Whispers on the Wind (26 page)

Something was
burning.

She glanced up at the
window and saw small wisps of smoke curling through the bars. What
could be burning outside?

Dragging the cot under the
window, she stepped up on the cot and peeked out the barred
window.

Mary gasped, but she drew
in too much smoky air and started to cough. Her eyes burned and
watered. She rubbed them and looked again. White smoke and huge red
flames were being blown straight toward the jail by the wind. It
looked like the building next to them was engulfed in fire. Hot
winds blew in through the window bringing more smoke.

She was trapped!

“Help me!” Mary yelled out
the window. But every time she opened her mouth to scream, she
gulped smoke and that set her to coughing. So she climbed down and
sat on the cot. What could she do to help herself?

Damn Carter Monroe for
leaving her like this!

She grasped the bars on the
cell and looked over at the keys. Her eyes were still watering and
burning, and she had to wipe away the tears. There were the keys,
hanging on a peg, promising her freedom, but too far away to do her
any good.

As she coughed and wiped
her eyes again, the door of the jailhouse flew open. At first she
thought it might be Carter, but a man she didn’t recognize ran
in.

“Who are you?”

“I was sent to get you out
of here before the place burnt down,” the stranger said as he
retrieved the keys from the peg.

Mary thought the jingle of
keys had never sounded so good.

The man unlocked the door.
“You’re to come with me.”

Mary put her hand over her
mouth against the smoke and nodded. Her eyes were watering so badly
that she could barely see. But she followed the man to two horses,
figuring he had to be one of the men from town.

The horse was skittish from
the smoke, and it took Mary several tries before she mounted the
animal. She did notice this wasn’t the horse that she had ridden to
town, but she figured with the fire the man had grabbed the first
animal he came to.

There was still shooting
going on, so it didn’t surprise Mary when they rode around the back
of the buildings and out of town.

“Where are we going?” Mary
asked.

“Someplace safe,” the man
answered.

Mary breathed in the fresh
air. She was too thankful to get the smoke out of her lungs to
question him, and her eyes were finally clearing, too. She figured
they would go to where some of the other townsfolk were gathered
and they’d sort themselves out later.

But they didn’t. Instead
they kept going.

Apprehension began to creep
over her. True, the man had saved her life when no one else had
bothered to look in on her, but why were they going so far out of
town? Mary pulled back on the reins. “Wait a minute. I don’t want
to leave town. My brother is back there, and Carter. I need to see
if they’re all right. Who are you anyway, and where are we going?”
she demanded. “I’ll go no farther until you tell me!”

The man swung around and
rode back to her. Now that she could see clearly, Mary realized
there was something vaguely familiar about him. She stared at him,
waiting for him to say something.

What was it about that
face?

But he said nothing.
Instead of answering her, he reached up and tugged at his ear. What
was he—?

Mary knew nothing
else.

McCoy felt cold contempt
for the girl as he stared at her for a moment “What were you
saying?”

“I don’t remember,” Mary
replied, confused.

“That is what I thought”
The man smiled. “Now you are going to ride behind me and say
nothing.”

“I will ride behind you,”
Mary said, her voice dull and automatic.

McCoy nudged his horse.
They rode through a couple of canyons until they reached Box Canyon
and the hidden road. He stopped, moved the brush, then led their
horses through. After McCoy replaced the brush, he grabbed his
horse’s reins and Mary’s, then led the two horses into the camp
that he and the Carlsons had setup.

After tying his horse, he
held Mary’s mount’s halter. “Get down.” He watched her obediently
follow his command, then he left her to tie her horse beside
his.

He returned to find her
standing in the same spot, just staring off into the distance. Boy,
he had her trained good, he thought with pleasure. “Mary, go and
sit by that rock and do not move until I give you further
instructions.”

She went quietly and did as
he instructed.

It wasn’t long before Sammy
Carlson and two of his men galloped into the ravine where the
campsite had been set up. The two men were wearing tasseled
sombreros and short jackets.

“I see you got her,” Sammy
said, nodding toward the girl. He dismounted. “Boys, get some grub
going.”

“I told you I would,”
McCoy told him. “Where is your brother?”

Sammy yanked his saddlebags
from his horse, then tossed the reins to Fred, one of his men,
before answering McCoy. “Dead.”

McCoy frowned. “Dead? I
thought you were just going to hold them off until I could get the
fire started.”

“You took your damn time
about getting that fire lit,” Fred said, dusting off his hat on his
chaps. “We damned near all got shot”

“I was working by myself,”
McCoy informed them. “You should have been on our end,” Tom, the
other hired gun, said.

“Why is that?”

Sammy handed a sack of
beans to Fred so he could put them in the pot “Because they had
somebody new who was damn good with a gun. Don’t know where he came
from. The marshal has always been fast, but this guy—he looked like
a ’breed. Poor Randy never saw it coming. That ’breed took him out
before Randy could blink twice.”

Sammy dug down in his
saddlebag and fished out some strips of material, then sat down in
front of Mary. “Make yourself useful and bandage my
arm.”

Mary didn’t
move.

“What’s wrong with her? Is
she deaf?”

“She’s in a trance,” McCoy
said. He bent over and looked at the girl. “Mary, look at me.”
Slowly she lifted her head. “Bandage the man’s arm, but be careful
you don’t hurt him.”

Mary got up on her knees,
then reached for Sammy’s arm and tore the sleeve up over the wound.
Next she wrapped the strips of cloth around his arm. When she’d
finished, she sat back down.

“Well, I’ll be damned,”
Sammy said. “Why isn’t she saying nothing?”

“Because I’ve not told her
to.”

“So exactly what have you
done to her? It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Sure wish I
could get all women to do what I say without a bunch of
arguin’.”

McCoy sat down beside Mary.
“I have put her into a hypnotic sleep.”

“What does that
mean?”

“Even though she looks
awake, she is actually asleep and under the influence of my
suggestion.”

Sammy looked very
skeptical. “I don’t believe you. How do you know she’ll carry out
our plan?”

“I’ll show you while Fred
and Tom cook the beans. Are you sure we don’t need to ride farther
out?”

“Nope. We’re all set for
them to come after us, but first they have a mighty big fire to put
out.” He laughed.

McCoy frowned. He just
hoped the cowboy was right. He touched Mary’s shoulder. “Mary, all
your fingers on your right hand will ball up into a fist and you
will not be able to unclench your hand no matter how hard you try.
The hand will cause you great pain until I release you. Do you
understand?”

She nodded.

“On the count of three
you’ll wake up. But when I ask you about your hand, you will feel
the pain. One ... two ... three.”

Mary slowly blinked. What
was happening? She felt such pressure in her head. “Where am I? And
who are you? Where is Carter?” She didn’t have any idea how she’d
gotten here. She did recognize the man who led her out of town ...
and there was something else about him.

“What’s in your
hand?”

She looked at her fist and
tried to open it, but she couldn’t no matter how hard she tried.
And the pain was excruciating. “My fingers! They’re not working. I
can’t open my hand,” she said in a panicked voice. “I don’t know
who you people are, but I’m going back to town even if I have to
walk.”

“Mary!” McCoy snapped to
gain her attention. As soon as she looked at him, he tugged on his
ear, causing her to go back into a trance. “Sit back
down.”

When she was seated again,
McCoy said to Sammy, “Try and open her hand.”

Sammy took her fist and
tried to pry Mary’s fingers out, but he couldn’t do it. She cried
out in pain, and he tried harder. Finally, he gave up and slapped
her hand away from him. “The bitch is strong,” he
grumbled.

Mary stood there, silent
tears running down her cheeks.

McCoy laughed. “Not the
person, but the mind. Mary, would you like to get rid of the pain
you’re in?”

“Yes,” she said with a
whimper.

“All you have to do is
kiss me and your pain will simply go away.”

Mary leaned over to McCoy,
put her arms around his neck, and kissed him intimately. At the
same time, he unbuttoned her blouse and caressed her breasts. Then
he let her go.

When Mary sat back, her
hand was open just as if nothing had ever happened.

“Button your blouse,”
McCoy instructed.

“You know, I think I’m
going to like this arrangement,” Sammy said. “Maybe after she’s
done the murders, we could have her rob a few banks and provide
some pleasure for me and the men.”

“Whoa.” McCoy held up his
hand. There was really no need for trouble now, so he would have to
tread carefully. After all they were a hard, dangerous-looking
bunch.

“That wasn’t our agreement
After she kills the marshal, I’m taking her back to Gregory
Gulch—that is, if she’s still alive. There is a matter of a gold
mine I need to see too. If you boys want to go straight you can
come and work the claim. It will make you rich, according to my
dear, departed brother.”

Sammy frowned. “Sounds like
a lot of work to me.

“Beans are ready,” Tom
said as he spooned out a helping onto his plate. “I’d rather other
folks make the money and we take it from them.”

Amusement flickered in
Sammy’s eyes as he said in his slow drawl, “That’s why I like you
boys.”

Chapter Seventeen

The inky black fingers of
dust were slithering across the sky, stilling the light as Carter
and Thunder rode through the gorge. The fir and aspen trees guarded
the sides of the slopes like soldiers.

It didn’t take them long to
reach Box Canyon, where they had been instructed to go. The sound
of the three-hundred-foot waterfall greeted them. They found what
they thought looked like the safest place, next to a stream. With
the stream protecting their backs they could see whoever approached
them. After agreeing, they started preparing to settle in for the
night

Thunder built a campfire
next to the stream. Since they wanted the outlaws to know exactly
where they were, they didn’t worry about keeping the fire small.
Carter tossed out their bedrolls, though he doubted either one of
them would get any sleep. He worried as he waited and hoped that
the Carlsons were kinder to Mary than they had been to his
sister.

“I don’t know about you,
but all I can smell and taste is smoke,” Carter said as he
straightened and stretched his aching back. “You watch out while I
wash up, and then I’ll do the same for you.”

Thunder nodded, and a wry
smile touched his lips. “That sounds good.”

“What’s so
funny?”

“Do you realize that is
the first time we’ve agreed on anything?” Thunder asked.

Carter smiled. “I knew
you’d come around to my way of thinking sooner or later.” He went
to his saddlebags and dug out clean clothes. He was glad now that
he always kept a change of duds in his bag.

The water felt wonderful
and fresh as he dove under. When he came up, he listened to the
peaceful sound of the waterfall as he relaxed. After several
minutes of floating, Carter finally began to lather his arms with
the small chuck of lye soap that Thunder had in his
gear.

Carter thought about Mary.
Was she being treated well? Was she frightened?

Somehow he couldn’t picture
her as a scared little mouse. His mouth twitched. His Mary was more
like a mountain lion. Yep, that would describe Mary, all right. In
spite of his concern, he couldn’t help smiling.

But if the outlaws made the
mistake of hurting her, he would personally make their deaths slow
and painful.

Had he just thought of her
as
his
Mary?
Where had that come from? Carter shook his head. His focus must be
a little fuzzy at the moment He understood that once he had Mary
back, he was still going to have to take her back to Gregory Gulch
to stand trial. Somehow that didn’t set right with him as it once
had.