River Lady Read online

  The more she thought about it the more she was sure she should return to help Wesley.

  But first she’d have to escape Bud and Cal. As they walked, she began to look for a hiding place, a place to spend the night all alone in the big, lonely forest. She shivered.

  “You would like to rest?” Bud asked from behind her.

  “Oh no,” she said sweetly, smiling up at the big man. “I’m just fine.” Wesley, she thought, was worth the trial of being alone in the forest.

  Chapter 21

  Escaping the boys was harder than Leah had imagined, and hiding from them was even more difficult. She practically buried herself under leaves and shrubs, then held her breath as Bud and Cal walked all around her. After a nearly silent conversation, they separated and went north and south. Leah didn’t move but stayed in her crouched position until her legs ached.

  At sundown the young men returned and inspected the ground carefully. They seemed to know she was near them and wanted to give her time to emerge from hiding. But Leah waited until nightfall before she crept out of her hole. Bud and Cal were nowhere to be seen as she started up the mountain.

  Every sound made her jump and after only a few yards, her spine was rigid with fear. It wasn’t until after hours of struggling that she felt someone was near her. “Revis!” she exclaimed, then stood still.

  “Bud and Cal,” she said with a sigh. “I know you’re there so come out.”

  As if they were part of the forest themselves, the young men emerged to stand beside her.

  Perhaps she should have felt that she’d been caught, but she suddenly felt safer and was actually glad to see them. With a grin she looked up at them. “Now what happens? Do you take me screaming down the mountain? I warn you, I will scream. And kick, too,” she added as an afterthought.

  The men seemed puzzled by her. “Why do you want to return to Revis? Your husband wants you safe.”

  “And who will keep Wesley safe with both of you gone? And Revis will hurt Verity because there’s no one to protect her and he’ll probably beat Abe because I’ve escaped.”

  “You care for your brother?” Cal asked.

  “Perhaps. I’m not sure. I do know I can’t run away and let Wesley take on Revis by himself. Will you help me?”

  Bud looked at Cal.

  As Leah watched, the two young giants seemed to engage in silent communication. Abe had said they were brothers to Revis, but right now she wondered how close they really were.

  “Do either of you ever ride with Revis on his robberies?”

  “No,” Bud said.

  “Then why…? Why do you stay with him?”

  “He pays us for firewood and game and for watching his cabin to see that no one comes near.”

  Leah’s curiosity was piqued. “Does he pay you well?”

  “We have bought land in the town at the foot of the mountain. We are going to be farmers.”

  “The town…? You mean Wesley’s Sweetbriar? How much land do you have?”

  They looked at each other. “It is now eight thousand five hundred sixty-two acres.”

  “Thousand?” Leah whispered. “The two of you own thousands of acres of land?”

  “Wesley knows our land and says it is good. He said he will help us build a house and help us buy seed and tools.”

  Leah couldn’t help laughing. According to Abe the boys were stupid, but in truth they were smart enough to make themselves rich. “When are you planning to leave Revis?”

  “We owe him something. He helped us when we were children,” Cal said. “But our debt is close to being paid. We will leave soon.”

  “And now you have a new protector. Wesley will help you as much as you need. And if you’ll help me now I’ll…” She couldn’t think of what she had to bargain with. “I’ll cook for you. While you’re building your house and barn I’ll give you meals.”

  For the first time ever, in the moonlight, she saw the men smile, and they looked even younger. Their size made them frightening and she guessed they were used to stares and odd remarks, but she was rapidly growing fond of them.

  “On the way down here,” she said slowly, “I saw a patch of wild strawberries. Have either of you had strawberry cobbler with a thick crust on the top, little holes cut in it with hot strawberry juice oozing over the crust? Or maybe you’d like something called chicken in a coffin. It’s a chicken baked with—.”

  Bud cut her off. “What do you want done?”

  “We do not murder people,” Cal injected.

  “No! I didn’t mean—.” She saw they were teasing her. “Does Revis know what the two of you are really like?”

  Cal’s face hardened. “Revis thinks we are his, as his mother did, but Revis does not treat us like slaves. We make him pay us well for what we do. You should not return to him.”

  She wanted to explain things to him. “Cal,” she said quietly, “if Bud were in trouble would you risk your own safety to help him or go somewhere safe? Wesley is the man I love and I believe I can help him.”

  “I would die for my brother,” Cal said, “and he for me. We will help you.”

  “We will take you back to Revis and when your man returns—.”

  “Returns! Where did he go? What’s he up to?”

  “He did not tell us. He said only that he would be back in two days. You can stay at Revis’s cabin until then or we will hide you in the woods.”

  “I’ll go back to Revis. At least there I can help Verity and see that everyone is fed. Shall we start walking?”

  Bud looked down at his foot. “Perhaps we should wait until morning, when there is light.”

  “But I’d like to get back in case Wesley…” She stopped. “I guess we can’t pick strawberries at night, can we?”

  “No,” Bud said with a smile.

  “What did you boys eat when you were growing up?”

  “Gray things,” Cal said grimly. “Big bowls of gray.”

  Leah tried not to laugh at his bleakness. Someday perhaps they could visit Stanford Plantation and see the vast quantity and variety of food there. And too, they might like to meet Clay Armstrong’s pretty young niece.

  She sat down. “I guess we could get some sleep.” Without another thought she curled into a ball on the damp ground and went to sleep. One thing about having guardians half the size of a mountain, it made one feel safe.

  Leah had just finished putting another meal on the table in the little cabin, but she hesitated calling the men in to eat. Wesley had just arrived, sunlight flashing off his buckskins, his face serious as he talked to Revis. Leah could see the tension in the cruel smaller man; Revis’s shoulders were hunched together as if he expected a blow any minute.

  Over the past few days Leah had stayed close to Bud and Cal. She was amazed at how deep her hatred of Revis went now. Again and again she saw him kill the settler and shoot the woman. Once he tried to sweet-talk her into believing he’d done it out of his growing love for her, but Leah knew he’d murdered the travelers because he couldn’t abide being turned down.

  The closer Leah stayed to the boys the more she liked them. They were silent while Abe spoke to them and of them as if they had the intelligence of the floorboards. A few times she caught Bud’s eyes twinkling.

  Revis brought a load of fresh eggs and cream to the camp and Leah made a big custard covered in burnt sugar. But before she’d allow Bud or Cal to have a morsel, she made them tell her what they knew about Wes. They knew only that Wes was pretending that he was from the Dancer and would work with Revis.

  “I’m sure Revis will welcome him with open arms. He’ll just love sharing his command,” Leah had said with disgust.

  Now Wesley was outside explaining something to Revis, and Leah’s throat was dry in anticipation of how angry he was going to be with her. Maybe she should have obeyed him and gone to Sweetbriar, but then she’d had another look at him. Neither Kimberly Shaw nor any other woman was going to get him if she could help it!

  “Abe,”