In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries)

  She took a couple of cautious steps forward before tugging on the reins. Silver reluctantly started to walk forward.

  Without any sort of flashlight it was slow going as she felt her way along, hoping not to bump into any walls or trip over anything. When the last light from the opening of the cave had disappeared she stopped, holding her breath and hoping that they were far enough in that Liz couldn’t hear them.

  She waited what seemed a lifetime. Finally, there ahead of her, she could see a faint glow. Maybe that was the turn in the cave that would lead to the secret valley.

  Suddenly she heard a horse whinny behind them. She placed her hand on her own horse’s nose, hoping he wouldn’t try to answer. She heard the sound of hoof striking rock.

  “I’m going to find you,” Liz called out suddenly.

  Just be still, she doesn’t know we’re here, Cindy told herself. Hopefully she’ll just go away in a few minutes.

  Slowly, steadily, though, she heard Liz’s horse walking forward into the cave. She gritted her teeth, wondering how close she should let them get before pressing forward.

  Silver answered the question for her by letting out a whinny. Cindy winced but began walking the horse forward as quickly as possible. She finally reached the right hand turn and was surprised to discover that wasn’t where the wan light was coming from. Instead it seemed to be emanating from a small hole in the ceiling a little farther on. She turned, hoping that Liz would think she had continued on toward the light.

  A dozen feet down the branch tunnel she could finally see faint light at the end of it. She pressed on faster, eager to be out of the cave before Liz made it to the turn. She kept going and the light grew stronger until finally she and Silver burst out into a small valley with green grass and a ramshackle cabin on the far side.

  Cindy made for the cabin with the horse in tow, unsure of what she would find.

  The earth shook beneath Jeremiah and he forced himself awake. He could barely get his eyes open and when he did the world was blurry. He could hear a terrible, crashing sound and it took him a moment to realize it wasn’t inside his head.

  I’ve been drugged, he thought as he struggled to get his senses to function. He forced himself up onto his hands and knees and his eyes fell on the half empty water bottle sitting next to his sleeping bag.

  He looked around for Cindy but he didn’t see her. He shoved Mark hard, but the other man didn’t even twitch.

  Meantime the roaring was growing louder.

  Jeremiah forced himself to his feet and turned around. Less than a mile away there was a cloud of dust that the sound was emanating from.

  He blinked in shock as his drugged brain tried to grasp exactly what he was seeing. Moments later he tried to kick the cowboys awake, but it did no good. Everyone had been drugged with the water and the rest had drunk more than he had. There was no way to wake them and warn them about what was happening.

  The cattle were stampeding.

  He shrugged his hands out of the ropes that were loosely binding them. Then he grabbed Zack’s gun from its holster which was right next to the man’s pillow. Jeremiah turned, saw a couple of horses nearby still saddled, and ran for them.

  He leaped onto the back of a grey horse and kicked the animal toward the cattle. The stampede was just beginning and there was some confusion as some of the cattle continued to mill about.

  He had to find a way to stop them or at least turn them otherwise they would run right through the middle of camp trampling all the sleepers to death including Mark and Traci.

  As he rode he cast quick glances around searching for Cindy but he didn’t see her. Worry flooded him and he hoped she was in a safe place. As he reached the front of the herd he had to force all other thoughts from his mind.

  He turned his horse just before the herd crashed into them and raced alongside the leaders. He needed to get them to change course, even if just by a few degrees.

  He angled his horse closer into the leader but the cow refused to give ground. Jeremiah pulled out the gun and fired. It worked, the cow veered from the sound, bumping into the one next to it who slowed before also shifting over. He fired again and the herd shifted again slightly. It might be just enough.

  Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a big steer break from the pack and head straight for the sleeping men and women. There was no way Jeremiah could cut him off in time and he couldn’t risk others following him. He took careful aim, fired two shots, and dropped the beast just as it reached the edge of the camp. It fell hard, just a couple of feet from the first sleeping bag.

  He gritted his teeth, watching to see if any others would make a break for it. He dared not slow down, though, lest the cattle behind trample him and his horse. He could feel the animal’s terror, but the horse was well trained and was responding to his every command, clearly trusting his rider to get him through this.

  Meanwhile Jeremiah was putting absolute faith in the animal. One false step from the horse and they’d both go down to their deaths.

  Jeremiah and the rest of the herd raced by, barely missing the camp by a few yards. He kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure that there were no other dangers and he practically held his breath as he watched the river of cattle streaming past.

  Once all the cattle seemed to be clear he urged his horse to put on a fresh burst of speed so he could get out in front of the herd. The animal stretched out running at top speed and Jeremiah leaned low over the horse’s withers as he urged him onward. Finally, he pulled the horse up short, and spun him around. They were now facing down the herd. The beasts were rushing forward at a frightening speed and he knew he had one chance to get this right. He waited until the leaders were close enough that it would matter and then he fired his remaining two shots.

  It worked, the front cattle slowed. Some of the cattle in the back plowed into them and a few went down, but that helped build a barrier between the others and Jeremiah.

  A ripple passed backward through the herd as cattle slowed to avoid collision with the ones in front. He held his breath, hoping that what he had done was enough.

  All the cattle stopped running at last. They milled around for a couple of minutes before finally settling down. Some even started to nibble at the grass and he just shook his head in amazement. One moment they were a destructive, powerful force of nature and the next they were just cows again. Things could change so quickly it was amazing.

  His horse’s muscles were twitching and the animal was drenched in sweat. Jeremiah could relate. After a couple of more minutes he turned his horse and headed back for the camp, letting him walk slowly which would help cool him off.

  He had nearly reached the camp when a figure detached itself from the others and began walking toward him. He recognized it a minute later as belonging to Zack. The cowboy was coming out to meet him on foot.

  When he reached him, Jeremiah pulled his horse to a stop.

  Zack reached out and patted the horse on the neck and the animal dipped its head.

  The cowboy looked up at him grimly. “Nice job.”

  “Thanks,” Jeremiah said, handing him his gun back.

  Zack reloaded the weapon and then holstered it.

  “The horses spooked. I’m going to have to round them all up.”

  “Then you’ll be needing him,” Jeremiah said, patting his horse’s neck before dismounting and handing the reins to Zack.

  “Much obliged. You know, I don’t believe for a second that you’re guilty. Didn’t think so before, really don’t think so now.”

  Jeremiah smiled. “I feel the same way about you.”

  “So, are you figuring like I am, that we were drugged.”

  “Absolutely.”

  The cowboy shook his head. “I’d like to get my hands on whoever did that.”

  “I don’t know who was responsible, but I’m pretty sure whatever they used to drug us was in the water.”

  Zack shook his head. “That’s pretty low down. Glad I didn’t
have a chance to have a second one then.”

  “I only had half of my bottle. I think that’s what allowed me to wake up when I heard the commotion. If you had a full bottle, though, how come you’re awake now?” Jeremiah asked.

  Zack laughed grimly. “I defy anyone to sleep through that no matter how knocked out they are or by what. That stampede could have woken the dead.”

  “So, I take it the others are finally awake?”

  “Getting there. Some more than others.”

  “Have you seen Cindy?” Jeremiah asked.

  Zack thought for a moment and then shook his head. “You know, I can’t say that I have. I’m still pretty out of it, though.”

  Fear flooded back through him again. He took a calming breath. Just because Zack couldn’t remember seeing her didn’t mean that something had happened to her. He would just have to get back to camp and figure out what was going on. For all he knew she could have been in the wagon when everything happened.

  Jeremiah heard footsteps and he turned to see who was approaching.

  “You killed my partner,” Curly snarled.

  Curly was holding a gun and it was aimed right at Jeremiah’s heart.

  19

  “Curly, don’t be a fool. This man didn’t kill anyone. In fact, he just saved all of us,” Zack said.

  “Put the gun down,” Jeremiah said softly, in as soothing a voice as he could manage. He was calculating how long it would take him to grab Zack’s gun out of its holster if he had to. Mark’s gun which he had borrowed was empty now.

  Curly was shaking like a leaf, rage mixing badly with the drugs in his system and together they made him unpredictable and dangerous.

  “Settle down, Curly, we can figure all of this out,” Zack said.

  Jeremiah could tell Curly was beyond reason at that point.

  “I’m going to give you one last chance to put that gun down,” Zack said, his voice hushed. It got Jeremiah’s attention. There was something dangerous in the way he said it. The doctor was getting ready to do something and Jeremiah realized it might be best to let him make his move.

  “No, I won’t, he kill-”

  Zack’s hand flashed downward and a moment later there was a boom as he fired his gun. Curly’s gun went flying and the cowboy grabbed his hand in agony.

  Jeremiah retrieved the gun and reluctantly handed it to Zack. Zack reholstered his own weapon and then tucked Curly’s into the gunbelt.

  “That was some fast draw,” Jeremiah commented.

  “When you’re the great-great-grandson of a gunfighter it kind of comes naturally. At least, it does in my family,” Zack said. He then addressed Curly. “Let’s get you back to camp and get that hand bandaged.”

  All the fight had gone out of Curly and he nodded meekly.

  “We can do a headcount there and then worry about rounding up the horses,” Zack said to Jeremiah as he handed him back the horse’s reins.

  Jeremiah nodded, worried about Cindy.

  Together the three walked back, Jeremiah leading the horse and Curly still clutching his injured hand.

  Back at the camp Wayne and Junior were standing over the dead steer that had nearly killed them, both bleary eyed and in shock. Hank and Mark were both pacing back and forth, clearly trying to wake themselves up. Traci, Norman, and Kyle were all sitting on their sleeping bags with both Traci and Norman swaying slightly. It made sense. Whoever had drugged everyone had done so equally and with the least body mass Traci and Norman should have been the most heavily affected. Of course, this poked serious holes in his theory that Norman was the killer.

  Zack headed straight for the wagon, presumably to get his medical kit.

  “Where’s Cindy?” Jeremiah called anxiously to the others when they got close.

  Everyone turned to look at him.

  “I don’t know, I haven’t seen her,” Mark said at last as Jeremiah handed him back his gun. The detective took it without comment.

  Warning bells went off in Jeremiah’s mind. “What about Liz?” he asked, naming the one other person who wasn’t present.

  “Haven’t seen her since dinner,” Hank spoke up.

  Since dinner. Jeremiah closed his eyes and forced himself to remember dinner, particularly what he could about Cindy and Liz. He could remember feeling drowsier and drowsier as he ate, watching everyone who had been out in the sun and the dust down their water bottles in seconds.

  Except for Cindy who hadn’t touched hers and Liz who had been drinking some sort of juice instead.

  “Liz is the killer,” he said. “She tried to drug everyone with the water, but Cindy didn’t touch hers.”

  Norman had turned white as a sheet. “That’s a lie,” he said through lips that trembled. “Liz would never hurt anyone.”

  In a moment everything fell into place. He remembered the way Liz had put her hand on Norman’s shoulder that second morning when he had discovered the film footage was destroyed and the way he had looked at her. Norman had had a love letter in his pocket and Liz had had a pen and paper in hers. Kyle wasn’t Liz’s type. Nice, unassuming Norman was his exact opposite. This was supposed to have been Norman’s show. The whole thing had been his idea and in the end he wasn’t even going to get to be the cinematographer on it.

  “You and Liz are a couple,” Jeremiah said.

  Norman flushed, but nodded.

  “And she knew this show was your idea, that it meant everything to you. She knew that it had been taken away from you.”

  Realization dawned on Norman’s face and it was painful to behold the look of horror that crept in.

  “She was so angry,” he said, sounding stunned. “I’d never seen her like that. I mean, she’s always passionate, intense, but that...I told her to let it go, that there was nothing that could be done about it. She told me to have faith; that it would all work out in the end. When they called me to tell me that Martin had had a heart attack and that they needed me to take over, I felt awful. At the same time, though, I thought maybe it was fate, I was supposed to work on the show after all. I thought the universe was making things right.”

  “But it was actually Liz killing a man to get you on this show,” Mark chimed in.

  “I never knew.”

  “But you suspected,” Jeremiah guessed from the sudden look of guilt that flashed across his face.

  “No, but I should have,” he whispered. “When I got here I told her how excited I was to be the cinematographer for the show. She told me that she thought I was going to end up being the host. I just laughed and told her Kyle would never step aside. I never dreamed...”

  Zack arrived back from the wagon, his medical bag in his hands and a grim look on his face. “Whoever drugged us raided my bag to do it,” he said grimly.

  “It was Liz,” Traci informed him. “Jeremiah just figured that out.”

  “So now, the question is, where are she and Cindy?” Mark asked.

  “If Cindy figured it out, Liz would be trying to kill her,” Jeremiah said. “Cindy must have taken off.”

  Zack shook his head. “Where? We weren’t out long enough for them to have gotten that far.”

  “Not on foot. When I came to and grabbed a horse I didn’t pay much attention to the others, but I know I didn’t see Silver,” Jeremiah said.

  “And thanks to the stampede we have no idea how many horses are actually missing,” Zack said.

  “Cindy had to be in imminent danger to get on a horse,” Mark muttered.

  “She is, and Liz is chasing her,” Jeremiah said. He swung up into the saddle.

  “She wouldn’t possibly head for town. It’s too far, she doesn’t know the way, and I don’t see Cindy thinking she can outrace Liz for that long,” Traci said.

  “She’d look for someplace to hide,” Jeremiah said.

  “I know where she’s heading!” Zack exclaimed. He tossed his medical bag to Mark.

  Jeremiah leaned down and grasped the other man’s hand and pulled him up behind him onto the
horse. Hopefully along the way they’d find a second mount, but he had no time to waste looking for one now.

  “That way,” Zack said, pointing toward one of the nearby mountains.

  Jeremiah urged the horse forward and they were soon galloping toward the mountain. “How do you know where she’s heading?” Jeremiah shouted.

  “I told her about an outlaw hideout my ancestors used that’s right over there. It’s the perfect place to hide,” Zack shouted back.

  Just ahead and to the left Jeremiah spotted a shape moving toward them. It was one of the horses that had scattered because of the stampede, a palomino that he believed was Zack’s preferred mount. Jeremiah angled the grey toward the other horse and slowed slightly as Zack emitted a high pitched whistle.

  They reached the other horse and the palomino turned and began running next to them. Jeremiah felt Zack tense up and then the cowboy leaped onto the other horse. He slid sideways in the saddle for a moment but then quickly regained his balance. “Good girl, Princess,” he heard him shout.

  Zack and Princess surged ahead, leading the way, and Jeremiah kept the grey just behind them.

  Hold on, Cindy, I’m coming.

  The sun was beginning to set and it was casting long shadows across the valley. Cindy had tied Silver’s reins to a rickety looking rail on the side porch of the cabin. The stairs creaked as she mounted them and she gazed anxiously at the worn boards on the porch as she crossed it. The door opened with only a little shove and she closed it behind her more out of habit than anything else. The floors inside groaned beneath her weight and everything was coated with a thick layer of dust. She cast her gaze about, searching for anything she could use as a weapon even as she prayed that Liz would get lost in the cave and never make it this far.

  She ventured farther in. There were a couple of old chairs, one with dark stains on it that she suspected might be blood. There was an ancient wood burning stove in front of them. She could see a couple of doors on the back wall that she suspected led to bedrooms.