Dashing Druid (Texas Druids) (29 page)

Excited voices rang out ahead as Lil neared the stockyards, and she saw people start to run in that direction. She grabbed the arm of a passing cowpoke.

“What’s going on? Why’s everybody in such a hurry?”

“There’s gonna be a gunfight, ma’am,” he said excitedly, obviously impatient to go watch it. “You’d best stay away.”

“Gunfight? Between who?” she questioned in alarm.

“A fast-draw name of Frank Howard and some dumb Irishman is what I heard.”

“No!” Lil released his arm and staggered backward, feeling as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “Th-that’s impossible! Frank left for Texas days ago.”

“Well, ma’am, I reckon he came back. Uh, you all right?”

She couldn’t answer. Stumbling past him, she picked up her skirts and ran. When she neared the stock pens, she had to push through a crowd of gawkers.

“Let me by!” she cried, fighting her way to the front. Then she stopped dead, terror-stricken by the sight of Tye facing off with Frank outside the pens.

“Tye!” she screamed. “Don’t do it!”

He shot her a startled glance, then focused his gaze on Howard. “Lily, what are ye doin’ here? Stay back!” he shouted.

Before she could disobey, a pair of hands clamped around her arms from behind. “Do not,
Señorita
Lil,” Luis Medina said quietly in her ear. “Unless you wish to see him killed.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Thank God for Luis, Tye thought. Why hadn’t Lil stayed at the hotel? Had someone told her Howard was back? His own shock at seeing the Texan had given way to a realization that this was fated to happen, but he didn’t want Lil to witness it, no matter what the outcome. Feeling her panicky terror across the distance separating them, he struggled to ignore it.

“Come to watch your Paddy-boy lover die, Lil?” Howard sneered, lips twisting. His hand hovered over his fancy-handled Colt as he slowly backed up, opening more space between himself and Tye.

“Frank, you don’t need to do this,” Lil said shrilly. “I’ll do anything you want.
Anything
!”

“Be quiet, woman!” Tye shouted. “You’ll not trade your honor for my sake.”

Howard laughed at him. “Don’t worry, Paddy, I ain’t about to take her up on her offer. Not ’til you’re six feet under leastways. Then maybe I’ll find out how much you taught her.”

“Shut your filthy mouth and draw,” Tye gritted, filled with a sudden, savage desire to kill.

Hate contorted Howard’s face; then his features stiffened and he grabbed for his gun. Tye’s hand moved by pure reflex. He felt the hard, familiar weight of his gun and the sharp kick the .44 gave when he squeezed the trigger. The blast echoed through his head.

Howard jerked as his gun started to come up. The .45 went off, the bullet kicking up dirt a few yards ahead of him. His mouth worked and he stared at Tye in surprise as a scarlet splotch flowered on his striped blue and white shirt, directly over his heart.

Tye heard Lil cry out and the crowd gasp as Howard crumpled to his knees, then down on his elbows. He hung there a second or two before his face hit the Kansas dust.

Gun powder reeked in Tye’s nostrils as he numbly holstered his pistol. Howard’s insult to Lil had made him want to kill the bastard with a primitive ferocity, but the feeling faded as he stared at the man’s body. This wasn’t the first life he’d taken and it might not be the last, but it gave him no pleasure. He hoped it never would.

Silence ruled for a moment; then excited voices flew around him like vultures circling a feast.

“Damn, I didn’t know Irish was such a hand with a gun,” Choctaw Jack said. He stood with Dewey near the gate to the stock pens. Dewey muttered a stunned response, but Tye didn’t catch the words.

Distracted by a husky cry, he saw a rush of blue from the corner of his eye. Then a human whirlwind with long sable hair and wet dark eyes slammed into him, rocking him backward a step. She clutched him tight and buried her face in the open throat of his shirt. His arms came up to hold her.

“Oh, Tye, I thought sure he’d kill you,” she choked.

“It’s all right, colleen,” he whispered, feeling her tremble. The relief that flooded her mirrored his own. He bent his head, inhaling her sweet, familiar scent and thanking God that he was alive to hold her. When he looked up, he saw several Circle H riders gathered around Frank Howard. They’d ridden up with him minutes ago.

One man, older than the rest, knelt to roll Howard over and check for any sign of life. “He’s dead,” he announced shortly, drawing muttered curses from his companions.

“Let me through, dammit!” a gruff voice bellowed, and Del Crawford barreled through the crowd with David behind him. Del stopped short when he spotted Howard. “Oh, Christ!” he muttered.

David sighed heavily and strode toward Tye, wearing a look as grim as death. Luis, Dewey, Jack and the rest of the TC crew also edged closer – eyeing the Circle H crowd, Tye noticed in alarm. He didn’t want this to turn into a pitched battle, didn’t want to see anyone else killed.

A young, swarthy-skinned cowboy among the Howard faction scowled hard at him. “You’re a dead man, mister. When the boss finds out you killed Frank, he and Travis will hunt yuh down and hang yuh. That’s if us boys don’t do it for him first.”

“No!” Lil cried, pivoting out of Tye’s embrace. “Frank’s been itching to draw down on Tye for months. He came back here to kill him.”

Tye clasped her arm. “Lily, stay out of it,” he said.

She threw him a wild glance. “I can’t! I’m not going to let you get blamed for this. You only defended yourself. Everyone saw that.” Her comment drew a chorus of agreement from the crowd.

“Reckon that’s so, ma’am,” said the man kneeling beside Howard. He rose and motioned his friends to be silent.

“I tried to talk Frank into getting back on the train when he showed up a while ago, but he said he had a score to settle.” He scratched his bristly jaw. “I’ll see his pa knows that, but I dunno if it’ll change things. Frank is his son.
Was
, I mean.”

“Can you get word to him, Hoit?” Del asked, trudging over to the man, with whom he was evidently acquainted. He stared glumly at Howard’s body. “I know Judd and Travis left for Chicago yesterday on business. They tell you where they were planning to stay?”

“Yessir, Mister Crawford. The boss said I oughta know, just in case we needed to get a hold of him. Reckon I’d best send him a telegram.” He looked down at the dead man and shook his head. “Dadblamed young fool. This will near kill his ma. His pa, too, I expect.”

“Durn tootin’ it will. Mister Howard doted on Frank,” the swarthy drover put in, eyes drilling Tye again. “If I was you, mister, I’d run far and fast.”

“Turk, shut up,” Hoit snapped. “It ain’t your place to speak for the boss.”

As he reprimanded the youth, the crowd parted for a stern-faced man dressed in a black frock coat with a badge pinned to one lapel. He took in the scene at a glance, then turned to one of the locals and told him to go fetch the undertaker. His order was instantly obeyed.

“Wyatt Earp,” David said quietly to Tye as the lawman approached. “The town hired him in April to put a lid on all the killing. He’s tough but fair, so I’ve heard. Just tell him how it happened. You’ve got plenty of witnesses.”

* * *

Tye studied Lil as she paced over to the window in the hotel lobby and stared out, holding one hand pressed to her stomach. She was worrying herself sick over him. He felt the worry and fear churning within her. He’d never been able to block out her emotions. They beat at him now, causing him to rub his temples as he watched her.

She looked as lovely as he remembered in the flowered blue gown, her dark hair caught back with the ribbon he’d given her. If the day had gone as planned, she’d be seated across a table from him right now and he’d be asking her to marry him.

Damn Frank Howard to Hell! he fumed. Then he immediately begged God’s forgiveness. The man had died by his hand; he oughtn’t to curse his soul, no matter how black he believed it to be.

“I reckon Judd will head back as soon as he gets the telegram,” Del said, drawing Tye’s attention. “He’ll want to take Frank home quick as he can.”

They stood waiting for David. He’d stayed behind to conclude things at the stockyard and make sure the crew didn’t get into a battle with the Howard bunch. Marshal Earp had ordered all of them to turn in their guns as per the town ordinance, but . . . .

“I’ll talk sense to Judd,” Del added. “He knew Frank was looking for trouble with you.”

“You really think he’ll care about that now?” Lil asked, pacing back to them. “I doubt he’ll even hear you out.”

Her eyes met Tye’s, and the fear in their depths rocked him to his core, forcing him to look away. He didn’t want her living with such all-consuming fear, not because of him. He knew all too well what that could do to her.

“Course he’ll hear me,” her father insisted. “We’ve been friends all our lives.”

Lil stared hard at him. “And if he doesn’t? Will you stand with Tye? Against Judd?”

Shock whitened Del’s leathery face. For a moment he returned Lil’s stare; then he gave a heavy sigh. “If it comes to that, yes.” His gray eyes shifted to Tye. “I’ll stand with you.”

“Against your best friend?” Tye couldn’t believe it.

Del
bent his head. “You know, I lost my son in the war. Toby wasn’t my blood, but he might as well have been.” Catching Lil’s small, choked sound, he smiled sadly at her. “So I know how bad Judd’s gonna hurt, and I feel real bad for him. But if he takes his hurt out on you, he’ll be hurting Lil, too, and I won’t allow that. I’ll back you all right, and it won’t be just me. Speaking for my brother and our crew, it’ll be everybody on the Double C.”

Overwhelmed, Tye swallowed hard. “No, I can’t ask –” he began, only to be cut off when David walked up from behind and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Same goes for the River T. You’re not alone in this, Tye. You’ve got family and friends.”

Del
nodded in agreement and Lil gave a wobbly smile, but a vise squeezed Tye’s chest. Mother of God, what had he started? He cleared his throat and shook his head.

“That’s generous of ye both, but I’ll not be the cause of a feud,” he said adamantly.

David frowned and crossed his arms. “I hope it won’t come to that, but if it does, you’re not to blame. Frank Howard is. And there’s no generosity involved.” He grinned. “Aside from you being Jessie’s brother, I owe you for getting me home after that longhorn tore me up.”

“I owe you, too, for a lot of things,” Del said gruffly, scrubbing the back of his neck. “So don’t argue.”

Tye opened his mouth to do just that but realized it would do no good. “I’m going for a walk,” he said abruptly. He started to turn away, but Lil clutched his arm.

“Not by yourself. I’ll come with you.” Her fear for him burst forth again, beating in his head like a living thing.

He caught her hands. They were cold. “Nay, I need time to think. We’ll talk when I get back.” He sent Del a speaking glance, released Lil and swung on his heel.

“But it’s not safe. You might –”

“Let him be, girl,” Del said. “You can’t put a ring through a man’s nose. Not if you want him to stay a man.”

“Keep away from Rowdy Joe’s place, Tye,” David called after him. “The Circle H boys are hanging out there.”

“Aye,” Tye replied distractedly as he strode out the door. He’d had no destination in mind, but David’s comment made him realize he needed a drink. Finding a half-way quiet saloon down the street, he went in and ordered a whiskey. Hunched over his glass at the bar, he debated what to do.

Should he wait for Judd Howard to return from Chicago and have matters out with him? Wyatt Earp hadn’t
ordered
him to leave town, but he’d strongly suggested it. Wichita didn’t want Texans shooting up the place while they battled it out, the lawman had informed him. Besides that, Tye feared Lil or her father or David, or one of the crew might catch a bullet in his defense.

Well then, should he go back to Texas, to the River T? No, that would be worse; he’d only bring danger down on Jessie and the children, as well as Lil and everyone else. Damn, he was like a stone dropped in the middle of a pond and the consequences were rippling out of control. He had to stop it. But how?

There was only one possible answer, and the realization of what he must do brought agony so sharp that he had to screw his eyes shut and lock his jaws to keep from crying out.

* * *

Lil sat on the edge of her bed, fighting the desire to go look for Tye. Blast it, she should have gone after him, no matter what he and her father said. She understood he needed time alone after what had happened, but couldn’t he have shut himself up in a room here at the hotel? Did he have to make himself a target for Howard’s men and drive her out of her head with worry?

Rising, she crossed to the window. Down on the street, shadows had grown long; dusk would soon wash away the colors of day. Her father would want to go for supper pretty soon, but although she hadn’t eaten a bite since early morning, Lil couldn’t think of food until Tye returned.

Tarnation! She’d waited long enough. With a swish of her skirts, she whirled and marched to the door. She would find the fool man if she had to turn Wichita upside down, she vowed. However, she was saved the trouble, for just as she came down the stairs Tye walked into the hotel.

“Tye!” she cried, flying down the last few steps. Seeing him look up, startled, she ran to him and threw her arms around him.

“Thank God you’re back! Where’ve you been so long? I’ve been scared loco for you.”