Her door was closed. Propriety demanded that he waken her and not go barging in uninvited. Rapping his knuckles on the door, he called her name softly. “Margaret?” When she didn’t answer, he tried again. Again there was no answer. She had to be in her room. Staring at the doorknob, he made a decision to enter anyway. She might have his hide, but he couldn’t go to bed until he was sure she was all right.
He twisted the knob and pushed open the door, then fumbled for the kerosene lamp on a stand just inside the door. The light sputtered as he glanced around the room. Empty. The covers were rumpled, but Margaret was not in the bed. If she’d gone to the privy, she would have taken the lamp. Something about the room’s disarray alarmed him. There was a broken cup on the floor, along with liquid he assumed was tea or coffee. A dark stain was on the sheet.
“Mr. Daniel?”
He turned to see Inez in her nightgown. The candle in her hand cast shadows on the walls, and her hair was in a long braid over one shoulder.
“Where is Margaret?”
Inez frowned and glanced around. “She was in the bed. My Vincente, he bring her tea.”
He pointed out the liquid. “It’s been spilled.”
“Let me find Vincente.” She turned and went down the hall.
Daniel heard her calling for her son without a response. Could someone have come in here and forced them both to leave? His gaze lingered on the liquid on the floor. Why had it been spilled? Kneeling, he touched the fluid and sniffed his fingers. He stiffened at the smell of laudanum.
Someone had taken her. “Send someone for the sheriff! Have him look for Calvin.” He leaped to his feet and ran for his horse.
THIRTY-TWO
Margaret’s head pounded and she nearly groaned. She gradually became aware that she was moving. Her eyes were heavy, so heavy. With a great effort, she managed to lift her lids, then shut them again when the pain in her head intensified. Hooves clattered against rocks, and she smelled horse.
When she finally managed to keep her eyes open, she realized she was tied to a horse. It was night, and the moon peeked over the hills. Her head drooped on Archie’s neck, and her hands were bound to the saddle horn. A man was behind her, his hard arms pressed against her from both sides. She struggled to push away from the horse’s neck and sit erect, but her head lolled on her shoulders. She was so very weak. She couldn’t jump off and run if she had the strength—which she didn’t—since she wouldn’t get far on her injured ankle.
Lewis spoke behind her. “I’d hoped you’d stay asleep.”
Everything came flooding back. Lewis had killed her father, and he intended to kill her so he could have the ranch. She felt paralyzed by her situation and by the laudanum still numbing her senses. What could she do to escape? Was there any way she could help Daniel track her? For she had no doubt he would find her gone and come after her.
Moaning, she leaned forward and tugged off the boot on her left foot.
“What are you doing?” Lewis growled in her ear.
“My ankle is pressing against my boot. I need to take it off. I think you put them on the wrong feet.” She yanked on her boot.
“You’re going to send us both toppling into the mud.” He reined in the horse and leaped to the ground, then he grabbed her leg and yanked her boot off.
She winced. “Can’t you be a little gentler?”
“I’m sorry to say it won’t matter much. You won’t be feeling anything in a few more hours.” He handed the boot to her and mounted the horse again.
His dark warning tightened her gut. “What are you going to do with me?”
“I like you, Margaret. It’s nothing personal, you understand. You’ve been good to me. There’s no other way, though. You have to die. I want to make it look like an accident that happened far from anywhere I might have been.”
Her mouth felt filled with cotton, and she licked her lips. “Why would I have gotten out of bed and gone for a ride?”
“Vincente found me injured, and you insisted on coming to assure yourself that I was really alive. Everyone knows how impulsive you are. And how much you loved your cousin Lewis.” His tone was almost gleeful. “No one will doubt our word since there are two of us. Vincente will say your horse bolted and you were thrown.”
Margaret knew it was all too plausible. “You don’t have to kill me. I’ll marry Daniel and move out of the area with him. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
His fists tightened on the reins in front of her. “I wish that were true. I don’t like what has to be done.”
They rode for several more minutes before Margaret was sure he wasn’t going to answer. The glow of the moon illuminated the path with dim light. The horses reached the beginning of the butte.
He reined in his horse. “We’ll have to be careful here. And I want to throw off anyone who might be following us.” He pointed to a cleft in the rocks. “I’m going there. Watch her, Vincente. I’ll be right back.”
Lewis shoved her from the saddle, and she tumbled to the ground, twisting her ankle again. She bit back a moan when she tried to stand. “Could you pour some water on my handkerchief? My ankle is throbbing and I want to wrap it.”
Vincente shrugged and pulled out his canteen. He upended it over the scrap of cloth in her hand. Margaret sat down and tended to her ankle but kept a surreptitious eye on her cousin. He took his horse back and forth through the cleft, then he dismounted and kicked some rocks out of the path. She realized they weren’t going through that spot at all. He was making a false trail to throw off Daniel. But she would foil him. At the right spot, she would drop her boot to mark which way they went.
She finished tying the handkerchief around her ankle and waited for Lewis to return. Her head was clearing, and she had control of her muscles again. If only she had a gun. When Vincente wasn’t watching, she glanced around to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon. The boulders were too large to lift, and the other stones were only pebbles. Nothing that would be useful. She couldn’t outrun them. Not with her injury and one foot bare. There had to be something she could do, but she was too exhausted to figure out what that might be.
Astride Archie, Lewis clattered back down the hillside. He wore a self-satisfied grin. “That should fix things.”
He held out his hand to help Margaret mount. As her hand met his, she had a flash of inspiration. She yanked hard on his hand and he fell onto the ground. His head struck a rock and he lay stunned. In a moment, she flung herself atop Archie.
“Yah!” she screamed and slapped the horse’s rump. Her boot slipped from her hand.
Archie leaped forward, nearly running into Vincente’s horse. Vincente made a grab for her, but she fended off his attack and raced up the butte, through the cleft. It was the only way open to her. Lewis shouted after her, but she couldn’t make out the words.
On the other side of the rock formation, the trail twisted around a boulder and continued to climb. She reached the top of the butte and looked down into the canyon. It was dark and mysterious at night, but this place was familiar to her. Many times she and her father had rounded up strays in this canyon. There were plenty of caves where she could hide. She had a chance.
She urged her horse down the path to the canyon. Something whizzed by her head, and she threw herself against Archie’s neck, then dared a glance behind. She’d be out of rifle range in a few more feet. It would be darker in the canyon too. The horse stumbled, then continued to the bottom of the hillside. She rode hard for the far side where she knew of a hiding place. Glancing back, she saw movement on the slope.
They were coming.
THE BUTTE LOOMED above him. Daniel dismounted and studied the ground. Lots of mud trampled here. And he grabbed up the boot on the ground. He was sure it was Margaret’s. His initial elation plummeted. Had they already killed her and were disposing of her body? Please, God, no. And who had her? Daniel wasn’t sure who had taken her, but he suspected Calvin might have something to do with her disappearance.
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He followed the trail up through the cleft. This was unfamiliar territory. He’d never been on this side of the river. Darkness blanketed the canyon below him. There was no movement that he could discern. A coyote yipped in the distance and the chorus was joined by several more. The lonely sound added to his feeling of being watched. Nothing moved except a few locks of his hair stirred by the breeze.
He dismounted and studied the ground. They’d been through this way. Their tracks went down the path into the canyon. Once he was back in the saddle, he urged his horse down the narrow path past prickly pear and cholla cactus. Time had ceased to have any meaning. He had no idea how long it would be before dawn. When he reached the bottom of the trail, he paused and listened. He didn’t dare call out in case they were nearby and his voice would tip them to his presence.
The ground was rocky here so no help for tracking them. Which way had they gone? He stared into the inky blackness, praying for a clue. The canyon was vast. He could wander here for days and not find them. Something moved off to his left, and he tensed, barely biting back an exclamation. Sage crunched underfoot. Someone was moving. He stilled the horse and waited, straining to see in the dark.
There was a rush of movement, then a hand yanked him from the horse. As he hit the ground, the rocks bit into his cheek and arm. A boot pressed his head into the ground.
“I thought you’d come looking for her.”
Was that Lewis’s voice? Daniel whirled and faced two men. Both held guns that were pointing at him. Vincente was beside Lewis.
“You’ll be the perfect bait to draw out Margaret,” Lewis said.
“You faked your death.” It made perfect sense. No one would suspect Lewis of harming Margaret. “You’re not the man I thought you were.” But Vincente’s involvement seemed out of character with what Daniel knew about the man.
Lewis’s boots clattered among the stones as he drew nearer. The gun barrel never wavered. “Call for Margaret. Tell her to throw up the sponge.”
“I will not. You’re the ones who tried to shoot us, aren’t you?”
“Of course we are. You’re smart enough to know the plan without any explanations. Margaret will come running to save you.”
Daniel knew Margaret would take no thought of her safety. The moment she heard his voice, she would give herself up. “Go ahead and shoot me. I’m not going to fall in with your plan.” Daniel’s hand inched to the revolver in his holster.
Before he could slap his hand on the butt and draw, Lewis poked the barrel of his weapon in Daniel’s chest. “Don’t move again.” He reached over and yanked the revolver out, then tossed it away.
The glint of metal disappeared in the darkness, but Daniel mentally marked the clatter of where it fell about ten feet away by the boulder. His rifle was on his saddle. He had to watch for an opportunity to get one of them.
Lewis gestured to the right. “This way. She’s in this canyon somewhere. If you don’t call for her, I’ll shoot you in the leg.”
Daniel stayed where he was. “No.”
“I don’t want to rough you up, but if you force me to, we’ll drag you behind the horse.”
“You can’t scare me, Lewis. If you kill me, I’m going to heaven. Do whatever you want. I’m not going to help you.”
Lewis stepped behind him and shoved him forward. “Move.”
Daniel walked slowly, not wanting to get far from the weapons. He might be able to wrest the gun away from Lewis, but he would still have Vincente to deal with. “What’s your mom going to say about your involvement in this, Vincente?”
“Shut up,” Lewis said.
“What did you promise him, Lewis? Money? If I were Vincente, I wouldn’t trust you to follow through. If you’d kill your own uncle and cousin, what would prevent you from killing him? So you shoot us, then kill Vincente, and no one is the wiser. You keep it all then, Lewis. Smart.”
The heavy blow from the gun’s butt came out of nowhere. Pain shot through Daniel’s skull, and he crumpled to his knees. His vision swam and he blinked to clear it. Now was his chance. He slumped as if he’d been knocked out.
Lewis swore. “I didn’t hit him that hard. Drag him, Vincente.”
Vincente didn’t move. “He was making some sense, Lewis. Don’t double-cross me. I have made arrangements that if I don’t come back, a letter will be delivered to the sheriff.”
“I have no intention of killing you, but if you keep talking like that, you might change my mind. Now drag him into the middle there.”
Daniel didn’t move as Vincente knelt over him. Daniel saw the glint of the gun in his holster. He grabbed Vincente around the neck and held him tight, then grabbed the butt of the gun and jerked it free. In one fluid movement, he shoved the man away and sprang to his feet with the gun pointed at Lewis.
“Drop the gun,” he barked.
Lewis reacted by firing his weapon. The bullet slammed into the fleshy part of Daniel’s thigh. Fiery pain radiated into his groin and down to his knee, but he gritted his teeth and dove toward the boulder where Lewis had thrown Daniel’s revolver. Another bullet sparked off the rock and missed his head by inches. Daniel fired back, but his shots went wild since he was still moving toward safety.
He heard Lewis moving toward him. Peering over the top of the boulder, Daniel saw the man creeping toward the boulder. Vincente was circling around the other way with a rifle in hand. Daniel glanced behind him. He was trapped.
THIRTY-THREE
Margaret waved her hand in front of her face but could see nothing in the inky cave. She’d moved toward the back in spite of her fear that it might be inhabited by snakes or spiders. In fact, it likely was inhabited by poisonous critters, but Archie was in here with her, and she took comfort from his soft snuffles and warm body.
She shuffled a little closer to the opening, but not so near that Lewis and Vincente could see her if they came looking. At least Daniel wasn’t in danger. And God cradled her in his arms in this dark hole.
Her ankle throbbed, and she wished she could ride out of here. But not with her enemies searching for her. There was only one way out of this box canyon—the way she’d come. And to get there, she would have to cross in clear view of anyone out there. Better to stay here until she was sure they were gone.
And she had no doubt they would leave. Lewis would need to see if she’d escaped. She expected him to lie in wait along the path and send Vincente ahead to see if she turned up at the ranch.
She moved closer to the opening and listened. A coyote yipped in the distance. The distant hoot of an owl sounded. She poked her head out and stared into the darkness. It was so black, like staring into a cauldron of pitch. She had no lantern, nothing to help her find her way out of the canyon in the dark. Dawn would light her way, but it would also betray her movements to her pursuers.
She inhaled and forced herself to crouch in the opening. Inching out, she tried to make no sound. The air was still and close. Were those voices? The low murmur could be a distant conversation or it could be the wind, if there was any. Or a stream. The sound was too muted to place the source. She took a step outside, then another. Her heart pounded against her ribs and she expected a bullet or an attack at any moment. She clung close to the rocky canyon walls and edged closer to the sound.
A stone rolled away from her boot, and she froze at the clatter of its slide. When there was no change in the murmurs she heard, she resumed her trek around the canyon wall until she was close enough to realize the sound was Lewis’s voice. He must be talking to Vincente. If she moved in the opposite direction, she might escape. She started to backtrack when the voice she heard made her freeze. Daniel had come after her.
She edged nearer and came to a place where the canyon wall veered out. Twenty feet away were the dim shadows of three figures. Daniel was sitting with his hands bound in front of him. Lewis sat on a boulder and smoked. Vincente was beside them swigging from a canteen.
If only she had a weapon.
Lewis
stood. “I’ve had enough of this. She doesn’t have to hear your voice. She just has to know we’re going to kill you.” He turned toward her direction. “Margaret!”
For a moment she feared he’d seen her, then she realized he was just calling out to her. She clamped her teeth to keep from answering.
“Margaret, give yourself up or I’ll shoot Daniel. You know I will. I don’t make empty promises.”
“He’ll kill me anyway!” Daniel yelled. “Stay where you are!”
Vincente kicked him. “Shut up or I’ll gag you.”
“Stuff your handkerchief in his mouth,” Lewis ordered.
Vincente moved to do as he was told. Daniel whipped his head around, but Vincente pinned him and gagged him.
Margaret’s nails bit into her palms. She had to do something, but what? These men had killed once, and they’d do it again. She had no doubt that if she hadn’t escaped, she’d be dead now. She’d nearly lost Daniel today, and she wasn’t going to stand by and let them harm him.
Lewis yanked his gun from its holster and fired it in the air. “I’m not fooling around here, Margaret. I won’t shoot him cleanly. First his foot, then the other, then his knee, then the other. I’ll make him hurt.”
Margaret’s breath came fast. She needed a diversion. There was a rock by her feet. She hefted it in her hand, feeling the weight of it and the balance. She eyed what she could see of the landscape. There was an outcropping to her left, near the cliff. She hurled it toward the target as hard as she could. The noise it made when it struck was louder than she’d expected. The men whirled at the clatter.
“There you are,” Lewis said, his back to her now. “Show yourself, and I’ll turn Daniel loose.” He motioned to Vincente to check out the noise.