Dangerous Men (Flynn Family Saga Book 2) (9 page)

“Well, nothing much happened for
the next four days.  Except the rain.  I came to this waterfall.  I was looking
at it, wondering if I dared drink from it.  I turned back to the trail, and
there were five Indians behind me.”  Remembering, Maggie smiled.  She turned to
Flynn.  “Sees Far asked me why you sent your woman to do your job.”

Flynn choked on his coffee.  “My woman?”

Sam laughed, a deep, rich sound
that rumbled in his chest.

Maggie looked down at her hands to
hide her disappointment.  “I explained that I wasn’t, Flynn.”

Sam nodded.  “So he said we could
take water from this waterfall?”

Maggie nodded.

“Do you think you can find it
again?” Sam asked.

Maggie nodded again.  “It’s not far
from the trail.”

“Were there
any
problems,
Maggie?”  Sam looked pointedly at Flynn.

“Yes.  The post on Windlass Hill is
split.  I think it was hit by lightning during that storm.  We’ll need to bring
a replacement.”

Sam patted her shoulder.  “Thank
you, Maggie.”  He turned to Flynn.  “And all these years I thought you were the
best scout this side of the Mississippi.  But
you
always seem to find
trouble.”

Flynn shrugged.  “Beginner’s luck, Sam.”

*  *  *

That night, Maggie went to the
picket line.  She rubbed Sebastian’s nose.  “I missed you, boy.”

“It’s always nice to be missed.”

“You’ve got to stop—”

“Sneaking up on people.”  Flynn
grinned at her.

Maggie picked up a brush and
started to curry Sebastian.  “How is your ankle?”

“Much better.”  Flynn started to
curry Horatio.  “How was Sees Far?”

“Worried.”  Maggie looked back
along the trail toward the village in the prairie.  “The buffalo are dying
out.  He doesn’t think there will be enough for his grandson to hunt.”

“He may be right.  When I was a
kid, there used to be herds so big that you could stand and watch them run by
all day, and there were still more stragglers behind them in the morning. 
Now...well, the herds are harder and harder to find.”

Maggie nodded.  She hesitated.  “Sees
Far said he was your brother.”

Flynn’s hand halted in mid-stroke. 
After a few moments, he continued to brush his horse.  “Stepbrother.”

Maggie looked at Flynn and saw the
lines of tension in his face.  She said nothing.  She merely continued to groom
Sebastian.

“Well?”  Flynn stopped even
pretending to groom his horse and looked at her.  “Aren’t you going to ask me
about it?”

Maggie shook her head.  “That would
be prying, Flynn.”

He sighed.  “Any other woman would
be dying of curiosity.”

Maggie turned to him and grinned.  “Who
said I wasn’t curious?”

Flynn laughed, and some of the
strain eased out of his face.  He shook his head.  “Where did you come from?”

Maggie shrugged.  “Well, I was born
in Manhattan...”

He looked away.  “How did it feel
to be out there all alone?”

Maggie sighed.  “I loved it.  I
loved the silence, and the emptiness of the land.  I loved the wind in the
grass, and the sound of the river.  And then, I came to the waterfall.  I know
it’s close to the trail, and I know that the Lakota have been there a thousand
times, but it was almost as if I had discovered it.  I can’t describe the
feeling.”

“Exciting and humbling all at once.” 
Flynn spoke softly.

Maggie nodded.

Flynn looked at her.  “I feel the
same way when I’m out there alone.”  He turned away and stared north.  “Sometimes,
in the fall, I travel to Canada.  There are places up there that no other white
man has seen.”

Maggie sighed.  “I wish I could go
with you.”

Flynn looked at her.  He opened his
mouth and shut it.  He looked away.  “Thanks.”

Maggie’s heart skipped a beat, and
her face felt hot.  “For what?”

“For not prying.”  He turned back
to Horatio.  “For not asking about Sees Far in front of Sam.”

Maggie nodded.  She began to groom
Portia.

“When I was ten, my father lost our
plantation in a card game.”

There was an edge in Flynn’s voice
that Maggie had never heard before.  She looked at him.  Anger deepened the
lines around his mouth.  She reached toward his arm, but she drew her hand back
before she actually touched him.

“We came out to St. Jo.  We missed
the last wagon train of the season, so my father bought a wagon and headed west
on his own.”  Flynn’s hand stopped moving.  His hand clenched around the brush
until his knuckles went white.  He turned to Maggie.  “I told you that my
father was a drunk.”

Maggie nodded.

He turned back to Horatio.  “He
desecrated that waterfall, Maggie.”

Maggie shut her eyes, briefly. 
Then, she opened them and looked at Flynn.  “They killed him, didn’t they?”

Flynn nodded.  “It was Pathfinder,
Sees Far’s father.”

Maggie blinked.  “But—but Sees Far
said that his father adopted you.”

Flynn shut his eyes.  “He did.”  He
opened his eyes and turned to Maggie.  “At first, I hated him.  I wanted to
kill him, but he—”  He stopped speaking and turned away.

“He treated you better than your
own father did,” Maggie said softly.

Flynn nodded.  “We were with
Pathfinder for four years.  I began to think of Pathfinder as my father.  Then,
one day, while the men were out hunting, soldiers came.  They massacred the
women, children and old men.  All of them.”  Flynn looked away.  “My mother was
one of them.”

Maggie did touch his arm, this time. 
Flynn looked at her with surprise.  He opened his mouth, shut it again without
speaking and looked away again.  Maggie drew her hand away.

Flynn drew a deep breath.  “Pathfinder
took me to the fort and left me there.  He said I was no longer his son.  They
were my people, Maggie, more than anyone in Virginia ever was.  I felt like I
belonged there.  Pathfinder said that if I came back, he would kill me himself.” 
He was silent a long time.  Finally, he drew a deep breath.  “The Colonel at Fort
Leavenworth didn’t want me, either.  So he sent me to the orphanage in Lancaster.” 
He shuddered.  “It was worse than Elmira because we were children.”

“How did you escape?”  Maggie’s
voice was hushed.

Flynn turned to her and smiled
wanly.  “Who said I escaped?”

Maggie grinned back.  “I know you,
Flynn.  You’d never stand still for something like that.”

His smile faded, and he shook his
head.  “No, I wouldn’t.  I can’t.  There’s something inside of me...”

“Sees Far said your name was Eagle
Heart,” she said softly.

Flynn stared at her.  “They trusted
you that much?”

Maggie nodded solemnly.  “Woman Who
Dreams is a seer.  She dreams the future.  She said that she thought I would be
a good friend to her people.”

Flynn tilted his head to one side
like a bird.  “What do they call you?”

Maggie blushed.  “Fire-haired
Woman.”

Flynn nodded slowly.  “It suits
you.”  He turned back to Horatio.  “Anyway, Alexander Ridgeton found me, and I
lived with him until the war started.”

Maggie swallowed hard.  “What
happened to Pathfinder?”

Flynn looked away again.  “He died,
not long after the end of the war.”

“I’m sorry, Flynn.”

Flynn shrugged.  “It was a long
time ago.”  He turned and walked away.

Maggie watched him go with tears in
her eyes.

*  *  *

Flynn limped away from camp until
he came to the river.  He leaned on his crutch and stared westward, but instead
of the river, he saw the blackened bodies of the women and children the
soldiers had killed.  His stomach tightened with hatred.  Then, he saw Maggie’s
face, a heart-shaped face with large green eyes and hair the color of
flame.

She knew.  She knew that Pathfinder
had raised him.  She knew and she didn’t care.

Deep inside, hope stirred and sent
up a fragile green shoot.

CHAPTER NINE

One hot, still night, Maggie went
to the stream to cool off.

Melanie Meade was there with two
heavy buckets.

And an advanced pregnancy.

Maggie dropped her own bucket and
took the two full buckets from the older girl’s hands.  “You shouldn’t be
carrying that!  Not in your condition!”

Melanie blushed.  “You shouldn’t
talk about such things.”

“Well somebody should.  They should
have told you not to lift heavy things.”  The water sloshed over the rim.  “When
is the baby due?”

Melanie blushed.  “Any day now.”

Maggie smiled at her.  “How does it
feel?”

“Wonderful!”  Melanie smiled.  “And
awful.  My back aches, and my ankles are swollen.  I can’t wait until this baby—” 
She stopped speaking abruptly and bit her lip.

Maggie touched her arm.  “What is
it?”

“I don’t know!  My stomach hurts,
and I feel—”  Liquid poured between her legs.  She looked at Maggie and blushed
scarlet.  “What’s happening to me?”

Maggie grinned.  “You’re going to
have your baby.”

Melanie gripped Maggie’s hands
tightly.  “I’m scared, Maggie.”

Maggie squeezed Melanie’s hands.  “It’s
going to be all right.”  She took Melanie’s arm and led her back to her wagon. 
Then, she climbed out again.  She whispered to one of the outriders.  “Get the
Major and bring him here, will you?”

Melanie cried out in pain.

The boy turned white and ran toward
the lead wagon.

A few minutes later, Sam poked his
head into Melanie’s wagon.  “What is it, Magpie?”

“Melanie Meade is having her baby.” 
Maggie helped Melanie lie down.

Sam grinned.  “Do you want help?”

Maggie shook her head.  “I’ve done
this before.”

Sam shook his head.  “Is there
anything you can’t do, Magpie?”

She grinned.  “I can’t make coffee.”

Sam laughed.  “If you need any
help, sing out.  I’ve delivered a few babies in my time, too.”

Maggie nodded.

The hours crawled by while Melanie
cried out in pain.  The sun rose, and still her baby hadn’t come.

Maggie started to worry.

Frank brought Maggie some breakfast
and a mug of coffee.  Maggie smiled at him gratefully.  “Can you ask the Major
to stop by after breakfast?”

“Sure, Maggie.  Is anything wrong?”

Maggie shook her head.  “I just
want to talk to him.”

A little while later, Sam stuck his
head inside the wagon.  “Hello, Maggie.  Morning, Mrs. Meade.”

Melanie smiled weakly.

Maggie squeezed her hand.  “I’ll be
right back.  I just want to talk to the Major a minute.”  Together, they walked
away from the wagon.  “I’m worried.  This is taking longer than I like.”

Sam shook his head.  “It’s her
first, Magpie.  They always take longer.  But if the baby still hasn’t come by
sundown, I’ll see what I can do for her.”

Maggie smiled at him.  “Thank you.”

He nodded and walked away.

Maggie turned and climbed back to
the wagon.

Melanie smiled at her.  Then,
another contraction hit her and she cried out.  Maggie took her hand and
squeezed.

Melanie’s eyes filled with tears.  “I
wish Daniel was here.”

Maggie frowned.  “Where is he?”

“With one of his other wives.”

“One of his other—”  Maggie bit
back the words she was about to say.

Melanie shrugged.  “It’s part of
our faith, Maggie.  I know you don’t like my husband, but...”

Maggie sighed.  “It’s none of my
business, Mrs. Meade.  Just like what I wear is none of your husband’s
business.”

Melanie nodded slowly.  “You’re
right.  I’m sorry.”  Another contraction racked her, and she gripped Maggie’s
hand tightly until it passed.  She smiled wryly.  “Given the circumstances, I
think you should call me Melanie, don’t you?”

Maggie nodded.  “What are you going
to call her?”

“Him.  It’s going to be a boy.”

Maggie grinned.  “I bet you fifty
cents it’s a girl.”

Melanie grinned back.  “You’re on. 
But don’t tell Daniel I was gambling.”

Maggie shook her head solemnly.  “I
won’t.”

Another contraction took her.  When
it passed, she said, “If it’s a boy, I’m going to call him Daniel Adam.”

“And if it’s a girl?”

Melanie blinked.  “I don’t know.  I’ve
been so sure it was going to be a boy.”

Maggie laughed.  “How about
Millicent?”

Melanie laughed with her.  “Millie
and Melanie Meade?  I don’t think so.”

The two threw names back and forth
until the afternoon sun began to heat up the interior of the wagon.

“Maggie, can I please have a little
water?”

Maggie hesitated.  “Just a sip.”

Melanie nodded.  She took a sip of
water and shut her eyes.  “Maggie, am I going to die?”

“Not if I can help it,” Maggie said
firmly.

Melanie opened her eyes and smiled
at Maggie.  “You are so strong and so brave.  I’m afraid of everything.”

Maggie hesitated.  “I’ll tell you a
secret.  I’m scared, too.  I just don’t let it show.”

Melanie nodded slowly.  “I’ll have
to think about that.”  She clenched her teeth as another contraction racked
her.  "Later.  After I kill Daniel."

Maggie squeezed her hand, but fear
pooled inside of her like blood from a wound.

All day long, Maggie stayed with
Melanie, waiting for the baby to arrive.  Then, near sunset, the contractions
began to come closer together and harder.  Maggie checked and patted Melanie’s
hand.  “All right.  The next time, I want you to push.”

Melanie nodded.  Her hair was
soaked with sweat, and her face was lined with pain.  The next contraction came
hard.

“Push!”  Maggie stepped between
Melanie’s legs.

Melanie pushed.

“Stop!”  Maggie bent and made sure
that the baby’s neck was free of the cord.  “All right.  Next time, push.  Push
hard.”

Melanie pushed, and Maggie helped
Daniel Adam Meade into the world.  She grinned at Melanie.  “I guess I owe you
fifty cents.”

Melanie laughed weakly as Maggie
slapped Daniel’s little bottom.  He obliged her by crying lustily.

Sam stuck his head into the wagon. 
“Boy or a girl?”

“Boy.”

He grinned.  “Frank owes me fifty
cents.”

Maggie laughed.  She tied off the cord
and cut it.

And then, another contraction
racked Melanie.

Fear lanced through Maggie.  She
turned to Sam.

If he was worried, he didn’t show
it.  He merely handed her the baby.  “You take care of Daniel.”

Maggie nodded and stepped aside.

Sam took off his hat and washed his
hands.  He stepped between Melanie’s legs and grinned.  “Mrs. Meade, you’re
having twins.”

“Twins?”  Melanie panted.

He nodded.  And a little while
later, he was proved right.  “It’s a girl, Mrs. Meade.  Have you decided on a
name for her yet?”

Melanie nodded.  “Margaret.”

Maggie gasped.  She bowed her head
to hide her embarrassment.

Melanie held out her arms for her
daughter.

After he had slapped life into her,
Sam handed the infant to her mother.  “Margaret, huh?”  He winked at Maggie.

Maggie blushed.  She turned to
Melanie.  “Can I—can I hold her?”

Melanie nodded.

Carefully, Maggie picked up the
baby who bore her name.  She was tiny and helpless and perfect.  Maggie smiled
down at her.  “Hello, Margaret.  You’re going to California.  It’s beautiful
there.  Your Mama is a very brave woman, and you’re going to have a real good
life.”

Sam squeezed her shoulder and left
the two women alone.

In the morning, Maggie went to the
picket line and took Sebastian to the stream to drink.  She heard footsteps and
turned.

Daniel Meade stood behind her.  His
face was slightly flushed.  “Good morning, Miss Anders.”

“Good morning, Elder Meade.  How is
Melanie?  And the twins?”

“They’re fine.”  He cleared his
throat.  “Miss Anders, I’d like to thank you for taking such good care of
Melanie.  I—I’m not supposed to have a favorite wife, but...”

Slowly, Maggie grinned.  “But
Melanie is special.”

“And not just because of the
conjugal joys of matrimony, Miss Anders.”  He looked solemn, even though his
face had turned a deeper red.  “She struggled so hard with her faith.  Her
brother fought in the Civil War, and he was killed.  She thought God had
abandoned her, abandoned her brother.  She struggled, and she won through to a
trust that sometimes takes my breath away.”

Maggie nodded.  “I can see that.  I—I
envy her.”

Daniel turned to go.  Then, he
turned back.  “You should still wear a dress, Miss Anders.”  He turned and
strode back to Melanie’s wagon.

Maggie’s mouth opened.  With an
effort, she shut it.  She shook her head and led Sebastian back to the picket
line.

*  *  *

When they reached Wyoming, Maggie
began to have trouble sleeping.  Again and again, she dreamed of the day she
found Flynn beneath the flock of circling buzzards.

One morning, when she went to the
picket line, Flynn swung his saddle over Horatio’s back.

“Looking for water?”

Flynn nodded.  Lines etched
themselves deeply on either side of his mouth.

She bit her lip.  “Please, be
careful.”

His back stiffened.  Then, slowly,
his muscles relaxed.  “I almost hope they find me, Maggie.  We have some
unfinished business.”

Maggie sighed.  “Just remember
there are eight of them, Flynn.”  Then, she grinned.  “Maybe this time,
you
could ambush
them
.”

He laughed.  “Maybe I could.”  He
sobered.  “Worried, Magpie?”

She nodded.

“Don’t be.”  He turned away from
her and cinched Horatio’s saddle.  “I’m hard to kill, remember?”

Maggie thought of the first time he
had said those words to her, when he lay ill with cholera.  She had never told
him how close he had come to dying.  She swallowed hard.  “I remember.”  Her
voice shook.

He turned back to her.  He studied
her face, and she wondered if he saw her feelings for him in her eyes.  Flynn
opened his mouth and shut it.  He swung up onto Horatio’s back and rode away.

Maggie walked back to Frank’s cook
fire, but for once, she had no appetite.

*  *  *

A week later, Flynn still hadn’t
returned.

Maggie went to the picket line and
swung her saddle over Patches' back.  She heard footsteps, but she knew they
weren't Flynn's.  She tightened the cinch around Patches' girth.

“Maggie.”  Sam’s tone was gentle.

Maggie ignored him.

“I want you to stay here.”  His
tone was a little sharper.

Maggie shook her head stubbornly.  “No.”

“That’s an order!”

Maggie winced.  She drew a deep
breath and tied her saddlebags onto the cantle.

Sam laid a hand on her shoulder and
turned her to face him.  “Maggie, don’t make me lock you in the jail wagon.”

Maggie tilted her chin up.  “Papa,
if it was Kate, what would you do?”

Sam tilted his hat back and sighed. 
“You love him that much?”

Maggie nodded.

Sam turned and looked out at the
broken land.  He turned back to her and swung her over his shoulder.

“Hey!  Put me down!”  Maggie
pummeled Sam’s broad back.

Grinning, he set her down in the
jail wagon and locked the door.

Maggie folded her arms across her
chest.  “That’s not fair!”

Sam’s grin broadened.  “Sure it
is.  I’m the wagon master, remember?”

Maggie tried to suppress a smile. 
She failed.  “Yes sir.”

He patted her hand through the
bars.  Then, he turned and walked away.

“Don’t forget to unsaddle Patches!”

Sam touched the brim of his hat.  “Yes
ma’am.”

A little while later, Frank brought
her breakfast.

Maggie pushed her food around with
her fork.  “I’m worried about him, Frank.”

Frank patted her hand.  “We all
are.  But he’s been late before.”

Maggie looked away.  “They almost
killed him the last time.”

“Now, Maggie, you don’t know that’s
what happened.  Most likely, he’s with a woman.”

Maggie blinked back tears.

Frank sighed.  “I did it again,
didn’t I?  Seems like every time I open my mouth, I put my foot in it.”

Maggie turned back to him and
smiled.  “You were just trying to reassure me.”

Frank nodded.  “Do you want more
coffee?”

Maggie shook her head.  “No thanks,
Frank.”

He nodded and walked away.

Maggie sighed and sat down on the
edge of the bunk.  It was going to be a long, hot day.

When they stopped at noon, Melanie Meade stopped by with the twins.  Melanie and Maggie were the only ones who
could tell them apart—with their clothes on.  Maggie tickled them through the
bars of the cell.

“Daniel is going to be so strong,
and I think Margaret is going to be as smart as you are.  She watches
everything
.”

Maggie’s heart filled with love for
the two children.  She sighed.  “I wish I could hold them.”

“Mr. Anders will let you out as
soon as Flynn gets back.”

Maggie’s face reddened.  “Does
everyone on the train know?”

Melanie laughed.  “That you’re in
love with Flynn?”

Maggie nodded.

Grinning, Melanie nodded.  “Everyone
except Flynn, of course.”  She sobered.  “Maggie, I know you don’t approve of
Daniel, but I love him just as much as if I was his only wife.”

Maggie leaned back against the
bars.  “Papa says I shouldn’t judge him.”

Melanie looked back at the wagon
where her husband was talking to one of his other wives.  “He’s a hard man
sometimes, but you need to understand that people who practice our faith have
been persecuted from the very beginning.”

“Because the men have more than one
wife?”