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  Tougher than the Rest

  MacLarens of Fire Mountain

  SHIRLEEN DAVIES

  Book One in the MacLarens of Fire Mountain Series

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2013 by Shirleen Davies

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  For permission requests, contact the publisher.

  Avalanche Ranch Press, LLC

  PO Box 12618

  Prescott, AZ 86304

  Tougher than the Rest is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used factiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is wholly coincidental.

  Cover artwork by idrewdesign.

  Description

  Niall MacLaren is determined to turn his ranch into the biggest cattle dynasty in the Arizona Territory. The widower will do whatever he must to obtain the political and financial support he needs, even marry a woman he does not love. Nothing will stand in his way.

  Katherine is well-bred, educated, and seeks a life away from her cloistered existence in the East. Landing the teaching job in California provides her with the opportunity she seeks. Most importantly, and unlike many of her peers, she will not need a husband to achieve her goals.

  When an accident brings them together, mutual desire takes root, threatening to dismantle their carefully laid plans and destroy their dreams. Can either of them afford to be distracted by the passion that unites them—especially when one of them may belong to another?

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my husband, Richard. His unwavering support, endless re-reads, and suggestions, all given in good humor, were a constant encouragement. He is the inspiration for the character, Niall, and I am blessed for the part he plays in my life every day.

  Acknowledgements

  I want to give a special thank you to Gayle Gross for connecting me with my editor, Regge Episale. Both have unselfishly provided their professional input and suggestions throughout the writing of this book.

  Table of Contents

  Book One in the MacLarens of Fire Mountain Series

  Description

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Tougher than the Rest

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Other books in the MacLarens of Fire Mountain series

  About Author

  Tougher than the Rest

  Prologue

  Ohio, 1866

  Niall covered his ears to drown out the relentless gunfire, but it was no use. The noise continued without pause and echoed throughout the valley surrounding the family’s small farm. Their parents had pushed him and his brothers through the trapdoor of a hidden underground room, near the back wall of the barn, and closed it after making them promise not to come out, no matter what they heard. Years of living under the strict rule of their father, Duncan MacLaren, guaranteed they’d do as he demanded.

  At last the noise stopped but his ears still rang from the constant bursts of gunfire. The cries of his parents above had ceased long ago. He could no longer hear the whimpering of his seven-year-old twin brothers as they huddled in a far corner. His other brother, Jamie, was with them in the small space, but he made no sound. The chamber smelled stale, locked away from sun and air.

  The earthen space was dark, except for small amounts of light passing through slits in the wooden door. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Niall continued to wait while his heart pounded incessantly. He had to stay calm, and think. Something stirred in the underground chamber. Another minute passed before he sensed, rather than saw, someone try to move past him.

  “Stop, Jamie,” Niall warned as his brother tried to push him out of the way.

  “But Ma and Pa—they’re out there,” Jamie pleaded, the fear apparent in his trembling voice.

  Minutes passed. Unable to wait any longer, Niall shoved at the heavy trapdoor. It was old, the hinges squeaked, but Niall continued to push until he could peer out through the barn to the house beyond. Smoke and debris were everywhere, so much that he could only see vague outlines of clothing, broken chairs, and tools. He looked behind him just as Jamie shoved at his back.

  “Let’s go, Niall,” Jamie hissed.

  “No, Jamie.” Niall rounded on his younger brother. “You wait here with the twins until I call for you.”

  Jamie scowled but did as he was told.

  Niall climbed out, looking around the barn. His eyes landed on tack ripped from hooks, torn feed sacks, and discarded buckets. Running to the house he found his father, prone, a bullet through his chest, his eyes fixed. Blood soaked the parched ground. Niall wasn’t a stranger to death. By the age of fifteen he’d witnessed it several times as a result of the recent war. He knew his father was gone.

  A scream formed in his throat as he gazed around to find his mother sprawled half in and half out of the door to their home. The scream, still bottled inside him, escaped as he ran to her. Her head was turned at an odd angle. Her legs twisted within the folds of her long skirt. Niall knelt next to his mother, lifted the lifeless body into his arms, and rocked her. “No!” His mind screamed. But he knew the truth. She was gone. Both of them were gone. He looked up to see the twins, a few feet away, clinging to each other for comfort.

  Jamie was standing next to him, gazing down at their mother. His body began to tremble as tears rolled from his eyes. He didn’t cry out. Instead, intense rage formed on the young boy’s face, and his hands balled into fists as he attempted to quell the hatred burning inside.

  Niall looked back down at his mother and pulled her tight against him. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and an odd keening sound emerged as he continued to rock her until no more tears would come and the sky turned dark.

  Chapter One

  “Darn it, Niall,” Jamie said through clenched teeth when they were all settled on the train to St. Louis. At twelve-years-old, he was three years younger than his oldest brother, Niall, but had a short fuse and didn’t like to be bossed around.

  A month had passed since raiders from West Virginia had crossed into Ohio to pillage the farm and murder their parents. If his father hadn’t confided in Niall, just days before, about the money he had saved over many years, they would’ve been homeless and penniless. After burying their parents, Niall climbed back into the underground room and found two sacks of money. Niall sat stunned. It must have taken their Pa years to save this amount. He knew the bags would have been confiscated along with everything else if the r
aiders had discovered them.

  “What now, Jamie?” Niall asked as he wrapped blankets around the twins and laid his head back against the seat. Although exhausted, scared, and uncertain this was the right decision, he wouldn’t give up and change his mind. Pa had said his brother, their Uncle Stuart, who’d immigrated to the United States with him eighteen years earlier, owned a ranch out west, and by God they’d find it. Niall knew his uncle lived in the Arizona Territory near a town called Fire Mountain. He raised cattle. Well, Niall knew farming from working every day under his Pa, and was certain he’d be an asset to his uncle. He’d earn his keep, and that of his brothers, and not allow his uncle to turn them away.

  “I don’t understand why we can’t go to Aunt Margaret’s to live. She has a house and servants, food, and lots of room. Why go west when Aunt Margaret is in Charlotte?” Jamie had asked this same question over and over the last couple of weeks. Niall had asked it of himself.

  “Because Pa told me we should go to Uncle Stuart’s if anything happened,” Niall said. He didn’t want to tell Jamie their father had called their Aunt Margaret a mean-spirited woman, who never forgave her sister for marrying a Scot. Papa had often said she had a big home, but a small heart. Niall had sent a message to Uncle Stuart before boarding the train, telling him they were heading to Arizona. The oldest MacLaren was determined to get him and his brothers across country. Alive.

  “Well, I don’t understand, and that’s the truth. Papa never said anything to me about going west.” Jamie slumped back in to the seat and crossed his arms.

  Even though he was barely three years younger than Niall, Pa had never discussed these issues with Jamie, preferring to confide in his oldest son instead. Jamie resented being excluded, and although Niall understood his frustration, he also knew their Pa had thought Jamie too young and temperamental to trust with the information he confided to Niall. Niall thought their Pa had it right. He turned his head to stare out the window as the thickening dark clouds connected to form a solid wall of black. He nodded off as the first spatters of rain signaled the coming storm.

  ******

  St. Louis was large, crowded, noisy, and dirty. Maybe it had some attractive parts, but not from where the boys stood on the crowded walkway. The train master had told Niall they’d need to take a stage the rest of the way to the Arizona Territory. Niall’s biggest concern wasn’t so much the stage, but the comments the train master made regarding outlaws, Indians, and other dangers. He and Jamie would be fine, but he worried about the twins. How would they do? Well, they’d have to make it work. They had no choice. Niall didn’t know how long their money would last, and there was nowhere else to go.

  “Hey, kid, look where you’re going.” The words came from a large, broad-shouldered man who collided with Jamie, sending him sprawling off the depot landing and into the dirt. Jamie jumped up, ran after the man, and pushed him hard from behind. That was Jamie—all action with little forethought regarding consequences—and there were consequences.

  “You little hellion,” roared the man as he turned to grab Jamie by the collar and throw him into the nearby water trough. The twins gaped as the action unfolded. Niall merely sighed and shook his head before walking up to the stranger to offer his apologies.

  “Sorry, mister. He gets a little hotheaded sometimes. We just got to St. Louis and hope to get out of here soon.” He glanced back at the three remaining members of his family. “I’ll get my brothers and go.” Niall didn’t want to prolong the fight, and with Jamie, you never knew what to expect. They needed a place to stay, food, baths, and information on how to continue to Arizona.

  “Brothers?” The stranger hadn’t seen the twins a few feet away.

  “Yeah, my brothers and I are headed for the Arizona Territory. Our uncle has a ranch there.” The idea of supplying too much information to a stranger didn’t sit well with Niall.

  “The four of you are traveling, by yourselves, all the way to Arizona, and no adult?” The stranger glanced around at the circle of boys, surprised the four of them were traveling alone. The oldest was tall, but still didn’t appear to be older than thirteen, maybe fourteen.

  “Hell, mister, I’m fifteen and my brother is twelve. We’ve done fine so far, and we’ll do fine the rest of the way.” Defiance laced his voice.

  “Fifteen huh? Well, that is right old. You know how to protect them? Use a gun?”

  “Of course I can use a gun. Our Pa taught us how to shoot, and we had to hunt much of our food.” He regarded his brothers, worried about the same things the stranger mentioned, but there was no one else to do this, just him.

  “I mean a pistol. You know how to use one of these?” The stranger pulled out a magnificent Colt revolver. “You ever shot a gun like this?”

  Niall’s eyes widened as he stared at the gun. He’d seen lots of pistols but never a gun as beautiful as this one. Sleek, shiny, with an ivory handle. How would it feel to hold such a gun? Hell, what would the gun feel like to shoot? Ma didn’t like pistols. Said they were meant for a single purpose. Killing people. She held with rifles for shooting game and basic protection, but a pistol? No. A pistol was for another use altogether.

  Ma. The thought of her brought pain to his heart. If he were older, without the responsibility of his brothers, he would’ve gone after the murderers and killed every one of them.

  “Uh, no, sir, never shot one of those. I never had the chance.” Niall felt insecure. Maybe he wasn’t as prepared for the trip as he thought.

  “My name is Garner, Trent Garner. Where you boys staying?”

  Niall studied Garner for a minute. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to know someone familiar with the town. “I’m Niall. Niall MacLaren. This is Jamie and the twins are Will and Drew. We don’t have a place yet. We were on our way to find a room when Jamie collided with you.”

  MacLaren? He knew a MacLaren in the Arizona Territory. Fire Mountain area. Coincidence? Garner didn’t believe in coincidences, but he wouldn’t press Niall. The boy had enough on his mind.

  “Hey, he collided with me.” Jamie protested.

  Garner ignored the outburst. “Well, tell you what. I’ll take you to the hotel where I stay. Find out if a room’s available. Grab your stuff and let’s go.” Garner didn’t wait for an answer. He left them standing and started walking at a brisk pace down the road.

  ******

  “Afternoon, Marshal,” the desk clerk glanced up from his paperwork as the small group walked into the hotel lobby.

  Marshal? Why didn’t Garner say he was a marshal? Niall wondered.

  “Got me some friends here who need a room. What do you have?”

  “One room, baths for all, three bits per night. Food is extra.” No way the clerk would let those four boys, in their dirty condition, sleep in his beds, even if they were friends of the marshal.

  “Done.” Garner tossed coins to the clerk for one night, got the key, and started up the stairs. “Hey, you boys coming or not?”

  That shook Niall out of his trance. He and the brothers scrambled up the stairs behind the marshal.

  “You hear that, Niall? The guy’s a marshal. Why didn’t he say that right off?” Jamie whispered as he followed his brother down the hall to their room.

  “Yeah, I heard. Guess he has his reasons,” Niall said as Garner opened the door to their room.

  The room was small but clean, with places all four could bed down. It looked over the main street and dust blew through the sheer curtains when Niall opened the window to peer out. Shutting the window, he turned to survey the room. There sure was a lot of furniture in the small space. An oak bureau sat against one wall with a pitcher of water and basin sitting off-center, an oil lamp to the side, and a mirror at the back. Another large piece of furniture rested along a second wall. When opened, he saw a bar for clothes. He recalled his Ma used to call these wardrobes, hinting more than once how much she would have liked to own one. Again, his gut twisted, and he wondered once more when this gnawing sensation would end.


  “Clean up boys and I’ll meet you downstairs in an hour,” the marshal said as he closed to the door.

  An hour later they met Garner in the hotel dining room. Niall couldn’t remember ever being in a place this grand. Garner ordered the special all around, and watched the boys devour their food, almost licking their plates clean. Garner had never seen four young boys eat as these did. Must’ve been awhile since they’d enjoyed a full meal. Tough bunch of kids, he thought as he nursed his second cup of coffee. What were four boys doing traveling to the Arizona Territory? What about their folks? They were no more prepared for the trip than most easterners he met.

  “Where you from?” Garner looked to Niall as the boys dug into their dessert.

  “Ohio,” Niall said between bites. He didn’t want to talk about Ohio, his parents and their murder, or the boys’ future.

  “And your folks?”

  Niall set down his fork, tried to straighten in his seat, but his shoulders drooped under the weight of the responsibilities that had passed to him.

  “Murdered,” he finally said. “Raiders came across the border. Murdered them, stole everything we had, and burned what was left.” He paused to take a sip of the sarsaparilla Garner had ordered for each. “Pa said we should go to our uncle’s ranch if anything ever happened. So that’s where we’re headed, and we’ll make it, too.” Niall stiffened his spine and looked straight into the marshal’s eyes.

  Garner considered the boy’s words, resigning himself to their situation. “Well then, tomorrow let’s do what we can to help you get to Arizona alive.”

  ******

  They met the marshal in the dining room again the next morning. Garner told them what to expect the rest of their trip including rough terrain, endless dust, bad food, and unknown dangers. “It’s the unknown dangers that’ll kill you,” he said before leading them to an open area back behind the hotel, where he addressed all four of them.