Wife Stealer

by F. M. Parker

  "I'd guess that would be payment for that food and soft bed he promised," Maude whispered back.

  Maude saw the man shake his head in obvious rejection of the money. He started to face away. Leo caught him by the shoulder and said a few words and again held out the money.

  The man jerked loose from Leo's hold and spoke rapidly. He pointed at the stagecoach and then at El Camino Real. Evan at the distance, Maude saw the man's anger, and knew he was telling Leo to take his stagecoach and leave.

  Rafael spurred his horse and sent it bounding ahead. He reined the big animal to a sliding stop barely in time to prevent running over the man confronting Leo. The man sprang back and looked up at Rafael. The pistolero put his hand on the butt of his pistol and stared threateningly down.

  Leo again offered the money. The man looked at Rafael and then Leo, and seeing the deadly intent in their faces, took the money.

  The man pivoted around and went hastily into the hacienda. A moment later Maude heard a woman shouting in a complaining voice, and the man shouting back. Then there was silence. In less than a minute, the man reemerged with a woman and two half-grown girls. The woman stopped and looked angrily at Leo and Rafael, then followed after her husband who was moving hastily toward the barn and corral located to the right of the hacienda. Shortly the man and his family, riding in a two-seated buggy, went past the stagecoach and off along the lane.

  Leo motioned for Emanuel to bring the stagecoach forward. When it stopped Leo untied the doors and held out his hand to Maude. Maude ignored Leo's offered hand—she didn't want him to touch her—and started to climb down. Leo moved quickly, caught her by the arm, and pressed her flesh as he helped her to the ground.

  Rachel stepped down and stood beside Maude. Leo's attention to Maude and his almost total lack of interest in her, except to see that she didn't escape, told her clearly that the brothers had made their choice of women. She was to belong to Carlos.

  "This nice hacienda is ours for the night," Leo said. "The Beremendes family was glad to allow us to use it."

  He smiled at Maude, glanced at Rachel, and swept his hand in a gesture for the women to enter before him.

  "You knew the people and still took their home?" Maude said.

  Leo saw Maude's disapproval of his eviction of the man from his home by threatening him. He believed this event would be a fine lesson for her, that he would take what he wanted and when he wanted it. If it wasn't given freely. "Beremendes owns a store in Ahumada and I have had dealings with him. I've never liked him. So his home was the perfect choice for us to rest. Now let us go in and enjoy its comfort."

  Leo turned to Rafael. "Help Emanuel with the horses and then both of you come inside for some food."

  Rafael touched the brim of his hat and moved away.

  Maude felt the pleasant, shadowy coolness of the house immediately upon entering. It felt grand after the dusty coach and burning sun. They were in the sala, the main gathering room of the hacienda, a room with a carpeted floor and overstuffed sofa. Straight ahead of her through an arched doorway was the dining room. She saw the table had been set for the evening meal, with several dishes of food and a bottle of wine in sight.

  "Now wasn't that thoughtful of Beremendes's wife to have done all this for us," Leo said.

  "May we bathe before we eat," Maude said feeling grimy.

  "Yes, please," Rachel added.

  "Certainly. There will be a bath somewhere. Come with me and we'll find it."

  * * *

  Maude's and Rachel's spirits recovered somewhat as they bathed in the huge tub of water in a room at the rear of the house. They did not speak, trying to find some sense of solace as captives by the simple task of bathing.

  At first they had looked at each other with an expression saying that maybe this was the chance they had been waiting for to escape. Then they had heard Leo tell Emanuel to go outside and stand guard under the single window of the bathroom, and Rafael to guard the door.

  After a few minutes a knock sounded on the door and Leo spoke. "I have found both of you clean clothing." His arm appeared holding two dresses.

  "I don't want stolen clothing," Maude said.

  "You will wear them," Leo said firmly. He stepped through the door and into the bath. He halted and swept his eyes over the naked women. He smiled pleased at what he saw. He ran his sight over them for a second time, doing it very slowly. Then smiling more broadly, he hung the clean dresses on hooks fastened on the wall, grabbed up their soiled garments, and left.

  Rachel looked at Maude. "Damn him," Maude said.

  "Yes, indeed" Rachel said. "But just his looking won't hurt us." She tilted her head at the dresses. "One thing is for certain. We either wear them or go naked. I choose to have clothing on."

  "Same here," Maude said reluctantly.

  Rachel leaned close to Maude and whispered. "Don't be so belligerent with him. Maybe that way he'll not watch us so carefully and we'll get a chance to run."

  "You're right," Maude whispered back. "I'll be sweet to him."

  "Don't overdo it, for then he'll be suspicious and watch even more closely."

  "I know."

  They dressed in the garments of the Beremendes women and left the bath.

  Rafael motioned for them to go into the dining room. He followed behind them.

  Leo rose from the chair at the head of the table. "You are both very beautiful, even with clothing on." They would give Carlos and him fine sons. He hated the waiting for the lovemaking to begin, and hoped Carlos would hurry and catch up with them.

  "Now let us dine," Leo said.

  Maude and Rachel seated themselves on opposite sides of the table at the far end. "Not there, here near me," Leo said. They were contrary, aggravating women. Once Carlos came and took Rachel off his hands, then he would turn his attention to Maude and teach her the proper respect for a husband's wishes.

  Maude rose and moved to sit in the seat on Leo's right. Rachel took the seat on his left.

  "Aren't you worried that the owner of this house will bring the sheriff to arrest you?" Maude said.

  "Beremendes knows that I'm a Valdes, and that it would be dangerous for him to cause me trouble. And besides, he took my money so how can he complain."

  Maude almost burst out to remind Leo that he had forced the man to take the money. However, she caught herself, remembering to be more agreeable during any conversation she held with Leo in hopes he would let down his guard.

  "Beremendes is nothing. Let us talk of something else."

  "Like setting us free," Rachel said. "Let us go and we won't tell what you did," Maude said. "We'll tell our friends in El Paso that we had gone off together for a visit in Mexico."

  Leo's face became stone as he looked at Maude. "You will have freedom where I'm taking you. But within the bounds that I set. My family is very rich and you will have everything you desire. I will build you a magnificent hacienda all your own. There will be many servants, and money to purchase anything you want."

  "A captive bird in a gilded cage," Maude said.

  Rachel gave Maude a warning look. Leo did not see Rachel's look for he was staring steadily at Maude. It was not necessary to reply to her barb. She would very soon be trained to do exactly what he wanted, everything he wanted.

  They continued the meal with Leo doing the bulk of the talking, and speaking mostly to Maude. The women replied with enough words to keep the conversation moving. Toward the end, Leo called Rafael and Emanuel in and they filled plates and carried them into the kitchen.

  "I have a surprise for you, something I found," Leo said to Maude. He rose from the table and left the room. He returned carrying a silver music box about one foot in diameter and half that dimension in thickness. He wound it and sat it on the far end of the table.

  "Come and dance with me," Leo said to Maude. He wanted to caress the white skin of this beautiful, golden-haired woman. His woman. Madre de Dios, he desired her so much. Her sharp mouth was nothing for soon he woul
d have it trained to speak softly, and gently, and to give loving kisses.

  "I don't feel like dancing," Maude said and remained seated. "I'm too tired."

  "We can change that," Leo said. He pressed the release on the music box and a delightful piece of music filled the room. He caught Maude by the hand and drew her to her feet and into his arms.

  "Listen to the music and it will take away your weariness," he said. He moved away with her across the room.

  Maude was tired and stiff from the long, arduous journey. Still, she knew she must somehow trick this man into making a mistake and allowing Rachel and her to escape. Rachel was correct, belligerence wasn't the way. Sweetness would do it much better. She focused on the music and brought her movement into rhythm, and let Leo guide her around the floor.

  She thought of her dance with Ben in the darkness in Canutillo and the pleasure she had felt in his arms. Just imagine it is Ben who is holding you, Maude told herself. That did help. How strange it was to prefer Ben's scarred face to be next to hers over that of the handsome Leo. Her heart ached with the thought that she might never see Ben again.

  FORTY

  "We're in for a bad one," Evan said to Ben.

  "Sure looks like it," Ben replied as he watched the billowing, swirling sandstorm roll menacingly toward them. It was a brown monster filling half the western sky and stretching north and south for miles.

  "Better get ready for it." He pulled his hat down more tightly and tied a bandana over his nose and mouth.

  "Where's your bandana?" Ben asked, noting Evan's lack of something to filter the dust that would soon be filling the air.

  "Don't have one. I'll have to use part of my shirttail." With one lung partially defective, he shouldn't be breathing dust. He pulled his shirt from under his belt and sliced off a strip with his jackknife.

  "Best we ride on and try to get out of the storm as quick as we can," Ben said.

  "Right." Evan quickly fastened the piece of cloth over his nose and mouth and looked at

  Ben. "Let's hurry."

  Ben and Evan were a day south of Montezuma and crossing a broad expanse of sand dimes. The westerly wind had been whipping in strongly for hours, stirring the sand and sending it streaming in hundreds of ground currents. The sand skittered along the ground, biting at the ankles of the horses and piling onto the lee sides of the long, curving dunes. Some of the dunes, having been blown before the wind for thousands of years, had strayed beyond their birthplace, migrating off to the east to lap against the rock reef of Sierra Los Arados, a chain of steep, barren hills.

  The wind increased to a gale as the front of the sandstorm charged ever closer to the two riders. It leapt the last quarter mile with amazing speed and struck them with a roll of churning brown sand and the wind shrieking a wild song. The blizzard of choking sand stung the men's faces and burned like fire. The sand searched for their eyes, and the men squeezed them down to mere slits. Overhead the yellow sun burned scarlet through the dust.

  The horses tried to turn their rumps to the brunt of the storm to protect themselves as best they could from the cutting sand. The riders held tight reins and kept the animals headed south.

  * * *

  Some two hours after the sandstorm had struck Ben and Evan, they escaped from its slashing onslaught as El Camino Real climbed into a range of hills on its way to Chihuahua. They halted on the crest in clean, clear air and slapped at the dust on their clothing. They opened their canteens and drank water to wash the dust from their throats.

  Evan felt the accumulation of dust that had found its way through the cloth and around its edges and into his nostrils. He took a deep breath of air to blow his nose. At the deep intake of air, a searing pain like a knife thrust struck his wounded lung. He clutched at his chest as a series of harsh, body-shaking coughs erupted.

  He knew such deep coughing could reopen his old wound. He breathed shallowly, fighting the urge to cough. He managed to hold the next cough to a weaker one. He stopped the next one that was building. Tears came to his eyes with his efforts to subdue it.

  Finally Evan straightened. He hawked and spat on the ground.

  Seeing the worried expression in Ben's eyes, Evan spoke. "I'm all right now. No blood. I hope Rachel didn't have to go through one of those."

  "Bad one, all right," Ben agreed. Evan looked like hell. Ben considered telling him to turn and ride back to the States. But he knew Evan wouldn't do that.

  "I'm ready to travel," Evan said, and pulled himself into the saddle.

  "Then let's do it."

  They rode off along the scarred, ancient road.

  Ben looked out across the hills for any sign of a stagecoach and riders. The hills had been stripped of their flesh of soil by wind and water, with nothing left but worn, gray rock. The gray color of the eroded, raw rock made Ben think of a giant pile of old bones every time he rode through them. The only sign that man had passed this way was the scrape marks left on the rock by the passage of iron wheels and iron-shod hooves.

  "The road is solid rock for miles," Ben said. "Let's hope our horses don't throw a shoe. One time I had a couple of horses do just that. I was bringing several north and was in a hurry and couldn't stop. Had to kill the one that would bring the least money and use its hide to protect the hoofs of the two who were barefooted."

  "Valdes horses, I reckon? And the Valdes men were chasing you."

  "Some of them were. I never came this way a second time."

  "Why Valdes horses?"

  "They're the best. And the Valdes family can spare them when other people can't."

  "That makes stealing right?"

  "Maybe not right, but okay, since they got most of their wealth by working poor peons like slaves. At least it's right to my way of thinking." Ben didn't bother to mention the battles of the Alamo or Goliad, for Evan would know about those.

  "We need water," Evan said. Ben wasn't going to be changed by anything he said. "Is there a ranch or a town close?"

  "None that I know about. But I do know where there's water."

  * * *

  Ben led the way to water at the west base of Gallegos Dos, a dome-shaped hill with a scant growth of desert grass. A third of the way up its flank, one patch of saguaros stood with outstretched arms like a group of lost desert wanderers. For the past mile or so, the two men had been able to see the spring area and knew it was deserted and safe to approach.

  They dismounted and led the lathered and exhausted horses up the short, steep slope to the spring. The animals were left to drink at the lower end of the little stream of water that flowed a few yards from the spring before disappearing into the earth. The men lay down where the water came pure out of the rock of the hill and drank.

  Evan finally raised his head from the water. "Better-tasting than I'd expected."

  "Lava rock makes for good water," Ben said. "No alkali to spoil it."

  "This might be a place where we should rest the horses for a little while."

  "I was thinking the same thing, for a couple of hours anyway." Ben knew Evan needed rest more than the horses.

  As the men staked out the Valdes horses, with Brutus left free, the last of the day burned down to black ash and it was dark. They spread their blankets in the moonless night and fell wearily upon them. The men lay silent and resting, each thinking his own private thoughts.

  "Ben, do you think we'll catch up to them before they reach their rancho?" Evan asked.

  "I'd sure like to, for that rancho is like a fortress. But I'm beginning to doubt it, for it's now only a little more than three days away and I don't think we've gained much."

  "Do you still think that boy racing past us just south of Samalayuca carried a message to Carlos?"

  "I do, and Carlos sure as hell knows we're still coming. In fact, he'll have people watching for us and with the system of relay riders the Valdes Company has in place, he'll be able to keep track of us."

  "If so, then why hasn't he tried again to stop us?"


  "I don't know why he hasn't hit us before now. But you've got to remember that Carlos knows this land and is picking the best place. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. But there's no way we can know until we see them coming. We got to keep a sharp eye out."

  Ben knew it was time to tell Evan about Maude. Though unlikely, the Valdes brothers might have been delayed in their journey south. If so, Evan and Ben just might overtake them. Evan needed to know there were two women to rescue.

  "I hope both Maude and Rachel are all right."

  "What's that you said? Maude? Maude who?"

  "Maude Bradshaw."

  "Why do you mention her?"

  "She could be with the Valdes brothers. She's missing same as Rachel."

  "Some girl you know?"

  "She's from Canutillo same as me."

  "You knew she was missing and could be with the Valdes when I asked you to help me. Is that right?"

  "That's right."

  "I remember now. You were all packed when I talked to you at the hotel. You were ready to go south after the Valdes brothers then. You tricked me into promising to operate on your face."

  "I didn't trick you. You're the one who asked me to help you. We made a deal. Are you going to back out of it?"

  "I don't like what you did."

  "Well, hell, now that's too bad. Answer my question. Are you backing out? Is your word any good? We need to settle this right now before we go any further together."

  "I shook on it and I'll keep it," Evan retorted.

  "Good." Ben had made Evan angry by not telling about Maude at the beginning of their journey into Mexico. Still, he was glad that the man knew Maude was most likely with Rachel. Maybe Evan would soon get over his anger. Now they had to catch up with the Valdes brothers and take the women away from them. And make the kidnappers pay the full price.

  "Evan, something's been on my mind. You seemed awfully determined to try to get Rachel back Do you plan to marry her?"

  "I haven't asked her," Evan said.

  "Do you aim to?"

  "I'm thinking seriously about doing it."

  "Is that why you had to kill Redpath? Because he had slept with her and you want her for a wife?"