The Circle Eight: Tobias (13 page)

She gestured to the saddlebag. “Get the letter then. Eva will fuss at me if I get blood all over again.”
 

Again?
 

“Who the hell are you?” He jammed his hand into the bag and pulled out the sheet of paper. “The hired gun?”
 

She laughed, a tinkling noise that was completely at odds with her appearance. It was a musical laugh, very feminine. Unlike the creature in front of him.
 

The girl yanked off her hat and blonde locks slid from a pile atop her head. She shook her hair and the breeze picked it up. The sun sparkled on the golden strands and James was struck speechless. Then she smiled.
 

“Nah. I’m Cat Graham. Rebecca’s sister.”
 

Holy shit.
 

James was rarely struck dumb, but this was an exception. Cat Graham? He vaguely remembered there was a younger sister, but he’d never met her. This creature was so fundamentally different from both of her sisters, he couldn’t form a single, coherent thought.
 

“Cat?”
 

She scrunched up her nose. “It’s Catherine but I won’t answer to it. I’ve been Cat for a while now.”
 

He could believe it. She was graceful like a cat, if it was dirty, bedraggled and wearing crusty clothes.
 

“Can I see the letter?” She held out her hand and his gaze dropped to the long, slender fingers with liberal dirt beneath the short nails. Not a very feminine appendage but damned if he didn’t want to touch her and see if her skin was soft.
 

He fumbled with the paper before she snatched it from him with a scowl. James wasn’t one to speak to many females, much less women who turned him into a blithering fool. He was jumpy and uncomfortable, not a feeling he wanted or welcomed. The sooner he finished this chore, the better.
 

Cat scanned the missive and sighed. “Rebecca is always running off to tend to the sick. I don’t know how she does it. I’d have hauled off and shot one of those whiners long before now.”
 

James happened to agree with her, but in this case, the sick patient was his brother. “It was a bad accident.”
 

“It always is. Or someone’s baby is sick, or some old man has gout.” Cat shrugged. “As long it ain’t me doing the tending, she’s welcome to it.”
 

“She’s a good healer.” James didn’t have to defend Rebecca, but she was good at what she did. He’d seen firsthand how capable she was.
 

Cat’s brows went up. “You like her.”
 

James straightened in the saddle. “I respect her.” He hadn’t intended on getting into a debate with the hellion. “Can I talk to your brother Matt now?”
 

She peered at him with those blue, blue eyes. “All right, then, let’s get to the house. This late in the day, he’s likely in the barn with his horse Winston.” Cat swung the horse around and took off like a bullet.
 

James dug his heels into his gelding and leaned forward. He used every bit of horsemanship to keep her in sight. She went straight toward the barn and dismounted with the same level of agility she’d had while riding.
 

By the time he arrived, she’d already gone inside the barn, leaving her gelding ground-tied. Not many horses would stay put without being tied off. This one had its snout buried in the trough, drinking up water without a care in the world. His own mount puffed and blew from the wild ride to the barn.
 

James tied off the reins to the hitching post and patted his horse’s neck. “I’ll rub you down shortly, boy.”
 

He stepped into the darkened barn and waited a moment until his eyes adjusted. It was a well-kept stable with at least two dozen stalls, which were about half full. The horses stuck out their noses as he walked passed them, curious and beautiful creatures. He followed the voices from the back of the barn.
 

Cat leaned against a stall door and spoke to someone inside. James slowed his steps until she noticed him.
 

“Here he is.” She gestured with one arm, the letter still in her hand. “Says he’s from Donovan’s.”
 

James didn’t know what to expect from Matt Graham, the head of the Circle Eight. The man stepped out from the stall and put his hands on his hips. The first thing James noted was that Matt had the same eyes as Rebecca and Elizabeth, that blue-green color he hadn’t seen anywhere else. Somehow he’d missed that fact when he’d been there before. Matt’s brown hair was plastered to his head from sweat in the form of a hat. He’d obviously been working all day and had just come in with his gelding.
 

Matt was a big man, as big as James and Tobias, but he was older, mid-thirties at least. Some wrinkles decorated the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, as though he smiled and laughed often. He wore dirty, stained clothes but it was obvious he had earned that dirt during the day, not over the course of weeks like Cat had. Did she ever wash her clothes?
 

“Good to see you again.” He held out his hand and James had no choice but to shake it. Strong grip, callused hands of a man who earned a living by the sweat of his brow.
 

“Thanks.” James gestured to Cat. “I have a letter from Rebecca.”
 

Matt’s careful expression hardened. “I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I let you leave with my sister. I didn’t expect you to return without her.”
 

“I have the let—”
 

“Shut up, Cat.”
 

“I can speak. Don’t tell me to shut—”
 

“Catherine Frances Graham, shut up.” Matt’s voice grew harder and lower. Cat’s mouth slammed shut and she folded her arms, shooting deadly glares at her older brother, but she kept quiet. “I’ll have the entire story or you’ll regret stepping foot on my ranch. Hell, I don’t even know your full name, mister.”
 

This was the man who ran the business, the patriarch who, at twenty-four, had taken on seven younger siblings and a livelihood he hadn’t expected. James was impressed despite the fact he didn’t want to be. The
Grahams weren’t his enemies, but they were not friendly with Gibsons. He had no choice though.
 

“James Gibson.”
 

Matt’s nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. “Gibson? Any kin to Tobias?”
 

Oh, he reckoned he could lie. In the end, the untruth would come out and then the Grahams would be James’s enemy.
 

“He’s my older brother.” James waited a moment while Matt’s entire body turned to oak, ready to pound him. It was now or never to tell his story. “I’ve been a hand on Donovan’s ranch for the last two years. Several days ago, my younger brother Will had a tree fall on him. He’s in a bad way, a real bad way, and Rebecca has been tending him. She sent me here with a letter so I came.”
 

Matt pursed his lips before he blew out a breath and spoke. “You rode all the way here from Donovan’s to give me a letter from Rebecca? When she left here I expected her home the same day. She gallivants all over the damn country as she pleases. She has for the last five years and there ain’t a thing I can do about it.”
 

“It was the right thing to do. She’s saving Will’s life and nothing can repay her for that.” James waited for the first punch, his own body tightened and ready for a fight. He ignored Cat, who was now looking at him as though James were a pile of steaming horseshit in the barn.
 

“There’s only one thing to do now.” Matt advanced on him and James braced himself for the first blow.
 

Chapter Seven

Tobias watched his brother sleep. Will took one breath and let it out slowly, his chest moving gracefully up and down. There wasn’t another thing to do in this small room as his brother’s body healed itself.

He remembered taking care of Will and James when they were young’uns. Like a couple of puppies, they followed him around, both cast-offs from their fickle mother. None of them shared the same father, which was obvious by the fact none of them looked alike. It hadn’t mattered to Pops; he loved them equally, teaching them how to be men.

A wave of shame washed over him when he thought about how his grandfather would view Tobias now. He didn’t want to be a disappointment to the man who’d raised him, no matter if he’d died five years earlier. He’d failed his family.

Tobias wanted Will to awaken. The first thing Tobias would do was apologize to him and to James when he returned from the Circle Eight. He only hoped they would see it in their hearts to see past the mistakes Tobias had made. He was human, and had compounded his errors with more and more until he’d forgotten what it meant to be himself. He’d lost who he was.

Perhaps this beating was the head banging Tobias needed. Sad if that was true. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever been the loser in a fight, even against three opponents. He was a scrappy fighter and he used whatever he had to win. No more, he didn’t have the strength to win. Now he lay there like a lump of shit, bruised and beaten.

At least his other eye had lost enough swelling to open. Rebecca’s poultice, while sticky and stinky, had worked on his bruises. The soreness in his shoulder had gone from a screaming banshee to a moaning one. However, relying on Rebecca for everything, including his own piss and shit, was lowering. Nobody’d had to help him piss since before he could remember. Her gentle touch wasn’t sexual at all. It was clinical and that made it more difficult. She thought of him as she did Will, nothing more and nothing less.

Now if only his thirst for whiskey would lessen. It had only grown worse with each passing minute until he thought there were ants crawling on his skin, biting him. The only sanity he found was watching Will. It was at least something to occupy his mind.

When Rebecca was in the room, he would watch her. She grounded him, even if he growled and snapped at her. Nothing seemed to control his
tongue. It did whatever the hell it wanted to no matter how much he wanted to be nice to her.

As if he’d conjured her from his imagination, or his heart, she walked into the room with a bowl in her hands. Wisps of steam curled from the liquid, telling him it was likely soup. His stomach growled, eager for something other than sips of broth. She was apparently going to starve him to death. Of course, he’d give it all up for a flask of good liquor.

He was on his way to hell for sure.

The older rancher was on her heels. Donovan had a dark expression and that did not bode well for Tobias. He put his hands on his hips as she put the bowl on the small table.

“Deputy Ellis is back.” She glanced at Tobias. “He’s here to arrest you.”

Tobias stared at her, unwilling to accept he was being accused of a crime when he had been nearly beaten to death. “Arrest me for what? Bleeding on the furniture?”

Donovan crossed his arms. “It’s your word against three of my hands. They’ve been working here for a while and I’m more apt to believe them.”

Tobias had no reason to expect the rancher to take the word of a scruffy stranger. It still stung and he clenched his hands into fists, ready for another fight.

“Those three tried to kill Will and then they tried to kill me. They said if James had known what they did, he would’ve killed them.” Tobias tried to keep his voice calm but it had an edge. “I got mad, like anyone would to find out someone wanted to kill his brothers. I threw the first punch but those bastards almost killed Will.” He hated how thick his voice got and damned if his eyes didn’t sting.

“You admit to starting the fight. One of those men has a broken arm, another has a broken nose. None of ’em can walk straight.” Donovan frowned down at him.

Tobias had a moment of wicked triumph to know he’d caused damage to those bastards. They deserved worse. “I can’t even sit up.”

Donovan’s gaze narrowed. “It ain’t my job to pass judgment. Ellis can arrest you and the judge can sort out what happened.”

Tobias knew he didn’t have a chance in court against three men, especially if a rancher like Donovan backed their story. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and it had nothing to do with the urge for whiskey.

Rebecca spoke up, her voice tinged with anger. “Mr. Donovan, you can’t do this. Tobias was defending his family. There’s nothing more important than that. Tell the sheriff or his deputy it was a misunderstanding.’

Donovan looked at her for a few moments before he answered. “I can’t do that. The law is the law. We’re a new state, not the Republic anymore.”

Now it was her turn to clench her hands into fists. “You know as well as I do that ranchers can sway the law one way or the other. We have to do what’s right.”

Donovan glanced at Tobias. “What did you do to convince the doc?”

“I didn’t—”

“I’m allowed to have a thought in my brain, Mr. Donovan. Women are as smart as men, sometimes smarter.”

Donovan snorted. “That’s the dumbest thing I heard in a long time. Who told you that foolishness?”

Rebecca took a deep breath and blew it out through her mouth. “We were talking about Tobias and the charges against him.”

Deputy Ellis made his usual appearance in the doorway. “He ain’t ready to be arrested yet? It’s been days.”

Rebecca gave the lawman a searing glance. “He will not be allowed out of that bed for at least another two days. Aside from that, the charges are ridiculous. Three men who were helpless against one? What are they, little boys?”

At this both Donovan and Ellis puffed up their chests and widened their stance. Nothing like a woman challenging a man’s status as a man to raise some ire.