“Lizzie, honey,” Marshall said gently, “I thought you understood. I told you about the chase when we talked about the mating.”
“You said it was symbolic. Only you and me. This doesn’t sound symbolic at all. It sounds like Creepy Eyes running me down like a damned deer!” She couldn’t do this, she wouldn’t.
“Calvin Everest would have to beat me to you. That’s not something you have to worry about.” Elizabeth could see him hesitate.
“I hear a ‘but’ in there.” She was on her feet again and she shook her finger an inch from his nose. “And God help you and every member of this pack if you say what I think you’re going to. Because that’s where I really draw the line.” When he paled, she had her answer. She went to the wall phone and ripped the receiver off the hook. She ran her finger down the yellowed list on the wall.
“Lizzie, honey, what are you doing? Let me explain.”
“There is no explanation. I will not, under any circumstances, with you or anyone else, now or in the near or far future, fu-fu-fu- fornicate in front of an audience!”
“Aw, jeeze.” Henry buried his head in his arms.
“Lizzie!”
“Hello, Maggie? Can you meet me at the Dizzy Dish? No, it’s a little more serious than that and I need to talk to someone who has some sense. Oh, and my laptop is in the truck. Would you ask Gwenna to bring it over? Thanks, I’ll see you in a few.”
“Lizzie.” The word was an order and a plea.
“I’m not running away,” she huffed. “I know you’re right. I have no choice but to see this through. I love you, Marshall, but I can’t sit here and listen to you plan the deaths of our people. And don’t ask me to play a part in some sick medieval tournament where I’m the prize. You and Henry do whatever you need to do. I’m going to the Dizzy Dish and talk to Maggie. At least she’s sane.
Chapter 36
“How can you possibly think this is a good idea in this day and age?” Elizabeth scowled at the older woman. “You’re as insane as the rest of them!”
Max snickered and said in a clearly audible aside to Gwenna. “She’s just figuring that out? And here we all thought she was the smart one.”
Elizabeth included the two younger women in her glare. “You two aren’t helping. This is medieval.”
“Oh, I think it dates to before that,” Maggie commented wryly.
Gwenna shrugged. “Compared to the Double W, it’s positively enlightened. If George had Challenged for me, they would have made sure he never made it to Wyoming. Personally, I think the only reason Everest is Challenging for a Chase is because they screwed up the kidnapping in the first place.” Elizabeth and Max stared at her. “What? After all this you think they were trying to do to you what they did to Max? No way. Their goal wasn’t to kill her, but they didn’t care if Max died.” Her eyes shifted to Elizabeth. “They could have run you off the road any time they chose, but they wanted you alive. Scared shitless, maybe, but in good enough shape to mate. That’s how they operate. I would’ve said something sooner, but I didn’t know you’d met the bastard.” Gwenna looked sympathetically at Max. “Didn’t know the bastards that got you were from Wyoming, either.”
“Nobody did.” Max shrugged.
“My point is it don’t matter whether you like it or not,” Maggie got back to the subject at hand. “The Chase is Pack Law and there’s nothing we can do about it.” She pointed at Elizabeth. “You need to quit your bellyaching and start thinking of ways to make sure Marshall wins instead of giving him more to worry about.”
“I can refuse to participate.” Elizabeth stubbornly held her ground. “They can’t chase what isn’t there.”
“And all that’ll mean is Marshall forfeits the Challenge and Everest will be free to do what he wants. Use your head, girl. Quit whining and start thinking.”
“Start thinking about what?” Elizabeth cried. “About how I’ll have no idea where I’m running up in those woods, about how I’ll probably fall flat on my face within the first five minutes, about how, if Creepy Eyes gets to me first I’ll have to spend the rest of my probably short life with him? Thinking about my probable rape is not conducive to a clear analysis, Maggie!”
“There ain’t going to be no rape and shame on you for thinking Marshall’s going to let that bastard touch you. He’ll be there for you or die trying.”
And that was the worst of it. Marshall could die trying. But he could die in the battle beforehand and Everest’s men would certainly do their best to make that happen. Then the Chase would again be symbolic. She wouldn’t have a chance. Maggie was right. There was no way to avoid this. The best she could do was make Creepy Eyes’ plans as difficult to execute as possible. It was time to start thinking. Elizabeth blew her breath out in a great windy huff and looked Maggie in the eye.
“Where do I begin?”
“Right here.” Sally Ann, who’d been working in the back, came around the corner with a rolled up tube of paper about three feet long. “It’s a map of this side of the mountain from Roman’s Granddaddy’s time. I thought to frame it once, but never got around to it. You work out a place where Elizabeth and Marshall can meet up if he don’t catch her right off. Then you mark off the route she needs to take.” She nodded at Max and Gwenna. “You girls get her up there this evening and tomorrow morning. Show her the way. Leave a few markings for her to follow.”
“The Alpha’s pool,” Elizabeth said without thinking. “It’s not a place people talk about. Everest wouldn’t have heard about it. The path isn’t well used…”
“You’re going to have to cut through the woods. Paths, even old ones, are too easy to follow.” Max ran her finger in a diagonal from Marshall’s to the pool. It’s a rough run, but you can do it.”
“Town might be better,” Sally Ann suggested. “She can cut around the ridge and over the creek. It ain’t too high this time of year. She can pick up the tail halfway down and it’s all downhill. Make an easier run.”
“Too obvious,” said Gwenna. “They’ll be looking for her to head downhill. She won’t ever make it to town. They’ll stop her.”
“You think they’ll cheat?” Eileen stood behind the counter wiping her hands.
“Hell no I don’t think. I know they’ll cheat. Before I came here, I thought cheating was a way of life. Anyone, wolver or not, was fair game. You all better start thinking about how to play this game by their rules.”
“We don’t cheat,” Maggie said firmly.
“No we don’t,” Max agreed just as firmly, “But I don’t see as it would be our fault if there was a thing or two out there in the woods that all us locals knew about, but strangers might find a bit troublin’. I’m calling Vickie. She can get Junior and some of the younger boys up to Marshall’s where we can put ‘em to work while I show Elizabeth where to run.”
Elizabeth looked at the map again and shrugged. “This morning my only problem was finding a dress for my mating. No problem now. I’ll be wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt with sneakers on my feet. At least they’ll be my own so my feet won’t blister.”
Maggie patted her hand. “Oh, honey, what you’ll wear hasn’t changed. You’ll be mated in a plain white shift same as we all were. I got yours all made and hanging in the closet. We wouldn’t want ole Everest to think you were prepared to put up a fight.” She looked at the map and then at Elizabeth. “Though now I think about it, we might need to alter it a bit. Max?” she called to the young woman who was just hanging up the phone. “You get Harmony on there and tell her we need her sewing machine and six young women over here right away. Tell her they all need to be faster than a rabbit with a hound on its tail. Oh, and we’ll need six or eight plain white sheets.”
Maggie explained to the others what the girls and sheets were for. “We’ll call them your unofficial bridal party. Max, Gwenna, you two take Elizabeth back up to Marshall’s and start planning the route. None of us got time to waste.”
“I need another hour,” Elizabeth said quietly, “I have a pho
ne call to make. It’s long distance Sally Ann, but…?”
“You make your call, honey. We’ll consider the bill a gift to our new Mate.”
“One way or another it looks like I’ll be your new Mate. All we have to do now is make sure I’m attached to the right Alpha.”
Elizabeth meant it to sound positive and was unprepared for Gwenna’s reaction. The young woman began to shake as if some emotional dam had broken. She put her head down on the table and cried.
“Marshall is my Alpha. He has to be the Alpha. Any other way and George dies.”
Elizabeth put her arm around her. “Oh, Gwenna, you don’t think after all this time…”
Gwenna’s head snapped up. “Yes! You stand against Calvin Everest and he’ll hold the grudge for a lifetime. He’ll bide his time. He’ll wait his chance. But sooner or later, he will get his revenge. This whole disaster is my fault. If I’d done what was expected…”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Elizabeth said laughing with a heartiness that sounded a tiny bit false. “I thought it was my overwhelming beauty and animal magnetism that was at fault here.”
“I thought it was Marshall’s good for nothing brother,” Max added.
“And I thought it was Marshall’s for not calling Everest out the last time.” Maggie shrugged. “Told him then he needed to kill the bastard.”
Both wolver women looked at Maggie in awe. “You told the Alpha he was wrong?”
“I didn’t tell him he was wrong. I jest told him since he was fighting anyway he ought to make the Challenge personal and put an end to it. And it looks like I was right.”
“Everest didn’t fight the last time?” Elizabeth asked, surprised. She’d thought Marshall had fought Everest before and won.
“Hell no. The Alpha don’t have to fight unless it’s a personal Challenge, but Marshall believes it’s wrong to ask the pack to do what he’s not willing to do himself. The old Alpha was the same way.” Maggie grabbed some napkins from the holder and passed them to Gwenna. “Now you dry your eyes Gwenna Hadley. Nothing’s going to happen to George. Our wolvers are going to win this fight. Our Alpha’s going to win his Mate. And come next spring, you’ll have that baby you’ve been waiting for. You, too, Maxine.”
“Babies?” Elizabeth looked from one to the other. “If you two are pregnant, I’m not going to let you risk yourselves for my sake.” The plan didn’t call for them to place themselves in danger, but Everest’s wolvers were ruthless and she wouldn’t let them take that chance.
They looked at Maggie and Maggie nodded. “There’s been enough secrets. She needs to know the whole of it.”
“You ever noticed how there’s no babies in Rabbit Creek? No children under six?” Max asked quietly.
Elizabeth hadn’t noticed. Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall what she’d seen. No strollers, no baby backpacks, no car seats. No mothers chasing after escaping toddlers, no babies carried on hips. In the gatherings at Marshall’s, there were children running around the yard, but none under six. No babies crying to be fed, no diapers to be changed, no races to the potty. How could she have missed it?
“My God,” she breathed.
“Yeah,” Gwenna agreed sadly. “No Mate, no babies. Now you know why we called Eugene Begley. It wasn’t for the Alpha or for the pack. It was for us. It was personal.”
“So what we’re doing here now? It’s personal, too,” Max added. She held out her hand to Gwenna. “For some of us more than others. And it’ll be personal for every woman Harmony calls to help. We were desperate for an Alpha’s Mate, Elizabeth. It was a bonus you were perfect for the job. We didn’t pretend to like you.”
“I know,” Elizabeth reassured her, “Maggie told me about the others.” How horrible for these women to have the solution to their infertility within reach and possibly snatched away. Again. And then she thought in horror, “No, it won’t be snatched away. If anything happens to Marshall, I’ll still be their Mate. Calvin Everest will be the Alpha.” It would be a small consolation for these women and none for herself.
It must have shown on her face, because Maggie grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Don’t you even think it, Elizabeth, and if you can’t help but think it, don’t you dare let it show on your face. You keep your faith in Marshall and you let every member of this pack see it in the way you act and hear it when you speak. He needs to see it and hear it. You complain a lot about how your mama raised you, but that woman taught you how to stand tall. Use it. You call up that anger we saw this morning and you use that, too. We’re all going to do our part. We expect nothing less from our Mate.”
Elizabeth felt herself redden with shame. Maggie was right. She had to put her fear for herself aside. There were greater things at stake here. She straightened her shoulders and nodded.
“I need to make those phone calls. Oh, and do you guys know a good attorney?
Chapter 37
Marshall had spent the evening with the men of his pack. When Elizabeth entered the kitchen for a last glass of water before her ordeal began, they appeared to be fighting over who would fight and who would stay. He was angry that the Challenge hadn’t yet come and was half convinced that it was all a hoax perpetrated by his brother. Elizabeth knew different and told him so. One of her phone calls had been to Charles.
She’d known immediately Charles wasn’t alone when he called her by her mother’s name.
“Deborah, darling, I thought you were in Europe. When did you get back? Lunch tomorrow? You know I’d love to, but I’m afraid I’ll be out of town. I’ve been shanghaied to do a little judging for some silly contest in that hamlet I was telling you about. Yes, yes, I know, but we must keep the natives happy. It’s for the best, really.”
He was telling her that he would be a witness to the Challenge.
“I’ll only be gone for the weekend, so of course I’ll be available,” he went on, “Thirty for dinner? I thought John said fifty. Ah, that makes sense. Invite the others for the party later.”
Gwenna was right. Calvin Everest was going to cheat. He would say thirty wolvers, but would bring fifty. Why?
Charles laughed as if she’d said something funny. “Yes, well, it’s best if some mysteries remain hidden, don’t you think? You never know, I might have a few surprises of my own.”
Thirty of the wolvers would be out in the open. Twenty more would be hidden. She told him what she wanted and this time his laugh was genuine.
“He’ll never go for it, but then you have more influence in that department than I ever could. I’ll overnight it to you and yours, Deborah. Best of luck with your party, darling.”
Elizabeth’s revelations caused another flurry of argument and discussion among the wolvers at Marshall’s. It was obvious to all. There would be wolves in the woods where there shouldn’t be and the only reason for their presence would be to hunt Marshall. Everest was determined to win the Chase at any cost.
“He can’t do that, Alpha. The Witnesses won’t allow it.” George slammed the kitchen table with his fist. He looked around at the others Marshall had chosen as his lieutenants.
“Ah, George,” Roman groaned in disbelief. “What world you been living in? Calvin Everest thinks he has the Witnesses in his back pocket.” Roman shook his head at his friend’s naiveté. “He don’t know we got two of our own.”
“Three,” Elizabeth interrupted. “We have three. Charles wouldn’t have given us a heads up if he was in Everest’s pocket.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s ours,” Roman told her. “That Charles, he always was one to put himself first. If he’s helping us, he probably has his own reasons.”
It was no use arguing. At least Marshall gave her a sympathetic nod. She had more to tell him, but she didn’t think now was the time.
“You and Max better get a move on.” He gave her a quick hug. “You be careful once it’s dark. I don’t think they’ll try anything now, but…”
“I’m not the one you need to worry about.” Elizabeth smiled
and ran her hand along his face. “When we’re done, I’m going to the Home Place,” she whispered even though she knew the others would hear. “It’s where I belong.”
“Me, too,” Marshall whispered back, “I’ll stop by to say goodnight.”
Elizabeth was exhausted from traipsing through the woods with Max. They’d gone over and over the route, marking the way with bright red ribbons. At sunup tomorrow she would run it alone. Again and again until she knew the route by heart.
Max’s plans had escalated after Elizabeth’s phone calls. She called in more boys like Junior; too young to be chosen to fight, but old enough to work like men. The first time she took Elizabeth through the woods, Max marked off the spots where she wanted them to work. They were still working when Elizabeth made her last run.
She’d showered, powdered, and dressed in her nightgown with the little pink roses around her neck. Afraid she’d fall asleep, she wrapped herself in a blanket and sat in her rocker on her porch with a glass of red wine. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t alone.
GW and Morgan were prowling around out there in the darkness and they weren’t the only ones. Elizabeth was sure Marshall had assigned some of the younger wolvers to keep watch. He wouldn’t allow them to fight in the coming battle, but he would make them feel they were contributing to the effort. How like Marshall to make sure they all felt important to the pack.
Even ten year old Bobby had been sent up the narrow trail to the pool. He was riding on the broad back of one of the Percherons to carry her back to Marshall’s. The boy was so proud he’d been given a job, Elizabeth didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d rather walk over hot coals than climb up behind him on that monster horse. He chattered about home and school which would be starting soon.
“I’ll be in fifth grade this year and I’m gonna work real hard. My grades weren’t so good last year and Marshall says I gotta work harder. Pa says the Alpha wants his wolvers to be strong in mind as well as body and if’n I expect to see my first turnin’ when I’m fifteen, I’d best be getting’ busy. You think that’s right, Miz Elizabeth?” His shoulders sank as he sighed. “School’s awful hard.”
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