Texan's Touch, page 18
An hour later, the sun was a golden red on the western horizon as Adam and Nichole rode out of town. Clouds fenced the northern sky, promising a cool evening. But at sunset, nature was cloaked in green.
Suddenly, this land he’d thought was so barren and gray only months ago was bright and alive. Wildflowers dotted the rolling land, and oak and cypress trees followed the river like children frozen in play as they ran alongside the water. This location had been a wise place to station a fort with plenty of water and high ground. Adam felt like he could see miles in all directions.
Nichole kicked her horse into a faster gait and laughed. “I’m glad to get away from the smell of people.”
“I wasn’t aware I smelled,” Adam said as he caught up with her.
“Not you, the entire town. Anywhere folks collect there’s the same smell that follows them. Cookstoves and lye wash and bodies and blood and breathing through tobacco-tinged air. Sometimes I think of civilization as one huge deformed, splintered creature that settles in a place just long enough to smell it up. At night, when I pass by each home, I can tell if the laundry was done that day, or if they killed a chicken for supper, or if there’s sickness, just by the smell.”
“You’re right,” Adam agreed though he’d never thought of it before. “I remember during the war, I could find the hospital tent or the mess tent just by the smell. Some mornings before dawn, I would swear that I didn’t open my eyes until I was putting on my white coat at work.”
For the first time since they’d met, they talked, just talked. Each told of where they had been and what they’d done. Adam was surprised how many times during the war their paths had almost crossed. He wondered if he might have gone into some town for supplies and not noticed her passing him. Or if she’d walked silently past his tent at night when crossing the line.
Adam wondered where the time had gone when they reached the herd almost an hour later. He’d meant to question her about where she’d been the night before, but somehow they’d started talking. And they talked of everything, not just subjects she might be interested in. Except for May, he could never remember talking with a woman so.
Wes waved them into the camp with a wide smile, but Adam didn’t miss the guards posted around the herd. Double the men that would be needed to watch sleeping cattle. He slowly looked around, searching the land beyond the herd for trouble as he neared Wes.
“I know,” Nick whispered. “I feel it, too.”
He glanced at her, realizing she’d read his thoughts, but the night hid her face. As their horses walked toward Wes, he heard the leather of Nick’s gun belt sliding into place about her waist.
“I was about to tell the cook to throw out the stew!” Wes shouted as he stepped forward and held their mounts. “You city folks may dine late, but on the trail we eat at sundown.”
Adam stepped around his horse to Nichole’s left side as she swung from the saddle. Her long, limber body needed no assistance, but he let his hand slide along her side as she stepped to the ground.
“Stew sounds great,” Adam said as he touched Nichole a moment longer than needed even in his pretense of steadying her. “Sorry we’re late. Seems every wife in Fort Worth is pregnant these days. Lucky all the menfolk didn’t make it back home on the same day or I’d have a landslide nine months to the day after the war.”
Adam kept his voice casual as his hands circled Nichole’s waist in a gesture that told her he wanted her closer to him.
Wes was busy tying the horses and didn’t hear Nichole whisper, “You’re in my world now, Doc. The night.”
Her words haunted him through the meal, for he knew she was right. He’d never liked the night, not even when he was a child. But she was a creature of the darkness, more comfortable there than in day. Another reason they didn’t fit together, he thought. Another reason to stay a proper distance away.
But what bothered him was that in the darkness, she seemed to set the rules, not him. He might tell her in the light to sleep in her own bed, but he knew if she came to him in the shadows, he wouldn’t push her away.
“I figure I’ll lose ten percent of the herd along the trail, maybe more.” Wes pulled Adam back to the present. “But for every cow that gets to rail, I’ll make five times what I paid per head.” Wes sounded excited. “Some of these cattle I didn’t pay a dime for, but found on the open range.
“I’ve hired the best cow men I can find and an extra dozen to ride along as protection. I’ve heard tell that some herds make it as far as Kansas just to be lost to bandits.”
Nichole looked at the herd. “Not much to lose. Longhorns, the ugliest cattle I’ve ever seen.”
“Kid, don’t talk about my fortune that way,” Wes complained. “These are the kings of cattle. They can survive any weather, and they’ve been roaming wild since Coronado dropped them off in Texas some three hundred years ago. I heard a man down South call them rainbow cattle because they come in so many different colors.”
Nichole studied the herd. In truth she saw black, white, blue, bays, reds, and some spotted with every combination of color. Many had horns spreading four to five feet.
Following her gaze, Wes added, “We found several mature longhorns with the horns twisted down. Some of them had about starved to death trying to graze on winter grass. It wasn’t an easy job, but we caught them and cut the horns down so they could reach the short grass, then turned them loose to graze and fatten for another year.”
Wes continued to tell his brother of his plans while Nichole stood and returned her plate to the wagon. She’d been one of a group for so long it never occurred to her to leave her plate for someone else to wash.
“Thanks.” A cowhand with a towel for an apron startled her. “That’s one plate I won’t have to wash tonight.” A light flavoring of an Irish accent blended in his words.
Nichole looked at the stack of dirty plates next to the tub of soapy water. “Want some help?” Without waiting for an answer, she lifted half the stack and lowered them into the wash.
“Sure. Most the men around here are nothing but coffee coolers.”
“ ‘Coffee coolers?’”
The cook chuckled. “Ye know, men who stand around all day waiting for their cup to cool enough to drink before they go back to work.”
The cook winked at Nichole and smiled with his few remaining teeth showing. “Me name is Lloyd, miss.”
She looked at the short, graying man carefully. “I guess I didn’t do a very good job of acting like a man tonight.” In truth it was hard to remember all the rules with Adam around treating her like a woman.
“From a distance, I thought there was two men riding in, ye being so tall and all. But when I saw the way the boss and his brother stared at ye and how they both waited until ye sat down, I knew ye were a woman. I got four daughters meself.” He pulled a tintype from his shirt pocket showing a chubby little woman with four chubby daughters around her. “A lady’s a lady no matter how she’s dressed. But ye’re smart to travel like ye’re dressed in this country. I told my Gina Kay not to come out here until I tame the place down a bit.”
Nichole handed him a plate to dry. “You expecting any trouble?” She fought to keep her voice calm, conversational.
“We’ve heard talk. Boss hired three more men yesterday. There’s lots of men wandering these days, and they don’t feel any guilt taking another man’s land or property. It’s like the whole country’s got fighting in their blood and can’t wiggle it out.”
The cook looked sideways at her to make sure he hadn’t lost his audience before continuing. “Mr. McLain’s partner, Vincent, said there’s a gang of outlaws operating near Fort Worth, so we’re taking our time and being real careful.”
“So Wes takes extra precautions?” She kept her eyes focused on the dishes so he wouldn’t think her interest too great.
“Ye bet yer spurs he does. Between the guards and the hands there’s a circle around this camp no man could get through. One thing about McLain’s partner, he may be young but he’s an honest man and everyone in the state knows it.”
Nichole looked around her. In truth the camp was very well protected. Each guard could see the post of the next so if one man on the outside circle was taken out at least two of the others would know it. Without an opening of at least three men, no one could enter.
She handed Lloyd the last plate and picked up the pan of dishwater. “I’ll toss this,” she said as she walked toward the horses and away from the stream.
As she poured the water onto rocky ground, she glanced at the row of horses tethered for the night. A paint caught her attention. A paint marked exactly like the one she’d seen at the stagecoach fire.
NINETEEN
““WHERE’S ADAM?” NICHOLE tried to keep her voice calm as she approached the cook fire where Wes stood talking with Lloyd. “I have to see him.”
Wes pointed to a place beneath the trees where several bedrolls were spread. On a warm night like this, there was no need for the men to sleep by the fire. A single lantern blinked like a firefly amid the trees. “He’s checking on one of my men who has an infected cut on his leg.”
Giving his full attention to Nick, Wes studied her as he continued. “Franky claims it’s nothing, but I’d rather Adam took a look at it since he’s already out here. He’ll be right back.” Wes moved closer and motioned with his head for Lloyd to finish banking the fire. “What’s wrong, Nick?”
“Nothing,” she lied, instinctively gliding her fingers over her gun belt. “I just need to talk to Adam.”
“Don’t try and fool me, kid. Something’s bothering you.” Wes rolled a cigarette and knelt to touch a stick to the fire.
Nichole didn’t want to alarm Wes without reason, but he had a right to know. “Adam told you how I was on the stage that got attacked?”
“He told me and I wasn’t at all surprised you survived.” He brought the tip of the burning stick to his cigarette, then stepped away from the fire with her at his side. “Nick, I know you’re a beautiful woman. Adam can’t seem to keep his eyes off you, but I never forget you were a Shadow. To have stayed alive, you must have senses most people don’t. During the war, if you went through half what those men did-”
“I went through all that the men did,” she countered. “And while I’m correcting you, Adam doesn’t care about me in the way you think. He looks at me as only someone he should protect until Wolf comes. I’m only part of a promise he made to my brother.”
“Like hell he does,” Wes mumbled. “But before we argue that, tell me what you see in the darkness that I’ve missed. You walked over to the horses to toss the water, but you returned with the movements of a seasoned fighter on enemy ground.”
Nick explained about how she’d hid near the stage and saw men watering horses after they’d robbed the stage. “One of the raiders rode a paint marked just like the one over there,” she ended, pointing toward the horses.
“There are lots of paints,” Wes added.
“Does the rider have a belt with silver conchos on it?”
“Maybe.” Wes nodded. “But most of the good herders come from Mexico and several of them wear the belts.”
She grew frustrated with his denial. “Your circle of guards will do no good if the enemy infiltrates the ring. They can kill your men one at a time if they are already among them.”
“Without anyone hearing?” Wes shook his head.
Nick moved her finger across her throat. “Somehow they were able to slit the throats of both the men driving the stage without me hearing a word.”
“But how-”
“The stage line reported one male passenger. I remember him as young, about average size. He could have gotten as close as your men would let the bandits, since they’re working for you. They’d each die before they could make a sound.”
The grim facts finally settled over Wes’s face. “The men are already on post for the night. What do you suggest?”
“They won’t make their move until the camp’s settled down. It’s to their advantage to have as many men sleeping as possible. When are you moving out?”
“A few days, maybe a week. I pulled in early. My partner, Vincent, is picking up a few hundred head southeast of here. He’s due in by the end of the week.”
Nick shook her head. “Then my guess is they’ll attack tonight or tomorrow night. These men don’t want to put in too many days of honest work, and once you’re on the trail there could be other complications.
“Once your partner is here, that’s more men to worry about, so they have to strike before he arrives. Here they know exactly where their backup is. The way this land rolls, raiders could be waiting unseen within a mile or two to help with the stolen herd. By dawn you and your men could be dead, and they’d have the herd moved out before your partner arrived. No one would be the wiser. We’d just never hear from you again, and we’d have no idea if you were killed in Texas or Kansas.”
“I see your point about tonight or tomorrow,” Wes answered. “And I let ten of the men who’ve been with me for a month go into town for the night. That’s ten men I can trust that are gone.” He tossed his smoke into the fire. “The latest to be hired are the ones with me tonight.”
“And, I’m guessing, three you can’t trust are here with you,” she hesitated, “maybe more.”
“Maybe,” Wes said. “But most of the others have been with me for a while.” He walked a few steps toward the sleeping men.
Nick followed, allowing him time to think things out for himself.
“If they’ve got any sense, they’ll go after me first,” he mumbled. “Take out the leader if you can get to him. Then the men would have no one to follow. A few of my hands might try to fight, but most will run if given the chance. They hired on for a cattle drive, not a war.”
Wes paused. “I’m trapped in the darkness with no law close by or backup in sight. I’m not even sure who’s on my side.”
“You’ve got one ace in the hole.” Nick patted him on the shoulder.
“I do?” he asked.
“Sure,” she answered. “Me.”
Wes stood beside her and watched Adam walking toward them. “I don’t want Adam here. This could get ugly, and it’s not his fight. I used to worry during the war that if he were ever forced to fight, he’d hesitate a moment, deciding what was right. And that moment would get him killed.”
“If it’s your fight, it’s his. He’s your brother,” she answered. “But I know what you mean. Men like him weren’t born to listen for danger and smell trouble on the wind. He’s worth too much to this world to die with a bullet in his back.”
Wes pushed her gently with his shoulder. “And I am worth so little?” he teased.
“Definitely, and a waste of lead at that,” she answered, and nudged him back with double the force he’d used.
Wes laughed. “Better watch it, kid, or I’ll take you down a notch off that high horse you’re riding on.”
Nick shoved again. “You and what cavalry, old man?”
Both laughed, releasing tension the way soldiers do waiting for the dawn of battle.
Adam watched them as he walked toward the campfire. The realization of how well they fit together struck him like a blow. He’d never seen Wes laugh like he did around Nichole, and even in the firelight shadows he could tell they were teasing one another about something. They were alike in so many ways. A matched set.
This could be the answer, Adam thought. If they married, Wes would settle down and finally lose the coat of hardness he’d molded during the war. And Nichole would have a man who understood her. She loved the free life, the wild life, and she’d have that with Wes in Texas. His big brother needed a wife who could keep up with him, who didn’t mind the hardness of the land or the wildness of the country. They were perfect for one another.
Adam took a deep breath. If they were so right for each other, why did he feel like he’d had rocks for supper?
“How’s Franky?” Wes asked when Adam was within ten feet.
“He needs the cut cleaned properly and stitched,” Adam answered. “Otherwise there could be a bad infection.”
“I hate to leave him behind,” Wes grumbled. “He’s so excited about going. Plans to use his wages to start a farm down by Austin. Got a girl waiting for him. If he doesn’t make the trip, it’ll be another year before he can start his dream.”
Adam sat the lantern down. “If we unloaded the supply wagon, I could drive him into my office and fix him up right, then bring him back by dawn. It might mean a few days riding in the wagon for him, but by a week the leg should be fine. If left as it is, it’ll take weeks to heal, and the chance of infection is great.”
“Sounds like a good plan, Adam. Take him in and do what you can.” Wes glanced at Nick. “Want to stay here, kid, and watch cattle all night?”
To Adam’s surprise, she nodded.
Within minutes, the wagon had been unloaded and the cowhand placed on blankets in the back. Adam checked the reins as Wes talked to Franky, assuring the boy that the doctor would bring him back in time.
Nichole moved behind Adam without saying a word. She was so close he could feel the warmth of her body. She had no idea of the effect she had on him, Adam decided. Just standing close made him fight the urge to reach for her.
“I wish you were going back with me,” he grumbled as though not wanting to say the words, but having to.
“I’ll be safe here,” she said. “At least you’ll know where I am tonight, and I won’t be bothering you by sleeping in your bed.”
He wanted to tell her that she didn’t bother him. This morning had been heaven with her curled into his side and he’d been a fool for suggesting she return to her own bed. But now wasn’t the place or the time. And if she spent the night talking with Wes, there might never be a time or place for him.
Adam closed his eyes and remembered the feel of her against him. He wouldn’t stand between Wes and Nichole if it was meant to be, no matter how much he might ache inside.
He pulled himself onto the wagon seat. “Take care,” he whispered to Nichole, wishing he could kiss her good-bye. The night, with her here and him back in town, would seem endless.
