Olivia looked back at Cade with excitement in her eyes. “This is our chance, Cade!”
“What are you talking about? They’re all going to be in their tents now.”
“And they will be asleep. Or, well, or distracted by the women that are here to entertain them. We can at least take the chance of peeking into tents to see if we can find Bella. It is worth the risk—now more than ever.”
Cade shook his head and looked at Olivia with disbelief. “I can’t let you put yourself in such a risky position. I just can’t let you—”
Olivia placed her fingers over his mouth. “I’m not asking your permission. It’s what I’m doing. You have the choice to join me or not.”
She turned and began to walk off, but Cade grabbed her and pulled her back close to him. “Olivia...” His fingers ran through her hair and trailed down her face. “I can’t lose you. I need you.”
Olivia’s heart pounded. Did he mean what he said? Did he really need her? “Cade, I love you. I will always love you. No matter what happens.”
He shook his head. “You shouldn’t. You have no reason to love me. But, God, I’m so grateful that you do.” He dropped his head to hers and kissed her deeply, his hands cupping her face.
When they pulled apart, they were both breathing heavily. Olivia caught Cade’s hands and slowly pulled them away from her face and had the distinct feeling that he was telling her goodbye. And she realized suddenly that he actually might be telling her goodbye in reality. Once they found Bella, he would return to his ranch in Columbus and would begin his life all over again.
She fought the tears that burned the back of her eyes. “We must split up. It will give us a better chance to find her.”
“No, I cannot let you wander around these men without protection. You know very well how dangerous they can be.” His face had hardened, and his eyes were intent upon hers.
“Cade, we have very little time, and you know it. Let’s go find Bella.”
Cade squeezed his eyes shut and he pulled her to him once more and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Be careful, angel.”
Olivia pulled back and did her best to give him a strong smile. “Of course. You too.”
She turned away from him quickly so that he wouldn’t see her tears. She craved to hear him say the words “I love you,” but she was wishing for too much. His world revolved around his daughter, as it should, and she didn’t play a role in his future.
She moved out of their secluded area slowly and blended in with the crowd and Cade did the same a short time after her. She moved towards the tents that were at the far end of the encampment to begin her search and rapidly wiped at her face to remove her tears. She wasn’t known to cry, and the fact that she was doing so because of a man made her angry with herself. She had constantly told her sisters to never let a man get to their heart because he would have the power to crush it. And she had done exactly that.
Several of the soldiers had found a place where they could lie down and immediately fell asleep. It was obvious they were exhausted. Olivia actually had to step around several of them as she made her way to the farthest tents.
She was silent as she pulled back tent flaps and peeked inside. Fortunately, most of the tents were small, and she was able to quickly scan them. Some held sleeping men, others held men that were engaged in activities she had never seen before with some of the women who had joined them.
But there was no sign of Bella.
Olivia prayed Cade was having more success. She prayed he already found Bella and was moving her as far away from this danger as possible. Would he try to find Olivia and get her away from the battle that loomed, also?
In her heart she hoped he would, but her mind told her the logical thing to do was to flee as quickly as possible. He needed to get his daughter to safety, and he knew Olivia well enough to know she could hold her own.
The day wore on and the sun moved across the sky and, yet, Olivia could not find Bella. But there were so many tents and so many places where a child could be hidden, she could be at it for days and still not find her. After searching through a small storage area, Olivia stepped out into the sunlight and stretched. From the position of the sun, she figured it must be close to three o’clock in the afternoon, if not later. She looked at the next tent, drew a deep breath and moved onwards.
Before she had made it to the tent, the sound of rifles firing pierced the silence, and there came several shouts and the screams of men—screams of anger, screams of battle, screams of pain. The camp came alive in a rush, but it wasn’t fast enough.
Shouts of “Remember the Alamo!” and “Remember Goliad!” rang through the air, along with the rifle volley, and it was rapidly moving in her direction. Cade! She thought desperately. Cade was near there, far closer than she, and he could be hurt. She hiked her skirts up and began to run towards the last place she had seen him when suddenly horses flew over the breastworks, and the Texians fired their weapons on the Mexican Army.
She skidded to a halt and dashed inside one of the tents, seeking some form of protection. God only knew what was going to happen now with the battle in full swing. She turned and peeked out the flap of the tent and saw the Mexican Army in all states of attire grabbing rifles and frantically trying to shoot and then prime and fill with gun powder again. But they were getting mowed down by the Texians, until even the Texians were having a hard time reloading their weapons and began to use them entirely for the purpose of beating at the heads of their enemy.
A sound came to her over the bedlam, a soft sound and she concentrated hard to hear it better. It sounded like... like someone was crying. Olivia whirled around and her eyes searched the tent, and she saw that it was more than likely an officer’s tent, since the cot was slightly nicer, and there was room for a desk.
And there was someone underneath that desk, huddled into a small bundle, crying into her knees. Olivia’s heart was pounding, and she slowly kneeled down to get a better look. Could it possibly be...
The small girl huddled under the desk had gorgeous sandy brown hair and was rocking back and forth, her soft sobs bringing tears to Olivia’s eyes. “Isabella?” she asked softly.
The girl hesitated in her motions, but refused to lift her head yet. “Bella, I’m here with your father. We’re here to take you away from this terrible place.”
She lifted her head just barely and Olivia had to hold back her gasp. Cade’s incredible blue eyes stared back at her, frightened, yet hopeful. She hadn’t realized how young the child really was, and she wondered at the girl’s fortitude to make it as far as she had.
Olivia climbed underneath the desk to huddle with Bella. “Everything’s going to be okay now, Bella. Your father and I are here. You are safe.”
With a sob that was louder than her earlier ones, she jumped forward and into Olivia’s arms and held onto her so tightly, Olivia wondered if she was going to choke her. Then she pulled back, looked at Olivia, and with tiny hands she smoothed Olivia’s hair away from her face.
“Are you my Mama?” She was still at the age where forming her words was difficult, but it was clear enough to Olivia what the girl was asking. And she had no idea how to answer.
However, her lack of answer seemed to be all that Bella needed. She threw herself against Olivia, wrapping her small arms tightly around her neck, and settled her head under Olivia’s chin. She had light hiccups in lieu of the sobs that had been racking her tiny frame earlier.
“Scared,” she whispered, curling tightly into Olivia’s lap.
Olivia searched for the words to say. She lightly ran her hand through the girl’s incredibly smooth and shiny hair, surprised that she had been cared for so well given the conditions they were under. Then again, they wanted her to be presentable to get the people to give up information about the Texians movement.
“Shh.” She soothed Bella. “Everything is going to be okay now. You’re safe with me and your papa.”
Bella pulled back and looked at her wi
th wide eyes. “Papa? Papa is here?”
Olivia smiled at her through the tears that she couldn’t seem to control. “Yes. Yes, Papa is here.”
“Mama, why you cry?” She used her tiny fingers to wipe at Olivia’s face, and Olivia’s heart clenched.
Dear God, if she could be this child’s mother, she would be immeasurably happy. But it wasn’t to be. But Cade was going to take care of her, and would soon enough find a woman near Columbus that would be a good fit for him and for Bella.
“I’m just so happy to see you, sweetheart,” she said, her voice rough with her tears. She couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her soft cheek. “We’ve missed you so much.”
“Where Papa?”
“He’s close, baby, he’s real close. We just have to wait until it is safer to go find him.”
“Boom, boom,” Bella said, covering her ears as the cannons exploded, and she hunkered down in Olivia’s lap again. Olivia hovered over her, wrapping her arms around Bella, trying to make sure that, should any stray bullets come through, Olivia would be struck before Bella.
She rocked her back and forth for several minutes, whispering prayers to God and calling upon every saint she could remember to watch over them as the cannons burst and the bullets whizzed around.
Slowly, very slowly, the sounds traveled further away from them. Olivia held her breath for a long moment, and realized the fighting has moved away from the camp. She looked down at Bella and smiled. “We’re going to go find Papa, now. Won’t that be wonderful?”
Bella’s tears had been fading, and her smile struck Olivia at how much it was like Cade’s. It was as if she was the feminine version of Cade—and a much prettier one, too. But the similarities were striking, and every time she looked at Bella she was reminded that she was about to say goodbye to them both.
She gathered the young child tightly in her arms and slid out from underneath the desk. Bella wrapped her arms around Olivia’s neck and her legs around her waist, making it very obvious that she was going to stay stuck on Olivia for as long as she possibly could.
Olivia didn’t mind the loving embrace and held Bella tightly as she pushed herself completely out from under the desk and managed a less than graceful attempt at standing with the weight of Bella pulling her in ways she had never experienced before.
A sense of disappointment hit Olivia suddenly. This would be something she would be a pro at if she was a mother. She would have the knowledge of how to shift her own body weight to pick up a child, to carry the baby on her hip, to provide for a baby in every way a mother was supposed to provide.
But there wouldn’t be another moment like this for Olivia. She would hold more babies, she was certain, as Angie and Serena moved into that phase of their lives, but she would always come second. Because, without Cade, there was no future of being a mother ahead for her.
Bella lay her head down on Olivia’s shoulder, and Olivia could feel her Bella’s breath blowing sweetly across her skin. She closed her eyes for several long moments, just enjoying the situation.
Angie and Serena would try to convince her there was another man out there for her, but she knew without a shadow of doubt Cade was her soulmate, and anyone else wouldn’t be able to receive her full love, and that wouldn’t be fair for them. She really was going to die an old spinster.
The thought brought a smile to her face. At least the gossips in town would have enough to talk about for years once she got back since they would be able to speculate on why she had disappeared so long from the cocina.
But her mission, at the moment, was to get Bella back into the safety of Cade’s arms. She didn’t want to go through the camp, because she was quite certain the carnage was not something Bella should see.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed a letter opener from the desk and stabbed the canvas at the back of the tent and made a long cut down. Dropping the letter opener, she cautiously peeled back the canvas, and was relieved to see that there were no soldiers nearby.
Carefully she slid through the slit that she made, holding Bella to her chest. She looked both ways, but there was no sign of any soldier. She had to get to the Texians. That was the only thought running through her head. The Texians meant safety and also more than likely meant Cade would be there as well. Unless he was still looking for Bella, or he was hurt...
Olivia pushed the negative thoughts from her mind, and concentrated on the task at hand. From where she was currently positioned, the Texian camp would be ahead and to her right. A light drizzle had started, and she wished she had grabbed a blanket from the officer’s tent before leaving, but she was too far gone now.
She could hear random gunshots in the distance, and Bella tightened her arms around her. “It’s alright, Bella. They’re far away now. They can’t hurt you.”
Olivia forced her feet to move through the thick mud, rounding around to the other side of the tents where she could finally see the field that lay between the Mexican and Texian Army. To her right were the breastworks that had been built—but they stood no more. The amount of destruction and death in the Mexican camp was unbelievable. And it wasn’t all men from the Mexican Army that lay on the ground. She recognized several Texian faces.
“Bella, you need to close your eyes, now,” Olivia said, though her voice was quivering. “I need you to keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them. Can you play that game with me?”
“Yes, Mama.”
Olivia felt as if her heart was being ripped from her chest every time Bella called her “Mama.” How was she going to explain this to Cade?
Cade. Just the very thought of him made her want to run across the camp in search of him. But she had to be careful. She had to make sure that all was safe for Bella before she did anything.
Moving slowly, she made her way through camp and watched closely for any movement. But the encampment was empty, and there was death and destruction all around them. She began to move quicker, ready to get away from the sights and smells, and didn’t want to risk the chance that Bella could open her eyes and see some of the carnage.
Finally, she cleared the camp and was out in the open field that divided the two camps. She just had to make it to the other side. With determined strides, she began to cross, forcing her legs to move when all she wanted to do was fall to her knees and scream. Would she find the same carnage in the Texian camp? Had the Texians fallen to the Mexican Army with the overwhelming size of their camp? Or had the Texians succeeded with their surprise attack?
From the corner of her eye, she saw movement and she instantly crouched down in the thick grass. “Stay quiet, Bella, sweetheart, stay quiet.”
“I will, Mama,” Bella whispered, and Olivia couldn’t help but plant several soft kisses to Bella’s cheek as she watched the movement. In the afternoon light, Olivia began to make out the images of the men walking along, and her heart jumped into her throat.
She stood and began to run, as best she could with Bella in her arms, towards the men. “Cade!” she cried at the top of her voice.
A few hundred yards away from her, one of the taller figures stopped and looked in her direction, then he turned back briefly to the other men and they all began to race towards her.
“Cade!” she cried again, her elation and excitement nearly unbearable.
“Shh. Mama, you said quiet.”
Olivia laughed at the innocent remark, but was suddenly drawn up short by a man who stepped out of the tall grass from behind one of the knolls and approached her at a deadly pace. He was too fast—there would be no way to escape him.
Cade was still advancing, though he was still too far away to help. “Bella, I need you to stand,” Olivia ordered quickly, and Bella did exactly as she was told and Olivia rushed towards the nearest tent, but was yanked to a halt by the man grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking her backwards. She withheld her cry of pain and placed shoved Bella behind her as she felt the him moving around her.
Colonel Ramirez stepped directly in fron
t of her and she realized he was the officer that had been hunting for Cade at their cocina, and was also the one that had bragged about slicing his leg. Which meant... dear God, this man had killed Cade’s son.
Olivia kept Bella securely behind her and faced their enemy with determination. She was not going to let him have Bella. Never.
“Olivia!” Cade yelled, coming over one of the small hills and getting incredibly close to them.
Colonel Ramirez turned quickly, pulling his pistol from the back of his pants. “Stay where you are, traitor!”
Olivia kneeled down quickly, hoping she would find some sort of weapon to use to defend them. Her hand wrapped around the muzzle of a bayonet and she lifted it, rapidly checking it for ammo. Both rounds were spent.
The colonel turned back to her, saw what she held in her hands, and shook his head in disapproval. “Senorita Torres, it is so unfortunate that we should meet under these conditions.”
Olivia bared her teeth at him in a false attempt at a smile. “The battle is over, colonel. Go back to your troops and leave us alone.”
“Back to my...” He gave a loud bark of laughter then returned his gaze to her. “You don’t even know what has happened, do you?”
Olivia continued staring him down, keeping Bella nearly hidden behind her skirts. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer or even guess at what he was referring to.
He laughed again, but there was no mirth in the sound. “You won, you little fool. You and those heathens that call themselves ‘Texians’ have captured most of the army, at least the few left that they didn’t kill.”
Olivia’s heart was pounding rapidly out of fear from what this man might do, as well as elation. They had beaten Santa Anna. That meant they were finally free and the war was finally over. “Then you should be a prisoner as well, shouldn’t you? Leave us be. Run and try to escape if you wish, but leave us be.”
“Only a coward would try to escape. But I can at least kill a couple more of you traitors before I am taken prisoner.”
Texas Desire Page 24