The Darkness You Fear Page 21

  She dismounted on the other side of the horse from where Clement and the others were standing. When she came around the horse, she had her pistol in her hand.

  “If you gentlemen would please back away from the campfire,” she said. None of them had been armed when she’d ridden in, and her appearance hadn’t alarmed them enough to fetch their weapons, which were among the backpacks near the bedrolls spread about the clearing near the fire.

  “Now, ma’am, that isn’t necessary,” Clement said. He took a step toward her.

  Virginia raised the barrel, pointed it between his eyes, and held it there steadily. “I assure you, sir, I will have no trouble killing you if you come any closer.” She used her Canowiki voice, and he froze in place. While the five men stood staring at her, she moved toward the packs and found a loaded pistol lying on top of one of them. She took it up in her other hand.

  She sighed in relief. One pistol might not have been enough if they’d decided to rush her. They might have figured their odds were good. But two pistols meant she could take two of them down, and that changed the odds.

  “Come on ahead!” she shouted at the top of her voice. She couldn’t be sure if her words would reach her companions, but they had the added benefit of letting her opponents know she wasn’t alone. She lowered her voice and said, “I’ll repeat…why are you here?”

  “We were just about to cook our dinner,” Clement said. “We’ll be glad to share. Really, ma’am, there is no need for guns.”

  “When my friends get here, we’ll talk about that.” Virginia was quite willing to rely on Angus, Franklin, and Drake, all of whom were practiced gunmen, against these five men, of whom only Clement looked like a real threat. The other four had obviously been picked up off the streets; just men who would follow orders, who could point and shoot but probably didn’t aim too well.

  She heard horses approaching from behind her and took a quick look over her shoulder. Drake, Franklin, and Angus were leading their horses forward on foot, followed by Gus, who was limping behind them.

  During that brief glance, Clement had begun to make a move, and Virginia raised her pistol warningly. She kept the gun pointed at his head while her friends approached. When they reached her, she turned to Angus and started to hand one of the guns to him. “Keep your eye on…” She stopped as she saw the look in her bodyguard’s eyes.

  “Raise your arms up, boys,” Gus Catledge said. “Let her know how things stand.”

  Virginia’s companions raised their hands above their heads.

  “You aren’t Gus, are you?” Virginia said.

  “I would never have claimed to be,” Jonathan Meredith said, “if you hadn’t so assumed. It was hard to take on his old-shoe manner, I’ll tell you. Not my way at all.” He was standing only a few feet away, his shotgun pointed at the backs of all three of her companions. “I won’t hesitate to shoot, Miss Reed. This close, the spray will take out at least two of your men. Give your pistols to Clement before I get tired of waiting.”

  She let her hands drop. She let Clement take the guns from her.

  “Take a look at Miss Virginia Reed, boys,” Meredith said. “The Angel of the Donner Party.”

  They all stared at her, impressed, especially the young man, Samuel. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said. “No wonder she got the drop on me.”

  Clement laughed. “You had your pants down, Samuel. A five-year-old girl could’ve got the drop on you.”

  “Enough!” Meredith said. “Tie these folks up.”

  “Even Miss Reed?” Samuel asked.

  “Especially Miss Reed,” Clement said. “She’s a witch or something. Not natural, a woman being this way, ready to shoot a man between the eyes.”

  “Just do it,” Meredith growled.

  Virginia was led over to one of the trees, and her arms were pulled back around the trunk and tied. Angus, Drake, and Franklin were tied to their own trees a short distance away. Meredith kept his gun on them the whole time. Only when they were secure did he waver. He almost dropped the shotgun and stood swaying until Clement rushed over and held him up. They staggered to the campfire, where Meredith was set down.

  “I’ve got a bullet wound to my leg that needs dressing,” he grunted. He turned to one of the three other men. “Caruthers? You can remove a bullet, no? Get some water boiling.”

  “So you ran into Gus Catledge?” Virginia asked.

  Meredith looked over at her, frowning; then he shrugged. “The old man had the drop on me. But he didn’t have the guts to finish it. I did.”

  Virginia felt her heart sink. She’d come to like Gus Catledge and his family through Ellen Meredith’s diaries. Meeting Abigail Catledge had only reinforced the impression. There was no doubt, from Meredith’s tone of voice, that Gus was lying dead somewhere in the desert.

  Caruthers came over with a pot of boiling water and clean rags and proceeded to pull the soiled bandage from Meredith’s leg. He cursed but didn’t move. There, in his calf, was a single round bullet hole, which Caruthers began to clean.

  “Becky and Jed?” Virginia asked softly.

  Meredith winced. “Careful!” he snapped at Caruthers before turning back to Virginia. “I wouldn’t have even known they were out there if not for you. I’ve got to thank you for that, at least. I’ve always hated Becky…snotty little girl. But I’d rather not have to kill my stepson. He’s always had potential, once he got out from behind his mother’s skirts.”

  “What about Cager and Allie?” Virginia asked. “And Edwin?”

  Meredith stared at her. He wasn’t going to answer, she realized, but it been worth a shot, since he was being so voluble.

  “What about them?” he asked.

  “Did you kill them too?”

  “Why would I do that?” he grunted.

  “They showed you the gold mine, didn’t they? You had to keep it a secret.” Virginia could see that Meredith was getting uncomfortable—not because he was feeling guilty for killing the children, but because he wanted to keep his secret above all. “You haven’t even told your bully boys, have you?”

  “Told us what?” Clement asked Virginia. “That he’s got a gold mine somewhere out there? Hell, lady, we knew that. He didn’t have to tell us. But he pays us damn well to pretend we don’t know. Personally, I’d rather earn my money sitting here with my gun in hand than over there digging up…” His voice trailed off as he realized his boss was staring at him, red faced.

  “Probably shouldn’t have let Mr. Meredith know that you know,” Virginia said. “People who find out tend to disappear.”

  “Like I said,” Clement muttered. “We don’t care about no gold.”

  Despite what Clement said, it was clear that at least a couple of the other men hadn’t known what they were guarding. They exchanged glances.

  “Well, it was time to share the wealth anyway,” Meredith said. “Time to let you boys take your pick of the gold. No need to dig, Clement. It’s just lying there. You can have all you want, all you can carry. I’ve got all I need. There’s more than enough for all of us.”

  Virginia wondered if the others could tell as easily as she could that he was lying. Is it my Canowiki powers? She wondered. No…they know.

  They were keeping silent, not looking at each other.

  All but Samuel.

  “Woo-hoo!” he shouted, and after a few moments, the other men joined in, except Caruthers, who was finishing up tying Meredith’s bandage.

  “We’ll start in the morning,” Meredith said. “Best keep a two-man guard tonight. We don’t know who’s out there.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Oregon Territory, October 1851

  Jonathan Meredith couldn’t believe everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

  He’d planned one last trip to the mine, this time by himself. He hadn’t been looking forward to the drudgery of digging out the entrance, but he didn’t want any complications. He’d gotten away with murder so far, but he couldn’t be certain his extr
aordinary luck would hold.

  No, he’d figured to take one more load, probably from the scrap heap he’d told his workers to leave near the entrance. He’d pay off his men, who might know there was a gold mine somewhere within the territory they were guarding but wouldn’t be able to narrow it down to a specific site, especially if he covered up the entrance.

  Just one last trip and he’d be wealthy enough to live without working for the rest of his life. If he ran out of money, he could always come back, but he didn’t believe he would need to. His businesses were profitable.

  Jonathan didn’t plan to stay long. The voices in his head got louder every time he visited the mine. At first, he’d wondered if he was going insane. Never before had he felt anything when he killed or robbed someone. Ever since his first murder, that of his neighbor, Cullum, he’d been able to live with his deeds without the slightest twinge of guilt. Perhaps it was finally catching up with him.

  The voices got louder the deeper he went into the cave, he soon discovered, and before long, he could go no farther than the entrance without being so distracted that he was a danger to himself and others.

  Memories of past misdeeds came to him, but they had no meaning. After Sarah died, he’d been hollowed out, and anger and pain had rushed in. He walked among the living determined to make others feel the same anger and pain. There was no other goal. Money was only a weapon, which he could use to inflict misery on others.

  Only the thought of Sarah could disturb him, and he sensed that whatever was driving the guilt he saw in others would eventually reach him. So he’d hired bums off the streets of Portland and brought them, blindfolded, across the desert. He’d had every intention of fulfilling his promise of letting them carry gold away. But when a rockslide killed the first two workers he’d hired and he was able to walk away with the gold they had dug up for him, he realized that he didn’t need to pay anyone. It wasn’t greed—there was plenty of gold—but the idea that word would soon get out that the Lost Blue Bucket Mine had been discovered that worried him no end.

  There’d be no peace after that. Besides, he hadn’t claimed the site, nor would it have mattered if he had. The government’s treaty with the Umatilla tribe was binding, at least for now, and they would have the rights to any gold found on their land.

  So it was important that Jonathan keep the secret for as long as possible.

  He hadn’t actually had to kill anyone working the mines. He had simply closed off the entrance, which, after all, could have happened by accident at any time, even without his help.

  He’d headed out from Vale alone, taking just one packhorse along, which he figured could carry enough gold, along with his own mount, to get the job done. He’d intended to pay off his men who were guarding the boundary. He was looking forward to the time by himself.

  He had been amazed to come across Gus Catledge, camped on the high plateau two days’ journey south of the Columbia Gorge. Meredith had spent a small fortune sending men out looking for the Catledges, and here was old Gus, sitting by a campfire, his rifle still in its holster near the saddle, his pistol removed from his belt.

  There was only one other person left on Earth who also knew the location of the Lost Blue Bucket Mine, and that was Becky Catledge. For some reason that Jonathan couldn’t fathom, she hadn’t gone after the gold, but he was convinced it was only a matter of time.

  “Hello, Gus,” he’d said, stepping into circle of light from the fire. He was holding the reins of his horse in one hand, his gun in his other hand, hidden behind his coat.

  Gus surprised him. The old man’s pistol, which hadn’t been evident when Jonathan observed him from the darkness, suddenly appeared in his hand, and something struck Jonathan’s lower leg so hard he was knocked off his feet. He let go of his horse and heard it and the packhorse galloping off into the desert. The gunshot echoed as he dropped to the ground and rolled, planning to bring his own weapon to bear.

  But Gus had managed to get to his rifle and already had the barrel pointed at Jonathan’s head.

  “What the hell, Gus!” Jonathan cried. “What are you doing?”

  “Let me see your hands,” Gus demanded.

  Jonathan stayed crouched on the ground. He let go of his gun, hiding it under the folds of his coat, and raised his hands. “Why are you shooting at me?” he cried, the aggrieved, innocent party.

  “You’re a snake, Meredith,” Gus said. “I should shoot you right now. But I want to know if you’ve seen Becky. If you’ve…done anything to her.”

  “Done anything?” Jonathan said. “What are you talking about?”

  Gus stared at him, trying to gauge his truthfulness. Jonathan didn’t even have to lie; he could just put his full innocence on display. He hadn’t known that Becky was out here. He was wide-eyed and slack-jawed, and truly shocked by the turn of events, and that must have come through. But Gus didn’t lower his gun.

  “I wasn’t sure Becky was right about you,” Gus said. “I knew you were a hollow man, without a conscience, but I couldn’t believe you were a killer. But seeing you out here…whatever reason could there be but the gold?”

  “Of course I’m here for the gold!” Jonathan said, continuing to tell the truth. The best way to slip in a naked lie was to clothe it in truth.

  “Which you decided to keep for yourself.”

  “Of course,” Jonathan said. “You’d have done the same thing, Gus. Don’t tell me different.”

  “No,” Gus shook his head. “I would have told you and the Parsonses. Hell, I might have told everyone. I certainly wouldn’t have killed to keep the secret.”

  “Killed?”

  “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but as the years went by, I couldn’t think of a better explanation for Allie and Cager’s disappearance. To my shame, I didn’t do anything but run away and change my family name, may my father forgive me. I managed to keep a rein on my daughter, though I could tell she was unhappy with the silence. But when Edwin disappeared, I couldn’t keep Becky from running off. She’s out here somewhere, searching, and I’m going to find her, and I’m not going to let you do anything to her.”

  The old man raised his rifle and pointed it at Jonathan’s head. “I believe you when you say you haven’t seen Becky and Jed. I got no reason to keep you alive, Meredith. I’d be doing the world a favor by killing you right now and letting the buzzards and coyotes have you.”

  Gus’s finger tightened on the trigger, and Jonathan began to reach for his own gun, on the ground under him. He would be too late, except perhaps to get off a return shot, but he was going to go down fighting.

  Then, surprisingly, Gus lowered the rifle. “You ain’t worth it, Meredith. Get back on your horse and go back to Portland. You’re done here. As soon as I get back to Vale, I’m going to let everyone know the location of the mine.”

  Jonathan got to his feet, almost falling over as his wounded leg gave way, snatching up the pistol as he rose. He aimed the gun at Gus’s stomach and fired.

  The old man toppled backward with a groan that sounded like an acknowledgment of his own stupidity, as if, in those last moments, he realized what his mercy had brought down on him.

  Gus was still breathing when Jonathan walked over and kicked the rifle away. “Be assured, old man, if I find Becky, she’s as dead as you are. She was a pretty girl. I’ll be she’s a lovely woman.”

  “Please,” Gus said weakly. “Leave her be. You can have the gold.”

  “I don’t need your permission,” Jonathan said. He kicked the old man in the gut, right where the wound was. Gus huffed once and passed out.

  Jonathan looked around the campsite. Gus’s mule hadn’t bolted and was still tied to a small juniper near the campfire. He sat down and looked at the pot of stew Gus had been cooking, judged it edible, and started scooping it into his mouth. When he was done, the fire was almost out.

  He picked Gus’s pockets clean. There was nothing worth anything. The old man was still breathing, his eyes closed. Jo
nathan packed up all the rest of the gear and loaded the mule, then mounted the skittish beast. He slapped the animal hard on the neck, and it settled down. Then he rode off, leaving Gus behind for the buzzards and coyotes.

  Jonathan rode as far as he could that day, feeling the blood dripping from his wound. For some reason, it was only a trickle, as if the fatty part of his leg had closed over the hole, but it became more painful with every mile.

  He was nodding off when the mule stopped so abruptly he almost slid off. A depression in the ground had nearly swallowed him and the mule. He slipped off the animal and hopped down into the hole on his one good leg. He managed to coax the mule down, and he was pretty sure the creature wouldn’t try to escape. He started a fire and bandaged his wound. Then he brought out Gus’s stewpot and began cooking some of the meat and potatoes he’d found in the old man’s pack.

  He was taken completely by surprise when Virginia and her companions found him. But when they’d addressed him as Gus, he’d quickly fallen into character. He couldn’t believe his luck.

  He was amazed that the woman was Virginia Reed, about whom he’d heard so much. Why she was involved, he couldn’t imagine. But he thought his boys would like the look of her.

  Chapter Thirty

  Oregon Territory, October 1851

  Virginia slept fitfully, slipping in and out of consciousness throughout the long night. Even if she could somehow get free, she couldn’t leave her two companions behind. In the middle of the night, as she slept, someone—she thought it was probably Samuel, the youngest of her captors—threw a blanket over her. In the morning, there was thick frost on the ground. The white flakes slid off her blanket when she stirred, sprinkling onto the dark soil and sparkling in the morning sun.

  She didn’t know what Meredith was planning. He hadn’t killed them immediately, which meant he had something else planned for them. She was shivering violently when Samuel came for her and led her to the campfire. She was allowed to soak up some of its warmth. She watched as her fellow captives ate breakfast, which consisted of a thick gruel. She didn’t have an appetite and turned down a plate.