Id like to wrap my hands around Hams throat and squeeze. Pain shot through his molars and he tried to relax his jaw. His teeth had been gnashed enough for one day.
But then the image of what hed just come away from sent renewed fury through his body and his teeth clacked shut so tight, the audible grind echoed like a whiplash in the silent breadth of the cold winter night.
Waitthat wasnt his teeth making that sound. It only seemed that way. Thats a whip. Striking flesh. A horses panicked neigh rang through the vast night, a hair-raising human sound of agony and terror.
Trouble.
His hand fisted around the reins and he was digging in his heels before it was a conscious thought. The pinto cannoned into the dark, hooves striking the frozen earth.
What mad men are out here tonight? Joshua bowed his head into the frigid wind and pressed his mount harder. He was glad he had his .45 strapped to his thigh and loaded. And, in case he needed it, his repeating Winchester strapped in its holster to the saddle.
Faster. Whatever trouble lay ahead, the coyotes began to howl somewhere nearby. The womanlike screams of the horse rose in pitch, shattering the night, tolling across the vast reaches of the prairie like an echo without end, and when the terrified scream ended abruptly, the silence spoke of death.
Im too late. Remorse ripped like razor-sharp talons through his chest. He hated an animals suffering. Which was why his rage was fueled tonight. Hed come to stop Ham.
And if that no-good bastard was abusing another animal Joshua felt the pressure build beneath the top of his skull. That horse better be all right, or Ill
A flash of lightning stabbed from the heavens, and in that brief instant of white, eye-burning illumination, he saw the motionless body of a horse sprawled dark against the crusted white rise. A shattered wagon. A beefy man with his arm uplifted and the sinuous lash snaking back for another strike, but it was not directed at the horse.
Is that a woman?
The skin prickled at the back of Joshs neck with a horrible foreboding. As the flare faded into impenetrable black, he made out another shadow on the ground, but the darkness came too swiftly for him to recognize it.
And then his mind latched onto the image, and rage burned so hot he became like the night. Like the clap of thunder, he struck, uncoiling the lasso at his saddle horn. And as Hams whip snapped in the indecipherable shadows, Joshua felt destiny begin to unravel like his coiled rope. Fate was set when the noose fell and caught.
Got ya. One jerk was all it took to disarm the lowdown varmint who wasnt even fit to be called a man. He vaguely registered the foul cursing of a drunkyep, it sure sounded as if Ham was liquored up good.
Joshua hauled in his noose, coiled up the lariat for later use and seized the captured whip in his left hand. This left his right free in case he needed to draw.
Hamilton, you coward. Are you always gonna pick on women and animals? Or are you ready to take on someone whos your own damn size?
I could take you down with one hand tied behind my back, you son of a bitch. Get the devil off my land.
Or what? Youre gonna throw me off? Im a man, not a helpless sheep.
What the hell does that mean? Ham growled like a rabid dog ready to fight. His teeth were bared as another bolt of lightning knifed overhead in warning.
It means Ive found one carcass too many. How long have you been killing my sheep now? One month? Almost two? Its not gonna drive me off the grazing land. And since the deputy wont do a damn thing, Im gonna make my own justice.
The mare that lay like a hump at the side of the road became more visible as the clouds churning in the sky gave off a blue-black glow from the lightning. There was movementnot only the ripple and toss of mane and tail in the rough wind, but her sides rising and fallingshort and uneven, but the mare was breathing.
He remembered the animals tortured screams and his guts clenched so tight he could taste the bile on his tongue. She was a greater concern, but Joshua knew if he mentioned the helpless woman as equally still on the ground, then Hams temper would go.
And Ham was much closer in proximity to his wife. Hed hurt her first, the vicious bastard. Joshua gripped the leather until the braids pattern bit into his palm, scenting the metallic smell of blood in the air and sour fear on the wind. The boiling rage that had first coursed through his veins turned to ice. Not from fear, but determination.
When you kill my livestock, youre taking from me. From my family, Joshua growled.
I didnt kill those sheep. Not last week, not a month ago. Not today. Besides Hams voice rose in volume and acidity. This is cattle county.
Joshua didnt miss the muted rasp, although Ham pitched his voice high enough to try to hide it. Ham was sneaky, but Joshua had learned long ago how to deal with sneaky varmints. And he knew exactly what Ham planned to do next.
As the blackness closed around them, thunder cracked overhead. Joshua let the rolling crash from above hide the snap as he sent the whip snaking through the darkness. It struck with a vengeance before Hamilton could draw.
Victory. Joshua tasted it as Ham cursed in pain and the gun thudded to the earth.
I need three things from you, Hamilton. He aimed his .45 at the drunks chest. Restitution for the sheep you killed
Thats what happens when those worthless varmints are too stupid to stay where they belong.
I leased the grazing lands fair and square. Theyre mine, and they belong there Joshua paused as the woman moaned. He waited. Maam, are you all right?
Shes about as dumb as one of your lambs. Too stupid to live. I
Shut up, Ham. This is a matter for the law.
Im not dead. Claire tried to concentrate, but the voices faded and then returned. The pain in her head boomed like a firing cannon inside her skull. She tried to move, but pain paralyzed her and she realized that something warm was trickling down her face.
Blood. She also realized Ham towered over her, jerking and trembling like he did in a rage, right before he became lethally violent.
Her thoughts were fragments. What had happened? Was the baby safe? Who was shouting at Ham? She couldnt recognize the mans voice. Couldnt he understand the danger? Ham had to be talked to quietly, steadily until he calmed. It was the only way. She had to get up and intervene. Groggy, she tried to sit up.
I cant move.
Panic crowded into her throat and she shoved at something hard. Something wooden. A piece of the broken wagon pinned her hips to the ground. Her fingers gripped the broken edge of board and she gritted her teeth, heaving. She felt as if a razor blade sliced through her low abdomen.
The baby. She collapsed onto the ground, dizzy as the heated voices rose in volume and threats. What was going on? She could only see an upward slash from the ground to the sky until lightning blinded her.
Hams furious bellow. It was going to be even worse for her as soon as Ham got her home. I aint takin this from a sheep man!
Hams furious bellow. It was going to be even worse for her as soon as Ham got her home. I aint takin this from a sheep man!
The deputy is your good buddy, I know, but listen up good
Claire caught a glimpse of the intruder as the rolling thunder drowned out their argument. He sat on horseback, a big bold cut of a man as dark as the night, as powerful as the thunder, and as lethal as the fierce lightning that pounded overhead.
Hams fingers inched to his revolvers, ever present in their holsters, strapped to his thighs within easy reach. How many times had he threatened her with those guns?
Claire closed her eyes, trying to find strength where there was none. Hope when shed given up. Whatever tiny drop of relative safety shed been able to forge for herself in her marriage was about to be gone, but she couldnt let Ham hurt this man, she couldnt
Hams fingers curved around a beloved revolver. She could smell his gleehe loved to cause harm, or worse. And the mounted man, he didnt see the danger, Claire realized as she tried to shout a warning, but there was no voice. Something was wrong with her throat.
Hell exploded. Thunder merged with bullets, lightning with gunfire, and the pummeling ice that fell like hunks of granite from the vengeful sky beat so loudly she could not hear or see, only feel the danger as violence and murder rose on the heartless wind.
Ham fell to the ground beside her, cursing in pain and clutching his shoulder. It wasnt over, she knew with chilling certainty as Joshua Gable kicked the fallen revolvers out of harms way and consciousness faded. She heard Hams threat to kill Gable come from very far away, and then steeled arms lifted her from the ground and carried her away.
She woke up later in her own bed, alone. She heard the echoing sound of a single gunshot, and knew by the silence that followed that someone was dead.
Chapter One
Eight Days later
It was a bad day for a funeral.
Joshua Gable swiped snowflakes from his eyelashes so he could see into the heavy gale, then jammed his gloved fist back into his coat pocket.
It had taken the grave diggers most of the week to cut through the frozen ground. As if the Fates had done everything in their power to hold back this death. There would be no peaceful passing for Halbert Hamilton, Jr. Instead, a fury of cutting north wind and vicious iced snow made it feel as if hell had frozen over, had burst up from the new grave in the ground to welcome a like soul.
For a man few could stand and most despised, a lot of the local folks on this sparse corner of the county had come. Some attended out of relief, Joshua suspected, that the hard man was gone. A few grieved his passing. But most were here out of curiosity, for no one knew what had befallen the rancherif one could call him thatand what had rendered him dead.
Well, some knew.
Joshua swallowed hard, glad he stood back from the bulk of the crowd. It took all his self-control to fight down the tight grip guilt had on his stomach. If hed had his way, he wouldnt have come. He had no respects to pay the man whod been his sworn enemy. He had not an ounce of grief or sorrow to express.
He was damn glad the man was gonenot glad that he was dead, but relieved that Ham was no longer a thorn in his side and a drain on the familys income. He hadnt killed the manjust left him lying in the road with a flesh wound, although hed have been in his rights to have killed the man in self-defense that night. But knowing the woman would never forget seeing her husband killed before her eyes stopped him.
I shouldnt have left like that. But the woman, half-unconscious, had begged him to go. His conscience had told him not to listen, but shed been so desperate. He wondered if she remembered that time now. And if shed been the one to pull the trigger later that night in self-defense.
No, I never should have left her.
Across the crowd spread out on either side of the grave came the curious probe of the deputys gaze. Coop Logan, his badge obscured by the thick snow covering the front of his fur coat, seemed one of the genuine mourners. He and Ham had been friends as far back as any could remember. And now the lawman studied the crowd as if looking for vengeance.
Yep, it sure would have been good if hed had his way, Joshua thought, wishing hed been able to stay at home and far away from the deputys measuring stare. Home, where he had fencing to replace and a troublesome cougar to track. The bitter winter weather wouldnt have kept him from it, not on this one day. Hed come only because of his grandmother.
We have to be there, Blythe would have wanted it, Granny had insisted, and hed never had the heart to say no to her. He adored the cantankerous old woman, and he knew shed been close friends with Hams grandmother. With the dear woman gone from this earth, Granny Adelaide felt it her duty to attend.
He couldnt let her out in these near-blizzard conditions alone, and hed been unable to convince her to take one of his other brotherslazy Jordan especially, who had nothing better to do as the youngest and the baby of the family. Gran had thought taking Jordan along with them was a fine idea and made the boy help with the driving.
Not that she needed either of their help. He studied her sideways rather than make eye contact, which would only invite her criticism. His grandmother seemed as fierce as always and attending a funeral did not soften her. The wind blew to him the faint scent of her Irish whiskey. She remained the epitome of a no-nonsense pioneer woman, stoic as the snow began to cloak her in white.
Stop looking at me, boy, be respectful and mind your manners, she scolded him in a low, commanding voice, as if he were still a small child. By the grace of God, that could be you dead in a grave. Life is fleeting.
Granny, you have no notion how right you are. Re minded of his fate, and of Hams, Joshua drew soldier straight and knew that nothing would ever be powerful enough to make him forget this day, this moment.
If he shifted his weight onto his left foot and tilted a bit, he could see past the mourners and over the ministers shoulder to where the new widow stood, shrouded in white so that the ragged black coat she wore was barely discernible. She could have been a snow angel tipped back against the white earth for the way she stood motionless.
No tears stood on her face, so pale the snow clinging to her eyebrows and eyelashes had more color. The crying that came from those who mourned did not come from her.
Hams mother cried, his brother, Reed, choked back tears, but the young widow, who did not look to be a day over twenty, bowed her face toward the ground, as if watching the snow accumulate on the toes of her Sunday-best shoes. She appeared to be in silent grief.
Joshua knew the truth.
She stood before the opened scar in the earth where Hamiltons casket lay. As the reverend intoned on, his words whipped and battered by the cruel winds, she dipped her head, then covered her face with both slim hands. Rich dark curls tumbled down from beneath her woolen cloak.
Such a pity, Grannys whisky-rough voice could not be disguised by a whisper but rang as loudly as if shed bellowed. So young to bury a husband. How long were they wed?