The Outlaws: Rafe (8 page)

"Does it matter?"

She shrugged.
 
"Not really."

"My family came from Tennessee.
 
My brothers and I fought on the losing side.
 
We were not popular in Kansas."

"Are you running from the law?"

"I didn't commit any crime," Rafe hedged.
 
"You ask too many questions."

"I'm your wife, remember?" she said archly.

"I haven't forgotten, but I fear you have."

Angela gave an exasperated snort.
 
"This has gone too far.
 
We both know our marriage is a farce.
 
It should have never taken place.
 
Nothing is going to happen between us tonight...or ever.
 
Some misguided sense of responsibility made you turn back to warn me about the danger awaiting me in Pueblo, but we both know you won't stick around long."

"You're one determined lady," Rafe contended.
 
"Your faith must be strong indeed to instill you with such confidence."

"Faith is a personal thing.
 
Perhaps you don't have enough."

"The only thing I have faith in is my gun and my wits.
 
Both kept me alive through the war."

"I never asked.
 
Is there a woman waiting for you back in Kansas?"

Rafe grimaced.
 
"No specific woman, but there
have
been women.
 
A man doesn't reach the age of twenty-eight without having women in his life."

"Don't count on adding me to your list," Angela said, turning away.

 
A smile lingered on Rafe's lips as he watched her march to the wagon and climb inside.

Rafe stared moodily into the fire, listening to the mournful call of a wolf and thinking about the woman who thought she could exist in a man's world on her own.
 
She had to be the most naive woman alive for she definitely wasn't prepared to handle all the problems piling up on her plate.
 
Not only were her stepfather and fiancé hot on her trail, but her father's partner was an unknown entity.
 
Only a very foolish woman, or one with strong convictions, would think herself invincible.

But Angel's difficulties were none of his concern.
 
If he wasn't careful he'd find himself mired down in her problems, and sticking around in one place was dangerous.
 
He wouldn't be surprised if wanted posters started appearing soon and he had to keep one step ahead of the law.

The wolf stopped howling and silence closed in on him like a suffocating curtain.
 
Then he heard it.
 
Her voice wafted through the darkness, sweet and dulcet, her notes startlingly pure.
 
She sang a hymn he recognized from his youth.
 
It took him back a good many years.
 
She sang like an angel, and for a few minutes Rafe felt almost at peace.

Then abruptly the singing stopped.
 
As if on cue a wolf took up the refrain.
 
Then another, and another.
 
Rafe fed kindling into the fire and hunkered down to await morning.
 
There were many places he would rather be tonight.
 
One of them was in Angel's bed.
 
Another was in that sweet warm place inside her body.

A weak sun broke over the mountains as the wagon lumbered into Canyon City late the following afternoon.
 

"Do you know the way to the mine?" Rafe asked as the wagon joined the others traveling down the muddy main street.

"All I know is that it's on Red Rock Canyon Road, not too far from Canyon City.
 
I suppose we should ask someone."

"Do you have a place to live once you get there?"

"Father built a cabin.
 
It's all mine now.
 
Brady Baxter has his own cabin on the property.
 
I have no idea in what condition I'll find it, but I'll manage."

"I'll park in front of the general store so you can purchase whatever you think you'll need to last until your next trip to town.
 
Meanwhile, I'll inquire about directions.
 
Do you have money?"

"I have enough to buy what I need.
 
According to Mr. Goodman, Father's lawyer, there's funds in my name in the local bank."

Rafe pulled up at the general store and lifted Angela down onto the wooden sidewalk.
 
"Have your supplies stowed inside the wagon.
 
I won't be gone long."

He waited Angela enter the store, then ambled off down the street.
 
He noted Lawyer Goodman's shingle above the barber shop and reminded himself to tell Angel.
 
Then he spotted the assayers office and decided it was as good a place as any to ask directions to the Golden Angel.

He waited until the man ahead of him finished his business before approaching the desk.

"Can I help you, sir?" the assayer asked.

"I hope so.
 
Can you give me directions to the Golden Angel mine?"

The assayer studied Rafe through narrowed lids.
 
"The Golden Angel, you say?
 
Do you have business out there?"

"I'm a friend of the owner."

"Brady Baxter?"

"No, the other owner."

"If you're talking about Simon Abbot, he died some weeks back.
 
Terrible accident."

Rafe's patience hung by a slim thread.
 
"Just tell me how to get to the mine."

The assayer assumed an aggrieved look.
 
"Just trying to be friendly.
 
Head north out of town.
 
You'll find a trail heading up the mountain.
 
Take the first track to the right off the main trail and you'll run right into the mine.
 
Does Baxter know you're coming?"

"Don't know and don't care," Rafe said, heading for the exit.
 
"Oh, by the way," he said, pausing with his hand on the doorknob.
 
"Do you happen to know the nature of Simon's accident?"

"Sure do, mister.
 
A broken axle sent his wagon plunging off a narrow mountain trail.
 
Tragic.
 
Damn tragic."

"Have you heard anything about the mine being played out?"

"Played out?
 
The Golden Angel?
 
That's news to me, mister."

Rafe let himself out of the office, his mind awhirl.
 
Obviously Brady Baxter was trying to pull the wool over Angel's eyes.
 
It probably never occurred to him that Angel would doubt his word.
 
Baxter was in for a big surprise.

*
           
*
         
*

Angela looked over the staples spread out on the counter and decided she had enough to last ten days or so.

"That's it, Mr. Dooley," she said.
 
She had introduced herself and learned the proprietor's name soon after entering the store.
 
"Add up the total.
 
And if you'd be so kind, carry them out to my wagon."

"I can't believe Simon Abbot's daughter is really here," Dooley said, smiling at Angela.
 
"Why, I remember your ma, girl, and she hated it here.
 
Couldn't wait to go back East.
 
Sorry about your pa.
 
He sure doted on you, though he hadn't seen you in years.
 
Were he alive, he'd be one happy man right now.
 
Are you staying long, Miss Abbot?"

"I haven't decided," Angela said, although in her heart she knew she'd never return to Wichita.
 
There was nothing there for her.

Angela paid her tab and waited while Dooley loaded her purchases in the wagon.
 
Then she climbed onto the wagon to awaited Rafe.

"About time you showed up, Angela.
 
We waited for you in Pueblo.
 
What happened?"

That voice!
 
Oh, no.
 
How did they get here so soon?

"What's wrong?
 
Has the cat got your tongue?
 
You
were
expecting us, weren't you?
 
Chandler is mighty put out at you."

Angela stared down at her stepfather and his cohort as if they were something offensive, as indeed they were.
 
"What are you doing here?"

Chandler stepped forward.
 
"You left me standing at the altar, Angela.
 
I was humiliated, to say the least.
 
But I'm here now, and there's a Justice of the Peace all lined up to marry us.
 
We'll go to the mine as husband and wife, a united front against the likes of Brady Baxter."

"I'm not marrying you, Anson," Angela contended.
 
"You came all this way for nothing.
 
You'd be well advised to turn around and go back to Kansas."

Chandler's features no longer appeared handsome as his face screwed up into a hideous frown.
 
"I've come too far to be denied now.
 
You'll do as your guardian says.
 
Tell her, Dexter."

"Chandler is right, my dear.
 
This marriage is for your own good.
 
You need a keeper and Chandler is just the man to tame you.
 
He won't stand for any of your nonsense."

He reached up and yanked her to the edge of the seat.
 
Chandler lent a hand and together they hauled her to the ground.

"Come along quietly, Angela," Chandler warned.
 
"No need to make a public spectacle of yourself."

Angela dug in her heels.
 
"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Dexter gave her a rough shake.
 
When she refused to budge, he hauled his arm back and slapped her.
 
The blow sent her reeling against Chandler.
 
Chandler caught her and lifted her into his arms.
 
Stunned, Angela went limp as Chandler carried her off.

Rafe strode briskly toward the wagon, mulling over the information he'd gained from the assayer.
 
If the Golden Angel was still producing, then Brady Baxter had lied to Angel.
 
Obviously he never expected her to show up in Colorado to claim her inheritance.
 
He probably assumed she was like her mother, who had a natural abhorrence for the wilderness.
 
If Baxter thought that, the man didn't know his Angel.

Rafe's steps came to an abrupt halt, the blood freezing in his veins when he saw Angel hanging limply in Anson Chandler's arms.
 
Desmond Dexter stood beside him, abetting the abduction.
 
Adrenaline pumped through Rafe's veins as he took off at a run.
 
He reached Dexter first, spun him around, and decked him.

The blow had been a vicious one.
 
Blood spurted from Dexter's nose as he hit the ground.

"Put her down," Rafe barked as he took a threatening step in Chandler's direction.

"Who in the hell are you?" Chandler asked as he slowly lowered Angela to her feet and backed away.

"Never mind who I am," Rafe growled.
 
"You've got a lot of explaining to do."

Holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose, Dexter rose unsteadily to his feet.
 
"Now see here, mister, this is none of your concern.
 
I don't know how you know my stepdaughter, but the association ends here.
 
Mr. Chandler is her fiancé.
 
She was so glad to see him she fainted.
 
They were on their way to the Justice of the Peace to be married.
 
If you don't back away, I'll summon the law."

Rafe thumbed his hat back and gave Dexter a look that would have turned milk sour.
 
Then he held his hand out to Angela.
 
"Come here, Angel."
 
Skirting Dexter and Chandler, Angela slowly made her way to Rafe's side.

"I'm Angela's legal guardian," Dexter sputtered.
 
"You have no right to interfere.
 
I've arranged a good marriage for her and I won't see my plans thwarted by a ne'er-do-well.
 
Anson Chandler has been more than patient with my stepdaughter, it's time she grew up and did what's expected of her."

Rafe sent Angela an inscrutable look.
 
"Are you all right?"

Angela nodded.

He turned her face toward him, his mouth tightening when he saw the bruise forming on her cheek.
 
"Who hit you?"

"It doesn't matter."
 
She tugged on his arm.
 
"Just get me away from here."