ritual. He should have known from the very beginning that the woman
hadn't lied.
The woman. Tess. And the Yankees were gone, and the Indians were gone,
and he was lying by still, cool waters, and she was walking toward him.
Her hair was like the sun, falling in soft, delicate tendrils over her
breasts and down her back, and her smile was at once wistful and
innocent and full of the most alluring promise. She knelt beside him and
her fingers touched him, raking gently over his naked flesh. He couldn't
take his eyes from her. Her eyes were so giving, velvet and deep, deep
blue, and startling in their honesty. He had thought that she would run,
but she had not. And now, no matter whether he woke or slept, she was
with him, the sun- ray webs of honey-gold hair spinning around him and
wrapping him in the sweetest splendor.
Her breath was soft against him. She leaned over him, and her breasts
brushed against his chest, and he groaned aloud and waited. He wanted to
pull her beneath him. He wanted to see her eyes widen and darken to
mauve with the startling strength of passion. He wanted to feel her arms
wrap around him.
But the smoke was coming again. The powder. And people were shouting;
they were at war again. The war was over, but the fighting hadn't ended.
It was the Indians. It wasn't the Indians. That was it. They could dress
up all they chose, but they were not Indians. They had Tess. he couldn't
remember. yes! They had Tess, they had ridden away with her. By God!
What they would do with her! He awoke and jerked up. A staggering pain
seized his temple, and he cried out hoarsely, grabbing his head. The
pain slowly subsided to a dull thudding, and he opened his Jori was
sitting in front of him, watching him. Jamie groaned again.
"what the hell happened? Where's Tess?"
"Von Heusen's pseudo-Comancbe," Jon said calmly, still studying him;
Alarmed, beginning to remember much more clearly everything that had
happened, Jamie sat up. He saw that his legs were bare, that he had only
been covered with blankets, and he saw that Dolly and Jane and Hank were
hovering anxiously behind Jon. He gritted his teeth against the new pain
that had come with his movement, frowning.
"Tess?"
"She was gone."
"Gone! And you didn't go for her"
"Wait a minute, my friend," Jori warned him.
"You were supposed to have been dead--that's the way they left you.
You would have been dead, if I hadn't brought you here. I couldn't trail
them in the dark"--" You can trail anyone!" Jamie savagely reminded him.
" Not when they ran the river, not without some light," Jon said'.
"But I did find out where they're taking her."
"Where?"
Jamie exploded. The sound of the word seemed to reverberate in his
skull, and he grabbed it in an effort to ease the savagepain.
"They're taking her to the Comancheros. And the Comancheros are taking
her to a renegade Apache chief down in Mexico named Nalte."
Jamie grabbed a blanket and staggered to his feet. Dolly cried out
softly then scolded him, "Jamie Slater. What do you think you're doing?
You can't go anywhere" -- Jon had risen, too.
"Sit down, Jamie. rll go."
"No! It's my fault they took her. I'm going after her."
"You're in no condition" -- "I'm in damn fine condition!" Jamie roared.
The sound of his own voice ravaged his temple. He shook his head.
"I
need my pants. And if you don't want to be offend&t, Jane and Dolly, I
need you two ladies to disappear. Now!"
"Jamie Slater" -- Dolly began. But he was already rising.
"Jamie" -- She turned around, pinkening. Jane let out a little gasp and
went tearing up the stairs.
"Want to wait until I've got some clothes for you?" Jon asked dryly.
"I'll throw something down the stairs," Dolly said. She let out an
indignant little snort.
"Although what good you think you're going to do that girl when you can
barely hold your head up, I don't know." "I'll be with him," Jon said.
Dolly was heading up the stairs.
"I'll go saddle up your horse," Hank told Jamie, heading out.
Jamie nodded his thanks, then confronted Jon.
"You can't come with me. I need you here."
"You can't ride alone. You're in no shape to do so."
"Then I'll let you come as far as the border. Maybe we'll catch up with
them before that. If not, you'll have to turn back.
Jon, once I go after Tess, you'll be the only one who can stand against
yon Heusen here. You've got to do it." He shuddered and sat on the sofa.
"Comancheros! She could already be dead! And after yon Heusen's men" --
He broke off, white, panicked.
"I'll kill him," he swore.
"I'll kill yon Heusen with my bare hands, and every other man who came
near her.
Jesus, Jon, it was my own damned fault"--" This was going on long before
you came into it, Jamie. They meant to kill her on that wagon train. And
it's not as bad as you think. Von Heusen's men won't touch her, and the
Comancheros won't touch her, because Nalte wants his golden blond for
himself, so I learned at the saloon."
" At the saloon?"
"There's a whore there named Rosy who knows yon Heusen well--personally,
that is. Every once in a while yon Heusen sends for her, and she goes
out to his ranch. Last time she was there, he was sending out messages
and making plans. This Nalte has always wanted a blond woman for a
bride. You know the Apache. They usually only take one wife, unless they
consider themselves well able to afford more than one. Nalte does very
well. He has an Indian bride, but he wants a white woman, too. A blond
white woman. And his requirements go a little further. He wants an
innocent white woman."
Jamie stared at Jori blankly, then his face began to pale again.
Jon frowned, then slowly sucked in his breath.
"She isn't an innocent white woman any more, is that it?"
"Jamie Slater, here are your pants!" Dolly cried, dropping a pair of
trousers down the staircase. Jamie wrapped the blanket around his waist
and went to retrieve them. His hands were shaking as he stumbled into
his pants.
Dolly tossed down a shirt, and he shrugged it on also. "Jamie?" Jon
said.
Jamie paused, looking at his friend.
"Maybe they won't know. I doubt it's something that Tess is going to
rush around telling them," Jori suggested.
"First, yon Heusen's men are going to have to be damned afraid of him
not to hurt her," Jamie said.
"Then the Comancheros. Who the hell ever trusted a Comanchero?" He
strode to the sofa and stared at Jori.
"I've got to catch up with them before they get to this Nalte. Or I'll
have to try to talk to Nalte himself."
"Yes, you'll very definitely have to talk to him," Jon said gravely.
"And carefully, Jamie. Nalte will not be easy to deal with. He's watched
wars and treaties go by for years, and he is a law entirely unto
himself. He eschews everything white--except for the white men's guns,
horses and women.
He moved his people into the mountains when the white men took over the
plains, rather than have to deal with them.
"He keeps to the old ways. His women do not buy cotton for their
dresses, and his scouts do not wear cotton shirts. He moves about in a
breech clout as do his braves in summer, in winter he warms himself with
hides and furs.
He is also intelligent, astute and very dangerous--an Apache to the
core."
Hank had come in.
"You need the cavalry," he said. Jamie shook his head.
"No, Hank. No. If I do that, they might ?dll her. If I don't catch up
with them before they hand her over to Nalte, I'll have to speak with