The Mavericks (25 page)

“What's wrong?” Josie asked.

A group of horsemen had ridden out of town and were coming toward them. Zeke had no reason to expect they had any interest in him, the women, or the prisoners, but his instincts kicked in the moment he realized the riders were approaching abreast of each other. That made it impossible for anyone to ride past them without leaving the road.

“Get behind me,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because I don't want you to get shot.”

“Are those men coming to meet us?” Suzette asked Hawk.

“Looks like it.” He'd been worried something like this might happen ever since they had to leave Redington without dropping off their prisoners. It would have been very easy for anyone wanting to cause trouble to get here ahead of them and spread whatever story they wanted. If that person had been Harvey Redfield, or anyone sent on his behalf, the situation could get a little ticklish.

“What are you going to do?”

“See what they have to say.”

They were a motley collection of men, no two appearing to represent the same stratum of Benson society. A badge identified one as the sheriff. Next to him rode the town banker or leading merchant. Dark suit, white shirt, and shoes rather than boots gave him
away. The man in the checkered vest and pencil-thin mustache had
gambler
written all over him. Then there was the cowhand identified by his worn, dusty boots, battered hat, and chaps. But what surprised Hawk was the discovery that the fifth man wasn't a man at all, but a mannish woman riding astride. It was only a guess, but he supposed she was the daughter of Harvey Redfield who was supposed to be sweet on Gardner. The grin he saw on Gardner's face seemed to confirm his suspicion. Hawk pulled his mount to a stop. “We'll wait for them to reach us,” he said to Suzette. He knew Zeke would guard their rear.

“I got word you were bringing me some prisoners,” the sheriff said when his group stopped a few yards away.

“Do you usually come out to meet prisoners?” Hawk asked.

“No, but I'm told you have a very special prisoner.”

“I have
four
special prisoners. Maybe the most special is the one with the bullet hole in his leg. It's clear of infection, but he probably needs to see a doctor.”

“What are your prisoners charged with?”

“Trying to steal our horses.”

“Why would they try to steal a few riding horses and a couple of mules? It doesn't seem worth the risk.”

“They were trying to steal nine blooded mares.”

“How do I know you have any mares if I can't see them?”

“You can ask either one of these ladies. They were coming south to look for jobs when we met up on the trail.”

The sheriff looked from Suzette to Josie. Hawk could practically see what he was thinking, but there
was no law against a man thinking, not even when it was something he shouldn't. “I suppose you ladies saw the mares?”

“I helped take care of them,” Suzette said.

“What kind of jobs are you ladies looking for?” the sheriff asked.

“My friend and I sing and dance. We were hoping you had a theater in town.”

Gardner had nudged his horse forward until he was abreast of Zeke and Suzette. “I offered them jobs at the Birdcage.”

“You ladies don't want to work at the Birdcage?” the sheriff asked. “It's the best theater in the Territory.”

“We weren't sure he had a theater,” Josie said. “When a man tries to kidnap you, you naturally assume he's not the truthful kind.”

“I didn't try to kidnap you,” Gardner said. “I've explained that a dozen times.”

“You didn't believe him?” the sheriff asked Hawk.

“I wasn't there,” Hawk replied.

“I was,” Zeke said. “He pulled a gun on me when I told him to let her go.”

“I was just defending myself,” Gardner said. “I thought he was going to attack me.”

Hawk knew how this was going to end and didn't see any point in prolonging the inevitable. “Since you're here, why don't we turn the prisoners over to you? We've got business to attend to.”

The sheriff looked surprised. Apparently, he'd been prepared to
persuade
them to hand over the prisoners. “Sure. You coming by to file a written complaint?”

“Why? You already know what they did.”

“How about you?” the sheriff asked Josie.

“I do intend to file a written complaint.” She directed a definitely unfriendly glance at Gardner. “I'll be by sometime today.”

Handing over the prisoners took only a few minutes. Rather than follow immediately, Hawk decided it might be better to wait a little while before they headed into town.

“Why did they come out to meet us?” Josie asked.

“How did they know we were coming?” Suzette wanted to know.

“The woman was Harvey Redfield's daughter,” Hawk said.

“What woman?” Josie asked.

“The person on the far right was a woman,” Zeke said.

Hawk smiled. A woman couldn't come within a hundred feet of Zeke without his sensing it. “Zeke said a man in Redington told him she was sweet on Gardner. I expect she wanted to make sure we didn't hurt him.” Hawk saw comprehension dawn in the eyes of both women.

“The sheriff is going to let them go, isn't he?” Josie asked.

“I expect so.”

She looked as angry as Suzette was unemotional. “That's the way it is in Quebec if you have money and a position in society,” Suzette said.

“We're a black man and a half-breed traveling with women of dubious reputation,” Zeke said. “You didn't really think they'd believe us, did you?”

It was clear from Josie's expression that she had. Then her temper snapped and she let loose with a tirade that covered virtually every sin men had committed
since the Garden of Eden. Hawk had to smile at the expansiveness of her vocabulary and the imagination she employed to evoke visual images of some of the punishments she thought particularly suitable for men like the sheriff. Before she ran down, women like Redfield's daughter came in for their share of attention.

“Both of you knew this, didn't you?” Josie's gaze switched from Hawk to Zeke.

“I suspected as much when the man in Redington told me to get out of town quickly,” Zeke said.

“But we couldn't be sure until we saw the woman and I saw Gardner grin,” Hawk added.

“And I'm supposed to meet him on the street and not claw his eyes out?”

“He expects you not to worry about what you can't change,” Suzette said.

Picking up on Josie's agitation, the mules shook their heads up and down, stamped their feet, even attempted to start forward before being abruptly halted.

“Let's head into town.” Hawk waited for Suzette to fall in beside him. “We need to find a place for you to stay. Then you can begin to look for work.”

“What are you going to do?” Suzette asked.

“We're leaving,” Hawk said. “You don't need us anymore.”

Even though only a few feet separated Josie from Zeke as he rode beside the wagon, she fell silent. The muted clip-clop of horses' hooves over the rough trail and the occasional squeak of a saddle provided a quiet backdrop to her gloomy thoughts. She knew she'd overreacted when Hawk said he expected Gardner to be let off without anything happening to him. It wasn't fair
that a man could do virtually anything he wanted and get away with it just because he had money—or because the woman he'd assaulted worked in theaters and saloons. Getting drunk and staring at women's legs and breasts didn't automatically make men morally corrupt. Why should singing and dancing for their entertainment brand her as a woman of no virtue?

She knew she was wasting her energy, but it was impossible for her to accept the inevitable as calmly as Suzette. She had to fret and fume and concoct terrible revenge before she finally ran out of steam, gave a fatalistic sigh, and moved on. That process usually took several days, during which time she was liable to lose her temper for any reason at all.

Though she didn't like to admit it, she would miss Zeke. It had taken her a while to believe he wasn't like every other man she'd met, but now that she realized he was someone special, he was going to bury himself on a ranch miles away from anything and anybody. She didn't know how he could stand it. She'd been dying to get away from their farm almost from the time she realized there was a world beyond the limits of her father's acres.

It wasn't that she was entranced by the world of bright lights, rich ranchers, or rowdy men. She simply didn't want a life filled with the drudgery of cleaning, cooking, taking care of babies, and submitting her will to that of a husband. Though if she were honest with herself, she didn't really like the life of a singer/dancer. She played to the audience because she knew that was what she had to do to make the money necessary to retire before her looks faded and her legs gave out, but she didn't like it. In a way, she envied Zeke. His might be a boring life filled with hard work and empty nights, but at least he
would be living his life the way he wanted, with no pretense and no being treated as an object.

“You've been silent for a long time,” Zeke said. He had glanced over at her several times in the last few minutes but hadn't spoken.

“I thought it was probably better I didn't say anything until I calmed down.”

Maybe she ought to tell him some of what she'd been thinking, but she couldn't summon the courage. She'd never trusted a man enough to reveal her true feelings. She knew the revelation would change their relationship, but she didn't know in what way, and that scared her. She thought of Zeke as a friend, but it didn't take a genius to know he was looking for much more.

“Did you know Gardner was going to go free?” she asked.

“No, but it didn't surprise me. I've seen it too often.”

“Doesn't it make you angry?”

“It used to, but I decided my life was too important to squander getting angry about people like Gardner.” His sudden grin surprised her. “It's easier to outsmart him.”

Josie fell silent. She was too busy trying to absorb the fact that Zeke's grin had made her stomach flip violently. She'd thought he was physically impressive the first time she saw him. She'd even admitted he was handsome, but never in her life had she felt devastated by a smile. She understood being attracted to a man. She understood liking a man. She even understood being physically attracted to a man she didn't like, but none of that explained the weird things going on with her stomach. Or the faint dizziness she felt.

It had to be the hot days followed by cool nights, a perfect formula for getting a cold or influenza. Once
she got settled in a hotel, she'd make a tea of vervain flavored with honey. She didn't especially like the bitter taste, but she couldn't afford to get sick and be unable to work.

Yet she didn't feel confident she had the answer to why she was feeling so peculiar. She remembered more than one of the women she'd worked with describing how they felt when a particularly handsome cowboy or miner started to show an interest in them. The description of their feelings sounded much too close to what she was feeling right now for her comfort. She wasn't in love with Zeke, nor was she in any danger of falling in love with him, but she did like him and didn't want him to disappear from her life.

Maybe he wouldn't leave, not entirely. Surely Zeke and Hawk would have to come to Benson on business. There was no reason they couldn't stop by to see her and Suzette. She started to feel a little better. That would be the perfect way to keep up their friendship.

“Are you going to stop talking to me altogether?” Zeke's words jerked her out of her abstraction.

“Sorry. I'm always a little nervous when I come to a new town.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I haven't seen your act, but there aren't any women in Benson half as pretty as the two of you. Men will be fighting over seats. Ask the manager to charge extra and give you a percentage.”

He couldn't know it was the men in the first row she disliked most. They were the ones who shouted lewd comments so loud they could be heard over the music. They were the ones who tried to touch her. She'd once suffered a bad fall when a man grabbed her ankle. She'd been unable to dance for a week.

“Will you come see our show?” She shouldn't have asked. She shouldn't have cared, but she did.

Zeke's expression clouded. “I don't expect we'll get into town very often. With just the two of us, the horses will keep us mighty busy.”

“Is Tombstone closer to your ranch?”

His gaze seemed to be locked between his horse's ears. “Yes, but it's not a question of distance. We can't leave the horses unattended.”

And he couldn't spend his time on a woman who offered only friendship. Her father had once said men and women couldn't be friends. Up until now she had agreed, but she hoped he was wrong. Zeke's friendship had become very important to her.

Suzette couldn't work up any enthusiasm for the owner's description of his theater or his promise it would be filled with men anxious to see Josie and her perform.

“You'll play to a full house every night. The railroad has made us the most important town in this area. Silver and copper are sent here for smelting and shipment. You won't just be performing for miners and cowboys,” the man said when she didn't respond to his enthusiasm. “We have a higher class of customer. You'll have businessmen and tradesmen coming to see you.”

Suzette couldn't tell him it wouldn't matter because none of them would be Hawk. She couldn't even say that to Josie, who, fortunately, was paying careful attention to everything the man said. She'd questioned him on the details of the musicians, the dressing rooms, even the number and placement of the lamps used to light the theater. Both had worked in a theater
that burned down when some lamps were turned over by overenthusiastic customers.