Guadalupe's Tears (4 page)

Chapter Five

Lee took the key like a starving man accepts a slice of bread. With trembling hands he unlocked the manacle and slid it quietly aside. “My clothes,” he said to Livvy who watched him free himself from the shackles. She had a hungry look on her face as he did it, the way Lee had seen men who were about to turn hunting dogs loose on their prey. She rose slowly, not quite turning her back to him, which he appreciated because Lee himself wasn’t sure he could be trusted. She walked around a musty old feather bed and opened an armoire. From there she extracted his jeans and shirt. She tossed them over the bed and they landed in a heap at his feet. “Boots,” he commanded as he pulled on his jeans. She reached down and picked up his pair of scuffed boots that still had the red dust from the street on them. He smiled like a grateful dog at her as he pulled them on, then he stood, stretching to his full height. He rushed to her then, and she gasped, astonished at his swiftness. She was in his arms in a matter of seconds; his arms closing close around her, his lips pressing hard against hers. He pulled away then, seemingly embarrassed at following such an impulse. Livvy, however, didn’t seem to mind. He stepped back and she said, “You can’t go downstairs just yet. You gots to listen to me or you’ll end up back up in here with the sunlight scalding your back. I know how to kill Phaedra and her mens. But you gotta do as I say.”

“How do you know that?” Lee asked as he tucked in his shirt.

“Because I’m a slave. White folks pay no attention to me unless they want something.”

Lee nodded, understanding her meaning, then sat down on the edge of the bed. “Okay, pretty Livvy, tell me what you know.”

“I know that right after Phaedra came here, the statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe started crying real tears. At first Father Miguel thought that maybe there was a leak on the roof or something and maybe water was falling on the Virgin, but the roof was sound. I know this ‘cause he sent ‘Lijah up to check. So he started collecting her tears every night after midnight mass. Padre got quite good sized jug full too before they came and got him.”

“Who were they?”

“The good white folks of Casey, of course. They liked the arrangement they made with that she devil and didn’t want no uppity Mexican priest getting in the way.”

“And how are Guadalupe’s tears going to kill Phaedra and her men?”

“Well, I figure,” Livvy said as she sat down beside him, “that them tears have healing powers. I seen father Miguel use ‘em to cure folks. So I asks myself, what’s the sickest critter in town? And that’d be Phaedra and her mens.” She leaned forward, her expressive eyes large and round, “So I figure that if someone were to dip some bullets in those blessed tears and shot one of her followers, that may not cure him ‘cause he already be dead, but, it could make him unravel like an old rope.”

“I think you may have something there,” Lee agreed. “How do we get to your Father Miguel?”

“You don’t, ‘cause he be dead.” Livvy said. “The townsfolk figured it out too. They may be afraid of the she devil and her mens, but they still have that bargain. And Phaedra do keeps the Indians off of us. They never come down here no more.”

Lee thought it over, and then asked, “Do you know where he kept the jug of tears?”

“Massa Bruce and the preacher found it and busted it up.”

“And the statue?” Lee asked, half afraid that the virgin, too, had met a similar fate.

“Father Miguel hid it before they came after him.”

“Where did he hide it?”

“I’ll show you, but you got to do something for me first.”

“And what would that be?”

“Massa Bruce is still asleep in his room downstairs. He don’t drag his lazy ass out of bed till about noon. He keeps his two boys chained to the stairway just in case they try to slit his throat at night.” She offered a half-hearted laugh and added, “And they’d do it too.”

“And what about you?”

“He don’t think I can do nothing except run away and he thinks I’d be afraid I’d get caught by the Indians.” She lowered her eyes and stared down at her hands. The wrists were scarred and raw. Lee felt a flush of rage stirring deep inside him. “I sleeps in the kitchen but sometimes he comes and...” Her voice trailed off. She swallowed a lump in her throat then looked up at him, her eyes glistening, and filled with hatred, rage and resolve.

“And he ain’t missing you now?”

“Nah, it’s time for me to be lighting fires in the kitchen. He thinks I be doing that, if he’s even awake yet. Which ain’t likely.”

“The two men chained to the steps, are they going to cause me any trouble?”

“No. They know what we’re gonna do.”

Lee rose, stood in front of Livvy who gazed up at him with large innocent eyes. He placed his hand under her chin and tipped it up. He could feel the blood rushing through her veins, and it made him crave something dark and terrible. But not with her. Not with his dusky angel, his savioress. Lee knew he could never hurt her. The blood lust eased and his body began to respond to her. When it did, his mind turned to other things.
But only with the promise of her consent,
he told himself. That above all, was most important.
I may be dead,
he told himself
, but I’m still a gentleman
.

“Show me your Massa’s room,” Lee said. “I’m feeling a bit peaked.”

Chapter Six

As promised, two thin young black men slept on the staircase, their feet shackled to chains that were bolted in the wall. Lee moved past them quickly, like a shadow. Livvy followed him down. One of the men moaned in his sleep, rolled over and tried to get comfortable. He peeled a bloodshot eye open and Lee had the uncomfortable feeling that he might cry out. Lee considered draining him, but before he acted on that impulse Livvy shook her head slowly, her eyes going to Lee and then toward a door at the foot of the landing. The man looked at Lee and the door, nodded slowly, and then laid his head back onto the step. His eyes were open, yet he laid still and silent, hardly breathing.

Livvy stepped over the second man’s feet as she slipped quickly down the stairs behind Lee. Their feet touched the landing, and Lee jerked his head toward the door. Livvy, understanding, nodded.

Lee considered kicking in the door, but knew that would alert anyone else who was in the saloon. Not that it mattered to him much. Now that he was free, he was certain he could kill anyone who was unfortunate enough to try and stick him back up in the room again. But there was Livvy to consider. She did, after all, free him, and although he didn’t feel love for her, and was certain he could never really experience that emotion again, he felt that she was worthy of his protection. Besides, there was sure fire satisfaction to not crashing down on the town all at once. Such an experience should be savored, like a fine brandy. He wanted to make them suffer for what they did to him, and suffer they would. Slowly, and painfully. The sweet sensation of revenge coursed through him. He turned the door knob.

“It won’t open,” Lee said. “He’s got it locked.”

“He don’t lock his door,” Livvy whispered. “Here, let me try.”

“I don’t know how a girl can do something a grown man can’t.”

“You ain’t no man no mo so move your skinny ass over.”

Lee, moved aside. “Yes, ma’am,” he whispered.

Livvy offered him an appraising look, then turned the door knob. It turned easily. “It’s the same with Phaedra and her mens, they’ve gots to be invited. Since I’ve had to sleep in here with Massa, I feel this is my room too, so I’m inviting you in.”

Lee nodded, not fully understanding, but tucked the information away in the back of his mind for future reference. Livvy pushed the door open for him and he stepped across the threshold.

Bruce the Bartender was sleeping alone. He rested on his feather bed in a striped nightshirt and white nightcap. His head was tilted back and his mouth was open. A stream of drool trickled out of the crusty corner of his mouth and down his unshaven cheeks. Lee virtually floated toward him, making no sound at all. Livvy closed the door and stood in front of it, her hands clasped as if in prayer; her eyes hungry with expectation.

Bruce snorted, uttered a few deep snores, and smacked his lips. Lee grabbed Bruce by the throat, constricting his airway.

Bruce the bartender jolted awake. His eyes widened as he realized who was leaning over him.

“I tried to warn you, mister. We all did. But you wouldn’t listen,” he squeaked.

“You didn’t try hard enough,” Lee said. He grabbed Bruce’s lower jaw, crushing it as he forced the man’s head to the right. Bruce whimpered, and Lee bit down hard on his carotid artery. Bruce’s hands and feet twitched as he convulsed. Lee sucked him dry in a matter of minutes, the barkeep’s body turning into a dried out husk as Lee fed. Livvy watched, biting down on her knuckle so hard her tiny teeth broke the skin and began to ooze blood.

Once finished, Lee wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He felt powerful, rejuvenated, and invincible. He leapt over the bed that held the unfortunate husk of the former bartender and rushed to her. He grabbed her by the arms and hauled her face to his. He forced his tongue into her mouth, and Livvy dragged her nails across his face. Lee jerked back, startled, somewhat confused and angry.

“No you don’t,” Livvy whispered, rage blazing in her eyes. “Nobody does that to me again, nobody. And don’t think for an instant that I don’t know nothing about how to take you out, because I do and I will.”

“I’m sorry,” Lee said, stepping back. “I don’t know what came over me. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“I know it won’t.” She hissed.

Lee blinked at her, comprehension finally beginning to dawn. He walked back to the remains of Bruce the former barkeep, and looked down at the dried husk which was quickly turning to dust. Had this happened to the other men Lee had fed upon? He couldn’t recall. Lee’s head tilted as he thought something over. He reached down then, and placed his index finger in a small pool of blood upon Bruce’s pillow. He stepped up to the wall above the head board and wrote.

“Your nonexistent liveryman shoulda sold me that gelding when he had the chance.”

Chapter Seven

Lee scrambled up the roof of the dilapidated Catholic mission that dominated the center of town. The Milky Way Galaxy, poised huge and golden in the sky, was beginning to fade a bit around the edges. He gazed up at it, and then turned away, his eyes trailing toward the mountains, and he knew that she was there. He could feel her energy; taste the exotic flavor of her lips. Her song, which faded along with the night, still resonated deeply within him. After he finished with the town he would go up and get her, get the red whore and her man pets that satisfied her cravings. He would put them all into the ground, but not before staking them outside so that the sun could blast their bones clean.

Lee climbed on top of the largest church bell and crouched upon it like a gargoyle.

“What are you doing up there?” Livvy asked. He had freed the two young men after he dined upon Bruce earlier that evening. Now they stood beside Livvy, looking up at the man-thing that swung on the ropes like a buccaneer on a ship’s mast.

“You’ll see,” he responded as he grabbed the ropes and began to pull.

“Folks are gonna see you,” Livvy called up to him. “And hear you too. You’re making an awful racket.”

“I know,” he replied. And with that he rang the bell. The claxon call resounded all the way through town and within moment’s kerosene lights sparkled from unshuttered windows. Men in various stages of dress and women in their shawls and gowns came out onto the boardwalk. They milled around like cattle in a new feed lot, looking confused and somewhat dazed.

“Rise and shine all you good God fearing folk,” Lee shouted between clangs. “It’s Judgment Day.”

He clamored back onto the roof and squatted there with the saddle bags he’d retrieved from under the bar just after his encounter with Bruce, along with his pistols and a good supply of cigars. He pulled out a cigar from his shirt pocket and lit up, grinning down upon the confused mob milling around the front of the mission. He enjoyed a few puffs as he pulled a stick of dynamite out of the saddle bag.

“The railroad boys shouldn’t leave their toys out for devils like me to find,” he said to the crowd. “And you can thank good old Bruce the barkeep for the stogies. I know I did.” Predictably, a woman screamed. People scattered like the frightened mice they were. Livvy and her two men moved aside as Lee tossed a lit stick of dynamite at the crowd. They fled, and laughing like a demon, Lee tossed more lit sticks, the explosions blossoming on the street. The people screamed and fled the church courtyard. Lee tossed more sticks, striking buildings which exploded with abandon. The former slaves cheered. Livvy watched him, again biting her knuckle as she did so, and the town collapsed quickly. Lee stood on the roof of the mission and shouted at the mountains, where the red whore and her minions hid.

“I’m coming for all of you!”

****

Lee destroyed the livery and the Paragon hotel in quick order. A dress shop and the mercantile leaned against each other as if in comfort. He blew the steeple off the Baptist church, the roof collapsing into the building, taking burning shingles down with it, causing the clap board structure to burst into flames. Parishioners fled the building, screaming out into the night. By the time Lee used his last stick of dynamite, the only building left undisturbed was the mission, which Lee, Livvy and her two companions currently occupied.

“They’ll be coming for us,” Lee said noncommittally as he rested in the shadows behind the altar. “And they’ll hang you by your pretty little neck, Livvy, dear, once they get to us.” Lee inhaled deep on his cigar, the glowing eye of the coal the only thing shining out from the dark recesses behind the altar.

“What are we gonna do?”

“We ain’t gonna do nothing. You, ‘Lijah and Michael here,” he emphasized by pointing his cigar at the men, “are gonna get out of town. Hide in the mountains until sundown and then head north. Let the North Star guide you. You’ll all be free once you get up into the northern territories.” He paused, pulled another drag on the cigar, the room filling with the pungent aroma of Kentucky cured tobacco. “I’m thinking Wyoming, or the Montana territories. Get up close to the Canadian border so you can slip across in case anyone gets any bright ideas about sending you back down South.”

‘Lijah and Michael murmured in agreement.

“’Lijah and Michael can go, but I’m staying with you,” Livvy said.

“No, you ain’t. You head on up to free country and get on with your life.” He pointed at ‘Lijah with his cigar. “Jump the broom with good old ‘Lijah here. Have a passel of babies. Forget about me.”

“I ain’t and you can’t make me.” Her expression was set, her eyes blazing.

Lee paused, took a thoughtful drag off his smoke and said, “Now I see why your massa beat you. You can’t do as you’re told, even if it’s for your own good.”

Livvy stepped into the darkness with him, her expressive eyes vicious as she glared down at Lee. “Neither of my past massas did anything for my own good. And you ain’t my massa either so don’t be getting no uppity ideas ‘bout telling me what to do,” she snapped, kicking him in the side with her booted toe. Lee ignored it.

“You’re a free woman now; go someplace where you can stay that way,” Lee said after a lengthy pause.

“If you says I’m a free woman, then I can do as I please. I’m coming up with you.”

“They’ll kill you, pretty Livvy,” he said, touching her hair as she knelt before him. “And I can’t watch over you and send Phaedra back to hell at the same time.” He paused and smiled down at her and said, “You’ve had enough bad things happen in your life, and if I can keep one more bad thing from happening to you I’ll do it. Now you go on with ‘Lijah and Michael and forget all about this mess.”

“Mister Lee is right, Livvy,” ‘Lijah said in his deep baritone voice. “This might be our only chance.”

Grumbling to herself, Livvy stepped away from him and disappeared into an alcove behind a decapitated statue of the Virgin Mary. Lee could hear scraping sounds and then the thumping of something that sounded like wood and heavy plaster being dragged across the floor.

Lee sat with his knees up as he rested against the back of the altar, flicking off cigar ash between his feet as he watched Livvy drag a statue out of the alcove. She carried a wine sack across her shoulder as well. Lijah and Michael stood up and assisted her as they positioned the statue in front of Lee.

“So this is it?” Lee asked.

“Yes, this is it. She be crying now, do you see?”

“I see abnormally well for a room this dark,” Lee commented. He leaned forward and gazed into the placid face of the Virgin. The face was wet. Doubtful, Lee touched the statue’s face, then drew back, gasping as his finger tips glowed cherry red. He hissed and scooted away from the statue, his fingers burning, his face contorted in searing pain. Livvy removed her headscarf and wrapped it around his hand.

“There, you see? Imagine what that could do to them mens up in the hills. What it will surely do to that red ho that commands them.”

“I’ll need your help, then.” Lee admitted as the pain in his hand eased. He unwrapped his hand and looked at it. The index and middle fingers glowed dull yellow, then faded, leaving the fingertips charred black.

“I thought you might,” Livvy agreed. “This ain’t gonna heal up anytime soon, you know. You might not be able to draw a gun from your left hand.”

“I still have my right.”

“And you ain’t gonna be able to touch no bullets either, after the Lady’s tears are smeared on ‘em.”

“I figured that out too.”

“Hand me your guns.”

Lee stood and unbuckled his gun belt. The weapons slid easily off his hips. Livvy took the belt with the guns tucked inside their holsters. She pulled one of the guns and said, “Try it out,”

“That hand is dead,” Lee said.

Livvy made a rude sound. “All of you be dead,” she stated. “But I needs to see if you can pull the trigger on your left hand.”

“I can’t, it’s burned.”

“Only the fingertips and that ain’t what you use to pull a trigger with. Give it a try, go on, now.”

Lee picked up the pistol, held it in his left hand. The balance was there as well as the heaviness. He slipped his wounded finger into the trigger and saw what Livvy meant.

“I think I can use it after all,” Lee agreed, sliding the gun off his finger and handing it holster first to Livvy. “You know how to load this?”

Before Livvy could speak, ‘Lijah answered. “I know how,” he said. “Handling guns ain’t no place for a lady.”

Lee nodded. Livvy grumbled. ‘Lijah sat cross-legged from the statue. He emptied the chambers of both pistols. Michael whistled. ‘Lijah looked up at Lee and said, “No paper cartridges?” He smiled down at the pistol and added, “This is a fine piece, Mr. Lee. A very fine piece indeed. I don’t think I ever saw one quite like this before.”

“Shows why massa Bruce was so set on having ‘em, ” Michael replied, scooting closer to admire the pieces.

“You won’t find many in the territories,” Lee said.

“I should expect not,” ‘Lijah replied.

“Can you load it?” Lee asked.

“Yessuh, I sho can,” ‘Lijah replied with the excitement of a youth on his first date. Livvy grumbled in disgust as she rummaged around a drawer underneath the altar. She found a chalice and poured a small amount of the tears from the wineskin into it. ‘Lijah dipped the bullets into it, muttering the 23
^rd
Psalm as he worked. Lee watched as the man worked. “You know how to handle a gun pretty good,” he noted.

“Massa taught me. He didn’t like to load the rifles himself when he went hunting.”

“Didn’t know there was much out here to hunt.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised, Mister Lee,” ‘Lijah said cheerfully as he dipped each bullet into Guadalupe’s tears and slid them into the chamber. Livvy hunkered down near him, her expression scandalized.

“I’m more surprised that Bruce let you anywhere near a gun,” Lee said. “You could have shot his sorry ass and ran off.”

“And end up getting caught by Comanches and scalped? Oh no suh.”

“Or fed to one of Phaedra’s pets?” Lee ventured.

“Considering the two, I’d rather take on the Indians,” ‘Lijah admitted.

“Wise man,” Lee agreed, feeling weary and feeling somewhat hungry.

“You do aim to kill her, though, that she-devil Phaedra I mean?” ‘Lijah asked as he worked.

“As soon as sun sets.” Lee said. He frowned in the darkness. “I used to enjoy watching the sun set. Now any amount of sunlight burns my eyes. That’s reason enough to kill her.”

“You think this’ll do it?” ‘Lijah asked.

Lee presented his fingers. “Yes, I do.”

“Lord, I hope you and Miss Livvy are right. They’ll do a right amount of damage if you ain’t.”

“I’ve already done a right amount of damage,” Lee said “And I aim to do a whole lot more here in a bit. That’s why I want you to take Livvy and get out of here.” He frowned. “I’ll go feral once I get started. I don’t know if I’d hurt her or not.”

“You won’t hurt me,” Livvy said.

Lee was about to respond when he heard something large slam against the church door, followed by hurried scraping and hammering sounds.

“They’re nailing us in,” Livvy said.

Moments later Lee caught the distinct scent of kerosene. “That ain’t all they’re doing. They aim to burn us alive in here.” He looked around but could not determine an exit. “We’ve gotta get out of here now.”

Everyone stood. “Bring the statue,” Lee commanded.

“We can’t, it’s too heavy,” Michael said.

“That’s what I got this for,” Livvy said, indicating the wine skin. “I been collecting tears since you were taken.”

“That’s my pretty Livvy,” Lee approved, his smile thin.

“We gots to get out of here, or we’ll get cooked,” ‘Lijah said, alarmed. “I don’t know if it’ll hurt you none, Mr. Lee, but I know it won’t us no good.”

“How do we get out?”

“This way,” Livvy said, hefting the wineskin up onto her slender shoulder. Smoke poured from the front door. Livvy darted between pews until she reached the other side. She curtsied to a picture of the Virgin Mary then ran into what appeared to be an alcove. Lee was momentarily confused until he saw the tapestry covering the back wall.

“In case the church got raided by Indians,” Livvy explained as she pulled the tapestry back, revealing the opening in the wall. “We’ll come out behind the church so unless someone is watching it, we can get away quickly.”

“But there’s sunlight,” Lee said as he peered into the hole. “I’ll burn.”

“No you ain’t,” Livvy said as she ripped the tapestry off the wall and dropped it over Lee’s head. The tapestry was long and heavy and covered everything but his boots. He felt Livvy’s warm hand in his. “Come on now, the mission is burning fast now.” She paused just before she helped Lee through the hole. “I sure hate we couldn’t take the Lady with us.”

“Forget that thing and come on,” ‘Lijah commanded.

They escaped through the hole and crept along a tumbleweed infested courtyard behind the church. Lee hunkered down into the tapestry and looked through moth worn holes as he walked.

A gunshot echoed from the hills nearby. Livvy and the men scattered to the safety of an old stone well, which they hid behind. Lee scanned the area and saw one of the day runners who had been feeding him for the past month lurking in the shadow of a large boulder. He had a shotgun aimed at Livvy. In a burst of pure power, Lee willed himself up to the day runner, his tapestry flying as he sped with inhuman speed toward the man with the homespun shirt and leather vest. The day runner must have seen him because he paused, stunned with the rifle pointing up toward the sky, his eyes so huge Lee was certain they’d fall out of his head. He scrambled back into the shadows, thinking he’d be safe, Lee was sure, but instead did exactly what he wanted him to do. Lee launched himself over two huge boulders, and came crashing down on the day runner. The man struggled briefly, but Lee was too quick and too strong. He flung aside the tapestry and went for the jugular. The rifle lay impotent by the day runner’s hand as Lee fed to full measure.