The Tracker (19 page)

In the morning, she vowed to tell him that she would always be here for him. Her anger had been born of fear. She just wanted him safe. He was her life now. And she would tell him again that she loved him.

As sleep overtook her, she vowed to make things all right when she woke.

T
HAT SAME NIGHT
Reverend Johnson sat by his campfire, singing a hymn. The evening was warm and the breeze gentle. He’d eaten the delicious meal Ellie had made for him. Life didn’t get much better.

He heard the snap of a twig and knew someone was behind him. He turned and saw a clean-shaven man with black hair and broad, muscular shoulders.

Over the years he’d stopped fearing strangers.
The Lord had sent all kinds his way. “Evening. Got a little coffee left in the pot if you’d like some.”

The stranger nodded. “Much obliged.” He sat across from the minister, pulled a tin cup from his saddlebag and poured his coffee. He sipped it. “Sure is good. Thanks.”

“Name’s Reverend Shaun Johnson.”

“Frank.”

The minister searched his mind. “Do I know you?”

Frank shook his head as he sipped his coffee. “Don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

The reverend sat forward. He hated to judge a man before he got to know him, but there was something about this man that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise, as if Lucifer himself had come a calling.

Shaun decided to let the matter drop. He would tread lightly with this one. Likely he’d sleep with one eye open tonight. “So, where you headed?”

Frank’s fingers tightened around his cup. “West.”

No sin in being vague. “Me, I’m headed to Butte. Got friends there. You ever been there?”

“A time or two.”

The two lapsed into silence. It was the minister’s nature to chat but it was clear Frank wanted no part of talking.

“Don’t suppose you have any grub to spare?” Frank said finally.

“Matter of fact I do. Got biscuits and a fine salty ham.”

Frank accepted the fare and when he bit into the biscuit, his face softened. “Mighty tasty. Ain’t often you get this kind of food out on the range.”

“Got it from a coach stop not five hours west of here. A little redheaded cook by the name of Ellie made it for me.”

Frank’s eyes brightened. “That so?”

The reverend was pleased they had something to talk about. “Fact, I just married her to a nice fellow.”

“You married her?” An edge had crept into his voice.

“To a fine man who will do right by her. He seems mighty smitten by her.”

The stranger’s hands curled into fists. “That baby of hers a girl?”

“Why, yes, she was. How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess. Where’d you say this coach stop was?”

“Five or six hours west, near the mouth of Thunder Canyon.”

“Owned by a gal named Annie?”

“That’s right.”

“Appreciate the information.” Frank pulled his gun and pointed it at the reverend. He fired.

The bullet struck the minister square in the chest by his heart. He fell back off the log he was sitting on and hit the dirt hard.

Pain seared through his chest and he couldn’t catch his breath. He’d never expected to die on the side of the road. He’d always figured he’d die in town in a feather bed. He reckoned there was purpose in his death this fine evening, but he couldn’t see it for the life of him.

Frank moved closer to the fire and squatted. He took what remained of the food Ellie had made. “My Ellie was always the best cook in the state.”

It took all of Reverend Johnson’s energy to focus.

Frank started to eat. “You had no right marrying them. Ellie is
my
wife.”

N
ICK
was gone!

Ellie charged out of her room, buttoning her bodice as she hurried into the kitchen. No one. She ran outside, saw that Nick’s horse was gone, and then hurried into the barn. No sign of Nick.

Running back to the cabin, she burst through the front door as Annie walked down the stairs. Rose was on her shoulder, sleeping.

“Nick’s horse is gone!” Ellie said, breathless.

Annie nodded. “He and Mike left a couple of hours ago. They said they’d be back in a week or two.”

Her shoulders slumped. “You should have woken me up.”

“Nick said not to—that you needed your sleep.”

“They’ve gone after Frank and the gold.”

Annie laid Rose in the cradle in Ellie’s room. “He knows what he’s doing, Ellie. And Mike’s handled his share of guns.”

“I begged him not to go.”

Annie shook her head. “He’s got to put this matter to rest.”

Ellie pressed her hands to her face. “I know he does.”

“He will be all right,” Annie said.

“I was horrible to him. I said terrible things. If anything should happen to him, I would die knowing the last words I said to him were so hateful.”

Annie put her arm around Ellie’s shoulder. “He will be fine.”

Ellie wanted to believe Annie. But in her heart she feared she’d lost her only chance at love.

N
ICK AND
M
IKE
saw the buzzards overhead at eleven o’clock in the morning. Something or someone ahead over the rise was dead or dying.

Mike shifted forward in his saddle. “We should check it out.”

Nick didn’t want to be gone from Ellie any longer than was necessary, but Mike was right. They had to check. “Yes.”

Mike and Nick nudged their feet into their horses’ haunches and climbed the rocky incline. When they reached the peak, Nick spotted the man lying on the ground. As they approached, he recognized the reverend instantly. Both men dismounted.

The minister lay on his back, his arms out-
stretched, his face turned toward the blistering sun. Blood oozed from a gash on his forehead.

Nick’s gut clenched. He knelt beside the man. A bullet had seared through the left breast pocket of his coat, leaving a wide hole. No man could survive such a wound.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, cursing himself for not making the man wait another day. “Damn.”

Mike took off his hat. “The old man seemed unstoppable to me.”

At the sound of Mike’s voice, the minister stirred.

Startled, Nick glanced at Mike and then down at the old man. For the first time he saw the very shallow rise and fall of the reverend’s chest.

“No man could survive a wound like that,” Mike said.

“It won’t be long before death comes,” Nick said.

Nick shrugged off his range coat and covered the clergyman. At least he could keep him comfortable and give him a decent burial when it was over.

The minister shifted under the weight of the coat. “Tarnation, boy, I’m boiling as is,” he gasped. “Your coat will cook me alive.”

Nick snatched the coat back.

Mike laughed. “Reverend, you’re talking mighty well for a man who’s been shot through the heart.”

The clergyman shifted and tried to sit up. Nick helped him. The old man’s white hair stuck up from his head as if he’d grabbed hold of a telegraph wire. His nose was sunburned.

Reverend Johnson pulled a book from his breast pocket. A bullet was lodged in the center. “That’s not important now.”

Nick studied the quarter-size hole in Reverend Johnson’s coat. “Begging your pardon, but you’re one lucky man.”

The minister grabbed Nick’s arm. “Listen to me. A man named Frank Palmer shot me.”

Nick stiffened. “Are you sure?”

“Very. And he’s headed back toward the coach stop. Left early this morning. He is looking for Ellie. He said that she is
his
wife.”

Nick’s blood ran cold.

Mike paled. “The women are alone.”

“Mike, stay with the reverend. We won’t be able to move as fast with him. I’m headed back to the stop.”

Mike’s yes barely registered in Nick’s mind. He was already running toward his horse.

Frank had a long lead on him. If Nick rode like hell, he could make up some of that, but he wasn’t sure if it would be enough.

“Hold on, Ellie.”

E
LLIE SAW THE PLUME
of dust on the horizon and her heart skipped. Nick! She stopped her butter churning and stood. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she watched. Seconds passed and though she couldn’t see the rider’s face, she realized the rider was too stocky to be Nick. Her heart sank. Another customer.

Wiping her hands on her apron, she called out to Annie. “We’ve got a guest coming.”

Annie came out of the barn leading a gray sorrel into the corral. “Good. A customer will keep our minds off all the worrying we’re both doing.”

Ellie went inside, checked on the baby and then moved into the kitchen to check the stew she had simmering on the stove. She also had two pies cooling and bread ready for the oven. The guest would arrive to a feast.

She walked out to the front porch. The last thing she wanted to do now was to entertain a guest, but until she moved out of the stop, this was her job. And she owed Annie every day of work she could give her.

Annie walked toward the porch, wrapping a rope into a loop between her hand and elbow. She’d changed back into her customary garb of pants and a loosely fitting shirt. She’d twisted her golden curls into a tight braid that snaked down her back. “So, do we have anything to feed this fellow?”

The rider rode closer.

“A feast,” Ellie said. “I wonder if I’ll ever get in the habit of not cooking for a crowd.”

Annie pulled off her hat and brushed the dust from the rim. “You and Nick will fill that house of yours up soon enough.”

Children.
The thought had her heart squeezing.
Be safe, Nick.

She shifted her attention to the traveler, needing a distraction. Something seemed familiar about his build. His hat covered his hair and the brim shadowed his clean-shaven face.

It wasn’t until the rider was nearly upon them that she realized who it was.

“Frank Palmer!” Ellie gasped.

Annie’s eyes hardened into blue shards. Her father and her brothers had taught her to fight and she would fight Frank if need be. But Ellie worried she would die in a fight with Frank.

Ellie’s heart lurched. “Annie, get inside!”

Annie did go inside, only to return seconds later with her shotgun—the very gun Ellie had shot Nick with. But before she could raise it, Frank pulled his pistol and fired.

The bullet grazed Annie’s right temple and knocked her to the ground.

Ellie dropped to her knees. “Annie!” The older woman’s eyes were closed, but she moaned at the
sound of her name. The bullet had torn the skin at her temple but had not entered it.

Frank held up his hands. “There ain’t no reason to be afraid, Ellie. It’s me, Frank.”

Ellie stiffened, glancing up. “You shot her!”

He replaced his gun. “She was gonna shoot me. I couldn’t have that.”

“Ellie,” Annie muttered.

Ellie’s eyes brimmed with tears and she dabbed Annie’s temple with the corner of her apron. Annie would have a headache that would keep her flat on her back for a couple of days, but she’d survive—if Ellie could get them through this.

Frank touched the brim of his hat. “I been looking for you for a good while, girl. You’re hard to find.”

She held her apron corner to Annie’s temple. “I thought you were in jail in Butte.”

He looked surprised. “Nope. I guess they got the wrong fellow.”

“I don’t have the map, Frank.”

Frank grinned. “You never was one to beat around the bush. I always liked that about you.”

Ellie swallowed. “Nick Baron—the bounty hunter—has it. He’s gone to Butte to dig the gold up and see who is in the jail. He’ll be back any hour now.”

Frank laughed as he dismounted. “The gold is in
Butte? Damn, it would be like Jade to hide it right under my nose.” His spurs jangled as he approached the front porch. “Well, I see no reason to rush off, seeing as that bounty hunter is fetching my gold.”

Ellie struggled to keep her voice even. “But he doesn’t know you are here.” She remembered their argument. “He might not come back.”

“Oh, I think he’ll be coming back. He’ll figure out that fellow in the jailhouse ain’t me and he’ll come running back to you.” Frank clapped his hands together. “In the meantime, I could use a good meal.” He sniffed the air. “Is that stew I smell?”

Annie struggled to sit up. “You won’t eat in my house, you—”

Ellie laid her hand on Annie’s mouth, silencing her. If Miss Adeline had taught her anything, it was how to handle difficult men. “It sure is,” she said, smiling. If Nick were coming back, she’d have to buy them as much time as she could. “Come on in and take a load off.”

The happiness and relief on Frank’s face were almost palpable. “And how is that baby girl of mine?” he said. “I bet she is growing like a weed.”

Ellie choked back her fear. “She sure is.” She helped Annie to her feet. She prayed she could stall Frank long enough to figure out how she was going to get herself out of this mess.

T
WO HOURS LATER
Frank sat at the kitchen table, his hand on his round, taut belly. “I swear, Ellie, you are still the best cook in the state. I’ll bet you’d give the girls back in Missouri a run for their money.”

Ellie stood by the stove, her hands clenched. Annie sat in a chair that Frank had tied her to. Her head bandaged, she was fully awake. She strained at the ropes at her wrist but had not succeeded in loosening them. Ellie had warned her to keep silent. Annie had, but her blue eyes burned with a warrior’s anger.

This last couple of hours had been the longest of Ellie’s life. Frank had wanted to see the baby, but Ellie had convinced him to let the girl sleep. He’d been hungry enough to agree.

But now that he’d eaten three bowls of stew and had his fill of wedding cake, he was ready to visit.

“Missouri?” Ellie said. She picked up his dirty plate and scraped the leftovers into a slop bucket.

He scratched his beard. “I must have told you about Missouri. Lord knows we spent enough time together at the Silver Slipper.”

He’d sat in the kitchen for hours staring at her, but he’d never spoken to her. “Tell me again. You know how I like to hear about it.”

He grinned. “There’s a farm near St. Louis that I’ve had my eye on since I was a boy. I figured we’d
buy it and make it our home—you, me and the baby. What you say her name was?”

“Rose.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like that name. I’ve always been partial to Carol Sue. What do you think?”

Annie sucked in a sharp breath but she said nothing.

Ellie swallowed fear and anger. “It’s a fine name.”

“Well, from now on the baby’s gonna be called Carol Sue. Carol Sue Palmer. I like the sound of that.”

Ellie remembered the bruises on Jade’s arms and knew Monty could be cruel. She suspected Frank wasn’t much different. “Sounds good,” she told Frank.

Nick, please come soon!

Frank picked his teeth with his pinky nail. “I met a friend of yours on the road.”

Ellie froze. “You did?”

“The reverend. He told me you married the bounty hunter.”

She didn’t want to make Frank angry. But she’d not deny her marriage, either. “Yes.”

“I wasn’t happy about it. Lost my temper with the minister, as a matter of fact.”

Ellie glanced at Annie. The woman’s eyes reflected the worry and sorrow in her own heart. “But
as I rode alone for a while, I cooled off. I figured this marriage problem of yours could be easily fixed. Once that bounty hunter shows up with the gold, I’ll kill him.”

It took everything in Ellie not to scream in panic.

He grinned. “Then we can live happily ever after.”

Rose woke up and started to cry.

N
ICK SPOTTED
Annie’s stone house just before three o’clock in the afternoon. He was a good quarter of a mile away when he dismounted behind a stand of trees.

He’d made it to the coach stop in record time—four hours. He’d ridden his horse hard, as if Satan himself nipped at his heels. The mare was coated in a white lather and was breathing hard. She needed a rubdown but he didn’t have the time. He pulled the saddle off his horse and turned her loose.

He moved to the edge of the trees and studied the house and surrounding buildings. A new horse was in the corral. Gray with white spots, the horse ate hay greedily from the bin as if it hadn’t eaten in weeks. There was no sign of Ellie, Annie or Frank.

He wished like hell it was nighttime. He could use the darkness to his advantage. But sunset wouldn’t come for hours and he feared what Frank would do to the women in that time.

Removing his rifle from his saddle, he checked his ammunition and started toward the cabin.

As he moved closer, he heard Rose’s cry. Every muscle in his body tensed and it took everything in him not to rush the cabin.

“Enough’s enough,” Frank shouted from inside the cabin. “Shut that baby up!”

Nick sneaked up to the side window and pressed his body against the side of the house.

“I’m doing the best I can,” Ellie shouted. The fear in her voice sliced through his heart.

Nick peeked in the window. Ellie held Rose close while Frank stood over her, his hand on his gun. Annie sat tied to a chair, straining to break her ropes. Blood soaked a bandage on her head.

“Babies ain’t supposed to make such a ruckus,” Frank said.

“She’s not feeling well. She’s cutting teeth!” Ellie cried.

“It’s that tainted blood from her whore mother,” Frank said. “Jade never knew when to shut up, either.”

Ellie hugged the baby closer.

Frank looked ready to snap. “If she don’t stop, I’m liable to put a bullet in her.”

“No!” Ellie shouted. “You can’t do that!”

Frank’s eyes narrowed. “Now don’t you be tell
ing me what I need to do. You’re
my
wife and I am the head of our household.”