Sweet Savage Heart (57 page)

“You whites have many strange ways, Mace Hunter,” she teased.

“You whites?” he echoed mischievously.

She laughed, then asked, “Did you capture any of the rustlers?”

“Not a da… one, Rana. I sent a few men on ahead, but I think that trail was marked to mislead us. That makes me wonder what those bas… outlaws are planning tonight.” Mace warned himself to calm down. He was so tired and annoyed that his tongue was hanging loose.

“You think the trail was a trick?” she inquired.

He nodded his blond head. “Yep, and I plan to put out lots of guards tonight. So if you hear anything, stay in the house and keep the doors and windows locked. And keep a gun nearby.”

“It is too hot to close doors and windows, Mace.”

“Then keep lights on in all the rooms so my men can see anybody sneaking around the house.”

“I will. I am a light sleeper, and I can defend myself. Do not worry,” she entreated confidently.

“I know you can take care of yourself. Travis told me how you and Nate fought off those deserters on the trail and how you saved his life. That’s the only reason I’m not overly worried about you. He’s a damn lucky man to have you, and I’m lucky he’s my friend.” Mace kissed her on the cheek then and left.

Nathan arrived home late the next afternoon and told Rana that the legal work had been set in motion and that the lawyer would notify him when it was time to pick up the papers in Dallas. He explained that it was a complicated matter, but he was confident it could be
handled by the lawyer he had chosen.

Mace joined them for supper soon afterward and gave Nathan a detailed report of the recent events. “I can’t explain it, Nate, but I was sure something was up last night. Who knows? Maybe they’re watching our every move and knew we’d returned to the ranch and posted guards. Dang it! That Caldwell is a sly varmint. Doesn’t look as if there’s any outguessing him.”

“He’ll make an error one day, Mace, and when he does, we’ll catch him, legally or otherwise. Presently I’m worried about Travis; if he made it, we should have gotten word from him by now.” He glanced at Rana and frowned, annoyed with himself for his slip.

Rana smiled and squeezed his arm. “He’ll be fine, Grandfather,” she encouraged him tenderly, though she too felt something was terribly wrong. They had decided on a prearranged message to let Nathan and Rana know he had succeeded and was on his way home. There were less than two weeks remaining until their deadline, and the message had not arrived. Rana did not want to think about what that could mean.

After supper, Rana and Mace stood on the front porch in view of the hands near the bunkhouse and cook house, as if they were sweethearts sharing each other’s company. As they talked, Mace slipped his arm around her shoulder and she rested her head against his chest. “Do you think he’s safe, Mace?” she asked worriedly.

Mace comfortingly tightened his embrace for a moment, then answered, “I’m sure he is, Rana. We’ll hear from him tomorrow; you’ll see. Travis is cunning and smart; nothing can happen to him.”

She looked up at him, her eyes pleading for reassurance. “But he’s had time to send us word by now. Why has it not come?”

“I don’t know, Rana, but it will.” He kissed her forehead and snuggled her against him. He would not tell
her that he was plenty worried too. If Travis hadn’t reached the Indian camp, retrieved the gold, and left by now… Mace sighed heavily. He almost wished Nathan hadn’t told him Travis’s secret plans. Damn, he cursed to himself, it was a crazy, dangerous scheme, and it had little chance of success. Even if Travis got the gold from the Indians, how could he get it back here safely by himself, and in time to save the ranch? Mace knew Travis could do most anything he set his mind to, but this task might be too much, even for Travis.

Clarissa sat staring at her father’s back. Damn you, you bastard, she silently cursed him. He had refused to let Wes and his men go near Nathan’s ranch last night. In fact, he had told them to lie low until he gave further orders. She wasn’t fooled. She knew he hadn’t wanted Rana Michaels frightened or injured. She had seen the way her father had behaved after Rana’s visit yesterday—like a dog in heat! The more she thought about his weakness for Marissa and Rana, the angrier she became, and the more her hatred and bitterness increased. “Papa, I don’t understand this hesitation. You should make every move possible while Travis is gone.”

Harrison turned and looked at her. He scowled. “Stop trying to run my affairs, daughter. I know what I’m doing.”

“What are you doing, Papa?” she asked sarcastically.

“I’m keeping them off balance, girl. When they think I will strike, I don’t. When they think I won’t, I do. Mace Hunter wasn’t fooled by that false trail; he was back at the ranch before dusk. I sent Fargo over there to nose around. He said they had guards posted all over the place. If I had let Wes and the boys go there, there would have been bodies to throw suspicion on me. I sent Wes and Jack down to Abilene to make sure Nate wasn’t down
there trying to borrow money. If he visited any of those banks, I’ll know by tomorrow, and that’ll keep those two busy a couple of days. You just do as I tell you, and keep your little nose out of my business.”

“How can I help you, Papa, if I don’t know everything?”

“You know all you need to know, girl.”

“What are you planning to do next?” she persisted.

“I don’t know yet, but nothing for the next few days. Let ‘em relax a little and drop their guards; then I’ll strike again.” Harrison looked at the hostile expression on Clarissa’s face. He did not want her around when he brought Marissa—no, Rana—into this house to live. He detested his daughter and wanted to punish her, and he knew that the best way to hurt a woman was to degrade her. “I need you to do something for me, girl.”

“Anything, Papa,” she replied sullenly, rashly.

“Fargo is getting restless. Why don’t you give him a reason to hang around and stay loyal to us? We need him, Clarissa.”

“We,” “us,”
her furious mind echoed antagonistically. “What kind of reason would hold him here, Papa?” she asked with what innocence she could muster.

“You know he has a hankering for you, girl. Why don’t I go into town tonight while you invite him here? I won’t come back until midnight,” he informed her meaningfully.

“If I invite him, Papa, he’ll get the wrong idea; then I’ll have him hanging around me and the house all the time.”

“They why don’t I send him to the house with a message. You can offer him a drink while you read it, then let things proceed from there. You know he isn’t gonna tell me he was sneaking into my daughter’s bed while I was gone. You’ll spark his interest, and he’ll hang around waiting for another chance to get into your
bloomers. Come on, girl, you’re no silly virgin. You might as well enjoy your work. Before long, you’ll be chained to a husband, so you’d best have fun now.”

“Are you sure about this, Papa?”

“Just do whatever needs doing to keep Fargo around.”

Late that afternoon, Fargo rode into town with Harrison. They stopped at the mercantile store so that Harrison could purchase some items for Fargo to deliver to Clarissa, and, shortly thereafter, Fargo was knocking at Clarissa’s door, his arms full of bundles.

Clarissa answered the door in her night wrap, her hair pinned up and damp from a bath. “Fargo,” she squealed as if surprised. “I thought Papa had forgotten something and had returned. I knew he said he wouldn’t be home until midnight.”

“He asked me to give you these things from the store,” the man told her, making no attempt to keep his eyes off the way the thin garment clung to her wet body.

Aptly prepared for Fargo’s arrival, Clarissa had made certain her hands would be full when she opened the door. She smiled beguilingly, her mirror and hairbrush held up before her, and asked, “Would you mind bringing them inside?” As he kicked the door closed and followed her, she pointed to the settee and said, “You can place them there. You’re very kind to do this for me and Papa. Would you like a drink? I’m sure your throat is dry. This weather is so hot.”

“Don’t mind if I do, Miss Clarissa. Whiskey, if it’s no trouble.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all.” She walked to the liquor cabinet and pretended to search for the whiskey, which she had hidden earlier near the back. She knew Fargo was staring at her and becoming aroused. “Here it is,” she announced and turned to him with a smile.

Fargo joined her and took the glass. When he downed it in two gulps, she refilled it, then glanced toward the door and whispered, “You won’t tell Papa if I sneak a drink, will you?”

“’Course not,” Fargo replied, filling his glass again.

After several drinks, Clarissa pretended to be drunk. When Fargo was filling his glass again, she casually loosened her sash, causing her wrap to gape slightly. “I think I’ll find something cooler to put on,” she announced. “This old rag is roasting me.” She moved toward her room, knowing he would follow, and he did.

Clarissa struggled with the garment as if she were having trouble getting it off. “Let me help you,” Fargo offered, removing it. He bent to kiss her neck and began running his hands over her body.

Soon he had her on the bed and was enjoying her to the fullest, and, to her surprise, she felt her body responding. They slaked their lascivious appetites until it was nearing midnight, then Fargo covered Clarissa’s naked form and closed her door as he left the room.

Clarissa grinned as she heard him clearing away the “evidence” of his “seduction.” She stretched and yawned. Fargo wasn’t bad in bed, she mused, especially in the dark where she didn’t have to look at his pockmarked face and squinty eyes. She thought about the times Raymond had forced Marissa to bed that ugly vulture, and she laughed. Perhaps the next time she did this favor for her father, she would ask Fargo a few questions about those degrading times. With a few accurate facts, she might be able to stir little Rana’s memory…

By dusk the next day, Nathan, Rana, and Mace realized they would not be hearing any word from Travis for at least one more day. It was a very bad sign, for time was running out for them. Two hands had been ambushed
and killed that afternoon, and a few of the others were getting worried. Alarmed by this added peril and dismayed by the extra work, Cody Slade suggested that the Sunday wedding he and Mary Beth had planned for tomorrow be postponed, but no one would allow it.

“If you don’t do it now,” Mace warned, “you might lose her. From now on, we’ll post guards day and night around the ranch. I promise you she’ll be fine over there with the Raineses and Davises. You’ve got everything set up in your new house. Do it, Cody.”

“Mace is right, son,” Nathan added. “Her pa is willing right now. But if Harry casts his eye on her again, it’ll be too late for you.”

Rana spoke up too. “Everything is ready, Cody Slade. How can you make her sad by refusing to show your courage and love?”

Todd told him, “Don’t worry, Cody. Rachel and Lettie will look out for her. They keep loaded rifles ready all the time.”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Todd. That ain’t no way to live.”

“It won’t be this way much longer,” Todd replied.

“Then I should wait until it’s better, and safe here for her.”

“What you should do,” Nathan advised sternly, “is snap her up while she’s there for the taking. Listen, son, you know how Harry takes whatever he wants. You’d best claim her as your wife before he decides he wants her again.”

“I guess all of you are right. We’ll do it as soon as the preacher gets here after church tomorrow. Where do you want guards posted?”

Mace went over the evening’s assignments, then everyone left except Nathan and Rana, who talked a few minutes before turning in.

Try as she might, Rana could not settle down. She lay across her bed, thinking distressing thoughts. In only twelve days her grandfather might lose his land and his heart. If Travis was not on his way back by now, he could not possibly make that deadline. And if he was on his way home, he would have sent word to them from one of the forts along the trail.

She went to her window, pushed against the thin covering, and gazed at the heavens to pray for her love’s survival. He had taken such a great risk in going after that treacherous gold, she reflected.

Only a sliver of moon was showing and it was very dark outside. On such concealing nights, Oglala warriors had made secret raids on enemy camps, using skills and stealth she had persuaded her Indian brother to teach her. Long ago, on a dare, she had sneaked into an enemy camp, stolen a war shield, and sneaked home without getting caught; Lone Wolf had been furious with her and had tried to pretend he was not impressed, but she knew he had been secretly pleased that she had learned her lessons so well. He had taught her defense and escape and disguise using methods that had begun as amusing games, but there had come a time when her skills exceeded his, and his male pride had been injured. Often he had told her that these skills and practices would prepare her to meet and conquer her true destiny one day, and now she knew that the day had arrived.

Rana’s keen mind began to whirl with daring plans. Saving this ranch was vital to her, because it was so important to the men she loved. She could live anywhere with them, but they loved this land and were a part of it. She truly believed it would be wrong and cowardly of her to do nothing while their enemy cleverly defeated them. If there were only a slim chance of recovering that money… She would not allow such speculations to continue. Her mind was set.

The daring redhead slipped into the dark pants she wore for riding and working around the house, then pulled on her darkest shirt. Taking another one of similar color, she secured it around her head to hide her flaming tresses. Strapping on her knife sheath, she concealed another, smaller blade in the long pocket that had been sewn into her knee-high moccasin, for she knew a gun might make noise and total silence was imperative. Remembering the bow and arrows in Travis’s closet and confident of her skill with them, she went to fetch the quiet, lethal weapons. Cleverly and cautiously she obliterated any markings that would expose them as being Sioux, in case she was compelled to use one or more that night.