by Jeanne Rose
He crawled forward, attempting to get a closer look at the camp. He saw tethered horses and men moving around by firelight, but no Louisa. He scanned the area carefully, tried to pick out faces...
And heard the distinct snap of a twig. There was someone in the brush behind him. Nervous, he drew his Colt to train it on the darkness. He had his finger on the trigger when he recognized the moving shadows coming toward him.
"Ben! Javier!" he whispered harshly, angry that they'd disobeyed his orders. "I told you to stay back."
Both young men dropped down beside him.
"We saw some hombres heading this direction," Ben explained. "We couldn't leave you here on your own, no matter that you said you didn't want backup."
He tensed. "Someone's coming this way?"
"Yeah, and on horseback."
Sam didn't like the sound of that. "Let's get out of here."
Taking the lead, he crawled backward several feet and stood up...only to have the brush suddenly explode around them. Yelling, mounted men charged forward, swinging rifles like clubs. Trying to run, Sam was knocked flat by a horse, falling so hard, he dropped the Colt and saw stars. Bedlam reigned with shouting and the sharp crack of gunfire.
"They go that way!" cried someone in Spanish and hooves thudded away.
"Dios, Pablo is shot!" yelled someone else and swore a blue streak.
Feeling around, Sam located his gun and got to his feet again...only to come face to face with the end of a shotgun. He could feel the hard barrel pressed against his forehead.
"Throw your weapon down, Senor," said the cold, smooth voice of the rider who'd come up on him, "if you want to live."
Seeing no choice at the moment, Sam did so.
"We will round up your friends, bring you all back to camp together."
Sam looked around, couldn't tell if Ben and Javier had been caught. The brushy area still echoed with the noise of snorting horses and the cries of the bandits.
Nearby, a man knelt beside a fallen body. "Pablo is dead, Tezco."
The rider heaved a deep sigh. "Put him on a horse and bring him back to camp. But first pick up this man's gun." Then Tezco motioned with the shotgun. "You will go to the camp on foot, Senor."
Sam marched forward, coming out of the brush and heading for the firelight up ahead. More bandits joined them, one rider leading El Tigre. They'd obviously found the horse where Sam had left him, reins weighted down by a rock. Still no sign of Javier and Ben.
As if he knew what Sam was thinking, the man named Tezco asked a burly, squat companion, "Where are this one's compadres?"
"They got away."
Thank God.
"You let them escape?"
"We couldn't see, Tezco. We wounded one, I think."
If so, Sam hoped the bullet hadn't found a life-threatening target. Again, he was angry that Ben and Javier had taken it upon themselves to follow him.
"They got away?" Tezco swore angrily. "They will come back tomorrow and kill the rest of us!"
"Perhaps not," said the burly bandit. "There were not so many – only two or three."
Tezco brought his horse up closer to Sam. "Do you have two friends, Senor Gringo? Three? Or more?"
"Two."
Then Sam stumbled, teeth rattling, as Tezco slammed him in the back with the butt of the shotgun. Pain shot across his shoulder blades but he didn't cry out.
"You had better not be lying, Senor."
"I'm not lying." Unless one counted his leaving out Monte Ryerson.
"Your friends killed Pablo."
And now the bandits were going to return the favor? Having faced death before, Sam remained calm. "What else did you expect them to do? You attacked us."
"You were following us. What are you, Texas Rangers?"
Sam thought fast, trying to decide what would be the best thing to say. Since an admirer had no doubt stolen Louisa, he figured it was safer not to bring her up. "I'm not a Ranger. I'm independent, was hired to come after you and some missing cowboys...by a rancher."
"A hired gun? Still, there were only three of you. Bah, against el catorce, you didn't have a chance, no matter how much you talked with mirrors."
So the bandits had seen the heliograph. Perhaps Ryerson or Sam himself hadn't been careful enough. Or maybe the Mexicans were simply keen-eyed. Not to mention that they wouldn't be as superstitious about flashing lights as Apaches.
Sam glanced up, thinking about Ryerson perched somewhere on the opposite side of the canyon. Surely the rancher had heard the gunshots and would be lying low. Surely Ben and Javier would be able to join up with him.
Tezco remained in a foul mood as they walked into the bandits' camp. A man rose from beside a fire where he'd been scraping some kind of spotted animal skin. Everyone else was already standing, guns in their hands, eyes on Sam. The band was alert and armed, had obviously been expecting trouble.
Tezco gestured to Sam, then at the body. "Look, see what has happened because of the killing in Texas? Now Pablo is dead." He pushed at Sam again, though not so hard this time. "And this fool has come chasing us."
There was murmuring and narrowed glances. A couple of men approached the horse on which Pablo rode face down. They lifted the body off.
Someone spoke with anger, "Let us kill this gringo."
"Kill him?" A smaller figure pushed through the crowd.
Sam recognized a woman, despite the trousers. But, with disappointment, he saw she wasn't Louisa.
The woman stared at Sam speculatively. "He is a soldier."
"I used to be a soldier," Sam said, glad he was fluent in Spanish. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known half of what was going on.
"So, how shall we kill this man who was once a soldier?" asked the tallest bandit. "Shall we stake him out to lie naked in the sun?"
"Slit his throat," offered someone else.
"We will not kill him," stated Tezco, dismounting. He faced the group, some of whom made disappointed noises. "There has been enough murder. Murder is what brought this gringo in the first place. He claims he was hired by rancher to come after the captured vaqueros. Now he will join them." He added, "And we will ride before dawn."
He went on to explain the existence of two more men. The woman, whose name was Xosi, suggested they use Sam as a hostage, threaten to torture him until the other "snakes came out of their holes" the following day.
She wasn't a bad-looking woman, if tough, Sam thought. She was also Tezco's sister, he realized, as the bandits made plans. They would pack up most of the camp tonight and keep a careful watch.
Which is all he heard before having his hands tied and being led away. His escorts took him to the other side of the camp – the captive area. With surprise, he noticed a couple of Pueblo men but had no time to wonder about them as he was searched for hidden weapons and pushed to the ground.
"Oh, no!"
The muted cry got Sam's attention. Turning, he saw Louisa staring directly at him, her posture stiff, her eyes wide.
Sam caught his breath and drank in the sight of her, before realizing his escorts might get suspicious.
One man was already making suppositions. "Does this woman know you, Senor?"
He didn't hesitate. "No."
And she turned her back, keeping her connection with Sam quiet. One of the men who'd brought him walked off, while the other moved some distance away to smoke a cigarillo and keep watch.
Sam slid his gaze back to Louisa, noting that she appeared thinner. She folded her arms and turned slightly, also glancing at him. Her expression seemed different, appeared more somber and guarded than proud and wild the way he remembered. Sam wondered if the bandits had hurt her, felt anger burning in his gut.
He wished they could talk.
The chance came when the man with the cigarillo moved farther away to talk and laugh with one of his companions.
Acting casual, Louisa ambled over to Sam and sat down. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.
He longed to touch her
. "What do you think? I came for you."
"Alone?" Before he could answer, she added, "That was a crazy thing to do." Her voice throbbed with emotion.
"Maybe."
"What a fool you are, Sam Strong!" And, looming over him, she kissed him hard on the mouth.
He was a fool all right. A fool for Louisa.
He inhaled her scent and savored the softness of her lips. He would have done anything, have traveled anywhere, have faced any danger to experience this one moment in time. Nothing could have stopped him.
"THINK SAM AND HIS MEN stopped some bullets?" Jake O'Brian asked Monte after they'd heard gunfire down in the canyon.
"Maybe the Mexicans were just shooting at some game." Though hunting after dark didn't make any sense. "It's important that we keep close watch, no matter what happened." Monte was worried but there was nothing he could do until daylight.
"Want me to take the first turn?" the foreman asked.
"Why don't you eat and rest awhile?" The older man looked exhausted. "I can watch for a few hours."
Then he'd wake Jake or one of the other two cowboys back in the cave. They'd been lucky to find such a good shelter, with several branching tunnels and more than one entrance. Exploring, they'd found an opening that wasn't visible from the bandits' camp and had even been able to build a small fire.
Jake left and Monte walked to the edge of the sheer drop that lay in front of the cave. He stared down at the fires glowing like small red eyes in the darkness and wished he could see the bandits, could figure out what was going on. But even if he had Sam's telescope device, he wouldn't be able to see much in the dim light of the waning moon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE SURFACE of the tiny mirror seemed to emit a dim glow as Xosi gazed at herself by firelight. She was tired of traveling, could barely remember when she had last taken a bath. She could not remember when she had last been concerned with her looks.
But the handsome blond gringo Tezco had captured today had at least reminded her she was a woman. She frowned at her reflection, pursed her lips at how dirty and disheveled she appeared, then moved the little mirror higher to get a better look.
Which was when she saw a man in the oval of the mirror instead of her own image.
"A-h-h!" She dropped the mirror so it swung on its chain, the terrible vision she and Tezco had had at the pueblo coming back to haunt her.
Chills crawled up her spine.
Her brother had insisted they had only imagined things that day but he had obviously been wrong. Xosi's hands shook as she peered into the mirror one more time, ready to pull off the necklace and throw it away.
She paused only when she realized that this was not the vision she had had with Tezco -- a fierce face who'd glared directly out at them with burning eyes. This man in the mirror seemed ordinary, if good-looking and merely gazed into the distance. It was Xosi who seemed to be observing him like a bruja.
Fascinated, Xosi brought the mirror a little closer, admiring the man's powerful build and his strong blade of a nose. His dark eyes did not burn. Instead, they seemed wise. His firm, wide mouth looked sensual.
Mesmerized, Xosi examined the mirror carefully as if she were admiring a little picture – the light was dim but she could tell the man stood before the mouth of a cave and above the edge of a sheer drop. Far below him glowed tiny flickering lights which resembled fires.
Campfires?
With surprise, Xosi suddenly knew the man was staring down at their camp. And she even knew exactly where he stood, had seen the sheer cliff face on the mountain above them. She narrowed her eyes – yes, the position of the fires also indicated the stranger's position.
Xosi had heard about brujas reading the future or the truth of the present by gazing into the reflective surface of a bowl of water. Why would a mirror not do as well?
Not that she'd ever had any magical abilities. Or wanted them.
Nevertheless, Xosi was certain the mirror had shown her a truth, something that should be shared with Tezco. She remained resentful toward him, but he needed to know about the stranger on the mountainside, most certainly an enemy.
Handsome though the man might be, handsomer even than the blond gringo. Xosi preferred dark men. She widened her eyes then as she watched the man in the mirror put down the rifle he carried and open his shirt. He had hard flexing muscles. Well, she could watch a little while longer, she supposed, before going to find her brother.
"YOU CAME TO FIND ME," Louisa murmured, deeply touched, and she kissed Sam yet again.
Though his hands were bound, he managed to caress her cheek. "I want to take you in my arms."
"That'd be a bit difficult at the moment."
Especially when a guard might be observing them. Glancing behind her, Louisa noticed the burning arc of a cigarillo as a bandit threw it to the ground. She had no idea what the Mexican had seen but decided it was best to limit her gestures of affection. She scooted over, leaving a few inches between herself and Sam. But that didn't mean she couldn't gaze at him hungrily. His beard-stubbled, dirty, scarred face looked more beautiful than she ever remembered.
"No more kisses then?"
She wanted to say yes, to share the flame of her desire. "Not if we want to stay on the good side of Tezco."
"Is he the bastard who kidnapped you?"
The edge to Sam's voice brought back her own anger. And soured some of the initial sweetness at seeing him. "He followed me out to El Tigre's corral." Then she said accusingly, "What the hell happened to you anyway? You were supposed to be there."
"I was late, getting cleaned up."
At least he'd come at all. "I thought you'd gone off and deserted me again."
"I never deserted –"
She cut him off. "Let's not fight, Sam. Tezco will be suspicious if he sees us arguing. He's got a lot of power as the leader of this band."
"I noticed him ordering the others around."
"I met him the night of the fiesta." She ignored Sam's frown. "You saw him, too. Remember the candle dance?"
"I remember." He added, voice cold, "I'll kill him if he's touched you."
Her reaction to his jealousy was double-edged. On the one hand, she was moved that he wanted to defend her honor. On the other, she couldn't help remembering the way he'd questioned her about other men, and after he'd been gone for so many years.
Though still indignant over that argument, she knew the safest course right now was to be truthful, "Tezco hasn't done any more than try to kiss me, though he wants me to be his woman."
"I'll still kill him. He had no right to carry you off."
"I'll settle for putting him in jail." She shuddered, gazing at the nearest campfire, where some bandits were preparing to bury the body of the man who'd been shot tonight. "I've seen enough death for a while, thank you." Not that she blamed Sam for firing on an attacker.
"Are you all right?"
The emotion in his voice nearly made her cry. She swallowed, refusing to let her voice shake. "I'm okay outside. Inside, well, I've been doing a lot of thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
"My life. I've been riding for a fall."
"I agree you may have taken a few too many chances. But you'd be bored if you played it completely safe. You're an exciting, courageous woman."
She couldn't let herself off that easily. "Except my courage wasn't always of the good sort. Sometimes I did whatever I wanted come hell or high water, not caring in the least what happened to me." Or how her friends and family felt.
"I know what that's like."
She raised her brows at his sympathetic tone. "You took too many chances in the army?"
"At times. But the worst problem came afterward – I was a down and out drunk."
She hadn't thought of his use of alcohol in quite that way. "Maybe we both have a death wish. Ma and Frances told me I did but I wouldn't believe it...until this happened, until a bandit stole me away from my home, kept me a prisoner, treated me like some k
ind of possession."
"You're blaming yourself?"
"I flirted with Tezco at the dance. I went out to the corral by myself and didn't even check to see if anyone was following me –"
Sam interrupted with a growl of anger. "I'm going to kill him for sure, as soon as I get loose!" Then he added fiercely, "You have a right to be wherever you want, Louisa, whenever you want to be there. It's against both moral and legal law to steal anything, doubly so a human being." He went on, "I can't stand seeing you like this. This man is trying to destroy your spirit."
Tezco claimed not, but the situation he'd put her in had taken its toll. Thank God Sam was helping her regain her perspective. A weight seemed to lift from her heart.
"I cherish your pride and your wildness, even your fearlessness," Sam told her. "I always have."
He cherished her. Wasn't that the same thing as saying he loved her? Still, Louisa longed to hear the exact words. Feeling needy and lost, something she'd rarely admitted to in her life, she wanted to hear about deep crazy emotions that had made Sam come after her all on his own.
She leaned forward. "So when you went to the corral to meet me and saw that I was gone, you just took off after me?"
"I waited until the next morning. I had to gather supplies and round up some men. This Tezco character left a note telling me not to go after Montgomery if I wanted you safe. He works for the madman."
Louisa started. Had he come after her, then, or was he merely fulfilling his duty, attending to that last assignment to get that madman, Beaufort Montgomery?
"There were four of us to begin with," he was saying, "me, Javier, Ben and an Apache tracker. Of course, that was before the Apache disappeared."