by Howe, Cheryl
Lorelei tossed her head back suddenly and genuinely laughed at something Archie said. Probably something outlandish. Corey laughed too, and Archie, who laughed at just about everything. Braddock had missed the joke. His own miserable thoughts barred him from the others’ joy like a wall of cold, wet stone.
He tore his gaze away from the warm light in Lorelei’s eyes and the way her dark curls danced around her shoulders as she continued to giggle. There was no need to pretend he was anything but an outsider, their jailer.
Archie leaned over and refilled Corey’s cup with whiskey. Lorelei put her hand over her cup and shook her head.
Archie raised his glass. “You’re a lovely lady, Miss Lori May. Corey, why didn’t you tell me your mother was so pretty? Would have liked to have heard about that. That’s what I miss most about St. Louis, the pretty girls.”
Corey laughed too loud. The kid couldn’t hold his liquor. Braddock should have put a stop to the drinking before it started. But when he and Lorelei had returned to camp, Archie had already made a fire and started a decent stew of beans and salted meat. And, of course, a shot of whiskey for flavor. Braddock had been in no condition to take charge of anything. By the time he was able to draw a steady breath, Archie had already passed out the stew and the booze. He must have stuffed his saddlebags with whiskey before they left.
“Is your husband from Kentucky, too?” Archie asked.
“He’s not her husband. I told you, he’s a bounty hunter who wants to find Mulcahy.” Corey took another gulp of whiskey.
Archie finished the bottle at the mention of Mulcahy’s name. Lorelei stared at the fire, unblinking. Her face had turned a chalky white. She didn’t look as if she could hold down her liquor or her meal. She set her half eaten bowl of beans away from her. Braddock couldn’t help but notice that her illness coincided with the mention of their ruse as husband and wife.
Archie, who didn’t bother to eat at all, tipped over as he grabbed for another bottle. “Don’t want to know nothing about Rowen Mulcahy.” He half reached for, half crawled to his saddlebag, righting himself only after he retrieved his prize. “No, sir. Don’t know nothing about that red-haired Irishman.”
“He expects me to tell him where to find Mulcahy,” Corey said with a glare in Braddock’s direction.
Archie froze with the bottle in his hand. For a moment he looked stone-cold sober. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
“Well, you’re going to know, because that’s where he’s taking us.”
“Not me.” Archie’s face flushed. “Lori May, talk to your husband. He must be crazy.” Archie grabbed the cork with his teeth and pulled it out. He spit it past the circle of light thrown by the fire, then took a long draw from the bottle.
Lorelei watched him, her round blue eyes pulling down at the comers. “You’ll be sick, Archie. Don’t drink any more.”
“Not me, missy. I don’t get sick anymore. Except when I don’t have my tonic.” He toasted her with the bottle.
“That’s because it’s killing you.”
“Let him be, Lori. You can’t save him either,” Corey snapped.
Braddock looked between brother and sister. She bowed her head as if the weight on her shoulders had gotten too heavy. He wanted to put his arm around her. She had had too much in her life for such a small woman to bear. Braddock forced himself to look away before he was caught staring like a doe eyed suitor. He was doing the best thing for her, even if it killed him. His chest ached with each breath, and he wondered if he were truly, physically wounded in some way. He had to force himself to relax just to get air in his lungs.
“That’d be something. To die by drink. I’d like that.”
The campfire danced in the sheen coating Lorelei’s eyes. “You won’t like it. It’s a horrible way to die. My father drank himself to death.”
Archie shook his head in an exaggerated motion. “Not as bad as being caught by Apaches. They peel the skin right off you and let the flies nibble on your juicy innards.”
“Or being hanged,” piped in Corey. “I saw three men hanged in Santa Fe my first week in New Mexico. I won’t forget that soon. They didn’t even put hoods over their heads.
You could see their eyes pop out and their faces turn red as fire.”
“Or”—Archie took a big gulp from the bottle—“or being dragged through town by a horse when you got a broken arm and a couple of broken ribs. It takes a long time to die like that.”
Even Corey blanched. “Who did that?”
Archie looked around as if to see if someone might be eavesdropping. He leaned toward Corey and whispered loudly, “You know who.”
Lorelei placed one hand over her mouth and the other over her stomach. Braddock stood. He should have never let this start.
“That’s enough.” He took Corey’s tin cup and dumped out the contents.
“I was wondering when you’d stop the fun.” Corey thrust his hands behind his back and leaned forward. “Go ahead. Lock me up for the night.”
Lorelei dumped her cup of whiskey without being asked. Archie hugged the bottle to his chest. “I need this for medicinal purposes.”
Braddock was in no mood to wrestle the bottle from him. “We’re riding out of here early tomorrow, and I have no problem leaving you behind if you can’t keep up.”
“I’ll keep up…with a smile on my face and a song on my lips.” Archie gave his bottle a loving kiss.
“Just keep up.” Braddock turned to Corey. “You ready to tell me what you know about Mulcahy?”
Corey glanced at Lorelei. “I’ve got some conditions first.”
Lorelei stared into the fire. “He’s going to leave us at a friend’s house while he finds Mulcahy by himself.”
Archie took a gulp from his bottle. “That’ll kill you faster than this ever will.”
Corey snorted. “What friend? Does he have bars for a front door?”
Lorelei sighed. “I don’t know.”
Braddock went to his saddlebag and pulled out a map to keep from snapping at Lorelei. She knew he wasn’t taking her to jail. He returned with the map and squeezed between Corey and Archie, avoiding the larger space between brother and sister.
He unfolded the map and laid it on the ground in front of him. “My friend’s farm is a couple of days from here. You and Lorelei can stay there, but you have to help out.”
“I don’t like farm work,” complained Corey.
“I like it. Always did. I like to get my hands dirty. Lila likes farms too.”
Braddock glanced at Archie. “We’ll have to find someplace else for you to go. My friend’s got his hands full.”
“He can take my place,” said Corey.
“If you don’t want to work for your keep, kid, you can go to my other friend’s house, the one with bars for a front door.”
Corey picked up a twig and tossed it into the fire. “What’s the difference? That’s where I’m going to end up anyway.”
“Do you think you could drop me off in San Francisco? I always wanted to go there.” Archie stared into the distance, lost in another conversation.
“No.” Braddock didn’t bother telling him how far San Francisco was from the New Mexico territory. Archie might as well have asked to be dropped off on the moon.
“Heard they had gold streets there. I know it’s not true, but that’s what I heard,” said the man to no one in particular. “Good place to start fresh.”
Lorelei lifted her head and snared Braddock’s gaze. It was all he could do not to flinch under her direct scrutiny. “Braddock’s letting us go. He won’t come back for us. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.” He didn’t make promises lightly. He wanted her to know that about him.
“He won’t come back because he’s going to be dead,” mumbled Archie. “What about Helena, up Montana way? A man could make something of himself there.”
“Yeah, he’s letting me go, and I’ve got some land to sell smack dab in the middle of Apache count
ry. They don’t mind neighbors.”
“It’s true, Corey. We’ll have to change our names, but we can start over.”
Archie stood on wobbly legs and crouched in front of the fire. “There’s a bird that burns itself, then rises from its own ashes. Flies away better than before. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Braddock got to his feet and grabbed a fistful of Archie’s shirt. “You fall in that fire and you’ll just be ashes.” He yanked Archie a little too hard, because the momentum sent him sprawling in the dirt.
Lorelei sprang to his rescue. “Do you have to be so mean to him? At least he wants a better life.”
Braddock stood back as she helped Archie to his feet, then guided him next to her, away from the fire.
“There’s fire. Then there’s ashes. There’s nothing else.” Braddock sank to the ground and forced himself to remember Coyote Pass all over again. Wherever he went, he’d leave a scorched trail in his wake. It was better for Lorelei to hate him.
“Even if I did believe you’d let me go, what about the deputy marshal who came to the ranch?”
For once, Braddock was glad Corey thought only of himself.
“I’ll tell him you died. Once I bring Mulcahy in with the gold, they’ll forget about Lorelei. Especially if she marries.” Braddock watched Lorelei tense. He knew his words would upset her, but it was best for her to marry. He needed to start accepting the idea himself.
Corey made a face. “Marry? Marry who?”
“New Orleans, that’s the city for me. People know how to have a good time there,” said Archie.
Braddock swallowed. He suddenly felt hot and cold at the same time, as if he had drunk too much bad whiskey. “Anyone would want to marry your sister. She needs a man to take care of her.”
“Anyone but you, huh, Braddock?”
“Please, Corey.” Lorelei clasped her hand to her forehead as if she were trying to compress a raging fever.
Braddock balled his hand into a fist, barely restraining the urge to punch the sneer off her brother’s face. “Lorelei deserves better than me. She can have a home and a family of her own, a safe place to live, if you don’t screw it up for her.”
“I’m not the one who took her to Coyote Pass. I don’t believe this story about your friend’s farm. You just want me to spill the beans about Mulcahy.”
“I don’t know anything about Mulcahy, and I don’t want to know,” recited Archie on cue, like a parrot repeating his favorite line.
“Stop it. Both of you.” Lorelei moved her hands to clutch her stomach. “Braddock is giving us what we wanted from the beginning. The least you can do is tell him where he can find Mulcahy.”
“You won’t be safe while he’s still free. You don’t have a choice, kid,” Braddock said.
“You believe him?” Corey asked his sister.
“Yes, I do.”
Corey studied Braddock. “Something’s funny here. What’s in it for you if you let me go? I already told you I’d tell you where Mulcahy is. It’s not like I have a choice.”
“I want Lorelei to be safe. And if I don’t let you go, she’s going to keep getting into trouble to save you.”
Lorelei bent her head while she massaged her temples. She appeared to be unable to decide which hurt worse, her stomach or her head. Maybe they’d all drunk from an alkali runoff without realizing it.
Corey glanced at his sister, then back to Braddock. “This is about something else. What did you do to her, Braddock?”
Lorelei lifted her head. “Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me. He’s just trying to help, which is more than we deserve.”
“You deserve a lot more than I can give you, Lorelei.” Braddock was unable to control the emotion in his voice anymore than he could stop the words spilling from his mouth. “A lot more.”
“I don’t want more.” She rapidly blinked, but a tear still managed to slide down her cheek. She fiercely brushed it away.
“Hold on one second.” Corey stood. “I know what’s going on here.”
Braddock dropped his head to massage his brow as Lorelei had done. Splitting headaches were catching, and he knew it wasn’t from bad water. He said, “I can’t risk it, Lorelei. I just can’t.”
God, how he wanted to. He’d never thought he would want to take a chance on a normal life. Settling down with one woman, having children, and pretending you could have a nice, quiet life seemed as substantial as a daydream when one knew the thousands of things that could befall you. The world waited to explode with violence. It was too easy to die, or worse. But the desire to keep Lorelei safe made Braddock’s decision, though the pain in his chest almost talked him into saying anything to hold on to her.
The crackle of the fire punctuated the abrupt lull in the conversation. A sudden clap of thunder couldn’t be any louder than the quiet tension. Something had to break, and Braddock was sure it would be him.
“You’re knocked up,” Corey blurted.
Archie stirred from his slumped position. “I love babies. Who’s having a baby? That’s what’s wrong with the New Mexico territory: not enough babies. Who’s having the baby?”
Braddock lifted his gaze to Lorelei, sure lightning had just ripped through the top of his head and surged out the heels of his boots.
She shook her head. “I’m not with child.”
Braddock’s horror at Corey’s accusation must have shown on his face, because Lorelei’s eyes narrowed in anger. “You’ll have no tie to me. You don’t need to worry.”
“That’s not it,” Braddock began, but stopped himself before he hurt her more. There was nothing he could say to make the situation any better.
“Don’t you worry, little lady. You’re a young thing. All you and your husband need to do is spend a little more time together. You’ll be in the pink in no time. A little less horse riding though,” Archie said in a loud whisper, presumably for Lorelei alone.
“Oh, no. He’s staying away from my sister if he wants me to tell him where to find Mulcahy.”
To Braddock’s relief, Lorelei swung her angry gaze to her brother. “Just stay out of this, Corey. You’ll tell Braddock about Mulcahy so we can be done with this mess.”
Archie desperately gulped whiskey as if he wanted to pass out again as soon as possible. “I don’t know anything about Mulcahy, and I don’t want to know.”
“I’m not telling him anything until we see this friend of his.” Corey folded his arms over his chest and cocked his hip in a determined stance.
Braddock stood. “Fine. Once we get to Jay’s farm, you can tell me about Mulcahy.”
“And if I don’t like him, we’ll just have to make other arrangements.”
Braddock picked up his rifle. He would check the perimeter of the camp to make sure they weren’t followed from Coyote Pass. Sleep certainly wasn’t an option. “You’ll like him. He and his wife are good people.”
Corey snorted. “Then why are they friends with you?”
Braddock paused to glance at Lorelei, who packed away the dishes they had used for dinner. She stilled when his gaze touched her. The way her shoulders stiffened told him she was still angry. Better angry than hurt, which didn’t make him feel any better.
“Guess their luck isn’t any better than yours,” he answered at last. Then he walked away, half fearing he would finally see a hint of forgiveness in Lorelei’s eyes, and half fearing that he wouldn’t.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Braddock rode Lucky onto the neat dirt perimeter that marked Jay Hartman’s front yard and braced himself. The sea of milky topped cotton that threatened to swallow the small homestead lulled him into such a false sense of ease, he thought he’d arrived at the wrong farm. But as he drew closer, he recognized the single-story ranch house.
Despite everything, Jay appeared to be getting on all right. The house’s planked front had a fresh coat of white paint, and an adobe addition peeked from the back. A swing creaked on the porch, and beds of flowers bloomed in the surrounding shad
ows. The last and only other time Braddock had visited his friend’s place, he hadn’t counted on Jay’s lasting a year. If it weren’t for the occasional letters that reached him, he would have assumed the Hartmans had moved back east to live with Jay’s folks.
Braddock glanced to his companions, who followed at a wary distance. Compared to the night he had sworn to let Lorelei and her brother go, their journey had been uneventful. Even Archie had behaved. Though not quite sober, he wasn’t painting the town red drunk. Braddock suspected he was rationing his supply of booze. He didn’t doubt Archie needed the stuff for medicinal purposes. Archie was so hooked on it, he probably wouldn’t have survived the two days of hard riding without it.
He swung off Lucky, draped the reins around the porch’s rail, and climbed the steps to the front door. His actions felt exaggerated, as if he had to put on as how to keep from helping Lorelei dismount. But if he didn’t keep his distance during the day, he’d never make it through the nights. The camp loomed silent then, and he could hear her heavy sighs. To keep from touching her, holding her one last time, required all his strength. More than that, he at least wanted to tell her he was sorry. But that would make their inevitable parting that much harder. And that he must leave her and never see her again was the one thing he was sure of.
He knocked on Jay’s door. His stomach clenched with the unreasonable and unwanted hope that they had moved. He stepped back and waited. A restless wind that ruffled the yard’s lone tree was his only answer.
He scanned the grounds for signs of life. His prisoners had dismounted and stared at him expectantly. Lorelei wiped dust and sweat from her eyes. She was clearly exhausted.
Braddock knocked again, louder. There was still no answer, no movement behind the door. “Hello,” he called loudly. “Jay, Beth. Anybody home?”
“Don’t give away it’s you. They might not answer,” said Corey.
Braddock took off his hat, avoiding looking over. The little
smartass was right. Braddock himself wouldn’t answer the door if it were him. He stepped down from the porch, intending to go around back. A high-pitched squeal followed by a woman’s surprised shriek stopped him in mid-step.