He took a deep breath, then climbed onto the animal just to the front of its huge hump. He touched the beast’s neck and issued another command, and the camel got to its feet. Little children screamed and laughed, and the adults stared in amazement as Clay practiced guiding the strange beast up and down the street. He decided that a camel had to be the most uncomfortable animal for riding that was ever made, but for now he was desperate. He could think of no other safe way to get Nina away from the Rangers.
He issued more commands, then hung on for dear life when the animal stopped and began to kneel again, nearly throwing him forward over its head because of the awkward position it created by lowering its front legs first. It settled all the way down then, and Clay got off, shaking his head. “Riding her at a full lope is going to be one hell of an experience,” he told Julio.
The men laughed, and the audience that had gathered around Clay was bustling with talk and laughter, pointing fingers and shaking heads. Clay heard the word “loco” more than once, and he knew they all thought him a little touched in the head. He grinned, facing Julio.
“I want you to take the men back to where we camped last night along the Colorado. I’ll give you some money to buy an extra horse for Nina. Make sure it’s a gentle one, but one that can run fast if necessary.” He looked over at one of his other men. “Ramón, you’re the smallest man among us. Have some clean pants and a shirt ready, and buy a big sombrero. We’re going to dress Nina like a man, stick her hair up under a big hat—and have a jacket ready for her, too, so her…so we can hide her curves.”
The men grinned, and Clay felt familiar, painful urges. He had to get her back or die trying. “I’ll bring Nina to the camp and we’ll have her change right away. We’ll send the camel off, baskets and all. If the Rangers do any searching, they’ll be looking for that camel. We’ll head for the coast, not south. They’ll expect anyone who rescues Nina to take her straight to Mexico, so we won’t do that. We’ll head for Houston, catch a boat at the Gulf and head for Mexico by water. Once we’re out in the Gulf, they can’t do anything, and once we’re back in Mexico, we’re home clear. Have everything ready and be prepared to ride. I can’t say how soon I’ll show up, three or four days, probably.”
“Sí, patrón,” Julio answered. “We will be ready. It will be good to be home again.”
Clay felt the ache in his chest again. “Yes, it will.” He turned away. “I’m going to see if the old woman has the robe ready yet. I’ve got to get to Austin before they leave with Nina.” He headed into the little stucco house, every nerve end alive with anxiety. He had to make this work.
Inside, the old woman grinned and rose, handing out the robe. Clay took it and smiled. “Gracias,” he told her. She studied his turban, then covered her mouth and broke into good-natured laughter, shaking her head. Clay put on the robe, tying it around the middle with rawhide. He walked over to the old, stained mirror over a dresser and looked at himself. “I hardly recognize myself,” he commented, his confidence growing stronger. He turned to face the old woman. “You’ve done a good job, Señora Baca.” He leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek, and the old woman giggled more, shaking her head at the loco gringo.
Nina was fast losing all hope of Clay ever finding her in time. Even if he did, what could he do to help her now? He would only get himself in trouble, for the Rangers and the Army were looking for the soldier who had helped her escape from Santa Fe. She prayed that he would not try anything now. If she was to die, she didn’t want to do it knowing she was responsible for her beloved also getting hurt or killed.
She held her chin proudly as some Rangers led her from jail. A small crowd had gathered outside. Her imprisonment and sentence to hang had again stirred controversy among the mixed population. Whether Mexican or white, there were people who opposed such harsh punishment for a young, pregnant woman and those who thought it was just. When she exited the building she heard a shout in Spanish that her punishment was only made more severe because of her race.
Her heart pounded with dread as she was led to a horse. Her grief at knowing she would hang was made unbearable, not because she would herself die, but because her innocent baby would die with her. She had begged to be allowed to live long enough to deliver the child, secretly hoping that Clay would find her by then and that if he could not rescue her, he could at least take their child and raise it. That way, he would have a little part of her with him forever. But her request had been refused, since she could not even prove for certain that she was pregnant. They had only her word, and her word was not good enough. She suspected that the doctor who had examined her was a prejudiced man, who would just as soon not see another little Mexican born into the world. She would never forget the humiliation of having to see him and the terrible disappointment when he had testified he could not determine if she was pregnant.
The entire ordeal had left her despondent. The fight and fire had gone out of her. She was on her way to Fort Worth to be hanged, and that was that. Clay would never find her in time, and there was nothing he could do in any case. Her face was taut and sober as she mounted her horse. A Ranger tied her wrists painfully tight and strapped them to the saddle horn. He then tied rawhide around each ankle and tied the rawhide together under the horse’s belly. “That should hold you,” he said with a grin.
Nina dreaded the trip. The Rangers who had brought her to Austin had not been kind. They had fed her little and had not let her wash. They made crude remarks, and she wondered at times if she might be raped, suspecting the only thing that kept them from her was the fact that they were Rangers and were expected to behave like the gentlemen they were not. There was a certain code among them, and that was all that kept her safe. It was going to be a long, arduous, dangerous trip, and after a few days in remote country, how easy would it be for these five men to hold to the honor they were sworn to? Who was there to police them? They could do as they wished, as long as they agreed not to tell, and she was headed for a hanging, so what difference did it make to them or anyone else how she was treated?
Amid continued remarks from the small crowd, the five men mounted up, one of them picking up the reins to her horse. “Cautrero!” some in the crowd shouted at her. The word hurt. They thought her a bad woman, a horse thief. Many probably thought she had slept with the men she rode with. Little did they know there had been only one true love in her life, only one man who had been allowed in her bed, allowed to possess her. If only she could just see him once more, touch him once more, explain to him what had happened.
She refused to show fear or shame in front of any of the men. She sat straight in her saddle, staring forward, refusing to look at any of them. As they headed out of town, she noticed another crowd had gathered, farther up the street. Beautiful but painful memories stabbed at her when she saw the reason for the excitement and laughter as they drew closer.
A camel! The sight of the strange beast made her want to cry. It brought literal pain to her chest. She could picture so vividly that first time she met Clay, her tall, handsome, gringo soldier! If she and Emilio had not gone to Indianola that day to try to sell their horses, she never would have met Lieutenant Clayton Youngblood. She wondered how her life would have turned out without him? She had not been able to enjoy her happiness for long, but she thanked God for what little time she had had with her beloved, her querido.
The entourage of Rangers and shouting onlookers drew closer to the camel and the crowd it had drawn. Moments later they all mixed together. Nina glanced at the Arab who led the camel, remembering the strange, turban-headed men who had led those first camels off the boat in Indianola. She remembered the comical events of that day.
What she saw now was like a reenactment of that time. One horse had reared and run off, and a man was chasing after it. Children were laughing and pointing, adults had gathered around to gape, and a few chickens that had been scratching for food in the street squawked and fluttered whenever the camel stepped near them.
&nb
sp; The Ranger leading Nina’s horse veered away from the crowd, but Nina kept watching. The Arab looked up at her then, and her heart nearly stopped. Those eyes! There was no mistaking those blue eyes! Her mouth fell open, and the turban-headed man quickly put a finger to his lips, then smiled. She knew that smile, knew those eyes. Clay!
She forced herself to tear her eyes from him, not wanting the Rangers to realize she had recognized the strange Arab. She hoped they attributed the surprised look on her face to the fact that she had probably never seen an Arab or a camel before. In fact, the Rangers themselves stared as they rode by.
Clay! What on earth did he have in mind? She had no doubt he had come to help her escape. Her mind swirled with new joy, new hope, but she forced herself to remain silent and sullen in order not to give anything away. Why was Clay disguised as an Arab? Why had he brought a camel instead of swift horses? She had to be ready for whatever he had planned. She had to pay attention to everything he said and did. She knew he must have a plan. She wanted to fling her head back and laugh, but she dared not show her joy.
Clay! He had come! She could not stop the tears that the sight of him brought to her eyes. Did he know she was going to have a baby? She hoped whatever he had planned, he would not be hurt. She had not wanted him to take the risk, but now that he was here, she could only pray God would protect him.
“Forget the tears, lady,” one of the Rangers told her when he noticed her watery eyes. “You’re going to hang for sure. The Army lost you two or three times, but you won’t get away from Texas Rangers, and no amount of tears or pleading will soften up any of us, so don’t even try.”
Nina glared at the man, holding her chin proudly. So, she thought, you think the Rangers can hold me, do you? No one can keep me from my beloved.
They rode out of town, heading north, while Clay gave children rides on the camel, nodding to onlookers and, grinning incessantly, the way he remembered Pekah Akim used to do. He took note of the direction in which the Rangers headed. He would follow, give them a day or two before riding into their camp. It would not be easy spending one more second away from Nina, but he had to do this right. He dared not stir an ounce of suspicion in the minds of these people or any of the Rangers.
He held the camel, watching Nina and the Rangers disappear. Four children sat screaming and laughing on the camel’s back, and Clay turned to smile at them. He spotted one boy who he surmised weighed about the same as Nina, so he took the lid off one of the two huge baskets tied to either side of the camel. “You ride in here,” he said, using his fake accent and grinning. “Much fun!”
The boy agreed, sliding off the camel’s back and into the basket. He laughed and crouched down, and Clay put the lid on. He laughed, too, but no one suspected the real reason for his joy. There was plenty of room in the basket for one small woman!
Chapter Twenty-four
Nina began to wonder if she had only dreamed she had seen Clay back in Austin. That was two days ago, and there had been no sign of him since. It was September, and the nights in the open plains of eastern Texas were cold. She shivered, grasping her jacket with cuffed hands.
“Cold, honey?” One of the Rangers, George Tibbs, who appeared to be in charge of the small expedition, got up and brought over a blanket. He draped it around her shoulders, taking a moment to sit down beside her and pull her into his arms. “I can make you a lot warmer, little chica,” he said suggestively. The others chuckled. “How about some tequila?”
Nina gave him a scathing look. “You smell!” she sneered.
The others laughed more, and George glowered at her. “We’ve got a long way to go, little mama. You’d best be nice to me. I give the orders around here, and in a few more days you’re going to look even prettier to me and the rest of these men here.”
Nina just turned her face away, holding the blanket closer around herself, praying Clay would soon find a way to help her. George returned to his original spot, joining the others in passing around some whiskey. This was the first night they had drunk liquor, and it frightened Nina. She had been quiet, trying to attract no undue attention, but she felt their eyes on her.
To her relief their conversation turned to outlaws and Indians, and talk of how more Rangers were needed; but then George turned his attention back to Nina. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and get captured by Indians before we get you to Fort Worth,” he told her. “You’d still die, but you’d have a good time first.”
They all laughed harder, and Nina just stared at the fire, wanting to kill them. If these men were not going to rape her literally, they were certainly going to make her feel raped mentally. Their behavior had brought back all the old hate she had for such men.
“I would like more coffee,” she spoke up. “I am very cold.”
George sniffed. “Give her some more coffee, Ben. Don’t want her going and getting sick and dying on us. Then we’d never get to watch a woman hang. I’ve never seen anybody hang a woman before.”
“I wouldn’t want the job,” Ben answered, pouring Nina more coffee.
“I could do it easy,” the one called Cal said. “A horse thief is a horse thief. In Texas you hang for it, man or woman. It’s that simple.”
Ben handed Nina the coffee. She met his eyes and saw the hint of sympathy there. Ben Gables was the only one of them who had shown her any respect or any kind of emotion over the fact that they were transporting a young pregnant woman to be hanged.
“Gracias,” she said, taking the cup.
Ben quickly looked away, as though afraid one of the other men might notice he felt a little sorry for her. Their conversation was interrupted then when someone called out from the darkness.
“Ah, human life,” came a voice carrying an odd accent.
George quickly rose, pulling his gun, and a bearded, robed foreigner stepped into the firelight leading a camel. Nina nearly dropped her coffee. Every nerve end came alive, and it was a struggle not to yell out Clay’s name and run to him. He had come! It had not been a dream!
“Who the hell are you?” George demanded.
“Ah, kind sir, my name is Pekah Akim,” Clay answered, grinning and bowing. “I am a lonely foreigner in your beautiful land. I saw the light of your fire and wondered if I might take company with you for a while, yes?”
George frowned. “Search him, Cal.”
Cal laughed. “Sure. Think he wears anything under that robe?”
“Could be hiding a gun under it.”
“Oh, no, no! I assure you, kind sir, I do not come here to harm you.” Clay grinned and bowed again, then held out his arms willingly while Cal felt for weapons.
“Nothing under the robe,” he told George. “Not even regular clothes, far as I can tell.”
“Men who wear robes have to be a little strange, I say,” another Ranger put in. “Say, aren’t you the man we saw back in Austin?”
Cal jumped away from Clay when the camel snorted. “What the hell is that thing?” he grumbled. “And what are you doing here? You are the man who was in Austin.”
“May I sit down?” Clay asked. “You have the American coffee perhaps?” George looked him over, glancing at the camel, still looking suspicious. “I wish only to stay a little while,” Clay added. “Yes, I was in your Austin a few days ago. I am looking for Fort Worth and was afraid I was lost.” He spied the whiskey bottle. “Ah, you have the drink your Indians call the firewater,” he added, trying to change the subject.
George set the bottle aside. “We also have coffee on the fire there.” He removed his hat and scratched at his head. “Go ahead and sit down. Ben, give him some coffee. Cal, you check out those baskets on the camel.”
“I’m not going near that thing.”
“Oh, there is nothing in the baskets,” Clay explained, mimicking the singsong voice and strange accent of Pekah Akim. He glanced at Nina. “They are empty,” he added, accenting the word empty. He turned away then, tapping at the camel’s front legs. “Here. I will make my camel kneel for you so
you can see.” The camel went down on all fours, letting out an eerie grunt and chewing a cud. Clay took the tops off both baskets. “You see? Only a few supplies in one.” He hoped they would not search too thoroughly and find his six-gun. “The other is empty.”
He glanced at Nina again, hoping she understood the message he was trying to give her. He could see she was struggling to show no recognition—more than that, struggling to show no tears.
Cal glanced into the baskets. “He’s right, George. Looks pretty harmless to me.”
“Well, move that beast back a little,” George ordered, irritation in his voice. “It stinks, and I don’t trust it.”
“Yes, yes,” Clay answered, bowing again. He ordered the camel to rise and moved it closer to Nina, just out of the light of the fire. “I will make her lie down. She will cause no trouble, I assure you. She acts only on my commands.” He stepped back into the firelight. “I can have some coffee?”
George still scowled, but the other four men chuckled. “What the hell do you wear that robe for, mister?” one of them asked. “And you never answered Cal’s question. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Ah!” Clay moved to sit down near Nina. “It is as I said. I was in Austin a few days ago. But truly I come from a country far across the sea, a desert land called Arabia. I was invited here by your American government to help the Army learn to use camels. The experiment has worked well, but alas, not all of us were needed, and some of the camels were rejected. I was let go, but I love this big country. It reminds me of my own. I have no money to go back home, so I stay. I travel, see this land. With the big baskets I hope to find someone who would like me to deliver supplies for them. That is why I go to Fort Worth, to look for work. My camel can carry much weight.” He glanced at Nina again just for a moment, trying to decide if she was well and strong enough for a long journey bouncing about in a basket.
“How much weight?” Cal asked.
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