Orchids in Moonlight

by Patricia Hagan

  Finally, it was time.

  Jaime grabbed her satchel, started for the door, and then, with a loud groan, slapped her forehead and uttered an oath. In her excitement, she had forgotten the map and the letters. They were still hidden inside the drape in the other room, but she knew she could not leave without them.

  Opening the door slowly, quietly, she let herself out and proceeded to tiptoe down the hall. Reaching the room she had abandoned, she slipped inside without making a sound.

  She was halfway across the floor, heading for the window, when the cold steel of the knife pressed against her throat.

  She froze, paralyzed by terror as the familiar voice whispered against her ear. "Scream and you die."

  The blade pricked her flesh, and she felt a stinging sensation.

  "I want the map," Morena said harshly. "I know you have it."

  Jaime was afraid to speak with the knife against her vocal cords but managed to choke out the lie. "I don't have it."

  "I know you do, but there's no time to argue. You'll tell me where it is later. For now, if you want to live to see your father, you will do as I say and come with me quietly. Make one sound, and the knife will be fresh with your blood when it enters his heart."

  Jaime was not about to protest. It was past time for her to leave. Soon Cord would be lighting the fire. As soon as he did, he would head for the cave. Probably, he would get there ahead of them and be waiting.

  Everything was going to be all right, she told herself as Morena pushed her inside the secret passage. All she had to do was cooperate with Morena and not let on she was walking into a trap.

  * * *

  Blake lifted his head, which seemed to be weighted down with bricks. His eyes felt as though they were full of sand, and he strained to focus amid the dizziness engulfing. He had not had that much to drink, remembered only being on his third when everything went black, so what had happened?

  Morena!

  His feet hit the floor with a thud, rocking him with a wave of nausea. The bitch had drugged him.

  He glanced about wildly. Where the hell was she and what was she up to? God, it was hard to think, because his brain felt caught in an ever-tightening vise.

  Deciding she was probably stealing everything she could get her hands on, he started to reach for the cord to summon Enolita and the guards but then, with a start, noticed something strange about the wall beside him. It looked as though part of the wood had been pulled loose, but closer scrutiny revealed it was actually a sliding panel. "By damn," he breathed aloud, spellbound, "There are secret doors all over the place."

  He hesitated only long enough to take the gun from the bottom drawer where his father had always kept it. Then he entered the darkness. He still felt sick, but the fierce desire for revenge fueled him onward. He relished the thought of taking Morena by surprise, and when he got through with her, she would never dare come back, by God.

  Groping along, he found a stairway and was about to go up, when, from somewhere below, he heard the sound of footsteps. He headed in that direction, confident he was on her trail.

  The stairs wound deeper and deeper into the bowels of the mission. Blake calculated he was below the cellar. Suddenly, he heard a door opening and closing, and, in between, the unmistakable sound of the ocean's roar.

  Quickening his step, he bumped into a wall and bounced backward. He turned in all directions, but there was nowhere to go. His hand brushed against a handle, and when he pulled it a door opened. He stepped outside, and it closed with a bang behind him. When he tried to open it, he discovered it had locked from inside.

  Just then, water suddenly washed over his feet. He realized with a jolt he was standing inside a pile of rocks, which explained why no one had ever spotted that opening into the mission. Pushing forward, he squeezed himself through the narrow tunnel, fearing any second a giant wave would come rushing in to bury him beneath a wall of salty water.

  His trousers were soaked to his waist by the time he waded out and onto the beach. Ahead, in the moonlight, he could see the churning water. The tide was coming in and soon the rocks would be completely submerged. If he had arrived much later, he would not have been able to exit by that door. Morena would have escaped.

  But where the hell was she? he wondered desperately as he stomped about in the foam.

  At last, he spotted her but gasped in horror to see Jaime was with her. They were leaving the beach, winding their way up the side of the cliff.

  He raised the gun to fire it and demand they stop, but held back as he realized Morena had to have a reason for abducting Jaime—and he intended to find out what it was.

  He started after them but had not gone far when he saw flames leaping skyward from somewhere on the beach. Hie Yahis were trying to call up their devils again. He'd had enough of Morena and her people, and once he'd settled with her about Jaime, he'd order the guards to clear out those cliffs once and for all, no matter what it took. But he did not have time to worry about them now.

  * * *

  Morena slowed at the sight of the fire, but only momentarily. She had not known the Indians were planning an altar for Cooksuy this night. She could see them running to gather and shook her head in scorn. She fed their superstitions to control them but never believed in nonsense like a large white serpent rising from the ground, as some swore to have seen.

  Ahead of her, Jaime stumbled, and Morena gave her long hair a yank and ordered, "Be careful. The way gets steeper." She pressed the tip of the knife into her back to let her know she was right behind her and still had the weapon.

  Jaime had started to worry when they did not see the fire after leaving the mission but was relieved when the flames finally leaped skyward. If Cord was not there ahead of them, he would be there soon.

  At last they reached the cave. A torch burned just inside the entrance, and Morena lit another from it to hold aloft as they proceeded within.

  The path was wide enough so they could walk side by side, Jaime shivered as invisible fingers of damp and cold wrapped about her. She felt like crying to think her father had been imprisoned in such a miserable place for so long.

  They rounded a sharp curve. Morena caught Jaime's arm and gave her a jerk to the side. "Want to see the way to hell?" she asked, grinning. Without waiting for a response, she held up the light so Jaime could see a yawning hole in the floor of the cave. "It drops to an underground pool inside the cliff. There is no escaping. Death is certain. And this is where both you and your father are going if you don't cooperate with me."

  "And if we do, you'll let us live, right?" Jaime could not keep the sarcasm from her voice. "We'll walk out of here free as birds, while you go sailing off to dig my father's gold mine."

  Morena gave her a shove to set her walking again. "I will let you live in the cage with your father till I have all the gold I need. Then you can go free, because I will be in Mexico living like a queen."

  Jaime did not believe a word of what she was saying but decided not to goad her further. It was best to cooperate, say as little as possible, and wait for Cord to arrive.

  They had only gone a few more steps when a man called from around the next curve in the hollow voice of someone who has lost all hope. "Who's there? You got food for me? Please, I'm so hungry...."

  Jaime did not have time to wonder whether it could really be her father, because Morena cackled shrilly and grabbed her to push her around the bend and cry, "You've got a visitor, Chandler."

  Jaime went sprawling to the rock floor, scraping her knees but oblivious to the pain as she raised up on her hands to look into a face she could not recognize.

  In the eerie light of the flickering torch, she saw his eyes were sunken back in his head. The rest of his face was covered by a beard that trailed halfway down his naked, emaciated chest. His matted hair was almost completely white and hung down his back. He wore only trousers, tattered and torn. His feet were bare.

  Bony fingers wrapped around the bars of the cage that held him
prisoner. He stared at her, bewildered and confused.

  At first, Jaime could not get the words out, and when she could finally speak she did not recognize her own voice as she croaked, "Poppa. It's me. Jaime."

  He broke down crying. "Oh, Jaime, girl. It can't be you. But it is. Lordy. I should've known. That hair. Spun gold like your mother's. Oh, Lord, child." His head banged against the bars as sobs racked his wasted body. "I never meant for them to get hold of you."

  With an agonized cry, Jaime lunged for him, arms outstretched, but Morena's hand snaked out to grab a handful of her hair and give a painful yank. "Wait. You'll have plenty of time to slobber over each other later. Right now, you've got five minutes to decide to tell me where the map is. Otherwise, we're going to have a little party. We'll start by inviting some of the young Yahi bucks to come and have some fun with you." She gave Jaime a vicious shake, then bared red lips in a gloating smile as she looked at James Chandler. "And you can watch.

  "You will give it to me," she said confidently, releasing Jaime so she could throw herself against the bars and attempt to embrace her father.

  James mustered what strength he had to roar, "You'll kill us anyway, you bitch!"

  Morena had started to leave but paused. Lips twitching in a humorless smile, she responded, "That depends on how long you keep me waiting. But remember. There is a difference between dying and begging to die."

  After igniting a torch stuck in the wall near the cell to leave them light, Morena made her way farther into the cave. There was a bottle of wine stashed back there, and she badly needed a drink.

  As soon as they were alone, James exploded. "Oh, God, girl, why did you come?"

  Jaime pressed her fingertips to his face in a loving caress. "I had to. I missed you so. But don't worry. It's going to be all right. Someone is coming to help us."

  Hope flared. "Who? Tell me."

  "A friend. That's all I have time to tell you now, but he'll be here any minute." She fell silent at the sound of footsteps coming from the cave's entrance and turned to see light approaching, A soft cry of joy escaped her lips as Cord rounded the bend.

  He set his torch aside and reached for Jaime as she cried, "Morena is here. I forgot the map and went back to get it, and she was there waiting for me and made me come with her. She doesn't know you're coming."

  He released her, did not waste time asking questions. Drawing his gun, he aimed it at the lock on the cage and told Chandler to stand back. "We'll blast you out of here and take off."

  He raised his gun to fire, but with a singing swish, a knife shot through the air to strike his hand. With a grunt of pain, he dropped the gun.

  Morena dove to retrieve it and motioned him to back against the wall. Jaime rushed to his side, wincing in horror to see the gash the blade had made.

  Morena's expression was calm as she mused aloud. "What a pity for you to survive such a fall, only to wind up being killed by your own gun. You really should have stayed out of all this, Cord. Your meddling has cost you your life." With an ominous click, she pulled back the hammer.

  Blake had heard voices as he made his way through the cave. He went forward slowly, able to see by the flames of the torch at the entrance, and headed for the light in the distance. Coming around the curving rock, he had but a second to appraise the situation before aiming his gun and firing. He was not an expert shot. In fact, he had little experience at all with guns. He missed, and the bullet ricocheted off the rocks to disappear in echoes of fading whines.

  But his effort had not been wasted, for Morena had been caught off guard just long enough when the shot rang out for Cord to make his move. Lunging, he hit her with his shoulder to knock her off the feet, as Jaime scrambled to grab the gun from Morena's hand.

  Blake looked on, astonished. Things were happening too fast. He'd not yet had time to grasp the fact that Cord was alive. "H-how did you—" he stammered.

  "Don't worry. I'm no ghost. I managed to hit the deep water." Grateful that he could shoot with either hand, Cord used his left one to draw his second gun and fire at the lock, shattering it. He drew Chandler out and into Jaime's waiting arms.

  Blake shook his head to clear it, trying to figure it all out. "And that's Jaime's father?"

  Cord nodded. "Morena kept him here with the help of the Yahis. I don't think she let your father know exactly where he was, but he knew she had him." He looked at Jaime. "You'd better get going. I'm right behind you. We've got to be headed in the opposite direction before the Yahis get up enough nerve to come see what all the shooting is about."

  He looked at Blake. "You coming?"

  Blake shook his head. "They won't bother me. They're scared of white men. But make sure they don't see you leaving with Morena's prisoner."

  Jaime's lips moved wordlessly. She did not know what to say but felt the need to offer something. If Cord had not survived the fall, Blake would have been responsible for his death, but the fact he was now alive was due to Blake's intervention. "Blake, I—" she began, then faltered.

  He sensed what she was feeling. "It's all right. I'm glad I followed you. Maybe it makes up, somehow, for all the misery I caused."

  "Thank you," she whispered chokily.

  He forced a smile. "At least if you can't think of me with thoughts of love, you won't think of me with regret."

  "Never. You'll always be my friend." With her arm about her father, she led him away.

  Cord ripped off part of his shirt to wrap around the wound in his hand. He then started after Jaime but paused to turn around and face Blake. "I didn't kill your father." He nodded to Morena, who was crouched on the floor, glaring up at him with hate-filled eyes. "She did."

  When they were out of sight, Blake ordered Morena to get to her feet. "He was right," he said tonelessly. "You murdered my father."

  She lifted her head with a proud motion. "Of course I did. I wasn't about to be kicked out like garbage. He beat me and cursed me one time too many."

  "You will hang," he promised, waving the gun to motion her to start walking. "Only this time, I'm going to let the law do it the right way."

  "Will you be there to watch?" she surprised him by asking.

  "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

  They walked on for a few moments in silence, then Blake could not resist unleashing some of the pain welling inside by tormenting her. "It hurts to hang, you know. Not as bad as garden shears being rammed in your throat, but it hurts. I saw a man hang once. His face turned red, then blue, and his eyes bugged out of his head; then his tongue came out, all black and swollen. People were laughing."

  "And with my dying breath, I will laugh at you." They had reached the part of the trail that passed the great gaping hole, but Morena forgot about it as she let her own fury loose. "And others will laugh when I tell how you were so stupid you believed your mother had the guts to kill herself."

  Blake felt his blood rushing to his head. "Shut up about my mother. I'm warning you. You're the reason she did it."

  "She didn't kill herself, you shit sack." Morena was delighted to tell him at last. "There's a hidden door from the secret passage into her room too. I slipped inside and left a cup of tea by her bed, tea made with mistletoe berries. I poisoned her. And after she was dead, I blew her brains out and put the gun in her hand so everyone would think it was suicide. I was hiding in the wall, trying to keep you from hearing me laughing when you found her."

  Incensed beyond reason and completely out of control, Blake hurled himself at her, intending to choke her till she could laugh no more.

  Morena was ready for his attack and leaped backward, planning to dart around him and make her escape, for that was why she had goaded him into exploding. It was only when her feet slipped and she felt herself falling that she remembered the danger. Grabbing hold of the edge, she hung precariously by her hands as she begged in panic, "Help me. Please! Don't let me fall."

  "I ought to," Blake snarled, reaching out, "but I want you to live to hang, damn you."
<
br />   He froze, astonished, as she suddenly let go and disappeared down the hole.

  It was a long time before the screaming stopped.

  And he never did hear the splash when she hit the water.

  But then Blake figured it must be a real long drop all the way to hell.

  He would have helped her, pulled her out, but for some strange reason, she had decided to end it all. Maybe it was his telling her about how awful it was to hang. He didn't know. He didn't care. All he wanted now was to let the past go and get on with his life.

  He turned to go.

  The large white serpent Morena had seen rising up from behind him was no longer there.

  Epilogue

  Jaime sat beside her father's hospital bed, holding his hand and smiling gratefully as the doctor assured them he was going to be all right. "He needs rest. Good food. Lots of care and love."

  With a glance at Jaime as he left the room, the doctor knew James Chandler would lack for nothing.

  James motioned for Cord to step closer, for he had been standing in the background, not wanting to intrude. "I can't thank you enough. You saved me. Saved my girl."

  Cord shook his head. "I couldn't have done it if she hadn't been strong enough to do her part. Like on the wagon train." He felt a warm rush as his eyes met Jaime's.

  "Well, it's over." James was beaming. "And as soon as I've got my strength back, I'm going to work my mine, and we'll be rich, darlin'." He squeezed Jaime's hand.

  She seized the opportunity to ask something that had needled her all along. "I never wanted to mention it to Stanton, but what I never understood was why he was willing to believe the ore samples you gave him were actually from your mine. I mean, it looked as if you gave him a bogus map, because you didn't really have a mine worth anything. So why was he so convinced you did?"

  James stared from her to Cord incredulously. "You mean he told you that's all he ever got from me? A bogus map and a few ore samples?"

  "That's right."