Tangled Betrayals (35 page)

Chapter
Eighty-Eight

Thomas pulled the carriage as close to the house as he could. He quickly got down and was relieved to be home. But he was worried, the bunkhouse showed no signs of life. What could have happened to pull everyone away? Normally, there’d have been a light in the bunk house and at least two or three of his men outside smoking.

He picked up his sleeping daughter and
decided he’d get Jane settled in bed before he checked the property. Hopefully, Will left a note. He felt unsettled, yet entered his home with Anna, Jane and Mary following close behind, anxious to see what had happened to everyone.

Thomas
immediately knew he’d made a critical error. He heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked. He froze in his tracks. He should have followed his instincts when things felt out of place. Yet, he never expected to find danger in his own home. He’d allowed himself to become too tired and heed the obvious signs something was amiss.

“Well,
bout time you’ve returned. We’ve been waiting for you. Welcome.”

Thomas felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He and
Mary knew who belonged to that voice. It was none other than the sinister and evil, Henry Ball. The lantern was soon lit and reflected the faces of two men who looked eager to start trouble and far worse.

“What the hell are you doing
here? Put that damn gun away and get out! You and your friend aren’t welcome here! What happened to my men?” Thomas prayed no harm had come to any of his hands. “Answer me, damn you.”

By
this time Jane awoke crying. Anna tried to sooth her as best she could, “Thomas, you know these men?” Anna asked surprised. These men weren’t the kind of men Thomas would normally have dealings with.

“
Why don’t you all take a seat, now!” Henry bellowed, as he waited until they sat before continuing. “You must be Thomas’s wife. I’m Henry Ball. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Henry said, ever so sweetly, after eyeing Anna over.

“
And as for you, Thomas, is that any way to treat your father?” Henry sneered. “And look at the bonus we have, Chester, This lovely lady with the dark hair, is my daughter, Mary. I had no idea you were in the area, Mary.

“
Thomas, you have yourself a beautiful wife and daughter. Who’d have thought you would have landed such a prize and bred such a beauty.”

“
You pot licker! You don’t need to pretend any longer. I know you’re not my father, nor Mary’s. Anna, this is the bastard who deceived everyone into believing Edward died many years ago. Why don’t you leave before anything further happens and take that jackal you run with along? Now, where are my men?”

“So, you finally know the truth about your parentage?

“He saw you at the docks. Edward had wondered about me ever since Clayton mentioned how similar we were in appearance. After meeting up with you in Baltimore, he went to England to verify if his suspensions were correct. Minnie told him what she knew, and between them, Edward realized that not only did I belong to him, but Mary did also. If anything should happen to us, Edward will hunt you down, Henry. I know him; he’ll not stop until he destroys you.”

“Tsk, Tsk. First he
’d have to find us. Edward was a fool then and probably still is. I’ve no fear of him.”

“I demand you
to leave!” Thomas yelled again. He knew the look of a killer, he saw it Henry’s eyes, but there was nothing he could do.

“Thomas, Thomas, you
’re in no position to demand things. Nor tell me what to do. Don’t you want to introduce me to your wife and child? But first, please allow me to explain where your men and your foreman have gone. It seems McKee’s younger brother, from Washington, got shot and requested McKee at his bedside. Of course, to my knowledge, there’s no truth to that story. But McKee didn’t know that. Then, all but one of your men has gone looking for two prowlers, near your cattle north of here. Did you think we wouldn’t find them, Thomas?

“
Now, about the man who was left guarding your home, he’s tied up in the barn. He’ll have a great view of the blaze that will destroy your home and those inside. He may even smell the smoke headed his way, once we set the second fire in the barn. Your man might be lucky; he may never awake from the blow to the head Chester gave, and won’t be aware of his fate. You didn’t think we’d leave the barn standing, did you?”

“Hell no
, you bastard. You want to ruin everything!” Thomas barked, as he tried to figure a way to get the gun from Henry. But if he did that, he would then need to get to Chester before being shot himself. There was no one left that could be of any help. He hoped and prayed he would be the only one harmed by the hand of these two jackals, but in his heart he knew the truth, Henry and Chester wouldn’t dare let anyone live to tell what they’d done. The horrible truth was Henry wouldn’t be happy until he felt his revenge was complete. And Thomas knew that meant killing anyone with the name of Ball. Then it would be James and his family. There was no question Henry was insane, and probably had been for years. And he had no way of taking both of them on without being killed or putting Anna, Jane and Mary at risk of being shot.

“Let me introduce you
folks to my good friend, Chester Hartley.  He’s been waiting a long time to meet my family, especially you, Mary. Chester has asked about you for months. He loved me telling how pretty you are. I promised him some time with you before all is said and done. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

Mary was furious and scared
to the core. The man called Chester was evil looking and creepy. He’d been eyeing her over ever since she entered the house. For all her life, she’d been saving herself for James, and now she’d come so close to having her dream come true, to see it again destroyed, was a cruel twist of fate. What had she or Thomas done to deserve this? Her dream was once again about to be shattered. Was there any way out? Why did life have to be so unfair? But if she had to die this night, she knew damn well she was going to fight like hell.

When Mary
glanced to Anna, she saw nothing but extreme fear upon her face. Anna was clinging to Jane trying to hold herself together. Mary saw Thomas trying to reassure his wife everything was going to be alright by giving her nods of comfort and a small smile. But Mary knew the truth, Henry Ball was mad. She felt certain their lives were going to end soon.

Mary felt a tear slip down her cheek
but she wasn’t about to show Henry how much she feared him, or his partner, Chester. But the truth was Mary had never known fear such as this.

“Chester, why don’t you
bind the hands of Thomas and the ladies? This is going to be a long night. No wait, let Mary free for a moment, since we haven’t ate in some spell, she can fix us some supper. She’s a fairly good cook.

“
But don’t try anything funny, Mary; I’m not opposed to shooting someone sitting here if you try anything stupid. Killing a man, woman or child doesn’t matter much to me or Chester.”

“You wouldn’t dare!
” Thomas hollered as he tried to break free of the rope placed upon him, confining his hands. “You can’t really believe you’ll get away with this! Leave everyone else be, it’s me you want. Let the others go!”

“
Hell, Henry, you never said Thomas was such a demanding bastard. Let me shoot him now. I don’t think we should push our luck tonight. He might figure a way out of his predicament and foil our plan.”

“
Don’t be stupid, Chester, what can he do with his hands tied? With the herd of cattle a good three miles away, by the time Thomas’s men get there and back, it’ll be too late to help anyone and we shall be long gone.”

Mary finished cooking
the eggs and bacon and placed the food on the table. “Chester, tie Mary’s hands.

Mary walked over and sat in the chair next to Anna. She looked to Thomas and tried to smile, but found she couldn’t. She felt the tears pooling in her eyes. She saw Thomas look to Anna with so much love Mary had to turn her face away. She knew he was saying a silent good
-bye and Anna was doing the same. Jane had fallen asleep again and Mary was thankful her niece could at least escape the torture that was upon them. If only she could say good-bye to James.

Mary felt Chester’s breath on her neck. He rubbed his hands along her arms a
s he tied her hands tight. He then brushed his hands over her front and she shuddered. She wanted to vomit all over him, but he was behind her. His body smelled, his breath smelled, and Mary wished and prayed she could find a way to avoid his touching her again.

“
For the time being, Chester, leave her be. I want to talk to her about poor James, shall we, Mary? The man has lost everything, didn’t he? Don’t worry about James, he’ll be joining you folks in hell in due time, he and those brats of his.”

“You
’re mad!”Thomas spat out. “The only one who’s going to hell is you and that idiot friend of yours.”

“Watch it, Thomas. But you may be right
. I might be mad, but I’m in control. Did I not tell you what happened to my own father? Of course, I told you he passed away. I guess I forgot to mention how. He was shot in the back and I was the one who shot him! My father beat me every chance he got when I was just a youngster. He gladly beat me and my mother at will. Well, one day, I’d had enough, so I shot him. He was dead before he hit the floor. I was fourteen years old. I left that day and went to sea. I never saw my mother again. She was a weak woman and I really had no use for her either. I returned to England four or five years later when I was a grown man and had changed my name.

“
When I came to America to seek my revenge for what you and Mary had done to me, I’d the good fortune to meet Chester. He’s been a good friend and a loyal companion. He loves fires, did I mention that? He’s done his share of killing, and his share of taking woman. Your wife there, now she might enjoy having a real man, what do you think, Thomas? With child or not, I bet she’s quite the woman.”

But as Thomas was about to
answer, Henry walked behind him and knocked him unconscious. Anna screamed and cried out begging Henry to spare Jane’s life as Jane awoke to the ruckus and became hysterical when she saw her father unconscious. Anna had been the only one who had her hands tied in front of her, wrapped around Jane. She was in no position to reach over to Thomas and check his condition.

Yet,
through all this, Mary said nothing. She was furious, but she managed to maintain her composure. She wanted to show Anna to stay strong. There had to be a way out, Mary thought. She prayed the blow hadn’t killed Thomas, but she wasn’t sure. She just felt numb.

“Mary,
I can see your turning things over in your mind. You might as well get used to the idea, there’s nothing you can do to escape your fate.” Henry said, as he finished gulping down his food. “Find us something to drink, Chester.”

“I could take Mary now, if you want, Henry. I
’d gladly finish up my supper later.”

Henry glanced at Mary and saw the fear she tried so desperately to hide,
“No, Chester, there’s plenty of time. I want to enjoy my evening toying with our prey. I guess we could let them know what’s in store. If you thought the fire at the Parker place did some damage, wait till this home goes up. The fire will destroy everything and everyone remaining in this house!” Henry paused and watched as the look of shock appeared on the faces of Anna and Mary. Jane was too young to figure out the meaning of what he’d said. Too bad, he might have enjoyed her theatrics, he thought.

“You
can’t mean what you say! Jane’s only a child! It would be murder!” Mary screamed, shocked that such a brutal act was to be placed upon them. But Mary knew Henry meant what he said. He was insane. No one would even know of their demise until it was too late.

Too late for
her to wed James when she was only hours away from fulfilling her dream, it was if she was in a nightmare. Now, she’d never know the love of a man. She’d only know the brutal taking of her, if Chester had his way. But Mary vowed she’d fight him until he either gave up or killed her. She prayed all their deaths would be swift. If God was a merciful one, he’d at least give them a quick death.

Henry gloated
as he watched his frightened prey. Mary, Anna and now Thomas, who’d finally regained consciousness, now realized their fate.

Anna looked at each and every face present. She could tell Thomas and Mary feared
, as much as she did, about what was to come. She knew they were each trying to be brave knowing they were destined for death.

W
hen Anna looked at Henry and Chester, she saw two insane men who had managed to come together and feel exhilarated by destroying lives of innocent people. Why? Little Jane hadn’t even had a chance to experience life, and to lose the baby due in three months was intolerable to think about.

She wondered if she was carrying a
son, a son she planned to name after his father. But if Thomas and Mary could maintain their composure, she’d be damned if she wouldn’t try also. She thought of her parents, and how they grieved over losing Susannah. How would they survive losing her and her family in such a violent manner? She held some comfort in the thought that they’d be buried next to Susannah. She wondered where Mary would be buried. She guessed her parents would place Mary by Thomas.