Red River Revenge (Remington Book 1) (5 page)

“Lina, please listen to me,” Ned said as he released his tight grip on her chin. Still, he kept her head tilted so she had to look at him. “Ted Beck is going to take you to Galena as soon as possible. Do you understand that, Lina?”

“I understand, Mr. Remington. But, I won’t go,” she said evenly, stubbornly. “I won’t go.”

“
I
will not go
to Galena,” Lina said flatly. “I won’t go. I understand perfectly well what you’re saying, but I won’t go.”

“You’re not listening to me, Lina,” the tall chief deputy said. “You must go back to Missouri with Marshal Beck. It’s for your own safety.”

“It’s obvious that you’re not listening to me, Mr. Remington,” Lina said. “I can’t go to Galena right now. I have to stay here and avenge my father’s murder. And I plan to do it myself. It’s my duty.”

Ned Remington knew that even though Lina had calmed down from her hysterical outburst, she still was not thinking clearly. If she’d only use some common sense, she’d know that it would be suicide to go after her father’s murderers by herself. But in his line of work, Ned had come to realize that people who had a reason to be emotionally involved in a case didn’t always act in a manner that was considered normal.

Lina Miller was reacting to the shock of seeing her father and uncle killed by erupting with a normal outpouring of anger and hatred, coupled with her irrational threats of seeking revenge. Ned wondered if Lina’s impassioned outburst was a healthier means of dealing with grief than the way his own daughter, Katy, had handled it. Not that Katy had chosen her own path, but she had been through a similar tragic situation when she’d witnessed the grim rape and murder of her mother, and then had been brutally raped herself. Katy had buried her grief instead of letting it out. As a result, Katy had become a mindless zombie, with all of her grief still trapped deep within her.

As he studied the stubborn, defiant, half-breed girl at the dressing table, Remington knew that, in time, Lina Miller would get over her foolish, irrational behavior.

He wasn’t so sure about his own Katy. Even though she had been given all the love and tender care that he and the nuns at the convent could possibly give her, Katy would probably spend the rest of her days in that damned rocking chair, staring with vacant eyes at things she was incapable of understanding. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his gut, Ned knew that Katy would never be able to face the horrible truths she’d buried deep inside herself three years ago, the realities of life that waited within her like steel traps that would snap and cut off her life if she allowed herself to think about them. No, Katy would stay in her protective shell where nothing more could hurt her.

At that moment, as he was overwhelmed by his compassion for both of the unfortunate girls, Remington came to realize that his daughter Katy would never be completely well until she could lash out at the world as Lina Miller was doing right now. And with that realization came the first glimmer of hope for Katy that Ned had felt in a long, long time.

A sense of relief flooded through Remington and he felt his taut shoulder muscles begin to relax. He vowed that when he got back to Galena, he would no longer treat his daughter like a delicate china doll. If he could get through to Katy at all, and now he was confident he could, he would do whatever it took to provoke her anger to the point where she would finally have to face the painful horrors that were locked up tight in her heart. It was the only way he knew to bring his darling daughter back into the world of the living.

Ned took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he looked at Lina Miller. The girl’s face was flushed beneath her bronzed skin and he realized that he had to be careful what he told her. He had no doubts that, in her present condition, she would not hesitate to ride right into the rustlers’ nest with guns blazing. And he knew that if she did, Lina Miller would be killed for her efforts. The poor girl wouldn’t stand a chance against such cold-hearted murderers.

Ned shook his head. “Lina, you can’t take on Paco Gaton and his friend by yourself.”

“I can. And I will.” Lina set the brush down, picked up one of the small bottles on the dressing table and dabbed a drop of sweet-smelling perfume behind each ear.

“That would be just plain stupid, Lina. And if your father were alive, he’d be the first one to tell you so. He certainly wouldn’t want you risking your life on his account.”

“All of your fancy talk isn’t going to make me change my mind, Mr. Remington, so save your breath.” Lina looked up at Ned. “I’m going after those men and you can’t stop me.”

“Please don’t think that way, Miss Miller,” Ned sighed, frustrated by the girl’s unreasonable stubbornness. “Can’t you understand that we want to help you?”

“I do,” Lina said quietly. “But you’ve got to understand my feelings, too. This is something I have to do.”

“We know how you feel, Lina. We really do. It’s a very natural thing for you to want to seek revenge.”

“It is?”

Lina seemed surprised. Ned saw the intense look in her deep blue eyes and thought he was finally getting through to her.

“Yes, but we won’t allow you to risk your life, Lina,” he said. “It’s our duty as deputy marshals not only to find the men who murdered your father and bring them to justice, but to protect you in the process. Your life is in danger because you witnessed a heinous crime. You must go back to Galena and trust us to take care of the outlaws.”

Lina stared down in her lap for a minute, as if she were thinking about what he’d just said. Then she looked up at Remington, more determined than ever.

“I won’t go,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

“Maybe you should be,” Ned said sarcastically.

“Why? I can ride and shoot as well as any man alive and if I had been armed that day back in Osage, I would have shot Gaton and Haskins where they stood, instead of running away.”

Remington believed her. And he knew he wasn’t about to change her mind at the moment. He walked away from the dressing table, hoping the girl would calm down enough to listen to reason. He turned and glanced at Charlie Killbuck.

The Cherokee shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Now you learn for yourself how stubborn my niece can be,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I have talked to her until my face turns blue.”

“And it didn’t do you any good, did it, Uncle Charlie?” Lina said with a satisfied smirk.

“No, but I thought you would listen to these lawmen. They know what’s best for you.”

“I listen only to my heart, as I’ve been taught,” Lina said. “I won’t go to Galena until those evil men are in their graves.”

“Well, I think we’d better get our tired asses back in the saddle and push on to the Red River Station,” Remington said to his men, ignoring the girl. “We sure as hell aren’t going to capture those damned bastards standin’ here with our thumbs up our butts.”

“Why, Mr. Remington! I’m shocked,” Lina said.

“At what?”

“Your language. You have a filthy tongue, marshal. That’s no way to talk in front of a lady.”

“If you consider yourself as tough as a man, then you’d better get used to the language, Miss Miller. It goes with the territory.”

Lina didn’t reply. She just glared at him for a brief instant, then turned away.

Ned knew what he was doing, but he didn’t think it would work with Lina. She was too damned hardheaded for her own good.

“Are you men ready to go?” Remington asked his deputies.

“We’re ready,” Frank Shaw said with a knowing twinkle in his blue eyes.

“What’s the best way to get to the Red River Station?” Ned asked Charlie Killbuck. “Do we take the ferry from the riverfront?”

“That is a good way to go,” said Killbuck, “but I know a better way where no one will see you riding south.”

“How’s that?” Remington asked.

“I will go with you and show you the way,” Killbuck said. “We will go upstream and cross the river where it is not very wide. I will lead you to the Red River Station where you can enquire about Van Hook.”

“We’d appreciate that, Killbuck,” Ned said as he slid his hat onto his head.

“It would be my honor,” Killbuck said with a big grin. “But we must be wary. Paco Graton has friends in the Nations, probably even here in Tishomingo.”

“You think so?” Remington asked. He found the news disturbing. He hadn’t counted on tangling with Gaton or his men until they were across the border into Texas, and his uneventful trip to the river front town had seemed to confirm those feelings. Now he wondered.

“Yes,” Killbuck said. “That is why I was careful when I came looking for you in town. That is why Lina has to dress like a boy. But if we go my way, no one will see us.”

Lina reached for her hat and stood up. “I’m going with you,” she announced.

“No, you’re not, young lady,” Remington said in a firm voice. “If you want to stay here, that’s your own damned business, but you’re not going across the border with us! It’ll be too dangerous down there.”

Killbuck walked over to the window and looked out. “It is too late in the day to start out anyway,” he said. “It would be bad to ride so far at night. Too dangerous. It will be better to go in the morning when you men and your horses are rested.”

Remington strolled to the window and looked out at the western sky where the sun seemed to rest briefly on the distant hills.

“I think you’re right, Charlie,” he said. “We’ll wait till morning.”

As Ned walked back toward the center of the room, he glanced over at Lina. She glared at him and then pouted as she sat back down and picked up her brush. Even so, he knew she wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

“You can stay at the River Front Hotel tonight,” Killbuck said. “They have clean rooms and soft-beds. We will leave early in the morning.”

“That sounds good to me,” Frank Shaw said with a deep sigh. “My weary old bones aren’t as young as they used to be.” He rubbed the small of his back.

“I know what you mean,” Killbuck said. “I have done a lot of riding myself lately.”

“Don’t let him kid you, Killbuck,” Tom Beck said. “Shaw may be a crusty old duffer, but he can outride Ned and I put together.”

“So could I,” Lina said sarcastically, a smug look on her face.

“You come back here at dawn,” Killbuck told the deputies. “I will be ready.”

“We’ll be here, Goodbye, Miss Miller,” Ned said as he tipped his hat. “If you change your mind about going to Galena, Marshal Beck will be happy to take you in the morning.”

Lina gave Remington a dirty look, but didn’t answer.

The sun had already disappeared from the horizon by the time Remington and his men walked out to the shed to get their horses. Killbuck went to the stable with them and again warned the three lawmen that Paco Gaton had friends who could show up anywhere.

The western sky flared with the delicate pink of fresh salmon, then gradually faded to a dull, darkening gray as the three deputies rode back toward the river front town. A few minutes later, as darkness closed in around them, Remington turned his horse off the road without warning and headed for a distant clump of trees he’d been watching.

“Where in the hell are you going, Ned?” Tom Beck called as he reined his horse to the right and followed Remington across the open land.

“I thought we were going to the hotel,” Shaw said as he brought his horse in line with the other two.

“No, we’re not going anywhere near that town,” Ned said. He rode on to the trees and dismounted. “We’re going to camp right here tonight.”

“Damn, I was looking forward to a nice soft bed,” Shaw grumbled.

“Why are we staying here?” Beck asked.

“Two reasons,” Ned said. “If Gaton’s got friends roaming around this part of the country, then we don’t want to show up at the only hotel in town. Especially if news has spread that we’re here.”

“Makes sense to me,” Beck said as he climbed down from his mount.

“Besides, that cook at the fish house suggested that we stay at the River Front Hotel tonight and as far as he knows, that’s where we’re staying.” Ned tethered his horse to one of the trees, using a long hemp rope from his saddlebags so Neal would have room to roam and graze on the summer grasses.

“Madonna?” Beck said. “He doesn’t seem like the sort who would be friends with Gaton.”

“He said he didn’t know Paco Gaton or Haskins,” Shaw added. “And it was obvious he didn’t like what little he’d seen of Van Hook.”

“I know. I liked good ol’ Mike,” Remington said as the three deputies took care of their horses and unfastened their saddles in the light of the bright stars. The moon, more than half full, was just beginning to rise. “But Madonna’s the friendly sort and he could have mentioned our conversation to someone in passing. And there were other folks within earshot when we were talking to Mike.”

“Yeah,” Shaw laughed. “That beautiful gal who was charming the pants off those two dandies she was with. Damn, she was purty.”

“Frank, you’ve been on the trail too long,” Ned said in a teasing voice. “You’re not supposed to be gawkin’ at the pretty ladies. You’re supposed to be payin’ attention to business.”

“Hell, I’d rather look at a pretty girl than that big ugly brute who was sitting at the next table,” Shaw said.

“And that baboon-faced lummox was too busy feeding his face to notice the likes of us,” Tom Beck laughed.

“You never know,”
Ned said after a brief pause, “but I think we’ll all sleep better out here in the open.”

“Yeah, if we can sleep with all that racket,” Shaw said.

Ned stopped to listen. The sheep in the Indian village had long since bedded down for the night. Dim lights from the adobe huts dotted the land and all was quiet on that front. The faint cacophony of noises came from the opposite direction. It came from the streets of the bustling riverfront town that glowed with lamplight in the distance. If he listened real hard, he could sort out the musical sounds from a strumming guitar and those from a clinking piano, but the tunes themselves were lost in the distant din of merriment that floated out across the land from the riverfront saloons.

“A little soft music to put you to sleep, Frank,” he said. “The reason I picked this particular spot is because we can see the road from here. If Gaton or his friends decide to go looking for Lina again tonight, we can see them riding by.”

“That Lina is a spunky gal, isn’t she?” Shaw said as he spread his bedroll out on the ground.