The Marshal Meets His Match (12 page)

Reluctantly she turned Sandy toward town. They’d ridden east through the foothills bordering the northern edge of Little Creek and were only a couple of miles from town if they dropped down and took the road in. Riding through the thickly forested area that lined the road, Sandy slowed, pricked his ears and lifted his nose, scenting the air.

“Someone else around, fella?” Meri asked quietly, letting him have his head. She hadn’t expected to be followed like she always was on her ranch, but her horse had heard something. Maybe Franks had sent someone after her.

Sandy slowly stepped to the edge of the trees, pausing to peer intently down the road away from town.

Two men were standing between their horses in the bend of the road about one hundred and fifty yards away from Meri. Both men had their hats pulled low, shading their faces, and from their body language they seemed to be arguing. Meri could hear their raised voices but was unable to understand what they were saying.

“So that’s what you heard. I wonder what their problem is?” As Meri whispered this to Sandy, the taller of the two men grabbed the other man by the collar, yanking him off his feet and shaking him as he yelled and shook his other fist in the poor man’s face.

“Hey!” Meri shouted, simultaneously pulling her rifle and nudging Sandy toward the men.

The smaller man, his back to Meri, nearly fell as the larger man dropped him and shoved him away roughly. He recovered his balance, and both men ducked their heads and scrambled onto their horses. Wheeling their mounts away, the smaller man glanced over his shoulder as he spurred his horse.

Meri saw a flash and something whistled past her ear.

Chapter Eight

C
rack!

Sandy flinched at the loud report and sidestepped, saving them from the second bullet that whizzed past. Meri dropped the reins and jerked her own rifle to her shoulder, snapping off a quick shot before the men disappeared around the bend.

“Get ‘em, Sandy!”

Scooping up the reins in one hand, she held her rifle ready in the other as Sandy leaped forward into a full run after the men. They had a good head start on her, and as she rounded the bend, they were already rounding the next curve in the road. Meri knew a straight stretch was around that corner and thought she could gain on them by then for a better look, but when she reached it, they were nowhere in sight. Sandy slid to a halt at Meri’s signal, snorting impatiently.

“I know, I wanted to catch them, too, but they must have left the road and could be lying in wait for us now. I’ll be in plenty of hot water if Faither finds out I followed them at all!”

Suddenly uneasy over the whereabouts of the two men, Meri turned Sandy and they flew back toward town. They were within a half mile of the edge of town when Meri saw two riders racing toward her. Wheeling the palomino sharply, she dived off the edge of the road into the trees. Flinging herself out of the saddle almost before Sandy had stopped moving, Meri flipped his reins over a limb and ducked down behind a tree. Heart racing, she steadied her rifle, waiting as the two riders neared the spot where she’d flown off the road.

She heard the horses slide to a halt and a familiar voice spoke. “Miss Meri, is that you?”

Meri closed her eyes, resting her forehead against the tree trunk as she drew a much-needed breath into grateful lungs.
Jonah.
Her pulse began to slow its frantic pounding.

A second voice commanded, “Come out where we can see you, but be careful about it!”

Wyatt.

Meri groaned quietly as her pulse surged into panic mode again.
No! He’s the marshal.
She corrected herself.
I will not call him Wyatt.

Willing her racing heart to cease with the acrobatics, she retrieved Sandy. Mounting, she gulped another steadying breath then ducked back through the brush to the road.

Two guns were hastily reholstered as Jonah spoke. “I thought that looked like you an’ Sandy. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” Something brushed Meri’s ear, and she flinched at the unexpected sensation. Trying to recover a facade of unconcern, she felt around her ear and discovered a twig snagged in her hair.

“If you’re fine, would you care to explain why we heard gunshots, and why you’re running and hiding?” All warmth had disappeared from the marshal’s hazel eyes, leaving only cold steel behind.

“I am not running and hiding!” Steely eyes bored into her as she untangled the stubborn twig and tossed it aside. “Okay, fine! I was hiding. Now, will you quit glaring at me?”

“I’ll decide whether to quit glaring when you finish answering my question.” His eyes never wavered from hers.

“I was headed back to town when I saw two men on the road having an argument. When they started fighting, I yelled at them. When they saw me, they took off. One, or both of them, fired a couple of shots.”

Both men inhaled sharply.

“I fired back and chased them…”

“You
chased
them! After they
shot
at you? Have you lost what little sense you may have ever had?” The marshal’s glare sizzled as he growled in her face.

Meri blinked. When had he gotten so close? And how was it possible for him to be so close when they were both still on horseback? She fought the impulse to move Sandy away from the growling marshal and instead leaned toward him. “Yes, I
chased
them!”

He copied her movement, leaning in until she felt his breath on her face. He held her eyes for several breaths without blinking. In a low dangerous tone, he asked gently, “Why?”

Meri barely heard him over the pulse thudding in her ears. “Because…”

Her brain stuttered to a stop. Why
had
she chased them? At the moment she couldn’t remember. His nearness was making it nearly impossible to think. “Because they made me mad?” she finished lamely, feeling as foolish as she no doubt sounded.

He blinked and warmer hazel softened the steeliness. Settling back in his saddle, he looked at her. “You chased them because they made you…mad?” He sounded as if he were choking.

A strangled sound turned Meri’s attention to Jonah. The red-faced man coughed out another funny sound before breaking into belly-deep laughs. What in the world was wrong with him? A similar noise from the marshal swiveled Meri’s head back to look at him. His lips were clenched, but at the look of perplexed confusion on her face, his own laugh escaped.

Meri’s gaze bounced between the two men, a frown creasing her forehead. After half a minute the laughter subsided, leaving grins in its wake. “What is so funny?”

Wyatt shook his head. “I’m not sure, exactly. Just remind me never to make you mad.”

“Unless, of course, you
want
her to chase you!” Jonah chuckled.

Meri felt the color flare in her cheeks as the marshal grinned at her. “I might not mind her chasing me, so long as she wasn’t shooting at the time.”

“If you think for one minute, Marshal, that I’d chase you—”

He interrupted her. “My name is Wyatt, not Marshal, and back to the issue at hand—show us where you found those men and recount what happened from the beginning, please?” Grabbing the offered distraction, Meri led them back in the direction she’d come, explaining what had happened. “When I saw you two, I thought they had circled around and were coming back. I got off the road and under cover.” Meri pointed out where she’d first seen the two men.

When they arrived at the spot in the road where the men had stood, Jonah dismounted and studied the ground. “Why don’t you take Miss Meri back to town, Captain? I’ll follow these tracks and see where they lead.”

Meri caught a look that passed between the two men and wondered what it meant. “I’m riding with you two. Three pairs of eyes will see more than one pair.”

Jonah swung onto the back of his horse. “I was tracking before you were born, Miss Meri, and although the captain here is pretty good, I’ve still got him beat. Besides, it’s time for you to get back to town. Your pa is gonna be wonderin’ where you are. He won’t be happy with me if he finds out I let you ride back alone after this little excursion.”

“He doesn’t need to know about this. He’s got enough on his mind right now.”

Jonah gave her a stern look. “I’m not keeping this a secret, Miss Meri. The men need to know to keep an eye out for these two.”

“I’ll take you up on your offer, Jonah, but be careful. Fire a couple of shots if you get into trouble, and I’ll come running. Otherwise come see me when you get back to town, and let me know what you find. Coming, Miss McIsaac?”

Meri reluctantly turned her horse toward town, thinking about the unspoken signal that had passed between the two men. “How long have you and Jonah known each other?”

He frowned, thinking. “Almost eleven years, now. He was stationed at the first fort I was transferred to after graduating from West Point.” A slight grin quirked his lips. “I was a freshly minted second lieutenant full of book learning and no real knowledge of anything west of the Mississippi. The major over the fort had dealt with know-it-all West Point graduates before. He had a habit of quietly assigning Master Sergeant Jonah Chacksfield the job of keeping an eye on those brash, overeager officers. They outranked him, but Jonah had a way of subtly reining in bad judgment and pointing out a better way without appearing to question an officer’s authority, all the while making the idea seem like their own.”

“Did he do that to you?”

“More than once. I thought I knew all about Indians after growing up playing with my Cherokee cousins in the wilds of Rocky Gap, Virginia. I could sneak through those woods with the best of them and was more than a fair tracker.” A grimace crossed his face. “My first encounter with a band of Apaches taught me how much I
didn’t
know. I came close to getting my men killed that day. It was due to Jonah’s guidance and God’s mercy we survived that encounter.”

They rode in silence for a several minutes. Meri could envision a fresh-faced young army officer decked out in crisp uniform with shiny buttons and a cavalry saber swinging from his hip. She wondered how many female hearts he had conquered. Something he’d said snagged her attention. “You don’t look Indian.” The words were out before she could catch them.

Narrowed hazel eyes turned toward her. “What is an Indian supposed to look like?”

Meri blushed and shrugged. “I just meant you don’t have dark eyes or black hair.”

“My grandmother was full-blood Cherokee, but I take after the Scottish side of the family.” He grinned at her. “And I can see you have another question. What is it?”

Meri felt relieved that she hadn’t upset him with her impulsive question and then wondered why she cared. “You said you grew up with your Cherokee cousins in Virginia. Weren’t the Cherokee Indians removed west?”

“Most of them were, but a few escaped into the Appalachian Mountains. My family owned their own property farther north. Indians that actually owned their own land instead of living on communal grounds were by law allowed to stay.”

Meri thought about her parents and the boatload of others evicted from their homes in Scotland, and the Indians evicted from their lands and homes in America. Two different nations and cultures, both forever changed because of greed coupled with power.

“You’re awfully quiet. Does my being part Cherokee bother you?”

Meri thought she detected a hint of worry. “No.” He eyed her for a second, and she looked him square in the eyes. “It doesn’t bother me.”

The answer seemed to satisfy him, because he smiled slightly. “Good.”

Something shifted in the air between them and, growing uncomfortable, Meri turned her focus back to the ride. She was thankful he seemed content to let the silence continue.

They reached the saloon at the edge of town and turned down the street to the livery stable.

“Thank you for coming out to check on me.” She didn’t understand why a simple thank-you should make her feel so nervous—vulnerable.

He touched the brim of his hat in a snappy salute. “Just doin’ my job, ma’am.”

Franks greeted them at the door of the livery stable and asked about the gunshots. He listened soberly as the marshal recounted the details while Meri unsaddled Sandy. Turning to her afterward, Franks scolded, “I shore is glad de good Lawd was watchin’ out for you, but you might’a stretched his protection a bit far when you chased after dem fellas! Don’ you go doin’ a fool stunt like da’ again, you hear?”

Wyatt turned his horse into a stall beside Sandy. “Don’t go riding alone out of town until we figure out what this was all about and catch those men, either.”

The thought of being cooped up in town unable to ride when and where she pleased was smothering. “I shouldn’t have chased after those two men, but I’m not going to stop riding just because of them.”

“While you’re in this town, you’ll do what
I
say.” His eyes were turning stormy again, she noticed.

Meri opened her mouth to reply and remembered the last time she’d argued with him in this barn. Biting back the words that sprang to her tongue, she spun on her heel and stomped out of the barn. She heard him follow and ignored him hoping he’d go away, but he stayed on her heels all the way to the doctor’s house. Reaching the bottom step, she could take it no longer and faced him. “Why are you still following me?”

He took her by the arm, marched her up the steps and opened the door for her. “Since you refuse to abide by my authority in this matter, we’re going to take it up with a higher authority.”

Meri yanked her arm away from the sparks his touch caused. “What higher authority? God?”

“No. Your father.” Leaving her standing at the front door, he stalked toward her father’s room.

* * *

Wyatt found McIsaac awake and, much to Miss Meri’s annoyance, relayed the happenings of the afternoon. He then retreated from the field of battle, more than happy to leave her father to engage her in this particular skirmish. Pulling the bedroom door shut behind him to cut off the glare she aimed in his direction, he shook his head ruefully. One slender female had just caused him to fall back faster than any band of attacking Apache warriors ever had.