Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (26 page)

Clutching her arms to her exposed
breasts, Celia looked to Seth for an unvoiced answer to the
screams, while she tried desperately to get her fingers to work on
the buttons of her dress. The alley had suddenly became a cold,
unforgiving place where their little tryst had been discovered, or
at least it felt like that. As she tugged at her clothes, Celia
tried valiantly to gather her wits. Her mind, as yet, couldn’t
comprehend why the woman was screaming, but she heard anger mingled
with fear in her voice.

“
Stay here.” Seth growled.
The order was curt and issued without consideration of an
objection, as he finished yanking on his pants. Reaching for his
gun belt in the dirt, he headed for the street.

“
But…”

Seth silenced Celia’s protest with a
warning glint from piercing blue eyes.

His profile in the dim light was the
cowboy gone on alert.

Moving with the stealth of a cat, he
made it to the corner of the building as he cocked his revolver
with one hand and stuffed in his shirttail with the
other.

The dim glow coming from the nearby
saloon offered only enough light to show two figures struggling in
the midst of the dirt. Several patrons had followed the disturbance
out into the street. Their jeers and calls of encouragement mingled
with the cries and curses, which grew in intensity.

As she drew near, Celia could see the
two individuals tangled in the dirt.

“
Get her! The whore needs a
good whuppin’. Don’t let her kick you like that! Go on – show that
slut whose boss.”

Slowly, the now growing crowd moved out
to circle the two combatants, like rabid dogs worked up at the
sight of blood.

Celia could hear the woman continue to
cry for help, but no one lifted a finger. Pain coated with anger
rose up in Celia at the woman’s distress. Why didn’t someone help
her? She looked for Seth, but he wasn’t around.

The crack of a hand against skin sliced
through the crowd. It enlivened the onlookers’ mood like pouring
kerosene on a campfire.

The ground shook as a thud and moaning
emerged from the frenzied circle of onlookers. Unable to stop
herself, Celia strode forward. She had to help the poor creature,
whoever she was. With her clothing back in place, Celia moved
cautiously out into the street. She still didn’t find Seth. Weaving
her way around the hecklers until she could see clearly, she saw a
man and a woman tangled in an awful physical encounter.

The woman staggered back holding her
side as she swayed. Her hair hung disheveled with long frizzed
strands hanging haphazardly in her face. Blood bloomed red and
fresh on her mouth. The saloon dress she wore proved worse for wear
with a liberal coat of filth and tears marring it’s garish beauty.
In Celia’s estimation, the woman couldn’t stand much
more.

The man didn’t look much better. He
sported a swollen eye along with a dirt encrusted beard and coat.
Most of the blood he wore was the woman’s though.

The sight brought out Celia’s defenses.
Never was it right to hit a woman, Celia mused, no matter what the
circumstances. “Stop! Stop this right now.” Celia’s voice was lost
in the yells and noise of the onlookers. She moved forward, bodily
pushing and shoving her way past the frenzied onlookers. Just as
she cleared the circle, the woman sprawled, face first, in the dust
at Celia’s feet. Immediately dropping to help, Celia paid little
attention to her own welfare as she rolled the woman over. It made
her stomach want to heave. Bending down, she turned the woman over
and gasped. Blood ran from several cuts and abrasions on the
injured woman’s face. Bruising had already started along her jaw
and cheek. If she wasn’t mistaken, the poor creature’s eye would
soon swell shut.

“
You gonna take her place,
My dear?”

Instinctively, Celia’s muscles
tightened. The stench of liquor assailed her nostrils. She cut her
gaze up, cautiously, to see the dirt incrusted creature weaving on
his feet right above them.

Without so much as a hesitant glance,
the dirty fellow let a stream of tobacco juice spew forth hitting
the dirt at the women’s’ feet with a vulgar splat.

Coolly, Celia ignored the vile insult.
“I don’t intend to let you abuse her anymore, if that’s what you
mean.” The man reeked. Celia’s eyes went to slits as she glared
defiantly at the antagonist. “It’s a sorry excuse for a man that
hits a woman.”

“
Oh, yeah? Well, maybe the
uppity Indian whore needs a reminder of what we do to them that
sticks their nose in where it don’t belong. I ‘otta show you right
now.” He weaved a little as he glared at her through bloodshot
eyes. Shaking his filthy finger in her face, the man cursed low and
in Comanche.

Marginally surprised, Celia watched him
cautiously.

“
She stole from me! Besides,
this ain’t no concern of yours. Get out of the way,
bitch.”

His directive came with encouragement
from the crowd who’d come to see a fight. Like rabid dogs, they
licked their chops in anticipation.

Reaching out, the filthy fellow tugged
hard on Celia’s upper arm. “I aim to get back what’s mine. She’s
gonna tell me where she hid it or I’m gonna beat it out of her.
Now, get out of my way.”

Celia felt the pain of his meaty hand
dig into her upper arm. His dirty fingernails cut into her flesh.
Wincing, she instinctively pulled back Celia used her weight to
lever a position over the injured woman. Her struggle was short
lived before he suddenly let go, and she too, fell backward into
the dirt.

“
That’s about enough of
that.” With one smooth move, Seth had his hand on the man’s collar,
hauling him up by the back of his tattered coat. “The lady’s right.
You don’t have a right to hit a woman.”

Arms flailing and legs a couple of
inches off the ground, the filth incrusted abuser objected
vehemently, “Get your hands off me. Put me down! I got a right to
what’s mine. She stole from me. I’m gonna take it out of the
whore’s hide. She’s gonna tell me where my gold is!”

With pure contempt in his face, Seth
dropped the drunk back into the dirt several feet away, before
returning and reaching for Celia. Taking things by the reins, Seth
shot back over his shoulder at the man. “Well, now. Gold is it.” He
waited a beat as the onlookers gathered closer. Never looking down
at the two women, he positioned himself between the drunk and them.
“How is it, she stole your gold? Do you know for a fact she’s
guilty?”

The man’s eyes darted from left to
right. He opened his mouth to speak before shutting it on a belch.
A perplexed expression wreathed his face.

“
Do you have
witnesses?”

The man waved his arms aimlessly at the
crowd of onlookers. “Of course, I do. Ask anybody. They all saw
her.” He waved his arm about at the crowd. The whore pawed around
trying to smooth talk me into comin’ upstairs with her.”

The injured woman groaned aloud. “I
never…,” her voice trailing off when pain registered on her
face.

“
She’s a crafty one, that
slut.” He shoved his index finger directly at the injured woman.
“When I told her to leave me the hell alone, she slipped it out of
my pocket without so much as a graze.”

The crowd which only minutes before had
been ready to take bets on the outcome began to grow bored and
started to disperse. Several more slipped into the shadows as
another figure approached out of the shadows.

In frustration, the abuser whirled in a
drunken circle. “I know what she did! I’ll kill her!” he
shouted.

“
Break it up, now. Break it
up, I said.” Cole glared hard at the onlookers. “Go on home. Get
out of the street, all of you.” The sheriff shoved by those who
were too intoxicated, or too enthralled, to realize anyone else had
spoken. With a withering stare, for those who still hadn’t moved,
the Sheriff made quick work of the holdouts.

“
Seth? What’s going on
here?” His face creased in concern, Cole ignored the ears that
strained to hear as the gawkers and gossipers eased
back.

“
I got a right to what’s
mine.” Pointing a finger at the woman on the ground, the man sought
help from Cole, “This slut stole from me. I want it back. Arrest
her!” He stood almost completely supported by Seth’s arm and
squinted trying to clear his vision. “Cole, I want her locked up.
You hear me. Locked up?”

Seth had an uneasy notion start to
form. He eyed the sheriff. “Do you know this man?”

“
He’s Brannon, Texas
Ranger.” Cole’s mouth set in a thin line. Resignation wreathed his
tone.

Unsettled to say the least, Seth could
only stare at Cole who shook his head. The growing unease in his
gut screamed that this didn’t bode well at all. “Well,
hell.”

Grabbing Brannon up by the cuff of the
neck when Seth shoved him in the sheriff’s direction, Cole turned
with his charge and steered him toward the jail. “Come on. You can
sleep it off tonight. We’ll discuss this in the morning,” Cole
muttered over his shoulder.

Heading toward the jail, the drunk
clearly had a plan. “She’s gonna pay. Mark my words…I’m the
law.She’s gonna pay.” The drunken Ranger’s arms waved wildly as if
a scarecrow caught in a dirt devil. Cole merely snatched harder on
the Ranger’s coat collar.

Seth knelt by Celia, who was examining
the woman. “Are you all right?”

“
I’m okay.”

Seth’s eyes roamed her without saying
anything. Turning his attention to the unconscious woman, he
frowned. “How is she?” He watched Celia as she wiped the blood from
the woman’s mouth.

“
She needs attention. Help
me get her back to the hotel and into a bed. I have some herbs in
my bag. Didn’t Ty say Tyler has a doctor?”

“
Yeah, I’ll get
him.”

“
I won’t know how bad it is
until I can examine her more closely. I think you’d better
hurry.”

“
I’ll do my best. Celia,
will she make it?”

Celia glanced at him before answering.
“I hope so. She’s passed out from the pain, which is a good thing,
because she may have some broken ribs. Moving her will cause a
great deal of pain, so she’s better off unconscious at the moment.
Do you have any idea who she is?”

The woman’s head lolled in Celia’s arms
as she continued to swipe at the blood. The moon glinted off the
golden flax of her hair. She resembled a porcelain doll with chips
in her perfection. Seth hadn’t answered which made Celia curious as
to why he paused. Perhaps he had no idea. She glanced at him
bemused.

“
Yeah, she’s my sister,”
Seth said solemnly.

***

What had he done? That one question
kept resurfacing throughout the wee hours of the next morning. He
could still see Celia clutching the bodice of her gown to her
breasts while her eyes as big as owl’s eyes watched him go on the
defense in that filthy alley. Studying the liquor in the glass,
Seth considered the stupidity that had driven him to such a low
state of affairs. For bleeding Judas sake – what had he
done?

The ornate grandfather clock in the
sitting room ticked away the minutes. Too much time to think, damn
it!

A man had needs didn’t he? And she’d
been willing, hadn’t she? Oh yes, she’d been willing. All of that
was no excuse. He could have gone to Claudette’s any time he wanted
and satisfied his base needs. Seth swore under his breath. If it
hadn’t been for Casey’s screams, hell, he’d have taken Celia like a
common whore. He slammed back the three fingers of whiskey in the
glass before staring into the bottom of the cut crystal. She
deserved better.

Doc Wheeler emerged from his sister,
Casey’s room. Dropping his bag on the marble-topped side table, he
nodded his head in Seth’s direction. “I’m not gonna blow smoke up
your ass, son. Casey’s in serious condition. She has several broken
ribs as well as numerous lacerations. The bruising alone will keep
her abed for a week. We won’t know about internal bleeding until
tomorrow. She’s sure as hell not out of the woods yet,” the old man
said, shaking his head. With a keen eye for the glass in Seth’s
hand, Doc Wheeler inclined his head. “Give me one of those, will
you, son?”

Seth obliged as Wheeler dropped into a
nearby chair. Fatigue showed in his weathered face.

“
Umm, that’s good.” With a
deep drink, Wheeler glanced at the clock and then his own
timepiece. “If she has complications through the night, then she’ll
have a better chance with complete bed rest. Do you
understand?”

Seth grunted his perception. He’d known
Wheeler all his life. The man had delivered him right there at the
ranch over thirty years before. He trusted Wheeler’s
judgment.

“
Casey’s not to be moved for
at least two weeks.” The stern look he gave Seth brooked no
argument.

Seth nodded. He was just grateful to
whatever gods there were that she was going to live.

Tyler’s only doctor peered at Seth over
the rim of his spectacles. “My orders are simple. The young woman
you have here is a fine caregiver. Celia understands what I expect
her to do. There shouldn’t be any problems, but if you have any,
send for me. If not, I’ll be back tomorrow to check on
her.”