The Outlaw's Lady. Laurie Kingery

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СКАЧАТЬ right, He does know where I am. And if you believe in God, how can you take part in something like this?” She made a sweeping gesture as if to include everything—her kidnapping, the camp and all of Delgado’s men.

      He allowed his face to show polite regret and shrugged. “A man must earn his bread in the best way he is able.”

      “Having ranches on both sides of the river wasn’t enough for you?”

      Inwardly he winced at her scornful tone, much preferring the spark of interest he had seen in her eyes at the barbecue. He wished he could take her into his confidence, tell her she had no reason to fear him, that he was on the side of justice, but it was too dangerous. There were too many eyes on them right now.

      “Ah, where is the zest in that? There is no excitement,” he said, knowing his words would make her more furious still, but that she would control herself because she knew she must.

      “So being a bandolero is a sport for you?” Tess exclaimed, but didn’t wait for an answer before asking another outraged question. “You never did intend to come and pick up your framed picture at my shop on Tuesday, did you?” she asked then. “That was just a ruse. And you probably don’t even have a mother, do you? Much less one having a birthday soon.”

      “On the contrary, Miss Hennessy, my mother is very much alive, living on my ranch north of Chapin, and will be very pleased with the picture you have taken of me, frame or no frame. You do have it with you, don’t you?”

      She nodded sullenly, pointing into the wagon.

      “And if you had not driven home by yourself, then yes, the appointment on Tuesday would have been necessary—although a kidnapping raid in broad daylight in a town, involving seizing you, packing up your wagon and hitching up your mule, would have been much more risky, not to mention difficult.”

      Again, she appeared to consider his words, and it was a long moment before she spoke again.

      “Do you think that my parents will just tamely wait for me to return?” she asked. “You don’t know my father. He’ll have the Texas Rangers after you—maybe even the army!”

      He couldn’t help grinning at the irony of what she was saying, and knew she would take it as insolence.

      Which she did. “You think I’m joking? Mister, you just took hold of a tiger’s tail!” she cried.

      “Miss Hennessy, don’t you think if the Rinches—the Rangers—or the army were capable of catching us, they would have long ago?”

      He thought she would have another retort for him, but just then he saw her look behind him, and heard footsteps approaching.

      “Ah, our guest has arrived at last, eh?” Delgado remarked in Spanish.

      “Sí, jefe,” Sandoval said, turning to face the outlaw leader, and switched to English, which Delgado understood as well. “Miss Teresa Hennessy, may I present Diego Delgado, leader of our band, and the reason you are here.”

      He saw Tess’s eyes widen as she beheld Delgado, who had dressed for the occasion in the spotless uniform of a Mexican coronel, which had been cleverly laundered of its bloodstains and mended by Delores, Esteban’s old mother, to hide the bullet holes that had caused the uniform’s sudden availability.

      Delgado swept her a bow as courtly as any European count could have made.

      “Señorita Hennessy, I am delighted you were able to join us, especially on such…shall we say ‘short notice’?” His English was as flawless as Sandoval’s, though more heavily accented.

      “Mr. Delgado,” she replied, “the pleasure is all yours. I am here very much against my will.”

      He stared at Tess for a moment as if he was not sure he had heard her correctly, and then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. “‘The pleasure is all yours,’ she says!” he exclaimed, slapping his side gleefully. “Sandoval, you said she was a feisty one and you were correct, amigo! Ay, caramba, I like her!”

      Delgado’s eyes gleamed as, coming toward her, he looked her up and down, as if she were an untamed mare that needed breaking, and suddenly Sandoval had to fight the urge to clench his fists. “Jefe, I have promised her she need not be afraid, for she will be safe among us,” he said quickly, hoping Delgado would get the hint.

      It seemed he did, for Delgado took a step back. “Señorita, you will be as safe here as in the midst of a church,” he said, sweeping her another bow. “I, Delgado, have sworn it.” He turned and repeated his words in Spanish for the benefit of his men. “Any man who touches this lady will answer to me, and will pay with his life, you understand, amigos?”

      There was a resounding chorus of agreement.

      Delgado turned back to Tess. “You see, they agree. You will be as their hermana, their sister.” He made a gesture with his hand to indicate that he considered this problem solved. “And so you are here to take my picture, Señorita Hennessy? Why don’t we start now, eh? Do I not appear magnificent in uniform?”

      Now that her worst fears had been relieved somewhat, Sandoval saw the lines of weariness etched on her face. “Jefe, Señorita Hennessy has traveled a long way overnight bound and gagged. She has not eaten anything, I’ll wager, since yesterday afternoon. Perhaps the picture taking could wait a little while until she has broken her fast and rested a bit?”

      Delgado looked surprised. “But, of course! How remiss of me not to realize how tired she must be, and how hungry. Delores!” he called over his shoulder to the older woman who had been hovering nearby. “Cook this young lady some breakfast. She is famished! And then assist her to settle in. Get her some comfortable clothes—Alma’s will fit her, I am sure.” His face darkened slightly as he said the last, and Sandoval knew he was thinking of his last mistress, who had become so jealous and demanding that Sandoval had finally taken her back to the village from which he had lured her. “Perhaps I can pose for the señorita this afternoon instead? Until then, señorita,” he said, bowing again.

      Sandoval saw Tess nod uncertainly as Delgado walked away. “Come with me, Miss Hennessy,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind if your breakfast is a little spicy. Delores makes the best huevos rancheros I’ve ever tasted. Esteban will unhitch your mule and bring your supplies to that adobe over there. It’s where you will be staying.”

      

      Now that the outlaw leader was no longer favoring her with his bold stare, and the other outlaws were busying themselves elsewhere, Tess felt freer to examine her surroundings as she followed Parrish to where the old woman was stirring something into a skillet over an open fire. Beyond them, flush against the high red-rock walls that soared perhaps forty feet above them, sat three adobe huts. One of them was large, and stood on the left end of the row; the other two, including the one Sandoval had indicated as hers, were smaller.

      “That one’s Delgado’s,” Parrish said, pointing to the large one farthest from hers. “That one is mine,” he added, pointing to the one in the middle. “The rest of the men sleep by the fire.”

      “So you really are Delgado’s right-hand man,” she murmured. “No humble bedroll for Sandoval Parrish.” As she had expected, he only shrugged at her barb.

      She was reassured by the fact that Parrish’s building was situated between Delgado’s and hers, but despite his earlier СКАЧАТЬ