Sharon Poppen (17 page)

Liam had no trouble staying awake. He couldn’t let anyone or thing hurt the woman in his arms. It wasn’t long until the sky began its daily fade from black to blue, starting with a hint of gray on the horizon. The outline of a woman began to materialize along the water’s edge. Her curled fetal position hid her face, keeping any evaluation of her age or race secreted.

Liam rubbed Hannah’s arms gently, but with purpose as he whispered in her ear. “Hannah, wake up. We have a visitor.”

After forcing her eyes open, she looked across the small creek. Her eyes widened and she came fully awake at the sight of the body.

“Martha?” Zach’s voice was a combination of hope and disbelief. He was returning to the campsite after relieving himself and was still buttoning his denims when he noticed the sleeping woman.

“Zach,” whispered Liam loudly. “Come here.”

Zach turned and spotted the couple.

They were getting to their feet. As the three of them stared at the body, Hannah asked, “Did you call her Martha?”

Zach nodded. “Sure looks like her.”
He stepped into the creek and started toward the girl with Hannah and Liam close behind. He squatted alongside the sleeper and then looked up at Hannah. “It’s her all right.”

He touched Martha’s shoulder, which not only woke her, but also frightened her into jumping to her feet. Her body bobbed side to side as if looking for an escape route.

“Martha! It’s me, Zach. From the livery stable.” He took hold of her shoulders to keep her from running. “Martha. Look at me. I ain’t gonna let no harm come ta ya.”

Oblivious to her torn and dirty dress, with her hair in disarray, she blinked several times through terrified eyes until a measure of the wildness abated into recognition. “Zach?” Her voice registered disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He smiled in an effort to further disarm her wild demeanor.

She swiveled her head to Zach’s companions. “And them?”

“They’s friends. They’s looking for ya ‘cause Janey asked ‘em ta.” He pointed. “That’s Hannah and that’s Liam. They promised Janey that they’d find ya.” He smiled. “And, they did.” He held out his hand. “Come on over to our campfire. Have some coffee. Yer safe now.”

Martha grabbed Zach’s arm as she looked out into the distant south. “He’s going to kill me. Oh, God he’s going to kill me.” She broke from the trio and began to run.

“No one’s gonna kill ya.” Zach tried to assure Martha as he chased after her across the gravelly sand.

In her panic, Martha didn’t see the water-gouged rut in her path. She tripped and fell forward. Her hands and knees broke her fall and gave Zach a chance to reach out and grab her arm as she came back up.

“Martha!” He held tight. “Martha, stop. No one’s goin’ ta hurt ya.”

Hannah and Liam had circled behind the girl in case she managed to break away from Zach.

“Yes he is! He killed that man. He doesn’t need me anymore. He’s got her. He needs to kill me.” Twisting side to side, she tried to break away from Zach. Her wild, tangled hair lashed across his face. He held firm and finally managed to grab her other arm and pull her into a bear hug. “Martha, I ain’t gonna let ‘im. I ain’t gonna let ‘im.”

As hard as she struggled to free herself, he held her closer and closer. Finally, she began to cry and with the tears came a relaxing of her muscles. She would have fallen if Zach had not been holding her so tightly. Her release was intense, but short lived.

The trio waited while she gathered her composure. Her eyes, though still red from lack of sleep, worry and tears, cleared and her tears dried. When she looked up at Zach, her eyes were narrowed in distrust, and then slowly began to widen with recognition and hope. “You got the message I sent.”

“I did.”

“I was afraid a loose horse would either get lost or stolen.”

“Showed up yesterday. Right after ta storm.”

“Excuse me,” Hannah broke in. “We’d like to know whose blood it was.”

Martha tensed at the words coming from behind her and nestled closer into Zach arms.

“It’s all right, girl. They’s nice folks who’re tryin’ to get that there baby ta its grandfolks.”

“He’ll never let you take that baby. You’d be crazy to try. He’ll kill you like he did that Mexican.”

Hannah extended her arm out toward the girl. “We’ve been talking to Janey. She’s very worried about you. We promised her that we’d find you and keep you safe.”

Martha stayed in Zach’s protective brace, but looked over at Hannah. “Janey. You talked with Janey? Is she all right?”

Hannah took a step closer. “Yes. She’s fine, except she very worried about you. Come. Come with us to our campsite. We’ve some canteens of water. You look thirsty. And you look like you could use a little food. Did you get caught in that awful dust storm?”

“Come on, girl. The woman’s right.” Zach released her from his embrace, but quickly took hold of her hand.

To everyone’s relief, Martha didn’t bolt. She allowed Zach to lead her to the campsite.

He stayed by her side as they settled down around the now dead embers in the fire pit. Hannah offered her some water and then a piece of the jerky. Martha took deep drinks from the canteen and then hungrily gnawed at the jerky.

After swallowing the first few bites, she managed a slight smile. “Thank you.”

“Yer welcome. Wish were somethin’ better. Somethin’ hot.”

“No. This is fine,” she said while chewing another piece of the jerky. She washed it down with more water, then looked over at Hannah, then Liam. “You one of those Canady brothers?”

“Yes. I’m Liam. How did you know?”

“You look like those men at the ranch where I picked up the baby.” Martha looked back at Hannah. “You must be the woman on the train who took care of the baby.”

“Yes. I promised the baby’s mother I’d see that her child would come to no harm.”

Martha bit her lip, closed her eyes and gave a soft moan. “You failed. He hates the baby.” She opened her eyes. “You better pray that the new woman he has can stop the baby from crying. For her sake and the baby’s.”

“The child is being harmed?”

“He can’t stand her crying. We ran out of milk when the storm came. It caught us off guard and blew everything away except us and the horses.”

“There’s no food for the baby?”

“They have food now. Since he killed that Mexican.”

“Whoa.” Liam entered the conversation. “I’m getting confused. Can you start from the beginning?”

“She looks powerful tired. She mighten be up ta it,” Zach objected.

Martha managed a smile of thanks at Zach and then turned back to Hannah and Liam. “You’re going after the baby?”

“Yes. There are so many people that have been hurt over this child, but most important is little Jessica’s welfare. Please, anything you can tell us about Stevenson, his plans, the direction he’s headed. Anything.”

Martha took another drink from the canteen and then began. She told of meeting Stevenson in the hotel dining room. He said he needed some help with his daughter. His wife had been on her way to San Antonio to see a doctor for their sick child, when she was killed. Some good Samaritans took the child to a ranch just south of the city. He needed to go get her, but he had important business in town all day. Said he really wanted to get his daughter. He’d offered Martha one hundred dollars to ride out and get the baby. When she returned she was to wait in her hotel room until his business was done and he could come for the baby. When he did come, he told Martha that she was now his accomplice in a kidnapping. He’d still give her the money, but she needed to get the baby out of town. He’d meet her at an old abandoned stagecoach stop south of the city. She’d rented the horse and gone.

“Martha, ya always stuck me as a right smart girl. How’d ya let this fella trick ya like that?”

Martha’s face got hard. “I wasn’t tricked. Oh, at first I did think he wanted the baby, but after he came to my room, I knew he was up to no good. I really wanted that money. It was worth the risk. I was tired of me and Janey having to put up with that bastard Ketchum.”

All three listeners flinched at the hate in Martha’s hissed mention of Ketchum’s name.

“I know. Janey told us about it. We intend to take care of him as soon as we get hold of the baby. Now, please, go on,” said Hannah.

“The wind was already howling when he arrived at the stage stop. Jessica and I were huddled in the corner of the only two walls still standing. He was angry. Said he’d had some trouble with some town folks and we had to move on. He grabbed the small supply of food and canned milk for the baby and had me follow him out into the storm.”

“You rode into that wall of sand?” Liam asked.

“Yes. He said it would stop anyone chasing us.”

“He was right. Please, go ahead,” urged Hannah.

“The sand blasted our faces and the horses were taking a beating. We couldn’t see. Finally, he stopped, got me off the horse, and urged the horses down. He put a blanket over the horses’ heads and we snuggled between them.”

“What was the baby doing?”

“She slept, thank goodness. I had her nestled against my breasts and she hardly moved while we waited out the wind. Once it passed, we crawled out from under the blanket and he urged the horses back to their feet. He started cursing when he realized that our cache of food and milk had been taken away by the wind. That’s when Jessica woke up and started to cry. As we rode, he kept telling me to shut her up. He finally demanded that I…” Martha paused and took a drink. “He…” She blushed and glanced at Zach.

Zach scowled, but offered, “Want me and Liam ta go off for a bit so’s ya can tell somethin’ private?”

Martha took a deep breath and shook her head no. “It’s all right. Just try not to think too poorly of me. I was only trying to quiet the baby.” She took a big sigh and continued. “He told me to take off my blouse and let the baby suckle me. I was afraid he was going to hurt the baby to make it stop crying, so I did it. Poor little thing’s mouth got all excited when she latched on to my nipple and sucked for all she was worth. When she didn’t get anything, she began to cry again. He told me to try the other one. I didn’t mind the baby so much, but it was awful watching him stare at me.”

“I can only imagine,” Hannah said. “I think you were so brave. Little Jessica was lucky you were there.”

“I wasn’t brave. I was scared.”

“Dang, ya was brave!” Zach validated what everyone was thinking.

“Thank you. But, it didn’t help. The baby seemed hungrier and cried even louder. I rode back aways from Stevenson, to try to stop him from cursing at her.”

“Where does this Mexican you mentioned come into the story?” Liam asked.

“It was awful.”

“Ya wanna stop now and git some rest,” Zach offered.

Martha looked across at Hannah and Liam. She shook her head. “No, these folks need to know what they are up against.” She took another drink and then went on. “Out in the middle of nowhere we spotted a cart being pulled along by a burro. Stevenson told me to keep up with him and to keep my mouth shut. I could see a man scoot a woman and a small child behind the cart. The man greeted us as he stood holding a bridle strap on the burro. He said something, but I don’t know what because I don’t know any Mexican. Stevenson talked to him and I could see the caution in the man’s eyes turn to fear. Then, the wail of a tiny baby interrupted their talk. Stevenson smiled and put his hand on his holstered gun. The Mexican began backing up toward the cart as if looking for something. That’s when Stevenson shot him.”

“Dead?” asked Liam.

She nodded. “The woman and her little boy started screaming. Stevenson walked up to her and put his gun to the head of an infant in her arms. Her screaming stopped and she shushed the little boy. Stevenson ripped the front of the woman’s dress open and squeezed her very full breasts. He smiled and told me to give the baby to her and stick the woman’s nipple into the baby’s mouth. The baby latched on and suckled. Stevenson looked through the meager contents of the cart, and then told me to strip the Mexican bare and throw his clothes into the cart.”

“Why?” asked Zach.

“He didn’t say, but within minutes the woman, her children, and Jessica were loaded into the cart. We rode away leaving the poor man naked and easy prey for the desert creatures. When nightfall came, we made camp. The woman nursed both babies as Stevenson watched. He’d look to me, and then back over at the woman. I knew he didn’t need me anymore and felt sure I’d be left in the desert like the Mexican. Before he went to sleep, he tethered the woman to the cart, but let the children sleep against her body. I don’t know why he didn’t tie me up, but he didn’t. As soon as I was sure he was asleep, I slipped over to the horses, cut my thumb and wrote that message on the saddle. After untying her reins from the cart, I walked the horse down to a little water hole a few yards from the campsite and let it drink as I headed out into the darkness. Once I was far away from the camp, I threw a rock in the direction of the horse. I figured that if Stevenson heard the horse take off, he’d think I was on it and give chase. In the pitch darkness, I didn’t think he’d catch it, but even if he did, I planned on being so far away it didn’t matter. Guess my guardian angel was watching out for me, because when the stone hit the horse, it neighed and took off running. So did I, in the opposite direction. With no moon, there was no way he could see me. Still, I ran and ran.”