He reached the outer gate that proudly proclaimed the ranch as "Big Willy's." Thaddeus snickered. Did the man have a sense of humor or was the name ironic?
Leaving Lucky tied to the gate post, he went through the gate and along the fence, crouched low and noiseless. Senses on high alert, he was almost disappointed by the lack of defense. No gunshots, not even a knife came his way. In fact, no movement of any kind, he realized, surveying the empty paddocks on either side of him—only long lines of fencing holding nothing. It was the bleakest ranch he'd ever seen.
Once past the outer corrals, Thaddeus stood within spitting distance of the modest house when he heard the first warning, "Get off my land."
My land? This was Willy, himself, and still no ranch hands in sight. Curious. Ducking behind a water barrel, Thaddeus decided to be direct: "Give me back... uh... my wife!"
Silence. Then Willy spoke again: "Your wife?"
Thaddeus didn't know what else to say. "Yes, my wife. Ellie had neglected to mention their little pretense, it seemed. "I want her back. Unharmed."
More silence. Presumably Willy was discussing the matter with Ellie.
"Well, hell," said Willy. "You better come in. I'm backing away from the window."
Nothing in the man's frustrated voice made it sound like a trap, and Thaddeus didn't feel that all-overish sensation he got when he was walking into danger. Nevertheless, as he opened the front door and ducked inside, he kept his gun out and his finger on the trigger.
It took him a moment to comprehend the scene in front of him. Willy Long, whom Thaddeus recognized from the gaming table at The Silver Dollar, stood with his gun drawn and pointed at Ellie. She sat, arms crossed, pig-headed expression in place, at a table strewn with cards.
Feeling the same rush of relief after he found her the last time, Thaddeus gave her a long look, checking for injury. Except for a scratch on her neck and her hair being mussed, she seemed none the worse.
"Lower your weapon," Willy said.
Ellie clucked her tongue. "He's not going to shoot me, Thaddeus. Don't even listen to him."
Willy cocked his gun. "I've had enough of your snippiness," he said to her.
"You know, Ellie," Thaddeus said, putting his gun in its holster. "I think we better listen to him. His gun could go off by mistake because his hand seems to be trembling with rage. What have you been doing to Mr. Young?"
The chair tipped over backward, as she shot to a standing position.
"What have I been doing?" She stalked toward him. "What have I been doing?"
"I'll tell you," Willy interrupted, also lowering his gun. "She's been giving me the runaround. I simply want her to show me how she won. Every. Damn. Hand."
Thaddeus raised his eyebrows and looked at her with even more respect.
"Really, darlin'? Every hand?" He whistled.
She smiled and ducked her head, blushing slightly.
"If you two are finished with the admiration, get back over to this table, missy." He raised his gun again.
She sighed. "Honestly, Mr. Young, there is no trick. I have a knack is all."
"A knack for bilking people," Willy conjectured.
Thaddeus didn't like where this was going. "You can't kidnap a woman and accuse her of cheating. Where's your proof?"
"Let's play, then," Willy said. "Right here, right now. She can't cheat if she never handles the cards. She can pull her sleeves up high, too. If she wins, I'll let her go. If she loses, then heaven help her."
"Fine," Ellie said at the same time as Thaddeus said, "No."
"Ellie, there are no guarantees that you'll win," he warned. Nothing worse than a cocky gambler.
"Against him?" She jerked her thumb at Willy. "I'm not worried." And there was the cockiness Thaddeus had feared.
"You can tell me how you did it and then we don't have to play," Willy offered.
"Let's play," Ellie said, letting Willy right her chair for her. "Thaddeus, you sit in, too. And while we're playing, Mr. Young, I'll show you everything I'm doing and how I win. Then you'll let us go. Deal?"
"What about my money?" Willy said, laying his pistol down and taking a seat as Thaddeus did the same.
"It's my money now. I won it fair and square at The Silver Dollar. But I'll give you a chance to win some of it back. We'll play three hands, seven-card stud, like at the saloon."
She put some of her winnings in the center of the table. "Everyone, ante up," she said.
"Wait," Willy said. "Push up your sleeves."
She rolled her eyes but did as he asked, and then both men put money on the table.
For the next, twenty minutes, Eliza narrated what she was doing at every moment, without giving her own cards away. She was watching what was played and keeping track.
Thaddeus narrowed his eyes. Whether dumb luck or real skill, she won the first hand with trips, while he had merely a pair, but it was higher than Willy's pair.
Reclaiming a little of his masculinity, Thaddeus beat Ellie's hand on the second round, but just barely, his queen over her jack. On the last hand, however, she trounced them both soundly with a full house.
Thaddeus whistled. "Well, there you have it, Mr. Young. She's a natural and she counts the cards is all. It's not cheating; it's as much skill as you can bring to a game that depends so much on luck of the draw."
Willy rubbed his jaw. "I guess so. Perhaps I ought to keep her around, though. I could pay her to play for me. I can make it worth your while, missy."
Looking at his worn suit and thinking of his empty ranch, Thaddeus couldn't imagine how. Clearly, Willy Long had no cattle and no money, no men working for him and, apparently, no luck at cards either.
"We had a deal, Mr. Young," Ellie said, getting up. "I'm going with my husband."
Willy looked as though he might pick up his gun again. But he didn't. He hung his head, then cradled it on his arms on the table.
Ellie and Thaddeus regarded the dejected creature, then shared a commiserating look. Gesturing for her to move to the door, Thaddeus moved right behind her on quick and quiet feet.
Swinging it open, he pushed her ahead of him and stepped out into the night, at the same time as he realized Willy Young was sobbing.
"Gonna lose everything," Thaddeus heard him moan.
Dreading the sound of a single desperate gunshot, he hurried them away from the house toward Lucky.
"That poor man," Ellie said.
Thaddeus turned astonished eyes on her. "He nabbed you from our room."
"I know, but I see now he was at the end of his tether."
Helping her onto their horse, he swung up behind her, not bothering to fight off the relieved feeling that he was right back where he should be, close to Ellie.
"I think Willy Young should've quit gambling a long time ago," he said, flicking the reins. "But that's the bad side of it, I guess. Everyone can't win, and some lose more than others."
"I wish I could help him somehow."
He almost slipped off the back of the horse in disbelief. Then he laughed.
"What?" she asked.
"You continue to surprise me, darlin'."
She shrugged. "That's because you don't know me very well."
Maybe he didn't know the grown-up Ellie as much as he knew the young girl. "I guess I don't."
"You should've stayed friends with Riley. Do you truly think he would have agreed to marry me if I was the terrible person folks were always trying to make me out to be?"
"I never thought you were terrible," Thaddeus said, tamping down the familiar niggling of useless jealousy, as ugly as the muddy mottled skin on a toad's back. That she would think Riley saw more in her than he did gave him a bellyache.
Ellie was on her pulpit now and continued, "Some people do some good in the world and don't feel the need to shout about it on the rooftops."
"And you're one of those people?" He couldn't hide the smile in his voice. She might not be on a rooftop, but she was boasting all the same.
"Never mind," she said, falling silent. "I'll let my actions speak for themselves."
"I noticed you didn't leave him his money," Thaddeus said.
Ellie shook her head and tried to turn an earnest look his way, even though it meant twisting around and practically falling off Lucky.
He held onto her. "Stay still, damn it." But he liked having his arms around her.
"I was only going to say that he wouldn't want that type of charity. No man would. He lost to me fair and square. Besides, the piddling amount of money I won isn't going to save the man his ranch. It would hardly buy him a couple horses."
Thaddeus hated to argue with her, but his gut told him Willy Long would've taken every red cent of charity that anyone gave him. He seemed that desperate.
"Where are we going?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject as she noticed that they were not going in the direction of the hotel.
"I'm not rightly sure," he said truthfully, though he knew by the moon's locale that he was heading in the direction of Panola. "Do you have any other friends here besides out-of-luck gamblers? Some town drunks perhaps?"
She laughed; it was a delightful sound, and with her still in his arms, he felt it through his whole body. Sweet mercy, how he l... liked her. A lot. Too much. He had to focus on getting her to Boston and safety, and then he needed to get on with his business before he was as down and out as Willy Young.
"If we don't get shot at, we'll keep riding. If we do, then we'll ride faster, but I'm thinking that eventually, we'll need another place to hide."
She stiffened, probably remembering how it turned out last time, with him behaving abominably and her running away.
"But we'll keep riding for now," he added hurriedly. "We haven't seen the Indian even though we've been out in the open."
"Maybe he gave up?" she asked.
"More likely he got the telegraph operator out of bed and sent a telegram back to Stoddard that he'd found us, and he's waiting for Bart and his men to join him."
"Oh." She was using her small voice that evoked all his protective instincts and made him want to lock her away where he alone could find her.
"Maybe we should have stayed at Mr. Young's then," she said.
"Nope, too easy a target. Too many windows and doors for me to guard. And staying in Minonk was asking to be caught."
He felt her sigh, but she said nothing more. In fact, they didn't speak for at least an hour until they came to a small rocky stream. Lucky didn't like it, especially in the dark, so Thaddeus got off and led him.
"It's perfect," he said to Ellie. Though he hated wet boots, he appreciated the coolness of the water and the air by the stream, a welcome break from the heat that hadn't abated much even at night. "Nothing better for losing a tracker than water."
Instead of crossing, he picked his way cautiously along the stream bed for a few minutes. Hopefully, their exit point wouldn't be obvious.
When at last he chose a spot that had no soft mud to show hoof prints, it was precariously rocky and getting Lucky out without Ellie sliding off would be difficult.
"Come on down, darlin'" He held up his arms to her.
"What? Thaddeus, no!" She gripped the saddle horn even tighter.
"What's the matter? I'm not asking you to swim. I just need to get the horse out of the water safely without her breaking a leg or you falling in."
She hesitated, looking all around. "I can't see the bottom. Besides, there might be snakes."
Chuckling, he lifted up his feet, wet only to his knees. "I can feel the bottom; it's not deep at all. As for snakes," he glanced around, "they're all sleeping." He didn't know what else to say. It hadn't occurred to him that Ellie might be fearful. After all, his sister used to kill rattlers with the shovel head.
"Sleeping?" she repeated. "Really?"
Even this tiny lie made him uncomfortable, but he needed to get her off Lucky's back.
"Sure they are. Anyway, you can step on this rock," he said, gesturing to a flat grey stone that rose up out of the water like a table. "It'll keep your feet dry."
Leading Lucky to one side of it, he held out his arms to Ellie again, and she let him help her down. He didn't mind the way her body slid down his, not one bit. She couldn't step away as Lucky was pressed behind her. Thaddeus knew he ought to back up and give her room, but for a moment, he held onto her.
With her hands resting on his chest, she kept her head down, regarding the moonlit water that trickled around her small stone island. If she tilted her head, Thaddeus could kiss her easily and would have. He waited another heartbeat, but when she didn't look up, he stepped aside.
Grabbing Lucky's reins, he pulled the resisting horse carefully over the slippery rocks and up the bank before tying her to a tree. When he turned, Ellie was on her knees.
"What in the Sam Hill are you doing?"
Raising her head, she said, "I thought I'd take a drink and maybe wash my face. It seems like forever since I had fresh water."
She was right about that.
"Good idea. I'll fill my canteen." He reached for it and when he glanced again, his breath caught in his throat. Perched at the edge of the rock, Ellie's hair captured the pale moonlight and transformed into an unearthly glowing mane.
"You look like a fairy," he blurted out. "Or a water sprite."
"Silly goose," she said, but her smile grew broader. She dipped a hand in and brought it to her lips. "It's chilly, but delicious." Inching closer to the edge, she used two hands to bring more water up to her lips, then she patted the back of her neck with more.
She leaned farther over the water with her head and shoulders. Thaddeus watched as, almost in slow motion, the smooth, flat rock began to tilt.
"Oh," she wailed, feeling her world tipping. And as the rock sloped farther, she had nowhere to put her hands to stop herself from sliding face first into the stream. Which she did.
"Ah," she screamed as soon as she lifted her face out of the water.
"Ellie!" Thaddeus was at her side in an instant, helping her up and trying very hard not to laugh.
She flailed around angrily, managing to soak herself even more, until finally, she was on her feet, standing knee deep in the middle of the stream with her skirt swirling around her legs, and even her coat and bodice were soaking.
He held her elbow until she wrenched it free, nearly falling again before he grabbed her and steadied her. She took a look at the offending rock, and they both noted it was flat as a flapjack again.
"Must be another rock under it," he said, keeping all trace of humor out of his voice. "It's acting like a fulcrum. You disturbed the balance."
Ellie had a habit of doing that, it seemed, to more or less everything and everyone.
"Oh, do you think so?" she asked, glaring at him, before gingerly picking her way out of the stream.
"At least you got your face washed," he said, wishing he could bring back her stunning smile. "And your hair."
She made an exclamatory sound and sat down on the rocks next to Lucky to remove her shoes. Next, she peeled off her drenched stockings while he watched, unable to look away. Then she stood up and shimmied out of her skirt, at which point, he tore his gaze from her.
"Um, how much are you going to take off?" he asked, staring at the stars that were going to wink out in an hour or so as dawn approached.
"All of it, down to my shift. I can't ride around soaking wet."
He swallowed and left the water to join her on the bank. What else could he do? He started to strip.
"What on earth?" she asked him, pausing as she unbuttoned the waistband of her sodden skirt.
"I'm getting in that stream. You made it look so inviting," he said, shooting her a grin, "and my feet are wet already. I might as well have a cold swim."
He put his boots down next to her shoes. "Besides, with you undressing, I don't think we're going anywhere for a while." He laid the rest of his clothes in a pile, standing before her in only his black pants. "You better turn away now, Ell
ie," he challenged with another grin. "Last chance."
To his amusement, she did as he said, standing up and disappearing a few yards past Lucky where the rocks gave way to brush and trees. Unfastening his fly, he removed his pants and waded into the water. Finding the deepest spot, he sunk down in the middle of the stream and splashed. Then he got down to business, soaking his head long enough he hoped so his dust-covered hair was back to its normal brown color with what his sister liked to call highlights of russet.
He laughed, scrubbing at his face with his hands and thinking how great it would be to see Charlotte again. Finally, he sat still, letting the water soothe his muscles.
From dressed, armed, and riding a horse to the two of them naked and soaking wet—how vulnerable he and Ellie now were! But the water felt good, he couldn't deny. All week, even though it was only May, it'd been unseasonably hot as a whorehouse on nickel night, and the cool stream was pure bliss. He glanced over to where she'd disappeared from view.
"Ellie?" he called out, uneasy at having her out of his sight. "Come on back. I'm covered."
"No," she said. "I'm not properly dressed. Do you think I'm going to stand in the middle of the great wide open?"
He glanced around the secluded copse of trees surrounding the streambed.
"Hardly wide open," he muttered, shaking the water from his wild wet hair.
Suddenly piercing the tranquility, Ellie screamed, bloodcurdlingly loud and long. Thaddeus surged out of the water and slipped, going down hard on his knee before he stood again and hopped from rock to rock. Racing past Lucky, all the while shouting her name, he found her standing stock still.
"Ellie—" Her name died on his lips at seeing the expression on her ashen face. "What?" he whispered, dreading her next words.
She pointed at the tree next to her.
"Snake," she croaked, almost unable to speak; he could scarcely hear her anyway over the pounding of his heart. "Snake," she repeated.
Swinging his gaze to the tree, he expected to see a rattler of epic proportions or a cottonmouth. But it wasn't either, and it wasn't even a snake.
An Inescapable Attraction (The Defiant Hearts Series, Book 3) Page 8