feel worthy enough to marry her without it. Said Jason
Savage murdered him to keep him from finding the treasure and coming
back to you."
If it were possible for someone as naturally lovely as Savanna
to gape like a fish, she did so now. Her jaw hanging slack, her eyes
slightly glazed, she stared dumbfoundedly at Micajah. Her first
instinct was to reject the tale out of hand, but she suddenly
remembered that conversation with her mother the first evening she had
arrived at Campo de Verde. Elizabeth had stated quite clearly that
Davalos had believed a man named Jason Savage was his deadliest enemy
and that Davalos had been looking for a golden fortune. Elizabeth had
dismissed the idea, but could her mother have been horribly wrong?
Savanna shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. Was she going to
believe
Micajah
over Elizabeth? She wavered and
then her mouth thinned, and with a trifle less vehemence than she would
have expressed before she recalled her mother's words, she said,
"That's the craziest story I've ever had!
Dios!
Are you drunk, or just plain crazy?"
Micajah sent Jeremy a mitigating look and Jeremy gulped and
rushed into speech. "It's true! I swear it on my mother's breast! Every
word! I found him dying near the Palo Duro Canyon area, and he told me
about the treasure and about you and that Jason Savage had murdered
him."
"I
didn't believe him at first either,"
Micajah chimed in eagerly. "Thought ten years in a Spanish jail had
addled his wits, but he's convinced me. Told me yore daddy confessed to
killing someone named Nolan and hiding a golden armband—said you had
it."
Numbly Savanna stared at Micajah, her thoughts jumbled. The
terrible suspicion that her mother had been wrong took hold of her.
They were lying… and yet why would they persist in this wild story?
Surely not just to get her to go with them! They
believed
what they were saying. Could there really be a golden armband? But she
didn't have it. She'd never heard of it until this very moment! They
had to be lying! Fixing them with a look of scorn, she said acidly, "I
don't have any damn golden armband! I've never seen it or heard of it!"
Micajah nodded wisely. "Yore daddy told Jeremy that he'd hid
it. Told him he hid it so that if something happened to him, you'd find
it and you and yore mama would still be taken care of if he wasn't
around anymore. Jeremy said all he could talk about as he lay there
dying was how much he loved you and yore mama and how much he wanted to
set things right."
"It's all true! Nolan. The golden armband. Happened just the
way Micajah says," Jeremy averred piously.
With an effort Savanna focused her gaze on Jeremy. He still
looked like a weasel to her, but there was such an air of truthfulness
about him that she faltered.
Dios!
What if what
they said
was
true! She swallowed convulsively
and shook her head as if to clear it. "I don't believe you," she
muttered unhappily. "You're lying!"
"Now why would he lie?" Micajah asked reasonably. "Don't mean
nothing to him."
There was too much to take in, and almost desperately Savanna
replied, "All right! Say it's true—what does it have to do with me?"
Micajah took another bite of beef and swallowed it before
answering. "Well, since yore daddy was planning on coming back and
setting everything to rights for you and yore mama, it seems to me that
you'd want revenge on the man that stopped him—-the man that murdered
him before he could make everything right. Jason Savage."
Helplessly Savanna shook her head again, trying frantically to
make some sense of this whole bizarre situation. "Are you telling me,"
she finally asked, "that you kidnapped me because you want me to take
revenge on Jason Savage?"
"Not exactly." Micajah's eyes flickered over her and Savanna
was suddenly chilled. "You know the reason why I kidnapped you, so
don't play coy, darlin'," he said bluntly. "But since it was yore daddy
who was tracing the treasure, by rights it should be yores… and
Savage murdered him to keep him from finding the treasure and coming
back to you."
If it were possible for someone as naturally lovely as Savanna
to gape like a fish, she did so now. Her jaw hanging slack, her eyes
slightly glazed, she stared dumbfoundedly at Micajah. Her first
instinct was to reject the tale out of hand, but she suddenly
remembered that conversation with her mother the first evening she had
arrived at Campo de Verde. Elizabeth had stated quite clearly that
Davalos had believed a man named Jason Savage was his deadliest enemy
and that Davalos had been looking for a golden fortune. Elizabeth had
dismissed the idea, but could her mother have been horribly wrong?
Savanna shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. Was she going to
believe
Micajah
over Elizabeth? She wavered and
then her mouth thinned, and with a trifle less vehemence than she would
have expressed before she recalled her mother's words, she said,
"That's the craziest story I've ever had!
Dios!
Are you drunk, or just plain crazy?"
Micajah sent Jeremy a mitigating look and Jeremy gulped and
rushed into speech. "It's true! I swear it on my mother's breast! Every
word! I found him dying near the Palo Duro Canyon area, and he told me
about the treasure and about you and that Jason Savage had murdered
him."
"I
didn't believe him at first either,"
Micajah chimed in eagerly. "Thought ten years in a Spanish jail had
addled his wits, but he's convinced me. Told me yore daddy confessed to
killing someone named Nolan and hiding a golden armband—said you had
it."
Numbly Savanna stared at Micajah, her thoughts jumbled. The
terrible suspicion that her mother had been wrong took hold of her.
They were lying… and yet why would they persist in this wild story?
Surely not just to get her to go with them! They
believed
what they were saying. Could there really be a golden armband? But she
didn't have it. She'd never heard of it until this very moment! They
had to be lying! Fixing them with a look of scorn, she said acidly, "I
don't have any damn golden armband! I've never seen it or heard of it!"
Micajah nodded wisely. "Yore daddy told Jeremy that he'd hid
it. Told him he hid it so that if something happened to him, you'd find
it and you and yore mama would still be taken care of if he wasn't
around anymore. Jeremy said all he could talk about as he lay there
dying was how much he loved you and yore mama and how much he wanted to
set things right."
"It's all true! Nolan. The golden armband. Happened just the
way Micajah says," Jeremy averred piously.
With an effort Savanna focused her gaze on Jeremy. He still
looked like a weasel to her, but there was such an air of truthfulness
about him that she faltered.
Dios!
What if what
they said
was
true! She swallowed convulsively
and shook her head as if to clear it. "I don't believe you," she
muttered unhappily. "You're lying!"
"Now why would he lie?" Micajah asked reasonably. "Don't mean
nothing to him."
There was too much to take in, and almost desperately Savanna
replied, "All right! Say it's true—what does it have to do with me?"
Micajah took another bite of beef and swallowed it before
answering. "Well, since yore daddy was planning on coming back and
setting everything to rights for you and yore mama, it seems to me that
you'd want revenge on the man that stopped him—-the man that murdered
him before he could make everything right. Jason Savage."
Helplessly Savanna shook her head again, trying frantically to
make some sense of this whole bizarre situation. "Are you telling me,"
she finally asked, "that you kidnapped me because you want me to take
revenge on Jason Savage?"
"Not exactly." Micajah's eyes flickered over her and Savanna
was suddenly chilled. "You know the reason why I kidnapped you, so
don't play coy, darlin'," he said bluntly. "But since it was yore daddy
who was tracing the treasure, by rights it should be yores… and
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