TEN
Rafe Ashton decided to stay for the wedding.
It had come as a surprise to them all. He had been quite subdued since his initial outburst of anger when he heard Joe and Bella would marry. It was as if he had finally been told 'no' and he was having to come to grips with the fact that wealth and power and things were not always enough to assure that one got what one wanted. That there were things more important – humility, sacrifice.
Love.
This morning Rafe had set out with Benjamin and Jamie on a less than grand tour of the ranch. Jamie had been confined to the house for the two weeks that had passed since Joe had asked Bella to marry him and the boy was fairly bucking at the rail to get back to his normal life. During the last fourteen days he and Benjamin had struck up a friendship. He was sure they would have rather gone alone, but the pair had been gracious enough to include Rafe.
Maybe the fresh air and the sight of the land would lift the poor man's spirits.
The two young people in the house who had no need of their spirits being lifted sat at the breakfast table side by side talking quietly. Joe's wounds were almost healed – well, nearly all of them. Doc Martin had examined him the night before and declared his left arm had been compromised by the damage the wire had done to the nerves in his shoulder. It seemed Joe's days as one of the fastest draws in the West were over.
Ben sighed. Thank God!
There had been great debate over when to set the wedding. Once he had decided he no longer wanted to be a bachelor, Joe had been eager to take the plunge. Bella had been too, but she wanted to share her happiness with her parents and so the two had agreed to wait a month. By that time it would be mid-December. So far the snows had held off, but they were soon to come. The Carnabys – Levi and Mary, Sophie and even Jack, home from college for the holidays – were all on their way. It was his hope to persuade them to stay. He had a small house in town, bought as an investment on a whim, that he thought would be just right for Bella's family. He'd mentioned it to her and she agreed she would do everything she could to get her father to agree.
Meaning, she was going to get her mother to persuade him.
Ben smiled at the thought and then approached the table.
"And what are you two up to?" he asked.
"Details," Joe replied.
He said the word like it was one that should get his mouth washed out with soap.
"Details?" the older man repeated, hiding his smile. "Wedding details?"
His son gave him a helpless look. "Are there any other kind?"
Poor Joe. Growing up in a household with five men and no women. Even though he had had time with Alice, he still had a lot to learn. Alice had been a simple girl and their wedding a simple affair. Bella reminded him of Joe's mother in that she loved beauty. The young woman loved floral arrangements and piano throws and Battenberg lace anamacasters on the chairs. In the two weeks she had had reign Bella had transformed the ranch house from the sober but welcoming castle he had created into the home he remembered.
The one he remembered from when Joe had been a little boy.
Ben glanced at his soon-to be daughter-in-law. One thing Bella had was taste. She was dressed today in a stunning royal blue walking suit with a small back bustle to the skirt and jacket. The color matched her eyes. Her ladies boater hat and fan lay on the table beside her. Once the, er, details they were discussing were ironed out, Joe was going to drive her to town to the dressmaker's for a fitting.
The older man leaned over his son's shoulder. He smiled as he saw a way to rescue him.
"You're working on the food to be served?" Ben asked. He was still astonished that Hop Sing had allowed Bella to set the menu. It was a mark of his affection for the young woman. In fact, Hop Sing's affections had even gone so far as to allow her to cook in his kitchen.
Would wonders never cease?
Bella nodded. She was chewing on a pencil and looking at a long list. "Hop Sing said he would be picking up the supplies tomorrow. He insists on getting them on his own or we could do it today." She glanced at his son. "Joe, we need to finish this before we leave so he knows how much to buy."
"You're just working on the numbers?" Ben asked.
"What she's working on is driving me crazy," Joe grumbled, though his smile was loving. "I tried to get Bella to go to the justice of the peace with me and forget all this nonsense. You know what she told me Pa?"
He shook his head.
"Nonsense makes the world go 'round."
She was right.
"Why don't you let me take care of this?" Ben asked. "I've been working with numbers for longer than either of you have been alive." He winced. "Maybe longer than the two of you added together."
For a second he thought she was going to argue. Bella was nothing if not stubborn. Almost as stubborn as Joe.
Theirs was going to be an interesting marriage.
Joe wrapped his arm around Bella's shoulders. "I've got work to do in the stable later, so we need to head back right after your fitting. If we go now, we'd have time to eat lunch at the International House."
The blonde woman smiled. "I'd like that."
"I would too," his son said as he gave Bella a little squeeze. "I haven't had many opportunities to show you off and, pardon me Pa, but you look damn fine today!"
"Pardoned but not absolved," Ben deadpanned.
Joe glanced at him and then, he giggled.
'Oh, Lord', thank you,' the older man thought as the couple rose from their chairs and Joe headed for Bella's coat that hung on the coat rack by the tall case clock. They'd been forced to bring it downstairs in to accommodate her voluminous outerwear. 'Thank you. Thank you for this woman. Thank You for saving my son.'
"You need anything in town, Pa?" Joe asked as he donned his own heavy coat.
"No," he replied. "No, son, there isn't."
He had everything he needed here.
Joe winced at the look Bella shot his way. He had shifted his shoulder, trying to ease the pain in it. Even though near four weeks had passed since he'd injured it, there were times it still hurt like the dickens. He tried to hide it from her and managed it most of the time. The curly-haired man's lips twisted with pleasure. It was a little hard to do when he had his shirt off and Bella's arms were wrapped around his back. They hadn't made love yet. Somehow, they both knew that was for their wedding night. But it hadn't stopped them from, well, enjoying each other's company. When they did, Bella had a tendency to kiss his scars. He thought it was a little odd, but then again, that was what he had come to expect.
Women were a whole different country.
"Are you in pain?" Bella asked as her hand went to his shoulder and she started to rub it with a circular motion.
"Stiff more than sore," he answered. Which was kind of the truth. When Paul told him about his shoulder and arm, he'd been upset. He'd prided himself for more than half of his life about being fast with a gun. Then he'd thought about the life he had planned with Alice – marrying, building his own place, having children. 'God moves in mysterious ways,' he remembered singing in church. Maybe this was God's way of telling him one life was over and another begun.
Joe glanced at his hip. He wasn't wearing his handgun. It had been a conscious choice to bring a rifle instead. A rifle was for protection. A handgun, well, it was too, but it sent a message that offered a challenge. Turning his eyes to the precious cargo beside him, he knew he wanted nothing to do with anything that might bring Bella harm.
His days of flying off the handle and leaping before he looked were over.
"Joe."
He glanced at Bella and then followed her gaze. There was a tree fallen on the road. Since they were in a buggy, they couldn't go around it.
"Now what do we do?" she asked.
He looked at the sky. The sun was shining down. They were only about an hour from the ranch house. It was early morning still and the day was crisp and cold. Winter had arrived, but fortunately, so far, there had been little precipitation. The branches of the trees were bare and the grass was brown. In fact, Pa had said just the night before he hoped it either rained or snowed soon. He was worried about someone being careless and something sparking amidst the dead things and starting a fire.
With a smile, he leaned in and kissed his wife-to-be's pouting lips. "After thirty-plus years of living out west, I wouldn't be worth my salt if I didn't come prepared." He laughed at her expression. "I got an axe in the back. It won't take much time to clear it."
"Be careful."
As Joe climbed out of the buggy and headed for the back, he sighed. He had a feeling he was going to hear that phrase for the rest of his life.
After palming the axe, he stopped by the buggy seat to drop his heavy coat onto it. A cold wind hit him, chilling him to the bone, but he knew the moment he started chopping he would be too hot. The coat was bulky too and would encumber him.
"You just sit there looking pretty," he told Bella.
She nodded, but said nothing.
Joe frowned. "Is something wrong?"
This time she shook her head. "I just want to get to town."
"Me too," he replied with a smile. "There's a great big steak at the International House with my name on it."
Joe rolled up his sleeves and then headed for the tree. He began by stripping some of the smaller branches off so he had a clear place to put the axe and then began to hack the small tree trunk in two. He worked himself into a rhythm, raising the axe, bringing it down, striking the wood, and then raising it again. As he worked, he began to hum. It was an old tune Hoss had taught him called 'Sky Ball Paint'. His giant of a brother had loved to sing it while they worked. He'd join in and the two of them would add extra verses and then shout to the heavens the chorus of 'Singin' hi ho, whoopee ti yo. Ride him high and down you go, sons of the western soil.'
Still thinking of Hoss, Joe paused to run a sleeve over his forehead. As he did, he glanced at the buggy to see if Bella was watching him.
She was gone.
He puzzled a moment and then decided she had probably felt the call of nature. He knew from experience it took women a heck of a long time to do what needed to be done, so he turned back to his work and began this time to sing.
So I swore, by heck, I'd break his neck
for the jolt he gave my pride.
I threw my noose on that old cayuse
And once more took a ride.
He turned around and soon I found
his head where his tail should be
So I sez, sez I, perhaps he's shy
Or he just don't care for me.
Singin' hi ho, whoopee ti yo,
Ride him high and down you go,
Sons of the western soil.
Joe heard it a second before it happened. The sound of a bullet being levered into a rifle's chamber. Before he could turn, a searing pain ripped through his shoulder and he fell face-first onto the tree and then rolled off of it to the ground. As he lay there on his back, breathing hard, a shadow covered him, cast by a monster of a man he knew all too well.
Abel Ramsey. The man who'd near beaten him to death. The man Pa'd fired because of it.
The man who was going to kill him.
The rifle barrel rested against his forehead. Joe kept his eyes open and glared every bit of hate he had in him at the man. At least Bella got away, he told himself. She must have, otherwise Ramsey would be parading her before him. He was that kind of a man. He'd want to hurt him as much as he could before he took his life.
Yeah, Bella was safe. She had to be safe.
Of course, he knew she wasn't.
There was no way in Hell she would have left him.
Ramsey was enjoying every minute of it. "I bet you're wondering where your pretty little friend is," he said.
"If you've hurt her..." Joe growled.
"You'll do what, Cartwright? You ain't got a hope in Hell of stopping me." Abel's lips curled in a sneer. "If you wonderin', I ain't killed her." As Joe sighed, the monster added, "Just like I ain't gonna kill you."
Joe swallowed. "Somehow that barrel resting on my head says different."
"The way I figure it, Cartwright, someone came along and shot you. Your woman left you to go find help. Ended up she went the wrong way."
He was on the road . If Ramsey left him, he could make it. He could go back home for help.
"Trouble is," Ramsey said as he shifted the rifle away from his head and toward his chest, "you tried to follow her and somewhere along the way, you bled out. Get up, Cartwright, time to get movin'."
As he struggled to his knees, Joe asked, "Where's Bella?"
Abel nodded toward the woods. "Got her on my horse, thrown over the saddle." His grin was evil. "Ain't the most proper way for a lady to travel, but it'll do."
"What do you mean to do with her?" he demanded.
Ramsey's smile became lascivious. "Now, I ain't rightly decided. Maybe show her what a real man is before I kill her." The rifle returned to the level of his head. "I see it in your eyes, Cartwright. You want me dead. Trouble is, I got your gun."
The bullet had passed from the back to the front and through his right shoulder. He was bleeding from both sides. His heavy coat was in the buggy and he was covered with sweat. Already the sum total of those things were beginning to tell.
Joe felt exhausted.
"Get moving, Cartwright, or I might just change my mind about my timing and put you two lovers in the same grave."
The afternoon was ending and still Joe and Bella had not appeared. Ben stood on the porch looking toward town. He knew his son had wanted to deal with the mess the tackle in the stable was in before supper. Joe had told him a few pieces needed to be mended before the men went out again. He could have turned it over to one of the hands, but Joe was very particular about the tools of his trade and preferred to do it himself.
Benjamin and Jamie, along with a weary and saddle-sore Rafe Ashton, had returned midday. Candy had come to check on things and he had agreed to join the others for an early supper as they were all starved. The four of them were inside now. He and Hop Sing had eaten a late lunch alone just about an hour before.
It was interesting to watch the change in the young man from the city. Like one of those winds that arose suddenly with killing force and then petered away to nothing, the bluster had gone out of him. He'd know men like that before, so unsure of what they knew that all they could do was pronounce loudly that they knew everything. More and more he was beginning to see that Rafe had felt less a man than his father and brother; perhaps had even had such high expectations put on him as a boy that he felt he could never measure up. Rafe had actually been listening instead of talking as Candy and the others explained to him the finer points of running a ranch.
Apparently the wonders were just going to keep coming.
Ben heard the door open behind him and watched as Jamie stepped out onto the porch. The boy still bore the scars of his battle with the barbed wire, but mostly he was mended. It did his heart good to know that things were mended between the redhead and his older brother as well.
"No sign of Joe?" Jamie asked as he stopped at his side.
Ben shook his head. "No, and I am beginning to worry."
At this point Adam would have scolded him, telling him his little brother could take care of himself. Hoss would have looked worried, but agreed. They would have told him he was a worry-wart and he had to remember that Joe was a man now and not a boy like the one who stood beside him.
"Do you want me to saddle the horses?" that boy said.
No argument. No scolding. Just a deep love and concern for his big brother. Sadly, like him, Jamie's life had been marked by tragedy.
Ben placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder. "They could have decided to spend the night in town. There's probably nothing to worry about."
"But you don't think so." The redhead paused and then added, "Joe told me he wanted me here to work on the tackle today, like it was real important."
Implying that something, indeed, had gone wrong.
Ben looked at the sky. There were, perhaps, three, maybe four hours of light left. Long enough to track the buggy's progress and make sure Joe and Bella had been on their way to town, if not enough to follow and find them. He would feel mighty foolish if he and Jamie rode into Virginia City and found the pair enjoying a leisurely late meal at the International House.
As he hesitated, the door opened and Candy, followed by Benjamin Carnaby stepped out. Candy was instantly on the alert.
"Something wrong?" his foreman asked.
The older man shook his head. "Joe and Bella are late returning."
"Pa's worried something's happened," Jamie blurted out, spilling his secret.
Candy's smile was a tolerant and knowing one. "I was thinking about taking Benjamin and Rafe to town and sitting in on that poker game that's been going on now for a week non-stop. Things will just be getting going around midnight." As he spoke, Ashton too appeared. "Rafe here says he plays a mean hand of poker."
Ben's eyes went to Bella's brother. He was either very old or Benjamin was very young.
Probably both.
Candy knew what he was thinking. "Little Ben's just gonna watch. Aren't you?"
"Little Ben?"
Bella's brother shrugged. "They decided they had to have some way to tell whether people were talking about you or me." He paused and then grinned. "It's okay. It's a good name."
Big Ben looked at the four eager faces before him. They didn't fool him for a minute. They were all just as worried about Bella and Joe as he was.
"All right," he said at last. "Saddle the horses. I'll have Hop Sing pack some grub." Ben glanced over his shoulder at both the dying light and the path leading out of the yard. "If nothing else, we'll make camp and enjoy ourselves."
Joe opened his eyes and groaned. For a moment he had no idea where he was and then he remembered – he remembered Abel Ramsey's rifle in the hollow of his back. He remembered Bella's desperate stare as she lifted her head from the horse's side and watched him trudge along, half out of his head from dehydration and loss of blood. He had no idea how many hours they'd walked. It had been morning when he'd stopped to chop the tree that blocked the road and it was growing dark rapidly, so he was guessing somewhere around eight hours. He'd fallen several times, even losing consciousness once or twice. The last time he'd just wanted to lay there and die. But Ramsey would have none of it. He'd slapped his face and forced him to his feet and told him to start walking again, threatening to kill Bella if he didn't.
So he walked.
At this point he knew he was done. His only hope was to rescue Bella, so she could live. All the time he'd walked, he'd been thinking of what he could do, though lately his head was so muddled it was hard. He'd talked with God during the long march, coming close to cursing Him. How much could one man be expected to take? Why the Hell had He let this happen? In the end he'd fallen just short of curses, but he'd made sure God knew he was gonna be well and done with Him if he let anything happen to Bella.
God had let Alice die. He couldn't let it happen again.
Joe glanced up at Abel Ramsey. The man was riding behind Bella. One hand held her waistband and the other, the rifle that was pointed at him. Bella had tried to escape once. Ramsey's answer had been to fire a bullet so close to his head that he'd felt the heat of it sear his skin.
She'd been real quiet after that.
He wondered where they were going and why. About halfway through the day Ramsey had bandaged his shoulder so the bleeding would stop and he would be able to keep his feet longer. Joe's jaw tightened. He had a sick feeling about it. As much as Ramsey wanted to kill him, he wanted to hurt him even more.
He was afraid Ramsey was going to kill Bella and make him watch.
Tired of the game, Joe called out to the madman who held them. His voice cracked from fatigue and lack of water. "Where are you taking us?" he demanded.
Ramsey's grin was evil. "I got me an idea after I seen you with your woman. I hear tell you're gettin' married. I figure the two of you need a home since your other one burned down." He inclined his head. "There's one right ahead."
Joe scowled. They'd been traveling north, he could tell by the sun. The only thing that lay in that direction was the old line shack where, once upon a time, Bella had spent a few nights with a pony named Freckles.
"The line shack," he said.
"I'm gonna take your woman inside, Cartwright, and light a fire and make it nice and toasty warm." The monster's eyes gleamed. "Real toasty warm."
The nightmare returned. Only this time it was Bella's face at the window, screaming for him to save her as her pale white skin blackened and peeled away and her hair turned to flame.
Joe wasn't sure what he could do to free her, but he knew full well he wasn't going to be able to do anything under the threat of Ramsey's gun. He looked at Bella only to find she was watching him. Those big blue eyes of hers amazed him. There was no fear in them.
Only trust.
Joe drew a breath. He knew this land as well as the back of his hand since he and Hoss had played here as boys. He was hoping Ramsey didn't. Behind him there was a slope running down to a creek. A little ways along the creek was a big old tree with roots reaching out over the water where he could hole up until Ramsey stopped looking for him.
He'd have to swim for it. It was a gamble whether he could make it or not. Odds were he couldn't – not alone.
Between gritted teeth Joe whispered a prayer. Well, maybe it was less saying a prayer than issuing a demand.
"God you keep me goin' until she's safe. You get me to that shack in time."
Joe looked skyward as if waiting for an answer.
Then he dropped, rolled, and plummeted over the side.
Not a day went by when he didn't miss Hoss, but at times like these – when they needed the best of trackers – Ben was reminded of another gaping hole his middle son's death had left in their lives. Not that Candy wasn't good. He was. And Candy loved his son, he knew it.
But no one, not even him, had loved Joe like Hoss.
They'd found the buggy abandoned by the road. Neither Joe or Bella was in sight. A large dark stain on the ground boded nothing but ill. Unfortunately, the light was fading and soon they would not be able to make out anything. If they went on, he knew, it would be on a wing and a prayer.
They were going to go on.
"Anything?" he asked, his jaw tight.
Candy was stooping on the ground. He fingered something and then rose. With a sigh, he admitted, "There's a trail of blood heading north. Joe's on foot."
There was something in his foreman's tone that told him that was not all of it.
"And?"
"There's a rider. The horse is heavy, so I'm thinking there's two. There's something odd about the way the hooves have dug in." Candy scratched his head. "I'm thinking one rider and someone who's bein' carried."
"Against their will?" he asked.
Candy winced and shot a look toward the two men and the boy who hovered nearby. Rafe was ashen white. Benjamin had barely any more color. Jamie, well, Jamie was scared but he was also determined.
"Do you think it's Bella?" his adopted son asked, his voice hushed by concern.
"It makes sense," Ben admitted. "What I don't understand is that, even if some man wanted to take Bella, for whatever reason, why make Joe walk? Especially if he is wounded. That's the act of a madman."
"Or someone who really hates Joe," Candy said.
Ben looked at his foreman. His pallor beat Little Ben's and Rafe's.
"Candy? What are you thinking?"
The brown-haired man ran a hand across his cheek. He shrugged. "I ain't got any proof."
"Tell me anyway."
"I was in the saloon the other night. There was this guy, blowin' off about gettin' even with Joe." His foreman's blue eyes fastened on his. "It was Abel Ramsey." Candy looked sick. "I didn't have time to tell Joe about it yet since I didn't see him today."
Ramsey. The ranch hand he had shamed in front of all the men . The one he had fired for trying to kill his son.
"Good God." Ben drew a breath. It shook as it was expelled. "You said they are heading north. Why? There's nothing there."
"What about that shack we saw when we rode through?" Little Ben asked. "That's something, isn't it?"
He and Candy exchanged a look. The line shack was such a part of their lives that the considered it almost part of the landscape. Bella's brother, fortunately, saw things differently.
"Yes..." he replied. If Ramsey was headed for the shack, they had a chance. He could find it in the dark and so could his foreman. But it meant abandoning any tracks that might be there and heading blindly into the dark that was fast encroaching.
"It's going to be rough," the older man said at last, looking at Rafe and Benjamin. "You two are not used to the country. Perhaps you should turn back. Jamie can take you back to the ranch."
Jamie bristled, but he saw the boy would be obedient. Still, he knew the men's answer before they gave it. Rafe, so much changed, said it for them. "You'd have to bind our hands and feet to keep us from following."
"All right. Mount up then." Ben looked at Candy. "I'll lead the way. You bring up the rear."
The brown-haired man nodded and headed for his horse.
Ben turned to look at the imposing forested land before them. If Joe had fallen by the wayside, they would ride right past him. By the time they doubled back his wound coupled with the exposure to the cold would, most likely, have taken his life.
The older man's eyes lifted to the sky. It was all in His plan. He knew it. He had told his boys that for years. There was some reason this stain of evil had come into the fabric of the beautiful life he had envisioned for his boy and Bella Carnaby.
Before the night was over, he hoped he knew what it was.