Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (45 page)

Ty cut a glance at his sibling and
nodded. “I understand perfectly. What do you want me to
do?”

“
I’ll let you know when the
time comes. Right now, we have to get Celia back to Shooter Creek
and safety. Then I have a plan…”

The crickets voiced their own hapless
opinion as the brothers spoke in smothered whispers and hushed
tones. Another two days on the trail would see them near Shooter
Creek and safety.

Two days later, as they made their way
back to safety, a call went up. The scout wheeled in near Seth and
Celia to explain what he’d seen up ahead.

“
It’s the north boundary
line shack,” Seth offered over his shoulder. “If we ride a bit
harder, we should make it before nightfall.”

The report of the first rifle tore
through Seth with the precision of an arrow. The shot vibrated
right down to the soles of his boots. The second gunshot had Celia
clutching him and burrowing into his back. They laid leather to
hide in an all-out run for the shack on the horizon. That was when
all hell broke loose.

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth
could see Ty’s horse bolt, as if he’d stepped in an unseen hole.
Soldier careened wildly and spooked the horses on either side.
Despite all efforts to remain in control, Seth’s bay stumbled into
the side of Charles’s buckskin. The contact with the other horse
sent Seth and Celia tumbling from Sarge and landing in a rolling
heap of dust and undergrowth.

Gaining his footing, Seth scrambled to
crouch behind the downed horse. Frantically searching ahead for the
danger and then behind for Celia, he found her scrambling to gain
the same cover he’d sought. Then with his focus ahead, he didn’t
see anything.

“
Get down!” Seth shouted the
order as another shot cracked the air like a whip.

“
That one’s a hell of a lot
closer,” Ty called from a nearby rock formation.

Suddenly a figure appeared riding at
break neck speed toward them. Only the dark shape of the man loomed
in the late evening dusk. He welded a club in his right hand and a
gun in the other. His war cry was like that of a cougar and carried
through the mist just beginning to seep in like a shroud. It raised
the hackles and stirred the gut.

“
Ty, get her to the shack!”
Seth was already peering down his sights at the apparition
galloping towards them. “I’ve got you covered! Go!” His shot found
it’s mark and the rider fell within feet of where they
huddled.

“
No, I’m not leaving you!”
She shot back.

Seth cut his eyes at her. The brilliant
green of those perfectly defiant eyes stared back at him
challenging him with her ferried stubbornness. “Woman, do as I say!
Go!” His gaze flicked from her to the settling darkness as yet
another shot rang out. The bullet sung by and wood splintered just
above their heads from a tree nearby.

“
Not leaving again. Now give
me a gun!” she demanded.

With her teeth set and her chin jutted,
Seth could tell he was wasting precious time with the effort.
Instead, he pulled a smaller revolver than the one he welded from
his boot. “Take this,” he snapped as he spun the chamber and
checked each chamber.

Seth shot Ty a frustrated look and gave
her a direct order. “Then get down, for God’s sake. There’s a
maniac out there!”

Shots rang then from several angles.
Bullets sizzled and snapped as the ambushers forged a formidable
attack. A lone figure on horseback carrying a flaming torch charged
toward them. The sun’s last vibrant rays effectively blinded them,
as the rider raced toward them, shooting at will.

Pulling his Winchester from the scarab,
Seth took careful aim and shot. The rider jerked before slumping in
the saddle. As the roan charged by, Seth pulled the man from his
horse but the torch still activated the ground cover of their
hiding place. Fury stormed through him as Seth realized they were
in jeopardy.

Jake and Charles picked off two more
attackers as fire leapt anew in the pine straw and undergrowth
around them. The smoke made seeing impossible. Seth feared they
would soon be fish in a barrel if he didn’t do
something.

“
Get her out of here!”
Snapping the order out, Seth crouched low behind a scrub bush and
reloaded. He could hear her screaming his name over and over
again.

Then it was the steady pounding of
hooves. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed more riders on
the horizon. “We’ve got to move now! Get to the line shack,” Seth
ordered to Jake, Charles and the others.

Heedless of anything but getting to
safety, the men of Shooter Creek charged the door to the shack.
Brannon’s men had already set fire to one side of the flimsy
shelter and a thick smoke choked the air.

Diving low, Seth barked orders as he
scrambled to a window to peer out at nothing. Shots rang out and he
spotted the flash from a gun. Without a body to aim at, it was
growing increasingly hard to pick off anyone in the accumulating
darkness and Seth realized it was just a matter of time.

Celia crawled to him. “You’re hurt!”
she cried and reached blindly for a petticoat that wasn’t
there.

“
No time.” Seth ducked
another shot landed in the wood framing the small opening. “Stay
behind me!” It was futile and Seth realized he’d be better prepared
to defend her with her close by. So he forced the fear aside and
struggled to maintain a focus on the men advancing on them from
outside.

Suddenly, another torch flew through
the air and landed in a smoldering heap in the middle of the shack.
Celia scrambled to retrieve it and with one graceful move, that
Seth swore he’d never forget she managed to launch it back out the
front of the cabin and into the dry grass. Soon a flame was
spreading toward the scrub bushes and undergrowth lining the
shack’s perimeter.

“
Would ya look at that,”
Shorty yelled as the area around their shelter lit up with enough
light that the attackers had suddenly become the
attacked.

“
Shot anything that moves,
boys,” Seth shouted and crouched in the corner to reload. Celia was
by his side in short order and panting with the effort of setting
the front-yard a blaze.

“
That was quick thinking,
darlin’.” He grinned and rose up to look out at the area
illuminated by the blaze.

“
Thank you, Mr. Loflin.” She
gave him a cocky wink and set about reloading herself.

The colts barked time and again as they
picked off their attackers. But for every one that fell, it seemed
two more appeared.

Covering the dirt floor of the line
shack, wood splinters and bits of debris still burned. Dirt and
smoke choked the air inside the cabin.

Seth hastily wet his kerchief again to
try to save his lungs. He glanced again at Celia who passed each
man’s position with more water she’d found in a crock. Looking up,
he realized he could hear nothing any longer as report after report
bounced off the walls with deafening precision.

“
Aw shit!” Ty cursed loud
enough in one short lull.

Seth wiped smoke out of his burning
eyes once more. “What?”

“
Comanche!” Ty shot
back.

Suddenly, through the smoke several
braves appeared from behind trees and the undergrowth near the
shack. The Comanche crouched low with arrows drawn and managed to
down three attackers. Several more Comanche appeared near the outer
walls of the shack.

“
Wouldya’ look at that.”
Shorty shouted over the noise.

Peering intently at the darkness beyond
the fires that still burned, the men inside the shack waited.
Anxious fingers rested against steel. In the eerie stillness that
followed, Seth held his breath. One lone cry had his hackles
rising. Crashing followed by horses hooves growing weaker in the
distance were the only sounds after that. As quickly as it had
erupted, the world around them fell silent.

“
Peers’ we had help,” Jake
announced at length, before he rested the Winchester next to the
windowsill and mopped his brow. Without elaborating, he slumped
against the wall, yanked his bandana from his face and pulled out
his smokes.

“
Do you believe that?”
Shorty asked. Wiping the sweat off his balding head, he searched
the faces of his companions. “Them Comanche came out of nowhere and
helped us!”

“
Yeah, guess we had us a
guardian angel,” Seth commented as he turned his attention to
Celia.

She sat in the middle of the dirt floor
shedding silent tears and holding what appeared to be a red
sash.

Chapter 14

To Win the Day

The Great Spirit had given her the gift
of justice. Celia stood clutching a shawl tight around her
shoulders. The slightly nauseas feeling had pasted and one of
exhilarated vindication took its place as Brannon was hauled off to
jail in chains. Turned out he wasn’t a Texas Ranger after all.
Being able to watch the bloody face of Brannon as he slumped
between the Corporal Chance and Ty gave her a moment of pained
satisfaction. Seeing that the man responsible for her father’s
death would stand trial was enough for now.

“
I thought I told you to go
inside and get some coffee.” Seth shook his head in the negative as
he dusted at the dirt and debris that clung to his clothing. His
eyebrows furrowed in concern for his wife.

Celia took note of the one torn sleeve
along with the collar marred with blood and knife nicks. “Maggie
brought me some and Rose has been keeping me company.” She patted
the woman’s hand standing beside her on the front steps to the
house.

Seth nodded absently as he glanced
around taking in the presence of torches to light the front yard
and paths leading away from the main house. “No one will be able to
come within a hundred yards of the house tonight,” he
said.

Celia reached out slipping her arm
through his. “I’m grateful we made it back in one
piece.”

“
Um, quite a bit of
difficulty getting here, but we made it,” he said absently. “The
sheriff’s in a lot of trouble over this thing with Brannon. Seems
he was involved with the massacre, or at least covering it up.
Corporal Chance says the sheriff will have to stand trial.
Apparently, doing nothing is as bad as actually performing the
act.” He cocked a brow and turned his attention to his
wife.

“
You seem determined to
disobey me, woman.” His words held a note of amused irritation. He
reached out and ran a hand down her hair before resting that same
hand on her bare shoulder. The grin that creased his mouth spoke of
his jest. “It’s a good thing for you, I grown so attached to you.”
He smiled tenderly at her upturned face. “I’ll say this for you.
You’re one hell of a woman, Mrs. Loflin.”

Celia gave him what she considered her
stoic face and repeated his crash compliment. “And you’re not too
bad yourself, Mr. Loflin. Will you come in now and let me tend that
wound? You’re bleeding all-over the place.”

Rose grinned wickedly. “You take care
of him, Celia.” Patting Seth’s hand, she winked. “I’ll see both of
you soon I hope.”

“
Thank you, Rose.” Celia
gave her friend a hug. “For everything.”

Hesitantly, Rose nodded and glanced a
bit sheepishly at Seth. “Smitty is ready to go. I’d best be getting
on.” She reached out and hugged Celia again. “I’m so glad you’re
all right, both of you.” Whispering in Celia’s ear, Rose said, “I’m
through with costumes business, dear. Do you hear me?” Giving her
friend a good squeeze, she stepped back.

“
We’ll stop by soon.” Celia
winked for Rose and watched as her friend took Smitty’s hand to get
into the buggy. She waited a beat before turning her attention back
to her husband. “That was rude. You can be such a bore when you
want to be.” Scowling for his benefit, she turned to go
inside.

He caught her by the arm. “Wait just a
darn minute, Mrs. Loflin. I’m not through with you yet.”

His grin was infectious, Celia mused.
How could she be vexed with a man that held her heart in the palm
of his hand?

Turning her to face him directly, he
studied her face with a mixture of mischief along with something
else she couldn’t put a finger on.

She shivered and tugged at the shawl
once more. “May we discuss this further inside? Your wound,” she
reminded him.

Seth’s grin widened.

Tenderly, she reached up, bracing
herself on her toes and kissed him soundly. “Take me home,
Boss.”

His mouth creased in another rakish
grin before he took her arm and guided her through the great
Spanish door and down the hall. Stopping in front of his room, Seth
reached out and turned the knob. The smell of roses wafted out the
door and into the hallway.

Celia could only stare.

Then, with a gallant move, Seth scooped
his wife up and across the threshold.

She swatted at his hands. “Put me down.
You’ll injure yourself more.”

“
It’s just a flesh wound.
Relax and look.” He nodded toward the interior.

Her eyes traveled around the room and
back again to light on his face. He watched her intently. The room,
cleaned to a sparkling countenance held a new armoire next to
Seth’s with all her things neatly inside. The settee and dressing
table had been setup as well as the dressing screen she’d used in
his mother’s room across the hall.