Wilderness Double Edition 22, page 13
“The stables and the landings are covered. Where else is there?”
“Didn’t Major Bannister tell you she rented a house under a false name? And later burned it down? What if it wasn’t the only one? What if she is lying low somewhere until things quiet down and she can sneak off?”
“Could be,” Lou said, “but how do we go about finding her?”
Zach was thinking fast and furious. “The newspaper carries rooms for rent, doesn’t it? Let’s go to their office and look through their back issues.”
Lou grinned and snapped her fingers. “A great idea! Bannister also told me she arrived here about a week after you were thrown in the stockade. That should narrow our search.”
The Kansas Sun was published out of a small building on Fourth Street. Zach asked to speak to the editor but it was Clarence Potts who came to talk to them.
“As I live and breathe! It’s the boost in our circulation himself! To what do we owe the honor?”
Zach had never liked the reporter much. From what he had seen, reporters were like buzzards, forever picking at carrion in the hope of uncovering a juicy morsel. “We need your help.”
“This is a switch,” Potts said.
“My sister has been kidnapped by Athena Borke.”
For all of ten seconds Potts was in shock. Then his reporter’s instincts kicked in and his face underwent a transformation. Surprise gave way to crafty calculation. “That cute little girl I met at the landing? By the sister of the men you killed? This will be the biggest story ever!” He caught himself and asked, “What kind of help do you need?”
Zach explained their idea.
“Please, Mr. Potts,” Lou said. “I know I didn’t treat you very well when you came knocking at my door all those times. But a child’s life is at stake.”
“Did I say I wouldn’t lend a hand?” Potts rejoined. “All I want is to come along. And for you to grant me full rights to the story. Meaning you talk to me and only me. No other reporters at all. Are we agreed?”
“Agreed,” Zach said. “But I have a condition of my own.”
“Name it.”
“If we find the house, you must wait outside until it’s over.” Zach did not want the reporter to witness Athena Borke’s death. It would not be a pretty sight.
“I’ll miss everything,” Potts complained.
“I want my sister back alive,” Zach said. “One mistake and I could lose her. I must go in alone. Once she’s safe, you are welcome to do whatever you like.” Zach’s white half thought of a white custom to seal their arrangement. He offered his right hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Clarence Potts grinned like a kid given all the candy his heart desired. “You bet your life we do!”
Seventeen
The farmhouse was on a low rise not far from the Missouri River. About half the acreage had been cleared for planting crops. The rest was thick woodland. The man who built the house had been forced to give up farming and move into town when one of the trees fell the wrong way and crushed his legs.
A woman calling herself Florence Meeker now rented the place. According to the former farmer, she was “a real beauty with the blackest hair you ever did see.” She did not have a husband or children but she did have a man who worked for her. “About the biggest man alive,” was how the farmer described him.
A narrow footpath wound through the woods to the house. The sun had set more than an hour ago and the woods were dark and still except for the rustle of the wind and the hoot of an owl.
As silent as a Comanche, Zach stalked along the path with his wife’s Hawken in his hands. She was behind him, armed with her pistols. Neither of them made a sound, but the same could not be said of Clarence Potts. The reporter had all the stealth of a steam engine. He clomped along, snapping twigs and brushing against the undergrowth. They might as well be carrying torches, Zach thought to himself. “Try to be more quiet,” he whispered, “or you’ll give us away.”
“I’m doing my best,” Potts protested too loudly. “Beats me how either of you can see where to go.”
“Maybe you should wait here,” Lou whispered.
“Not on your life, lady. We have a deal, remember? I held up my end and helped you find Borke. Now I expect you two to hold up yours. I’ll wait outside the house but not way out here.”
“We will keep our word, Mr. Potts.”
“Then let’s get on with it, shall we? I don’t much like being out in the wilds at night.”
Zach inwardly laughed at the notion that this was wilderness. They were less than a mile from town and other farms were on either side. He moved on until the house reared out of the darkness. No lights were lit; it appeared deserted.
“What if she’s not there?” Louisa whispered in his ear.
“We keep looking,” Zach said. He would never give up. Not ever.
“Maybe we should wait for Shakespeare and Blue Water Woman,” Lou remarked.
At Zach’s request, Potts had sent an errand boy to The Armistead to tell them about the farmhouse. Zach expected them to show up anytime, but he couldn’t wait. “Who knows what Borke and her servant have done to Evelyn?” He stalked grimly on.
Weeds had overrun the small yard since the farmer left. A trampled path between the woods and the porch showed that someone had recently been there, and might still be.
Zach motioned for Lou and Potts to stay in the trees. She nodded her understanding but Potts did not look pleased. Crouching, Zach dashed to the porch. He was about to put his foot on the bottom step when he changed his mind. Steps had a tendency to creak. Instead, he moved to the rail and climbed up and over.
The windows were not only closed, they were shuttered. An encouraging sign, Zach thought. Only someone who had something to hide would close up the house tight as a keg on such a hot, humid night. He padded to the door and reached out to try the latch, but a sound from inside froze him in place.
Backing off, Zach reconsidered. The door was bound to be locked. Kicking it in would warn Borke and Largo. There had to be a smarter way.
The farmhouse was two stories high. Only the bottom windows were shuttered.
Those on the second floor had drawn curtains. To reach them, all Zach had to do was climb onto the rail, shimmy up a post, hook a leg onto the overhang, pull himself up, then crawl to the nearest window and carefully pry at the sill. It opened with a slight scrape. Another moment, and he was hunkered in a bedroom.
A musty odor hung in the air. A bed was against one wall, a dresser against the other. The door was wide open.
A hallway brought Zach to a flight of stairs. A tingle ran through him when he saw a woman who must be Athena Borke bathed in the glow of a lamp. She was in a rocking chair, a straw hat on her knee, staring into an unlit fireplace. Crouching, he nearly shot her dead then and there. But just then a door across the room opened and in came Largo, limping slightly.
“Your tea will be ready in a few minutes, mistress.”
“Thank you,” Athena said.
Largo turned to go, but at the door he stopped and stared at her until she noticed.
“There is something else on your mind?”
“The girl, mistress. Murdering a child does not sit well with me. You know I would do anything for you, anything at all, but—”
Evelyn was alive, Zach realized. In his excitement he wanted to whoop for joy.
“Be at ease, Largo. I haven’t made up my mind yet. Both choices appeal to me.” Athena held out a hand and Largo came to her and gently clasped it in his. She dropped the straw hat to the floor and slowly stood. Their arms went around each other, their lips met in passionate release, and after a while Largo stepped back and bowed his head.
“Forgive my doubts. I am, as always, your obedient servant.”
“And much more,” Athena said. She tenderly stroked his square jaw. “I am sorry to put you through all this. My brothers were stupid but they were my brothers and their souls scream for vengeance.”
“I have never complained, mistress.”
“No. You never do.”
Largo left, and Athena sat in the rocking chair with her chin in her hands, thinking. Her hair had fallen down over her shoulders and glimmered like a raven’s feathers.
Slowly unfolding, Zach started down the stairs. He placed each foot where the steps met the wall instead of in the center. Once at the bottom, he stalked up behind the rocking chair and touched the Hawken’s barrel to the nape of the woman’s neck. “Not a peep or I will blow your brains out, bitch.”
Athena Borke didn’t cringe or cry out. She did not seem at all surprised or scared. Calmly turning her head, she said, “I should have known. But you won’t kill me, breed. Not until you know your sister is safe.”
“Where is she?” Zach was keeping an eye on the door Largo had gone through.
“Hand over your rifle and I’ll tell you.”
“Not a chance.” Zach stepped to the right so he had a clear shot at her and the doorway, both. “You’ll tell me anyway once I carve on you.”
“My, my. You are vicious, aren’t you?” Athena mocked him. “How many people have you slain in your short span on this earth? Twenty? Thirty?”
“I never kill except in self-defense,” Zach said.
“Liar. The war party you led against my brother’s trading post wasn’t done in self-defense. And you murdered my other brother in a tent in the dead of night. I read the army transcripts. I know all the details.”
The woman knew nothing, but Zach was not going to stand there and justify himself.
“Think what you want. But I want my sister and I want her now.”
“I have a better idea,” Athena said. “Hand me that rifle and I won’t have Largo shoot you in the back.”
“Nice try,” Zach said. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the door once.
“There’s another door behind you. He has a cocked pistol pointed at your spine. All I need do is nod and you’re dead.” Athena looked past Zach. “Isn’t that right, Largo?”
“That is right, mistress.”
Zach glanced over his shoulder. He had never heard the other door open, never heard the manservant enter. He could spin and fire but Largo would get off a shot and at that range couldn’t miss. Since he couldn’t rescue Evelyn if he were dead, Zach reversed his hold on the Hawken and handed it to the woman he hated with every fiber of his being.
“Who says breeds can’t be reasonable?” Athena rose and trained it on him while stepping back. “Sit,” she directed.
Zach hoped Lou had become tired of waiting and followed him in, as she had done at the tavern. “Where’s my sister, damn you?”
“In good time,” Athena answered. To her servant she said, “I saw a coil of rope in the shed out back when we were given a tour of the property. Fetch it, if you please.”
Largo balked. “And leave you alone with him?”
“So long as we have Evelyn he won’t dare resist.” Athena sighted down the barrel. “And if he does—how did he phrase it? Ah, yes.” She winked at Zach. “I will blow your brains out, you son of a bitch.”
Lou shifted her weight from her right foot to her left and back again. It was taking Zach much too long, she decided.
Clarence Potts was fidgeting, too. “How much longer must we wait? He’s taking forever.”
“Another five minutes,” Lou said. Then she was going in. Alone. The reporter would make too much noise and slow her down.
“To hell with that.” Potts stood and marched past her. “This is the story of the year and I’m not letting it slip through my fingers.”
“Wait!” Lou whispered, and grabbed at his pant leg, but he jerked loose. Moving from concealment, she snatched at his sleeve but he shrugged from her grasp.
“Don’t try to stop me, Mrs. King.”
“What if the woman and her servant are in there and hear you?” Lou angrily demanded. “You’re putting Zach’s and Evelyn’s lives in danger.”
“I’m not as dumb as you seem to think,” Potts arrogantly responded. “I’ll sneak around back and go in that way.”
His idea of “sneaking” left a lot to be desired; he simply tramped around the side to the back door. A shack and an outhouse were nearby but he didn’t give them a second glance.
“See how easy that was?” Potts moved to the door and opened it and a gigantic hand wrapped itself around his throat. He squawked in fear as Largo emerged and with ridiculous ease lifted him off the ground.
Lou pointed both pistols but the reporter was in the way. As she sidestepped to the left to take aim there was a loud crack, and Largo hurled Potts at her. She had no time to duck or dodge. Bowled over, she winced as Pott’s knee rammed into her stomach. She quickly shoved him and off and rose.
“No, you don’t.”
Lou found herself staring into the barrel of Largo’s pistol. She might be fast enough to push it aside before he fired, but then again, she might not.
“Drop your weapons.”
Lou dropped them.
“My mistress will be most pleased,” Largo commented, and stooping, picked up a coil of rope he had dropped. He nudged Potts with a boot. His throat had been crushed and blood was coursing from his nose and mouth. “A reporter, if I’m not mistaken. I saw him at the trial. Why did you bring him along?”
“He wanted an exclusive,” Lou said.
“Maybe they will grant him one in Hell.” Largo wagged the rope at the back door. “After you.”
A teapot was on the stove, hissing and spitting. As they passed a closet Lou thought she heard a soft thump. The living room was cast in a rosy glow but there was nothing rosy about Athena Borke holding a rifle on Zach.
“What’s this? I send you for rope and you bring me his slut? You have outdone yourself, Largo.”
“You flatter me, mistress.” The manservant lapped up the praise like a kitten lapping up milk. “There was a reporter with her. I disposed of him.”
“Excellent.”
Lou stopped beside the rocking chair. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop Potts. He wouldn’t listen.”
“We’ve both blundered,” Zach said, and squeezed her hand.
Athena Borke chortled at their display of affection. “Did you see, Largo? How touching. And how fitting. Bring the two chairs from the kitchen, would you, and place them back-to-back in the middle of the room.”
The moment the giant left, Lou saw Zach tense to spring at Athena. But Athena noticed, too, and pointed the Hawken at her. “Go ahead, breed. Try, if you think you can reach me before a slug rips through your wife’s belly.”
Largo worked swiftly. He aligned the chairs back-to-back, and after Athena made Lou and Zach take seats, he bound them by their ankles and wrists, then looped more rope around their waists.
The whole while, Lou’s feeling of helplessness mounted. “What do you plan to do with us?”
Athena had lowered the Hawken and was smirking in triumph. “First things first. I believe good-byes are in order.” She chuckled. “Largo, bring the girl.”
“Yes, mistress.”
Evelyn took one look and ran to Zach and flung her arms around his neck. Tears gushed and she clung to him, saying over and over, “Brother, brother, brother.”
Lou couldn’t see her husband’s face but she felt his chair shake from the intensity of his emotions. The torment he was experiencing tore at her own heart. She saw Athena whisper to Largo, and suddenly the hulking manservant had Evelyn in one huge arm and was holding her off the floor.
“Let go!” Evelyn screamed, fighting furiously. But her punches and kicks had no more effect than those of a fawn in the grip of a grizzly.
“Harm her and I’ll kill you!” Lou heard Zach vow. “So help me!”
Athena Borke walked up to Evelyn and tapped her cheek with a forefinger, and Evelyn tried to bite it but missed. “Hurt this wonderful child? Why, I wouldn’t think of it. She has such a keen, inquisitive mind. I would much rather expand her horizons.”
Lou responded when Zach did not. “How do you mean?”
Athena patted Evelyn’s head. “She and I had the most marvelous talk. She’s a fount of curiosity about the world and the people in it. It would be remiss of me not to show her.”
“You wouldn’t,” Lou said.
“On the contrary.” Athena poked Zach with a red fingernail. “Can you imagine how it will torture your husband? Knowing his sister is forever beyond his reach but always within my power? Why, I get goose bumps just thinking about how miserable he will be.”
“Then you’re not going to kill us?” Lou said. In which case they would trail her to the ends of the earth.
“Not him, no. But you on the other hand—” Shrugging, Athena stepped back, leveled the Hawken, and fired.
Eighteen
Shakespeare McNair had his life in the mountains to thank for his trim physique. Where most men his age had muscles gone to flab and guts of pure fat, Shakespeare looked twenty years younger and had the vitality and stamina of men half as old. It served him well as he jogged through the night on the heels of the errand boy sent by Clarence Potts. Beside him was Blue Water Woman.
“My kingdom for a horse,” Shakespeare puffed. “Why didn’t you tell us how far it was, boy?”
“Mr. Potts said to bring you on foot,” the stripling responded, “and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Reporters,” Shakespeare muttered. “They have marvelous foul linen.”
Blue Water Woman glanced back, as she had done several times since leaving the hotel, but did not say why.
“Mr. Potts didn’t want you there too soon,” the boy said. “Something about spoiling his story.”
“I’d like to spoil his face with a club,” Shakespeare retorted. They had been winding along a dirt road marked by the ruts of wagon wheels but suddenly the boy veered into a patch of woods and along a footpath, but much more slowly.
“The house should be just ahead.”
“It better be.” Shakespeare was worried to his core about Evelyn, Zach and Lou. He loved all three as if they were the fruit of his own loins, and it would be more than he could bear if any were to die.
