A Heart So Wild (7 page)

M
ATTIE knocked only once before opening the door. “So he came back?”

Courtney glanced over her shoulder. “What? Oh, Mattie, I forgot about you and Pearce waiting. I'm sorry. But don't just stand there, come in and help me!”

“Help you with what?”

“What's it look like?” Courtney said impatiently.

The younger girl's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the room in utter shambles. Clothes were scattered everywhere, petticoats and gowns draped over the chair, the bed, the bureau, everywhere.

“You want me to help you mess up your room?”

“Silly. I can't take my trunk because there's no mention of a wagon on the list, just a horse with all the trappings. Here, see?” Courtney handed the list over.

Mattie's eyes widened. “So he's going to take you to Texas? But I thought you said—”

“He changed his mind. He's a man of few words, Mattie. He just handed me the list and asked if I could fill it in an hour. Oh! Come on, I don't have much time. I still have to go to
Handley's for the saddlebags and supplies, and buy a horse, and—”

“Courtney! I can't believe you're willin' to travel all the way to Texas without a wagon. You'll have no privacy. You'll have to sleep on the ground.”

“I'll have a bedroll,” Courtney said cheerfully. “See, there's a bedroll on the list.”

“Courtney!”

“Well, I don't have much choice, do I? And look at all the time we'll save without a wagon to slow us down. I'll get to Waco much sooner than I thought.”

“Court, you've never even ridden a horse for one entire day, much less weeks. You're gonna be so sore—”

“Mattie, I'll manage, really. And I don't have time to argue. If I'm not ready, he'll leave without me.”

“Let him. God sakes, Courtney, that man's in too much of an all-fired hurry. He's gonna race you across the plains. Your blisters will have blisters. In two days you'll wish you were dead and beg him to bring you back. Wait for someone else to take you.”

“No,” Courtney said, her chin set firmly. “Others coming through Rockley might say yes, but will I trust them? I trust Chandos. You said yourself that he's perfect for the job. And there's something else, Mattie. I have the feeling Reed might try to stop me.”

“He wouldn't dare,” Mattie said indignantly.

“Yes, he would dare. And not many men would stand up to Reed.”

“And you think Chandos would? Yes, I guess he would, all right. But—”

“Mattie, I have to get to Waco. Chandos is the best man to get me there. It's as simple as that. Now, are you going to help me? I'm running out of time.”

“All right.” Mattie sighed. “Let's see what's on this list—are you going to buy pants and shirts? He has those on here.”

Busy sorting through her gowns, Courtney shook her head. “I'm sure he only put that on the list because I can't ride in a dress. But I have that mohair skirt that I altered for riding, so that'll be fine.”

“You're sure that's his reason? Maybe he wants you to look like a man. You forget the country you'll be traveling through.”

“Don't start on the dangers, Mattie! I'm scared enough.”

“Maybe you better buy at least one pair of pants just to be safe.”

“I suppose I could, but Mr. Handley's going to think I'm crazy. And I don't have enough time for all that.”

Mattie stared at the carpetbag Courtney was stuffing two gowns into. “I know he says to bring only a few clothes, Court, but you can get one more dress in there. Why not? You're gonna need an extra sack for all the food anyway, and you've still got the saddlebags. You're gonna be cramped on your horse, but there's no way around that.”

“Oh! Mattie? You know horses better than I do, and he says I need a good horse. Could you buy the horse for me?”

“There's not much to choose from over at the stable. If there was time, well, we've got a beauty out at our place.”

“There's no time, Mattie. He said an hour and he meant an hour.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Mattie grumbled. “Then I'll meet you in front of Handley's. Does Sarah know yet?”

Courtney handed over some of her stash of bills, grinning at her friend. “Are you serious? If she knew, she'd be in here giving me her long list of dire predictions.”

“Why don't you leave without tellin' her? You'd save yourself a sore ear.”

“I can't, Mattie. After all, she
has
taken care of me these last years.”

“Taken care!” Mattie cried indignantly. “Worked you to the bone, you mean!”

Courtney smiled at Mattie's outspokenness. She had picked up some outlandish sayings from her friend over the years, things she herself sometimes said without thinking. At least she no longer blushed at the outrageous things Mattie said, like she used to do.

Realizing how long it might be before she saw Mattie again, Courtney said, “I'm going to miss you, Mattie. And I want you to have anything you wish from what I have to leave behind.”

Mattie's eyes widened. “You mean…all these pretty dresses?”

“I'd rather you had them than Sarah.”

“Well, shoot, I don't know what to say. I mean—I'll miss you, too.”

She ran out of the room before she started crying. No sense in that. Court was determined to go.

Tears misted in Courtney's eyes too as she hurriedly finished packing and dressed in her riding outfit.

Before she left the hotel, she ran into Sarah. She had wanted to save her good-byes until the last minute, after she'd finished buying the other things she would need, but that was not to be.

“So you didn't let go of that fool notion about going to Waco?” was Sarah's response.

“No, Sarah,” Courtney said softly.

“Little fool. If you die out there on the prairie, I'll be damned if I'll mourn you.”

“I'm not going alone, Sarah.”

“What? Who's going with you?”

“His name is Chandos, and he's the one who—”

“I know who he is!” Sarah hissed. Then, unexpectedly, she began to laugh. “Oh, I see. All that ridiculous nonsense about your father was just an excuse so you could run off with that gunslinger. I always knew you were a tramp.”

Courtney's eyes flashed angrily. “You knew no such thing, Sarah. But believe whatever you like. After all, if my father really is alive, that makes you an adulteress—doesn't it?”

In the brief moment that Sarah was rendered speechless, Courtney walked out of the hotel. She was afraid that Sarah might follow her, but she didn't.

There was no sign of Chandos in the street, or of his horse, so Courtney still had a few minutes before the deadline. Quickly she bought what she needed. She was able, too, to say good-bye to a few of the folks who had been kind to her, because Lars Handley, Charley and Snub, and the Coffman sisters were all in Handley's store.

Mattie came in before she was done. “He's waitin', Courtney.”

She looked out the window. Chandos was there, mounted on his horse. She felt a little tingle of fear race along her spine. She barely knew this man, yet she was going away alone with him.

“He brought along an extra horse,” Mattie continued, subdued. “It's all saddled and ready. He did it—even picked out the saddle. Guess he figured you wouldn't find a good mount here. I bought old Nelly for you, though. Got her real cheap.” Mattie handed over what was left of Courtney's money. “She's nothin' to ride, but she'll make a good packhorse, so you won't be cramped riding.”

“Then don't sound so unhappy.”

“Do I?” Mattie became defensive. “You're leaving…Oh, that's not all. I don't know. Chandos, he shook me up, I guess, the way he just took over at the stable, and without sayin' anything. You're right, he is a man of few words. And he—he scares the shit out of me.”

“Mattie!”

“Well, he does. What makes you so sure you can trust him, Court?”

“I just trust him, that's all. You're forgetting he already saved me once, from that terrible Jim Ward. Now he's willing to help me again.”

“I know, I know. But I can't figure out
why
.”

“It doesn't matter. I need him, Mattie. Now, come on and help me tie everything to old Nelly.”

When the two girls came out of the store, Chandos made no acknowledgment. He didn't even dismount to help them secure Courtney's
bags to the packhorse. Courtney hurried, not so much because of him as because she didn't want Reed to see what she was doing. She sent nervous glances down the street toward his saloon, hoping she and Chandos would be able to leave before there was a scene.

After the two friends embraced for the last time and Courtney mounted, Chandos said, “You get everything on the list?”

“Yes.”

“I suppose it's too late now to ask if you know how to ride?”

He said it so dryly that Courtney laughed. “I can ride.”

“Then let's ride, lady.”

Picking up old Nelly's reins, he headed south. Courtney had no time to do anything more than return Mattie's wave.

They reached the end of Rockley almost instantly, and with a heartfelt sigh, Courtney said good-bye to that chapter of her life.

It didn't take long for her to get used to staring at Chandos's back. He simply wouldn't ride beside her. She tried to catch up to him a few times, but he always managed to stay a good length ahead of her, no farther than that but not close enough to talk. Yet he was always aware of what she was doing. He never looked back, but each time her horse lagged, Chandos slowed. He kept the exact same distance between them all the time. This reassured her.

It shouldn't have. A few moments later Chandos stopped to dismount, then walked purposefully toward her. She looked at him curiously. It was only nearing sunset, and she hadn't thought they would make camp so early.

Then she felt a twinge of alarm, for his face was set, his eyes coldly determined.

Without a word, he reached up and dragged her off her mount. With a startled cry, she fell into him, her boots slamming against his shins. He didn't flinch. An arm snaked tightly around her waist, his other hand shot out and clenched her buttocks.

“Chandos, please!” she cried out, shocked and horrified. “What are you doing?”

He said nothing. His eyes were blue ice, and they said all she needed to know.

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Oh, God, she couldn't believe this was happening. “I trusted you!”

“I guess you shouldn't have,” he said coldly, wrapping both arms around her tightly.

Courtney began to cry. “Please. You're hurting me.”

“You're going to hurt a lot more if you don't do exactly as I say, lady. Now put your arms around me.”

He displayed no anger at all. He didn't raise his voice even a little. Courtney would have preferred fury to this cold determination.

Staring into his frigid eyes, she did as he said, afraid not to. Her heart was beating a terrified tempo. God help her, how could she have been so terribly wrong about him?

“That's better,” he said evenly. And then he slipped one hand free and, in a single motion, ripped the front of her blouse open.

Courtney screamed, knowing it was useless but unable to stop it. That accomplished one thing however. Chandos pushed her away from
him as she screamed, and she landed on her backside, sprawled at his feet. Hastily, she pulled her blouse together.

She had trusted Chandos to protect her, and she felt utterly betrayed. She looked up at him, and her eyes told him just how she felt.

She shivered. He looked so merciless standing there, his feet braced apart, so strong and so handsome, but so cruel.

“I don't think you've grasped your situation yet, otherwise you wouldn't tempt my anger by screaming.”

“I—I have.”

“Then spell it out for me. Now.”

“You're going to rape me.”

“And?”

“And—and I can't stop you.”

“And?”

“I—I don't know what else there is for me to say.”

“There's a hell of a lot more, lady. Rape is the least of your worries. You've put yourself at my mercy. That was stupid, because now I can do any goddamn thing I want with you. Do I make myself clear? I can slit your throat and leave you where your bones will never be found by anything human.”

Courtney was trembling violently. She hadn't understood any of this when she should have, and now it was too late.

When she didn't stop shaking, Chandos bent over and slapped her. She promptly burst into a loud torrent of tears, and he swore. Perhaps he
was
being too hard on her, but she had needed the lesson.

He had been prepared to do more than just
frighten her, if more was what it took. But that wasn't necessary. She frightened easily enough.

He put a hand over her mouth to silence her. “You can stop crying. I'm not going to hurt you now.”

He could see she didn't believe him, and he sighed. He'd done a better job than he meant to.

“Listen to me, cateyes,” he said, his voice deliberately gentle. “Pain is remembered. That's why I used it. I don't want you to forget what you learned today. Another man would have raped you, robbed you, then probably killed you to hide his crime. You can't put your life in the hands of a stranger, not in this part of the country, not ever. I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn't listen to me. There are too many dangerous men riding this trail.”

She had stopped crying and he took his hand away from her mouth. He watched her run her small, pink tongue over her lips. Then he stood up and turned his back on her.

“We might as well make camp here for the night,” he said without looking at her again. “In the morning, I'll take you back to Rockley.”