Golden Roses (25 page)

“No,” Dolita moaned. “We are doomed. There is no way out.”

“Listen to me!” Amber lifted herself from the mat and whispered fiercely. “We can’t give up. There has to be a way out of here, and I’m going to find it.”

Dolita said woodenly, “And what if you are found missing? What if Valdis comes for you? There is only one thing we can do. We must pray.”

“We’ll hide and we’ll look for some weapon to defend ourselves.” Amber shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know what we’ll do, Dolita. I just know we’ve got to try. If we go down, we go down fighting.”

They rose unsteadily and moved to the opening in the rocks that led to the main part of the cave. In the last glow of the torch, Amber saw Dolita crossing herself.

Amber was not Catholic, maybe not really anything, but she took a deep breath and did the same thing.

Chapter Twenty-Three

There was no moon. Thick black clouds had rolled across the mountains to cover the sky. The wind, steadily rising, was the only sound as it whistled up and around the trees, causing limbs to clatter like giant bones.

Cord could barely make out Puetas, riding just ahead.

Suddenly Puetas reined in so sharply that Cord jerked to one side to keep from running into him. Puetas whispered nervously, “We should go on foot from here. We are going inside from the secret way.”

“How do you know about this secret way?” Cord asked suspiciously.

Puetas said, “I was with Valdis when he found this cave, years ago. We explored the passageways, and we thought we were lost until we found a tunnel leading upward. We crawled out to find we were behind a big growth of cactus and brush. I know where that is. Nowhere else is there such a dense growth.”

Slowly they made their way up a rocky incline, pausing when they reached a spot directly over the main entrance to the cave. Below, a large campfire burned, flames leaping to illuminate the men gathered there. One man was playing a guitar, another a mandolin, while two women danced, skirts whirling as the onlookers whistled and shouted at the sight of the prancing bare legs.

Cord leaned close to Puetas and whispered, “Do you know how many men Valdis has got?”

Puetas was silent, thoughtful, as he contemplated the figures below. “I think fourteen. Counting Valdis, fifteen.”

Cord quickly counted the men gathered around the fire, saw bottles being passed back and forth and figured they were probably as drunk as they seemed. Good. That much was in his favor. But not in his favor was the fact that Valdis was missing, which meant he was inside, and maybe with Amber. He clenched his jaw tightly.

“Let’s get on with it,” he said harshly.

“You must follow me closely,” Puetas whispered as they continued up yet another incline. “There are many rocks. Do not slip and roll into their campfire,” he added, lightness in his voice for the first time.

“And what are we supposed to do once we get to the opening?”

“Try to get through without having our flesh torn to the bone. It will not be easy. As I said, it was many years ago that we were here. The cactuses are probably bigger, the brush thicker. Once we get through, we will drop through the hole. It is not too long a drop. From there, we move through the main tunnel.”

Cord hoped Valdis would be asleep, and not with Amber and Dolita.

“You do remember for sure where Valdis sleeps?”

“Yes. I was here not long ago. On our right, after we get into the big tunnel, there will be three alcoves. His is the middle one. We must be careful, though, for coming in from the secret way, there is a crack in the earth, perhaps as wide as we are tall. We have to jump across it.”

Cord frowned. He still did not totally trust the man.

“Here,” Puetas called softly. “It is here. Ayah! The thorns are sharp. We cannot make our way through.”

“Hell yes, we can.” Cord groped in the dark and pushed Puetas aside. Feeling about gingerly, he winced as the sharp briars pricked his fingers. “Pull your shirtsleeves down around your hands,” he ordered. “We’ll just have to push our way in.”

They unbuttoned their cuffs and doubled their hands up beneath the fabric. Ducking their heads, after pulling their hat brims low, the two men began to push into the tangled cluster of cactuses.

Both felt the sharp needles rip at their clothing, then at their flesh.

At last, Puetas stumbled forward into the vertical opening and was almost pitched down into the cave. “We are here,” he gasped. “Now we have to bend to our knees and drop down.”

“Wait!” Cord pushed on through. “If I go first, it might be a trap. I could be falling to my death. If you go first, you might just keep on going and sound the alarm.”

“I think it is time you trusted me,” Puetas said solemnly.

“Uhn-uh.” Cord took his gun from his holster. “We’re going to drop down at the same time, and if I hear one sound besides your feet hitting the ground, the next sound will be this gun going off. Understand?”

Puetas nodded wearily.

Cord crouched, toes hanging over the edge of the hole. Quickly, he holstered his gun. “Go!” he commanded. They dropped together, landing a second later on their feet. Straightening, they listened for noise. But there was only silence and damp darkness.

Puetas tugged gently at Cord’s arm, motioning for him to follow. They moved several feet, then Puetas leaned close. “We must crawl forward on our knees very slowly. The crack is nearby. We will jump across it.”

Cord fell to his knees, side by side with Puetas, crawling. Soon his heart quickened. “This is it,” he whispered.

They stood, backed up to get a running start, and charged across. Fear was a rock in Cord’s throat as he felt himself leaping into nothingness. How wide was the crevice? How deep?

They landed suddenly, pitching forward onto their hands.

“Not much farther,” Puetas hissed breathlessly as they got to their feet. “Come.”

They moved forward, inching their way. Suddenly, with instinct honed during his years in the war, Cord froze to absolute stillness. Someone was near. He could hear breathing, could sense a rapid heartbeat.

Cord hesitated, but only for a second. Whoever was near had most likely heard them. His impulse was to shoot, but he knew that would bring all of Valdis’s men, so he held himself in check. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, calling softly, “I’ve got a gun on you. Don’t move.”

There was a sob, then the anguished whisper. “Cord. Dear Cord, is that your voice?”

“Amber!”

He was nearly knocked off-balance as she threw herself into his arms. He gathered her closely with one arm, holding his gun tightly with the other. “Let’s go,” he whispered to Puetas, “before someone sounds an alarm.”

“Wait.” Amber trembled against him. “Dolita. Over there. She’s fainted.”

“I will get her,” Puetas murmured, moving blindly forward.

Cord continued to grasp Amber against him until Puetas whispered, “I have her. She is unconscious. How are we going to get her across the crevice?”

There was no way they could leave her behind, and they could not risk trying to wake her up because she might start screaming.

“There’s a big crevice back there, maybe six feet wide,” Cord told Amber. “It’s the only way to get out of here without going out the front way. Do you think you can jump across?”

Amber took a deep breath. Jumping six feet in the darkness seemed like a leap straight into hell. “I don’t see that I have a choice,” she replied. “But what about Dolita? Cord, I won’t leave her.”

“Neither will I,” he said gruffly. Turning to Puetas, he ordered, “Give her to me. I’ll make the jump with her. Then I’ll come back for Amber and hold on to her as she jumps. You go on ahead.”

Puetas made no move. “Did you hear me, man?” Cord said harshly. “Give her to me and you go on and jump.”

“No,” came the stubborn reply. “If you cannot trust me by now, then go ahead and kill me. You take Dolita and go across. I will hold Amber’s hand when she jumps.”

It was, Cord told himself, one of those times when a man has to trust another man. “All right,” he said finally, taking a deep breath as he holstered his gun, then reached out to take Dolita in his arms. “We’ll do it your way, Puetas.”

“Puetas?” Amber echoed softly as she felt Cord drop her hand and unfamiliar fingers clutch at the hand. “But didn’t you used to guard me? Cord! He…he’s one of Valdis’s men!”

“Amber, I don’t have time to explain,” Cord snapped, hoisting Dolita’s limp body over his shoulder. “Just jump. And don’t worry.”

Amber looked about wildly in the darkness. There was no time to argue. Allowing Puetas to lead her forward, she prayed Cord knew what he was doing.

Puetas explained brusquely, “We will take several steps backward. When I squeeze your hand, begin running. When I give your hand a yank, jump as hard as you can. I will pull you as much as I can. Can you do it?” he asked.

Amber was barely able to choke out her reply. Fear was spreading, making her believe she was smothering.

Cord, with Dolita, made the jump safely. Clutching Puetas’s hand tightly, Amber took the steps back, and then, feeling the hard pressure of his fingers, ran forward. When she felt him tug and leap, she called on every bit of strength within her.

They threw themselves into the darkness, feeling suspended in midair. Time stopped. And then, with a painful thud, she pitched forward, crying out painfully as her chest hit the side of the chasm, smashing the air from her lungs.

Puetas’s hand was torn from Amber’s as she fell. He landed safely on the far side of the chasm, knowing even as he landed that Amber hadn’t made it. He heard the awful thud as her body smacked into the earth.

Amber made no sound. There was a slicing pain in her lungs as she fought to suck in precious air. Her hands, clutching rocks, were torn and bleeding, and the blood made her hold slippery. She could not hang on much longer, and she knew it.

Cord shoved Dolita into Puetas’s arms and crawled down the side of the chasm, grasping Amber’s arms. He hauled her up over the side and, with only a pause for one deep breath, held her to him and began running with her in his arms.

They made their way to a jutting path leading up, Puetas carrying Dolita. Suddenly, light appeared behind them. Cord did not stop to turn and see what it was. His single thought was to get Amber out of the way. He set her down, dropped into a crouch, and whirled toward the light, gun drawn.

Beyond the crevice they had just crossed was Valdis, moving steadily forward, a rifle at the ready. Another man was beside him, carrying a torch and a gun.

Valdis screamed, “Goddamn you! For this you will die!” He fired, and Cord leaped behind a jutting rock, the bullet hitting stone with a whining echo.

“Leap across the crack, Gerras!” Valdis commanded.

Cord fired at the two men. He heard an agonizing scream and knew he had hit one of them. Then, knowing the gunfire would bring all of Valdis’s men running, he scrambled quickly up the path. Puetas and Dolita were far ahead, and he dragged Amber with him, both gasping.

Puetas pushed Amber behind him and moved to help Cord. “Ayah! What has happened?” Puetas’s words were lost in the echoes of other gunshots. Cord gave a short gasp of pain and began to lose his handhold on the earth. He slid backward, and Puetas barely caught hold of his wrists before another shot was fired. Without hesitation, Puetas jerked Cord up and out of the hole.

“You are hurt,” Puetas protested to Cord as he and Amber reached Puetas. “I must see to your wound!”

“Later,” Cord snapped, gritting his teeth against the pain. “You’re going to have to carry Dolita through the brush to the horses. Amber can hang on to your belt and follow. I’ll try to keep up, but if I fall back,
keep going
. Get the women out of here as fast as you can.”

They pushed their way forward, struggling through the tearing thorns and the brush. The skies opened and rain came down in torrents. Amber’s long hair became tangled in cactus, and Cord told her to grit her teeth as he yanked it free.

Stumbling their way in the drenching rain, they finally reached the horses. Cord knew his foot was bleeding badly, for he could feel the stickiness inside his boot. He struggled into the saddle, pulling Amber up behind him, leaving Dolita to Puetas.

“Follow me,” Puetas cried.

They rode through the stormy night, hair plastered to their faces, clothes drenched. Puetas led the way, Dolita lying across his lap. Cord winced with pain, and Amber clung to his waist, her head pressed against his back. Behind them, they heard, very faintly, the shouts of Valdis’s men. But as they continued deeper into the mountains, the sounds grew fainter, and they knew that they were going in opposite directions.

After they’d plodded through the mud and brambles and brush for an hour, the rain let up and the clouds parted to give a little light.

“Up ahead,” Puetas cried. “Another cave. Perhaps a wolves’ den. We must be careful, but at least we are far away from Valdis, and soon it will be light. We can rest.” He turned in his saddle to look at Cord. “Are you badly hurt? Where did the bullet hit?”

“My foot,” Cord told him dully, seeing that the way was wide enough for them to ride two abreast, and urging his horse to fall in beside Puetas. “I think the bullet went all the way through. It’s bleeding bad, but I’ll be all right. It could have been a hell of a lot worse. Where are we, anyway? It seems like we’ve been climbing steadily.”