Wilderness Double Edition 27

by David Robbins

  Felicity looked, turned away, and looked again. She never expected anything like this. Zach had fought the Blackfeet, the Sioux, even the Apaches once. She had assumed he would get the best of Kilraven’s party as he had bested all his other enemies. After a while she could not watch any more. How he took it, she would never know.

  ‘The whipping is over,’ Simon said softly. He had seldom been so glad of anything. He saw Kilraven and some of the others smile and laugh as they turned their backs on the blood-streaked figure. Zach appeared to be barely conscious.

  ‘Are they just going to let him hang there?’

  ‘Looks like,’ Simon said.

  ‘That’s inhuman,’ Felicity declared. ‘What do we do? We have to help him. We have to do something.’

  Simon nodded. ‘The trick is to do it without getting ourselves killed. Make no mistake. Kilraven is no longer content with driving us from our home. He wants us dead.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘Call it an educated guess.’ Simon drew back from the edge and she followed suit. ‘I’ll be careful when I go down there. But if anything happens to me, go to Bent’s Fort. Someone there will get word to Nate King.’

  ‘When you go down there?’ Felicity said.

  ‘We can’t take Peter with us, and we certainly can’t leave him alone,’ Simon said. ‘Who knows what might happen by. Another wolf, a mountain lion, a bear, you name it.’

  ‘We could both ride to Bent’s Fort and send word to Nate,’ Felicity proposed.

  ‘It could take weeks to find him. By then Zach will be long dead.’

  ‘Maybe we can persuade St. Vrain to send men to help Zach.’

  ‘Even that would take too long.’ Simon refused to abandon Zach to Kilraven’s cruelties. ‘And there’s no guarantee anyone except St. Vrain would come. Zach is not as well liked as his sire.’ The truth was, a lot of those who frequented the trading post would like nothing better than to have Zach dead. Some, because he was a half-breed. Some, because Zach had a knack for making enemies. ‘I have to do this myself.’

  Dread clawing at her vitals, Felicity asked, ‘When do you propose to sneak down there?’

  Simon squinted skyward. ‘As soon as the sun goes down.’ He did not look forward to it. He was no fighter, like Zach. He was a homesteader, plain and simple, and would as soon live the rest of his days without ever lifting a finger against his fellow man. But that was not realistic. On the frontier, conflicts were part and parcel of everyday life. It was a risk every homesteader had to brave daily, and part of the reason more people had not flocked West yet. But they would. Simon was confident that one day the prairie and the foothills and the mountains would teem with towns and cities and farms like his own. He looked forward to that day. He longed for it.

  Felicity stared at the slumped figure between the posts. She knew her husband was right; he had to go help Zach. But her love for him made her desperate for an alternative. ‘What will you do when you get there? What help can you be when there are so many of them?’

  ‘I will do what I can,’ Simon said. He had no plan other than to free Zach.

  ‘If Peter and I went with you, we could watch your back. You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, you know.’

  ‘I appreciate your devotion, but no. You will wait up here, and if the worst comes to pass, do as we discussed.’

  ‘Is that an order?’ Felicity did not like being told what to do. She never had, even as a little girl. One of the things she admired the most about Simon was that he was not the bossy sort. He was not one of those husbands always commanding their wives to do this or that. He valued her opinions and sentiments, always gave her a say in all they did.

  ‘Don’t start,’ Simon said.

  Felicity sulked the rest of the afternoon. She racked her mind for an argument that would convince him to change his mind, but there was none. Not with Peter to think of. One of them had to look after their son, and in this particular instance it had to be her.

  Gradually the sun dipped toward the horizon. Felicity marked its descent with mounting trepidation. When it began to sink bit by bit, her anxiety climbed in corresponding degrees.

  Simon was studying the camp below. He had memorized where the fires were and where the horse string was in relation to the fires and where the sentries were posted.

  Earlier, about four in the afternoon, a party of men had ridden off into the valley, leading a string of horses. They returned about six, and Simon was surprised to see long poles lashed to the horses. Trimmed saplings, he suspected, which were then used to erect makeshift tents out of spare blankets. There was one tent for Lord Kilraven and his wife; another for his niece, Cadena; and a third, much smaller, for the maids.

  The shadows lengthened. Twilight descended, and was in turn eclipsed by the starry mantle of night.

  Simon stirred and turned. ‘It’s time,’ he announced.

  Felicity embraced him. There was so much she wanted to say, but the lump in her throat made it difficult to speak. Finally she whispered, ‘Come back to me. My life would be empty without you.’

  They turned to Peter, who had fallen asleep curled in a ball with his arm for a pillow.

  Simon tenderly touched his son’s cheek. ‘No matter what, don’t let anything happen to him.’ He looked Felicity in the eyes, and when she nodded, he kissed her. ‘I love you.’

  ‘And I you.’

  Simon rose and headed down the hill.

  Sixteen

  The cool of night revived Zach. From off the high peaks came a brisk breeze to dispel the heat of the day. He was startled awake by what he took to be the feel of clammy fingers running along the blood-seeped furrows that crisscrossed his back from his shoulders to his waist. His arms throbbed with pain, his shoulders screamed for relief. He tried to lick his lips, but his mouth was as dry as a desert.

  Zach gazed about him. Kilraven’s party ringed half a dozen campfires. At the nearest sat his lordship and Lady Kilraven, servants at their elbow ready to wait on every whim. Hatred welled inside him, hatred so strong he had to take deep breaths to calm himself.

  To relieve cramps in his arms, Zach tried to flex them. The slight movement provoked extreme torture. His wrists were rubbed raw of skin; the ropes had eaten into his flesh and were caked with dry blood.

  Zach let his chin droop. He was nearly spent. The whippings had taken more out of him than he would have imagined possible. But he refused to succumb and pass out again. His father liked to say that so long as there was life, there was hope. In Zach’s case, so long as there was life, he had a chance at exacting revenge.

  ‘Look who is back among the living.’

  Zach glanced up. Cadena had come over. She was smiling and sipping from a china cup. He did not reply.

  ‘I must say, I admire your stamina. Most men would be at death’s doorstep after two whippings.’

  Zach glared at her.

  ‘Nothing to say? Or is that you can’t? Would you care for a drink? You must be terribly thirsty after hanging there most of the day without water.’

  Against his better judgment, Zach was able to rasp out, ‘I would like some water, yes.’

  ‘Too bad,’ Cadena smirked. She drained her cup and smacked her lips. ‘Delicious, this tea. You should try some.’

  ‘None of you will ever see your own country again,’ Zach told her.

  ‘Oh my. Is this where I faint in fear?’ Cadena laughed. ‘I expect better of you than idle threats.’

  Zach bowed his head. He had said all he was going to.

  ‘My uncle has given word that you are not to be given any sustenance whatsoever,’ Cadena informed him. ‘No water, no food, nothing. In the morning, if you are still alive, and it certainly seems you will be, he plans to whip you again and go on whipping you until his lash bites clear down to the bone. By this time tomorrow night you will be...’ She paused. ‘What is that quaint expression I heard at Bent’s Fort? Oh, yes. You will be worm food.’

&nb
sp; Zach closed his eyes. He must conserve his strength, his energy.

  ‘Say something,’ Cadena said, and when he didn’t, she stamped her foot in that habit she had. ‘Come now. This is childish. I came over to talk to you, thinking you might like the company.’

  Now it was Zach who smirked at her. He could not resist. ‘I generally shy away from the company of bitches.’

  Cadena’s features might have been carved from ice. ‘Very well. Have it your way. Be petty if you want. But I will tell you this.’ She took a step nearer. ‘When you have breathed your last, I am going to treat myself to a glass of wine to celebrate your passing.’ Pivoting on a heel, she walked off.

  Zack laughed. It came out as more of a bray but it felt good, damn good.

  ‘You are in awful good spirits for someone who won’t ever set eyes on his wife and kin again.’

  From around the post on the right strolled Edwin Ryker, his rifle in the crook of his elbow. He had a piece of roast venison impaled on the tip of his knife.

  ‘Come to gloat?’

  ‘I brought you this,’ Ryker said, and wagged his knife.

  ‘I thought no one is to feed me?’ Zach said. ‘I thought you needed Kilraven’s permission to talk to me.’

  ‘No one tells me what to do.’ Ryker gazed after the retreating figure of Cadena. ‘What did she want?’

  ‘To show me she is no different from her uncle.’

  Ryker sighed. ‘No, she isn’t. She had me thinking she was for a spell, but I came to my senses. To hell with her, and to hell with him.’

  To Zach’s astonishment, the meat was suddenly at his mouth.

  ‘Here. Eat as much as you want.’

  The aroma was more than Zach could endure. He sank his teeth into the succulent deer meat and chewed lustily. Seldom had venison tasted so delicious. He swallowed it after only a few chews and bit off another piece.

  ‘Slow down there, hoss. You’ll make yourself sick,’ Ryker cautioned.

  Zach stopped chewing long enough to ask, ‘Why are you doing this?’

  Ryker glanced toward where Kilraven and Saxona were having an animated talk with Cadena. ‘Think of it as my way of mending fences. I never counted on anything like this.’

  ‘If it’s forgiveness you’re after, you’ve come to the wrong person,’ Zach said bluntly, and took another bite.

  ‘Hell, give me more credit. I know you well enough to know that if you had a pistol in your hand right now, you’d shoot me dead.’ Ryker, strangely enough, smiled. ‘I also know that your pa is a man of honor, and I’m hoping some of that rubbed off on you.’

  ‘I’ve lost your trail,’ Zach confessed between chews.

  Again Ryker glanced at the Kilravens. ‘I need to talk fast. They might spot me.’ He stood so his back was to them. ‘It’s like this. I want nothing more to do with that bastard. He went back on his word to me, which frees me to go back on my word to him. I aim to light a shuck here in a bit, and good riddance.’

  ‘You’re leaving?’

  ‘I should say I am. I’m heading for Bent’s Fort. After that, who knows? I’ve been meaning to pay Oregon Country a visit, and now is as good a time as any.’ Ryker grinned. ‘If you want me, you will have to come a far piece to find me. I am gambling it will be too much bother.’

  ‘If you really want to make amends, cut me loose,’ Zach said. He bit off yet another morsel.

  ‘Sorry. I don’t trust you. I wouldn’t put it past you to try to kill me.’ Ryker lowered his voice. ‘But I have done you one other favor. I got hold of your weapons. They are wrapped in a blanket over by the horse string. If you can get loose, my advice is take them and get the hell out of here.’

  Zach glanced toward the string. ‘I don’t see a blanket.’

  ‘It’s there. Your ammo pouch and possibles bag and the rest, too.’ Ryker stepped back and lowered his knife. ‘It is the best I can do, King. If it’s not enough, I’ve told you where you can find me.’ He turned to go.

  ‘Do me one more favor, and I’ll consider not looking you up,’ Zach said.

  Ryker paused in midstride. ‘Depends on the favor. I’ve already told you I won’t cut you loose.’

  ‘That’s not it. I want you to promise me that you’ll never mention Kilraven or his people to anyone. Never say a word about him hiring you or what went on here.’

  Ryker’s brow puckered. ‘As favors go it is peculiar. I trust you have a good reason?’

  ‘Your word,’ Zach said.

  ‘If you give me yours that we’re even, and that I won’t have to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.’

  ‘Consider it given,’ Zach said.

  ‘That’s not good enough. I want to hear it, straight tongue.’

  Zach hesitated, but only for a few seconds. ‘I swear by my wife, I swear by my mother and my father, I swear by my sister, that I will not hunt you down and kill you. Will that do?’

  ‘That’ll do fine.’ Ryker raised a finger to his hat. ‘Good luck.’

  Zach noticed Lord Kilraven staring at them. He sagged to give the impression he was on the verge of collapse, when actually, thanks to the venison, a newfound surge of vitality coursed through his veins. He wished there had been more meat. The scant amount he ate had done wonders. But the effect might not last long.

  Footsteps warned Zach someone else was approaching. He could guess who it was.

  ‘Confound that man, he never does as I command. His impertinence is galling. What did he say to you?’

  ‘He was poking fun,’ Zach lied. ‘Get in your own licks while you still can.’

  ‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Lord Kilraven demanded.

  ‘If you were smart you would finish me off now, but you are not smart so you won’t.’

  Lord Kilraven chortled. ‘Let me be sure I understand the extent of your stupidity. You want me to kill you here and now?’

  ‘You would if you had a lick of sense.’

  ‘Fascinating,’ Kilraven said. ‘But I would rather we end this in the morning. That’ll give you all night to think about it, to worry, to weep with anxiety if you want.’

  ‘You have me confused with one of the women,’ Zach said flatly. ‘I would never cry over something as trivial as this.’

  ‘Trivial?’ Lord Kilraven repeated. ‘Your own death? Has your mind snapped from the punishment I inflicted?’

  ‘Everyone dies. You. Me. Everyone,’ Zach told him. ‘To die is the natural course of things. We all end the same, rich or poor, powerful or run of the mill. In the scheme of life, dying is nothing special.’

  Kilraven laughed. ‘Your homespun philosophy amuses me. But I can assure you that you will not think your death so inconsequential come morning. You will cherish life to the last. You will cling to it as a mother to her precious newborn.’

  ‘What would you know of mothers?’ Zach countered. ‘Your wife mentioned that you don’t have any kids. That’s why you let your niece traipse all over creation with you.’

  ‘No, we do not, but it is not for a lack of trying,’ Lord Kilraven said curtly. ‘And it is hardly a subject worthy of discussion with the likes of you.’

  ‘There is a saying in these parts,’ Zach said.

  ‘There is no fool like someone who does not know they are a fool.’

  ‘Yet more cryptic nonsense. Very well. Have your fun while you may, for tomorrow it ends forever.’

  Zach gazed about the encampment. ‘You might consider sending your servants back to Bent’s Fort.’

  ‘Whatever for?’

  ‘Tell them that if you haven’t shown up in a couple of weeks, they should go back to Britain.’

  ‘Your bluster begins to bore me,’ Lord Kilraven said sharply. ‘Do you honestly expect me to deprive myself of their services? To dress myself? To cook my own food?’

  ‘Do they wash you, too?’

  ‘Go ahead. Scoff. Your envy falls on deaf ears. My station in life entitles me to pamper myself, and pamper myself I will.’


  ‘If any of them are alive after this is over, maybe they will bury you, too,’ Zach said.

  Kilraven’s disgust was transparent. ‘Infantile, is what you are. Our discussion is at an end.’

  Zach spent the next several hours in a state of anxious expectation. He could not try to free himself until most everyone was asleep, and no one showed an inclination to turn in.

  Along about ten, Severn and Meldon checked that the ropes securing his wrists to the post were still knotted and tight. Smiling maliciously, Severn gave each rope a tug, fully aware of the pain it would cause.

  ‘This one’s not going anywhere.’

  ‘I’m looking forward to tomorrow,’ Meldon remarked. ‘I’ve never seen anyone whipped to death before. It will be something to talk about when we get back.’

  ‘You’ll never see England again,’ Zach informed them.

  Severn scowled. ‘You need to learn to mind your betters, boy.’ With that, he drove his knee up and in.

  The pain that exploded in Zach’s groin nearly blacked him out. All his newfound vitality evaporated. His legs buckled and he hung by his wrists, the night swimming around him.

  ‘Better be careful,’ Meldon said to Severn. ‘His lordship won’t like it if you deprive him of his entertainment.’

  ‘I never yet heard of a good one to the bollocks killing a man,’ Severn responded. ‘Think of it as a little something for this sod to remember us by.’

  Between clenched teeth Zach hissed, ‘I will remember you were a fool, and that is all.’

  ‘Make me madder, why don’t you?’ Severn gripped Zach’s hair and gave his head a violent wrench. ‘You don’t know when to leave well alone. But you won’t be acting so tough after his lordship is done with you.’ He spat in Zach’s face.

  Zach nearly went berserk. Every instinct he possessed cried for him to kick, to bite, to strike out in any way possible. It took all the self-control he had not to.