Kisses With KC (Cowboys and Angels Book 11)(26)
There were only a handful of people still on the list to be terrorized out of Creede, and he knew most of them.
He closed his notebook and tucked it away just as the light in the loft took on the glow of the sun, and the old prospector appeared.
“You all right?” the man asked KC. He cocked his head.
KC nodded. “I’m fine. I need to get word to the marshal about the shooting today. I guess I need to let him know who I am, too.”
“I can take care of that. Put it all in a letter, and I’ll deliver it tonight,” the old miner said. He walked clear around KC, looking him over and then leaned close to him. “You don’t think there’s anything . . . damaged?”
KC shook his head.
MayBelle brayed from down below in the barn.
“I’ll ask him,” the miner shouted back toward her. “She says, ‘Can he still walk?’ So, can ya?”
“Yeah. As far as I can tell, I’m good as new except for a sore head. Oh, and there’s a crazy angel shouting at me, giving me a headache.”
The donkey heehawed, and the miner laughed. “Well, I suppose there’s a first time for everything. You don’t seem to be busted up. Ain’t never seen that. I guess that went well, then.” He laughed again. “Don’t that beat all?”
MayBelle brayed, and Merlin whinnied.
The old prospector shouted below, “I’m coming down, and yeah, I have a peppermint for you.” Then to KC, he said, “Leave the letter here. I’ll come back for it.” The light winked out in the loft, and immediately KC could see its golden glow near the horse stalls and heard the miner’s voice. “Ya done good, MayBelle. All right. We’re a team.”
KC lay on his bedroll, but his eyes were wide open. He’d finished the letter. He knew if he received a letter like that, he’d want some assurance that it was true. KC had asked the marshal to wire the sheriff in Del Norte and ask about his recent arrests. He also said that he could check with Pinkerton, although he wasn’t on official business for them in Creede.
As soon as the Turleys were asleep, he planned to take a ride down the road, look over the homestead owned by Kirt Alpin, and be back by midnight. If everything checked out, he’d make a visit during the daylight.
He hadn’t heard a noise for over an hour now and made his move. He led Merlin out and released MayBelle, too, since he was sure she would have pitched a fit if he didn’t. They went out the back side of the barn and rode toward Creede. Shortly after he passed by the fence separating the Turley place and the land belonging to the Fillans, he heard two quick gunshots.
The Fillans’ barn was a few hundred feet in front of him, and their house was beyond that. He jumped from his horse, watching two men running from the barn toward Creede.
MayBelle sped off after the men. Instead of the screeching, trumpeting noise she usually made when she was excited, she was completely silent. He couldn’t call her back without giving himself away. Then he saw a small explosion of light from a rifle off to his right.
Moments later ,the back door to the cabin cracked open, a sliver of light cutting across the black wall. KC stayed put. If it were him, he’d watch out the window long after he shut the door again. A while later, he heard a horse walking through the trees behind him.
When the light from the full moon illuminated the person walking the horse, KC hissed, “Eliza.”
She yipped and sank to her knees, her hands over her chest. “You scared the death out of me.”
KC’s heart stopped beating, then he caught his breath. “I told you to stay out of this. What if they’d surprised you instead of the other way around? What if I were someone else?”
Eliza brushed past him. “I was just checking on my friend, Louise, and I’m glad I did.”
“Wait.” KC touched her arm, and she stopped. “I’m sorry.” He pulled her to him. His own pulse felt like gunfire through his veins. He took a deep breath to calm it and then another. “I just don’t want to lose you. These men are deadly.”
“I know. I wish I hadn’t come, but I’m glad I was here. I’m not sure I’m making any sense.”
“Let’s head back to the ranch. Why were you shooting?”
Eliza turned around and looked toward the woods just beyond the clearing. “Someone was there.” She pointed to the far side of the barn. “I saw two men walk out of the woods. They walked toward the house but turned around and walked back. That’s suspicious, don’t you think? So I led my horse into the forest and watched. When they stopped, it looked like they were going to start a fire. They pulled logs from the forest and pushed them against the barn. That’s when I decided to start firing.”
“Were you trying to hit them?” KC almost regretted the question because of the stern look he received from Eliza. But even that expression melted his heart.
One fist went to her hip. “If I’d have shot at one of them, he would have dropped.” Even in the moonlight, KC could see the seriousness on her face. “I shot to warn the Fillans that someone was sneaking around their place.”
They’d walked far enough from the Fillans’ to jump on their horses and ride hard for home. They dodged through the last field and came up to the barn from the back.
“I’ll put the horses away.” KC reached out to take the reins as Eliza walked away, and he watched. Her hips fit snugly inside the borrowed trousers and swung enticingly with each step. Although he appreciated how Eliza looked in pants, he’d be happy if she never felt she had to wear them again. She pulled the hat off her head, and her auburn hair tumbled out. As she ran her fingers through it, he could almost remember the feel of it on his hands and wished for it again. Or to feel it on his face.