Death in the Desert (4 page)

Clint walked Eclipse to the livery stable. It was clean, with no bodies around. He unsaddled him, brushed and fed him, then bedded him down for the night.

Clint was about to leave the stable when he noticed some tracks in the dirt. He crouched down to examine them. They'd been made by a man's boots, and they looked fresh—not that day, but pretty fresh.

He followed them out the front door, where they mixed with his tracks. He decided not to follow them any farther tonight. In the morning, this was where he'd start.

He walked back to the boardinghouse, let himself in the unlocked front door, and then locked it. He found them still in the kitchen.

“Is she still eating pie?” he asked.

“No,” Kathy said, “we're just talking.”

“Well, maybe Emily should be getting to bed,” Clint suggested.

“I think,” Kathy said, “she needs a bath first.”

“What?” Emily asked.

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Clint said.

“It wouldn't hurt you to take one, too,” Kathy added.

“Yeah,” Emily said, “if I have to take a bath, so do you, Clint.”

“Sure, little girl,” Clint said. “I'll take mine right after you take yours and get into bed.”

“Come on,” Kathy said to Emily, “I'll help you.” She looked at Clint. “I'll draw you one later.”

“Okay.”

“Have some coffee while you wait.”

“Suits me,” Clint said.

After she left the kitchen with Emily, Clint poured himself a cup of coffee, took a look out the back window while he drank it. He could see other houses. He wondered if there were people hiding in any of them, the way Kathy was staying in her house. He'd have to check them out the next day.

He got impatient waiting for Kathy to come back, so he cut himself another slice of pie.

He was finishing yet another cup of coffee when she came back into the kitchen.

“Is she down?”

“She went out right away,” Kathy said, sitting across from him.

“You look like you're ready to turn in,” he commented. “It's still early.”

“Time hasn't meant much for a while,” she told him. “I sleep when I'm tired, which is most of the time. By the way, I drew your bath. If you want it while it's hot, you better go now.”

“You going to be okay?” he asked.

“I'll be fine,” she said. “I'll clean up in here.”

“I shouldn't be long.”

“I laid out some clean clothes for you.”

“Husband's?”

“Some of my tenants left clothes behind when they ran,” she said. “I guessed at the size.”

“I'll let you know if they fit.”

“Just go down the hall,” she said. “I'll empty it when you're done.”

He walked down the hall, found the room with the tub. She had folded the clothes and set them on a chair. He stripped down and got into the tub. He sat back and just let the hot water soak in for a while, then picked up the soap and cloth and washed off all the dirt. He had just finished washing his hair when the door opened and Kathy stepped in.

“Oh,” he said, “I'm almost finished.”

“That's okay,” she said. “I just thought I'd check and make sure the water was still hot.”

“It's okay,” he said, staring at her.

“No,” she said, “I better check.”

She walked over to the tub, leaned over, and put her hand in. That close he could smell her.

“You know,” she said, swirling the soapy water, “I've been lonely for a while. I've been missing . . . things.”

“What things?”

“Companionship,” she said, “somebody to talk to, maybe somebody to take care of.”

“I don't need taking care of,” he said. “But I'm sure Emily does.”

“Well,” she said, “I didn't mean that kind of taking care of.”

“What kind did you mean?”

She knelt by the tub. The cotton dress she was wearing stuck to her because of the steam in the room from the hot water. He could see her firm breasts, and the outlines of her hard nipples.

“This kind,” she said. She reached into the water, found his cock, and grasped it. It had already begun to get hard, so it swelled even more in her hand. She began to stroke it up and down.

“Oh,” he said, “that kind.”

He sat back in the tub while she stroked him with her right hand. With her left hand, she unbuttoned her dress until one breast almost fell out. It was lovely, pale, and round with a hard pink nipple. He reached out with his left hand to cup it, fondle it, weigh it, swipe the nipple with his thumb. She gasped, released him, stood up, and let the dress fall to the floor. Then she stepped into the tub with him. Sat down across from him, with her legs inside his. She pulled her knees up and scooted closer to him so she could reach for him and take him in both hands this time. She stroked his shaft with her right hand, cupped his balls with her left. He leaned forward to kiss her, and her mouth opened beneath his eagerly. He slid his hands around her and pulled her closer to him. She put her legs outside his, and wrapped them around his waist as he pulled her into his lap. Suddenly, just like that, he was inside her, and she gasped.

“Oh, God,” she said, biting him on the shoulder as she started to move up and down on him.

He grunted as she came down on him, her nails raking his back.

“Shhh, shhh,” she said in his ear, even though he wasn't making much noise. “We don't want to wake Emily.”

“Then we have to stay here,” he said. “We can't move to the bedroom.”

She tightened her legs around him, and her insides seemed to grip him tighter.

“Here's just fine with me,” she said into his ear, then bit his earlobe. She kissed his neck and shoulders as she bounced up and down on him, splashing water onto the floor. She let her head fall back and bit her lips as she moved faster. He placed his hands against the small of her back, supporting her. She grew flushed, and her breathing became labored as she neared her time. Suddenly, she was a frenzy of movement on him and it was all he could do to keep her from leaping out of the tub. And through it all she managed to keep quiet, even when a small trail of blood made its way down her chin from where she had bitten her lip. He held her tightly by the hips until he erupted inside her, biting back his own grunts. The water splashed and splashed and then suddenly they both stopped and slumped against each other in the tub.

“Oh God,” she said with her mouth against his neck, “I needed that.”

“I know,” he said. “It's good to be alive.”

“Exactly!” she said.

They sat that way until the water started to cool, and then she drew back first.

“I'm not . . .” she said.

“I know,” he said.

Suddenly embarrassed, she got out of the tub and picked up her dress. She turned, looked at him, holding her dress in front of her, then went to the door, peered out, and left.

Clint got out of the tub, dried himself off, and tried on the clothes Kathy had left for him. They fit pretty well, although they probably had belonged to a heavier man.

He carried his gun belt down the hall to the living room, where Kathy was sitting, wearing a different dress.

“You can have your pick of any room upstairs,” she said. “I put Emily in the front room. It's next to mine and I'll be able to hear her.”

“Well,” he said, “maybe I'll take a room in the back, then.”

“Do you really need to keep that gun with you in the house?” she asked.

“This gun has become a part of me,” he said. “And I'm not convinced there aren't other people here. I saw some tracks at the livery.”

“What kind of tracks? Animals?”

“A man.”

“One man?”

“So far,” Clint said.

“What are you going to do?”

“I'll follow the tracks tomorrow morning,” he said. “I want to find out if we're alone or not.”

“What if we aren't?”

“Then I'll find out who the others are, and what they want.”

“And if there aren't any others?”

“I'll have to decide what to do then,” Clint said. “I plan on leaving town, but I don't know when. I have to make sure I'm not sick.”

“How do you feel now?” she asked.

“I feel pretty good,” he said, “especially after my bath.”

She blushed.

“How long did it take you to fall sick?” he asked.

“A lot of people had died before I started to feel sick,” she said, “and then . . . I don't know, I was probably in bed after a couple of days.”

“Well,” he said, “tomorrow will be two days for me. If I'm not sick after, say, five, I guess it will be safe for me to leave.”

“Where will you go?”

“I was thinking I'd take Emily and try to find her parents,” Clint said, “but that was when I thought we were here alone.”

“You want to leave her with me?”

“Do you intend to stay here?”

“I—I can't just leave my house,” she said.

“What happens when you run out of food?”

“I'm sure there must still be food in town,” she said.

“Sure,” he said, “canned goods. I think there are still some on the shelves of the general store, and certainly in some of the other homes. We can go around and collect as much as we can so you can stock up, but it's got to run out eventually.”

“I guess I'll deal with that situation when it comes,” she said.

“The other thing is all the dead bodies,” he said. “If you're going to stay, I can't just leave them where they are.”

“B-But how can you dig so many graves?”

“Not so many,” he said. “One mass grave. Then I'll use a buckboard to take the bodies to the hole.”

“You would do that?”

“Why not?” Clint asked. “I have to be here for another few days anyway. I can probably do it over that time.”

“I'll help,” she said. “I mean, since you're doing it for me.”

“Okay,” he said, “maybe you can drive the buckboard.”

“No” she said, “I'll help you dig.”

“Sure,” he said, “but first I'll find out if there's anyone else in town. If there is, then I might have help burying the dead.”

“All right, then,” she said. “I guess I better turn in. It looks like we'll have some busy days ahead of us.” She stood up. “I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you're here, Clint.”

She blushed again when she realized how that sounded, and quickly went up the steps to her room.

Clint woke up the next morning and spent a few moments taking stock of himself. He felt fine, especially after a good night's sleep. He sat up, put his feet on the ground, flexed his hands, stretched his arms over his head, rubbed his hands over his face. Then stood up.

There was no sign of weakness, or illness.

He grabbed the fresh clothes Kathy had supplied and put them on, then strapped on his gun and went downstairs. Halfway down he could hear Emily's voice, and smell the bacon.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw Kathy and Emily at the stove, laughing and cooking.

“What are you two up to?” he asked.

“Clint!” Emily shouted. “We're makin' breakfast—a real breakfast, with bacon!”

“That sounds great.”

“You go and sit in the dining room,” Kathy said. “I'll bring out some coffee and biscuits.”

“Okay.”

He went out to the large table where Kathy would normally feed her boarders. In moments, Kathy was there with the promised coffee and biscuits. She also brought some butter.

“Bacon and eggs will be right out,” she said.

“I'll be here.”

She smiled and returned to the kitchen.

Clint buttered a biscuit and bit into it. It was light and fluffy, wonderful. He washed it down with coffee, which was very good. It could have been stronger, but it was better than the coffee Emily had made for him.

Kathy and Emily came out with plates and platters and set them on the table, then sat down. The table was very long, but they sat at the same end with Clint.

“Go ahead,” Kathy said, spooning eggs onto Emily's plate, “help yourself.”

“You didn't have to do this,” he said, glad that she had.

“I wanted to,” she said. “It's been a while since I've cooked for people.”

Clint filled his plate with bacon and eggs, took more biscuits, and poured himself some more coffee. After that, they all just started eating.

“This is so good,” Emily said. “This is better than my cooking.”

“Thank you,” Kathy said.

“Is her coffee better than mine, Clint?”

“Well,” he said, “it's different.”

“That's okay,” she said, “I know I don't make good coffee. But Kathy's gonna teach me to cook better.”

“She is? That's great.”

“Yeah, it is!”

They went back to eating and before long all the platters were empty.

“Emily and I will clean up,” Kathy said.

“I'll help.”

“No,” she said, “that's okay. You finish the coffee.”

He decided not to argue. As they carried everything back to the kitchen, he poured himself the last of the coffee. By the time Kathy came back out, he was finished.

“Emily is such a good girl,” she said. “She doesn't complain, even though I know she misses her parents.”

“I know,” Clint said. “She's . . . good.” He stood up.

“Are you going out now?”

“Yes.”

“To look for those people?”

“To look for any people,” he said, “but I'll start with those tracks I found at the livery.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No,” he said, “you have to stay here with Emily. I'll be back later.”

“For lunch?” she asked. “I can make lunch.”

“That'd be great,” Clint told her, because it would give her something to do. “I'll be back for lunch.”

She nodded. He went to the front door and out. As he was walking to the street, the front door opened and Emily ran out, almost screaming.

“Clint! Clint!”

He turned. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Are you coming back?” she asked.

He removed her arms, then crouched down in front of her and held her by the shoulders.

“Emily, yes, of course I'm coming back,” he told her. “I'm just going to have another look around town to see if I can find anybody else.”

“You wouldn't leave me, would you?”

“No, honey,” he said, hugging her to him, “I wouldn't leave you.” She'd already been left by too many people.

He walked her back to the front porch, where Kathy was waiting. She put her arms around the girl and they both watched as Clint walked away.

Clint walked to the livery, where he could pick up the tracks he had seen. But first he checked on Eclipse, to make sure the gelding was okay.

“How you doing, buddy?” Clint asked. He ran his hand over the horse's flanks. He thought about taking the horse, but decided to go on foot. He wasn't really worried about somebody coming to the stable and stealing him. Eclipse wouldn't permit that. One or two men would have a hard time taking the Darley Arabian anywhere he didn't want to go.

“I'll be back later,” he said, and left the livery.

The man's boot tracks were easy to pick up and follow. They led Clint to a part of town he really hadn't spent much time in yet. The town had some stockyards, which were, of course, empty at the moment. The lack of dead cows or horses further enforced his assumption that animals had not been affected by the disease.

The tracks seemed to lead to a stable behind the stockyards. He approached carefully, just in case Kathy was right and he was about to run into a bunch of looters.

Inside the stable he didn't find looters, but he did find loot—and a lot of it. It was stacked in crates and cartons in the center of the stable. He wondered who had done the stacking, how many of them, and how they intended to transport the stuff.

He walked around the pile of loot, checking the ground. There were several tracks in the dirt, all looking like men's boots. It could have been three men who never left town and stayed behind to clean it out, or three men who rode in, found it abandoned, and figured they could clean up. Either way, they wouldn't be happy to see him. Clint wasn't sure how the law would stand on this, and they probably weren't either. It might depend on whether or not the law considered Medicine Bow to be a ghost town. If it was, then the contents were probably all fair game.

His intention had been to scour the town for other people. And, in fact, there might still be others in town like Kathy, who had fallen ill, but recovered and stayed behind to protect what was theirs. And maybe they were also doing what Kathy did and staying indoors. They were no danger to anyone. The three looters, however, might act violently if they saw someone else in town. He needed to find them, disarm them, and then question them. And rather than going out to locate them, the smart thing might be to just stay right where he was and let them come to him. Sooner or later, they'd be coming back with some more loot.

Clint wondered where they had put their own horses. While he'd seen the tracks of one man at the livery, there were no horses and no tracks left by horses.