Foxfire Bride (33 page)

"Yes."

Peaches examined his expression as if searching for a reaction he didn't see.

"There's something missing, isn't there?" Tanner asked after a minute.

"It's her story to tell, except I'm wondering if she'd listen to you."

"You're talking in riddles."

"I know it," Peaches said, rising, his gaze on his tent. "And I apologize. We might talk about this again."

Curiosity urged Tanner to press for an explanation now, but he didn't. Instead he sat by the firelight, listening to Peaches cough. He, too, wondered if Peaches would make it all the way to Denver. Every day Peaches looked older and coughed more. He'd started holding an arm across his chest. No one talked about it, but they had all taken a hand in doing Peaches's chores even though Peaches protested. But the protests were halfhearted, and that concerned Tanner as much as it did Fox.

They would have crossed the Grand earlier in the day, but the party ahead of them wrecked, losing a horse and a teenaged boy to the swollen river. After a brief service for the boy, they crossed without incident. There was no understanding fate, Fox decided uneasily. Nothing fair in the way life played out.

Turning north, she led them along the east side of the Grand River, through the towering sandstone sculptures cut by wind and weather. At midday they did without a fire due to their late start, and ate jerky and cold biscuits while the horses and mules rested and grazed on tufts of sparse desert grass.

"You'll be happy to know that we're coming into the last leg of the trip," Fox said, sipping river water instead of the coffee she would rather have had. "We have almost four weeks left on your deadline, and should make it easily to Denver in that time."

"Easily?" Tanner asked, raising an eyebrow.

A thin smile touched her lips. "I'm hearing from other travelers that the Utes are quiet, especially the farther east we go. We don't have many more major river fordings. And crossing the divide isn't going to be as difficult as you're probably thinking it might be." She gave him a thoughtful look. "In fact, a man riding alone and fast could shave a week off the schedule."

"Are you suggesting I go it alone?" Tanner asked, frowning.

"I'm saying if you had to, you could." She walked a few steps away from him, her gaze on Peaches. He rested with his back against one of the sandstone arch pillars, his eyes closed. "You just follow the Grand until it cuts due north. The mountains would be tricky, but only until you crossed the divide. The pass is slow going, but you can't miss it. From there on, the roads out of the mining camps will take you down into Denver."

"I'd be lost on the second day."

"Liar," she said softly. "Your biggest problem would be the gold. How to hide it on horseback, but we'd think of something. And you'd have Hanratty and Brown with you."

Tanner put his hands on her waist and Fox closed her eyes as her skin tightened and her breath came faster. The end was drawing near and she couldn't stand it.

"We'll cross this bridge when and if we come to it," he said, his breath stirring the hair on the back of her neck.

"I won't leave him," she said quietly. "He never left me. That time we were apart, when I went off into the wilderness, that was me taking off, not him. And I always regretted leaving him behind. I won't do it again, especially not now."

"I would never ask you to."

"I'm not saying the worst will happen. Peaches is getting better every day," she insisted stubbornly, hoping God was listening. "But just in case, I thought you should know where I stand."

"You know what I'd like?" Turning her between his hands, he dropped his gaze to her lips and Fox felt her mouth go dry. "I'd like a few hours alone with you."

His touch was like flame circling her waist, leaping to set her mind ablaze. "I think you'll like the campsite I have in mind," she whispered.

His eyes narrowed and turned almost black with intensity. "Right after supper. No waiting for darkness."

She nodded, unable to speak. When he looked at her like this, it was a marvel that her knees held her upright. She licked her lips, and heard Tanner groan. It was hard to walk away and give the signal to move out.

The afternoon passed in an eyeblink with Fox thinking about the evening to come. Every nerve ending strained toward the moment when Tanner would take her in his arms. She could hardly concentrate when they stopped for the day and began setting up camp near the canyon lip overhanging the river. A thick stand of trees thrived here, unusual for the area, mostly pine and juniper, which had carpeted the stony ground with old needle falls.

Later Fox would flog herself for being so unfocused and stupid. It didn't register that she was hearing the hooting of owls from within the trees while it was still a couple of hours until nightfall. She did notice that Hanratty helped Peaches by unloading the money mule, but she didn't attach any significance to it. She continued with her own chores until she heard Tanner admonish Hanratty.

"The bank bags go underneath my saddle. You know that."

"Not anymore," Hanratty said, raising his gun he fired in the air.

As Fox spun, she saw three men riding out of the pines and junipers and understood in a flash what was happening and who had been the source of the owl calls.

"All of you, toss your rifles over here," Hanratty said, lowering his gun to sight on Tanner.

Fury rose like a tidal wave as Fox did as he demanded. "Your poker pals, I assume?" The men reined up behind Hanratty, guns trained on her, Tanner, Jubal Brown, and Peaches.

"I warned you," Hanratty snarled. "You could have prevented this."

For an instant she had no idea what he referred to. Then she remembered and disgust pulled down her lips. She'd believed he was talking about her and Tanner when he said the trouble would be on her head and that she could have prevented it by accepting him.

"You bastard."

One of the men dismounted and walked to the bank bags. "I need some help here," he said once he discovered the weight of the bags. One of the other men dismounted while Hanratty and the remaining man on the horse covered Fox and the others.

While the first man slung a bank bag up behind his saddle, Fox assessed the situation. She was still standing beside the mules and thought she had a chance. There were too many of them to hope she could get them all, but damned if she was just going to do nothing. She'd go down fighting.

She eased back a step, then in one fluid motion, reached into the ammunition pack and withdrew the Colt she knew was there. She got off two shots and had the satisfaction of seeing the second man beside the bank bags go down and the man who had taken the first bag shout and grab his shoulder.

Before she ducked behind the mule, she glimpsed Jubal Brown bend toward the ground and come up with a boot gun. Peaches flattened out on the dirt and Tanner ran straight into flying bullets to retrieve his rule.

The gun battle seemed to last a lifetime, but in reality it was over in minutes.

"Fox? Are you all right? Jubal? Peaches?"

"The son of a bitch shot me in my fricking leg," Jubal shouted.

Fox came out from behind the mules in time to see Peaches sit up and run his hands over his body to check if he'd been shot. Discovering he hadn't been, he pulled up and rushed toward Jubal. Tanner stood over Hanratty's body, his rifle by his side. When Fox peered through the dust and smoke, she discovered the would-be robbers sprawled on the ground. Their horses had bolted.

A long sigh dropped her shoulders. But first things first. She made sure the robbers were dead, then had a look at Jubal.

"The bullet went through the fleshy part of his thigh," Peaches announced. After stopping to cough, he continued wrapping a bandage around Jubal's leg. "I got the bleeding stopped and put on a poultice to protect against infection."

"Goddamn, I wish we had some whiskey," Jubal said, staring down at his ripped pant leg and the bandage Peaches was wrapping.

"It could have been worse. Could have hit bone and shattered your leg." Peaches looked up at Fox. "Give him what's left of the laudanum."

"I suspected something like this might happen," Fox said, kneeling beside Jubal and offering the bottle of laudanum. "But I thought it would be you."

"I know you did." Jubal managed a tight smile.

She apologized, then added, "I thought you might steal the gold for the Confederacy."

Jubal squinted up at Tanner, "I'm going to follow you right to the kidnapper's door. If there's no kidnappers, I'm going to shoot you and then ship the gold south."

"What you do after the kidnappers take the gold is no concern of mine. If something should happen to them and the gold should fall into your hands" Tanner shrugged.

"Speaking of the gold," Fox said pointedly, standing. Two of the bags were where Hanratty had placed them originally, near the fire. A third bag lay a few feet away where the robber that Fox shot had dropped it. The bag had broken and coins spilled on the ground. The fourth bag was missing, tied behind the saddle of a horse that had run off and could be God knew where.

When she said as much, Tanner shook his head. "We won't have difficulty finding that horse." Fox lifted her eyebrows and he pulled a hand down his jaw. "He's leaving a trail of coins."

She dropped her head and swore for a full minute before she studied the sky. "Oh my stars" just didn't serve in this situation. "We have about an hour and a half of daylight left. Let's get started."

At Tanner's suggestion, they found the horse first to prevent further wandering. Even so, the coins were scattered along a lengthy erratic path. They removed the horse's saddle and bridle, set him loose, and tied the nearly empty, bank bag to Fox's saddle. Then began the long back-bending job of following the coins back to camp, picking them up one by one. They had taken lanterns with them and needed the light before they finally arrived back at the fire Peaches had started. The welcome smell of coffee and frying bacon guided them in.

"I couldn't manage setting up a tent," Peaches apologized, the admission coming hard, "but I got Jubal into his bedroll. He's sleeping, but he's restless. Still, he's young and strong. He'll pull through just fine. So far, there's no sign of fever."

"Have you eaten?" Fox asked, collapsing on the ground. Her back ached like blazes. When Peaches nodded, she said, "Then you get some sleep, too. Me and Tanner are going to be up half the night counting these coins."

Tanner volunteered to set out Peaches's bedroll but Peaches's had already managed it. He cast them a grateful glance then stumbled off into the darkness, the sound of racking coughs trailing behind. What he hadn't managed was to haul the robbers and Hanratty beyond the light of the fire.

"I'll do it," Tanner said, following her glance.

"I'll pour some coffee and set up for the count."

Before they started the count, they ate bacon and biscuits and the last of the pickles that Peaches had been guarding.

"I wish it hadn't been Hanratty," Fox said, buttering her biscuit out to the edges. "I hate saying this, but the betrayal would have been easier to take if it'd been Jubal Brown."

"Maybe." Tanner set down his plate and stretched his shoulders. "Smelling that bacon reminded me that you haven't smelled like bacon for a time." A tired smile softened his eyes. "Did you abandon the fanny beautification project?"

Fox returned his smile. "Barbara Robb gave me some lotion that I like better. There's not much scent but it feels wonderful."

They gazed at each other in the flickering light. "I'd like to check that for myself," Tanner said in a gruff voice. "This isn't how I'd anticipated spending tonight."

"Me either," Fox said softly. It was the understatement of her life. "There'll be other nights."

But not many of them. And surely not as long a night as this one turned out to be. At the end of the count they were missing sixty coins, too many to leave behind. Exhausted and grim, they fetched the lanterns and retraced the horse's flight. At two in the morning, they had recovered fifty-five of the missing coins and gave up on the rest.

Too tired to do more than hold each other, they stood beside the dying fire and Fox wished with all her heart that their evening had gone as planned.

"Several men have died over this ransom money. You'll have scars on your arm for the rest of your life. Jubal will have scars, too. I lost part of an earlobe I sure hope your father is worth all this," she murmured.

"He is, and more," Tanner said. "Fox?" He tilted her face up to him. "When my father walks away a free man, it will be because of you. I'll never forget that, and I'll make sure he doesn't either."

Unsaid words hung between them. Fox knew what words she bit off and didn't say. She wished she knew what words Tanner held back. Undoubtedly they weren't the same words she couldn't speak, but she would have liked to hear them just the same.