by Rue Allyn
Loud panicked neighs joined the cacophony, helping Kiera locate the horses she was searching for. She found the three of them tethered to a hitching post near the side of the bank closest to the stable. Unfortunately, she arrived at the same time as Rasp and Cream.
Spotting each other in the same instant, all of them froze. The men already had their pistols drawn, so she wouldn’t surprise them this time. The best she could do was to keep the horses between her and the men then hope she could get to the mounts faster.
She moved as she thought.
So did Rasp, aiming his gun and pulling the trigger. The shot went wide grazing the rump of the nearest horse. The beast screamed in agony and reared. It pulled free of the hitching post and charged the source of its pain.
“You damn fool,” shouted Cream. “Hold your fire.”
Stunned into immobility by the charging equine, Rasp went down under a half a ton of horse as the creature ran straight over him. The horse turned the corner onto the main street and disappeared from sight. Rasp lay moaning on the ground, but Cream rushed Kiera.
She’d already freed one mount, leapt onto its back and was reaching to release the other horse’s reins from the hitching post when Cream grabbed her leg and tried to pull her from the saddle.
She kicked at him, still fumbling for the other set of reins. Finally her boot hit something solid. She heard a crunching sound as the grip slid off her leg. She didn’t bother to discover what had happened to Cream. She tore the second set of reins from the post, wrapped them around her hand so they wouldn’t slip loose, and kneed her mount into a gallop. The second horse was forced to follow. Its reins tightened around her hand, crushing the bones together. Kiera ignored the pain. Getting away from Cream before he managed to shoot her in the back was her top priority.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Fire raged through the valley, up the hills to the rim and over. Dodging firebrands, burning tree limbs, and struggling to ride as well as lead two panicked, blindfolded horses — one with an injured hock — Ev followed Kiera on horseback toward the waterfall. Back in the stable as they’d hurried to escape, she’d told him about encountering the men she called Rasp and Cream. She didn’t know if Rasp was still alive or not. Ev worried about that threat, but surviving the fire was the first priority. The going was difficult and slow — much slower than was safe. Rags dampened from their canteens covered their mouths and noses. Their eyes stung from lack of tears and attempts to breathe as well as to see through smoke and flame.
Creatures of all sorts traveled in the same direction. Ev thought he’d seen a bear once or twice. His head hurt and pain pounded in his thigh with every shift in the saddle. He wasn’t certain how much longer he could stay mounted. Every time he thought he’d fall to the ground, he’d remember that remaining on the horse was his only hope of staying alive. Still pain and insufficient oxygen had him reeling. Only the shadow of Kiera in front of him kept him oriented and upright. If not for her, he’d have given up long ago.
Then he realized she’d stopped.
Trees full of fire surrounded them. The ground cover smoldered and smoked as if about to burst into flame. Did she share his despair? Was she giving up? She wouldn’t. Not his indomitable Kiera. He peered ahead trying to discern the cause for their halt. Unable to see anything, he kneed his horse forward to stand beside her. Then he saw it.
The drought thinned waterfall, its musical noise muted by the fire’s violent roaring, spilled into a pool just a few yards away. However, between them and safety from the fire, stood Cream. Each of his hands pointed a pistol straight at Kiera.
Her shoulders tensed, and her hand inched toward the pistol at her hip. No way was she going to out draw him. The man was ready to shoot. Ev had enough experience now watching her fumble with pistols to know that, even if she’d had her gun out, she probably couldn’t hit the claim jumper.
Ev wasn’t surprised to see the gunman. In this conflagration, any living creature would make for the nearest water source. Rasp must not have survived being trampled. Better that than burning to death. Fire was a hard way to die, and Ev wouldn’t wish it on any man. However, he was grateful to have only one human threat remaining.
“Toss your guns down and get off them horses.”
Kiera eased the pistol from her holster and tossed it in front of Cream. Her rifle followed.
“Hurry up. Less’n you wanna burn to death.” Cream straightened his left arm sighting that gun at Ev.
The effort needed to stay in the saddle and loss of blood had sapped Ev’s strength. He desperately wanted to defend Kiera, but his body wouldn’t obey his demands to knee his horse into a gallop and ride the man down.
Kiera was dismounting.
“No! He’ll kill you the minute you leave your horse.” Ev tried to shout, but his smoke-roughened vocal cords only emitted a mere croak. The area where his horse stood began to swirl and blur. He was about to faint, and that was the last thing he could afford. He couldn’t leave Kiera defenseless before this monster.
Kiera stood beside her mount. “My man’s injured. He needs help to get down.”
Cream shook his head. “No. You don’t touch him. I’ll help him down with a bullet.”
Ev forced himself to concentrate. Time slowed. The barrel of Cream’s colt seemed impossibly large and near. The man’s hold tightened on the pistol grip and his trigger finger began to squeeze. Ev knew he was about to die. He heard the shot at the same time that he thought he saw three figures converge on Cream. Firebrands rained from above. Ev felt a searing pain in his head. Screams and growls erupted as he fell. Lord in heaven was the world ending? Please God, keep Kiera safe, was Ev’s last thought.
• • •
Kiera would die before she let Cream harm Ev. She leapt forward, intent on spoiling his aim or stopping the bullet herself. Fire poured from the sky, and two dark forms leapt out of the inferno. One shot exploded from Cream’s guns. Kiera threw herself at him, catching him around the knees. They hit the ground together. The earth shook, and hooves pounded around them, telling Kiera that despite blindfolds the horses had panicked and run for the water.
She scrabbled to get to her feet, to beat Cream senseless even though he was armed and outweighed her by at least half. She couldn’t get up. Something on her back pinned her to the earth. Unholy growls joined the eerie roar of the hungry blaze eating everything in its path. Cream howled. His high-pitched wail of terror lent a chilling counterpoint to the hellish duet of roar and growl.
She tried again to rise without success. The weight on her back was too much to throw off.
Screaming, Cream twisted and kicked. His toe caught her in the ribs hard enough to knock away what little breath she had left. For a moment she couldn’t move. Then the weight lifted, though the deluge of flame continued. Beside her Cream’s feet and legs stilled.
Braving the enveloping fire, Kiera lifted her head to see a pair of wolves running toward the pool. Other animals, the horses included, scattered, clearing a path for the predators but not leaving the shelter of the pool.
She rose to her knees. Cream lay unconscious bleeding from numerous tooth and claw marks. He’d stood between the wolves and the water, so they had savaged him. No wonder he’d screamed.
Suddenly her shoulder burned. A firebrand ate at her buckskin shirt. She brushed it off. She had no time to think or plan. She had to find Ev and get him to safety. She spun, and saw him on the ground. Pray heaven, he’d fallen before the horses stampeded. If he’d been thrown, his neck could be broken. She rushed to his side. He was unconscious but still breathing. Other than another ugly scratch on his scalp, he didn’t seem to have suffered any more injuries.
Even if he had, she must get him to safety.
She stripped off his shirt, ran to the pool, and soaked the material. She ran back to Ev, wrapping the drenched cloth around his hea
d.
He stirred and opened his eyes. “What happened?”
“I’ll tell you later.” As she spoke she searched the ground and found the firearms she’d dropped earlier. “Do you think you can walk if I help you up?”
He cast a quick glance at the nearby burning trees. “Given my choices, yes.”
She helped him up and, bent nearly double under his weight, moved toward the waterfall.
He managed to stay upright until she got him to the first of several caves behind the fall. They were lucky. The only other occupants of this first cave were several rabbits, squirrels and raccoons. Most of the other creatures must either be in the pool or have wandered deeper into the small cave complex. Ev slipped from her grasp to the ground.
“Ev?” Was he unconscious?
He grunted. “Yeah.”
“I’m going to give you my pistol. Shoot anything that threatens you. These caves have to be full of animals seeking shelter from the fire. I’ve got to go get the horses out of the pond and the supplies.”
“The horses will be fine in the pool. You can get them when the fire burns out.”
“You’re badly hurt. You won’t be fine unless I tend your wounds now, and for that I need the supplies. I’ll be back as fast as I can.” She left before he could argue.
As she waded into the pool after the horses, she scanned what she could see of the shoreline for Cream. He wasn’t where she’d left him. Had some predator dragged him off, or had he gotten up on his own? Was he so injured he’d walk into the fire and get burned alive? Should she look for him? Get herself killed trying? No. Ev needed her too much. Cream was on his own.
Getting all the horses under the waterfall took time and energy. Nearly at the end of her stamina, she tethered the beasts to a scraggly bush growing out of the rock. Then she took as deep a breath as possible and went in to clear critters from the deeper caves.
Cream and who knew what else was still out where the fire raged. The horses were vulnerable, and the best way to keep them safe was to get them inside the cave complex then hobble them. If she ran into anything dangerous in the process of clearing caves, like those two wolves, she’d have to pray that she could shoot it.
Luck was with her. The foxes she routed didn’t like it but didn’t want to fight something her size either. She settled the horses and supplies in a cave with an entrance so narrow only one horse could get through at a time. Then she returned to Ev and helped him move to a position in front of the stable cave before the horses could wander out. Together, she and Ev would block that entrance with their bodies. There was nothing else to use, and she didn’t want some hungry animal to harm or kill a mount. She’d shoot the creature first. However, she had to be in a place where she could hit what she aimed at. She also had to tend Ev, so he had to be nearby.
She eased him into position then took inventory of his injuries. The thigh wound needed cleaning and bandaging. Fortunately they had a nearly endless supply of cold water. What they didn’t have, ironically, was heat. The wildfire would consume any fuel and leave little besides ash.
Finished tending Ev’s thigh, she left several scrapes and superficial burns for later then cleaned and bandaged his head wounds. The bleeding on his forehead was nearly stopped. It started again when she cleaned it. The crease between his temple and his ear oozed and swelled. That bothered her almost as much as the thigh wound, but she could do no more for one than the other.
Throughout her ministrations Ev remained conscious, but his eyes were unnaturally bright, and when she touched his forehead she discovered he was burning with fever. Given the flames outside and this new fire within, they weren’t going anywhere soon.
“You need to rest.” She urged Ev down onto the buffalo robe she’d spread.
“So do you.”
“I’ll rest after you. One of us has to stay awake to keep the wild things away from the horses.” She wasn’t going to worry him with mention of the human wild thing, Cream, that might still attack them.
“What about Cream?”
So much for keeping her worst worry from Ev. “He might still be out there. He got jumped by a pair of wolves when I went after him. They savaged him pretty badly. When I went to get the horses, I looked for him but didn’t see him. He might be dead.”
“But he might not be?”
She nodded.
“Don’t go after him.” Ev took her hand. “Promise me.”
Her inner debate must have shown on her face. “If I had any more strength, I’d go.”
“And get killed trying to save a man who would murder you in a blink. I won’t have it.”
As if Ev was in any shape to stop her. In the final analysis, that was the deciding factor. Ev was alive and needed her help to survive. She had to choose, and selfish though it was, the choice was easy.
She took the pistol from his hand. “Go to sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”
She leaned back against the wall of rock grateful for the discomfort of the lumpy surface. It would help to keep her awake and alert. Beside her, Ev fell into a feverish slumber.
• • •
Ev opened his eyes. Next to him Kiera slept on her side, her body askew as if she’d fallen asleep while sitting then slipped sideways. She must be exhausted. He was thirsty, but he wouldn’t wake her. He could wait. A mix of mist heavy fog and smoke filled the cave with silvery light, enough light to make him think it might be daytime. A dark shape loomed out of the light. Maybe he was delirious and night still lingered. The vision sharpened into a man, but a man of nightmare. Blisters bubbled the skin where clothing had burned or melted away. Blood oozed and dribbled from what looked like a hundred cuts. The head was misshapen like a huge distorted mushroom with thick dangly ropes that dragged to the shoulders. The black hollow of mouth seemed to grow larger with every step and emitted a low, mind-numbing growl. The eyes — the eyes glowed pale, yellow and evil — yellow eyes. In that instant the thick ropes transformed into two arms. The mushroom cap of the head separated and became a rock that descended toward Ev’s skull. He threw his body to one side then launched himself at his attacker. No time to scream a warning, he had to protect Kiera.
The attacker tumbled to the ground. Ev punched him in the ribs. The man howled and kneed Ev in the face. Pain exploded everywhere. Ev fought through it, dug his fingers into the soft flesh between his opponent’s legs, eliciting another, louder howl. Ev used the grip to haul himself up onto the man’s chest.
His opponent butted his head into Ev’s, at the same moment reaching for and closing blistered fingers around Ev’s neck in a breath-stealing grip.
Ev inhaled, but the fingers circling his throat denied the smallest breath. His eyes teared, and his vision grayed. Momentum carried him upward and back. He ended straddled atop the man where Ev struck out blindly. Fist pummeled after fist, connecting with his opponent’s head. Bones crunched. Answering pain jolted up Ev’s arms, but he kept striking. One fist landed in the soft flesh of an eye. Ev’s fingers opened and gouged as his other fist continued to pound.
The constriction around Ev’s throat loosened. He sucked in air and struck on until he became aware of something beating on his shoulders. He realized the man beneath him lay slack. Snarling, Ev turned on his new attacker. At the last moment he shifted his aim, and his fist glanced off Kiera’s shoulder.
She reeled with the blow, nonetheless.
“Kiera!” He lunged for her, caught her and rolled to hit the ground with his back, protecting her from harm.
Except that he hadn’t. He’d hit her himself. Panic roared through him. His hands rushed over her, checking to see how badly he’d harmed her. “I’m sorry Kiera. Please, Kiera. Tell me where you’re hurt. I’ll fix it. I promise. I’ll make it up to you. I never wanted to hurt you.”
She shook in his arms.
She was c
rying. He clasped her to his chest. He’d give whatever life he had left if it would keep her from pain and harm.
She pushed at his chest though she still shook. “Let. Me. Up.” She gasped the words as if she couldn’t breathe.
He released her. She fell sideways to lie beside him. Her chest heaved, and she curled onto her side. “Ha, ha, ha … ”
She wasn’t crying. She was laughing. What the heck did she think was so funny about him attacking her, hurting her? Was she laughing at him? He hurt too much to share her amusement. Waiting, he lie there, temper on the rise.
When she’d laughed herself out and sat grinning before him.
“Want to share the joke,” he managed to grit out.
“It isn’t funny. Not really.”
“Funny enough for you to go off in gales.”
“I’m sorry about that, but you caught me off balance. I wasn’t expecting you to try to hit me.”
Instantly contrite, Ev frowned. “I didn’t mean to.”
“I know.” She smiled.
Something tightened around his heart. Not a surprise, considering the fight he’d just been in. “I was berserk. That crook tried to kill us in our sleep.”
“You should have woken me. I’d have shot him. That close I probably couldn’t miss.”
“No time.”
Her expression sobered, and her lips took on a stern bent.
“You’re injured and running a fever and in no shape to beat a man senseless.”
He cast a glance at where the man, he now recognized as Cream, sprawled. “But I did, didn’t’ I?”
She nodded. “I can’t say I’m unhappy about that, but I am worried about you recovering. I’ll get our friend tied up then you’ll let me take a look at every nick and scratch.
“Yes, ma’am.”
• • •
Whoever tied the ropes binding his wrists and ankles had done a good job. But his hands should have been tied behind him. As it was, getting free would be easy once he figured out how. He’d been working at the bindings since the woman had fallen asleep, and he still couldn’t get loose. When his efforts wore him out he rested, trying to think of how to get free, so he could kill these two and vamoose out of here. As he surveyed the small space of the cave with his one good eye, his glance fell on the marshal’s badge. It was one of those pointy star deals. With a little work the edge of one of those points could cut through the ropes. All he had to do was get the thing.