'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
