Whispers on the Wind (28 page)

“What did he look like?”
Thunder asked.

“He ... I don’t
remember.”

“How can you not
remember?” Carter’s frustration was coming out in his tone of
voice.

“That’s enough,” Thunder
said, putting an end to what was going to be another argument
“There has to be a reason Mary can’t remember. We’re just missing
that piece of the puzzle.”

Carter rubbed his jaw. “I
don’t think Mary rode very far. I bet the culprits are
near.”

“I might not remember the
man’s face, but I do remember where I rode from,” Mary said with a
smile and pointed. “It’s that way.”

“Let’s ride,” Thunder
said, already grabbing up his saddle.

It didn’t take them long
before they reached where the outlaws’ camp was supposed to be.
They stopped before getting there and left Mary behind with the
horses.

Thunder and Carter split up
so they would come at the outlaws from different directions, and
crept toward the camp.

Carter peered through a
scraggly bush, careful not to make any noise. He counted three men.
One of them was Sammy Carlson, but how had Carlson been able to
take Mary when he had been in the middle of that gunfight?
Something didn’t add up. Again it was as if the missing piece of
the puzzle was still plaguing him.

Looking across the way,
Carter saw Thunder’s signal. They both jumped from behind their
cover and stormed toward the campfire.

“You boys are under
arrest!” Carter yelled.

The outlaws didn’t
surrender, but went for their guns instead.

Thunder went after the two
Mexicans, and Carter went after Carlson, who was fumbling to get
his gun out of its holster.

Sammy roared and swung,
catching Carter in the belly. It stunned Carter long enough for
Sammy to get the edge, and he landed two more punches.

Carter rolled and fought
for his breath. Then he managed to scramble to his feet, slightly
unsteady. When Sammy came at him again, Carter ducked and caught
Sammy on the side of the head with his fist.

Sammy retreated two steps
and grabbed a large, clublike stick and swung at Carter. He backed
up, tripping on a log. He went down on one knee, but he could see
the club coming down, so he threw up his arm in a vain attempt to
protect himself. He took the blow on his arm and pain shot all
the
_:
way up to his
shoulder, but something inside Carter snapped. All he could feel
was rage.

He saw Sammy going back for
his gun, and at the same time caught a glimpse out of the comer of
his eye of one of the other men pointing his gun at Thunder’s back.
Carter swung around and fired his Colt, sending the man stumbling
backwards so fast that he looked as though he’d been jerked by a
rope.

A bullet whisked by
Carter’s head, making him turn, thank God, in the right direction.
He fired and caught Sammy in the right shoulder, forcing him to
drop the club. But Sammy didn’t stop. He bent down and grabbed his
.45 and shot at Carter.

Carter fired back. His
second shot took Sammy down. Looking down at the man, lying half
sprawled on the ground, Carter was of two minds. He knew he should
take the man in alive even after all this time, but he wanted
nothing more than to see the man dead.

He glanced behind him to
see that Thunder had killed one of the remaining men and had the
other tied up. Carter turned his attention back to Sammy, who was
reaching for his gun.

Carter kicked the
six-shooter away from Sammy’s outstretched hand. “So, Sammy, now we
finally meet face-to-face.”

Sammy just looked up at
him, his eyes shaded by shock. “Looks like you win,
Marshal.”

“The law always wins,”
Carter pointed out “But tell me one thing. How did you get Mary to
try and kill us? It almost worked.”

Sammy grinned. “Wasn’t me.
It was McCoy.”

“Who?” Carter asked
again.

Thunder’s head snapped
around at the mention of McCoy. He strode over and stood beside
Carter. Then Thunder noticed Mary at the edge of the clearing and
motioned for her to come stand with them.

“What was McCoy’s first
name?” Thunder asked.

‘John.”

Mary gasped. “That is Big
Jim’s brother.”

Carter could see that Sammy
was fading fast His voice had grown faint, so Carter knelt down.
“How did McCoy do it?”

“Something he called
hypnotism,” Sammy said faintly. “It works pretty good, too. I saw
it firsthand. She don’t remember a thing. Never will.”

“We need to get this man
to a doctor,” Thunder said. “He could be a witness in Mary’s
trial.”

They tried to pick up
Sammy, but when they moved him, too much blood gushed out, staining
the ground.

“You boys are wasting your
time.” Sammy gave a halfhearted laugh. “Don’t want to rot in no
prison anyway.”

“Where is McCoy now?”
Carter persisted, trying to get as much information out of the
dying man as possible.

“Gone
...”
Sammy’s voice was trailing off.

Carter leaned closer. “Gone
where?”

“Back to Gregory Gulch,”
Sammy said with his last dying breath.

Thunder looked down at the
lifeless body. “There goes our witness.”

Mary had a puzzled look on
her face when she asked, “What does he mean, hypnotism?”

“I’ve heard of it,” Carter
said, but he’d never seen anyone who had been
hypnotized.

“I had a friend I went to
school with back in Boston. He is actually an expert on the
subject,” Thunder said. “Let’s get these men buried and then go
back to town. I need to send a telegram.” He looked at Mary and
squeezed her arm. “There still might be some hope. You see, when
you are hypnotized it’s possible that you don’t remember anything.
Which explains why you answered that you couldn’t remember when
asked.”

Mary thought for a moment.
“It also means that I could have killed Big Jim because I was told
to.”

Thunder looked at Carter
and then back to Mary. He saw the stricken look on her face. “Yes,
kid. It could mean exactly that.”

Mary burst into tears, and
Carter pulled her into his arms, holding her close. “Don’t cry.
We’ll figure something out.”

Just who was the monster in
all of this? Carter thought with a frown. It seemed like all the
answers were just whispers on the wind, and catching and
understanding them could mean life or death for Mary.

Chapter Eighteen

The first hint of daybreak
threatened to seep through the blackness as Carter, Mary, and
Thunder rode back to Windy Bend with the prisoner in
tow.

Since there wasn’t a jail,
or much of a town left, they rode to the livery. Carter sent a boy
to go find Rick, then told Mary to get down and stretch her legs
while he took care of the prisoner.

Carter shoved the prisoner
into a stall and tied him to a post. Next he instructed the stable
boy to water and feed the horses. They would be leaving by
midmorning, and the prisoner would be Rick’s problem.

By the time Carter returned
to the tack room, Thunder was leaning against the wall talking to
Mary. He glanced up as Carter approached. “It’s been a long night.
I probably forgot to thank you back there for watching my
back.”

“No problem. You would
have done the same for me. I’m going to get some canteens and a few
supplies and then we’re heading back out.”

Thunder nodded.

But before Carter could say
more, Rick strode into the stable, still tucking in his shirttail.
“What happened?”

Carter swung his head
toward the stall. “That’s what’s left of the Carlson
gang.”

Rick sauntered over and
jerked the prisoner to his feet by the scruff of his neck. “Now to
find someplace to lock him up.”

“Why don’t you stay and
help Hank?” Carter suggested to Rick. “He’s going to need a hand,
and I won’t be here. I’m going to take Mary back to Gregory
Gulch.”

“I’ll handle everything,”
Rick said. He turned to Mary. “It has been a pleasure to meet you,
ma’am. I hope everything works out for you.”

“Thank you,” Mary
said.

Rick shoved his prisoner
out the door, mumbling, “Come on, you no-good trash. We need to
find someplace to keep you. Then I need some grub. If you’re lucky,
I might toss you a crumb.”

Once Rick had left, Thunder
said, “I’ll see you both back at Gregory Gulch. I’m going to
contact my friend, Delaney Shoff. He’s always wanted to travel out
west, so maybe he’ll look forward to coming out here.”

“How can he help?” Mary
asked.

“Delaney can explain how
someone is hypnotized, and maybe he can help us solve the problem
of what actually happened the night of the murder,” Thunder
explained. He gave Mary a hug. “I’ll see you later,
kid.”

When they were alone,
Carter finished tying the supplies on his horse, then turned to
Mary. “Are you up to the ride?”

She nodded. “Yes. Better
get it over with.”

“If we ride all night, we
should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

Mary mounted her horse. It
looked like Carter was anxious to get rid of her. He could have
suggested that they get some rest before continuing, but it seemed
Carter had a job to do. She realized that once he turned her over
to the sheriff, his duty would be done and she’d never see him
again. Maybe that was the way he wanted it, she thought as they
rode out of town. Maybe the other night meant nothing to
him.

Mary sighed wistfully. How
she’d love to see Judith. She’d bet Judith would take her in her
arms and tell her everything would be all right Because right about
now, nothing in Mary’s life was all right She had started out to
make a lot of money, figuring that money would make her happy and
solve all her problems.

Now Mary was a wealthy
woman in her own right, but the money hadn’t solved anything. It
had just brought her more problems.

She watched Carter riding
ahead of her, and she admired the way he sat his horse, his trim
hips and broad shoulders. The sun was just coming up over the
horizon, and the bright orange ball seemed to peek out from behind
the mountain, promising them a new day. That was what she would
like, not only a new day but also a new life. One with none of the
problems she had now.

Mary realized the only time
she’d truly been happy was when she had been at Carter’s home. She
loved the ranch. It had truly felt like home. But it wasn’t her
home, it was Carter’s, and she didn’t belong there.

That was the problem. She
didn’t belong anywhere.

Mary felt very much alone
as they rode. Maybe she wasn’t the type to settle down and have
children. She actually couldn’t picture herself with children, so
she probably didn’t need a husband anyway. And she knew she didn’t
want a man telling her what to do. Mary smiled at that thought, but
it was a sad smile.

The rest of the day, they
rode in silence. Mary wondered why Carter wasn’t saying anything.
Then after awhile she didn’t care. She was numb after not sleeping
the night before, and she rode in a daze, wondering why she
couldn’t be a normal woman. Her eyelids felt so heavy. They would
start to drift closed and then she’d jerk herself upright. The
process had gone on for the last hour. Maybe if she shut her
eyelids for just a moment she’d feel better.

Carter had a damned
headache.

He’d been battling with
himself half the day, and still he didn’t have the answers he
sought Why didn’t he take Mary and run? They could start a new life
someplace where no one knew them. He knew the answer even before he
asked the question. Mary’s guilt or innocence would always hang
over her head.

Was he plumb loco? He
sounded like he was pl
annin
g a future with the girl, which
would mean giving up the law. He’d never considered giving up the
law for anyone.

Not even a wife.

A thump sounded behind him
followed by a moan. Carter turned and glanced behind
him.

“What the hell?” He jerked
his horse around and trotted back to where Mary was sitting on the
ground, rubbing her eyes. She Evidently had fallen off her horse.
When he reached her, she was blinking in confusion, her long,
golden hair hanging in her face.

Carter slid off his mount
to help her up. “What happened?”

She yawned before
answering, “So you do know that I’m alive.” When she realized he
wasn’t going to reply to her barb, she continued, “I must have
fallen asleep and slipped off.”

Carter felt lower than a
wagon rut as he realized he’d been driving Mary pretty hard. He was
used to such travel, but Mary wasn’t “I should have let you
rest”

Mary brushed off her
skirts, but her head snapped up at his remark. “It has been evident
from the start that you’re in a big hurry to get rid of me, so
let’s not stop now. Let’s get this over with.”