Pioneer Passion (35 page)

“Where the hell is Hank?” grumbled one of the
men making Rusty wince. “We sent him to find Jake and now he’s gone
too long. I don’t like this feelin’ I have in the pit of my belly.
I say we take the lady and git our tails outta here!” He went to
the window and pulled back the curtains roughly. “Huh? What the
hell?! I thought ya said she was....” He turned to Yates who was
still drinking Guy’s whiskey. “Hey, boss, there’s a young girl
comin’ across the yard.”

Rusty shut her eyes, feeling the hairs on her
neck stand up. She heard the leader swear under his breath and
order the three remaining men to go into the other room. He
snatched her from the sofa and shoved a gun into her ribs, hissing
into her ear,. “If ya don’t want ya friend hurt, ya won’t warn her.
If ya lied about this girl, the other may be around somewhere.”

Rusty nodded, trembling. When the door
opened, she said, “Susan? You told me you were going into town with
Mattie this morning.” She felt the gun jab into her ribs, but she
didn’t care and she signaled her friend with her eyes.

Thankfully, Susan caught her meaning. “Oh, I
changed my m-mind. It was such a lovely day, I decided to s-spend
the morning down by the stream, doing a little f-fishing, but they
weren’t biting.” Although, the girl feigned a cheerful smile, she
notice Susan was quivering and her mouth twitched. “Oh, I see you
h-have a v-visitor,” the uneasiness in her voice was
noticeable.

Rusty had her doubts that Yates was buying
any of this. The man would suspect that Susan had noticed Scott’s
body out there. And the outlaw certainly was wondering where the
two he sent out earlier were? The gun was shoved in harder making
sure she got the message and she gulped.

“I’ve had it with this cat and mouse game!”
Yates spat and he shoved her at Susan uttering a curse. They both
crumbled to the floor and Rusty felt the hard object pushed into
her palm knowing instantly it was a revolver. Stunned, she picked
herself up with as much dignity as she could, and helped Susan,
trying not to give herself away when the other gunmen entered the
room. Luckily, the leader turned his attention from them to give
his men orders. This was her chance and she raised the gun, trying
to control her trembling hand. When he turned Rusty cocked the
weapon.

“Well, what do we have here?” he grinned and
didn’t appear at all intimidated by the situation. The bastard’s
smirk widened and the look in his cold eyes told Rusty he thought
she was bluffing.

“Now, little flower, give me the gun,” he
drawled.

Rusty waved it at him, feeling her stomach
knot. He didn’t take her seriously and she hated the though of
having to kill him, but she would if she was forced to. Backing up
because he advanced towards her, she bumped into Susan.

“Stay where you are!” Rusty ordered,
swallowing hard. “I’ll shoot if I have to.” The bastard was still
grinning as the other three fanned out, making it harder for her to
get them all. She saw what was happening and she knew she could
only shoot one. “Tell your men that I may not be able to get them
all, but I will shoot you.” Yates’ brows shot up, and she knew he
wasn’t too sure anymore if she was bluffing.

“Now little lady, a nervous female with a
weapon in her hands can be very dangerous. Okay, boys, do like the
little lady says. That damn thing might go off accidentally and I
don’t want to take the chance.”

Sweat trickled down her spine as Rusty kept
her eyes on the leader, not trusting him. She, Susan and the leader
were closest to the front door. The other three were spread out in
the middle of the room to her left.

“Well, it looks like a Mexican standoff,” he
drawled. “What do ya think, boys, are they worth dyin’ fer?”

Rusty couldn’t see the reaction on the other
men’s faces, but her gut feeling told her they wouldn’t give up
easily. She waited to see what they would do, but then she made the
mistake of looking sideways for an instant. Yates lunged at her,
and with a cry of alarm, she struggled with him for what seemed
like eternity before the gun fired. At the explosion, Rusty froze
and her pulse raced. She didn’t have to look, she could feel all
eyes glued to them. Sheer panic seemed to solidify the air in her
lungs.

Yates smiled, clutching his stomach. He
reached up and touched her face with his bloodied hand. She felt
his hand slide from her trembling mouth, down the front of her
dress, leaving a trail of bright red stains before he fell to the
floor.

Rusty stood stunned and immobile, not hearing
the click of a gun or the shots being fired. She barely felt the
arm that went around her and peeled the smoking gun from her
clenched hand. The faint voices all around her seemed far away.
Then she did something she never believed she would.

She fainted.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Guy carried his unconscious wife to their
room and thanked God she was all right.

Earlier, as he rode out to the spot when he
met Scott, he had been assessing his problems about the cattle
rustlers and Scott’s story to Rusty. Something didn’t sit right
with him, recalling the young man’s ramblings when he was delirious
from the snake bite. Scott was mumbling things that made him
suspect the young man knew more than he told Rusty.

He decided to follow Scott’s tracks into the
valley and discovered a deserted shack. After checking out the
place and the grounds, his only find was Scott’s horse grazing not
too far from the place. He followed hoof prints leading into a
different direction discovering that all the men rode out of the
valley miles south of the entrance. This might have been done to
throw him off their trail, but further investigation gave him the
chilling answer; they were headed towards his ranch.

He didn’t like the fear that gnawed at him
and riding as if demons were at his heels, he took off for home.
All he could think about was the danger she had been in when he
first reached the ranch with his men. He instructed them to scout
around then lay low, wanting to see where the women were before
storming the place. He then made his way to the back of the barn
and slowly entered through the rear door, arriving in time to see
Scott trying to hoist himself up on a horse. Scott wiped his brow
against a sleeve and he noticed Scott’s other arm was in a sling
but he didn’t ask. The injured man fell back into his arms.

“I don’t think you’re in any shape to go
riding,” he said to Scott.

The young man stiffened at his voice and
groaned, and Guy assumed Scott was too ashamed to look him in the
eye. Resting his head on the horse’s side, he murmured, “This is
entirely my fault. I’m sorry, but my pain is nothing compared to
the agony I feel in my heart for all the trouble I’ve caused. I’m
ready to take what’s coming to me.”

Annoyed Guy snapped back at Scott, “That may
be, but this isn’t the time to discuss the matter; we have two
women to save. Tell me, how many men are in the house?”

Scott gulped and answered, “Four.”

He sat Scott on the hay, ordering him to stay
put. Scott made an odd sound trying to clear his throat. “Like you
say, I’m no shape to go anywhere.” He looked up at Guy, and mumbled
that he rued the day he hooked up with those outlaws.

Guy made it back to his men and explained his
plan to them. He said that he’d try to enter the house from the
rear while the men positioned themselves around the outside. They
weren’t to enter unless they heard gun fire. He crept to the rear
of the house and peeked into the kitchen window and saw it was
empty. He entered quietly and listened to the voices in the other
room, praying no harm would come to the women. He heard Rusty
threaten someone with a gun and the hairs on his neck stood on
end.

“Damn!” He swore under his breath at his
careless wife. “Damn! Son-of-a-bitch!” he cursed again not knowing
whether to be proud of her or spank her. A shot rang out leaving
him with no time to ponder his wife’s behavior and he crashed into
the room and saw Rusty in the clutches of an outlaw.

He died a thousand deaths thinking she had
been shot seeing blood run down the front of her dress. But his
sharp reflexes made him forget the horrible scene when he caught in
the corner of his eye the motion of a man in the center of the
room. The outlaw had spun around toward Guy, and he heard the
cocking of a gun and in a split second he fired his weapon.
Cockroach, racing through the front door, shoved Susan from the
line of fire and shot another right between the eyes. Guy saw the
last one get it through the heart from Santos who fired through the
window. It was over in seconds.

Rusty opened her eyes to find her husband
frowning at her. Forgetting the horror of the past few hours, all
she felt was embarrassment for fainting. “What happened?” she
rasped.

“You fainted!”

She didn’t miss the fact that his voice was
stressed. “I know that! I mean what happened while I was
o-out?”

When the memory returned, she was filled with
dread. How could she have passed out when Susan and her brother’s
lives depended on her quick wit? She jack-knifed but Guy pushed her
back down assuming her unspoken question.

“Susan is fine, and Scott’s in the barn. I
sent Haystack to help him and two men to get the marshal and the
doctor. The outlaws are dead; you’re safe now. You could have been
killed!”

Then it dawned on her; she had just shot a
man and her blood turned to ice. Albeit, it was an accident, she’d
never forget the look on the outlaw’s face. She closed her eyes and
shivered needing Guy’s embrace, his reassurance that everything
would be all right. Tears flowed down her cheek. When she opened
her moist eyes she saw fear in his, something she’d never seen
before. When he took her in his arms, she sniffled but relaxed a
little. Things didn’t seem so bad when he held her. She then
dreaded the question but she had to ask. “What’s going to happen to
Scott?” She turned up her wet face searching for answers in Guy’s
eyes.

“I promise to do all I can to help your
brother, seeing that Scott risked his life to set things straight.
But, damn it kid! I’d like to smother you with kisses but all I can
manage to do is to keep from shaking you silly for the scare you
gave me!” Her husband encased her cold hands in his and repeated
his fears, “Honey, you could have been killed,” he said putting
more tenderness in his voice. “I was so scared for…” A light tap on
the door stopped whatever he was about to say. “Come in he answered
and Susan appeared. I asked her to bring you a warm glass of milk,”
he told her and stood to receive the glass she handed him.

“How are you feeling Rusty?” asked Susan.

“I’m more embarrassed than anything else,
Susan, but I’ll be okay now that the worst is behind us.”

“Yes, we all can use a good night’s sleep,”
she replied. “It was an awful ordeal and I for one am glad its
over.”

“Thank you for you concern, Susan,” said Guy,
“and for the milk”

Susan left, leaving them alone and Guy handed
his wife the milk to help her sleep. He had told Susan where to
find Mattie’s sleeping powder and some to the milk but he kept that
information to himself. He made Rusty drink it all and after a few
more soothing words, he held her until he heard her steady
breathing. Then kissing the top of her sleeping head, he went
downstairs.

Doctor Samuels arrived and examined Scott and
said, “The young man has a slight concussion and his shoulder will
mend in time. Susan did a good job in popping it back in place. You
know every time I come out here, it seems to me patients have had
the proper care before I arrive. Everyone here seems too know as
much about doctoring as me. If this keeps up, I’ll be out of
practice.” He laughed, slapping Guy on the back.

Guy chuckled, “Glad Scott’s gonna be all
right. Mattie will be home tomorrow and I’m sure she’ll see to it
that Scott heals quickly. She seems to have a concoction for
everything.”

By the time the marshal arrived, the dead men
were tied to their horses. Guy suspected that it was fine with the
lawman and that the marshal was happy that the situation had been
taken care of without his getting mixed up in it. Out of the six
men, one survived, but the knock on the head from Scott’s shovel
left him without any memory. Since he was to be sent to an
institution where he’d be completely forgotten, there was no one
left to point a finger at Scott. Guy figured if he had been in the
young man’s shoes, he probably would have sought some revenge
himself. Later he rejoined his sleeping wife and held her
close.

Rusty woke the next morning, and found she
was alone in the still house, staring at the ceiling. She never
recalled sleeping so soundly before and she had an inkling that her
husband drugged her milk. Well, she’d not make a big deal out of
that because she felt fully rested for the first time in quite
awhile. She sighed content until all the horrors of yesterday came
crashing back with the realization she hadn’t seen her brother yet.
Filled with dread, she leaped from the bed, wondering if he were
here or if he had been taken to prison.

Throwing her wrap on, she dashed from the
room. The smell of coffee and fresh-baked bread told her Mattie was
back. In the kitchen the woman was fussing over the stove. The
delicious aroma made her stomach rumble but she couldn’t swallow
anything until she found out about Scott.

Mattie looked up and smiled. “It’s ’bout time
yo’ came down, sleepy head.”

“Mattie,” Rusty croaked, “where’s Scott? Do
you know what happened to him?”

The kind cook swiftly guided her to a chair.
“Sit yo’self down, chil’ ‘fore yo’ fall. The youn’ man in question
is sleepin’ in dat room he waz in ‘fore. Ah’s seen to him. He’ll be
just fine with rest. Ah’s glad Ah waz not around when those
horrible men attacked.” She clicked her tongue.