by Joe Slade
The footsteps stopped. He said her name again.
‘Are you there, Maggie?’
Almost as if she believed he could see her, she recoiled, stumbling backwards towards the loading window. Immediately, she realized her mistake as the loft ladder shifted under his weight. With a few quick steps he was at the top ready to pull himself over the edge.
~*~
In a town cowed by recent death and the promise of fresh violence, the shrill scream sounded like a war cry. Doc and Rick had been working their way cautiously towards the centre of town but now they both stopped. Doc couldn’t remember a time when he had actually felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but it did now.
‘Where do you think that came from?’ Rick asked. The color had drained from his face.
‘Only one way to know for sure.’
Doc felt Rick on his heels as they broke in to a run. As another scream echoed between the buildings, there seemed no need for caution. Wherever the sound was coming from, that’s where they’d find Braddock.
A couple of minutes later, they emerged between a bathhouse and an abandoned haberdashery in the centre of town. The screaming had stopped abruptly and now several men stood on the main street, armed but seemingly reluctant to make a move.
‘Anybody know where it came from?’ Doc shouted as he ran towards them.
A stoop-shouldered old man, holding a ’66 Winchester across his chest, pointed up ahead. ‘It sounded like it came from your place, Doc. Someone saw that feller the posse went after hanging around there earlier. We don’t know who’s in there with him.’
‘Well, what are we waiting for?’
Jacking a shell in to the chamber of his own ’73 Winchester, he swerved around them and headed for the relative safety of the saloon’s covered plank walk. Footsteps sounded behind him but when he stopped and slammed his back against the wall, only Rick had followed. He waved for the others to come on but, instead of joining him, they seemed to move backwards.
‘What are you doing?’ he shouted, at the same time trying to keep his voice low. ‘Come on.’
The group of five men and a boy of about sixteen started to spread out, seeking cover, but none came any nearer.
‘Come on!’ Doc shouted again.
‘Forget it, Doc. They’re too scared.’ Rick shook his head with disdain. ‘Look at them. There’s a reason they didn’t ride out with the posse. This is just going to be you and me.’
Doc swore. It didn’t happen often but sometimes he just had to let it out and this was one of those times. He gripped the rifle between both hands, his knuckles turning white as he tried to come up with a plan that didn’t involve getting him killed.
‘Hey, JT, are you out there?’ Braddock shouted.
Doc stiffened. No one but his mother had ever called him that. Hearing it from Braddock’s mouth was close to blasphemy.
‘I’m here. What do you want?’
‘Why don’t you come and join us?’
‘Let Maggie go first then you and me can settle this.’
‘If you want her, you’ll have to come and get her.’
Another short sharp scream tore along the street. Rick fired off a shot as he made a lunge. Doc grabbed his arm, pulling him back as two shots sounded in return. It wasn’t easy holding him and as they scuffled Doc recognized the same blind panic in Rick’s eyes that he had seen the day Braddock and Harris had first ridden in to town. For his own good, Doc slammed Rick against the wall, winding him but still needing the full weight of his own body to hold him.
‘Let me go, Doc.’
‘Why? So you can get your head blown off? Calm down, man. Think what you’re doing. How’s that going to help Maggie?’
‘Well, standing here ain’t doing her much good. If you’ve got a better idea I’m all ears.’
Doc shook his head in frustration. He was a medic not a fighting man. Give him a cough or a festering wound and he could handle it but against a maniac without morals or principles he felt as useless as a fish trying to climb a tree.
He took a deep breath to steady himself. ‘The best I can come up with is one of us goes in the back way while the other one keeps Braddock talking at the front.’
‘Talking? He’s killing her!’
‘He’s hurting her,’ Doc stated, feeling ashamed.
‘And that’s better?’
Doc hated himself for what he had to say. ‘No, it isn’t but it buys us some time. He won’t kill her until he’s sure he’s got me where he wants me. That gives us one chance to stop him.’
It was a foolhardy plan that would probably get them killed but it was all they had. Rick gave a single, tight nod and Doc eased off, finally stepping away when he saw sanity returning to the younger man’s eyes.
‘Do you want to take the front or the back?’ Doc asked.
Rick emptied out the spent cartridge from his six-gun then reloaded it. ‘You’re the one he wants to kill so you keep him talking at the front. When you hear shooting, come running, all right?’ He thrust out his hand and they shook on it. ‘Good luck, Doc.’
‘We’re going to need it,’ Doc muttered as he watched Rick run to the alley at the side of the saloon and disappear from sight.
Twenty
‘You still there, JT?’
‘I’m here, Braddock. Why don’t you let Maggie go? It’s me you want.’
Braddock smiled. He hadn’t been sure if the doc would have enough guts to come but his voice suggested he was closing in. It wouldn’t be long now. Braddock could feel the excitement fizzing in his stomach, the effect coursing around his body like a shot of good whiskey.
‘Why would I want to do that when we’re just starting to have fun?’ he shouted.
Standing between the bedroom and the hall, he had a perfect view between the front door hanging in its busted frame and the girl sitting on the bed. She was twiddling with a loose thread in the blanket, kicking her heels against the floor and staring absentmindedly around with her mouth gaping open. He could see she was getting bored and when he gave the agreed nod, she pouted and folded her arms.
‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ she whined. ‘My throat hurts. I want my dollar now.’
He had to admit, she had earned it. He couldn’t remember a time when a female had screamed so willingly without the threat of a blade against her skin. His ears were ringing and he had the start of a headache.
‘Just once more and I’ll give you two dollars,’ he cajoled. ‘How does that sound?’
Her face lit up, split by a happy smile. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide, shaking her head from side to side like a dog shaking a rat, as she bellowed for every cent of her reward. When she was spent, she flopped back on the bed, giggling childishly.
Braddock glimpsed movement at the front door and fired off a couple of shots. He heard Doc curse as he dived for cover. Behind him, a crash sounded as someone or something hit the back doors with force. He shook his head. Fools. Did they believe he wouldn’t have expected that? His shoulder still ached with the effort of pushing the heavy workbench against the doors. It would take at least three strong men to shift it from the other side.
The girl leapt to her feet, some of the petulance replaced with fear. ‘I don’t like this game anymore. I want to go now.’
Braddock nodded. The game was about to end anyway. She had served her purpose.
‘I want my money.’ She stamped towards him and thrust out her dirty little hand. ‘Now! Give it to me. Give it to me. Give it to me now!’
His nerves jangled and he started to shake as her voice finished on a shriek. Women! They were all the same. Always demanding. Always trying to tell him what to do. How he hated them. Hated them all.
He hardly knew what he was doing when he grabbed her. Her life ended in a split second. Her neck snapped like a dry twig with a single, vicious twist. He tossed her lifeless body on the bed and pulled a blanket over it, not because the sight of her dead ugly face disturbed hi
m. No. He had one more job for her to do and then she could go to hell with the rest of them.
~*~
Maggie cringed with each scream that echoed along the street but she kept the Schofield steady as she studied the face that had appeared above the ladder. Even if she hadn’t been sure that Braddock was elsewhere inflicting some cruel, unjust punishment on an innocent victim, she would have known this wasn’t him. The ginger haired boy who stared back at her through dark amber colored eyes looked about fifteen years old, maybe a little younger. His complexion was white with fear, but that was no reason to let her guard down.
‘Don’t shoot,’ he blurted out. ‘Doc sent me.’
If it was a lie, it tripped off his tongue easily enough.
‘How do I know Braddock didn’t send you to find me?’
His eyes widened as though the idea hadn’t occurred to him. That he regretted climbing the ladder was apparent as he glanced down at the drop below. He tried to speak but, with his gaze fixing on the barrel of the Schofield, no words would come.
‘Take a breath,’ Maggie advised.
His chest heaved then fell. ‘I guess you don’t know but …’ He wiped the tip of a finger across his nose, smearing dirt across his cheek as he raised both hands above his head. ‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d sooner you didn’t shoot me.’
She didn’t want to but he wasn’t giving her much to go on. She hoped for both their sakes that he didn’t make a sudden movement.
‘What is that on your face?’ she asked.
He brushed a palm across his cheek and looked at the dark residue that coated it. ‘Soot,’ he said, ‘from the fire. Braddock burned our place to the ground.’ He choked up but managed to go on. ‘He killed my ma. That’s why I rode back to town with Doc and Rick. I came to kill him.’
This time, it was Maggie who drew in a measured breath. He could be lying but the catch in his voice, the tears that welled up spontaneously, the tremble that started at his lip and resonated through his whole body would be hard to fake. At least she hoped so.
‘What’s your name?’ she asked, lowering the gun.
‘Leo Pratt.’
‘And now you’ve found me, what’s the plan?’
He relaxed a little but his words still tumbled out without room for a breath. ‘There’s a warehouse at the end of town. Doc told me to take you there, take one of the horses and leave.’
She couldn’t deny she liked the idea but there was a flaw. ‘What about Doc and Rick? Where are they?’
‘They’ve gone after Braddock.’
The thought of it sent a shiver through her.
‘Please, just come with me,’ Leo implored. ‘I promised them I’d find you and keep you safe.’
Maggie steeled herself and waited for another scream to die away. It was impossible not to imagine what Braddock was doing to the girl. The image made her blood run cold and her decision that much easier.
‘Go on then,’ she said, jamming the Schofield in to her pocket and wincing as she eased her arm from the sling. ‘I’ll follow you.’
Going down the ladder was harder than climbing it. As she turned and stepped over the edge she lost her balance, missed her footing, moaned as her shins and knees rattled against the frame. She made a wild grab as she started to fall, managing to cling to a rung but it came at a cost. She whimpered as she felt the wound in her shoulder reopen.
Behind her, Leo scurried back up and pressed his weight against her back, pushing her forward as he wrapped his long gangly limbs around her and clung to the shaking ladder.
‘You’re all right, Miss Maggie. I’ve got you.’
He guided her down, holding on to her even after her feet hit firm ground. She took a minute to catch her breath and let the strength trickle back in to her legs. Looking back up the ladder, she wondered how it had held under their combined weight but she was glad that it had.
‘Are you all right, Miss Maggie?’ Leo asked, his expressive eyes wide with concern.
The bandage around her shoulder felt warm and wet but she daren’t look inside her coat to see how much blood was leaking through it.
‘I’ll be fine, Leo. Just lead the way.’ She squeezed his arm and stepped aside allowing him to pass. ‘And call me Maggie.’
Another scream rang out as they stepped in to the weak sunshine. She ran to the front of the livery stable, sucking in a deep breath before she peered around the corner and along the street. Just up ahead, she could see a few men scattered around, taking cover in doorways. They seemed to be watching someone or something up ahead but from her angle she couldn’t see what or who.
‘Hey, JT, are you out there?’ someone shouted.
‘I’m here. What do you want?’
Maggie felt a thrill of delight as she recognized Doc’s voice. Just knowing he was close seemed to fortify her flagging spirits, chasing away her tiredness and invigorating her with renewed energy.
‘Why don’t you come and join us?’
‘Let Maggie go then you and me can settle this.’
‘If you want her, you’ll have to come and get her.’
Someone fired a shot. Two more answered. Maggie stepped forward, eager to see who was shooting.
Leo grabbed her and dragged her back to safety, his bony fingers holding her in a vice-like grip. A severe frown added years to his face. She looked at him again in a new light, noticing the peach fuzz above his upper lip, and the determined set of his wide jaw. They made him seem older than she had first imagined but didn’t change the fact that he was just a boy.
‘Let me go,’ she demanded. ‘I need to know what’s happening.’
She pushed him, relieved when his hand opened like the petals of a flower to release her.
‘If you stick your head out there again you’re likely to get it blown off,’ he warned. ‘We need to go.’
He was right but she wasn’t going to let that stop her.
‘Doc’s going to risk his life because he thinks Braddock has me. I have to help him and that girl, whoever she is.’
She ducked past him, narrowly avoiding his attempt to grab her and instead he seized the back of her coat. She tried to shrug out of it but the pain in her shoulder was too much.
His arm snaked around her waist. ‘I’m sorry about this,’ he said, refusing to give in to her struggles. ‘Doc and Rick said we were to leave.’
She stopped fighting, realizing that even at his tender age he was too strong for her. Instead, she tried to reason with him.
‘Leo, listen to me. Those two men out there, they’re the only friends I have. If I can help, I have to try.’ Awkwardly, she reached in to her pocket and pulled out Doc’s shaving mirror. ‘I promise I won’t stick my head out again. Just let me go.’
He relaxed his grip reluctantly until she was free to move. Following close on her heels as she turned back to the street, she had no doubt he would stop her if she didn’t keep her word. After a few seconds trying to work out the best approach, she placed her back against the wall and reached her arm out, angling the mirror until she had a clear view. Still it didn’t show her what she wanted to see.
She wracked her brain, trying to picture the scene ahead. On this side of the street was the livery, a barbershop, the saloon, the abandoned mercantile and then Doc’s place. Opposite, was a haberdashery, the general store, the boarded up law office, and another business that she couldn’t quite recall. All told, the distance was probably no more than a hundred yards, but it might as well have been a hundred miles.
‘Doc,’ she called. ‘Rick!’
A couple of the men closest to her turned their heads and motioned for her to stay back. Her wild attempts to draw someone across achieved nothing as they turned their backs on her. She slumped against the wall, the sickly feeling of helplessness making her skin crawl as she slipped the mirror back in her pocket.
‘Try calling out to them again,’ Leo urged.
More gunshots sounded.
‘It’s too late fo
r that,’ she said as she pulled the Schofield from her pocket and started to run.
Twenty-One
Braddock picked up the nightstand and flung it across the room towards the small window. It pulled down the curtains, dragging them through as it broke the glass and hurtled in to the yard beyond. The effect was dulled but it would attract attention and that was all he wanted. To be sure, he fired a couple of shots after it before running to the kitchen.
~*~
Crouched in the alley between his place and the abandoned mercantile, Doc listened to Rick pounding at the back doors. He shook his head. Braddock was no fool. He would probably have pushed the heavy workbench in front of the doors. The thought had occurred to Doc earlier but with ideas being thin on the ground, he hadn’t seen fit to mention it to Rick.
Inside, everything had gone quiet. He didn’t like it. The screaming was nerve jangling but at least it proved Maggie was alive. The silence was worse. It played with his mind, wore on his nerves, made seconds feel like minutes and added urgency to an already fraught situation. The persistent knot in his stomach seemed to have tightened and spread making his chest feel tight and his breathing labored.
He forced himself to inhale and exhale, slow and deep. That’s when the stench of urine and kerosene really hit him. Until then it had been a vaguely noxious smell somewhere on the periphery of his senses, but now it made him want to vomit. Close to breaking point, he crept forward towards the door hanging precariously in its busted frame.
‘What are you doing, John?’ he asked himself as he eased it open with the end of the Winchester. ‘This is a bad idea.’
The sound of breaking glass stalled him but he resisted the urge to turn tail and run when two quick shots followed. He realized that the banging had stopped. It seemed likely that Rick had abandoned the idea and decided to smash his way in through the window. It was a risky approach but maybe he had been lucky and surprised Braddock. There had only been two shots after all. It seemed likely someone was dead.
Hoping that someone wasn’t Rick, Doc launched himself through the opening, half expecting to be driven back by a hail of bullets. Instead he found his path clear. A glance left and right in to the parlor and the kitchen as he ran past revealed nothing to concern him.
