argued, what if they did? He pulled back out of sight and signaled his men to move closer.
They formed a campsite far enough away to be safe and rotated guard. In a few hours it would be dark and not a man would ride for home. Win climbed down from his horse and began to pace. There wasn’t time to send someone to check on Kora, so he had to accept the possibility that they had her. But these weren’t murderers. They were ranchers. Running cattle was one thing; killing a woman seemed quite another. Something beyond profits from the herds must be driving them.
‘‘Rider coming in!’’ one of Win’s hands yelled as a rider galloped in from the west.
Win looked up as a stranger, traveling fast, kicked his horse toward them. For a moment he looked familiar. All he needed was a dark duster.
But as he rode closer, Win recognized the gambler. He’d shed his black suit and string tie in favor of chaps and cotton.
‘‘Wyatt,’’ he whispered to Cheyenne. Both men rested their hands on the handle of their Colts.
Wyatt jumped from his mount without slowing. ‘‘Wait!’’ he shouted. ‘‘Don’t start shooting. They’ve got your wife!’’
‘‘What?’’ Win grabbed Wyatt by the collar. ‘‘How do you know?’’
The gambler knocked Win’s hand away with surprising strength. ‘‘I know because I’ve been watching them for weeks now.’’ He straightened before them, looking far less of a dandy than he had before. ‘‘An hour ago I saw two men riding near the settlement with your wife across one man’s saddle. She was screaming and kicking, but alive.’’
‘‘Are you sure?’’
‘‘She had on that same blue dress she wore the last time I visited your place.’’
Win studied him closely. The pieces had never fit with Wyatt. He rode too well to be a man who spent his days at a gaming table. He disappeared and reappeared whenever trouble boiled. ‘‘The only reason you’re alive is because of what you did to help my wife at the settlement. But don’t bank too heavy on one action. You’ve got some explaining to do.’’
Wyatt let out a breath, as if tired of holding it. His eyes darted to the left, then the right. ‘‘I was sent in to keep a lid on this war you people are trying to start over a few head of cattle. I’m a ranger stationed at Fort Elliot.’’
‘‘Sure you are,’’ Cheyenne whispered.
Glancing at Cheyenne, Wyatt shouted, ‘‘I don’t care if you believe me or not!’’
‘‘I don’t,’’ the Indian said simply.
‘‘Look, I’m here to help. I know these people. They aren’t here to murder, just move cattle. Let them through. You’ll recover in a year or so. Let them pass and end this blockade tonight. You don’t have a prayer of winning anyway. If they stampede the cattle toward the ridge, they’ll come up from too many directions for your men to stop them all. A few will get through your web and infect your cattle. They’ll lose the herd and you’ll lose half, maybe more of yours. No one wins.’’
Win didn’t answer.
Wyatt moved closer, pressing his case. ‘‘The trail boss will listen to reason. He’ll let Kora go if you give your promise. But you’d best do it fast. Most of his offspring are bloodthirsty, and if you hesitate you’ll be giving them the chance they’re looking for to kill. I’ve never met a woman like the oldest daughter, all sweet one minute and deadly the next. It’s more than money with her. She’s out for blood. Let me talk to them. I can bluff my way through this.’’
‘‘All right.’’ Win hesitated for only a moment, realizing he had nothing to lose.
The gambler relaxed for the first time. ‘‘Before I go I have to know how far you’re willing to play the hand.’’
Win didn’t blink. ‘‘If they don’t have Kora and it’s only a bluff, I’ll shoot the beef as they try to cross. My word stands.’’
‘‘And if they do have her?’’
‘‘Tell them to turn her loose and they can cross my ranch.’’
Wyatt looked surprised. ‘‘You’d bet the entire ranch against her life?’’
‘‘I would,’’ Win answered. ‘‘And more.’’
Wyatt nodded and swung back into the saddle. ‘‘ Someday I’ll sit down and explain my part in all this,’’ he said. ‘‘But until then, it wouldn’t hurt to trust me a little. When this is over, we might even become friends, or maybe even family.’’
‘‘Yeah,’’ Cheyenne interrupted. ‘‘When you come up with a story we’ll believe.’’
Wyatt glared at Cheyenne silently, the look promising a reckoning in the future. Then the gambler rode off into the pass with his hands high and in plain sight.
‘‘He’s lying,’’ Cheyenne said.
‘‘I know,’’ Win agreed. ‘‘Only I can’t figure out why.’’
‘‘The hour is up!’’ A man shouted from the entrance to the pass. ‘‘Do we move the cattle?’’
Win shifted to where he could watch the pass. He hadn’t heard a word from Wyatt. He’d either joined them, or they’d killed him. Neither would come as a surprise.
‘‘Where’s my wife?’’ All the McQuillen guns were pointed at the long rock-walled vee that marked one of the larger gateways to Win’s land.
Slowly two men walked up from below, dragging a woman between them. Her hands were tied to a rope in front of her as if she’d been led. A bandanna covered her eyes and most of her face. Another dug into the sides of her mouth muffling her screams.
Her hair was long and almost white in the afternoon sun. Win felt his stomach tighten as he saw her dress, dirty and torn. She’d put up quite a fight. He remembered the first time he’d seen her. He’d wondered then how such a tiny creature, so fragile, had survived. He wondered the same now and his heart ached.
‘‘Turn her loose!’’ He fought to keep from moving down the pass. Her life depended on his remaining calm. ‘‘I’ll give you whatever you want.’’
Both of the drifters stood tall, proud of themselves for capturing her. They might have failed the first time, but she’d almost stumbled right into their camp this morning.
Wyatt rode from below to where the men stood holding Kora. He looked none the worse for wear. ‘‘I told them you would!’’ he yelled at Win, then glanced to the men. ‘‘Untie her, boys, and I’ll take her to him.’’
As they worked, Wyatt turned his attention back to Win. ‘‘All they want is to cross your land.’’ He didn’t have to say more. Everyone watching knew what the action would cost. ‘‘She’s free when we have your word.’’
‘‘You have it.’’ Win stared at Kora as she kicked at the men untying her. ‘‘As soon as they’ve crossed, I’ll burn my own ranch to keep the fever from spreading.’’ All he cared about was the woman below.
As the men pulled the bandanna from their captive’s eyes and mouth, one word echoed across the space between Wyatt and Win. ‘‘Jamie!’’
Cheyenne was in the saddle and riding down the incline before anyone else could move.
The kidnappers suddenly realized they’d captured the wrong woman. They tried to pull her back, but she kicked and screamed like a wildcat.
No one was sure who opened fire first, but all at once the air rained bullets. They ricocheted off the stone walls, echoing certain death. The men in the pass who’d been holding Jamie scrambled for cover. The men above lowered their aim.
‘‘Wyatt! Please!’’ Jamie lifted her still-tied hands to him. ‘‘Wyatt!’’
He fought to close the ten feet between them, but bullets splattered the ground around him. His mount danced in the flying dirt, wild with fear. Wyatt fought for control as the men above shot at the men below and the men below returned fire.
With a sudden turn Wyatt pulled his horse back from the center of the passage and rode up toward Win, leaving Jamie standing alone in a circle of gunfire.
Win kept a steady stream of bullets aimed at the rocks behind the pass as he saw Cheyenne approaching Jamie at full speed. Like a wild warrior from another time, Cheyenne rode into the fire and swept Jamie up. Unlike the men who’d tried to kidnap her at the ranch, Cheyenne could hold her in balance and control his powerful horse.
By the time Win reloaded, Cheyenne was out of trouble and riding at gale speed toward the safety of the camp.
Jamie was bouncing and swearing as she lay across his saddle. But she was alive.
