Weathered Too Young (46 page)

“He’s gone,” she told the outlaw.
“He’s gone to hunt you.”

Samson Kane chuckled
,
laughed
,
and shook his head.

“He’s gone after that fool boy, woman,” he said.
“I knew he would.
I can’t tell ya how happy I was to se
e that boy climb out that winda
this mornin’.
Why
,
me and Chet…we just been waitin’ for somebody in this house to do somethin’ stupid.
I was hopin’ it’d be Marshal Evans that let his guard down…though I shoulda know
’
d better than to hope for it.
But then that boy cr
awled out the winda
. I
t couldn’ta
worked out better if I’d planned it that way.”

“He’ll be back soon enough,” Lark told him.
She wanted to scream—to scream and burst into tears.
Still, she knew that’s what Samson Kane wanted her to do.
Therefore, she wouldn’t.

“Oh, I’m countin’ on it,” Samson Kane said.
“I’m just hopin’ Chet Leigh’s as good a shot as he claims to be.
If he can take care of Slater Evans’
s
brother
,
then that leaves the
m
arshal for me to deal with…just me and Marshal Evans.
I been waitin’ for that for a long, long time.”

Tears filled Lark’s eyes
,
even for her efforts to appear brave.
She could see Samson Kane’s plan all too clearly in that moment.
He’d been methodical—planned to eliminate all the men at the ranch so that Slater wouldn’t have any assistance in fighting him.
Once the other men were neutralized—or dead—Samson Kane and Chet Leigh could face Slater alone.
Slater would be outnumbered.

“You’re a coward,” Lark growled.

Lark gasped as the back of Samson Kane’s hand met with her cheek.
The children cried out—whimpered with fear.

“I ain’t no coward, woman,” Samson Kane growled.
“I just ain’t stupid enough to let Marshal Evans get the better of me again.”
Kane’s eyes narrowed.
He studied Lark
,
his gaze lingering on her in a lecherous manner.
“
Yer the one, ain’t ya?” he asked.
“Yer the woman that’s got ol’ Marshal Evans so wound up that he beat the tar outta Chet.”

“He would’ve beat him for treating any woman the way he treated me,” Lark countered.

Samson Kane smiled his wicked smile—nodded.
“You’re what’s gonna get me that arrogant lawman right to wh
ere I want him,” he said.
“Oh
yes, indeed.
You are what’s gonna finally get Marshal William S. Evans killed, woman.”

Lark winced
and
couldn’t keep the tears from spilling from her eyes.
Was it true?
Would she be the means to Slater’s murder?

Samson Kane reached beneath the table, taking hold of Lizzy’s arm.

“Come on, now, girl,” he said as he struggled to remove the sobbing child from her mother’s embrace.
“Come on now.
Let’s me and you wait for Marshal Evans to ride on back to the house.”

Katherine, however, held tight
ly
to Lizzy.

Lark gasped as Samson Kane pressed the blade of his large knife to Lizzy’s throat.

“Give her over to me, woman,” he told Katherine.
“Unless you wanna see her carved up right before yer eyes…you give her over to me.
I won’t
hurt her
.
I don’t mean to harm children.
I just don’t w
ant the
m
arshal’s woman tryin’ anything stupid
. A
nd I figure
if the little one is waitin’ with me…she won’t.”

L
izzy sobbed as her mother released her—as Samson Kane picked her up with one arm and carried her with him as he stepped back from the table.

“We’ll just wait here,” he said.
“It won’t take the
m
arshal long to kill ol’ Chet and bring that boy back.
Let’s all just sit here and wait for him.”

“He’ll kill you,” Lark said.

Samson Kane chuckled.
“Naw. Maybe in the past
,
but not now…not with lovin’ a woman.
Women weaken men
,
distract
’
em
,
get
’
em killed.
This time Marshal Evans is gonna find his guts spillin’ out on the ground before he even know
s
what hit him.”
He smiled and winked at Lark.
“And you got yerself to thank for that.”

Lark brushed the tears from her cheeks.
Was Samson Kane right?
Would the fact that Slater loved Lark weaken him somehow?
No!
No
,
she wouldn’t believe it.
Love made people stronger—not weaker.
Slater would return, and when he did, it would be Samson Kane who would die.

Slater growled as he felt the bullet whiz past his head.

“He’s in that cluster of rocks yonder,” Slater shouted to Tom.
“Get around behind him.”

“No,” Tom shouted.
“I’ll draw his fire
. Y
ou get to his back.
You’re a better shot than me.”

“Tom!” Slater called.
It was too late, however.
Tom spurred his
horse to a faster gallop.
Drawing his pistol in favor of his rifle, he squeezed off several rounds toward
the
cluster of rocks ahead of them.

“Aim high
. Y
ou don’t want to hit Johnny by mistake,” Slater growled.

Gritting his
teeth
, Slater reined
Smokey to run in opposition to Tom’s horse.
Either he or Tom would take a bullet—he was near sure of it.
Chet was a good shot and
had a perfect defensive position
.
Still, if Chet was shooting at Slater or Tom, he couldn’t be holding a gun to Johnny.

Slater felt the bullet graze his arm, but he didn’t flinch.
Tom fired over the rocks
,
and Slater rounded the cluster of large boulders.
He saw them—Johnny and Chet.
Johnny was tied up and sitting on the ground nearby.

Slater pulled Smokey to a hard halt and dismounted.

“I’ll shoot the boy!” Chet hollered, leveling his rifle at Slater.

“Samson Kane’s usin’ you for a fool, Chet Leigh,” Slate
r
growled, striding toward them.

“You stay there, boss,” Chet growled, taking aim.

“He wants me to kill you…else he wouldn’t have sent
you out to do such a thing as
takin’ this boy,” Slater said
,
though he did stop in his tracks.

“You made a fool of me, Slater Evans!” Chet shouted.
“You made
a
fool of me
. A
nd after you sent me off
…
I run into Samson Kane.
He and me robbed a stage…and I shot a man.
You did that to me, Slater Evans.”

“
You did that yerself, Chet…and you know it,” Slater said.
“Now put that gun down
,
and let the boy go.
Don’t make me shoot you.”

Tom rode up behind Chet then, reined in
,
and dismounted.
Chet glanced behind him.

“Now, Tom…don’t you go doin’ nothin’ here,” Chet warned.
Chet leveled the rifle at Johnny.

“Chet Leigh
,” Tom began, “now…you ain’t no
child murder
er
, boy.
You ain’t.
Don’t let this outlaw turn you into one.”

Chet was nervous—
hesitant.
Maybe he’d killed a man in robb
ing a stage
,
but killing a child
was different
.
He knew
Chet
didn’t want to hurt Johnny.
Oh, he’d kill Slater
if
given half
a
chance maybe, but that was different than killing a boy.

“Don’t you point that rifle at that boy!” Slater growled.
“You point that rifle at me…if yer man enough to do it.”

Chet’s temper was p
iqued,
and he leveled the rifle at Slater.

“I’d kill you, Slater Evans,” Chet growled.
“But th
at ain’t the plan now, is it?”

Slater felt his eyes narrow.
“
What’re you talkin’ about, Chet?
”
Still, Slater’s instincts
leapt with sudden understanding
.
“
Where’s Kane?” he asked.
It was a trap—sure enough it was.
Yet in that moment, Slater realized that Chet luring Slater and Tom away with Johnny for bait wasn’t so Samson and Chet could ambush them
. I
t was so they’d be away from the house—so that the women and children would only have t
wo men guarding them instead of the five there had been before Ralston had been shot and Slater and Tom
had
gone for Johnny
.

Panic the like
he’d never known gripped Marshal William S. Evans
.
Lark!
Samson Kane was out for revenge.
What better way to hurt a man than to hurt the woman he loved?
Losing Lark
—it would be worse than death.
Slater would rather die than see her harmed.

“I said, where’s Samson Kane?” Slater shouted.

Chet smiled
,
chuckled
,
and said, “Where do you think he is,
m
arshal?”

“He’s back at the house,” Tom said.

Slater inhaled a deep breath.
Fear was fast overtaking him
,
and he had to fight it
. H
e had to think clearly.

“Is that true?” Slater asked.

Chet chuckled.
“That girl’s gonna pay for what you done to me,” he said.
“And so are you.”

As Chet leveled his rifle—as he took aim at Slater—Slater said, “If that’s true, Chet Leigh…then I
don’t have time to deal with the murderin’ likes of you
.”

An
instant later
,
a shot rang out.

Slater spun his pistol and shoved it
in
the holster at his thigh as Chet Leigh crumpled to the ground
—
a bullet
hole between his eyes
.

Tom shook his head as he lowered
his
rifle and strode to Johnny.

“Ain’t one to waste
words
,
are ya, brother?” he asked as he hunkered down to untie his nephew.

“Nope,” Slater said.
He turned and mounted Smokey.
“You all right, Johnny?” he asked.

Johnny nodded
,
obviously ashamed of having enabled Chet Leigh to
help
Samson Kane with his vengeful plans.

“You’re gonna have to walk back then,” Slater said.
“I need Tom right at my heels.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Johnny said.

Slater
didn’t wait for Tom to finish
untying Johnny.
He didn’t wait to draw even one more breath.

“Smoke!” he growled, spurring his horse into a gallop toward home.

Terrifying thoughts ricocheted in Slater’s mind as he rode.
What would Samson Kane do to Lark—to Katherine and the children?
He couldn’t let his experience with outlaws devour his mind now
. H
e had to get back
;
he had to end the nightmare.

Slater ground his teeth as he rode.
His heart was hammering h
ard
—felt like it had leapt into his throat somehow.
He’d never told Lark he loved her
—never actually spoken the words anyway.
In the barn, he’d confessed having fallen for her
,
but he’d never breathed the three words a wom
a
n needed to hear from the man she loved—the three words a man needed to speak to the woman he loved
.
What if he died fighting Samson Kane
,
never having told her that he loved her?
Why hadn’t he just said
it
to her the day before
,
even that morning?
Slater Evans swore to himself that, if he made it through facing Samson Kane without dying
,
the first words out of his mouth to Lark would be…