For the Roses (Claybornes' Brides (Rose Hill) 1)

Cole was still keeping his eye on the two men huddled together at the table. One of them was talking in a low voice. The other kept nodding. Then the agreeable one got up and went outside.

Cole immediately turned his gaze to the street beyond the window. He was curious to find out where the man was going.

“Travis, why don’t you go on outside,” Cole suggested in a whisper. “Use the back door.”

“Billie doesn’t have a back door,” Travis reminded his brother.

“Then make one.”

“I told you to stay out of my business,” Harrison repeated.

Cole shrugged. Travis had already left to go into Billie’s storeroom. Harrison tossed a coin on the countertop. “Thanks for the drink, Billie.”

He turned around and walked over to face the man who had tried to kill him.

The stranger looked up from his drink and frowned at Harrison. His right hand was slowly edging toward his lap.

“I saw your face, you son-of-a-bitch.”

“What are you talking about?”

Harrison told him. He used every foul, four-letter word he could think of while he insulted him, but the one word that finally got a reaction was coward. Ugly-face took exception to the word.

He started to stand up. Cole’s voice stopped him cold. “Harrison, you’re talking to the scraggliest looking animal I’ve ever seen. I can smell his stink all the way over here. If his hand moves once more, I’m gonna have to shoot him.”

“For the love of mother, don’t start anything in here, Cole,” Billie pleaded. He sounded like he was about to cry. “I just got my new mirror up on the wall. Go on outside, please. I’m begging you.”

“Stay where you are, Cole. This is my fight, not yours. What’s your name, coward?”

“I’m going to kill you. No one calls Quick a coward. And people call me Quick because I’m quick as a snake.”

After giving the threat, Coward stood up and strutted outside. He was wearing two guns. Harrison was wearing only one.

Cole went to the doorway to watch. Billie hurried out from behind his counter and ran over to the window.

“Don’t you think you’d best get on out there and help your friend? Everyone in town knows Harrison can’t shoot his way out of a gunnysack. He’s gonna get himself killed. I sure wish Dooley was here. He went fishing today. He’ll be sorry he missed this.”

Cole was busy looking at the tops of the buildings, trying to locate the other two men. They’d disappeared, but he knew they were hiding nearby. Men who ambushed once will do it again, or so Cole believed, and if the three of them were friends, they all thought the same gutless way. Cowards ran with cowards, didn’t they?

“Now, what’s Harrison doing standing in the middle of the road talking to Quick?” Billie asked.

“He’s probably lawyering,” Cole replied.

“His speechifying is making Quick-As-a-Snake real mad. I can see him fuming from here.”

Harrison was trying to get Quick to admit his guilt before he hurt him. If he cooperated and owned up to his crime, Harrison would force himself to behave in a civilized manner. He wouldn’t kill him. No, he’d let him crawl away . . . eventually. He would beat the hell out of him first, of course.

“Your bullet could have killed Mary Rose Clayborne,” he roared.

Quick backed a step away from the rage he saw in Harrison’s eyes. “I’m going to kill you,” he repeated in a stammer. “Here and now in front of witnesses. We’ll have a draw, on the square.”

Harrison nodded. He was through talking. “Tell me the rules,” he demanded.

“What?”

“Tell me the rules of a draw.”

Quick spit in the dirt and let out a snicker. “We each take a walk backwards real slow for about ten paces.”

“Can you count that high?”

Quick’s eyes narrowed. “I’m gonna like killing you,” he whispered before he continued with his explanation. “When one of us stops, the other one stops too. Then we shoot each other. You’ll be dead before your hand reaches your gun. They don’t call me Quick-As-a-Snake for nothing.”

He snickered again and started backing away. Harrison also backed up. The two men faced when they were about fifteen feet apart.

Quick suddenly started shaking his head. “Don’t shoot me,” he cried out.

“Why the hell not?” Harrison bellowed back.

“I ain’t going to draw. I’m putting my hands up real easy. I don’t want to shoot.”

Harrison was infuriated. “What changed your mind?”

“I don’t like the odds.”

Harrison wanted to shoot him anyway. He realized he was acting like a savage. He didn’t care. The bastard could have killed Mary Rose, and life without her would have killed him.

He took a long, deep breath and tried to calm his rage. “All right, put your hands up. I’m going to let Judge Burns hang you.”

Quick put his hands up. Harrison started walking toward him. He happened to glance toward the walkway and saw Mary Rose peeking out at him through the window of Morrison’s store. She looked extremely upset.

He wasn’t altogether unhappy she’d witnessed the confrontation. He wished he’d been able to shoot the gun out of Quick’s hand though. Then maybe she’d start believing he was just as capable as her brothers.

He’d take what he could get. Facing down Quick had to count for something.

God, he really needed to get the hell out of here, he suddenly realized. He was beginning to think and act like Cole.

Where was Cole? Harrison knew the answer before he turned around. The brother was standing ten feet behind him and just a little to his left. He wasn’t alone. Travis and Douglas flanked his sides.

“How long have you been standing there?” Harrison bellowed the question.

“Long enough,” Cole answered. “I wouldn’t turn your back on Snake if I were you. He looks like he’s itching to shoot you in the back.”

“I told you . . .”

Harrison spotted the man leaning out a window above the empty storeroom. He was bringing his gun up when Harrison drew his gun and fired one shot.

It was enough. The gun flew out of the bastard’s hand. He let out a howl of pain.

Quick seized the opportunity and went for his guns. The third man came running out from between two buildings and fired at the same instant.

Cole shot the man coming out of the alley, then turned to Quick. He was too late. Travis had already beaten him to the task. He was putting his gun back in his gunbelt before Cole had time to recock his gun. “Now, that was quick,” Travis drawled out.

Douglas had already moved to stand behind his brothers with his back to them so he could protect them from any more surprises.

Harrison wanted to kill every one of the interfering brothers.

His humiliation wasn’t complete, however. Cole started giving him hell for being so stupid.

“Didn’t you wonder where the other two went? If we hadn’t interfered, you’d be flat on your face with a bullet in your back. Start using your head, Harrison. Hotheads don’t last long out here.”

Harrison took a deep breath. He knew Cole was right. Anger had almost gotten him killed.

“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Oh, you were thinking all right. You were thinking all about how Quick could have killed Mary Rose. Isn’t that true?”

Harrison nodded. He was fast beginning to feel like an idiot.

“Listen up, City Boy. There’s only one rule to live by out here. Someone’s always going to be faster. Always. As long as you remember that, and believe it, you’ll stay alive.” He shoved his finger in Harrison’s chest. “Got that?”

Harrison nodded. Cole let out an expletive. “We didn’t kill any of them.”

“I wish we had,” Harrison admitted. “I guess I’ll round them up and lock them up in the empty store.”

“It won’t do any good. They’ll only get out. Let the s

heriff deal with them.”

“You don’t have a sheriff, remember?”

Cole shrugged. “Do what you want then. You were so angry, you didn’t get Quick to confess. He isn’t going to now. Get ready. Here comes Mary Rose. She looks as mad as a hornet.”

Harrison didn’t want to turn around and look. Mary Rose reached Douglas first.

“Will you get the horses. We’re going home. Now.”

“Are you mad about something, Mary Rose?”

“You just shot up the town, Douglas.”

“I didn’t shoot anyone. They did. Harrison started it.”

“I’m not in the mood for excuses. You were as much a part of it as they were.”

“Why aren’t you in the mood? Anything else happen?”

“Eleanor just called Mrs. Morrison a fat cow. That’s what else. Let’s go.”

Cole had turned away so his sister wouldn’t see his smile. Calling Mrs. Morrison a fat cow was a real mean thing to do. He couldn’t help but appreciate the guts it must have taken for Eleanor to stand up to a woman who weighed four times more than she did. It was also a stupid thing to do, but Cole didn’t want to dwell on that fact.

Travis wasn’t smiling. He was horrified Eleanor had insulted Catherine’s mother.

“I’ll admit she’s a hefty-sized woman, but I wouldn’t call her a cow,” he told Mary Rose.

“Mary Rose, come here. I need more money. I’ve found something I want to buy.”

Eleanor shouted the order from the walkway in front of the store. Mary Rose ignored her. She walked with Douglas to get the horses.

Cole explained Harrison’s plan to Travis and told him to tell Douglas when their sister wasn’t within earshot.

Harrison got inside the carriage. He’d given up on the idea of rounding up the wounded men. His only hope was that they all bled to death.

The three brothers left with their sister a few minutes later. Eleanor finally realized she’d been abandoned and ran over to the buggy.

Harrison didn’t help her get inside.

“Have you ever seen such rudeness in all your life?” she muttered. “How dare Mary Rose leave without me. I am her guest, I’ll have you remember.”

Harrison gritted his teeth and didn’t say a word until they were halfway home. Then he pulled the carriage over to the edge of the road.

“You aren’t a guest. You’re a charity case.”

She tried to slap him. He grabbed hold of her hand and then let go. “Or at least you were a charity case.”

“How dare you talk to me like that.”

“Get out, Eleanor.”

She let out a gasp. Her hand flew to her throat. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. Get out.”

“No.”

“Fine. I’ll throw you out.”

“You cannot be serious.”

He reached for her arm. She let out a stone-shattering scream.

Then she got out of the carriage. “You’ve lost your senses. When I tell Mary Rose . . .”

He didn’t let her finish her threat. “I don’t think you’ll make it back, so I don’t have to worry about that, do I?”

“You can’t treat me this way.” She burst into tears and threw her hands over her face.

“Mary Rose’s brothers will cheer me. I’m making their job easier for them. They were going to give you the boot tomorrow.”

Eleanor was quite remarkable. She stopped weeping in mid sob. “What do you mean?”

“They’re going to make you leave.”

“Mary Rose won’t let them.”

“Everyone voted,” he said. He didn’t feel at all bad that he was upsetting her. It was time someone shook her up. She’d been acting like a spoiled little princess with a thorn in her backside long enough. The young woman needed to learn the consequences of her actions.

“Adam would vote to let me stay,” she cried out.

“He would if he could,” Harrison agreed. “But he’s head of the household, so he always abstains. Cole, Travis, and Douglas voted against you. I would have, but I’m not a member of the family, so they wouldn’t let me vote. In the Clayborne household, majority rules, Eleanor. You’ve been given every chance. Mary Rose was going to help you pack tonight. I’ve just saved her the chore.”

“I won’t leave.”

“If you should happen to find your way back to the ranch, one of the brothers will haul you back to town and dump you there.”

Harrison wasn’t showing any mercy. He was a bit ashamed when he realized how much he was enjoying himself.

Eleanor became hysterical. Harrison picked up the reins and started for the ranch again.

Her screams followed him along the trail. He started whistling in an attempt to block out the noise. It suddenly dawned on him that the screaming wasn’t receding. It was getting closer. He turned and saw her running toward him. Eleanor could move when she wanted to. Odd, she couldn’t find the strength to come downstairs in the morning to eat with the family, but she could run up a mountain just as fast as the horses were trotting along.

She was shouting colorful obscenities at him. Harrison turned back to the road and increased the pace. According to the plan, Cole would be waiting just around the next bend. He was probably watching Eleanor now, making certain she didn’t injure herself or get into trouble.

Cole would eventually become Eleanor’s savior. He would make her promise to behave herself and then bring her home.

The rest of the trip was blissfully peaceful for Harrison. He forgot about Eleanor’s behavior and concentrated on his own. He was having trouble accepting the fact that he had deliberately provoked a gunfight. He hadn’t been acting like a civilized man. No doubt about it, the longer he stayed at the ranch, the more barbaric he became.

His thoughts turned to the confrontation ahead of him. Now that all the brothers were home, he would talk to them tonight. He dreaded the duty, and he thought perhaps his own feelings about the brothers had been yet another reason for his procrastination. They were all good, decent men. Damn, he almost wished they weren’t.

Harrison refused to think about Mary Rose’s reaction to the fact that he’d been acting under false pretenses from the moment they’d met.

He started down the hill, spotted the ranch in the distance, and suddenly felt as though he were coming home. Three of the four brothers were sitting on the porch. Adam was working inside the corral, riding a black horse Harrison hadn’t seen before. The animal was trying to buck his rider off his back. Adam wasn’t having any trouble staying on, which was a remarkable feat, given the fact that the brother was riding bareback. He looked as though he were glued to the wild animal’s back. Adam’s movements were fluid and graceful. It wasn’t as easy as it appeared to be though. Adam had taken his shirt off, and Harrison could see the sweat from his strenuous exertion glistening on his shoulders.

Harrison waved to him as he passed him and continued on to the barn. Travis shouted to him. He pointed to a bottle he held up in one hand. Harrison nodded. He took the buggy into the barn, unhitched the horses and put them in the back pasture to cool down, then moved MacHugh outside to an empty corral so he could get some exercise, and headed for the main house. He was ready for a cool drink and was smiling in anticipation.

“Where’s Mary Rose?” he called out.

“Inside,” Douglas called back.

Adam had dismounted and was just opening the gait to the corral when Harrison walked past him. He stopped to speak to him.

“After supper tonight, I’d like to talk to you and your brothers.”

“All right,” Adam agreed. “What do you want to talk about?”

“I’ll explain later,” Harrison hedged. “I don’t want Mary Rose to listen in.”

Adam nodded. He unfolded his shirt and put it on. The two men walked together. Adam looked thoughtful. Harrison was a little surprised he didn’t ask more questions.

“It’s hot out, isn’t it, Harrison?” Cole remar

ked.

“It sure is,” Harrison answered before he realized whom he was talking to.

Harrison increased his pace until he was almost running.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded in a near shout.

“I live here,” Cole replied.

“Where’s Eleanor?” Harrison asked.

“Isn’t she with you?” Adam asked from behind.

“She was supposed to be with Cole,” Harrison answered. “What happened? Did you take her back to town and leave her there?”

Even as he asked the question, he knew it wasn’t possible. Cole wouldn’t have had enough time to take Eleanor back to Blue Belle and then make it home before Harrison.

Unless he’d taken a shortcut.

Harrison jumped on the possibility. “She’s inside, isn’t she?”

Douglas smiled. Cole tilted his chair back, propped his booted feet up on the rail, lowered the rim of his hat, and closed his eyes.

Harrison turned to Adam. The eldest brother looked appalled.

“She isn’t inside,” Adam announced. He turned his attention to Cole. “I swear I’m going to tear the hide off your backside if anything happened to her. Were you supposed to bring her home?”

“Yes,” Cole admitted without opening his eyes.

Adam reached the bottom step and stopped. Harrison sat down on the top step. He decided he’d let Adam deal with the problem. He would have better luck getting answers out of Cole.

“What happened?” Adam asked.

“She’s all right,” Cole said.

“Don’t you realize the dangers up there? Are you completely out of your mind? For the love of God, there are wild animals roaming about. What could you have been thinking?”

“She won’t hurt any of the animals. Don’t get all lathered up, Adam.”

“That isn’t funny,” Adam snapped.

Harrison began to smile, but Adam gave him a hard look and he quickly forced a frown. He knew Eleanor had to be all right. Cole wouldn’t have left her to fend for herself up there, and once Harrison had gotten over his initial surprise, he realized that fact. Adam would realize it, too, as soon as he got over being angry. Cole was just having a little sport with all of them. Harrison would let him have his laugh and then find out where he’d hidden Eleanor.