Drummond stepped forward, his voice a low command. "Jessie, I need you to collect the girls and get to somewhere safe as fast as possible. If there is trouble, you need to be somewhere safe.”
He looked at Sage.
"Don't even ask," she said. "I'm here to help. If there is trouble, I stand.” Teagen's wife, Jessie, was six months' pregnant and not raised to fight, but Sage was a McMurray. She saw no reason she couldn't stand.
"Tell the old hand in the barn to saddle three horses, would you Daniel? Have him bring them around to the side of the house so they can't be seen from the bridge," he said without taking his eyes off Sage.
The young Ranger left as Drum whispered, "Can you take Will and Andy through the hills? They have to be away from here. If my dream is coming true, the men at the bridge have some kind of papers. They'll be demanding custody of both boys."
Sage didn't like the idea of leaving when trouble might be riding in, but she and Drum were the only two at the house who knew the back passage. She also knew Teagen might try to stall, but he'd follow the law. He'd think it his duty to hand the boys over if the proper authorities demanded it. Right now, Drummond's suggestion made a great deal more sense.
As everyone around her hurried to follow orders, Sage stared at him. "Tell me your dream."
"Two closed carriages, surrounded by guards, at the bridge. The first holds a judge who Teagen knows and trusts, and a man claiming to be a relative of the boys. The second carriage holds Shelley Lander and a big guy with red hair. He fits the description of the outlaw you called Charlie, who kidnapped you. In my dream Charlie was swearing to Shelley that you and the boys will be tied up and on your way back to the count before nightfall. He laughed and said he'd be paid a thousand for bringing you back alive and ten thousand for each of the boys' heads. It seems, unlike you, the boys are no good to him alive."
Sage felt a chill go all the way to her heart. Even if Drum told the judge his fears, he wouldn't be believed. After all, the only evidence he had was a dream. Teagen would believe him, but would he stand against the judge?
She ran to the porch and lifted a spyglass Teagen kept hidden on a windowsill. Two carriages waited along with a dozen men on horseback. Teagen was on horseback, barring the entrance.
She didn't want to believe it, but the scene was exactly as Drum had described. She had to get the boys away. If she took the pass, she could be in town an hour before the carriages could go by road. She could collect Bonnie and disappear. Charlie was chasing her and the boys; he wouldn't waste time pestering the McMurrays if she were gone.
"I have to stand with Teagen," Drum swore as he pulled a rifle from just inside the door, "much as I want to go with you, I can't leave him alone if that outlaw you called Charlie is with them and decides to cause trouble. From what you told me, he'd kill anyone and everyone to get to them.”
She knew what he wasn't telling her. She could get the boys to safety without him, but her brother might not survive without more firepower. He was outnumbered twelve to one right now at the bridge. The old, broken-down cowhand in the barn might fire a few rounds, but he would be little help in a fight. The other men who worked on the ranch were probably too far away. Travis would help, but his cabin was too far in the woods to have heard the alarm round fired.
Drum looked down at her, and she saw the conflict in his eyes. She was his world, but other things mattered, others demanded his help, and honor drove his actions now.
"Find me," she whispered. "When you put an end to this, find me."
"I will," he answered as he stepped off the porch.
He motioned for Daniel to take the horse Sage had ridden in on.
"Drum," she whispered.
He heard and turned as he shoved his rifle into its sheath. "I love you” Her words, raw and honest, shocked her as much as they did him.
"Go!" he demanded. "I'll come after you.”
She watched them ride toward the bridge, knowing Drum would buy her as much time as he could, even if it cost him his life.
CHAPTER 40
THE LITTLE BOYS AND SAGE MADE IT TO THE beginning of the pass before they heard gunfire. When it came, it sounded like thunder rolling off the hills.
Will looked up at her with his sad eyes. "Jessie's girls? Are they safe?"
"Yes," she answered, loving that he worried about others more than himself. "They know where to hide. They'll be safer when we are away."
"It's the men who want our blood” Andy said. "I was afraid they'd come again”
"Your blood?" Sage asked.
Will nodded. "Our father said there were bad men who wanted to wipe our blood off the earth”
"Why?" Sage didn't think the boys were making much sense, but they both seemed to agree.
"I don't know," Will said, "I just heard Father say to Mother that we had to keep moving, keep running, or they'd come."
The talk of blood gave her a chill, and she kicked her horse.
"Stay up with me, boys," she said, watching Andy closely. Will handled horses well, but Andy was still learning. She slowed her pace slightly. "We have to go get Miss Bonnie” If the men were looking for her and the boys, the second place they'd go would be the clinic.
As they climbed, she tried not to listen for shots being fired.
Drum and her brother were back there, and all she could do was outrun trouble.
Part of her wanted to ride back and make sure Drum and Teagen weren't hurt, but she couldn't risk it. Not now. If one of them had been shot or captured and she rode back, their sacrifice would have all been for nothing.
She led the boys down the pass and along the creek. Teagen had chosen the location of her clinic well; she could ride in now without anyone from town knowing she and the boys were there.
When she neared, she saw a man working on the door to the barn. He was tall, very tall, and lean, but he didn't stop his work when she rode in.
As the boys slid down from their mounts, Sage said, "Go pack what you can. A change of clothes, extra socks. I need to talk to Miss Bonnie.”
The boys hurried into the house.
Sage walked from room to room until she found Bonnie in the kitchen.
The nurse looked shocked to see her. "Back already? I thought you were staying for Thanksgiving.” Bonnie didn't give her time to answer. "What's wrong?"
Sage noticed the table was set for two. "Drum thinks the men who kidnapped me and the raiders who killed Will and Andy's folks were part of the same band. They're at the ranch now, looking for us."
Bonnie paled.
"We have to disappear, at least for a while.” Sage kept her voice low and calm so she wouldn't frighten the nurse. "How fast can you be ready to ride up to my grandfather's camp? The Apache will take us in."
Bonnie shook her head. "Doc. I can't ride. You know that. I'd only slow you down. Go without me."
"No." Sage could not leave her here. "We'll go slow. You'll make it fine. I can't leave you here alone."
"No," Bonnie said as she spread her hand across her middle. "I can't risk a fall.”
"I'll watch over her." A man's voice came from the doorway. "She'll be safer here with me”
Sage turned. The tall cowboy who'd been fixing the barn door filled the entrance. It took her a minute to place him. The man who'd bumped into them the first day in Galveston, the cowboy in the saloon at Shelley's place, the man Drum had talked to on the road one night who'd lost his brother. It made no sense that he'd now be here in her kitchen. His words were meant for her, but his eyes were on Bonnie.
He crossed the room to stand in front of the nurse.
Sage started to ask what was going on, when she noticed neither of them was paying any attention to her.
The stranger spread his hand over Bonnie's just below her waist. "Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.
"I planned to” Bonnie answered. "I wasn't sure how you'd react.”
They stared at one another. Sage shook her head, trying to get the picture before her to make sense. "Tell him what? Who is this man? What's he doing here? What's he doing touching you?"
Apparently everyone in the kitchen had gone deaf except Sage, who could still hear her questions echoing off the wall.
Finally, the stranger turned toward her. "I'm Bradford Summerfield, the father of this child"-he moved his hand over Bonnie's middle-"and you're not taking my family anywhere, Doc. They'll be safe. I'll give my life to keep them so”
There are times in life when the earth tilts too far on its axis for just a second, and everyone in the world is in danger of falling. Sage felt one of those moments. A dozen questions came to mind, like how did Bonnie, who never even talked to men, manage to find a family? Sage wanted to yell for her to stop allowing that man to put his hand on her, but about the time she opened her mouth, Sage saw the tears on Bonnie's smiling face.
The cowboy saw them too, and he pulled her into his hug. And there they stood, totally forgetting Sage was in the room all over again.
She didn't try to interrupt them again. She just stared at the pair, wondering why love couldn't come that easily for her. Bonnie couldn't have been with this cowboy more than a matter of hours. Neither of them looked like great talkers, but somehow they'd found one another, fallen in love, and started a baby.
He whispered something to Bonnie, then pulled away. "I'll water your horses, Doc, then you can be on your way."
While Bonnie packed them food, Sage drilled the cowboy on all she thought he should do. Tell the marshal Bonnie was in danger. Stand guard. Make sure she eats right.
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