When a Texan Gambles (17 page)

“Back before the war, a gambler won this valley during a horse race. He bet on a horse by the name of Satan, so he called this place Satan’s Canyon. From time to time the gambler sells off small farms to folks who want to live a quiet life. People who want to disappear. They change their names and move here. As a bounty hunter, it wouldn’t be wise for me to go into town, but there’s a place I can stop where someone will meet me.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I’ve helped a few men vanish. I even told them to shoot me if I was ever fool enough to come looking for them. I only hope they’ll ask questions before I get within range.”

Sarah caught the reflection of a rifle from the cliff above. “Someone’s watching us,” she whispered.

“I know. They have been for about an hour. They’re allowing us to make it to the trees without trouble. That’s as far as strangers can go.”

Sarah scooted a few inches closer and slipped her hand around his arm.

He didn’t lie and tell her not to be frightened.

A thin fog set in by the time they reached a huddling of trees. It whirled around them, chilling the air and making distance hard to judge. Sam made camp while she combed the children’s hair, then wrapped each one in a warm blanket. To her surprise, they asked no questions.

She tried to feed them, but no one seemed interested in eating. They waited as darkness settled around them, black and cold. As the hours passed, the children crawled into the back of the wagon and went to sleep.

Sarah could stand the silence no longer. She paced around the fire. When she circled Sam for the third time, she asked, “Are we going to wait all night? If there is someone out there, surely they’ve figured out who we are by now. If they thought we planned to do them any harm, they could have killed us ten times over by now.”

“Don’t leave the light of the campfire,” Sam said, as though he hadn’t heard her questions.

Sarah continued to circle. She wanted to scream that she couldn’t stand to do nothing, to simply wait. Whoever had been watching had more than enough time to show himself and meet with them. Maybe no one was coming. Did Sam plan to stay out in this clearing forever? She decided she’d talk to him again. They should journey on into town. As they’d discussed earlier, if someone wanted to kill them they could have done it long before now. He might be hesitant to go farther, but she grew tired of waiting. Patience was never her style. No one, even some retired outlaw, would see her and three children as a threat.

Just as Sarah realized she’d gone beyond the ring of firelight, an arm circled her shoulders and pulled her backward. She opened her mouth to scream a warning to Sam. Before sound could escape her throat, she tasted the cotton of a gag being shoved into her mouth.

Panic shot through her veins as she fought for her life in the blackness. She swung wide, encountering only air, than kicked into the fog. Firm hands pulled her arms behind her, tied her as if he were unaware that she objected. “I mean you no harm,” a low southern voice whispered as a rope bound her skirt at the knees.

For a moment she didn’t know if she was angrier at the attacker or at Sam for letting such a thing happen. He was supposed to be watching her, guarding her. Where was Sam now? Probably sitting by the fire, downing more coffee and wondering when she’d walk back into the light.

Her attacker lifted her over his shoulder and moved beneath the trees. He lay her down among the leaves and vanished.

Sarah struggled with her bonds, but made no progress. The more she wiggled, the more she sank into the leaves beneath her. If she kept moving she would be completely covered and no one, not even in daylight, would ever find her. She would die without a sound. And Sam would probably stay by the fire and mumble about how he told her not to go outside the firelight.

She forced herself to be still as voices sounded from the direction of the campsite.

“Gatlin? Is that you?” a southern drawl called out.

“It is,” Sam answered calmly. “Step into the light.”

“I can’t do that,” came the Reb’s answer. “Put your weapon down.”

“I can’t do that,” Sam echoed. “You’ve got my wife.” It was more a statement than a question. “You hurt her and you’re a dead man, Frank.”

“I didn’t hurt her,” the stranger answered. “She’s tied up over by the trees.” He paused a long moment. “You know I wouldn’t hurt her, Gatlin.”

Sam made a sound. Sarah couldn’t tell if it was agreement or growl.

The stranger continued, “She’s not very big, Gatlin. You might want to think about throwing her back in and hoping for a bigger one next time.”

“You haven’t seen her in the light,” Sam answered. “She’s a beauty.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it, Gatlin. I don’t plan on staying around until daylight. I just came to see what your business is in Satan’s Canyon and to tell you, if you’re not gone by daybreak, you and your lovely bride will be buried here in this clearing.”

“I figured as much. I came with news.”

The southerner’s voice grew even lower. “I already know my Molly is dead. They said she was shot by stray bullets during the Fourth of July celebration. No one’s fault. I heard about it a month ago.”

He fell silent for a long time, then whispered, “I wish I could have said good-bye. We were married for almost ten years and never got to live together more than a few days at a time. I always thought it would be too dangerous for her to be here. Thanks, though, for coming to tell me.”

“I didn‘t,” Sam answered. “I brought you something. Come take a look.”

“No, thanks,” the stranger answered. “I remember the last time we met, you promised me that if our paths ever crossed again you would be the bounty hunter and I’d still have a price on my head.”

“That was my plan, but three blue-eyed surprises showed up in my life. They’re asleep in the back of the wagon.” Sam reached and lifted Sarah’s carpetbag from the supplies. “In fact, you’re welcome to the wagon if you’re interested in taking them off my hands. My job is done. I got them to you.”

“Drop your weapons!” The southern voice sounded suddenly angry. “I want to see them.”

Sam lowered the rifle. “I won’t shoot you, but I’ll not stand in Satan’s Canyon unarmed. For all I know you’re not the only outlaw hiding in the fog.”

Sarah twisted, trying to get free. She saw the outline of the stranger between her and the fire. He had a gun pointed right at Sam’s heart.

Leaves scratched her cheeks as she tried to see what was happening.

Sam’s voice sounded calm once more. “I wouldn’t have brought my wife with me to deliver the children if I planned to gun their father down. Is she all right? I’ve never noticed her being quiet for so long before.”

The stranger cradled his weapon and relaxed. “She’s fine. I can hear her wiggling in that pile of leaves I dumped her in. Remind her I used a clean handkerchief when she’s swearing at me later.”

Sam stepped away from the wagon, pulling the reins of his horse free of the back bar. “I’ll do that. Now, you’d best be on your way. Kids need to be home in bed by this hour.”

Leaves blocked some of Sarah’s vision. She only saw the stranger’s back as he neared the wagon. K.C. unfolded from the blanket as her father drew near. Without a sound she moved into his arms and the outlaw lifted her from the wagon.

“Daddy,” she whispered in a sleepy voice as her thin arms held on tightly. “Can we go home now?”

Without loosening his hold on his daughter, the man reached in and touched the other two sleeping bundles. For a moment his head lowered as if in prayer.

“Daddy?” K.C. patted his hair. “I knew it was you the minute I heard your voice.”

He raised his head and kissed the child. “Yes, let’s go home.”

He climbed onto the seat and picked up the reins. When he glanced back at Sam, he nodded once. “I’ll repay you for this, Gatlin. I swear.”

“No need. Just point me in the direction of my wife.”

The stranger motioned with his head as he flicked the reins.

Sam watched them go before turning in Sarah’s direction.

She wiggled, letting him know where she was. Leaves completely covered her. Trying to scream was useless, but she kept kicking her feet to let him know where to search.

For ten minutes she listened to Sam sifting through the dried leaves in the blackness before his hand finally touched her body. With a mighty tug he pulled her from the foliage. “Come out of there,” he said, as if she’d been playing some game and he’d finally caught her.

Sarah jerked as he wrapped his arms around her and began untying her hands. She mumbled through the gag and rubbed against his face.

Sam laughed. “All right. I can’t do everything at once.” He slid his hands up her body to where the gag was tied in her hair and pulled it free with a tug.

Sarah spit cotton from her mouth. “Who was that man?” she demanded.

“What man?” Sam pressed her against him as he worked on freeing her bound hands.

“The man who tied me up. The man who said he was the father of your children.”

“What children?”

She could feel laughter rumble in his chest even though his words sounded serious.

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t have any children? And, though it’s dark, I think we are the only two people standing here. I guess your invisible children were finally claimed by their invisible father.”

Sarah leaned away. “You’re not going to explain, are you Sam?”

He pulled the rope from her hands. “No,” he said, as if that were all the answer she needed.

Sarah didn’t have to ask, she had figured most of it out from the conversation between the two men. The stranger was obviously a wanted man whom Sam had let go for some reason. The children were his, but he hadn’t been able to live with their mother, or even go after them when she died. But they knew him, or at least K.C. did.

Sam worked on the rope tied around her knees as she tried to decide whether to push for an answer. Sarah didn’t think she would get one. His silence suddenly added character to a man she thought void of any.

“I can untie that one.” She twisted, trying to reach the knot.

He shifted his shoulder into her hip, attempting to move out of her way.

With a sudden gasp Sarah tumbled backward. She grabbed his arm as she fell, pulling him off balance.

She landed atop the leaves and he landed atop her.

For a moment they remained perfectly still. His body pressed against her from her shoulder to her knees.

He pushed away. Without a word he moved his hands down her skirt to the rope. The warmth of his fingers seeped through the layers of her clothing.

“Don’t touch me like that, Sam,” she said, embarrassed at the way he’d handled her in the darkness. “And don’t land on me. I’m fragile. You could have broken every bone in my body.”

He stood. “I should have left you tied up and gagged. Maybe I can get the invisible father to come back and hide you better next time.”

“You didn’t have to feel my whole body, or tumble atop me.” Embarrassment, more than anger, forged her words.

“I had to find the rope.” He walked toward the firelight. “How else was I going to untie you in the dark?”

He whirled so suddenly Sarah almost ran into him. “And another thing. I didn’t touch your whole body. When I do, you’ll know it.”

“‘There is no
when,
there is not even an
if.”

She was only an inch away, poking her finger into his chest.

“You said once that I could touch you. You said there were touches that were all right. Well, that’s what I was doing.” He turned around and resumed his track back to camp.

“Well, I’ve changed my mind. Just because I asked you to kiss me doesn’t mean I’m ready to be bedded. Maybe I’ll just go back to being a virgin and stay an old maid all my life. Your flattening me when you fell atop me isn’t that much different than what my first husband did in mating. Seems to me it’s something I can do without.”

He turned again, only this time she sidestepped him. “I wasn’t bedding you out there, Sarah. I slipped and fell. You just happened to be beneath me.” He shook his head. “Maybe I should be the one getting mad for you being in the very spot where I tumbled.”

“Then how come you said the same thing Mitchell used to say every time he mated with me?”

“What was that?”

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t look at him. “He always said I’m sorry like it was something dirty that he was doing.”

Sam opened his mouth to argue, than closed it again. Now was not the time to have this discussion. He had to think of her safety first, then he’d think about strangling her for driving him crazy.

She picked up her bag and checked to make sure she had all her things.

“We can’t stay here,” he said, as if they hadn’t been yelling at each other. “I’ll get you to a safe place, if the weather holds.” He swung up into his saddle and held his hand down to her. “This may not be as comfortable as the wagon, but it’ll be faster.”

She took his hand and he lifted her up behind him. She hung on for dear life as he rode with speed and skill through the black night.

The weather didn’t hold. Within an hour rain drizzled down on them. Without a word he slowed and pulled her in front of him, opening his coat around her. She melted into his chest and held tightly across his heart.

It was almost midnight when they reached a small settlement built around a train station. Sam lowered her in front of a café that faced the tracks and told her to order him coffee while he saw about getting tickets and his horse shipped on the next train.

Sarah nodded as if she understood and forced herself to open the door to the café, She wasn’t about to admit to Sam that she’d never been on a train, or in a café. She had about decided never to talk to him again. The man made no sense.