Caterina: A Sweet Western Historical Romance Pendleton Petyticoats Book 2 Read online

  To her, his eyes always seemed bright, lively, and quite often smoldering when she caught him staring at her.

  Although he was relentless with criminals, he had a soft heart with women, children, and the elderly. She’d seen him pay for a widow’s groceries, climb a tree to get down a little boy’s ball, and chop wood for an elderly couple.

  For those in Kade’s inner circle, the people he considered friends, he had a ready laugh, a willing hand, and a gentle touch.

  Despite their ability to bring each other’s tempers to the boiling point, Caterina knew Kade cared by the tender way he treated her. It was more than kindness, more than courtesy, more than being a gentleman.

  Obviously unable to say what was in his heart, when he held her hand or caught her eye across the restaurant and smiled, she knew he loved her.

  That knowledge helped her not miss her family so much.

  Caterina heard the back door open as she stared at a photo of a handsome couple - Kade’s parents. Pleased he was home, she welcomed the opportunity to visit with him before returning to town.

  “Hello, stranger. I wondered if you were at work today. Did you see Ike…” Caterina’s words were lost in a scream when she entered the kitchen. A man stood near the table pointing a gun her direction.

  “Well, if it isn’t Miss Campanelli, the beautiful Italian who creates food that makes grown men weep, or so they say. I’ve tasted your cooking and prefer a good steak.” The man waved his gun at her. “It was just pure luck I happened to see you strolling out of town earlier. I’ve been trying for weeks to figure out how to get you alone somewhere and doggone if you didn’t make things easy for me today. I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried.”

  Too shocked to move, Caterina glared at the man. “Who are you?”

  “Let’s just say I’m here to give Deputy Rawlings a taste of his own medicine.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Retribution, Miss Campanelli. Retribution.”

  Even across the room, Caterina could feel the waves of hate that rolled off the man. Accustomed to dealing with Luigi and his thugs, Caterina drew on her experience and tried to stay calm.

  “I’m sorry, mister…”

  “Bolton. James Bolton,” the man said with a sneer. “You remember that name, Miss Campanelli, because it’s the name of the man who’s going to kill both you and that deputy of yours.”

  She recalled Kade testifying at a trial in The Dalles for Jude Bolton. He spent weeks trying to track down the man’s brother. The two men were involved in numerous robberies, stage hold-ups, and at least three murders.

  Fear made her stomach burn and her fingers tremble, but she clenched her hands at her sides and straightened her spine. Caterina raised her chin, just enough to let Bolton know she wouldn’t cower before him, she looked him in the eye.

  “I doubt Kade will stand idly by while you do that.”

  “You shouldn’t be too sure about that, miss. I’ve watched you two for a while now. The deputy ought to know better than getting involved with a woman because it gives him a weakness. He’s tough, I’ll grant you that, but there isn’t anything on this earth he wouldn’t do if he thought you were in danger.”

  Stunned by the man’s words, Caterina knew what he said was true. Kade would stop at nothing to keep her safe. That’s why she was going to have to protect herself.

  “Tell me, why do you have this need to kill me and Kade? There must be some reason.” Caterina hoped if she kept him talking the man would continue to relax his defenses until she could either escape or make it so he couldn’t find her.

  “Your deputy,” Bolton spat out the word, “made sure I’d never see my brother again. He arrested Jude, hauled him to jail, and offered the testimony that resulted in him being sent to prison for life. I can’t get near him or I’ll be arrested, too. Rawlings took away the one thing in this world that mattered to me and now I’m going to do the same to him.”

  “Then what happens, Mr. Bolton? After you kill us both? It won’t free your brother and it certainly won’t make things right in your soul.” Caterina edged slowly toward the front door. Bolton appeared more focused on their conversation than her actions.

  “My soul belongs to Lucifer himself and there ain’t nobody who can change that. As for my brother, I’ll find some way to break him out of prison or die trying. It’ll kill him to be caged up like an animal for the rest of his life,” Bolton said. He let the hand holding his gun drop a little.

  “I take it you and your brother are close?” Caterina asked, edging back a few more steps. Almost there.

  “Darn right we’re close. We’re twins. Our ma died birthing us and our pa might as well have joined her. Never cared a lick for either of us, but Jude and I always had each other. Up until Deputy Rawlings made us his special project. He’s one of the most dedicated lawmen I’ve seen. Tireless, patient, and just plain stubborn. Once he gets on a trail, there ain’t no turning him back.”

  “I see.” Caterina moved her hands behind her. She grasped the doorknob and waited.

  “You don’t see nothing. I told Jude we needed to lay low a while, give things time to settle down and the deputy to forget about us, but he wanted to do one last job. Went to Hardman to rob a bank. Easy pickings, Jude said. Turns out it wasn’t easy at all. Owner of the bank shot me and pert near blew Jude’s head off. Never even got the money from that job. Thought we’d head up to Walla Walla to hide out for a while and your blasted deputy caught us on our way there.”

  “Where did he catch you?” Caterina carefully turned the knob. As the latch released, it clicked loudly and she held back a cringe. Too caught up in his hate for Kade, her captor failed to hear it, though.

  “We skirted around Pendleton and were headed up into the hills toward Adams. We’d bedded down for the night and Rawlings somehow found us. He had my brother handcuffed and gagged before either of us knew what was happening. It was dark so while he was making sure Jude couldn’t get away, I lit out. He shot my leg but I still managed to grab a horse and hightail it out of there.”

  “That must have been hard for you to leave your brother.” She knew the best way to keep Bolton from doing something irrational was to let him think she was sympathetic to his cause.

  “You’ve got no idea, lady. None at all. Every day I’ve regretted not blasting the deputy full of holes instead of trying to escape.” Bolton lowered his gun arm and dropped his gaze to the floor in front of him. Snuffling, he took out a dusty bandana and swiped at his nose.

  When he looked up, Caterina was gone.

  Caterina would never make it to the road, so she ran the opposite direction, around the back of the house toward the tree line.

  Bolton’s roar from inside the house stirred her to pick up her skirts and run faster.

  “Stop or I’ll drop you dead right now. Don’t think I won’t,” Bolton yelled, running behind her.

  Not daring to look back, Caterina continued running, calling the man every name in Italian she’d ever used on her brothers and some she’d only heard Uncle Laz call Luigi and his thugs.

  Fleetingly, she wondered what had happened to Ike. If he were able, the dog would have long since come to her rescue.

  In her fear, she forgot about the half-dug well. Caterina was on top of it before she recalled Kade saying to stay away from it. As the rotten wood took her weight, it splintered and gave way beneath her. She screamed Kade’s name as she plunged down into the darkness, grasping at air.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kade listening again before he exited the house, yet heard nothing. If an outlaw waited for him, the logical places to hide would be the barn or the tree line. Since he came from the trees, he knew no one was there, so he decided to check the barn next.

  He didn’t have much daylight left before he’d be trying to find Caterina and a possible killer in the dark.

  Warily easing out the back door, he circled around so he could enter the back side of the ba
rn. As he glanced around, he noticed the broken wood sticking up from the old well. Terrified Ike may have fallen in and been hurt, he moved to the hole.

  His heart plummeted to his feet when he looked down and a shaft of light landed on Caterina’s pale face. She rested at the bottom in a crumpled heap.

  Panic unlike anything he’d ever known threatened to cut off his air supply as his lungs constricted and his head pounded. A dozen scenarios of what he’d find at the bottom of that well made him rush into action. He ran into the barn, grabbed a rope from where he stored his tack and turned, staring into the barrel of a gun.

  “Well, well, if it ain’t Deputy Rawlings coming to the rescue of his fair lady,” James Bolton said as he motioned for Kade to drop his gun. “We been waiting on you for a spell. About time you showed up.”

  “Bolton.” Kade allowed his feelings for Caterina to cloud everything else in his brain. He knew someone was watching him, knew something was wrong, yet he hadn’t listened to his gut instinct and now she’d be the one to pay for it.

  “Just here for a little payback, deputy. You took away the one person who means the most to me, and I’m returning the favor.” Bolton pulled back the hammer on his gun. The click resonated through the barn.

  Kade heard a faint whimpering from a back stall and decided it was probably Ike.

  “Where’s my dog?”

  “You mean that beast that looks like an ugly pony? Tied him up and muzzled him. Couldn’t have him giving me away. Didn’t shoot him because, with the right training, he might just come in real handy for me with some of my future endeavors.”

  “I don’t see that happening.” Kade’s voice remained steady, laced with steel. “Why don’t you hand over your gun and turn yourself in, peaceful like. Things will go much better for you if you do.”

  “You don’t seem to fully grasp the situation, Deputy Rawlings. See, I’m going to walk you over to that hole where your little Italian spitfire fell in and let you watch while I put a bullet in her head. Although, truth to tell, I ain’t so sure she didn’t break her neck in that fall. She ain’t made a sound for nigh onto an hour. Then I’m gonna shoot you and push you in after her.”

  “There’s a problem with your plan, Bolton,” Kade said, coiling his muscles, preparing to strike.

  “What’s that?” Bolton took a step back with a cocky smile plastered across his face.

  “You didn’t take into account that I’m not going to let you leave this barn alive.”

  Before Bolton could pull the trigger, Kade swung the rope and caught him on the side of the head. The gun discharged and Kade ran to the far end of the barn, diving into a stall. Ike was tied up with a muzzle around his mouth. Kade yanked a knife from his boot and cut Ike’s ties then removed the muzzle.

  “Be real quiet, boy,” he whispered to the dog, putting a restraining hand on his head. Bolton’s footsteps drew closer as he peered into each stall. Kade took the gun from his waistband and held it ready to shoot when Bolton neared the stall where he and Ike waited.

  “Now, Ike!” Kade yelled, firing as he came to his feet. Ike lunged at the outlaw, grabbing Bolton’s arm and clamping down with his massive jaws. Bolton screamed as Kade’s bullet grazed his side and jerked his hand, discharging his gun.

  The bullet tore through his left shoulder but he paid no mind to it as his fist connected with Bolton’s face. He hit him until he lost consciousness then used the rope Ike had been bound with to tie the man’s hands and feet behind him. Removing the outlaw’s weapons and boots, Kade tied him to one of the support posts and ran back to the hole with the rope he’d originally gone to the barn to retrieve.

  Kade tied the rope to a post nearby and lowered himself into the hole. Pain spread from his wound up his neck and down his arm. His bicep trembled and his fingers began to lose their grip on the rope. He couldn’t hold on much longer, but letting go meant he’d fall on top of Caterina.

  Focused on moving lower, one painful moment at a time, he stepped on the dirt at the bottom. Carefully edging aside Caterina’s legs, he created a place to stand.

  Woozy from his loss of blood, he hunkered down, removing his gloves. Her breath blew across the palm of his hand and he released a sigh of relief. She was alive.

  Gingerly, he placed his right hand beneath her head and lifted.

  “Caterina? Can you hear me, darlin’? Please, Cat, wake up. It’s okay. You’re gonna be just fine.” Kade waited for some sign of her stirring, but she remained still and lifeless. “Please, Cat? Please wake up. You have to. You can’t let things end like this. You’ve got a whole long life ahead of you. Please.”

  “Kade?” A faint whisper was the most welcome sound he’d ever heard. He watched as Caterina opened her eyes and looked at him.

  “Hi, darlin’. Guess I’m really going to have to get this hole filled. Thought I warned you about staying away from it.” Kade produced a teasing tone while he looked into her eyes in the muted light. They gained focus and clarity, so he didn’t think she had a concussion.

  “I’m sorry. I forgot it was here. I was trying to run to the tree line but I didn’t make it.”

  “It’s okay. Ike and I took care of him.” Kade reached out to help her sit up.

  “You found Ike?”

  “Yep. He was in the barn. Other than a little rope burn, he’s right as rain. He’s waiting for us to come up and say hello.” Gently feeling Caterina’s arms and moving his hand along her neck, nothing seemed broken.

  “I’m glad.” Caterina took a deep breath then gasped in pain.

  “What hurts, Cat?” Upset by her obvious pain, Kade had no idea what she’d damaged in her fall.

  “My side. Hurts to breathe,” she whispered.

  “Okay.” Kade stood on wobbly legs. They had to get out of the hole soon or he wasn’t going to be able to do it at all. “Anything else? Can you move both legs? Everything else feel okay?”

  “Yes, I think so.” Caterina allowed Kade to help her to her feet. Every breath caused a twinge of pain in her side and she had a headache from cracking her head on the way down. Other than splinters in her hand from where she tried to clutch the wood covering the hole, she seemed to have survived the fall surprisingly well.

  “You want me to take a look at your ribs?”

  “No. I’d rather have the doctor do it, thank you.” She hoped Kade couldn’t see her red cheeks in the fading daylight. The thought of him helping her undo her corset and placing his fingers to her skin made flames of heat shoot from her midsection to every extremity.

  Her eyes widened as he swayed on his feet and caught himself on the side of the well.

  “Kade? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, darlin’. I’m gonna tie this rope around you then climb out and pull you up. Okay?”

  “Are you sure that’s the best course of action?” The strained tone in his voice left her concerned and wary.

  “Ya always gotta be difficult, don’t ya?” Kade drawled. His eyes rolled back in his head and he slid down the side of the well, unconscious.

  Shocked, Caterina placed a hand on Kade’s shoulder and felt moisture. When she pulled back her fingers, they felt sticky and smelled of blood. In her own distress, she’d completely missed the fact that Kade bled from what must be a gunshot wound.

  With a grunt of pain, she bent over and pulled up her skirt, ripping the bottom ruffle from her petticoat. She held it over Kade’s wound and hoped it would help staunch the flow. How in the world did he think he could climb the rope then pull her out in his condition? If he hadn’t passed out, he’d have most likely tried it anyway.

  She had to get help as quickly as possible.

  “Ike!” she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. The pain caused by the action nearly caused her to faint. “Ike, puppy, if you can hear me, go get help. Go find the sheriff. Hurry, Ike. Be a good boy. Get the sheriff.”

  Caterina heard Ike bark and listened as his feet thudded against the ground. She prayed the dog underst
ood any of what she said.

  The air was already chilly and if they were stuck in this hole all night, it would be downright cold before morning. She removed the soaked fabric from Kade’s wound and held a fresh makeshift bandage to the spot then applied a little pressure.

  His skin felt cold and clammy against her fingers as she held the bandage. Blood soaked as he was, she worried about him freezing before help arrived.

  After leaving the bandage in place for a few minutes, she removed it and applied another one, relieved the flow of blood had nearly stopped.

  Not knowing what else to do, she turned up the fuzzy lining of his coat collar. She tugged it up by his ears, hoping to keep them warm. There was nothing left to do but wait and pray.

  The sound of something rattling prodded Kade out of the fuzzy recesses of his mind back to awareness. The rattle definitely wasn’t one made by a snake and it was too cold to worry about reptiles anyway.

  The smell of damp earth, blood, and the hint of a fragrance strangely like Caterina’s filled his nose.

  Slowly opening his eyes, darkness filled his vision. When he raised his gaze, stars twinkled overhead, but only in a narrow space. He remembered the fight with Bolton and finding Caterina in the old well.

  Kade vaguely recalled climbing down to her, so there must be a rope. He lifted his hand and stifled a gasp as intense pain ricocheted across his left shoulder, reminding him of the bullet lodged there. Although his shirt was sticky with blood, he could feel padding covering the wound. He assumed Caterina put it there.

  As he turned his face in the direction of the rattling, he realized it was her teeth chattering from the cold.

  “Cat?” He moved his good arm away from his body. “Come closer, darlin’. We’ll have to keep each other warm.”

  “You’re awake.” She sounded pleased, although her teeth continued to chatter. “I was so worried, Kade. You bled so much and you wouldn’t wake up. I tried to climb the rope but my ribs made it impossible. I sent Ike for help.”