Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) (13 page)

Murdock glanced down at his desk as he digested the information. "No, not usual at all.
There's only one man I know of who could entice
an Indian to work for white folk. If it's who I think
it is, I wonder what he's doing back here? I
haven't seen him since he left several years ago."

Casey leaned forward and folded her hands on
his desk. "Then you know him?"

"I think so. I haven't seen him in years." He
looked thoughtful and then met her gaze. If Gabe
wanted to keep silent about his past, then Murdock would honor his wishes until he did some
checking around. "He was only a young man the
last time I saw him. He'd be full-grown now."

"And the Indians are harmless?"

Murdock checked his pocket watch. "They will
be to you. What better watchdogs could you have
than the Comanche? They can be fearsome warriors if the need arises. Now," he said, standing,
"I have just enough time to introduce you around
before my next appointment arrives."

Casey took jenny's hand, and they walked out
into the sunshine. There had been a lot of sadness in their lives lately, but because of their uncle
Bob's generous nature, they would get by just
fine. Things might be hard for a while, but they
were Hamiltons, and they would come through
this as they had so many other difficulties in their
lives.

At least they had a home that was free of debt,
and to Casey's way of thinking, they had a lot of
money.

Sam touched her shoulder; he knew she was
still worried about Cyrus Slaughter, especially
since Mr. Murdock had warned them against him.
"It's better than we expected, Casey."

"Yes," she said, her mind on Gabe. "Much better."

Gabe dismounted with a sick feeling in his gut
because he already knew what he would find. He
had followed the circling buzzards to the place
where he and Sam had driven fifty head of cattle
only yesterday. When he dismounted, he swore
under his breath. They were all dead but one-a
newborn calf stumbled about, trying to rise on
wobbly knees.

"Dammit," he said, opening the gate and stepping inside. It had been a mistake to pen the cattle so far from the house, but this was the only
pen large enough to hold them until they could
be branded.

He looked at the gruesome sight and smelled
the unmistakable stench of rotting flesh.

Taking a cleansing breath, he removed the bandanna from his neck and tied it so it would cover
his nose. He had to get close enough to the cattle
so he could determine what had killed them.

Opening the gate, he moved to the closest carcass
and knelt down beside it. The belly was bloated,
and there was foam around the mouth. He examined another animal and found it had died
with the same symptoms.

Standing up, Gabe felt rage coil inside him at
the senseless destruction. Some person with a
twisted mind had ordered this carnage. The condition of the carcasses told its own tale-the cattle
had probably been poisoned, and he had to find
out how.

Removing his bandanna and tying it back
around his neck, he walked to the drinking
trough and scooped water into his cupped hand.
It certainly smelled pure enough-he brought it
to his mouth and touched his tongue to it and
found that there was no bitter taste. If these cattle
had been poisoned, it certainly hadn't been from
the water.

Puzzled, he examined another body. The cows
had most certainly not died of natural causes;
their deaths had been deliberate. His jaw tightened when his searching gaze fell on a strange-
looking plant near the fence. He stooped to pick
it up and recognized what it was at once.

Careless weed!

The plant was a rancher's worst nightmare. The
strange thing about the weed was that if it was
eaten green, it was harmless; but eaten dry, it released a noxious poison. Careless weed did not grow in this part of Texas, so someone had
brought it there.

He glanced around and saw several other
clumps of the dried weed. Whoever had done this
knew exactly what he was doing. And Gabe knew
without a doubt who that someone was. Cyrus
would not have dirtied his hands with the poisoning, but the orders would have come from him
all the same. The deed had probably been carried
out by the foreman of the Casa Mesa ranch, Ira
Teague; that coldhearted bastard would follow Cyrus's orders without question.

Gabe watched a buzzard tear at the flesh of one
of the animals-the bird would probably die from
eating the poisoned flesh, but no one mourned
the death of a scavenger. In his own way Cyrus
was a scavenger who existed on other people's
misery.

Gabe knew just how Cyrus would go about getting rid of his adversaries-he would start small,
pick at them and feed on their wretchedness-
then he would apply more pressure and torment
them. The more his enemy suffered, the more
pressure Cyrus would apply, and the more pleasure he would derive from it. Cyrus was the only
person Gabe knew who possessed no redeeming
qualities whatsoever.

"So it's begun," he said, picking up the newborn calf and mounting his horse.

Cyrus had struck sooner than he had expected.

It was time for Gabe to pay him a visit at Casa
Mesa.

Kate was instructing the store's handyman how to
load supplies in the wagon when Casey and Jenny
approached. "Where's Sam?" she asked, fitting a
crate of apples under the spring seat.

"He's talking to the blacksmith about shoeing
one of the mares. Jenny is hungry, so I think I'd
better find her something to eat."

Kate hopped down from the wagon and nodded at the man. "Keep an eye on our supplies,
and when a young man named Sam comes along
asking for us, direct him to Betsy's Tearoom."

The tearoom turned out to be something of a
surprise to Casey. She hadn't seen the building
when they came into town because it was located
behind the bank. It was white with green shutters,
and had window boxes with some kind of plant
with purple flowers.

Casey found the inside to be just as cheery as
the outside. There were six tables with red-andwhite gingham tablecloths, with fresh flowers in
the center of each.

The woman who greeted them could have
come straight from the pages of one of jenny's
fairytale books. She was blond and petite with
blue eyes and dimples. She wore a blue-checked
gown and a crisp, ruffled apron.

When she spoke, her voice was soft. "Kate, what a pleasure to see you again. And who are your
friends?" She smiled at Casey. "You must be new
in this part of Texas."

Jenny slid her hand out of Casey's and climbed
up on a chair, dipping her head so she could
smell the flowers.

"This here's the Hamiltons," Kate said. "The little one there is jenny, and this is Casey. They're
the new owners of the Spanish Spur. Casey, this
here's Betsy Turner."

"It's just delightful to meet you, Mrs. Hamilton.
Your daughter looks just like you."

Jenny, never one to let an opportunity pass
without having her say, remarked, "I don't have a
mama anymore-Casey is my sister, and she's
much prettier than you are."

Casey glared at her sister. "That's enough,
Jenny. Apologize at once."

"But, Casey," the child reasoned, "you always
said I was to tell the truth."

Betsy looked shocked at jenny's statement,
while Kate turned away to hide her smile.

"You must forgive my sister," Casey said hurriedly, giving jenny a look that warned the child
she was going to be in trouble later on. "She will
say what she wants, and there doesn't seem to be
much I can do about it."

"Perhaps," Betsy suggested, her voice no longer
soft, "you might spank her when she misbehaves.
Children should never be allowed to speak their
mind so freely."

Kate stopped Casey from answering by picking
Jenny up in her arms. "No one is going to spank
this adorable little angel-not as long as of Kate's
'round."

Casey flashed Kate a grateful smile as she
watched Sam cross the street toward them. Jenny
sometimes needed a stem hand, but Casey had
never hit her; she cringed at the very thought. But
Jenny would have to be punished for her rudeness, and that punishment would come in the
form of being denied a slice of the custard pie
Casey intended to bake the next day. Custard pie
was jenny's favorite dessert.

Sam joined them at the table. After they had
ordered, he asked Casey, "Have you told her the
good news?"

Casey shook her head and nodded at Betsy,
who was slicing bread for their sandwiches; it was
apparent that she was listening to their conversation. "We'll talk about it on the way home," she
told him.

Betsy set a plate of assorted sandwiches on the
table, but her attention was on Kate. "I heard a
rumor that Gabe was back in the area. Have you
seen him, Kate? Can it be true?"

"I'm sure if Gabe had come back, you'd have
seen him," Kate said. Her gaze met Casey's, and
she gave a slight shake of her head.

Jenny frowned. "He is-"

Casey interrupted her sister, because it was apparent Kate did not want the woman to know that Gabe was working at the Spanish Spur. "Jenny, eat
your sandwich."

The child took a bite and mumbled.

"And, jenny, don't talk with your mouth full,"
Casey scolded her.

It was late in the afternoon when they finally
started back to the ranch. This time Kate was driving, and Casey was seated up front beside her.
Sam was sitting in back with a sleeping jenny
curled up on his lap.

"How was your meeting with Murdock?" Kate
asked, slowing the horses on a steep incline.
"Oh, Kate, I couldn't wait to tell you the news."

Casey was still dazed by the meeting with the attorney, and it was difficult to accept that they no
longer had to worry about money. "Uncle Bob
didn't owe anyone anything. And he left us with
a good deal of money-at least, I think it's a great
deal."

Kate grinned. "I thought he might have some
money, 'cause he never spent much. I 'spect he
was saving it for you kids. That's the kind of man
he was. I never knew a better one."

"Kate, he left you the house you live in."

At first it didn't appear that Kate had heard
what Casey said, because she gazed into the distance. After she could speak, her eyes shimmered
with tears. "That old man was determined to have
the last word." She dabbed at her eyes. "I didn't
reckon on him doing that." She paused another moment. "I do declare-he did that for me?"

Casey had already begun to love the small
woman who watched over them so faithfully. "You
will always have a home with us. Even if our uncle
hadn't left you the house, we would not have let
you leave us. You were our first friend here in
Texas, maybe our only friend."

"I feel like you're family. But you are wrong
when you say I'm your only friend. Gabe will stand
by you in any trouble that comes your way."

"I think so, too. And so did Mr. Murdock."

"Hmm. Did the attorney say anything else about
Gabe?"

"No. He hadn't seen him in several years and
didn't know Gabe had returned to Mariposa
Springs." Casey sighed. "Mr. Murdock warned us
about Mr. Slaughter."

"Don't you fret none, honey. You have Gabe
looking after you. And that's a powerful lot."

"I don't know why he's helping us, but I'm glad
he is."

"'Cause that's the kind of man he is."

"You like him, don't you?"

"Yeah. I like him and respect him." She
grinned. "I wish I was as beautiful as you are and
as young, so I could go after him." She chuckled.
"He'd be the man for me."

Casey studied her with a serious expression. "I
got the feeling you didn't want Miss Turner to
know that Gabe was at the Spanish Spur."

"If he wants her to know he's back, he can do the telling. Time was when people thought those
two would one day marry. At least, that's what
Betsy was telling 'round. Course, Gabe may have
had other ideas, 'cause he never went near her
much. She's never married, and it's almost like
she's been just waiting for Gabe to come back."
Kate met Casey's gaze. "Course, I could be all
wrong, but that's the way I see it."

Casey felt a prickle of jealousy that she didn't
have any right to feel. "She's very pretty."

"Um-hmm. Like one of those dolls I once saw
in a store window in San Antone. And with about
as much emotion, the way I see it."

Casey watched the setting sun as they pulled
through the gates of the Spanish Spur. It felt like
coming home. And Gabe would be there. She
wondered how it would feel to be loved by a man
like him?

He was dangerous-she could see that by the
hard look in his silver eyes-but she was no
longer afraid of him. She had begun to depend
on him for so much. Casey also wondered what
she would do when he left. There was a restlessness in him, and she knew he would one day move
on.

How would she survive when that day came?