The next morning, after a long but uneventful evening, Cooper met Hawkins at the stables. Their horses were saddled and ready to leave.
"Sir, do you think Sheriff Owens has bothered to take the time to search the woods surrounding the Wrights' home?"
Cooper took his horse's reins in his hands. "I doubt he did anything other than crawl into bed. Still we had best pay him a visit, he may yet surprise us."
As they walked their horses out of the barn, Cooper noticed Roy Stone walking toward them. He had the look of a man with something on his mind.
"Why don't you go on ahead, Sergeant," said Cooper. "I'll meet you on the road."
Hawkins nodded and carried on, accompanied by a young boy who had run over and was pretending to march alongside the sergeant.
"Good morning, Mister Stone," Cooper said in greeting. "I'd like to thank you for your more than generous hospitality."
Stone smiled. "You're too kind. I'm still not sure why you bothered to have Madame Toussaint come here to Mercy. Thomas and Cyrus are more convinced than ever that there's a monster hiding out in the bayou."
"Sir, I needed to know the local folklore better than I did. There's always a sliver of truth, no matter how small, in all legends. Do I think we're up against some kind of monster? No. But, someone is going to a lot of trouble to make you believe something otherworldly is killing your people."
"Perhaps. What are your plans for the day, Captain?"
"I'm going to pay a visit to Sheriff Owens to see if he managed to rustle up some dogs to search the woods outside of Mrs. Wright's home. If he hasn't, I may have to ask for your help. I noticed a couple of bloodhounds running around when we rode in here the other day."
"If I can do anything to help, all you need to do is ask."
Cooper held out his hand. "Thanks. I feel I may have to take you up on your offer sooner rather than later."
Stone shook the captain's hand. "I'll have Cyrus put together a search party in case it's needed."
Cooper got up onto his horse and brought his hand up to the brim of his hat. "Good day to you, sir." With that, he turned his horse toward the dirt road and gently tapped its sides with his boots.
At the road leading to town, Cooper found Hawkins standing on the path with his rifle in his hands. Right away, the hair on the back of his neck went up. "What's wrong, Sergeant?"
Hawkins pointed. "There are a couple of horses about two hundred yards down the road. The problem is, I don't see their riders."
Cooper looked down the tree-lined road and saw the horses standing in the tall grass with their heads bowed, eating. He grabbed hold of his carbine and climbed off his horse. He pulled back on the hammer and said, "Shall we take a look?"
The two soldiers walked cautiously to the horses and took hold of their reins.
"They look to be in good health," said Hawkins as he ran his hand down the neck of the nearest horse.
"Let's follow their tracks," said Cooper, pointing at the path made by the animals in the grass. "Perhaps we'll find their owners. Ten to one, they're a couple of locals who drank too much bourbon last night and forgot to tie up their horses before passing out."
A couple of minutes later, they found the ash from a recently lit fire. A pot of cold coffee hung over the extinguished fire.
"Where'd they go?" said Hawkins looking around.
Cooper shook his head. "I don't know. Why would you start a fire to make coffee and then wander off leaving your horse behind?"
"Something about this doesn't feel right, Captain."
"I have to agree. It is odd. Let's see if we can find them."
Hawkins nodded.
"You go to the left for about one hundred yards and I'll do the same to the right and we'll meet back in the middle over by that tall tree," said Cooper, pointing at an old willow tree.
Hawkins walked off with his rifle in his hands.
It took Cooper less than a minute before he found a puddle of blood followed by another. His heart began to beat faster as he followed the trail to a small clearing. He expected to find a man's body lying there. Instead, all he found was a piece of a blood-stained shirt.
"Captain, over here!" yelled Hawkins. "I think I found something."
Cooper stuck the fabric into a pocket and ran as fast as he could to Hawkins' side. His stomach almost turned when he saw the gnawed remains of a man's leg on the ground. The meat had been ripped from the shattered bone which was still inside a worn leather boot.
"Jesus, sir, what could have done that?" said Hawkins.
"A large animal perhaps?"
"Captain, I grew up in Louisiana and was told stories of gators getting people, but there ain't no water nearby."
"What about a bear?"
Hawkins shook his head. "I've never heard of a bear killing a man in these parts. That's not to say it wasn't one, but why attack the men and not the horses?"
Cooper had no answer. He looked deep into the woods and felt a chill run down his back. Something wasn't right about the killings. He said, "Wrap up the foot. We'll take it and the horses to Sheriff Owens. Hopefully, he can sort out who they belonged to."
The look on the faces of the town's folk when they rode back into Williamstown with two extra horses was one of mistrust and anger.
"I don't think the good citizens of Williamstown are overly happy to see us this morning, Captain," said Hawkins as he tipped his hat to a woman walking by. She looked away, refusing to acknowledge his greeting.
"Wait until word gets out that we have a foot and horses belonging to someone they may know," said Cooper. "They'll probably form a lynching mob."
At the sheriff's office, they got off their horses, tied them to a post, and walked inside. A fresh pot of coffee was brewing on top of a potbellied stove. They found Owens sitting behind his desk with a tired look on his face.
"Sheriff, you look like you have been up all night," said Cooper.
"I was," replied Cooper, stifling a yawn. "I half expected to be called out in the middle of the night to identify your bodies."
Cooper raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think that?"
Owens shrugged. "Just a feeling I had."
"Did you manage to get some help to search the woods around Mrs. Wright's home?"
Owens shook his head. "No one would volunteer to help me. So I took a look around last night after I escorted Maude and her child back to her place."
"And?"
"As I suspected, it was a complete waste of my time."
"Well, you should have gotten some rest as your day is about to take a turn for the worse."
Hawkins stepped forward and placed the foot hidden in a blanket on Owen's desk and unwrapped it.
Owens jumped from his seat. The look on his face was one of pure disgust. "Jesus, where did you find that?"
"In the woods just outside of Mercy Plantation," replied Cooper. "We also found two horses. They're both tied up outside."
Owens hurried past the two soldiers and went outside. He returned a minute later, shaking his head.
"Sheriff, do you know who owns those horses?" Cooper asked.
"I sure do. They belong to John Adams and Samuel Walker. They ride with Maclean, or at least they did. I bet these two were waiting in the woods to shoot you in the back as you rode by."
"I think I've heard enough about Mister Maclean and his gang. It's high time we paid him a visit, don't you think, Sheriff?"
Owens sat down and drummed the fingers of his right hand on the table. "Let's not be too hasty. Did you find anything other than that foot out there?"
Cooper shook his head. "Only blood. A lot of blood."
"Besides you two, does anyone know about the foot?"
"No."
"Good, keep it that way. It's bad enough people here are going to believe you two shot and killed two of their own. If they were to learn about this grisly find, they'd accuse you of all kinds of depravity."
"I take it asking the men of this town to join a posse to track down Maclean and
his people would be out of the question?"
"What do you think?"
"I guess we're on our own."
"You sure are, Captain. This is a local matter. Why don't you and your sergeant ride back to New Orleans and say you couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about and leave me to deal with things in my own time."
Cooper took a step forward. His eyes narrowed. "Sheriff, I don't take too kindly to people waiting in the woods to shoot me in the back. The answer to all of your troubles is out there in the swamp. If you don't help me, Roy Stone will. How do you think the citizens of Williamstown are going to react when a couple of Yankees, assisted by Roy Stone and who knows how many former slaves, take on Maclean and his band of murderers and bring him back here to face justice?"
"Only a damned fool would take a bunch of fat plantation hands and Negroes up against Maclean and his men."
"When you consider how many blacks have been killed by him and are looking for a bit of revenge, I'd say the odds are probably on my side." Cooper stepped back and turned to leave.
Owens held up his hand in surrender. "Alright, you win, Captain. However, as of now, we don't know if Maclean is guilty of any offense. Just because Roy Stone claims Maclean killed one of his colored workers and them two kids don't make it so."
"What about the men in the woods?"
"They could have been acting on their own. Let's not forget the idea they were waiting to bushwhack you is only a guess. Hell, they could have been sitting out the storm when they were killed. However, if someone is going to arrest Maclean, it's going to be me. Don't leave Mercy Plantation until I get there. I need to deal with a few things here in town before I can join you."
"Very well, but if you're not there by midafternoon, we'll carry on without you."
Owens nodded. Under his breath, he said, "I'm going to be strung up for this. I just know it."
Outside, Hawkins untied his horse's reins and looked over at Cooper. "Sir, that man can't keep his stories straight. First we were going to be ambushed, then it was just a couple of boys waiting out the storm. My gut tells me that he knows far more about what's going on around here than he lets on."
"I don't trust him either, Sergeant, but our orders were quite clear. We're not to unduly antagonize the people of Williamstown. If the price to pay is dragging Sheriff Owens around with us, so be it. I just hope he and Stone don't get into an argument and try to kill one another before we arrest Maclean and his people. After that, I don't care what they do."
"Yes, sir, they're a pair of hotheads. You'll have to keep them apart as best you can during the ride out."
Cooper took a last look around town, wondering who else knew more than they were letting on. As they rode past the church on the outskirts of the small community, a balding padre standing outside did the sign of the cross, turned, and walked inside.
"I take it the good people of Williamstown have already decided we're as good as dead," said Hawkins.
"Looks that way," replied Cooper. "I for one don't agree with their pessimism. Come on, let's form ourselves a posse and bring Maclean in for questioning, to be followed by a fair trial and a public execution."
"Yes, sir. That'll make us, even more, welcome than we are now."
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