River Lady (James River Trilogy 3)

Revis shot one man through the forehead.

Aghast, for a moment Leah couldn’t move. Then, in one motion, she was off her horse and onto the ground, running toward the dead man. A woman near her screamed.

Revis rode his horse near to where Leah hovered over the man. “Get their goods, Leah,” he said coolly.

“You animal!” she screamed and began to beat Revis with her fists.

Revis leveled his pistol and shot the woman beside Leah in the shoulder.

By now there were five settlers and two children standing by the wagons, looking in horror at the masked man and the people near him.

“If you don’t obey me you’ll have to choose who’ll die next,” Revis said as he pulled another pistol from his saddle.

The bleeding woman at Leah’s feet began to cry.

“You have about ten seconds to obey me, Leah,” Revis said.

“What…what do I do?” She knew that now only action counted and words were useless.

“Get that man’s hat and fill it with whatever they have.” He pointed with the pistol. “Any of you give my partner any trouble and I’ll put a bullet through your head.”

“I’m not—,” Leah began but stopped. When she stood before the settler, he looked at her with hate.

“The Lord will see you burn for this,” the man hissed at her as he handed her his hat.

“No, please, I—.”

“Listen to him, Leah,” Revis said. “All of you, I want to introduce Mrs. Leah Simmons Stanford of Virginia and soon to be of Sweetbriar, Kentucky.”

With shaking hands, Leah walked in front of the settlers as they put their watches and rings into the hat. One woman spit a great glob into Leah’s face. Leah only halfheartedly wiped it away.

“Come on, Leah, honey,” Revis said coaxingly. “We need to get back and these good people need to bury their dead.”

At her horse she hesitated.

“If you stayed here they’d tear you to bits and if you don’t go with me I’ll kill two more. I think I’d like doing that,” he said so that only she heard.

As if she were in a daze, Leah mounted her horse. Revis again took the reins and pulled her with him into the forest.

Just after crossing the Wilderness Trail, he stopped and pulled off his mask. “I told you I’d make you pay for using my brothers against me,” he said. “In a few days everyone for miles will know about the lovely Mrs. Stanford who is a thief as well as a murderess.”

“No,” Leah whispered.

“And now, my pretty Leah, you have a real reason to stay with me. You leave my protection and the secrecy of our cabin and you’ll be arrested and hanged by the neck until dead.” With that he began to laugh. “You’ll get used to it,” he laughed. “On the next raid you’ll know just what to do. And since you’ll already be well-known, we won’t have to cover that pretty face of yours

“Let’s go,” he said, laughing. “Blood always makes me hungry.”

He led her horse up the intricate, secret path to the cabin while Leah sat on the horse and knew her life was over.

Chapter 20

By the time Revis and Leah reached the cabin, Revis was cursing her because she looked as if she were living death. He didn’t want any more women like Verity, who’d never recovered from seeing Revis shoot her husband. He wanted a woman who wasn’t afraid.

At the cabin he dismounted, leaving her still on top of her horse. He stalked inside, threw some food into a sack, and returned to his horse. Still cursing his luck with women, he angrily pulled Leah from her horse and stood her on the ground. Immediately she collapsed in a heap, drawing her knees into her chest. She didn’t cry or make a sound; she just lay there.

With a sneer at her, Revis rode away.

Hours later, Abe found her there.