Swept Away (15 page)

“So your parents gave you an Italian name and a real name?”

“Italian names are real.”

Ruthy sniffed just to torment him.

“My parents were Perlita and Salvatorio Pietra. They were both born in Italy and were married before they came here. Ma called herself Pearl and Pa went by Sal. And in Italian the word
pietra
means stone. So they changed their last name to Stone. They gave my sister and me Italian names, but we never went by them. We were always Luke and Callie. Somehow Dodger found out our real names and sort of teased us by calling us that. Luciano and Calandra. I don’t mind it so much, but don’t you start.”

“But I think Luciano is a nice name.” She didn’t like it as well as Luke, but where was the fun in admitting that?

“Quiet.” The light in the last house near Dare’s blinked out, and Luke rose slowly from where they crouched in the juniper and mesquite surrounding Broken Wheel. “Let’s get inside. Dare’s probably decided you’re dead.”

“I told you I left a note.” She decided to save Luciano for some time when he was really annoying her. Of course, he was really annoying her right now. “He went out before the sun was up so I had no way to tell him when I decided to leave. And there aren’t any lights on in his house and we’ve seen no sign of patients coming and going. Dare is probably out on a doctoring case and has better things to worry about than where I got to.”

“I believe that, because if he’d been there, he’d’ve stopped you from leaving, locked you in your room, and not let you do such a harebrained thing.”

“You brought me along to fight a land war, Luke Stone. Now you’re acting like I’m an idiot for taking a small risk.” As she spoke she felt the anger grow. “I don’t think you can pretend the danger I might face is anyone’s doing but yours.”

Turning from his watchful study of the town, Luke looked at her, let out a heavy sigh, and lowered his head. “I know I’ve brought you to a bad situation, Rosie. I know and I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t leave you and I didn’t have the days and days it would’ve taken to get you to another town.”

“I’ve wanted to be free of the Reinhardts for so long.” Ruthy swung her arms wide and almost hit him. “I don’t mind turning my hand to a chore and seeing it well done. But I hated doing it for them, being little more than a slave. I’ve hoped and prayed to be free to pour the strength of my back and the skills in my hands and the knowledge in my brain to building something for myself.”

“And instead you’ve been forced to turn aside. You’ve been dragged into a fight that’s not yours. I know you’re hard-pressed to sit idle, but if we are careful, we can keep you out of this fight completely. You can lay low while my friends and I clean up this mess. When it’s safe, I’ll get you to a bigger town and find you a place to live and a job.”

A pang hit hard as she listened to Luke. “Stay out of your way now and you’ll get rid of me for good later, is that it?” Which was wise and probably what she wanted. The fact that it hurt her feelings was ridiculous.

“I wouldn’t put it that way. I just wish you didn’t have to get mixed up in my troubles.”

“Well, you couldn’t have left me floating. And there’s no town big enough for me to hope to find work for days in any direction.”

Luke shrugged. “But you don’t have to add more risk to your life by taking such dangerous chances.”

Ruthy felt twisted up inside and wanted to argue with Luke. She wasn’t sure about what exactly; she only knew she was upset and she didn’t see any reason to keep it to herself.

Before she could find a new way to nag him for something that was most likely her own fault, Luke said, “Let’s go,” and dashed across the open space.

Ruthy sprinted to keep up. They hurried past the small corral and the building where Dare stabled his horse. Normally the horse would be outside grazing.

Luke reached Dare’s back door and turned the knob. “It’s locked? What’s going on?”

“It was locked when I left this morning and I didn’t want to leave it unlocked. I climbed out right here.” Ruthy pointed to a window that led into Dare’s office.

Luke quickly raised the window so that Ruthy could scramble through. Then she held it for Luke. She was starting to slide it silently shut after Luke just as someone came rushing up. Vince.

She jumped back and squeaked in surprise. She saw Luke draw his gun and whirl toward the window just as Vince lifted it open again.

Luke holstered the gun. Another man Ruthy didn’t recognize climbed in behind Vince.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked. “Where’s Dare?”

“We saw you run in; we’ve been watching for you.” Vince moved into the room to make way for the second man. “Leave the lanterns off.”

“Big John, good to see you.” Luke slapped the newcomer on the back. In the dimly lit room, Ruthy could
barely make him out. He was unusually tall and lean. His hat shaded his face so she saw no details. He had a star pinned on his chest that reflected the bit of moonlight from the window.

“Dare’s been out at the Greer ranch all day,” Vince said.

“The Stone ranch.” Luke scowled. “Try to remember that, Vince. What’s he doing out there?”

“I only know he headed out and never came back.” Vince shook his head and fell silent for a few moments. Then he said, “Big John Conroy, this is Ruthy MacNeil. Shall we sit down and talk about whether we now have to go rescue Dare? The kitchen has enough chairs.” Vince, with a grand gesture, swept his hand toward the kitchen. “After you, Miss Ruthy.”

“Thank you, sir.” Ruthy hurried toward the kitchen and went straight for the stove. She stirred the embers, added kindling, and set to work making coffee.

Luke dropped into a chair at the table. Big John sat across from him. Vince stood sentry at the kitchen door.

She’d barely gotten the grounds measured and the coffee started to brewing when a horse came riding up. They all tensed as it went past the front door. Vince vanished from where he’d been leaning and was back in seconds. “It’s Dare. He’s putting his horse in the stable.”

A whoosh of breath told Ruthy that both Luke and his friends had been imagining something bad. They were probably right. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t bad enough to keep Dare from finally getting home.

All three men left the kitchen.

The coffeepot hissed. Ruthy hadn’t seen Luke eat anything but jerky all day. Dare might not have had a regular meal, either. The other two, though there was no reason
they should be hungry, were men after all. Men would usually eat.

So Ruthy got to work. Clanking a skillet onto the iron stovetop, she found a side of bacon and began slicing it. She dropped the first few slices in the pan, and soon they were popping and sizzling. The warm, savory smell made her stomach growl as she loaded the pan with pork. It wasn’t only the men who hadn’t eaten much today.

She heard voices in the hall, Dare’s among them. It took everything in her to not give in to curiosity and leave the stove. But there was work to be done.

The bacon crackled nicely. She pulled another skillet out, poured grease off the bacon, and began slicing crisp potatoes into the heating oil. She was eager to know what was going on, but she couldn’t leave the quickly cooking food. In a moment of inspiration she plucked a towel off a hook and waved it over the frying food, sending the aroma toward the men. Less than a minute later, they wandered into the kitchen.

Ruthy concealed a smile. The smell of food was a more effective lure to most men than a woman politely asking, or even nagging.

“I tell you Greer beat her half to death.” Dare’s words stilled Ruthy’s slicing and erased the pleasure she’d taken in drawing the men to her.

“Beat who?” Ruthy asked. Not counting herself, there were only two women around—Lana Bullard and Glynna Greer.

“His wife, Glynna.” Dare’s words were sharp enough to bite someone’s head off. “I got called out there this morning and found her unconscious. I’ve been there all day tending her. I should never have left her.” Dare slugged a fist into
the wall with a harsh thud. “But I pushed my luck way past reason to stay as long as I did. Greer was in and out all day, raging at me to leave. He was ready to shoot me to get rid of me, and he threatened it more than once. He had guards on both doors. I’d have died trying to take her, and I’d have risked it if I’d thought there was any chance of getting away. But Greer was on edge like no man I’d ever seen. He’d have shot me, or ordered someone to do it. Then she’d end up still trapped with him once I was dead.” The venom in Dare’s voice was frightening. “Besides, I want to go back when I have my Colt.”

Greer battered his wife? Ruthy felt plenty of venom of her own.

“We’re going out there tomorrow and we’re getting her and her children out.” Dare lit a lantern. Ruthy noticed the kitchen window had its shutters closed. Dare must have done that yesterday.

“Will he hurt her or the children before morning?” Big John’s voice was deep and smooth. He wasn’t happy about a woman in danger, but he was thinking, and calm. A lawman must see terrible things and learn to keep his head.

There was a long, seething silence coming from Dare. Ruthy turned back to the food just to keep her hands busy.

Finally Dare said, as if he hated to admit it, “The boy told me Greer doesn’t do it too often. We probably have some time. But she’s so scared.” Dare stopped pacing and shoved both hands deep into his shaggy blond hair. “He hurt her bad. And those kids are all torn up inside. We can’t leave them out there.”

“Then we need to set things in motion as soon as possible,” Big John said. “I’ve got a prisoner transport paper I’m going to use to get Sheriff Porter out of town. Broken
Wheel’s sheriff has a reputation for greed. There’s money enough in moving this varmint between Fort Worth and Memphis, Tennessee, where he’s wanted for murder. The pay’s good. Porter’ll do it.”

“Good riddance to that varmint. Glynna told me she ran away from Greer once, and when she got to town, Porter held her until Greer came and hauled her back home.”

Looking grim, Big John said, “I found wanted posters on Bullard. I’ll have to take him in myself. I need four days to get Bullard hauled to a jail that’s run by a man I trust, get him locked up, then get back here. And I want you to wait for me. I want the law involved in this.”

“I don’t know if we can wait.” Dare spoke through a clenched jaw.

“What about Greer’s men, Luke?” Vince was back at his place by the door. “Did you make any headway there?”

“Yep. I talked with one old-timer, name’s Dodger, who was there before my pa died.”

“He stayed on after Greer killed your pa, and you trust him?” Dare sounded like he was looking for an excuse to punch somebody.

“He was gone from the ranch while all the trouble happened. When he came back, he believed Greer’s story about buying the ranch. But Greer has always been a hard man to work for. Dodger’s ready to believe the worst. He said others working for Greer aren’t happy. The main trouble is Greer’s wife. Dodger knows she got hurt once, but it was blamed on a fall. Not everyone believed it and that was before today. She almost always stays in the house, but there’s been talk.”

“What kind of coyote works for a man who abuses his wife?” Vince pounded the side of the door with a closed fist.

Dare paced, dodging around Ruthy at the stove. Even his normal boundless energy was just a ghost of what was driving him today. “They know she’s being mistreated and they just put up with it?”

“Dodger said a man challenged Greer about it when he saw a bruise on Mrs. Greer’s jaw. Trouble was, it was one of Greer’s hired guns who issued the challenge; he wasn’t a well-liked man. At the time they believed Greer’s story about a fall. The man vanished. No one’s seen him again, and no one’s missed him.”

“Dead?” Big John asked.

“They can’t prove it. Dodger and most of the regular cowpokes were out riding the range. The men in close when Greer got challenged aren’t talking. Bullard was there when it happened and he got the drop on the man who faced Greer and put a stop to the fight. Then Bullard wasn’t seen for a while. He’s fast and deadly as a rattlesnake and not afraid of killing.”

“That’s the honest truth,” Big John said. “I’ve got wanted posters on him from Louisiana, Arkansas, and the Indian Territory. He’s wanted for murder. I’d say he picked this lonely spot and stayed here because he knew he’d be arrested if he was seen by any honest lawman. I won’t have any trouble keeping him locked up in any town with an honest sheriff. And now Bullard’s backed Greer against a man who wanted to put a stop to Greer abusing his wife. There ain’t many men who will stay quiet and watch a woman be hurt. Even the lowest of the low-down varmints draw the line at hurting a woman.”

“Since the gunman challenged Greer, Glynna only steps outside to use the privy, and she never speaks to anyone,” Luke said. “Dodger said he couldn’t believe Greer would
stoop so low as to hurt his wife. But Greer’s a tyrant to work for and some of the hands have already drifted. More are inclined in that direction.”

“A cowpoke from the Greer place has come for me twice to go and treat her.” Dare began pacing faster. “The first time I believed her when she said she fell. I should have known better, but she told me herself. I thought she was clumsy and rude. Instead she was beaten and terrified into silence.”

The loathing in Dare’s voice sounded like he’d decided to batter himself.

“Dodger knows we’re bringing trouble.” Luke looked between all his friends. “I told him about the deed and how the ranch was stolen and my pa killed. Dodger said he’s going to whisper in a few ears and he thinks a good chunk of Greer’s hands will drift. A lot of men are ready for an excuse to ride out. There may be a few that will even switch sides and back us. Dodger couldn’t have known about whatever happened today. He’d have mentioned it. So Greer is keeping it quiet.”

Luke paused long enough it drew Ruthy’s attention, and she saw guilt etched on Luke’s face. “Can we wait until we can take Bullard out of the fight, get the sheriff out of town, and Big John can get back? Will she be safe?”

Dare didn’t answer for a long time.