Jodi Thomas - The Lone Texan

"Did you feel the storm?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered and felt his arms tighten. "And it was a thousand times more than I thought it would be.”

She felt his laughter against her chest.

"The night is not over yet.” His mouth explored her throat. "Sleep. I'll wake you again before dawn."

She didn't answer; she was already asleep.

SAGE WAS STARTING TO LOSE TRACK OF TIME. SHE thought it was the fourth day when they camped at the edge of a canyon, but it might have been five. The air felt dry here, and the wind whistled as if whining along canyon walls. As the outlaws had every night, they tied her to whatever they could find that would hold her secure.

But tonight was different. She could hear the man building a fire, establishing a regular camp for the first time. She guessed they thought it safe.

The man who brought her food was one who'd never spoken to her before. She thought he was one of the two men who'd been with them when they left Shelley's, then they'd disappeared for a day and rejoined the gang. The two newcomers kept their distance and usually brought up the tail, but tonight they'd decided to move in closer, probably because of the fire.

He didn't seem as hard as the others, but his eyes were still cold and uncaring. There was a wildness about him, as if a thrill to him was worth any price. He untied her hands but left the rope around her waist holding her to a stump. The noose now hung permanently around her neck so any one of them could pull her along without having to get so close she might kick. The rough rope was loose enough for her to breathe but too tight for her to tug it off.

"Thought you might want a real meal. Got rabbit and beans." She smelled whiskey on the man's breath, but that was better than the smell of Frog.

She nodded, trying to see anything around her that would give her a hint of where she was.

He handed her a tin bowl and a cup half-full of boiled coffee. "These men ain't going to hurt you none” the stranger said. "They told me so. They're just taking you to the leader, then you'll be let go, I figure." He didn't look like he believed his own words.

She would argue with that statement, but it would do her no good. Every bone in her body hurt from riding all day tied in a saddle and then sleeping at night tied up. If she didn't walk fast enough when they stopped, the big man liked to jerk the rope hard enough to make her stumble. She doubted any one of the other men had noticed. For the most part, she wasn't their problem.

When she finished eating, she thanked the man.

He hesitated. "Anything else I can do?" he whispered, then looked like he was sorry he'd offered.

"Could I have a comb before you tie my hands?" She needed one, but mainly she wanted to keep the man close enough to talk to.

He moved a few feet away and pulled a comb from his gear and handed it to her. "It ain't very clean, but then neither is your hair."

"Thank you," she managed.

Sage worked through the rats in her hair. Finally, she parted it down the middle and braided it on either side.

She handed him back the comb.

"You look like an Indian," he said as he tied her hands. "Maybe I am," she whispered.

He shook his head. "Charlie says you're a doctor." "Who is Charlie?"

He moved his head slightly toward the redheaded giant she called Big Hands: the leader of the band, the cruel one.

Sage fought down a smile. She had a name. "I am a doctor," she said to the only one of the men who'd spoken to her other than in orders. "Who are you?"

He stood, realizing he'd stayed too long. "Nobody. I'm nobody to you."

She didn't want to lose the one contact she'd made. This man was hard, but he seemed at least human. "What is the leader going to do with me?" She wondered if they knew about her family. The McMurrays were not rich, but compared to most ranches, they must look it. Maybe these outlaws thought they could get a ransom.

The stranger shrugged. "I don't know. I only hooked up with this lot for one piece of paper in that safe. Tomorrow morning they say they'll hand it over to me, and I'll be on my way. I'm not close enough to the gang to be allowed to enter the hideout they'll be heading to. Not sure I want to be. They say a man named Hanover rules the place like he was king."

"What paper's worth your life?"

The stranger shrugged. "The deed to my father's land. I'm not much for ranching, but my brother is. He'll make use of the land." He hesitated, just wanting to talk. "That gambler. Shelley Lander, said I was drunk and lost my land at poker, but I only took one drink that night, and I've never been a poker player. I went in the place seeing if he'd keep the deed in his safe until the title office opened. He kept it, all right.”

Sage wasn't surprised that Shelley had swindled the man. He probably would have tried to claim anything she'd been fool enough to leave in his safe also. "If you're caught. Mr. Nobody, you'll hang with them just the same. Men were killed back there.”

He grinned at what she'd called him and answered, "I know. There wasn't supposed to be any killing, just robbing. At dawn tomorrow I plan to wash my hands of this gang and never set eyes on them again. My brother says we can ranch, and I reckon I’m old enough to finally settle somewhere."

"You'll be hunted down” Sage thought it was worth a try, so she said, "Your only chance might be to take me with you tomorrow. We could ride back to town. I'd tell the Rangers that you saved me. Then you'd have your freedom and your land."

He shook his head. "These men would never give you to me. They say they're taking you to Hanover. They're pretty closemouthed about it, but I think their leader, a fellow who claims to be some kind of count from England, is hurt or sick. I think they need a doctor.”

"But-"

He stopped her. "Look, miss, if you ain't a doc, I sure wouldn't mention it, because that's all that's keeping you alive right now. Otherwise, you're just a witness, and all the other witnesses are dead back there on the floor of the gambling house."

Sage stared at the stranger, trying to make out his features in the darkness. "How'd you get mixed up with these men?"

"There ain't that many men in this country. I suspect I either know or have heard of most of them. These guys don't usually go into settlements. They tend to pester trading posts and freighters. I'd be willing to bet this is the biggest haul they ever made." When she didn't say anything, he added, "I figure many men in Texas have walked on both sides of the law from time to time. I've never seen the line all that clear myself!”

Sage tried to think. She didn't trust this man enough to tell him who she was or to try to bribe him. All she had of value was her wedding band, and she doubted he'd risk his life for ten dollars in gold.

But if she could get a message out with him when he left, there was a chance it could help someone find her.

The stranger picked up her cup and bowl. No one else in the camp was close to them. Sage knew this might be her only chance.

"Do you know someone named Drummond Roak?"

The stranger hesitated. "I heard of him. Word is, he's fast as lightning with a gun. Never met him though. For all I know, he's a damn legend!'

Sage hid her surprise. "If you see him, I swear he'd count it a favor if you tell him you saw me."

The man studied her. "I'll do that," he whispered. "Having a man like Roak owe me one might be worth the risk. But, miss, I ain't likely to see him. I plan to stay out of any town for a while!'

"Just promise you will if your paths cross.”

"I will!” He walked away without looking back.

She sat in the dark and watched the men moving about. This was the farthest they'd ever bedded down away from her, but tonight they all seemed to want the fire's warmth, and her tree stump wasn't close.

If she could work her ropes loose, tonight would be her best chance to escape. Maybe she could hide and follow Mr. Nobody out when he left in the morning. Maybe they'd be so occupied with dividing up the take, they wouldn't notice her gone. Mr. Nobody probably wouldn't help her, but he was bound to be headed away from the rest of them.

She'd fought with the ropes for an hour when she saw Frog coming toward her. She could have smelled him, even if she hadn't looked up.

He dropped some kind of animal skin a few feet from her and lay down.

"What are you doing?" she snapped.

"I'm sleeping here to make sure you don't get any ideas of wandering off." He tugged the end of her noose leash so hard, she tumbled over toward him. His hands fumbled with the noose, pushing it tight against her throat, then he shoved her back where she'd been. His hand raked across her chest a bit too freely.

"Touch me again, and I swear I'll kill you," she threatened.

He snickered. "I ain't gonna touch you. You're too small for me. I got a woman waiting for me back at the camp. She'd make two of you”

Sage almost lost her dinner thinking of the kind of woman who would welcome a man who smelled as bad as Frog.

She heard the one called Charlie laugh somewhere in the darkness and realized he must be on guard. There would be no escape tonight, and tomorrow she'd be riding into an outlaw camp.

At dawn, she woke to the sound of a single shot. Straightening, she stared at the scene before her. The men were up, the horses saddled, the fire out.

For a moment she couldn't see what they were all staring at on the ground, then she made out the body of Mr. Nobody. Part of his head must have exploded with the shot fired at such close range. Blood spread across the dirt, dark in the pale sun. He'd fallen straight back, his arms and legs extended. A folded piece of paper was still clenched in his right hand.

The men didn't touch him as they mounted. Charlie walked her horse over and untied her from the tree. He used the rope tied around her throat to tug her to the horse as if she were a dog. Then he put his big hands around her waist and tossed her into the saddle.

"Aren't you going to bury him?" She didn't dare ask about the shooting.

"No." Charlie tied her hands to the horn and belted her legs to the saddle. "Let the wild animals feed on him. He's nothing to us, never was."

He climbed on his horse and tugged hers along. She looked back once at the dead man who wouldn't tell her his name. The piece of paper he'd risked his life for was still in his hand.

AS THE SUN CLIMBED. THEY RODE INTO A NARROW canyon. The walls grew higher by the hour. At noon, when Charlie stopped long enough to give her water, the passage was so narrow that no more than two horses could stand abreast. A wagon could have passed if it moved carefully, but no more.

Sage felt the cold more than usual. The passage was almost always in shade, and the wind whipped down it as if trying to escape. She knew it wasn't the temperature that iced her spine but the knowledge that she'd be impossible to find.

The going was slow. Twice, the men had to stop and clear the trail of landslides. Sage tried to memorize every turn. When she escaped, she might be doing so at night, and she didn't want to get lost in what looked like a maze of canyons.

Mid-afternoon, the redheaded leader called a halt in a wide spot where there was plenty of room and grass to make a camp. Charlie left her on her horse while he talked to his men. Apparently two of the men would ride on to the hideout, while the others stayed behind. It appeared to be a rule of the outlaws. One or two riders wouldn't be seen as a threat; six horses might, even if one was obviously a woman. The two riders would get close enough to the guards to talk, but they wouldn't have enough time to come back until morning.

Sage was thankful when Charlie told the one she called Frog to ride on in. If they untied her tonight, she'd reach for her tiny pistol. This camp had to be easier to escape from than the hideout would be tomorrow.

Charlie finally noticed her and lifted her down. She paced around pretty much free to go wherever she liked in the barn-size opening. Charlie had tied the other end of her leash to his saddle horn when he'd unsaddled the horses. With her hands still bound, if she wanted to go anywhere beyond the length of rope, she'd have to drag his saddle with her. She'd been among the men so long none of them paid her any attention, but she had a feeling that if she tried to bolt, four bullets would be in her back before she could get out of range.

She hated this place more than anywhere they'd stopped. It reminded her of an open grave. Anyone above could kill them all with a good rifle or a few well-thrown rocks. The little man who'd threatened to kill her if she sneezed fell in beside her. He wasn't old, maybe not even twenty, and as near as she could tell, he must have been born nervous. Most of the time Charlie sent him ahead to scout or told him to take drag to make sure they weren't being followed. Maybe the boss couldn't stand his jerky manner any better than she could.