“Going somewhere, Wolf King?”
The man’s mouth tightened in anger at being caught defenseless with his pistol being tucked into his belt and his hands full. There was no way humanly possible for him to draw it on her before she blasted him with the rifle, and they both knew it. His eyes coldly fell on the weapon in her hands.
“I recognize that. I taught Lupe how to hunt game with it in the forest out back so that we might always have fresh food to please Daniella. It seems you took it from her. Is she hurt?”
In a smooth voice, she leveled with him, "Not hurt, dead."
“A pity. No great loss, though she was a good fuck. Nowhere near as good as you, Cassandra, was it?”
“Cassandra Wilde, at your service.”
“And Cassandra Wilde … are you going to kill me too?”
“I didn’t kill Lupe. She died when someone took her out when she tried to kill me. Jealous about what we did. I’m sure she would be touched if she heard you speak that she was nothing more to you than a receptacle for your juice. Now to answer your question, no, I’m not going to kill you if I don’t have to. I prefer to bring you in.”
“If you are not going to kill me, then by bringing me in you mean to make me disappear into the Gulf of California. That is what you people do, yes? You must be one of them, Señorita Wilde, as you are no teacher.”
For a moment, her rock steady grip on the gun slackened. One of who? She puzzled over what he was staying, but then she regained her concentration. He was trying to confuse her, to distract her until he could make some type of bid for freedom. Still, she had to ask.
“What are you talking about?”
"The last time I was in Mexico that was when I heard the rumors. A secret deal with your government and the government of my former countrymen to lease an island in the Sea of Cortez, where you ship off undesirables. Criminals captured by agents from your government and there are no trials, no lawyers, no appeals. Dangerous men and women who simply disappear there.”
She squinted her eyes and shook her head; Rey Lobo wasn’t just a talented artist but a man with a vivid imagination as well. Gritting her teeth, she again resolved not to let him try and distract him with it. Cassandra was just about to order him to take his hand out of the bag and throw down the pistol in his belt when it happened.
There had been a subtle shift in his eyes as if he was looking past her, and she only had a second to register the sound of someone drawing a deep breath behind her signaling they were about to exert themselves. Instinctively she dodged to the right as a knife blade sliced through the air glancing off her bicep. Cassandra shouted in pain and involuntarily pulled the trigger on the gun before it dropped to the floor after she lost her grip.
Rey Lobo cried out as a bullet blasted its way through the easel he was standing behind, obliterating the head of the wolf he had been painting on the canyon’s rim. After having punched its way through that, it sailed through the strap slung over his chest and buried itself in his right pectoral muscle. The painting he was clutching dropped to the floor, and he clutched at the bloody geyser staining his neatly pressed shirt.
As Rey Lobo staggered by the window, Daniella dropped the knife to her side and shrieked, "Carlos!" but she quickly recovered and with eyes afire, she stared at Cassandra and raised the knife back up to strike. Cassandra barely had time to grab the pallet from the table she stood next to and hold it up in front her face as Daniella brought it down, intent on stabbing her right between the eyes. Cassandra flinched as the tip of the blade managed to penetrate through the pallet stopping just short of her nose.
She tossed the pallet away, with the knife still driven into it hard from the force Daniella had displayed, making her shudder at the thought of the strength needed to do that. She had no wish to engage in a woman on woman fight with The Countess if she could avoid it.
“Shoot her!” Daniella suddenly shrieked as Cassandra spun around and saw the wounded Rey Lobo had managed to pull his pistol from his belt and was using the last of his strength to bring it up. Without a thought, she kicked the easel over; knocking it into Carlos’s bloodied body. Daniella screeched his name again as the impact sent the man crashing out the second story window.
Ignoring Cassie, Daniella pushed past her and ran to the shattered window and looked down. Cassandra joined her at the window as she idly thought, what was it with the men she went up against that so many wound up going through windows all the time? Better him than her though she concluded and looked down. Daniella screamed, and though she would be embarrassed later, Cassandra gave a shriek of her own at the gruesome sight below.
Rey Lobo had landed on his back, a tough man by any measure, and still conscious despite the fall and his chest wound. He lay next to the dismembered and mutilated pieces of what had once been a man and standing there with an arm still in its mouth was the grizzly! Spying live prey and perhaps recognizing the man who had tortured it, the grizzly rose up on its hind legs and gave a mighty roar before dropping down and began tearing into a screaming Rey Lobo.
Horrified, Daniella stepped back and then turned her gaze on Cassandra. In her life, she had thought she had seen looks of pure hatred before, but nothing matched what was on display on Daniella Villanueva's twisted face.
“Give it up, Countess! Your brother’s as good as dead, and I’m pretty sure that torn up body was Dogget! No one can save you! You’re not getting out of this!”
The words just bounced off Daniella who had murder in her eyes as she leaped at Cassandra and grabbed large handfuls of her hair and yanked her downward sending both women crashing to the floor. Cassandra instantly tried to scramble to her feet, but she was slowed by the burning from the pain of having her hair nearly yanked out of her head. Daniella was on her in an instant, straddling her back as she wrenched one of Cassandra's hands behind her back. Cassandra began to thrash about wildly to throw off the older woman but to no avail. She was not ready when Daniella's free hand landed squarely on the side of her head, and she began to push hard.
Cassandra's frantic struggling intensified, but Daniella's strength was overwhelming. Having that gun to her head earlier really was the only thing that had leveled the playing field between the women, she thought, as the pain began to sweep across her. The real possibility that she was about to get her skull crushed by a woman's bare hand terrified her and motivated her at the same moment. All she had was her left hand, but what could she do with it?
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the legs of the little table. Frantically her arm reached out, and she began desperately trying to grab it but kept missing. Just as she was starting to see stars, her fingers wrapped around it and she gave it a yank knocking it on its side.
As she had prayed, the candelabra landed within her reach, and she seized it. With Daniella behind her, Cassandra's first swing with it missed her as she dodged out of the way. That was when Daniella made the mistake of leaning in closer to exert even more pressure on the side of her head. She was wasn’t just seeing stars now but whole galaxies, and she knew this was it.
She could almost hear Lijuan saying, Do or Die, golden girl! As the screams of Carlos "Los Rey Lobo" Villanueva outside fell silent, she used the last of her dwindling strength and brought the heavy candlestick holder back around over her shoulder; this time its swing connected a direct hit against the side of Daniella's head, knocking her out cold for the second time that day. Cassandra, with her head throbbing, heaved in thick, heavy breaths, feeling like she might pass out any second.
Suddenly her ears picked up a commotion, and through the open door, Lijuan came flying in, followed by Catalina and Honor Elizabeth. Their voices were one confused jumble of worried cries as to her welfare. Before she knew it, Lijuan was cradling her in arms, rocking her while Catalina was ministering to her wound on her arm and Honor was at the window possible shouting something about the bear dragging off Rey Lobo, but she wasn’t sure. Gradually she began to make out their individual voices asking her if s
he was all right and assuring her she was going to be okay.
She didn't answer the questions or reassurances but instead slowly raised up one arm and pointed towards Daniella and struggled to get the words out.
“Someone tie that bitch up … I don’t think I have it in me to knock her out again!”
CHAPTER 26
The shadows in the valley were growing long as the sun teetered on the mountains at the western edge of the De La Santa Barbara. At the old mission, the cleanup was underway. Washburn had put the surviving bandits to work digging a mass grave at the far end of the courtyard, as somber troops with rifles watched them work. The cavalrymen not watching over them had been placed under the supervision of Cody Holmes who was guiding them on converting one of the supply wagons into a makeshift jail on wheels for transporting the outlaws to the nearest town and their date with justice.
Throughout the proceedings, Washburn had kept a somber countenance, and Catalina understood why. He had lost three men in the battle, including a young buck-tailed private, newly arrived from back east. The losses were lopsided compared to those the Villanuevas had suffered, but to a commanding officer, the loss of one man was one too many. Plus, he had injured men as well that included those from their run-in with the Apaches. Even Lijuan gave him a wide berth out of respect.
The Wildes had pitched in helping patch up the men and assisting Washburn in any way possible. It was the least they could do for him for all the aid he and his men had given them in their quest to liberate the valley. Now it was that liberation that concerned Cassandra the most. It was time to prove her suspicions once and for all.
On her orders, Lijuan had hustled the bound Daniella Villanueva forward to stand next to the double doors to the chapel that were chained shut, secured by a heavy-duty padlock. Her other sisters gathered around as well as Washburn. Honor Elizabeth called for Cody to leave what he was doing with the transport wagon and join them. He represented this valley after all and should be present.
Cassandra turned to Daniella, her green eyes cold and without pity. “Open this up!”
Daniella spit at her before saying, “I can’t.”
The woman gave a sharp gasp as she was suddenly struck in the back of her head by Lijuan’s small fist. “Oh, I think you can!”
“Were I not bound, I would rip you in half where you stand, you oriental puta!” Lijuan knew a few words of Spanish and that was one of them. She drew her fist back to strike again, but Cassandra held her hand up as a signal to stop. Her face was drawn up in a scowl but Lijuan let her hand fall.
Daniella looked at her enemy and shook several strands of hair away that had dropped down over one of her eyes. “I can’t because I entrusted Carlos with the only key to this lock. He wore it around his neck and now he …”
Cassandra bit her lower lip as she remembered the fit, nude, muscular body of Carlos over her pumping away behind her while keys were swinging from a rawhide cord around his neck smacking against her body. There would be no getting the cord now. The last anyone had seen of the grizzly was Honor Elizabeth reporting having seen the bear dragging the lifeless, shredded body of the Wolf King off into the forest beyond the mission. It was going home with its spoils Cassandra had assumed, and she wished it well.
"We don't need a key!" Lijuan snapped as she pushed past Daniella and stood in front of the door with its big lock. In an instant, her hammer was out and in her right hand. Years of wielding the weapon had sculpted her arms, and the muscles in it rippled as she brought the hammer down in a fierce blow. The sound of metal, striking metal even got the men being forced to dig the graves to pause for a moment before the soldiers prodded them back to work.
Blow after blow rained down until the lock shattered under the assault and Lijuan returned her hammer to her hip, breathing hard to catch her breath, sweat trickling down her forehead. She allowed herself a satisfied grin as she caught the look of respect given to her by Washburn, a man she had been at odds with most of the day.
Cassandra yanked the chain away, and she grabbed one side of the door and Catalina the other and the women from Cedar Ledge swung it open. Where long ago pews had lined the nave, a large cluster of crates stood. One was in the process of being sealed, the lid stood leaning against another container, and a hammer and nails lay on the floor.
The group entered, and Catalina quickly lit two lamps that hung nearby to give them more light as now the sun had dipped entirely behind the ridgeline, and the interior of the chapel was shadowy. Cassandra reached into the open crate, and when her hand came back, it held out a lump of a crystalline mineral that filled the palm of her hand. She extended it to Honor Elizabeth who took it and examined it.
“Cassie if you are thinking this ore is borax, then you would be thinking correctly, I assure you.”
Lijuan grinned at Honor, remembering how when they had attended a college for coloreds that she had been allowed into as well, her sister always had her nose buried in a book. Honor had an insatiable curiosity about the world and how it worked, and to this day Lijuan was impressed by how much her sister had soaked up and retained. The truth is, she was proud of Honor's book smarts, though she wouldn't come right out and say it to her.
“Say again, now … what’s this stuff?” Catalina asked.
“A mineral with great commercial value. A lot of people come to the West seeking gold and silver, but there are those who come for other minerals of value.”
Washburn gazed at the crystal and nodded. “Something of a rush started here in Nevada last year by Teel’s Marsh. From accounts I’ve heard around our fort, it’s drawn a lot of prospectors.”
Cassandra eyed Daniella, “As well as criminals, too, it would seem.”
“Do not equate me with some common vermin. When I learned of the value, I hired men to scour Nevada looking for the deposits. Educated men who could determine where deposits most likely could be found. Some places seemed promising but here … here in the De La Santa Barbara, we found …"
“The mother lode.” Cassandra finished for her. “It’s all over this valley, isn’t it? I suspected borax when our horses wouldn’t drink from the Sweetbriar.”
“I’ve never heard of this stuff. How did you, Cass?” Catalina asked, her brow furrowing.
“Captured a fugitive from Nevada a few months ago who thought he would hide out in the Arizona territory. The problem was he had a bad habit of killing here, too, and that drew the attention of Uncle Nate, and so he sent me to rid Arizona of that menace. I did get him.” She paused for a moment crossing her arms as she thought back on the matter.
“His original crime was murdering a family whose claim he tried to jump from a borax deposit by Columbus. When I was bringing him in, the man kept going on how borax would have made him rich if he had gotten away with taking over the claim. Unfortunately for him, he was discovered trying to bury the bodies.”
She approached Daniella and stood before her. “I suspected even further when I saw the books on minerals with the volume for “B” missing in Carlos’s room.”
“Do not speak my brother’s name, witch! You murdered him.”
“Rewrite history all you like, but it was your attempt to take me down that led to him getting shot and winding up bear chow.” She turned back to the others. “All the blasting they’ve been doing is looking for more deposits, but I suspect they were running low on this side of the Sweetbriar, and they needed to expand.”
Honor nodded her head enthusiastically, "I would be willing to wager that this entire valley was once a vast salt lake in a time before we can even imagine. Borax forms from the dried lakebeds. That means there could be borax buried all over where the people used to live here!"
Cody strode up to Daniella and glowered at her. “So, when the lands started to run dry on the side of the valley that you were already pillaging, you decided to run all of us out, so you could sweep in and get the borax all for yourself.”
Smugly Daniella smiled at the group, "You see, that i
s what separates me from the common lowlife that robs a stage or a bank. A Villanueva sees an opportunity and seizes on it! This valley was ours for the taking, and no bunch of hardscrabble cattle and sheep ranchers was going to stand in the way!"
"If you weren't a woman I'd ring your neck!" Cody said as his face flushed red in anger. "Leastways I can count on a noose doing it for me!"
Honor laid her hand on his shoulder, and he turned and looked into her hazel eyes. They seemed to have a calming effect.
"We are all going to bunk down here for the night, as you know, but first thing in the morning you should return to your sister and your friends, and you all need to spread out and try and find as many of the townspeople as you can before they are too far away, and get them to come back. Tell them they are going to be wealthy people when they do if there is as much borax on your side of the Sweetbriar."
He smiled at her and brought his hand up to lay it atop her hand still resting on his shoulder, “Miss Honor Elizabeth, I reckon you are right. We’ll find as many as we can!” He looked at the sisters and Washburn.
“On behalf of all of us, I want you to know that we can’t thank you enough for what you did here today. Lt. Washburn, I know you lost your men, and you ladies didn’t exactly come out this without a scratch. I don’t think there is any way I can thank you enough!”
As was their nature the Wildes played off his attempts to thank them by sincerely telling him that was what they did. Their father had instilled within them a keen sense of right and wrong, and they would always stand on the side of what was right. Washburn had begged off by saying that as an officer in the United States Army protecting and aiding those in need was only natural.
However, later after Cody had completed the work on the transport wagon and the prisoners were locked within it, it came to pass that Honor Elizabeth had a few ideas of her own about a proper thank you. Leading him by the hand, they went up one of the staircases leading to the Villanuevas’ living quarters above the chapel holding the horde of pure borax ore. The other three sisters who sat around a small campfire they had built played cards with Washburn, Catalina snuggled at his side, exchanged knowing smiles amongst themselves as they watched the lovely mulatto disappear with Cody Holmes trailing her.
Into The Lair 0f Los Rey Lobo: Wildes 0f The West (Half Breed Haven Book 9) Page 19