Distant Heart (15 page)

“Please don't let on about this. I'll be an outcast.” Lucille's sobs echoed off the trees as they walked back to camp. It was all Toni could do to keep from turning around and giving her a stinging slap. The foolish woman had ruined two marriages and all she could do was cry because she'd been caught.

“If you don't tell your man, I will,” Ginger said. “You deserve whatever you get as far as I'm concerned.” She jerked her thumb toward Amanda. “You've wronged the nicest woman in this whole outfit, except for Toni here, and you did it for a worthless varmint of a man. That just proves you ain't got no brains.” She stepped so close to Lucille, Toni thought she was going to shove her full bodied. Instead she stared at her, nose to nose. “Get out of here before I knock you on the ground.” Still sobbing, Lucille ran toward the wagon she shared with her husband.

Mr. Kane hadn't even tried to take up for his mistress while Ginger raked her over the coals. And his cowardice
disgusted Toni even more. He remained insolent and unrepentant.

Amanda, the woman wronged, refused to speak until they reached Toni's wagon. Then she turned to Toni. “May I stay with you?”

“You mean for tonight?”

“For good,” she said with a determined lift of her head. “I'm leaving this man.”

“You sure can!” Ginger said for them both. “Oh, well. If it's okay with Toni. You ain't gonna make this woman go back to Kane's wagon, are you?”

Toni truly hated to become involved in a situation between husband and wife, but under the circumstances, how could she turn the poor woman away?

“You ain't stayin' with any ol' whore, Mandy.” Mr. Kane grabbed her by the wrist. “Now you be reasonable and come on back where you belong.”

Ginger stepped forward, and glared at Mr. Kane. “She belongs wherever she decides she wants to be. So you best turn her loose. And what have you been told about calling Toni a whore?”

“Mind yer own business. You oughtta be takin' care of a man of your own instead of tryin' to be one.” He dropped Amanda's wrist and stood over Ginger, his face twisted in such rage that Toni's heart raced as real fear knotted her stomach.

Ginger stood her ground. “I ain't scared of you.”

“What's going on, here?”

Grant Kelley's voice spoke through the darkness a second
before he stepped out of the shadow and into the light of the campfire.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” Ginger shot back.

“I'll decide what I concern myself with and what I don't.” Grant eyed Mr. Kane. “Is there a problem, Kane?”

Amanda spoke, her voice tight, strained. “Toni and Ginger have graciously agreed to allow me to share their wagon and Mr. Kane isn't happy about it.”

“You place is with me, woman. And I ain't havin' you make a fool out of me.”

“Kane!”

Toni joined the others, swinging around at the sound of a man's bellow. Curtis Adams stood before Mr. Kane, a bloody knife in his hand. His body shook from his head to his feet. “You and my wife…”

“Now, don't do somethin' stupid,” Mr. Kane said, eyeing the knife.

Horror filled Toni as she, too, stared at the knife. “Mr. Adams,” Toni said softly. “Where is Lucille?”

“In hell. Where she belongs.”

Ginger expelled harsh breath and muttered an oath. “I best go get Blake.”

“Wait, Ginger.” Grant held up a restraining hand. “I don't know what's going on here. But from the looks of it, there's already been one murder.” Grant already had his pistol drawn and pointed at Curtis Adams. “Curtis, you don't want to add another to your name, do you?”

“A man's got a right to avenge his family.” Curtis spoke
through trembling lips and clenched teeth. His breath drew and released in spasms that shook his chest and shoulders. “My Lucille would never have betrayed me if this man hadn't somehow convinced her to do it.”

Mr. Kane, idiot that he was, gave a snort, clearly baiting the distraught husband. “That's what you think. She flashed those big blue eyes at me the first time I seen her.” He scanned the rest of the group, carefully avoiding his wife's gaze. “It weren't never my fault. That wife of his seduced me, if you want to know the truth of it.”

A guttural growl rose from Curtis, and he moved faster than anyone could stop him. Amanda's scream pierced the air as Curtis hit his mark and the two men fell to the ground. Curtis jumped to his feet and ran away. Toni looked down in horror at Mr. Kane. The knife protruded from his chest and he lay lifeless where he'd fallen.

 

The entire wagon trail reeled from the news of betrayal, adultery, and murder in the very heart of the wagon train. This was one time Blake wished like the dickens that Sam was around to offer his wisdom and godly counsel in the midst of all the confusion. But in Sam's absence, folks looked to him for spiritual leadership. Reluctantly, he stood over three graves, spoke words of grace, and hoped to heaven the three of them stood before Jesus and not the other place. But who was he to know if they'd repented before death claimed them? The two caught in adultery and the man who had ended their lives. Three lives destroyed and one woman shattered.

Curtis had run away before Grant could catch him and
the gunshot that occurred seconds later told the story of his suicide.

As several men shoved dirt into the graves, the somber group sang “Amazing Grace.” There weren't many mourners. Very few members of the wagon train were in attendance. After all, how could two adulterers and one murderer deserve a Christian burial?

Blake didn't necessarily agree with the assessment. And he performed his duty as he would have no matter who had died.

Noticeably absent was Amanda Kane. The poor woman had finally had enough. She'd buried three children and declared she would not pretend to be sorry this man who had made her life a misery was dead. Blake had declared that the Adams' wagon and goods would be sold among the travelers and all proceeds would go to Amanda. But she'd flat-out refused. She didn't want anything from the Adamses or from her late husband. Not very logical, but Blake figured a woman had a right to be a fool if she chose to be.

Beside him, Fannie sniffed and pressed her handkerchief to her nose. “It's such a waste, Blake,” she had said hours before. “All those lives devastated because of sin. Senseless sin. Why would Lucille and Mr. Kane stoop so low when they had perfectly good marriages of their own?”

Blake had no idea. He'd never seen a model for marriage that worked for him. And until a couple of months ago, he'd been dead set against the entire institution. The fact that he'd ever married Fannie in the first place still made him dizzy. He was a blessed man, but bewildered nonetheless.

He slipped his arm around his wife and held her close. His heart soared as her head rested against his shoulder communicating her love, trust, and confidence in his ability to steady her. The two remained thus as the other folks in attendance began to leave the gravesite. In light of the events of the last twenty-four hours, Blake had called a halt for the rest of today. Tomorrow the band of travelers would come to the mouth of the Sweetwater River and Independence Rock. That should lift their weary spirits.

 

Amanda worried Toni more than she could say. The woman stared at that diary over and over. What had Blake been thinking, giving her Lucille's diary? What could that woman possibly have to say that would interest the woman she had wronged? But Amanda had decided to take it. “Maybe I'll be able to make sense of what they did if I read it in her own words.” And so she'd taken it. The two of them had been riding side by side all day and Amanda had yet to say a word. It was as though all ability to speak had left the woman. Even when Toni spoke to her, she didn't reply. Just stared at the pages as though unable to look away.

She was actually relieved when Ginger rode up on Tulip. “Want a break?” she asked. “I'll drive the wagon if you want to walk.”

“That would be nice. Thank you.”

Ginger looked at Amanda. “How ‘bout you. Want to stretch your legs a mite?”

Amanda's silence didn't sit well with the forceful woman. “Amanda! Snap out of it.”

“Don't bother,” Toni said with a sigh. “She's been like this all day.”

“Well, that ain't right.” Before Toni could react, Ginger snatched the diary from Amanda's hand. As though shaken from a state, the woman snapped her head up with an indignant frown. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Reminding you how to have manners.” Ginger tucked the diary inside her jacket pocket. “I'll give this back later, after you take some time to walk with Toni.”

Confusion clouded her eyes. “You want me to walk?”

“Oh, for heaven's sake,” Ginger snapped. “Get out of the wagon and follow Toni.” She led her horse to the back of the wagon.

“It's all right, Amanda,” Toni soothed, holding her hand out to the woman. “Let me help you down.” Forcing a gaiety she was far from feeling, she smiled. “I don't know about you, but my body feels like a big bruise. I vow, the last ruts we came through were about two feet deep. It's a wonder we ever got through them without breaking a wheel.”

Ginger returned from tying Tulip to the back of the wagon.

“You two enjoy your walk.”

Toni nodded. “Thanks for the break, Ginger.”

“No problem. Grant came back from scouting and said we'll be at Independence Rock in a couple of hours. You just walk however long you want.”

Amanda took a deep breath. “This is welcome. I didn't realize my legs had gotten so stiff.”

She hadn't realized her own name over the last few hours.
But Toni refrained from mentioning the fact. Instead, she slipped her arm around her new friend. “It's easy to lose track of time.” Truth be told, the woman had seemed to be in a daze, but now she seemed to be coming out of it, as though waking up from a light sleep. Very odd. Toni had seen it before but couldn't quite put her finger on where.

Amanda turned her head and stared across the horizon, a faraway look in her eye. “Zach killed the chicken and fed it to Wolfie.”

“Lucille wrote that in her diary?”

Amanda nodded. “They wanted Wolfie dead so that I would go crazy. Lucille was with child and believed the baby was Zach's.”

Nausea curdled Toni's stomach. “Wh-what?” Surely she'd misunderstood.

“Apparently, Zach convinced Lucille that the only way they could be together and raise their child was if I was gone for good.” She shook her head, her eyes filling. “I almost went crazy when Katie died. Zach was convinced losing the next thing I loved would complete my insanity.”

“Oh, Amanda. That's just about one of the most evil things I've ever heard.”

“I suppose love can make a man do evil things.”

A bitter laugh flew from Toni's throat. “Trust me, what that husband of yours felt for Lucille Adams had nothing to do with his heart.”

“Then why would he do such a horrible thing to me just to be with her? Just because he knew I'd never give him a divorce?”

Toni gave a helpless shrug. “Sam says that sometimes the harshness of the trail and the sorrow of loss will do crazy things to a man or a woman. Zach's mind must have been half gone with grief.”

“I wonder why he didn't just murder poor Wolfie instead of trying to turn the whole wagon train against the poor puppy.”

“Because cowards never do their own dirty work,” Toni said bluntly.

“He figured with my mind gone, he could drop me off at the nearest asylum and forget I ever existed.”

Amanda's lips trembled.

“He didn't have any idea how strong you truly are, Amanda.”

“Oh, Toni. I'm the weakest of women. After Katie died in that twister, I truly felt myself slipping away, over and over. You know, the funny thing is that Lucille Adams came to our wagon every day to sit with me, bring meals. Her friendship brought me back from that dark place. Until Wolfie started killing off their chickens. But I guess by then she already had her cap set for my husband. So the scheme took shape between them to make me go away.”

“That's just evil and wicked and…and…despicable.”

“Yes. But he's the one who's dead. And his lover.” An odd smile settled across her pale lips. “But Wolfie is still alive and I'm sane. So I suppose there is justice in this world after all.”

Her words sent a chill down Toni's spine. Looking into
the woman's half-closed eyes, she wasn't at all convinced of Amanda's sanity.

 

Sam's heart burned with regret that he'd ever told the two men the terms of getting the captives back. Neither came out and said it, but he could see their minds spinning with possibility. He'd made it clear there would be no trade and that the soldiers would have to be brought in to make the rescue. For now, they'd made a decision to at least rescue the two little girls still at the trading post. Yellow Bird had told them exactly where the girls were hidden in the back room.

Grateful for cloud cover, Sam fingered his Colt as he crept toward the back door. He lifted the leather latch to open the door. He winced at the loud creak. Stopping in his tracks, he held his breath until he heard loud snores coming from the other room. The trader and the old timer, he hoped.

Without making a sound, he entered the storeroom where Yellow Bird had instructed him the girls were being kept. Two pairs of wide eyes greeted him as he pulled aside the curtain and entered the filthy room.

He put his finger to his lips and motioned for them to follow him. They stared, unmoving as though frozen to the floor. He knew they weren't bound. Yellow Bird had told him as much. The trader had other ways of forcing submission. And that bruise across the cheek of one of the girls was proof of that. Anger spilled over him at the sight, but he kept his voice steady so as not to alarm the children. “I'm here to
rescue you,” he whispered. “But you must stand on your own and walk out. I cannot carry both of you.”