This climb she was now engaged in reminded her of the time she and Kate absolutely had to gain entry into a building where a crime was being planned. All efforts to get past the doorman had failed, and the notion of a pretty face opening a lot of doors had failed on that evening. So, going around the back of the building, they began climbing it, frilly dresses and all. Later, after it was over, and they were knocking back a bottle of gin at Cassandra’s Michigan Avenue apartment, they were laughing and scolding themselves how crazy it had been. Still, it had been worth the risk. They had gotten the evidence and turned it over to the Chicago police department sending the ringleader and his minions to a dank jail.
Cassandra licked her lips and shook her head. How could Kate be dead now? It still made no sense. Kate had always been so sure that if she died, it would be in the line of duty on one of their cases for their boss and Kate's lover, Alan Pinkerton himself. They were his Double “W’s” as he liked to call them, but the team of Warne and Wilde had ended in despair when Kate had become ill and had never recovered.
Though she had expected to take Kate’s place as Alan’s number one of the “Lady Pinks” as they were called, instead he had sent her away to be the lead female agent in the new office in her old home town of Philadelphia. Heartbroken she had left and had remained there until drawn back to Cedar Ledge when a pair of evil men nearly killed Whip and later Honor Elizabeth. Theirs had been a scheme to plunder the ranch’s vast supply of the most sought after and expensive wood in all the world, but the sisters had stopped them—dead.
She was rocketed back from 1868 to 1873 when the foothold under her left boot suddenly decided that was the right moment after thousands of years of being a chunk on the rocky face of Anchor Rock to part company. The sudden shock from losing it made her right foot slip off its purchase as well. As her legs dangled, she was frantically kicking the side of the cliff looking for a resting place Cattie's frantic cry carried up to her ears. With her heart pounding, Cassandra finally got her right boot back onto the protrusion it had been resting on, and her left foot found a new one though her leg was stretched out at an odd angle. Any port in a storm, she thought, echoing one of Whip’s old sayings left over from his days aboard ship in the Navy.
Sweating and gnashing her teeth, she resumed her climb to the more or less flat top of the rocky column. When at last she pulled herself up, she rolled over on her back and took in a deep breath to recover from her ascent. Laughter escaped her lips between pants at the distant sound of clapping from the ground far below. Without fail her little sister could always get a laugh out of her. I do love my little Peppercorn; she chuckled to herself as she rolled over onto her stomach, before rising on her knees. A moment later she was standing tall high atop the landmark.
Back at the mission, the young sister had relayed to them, Desde la cima de la roca de anclaje de barrido a través de las llanuras al filo hacia el este. Allí usted debe ver un puente de piedra natural en la forma de un arco iris. Catalina’s translation had revealed it to mean From atop Anchor Rock scan across the flatlands to the ridgeline to the east. There you should see a natural stone bridge in the shape of a rainbow.
Thankful to have the sun behind her, Cassandra's green eyes stared to the east. Sure enough, she could just make out the arch of a stone formation. The nun recounted how Luciana had told the bandits that only from a height would it be visible, and Cassandra saw how that would be true. Standing at ground level, one would never have seen the crescent gap under the bridge because the same color rocks behind it would have caused the bridge to blend right in. From on high though, the semi-circle below the rainbow bridge was just barely visible.
Buoyed by knowing the location of the next marker, Cassandra felt better about making the climb down. It was going to be just as dangerous, but now she would be even extra cautious. Whenever she worked a case and was making her way through it step by step, she felt an exhilaration to see it through to the end. So there was no way she wasn’t going to get safely to the bottom and get them on their way.
***
Riding hard, blonde hair and black trailed behind the women from underneath their rounded flat-brimmed tan hats that all the sisters were partial to, save for Honor Elizabeth who was always loathe to don anything over her curly ringlets. As they rode, Cassandra made more than one glance over her shoulder to check the position of the sun in the sky. Along the way, the hard, rocky ground of the expanse stayed a constant all the way until and they, at last, arrived in the shadow of the rainbow bridge.
Slipping off their horses, the two women eyed it. Despite her having come to think of it as a rainbow bridge there was nothing colorful about it. The rock was a dull and most unremarkable shade of brown. Up close now instead of looking at it miles distant, what had from afar appeared as a graceful curve was now bumpy and pitted. None of that really mattered though as long as the marker Luciana had reported at gunpoint back in the convent was there.
Side by side Cassandra and Catalina strode under the arch and emerged on the other side. Twenty rocks roughly the size of watermelons were spaced at three feet intervals in a straight line. At the last rock on each side, more stones were extending out from each side making it one huge perfect arrow.
“Hot damn! We’re for sure on their trail now!” Catalina bubbled, her lips stretching into a satisfied grin, waving the paper she had transcribed the directions on. “Says we keep headin’ in the direction the arrow is pointin’ in and nigh onto two hours later we’ll come to some petrified tree!”
"Come on then. Let's water the horses and get back on this treasure trail!" Cassandra said, already turning and walking back under the archway. In a familiar routine, each woman plucked metal pans from their saddlebags and filled them from extra canteens they carried, strapped behind their saddles under the bedrolls. In no time at all, they held the pans under their mounts noses as the animals sucked up the water.
Cassandra looked over at Catalina, and she could tell that she wanted to say something but wasn’t quite able to. She knew her kid sister well enough that a little prodding would get it out of her, not like Lijuan who if she decided to clam up nothing in the world could get her to talk.
“What is it, honey?”
“I hope, I hope, you don’t think I’m stupid or somethin’ for grievin’ like I did for Victor after I killed him. I know he did evil things. I saw that butchered family at Señor Suarez’s hacienda. It was his doin’. I know this, Cassie, but …”
She lowered her pan to the ground, Lily bent her neck down to drink, and she made her way towards Catalina who repeated the gesture. Now with their arms free Cassandra took Cattie into them. Her sister was always the happy-go-lucky, devil may care of the four sisters, but that didn’t mean she didn’t use it as a screen at times to mask how she was really feeling.
Stroking her hair, Cassandra whispered into her ear, “It’s okay, Cattie. I don’t think you’re stupid at all. Some of the most ruthless men I have met have been quite charming. You never actually met him, but you must remember Los Rey Lobo. Carlos Villanueva and his sister, the so-called Countess, did horrible things trying to plunder that valley, but that man was pure charisma and fetching as hell. That made it very easy to sleep with him while I waited for you girls to show up with the cavalry. Honey, a lot of bad men, use that to their advantage to get what they want. You can't think any less of yourself if he had some sort of sway over you with his charm and his connection to Mercedes."
Catalina was quiet for a long moment before she pulled free from the embrace, and when she did, Cassandra saw her eyes were watery, but she still had the Catalina smile on her face.
“Don’t you ever tell the others, but damn it all if you aren’t the best sister in the whole wide world. I love you so much, Cass.”
“And I love you.” She gave her another hug and let go. “Now what do you say, there’s a woman to be rescued and some bad guys that need a good stomping. We aim to please right?”
“And how!”
CHAPTER 7
Two long hours had passed since they left the natural bridge behind them. The arrow had pointed across yet another great expanse that led toward a hodge podge of stubby hills. Catalina had said this desolate eastern part of the valley was known as the Conchita Wastes, supposedly named after one of the first settlers who had died while crossing them to reach the lush central and western parts of the valley that was home to crops and vineyards like the Corderro Crest winery.
As they galloped along, they found at least this terrain to be a mixture of a hard rocky surface but also large swaths of sands as well, and occasionally the tracks of the Sanchez gang emerged only to vanish again when the slabs of rock returned.
Cassandra was growing anxious now as according to the map the next landmark should have been two hours’ distant from the bridge in the form of a petrified tree. They had yet to find any sign of it, and she began to wonder if they missed the marker in their ride across the hot plains. At the same time, her mind was giving grudging respect to the now-dead Pike. From what they had learned, the petrified tree was where the map began that Pike had traded to the authorities for Luciana’s pardon. Without the first part of the map featuring Anchor Rock and the rainbow bridge, no one would have had any idea where to look for the money. The markers were no longer prominent landmarks; just this petrified tree and the final marker, another tree, this one not petrified but also quite dead and said to be large. That tree was the key to the stolen money’s location.
She almost missed it, but far to the left, she saw a dark object protruding next to a cluster of boulders. It had to be the petrified tree! Calling out to Catalina, she turned Lily, and they adjusted their course. Soaked with sweat, their throats dry, the sisters celebrated with several long pulls from their canteens when they brought their horses to a stop next to the forlorn tree turned to stone.
Cassandra felt a moment of reverence remembering a pursuit of an outlaw that had led her through northeastern Arizona. There she had encountered a vast landscape of such petrified wood. The same evening, she had first seen the wood, she lay in the arms of the deputy that had accompanied her on her hunt. Having just made love, the pair lay staring up at the stars overhead and talked of many things. By and by they had spoken of the petrified wood, and he had awed her when he told her that the wood turned to stone had taken millions upon millions of years to become as it was now. The scale of time involved had been humbling, and it left her with the feeling that human lives indeed were just a flicker in the grand scheme of the sparkling universe overhead.
Her attention was diverted from the sobering memory by Catalina, who she had been pleased to find during the ride, had regained her cheerfulness after the moment they had shared back at the rainbow bridge. With a chipperness in her voice, she was pointing to the ground and saying that this was for sure the petrified tree they were looking for.
The ground around the tree was sandy, and once more the horses of their enemies had left tracks. Her eyes followed them a distance, and she saw what they were looking for. Another arrow made of stones the Pike brothers and Luciana had constructed to lead the way to the final marker. The information the young sister relayed to them that she had heard Luciana telling Sanchez that the final arrow would lead them after an hour's ride to the large dead tree near the base of the same stubby hills they had sighted earlier. The bandit's tracks led away from the arrow across the sandy plain between them and the hills.
“So, this is it,” she said, giving Catalina a serious look. “We follow the arrow, and it’s going to take us right to the money and a crew of ruthless killers that would leave a man to burn to death and murder a nun. It’s going to be us versus them.”
Catalina’s face also had a solemn look on it that mirrored her own, until slowly the corners of her mouth twitched and began to move upward. Her white teeth shone in the late afternoon sun as she took off her hat and held it to her chest.
“You’re right. I almost feel sorry for them polecats!”
Once again Catalina set her laughing the way no other person in the world could. Still chuckling she raised her hand and then threw it forward with her index finger pointing the way. Spurring their horses on, the pair of sisters once again set themselves on a collision course with danger.
***
When at last they drew within range of the hills, they could just make out the large, dead tree where it lorded over the land not far from the base of the hills. The terrain leading up had ceased to be unbroken flatland about fifteen minutes prior. Large boulders dotted the landscape, leaving Cassandra much pleased about the development.
The pair had slipped off their horses and secured them behind one of the large boulders as they made their plans. Catalina looked behind her at the sun so low in the sky now. She, like Cassandra, had been paying attention to its progress the entire ride from the convent. For it had been there that they learned from Luciana had said while going over the map with the Sanchez gang, the driving reason behind why Pike had been so adamant that his surrender occur this week. Why it had to happen this close to the one-year anniversary of the robbery, it all came down to the sun.
In their frenzied attempt to bury the stolen payroll the Pikes had planned carefully where they would hide the money. The trio had waited until only moments before sundown for them to dig. In the last moment, before the sun dropped behind the distant edge of the western rim of the Verde Abundante, the top of the shadow from the dead tree would highlight where the money would lay. Originally, they had planned to return in a few weeks, and though the shadow would no longer be in the exact spot, they would at least have the general area and easily spot the disturbed earth. Fate, however, had other plans with one of the Pike brothers dying and the other fleeing as well as Luciana being sequestered away.
“Sunset’s less than an hour away, Cass, and it’s gonna be X markin’ the spot time! We should get up as close as possible and be ready for it.”
"I agree, but there is the small matter of those outlaws."
They had lost the tracks again on the predominantly rocky ground, and they had no way of knowing for sure where exactly they were. Still, Cassandra was experienced in matters like this and peering around the edge of the boulder she scanned the area. Not far from the right of the trees, she saw a curious looking cluster of tallish boulders. It took her a long moment to think what it reminded her of, but then she made the connection with an illustration she'd seen in a book once. In a way it resembled a naturally occurring version of a place in far off England the Brits called Stonehenge. The main difference was these slabs of jutting rocks were much thinner, and none were laying across the top of the pillars like at the mysterious structure across the sea.
Her eyes looked at the hill behind it, noticing that the enclave of rocks was well within the hill’s shadow and probably had been for some time. The temperature was in the nineties if not a full blown one hundred degrees. She couldn’t think of a better place for the men to wait it out until sundown when the shadow would point the way to their ill-gotten gains. Since they were nowhere in plain sight, odds were that they were within the cluster.
Feeling confident she had their likely location, she turned to Catalina and shared it with her as well as her primary concern, which was to get Luciana to safety. The pair studied the terrain leading up to the tree. Cassandra was of the opinion they could get reasonably close to it by dodging behind various boulders that would protect them from view if any of the bad men happened to be looking out from their "cathedral" of rocks. Catalina had given her a wide grin when she had rightly pointed out that the sun was behind them, working in their favor as well to shield their approach.
Cassandra knew it would be simple enough to wait for them to come out at the moment of sunset and pick them off. They had the element of surprise on their side given the fact the gang would have believed them to have been stopped cold with the fiery destruction of the bridge over the San Sidero. These pieces of shit would have no idea of the perseve
rance that ran through the Wilde blood. There would be no way it would ever occur to them that they had been followed. If they had any inkling, they would have destroyed the arrow markers along the way.
Despite having that advantage, Cassandra was willing to trade it all away to take action. The longer they left Luciana in the hands of the walking filth, then the more likely harm would come to her. They certainly didn’t need her anymore now that she had guided them to the money. She bit her lip trying not to think about the likelihood that Luciana had been raped repeatedly by the monsters given the fact they had a good head start on the sisters and had likely been here for a spell. No, they had to act now and free Luciana.
She turned her attention to the tree itself. During its life, it looked to have been quite robust and very old. The size of it told her this as the circumference looked to her the twice the size of two rain barrels, and the trunk would easily conceal a person taking position behind it. There were almost no other trees around, and certainly none of this size. What had eventually caused it to give up the ghost after centuries of growth she could only ponder. The thing that mattered now, though, was it given her the germ of an idea that was rapidly sprouting.
The more she turned it over in her mind, the more she liked it. Her thoughts shifted to her saddlebags and a tool within she knew she could put to good use. Catalina drew near her now, the two having shared so many adventures, and Cassandra knew she could read her like a book when it came to her going into her "planning mode."
“I’m all fired ready to hear what you’ve got, Cassie. What are we fixin’ to do?”
Cassandra opened her mouth to speak and then paused for a moment with a smirk on her face. Her baby sister was forever teasing her about how long-winded she could be when she went into one of her explanations, so this time she would parse her words and surprise the Mexican beauty for once.
The Boot Hill Express: Special Edition HBH Version (Half Breed Haven Book 12) Page 8
