Silver Nights With You (Love in the Sierras Book 1) (25 page)

Before the sun rose, Ellie and Sandy left for Gold Hill. Philip decided to join them, eager to put his theory to the test. The sunrise warmed the dewy grass until it looked like a field of glass splinters. After saying their goodbyes, Morgan took Val into the mountains to scout for his cattle. They were gone until the sun was high in the sky, and Lila used that time to familiarize herself with Morgan’s property,
their
property. The very thought made her smile. It was everything he described and more. She spent a good deal of time on the rose bushes flanking the house. They’d been overrun with weeds and were in serious need of deadheading.

Before long, she went through the orchard and plucked an armful of fruit, which she shared with her father. Argyle sparked a fire in the hearth and they heated a bit of leftover stew. She was just starting to wonder about the brothers when she heard them. She wandered over to the kitchen window and watched them usher two score of cattle into the pasture before the house. The front door creaked when she opened it, and she stood in its frame, watching.

“Well, I’ll be damned if that little Mormon wasn’t telling me the truth,” Morgan announced as he stopped his horse beside Val near the house and looked on at his tiny herd. “We’ve got all but six.”

He shifted in the saddle, stretching out the tightness in his back. Val passed him the canteen.

“I got to tell you, Morgan, I thought you’d been robbed blind for sure when you told me that you paid for cattle you hadn’t even seen yet,” Val said as he wiped his chin of dribble.

“I was worried, too,” Morgan returned. “But I’m glad to see that all decency has not abandoned the west.”

“Ho, Kelly boys!” came the call from Argyle Cameron, who had his aged arms bundled around some more firewood he’d managed to chop. “How is your back doing, Morgan?”

“A bit stiff, but no more than that,” he answered. As Argyle ran through a litany of questions about numbness and tingling Morgan rattled off answers that seemed to appease him.

“I’m pleased that there appears to be no spinal damage. Still, I don’t want you straining those muscles too much or you really will injure your spine.”

“I thought you said my spine was fine,” Morgan frowned.

“It is right now, but if you try to do too much before your muscles are ready for it, what do you think is going to pick up the slack left by your weakness? Your spine! You could just as easily injure it by not letting your muscles heal. Trust me.”

“I trust you, Doc. I’ll take it easy, I promise.”

“Good,” Argyle nodded crisply. “That means you’ll dismount this instant and find yourself a cool spot in the shade to rest in.”

Morgan laughed and angled his head in challenge. “Now, that’s not what I said I’d do.”

“You spent all day yesterday laboring on fence-building, and you’ve spent most of today on horseback. Your body needs rest, son.”

“We’ve got to finish the fence for the herd or all of yesterday’s work will be for nothing. After that, we’ll catch some more trout out of the stream for cooking.”

“Chopping and sawing wood for a second day in a row?” Argyle exclaimed. “No, no, no. That’ll damage you for sure. It’s way too soon for that. Val and I can saw logs just as easily.”

“I’ll not have everyone else handling my business for me…” Morgan began.

“Morgan Kelly!” Lila called as she crossed the grass toward the men. “I’ll not have you go and undo all of my healing over a fit of stupid pride. Do you think I kept vigil over you for four days and nights only to see you break your back on a few too many swings of an axe? Now, you get down off that horse and come fishing with me. We all have bellies that need filling and I am not going hungry simply because you feel that catching fish isn’t as manly an endeavor as chopping wood.”

Without another word she turned on her heel and strode toward the river. Morgan watched her long hair swish back and forth with each step.

“Sounds suspiciously like a wife,” Val said, and Morgan finally smirked.

“Sure does.” He looked at Argyle. “I think she’s spent too much time with Ellie.”

“And what a fine education!” the doctor beamed. “You’d best run along. God forbid you defy her after so bold a command.”

He looked over at Val. “We only need about a hundred feet of fence. Crossbars ought to be fine enough to keep them corralled until I’ve got the time to build something sturdier. Don’t overdo it, please. Just enough to keep them penned.”

“We’ve got this,” Val nodded. “Go catch some lunch.”

Collette looked back over her shoulder again, feeling an inconvenient twinge in her neck for the repetition of the action. Helene sat beside her on the rented buckboard and mimicked her mistress’s lead. She saw nothing and sent the seamstress a look that said so. Collette hissed a breath and batted the empty air in frustration. She knew they were being followed.

The bullwhip was coiled on the bench beside her. The sides of her thighs felt the familiar comfort of two loaded revolvers. They were well-protected, and any approaching threat would feel the sting of her ire if it came within the shot of a bullet. She knew the signs well, the tingling on the back of her neck, the ripples dancing up and down her spine as if God was reaching down to say “pay attention!”

In Carson, she had stopped to give the horses a rest and purchase a few licorice candies for Helene, and that’s where she saw him. Only two busy days passed since he put a bruise on her cheek, but the unmistakable deformation of his lips and the honed intuition of her nerves knew him for the man who had raised hell at the boarding house.

She had whipped the horses up to speed, hoping he didn’t recognize her before she could get out of town, but even as she followed Ellie’s directions toward Morgan’s homestead, the familiar weight of dread sank inside of her. Each time she’d looked back there had been nothing, but as she swiveled once more the warning in her gut finally felt its validation. There were three riders following in the distance.

She pulled one of the guns from her pocket and handed it to Helene.

“Here, take this,” she said. “There are three riders following us. I’m going to try to get to Morgan Kelly’s place before they come upon us, but it’s best you’re armed in case…well it’s best you’re armed. You keep calm now, and let me know if they get any closer.”

Helene nodded, her youthful, violet eyes looking serious and unafraid. Collette marveled at the youngster’s courage. God had put a lifetime’s worth of trials before her in twelve short years, and it was she who came out on top with a triumphant salute up to the sky. She cleared her mind of the memories and snapped the reins as hard as she could, working the horses as fast as their legs would carry them.

Morgan looked up at the sound. He’d been halfway through sanding the second post of what would be his and Lila’s bed frame. The mattress was due in on the freight wagon in two days, an order he’d secretly arranged for Ellie to put in on her way back to Gold Hill. He was going to surprise Lila with it as a wedding gift. Val was beside him, sanding the first post. Lila and Argyle were in the garden, the latter finally resigning to allow Morgan to work what needed doing. Lila dragged her father to the garden, where they worked at pulling weeds and tilling for the autumn crops. When the metallic clatter and sputter spoiled the peaceful air around them, all four looked up.

Lila and her father made their way to Morgan and Val, and all four squinted along the fence line road at the wagon racing toward them. If it weren’t for the gaudy hat with its frilly neck bow on the woman driving, they might have thought they were being threatened. Val shook his head.

“Look at how reckless she is. A maelstrom of spitfire,” he pronounced. “What did I tell you?”

Lila eyed the woman more closely. “That isn’t spitfire on her face. That’s fear.”

Val took another look then reached out and grasped Morgan’s upper arm. “She’s lost control of the team,” he said. “She can’t control the horses!”

Just then, Collette steered the pair beneath the arched gateway and into the drive, yanking back on the leads until the horses skidded to a stop nearly nose-to-nose with Valentine Kelly. He expelled the breath he didn’t known he’d been holding. She set the brake and jumped down from the wagon, Helene following swiftly after.

“What’s the matter?” Val asked, regaining his voice after the near trampling.

“Vee are being followed,” she said. “Three riders followed us from Carson. I don’t know who zee other two are, but one of zem is zee shooter from the boarding house.”

Lila felt her heart drop to her ankles at the declaration. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Collette said impatiently. “I saw him in zee Carson with my own eyes.”

Her skin pimpled with gooseflesh as she reached out to Morgan. His arms went around her instinctively, and he peered down the road as far as he could see.

“All right,” he declared. “They’re a ways off yet. Let’s get inside for cover and make a plan. There are only three of them and five of us. Val, gather everything we’ve got. Assemble the Winchester, collect all of our ammunition and meet me in the house. If they want a fight, they’ll get one, but we’re not going to make it easy on them.”

Val nodded, and Morgan began to usher them away from the road when Collette called out.

“What about zee wagon? Zee dresses for Miss Cameron?”

“Good God, woman!” Val railed. “What the hell do dresses matter at a time like this?”

“Bite your tongue, Valentine Kelly,” she returned. “Zay are only dresses to you, but zay are my livelihood. How did you feel when your mine collapsed? Hmm? When all of your hard work was lost? Hmm?” She tapped her chest furiously with her fingers. “Vell, my dresses are my livelihood. So, ZAT is how zay matter!”

“All right! All right!” he relinquished with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll take the wagon to the barn and we’ll unload it later if we survive the day. Better?”

“
Merci
,” she said sweetly as though she missed his sarcasm.

Val hopped into the wagon seat while Morgan herded everyone else inside. He had the women go upstairs, ordering them to lay flat on the ground and stay clear of any windows. As Lila rested her chin on the back of her hands, she prayed for everyone she loved, prayed for strength to protect them if she could.

They heard Val return from the barn, and the hushed tones of male conversation followed. Then, a silence so still and frightening filled the house as they waited, waited for death or life she did not know. She pulled the derringer from her boot and checked its four chambers. They were all loaded. Collette peered across the room into the corner where Helene laid peacefully.

“You still have za six-shooter, yes?”

Helene crawled forward on her knees and elbows and produced the gun, opening the barrel and spinning it expertly to demonstrate to Collette that she was prepared for battle.

“
Tres bien, ma petite belle
,” Collette said, giving the girl an affectionate hug.

Lila watched and when Collette looked at her, she spoke. “She’s a little young to be wielding a gun, isn’t she?”

There was no hesitation in the woman’s eyes as she responded. “She’s a little young to be worried about zee cruelty of evil men, too, isn’t she? But she’s had her share of it. Better to be armed zan to be tortured.”

“And this time,” came the little voice of Helene, “I won’t miss.”

“But killing a man,” Lila countered with a shake of her head. “It is damaging to your soul. Trust me, I know. A child should never have to experience that.”

“Yes, vell until God makes damned sure a child doesn’t, little Helene vill carry a gun. And trust me, you get a mean enough man and all of zee guilt in zee world will not darken the light of joy you feel for killing him.”

Lila had nothing to say in response so she continued with her prayers until the monotonous voice in her head drove her crazy, and she crept toward the window. Collette raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing? Monsieur Kelly said…”

“I don’t care what he said. I can’t just lay here without knowing what’s coming. Waiting on a thing is far worse than jumping on it.”

Collette chuckled, and Lila raised her head gingerly to peer out of the window. The lawn was clear. The forest was filled with a peaceful hush. The cattle grazed carelessly. No riders were seen anywhere along the fence. She was about to huff in frustration when a shadow moved among the trees, and she sucked in a breath. Instead of the gut-wrenching fear and anticipation she expected, she sighed in relief as David emerged from the woods and onto the lawn.

He looked around, confusion wearing his features.

“Hello?” he called.

“It’s David,” Lila called down the stairs as she dropped her gun and stood.

Morgan heaved a breath and sent an admonishing glare up the steps. “How would you know that if you were lying on the floor and keeping away from the windows?”

She didn’t answer and he preferred it that way at the moment. It needled him that David was prancing his horse around his property so casually. Something wasn’t right, and he didn’t know what it was. Val lowered the rifle and made a move toward the door, but Morgan held up a hand to stop him.

“What?” Val asked.

“I don’t know. I just don’t like it.”

“Come on, Morgan. It’s David. You’ve known him for almost two years!”

Logic got the best of his intuition and he nodded so Val could open the door. When David saw Val his face fell in relief.

“Thank God,” he said. “For a minute there you all had me worried.”

“David!” Val said in an urgent hush. “Get in here!”

David’s face creased with concern as he hopped off his horse and ran into the house. When Val shut and bolted the door, David looked around at the tension-filled bodies of the men, each filling his hands with firearms.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Why don’t you tell us,” Morgan said suspiciously. “I wasn’t under the impression you’d be riding out here for a friendly visit any time soon.”

David’s face filled with chagrin, and he looked sheepishly at the ground. “That’s actually why I came out here…to apologize to you and…to Lila.” He looked around, seeing no sign of her. “I’m surprised at the reception, though. I didn’t expect you all to turn so hostile.”

“It’s not you,” Val said. “We knew you were just angry.”

“Then what’s with the armory?”

“The seamstress came in a bit ago, swore she was being followed by Jared Percy and two other men,” Morgan answered.

“How would Jared know where you live?” David asked with worry. “Surely, he wouldn’t have discovered your identity and whereabouts in so short a time? He still thinks you’re me. Could she be mistaken?”

“I am
never
mistaken, monsieur,” came the angry voice from the top of the stairs. She carried on talking as she descended the steps carefully. “Zer were three men following me, and I saw zee mad man in Carson. Zer is no doubt!”

“I meant no disrespect, ma’am,” David said, doffing his hat. “I happened to travel on that same road. Two fellow travelers rode beside me until they turned toward Genoa. Perhaps it was us that you saw. Are you sure it was Jared Percy on the road or did you just see him in Carson?”

For the first time, her stormy eyes flitted with uncertainty. “Vell…the riders I saw on zee road were too far away to tell, and I wasn’t going to wait for zem to get closer.”

“Ah,” David sighed with relief. “That settles it then. It was me and my companions you saw.”

“Even still,” Morgan interjected. “I’m not too comfortable with the idea of Jared being as close as Carson City.”

“Could it be that he was maybe leaving town?” Lila said, finally coming down the stairs to join them.

“Anything is possible, I suppose,” Argyle said. “I would have expected him to be in Gold Hill, watching the boarding house if he were still interested in Lila.”

“So, maybe it’s over,” Lila said hopefully.

Morgan wanted to reassure her. He wanted to believe it himself, but his skin was itching with warning and he couldn’t quite put it to rest. Neither could he name it. Collette definitely saw Jared in town. She also saw David and his party on the road. The two incidents weren’t necessarily connected, but the coincidence seemed oddly timed. When he saw everyone looking at him to reinforce Lila’s statement, he forced a smile on his face.

“We can but hope.”

Everyone breathed easily and slumped against the nearest wall. Lila went to Morgan’s side and welcomed his arm around her. David stiffened slightly and then forced himself to relax. He ran a hand through his blonde hair before he spoke.

“I need to apologize to you both,” he said. “I’ll be honest with you. It’s hard to stand here and see this.” He motioned to their warm embrace. “And I still feel you both did wrong by me, but I was wrong to get so riled as to frighten Lila. I hope you two will be happy together, but…” he held up a cautioning hand, “don’t be surprised or offended if I don’t come around you for a while.”

“Thank you for that,” Lila said softly. “It means a lot to me.”

Val stepped forward to pat the man on the back. “Will you stay for supper?”

Morgan scowled at his brother, and David cleared his throat before answering.

“No, thank you. I’ll be getting back to Ellie’s for tonight, but I would like the doctor to examine my shoulder first if it’s no trouble. It’s been hurtin’ something fierce for the last two days.” He stuck his hat back on his head and looked at Argyle, who assented with a nod. The pair moved from the doorway and Collette walked past them all, reaching for the door handle. Val stopped her.

“What are you doing?”

“I am getting zee dresses, of course. Za threat has passed, has it not?”

Val looked at Morgan who shrugged and nodded. “Just be watchful.”

“I’ll help you then,” Val said to Collette, and she accepted his offer with a stiff nod of her head. They left through the front door and rounded the house, heading toward the stables. Morgan and Lila left, too, walking toward the front gate where he and Val had been working.

Collette glided with her chin raised and her nose pointed toward the clouds. Val couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Do you always walk like the ground stinks, or is it just when you’re around me?” he asked.

“If you are trying to gain a compliment by insulting me you have failed,
monsieur
.”

“How do you figure I’m aiming for a compliment?”

She sighed impatiently, as if it were clear as day. “You said I walk like za ground stinks when I’m around you, and you want me to say zat you don’t stink. You want me to say zat I walk like zees because your charm and good looks put me on edge. But you want me to say zat after you insult the way I walk?”

He tilted his head toward her and grinned boyishly. “My charm and good looks put you on edge?”

“Of course not,” she replied casually, adding a small chuckle for reinforcement. “I said zat is what
you
want me to say. Now, open za door, if you please.”

He frowned slightly, pulled open the barn door and froze. Collette watched him stare inside before she began to push past him.

“Collette,” he said harshly. “Run for the house. Now!”

Before she could even think about moving, a pair of arms dropped around her, shoving a thick roll of linen over her mouth as a gag. She railed against the hands as the man pushed her chest up against the stable wall and tied the gag. Once his hands were free, he grabbed her by the arms and threw her to the ground. Val reached for his sidearm and the raspy, snake-like voice spoke from inside the barn.

“Go ahead, hotshot, and reach for it,” Jared said. “You’ll both die right now. If you stay calm and coolheaded, she’ll live.”

Val looked from the gun aimed at his face down to Collette, her face shoved into the ground while the man on top of her tied her wrists and ankles together. When it was clear that he had no designs on violating her, Val raised his hands in surrender. Collette rolled onto her side. Her feathery hat was pushed toward the back of her head, the flashy bow still covering her neck. Violet-blue eyes locked onto his and he saw no fear, only anger.

Jared turned him around, grabbed the pistol from his holster and put both barrels in between his shoulder blades. Bobby climbed up onto his horse and uncoiled his second rope, the longer rope, the lynching rope, and nodded at Jared.

David worked his arm back and forth as Argyle instructed while the latter pressed beneath the shoulder blade to examine the muscles. He focused on his task and never once looked David in the eye.

“You don’t care for me much, do you, Doc?” David asked. “Not even in the beginning.”

Argyle kept his face down as he worked on the examination. “Some people are blinded by flattery, others by affection or friendship, or grand gestures.” He stopped and looked up, one pair of blue eyes sizing up the other. “I, however, am not one of those people. I know a rat when I see one. You’re right, Mr. Gardner. I have never cared for you. I don’t care for you now, but your arm and shoulder are fine. If they are still troubling you when you return to Ellie’s I suggest a hot salt bath.”

“Let me show you what Val and I are working on,” Morgan said to Lila as he led her toward the bed posts. He lifted one and ran his fingers over the scrolled carvings he’d added around the base. “We’ll have four just like this and a soft mattress in between. This is my wedding gift to you.”

She smiled and touched the wood where his fingers had.

“David Gardner!”

They heard the call and turned to see Jared Percy standing in front of the house, shielded behind a disarmed Val. Another man sat on a horse beside them, fingering a rope in one hand, holding a cocked six-shooter in his other, and he was pointing it right at Morgan and Lila. Morgan immediately stepped in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Morgan,” Val called. “I didn’t see him coming. He was waiting for us in the stables. They tied Collette up and threatened to kill her if I took a shot.”

“It’s all right, Val,” Morgan said calmly, though his heart was pummeling his ear drums. “Are you hurt at all?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“Shut up, yous!” Jared called. “Now listen up, David. I was of a mind to kill both you and the girl there, but I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you and your brother here, and she can live. If you refuse and it’s a fight you want, I’ve got no problem killing everyone. Unfortunately, you robbed me of a brother. So, I’m afraid I’m going to have to do the same to you, but it’s your call whether just two men die today or if it’s two men and two women.”

“If it’s justice you’re after,” Lila said, stepping out from behind Morgan. “Then serve it upon me.”

“Lila, don’t,” Morgan warned, moving to cover her again.

“What would you have me do, Morgan?” she whispered with a tearful voice. “Would you have me watch you and Val die for my sins and carry on with a happy life?”

“I would rather die than watch you die,” he whispered back, the ache in his chest tightening around his throat.

“Would you condemn Val, too?”

When he didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, she spoke again to Jared Percy.

“This man is not David Gardner. His name is Morgan Kelly, and he had no part in your brother’s death. He was not even on the road that day. I killed your brother.”

“You don’t know that!” Morgan hollered, then turned panicked eyes back to Jared. “Two men were shot that day. One by Lila. One by David Gardner. I understand your thirst for justice. I’m feeling it now as you hold a gun to
my
brother’s back. But shouldn’t you be sure who you’re after first?”

Jared didn’t handle confusion well, and the frustration was written all over his face. “You know what I think? I think you ought to reach down and move that pistol out of your holster and throw it as far away as you can manage.” Morgan didn’t move. “Go on!”

He hated giving up his weapon, knowing that he’d be completely defenseless if the tides turned in his favor. “I’ll give up my gun when you let Collette and Lila leave.”

“You don’t understand how it works,” Jared responded. “I’m the one calling the shots. You have my word that as soon as your gun is tossed away, I’ll let them go.”

Morgan had the urge to snort at the outlaw’s sense of honor, but he wisely remained silent, hoping and praying that David and Argyle were aware of what was going on and that they were moving to intervene before any one of them were killed. Slowly, he lifted the gun from his hip and threw it far over the fence.