To Tame A Rebel (31 page)

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Authors: Georgina Gentry

BOOK: To Tame A Rebel
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“Can I keep riding north and skip this fight?”
Tommy was a coward, but that couldn't be helped. The family had always spoiled and protected him.
Will shook his head. “You couldn't get through our lines to the north in that gray uniform.”
The boy hesitated. “I think I'll wait to get paid.”
“You greedy rascal. You'd better forget about money and get the hell out of here. We'll pay you later.”
Tommy started to walk away. “Remind them about the money.”
“Have we ever neglected to pay you in the past? Get on your horse and vamoose before Jim misses you.”
Tommy hesitated again, looking very young and scared. “I'm afraid to ride back south, Will. The fighting might start at any minute, and either side might kill me by mistake.”
“I'll ride with you to the edge of our lines.” Will yelled to his orderly for a horse. “You see that April is safely behind the lines, too, you hear me?”
“You don't hate her?”
Will shook his head as he swung up on the horse. “She can't help it if she loves him best, and I reckon she's no worse than I am; her loyalties are just different.” He watched Tommy mount up. Will's first duty was to ride to Major Hopkins and warn him about the impending attack, but he was out of time, and his little brother and the girl Will loved might be in immediate danger. He'd get Tommy safely through the Union lines, and then he'd take care of his duty.
 
 
April reined in, in the darkness of the woods and warned herself not to panic. She'd lost track of Tommy and wasn't sure if she had crossed enemy lines or was still somewhere in the landscape between the two sides. Any minute now, the cannons would open up and hundreds of Confederate soldiers and cavalry would attack. For Tommy and her to be caught between the two forces was surely a death sentence.
 
 
Jim Eagle was sweating now, although the night was cool. Where in the hell had that pair gotten off to, and why? He could believe that irresponsible Tommy might have wandered away from the Confederate troops by mistake, but what was April doing out here in this shadowy land between two opposing armies? Could he have been mistaken about her? Had she led his troops into an ambush, and was she now making her escape?
Jim paused, considering. No, he'd stake his life that she was telling the truth. He had no hard evidence to support that theory except that she had taken a big risk bringing him her information, and because he loved her, he had to trust her. All he could do was try to find the pair before the firing started. For him to be caught between the two forces, especially if he had crossed into Yankee lines, was like signing his own death sentence. The pair's welfare was more important to him than his own life, so he kept riding.
 
 
April came to a clearing and reined in, trying to decide where she was. There was a full moon, but that didn't help much. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she realized that any time now, the battle would start. Every instinct told her to turn back and let the irresponsible boy take the consequences of his actions. Why would Tommy be headed north? No doubt, he was afraid and deserting. If she didn't bring him back, the Confederates would execute him when they caught him. That would devastate Jim, who doted on his little brother. She sat her horse, trying to decide which way to go now.
And at that moment, cannons broke the silence as the Confederates mounted their attack on the surprised Yankees. Behind her was noise and the echo of shouting men as they galloped to the attack. Her horse neighed in panic as April breathed the acrid scent of cannon fire. Her head rang with the roar of gunfire as she fought to control her terrified horse. The horse took off at a gallop, and a low-hanging limb caught April and knocked her from her saddle. The horse galloped away, leaving her lying stunned and breathless on the dirt.
She was in mortal danger here with both sides shooting at every shadow. She must get out before troops rode into her clearing. Her head ached, but she stumbled to her feet. If she could only catch a riderless horse that she heard galloping nearby . . . Then she realized the beast would be too panicked to stop and she'd be trampled. She was afoot near a battle zone, and any minute she might be caught in a charge. What to do? She ran to the edge of the clearing, paused in the bright moonlight.
Two riders galloped toward her, and she froze, expecting to be shot down.
“April!” Will suddenly galloped out of the darkness, the brass buttons on his blue uniform shining in the moonlight. Next to him, Tommy's face was pasty pale in terror.
Will yelled, “What in blazes are you doing here?”
“I—I was following Tommy.”
His youthful face frowned. “You suspected me all along, didn't you?”
She shook her head in confusion. She had no idea what Tommy was talking about.
Will reached for her. “Come on, you'll be safe enough with me.”
“But, Will—”
“I won't take no for an answer.” He reached down, grabbed her hand, and lifted her to the saddle before him. “Let's get out of here before we get killed.”
She looked over at Tommy's face, and suddenly, she knew who the spy was. He stared back at her with guilty eyes.
Will reined in, looking about. “I don't know which way to go. Either way, we're liable to get shot. “Why aren't you at Fort Gibson, April?”
She couldn't tell him that she had ridden to warn Jim and that she was a Confederate spy. Maybe he knew already.
“Never mind,” Will shouted. “Let's get out of here, and when this is over, I'm going to marry you.”
Marry her? No, her heart belonged to Jim for now and always. Nothing else mattered but him.
Even as they paused, a shell exploded nearby, and without meaning to, April shrieked in terror.
Jim paused, his horse rearing. Was that a woman's scream?
April.
All he could think of now was that she was in danger. He forgot his duty and his own safety, thought of nothing but the girl. In the clearing up ahead, the gunsmoke cleared momentarily, and he saw two horses, one carrying two riders. In the moonlight he saw the girl's terrified face. “April?” he yelled.
Her heart was in her throat now as she recognized Jim galloping toward her. “Jim, go back!” she shouted.
“What the . . . ?” Will seemed taken by surprise at her outburst as he held on to her.
“Will”—she turned her face up to his—“let me go!”
“No!” Will fought to hang on to her. “No, April, it makes no sense to choose him. Stay with the winning side; stay with me.”
She wanted Jim, win or lose. In that split second, she attacked Will with teeth and nails while Jim ran over and pulled them both from the rearing, neighing horse. The two men grappled as April stumbled against a tree, sobbing. All she could do was watch as the two brothers fought. She looked up as Tommy cursed and struggled to control his gray horse. In that moment, April knew what the boy intended to do; she could see it in his eyes. If Jim were dead, the two spies would be safe.
“Look out, Jim!” she screamed.
Both older brothers paused for a split second, looking toward the boy on the horse, and in that split second, Jim froze in disbelief, then tried to shove Will out of the way. Tommy's horse shied, and April saw the flash of fire as Tommy pulled the trigger. Will grabbed at his chest and fell.
“Tommy, are you crazy?” Jim ran across the clearing and dragged the boy from the horse, attempting to take the gun from him. They fought and rolled, but Tommy hung on to the pistol, striking Jim hard with the butt.
April had run to gather Will into her arms as she watched the two brothers fighting. Blood ran out of his mouth, but he smiled up at her. “I—I was wrong . . . didn't deserve you . . . Jim does. Help him. . . .”
What to do? She stumbled to her feet, watching the two men fighting. Jim had Tommy down and was winning—it was clear—and then Tommy went to the ground, came up with a big rock, and hit Jim across the head. Jim went to one knee, clearly stunned as Tommy staggered over, picked up his pistol, and aimed it at Jim. “I'm damned tired of always being the baby brother, always having to take orders—”
“No!” April grabbed a stick, and he whirled, leveling the pistol at her.
And in that heartbeat, she saw the flash of gunfire in the moonlight, heard the blast. What—?
Tommy dropped his pistol, staring at her almost in disbelief as he clutched at his chest. Blood ran out between his fingers as he staggered, staring past her. “You—you shot me.”
She whirled. Behind her, Will had made it to his knees, and his pistol was smoking. Will threw away his pistol with a sob. “I—I'm sorry, Tommy; I couldn't let you kill either of them . . .” Then he tumbled over on his face.
April ran to Tommy's side even as Jim gathered the dying boy into his arms. “Little brother,” he wept. “Oh, my little brother. Don't go, Tommy, please! I'll get a doctor.”
“Too late . . . wanted money,” Tommy gasped, and blood trickled scarlet out of his mouth. “Tired of always being the unimportant one . . . wanted to go to a big city . . . Yankees paid me well. . . .”
“Tommy?”
There was no answer. The boy lay still. Jim hugged his brother to him, trying to shake life back into the limp form. It took a moment to realize that the little boy who had followed him around the ranch all those years was dead. Numbly he stood up and looked into April's stunned face as the cannon boomed and echoed and the noise of battle grew closer. He was only dimly aware that his uniform was dark with Tommy's blood. “Dead,” he gasped. “They're both dead.”
“Oh, Jim, I'm so sorry. It's my fault. If I hadn't gotten involved, they'd both be alive.”
What would he tell his mother? He had failed in his duty to look after his brothers, failed in his duty to the Confederacy, and now the cavalry was thundering toward this very spot. His agony became an unreasonable rage. “Get out of here,” he gasped, and motioned her toward Will's horse. Get the hell out of here!”
“But, Jim—”
“Go, damn it, go! Haven't you caused me enough grief? Get out while you still can. I've got a battle to fight.”
She looked into his dazed face and realized there was no reasoning with him. He was in shock with grief, but his eyes told her he blamed her for his terrible loss. She could hear the cavalry now, thundering closer as the battle built around them. She caught Will's horse and mounted. “Jim, please—”
“Leave me alone!” he shouted at her. “My brothers are both dead, do you hear me? Go back north where you belong!”
She saw the agony on his features and realized he was in a state of shock. “All right, Jim, I'll go, but I need to tell you—”
“Damn it, just go!” He was sobbing now as he waved her away and stood with shoulders bowed in grief. “Go away and leave me with my dead.”
How she wanted to gather him into her arms and comfort him, but she knew he hated her now and blamed her for his brothers' deaths. She did not speak another word, and she would not allow herself to cry lest she become hysterical as she nudged the horse into a lope and rode away. Behind her, she heard Jim weeping and victorious rebel yells ringing out. The Confederates were winning, she thought; they were capturing the wagon train.
Her vision blurred as she rode away in the moonlight. She would save her weeping until she was away from this place, so that Jim would not see her. April was not sure where she was going now or what she was going to do. The money she'd been promised for spying no longer mattered; nothing mattered when the man she loved hated her and wanted her out of his sight.
No, there was one thing that mattered, she thought as she raised her chin stubbornly and rode away from the battle. She had something to live for, something that made it all worthwhile if she never again saw the man she loved. Jim Eagle would never know she was carrying his child.

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