Whispers on the Wind (18 page)

“One. And I’ll need a bath
drawn.”

The clerk pointed to the
book for Thunder to sign. When he turned the register back around
he read, Thomas Bradley.”

“But you can address me as
Thunder.”

“Odd name.”

When Thunder made no
comment, the clerk handed him the key. “Hope you have a nice stay,
Mr. Thunder.”

“It’s just Thunder, kid.”
He leaned forward on the counter and said matter-of-factly, Tell
me, kid, do you remember seeing a young woman, about this tall?”
Thunder held his hand up to his chest “She has blond hair and blue
eyes and maybe came through here about two months ago.”

“Nope,” the clerk said,
then changed his mind. “Wait A young woman with blond hair was
brought in here about that time, I think, but I never did get to
see her eyes because she was unconscious.”

“Unconscious?”

“Yes, sir. A man carried
her in here and demanded a room. They spent the night and then he
carried her out the next morning.”

I
maginin
g what the man could have
done to Mary, Thunder stiffened, his lips thin with anger. “What
did he look like?”

“Mean-looking cuss,” the
clerk said. “And very demanding, but then sometimes U.S. Marshals
are.” Thunder stared at the clerk, baffled. “He was a
marshal?”

“Yes, sir. Let me see.”
The pages snapped as he flipped back in the book. “His name was
Carter Monroe.”

Thunder nodded. He had no
idea what she’d be doing with a marshal, but it was better than her
being with the murderer. “Can you tell me anything else about the
girl?”

“Nope. But I bet the doc
can. He was called in to take a look at her. She looked real bad
off.”

Thunder thanked the clerk
and then headed to his room. He waited impatiently for the clerk to
send up the maid with buckets of hot water. He needed to get clean.
The clerk had told him Doc Elliot always ate in the hotel
restaurant, so Thunder decided he’d go talk to him
tonight

And being clean would make
him a little more acceptable in the restaurant. He really needed a
haircut, too, but that would have to wait.

Thunder felt better after
cleaning up and changing clothes. One night in Gregory Gulch had
been enough for him, he thought as he walked downstairs. He wasn’t
sure how Mary had been able to bear it. The girl had more grit than
he’d given her credit for.

It was about seven when
Thunder entered the dining room, prepared for an argument but
getting none. The room was small. Eight pine tables draped in white
cloth were scattered around the room, and only half of those were
filled so it made it easier to find who he’d come to
see.

He immediately spotted a
man who looked like a doctor, and he wondered why doctors always
looked so unkempt. The man was sloppy, like he’d been in a hurry to
put on his clothes. “Are you Doc Elliot?”

The man took a bite of his
steak, placed his fork on the plate, then looked up from beneath
gray, scraggly eyebrows. “Yep,” he said, his mouth full. He
finished chewing then added, “What’s ailing you?”

“I’m fine, but I would
like to speak with you after you’ve finished your
dinner.”

“I’m not one to waste
time, son. If you haven’t eaten yet, pull up a chair and we’ll talk
while we eat.”

“Obliged,” Thunder said as
he sat down. A girl hurried over to them and Thunder ordered a
steak.

Doc leaned back in his
chair with his cup of coffee. “Now what can I do for
you?”

“I understand that you
treated a young woman who was brought in by Marshal Monroe. Can you
tell me anything about her?”

“Depends,” Doc said, then
took a swallow of coffee. “What’s it to you?”

Thunder looked at the
ornery old coot and wanted to shake the answer to his question out
of him, but figured the man was probably just being cautious, so he
let it ride. For now. “I think she might be my sister. Mary
disappeared about the time the girl was brought through
here.”

“What did she look like?”
Doc fired back.

“She’s pretty. Long blond
hair and dark blue eyes,” he added. “And she’s about so tall.” He
held his hand up to the appropriate height

“That pretty much
describes the girl I saw. ’Course, she was unconscious so I really
couldn’t judge her height, but when I looked in her eyes they were
the dark blue you described. Very rare color, indeed.”

Thunder cut his steak. He
was grateful that it looked like he was finally going to get the
man to talk. “Did she say anything? Was she hurt or
cut?”

“She was pretty much
unconscious. Had one hell of a lump on her head, but she seemed
pretty healthy otherwise. The marshal said they found her upside
down in a snow bank.”

“Other than that she
wasn’t hurt?”

“Nope. I figure she was
thrown from a horse. She never did regain consciousness while she
was here.”

“What did they do with
her?”

“Since they didn’t know
who she was and she couldn’t talk for herself, they took her with
them. I warned both of them she probably wouldn’t be able to
remember anything when she woke up. It was a very nasty bump. But
the marshal seemed real reluctant to leave her here.”

“They?”

“There were two marshals
with her.”

“Have any idea where they
were headed?” “Nope, but maybe the sheriff can tell
you.”

When Thunder finished his
meal, he thanked the doctor then paid a visit to the local sheriff,
who told him where the Monroe fellow was headed.

It wasn’t exactly the
answer Thunder wanted to hear. Windy Bend was a day’s ride from
here, but at least it was something. Maybe he could find her faster
than he’d first thought However, he couldn’t start out in the
middle of the night, so he had no choice but to wait until
morning.

Thunder climbed into the
lumpy hotel bed, which only offered a little more comfort than
sleeping on the ground. He smiled, thinking he’d grown soft,
preferring the dry room to the wet ground.

Tomorrow would be soon
enough to head out for Windy Bend. If his luck was good, he’d find
Mary safe and he’d bring her home.

Mary watched as Carter
dressed. She would miss seeing
him
every day, and she’d miss what they’d shared last
night. It could have been the start of something new for
her.

Maybe one day her life
would be back to normal—not that it ever had been. Of course, she
wasn’t sure she’d know how to behave if everything were to be
completely normal.

When Carter finished
dressing, he came back over to the bed and sat down on the side. He
stared at her for a long moment before he spoke. For an instant a
wistfulness stole into his expression. “How do you feel this
morning?”

She longed to say scared to
death, but she didn’t She was keenly aware of his scrutiny. Instead
she replied, “I’m fine.”

“Last
night...”
He didn’t finish what he had to say.

Mary’s stomach tightened
with the anticipation of Carter’s next words. She knew he was going
to say it had been a big mistake, and of course, he would be
sorry.

They were always
sorry
.

“—
Last
night was very special,” Carter finally said, then surprised her by
pulling her into his arms. He kissed her gently, then he drew back
and looked at her with what Mary thought might be tenderness.
“You’re something, Mary No Name. I care for you a great
deal.”

Mary’s heart flipped over
at his tender words. Trembling with emotion, she touched his cheek.
“I love you,” she said softly, realizing the minute she said the
words that it was a mistake. But she wanted
him
to know the truth. At least that
much of the truth.

Carter didn’t say anything
else. She felt her flesh color as he kissed her again, quickly,
passionately, and then he left her.

Tears welled in her eyes.
Mary stared at the closed door, willing it to open and for Carter
to come back. “If only things were different,” she mumbled as she
slid out of bed, wincing at the tenderness, the reminder of what
had happened last night.

Carter hadn’t said that he
loved her, but then Mary knew better than to fall for softly spoken
words. After all, she’d been taught by her mother, who believed
anything the men promised her. She used to think that her mother
had been such a fool. Now, Mary realized how easy it would be to
fall in such a trap. She tilted her chin stubbornly forward. Well,
she was stronger than that

She drew in a deep,
fortifying breath.

Mary didn’t need Carter,
she told herself.

She didn’t need
anybody.

And with that firm resolve,
she marched over to the washstand and began to take a birdbath,
erasing all traces of Carter’s touch. As she scrubbed each part of
her body, numbness seemed to settle in. It felt good, compared to
the emptiness that would come later. It was exactly what she needed
now.

When she’d finishing
dressing in her old gray dress, she felt much like the old Mary. It
was as if the past two months had never happened. But they had.
Mary knew they had, and so did Judith and Carter. Mary couldn’t
leave without writing a note to Judith, thanking her for all her
kindness and explaining that she’d remembered who she was and had
to leave to settle some unresolved issues. Then she signed her
name, Mary Costner.

She also left a note for
Carter, saying she was sorry. She signed her name, too. She knew
that as soon as Carter saw that poster, he’d know who she was and
he’d come after her anyway. After all, it was his job.

She had to
hurry.

Mary handed the note to
Maria and told her to give it to Judith when she was feeling
better. Mary longed to see Judith and explain, but Mary knew she’d
break down if she did. She couldn’t risk losing the numb feeling
that she had worked so hard to achieve.

When she reached the
stables, Mary explained to Stanley that she was going for a ride
and would be back soon. Since she wasn’t taking anything but the
clothes she’d arrived in, it looked perfectly normal,

She supposed it would
appear as though she’d stolen the horse, but she would return it.
She was merely borrowing the animal for a while. However, she
doubted that Carter would see it that way.

As Mary rode away, her
heart ached. She had truly loved it here on the ranch, but she knew
she was doing the right thing. She was heading home to the people
who would believe her. Carter never would unless she had
proof.

Until he did, she couldn’t
stay here.

Mary had to admit something
she’d thought she would never do. She had been wrong.

She did need somebody—she
needed her family.

Carter shook himself out of
his stupor and blinked as Windy Bend came into view. He didn’t
remember the ride into town, and that wasn’t a good thing for a
lawman. He should have been on the alert, watching.

He must be
slipping.

First at the opera house
and just now, he warned himself. That was a good way to get himself
killed. He’d never been one to daydream or lose his concentration.
He had to do something to get his mind off Mary, because when he
thought of her, he lost all his focus.

And last night he’d lost
not only his focus, he’d lost what sense he had. He’d never before
done anything without thinking it through—until last night Mary had
made him feel things he’d never felt before, and he’d lost all
thoughts of anything but her.

He couldn’t possibly love
her; he tried to convince himself that it made absolutely no sense.
He would have to know a woman for a long time before he could feel
anything for her. He’d have to court her and get to know her family
because there was no such thing as love at first glance.

He knew nothing about Mary
No Name other than he desired her more than he ever had wanted any
other woman. He couldn’t deny his lust He’d definitely proved that
last night He hadn’t
expected
Mary to be a virgin, and when he’d learned it, he
was too far gone to stop. Why hadn’t she stopped him? He shook his
head and sighed.

Carter guided his mount to
the hitching post and tied him in front of the sheriff’s office. He
was still frowning as he mosied into the office.

As soon as he opened the
door, he asked, “So, did we find out anything?”

“And a good morning to
you.” Rick chuckled. “No, we haven’t found out
anything.”

Hank poured Carter a cup
of black coffee and handed it to him. “Here. The way you look
this
morning, you must need something
damned strong.”

Carter accepted the cup
with a nod. “Obliged,” he said, and inhaled the rich aroma of the
dark brew.