The Outrider (Redbourne Series #5 - Will's Story) (5 page)

Ethan relieved her of the books, setting them on
the floorboards beneath the driver’s seat.

Unsure of what tomorrow would hold, Elizabeth
climbed into the back of the wagon alongside Grace and a restless Caspar and
the pups. She kept the runt snuggled tightly into her chest and pulled the
blanket up tighter around her shoulders.

“Grace?” Elizabeth asked.

“Um-hmmmm,” the woman said softly as she turned
to face her.

She needed to ask, but was unsure how to do it.

“If I ask you something, do I have your word you
will not say anything?”

“Of course.”

“William Redbourne. Do you know him?”

Grace turned a surprise look on her. “Handsome?
Tall? Blond? Dimples that won’t quit, but stubborn as all get out?”

“That’s him.” Elizabeth wasn’t sure whether to be
excited or fearful at the realization they were so close.

“Will is Ethan’s brother. How do you know him?” Grace
asked with a devious smile.

Elizabeth held her mother’s charred box close to
her scorched bosom.

“We’ve never actually met, but I saw him fight
many times while he was at school.”

“England?”

Elizabeth nodded.

“Will speaks fondly of his time overseas. I’m
sure he will be thrilled to meet you.”

“I’m not so sure of that. Maybe you can drive me
into town in the morning. I’d just assume that Mr. Redbourne not know about me.”

“Nonsense,” Grace said with a shake of her head.
“Will might be a fighter on the outside, but he’s got a heart of gold.”

Elizabeth didn’t respond, skeptical of the
woman’s optimism. Grace didn’t understand the history Will had with the Archer
family. It would be best if she just kept to herself and never looked back.

“Did you know that one cubic foot of gold weighs
a half of a ton.” Elizabeth’s hand flew to her mouth. She would have to work
harder to keep her words in check. “I’m sorry. I cannot seem to help myself.”

Grace narrowed her eyes with a pursed-lip smile.
“I guess he has a very heavy heart.”

They looked at each other. Elizabeth held her
breath, her eyes wide, then suddenly the humor of Grace’s statement bubbled
over and they both laughed.

“Don’t you worry. He’s out of town right now,”
Grace continued, “but I am sure he will be back by the end of the coming week.”
She nodded, then reached out, taking hold of Elizabeth’s hand, and squeezed. “It’ll
all work out. You’ll see.”

From your lips to God’s ears.

As long as Will Redbourne didn’t find out she was
Sterling Archer’s daughter, there might just be a chance that everything would
work out fine. But, if she stayed in Stone Creek, it would only be a matter of
time before he discovered the truth of her heritage. No, she couldn’t risk it.
Not if she wanted any chance of living a life outside of her father’s devious
shadow. It seemed the time had come, more quickly than she’d expected, to move
on. To find another place to call home.

The question was, where would she go?

Colorado
City, Colorado

“I’m done,” Will told Sven as they rode into town
and stopped in front of the General Store. He only had a few weeks left before
he would be returning to England and he wanted to spend as much time with his
family as he could before he left. Taking on another job, no matter how small,
would be a distraction he could ill afford.

He’d already been working as an outrider for the
stagecoach company for longer than he’d planned and he was anxious to get home.
There were a lot of preparations to be made, and with the money from this ride,
he’d have enough to finally purchase the ship waiting for him in Boston.

His friend’s brows knit together.

“I have been offered a position at the University
of London to teach for the next few years and I have a lot to get done before I
leave,” he explained as they both climbed down off their horses.

“London?” Sven asked with a raised brow. “Does
your mother know?”

Will hadn’t been able to muster enough courage to
tell his family about his new position in England. His mother loved having her
children close to home, but with Rafe and Levi travelling all the time, he
figured it wouldn’t be much different, he’d just be riding the ocean waves
instead of a horse. The job included the opportunity to assemble a crew for his
ship and to explore.

“I didn’t think so,” Sven mocked. “Come on, Will.
It’s just one more run to Kansas City. You wouldn’t even have to take the train
with them to Denver. Good money,” the Norwegian man coaxed as he strapped his
horse to the short wooden railing. “Twice as much as this one and less than a
quarter of the distance.”

“You know I don’t care about that.” Truth was, ever
since his brothers, Levi and Ethan, had both found that finding love agreed
with them, Will had started thinking more about settling down himself, getting
married and having a gaggle of children of his own, but there were a few things
he wanted to do first.
Needed
to do first.

“And on top of the bankroll, we’ll be escorting
three beautiful women across God’s lovely countryside,” Sven continued. “Not
like these two,” he said, pointing to the wealthy man and his attendant
standing just outside of the bank.

Will narrowed his eyes at his friend. “How in the
world you think you are going to find a wife escorting mail-order brides to
their intended grooms is beyond me. They’re spoken for,” he said with a shake
of his head. “That
is
the whole idea.”

“I know,” Sven said as he climbed the stairs and
walked into the mercantile. “But a lady can change her mind, right?”

Will shook his head at the absurdity of his
friend’s scheme. “I think he’s gone mad, don’t you think, boy?” he whispered in
Indy’s ear.

Independence, Will’s black gelding that sported a
white star on his forehead, dipped his head into the waiting trough for a long
drink and Will patted his side before following the broad shouldered man into
the store.

He’d never intended to be an outrider for the
stagecoach company, but when the opportunity had presented itself, he hadn’t
been able to pass up the chance to see the vast open spaces of the west for
himself. Going abroad had whetted his appetite for exploring and he found
himself growing restless sticking around the ranch day after day. Besides, the
money was good. He came from a wealthy family himself, but he’d been taught
early on that a man needed to make his own way in life. He couldn’t expect that
everything would be handed to him without effort.

Ranch life was as much in his blood as any
Redbourne’s, and he enjoyed the work—it gave him perspective—but something was
missing in that life for him. Fortunately, studying abroad had given him a
chance to see what else life could offer him and he’d finally begun to figure
out exactly what it was that drew him away and where his purpose lay.

“When are you leaving?” Sven asked as he bit into
one of the apples he’d just purchased from the clerk, tossing Will the other
delicious, red fruit.

“A couple of weeks.”

“That’s plenty of time. If you cut out the train
and just accompany the stage, this next run will only take a day or two. Tops.”

Will smiled and bit into his apple as the
Norwegian tried to convince him. He and Sven had put their differences behind
them. Their bout in the barn last month had been foolish and he knew it. Sven
had not intended to show any disrespect for Hannah, but in Will’s way of
thinking, ignorance was no excuse. At least now, the man would be more aware of
his surroundings and had gained a better understanding of how protective Will was
of his little sister or any of the women in his life. The men had gotten along
just fine since that day.

“I’ll think about it,” Will offered. He knew that
if he gave the man a little hope, it would earn him a few moments of peace,
then Will could let him down a little later. He needed to keep his eye on his
future. And being an outrider was not it.

“I knew you’d come around,” Sven said with a
satisfied smirk.

“Come on.” Will walked past him and out the door.

It was time to go home.

Kansas

Sunday services, followed by supper at Redbourne
Ranch, had Elizabeth on edge. She still hadn’t come clean about who she was,
and coming face to face with Will Redbourne would bring everything out into the
open, showing her off in a less than perfect light. She wished she’d just told Mr.
Redbourne and his wife everything last night. While she’d never actually met
Will, his history with her family was not pleasant. She’d seen him fight on
many occasions from her father’s box at the ring, but things had gotten ugly
when he’d stood up to her father. Everyone did what Sterling Archer wanted or
they paid a hefty price.

Well, not everyone.

Sadness descended upon her like a candied apple
melting in the sun. She’d lost her home and most everything in it. And the
things she’d been able to salvage would not be worth much to the average
person. She knew the time had come for her to move on from this place, but with
little money, opportunities for a woman to strike out on her own were few.

If she stayed in Stone Creek, the truth would be
inevitable. Will had history with the Archers and that was exactly what she’d
wanted to avoid. She needed to go where no one knew her or her family. There
was no longer a choice. She had to leave.

Knock. Knock.

“Eliza Beth,” Grace called from outside the door,
“are you ready to head up to the homestead?”

She took a deep breath as she looked into the
mirror above the vanity in the corner of the room where she’d slept and swept
down her rosy top with her hands. Grace had lent her a dress to wear. It was a
little too short and a little too tight in the waist, but it was leaps and
bounds better than wearing her now ragged and singed nightshift to dinner with
one of the most prominent families in the territory. She pinched her cheeks.

“Coming.”

When she opened the door, Grace greeted her with
a genuinely pleased smile. The young woman’s green dress accentuated the
emerald flecks in her eyes. She fit her name. She was the epitome of what
Elizabeth would consider refined and she mused at how well the woman would fit
in with the ladies of high social breeding back home.

The woman wove her arm into Elizabeth’s and
guided her down the short staircase and out the door to where her husband had
already hitched the wagon and, to her surprise, the deputy had decided to join
them for what she believed was supposed to be a short trip out to the main
homestead on Redbourne Ranch.

“Gracie!” a tall young man called from the porch.

“I’ll be right back,” Grace said as she turned
back for the stairs.

“I don’t know why you’re making me wear this get
up anyway. It’s just dinner,” he said, pulling at the collar of his shirt where
a tie dangled haphazardly at his throat.

Elizabeth smiled at the exchange. The youth
reminded her of the brother just older than her at that age—full of attitude
and sass. Then, her smiled faded. Jeremy was the one she missed most of all.

“Jack, we need to look nice,” Grace said as she
slapped away his hand and proceeded to fix the young man’s tie.

“Why doesn’t Ethan have to wear a tie?”

“’Cause my sister is younger than me and can’t
tell me what to do,” Ethan said, stepping out of the house in a freshly pressed,
button-down shirt—his hair combed neatly and his face clean-shaven.

“Ma’am,” the deep sound of Deputy Redbourne’s
voice geared her attention away from the conversation on the porch. Raine tipped
his hat as he brought his horse up alongside the buckboard seat. “We’ve been
back out to your place and walked the premises. I’m afraid there isn’t much
left, but going over the debris from the house, I did come across something
that makes me believe the fire may not have been an accident.”

“What do you mean, Deputy?”

Raine reached down into his saddlebags and pulled
out a small cloth-wrapped bundle. He rolled the contents out into his hand
where he held up the neck of a blackened whiskey bottle for her to see.

“I found this just below the section I believe
was the windowsill.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something, but
words would not come. That bottle had not been there yesterday after she’d
scrubbed the floors and she certainly did not keep spirits in her house, so how
did it get there?

“Funny thing,” he said, “that smell is not alcohol,
it’s kerosene.” He paused long enough for the words to sink in.

Someone had set fire to her house. On purpose.

“I’m afraid it looks like arson, ma’am.”

Arson?
Why would anyone want to burn down her house?

“I think maybe it’s time for us to have that
little chat now.”

“Come on, Raine. We’ll be late for church and you
know what Mama says about people who are late to church.”

“I know. We’ll all be heathens,” he laughed.
“Just tell me one thing, Mrs. Jessup,” he said as he turned to her. “Is there
anyone who may want to hurt you?”

Several of her father’s business associates came
to mind, but they were all back in England. And she couldn’t imagine her father
trying to actually have her killed—not even after the way she left. Besides, no
one from her old life had any idea where she was, so she looked the man
straight in the eyes as she replied confidently.

“No, sir. I am new to Stone Creek and have not
had many opportunities to meet the people here. The only acquaintances I have
are Mr. and Mrs. Redbourne.” She jutted her chin toward Ethan and Grace who now
joined them at the wagon. Grace climbed up onto the seat next to her and took a
hold of the reins. Ethan and Jack both mounted horses to ride along beside
them.

“We just want to keep you safe,” Deputy Redbourne
said with a wink. “Normally, Stone Creek is a real nice place. I’m sorry you’ve
had a rough go of it in the first few weeks.” He tipped his hat again. “Rest
assured, we’ll get to the bottom of it.” He wrapped the bottle back up and
placed it carefully in his saddle bag. “Let’s go.”