Texas Rain

CHAPTER 24

Rainey walked home with Dottie. The widow talked all the way about how the judge promised to do his best to help her, but her dead husband's partner seemed to have the advantage. No matter how you looked at it, wine was considered liquor, and he did own the half that was a saloon.

"What did he do with the other half after your husband died?"

Dottie frowned. "It's sitting empty. I've tried to sell it, but nobody wants half a place. Jeffrey, my husband's partner, doesn't make it any too easy, either. The few people who have looked at it didn't like the idea of sharing the building with him after they met him. He's meaner than a snake."

They hurried up the steps of the Askew House. Dottie held the door against the wind. "I may have to move over there and live. The judge said if Jeffrey presses charges, and he will if I know him, I'll have to hire a lawyer."

Rainey hung her old navy cape on one of the hooks by the front door wondering where she'd find the money for her lawyer if it came down to a trial. If she didn't have one, she'd probably go to jail. Maybe she should ask Pearl and Owen if she could work one more day. The extra pies would sell and she could sock back the money just in case. But she felt she was already intruding on their privacy enough by working three days.

The widow turned from putting up her coat. "It's lunchtime. I've got tea and biscuits in my room."

Rainey smiled. "Texas biscuits or English biscuits."

Dottie winked. "English of course."

One of the sisters stepped from the drawing room and frowned at them. When Rainey looked puzzled, the sister smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm glad to see you two in from this bitter cold, but we are expecting a young lady for her final fitting this morning, and it doesn't look like she's going to show up."

"Sage McMurray?" Rainey asked.

Grace nodded.

"I saw her brother at the courthouse. It appeared he had urgent business, and if so, she may have to wait until he can escort her." Rainey didn't want to tell the spinster that the girl stood her up to go riding with a handsome young man. They'd never understand.

"Oh." Grace looked relieved. "I see. That's quite understandable. A young lady of her breeding and wealth should never go anywhere alone."

Rainey smiled, knowing that if Grace knew what a wild bunch the McMurrays were, she would never have made such a foolish statement.

Dottie whispered that she'd bring the tea and biscuits up to Rainey's room and then hurried up the stairs. She enjoyed the three sisters' conversations, but found them lengthy.

Rainey did her duty and stopped in to say hello to the other two sisters. The German mother and daughter had left two days ago for their farm near Fredricksburg. The house seemed quiet and empty.

Mrs. Vivian was picking up her stationery from the writing table by the window. If there was to be no guest, she had her shopping to do. She didn't bother to say goodbye to the boarders, but they all heard her yell for Mamie to bring the buggy around. Mrs. Vivian might only be going a few blocks, but she planned to go in style.

By the time Rainey made it up to her room, Dottie was already there with the tea. They pulled off their shoes and ate on the tiny bed, laughing at how improper Mrs. Vivian would think they were if she found them.

After several minutes the conversation turned to the mess they were in. "We were only trying to help Mamie get free, and now we may both be locked up," the widow mumbled with a biscuit in her mouth.

"Do you really think so?"

The widow smiled a wicked smile and shook her head. "That's why I asked to speak to the judge alone. I flirted with him outrageously and he never caught on. If trouble comes, I can promise you he'll be on our side. The only problem is he's an honest man, and they are always harder to deal with."

"You're telling me," Rainey agreed.

They laughed and talked. Eventually the conversation turned to what Rainey had heard the night before. "Snort and Whiny are still planning to kill their boss, who claims he's coming into money soon. I talked it over with Travis, and he thinks Haskell plans to collect on the reward money for an escaped outlaw named Seth Norman who is sweet on Whiny."

Dottie wiggled her eyebrows. "I'll bet they make a cute couple."

Rainey laughed. Somehow the widow always managed to make things funny. Rainey opened the window in case they could overhear more. But all they heard was Mamie singing as she threw out the wash water.

Rainey leaned back, not minding the open window, for Mamie's voice sounded so sweet. "She always sings when Mrs. Vivian is out of the house."

The widow nodded. "Too bad it's cold. Our landlord likes to visit on warm days, but when it's cold she hurries back to take her afternoon nap." Dottie smiled her sweetest and added, "Which, by the way, you look like you might need a nap as well. Late night?"

She leaned close to Dottie and whispered what had happened last night when Travis had insisted on walking her back to the laundry room window.

The widow giggled like a girl. "He's got it bad for you."

"I know. I feel the same. But he's the marrying kind, and I think that's what he wants."

Dottie raised an eyebrow. "Then marry him."

"I can't. I promised I wouldn't tie myself down like my mother did. My father made her believe she would starve without him. Her days were miserable, but she wouldn't leave, not even when he hit her."

Rainey took a deep breath and told her what she'd never told another soul. "When I was six, my father's father died. We traveled all day to his farmhouse. My parents expected an inheritance. But it seems my father's education was all the old man planned to give his son. My father discovered he inherited nothing, not even his mother's jewels."

She closed her eyes as she repeated a memory she'd tried for a dozen years to forget. "My father had too much to drink. He drove far too fast on a rutted road. The carriage rocked and pitched. My mother fell against the side and was bruised badly. I remember how he yelled at her to stop whimpering. When we got home, her skirts were bloody. She'd lost a child and the doctor said she'd never have another."

"Oh, no," Dottie whispered.

"My father blamed my mother. For a long time I could hear them arguing at night. The next morning the bruising on my mother always seemed fresh. Until finally the life just went out of her and she became a walking ghost."

Dottie closed her hand over Rainey's. "She must have loved you. She must have."

"I wish I could believe that. All I know is I never want to be in that situation where I have no way out, where someone has control over my life. I love being near Travis. I love the way he touches me. If I could know for sure that I could walk away, I think I'd stay with him forever." Rainey shook her head. "It makes no sense."

"But marriage can be grand."

Rainey looked up. "Then why didn't you remarry, Dottie? You must have had many offers."

The widow took a long drink of her tea. "I'd never have a love like that again, and I'm too old to settle for less. I think I'll wear black until the day I die."

Something rattled in the alley, drawing both their attention. Three men were tying horses to the saloon porch.

"That's strange," Dottie whispered. "No one but delivery men bring horses to the back."

Rainey touched her finger to her lips and leaned closer. "This is a magic window. I can hear anything said below."

One man, a short barrel-chested fellow, mumbled, "You sure she came alone? I don't want the Ranger to surprise us."

"Yeah, she's alone, but we'd better act fast. That brother of hers could show up at any minute."

A large man dressed in black leaned over the saddle of his horse and ordered, "Kill him if he does. And kill that kid with him if you have to. I don't want nothing messing this up. I don't think I could stand another day of you planning to get even. We'll go in the back and out again before anyone thinks to stop us. By the time anyone outside the house figures out what's going on, we'll be miles away."

A voice that sounded like Haskell yelled from inside the saloon, "What can I do for you boys?"

The man in black stepped on the saloon's back porch and mumbled something.

Rainey leaned closer, trying to figure out what was going on. She could see all three men below, the one in black at the back door, the stout one between two of the horses, and another of average size and build. He walked across the alley and leaned against the boardinghouse steps.

Haskell didn't appear, but his voice sounded nervous when, a moment later, he yelled for Mamie.

The slave appeared on the back porch of the boarding-house. "Yes," she answered.

"I need you over at the saloon, Mamie. There's four bits in it if you'll clean all the tables in the bar."

Rainey thought it strange Haskell didn't step out, but the man in black still framed the doorway to the saloon as if he were guarding it.

"I have to wait and check with Miz Vivian when she gets back from picking up supplies!" Mamie yelled. "She don't like me leaving the kitchen when she's not here."

"I already talked to her," Haskell snapped. "She told me to tell you when the saloon was empty and you could work." He hesitated a moment, then added, "I'll make it a dollar if you do a fast job. The extra money can be just between the two of us."

Mamie nodded. "I'll get my stuff and be right there."

The three riders moved to the center of the alley. "Once she's out of the way," the man in black said almost casually, "go straight in and pick up the girl. Even if some of the boarders are home, they won't be armed. Just knock them out of the way and get McMurray's sister." He nodded once toward the stout man. "Trust me, Seth, this will hurt that Ranger far more than killing him."

Rainey jumped back from the window. "They're kidnapping Sage! She must have come alone to her appointment."

Her mind raced. The outlaws Travis had told her about were just below her window. They planned to get even with Travis by taking Sage.

Dottie was already on her feet. "I'll get my gun."

"I'll alert them." Rainey followed, a step behind the widow.

They'd reached the second-floor landing when Rainey heard the sound of men storming through the kitchen. The faint rattle of laughter came from behind the closed door of the drawing room. The others would have no warning if she didn't hurry.

Dottie ran to her room.

Rainey dashed down the stairs, thinking she could get to the other women, but by the time she reached the foyer, she realized there was no time. She could hear the men moving across the dining room. They'd be in the foyer in seconds, and from there the drawing room was only steps away. Even if the women knew they were coming, there would be no time to escape.

She had to do something. She'd seen how the brothers loved Sage. They'd all be heartsick if something happened to her.

Rainey's gaze fell on a fur-lined blue coat hanging on the peg by the front door. It hadn't been there when she'd placed her cape by the door. It had to be Sage's.

In a run she grabbed the coat and whirled it around her, pulling the hood up just as the men stormed the foyer.

"There she is!" one yelled. "Grab her before she gets back outside."

Rainey didn't see which man seized her. She was afraid to show any part of her face. She didn't see him, but she felt his crushing grip as he lifted her off the ground and threw her over his shoulder.

Cocooned in the folds of Sage's coat, Rainey heard the drawing room door open and then screams. The man carrying her ran through the house, bumping her against furniture as he moved.

"Stop!" Dottie's voice yelled. "Stop or I'll shoot."

"Keep going!" one of the men yelled. "Get her out of here! I'll cover you."

A shot sounded. Then another.

Rainey cried out in pain as the man carrying her bounded down the stairs with her bumping against his shoulder. She heard horses and shouts but couldn't make out words.

Someone shoved something over the hood of her coat and she felt it slide down, blocking out the little light that could seep through the coat. Then she was thrown roughly over a horse. A moment later a man's knees slammed, one against her cheek, one at her thigh. Whoever had climbed behind her on the saddle didn't care that he was hurting her.

"Get her out of town fast!" someone shouted. "If she struggles, hit her upside the head a few times. Nobody will hear her crying through that sack, and if she has any sense, she'll stop yelling."

"Where's Frank?" the man holding Rainey yelled.

"He'll be along. Go. I'm right behind you."

Then the horse moved beneath her and they were off.

She didn't struggle. Her arms and hands were trapped inside the coat.

The horse turned at what she guessed was the end of the alley. She had no idea where she was going, or why. All she knew was that she'd just been kidnapped.

These evil men had planned to take Sage, not for money, but to hurt Travis. What would they do when they discovered they had the wrong woman?

What would Travis do?