A Lady of the West Read online

  Sophie put her head over the top of the stall, and down at the far end of the barn Victoria could see the stallion’s well-formed head, showing as a dark shadow rather than the red she knew it to be. How much better it would have been if the double doors at that end of the barn had opened into a free pasture rather than a series of corrals and pens, but they did, which meant she would have to drive the stallion back the entire length of the barn.

  She knew she couldn’t shoot the horse. As much as she hated him, she couldn’t put the gun to his head and pull the trigger. Jake was right; he was a dumb animal. She could have shot him in self-defense or to defend anyone from an immediate attack, but not otherwise.

  “You’re safe from me,” she whispered as she approached his stall, “as long as you don’t start in my direction. Do you hear me, horse? Then I will kill you.”

  His ears went back and he watched her with unconcealed hostility. He began stamping, one hoof thudding down repeatedly. In her stall Sophie whinnied and kicked out, sensing the stallion’s agitation.

  Victoria gripped the pistol in her right hand and used both thumbs to pull the hammer back and cock it. She had to be ready in case he did charge at her. Then she unlatched the stall door and pulled it open, backing up with it, keeping the sturdy wood between her and the horse at all times.

  He screamed and backed farther into the stall. “Get out,” she hissed. She never wanted to see the stallion again. She had thought about it and in her exhaustion arrived at the truth: she couldn’t live on this ranch if Rubio remained. The hate would fester, and every time she saw him she would remember that he’d killed her sister.

  He reared, screaming shrilly again. “Go on, get out!” Victoria yelled. She grabbed a length of bridle from the wall, swinging it over the stall at him. “Get out!”

  He bolted out of the stall and down the center of the barn, but halted midway, hooves stamping. His ears were still back and he reared, turning to face her. Victoria braced the gun on top of the stall door. “Come on, then,” she whispered.

  He screamed and ran for freedom, hooves thundering in the night. Other horses all over the ranch were awake now, kicking and whinnying. Lights were appearing as candles and lamps were lit, men were spilling out of the bunkhouse pulling on their pants and stomping their feet into boots. Victoria was half-frozen and wobbling with exhaustion as she left the barn after extinguishing the lantern. It was all she could do to push the double doors together again and fasten them.

  Jake was running toward her with Ben right behind him. Both of them were armed, pistols in hand. When he saw her with his other pistol in her hand, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “What did you do?” he yelled.

  “I let him go,” she said simply, and handed Jake his pistol.

  He shoved it into the empty holster. “You what?” Equal amounts of rage and incredulousness were in his voice.

  “I let him go. I couldn’t live here with him safe and sound in the barn and Celia in a grave. You’ll have to make do with the foals he’s already sired.”

  He swore violently, then shut up when he looked down at her. She was as white as her nightgown and shivering with cold; she had only a shawl thrown around her to protect her from the weather. She swayed, and he picked her up. “All right, darling,” he said in a far gentler tone. “All right.” He carried her back to the house and put her to bed. For the first time since Celia’s death, she went soundly to sleep.

  March came, bringing hints of spring that lasted just long enough to make them all start hoping. Victoria was awkward and slow-moving, unable to get up out of a chair by herself. She hadn’t recovered her spirits, but was able to smile a little when Jake teased her. Her bulk had its own dampening effect on her moods; her back ached constantly now and she was unable to find a comfortable position for sleeping. The baby had settled so low that she found it difficult even to walk. If only this pregnancy would end! She found herself even looking forward to labor, for it would mean an end to this constant physical wretchedness.

  Jake had never particularly considered himself a family man, despite the fact that he was now married and increasingly in love with his wife. It was with some surprise that he realized he was staying close to the house these days, just in case. He rubbed her back for her every night, and helped her out of bed for her numerous nightly visits to the chamberpot. The size of her belly alarmed him, for he knew how slender her hips were. Angelina had died in childbirth; he was terrified that the same might happen to Victoria.

  The last of March came and went. Everyone watched her like a hawk. The third of April, it began snowing again and Victoria felt like screaming with frustration. Would spring and this baby never get here?

  She couldn’t sleep that night; she was more restless than usual, and the sheets kept tangling about her legs. Jake rubbed her back, but it didn’t help. She got up to wash her face with cool water, and he got up with her. Since the night she had sneaked out to the barn and let Rubio go, she hadn’t been able to stir without disturbing him. Neither of them bothered to light a candle; the snowfall filled the room with a pale, unearthly light and she was able to see quite well though everything was without color.

  Suddenly Jake stiffened. She sensed his alertness and looked at him. He was staring out the window. She looked out the window, too, but could see nothing. “Get dressed,” he said sharply, and reached for his pants. “Don’t light any candles or lamps.” He had barely buttoned his pants before he was out the door, buckling his guns around his lean waist.

  He called down the hallway, “Ben. Riders.”

  Ben sat up in bed at the first sound of Jake’s voice, disturbing Emma who had been sleeping on his arm. “Get up, honey,” he said in a quiet, level voice. “We have trouble.”

  He was already up and pulling on his pants before she pushed the hair out of her eyes, but his urgency was contagious. She grabbed her nightgown and pulled it on over her head, shivering as the chill struck her bare body.

  “Who is it?”

  “Doesn’t matter.”

  Victoria would need her. Emma dashed out of the room ahead of Ben, who was putting on his boots, and ran to her own room, which had been largely unoccupied these past couple of months. She didn’t know what had kept her from completely moving in with Ben, because certainly no one had been censorious of their relationship. In fact, in the sadness following Celia’s death, they had all pulled closer together, and Emma’s happiness had seemed to cheer Victoria.

  Victoria had never been more aware of her ungainly bulk than she was now, when she was trying to hurry. Jake was back in the bedroom a heartbeat after calling to Ben, putting on his boots, shrugging into a shirt but not taking the time to button it. He grabbed his heavy coat on the way out the door a second time. Over his shoulder he said, “Damn it, Victoria, get dressed!”

  She was trying. She didn’t bother to remove her nightgown, but pulled on one of her loose dresses over it. Emma came in, dressed herself, as Victoria was struggling to put on her stockings and shoes. “I’ll do it,” Emma whispered, going down on her knees and rolling the stockings up Victoria’s legs. “What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know. Jake saw something and told Ben there were riders.”

  They listened, but couldn’t hear anything. When they went downstairs they found that the men had roused the rest of the household, and the three other women were standing in their nightgowns in a terrified knot. Jake tossed Ben a rifle, then gave Victoria and Emma an assessing glance. “Both of you get a rifle and find a place where you have plenty of cover but can see to shoot. I’m going down to the bunkhouse to wake up the men.”

  “I’m going down to the bunkhouse,” Ben corrected, and both of them thought of Victoria, heavily pregnant. It was better that Jake stay with her.

  Before he slipped out the door, Ben put his hand behind Emma’s neck and pulled her to him for a quick, hard kiss. It wasn’t until he was gone that she realized he had kissed her good-bye, just in case.