WM02 - Texas Princess (33 page)

Al three brothers swore in unison. The buggy rattled closer. “What do we do?” Tobin mumbled. “She’s going to be

caught in the middle of a war. She’l have about as much chance as a rabbit in a stampede.” “We tel her to go back,” Teagen suggested. “If we do, she’s bound to run into either the soldiers or

the town drunks.” Tobin sat his rie against the railing, out of sight. “Maybe we ask her how she feels about a visit to the cel ar.”

Teagen stil hadn’t moved. “Wel , we’re sure as hel not inviting her in for tea.” He relaxed slightly. “Any votes for shooting her? From the looks of her, she’d only be getting to heaven a few years early. She’d probably be glad to get to see al those husbands she buried.”

“Hush, Teagen,” Sage said as she stormed out onto the porch. “We can’t shoot the only teacher for miles around.” Teagen groaned. “It was just a suggestion.”

With al their ries hidden behind the railing, the brothers fol owed Sage out to meet the buggy.

Mrs. Dickerson started talking before she came to a stop. “I got important news.

Important news for sure. I couldn’t wait for dawn. I had to come fast even though it’s a real danger traveling at night.”

Teagen offered his hand to help her down. “What is it?” He raised an eyebrow when she didn’t take his offer.

The old school teacher breathed deep like she was about to dive in and looked straight at Tobin. “I’ve seen Miss Liberty. She’s in trouble, but she says she don’t want you to come.”

Tobin felt like someone had slammed the butt of a rie against the side of his head. He stepped forward as Mrs. Dickerson continued. “She came by my place before daylight.

About scared me to death banging on my door so early. A man fol owed her in like he was standing guard. A military man.”

Mrs. Dickerson pul ed a handkerchief from her sleeve and patted her face. “I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t tel what. The man wasn’t frightening, but he didn’t seem to want to let Liberty out of his sight.” She took a few breaths as she wiggled something from her knitting bag on the seat beside her. “The minute we got in the house, Miss Liberty insisted I had to fol ow her upstairs to get something Stel a left.

Wel , I knew that Stel a didn’t leave a thing—I’d already cleaned her room. If she would have left so much as a hairpin, I would have noticed. I know how to clean a room from top to bottom.”

Tobin considered shaking the old woman to get her back on track but gured he’d frighten her more.

Teagen said what they were al thinking. “What happened?”

“Wel , of course, at her insistence, we went upstairs. Al three of us. The man waited in the hal . I noticed Liberty turn her back to him, so I tried to distract him by tel ing him how horrible the army treated me when I was married to Mr. Dickerson. He wasn’t an ofcer, you know, so he didn’t have

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any say about where we were stationed. He ended up being mustered out in Texas without enough money to return home.”

Teagen looked like he was about to do something that might truly frighten the schoolteacher, so Tobin ordered, “Please, continue about Liberty. Is she al right? Is she safe?”

“She’s safe enough, I guess, for the moment, but she handed me this.” Mrs. Dickerson pul ed the slate from her bag.

Tobin took the message and read it aloud. “Tel McMurrays I’m being
taken
north to fort. Tel Tobin not to fol ow.”

He looked up. “She underlined
taken
.”

Travis reached for the slate.

Mrs. Dickerson pointed. “I think she wants us to know that she’s going against her wil .”

“The fort is almost a week of hard riding from here. Why would they be taking her there?” Travis asked to no one in particular. “It would be a far easier ride to go back to Austin.”

“Maybe her father is there,” Sage offered.

Mrs. Dickerson corrected her as if they were doing a lesson. “No, dear. If he were there, she would have said she ‘was going’ to the fort. After talking with her, I believe she wanted to be reunited with him as soon as possible.”

Tobin felt the sting of her true words. Libby had never once said she wanted to stay with him. He’d been no more to her than temporary shelter.

Sage turned to her brothers. “What do we do?”

Tobin gripped the buggy. He felt like his body was splitting in half. He had to go to Libby, no matter what she wrote, she needed him. But he had to defend the ranch. If the man with Libby was Warren, the scout, he’d take her rst back to the camp. If they got there before the men left, then Libby would have a dozen men guarding her on her journey to the fort. If Warren was late, he might miss the rest of the army men. If he was an army man, he’d fol ow orders and take Libby to the fort, not go looking for the other troops. The other men might even now be riding ful speed toward Whispering Mountain stil thinking that Liberty needed to be rescued.

He couldn’t leave his brothers to ght alone, yet he had to get to Libby before she reached the fort. What if Samuel waited for her?

Before Tobin could move, shots rang out from the bridge.

To everyone’s surprise, Mrs. Dickerson grabbed the reins of her buggy. “Oh, I forgot to tel you. That wil be the men from town. I heard them talking in the barn when I got my buggy ready. Not one of them offered to help me and I plan to take them to task about it. What kind of self-respecting man stands by talking while a lady harnesses a horse and pul s her own rig from the stal ?”

She raised her whip. “I’l just be a minute,” she shouted as she slapped the reins against the back of her horse. The buggy jolted forward.

Sage tried to stop her, but for once the horse seemed to have found a bit of energy.

Teagen shouted for her to wait.

Mrs. Dickerson just waved and answered as she kicked up dust turning. “I’l be back in a minute. Now don’t you worry.”

By the time the McMurrays col ected their ries and climbed on their horses, the teacher was halfway to the bridge.

When they caught up to her, she was blocking the end of the bridge with her buggy and her old horse looked even closer to dead than usual.

Men were shouting for the teacher to get out of the way, but Mrs. Dickerson didn’t look the least bit scared.

“Now, Frank, you stop that yel ing, and, Harry, I’l thank you not to use that language in my presence or I swear I’l wash your mouth out with lye soap again just like I did ten years ago. Philip! What kind of example are you setting for your children jumping around and yel ing like a monkey in a tent show?”

The mob settled. Tobin couldn’t tel if it was because of Mrs. Dickerson’s orders or the fact that McMurray ries were pointed at them.

One man, looking more sober than most of his comrades, stepped forward. “We’re here to save Miss Liberty Mayeld.

We hear she’s been kidnapped by Tobin McMurray and is

being held here against her wil .”

“That’s a lie,” Teagen shouted.

“Then you won’t mind us seeing for ourselves,” the man yel ed back.

“No one steps foot on our land.”

The men mumbled as if Teagen’s words had proven their theory.

“We’l see for ourselves,” someone shouted from the back of the crowd. “Why should we believe any McMurray? If you’ve nothing to hide, let us in.”

Teagen shouldered his rie. “Any man crossing the bridge is trespassing. I don’t care if you believe me or not.”

The men al took a step forward, then hesitated as if each waited for someone else to be the rst. Mumbled oaths rose from the crowd. Someone near the back shouted, “Of course he’s lying. Don’t believe kil ers or kidnappers.”

“Then believe me!” Mrs. Dickerson’s voice rang clear in the cold air. “Believe me.” She stood straight and tal on the step of her buggy. “Have I ever lied to any of you?”

stood straight and tal on the step of her buggy. “Have I ever lied to any of you?”

No man answered.

“Liberty Mayeld was here. I had tea with her and she swore to me that she wasn’t being held against her wil . She was a guest.”

The men mumbled some more like a pot just beginning to boil. Final y, one voice popped out from the group. “Wel , if she’s here why can’t we see her?”

“That’s a good question, Daniel,” Mrs. Dickerson said. “She left last night with a military escort. I gave her a weapon to protect her on her journey myself.” The teacher smiled. “So you see, she’s not here to save, or to meet. But I must say, you are al very brave to come when you thought she needed saving. To think you were wil ing to die to help. A very ne lot indeed, for surely, with al the ries aimed at you, many would have died if you’d crossed this bridge.”

The men looked behind the wagon at the four riders with their guns ready. And beyond they could just make out the ranch house with ries in every window.

“We’d do what we have to,” one man mumbled, “if we thought a woman was kidnapped, but if Mrs. Dickerson says she ain’t, that’s good enough for me.”

“Me too,” someone else yel ed. “Fine, gentlemen,” Mrs. Dickerson said. “Now, if you’l be so kind as to escort me back to town.” They al agreed, turning their horses as her buggy passed. The McMurrays watched them go. “That’s one hel of a woman,”

Teagen admitted. “I almost

asked her to join us for breakfast.” “We’ve only fought off one wave. There may be another one coming.” Travis turned back toward home. Sage sighed. “This may prove a long morning.”

chapter 26

Y

The October sun brought no warmth as Liberty

and Warren rode into the soldiers’ camp just after dawn. She could see several men moving about, saddling horses, preparing weapons.

Warren whistled, then yel ed, announcing their arrival.

Liberty counted eleven men who stopped what they were doing and stood silently watching as Warren picked a path between the trees into camp.

He rode within ten feet of the re and swung down, then lowered her to the ground so careful y Liberty almost laughed. His touch was formal, impersonal, holding none of the warmth Tobin had shown her even during those rst few touches weeks ago.

A tal , thin man stepped forward. He looked rst at Warren, then back to her. “Miss Liberty Mayeld?”

Liberty nodded.

“I’m Lieutenant Jeremy Hawk.” He looked at Warren and smiled.

The sergeant didn’t say a word.

“You’ve arrived just in time.” Hawk gave her his ful attention. “Another ten minutes and we would have been riding toward the McMurray place.” When she didn’t comment, he added, “We planned to ask for a surrender and your return. There would have been no blood shed if they had cooperated and no one harmed except for the man who kidnapped you.”

Liberty knew she was looking at the second soldier who would not listen to reason.

She wanted to scream that the McMurrays would never have surrendered and many of the soldiers would have died crossing the bridge, but she could barely bring herself to think of the battle. McMurrays would also die and al because of her.

“And if I swear that I wasn’t kidnapped?”

Hawk looked at Warren.

Warren moved forward nal y. “You are safe now, Miss Mayeld. No one wil harm you or carry out any threat toward you if you tel the truth.”

“But—”

Lieutenant Hawk broke in, “We’ve been informed of the truth by Captain Buchanan and we have orders to see you safely to the fort north of here.” With a nod to Warren, Hawk turned his back and began issuing orders to break camp with al haste.

“But I wasn’t . . .”

Warren moved closer. His sad gray eyes looking like he felt sorry for her. The kind of sorry a person might feel for a senile grandmother. “Don’t worry, miss. This is al going to be over soon. Don’t talk no more about it. You’ve been through a great deal and we’re here to help.”

“What’s your rst name, sergeant?”

“Wil iam, miss. Wil iam Daniel Warren.”

Liberty thanked him with a nod for being honest. She tried again. “And are you married?”

“Yes.” He smiled. “My wife cal s me Bil y D., but no one else would ever dare.”

“I know what you mean. Someone cal s me Libby no matter how many times I correct him, but I don’t mind.” The

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sergeant didn’t know it but he’d calmed her. She’d need al her strength to think of how to escape from men loyal to Samuel without getting anyone kil ed in the process.

The times she could have stopped the madness before it reached this point tumbled through her mind. She could have run to her father that night at the bal and demanded he listen. Or when they’d rst arrived in Texas, she could have stopped this chain of events by simply saying no to Samuel’s proposal. Other times came to mind, but al she could think was that she had to stop this now, before someone was kil ed.

The men in town would have believed her, but these soldiers were under orders. And—

she closed her eyes—they were under orders to kil Tobin on sight. The farther she got from Whispering Mountain, the better.

“Lieutenant, do you know of my father?”

Hawk nodded. “I had word three days ago. He’s in San Antonio.” The ofcer straightened. “Despite al urging by Captain Buchanan, he refuses to leave Texas until he can leave with you.”

Liberty tried to read between his words. Maybe her father had come to his own conclusions that Buchanan wasn’t the man for her. She suspected part of the reason he stayed looking for the men who attacked him was that her father never turned away from a battle, but maybe, just maybe, he stayed to take her back with him.

“I wish to go to my father,” she said as calmly as she could.

Hawk didn’t hesitate. “We’ve orders to take you to the captain.”

“That’s what I told her.” Warren stepped forward and offered her a canteen. “But, having a daughter, I can understand why she’d want her father.”

A stocky man joined them, whispering to the lieutenant, “Ain’t we riding for the ranch?

I’ve been itching for a ght.”

“No need, Frazier,” Hawk snapped. “We’ve accomplished our mission. Miss Mayeld is safe.”

“What about Tobin McMurray?” The soldier cal ed Frazier looked disappointed. “The captain wants him dead for what he did.”