by Smith, Bobbi
She watched Jake ride off up the winding trail before turning back to Todd. With gentle fingers, she pried loose the blood-soaked bandage and stared with dismay at the damaged flesh. Jarred by his fall, the wound had partially reopened and was still oozing blood. Applying firm, steady pressure, she finally brought the bleeding under control and then administered the medicine and redressed it, packing the wound tightly with clean soft wrappings.
His shoulder cared for, Carrie now turned her attention to his fever, and she lost track of time as she tirelessly sponged his heated body with a dampened, cool cloth. Never wavering in her efforts to bring his raging temperature under control, she hovered over him, ever conscious of his ragged breathing and fitful movements. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Todd tossed feverishly on the hardness of his bedroll, and Carrie wished that they were back at the ranch so she could give him the proper care he so desperately needed.
“Carrie—” It was late in the afternoon when his voice boomed in the silence of their gloomy refuge.
“I’m right here.” She rose above him so he could see her more clearly.
“Carrie—I love her, you know?” Todd said very lucidly.
“Yes, I know you love her, Todd.” She sighed in exasperation. Here she’d been nursing him for hours and his first words to her were about her sister! Damn!
“I shouldn’t but I do,” he continued as if she hadn’t even spoken. “Jennie is—”
“It’s all right.” She tried to soothe him. “Things always seem to have a way of working out.”
“I’m worried—Jennie—Got to find her. They might kill her.” Todd’s anguish was real, and Carrie’s heart sank as it dawned on her just how much he cared for Jennie.
“As soon as you’re better, we’ll go catch up with them. Pa and Jake will find her. Now try to rest.”
His next words were garbled as he began to move restlessly, and it was then that Carrie realized that he had been out of his head and hadn’t been coherent at all.
With a quieting hand on his heated brow, Carrie spoke to him in low, dulcet tones until he stopped thrashing about and fell into an unsettled sleep. Sitting back on her heels, she let her gaze roam over him, worrying at the dry heat that emanated from him.
Moving to lie down on her own blankets, she sought a few minutes of rest for herself while he was quiet. It disturbed her to see him so helpless, and she hoped that his fever would break soon.
Jennie pulled on her boots and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles from her riding skirt. Tying the long shirt in a knot at her waist, she neatly folded the clothing that Chica had lent her and walked to where she was sitting with Lucia.
“Thank you for letting me borrow your clothes,” Jennie told her sincerely as she handed her the blouse and skirt. “It was very kind of you.”
“Any time you need them, just ask.”
“I will. How soon are we leaving?” she asked, noticing how all the men had gone outside to saddle their horses.
“Probably within a half an hour,” Lucia said coolly. “Didn’t Cazador tell you?”
“I haven’t spoken to him since we were by the pool.”
Lucia chuckled throatily as she grinned knowingly at Jennie. “I wish he’d drag me off like that. Que hombre! I certainly wouldn’t fight him! I would enjoy it!”
Jennie stiffened at the other woman’s taunts. “The next time he feels the need to forcibly drag someone off, I’ll tell him you’re interested.”
“You do that!” She laughed even louder as Jennie turned and walked away.
“Go a little easier on her,” Chica chided.
“Why should I? She is a fool!” Lucia sneered. “She has such a gorgeous man and she doesn’t know what to do with him.”
“We would not have that problem, would we?”
“Never.” And she looked up to watch Cazador as he reentered the cave and headed in Jennie’s direction. “The girl is stupid and I will do all I can to take him away from her.”
Busy with rolling up their bedroll, Jennie didn’t hear his approach.
“Jennie.” Rick’s voice caught her unawares and she jumped nervously.
“What?” Though her heart was pounding just at the sound of his voice, she kept her tone curt and cold as she stood up and faced him.
Rick stared down at her, wondering at her thoughts. He knew that things were not good between them right now, but there was no time to explain. They had both wanted what had happened this morning. She was just too stubborn to admit it. Impatient with her arbitrary ways, he spoke more sharply than he meant to.
“We’ll be leaving very shortly, so get the bedroll ready and the rest of my gear.”
“I know, those are part of my duties, too.” She couldn’t stop the sneer in her voice.
“Jennie.” He scowled blackly.
“Is that all, sir? Or is there something else you’d like me to do for you before we pull out?”
“No. There’s nothing else you can do for me. Just be ready to ride.” He began to walk away and then stopped and turned back to her. “By the way, I’ve managed to get you a horse of your own, so I won’t have to be burdened with you. Now, get busy! I’ll be back.” He stalked forcefully away, his anger evident in his every stride.
Jennie watched him go, feeling strangely bereft. Why, all of a sudden, did she feel like calling out to him and going willingly into his arms? But the fleeting thought of the comfort she would find there was quickly eclipsed by the memory of his possession of her just hours before, and her pride surged forth. He had treated her with contempt, refusing to stop when she’d begged him not to go on, and for that she didn’t think she could ever forgive him. He was a callous and unfeeling brute; he had used her without conscience, and no doubt he would do it again at the first opportunity.
She shivered as she remembered the way his hands had touched her and how her own body had responded so wantonly to his every caress in spite of herself. Jennie didn’t know what power he had over her, but she knew that she had to escape. For with just one touch, he could make her forget who she was and why she was here.
Shaking herself mentally, Jennie hurried to finish rolling up the bedroll, all the while wondering why his words about being burdened with her had hurt so badly.
They had been riding for over an hour when, at last, they passed the crest of the final ridge. Malo reined in sharply as he faced the jutting magnificence of Weaver’s Needle for the first time. Motioning for Juan to ride up alongside of him, he turned to the old man.
“This is the landmark you’ve been telling me about?” He gestured toward the stark, skyscraping tower that rose menacingly before them.
“That is it,” Juan told him calmly, but he was disturbed by the glinting of madness that he’d just witnessed in Malo’s eyes.
“Is something wrong?” Rick rode up beside them, his nerves on edge.
“No. Everything is just fine. This is the mountain he had been telling us about. Come, we are getting near the mine, I can feel it! Let’s go! You take the lead now, Peralta, and we will follow you,” he said, and Juan nodded silently as he directed his horse to the head of the column of riders so they could begin their descent into yet another treacherous canyon.
Rick witnessed the look of pained acceptance on his grandfather’s face, and he was once more forced to hide his fury at Malo’s greed. Soon, he told himself, soon he would free them from this living nightmare.
Glancing back down the trail they had just ascended, Rick caught sight of Jennie riding with Chica. He had been greatly relieved when he had discovered that there were extra horses in camp, for without Jennie’s distracting presence riding double with him, he could keep his mind more firmly on the real reason he was here: to rescue Juan before they got to the gold mine.
Jennie saw Cazador look her way and she deliberately averted her eyes. Though she had thought him cruel when he had told her earlier that he had a horse for her, now, she was grateful. Being away from him this way had given her the t
ime she’d needed to think through her feelings, and she had come to realize just how tenuous her position was here in the camp. She knew with certainty that no one would ever come to her aid for Cazador was too powerful for them to dare to cross. So, if she wanted to get away, she would have to do it on her own. Any trust Jennie had ever had in Cazador had been destroyed by his refusal to heed her desperate plea to stop when he’d taken her, and now her thoughts were only on how to escape his captivity as soon as possible.
As Juan Peralta, Malo, and Rick began the descent into the next canyon, Jennie and Chica reached the top of the ridge and saw Weaver’s Needle for the first time. The harshness of it as it rose spikelike out of the desert floor sent a chill of apprehension down Jennie’s spine and she shivered in spite of the heat.
“It’s ugly!” Chica remarked laughingly. “But I imagine it looks beautiful to Malo.”
“Why?” She turned questioningly to the other woman, wondering why anyone would think it pretty.
“Did you not hear them talking this morning?”
“No.” Jennie, in truth, had been so preoccupied with trying to figure out a way to flee from Cazador that she had paid little attention to what had been going on in camp.
“The old man told him that once they found that mountain it would be a simple matter to locate the mine. So, we must be getting close.”
Jennie nodded, thinking suddenly of Juan Peralta. How sad that this should be happening to him; first to lose his family because of the gold and now—She wished that there was some way she could help him, something she could do. A plan began to take form in her mind.
“How long until we get there?”
“He wasn’t too definite on that, but I think the day after tomorrow.”
“Then it will all be over,” she said distractedly.
Chica answered indifferently. “For him it will be.”
“You mean, Malo will kill him?”
“Of course, once he has no use for him anymore.”
Jennie was aghast but didn’t speak.
Chica shrugged, giving Jennie a sideways glance. “You never did say what happened between you and Cazador after he dragged you away from the watering hole this morning.”
“Nothing important,” she answered, trying to dodge the question.
“If it was nothing important, why have you been ignoring him all day? Believe me, if you don’t want him, Lucia and I will be happy to take him off your hands,” she offered happily.
“Feel free.”
Seeing a chance to help Lucia, she asked coyly, “You do not care? Lucia will be glad to hear that. You do not mind if I tell her?”
Jennie, for some unknown reason, bridled at her words, but she was careful to keep her expression blank. “Tell her whatever you like. It’s of no consequence to me.” And with that she kneed her horse to a faster gait, leaving Chica watching her with suppressed excitement.
Rick rode at the head of the line with Malo, and with the passing of each mile his resolve not to fail strengthened. He hated everything about these mountains and the memories they stirred within him.
With slow scrutiny, Rick kept his gaze locked on the craggy peaks and camouflaging boulders, knowing that at any moment, the Apache could appear and devastate their entire group. Tension knotted within him, and he wondered how Juan was holding up under the pressure. He had managed to slip him a small knife earlier in the day, but he knew it would be of little real protection to him if they were attacked.
“Malo.” Luis rode up to join them.
“Yes, Luis?”
“How long until we are there? Ray and I are getting anxious.”
“No more so than the rest of us,” Cazador put in smoothly and Malo chuckled in agreement.
“No need to count your money yet. We will be at least another day on the trail. The old man has grown confused as to the right directions.”
“You want me to help refresh his memory?” Luis offered, eager in his bloodlust.
“No, not yet.” Malo smiled thinly as he glanced at the old man. “But if we are not there by the day after tomorrow, then I will let you have your fun with him.”
Rick grimaced inwardly. He had one day left to plan and then he would have to make his move, regardless.
“Lucia,” Chica called out to her in a low voice.
Reining in, Lucia waited for the others to pass her by so she could ride nearer to her friend. “What do you want?”
“I have news for you.” Her eyes were twinkling.
“About what?”
“Cazador, of course, what else?”
“Cazador? What happened?” She looked up to where he rode easily at the front of the group with Malo and Peralta.
“I don’t know exactly what for sure, but there has been some kind of trouble between them.”
“Good! It worked!”
“I think so. She said she didn’t care if you wanted Cazador or not.”
Lucia’s eyes narrowed in anticipation. “But I still have to convince him. Maybe I’ll get the chance tonight.”
“Will we be camping soon? It is near sundown.”
“Malo is anxious to get to the gold mine. I don’t think he’s even thought about stopping. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“There is water up there,” Juan told Malo an hour later as they started up another incline. “It should be about the safest place to make camp for the night.”
“All right, lead the way.” Malo was quick to agree for the heavy shadows of dusk were beginning to fill the canyon with darkness, and he had no desire to get lost in these dangerous mountains during the night.
Juan nodded and urged his horse up the slope at a faster pace, leading them to a small clearing with a clean spring-fed pool.
“Ramon!” Malo called as he dismounted and gestured to Rick to come with him. “Take our horses and water them. Then see to the old man. No fires tonight.”
“Yes, Malo.” The other man took the reins to Malo’s and Cazador’s mounts and led them away.
“I have a proposal I want to talk with you about, Cazador,” Malo said in undertones that indicated he had something very serious on his mind.
Tensing at this sudden unexpected invitation, Rick warily followed the desperado away from the campsite.
Malo’s eyes were alight with avarice when he turned to face Rick. “It occurs to me, Cazador, that we would do well together.”
“Oh?” He was cautious and wondering what was on the other man’s twisted mind.
“You do need money, don’t you?” The outlaw watched him knowingly.
“Of course. Why else would I be here?” Rick gave the answer Malo was expecting.
“I know.” Grinning evilly, he continued. “And I have a plan that will make the both of us so rich that we won’t have to worry about money ever again.” He paused for effect. “Are you interested?”
“I’d be a fool not to be,” Rick replied amiably, returning his feral smile.
“Good.” Mentally Malo rubbed his hands together. Why, with Cazador at his side, there was nothing he couldn’t do. “Now, the way I figure it, we’ll be at the gold mine late tomorrow or sometime early the following day at the very latest.”
“Yes, so?”
“How good are you at directions? Do you think you could find your way in and out of here again, on your own?”
“Probably.” Rick wondered at the plan he had devised. “Why?”
“Because, they are all idiots.” Malo nodded toward the camp. “And once they have served their purpose ...” He shrugged expressively.
“Are you suggesting we take them?”
“Between the two of us, I’m sure we could,” Malo told him calmly.
“And then we split the gold?”
“That’s right and only two ways. Think of it, Cazador—riches beyond all imagination.”
Rick’s eyes narrowed as he considered the double-dealing proposal with what he hoped looked like real interest. “How do I know that you would
n’t back-shoot me the first chance you get?”
“You don’t. We’ll just have to trust each other, because once we get rid of the old man, there’ll be the two of us left who know the mine’s exact location. Two men could make it in here, but one man, on his own, would have no chance. We need each other.”
“I’ll think about it,” he answered quietly, resisting the urge to gut-shoot him right then and there. “And I’ll let you know, after I’ve seen the color of the gold.”
“You do that. We could do well together, Cazador. With my gold and your gun—”
“Our gold.” Rick’s smile was deadly as he met Malo’s eyes.
“We’re thinking more alike already.” Malo tried to weasel out of his words for, in that moment, he had known what it must be like to face Cazador down the barrel of a gun during a shootout, and he didn’t like the feeling at all.
“I know.” And they walked slowly back toward the campsite.
Jennie sat quietly on the bedroll, the calm demeanor she was displaying outwardly totally at odds with the conflict warring within her. She had to get away. She couldn’t stay, not after seeing him with Lucia; and then the way he’d treated her afterward.
Her stubborn McCaine pride surged forth, forcing Jennie to deny to herself all the finer emotions he had stirred to life within her. She had not loved him. It had all been a terrible mistake. How could she love someone as ruthless as Cazador? He was a man without conscience, a man without morals, who would take whatever he wanted and damn the consequences.
Well, Jennie thought heatedly, if he wanted Lucia, he was welcome to her, but he darn well wasn’t going to have her at the same time!
Looking up, Jennie spied Cazador returning to camp with Malo, and she wondered again at the connection between them as they stopped to talk with the other men.
“Who’s on guard duty first?” Malo demanded, and a general rumble of complaint went through the men.
“I’ll stand one watch,” Rick offered, hoping for the opportunity to speak with Juan.
“I’ll take one, too,” Luis said quickly. “Let me watch the old man, Malo.”