Shameless

by Rosanne Bittner

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Clay walked into the Ranger office in San Antonio, hoping against hope that he would finally get some answers here. As with the Army, communications were slow and undependable in such vast territory. The men at the smaller Ranger stations where he had inquired about Nina either knew nothing about her or had only heard rumors that a Mexican woman had recently been arrested with a gang of cautreros.

  Just the rumors were enough to alert Clay that Nina had indeed been caught again. What was worse, she had been taken in by Rangers, who would not be as easy to deal with as soldiers might be. He had asked for her by the name “Juarez,” suspecting that Nina herself had not divulged the name of Youngblood to anyone. She was smart and wily, that wife of his, and he ached to hold her again, praying there was time to find her before she felt a noose around her neck.

  He figured if anyone knew anything more, it would be the commander of the Ranger station here in San Antonio. A rather small but wiry and strong-looking man greeted him, introducing himself as Louis Hunt. By his firm handshake, Clay could tell he was proud of the authority he enjoyed, authority that gave more stature to his small size.

  Clay introduced himself as a rancher from southern Texas by the name of John Seymour. He asked if Hunt had any information about a woman horse thief named Nina Juarez.

  Hunt folded his arms. “Why do you want to know, Mr. Seymour?”

  Clay feigned a look of hatred and disgust. “Because that woman and her brother stole some very valuable horses from me. I’ve been tracking them for weeks, heard rumors they had been caught. I want to know what happened to the horses that were with them. I have a right to reclaim my stock, Mr. Hunt. When someone steals from me, I hunt them down and I get back what is mine.”

  The Ranger’s eyebrows arched, and to Clay’s relief he could tell the man believed his story. “Well, Mr. Seymour, the rumors you heard are true,” Hunt told him. “In fact, it was my men who captured the Juarez gang. Killed most of them, including that troublemaking Emilio.”

  Clay was relieved the man was looking down at his desk searching through some papers when he made the statement. Hunt missed the look of shock and sorrow in Clay’s eyes. Emilio’s death would be a hard blow to Nina. He swallowed before speaking. “Well, that’s a relief in itself. What about the horses? And what’s been done with that she-devil of a woman? She’s a clever one, you know.”

  “Well, she won’t get away this time. She’s been tried and convicted, and she’ll be hanged, baby or not. She’s been taken to Austin. In a few days she’ll go from there to Fort Worth for the actual hanging, someplace farther north where there aren’t so many Mexicans. If you’ll wait a minute, I can find the paperwork on the case.”

  Clay hardly heard the words. He had to turn away to hide an emotion even greater than the one that had welled in him when he heard Emilio had been killed. Baby! What baby! Was Nina pregnant at last? How in God’s name had she managed to keep a baby through all of this? What a cruel twist of fate!

  “Here we are,” the Ranger was saying, scanning a piece of paper. “Your horses are in Austin, Mr. Seymour; or I should say the horses that were with them are in Austin. I can’t guarantee any of them are yours.”

  The man looked up at him, and Clay took a deep breath, closing his eyes, forcing himself not to show his feelings. He turned back around. “Well, it’s about time those bastards were caught. Maybe with their leader and most of the others dead, we’ll be rid of horse thieves in southern Texas and northern Mexico. This should be a good warning to the others.”

  “Just leave it to the Texas Rangers, Mr. Seymour. We’ll root out all of them eventually.”

  Clay struggled to show satisfaction and gratitude. “I can see your men are doing a good job. You say this Miss Juarez, or whatever she calls herself now, is still in Austin? When will they take her to Fort Worth? I’d like to see the hanging myself. I won’t rest easy until that woman is buried. This isn’t the first time she has given me trouble.”

  The Ranger laughed. “Well, if you get yourself to Austin within three or four days, she’ll still be there. The judge had quite a decision to make, what with her claiming she’s going to have a baby. He even had a doctor examine her because they figured she was making up the story to get his sympathy. The doctor said it was too soon for him to say for sure she’s telling the truth. The judge finally decided that, baby or not, she should hang. People won’t think much of it, long as she doesn’t have a big belly on her.”

  Clay felt sick. His child would be murdered right along with the mother.

  “Several Rangers will be taking her to Fort Worth,” Hunt was saying. “They probably wouldn’t mind you riding along with them. Considering the talent that woman has for slipping out of the hands of the authorities, another man along to help watch her would probably be welcome. I’ll write out a note for you to use when you go to claim your horses; tells them I talked to you and advised you to go to Austin.”

  The man began writing, but Clay’s mind was not on horses. He would indeed intercept the men who would take Nina to Fort Worth, but he couldn’t do it the way the Ranger had suggested. In her surprise, Nina might call out his name, and all would be lost. No, he had to find some other way to get her away from those men, but he had to wait until she was taken from Austin, wait until they were far enough from town that the Rangers could not easily get help. And he had to do it alone. He could not risk Julio and his men getting in trouble with Texas Rangers.

  Hunt handed Clay the note. “Good luck, Mr. Seymour.” He put out his hand and Clay took it.

  “Thank you. I’m going to make a real holiday out of this one. Your men did a hell of a job.”

  “Better than the Army, I’ll say that. They let that woman slip away on them two or three times. Last time it was some lieutenant who went to pick her up from Santa Fe, I’m told. No one knows for sure who the man was. The sheriff there couldn’t remember the name, and the Army doesn’t seem to know anything about it. Real strange, isn’t it? I think the Army just didn’t want to admit that they had lost her again, but she won’t get away from my Rangers, I promise you that.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Clay folded the paper and shoved it into his shirt pocket, turning and walking out. At last he had some concrete information now. He knew where Nina was, and that she was still alive. He only hoped she was well, that all of this horror had not made her lose the baby.

  A baby! He had all the more reason now to do whatever he had to do to rescue her and get her back home. With Emilio dead, there was nothing and no one left to make trouble for them. He motioned for Julio and the others to follow him out of town as he mounted his own horse. They all glanced at each other, seeing the look of deep concern on their patrón’s face. As soon as they were away from others, Clay signaled for them to stop riding. He turned his horse and told them what he had heard from Hunt. They all looked relieved that Nina was still alive, but all shared Clay’s sorrow that she might have lost the baby by now and that if he did not find a way to help her escape before she reached Fort Worth, she would hang.

  “I don’t want any of you involved,” Clay told them. “I have to find a way to do this alone.”

  “But how, patrón?” Julio asked, deep concern in his eyes. “You should let us help you. What can you do alone?”

  “I don’t know yet. I only know I have to find a way to get her away from the Rangers without putting her life in danger by going in with guns; and a way to do it without involving any of you and having half the Rangers in Texas after all of us.”

  Julio shook his head. “I fear it cannot be done,” he told Clay. “Before, when you were a soldier, you could fool the authorities. But now you are just a common citizen, and you are dealing with Texas Rangers. They are a hard bunch, patrón.”

  Clay scratched at the five-day stubble on his face that was growing to the point of shaping a beard. He had ridden the men hard, taking little time for eating or sleeping, or bathing and shaving. He kne
w there was no time to lose, and apparently his relentless and heated search had paid off, to a point. He knew now where Nina was. All he had to do was find a way to get her out of there and take her home, and again, he had to find a way to do it without bloodshed. He suddenly felt lonely and vulnerable. How was he going to deal with Texas Rangers?

  He turned his horse, his heart aching for Nina, feeling his dreams slipping away from him. A baby, at last, and both the child and its mother might be lost to him forever. He stared out at the horizon, wondering if God had meant for them to be together after all. He had been so sure of it once. But why had God let this happen? Why had He led them to that mission and allowed them to marry? Why had He shown them so much happiness and even blessed Nina with a child if all of it was going to be taken away?

  I need another miracle, he prayed inwardly. Like that day we fled from the Apache and You led us to the mission. Don’t let me lose her. “Let’s just get ourselves to Austin,” he said aloud. He rode forward, feeling sick and hard and angry. He had already lost a wife and baby. How could God let it happen to him again? How could he go back to the ranch without Nina? Her spirit was there. It meant nothing if he couldn’t share it with her.

  “What is that?” Julio spoke up then, drawing up his horse beside Clay’s. “I never saw anything like it!”

  The man pointed, and Clay squinted to see what he was talking about. There in the distance he saw it, lumbering along like the comical ship of the desert that it was. “It’s a camel,” he said aloud. “I’ll be damned.”

  “A camel? What is a camel?” Julio asked. The others rode up beside them and also stared.

  “What a strange creature,” another man added.

  “A camel,” Clay repeated softly. He had asked God to help him. Was this his miracle? It must be one of the camels from the Army experiment. “Don’t let it get away,” he told the others. “Approach it slowly and get a rope around it.”

  “What?” Julio looked at him in wonder. “Why do you want that ugly thing? I have never seen such a beast. Where does it come from?”

  “I know all about them. I’ll explain after we’ve caught it, Julio. Just do like I say and help me rope it.” Without turning, he addressed the others. “The rest of you stay put. I don’t want to scare it off.”

  “But what are you going to do with it?” Julio asked. “We have to go to Austin and see if we can help the señora.”

  “That camel just might be the answer to the problem.”

  “A camel?” Julio just shook his head. “I do not understand, patrón.”

  “I don’t understand myself…yet.” Clay took a rope from his saddle horn and carefully approached the animal, calling out in words he remembered hearing Pekah Akim use as commands. He remembered a lot about these beasts, just then realizing he had never heard what had become of the expedition to California. Had the Army abandoned some of these poor creatures and turned them out into the desert? That sounded like something the government would do. This one looked like a smaller female, probably one that couldn’t haul as much weight as some of the others. That was good. Females were easier to handle. She stood with her long neck craned awkwardly, gawking at him as he came closer. He thought what unattractive faces these beasts had, yet at the moment she was the prettiest thing he’d seen in a long time. An idea how he could use the animal to help Nina was growing in his mind. Whether it came from his own wit or was planted there by a higher Being he would never know. He only knew that he had found his miracle.

  He twirled the rope, and Julio sat with another lasso ready in case Clay’s missed and the camel ran off. But the animal just stood there and let the loop come around its head. Clay smiled in victory. “I don’t care what anyone says, you’re one goddamn pretty creature,” he said, riding closer and patting the beast on the neck.

  The camel faced him and let out the strange grunting sound Clay knew well. She batted her eyelids, and her long lashes, given to her by God to protect her eyes in sandstorms, fluttered, as though she was flirting with him. Clay laughed, turning his horse, which balked at the presence of the camel. He rode back to Julio. “You and the men watch this thing. I’m going back to San Antonio to do a little shopping. One of you get down off your horse and let me use it for a pack horse until I get back. Just wait right here for me.”

  “But…what are you going to buy? Shouldn’t we hurry to Austin?” Julio asked.

  “Not until I get what I need to help Nina.” Clay handed the camel’s rope to Julio and rode off, taking an extra horse with him. Julio and the others stared after him, wondering if their patrón had lost his mind.

  Two days of hard riding brought Clay and his men to a little town near Austin, inhabited mostly by Mexicans. In San Antonio, he had purchased several yards of white cotton cloth, as well as two huge wicker baskets with lids, some lamp oil, and an extra bridle. His men continued to wonder about his sanity, first because of the odd purchases he had made, then because of what he was doing now. He had paid an old Mexican woman to make him a robe with the white cloth he had purchased. While she sewed, Clay undressed to his long johns and poured lantern oil into his hands, then rubbed them into the dirt and began smearing the mixture over himself, putting on an extra thick layer where the skin of his face was exposed. He rubbed a little into his beard to darken it and rubbed some over the backs of his hands and up his arms. Although he was tanned, he wanted to look even darker, and a little greasy.

  “My biggest problem is my eyes,” he commented, while his men just stared in confusion. He wiped his hands on a cloth and began wrapping leftover material around his head. “Can’t do much about blue eyes. I’ll just have to explain that my father married a fair-skinned, blue-eyed woman. Maybe I can tell them that in the country I come from we buy women. They’ll never know the difference.”

  “Who, patrón? What are you doing?” Julio watched Clay continue to wrap the cloth, shaping it into what Julio and the others thought was a ridiculous-looking hat. Clay tied it off, then faced the men, holding out his arms. “What do you think? Would you recognize me if I wore a robe now and spoke with a funny accent?”

  Julio scratched his head. “It is hard to say, patrón. I wish you would explain.”

  Clay grinned, actually looking excited. “I know all about camels, Julio, and the kind of men who live in the country where they come from. I worked with these animals in the Army.” He turned to the camel he had captured and gave it another pat. It seemed most of the inhabitants of the little settlement had gathered around to gape at the animal, and at the crazy gringo who was smearing dirty oil on his face.

  “The men who were sent here to help the Army handle the camels were mostly Arabs, Julio,” Clay was explaining. “They’re from a land across the ocean, land mentioned in the Bible, around the Mediterranean Sea. It’s hot desert country, and they wear hats like this, turbans, to protect their heads from the sun. And they wear robes because they’re actually cooler than pants and shirts. At least I think that’s why they wear them. And they wear sandals. That’s why I went back into San Antonio before we left and bought those leather sandals and all this material. I think I can even imitate the way those foreigners talk.”

  “But…how will this help?”

  Clay walked over to the camel, patting her again. “Julio, these beasts can carry three to four times as much weight as a good, sturdy mule. But this one won’t have to carry so much—only one woman who weighs about a hundred pounds.” He winked, and the others thought a moment, then began to grin.

  “But how would you capture her away from the Rangers?” one of the others asked.

  “That’s where the disguise comes in. Those big baskets with lids that we bought…either one is big enough to hold a woman Nina’s size, isn’t it? I’m going to tie them onto this camel, and then I am going to wait until the Rangers leave Austin. A night or two later I will just happen by their camp and pay them a little visit, explain I’m one of those foreigners who came to America for an Army expedition an
d decided to stay here. I’m not sure what else I’ll tell them, but I’ll come up with something. Just how I’ll get Nina into one of those baskets, I’m not sure yet, but I’ll think of something there, too.”

  “You mean, you will pretend to be one of those…those Arabs? You will ride right into the Rangers’ camp?” Julio looked worried.

  “Right into their camp. Hell, they’ve never seen an Arab, probably have never seen a camel. Something strange and new will help divert their attention, which will give Nina an even better chance of sneaking herself into one of the baskets. I’ll have to put some rocks or something in the other one to give the poor camel some balance. My biggest problem will be riding the damn thing. I’ve seen it done, and I know the words to use to make it kneel, but I’ve never done it myself.”

  “Ride it now, patrón,” one of the others told him. “It will give you practice, and the little children would like to see.”

  Clay turned to study the animal, not sure at all he could do it. “What the hell? I guess I should practice.” He went to his horse and took a small whip he had purchased from it, walking back to the camel and tapping the animal’s knees with the whip’s handle. He paid no attention to how ridiculous he looked, standing there in a turban, smeared with oil and dirt and wearing only his long johns. Women and children snickered and watched as he muttered some strange words, and his men, as well as the crowd of onlookers, stared, watching the camel kneel to its knees, front legs first, then back legs. Clay took hold of the bridle reins, hoping the bridle he had purchased would fit the poor camel’s jaw well enough that it did not hurt it. It was the best he could do for now.