by Rita Hestand
"You don’t plan on killing me, do you?" She asked.
"I'm not planning on it, no. But things could go wrong and you could get killed if anyone finds out where you are." He threatened.
"Do you work for the Williams'?"
"Nope. I'm an old friend of Bill's, that's all." He answered to her amazement.
Jen thought on that a minute. "I thought Bill was already married."
"He was, she died." Roy told her.
"How recently?" Jen asked turning her head in question.
"Not long ago." He said and stared at her. "Why?"
"Seems funny that Kate's husband died just a short time ago and now Bill's wife is suddenly dead."
"They hadn't even been together in six years. She's been sick a long time." Roy explained. "She's out of her misery now."
Jen kept her suspicions to herself.
"Good for her, I guess." Jen nodded. "I-I don't recognize this place. Who did it belong to?"
"I don't know. I'm not from around here." He shrugged.
"Where you from?"
"Arizona."
"That's a good way from here."
"Yeah."
"If I'm going to be cooped up here a while. Can you bring me something to do?"
"To do? Like what?" He frowned.
"I don't know, bring me some knitting needles and yarn or books to read something. Do you play cards?" She suggested.
"I guess next time I go to town I could pick some up. Give me a reason to stop off for a whiskey bottle. For now, you could cook us up some beans and cornbread for supper, couldn't you?" He asked. "And I'll get us some cards, I'm going out of my head too." He agreed.
The man seemed a bit simple headed, but he didn't seem as threatening as he had at first. Perhaps as long as she didn't confuse him or make him mad things would be all right. She couldn’t' be sure of that, but it was a feeling.
The beans they'd been eating were getting thick as a soup, so she put a fresh pot of them on and told him they would be ready before nightfall.
She cleaned the old place up a bit, sweeping the floor, washing the cupboards and straightening the beds. There were two beds both uncomfortable and kind of dirty.
She'd wash the sheets tomorrow, she decided.
Roy had gone off twice in the past few days and come back hours later. She was tied up when he left and he untied her when he came back.
Boredom was killing her. There was nothing to do but stare outside and sleep. Once she cooked the meals she had little else to do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The second week was better, he'd bought some cards and they played poker most of the time. Both of them seemed more content and there were no problems. He wasn't even a sore loser. The only thing that bothered her was his drinking. She knew men could get out of hand when they drank, and not knowing this man, she wasn't sure what to expect.
When he wasn't around, tending to the horse and things outside, she played solitaire.
One day he even ventured out to kill a turkey.
She baked it and they ate well for several days.
But as time passed, Jen had to wonder if she'd ever see Jace or Noah again. She missed them both. She even cried one evening.
He came in and saw her and stood just over her.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"It's been nearly two weeks. How long is this going to go on?" She asked, as tears streamed down her cheeks.
He sat on the edge of her bed with her, "I don't know. I thought I would hear before long though. On horseback they should have been there by now. But maybe they took a wagon too. I mean she was movin' all her stuff out. Maybe she had to have a wagon."
"Did you ever meet her?"
"No, I just know Bill."
She looked at him seriously, "Did he love his first wife?"
Roy seemed to consider the question for a long moment. "At first I think he did. But they were apart a long time. She was a sweet little lady, her name was Linda and she loved him dearly." Roy told her.
"Are you married, Roy?" She looked at him. "Don't you have anyone you need to be getting back to?"
"No ma'am. I ain't never married."
"Kate's not a nice person, Roy." Jen told him.
"No?"
"No." Jen whispered.
"Bill's crazy about her." Roy said.
"Most men are crazy about beautiful women, I guess." Jen reflected.
"Have you got somebody?" He asked.
"Yes, we were going to be married."
"Going to be? What happened?"
"This happened."
"Oh!" He raised his head and eyebrows t the same time.
She moved to the table now. "Let's play cards, huh?"
"Yes ma'am."
***
One problem after another delayed things and Jace was beside himself with worry. First the wagon broke a wheel and they had to lay over in a small town until they could get it fixed. Then it came a gully-washer and they had to take shelter from a tornado. That lasted a whole day.
Kate played him against Bill half the time and he was darned tired of it. She wanted to see if Bill would get mad enough to fight him for her. But Bill was just this side of doing it.
Then one day Kate took some time to take a bath in a nearby creek and Jace stumbled across her in the water. He had wanted to get water for more coffee, and didn't know she was there.
She rose up out of the water purposely, smiling, and he saw she was naked. He moved away fast. That's all he needed. The woman was pure evil, but he had to admit she was a gorgeous evil.
When she came out she informed Bill that he'd been spying on her at the creek.
"You want that girl back in one piece you better mind your p's and q's from now on. Because I certainly don't trust you around Kate. I saw you in the barn that day with her, and I know you're attracted to her. I can't blame any man for that. But you better remember one thing, you take my lady, I'll take yours." He grit his teeth and moved away from him.
Jace bristled. "I don't want your lady…"
"Then why did you ogle her at the creek?" Bill barked.
"I didn't know she was taking a bath while we are supposed to be on our way to Mexico." He answered.
Kate heard their conversation and sashayed around them. "I like to be clean, even on a trip. How much further is it, anyway?"
"We should be there before the end of the week." Jace replied.
"Finally…"
"We'd have been there a lot sooner if you hadn't brought that heavy wagon along." Jace shouted.
She came up very close to him, her lips pursing. "At least I will have a few things when I get there."
"You're going to have to go into Mexico with us." Bill told him.
"I can't go into Mexico." Jace snapped.
"Why not, you an outlaw or something?" Bill asked.
"I was, yes. There is a price on my head down there." Jace admitted.
"Too bad, you'll just have to stay out of the way then, won't you?" Kate came up to him.
"Why do I have to go into Mexico with you?" He asked, squinting at them.
"Just into the first good size town, so we can find a guide from there." Bill told him.
"Then if you don't mind, I'll lay low when we cross."
"What did you do, that they put a price on your head?" Kate asked an eyebrow flying up in question.
"I stole, with a gang down there."
"Why," Kate came closer, too close in fact. "I never thought you the lawless type."
"I guess you don't know me very well, do you. I was…"
"Interesting." She murmured, her eyes meeting his.
But when Bill went to sleep that night, she got up and found Jace leaning against a rock, in the moonlight, staring out.
"You know; we could have been great together." She moved close to him.
"You think so?" He smirked.
"You were a very good kisser. I'd like to find out how good a lover you are…My husband is dead now. T
here are no obstacles." She cooed, tiptoeing to touch her lips to his. "You can't deny it, but you enjoyed kissing me. I know when a man wants me. And you did. And I saw how you stared at me at the creek. If you really loved Jen, you wouldn't have stared like that."
"Goodnight," He said with a tight lip.
The next day Bill went into a little border town. He sent a telegram to Roy to release Jen. He immediately felt better. Kate was playing him and he didn't like being played.
The next night, she tried again to persuade Jace. "Have you thought about what I said?"
"I've been trying not to." He muttered.
"But you can't forget what I said, can you?" She asked, kissing him again. Her lips were soft, red, and working their magic on him. "Nor what you saw at the creek. You could have me every night, if you wanted."
But he pulled away, about that time Bill walked up to them.
"So this is how it is, is it?" Bill stared at them.
"Bill…of course not. You've got the wrong idea."
"Do I. Maybe I'm just now seeing what a fool I was." Bill said his hand going to his hip.
"He kissed me, I didn't kiss him." She insisted.
"Really, then why was he pushing you away?"
"Darling, you know you are the only one…." She cried.
"I don't believe that any more. I'll be leaving in the morning." He insisted.
She ran to his side, "Leaving? You can't leave now, we're almost there."
"Too bad!" he frowned at her and walked back to camp.
But as they all came back to camp, she reached into her small bag and pulled a gun on them both.
"You aren't leaving me!" She shouted.
"Put that damn thing up," Bill snapped.
She took the gun to Jace and handed it to him. "Kill him darling, so we can be together."
Bill stared at Jace, Jace glanced from one to the other. "No ma'am." He handed the gun to Bill.
Bill glared at Kate now. "Get some sleep Kate, I've already sent a telegram to release the girl. And we'll go our separate ways now."
"You can't be serious after all you've done!" She shouted.
He stared at her a long time before he said another word.
"I did it for you Kate. And I was wrong. Dead wrong. A man makes a fool of himself, it's up to him to correct it. I can't believe I was so blind and stupid. You wanted me to kill Sam, and then my wife. And I did. Now you want to run off with this cowboy. And let that girl die. Well, I'm just not that low. I done things for your that I'd never done in my life."
"Are you going to turn me in?" She asked coming closer to him.
"No, I'm not. If you don't have the decency to turn yourself in, then there is no hope for you, Kate. The only regret I'll have is I hope no one else takes you up on your notions. I heard every word just now. This man didn't want you. He's the one that got away unscathed from you. And you simply can't stand it. I feel for you darlin'. Because I really loved you."
"Oh Bill, I was just testing him. To see if he really loved that girl back there. If he didn't, we could just have Roy kill her and be done with it." Kate smiled alluringly at him.
"Kill her. How many deaths does it take, Kate? How many have to die before you are happy."
"You had your wife killed, you pushed Sam down those stairs. And you ask me that?"
"Get some sleep Kate, we're going to have quite a day tomorrow." Bill announced.
Jace smirked.
Later that night Bill sat up with Jace. "I sure let her get to me. And I got a powerful lot to answer for. But it had been bothering me for some time. I just couldn't bring myself to leave her. Not until she tried to snare you. I just couldn't see past her."
"You gonna let me go, tomorrow?" Jace asked.
"Sure, I thought I'd ride back with you. I want to turn myself in and take what's coming to me." Bill said with a long sigh.
"You'll probably go to prison."
"That's okay. I got nowhere to go and no one to go home to. Serves me right. Even I can see how stupid I was."
"You could just ride off." Jace stared at him.
"No, not from this, I couldn't. I was a pretty good horseman once, a pretty good man. I'd like to find that man again."
Jace nodded. "I guess I can understand that."
"Were you really a desperado?" Bill glanced at him. "I Mexico?"
"I was…but I found myself Bill, with a good woman."
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was a long ride back and Jace got to know Bill a little better as they rode. Kate disappeared that same morning.
"I did push him down the stairs. He was still breathing for a while. I couldn't do anything. All I could think about was her. For five years we were together a lot of nights. Then she asked me to help my wife by letting her go. So I called Roy to kill her for me. I suggested a pillow to suffocate her. Roy is the one with Jen. He actually killed her."
"Is there any danger for Jen now?" Jace asked restless with all this news.
"No. Roy will simply leave and find a way to get a note to Noah where to find her. He's a good man, and he understood that my wife had been so sick so long that he was simply putting her out of her misery, because I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. But Roy's not to blame for that, I am. I'm willing to take my punishment. I need to be punished so I can forgive myself for what I've done. Kate had me under a spell I guess. I needed a woman so bad, and she needed me."
Jace nodded. "I can understand that. Just sorry it was Kate. Look Bill, under the circumstances, why don't you just ride away and forget this. I mean, Roy killed your wife, and Sam died of a heart attack."
"I don't know. I just don't know." Bill shook his head. "I think I want to tell someone, the law, what happened. But then again, I don't want to do no harm to Roy either. I was the one that ask it of him."
"Yeah, but the Sheriff is gonna see that it was Roy that kidnapped Jen, and Roy that killed your wife and that Sam died of natural causes."
"So what do you think I should do?" Bill looked at him in question.
"Just ride away and don't ever come back. I'll tell the whole story, you won't go to prison over her, they probably won't find Roy and Kate is gone."
"You're bein' mighty generous." Bill remarked. "I'd like you to understand it, if you can. She had so much class, like my mother. I guess that's why I fell so hard, so fast. She was a beautiful woman."
"You aren't the first to fall for a beauty. But she had something very ugly inside her Bill. She used men for her own purpose. I never saw a woman that would sink so low to entice a man."
"Yeah, it's easy to see all the flaws when you aren't so close." Bill nodded.
"Are you from here Bill?" Jace asked.
"No, my wife was."
"What was her name?" Jace asked curiously.
"Linda Templeton."
"Woe, not the Templeton's?" Jace whistled.
"Yeah, she was just a lovely young kid when I met her. I was just passing through town looking for work. We got married pretty quick and the first year was good, except we didn't make much money. I knew I had to do something, Linda was used to being taken care of. Her family as you obviously know had money. But then she got sick and all the doctors I talked to told me to send her to Arizona that it might help her live longer. So I did."
"Wow. I'll say, next to the Carter's they were pretty rich."
"Yeah, but back then it wasn't money I was after. I really loved her. But then I got a job at the Williams ranch, and she got sick. Had a cancer in her lungs slow growing they said. Well, it was, but it sucked the life right out of her. She was so sick; we couldn't have relations if we wanted to. The first year I waited on her hand and foot. But she kept getting worse. A doctor told me the dry air in Arizona might help her so I moved her out there. But my work was here. So I left her out there and came back here. Then Sam had his accident, and Kate didn't waste much time tying me in knots to have her. She'd come out there in the barn late at night in one of those silk gowns with a robe that didn'
t quite hide anything and next thing I knew I was a goner. I knew she made fools of other men, I just didn't see myself."
Bill hung his head.
"My folks were hard working people Jace. Proud, but poor. When they died, I left and never looked back. When I found that job at the Double W, I thought I'd found my gold mine. I was making money for the first time. I liked my job and I liked having her in my bed too after a while. I was so lonely for Linda at first, and then…one night I realized, I was head over heels in love with Kate. I couldn't stop it, or go back. Linda was pretty, but not like Kate."
Jace nodded.
"You ever loved anyone like that?" Bill asked.
"As a matter of fact, I was going to marry Jen's sister long ago. Because she was so beautiful, proud, and interesting. Her father hated me. Said I'd never amount to anything. But Rebecca was wild and daring and she didn't care what her daddy thought. We were going to get married. But when she ran away with me, she fell off her horse, hit her head on a rock, and that was that. I look back at it now and realize that I wasn't really in love with her, I was in lust."
Bill nodded, "That's the word for it alright. Kate was the sexiest woman I ever knew. Oh, believe me, when I first met her, I tried my best to stay away. I went into town and had me some gals in the saloon. But most of them girls were not so great at making love. Kate was an expert at making me want her. The first time, she came out to the barn, she came out in tight pans and shirt that wasn't half buttoned, but when she pulled me into my bedroom, and kissed me, and rubbed up against , there was nothing under that shirt. I like to have lost it right there. From that night on, I couldn't keep my hands off of her. And she knew it."
"Well, my story was different. I knew Jen back then too. But she was still a child. A beautiful, sweet, naïve child. I was gone ten years, and came back. And I ran into Jen again. I realized what real love was all about then. I hope to marry her very soon."
"She's a good woman?"
"She's the best." Jace smiled.
Jace looked at Bill. "Did Sam ever realize what you and Kate had?"
"No, I don't think so. If he did he was too much a gentleman to say anything. Sad part about that is, I liked Sam when I first started working there. He treated me right gave me decent wages too. He felt bad about not being able to take care of her. I knew that. I felt bad about it, too. Until I decided I wanted to take care of her, myself."
