Colorado Bride (21 page)

And it didn’t take him long to realize it was growing in intensity, approaching the magnitude of the feverish attacks he had experienced before, only this time the attack was a siege, a twenty-four-hour-a-day assault on his self-control. He had thought that getting away from Carrie for a while would help, and it had. It was more difficult to be constantly in her presence and be kept at arm’s length than to know she was a hundred miles away and absolutely beyond reach. Yet his longing for her did not decrease, his need for her did not wane, his determination to win her did not waver.

Carrie had never allowed him to do more than hold her in his arms, and not very often at that, but he was certain there was a vibrant, loving, passionate woman captured in her shell, a passionate woman tightly encased by a fierce determination not to become the slave of any man, a loving woman who was only looking for a person who would love her with equal singlemindedness, a vibrant woman unwilling to waste her strength on a man incapable of appreciating it. Lucas was determined to be the man who would set Carrie free from all her inhibiting fears, who would release her from the bondage of experience, who could convince her to seek the joys and pleasures of a full, loving relationship. He didn’t yet know how he would do this, but every time she struggled a little harder to prove her independence,” he became a little more determined to rid her of the need to struggle.

It never occurred to him, as he guided his band of wild horses back to the station, that struggle and challenge might be just as necessary for her as it was for him.

Chapter 11

The tracks made by the stolen horses were the first signs Lucas saw to indicate that something was awry. The hoof-prints had been badly trampled by his own herd before he noticed them, but it was relatively easy to see that the hooves were headed in the opposite direction and that they were shod whereas his wild horses were not. Lucas tried to come up with an explanation which would account for the tracks and not involve Carrie, but he couldn’t.

The second sign was impossible to ignore. His corral was empty and the bars were down. That made it easy to drive his mustangs into the corral, but he knew something was wrong and headed for the station at a gallop. He was greeted by the sight of the empty corral behind the barn and moments later by Katie running from the station, calling and waving to him as though her life depended on it. A chilling fear seized Lucas. Where was Carrie, where was Jake, and did their absence have anything to do with the missing horses?

Indians stole the horses,” Katie said, between gasping breaths as Lucas slid out of the saddle, “and Mrs. Simpson has gone after them by herself.”

For an endless moment Lucas was unable to move. Visions of what the Indians might do to Carrie if they caught her, and they would catch her if she didn’t recover her senses and turn around, raised the hair at the back of his neck.

“Quick, tell me what happened,” he demanded, snapping out of his trance.

“They took the horses just before breakfast,” Katie told. “Jake wouldn’t go after them, so Mrs. Simpson went herself.?

“Did she take any guns?”

“Her pistol and two shotguns.”

“But she doesn’t know how to use a shotgun. She told me so herself.?”

“I only know what she took.”

“Where is Jake?”

“He went to town to borrow some horses and to hire some men to go after the horses with him.”

“And he let Carrie go alone?”

“He tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“How long has she been gone?”

“Maybe a couple of hours.”

“Is there another horse in the barn?”

“No. Jake took the only one.” Lucas didn’t wait to hear any more. He leapt into the saddle, wheeled his mount, and headed back to where he first saw the tracks. He prayed he would catch up with Carrie before she found the Indians. He wanted the privilege of wringing her neck himself.

Carrie had no trouble following the tracks of the stolen horses. She had never been trained to track anything, in fact she had never tracked anything in her life, but a child could have followed the trail of the nearly twenty horses, all except two of them equipped with iron shoes that left clear impressions on the sand, numerous scuff marks on rock, and churned-up earth at entrances to and exits from streams that were impossible to miss. No, following the horses was not the problem. The question teasing Carrie’s mind was
what was she going to do when she caught up with them?

It was all well and good to say the horses were her responsibility and she couldn’t let the Indians steal them, but it was quite another to face real, live Indians who were not likely to give up their booty just because she asked them to. And suppose she did somehow manage to capture the horses. What was she going to do with them? She had never herded loose animals in her life. It had taxed all her ingenuity to figure out how to get the harnesses on the team that first day. These horses weren’t in a corral; they were in the hills, free of any restraint.

Carrie kept up her pace, but she became more anxious as the minutes went by and she still hadn’t found answers to her questions. Time and time again her mind said that if only Lucas were there she wouldn’t have to worry. Lucas was away chasing mustangs, and she had to figure out how to recapture the horses herself.

She hadn’t been on the trail very long when she heard the sound of a galloping horse behind her, and she nearly panicked. Suppose one Indian had somehow gotten behind her and they planned to pin her down by attacking from opposite sides. Frantically Carrie looked for a place to hide, and finally drove her mare off the trail into the mouth of a small canyon. It never occurred to her to cover her tracks; her only thought was to get out of the way of the oncoming horse.

She had barely slipped into her hiding place when she recognized Jake as he galloped by. Calling his name in welcome relief, Carrie drove her mare out of the canyon and gave chase. Jake had not gone far when he, too, heard the sound of a galloping horse behind him. He turned with a curse only to see Carrie racing toward him, and he slowed his horse to allow her to catch up with him.

“I was never so glad to see anyone in my life,” she said, almost laughing with relief. “What made you change your mind?”

“I thought about what Lucas would do to me when he heard I let you go off on your own, and a few Indians didn’t seem so bad anymore. A fella can’t die more but once. I’m not sure but what I prefer an arrow through the heart to having my guts torn out right before my eyes.”

“Lucas doesn’t care what happens to me,” she said, selfconsciously blushing, wanting Jake to say more.

“You can keep telling yourself that if it’s what you want to hear. Me, I ain’t such a fool, and I know that Lucas is just about eat up with thinking about you.”

“What makes you say that?” Carrie asked, desperate after five lonely days for any proof that Lucas still cared for her. “You don’t know much about men out here, do you?”

“They aren’t different from men anywhere else.”

“God almighty, and you were going after Indians by yourself! Ma’am, back East a man might make up to a girl, take her places, make all kinds of promises, and have every intention of leaving town the next day. Out here, if a man looks at a woman, he’s interested; if he speaks to her, you’d better keep your hands off; if he follows her around, and ma’am, your shadow don’t follow you any closer than Lucas, then she is his woman, and any man who thinks otherwise is asking to get killed.”

Carrie blinked. “But suppose the woman doesn’t want to be followed about?”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know she’s a staked claim until the first fella gives her up.” Carrie wasn’t at all sure she approved of that practice and was inclined to argue the point, but Jake had lost interest and turned his attention to the problem at hand.

“Wonder why these Indians don’t seem to be making any attempt to hide their trail. We ought to come up to them pretty soon. How are you planning to get these horses away from them?” “I was hoping you were going to tell me that.” “I just knew you were going to dump it back in my lap. Before I get shut of this station, I’m liable to think a shotgun wedding’s a Sunday afternoon picnic.”

Lucas slowed his horse to a canter. The trail was easy to follow, but his mount had already covered a lot of distance this morning, and he had no idea how much farther he would have to go today. He kept a careful watch, but he had seen nothing in the tracks to indicate that Carrie had come up to the Indians yet, but by this time he had figured out that there was a second horse with Carrie. He had no explanation for that unless the Indians had somehow surprised her and she was being forced to ride with one of them. The horse was shod, but that only meant that someone else had found her, maybe an outlaw, maybe Jason Staples. Fear for what might happen to her made him try to plan ahead, but he knew there was nothing he could do until he found them and got a look at the situation. It would depend on how many Indians there were as to whether he would attack right away or wait until dark. He didn’t know of any Indian village or encampment nearby, so they would probably have to travel at least one more day before they reached their camp. They would be unlikely to do anything to her until their reached their destination. That was small consolation, but it did give him time.

He was getting close now, and he had to be exceptionally careful so they wouldn’t see him before he saw them. He was Carrie’s only chance, and if he got himself killed, well, he preferred not to think of the consequences. If he could somehow get Carrie’s attention without alarming them, he knew she was intelligent enough to keep quiet and wait for him to make the first move. He just wondered what she would do on her own. Carrie had never been one to sit back and wait for someone else, and he couldn’t imagine her doing that now. And that worried him a lot. She didn’t know how much danger she could be in.

He suddenly pulled his horse to a stop and listened intently. He thought he had heard the sound of a horse whinny. His own mount’s ears were pricked forward so he was certain he was coming up to someone. He kept to the side of the trail hoping the loose dirt would muffle the sound of his approach and he moved forward as quickly as he dared, his eyes sweeping the area for a sign of anything unusual and his ears keenly alert for the slightest sound.

Then he came around a curve in the trail and he saw them, two riders well down the trail, a man and a woman, the woman undoubtedly Carrie and the man most likely Jake. They were riding with no attention to their back trail, intent only upon catching up with the Indians. Lucas spurred his horse forward, not daring to call out or fire his rifle for fear the Indians would be close enough to hear. It was Jake who first heard his approach and without waiting to look around, he drove Carrie’s horse off the trail into the brush.

“You can both come out,” Lucas called as he pulled up his horse at the spot where they had left the trail. Relief banished his fear and he was suddenly furious. “You’re not going to lose your scalps today, though I’ve a good notion to take your hide off myself.?

“Lucas,” Carrie called with happy relief and quickly left her place of hiding. Jake was not so anxious to put himself in the path of Lucas’s anger, and he tarried in the shadows a little longer.

“Lucas was so thankful to hear the sound of her voice he felt dizzy with relief. “Whatever possessed you to take out after Indians by yourself? Didn’t they teach you anything in your schools back East? I won’t put up with this kind of nonsense.”

“But they took my horses,” Carrie said simply.

“You could always buy or borrow some, or wait for me to round up some more mustangs.”

“But I needed them for the stage this afternoon. The company wouldn’t be inclined to keep me on if I let anybody who wants come in and help himself to the stock.”

“The company, the company,
the company!”
Lucas repeated in a crescendo. “Can’t you ever think of anything but my blasted Overland Stage Company? Indians aren’t just anybody. Not even a
man
would be expected to go after them alone, even if there are only two of them.” In the heat of the moment, no one noticed Lucas’s slip of the tongue.

“And if a
man
can’t do it, it’s foolish for a woman to even think about it, is that it?” Carrie demanded, her eyes dangerously bright.

“It usually is,” Lucas said, then added, “but not always.” It was a small concession, but it mollified Carrie.

“How do you know there are only two Indians?”

“By the tracks. Now where is Jake? Come out of those bushes, you sniveling coward, or I’ll wring your neck for you.”

“You’ll do nothing of the kind,” Carrie fired back. “He volunteered to help me even though he told me to wait for him to hire some men from town.”

“You should have listened to him.”

“But they might have gotten away.”

“It’s better to lose your horses than your scalp. Hasn’t anybody ever told you that Indians are not especially friendly?”

“I didn’t expect them to be. I came armed and so did Jake.”

“You may be armed with guns, but as far as knowledge of the wilderness or Indians is concerned, you’re no more able to defend yourself than a baby.”

Carrie wasn’t feeling nearly so glad to see Lucas anymore. In fact, she was thinking what a nice hole one of those pistols could make in his hide.