Ambush (23 page)

Authors: Luke; Short

BOOK: Ambush

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Passed by the sentry, he crossed the parade, remembering that Ann and her sister were at Storrow's. He had a fleeting wonder if Ann had picked up any gossip of Loring's death, but he knew Sergeant Mack would reserve his opinions for a few of the old sergeants he could trust; Brierly's mouth would be closed forever. The talk of others would be sympathetic, holding the quiet fatalism that was the army habit.

He made a tall, lean figure in the night as he mounted Storrow's veranda and knocked on the door frame. Ann came to the door and seeing him, put out her hand in welcome, saying, “We've been waiting for you to settle an argument, Ward. Were you the mountain lion?”

“Guilty,” Ward said. He removed his hat and stepped into the living room. Mary Carlyle rose at his entrance, and she extended her hand. “Do I look as different to you as you do to me, Mr. Kinsman?”

“You look more like Ann's sister,” Ward said. Her face was thin, tanned a deep brown. Her hand was thin and lean, and her dress covered her protruding collar bones. Brierly's remark on the physical toughness of women returned to him; here was a girl who had lived the hunted nomadic life of a renegade Indian and who in addition had been their working slave. The memory of it was still in her eyes, although there was a quiet joy overlaying it as she talked now.

Ann said now, “Remember, you thought it could never happen, Ward?”

“I was never happier to be wrong.”

They talked a few moments, and Ward watched Ann with a hungry curiosity. There was no grief here; there was only an unclouded and open affection for her sister that showed in her every glance. When Mary Carlyle, pleading weariness, asked to be excused Ann went with her into the bedroom and remained with her several minutes.

Alone now, Ward moved restlessly to the door and looked out at the night. The hourly call from the sentry posts was passed along. There was the sudden laughter that covered the lonesome sound of a harmonica from I barracks. It was all familiar, and he felt a vast impatience.
I could be wrong. I've got to know
, he thought.

Ann's voice came from behind him. “She'll be sleeping soon. Shan't we go out?”

They paused on the veranda steps and Ann said, “Let's take a long way around to say good night to Major Brierly.”

She took his arm and they turned down toward the hay barns. Down by one of the forage sheds there were several campfires around which were scattered the captive Apaches, and seeing them Ann said, “What happens to them now?”

Suddenly, Ward felt his impatience pushing. He halted and put his hands on Ann's arms and held her. “Damn the Apaches!” he exploded. “Ann, I've got to know. Does Ben's death mean anything to you?”

“As any friend's death would,” Ann said slowly, honestly. “Nothing more, since that night you kissed me.”

“I'm sorry I did that.”

Ann was silent for a long moment, and then she said softly, “Are you? It doesn't sound like you.”

Ward said soberly, “I'm sorry I kissed you only to mock you. Because I have lived that over many nights, and I found that I only mocked myself, the way I've lived, and what I've thought I wanted.”

“Will it change you any, Ward?”

“It has. I've found I don't want any kind of life without you. I don'tâ”

“That,” Ann interrupted softly, “is change enough,” and she came into his arms.

About the Author

Luke Short is the pen name of Frederick Dilley Glidden (1908â1975), the bestselling, award-winning author of over fifty classic western novels and hundreds of short stories. Renowned for their action-packed story lines, multidimensional characters, and vibrant dialogue, Glidden's novels sold over thirty million copies. Ten of his novels, including
Blood on the Moon
,
Coroner Creek
, and
Ramrod
, were adapted for the screen. Glidden was the winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois, Glidden graduated in 1930 from the University of Missouri where he studied journalism. After working for several newspapers, he became a trapper in Canada and, later, an archaeologist's assistant in New Mexico. His first story, “Six-Gun Lawyer,” was published in
Cowboy Stories
magazine in 1935 under the name F. D. Glidden. At the suggestion of his publisher, he used the pseudonym Luke Short, not realizing it was the name of a real gunman and gambler who was a friend of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to his prolific writing career, Glidden worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He moved to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946, and became an active member of the Aspen Town Council, where he initiated the zoning laws that helped preserve the town.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-3977-2

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com