David still felt itchy as the sun started to set. He picked a camp spot by the stream, making sure there were rocks for Brianna to use as mounting blocks in case she needed them. He considered leaving Blue saddled and Lucy bearing the weight of the packs so Brianna could make a quick getaway. In the end, though, common sense won out. If those bushwhackers circled back, there would be no time for her to reach a horse. And the animals had worked all day and deserved a rest. Otherwise, they’d be played out tomorrow. David hated to make them suffer simply because he had a hunch there might be trouble.
He began doing the tasks that came habitually, thinking about what to fix for supper as he cared for the animals and then led them to the stream for a well-deserved drink. No hobbling them, not tonight. He’d already checked the species of grass and plants that grew nearby and had seen nothing poisonous. Better to merely ground tie the horses and mule so they’d be able to run if anything happened. David had seen some gorgeous horseflesh gunned down
during a fracas, and he didn’t want Blue or Lucy to get hurt. Not the bay, either, so far as that went. He was proving to be a good old boy.
Supper posed a problem. Normally David went out about this time to get a rabbit, but he was reluctant to fire a weapon. The sound could travel, and if those scoundrels were out there, doing their damnedest to track him, a shot might bring them into camp. All afternoon, he had ridden in a zigzag, crossing the stream and circling out, then angling back to the opposite side. Unless those yahoos were fine trackers, they’d play hell following him on grassland. On the other hand, if they were halfway smart—and he had a feeling the big fellow might be—they’d figure he’d stay near water unless he had headed west to reach a town. David hoped they decided he’d done the latter, because he didn’t have the heart to put a woman and child through the rigors of a dry camp.
As for the evening meal, he had bacon in the packs, and Brianna had brought ham. They’d fare well enough with that and the plants he and Daphne had found that morning.
When he walked back up from the stream, he saw that Brianna had already gathered tinder for a fire and was working with the spade to dig a pit. She was sore to the bone, but she was still doing all she could. The lady definitely had what it took to be a Paxton. His clan cut a high standard, but she had it in her to meet or exceed it.
He hunkered beside her to take the implement from her hands. “We need to talk,” he told her softly. “Preferably out of Daphne’s earshot.”
Daphne joined them at the half-dug hole. “Papa, shall we wash our vegetables? We found quite a few this morning before you stopped searching.”
David had been too edgy that afternoon to keep an eye out for anything but two-legged predators. “We’ll do that here in a bit, pumpkin. First let me get a fire going. I think your mama could do with a hot cup of coffee laced with lots of sugar.”
While he finished digging the pit and coaxed the flames to life, he was unable to shake the feeling that those lowlifes were somewhere close, maybe even watching them. He didn’t want to say anything that might scare Daphne, so
as soon as the coffee was on, he took her to the stream to wash their vegetables. Once back at the fire, he assigned her the job of putting them into the pot to boil.
“I’ve never done the cooking part.”
“You’ve watched me. I think you’re ready.” David got her the salt. “Don’t add too much, now, and you need to stir constantly.” Stirring steadily wasn’t necessary, but he wanted to keep her busy while he laid out the hard facts to her mother. He handed the child a long-handled wooden spoon. “We don’t want our vegetables to scorch, now, do we?”
Her small face solemn, Daphne said, “I’m a good stirrer. I won’t let them burn.”
“Mind your cloak and skirt,” David told her. “Keep them tucked under your knees so they don’t flutter up into the flames.”
Daphne anchored her clothing. David nodded in approval. “While you’re cooking supper, your mama and me are going for a short walk.” He pointed. “We’ll be over behind the elder and boulder, within hollering distance if you need us.”
As recently as this morning, Brianna would have felt uneasy going off alone with David out of Daphne’s line of sight, but the events of the day had convinced her that he was an honorable man. When those miscreants had appeared on the horizon, he’d put his life on the line to protect her and the child. His actions had spoken more loudly than a million words.
Her nerves prickled as she and David stepped behind the boulder, but she knew that feeling was due to her experiences with other men and had nothing to do with David Paxton. She turned with her back to the rock and foliage. He stepped around to face her, his burnished features drawn into an expression grim with worry. Placing his hands on his hips, the tails of his duster hooked back over his wrists, he sighed and searched her face. Then, without preamble, he said, “My gut tells me they may come in on us tonight. I need to know you’ll sleep with an ear cocked and one eye open. We also need to huddle up. If anything happens, I don’t want you and Daphne between me and them.”
Fear trickled like ice down Brianna’s spine. “Wh-what do you think they want? If it’s money and valuables, can’t we just hand them over and be done with this?”
David toed the grass. When he glanced back up, he shook his head. “They’ll take the money and valuables after they finish me, but I don’t think that’s all they want.”
“What, then?” Brianna’s first thought was Daphne, and the possibility that those horrible men might get their hands on the child made her blood go cold.
“You,” he said softly.
Brianna jerked taut.
“Me?”
She knew some men found her attractive, but she’d been so focused on Daphne’s safety that she’d only fleetingly considered the dangers to herself.
He arched a tawny eyebrow. “Shamrock, this may come as a big shock to you, but you’re a fine figure of a woman. Any man would want you.” He held up a hand. “That doesn’t mean a sane man will act on it. You’re in no danger from me.”
Brianna already knew that, and the assurance was no longer necessary.
“That big fellow—well, he had his eye on you. To him, at least, you’re the main attraction. Daphne will be a bonus. She’s worth a lot of money in certain circles.”
“Down in Mexico?”
His mouth twisted in a ghost of a smile. “Mexico doesn’t have a corner on evil, Shamrock. There are men everywhere who have a sick liking for little girls. Only a few, mind you.”
Brianna shivered even in the heavy jacket. She cared about what might happen to herself, of course, but her main concern was still Daphne’s safety. “What—what’ll we do?”
“If there’s trouble, you won’t have time to reach a horse. I’ll keep their attention on me. I want you to stay out of my line of fire, grab Daphne, and run like hell. Go as far as you can. When you get tired, slow to a walk, but keep going until your legs give out. Carry her if you must. Unless they’re good trackers, they won’t find you. The grasslands will help hide your footprints. Come sunup, head north. Eventually you’ll come to a railroad track.” From his trouser
pocket, he drew the wad of money she’d been so impressed by that first night. “There’s plenty here for train fare and food when you reach a town.” He tucked the cash into her hand. “Once you reach Denver, find the sheriff and tell him you’re Ace Keegan’s sister-in-law. He’ll help you contact him.”
“Ace
Keegan
?” Brianna’s mind tripped on the surname. “
The
Ace Keegan?”
“He’s a fine man. You can trust him.”
“Papa!”
The child’s cry, laced with urgency, brought Brianna spinning around. David caught her arm and held her back. “Stay here. If there’s trouble, I’ll send her to you.”
David took off for camp, only a stone’s throw away. Brianna stepped out from behind the scraggly tree and boulder, searching for her daughter. What she saw nearly made her heart stop. Those men had ridden into camp, and their horses were hemming Daphne in at the fire. David drew to a halt on the opposite side of the flames, spread his feet, and flipped back his duster, his hands hovering just above the butts of his revolvers.
“Daphne, go to your mama,” he ordered.
With a frightened yip, Daphne skirted the fire and came barreling toward the rock. When the child reached Brianna, they grabbed hands and turned to flee. The prairie, blanketed with the gray of twilight, stretched before Brianna like a yawning mouth.
Run like hell,
David had said. Clutching her skirt in one hand, she lurched forward, pulling Daphne behind her.
Run. Don’t slow down.
Brianna did precisely what David had told her. Legs scissoring, her pulse hammering like a sledge, she raced across the grassland, her feet hitting the ground with such force that she felt her teeth snapping. Daphne, shorter of leg, was a weight at the end of Brianna’s arm, which she held extended behind her.
“Hurry, dear heart. Show me how fast you can run!”
Daphne picked up speed. To Brianna’s terrified gaze, the earth passed beneath them in a dizzying blur. Her lungs started to burn. She felt Daphne’s pace slow, and then she
began to lag behind. Then, without warning, the child caught her toe on something and pitched forward into a headlong sprawl, breaking Brianna’s grip on her hand.
Carry her if you have to.
There was no time to see whether Daphne was hurt. No time even to think. She clutched her daughter in her arms and ran as if the devil were at her heels.
L
As Brianna ran, every word he’d said in those last few seconds became scored onto her brain. He’d known he might die, but even so, his only concern had been for her and their daughter.
Their
daughter? Oh, God. He’d walked out to face death, protecting a little girl who wasn’t even his. Remembering the tender gruffness of his voice and the look on his face made Brianna go blind with tears.
Shamrock.
She’d hated that nickname. Now she sent up frantic prayers that he’d live to nettle her with it again.
Daphne grew heavier, making Brianna’s arms quiver and cramp. Worse, trying to run carrying the extra weight was exhausting her. Her breathing became labored, her lungs hitching. A stitch pierced her side. It became harder and harder to lift her feet.
Brianna’s legs gave out. David had told her to run as long as she could and then slow to a walk, but as she staggered to a stop near a rock, she was so exhausted and winded that she couldn’t take another step. He’d said to
head north come dawn, but what if it was overcast? Without the sun clearly visible, she might go too far east or west and wander around on the prairie until they perished. Grabbing for breath, she stood there, arms trembling to support Daphne. The child was sobbing, her tears wetting the jacket. In that moment, Brianna had no energy left to kiss scraped shins or elbows. She had no more strength, period. The thought barely filtered through her mind before she crashed to her knees. With Daphne’s added weight, her landing was hard, but the sharp, bone-bruising pain seemed dim, hovering just beyond the edges of her panic.
Just then, the rock exploded, its jagged top splintering like glass, pieces going in all directions. Something hit her at the corner of her eye. Then, a fraction of a second later, a gunshot rent the air.
That isn’t right.
The report was supposed to ring out before the bullet struck. Or was it the other way around? Her thoughts swam. She felt as if a horse had kicked her in the head. Then, as if her brain were a pot of soup that had just been briskly stirred, the eddy of confusion began to slow, allowing her to think—if not clearly, at least in fits and starts.
Down
, she needed to get down. She blinked, got her vision back into focus, and caught a glimpse of something bright yellow in the deepening shadows.
The fire.
Oh, dear God. She’d lost her bearings when Daphne fell, and now they were back near the camp. She was kneeling in plain sight, and Daphne was wailing and blubbering.
She dove to the ground, using the stone as protection as she shielded the child with her body. “Shush, baby, shush,” Brianna whispered frantically, tapping her fingertips against the little girl’s wet lips. “Those men—they’ll hear you. Quiet, quiet!”
More gunfire erupted, cutting through the prairie gloaming with stutters of silence between the reports.
Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God
. David had ordered her to run, and she had, but somehow, she had circled back. If she stood up right now, they’d see her.
They.
Those horrible creatures. There was no way David could come out of this alive, not when he was up against three gunmen. The shooting stopped. Brianna held her
breath, hoping to hear another exchange, but the prairie had gone deathly quiet. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. Brianna clamped a hand over the nape of Daphne’s neck, warning her without words to stay low and not lift her head.
Straining her ears for the sound of voices, Brianna heard nothing except the frightened whicker of a horse somewhere in the distance. She guessed that the animals had fled when the fight started.
David.
If he was dead, she and Daphne were on their own, and soon those awful men would sweep out from camp, searching for them. Horror chilled her skin. This close to the fire, she didn’t dare dash for safety. They would spot her and Daphne right away. Her only hope was to wait for full darkness.
It seemed as if an eternity passed. Occasionally she thought she heard movement in camp, but she couldn’t be sure. The twilight had deepened to charcoal gray. In a few more minutes, the cover of night would descend to give her and Daphne an opportunity to run again. She waited, afraid to even take a deep breath for fear they would hear her. Daphne whimpered. Brianna clamped a hand over the child’s mouth.