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.

"Damn you, Leah, you're supposed to feed us! It's time to eat and ain't nothin' cooked. And what're you

doin' layin' in the sun? You'll get burnt and then Revis won't like you anymore."

Leah didn't move. Her eyes were open but she didn't seem to see anything.

"Leah?" He knelt beside her. "You been hurt?" There was concern in his voice. "You gonna talk to me or

you rather just lay around?"

Tentatively he touched her forehead. Her skin was hot, but she didn't move at his touch. Frowning, he stood upright and gave a high-pitched whistle.

Quickly both Bud and Cal appeared from the forest.

"Look here at my sister," Abe said indignantly. "Either of you know what's wrong with her?"

Cal knelt by Leah, his big body shading her. Slowly he reached out a hand and touched her cheek. He

looked up at his brother, seemed to get an answer to his silent question, and the next moment he lifted Leah into his arms.

"Hey!" Abe protested. "You can't do that. You leave her here. I'll take care of her."

Cal started toward the forest with Leah.

"You hear me, you overgrown piece of dog crap?"

Bud planted himself in front of Abe.

"Here! Get out of the way," Abe commanded. "You can't take my sister off to who-knows-where. And that rich husband of hers ain't gonna want her if she's sick. She ain't got nobody but me."

For all Abe's protesting, he stayed where he was when both brothers disappeared into the woods.

Wesley was outside the cabin, shirtless, walking around, flexing and unflexing his arms, trying to get strength back into his side. He halted when he heard the footsteps coming up the path. Usually Bud and Cal didn't use the briar-covered path but came their own way through the underbrush.

Wesley slipped out of sight until he was sure his visitors were indeed the boys. When he saw Cal carrying

Leah, he ran forward.

"Is she hurt?" he asked as he took her from the young men. "What happened to her? Did that Revis? I thought you two were watching her."

Leah lay limp in his arms, her eyes closed as if she were unconscious. He took her into the cabin and put her on the bed. He kept a bucket of water in the cabin and now he dipped a cloth in it, a cloth that had once been part of his bandages, and put the cool fabric on her forehead.

Leah groaned, turned to her side, drew her knees into her chest, and lay still.

"You two better start talking," Wes said, his eyes narrowed. "And fast."

Cal spoke first. "She told me she wanted privacy this morning and we gave it but after an hour we began

to look for her."

"We followed horse tracks down the mountain and at the bottom we heard shots," Bud said.

"By the time we got there Revis had killed a man and shot a woman. He and Leah were riding fast back

up the mountain. When we got to the cabin she was like that and Revis was gone."

Wesley walked away from the cot. "I thought all this Revis did was rob people."

"He kills people when he feels like it," Bud said with a stiff jaw.

Wesley banged his fist against the wall. "What a fool I was! How could I have left her there? I should

have taken her away immediately."

"You would have bled to death," Cal said flatly.

Wes was quiet for a moment as he turned to stare at Leah. "No doubt she witnessed the shootings and

that's what's wrong with her."

Suddenly he crossed the cabin in two strides, grabbed her shoulders hard, and lifted her to a sitting position. "Damn you, Leah!" he yelled in her face. "Why do you think you have to save the world? Why

couldn't you have told me the truth? Why did I have to be so stupid as to believe you? I thought you'd be all right and now look at you. Damn you! Damn you!"

Wesley began shaking her and kept it up until Cal put his hand on Wes's shoulder. Abruptly, Wes

stopped and saw there were tears in Leah's eyes. He pulled her to him fiercely. "That's it, sweetheart, cry all you want. You're safe now."

Bud and Cal silently left the cabin.

Once Leah's tears started, she couldn't seem to stop them. She clung to Wesley with all her strength and cried against his bare shoulder. When her body started convulsing, he made her drink water.

"Now tell me about it," he said patiently.

"No," she whispered. "No."

"Leah." He took her chin in his hand and tipped her swollen, red face upwards. "I never believed that

cock-and-bull story of yours about the sick kids and I've always known about Revis and your brother Abe. Right now I want you to tell me everything that's happened."

"I have to stay here forever," she said, hiccupping. "They'll hang me.""You're making no sense whatever. You saw Revis kill someone today, didn't you?"She pulled away from him. "I helped! I held a man's hat and collected goods. I stole!"She waited to see the shock on his face, but there was none."What did this Revis do to force you to steal? What did he threaten you with?"Again Leah's eyes filled with tears. She had thought Wesley would believe she stole because it was her nature to do so. "He said he'd kill more people if I hesitated."

"Bastard," Wes said under his breath. "Anything else?"

She didn't want to tell him the rest. Never again could she live amid decent people. "Revis wore a mask,"

she whispered, "but I* I didn't."

"Oh," Wes said, glad it wasn't worse. "I'm sure they saw you were forced into it and that actually you were saving their lives."

"No!" she screamed and jumped off the bed. "You don't understand. Revis told the people I was his

partner. He told them my name, that I was Mrs. Leah Simmons Stanford of Virginia, soon to live in Sweetbriar, Kentucky. He made me a criminal. He made me a thief. I can never leave here! If I do they'll hang me."

"Leah," he said in sympathy as he walked toward her and tried to pull her into his arms.

"Get away from me! Don't ever touch me again! You're the clean Mr. Stanford. Nothing like this would

ever happen to you. They'd take one look at the Stanford name and know you're innocent but me, a Simmons, I'd."

He grabbed her shoulders. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. According to our marriage papers you're a

Stanford too. Look, Leah," he said, calming himself. "All this isn't as bad as you think. There are courts of law and we'll hire the best lawyers. Bud and Cal can testify about how Abe forced you into Revis's camp and I'll bet someone today heard Revis order you to participate. There are ways to get out of this, even if you are accused. So stop saying you have to stay here."

Leah was sure she'd never wanted to believe anything as much as she wanted to believe this. "Do you think so?" she whispered. "Is there a chance?"

"More than a chance. Now let me see a smile because I'm sending you out of here right now."

"Here? You mean back to Revis's cabin?"

Wes's jaw hardened. "You're not going back to that place ever again. I'm going to send you down the mountain with Bud and Cal. They'll take you to Sweetbriar. I have friends there and if need be they'll hide you until I can get there and straighten everything out."

"But where will you be?"

"I have a little unfinished business yet. I owe somebody something. Now come on." He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside. "Bud and Cal'll take care of you and Revis won't be able to harm you again."

She pulled out of his grasp and squinted up at him in the sunlight. "Why aren't you going to Sweetbriar