On the Mountain (30 page)

Wade nodded and led him to his room at the back of the house.  A frantic Prescott followed close behind.  When they entered, she lay motionless in the same position as he had left her, and Wade tried to ignore the daunting feeling he felt at the sight of her lifeless body.  He couldn’t allow himself to give up on her now.

“What exactly happened?”  The doctor laid his black bag on the night table and removed a stethoscope which he put to his ears.

“Stab wound to the chest.”  Wade simply told him.

Dr. Patterson lifted a brow but didn’t comment otherwise.  Turning to Anna he lifted the blanket covering her and paused.  His searching gaze shot toward the brothers.  “This is not a boy.”

“We’re well aware of that,” Prescott stated.  “Can you help her?”

Turning back to his patient, he made no other comment, but instead put the instrument to her chest and listened for a few minutes before lifting the towels covering the wound that Wade had applied.  He put them gently back down and gave a nod.  “She will need stitches and from the sight of that wound, it might take me well into several hours.  But I can’t guarantee she’ll make it through the night.  She’s lost a lot of blood.”

Wade’s jaw clenched and he forced himself to remain perfectly still.  “Just make every effort to save her life.”

The physician’s eyes met Wade’s.  “She’ll need a lot more than what I can offer.  She needs a reason to come back.”

* * *

Down in the kitchen Prescott put on the kettle for coffee, but Wade definitely needed something stronger.  He couldn’t erase the image of her lifeless body covered in blood.  “Did you speak to the constable?”

“He wasn’t there, but I left a note.  I also sent word to New Westminster.  I thought Kathleen would like to know what happened.”

Wade nodded, then dropped his head into his hands, cursing silently to himself.

“Wade, what exactly did happen?”

Heaving a weary sigh, he went and filled a glass of bourbon then threw it back in one swift gulp.  “There’s two dead men out by the river.”

Prescott’s face clearly reflected his shocked reaction.  “How?”

“I shot them,” he stated matter-of-fact.

His brother’s face froze.  “My God, Wade.  What happened?”

The image of the scene he encountered down at the river came flooding back, and an inferno of hatred boiled to the surface.  He got up angrily and went back to the cabinet.  “They were after Anna.”

Prescott’s brow gathered in confusion.  “Who were they?”

Wade shook his head and refilled his glass.

“I don’t understand.  What could they possibly want with Anna?”

An image of her naked in the river came to mind.  He closed his eyes and tried not to let the overwhelming rage that filled him consume him entirely.  They both heard a horse pull up to the front of the house and when Wade went over to the window he saw the constable dismount from his horse.  Opening the door, he greeted him on the porch.

“Is it true?  Has the boy been stabbed?”

Wade nodded and gestured toward the river.  “I left the bodies down by the river.”

“Bodies?”

Wade nodded.  “There were two of them.  One pulled a rifle on me.  The other, a knife on the boy.”

The constable’s gaze narrowed.  “And the boy?”

“We’re not sure yet.”

“You mean to say he’s still alive?”

Wade nodded.

The constable did not move immediately but stood there at the bottom step staring up at the house.  “He in there?”

Wade frowned.  “Who?”

“The boy,” he snapped, irritated.

“He is, why?”

“Hell, Haddock, you’ve just killed two men.  We’ll need some evidence to prove you had just cause.”

Wade felt his anger being rekindled.  “I just told you, the one pointed a rifle at me.  It’s lying out there next to him, probably still cocked.  I imagine that’s all the evidence you’ll need.”

The constable dug into his shirt pocket and removed a folded paper of tobacco before putting it in his mouth to chew.  “Some might think that sounds like a set up.”

“Now wait, just one second.”  Prescott stepped forward.  “What are you trying to imply?  That Wade killed those men on purpose?  For whatever reason?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, but sounded more like he had a few good ideas up his sleeve.  “Perhaps they wanted something our Earl here wasn’t prepared to share.”

In that split second, Wade felt the constable’s resentment toward him and knew for whatever reason he had been harboring for years.  It also became clear he knew of Anna’s identity.  His eyes narrowed as he met the man’s cold gaze.

“I think, Constable, you best leave.”  Prescott looked unusually testy.

“Afraid I can’t do that.  Seeing there’s been a murder committed on this property.”  He smacked his gums as he chewed the tobacco.

“Then you’ll just have to take a seat in the house and wait until the RCMP arrive.”  Prescott’s education of the law was coming into practice.  “After all, our land is beyond your provincial jurisdiction and matters of such crimes are handled by the Royal Mounted Police.  I sent a message to their office while I was in town. ”

The look on the constable’s face clearly reflected his displeasure in this latest development.  Anger shot across his brow, but he at last relented and took a step back.  “Suit yourself.  Though I intend to keep a watchful eye on this ranch.  It seems there is an awful lot of suspicious activity going on.”

Wade’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t make any other comment.  He stood on the porch and waited until the constable remounted his horse and turned him toward the exit of the Circle H.  He shot Wade a parting look before kicking his horse into a canter.  The lawman left Wade feeling uneasy.  Not because of his unwarranted threat regarding the ranch, it had more to do with something in his eyes.  There was something definitely devious about the lawman.

As soon as he disappeared over the distant ridge toward Lantern, he turned and went back into the house.  Behind him, Prescott said, “I think I’ll take some coffee up to the doctor and check on the situation upstairs.”

Wade made no reply.

“Unless you would prefer to go instead.”

He felt a sickening sensation in the pit of his stomach and turned away from his brother.  He couldn’t look Prescott in the eye when he reluctantly shook his head.  The heavy feeling hovering over his heart refused to allow him to go.  He had failed her when she needed him most.  It was best to leave her with those that could help.

Prescott gave an understanding nod, then headed for the kitchen and left Wade standing alone at the foot of the staircase.  Automatically his eyes shot to the top landing and listened for any sound from up above.  There was silence.  He wasn’t sure what he expected, but as his mind reeled back to the earlier events one thing in particular came to mind.  Something that he had completely forgotten amidst all the trauma.  When Anna had cried out from the river she had spoken for the first time.  It was his name she had called.

* * *

From the back porch, Wade watched an RCMP officer dressed in a simple red serge jacket and donning an unofficial slouch hat on his head to shield him from the harsh sun, load the bodies onto the back of a wagon.  The sun was beginning to dip beneath the western horizon, causing the surrounding mountains to cast a somber shadow over the valley.  The scorching heat at last began to ebb and become more tolerable by the time the officer gradually make his way up from the riverbank.  Wade straightened away from the porch rail as the wagon neared the house.

“The gun was cocked just as you said, Mr. Haddock.”  The officer confirmed, looking up at Wade.  “It’s fairly clear what happened here this afternoon.”

Wade asked, “Do you know them?”

He nodded and climbed down from the wagon.  “They’ve caused quite some trouble in other towns along the border.”

He led him back into the house where Prescott had fixed three mugs of coffee.  Wade gestured to a chair and the officer removed his hat before taking a seat.  Prescott and Wade flanked the officer on either side.

“Who are they?”  Prescott asked.

“Names are Billy Morris and Les Feldman,” he told them.  “The bigger one has actually quite the reputation.  It’s a good thing you got there when you did.”

Wade looked down at his mug and felt a coldness cross over his heart.  He had not got there soon enough.  “What are some of his crimes?”

“Rape, for starters,” the RCMP officer stated and then added, “as well as some minor offenses.  However, there was a suspicious torture and subsequent death of a man in the Kootenays that he was suspected of but never found guilty.”

Wade’s brows drew together.  “Do you think he was connected to the massacre in the village?”

The officer looked at him blankly.  “Massacre?”

Both Wade and Prescott exchanged looks before Prescott stated, “The one last fall on the top of Mount Louis.  Constable Stanford sent word of the incident.”

The man’s brows came together in a determined line.  “This is the first I heard of it.”

Wade felt the first stirring of something questionable in regards to the constable.  “Are you telling us that Stanford never informed you that an entire village had been murdered?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”  He looked even less pleased and raised his hands and folded them in front of himself on the table.  “I think we best start at the beginning.”

Prescott relayed the circumstances regarding the forest fire that led them to their first encounter of the village.  He had trouble relating the scene which they came upon, so Wade offered the details matter-of-fact while the officer sat and listened closely.  Not sure why, he omitted the discovery of Anna in his barn looking terrified and covered in dirt and blood.  Until he knew himself what exactly happened up there, he was willing to protect her till the end.  He owed her that much.

“Sounds like Morris,” he nodded when they finished.  “Not sure about the other though.  Don’t have much on him.”

“What possible reason would they have had?”  Wade asked.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Haddock, men like that don’t require a reason.”  He finished off his coffee, then brushed back his chair as he got to his feet. “Should be on my way as it seems I need to have a talk with a certain constable.”

Both brothers got up as well.

“If you don’t mind, I think I best have a look at the girl.”

Wade hesitated, not sure why, other than he had grown to distrust the law where Anna was concerned.  “The doctor is up there with her now.”

“It won’t take long.”  He stated and obviously wasn’t leaving until he saw Anna.

Giving a short nod, he led the way to the back staircase.  On the upper floor, he went over to the door to his room at the far side of the house.  He gave it a light knock before the doctor granted them admission.  A single candle flickered in the now dim room.  In the center of the room the doctor stood over the bed with his shirt sleeves rolled up and blood staining his otherwise white shirt.  Wade had to swallow a painful lump forming in his throat, knowing it was Anna’s blood.

With forced effort, his eyes slid toward her still form sprawled out on his bed.  Her naked body covered by a sheet, but her pale skin still stood out brightly in the dark room.  Eyes that had once spoke volumes, were silent now as her lids covered them gently.  She looked almost peaceful and Wade felt his insides wrench unexpectedly.

“Evening doctor,” the officer greeted the doctor.  “Mind if I have a look at your patient?”

“Of course not.”  He washed his hands in the bowl next to the bed.  “I just finished up.”

“What’s the verdict?”

He looked over the officer’s shoulder to Wade and honestly said, “I’m afraid it’s too early to tell.  She’s still very weak.”

The officer looked down at Anna then frowned.  “Mr. Haddock, how did this girl come to work for you?”

Wade felt a sense of unease come over him.  Refusing to glance in Prescott’s direction, he stated as matter-of-fact as he could, “I was in need of a servant.”

He straightened up and looked him directly in the eye.  “Yes, I already understood that, however, my question really stems from the information you provided regarding the village.”

“What do you mean?”  Prescott asked.

“This girl is Anna Nicholson.  Oldest daughter of James and Marie.”  He looked at them closely.  “They were one of the families that happened to reside in that mountain.”

He didn’t need any confirmation of that fact, Wade was already fully aware of it.  However, he found it odd to hear Anna be given an identity after so long, as well as a mother and father.  A family of her own.

“James Nicholson?”  Prescott inquired and Wade looked at him, wondering why a look of recognition crossed his face.

“That’s right.”

“Wade, wasn’t that the name of the man father had filed a lawsuit against before his death?”

He searched his mind but couldn’t recall the name, however, at the time he was consumed with the legalities of taking over his father’s inheritance.  At the tender age of twenty it was far too overwhelming.  In addition, a mother who became withdrawn and dependent on her eldest son.  Looking back, he did recall just shortly before his death, his father was terribly displeased at discovering his mountain had been taken over by a community of drifters who refused to leave.  One man in particular had crusaded for the people to remain on the mountain.  If he recalled correctly, Prescott was right.  His name was James Nicholson.