by Jeanne Rose
As was Ginnie.
Iphigenia spent the next few hours in turmoil, wondering about the girl's fate. Ginnie had been through so much already. She was already troubled. Remembering Dandy's leer, Iphigenia prayed the men would do nothing to push Ginnie over the edge. Worrying that they might, she couldn't concentrate on anything but wishing Monte home. If she knew where the men had headed, she would ride out to find them. But the range was a big place, and surely she would miss him.
The later it got, the more agitated she became. She didn't doubt the men's claim that they would kill Ginnie if Monte didn't show up at the appointed spot by dusk.
But what if he wasn't in time?
Someone had to be.
She could be, though she hadn't the faintest idea of where the deed might be.
Knowing what she must do, Iphigenia rushed to her bedroom where she changed into her men's clothes. She braided her hair and stuffed it under her hat. About to leave the room, she noticed the haunted pendant that she'd left on the dresser. Impulse made her throw the chain over her head. The mirror hung cold against her breast.
Next, she went in search of weapons. A locked cabinet in Monte's study gave up a knife and revolver, both of which she tucked into her belt. For good measure, she took a rifle and extra ammunition. Then she searched the desk, but found nothing resembling a legal document. She'd have to go without it. Before leaving the study, however, she examined Monte's map of the R&Y, found the spot where the creek swept close by a canyon. Flood Canyon, Murdock had called it. Undoubtedly it filled with water when the creek overflowed. And she knew the rains had continued up north, leaving the creek swollen, its current swift and dangerous.
Finally, she went in search of Cassie, sitting in the kitchen vacantly watching Carmen cook dinner. The girl was pale and quiet, and it was obvious that she'd been crying some more.
"I am off to find Ginnie," Iphigenia announced.
"No!" Cassie flew at her, wrapped her arms around Iphigenia's waist as if she could physically stop her. "They'll hurt you, too."
"Someone has to go, and I fear your father will not be back in time. I shall be all right, Cassie. I must be." Or there would be no one to rescue Hope. "Carmen, you will stay with Cassie?"
The housekeeper's expression was grave. "Every moment, Señorita Wentworth. But please, let me get my husband." Who was quite a bit older and had a bad limp. "He will go with you."
"There is no time to waste."
"One woman against men. And such dangerous ones." Carmen's eyes showed her worry.
"I shall prevail." She had to. And before either Cassie or Carmen could stop her, she headed swiftly for the door, only turning to say, "If Monte returns, tell him to bring his men to Flood Canyon as fast as he can."
The girl made motion to follow but Carmen enfolded her in a strong, no-nonsense embrace.
Even after saddling up Belinda and setting out for the rendezvous, Iphigenia couldn't erase the vision of Cassie in Carmen's arms, watching forlornly as she left the house. Iphigenia only hoped that she could carry through with her promise.
Along the way, she kept an eye out for Monte or any of his men. "Pray that we find them, Belinda. Or that they head home early and find us before we get into trouble."
As it had on her journey to Fort Davis, talking to the horse kept her sane.
Soon the sun sank low on the western horizon, but the only life she saw was a lizard slinking under a rock and a bird fluttering onto a branch of a cottonwood.
And as she progressed, the pendant seemed to grow heavier about her neck.
But it wasn't until they approached a small wash with a ribbon of water a few feet wide that she imagined the mirror shuddered ...exactly as if it really were haunted. Iphigenia mused on the tales of ghosts she'd heard, thought she remembered hearing that spirits couldn't cross a body of water on their own. Then crossing water, even carried by a live person, would give a ghost reason to be afraid.
Iphigenia lifted the mirror and stared into it.
A pale and angry face stared back for a moment before fading out slightly as Belinda stepped into the water. Iphigenia's heart pounded and she gave a little cry. But she steeled herself, staring into the mirror even harder, noting the spook seemed to be struggling and frightened. Her image wavered, and only when they had crossed the shallow wash did it become distinct again. She was beautiful and obviously Mexican, with long, fiery mahogany hair.
Iphigenia's hand shook. "Xosi? Is that you?"
How is this you know my name?
Iphigenia started at the voice that seemed to come from within her own head. "You are real!"
Who cares what you think? Where is Monte Ryerson? Why is he not going after his daughter himself?
"You sound worried," Iphigenia said, wondering if she should be worried about herself talking to a mirror. In the desperate situation, however, nothing seemed too bizarre.
Of course I am worried. The chica might be hurt by that murderer!
"What murderer?" Iphigenia asked, suddenly pulling on Belinda's reins. "What is his name?"
I have no idea. Ginnie did not tell me. Where are you taking me?
"To find Ginnie."
You? Dios, she is doomed.
"And if she is, you wouldn't have access to the outside world, would you?" Since Iphigenia figured that to be the real reason a ghost would be so upset.
To her surprise, Xosi appeared furious at the accusation. And the mirror grew uncomfortably warm. Iphigenia laid it against her sleeve.
You think I am so heartless? Ginnie and I share more than you can imagine. She has chosen me to replace the mother who died. I would not see her hurt.
"But you have hurt her by using her!" Iphigenia told the woman. "Since she found your mirror, she's changed for the worse, always getting herself in trouble."
This is not my fault!
"Isn't it? I suppose you had nothing to do with her feelings about me, either."
A moment of silence was followed by Xosi's saying, Even so, you ride to help her?
"She is an innocent young girl, haunted by her mother's death just as I was by mine. I understand her. I must get on with it," she added, giving Belinda a kick. "The sun is setting fast. Dusk will soon be upon us."
Then perhaps I will be able to help you.
Dropping the mirror, Iphigenia didn't bother responding. For what could a ghost do against a flesh and blood murderer?
MONTE RODE with his men into Luis Padilla's barnyard halfway through the afternoon. Pablo's death had been eating at him since the day before, and he decided he couldn't let it pass. Luis's hate seemed to have a life of its own. Monte hadn't forgotten the man's timely visit during Norbert's burial, his insistence that Monte get a priest to exorcise the curse. Had he taken advantage of the fact that Monte had not followed his orders?
Luis must have had a sentry posted, because when he came out under the portal, he was armed with a rifle in one hand, his bullwhip in the other. And several men, similarly armed, moved in from different directions.
Aware that they were surrounded, Monte glared at the Mexican. "Expecting a visit, Luis?"
"I heard about Pablo."
"News travels fast. I'll buy that." Monte indicated the armed men. "You nervous about something?"
"I am nervous about you, Ryerson."
"That because you have reason? How long have you known about Pablo's death?" He worded the accusation carefully. Luis could take it as he wanted.
Luis understood his meaning exactly. "I am tired of being persecuted!" he said, his dark eyes flashing. "I am ready to face you like a man."
Monte glanced around at the armed cowboys. "With plenty of backup, of course."
"I will instruct my men to do nothing to interfere."
Fair enough. A cold anger filling him, Monte was about to dismount when Jake pushed up next to him.
"Now hold on, Monte," the foreman said. "What's another death going to prove?"
Sinking back into his saddle for the mo
ment, Monte returned, "Maybe it'll finish the curse."
"More killing is senseless!" Jake insisted, his eyes going weird and kind of wild. "I'm tired of living this way. Haunted. Seeing demons in my dreams is enough. I don't need to see them awake, too."
Wondering if Xosi had been messing with Jake's head in addition to his own, Monte asked, "You've been haunted?"
"Cursed, just like you. We'll never forget what we saw, man." Jake's voice trembled. "How could you even think about taking a life after seeing what that butcher did?"
And Monte realized Jake wasn't talking about Xosi, but about Beaufort Montgomery, about his own inner demons. "Someone's been taking lives."
"But I don't think it's been Padilla," the foreman insisted. "And it ain't me, neither."
Monte thought he might be a fool, but he believed Jake, even as his gaze dropped to the bullwhip attached to the foreman's saddle. He stared for a moment, then realized Jake's bullwhip had been made from leather that had been stained dark, unlike the braided piece of natural leather he'd found after Norbert's death. He looked more closely at Luis Padilla's bullwhip. Natural leather. Then at the handle. The trim had been tied into an intricate serious of knots rather than braided.
A sense of certainty filling him that Jake was right, that Luis was not the one, Monte had to be sure. "Who supplies your grain, Padilla?"
Though Luis's brow furrowed in puzzlement, he didn't hesitate. "Hernando Santiago."
Monte looked around for the grain sacks. A few were stacked in front of the near barn. Even from the short distance, he could tell the markings were different from the ones Matt Dreyer used. Then certainty filled him. Luis wasn't the killer, either.
Cursing himself for being a fool, Monte said, "Looks like I owe you an apology, Luis."
The Mexican stared at him suspiciously. "Because you are afraid of me?"
"Because I finally figured out who's been stirring up all this trouble," Monte said, whirling his horse around. "Shoulda known it all along."
And on some level, probably had.
Monte charged away from Luis, aware that his men followed. How could he have been so stupid thinking the curse was Luis's or Jake's way of getting revenge over what happened in Mexico, when Jonah Barkley had never forgiven him for inheriting the best part of the R&Y?
Somehow, Xosi's appearance was tied up with Barkley's sudden desperate bid to ruin him. Had the cruel old man actually had a run-in with the ghost, or was he merely using Xosi just as he had Monte's mother all those years ago?
ESCORTED BY HIS new hired gunmen Murdock and Dandy, Jonah Barkley had the pleasure of personally squiring Ryerson's whelp to their rendezvous site. Her horse was tied on a short lead that attached to his saddle. She'd fought him at first -- had tried to get away -- but after he'd put the fear of God in her with dire threats and a few physical cruelties, she sat staring straight forward and tight-lipped silent, as though she were dead already.
Jonah smiled grimly. Dead. That's the way he wanted to see all the Ryersons after the way the old man tricked him into marrying his whiny, sniveling daughter Sarah, who'd run the moment his back was turned. The old bastard had left him land, all right, the part of the R&Y without water. He'd tried everything over the years to get his due. Legal maneuvers. Scare tactics. Nothing had worked.
Not even killing Amanda Ryerson.
He hadn't meant to, of course. He'd merely been out to scare her into wanting to move far away from West Texas. He thought she could influence her besotted husband to sell. But as he'd threatened her with a few shots well-aimed to miss, her horse had spooked and her carriage had overturned. Amanda Ryerson's neck had snapped like a dry twig, and he'd felt not one ounce of remorse. He hadn't felt anything.
He'd realized then that killing came naturally to him.
And they would all have to die eventually, Jonah thought -- after he got the deed to the remaining R&Y land, of course. More unfortunate accidents. If he left even one Ryerson alive, he or she was bound to exact revenge eventually. Jonah had no interest in watching his back every second of every day for the rest of his life. That's why he'd hired Murdock and Dandy. Strangers who would help him, then disappear. No local would ever know he'd been involved.
A rush of water alerted him to their position. They were coming on the creek, swollen with rains further north. He stared at the water, at the entire length of raging, roaring water that he could see, and felt his life's blood pulse.
"Looks like we beat Ryerson here," Murdock said.
Jonah scanned the small shadow-limned canyon on the other side. Empty. He'd chosen this location both because the rock walls would provide safety for their backs and because the creek that he so desperately wanted crossed its path. Even now, a quarter of the canyon was awash with flood water.
"If Ryerson doesn't show by dark, what do we get to do to the girl?" Dandy asked.
"Mind your business," Jonah told him. "The girl's mine to kill, at my own pleasure."
A screeching Ginnie suddenly came to life, her fingers clawing at his face. "I'll kill you!" she screamed.
Chuckling, Jonah ducked. "And I thought all the fight was gone out of you." He removed his sidearm from its holster, and still smiling, shoved it square between the girl's frightened eyes. "Bam!" He mimicked the gun's kick as if he'd actually used it. Ginnie's reddened face went all white. Then kicking his horse toward the rickety-looking bridge, he said, "Give me another reason, and I'll do it for real. Wouldn't that be a nice sight for your pa -- your head busted open like ripe fruit, your brains splattered all over his land?"
The girl finally broke down and sobbed, her chest heaving with the effort.
And Jonah laughed with triumph as they crossed the bridge that creaked and swayed under them. He avoided what looked like the worst of the loose and rotted boards and trotted out through the shallow water spreading along the canyon floor. To commemorate the momentous occasion, he would have the bridge fixed up right first thing when the land was officially his.
But his rumination was short-lived when Murdock said, "Hey, Mr. Barkley, you got company, but not the kind you expected."
Jonah glanced back to see the blond bitch of Ryerson's coming their way, hell-bent-for-leather, wearing men's clothing and armed with a rifle. Wondering if Monte had even gotten his threat, he cursed in frustration, then said, "One of you boys go get the lady."
To which Dandy whirled his horse around and sped back across the bridge. One of the boards gave way, and slanted toward the water.
For the woman's sake, Jonah made an elaborate show of his power, pulling the girl out of her saddle so that she was dangling against his leg, and once more pressing the gun to her forehead. "Don't do anything foolish, or the girl is dead!" he shouted.
That brought the woman to heel. Her expression horrified, she let Dandy ride right up to her. He slipped the rifle from her saddle, and she came peaceably across the bridge. The gunman followed, so involved in watching the woman that he didn't watch where he was going. His horse stepped on the rotted wood that had already half-given. The horse screamed as its leg went through. Mount and rider seemed suspended for a moment before toppling over and being sucked into the roiling water below.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DUSK ENGULFED the ranch's buildings as Monte dismounted and gave his reins over to Stephen. He was intent on telling Iphigenia about his discovery, eager to talk over the situation with her. Perhaps between the two of them, they could come up with some sort of plan to trap Barkley at his own game ...and before he killed again.
But he was only halfway to the house when Cassie came flying out of the kitchen and into his arms. "Pa!" she sobbed. "It can't be too late! It just can't."
"Too late? For what?" He looked to Carmen, who stood in the kitchen doorway, equally stricken.
The housekeeper crossed herself. "Two men came for you earlier."
His heart pounded. "Whose men?"
She shrugged. "They only said if you wanted to see Ginnie alive, you must meet
them with the deed to your land at Flood Canyon."
"Damn that Jonah Barkley!" Monte said, certain his stepfather was responsible. "When?"
"Now. Dusk. And they said you must come alone. Only ...Señorita Wentworth ..."
"What about Iphigenia?"
Cassie sniffed and looked up at him through tear-filled eyes. "Miss Wentworth took your weapons and went after Ginnie herself."
"Dear God. Stephen!" he shouted.
The boy was already halfway to the corral. He glanced back. "Yeah, Pa?"
"Get me a fresh mount. A fast one. And hurry! Ginnie's and Iphigenia's lives depend on my moving fast!"
And Flood Canyon was nearly a half hour's hard ride from the ranch. He only prayed he could get there before dark. Before another death shattered their lives.
He wouldn't think that Iphigenia -- foolish, brave woman that she was -- might already have met some terrible fate.
"Pa, what are you gonna do?" Cassie asked, running after him as he rushed toward the house.
"Give them what they want."
"I'm going with you!"
"No! You'll stay here with Carmen."
Cassie tore at his vest, stopping him. "But Ginnie's scared and hurt," she insisted. "I've been feeling it all day. She needs me."
Monte shuddered. Neither of the twins had been wrong when they'd had these feelings before. They'd grown up with some sort of intangible connection that most people didn't have, but all that had seemed to go awry about the time he returned from Mexico.
About the time he'd brought Xosi into his home, Monte realized.
"I'm sorry, Cassie, but you have to stay here where you'll be safe." He noted the housekeeper wringing her hands behind the girl. "Carmen."
She nodded and put her arms around Cassie.
And Monte rushed to his study. Having feared Barkley would try to get his hands on the deed when he wasn't around, Monte had buried it beneath one of the floorboards. He flipped the colorful woven rug aside, and using his knife, pried the loose board free and retrieved the deed.
