Texas Lucky (43 page)

Still, she yielded to her stubborn side to defend herself. “We weren’t going to ride in with guns blazing, for heaven’s sake. I had a plan—to sneak in and take the first Indians we found hostage and make them take me to Perry. Then we’d sneak back out again.”

He chuckled softly. “You wouldn’t have made it inside their tepee, Tess. They have guards posted.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I just knocked one out with my gun butt,” he said as though it were no big feat. “He was making his rounds and would have stumbled on you all. So you see?” He gave her a cocky grin she was able to see despite the dim light. “I’ve already saved you once today. Now let’s go see how many more times I’ve got to do it.

“Now wake up your men,” he ordered. “And let’s ride in and get this over with so we can get the hell out of here.”

“But are you sure? I mean, I only have six men.”

“We’ll make it.” He gave her a gentle shove. “Go on and wake them up like I said. If I do it, they might be startled and make noise.”

“But how many did you bring?” she demanded before she would budge. “Because I still think my idea to sneak in is better, and—”

“I have forty-seven men with me, Tess.”

She gasped.

He grinned again. “Now go wake up your men. Every gun counts.”

Still stunned by the fact that Curt had practically brought an army, Tess managed to move quickly and quietly among the others and alert them to the change in plans.

There was no time for them to question what was happening. Dawn was drawing ever closer, and they had to move fast.

Finally, with everyone on horseback and clustered behind Curt, he passed the word along that when he raised his arm in signal, they were to charge ahead, making as much noise as possible in hopes of frightening the Indians into immediate submission. He was counting on the Apaches not fighting back once the scout was able to tell them that all they wanted was the white boy and there was no need for any killing. The chances of the Apaches giving in so readily were slim, however, because they were by nature warriors and would try to fight.

But he had to try, by God.

He was about to give the signal when he heard Granger ask Tess if she was sure she wanted to ride in with them. “We’ve got enough now without you, so there’s no need of you takin’ a chance on gettin’ hurt.”

Curt resented Granger being so protective of her but was compelled to agree with him. “He’s right. You should stay here.”

“Maybe the two of you should, too,” she replied testily, “since you seem so worried.”

Ignoring the snipe, Curt came back with one of his own in a tone so low only Tess could hear. “Sure you don’t want to listen to your boyfriend?”

For one split second Tess was tempted to deny it. Then, despite her gratitude for his being there, she reminded herself that he would go back to Sanchina, so she let him think she had someone, too.

“No,” she said testily. “I don’t. So stop wasting time, Curt, and let’s do it.”

His jaw tightening in displeasure, he returned her gaze of challenge.

And then he raised his arm.

In they rode, Tess and all the men shooting up in the air and screaming at the top of their lungs as they charged around the concealing boulders and straight into the camp.

The Indians had not begun to start their day and were, as hoped, taken by surprise.

Having let go of the reins so she could fire both her guns at the same time, Tess dug her knees into Saber’s sides and held on as she spurred him to rear up and spin about so she could glance in every direction.

An Indian came charging out of a tepee, and Tess nearly fell off in amazement as Curt leaped from his horse to grab him and press a gun to his temple.

“Cease fire,” he yelled. “Everybody stop.”

They did so, and even the Apaches, who had rushed from their tepees, froze at the sight of the white man holding their revered chief captive.

“You’ve got Quanah Parker himself,” the scout said in fear and awe as he appeared at Curt’s side.

“Good,” Curt acknowledged. “Now tell him what we want.”

The scout, speaking Apache, assured the chief that no one would be hurt if the white boy was turned over.

The chief, eyes angrily bulging and face twisted in rage, glanced about wildly to see the squaws and the children had crept from their tents to watch fearfully.

He spoke to one of the women, and she disappeared inside a tepee and emerged seconds later pushing Perry in front of her.

Tess, overjoyed, screamed and leaped from Saber to throw her arms around Perry.

Then, with all eyes momentarily turned to her, Quanah Parker seized the chance to catch Curt off guard and went for his gun.

The gun fired, and Curt was hit.

But the men rallied quickly.

The chief ran for his tepee and his weapons. Granger had a dead bead on him and would have shot him dead, but one of the braves threw himself in the bullet’s path in sacrifice.

Granger rode toward Tess as bedlam erupted. Arrows began to fly as the Indians began to fight back. “We’ve got to get out of here—now. Get on your horse, dammit.”

“Take him.” She thrust Perry at him, and he swung the boy up behind him. “I’ve got to help Curt.”

The scout was trying to get Curt to his feet. His head was bleeding profusely. “Maybe we better leave him. I don’t think he’s gonna make it.”

“We can’t.” Tess whistled for Saber, who obediently trotted to her side despite the din around him. “Help me get him up,” she said to the scout.

“You can’t make it with him,” the scout argued. “Save yourself, woman.”

“I’ve got to try, dammit,” she told him fiercely, “because he’d do it for me.”

And also, she thought with anguish burning in her veins, because I love him.

She heard a scream, and saw that one of Curt’s men had been felled by an arrow in his throat.

Another fell beneath the blow of a tomahawk, his head split open.

Ahead, she saw Granger and Perry disappear from sight and offered a quick prayer of thanks that they would make it to safety.

“Come on,” Nick bellowed from somewhere behind her. “We’ve got a chance. Homer sneaked around and set their horses stampedin’, so they can’t follow after us. Let’s go.”

With Curt behind her on Saber’s rump, Tess gave the mighty horse his head to gallop full speed out of the camp and into the early morning light.

The others were way ahead—the scout, Nick, Granger, Perry, and the rest of the men.

Tess was trying to keep up with them, about to make it through the nest of boulders and open ground, when Saber suddenly let out a loud whinny and reared up to send her and Curt spilling to the ground.

Saber kept on going, leaving them behind.

And then Tess saw what had startled him—a rattler, coiled and ready to strike.

She fired off one shot and blew his head away.

Curt moaned, “Go…go without me….”

“The hell I will,” she said tersely, getting to her feet. Then, grasping him under his armpits, she struggled to drag him inside the boulders.

The way was narrow, and he moaned as she had to pull him over rocks to where they could not be seen.

“Go on,” he continued to plead. “You can make it.”

“No, I can’t,” she said, wondering why she was saving him when she knew he would just go back to another woman, and knowing all the while it was because she loved him so damn much she couldn’t help it.

“What about…your brother?”

“Granger has him.”

“Good ol’ Granger,” he sneered, then coughed and swiped at the blood running down his face.

“And good ol’ Sanchina,” Tess muttered. “Now shut up and save your strength. Someone will be back for us when they figure it’s safe. Right now the Apaches are stirred up and nosing around, and we’ve got to stay still and quiet.”

He gave a short, bitter laugh. “I’m afraid that’s going to be impossible for you to do.”

“Oh, what are you talking about?” she snapped irritably.

She gasped and felt a wave of dizziness as her gaze followed his to see a snake slithering toward her.

It was another rattler. Probably there was a den somewhere nearby, but there was no time to wonder about how many there were in the family, because this one was inching ever closer.

Tess was almost hypnotized by how the snake watched her with its black, piercing eyes, its forked tongue flicking in and out.

Additional terror struck when she heard the Indians on the other side of the boulders.

The snake reached Tess’s leg and began to move upward.

Her gun was in her band, cocked and pointed right at the reptile, but she could not fire for fear of exposing them to the Apaches.

Also paralyzed by horror, Curt watched, sure that Tess would scream as she had in the mine shaft when a spider touched her flesh…as she had done in the mesquite when the big lizard came toward her.

Because this was much worse…much more deadly.

But she did not scream.

She held her breath as she mustered every shred of willpower she possessed to remain perfectly still.

The snake wound up her leg, across her belly, then across the dirt to disappear beneath a rock.

The sound of the Indians faded away as they went back into their camp.

“Thank God,” she whispered, able to breathe at last. “We’ll make it.”

Curt shook his head in wonder. “I can’t believe what I just saw. I can’t believe you didn’t scream.”

“It’s called survival.” She tried to make light of it. “I seem to remember someone telling me that once upon a time.”

She frowned to note how his eyes were becoming glassy, his voice faint, slurred.

“Dying,” he mumbled. “I’m dying, but first I’ve got to tell you…”

Choking on a sob, she cradled his head in her arms. “Don’t try to talk, Curt. You need to rest.”

“No. I need to tell the truth, Tess…need to tell you how I’ve always loved you. Always…”

Her pulse quickened.

“I saw you at the window that day…” he rasped. “I wanted you to think there was something between me and Sanchina so it’d be easier to say good-bye, give you up.”

“Give me up?” she blinked, bewildered, all the while torn in two that he might be dying now that she knew, beyond all doubt, that he loved her. “But why?”

He told her, as briefly as possible, about his past and why he felt as he did…why he could never be contented with just an affair and wanted more than she could ever give.

“Then Wendell died, and I wanted to tell you how it was and hope you’d understand…that you loved me, too. Only you had someone else, and—”

“But I didn’t, Curt. I don’t,” she cried. “I only made you think that to get back at you. Can’t you see that? Because I was hurt and angry, and because I love you, too, and…”

She fell silent.

For he could no longer hear her.

Chapter Thirty-One

Tess smiled at her image in the mirror.

The wedding dress fit perfectly. Twirling in the sunshine streaming through the window, the white satin shimmered like moonbeams on water.

It was virginal white, but she felt no hypocrisy to be wearing it.

After all, she was marrying the first—and only—man to ever possess her.

And also the only man she wanted to be possessed by. It had been over a month since that day Granger and Nick had managed to return without the Apaches spotting them to rescue her and Curt.

Curt had been unconscious when they arrived, and nothing Tess could do would awaken him.

She had been in a panic, fearing he was dying. But the doctor at the way station they had managed to reach by dark said it was due to the hard blow his head had taken from the bullet grazing his skull.

There had been a good deal of bleeding, which had finally slowed. The doctor declared Curt was extremely lucky not to have been killed and said he would probably be fine in a few days.

Mercifully, the doctor had been right.

Curt had awakened the next day, complaining of a terrible headache, but otherwise was his old self.

The ride home had been pleasant, with Tess overjoyed to have Perry safely at her side.

She was also grateful her brother seemed in good health despite his ordeal, which he wanted only to put behind him. The Indians had not been cruel, he’d said, but neither had they treated him well. He had not wanted to learn to be a warrior, but they let him know if he did not obey them, he would be tortured to death.

Tess worried that he might have nightmares, but once they got back to the ranch he was so intrigued by it all she was confident he would be fine.

And yes, he did confirm that Aunt Elmina had received a great deal of cash some time back. She never said where it came from, and Perry hadn’t asked. But Tess knew the source. It was the money Curt had thought he was returning to her.

Suddenly she was pulled from reverie by a knock at the door that opened to the service stairway at the back of the bedroom.