Page 50 of Wellspring
“He’s strong,petit loup,” Michele said as curses rung out from the rest of the hands.Payne looked as grim as Cade had ever seen him, which was saying something, given everything the man had lived through before coming to Wellspring.“If anyone can pull through, it’s him.”
Cade tried to take comfort in her words, but with his hands still covered in Erick’s blood, comfort was beyond him.“Miz Roarke, it’s you they’re after as much as anything else.”
“Of course it is,” she spat.“They won’t find me easy pickings.”
“They won’t find Wellspring easy pickings,” Payne added.“Logan, you have the most experience with a full-scale assault.How do we stop them?”
“And how do we keep Lutz from throwing us all in jail on made-up charges even if we do?”Svensen added.
“We need a lawman we can trust,” Matt said bitterly.“I just wish I knew where to find one.”
“There’s a US Marshal in San Angelo,” Cade replied, “but how do we get him here?If we can even convince them to pay any mind to what Reichardt’s doing?We need every gun we have and a dozen more as it is.”
“I’ll go,” Mac offered quietly.“I’m getting better, but I don’t trust my aim yet.If someone is going to ride for San Angelo, it should be me.”
Kit gave Mac a hard look, but Mac stared back without flinching.“If you’re going, now’s the time, before the fighting starts.”
Mac nodded sharply and took a step toward the barn, but Kit caught his hand and spun him back into a fierce kiss.“Ride hard and don’t look back.No matter what you hear, don’t stop.”
“Yes, Captain,” Mac said.Cade heard the undercurrents in his voice that, before Erick, he wouldn’t have understood.Then Mac was gone into the barn, and a short minute later the sound of hoofbeats indicated his departure.
Kit watched him go for a moment, then tore his attention back to Payne.“There isn’t anywhere on the rangeland we can hide to pick them off.Best we can hope for is darkness and the element of surprise.Did anyone see you ride off?”he asked Cade.
“I didn’t see anyone,” Cade answered.“Lutz and Sanders were still in the saloon, and he’s the only JR man I saw in town.He said something about giving Carter a chance to prove himself, so it will probably be Adam leading the attack.”
“Let him come,” Chel purred, stroking the hilt of the knife in her belt.“He’s mine.”
“Not if anyone else has a bead on him first,” Kit cautioned.“We have to stop them by any means possible.We can’t let personal scores get in the way.”
Chel grumbled at that, but she didn’t argue.Cade could sympathize.He wanted Sanders on the business end of an arrow so badly he could taste it, but Kit was right.“We’ll be outnumbered and probably outgunned, especially at first, but no matter how many guns they bring, they can only carry so much shot.And they don’t know the lay of the land like we do.Those are our advantages, so use them.Shoot to kill, stay behind cover so you aren’t an easy target, and make for damn sure you’re shooting at JR hands and not at each other.”
“Cade’s right,” Kit said.“We want to sow chaos wherever possible, anything to keep them guessing.”
“Buildings can be rebuilt.Livestock can be replaced,” Miz Roarke interrupted.“Your lives can’t be.If saving those means sacrificing the barn, the bunkhouse, even the main house, do it.We may not be the biggest or richest spread in the area, but we can afford to rebuild as long as we have the people to rebuild for.”
Payne cut through the murmur of agreement.“Beaufort, find Quinn and Walsh and bring them back in if you can.I won’t risk JR catching them by surprise just to keep a watch on the herd.Chiles, wake up anyone who’s still sleeping and get them armed.I want every hand ready to blow JR’s men to hell.”
“Speaking of blowing things to hell….”Burke stepped forward.“I may be able to throw together some grenades to surprise our guests.They won’t be pretty, but they’ll bring them down.”Burke had been an ordnance officer during the war, Cade remembered, so it wasn’t surprising that he knew his way around explosives.
“I’ll take any advantage we can get,” Payne said.
“Just don’t blow yourself or anything else up in the process,” Kit added.
“You wound me.”Burke mimed being shot, but no one laughed at his antics the way they usually did.Burke scowled and stalked toward the smithy as everyone else scattered to their assigned tasks or to gather weapons and ammunition for the coming fight.
Cade strode toward the bunkhouse, Chel on his heels.He tossed his gun belt on his bunk and stripped down, heedless of her presence.He pulled his buckskins from his trunk and on and then painted his face with careful deliberation the way his Comanche brothers had taught him.
“Cade,” Chel said, but he ignored her.He would defend Wellspring, but the moment that fight was done, he was going hunting.He had a score to settle with Sanders now, and nothing would stop him from finishing it… tonight.
“T?taat? Isa,” she tried instead.
“What?”he snapped.
“When you go after Sanders, I’m coming with you.”
“This is my fight,” he started.
“And I’ll let you fight it, but you need someone to watch your back.”
