Xenia’s Renegade (2 page)

She knew she could get out on her own, but decided this was no time to assert her independence. She held out her hand, but he ignored it as he grabbed her around the waist and sat her on the porch of the small log building. Before she could complain, he’d reached in, picked up Mea Ann and sat her there, too. He let Lou disembark on his own.

Drawing the gun that hung on his right hip, he commanded, “Get behind me, ladies. I’ll go in first to make sure it’s safe for you to go inside.”

They obeyed, but stayed close to him.

As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, the stagecoach pulled toward the barn standing on the left side of the property.

As soon as they entered the ransacked cabin, Ty let out a stream of curse words and Xenia couldn’t help wondering why. Surely a man like him wouldn’t curse because of the mess. He was probably used to the horrid conditions of places such as this. But she wasn’t. Until now, she didn’t think any way station could get worse than the ones they’d already visited, but she now knew she was wrong. This place was horrible. It reeked of burned food, gun powder and death. She then glanced toward the roughly hewed table in what must be considered the dining area and saw a body draped over the bench. It had an arrow sticking from its back.

Mea Ann must have seen it at the same time because she let out a little scream.

Ty ignored her and moved to the body. Xenia knew he was checking to see if there was any life left in the poor soul, though there was no doubt he was dead. No man could live with an arrow in him, could he?

For the first time since they’d left Richmond, Xenia knew she should have listened to her male relatives and stayed home. Maybe the family had been right. Uncle Seymour wasn’t worth them getting killed in an Indian raid.

****

Ty knew there was nothing he could do to shield the women from witnessing the aftermath of this massacre. Though he’d had his fun flirting with and upsetting the pretty little blonde, Xenia, he didn’t want her or her sister to be traumatized by seeing the deaths of whoever ran this way station. All he needed were two hysterical females from the east on his hands. He doubted the dead man on the bench would be the only one to be killed here. There would surely be others around. At least one more, and it would probably be a woman. The dead man wouldn’t be running this place alone. Somebody had to do the cooking for the stage passengers. A wife, a sister, or a mother. He hoped for the latter so there would be no children as there often were at way stations.

Lou’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Is that man dead?”

Ty nodded. He glanced at Bullins and the ladies. “I’ll get the body out of here and you folks have a seat.”

Lou frowned. “You don’t expect us to sit on the bench where the dead man was, do you?”

“You can sit on one of the chairs or on the bench on the other side of the table or there’s always the floor. You can have your choice. Don’t matter to me.”

The driver came through the door. When he saw Ty lifting the body, he said, “Oh, hell. I was afraid of something like this.”

“Yeah. How about giving me a hand, Ray? We’ll take him out through the kitchen.” He hoped Ray Andrews would catch on to the fact he suspected there would be another body there.

Ray moved beside Ty and took hold of the dead man’s feet. They went through the door leading into the kitchen and Ty closed it behind them.

“I was afraid of this.” Ty nodded to the pretty Indian woman’s almost nude body slumped against the wall. There was a bullet hole in the side of her head.

“Damn,” Ray said. “John and his wife were good people. Always served decent food and the passengers seemed to enjoy stopping here.”

“So she was his wife?”

“Yep. Been married for a couple of years. You know how people are, a lot of them didn’t care for Miller after he married an Indian woman, but the couple didn’t seem to care if anybody liked them or not. They were crazy about each other.”

“It’s a good thing there weren’t any children.”

“She was big and swollen back in the winter when I had a stop here. I figured she’d had the baby by now.”

Ty shook his head. “She sure don’t look pregnant now. Wonder if she lost the baby?”

“I don’t know, but the least we can do is give them a decent burial. If we find a baby’s grave, we’ll put them beside it.”

“I agree, but for the time being, let’s get the bodies out of here.”

Ray gently turned the woman to her back. “Looks like they had their way with her before they killed her. Wonder why they shot her instead of using an arrow.”

“Probably to make us think an Indian would never shoot another Indian with an arrow.”

“You’ve got a point.”

“Let’s hurry and get these bodies out back before one of the passengers decides to come in here.” Ty picked up the woman. “Can you get the man by yourself?”

“Yep.” Ray hoisted the body to his shoulder. When they got outside, he added, “I hate the thoughts of them laying out here in the elements. You sure we don’t have time to bury them now?”

Ty shook his head. “Not now. We’ll take care of that later, but first we’re going to have to prepare for another attack.”

“So you think they’ll come again?”

“I figure they’re not far away. Probably waiting on down the road for the stage to come by. They probably thought as soon as you saw this place had been destroyed, you wouldn’t stop, but would continue on.”

“So you figure they plan to ambush us down the road instead of waiting here.”

“That’s my thinking.” Ty glanced at Ray. “Carrying anything valuable this trip?”

Ray nodded. “The strong box is full of gold. Going to the bank in Deer Meadow.”

They placed the bodies of the man and his wife on the lean-to that served as a back porch. “Is the gold still on the stage?”

“Yeah. Think I should go take it off and hide it somewhere in the barn?”

“Not a bad idea, and while you’re there, grab a tarp or a couple of horse blankets to cover the bodies. I don’t want to leave the folks exposed to the elements—or worse.”

“I understand that.” Ray stepped off the porch. “By the way, the horses are gone. I guess they didn’t want us to have fresh ones when we left here.”

“This attack was well planned, so we better be well organized when they return.”

“I agree, Eldridge. I’ll hurry back.”

True to his word, Ray returned in a short time. He not only had the blankets, but he had a couple of rifles with him. “Had the one I use and an extra under the seat. Brought all the ammo I had on the stage, too.”

“Good. We may need it.” Ty took the blankets and spread them across the bodies. “Get the money hidden?”

“Put it in the feeding trough and scattered hay about. Don’t figure they’ll look there.”

“You’re right. They probably won’t.” Ty opened the kitchen door. “Now, let’s go see if anybody among the passengers can handle a gun or if it’s going to be up to you and me to defend the place when the outlaws return.”

Ray chuckled. “Bullins might be able to shoot a little, but I got my doubts about the women.”

“So have I. More than likely, I was right. This is going to be up to us. I just hope there aren’t too many of them.”

“Maybe it’ll only be a few. Lots of tribes have splinter groups.”

“This wasn’t done by Indians, Ray.”

Ray’s brow wrinkled. “But the arrow…”

“That was to make us think it was an Indian attack. If they’d been smart they’d have used an Apache weapon or one from one of the other tribes around here. I have no idea where they got it, but they messed up by using a Sioux arrow. You don’t usually find the Sioux in Arizona. They’re mainly in the Montana and Dakota areas.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. My grandmother was Sioux.” 

****

Xenia wondered why Ty and the stage driver closed the door when they left the room. She almost followed them, but decided Mea Ann was too upset to be left alone.

“I don’t much want to sit at that table, Xenia.”

“Neither do I, but as Mr. Eldridge said, we don’t have much choice. I can’t see us getting down in the floor and Mr. Bullins has already claimed the only chair.”

Mea Ann almost smiled. “Then, I guess we either have to sit on the opposite bench or stand.”

“Looks like it. Come on. I’ll sit first if it’ll make you feel better.” Xenia dropped to the bench on the opposite side of the table from where the body had been.

Mea Ann eased down beside her. “Xenia, do you ever wish we’d never come on this trip?”

She did, but she wasn’t going to tell her sister. “It’s too late to wish such a thing, now. We’ve come too far to turn back, so we might as well make the best of it.”

“Why in the world did you ladies come on such a trip in the first place?” Lou turned in his chair to look at them. “No woman from the east should be traveling alone in an area like this. Anything could happen to you.”

“We came to take care of family business,” Xenia said, and hoped Mea Ann wouldn’t elaborate.

Mea Ann didn’t say anything else about family. Instead, she changed the subject. “How often do you come to this sparsely populated area, Mr. Bullins?”

“This is my third trip, and hopefully, it will be my best one so far.”

Mea Ann gave him a tentative smile. “Why is that?”

Xenia watched him give her the lustful smile he’d been bestowing on her and didn’t like what she saw. “It doesn’t matter, Mea Ann.”

He ignored her and patted the suitcase. “I was just about to say the company of you beautiful girls have made it a success whether or not I sell any of my equipment.”

Mea Ann looked at the floor, and changed the subject. “There’s blood on the floor. I hope that poor man didn’t suffer too much.”

“Damn Indians,” Bullins muttered.

“Please, Mr. Bullins. I’d appreciate you not cursing.”

“I’m so sorry, Xenia. I should have controlled my temper, but it makes me mad when the renegade Indians do something like this. The army should’ve killed them all.” He gave her that smile she couldn’t help but think was oily. “Ladies like you and your sister should be spending your time where men can look after you, not have to deal with something like this.”

“It’s tragic, but I don’t see how we can avoid it now that we’re here.”

“When you get to Deer Meadow, I’m sure you’ll find the men will appreciate you more. Then you won’t have to be subjected to an Indian raid or a man like Ty Eldridge.”

“Mr. Eldridge doesn’t seem so bad,” Mea Ann said. “He was careful to make sure there was no danger in here before he let us come in.”

He shook his head. “Now I know how innocent you and your sister are. Don’t you know what Eldridge is?”

Xenia interrupted. “I don’t think we should be discussing Mr. Eldridge or anyone else. It looks to me like we should be trying to find out what’s going on here.”

“Xenia’s right,” Mea Ann said.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m sure the stage driver will know what to do if Eldridge doesn’t kill him first.”

“What do you mean?” Mea Ann looked scared.

“Don’t you know what he is?”

Xenia wasn’t sure what Lou was going to say, so she said, “It doesn’t matter what he is.” She stood. “I’m going to look out the window and see if I can tell why Mr. Eldridge told us to stay in here.”

“The breed probably put us here to wait for his friends to come back.”

She whirled around and glared at him. “What are you saying?”

“Can’t you tell he’s part Indian? They’re all alike. I got in a little trouble with one in Deer Meadow last time I was there. Just hope it’s all been cleared up by the time we get in.”

“What difference does it make if he has some Indian blood in him?”

“Oh, Miss Xenia. It’s an important factor in this area.”

Again, Mea Ann changed the subject. “What kind of trouble did you get into with an Indian, Mr. Bullins?”

He chuckled. “Miss Poindexter, that’s not something I want to discuss with a lady.”

Xenia shook her head and tuned out their conversation. Looking out on the dusty yard of the way station, she let her mind drift back to the events that led to her and Mea Ann to Arizona without an escort. It all started when their mother’s brother, Seymour Longstreet sent a letter to the sisters saying that he’d been falsely arrested in a town called Deer Meadow in Arizona Territory and needed them to come help him out before they decided to hang him. He said he wasn’t well, and needed someone to help care for him while he fought for his freedom. He’d also said they needed to come without telling their parents because his sister and her husband had never liked him and would stop them if they told him they were going to leave.

Of course, being the good daughter she was, Mea Ann insisted they show the missive to their father.

Afterward, Xenia couldn’t understand why nobody in the family seemed at all concerned about Uncle Seymour. She remembered him as a funny man who smoked stinky cigars and told little girls scary, but funny, stories about  going west and taking part in all kinds of exciting things, including rounding up cows and fighting Indians.