Arizona Embrace (42 page)

Just before they reached the shadows cast by the trees which shaded the kitchen, one of the men veered. He was headed for the front of the house. She was cut off.

Victoria drew back from the window as the two other men paused at the kitchen steps.

“We got to wait a minute so Johnny can reach the front door,” one of them whispered. “Well go in the back the same rime he goes in the front.” He very carefully tried the doorknob. “It’s unlocked. Good. I wasn’t looking forward to crawling in the window.”

“Suppose he’s in there,” the other man whispered. “He can shoot a man through the heart before he can touch his gun.”

“He’s gone. I’ve been watching the house practically every minute since he got here. There’s nobody else here but the old man. She’s in there by herself most likely sleeping like a baby. It’ll be real easy to slip in and carry her off without anybody knowing.”

“The old man in the barn will know.”

“He’s not going to know who we are or where we’ve taken her, not with him being out cold.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Then stay here. Johnny and I will go inside and get her.”

“Hell, no! I ain’t giving you any excuse to tell your ma I didn’t do my part. I’m scared to death of her.”

Something about the voice sounded familiar, but it was impossible to identify the whispered sound. Besides, they sounded like boys. What would boys be doing coming after her? Was this some sort of prank? Something they were doing on a dare?

No. They had knocked Ward out so he couldn’t interfere. This was no prank. They meant to kidnap her.

As she searched frantically for a way to escape, Victoria wondered what it was about her that seemed to invite kidnapping. Whatever it was, she didn’t mean for it to happen again. She had had enough of being forcibly carried off.

“You ready?” the voice asked.

Victoria froze. The boy had forgotten to whisper. It was Kirby Blazer. He’d grown up and his voice had deepened, but she’d recognize that peculiar accent anywhere. A German family had kept him as a child, and he’d learned to speak German before he learned English.

What could Kirby want with her? How did he know she was here? What did Myra want with her? Myra always maintained her belief in Victoria’s innocence, but Myra’s support hadn’t done her any good, not with the Judge wanting her dead.

But Victoria didn’t have time to ask herself a lot of questions. She could hear someone, Johnny she presumed, turning
the
front doorknob. She heard Kirby order his companion to keep close behind him and be careful not to bump into anything.

They were nearly in the house!

Chapter Twenty-two

She had to get out of the house before they caught her. She dashed into the hall, but just as she turned toward the stairs, Johnny came through the front door. He would see her; she was trapped.

Victoria dashed for the only open door in the dim hall, her old sitting room. Her bare feet made no sound on the thick carpet. She pressed herself against the wall just behind the door. She held her breath for fear they could hear her. Her heart pounded in her ears.

How could they possibly know she was at the Demon D? They hadn’t met anyone coming in. She knew Ward wouldn’t have said anything when he went into town. It was almost like there was a network of spies surrounding her.

She had to think. There was no way to tell why they were here, but it couldn’t be in her favor. If it were, they would have waited for Trinity to take her to town, or brought a lawyer with them, or brought the sheriff. They wouldn’t have decided to break into the house.

She was in danger. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know what kind, she just needed to know what to do.

She couldn’t find Trinity. He was too far away. She couldn’t depend on Ward. There was nobody else who could help her. She could hide, but where? There was no place in the house. The barn! Maybe they wouldn’t go there again.

The three men met in the hall, their footsteps muffled by the carpet.

“I don’t like this,” one said, his voice young and peevish. “It ain’t right to go breaking into people’s houses when they ain’t home.”

“We don’t want anything except Victoria. I’ll leave him the money Ma gave me. He ought to be glad to get rid of her. Save him the trouble of going all the way to Bandera.”

This wasn’t a bounty. It had to be a bribe, to keep him quiet. Even if it hadn’t been coming from Myra, Trinity wouldn’t accept a bounty. He wouldn’t accept a bribe, either.

“I still don’t like it.”

“Then stay here. It doesn’t make any difference to me.”

But he didn’t hang back. They climbed the steps one after the other. Victoria dashed back into the hall and to the kitchen. Not wanting to take a chance the hinges would squeak and alert the boys upstairs, she climbed through the open window and dropped to the ground outside. She had only a few seconds before they searched all the bedrooms and realized she wasn’t there.

Could she make it to the barn without being seen? Not if one of them happened to look out the window. There was no cover, no gully or ravine she could drop into, only the flat hard ground flooded with bright moonlight.

Victoria headed toward the barn at a dead run. She was glad she was barefoot, but the night breeze cutting through her nightgown reminded her that she was practically naked. She made it halfway across the yard much faster than she’d ever thought possible. If she could just make it to the barn before anybody saw her. She was so close … only a few more seconds.

“Hey, Kirby, there’s some gal heading toward the barn at a gallop,” one of the boys yelled from the upstairs window.

If she ever saw that boy again, she’d give him a set of scratches that would make Trinity’s pale by comparison.

She dashed inside the barn, but she knew they’d be after her in seconds. She found Ward lying just inside the door to the tack room. He’d put up a fight, but there had been too many of them. She took precious seconds to stoop down and untie his hands, but he was out cold. She was on her own. There was no one to help her. There was no place to hide. What could she do?

Diablo! He was her only chance—if he would only let her ride him. She didn’t have time for a saddle or bridle. She opened the stall door, led him out, and took a firm hold on his mane.

“If you’re ever going to forgive and forget, please do it now,” Victoria pleaded. “You’re my only hope.”

Using the open stall door, Victoria vaulted on to his back.

She would never have stayed on his back if Diablo hadn’t been more interested in the sound of the approaching footsteps than he was in this harmless woman he’d seen for hours each day. She had hardly gotten her balance when she felt Diablo’s muscles gather. He would explode any minute.

“There she is,” Kirby hollered as the boys reached the open barn door. “Don’t let that horse get out.”

Apparently the sight of three men running toward him, shouting at him, changed Diablo’s mind about bucking. With a scream of fury, he bore down on the boys with bared teeth.

They flew out of his way like released springs.

Victoria had ridden all her life, but she had never ridden a crazy wild horse bareback without even a bridle to guide him. She didn’t know what he might do or where he might go.

Diablo had hardly gone twenty yards before she felt him veer to the left. He was going back. He was going to attack the boys again. If he did, she’d never be able to stay on his back. If he did, they might shoot him.

“No!” Victoria screamed as she brought her open palm down on his withers. Diablo spun around so fast Victoria nearly fell
off
. He half reared. She only stayed on because of her death grip on his mane.

“After her before she gets away,” Kirby yelled as the three scattered for their horses.

Diablo continued to twist and buck, caught between a desire to get rid of the human clinging to his back and the desire to run down the men on foot. Victoria was helpless.

Someone fired over their heads. Victoria never knew who it was, but the sound of gunfire cleared away Diablo’s confusion. Whirling about, he headed for the nearest horse at a gallop.

He intended to attack both horse and rider.

Once more Victoria screamed and brought her open palm down on his withers. With a scream of rage, Diablo shot past the horse and straight toward the corral fence. Victoria had never jumped before. She held on and prayed.

Diablo took the fence with the ease of an antelope, and headed for the far side of the corral.

“Cut them off,” Kirby yelled. “She’s getting away.”

They were closing in on her from two sides, and a second fence separated her and Diablo from freedom, but no one suspected Diablo’s speed. He jumped the second fence as easily as the first and headed toward the open prairie. Even though the other horses had a shorter distance to run, he shot out of the trap like an unleashed thunderbolt. In seconds he doubled the distance between Victoria and her pursuers. A few more seconds, and it had doubled again. In a minute he was beyond the range of their guns.

Victoria’s relief was short-lived. She had gotten away, but what could she do now? Where could she go? There wasn’t anybody who would protect her. Her uncle couldn’t possibly have arrived yet.

What would Trinity do? He gets out of trouble all the time. Think of what he would do
.

He had told her to go to the sheriff and ask him to put her in jail. They couldn’t hang her right away, not when she told them Trinity was bringing proof she hadn’t killed Jeb. No matter what Judge Blazer said, they’d have to wait until Trinity got back.

She pulled on Diablo’s mane. They had a long ride ahead, and she wanted to conserve his energy. She was confident Kirby and his friends wouldn’t catch up. Not only had their horses already made the long trip, they weren’t nearly as fast as Diablo. But if Kirby knew she was at the ranch, someone else might also know. She might have to make another run for it, and she didn’t want Diablo to exhaust himself now.

Diablo resisted at first, but he gradually slowed down until he reached a canter. He was blowing a little at first, and that worried Victoria until she realized it was temper. After a little while longer, he relaxed into an easy canter. Keeping him locked up in the corral hadn’t helped his condition, but he was fully rested. They ought to have no trouble reaching Bandera ahead of any pursuers.

Victoria entered through the back of the jail. Even though it was four o’clock in the morning, she hadn’t dared ride down the main street in her nightgown. Sheriff Wylie Sprague came out of his bed with a flying leap when he saw her. His jaw dropped when he realized who she was. Victoria didn’t give him a chance to say a word.

“I’m Victoria Davidge, and I’ve come back to prove I didn’t kill Jeb Blazer. I’ve got a man coming with the proof in a couple of days. I’ve also got a lawyer coming to handle the retrial and a detective to find out who did kill Jeb.”

“What the hell are you doing here in your nightgown?” Sprague demanded, too staggered at the sight of a nearly naked woman in his jail. “If the Judge finds out you’re here, hell order a hanging before sundown.”

“Then I suggest you don’t tell him I’m here. My uncle has a stay of execution from the governor. If I’m not alive when he gets here, the Judge will hang for murder. And you’ll hang right beside him.”

Victoria hoped she had lied convincingly. That threat might be the only thing that would keep Judge Blazer from hanging her.

The sheriff swallowed. She could tell the whole situation had taken him by surprise. He wasn’t ready to deal with such a complicated and delicate problem, but he knew something didn’t smell quite right.

“Don’t tell me you came here to sit quietly and wait for all these people to get here. You’ve been hiding somewhere. Why aren’t you still there?”

I was supposed to stay at the Demon D until everybody got here, but somehow Myra Blazer found out where I was. She sent Kirby and two other men to kidnap me.”

“What did they want with you?”

“I don’t know.”

“But Myra and Kirby never believed you did it. They said so.”

“I know that, but Trinity said I wasn’t to go anywhere with anyone. They were going to take me away. I heard Kirby say so. They’re probably behind me right now.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Keep me here in the jail until Trinity and my uncle get back.”

“But if Blazer orders me to hang you—”

“The Judge can’t hang me. Just you.”

“But if Trinity doesn’t have proof.”

“He has it already. It’s just going to take him a day or two to get here. If you don’t believe me, go out to the Demon D and ask Ward Baldwin.”

That name seemed to clinch it for the sheriff.

“You’re lucky. The Judge is away in Austin. I’ll keep you here until he gets back, but they’d all better be here by then. Otherwise I’m washing my hands of the whole business.”

“You can’t” Victoria said, so relieved she could hardly keep up the pressure on the sheriff. “From now on, you’re responsible for everything that happens to me.”