He suddenly pulled his horse in and looked over at her. “Do you hear that?”
Olivia nodded. “A camp. A large one.”
“Let’s dismount and walk the horses in. Try not to make eye contact with anyone. I can assure you some of these men will remember you if they see those incredible eyes of yours.”
He hadn’t intended to pay her a compliment, but it had slipped out, and the incredible smile he received in return made it worth it. How was he going to make it without her when he left? Bella would be his again, and that was all he needed, right? No, there would be a vacancy in his heart, and he wouldn’t be haunted by her memory for the rest of his life.
Perhaps if he got his life back in order, perhaps if he could get established once again, he would be able to ask her to be his wife, to be able to provide her the kind of life she deserved. But that could be years away, and by then someone would have charmed her into being their wife. He would be too late.
Her smile faded. “Don’t you think some of your captors might be in this camp? Your eyes aren’t so easy to forget, either.”
Cade turned to dismount, not wanting her to see his smile. He was hoping to find some of his captors and was eagerly anticipating doling out some justice. There were many wrongs that needed to be corrected. But he wasn’t about to let his desire for vengeance overcloud what he needed to do to rescue Bella. And, now, he had to focus on Olivia’s safety at the same time.
He looked over and saw she had dismounted as well. She gave him a smile, though he doubted she realized it was a weak one and she was trembling slightly. “Are you ready?” she asked, gripping the horses reigns tightly.
“Do everything as I tell you. Keep your head down and look exhausted. Fortunately, these uniforms already have enough dust and mud on them to prove the long trek Santa Anna forced upon his men. If anyone tries to talk to you—”
“I know what to do. You continue to forget that I’m a spy, too, just like you.”
His lips twitched in a grin. “A spy that I’ve caught twice.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been lucky.”
His eyebrows lifted and he nearly broke out into a laugh, but they were too close to the camp for him to make such noise. “We’ll have to continue this conversation later. Let’s go find Bella.”
Together they moved forward, their boots occasionally slipping in the mud, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been. When they came through a set of brush, Cade had to restrain his reaction.
The camp was huge. There were tents everywhere, stretching nearly as far as the eye could see, and soldiers gathered around campfires, or practicing in drills. They were able to move to the area for the horses unnoticed, and then turned to face the camp.
“Where do we start?” Olivia whispered, her eyes wide as she absorbed the same magnitude that Cade did.
“There are at least six hundred men here, if not more. I doubt the Texians have anywhere near this number. It will be a slaughter, just like the Alamo.” Cade’s stomach knotted up at the thought.
“No,” Olivia said firmly. “No. Houston is strong, and I’m certain he’s gathered a strong army. We must have faith. If we don’t, then who will?”
Cade looked over at her and wished he could kiss her. He wanted to do nothing more than to pull her into his arms, hold her, and take in some of the courage and willpower that such a tiny woman could carry.
His face must have conveyed his thoughts, as she blushed. “We must remain strong and loyal to the cause. We cannot doubt them. Not now, when victory is so near.”
He nodded and they placed the horses with the others. Cade’s eyes were searching the surrounding area cautiously when he suddenly felt Olivia tugging on his shirt frantically. He turned to her quickly, afraid she had seen someone she knew. But instead, she was looking off into the distance and Cade’s eyes slowly followed hers.
Camped several hundred yards away was the Texian Army. Cade blinked several times, thinking it was an illusion, or a fabrication of his mind because he wished so strongly to see the Texians. But there they were, the ragtag group of men that were giving everything they had to win independence. But there appeared to be so few of them, and his heart sank.
He glanced back at Olivia and she had tears in her eyes. “They’re here,” she whispered. “Finally, Houston is here to face Santa Anna!”
Cade nodded. He was happy, but he was terrified at the same time. “Our time is being cut very short, angel. We must find Bella before the battle begins.” He lifted his eyes to the sun. It was no later than 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning.
Olivia closed her eyes briefly and swallowed hard, and he knew she had just realized the magnitude of the situation they were in. All around them the soldiers were making preparations for battle, and it was only a matter of time before they or the Texians attacked.
Cade put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently, but with enough force to draw her attention. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-One
They were wrong. Santa Anna wasn’t setting up camp. He was preparing for battle. His scouts were riding the terrain, judging the distance between them and the Texian army, and continuously came back with additional information. The morning was running late, and while Olivia and Cade had quietly moved through the ranks, acting as if they were helping prime the weapons, while they were actually removing gun powder, there had been no sign of Bella.
And then the order had come for them to move forward. At least, the cavalry was to move forward. Cade pulled Olivia to an area of soldiers at the rear of the regiments, both of them trying to remain inconspicuous in their movements. Even as far back as they were, they were able to anxiously watch the advancement of the cavalry.
Olivia was trembling and doing her best to hold herself together. She nearly jumped when Cade spoke low near her ear, but was able to contain the reaction.
“They must be keeping her close to Santa Anna. We haven’t been able to get very close to him and his top aides. It would make sense that he would keep her near him.”
Olivia nodded, afraid to speak, afraid her feminine voice would reveal herself to the men around her. Cade squeezed her shoulder gently, trying to reassure her, then straightened to watch the attack and praying that the Texians were prepared.
The cavalry drew closer to the Texian camp and they played the same horrific trumpet call they had used at the Alamo. For a moment, Olivia felt as if she was going to be sick. The sound of those trumpets made it feel like the men were screaming and dying all over again, and she struggled to pull in a deep breath and calm herself.
The sudden sound of a cannons exploding made her jump and her eyes searched the area desperately, wanting to know who had fired first. Smoke was hovering around a small copse of oak trees on the other side of the field, and the cavalry began to turn away.
They had only gone a short distance before they turned to attack again, but the cannons had been pulled out further, and they went off again, enormous booms that seemed to shake the very earth they stood on.
The Mexican cavalry pulled a full retreat, returning to Santa Anna’s camp, having lost a couple of horses in the small skirmish. Olivia wanted to let up a light cheer, thrilled that the Texians had made a stand and were proving they were a force to be reckoned with. She had to focus on containing her smile and presenting a stern face.
Santa Anna began to bark orders and the officers passed the orders down the line. They were to start unloading the pack mules and begin fortifying the area with all sorts of equipment, saddles, brush, bags of flour, and many other items. Much to Olivia’s disappointment, the men were following their orders explicitly, and were doing a damn good job.
Cade grabbed her by the arm and directed her towards the work, and she realized they had to stay busy and look like they belonged, or they could be in a world of trouble. Olivia did her best to appear like a man, making her stride wider and powerful-appearing, and began to grab saddles and haul them to the site to create the
breastworks.
Not far from her, Cade was grabbing large bags of flour and beans, and it flashed through Olivia’s mind how much the Texians could use such simple food. They had been living off the land, and barely at that. The Texians were thin and hungry.
Suddenly, an extremely loud boom reverberated and Olivia fell to her knees, covering her head. Her ears were ringing and her heart was lodged in her throat. But when she dared to lift her head and look around, several of the Mexican soldiers were laughing and pointing at her.
Cade quickly stepped in and shouted at her in Spanish. “Get up, boy! Haven’t you heard a cannon before?”
“Si, si,” Olivia stuttered, scrambling to her feet and picking up a couple more saddles, doing her best not to show that her arms were beginning to shake from the exertion.
The men around her were still laughing and even shoved her lightly as she passed them. Briefly she made eye contact with Cade, but she couldn’t tell how he felt, as his face was guarded.
She suddenly felt very alone and, for the first time, genuine fear began to creep into her heart. She didn’t belong here. But she had to help Cade find Bella. She tried to focus on Bella to take her mind off of the pain in her arms as she attempted to move quickly among the soldiers.
The resounding double boom of the cannons on the Texian side of the field filled the air. It was quickly greeted by the boom of Santa Anna’s cannon, the Golden Standard, as he had dubbed it. The volley back and forth seemed to last forever. But then the sound of the cannons was interrupted by the Mexican Army that had stationed themselves on a small island near the two camps.
Olivia paused for a little while, her eyes fixated on the island as the Mexicans drove the Texians away. Their two cannons were turned onto the island and fired, forcing the Mexican infantry to make a hasty retreat. At the same time, the Mexican Army withdrew the Golden Standard. All of the Mexican Army was now in an area surrounded by hard woods with a piece of high prairie in front.
Work renewed to fortifying the camp, and Olivia worked tirelessly, keeping her head down and trying to keep her eyes on Cade. There was still a chill in the air, even though it was already late April, but it was a welcome chill as the work was hard and she was building up a sweat.
As she worked, she tried to move further and further towards the Mexican officers, trying to get close to the tents that had already quickly gone up. Her gut told her Bella was in there somewhere and she just needed to find the right tent. But every time she started to get close, someone would slam something into her arms and tell her to haul it to the breastworks.
“Mount up! Mount up!”
The call startled Olivia and she watched the cavalry race to their horses just as the Golden Standard fired off again, the sound of the blast causing her weak hearing to get even weaker, and made her bad ear ache painfully.
She rushed to the breastworks, as did several other soldiers, to see what was happening. Much to her shock, the Texians were riding out onto the plains in a blatant attempt to capture the Golden Standard. But the Golden Standard opened up on them and the Mexican cavalry charged forward.
Olivia wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until she felt a pain in her chest as her lungs were beginning to complain. She drew in a shaky breath as she watched the Texians retreat and the Mexican cavalry charged after them.
But more Texians fired off from within the woods, holding back their enemy until the Texians had reloaded and made a second charge at the Mexican cavalry, and again they were driving the Mexicans back again.
Olivia’s hope increased until she heard the voice of Santa Anna barking out orders in Spanish, sending two companies of riflemen. They opened fire for what felt like hours to Olivia, but probably only lasted fifteen minutes at the most. One of the Texian cannons was rolled out, but, much to Olivia’s fear and disappointment, the Texians were forced to retreat.
Random gunfire cracked across both sides of the field for a long time, and it became so common, Olivia no longer jumped at the sound. But evening descended quickly, and both sides fell silent as they all prepared campfires. Both sides of the field were brightly lit with the glow of the flickering flames, reminding Olivia of the smoldering remains she had seen when they had passed through New Washington, witnessing the destruction by Santa Anna.
In the darkness, Olivia tried to seek out Cade, but it was near impossible. And she didn’t want to appear lost or as if she didn’t know anyone and then get hit with a bunch of questions she couldn’t answer.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her upper arm and yanked her to the darker side of the camp, and she began to fight before she looked up to see Cade’s bright blue eyes staring down at her. She had to use restraint to prevent from throwing herself into his arms and holding on to him with all of her strength.
“Shh, shh,” he whispered into her good ear. “I know it has been terrifying, but it’s what we had to do.”
“But we still didn’t find Bella. She’s in this mess somewhere... why haven’t we found her?”
“We will. We just haven’t had the time. And in this darkness, we don’t stand a chance.” Cade frowned as he looked around them, constantly on the alert to anything unusual, or someone listening who didn’t need to hear the conversation.
“So what do you propose we do? Lie down with the enemy?” Olivia’s palms were sweating. She was already having a hard enough time being around them without wanting to draw a gun or knife on each and every one.
“No. Tonight we sleep with friends.”
Cade dressed quickly against the chill, thankful to feel his own clothing touch his skin once again. When they had deposited the horses and taken the saddles off, he had grabbed their saddlebags and hidden them in a cluster of bushes. No one would find them unless they were looking for them, and, fortunately, his gamble had paid off.
Olivia sighed as the dress slid over her head and he smiled to himself. He turned to look at her and saw that her hands were trembling so badly she was having a hard time with the bodice of her dress.
“Let me,” he whispered softy, stepping towards her and reaching out to gently cover her hands with his own. Her skin felt like ice. “We need to get you in front of a campfire as soon as possible.” He frowned, wondering if her chills were entirely because of the weather, or if there were other things causing her to tremble.
“You’ve been so brave today,” she said, allowing her hands to fall away and letting him fasten her bodice. “You move around with them as if you belong.”
His eyes shot to hers. “That is the only way to not draw attention to yourself. You have to become one with the enemy.”
Olivia shook her head. “I tried, but I wasn’t very successful. They looked at me as a source of humor, not as a comrade.”
Cade smiled down at her. “It was rather humorous when you fell to the ground and covered your head when the cannon fired.”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him. “I suppose it would be to anyone who hasn’t been hit with shards of a cannon ball and lost half of their hearing.”
Cade’s smile quickly vanished and he felt guilty. “That isn’t funny, you’re right. But none of these men know that story. It did afford me the chance to speak with you, so that if anyone saw us talking again, we’d have an excuse.”
She nodded and she looked up into his eyes, searching them for answers, as he finished with her bodice. The firelight glittered in her eyes. “We’re going to find her, Cade,” she said with strong conviction in her voice.
“I know.” His smile returned. “As long as you are by my side, I have confidence we can do anything.”
She looked at him with shock. “But you didn’t want me to come. You wanted me to stay back there.”
“I know this will come as some surprise to you, but occasionally I’m wrong. I’m glad you are with me. Two sets of eyes are definitely better to look for Bella. I just wish you weren’t exposed to danger.”
She flashed him a smile, something she rarely did when he
first met her. But now, more and more often, he would see her with a whimsical smile, or a smile of pure joy. He liked to think he had some part in cracking open the walls around her heart. But if that was the truth, what would happen to her when he left her? It’s for her best interest that I should leave. But a part of him nagged, telling him he was lying to himself, and would be lying to Olivia if he did leaxxve her.
His fingers lingered at the top of her bodice, and he wanted her. Right then, right there. To hell with whoever would find them. He needed her. He leaned in to kiss her and she rose on her tiptoes to meet him halfway. He moaned with pleasure and wrapped his arms around her, and suddenly realized she was still shivering.
Cursing his randy body, he pulled away from her and looked across the field. “Now comes the difficult part.”
Olivia looked out over the field as well, seeing the fires shining brightly on the other side. Cade grabbed her hand, forcing her attention back to him. “It’s time to go. Just follow me and do exactly as I say.”
Olivia nodded, and they took off, headed towards the field, moving at a slow pace, crouched down low so they stayed behind the shrubs and brush. The tall grass played to their advantage. Moving low on their stomachs, the crawled forward using their arms to drag their bodies behind them.
Every few minutes, Cade would hold up his fist, his warning for her to stop and be quiet. They would stay that way for well over a minute before, through the deductions Cade made, they moved forward once again.
The ground was cold and in some of the damp spots there were crystals of ice. While they had experienced a pleasant evening the night before, another cold wind had blown in, bringing with it freezing temperatures, and the wrath of Santa Anna.
Cade kept a constant eye on the Mexican camp, feeling more and more relaxed the further they moved away from them, yet, anxious at the same time, knowing he was moving away from his baby girl. He would be back for her, though, and this time he wasn’t going to stop searching until he found her—or was killed first.
Texas Desire Page 21