Gage and Tucker followed their women in and watched silently until the reunion died down. Finally, Shannon told Bailey what they’d decided about Cudgel.
“We’re still at least two hours from Pa.” Bailey faced Gage for the first time since she’d seen Shannon. “He lives a lot higher up than me, over a twisting trail, through some narrow passes that may still have snow in them. There’s a nice mountain valley up there, but getting there is a chore. It’s more rugged the farther up you go. I never did figure out how Pa got out of there so early in the season to come to your place. It’s no trail to tackle in the dark.”
“I think I remember him saying something about there being more than one trail,” Gage said.
“He was hollering a lot, so he could’ve said something like that.”
At the table, Shannon sat around the corner from Bailey, with Gage on Bailey’s right, straight across from Shannon. Tucker sat at the end, facing Bailey. When Bailey mentioned hollering, Shannon reached over and rested her hand on Bailey’s shoulder and looked grim. These girls had all gotten their share of hollering.
“Do you know of more routes up this mountain?” Gage asked.
Bailey and Shannon exchanged a bewildered look, then shook their heads.
“We’ve always gone up that same trail,” Bailey said. “I think a body would have to do some mountain climbing to get there a different way.”
“If we’re going to get there tonight, we’d better head out.” Gage finished his coffee with one long draw.
“We’ll have light enough, I hope, to get in, but we’d be riding back here in full dark.” Bailey gave Shannon’s round belly a worried look. “We should spend the night here and see Pa in the morning.”
“Ma will worry,” Gage said. “I never intended to be gone overnight.”
Bailey liked to burn him to a cinder with her eyes. Now what was the matter with her?
“We aren’t makin’ it back to your place tonight, Gage, even if we push hard toward Cudgel’s place right now.” Tucker sounded sure of himself. “I know his homestead, and it’s a rattler of a trail to get up there—nowhere you want to be come nighttime.”
Bailey gave Gage such a long hard look, he braced himself. “If you head back now, you could get there before too late. You take care of your ma, and we can handle my pa.”
“I’m not going to abandon you.” Did she really think he’d do such a thing? It reminded him that his wife didn’t trust him.
“It might be best, Gage.” Shannon frowned. “It’s not that you’d abandon Bailey, but you’re the one Pa’s tried to hurt. Seeing you might start trouble we don’t want.”
Cudgel needed to be locked up. If there was any trouble, Gage would be the one starting it. With Gage being the focus of his spite, would Cudgel start shooting? It didn’t change Gage’s mind, though it did make him feel less insulted.
“I’m going. We’ll sleep here and set out in the morning.” Then Gage thought of something. “I sent my men over here to work the herd. We’d have met them heading back if they were done.”
“They’re still in there?” Bailey didn’t look happy about that.
“One of them can take a message home.”
Bailey nodded. They’d stay here—at her house. She didn’t think of Gage’s house as hers. Honestly she didn’t think of it as his, either. It was Ma Coulter’s now. She ran that house. Bailey and Gage had both been reduced to visitors.
Bailey had a lot of time to cool down after she’d left the C Bar. She’d like to try to make her marriage work; she’d probably have to if she had a baby on the way. Heaven knew they’d carried on enough that it was a likely outcome. But first she had to get rid of Gage’s meddling mother.
And then she’d seen her house and remembered how much love she’d poured into building a haven for herself. Of course, it wasn’t hers anymore. Gage owned it. He’d made promises, but they were only as good as his word. Would he give up the canyon if she asked it of him? She suspected not. Would he toss his mother onto a stagecoach to Texas if she asked it of him? She suspected not.
Instead, he’d turn his considerable will to making her stay with him. But she’d never know if he wanted her for herself, or to placate his ma, or so that he could hang on to this prime piece of land.
“Gage, are you going in to talk to your men?” Bailey asked.
“Yep, right now.”
“I’ll come along.” Her spirits lifted to a ridiculous degree, especially considering that men were involved. “I want to see how my cattle are doing.”
“Finally we can have ourselves a little talk, wife.”
Bailey felt the clash of their stubbornness and the pull of their attraction. The two were so strong it nearly ripped her in half.
“Now’s your chance. But I’ve told you they’re fine. Don’t you trust me at all, Bailey?”
What in the world did trust have to do with any of this? “I’m sure your men are good cowpokes. I’m just used to taking care of things myself.”
Shannon said, “I’ll stay inside. It’s been a long ride. There’s not a crust of bread in this house. Tucker, fetch your pack off Gru. I’ll get a meal started.”
“I will get Tucker’s pack and my own, and will help with supper,” Sunrise said, then was out the front door.
After they left, Bailey wondered just how tired her sister was. She decided that Shannon should stay here tomorrow while she rode over to see Pa. Shaking her head as if to shed thoughts of just how far Pa had sunk—if they were right about who’d tried to kill Gage—she walked toward the canyon with Gage at her side.
Five of Gage’s men had gathered off to one side and were busy saddling their horses. They must have finished with the cattle. There were longhorns spread all around, standing belly-deep in the grass. Dozens of calves leapt to their feet when Bailey and Gage rode in. The calves trotted toward their mothers for a reassuring nip of milk. One old cow raised her brown, speckled head, woofed at them, and waved her seven-foot spread of horns to warn them away. The rest kept munching on the lush grass.
It was a place that could challenge Eden for its beauty. Bailey had wanted it from the first moment she’d seen it. She recognized that it was pure greed. She’d known Gage owned it and had chosen her homestead carefully.
“I don’t blame you for wanting this place, Bailey.” She turned, and Gage was grinning at her. “I know just how you feel.”
Reluctantly she smiled back. “I guess we both own it now.”
“Nope, it’s yours. I’d be proud to help you tend it.”
Nodding silently, she turned back to study the cows, eager to see how hers were doing. Her eyes scanned and scanned as she searched for the Double W brand.
The cowhands came riding up. Gage turned his horse so that he was right beside her. Protecting her even without her showing a bit of fear. And she didn’t feel much, for this was the first time she’d been near a crowd of men since she’d talked with Gage about her war experience. Now, did that mean the wounds she carried in her head had healed, or did she just feel safe so long as her husband was nearby?
A prayer for true healing came to mind.
“We didn’t know you were riding over today, Gage,” Manny said, who seemed to be the one in charge of the group.
“Bailey and I are going to stay here tonight and go see her pa tomorrow. Tucker’s with me. Can you let my ma know I won’t be home tonight?”
Manny’s eyes widened in what Bailey suspected was fear. Ma had all the hands running scared. “Sure, boss, I’ll tell her.” Manny tugged the brim of his hat and lifted his reins.
Before he could go, Bailey asked, “How are my cows? I haven’t picked them out yet.”
“Your cows, Mrs. Coulter?” Manny’s brow furrowed. “Don’t they all belong to the two of you?”
Bailey actually smiled. “Yes, of course they do, but I mean the ones I had before Gage and I got married. The ones with the Double W brand. All the calves were born before I left, but I just wondered i
f you noticed them. Did you do any branding yet?”
Manny looked sideways at the other men. “Did any of you notice a Double W brand?”
The men looked between each other nervously. They shook their heads.
Manny turned back to Bailey. “I didn’t think I would have missed a cow with a different brand. There aren’t any cattle in here except C Bar.”
Bailey peered again at the herd. There were so many. Gage probably had over five hundred cattle here, and a good bunch of them had borne calves. That made a thousand critters to study, all spread out over miles.
“Are you telling me,” Gage said, his voice cutting through the thin mountain air, “that in the times you’ve been over here, you’ve never noticed a single cow with Bailey’s brand? It’s two Ws, one over the other.”
“You said to check the cows, boss, and we did. You never mentioned we’d be looking for that brand. There wasn’t a brand with two Ws around here last fall, and there hasn’t been a single one this spring.”
Bailey kicked her horse to ride toward the herd.
“It’s no use, Bailey.” Gage’s voice rang out with command, and she couldn’t stop the impulse to rein in her horse and turn back to him. It annoyed her that she’d obeyed him. But he was used to running things, and right now he was in charge. “If my men said they didn’t see one, then they didn’t.”
Bailey looked from Gage to Manny. “Where did my cows go?” Her eyes met Gage’s, and she knew the answer to her own question. “Pa took them.”
“How long we gotta wait, Wilde?” Gacy was a restless man. Tall and skinny, with blue eyes that gleamed with impatience. The man never sat still.
“I told you Coulter would come. We’re keeping watch on the gap, ready for him. When he comes, you cut him down and be on your way. I’ll give you all fifty of the cows we brought over from the other homestead.”
Fifty cows were worth twenty-five dollars a head. A fortune, and these two coyotes knew it. They’d never had a bigger payday in their lives.
“It’s my turn to stand watch. Stark is as tired of this as I am. And he’s the mean one of the two of us. Me, I’m a thinkin’ man, but Stark is ready to fight at the drop of a hat, and he’s been known to drop the hat himself. You oughta just let us go get Coulter, have done with it. You’re makin’ this harder than it needs to be, Wilde.”
Shaking his head, Cudgel said, “You told me he had too many sentries and was riding careful. I gave you a chance to settle things the first week you were here.”
“And I didn’t take it, I know, but I’m tired of biding my time. We’ll go back, and this time we’ll do it right.”
“No, I’ve baited a trap right here.” Cudgel pointed to the cabin he’d built. His young’uns had helped, yet Cudgel had ramrodded the building. It had been done right. But he’d never done another thing to the house. He lived as though it were a trail camp, only with a roof over his head. He slept on a pallet made up on the floor, ate beans heated in the fireplace. He took his meal right out of the pot, the only one he owned. He didn’t have time or the money for fripperies.
Paying these men off with the herd he’d brought home from Bailey’s stung, but if they did their job right, Cudgel would be the proud owner of ten thousand head of cattle, or whatever Coulter’s count was up to now. And giving them whatever money they could earn selling the herd made them ride off. They had to drive them somewhere to sell them.
Cudgel figured it’d clear them out. Afterward he’d go console Bailey, then move right into Coulter’s house and take over.
He’d have his dynasty.
Bailey wanted to scream and rage and maybe hit someone. But screaming never solved anything, and the one she wanted to hit wasn’t here and it made no sense to hit Gage. She tried to let the words out in a rational tone.
“Why would he come in here and steal my cows?” Her voice started climbing, and she clamped her mouth shut until she could control it. Breathing in and out slowly, she went on, “Can you imagine how hard he worked to cut them out of the herd? No regular rustler would have done it. He’d have taken yours along with mine, or if he only thought to skim off a few head in the hopes of not being found out, he’d have taken whatever cows were easy to herd away. Cutting out my cows . . .” She shut up again before she started shouting.
There was silence in the canyon. Bailey wanted to storm at Gage to say something, but he was busy thinking. She’d married a smart man. A man she respected enough to sit quietly, waiting to see what he’d think up. His eyes were ice-cold. He was as mad as she was.
Finally, he dragged his Stetson off his head and muttered something under his breath. Considering the angry tone, Bailey probably didn’t want to hear what he said, so she didn’t ask him to repeat it.
He used the hat to swat his thigh. With a disgusted growl he said, “You men ride on home and pass the message on to my ma.”
“If you’re talking about trouble with Cudgel Wilde, you might want some of us to ride along with you tomorrow, Gage.” Manny spoke as if he’d had a run-in before with Pa.
Gage shook his head. “I reckon Bailey and I, with Tucker along, can handle one cantankerous old cattle rustler. You men get on home.”
They took their orders from Gage just like any other day, whether they thought he had the right of it or not. Bailey heard some grumbling, but they rode out nonetheless.
Gage waited until the men were out of sight before he turned to Bailey. “Now we’ve got another reason to go see your pa.”
27
Gage was saddling horses when Bailey came striding out of the cabin wearing britches. She had a defiant expression on her face, like she expected him to protest. Instead he smiled. That woman made a pair of britches look mighty good.
Next came Shannon, who looked rounder every time Gage saw her.
Tucker frowned. “I told you to stay here, honey. You can’t go for another day’s long ride. It ain’t good for the baby.”
Shannon got that wide-eyed hurt look again. Gage took a quick glance at Bailey, hoping she wasn’t watching. He didn’t think he’d be able to deny her anything if she looked at him that way.
“I’ll stay if you stay with me, Tucker.” Shannon patted Sunrise on the arm. Sunrise looked none too pleased with the situation, either.
At least the hugely pregnant woman let Gage saddle her horse.
Tucker accepted his fate and rode into the canyon to see if he could pick up any sign of the rustlers. Gage heard him coming back at a fast clip. Too fast.
Gage spun to see what Tucker had found that upset him. Sunrise was watching him, too. It only took a few seconds for Shannon and Bailey to realize something was wrong as they watched for Tucker to emerge.
“It was after dark when you and Bailey came in and told us about Cudgel rustling her cattle.” Tucker leapt off his grulla. “I didn’t think of it right away, but Bailey had fifty head of cattle, and Cudgel couldn’t have driven them out of the canyon without leaving enough sign your men would have noticed the first time they rode over. And we’d have seen it when we rode into the yard.”
“They’re not in there, Tucker.” Bailey sounded mighty cranky. Gage had married himself a spitfire.
“Nope, but they didn’t come out through here.”
“And there’s only one other way out of that canyon,” Gage said.
Tucker arched his brows. “He used the trail you blasted open.”
“He knew all about that trail because he set off the avalanche,” Bailey said. “And while he was making his plans last fall, he found another way into his place from over there. I only knew one way to get to his homestead—through a gap that fills deep with snow and melts mighty slow. I’ve been trying to figure out how he got out of there early enough to know Gage proposed to me.”
Shannon said, “I just thought if Pa got through it, we’d be able to.”
“Let’s ride, Tucker. We’re burning daylight.” Gage swung up on his horse. He almost smiled as he watched Tucker help Shannon ont
o her mustang. The little woman was probably just fine climbing on.
“Tucker, you think she needs help climbing on her horse, but you’re lettin’ her ride into the middle of a fight. That don’t make no sense.”
“Lettin’ her?” Tucker snorted like a grumpy horse.
Gage had taken his turn trying to convince all the women to stay behind, but he wasn’t going to bother anymore. He reined his horse toward the canyon. If Cudgel used this route and drove fifty head of cattle over it, then they’d have no trouble following him.
They rode up and over the canyon rim, and Gage had to admit there was little evidence of a herd coming this way. Cudgel had worked to cover the signs. But once over the saddleback Gage had blasted, the stolen herd was easy to track.
Tucker rode up beside him after only a few yards. “Three men, Gage. Cudgel has hired some help.”
Gage hadn’t even checked. He looked at Tucker, then glanced back and saw that Bailey and Shannon had moved up close behind him, riding side by side. They were listening to every word. Well, he’d accepted by now that Bailey didn’t trust him.
And wasn’t that just exactly what he’d decided was the biggest problem keeping his wife from being happily married? Not trusting men? He decided then and there that no matter how bad the news, Bailey was going to hear every word of it. And why not? His wife was as tough as a bootheel.
“Three men, not one old man alone.” He met Bailey’s eyes with his. “Thanks, Tucker. I’m mad enough to chew up nails and spit bullets. I need to calm down and be more careful. You think they’ll be watching this trail?”
Tucker jerked one shoulder in a shrug. “Depends if he drove them straight to market, planning to take the money and start up somewhere else, or he took them to lure you to another trap.”
Gage considered that for about three seconds. “It’s a trap.”
From a few paces behind, Bailey said, “Bushwhacking seems to be his style.”
“Ma, come up here.” Tucker pulled his grulla to a halt for Sunrise to catch up with him, and everyone stopped. “We’re all leaving the trail. I don’t want to ride straight for Shannon’s dear old daddy.”
Fire and Ice Page 21