Texas Born (33 page)

Jenny approached the shack in a crouch so
that she wouldn't be visible to Mutt or the two women, if they
happened to be there. When she reached it, she slowly straightened,
keeping her back to the wall, and then inched sideways and glanced
through the filthy cracked glass window. She nodded to herself with
satisfaction. She could see Mutt rocking back and forth in an old
rocker, singing to himself. Neither Sadie nor Railroad Yellow was
within sight, and she was glad. Her plan depended on finding Mutt
alone.

She moved her head away from the window and
motioned for Red and Laurenda to join her. They ran through the
high weeds in a crouch to join her. 'Who's in there?' Laurenda
whispered.

'Just Mutt.'

'You sure?'

'Sure, I'm sure.' Jenny looked at her in
disgust.

'What do we do now?' Laurenda asked.

'We lure Mutt out of the shack, that's
what.'

Laurenda tightened her lips worriedly. 'I
don't want him to come after me.' She shivered visibly at the
thought.

'He won't.' Jenny was very sure of herself.
'If he comes after any of us, the others will distract him. Got
that?'

Red and Laurenda nodded reluctantly.

'If I yell for help, come running toward the
house. Red, you stay right here and keep looking in the window. If
things get out of hand in there, I'm counting on you to come in and
rescue me.'

'But aren't you scared of him?' There was awe
in Red's voice.

'No, I'm just going to excite him a little,
that's all. And don't worry about me. You just both do your parts,
okay?'

'And then?' Red pressed.

Then
, Jenny thought craftily, although
she did not dare say it aloud, lest it scare off Red and Laurenda,
then I'll promise Mutt Campbell the sun and the moon. I'll tell
him to meet me at the bandstand once it gets dark. Only I won't be
there waiting for him. Elizabeth-Anne will.

When Zaccheus arrived back in town from the
Sexton ranch, he was whistling cheerfully. Only when he saw the
envelope slipped under his door did the whistle fade in his throat.
Perplexed, he picked it up, tore it open, and frowned. He read and
reread the short, floridly penned message with increasing
disappointment.

Zaccheus,

I hope you will forgive me, but I cannot meet
you

at the bandstand this evening like we'd planned,
as

I am feeling somewhat unwell.

Elizabeth-Anne

He tapped the paper against his thigh, sighed
painfully to himself, and gazed out the oriel window. Across the
street, the windows above the Good Eats Café were glowing yellow.
Behind one of them was Elizabeth-Anne.

For a moment he considered crossing the
street and calling on her. Then he shook his head. If she was sick,
then she surely did not want to entertain a visitor.

He flopped down on the bed, crossed his arms
behind his head, and gazed morosely up at the ceiling. Suddenly he
felt very much alone.

It was strange how her company—or the lack of
it- influenced how he felt.

Once it got dark, Elizabeth-Anne hurried to
meet Zaccheus at the bandstand. Although daylight was gone, she had
dressed with special care, and since it looked like rain, she
carried an umbrella.

She glanced up at the rooming house. A light
glowed softly in the third-floor oriel window, but she could not
see Zaccheus' shadow moving about. She frowned to herself. Surely
he would have switched the lamps off if he had already left?

For a moment she hesitated. Perhaps he had
been in such a hurry to meet her at the bandstand that he had
forgotten to turn off the lights. He might well be waiting for her
already.

She glanced down Main Street. Five blocks
away, enveloped in the darkness, was the bandstand. And
Zaccheus.

She hurried more swiftly now. Her heart was
light, her footsteps springy. Yet she felt terribly nervous. She
couldn't bear to wait much longer to find out how his interview
with Tex Sexton had gone. She knew that her future and his hung
from that delicate thread.

She had nearly reached her destination when
the first big splatters of raindrops plopped down on the dusty
street. She started to run and jumped up under the sheltering roof
of the bandstand. The raindrops sounded extraordinarily loud
drumming on the tin overhead. She glanced around. She could see him
leaning against the railing, a black shadow against a dark
background. She had to smile. His back was turned and he was
pretending he hadn't seen her. Propping her umbrella quietly
against the railing, she tiptoed over toward him. 'When I saw you'd
left the lights on, I was afraid you were still at the rooming
house,' she said softly. She reached out, touched his back, and
frowned. His shirt felt peculiarly coarse, and he reeked of
uncleanliness. Quickly she withdrew her hand.

Suddenly she felt rough hands scrabbling over
her arms and shoulders. Clumsy fingers clutched her breasts
cruelly.

'Owww!' she screamed. Fighting to tear
herself from his grasp, she shoved the splayed fingers of one hand
into his face. With her other she tried to pull herself loose. When
she managed to push him away from her, she staggered backward and
stared at him in shock.

Hard animal eyes glittered back at her from
the darkness.

She felt hot tears streaking down her cheeks.
Her mind was panicked with confusion.
What was the matter? He
had always been so gentle with her, had always treated her so
lovingly, so sensitively
. He had never grabbed her like this,
had never caused her the slightest pain. What could have come over
him?
What?

A sudden flash of lightning illuminated the
sky and froze the figure facing her in a silver tableau. She sucked
in her breath as the wave of shock hit her. Her mind reeled, and,
unbidden, the screaming, taunting chant of the cruel children's
ditty about Mutt swelled to a crescendo in her mind:

Who's gonna get ya?

Who's gonna grab ya?

Crazy Mutt,

Mutt and his slut,

and Railroad Yeller,

They'll lock you in their cellar!

In those split-second flashes of lightning,
she caught sight of the mad gleam flashing in Mutt's eyes, the
saliva drooling from his open mouth, the swollen penis protruding
angrily from his open fly.

'You tole me! You tole me you wanted
me!
' he bawled in a whining voice.
'You promised
me!'

A wave of stifling nausea swept over her. For
a moment she was afraid she was going to pass out.

Mustn't,
she hissed savagely to
herself.
Whatever you do, you mustn't faint. If you do, you
can't run. And you've got to get away from him!

Weakly she forced her legs to move. She took
a faltering step backward, then another, and another. The lightning
flashed, and then, once again, the nightmare scene was plunged into
blackness. But even in the darkness she could sense him closing in
on her, could hear the heavy hollow tread of his boots on the
creaking boards of the bandstand.
Closer. He was coming
closer
. . .

She jumped backward and a scream died in her
throat as she felt something hard pressing against the small of her
back. It was only the bandstand railing, only a length of slats and
banisters.

Then she smelled his fetid breath as he
lunged at her. His unshaven face scratched against hers, and his
powerful hands grasped her, pinching and groping, squeezing and
ripping. She struggled to fight him off, but he was far too strong
for her. From somewhere in the back of her mind the thought dashed
through her that the unbalanced are possessed of an unspeakable
strength.

If you can't fight him, then don't even
try
, she cautioned herself.
Pretend to faint. Let him loosen
his grip so you can escape.

She forced herself to go limp, and she could
hear his gasp of surprise as she slumped, but his hands would not
let go. She took a deep breath, summoned all her strength, and
somersaulted backward. He rammed himself savagely against her, and
together they crashed over the railing, down to the wet ground
below.

Wooosh!
She could hear the breath
being knocked out of her.

She lay there, dazed, taking deep lungfuls of
air. After a moment she sat up slowly and shook the cobwebs out of
her head. She was aching all over, but she was safe. That was all
that mattered. Beneath her, Mutt Campbell was unconscious. She
crawled off him.

And then, just when she thought she was safe,
she felt arms encircling her from behind. She recoiled and let out
a cry. 'No!' she sobbed. 'Don't touch me!
Please
don't touch
me! Please don't.' She drew back toward the bandstand platform on
all fours, her body trembling like a tortured animal shrinking from
the world.

But the touch, when it came again, was kind
and gentle.

Zaccheus pulled her gently to her feet.

'What happened?' he asked her softly.

She attacked him suddenly, her wet, dirty
gloved fists pummeling fiercely against his chest. 'Let me go!' she
cried.
'Let me go let me go let me go!'

He grabbed her by the wrists to restrain her
and pinned her arms to her sides. She hung her head and sobbed
uncontrollably.

'It's me! Zaccheus!' he whispered urgently,
giving her a shake. 'It's
me
, Elizabeth-Anne! You're safe
now.'

'Let me go let me go—'

He realized at once that she was in a state
of shock. His hand flashed as he slapped her resoundingly across
the face.

One moment she was blubbering incoherently,
and the next she raised her head and stared at him in surprise.
'Zaccheus?' she sobbed in a tiny voice. 'Oh, Zaccheus!' Then she
threw her arms around him and clung to him desperately, sobbing and
crying with relief. 'Thank God it's you! Oh, God, it was
terrible!'

'Sssssh!' He patted her on the back. 'Tell me
about it later. Come on.'

She turned her face up to his. 'Where . . .
are we going?'

'Back to where it's safe and warm . . . where
you'll be all right. Thank God I couldn't bear to be alone tonight.
I had to get out of my room . . . and it's funny, you know? I felt
I'd be closer to you here than anywhere else. That's why I decided
to come here. Because we were going to meet here, it somehow seemed
like it was
our
place.'

'Not anymore, it isn't.'

'No, perhaps not,' he said quietly. 'Let's
go.'

'But what . . . what about him?' She gestured
to the ground beside her.

Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky and
Zaccheus followed her gaze. Mutt Campbell was groaning, his body
flickering in the lightning as he suddenly sat up straight. He
looked accusingly at Elizabeth-Anne, his face so contorted his
features looked as if they belonged on a rubber mask. 'You tole me
it was all right!' he cried. 'You promised! You came to the shack
and you promised!' He shook his head and started crying like a
baby. It was a plaintive wail, a cry of hunger and disappointment
and hurt and fury. Then he got up on all fours and scuttled off
into the darkness, his pain-filled high-pitched voice receding: 'I
knowed it! I knowed it had to be 'nother trick . . .'

Elizabeth-Anne let Zaccheus lead her slowly
up Main Street. Although she moved numbly, with listless obedience,
she was already trembling less. The rain was heavy, but neither of
them seemed to notice. The lights in the windows of the houses
lining the street were a salty scrim in front of her eyes.

But when Zaccheus took her to the rooming
house instead of the Good Eats Café, she stopped and tensed, a cold
fear growing in her eyes. 'But. . . but this isn't home.' She
stared at him in the light of the porch lamp.

'Sssssh,' he said softly. 'Just listen to me.
I know what I'm doing.' He squeezed her hand and smiled
reassuringly. 'Trust me.'

She bit down on her lip. Then she nodded
without speaking.

'You mustn't lose your trust in me, no matter
what happened back there.'

'What . . . what
did
happen? I . . . I
don't understand. I thought you . . .' She stared at him.

'Someone,' he said, his voice bitter and
angry, 'pulled a loathsome trick on us. And I think I know who it
was.'

'A trick,' she repeatedly dully.

He nodded. 'When I came home, I found a note
under my door. It was signed with your name and said that you
weren't well and wouldn't be able to meet me at the bandstand.'

She stared at him. 'Jenny!' she
whispered.

'Probably,' he sighed.

She shook her head. 'But why?
Why?
'

'Jenny's obviously jealous of us. But don't
worry. It's all over now.'

Elizabeth-Anne shook her head. 'Nooo . . .'
she said softly. 'I'm afraid it's not. It may be over for
now
, but it's not over. Not by a long shot.' She sighed and
shuddered. 'It . . . it was horrible, Zaccheus!' Her voice was
choked. 'Horrible!' she repeated.

'It's over now. Come. Let's go upstairs.'

She stared at him with dawning comprehension.
'First he wanted to . . . and now you want to . . .' Words suddenly
failed her.

'Yes, darling,' he said with gentle wisdom,
and she realized suddenly that this was the first time he had ever
addressed her so intimately. 'Yes, I want to. But for different
reasons. I want to make love to you because I love you, because I
don't want this terrible incident to scare you away from something
beautiful for the rest of your life. Because now is the time for
you to realize that what happened back there had nothing to do with
love.'

'But . . . we aren't even married!' she
stuttered weakly.

He placed his hands on the sides of her face
and kissed her lips. 'We will be. I'll speak to your aunt and the
reverend tomorrow. Meanwhile, now's the time to love away your
hurt.'