Fate's Intervention (56 page)

Nancy
blushed and removed her hand,
“
Do be careful, Mr. Matthew. You
’
re the only hope that Miss Marcelle and her dad has.
”

“
I know,
”
Matthew drew in a deep breath and ste
p
ped cautiously onto the front porch, his hand on the butt of his gun.
“
Keep your hands where I can see them and I
’
ll feel a whole lot happier about conversing with you.
”

“
I told you I ain
’
t here to harm you none,
”
the stranger said, sticking both hands up in the air, his eyes reflecting concern at seeing Matthew
’
s gun pointed at his chest.

Matthew made his way down the steps and stopped a few feet from the man, eyeing him warily.
“
How many men does my brother have at his disposal?
”
Matthew asked.

“
I don
’
t know nothing about nothing, Mister,
”
the man said, keeping his eyes trained on the gun.
“
A
ll I am is a lowly farmer who thought it might be nice to earn a little extra cash for my
family by delivering a message.
”

“
How
’
d you meet up with my brother?
”

“
A
t the saloon in town,
”
the man said,
“
I done finished my work for the day and stepped in to quench my thirst. Your brother was there sitting on a stool next to me. I said
‘
howdy
’
and he asked if I was interested in earning some money. That
’
s how it started
–
honest to goodness, Mister. Of course, had I known that I was going to be standing here with a gun pointed at my chest, I may have reconsidered.
”

“
How much he paying you to deliver this message?
”
Matthew asked, returning his gun to the holster. Th
e
man seem
ed
to pose
no
danger, and in fact, looked as if he
would
wet his britches if Matthew continued pointing the gun in his direction.
I
f Matthew
’
s instincts were wrong
he could always draw his gun, lickety-split, and do away with the guy.

“
Five dollars,
”
the man announced, drawing in a deep breath at seeing the gun disappear.

“
You any good with a gun?
”
Matthew asked.

“
I done my fair share of hunting in my day,
”
the man smiled.
“
Why? You need to me to get rid of some varmints for you?
”

“
In a manner of speaking,
”
Matthew smiled grimly.
“
You know
the
abandoned fort my brother spoke of?
”

“
Yes, sir. Want me to act as a guide?
”

“
No, I want you to find a few more men and act as backup,
”
Matthew said.

“
But, didn
’
t your brother say no backup?
”

“
Yeah, well, you
’
ll be the invisible kind,
”
Matthew said, a plan forming in his mind.
“
Can you find a couple more men?

“
How much extra you willing to pay, Mister?
”

“
Wanna earn ten more dollars?
”
Matthew asked, a plan forming in his mind.

“
Hell, yeah!
”
The man exclaimed, mentally ticking off how many gambling debts he could repay, or better yet, how much money he could make to get away from those trying to collect that debt. Heck, if he played his cards right, he could end up with a pretty penny, maybe buy a farm somewhere far away from
Wisconsin
.
A
sudden
thought
had him backpedaling away from such a tempting offer.
“
Is it going to be dangerous, Mister?
”

“
S
houldn
’
t be on your end,
”
Matthew assured him.

“
Names Ed Brixton,
”
he said, extending his hand.
“
A
nd
you
’
ve hired yourself some extra help for ten bucks. Now, how much do I tell my friends you gonna pay them?
”

“
Its
ten dollars for each man,
”
Matthew assured.

“
Hot damn! Now, what exactly are we going to be doing for that money?
”

“
Like I said, back up,
”
Matthew said.
“
We
’
ll leave at
noon
tomorrow. Be ready.
”

“
Why not now?
”
Brixton said.

“
First of all, you need to find men, and second of all
–
it
’
s all in the timing. See you here at noon tomorrow,
”
Matthew said then turned and strode toward the house.

Matthew deliberately kept the stallion at a canter, occasionally scanning the horizon to
ensure that no
was following
besides his men. He could see no one, including the men he hired. He could only hope those men were close by.
If Ed Brixton was true to his word, he knew a couple of Indians that would be willing to
help
a white man for the right price
; however,
Matthew hadn
’
t been able to stick around and meet them
. N
ow he only had Ed Brixton
’
s word that he and two other men were out there,
f
ollowing unseen to act as his backup.

A
bright light suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere and temporarily blinded him. He pulled the horse to a stop
and scanned the
tree line
.
A
movement in his periphery caught his attention and he snapped his head around quickly, his hand on the butt of his Colt 45.

Three men on horseback nosed their way into the clearing and sat there, watching Matthew. Matthew
removed
his revolver and cocked the hammer. Then, unexpectedly, the man in the middle removed his hat and waved it in the air. Ed Brixton
’
s flaming red hair was evident in the bright sunlight.

Matthew relaxed and re-holstered his weapon. His took his hat off and returned the salutation, breathing an audible sigh of relief. He had enough to deal with at the moment without adding bandits or renegades to the list, so he was relieved to see Brixton.
Ap
parently, Brixton had been true to his word about locating additional help. When he looked back a moment later, the three riders were gone, vanishing into the denseness of the surrounding woods. If they could vanish that easily, he thought, then his brother shouldn
’
t be able to spot them either.
As
it was his intention of arriving after dark, it
sho
uldn
’
t be easy to see them anyway.

He clicked his tongue and flicked the reins, sending the stallion into a canter again. If his estimation
were
correct, he
’
d reach his destination after nightfall, which should give him ample time to meet up with his backup without
Mark seeing him
, and to scout the area under cover of darkness.
That
’
s why he
’
d forced himself to wait until noon before departing. It was also why he kept a tight rein on his horse
’
s speed. If common sense hadn
’
t prevailed, he would have left at first light and run the poor animal into the ground at a full gallop. He would also have arrived at the abandoned fort by now as well, and been fully exposed to his brother
’
s wrath in the daylight hours.
A
n easy target wasn
’
t what he had in mind.

No!
As
eager as he was to reach Marcelle
’
s side, it would do no good for him to go off half-cocked and get them both killed. He really believed that cooler heads prevailed, even if he
’
d never had an easy time following that dictate.
He was determined to do so this time
. He only hoped that his brother
’
s temper had been given ample time to cool and then he
’
d be able to
reason
with him. If not, Marcelle and Peter could be in a world of trouble
–
if they were still
alive.

He mentally shook himself. He couldn
’
t think that way. He had to believe that his brother was only using them as a means to an end
–
possibly his end
–
o
r simply to regain hold of Daragh
Steel and its fortune. That was the most likely scenario.
The sun sank lower on the horizon and finally disappeared from view, throwing the green landscape into a world of shadowy grays. The moon rose higher, taking its turn at watch, lighting the way for the remainder of his trip.

The flat landscape sloped noticeably upward, so Matthew pulled back on the reins and dismounted. If Brixton was right, the fort lay over this rise and if that was the case, he didn
’
t want to make an easy target for anyone keeping watch on the other side.
A
mounted man made an easy target
–
dark night or not.

His senses on full alert, he dropped the reins, allowing the horse the freedom to feed at his leisure, then crept up the embankment on hands and knees.
As
the top came into view, he dropped to his belly and scooted the remaining distance.
He peered into the valley below. The remains of a fort lay snuggled a few hundred yards away.
A
once proud structure, the clay walls had crumbled to less than half the former height and the wood buildings showed signs of decay from years of neglect. The only part that still stood proud was the enormous oak
gates that
stood open, allowing entry to the only
street, which
ran down the center,
dilapidated
buildings on either side.

From his vantage point, he could see the flickering light of a candle in one of the windows near the
far
side of the crumbling compound.
One
of the few buildings that appeared to have its roof intact
still
.
Which is probably why Mark chose it
, he thought.
He wondered whether Marcelle and Peter were there, or whether that was his brother
’
s location. He was betting on the latter.

“
What do you want from us?
”
A
voice asked from his right, startling him. He reached instinctively for his Colt until he realized that it was only Brixton.

“
Where did you come from?
”
Matthew asked lamely, looking at the two other men
lying
beside Ed.

“
I thought
you invited us t
o this little
party
,
”
Ed said softly, a grin on his face.

“
Yeah, but I didn
’
t realize you were so close by that you could get here that fast.
”

“
You been sitting here for quite a while, Mister, or didn
’
t you know that?
”