Relic (23 page)

Chapter Thirty

I concealed my distress as best I could when we arrived back at the Hacienda. Álvar left the carriage without a word, but his servant led me to my room as if nothing had changed. I let Esperanza help me out of the gown, but after she left my room, instead of changing into sleeping clothes, I hurriedly dressed in my own old burgundy dress. I then sat on the edge of Ella’s bed, watching her sleep, my mind awhirl.

We needed to escape. Now. Tonight. I could get out of the Hacienda easily enough, but would that be the end of it? With Álvar’s men everywhere, I could hardly try and make a different life here in Burning Mesa. No, the more I thought about it, the clearer it became that my only option was to escape as far away as possible, as soon as possible.

I tried to breathe slowly and stay calm, but my heart pounded at the thought of leaving. I didn’t know where we’d go, but maybe it didn’t matter. We’d make it through somehow. Of course, I had to be smart about it, because Álvar’s and Connelly’s eyes watched from every direction.

I paced my room, deep in thought, watching my candle grow smaller and smaller. The comings and goings of the Hacienda softened to silence. I had just packed a small bag when the muffled sound of men’s voices drifted in from the other side of my door. Men’s voices and footsteps—a lot of them.

I tiptoed closer and listened. It was a group. The glow from their lanterns stretched in beneath the crease of the doorframe, and my heart froze. Was Emerson Bolger finally making his attack on Álvar? Was the Hacienda about to burn to the ground like Haydenville?

Trembling, I opened the door and peered down the hallway. The orange light of the lanterns had just rounded the corner. My pulse throbbing, I slipped out after them. I wouldn’t stay there to die in my bed. If Ella and I needed to run for our lives yet again, I wanted to know.

I slid down the darkened hall, knowing that if I were seen, it would mean the end of me.

I followed the glow of the men’s lanterns until they stopped. They stood just around a second corner, their low voices rumbling the surface of the wall I was pressed against.

Álvar’s voice drifted through the murmur like silk. My face snapped up in surprise.
Álvar?
An irresistible force compelled me to look, to confirm if he really was there. I slid my face past the wall a fraction of an inch, then another.

The light of the lanterns gleamed at me. Down the hallway, the men crammed into a small, decorative anteroom, no more than a dead end with some art on the walls and a small marble vase of flowers. Álvar stood at the inner edge. He lifted his lantern, scanned behind their group, and then set his hand against the wall. A hidden panel slid open like a door. Quietly, the men filed into the dark hallway that the panel had been hiding.

I didn’t move until long after they’d gone. What on earth were they up to? It seemed dangerous and stupid, but I found myself walking to the little anteroom. The wall completely concealed the place where the panel had opened. I smoothed my hand over, but nothing stood out from the smooth stone. Perhaps Álvar had used a relic to release a trap door. It was dark; I might have not noticed.

As I stared at the enigmatic wall, a dark feeling gripped my heart. I thought of the razings with a cold shiver, but I cast the notion away. Impossible. Álvar was a deeply flawed man, but the kind of man who would burn entire towns full of innocent people to the ground? He wasn’t evil, that much I knew. In another life, if he’d been raised on a farm, working and having the simple things of life like I had, he might have been a lot like Landon.

I rubbed a shiver from my arms and turned away from the anteroom. Whatever Álvar was up to, I wanted nothing to do with it. By the next sunset, Ella and I would be on a train, traveling farther from Burning Mesa and Álvar Castilla every moment.

I sat on a stallion from the Hacienda, watching the door to the sheriff’s office. It was a bright, windy morning, with a brilliant blue sky. I wished it were raining. I stared at the office and didn’t move.

Yahn, I’ve failed you.

Part of me longed to go in, to see him one last time. To say good-bye and ask his forgiveness. But I knew I didn’t deserve closure. I had failed to help Yahn, and I would carry the guilt the rest of my life.

My heart felt like a stone in my chest as I pulled the reins to urge my horse away. I didn’t look back as I rode. For Ella’s sake, I had to move forward.

And I had to hurry. Train tickets needed to be purchased, and I had a single good-bye on my list: Adelaide. The thought alone made my heart break. When I came to her door, however, she was packing her own trunk. I halted in surprise.

She was smoothing out one of her gowns, but she quickly caught sight of me. “Maggie!” she cried. “Good Lord, am I happy to see you!” She rushed over and flung her arms around me.

“You’re leaving?” I asked.

She broke from our embrace. Her blue eyes shone with a happiness that confused me even more. “What’s going on, Adelaide? Tell me!”

“Oh, it’s so wonderful. I can hardly believe it.” She grabbed something from her dresser. “Look, a telegraph from Bobby. He’s in a town called Green Springs. He says he can’t live without me anymore. He wants to marry me, Maggie. Soon as possible.”

“Marry?”

“Yes!”

I hugged her again. “Oh, Adelaide, I’m so happy for you!”

“Isn’t it the most wonderful news?”

“What about Connelly? Are you going to sneak away?”

“Don’t have to. Bobby sent his entire savings by wire. Five thousand dollars! He says that ought to cover any contract I have.”

“What did Connelly say about that?”

“Well, he seemed real resistant at first. And for a minute there, I swore he was gonna rip that money up and lock me in my room. But then he cooled off and said all right!”

“You don’t say.”

She nodded. “Can you believe it? He said I just had to see one last big-money client, and then I’d be done forever. I tell you, I feel so happy I could bust.”

I smiled, but a nagging thought tugged at me. It didn’t seem much like Connelly. Even if Bobby had wired a hundred thousand dollars, anyone with any reasonable business sense could see that Adelaide could and would bring in more money by staying, with her performances and high roller clientele. I didn’t say anything, though—maybe I was wrong. Maybe Connelly had some other girl in mind to take her place. Some sad, poor new recruit from the depot.

“I’m finally leavin’ this dump,” Adelaide said, going back to her packing. “I swear, I thought this day would never come.”

“I’m thrilled for you, I really am. I hope you two are very happy.”

“Why don’t you come with me, Maggie? Landon’s there in Green Springs. Maybe you and him could get married, too!”

I laughed. “Well, actually, it’s funny you should mention me coming with you.”

Adelaide raised an eyebrow, and I told her my plan. When I was finished, she cheered and hugged me again.

“This is perfect! We’ll go together! It’ll be a new life, Maggie. Me and you and Bobby and Landon.”

“And Ella?”

She laughed. “Sure, why not? We’ll all live together in one big house and be happy as a bunch of rabbits.”

I had to smile at the dream, though a part of me almost didn’t dare imagine it. To have a family again. To stop hurting. Was it possible?

“What do you think?” Adelaide asked, holding up a beautiful cream-colored gown. “Make a good wedding dress?”

“Perfect,” Connelly said.

Adelaide and I both spun around. He stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest, an ugly smirk on his face. Tom hovered behind him in the shadows of the hallway.

“What do you want?” Adelaide asked.

“Looks like you’re all ready to go, ain’t ya?” he said, ignoring her question. “Well, well, well, guess my little bird is finally ready to leave the nest.”

“What do you
want
?” she asked again, more pointedly.

“Your last client’s here.”

“Oh.” Adelaide paused, but then laughed once with a forced air of indifference. “Well, he’s an eager fella, isn’t he? It’s not even noon.”

Connelly shrugged.

“All right.” Adelaide sighed. “Send him in, I guess. I won’t have time to primp, so he’ll have to take me as I am.”

“That’ll be fine.”

Connelly stepped into the room with this strange little smile, and a surge of warning splashed over me. Adelaide must have felt the same, by the way she stared at him. Slowly, he reached into the breast pocket of his vest and drew out a wad of bills. He waved the cash in the air.

Adelaide’s voice sounded very small. “What’s that for?”

“Payment,” Connelly said. “I’ve been saving up for some time for this.”

Adelaide’s face drained of color. He stepped closer to her, slowly, like a spider approaching his prey.

“Did you honestly think I would let my most valuable commodity go for five thousand lousy dollars?”

She was silent, paralyzed.

“Did you think I’d let you flit off to some worthless cowboy, just because you fancy you’ve
fallen in love
?”

He grabbed her by the arm, and horror filled me. I made a move for her, but Tom caught me by the wrist.

“Let go!” I glared at Connelly. “Don’t you touch her.”

But he didn’t pay any attention to me. Holding Adelaide close by the arm, he pressed the wad of cash to her cheek. She winced but didn’t move. Connelly dragged the cash down her face, her neck. “You belong to me. You will
always
belong to me.”

“Let go of her!” I shouted, furious. “Take your dirty hands off—”

“Get that brat out of here,” Connelly snarled.

“No!” I fought hard, but Tom pinned my arms behind my back.

“You can’t do this!” I yelled. “Leave her alone, Connelly, you bastard!”

But Tom was dragging me out of the room. I kicked and fought with everything in me, screaming, but Tom was too strong. The last thing I saw before he pulled me through the doorframe was Adelaide. Connelly’s hand was wrapped around her throat, but she was looking at me.

I expected to see fear or anger or sadness in her eyes. But there was only broken, worn-down submission.

“Adelaide!” I called as Tom dragged me down the hall.

The other girls’ doors were cracked open. Fearful eyes watched from the shadows.

“Help her!” I screamed. But no one moved.

Tom threw me into one of the empty rooms at the end of the hall and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked into place. I pounded hard, hammering my fists on the cruel wood.

“Adelaide!”

I sank to my knees on the floor, my fist pressed to the door. “I’m so sorry.”

Three days they kept me in that room. But no matter how long I pounded or how loud I screamed, no one let me out. Tom slid food in without a word, and that was the only contact with others I had. They even locked the window to keep me from screaming out to the people on the streets. I was trapped like an animal.

In desperation, I tried to invoke my importance to Álvar, but Tom let me know in no uncertain terms that Álvar knew I was there. I had nothing. In despair, I thought to use the relic in the jar—evil or not, if I could use it, I’d be free—but it was probably long gone. Esperanza had probably snatched it up first thing when she heard I was gone and proudly delivered it to Connelly. No relic could save me.

As the sky outside my window darkened on the third day, I slumped on the floor against my bed, holding my arms around my knees. I was exhausted, though I knew I couldn’t sleep. Worn down, though I still burned with rage.

A draft of cold wind tossed my curtains in a ripple over my bed. I rubbed my arms and turned to see if the window had a crack or something, when I noticed a wisp of white shadow drifting in through the glass. A coil of lightness, almost like smoke, except it carried a faint glow. My eyes widened. I staggered backward to my feet.

The shadow spread and curled in with the wind. It drifted to the center of my room, rippling. Breathless, I stared as it expanded and stretched upward until it formed a vague shape.

The shape of a man.

My back was to the vanity table. I groped behind me, my eyes fixed on the shadow, and grabbed for something to hit it with. Whatever it was, whoever had sent it, I wasn’t going to stand there like a sitting duck if it meant me harm. But then, like the tremor of a morning wind, a voice drifted out of the shadow.