Texan's Touch

TWENTY-FOUR

WITH A SHOVE, Nichole pushed the trapdoor open and pulled herself into the remains of what once had been a building. The roof was half caved in and the last glow from the sun could still be seen lighting the sky. The air felt good on her face and in her lungs.

Sister Cel’s brother had saved her life in the tunnel and when everything settled down, she planned to see what she could do to help him.

She walked silently across the cluttered floor, careful not to step on a loose board that might make a sound. Slipping out the back where a door had once stood, Nichole moved down the alley toward the stables.

No one was in sight. If the shooter were near, he couldn’t see her in the dying light. She slipped through the skeleton of what once had been a settlement. The town might be growing, but it seemed content to allow the quickly erected old fort to die.

The fine black stallion Wes had bragged of trading for at Emery’s Post was tied by the door of the barn, still saddled. Wes said it had been trained to respond to a touch or a tug on the bridle.

A gunshot sounded from behind her. She glanced at the prairie beyond the stables. She could be away and free before full dark.

Another gun fired from the direction of the boardinghouse. They should be safe once it was dark, she reasoned. Unless they lit a lamp. Unless they tried to come out. Unless the shooter managed to crawl through the night and get to a window of the house. If he shot Wes or Adam, there wouldn’t be anyone left to cover all the sides. It would only be a matter of time before he’d be in the house. Everyone might be dead before the shooter figured out Nichole wasn’t in the house.

She swung into the saddle and turned Wes’s horse toward the boardinghouse. She couldn’t leave without helping them.

At full gallop she rode between Adam and the shooter. The dusty, deserted street made a perfect racetrack and Wes’s stallion was all Wes promised he would be.

Shots came from the second floor of an old building and from a corner beside the very shack she’d escaped through. The bullets flew past her and Nick leaned low over the horse, blending into the midnight mane. Answering shots came from the boardinghouse, splintering off the walls where the shots were fired. She thought she heard the shooter yell an oath as she passed from range.

Turning at the corner, she reined her horse and began crossing back and forth through the town, staying out of sight, leaving no trail. By full darkness, she was riding slowly out of town to the east, slumping in the saddle providing a silhouette of a tired hand heading home for the night. She’d learned years ago no one would look at her twice if she moved at an easy pace, but if she hurried, all would remember seeing her leave.

She knew the shooter would follow her as best he could. She also knew that he’d never find her. As soon as she was away from the lights, she’d find the stage trail and follow it. Here she could travel twice as fast without near the danger and uncertainty of the land. By dawn they’d be circling Fort Worth looking in every bush and she’d be at Daniel’s settlement.

Nick’s wild ride between the shooters and the house was the break Wes’s men had been waiting for. In all the excitement, they closed in on the two outlaws and overpowered them.

A few minutes later when they hauled the shooters into Adam’s office, everyone in the house was surprised to see Harry from the stage line leading the posse. As soon as Wes’s men made plans to help, Harry and several other merchants joined in the fight. They’d been waiting patiently for their chance.

Suddenly the boardinghouse rivaled any saloon for noise. Everyone was talking at once and hugging except, of course, for the nun. Adam didn’t miss the way she stood quietly in the corner, her arms still folded around the rifle.

When she thought no one was watching, Adam saw her walk past the two prisoners tied in chairs and “accidentally” thump the butt of her rifle against both men’s knees. Then she went to the kitchen, put the gun down, and began serving everyone raisin bread and coffee.

Adam smiled and shook his head. She was the kind of saint Nick would probably turn to. There was something ornery about the old lady who looked like an angel.

“She made it.” Wes lifted his cup toward Adam. “The kid made it.”

“I know.” Adam smiled. “But I wanted to strangle her for riding past us. She should have headed right out of town from the barn. She had a clear shot there with little danger.”

Wes took a drink. “She knew what she was doing. She had to make sure the men firing at us knew she was no longer in the house.” He took another drink. “And she damn well better take care of my horse. I thought we told her to steal a mount.”

Adam laughed. “She did.”

Shaking his head, Wes added, “You need to marry that girl if we ever find her again. Maybe if you kept her pregnant, she’d slow down to a gallop.”

“Before I think of marriage, I’ve got to make sure we have all of the gang. The deputy managed to lose two of the three you caught this morning before he got back to town. I just heard the third escaped an hour ago. Once we have them in our sight I don’t aim to look away until the sheriff gets back to town. I want Nick safe away until I know they will stay behind bars.”

Wes looked at the two prisoners. “The third won’t be hard to find. Nick cut a line across his throat just deep enough to bleed last night. He was shorter than average and thick bodied. I’ve got until my partner shows up to help you find him. Even if Vincent shows up, I might have him start moving and I’ll catch up. I wouldn’t want to leave with someone still gunning for Nick. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

“Captain McLain?” Charles interrupted.

Both Wes and Adam turned around, but Wes answered, “Yes?”

Charles straightened. “I’ve been informed that you need a cook for the trail drive. I feel my qualifications are adequate though I know nothing about driving a herd. My first position was as assistant cook at a hunting lodge. I can prepare any game and am familiar with cooking on a campfire. I’ll make the drive with you as cook on the condition that you buy me a train ticket back to Indiana when we reach the rail station.”

The little man wasn’t friendly even when applying for a job, but Wes and Adam didn’t make fun of him. They’d both been raised by a strong working-class foreman who’d taught his sons to respect a man’s right to work no matter what rank the job.

“You believe your position is over here?” Wes asked.

“I was told so today,” Charles answered. “I have enough funds to secure the proper clothing and personal supplies needed for such a trip.” The cold little bully of a man who’d tried to put them both in their place stood proudly before them as he awaited their answer. He wasn’t asking for a handout, only employment.

Wes offered his hand. “The job’s yours if you want it, Charlie. And a share of the profit at trail’s end to go along with your ticket.”

“Thank you, sir, but it’s Charles.” The man lifted his nose. “I’ll be ready within the hour.” He walked away without another word.

Adam smiled at his brother. “You figure he’ll survive out there with the cowhands?”

“If he can cook half as well as I’m betting he can, they’ll allow him his room and even call him Charles. Besides, it would be worth the train ticket to know how happy I’m making Bergette.”

“Speak of the devil.” Adam pointed with a nod of his head.

Bergette floated down the stairs looking all fresh and powdered, as if she’d been bathing and sleeping while all the trouble was going on. Lily followed, mirroring the other side of the coin. The poor maid looked like she’d been trapped in a cage of screaming monkeys. Her normally orderly hair was a shambles, her dress wet and her hands red from hauling water up and down the stairs.

“Lily!” Harry pushed Bergette aside, breaking her featherlike descent into the room. “Lily! Are you all right?”

The poor girl melted into the young man’s arms. “Harry!” she cried. “You saved me.”

“You knew I’d come.” Harry looked a little embarrassed by all the folks staring at him, but he didn’t push Lily from his embrace.

Several cowhands cheered and shouted comments like, “She’s all right now.”

Harry smiled nervously.

Bergette opened her fan loudly and continued into the room, allowing her face to show anger for only a moment at the young man’s attention toward her maid. She cared nothing of Lily and her beau, but she bitterly hated having an entrance spoiled.

Adam watched her move into the room. Every step seemed calculated, every movement planned to provide the best advantage to her figure and dress. She was as perfect as always, her golden hair curling down her back to her waist, her face powdered and brushed with just the right touch of rouge, her tiny hands and waist, her startling blue eyes she knew how to use almost like a language.

Wes leaned close to Adam. “Being around Nick for a day sure does tend to ugly Bergette up, don’t it?”

Adam watched her closely as he answered Wes. “You notice it, too.”

“When the genuine item walks in the room, even in trousers, she makes the porcelain dolls come in a poor second.” Wes raised his coffee cup as he whispered, “But since you have the lady’s heart, mind if I harass the doll?”

“With my blessing. But remember, she is my houseguest, uninvited or not.” Adam leaned closer. “Which reminds me, how did you know Bergette’s breasts were powdered?”

“Lucky guess,” Wes answered a bit too quickly.

Bergette reached them before Adam could say more.

“I understand the soldiers from Fort Griffin have been wired to come get the prisoners.” She waved her fan with a graceful movement that seemed to brush Wes’s presence from her sight.

“Correct,” Adam acknowledged. “They should be here in a day or two. Some of the men from town have agreed to help the deputy guard the prisoners around the clock until the army arrives. We don’t want them getting lost on the way to the jail again.”

Bergette glanced about. “Where is that woman in the awful clothes?”

“She’s gone.” Adam set his jaw. “But she’ll be back.”

“That’s comforting,” Bergette said sarcastically. “I’m afraid I’ll have to miss her return. I’ve decided to go back to Fort Griffin with the cavalry. From there I can find a stage easily. I can endure this town no longer. Fort Griffin may be just as harsh, but at least I’ll have men in uniform to protect me.” She left no doubt that she felt Wes and Adam had failed.

Looking around, she added, “Have you seen Charles? I must tell him to begin the packing.”

Wes bowed before Bergette as though he were trying hard to reform and prove himself a gentleman. “My dear Bergette, may I have a word with you?”

She hesitated, then followed him into the kitchen. A few minutes later Adam heard her screaming all the way through the house. Wes must have told her of Charles’s change in employment.

He was thankful he wouldn’t have to get used to the sound of her screams. Bergette was a woman accustomed to having everything one way, her way.

Suddenly, he was impatient for everyone to leave. He wanted to be alone so that he could think of Nichole… if just for a few minutes before he began walking the streets looking for the third man.