Spellbound Trilogy: The Wind Casts No Shadow, Heart of the Jaguar, Shadows in the Mirror

by Jeanne Rose

  He would do anything to see his girl safe ...even as Iphigenia had tried to do for hers.

  He would do anything to see the woman he loved safe.

  He stuffed the deed into his pocket. The land wasn't as important as lives. He'd give up the damn deed if he had to and worry later about getting the land back legally -- or any other way he could. He'd even consider starting a range war, if he had to. Later. His immediate concern was that neither Ginnie nor Iphigenia get hurt.

  Still, as he raced through the house, Monte slipped his revolver from its holster, made certain it was fully loaded. He had a bad feeling himself.

  Outside, he came face-to-face with Stephen, who was holding two fresh mounts. Pride filled him when he noted the determination in the boy's eyes. Not that he could let him go.

  "I was told to come alone. Besides, if I don't come back, son, someone has to take care of Cassie."

  Stephen's facial muscles worked as if he were trying not to cry. "Don't talk like that Pa. You gotta come back. You and Ginnie and Miss Wentworth."

  Monte did something Stephen hadn't tolerated in years. He hugged the boy and got a squeeze in return. Then he was off. One foot in the stirrup, he urged his horse forward and threw his leg over the saddle even as they headed out.

  EVEN AS THE gunman screamed with terror, Iphigenia felt the bridge beneath Belinda's hooves give. She urged the little mare faster and realized the rotting boards gave out behind them. Their lighter combined weight probably saved them from joining Dandy and his mount, who were swept downstream even as she and Belinda touched solid ground through a pool of water.

  Iphigenia thought quickly. Dandy had relieved her of her rifle, but he hadn't checked her person. She still had both sheathed knife and revolver tucked into her waistband, hidden by the man's vest that rode low on her hips.

  And she wore the mirror pendant tucked beneath her shirt. Her reaction to the creek far stronger than it had been earlier to the wash, Xosi was still shuddering against Iphigenia's breast as Belinda plop-plopped through ankle-deep water.

  Watching back from the mouth of the canyon where the land was dry, Jonah Barkley grinned as if he'd enjoyed the spectacle. He must be truly cruel or else insane. He was still aiming his gun at Ginnie, though he was no longer holding it to her head.

  "Thank you for joining us, Miss Wentworth. Ryerson is certain to give me what I want now."

  Iphigenia observed Ginnie worriedly. Even in the fading light, she could see the girl's face was white, her eyes swollen from crying. "Are you all right?"

  Ginnie took a shaky breath and nodded.

  "Might as well stretch our legs," Barkley announced. "Murdock, help the lady down."

  "Do not trouble yourself!" Iphigenia told the gunman sharply as he rode up next to her.

  She'd never gotten off a horse so fast -- other than unintentional falls when she'd taken reckless jumps. She noted Ginnie was allowed to dismount, as well. Murdock was right beside her, taking the reins from her and leading Belinda to a twisted tree that was trying to grow from the rock strewn canyon floor. He tied up the mare and his own gelding, then did the same with Barkley's and Ginnie's horses.

  Ginnie stood where she'd gotten off, a small, lonely figure in the encroaching dusk. Iphigenia didn't hesitate. She gathered the girl to her breast and wrapped protective arms around her. Ginnie trembled and Iphigenia imagined she was fighting tears.

  "It will be all right, Ginnie. Your father will get here to meet this man's demands," Iphigenia said, hoping Monte would indeed show in time.

  Barkley laughed. "Might as well make yourselves comfortable ...while you can."

  Iphigenia's skin crawled. She knew then that Jonah Barkley didn't plan to let them go, not even if Monte gave him what he wanted. She pulled Ginnie toward some rocks where they sat huddled together.

  "Why did you come for me?" Ginnie asked.

  "Because you were in trouble."

  "But I've been so horrid to you."

  "Yes, you have," Iphigenia agreed, analyzing their situation. Both men stood with backs turned, several yards in front of them, watching for Monte through the growing dusk. "But I understand how difficult it is for a child to lose a mother." Even as her own child might, she thought, eyelids stinging. Poor Hope. "I did things purposely to hurt my own father. First, because I blamed him for my mother's death, then merely because I wanted to remind him that I existed."

  "I'm sorry for being so mean."

  "I am certain you are, Ginnie. You know, I never meant to take your mother's place." Surreptitiously, Iphigenia pulled the mirror pendant from where she'd hidden it beneath her shirt. "No one could do that."

  The mirror glowed with a greenish light or else the last rays of the sinking sun were hitting it just right. Ginnie's eyes went wide, then she stared up into Iphigenia's face. She gritted out, "Cassie thinks you can take our ma's place. She wants to forget the past."

  "Murdock," Barkley said, interrupting the conversation. "Damn light's going fast. You climb up there." He pointed to a ledge far above their heads. "You'll have a bird's eye view till it gets dark. I don't want any unpleasant surprises."

  "Me, neither."

  When the mirror continued to glow, Iphigenia quickly covered it with her hand as Murdock moved to the canyon wall. He used broken rock and indentations on his way up to the ledge. He was too busy to pay attention to them, and Barkley's back was still turned, though the older man seemed to be fidgeting, trying to chase away some uneasy feeling. She released the pendant.

  "No, Ginnie," she said, taking up where they'd left off. "Cassie has not forgotten your mother." Then she stared down into the little mirror. An angry Xosi glared back. "But it is possible to love many people, whether or not you are related to them."

  "Like I love Xosi," Ginnie said, her gaze straying again to the glowing image.

  Iphigenia would swear that Xosi's visage changed, softened, that she appeared genuinely touched by the girl's admission.

  "I only hope that Xosi is clever enough to protect you," she said, praying the significance of her words got to the ghost and that a spirit, indeed, could be of assistance.

  If Xosi had anything to offer, she kept it to herself. Iphigenia heard no phantom words in her head, which was undoubtedly best since she had no idea whether or not Barkley might be able to hear Xosi, as well. His back was stiff, stance uneasy, and she wondered if he was experiencing anticipation at facing Monte down, or whether he did sense something unusual going on.

  Flipping the mirror around against her chest so that the men would not see the glow, Iphigenia pulled the knife from its sheath and slipped it to Ginnie. The girl needed some way to protect herself. Then, through hand signals, she indicated Ginnie should take shelter behind a ridge of rocks.

  Silently, Iphigenia rose and removed the revolver from her waistband and, aware of Ginnie following her instructions, crept up on Barkley. Her heart thundered in her chest, the mirror responding upon it. She felt a tingling and surge of heat, as if Xosi were working herself up to a frenzy. When several feet remained between them, Barkley whipped around. She raised the gun to chest level, and steadied it with two hands.

  "Well, well, the little lady is not defanged, after all." He punctuated the statement with a laugh.

  "I shouldn't think you would be amused with a weapon pointed at your heart."

  "Know how to use that, do you?"

  "Well enough to smash a rattler's head -- and at more than double the distance."

  His smile faded. "But that was only a snake. This time, you'd have to pull the trigger on a human being."

  "I do not see that distinction," Iphigenia said tartly, her blood racing through her at an unprecedented pace. "At least a rattler warns you before he strikes."

  From his elevated perch, Murdock suddenly called, "There's Ryerson now!"

  And Iphigenia made the mistake of dividing her attention. She'd barely gotten a glimpse of a rider in the distance when Barkley struck. One hand shoved her gun arm away from
him, while the other went for the weapon itself. In the scuffle, Iphigenia pulled the trigger and a bullet went wild.

  "Iphigenia!" came Monte's faint shout from a distance across the creek.

  She hung on to the gun with a ferocity she hadn't thought herself capable of. While she couldn't get the barrel pointed at Barkley, neither would she let the villain have the weapon. Finally he let go, and while she was trying to regain her balance, let loose with a fist. His knuckles smashed into her jaw painfully. Her head snapped with the impact, and she saw stars. And before Iphigenia could recover, Barkley had wrested the revolver from her hand.

  As he turned his back on her, she screamed, "Monte, a gunman up in the rocks!"

  "Shut up, you bitch!" Barkley roared, turning and grabbing hold of her shirtfront as if he were going to brutalize her further.

  To Iphigenia's amazement, Barkley let go a howl that set the fine hairs at the back of her neck straight up. He shoved her, shook his hand as if he were in agony, which he must be considering the heat she was feeling.

  The pendant had taken on a life of its own.

  As she stared down, the little mirror glowed brighter and brighter.

  "That's it, Xosi," she whispered. "If you can do anything to help us out of this mess, this is the time!"

  MONTE MADE OUT Barkley's manhandling Iphigenia with a growing sense of fury, but he didn't forget her warning. Rifle drawn as he approached the flooded creek that had taken the proportions of a fast-moving river, he slowed his mount and stared up along the canyon wall until he caught a dark silhouette that was not part of the rock. Guiding his still moving horse with his legs, he took aim and fired. The whine of the bullet echoed along the canyon.

  The gunman fired back, but Monte executed some fancy moves to dodge the return bullets, then hung low over his horse's neck. Even in the encroaching darkness, he could see part of the old rope and board bridge was out -- the creek itself was too fierce to cross at this spot because of the spring rains -- but he couldn't let that stop him from saving his daughter and the woman he loved.

  Realizing he hadn't seen Ginnie, he scanned the canyon. A faint greenish glow like the one he'd seen in the attic caught him.

  Xosi!

  What the hell was the ghost about out here? Causing more trouble, no doubt. And that was Iphigenia with the mirror. She must have gotten it from Ginnie.

  Monte concentrated on the bridge, moved along the right, gathered his horse under him and jumped the moldering boards in the middle. He heard more rotted wood crack and a strange moaning as the ropes swayed and strands popped. On the other side, more bullets greeted him.

  Breaking away from the flooded canyon's mouth, Monte came up under the gunman's perch. Worried as he was about Iphigenia, going straight for Barkley would be a fool's errand, for it would put him out in the open, make his back a perfect target for the man in the rocks above.

  And Monte was no one's fool.

  He dropped the reins and slipped silently out of the saddle.

  "Murdock!" Barkley yelled. "Where the hell did Ryerson go?"

  "I dunno. The bastard disappeared on me."

  "Anything moves, shoot it!"

  Back to the rock's face, Monte carefully made his way up a steep incline, watching intently for activity amidst the gloom above. Any moon was covered by clouds. He moved like the Comanche he was at heart -- silent and lethal -- and held his breath waiting for the gunman to show his hand.

  The canyon was silent but for the rush of the creek. Monte listened intently. Heard a faint scrape. Boot against rock. Elevated and to his right, the shadow of a man's shoulder came into view. Monte froze. Aimed. A moment later, Murdock took another step.

  And Monte squeezed the trigger.

  The gunman dropped his rifle, but stood there, poised, as if waiting for something.

  "Murdock? What the hell's going on?" Barkley called.

  To which he received an immediate answer: the clatter of a gun dropping against rock as his hired murderer toppled from the ledge. Murdock's body landed face first in the shallow flood water on the canyon's floor.

  And Monte immediately slinked around the wall, keeping his back pressed to the rock. He could barely see through the dark. If not for the pendant's gleam, he would have had difficulty locating Iphigenia.

  "You shoot at me, and you might hit your woman!" Barkley warned. "You might as well give up now."

  "Don't listen to him!" Iphigenia screamed.

  Her plea was followed by a sharp crack -- Barkley hitting her. The bastard had no shame using force on a woman, but then he never had, Monte remembered, bristling. His stepfather had treated his mother in the same ill fashion. Wanting nothing more than to kill the cold-hearted murderer with his bare hands, Monte set down the cumbersome rifle, drew his revolver and moved away from the canyon wall, sloshing toward them through the ankle-deep water.

  "You hurt her again, Barkley, and you'll never get the land."

  "That mean you brought the deed with you?"

  "I did. But I don't have it on me." Monte realized how foolish he'd been, thinking he could use it to bargain. Handing over the document would be the death of them all. He only prayed Ginnie was still alive. Though he'd left the deed in his saddle bag, he lied. "You could search the rocks around here for years without ever finding it."

  Stepping onto dry earth, he drew close enough to see his stepfather pointing his revolver on Iphigenia. Her breast was heaving, and with it, Xosi's pendant. Monte had refused to face Xosi when she came calling in the middle of the night, but now his eyes were drawn to the tiny hand mirror that had somehow captured her spirit. The polished silver gleamed with a life of its own. If Barkley noticed, he ignored it.

  "I could just kill you all and bury your bodies," the murdering bastard threatened, speculating, "and most likely get custody of Stephen and Cassie since they're my step-grandchildren ...not to mention the R&Y."

  "You'd commit even more murders." Monte gave Barkley his full attention.

  "He'll probably blame them on the curse, as well," Iphigenia said.

  At the mention of the curse, the mirror flashed, suddenly flaring to life. The greenish glow grew and took wavering shape in the form of an angry-visaged woman.

  Xosi.

  Monte was stunned. Literally a shadow of her former self, she was still arresting. Could Barkley see her?

  Obviously. The older man gaped and his gun hand shook.

  Taking advantage of the murderer's split attention, Monte flew into action, butting him in the side. Barkley went down to one knee. He was quick for his age, Monte would give him that, for he was up and firing in seconds. Again, seeming distracted by the sight of a fading Xosi, his shots went wild.

  So did Monte. Heedless of his own safety, he slipped his revolver into its holster and tackled the armed man full force. They went flying to the ground and rolled into the mucky water. Barkley's gun flew out of his hand and landed somewhere nearby with a big splash.

  "He has another gun, Monte," Iphigenia told him. "That was one of yours he just lost."

  Monte tried putting his fist straight through Barkley's face, but the older man ducked, the blow glancing harmlessly off his cheek. He elbowed Monte in the ribs, leaving him breathless, then shot to his feet. Monte threw out a leg and tripped him, and was on Barkley before he could retrieve the second gun. He kneed the man where it was bound to hurt most, and slipped the weapon from its holster.

  "Here, catch!" he called to Iphigenia.

  And heard the clasp of her hands around the gun.

  "I have it. I'll find your other one," she told him.

  Recovered, Barkley tore into Monte with a few well-placed punches. Monte's head whipped back and his hat went sailing into the creek. He blocked the next blow and returned an even harder one, directly into Barkley's weak chin. The murderer staggered. And as Monte stalked him for more of the same, he was aware of Iphigenia wading through the water, searching for the discarded gun.

  Barkley caught him in the gu
t. Monte doubled over for a moment, but refused to let the pain stop him. Barely breathing, he increased his efforts until he had Barkley down and exactly where he wanted him: wallowing in the mucky water, unable to rise.

  "Would you stop at nothing to get your hands on those water rights?" Monte asked, dragging the man up by his shirtfront and shoving him back onto dry land.

  The moon slid from behind some clouds, illuminating Barkley's crazed expression as he drew himself upright. "Once I thought I would," he said, panting with the effort, "but then when Amanda died so easily, I realized life didn't mean much to me. At least not other people's lives."

  Stunned, Monte heard himself as if from a distance. "You killed my wife?"

  "I was trying to scare her into wanting to leave Texas. Her horse spooked. Purely an accident, not that I cared --"

  "Murderer!" came a screech bouncing off the canyon's walls. "You killed my mother!"

  That's when Monte saw Ginnie fly toward Barkley's back, knife raised. Everything happened so fast. Barkley whipped around and grabbed the girl's knife arm. Before Monte knew what he was about, the murderer had spun her around and was holding the weapon to Ginnie's throat.

  "One more step and your daughter's dead."

  "No!" screamed Ginnie, struggling to free herself. But she was no match for a grown man. Kicking and screaming, she was nevertheless dragged inexorably toward the dangerous bridge. "Pa, help me!"

  "Barkley, it's not safe!" Monte yelled, fearing for his daughter's life. "Let her go and I won't come after you." Another lie.

  His only answer was Ginnie's heartbreaking sobs.

  Aiiee! came a wail from inside his head. Take your hands off my chica!

  Monte whipped around and stared at Iphigenia, who stood frozen in ankle-deep water, a revolver in each hand. From the silvered mirror, a greenish glow whirled and danced, once more separating from her, this time a shapeless force that seemed to be gathering power.

  XOSI COULD NOT let Jonah Barkley harm the girl she had grown to love. He would hurt Ginnie, maybe kill her. Then Ginnie might be imprisoned in the same kind of netherworld as Xosi herself.