Mary Connealy (36 page)

Luther rode up between them at the moment, and even though he’d been lagging toward the back of the line of riders, Clay could see at a glance that Luther knew exactly what they’d been talking about.

“Leave room for God’s wrath.” Luther settled into the loping pace of his horse. With his wild beard and long hair, his coarse clothing and easy riding style, Luther looked for all the world like he and his horse were a single living creature.

“What’s that mean?” Adam looked sharply at him.

Clay already knew. He’d had it preached to him just a couple of weeks back.

Luther edged his horse in between Clay’s Appaloosa and Adam’s roan. “I think Mason’s got a lot to answer for when he meets his Maker. Nothing you can do to him will begin to match that.”

“But it would make me feel so much better.” Clay knew that wasn’t true even as he said it.

“Leave room for God’s wrath.” Luther dropped back.

“He’s right.” Clay tipped the brim of his hat back on his head with one gloved thumb.

“I know.” Adam looked over his shoulder at Luther. “I’m getting purely sick of that man.”

Clay nodded, and they fell silent.

The sheriff had a man waiting to bring them to the position he had fortified.

“Smart man, the sheriff.” Luther swung down off his spirited bay. “Not a good idea to be riding up to a nervous, trigger-happy posse.”

They were directed to safe positions, well hidden by the jumble of rocks at the mouth of the canyon, and they waited.

It didn’t take long before the wait was driving him crazy, which wasn’t like him. Normally, Clay was a patient man.

“I am a patient woman.” Sophie crossed her arms and tapped her toe. “I am, and no one had better make me wait agreeing with me!”

Mandy said quickly, “We know you’re patient, Ma.”

The other girls nodded, except Laura who had fallen asleep.

“What is keeping those men?” Sophie charged over to the door and grasped the handle for the tenth time, if she hadn’t lost count.

“Ma, you know Buff and Whitey want us to stay inside.” Beth dashed up beside her and laid her little hand over Sophie’s on the doorknob.

Sophie held on to the knob as if it were a lifeline. At last, through pure force of will, she let it go. “Well, why aren’t they in here by now? I’ve still got men to feed, and I can’t get the dishes cleaned up until they eat. Besides, it is time for you all to be in bed, but when they come trooping through here, they’ll make too much noise.”

Mandy came across the room. “We’ll go on to bed, Ma. It’s only two more of ’em left to eat. Just warn ’em to be quiet. If we do wake up, it’ll be okay. I just hate to leave you to clean up alone.”

Sophie noticed her daughters were acting more grown-up than she was. “I guess you might as well. Maybe I misunderstood. Or maybe the men didn’t want to take the time to come all the way in for supper. Maybe they ate on the trail somehow.”

“I’m sure it’s something like that.” Sally, with Laura snoozing in her arms, walked over with a maternal rock to pat Sophie’s arm.

When Sally reassured her so maturely, something snapped in Sophie. All of a sudden the fear that had been tangled up inside her for weeks merged into one lightning bolt of terror. She knew that terror didn’t come strictly from adding up all that had her worried. That fear was a warning—straight from God. She wasn’t about to second-guess the message she was receiving.

She turned sharply to the girls. “No, it isn’t something like that.”

“Adam, come back,” Clay hissed. He had been so focused on the entrance to the canyon that he hadn’t been watching the men around him. Why would he? They weren’t the threat.

Adam waved one hand behind him as if to swat Clay away like a pesky fly. Adam was a hundred feet away from all of them, using every ounce of cover the terrain provided.

Ranger Mitchell sidled up to Clay, pitching his voice low so the sound wouldn’t carry, “Where is he going?”

Clay said in disbelief, “I noticed him just now.”

Jackson grabbed his hat off his head and slammed it on the ground where he lay on his belly beside Clay. “We have this set up so no one gets hurt. I don’t want a grandstanding fool looking to put notches in his gun, charging those men.”

Clay shook his head and wiped sweat off his brow. They’d been lucky the canyon opened on the east. The sheer bluffs gave the posse some much-needed shade as the sun lowered in the sky, but the day was hot and still, and keeping down to avoid a bullet warmed a man.

Clay said, “Adam’s not after a reputation, he’s after revenge. He’s had it in him to even the score with this gang for weeks.”

“I know his story, and I’ve seen his scars,” the ranger said. “I talked to him when you first got here. He said he was content to wait.”

“I had a talk with him myself. I didn’t like what I was seeing in his eyes.” Clay lay, watching Adam slink like a shadow between slight depressions and whisper-thin sagebrush. Adam wore a white shirt, stained brown from being soaked with sweat, as he crawled on the ground. His body was nearly invisible against the coarse dirt. “But he convinced me he had himself under control.”

The two of them watched, expecting a gunshot to ring out any second and leave Adam, with his meager protection, bleeding and dying in the Texas sunset. Adam continued forward as silent as a breeze, as fluid as trickling water. As mad as sin.

“He’s good, isn’t he?” Clay blinked and Adam seemed to vanish. Even his black hair was coated now in the dust that came as a partner with the dry Texas heat. Then Adam moved and Clay could see him again.

“Very good,” Tom Jackson replied with grudging respect.

Clay became aware of the dozen other men who had formed an impenetrable wall along the front of the canyon. All of them watching. All of them silently rooting for Adam to get through the canyon opening alive. All of them fearing the worst.

Adam reached the mouth of Sawyer Canyon and ducked behind the first good cover he’d had.

Clay breathed a sigh of relief and looked across several other men to see Luther shaking his head. Luther looked away from Adam and caught Clay’s eye. The two of them shared a moment of regret. They knew what drove Adam to do this desperate thing. It would be bad for Adam if he managed to kill the lot of them. He’d carry this act of hatred like a burning stone in his soul for the rest of his life.

“He’s in,” Jackson whispered.

Clay looked back at the canyon. Adam had disappeared like a wisp of smoke on the air. They waited. Clay smelled the sweat of a dozen men strung tight as piano wire. He heard someone breathe raggedly, and it reminded him he’d been holding his own breath for a while. The canyon wasn’t a large one. The good place to cut a man down was right at the mouth. After that, a man had a fighting chance. The silence drew out long. Clay suddenly pushed himself to his knees. “He got through. I’m going to see if I can.”

Jackson shoved Clay sideways. Only the
crack
of a gun being triggered stopped Clay from shoving back. He looked down the barrel of Jackson’s Winchester. “I’m not risking another man on such a reckless attack. Don’t even think about it.”

Clay didn’t think the ranger would shoot him, but the heat of the day and the tension of the moment were taking their toll on everyone. He didn’t make any more sudden moves.

“They’re gone!” Adam came running out of the canyon, no longer making the least attempt to hide himself.

“They can’t be gone.” Sheriff Everett jumped to his feet, leaving cover behind in a way that proved he believed Adam, even though he denied it. “This is the only way out.”

Adam stormed toward the group of men then passed straight through the line, heading for the horses.

After one frozen moment, Clay started after him.

“They’re gone,” Adam shouted without looking back or slowing down, “but their horses are still there!”

“They climbed out?” Clay walked faster.

Adam jerked his head in agreement. “It looks like they’ve been gone for hours. I thought there was something too neat about this.”

Adam called back to Sheriff Everett, “They set you all up. They led you to this spot so they could tie up your whole posse while they made a clean getaway.”

“Whitey would have told me if his plans changed. The men were coming in to do more than eat. They needed to check in with Whitey and Buff.” Sophie was the mother again. Not a fidgeting worrier who needed small children to keep her calm. “Girls, something’s happened to those men. Get into the crawl space. Now!”

The girls didn’t hesitate. Beth threw back the rug and pulled up the trap door. Sally dropped into the dark hole in the floor, carrying Laura. Mandy went into the hidey-hole next.

“I’ll make sure the rug lies flat,” Sophie said.

“Ma, I think you oughta come down.” Beth looked at the front door, her face pale but determined.

“I need to keep watch, Beth. You know how we do this.”

Beth hesitated again, and Sophie didn’t hurry her. Sophie respected all her girls’ instincts.

“I don’t know why, Ma, but I’ve got a feeling you need to clear out of the house. If you come with us, we can work our way out to the cave and scout the men who are supposed to be standing watch. We’ll know if there’s any real trouble.”

Sophie was torn.

“We can leave Mandy, Sally, and Laura here underground,” Beth added. “They can run the porch traps. If one of our men comes, they can let ’im know where we are.”

Sophie and her girls had faced a lot of danger in the years they lived alone in this house. And they’d always handled it with Sophie remaining above, guarding the house. She hesitated. It set wrong with her to leave her home undefended, but the look on Beth’s face held her fast.

“Something inside me tells me that this is a good time to be afraid, Ma. Something is telling you that, too. We all need to go, Ma. Now!”

Sophie went. She left the lanterns burning to provide a little light for the underground room and to make the house looked lived-in. She grabbed the rifle and shotgun hanging on nails above the front door then followed Beth into the hole. She closed the trap door over her head. As the door swung shut, closing the five of them into the cramped darkness, she prayed, “Lord, help me, help me, help me.”

Luther was beside Clay and Adam, and all at once he froze in his tracks. Adam stopped so suddenly he almost fell over.