White Moon Rising Read online

  He fixed Johnny with a level stare. “I want ones who ride for the brand.”

  Johnny nodded and asked, “You want me to find a cook, too?”

  “Naw, better let me handle that.”

  When Johnny hurried off, Cap went looking for Berta. He found her on the far side of the herd. When he rode up, she had an apprehensive expression—almost like fear, but Cap didn’t know why. He smiled, “I have your money.” He handed her a pouch full of coins. “Seven thousand, three hundred and sixty dollars,” he said.

  She gasped and her hand trembled as she took the money. “I—I never seen that much money—ever.”

  Cap dropped his gaze, swallowed hard, and mumbled, “Would you like to have supper with me tonight. A real sit down one.”

  She glanced at him, her eyes moist. “I would love that, Cap.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Threatening clouds loomed close and lightning flashed in the distance as Abbey hurried down the boardwalk to the hardware store. The gloomy weather and the odor of rain matched her mood. Over two months had passed since she’d last seen Andy. The more time passed, the more depressed she became.

  If his absence wasn’t enough, in a town as small as Heath, rumors were abounding, and eventually, they came to her ears. Some of the gossip drifted to her as if she was just another citizen of the town: Andy had returned but left again. Such and such had seen Andy riding north toward Dakota Territory.

  Some of the rumors came to her attention out of malice, usually delivered by one or more of the town women. They wanted her to hear them specially: What was he up to? Bet he is living with the savages again. This was one of the older women’s favorites. When they passed this one on, they always added that was where he belonged anyway.

  These same women also liked to add he had a squaw out of town and that was where he was when no one saw him.

  Other rumors passed that Andy had found gold and a lot of it.

  Then, one day as she sat in the restaurant eating a bowl of soup, Mrs. Humphrey came in, spotted Abbey and made a beeline to her. Without asking her if she could sit with her, she flopped into a chair.

  Trying to be as polite as possible, Abbey said, “Good morning, Mrs. Humphrey.”

  “Humpf,” the elder woman said. “You hear what that Indian boy has done now?”

  Abbey had sucked in a deep breath to try to remain calm. “Ma’am, if you’re referring to Andy, as I’m sure you are, you should know he is neither an Indian nor a boy.”

  “Well, whatever he is, he killed a bunch of men out on the prairie and for no reason. People are saying he just went crazy.”

  Sighing, Abbey’s pulse ticked in her temples. She’d promised her mother she’d watch her mouth with these old busybodies, but the longer she tried, the harder it became. Forcing herself to use a civil tongue, she said, “Who did he kill and when was this?”

  The old woman glared at her as if Abbey was questioning her word. She pointed a finger at her. “Some of Lloyd’s men. They were following him and they disappeared. No one’s seen or heard from them. What do you have to say about that?”

  She shrugged. “If no one has seen or heard from them, why do you think they are dead? Why did Andy have to do it?”

  “You don’t understand,” Mrs. Humphrey said. “He had to kill them or Lloyd would have heard from them.”

  “Well, in that case, I’d like to ask you a question.” Abbey leaned forward. “Maybe you can help me understand?”

  “About time you finally came to your senses, young lady. What?”

  “Why were they following Andy?”

  The old lady glared at her. “What? What do you mean?”

  Still trying to control her temper and a mouth that always got her in trouble, despite the dread she felt at that moment, she asked, “What right did Lloyd’s men have for following Andy? What has he done to cause this? Or was it to try to take the gold everyone claims he found?”

  Mrs. Humphrey leaped up, almost turning her chair over. “Don’t do any good to try to talk to you,” and hurried out.

  Abbey was learning and curbed an impulse to yell, “Then stop trying.”

  When Mrs. Humphrey stormed out, Abbey toyed with her full bowl of soup, no longer hungry. At first, she told herself she didn’t have to worry, Andy would come back and she’d tell him how she felt.

  As time passed, a sick feeling developed in her stomach, and the longer it went without him coming back, the sicker her stomach felt. The rumors that he’d actually come back and didn’t come to see her tore at her. To make it worse, the women made sure to point it out. They thought she was pining away over a savage, someone not fit to be around a decent white woman, and even he didn’t want her.

  All of the comments hurt her, but this one hurt the most, mostly because as time passed, she began to believe they just might be right.

  If her mother hadn’t been in her corner, she didn’t know what she would have done. Her mother didn’t like the fact that she showed disrespect to her elders, and scolded her when she did, but agreed with her about Lloyd, although the mother in her didn’t think Andy was the best suitor for her, either.

  A few large drops were hitting when Abbey opened the door to the dry goods store. Her father glanced up from some paperwork, frowned, and glanced at his watch. Although he didn’t ask where she’d been, she could read it in his expression. Funny, he always harped about how she needed to stay home and not work at the store, but she also got it when she was late.

  “I’ll be back in a little while,” he said. He stopped at the door, and turned face her. “You behave yourself.”

  Minutes after her father left, the storm hit. It rattled the windows and shook the building, but like most of the violent summer storms, it hit hard but only lasted a few minutes.

  Abbey was in the back getting a box of cloth to put out when the bell over the front door rang. Carrying the box to the counter, she set it down then her heart sank. Mrs. Pierce, without a doubt her harshest critic, and the most ardent defender of Lloyd, glanced up from the material she was looking at. When she spotted Abbey, her expression changed to a cross between someone sucking on something sour and having gas at the same time.

  She didn’t think her day could get any worse. She was wrong, but at that moment she didn’t see how.

  “What do you have in that box?” the woman demanded.

  With her insides trembling, Abbey tried to do what her mother and father wanted. “Mrs. Pierce, I have some more cloth. Would you like to look at it?”

  “No,” she snapped.

  When the old woman turned away, relief surged through Abbey, and she removed some of the cloth from the box. Intent on what she was doing, she didn’t pay the woman any attention.

  Minutes later, she glanced up and Mrs. Pierce was glaring at her. Her spirit sank. She was about to get it.

  The old woman shook her finger at Abbey. “You’re wasting your time waiting on that savage boy. He’s not coming back.”

  Everything inside Abbey told her to ignore the woman. She was just trying to get Abbey to say something she shouldn’t. Despite all her warnings to herself, she asked, “And how do you know that?”

  “Your father made sure.”

  As Abbey’s faced paled, Mrs. Pierce cackled. “He told that Indian boy what for.”

  Shock radiated through Abbey. As if something lay heavy on her chest, she had trouble breathing. Her father wouldn’t do that. He had no right. Through gritted teeth, Abbey demanded, “What are you talking about?”

  “You think I’m lying, but I ain’t. I was there. You should be more like your father.”

  Abbey didn’t want to believe her, but deep inside sensed the old woman was telling the truth. “When were you there? What did my father say to Andy?”

  “A few months ago. He came in with gold to buy supplies.” She cackled again. “He asked where you was and your father gave him an earful. Told that sorry boy you wanted nothing to do with him.” She glared at Abbey. “
Told him he wasn’t welcome in your home. He’d get the sheriff after him.”

  Tears streamed down Abbey’s cheeks. “You’re lying. My father wouldn’t do that.”

  “Lying, am I? You’ll see. Run that boy right out of town, for good, too.”

  With her hands shaking, Abbey threw the cloth she held down. The old woman’s laughter bounced through her soul as she hurried out of the store. She didn’t know where her father was but had a good guess. She marched to the saloon and hesitated. This was a place totally out of bounds for her to go in.

  The hell with that. She thrust the double doors open and rushed in. Inside, she stopped. All conversation inside the saloon ceased. Her glare traveled from one stunned person to another until it finally lit on her father, sitting at a table to the side.

  Without hesitation, she stormed to within a few feet of his table. Her father, with his mouth hanging open, was evidently too stunned to speak. Abbey didn’t have that problem. With hands on hips, she hissed, “Tell me you didn’t tell Andy I didn’t want to see him.”

  Before he could reply, she hurried on, “Please tell me you didn’t tell him you’d put the sheriff on him if he came around me?”

  His face changed to a deep red. “Abigail, you have no business in here.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you answer my question.”

  “Yes, if you have to know, I did. I did it for you and I would do it again.”

  She turned and stumbled out, her vision blurred. As she staggered like a drunk down the boardwalk, she had no conscious thought of where she was going or what she was going to do. It was as if her father had ripped her insides out and left a shell of a person. That was what she was without Andy. Her own father had betrayed her.

  Fury overtook her sorrow. He thought he had, anyway. She only had one option; she’d go to Andy and tell him she never said any of that. She loved him and wanted to be with him.

  Resolve shot through her. She didn’t know where Andy was, but she knew someone who would, and he’d help her.

  She whirled around and headed for JT’s office. She found him sitting behind his desk. He startled when she barged in. “JT, I need your help. I’m going to find Andy. My father told him some lies to run him off.”

  Shocked, JT stood and came around his desk. He caught Abbey by the shoulders and led her to a chair. After she sat, he leaned back on the edge of his desk. “Abigail, that’s impossible. There are thousands of miles out there and no one knows where Andy is.”

  “I bet Elijah does.”

  He swiped his mouth with his hand in an irritated gesture. “He might. If anyone does, he will. But I can’t let you go out there by yourself. That’s impossible. It’s too dangerous.”

  “If you won’t help me, I’ll just go by myself.” She jumped up.

  Staring at her, he finally said, “You mean that, don’t you?”

  With her heart hammering in her chest, she blurted out, “I’m going.”

  “I see there is no stopping you from this fool idea.” He blew out a long breath. “I think you will place yourself in danger for no reason. The chances of finding Andy out there is like trying to find one piece of sand in the desert. But I can’t and won’t let you go out there by yourself. I would never be able to live with myself.”

  “I’m going no matter what.”

  “Abigail, for Pete’s sake, don’t—”

  Her voice hardened with resolution. “JT, I am going to find Andy whether you help me or not.”

  Holding up his hands, he said, “I think this is a very bad idea. I don’t approve at all and I am positive your father wouldn’t either. There’s only one man in town I would trust to go with you and protect you. You go to the stable and get your horse. I’ll send Milton Patton there. You do what he says and you might—might have a chance.”

  She stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, JT. I knew I could count on you. You’re the only one I could.”

  “Abigail, this is a foolish idea. I wish you’d change your mind.” He looked into her eyes and sighed. “Get going.”

  Abbey rushed out of JT’s office and headed to the stable. She found Elijah and one of the boys who helped him occasionally shoveling out the stalls. “Elijah, I need my horse.”

  He stopped working and propped the rake on the wall. “Miss Abbey, yo’ knows I have to tell yo’r papa if yo’ go riding out of town.”

  “I don’t care what you tell him. I’m going to find Andy. Do you know where he is?”

  Stunned, the black man stuttered, “Why Missus Abbey, you can’t do that.”

  “Elijah, I can and I will do just that. Do you know where Andy is?”

  “Yes, ‘em, but you can’t go out there and find him by yo’ self.”

  Hands on hips, she snapped, “I’m not going by myself. JT is sending a man with me. Would you saddle my horse please? If you won’t, I’ll do it myself.”

  Before he could say anything, Milton Patton rode up. He glanced from Abbey to Elijah, and then tipped his hat to Abbey. “Ma’am, JT sent me to help you out.” He glanced at Elijah. “Is there a problem here?”

  Ignoring him, Elijah said in a resigned voice, “Yes, ‘em, Missus Abbey, I’ll saddle him for you. If you waits outside I’ll bring him to you.”

  When Abbey turned and went outside, he jerked his hand for the boy named Wicasa to come to him. “Boy, I want you to get on the fastest hoss we have out there. You go tell Andy we are coming with Missus Abbey right towards him.” He grabbed the boy hard by the shoulders. “Tell him I’ll try to slow them down.”

  “Where at?” Wicasa asked.

  He gave him careful directions on how to get to the ranch—the exact directions Andy had given Elijah. Still gripping the boy’s arm, he said, “Missus Abbey’s life depends on you, boy. Tell Andy Milton Patton is with her.”

  The boy rushed out back for the corral, and Elijah called his older brother, Tahatan. “I’se saddle missus Abbey’s black. Finds me a good hoss and saddle him for me.”

  “Hurry, boy.” He clapped his hands.

  With his heart beating as fast as one of the trains, Elijah took his time saddling the black horse. He needed to give Wicasa time to get away.

  When he finished the black, he hurried out back where Tahatan had a horse saddled for him and was working on another.

  “What yo’ doing, boy? I only need one hoss.”

  “I go too,” Tahatan said.

  Elijah shook his head. “Yo’ wanting to die, boy? They’s going to kill us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  As twilight erased the sun, Abbey sat close to the fire, conscious of the smell of smoke and popping of burning wood, her arms around her knees. She stared into the fire. She was frightened, and a total fool. Now she was trapped.

  Elijah was across the fire from her, preparing food, and her actions had trapped him, too. He was a kind man who had tried to talk her out of it, within the realm of “his place” which he was conscious of. He and JT had tried to tell her how impossible it was to find one man in that vast prairie. She had not believed them, couldn’t believe them, but now it was too late.

  By the second day she realized the impossibility of it, but her stubbornness refused to let her turn back. She had to find Andy.

  There were two other men with them besides Patton, the man JT had insisted on coming with her. He said he wouldn’t let her leave with anyone else. He trusted the man fully. Even though he had a ringing endorsement from JT, from the first, he made her uncomfortable. He insisted on trying to ride beside her, and kept throwing meaningful glances at her. The farther they rode on the prairie, the more taunting and contemptuous his glances became.

  Once, riding near her he said, “The nigger can do nothing for you.”

  On the second day, two other men had ridden into camp. Nothing was said, but it was obvious they knew Patton, and he expected them.

  Her skin crawled as they ogled her. Her stomach turned as their gazes traveled over her body. He
r skin crawled as the ogled her, and then smiled at each other.

  Fear sizzled through her. She wanted to turn back but was afraid that would only bring matters to a head. If she waited, they might find Andy or run into someone else she could ask to help her.

  Some way she needed to hide how afraid she was. She also had the Derringer, and they didn’t know about it. There were three of them. She had never shot a man and had never believed she could. She shivered, cold as ice. She would have to kill someone—it would come to that.

  Nor could she think of Andy. Her mind, attention, her survival instincts must be concentrated on her situation.

  Elijah glanced at her. He was checking to see if she understood and if she was ready for whatever he could do. If he could do anything. She nodded to him, but said, “Andy should be near.”

  She said it and hoped they would believe it, even though she had no idea if it was true or not.

  “Yes, um,” he said. Elijah straightened from the fire. “He should be riding in at any moment.”

  The other men ignored their talk. Except the boy who had worked with Elijah. He was quiet; he was frightened, too.

  One of the men who joined them, the one named Honner, glanced at the boy. “You are young, and could live through this. The nigger doesn’t matter.”

  Horner turned his glance from the boy to leer at Abbey. “Johansson will not come.” He smiled. “No one will come. We are alone.”

  “You wrong,” Elijah said. “Andy is coming. What you do when he gets here?”

  “Johansson has his own troubles. He is being hunted down right now, and they will kill him when they find him.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  He shrugged. “She went out on the prairie. Who will know what animal got her. Or Indian, for that matter?”

  An icy breeze swept through her, freezing her insides. They’d said it; it was in the open.

  Her nerves shot around inside her like lightning but she steeled her courage. “You do not know Andy. He will never stop until he finds and kills you.”