Part 23 (1/2)
”What do you propose to do?”
”Attack him as soon as I can get it set up.” Chet turned to Melody. ”Are you willing to stay here that long?”
Melody realized that question asked a great deal more than whether she was willing to stay until the confrontation was over. It asked if she understood what Chet was talking about. Quite suddenlysurprisinglyshe found she did. She understood how he felt, how her father would have felt, how she would have felt if anyone had asked the same question about Virginia. She didn't want to fight. She wanted to live peacefully with her neighbors and let the law settle all disputes. But Lantz was threatening to take away a ranch that belonged to her, and she wouldn't let him do it. She couldn't. She didn't like violence, but she would do what she must. And she wouldn't apologize or feel guilty for it ever again.
She looked him straight in the eye. ”I'll do more than that. I'm going to be riding alongside you.”
Chapter Fourteen.
At first Chet hadn't believed Melody meant it when she said she would ride with him. He had argued with her, then stated flatly that he wouldn't allow her to go with him. He'd even ordered the men to refuse to saddle her horse. But he was discovering that even though Melody Jordan had grown up in Richmond and preferred the softer life of that old Southern city, she was quite capable of being as stubborn as any Texan.
”This is my ranch, and the safety of the men who work for me is my responsibility,” she said when Belle added her entreaties to Chet's threats.
”That's absurd,” Belle had said. ”No one expects women to act like men, not even in Texas.”
”No self-respecting man would allow it,” Chet added.
”You forget I own this place,” Melody said. ”I can fire you and lead the men myself.” Which was proof of his folly in telling her his plans before everything was over and done with. But then, he'd never met a woman who insisted upon knowing every move he planned to make. Nor had he met one willing to put on pants and learn to ride astride. That had probably shocked him the most.
”It's indecent,” Belle had protested. ”It would ruin your reputation if anybody found out.”
”Isn't that the whole point of mounting a raid at night?” she'd asked, turning to Chet. ”That no one will see us?”
”It's to give us the advantage of surprise, not to disguise females parading around in men's clothing.”
”I don't see why it shouldn't do both.”
”Because you'll be in the way. You won't know what to do.”
”You can teach me.”
”We've got only two days.”
”I thought you Texans could do anything.”
He couldn't take credit for her learning to ride astride so quickly. His concentration was practically nonexistent. By the time he'd satisfied himself that Melody was capable of riding in the raid, he was almost too weak to go himself. The fact that he'd spent each night tossing in his sleep hadn't helped. He'd moved into the bunkhouse with the other men, but he'd become so sensitive to Melody that he felt her presence before he actually saw her.
He'd told himself he was a fool to stay, that honor didn't require him to hang around when there was danger from two sides. But honor did require that he not abandon two helpless women and two vulnerable boys to the greed of Lantz Royal or the madness of his son. Since Chet didn't really want to leave, it wasn't difficult to decide to be honorable.
Besides, if he was going to die anyway, this was as good a time and place as any.
”If Lantz is rounding up a herd, why aren't we?” Melody asked.
Five of them were on their way to the part of Lantz Royal's range where he was holding a herd of about five hundred steers.
”You would have been if you hadn't had all this trouble with rustlers on top of Tom getting killed.”
”Shouldn't we start?”
”I will as soon as we settle with Lantz.”
Chet had taken care to see everyone rode dark horses and wore dark clothing. Fortunately, heavy clouds obscured the moon. He couldn't have wanted a more perfect night for the raid. Now if he could just carry it off and get Melody back to the ranch safely . . . He swore to himself that he wouldn't let her set one foot off the place ever again.
”Now remember, we're supposed to be rustlers,” Chet reminded the men when they were within sight of the herd. ”We can't afford for anybody to be caught and identified.”
”But I thought you wanted Lantz to know he was vulnerable,” Melody said.
”I do, but I don't want him to know who did this just yet. He's got enough cowhands to burn us out any time he chooses. The longer he stays confused, the better chance we'll have to do more damage.” He gathered them close. ”Remember, we want to drive the herd right through the middle of their camp to cause the maximum amount of damage and to delay their pursuit as long as possible. After that, we scatter the herd as far as we can. He'll set his men to rounding them up as soon as they recapture their horses. Stay low in the saddle so they won't get a good shot at you.”
He could barely see the herd in the distance. Their dark shapes blended well with the ground. He didn't know how many men were on guard duty. That was the first thing to be determined, and it was his job.
”Wait until I give the signal,” he said. ”Anybody being seen before then will ruin the whole thing. Do you men know where you're supposed to be?”
They nodded.
”Okay. I'll need about half an hour. Watch for my signal. You'll have exactly one minute after that. Understand?”
They nodded again.
”Okay. Move out.” Melody already knew she was to stay with him. It had been the only condition under which he would allow her to ride with them. He waited while the men disappeared, walking their horses slowly to keep from making too much noise. ”Follow me,” he said to Melody. ”No matter what happens, don't speak above a whisper.”
They were to take up position on the far side of the herdafter he'd checked out the crew to make sure they were asleep, after he'd disabled any night riders.
Never before had Chet felt so nervous at a time like this, but then he'd never done anything like this with a woman at his side. He'd also never felt such an urge to repeat his cautions, to warn her of the additional dangers that occurred to him with each pa.s.sing minute. Only resolute exercise of willpower kept him quiet.
It didn't take them long to determine that Lantz had posted only one guard. That surprised Chet, considering the rustling in the area. Maybe Lantz figured no one would attempt a raid with so many of his crew present.
”Wait here while I loose the horses,” Chet whispered to Melody. ”If anything happens before I get back, head straight for the ranch.” He didn't like leaving her for even a moment, but he didn't have a choice.
He was in luck. He found the camp quiet and asleep. The fire had burned down to coals, but it gave off enough light for him to make out a dozen or so men scattered about sleeping in their bedrolls. The horses were some distance away, held by a rope corral. Chet untied the ropes. They would scatter the moment the stampede started. It would take Lantz's crew hours to find them. Chet hurried back to where he'd left Melody.
”I feel useless,” she whispered when he returned.
He refrained from saying that if she'd really wanted to be useful, she'd have stayed at the ranch. ”Stay close when we approach the night rider,” he said. ”And remember, don't turn in the saddle no matter what you do. You don't have a man's profile.”
She'd pinned her hair up under a hat, but even a coat couldn't entirely hide the outline of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Chet had already given that part of her anatomy more thought than was comfortable. If he didn't concentrate, he could make a mistake that would ruin the whole operation. He forced himself to look straight ahead. ”We can't come at him from under cover,” he told Melody. ”He's got to see us coming, or he'll know there's something wrong.”
”Are you sure he can't see our faces?”
”I can't even see your face under that hat. Just keep your horse at a steady walk. Let me do all the talking until we come alongside. Then you've got to distract him long enough for me to get close enough to knock him out without giving him a chance to raise the alarm.”
”I know what to do. You've told me a hundred times.”
He knew that. He just wished he felt as confident as she did that they could pull it off.
The rider saw them coming and gave a friendly wave. Chet waved back.