Heart Of Texas (Historical Romance) (23 page)

Sam halted the horses just before they reached
the house. He was worried because Casey hardly
ever cried, and it hurt him to see her body shaking with such terrible sobs.

"Don't let what that man told us upset you,
Casey," he said, running his hand up and down
her arm. "He's just mean and tries to hurt people.
I still believe in Gabe."

"Don't believe in him, Sam." She tried to stop
crying, but it just hurt so badly to know that Gabe
had deceived them. She had been the biggest fool
of them all. She loved him and had wanted to
help him.

"I want to believe him."

"He misled us, Sam."

"I can't believe Gabe is that man's son."

"I do. I now know the reason he tried to keep
us away from the Casa Mesa ranch. He was afraid
someone would tell us who he was. He brought Indians to work for us, knowing they won't tell his
secret, and then there is Fletcher, who came here
from Casa Mesa. I don't know why I didn't suspect
anything."

"But Fletcher's a good man," Sam said. "I
couldn't be wrong about that."

"Most probably he was sent to the Spanish Spur
to keep an eye on us."

"What about Kate?" Sam asked, not wanting to
believe the little woman had been involved in
trickery.. "You know she wouldn't do anything to
hurt us."

Casey didn't want to think the woman that they
had all come to trust and to love as family would
help the Slaughters against them. "She has to
know who Gabe is-remember she told us to trust
him. Why didn't she tell us who he really was?"

"You know Papa always said that if you sleep-on
a problem it won't seem quite so bad the next
morning. Maybe we should try that."

She wiped her tears on the back of her hand.
"But, Sam, Gabe will still be a Slaughter when you
wake up in the morning. Nothing will change
that."

She was trembling inside, but she had to stop
crying, because her tears were hurting Sam. She
hadn't known anyone could be as deceitful as
Gabe. He'd taken her family's trust and ground
it into the dirt. He must have laughed at her innocence last night when she'd told him she loved
him.

No wonder he had acted so strangely. He had
even offered to marry her. She clasped her hands
tightly in her lap to stop their trembling. Did Mr.
Slaughter covet the Spanish Spur so much that he
would send his own his son to trap her into marriage? Why buy a ranch when his son could marry
into it?

Sam looked worried as he picked up the reins.
"What will we do now?"

"I am going to have a talk with Mr. Gabriel
Slaughter, and then I'm going to order him off
our ranch."

Sam bowed his head. "I liked Gabe a lot. After
this, I'll never trust anyone again!"

She noticed the droop of her brother's shoulders. He still wanted to believe in Gabe, despite
the evidence that had been thrown at them.

"Don't say you will never trust again, Sam. I
don't want this experience to sour you on friendship. We know many good people. Not everyone
is like the Slaughters."

Sam straightened his shoulders. "I'll be with
you when you tell Gabe to get off our land."

The sun was going down when they reached
home. Casey climbed out of the buckboard and
headed straight to Kate's house to get Jenny while
Sam unharnessed the horses.

Kate and jenny were sitting on the porch while
they both snapped green beans and dropped
them into a bowl. Jenny's puppy, Lucy, was curled up beside her, often reaching out her tongue to
give jenny a lick.

"This here's the last of my garden," Kate said,
dropping a handful of green beans in a bowl. "I'll
cook a big pot, and we can all eat off it tomorrow."

"Jenny," Casey said, trying not to look at Kate
because she didn't want Jenny to know how angry
she was. "Go help Sam with the horses. Ask him
to let you help water them."

Her sister's eyes lit up, and she scooted off the
porch and ran in the direction of the barn with
Lucy running at her heels. "I'll tell Sam that you
said I could help him," the child called back over
her shoulder.

When jenny was out of hearing, Casey turned
to the woman whose friendship she had treasured
until today. "Why didn't you tell me that Gabe was
a Slaughter? Worse still, why didn't you tell me
he was Cyrus Slaughter's son?"

The older woman set her bowl down on the
porch and turned to Casey. "I thought it was a
mistake for him not to tell you who he was, but
he asked me not to say anything, so I didn't."

Casey dropped down on the step and rubbed
her temples. "You can't imagine what damage you
have done to this family by keeping his secret."

"It weren't that way at all. Gabriel wanted to
help you and the family, and he knowed you
wouldn't let him if you found out who he was. It's
that simple."

"There is never any reason to deceive a friend.
We trusted you, thought of you as part of our fam

put her hand on Casey's. "I'm still your
and you can still trust me. You can trust
too. He wouldn't do anything to hurt any
ily.-Casey

stood
up
straight.
"You
cannot
imagine
how much he has hurt me."

With her heart heavy, Kate watched the beautiful young girl walk toward the house. Cyrus
would win if he came between those two. She was
an old woman and had never had young love in
her life, but she knew it when she saw it, and she
had seen it between Gabe and Casey.

Hell, Gabriel was willing to put himself in danger just to keep her safe. Casey had been good
for Gabe. Kate had seen that. When a man had
never had love, he just didn't know how to reach
for it, she supposed. Gabriel should have trusted
Casey enough to tell her who he was.

"I should've told her from the first," the little
woman said to herself, shoving the bowl of green
beans so forcefully, they were scattered across the
porch.

Sam hung the reins on a hook and spoke to
Fletcher. "You'll want to stop at the house tomorrow and get your pay. You'll be leaving then."

Fletcher had been leading a horse into a stall.
He closed the gate and gave his full attention to the boy. "I thought Gabe did the hiring and the
firing 'round here."

"Gabe will be hot on your heels when you leave.
I don't want either of you around here anymore."

"Now what bug's bit you, boy? Gabe's the only
one keeping Cyrus from stealing this ranch."

"Gabe is Cyrus's son." Sam waited for Fletcher
to deny it-wanted him to say it was a mistake.

"I figured you'd find out sooner or later. I
'spect all hell's done broke out now."

Sam picked. up the dog and took jenny's hand,
nodding at Fletcher. "Just do like I said, and come
by the house in the morning."

"If'n that's the way you want it, but you and
your sister are making trouble for yourselves."

"You might want to tell Gabe to come to the
house if he should get home tonight."

"He won't be back for days."

"Then we'll see him when he does get back."

Casey and Sam sat up long into the night, planning what they would do, while jenny slept the
sleep of innocence. Once again they faced trouble, and this time there didn't seem any way out
of it.

Lucy bounced around, trying to get Sam's attention. When he opened the door, she ran out,
did her business, and he let her back inside. Then
the pup ran for the bedroom, where she would
curl up beside Jenny.

Eventually Sam and Casey went to bed, but nei ther of them slept much. Sunrise found them
both in the kitchen, with Casey pouring Sam his
first cup of coffee.

He grimaced, shaking his head as he tasted the
bitter brew. "Why would anyone want to drink
this?"

"I'm not sure. I believe it helps you wake up in
the mornings."

Sam took another sip. "I guess I'd better get
used to the taste then."

It was difficult for Casey to give Fletcher his pay
and send him on his way. But it had to be done.
She had to get rid of all the men who had any
connection to Gabe, and that meant his Indian
friends as well.

It was late in the afternoon when Casey and
Sam heard Omous and Flint ride toward the barn.
She and her brother went out to them with a
heavy heart. It was surprising to Casey how quickly
they had become attached to the people who
worked for them. But it had probably been part
of Gabe's plan to get the family to trust his men.

Sam was the first one to speak. "We know all
about Gabe; we know whose son he is. We don't
want him here, and we want you to leave, too."

Casey could tell it had hurt Sam to send Omous
and Flint away. He really liked them.

"We would like you to leave now," she said,
avoiding their eyes.

"Miss Hamilton, you aren't safe here alone.

Gabe would not like us to leave before he returns.
You need to talk to him."

"I will be talking to him. But only to tell him to
leave as well."

She was finally able to meet Omous's gaze, and
she saw sadness revealed there.

He shook his dark head. "Gabe has only your
safety in mind, Miss Hamilton."

"We don't want his help," Sam said, his voice
trembling.

There was nothing else Omous could say, so he
nodded. "Young Samuel, you must look after your
sisters. And we will be close by if you need us.
There will be trouble, and I fear for your family."

Casey could almost believe him. She wanted to
believe that he was a good man who was worried
about her family's safety, but doubt crept into her
mind, and she shook her head. "We will not need
you. I'm going to put the word out that we are
looking for hands, and someone will come to
work for us."

Omous knew it would do no good to argue with
her. Gabe had been wrong not to tell her the
truth. Now he would suffer the consequences, and
so would the Hamiltons.

By evening, Gabe still had not returned, and
Casey slept badly, thinking about the situation
they found themselves in. There would be no one
left to work the ranch except her and Sam. Just
to get by, they would have to rely on what Sam had already learned. She certainly knew nothing
about cattle.

The following day, Casey found herself watching the road, waiting for Gabe to return. By the
third day she had decided he might not return at
all if he had been made aware that she knew he
was a Slaughter.

It was early afternoon as Casey watched jenny run
into the barn with Lucy at her feet. She was glad
they had been able to shield her sister from the
problems they were facing. She wished in a way
that she had the innocence of a child; then life
would not be so difficult for her.

She glanced at Kate's cabin. The older woman
had come to the ranch house door that morning,
but Casey had not invited her in. They had talked
for a while, but the conversation was awkward,
and soon Kate left.

Casey felt they were living on the edge, that
something terrible was about to happen. Maybe
she should sell the ranch to Mr. Slaughter; then
she and jenny and Sam could go back to Virginia
where they belonged. It was too hard for them
here in Texas. Surely her father would have understood if she had to sell the Spanish Spur.

Suddenly she felt something strange, a slight
tremor. Then the door shook and the windows
rattled. There was a roar that grew progressively
louder. Sam came out of the house, his gaze questioning.

Casey grabbed his hand. "I don't know what is
happening." She flew down the steps to the
ground, glancing toward the barn where jenny
was. Now the earth shook, and they saw a dust
cloud.

"It's a stampede!" Sam cried, pointing to the
mounted riders who were shooting their guns in
the air to frighten the cattle. "Whoever it is, they
are deliberately driving the cattle at us. There
must be two hundred head or more."

"Jenny!" Casey cried. "She's in the barn!" The
cattle were close enough now that she could actually see the markings on their faces. She started
running toward the barn, frantic to get to her sister, but Sam was faster than she was. To Casey's
horror, jenny had just come out of the barn to
see what the noise was.

"Jenny," she cried, fearing Sam would not reach
their sister in time, "go back. Go back!"

Casey ran into the dust cloud, trying to get to
her sister. The dust was so thick she couldn't see
anything, and she soon lost her sense of direction.
"Sam, jenny, where are you?" she screamed, desperate to be heard over the deafening noise. One
of the frightened animals brushed against her,
and the impact took her to the ground. Dust and
hooves were all about her, and she choked and
gagged, trying to breathe. She tried to rise so she
could get to jenny and Sam, but she was struck
again and blackness swallowed her.

Casey felt as if she were coming out of a fog. Her
mouth was dry, and she licked her lips. She could
see a faint light, and it grew brighter as her eyes
focused more clearly. It took her a moment to
realize that she was in her own bedroom.

What was she doing in bed? She didn't remember getting there.

Suddenly it all came back to her, and she whimpered, "Jenny, Sam, oh, God, where are you?"

Sam came rushing into the room and restrained her as she struggled to get up. He knelt
down beside her, taking her hand. "Casey, we've
been so worried about you."

She tried to sit up, but the room whirled, and
she lay back against the pillow. "Jenny, I want to
see jenny."

"She's not hurt. She just has a scraped elbow.
She's sleeping on a pallet in the living room because we didn't want her to disturb you."

"Are you sure she's all right? Are you telling me
the truth?"

"I always tell you the truth. You know that." He
glanced downward. "But, Casey, her pup... Lucy
was trampled to death. Jenny took it real hard."

Tears seeped from the corners of Casey's eyes.
"Oh, poor jenny." She turned her head toward
Sam. Now that the world had stopped spinning,
she noticed that his arm was in a sling. "You were
hurt!"