“Men!” she hissed into the darkness and Verity, waking, crawled nearer to Leah.
“Ssh,” Leah soothed as Verity began to whimper. “No one will hurt you.”
But even as she said it, Leah knew she was lying. Revis obviously didn’t like being thwarted and Leah knew he was going to do his best to hurt her.
Chapter 19
Leah woke to even louder whimpers from Verity and when she opened her eyes she saw Revis kneeling over the woman, caressing her arm. Verity began to inch away, her head sliding up the cabin wall.
“Leave her alone!” Leah said.
“Will you take her place?”
“No, but—.”
“She’s not like you, Leah,” Revis said, using both hands to caress Verity’s arms. “This one is easily terrorized. She doesn’t have much of a mind now, but I could make her lose what she has. All I have to do is…”
He broke off as his hands went to Verity’s throat.
“Stop it!” Leah commanded, grabbing his forearm. “I’ll call Bud and Cal. They won’t let you harm her.”
“I won’t harm her. All I’ll do is let her see me. Wherever she looks that’s where I’ll be.”
Leah knew instantly that what he was talking about would work. Verity had a very tenuous grasp on sanity as it was and with Revis intimidating her she’d not last long. “Why?” Leah whispered. “Why would you hurt her? She’s nothing to you.”
“Because I want something from you,” Revis said. “I want you to take a ride with me.”
This took Leah aback. “A ride? Where? And when you get me away from the cabin do you attack me?”
Abruptly, Revis moved his hands away from Verity and sat back on his haunches. “Maybe I’ve been a little too rough on you. Your brother’d spent an hour an’ a half telling me how pretty you were and how willing you’d be to jump into my bed. So when you resisted me I thought it was an act, but when you used my own brothers against me…” He gave her a reproachful look. “I’m only human, Leah, and I guess I got a little angry.”
Leah sat quite still, looking at him, her mouth half-open in astonishment.
“And I don’t want to terrorize this young lady either, but I want to show you that I’m not such a bad person and I know the only way you’ll come riding with me is if I blackmail you.”
Leah looked at his handsome dark face, his eyes begging her to believe him.
Revis caught both her hands in his. “I know I’m a thief, but maybe you could help me find a way out. Just get to know me a little, Leah. Let me show you that I’m human. I swear by everything I cherish that I won’t hurt you. I won’t touch you at all. We’ll just ride down the mountain a little way, talk some, look at the flowers. That’s all. I swear to you.”
“I…I don’t know,” she stumbled. “The boys wouldn’t—.”
“The boys can’t know!” Revis snapped. “Now that you’ve turned my own brothers against me even they don’t trust me. If you and I go off together and come back and you’ve not been harmed maybe I can win their trust again. Do you know what it’s like to lose the people you love most?”
Leah thought she just might cry at that question. She’d lost everyone she’d ever loved. Even the man she’d spent her childhood loving had turned against her. “Yes,” she whispered, “I know what it feels like to lose people.”
“Then help me,” he begged. “Give me a chance to prove to my brothers that I still deserve their respect. And let me show you the man behind the villain.”
He grinned at her then and his smile, which she’d never seen before, was charming. What could it hurt if she rode with him? And if she didn’t he’d no doubt keep his threats about terrifying Verity.
“Please, Leah,” he said softly, squeezing her hands.
“All right,” she agreed. “How do we get away?”
“Right after breakfast slip into the trees. Tell one of the boys you need privacy. They’ll obey you. I’ll wait for you at the bottom of the ridge.” He smiled again. “Thank you, Leah. This means a lot to me.”
With that he stood and left the cabin.
While she was cooking breakfast, Leah thought about Revis’s words. Who was she to judge a person when her own brother and father were criminals? Perhaps Revis wasn’t all bad. Maybe some of him was good. He did take care of Abe and his young brothers who were possibly too stupid to be able to take care of themselves. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances. Maybe there were reasons why he thieved. Maybe she could help him, show him there were other ways.