Chasing Rainbows (28 page)

Her gaze traveled to Jake, watching him as he rode. He didn’t ride like most Western men, who fought to control, conquer, and tame their mounts. Nor did he ride like the Easterners she had seen bouncing up and down in the saddle. Jake’s style was distinctly his own. He controlled his mount, no doubt about that, but he did it in a way that was almost imperceptible.

Jake rode like he was a part of the horse. Annie could almost feel the natural, companionable trust between the rider and mount; they were beautiful to watch in motion. Weed sped along the trail in a light canter that was a steady, smooth, rolling gait, without one missed stride or a single break in movement. Somehow sensing her gaze on him, Jake drew Weed to a halt and turned to face her. Until that moment, Annie was unaware how much she had let herself fall behind. She spurred Dulcie on and quickly recovered the distance.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Just thinking.”

Jake removed his canteen and shook it. “What about?”

“The way you handle a horse.”

He lifted the canteen to his mouth, took a deep swallow, and arched one brow in silent question.

“You ride like a woman.”

He choked on the water and lowered the canteen, his expression conveying various degrees of shock and amusement, horror and indignity. “Excuse me?”

“I meant that as a compliment.”

“Do me a favor, darlin’. Don’t ever compliment me like that if anyone else is around.”

“There isn’t anything wrong with being compared to a woman, at least not when it comes to riding,” Annie maintained. “I’m just saying that you ride like you’re in control, but you do it in a quiet way, letting the horse come around to your way of thinking real natural-like. Almost like it was the horse’s idea in the first place, rather than trying to force him into doing something he doesn’t want.”

He studied her for a long moment in silence. “That’s the way a woman controls a horse?”

She brought up her chin, a satisfied smile on her face. “Among other things.”

“Is that a fact, darlin’?”

Their eyes met, and Annie was once again shocked by the intimacy that had grown between them. Jake had always been courteous, but in a remote, detached sort of way. Now that detachment was gone. A new awareness seemed to grow between them, intensifying with each passing day. She found herself watching his every movement with a fascination she couldn’t explain. Everything Jake Moran did was suddenly wonderful and unique — from the way he rode his horse to the way he drank from a canteen. The man held her completely captivated.

Even now she watched as he took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. She studied his features, still accustoming herself to his new appearance. When they had first met, Jake had been attired in the trappings of a slick, fancy-talking gambler. But as a winter chill entered the air, he shed the lighter garments in favor of a thick, butter-colored sheepskin jacket, dark whipcord pants, and an indigo flannel shirt. He had also stopped shaving, allowing a thick stubble to cover his cheeks and chin as protection from the cold. The sparse beard made the hollows of his cheeks appear even deeper and gave his eyes a more brilliant glow. All in all, the changes gave him a slightly dangerous appearance and provided him with an earthy ruggedness that sent her pulse racing.

Annie wondered if she had changed in his eyes. Did he still see her as Outlaw Annie? Or was he able to see beyond her reputation and her past? Did he notice that her grammar was improving and that she wasn’t swearing as much? Did he notice that she was constantly smiling and humming beneath her breath, or that her hands seemed to flutter whenever he was near? Perhaps those were all silly, trivial details to him. But to her, the changes occurring within her were a matter of grand and profound wonder.

She shifted her thoughts away from their deepening relationship and lifted her gaze toward the sky. The rain had stopped days ago, but a front of icy-cold air had taken its place. Just a week before, they had ridden through a grove of birch ablaze with shades of gold and amber, the sky had hung above them as blue and wide as heaven itself, and the air had smelled of smoke and earth. Now, in just the blink of an eye, autumn was over. Frost crunched beneath Dulcie’s hooves, the trees were bare and skeletal, and Annie’s breath formed puffy clouds when she exhaled.

Jake tilted his head, his eyes locked on a faraway spot on the horizon. “See that ridge over there, the one with the shaggy ponderosas? Abundance is just on the other side. We should make it by mid-afternoon. We’ll stop there for the night, then head on to Cooperton. We’ll be at The Palace Hotel within twenty-four hours.”

“Will we?”

“You don’t sound all that excited.”

“Of course I am. I can hardly wait to get there.”

Annie lifted her gaze to scan the deep-red faces of the cliffs that circled them. Not because she expected to see anything there but because anything was better at that moment than meeting Jake’s probing gaze. She was lying, and if he looked into her eyes, he would know it.

Until that moment, she had conveniently managed to avoid thinking about what would happen once they reached Cooperton. Now, however, the question was unavoidable. Unfortunately the answer was just as plain. Jake would wire Sheriff Cayne that they had arrived, collect his money, and ride out of town. Not once had Jake promised otherwise, yet the thought of her life without him in it was suddenly unimaginable. Annie was struck by an aching, almost unbearable sense of loneliness as she imagined Jake riding away and out of her life.

“By tomorrow, you think,” she said.

“If we leave Abundance by sunup, we should reach Cooperton by noon.”

She nodded, her gaze remaining locked on the horizon. Unwilling to dwell on her dismal emotions, she looked instead at the beauty of their surroundings. It was an impressive view. Against the backdrop of the rugged beauty of the San Juan mountain range was a dramatic red-earth canyon. She watched a hawk rise from its nest among the craggy cliffs and soar in a lofty arch above a grove of blue spruce. A herd of wild mule deer contentedly grazed on the rich field grasses in the valley below. The narrow switchback path they followed carved its way into and out of the canyon, hugging the sheer walls.

Annie’s eyes took all of this in at a glance, and something else as well. A man sat crouched behind a boulder above the narrow switchback trail, a rifle at his side. He lifted his hat and signaled to another man who sat a few feet away, crouched in a similar position. From where she sat, Annie had a view clear enough to see that the man had fashioned his kerchief across his mouth and nose, bandit style. Her gaze quickly scanned the cliff side. She counted four men, all of them similarly armed and disguised.

“Jake,” she said, her voice tense and alert.

“I see it”

Glancing at him, she saw that his eyes were fixed on exactly the same spot. As they watched, a stage swung into view in the distance, rambling along the narrow switchback trail — heading directly toward the ambush that awaited it.

Beside her, Jake let out a sigh. “I don’t suppose you would agree that this is none of our business.”

“Nope.” Annie’s voice was firm. She hadn’t been able to deter Pete and the boys from heading down the path of crime or to save them from the brutal fate that had awaited them. That was a guilt she would carry with her for the rest of her days. But right now if there was something she could do to stop innocent people from getting hurt, she damned sure wasn’t going to simply look the other way.

Jake sighed again. “I didn’t think so.”

Annie drew her rifle from its scabbard, intending to fire off a round into the air.

He caught her arm. “Not like that.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll spook the horses. The driver’s got enough on his hands just trying to steer them through the pass.”

Realizing that he was right, Annie lowered her gun. She thought for a moment, then pointed to a thick, jutting ledge in the canyon wall. “See that overhang above the trail, the one with the tall maple? You think you can get there before the stage rounds that last bend?”

Jake nodded as she quickly explained her plan. Most likely, the bandits’ attention was focused exclusively on the approaching stage. Even if they had glanced toward her and Jake, the trees had probably kept them hidden from view. Their best bet was to position themselves above the outlaws, then wait for the men to stop the stage before they made their presence known. With the worry of controlling the horses gone, the driver would then be in a position to defend himself. With any luck, the passengers inside might be armed and able to resist as well.

He gave her a long, hard look. “You sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.”

A look of worried reluctance crossed his face. “Where will you be?” he asked.

She pointed to a fat boulder across from his position, then touched her heels to Dulcie’s flanks.

He caught her arm. “Annie.”

“What?”

“If I were trying to rob that stage and somebody fired at me, you know what I’d do?”

“What?”

“Shoot back.”

He paused, his gaze locking on hers. Perhaps no more than a second passed, but in that brief moment, infinity seemed to stretch between them. His expression was unusually somber, stripped of its normal cocky laughter. He lifted his hand and lightly brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Be careful.”

Annie nodded, feeling her breath catch in her throat. “You too,” she said softly and once again spurred Dulcie on. “Let’s go, girl.”

She moved into position, whispering a prayer of thanks for Dulcie’s surefootedness as they made their way through the tangled brush and rocks. Once she reached her position, she quietly dismounted. Leaving both Cat and Dulcie a safe distance from the line of fire, she crept toward her position behind the boulder. She glanced at Jake, seeing that he too had just arrived at the overhang.

Almost immediately she heard the shouts of the men below and the echo of gunfire as they forced the stage to a stop. The driver complied, remaining in his seat with his hands up. The bandits shouted something unintelligible at the stage. The passenger door slowly began to swing open.

Annie shot a glance toward Jake.

He nodded coolly in return and lifted his gun.

With shaking hands, she lifted her carbine and cocked the safety back.

She fired. So did Jake. Their shots exploded at nearly the same instant, spraying up showers of mud and ice at the feet of the men who were attempting to rob the stage.

The outlaws, clearly astonished by the shots raining down on them from above, whirled around to return fire. Unable to detect either Jake’s or Annie’s position, their shots echoed wildly, aimlessly into the canyon. Annie hadn’t quite thought it through, but she had held a vague expectation of what would happen next. The bandits would give up and either turn themselves in or scatter for the hills. Instead, what followed was completely unexpected, and eerily familiar.

Under cover of the rifle fire, the driver leapt down from his seat as the coach door flew open. A group of men poured from the stage, positioning themselves on the ground. Even from her distance, Annie could see the sun reflect off the badges they wore. She could see their weapons raised and the deadly determination that filled their eyes.

Annie’s heart slammed against her ribs and bile filled her throat. It was happening again. It was all going to happen again. And once again, she was helpless to prevent it.

The lawmen spewed out volley after volley of hot lead, pumping their shots into the bellies of the would-be stage robbers. The bandits’ bodies jerked and twisted, caught in a macabre, contorted dance of death. Blood gushed from their wounds as they screamed out in shock and pain. Finally, one by one, they keeled over. They slipped from their saddles and fell limply to the ground, their bodies twitching in agonized, contorted spasms of death.

It was all so familiar. For one horrible, awful minute, Annie was watching Pete die again, Diego die again, Neil and Woodie and Frank die again. Only this time, she was part of the killing. She sat down in the dirt, closed her eyes, and swallowed hard, fighting back a burst of nausea.

She heard a rustling in the bushes behind her and opened her eyes to see Jake approaching, his expression tight and concerned. He knelt down beside her. “You all right, Annie?”

She nodded wordlessly, unable to speak.

“What is it?”

“I never wanted them to die,” she said, her voice nothing but a hoarse whisper.

“Who?”

“Those men down there.”

Jake’s brows drew together in a confused frown. “What did you think would happen?”

She shook her head helplessly. “I thought we could teach them a lesson. I just wanted them to get scared and run. I thought if they came close to getting caught, they might just give up outlawing and turn themselves around.” She let out a sigh, realizing how foolish she sounded but unable to stop herself. “I used to wish that for Pete and the boys. I used to wish that one day they would get a dose of somebody firing back at them — not enough for them to get hurt, mind you, just enough to scare them real good. I thought if that ever happened, they might just give it up.” She paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “But it never did. It all went so smooth for them, so easy, right up until the very end.”

Jake sat down on the ground beside her. “So that’s why you wanted to help the stage. I wondered.”

She thought for a moment in silence. “Does it ever get easy, watching men die?”

“No, it never does.” He let out a weary sigh and set down his rifle. “I’m not sure I ever want it to.”

“Hmmm.” She tilted her head back and rested it against his shoulder, amazed at the comfort she gained through just that slight contact.

“You! Up in the rocks,” a voice boomed from the stage below, “come on out where we can see you.”

She managed a weak smile. “You think they’ll remember we were on their side?”

“I hope so, darlin’.” Jake moved out from behind the boulder and showed himself to the men below. “We’re on our way down.”

“Take it slow and easy, mister,” the voice replied.