'Clara!' Jamie shouted.
Tess, stunned by the violence of the attack, stared in silence.
'Clara, you're overwrought, but you owe this lady an apology, you can't
know'
'No!' Clara shrieked.
'She's the devil's spawn!' Tess realized then that the porch was full of
people.
The young soldiers who had been ready to die for her looked as if they'd
gladly nail her to the wall.
'How many of us have lost our dear loved ones to the bloody savages?
You, Lydia, the Pawnee took your only daughter! Charlie, the Comanche
cost you your arm, and Jimmie, your boy Jim went down in that fight with
the Apache. Heathens, bloody heathens, all of them! And now she's lying
about what happened to her little wagon train.
She won't let the men go after the real culprits, she wants a war with
the white men! She wants us all at one another's throats so the bloody
savages can move right in. She'--' No!' Tess shouted furiously.
'You don't understand, you weren't there, and don't you dare' -- 'She
ought to be tarred and leathered and thrown right out of here naked as a
jay. Then she can run to her Indian buddies.'
There was a startled moment of silence. Tess felt certain they were all
about to step forward and tear her into little shreds.
'Yes, yes' -- Clara began wildly. But she was interrupted.
The sound of a clinking spur struck loudly and discordantly upon the
floor as Jamie stepped firmly between Tess and Clara.
'That's enough!' Jamie stated flatly.
'Clara, I don't know what got you going tonight, but you've no right to
judge this girl, none at all. You owe her an apology, and I damned well
mean it.' He paused. Tess realized that he was looking across the crowd.
Looking straight at Eliza. And there was something about her eyes that
told all, even if she tried to stare at Jamie with a look of pure
innocence.
She had stirred up the people. Jamie had left her on the dance floor,
and dear Miss. Eliza had made the rounds, talking to those most
vulnerable.
'But what if it is true, Lieutenant? What if Miss. Stuart was seeing
things?
Then the Comanche or some other tribe is on the warpath, and if so,
we've got to start fighting back!' 'I'll find out,' Jamie said.
'I promise you, I'll find out.' There was a gasp from the crowd. The
sound had come from Eliza, Tess realized. Her plan had backfired. Tess
wasn't sure what victory she felt. Whatever move Jamie made, he made
because he had been forced into it, a gentleman caught by circumstance
into defending a lady's honor.
'I'm going to escort Miss. Stuart to her home, and I'll look into things
there. And I will find out the truth.'
By then Jon Red Feather had come to stand next to his friend. It was a
casual but defensive gesture. They were shoulder to shoulder. If any
fighting had erupted, the handsome half-breed would have been ready. But
maybe he had come for more than that. He edged forward, taking Clara's
