My Heart Stood Still (Sisters Of Mercy Flats 2) (17 page)

“Run this down to the telegraph office.” Ferris Goodman handed the deputy a piece of paper with a scribbled note on it. “Have Ladeen send it off to every lawman in a hundred-mile area.”

The deputy glanced at the brief message.

IF A NUN ACCOMPANIED BY A BLACK AND A CROW INDIAN IS SPOTTED IN YOUR AREA, APPREHEND IMMEDIATELY. WOMAN HAS GREEN EYES, SMALL STATURE. WANTED IN HOWARD COUNTY FOR CATTLE THEFT AND JAILBREAK.

“You think this is really gonna help, Ferris? Cortes and his men have been chasing the three of them for days, and the gold is still in their hands.”

“No, I’m sending it ’cause I don’t have another blessed thing to do, Ben!” Ferris mocked.

“All right, all right, you don’t have to be so cranky. Seems to me a black man, a nun, and an Indian traveling together shouldn’t be that hard to spot. If you ask me, which nobody ever does, that’d be a sight hard to overlook.”

“Well, now, if you’d stop working your jaws and think about it, Ben, don’t you just suppose those three might have enough brains to split up so’s they wouldn’t be so noticeable?”

Ben frowned. “Well, I allow that’s possible—I guess.”

Snorting, Ferris stalked back to his desk. “That’s mighty big of you, Ben. Mighty big.”

Ben’s chin jutted. “So, I ain’t perfect.”

“You gonna go send those telegrams, or do you plan to take root where you’re standin’?”

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’,” Ben mumbled, starting out the door. “But for the life of me I cain’t see what good it’ll do. Ain’t no one seen hide nor hair of those three and I don’t likely think they’re gonna.”

Creed stepped from the medicine lodge the next morning and walked straight to Quincy’s tent.

Thoughts of Anne-Marie continued to haunt him. He found himself looking forward to their daily matches of wit. The woman was not only beautiful, she was intelligent. It was not the keenness of a con artist that attracted him, although he found that aspect of her intriguing, but rather it was her appeal as an independent and rational woman that fascinated him. He knew many women, but none could match this one.

Quincy glanced up from cleaning his rifle when Creed entered his tepee and grinned. “Brother Walker. How’s the good sister this morning?”

Seating himself opposite his friend, Creed lifted his hands to the fire. “She is anxious to move on.”

“Is she now?” Quincy mused. “And what about you?”

Creed’s frown deepened as his gaze centered on the bandage wrapped tightly around his thigh. To all who asked he vowed he was recovering, but his force was slow to return. “The wound doesn’t want to heal.”

“I wouldn’t be too concerned.” Quincy spat on the rifle stock and rubbed harder. “Spirit Cloud says these things take time.”

“I do not have time.” Creed’s tone was short now. “We have been delayed too long as it is.”

“I could ride ahead, deliver the woman for you,” Quincy offered. “By the time I return you will have your strength back.”

“No, it’s too dangerous to travel alone with such a large amount of gold.”

Spitting again on the rifle butt, Quincy polished it to a deep shine with his sleeve.

“And there is the matter of the men waiting outside the camp,” Creed noted.

“Hmmm.” Quincy glanced up. “Haven’t figured out a way to escape the illustrious outlaws yet? Don’t figure that noodle-brain Cortes will give us much trouble, but the warriors say the gang is dug in outside the camp.”

“Cortes is a headache, not a threat,” Creed admitted.

“What does Bold Eagle suggest we do?”

“I don’t want to involve Bold Eagle any deeper in this matter. The tribe is small, and the people have already endangered their welfare by taking us in.”

“You don’t think Bold Eagle would insist on helping? You two are blood brothers, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I’m reluctant to accept my brother’s help.” There would be no question of Bold Eagle’s loyalty if Creed chose to ask.

“One moonless night, and Cortes and his men could disappear, never to be heard from again,” Quincy mused. “Two strong braves with freshly honed blades could take care of that problem.”

“Killing is never the answer. I will find other ways to evade my enemies.”

“Hmmm, Anne-Marie’s safety wouldn’t have anything to do with this, would it? I thought you would be more concerned about our mission than about her.” Lifting the barrel of the gun, Quincy peered through it.

Creed pitched a twig on the fire. “I am concerned for all who are involved.”

“We could always leave the woman in Bold Eagle’s care and then come back for her later. That way all we’ll have to worry about is the gold.”

“No,” Creed objected shortly. “The woman would not accept it, and I have given my word that once the gold is delivered, I will personally see her to Mercy Flats. It will be far wiser to enlist her help in this matter. She can be, at this point, a help. She is working on a plan and thinking of a way for us to elude the enemy as we speak. I figured if anyone can get us past that gate without detection, she can.”

Glancing up, Quincy frowned. “Are you serious?”

“She is wise in the ways of deception,” Creed maintained. “She has given her promise to help.”

“But we’ve never had to ask a woman’s help before—”

Creed’s eyes fixed on the fire and he interrupted. “We have not been in so grave a situation before.” Silence fell between the two men.

Then Quincy noted, “I have never known Creed Walker to rely on anyone, much less a woman. Are you convinced there isn’t another reason you’re willing to jeopardize the mission by bringing her along—asking for her help?”

Creed fixed his eyes on the fire. “If you are implying that anything personal exists between the woman and me, you are wrong. I’m thinking of what is best for all, nothing more.”

Quincy released a low whistle. “Brother Walker, just how far will you go to help this woman?”

There is nothing between the woman and me,
Creed mentally repeated later when he limped across the open communal area to Bold Eagle’s lodge.

Bold Eagle opened his eyes when Creed sat across the fire from him.

“Your wound is better, my brother.”

Creed nodded. “Soon I will be able to leave to complete my mission.”

“This is good. And the woman?”

“She is eager to leave also, my brother.”

“This is also good.”

They sat for a while in companionable silence. Their shared friendship was peaceful. As a courtesy, Creed waited for Bold Eagle to break the quiet.

“What does my brother wish my warriors to do concerning Storm Rider’s enemies waiting in the trees outside our camp?”

“I haven’t decided the men’s fate,” Creed admitted. “If Cortes’s gang is killed, more will come to take their place, and I fear for the safety of your tribe.”

“Do not worry,” Bold Eagle scoffed. “The Apache are strong. Tell me what must be done and it will be, for I owe you my life as well as the lives of my people.”

How could he explain the power of the white man? Creed had listened to Bold Eagle recount the many raids his band had made against the white settlers. How did he tell this noble man that his days were numbered? That when this war ended there would be more and more whites encroaching on the vast Texas plains? That if the outlaws were eliminated, more would take their place? Someday Bold Eagle’s band would vanish like the large herds of buffalo that once dominated the plains.

“I don’t want anyone uselessly killed,” Creed repeated.

“Then we must trick them,” Bold Eagle decided.

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Bold Eagle nodded. “I will help think of a plan, my brother.”

“That’s good—you are wise in your ways. And the woman will help.”

“The woman?” Bold Eagle bit down on the stem of his pipe, hard. “Has my hearing left me?”

“No, your hearing is fine. The woman is cunning—like the fox. She can be a big help.”

“She is bother, like the wolf,” Bold Eagle said when Creed rose to leave. “Better my hearing left.”

Late that evening Creed returned to Anne-Marie’s tepee. She had been moved from the medicine tent and into her tepee where a vat of hot water awaited her. She had finished bathing when Creed’s tap sounded at the flap.

She was sitting close to the fire braiding her auburn tresses. The flames from the fire caused her hair to come alive with a fire of its own. Her borrowed doeskin dress clung damply to her soft curves in a way the black nun’s robe never had, and Creed felt a disturbing tightening in his stomach. He had seen her in various conditions, but tonight she looked like a wife waiting for her husband.

For a moment their eyes met in mutual awareness until a fire log broke in two, shattering the stillness.

Seating himself beside her, he crossed his legs, focusing on the flames. “You look very pretty tonight. That worn blouse from Eulalie—it does not reflect your eyes, the color of sweet-smelling grass that blooms in the spring.”

Glancing away, she remained silent and then said softly, “Creed… ”

He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. “Soon this will be over.” His fingers lightly traced the outline of her face. “You’re feeling better tonight? Our God shined on you—you could have been… ”

“I know. And I know how irrationally I acted. I’m sorry.”

“Irrational you’re not, but leaving was a mistake. Promise me you won’t try anything like that again.”

“You have my word.” Lowering her eyes to the flames, she admitted, “You’ve saved my life three times now. I will forever be in your debt.”

“It was my duty.” His tongue twisted in the lie, because he knew that he had gone after her the third time for a reason beyond that of simple obligation.

“Well, thank you again,” she said quietly.

“Have you come up with a plan yet?”

“I’m working on it. We could always have Bold Eagle’s warriors simply tie those outlaws up until we can get away.”

Creed silently laughed at the idea of Bold Eagle’s warriors tying men up, but his features remained somber as he answered her, again surprised at her gentleness even toward those who would harm her. “Too risky. They would only break loose and follow.” His hand was drawn to a lock of her hair and her eyes closed when he gently wound the silk around his finger. “Cortes would send others to retaliate for their humiliation. We need a more clever way to leave without bringing harm to either ourselves or my brothers.”