The Enchanted Land

by Jude Deveraux

  As he pulled Seth to one side to cut away the rest of his shirt, Seth’s face blanched, and Jake saw the pain in his glazed eyes. Carefully, Jake felt along Seth’s side and knew the ribs were broken. He removed his own shirt and tied it around Seth’s ribs, binding them.

  Jake covered Seth’s body from the drafts, and the big man slept. Jake didn’t even have a shirt to cover his bony body from the sand burrs and needles of the ground, but he lay close to Seth’s travois, and slept.

  It was late afternoon when he awoke. Seth’s breath was shallow and fast, and when Jake felt his forehead, it was cool and his fingers were cold. He was beginning to try to move, to kick the blankets off, but at the same time clutching them closer.

  “Easy, boy. Quiet now.”

  “Morgan…”

  “We’re going to her. We’ll find her. Just be quiet and she’ll be with you soon.”

  They traveled many hours, and Jake became increasingly worried about Seth. Walking beside the tired horse, he began to piece together what he knew of the few days before Seth was hurt. And by the time he came to the Colter ranch, he knew that Joaquín Montoya was responsible for this.

  Lupita hadn’t slept much since Morgan had ridden to Santa Fe with Lena. Somehow she had known that things were going to turn out badly. When neither Seth nor Morgan returned the day after the party, she was sure that something was wrong. Paul had laughed at her, but Jake worried as much about Seth as she did. They had waited all that day and night, and early the second morning he had set out to find Seth.

  “You’ll be embarrassed when you find them nestled in some cabin somewhere. The way they act around here, they may not be back for weeks,” Paul had teased Jake.

  Jake’s mouth had been set, clamped over near-toothless gums. “I’d rather be caught with my hand in the pot than be here when the boy needs me someplace else.”

  Paul doubled up with laughter. “Boy! Seth’s gonna love this! You’re half that boy’s size, and I don’t think he’s gonna need any help with that little wife of his.”

  Jake had ignored him and finished saddling his horse.

  Lupita had been nervous and on the alert ever since then, so when the first sounds came to her, she was ready in seconds. When she first saw the tired figure of Jake outlined in the moonlight, she started toward him. The sight of the travois stopped her. She turned and ran toward Paul’s cabin.

  Within minutes the young foreman was dressed and running ahead of Lupita toward Jake.

  Jake motioned toward Seth, and Paul went to him. Now that Jake had brought his beloved boy home, his own strength was going.

  Silently, the three of them carried Seth into the house and put him into the big double bed that he and Morgan had so recently shared. Lupita deftly began to cut away Jake’s makeshift bandages, removed the rest of Seth’s clothes, and began washing him. His body was hot now, and he moaned when the cool cloth touched his fevered skin. Lupita gradually became aware of loud voices in the next room.

  “You can’t go anywhere, old man. You wouldn’t even make it to the corral.”

  “Just who the hell do you think you’re callin’ an old man? It was me that brought him back.” Jake raised his fists toward Paul.

  “What’s going on here? Isn’t there enough to worry us without you two fighting? And why are you still here? One of you should go…”

  Jake lowered his fists and checked his gun. “That’s just where I’m going—to kill that Montoya.”

  “Jake, you’ve got to let the sheriff handle this. You can’t just ride into the Montoya ranch and kill Joaquín.”

  “Sheriff! Kill!” Lupita fairly screamed. “There’s one man in there nearly dead, and you two talk of more killing! Before anyone kills anyone, I want a doctor here!”

  Both Paul and Jake stared blankly at Lupita.

  “Jake, I’ll need your help here.” She knew how tired the little man must be. “Paul, go into town and get the doctor, and then get the sheriff—but a doctor is what we need most.” She turned toward the bedroom, took a few steps, and then turned back to the two men. “Does a man have to die to get you two to move?”

  Quickly, Jake followed Lupita and Paul left the house.

  In the hours that followed, Seth began to talk, mostly saying Morgan’s name over and over. As Lupita continued to wash Seth, she noticed his left hand always clenched into a fist.

  “Jake, what does he have in his hand?” It took the two of them to pry open his fist. Jake read the note from Morgan first to himself and then to Lupita.

  Jake sat down in a chair heavily. “How could she have done this? How could she leave Seth for a man like Montoya?” He looked at Seth, the tears forming in his eyes again. “She did that to him, as much as if she’d pulled the trigger herself.”

  “No,” Lupita’s voice was a whisper, “I do not believe it. No.” She looked up at Jake. “It is a trick of some sort. She loved him. She could not pretend so well.”

  “We have proof that she aimed to run off, and the proof involves Montoya, too.”

  Lupita’s eyes held Jake’s. “You may believe your little piece of paper, but I will believe what I know to be true. Señora Colter was very much in love with Seth, and she would not leave him of her own free will.”

  Jake turned his back on her. “We’ll see what the sheriff says,” he mumbled.

  It was nearly daylight when Paul returned with the sheriff. Jake had finally dozed off in the big chair beside Seth, but he was quickly through the doorway, showing the sheriff the note.

  “Hold on, Jake. I know how you feel, but I can’t just shoot the man. We went to the Montoya ranch first and Señor Montoya had witnesses who said he was there all night. This note mentions Joaquín, but we can’t even be sure when it was written.”

  “I don’t care how many witnesses the little bastard has! He nearly killed my boy!”

  “All right. We’ll go again. We’ll face him with the note. The doctor should be here any minute. He was out in Pecos, so it’ll take him a while. Paul, you ready?”

  Helplessly, Jake watched them go. An hour later the doctor came.

  He complimented Jake for the care he had given Seth on the rough trail, and after he had examined him, said there was nothing else to do but wait and see if the fever broke. He wrapped the broken ribs tightly, to keep him from breathing too deeply and putting one through his lungs.

  Seth’s fever raged for days. Lupita and Jake took turns sponging his perspiring body and forcing broth down his throat. He talked a lot about Morgan, and how he loved her, how he wanted her. He kept calling for her, asking where she was, sensing even in his delirium that she wasn’t there. With every mention of her name, Jake’s hatred for Morgan grew.

  After nearly a week, Paul and the sheriff returned to the Colter ranch. They had been searching for Joaquín and Lena Montoya all that time. They had returned to the Montoya ranch the morning after Jake had brought Seth back and found the servants closing down the house. Joaquín and Lena had left immediately after the sheriff’s first visit.

  “They didn’t plan on Seth still being alive,” Jake yelled in frustration.

  “Someone should try to find the Señora Colter.” The three men turned to stare at Lupita.

  “But she’s the one who caused all this. She and Montoya had their escape planned. It probably wasn’t Montoya’s sister who left with him at all.”

  “Jake’s right.” Paul’s voice was calm and tired. “I think we should leave this up to Seth. When he’s well, he’ll decide whether he believes his wife’s note or not.” Paul’s expression left in doubt none of his feelings toward Morgan.

  With a sigh of resignation, Lupita went back to Seth.

  It was two more weeks before the fever broke.

  “Lupita?”

  Lupita turned from gazing out of the window. She whirled toward him. “Señor Colter. You are well.” Her voice held both joy and relief.

  Seth grinned weakly at her. “I don’t think I’m well of anything yet. Ever
ything hurts. How long have I have been ill?”

  “Three weeks now.”

  “Three weeks! Where is everyone? Where’s Morgan and Jake and Paul and … food! I’ve never been so hungry in my life. Tell Morgan I want some of those little doughnuts of hers and one of those cheese and bacon things in the crust.” He grinned as Lupita hurried from the room. “Tell Morgan I want her now!” he called toward the door.

  He lifted himself up and grabbed a pillow to prop behind his head. He ran his hand over the welt on the side of his head and felt where the scar ran under his hair. His ribs and shoulder hurt, and his legs ached. “Three weeks!” he murmured. “I’ll bet Morgan had her hands full, but I’ll make up for lost time.”

  He grinned at himself. Smells from the kitchen reached him and he wondered where the hell she was. What was taking her so long?

  He put his hands out in front of him, stretching his muscles, easing some of the stiffness that three weeks in bed had caused. “Three weeks in bed,” he laughed. “I bet I spend the next three weeks in bed, too, but not for the same reason. And not alone! Where is she?”

  It was then that he noticed the white spot on his little finger. Morgan’s ring! Where was it? And then, in a flash, he remembered everything, every ugly detail.

  He put his hands over his eyes, rubbing the heels deep into the sockets, trying to block out the images… Joaquín and Morgan in the garden… Joaquín giving him the note… Joaquín aiming the pistol and firing. “No,” he whispered. “Please, God, no!”

  “Here is food and lots of it. Jake and Paul will be here in a minute. They will be so happy to see you well. They have both worried themselves sick over you.” She bustled into the room with the tray of food, but the smile left her face when she saw Seth. She knew then that healing his body had been easy compared to what it was going to take to heal his spirit.

  “It’s all true … what I remember. Isn’t it?”

  Lupita would have sold her soul to be able to tell him that it all had been a dream, that his lovely wife was running to him, would be here in a moment. “I do not think it was true. The little señora would not do such a thing. I think someone should go and find her.”

  “Well, I don’t.” Seth and Lupita turned to see Jake in the doorway. “We found the note. I say let her go. If she wants to leave here, let her.”

  The pain in Seth’s eyes was more than Lupita could bear. “She loves you. She loves you very much. She could not have acted like she did and not love you. The day Lena came for her, she did not want to go. She wanted to stay here in her home. She was so happy here.”

  “Stop it!” Seth fell back onto the pillows. “To me … she is dead. I never want to hear her name again. We will not refer to her again, in any way.” His eyes were cold, but both Jake and Lupita could see the pain behind them. “I think I’d like to sleep now.”

  “But your food! You need to eat.”

  “No, Lupita, I don’t feel hungry now.”

  Jake silenced Lupita’s protests with a stern look. “That’s right, boy, you just rest and get well. The food’ll be waitin’ for you when you wake up.”

  Seth’s recovery was slow. He didn’t seem to mind staying in bed, and he showed no interest in anything. Jake tried to ask his opinion about what he and Paul were doing on the ranch, but Seth hardly answered him. Eventually, he began to move around the room a little, going only from the bed to the chair. He sat and stared at the walls. Lupita encouraged him to sit on the little patio by the bedroom, but he didn’t seem to care where he was.

  As the pain left Seth’s body, the pain in his mind increased. He was continually reminded of Morgan.

  She seemed to be everywhere. He started sleeping on the couch in the living room because he couldn’t stand the bed they had shared. One day he rode out with Jake, and it seemed she was even outside. A clump of trees recalled a time when she had brought his lunch to him and then run from him, laughing, unfastening her clothes as she went. Even the sunlight recalled her hair and skin.

  The snows began and he remembered how he had planned on long snowy days of lovemaking. With Christmas coming, Lupita decorated the house with chilis and popcorn. Seth watched lethargically as Lupita, Jake, and Paul decorated the little piñon tree.

  On Christmas Eve, Seth remembered the music box he had packed in Kentucky. It was to have been a Christmas present for Morgan. It had been weeks since he had been in his own bedroom, but he went now and found the box. He wound it and listened to the tune. How she would have loved the delicate carving!

  “Why, Morgan, why? He couldn’t have offered you more love than I did. It isn’t possible!” Tears blurred his eyes as he brought one powerful fist down on the little box and smashed it.

  He glared at the broken little box, and through clenched teeth, he swore, “If I ever find you, Morgan, I’ll kill you!” With one sweep of his arm, he knocked the remains of the box to the floor.

  He left the room and announced to the others that in the spring he would leave the ranch for the California gold fields.

  In March, 1850, when the snows were barely gone, Seth set out for California and the gold fields. After the heavy use of the previous year, the trail was well defined. He was only a few miles out of Santa Fe when he met the Chandlers’ wagon train.

  Chapter Thirteen

  IT took the little band—the Indians, the Frenchman, and the four women captives—five weeks to reach the mountains. After a week of grueling travel, everyone’s temper was short. The nights grew cooler, and the nip of autumn was in the air. Morgan figured it was somewhere around the first week of October, 1849, and she knew now that she was not carrying Seth’s baby.

  “I don’t know why I always seem to do most of the work around here.” The closer they got to San Francisco, the angrier Mary became. She took her fear and hatred out on everyone.

  “What with Morgan doing all the cookin’, I don’t see how you can think you’re doing most of the work.” Jessy’s happiness and excitement were obvious.

  “Please, can’t you two stop fighting?” Alice pleaded with them tearfully.

  “It’s just these Indians! They’re always around. A body can’t even step into the bushes without one of them watching. I’m always ready to scream.”

  Jessy looked across the camp at one of the Apache braves who returned her stare. “Indians ain’t all that bad. That Yellow Hand’s not a bad looker at all.”

  “You filthy little slut! I ought to tear your hair out!”

  “You and who else?”

  Mary raised clawlike hands and started for Jessy’s face. Morgan quickly stepped between the two of them. “Stop it, you two! They may decide we’re not worth the trouble and kill us now.”

  “Death just may be better than the life they have planned for us.” Mary’s face was twisted as she sneered at Morgan and Jessy.

  Alice’s whimpering carried across the campfire.

  “Oh, Lord! Is she going to start that again? That girl is afraid of her own shadow.” Jessy rolled her eyes.

  Alice’s sobs increased, and Mary went to her to comfort her. “If you had any feelings, you’d realize she’s just a child.”

  “Child, hell! It may interest you to know, Miss Mary-Know-Everything, that that ‘child’ and I are the same age.”

  Both Mary and Morgan turned startled eyes to Jessy. There was an ageless quality about Jessy that made her seem anywhere from fourteen to fifty. Neither of them had ever considered her true age. “That’s right,” she laughed. “I just turned sixteen on my last birthday, sometime in June. My pa never could remember the exact date.” She turned and left the three staring after her.

  “I’m older than her,” Alice whispered.

  Along the Gila River, the trail was so narrow that the horses were frightened and skittish. The nerves of the four captives were even further strained.

  After the river, they came to a wooded area. Jacques told them to take advantage of the water, because it would be the last they’d see for a long
time. In another couple of days they’d start the long trek across the desert.

  “May we take a bath then, before we start?”

  Jacques touched her cheek with a large, coarse hand. Morgan bravely met his eyes. She didn’t even move away, as much as she wanted to. “You are a temptation, ma petite. Of course, you may bathe. All of you may splash and play in the water all night.” He smiled at her, and his eyes swept down over her buckskin-clad body. His hand dropped from her cheek to her shoulder to her arm, his thumb caressing the soft curve of her breast. Her eyes held his, and she controlled the inner revulsion she felt.

  Jacques turned and left her, and she could hear his deep, throaty laughter as he walked away.

  “I’d like to have a knife at his throat for a while,” Mary hissed.

  “Never mind him. Get Jessy and Alice. We’re going to take a bath!” She hurried to the wickiup. “A real bath. Clean hair and skin. I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to anything quite so much.” She paused inside the cool, dark, empty wickiup. “Except you, Seth,” she whispered. “You were the only thing that really made me happy. Now I look forward to such silly things. Oh, Seth. Why did all this have to happen? Why do I have to go on living? Why can’t I die and be with you again?” She fell to the dirt of the floor and cried.

  “Morgan, is it true what…” Jessy paused as she saw Morgan. She knelt by her and took her in her arms. “Ah, Morgan, you’re the strong one among us. Don’t you give way. If you give up, we won’t have anything to hold onto.”

  “Seth is on my mind constantly, every second. Everywhere I look I see things that remind me of Seth. Even trees, Jessy! Even trees remind me of Seth. He was huge, the biggest man I ever saw. Not awfully tall, but big. His arms were as big around as my waist. And he was so handsome.” Morgan smiled and the tears began to clear. “I had to fight women off him constantly.”