"These are my brothers, Cole and Malachi. And their wives, Kristin and

Shannon. And that's my nephew, Gabe. And I take it that Shannon and

Malachi's twins are in the kitchen" -- "The little darlings!" Dolly said

rapturously. "We've come because Jamie sent us a wire about von Heusen,"

Cole Slater told her.

Tess gasped. She stared at them all. So this was having a family.

They were so close. They knew one another so well.

They were happy and content, she could see it on their faces; they were

serene with their world.

She shook her head.

"Thank you, but" -- She swung around on Jamie.

"Jamie, you can't--they could get killed here!"

"Well, ma'am, I'm not planning on getting killed," Malachi told her,

tipping back his hat.

"I'm not planning on it at all. You see, we came to kill them if need

be."

"You don't know von Heusen." "Oh," Kristin said cheerfully, "we have

known men a great deal like him." She smiled, stepping forward.

"We're family, Tess. And that's what it's all about." She flashed Jamie

a quick grin.

"My brother-in-law was always there when I needed him," she said.

"Oh!" Shannon said suddenly.

"Smell that! Oh, no, Jamie and Miss. Stuart have come home at last, and

it seems we've let dinner burn!"

She swung around, then looked back.

"Well, isn't anyone hungry?"

And Tess realized she was starved.

She glanced at Jamie. She was still amazed, still in shock. But Kristin

Slater set a hand upon her arm.

"Come on! I promise you, things will start to look more reasonable after

a good dinner and a full night's sleep!"

Jamie shrugged.

Tess felt herself gently pulled along. Dinner. The perfect end to the.

perfect day?

Chapter Thirteen.

They had just reached the table when Jon Red Feather came in with Hank.

Tess let out a startled, joyful cry and raced to Jori, giving him a

fierce hug.

"You did come back! You made it out, and you came back!"

"Of course," he told her.

"Someone had to be here to welcome the Slaters. I mean, this is

practically a tribe. Have you realized that yet?"

"A tribe!" Kristin said indignantly.

"Sit down, Jon, and watch your tongue, if you will. Jamie, by the way,

you should marry this girl before you find out that you've got

competition on your hands."

Jon laughed, and Tess flushed. She wasn't sure about Jamie's reaction.

Kristin Slater started calmly doling out food into the numerous plates

on the table. It was a good thing it was a big house.

Uncle Joe, you would have loved to have seen this! she thought.

"If everyone would come sit down," Malachi said, pouting wine into the

glasses around the table, "I think that Jon has something to tell Tess

and Jamie."

"Yes, I do, as a matter of fact." Jon walked to the table and picked up

a glass of wine. He smiled at Tess and Jamie. "Cheers," he said, raising

his glass to his lips.

"Will you all please sit!" Cole said emphatically.

Tess sat at her own dining table--as she had been so politely orderedl

Jamie sat beside her, and they stared at Jon, who looked at them.

"I have discovered why von Heusen is so particularly eager to seize hold

of your land, Miss. Stuart."

Tess gasped, and she and Jamie stood.

"Why?" Tess demanded.

Jon smiled, swirling his wine.

"The railroad." "Oh, my God!" Jamie said, sinking into his chair.

Tess stared at him. He obviously understood completely what was going

on, but she didn't have the least idea.

"What?"

"Miss. Stuart," Cole Slater told her, drawing out a chair and sitting

back in it, "the railroad is coming through here.

That means that this property is going to go sky-high in value. If you

wanted to sell some land straight, it would be worth a small fortune."

"But there's more," Jon Red Feather told her softly.

"If 9ou do sell just the necessary land, the rest of your property will

still go sky-rocketing in value--you'll be able to send your produce

right out from your own doorstep. Tess, you're sitting on the best land

this side of the Mississippi. And that's why von Heusen has been so

desperate to get rid of you. With this property in his hands, he could

really control a good percentage of western Texas."

Tess smiled slowly, looking at Jamie.

"But--but he can't touch any of it now. He must know that! Half of it is

in your name, and even if we hadn't returned" -- "Ownership would have

come to Cole and me and our families," Malachi supplied for her.

"Well, he must know that."

"He does know that," Jon said. Gabe was sitting beside him, and he

tousled the lad's brown hair to be rewarded with a fascinated smile. Jon

smiled in turn, then gave Tess his attention again.

"I let it be known that Jamie had found you and that he'd be bringing

you home. I also went to see Edward Clancy and had him print up the

arrival of Cole and Malachi--and I stressed the ability of the Slater

brothers with their small arms."

"A couple of von Heusen's men rode out here the other day. But we

uninvited them quickly," ICRISTIN said, heaping mashed potatoes on a

plate to pass to Jori. "Cole or Malachi scared them away?" Tess asked.

"Oh, no, Shannon did," Kfistin said.

"She's an ace."

"I'm a decent shot," Shannon said demurely.

"She can hit a fly's eye at a hundred yards," Malachi said drily.

They all laughed, but' Cole sobered quickly and spoke to Jamie in low,

even tones.

"The point is, this von Heusen knows that scare tactics aren't going to

work with Miss. Stuart anymore. No one can quite fathom what he'll pull

next."

"Well, he'll have more to worry about after tomorrow," Tess said firmly.

"I'm going to go to the paper and I'm going to give Clancy another

front-page story. It's going to be all about David and Jeremiah and Mr.

yon Heusen's orders to see that I never returned."

"There might be a few problems with that," Jon advised her.

"Why?"

" Tess asked.

"Because Clancy and your printer gave in at last. Someone shot a few

windows yesterday, and by last night, Clancy had thrown in the towel. He

wanted you to know that he was sorry."

Tess inhaled and exhaled.

"I can do it myself," she said. "You won't have to do it yourself,"

Kristin corrected her, sitting at last with her own plate.

"Dolly and Jane can keep the children here, and Shannon and I will come

in and help you with the press. If you give us directions, we can surely

follow them. The three of us will go into town first thing in the

morning" -- "NOV' Jamie said emphatically.

"I have to," Tess began, turning, ready to give battle. "Jamie, I've

told you" -- "The three of you aren't going anywhere alone," he

intempted harshly.

"It isn't safe. Dammr to hell, Tess! Don't you understand yet?"

"I understand that the newspaper has always been my maj or weapon."

"But right now it isn't enough. Okay, we'll go. You'll do your damned

article, but we'll go together. Tess, what do I have to say to get

through to you? When yon Heusen attacks again, it's going to be all-out

war."

She wanted to retort. She was furious. He was right, of course, but she

still wanted to yell at him.

Fighting desperately to hold her tongue, she looked at Jon.

"How did you find all this out?"

He shrugged.

"I was still in buckskins when I came back, and I didn't change before I

made a visit into town. Von Heusen had one of his guns follow me. I knew

it, so I doubled back and got hold of him. As it happened, Cole and

Malachi had been riding in to meet me." "And," Malachi said, grinning,

"Jon just happened to be dressed for the occasion."

Tess was still confused. Kristin sighed and explained. "Cole and Malachi

convinced von Heusen's hired goon that Jon was scarcely more than a raw

savage and that he actually delighted in human flesh. Between the three

of them they barely had to touch the fellow before he was spilling

everything he had ever known in his life."

Tess smiled and glanced at Jamie.

He was not smiling. She looked away quickly, pushing a piece of roast

around on her plate. They were a lot alike, the Slater brothers. Cole

was the darkest, with golden eyes--his little boy had those eyes, even

though he had his mother's soft blond hair. Malachi was a golden blond

with blue eyes, and Jamie was sandy-haired with his smoke gray and

silver eyes. But the planes of their faces were similar, strong and hard

and weathered. She realized suddenly that she would trust any of the

brothers with anything she had.

And she didn't really mean to keep fighting Jamie. It just kept coming

out that way.

He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping back.

"That was a fine meal, Kristin, Shannon--Dolly?"

"We all contributed," Kristin told him.

"Well, thank you, but I think I need a little air. You got a good

cheroot on you anywhere, Cole?"

"Sure," said his brother, rising as well. He stopped by his wife's chair

and kissed her tenderly at the base of the neck before following Jamie

out.