And sweet little Gwen?”
“I’ll take you to the San Simon relay station and come back for them.”
“Who are you kidding? By the time you get back, it will be too late.” Melissa raised her head. They were nose to nose, mouth to mouth, so close he could kiss her by simply pursing his lips. “No, I won’t be responsible for their deaths. We’ll look for them together, now.”
The actress had no notion what she was asking. “The gorge is crawling with Apaches. I saw at least thirty, and there must be plenty more.”
“You’re not even going to try?” Melissa said in reproach, then she pointed and declared, “Goodness! What’s on fire?”
From that distance the burning wagons resembled bonfires. Vague forms were visible, moving back and forth. So Fargo’s ruse had worked. Chipota and the main part of his band would be busy for a while saving the other wagons. Fargo explained what he had done.
“Aren’t you the clever one?” A gleam that had nothing to do with the far-off flames came into her eyes. “Intelligent as well as handsome. You’ll make some lucky gal a fine catch one day.”
Fargo’s skin prickled as if from a heat rash. “You stay with the horses. I’ll go to the gully.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight ever again.” Melissa threw her arms around him to emphasize her point, and in so doing, her mouth touched his.
Fargo would love nothing better than to savor the redhead’s sensual charms, but it was hardly the right time or place. How just like a woman! They always accused men of being as randy as roosters, but the truth was that females were every bit as lustful and had a peculiar knack for picking the most ridiculous moments to give their desire free rein. Reluctantly, he drew back and stood. “Later,” he said.
“I’ll take that as a promise,” Melissa huskily teased.
“Mind riding double?”
“Not at all. But why can’t I ride one of the other horses?” Fargo had his reasons. First and foremost, the Ovaro was the only mount he could completely depend on. The others weren’t accustomed to being ridden. They might whinny or do something else that would attract Apaches. Also, he didn’t know how much experience Melissa had on horseback. In the dark she might blunder into a ravine, or her mount might act up and she would be unable control it. Rather than say as much, he answered, “It’s best this way.”
The gully seemed the logical place to start. That was where Raidler and Gwen would return to, if they were alive.
Fargo kept the stallion to a walk, stopping often to rise in the stirrups and look and listen. He didn’t know how long the Apaches would be occupied at the wagons. But it wouldn’t do to let his guard down.
Melissa Starr didn’t help much in that regard. Her breasts and belly were flush against his back, her warmth kindling his own. Her arms, looped around his waist, slid lower and lower the farther they went, so that when they neared the road, they were at his hips, her hands dangling within a finger’s length of his groin. No man with blood in his veins could help but imagine how nice it would be to feel their caress.
Then, when Fargo shifted in the saddle to gaze into the gorge, her fingers briefly made contact. The pressure set him to tingling. Hunger raged in his chest, a hunger that had nothing to do with food. Yet he was glad when Melissa straightened and her hands moved.
Shortly, from fifty feet out, Fargo surveyed the gully one more time.
“Why did you stop?” Melissa whispered. “Gwen and the rest might be in there waiting for us.”
“Apaches might be waiting, too.”
“I didn’t think of that. Take your sweet time.”
Fargo nudged the pinto. He promptly reined up when a moan fluttered from a cluster of nearby manzanitas. It was repeated a minute later. The Colt cocked, Fargo headed for the shrublike trees. Feeble movement brought him to a prone shape. A floppy hat lying beside it identified who it was.
“Buck!” Melissa was off the pinto in a heartbeat and kneeling by the old-timer. “He’s bad off. Help me, please.”
They rolled the driver over. Dawson was out to the world. In addition to a gunshot wound below his collarbone, he had sustained a nasty knife cut on an arm and what appeared to be a lance wound in his leg. Judging by how wet his shirt was, he had lost a lot of blood but his pulse was steady and strong.
Fargo slid his arms underneath Dawson to lift him.
“Wait. Are you sure it’s safe to move him?”
“Would you rather the Apaches do it?” The driver was heavier than Fargo counted on, but he carried Dawson to the stallion with no problem and placed him, stomach down, over the saddle. He gave the reins to Melissa. “Keep an eye on him.”
Hastening to the gully, Fargo inspected it from end to end. Neither Gwen nor anyone else had come back.
“So what now?” the redhead asked when he emerged.
Fargo’s response was to lead the pinto down the road.
“Where are we off to now? Are you just going to leave the stage horses where they are for the Indians to find?”
“You’re a regular bundle of questions. Ever think of working for a newspaper?”
Grinning, Melissa wrapped her arms around him and snuggled against his left side as if she were cold. “I don’t mean to be a bother. It’s just that I’m scared, and when I’m scared, I can’t stop my tongue from wagging.”
There were worse faults, and Fargo said so. “As for being afraid, show me someone who brags they never are and I’ll show you a liar.”
“You never act scared.”
“I learned early in life that if you let fear get the better of you, you might as well dig your own grave. Fear makes you freeze at the wrong moment. The Sioux like to say that fear is a man’s only true enemy.” Fargo could tell the talk was relaxing her so he continued. “I don’t give it a second thought anymore. I just shut it from my mind and do what needs to be done. It’s easy once you learn how.”
“You’re mistaken. I could practice shutting fear from my mind for a thousand years and I’d never be as brave as you are.”
Fargo looked at her. “You’re an actress, aren’t you? Act brave and you will be.”
“Is it that simple, I wonder?” Melissa rested her cheek on his shoulder. “I’ll have to take your word for it. Were I the best actress in the world, I’d still scream my lungs out if Apaches rushed us.”
As Fargo recollected, the road curved about half a mile from the Pass. South of the curve grew a stand of oaks. Not a large stand, possibly two acres at the most, yet sizeable enough to provide the cover they needed.
The wind was rustling the leaves when they arrived. It was well past midnight, and Fargo was tired enough to sleep for a week. His hip had grown worse. His ribs objected whenever he raised his arms above his shoulders. He was starved enough to eat an elk raw and thirsty enough to drain the San Simon in a single gulp.
Fargo ushered them deep into the heart of the oaks. In a small glade he halted and carefully lowered Buck Dawson. The driver never stirred. While Melissa examined him, Fargo stripped the saddle and blanket off the Ovaro. He spread out his bedroll, propped the saddle at one end, then opened a saddlebag and took out a handful of pemmican which he offered to the redhead.
“What is this?” Melissa asked, sniffing suspiciously.
“You’ll like it better if I don’t tell you.”
“As famished as I am, I’d eat raw skunk.”
Fargo smiled. “It’s called pemmican. Indians make it by pounding buffalo meat into a powder, then mixing it with fat and dried berries. Or cherries, in this case. I traded a Cheyenne for some a while back and haven’t used it all up yet.” He treated himself to a bite. The tasty morsel set his mouth to watering and his stomach to growling.
Melissa nibbled at hers, chewed slowly, then giggled and took a bite big enough to choke a grizzly. “It’s delicious. I hope you have five or ten pounds of the stuff. How about some coffee to wash it down?”
