
If she knew how tempting those britches made her, she’d realize why the men stared. “If you wish, but please hurry. My stomach is begging for food.”
“Ja, I heard it grumble.” With a laugh, she stepped behind the screen.
She emerged smoothing wrinkles from her skirt.
“Do not think badly of me because I laughed so soon after Abram’s death. I did not love him as I would a husband, but I loved him as a friend. I am sad and angry at his horrible death.”
“Those alive must continue with life. My sister Pearl says laughter heals all hearts. Sometimes healing takes longer than others, but I believe she’s right.” He still sat on the bed, gazing at her.
Neither of his sisters would be caught wearing those clothes anywhere, especially not in public. Nor could he see them in Drake or Nate’s britches.
Thinking it over, he revised his opinion. Neither of his sisters would sit and wait for someone else to avenge her husband. Under similar circumstances, either woman would probably act the same as Rena.
Shaken by that realization, he’d have to change his opinion about Rena’s bull headedness. But he couldn’t see Pearl or Sarah becoming a vigilante. Each of them would work within the law, not take matters into her own hands.
Maybe.
He’d lived in a house full of women most of the first fourteen years of his life. Except for his grandfather, he’d never associated with anyone but his mother, then his sisters. When Pearl married, Storm had been blessed with Drake as a brother in law who provided a strong role model.
Women? They still mystified him.
“Are you going to daydream or are we going to eat?”
Caught woolgathering, Storm rose and offered his arm to escort her. “Madam, shall we proceed to the dining room?”
Chapter Three
Their appearance attracted attention from other diners. Even though she’d have had to use his money, Rena wished she had bought a readymade skirt and shirtwaist at the mercantile. Self-consciously, she smo
othed her hands across her soiled tan shirt and the wrinkled brown skirt she’d worn that morning.
As if sensing her discomfort, the lawman smiled at her. His mesmerizing purple-blue eyes held kindness. “They’re staring because they don’t know us. You look nice.”
Grateful, she returned his smile. “Better than Abram’s trousers, ja?”
His grin widened and he shook his head slowly. “Not better, just more appropriate.” He sobered. “Tell me what happened where you lived in Bavaria?”
“A mob came through the Jewish part of the town killing everyone. My father and I had gone there to sell most of my mother’s jewelry. Papa ran into the street yelling that he and I were Christians, but the mob didn’t listen. They cut him down where he stood. Women and children died.” The memory replayed in her head. She could never erase that terrible scene.
“How did you escape?” The lawman drank from his coffee cup the waitress had set down and filled.
“I was still inside Abram’s shop at the edge of the village.” She shivered with the recollection. “I would have run to my father, but Abram pulled me back. He snatched a pack of money and jewels and then led me out a secret back way and into the forest. We hid for a day. A few others escaped but we were too afraid to travel together. After dark, Abram left me in a little grove of brush while he sneaked back to see his home.”
“I guess he lost everything?”
“He was afraid to go into the town for fear the mob had posted sentries. Much of the town burned, but not his store where he lived in back. He slipped into his home and packed a bag and the chest you saw, then left and came for me.”
He looked at her over his cup. “The dead were not buried?”
“The mob dragged the bodies to the middle of the village and set fire to them as if they were so much rubbish.” Sorrow clung to her when she thought of her kind papa and Abram’s friends receiving such horrible treatment. “We were afraid of guards set to watch for anyone who returned. That night we sneaked to my home. I packed my few clothes and rejoined him.”
Most Unsuitable Courtship Page 2