Tom's Angel (25 page)

“
Yeah. Just what I was thinking.”

“
Well, maybe the rocks will help some. No way to know until they're on the track. What time is it?”

Tom pulled out his watch.
“Twelve thirty. Time to warm him up.”

“
Yep.”

Rusty stood perfectly still, as always, while they put the saddle on.
Josh had removed so much, it resembled one of those fancy English saddles. It wasn’t much more than a butt-sized piece of leather. Rusty trembled when the girth was tightened.

Gabriel nudged Tom.
“Look at the saddle they're putting on Triumph.”

English.
With even less leather than Josh's.

“
Damn. Well, there's nothing we can do about the saddle they're using. If we could, they could object to what we've done with this one.”

“
Listen, Tom, I have some extra cattle. I could sell them and pitch in whatever they bring to help pay Rosalie's debt to Strickland.”

The offer cut Tom to the quick.
“You don't think we have a chance, is that it?”

Gabriel stared at Triumph for a moment.
“He could break one of those skinny legs.”

“
Yeah. Rusty might sprout wings, too. Let's get him to the starting point.”

Tom boosted
Josh into the saddle. He hated what he was about to suggest, but didn't feel they had a choice. “Do you have a quirt with you?”

“
No sir. Rusty don't need no quirt. He runs full out just listening to me when we're running. I tell him to go faster and he does.”

Tom exchanged a long look with Gabriel, then broke a thin switch from an oak tree and handed it to
Josh.

“
Just in case you need a burst of speed at the end.”

Josh
frowned, but tucked the switch into the back of his pants. “All right. But I'm not switching him 'less I have to.”

“
That's fine, son. Just get the most speed out of Rusty you can. A lot is riding on this race.”

“
Yes sir, I heard. Will that man really make Miss Kincannon clean his house the rest of her life if Rusty loses?”

Tom
didn't think Zane couldn't sink any lower, but he had, with all the bragging he’d done. “Not the rest of her life, but too long. Rusty has to win. We're counting on you.”

“
Yes sir. I'll do my best. I know Rusty will, too, won't you, boy.” He patted the horse's neck.

Tom led the way.
He saw Rosalie and Trina in the grandstand, sitting dead center. Gabriel reached them before Tom left Josh and Rusty on the track and made his way into the stands. He passed the marshal on the way up the steps.

“
Did you bring the agreement?”

He patted his pocket.
“I'll see to it after the race. Good luck, Mr. McCabe. I'd hate to see the likes of Strickland win anything today.”

“
Thanks. Let's hope he doesn't.”

Tom settled beside Rosalie.
“He wished us luck.”

Rosalie, trembling as though her heart might burst, leaned against Tom for strength and support.
She squeezed his arm, then whispered, “We'll need more than luck today. Thank you for all you've done. I love you.”

His throat closed off.
All he could do was kiss her again.

The horses lined up.
Rusty jittered around almost as much as Triumph. The marshal walked to the line and raised his hand.

“On your marks!  Get ready!
Go!”

The race had begun!

Chapter 19

Rusty beat Triumph off the starting line, pulling two lengths ahead within the first seconds of the race.

“
Tom, he's ahead!”

“
Triumph is slow to start, just as we heard! Look at Rusty go! Yeeehaaaaa!” Tom waved his hat over his head.

Gabriel and
Trina were yelling, too. Everyone in the grandstand shouted and whistled. Children jumped up and down, ecstatic with the opportunity to be as noisy as they liked.

Rosalie released all the anguish, all the anxiety she'd been holding back and screamed along with
Trina.

“
Rusty! Josh! Run! Run!”

At the half mile mark, Triumph
had closed the distance. Almost on Rusty's heels, the thoroughbred gained steadily.

Josh
looked back over his shoulder repeatedly, talking to Rusty, urging him to run faster. But the big horse was giving everything he had. Triumph continue to gain on him. Behind them rose a dense plume of dust.

At three quarters of a mile, they ran side by side, hooves thundering, coats glistening, nostrils flared.
The crowd had gone crazy. The roar of screaming and yelling spectators deafened Rosalie until her ears rang and her head pounded.

An eighth of a mile to go.

Still neck in neck, the horses thundered toward the finish line.

Tom waved his hat furiously.

Gabriel yelled,
“You can do it! Use the switch, Josh! Use the switch!”

With the finish line only yards away,
Josh pulled out the switch and swatted Rusty's rump with it. The horse responded with a last burst of speed, leaping ahead of Triumph for a few seconds.

Fast a
pproaching the finish line, Triumph pulled ahead by a few inches. Rusty strained to stay even.  Josh lay flat over the horse’s neck, still talking to him frantically.

They crossed the line side by side
. 

Dust obscured
everyone’s vision to the point they all had to look to the marshal, who’d been watching the finish line intently, for confirmation on the verdict.

The marshal yelled to the crowd.  The winner is…
Triumph!  By a nose!

Triumph had won.

Most of the crowd continued cheering.

Rosalie sank onto the hard bench.
Tom, Trina and Gabriel hovered around her, distress evident on their faces.

“
He lost,” Rosalie mumbled. “I lost.”

Tom slammed his hat on
to the hard wooden seat. “Damn!”

Trina
hugged Rosalie, tears streaming. “I'm so sorry, so sorry.”

Rosalie knew she had to gather her composure
, stop her tears, and endure the terrible emptiness that had opened in her heart and soul. She had to face up to what she'd promised.

Tom sat beside her
and gathered her close, his chest heaving with shuddering breaths. “We'll find a way out of this. There has to be a way out.”

“
No, Tom. It's time we accepted the truth.”

“
I'll never accept it, dammit! I can't live without you, and I won't let you live with that bastard!”

The
marshal made his way up the steps. “Miss Kincannon, will you come with me, please?”

Rosalie nodded.
“You know I have to do this, Tom. Will you come with me? Help me to be strong. I have to show him he hasn't bested me.”

Tom
swiped at his eyes and nodded.

They followed the
marshal to the track. The crowd continued with a deafening roar. Josh stood with Rusty, rubbing the horse's rump where he'd switched him, crying into the horse's flank. Rosalie went to him and pulled him into a hug.

“
I'm sorry, Miss Kincannon,” Josh sobbed. “Rusty ran as fast as he could. I couldn't believe how hard he tried. I'm so sorry.”

Rosalie hugged
him tighter. “You and Rusty did your best, Josh. Don't ever apologize for your best. Things happen the way they must.”

“
But now you'll have to work for that awful man.”

“
Don't worry about that. I'll expect you to come and visit me when you have time off from working on the McCabe Ranch.”

Josh
's eyes rounded. “Me? Work on Mr. McCabe’s Ranch?”

“
Talk to Tom. I think you'll like what he has to tell you.”

Slowly, with her back straight, shoulders squared, Rosalie made her way toward the
marshal. Zane was surrounded by men clapping him on the back, congratulating him on a race well run. 

Zane saw her staring at him.
“Well, now, Miss Kincannon,” he drawled. “I have to say your horse performed admirably.”

“
Thank you, Mr. Strickland.” She wasn't about to compliment Triumph. She knew she should, but she couldn't bring herself to utter the words.

The marshal
cleared his throat noisily, then shouted, “Quiet!  Quiet please! He unfolded the agreement, then held up his hands and waited for everyone to calm down.

“
According to the agreement between these two parties, the winner, Zane Strickland, now owns the Yellow Rose Dancehall, the Kincannon home, and the Kincannon horses.” He gave Rosalie a sad look.  “That includes Rusty.”

Josh yelled, “No!  He can’t have Rusty!  That’s not right!  It’s just not right!”

She'd suppressed the thought of Rusty belonging to Zane Strickland. A bitter pill, indeed, for her and the courageous horse.

The crowd noise wasn’t nearly as loud this time, and a great deal of it included protests.  Rusty whinnied, as though he were protesting, too.

“Zane Strickland is also entitled to the indentured services of Miss Rosalie Kincannon at the standard rate of indenture until the sum of two thousand dollars, a bet incurred by her father, is paid in full.”

There were no cheers at all for this pronouncement.  The crowd seemed stunned.

Zane grinned. “Plus interest.”

The marshal
drilled Zane with a cold stare. “No interest. The terms of the agreement, which you approved, say nothing about interest.”

Zane shrugged.
“No matter. It'll take her twenty years, at least, to work off two thousand dollars.”

“
You have to credit an indentured servant for every day's work. The value of the property goes toward that sum, as well. It's all spelled out in the agreement.” The marshal continued to glare at him.

“
Absolutely. Of course, her room and board will be deducted from the amount she earns, along with the cost of her clothes and any doctoring she might require.” That hideous grin spread across his face.

Tom stepped forward.
“Wait a minute. Indenture doesn't work that way.”

“
It does at my house, McCabe. This is none of your business. Your debts to my bank also have to be paid, even if it means giving me the ranch.”

Tom started toward him, fists raised, ready to smash th
e ugly grin from Strickland's face, but the marshal intervened.

“
None of that, now. You can settle your personal differences elsewhere. As much as it galls me to do it, I promised to see the terms of the agreement settled. Are the parties in agreement?”

“
Absolutely.” Zane hooked his thumbs in his lapels and rocked back on his heels.

Rosalie nodded.

“I'm sorry, Miss Kincannon, but I have to let him take your horse.”

“
I understand.”

Zane sauntered over to where Rosalie stood and spoke softly, but still
loud enough so Tom could hear. “If you'd like to come to my room at the hotel tonight, we could start getting acquainted.”

Tom grabbed Zane by his
coat and slung him to the ground. The marshal and Gabriel grabbed Tom before he could attack Strickland again.

“
If you ever put your filthy hands on her, you'll answer to me, you sorry son of a bitch.”

Zane stood, brushed the dust from his clothes, and took a couple of steps back from Tom.
“We'll finish this in Denver.”

“
Believe it.” Tom burned with fury and grief.

Zane grinned at Rosalie.
“We'll be leaving for Denver on the train Monday. That ought to give you enough time to gather your things. Deliver the horses to the train in the morning. I want them groomed and fed. You and them belong to me now.” He pulled a watch from his pocket and studied it for a moment. “Time for a drink.”

Rosalie stared at the watch in Zane's hand.
The sight of it caused her to shake with recognition and revulsion.

“
Marshal?” She touched his arm to gain his attention.

“
Yes, Miss Kincannon?”

“
That looks like my father's watch. The one he was carrying when he was killed.”

Zane quickly replaced the watch in his pocket.
“A gift from my father.”

The
marshal approached Zane with one hand extended. “Let's see it.”

Zane hesitated.
“You have no right.”

Tom and Gabriel flanked
Strickland.

“
Give me the watch,” the marshal said.

Zane reluctantly handed it over.
The marshal handed it to Rosalie and waited while she opened it carefully. Inside she found a portrait. Rose Elizabeth Montgomery.

“
This watch belonged to my father. The only way you could have gotten it was by taking it off his dead body after you shot him in the back.”

The
marshal grinned this time, until his teeth shone under the afternoon sun.

“
You're under arrest for the murder of William Kincannon. There’s no need for you to send for that fancy lawyer of yours. You aren't leaving my jail this time, except to be transferred to the nearest prison.”

“
Wait a minute. How do you know I didn't buy this watch from Kincannon? I was in jail when he was killed.”

The
marshal grinned. “As I remember it, that fancy lawyer sprung you about an hour before Kincannon was shot.”

Rosalie
glared at Strickland. “My father loved that watch because it was a gift from my mother when they were...married. He never would've sold it. Not to anyone. Especially not to you.”

“
Let's go, Strickland.”

Rosalie had no idea what this meant concerning her indenture.  Would she still
be escorted to Denver to the Strickland home?  She glanced at Tom, then back to the marshal.  Just as she reached for the marshal’s arm again, a man stepped out of the crowd.

“
Did I hear correctly? This race determined the indenture of this woman?”

Tom couldn't believe it.
“Cade?”

“
Good to see you again, Tom.” They shook hands like old friends.

“
You know this man, Mr. McCabe?”

“
I certainly do. Cade is an excellent lawyer in West Texas, and a friend of our family for more years than I can count. When I heard the name Triumph, I knew I’d never heard anything about Richard Strickland buying such a horse. Then, I thought I remembered Cade talking about his banker buying a fancy horse by that name. I wired Cade to see if that horse was still in Lubbock. I’m glad you could come. When I didn’t get an answer to my wire, I wondered if you’d gotten it.”

“
I didn’t get it until the next morning. I decided to take a vacation, answer in person, and witness the race. I got here just as the race began. Ty Reynolds’ horse, Triumph, left Lubbock on the train three days ago, headed for Ft. Worth. Sam can confirm what I’ve told you.”

The jockey stepped forward.
“Everything he says about Triumph is true.”

The
marshal kept an iron grip on Strickland.

“
May I see that agreement?” Cade held his hand out. “I’d like to see the terms.”

The
marshal handed it to him.

Cade
read it carefully, then glanced at Tom. “This agreement is null and void.”

Tom nodded.
“Just as I thought.”

Rosalie's head
spun at the words. “Why?”

“
It says the race was to be between your horse, Rusty, and Strickland's horse.”

“
So, what's wrong with that?”

“
Triumph is not his horse. He borrowed the horse only for this race.”

Rosalie gripped Tom's arm to steady herself.
“What are you saying?”

“
This agreement clearly implies ownership. Triumph has never belonged to Zane Strickland, and never will. I assume that Mr. Strickland did not mention that he’d borrowed the horse?”