together, then she asked God to take a good look at their enemies and
see if He couldn't do something to put bad men in their proper place.
"Amen," she finished.
"Amen," they all chorused.
Tess was about to take her first bite of dinner when she heard the
sounds of horses' hooves. She set down her fork.
How many of them had come with yon Heusen? It sounded like five, r! o
more.
"Excuse me," she said primly, setting her napkin carefully on the table
and rising casually. It didn't matter. Dolly, Hank and Jane all
catapulted to their feet, and they attached themselves to her like
shadows as she walked to the door. She could hear voices before she
reached it. Jon's first.
"That's close enough, fellows. Close enough."
"It's an Injun!" "I said close enough."
Someone must have moved. A barrage of shots went off, followed by a
startled silence.
Then yon Heusen started to talk.
"Hold it, boys, hold your fire! I've just come to talk to Hank and Jane
about removing themselves from the prop" There no need for them to
gemove themselves from the property," Jori said.
"This is private property, and the owner seems to want them here. One
step nearer, boy," he warned someone, "and there'll be a hole in your
chest where your heart used to be."
"Who in the blazes are you!" von Heusen thundered, losing his control.
"A friend."
"A friend! Well, listen here, you red-faced monkey. The Smarts are dead.
They were attacked by Comanche or " Apache?" Jon interrupted. She could
hear something cold and dangerous in his voice.
"Tell me, which Apache?
Which Apache do you think did it? Or don't you know? I'll tell you, I'm
damned sure it wasn't any Apache. Apache, any Apache, make war, or they
go raiding. They make war to 'take death from their enemies." They raid
to fill their bellies. I haven't met an Apache yet who would leave dead
cattle scattered with the corpses of men."
"Who the hell knows or cares what Apache!" von Heusen thundered.
"It doesn't matter. Maybe it was Comanche" -- "Running River denies it."
"There are more tribes of Comanche!" "Yes, there are," Jon said softly.
"But the Comanche know what doin too.
it to man.
"Of course, the whites have been scalping for a long time now. I read
somewhere that they started scalping way back in the east in the sixteen
hundreds. But still. White men in a hurry do a sloppy job. Neither a
Comanche nor an Apache would do a sloppy job. No matter what his hurry."
"Takes an Inj un to know I" someone muttered.
"Maybe we ought to string him up. Who knows? Maybe he's some renegade in
charge of the party that did it himself!" von Heusen said.
"Let's hang him!"
"Let's see you try!" Jon said very softly. "Hold it! Hold it!" von
Heusen said.
"Now listen, Joe Smart and his family are dead. And this property is'
going to go up for public auction. Now I have" -- Tess had taken his
statement as her cue. She threw open the door and stepped onto the porch
behind Jon.
"Correction, von Heusen. I am not dead."
Even in the dusky light that sifted down from the moon and the stars,
Tess could see the startled look that flashed briefly across yon
Heusen's features.
He was a lean man, tall, spare. His features were almost cadaverous, his
cheekbones sucked in, his chin very long and pointed. His eyes were coal
black, and they seemed to burn from his skull. He sat atop his horse
well, though. Jon had his repeating rifle aimed right at his heart, and
von Heusen still sat casually, his hands draped over the pommel.
Around him were four of his men. He had about twenty hired guns on his
place. Only four of them were with him.
Tess didn't like it. He usually paid his visits with an escort of at
least eight to ten.
It made her wonder where the rest of his men might be. Von Heusen found
his voice at last.
"Why, Miss. Smart.
I am delighted to see you alive and well."
" Like hell you are, von Heusen.
"That's uncalled for, ma'am."
"Be damned, you carpetbagging riffraff, but it is."
came by" -- "You just came by to rob Joe of everything he ever had, now
that you've murdered him!"
"You watch your accusation there, Miss. Stuart."
"It's the truth. You know it, and I know it. And somehow, I'm going to
prove it!"
Von Heusen was smiling.
"I don't think so, little lady. No, I don't think so. You want to know
what I do think?" He leaned toward her. It was just a fraction of an
inch and he was still far away, but the gesture made her tremble inside.
"I think that this ranch was meant to be mine, Miss. Stuart. Now I've
offered you good money for it. Real good money.
And you still don't want to sell. Miss. Stuart, I want you out of town."
"I'm not leaving."
"I wouldn't be so adamant, little lady. You may find that you leave in
one way or another."
"You threatening her, von Heusen?" Jori asked. "She seems to think that
I'm guilty of something," von Heusen said.
"The whole damned town can tell you that I was in the saloon playing
cards the day the Indians attacked the Stuart train. The whole damned
town can tell you that. But still, if the lady is so worried and so
certain, well then, maybe she ought to plan on riding out of town. What
do you think?"
"I think that you should give reasonable thought to the idea of riding
out of town yourself, yon Heusen," Jon warned quietly.
Von Heusen started to laugh.
"On the word of a half- breed Indian?"
He started to Urge his mount closer to the porch. Jori fired a shot that
must have sizzled a hairbreadth from the man's cheek. Von Heusen went as
pale as the clouds. boss"-- one of Von Heusen lifted a hand.
"Calm down now, boys. Just because Miss. Stuart's resorting to violence
is no reason that we should. We'll be riding off now. But you remember
what I said, Miss. Stuart. I'd hate to see you leaving town other than
all dressed up right pretty and in a comfortable stagecoach!" He smiled
at her.
"It is good to see you alive and well. Such a pretty, pretty woman. And
all that blond hair. Blond hair alone is worth a pretty penny in certain
places, did you know that?"
He stared at Tess. As he did so, she suddenly realized that she could
smell smoke.
Suddenly she knew where the rest of yon Heusen's men were. The smoke was
coming from the direction of the card age house. The printing press was
in the wagon still, and the wagon was next to the buckboard and the
chaise in the carriage house.
And so far, it had been a dry summer. If the carriage house went up in
flames, the blaze could quickly spread to the house, to the barn, even
to the stables. Von Heusen was smiling.
"You bastard!" she hissed at him. Jon hadn't moved; he didn't dare.
If he moved the rifle a hair yon
Heusen just might decide to take
advantage and shoot them all down. They stood there, locked in the
moment, yon Heusen staring at Tess with a smile, Tess staring at him,
hating him so fiercely that she should have been able to have willed him
dead. It was lost now.
All lost. The house, Joe's house. The press.
It didn't even seem to bother yon Heusen that he would slaughter all the
horses.
Then suddenly, in the midst of yon Heusen's triumph and her own despair,
a commotion sounded from the direction of the carriage house. There was
still smoke issuing from it--no sign of fire yet.
But men suddenly spilled out of it. Four of them, their hands held high
above their heads. They nearly tripped as they walked, for someone had
apparently ordered them to lower their breeches, and their pants were
tight around their ankles.
Three of them wore long johns; the fourth must have been buck naked.
Tess only caught a glimpse of his bare legs, as he managed to stay
behind the other three.
"Tarnation!" yon Heusen swore.
"You fools! What in bloody hell is going on" -- He broke off and never
finished his question. From the smoke of the carriage house, another man
appeared.
Tess felt her heart catch.
It was Jamie. He had a single gun trained on the men and he followed
them out with the casual air yon Heusen had had.
The men kept walking forward. The half-naked one paused, and Jamie
nudged him forward.
"Ladies, do excuse me," Jamie apologized, "but they seemed to be a
little more docile and trustworthy in this fashion."
"I'll kill you yet!" one of them muttered. "Well, I don't doubt that you
intend to try," Jamie assured him. Then he stared at the men still
mounted upon their horses.
"Which one of you is yon Heusen?"
"I am Richard von Heusen. Who the hell are you?"
"Jamie Slater. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I own
part of this spread now. And I'll thank you kindly to keep yourself and
your half-sawed ruffians off my property, is that understood?"
"Your property" -- yon Heusen began.
"My property, yes. Now, take your arsonist friends here and move."
"You must be mistaken. Why would my men set fire to anything here?"
"Who knows why? But that was what they were doing. Ordinarily, of
course, I'd want to get to know my new neighbors. But since you and the
Stuarts don't seem to be very good friends, I really don't think you
should stay. I bet dinner is on. Tess, is dinner on?"
"yes!"
"Something good?"
His eyes touched hers across the dusky night. She nodded, fighting for
speech.
"Turkey. Dressing. Squash. All sorts of things."
"And getting cold. I do declare. Gentlemen, good night," Jamie said
firmly.
He prodded the men.
"Move 'em, now, von Heusen, or they'll start turning into corpses."
"We're nine to one, you fool" -- "Nine to two. See my friend there? He
could hit the hair in a man's nose at a thousand yards, and he's faster
than greased lightning. You're out manned and outnumbered, you just
don't know it yet." "We'll see about that," von Heusen said angrily.
"Get those half-naked idiots up on your horses!" he ordered his mounted
men.
He jerked his mount around to face Tess and pointed a long finger at
her.
"You'll pay for this, Miss. Stuart. You'll pay dearly. I promise you."
He swung around again, and his men followed. They raced off into the
darkness, the horses' hooves pounding on the dry earth.
Silence and stillness fell over the small group on the porch. Jon Red
Feather slowly lowered his rifle. He stared at Jamie.
"What the hell took you so long?"
"Well, there were four of them in the carriage house!"
Jamie announced indignantly. He strode up the stairs. Tess was still
staring at him blankly when he tweaked her cheek and walked past her.
She managed to turn and follow him. He walked over't the table and sat,
then pulled off a turkey leg and bit into it hungrily. Looking up, he
saw Tess staring at him, Dolly and Jane on either side of her, and Jon
and Hank on either side of the women. He paused in mid bite
"Do you all mind?"
Tess stood in front of him.
"Where did you go? How did you happen to come back right then?"
He chewed before answering her.
"I left the saloon as soon as I met a few friendly people--and a few not
so friendly people. I knew he was coming out here. I didn't know he
intended to burn you out." He paused, looking past Tess to Jon.
"Seems strange, doesn't it? The man wants this property, but he doesn't
seem to care if he destroys it.
Makes you think, doesn't it?"
"Sure does."
"Makes you think what?" Tess asked irritably. "Tess, think about it.
It needs a little paint, a little shoring up here and there--but this is
a darned nice house. Solid, sound, big.
Then you've got the outbuildings, the carriages--and the horses. I
haven't seen enough to really make an estimate on the value of the
stock, but I imagine that we're talking hundreds and hundreds of dollars
in horseflesh alone.
And von Heusen doesn't care. He wants the property, but he doesn't care
if he burns it to the ground."
" He's a vile son of a bitch, that's why!" Tess stated.
"Well, yes," Jamie acknowledged with a wry grin.
"But there's more to it than that, I think."
Dolly took a seat at the table again and spooned up a mouthful of
squash.
"Vile, certainly! Why, our dinner has gone quite cold!"
"That's the spirit, Dolly," Jamie told her.
"Jori, sit. The turkey may be cold, but it's delicious."
"That's it?" Tess demanded heatedly.
"What do you mean, that's it?"
"Where did you go? What were you doing? You were supposed to be here!"
"Jon was here," Jamie said evenly.
"But" -- Jamie was buttering a roll. Jane and Hank and Jon sat and
picked up their forks. Jamie's butter knife went still and his eyes were
slightly narrowed as he stared at her.
"Miss. Stuart, I don't like the tone of this conversation. I came back
in time to save your hide."
"You wouldn't have had to rush back if you'd been here--where you should
have been! You want to be paid so highly, and you can't even stick
around!" He stood suddenly. His knife clattered against a dish.
"I
don't argue like this in front of others, Miss. Stuart."
" There is no argument!" she snapped.
"No, there isn't. I'll make it simple. Wherever I choose to go is my own
business, Miss. Stuart. You are not my keeper. And as to payment, hell,
yes.
Tomorrow we'll go into town and you'll turn over half interest in this
place to me."
She gasped aloud, stunned.
"Jamie, she doesn't understand what you're doing," Jon said, ignoring
the rising tensions and reaching for a roll himself.
"If you just explained" -- "Explained! Hell, I feel as if I'm up before
the judge and jury!"
"Judge and jury! I really don't give a damn what you do with your time,
but"
"You begged me to come here, Tess."
"Begged!"
"Begged!"
"Oh!" she cried. Then she wound her fingers tightly together.
"I don't argue in public either, Lieutenant!" she snapped. She was
shaking, she realized. She'd been so damned amazed and grateful to see
him, but she'd also been scared, and now she was furious and shaking and
she wasn't even sure what she did want. She turned, having no taste left
for dinner.
Angrily she began to stride for the door. "Tess!" He was on his feet,
calling to her. He really expected her to stop because he had commanded
her to. She didn't stop, she didn't turn, she didn't even pause. She
sailed straight for the front door. She would go to the carriage house
to make sure the fire von Heusen's men had started had been stamped out.
"Jamie, give her a minute," Dolly suggested.
"The hell I will!" Jamie snapped.
Before Tess heard the door slam in her wake, she thought she heard
Jamie's chair hit the floor as he pushed it over.
She started running toward the carriage house, anxious to reach it
before he could see her. She was at the side door when she heard the
front door to the house slam. She slipped into the eaniage house. She
inhaled and exhaled, but couldn't smell any smoke. All she could smell
was the fresh scent of the alfalfa hay that was being stored behind the
chaise.
She fumbled in the darkness to light the gas lamp by the door. When the
glow filled the carriage house, she went to check the wagon and the
printing press. She crawled into the wagon and gave a soft sigh of
relief as she saw that the printing press was fine. She sank down on one
of the bunks. "Tess!
Where are you!"
Jamie was obviously angry. She clenched her teeth and tried to ignore
him.
She stepped from the wagon and went to the buckboard. No flames had
lapped against it. The chaise, too, seemed untouched. Walking around,
she discovered a half burned bale of hay. It had been dragged into the
center of the room and lit. Von Heusen had meant it to be a slow fire.
He had really meant to be long gone when the place burned.
She moved away from the hay and from the faint, acrid smell of fire that
remained.
"Tess!"
He was still calling her, like a drill sergeant. With a sigh she
determined that she would have to open the door, but she hesitated with