smiled in turn, then gave Tess his attention again.
"I let it be known that Jamie had found you and that he'd be bringing
you home. I also went to see Edward Clancy and had him print up the
arrival of Cole and Malachi--and I stressed the ability of the Slater
brothers with their small arms."
"A couple of von Heusen's men rode out here the other day. But we
uninvited them quickly," ICRISTIN said, heaping mashed potatoes on a
plate to pass to Jori. "Cole or Malachi scared them away?" Tess asked.
"Oh, no, Shannon did," Kfistin said.
"She's an ace."
"I'm a decent shot," Shannon said demurely.
"She can hit a fly's eye at a hundred yards," Malachi said drily.
They all laughed, but' Cole sobered quickly and spoke to Jamie in low,
even tones.
"The point is, this von Heusen knows that scare tactics aren't going to
work with Miss. Stuart anymore. No one can quite fathom what he'll pull
next."
"Well, he'll have more to worry about after tomorrow," Tess said firmly.
"I'm going to go to the paper and I'm going to give Clancy another
front-page story. It's going to be all about David and Jeremiah and Mr.
yon Heusen's orders to see that I never returned."
"There might be a few problems with that," Jon advised her.
"Why?"
" Tess asked.
"Because Clancy and your printer gave in at last. Someone shot a few
windows yesterday, and by last night, Clancy had thrown in the towel. He
wanted you to know that he was sorry."
Tess inhaled and exhaled.
"I can do it myself," she said. "You won't have to do it yourself,"
Kristin corrected her, sitting at last with her own plate.
"Dolly and Jane can keep the children here, and Shannon and I will come
in and help you with the press. If you give us directions, we can surely
follow them. The three of us will go into town first thing in the
morning" -- "NOV' Jamie said emphatically.
"I have to," Tess began, turning, ready to give battle. "Jamie, I've
told you" -- "The three of you aren't going anywhere alone," he
intempted harshly.
"It isn't safe. Dammr to hell, Tess! Don't you understand yet?"
"I understand that the newspaper has always been my maj or weapon."
"But right now it isn't enough. Okay, we'll go. You'll do your damned
article, but we'll go together. Tess, what do I have to say to get
through to you? When yon Heusen attacks again, it's going to be all-out
war."
She wanted to retort. She was furious. He was right, of course, but she
still wanted to yell at him.
Fighting desperately to hold her tongue, she looked at Jon.
"How did you find all this out?"
He shrugged.
"I was still in buckskins when I came back, and I didn't change before I
made a visit into town. Von Heusen had one of his guns follow me. I knew
it, so I doubled back and got hold of him. As it happened, Cole and
Malachi had been riding in to meet me." "And," Malachi said, grinning,
"Jon just happened to be dressed for the occasion."
Tess was still confused. Kristin sighed and explained. "Cole and Malachi
convinced von Heusen's hired goon that Jon was scarcely more than a raw
savage and that he actually delighted in human flesh. Between the three
of them they barely had to touch the fellow before he was spilling
everything he had ever known in his life."
Tess smiled and glanced at Jamie.
He was not smiling. She looked away quickly, pushing a piece of roast
around on her plate. They were a lot alike, the Slater brothers. Cole
was the darkest, with golden eyes--his little boy had those eyes, even
though he had his mother's soft blond hair. Malachi was a golden blond
with blue eyes, and Jamie was sandy-haired with his smoke gray and
silver eyes. But the planes of their faces were similar, strong and hard
and weathered. She realized suddenly that she would trust any of the
brothers with anything she had.
And she didn't really mean to keep fighting Jamie. It just kept coming
out that way.
He stood up suddenly, his chair scraping back.
"That was a fine meal, Kristin, Shannon--Dolly?"
"We all contributed," Kristin told him.
"Well, thank you, but I think I need a little air. You got a good
cheroot on you anywhere, Cole?"
"Sure," said his brother, rising as well. He stopped by his wife's chair
and kissed her tenderly at the base of the neck before following Jamie
out.
"Seems like we're splitting up here," Malachi said. "Well, don't stay on
my account!" Shannon told him.
He laughed, shrugged at Jon, and the two of them left. Hank followed
them and the women were left--Jane, who had barely said a word, Dolly,
who was unbelievably quiet, and Shannon and Kristin and Tess.
"All this to make a meal, and then it's just wolfed down, and then
everyone runs" -- "Ma," Gabe suddenly interrupted from the end of the
table.
"I cleaned my plate. Can I go join Pa?"
Kristin threw up her hands, and Tess felt some of the tension leave her
as she laughed.
"Go!" Kristin told her son.
He smiled, excused hun self politely to Tess and ran out of the house.
"We might as well pick up," Shannon said. "Might as well."
Things went quickly with five of them to do the clearing, the scraping,
the washing and the drying. Shannon asked Tess what it had been like
with the Apache, and by the time she finished with her story about Jon
and Jamie appearing at just the fight time, they had finished the
dishes. Jane and Dolly kissed Tess again and went to bed. Shannon and
Kristin and Tess made tea and then sat around the kitchen table, staring
at one another.
"And then this Nalte let you go--just because Jamie asked for you? He
let you go to Jamie?" Kfistin said.
Tess felt herself flush, wondering how to avoid saying the very thing
the Indian chief had so clearly understood.
"He, uh, he ..."
"Oh, for God's sake, Kristin, they've been sleeping together and this
Nalte man knew it!" Shannon exclaimed.
"Shannon!" gris ting protested.
"Well, all right, I'm terribly sorry, but Ktistin and I both married
Slater men. I know. They're so easy to want to shoot, but at the same
time ..." Her voice trailed away and she was really beautiful as she
grinned.
"Well, they are easy to sleep with. Seductive."
Tess knew she had to be a thousand shades of crimson. Kristin sighed.
"He's very much in love with you. I'm sure We'll see a wedding any day."
"I'm not terribly sure about that."
"He called us here. To protect your interests. He must love you."
"I've turned over half the property to him. It's his own property he's
protecting." "Urn. Did he bargain for anything else?" Kristin asked her.
She didn't know why she was being so honest except that somehow she felt
she had known the two women all her life.
Maybe it was because they had all become involved with Slater men.
"Maybe they just don't marry easily," Shannon suggested.
"But you're both married," Tess began.
"Cole had to marry me," gris ting said.
"Oh, the baby?"
"No!" gris ting 'laughed.
"There was a horrible, horrible man after me.
The war was going on and the only way he could count on some protection
from some old acquaintances was to be able to say that I was his wife.
He fell in love with me slowly; it took him a long time." She smiled
sweetly at Shannon.
"And Malachi had to marry Shannon."
"Well, he didn't have to," Shannon protdsted. "The twins?" Tess asked.
"No, a shotgun," Shannon explained ruefully. They both laughed, and
Shannon took a deep breath and tried to explain that Kristin was her
sister, and that Kfistin had been in trouble.