Trail of Kisses (30 page)

Cade’s expression softened as he studied her
face. He lowered his eyes to stare at her lips, even as his own
split into a smile.

“
Fearless,” he said. “For better
or for worse, you’re fearless.”

“
For richer or for poorer too,”
she added, bold enough to wink at him. “’Til death do us part.
Afraid of nothing as long as we have each other.”

His smile bloomed to fullness and he swooped
in to kiss her one more time. This time his arms closed around her,
pulling her tight and holding her against his beating heart. She
hugged him in return and kissed him back with a passion that words
could never describe.

“
All right,” he said when they
came up for breath. “I’ll give this plan of yours a
try.”

Lynne was walking on clouds for the next hour
as they strolled around the countryside, away from the wagon train.
The trick for them was to find a spot far enough away from the
wagons that Cade and whoever he was able to find to come with him
would look like they had gone. They couldn’t be seen looping back
or hiding in the bushes. But they also needed to find a spot close
enough to the lines of wagons so that she wasn’t attacked along the
way.

In the end the only likely spot was a stand of
trees and scrub bushes about half a mile from the wagons, too far
in Cade’s opinion, with a hill that dipped away about fifty yards
behind that. Cade and his back-up would ride over the hill, but
then stop, leave their horses, and circle back around through the
tall grass to wait in the trees. She would have rather had a gun
with her, but Cade continued to insist it would have been more
dangerous than not for her to carry one.

After lunch, she and Cade joined the group of
people gathered around Pete Evans, waiting for instructions on how
to find their missing friends.

“
They can’t have gotten far,” Mr.
Evans said, striding up the line of men who had volunteered to form
search parties. “They headed off in that direction at a full
gallop,” he pointed to the horizon where Lynne and Cade had found a
hiding spot to catch their Briscoe Boy, “but they couldn’t have
gotten far in that rain last night. We’re near Colorado now and the
terrain gets hillier and more forested the farther you go. If they
went far enough, they’ll be in the woods, so be
careful.”

Lynne watched the man with an unexpected spark
of admiration. He walked and talked like a soldier. She wondered if
he had been one, was sure he had at some point.

“
Keep your eyes peeled,” he went
on. “I don’t know why they rode off in the first place, but I got a
bad feeling that we’re dealing with duplicitous thieves here and
not just folks who decided to run off and get lost.”

“
Yessir,” one of the men who had
volunteered to search said.

“
All right. I want you in groups
of three. Harold, you go with Jack and Morton.”

As Mr. Evans divided the men into groups,
Lynne turned to Cade, squeezing his hand. As soon as he was grouped
with two other men, he gave her one last reassuring smile, then let
go and turned to his new companions.

“
Boys, I have a proposition for
you,” he said to them as they walked off toward their
horses.

Lynne drew in a deep breath, praying that the
other two would help them with their plan, praying that their plan
would work in the first place. It was a terrible risk, she knew,
but it was something she needed to do if she was ever going to
escape from the specter of the Briscoe Boys.

When the men mounted up and rode off, Lynne
waved goodbye to them and wished them good luck along with all the
other women. As soon as they were tiny specks in the distance,
riding over hills, she turned to the women and said, “I think I
might take a walk later to stretch my legs.”

“
I would have thought your legs
were stretched enough already,” one of the women, Lynne didn’t see
which one, replied behind her. “In the way certain kinds of women
would stretch theirs.”

The nasty comment was followed by a round of
snorts and tittering laughter. Lynne paid it no mind. Let them
laugh all they wanted. They didn’t know the kind of joy she felt in
Cade’s arms or the promises he’d made to her. Besides, if they made
a show of shunning her, it could only help her cause.

“
I’m going for a walk, Mrs.
Weingarten,” she told her friend as she passed her wagon. The
remnants of the failed tea party had been cleaned up for the most
part, and Mrs. Weingarten and her family were hard at work packing
up their wagon so they could continue on to Oregon.

“
You be careful, dear,” Mrs.
Weingarten called after her, genuine worry in her voice. She had
grown close to Callie after her marriage, especially since Emma had
stayed behind.

“
I will,” Lynne promised her. She
paused. “I’m sure they’ll find Callie and John and everything will
be fine.”

“
I’m sure you’re right,” Mrs.
Weingarten gave her a strained smile and returned to her
work.

Lynne walked on, away from the two lines of
wagons and off to her own. The grass was still damp from the rain
that had poured down the previous evening. It dragged at her
skirts, seeping in through the cracks in her trail-worn boots and
soaking her stockings. When she made it to her wagon, she spent
several long minutes looking for dry socks and making a show of
changing them and putting her boots back on.

“
I want to be prepared for my
walk,” she told a pair of miners who had strayed closer to the
river where her wagon was parked.

“
I s’pose so,” one of them said,
then walked on, paying her no mind.

She kept her smile bright and even, though on
the inside her heart was racing. Soon. She and Cade would bring an
end to this Briscoe Boy’s threats soon. If only a few more people
knew she was about to be on her own, he would show
himself.

Lynne finished with her boots and scooted
around to the back of the wagon. Cade would be waiting for her. She
trusted him to protect her, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring a little
protection herself. One by one, she began searching the crates and
boxes closest to the back of the wagon for a spare gun, a knife,
anything she could use if it came down to it.

“
What’cha lookin’ for?”

She gasped and pivoted to face Ben as he
approached her. At some point he’d cleaned himself up a little. He
wore a fresh shirt and a jacket that was too big for him. The hem
hung down well past his waist, almost to his knees. He had combed
his hair and generally looked like an overgrown child. Lynne
pressed a hand to her chest to still her heart and let out an airy
laugh.

“
I’m going for a walk,” she told
him and turned back to the wagon to resume her search.

“
In the back of the
wagon?”

She laughed. “No. I was hoping to find
something to take with me in case of….” She paused, face flushing
over coming so close to spilling her plans. Still, it was just Ben.
“In case I run into whoever is trying to hurt me,” she
finished.

“
Like this?”

She twisted to peek over her shoulder. Ben
held up a shiny silver pocket knife, a proud grin on his face.
Lynne’s smile widened and she turned to face him fully.

“
Yes, exactly like that. Where did
you find such a pretty thing?”

Ben folded the blade back into the handle and
passed it to her, his grin turning sly. “Got it from my brother,”
he said.

“
It’s lovely. Oh, I see it has a
‘B’ inscribed on it. On both sides.”

“
Yes, ma’am, it does.”

Lynne gave the knife one final glance, then
handed it back to him.

Ben refused to take it. “It’s for you,” he
said, grin even wider. “Take a good look at it. Might be it’s been
for you this whole time.”

“
That’s very kind of you, but I
can’t. It was from your brother.” She forced him to take it
back.

Ben scowled and thrust the knife in his
pocket.

“
Well, I’ll just be off on my walk
now,” she said, starting away from her wagon. “If anybody comes
looking for me, you can tell them I’ve just wandered off that way,
toward that hill to see what’s on the other side.”

She pointed across the drying prairie grass to
the hill where Cade and his group had disappeared, and the stand of
trees nearby. With a final smile for Ben, she started off toward it
with long, purposeful strides.

“
Why don’t I come with you?” Ben
caught up and matched her stride.

Lynne’s confidence faltered and she slowed her
steps.

“
Well, I… I thought I’d walk by
myself.” If Ben was with her, it could scare her would-be killer
off. He might not want to go after her when there was a witness
around.

“
It’s dangerous out there,” Ben
told her. He picked up his pace and she was forced to speed up to
stay close to him.

“
Yes, it is, but….”

Then again, Ben was just a boy. A grown
murderer wouldn’t be deterred by a fifteen-year-old boy. And when
the time came, maybe Cade could use some help.

“
I suppose a little company would
be nice,” she said, relaxing and smiling at him.

They walked on away from the lines of wagons
and out into the vast open land. It was hillier here than it had
been on most of their journey since Ft. Kearny, but not by much.
Far in the distance, Lynne could see steeper hills and thicker
trees, but nothing quite like mountains yet. Unless the faint, dark
outlines she saw on the horizon were mountains shrouded by summer
haze.

“
Have you ever been out West?” she
asked Ben as they walked on.

“
No, ma’am,” he answered, hands in
the deep pockets of his overlarge jacket.

She glanced from the horizon to Ben. His grin
was gone, replaced by a nervous twitch as he looked right and left.
It was sweet of him to be so concerned for her safety.

“
You know, I don’t believe I’ve
ever truly sat down with you and asked you about yourself,” she
said. “I don’t even know where you’re from.”

“
I’m from Missouri,” he
answered.

A smile touched the corner of Lynne’s lips.
“Missouri is a rather large state. What part are you
from?”

“
St. Louis County,” Ben
said.

“
Oh? That’s where I’m from too.”
Her smile grew. “I can’t imagine why we’ve never run into each
other before setting out on the trail.”

“
Maybe we have.”

“
Maybe.” Of course, chances were
if they had, it had been in such a capacity that she was far above
him. In fact, if it weren’t for the trail, they may never have
spoken.

They continued to walk. The stand of trees was
still several yards ahead. She hadn’t noticed Cade come back over
the hill to hide there, but it may have been just as well. If she
hadn’t seen him, whoever could be stalking her likely hadn’t seen
him either. She checked over her shoulder to see if anyone was
following her.

Not a soul. The wagons of their train now
seemed small and insignificant against the backdrop of the prairie
and the Platte. Dozens of people were buzzing around them, getting
ready to move out, but no one seemed to be paying her any mind. Of
all things, she felt disappointed.

She laughed at herself and shook her head.
Disappointed because she wasn’t being followed by a
murderer.

She turned her attention back to Ben. His
hands were still deep in his pockets, rummaging. “Do you have any
family?” she asked him.

He twitched, his hands going still. “Yes,
ma’am. I got a large family. Lots of brothers.”

“
That must be nice. I have two
brothers myself. They’re both fighting for the Union
now.”

“
I lost two brothers,” Ben went
on, a harder edge in his voice.

“
I’m sorry to hear that.” Lynne
lowered her voice and her eyes.

“
No you aren’t,” he
grumbled.

Lynne blinked. “I… yes, I am. It must be a
terrible thing to lose a brother.”

“
It is,” he said. “It surely
is.”

They were still several yards away from the
stand of trees, but Ben veered to the side, heading for a shorter
thicket of bushes where a side creek ran toward the South Platte.
Lynne hesitated before jogging to catch up with him.

“
I was hoping to go that way,” she
said, praying her voice wouldn’t waver and give her purpose away.
“Closer to the hill.”

“
Here’s close enough,” Ben
snapped. He sounded for all the world like he was angry with
her.

“
I’m sorry that I brought up your
brothers,” she said as they neared the bushes. “It must be hard
to—”

Without warning, he lashed out and grabbed her
wrist. Before she could so much as gasp, Ben twisted her arm behind
her back until it hurt. He wrapped his other arm around her,
bringing his hand, and more importantly, his knife to her throat.
The cold, sharp metal dug into the soft skin of her
throat.

“
I have brothers, all right,” he
growled into her ear, dragging her farther behind the bushes. “Your
old man hung two of them.”