The Texan's Bride (41 page)

Sheriff Llewellyn jumped.

Katie kept talking. Changing her topic, she began to speak of Branch. “He was such a fine husband. Why, for such a strong man—he’s big like you, sheriff—oh, let me tell you, he was just the most gentle thing. Those hands of his, his touch, umm, so soft.” She sighed. “I miss him. But I guess I won’t have that problem much longer. Still, I wish I could have felt a man’s touch just one more time.”

She stood and lifted her hair, presenting her back to the sheriff. “I need you to do me up, Sheriff,” she said.

Katie could hear his strangled gurgle. His footsteps approached as though he were climbing the scaffold steps. His fingers never touched her skin, but she could feel him tug at the button, and his nervousness stood like a third person in the room.

Now
, she thought. She whirled and grabbed his gun. Before he had the presence of mind to as much as speak, she scooped up the empty water bucket and whacked him on the side of the head.

Sheriff Llewellyn slumped to the floor. Following a quick apology, she hit him again and he lost consciousness.

Katie ran to the window and peered out, reaching around to fasten what buttons she could. Pursing her lips, she made a decision. She’d go out the window.

Stripping the sheets from the bed, she tied them together, then looped one end around the iron bedstead. She frowned. The white would be a beacon hanging down the side of the hotel, but there wasn’t much else she could do.

A prolonged creak announced the opening of the window, and Katie winced. Tossing the sheet-rope out, she cautiously began her descent to the street.

BRANCH KINCAID walked down the deserted street, cursing beneath his breath. He’d been at it most of the past ten minutes, ever since he realized the jail cell was empty. The fact that four other would-be rescuers muddled the picture hadn’t helped his temper much either. No one, not a cursed one of them, knew where the hell she’d gotten off to. What an ineffective bunch of clods they all were, himself included. It had never occurred to him that the sheriff might move Katie from the jail.

Branch had demanded explanations from each man. They’d all had pretty good plans, although he’d had to shake his head at Chase’s ill-begotten plot. “I thank you for your help, cousin,” he’d said, “but I’ve got to tell you, as a woman, you’re a two-bottle nightmare.”

Chase agreed, declaring he’d arrived in Shelbyville just that afternoon and had taken the only course he could think of on such short notice.

After a brief discussion, the five men concluded that Keeper’s plan would be the one upon which they relied. His was the only scheme set for daytime. Katie’s life depended on them, and they were prepared to do anything to save her. Branch had set a meeting place and time for the following morning, and each man declared to do his best to discover what had happened to the missing prisoner.

“I wonder where they’ve put her,” Branch muttered as he headed for his hotel room and a bit of thinking. “But I’ll find her, and when I do, hangin’s gonna look to be a peaceful bit of living.”
Humph
! The damn fool woman had done her level best to get herself killed and he’d known nothing about it. He never would have seen the newspaper if Señorita Montoya hadn’t stormed into his sickroom complaining about Chase’s abrupt departure. Branch had been shocked to read the newspaper account of her trial wondering all the while just what she’d done to get tangled in Strickland’s net. It must have been bad, for him to have staged this medicine show.

Yes, his bride definitely had some explaining to do— and not just about this Strickland business either. For one thing, she up and ran off before he even got the chance to look her baby over good. In those few seconds in the courtroom before everything went black, he’d seen something in that child that left a funny feeling in his gut.

Then, too, was the fact that she’d left at all. That’s what really chewed his jerky—that she’d hightailed it when he lay there squirting blood like a patio fountain spurts water. His wife left Austin not knowing whether he was dead or alive.

The thought brought Branch to a halt at a bench on the boardwalk in front of the mercantile. He sat, propped his elbows on his knees, and thumped his chin with his fisted hands. Above him, a wooden sign squeaked as it swung slowly in the light breeze.

Maybe she didn’t care whether he was dead or alive.

Well, hell
. He pushed to his feet and turned toward his hotel, kicking along a rock as he walked Shelbyville’s Main Street. He was gonna find his bride and do some serious talking. There were certain things he just had to know.

Maybe she didn’t love him anymore.

CHAPTER 21

THE ROPE WAS TOO short. Dangling fifteen feet above the street, Katie twisted her head, looking for signs of life below. Empty. Good. So far, her guardian angel was hard at work.

She inhaled a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let go. She landed in the dirt with a thud. On her behind. “Ouch.” Cringing, Katie climbed to her feet. She glanced over her shoulder and checked to see if anyone noticed her not quite-silent descent. All quiet. “Thank you, Lord.”

Now where? Off the street first. She took a step toward the alley beside the hotel when a board squeaked somewhere behind her. She dashed for the darkness.
Hide, Katie, hide
, she told herself.
You can’t outrun anyone barefoot. Fool, what were you thinking of when you left your shoes upstairs
?

There, a shadow, at the end of the alley, big and dark. Moving toward her. “Oh.” She ducked behind a staircase, flattening herself against the wall, thankful her dress was forest green. A whisper of wind touched her as he passed. Boots crunched debris, then silence.

Slowly, Katie counted to one hundred. She’d have liked to make it five hundred, but Sheriff Llewellyn could be waking up at any moment. She’d had no rope with which to tie him, and she didn’t think wrapping his wrists with her petticoat would hold him for long. He’d spit the pillowcase from his mouth and call for help, if nothing else.

Time to go. A horse, she needed a horse. Stepping out from behind the staircase, she moved on silent feet toward the back of the alley. An arm snaked out of the darkness and grabbed her about the waist, pulling her back against a wall of hard muscle. A hand covered her mouth.

Fear. Despair. She didn’t want to die!

Then, the scent of him—oh, Merciful Lord.

“Well, well, well. If it ain’t the missing Mrs. Kincaid,” a familiar drawl whispered.

Her heart skipped a beat. Terror gushed from her head to her toes, and her knees went weak. “But you’re dead! Oh, my God, they must have hanged me after all.”

Branch was so relieved that he was furious. Damn the woman for putting him through this. No doubt she’d shortened his life by at least a decade with her shenanigans. He felt her sag against him, and he grumbled in her ear, “That’s it. Get comfortable. I’m not letting you loose anytime in the near future. You’ve a nasty habit of disappearing on me.”

“Oh, Branch.” Katie twisted and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face against his chest. “Are you really alive? Am I still alive? What are you doing here? I’m so glad you’re here. How did you get here? Is Johnny here?”

“Here, here, hush.” He tilted her chin and gave her a quick, hard kiss before saying, “I’m alive and you’re alive, and if we want to stay that way, we’d best get moving.”

“But Branch, he told me you were dying! And there was so much blood—I didn’t see how—”

“Come on, Sprite. There’ll be time for questions later. And believe me, there’ll be plenty of them. Now, though, I’ve got horses hidden just outside town.”

He pulled her back toward the street just as Sheriff Llewellyn stuck his head out of the upstairs window and shouted, “Escape! Sound the alert. Prisoner escape. Mrs. Kincaid’s disappeared.”

Branch muttered, “Damn,” as the immediate uproar in the street indicated a search would soon be underway.

Nervously, Katie babbled, “I should have tied him and gagged him better, I guess. I didn’t have much. He’s just such a nice man and I didn’t want to hurt him and…”

“And your benevolence will get you hanged, woman. Just be glad I’m here to help you. Now hush and let me think. We need a place to hide—fast. We’ll have to hole up and wait for the posse to head out of town before we make a move to the horses.”

Branch cautiously stuck his head around the building’s corner. Already a dozen or more men gathered, carrying lanterns and flickering torches, waiting for instructions. Katie tugged at his shirt. He waved her back. She tugged again. Pulling back into the alley, he snapped, “What?”

“I don’t need to be grateful to you—I was doing just fine on my own. I escaped. You didn’t help. Of course, I thought you were dead, so I didn’t expect you to help. But I
did
do it all on my own, so quit being so all-fired mannish about it.” She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

Branch gritted his teeth. “Save it. Sprite. You’ve bigger problems to deal with. Come on.” He dragged her to the back of the alley, looked up and down the back street, then led her north.

“Where are we going?” Katie whispered.

“I want to be nearer the horses before we settle in.”

“Do you have a hotel room? We could wait there.”

Branch shook his head. “They’re liable to search the buildings first, especially if they’ve heard I’m in town. We need a spot where nobody would think of looking.”

They sneaked behind a tavern where news of Katie’s escape swept through the drunken crowd like a flame. Branch sneered in disgust as he heard a man’s loud voice complain, “I rode over a hundred miles to get a looksee at a woman bein’ hanged. Heard she’s a right pretty gal too. I’m gonna be pissed as hell if they don’t get her back in time to stretch her neck.”

Katie gasped. Branch gave her hand a comforting squeeze. They worked their way across town, hiding in shadows, darting across streets when the moon disappeared behind a cloud. By now the sound of fists banging on doors and shouted demands filled the night. Lamps burned in places previously dark.

“All right, this is as far as we go for now,” Branch said. They stood behind a two-story building, and he pointed toward a window at the second-floor right corner. “That’s my room. I can watch you from there, drive off any trouble if needed.”

“What?” Katie asked, a frown in her voice. “Watch me where? Why? Won’t I be with you?”

“Can’t you hear? They’re searching the buildings, just like I said. I’ve a place in mind that’ll be safe for you. I’ve done this a hundred times and it always works. Come here, we don’t have much time.” About twenty feet from the back of the hotel was an ash pit. He led her to its edge and said, “Lie down.”

“What?”

Branch dipped one hand into the black, dusty ash and caught Katie’s chin with the other. He brought his fingers to her cheek, but she reared back. “I’m not going in there, Branch. I won’t do it. You just think of something else.”

“No time. Hurry now.” He smeared the ash across her face.

“B… ra… a… anch,” Katie wailed, “I just took a bath. My first one in weeks. I’m clean again. Don’t make me!”

“Quit your bitchin’. What’s more important, your life or sweet smelling skin? I swear, if you’re not just like a woman.”

He scooped her up and deposited her, facedown into the smut. She immediately bounced up on all fours, spitting the ash from her mouth, blowing it from her nose. “Dammit Kate, get down. This is a perfect place to hide. No one’s going to notice you unless they step on you, and even then all you have to do is keep your mouth shut.”

Branch tugged at her skirt, pulling her knees out from under her. He rolled her onto her back. Standing with hands on hips, he looked down. “That’s pretty good. Now, hold still.” He gathered a few leaves and a couple of sticks and covered her haphazardly. Stepping back, he looked again. He shook his head and sighed. “Nope, you stick up too far. Roll back to your stomach.”

Katie propped herself up on her hands and glared at him. “One of these days. Branch Kincaid, I’m going to make you pay for all this.”

Branch pushed her to the ground and tossed some leaves atop her. “Every day for as long as I live will be just fine with me. You just lie here quiet like. I’m going up to my room, and I’ll signal you when it’s safe to come up. You can climb a rope, can’t you? Hush now, Sprite. I think I hear someone coming.”

Katie muttered just loud enough for him to hear. “This is what I get for depending on a man. When will I ever learn?”

Branch faded back into the darkness beside the building. Footsteps crunched down the alleyway, and he saw the figure of a man stop and look above to the second floor windows. Branch’s room and one other had a lamp burning. The figure tossed a pebble at the other window.

The window opened, and an elderly woman stuck out her head. “My lands, is there no peace to be found in this place? Quiet out there!” She slammed the window shut.

“Well, I’m as sorry as a whore in church,” the figure muttered, thereby identifying himself to Branch.

He stepped out into the moonlight. “Chase,” he said.

The figure turned. “Branch? That you?”

“Yep.”

“Branch, have you heard the news? Katie was in the hotel, and she knocked the sheriff over the head and escaped. What’ll we do now? We’ve gotta find her. They’re gathering a posse and searching the town. She can’t have gotten far.”

“I wouldn’t doubt her too much. After all, there were five of us trying to help her, and she managed to get it done all on her own. If she could hear me now, I’d tell her I’ve learned a thing or two.”

“Or three.” The muffled words carried to the cousins’ ears.

Chase jumped. “You found her!”

“Damn right. Just took a bit of thought,” Branch drawled. “Look, since you’re here, maybe we can get out of this a little faster.” He whispered over his shoulder, “Sprite, I’ve got a few things to take care of. You keep still. They’ll be sure to search my room right off, then I’ll have you upstairs in no time.” Throwing his arm around his cousin’s shoulder, Branch led him away, whispering his plan in the younger man’s ear.