The Outlaws: Sam Read Free

face papaled and her hands shook
as she clutched the edge of the desk. Sam Gentry! Alive! Not dead
and buried all those years ago like she'd been led to believe. He
stood before her larger than life, a bit older but more handsome
than she remembered. She couldn't believe it. Alive! And he was
staring at her with more venom than she deserved.
    Why hadn't he gotten in touch with her after
the war? Her heart sank. She knew why, but he was wrong. She'd had
nothing to do with her father's decision to trade him to the
Yankees for her brother.
    "Are you all right, Miz Lacey?" Rusty asked.
"You look kind of peaked all of a sudden."
    Lacey heard Rusty's voice as if it were
coming from a great distance. She knew she had to answer but
couldn't seem to make her mouth work. She realized her face was
white as a sheet but she had just received the greatest shock of
her life. She collected her tattered nerves, swallowed hard, and
said, "Anyone you hire on is fine with me, Rusty. You're the expert
here. But if you don't mind, I'd like a few words alone with
Sam."
    If Rusty found anything unusual about Lacey's
request, he made no mention of it. "Sure thing, Miz Lacey. Meet me
at the corral when you're finished here, Sam."
    Sam and Lacey continued to stare at one
another long after Rusty left. Lacey was the first to break the
weighted silence. "You let me go on thinking you were dead all
these years! Why!"
    Sam searched for his tongue and finally found
it, along with his anger. "You damn well know why! Did you think I
would return to you after you betrayed me?"
    "I had nothing to do with that."
    Bitterness colored his words. "Tell it to
someone who will believe you."
    "I begged Captain Wiltshire to tell me what
happened to you. All he'd say was that you'd been taken to a ship
to be transported north to prison. I wrote to Washington but they
had no record of you ever being in one of their prisons. I was told
that you had probably died before you arrived at the prison, given
the condition of the prison ships. I didn't want to believe you
were dead but everything I'd been told pointed in that
direction."
    "Captain Wiltshire!" Sam spat. "Wasn't he
that blond Yankee who came for me after you betrayed me? Did you
take up with him after he carted me away?" He gave a bark of
laughter. "You didn't really think he would trade me for your
brother, did you?"
    A pained look crossed Lacey's face. "I didn't
know it then, but my brother had already died at Andersonville.
Something Captain Wiltshire neglected to tell us."
    His voice held a biting edge. "So your
betrayal was for nothing. Well, you needn't have worried. I never
made reached the prison. It's true that I a Yankee patrol escorted
me to the prison ship, but they were set upon by Rebel forces and I
was set free. I survived the rest of the war without a
scratch."
    "Why didn't you tell me you were alive? I'm
your wife ! I had a right to know."
    "You had no rights where I was concerned. You
lost them the day the Yankees came for me."
    "Why are you here? How did you find me?"
    "I'm here by accident; I had no idea I'd find
you here. In fact, I never even think about you. It's like you
never existed."
    Lacey looked stricken, but she immediately
recovered. "Did you end our marriage? Have you taken another
wife?"
    "I saw no reason to end our marriage since I
had no desire to remarry...ever. You taught me that women were
untrustworthy. I was young and foolish when we met. The war, the
threat of sudden death, does strange things to men. Our marriage
should have never happened. Over the years I managed to forget I
had a wife. I understand you're to be married soon, so I suspect
I'm not the only one who forgot our marriage."
    Lacey's chin quivered but she wouldn't give
in to her anger. "I thought you were dead. I waited six years for
you to return to me. What else was I to think?"
    "Nice try, Lacey, but it won't work. How many
lovers have you taken since that day we paparted? I understand you
have a son."
    "Leave