After the Ashes

by Howe, Cheryl

  “He’s not hurt.” Jay picked up her horse’s reins. “We’ll make camp halfway between here and my property line. If Archie and Chris don’t find us by noon tomorrow, we’ll renegotiate.”

  She glanced at Archie. He seemed to strengthen in the face of his mission. He had remounted and edged away from them as he closed the space to the canyon. His clear eyes spoke determination even in the fading light.

  “Do you think you can help him, Archie?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll try.”

  She didn’t like his answer, but she knew he was being honest. She didn’t believe in promises anymore anyway.

  “Good luck.”

  He nodded, then turned and rode toward the canyon. She watched until horse and rider disappeared, seemingly swallowed by the wall of solid rock.

  She took her horse’s reins from Jay and mounted. “Until tomorrow. If Archie doesn’t find Christopher, I’m coming back here and I’m going to ride into the canyon.”

  Jay nodded, then turned his horse in the opposite direction without another word.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Braddock stretched his leg and winced. He must be getting old. Every joint ached. He rolled his shoulders and shifted again.

  “Would you stop squirming? I’m trying to catch up on some sleep,” complained Corey.

  When Braddock finally settled into a more comfortable position, Corey relaxed against him. How could the kid even think about sleeping? Braddock had to keep moving just to assure himself his limbs still worked.

  It was pretty damned clever of Langston to shackle them together. Back to back, handcuffs entwined, they were helpless—and if by some miracle they did escape, Braddock doubted his circulation would return in under an hour. Using a gun would be impossible.

  By the position of the sun, Braddock gauged that Langston had been gone nearly half the day, though it felt more like a week. He could have easily reached the ranch and returned by now.

  Braddock only hoped he didn’t show up with Lorelei in handcuffs. He feared she would dispel his whole concocted story by pulling a rifle on Langston. Again. She was so easy to read.

  In light of the situation, all three of them serving jail time seemed only a minor inconvenience. He just hoped she was at the ranch. If she wasn’t… He couldn’t think about that with his hands trussed behind his back.

  “Hey, Braddock. What’d you plan to accomplish by having Langston ride out to Jay’s while we sit here like stuffed pigs ready for the spit?”

  “Shut up, Corey.”

  “Just checking,” the boy said with a grin in his voice.

  A metallic jangle followed the soft huff of a horse and alerted Braddock to the approach of a rider. Langston rode up as if in a dream. But it was a dream with sharp edges.

  “Well…” He dismounted and put his hands on his hips. “She wasn’t there.”

  Corey hissed a curse near Braddock’s ear. Braddock forced the fear and desperation that oozed from his pores back inside. He had to stay focused on Langston. He had to think of something to do.

  Langston pushed his hat back. “Nice lady at the ranch. She had a bunch of kids. Said her husband took Lorelei to town to catch the stage home.” He scratched his forehead. “Can’t figure it. So tell me, Braddock, what were you trying to pull over my eyes?”

  Braddock stared at Langston while he tried to make sense of his words. He wanted to believe that Lorelei had packed up and went home, but he knew it wasn’t true. Beth could charm a rattlesnake out of its hole. She probably had had no trouble convincing Langston of anything she wanted him to believe.

  Langston shifted, folded his arms over his chest, and smirked at Braddock. “You might as well come clean instead of staring at me with that big, dumb look on your face. Obviously whatever you had up your sleeve fell out.”

  “I told him it wouldn’t work,” Corey spoke up. “He thought if we got you away, his friends would come rescue him.”

  Langston shook his head but his smirk rose a notch. He was pleased with Corey’s answer. “When are you going to realize you’re not the favorite anymore, Braddock? This isn’t West Point. Daddy’s money can’t save your butt here.”

  Braddock’s mind churned out a hundred different ways to overpower Langston. Unfortunately none seemed plausible. If only Langston would stop blabbering, Braddock might be able to come up with some options.

  “I half expected you to be gone when I got back.” Langston snorted, apparently unaware that Braddock wasn’t comprehending a word he said. “Looks like your luck has finally run out. That’s what happens when you go bad, Braddock. It catches up with you.”

  “Sir, I want to come clean. I don’t want to be like him.” Langston skirted around Braddock to face Corey. “Go on. Let’s hear what you have to say, and maybe I can put in a good word for you with the judge.”

  Corey took a deep breath, then let it out in a long, tortured sigh. “It’s true what he said about making me get involved with Mulcahy and the robbery, but I made sure he sent my sister home, so I guess he held to that promise. I wasn’t going to tell him where the gold was until I was sure I was in a safe place.” Corey lowered his voice. “I was afraid he was going to kill me.”

  To get a glimpse of Langston’s face, Braddock strained until his neck pulsed with tension. Langston’s wide eyes and half-open mouth showed his total absorption in Corey’s tale. “You were right to be afraid, son. Go on.”

  “I’ll tell you were the gold is. I don’t want to carry this burden any longer. I’ll have to take you there, because the place is hard to find.”

  Braddock closed his eyes. Corey had a plan. A damn good one.

  “It’s east of here, in a narrow canyon.”

  “Specter Canyon?” Langston’s voice hovered above them. He had straightened.

  “That’s it,” said Corey with too much enthusiasm.

  Langston strolled around them to tower over Braddock again. “And you got some real nice fellas keeping an eye on that gold for you. You two must take me for a real fool.”

  “I’m warning you, Langston. Let us go.” Once Braddock finally found his voice, it was deadly calm. He’d have to kill Langston. Braddock didn’t like the idea, but it wasn’t going to stop him. There was no other way.

  “It wouldn’t do you any good if I did. You won’t find refuge at Specter Canyon. A posse’s headed that way. Your friend Douglas is in charge, no less. Can’t wait to see the look on your old friend’s face when I hand you over like a trussed calf.”

  “When will they reach the canyon?”

  “Day or so.” Langston smiled.

  Braddock’s breath of hope turned to lead as it soured and settled into the pit of his stomach. That wasn’t soon enough for Lorelei.

  “You can beat them and get the gold first,” encouraged Corey.

  “I’m no outlaw. I have respect for the law, unlike some people.”

  Braddock squinted as he looked up into the mid-afternoon sun that loomed over Langston’s head. “Might get you that permanent marshal’s job you’re after.”

  Langston knelt between them and unlocked Corey’s handcuffs, then pulled him to his feet.

  “I’m just glad to serve my country. I don’t need a fancy title or fame like you had, Braddock. I’m not trying to be a hero.”

  The deputy held his gun on Corey while the kid mounted the pinto at his urging. Once Corey was settled, Langston handcuffed his hands in front of him. Langston would have to unshackle Braddock long enough for him to mount, and that was all the help Braddock needed.

  With one eye on his captives, Langston crept to his horse. He holstered his pistol, then unstrapped his rifle from his saddle. He braced the weapon’s butt against his shoulder, taking careful aim directly at Braddock’s head. For a moment Braddock thought Langston would shoot him right there and then. Luckily he felt only anger, no fear. His old self was seeping back. Langston was going to die, not him.

  “I’ll blow your head off if you even think of try
ing anything funny.” With his finger still on the trigger, Langston tossed Braddock the key to the handcuffs. It landed with a soft puff of dust near his bound feet. Using both hands, Langston quickly reaimed the rifle.

  Braddock stared at the key. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “Unlock yourself.”

  “My hands are behind my back.”

  “Then I guess you’re going to rot out here.”

  Braddock tried to melt Langston’s determination with a serious glare, but the man was smarter and tougher than Braddock suspected. Finally he had no choice but to scoot around in the dirt and start the tedious process of freeing himself like a sideshow magician. His hands were already numb, making him drop the key more times than he could count. The image of strangling Langston urged him to paw through the dust until his fingers found metal. He steered his thoughts away from Lorelei. Fear for her made the intricate task impossible.

  After what seemed like an hour, Braddock heard the lock click open. He flexed his fists and rubbed his arms. His circulation returned in needle laced waves.

  “That’s enough. Unlock your ankles and get on the horse. Now.”

  Braddock leaned forward. Shards of pain shot through his arms but he barely noticed. Numbing instinct took over. His muscles bunched, ready to spring at Langston.

  Before the hinge on the ankle shackles had time to fall open, Braddock pulled his legs under him and pushed off with his feet. His shoulder hit Langston in the knees. The rifle fired as Langston fell backward. Braddock didn’t stop to consider if he had been hit by the stray shot. He tightened his grip on Langston’s waist with no intention of letting go.

  Langston squirmed, his arm outstretched for the fallen rifle. Braddock pinned Langston with his weight while he curled a fist in Langston’s leather vest and yanked him away from the weapon. The pistols strapped to Langston’s waist dug into Braddock’s thighs, reminding him of their presence. As if Langston read his mind, he flopped and bucked for his life, forcing Braddock to hold on to him with both hands.

  A large rock embedded in the sand a little to the right of Langston’s head caught Braddock’s attention. With a strength he didn’t even know he possessed, Braddock crawled on his knees, dragging a writhing Langston across the dirt. Braddock positioned his old schoolmate’s head over the rock. One hard knock would leave him unconscious; two or three would kill him.

  When Langston realized Braddock intended to crush his skull, he fought with renewed strength. He wedged the base of his palm under Braddock’s chin and pushed hard enough to force Braddock to loosen his grip or have his neck snapped. Langston flopped away, but Braddock yanked him back before he could crawl to the fallen rifle. Braddock flipped him over and punched him as hard as he could in the nose.

  Langston went limp, making dragging him back to the rock a much simpler task.

  “What are you doing?” called Corey from someplace faraway. “Get the gun.”

  With his fists securely wrapped in Langston’s vest, Braddock pulled Langston’s upper body off the ground. The man’s head fell back weakly. With no resistance to meet the rock, Langston would be harder to kill, but Braddock would make do.

  “Stop it, you crazy son of a bitch. You’re going to kill him,” cried Corey.

  “Shut up.” Braddock couldn’t think with all this screaming.

  Apparently roused by the yelling, Langston wrapped a hand around the back of Braddock’s neck.

  Braddock easily disengaged his grip. “Sorry, Langston, but you’re going to have to die. Since you won’t—”

  “You’re not a killer.” Braddock paused. But he was a killer. Ever since the war he was a killer.

  He repositioned Langston, ready to slam his head against the rock, when the sound of galloping horses interrupted his momentum. Then he heard his name echoing in his mind. He knew his imagination tried to trick him because the voice belonged to Lorelei.

  “Lori,” yelled Corey. “Over here!”

  Braddock froze, fearing that if he moved the dream would fade. In a cloud of dust, Lorelei barreled into the clearing, closely followed by Jay. Braddock watched her slide off her horse, then run to his side. She dropped to her knees and gently touched his shoulder. She glanced down at Langston, then back up to him.

  “Let go of him,” she said softly.

  He glanced at Langston, whose face was swollen. Blood flowed steadily from the man’s nose, soaking his shirt and dripping across Braddock’s fists. Gently, as if he hadn’t been the one about to bash Langston’s head, Braddock laid him down so his head was cradled in the soft sand.

  When he straightened, Lorelei vaulted into his arms.

  He lowered his head, taking in her scent. Dreams didn’t smell, and if he could smell her she must be real.

  “I thought you were in Specter Canyon.” His voice sounded strange to him, as if he had swallowed sand.

  “I wanted to, but Jay wouldn’t let me. I was so worried for you.”

  He crushed her to him. “I’m never letting you go again.”

  And he meant it. He wasn’t going to fight it anymore. It was too late to escape.

  ***

  Braddock watched Lorelei wipe Langston’s blood off her hands with the hem of her tattered brown skirt. He wanted to look away, but he wouldn’t let himself.

  Jay laughed, and Braddock tore his gaze away long enough to see Corey stuff a whole biscuit in his mouth. How could he eat? Braddock’s stomach had knotted itself up, but then again, Corey didn’t almost kill a man with his bare hands.

  Braddock returned his gaze to Langston. He leaned his head back, his face obscured by a wadded bandanna. Lorelei touched the back of his head and said something in a voice too low for him to hear.

  “Lorelei, get over here,” Braddock said too harshly.

  Langston removed the blood-soaked bandanna from his face and glared. “You better do what he says. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  She laughed.

  “Now,” he said, cutting her off. He turned and walked away before she had time to argue. He needed to keep her from talking to Langston.

  He stopped several yards away. A stunted pinyon bent over by the wind provided a place where they could speak privately. The gnarled tree reached no taller than his chin but would block Lorelei from Langston’s view. If he thought she had something to fear from him, the more the better.

  She caught up a few steps behind him. “You’re angry.”

  He was sloshing through a dozen different emotions—relief to find her safe, disgust with his actions, fear of serious jail time—but curiously, anger wasn’t present.

  “I was sick when I found out what Corey did. I would have given my own life to save yours.”

  He gripped her shoulders and shook her. “Don’t ever say that again.”

  Her eyes widened in shock. Tears blurred their shiny blue luster. “Please understand. Corey’s my brother, but I wouldn’t have let him lie to you. You believe that, don’t you?”

  He loosened his pinching grip and urged her more directly behind the hunched tree. Langston was watching their exchange with keen interest.

  “I almost killed him, you know.”

  She jerked out of his grasp. “Corey?”

  “No. Langston.” He watched her cheeks redden, and she studied the ground instead of him. That her first thought was for her brother no longer surprised him. She could no more stop loving and protecting him than she could change the color of her eyes.

  “You have every right to want to see him punished.” She sighed. “I do understand.”

  He lifted her chin. “Lorelei, I’m in as much trouble as Corey right now. More. I almost killed a deputy marshal.”

  She shook her head.

  “Yes. I was crazy with worry for you. I had to find you even if that meant killing Langston.”

  She touched his arm. “But you stopped.”

  “Because you showed up.”

  She briefly pressed her palm against her eyes as if trying
to make the trouble they were in vanish. “What happened? Did you meet up with Archie?”

  “I made it to Specter Canyon.” He stopped himself. He couldn’t tell her about the gold or anything else that had happened up there. The less she knew the safer she’d be. “Did Archie take off with Corey?”

  She shook her head and clasped her hands together in a worried fist. “He went looking for you to keep me from going into the canyon. He should have been back by now.”

  He gripped her shoulders to calm her down. The furrowing of her brow warned that she was concocting another rescue scheme. “Archie can take care of himself,” he said.

  In fact, Braddock suspected Archie got one whiff of booze and went back to leading the life he had led before they found him, but that was just one more fact he’d have to keep from Lorelei. If Braddock had his way—and he planned to—she’d saved her last wounded dog.

  “Langston’s our biggest problem right now. When I found out that Corey tricked me I came looking for him, but I didn’t expect Langston to have found him first. His nose is probably broken, and he’s not going to forget how it happened.”

  “Now you’re in even more trouble because of us. What are we going to do?”

  Braddock let his breath out. If he only knew. He slid his hands down Lorelei’s arms. They were too thin. He stopped at her hands, then turned her palms up as if he could read their future there.

  He didn’t like what he saw. The fine lines of her hands were encrusted with dried blood. He closed his eyes. If he loved her, truly loved her, he would get her as far away from here as possible.

  He opened his eyes and forced himself to meet her soft gaze.

  “We are not going to do anything. You should be out of the territory while—”

  She jerked her hands from his. “You’re not sending me away.”

  “Look, your brother is in more trouble than you know.”

  “And so are you, which you wouldn’t be in if it weren’t for me. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He gently gripped her shoulders. “Sweetheart—”

  “No, Christopher.”