Once A Wolf (11 page)

led a pair of fresh horses. Tomás went out to meet them and returned with the animals. He

stripped the tack from their original mounts and transferred Rowena's sidesaddle to one of the

replacement horses, all without a word to her. After so many hours, she found his silence

almost more vexing than his indecent insinuations.

"What now?" she asked.

"We go to meet my men and complete a transaction."

"An illicit one, no doubt."

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 52 of 275

"Sin duda. "He smiled at her, and her heart quite foolishly stopped just for an instant. Whatever

his odd response to her when they'd last touched, he was over it now. The return to their

sparring was a relief.

"Does that mean you agree?"

"Would I dare to contradict a lady?"

"I wonder if there is anything you would not dare."

"I often wonder the same of you, señorita."

"I intend to keep you guessing, señor."

"Then I look forward to the game."

She knew perfectly well that giving him tit for tat was unladylike and exactly what Cole

deplored, but she couldn't seem to help herself. And it was safer than the alternative. "You

aren't accustomed to losing, are you?"

He gestured to the newly saddled gelding with a shallow bow. "I warn you, Rowena. Men like

me never play fair."

For that she had no answer. She allowed him to help her mount, steeling herself against his

touch. This time there was no peculiar reverberation in her body, only that keen awareness that

never went away.

They rode to join Randall's men, who tipped their hats to Rowena and closed in around her. The

four of them and the two spare horses followed the dusty road southwest for most of the

afternoon, over arid, broken plains flanked by hills and mountains to the west, their serrated

edges touched with snow. They paused for rest and water, and then continued on until

nightfall, skirting villages and any other place where travelers gathered. They made camp

beside a stream, where Rowena was provided with blankets and a saddle for a pillow. She

washed her face and arms in the stream, wrapped herself in a blanket, and spent the night

sitting up against the trunk of a tree. No one disturbed her, not even Randall.

At noon the next day they turned west away from the road, following a track that wound its

way through a maze of arroyos, the word New Mexicans used for small canyons. It was late

afternoon before Randall called a final halt in yet another of the nameless gulches.

A band of perhaps twenty men was waiting there, a collection of disreputable ruffians all

heavily armed with every variety of knife and gun. Randall appeared a polished gentleman

compared to the least unsavory among them. That, she considered sourly, must be the man

called Sim. He rode to meet Randall.

"Rialto's men are tired of waiting," Sim said.

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 53 of 275

"Go get the horses," Randall said. Sim nodded and rode further into the canyon with several of

the men. When they emerged again, they were herding a score of handsome horses.

"Mateo," Randall said, "please watch over the lady while I conduct our business."

"Who are those men?" Rowena asked. "Yours?"

"Rialto's gang? I wouldn't have them if they begged. But they do pay well for good horses to sell

in Arizona."

The roughest looking man in the bunch, complete with piratical eye patch, broke away from the

others and strode toward Randall. "You kept us here long enough, Lobo."

Randall dismounted. "Bienvenido, Bill Hager," he said with an ironic salute. "I think you'll find

these horses worth the wait."

"They better be." Hager paced a wide circle around the herd, hand conspicuously near the butt

of his pistol, muttering and spitting as he examined the animals. He was scowling when he

returned. "Half of them are MacLean stock."

"The finest in New Mexico," Tomás said. "I told you they were worth your time."

Rowena reined her horse forward. "You stole these horses."

"I'm surprised you ever thought otherwise," Randall said. His expression hardened. "This is no

place for a woman. Mateo, take her—"

"Well, well. What's this pretty little bird?" Hager caught hold of her mount's bridle and leered

up at her. "Not hardly your type, Lobo, from all I've heard. Ain't she a bit ree-fined?"

"None of your business, Hager. You're here for the horses—"

"Might be interested in some honey to sweeten the pot."

"This honey comes with a sting."

" I beg your pardon," Rowena said. She stared into Hager's dissipated eyes. "I am Lady Rowena

Forster, and if you touch me, you will find yourself in considerable trouble."

Hager grinned around blackened teeth. "Damnation! Miss High-and-Mighty Furriner. Ro-wee-

na. Haven't broke her yet, Lobo? I'm just the man for the job." His smile vanished. "How

much?"

"More than you can afford."

"With you there's always a price."

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 54 of 275

"Not always, amigo. Not always."

"She must be somethin pert' special, then. I wonder why?"

"Ask the MacLeans," Randall said.

"Yer stealin' their women now, Lobo?"

"I plan to steal everything they claim."

Hager's face underwent a series of transformations. "Well, then. I don't figure she's worth that

kind of quarrel with the MacLeans."

"Or with me," Randall said lazily. "She's my woman."

Rowena sucked in her breath. The brief sentence sharply recalled the vision of the bed in the

candlelit room. "I am nobody's—"

"As you said, Hager," Randall interrupted, "she needs a little breaking. But I prefer a gentler

method."

"Your 'method' seems to work on them horses," Hager said. "All right. Rialto told me to strike a

deal."

They fell into negotiations, tossing out offers and counteroffers. In the end, they appeared to

reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Hager's men closed in around the herd, and Hager

himself passed Randall a heavy leather purse.

"It's all there," Hager said as Randall weighed it in his hand.

"Naturalmente."

"Honor among thieves," Rowena said.

"Not honor, but self-interest," he said. "Hager knows he can't cheat me."

"Does he know what you are?"

"There are rumors," he said with an air of exaggerated mystery.

"Which I am certain you encourage, regardless of the consequences."

"Consequences? What are those?"

She bit her lip on a retort, aware of Hager's gaze on her. After a moment Hager walked away,

and his gang drove the herd out of the canyon toward the outbound trail, while the remaining

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 55 of 275

three men, including Carlos and Mateo, came to join their leader. Sim sent her a poisonous

glance and then ignored her.

They set off again, returning at last to the main road reaching ever southward. Rowena was

becoming familiar with the tree-dotted and desiccated terrain, though she felt no love for it.

The sun began to sink behind the mountains that could be seen along the horizon to the north

and west, the vast range Randall called the Sangre de Cristos.

"So," Rowena said to him when they were riding side by side, "you make your living by stealing

horses."

"You knew I was a thief, and worse."

"It is my understanding that horse theft is a capital offense in the West."

His grin was blinding. "You are worried about me."

She ignored the comment. "I am not a horse, Mr. Randall—"

"Will you not call me Tomás, Rowena?"

"I never gave you permission to use my name."

"Formality doesn't agree with me."

"As little as good manners, it seems. You actually have a name other than 'El Lobo' or

'Randall'?"

"Did I fail to properly introduce myself?" He executed a half bow in the saddle. "Your servant,

Tomás Alejandro Randall." He pronounced the first name with an accent that made it sound

quite different from an everyday Thomas. The middle name was obviously Spanish.

"Tomás," she said. It did not sound like the name of an outlaw. She shook herself. "As I was

saying, I am not a horse."

"Though you are a fine, high-bred creature."

"You said something to your larcenous cohort that I most firmly dispute. I am not 'your woman,'

nor will you break me."

"I am grateful to see that Cole MacLean has not succeeded in doing so. I doubt it is from lack of

trying." He sighed. "He and Hager cannot appreciate a woman like you, Rowena."

"And you do? Was that why you chose to humiliate me?"

He stopped his horse and turned to face her. "No." His voice grew very soft, very dangerous.

"You do not understand our country and our ways. Until you do, I must protect you."

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 56 of 275

"Protect?" She laughed.

He reached across the space between them to touch her cheek. "I did not lie when I said you

were beyond price, Rowena."

She blocked the overpowering sensation of his caress with a staccato rush of words. "Except

the price that Cole MacLean will pay to get me back. What is that, Tomás? A thousand horses?

Twenty bags of gold and silver?"

"Justice," he said, dropping his hand.

"And if he will not pay? Will you sell me to a man like Hager?"

"I thought you were sure of your lover, Rowena."

"I was simply curious as to what depths of depravity you might sink."

"I, too, intend to keep you guessing." But the disturbing tenderness in his dark eyes gave the lie

to the mere suggestion that he would do anything to hurt her. "I know it's been a long day. We

have only an hour to ride, and we'll reach the village where we spend the night."

"Another abandoned ruin?"

"No ruin, my lady. It may not be what you're accustomed to, but it is full of life… and

hospitalidad." He touched the brim of his black hat and rode ahead, leaving Mateo to guard

her.

He was true to his word. They turned into the hills off the road, and traveled for slightly more

than an hour along a rutted trail just wide enough for a narrow wagon. As twilight fell, they

passed the first humble hut on the outskirts of a modest town nestled in a narrow valley.

The village itself was a collection of adobe houses strung along the road, which ran parallel to a

stream. The houses were built like the ones in the ruins, but their walls and roofs were neat and

intact. Small fields of what Rowena presumed to be American maize and scraggly wheat

stretched out behind the houses toward the stream. There were no fences, and no two-story

buildings. Rowena guessed that the inhabitants lived off this rugged land from day to day as

best they could, with little surplus for luxuries.

A spotted dog ran from the low doorway of one of the larger houses to bark at the strangers,

trailed by a middle-aged woman in a simple skirt and blouse. She shielded her plump face with

her hand, as if sunlight glared in her eyes, and broke out in a wide grin.

"El Lobo!" She clapped her hands together. "Silencio, Ruidoso." The dog sat down, panting.

"Juan, sal! El Lobo esta aqui!"

Once A Wolf – 19th Century Werewolf 02

Page 57 of 275

Tomás signaled a halt. He waved to the woman just as a boy in loose trousers and shirt darted

out of the house. The child made as if to run to Tomás, but the woman grabbed him by the arm.

"Visitando tarde! Ve a decirselo a los otros!"

With a visible pout the boy ran off, spotted dog at his heels.

"Ah," Tomás said, breathing deeply. "I can smell the frijoles. We'll eat well tonight." He

dismounted, handed the reins to one of his men, and came to stand beside Rowena's horse.

"Permit me to help you down."

She was just stiff enough to need his assistance. She stepped away and caught her balance as

before the woman came to greet them.

Her welcome was effusive, and Tomás returned it with a kiss on one of her plump cheeks. They

spoke to each other in Spanish far too rapid for Rowena to pick out more than one or two half-

familiar words.

Feeling very much the outsider, she occupied herself by studying the village. There certainly

wasn't much to see. An old man leaning on a cane was hobbling down the street as fast as his

twisted legs would allow; a pair of young women in similar dress but much slimmer than the

first hurried to the corner of a distant house, peeped around the edge, and giggled like

schoolgirls. Their eyes were all for Tomás.

"Rowena."

She turned belatedly back to him.

"Lady Rowena, this is señora Asuncion Valdez." He spoke again to the woman, who beamed at

Rowena and answered warmly. "She welcomes you to Rito Pequeño, and to her house."

It would have been impossible to misinterpret the woman's friendliness. That she and her