Daniel (7 page)

The man who had called out to her husband held the batwing doors open for them to pass through. He gave them a you-shouldn't-be-here look but didn't say a word.

Jennie stopped just inside the long, dimly lit building filled with people and let her eyes adjust. She'd never been in a saloon before and took the chance to look around, as best she could. Men were lined up along the long wooden bar, some standing, some sitting on the stools. Women sat at the numerous tables. And then seated on a row of chairs on the stage were the men Jennie assumed to be the mayor and the town council. She'd thought only the officials and a few of the town's women would be here. She'd been wrong. The place was packed. Everyone appeared furious, and the voice level was loud enough to give her a headache.

Daniel strode into the saloon with Adam. Both men shook their heads in disgust. Her husband raised his voice above them all and shouted, "Everyone shut the hell up! Quiet down! Now!"

Gradually they obeyed, although the men and women continued to scowl at one another.

"Glad you got here, Sheriff," said a rather pudgy man in a black suit from the stage. Jennie assumed from the way he'd stood up and attempted to look superior to the others seated around him that this was the mayor, Sylvester Paddington. Then he noticed Faith standing beside Jennie and Daniel. His eyes narrowed and he snapped, "Faith Paddington, you take yourself on home. You don't belong at this meeting."

Jennie saw Faith stiffen, noticed her clutching the side of her skirt and her teeth clenching. But she didn't move to leave. Instead she raised her chin and said, "I belong here as much as the other women."

He puffed up, clearly annoyed that she spoke against him. "They don't belong here either. Fact is, this meeting was only supposed to include the town council, myself, and the sheriff."

Annabelle Henderson stood up from a table in the center of the room. He'd rubbed the white-haired, grandmotherly woman wrong. She looked directly at him. "This matter is bigger than you, bigger than the town council. The women of this town want that picnic you are trying to keep from happening."

"Now, Annabelle," he said in his best politician's voice, "you ladies just don't understand the situation. You should let us men handle it. Horatio wouldn't have wanted you to worry about such a matter."

An outraged, combined feminine hiss filled the room.

* * *

Daniel had been only half-listening, having taken the wire out of his pocket and quickly reading it. God a'mighty! Just what he needed. He shoved the paper back in his pocket and caught his brother's curious look. Daniel shook his head, not ready to discuss the new problem. Yet. Soon though.

He pulled back to the moment just in time to watch his wife grow tense. The mayor, as usual, was being a stubborn fool and he was ruffling more feathers now than he was soothing. Including his Jennie's. Sensing she was about to open her mouth and make the situation worse--if it could get worse, Daniel put a restraining hand on her arm. He said in a low, warning tone, "Stay out of it, Jennie. I mean it."

Which, of course, only made her more determined. She tugged free of his hold and stepped forward, standing between four men glowering angrily at the closest table of women, who glowered right back. This was getting way out of hand. He didn't like seeing husbands and wives fighting and that was the problem with this particular group of people.

Jennie stretched as tall as she could and was still dwarfed by Daniel and his brother, but she had a powerful lot of spirit. Both he and Adam inched up behind her as she focused on the mayor.

She was all but shaking in frustration as she snapped, "How dare you speak in such a condescending manner to Annabelle and all the rest of these fine women! They certainly have as much say in having a town picnic as any of the men here. Me, too, as far as that goes."

Sylvester ignored her and looked pointedly at Daniel. "Can't you control your woman, sheriff?"

"Control your woman!" Jennie hissed, glancing at Faith, who rolled her eyes in disgust. "I can't believe you actually said that!" She started to take a step forward, bristling.

Daniel thinned his lips in annoyance at the mayor and planted his hands on Jennie's shoulders, fearing she would launch herself at the pompous, balding fool. He muttered under his breath, "Wish I could."

But she'd heard him and she stomped back on his booted foot. "Daniel Braddock..." she sputtered, then stopped when he gently but firmly squeezed his fingers into her shoulders.

He'd barely felt the stomp through his thick boots, but he disliked the fit of temper that everyone around them witnessed. "Behave yourself."

Before she could protest--which he was certain she would have, he said grimly to everyone in the building, "This whole situation has gotten to be a real problem, for the town itself, and, apparently, between couples here. This needs settling once and for all."

When the mayor appeared about to speak, Daniel continued stubbornly on, "No, Paddington. The problem has grown bigger than what a select few--you and the town council--should be handling. It's clear that the townspeople all want a say in this decision."

"I--and the town council--represent the people. We speak for them. We make decisions for them. We..."

He slammed his mouth shut when every one of the ladies stood up.

Now the men along the bar turned in the mayor's direction and none of them looked happy. A few started grumbling amongst themselves. The women were sitting back down, glancing uneasily around the room, but still looking angry. Daniel sensed a whole new problem was coming. Damn. As if there weren't enough problems already.

Wanting to keep his troublesome wife as safe as he could, he shifted Jennie closer to his brother. He glanced at Faith and then tugged her over to Adam as well. Adam gave him a confused look, but nodded. He'd watch after the women.

Satisfied with what he'd done, Daniel strode past the frowning men and toward the stage. He rested his hands on the twin, tied-down guns holstered at his sides. Guns he'd told Jennie he seldom wore because for the most part there weren't any troublemakers in Dryfork. But a gut feeling that he might need them had come over him after he'd left the barber shop earlier. He didn't like wearing them, but he did when necessary. And he knew how to use them.

He gazed at Jennie and found her staring at the guns she'd obviously not noticed before now. He recognized the worry in her eyes, the question. It wasn't that he really expected trouble to break out, but he wanted to show the men that he was prepared to settle a bad situation in a bad way if necessary. It came with the job sometimes. Not that he would have to kill someone here, but he might have to wing someone. He sure hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"I don't want trouble in here, sheriff," Angelica yelled from behind the bar.

He looked toward the striking beauty with long, soft raven-colored curls draping over her shoulders. She wore a red dress with a low-scooped neckline today, revealing a lot of pale skin and the tops of some very full breasts. She was something to look at all right, but nothing in comparison to his Jennie. He liked her and didn't mind his brother Ben courting her. Adam did, though. But Ben wasn't here to protect her now or protect her saloon.

"There won't be any." And he meant it. He faced the crowd, leveled a hard look at the fidgeting men. "Will there, boys?" His hands still rested on his holsters.

Most of them shook their heads, a few grumbled, "No."

He looked at the women. "How about you, ladies?"

Again, most shook their heads and a couple muttered, "No."

Now he looked at Jennie. She blinked at his unspoken question directed to her and huffed, "No."

Relieved, he decided it was time to deal with the real problem they faced...not the picnic. That would have to be dealt with at another time.

Daniel drew in a steadying breath. He faced the mayor and the council members. "I understand your main resistance to this picnic idea is that news will get around and the Walton Gang will be attracted to Dryfork." He thought about the wire in his pocket. "Fact is, Paddington, I'd believed they would come here sooner or later anyway."

His stomach tightened. Hell, he didn't want to have to say this, but he had no choice. "They've been heading in this direction, according to the wires I've been getting from other sheriffs."

He heard sharply drawn in breaths all around him, picked out Jennie's and turned to look at her. Adam was patting her shoulder in comfort, touching Faith's shoulder, too. Both women looked worried.

Sylvester snapped from behind him, "How long have you known this? Why wasn't I--weren't we--informed?"

"Because I've been on top of the matter. It's my job to watch out for the town."

He listened to the growing grumblings of the men, the whisperings of the women. He tensed, not wanting to tell them the really bad news. But he had to. He drew in a calming breath, glanced at Jennie, and then focused on the men by the bar. "The Gang has been spotted on east of Dodge City. The sheriff there is putting together a posse to go after them."

While the tension mounted around the room, he hesitated and then added, "I want to pull together a posse here, too."

Now the voices grew louder, concerned. The previous irritation had disappeared. Strain filled the room.

"Why exactly is Dodge City's sheriff going after them now? Before they've done any harm," Sylvester called out, still full of bluster.

Daniel's jaw hardened and, again, he looked toward Jennie. Once more he thought about the wire in his pocket. He hated this. He really hated having to say this, but it had to be said. "Because they killed a woman in the last town they passed through. I got a wire about it only a short while ago."

* * *

Jennie gaped at her husband, felt her legs giving out, and couldn't seem to find enough breath to fill her lungs. A woman had been killed by the gang everyone had been talking about. Until now they'd only caused havoc in the towns they'd passed through. This was so much worse. Terrible things happened back East, too, but nothing like this. Gangs didn't ride from city to city frightening people and getting away with what this gang did. At least she didn't think so. She and Daniel should be living in Boston, not out here in this wild frontier. Daniel should ...

And then Daniel was standing in front of her, pulling her into his arms. He held her so close she could feel his heart thudding against her. He ignored the chaos around them for a minute and just held her. It felt good, safe. She didn't want him to let her go. She wanted him to take her home, make love to her, and forget all about this craziness. She wanted...

But that wasn't to be. He eased back, held her by the shoulders, and looked down at her. Grim determination tightened his expression. Then as if he'd known the thoughts going through her mind about Boston, he shook his head. "No, Jennie. I am not going back there, probably ever."

"But..." Fear for something happening to him while he rode with a posse curled through her. Tears misted her eyes. She felt cold all over.

She heard the voices growing anxious all around them. Men were trying to decide who would ride with him and who would stay to protect the town's women. Women were fussing about their men, worrying about them. She understood that worry, was almost sick with it and Daniel was still standing here touching her.

"You don't need this right now," Daniel bit out from behind Daniel. His hardened eyes narrowed at her with something like disgusted disappointment. "If she's so set on going back to Boston, let her go. I'll see that she's on the next stage headed back east."

Surprising them, Faith spun to face him and hissed, "Stay out of it!"

Adam blinked and then scowled at Faith.

Jennie swiped at her tears and swallowed the lump in her throat, then snapped, "I really don't like you, Adam Braddock. You're just making everything worse. You've been doing that ever since I came to Dryfork."

Daniel reached around and swatted her bottom. "Enough!" He focused on his brother while Jennie's cheeks burned in embarrassment. "I can't deal with the two of you going at each other now. I wanted you to watch after Jennie while I was gone, but now I don't. I'll have Caleb do it."

She watched Adam's eyes widen, saw him stiffen. He shot an angry look at her, gave a curt nod, and stormed away. For just a second, Daniel's shoulders slumped. Guilt swept through her. She hadn't meant to cause a problem between the brothers, especially now with Daniel facing a potentially dangerous situation. She gently touched his arm and he flinched, so she dropped her hand. Still she said quietly, "I'm sorry."

He barely looked at her; instead his gaze followed Adam striding through the mass of people and out of the saloon. "We'll talk about it later when I get back."

To her shock, he stepped around her and went to talk with the men about getting ready to leave immediately. She stood there, numb with disbelief. Even though everyone was concerned about this new problem, many looked in her direction with a mix of irritation at upsetting their sheriff, in confusion, and in worry. She felt like an outsider all over again.

Faith inched next to her and put an arm around her shoulders but didn't say a word. Jennie was grateful for the silent support. They stayed there together, listening, worrying, waiting.

Finally the men seemed to make some decisions. Daniel glanced at her with an expression she couldn't really read. She waited for him to come to her and explain what was happening now, to let her apologize again, to give her some kind of reassurance. But he didn't. He gave her a slight tip of his head and walked out of the saloon with a large group of men.

A tip of his head? What was that supposed to mean?

She raced after him. Surely he wasn't going to leave without speaking to her again. Surely he'd hug her one more time, kiss her good-bye.

But she stopped on the boardwalk just outside the saloon and found him standing in the road nearby talking to one of his twin brothers, Caleb, the town's preacher. Daniel didn't even look her way, just said, "Watch after Jennie. Keep her safe." Then he strode toward the livery stable no doubt to get his horse.