Autumn Lover (24 page)

Elyssa clung to Leopard’s neck, riding with all her
skill. She never took her eyes from the narrowing gap between the Indian girl and Leopard.

And the Culpeppers.

Lord, but those mules are fast
! Elyssa thought in dismay.

She had only instants to decide whether to cut the Culpeppers off from the girl and pray that the Ladder S men would arrive before the Culpeppers grabbed her.

Or Elyssa could grab the girl and race headlong into the cover of the marsh.

The Indian girl finally heard the pounding of Leopard’s hooves over the harshness of her own breathing. She veered away from the big stallion.

“No!” Elyssa screamed. “Friend! I’m a friend!”

Either the girl believed that safety lay with the flaxen-haired stranger, or she was simply too tired to run a longer path to the marsh. The Indian girl veered back, bent her head, and clung to the bundle of clothing that swaddled the baby. Her bare feet flew over the earth.

Elyssa was close enough now to recognize a Culpepper as the closest man. Gaylord Culpepper wasn’t far behind. They were gaining at a terrifying pace.

And the first Culpepper was aiming his rifle at the fleeing girl.

Elyssa didn’t know she had drawn and fired her carbine until it kicked against her shoulder. She kept levering in rounds, firing as fast as she could while Leopard thundered closer and closer to the hard-running riders.

Abruptly the Culpepper shouted, threw up his hands, and fell beneath the hooves of his mule. Gaylord barely pulled his own mule around before he trampled his kin underfoot.

Relief and sickness roiled equally within Elyssa. She ignored both.

As she drew alongside the running girl, Elyssa jammed the carbine back into its sheath. Still running,
the Indian girl held out her baby in mute plea that it be saved even though it was too late for her own life to be spared.

The remaining men would be on them in moments.

Elyssa grabbed the baby and cradled it against her side with her left arm. Simultaneously she kicked free of her right stirrup and held out her right hand to the straining girl.

“Come on!” Elyssa shouted. “Take my hand! You can’t outrun them!”

The gesture meant more than any words. The Indian girl sprang like a cat at the stirrup.

Somehow Elyssa managed to hang on to the girl long enough for her to gain a foothold in the stirrup. She crouched with one foot in the stirrup and clung to the saddle horn with both hands.

Elyssa turned Leopard and sent him toward the marsh at a dead run.

Shots peppered the ground around them. It was only a matter of time until the raiders brought down the fleeing stallion.

With one arm Elyssa supported the Indian girl as she clung precariously to the saddle. Elyssa’s other arm cradled the bundle of rags protectively against her body, shielding the helpless baby from bullets in the only way she could.

“Hang on!” Elyssa said fiercely. “No matter what, hang on!”

If the Indian girl understood, she said nothing. Her eyes were dazed, exhausted. Her face was livid with bruises.

Leopard thundered toward the marsh without slowing down, no matter how rough the going. A quick glance back told Elyssa that Gaylord Culpepper was no more than three hundred feet away. He was riding easy in the
saddle, taking his time as he sighted down the barrel of his rifle.

From the corner of her eye Elyssa saw Ladder S riders burst from the marsh almost a mile away. Bugle Boy was in the lead, running as though fleeing hell, narrowing the distance between Hunter and the raiders with gigantic strides.

Hunter’s rifle was in his hands. He rode like a centaur, firing as he came.

The range was too great for accuracy from the back of a racing horse. Elyssa knew it, just as she knew it was all Hunter could do until he got closer.

And by then, Gaylord would have picked off the two women with the ease of a man shooting fish in a barrel.

A shot came from the marsh just ahead and to the right of Elyssa. A split second later, a shot from behind her whipped by so close that she saw dust leap from the ground just to the left of Leopard’s flying hooves.

Suddenly Leopard was into the marsh’s tawny embrace. Catlike, the stud hurtled down a narrow, mudcaked trail. Elyssa dragged the horse to a jolting stop just as the other girl’s strength gave out. The girl fell to the ground in a tattered heap of clothing.

The sounds of firing erupted behind Elyssa in ragged volleys. Leopard stood calmly, breathing hard. Elyssa kicked free of the stirrups and slid off, holding the baby in one arm and her carbine in the other.

The Indian girl made a ragged noise and held out her hands. Elyssa bent and handed the baby to its mother. Then a noise from deeper in the marsh made Elyssa spin around, carbine leveled and ready to fire.

The Indian girl made a sharp sound and tried to rise, but her strength was gone.

“Easy, Sassy,” said a voice from the reeds. “It’s Case.”

Elyssa felt as though the world had been lifted from
her shoulders. She made a hoarse sound of relief and pointed the carbine barrel at the sky.

Case emerged from the marsh carrying a rifle.

The Indian girl seemed to recognize him. Slowly she relaxed and began crooning softly to the baby, who had not made one sound during all the flight. A small fist emerged from the rags. Tiny fingers patted at the girl’s face. The smile she gave her baby was as radiant as the sky.

“Are you hurt?” Case asked Elyssa.

Elyssa’s mouth was far too dry to attempt speech. She simply shook her head.

“Wait here,” Case said. “I’ll give the call of a horned lark when I return. You hear anything else, get ready to shoot.”

She nodded.

Case gave her an intent, searching look.

“Hang on, Sassy. I won’t be long.”

Numbly Elyssa nodded again.

Sporadic shots sounded from beyond the marsh. Hooves made a distant drumroll that faded into the rustling of the dry, wind-fretted reeds.

It seemed like a hour, but really was only minutes, before the call of a horned lark came softly through the reeds.

“All clear,” Case said. “They’re running away like the coyotes they are.”

Elyssa made a low sound as relief swept through her. On its heels came nausea and weakness. She swayed, shaking.

What’s wrong with me? I wasn’t the one running for miles over the land like this poor girl
.

The answer came to Elyssa as she saw again the instant when the Culpepper threw up his hands and fell beneath the hooves of his racing mule.

Grimly Elyssa swallowed and then swallowed again,
trying to quell the rebellion of her stomach.

As soon as Case emerged from the reeds again, Elyssa turned to the Indian girl. When she bent down to check on the baby, a wave of nausea hit her. Blindly she went to her knees and crawled away from the girl and the baby.

Spasm after spasm of sickness convulsed Elyssa. She retched until she was too weak to hold up her head. Vaguely she realized she didn’t have to. Someone was doing it for her.

Strong arms lifted Elyssa, turned her, cradled her. Gentle hands wiped her face with a cool, damp bandanna. She lay against a man’s chest and shuddered.

“Hunter?” she whispered hoarsely.

“Not yet,” Case said. “He’ll be along real quick, though.”

“No,” she said, struggling to sit up.

Case caged Elyssa against his chest with equal parts strength and gentleness.

“Easy, little one,” Case said. “Rinse your mouth out with this. You’ll feel better.”

“The girl—” Elyssa began.

“I checked her. She didn’t catch a bullet. Neither did the baby. She’s nursing him right now. Or trying to. Poor thing had a hard time of it with those Culpeppers.”

With a shuddering sigh, Elyssa took a sip of water.

The sound of men approaching made her push weakly at Case’s arms.

“Let me up, please,” she pleaded.

“You’re still shaking. Give your nerves time to settle.”

“No!” Elyssa said hoarsely. “I don’t want him to know what a weakling and coward I am.”

“Coward?”

Case looked at Elyssa in disbelief. Ignoring her small struggles, he resumed washing her face as though she
was a child. The gentleness of his touch was at odds with the bleakness of his pale green eyes.

“You’re neither weak nor a coward,” Case said calmly. “A lot of men break and run at their first taste of gunfire and death.”

Elyssa made a muffled sound.

“I know,” Case said. “You don’t like remembering that you might have killed a man, even though that Culpepper needed killing as much as any man ever born.”

The cool, damp bandanna smoothed over Elyssa’s forehead and eyes.

“But you did what had to be done,” Case said. “You stood your ground and saved lives at the risk of your own. No soldier could have been braver.”

Elyssa looked at Case’s eyes and understood all that he wasn’t saying.

“It happened to you, too, didn’t it?” she whispered. “The—the shooting and the sickness.”

“I got over it,” Case said matter-of-factly. “You will, too. You’re a strong woman, Sassy. A lot stronger than a man would guess from looking at you.”

Reeds crackled as something brushed them aside. With shocking speed a six-gun appeared in Case’s hand.

“It’s me,” said Hunter.

“Whistle next time or it could be your last.”

Hunter shoved aside the reeds and wondered what Case would say if he knew his brother’s mouth was too dry to whistle.

It had been like that since Hunter had seen a rifle pointing at Elyssa and known with terrible finality that there was nothing he could do to stop a bullet from reaching her.

“Thank you,” Hunter said in a low voice to Case. “I owe you. Again.”

“I wasn’t the one who saved her.”

“Who was?”

“I’ll let you know when I find out,” Case said dryly.

Hunter barely heard. He knelt next to Elyssa and pushed a cascade of silver-gold hair away from her face.

“Are you all right, Sassy?” Hunter asked.

With a small sound Elyssa buried her face against Case’s chest, shutting out Hunter.

“She’s not hurt,” Case said.

“Then why are you holding her as tenderly as a Christmas kitten?” Hunter retorted.

What Hunter didn’t say was that he wanted to be the one holding Elyssa. Unfortunately, she was making it clear that the feeling only went one way.

“She likely killed a Culpepper,” Case said.

The shock on Hunter’s face would have made any man but Case smile.

“It’s not sitting easily on her stomach,” Case added.

Elyssa gave a small groan of humiliation and tried to vanish into Case’s gray flannel shirt. Case simply held her and gently stroked her hair.

“What happened?” Hunter demanded.

Eyes tightly closed, Elyssa shook her head, her humiliation complete.

“Bill and I untied the girl while everyone was asleep. Then I started tracking that damned ghost,” Case said.

“The spy?” Hunter demanded.

Case nodded.

“He came to Bill’s place just before dawn,” Case said. “There was some kind of argument. He left. I’ve been playing tag with him ever since. He led me here.”

“He’s in the marsh somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Then he didn’t come from the Ladder S,” Hunter said. “All our men are accounted for.”

Case grunted. “When I heard gunfire, I sifted out to the edge of the marsh and looked around. The Indian
girl was making for the marsh as fast as she could run. Four of the raiders were chasing her.”

Hunter glanced at the girl.

Sensing his interest, she looked up from her baby. The bruises on her young face—combined with the fear and calculation in her eyes—told Hunter everything. He had seen women with that look during the war, after they had been hard-used by strangers and had no reason to trust any man.

Hunter held his left hand in front of his body, palm up. He touched the center of the palm with his right index finger.

The girl understood. Reassured, she went back to caring for her baby as best she could.

“Go on,” Hunter said in a low voice to Case.

“Sassy was on that big spotted stud. They were coming across the grassland like hell on fire.”

Hunter said something under his breath.

“When the first Culpepper spotted her,” Case said, “she didn’t even pull up from a dead run. She just dropped the reins, yanked out her carbine, and started firing.”

Hunter’s expression became even more grim. He looked at the cascade of pale blond hair that concealed Elyssa’s face from him.

“Damn it, Sassy,” Hunter hissed. “You never should have been here in the first place. You could have been killed!”

Elyssa ignored him.

“Instead, she dropped a Culpepper,” Case said matter-of-factly. “A good day’s work, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t,” Hunter snarled.

Big hands reached out and plucked Elyssa from Case’s arms. Hunter turned Elyssa’s face against his chest and began stroking her hair even more tenderly than Case had.

Elyssa struggled for a moment before she gave in. Hunter’s gentleness was too beguiling to fight against. She hungered for it, for some sign that she hadn’t misread him totally. A man with only lust on his mind wouldn’t bother to care tenderly for a queasy girl.

“Then Elyssa reined her stud up alongside the Indian,” Case continued, “took the baby in one arm, grabbed the girl with the other, and hauled her up to the stirrup.”

Hunter’s breath stopped. “What about the other raiders?”

“They were coming down on her fit to scare a stone statue,” Case said.

“Jesus.”

Hunter’s hand contracted in Elyssa’s hair.

“Gaylord was drawing a bead on her scalp,” Case said, “when a bullet came out of the marsh. Knocked him right out of the saddle. He was dead before he hit the ground.”

“The ghost saved Sassy’s life?” Hunter asked skeptically. “That makes no sense. He has tried to kill Sassy himself.”

Case shrugged. “Maybe he just wanted to scare her into pulling up stakes and leaving the ranch behind.”

“Maybe.” Hunter’s tone said he doubted it.

The sound of men approaching the marsh came clearly through the air. Case stood and faded back among the reeds.