Texas Lucky (42 page)

Curt lifted a questioning brow.

“That’s right,” Wally chimed in. “And that’s what we hired on to do—work cows.”

“Not fight injuns,” Charlie finished with a nod of conviction.

Curt laughed uneasily. “Now, wait a minute. What are you boys trying to tell me? That Mrs. Thorpe expects her ranch to be attacked by Indians? Surely not—”

“Naw, it ain’t nothin’ like that. She’s goin’ lookin’ for the varmints,” Charlie said. “Ridin’ right into Indian territory to look for her brother.”

Curt’s smile faded. “What are you talking about?”

Wally explained, “She wanted us to ride with her to rescue her brother from the Apaches.”

“That’s right,” Charlie confirmed, “and then Granger said those of us who wouldn’t go could pack our gear and git, and that’s what we did. He can call us cowards all he wants, but I ain’t fightin’ injuns. Five of the boys were fool enough to go with her, though.”

“So can you put us to work?” Wally asked hopefully. “We’d of been here sooner only we went to Gilley’s last night and, got to drinkin’, and…” he shrugged.

Curt did not want to believe what he had just been told. “Let me get this straight. You mean she’s going into Indian territory with only five men?”

“Seven, actually, counting Granger and the old trapper who said he seen her brother at the Indian camp. She went to the Army, but they wouldn’t help her.”

“That’s right,” Charlie said. “And I heard Granger tell Nick just as we were leavin’ that she said she couldn’t afford any hired guns, so it’s just them.”

Curt grabbed Charlie’s arm. “When is she leaving?”

Charlie, unnerved by how Curt was looking at him and the way he was holding his arm so tight, stammered, “Well…well, actually she’s already gone.”

Curt gave him a rough shake. “When?”

“They were plannin’ on headin’ out yesterday evening.”

Curt slammed his hand on the back of Charlie’s neck and began steering him toward the bunkhouse as Wally and Caleb hurried to follow.

“You’re going to tell me everything you heard,” Curt told him. “I’ve got to try and figure out which way they’ll go.”

“But I’m not sure,” he whined, twisting futilely in Curt’s rough grasp. “Maybe Wally heard something I didn’t.”

“Didn’t hear nothing,” Wally was quick to say, obviously not wanting Curt to focus on him.

“Boss…” Caleb fell in step beside Curt. “What’s this all about?”

“We’re going with her,” Curt said.

Caleb nodded his approval. “To make her come back. That’s good. Old Wendell would appreciate your doing that, boss, ’cause she ain’t got no business ridin’ off like that even if somebody did think they saw her brother.”

“Oh, I’m not going to try and stop her,” Curt said matter-of-factly. “Because there’s no stopping Tess once her mind’s made up. We’re going to catch up with her and give her a hand. So tell the boys to get ready to ride.

“And you can also tell them”—Curt whirled on him with eyes blazing—“that if there’s a coward among them, they won’t have to worry about getting fired and having to find work elsewhere, because if they refuse to go, I’ll shoot them where they stand.”

He wouldn’t, but they didn’t know that, and he had no time to argue.

Because he was not about to let Tess head into danger without him.

Chapter Thirty

They forded the river, and Tess welcomed the chance to wash away some of the thick trail dust.

It had been a grueling ride, for they had stopped only when necessary to rest the horses and let them graze and drink.

Tess and Homer Wilkes were the first to reach the other side, and, as they waited for the others, Homer squinted against the late afternoon sun and pointed to a distant butte. “There’s a nest of boulders on the other side of that,” he said. “And if we can make it up there without bein’ seen, all we got to do is creep along to the slope on the back side, and we’ll be lookin’ right into their camp.

“I tell you one thing, though, missy,” he added with a shake of his head, “if I’d knowed them injuns was over there, I’d have let that fool mule of mine stay gone. It’s a wonder I won’t scalped, but the way I figure, the braves was all off huntin’ or raidin’. Nobody was around ’cept for the squaws, and they won’t worried about anybody stumblin’ into the camp as good as it’s hid. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been up yonder. Never would have from level ground.”

“Well, we aren’t going to
stumble
in,” Tess said as she stared thoughtfully toward the butte. We’re going to
sneak
in.”

Homer looked at her like she had lost her mind. “That’s suicide. They’ll wake up and find us right in the middle of ’em and won’t a one of us have a hair on our head five minutes later. Ain’t no way I’m goin’ in there unless I’m shootin’.”

She regarded him coldly. “Homer, you’ve come an awfully long way to have to go home empty-handed.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that if you don’t see me through this, I won’t pay you the reward.”

“That ain’t right,” he bellowed, face screwing with anger. “I brung you here, and I’m gonna show you right where they are, and that’s it, ’cause you never said nothin’ about wantin’ to sneak into a varmints’ nest. You said you was gonna take ’em by surprise…take hostages.

“Uh-uh.” He swung his head sharply from side to side. “I ain’t crawlin’ in there on my belly in the middle of the night.”

“What’s this?” Granger reached them and heard the tail end of Homer’s grumbling and saw the tension on Tess’s face.

Homer told him what Tess wanted to do, adding, “And it ain’t fair she’s gonna go back on what she said about the reward.”

“Oh, shut up, Homer,” Granger dismissed him, and focused on Tess. “What’s he talking about?”

Calmly, she explained, “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and decided it’s too dangerous to just go storming in. We’ll sneak in tonight instead.”

Granger tugged at his mustache as he followed her gaze to the butte. “I don’t know, Miss Tess. If we get caught, we won’t have a chance. It’d be better to just ride in with guns blastin’.”

“No, it wouldn’t. I’ve got it all figured out. The first tepee we come to we’ll seize the people inside and find a way to communicate with them to let them know if they don’t lead us to the white boy, we’re going to kill them.

“Neat and clean and simple.” She smiled. “Not a shot fired. Nobody gets hurt.”

“And what happens to the injuns you’ve used to find your brother? They’ll scream the minute we leave.”

“We’ll tie and gag them,” she said, looking at him in wonder that he hadn’t thought of that part himself. “Really, Granger, it will work. Now let’s ride.”

Homer whined, “Not till we get it straight that once I get you to that butte, I’ve kept my end of the bargain and you better keep yours. Otherwise”—he lifted his chin stubbornly—“I ain’t goin’ no farther.”

Granger drew his gun. “You get movin’ or you can stay here for good, damn you.”

Tess grabbed Granger’s arm. “Put it away. He can stay if he wants to.”

Granger roared, “But you said—”

“I know what I said, but there’s no time to argue.” She turned to Homer. “Take us to the butte, and then you can wait for us there. You won’t have to go into the camp.”

Homer sighed with relief, but Granger continued to argue until Tess pointed out that she would rather leave him behind than force him to go in. “He’d be nervous and might accidentally do something to give us away.

“And don’t worry,” she said to Homer. “I’ll see you get your money when we get back to Dallas.”

The others had joined them by then, and Homer shrank beneath their condemning glares, hurrying to get in front to lead the way once more.

It was nearly dark by the time they reached the top of the butte. Shadows were long upon the land and a chilling night breeze set the mesquite and scrubs to an eerie dance all around them.

“This is as far as I go,” Homer said firmly as he got down off his horse. Squatting, he drew a crude map in the dirt with his finger, pointing now and then as he explained, “Go to that big rock over yonder and then make your way down the hill. It’ll slope off to a rock rim, and when you look over that, you can see the camp.

“But be careful,” he warned, “’cause it’s tricky there. You can start a rockslide and wind up gliding right into the middle of ’em on your butt.”

Granger exchanged worried glances with the others in the faint light, then asked Tess when she planned to make her move.

Tess was beside herself with excitement to think in a short while Perry would be safe with her, but kept her voice calm and confident as she replied, “I want to give them time to bed down for the night, so they’ll be sound asleep when we sneak in. I’d say around midnight. Meanwhile, we might as well get some rest ourselves.”

Nick, who seldom spoke, said, “Ain’t you lettin’ her forget somethin’, Granger?”

Granger lifted his brows in question.

“Dogs,” Nick said. “All injun camps got dogs all over the place ’cause they eat ’em.”

One of the other men grunted. “Shows how ignorant you are, Nick. Apaches don’t eat dogs. Don’t eat fish or wild fowl, neither.

“Now, if they’re starvin’,” he went on, “they’re known to eat rats and skunks and even lizards and grasshoppers, but it’s a myth about them bein’ dog eaters. I know, ’cause I met a man once who had lived with ’em for a spell.”

Nick, unimpressed, said, “Well, whether they eat ’em or not, there’ll be dogs. They’re gonna hear us and go to barkin’ and wake up the whole damn camp.”

“Then we’ll make sure they don’t hear us,” Tess said.

But the more she thought about it, the riskier it seemed, to attempt to sneak into the camp from above.

Halfway across the butte, she pulled back on Saber’s reins and announced, “We’re going down.”

Surprised cries echoed around her as she attempted to speak above them to explain it would be far better to sneak in on flat ground.

Slowly, they began to agree with her, though none relished the idea of having to make their way back down the gentle slope and go around, with darkness nearly upon them.

But they did so, and by the time they reached the huge boulders hiding the Apache camp, they could scarcely see.

“So now we wait,” Tess told them. “And we leave the horses back a ways so they won’t whinny and give us away.” She turned to Homer. “You can keep an eye on them.”

“Yeah, that’s’ about all he’s good for,” someone cracked.

They had a little food left in their saddlebags—beef jerky and hardtack. With their canteens of water, it was sustenance enough till they got back to civilization, and Tess planned to ride like thunder to get there lest the Indians catch up with them. A chill ran up her spine as she thought that they would surely do so as soon as they discovered some of their own trussed and gagged.

She figured they could put a few hours between them and the camp before dawn. Maybe more. It was her plan to walk the horses quietly away till it was doubtful they could be heard, then ride like the devil himself was on their heels.

As the others ate, Tess sat off by herself, afraid they would sense her nervousness. It might cause them to be likewise unnerved if they suspected she was not as full of bravado as she pretended. After all, she supposed they could not help but be a bit uneasy to have a woman along on such a dangerous mission.

And she was exhausted. They all were and began to curl up on the ground to rest while waiting till she felt it was safe to go in.

But then they fell asleep, and so did Tess, and she was washed with panic when she awakened and realized much time had passed. There was a quarter moon which had been high earlier but now hung low in the west.

Adding to her fear was a glance to the eastern horizon, where the first pink lips of dawn began to kiss the night away.

Then fresh terror began to inch along her spine as she realized that something had awakened her. Reaching for her guns, she made ready to draw and leap to her feet.

And then a hand clamped over her mouth.

“Don’t scream.”

The voice at her ear sent her ripping back in time to Devil’s Eye, Arizona, when she had heard the same voice whisper the same warning.

Curt let her go, and she strained to see him in the darkness, sure she was still asleep and dreaming.

Keeping his lips pressed to her ear, he quickly explained, “I had to try and pick you out from the rest, because I didn’t dare risk riding in. Sorry to scare you, Tess.”

“What…what are you doing here?” She was starting to believe it was real.

“I followed you—me and my hands and a few others I persuaded along the way. I didn’t think we’d catch up in time, because you had a head start and I had no idea which way you were going. Luckily I managed to run into an Army scout who agreed to track you. That’s the only reason we made it before you got yourself killed.

“He also speaks Apache,” he added, “so he can let them know why we’re here.”

Tess was swept with emotion, wondering why he had come, but told herself it didn’t matter—nor did his having made a fool of her in the past…none of it. He had come to her aid to help save Perry, and she would forevermore be grateful.