The Iron Horseman (21 page)

“Yes.
Why? What’s in it?”

“Lord,
help us all.”

A
single light flickered in the window of the small homestead as Levi and Cadence
pulled through the gate at the Walker Ranch.

Strange
. With Eamon being in jail,
there shouldn’t be anyone inside the house. The bunkhouse was dark, but the
soft nicker of horses and lowing of cattle were the only indications that the
place had not been abandoned completely. Levi suspected the place had been
deserted by the hired hands when their benefactor had been incapacitated by a
crooked sheriff’s bullet.

“Shhh,”
he said quietly, placing a finger to his lips. “Stay here.” The sun had only
just disappeared behind the horizon and the waxing moon provided scarce light.
Levi placed a hand over the gun strapped to his side and gingerly made his way
toward the house.

The
sound of furniture scraping against the floor and cupboards being opened and
closed indicated, to Levi’s disbelief, that the intruder had not heard the
wagon approaching.

“This
is Cade Walker!” Cadence bellowed. “Be warned, I’m coming in.” She held up the
lantern from the wagon and drew her gun before opening the front door.

Levi
shook his head. He should have known she wouldn’t stay put in the buckboard.
She was a detective, for heaven’s sake. Of course she would be curious. He
followed her inside, his gun also drawn.

“What
are you doing in my father’s place?” Cadence held up a lantern, her revolver
pointed at the prowler.

Eddie,
the foreman, stood with both hands in the air and a mess of bread and dried
meat spilling from his mouth. He spit it out.

“I…I
just finished feeding the livestock and…thought I’d come in and get myself a
bite to eat.” He took a step forward, but Cadence raised the gun with renewed
focus. “I’m sorry I came in the house, Miss Walker. It’s just that with all the
boys taking on new positions at other ranches, I’m really the only one left to
make sure your father has something to come home to.”

That
must have struck a chord with Cadence, because she dropped the gun to her side.

“Thank
you,” she said with a nod.

“Was
there something I could do for you, Miss Walker? Mr. Redbourne?”

“If
you could just direct me to my father’s study.”

Levi
had been to the Walker property on several occasions over the last few months,
but each time he visited something else had changed. A bunkhouse had been
built. The stable housed more horses, and fences extended out across the
property. In this light, however, he had no idea what else had changed since
he’d last been here.

Eddie
picked up his own lantern and guided them down the hall. He pointed to a room
with a set of double doors just around the corner from the kitchen. “Guess I’ll
be on my way,” he said as Cadence stepped inside the dark room with the light
and walked straight over to Eamon’s desk.

“Eddie?”
Levi asked as the man passed by him on his way to the front door.

The
man halted, held up his light, and turned to look at him.

“You
staying in the bunkhouse all alone?”

“Yes,
sir. I figure someone’s got to feed the animals.”

“How
long’s it been since you’ve been paid?”

Eddie
looked down at the ground, then raised a hand and rubbed it across his chin.

“I
reckon it’s been a while.” He looked at the floor, at the doorframe, and
finally out the door.

Levi
sensed there was something the foreman wasn’t telling him. “Is everything all
right?” he asked, taking a step toward him.

The
man took a step out the door. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

An
odd feeling wrenched Levi’s gut and he paused. A knocking sound came from
Eamon’s office and Levi turned toward it. He needed to get in there and help
Cadence, but he felt bad for the man who’d stayed on to help Eamon on his own.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small bundle of bills he carried.
He wanted to help tide the foreman over, but when he turned back, Eddie was
gone.

I’ll
drop it by the bunkhouse on the way out
, he thought, tucking the cash back into his
vest pocket.

Levi
walked into the study. The faint scent of kerosene intruded on his senses and
he glanced about the darkened room. He couldn’t tell if the smell was coming
from the lamps or somewhere else. Something was amiss, but he couldn’t place
it.

A
light glowed from the underside of Eamon’s desk, where he guessed Cadence had
disappeared. The sight that greeted him as he approached evoked a chuckle that
caught in his throat. Cadence lay on the floor, her head hidden by the
cumbersome desk and her ankles and feet sticking out from the deflated folds of
material of her skirt. Levi wondered if lying down with such bulk had been as
difficult as it looked. He bent down to see what she was doing.

“It’s
here,” she called excitedly. She moved her fingers across the flush boards,
then pounded in one spot against the edge with the side of her fist. A good
sized drawer popped open and Cadence quickly reached inside.

The
smell was stronger here.

“Cadence,”
he said firmly.

“You
smell it too,” she said unperturbed.

“Yes.”

“I’m
almost done.” She pulled something from the hidden compartment, but Levi could
not make out the contents. When Cadence started to scooch out from below the
desk, Levi stood up and extended his hand. It took a moment before she was
clear enough to take it, but once she was out, she grabbed a hold and he pulled
her up.

“Thank
you,” she whispered, looking up at him. She touched his chest momentarily
before turning to reach down for the lantern. She placed it on the desktop and
held out the leather-wrapped bundle she’d collected from the drawer for Levi to
see. The clasp on the binding appeared to be some sort of medal, but in this
light it was impossible to distinguish its markings.

“I’ll
take that, if you don’t mind, Miss Walker.”

Levi
and Cadence both turned to see Eddie, aiming a pistol at them, his hand
extended toward her.

“Oh,
but I do mind, Eddie,” Cadence said without missing a beat. Without any
warning, she threw the package into the air.

Eddie
followed it with his eyes and while his head was raised, Levi landed an
uppercut to the man’s jaw, sending him sprawling backward. His gun flew from
his hand and slid across the new wooden floor toward the two large bookcases on
the far end of the room.

Cadence
caught the leather bundle and stomped down at precisely the right moment.
Eddie’s pistol halted to a stop beneath her foot.

Levi
pulled the foreman to his feet. “Are we going to find your name in that book,
Eddie?”

The
man tried to shrug away from Levi’s grasp, but Levi tightened his fist and even
though he was merely a few inches taller, he lifted Eddie off the floor.

“Let
go of me, Redbourne. I’m warning you.”

“Or
you’ll what?” Levi didn’t care much for traitors, especially up so close.

Cadence
bent down and picked up the gun from beneath her feet. She opened the chamber
and turned it upside down. It was empty. She moved behind the desk and set the
wrapped bundle down in front of the lantern.

“See,”
Eddie exclaimed. “I didn’t really want to hurt you, but if I don’t deliver that
book by morning…” he dropped his head. “Please. They have my wife.”

“Who
are
they
?” Levi asked, relaxing his hold on the man—though, he didn’t
remember Eddie having a family.

“I
don’t know exactly. I swear.” Eddie said, looking directly at Cadence. “I just
need the book.”

“Who
are you supposed to deliver it to?” Cadence asked, leaning against the desk and
placing her hand over the top of it.

Levi
could see the wheels turning in her head.

Eddie
lunged for the package, knocking the lantern off the table and onto the floor.
Cadence jumped back as the floor and desk caught on fire, spreading more
quickly than usual, trapping her on the far end of the study. The kerosene. The
corner of the leather book binding had flames licking at the rawhide. Cadence
fell to her knees and seized it from the blaze.

Eddie
turned and ran for the door.

“You
all right?” Levi asked even as he turned to follow.

“Go
after him,” Cadence cried above the blaze, which was now nearly as high as her
waist and blocking the only window in the room.

“No.”

“He
might have the answers we need,” she tried to persuade him.

“I
don’t care,” he shouted as he paced the new wall of flames, looking for a way
to get her out.

Think,
Redbourne. Think.

“I’ll
be right back.” He darted from the study and into Eamon’s bedroom. He ripped
the sheets and several blankets from the bed and ran outside to the water pump
with the over-sized load.

“Thought
you might could use a little help.” Rafe stepped forward, holding a handcuffed
Eddie at his side. “Eamon’s sleeping. Vinnie won’t leave his side. And the
deputy is keeping watch outside his door.” He paused. “What is it, Levi? What’s
wrong?” he asked, tilting his head downward to meet Levi’s face.

Please
let there be water
,
Levi pleaded silently.

The
town of Bryan was quickly diminishing in population because the water source
had started to run dry. He hoped there would still be enough ground water to do
what he needed. He dropped the blankets on the earth in front of the spout and
started to pump.

“Fire!”
he said, his jaw tight with determination.

Rafe
looked at the house. The flicker of light coming from the study grew brighter
with every passing moment.

“Sit!”
Rafe commanded the weasel of a man who’d started this whole mess.

Eddie
sat down in front of the fence and Rafe secured him to the post.

“Buckets?”

Levi
shrugged. He had no idea where Eamon or his men had kept any of the supplies.
After a few pumps, water finally emerged from the faucet.

Thank
you, Lord.

He
continued pumping until the blankets were nice and soaked. He shoved a few of
them into Rafe’s arms and gathered the rest into his own, allowing the water to
soak into his shirt as he ran back for the house.

Rafe
was right behind him.

Smoke
now filled the house and Levi could hear Cadence’s coughs through the haze
rising above the flames. Several times he saw her try to break through the
flames, but it was no use. They were just too hot. An urgency, unlike he’d ever
known, filled him and he ran as fast as he could to the study. The room had
become an inferno. Rafe took one of the blankets from his hands and started
beating at the flames. Levi didn’t know if it would be enough.

“Cadence,”
he yelled, trying to see her through the blaze as he also beat the floor with a
wet sheet. He raised a hand in an attempt to block the heat, but to no avail.
“Cadence,” he called again.

Cough.

His
ears perked at the quiet sound.

Thud.

He
had to get to her. Levi picked up one of the remaining blankets and quickly
wrapped it around himself.

“What
do you think you’re doing?” Rafe asked as he landed another swat to the floor.

Before
his brother could stop him, Levi jumped through the fire into the smoke-filled,
but flameless section of the room. He kept the blanket over his face to avoid
inhaling any of the dark smoke.

Cadence
lay on the floor, her propped elbows barely keeping her from collapsing
completely. Her head hung low, her dark hair blanketing the wood.

“Rafe,”
Levi screamed, kneeling down beside her. “Toss me more of those blankets.”

He
only had to wait a few seconds before the heavy, sodden coverings nearly
knocked him down.