“Just like that?” He laughed bitterly. “You pay me off? Damn you, woman, I want more than that.”
He reached down and yanked her into his arms, his lips mashing down to bruise hers. Caught off guard, Kitty found herself pinned, but she quickly recovered and began to struggle. He had a tight hold, and one of his hands was mauling at her breast. His tongue was forcing its way into her mouth, and when she felt it enter, she bit down.
With a yelp, he leaped back. “You vixen! I’m going to take what I’ve got coming to me.” His face was purple with rage as he advanced toward her. “I’m going to show you I’m every bit the man Travis Coltrane is. I’ll make you beg for it. I’ll make you whimper and moan and call my name.”
Kitty’s fingers closed around a heavy figurine that sat on the table next to her. Raising it above her head, she cried, “Jerome, don’t make me do this.”
He looked from her face to the ominous figurine. Then his shoulders slumped. The anger left his face. “All right. I guess I’ve got sense enough to know when I’m beaten, even if you don’t. You can put that thing down. I won’t try again.”
She held on to it. “I don’t trust you, Jerome. I never did. Despite your offer of friendship, I never forgot the way you let your men burned my home and left me in the snow to die giving birth.”
“I didn’t know you were about to give birth,” he snapped.
“You didn’t care.”
“Hell, you had just tried to kill me. I was wounded, you know.”
“You had just helped murder a young boy in cold blood.”
“An outlaw!”
“You weren’t the law. It wasn’t your place to judge him.”
“He was a worthless, no-account nigger who deserved to die.”
“That was not for you to decide. You took the law into your own hands, just as you did the night you attacked Corey’s place and killed him and a lot of his men.”
“I’m not going to argue with you.” He snatched up his hat. “I’m going to my room and finish packing my things, and I intend to be on that stage. You do whatever you want to.”
She nodded curtly.
He paused at the door to turn and ask if there was anything she wanted done when he got back to North Carolina. “I’ll still be a friend to you, if you’ll let me.”
“I have written to Corey’s attorney. He is handling all my affairs for me until I get back. Prepare a bill for your services and submit it to him, and he will see that you are paid. I do appreciate your trying to help, Jerome, even though I suspected all along you had an ulterior motive. I wish you a pleasant journey, and I will see you when I return. With my baby,” she added firmly.
After he had gone, Kitty paced the room nervously. First Sam, now Jerome. There was no one left but her. By God, she was going to get John or die trying.
Tying on a bonnet and taking a lace shawl from her wardrobe trunk, she left her room and went down the back stairs of the hotel. One of the maids saw her and looked astonished to see her in the service section. “Mrs. McRae, whatever are you doing back here? If you need anything, the desk will be glad to get it.”
“What I need, the desk can’t help me with.” Kitty reached into her bag and brought out a gold piece. It glimmered in the overhead lantern. “This is yours if you will direct me to a person who is for hire.”
The maid did not take her eyes off the gold piece. “For hire to do what?”
“Anything. There is always someone around who is for hire to do anything, if you have enough money. I have enough. Direct me to him and this is yours.”
“Of course. Wait right here while I tell someone I’m going to be away for a little while.”
She disappeared, and Kitty tapped her foot impatiently. A few moments later, the young girl reappeared, motioning Kitty to follow her.
They went out the back door, stepping into a cobble-stoned alley. Pools of slime and filth littered the way. Several stray cats gave them wary looks as they passed, hovering possessively over rotting fish carcasses.
They reached the crowded street. The girl extended her hand to Kitty, guiding her through the throng. Jostled and pushed, they made their way to another alley, this one as filthy and odious as the one they had just left. They had not gone far when the girl stopped in front of a thick wooden door. “This is the back door to Billy Jack’s place. It’s a very rough place, not fit for a lady. Don’t go inside. Just knock and ask to speak to Billy Jack himself. He’ll either do what you want or help you find someone who will.”
She held her palm open for the gold piece. Kitty gave it to her, and she quickly scampered away.
Turning to the door, Kitty knocked. A moment passed but there was no response. She knocked again, this time so hard that her fist stung. She heard the shuffling of feet, then there was a loud creak as the door rattled open. A heavyset man with a craggy face and yellowed teeth stared down at her. His shirt was covered with greasy stains, and he had a terrible odor.
Swaying slightly, Kitty held on to the doorway to support her weakening knees as she said, “I want to see Billy Jack.”
“I’m Billy Jack.”
She turned her head as his whiskey breath hit her face.
“Well, what do you want?” he snarled, noting her revulsion. “I ain’t got time to stand here all day.”
She took a deep breath, stiffened her spine and forced herself to face him. “I am told you are for hire.”
“For hire to do what?”
“Anything, if the price is right.”
“Well, what is it you want done? Don’t beat around the bush.”
“Are you familiar with the bayou?”
He nodded. “I was born and bred there. I know it inside out.”
“And you know of a man named Coltrane? Travis Coltrane?”
His eyes sparkled, but only momentarily. “Yeah, I know him. Why? What do you want him for?”
“That is my concern,” she said crisply. “All I’m asking you to do is take me to him. I have business with him. Personal business.”
He put his hands on his hips and leaned over to eye level, meeting her gaze. “You want me to take you into the bayou to where Coltrane lives? Lady, do you know how much that will cost you? A thousand in gold. And I ain’t gonna take you right there to his place. I’ve heard how somebody is out to get him, and how he’s already shot two of ’em. I ain’t aiming to get shot. I’ll take you to within spittin’ distance, and then you can go the rest of the way alone.”
“Just point me in the right direction, and that will be fine. I’ll have the money with me when we leave.”
He reached up and scratched at his nose, then dug into his buttocks anxiously as he said, “Okay. You got a deal. When you aim to leave?”
“As soon as possible. I don’t want to have to make my way alone in the dark.”
“Then be back here in half an hour—with the money. Lady, you got yourself a guided tour into the bayou. And put on something besides that fancy gown. That won’t last five minutes there.”
He closed the door in her face, and she turned and ran all the way back to the hotel. Once in her room, she dug into her wardrobe trunk and brought out the old, faded Confederate uniform she had worn in the hospital. She had had a hunch it would come in handy.
Stripping off her green taffeta gown, she stepped into the gray pants and shirt. Tying her hair back, she jammed a cap down on her head. Her face void of any rouge, she looked like a young Rebel soldier. She’d seen some of the men on the streets wearing pants or shirts they’d had during the war. No one thought anything about it.
Wrapping the gold in her handkerchief, she stuffed it inside her shirt. Then she slipped out of the hotel once again, heart pounding.
Billy Jack was waiting in the alley with two horses. His eyes bulged when he saw her. “Now, that was a complete change.” She said nothing, and when he offered to help her mount her horse, she brushed him aside and climbed right on.
“I gotta respect a woman who knows how
to take care of herself like you do,” he laughed. “What I can’t figure out, though, is how come you got to go to Coltrane. A pretty thing like you, why, he oughta come crawling outa that boggy land and find you, ’stead of the other way around.”
“May we be on our way, please?” Kitty urged him. “I do want to take advantage of the daylight.”
“Sure, sure.” He mounted his horse. “We won’t be riding long, lady. Once we get in the bayou country, we’re gonna have to go on foot. You understand this ain’t no picnic.
“I understand.” She nodded. “Just lead the way.”
As they rode through town, a few curious eyes looking their way, Kitty felt the cold steel of the small derringer against her bare skin. She had tucked it inside the waist of the uniform trousers. She prayed she would not need it, but if it came to Travis’s life or taking her son back, then she would have no choice. She just hoped he would listen to reason.
No, she corrected herself. There would be no begging and pleading. She would surprise him and catch him unawares. Then she would hold the gun on him and take the baby, and there would be nothing he could do about it. That was the way to handle it. Sam had tried reasoning and had even done some pleading on her behalf. Jerome had sent hired gunmen charging in to try and flush Travis out. Well, she would use cunning and catch him unawares. No conversation, no arguing. Just take the baby and go. It would be simple. It had to be.
Soon they were out of the city. The woods on each side of the road looked dense and ominous. Billy Jack reined his horse down a path, and Kitty followed. Snakelike vines hung all about them, and they swatted at the stinging deerflies and mosquitoes. The horses protested as their hooves began to sink into the muck.
“It’s almost as dark as night in here,” Kitty called out to Billy Jack. “I had no idea it was like this.”
“Few people do.” He was stopping his horse, dismounting. “It ain’t the kind of place people like to visit just for fun, missy. Now, we’re going to have to walk the rest of the way. You follow me and watch what I do and where I stop. There’s quicksand around here. You know what that is?”
She nodded, but he wasn’t looking and went on to explain the deadly substance to her. “You step in quicksand and it’s going to suck you under. It looks like solid ground, some of it, so you gotta be extra careful. Try to step close to the tree trunks. Walk on the roots of these cypresses sticking up like little knees, see? But you’ve got to watch out for snakes, too. Damned cottonmouths are everywhere, and if they bite you, you’re done for.”
Kitty shivered. She had been in swamps and dense woods from time to time during the war but never anything as quietly frightening as this place. They seemed lost in a world of gray and green foliage, vines wrapping clutching fingers around everything in sight. Now and then a strange sound would split the air. Billy Jack would identify its source. “An owl… That one’s a bull gator… Just a bird.” They all sounded terrifying to her ears, but she was determined to keep her composure. Somewhere in all this dismal isolation was her child, and she intended to get him out of here at any cost. Oh, what could Travis be thinking? How could he bring a baby here?
Suddenly, as though a curtain had been drawn, they stepped onto a riverbank. Kitty sucked in her breath at the beauty of the scene before her. Moss-draped trees lined the bank. A pink-feathered bird with incredibly long legs stood in the water. Billy Jack said it was a flamingo.
“There is beauty here, isn’t there?”
“Oh, yes ma’am.” He nodded. “There sure is beauty in the bayou. Oh, there’s ugly places, too, and there’s danger. But there’s beauty. That’s why folks like to live here. They find a peace they don’t find back there in that other world, I reckon. I grew up in a little shack at the edge. Fishing off the river for the rest of my life didn’t shake my britches up, so as soon as I was old enough, I went to the city. I can see why some would rather stay here, though. I guess it all depends on what you want out of life. Too much quiet would run me crazy.”
They made their way along the riverbank. Kitty spied a few of the stilted cottages Travis had told her about. “Coltrane lives in a house like that, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. It ain’t too far from here. We go around the next bend, and the river forks off into a slough that winds back into the Blue Bayou for a couple of miles. His place is back up in there. No other houses around his. His family laid claim to the Blue. They didn’t want nobody else building around them.”
“And what is the Blue Bayou?”
“Oh, that’s just a name somebody gave it a long time ago. I hear that just before the sun sets over the treetops in the evening, and just before it rises in the morning, the whole world in that slough turns blue. Like a piece of the sky just drifted down and covered everything. The water, the trees, the air—everything is blue. So they call it Blue Bayou. It’s said to be the prettiest place in the swamps. I’ve heard more than one say that, so it must be true.”
They rounded a bend, and Kitty could see the river forking. “Up there. Just follow this bank.” Billy Jack pointed.
“You aren’t going with me?” she asked, frightened now for the first time.
“Me?” He laughed. “No, ma’am. Not me. I ain’t got no business with Travis Coltrane and don’t want none. He ain’t bothered me, and I ain’t plannin’ on botherin’ him. I’ll be heading back to town now, if you’ll just give me my money.”
Kitty sputtered, “Back to town? Well, how will I find my way out of here?”
“There’s a notch in that cypress where we stepped out of the woods. Just follow the river bank back, then you’ll see the path. It ain’t hard. Believe me, ma’am, I took a chance on even bringing you this far. He’s liable to get mad over me doing this much, so I’d appreciate it if you’d not tell him who brung you in. Now, can I have that money? The bargain was for me to take you within hollering distance. I didn’t say nothing about waiting around to get shot at.”
Turning her back, she reached inside her shirt and brought out the little pouch with the money inside. Handing it to him, she murmured, “I’d pay you an equal sum to wait here for me.”
He laughed nervously. “You ain’t got enough money to pay me to hang around here, lady. Now, good luck to you. I don’t know what your business is with Coltrane, and I don’t want to know. But for your sake, I hope you’re a friend of his, or the gators gonna be eating you for breakfast.”
With a wink and a flash of yellowed teeth, he waved, turned and broke into a run as he weaved his way along the riverbank.
Kitty had never felt more alone. Casting a wary eye skyward, she figured she had about an hour or so until sundown. She would pick her way carefully, find Travis’s cabin, then hide out through the night. Just before dawn she would creep into his house and take him by surprise. Perhaps he would be sleeping so soundly that she would not even have a confrontation with him at all. She could take John and be on her way, and by the time he awoke, she would be safely back in town. She had already decided the first thing she would do would be to hire bodyguards in case Travis came after her. Once she was on the stage, started for home, it was doubtful he would pursue her. But Travis was unpredictable, and she wanted to be ready for any possibility.
Threading her way along the riverbank, she paused several times to wonder at the magical beauty of her surroundings. Despite the mission before her, she found herself bathed in the first tranquility she had known in a long, long time. It was easy to see why Travis loved this bayou country.
So far there had been no alligators or snakes or anything threatening. An annoyed turtle had rolled off a log, making a loud splash as he disappeared into the water. An owl cried out, startling her momentarily.
She had to be getting close. She slowed her pace, peering above reeds and bushes before stepping into a clearing. She paused to listen for human sounds.
Then, like an invisible hand passing overhead, the air about her turned from clear to a pale, pale, blue. Gasping, Kitty froze where she stood, w
atching as everything around became bathed in the azure color. Blue Bayou. It was true. In that moment between daylight and darkness, the world had turned blue. It took her breath away.
Slowly the light paled and the world grew dark. She moved faster, wanting to sight the cabin before seeking refuge for the night.
Rounding one more bend, she saw it, not a hundred yards away. There was no sound. Squatting down behind a rotted tree trunk, Kitty stared at the cabin sitting up on stilts. That had to be Travis’s home. There she would find her precious baby. It was all she could do to keep from breaking into a run. She had to find shelter for the night. Eyes darting about, she could see nothing but swamp. She could not crouch where she was all night. Snakes and alligators would be roaming.
The sound of voices snapped her head up. Travis was standing on the porch talking to a plump old woman, her head wrapped in a bright bandanna. Kitty could not hear what they were saying, but it was obvious the woman was leaving. Travis waved to her, and she began to descend the ladder leaning against the porch. Would she come this way? Kitty’s heart was in her throat. If she did, there was nothing for Kitty to do but crawl on her stomach into the swamp itself, lest she be discovered.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips as the woman went beyond the cabin and into the woods behind it, disappearing. Travis went inside. It was nearly dark. Alone again, she made her way forward steadily. She reached the ladder and inched her way up.
She crouched on the porch. Inside she could hear Travis talking to John, lovingly, adoringly, and the answering coos and gurgles of her son. Oh, dear God, she thought frantically, clenching her fists, don’t let me ruin it now. Don’t let me run in there and ruin it all.
She crawled to the farthest end of the porch, sinking down into the shadows. There she would spend the night, trying not to fall asleep.
With the dawn, Kitty would be ready. She would creep inside and take her baby. And, God willing, by the time Travis awoke, she would be safely back in New Orleans.
The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 Page 41