Marshal of Hel Dorado (37 page)

 
    
Scarlett laughed. “It tickles.”

 
    
“What does?”

 
    
“Going through walls. It’s hard on Rudy, to
take anyone with him, but it tickles. You get this fluttery feeling in your
belly and it races through your blood and then the world just goes sideways and
it makes you laugh.”

 
    
Micah looked skeptical, but shrugged
nonetheless. “I’ll just take your word for it.”

 
    
“You can ask him if you want, too. I’m sure
he wouldn’t mind showing you.”

 
    
“No.” It was a fast, firm answer.

 
    
Amused, Scarlett wrinkled her nose at him.
“Chicken.”

 
    
“And proud of it.” Micah nodded gamely.
“Now, we were talking about Sam.”

 
    
She didn’t mind the subject change. “You
said he fancied me.”

 
    
“And he does. He’s courting you. Bringing
you gifts. Spending time with you and then giving you your space.”

 
    
Scarlett frowned. Sam had been looking
after her, telling her stories, bringing her fresh berries, catching fish and
even helping her with her chores when it was time to break camp.

 
    
“You’ve never been courted before, have
you?” Micah’s soft question intruded on her musings.

 
    
She shook her head mutely.

 
    
“I didn’t think so.”

 
    
“What am I supposed to do?” A thrill of joy
twined with confusion to jostle her insides.

 
    
Her heart was a loud thud-boom and she
worried she was going to be a little sick.

 
    
“You’re killing me, Scarlett.” Micah
sighed, shifting his foot up to the rail and resting his wrists on his knee.
The land was relatively flat in front of them as the wagon continued its
bouncing trawl.

 
    
“I’m sorry.”

 
    
“Nah,” he laughed. “Don’t be sorry. I just
wouldn’t mind setting my hat into the ring, but I’m not too blind to see where
the sun is shining.”

 
    
Scarlett frowned again. “Does that mean you
like me too?”

 
    
“Oh, I like you just fine, and if it were
anyone but Sam, I’d definitely give you courting lessons personally, but I
won’t step on my brother’s toes too much. You just do us both a favor and don’t
tell him that.”

 
    
“Your secret is safe with me.” Scarlett
grinned.

 
    
“Good. I always wondered what it would be
like to have a sister.”

 
    
“No offense, but I don’t think I need any
more brothers.”

 
    
He laughed, which was her intention and
tapped a finger to her nose. “Too bad for that.

 
    
Because Sam comes with three more and an
extra Pa to boot.”

 
    
Her cheeks ached from smiling, but she
couldn’t help herself. “Micah, what should I do?”

 
    
“That depends whether you want him to keep
courting you.”

 
    
Scarlett nibbled her lower lip, the gentle
pain of her teeth scraping across her lip a reminder of the cave. The way his
stubble had scraped her cheeks and mouth. How his kisses had tasted and the
hard heat of his hands on her bottom. Sweat beaded along her brow and her shirt
clung tackily to her back.

 
    
The kisses had been wonderful. She’d felt
beautiful and wanted and a host of other emotions she couldn’t label. But he’d
put her away from him, refused to go further.

 
    
The rejection had stung, but later, at the
house, when he’d come into her room while she was sleeping.

 
    
The utter gentleness as he’d stroked her
cheek had broken her heart. She’d hated leaving the Flying K. She hated leaving
Sam more.

 
    
“Yes.” It seemed forever since Micah had
asked her the question, but her heart jumped at the idea. “Yes, I want him to
keep courting me.”

 
    
“Then you show him you like it.”

 
    
“How? What are the rules?”

 
    
Micah laughed. “Well, it is kind of a game,
I suppose. You need to do something nice for him. Kind of like patting the dog
when it does the trick you asked it to do.”

 
    
“Like make him food?”

 
    
Micah nodded. “Food is good. Maybe mend a
shirt. Take care of his horse. You know, show him you want to do nice things
for him too.”

 
    
“He never lets me finish the horses even
when it’s my chore.”

 
    
“Then stay and keep him company, help him.
Smile. It honestly doesn’t take much, Scarlett. We’re hardheaded, not stupid.
When we like a pretty lady, it’s easy to tell when she likes us back.”

 
    
She thought back to their swims, how he
would herd her away from the horseplay. Was it just to shield her from the
splashes or to have her alone? A new smile tugged at her lips, if they got to
go swimming tonight, maybe she would play with Sam.

 
    
“Feel better?” Micah teased.

 
    
“Much.”

 
    
“Good. And remember, if it doesn’t work
out. I’m still available.”

 
    
She was still laughing when the bullet
exploded the wood on the corner of the wagon seat.

 
    
S
carlett
gaped at the flying wood, the explosive sound echoing in her ears. Micah’s
fingers bit into her arm as a second bullet hit the seat behind her and jerked
her over him until she was dangling off the side of the wagon. The horses
snorted and screamed, but Micah held onto her even as he turned the horses hard
left and sent the wagon bouncing over the uneven ground and alongside a hill.

 
    
“Down.” Micah dropped her and Scarlett
scampered to the wheel, crouching as Micah fell in behind her. She twisted to
catch sight of the wagons, they were all turning, facing the horses away from
the bullets except for those on horseback.

 
    
Buck and Kid dropped their reins as one,
rifles lifting to return fire.

 
    
“Where are they?” Scarlett peeked a look
around the wagon’s edge, but drew back as three bullets thundered in quick
succession, two slamming home into the seat and shattering the edge until all
that remained was smoking wood.

 
    
“Dammit, Scarlett. They’re shooting at
you.” Micah jerked her back to him, flattening himself against the wagon, with
Scarlett tucked in front of him. Kid and Buck rounded the wagons, ducking low
on the horses as Ike, Rudy and Noah returned fire.

 
    
“Ten of them,” Buck shouted. He pulled a
scattergun from the saddle holster and tossed it down to Scarlett. “Remember,
they get close, you go for the body. Stomach or chest. They’ll go down.”

 
    
Her jaw set, she barely had time to nod
before Buck rode out of the faint safety offered by the wagons. Gunfire chased
him as he rode over the hill to the west. The ambushers were on the west, and
she knew her brother would circle them. Kid cut away in the opposite direction.

 
    
“Stay back here.” Micah ordered, dropping
down to crawl under the wagon. The smell of sulfur and gunpowder thickened the
air like a sick fog. Fear and worry spread like a prairie fire though her
blood. The horses were throwing their heads up, only long hours of training and
the locked wagon wheels were keeping them in place.

 
    
A familiar whinnying scream pulled her head
around. Men were shouting, guns were barking and Dawn, tied to the back of the
wagon, reared up. Her front legs flailed at the air and the muscles in her neck
convulsed as she pulled the tether free.

 
    
Then, the unthinkable happened. A bullet
struck the horse’s rump and her back legs crashed as her body toppled over.
Scarlett was already lurching for her as the mare fought to find her footing,
thick blood streaming down her leg to drip off her fetlock.

 
    
“Scarlett!” Micah was yelling, but she
didn’t slow until she caught the dangling rope and pulled, giving the horse
enough counter balance to make it back to her feet. A second and third bullet
hit the dirt at Scarlett’s feet, a fourth whizzing past her head so close, she
felt the sting of its passage.

 
    
Fury boiled inside of her. Rage that they’d
shoot the horse. Dawn limped, her hindquarters dragging as Scarlett tried to
guide her out of the line of fire. When another bullet scraped across the sweet
mare’s back, cutting deep. She collapsed again, sides heaving. Roaring filled
Scarlett’s ears, the hot, dry air around her shimmered swallowing the tears
leaking out of her eyes.

 
    
She let go of Dawn’s tether and turned to
the hills with their death dealing guns and the men who wielded them. Fire
sparked at her finger tips and a rush of heat pushed away from her, racing
across the plain, sizzling and scalding the rocks until they leapt off the
ground, flaming projectiles.

 
    
The first man’s scream fed the fire like
oxygen and blue flames burst out of his flesh.

 
    
Scarlett saw the flaming torch that had
been a man writhe upwards, his gun flying away from his hands as he frantically
tried to beat out the flames.

 
    
 
No
. Her mouth twisted, her eyes burned.
Greedy licks of fire began consuming her boots as she strode over the searing
ground, blackened ash appearing with every step. Bullets whizzed around her and
then a second man’s scream joined the first and a third as the entire hill to
the west overlooking the wagons burned.

 
    
She gagged on the stench of burning flesh,
but the fire had her now and she embraced it, wrapped it around her and sent it
to hunt. A horse raced up to her, booted feet slamming the ground as the rider
dropped off of it. Jimmy, her mind acknowledged, turning the flames away from
him as they leeched out hungrily. Twin guns flashed in his hands.

 
    
“Put it out!” He called, and though he was
next to her, his voice barely pushed past the roaring in her ears. “Cody’s up
there, Scar. Put it out!”

 
    
Cody.

 
    
Jimmy swore, pivoting and firing his gun.
Scarlett didn’t bother to look for what he was shooting at. Jimmy never missed.
The sickening thud of a bullet digging into flesh satisfied the fire. She
pulled back on it, tamping it down, but freed from its jesses, it fought her.
Tears scalded her cheeks as she jostled for control.

 
    
“Dammit, Scar. Pull it back.” Jimmy’s
impatience slapped at her and she saw the twisted look of regret as he pulled
back his fist. Yes, hit her. Knock her out. It was the only way.

 
    
But before Jimmy’s fist could land, another
figure filled her vision, strong, familiar hands picking her up. Sam’s mouth
slanted over hers and the heat inside of her exploded and recoiled.

 
    
Sam’s arms tightened around her, even as
she tried to pull away.

 
    
She would burn him.

 
    
No.

 
    
Her lungs swelled, screaming in protest.
Her mouth opened under Sam’s, the twisted, melted slag of the gun fell from her
hand. The flames on the hills coughed once, twice and then extinguished. He
broke the kiss, striding back to the wagon and behind it. Around them, gunfire
slowed, and then a man shrieked in dying agony.