Drew (The Cowboys) (8 page)

To keep the audience entertained, she shouted “Pull!” and once again shattered three clay pigeons. At a spur-of-the-moment inspiration, she laid down her rifle, picked up a clod of dirt, threw it in the air, snatched up her rifle, and shattered it before it could hit the ground, earning another round of applause.

The man kept coming. He stepped into the ring and walked up to Drew. Startled, she recognized Cole—in disguise.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“You don’t want them to think it’s the same man every night, do you?”

The train bearing the Wild West Show to its next stop, Meridian, Illinois, lumbered through the night to the accompaniment of wheels grinding and occasionally screeching against the endless rails that stretched across the dark landscape. Occasional clearings in the trees revealed glimpses of the Ohio River looking nearly black on this cloudy, moonless night. The nip of fall was in the air, but the hot exhaust and steam from the toiling engines ahead occasionally made its way through the windows, dusting the passengers with soot or an occasional cinder, and enveloping them in clouds of stifling humidity.

Drew leaned back in her seat, relaxed, her eyes closed, waiting until she was tired enough to climb into bed. She hated sleeping on trains. It was worse than camping out on a trail drive, but there was no alternative. The only way the show could keep its schedule was to travel during the night. They had accommodations in the very latest Pullman car. A sleeping berth came down from the ceiling above where they were seated. That was where she slept. Hawk and Zeke rearranged the seats and slept below. They never let her travel anywhere unless they were within hearing distance. Both Isabelle and Jake had insisted on that.

“How do you think it went tonight?”

Drew opened her eyes to see Cole standing in the aisle. Zeke, sprawled in the seat across from her, opened a wary eye. Hawk, napping next to her, showed no sign he was aware of Cole’s presence.

“I got the biggest audience response ever,” Drew answered. “I guess coming in on that horse was a good idea.”

“Letting me catch you would be even better.”

“I’ll settle for tonight’s success.”

“Don’t you want to improve your act?”

“Not like that”

“I’ve been thinking.”

“You’re
always
thinking.”

“I can’t help it if I have an active imagination.”

“Use it on your next disguise.”

“I’ve already got that figured out. This idea is for another trick.”

“Well, sit down if you’re going to talk. I’ll get a crick in my neck if I have to keep looking up at you.”

“He’s not sitting next to me,” Zeke stated. The look he gave Cole brooked no argument.

“I don’t need to sit down,” Cole said.

“What’s your next trick?” she asked.

He grinned in that sly, sneaky, self-satisfied way she was learning to distrust. “Meet me tomorrow morning as soon as the arena’s set up, and I’ll show you.”

She sighed in frustration. Why didn’t he find some other sharpshooter to annoy? “It would be a lot easier if you’d tell me now. I could be thinking about how to set it up.”

“I’ve already done that. It’s practically ready to go.”

“Except for the small problem that I’m the one who has to do the shooting and I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about.”

“You can hit any target under any circumstances,” Hawk mumbled. “Send him away so I can sleep.”

“Don’t forget, in the arena, as soon as it’s set up,” Cole said. He winked at her, then moved away.

What did he mean by that? Nobody winked at her. She wouldn’t allow it. It implied a degree of intimacy, at the very least friendship, that didn’t exist between them. They had no relationship, no friendship, only the most superficial knowledge of each other.

“What was he doing winking at you?” Zeke asked.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll tell him not to do it again.”

“I can tell him myself.”

“You don’t want him winking at you, do you?” Zeke asked, watching her out of narrowed eyes.

“Of course not. You know I’ve been trying to get rid of him ever since he walked down out of those stands.”

“He’s still here.”

“Earl thinks he livens up my act. You and Hawk said the same thing.”

“He does, but that doesn’t mean he can wink at you.”

“I’m a grown woman, Zeke.”

“Jake told me and Hawk to keep an eye on you.”

“I know, and Isabelle told me to look around for a good man. She said if I found one to tell both of you to go to the devil.”

“You’re not thinking about hooking up with Cole, are you?”

“No!” She hadn’t meant to practically shout the word at him, but the idea was so unexpected it burst from her all on its own. “I’m not looking for any man.”

“Lots of women say that, then turn around and run off with the first handsome man they see.”

“I’m not running off with any man, handsome or otherwise. But you can bet your last dollar I’d
never
take up with a drifter like Cole Benton.”

“You been acting mighty friendly.”

“It’s better than fighting. And since everybody seems to think my act is better than ever, I figure I’m stuck with him for a while.”

“I just wanted to be sure. He seems to know what he’s doing, but I don’t trust him. You keep your eyes open. He could be a dangerous man.”

“Cole?” Drew asked, with a derisive laugh. “I can handle him with one hand tied behind me.”

“Don’t be so sure. I got a feeling about that man, and it ain’t good.”

“I have a feeling that’s not good, either. It’s because he’s a drifter, without ambition or pride. He’ll float through life as long as his handsome face will let him. After that I imagine his glib tongue will smooth his path. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t end up married to some rich widow. I think he practices his smile in front of a mirror just to make sure it’s sexy. I know he thinks it’s irresistible.”

“You just remember to tell him not to wink at you,” Zeke said. He closed his eyes. “Jake won’t like it if he finds out.”

“I’ll remember.”

But she wouldn’t tell him not to smile at her. Even though he was a no-account vagabond, she couldn’t deny she liked it when he smiled at her. It seemed warm and genuine, especially when she did a trick very well. It did smart a bit that he seemed surprised by her ability, but his smile took away the sting. She might say she didn’t like men—and she didn’t—but she wasn’t immune to them. She just didn’t plan to get hooked up with one for life. With ten brothers, she knew more than enough about men to last her for the rest of her life. He’d need more than a smile and a wink to make an impression on her.

But his smile
had
made an impression, one she couldn’t quite categorize. It wasn’t that it made him seem almost handsome. He was handsome, even by her standards. She liked his smile because it somehow made her feel better. She didn’t understand that, and it worried her. She hated it when she didn’t understand things.

She’d decided as a little girl, long before her parents were killed in an Indian attack, that she didn’t want to be married. Her parents had fought for as far back as she could remember. All these years later she could still recall the fear, the nausea, the times the fighting made her ill. Fights still made her feel queasy. Jake and Isabelle argued, even though they were deeply in love. If they couldn’t get along without fighting, nobody could.

Drew once asked Marina Dillon about it. She was the wife of Ward Dillon, the doctor who lived close by. Ward and Marina were Jake and Isabelle’s best friends. Marina said it was impossible for two people as strong-minded as Jake and Isabelle to live together without arguing. She said they adored each other, that arguing was their way of working out a compromise.

But Drew felt sick all over again every time it happened. Fights had caused her parents to separate time and time again, but they were even more miserable apart than together. They’d just gotten back together after one of their separations when they were killed.

Drew knew she was strong-minded. Everybody said so. She also knew she was spilling over with opinions. On top of that, she had argued with her brothers from the day Jake coaxed her out of that ravine where she’d hidden after she stole and killed one of his cows. As much as she’d come to love her brothers, she couldn’t imagine living with any one of them.

If she couldn’t live with them, she’d never learn to live with a stranger, certainly not one like Cole. He argued with her all the time. She’d have to shoot him before the first week was out.

Myrtle came up and dropped into the seat next to her. “I didn’t know you were so friendly with that Cole fella.”

“I’m not,” Drew said, fearing she was going to have to repeat the same conversation she’d had with Zeke. “I don’t even like him.”

“Then why would you tell him he could go through your luggage?”

Chapter Five

The click of a firing pin being drawn back brought Cole out of a dead sleep. The feel of cold metal against his temple kept him lying perfectly still in his bed.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t scatter your brains all over this sleeper car.”

He recognized Drew’s voice. She didn’t sound happy.

“I can think of several,” he replied, as calmly as his rapidly beating heart would allow. “The first being that I have a right to know why you want to kill me.”

“Snakes don’t have any rights except to be crushed underfoot,” she hissed. “Sneak thieves don’t have any rights except to know their sins have caught up with them.”

“Which category do I belong in?”

“You know what you are, you scum-sucking, possum-eating, rat-baiting, low-down dog.”

“For a nice lady, you sure know a powerful lot about cussing.”

“I know even more about shooting, especially about shooting belly-crawling snakes.”

Cole took his first deep breath. He wasn’t out of the woods, but he was certain Drew didn’t mean to kill him yet. She was mad clean through, but it wasn’t a killing mad. It was an I’m-going-to-beat-the-stuffing-out-of-you mad. Though he didn’t think Drew could overpower him, he was certain the two figures looming behind her—Hawk and Zeke—were quite capable.

“I say we cut his throat,” Zeke said.

“No, better to gut him,” Hawk said. “That way he die more slowly, suffer more pain.”

They sounded like they were actually looking forward to sending him into the next world.

“Do you mind telling me what I’ve done wrong?” he asked.

“Tell me, too.”

“Yeah, all of us want to know.”

Cole had never been so relieved to have nosy neighbors. Every person in the car was sitting up, standing up, or leaning out of bed, curiosity having brought them all wide awake in a matter of seconds. From their expressions, they were actually looking forward to the possibility of a grisly murder. He very much hoped he could deprive them of their entertainment.

“I heard you spent some time in the baggage car this evening,” Drew said. “Find anything interesting?”

Damn! He should have known he couldn’t touch anybody’s baggage without somebody noticing. They were like one big family, all looking out for each other.

“Nothing at all,” he replied.

“What were you hoping to find?”

“Something I could use for a new trick.”

“So you don’t have the trick already set up.”

“I know what I want to do. I just don’t have all the equipment I was just seeing if you had anything I could use.”

The gun pressed a little harder against his temple. “So you thought you’d take a look-see in my baggage.”

“Just the props,” Cole said, fervently hoping the tattletale who saw him in the baggage car hadn’t realized that only moments before, Cole had been going through Drew’s personal belongings to see if he could find anything that linked her to the robberies.

“Didn’t your mama tell you not to go through other people’s things?”

“Sure, but I thought those were
our
things. I mean, we are in the act together. Anything needed for the tricks is as much my concern as it is yours.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Of course it is, especially if I’m going to be the one thinking up all the new tricks.”

“I say we cut his throat now,” Zeke said.

“Gut him,” Hawk corrected.

“You can’t kill me in front of all these witnesses,” Cole pointed out He
hoped
they wouldn’t kill him here, but he couldn’t afford to be too confident. He didn’t imagine it would be the first time circus people had covered up for each other. “I can explain.”

“Get started,” Drew snapped.

“Can’t we go somewhere else? I hate to keep all these good people awake.”

“We want to hear, too,” one man said.

“It’s my business,” Drew barked at him. “If I want you to know about it, I’ll tell you.”

“Sure, Drew, anything you say.”