The Lawman Said I Do Page 10

  “We can do it,” Cathy said. “You should take it easy with that shoulder. Dr. Williams said you opened the stitches again.”

  Cassie remained silent and continued what she was doing.

  “It’s fine,” he said. “Cassie, I heard you were looking for me earlier.”

  “It was nothing important.”

  Cathy climbed up on the wagon and took the reins. “I’ll go on home so you two can talk.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Cassie said quickly as she followed her sister onto the wagon. “I have nothing more to discuss with Deputy Fraser.”

  “Please, Cassie. I’d like to talk to you,” he said.

  “You said enough earlier. I’m not interested in anything further you have to say.”

  “Give the man a chance, Cassie,” Cathy said.

  “Let’s go,” Cassie said, with an impatient glance at her sister.

  Cathy looked at Colt sympathetically. “Goodnight, Colt.” She flicked the reins, and the wagon began to roll away.

  “Goodnight, Cathy,” Colt called back.

  He liked that woman. It was a shame her sister wasn’t as even tempered. Well, he would have to try again tomorrow.

  Chapter 9

  Early the following morning, Sam and the James brothers were crawling around looking for Slinky when they saw the deputy approach Cassie’s house. Sam crouched down behind a nearby privy and pulled the others down.

  “Why are we hiding, Sam?” Petey asked.

  “I don’t want Deputy Fraser to see us,” she said. “He might be mad enough to put us in jail.”

  “I don’t want to go to jail, Bowie,” Petey said.

  Bowie slipped his arm around his little brother’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Petey. Uncle Jethro won’t let him do that to us.”

  Sam shook her head. “Uncle Jethro ain’t in town. I saw him ride out early this morning.”

  “Maybe we better go back to the hotel,” Bowie worried.

  “What makes you think the deputy won’t find us there? I bet that’s why he went to Cassie’s house.”

  “You mean he came to put Cassie in jail?” Petey asked.

  “What should we do, Sam?” Bowie asked, hugging his brother tighter to comfort him.

  Sam frowned. “You keep watch to see if he hauls her off to jail while I think about this.”

  After several long moments she said, “We best get out of town.”

  “Cassie would hide us,” Petey said.

  “How can she if he locks her up, too?”

  “Where will we go?” Bowie asked. “The Lazy B?”

  “No, he could find us there. We gotta go farther than that. Maybe all the way to Gila Rock.”

  Bowie snorted. “We’d have to take a stagecoach to go that far.”

  “And the stage bound for Gila Rock will be arriving in an hour,” Sam said triumphantly.

  “Won’t do us no good. It cost two dollars each for a ticket, and we ain’t got no money.”

  “Yeah, no money,” Petey said.

  Bowie peered around the corner of the privy, then dodged back when he saw Colt knock on Cassie’s door. His hand touched something metallic, half-buried against the side of the wall of the outhouse, and he pulled it up.

  “Hey, look. It’s an old gun.”

  “You be careful with that, Bowie James. You know your daddy said it’s dangerous to play with firearms.”

  “This ain’t dangerous. It’s all rusty, and the trigger’s broken off,” Bowie said. He grinned at Petey and pointed the gun at him. “I’m Deputy Colt Fraser, and you’re under arrest,” he said in a deep voice. “Get them arms up, partner, or I’ll plug you full of holes.”

  Giggling, Petey raised his arms in the air.

  “We’ve got a serious problem and this ain’t no time to be playing games,” Sam declared. “Where can we get six dollars?” She looked at Bowie, who was trying to twirl the gun like he’d seen some of the cowboys doing. “Hey, give me that gun.”

  Sam studied the gun and checked out the chamber to be sure it was empty. “I’ve got an idea. Right before the stage is due, we could use this gun and hold up the bank.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Bowie said. “They’d know it was us.”

  “Not if we put bandannas over our faces. We’ll hold up the bank, get out of town until Deputy Fraser leaves Thursday, and then come back. Come on, let’s get our bandannas.”

  “Can we take our pets along?” Petey asked as the three hurried off.

  Cassie pulled the cake out of the oven, dropped the pan on the stovetop, and stared grimly at the cake’s sunken middle. Though she’d followed Cathy’s recipe closely, the cake had collapsed. And the cookies she’d tried baking had ended up so hard and tasteless she’d almost broken a tooth trying to bite through one. Every other female over twelve in this town could mix flour, sugar, and eggs together and end up with a tasty confection! She was a total failure as a woman and knew it. Winning that red ribbon yesterday had been pure dumb luck. And Colt Fraser knew it, too.

  Their dinner conversation last Thursday had been preying on her mind. She had known from the beginning that his attention to her was just a game, a temporary challenge before he moved on. Yet despite knowing that, she liked him and enjoyed being with him. What was wrong with her?

  He’d said he wanted to have sex with her—all men thought alike in that respect—and what frightened her was how much she was tempted by him. If only Ted were here. He was the only man who really understood her, who recognized her feelings of womanly ineptitude.

  In frustration, she swept the cookbook off the table, then kicked it across the floor, when a knock sounded on the front door.

  When she opened it, Colt Fraser, looking bigger than life, stood braced against the threshold. His tall frame filled the door, and the sight of his abominable, smug grin incensed her.

  She slammed the door in his face.

  His incessant knock forced her to return to open the door. This time his grin was contrite.

  “Did that help?” he asked, with an intuitiveness she found frustrating.

  “Immensely!” She spun on her heel, leaving him standing in the doorway.

  Stepping inside, Colt closed the door behind him and crossed the room to her.

  “Why did you come here, Colt?”

  “What are you mad about?”

  She stopped and pivoted, infuriated by his feigned innocence. “Yesterday, I foolishly wanted to apologize for the tree incident. I appreciated your help, and I was sorry that it aggravated your wound,” she said.

  “No real harm done,” he replied.

  His blasé acceptance only fueled the fire more. “And the fuss you made over Slinky—”

  “The snake?”

  She nodded. “I hadn’t known about the tricks they’d been pulling on you, but I know they meant well with Slinky. The snake is one of their favorite pets, and they were giving it to you as a gift to say they’re sorry. You broke their hearts when you blasted them and me in front of the whole town.”

  “I guess I got carried away. Those three are always up to something, and one of these days somebody is going to get seriously hurt as the result of their pranks.”

  “They can be mischievous, but they really aren’t bad children.”

  “Yeah, I know. They aren’t any worse than my brothers and I were at that age. I don’t know why I got so angry.”

  “It was just a harmless grass snake.”

  “I have to admit something, Cassie: I’ve always hated snakes. I can’t bear to touch them. I literally freeze up when I see one. So, I’m sorry about how I reacted; they had no way of knowing how I feel about snakes. I thought it was just another mean trick. I should have realized their good intentions from the look on Petey’s face when he gave it to me.”

  Colt grasped her lightly by the shoulders. “So now that the apologies are out of the way, Miz Cassie, shall we kiss and make up?”

  She wasn’t about to give in to his charm.
“I accept your apology, and I hope you accept mine,” she retorted. “If you’ll excuse me now, I must get back to the kitchen. I have something in the oven.”

  “Will you have dinner with me tonight, Cassie?”

  “I’m sorry, I’ve already made other plans,” she lied.

  “Okay, I’ll go,” he replied, before cupping her face between his palms and claiming her lips in a kiss that was excruciatingly sweet in its tenderness, yet set her legs to trembling. “Have a good day, Cassie,” he said and turned on his heels.

  As he walked away, Cassie felt a tightness in her heart. After only a few days, Colt Fraser had aroused confusing feelings that threatened her love for Ted. It didn’t make sense—and it scared her.

  First thing in the morning, she would go back to the ranch until he left town. That was the safest thing to do.

  The clock had just struck high noon when three masked bandits entered the bank. They had chosen their moment wisely, knowing it was siesta time and the streets would be deserted. The tallest of the trio held a rusty pistol in hand.

  “This is a holdup. Hands up,” the weapon-toting leader said in a deep, funny-sounding voice.

  “Don’t shoot,” Don Peterson said, then glanced at his teller. “Get your arms up, Joseph,” he said as he raised his own in the air.

  The bandit leader threw a pouch on the counter. “Okay, put six dollars in the bag, and don’t try anything smart or I’ll have to gun you down. I might be little, but this gun makes me as tall as anyone.”

  “I would say so,” Peterson said. “Maybe we should talk about this. I might be willing to lend you the money, stranger.”

  “Mama said it’s not proper to borrow money from friends.”

  “What did she say about stealing it?” Peterson asked, amused.

  “That stealing’s a sin, but we promise to pay it all back as soon as we can save up the money.”

  “What do you need six dollars for, Sam?” the banker asked as he placed the six gold pieces in the bag.

  “I don’t know any Sam,” the bandit growled. “My name’s Belle.”

  “Yeah, her name’s Belle,” one of her cohorts said. “And mine’s Frank.”

  “And I’m Jesse,” the smallest of the three said.

  “Frank! Jesse! Oh my, Joseph, it’s the James Gang!” Peterson said, feigning fright.

  “We’re sorry, Mr. Peterson, but we gotta get out of town quick. The deputy’s mad at us. No telling what he might do to us.”

  “Hmmm, Deputy Fraser struck me as being a reasonable man. What did you do to him now?”

  Suddenly three men entered the bank and drew their guns. “Hands up. This is a holdup,” one said. “Get that safe opened and make it quick.”

  “Hey, we’re holding up this bank,” Sam protested.

  The man snorted. “With that, kid?” Snatching the rusty gun out of her hand, he held it up for the others to see. “This gun’s empty and ain’t even got a trigger.”

  “Now you went and blabbed,” Sam said angrily, then kicked him in the shin.

  “You little brat,” he snarled, and backhanded her across the cheek. “I oughta kill you.” He raised a hand to hit her again, and Petey began to cry.

  “Pike, we ain’t here to watch you beat up kids,” one of the men said, impatiently.

  Pike lowered his hand and shoved Sam away. “Go sit against that wall, and shut up that wailing kid.” He turned a wrathful glare on the two boys. “You two’ll get the same as her if you don’t listen to me.”

  Leaning against the livery, Jeff Braden grinned when he saw Sam and the James brothers enter the bank with red bandannas over their faces. What were they up to now? He couldn’t blame them for being bored. He’d lived in Arena Roja for almost nineteen years, and it was the most boring spot on earth. Maybe he should move on to some place like California, like Colt Fraser was doing. He knew his sisters would be sorry to see him go, but his dad sure didn’t have any use for him.

  He was turning to go inside the livery when four riders rode up to the bank and dismounted. They looked vaguely familiar; did they work for one of the local spreads? The men tied their horses to the bank’s hitching post, and three of them went inside.

  Jeff’s instinct kicked in. The whole thing was suspicious. To avoid attracting the outside man’s attention, he went inside the livery, then climbed out of the back window and raced down the road to the jail.

  “Where’s my dad?” he asked breathlessly.

  Colt glanced up from the pile of Wanted posters he was going through. “Rode out this morning and said he won’t be back until afternoon. What’s the problem?”

  “Four strangers just rode into town and three of them went into the bank.”

  “You didn’t recognize any of them?”

  “I don’t think so. One of them rode a bald-face sorrel that looked familiar, but I don’t remember where I saw it before.”

  Colt jumped to his feet. “Was another one a dappled gray or a black-and-white calico?”

  “Yeah, you know them?”

  Colt pulled out the gun on his hip and checked the chamber. “Those are the same men who held up the stage.” He unlocked the rifle case and grabbed a weapon. “You say three went inside. What about the fourth?”

  “He stayed with the horses.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Just a couple minutes. I ran down here as soon as I saw them go in.”

  “How many employees are inside the bank?”

  “Peterson, the owner, and Joe Adams, the teller. But Sam Starr and the James brothers are inside, too.”

  “We can’t try to rush them, then; one of those children could get hurt. Is there a back door to the bank?”

  “Yeah, it opens into Peterson’s office.”

  Colt thought for several seconds, then said, “Okay, here’s the plan. I’ll go in and hit them from the rear, but I need you to take out that sentry in the front.”

  “You mean shoot him?”

  “Hell, no! That would alert the others in the bank. Create a diversion to distract him. Don’t try to pull any fool stunt like you did when that stage was held up; remove that damn holster and conceal your gun. Pretend you’re drunk or something. Just get close enough to either knock him out or disarm him.”

  Colt opened the desk drawer and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “Try to get these on him. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I can try.”

  “All right, let’s go. Remember, no shooting unless you absolutely have to.”

  “All right,” Jeff said. “But to be honest with you, I miss anything I aim at.”

  “You’ll do fine. Let’s go!”

  The two of them ran back to the livery and saw that the robber was still with the horses.

  “All right, Jeff, let’s do it,” Colt said. “Good luck.” He moved on to the rear of the bank.

  Jeff took a deep breath and stepped outside the door of the livery. The outlaw saw him and was watching; Jeff knew he had to cross the street without the man becoming more suspicious.

  “Sam,” he shouted loudly. “Bowie, Petey.” He started to cross the road. “Where in hell are those kids?” he grumbled loudly enough to be overheard.

  “Hey, Charley,” he yelled to a man who had come out of the merchandise store to shake out a rug. “Have you seen Sam or the James boys? They were supposed to muck out the horse stalls and they ain’t done it yet.”

  “See one, you see all three,” Charley said. “But I ain’t seen them, Jeff.” He went back inside.

  The man at the hitching post watched and listened to every word.

  “Howdy,” Jeff said, approaching him. “You seen three kids around here?”

  “No,” the man said and leaned back against the hitching post.

  “Thanks, stranger.”

  As Jeff started to pass, he whipped out his gun, pressed it against the man’s stomach, and cocked the trigger.

  “One move and I shoot,” he warned. “Put both hands on that hi
tching post.”

  “What are you doing? I ain’t done nothin’,” the man protested, but he did as told. Jeff pulled the man’s gun out of its holster, then reached for the handcuffs.

  “Now turn around slowly and put your hands behind your back. My finger’s on this trigger, so no foolish moves.”

  “Okay, okay, just be careful.”

  Jeff cuffed him. “Now let’s you and me take a stroll over to that livery.”

  Once they were inside, Jeff found a rope and tied the man to a post.

  Cassie came in. “What’s going on here?” she asked, startled at seeing the bound man.

  “Fraser and I are foiling a bank robbery. He’s gone in to stop the others.”

  “He went in alone?”

  “Yeah. He told me to create a diversion and take out this guy.”

  “We’ve got to help him. Get some of the other men in town,” Cassie cried as she rushed to the door.

  “Wait, Cassie!” Jeff yelled. “Sam Starr and the James brothers are inside. Fraser doesn’t want us to rush the bank. He’s afraid the children will get hurt.”

  “The children! Oh, dear God!”

  She fought back her panic and tried to think. Somehow she had to help Colt. If they couldn’t rush the bank, maybe creating a diversion inside would be just as helpful.

  Cassie raced across the street.

  Chapter 10

  Rifle in hand, Colt eased the back door open and crossed the office, then paused to listen at the door that opened into the bank.

  A loud voice declared, “You better move faster gettin’ that safe open, or start prayin’, mister, ’cause I ain’t plannin’ on spendin’ the day here.”

  Colt recognized the speaker’s voice at once—it was the same gang that had held up the stage.

  “I’m going as fast as I can,” Peterson said.

  “Benson, watch the street to see if we’ve been spotted,” the gang leader ordered.

  “Ain’t nobody out there, Pike. You know this town closes down at noon. Hey, I don’t see Colby and the horses,” Benson said.

  “It’s taking so damn long, he probably got out of the sun,” Pike grumbled. “Mister, either you get that safe open now or I’m blowin’ a hole in you and that clerk.”