Tess's Trials Page 6

  But he couldn’t push too hard; to do so would exhaust his horse and leave him on foot with the wagons getting further and further south. Closer and closer to Mexico, where he felt sure the women would be sold. He heard rumors of a group of men raiding isolated ranches, stealing whatever they could, including women and girls.

  Rafe had been on his own wandering the West for quite a few years. In that time, just like most men who lived in the wild did, he developed a sixth sense that warned him when something wasn’t right.

  That sixth sense was tingling right now.

  Someone was following him. He stopped on top of a small hill that afforded a good view behind him and a screen of small trees to conceal him. Thirty minutes scanning the country behind showed nothing. That wasn’t surprising. The country looked flat, but folds and arroyos crossed the land. Any of them could hold a rider out of sight, maybe even several riders.

  This made Rafe wonder if the man who took Tess might have left a man or men behind to make sure no one tried to follow them. He hadn’t heard of that before in any of the rumors about the raiders, but he couldn’t say they wouldn’t do it.

  After another long look behind him, Rafe went on following the wagon tracks. That sixth sense kept on tickling along his back. From time to time, he stopped to watch his back trail.

  The morning passed slowly that way. He had to watch the tracks, look over his back trail every once in a while, and keep an eye on the clouds building in the west.

  Shortly after the sun was at the top of the sky, he stopped for a rest. Not for himself, but for his horse. He walked his buckskin into a small copse of trees growing up around a spring

  that trickled down from a short hill. While his horse grazed on the grass around the spring, Rafe gnawed on several pieces of jerky from his saddle bags.

  The entire time he rested, that feeling that someone was dogging him persisted. His resting place was slightly higher than the surrounding land. So, he watched the whole time he rested and ate. And watched his buckskin.

  He knew the horse would be the first to notice anyone coming up on them.

  After about an hour, Rafe began thinking it was time to ride on. When he looked over at the horse, he was standing, ears pricked forward, staring to the east. Another small copse of trees covered about a half-acre there. Now Rafe knew where whoever it was trailing him had stopped.

  Rafe mounted up after tightening the cinch on his saddle. Without trying to hide his movements, he rode south again, apparently following the wagon tracks. Within a quarter mile, he came to the place where an arroyo paralleled the tracks. At a sandy place, he guided the horse off the trail into the arroyo. There he waited.

  Ten minutes or so later, the buckskin’s ears pricked again and his head came up in the direction of the trail. Rafe heard the sound of a walking horse on the trail above. He waited until it sounded like the horse had passed where he was before kneeing his horse up out of the arroyo and onto the trail.

  When he got up on the trail, he spotted someone on a horse about thirty feet in front of him. Rafe pulled his .45 caliber Colt, holding it ready.

  “Hold up there!” he shouted at the other rider.

  The other rider’s head jerked around. Whoever it was, clearly didn’t expect Rafe to

  come out at a place they’d just passed.

  “Just sit easy,” Rafe said, keeping the Colt pointed in the general direction of the rider, his eyes fastened on the rider’s hands. When he saw the other rider rest both hands on the pommel of the saddle, he relaxed a little. But not too much.

  “Why’re you followin’ me?” Rafe looked over the other rider. Slight of build, dressed in jeans, wool shirt, and vest, with a good-sized bedroll tied behind the saddle. He couldn’t see the rider’s eyes with the black had pulled down to keep the sun out of the rider’s eyes.

  “You’re looking for Tess?” came the response.

  The other rider’s voice sounded higher than Rafe expected. Was this a kid? Someone who knew Tess and decided to try to rescue her, too? With a touch of his heels to the buckskin’s sides, he rode up closer to the other rider.

  What he saw certainly surprised him. The other rider was a woman! Up close there was no doubt.

  “Who are you, and what are you doin’ here?” he demanded.

  “My name is Merita Calderon,” she responded in a pleasant, slightly accented tone. “And I’m following you because you’re going after Tess.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Tess was my best friend. She often talked about you, Rafe Brannon.” The young woman smiled. “She said if anything ever happened to her, you’d come to help her. And would come riding a buckskin horse.” She grinned larger. “I’ve been following you all day.”

  Rafe stared at her, trying to figure out whether she was telling the truth. How could he tell? He had no idea.

  “If you’re who you say you are, why didn’t you show up at Tess’s ranch when I was there?”

  “Edward doesn’t like me,” she responded quickly. The smile disappeared. “In fact, I cautioned Tess not to marry him.”

  With a nod, Rafe considered that. It sounded like this young woman’s feelings about Edward went along pretty much with his.

  “All right. You’re followin’ me. Why?”

  “I want to go with you to rescue Tess.”

  This took Rafe by surprise. This young woman wanted to go with him to find Tess? There was no way he’d do that. No way. He told her as much.

  “I only ride alone,” he said, making his voice hard, expecting no dissent. “Only alone.”

  Merita was insistent. “I can take care of myself. I won’t get in the way. You’ll see.”

  “No,” he repeated. “I only ride alone.”

  Merita’s face showed her disappointment. She sat back in the saddle and hung her head. “I’ll stay out of your way,” she went on, almost pleading. “Another set of eyes can only help.” A pause, only long enough to take a deep breath. “She was my best friend.”

  He said one more time, “No! I’m going after Tess alone. Go back to wherever you live. I don’t want you with me.”

  A determined expression crossed onto Merita’s face. “I’ll just follow you. I’m not giving up. You’ll see that you need me.”

  Rafe said, “Go back home. I’m not going to watch out for you. I don’t want you with me.” He heeled the buckskin on past her along the wagon tracks.

  “I’ll follow you!” she said to his back.

  Rafe simply rode his horse away, following the tracks of the wagons.

  Chapter Eleven

  The days in the wagon passed slowly for the women. They were all the same. All hot, dusty, uncomfortable. And filled with fear. The constant creaking of the wagon wheels, the shouts of the men, the sun and wind that dried them out all day.

  Tess knew those kinds of days would wear the women down. Nothing to do, no hope of getting rescued, dreading what lay ahead each night, and fearing what waited at the end of the journey.

  It would be easy for them to simply give up. To lie there and await their fate.

  She also knew that would signal the end for all of them. So she didn’t lose hope. She continued watching for some way to escape.

  Snake Eyes and the caravan he led continued rolling south, avoiding towns and anywhere other people might see them and report to authorities. Each of the two nights, he sent for Tess, and she went with no argument. And fought with her guilt and shame every night.

  The other women accepted what she said about not fighting back. Except for the one woman who still had not given Tess her name. This woman glared at her every time she got a chance.

  The third night after Tess was taken, Snake Eyes brought the caravan to a stop for the night at a fair-sized stream. It provided graze for the horses and trees to give some cover for the wagons. They stopped a little early because a significant storm cloud grew in the west and looked like it was going to dump all of its rain right on top of them.

>   Snake Eyes wanted to get a camp set up and fire wood gathered before the rain hit. As it turned out, the storm clouds rolled right over them without losing a drop of rain.

  Tess and one of the other women were picked to work with the cook getting supper ready for the men. Usually that meant whichever of the women helped to cook didn’t get chosen by any of the men. She wasn’t sure why, but didn’t say anything.

  As they were cleaning up after the men ate, Tess heard screams coming from the women’s wagon. She stepped away from the back of the chuck wagon where they were working and looked toward their wagon.

  The woman who never gave her name was being dragged, literally, from the women’s wagon. One of the larger men pulled on her arm.

  “No!” she screamed. “No! I won’t go! Help! Someone help me!”

  Other men watching the struggle laughed and shouted encouragement to the man dragging her out of the wagon. Much of what they shouted was profane. The men were used to some of the women fighting them when they came to take them. It was part of the fun.

  Oh, no. This can’t turn out good . Tess started toward the two, but was brought up short by the cook’s command for her to stop. She tried to somehow communicate with the woman. Stop fighting, stop fighting. It’s going to happen anyway, no matter what you do.

  Her silent pleading did no good, however. The large man succeeded in dragging the woman out of the wagon and across the open space before the tents. Now he had both of her arms by the wrists. Her heels made drag marks across the dirt. She kept on screaming for someone to help her.

  In front of the tent, the man dropped her in the dirt. At once, she jumped up and started to run. He grabbed her by the arm again, whirled her around, and slapped her roughly. He hit her hard enough to knock her back into the dirt. Then he snatched up a handful of her hair and dragged her screaming into the tent.

  Tess sighed and turned back to the chuck wagon. She hadn’t even gotten started washing the dishes when a yell came from the tent where the large man dragged the woman. It wasn’t a scream like the woman did as she was dragged into the tent. It was a scream of pain this time.

  After she turned to face the tent again, the woman literally flew out of the front. The top of her dress was ripped almost completely off. She hit the ground on her back and lay there dazed.

  Immediately, the large man stormed out of the tent, also. Blood covered one cheek.

  “She bit me!” he yelled. “That woman bit me!” There followed a string of curses.

  He stood over the woman, one foot on either side of her hips. She began stirring, shaking her head trying to clear it.

  As she regained her wits, the man continued to curse her. He drew his pistol, pointed it at her, and cocked it.

  “No!” Tess screamed.

  The man didn’t hear, or didn’t care if he heard. As soon as the woman had her eyes on him, he squeezed the trigger, shooting her at the base of her throat. The impact of the large-caliber bullet knocked the woman back on the ground so hard at the short range that her head actually bounced back up after hitting the ground.

  After standing there another few seconds, the large man spat on the woman’s body and

  stepped back. He calmly ejected the spent shell from his pistol and reloaded with a new cartridge.

  Snake Eyes sauntered out of his tent and over to the large man. He stared down at the dead woman for several seconds, then raised his face to focus on the large man. For the moments he stared, the man clearly trembled. Snake Eyes shook his head.

  “You cost me one woman,” Snake Eyes said softly.

  “Si, Jefe. I’m sorry.” The large man hung his head.

  Snake Eyes nodded. “Yes, I know you are. And I understand why you did this,” he nodded toward the body. “Now you have no more women, understand? No more women on this trip. That is your punishment.”

  He glanced down at the body once more. Then he raised his head and his voice. “Get all of the women in the wagon!”

  The rest of the men hurried to gather up the women and drag them to the wagon. One man took Tess’s arm and gently steered her to the wagon. Clearly, being the choice of Snake Eyes had some status. The rest of the women were treated much more roughly.

  Once all of the women were back in the wagon, Snake Eyes strode to the door and glared at them. “You see what happens to those who harm my men. That kind of violence will not be tolerated.” He stopped, glared from one face to another. Stopped for a moment on Tess’s face.

  Snake Eyes stepped back a couple of steps and motioned to two of the men standing beside him. “Get the body and bring it here.”

  The men ran to do his bidding. One took the woman’s body under the arms, the other picked up her legs. Nearly running, they carried her over to where Snake Eyes stood.

  “Put it in the wagon.”

  The men roughly tossed the woman’s body into the wagon. It landed at Tess’s feet. The other women squealed and crowded to the opposite side of the wagon.

  “Now you will travel with this for the next few days. It is your reminder not to injure my men.” He nodded to his men to close and lock the door and walked away.

  Tess stared after him a moment, then bent and straightened out the woman’s arms and legs. She then pulled her over to one side of the wagon. I tried to tell you , she thought to the body. I’m sorry you wouldn’t listen . For a long minute, she cried softly, her tears hitting the woman’s body. With a deep breath, she stopped the tears. Swiping at her face, she lifted her head. She turned to gaze at the other women cowering against the wall. Will you listen now? Or will there be someone else?

  Back in his tent, Snake Eyes pondered the loss of the woman. Maybe losing one of them

  won’t be so bad. With the money I already have, I can still get out of this business. But I can’t

  afford to lose another one. We would have to stop and raid another ranch.

  He finished his cigar, blew out the lamp, and rolled up in his blankets. He was asleep in less than a minute. Then the nightmare returned.

  Why was he always nine years old in these dreams? There must have been something that happened at that time of his life that scarred him somehow.

  He saw he was standing in his father’s study back in the house where he lived. His father stood over him again.

  ‘You just won’t learn, will you? I can’t bail you out of every mistake you make. Now you’ve let one of your men kill that woman, and you may not have enough money to come back and impress me. I should have known you couldn’t even make this business pay.’

  Then his mother again, this time with a disdain he knew so very well. ‘Just like you to do something like this to embarrass me. How could you let one of your men kill that woman? Now what will you do? How will you ever be successful if you’re so careless?’

  Snake Eyes jerked awake. He sat up on his cot and blinked away the dream residue. Just wait , he said to himself . I’ll do better than either one of my parents. They’ll see!

  Chapter Twelve

  Rafe rode away, leaving Merita sitting on her horse in the middle of the trail. He thought she would surely give up and go back home. She didn’t look like she could stand living out in the weather like he’d been doing for years. Once, he glanced back over his shoulder at her. She still sat on her horse where he’d left her.

  Putting her out of his mind, Rafe turned his attention to the trail again. It appeared the wagons traveled in a more or less straight line. Whoever this is , he thought, isn’t worried about being followed .

  The raiders probably had never been followed before, so they didn’t consider that a real possibility this time, either. That was good for Rafe. It made it less likely that they left anyone behind to stop followers. But he still couldn’t get careless.

  He made good time following the tracks the rest of that afternoon. When the sun was about a hand’s width from the western rim of hills, he began looking for a good place to spend the night. Soon he found it.

  A trickle
of water emerged from the south side of a small hill. The trees that grew up around the water provided both concealment and a source of firewood. He dug down in the soft dirt about a foot and built his fire there. On the opposite side from the hill, he stacked up some wood to work as a reflector. He’d spread his blankets at the base of the little hill so the heat would be reflected toward him. That time of the year, it never really got hot during the day, and the night could even dip down low enough for a light frost the next morning. In any case, a fire would feel good at bedtime.

  After he made a small meal, he sat and drank coffee. The sun set behind the hills, and the early evening dusk began gathering in the little folds and creases in the land around. He listened to the evening as he finished the coffee. Nothing but birds and wind. A coyote sang its song a long ways out.

  After full dark, Rafe walked out a little way from the camp site to look and listen again. A quarter moon provided just enough light for him to make out some of the terrain arrayed in front of him.

  At first he saw nothing out on the prairie. Then he caught a glimpse of light not too far away. It looked like a camp fire.

  I’d better see who that is. Maybe the raiders left somebody behind after all. I’d hate for them to miss me and be disappointed.

  He strode back to his camp and pulled a pair of moccasins out of his saddle bags. After putting them on and checking his buckskin, he set off toward the fire he saw.

  It was only about a quarter mile from his camp. Even at night, with the light from the quarter moon he made good time. The wind blew from his left side, so his scent should be carried away from horses tethered there.

  When Rafe got within about twenty yards of the fire, which he could see clearly now, he slowed down, careful to make no noise. There was little on the ground other than low-growing bushes, sage brush, rocks, and dirt. Not much to cause noise if he walked carefully.