The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 (55 page)

Suddenly, as though a curtain had been drawn, they stepped onto a riverbank. Kitty sucked in her breath at the beauty of the scene before her. Moss-draped trees lined the bank. A pink-feathered bird with incredibly long legs stood in the water. Billy Jack said it was a flamingo.

“There is beauty here, isn’t there?”

“Oh, yes ma’am.” He nodded. “There sure is beauty in the bayou. Oh, there’s ugly places, too, and there’s danger. But there’s beauty. That’s why folks like to live here. They find a peace they don’t find back there in that other world, I reckon. I grew up in a little shack at the edge. Fishing off the river for the rest of my life didn’t shake my britches up, so as soon as I was old enough, I went to the city. I can see why some would rather stay here, though. I guess it all depends on what you want out of life. Too much quiet would run me crazy.”

They made their way along the riverbank. Kitty spied a few of the stilted cottages Travis had told her about. “Coltrane lives in a house like that, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. It ain’t too far from here. We go around the next bend, and the river forks off into a slough that winds back into the Blue Bayou for a couple of miles. His place is back up in there. No other houses around his. His family laid claim to the Blue. They didn’t want nobody else building around them.”

“And what is the Blue Bayou?”

“Oh, that’s just a name somebody gave it a long time ago. I hear that just before the sun sets over the treetops in the evening, and just before it rises in the morning, the whole world in that slough turns blue. Like a piece of the sky just drifted down and covered everything. The water, the trees, the air—everything is blue. So they call it Blue Bayou. It’s said to be the prettiest place in the swamps. I’ve heard more than one say that, so it must be true.”

They rounded a bend, and Kitty could see the river forking. “Up there. Just follow this bank.” Billy Jack pointed.

“You aren’t going with me?” she asked, frightened now for the first time.

“Me?” He laughed. “No, ma’am. Not me. I ain’t got no business with Travis Coltrane and don’t want none. He ain’t bothered me, and I ain’t plannin’ on botherin’ him. I’ll be heading back to town now, if you’ll just give me my money.”

Kitty sputtered, “Back to town? Well, how will I find my way out of here?”

“There’s a notch in that cypress where we stepped out of the woods. Just follow the river bank back, then you’ll see the path. It ain’t hard. Believe me, ma’am, I took a chance on even bringing you this far. He’s liable to get mad over me doing this much, so I’d appreciate it if you’d not tell him who brung you in. Now, can I have that money? The bargain was for me to take you within hollering distance. I didn’t say nothing about waiting around to get shot at.”

Turning her back, she reached inside her shirt and brought out the little pouch with the money inside. Handing it to him, she murmured, “I’d pay you an equal sum to wait here for me.”

He laughed nervously. “You ain’t got enough money to pay me to hang around here, lady. Now, good luck to you. I don’t know what your business is with Coltrane, and I don’t want to know. But for your sake, I hope you’re a friend of his, or the gators gonna be eating you for breakfast.”

With a wink and a flash of yellowed teeth, he waved, turned and broke into a run as he weaved his way along the riverbank.

Kitty had never felt more alone. Casting a wary eye skyward, she figured she had about an hour or so until sundown. She would pick her way carefully, find Travis’s cabin, then hide out through the night. Just before dawn she would creep into his house and take him by surprise. Perhaps he would be sleeping so soundly that she would not even have a confrontation with him at all. She could take John and be on her way, and by the time he awoke, she would be safely back in town. She had already decided the first thing she would do would be to hire bodyguards in case Travis came after her. Once she was on the stage, started for home, it was doubtful he would pursue her. But Travis was unpredictable, and she wanted to be ready for any possibility.

Threading her way along the riverbank, she paused several times to wonder at the magical beauty of her surroundings. Despite the mission before her, she found herself bathed in the first tranquility she had known in a long, long time. It was easy to see why Travis loved this bayou country.

So far there had been no alligators or snakes or anything threatening. An annoyed turtle had rolled off a log, making a loud splash as he disappeared into the water. An owl cried out, startling her momentarily.

She had to be getting close. She slowed her pace, peering above reeds and bushes before stepping into a clearing. She paused to listen for human sounds.

Then, like an invisible hand passing overhead, the air about her turned from clear to a pale, pale, blue. Gasping, Kitty froze where she stood, watching as everything around became bathed in the azure color. Blue Bayou. It was true. In that moment between daylight and darkness, the world had turned blue. It took her breath away.

Slowly the light paled and the world grew dark. She moved faster, wanting to sight the cabin before seeking refuge for the night.

Rounding one more bend, she saw it, not a hundred yards away. There was no sound. Squatting down behind a rotted tree trunk, Kitty stared at the cabin sitting up on stilts. That had to be Travis’s home. There she would find her precious baby. It was all she could do to keep from breaking into a run. She had to find shelter for the night. Eyes darting about, she could see nothing but swamp. She could not crouch where she was all night. Snakes and alligators would be roaming.

The sound of voices snapped her head up. Travis was standing on the porch talking to a plump old woman, her head wrapped in a bright bandanna. Kitty could not hear what they were saying, but it was obvious the woman was leaving. Travis waved to her, and she began to descend the ladder leaning against the porch. Would she come this way? Kitty’s heart was in her throat. If she did, there was nothing for Kitty to do but crawl on her stomach into the swamp itself, lest she be discovered.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the woman went beyond the cabin and into the woods behind it, disappearing. Travis went inside. It was nearly dark. Alone again, she made her way forward steadily. She reached the ladder and inched her way up.

She crouched on the porch. Inside she could hear Travis talking to John, lovingly, adoringly, and the answering coos and gurgles of her son.
Oh, dear God
, she thought frantically, clenching her fists,
don’t let me ruin it now. Don’t let me run in there and ruin it all.

She crawled to the farthest end of the porch, sinking down into the shadows. There she would spend the night, trying not to fall asleep.

With the dawn, Kitty would be ready. She would creep inside and take her baby. And, God willing, by the time Travis awoke, she would be safely back in New Orleans.

The night air turned chilly, and Kitty hugged her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly about her legs. It would be the longest night of her life.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Kitty opened her eyes slowly. Shivering in the early morning chill, she wrapped her arms about her shoulders. And then she saw it again—Blue Bayou. The foggy mist rising up from the river, the moss-draped trees, the reverent stillness of the silent woods and swamps, all shrouded in a soft blue haze. It was ethereal. Kitty was awed.

But then she was wide awake. She knew it was time to move. There was no time to lose. Dear God, she had not meant to fall asleep.

“Hello, Kitty.”

He was sitting on the porch railing, knees apart, hands folded between. A blue man, she thought dizzily. A handsome, strangely smiling, blue man. “Oh, no…” Her hand flew to her throat.

“Oh, yes.” He continued to smile. “Did you really think you could slip up on me, Kitty? You seem to have forgotten a lot of things. I have instincts about people. I can smell them around me. It’s a special sense I have, and if I didn’t have it, I would’ve been dead long ago. I’m surprised you didn’t remember that. And don’t reach for that gun you had tucked in your trousers. I’ve already relieved you of it.”

She began to tremble. “How long have you known I was here?”

“I knew when you first came up the ladder. When you didn’t come on inside, I figured you were going to wait till just before dawn. How do you like Blue Bayou? Beautiful, isn’t it? Few people ever experience such a sight. Now you can see why this place can crawl right into your heart and stay. It’s another world, untouched by all the ugliness in the one you came from.”

Slowly she got to her feet, anger giving her the strength she needed. “Travis, I came to take my baby home. You had no right to kidnap him.”

“No?” He raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth turning up in that insolent smile. “I had every right, lovely lady. He’s my son.”

“I brought him to you and tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“After all you had done? Why should I believe anything you tell me? But now I’ve got my son. So you can go back to North Carolina and sucker some other man. Sam told me you had Jerome Danton with you.”

“He’s gone. So is Sam. There’s no one left but me, and I don’t intend to leave without John.”

“You’re in my territory now, Kitty. Your hired guns found out they didn’t have a chance against me, so how do you think you’re going to fare? I won’t shoot you. I’ve killed a lot of men, but never a woman. But I promise you this, you won’t take my boy away from me. Now, I’ll do the hospitable thing and invite you inside for a cup of coffee, and then I’ll take you to the main road myself, to make sure a gator or a moccasin doesn’t get you. It’s dangerous in these parts when you don’t know your way around. It’s dangerous even when you do. So let’s go inside. We’ll be on our way as soon as Malah gets here.”

“Malah?” she echoed, stunned by his calm certainty.

“The old Creole woman who looks after John while I’m off fishing. She’ll be here in about an hour or so.”

He moved lithely from the railing, his feet not making a sound as they touched the floor. His fingers closed in a steely grip around her elbow. As she looked up into his eyes, she was startled to see that in the strange predawn light they, too, were blue, instead of the smoky-gray color she had once loved.

Roughly, he jerked her down the side and around to the front porch, all the way to the door. She was flung inside. Looking about, Kitty took in the crude but comfortable furnishings. There was one corner for cooking and eating, with a small wood stove and a handmade table. The floor was covered with a woven reed matting. Her gaze took in the wide bed, the roughhewn tables and chairs. And then she saw the wooden box in a corner, and she yanked out of Travis’s grasp to run quickly across the floor.

John lay on his side, sleeping soundly, his thumb in his mouth. Tears stung her eyes. Except for being a bit chubbier, he was the same. “My baby,” she whispered, arms reaching out for him.

“No,” Travis said harshly in a low voice, grabbing her and spinning her about to face him. “Don’t wake him up, Kitty. Not now. You’ll only make things worse when you leave without him.”

“He cries for me, doesn’t he?” she said accusingly. “I know he does. That’s why Corey had him taken to one of the slave cabins, so I wouldn’t hear him crying for me. And even after all this time, he hasn’t stopped, has he? Oh, Travis, how can you be so cruel? It doesn’t matter if you hate me, but don’t take that hatred out on our child. Can’t you see what you’re doing to him? Do you despise me so much you would let an innocent baby suffer because of it?”

He had been staring at her intensely, his jaw twitching. Suddenly he was scooping her into his arms and walking toward the bed.

“Travis, what do you think you are doing?” she protested, stunned. “Put me down.”

He laid her gently on the bed, then lowered himself to pin her body beneath his. Brushing her hair from her face with a tenderness she found surprising, he whispered, “Kitty, I want to tell you something. I never wanted a woman like I wanted you. From the first time I saw you, I knew I had to have you. Oh, I fought it. You’ll never know how damned hard I did fight it. I refused to believe I could love any woman. Sam saw it before I did, and he tried to tell me, but I laughed at him. But he was right. I did love you. Maybe I still do, but you’ve done too much, Kitty, for me to ever trust you again. I’d be scared to turn my back on you.”

Wriggling in his arms, she snapped, “I don’t want you to love me, you pompous ass! All I want is to take my baby and get out of here.”

“You aren’t going to take that boy, Kitty. You can just get that out of your head right now. He’s here, and he’s going to stay here.”

“You think this is any place to raise a child?”

“I was raised here.”

“Yes, and look how you turned out! An animal, a savage! You think I want that for my son? I want him to have the best. I can give it to him now. Can’t you see that? You’re selfish, Travis. You don’t care about him. You never cared about me.”

He laughed, a deep, husky laugh, and his gaze upon her was warm. The blue was not here in the cabin, Kitty realized, and his eyes were smoky gray, still fringed with thick, dusty lashes. Her body was starting to tingle, and she hated it for betraying her. He always did have this effect on her. She was weak, and he knew it.

His lips were so close she could feel them brushing against hers as he spoke. “We had some good times together, whether we loved each other or not, didn’t we? Seeing you in that old Reb uniform”—he chuckled—“brings back a lot of memories, Kitty. Nights spent on pine needle beds, hours when we were locked together as tight as a man and woman can get.”