Marshal of Hel Dorado (14 page)

 
    
The sting of Sam’s departure had helped
too. Her skin burned just thinking about him.

 
    
“Was anyone hurt?” Buck nuzzled her
forehead with a kiss, comforting and gentle.

 
    
“No. I blew up some rocks though.” Her lips
twisted into a sheepish grin. She was more embarrassed over that lack of
control than what Buck had witnessed when he slipped into her dream.

 
    
“Better rocks than people.”

 
    
“Is everyone else all right?”

 
    
“They’re fine. Cody is beside himself. The
wolf is riding him hard to get you back.”

 
    
“I don’t think you should come back…”

 
    
“Scarlett.”

 
    
“No, Buck. I’m serious. The townsfolk, they
were really angry. The Marshal’s sent for a judge. Mr. Kane’s been very kind to
me and he’s even asked one of his sons to be my lawyer, but they want to hang
the thieves. It’s not safe for you in Dorado.”

 
    
Buck laughed.

 
    
“What?”

 
    
“Not safe for us? You’re the one they’re
holding. One of their hunters told Cody they were threatening to hang you.”

 
    
“Cody talked to them?” Cody didn’t care for
talking. He wasn’t a man of many words on a good day with his family whom he
loved, much less with strangers.

 
    
“Well, not exactly.” It was Buck’s turn to
look evasive.

 
    
“What did Cody do?”

 
    
“His wolf haunted their camp until their
leader, a boy, let him approach. The boy told him to leave the gold in the
canyon because it could help you. He said you’d been arrested and that if we
gave back what we took, it could help you get free.”

 
    
Fear sliced across her belly. The Marshal’s
youngest brother had ridden out with the searchers that night. She remembered
his sweet face, his bashful, enthusiastic grin and the easy way the smile
reached his eyes. He was as sweet as the Marshal had been sour.

 
    
“He told Cody’s wolf?”

 
    
Buck nodded slowly, tugging her hand and
pulling her over to sit down on a rock. His black hat hung against his
shoulders, the tie around his throat. His hair was longer than the other
brothers, favoring his Comanche father’s heritage.

 
    
“Buck…”

 
    
“It’s okay Scarlett.” Buck patted her hand,
the comfort weak against the sticky mud of fear clinging to her.

 
    
“But if they find out.”

 
    
“They won’t.”

 
    
“But if they do?”

 
    
“They won’t.” Buck sighed. “We are coming.
We’ll get you, we’ll go home.”

 
    
“Does Quanto know?”

 
    
“About you? Yes. About Cody. No, I haven’t
had to tell him that.”

 
    
“Cody’s wolf never goes to people.”

 
    
“Cody’s wolf wants you back. It’s making
him irrational.”

 
    
Scarlett looked away from Buck. The
plaintive note in his voice warned her that Cody was in worse shape than he was
admitting too. She was closer to Cody than any of the others, closer because he
allowed it. He’d taught her to ride. He’d taken her fishing and even taught her
to shoot, after threatening any of the others when she approached them.

 
    
Even his wolf liked her. He didn’t mind the
brothers, but he let her pet him. Stroking his ears and when no one else was
around, he’d flop over on his back and let her stroke his belly.

 
    
“I’m not in Dorado.” The decision was more
painful than she’d imagined. She was already fond of the Kanes. She didn’t want
to disappoint them. She didn’t let herself think about the Marshal or the way
he’d left the ranch. Maybe it was better that he hadn’t returned. The carnal
thoughts she entertained were bad enough.

 
    
“We know. Where are you?”

 
    
“The Flying K. It’s the Kane’s ranch. It’s
east of Dorado. Fifteen, maybe twenty miles. It was dark. I didn’t see the
landmarks. But it’s in a bowl valley, created by the hills.”

 
    
“We’ll find it. Ike can track anyone. Has
the Marshal been back out there?”

 
    
“No.” Scarlett frowned. “How do you know
the Marshal’s not here now?”

 
    
“Cody scented him in town.” Dread curdled
in her stomach.

 
    
“Did he hurt him?”

 
    
“Scarlett…”

 
    
She rose, agitation ratcheting up her
spine. “Did he hurt him, Buck?”

 
    
Buck sighed. “You more worried about Cody
or your Marshal?”

 
    
“Dammit, Buck.”

 
    
“They’re both fine. But Cody scented you.
Not sure how if the Marshal hasn’t been back.

 
    
But he heard the boy talking to the
Marshal. He knows that’s the man that took you.”

 
    
“I’ll try to get away.”

 
    
“If you can, send smoke up. We’ll find you.
If not, we’re coming.”

 
    
The mountainscape melted away.

 
    
“Buck, I don’t want anyone hurt.”

 
    
But her brother was gone.

 
    
Scarlett jerked upwards in the bed. The sun
was kissing the horizon, just barely visible to her eastern facing windows. Her
brothers were coming.

 
    
Outside, the Flying K stirred to life.

 
    
Her brothers were coming.

 
    
Pushing back the blankets, she rose shakily
to her feet. The smothering of her fire had taken its toll on her body, the
fever ravaged it, weakening her muscles and giving her the appearance of sickness.
Four days later, she was still sore and riding the aftereffects.

 
    
She focused on the candle sitting on the
dresser. Her eyes narrowed. The wick shimmered and burst into flame.

 
    
Her lungs stretched with relief as she
released a small measure. She’d need to release more. Rising, she stripped off
the dressing gown and fetched her clothes from the top drawer where Lena stored
them.

 
    
Creeping from her room, she padded down the
back stairs, boots in hand. The kitchen was quiet, but she knew that wouldn’t
be for long. Lena often baked in the early hours of the morning. Scarlett was
careful to keep the door from slamming as she let herself out.

 
    
She glanced around the empty yard and
darted down three steps to race over the grass.

 
    
The swimming pond she’d raced to the first
day was close, but she chose a second one, hidden by a copse of trees. Lena
told her about it during her recovery.

 
    
The eastern pond was favored by the family
for its privacy. The dewy grass was slippery under her bare feet. The cooler
night air would give way under the burn of the sun soon enough, but with the
night birds settling in for the day and the morning birds waking to trill,
Scarlett was eager to get in the water, to wash and to burn.

 
    
She set her boots where Lena told her too.
Jebediah had moved the rock near a break in the trees there. The boots would
warn others that the pond was occupied. She ducked between the tree branches,
stripping out of her hastily thrown on clothes. Setting them up on a branch
away from the water and the grass, the last thing she wanted to do was torch
them.

 
    
The water was like ice and silk on her skin
as she waded out into it. The rising sun dappled the trees, reminding her of
the grottos around the lake in the mountains.

 
    
Diving under the water, she swam,
stretching and cooling her muscles. She rolled over onto her back, floating.
The tree branches overhead dipped with the breeze, as though waving.

 
    
Closing her eyes, she let the heat in her
belly go. It shimmered through her skin, bubbling the cool water around her.

 
    
Cupping her hands against the water, she
felt the flames lick her fingers. She ignited the water, evaporating it and
then dipped her hands down to extinguish the flames. She repeated the process
until the knots clenching her belly loosened, and replete.

 
    
Her fire had somewhere to go.

 
    
Delight shivered over her and she dove back
down under the water, swimming for a cooler spot and repeating the process. By
her third release, she was giddy and splashed like a child, bobbing in and out
of the water. The aching pain of containing so much power was gone.

 
    
Her muscles were soft and relaxed.

 
    
Her soul was lighter.

 
    
The key to her ability was to control the
fire. Her body called to it naturally. It had taken her years to light a candle
without torching the area around it. She was used to buckets of water set
everywhere in the house. As she’d gotten older, she’d learned that if she
controlled when she released it, she could control the damage it did.

 
    
Water helped because it was harder to burn
water.

 
    
But she could burn anything.

 
    
Rocks.

 
    
Sand.

 
    
Water.

 
    
She’d tried to push her fire into the pond
the day her worry and fear overwhelmed her.

 
    
Unlike her brothers, her gift was wholly
tied to her emotions. She needed to be calm when she was upset, because the
world could catch on fire.

 
    
The last of the tension wrung from her, she
turned for the shore. She was up to her hips in the water when her heart
thudded to a halt. Leaning against the rocks, hat pushed back from his
forehead, his expression a riot of shock and awe, was the Marshal.

 
    
“What the hell was that?”

 
    
“M
arshal!”
The shocked recrimination in Scarlett’s voice could hardly compare with the
stunned amazement holding him rigid in its grasp. He’d seen her darting from
the house as he left the stables, having rousted one of the boys to tend to
Corona. He’d ridden half the night to return to the ranch, his unease aroused
after encountering the wolf.

 
    
He thought her making her escape, but when
he’d seen her boots at the bathing pond, he thought only to make sure she was
actually swimming before retreating to allow her privacy.

 
    
He’d tried not to let his gaze linger too
long on the slender lines of her pale back as she plunged into the water. Her smooth,
strong strokes told him she knew what was doing, but then she’d rolled over and
fire sparked across the surface of the water.

 
    
Great pillars of fire shot up from her
hands only to be doused as she submerged herself.

 
    
He’d started forward only to see her rise
back up, carrying the fire again and again. The water around her teemed and
bubbled and then a great gout of flame shot into the sky.