by Tess LeSue
“You don’t need to say it aloud,” Luke said, rising. He knew he’d promised the kid he wouldn’t lead Victoria on, but he couldn’t bear to see a woman in distress. He took her hands, which were trembling. “I can well imagine what he was after. A lovely young lady like yourself, all alone in the world, with a kid brother and sister to support. I’m sure he thought you were easy pickings. He didn’t lay a hand on you, did he?”
Victoria thought back to that horrible day, when Silas had closed in on Alex on the porch, crushing her against him. “Just a kiss,” she said brokenly. She knew it was a sin to lie, but Luke was looking at her with such tenderness, and his hands were so big and strong around hers. Surely God would understand one little lie?
Luke’s expression turned black. They were vile, those Gradys. Hunting that poor kid down like she was an animal, abusing Adam and trying to take advantage of an innocent like Victoria. “I’ll get them,” he promised her. “They won’t bother you that way ever again.”
A tear rolled down Victoria’s cheek and splattered on the sunny yellow of her calico. Luke did what came naturally, and pulled her close to comfort her.
* * *
• • •
ALEX HAD SPENT most of the night drowning in her churning thoughts. As a result, she slept later than usual. She knew without having to look that her face was swollen from crying. She rubbed at her eyes half-heartedly, but she had lost any sense of vanity by now.
Why had they let her sleep so late? she wondered. Why weren’t they on the move already? They usually left camp just after daybreak.
When she emerged from the wagon, Alex was startled again by the beauty of Ash Hollow. The dappled light through the leaves of the cottonwoods, the air rich with the perfume of the wild roses. It lifted her spirits just to see it.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Adam greeted her. He had finished with Delilah and had moved on to grooming the mules. Alex had never seen anyone spend so much time brushing a mule’s coat before, but she didn’t have the heart to say so to Adam.
“Have you seen Luke?” she asked. She wanted to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible. She would admit to being thirteen—for Victoria’s sake—and confess the whole sorry story about the Gradys. Well, obviously not the whole story, not the part about Silas believing himself in love with her, but the rest of it: the gold and the bonds and the escaped slaves. Friends, he said. Well, fine, they’d be friends, and he could help her shoulder this awful burden.
“He went for a walk,” Adam told her absently, gesturing in the direction of the springs.
Alex set off through the dew-damp grass with a heavy heart. She was so sick of pretending to be someone she wasn’t. For one wild moment last night, when his lips had touched her ear and he’d whispered those marvelous words—do you want to tell me why you’re all dressed up like a boy—Alex had thought the charade was over. In that breathless moment she’d imagined that she’d turn to see him looking at her the way he had at Dolly’s, with that hungry, black gaze that promised so much and seared her to the core.
But when she’d turned he’d been looking at her in the most brotherly way imaginable. And his “sweethearts” were mixed with “runts” and “kids.”
So here she was: no longer a boy. Now . . . now she was a child.
She couldn’t wait to get to Oregon. She would surrender control to her older brother, Stephen, lace herself into her old dresses and be grateful for the rest of her life that she could simply be plain old Alexandra Barratt.
Alex emerged into the grove and stopped dead. There, in a slant of golden sunshine, was Victoria. In Luke’s arms.
That bastard sure didn’t waste any time.
24
“YOU CAN QUIT glaring at me,” Luke said dryly. “For one thing, if you don’t pay more attention to that horse you’re liable to fall off.” He eyed the kid with no small measure of exasperation. Alex had refused to speak to him ever since she’d blundered into the glade and misinterpreted things between him and her sister. He suspected she’d only come along for their usual morning ride to keep him well away from Victoria. “I get the feeling you don’t exactly trust me, runt.”
She gave him an evil look, but still didn’t speak.
“I don’t see why you’re getting hot under the collar,” he sighed. “I was only offering her some comfort.”
“I could see that,” she muttered under her breath.
“Hell, what was I supposed to do? She was in a state about the way that Grady manhandled her.”
Alex straightened in the saddle. “What?” One of the Gradys had interfered with Victoria? Why hadn’t she told Alex? Alex’s blood ran cold at the thought of one of those greasy lowlifes laying a hand on her sister.
“She told me how Silas came sniffing around her. The way he threatened you to get at her. The way he tried to force himself on her.”
Alex drew a sharp breath, completely missing the cold anger in Luke’s voice. In her mind’s eye she could see Victoria standing in the shaft of sunshine, leaning into Luke, staring up at him with big moist eyes. She could well imagine the way Victoria had manipulated the situation, painting herself into the story, in place of Alex. Oh, her sister was headed for such a world of heartache. “You said you’d leave her be,” she said sharply, turning the evil glare back on Luke.
“I ain’t the type to leave a lady in distress.”
“So offer her your handkerchief,” Alex snapped, “there’s no need to go sweeping her up in your arms like that. Don’t you know what that will do to a girl?”
Luke’s eyes narrowed as he took in the kid’s agitation.
All of a sudden he broke into a grin, the dimple flashing in his cheek. Alex frowned suspiciously. She didn’t see what he was smiling about.
It was suddenly clear to Luke. The kid had a crush. He may not know much about young girls, but he remembered well enough what it was like to be thirteen. Hell, he’d about died of love for Rosita, their cook. She’d been a good fifteen years older than him, with deep-gold skin and jet-black hair. He’d dreamed about her every night, and could barely manage to say two words in her presence. Rosita had only to look at another man and he shriveled with jealousy.
Luke remembered the way the kid had wilted under his massage the night before. And the rage in her eyes when she stumbled into the clearing to find Victoria pressed against his chest. It all made perfect sense. The kid was jealous.
Alex didn’t like the patronizing way he was grinning at her. “If you hurt my sister,” she warned in dire tones, but she could tell he wasn’t listening.
“How many times are we going to have this conversation?” he remarked. And then the annoying man actually started whistling.
She could still hear him whistling a couple of hours later, when she was back driving the mules. He and Adam were up in the front with Sebastian, both easy in the saddle, their faces turned happily into the golden sunshine. Alex had to grit her teeth at the sight. Her own rear was rubbed raw, and that golden sunshine was burning her nose. Every time Victoria shifted on the seat beside her Alex wanted to jab her with her elbow. She wouldn’t be feeling so wretched if Victoria had kept her damn yellow calico packed away where it belonged.
A sudden gunshot echoed across the plains, resounding like thunder.
Alex and Victoria screamed as Cranky Bob stumbled. He went down hard, dragging Surly Sue with him.
“Get in the wagon,” Alex ordered, giving Victoria a shove. Her sister scrambled into the back of the wagon. Much good it would do, Alex thought wildly, as she tumbled from the wagon, looking around for the source of the gunshot; that canvas was no match for a bullet.
“You shot the mule?” Luke said in disbelief, as he and Adam came charging down the line.
“Of course I didn’t shoot the mule!” Alex snarled, crouching behind Bob’s still body. Her heart was racing like a jackrabbi
t. There, right in front of her, was a small, deadly hole in Bob’s hide. The poor thing hadn’t stood a chance; the bullet had gone straight through his brain. “Get down,” she hissed at the men.
Beside her, Sue was braying in panic as she tried to get to her feet. She was harnessed closely to Bob and was having trouble standing. Adam dismounted and went to her aid. Alex seized his arm and dragged him down beside her in the dirt. He went rigid as he was confronted with Cranky Bob’s corpse. Alex heard his breath catch and her heart ached for him. “Would you get off that damn horse?” she snapped at Luke. Didn’t the fool realize what a target he made, sitting up there, silhouetted against the horizon?
Luke wasn’t listening. He yanked his spyglass from his saddlebag.
“What are you doing?” Alex’s fingers clenched around Adam’s arm as she watched Luke scan the plains. “He’ll shoot you!”
“Who’ll shoot me?” Luke asked calmly, swinging down from Delilah. He tossed Alex the spyglass and moved to disentangle Sue. Alex fumbled and the spyglass rolled away. She slithered on her belly through the dust to retrieve it.
“Gideon,” she snapped as she lifted the glass to her eye with trembling fingers. “Gideon will shoot you!” Far in the distance she could see a pale thread of dust rising. It was a rider. Her heart stopped, until she realized that the rider was receding into the hazy distance, and not looming closer.
“What makes you think it was Gideon?” he asked her, as Sue gained her feet with a relieved heehaw. “Why wouldn’t it be Silas? Isn’t he the one who’s set on your sister?”
“Silas can’t shoot that straight,” Alex told him.
Luke dropped to one knee beside the fallen mule. He rested a sympathetic hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Well,” he remarked, “whoever shot this animal was a crack shot. Unless they weren’t aiming for the mule.”
Alex dropped the spyglass. Suppose he hadn’t been aiming at Bob? Suppose the gun had been pointing at Victoria . . . Would Silas go to such lengths to intimidate her?
Or had it been Gideon? Maybe killing the mule was his way of threatening them. Which one of them was out there? Or were they both out there? She had only seen one rider. “Where are you going?” she asked wildly, as Adam got to his feet. “Would you get down!”
“Relax, runt, whoever it was has gone now,” Luke said.
“How do you know? How do you know that rider was the one shooting at us?”
“I don’t see anyone else.”
“He could be hiding!”
“Where?” Luke gestured at the featureless plain.
“What’s happening out there?” Victoria shrilled from the wagon.
“Just stay there for the moment, Miss Alexander!” Luke called.
At that moment Adam came back with a shovel. Without a word, he stopped beside Alex and began digging. She squealed when he dumped a shovelful of dirt on her foot.
Luke cleared his throat. “I’m not sure we have time to stop and bury him, Adam.”
Adam stabbed the earth and the explosion of dust had Alex coughing. She staggered to her feet, shaking off the dirt. Another shovelful went flying, striking her in the chest. “Adam!”
“You never liked him!” Her brother scowled.
“I told you I didn’t shoot the damn mule! It was the Gradys!”
“He never did anything to you.”
“Oh, no? You want to see the teeth marks?” She darted behind Luke as another shovelful of dirt sailed in her direction.
“Alex didn’t shoot him, Adam.”
“I know. She can’t shoot straight either.”
Alex and Luke looked at each other helplessly. By now the other members of the wagon train had gathered. “What the hell happened?”
“Who’s doing all the shooting?”
“Thank the Lord it was just the mule!”
“Is it Indians? Tell me it’s not Indians!”
“Calm down, folks,” Luke called, spreading his hands and giving them all a rueful look. “For all we know it was just a hunter’s stray bullet.”
A hunter’s stray bullet? Alex poked him in the ribs, but he ignored her.
“We’ll just take a minute to bury this poor animal, and then we’ll be back on our way.”
“Is it safe?” Ned O’Brien asked nervously.
Luke scooped up his spyglass and passed it to the easterner. “Have a look around. We’re alone out here.” Alex poked him in the ribs again. He didn’t blink an eye. “Our best bet is to press on to Fort Laramie.” He captured Alex’s hand as she went to jab him again. “Just to be on the safe side, I’ll ride scout, and Mal can bring up the rear. And we’ll post a lookout at night. It’s nothing to worry about.”
The sound of Adam’s shovel punctuated Luke’s words and sent a chill through Alex. What if they didn’t make it to Fort Laramie? Unconsciously, her hand tightened around Luke’s. He felt it and gave her a squeeze.
“Come with me,” he murmured to her, as the group dispersed. “We’ll get a couple more shovels, Adam, and be right back.”
Luke led her to the chuck wagon, keeping a tight grip on her trembling hand. Once they were inside she was astonished to find herself pulled into his arms. She went rigid.
His large hand was rubbing circles on her back.
“What are you doing?” she asked tightly, trying to pull away. He wouldn’t let her. His arms were like iron around her.
“I know you’re trying to act tough, kiddo,” he said, “but you’re still a little girl. I know you’re scared.”
She clenched her jaw and glared up at him. A little girl?
“Grown men would be frightened in your position,” he told her.
Glory, she’d forgotten how dangerous his eyes were. They were so liquid and warm, black as a moonless summer’s night and just as heady.
Gently, Luke set her away from him. He recognized that look in her eyes, and he didn’t want to lead the poor kid on. But at least she wasn’t frightened anymore. He chucked her under the chin and handed her a shovel.
Alex stared at it witlessly. She had the sudden urge to hit him over the head with it.
25
ALL WAS CALM until the night after they passed Courthouse Rock. It was the first time Luke hadn’t let a group take a detour to look at the rocks. He wouldn’t admit it to the Alexanders, but he was mighty nervous about those Gradys. He wouldn’t rest easy until those vultures were safe behind bars at Fort Laramie. So, despite entreaties from the Watts brothers and Ned O’Brien, he wouldn’t waste time sightseeing. The rocks were several miles away, and he’d known groups to while away a whole day poking about, taking in the views from their pinnacles.
When they made camp the hulking rocks loomed in the distance, turning grayish-blue in the fading light. After the sun had set, a huge yellow moon rose and the wolves started up. They gave Alex the shivers. “Adam,” she pleaded, “please sleep in the wagon with us?”
But her brother was still mad at her. He’d tied the mules to the wheels by his bedding and chose to spend his time with them. He was especially attentive to Sue, who nuzzled him gratefully.
Another wolf let loose; the undulating cry echoed, bouncing off the rocks and rolling through the camp. Victoria moaned and grasped for Alex’s arm.
“You’ll be fine,” Luke assured them. “I’ll be right out here, and so will Adam. No wolf is going to come into the camp.”
Alex gave him a sour look. It wasn’t the wolves she was worried about. Not the four-legged kind anyway.
“I’ll sleep right by your wagon, if it would make you feel better,” he volunteered.
“Oh, it would,” Victoria hastened to agree.
Alex couldn’t sleep. She didn’t feel safe, not even with Luke sleeping at the foot of the wagon. Through the canvas arch she could see the flicker of distant lightning, highlighting the scudding clouds. A br
isk breeze was picking up and the hair on the back of her neck began to prickle.
One by one the wolves fell silent. Alex sat up. She had an awfully bad feeling. A sudden crack of thunder made her yelp. For a moment, she thought it was another gunshot.
Within a heartbeat Luke appeared. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she stammered, “I just thought . . .”
He gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s just a summer storm.”
She nodded, but tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t banish the image of Adam lowering poor old Bob into his dusty grave.
“You want me to sit up with you for a bit?” Luke whispered. Without waiting for a reply, he climbed up beside her. One long arm settled around her shoulders. Silently they watched the lightning flash. There was an eerie silence for a breathless moment before the thunder rumbled.
They were out there, Alex thought desperately, they were out there and they were coming for her. Somewhere out there Silas was licking his lips as he fantasized about capturing her. And Gideon . . . She shivered. Dear Lord, she thought she’d rather let Silas have her than face Gideon.
Against the horizon Alex could see the haze of a rainstorm, marching closer.
“I’d best get my bedding and move under the wagon with Adam,” Luke remarked.
Alex looked up at him. His profile was outlined against the stark night. She didn’t want him to go. She felt calmer, safer, when he was by her side. “Couldn’t you stay in here?” she asked in a small voice.
He looked down at her, startled. He kept forgetting how young she was. Most of the time she strode around like the boy she pretended to be, confident and ornery, bossing her brother and sister around like she was the eldest. But just now, looking down into those wide, anxious eyes, Luke could see the vulnerable girl she really was. When he’d tried to comfort her after the mule had been shot she’d resisted him. He was surprised to find her asking for comfort now.