Stained Snow (21 page)

She did know who dressed like that. Who rode a horse that looked like that. She couldn’t believe she’d never noticed the similarities between the two brothers. Maybe because their differences had been so obvious.

Maggie took another step back, coming up against the table. Months ago, before William, before this baby, she would have been eager to see Thomas riding back into the yard. Had been waiting for that moment. Now, the sight of it had fear tripping through her chest. What was he doing here? It couldn’t be for anything good. Her hand went to her stomach. She may not be showing much yet, but Thomas would notice the difference. Had he finally come back for her? William wasn’t here this time for him to shoot.

Her heart pounded in her chest, the blood drumming in her head. Even over the sound, she heard the creak of his saddle as he dismounted, the stomp of his boots as he came up the steps to the porch. Her breath caught in her throat as he stepped through the doorway and grinned at her. She’d never noticed the menacing gleam in his eyes before. She tried to take a calming breath but it got stuck somewhere between her mouth and her lungs. “Tho-Thomas, what are you doing here?” she stammered.

He took a step toward her, and she stumbled back. “You weren’t expecting me? Neither was Daly. The old man isn’t likely to survive the blow to his head.” His mouth still spread wide in a grin, but something hard flashed in his eyes, and in that smile. “I told you I’d come back for you. Apparently you couldn’t wait. You had to go for my brother instead.”

Maggie felt like a trapped animal. He kept walking toward her, and she kept retreating. There was only so far she could go. Soon, she came up against the wall. His grin only widened. “I…I didn’t think you were ever coming back. I’m sorry, Thomas, but you left.”

“So you jumped right into his arms? I never thought you that kind of woman, Maggie. I would have left money with you if I had.”

His words soured everything in her stomach. “It wasn’t like that,” she insisted. “You left me. He was here. He was kind. You…you killed his family. If I would have known, I never would have let you touch me. You said your brother took everything from you. It was really the other way around.”

“You believed him?” He took another step toward her. “He can be convincing. He has everyone fooled into thinking he’s the good brother. He’s the reason my wife and baby girl died. If he never would have gotten her sent away, everything would have been fine. I never would have lost them.”

Maggie shook her head. “You can’t know that. No matter what, it could have been their time to go. That’s not his fault. What gives you the right to take his away because you lost yours? You don’t know he’s the one who did it.”

“I saw him watching us leave the barn. The next day she was sent away. There’s no other explanation for it. He’s always taken everything from me. Anna should have been mine. You should have been mine.” Right in front of her now, he ran a finger down her throat. “You were mine. He took you from me, too.”

Maggie’s pulse beat in her throat, and she nearly choked on the breath clogging there. She needed to get away. Needed to warn William his brother was here. She needed to get to the bunkhouse to Holt. He was her only hope right now.

No way could she run faster than him. She needed to get a weapon. What could she use? She remembered the knife on the table. Her gaze flicked toward it, but she doubted she’d be able to reach it before he grabbed her. She needed to distract him. “What are you going to do?” she asked, letting all her fear show.

He closed his fingers around the back of her neck and held her still. “Take back what’s mine.” His eyes left hers and raked down her body. His gaze fell on her stomach. He drew in a ragged breath. “Mine?”

She tried to shake her head, but his grip tightened even more on the back of her neck and she couldn’t move it at all. She touched her tongue to her lips before she spoke. “No. You’ve been gone more than a year. That’d be impossible.”

He tightened his fingers at her neck even more, digging them in, until she saw spots in her vision. She cried out, but he didn’t loosen them until she had fallen to her knees. He dragged her back up by her arm. “I’m not letting him take this from me, too.”

He pulled her toward the door, but as she drew oxygen in again, she started to fight.

He was stronger than her. For every inch she pulled herself back, he dragged her another foot. She swiped at the knife on the table as they passed, but only managed to knock it to the floor. Thomas swore and threw her over his shoulder.

Tears slid down her cheeks. That had been her last chance. Light winked off the blade as Thomas carried her from the cabin. She left her chances of a life beside William with it.

When Thomas stepped into the yard, a shout sounded. Her eyes squeezed shut. Holt. He was young, had started at the ranch earlier that summer. He would be no match against Thomas. She kicked her legs, hoping it would give the boy a chance to fight. Thomas dropped her, though. She landed hard on her knees, barely keeping her face from smacking against the ground. A shot fired before she even lifted her head, and she cried out. Thomas dragged her up again. “Another man dead at your expense. Come on, we need another horse.”

He tossed her up into the saddle and tied her hands to the horn before she could fight back. Tears streamed down her face as he led her down to the barn to steal one of her pa’s horses. There wasn’t anything she could do. Now, she’d never see William again.

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September 4, 1888

William wanted to push his horse faster. They’d been going since early morning, and he doubted the animal would make it far at that pace. By the time they’d herded the cattle into town and gotten everything settled, it was too late to make it far. They’d set up camp a little north of town. He’d wanted to ride straight through the night. He could have been home by the time everyone else started out.

George had talked him out of it. They’d been riding and working most of the day. Both him and the horse needed to rest. It wasn’t safe to travel by night, either.

As much as he wanted to get back to Maggie, he wanted to be in one piece for it.

George rode up beside him. “We should give the horses a rest. You may not, but the other men could use one as well.”

“They’re your men, George.”

“You’re one of mine as well, Will.”

“I have to get back.” He couldn’t explain it, but dread dug its claws into him. It was probably ridiculous, but he couldn’t shake it.

“We’re nearly there. Another hour or more on the trail will get us home, but not if we kill ourselves and the horses trying to get there faster. Relax, Will. You’ll see when we get there everything’s fine.”

He wasn’t so sure he would. No matter how many people told him to relax, he couldn’t do it. He stopped at the creek’s edge and let his horse graze and drink with the others. When George called to mount up again, he was the first one in the saddle and across the water. He wanted to be home.

William set a hard pace, not even caring if anyone else kept up with him.

They made it to the ranch in less than the hour George had predicted. Only George and Adam still rode behind him. He imagined the others had broken off to spend the rest of their day in town. He didn’t care about that. He had more important matters to see to. Like kissing his wife.

When he rode into the yard, something was wrong. Maggie didn’t come out on the porch. She should be in the main cabin getting dinner started. That feeling of dread came back, the claws digging even deeper into him. No one else was around either. At least one of the men should have been here with her. Something was not right.

He swung down from the saddle and ran toward the cabin. He couldn’t even get her name past the lump lodged in his throat. He stopped in the doorway. The cabin stood empty. He spun around, his gaze scanning the yard. No sign of her. He had nearly made it to the cabin George had built for them when someone stumbled out from the bunkhouse.

“Thought I heard somebody.” Daly’s words sounded slurred, like he’d been drinking. The discolored bruise and dried blood on the side of his head told a different story.

“What happened?” He didn’t know how he could ask the question when his heart had stopped beating.

“I finished checking the fence and was about to get on my horse to come back. Hit me from behind. Saw him when I went down.”

“Thomas.” The name was barely more than a breath across William’s lips.

The older man nodded then winced. “I got back and Holt was laid out in the yard. He’s still alive,” he said with a wave back toward the bunkhouse, “but in bad shape.”

“You’re not in too good of shape yourself, Daly,” Adam said from behind him.

“Fine. Head hurts.”

It was more than that, but he couldn’t drum up much concern right then. “Where’d he take her?”

He shook his head then brought his hands up to it. “Feel like I spent all night in the bottle. Damn.” He brought his gaze up to Will. “I don’t know, son. She was gone when I got back. Holt only woke up once. He said he tried to stop him. If he wakes up again, he might be able to tell you, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

William spun on his heel and started for his horse. He wasn’t waiting around to see if the other man woke up. He had to find Maggie. He didn’t even stop when George called his name. He only turned when someone grabbed his arm.

“Damn it, Will, you can’t-”

William shoved George away from him. “I have to. I can’t let him take her away from me, too.”

“I want my girl back, too, but you don’t even know which way he went.”

“I’m going to find out.”

Chapter 24

William turned toward the barn while George went to the bunkhouse with Daly. He’d barely made it halfway across the yard when Adam came running out of the barn. He hadn’t even realized the other man had gone there.

“The rest of the horses are gone. Looks like they were run off.” He nodded past the barn. “Most didn’t go far. We’ll have to round them up.” William started past him, but Adam held out a hand, and he stopped. “I found this.”

William took the small item from Adam’s hand then dropped it again. “No.” The word came out as barely more than a whisper. Then louder. “No, no, no.”

He nearly dropped to his knees as every ounce of strength and energy drained from him. Not again. This was a message to him. He couldn’t go through this again. It was too much like losing Anna all over again.

A hand rested on his back. He turned his head, and George stood there holding the small wooden toy out to him. “You know what this is?”

William nodded and took the hand carved train from him. He had to swallow before he could speak. “Pa made this for David. For his last birthday. Thomas must have taken it before he burned the house down. He dropped it out there for a reason. He wanted me to know.” He looked up then. “He’s doing it again. I can’t let it happen again.”

“No, you can’t.”

He stepped away. Knowing what he needed to do gave him strength and a sense of purpose again. He strode across the yard, but Adam stepped up to him, standing in his way. “ I need to go. I need to find her. He won’t do this to me again.”

“You know where she is?”

William shook his head. “Not where. Thomas has her. Now, get out of my way so I can bring her home.”

“You’ve been riding that horse all day. We need to round up fresh horses.”

“No. This is on me. I should have taken care of her. I should have made sure he never came back. I have to find her.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Adam said. “You can use help. I’ll come.”

“I don’t want him to hurt anyone else. This is between me and him.”

“I care about her, too.” The words burst from Adam as if he’d lost control over them. “I love her, too. She chose you, but I love her, too. Either I go with you, or I go on my own. I won’t stay here while she’s in danger.”

The words surprised William. Remembering the man’s reaction to him being with Maggie and his initial hostility towards him, they shouldn’t have. “Fine. I’m going now, though.”

“Let me throw some food together for you,” George said.

“I don’t need any food. I need to find Maggie.”

“You need fuel, Will. You can’t run on this anger alone.”

William wanted to argue with him, but that would only waste time. “I’ll go get the horses.”

“I’ve got them,” Adam said.

William glanced over at him. He didn’t realize Adam had moved away as soon as he’d started arguing with George. He didn’t even know how he’d caught the horses so fast. He didn’t have time to ask, either. “Let’s get them saddled.”

He switched his saddle from the horse he’d been riding all day to one Adam had caught. He only let himself pause for a moment when he had the saddle cinched tight. He had given up his search for Thomas. Had been determined to make a new life, a good life, with Maggie. Thomas brought the trouble right to his door. He wasn’t going to get away with it. Not again.

William fit the bridle onto the horse’s head then swung up into the saddle. He didn’t care if Adam was ready because he wasn’t waiting any longer.

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