Bound For Eden (19 page)

‘The trail leads back here.'

‘Right into town?'

Luke frowned. ‘It stops just outside.'

‘Just stops?'

Luke nodded abruptly.

‘So you don't know for sure that they actually came into town?'

‘Where else would they go?' Luke snapped in frustration.

Sheriff Keeley shrugged. ‘Who knows? Maybe they're waiting on someone.'

‘Have you got the “Wanted” posters done yet?'

‘I tell you what . . . I'll get a few of my boys on the street, send word around that the horse thieves might be back. At least we can get everyone looking out for that horse.'

Luke rubbed his face tiredly as he watched the sheriff amble off. He hadn't slept for the last couple of days. He'd been so focussed on finding the Gradys, he hadn't realised how worn out he really was. He was in no shape to continue the search. He supposed it would do no harm to clean himself up. Get a decent night's sleep and let the mare recover. And it would give him a chance to look Beatrice up. He hadn't managed to see her before he'd left, although Dolly swore to him that she was safe and sound. They had a bit of unfinished business to resolve.

Dolly knew Luke had had no luck finding the Gradys the minute he walked into Ralph Taylor's.

‘Luke!' Gracie and Seline cried simultaneously, both throwing themselves at him.

‘Get off him, girls, can't you see the man's worn out? You can harass him after he's had a nice bath and a lie down.'

‘I'll get your bath,' Seline volunteered.

‘No, you won't,' Dolly disagreed. ‘If I know you, girlie, you'll be climbing in there with him. There's time enough for that later. I'll run the bath myself. Come on, Slater, leave your saddlebags here.'

Dolly ushered him through to the washhouse and fussed about, heating water. They didn't speak until he was submerged in the tub. Dolly had settled herself to beating the dust out of his clothes, but even she couldn't resist the odd peek at the exposed skin gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. ‘So,' she said slyly, ‘I hear you and my cousin got better acquainted the other night.' She watched his shoulders stiffen. Lord, the man was all muscle; just look at the way he rippled when he moved.

‘What did she say?' Luke demanded.

Dolly's eyes narrowed. She'd never seen Luke concerned with a woman's opinion before. He usually took it for granted that he gave satisfaction. ‘Nothing much,' Dolly said vaguely.

‘But she said something.'

‘She saw you at the dance, obviously. And then you came back to the house . . .' Dolly let the sentence hang. She didn't want him to realise that she was fishing for details.

Luke stared down at the surface of the water, although not seeing his reflection; instead he saw a pair of smoky eyes and felt the heat of a firm, arching body. ‘I had no idea she was an innocent,' he admitted. ‘I would have left her alone if I'd known.'

‘Would you?' Dolly said dubiously.

‘I would have tried.'

She snorted.

‘Is she upset?' Luke asked, remembering the way she'd stiffened under him, and the tears on her cheeks.

Dolly grimaced, thinking of Alex, covered in soot and her brother's blood. Somehow Dolly thought the loss of her virginity had paled in comparison to the rest of the night.

‘She is, isn't she?' Luke drew his own conclusions from Dolly's silence. ‘I'll talk to her.' He made to rise from the tub, but Dolly stopped him with a gasp.

‘No! Don't be ridiculous. You might as well finish your bath.' She racked her brains helplessly, trying to think of an excuse for Beatrice's absence. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Seline and the girls loitering outside in the yard, waiting to pounce the minute Luke emerged. Hell, she thought, it wouldn't hurt the man to learn a little humility when it came to women. ‘Besides,' she said slowly, still looking at the girls, ‘there's no point, she's not here.'

‘What do you mean?'

Dolly examined him. Did he sound a little anxious, or was she imagining it? ‘I hate to tell you, Luke, but she left.'

‘Left?' He was disappointed. She could tell by the way his face fell. Dolly was flabbergasted. Luke Slater was disappointed. Over a woman. When there was a whole flock of them waiting for him just outside.

‘She's headed for home,' Dolly told him. ‘She left on yesterday's coach.'

‘Where's home?'

His question took her completely by surprise. Was he thinking of going after her? Hell. ‘Back east,' Dolly said, watching him curiously.

‘She didn't sound like an easterner. She sounded southern.'

‘She was originally,' Dolly invented swiftly, ‘but the family moved to Philadelphia.'

‘Philadelphia,' he said glumly.

Dolly had to pinch herself to see if she was actually awake and not dreaming the whole thing. Luke Slater was glum over a woman! ‘You seem quite taken with her,' she said cautiously.

Luke blinked, and then frowned. ‘I just didn't want to see her hurt.'

‘Uh-huh,' she said sceptically.

‘Her being a virgin and all.'

‘I'm sure she'll be fine,' Dolly assured him, feeling a pang of pity. She didn't think Luke had the slightest idea what was happening to him. She thought of Alex, all dirtied and dressed like a boy, right under his nose. She grinned as she wondered how long it would take him to figure it out.

‘Next time you write to Beatrice,' Luke said, clearing his throat awkwardly, ‘maybe you could mention how I asked after her.'

‘I will.' Dolly rose to stoke the stove, so she could heat him a little more water. ‘Now, are you going to tell me what happened with those Gradys?' she asked as the almond shells crackled in the fire and released their fragrant smoke.

‘Lost their trail.' Luke slumped back in the tub. He hadn't realised how much he'd been looking forward to seeing Beatrice. Philadelphia! Hell, that was halfway across the country. In the opposite direction to where he was headed.

He tried to push away any thoughts of her, relaxing back and closing his eyes. He swore. The minute he closed his eyes all he could see was her: the way she'd looked that night, walking towards him, naked and lush, her lips moist, tilting her head back and whispering,
‘Kiss me.'

‘How far out did you lose their trail?'

He wasn't sure whether to be grateful for Dolly's interruption. Part of him wanted to banish Beatrice from his mind to keep from torturing himself with visions of what he couldn't have, but another part of him wanted to lose himself in the memory, to relive every moment: touching her, tasting her, feeling the pull of her fingers through his hair and the touch of her tongue against his lips.

He flushed when he realised Dolly was waiting for an answer. ‘Just outside town.'

Dolly frowned, not understanding.

‘I mean, they headed south-east for a day, and then turned around and came back.'

‘They came back?' Dolly felt a thrill of fear.

‘Yeah,' Luke said thoughtfully. ‘I can't for the life of me figure out why they'd come back.'

‘Maybe they're looking for somebody,' Dolly suggested, swallowing hard, and remembering the feel of the thousand dollar bond between her fingers.

‘Silas said they were looking for a sister.'

Dolly's knees gave out and she sank onto the bench. Her head spun as she listened to him recount everything Victoria had told him. Dolly found she was holding her breath and let it out slowly. ‘I never heard tell of a sister,' she said shakily. She had to get word to Alex. The girl had to burn those bonds as soon as she could. Although, Dolly thought a little wildly, maybe she'd be better off just giving them back. If she burned them the Gradys would just keep coming after her, never believing the money was gone. Oh, what a mess.

‘Maybe they'll follow the Alexanders until this sister shows up.'

‘Out,' Dolly ordered sharply.

‘What?'

‘Get out. Get out of the bath. You have to leave now.'

Luke was looking at her as though she'd lost her mind.

‘You have to go,' Dolly insisted. ‘You need to find the wagon train before they do.'

‘There's no rush,' Luke told her. ‘I know exactly where it will be.'

When he didn't move, Dolly grabbed his wet hand and tugged. ‘What if they aren't looking to
follow
the Alexanders?' she cried. ‘What if they decide to hurt them? You saw what that weasel did to Adam.'

‘That was because Adam tried to stop him taking the horse.' Luke pulled his hand away. He took in Dolly's flushed face and the wild look in her eyes. What on earth had gotten into her?

‘What if they hurt them to get information out of them? To find out the sister's whereabouts?'

‘Victoria said she abandoned them. They don't have a clue where she's gone.'

‘But the Gradys don't know that!'

‘Well, we'll just have to see that they find out, won't we?' he said thoughtfully. He shook his head. ‘What kind of heartless woman would leave three kids like those to wander out into the wilderness?'

Dolly glared at him. ‘Everything she does is for them!'

Luke was bewildered. ‘How do you know?'

‘I don't,' Dolly lied helplessly, ‘but I know how a woman's mind works. I'm sure she's just trying to protect them.'

‘You're not making any sense.'

‘Forget making sense. Just get out of that damn bath and go after them!'

Luke let her pull him from the bath and within the hour he was back on the mare, still tired and hungry, and completely baffled by the whore's behavior. She'd really developed some feelings for that runt of a boy. Luke couldn't see what appeal a skinny boy would hold for a woman like Dolly. As long as he lived he would never understand women.

Seventeen

It was difficult to stay awake.

She'd been driving that horrid wagon for more than ten hours, and then she'd had to help Victoria cook dinner and wash the dishes. All she wanted to do was crawl into the back of the wagon, wrap herself in the itchy old blanket and sleep. But no, she had to sit up until everyone had gone to bed, just so she could burn those damn bonds.

Alex yawned and wished everyone else was as tired as she was.

There was one communal cooking fire in the centre of the circled wagons. The warm days gave way to crisp spring nights, so clear the crackle of the fire travelled clearly from one side of the camp to the other. The night sky was a vast sprawl of stars and the moon rose and set low over the plains, like a great white pearl. The livestock were tethered between the fire and the wagons; the area acted as a makeshift corral, stopping the animals from wandering, and protecting them from theft. While the O'Briens and the Crawfords retired early every night, yawning and rubbing their sore backs, and the newlywed Ulrichs rarely stirred from their wagon after dark, the more experienced travellers tended to sit up late around the campfire, chatting and sipping from Sebastian's store of liquor. ‘Not too much now,' he'd warn, pouring them each a stingy mouthful, ‘we've got to make it last.'

The Watts brothers always moaned and kicked up a fuss. ‘Damn, Doyle, that ain't enough to even wet my tongue.'

‘Not the way you drink it,' Sebastian said. ‘You boys wouldn't know the difference between whiskey and moonshine.'

‘Nothin' wrong with a bit of moonshine now and then.'

‘So, pick yourself up a batch when we get to Fort Kearney, and leave my whiskey the hell alone.'

Alex wondered if men were always so coarse when women weren't around.

‘Alex,' Adam whispered, trying to get her attention from the darkness outside the flickering ring of light.

‘What is it?' Alex asked, waving her hand to beckon him closer. When he stepped into the light the mules came too. They followed Adam everywhere. ‘You've got to stop feeding them sugar,' Alex told him, exasperated, ‘or they'll never leave you alone.'

‘I don't mind,' he said, pulling one of Cranky Bob's long furry ears through his fingers. He'd named them all, like they were pets, and, in a fit of pique after being bitten for the umpteenth time, Alex had renamed them. Now they were called Cranky Bob, Surly Sue, Ornery Frank, and Crusty Bill. Alex hated those mules. They kicked, they bit, and they gave her the evil eye whenever she went anywhere near them. She wished she could have the stolid old oxen back. That was one more thing to hold against the Gradys. They'd taken her oxen and stuck her with these evil animals.

‘What do you want?' Alex sighed, watching Cranky Bob nuzzle her brother affectionately.

‘I need to . . . you know what.'

‘So go,' Alex said, even as she clambered to her feet, knowing what the reply would be.

‘I'm scared of the dark.'

‘Come on.' Alex tried to keep well out of Bob's way, but the beast still tried to take a bite out of her. She hissed at him. It took Adam forever to step outside the circle of the wagons. Crusty Bill had hold of his jacket and wouldn't let him go.