Hill Country Cattleman

by Laurie Kingery

  “You villain! Nick would pound you into smithereens before letting me wed you. Why would I care what you say happened? I’ll be going home to England soon—any day now,” she hissed. And maybe that wasn’t a lie. If he succeeded in keeping her here until he decided to take her back to Nick with his outrageous lies, she’d be too embarrassed to face the doubt in Raleigh’s eyes. Her brother would defend her, but after her previous near-elopement with Gerald, wouldn’t even he begin to think her impulsiveness might be somewhat to blame for this disaster?

  “You’ll feel better after you think about it for a while,” he assured her. “Or perhaps, not for a while, until you see how wonderful our life will be together. You’ll be the governor’s lady, or maybe the senator’s lady, someday. Almost as good as being a duchess, eh?”

  “You’re mad,” she breathed, hoping the tears stinging her eyes didn’t escape down her cheeks and make her look weak. “Leave me alone. I can’t bear to look at you.”

  He chuckled and straightened. “Mad with love for you, dear Violet.”

  She heard retreating footsteps, and when she opened her eyes again, she was alone in the room.

  Nothing left to do but pray. And wait.

  * * *

  Raleigh left his horse at the hitching post and headed for the bunkhouse after hearing Cookie ring the dinner triangle. He’d mount up again right after a quick midday meal and ride over to Brookfields’ ranch, ask to see Violet and tell her everything that was on his heart.

  There were four other horses at the hitching post. Of all the luck. Jase, Wes, Shep and Quint had probably eaten all the biscuits, if Cookie hadn’t kept any back for him.

  Then he spotted a trio of horsemen galloping up the lane to the ranch, followed by the cloud of dust they had raised. Shading his eyes, he could make out Bishop in the lead, and as they drew closer, Nick Brookfield and Bobby Gibson, Nick’s youngest hand.

  Cookie had peeked out and seen them coming, too, for he hustled outside, wiping his hands on his much-stained canvas apron. “What in thunder? I hope those fellas don’t think they’re gonna eat in the bunkhouse. I shore didn’t make enough for three more mouths.”

  “I don’t think they’re in that much of a hurry for your vittles, Cookie,” Raleigh said, and ignored the old man’s glare as he stepped forward to meet the riders as they reined in their horses.

  “I need at least three of you for a posse, right now,” Bishop barked out. “Mount up!”

  “My sister’s missing,” Nick explained, his eyes on Raleigh, “and Miss Ella told the sheriff that she overheard some men plotting to take her to some shack over beyond Allbright’s ranch. Get on your roan, Raleigh! I’ll explain more while we ride, but we’ve got to hurry!”

  All five of them scrambled for their horses, leaving a sputtering Cookie in their dusty wake to explain what was going on to Jack Collier when he heard the commotion and saw his cowhands galloping away down the road. Then he, too, ran for the barn to saddle his horse and catch up with them.

  It proved difficult to hear the details as they pounded over the road, but Raleigh managed to catch the essential facts—Violet had left on Lady this morning, and Nick was pretty sure she’d been heading toward Colliers’ Roost. Bishop and his deputy had appeared at his ranch just half an hour ago, telling them that Ella Justiss had been found the day before in the saloon, knocked out cold, her face bloody from a nasty cut in her scalp, probably made by the broken bottle found by her. She’d just come around this morning and had demanded to see Bishop, and she told him she’d heard Allbright plotting to take Violet and hold her in some cabin out beyond his ranch.

  “Told you he weren’t no good, didn’t I?” Bobby put in, having spurred his horse to ride on the roan’s other side after Nick had rejoined Bishop. The young cowboy probably feared Nick would blame him because he hadn’t confided his opinion to Nick earlier.

  Lord, please protect Violet! Raleigh wasn’t sure how his blood could run boiling hot and ice-cold in his veins at the same time, but that was the way he felt. Violet was at the mercy of that low-down snake. He’d known when he’d seen the man at Violet’s side, pressing her to let him escort her home from the party, that he was no good. He should have listened to his gut and slammed his fist into the man’s too-handsome face right then. He only hoped Bishop wasn’t counting on holding a trial, for Raleigh wasn’t sure he’d leave enough pieces of Drew Allbright to convict.

  An eternity seemed to pass before they’d covered the distance between Colliers’ Roost and Allbright’s ranch, but when they drew up outside the ornate wrought-iron gates, Bishop summoned Bobby forward. “You’re the only one who’s been out here, boy. Any idea where this shack is Miss Ella was talking about?”

  Bobby shrugged. “I was only in the corrals over yonder that day of the brandin’, Sheriff Bishop. His cowboys are mostly Mexican, and I don’t speak the lingo, so I didn’t hear about any such place.”

  “Maybe this fellow can tell us,” Raleigh said, pointing to a swarthy cowboy riding toward them.

  “Can I help you, señor? That is, Sheriff?” he corrected himself when he spotted the tin star on Bishop’s shirt. “I’m Hector Gonsalvo, Señor Allbright’s foreman.”

  Bishop asked about the cabin, saying they were looking for a missing woman, and not mentioning Allbright’s involvement.

  The foreman scratched a whiskery chin. “I don’t know of any such place on Señor Allbright’s property,” he said at last. “Maybe it lies somewhere beyond it? That colina, that hill over there—” he pointed to a flat-topped butte in the distance “—that is just beyond my boss’s property.”

  “But you won’t mind if we have ourselves a look around here,” Bishop said.

  Gonsalvo’s black eyes flashed with surprise, but he nodded. “I know of nothing Señor needs to hide,” he said. “Please, allow me to come with you in case you have any questions. You may look anywhere you wish.”

  He hesitated when the others started to follow Bishop and the foreman. Allbright’s spread was a thousand acres of rolling, mesquite- and cactus-dotted country. It would take a long time to cover. What if she wasn’t there, but beyond it, as Miss Ella had reported? Every minute counted—he could feel it in his bones.

  “Sheriff, I think maybe I’ll ride on out to that butte he mentioned,” Raleigh called to Bishop.

  “I’ll come with you,” Nick said to Raleigh.

  Bishop studied the two men. “All right. Maybe it’s best if we spread out. If you find her, then go on back to the ranch.” He raised a finger then and pointed it at both men in turn. “Remember, anyone you find with Miss Violet is to be taken alive if at all possible. Even if what Ella says proves to be true, an accused person’s entitled to a trial.”

  Raleigh exchanged a look with Nick as Bishop trotted on with the foreman and the rest of the posse.

  “Not bloody likely,” Nick muttered.

  In complete agreement, the two men spurred their horses into a gallop, headed for the butte.

  * * *

  The hours ticked by endlessly for Violet. She’d lost all track of time in the stuffy cabin. Sweat trickled down into her eyes and a fly droned around her, landing at intervals, but she had no way of doing more than tossing her head or rubbing it against the sheet to satisfy either torment.

  He’d gagged her when she wouldn’t stop screaming for help. Her cramped muscles ached. She needed to go to the privy. Maybe if she explained her need to Allbright, he would untie her and take her to it. She’d promise to submit to being tied up again afterward, but a promise made to a scoundrel was not a promise she would feel bound to keep.

  From time to time Allbright would stroll into the room, stretching. Each time, he’d remove her gag, and offer her water. She resisted taking it for the longest time, still fearing it would be drugged, but at last, her lips and throat parched, she gave in and
took a sip. It was only water, as he’d said.

  She told him of her need, but he only laughed. “Think I’m a fool, do you?” he asked, forcing the gag back between her lips. He gave her one of the smug smiles she wanted to claw from his face. “The hours are passing, sweet Violet. Soon it’ll be evening, then night. You must be getting hungry,” he said. “Sure you wouldn’t like to eat some of the chicken that’s still sitting on the table? I could feed you by hand, like a lovesick sweetheart would. You know, you needn’t suffer like this. Just nod your head, and I’ll know you’ve realized you were wrong, that you love me, after all.”

  She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. If she could speak, she was afraid she’d give into the urge to tell him exactly what he was in explicit, unladylike terms. Help me, Lord. Send Raleigh.

  She heard a horse nicker—Lady? And then another horse, calling from some distance. Then she heard it—the sound of shod hooves striking stone.

  Drew jumped up, startled, and ran from the room, muttering, “I told those two to go away—why in blazes would they be returning?”

  He must have seen something he liked even less when he looked out the window, because she heard him shout a lurid curse.

  Was it Raleigh, coming to save her? But that was impossible, she told herself. He had no way of knowing what had happened to her. But any means of rescue was good—she’d have another chance to tell Raleigh she loved him.

  Then Violet heard a creak in the main room, followed by a thunk. She had no idea what that sound meant, but Violet began to pray more earnestly than she ever had. She heard nothing more inside the cabin—had Allbright somehow escaped?

  Two minutes later, she heard the most blessed sounds ever, the door being pushed open and Raleigh’s and Nick’s voices calling out, “Violet! Violet! Are you here?”

  She groaned and whimpered, all she could do with that foul gag in her mouth, but they heard her and stormed into the room.

  “Violet, sweetheart! Oh, thank God!” Raleigh cried, pulling her close. He yanked the gag from her mouth while Nick cut the rope at her wrists.

  She started to cry, and couldn’t help kissing Raleigh’s cheek as he bent to unfasten her wrists. “Thank God,” she echoed. “Oh, Raleigh, I prayed you’d come—”

  “Are you all right, Violet?” Nick asked. “Where’s Allbright? He’s the one that took you here, right?”

  She nodded. “Did you see him?” she rasped hoarsely. “He was just here, but I don’t know where he went—”

  Both men shook their heads, staring at her.

  “There’s only the one door at the front of the cabin,” Nick said. “There was no one in the other room—”

  “I’ll go outside. Maybe he escaped through a window,” Raleigh said, drawing his Colt and running from the room.

  He was gone for several minutes, and in that time Nick untied the rope around her ankles and assisted her to her feet. She was shaky, and her feet stung like she’d been walking barefoot on nettles at first, but she’d managed to get the feeling back by the time Raleigh returned without her kidnapper in tow. In the meantime, Nick had discovered how Allbright had vanished.

  “Here’s the trapdoor he got out,” Nick said, indicating a rectangle of planking that was only slightly less dusty than the rest of the floor. He raised the hinged lid and shone the lantern he had lit down it. A smell of damp earth and mold arose.

  “I’ve already been down in there, in case it was only a hidey-hole,” Nick went on, “but it leads out below the hill. There were horse droppings there, but no sign of a horse. Looks as if he was ready to run, if need be.”

  “He’d better keep running, right on outta Texas, ’cause it won’t be pretty when I catch him,” Raleigh growled.

  “And I’ll help you, if we’re able to find him,” Nick said. “But for now, we’d better get Violet home. With any luck perhaps he’s run right into Bishop and the rest.”

  “That would be good news,” Raleigh agreed, putting an arm around Violet and holding her close for an instant. “Violet, are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, looking her in the eye.

  She knew what he was asking, and that her brother was listening very intently. “He didn’t touch me, Raleigh. He seemed to think if he compromised me by keeping me out overnight, that would be sufficient to make me willing to marry him.” She cleared her throat. “If you gentlemen will excuse me, I’m going to find a bit of privacy before we go.”

  * * *

  It was dark by the time they reached home. Violet had never been so sore and weary, not even after a hunt in which she’d fallen at a four-bar gate jump. Raleigh and Nick had to help her from Lady’s back. Instantly, Milly was there, too, fluttering around Violet, bundling her into a shawl and urging her and the two men into the house. Bobby and a couple of the Brown brothers emerged from the barn and led the weary horses away.

  She wasn’t sure she ever wanted to ride again, Violet thought with detached amusement. She ached all over. Even her saddle sores had saddle sores.

  Bishop was there in the kitchen, a cup of coffee forgotten by his elbow. Milly pushed Violet into a seat and fetched her hot tea while Raleigh sat down beside her. He and Nick began to tell the sheriff how they’d found Violet in the cabin just beyond the butte, then lost Allbright because of the trapdoor. The sheriff seemed to listen especially closely at the mention of Allbright.

  Raleigh sat close to Violet, as if afraid to let her out of his sight. Violet could tell he had much to say to her when they could be alone, and it gave her the strength to go on until this interview with the sheriff was done. She had a lot to say to him, too.

  Nick sat right by his wife, stroking her arm when each horrible part of the story was told, for she kept tearing up and reaching a shaking hand out to Violet.

  Bishop raked a hand through his hair, then turned to Violet. “You say Allbright was the one who held you in the cabin, Miss Violet?”

  She nodded. Even that little motion seemed to take a great effort.

  “And he was with you the whole time? You’re sure?”

  Violet opened her eyes, catching something strange in Bishop’s voice. “Yes, Sheriff. The whole time. I know because he kept coming into the room to offer me water. The other two men left as soon as he paid them. He told them he knew where to find them when he needed them again.” She saw that Bishop was still eyeing her strangely, and it made her uneasy.

  “Sheriff, what is it you’re not telling us?”

  Bishop cleared his throat and gave her an apologetic look. “Miss Violet, Allbright was in town today about the time you say he met you on the road and you two rode out past his ranch. I know, because he invited me to eat with him in the hotel. I declined, then the doctor summoned me to talk to Miss Ella, who’d been hit over the head and knocked insensible by a pair of drifters she’d seen in the saloon the previous afternoon—”

  “Ella’s hurt?” Violet cried, aghast. “Will she be all right?” What was she doing in the saloon?

  “Doc Walker says she should be fine,” Bishop said. “Anyway, Miss Ella had overheard them talking yesterday with Allbright just before that about taking you out to that shack and holding you there.”

  She stared at the sheriff. The story was getting more and more incredible.

  “After taking Miss Ella’s report, I went straight to the hotel and placed Allbright in custody before riding out here to get your brother, and then Raleigh and the men from Colliers’ Roost. He’s been in one of my jail cells ever since, guarded by my deputy. I don’t see how he could’ve been the one to hold you against your will, ma’am.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Violet blinked, not sure she could’ve heard the sheriff correctly.

  “What are you saying, Sheriff?” Nick’s tone was mild, but it held a warning, and his eyes had gone frosty.

 
Milly’s expression grew more worried than it had been, and she laid a hand on her husband’s wrist as if she thought he might leap up, but he kept his eyes locked with Bishop’s. Raleigh, too, had gone very still.

  “Easy, Nick,” Bishop said. “I’m merely stating a fact that’s got me puzzled, too. You have to admit, unless you believe the fellow has some uncanny ability to be two places at once—”

  Violet felt her own frazzled nerves kindling anger. “Sheriff, are you saying that the man who took me out there and stayed with me till my brother and Raleigh came wasn’t Allbright? I assure you he was.”

  Bishop’s gaze was steady. “Which is why I’m going to hold the man who’s in that cell right now until you come to town in the morning and tell me he is or isn’t Allbright.”

  Violet stood, her backbone rigid. She was sure, despite his politeness, that he thought she was mistaken at best, and crazy at worst. “Very well, Sheriff. I’ll be there.”

  “We’ll be there,” her brother corrected her.

  “I’m coming along,” Raleigh said.

  Bishop headed for the door. “All right, then, see you in the morning. I’m sure we can clear this up somehow. Good night, y’all.”

  Raleigh waited until the sheriff was gone before saying, “I’ll be here first thing after sunup.” His stormy, frustrated gaze met Violet’s before he reached for his hat hanging from the hooks by the door.

  “Raleigh, please—may I speak to you before you go?” she asked, then shifted her gaze to her brother and sister-in-law.

  “We’ll be in our room if you need us, Violet,” Nick assured her before leaving with his arm around Milly’s shoulders.

  She waited until she heard the door close behind them down the hall. “Raleigh, do you believe me? That it was Drew Allbright?” She stood within an arm’s length of him, her hands clenched at her sides. If he doubted her, she didn’t know how she would bear it.

  “Of course I do,” he said and pulled her into his arms. He held her there, and she knew he could feel her trembling and the pounding of her heart. “I don’t know who Bishop’s got in that cell, but if you say it was Allbright, I believe you. He...he never said anything about being a twin, did he?”