Xenia’s Renegade Read online

  Xenia’s Renegade

  Agnes Alexander

  Xenia’s Renegade

  Copyright© 2016 Agnes Alexander

  Cover Design Livia Reasoner

  Prairie Rose Publications

  www.prairierosepublications.com

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Chapter 1

  The stagecoach rattled and jerked across the desert, but this wasn’t the reason Xenia Poindexter was distraught. It was the man sitting beside her. She’d had to avoid some of the more brazen men on the train, but when they boarded the stage for the last leg of their journey, she’d thought the unwanted male attentions were over. But this wasn’t so. The man who had come aboard the stage at the last stop had been more obvious than the others with his advances from the minute he’d stepped inside the coach.

  At first, he’d gone after Mea Ann, but Xenia wasn’t about to let him annoy her sister. Therefore, she’d positioned Mea Ann by the window and she’d been forced to sit between her and the obnoxious, but best-looking cowboy she’d ever been in contact with. Though she’d never been in contact with a real cowboy before.

  At least since he’d boarded, Lou Bullins had left them alone. It was as if the peddler had been afraid of the long, lanky cowboy. She didn’t understand why. The new passenger might be obnoxious, but he didn’t seem dangerous.

  Again, she felt the man’s leg move over and rub against her knee. Giving her skirt a jerk, she glared at him and said in a sharp voice, “There isn’t enough room in here for you to try to take all the seat, sir.”

  “I’m so sorry for crowding you, lovely lady, but I’m a tall man and it takes a lot of room for these legs of mine.” He gave her a lazy grin. “By the way, you don’t have to say sir to me.”

  She didn’t answer, but turned her head toward her sister. Oh, how she wished she’d listened to her family and stayed in Richmond until she convinced one of their male relatives to make this journey with them. No one she approached would commit to come along. Not her father, nor her cousins, nor either of her father’s two brothers. In fact, they all told her to forget her foolish notion and concentrate on the good life she had in Virginia. No matter what she said she got the same advice: “It’s best to forget about the letter from your mother’s brother. He isn’t worth the bother.”

  From the time Mea Ann had read the letter first then handed it to her, Xenia knew they had to do something. After approaching her family, and getting a no from all of them, she didn’t feel she had the time to wait to change any of their minds. If she tarried, it could be too late to help her uncle Seymour Longstreet.

  Xenia knew she was stubborn. If she weren’t, not so many people would have accused her of being so. She guessed they were right, because once she set her mind to do a thing, she’d do it, if at all possible. She had never been one to listen to anyone when she felt something needing her attention. Without giving it too much thought, she’d usually do what she assumed should be done. If nobody would help her, she’d strike out on her own, or talk her sister, Mea Ann, into going along with her ideas.

  And when the letter came from their uncle, she was determined to go to the town of Deer Meadow in Arizona Territory. She had to. No matter what anyone said, she felt sure her uncle’s life depended on it. If not that, he was in trouble and needed help, otherwise, he wouldn’t have reached out to the family—a family who hadn’t seen or heard from him in over twelve years.

  After none of the males agreed to go, Xenia approached her sister with the idea of the two of them going to Arizona together. At first, Mea Ann didn’t want to do it, but when Xenia told her it would be a way to get away from Jasper Newman, the timid banker her father wanted his eldest daughter to marry, Mea Ann began to weaken. Xenia knew her sister couldn’t abide the man and used this to her advantage, though she knew she was probably manipulating her sister. Noticing the hesitation, Xenia reminded her that Jasper, with their father’s blessing, would keep pushing Mea Ann to accept his proposal, and in a weak moment, she might do it.

  Though Mea Ann was two years older than Xenia, the younger Poindexter daughter had always been the leader of her older sibling; even if, at times, she had to resort to bribery. This time, the mention of Jasper Newman had accomplished Xenia’s goal. They were now on their way to Deer Meadow.

  Mea Ann turned from the coach window. “It sure is deserted out there, Xenia.”

  “I know. Maybe we’ll come to a town soon. It would be wonderful to find a nice hotel and get a hot bath.”

  The older man and woman sitting across from them laughed.

  Xenia was a little puzzled. “Did I say something funny?”

  “You shore did, young lady,” the man said. “Ain’t many nice hotels around these here parts.”

  “One can only hope.” She smiled at him.

  “He’s right, honey.” His companion smiled showing two missing teeth in the front of her mouth. “If’en that’s what you expect to find, I’m afeared you’re in fer a disappointment.”

  “I think what they’re trying to tell you is that hotels and hot baths are few and far between in this godforsaken place,” the salesman who sat with the couple, gave Xenia a lusty look. “I’ve hawked my wares around this area for two years now, and I can tell you that the hotels and the boarding houses are nothing to brag about. You’re lucky if you get clean sheets.”

  Mea Ann frowned. “Where will we stay, Xenia?”

  Xenia patted her hand. “Don’t worry, sister. It doesn’t matter what they say, I’m sure we’ll find a place.”

  “I’ll be more than happy to offer my services to see that you ladies are taken care of,” the handsome man beside Xenia offered. “By the way, my name’s Ty Eldridge.”

  “Yes, so you said when you boarded.” Xenia knew she was being impolite, but she didn’t care. She had no intention of telling the man her name. He didn’t have to know who she was. He didn’t know need to know Mea Ann’s name, either. From what she’d said, he already knew they were sisters.

  Her sharp words didn’t deter him. “I heard the other woman call you Xenia. Is that with an X or a Z?”

  “I don’t suppose you’ll be writing me, so it doesn’t matter how it’s spelled.”

  The drummer sniggered. “Don’t look like she wants to get better acquainted with you, Eldridge.”

  “Maybe not yet, but it’s a long ride. She’ll change her mind later.” He took off his hat, leaned back and placed his hat over his face. “I think I’ll take a nap. You folks talk quietly.”

  Mea Ann whispered, “Why are you being so rude to that man, Xenia?”

  “Because he’s a scoundrel. You know cousin William warned us the west was full of men like him and we need to stay away from such creatures.”

  “But William is only twelve years old. How would he know anything about the men out west?”

  Xenia sighed. “He reads a lot.”

  “Then, how do you know this fellow’s the kind of man cousin William warned us about?”

  “I just know, Mea Ann. Now, let’s not talk about him anymore. You busy yourself looking at those strange cacti out there.”

  “I wonder what they’re called.”

  Without removing his hat, Ty Eldridge said, “Saguaro.”

  Though she knew he couldn’t see her, Xenia sent him a sneering look. Mea Ann muttered, “Thank you.”

  Xenia poked her sister in the arm. “You don’t
have to talk to him.”

  “But…”

  She knew Ty smiled because his cheeks moved upward showing dimples, though he didn’t speak or remove the hat from his face.

  There was a short silence then Lou asked, “Would you ladies like to see what I’m selling on this trip?”

  Mea Ann smiled. “I’ll like to see what you have.”

  Though she wasn’t interested, Xenia said, “If my sister wants to look at your wares, we will.”

  The man busied himself, carefully opening the small suitcase he had at his feet. “As I told you, my name’s Lou Bullins, peddler of all things useful, just in case you wondered.”

  “In case you don’t remember, I’m Mea Ann Poindexter and this is my sister, Xenia.” She glanced at her sister with a question in her eyes.

  “It’s fine, Mea Ann. I’m sure Mr. Bullins remembers our names.” She saw the dimple again on the man beside her, but he didn’t comment.

  The old man interrupted. “Afore you pull out your wares, me and the woman here is gonna have to get off this stage. We’s almost home, now.”

  Xenia raised an eyebrow and Mea Ann said, “Really? Where do you live?”

  “It’s just apiece down that road that’s coming up on the left. Don’t you feel the coach slowing down?”

  “I do.”

  The stage came to a stop and the driver yelled. “Here’s your road, Atkis.”

  The older couple clambered off the stage without saying anything else to the other passengers.

  Mea Ann looked out the window. “I can’t believe they live out here. How do they survive?”

  Ty Eldridge straightened up and pushed his hat back on his head. “Oh, my dear, people survive on backbreaking work, their will power and each other in this country.”

  Xenia glared at him. “Now that there’s more room in this coach, why don’t you move over and sit beside Mr. Bullins?”

  “Anything for you, pretty Xenia.” He patted her knee and moved to sit in front of her. “Now I can look at you two lovely ladies for the rest of the ride.”

  Bullins glanced at him then unlocked his suitcase. “I was about to show the ladies what I’ve been selling in the territories. Would you like to see?”

  Ty raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Why not?”

  Lou flipped open the top of the case.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Ty said. “You sell gambling equipment.”

  “There are a lot of saloons in the west, Mr. Eldridge. They have to have gambling equipment to operate and somebody has to supply it. I even sell a few small guns for those who require them and some pretties for the fancy women to wear in the saloons.” Lou sounded indignant. “My larger case is on top of the stagecoach.”

  “Why would anyone want to gamble away their money?” Mea Ann eyed the man. “Seems they’d want to spend it on their families or save it. Father sure wants to keep his. It took Xenia and me two weeks to scrounge money together to—”

  “That’s enough, Mea Ann,” Xenia’s voice was sharper than she meant it to be. “I’m sure Mr. Bullins isn’t interested in what our father does with his money or how we managed to finance our trip.”

  “Well, ladies. It’s different here. I think men in the west are bored and have to have some kind of entertainment. You may not know it, but my guess is there are at least sixty or seventy men to every woman out here. Maybe more. They have to have some things to make life a little easier and enjoyable. I can supply some of that entertainment with my cards, dice, and other games of chance. As I said, I even have a suitcase of frills for the beautiful ladies that help ease those men’s loneliness.”

  Ty raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you should talk about such things to these ladies, Mr. Bullins.”

  “Eldridge, you and I both know these ladies will be subjected to hearing and seeing many things they’re not used to once they reach Deer Meadow.”

  “It’s not up to you to enlighten them, Bullins.”

  Mea Ann looked at Xenia and whispered, “What’s he talking about?”

  “I’m not sure, but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not something we want to know.”

  Ty chuckled. “You’re right, Miss Poindexter. You don’t want to know.”

  Xenia frowned at him, but she had no intention of asking him questions. Especially how he learned their last name. She sure hadn’t told him. She then remembered Mea Ann had introduced herself to the salesman. How was she ever going to get her innocent sister to be more careful when she spoke?

  Mr. Bullins closed his case and nobody said anything for a long while. Mea Ann busied herself by looking out on the arid landscape. Lou Bullins wiped his head with his handkerchief and paid no attention to anyone. Ty Eldridge kept eying Xenia. She tried to ignore him by looking everywhere except at his face. But no matter how hard she tired, every so often, their eyes would meet. When they did, he’d give her one of his smiles.

  And this was something she wasn’t used to. No man in Richmond had ever dared be this familiar with her. Oh, she’d had men admire her, but none had ever been so blatant about it. In a way, it made her feel all fuzzy inside—and in another, it insulted her. She knew insulted was the proper reaction, and was about to confront him when the stage began to slow again.

  Ty Eldridge’s countenance changed completely. He took on a dark somber look as he opened the door and leaned out of the stagecoach before it stopped. “What’s going on?” He yelled to the driver.

  Xenia couldn’t hear the answer, but she knew something serious was afoot. She hoped it was nothing that would put anyone aboard in peril. Even the lecherous Ty Eldridge.

  Eldridge turned back inside. He still looked solemn. “I don’t want to scare you folks, but the driver says it appears the way station where we’re supposed to stop for our meal has been attacked. He’s going to pull as close as he can to the door and you need to hurry inside.”

  “Oh, my heavens! What can be happening?” Lou Bullins began to wring his hands.

  “Stay calm, Bullins, and when we get stopped, I’ll get out first so I can help the ladies inside.”

  The coach slowed and jerked before it came to a complete stop. Ty opened the door, jumped outside and reached for Xenia.

  She knew she could get out on her own, but decided this was no time to assert her independence. She held out her hand, but he ignored it as he grabbed her around the waist and sat her on the porch of the small log building. Before she could complain, he’d reached in, picked up Mea Ann and sat her there, too. He let Lou disembark on his own.

  Drawing the gun that hung on his right hip, he commanded, “Get behind me, ladies. I’ll go in first to make sure it’s safe for you to go inside.”

  They obeyed, but stayed close to him.

  As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, the stagecoach pulled toward the barn standing on the left side of the property.

  As soon as they entered the ransacked cabin, Ty let out a stream of curse words and Xenia couldn’t help wondering why. Surely a man like him wouldn’t curse because of the mess. He was probably used to the horrid conditions of places such as this. But she wasn’t. Until now, she didn’t think any way station could get worse than the ones they’d already visited, but she now knew she was wrong. This place was horrible. It reeked of burned food, gun powder and death. She then glanced toward the roughly hewed table in what must be considered the dining area and saw a body draped over the bench. It had an arrow sticking from its back.

  Mea Ann must have seen it at the same time because she let out a little scream.

  Ty ignored her and moved to the body. Xenia knew he was checking to see if there was any life left in the poor soul, though there was no doubt he was dead. No man could live with an arrow in him, could he?

  For the first time since they’d left Richmond, Xenia knew she should have listened to her male relatives and stayed home. Maybe the family had been right. Uncle Seymour wasn’t worth them getting killed in an Indian raid.

  ****

&nbs
p; Ty knew there was nothing he could do to shield the women from witnessing the aftermath of this massacre. Though he’d had his fun flirting with and upsetting the pretty little blonde, Xenia, he didn’t want her or her sister to be traumatized by seeing the deaths of whoever ran this way station. All he needed were two hysterical females from the east on his hands. He doubted the dead man on the bench would be the only one to be killed here. There would surely be others around. At least one more, and it would probably be a woman. The dead man wouldn’t be running this place alone. Somebody had to do the cooking for the stage passengers. A wife, a sister, or a mother. He hoped for the latter so there would be no children as there often were at way stations.

  Lou’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Is that man dead?”

  Ty nodded. He glanced at Bullins and the ladies. “I’ll get the body out of here and you folks have a seat.”

  Lou frowned. “You don’t expect us to sit on the bench where the dead man was, do you?”

  “You can sit on one of the chairs or on the bench on the other side of the table or there’s always the floor. You can have your choice. Don’t matter to me.”

  The driver came through the door. When he saw Ty lifting the body, he said, “Oh, hell. I was afraid of something like this.”

  “Yeah. How about giving me a hand, Ray? We’ll take him out through the kitchen.” He hoped Ray Andrews would catch on to the fact he suspected there would be another body there.

  Ray moved beside Ty and took hold of the dead man’s feet. They went through the door leading into the kitchen and Ty closed it behind them.

  “I was afraid of this.” Ty nodded to the pretty Indian woman’s almost nude body slumped against the wall. There was a bullet hole in the side of her head.

  “Damn,” Ray said. “John and his wife were good people. Always served decent food and the passengers seemed to enjoy stopping here.”

  “So she was his wife?”

  “Yep. Been married for a couple of years. You know how people are, a lot of them didn’t care for Miller after he married an Indian woman, but the couple didn’t seem to care if anybody liked them or not. They were crazy about each other.”