Rosa's Land: Western Justice - book 1 (23 page)

Riordan suddenly pulled Red to a stop. His eyes were on the ground ahead, and he had a map out that showed the approximate location where the holdup had taken place. He had no idea what he would do if he saw the whole bunch.
Turn tail and run probably
. He grinned ruefully. He was weary of the life he was leading. It was actually more boring than when he was hauling fertilizer for Judge Parker. All he did now was ride around and wait. It went against his measure.

Suddenly he heard the sound of a horse approaching. “Whoa, Red.” He turned around and saw Rosa riding up on her mare. He was puzzled and asked quickly, “What are you doing out here, Miss Ramirez?”

“I wish you’d call me Rosa like everybody else does.”

“It doesn’t sound respectable to call your boss by her first name.”

“I’m not your boss. You know that. Judge Parker is your boss.”

He studied her for a moment then again asked, “What are you doing out here?”

“Where are you going?” she countered.

“I’m just riding around, more or less, on official business.”

“I know what you’re doing. Xeno Brewton told you about the holdup, and you’re going to see if you can find the men who did it.”

“Well, if I could find them, I could get word back to Judge Parker. He could get up some men and bring a posse. Might catch the whole bunch.”

“Your chances of sneaking up on a bunch of outlaws in the Territory aren’t very good. They’re all like wild animals. They have sharp instincts about lawmen. Judge Parker has already lost nearly fifty of his marshals.”

“I know about that, and that’s why I want you to turn around and go back to the house.”

She looked at him and said, “I won’t do it.”

Riordan stared at her. “Miss Ramirez, I’m ordering you as an officer of the court, leave here and go back to the house!”

Rosa smiled, and then she laughed. “What are you going to do if I refuse? Tie me to a tree and leave me here, or are you going to take me back and ask my father to punish me?”

“You don’t really need to be going with me. This is dangerous.”

“It’s just as dangerous for you. I’m going to go with you. I left word at the ranch that I might be late.”

“I may not go back tonight.”

“Then I won’t go back either. Now let’s go. We’re talking too much.”

Riordan threw up one hand and shook his head. “You are the most stubborn woman, Miss Ramirez, I have ever seen!” He turned, and Red obediently began walking at a fast pace.

He glanced at Rosa, who rode beside him, and could not help but think how attractive she was. He had never pursued women greatly, except for Marlene Jenson. Rosa had clean-running physical lines. She was tall and shapely, and whatever it was that made a woman attractive, she had it as far as he was concerned. He knew she was a strong-willed woman, and the thought came to him,
If she had to, she’d draw that revolver and shoot a man down and not go to pieces afterward
. Indeed, he had seen that she had a temper, could swing from extremes of laughter and softness, and he realized that there was a tremendous capacity for emotion in her. All in all she was a beautiful and robust woman with a woman’s soft depth. She had an enormous certainty in her, a positive will, and he admired the vitality and imagination that she had to hold under careful restraint. He saw this hint of her will in the corners of her eyes and lips. There was fire in the woman that made her lovely and brought the rich and headlong qualities behind the cool reserve of her lips.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Suddenly Riordan flinched, and his cheeks grew red. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand women very much, I guess.”

“What’s to understand? I’m just a woman like other women.”

“I don’t think that’s true. You’re not really like other women … at least the ones I’ve known.”

“What do you mean by that? What’s wrong with me?”

“Why, nothing’s wrong with you. You have qualities I admire. You have a strong will, and you have beautiful hair.”

She suddenly smiled. “You think so?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve always liked black hair.”

“Well, I’ve wondered about you, too.”

“What about me?”

“You don’t fit in out here, Riordan. You couldn’t even ride a horse except for that awful one you rode to the ranch. You learned a little bit, and everybody thinks you killed that Dent Smith by accident. Everybody thinks you would be killed if you got in a gunfight. You wear a gun, but you never shoot it. Never take practice.”

“Hoping I never have to use it again.”

There was silence except for the clopping of the horses’ hooves on the hard ground, and finally she turned to him and said, “You aren’t married, are you?”

“Me? Why, no. What made you think that I wasn’t?”

“You don’t act like a married man. I’ve had enough of that sort trying to make up to me.” Riordan had no answer for that, and finally she asked, “What are you doing out in this country? You don’t belong here.”

Riordan considered telling her the story but then decided not to. “Just wanted a change. I grew up in the city and grew tired of it.”

She continued to probe, but he continued to evade her questions.

They rode for several hours, and then he said, “I think we ought to go back.”

“Go back? We haven’t found anything yet.”

“I was going to stay all night, but that’s impossible.”

“Why? You afraid of the dark?” She smiled at him, a sly light in her eyes.

“No, but it wouldn’t look right.”

“What wouldn’t look right?”

“Why, a single man and a single woman out camping after dark. Your father wouldn’t like it.”

“He knows I can take care of myself. So does my grandfather. Let’s find a creek somewhere and camp out.”

“All right.” They found a small branch of clear water. There was some grass, so they put the horses out on long lariats, and Riordan found enough wood to build a fire. The darkness fell quickly, and by the time he got the fire going, he pulled out a frying pan and said, “I brought some beans and some bacon but only one plate and one set of hardware.”

“Let me do the cooking.”

“You probably do it better than I could.”

Soon the air was filled with the smart smell of bacon cooking and beans bubbling. It gave them both an appetite.

Carefully she filled the one plate full of beans and added the bacon to one side. She picked up the fork and said, “Things taste better cooked outdoors.” She took a bite of the bacon and said, “Ooh, that’s hot! We’ll take turns. You take a bite, and then I’ll take a bite.”

He took the fork awkwardly, scooped into the plate piled high with beans, put it in his mouth, and then added a bite of bacon. They had their meal that way. Finally he said, “Aren’t you sleepy?”

“No, I always hate to go to bed at night. I might miss something.”

“You wouldn’t miss much out here. Not much happens at night.”

“I know.” She was sitting across from him. She pulled her feet up and held them by putting her arms around them. The fire was burning brightly, and it caught the glow of her dark eyes. “What’ll we do if we catch up with the outlaws?”

“Turn around and run like the devil. Go get Judge Parker and some marshals.”

“I think that would be wise. I’d hate to see you get in a gunfight. Have you ever shot that pistol of yours at a man other than during the one fight with Dent Smith?”

“Once or twice.”

“Are you any good? But you must be because you shot the head off that rattler.”

Riordan shrugged. “Not the best in the world, Miss Rosa.”

“Miss Rosa? Well, at least it’s not Miss Ramirez.”

“I think that’s a pretty name.”

“It’s not my real name. It’s just a nickname.”

He stared at her. “What is your name?”

“Rosario.”

He stared at her. “That’s a pretty name. What does it mean?”

“It means rose.”

They talked for a while, and then she asked him, “What’s your first name?”

“I don’t like it, so I don’t tell people what it is. Riordan’s good enough.”

“Pretty formal.”

Finally he got the blanket rolls off of the horses and handed one to her. “I hope the snakes don’t get us.”

“I don’t want to hear about that. Snakes scare me to death.” She suddenly said, “I’ve been meaning to tell you something. She put out her hand, and he took it. “Thank you for all you are doing for me and my family, Riordan.”

Riordan felt a jolt at the touch of her hand.

She looked at him with what could only be described as adoration in her eyes. “I’ve always had to be on my guard with men, but somehow I know I can trust you.”

Her hand was strong and warm, and without warning, Riordan felt a warmth toward Rosa that he’d never felt for any other woman, including Marlene. At that moment the two were caught in the mystery that sometimes draws a man and a woman together—and he realized with a shock that if he suddenly took her into his arms, she would not resist.

The moment drew out, and she whispered, “Aren’t you going to try to kiss me, Riordan?”

“I don’t think that would be fair. I mean we’re all alone, and I’d be taking advantage of you.” He shook his head, saying, “Any man standing in my place would want to kiss a beautiful woman like you, but I’ve made a promise to myself that I’d never take advantage of any woman.”

Rosa startled at his words. “You are unlike any other man I have ever known. You can explode with violence, yet there is a gentleness in you.” She then seemed embarrassed at her words and withdrew her hand. “We’d better get some sleep.”

They both rolled up, he on one side of the fire, she on the other, and for a long time Riordan lay there listening to the soft sound of her breathing. It was a strange situation for him. Most women he had known would not think of doing what this woman had done—spend the night, in effect, with a strange man. He knew she was afraid of snakes, but he seriously doubted that she was afraid of anything else. His last thought was,
I can’t get her in a dangerous gunfight. We’ll go back first thing tomorrow
.

The sun was up. Riordan and Rosa ate the remains of the beans and bacon for breakfast. He said, “Let’s cut around and head back toward the ranch in a roundabout way. We might run across them.”

“I doubt it. This is a big territory.”

The two of them rode slowly, and they came to a long ridge.

“That’s Nolan’s Ridge,” she said. “Nobody knows why it’s here. It goes a long way.”

“It’s not very high.”

“No, it isn’t.”

They attained the top of the ridge, and just as they crested the top, Riordan heard a woman’s voice screaming.

Instantly be became alert and spurred Red forward, and Rosa came with him. He looked down and saw a wagon with a man lying still beside it. Two men were there, and one of them had a woman down on the ground and was tearing at her clothes.

He turned and said, “Stay here, Rosa.” He rode down but was aware that she had paid no attention to him.

The sound of the horses caught the attention of the two men, and the man savaging the woman on the ground got to his feet quickly. The two of them were rough looking.

As soon as they pulled their horses up, Rosa said, “That big man there killed Blinky. He was with Pye.”

“That’s right! I’m Boog Powell, and I killed him. Now what does that get you?”

Riordan studied the two.

He was a huge man running to fat but obviously very powerful. His eyes were small, and he was grinning. “You two head out of here right now and you’ll be all right. If you stay around, I can’t guarantee your safety.” Powell laughed, saying, “What you gonna do, baby face? Shoot me with that peashooter?”

Riordan made up his mind instantly. “You two are under arrest for murder.”

The woman on the ground was pale, and her clothes were torn. She whispered, “They shot the driver. Didn’t say a word. Just rode up and shot him!”

Riordan said, “I’m a federal marshal. I’m going to take your guns and take you in.”

“You ain’t takin’ nothin’!” The other man beside Boog was a tall, skinny man who was grinning. “I’m Alvin Darrow. I done killed two of your marshals. You can be number three.”

“He’s the fastest gun in the Territory.” Boog grinned. “You better not draw on him or you’ll be dead in a minute.”