CHAPTER FIVE
JAMES RODE THE BOUNDARY of what would be his land come spring. His thoughts should be on cattle and building his herd, but his mind kept drifting to Millie. He felt as if he knew her body, but he didn’t know her. They’d never talked of love, or even caring for one another. Most nights he felt as though they were simply two strangers surviving the winter together. Soon she’d be stepping into a world she hadn’t known in years and he’d be back on this land building. Strange, he thought, he’d miss her even though they didn’t talk. He’d miss her more than he’d ever missed anyone.
It had to be February. Another month and they’d be packing up and heading to Fort Worth. He’d file papers and buy his land. He’d pick out stock and hire a few hands to help him haul all he needed to build a house and proper corrals.
He might even buy furniture and hire real carpenters to help him. The money his father had left him had been sitting in the bank for years. Half his salary since the war had added to his account. He wanted everything ready and right once he found the land. Everything seemed to be falling into place, except for one thing.
Where did Millie fit into all this? She still never said a word to him except when she had to. Most days he wasn’t sure she even liked his company. When she got tired of listening, she seemed to slip someplace in her mind that he’d never be able to reach.
Plus, just because he had paid her ransom with a broken watch didn’t give him a right to sleep with her. There was something childlike about her and he was taking advantage of that, no matter that she had asked him to mate with her. She couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen. That would make him almost ten years older. Old enough to know better. He hadn’t said a word about love. Hell, he didn’t even believe in love. And he didn’t know if she understood what marriage meant so there was no point talking to her about it.
Only, he loved the way she made love. There was something wild and untamed about it. As if she’d never been told to hold back, to be a lady or not to act as though she enjoyed it just as much as he did.
He smiled. When they slept together she never made him feel as though he was taking a thing from her. If anything, she took from him. She might go along with everything he said all day, but in the darkness of their cave of a home, she demanded his attention. James grinned. If he didn’t take the time to satisfy her, he knew she’d be poking him in a few hours. He’d roll over and ask what she wanted and she’d whisper “you” in that low, sexy voice that he could never refuse.
Not that he was complaining. He’d give her what she wanted no matter how many times a night she asked.
What would he do about Millie once they stepped back into civilization? What they shared here was like a dream. Come spring, they’d have to live in reality.
When they got to a town, he’d have to notify the rangers. What if she had a family searching for her? She’d never answered a single question he’d asked about when she was captured. Every time he’d asked, her eyes would glaze over and she’d go to that place out of his reach.
James had never found a woman he wanted to do more than spend a little time with. As soon as his troops moved on, or the cattle drive started, he was usually more than ready to leave any woman’s bed. In his daydreams of the future, he’d considered the possibility of marriage a few times over the years. If he got the ranch started, and things calmed down in this part of Texas, he might ride into some settlement and pick out a wife. Someone who’d be a good cook and look after the children. He wouldn’t even care if she was pretty as long as she gave him sons.
James shook his head. He’d heard men talk about their wives and not much of it sounded good. Seemed as though they always complained about being nagged and none ever mentioned being awakened at night to mate.
Maybe he should just keep Millie. He might get used to her silence, and he could find someone to teach her to cook. The mating thing, she had down pat. If folks came by the ranch he’d just say they were married. As little as she talked, no one would ever hear otherwise from her.
Only, keeping her didn’t seem right. What if one day his son or daughter asked them about their courtship? James would have nothing to say except, “Oh, I traded a broken watch for her and she asked me to mate with her so I kept her.”
His offspring would probably haul him down to Austin to the insane asylum, and Millie would just wave goodbye from the porch without saying a word.
James swore. He’d never been a man to worry. Maybe if he didn’t think about it things might just keep going on as they were.
He’d stay here, studying his land, mapping out the spot he’d build his headquarters and roads. Then, as soon as he trusted the weather, he’d ride to town and make the dream he’d had all his life come true.
Three weeks later when most of the supplies had begun to run out and the weather turned milder, James packed up. It was time to travel to Fort Worth. This part of his life would have to become a memory. By next winter he’d have a cattle ranch that spread for miles.
He could tell Millie didn’t want to leave the campsite. The next morning she unpacked about as fast as he packed. When he growled at her, she walked away.
A few hours later, when she returned, she refused to look at him.
He sat in the camp cutting down a pair of trousers to fit her. When she walked past, he said without any greeting, “Put these on.”
She did as he’d told her, but never spoke.
“I want you wearing them in the morning,” he said as he turned away to hand her the last meal they’d cook at the winter camp.
She didn’t talk to him that night. He was surprised she cuddled next to him after dark. Without a word, he made love to her, wishing he could read her mind. He knew every curve of her body, but he knew nothing of her hopes and dreams.
The next morning she wore the trousers and her blanket, but she refused to look at him or to speak. As he broke down the camp, he snapped, “We have to go, Millie, and that is all there is to it. So stop acting like I’m not taking you with me and climb up on the horse.”
She looked at him, her blue eyes swimming in tears. “I go, too?”
He saw it then. The fear, the hurt she must have felt when she’d thought he was leaving her. He dropped his last bag and walked to her. “Of course you’re coming with me.”
She hugged him so tightly he knew he could never let her go. A part of her would always be cuddled into his heart.
When he finally pulled her arms from his neck, he tried to get control of feelings he’d thought were long-ago dead. “Now get on the horse, Millie. We need to make twenty miles before nightfall.”
She did as he asked.
They rode southeast, eating up the distance faster than he’d thought they would. She was healthy now and rode as well as he did. The trip seemed easier with two people working to make camp every night. He’d often hunt while she built a fire and took care of the extra horses now loaded down with pelts.
At night he’d hold her as they watched the sky. He thought of her as his falling star. There was no telling where she’d land.
* * *
SPRING WARMED THE days as they rode closer to Fort Worth. He knew he could have gone into several settlements along the way, but James wanted time with her. This winter had been the most peaceful of his life.
Logically, he told himself that his bank was in Fort Worth so it made sense to go there. Cattle would be easier to buy at the stockyards. Men trained for what he needed would be there.
But he knew the real reason was that he couldn’t let go of Millie. Whatever happened once they reached civilization, things would change. As they rode closer and closer to Fort Worth, her blue eyes grew wider. She’d point, wanting to know about everything she saw. Farms, barns, trains.
As they crossed through the streets of the town, she stopped again and again, looking into windows or staring at people. She’d grab his hand and hang on as if she feared all the population might sweep her away. His grip was solid but he could feel her slipping away.
A block from the ranger station he stopped in a café and they drank coffee and talked. He tried to prepare her for what was going to happen, but he wasn’t sure he knew. She spoke slowly, answering questions he’d never asked. She must have felt change coming, also. Two hours later he knew her story. Looking at her now, her warm brown hair curling around her face and her big blue eyes holding his attention, he marveled that such a delicate creature could have survived.
Finally, armed with her name and the few facts she remembered, James walked into the ranger station in Fort Worth.
* * *
“I’VE FOUND A captive woman,” he said simply to the first ranger he saw, a broad-shouldered fellow of not more than twenty. The circle star on his shirt marked him as a ranger, but James guessed he was yet to see any battles.
The young ranger at the desk nodded as if he’d heard the story before. “Is she alive or did you find a body? Does she know her name or where she was kidnapped from? Where’d you find her?”
James felt as if he’d fired off a few rounds in the small office. It had been so long since anyone had talked to him using so many words, he had to fight to keep from backing up.
He stepped outside and lifted Millie down from her horse. She didn’t want to go, but he held on tight to her hand as he walked back into the station.
The young man with a badge stood as she entered the ranger office.
“Go slow, mister, or you’ll frighten her,” James ordered. “She’s been through enough. We’re not going to make this any harder on her than we have to.”
The ranger nodded and offered her a chair. “My name’s Drew, miss. Ranger Drew Price. I’m here to do the best I can to help you. If you’ve got family, we’ll see you get home safe.”
James stood at her side, guessing she wouldn’t say a word to this stranger. “Her name is Millie O’Grady. She was kidnapped from a farm near Jefferson, Texas. She thinks she’s eighteen or nineteen. She was twelve when kidnapped. She says her mother is dead but her father may be alive. She said she did not see his body. A little brother—she called him Andy—was also kidnapped. They were separated after the first night. She doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead but she remembered his hair was red like her father’s.”
The ranger glared at James. “Can the lady talk for herself?”
James grinned when Millie shook her head.
The young lawman knelt in front of her. “Are you injured, miss? Do I need to call a doctor?”
She looked up at James and he knew she’d lost a few of Ranger Price’s words.
He smiled down at her. “She had many cuts and bruises when I found her. But she’s fine now. I don’t think there is need for a doctor.”
While Ranger Price wrote up the report, James studied Millie. She was afraid but not terrified. He’d promised her no one would hurt her in Fort Worth.
When the ranger left to send a few telegraph messages to places that kept up with missing people, James pulled a chair near Millie’s and talked to her in a low, calm voice. Slowly, she relaxed.
Another ranger came in; older and battle-scarred from the war, James guessed. The minute he met the ranger’s eyes, James knew the man recognized him. The ranger straightened as if coming to attention. “Wilson, sir,” he said. “How can I be of service, Captain Kirkland?”
James repeated all the facts he’d just given the young ranger. Neither he nor Wilson mentioned the war. They may have fought together once, but those days were long buried.
Wilson offered them coffee and was very polite when he spoke to Millie. He seemed to understand what she’d been through.
“We get several parents dropping in every year, hoping for news of their children. The odds aren’t good, but now and then we get lucky and find one.”
When Millie looked away as if not listening, the ranger continued to speak quietly to James. “Women have it the worst, I figure, Captain Kirkland. The tribes seem to like children, even adopt them as their own. The men are usually killed, not kept as captives, but the women, they go through hell. This one must have been too old to be adopted into the tribe and too young to be taken as a wife.”
James didn’t want to talk about what she’d been through. He’d already guessed that covering herself in mud may have saved her life.
A few hours passed and James insisted on walking Millie down the street to a café for dinner. He invited the ranger to join them, but Wilson said he was on duty.
“You will be coming back, Captain?” Wilson asked when they reached the office door.
“We will. If there is news, you can find us at the first café.” James relaxed his shoulders. “And, it’s just James Kirkland now. I’m no longer a captain.”
“Yes, sir.” Wilson nodded once. “Mr. Kirkland. If no news comes tonight, we’ve got a sweet widow a few blocks over who’ll take Miss O’Grady in for a few nights. Her man was a ranger.”
James wanted to insist that he’d take care of Millie, but she wasn’t his. She never had been. He’d meant to save her, to get her to safety, to turn her over to her family. She wasn’t his.
They took their time eating at the café. She did what she always did; she watched how he acted and mimicked his every move. But this time Millie merely picked at her food, obviously troubled.
He could think of nothing to say. He had no idea how to comfort her. Part of him wanted to simply hold her as he had all winter, but he couldn’t do that now. People were all around.
So, he just looked at her. The bruises were gone and her cheeks were no longer hollow. Her chestnut-colored hair curled softly around her face. Even in her blanket of a dress and his old trousers, she was beautiful. All the months together, he’d never really noticed.
He’d caught people staring all morning and thought it was because of the clothes or her unfashionably short hair. Suddenly, he realized, they were admiring her. Somehow this beautiful creature had survived, wrapped in a filthy blanket with mud covering her body.
After they’d finished their meal, he ordered dessert. First one, then two, then every one on the menu board. Millie loved them all. She took tiny bites of each, closed her eyes and drank in the sweetness like fine wine.
Smiling, he thought of all the good things she was about to experience and realized he wanted to be the one to show her, to teach her.
About dusk, the young ranger they’d first met rushed into the café, his fist full of papers. “I have news, finally,” Ranger Price said, taking the chair opposite James. “It took me longer than I thought it would. I had to telegraph Austin twice and Dallas several times to make sure my facts were right.”
James leaned forward. Millie moved her chair closer to him.
The ranger smiled up at Millie, but she looked away. He addressed his news to her, anyway. “We’ve found a record of your father’s death, miss. You have my condolences. Your father passed away three years ago in Jefferson. After you were taken, he stayed on the farm, hoping somehow you’d find your way back.”
Both men watched her, but no emotion showed. If she understood, she didn’t seem to care.
James cupped her face and turned her head toward him. “Millie, your father is no longer alive. Do you understand?”
She didn’t try to speak, but one tear bubbled over and trickled down her cheek.
He brushed it away with his thumb. “I’m sorry, Little Dove.”
Price shuffled his papers. “That’s not all. I have some good news and some bad, I’m afraid. A boy, who might be her brother, was located. He’s about the right age—twelve. He has red hair. He was caught stealing horses a few months ago down near Austin. The sheriff tried to hold the boy, but he escaped. He was recaptured two weeks ago and, according to the sergeant who telegraphed me back, he’s been raising hell down near Fort Richardson ever since. Claims he’s Apache. Won’t speak a word of English.”
James raised an eyebrow. “Is that the good news or the bad?”
“The bad news is he shot a guard. Almost killed him. They’re hanging the kid as an adult at dawn four days from today.”
A tiny cry came from Millie. She leaned closer to James and pressed her face into the hollow between his shoulder and throat. “No,” she whispered. “No.”
James looked at the ranger. “Can I get there in time? If I don’t bring him back, we’ll never know if it was her brother or not.”
“It would be a hard ride, but you could make it.”
“Telegraph the fort and tell them to hold off the hanging until I get there. Tell them family is riding in to see the boy.”
Price looked at James. “You family, Captain?”
James wasn’t surprised Wilson had passed on a few war stories about him to the younger ranger.
“Joe told me who you were,” the young ranger admitted. “Said you were the bravest man who ever fought for the South. They say most bluecoats thought you were the devil come to fight.”
“I’m just a rancher now, Drew. The war has been over for a long time.” James thought about how it seemed more like a lifetime than seven years. “I think this boy might be the only one who can heal Miss O’Grady. The kid’s all the family she’s got left. It’s worth a try to bring him here.”
“You want me or Wilson to go along?”
“I doubt I’ll need help with a kid, but I’d appreciate it if one of you would check in on this lady. Talk to her, tell her what’s happening. She might not talk back, but she’ll understand. I’ll wire when I can.”
Price looked at James. “I’ll do what I can to delay the hanging, Captain. If there’s a ranger at the fort, I’ll send orders to burn the gallows if he has to.” He turned to Millie. “I’d be happy to visit her every day. Widow Harris feeds every ranger that drops by.”
James stood and shook hands with Drew as he added, “Show me the widow’s house.” He swung Millie up into his arms. “This little lady has had about all she can take tonight. I’ll see her safe and then I’ll ride.”
The ranger followed James out. “Before you leave, stop by the office. Wilson said you should be sworn in before you go after the kid. We’ll give you a list of places that will trade out horses with rangers. If it doesn’t rain, you’ll make it.”