Consider the Lilies (Wyldhaven Book 4) Read online

  Off to her right, she heard the crackle of breaking branches and the crunch of footsteps. She froze and felt her eyes widen and her breathing hitch as she turned to see what might be lurking just behind the concealing curtain of foliage at the forest’s edge. Her gaze darted first right then left.

  Where would she hide, if she needed to? But she was out in the open with nothing to conceal her except the falling darkness. And there wasn’t much comfort in that thought.

  A horse lurched from the tree line just a few paces ahead. “Zoe!”

  She jolted, gave a little screech, and then laid a hand over her pounding heart.

  It was just Washington Nolan yelling her name. He was obviously searching for her.

  “Washington Nolan, you about sent me into an apoplectic fit! What are you doing way out here?!”

  “There you are! Thank God!” He swung down and strode toward her. “I’m so glad I finally found you. Your mother sent your little sister, Sharon, to get me. Asked me to try and find you. She was worried because you’d been gone so long.” He scanned her from head to toe. “You all right?”

  Zoe waved a hand, then tucked it away behind her before he could see it trembling. He’d given her quite a fright. “Doc had a birthing. I had to go out to the camp to find him.”

  “Well, come on.” He gestured to his horse. “Let’s get you home.”

  Zoe accepted his offer without thought, but as the warmth of his hands settled around her waist to boost her into the saddle, and then he swung up behind her, she certainly had plenty of thoughts flitting through her head. Most of which were causing a heat in her face that she knew would make her almost as red as her detestable hair. Thank goodness for the darkness and the fact that Washington was behind her now.

  Washington’s arms brushed hers on either side as he took up the reins and clucked to the horse. “Glad you are alive and well, Zo. Was starting to get worried. Been looking for you for hours.”

  Zoe swallowed, willing down the additional wave of warmth that swept over her with his use of the short version of her name. No one but Washington ever called her Zo. When they were younger, she had chastised him for it plenty. But now she could admit, if only to herself, that she liked it. Too much. She fisted one hand tight enough to dig her nails into her palm and ground herself in reality. Wash was just a friend. “I’m sorry to have caused everyone concern.”

  A shot rang out, followed by several more.

  Zoe stiffened. “Why that’s—”

  “Gunshots!”

  One moment Zoe was on the horse in front of Wash, and then next moment they were on the ground and Wash was pushing her into the covering shelter of the forest’s edge. “Get down. Get down.” He urged her behind a tree and pressed himself up against her so the tree protected her from the front and he protected her from behind.

  “Wash, what is it?” She didn’t even bother to try to disguise the tremor in her voice.

  “Shh.” His breath warmed her ear. “Let me listen.”

  Zoe shivered. And whether it had to do with Wash’s proximity in the dark, or with the fact that strangers were shooting at who knew what, she couldn’t have said.

  “We don’t want any trouble!”

  That was Marshal Zane’s voice! Zoe tilted Wash a look over her shoulder.

  He laid a finger over his lips, listening intently.

  “Well ain’t that just dandy? ’Cause we don’t want no trouble neither…just your money!”

  That voice wasn’t one she recognized.

  But she felt Wash stiffen behind her.

  “Do you know him?” she whispered.

  “Zoe, now ain’t the time for questions. Hush up.”

  She clenched her teeth, more than a little hurt by his clipped command.

  Sure, he’d always teased her about being a chatterbox, but she’d never taken him seriously. Did he really think she talked too much? She opened her mouth to ask him, but then thought better of it and clamped her lips tight.

  Wash pushed away from her suddenly. “Zane’s in trouble. Come on. But you have to promise to do exactly as I say.” His hand wrapped around hers and he didn’t give her a choice but to stumble after him in the dark. She crashed into several bushes and tromped on a branch that cracked loudly beneath her weight.

  Wash spun back to face her so suddenly that she collided into his chest.

  Darkness had settled all around them now. She could barely make out Wash, and he was right before her.

  “Quiet.” He pressed the word against her ear so silently that she never would have heard it if his mouth hadn’t been so close.

  She trembled, but this time she knew it had nothing to do with Wash’s closeness and everything to do with the other sets of footsteps she could now hear crunching through the brush.

  “What is it?” a voice called.

  “Not sure. Thought I heard something over this way,” another responded.

  Motioning for her to remain quiet, Wash eased to his haunches and if she hadn’t known so well that he wouldn’t leave her, she might have thought he’d melted away into the forest, so quiet were his movements and so dark was the forest. Only a moment later, she felt him stand once more. A flick of sound and a soft puff of his breath were her only indications that he’d moved, but then something crashed into the brush several feet off to her right.

  “This way!” the second voice called.

  She felt the air stir as Wash threw something else and the sound crashed even farther into the woods.

  “After them!”

  The sound of bushes crackling as the two men careened in the opposite direction, brought relief. Or maybe that was from the fact that her hand was once more firmly ensconced in the comfort of Wash’s as he tugged her forward.

  Zoe held her breath, and tried to sense bushes and branches before she crashed into them or stepped on them, but for the moment it didn’t matter.

  The two men were making so much noise of their own what with their running and hollering that she didn’t suppose they would hear a small snap of a twig beneath her boot.

  Wash led her through the trees as surely as if he could see, and moments later the brush parted and Zoe realized they were on a narrow game trail. She was thankful for the easier going, but even so, she tripped on bulged-up roots a couple times and only the strength of Wash’s grip kept her from sprawling headlong.

  After they had jogged for a couple minutes, Wash paused and Zoe propped one hand against a tree, glad for the break. Her breaths beat a tattoo against her teeth. When had Wash grown such long legs? She used to be able to outrun him with ease.

  Beside her, the shrill whistle of a bird rose into the night. She startled, then realized Wash was making the sound.

  “My horse will make his way home now. We’re going to have to keep walking. You doing all right?”

  Zoe nodded, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

  “Zo?”

  She realized he hadn’t seen her nod. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m fine.”

  Wash reached out and squeezed her hand. “Thank God I found you when I did. You could have walked right into the middle of all this.”

  Zoe shuddered at the thought.

  Terror pumped through Jacinda like it hadn’t in a very long time. The very substance of her fears had materialized! Who were these ruffians to think they could accost citizens right out in the open on the roads?! She was so thankful that she was here with Zane, because she hated to think what he might try if he didn’t have her safety to think of. Knowing him, he would have set to shooting without thought to his personal safety and then where would he have been? Shot dead, that’s where!

  “We don’t want any trouble. Just tell us what to do,” she called.

  Zane hissed at her to be quiet, but she didn’t care. She’d be hanged if she stood by while another man she loved was shot down by an outlaw.

  The thought froze her. Loved? No! Dear Father in heaven, please no. But there was no denying that the thought
had lodged itself in her mind and seemed like it planned to settle in and stay for a while.

  “You got money?” The voice in the darkness was a bit high pitched. Somewhat scratchy.

  She considered. Why did it sound familiar?

  Zane grumbled something under his breath. The horses bobbed their heads, setting the trace chains to jangling.

  He scanned the surrounding hills. His voice was pitched for her ears alone when he spoke. “It’s dark enough that they can’t have good sight. You just stay down and keep your head below the footrail there.” Louder, he called. “I’ve got a dollar and maybe a couple bits in my pocket is all.”

  Zane reached into the back of the wagon and hefted an empty wooden crate from the wagon bed. He motioned for Jacinda to scoot closer to his legs, then set the crate between her and the empty side of the wagon where she was exposed. Next, he started shrugging out of his long heavy leather coat.

  “What you doing down there?” the voice whined.

  “Just taking off my coat is all, gentlemen! Seems getting shot at warms a fellow right up.” Zane’s casual words held a bit of bite. “How would you like me to give you this dollar and change?”

  Jacinda’s confusion was growing by the minute. What exactly was Zane up to?

  “My man will be right there for it. You just put your guns down and stay put.”

  “I’m not likely to go anywhere with all your weapons trained on me.” Zane leaned past her and put his coat into the crate. “Help me, Jac,” he whispered. “Stuff it in good and tight.”

  It hit her then what he was planning! And Jacinda felt a jolt of fear crash through her. He was thinking of making a run for it!

  She shot out a hand and gripped his arm.

  He glanced down, jaw clamped tight.

  She shook her head.

  A hard glint lit his eyes. “You stay down. They aren’t just going to take our money and walk away. Understand?” He wrapped the reins more tightly around his hands.

  Panic nipped at Jacinda’s pulse. If they simply sat here and waited for the outlaws to come take their money, they were dead. If they made a run for it, they might be dead. She’d take the better odds any day. Still...

  Her eyes closed for the briefest of seconds. Jesus please...

  There was no time for more of a prayer than that. She double checked the rounds in her pistol. “Well, I’m not just going to sit here and watch a man I care about get shot. On three. One.”

  Zane stiffened. “What?”

  “Two.”

  He hissed. “Jacinda—no!”

  “Three.” She rose to her feet and fired three shots into areas she remembered voices coming from.

  “Ha!” Zane slapped the reins down on the horse’s rumps. “Ha!”

  The wagon lurched into motion and Jacinda crashed against the seat.

  “What the—”

  “They’s makin’ a run fer it!”

  Rifles blasted. Flashes of light revealed the positions of two of the outlaws to the south and to the east.

  Jacinda gripped the back of the wagon bench to keep her balance as she fired off the remainder of her bullets in those respective directions.

  A man loomed up beside the road ahead, leaning out to try and grab the reins.

  Zane shot him.

  The man clutched at his torso with a cry.

  And then they were past and galloping down the road.

  Zane reached over and yanked her down. “Get down, woman! Ha!” He slapped the horses again.

  Jacinda didn’t have any trouble obeying his command. Her legs were suddenly just about as strong as a newborn colt’s. She collapsed onto the seat beside him.

  But Zane wasn’t content with that. He took her arm and urged her to return to the floorboards where she’d have more cover.

  And she was happy to sink down there and wrap her arms around her knees.

  She trembled from head to toe.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Washington Nolan had never been so scared in his entire life. He only hoped Zoe couldn’t feel the quaking of his hand as he tugged her along the deer path behind him.

  He peered through the brush, willing all his senses to the fore. Looking for any aberrant shadow that seemed out of place. Listening for any snap of a twig or rustle of leaves that clashed with the symphony of a nighttime forest. Sniffing the air for the scents of tobacco or body odor that might alert him to someone’s presence before he saw them.

  Ahead of them, Jacinda Callahan’s voice called, “We don’t want any trouble. Just tell us what to do.”

  Wash cringed. So the marshal wasn’t alone.

  A moment later, the familiar voice called out that they shouldn’t move. A man was heading down to collect the money. Who did that voice belong to? He couldn’t quite pin it down. So familiar and yet…not someone he’d known recently.

  But he didn’t have time to figure it out right now. Wash felt his gut churn. Was he going to be too late to help the marshal and Mrs. Callahan? The outlaws surely wouldn’t leave them alive, would they?

  He quickened his steps, mindful that Zoe was no forest woman. He had to balance speed with silence. Thankfully, the deer trail helped some with that. Zoe had been doing an admirable job of keeping up with him for the past several minutes.

  The thought of Zoe crimped his gut even tighter. What if he hadn’t found her in time? What if she’d innocently wandered into the middle of the hold-up? He shuddered to think what might have happened to her. Even now he was worried about taking her nearer, but he couldn’t leave Zane to fight the battle alone, nor could he leave Zoe by herself in the dark woods when there were outlaws creeping all around.

  By his calculations, they were close to the road now. He motioned for Zoe to halt and pressed his mouth close to her ear. “Wait here. Be right back.” She gave him a nod and he had to admire her gumption. Most girls would be a heap of sobbing uselessness by now.

  He eased silently up the embankment to peer from beneath a small maple into the moonlight that washed the roadbed. Zane’s wagon was just ahead, the pine boards standing out against the darker trees and grass of the hill on the other side of the road.

  A shadow leapt up above the wagon’s bench and Wash only had a moment to realize it was Mrs. Callahan before Zane yelled “Ha!” and slapped the reins down hard. The wagon lurched forward as Mrs. Callahan squeezed off three quick shots.

  On instinct, Wash flattened himself against the bank.

  Then all sorts of ruckus broke loose. Bullets and curses were flying every which direction.

  A missile zinged through the leaves just above his head.

  “Get down!” Wash dove to the path, dragging Zoe with him.

  He curled his body around hers, pressing her tight against the thick grass of the embankment. They cowered there for a span that seemed all at once forever and only a moment. Thankfully, the earthwork of the roadbed acted as a shield.

  The clatter of the wagon wheels faded into the distance and the shooting stopped.

  Thick ringing silence fell.

  And then a curse. Footsteps crunched as the outlaws must have converged on the crushed rock of the wagon road.

  Wash figured, hidden as he and Zoe were in the shadows of several bushes, this was the safest place for them right now. Zoe stirred and he was suddenly aware of how small her body felt snugged up against his side beneath his arm. The soft floral and citrus scent she always wore drifted up to tantalize him. He rolled his eyes and forced himself to ignore the feel of her delicate hand resting against his chest. He needed to concentrate on what was going on above their heads.

  “Blasted uppity high falutin’—” A boot scuffed sharply against the ground and then a rock clattered away down the roadbed.

  Another voice spoke with a laugh. “That marshal’s got sand, I’ll give him that.” Sharp metallic snicks indicated that speaker was reloading his rifle.

  “I think I winged him,” commented another with a deeper timbre. “Saw him flinch.”
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  “Serves him right if you did,” said the voice that continued to strike a familiar chord with Wash.

  Again, he searched his memory, but couldn’t come up with where he’d heard it before.

  “Roddy! Aw no! They shot Roddy! You okay, man?”

  Wash did a quick calculation of the voices he’d heard. So far, counting this Roddy just mentioned, there’d been six of them.

  A yowl preceded a curse. “No! I’m not all right.” More cursing. “Burns like a branding iron’s stuck in my gullet. I almost had the traces. Could have had that wagon stopped.” More curses rained down on Zane’s head for having the audacity to shoot him.

  Wash smirked.

  Another voice out of the dark, this one he’d not heard yet. A bit high pitched. Whiny. Nervous. “He-he-he needs a doc.”

  There was the sharp sound of flesh connecting with flesh.

  “Ow! Wh-what was th-that for, Jim?”

  Footsteps crunched as a man stalked away.

  Another voice spoke in a kinder tone to the simpleton. “We can’t go to the doctor, Tommy. Roddy will be fine.”

  Roddy yowled and cursed again. “I won’t be fine!”

  “We can’t go to the doctor. But we can bring the doctor to him.” The familiar voice again nudged at the back of Wash’s mind. He should know this man.

  “Bring the doctor into camp? Yeah, that would be brilliant!” Heavy sarcasm was evident in the words.

  A pistol cocked and feet scuffled. Several gasped.

  The familiar voice spoke again. “Who’s in charge here, Jim?”

  “You are, Lenny.” Jim’s words were hard. They held no resignation. Only challenge.

  Lenny! Wash felt a wave of realization course through him. That was why the voice sounded so familiar. Lenny Smith had run with the infamous Waddell Gang until their leader had been killed by Sheriff Reagan a few years back.

  Wash angled a look toward Zoe. Yes. She’d heard the name too. Her lips were pinched in that certain way she had when she was just about to let someone have the whole of her mind.

  Wash laid a restraining hand on her shoulder and felt her relax a little.

  Though Lenny hadn’t shot her pa, he had captured Zoe and used her to lure Mrs. Reagan Callahan—Miss Brindle back then—into captivity. Sheriff Reagan had rescued her only a little while later, but…