by Jodi Thomas
“What kind of place is this?” Duncan had the feeling he’d landed in hell.
“Toledo’s run a roadhouse for more years than folks can remember.” Ramon seemed to think he needed to answer the question. “In the front left side, we got drinks, food, and a poker game going most all the time. There’s beds for rent upstairs, with or without a woman to serve as a bed warmer, if you know what I mean. We get all kind of travelers, mostly men running from the law and drifters looking for trouble. On the right side, Toledo has goods to trade with anyone who comes to the door. Blankets, supplies, hardtack.” He rubbed his face with his one useful hand. “I figured out a long time ago that what she really sells in here is information. She goes out and collects information about who is where as she peddles her goods. If anyone wants to find someone lost, they come here.”
“Why are you telling me this? You think she wants to sell something to the rangers?”
Ramon shook his head. “No. I’m just talking. With Little One running out of the room every time I walk in and Toledo only talking to me when she yells, I guess I just wanted to talk for a change. Anything I tell you don’t matter. You’ll be dead in a day or two anyway. Even if you thought of running and were able, she’s got more guards than me about the place. You wouldn’t make it out of the yard.”
The big man stood and started out of the room, favoring his left leg.
“How’d you get hurt?” Duncan asked, hoping to learn more about this place.
“Wagon turned over when I was running guns. I caught my arm in the wheel and twisted it all up. Broke my leg, but it didn’t heal right.” He looked at Duncan with his cold eyes. “But don’t you think I can’t stop you if you think of leaving.” He raised his good arm. “There ain’t but one way out of this room, and I’m on the other side of the door on guard. One hit with this fist and you’ll be out cold. Toledo put you in the girl’s room ’cause there’s no escape, and she put me on guard because nothing gets past me.”
“I believe you, friend,” Duncan said, thinking of Lewt Paterson in Austin, who always called a troublemaker his friend a moment before he ended the problem. “Mind my asking why you stay?”
Ramon shrugged. “I got nowhere else to go. I killed four people in that wagon accident, and word got around that I was drunk when it happened. One of the men in the wagon was the ringleader’s son. He let out word that if I ever came within shooting distance of him or any of his men I’d be dead, so I crossed the border and found this place.”
The girl came back into the room carrying a tray of soup. She didn’t look at either of them as she moved across to the stool beside the bed.
Ramon’s glare followed her every step. “It ain’t so bad here. I get regular meals, the work’s not hard, and I got the promise of some fun coming soon when she turns into a woman.” He walked to the door. “I’m locking you in. You ain’t in any shape to move anyway, but remember I don’t want you talking to the girl.” He grinned. “Not that she’d answer you if you did. She’s been slapped around enough to know that it’s not her place in this world to say nothing.”
Duncan heard the bolt slide closed just after Ramon stepped out of the room. He relaxed back against the pillows. In the fever of the first day, he’d thought he was safe and someone was taking care of him. Now he knew he was in a prison and the nurse was just another prisoner.
He looked at the girl Ramon had called Anna. She would one day be a beautiful woman if she lived. He’d seen women begin having children when not fully grown. By the time they’d had three or four they looked forty even though they were still in their teens. Then, year by year each baby seemed to drain more life out of them. He wondered if Anna knew the life her great-aunt had planned for her. Nights with a bull of a man. Carrying a child every year without being allowed the joy of raising it. The girl would go mad, if she wasn’t already.
She stirred the soup and tasted a sip to make sure it wasn’t too hot, then offered him a spoonful.
“Thank you, Anna,” he whispered, not wanting his voice to reach the door in case Ramon was listening.
She fed him the soup as he fought to stay awake. Thanks to her, he was healing, but it would take at least a few days before he had the energy to walk, much less fight his way out of this place. Duncan had a feeling he didn’t have that long.
They heard the door bolt rattling, and she pulled the bowl away. With a feather touch, she brushed his eyes closed and pulled the cover up. By the time the door swung open, he’d figured out that he needed to stay asleep if he wanted to stay alive.
He heard Toledo move into the room, her layers of rags swishing like willow branches as she walked. He also heard the girl move the tray away, but he couldn’t hear where she went.
“Ramon!” Toledo yelled. “Have you heard a sound from our guest?”
“Nope,” Ramon answered from near the door. “But I’ve been sitting here on guard like you told me.”
Duncan felt the old woman’s bony hand on his cheek and forced himself to totally relax. When she slapped him, he gave with the blow like a man out cold. He wasn’t surprised when she hit him again, trying to wake him.
“He’s no good to me like this, but his color is better, I guess. Lock him in here in the girl’s room tonight. She can take care of him. If he’s dead in the morning, tie her to the hitching post and leave her there until I wake. It’s been far too long since I’ve taught her who her betters are. If she doesn’t keep him alive, she’ll be wishing she was the one who died.”
Duncan heard the old woman move a few feet away and kick something. If it was the girl, she didn’t make a sound. “If he dies, I’ll beat you, Anna.” Toledo almost giggled with excitement. “Do you understand, you worthless child?”
Ramon’s laughter came from near the door. “You’ll beat her anyway, and we both know it. If he dies, you’ll beat her. If he lives and is traded to the outlaws, you’ll beat her. I’ve never known you to go more than a month without beating her.”
Toledo’s voice moved away. “Well, if I do it’s none of your business, now is it? I don’t break any bones and I haven’t had to strip her and use a whip in years. She learned not to run away. And you best remember that you’ll not touch her until she’s ready. Do you understand, Ramon, or I promise I will break the rest of your bones.”
“I understand. You’ve told me often enough. She’s not a whore and she’ll not come to my bed until she’s a woman and the priest has said the words over us.”
Toledo laughed, as if their plan made some kind of sense in her mind. “Her children will be of mixed blood from peoples her parents wouldn’t have stopped to talk to. If they knew their only child will become nothing more than a breeder to children who will always be servants and thieves, they’d curse me from their graves.” Her laughter bore a touch of insanity in its joy. “They hated me, but I’ll have the last laugh.”
The room fell silent when the door closed. Duncan listened, not sure Anna was still in the room. The old woman didn’t just hate the child, she hated Anna’s parents enough to punish them through Anna. Duncan knew he could never understand that kind of hate, and he doubted Anna would either, even though she would suffer from it.
He also guessed that Ramon had lied about hearing anything because the longer Duncan was out, the longer he needed a guard at the door. On a normal night locking Anna in would be enough, but with a ranger trapped inside, Toledo must have ordered a guard. It has to be an easy assignment, one a man like Ramon would like.
He felt the bed beside him give, and he knew Anna was near. He raised his arm, fighting back the anger at what he’d just heard. She reminded him of a frightened puppy as she curled into a ball beside him with her head on his chest. He made no move for fear of frightening her. Suddenly his problems didn’t seem so big. He knew, if it cost him his life, he wouldn’t leave without taking her.
Through the thin sheet, he felt her silent tears falling against his heart. After a long while, he matched his steady breathing with
hers and they both slept.
She wasn’t afraid of him, and he guessed why. For them both, the nightmares began when they woke.
CHAPTER 21
LEWT FOUGHT THE URGE TO COVER EM’S EARS SO SHE wouldn’t wake, but it was too late. She was already scrambling to her feet.
“Stay here,” he ordered. “I’ll see who it is and then tell them I’ll go looking for you.” When he glanced back, he noticed that her hair had pulled free of the braid and was flying around her shoulders. “Try to tame that wild, beautiful hair of yours.”
Fighting down a smile, he headed for the door, thinking that when they were alone again he’d curl his fingers in the sunlight gold of her hair.
He couldn’t resist one last look. She was trying to find her boots and tuck in her shirt at the same time. There was little left of the hard woman who’d ordered him around for days.
He walked slowly to the door, making little effort to look like whoever was pounding hadn’t woke him.
“What is it?” he said as he opened the door. “No one must be up to answer the door in this place. I almost killed myself tumbling down the stairs.”
A tall, dust-covered ranger frowned at Lewt. “What are you doing here, Paterson?”
Lewt tried to see past the mud and hair. “Wyatt Platt? Is that you? Hell, you look like you lost a fight with a tornado.”
Wyatt pushed him aside and walked in. “I don’t have time to figure out why you’re opening the McMurray door. I need to speak to Teagen McMurray. It’s urgent. I’ve been traveling two days by train and horse to get here.”
“Teagen’s not here. Where’s Duncan? You rode out with him a week ago, didn’t you?” Lewt hadn’t spent a great deal of time talking to any of the other rangers, but he thought he remembered Wyatt being somewhere in the barn the last time he saw Duncan. The thin man had a way about him. He moved like he was made out of rawhide: easy, bendable, boneless. People didn’t seem to notice that Wyatt Platt was in the room until the fight started. Maybe because he was thin as a board, he had the ability to blend into the woodwork.
Wyatt looked as out of place in the big house as a toad at a banquet. Lewt’s words about Teagen not being home didn’t seem to sink in, because the ranger looked around. Finally he shouted, “I’ll talk to any McMurray. Travis or Tobin will do. I need help fast.”
Em’s slim frame walked from the kitchen, her hair now pulled back into one long thick braid. “I’m Emily McMurray; who are you?”
Wyatt straightened and introduced himself. The ranger actually looked nervous.
Lewt almost growled aloud. Em would probably get in big trouble for passing herself off as a McMurray, but somehow he couldn’t imagine poor injured Emily upstairs standing up to the ranger. For all he knew Emily McMurray had shoved Em out of the kitchen and told her to play like she was the family member at home.
To Lewt’s surprise, Wyatt removed his hat and shifted from foot to foot before he finally continued, “I come from the border hoping I can round up some help, ma’ am. Duncan is in real trouble, may be already dead. I remember him talking about a few men who work on his ranch who know the badlands across into Mexico near Adobes. He said they know that part of the country like the back of their hand and told stories about the people who hid out there.”
“Haven’t men already gone after Duncan?”
The ranger shook his head. “Everyone from the captain of the rangers to the army has orders that no one is to cross over, but Duncan got left behind when we made the raid, and I’m afraid if we don’t go get him he might not be able to make it back alive. I figured I could come here to get a guide. Or, if none is able to ride, I’ ll try to go in alone. Not knowing where anything is, it won’t be easy, but I’m going down there after my friend, orders or no orders. I’ll bring him back, dead or alive, but I’ll bring him back.”
Em motioned for them to follow her to the kitchen.
Lewt noticed Sumner standing in the doorway listening to every word the strange rider had said. He nodded for Sumner to follow, and the old man did.
Lewt made coffee while Em brought out bread and cheese for Wyatt. “Now slow down, Ranger, and tell us everything.”
Wyatt ate a few bites, then forced himself to slow as he began to talk and eat at the same time.
Lewt would have been surprised if the man had had any food in days.
The ranger told them all that had happened. The raid led by Captain McNelly and all that had happened the first night. Wyatt said he talked to Duncan the next morning before the cattle were released and every man was fighting to get in the saddle before he was caught in the stampede. He explained that when they reached the Texas side of the river, Duncan wasn’t with them, but his horse remained tied at the bank on the other side. Wyatt told how he swam the river and untied the horse. He tried to get someone to go back with him to look but everyone had orders not to cross.
He downed half a cup of hot coffee before adding, “I waited a day, hoping to see some sign of Duncan. If I’d seen him crawling toward the water I would have gone after him no matter how many guards had been placed to shoot any man stepping foot in Mexico.”
Wyatt took another drink. “The next night I was still waiting. I got lucky and saw a gambler crossing far down the river from where we’d run the cattle over. He wasn’t too interested in talking to me, but I got him to tell me what he knew. He said he heard there was a wounded ranger being held at a way station of a ranch that sold supplies, guns, and whiskey to whoever needed them. He wasn’t sure, but he thought the place was called Three Forks. He claimed the old woman who owns it bragged that she planned to auction the Texas Ranger off like he was a prize pig. Said there were so many outlaws who hated rangers, the bidding could go pretty high and the show it would make would be good for business.”
Sumner shook his head. “If that was two days ago, he’s already dead.”
Wyatt nodded at the old man in respect. “Maybe, maybe not. The gambler said the old lady was patching him up. She seemed to think a standing ranger might go for more than a wounded, near-dead one. The gambler laughed and told me the old woman was good, she’d draw it out as long as she could.”
“Did the gambler see Duncan?” Lewt asked.
Wyatt shook his head. “No, but he did mention that several around the poker game that night laughed about how they’d like to kill a Texas Ranger real slow.”
Lewt paced the kitchen. “You believe this gambler?” he asked.
Wyatt gave him an odd look. “Much as I believe any gambler. By the way, what are you doing here? This is the last place I would have expected to find the likes of you.”
“You know each other?” Em asked.
Wyatt nodded. “Duncan always has been one to have all level of friends. I didn’t think he sent them home to visit, though.”
Lewt stared at him for a moment. Right now it didn’t matter much if the ranger gave him away. Lewt had far more important things to worry about. “I’m going after Duncan with you. I’ve heard of high-stakes games down there at a place called Three Forks. If they’ll let one gambler in, they’ll let me.”
Wyatt shook his head. “You have no idea where this ranch is that houses both gamblers and outlaws. You’d just get yourself killed, and if Duncan does manage to get out he’d blame me for letting you go down there.”
Lewt’s gaze hardened. “I don’t believe I’m your problem, Wyatt.”
Sumner raised his head. “I know where Three Forks is, though when I was down there, it was more a trading post and whorehouse than a ranch. Twenty years ago it was a place wild as any outlaw holdup ever born. Near as I remember it was run by a woman named Toledo. Heard someone say once that she’d been a beauty until her brother burned off half of her face. I saw her once. She wore a veil.”
Em frowned. “Why would a brother do that?”
Sumner shrugged. “Folks said she got pregnant without being married and embarrassed the whole family. Heard they made her drink something that caused her to l
ose the baby. From what I could see the scars had twisted more inside of her than the skin outside. She was as cruel a woman as I’ve ever met. If she has Duncan, there’s no telling what she’ll do.”
Wyatt almost jumped out of his chair. “That’s it. I heard the gambler say the witch who auctioned off secrets and people alike was named Toledo. We’ve got to go get him out of there.”
Lewt and Sumner agreed and stood.
Em looked from one man to another as if all three had gone mad. “This is crazy. Sumner, you’re too old to ride across the border, and Lewt, you’ll never pass for a gambler. This sounds like a mission that would get you all killed.”
Wyatt smiled. “Oh, believe me, Miss Emily, this guy will pass for a gambler, and Sumner was a legend in his day. If he’s half the man he was, I’d ride with him any day.”
“Great!” Em stood. “Then I’m going with you. He’s my cousin.”
All three men shouted no at the same time, but she’d already started packing supplies.
CHAPTER 22
DUNCAN CLOSED HIS EYES WHEN HE SAW A PRIEST come in.
“Give him his last rites, Father,” Ramon said.
“Is he that near death?” the priest asked.
“He will be,” Ramon answered. “Toledo told me to have you do it before you head back to the mission.”
The priest moved around Duncan, speaking Latin. He thought of trying to whisper something, but feared he might get them both killed.
“That’s enough,” Ramon said after a few minutes. “You’d best be on your way.”
Duncan had missed his chance. He lay still, trying to hear what was going on. There seemed to be more talking beyond the door. Toledo was out probably collecting information. He’d noticed that when the old woman was away, the cooks talked and others came into the kitchen to eat and visit. Duncan tried to make out what they were saying, but he couldn’t. He drifted off to sleep.
