by Lenore Wolfe
Kat cocked her head. “Hidden passage?”
Hawk nodded. “Jake’s looking for it now, should be right behind me soon.”
“Will do.” Kat tilted her hat at him and headed on down the trail to the ranch.
Hawk was heading up the trail. Jake had said he’d catch up as soon as he checked things out. Hawk peered over the edge. If anyone could find that passageway, it was Jake. That had to be the way they were bringing in the cattle. Half-way up the trail, Hawk heard a lone horse behind him. He muttered an expletive under his breath. That better be Jake, ‘cause he was wide open with nowhere to go and, whoever it was, was coming up fast.
He leveled his Winchester at the bend. Seeing Jake come around the corner, he sheathed the rifle.
It was Jake’s turn to swear, having been caught with his pants down.
Hawk chuckled. “Got the drop on ya.”
Jake more snarled than smiled.
“Did you find it?”
Jake actually grinned, then. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
It was Hawk’s turn to smile. “Come on, let’s make tracks.” The two lost no more time in finding the ranch house.
Late in the afternoon, they had located the cabin and circled the entire area, getting a good layout of the land. Jake went down to meet Kat and the hands. She had left Kid in Lydia’s care and returned. Kid was grumpy that he was about to miss all the action. One of the hands had gone for the doc. He was to let the doc know he might want to stick around... ‘cause it was time for a showdown.
“Got a plan for all those cattle you put the hands on?” Hawk asked when everyone was in place and they were within sight of the cabin again... as if he hadn’t guessed. Jake had taken several of the hands and been gathering cattle for the past hour. It hadn’t been too difficult. Kat had been right. There were several hundred head of cattle gathered in the valley, hidden beyond the passageway. Mandy’s cattle, their cattle—and cattle from every ranch from miles around.
Mandy couldn’t have stolen near as many cattle from McCandle.
“Yeah,” Jake drew up his rifle. “A stampede.”
Moments later, Hawk let out a chilling war cry and, within minutes, they had several hundred head of cattle thundering towards the ranch. The thunder of hooves shook the ground like an earthquake.
Gunshots rent the air.
Hearing it, Ashley took out his field scope and got a good look at who was coming. Surprise had him swearing a blue streak when he got a good look at who was in the lead. “Man’s got nine lives,” he sneered. He ran for his office.
Seconds later he hit Mandy’s door in his rage, sending it splintering against the wall. Mandy jumped when he entered her room, an insane gleam in his eyes.
She stared, wide-eyed, at the shackles in his hands.
“What are you going to do?”
“He’s coming,” Ashley laughed like a lunatic. “But he’ll never get you, my sweet.” He laughed. “You’re going down with me.”
Mandy tried to bolt past him, but he easily caught her around the waist. With the power of the insane, he shackled her to the wall. She never stood a chance in fighting him, though she bit, and kicked, and scratched his face.
He picked up the lantern and walked out the door.
“Goodbye love, may we be together again in paradise.”
“Goddess,” Mandy whispered, “he’s going to burn the house down.” She tore at the shackles, tears rolling down her face, oblivious to the fact she was tearing her fingernails from their beds. “Oh, Hawk,” she cried. But Hawk wasn’t here. He’d never help her again. Perhaps it was just as well if she died. For her, life would be an empty shell without him.
Something wooden, and far too calm, stole over her. She was surprised to realize her panic was gone. She slid to the floor, her back against the cabin wall—to wait.
Tears rolled from her eyes, and she centered on her Grandmothers.
Have faith, child. Your time has not come yet.
Oh sweet Goddess, she could hear them again.
How, Grandmothers. The house is on fire.
Have faith, you will soon see.
Even Mandy couldn’t see how she would escape this one, so she couldn’t believe what she saw appear at the door through the shimmering haze of her tears.
“Hawk?!”
He’d never looked so good, striding straight for her.
Her tears came, now, in ragged sobs. “You’re alive. Oh, Hawk.” She wanted to put her arms around him, but the shackles brought her up short.
Hawk’s eyes narrowed on the shackles. “I’ll kill him.” He grabbed them and tried to yank them from the wall. Again and again he yanked at them, but to no avail.
“I love you, Hawk.”
“I’m not leaving you here, so just get that out of your beautiful head,” he growled.
Jake came through the door and, seeing Hawk give a thunderous pull on the chains, quickly joined him. With a violence born from deep hate for the man who’d killed his wife and was now trying to kill his sister-in-law, Jake yanked on the chains.
“You’ve got to get Hawk out of here,” Mandy pleaded with him.
“We’re not leaving without you,” Jake answered. His tone brooked no argument.
Mandy wasn’t listening. She only knew they’d die if they didn’t get out of there now. “You have to get him out of here.”
“No! Get that out of your head.” Hawk growled. “We are not going anywhere until we get you free.”
“That’s right.” Ashley said from the doorway. “Nobody’s going—anywhere.”
Mandy knew they were in real trouble. She could see it in Hawk’s eyes. She looked up at Jake, saw him register the same realization. The two of them still had their guns strapped to their sides, but in such a small room—they’d all die.
Hawk rounded on him. “What is your problem, brother?” he sneered.
Ashley’s eyes were filled with menace. “You are my problem. You! He just had to go looking for you. Year, after year—hunting for you!”
“So daddy wasn’t there for his baby boy,” Hawk growled. “That doesn’t explain why...”
“It explains everything!” Ashley eyes held an ugly gleam. “The bastard took me with him. And...” he paused, “they took me!”
Mandy frowned. “Who took you?”
“I never knew what tribe they were from,” Ashley sneered. His eyes took on a feral gleam, staring off into space, seeing what no one else could see. When he spoke again, he was speaking to someone visible only to him. “But we took care of those heathens. They got what was coming to them in the end.” He stopped when he realized what he’d revealed.
Mandy swallowed. “Who, Ashley? Who took care of them? What did you do?”
Ashley cocked his head to the side, staring at her as if to contemplate how much to tell her. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything, telling you.” He waved the gun at Hawk, and then Jake, as if to remind them he still watched them. “We’ll all be dead soon anyway.” He smiled that nasty smile that he’d perfected so well.
Mandy caught herself wondering if he’d stood in front of the mirror for hours, practicing it.
“We sent them the blankets.” He watched her face. She knew he wanted his final, great act, his great finale. She schooled her face as her brain fought not to understand what he’d just said. She didn’t want to understand what he had done, what he’d been a part of, but her brain was putting the pieces together in rapid succession, and she saw the feral gleam in his eyes as dawning struck in hers.
She saw Hawk and Jake both step forward at the same time, and Ashley waved the gun like a lunatic bent on destruction. “Go ahead. Give me a reason to shoot you right now. I’ve been waiting for this moment for all of my life.”
He looked back at Mandy, smiling at the shock in her eyes. “Yeah, you know what blankets I’m talking about.” His lip curled around his words like he was sucking on sick—sweet syrup.
Mandy hit the end of her chains in her ra
ge to get to him. “How could you, Ashley?! How you could you do such a thing! There is nothing more evil than that. Do you have any idea how many people died of that small pox? How many woman and children died?”
“They can’t be allowed to live,” was his only answer.
Mandy was taken back by the nasty gleam in his eyes. “Why? For protecting their homes? For protecting their way of life?”
McCandle just smiled for a moment, waving the gun around at the three of them. “No. I can respect a man protecting his home. But they would have known. They would have seen,” he nearly whined.
“They would have seen what?” Mandy nearly yelled, and then, for the second time, dawning came, and with it, realization. “They would have seen who was responsible. What few can see.”
Ashley saluted her with his pistol tip.”
And that was all the time Hawk needed. His gun cleared leather in the blink of an eye, but Ashley was just as fast, and his gun was trained on Mandy.
Hawk glared at his brother with deadly intent.
“Yes, brother, I can see just how bad you want to kill me,” Ashley grinned.
Actually, grinned.
He looked at Mandy. “So you see. We can’t have people giving us away.”
“Us?” Mandy asked. Her delicate brow shot up.
“Oh, yeah. You mean the man who wears the dark suit in the middle of summer in a hot, dusty cattle town. That us.”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on McCandle, who glared at her for her effort.
“They needed him to be sure their work was being done correctly,” he sneered. “Damn waste of money, if you asked me. They had me! Nobody hates those damn renegades more than me. I was bound to do a better job than any one of them!” He backed towards the door.
“Where is he now, McCandle?” Hawk asked, drawing Ashley’s attention off Mandy.
Ashley smiled. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” He waved the pistol around as he spoke. “I’m sure he’s around town somewhere.”
“What else could he possibly want to do?” Jake asked.
Ashley cocked his head at him. “Well, see, people are blind. They just want to be led. They’re like lambs to the slaughter. They select their leader, or whatever, and they believe their job to be done, that they’re now taken care of. And they’ll do what they’re told.” He stepped forward a step, aiming the gun right at Jake’s chest. “But you watch and mark my words. One hundred years from now—two hundred years from now—they will be the ones ruling the world. And no one will even question who’s really in power.”
“That will never happen,” Mandy said, drawing the attention back to her.
“It already is,” Ashley sneered. “Why do you think the United States’ capital flies its own flag? Why do you think the Vatican flies their own flag? Why do you think there’s a place in England—that also flies its own flag?”
Mandy swallowed. “And they are a power who is more spirit, than man,” she whispered. “Which is why they fear a people who might betray their secrets.”
She leaned out towards him as far as her chains would allow her. “But no one would believe them. They’d see them as heathens. They’d never believe their words about an unseen force.”
“Not now, they wouldn’t,” Ashley said. “But someday...”
“And they couldn’t risk that.”
“And now you know.” Ashley saluted her, this time with his free hand, smiling at Hawk. He looked back at Mandy. “I tried to keep you where you couldn’t do any harm. I tried to keep you alive. But you had to go and choose—him.” He waved the pistol toward Hawk.
“They knew you were to help save the people. I tried to keep you where you wouldn’t. But you just wouldn’t listen... so now, you have to die.” He leveled his pistol on Mandy. He looked a bit regretful.
“You should have listened.”
Mandy tensed—waiting for the shot. This was it.
This was the moment you know you have to face, all of your life. But what about the life she and Hawk were supposed to have? What about their children?
She’d seen it, in them, in her dreams.
When it came, she jerked—but felt no pain. She opened her eyes to see Ashley sliding to the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The gun slipped from Star Flower’s fingers. Jake caught her just before she hit the floor.
“He beat her!” Jake grated out.
The muscle in Hawk’s jaw pumped furiously.
Star Flower’s eyes opened. “I had the right,” she whispered. “I know you—wanted him, Hawk...” she looked up at her brother, “but he killed my mother—and our father.”
“Jason?” Hawk stared at her, speechless.
“The key,” she breathed.
“Where?” Hawk asked her, gently.
“My skirt pocket. I followed him. I saw where he...” She passed out.
Hawk found the key and unlocked Mandy’s shackles. Wrapping her in the blanket from the bed, he picked her up.
The smoke in the hall was thick, now. He couldn’t see a thing. It wouldn’t be long before the fire reached them. They felt their way along and found themselves in the kitchen. He set Mandy down and poured water from the basin over cloth, pressing it over Mandy’s mouth and nose, then handing another to Jake for Star Flower before getting two more for them.
Finding their way into the next room, Jake pointed to a large window. He lay Star Flower down and picked up a chair, heaving it though it. He grabbed a large, braided rug and threw it over the frame, then lifted Star Flower through it. Hawk followed with Mandy.
Outside, they gulped huge breaths of fresh air.
They turned and watched as the fire reached the part of the ranch house where they’d just been. Within minutes, it was all gone, like flames to dry kindling.
Mandy cupped Hawk’s face with her small hands. “You’re alive,” she breathed, covering his smoke-covered face with kisses, tears coursing down her own face. He hugged her so tightly that she thought her bones would pop. “For a few minutes, I thought I wouldn’t make it.”
He squeezed her again. “My life would be meaningless without you.”
Remembering their audience, they both turned to look around, expecting to find Jake scowling. To their amazement, he hadn’t been paying any attention to them.
He was too busy, staring at the vision in front of him. “Hawk, is she okay?” Jake had more than a little panic in his voice.
Hawk let Mandy go, upset to realize he’d forgotten his sister.
A moment later Star Flower groaned, and there was a collective sigh of relief.
“Let’s get her to Doc.” Jake picked her up and headed for his horse. He didn’t wait for the others to follow.
Charlie had come around the barn, leading several horses. When he saw Jake doting over Star Flower, his jaw fell open. He started chuckling. “Done caught what’s go’n around?” he teased.
Mounting up behind Star Flower and reining in his horse, Jake glared furiously at him, then turned and headed down the trail.
Hawk picked up Mandy and headed for his own horse.
“I can ride.” Mandy protested.
Hawk put her on his horse, mounting behind her.
“Bring her horse,” he said to Charlie. “Put the rest of the hands on bringing the cattle home.”
“Got it,” Charlie grinned.
Mandy snuggled close to Hawk’s chest, and they headed down the trail.
Two hour later, Hawk had laid Mandy on the bed, waiting for Doc, hovering over her for a moment. He looked at her for a second, then his sister, then back at her.
Mandy saw the confusion in his eyes and instantly knew what the problem was. Taking his hand in hers, she gently squeezed it. “It’s all right Hawk. I’m fine—truly. Except for some lumps and bruises, I’m not hurting anywhere. And except for worrying about Star Flower, I couldn’t be happier.” She smiled at him, gently. “After all, it’s not every day a woman gets a second chance at life with the man sh
e loves.”
He squeezed her hand in return and kissed her softly. “Have I ever said what a fortunate man I am?”
Mandy giggled. “No, but I’ll be waiting to hear it—later.”
“Witch,” he growled, and Mandy laughed.
He went to Star Flower’s room and took her hand in his. “How is she?”
Doc had examined every inch of one side of her scalp, looking for signs of why she wouldn’t wake up.
“She looks to have some cracked ribs,” he answered.
He turned her head and examined the other side.
“Her abdomen isn’t distended or hard, so I don’t think she’s bleeding inside. She has a couple of nasty bruises on her head, probably why she hasn’t woke.”
Hawk’s dark eyes pierced him. “Her head, Doc?”
Doc shook his head. A great weight pressed down on his shoulders. “Only time will tell.”
When he was done with everything he could do for Star Flower, he went to Mandy. “Hawk, here, tells me you might be carrying a little one.”
Mandy blushed. “I’m fine, Doc.”
“Just the same, I want’a take a look at ya.” He waved Hawk out of the room, letting Meg—who had shown up by that time and was raising a ruckus—stay.
When he came out a few minutes later, Hawk was pacing the hall, a muscle in his jaw ticking.
“Practicing?” Doc couldn’t resist.
Hawk let out a heavy breath, “Is that your roundabout way of telling me they’re all right?”
Doc grinned. “They’re both fine. Mandy’s healthy as a horse, and the babe looks like he’s staying put.”
Hawk smiled. Jake, who’d stepped out in the hall upon hearing the doc telling Hawk the good news about Mandy and the babe, broke into a full grin, slapping Hawk on the back before going back in to watching Star Flower.
“Now,” Doc told Hawk, “it’s your turn.”
Glaring furiously at Doc, he relented and sat down, letting him take a look at his head and ribs. Doc was just finishing bandaging his ribs when the sheriff walked in.
“I hope you have a good explanation as to why both the McCandles are dead, and nearly half their men with them.”