Texas Blue

chapter 35



LEWT WATCHED ONE OF THE MEN WALK INTO CAMP carrying Em over one shoulder like she was no more than a deer he’d killed for supper. He felt his own heart stop and it didn’t start up again until he heard her moan in pain.

She was alive.

“Look what I found,” the troll of a man shouted. He had wide shoulders and trunk legs but not the height that should have gone with the rest of his body. As the world’s shortest giant stomped into camp with his trophy, Lewt watched silently with the others. He knew if he tipped his hand now, his life as well as hers would be worthless.

The self-appointed leader of the group, a big sloppy man named Binns, moved closer. “Where’d you find her?”

“Down near the water. She was watching us,” the troll said as he dropped her near the fire. “I wouldn’t have hit her so hard if I’d known she was a woman. Dressed like that, I thought she was a man.”

“Where’s her horse?”

“I must have spooked him ’cause he took off downstream.”

The leader swore as he jerked Em’s chin up to have a look at her. “Never seen her before. Kill her.”

Lewt took a step, but the troll widened his stance and shoved the leader. “How come you get to say what we do with her? I’m the one who found her. I’ve about had enough of you thinking you’re the boss around here.”

The leader’s anger was barely in check. “She looks half dead from you bashing her head in. What do you care if we finish her off? Kill her. We’ll need to be moving on as soon as it’s dark, so toss her body in the stream. She’ll float down a few miles and turn into someone else’s problem.”

The troll of a man must have known he couldn’t win, so he tried bargaining. “How about I play with her while it’s raining, then I’ll kill her before we leave? I couldn’t tell much with that coat she’s got on, but she might be something worth a look.”

Lewt saw his chance. “I got a better idea. Why don’t we play cards for her? We’re all too broke to play for money, and playing for something makes a more interesting game.” He stepped up and fanned the cards as he studied the troll. “It’d be an interesting way to pass the time. I say she’s worth a hundred toward the pot. You win, you have her and extra money.”

The leader frowned. “Why would we risk our money to play for a half-dead girl when back at Three Forks we get all we want for free? Toledo don’t care long as we don’t hold up the cash flow.”

All the men seemed to agree. Lewt had already figured out that between them they had very little cash. That was probably how Toledo kept them working for her. She gave them room, board, and women, but no money. A man with money might think of leaving. A man with empty pockets would stay and work his shift.

“I don’t get free women,” Lewt said. “And I don’t have a hundred dollars, but I’ve got my vest. That should stand me for twenty in the game.”

The troll was interested. He must think he had nothing to lose. “String the girl up so we can all see her. I’ll play this fool a few rounds. If I win your twenty, I’ll have me a new vest and I’ll still have my fun with her. If you win a little off of me, I’ll let you have a turn if there’s time after I’m finished.”

One of the guards pulled Em to the nearest tree, raised her arms above her head, and tied her up, leaving her hanging like about-to-be-butchered meat.

“I need to make sure she’s alive.” Lewt walked toward her. “I don’t want to waste my time playing for a dead woman.”

The troll laughed. “It don’t make all that much difference to me one way or the other long as she’s still warm.”

While the others laughed, Lewt moved his fingers along the side of Em’s throat and felt for a pulse. It pounded strong and fast in his palm even as blood dripped from a cut at her hairline.

“Let’s get on with the game!” someone yelled, and the men circled a stump that had already acted as Lewt’s table. They’d been passing around bottles since they’d stopped to rest, and the whiskey had begun to take effect. None of the others wanted to play, but they all wanted to watch.

Lewt leaned close to Em, praying she was conscious enough to hear him. “When I say run, turn and run into the trees and keep running. Do you understand? No matter what, don’t stop.”

He thought he felt her nod slightly, but she didn’t open her eyes.

“She’s barely breathing,” he shouted. “If she dies before the game is played, all bets are off.”

“Then let’s get to it,” the troll yelled. “I’ll look mighty good in that fancy vest of yours.”

Lewt moved away from her, forcing himself not to look back. If he did, if he saw her hanging there, hurt and helpless, it would be his undoing. He moved to the center of the circle and began the most important card game of his life.

The rain poured above them, and now and then it managed to filter through the trees and sputter in the fire.

Lewt laughed and kidded with the men, but he counted every minute. Finally, after several rounds of play, he saw Em’s feet shift beneath her and take her weight off her bound wrists. He knew she was awake.

He won one hand, then lost one, but slowly his twenty pieces of twigs that served as chips began to multiply and the troll’s dwindled. The man seemed to be enjoying the attention from his peers and wasn’t too concerned about losing a little. After all, it wasn’t real money, and the tall, thin woman wearing the clothes of a man didn’t really appeal to him. He even told everyone that since he’d knocked her senseless, she probably couldn’t play the way he liked to play.

By the time he’d lost most of his sticks, he was bragging that he liked his women best when they were yelling and screaming even if he had to break a few bones to get their attention. The others teased him that the only women he could catch in the saloon were the new girls, and he only caught them once.

Lewt didn’t say anything; he hoped Em wasn’t listening to any of the rough talk. She was frightened enough of men.

Unfortunately, he knew she probably was, because he’d seen her shift a few times, balancing her weight, turning her wrists so blood would circulate.

Finally, the last guard, a morbid outlaw who did nothing but complain, woke from his sleep. The big man stood, his worthless arm swinging at his side. “What is everyone doing?” he yelled. “We need to be on the road. If we don’t bring that girl of Toledo’s back, I’ll see to it you all are hunted down and murdered in your sleep.”

Lewt thought he recognized the man as the guard who’d been in front of Duncan’s prison. The thought crossed his mind that the cooks were right; he should have left the man dripping blood and not just tied him to the bed.

The crowd was drunk enough to argue, and the leader of the band, Binns, appeared to have had enough of the bossy slob they called Ramon. The two men faced one another and began poking and shoving.

As the shouting escalated and fists began to fly, Lewt slipped a thin knife from his belt and in one quick shot sent it flying toward Em.

The rope above her hands sliced in half.

“Run,” he shouted, knowing that she might make it free, but he’d be trapped. It didn’t matter.

Before Em’s arms dropped in front of her, she was moving into the brush, heading for the water. When she broke from the trees, she realized how hard it was raining. Her one hope was to hit the water and let it take her downstream.

Downstream. Back to Duck and Wyatt. Back to life.

As she jumped into the current, one thought filled her. She was heading away from Lewt.

Underwater, she jerked the wet ropes off her wrists and began to swim. Long, powerful strokes like her papa had taught her the first year she’d come to Whispering Mountain.

Teagen McMurray would yell, “Half our land is framed by water, so my daughters need to swim.” Then he’d pick her up and tell her to gulp in air just before she hit the water.

She’d learned the lessons well, and now they might save her life.

When she finally broke the surface and tried to breathe in the rain, she heard shouts, but they seemed far behind her. She cupped her mouth, gulped air, and floated in the center of the stream, where the water pushed her along. Away to freedom. Away from Lewt.