Saviours of Oestend Oestend 2 (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dante had been so focused on finding Cami that he hadn’t noticed the changes to Milton when he’d come into town. He noticed now, though. At least a third of the businesses were boarded up. One was burned to the ground.

“Lots of people leaving,” Frances said. “Too many weird things going on.”

Luckily, nothing unusual seemed to be going on at the moment. The town was still and silent. Dante was fairly certain nobody would try to stop them from leaving, but he didn’t see any reason to dally. He figured the longer they stayed in Milton, the more chance there was of having to deal with the repercussions of his actions. He could have kissed Frances for having taken care of the horses ahead of time.

“I don’t know how to ride,” Cami said when Dante motioned her towards the smallest of them.
“All you got to do is hang on.”
He boosted her up into the saddle, and the three of them left a cloud of dust in their wake as they headed to the safety of the prairie. Dante didn’t dare ride full-speed with Cami, but they still made it back to the McAllen Ranch by just past supper time.
Red and Ronin were in the barn. They obviously hadn’t arrived much before him, because they were still brushing down their horses. “Glad to see we don’t have to ride to anyone’s rescue,” Red said.
“Everyone all right?” Ronin asked.
“Right enough.”
They both did a double-take at Cami, but neither of them said anything, for which Dante was grateful. He wasn’t surprised when Tama came running out to meet them in the barn. “Dante! Thank the Saints you’re safe! When Red and Ronin showed up and said you’d ridden through the night—”
She stopped short and Dante turned to find her staring dumbfounded at Cami.
“I’m fine,” Dante said, putting his arm around Cami’s shoulder and pulling her close. She wasn’t used to riding, and he knew she could barely stand. “We’re all fine, other than being a bit saddle sore. If we could just get some supper—”
“Dante?” Tama interrupted him. When she looked at him, he almost winced at the anger and betrayal in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Honey, I ain’t slept in nearly three days. Can we save the question and answer session for later?”
“But—”
“It’s my fault,” Cami said quietly to Tama. “I asked him not to tell.”
That wasn’t exactly true, but Dante didn’t try to contradict her. He could tell Tama couldn’t decide if she understood or not, but right or wrong, he was too tired to care. The worry and the riding and the sleepless nights were catching up with him fast and a glance at Frances showed the boy wasn’t doing much better. “I promise to spend the rest of our lives making it up to you, but right now, we all just need to rest.”
“All right,” she relented. “Come on in the house.”
Dante couldn’t have said what they ate for supper. He was barely conscious when he and Cami finally climbed into bed. He felt like he had a hundred things to say to her, but he only had enough energy to pull her into his arms before he fell asleep.

* * * *

Dante slept until well into the next day. When he finally woke, he found Cami still in the room with him. At first he thought she was looking out the window, but then he realised she was using it as a mirror, looking at her reflection.

“Are you all right?”

She glanced over at him and then quickly away. He could tell she’d been crying. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem fine.”
She made a sound that was part laugh, and part hiccup. She sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve. “I’m being silly.”
He sat up on the edge of the bed and waited, wondering if he should prod her or not. In the end, he didn’t need to.
She glanced over at him with her big dark eyes. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. She reached up and touched the rough ends of her hair. “I hate having you see me like this.”
“Like what? With short hair, you mean?”
“Looking like a boy.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. And when she put her face in her hands to hide from him, he pulled her into his arms. “Honey, if you had any idea the horrible things I was imagining when I couldn’t find you. All the nightmares I had about finding you dead.” He hugged her tighter and kissed the side of her head. “I thought I’d lost you, and now I have you back. Believe me when I say, you’ve never been more beautiful to me than you are right now.”
“Everyone will know now.”
“Maybe,” he admitted. “But it doesn’t change anything as far as I’m concerned.”
“You say that now, but when you have to explain it to them, you’ll change your mind.”
“Not a chance.”
“It was easy for you when they all thought I was female.”
“Not really. If anything, they’ll understand more now. Every one of them was wondering how I could suddenly be head over heels for a woman.” He kissed her again, but was quickly distracted by a new thought. “Hey, that reminds me!” He picked his pants up off the floor and rifled through his pockets until he found what he sought. He held the ivory combs out to her.
He thought she’d be happy, but instead, tears welled up in her eyes. She reached up again to touch her hair.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry!”
She reached out and brushed her fingertips over the combs. “It’s not that. I’m glad you found them.”
“Then what’s wrong now?”
“You were still asleep, and I went downstairs. I said good morning to Tama, and all she said was, ‘I should have known.’ And then she just walked away.” Her shoulders trembled, and he knew she was fighting tears again. “I can’t even face them.”
He wasn’t sure he’d ever been angry at Tama before, but at that moment, he almost hated her. “Don’t you worry,” he said to Cami. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
He dressed quickly and left her there, telling her he had to use the privy. That wasn’t a lie, but it also wasn’t his only objective. When he was finished there, he went looking for Frances. He found him in the barn, oiling a saddle.
“Not much to do around here,” Frances said. “Red and Ronin already left for the BarChi. Only these few horses here. No cattle. Not sure what to do with my time.”
“No reason you have to do anything at all.”
Frances shrugged. “I guess idleness doesn’t suit me.” He turned to look at Dante with his big blue eyes. “What’s up?”
Dante put his hand on Frances’ shoulder. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”
Frances shrugged uncomfortably. “It was nothing.”
“No, Frances. I mean it. If it weren’t for you…” The thought of having lost Cami and never knowing what had happened to her made his words dry up in his throat. “I owe you, kid. Anything you need
ever
, you just say the word. I’m in your debt.”
Frances blushed and scuffed his toe awkwardly in the dirt. “I’m just glad I could help.”
“You did more than help. You saved the day, kid. You saved Cami. You saved me.” He hooked his hand behind Frances’ neck and pulled him close. He kissed the top of his head. “I mean it. Anything. Anytime.”
Frances smiled up at him. “I’ll remember.”
Unfortunately, Dante’s next task wasn’t nearly so pleasant.
He found Tama outside, taking laundry off the line.
“Would it kill you to be civil?” he asked.
He’d intentionally come up behind her, and he was pleased at the way she jumped at his words. She relaxed quickly, but she didn’t turn to face him. “Would it have killed you to tell me the truth?”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.”
“I thought I was your friend.”
“I thought so, too.”
She sighed. There was a hint of shame he saw in her eyes when she finally turned to face him. “I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“
Her
.”

She shook her head as if it were inconsequential. “I just don’t understand. I wouldn’t have told anybody!”
“I know that.” Now that they were really talking, he softened his tone. “And I felt bad about it, because we
are
friends. But I had to choose between not telling you or betraying her.”
“And Cami won?”
He smiled. “I knew you’d forgive me, but I’m still playing things safe with her.”
He’d hoped to make her laugh, but it didn’t work. “Why is he pretending to be a woman?”
His anger at her had faded while they’d talked, but her question brought it bubbling back up, threatening to destroy his composure. “
She
doesn’t feel like she’s pretending anything. She says her body doesn’t fit what’s in her heart.”
Tama sighed and shook her head. “That’s doesn’t make a bit of sense.”
“Frankly, I don’t give a damn if it makes sense to you or not! It’s got nothing to do with you.”
“Even though I’m your friend?”
“Don’t try to make this all about you! I didn’t just ride through the night and risk the wraiths to bring her back because I have a death wish. I did it because I love her.”
She hung her head at that. Whether it was because she was ashamed, or because she was hiding her disbelief, he didn’t know. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Anger wouldn’t get him anywhere with her. He knew that.
“Tama, for the first time in years, I wake up in the morning, and I’m glad to still be alive. I think about my future—a future
without Deacon
—and I’m ready for it. She makes me happy, in a way I don’t think I’ve been since I was a boy. And as
my friend
, that means nothing to you? All you can do is stand there and tell me it don’t make sense to you?”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. He hadn’t realised she’d been crying. When she looked up at him, her cheeks were red. “I don’t know how to act with hi—her.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “You liked her well enough before, right?’
“Yes.”
“Well, she’s the same person now she was then. It’s only you who’s changed.”
She thought about that for a second. She dried her face with her apron and nodded. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “I’m being terrible.”
“Not terrible. But I think you can do better.”
She moved into his arms and put her head on his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven. I’m sorry, too, for what it’s worth.”
“Do you really love her?”
“Like a bee loves honey.”
She laughed. “Oh, Holy Saints. You’re going to be unbearable now, aren’t you?”
“You mean I wasn’t before?”
She smacked him playfully. “You were, but I suspect it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
He waited for her to put the last of the laundry in the basket, then picked it up to carry it back into the house for her. When they got there, she reached into the pile of clothes and pulled out a shirt. “Here. I don’t have any skirts or slacks that will fit her, but this blouse will probably work. And this.” She handed him a little square of lace. “Tell her I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, Tama.”
The shirt cheered Cami up, but the bit of lace seemed to confuse her. “Is it a handkerchief?”
“It’s for your hair,” he told her. “It’s what the wives wear.”
She blushed, but the smile she gave him was teasingly gorgeous. “Am I to be your wife now?”
“I sure wouldn’t mind.”
She laughed and turned to examine her reflection in the window as she placed the lace over her hair. She didn’t have any hairpins to hold it in place, though. “Do you think she’ll help me put it on before we go back to the BarChi?”
“I’m sure she will. Will you come down to supper now?”
“I don’t really want to, but I suppose I should. I can’t hide forever.”
“There’s no reason you should feel like you have to.”
Despite his insistence that everything would be fine, the meal did start out awkward. None of them seemed to know what to say. Cami stared nervously at her plate. Tama and Jay were tense. Their two sons watched Cami carefully.
Finally, as the meal was wrapping up, one of Tama’s sons blurted out, “Are you a girl or a boy?”
“Jonas!” Tama scolded. “Don’t be rude!”
Jonas looked stunned, and Dante couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t as if a boy his age could be expected to understand such things.
Cami’s cheeks were red, and Dante noticed her hands were clenched in her lap to keep them from shaking, but she answered him. “Olsa says I’m scai’loh. I’m in between.”
“So you’re both?” the other boy asked.
“Kind of, yes.”
“Can you have babies?” Jonas asked.
“Jonas!” Tama scolded again, but Cami actually smiled.
“No. In that way, I’m more like a boy.”
“Do you know magic like Olsa?”
“No, I’m not one of the Old People.”
“You look like one! Do you know how to make a bow and arrow?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Both boys were clearly disappointed by that.
“Nobody knows how to make one,” the younger boy said. “Except Olsa, and she won’t show us.”
“What
can
you do?” Jonas asked.
“Well…” He could see her pondering what she had to offer that they might find interesting.
“She can tell stories,” Dante said.
Cami glanced over at him in surprise. The two boys were immediately on the edge of their seats. Even Jay looked intrigued.
“Go ahead,” Dante prodded. “Tell us a story.”
She smiled at him, and he knew it was her way of saying thank you, and then she turned back to his nephew. “Your name is Jonas?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know the one about Jonas and Jamus and the castle in the clouds?”
She was tentative at first, but her audience was enthralled, and she gained confidence as she went. Tama, Jay and the boys loved every minute of it, and Dante breathed a mental sigh of relief. It was only a matter of time before they learned to love her as well.

* * * *

The next day was easier. Tama sat Cami down in the kitchen and took a pair of scissors to her butchered hair. “I can’t make it grow any faster, but we can at least make it look like you did it on purpose,” she said. After she was done, she used Cami’s ivory combs to hold the short sides back, and then showed Cami how to pin the lace over the top. She still seemed more masculine than she had with her long hair, but it did help to soften the effect.

He’d hoped to have a few days to relax, but it wasn’t to be. That evening, another BarChi hand showed up to report that the Pane family was in a right lather. Nobody knew if Cami, Dante and Frances were alive or dead. Also, the hand reported, Deacon was threatening to burn the whole blessed ranch to the ground if things didn’t get straightened out soon. Dante laughed at that, but he knew his father at least deserved to know he hadn’t lost another son. And so the next morning, they saddled up their horses and headed back to the BarChi.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Since parting ways with Frances, Simon had spent his time alternating between confidence and worry. Frances was smart. He was more than capable. Wherever he was, he was fine.

Except that five minutes later, he’d find himself fretting, convinced that something must have happened to the boy and he’d never see him again. He was unbelievably relieved when they finally returned to the BarChi.