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apparently to prepare the torches before they moved closer.
Lifting the rifle to his shoulder, Ben waited. He d have to shoot
through tree limbs, but there was a chance a slim chance, but a
Ella s Desire 159
chance, nevertheless that his bullet would fly straight. Perhaps he
could take out one killer.
Though Ben s view of what they were doing was obscured by
trees, by their movements he assumed that the torches had been laid
out on the ground, and now the men were saturating the cloth heads
with kerosene. They were laughing between themselves. This was
their idea of a well-spent afternoon. Ben wondered just how much of
a bounty Tim Cutler placed on their heads.
From his right, from farther up the hillside, three more men
showed up. They were too far away with too many branches in the
line of fire for Ben to have an easy shot. But he could see them, and
now he even recognized some of his own men, and the blood began to
boil in his veins.
 We can t let them get this cabin started on fire, Ben warned. He
couldn t imagine a more hideous death than dying in a fire.
 I ve got a foot of dirt piled on the roof, Blue explained.  If
they re going to get it started, they ll have to get it started from below,
or throw one of those torches through a window.
 Dirt on the roof, eh? Ben chuckled.  You re one smart fella. I ll
grant you that.
There were five of the killers crowded together, and Ben figured
that even if his bullet ricocheted a little, he d still likely hit one of the
outlaws. They lit one torch, and with it they lit the others. As he lined
up his sights, the booming report of a Winchester echoed through the
narrow valley. The man holding the one lighted torch staggered. More
gunshots rang out, fast shots coming from a carbine, paced at less
than a second a piece. Kerosene sluiced into the air as the metal
containers were struck rapid-fire. Another shot caught one of the
thieves in the throat. As he sputtered, he dropped his burning torch
onto the kerosene can at his feet.
It took just two or three seconds. It began and ended so quickly, it
took a moment for Ben to understand exactly what happened. Tim s
gunmen were preparing their torches when Ella, behind them, opened
160 Brandi Maxwell
fire. She shot the ringleader, then put holes in the kerosene containers,
then started shooting the men again. Three went down with her
bullets. When the lit torches landed in the spreading pool of kerosene,
there was a great whoosh! and then the men on the ground were in
flames. A final man, his clothes drenched in kerosene but unharmed
by bullets, let out a pitiful scream of agony as he ran down into the
valley, his body engulfed in flames from his thighs to his head.
Ben soon heard the sound of pounding hooves. Tim, and what few
men he had left, was on horseback and riding hard. This was more of
a fight than they had imagined, more than they could tolerate, and the
thought of it brought a smile to Ben s lips.
 Hail the camp! Ella called out.
Ben looked at the two men in the cabin with him, his smile filled
with pride.  It s Ella! She s the one who saved our bacon. He looked
at Blue, whose body was now dry but still completely naked.  You
might want to put something on. Ella will be here in a minute. He
chuckled.  Or Dirk and I could just take our clothes off, so you
wouldn t feel left out.
Ella s Desire 161
Chapter Sixteen
 It is& so& unfortunate that we have to maintain this charade,
Ella said with mild annoyance as she reclined in an enormous wing-
backed chair near the fireplace. She had on her robe, the very sheer
white silk one that covered her to the ankles but showed every curve
of her body when she wore it without anything beneath.
Dirk s head appeared as he climbed up the ladder, squeezing his
broad shoulders through the trap door in the floor.
 It s for your own good, my love, the big man said, getting to his
feet and then turning around to help Blue climb up into the room. Ben
was last to reach the hotel s lavishly appointed luxury suite.
 Appearances must be maintained.
 To hell with appearances! Ella shot back, piqued that she should
have to hide the love she felt for these three men.
 Let s not get that started all over again. It s best for you to not
flout convention. Blue ran fingers through his shoulder-length black
hair in a gesture of frustration. An outcast from so many cultures, she
knew he had an understanding of the subject.  Some secrets are best
left secrets.
* * * *
After Tim s attempt to kill the men she loved, Ella s cowardly
fiancé had run away. Ella heard that he d gone to Deadwood to
become a professional gambler. She didn t care where he went, so
long as he stayed away from the T-3 ranch and the three men she
loved. The men, however, were not so quick to forgive their lover s
162 Brandi Maxwell
ex-fiancé. They put a  Dead or Alive bounty of two thousand dollars
on Tim Cutler s head a bounty which was never collected. Ella, not
approving of the bounty but unable to convince her men to withdraw
the money, insisted that the bounty not be  Dead or Alive. Too much
blood had already been spilled, she insisted. The men relented to her
wishes, though they grumbled about Tim being more worthy of
having a deadly bounty on his head than anyone else in the territory.
But Tim, most uncharacteristically, drew a derringer when
apprehended. He came within an inch of killing his abductor. The
bounty hunter, more experienced in matters regarding weaponry and
their use, put a bullet through Tim Cutler s chest.
As for Rosamond, she actually did try to shoot her daughter.
Ella s quick defensive move caused the bullet to miss, and though
Rosamond claimed it was an accident, she was immediately shipped
off to a pleasant boarding house in St. Paul and given a small,
monthly allowance. Rosamond, however, claimed there was nothing
pleasant about the boarding house. Her claims fell on deaf ears.
Provided she stayed in St. Paul, the monthly allowance would
continue.
When the four-story Grand Hotel came up for sale, Ella did not
hesitate. The first thing she did was have the entire top floor
renovated into her private living quarters, which she called the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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