“Yes.” There was no doubt there, just the look of death in Jake’s light blue eyes. They snaked back down the hill and checked their guns, making sure once again that they were loaded and ready.
“Okay, fifteen minutes and I’ll start shooting,” Jason reminded them as they mounted up. He grabbed Ty’s arm before they rode off. “Take care of my daughter.”
“I will,” Ty assured him, his face set as he took off with Cat, swinging out and around behind the trees. Jake, Zanc and Jason went around by the road, while Chase and Jamie came up by the stream, waiting for Ty and Cat to get into place, waiting for Jason’s signal.
Jenny tried to bring the walls into focus as she leaned against the corner beside the bed in what had once been her parents’ bedroom. Her left eye was swollen shut, the skin around it cut and bruised from the fist Mason had used on her. He had an awesome right, she had thought at the time, but couldn’t follow through with his left and just settled for backhanding her, which stung like crazy but didn’t leave much of a mark. Her right ankle was swollen where it had been twisted in one of her attempts to escape, foolish attempts really, because she couldn’t go far. Her other ankle was chained to the bed post. What pained her most however, even more than the cuts that his knife had made on her breast, or the constant ache between her legs, was her shoulder, which she had dislocated when she had tried to escape the knife he held to her breast as he sat across her stomach. She had twisted away, but he had grabbed her arm and forced her back, until the shoulder had popped out of joint and she had screamed in agony as he carved his initials into the soft skin over her heart, branding her, he said, so everyone would know whom she belonged to. “Nobody takes what’s mine!” he had said over and over again, pounding it into her brain the same way he was pounding into her body. Her shoulder now hung at an odd angle, the whole left side of her body lower than the right. The pressure from the dislocation or some broken ribs, she wasn’t sure which, made it hard for her to breath.
She had lost track of time, the days and nights fading into a never-ending hell, but it was better than death, she tried to convince herself, better than watching them burn Jamie alive. She knew she would not have been able to bear the screams, would have sought death herself in the fire rather than watch it. The irony was that she hadn’t even had to act the whore. Mason had simply dragged her in the house and raped her, ripping her clothes off, throwing them in a comer where they still lay in a heap and taking her trembling body beneath his without a thought in the world beyond the pleasure it gave him to know that he had Ian Duncan’s daughter in his bed. In Ian’s bed, actually, and that thought gave him more satisfaction than the actual deed.
She laid her head against the wall, her nude and bruised body shivering, but still having enough fight in her to prefer the cold to the stinking blankets on the bed. A touch of color caught her eye in the dust under the bed, and she tilted her head, bringing her right eye around to see better. She moved a bit, biting back the pain, and reached under with her right hand. She pulled out her mother’s quilt, stained and filthy but still whole, having been carelessly kicked under the bed many years ago and forgotten. Jenny pulled it around her body, sobs overcoming her. Grief only added to her pain as sobs shook her injured shoulder, but she was unable to stop the tide. “Oh, Momma,” she cried into the quilt, wrapping her arm around it, holding it up to her face. The sound of a gunshot rent the air, but she ignored it. They were always hollering and shooting after a few drinks, but then she heard a barrage of bullets and she raised her head, watching the shadows that flitted across the window, hearing the sounds of hoof beats, the sounds of men dying.
She heard running feet, heard Cat calling her name, then heard the sharp intake of breath as Cat caught sight of her and skidded to a halt.
“Don’t let Chase see me, Cat,” Jenny whispered between her split lips. Cat held out her hand to stop Ty, who came flying in, his gun drawn. “Please, don’t let him see me like this.”
Cat holstered her gun and knelt in front of Jenny. “Ty, keep Chase out of here,” she said as she reached out to pull the quilt away.
Jenny looked down, her shame unbearable as she heard Cat’s choking sob as she saw the bent shoulder, the bruises, and the bloody R and M carved on her breast. Jenny pulled the quilt back up, and Cat helped her put it in place.
The shooting died down as Zane and Jake gave chase to the few who had managed to get away, Logan among them. Chase stood over Randolph Mason, who looked up at him with beady eyes, his brain still in shock from the attack, wondering at the identity of this half-breed who was looking down on him with such contempt. The breed had been ruthless, he thought to himself, cutting a swath through his men as if they were nothing, intent on destroying them and all for a girl who had turned out to be as cold as her mother. Chase turned on his heel and went up the steps, Jamie falling in behind him as he holstered his gun. Jamie didn’t even give Mason a look.
Ty was standing by the door, and the look on his face made Chase’s heart stop beating.
“Where is she?”
“She doesn’t want you to see her.”
Chase stepped toward the door, and Ty grabbed him. They swung around and slammed into the wall, Ty holding Chase against it with all his strength. “Jenny?” Chase called. “Jenny?” he screamed.
Jenny sobbed as she heard his voice, heard the struggle going on in the other room. Jamie dashed by the two and into the room as Cat ran out to stop Chase.
“Chase, listen to me ... she’s alive, and she doesn’t want you to see her now. Please, leave her pride . . . please,” Cat implored.
Chase stopped his struggling and stood panting against the wall. They heard the sound of a fist hitting the wall inside, three times in quick succession, then Jamie’s hoarse croak as he cried out her name. Chase shook off the hands that were holding him and walked out the front door, his eyes black and empty.
“Oh, Jenny, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Jamie cried as he gathered her into his arms. The chain around her ankle stopped him, so he pulled out his gun and shot the chain off. She didn’t flinch, but the pain when he picked her up made her dizzy, and she almost fainted as he carried her out of the room and into the kitchen at the back of the house, the quilt still wrapped around her.
Outside, Chase hauled a bleeding Mason to his feet. “You can’t hurt me,” Mason spat out, “I’m dying.” The dark eyes, however, said otherwise, and for the second time in his life, Randolph Mason felt real fear. Chase dragged him to the corral and tied his arms, stretched out on either side, to the rail. Jake watched as Chase pulled out his knife, the knife that had once belonged to Ian Duncan.
Jason was examining Jenny’s shoulder when a high-pitched scream rent the air. Ty, Cat and Jason exchanged scared looks as Zane went to see what was causing the noise. Jamie seemed to already know, and he didn’t take his eyes off Jenny’s face as her eyes suddenly focused on his.
“Your shoulder is dislocated,” Jason said. “I’m going to try to put it back into place.”
Jenny nodded weakly and Jason grabbed her arm, pulling it straight and bracing his hand against her other shoulder as he pulled and pushed, until the shoulder went back in with a pop. Jenny fainted, her head falling back against Jamie’s arm and the quilt sliding out of her grasp, baring her breast to Jason’s eyes.
“Son of a bitch,” Jason gasped as he saw the deep cuts over her heart. Jamie blinked back tears as Jason pulled the quilt up. Jamie pulled her close and sobbed into her hair. “Cat, see if you can find her clothes. We’ve got to get her cleaned up and get out of here. I don’t want to have to explain this to the local sheriff if I can help it. Ty, see if you can do anything with Chase.” They scattered to do Jason’s commands, and he went to fetch a pail of water and a towel. He stopped at the window, startled to see Zane retching in the side yard. Jason put it down to seeing too much death and reminded himself to have a talk with the boy on the way home. Cat returned with Jenny’s clothes, torn but pretty much wearable exc
ept for the shirt. Zane came up the back steps, his face pale, his mouth green around the edges, but they didn’t notice as they sent him out to get another shirt for Jenny to wear from the spares they had all brought.
Jamie held Jenny in his arms as Cat gently wiped her skin under the quilt, trying to preserve her dignity, at least. Even in her unconscious state, Jenny flinched as Cat wiped the dried blood from between her legs; she moaned when they pulled a sock over her swollen ankle. Jason pressed a wet towel to her eyes and she came around, blinking and startled, but relieved when she saw the faces of people who cared for her, when she realized that Jamie’s arms were supporting her instead of holding her down, as Mason did.
She couldn’t walk, so Jamie wrapped the quilt around her and picked her up, carrying her through the sitting room and out on the porch. Chase was there in the yard, on his horse, waiting. Jenny buried her head under Jamie’s chin when she saw him. “No,” she whispered into his neck.
“This is one argument you are not going to win,” Jamie said and handed her over the rail into Chase’s waiting arms. Her dislocated shoulder had been wrapped tightly against her body, and it now rested against Chase’s chest as he adjusted her over his legs, her head falling into place on his shoulder, her nose tucked up under his chin, her cheek lying against the silky hair that fell over his shoulders. His arms trembled as he resisted the urge to squeeze her to him, to never let her go. Instead, he just held her, his arms loose and relaxed until he felt her body ease against him. The others were waiting. They were all mounted except Jamie, who still stood on the porch.
Cat let out a gasp as she turned her horse towards the fence.
“Don’t look,” Ty said, but it was too late. Ty reached out and grabbed Cat’s rein and led her towards the drive, Zane and Jake following with Jenny’s horse, which they had found in the barn.
“My God,” Jason said and turned to look back at Chase, who had his head down over Jenny’s, and at Jamie, whose face showed no emotion at all. Jason followed the others.
Jamie and Chase looked at each other, their faces in complete agreement. Chase turned his horse and directed it towards the fence where Randolph Mason was tied, his body slumped against his restraints, his pants down around his ankles, and nothing but a bloody mess left between his legs. The part of him that had been removed lay in the dirt before him.
“Look at him, Jenny. He can’t hurt you or your family anymore,” Chase said gently.
Mason raised his head and saw her eyes on him beneath the shadow of Chase’s chin.
“Is this what you want?” His words were slurred. “A half-breed? Is this the man whose name you called?” Mason tried to laugh, but all that came out was a gurgling sound as his lungs filled with blood. “Just remember one thing, half-breed.” He was dying and he knew it, but he could still hurt them. “When she closes her eyes, it will be my face she sees, not yours.”
Jenny trembled at the words, and Chase felt it.
“But you’ll be dead,” Chase said simply. Jenny turned her face into the steel cords of Chase’s neck, and he reined the horse away. Behind him, Mason’s head lolled to the side as his last breath was drowned in blood. Chase rode to where the others were waiting and he felt his heart leap in his chest as he felt Jenny’s hand, beneath the quilt, make its way between the buttons of his shirt, coming to rest against his pounding heart.
While the others waited at the curve in the drive, Jamie went back into the house and returned with a lamp. He carefully lit the wick and watched as the flame jumped to life. Jamie stepped off the porch and stood with the lamp in his hand, looking up at the broken window in the loft, turning his head to look down the stream and up to the other side where his mother had grown flowers along the porch. He took another step back and flung the lantern against the front wall, where it shattered. The oil inside ran down the planks of the wall, the flames giving chase and soon licking up the door frame. The wood was dry and the flames were strong; he took another step back as the fire roared to life. Jamie’s horse danced nervously as the fire grew, and the heat drove Jamie into the saddle. He looked at the barn, turned the horse in a slow circle as his mind’s eye saw what had once been, and then he joined the group that was waiting at the curve in the drive. He didn’t look back.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chase felt as if the pounding of his heart would dislodge the frail hold that Jenny had on his chest. He felt the weak touch of her hand, held in place by the strength of the buttons on his shirt instead of any desire that might have been there at one time. She had not spoken a word since Jamie had laid her in his arms, just softly cried out in pain whenever he adjusted her into a more comfortable position. She was sleeping restlessly, the movement of the horse occasionally penetrating into her unhappy dreams. He barely felt her breath against his neck, and actually had a few moments of panic when he thought that she had ceased breathing altogether. But then she would stir against him, not having the strength to do much else, and his heart would resume pounding in his chest.
Chase fought to control the anger that threatened to boil up from within. He had been like a madman since the night Jamie had come barreling into camp and kicked him awake, his face white, his voice grim, the words “Jenny’s being held prisoner” like a knife in his heart. Jason had asked all the questions while Chase went to saddle his horse, not speaking a word, afraid that if he opened his mouth his very soul would pour out in a painful wail. The ride to find her had been agony, his mind going over every possible alternative from finding her alive and well to finding her dead and gone, and he planned, in great detail, the painful deaths that would come to those who had harmed her.
The battle was over, Randolph Mason was dead, his multitude of sins sending his spirit to the worst kind of hell for the pain he had inflicted upon the Duncans, but still Chase was angry. He had heard Jenny’s weak pleas when he had come into the house. He did not have to look beneath the quilt to know that her body was bruised and damaged, her face gave enough evidence of that. It was her spirit he was afraid for, afraid that this time her spirit would not be able to recover from the blows that life had dealt her. Chase looked over at Jamie, who was riding next to him, his head bobbing in exhaustion. The only sleep he had gotten in the past few days had come on the back of a horse. His face was streaked with dirt, soot and blood, so that the only way you could tell he was scarred was by the uneven texture of skin between the eye and hairline. Chase mused to himself, Jamie’s scars are on the outside, Jenny’s on the inside. He felt a soft sigh against his neck. He wondered which were worse.
Jason called a halt to the weary group’s travel when the sun was setting. Jamie was ready to fall from his saddle, Jason wasn’t sure if Jenny was up to traveling with her injuries, and the rest of the group seemed in a state of shock over what they had seen Chase to be capable of. Jake was the only one who seemed to treat Mason’s fate as a normal state of affairs. To his mind, justice had been served, and that was the end of it.
While Chase held Jenny in his arms, Cat and Jamie made a pallet for her on the ground, making her as comfortable as possible under the conditions. When Jamie saw that she was settled, he spread his blanket next to her and fell asleep instantly, not even bothering to wash off the grime. The rest of the group made an attempt to eat, except for Chase, who disappeared into the darkness, much to the relief of everyone else. They were still in shock over his actions, although when they thought about it, they couldn’t really blame him.
Cat finally excused herself and disappeared into the darkness, where they soon heard the sounds of muffled sobs. Ty and Jason exchanged looks, then Ty got up to go after her, wrapping his arms around her in the darkness and pulling her onto his lap as he sat down with his back against a tree, whispering words of comfort into her ear.
Zane and Jake took to their blankets, Zane for once speechless, and left Jason to tend the fire until the others made their way back. Cat and Ty soon appeared, and Cat sat next to her father, leaning heavily against him whe
n he put his arm around her.
“Is she going to be okay?” Cat asked as they watched the slight rise and fall of Jenny’s chest.
“I don’t know. Physically, I think she’ll heal, but we don’t know about the rest.”
“You mean her mind?”
“I mean her spirit. She’s been through a lot in her lifetime, and up till now managed to cope pretty well, but we just can’t know about this.”
“But this time she has people around her who love her.”
“You’re right.” Jason squeezed his daughter to him just as Chase materialized without a sound into the ring of light around the fire. His hair was wet, his face and hands cleaned, and he resembled again the man they had known and worked with for the past few years. When he sat down at the fire, Cat and Ty excused themselves and spread their blankets next to each other. They lay down, their hands touching in between.
“I feel like you need to talk to me about today,” Chase said as the fire crackled before him and Jason. The firelight cast an eerie reflection in his dark eyes as he raised them to look at Jason.
“I really don’t know what to say.”
“I know you think what I did today was savage, brutal, but it was the way I was raised, and my honor would not permit anything else. If you want me to leave, I will, just as soon as Jenny is well enough to go with me.”
“Chase, I am not going to judge you for anything you did today. You did what you had to do to protect the woman you love, and I can’t say I would have done anything differently if it had been me. I never had a chance to.” Chase looked at Jason, curiosity evident on his face. “Many years ago, I loved a woman. I loved her with every fiber of my being, but I lost her.”
“What happened?”
“My parents did not approve of her. They thought I was marrying beneath my station. They thought she was a phase I would outgrow, a foolish whim, so they arranged to have me drugged and placed on a ship to England. By the time I got back, she was gone, married to another man a month after I had left, moved off to God knows where, and I had no way to find her because her family had all been killed in a flood.” Jason shook his head as the memory filled his mind. “Her name was Jenny also, and the funny thing is, your Jenny reminds me of her. The first time I saw her, I thought I had seen a ghost, but it was just my mind playing tricks.” The fire crackled and popped between them. “If I had the chance to do it over, nothing on earth would have kept me from her, and I would have killed anyone who tried. I should have just taken her and eloped instead of hoping everything would work out with my family. After I found she was gone, I left home, came west. I never saw my family again.” Jenny shifted in her sleep, a slight groan coming weakly from her split lips. “We might need to see if we can get her to eat something. Not that this trail food will do her much good, but we need to get her strength up. It’s a long way to home.”
Chase the Wind Page 39
