Sagebrush Bride (45 page)

“Aside
from that,” he added, “they seem to go out of their way to dip their heels into
water—tracks stay wet for a long time afterward... more easily identified
that way.” He hauled on the reins abruptly, something catching his gaze in the
distance.

In
the next instant, he’d unsheathed his Spencer carbine and was holding it before
him in his lap, inspecting it to be sure it was loaded. When Cutter had
completed his inspection, he looked up again, studying the sky in the distance.
“Unless I miss my guess,” he said, “that’s them ahead.” Lifting the barrel of
his carbine, he pointed out a column of smoke that coiled upward like a wicked
serpent into the graying sky.

Elias
shook his head. “Don’t make sense,” he muttered in puzzlement. “Why would they
chance a fire? Seems if they’re gonna shanghai someone, they’d make real sure
not to get caught.”

Cutter
gave him a swift glance, his black eyes gleaming savagely. “Makes all the sense
in the world,” he countered. “They didn’t count on you riding with me, Elias.
There are three of ‘em, aren’t there? Should have been only one of us. Namely,
me.” His mouth set in a grim line. “Reckon they figure even I’m no match
against three—not alone... and not in an ambush.”

“Think
they know we’re here?”

Cutter
shook his head. “Not yet... too busy gloating, I suspect. Don’t think they
expected us to sniff them out so easily. Judging by the signs they’ve left for
us to follow, they think they’re baiting an idiot.” He inclined his head toward
a small grove of trees that grew to the right of them—a procession of
them that marched halfway up the hillock from where the smoke unfurled behind.
“You wouldn’t happen to know how to climb, would ya?”

Elias
nodded, though his expression turned baffled.

“Good.
‘Cause I sure as hell don’t aim to give those sons a bitches what they’re after
tonight.” A chill black silence surrounded them in that moment, and then he
added, “Not till I know what it is.”

“Now,
McKenzie, hold on.” Elias shook his head adamantly, coughing discreetly into
his hand. “You can’t mean to leave Katie and Elizabeth in their camp all
night—ain’t no telling what they could do to ‘em!”

Cutter
gave Elias a look of lethal assurance, beginning to wonder if he should make
Elias turn back. The old man had taken great care to keep his fatigue to
himself, but it was becoming apparent he wasn’t up to snuff. Helluva pair they
made. “That’s what they’re counting on us thinking,” he answered finally. “But
like I said... I don’t aim to oblige.” He pointed his carbine casually at the
hillock in question. “If that were me on the other side, I’d have set up camp
so that I could see everything coming over for miles, knowing they wouldn’t be
able to spot me until they’ve cleared the hill. Way I see it, you can be damned
certain they’ll have their barrels trained on us the moment we charge over.” He
pointed the carbine in turn to the thicket of trees at their right. “Instead,
we’ll ride up through those, climb the bastards, and then spend the night watching
every move they make.” He gave Elias a cold, calculating look. “Maybe they’ll
make a mistake, maybe they won’t—but I don’t aim to risk either Elizabeth
or Katie by getting my eyebrows blown off.”

Cutter’s
glance returned to the hillock, but his expression was unreadable, as though he
were searching beyond it. “No, we’ll play our own game,” he said abruptly. “And
if they lay a hand on either of ‘em... I’ll make each and every damned one of
them regret they ever took their first breaths.”

Sensing
Cutter meant every word in the most violent way, Elias shuddered at the grim
promise he saw in Cutter’s black expression. In spite of the deep, revealing
shadows under Cutter’s eyes, and the sweat that rolled from his temples,
marking his fatigue, Elias could sense the iron will and determination in him.

As
well as the danger.

As
he’d decided when he’d first laid eyes upon Cutter McKenzie, half-breed or not,
he was one man Elias wanted on his side, not otherwise. He gave a conciliatory
nod, not that he felt he’d had much choice in the decision. The tone of
Cutter’s voice didn’t invite question. “All right, McKenzie... reckon you know
best.” Once again, he took in the flush of Cutter’s face, a flush that had
persisted despite the fact that the sun had long since begun to set and the air
had long cooled, and he worried. “You all right?” he asked guardedly, watching
Cutter’s expression. Something wasn’t right about the man. Something he
couldn’t put his finger on. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the man was ailing.
But Cutter hadn’t said a single word to indicate it was so.

Tipping
his head, Cutter swiped die back of the arm that held his carbine against his
forehead, soaking up the sweat with his sleeve. “Fine,” he replied brusquely,
shrugging off the question. He grimaced at the pain that shot through his foot
as he removed it from the stirrup to hang free. “You sure you’re up to this,
old man?”

“Much
as you are,” Elias countered. “That is my granddaughter out there,” he reminded
Cutter.

Cutter
nodded, knowing they were at an impasse. “All right,” he said, “let’s just get
our butts into that thicket before someone spots us.”

Katie
clung to Elizabeth’s neck, shrieking as Magnus tried to pry them apart. The
carnal look in his eyes panicked her, but she didn’t intend to be a willing
victim. Vowing to make his violation of her person the most difficult conquest
he’d ever attempted, Elizabeth twisted her arm out of his grip. And he wasn’t
going to touch her in front of Katie! That, she swore. “Let go of me, you
swine!”

He
smiled maliciously. “See you found your tongue finally, huh?”

“Haven’t
you any conscience at all?” Elizabeth spat, ignoring his taunt. “No heart?
You’re frightening her!”

Magnus
merely laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself, bitch. I don’t aim to touch a hair on
that head of yours. Pretty as it is... turns my gut.’’ He made a motion with
his chin, grinning through his beard. “Now, Colyer over there might feel
differently. Fact is, he might even like to even the score a bit.”

Elizabeth
followed his gaze to where Colyer stood, his back against a tree. She couldn’t
see his face at all, just his obscure silhouette. Still, there was an aura
about him that sent a quiver of apprehension down her spine.

Tamping
down her hysteria, she turned again to Magnus, her tone as calm as she could
manage, for Katie’s sake. “If it’s his battle, then let him fight it for
himself. Please... let us go... ”

She
gave Colyer a scathing glance, then, feeling herself failing in that tactic,
she turned to plead with O’Neill, who was standing faithfully at Magnus’ side.
“How can you bear to hurt an innocent child? How can you involve us? Have
mercy!” She tried to capture his eyes, to communicate with him, but he
steadfastly avoided her. “Coward!” she spat. Feeling defeated, she turned again
to Magnus, her voice breaking yet full of contempt. “And what do you have to
gain in all this?” she spat. “Surely something.”

“Dead
men don’t carry tales,” he said cryptically, slanting a glance toward O’Neill.
O’Neill flinched visibly.

“My
God, what cowards you are—all of you! Are you so afraid to face Cutter
McKenzie alone that you would have to use a child for your shield?”

Lunging
forward, his face red with fury, Magnus gripped her again by the arm and shoved
her down to the ground. Hard. “Bitch! Shut the hell up before you earn yourself
and that noisy kid an early grave!”

Clutching
a screaming Katie before her with one hand, Elizabeth tried to break their fall
to the ground with the other. Her lips trembled as they formed the beginning of
the question that had haunted her all day. So many times she’d stifled it,
afraid to ask it with Katie in earshot. “Just tell me... w-what do you plan to
do with us?”

Magnus
arched a brow at her. “Well, now, why don’t we just wait and see,” he taunted.

Elizabeth
shook her head slowly, swallowing the lump that rose in her throat. Her eyes
pricked with tears, but she lifted her chin bravely. She had absolute faith
Cutter would come for them, but she loathed the man for using Katie as his
decoy. “You’re nothing but a coward, Mr. Sulzberger.”

“I
said shut up, ya breed-lovin’ bitch! O’Neill, tie her hands and feet! Behind
her back. Now!”

Katie’s
shrieks intensified at his command, and she clutched wildly at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth’s heart twisted painfully.

“And
you,” Magnus barked, pointing a finger at Elizabeth, “get that sniveling brat
to shut the hell up!”

From
his perch in the treetop, Cutter could see almost everything. He kept his
carbine trained on Colyer, knowing that until he determined Magnus’ motive,
Colyer, of the three, had the biggest ax to grind.

It
had taken every ounce of his will not to squeeze down on the trigger when
Magnus had shoved Elizabeth to the ground. Gutless bastard that he was. He
liked using that muscle of his with women and babies. Cutter shook his head
suddenly, the image of Sulzberger sweeping down on a small group of Cheyenne
children, running his bayonet through the smallest of the band, coming back to
his mind with sickening clarity.

The
barrel swiveled suddenly to Magnus.

Sweat
streamed from Cutter’s temples and down the sides of his face as he fought the
command of his soul to squeeze. The aftermath of Sand Creek was so vivid in
that moment that he tasted the metallic tang of his own blood as he battled his
way through the images.

Women.
Children. Mutilated. Magnus and his boys coming across a small child, not much
older than Katie, buried in the sand. They pulled out their pistols and shot
her, then dragged her out and shot her again, leaving her for dead. Christ,
he’d never wanted to kill more than he had in that instant... as he did now.

The
only thing keeping him from it was the knowledge that once he pulled the
trigger, there would be hell to pay. Wasn’t a breed on American soil who could
spill full-white blood and not end up in the skookum-house. If they were lucky
they might get an unlawful trial before the string-up. If not—hell! He
hadn’t lived as long as he had by being careless!

His
gaze shifted abruptly from his target to Elias Bass, who was perched in a
branch slightly above him. If there was business to settle, then the last thing
he needed was witnesses. He’d known good men, half-breed men, who were hired by
John Law to do their dirty work, and then the minute the deed was done, Johnny
washed his hands.

Only
this time, it didn’t appear as though he was going to have much choice. Again
the barrel shifted... to Colyer, his vision blurring. Squeezing his eyes shut
against the pain in his foot, Cutter blinked hard, turning his head to regard
Elias, who was staring a hole through him. Damn, what was wrong with him?

“McKenzie?
You all right?”

“Fine,”
Cutter snarled, his gaze shifting abruptly back to Colyer. Muttering an oath,
he watched in silence as all three men picked up their gear and walked away,
leaving Elizabeth and Katie alone.

Elias
observed Cutter a moment longer, and then, without another word, turned to
watch as Magnus and his men set up camp about forty feet away from where
Elizabeth remained on the downward slope. The area where she sat was devoid of
trees, carpeted only with tall grass, while at Magnus’ back there was another
thicket, just like the one in which Cutter was concealed.

In
spite of the fact that Elizabeth was sandwiched between them, Cutter still had
a clear shot at Magnus... if only it weren’t getting so damned dark... if only
his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.