Authors: Peggy Ann Craig
Anna felt her spirits plummet. She frowned at herself. It was contrary to what she should have been feeling. After all, it was all over. Thanks to Wade, the evil that had been dodging her for months was gone. There was no reason to continue to remain at the Circle H.
It was mid-afternoon when Wade and his men reached the clearing north of the Durand Pass. He stopped Sty on the grass-covered rocky plateau high above the valley floor and looked north through the mountains. A lush forest of pine trees sat between their towering peaks. He dismounted and stared out over the scenery.
Joe had brought his horse up next to Sty and dismounted as well. “If he’s gone in there, hell, we ain’t ever going to find him.”
The same thought had crossed Wade’s mind. “We’ll split up.”
Joe gave a nod and turned back to the men and started shouting orders. Wade set his mouth in a firm line and cursed this latest development. They had reached Lantern earlier that morning and received word the constable had been spotted heading north toward the Durand Pass. He and his men had made good time, but the constable had at least a good day’s worth head start. They had come across a recent campfire that indicated they were on the right trail, but still no sign of the lawman.
Frustrated, he reached down and grabbed a large pebble and gave it a violent throw over the valley down to the forest below. At the last second, something on the ground caught his attention. He looked again and noticed the grass next to him looked flattened. Frowning, he bent down for a closer look.
“What is it?” Joe appeared back at his side.
He cocked his head toward his foreman and said, “When Anna tracked the coyote, she followed a trail of grass.”
“Yeah, so?”
“We do the same.”
“How the hell we do that?” Joe squinted in the sunlight at this boss.
“Same as you would any other method of tracking.” He stood up and looked further down the slope. “You look for the signs.”
Joe cursed behind him, but Wade wandered further ahead and stopped once again to drop down on his knees. “Grass that’s been walked on appears leveled, sometimes broken. The heavier the weight the more damage to the grass. If it’s not permanently spoiled, it will upright itself once again.”
The foreman frowned heavily but leaned in for a closer look. “This here grass looks damaged.”
“Which tells us a very heavy animal came through this way.” He pointed to another track slightly further up. “From the point of distance between each of these prints, it is also limping.”
“Could be an injured bear.”
“Or a horse.” Wade pointed to another patch of grass next to it. “This here is less flattened and has nearly recovered completely.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Man made.”
“The constable?”
“Looks like he got off and started walking.” Wade stood up and looked back over the valley once again. “I believe our man has a lame horse.”
“Hell,” Joe grinned, suddenly proud, as if he had figured the tracks out himself. “Piece of cake.”
Wade headed back to his horse while Joe went over to instruct the wranglers how to track using Anna’s methods. He felt a knot suddenly tighten in his gut simply from thinking her name.
Pulling Sty’s reins hard to the left, he faced his men and shouted, “Keep your eyes and ears on the guard at all times. Anyone who comes across anything is to round off two shots on their rifles.”
As the men separated, Wade turned toward the tracks and made his way slowly down the slope into the valley below. Sty stepped cautiously over the uneven terrain, leaving Wade able to study the earth. Admittedly, he was surprised how Anna’s tracking method was far easier to pick up than he would have imagined. Once he knew what to look for, the signs basically began leaping out at him.
With every passing hour he noticed the constable’s tracks become fresher and Wade knew they were closing in on the lawman. The sun was high that day, but thankfully, the dense forest shaded the riders as they maneuvered their way through the valley. The rest of the riders who were trailing Wade, moved their horses carefully through the wooded trail, but something caught Wade’s awareness.
They had just crossed a small creek that ran parallel to a canyon wall that shot up high along towering treetops when he realized the forest had gone silent. Not so much as a bird could be heard.
In a flash, he hollered over his shoulder, “Take cover.”
The blast of a rifle exploded into the gorge, missing one of his men only by a foot. The creek in which it landed shot a spray of water and pebbles all around. A cluster of birds taking refuge in a nearby tree, took flight screaming in protest. Wade rode Sty to the closest boulder and dismounted quickly, grabbing his rifle as he did. He searched the woods, but saw nothing.
“Show yourself Stanford,” Wade shouted.
At first there was no reply, then the lawman’s voice echoed along the gorge as he yelled back, “This has nothing to do with you Haddock, move on.”
“I’m afraid you’re wrong about that.”
“She got what was coming to her.”
Wade felt a rage burn down his spine and looked up to the gorge above. He saw movement. Turning to Frank, who was closest, he silently motioned the constable’s whereabouts.
“You sent those two men?”
“Had to finish the job.” The constable yelled down the gorge. “She was the only witness. By the way, I owe you a thanks. Seeing that it was you who alerted me to her whereabouts.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He felt his blood beginning to boil.
“Had my suspicion about that little piece of scum you hired as your new ranch boy. But didn’t make the connection to the whore who had gotten away from us on the mountain though, until I overheard the two of you talking at the town spring festival.”
“She couldn’t talk. Why the hell didn’t you just leave her be?”
“And have the chance she may speak one day? Hell no. I wasn’t going to take that chance. Besides, scum like her don’t deserve to be allowed to live.”
Wade had to fight with every willpower he possessed to keep himself from springing from that boulder and emptying his rifle up at the constable. “Is that why you killed her family?”
“Hell, the whole group of them.” He sneered back, his voice bouncing off the wall of the gorge. “Trash like that have no right existing. You should thank me, Haddock, for cleaning up your mountain. Hell, it was what your father wanted.”
“I’m not my father,” he replied but more to himself than to the lawman.
“The little piece of vermin thought she could soil my seed, but I’d be damned before I allowed some whore to bear my child.”
Wade frowned, trying to digest the constable’s words. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“She tried to hide it from me. Nearly a year gone by since I made that whore pay the price for her son filching what wasn’t his. Damn stupid bitch, didn’t even realize that you can’t hang for stealing.”
Wade looked up the gorge and saw Frank and another ranch hand close in on the constable. “A year later she comes into town with her filthy brood, except this time she’s bearing a new bastard. She lies and says he ain’t mine. Hell, I’m no fool. I can see clearly that the hybrid is my offspring.”
“So you went to take him?”
“Jesus, no, that little bastard was filth and needed to be abolished. Me and the fellas went there to slice the little bastard’s throat. Told them damn idiots I had a very important job to do and might even be able to make them my deputies when we were done.” His snicker echoed down the gorge. “Fools believed me. When we got there I decided to eliminate the whole good-for-nothing lot.”
Wade lowered his lids, feeling the disgust run throughout his body. A blast echoed down the gorge and his eyes flew open.
“Frank?”
There was a moment’s pause, then, “We got him boss.”
* * *
Wade stood on the back porch of the homestead and looked down at the corral where Anna sat on Lucy’s bare back. Joe had tried many times to train the horse with a saddle, but the filly refused anything on her back other than the woman. It had been three weeks now since the incident down at the river. She had regained her voice, but Anna had become more withdrawn than ever before.
He didn’t doubt with her memory restored, she would be haunted daily by the events that happened up on the mountain. A stab of his own suffering ached deep inside, for he wished he could have done more to help her. Though he had killed the murderers who had done this to her and her family, the constable had been allowed to live.
After Frank had shouted down the rock wall to Wade, he had raced up the gorge to find the constable only shot in the leg. The man’s evil eyes had glared up at him and told him that Anna was nothing but trash. When Wade raised his rifle to blast a cavity into the side of the man’s head, Frank had shouted that two riders were approaching over the ridge. They turned out to be Prescott and the RCMP officer.
Wade aimed his hatred toward the lawman and realized that if he killed him, he would be no better than the constable. It was not revenge or prejudice or even hatred that slaughtered that village. It was pure evil. The same evil that tempted him now to end the lawman’s life. Slowly, he lowered his rifle and waited until the RCMP officer arrived to arrest him. Wade recounted the constable’s story to the officer, but didn’t need to as Stanford was only too obliging with the details.
Now, as he stood and watched sorrow dim the light from her eyes, he regretted not pulling that trigger.
“Wade?”
He turned around to see Kathleen approach. With effort, he offered her a smile. She came to him and slipped her arm through his and leaned out over the porch rail to look toward the mountains beyond. It was a beautiful day, but not nearly as hot as it had been in the past several weeks.
“I know you always thought otherwise, but I love this land as much as you.” He turned and offered her a raised brow. “I’m just not cut to live out here.”
He smiled then and turned his attention back to the corral.
“I was thinking of going back on the last stagecoach tomorrow evening,” she surprised him by saying.
Wade straightened and turned to look at her. “I always hate to see you go, but I understand. Your family, I’m sure, are missing you terribly.”
“And I them.”
He nodded, and for the first time understood. “I’ll have one of the ranch hands ride in and send word to the stagecoach.”
She nodded, then looked out to the corral as well. “I’m bringing Anna back with me.”
Wade couldn’t have been more stunned if she had punched him. “What?”
“I think it’s in her best interest.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. She doesn’t belong in the city.”
Kathleen sighed and told him, “She has nothing left here, Wade. Her family and community are gone.”
“What the hell are we?” He cursed, forgetting momentarily his manners around his sister. Automatically, he apologized, but then said, “You can’t take her from this. It’s her home.”
Kathleen gave him a sad look. “It’s your home. Not Anna’s.”
“I told her she could stay at the Circle H as long as she wanted.”
“As your servant?”
“Many woman do.” He pointed out.
“I want more for Anna. She’s been through so much and has been given a second chance. I want that chance being full of opportunity.”
He frowned heavily, and turned away from his sister. “She won’t be happy there.”
His sister shrugged and said, “She’s not happy here. At least in New Westminster she might find a nice young man. Someone to love and be loved in return.”
Wade’s brow drew together in anger. “What type of gentleman can she capture? She has no family, no status.”
“Wade, please. Try to understand.” Kathleen put her hand on his arm. “If she stays here, she will resort to the type of lifestyle she was brought up to expect. In New Westminster I can give her an opportunity to improve her life. I’m certain there are plenty of young gentleman who would be willing to take on such a beautiful bride.”
He raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck. From his distance he could see the slump of her shoulders as she rode Lucy round and round the corral. There was so much despair and unhappiness in her brown eyes. Gone was the fear, but instead a sorrow replaced their depths. Wade wanted more than anything to help her, but he had failed her once and knew there was nothing left for him to do.
“I always felt the mountain belonged more to Anna than to me,” he quietly told his sister. “But it holds far too many painful memories for her now. The city just might be her salvation.”
Kathleen offered no comment, simply touched his arm gently. Wade continued to stare out at the girl and felt a sharp, piercing pain in his chest. No matter how much his sister made it sound like the right thing to do, Wade felt Anna belonged in the city as much as he did.
“Or her demise.”
* * *
“Does Wade know?” Anna must surely be having a nightmare, because she couldn’t possibly have heard Kathleen correctly.
The woman nodded her head. “We discussed it and concluded it was best if you returned to the city with me tomorrow night.”