Arizona Gold (24 page)

She got up to tiptoe behind a rock to relieve herself, wishing she had not drunk so much water earlier.

And that was when she saw, in the radiant light of the full moon, that Ryder’s bedroll was empty.

She told her racing heart to slow down, that there had to be a reason. He had drunk a lot of water, too, and perhaps he had needs, as well. But as long moments passed, anxiety began to creep up on her.

She groped her way to where they had left the horses and could make out only her own in the shadows.

He was gone, and she knew then that he’d had no intention of waiting till morning. He had planned to abandon her as soon as he got his hands on her map.

Damn you to hell
,
Ryder McCloud
, she fumed to herself as she hurried to gather her things and saddle her horse.
Damn you for the traitor and liar you are, and damn me for being so stupid as to think I could believe a word you said
.

The only thing she knew to do was return to Tombstone and find Opal and see if she could stay the rest of the night with her. It was not terribly late. Maybe midnight. She would still be working. Kitty had heard at the store where she had bought the food that Opal had gone to work at the Oriental’s biggest competitor, the Lucky Nugget.

After that, she would just have to put Ryder out of her mind, as well as the gold, and find a way to support herself.

“But if I ever see him again,” she swore into the night, “so help me, I’ll shoot him for the lying bastard he is.”

Everyone stared as Kitty entered the Lucky Nugget. A woman dressed like a man and wearing a double holster was not exactly a common sight.

When Opal saw her, she immediately yelled for someone to take over the faro game, then grabbed her arm and led the way to an empty table in a far corner.

Pushing her into a chair, she sat down opposite, and, after signaling to the bartender to bring them each a drink, she furiously demanded, “Just where the hell have you been? I’ve been out of my mind worrying that savage got hold of you. I tried to get Marshal Earp to send out a posse to look for you, but once the boy at the livery stable told him you had a horse and took off on your own, he said it was none of his concern.”

Kitty knew she was genuinely upset and hastened to explain, “I’m sorry, and I wish I could have told you, but the fact is, you were upset and doing a lot of talking, and I was afraid you couldn’t keep it to yourself, and I didn’t want anybody to know.”

Opal’s eyes slitted with indignation. “What do you mean—I was doing a lot of talking?”

“You told everyone about Dan McCloud having a half-breed son and how you think he’s the one who came to your shanty and was also responsible for ransacking my room.”

“So?”

“So we agreed not to talk about it.”

“What difference does it make?”

“Not any now, I guess.” Kitty took a sip of the whiskey that had been set before her. It felt like a fireball hitting her stomach but also went to work to quell the angry churning.

“Well, I would appreciate it if you’d tell me why you rode off by yourself and scared me out of my wits. Whether you believe it or not, I still care what happens to you.”

“I know you do,” Kitty said gratefully, “and maybe it’s time I explained a lot of things, except that I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve been such a fool.”

Opal looked troubled. “Why do I get the feeling this has something to do with Sam Bodine?”

“Because it does. You see”—she swallowed hard—“Sam is really Dan McCloud’s half-breed son. His real name is Ryder McCloud. He’s been passing for white and working as an Indian scout.”

Opal banged her fist on the table, making their glasses rattle. “The lying son of a bitch,” she shrieked. “I’d like to get my hands on him—”

“Opal, please…” Kitty held a finger to her lips. “There’s no need for the whole town to know.”

“I think you’d better tell me everything.”

“I will. But later. Right now you’ve got to get back to work.” A man in a black suit, white shirt, and string tie was watching them and looked annoyed. Kitty suspected he was Opal’s boss.

Opal turned to see who she was looking at, then agreed, “You’re right. I’m getting the evil eye.” She downed the rest of her whiskey. “I quit at three in the morning. Meet me at my shanty. It’s two rows up from the one I used to have, second on the left. The key is under a rock beside the door.”

“What about Nate?” Kitty did not want to be around him and would spend another night in the hayloft before being under the same roof with him alone.

Opal airily waved her hand, “Oh, Roscoe got out of jail yesterday, and him and Nate are off somewhere raising hell.”

“Well, I’d just as soon stay here and wait for you, if that’s all right.” She did not want to take any chances on Nate stumbling in.

“Suit yourself.” Opal got up and went back to calling faro numbers.

And Kitty settled back to wait, dreading having to admit her mistake in having trusted Ryder.

The rest of her misery—how she had given herself to him so recklessly—she would keep to herself.

Ryder stood at the edge of the cemetery known as Boot Hill, the crosses and markers appearing to glow eerily in the streaming moonlight.

He had tied his horse behind a nearby barn, where it would not be seen.

He had also borrowed a shovel from the barn, which he held against his shoulder.

The grisly task ahead was one he had postponed until the very last, making sure that Kitty did, indeed, possess Wade Parrish’s part of the map before he looked for his father’s.

And now the time had come.

With a great, heaving sigh, wrenched from the very core of his soul, Ryder entered the cemetery…and began walking toward his father’s grave.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I‘m not going to be here long,” Opal explained as Kitty looked about the shanty uncertainly.

“Just till I save a little money, and then I’m heading to California. There are fancier saloons out there, nicer places to live. Weather’s better, too, I hear.

“But at least I’ve got room for Nate when he’s around.” She gestured to a curtain hanging in a doorway at the rear of the kitchen. “I keep thinking one of these days he’ll settle down before he winds up in Boot Hill, but he keeps on drinking and raising hell.”

Opal went to a crude plank shelf that ran along one wall and took down two glasses. She set them on the table along with a bottle of whiskey, poured them each a drink, then urged, “Tell me everything.”

She sat down and motioned for Kitty to do the same.

Kitty took a sip of the whiskey. She never liked the taste but figured she needed it right then to give her the courage to admit, “You were right. Ryder is Dan’s son. He’s also Whitebear. I found that out the day my room was ransacked. That’s how I knew he wasn’t the one who did it—because he was with me.”

Opal downed her drink in one gulp and slammed the empty glass on the table. “I knew it. I knew it. That’s why he was honeying you up—to get your map. Well, thank goodness you were smart enough not to—” She had started to pour herself another drink, but her hand holding the bottle froze in midair as she saw the look on Kitty’s face. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “Tell me you didn’t give it to him.”

“I did,” Kitty said miserably. “But not then, because I was furious. It was later, when I decided I really had no choice, that I set out to look for him at the Indian camp.”

“And you found him?”

“Sort of,” she sheepishly admitted. “I thought I knew the way, and maybe sooner or later I would’ve found it, but an Apache hunting party found me first and took me there.”

“Then what happened?”

“We talked and made an agreement to look for the gold together and share it.”

Opal finished filling her glass. “I don’t see how you figured you could trust him.”

“It’s kind of hard to explain, but I did—then. He ran out on me last night, though.”

“And, no doubt, took your map with him.”

“Yes, but I drew a copy.”

“But what about his father’s half? If he don’t have it, then we’re right back where we started from.”

Kitty pushed her barely touched glass away and got up and went to the stove and the pot of stale coffee on top.

“I can heat that,” Opal offered.

“No need.” Kitty found a mug and filled it, then sat down again.

Opal frowned. “Well, go on. What about McCloud’s map?”

“Ryder didn’t have it.”

“What?” Opal screeched, leaping to her feet, then collapsed in her chair. “Then how in the hell did you think he was going to find the damn gold with just yours? And what kind of bargain was that, anyhow?”

“You don’t understand.” Kitty knew her argument was weak, but it was all she had to offer. “He said he had a good idea where his father’s map was.”

“Which was a trick. You know he had it all along, and now he’s got both pieces, and he’ll find the strike and keep it all for himself. So there’s nothing to do but forget about it. Your copy is worthless without his.”

“Not necessarily.”

Opal’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the numbers we saw on the map?”

“Yes. We couldn’t understand the meaning.”

“Ryder figured out they were actually numbers for a Bible verse. He said the chapter would probably be on his father’s half, and we’d need that before we could see what it was…what it meant. He said he thought maybe his father might have started reading the Bible in his later years and become a religious man.”

“So?” Opal threw up her hands. “Like I said—you’re right back where you started from.”

“And like I said—not necessarily. Ryder said we could probably find out the location from my map, or close to it, but we’d need his father’s part to get the clue from the Bible verse.”

Exasperated, Opal said, “I’m confused.”

Kitty’s smile was cold and sinister. “There’s no need to be. All I have to do is use my copy of the map to follow Ryder. Then I’ll hide and watch him find the gold, then take my share.”

Opal rolled her eyes. “And I think you’ve lost your mind, because he’ll wind up killing you. After all, he’s half-Apache, half-gunslinger, which can only be a deadly combination.”

“And you forget I’m also good with a gun, and I can be cunning, too, Opal.”

“I still say you’re crazy.”

“And I say it’s my only chance. I’ll know which direction he headed once I get my. copy of the map, and I’ll follow him.”

“Where is it?”

“In the vault at the bank. As soon as it opens in the morning, I’ll be ready to leave.”

Opal shook her head. “I think it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to do it.”

“I have no choice.”

Opal banged her fist on the table. “Yes, you do. You can let Nate go with you.”

Kitty stiffened. Taking Nate was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew she had to choose her words carefully lest Opal be offended. “I…I’d rather go, by myself,” she said slowly, evenly.

“Why? You’d be safer with Nate, and you know it. And Roscoe could go along for extra protection. Between the two of them, you’d have nothing to fear from that half-breed.” She smiled confidently. “And don’t worry. Nate and Roscoe’s pay would come out of the share of the gold you said you’d give me, so’s you don’t have to worry about payin’ em out of your pocket.”

Kitty knew she was on the spot. “It…it isn’t that, Opal.”

Opal sat up straight, hands gripping the edge of the table as her face twisted into an angry mask. “What, then?”

“I…I just prefer to go alone.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I don’t believe you. No woman in her right mind would want to go chasing after a gun-totin’ savage when two good, able-bodied men are willing to go with her. I think you’ve just changed your mind about sharing with me.”

“Opal, I promise you that’s not true.”

“And I say you’re lying.”

“No, I—”

“Get out.” Opal bolted to her feet. “You’ve used me all you’re going to, damn it. You never had any intentions of sharing with me. You just needed a place to stay, somebody to help you find a job, and if that son of a bitch hadn’t run out on you, you wouldn’t be here now. But enough is enough.”

Kitty felt tears spring to her eyes to think Opal believed she was capable of doing such a thing. “I’d never do that to you, I swear. I’m your friend, Opal. And I’d never have asked for your help if I hadn’t thought you and Daddy Wade weren’t close, and—”

“
Daddy Wade
,” Opal mimicked with a snort. “You didn’t give a hoot about him, neither. All you ever wanted was his gold.” She kicked her chair across the room. “Now I’m telling you for the last time—get out of here.”

Kitty got up and began backing toward the door. “Opal, I swear to you that you’ve got it all wrong. I
do
intend to share the gold with you if I can find it. Even when I made the bargain with Ryder McCloud to split it fifty-fifty, I was going to split my half with you.”

“If that was so, you’d have no objection to Nate and Roscoe going with you.”

Kitty had never known such frustration. “That’s not the reason.”

“There can’t be any other.”

“Oh, yes there can.” Kitty sucked in a sharp breath and let it go, along with her resolve to keep from hurting Opal’s feelings. “The truth is, I don’t like your brother, and I don’t trust him or Roscoe, and I’d rather take my chances alone than have them with me.”

For a few seconds, Opal could only stare at her, lips twitching. Then her anger erupted. “You’ve got no cause to feel that way. Nate apologized to you for what he did. He told me so. You’re just uppity, that’s all. You think you’re too good for the likes of him, and me too.”

Kitty took a step toward her. “That’s not true—”

Opal held up an arm to fend her off. “Don’t you come near me with your hugs and lies. I want you out of my house now. Folks that don’t like my brother aren’t welcome here.”

Kitty knew there was no use in trying to reason. Opal was fanatically loyal to her brother and would stand for no criticism of him. “All right, I’ll go. But you have my word that if I am able to find the gold, I’ll see to it you get your share.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure you will,” Opal cackled as she followed her to the door. “And folks in hell are gonna want ice water, and pigs will fly.”

Kitty rushed into the night.

Opal went back to the table and the whiskey, intent on drinking herself into a stupor.

“You can come out now,” she said dully.

The curtain at the rear of the kitchen parted, and Nate entered, a smug look on his face.

“I told you the bitch was two-faced,” he said, picking up the bottle and turning it up to his lips. He took a deep swallow, then wiped his mouth and said, “She only came here tonight wanting you to stake her to go after him. She never intended to share with you.”

“I know that now,” Opal sadly agreed. “But I was hoping you were wrong, and that she’d let you and Roscoe help her.”

“So what do we do now?”

She yanked the bottle away from him and took a drink herself, then fiercely declared, “You follow her and when she and that half-breed find the gold, you take my share, goddamn it.”

Kitty knew it was not safe to be on the streets at such an hour. Hurrying along, she went straight to the livery stable. No one was around, and she quickly scurried up the ladder to the loft to once again bed down in the hay.

She planned to be at the bank as soon as it opened, then be on her way to make Ryder McCloud regret, by God, that he had double-crossed her.

Weariness carried her away to slumber so deep she was unaware when someone took up vigil below to await her next move.

The river was a liquid ribbon, curling through and around the rocks and boulders.

Overhead, hawks rode the breeze, soaring endlessly without need of flapping their wings.

A rabbit peered from a hole to watch as the horse and rider passed by, then dove back into the earth to wait for safer conditions to scamper forth.

Kitty pulled her hat lower on her forehead against the unrelenting sun. Her shirt was wet with perspiration and clung to her like a second skin.

She paused often to allow her horse to drink his fill from the cool river waters, and she frequently dismounted to submerge her whole head in an effort to find relief from the smothering heat.

Judging from the shadows, Kitty estimated it was perhaps three or four in the afternoon. She had been at the bank when it opened at nine and left right after, so she had covered a good distance. It would have been more, however, had she not allowed the horse to go slowly, lest he succumb to the scorching heat of the day.

Delighting to find a spot of shade beneath a cottonwood tree, Kitty dismounted for much-needed respite.

She did not tie the horse but allowed him to graze his way along the bank. He would wind up in the water, but she was not worried he would run away.

Taking a few bites of hardtack and a cold biscuit from her saddlebag, Kitty sat down and settled back against the tree trunk to once more study her map.

The numbers she made out were 18:27. Part of the preceding was missing, but she could make out the phrase “unto the Lord.” Ryder had been positive it held an important clue, and she hoped he had already figured it out. It would make things so much easier if all she had to do was find him somewhere ahead, then settle back and wait for him to do all the work. Then she would take him by surprise, guns drawn, and demand her part.

She had made up her mind never again to think that the passion that surged so fiercely between them might lead to something else—like caring…and love. Damn it, she had made a big enough fool of herself. She was not about to let him think she had been falling in love with him.

Still, despite feeling humiliated, Kitty allowed herself to think how she had actually been drawn to two men—two different, distinct beings. Whitebear, the fierce Apache warrior, and Ryder, the gunfighter who also possessed charm and a rollicking sense of humor. The two halves combined into a man, Kitty knew, who could have held her heart in the palm of his hand.

But no more.

Betrayal was not something she took lightly.

She would get what was coming to her and then ride out of his life and never look back.

At least that’s how she hoped it would happen.

She could not control the dreams that haunted her nearly every night…dreams of what was…what might have been…and, painfully, would never be.

Folding the map, she tucked it inside her hat band. She had almost memorized it, anyway, but was puzzled by a huge
X
in the middle. If she had the other side, she thought she might be able to figure it out. As it was, it appeared to be marking a cabin of some sort, for there was a crude drawing of one. At least, it seemed that was what it was. But perhaps it would not matter. Ryder would probably already be there by the time she arrived at that vicinity, and, having the entire drawing made by his father and her uncle, he would have figured it all out.

She noted that the horse had waded out into the stream, no doubt to get cool rather than drink. Then it dawned on her that with no one around, she should do the same. There was time. In fact, she figured she would have to camp overnight before reaching where she expected to find Ryder.

Unbuckling her holster, she carefully laid it beneath the tree, took off her boots, then peeled out of her shirt, trousers, and underwear. Naked, she ran down the bank and waded in.

It felt wonderful, and she swam till she was tired, then flipped over on her back to float lazily.

She heard nothing…saw nothing. And it was only when she emerged a half hour or so later, squeezing water from her hair, that she froze in horror to realize that her clothes were not where she had left them.

And neither was her holster.

She whirled about, expecting to see—what? Indians? They would not play such a trick. They would have charged right in to either fill her full of arrows or capture her. Neither would outlaws have taken time for pranks.