The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides)

by McDaniel, Sylvia

  She watched the two men exchange glances, but she didn’t care. It was out in the open: She loved Tanner, and she didn’t care who knew the reasons for her tears.

  “Why did he leave?” Tucker asked.

  “He doesn’t feel like he’s worthy of me. That’s all I know. When you find him, you ask him why he left. But me, I’ll be gone.”

  “Stay in town for a couple of days, Beth. Let us try to find him before you leave. What if he loves you?” Travis said. “The Burnett men are a pretty stubborn bunch when it comes to saying those three little words.”

  “No. I’ve got to go; he doesn’t love me or he would never have left without saying good-bye. He wouldn’t have left me behind.”

  Tucker glanced at her quickly before returning his attention to the team of horses. “Did he mention anyplace he was going, where he’d been? Can you think of anything that would help us to find him if he’s not still in town.”

  Beth shook her head; she knew more, but nothing that could help them find Tanner, that would help them get back the brother they were missing, the lover who had left her behind.

  They were on the edge of town. Soon it would be time for them to part company. They would take her to the stage office, where she could catch the next coach out of town. She would leave the Burnetts and their problems here in Fort Worth and try to get her own life in some kind of order.

  “So what are we going to do, Travis?” Tucker asked his older brother.

  “After we find out when the next stage leaves and get Beth settled, you go check in at your office. I’m going to locate the doctor and see about him going out to the ranch. Tanner is a grown man. Something’s been bothering him since he came back, and he’s just not ready to talk about it yet. I hope that wherever he’s gone, he’ll come back when he’s ready.”

  “You’re right. But it’s damn selfish that he couldn’t at least say good-bye. If he’s decided to take off again, that’s fine. But he could have the decency to tell us he’s leaving.”

  “Tanner knows where we’re at. If he wants to be with us, he’ll come home,” Travis said.

  Beth sat in silence thinking of Tanner, her heart fractured and hurting, knowing the exact issue he was dealing with. The death of his best friend, and his father and the fact that the law wanted him were enough to send most people to the loony bin. No wonder he’d run, but still it hurt. Tucker was right in asking why he couldn’t say goodbye? Why couldn’t he have told her he had to go, asked her to wait for him, told her he loved her?

  Because he didn’t love her or he wouldn’t have left her.

  She bit the inside of her lip. God it hurt so much, but she loved him, had wanted him enough to risk it all.

  They turned onto Main Street, traveling past the brothels, the saloons, and the shops. The wagon rolled down the street, passing horses tethered outside busy shops. It was another typical day in the frontier town, and Beth was oblivious to her surroundings.

  She knew her time was just about up. The dream was rapidly coming to a close, and she was going to leave behind the very people who could have the most contact with Tanner. God how his very name made her want to cry.

  They pulled up in front of the El Paso Hotel, and Travis jumped from the wagon. “I’ll go check on the next stage.”

  Beth twisted the strings of her reticule in her hands.

  Tension gripped her, and she told herself to hold on just a little longer.

  “I’m sorry things didn’t work out, Beth. I hope you don’t hate me for going along with my mother’s deception,” Tucker said looking at her as if she were a fragile piece of china that would splinter at the slightest bump.

  “No. I don’t hate you. In fact, I’m grateful you didn’t marry me out of obligation. You’re a nice man, Tucker; you just weren’t meant for me,” she said her eyes swimming with tears once again. But they were tears for Tanner not Tucker.

  “So what are you going to do now?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I just want to get out of this city as quickly as possible. After that, I’m not sure.”

  “Stay in town a few days. Don’t rush off without thinking this through.”

  “I can’t. I need to get out of town as soon as possible,” she said.

  Travis walked back up to the wagon, interrupting their conversation. “Stage has already left for today, and the next one won’t be until Saturday.”

  “But that’s almost a week away. Is there nothing else?” Beth asked, her voice anxious. God, she felt so desperate to get out of this town, away from the Burnetts.

  “Not until Saturday,” Travis replied.

  “We’ll get you settled into the El Paso until then,” Tucker said, setting the brake on the wagon and climbing down.

  “But that hotel seems so expensive. Isn’t there something cheaper?” Beth asked, thinking of the scarce amount of cash she had left.

  Tucker smiled. “Not that I’m going to let you stay in. This stay is on my mother; after all, she owes you.”

  Travis spoke up. “We insist. Then, on Saturday, you can catch the stage and save your money for when you get to your new home.”

  Beth glanced at the two brothers. “I don’t want your mother’s money.”

  “We know. But we insist,” Travis said. “Believe me, you are not the first person to experience my mother’s matchmaking.”

  ***

  Tucker went to the jail after he’d checked Beth into the hotel, while Travis searched out the doctor for Rose. So far, between the scene with Beth this morning and then bringing her into town to catch the stage, it had been a hell of a day. He’d hated telling her the truth, that he hadn’t wanted to marry her.

  He sat behind his desk, going over some paperwork, checking to see what had happened while he’d been out at the ranch, wondering where his brother had gone. What had caused Tanner to leave this time?

  “Marshal, there’s someone here to see you,” the deputy said, interrupting his thoughts.

  Tucker glanced up from his paperwork and saw a man who looked somewhat familiar.

  He stood, and the man grasped his hand. “Marshal Tucker Burnett?”

  “Yes.”

  “My name is Federal Marshal McCoy.”

  “Have a seat. What brings you to Fort Worth?”

  “Your brother Tanner.”

  Tucker stared at the man, his heart plunging to his feet. “What about my brother?”

  Tucker eased back down into his chair, his mind rapidly contemplating all of the possibilities as to what this man wanted with Tanner, none of them good.

  “I spoke with your brother this morning. Until then I didn’t know anything about you or I would have come to see you sooner.”

  “You spoke with Tanner this morning?”

  “Yes, right before he left town.”

  Tucker nodded. “Where did he go?”

  “That’s why I’ve come to see you. I think he needs your help.”

  Tucker gazed at the man. “What makes you think Tanner needs my help?”

  The man stared at Tucker oddly. “You don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what? My brother just came back after being missing for ten years. We thought he was dead, and then, several weeks ago, I saw him at the El Paso Hotel with Beth Anderson.”

  “Yes, Miss Anderson.”

  “That was the first time we’d seen Tanner in ten years. We thought he was dead.”

  “Tanner has spent the years since the end of the war robbing banks.” The man paused, letting Tucker absorb the shock.

  “Tanner Burnett? Why didn’t I hear about it? I would have known who he was,” Tucker said, disbelief evident in his tone. “I would have seen his Wanted picture.”

  “Ever heard the name Jackson Carter?”

  “Yeah, he’s the bandit who only stole from Yankee owned banks,” Tucker said. “Are you saying that my brother Tanner has been the famed Dixie Bank Robber, known for robbing Yankee banks?”

  Tucker leaned back and shook his head, c
ompletely stunned that his brother had become a bank robber. Tucker had even said that if he weren’t his own brother, he would have been watching him closely.

  The marshal nodded his head. “Yes, Tanner. I didn’t even know that was his real name until today.”

  “But I thought he was caught over a year ago?” Tucker asked.

  “He was. When we found out Tanner knew Sam Bass, we offered him a deal to keep from sending him to prison. He joined the Bass gang and has been working with me to bring them in, though he’s hardly been cooperative until today.”

  A trickle of fear crept down Tucker’s spine. The Bass gang was one of the most notorious, cold-blooded gangs in Texas history.

  “Today I noticed some changes in Tanner that haven’t been there before. He suddenly wanted to get this job done.”

  “So where has Tanner gone now?” Tucker asked suddenly very afraid.

  “He’s gone alone after Sam Bass and his gang. If he were my brother, I’d be going after him to help him.”

  Tucker couldn’t get out the door fast enough after the marshal left. He pulled some extra guns out of the cabinet behind his desk and loaded down his saddle pouch with ammunition. Unlocking a drawer, he pulled out the guns he had put away since he’d become a law-abiding citizen and took out the six-shooters he’d had made during his gun fighting days. These were the ones he had used when he’d been down in Tombstone, trying to prove he was faster than fast, when he’d thought his life would end with the next man who met him in the street.

  He strapped on the holster and checked the weight of the guns. They still felt good—lightweight, balanced smooth, and with a trigger as quick as greased lightning.

  Slamming the door, he turned the lock in the cabinet and grabbed his saddlebags, along with the two rifles.

  Thirty minutes later, he was scouring the town to find his brother Travis. Whether or not Travis went with him didn’t matter. Tucker could not let Tanner face Sam Bass alone.

  No matter what he’d done, this was Tanner’s chance to get his life back, and Tucker could not turn his back on him now.

  Tucker pulled his horse to a halt in front of the doctor’s office and jumped down. The wagon from the ranch sat out in front of the doctor’s house. He wrapped the reins of his horse around the hitching post and bolted up the steps to the door.

  He pounded on the man’s front door, wishing he’d hurry. A servant opened the door, and Tucker strode through the open door.

  “Is Travis Burnett here?”

  “Just a minute, sir.”

  “Travis?” Tucker called, not waiting for the servant. The rap of boots sounded on the wooden floor, and then suddenly Travis stood before him. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Tanner. We’ve got to go help him.”

  “What’s the matter? Where is he?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way, but he needs our help. He’s about to face Sam Bass and his gang alone. We need to help him.”

  Travis frowned. He turned to look behind him, and the doctor had followed him. “Doc, would you go check on Rose and tell her I’ll be home as soon as possible.”

  The old doctor nodded. “I’ll go out to the ranch and see her. You boys be careful going after that Bass character. He’s done more than his share of killing in this area.”

  Tucker walked out the door, Travis following him. “I brought you a horse. Doc can take our wagon home, or we’ll get it later.”

  “Thanks!” Travis said.

  “I also took the liberty of bringing these along for you.” He handed his oldest brother a holster with two six-shooters fully loaded and ready to go. “I know you aren’t one for wearing guns, Travis, but this time we’re going to need all the firepower we can get.”

  Travis strapped on the holsters and then approached his horse. He swung a leg up and over the saddle, mounting the Appaloosa. The doctor came out on the porch and watched the preparations.

  “You boys be careful.”

  “Doc, make sure my wife is okay, and tell her I wouldn’t let anything keep me away from her and our baby.”

  “Don’t worry, son. She’ll be just fine.”

  Tucker vaulted up on his horse, and the two of them rode for the edge of town.

  “So why in the hell is Tanner going after the Bass gang?” Travis questioned.

  “Our brother is the Dixie Bank Robber who was caught about a year ago. When they found out he knew Sam Bass, they told him the charges would be dropped if he helped bring in Sam.”

  “Why in the hell didn’t he tell us?”

  “Because he’s stubborn as a mule, like you,” Tucker said.

  Travis glared at Tucker. “No, he’s sneaky like Mother.

  ***

  Tanner lay in the darkness, trying to sleep, knowing that he needed his rest. It had taken him only two days to catch up with the Bass gang. He’d ridden his horse hard, he’d slept little, and now he’d found them. He lay on his back, looking up at the stars in the night sky, thinking of Beth and the fact that he’d left her.

  Was she angry that he’d gone without saying goodbye? He knew that if he had to say farewell, he never would have left, so he’d snuck out in the middle of the night like a thief. Damn it, she was better off without him. He had to remember that with Tucker she had a future, a home and a family that would love her.

  She would also have a husband who could help her realize she was a good courageous woman, who was worthy of her, who wasn’t wanted by the law and could be by her side without looking over his shoulder, expecting to be taken away at any moment.

  The snap of a twig had him reaching for his gun. He listened again and heard a horse snort, the sound muffled but not far off. He pulled his gun out of its holster, cocked the hammer back, and waited pretending to be asleep.

  Crunching leaves alerted him that someone was near.

  “I ought to kick your butt like I did when you were a kid you son of a bitch!” his brother Travis said in the darkness.

  Tanner immediately recognized his voice and sat straight up just as his two brothers walked into camp. His bedroll slipped and the two revolvers were still in his hand though they were pointed downward.

  “What for?”

  “For leaving without a word.”

  Tanner shrugged and put his guns back in their holsters. “I got an urge to leave, so I left.”

  “Bullshit!” Travis exclaimed.

  “We know everything, Tanner. We know why you’re here,” Tucker said.

  Tanner glanced up at them and studied their faces closely. “What is it you think you know?”

  “Federal Marshal McCoy came to my office the morning you left. He told me everything.”

  “Remind me to kick his ass the next time I see him,” Tanner said.

  “Not me. That could get me jail time,” Travis exclaimed.

  “So what are you doing here?” Tanner asked.

  “Well, usually brothers help each other out. You know, watch your back and all that blood-related stuff,” Travis said. “Otherwise, I’d be home with my sick wife.”

  Tanner ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not worth one of you getting hurt for my mistakes.”

  “Nobody asked your opinion,” Travis said.

  “Look, we’re here to help. You can either do it with our assistance or we’ll tie you up and let you watch us take care of them,” Tucker said.

  Tanner shook his head. “I appreciate the help, but I doubt very seriously I’ll survive this shootout, and Mother doesn’t deserve to lose all of her sons.”

  Tucker looked at Travis. “I guess that’s one way to avoid Mother’s matchmaking tendencies from now on.”

  “Nah, she’d follow you to the grave and pick out an angel for you,” Travis replied.

  “Look, I’m serious. Sam is an excellent marksman. I’m going in alone,” Tanner insisted.

  Travis looked at Tucker. “See, I told you. He’s like Mother. Stubborn to a fault.”

  Tucker shrugged. “Could be.” He glance
d at Tanner. “So, tell us what is the plan. What are we going to do to bring the Bass gang to justice?”

  “You’re going home, and I’m going to rejoin them in the morning,” Tanner replied.

  “I don’t think so. How many men does he have?”

  “I’m serious. Mother needs someone to take care of her.”

  Travis and Tucker burst out laughing.

  “You’ve been gone way too long. Our mother is quite capable of taking care of herself. It’s the rest of the world we need to warn about that woman,” Tucker said.

  “But Travis has Rose, and you have Beth. I don’t want to be responsible for your death and possibly making your wives widows.”

  “Well, Tanner, Beth is getting ready to leave town, so I’m all alone. Now, Travis we need to watch over carefully because he’s about to become a daddy.”

  “What do you mean, Beth is leaving town?” Tanner exclaimed.

  Tucker smiled and glanced at his older brother. “Should we tell him? I mean, after all, he’s the one who left her.”

  Tanner’s heart just about stopped. Had something happened to Beth? “Tell me what? What’s wrong with Beth?”

  “Beth came to me the morning you left and told me she couldn’t marry me. Which I was glad to hear, since Mother was the one who arranged the marriage, not me. Travis and I took her to town just before we found out about you and your problems. She’s catching the next stage out of town.”

  “She’s leaving town? She has no place to go. I’ve half a mind to finish what we started the other night in the bam,” Tanner said, clearly agitated.

  Tucker smiled. “Hey, she doesn’t want me. She ended the arrangement, not me.”

  Travis smiled. “If you let us help you, maybe we can get you back to town before she leaves. That way you two can settle your differences, and you can quit looking at her like she’s naked.”

  Tanner frowned at his older brother. “I don’t.”

  Travis smiled. “You do.”

  “Well, Tucker was supposed to marry her,” Tanner replied hotly.

  “Sorry, big brother, but she doesn’t want me.”