getting out of here and you know it. We’re going to get killed, all of us.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
She smiled, leaned closer to him, and brushed her lips across his in a brief kiss. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter 28
The Kid didn’t know whether Valdez had finished scalping the dead Apaches in the courtyard, so the Mexican was something of a wild card. But he would deal with that once he had taken care of Chess, who was in the next room with Violet Price.
Easing the door open, The Kid checked the hallway. It was empty, so he stepped out, looked back at Jess, giving her an encouraging nod, and walked quietly along the corridor to the next door.
The Kid knocked softly. An irritated-sounding Chess asked from inside, “What is it, damn it?”
Making his voice guttural and hard to recognize—he hoped—The Kid said, “El Capitan Guzman ...”
His voice trailed off into a mumble as he slipped his Colt from its holster. Quick footsteps sounded on the other side of the door. Chess jerked it open, and saw what appeared to be one of the Rurales standing there. “What the hell does Guzman—”
The Kid’s arm lashed out and the gun in his hand smacked against Chess’s skull. The scalp hunter, who was wearing only the bottom half of a pair of long underwear, folded up and hit the floor, out cold.
“Oh, my God,” Violet Price said in a dull voice as The Kid stepped over Chess’s body into the room. “Not another—”
She stopped short as he lifted his head and let her see his face under the wide brim of the sombrero.
“Mr. Morgan!”
The Kid reached down, caught hold of one of Chess’s ankles, and dragged him into the room so he could close the door. By the time he turned back to Violet, she had pulled up the sheet on the bed where she sat and wrapped it around her.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
“As ... as all right as I’m going to be. But you”—anger darkened her eyes—“you took my Elsie—”
The Kid held up a hand to stop her. “Elsie’s fine. I didn’t hurt her. In fact I’m going to help all of you ladies get out of here.”
“But you ... you’re one of those awful men ...”
“I let them think that,” The Kid explained. “Really I’ve been trying to catch up with you and the others ever since the Apaches attacked the wagon camp.”
A shudder went through her at those awful memories. “My husband ... the rest of my children. . .”
“I know it’s hard, but don’t think about them right now. You and Elsie are alive, and that’s the most important thing. You can grieve later.”
Violet swallowed and managed to nod. “You’re right. I have to be strong ... for Elsie.”
“And she’ll be strong for you.” The Kid nodded toward Chess. “I’m going to tie him up and gag him so he can’t cause any trouble. As soon as I’m gone, get dressed. I’ll be back for you in a few minutes.” He inclined his head toward the next room. “Do you know if Valdez is in there with Leah yet?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything, but ... I wasn’t really paying attention. I was trying to make myself ... not be here in my mind. You know what I mean?”
The Kid nodded. “I know.” He got to work trussing up Chess.
When he was finished, he checked the hall and slipped out of the room. He went to the next door and leaned close to it, listening intently in an attempt to determine if Valdez and Leah Gabbert were in there.
He got his answer in the form of a frantic scream.
The Kid didn’t wait. His hand shot to the knob and twisted it. The door wasn’t locked. He threw it open and rushed into the room.
Valdez was on the bed with Leah. The redheaded girl was struggling frantically underneath him, swatting at him with hysterical but ineffectual blows. Valdez glanced over his shoulder, saw the uniform-clad figure coming into the room, and obviously mistook the newcomer for one of Guzman’s Rurales.
“Ah,
The Kid moved swiftly to the side of the bed. The leering smile on Valdez’s ugly face disappeared, replaced with a look of startled recognition. The look vanished as The Kid slammed the gun in his hand across Valdez’s face, crushing bone and cartilage and tearing flesh. Blood spurted from the man’s broken nose and welled from his mouth as he slumped on top of Leah.
The Kid grabbed Valdez’s arm and rolled him off her, onto the floor, where he landed with a solid thump. Leah screamed again. She didn’t recognize him, The Kid knew, but saw him as another menacing figure who wanted to hurt her.
He had to quiet her down and calm her, but wasn’t sure how to. At that moment Jess hurried into the room and went directly to the bed. She sat down and gathered Leah into her arms, talking softly in a crooning voice.
She glanced up at The Kid. “I thought you might have trouble with her, so I risked being spotted. There was nobody out there to see me.”
The Kid picked up Valdez’s sombrero from the chair where it sat along with the rest of the Mexican’s clothes and tossed it on the bed next to Jess. “You can tuck your hair up into that. It’s not exactly the same style as the Rurales wear, but maybe it’s close enough to get by for a little while.”
She nodded her understanding. Leah had stopped screaming and just whimpered as Jess consoled her.
“Stay here with her,” The Kid said. “I’ll fetch Mrs. Price and Elsie.”
“Then what?” Jess asked.
“We’ll try to make it to the corral and get some horses.”
“How’s that going to help us? The gates are closed, and those Rurales aren’t going to open them for us.”
“Let me worry about that,” The Kid said.
And in fact he had already been worrying about it. He had the glimmer of an idea, but so far that was all.
He left Jess and Leah and went next door. Violet Price had pulled her tattered dress back on and had Chess’s gun in her hand when The Kid came in. He motioned for her to lower the revolver.
“I know how to shoot,” she said. “My ... my husband made sure of that before we came west. I thought it would be a good idea to take this man’s gun with me when we leave.”
“It’s an excellent idea. Are you ready?”
She hefted the revolver. “I have everything I need ... except my daughter.”
“I’m going to get her right now.” The Kid checked the corridor and motioned her out. “Go next door with Jess and Leah. I’ll be right back with Elsie.”
When he opened the door into the room where he had taken Elsie earlier, he didn’t see her. Alarm went through him for a second as he whispered, “Elsie?”
“Oh, thank God!” The exclamation came from behind the door, then Elsie appeared around it. “I didn’t know it was you. I thought maybe I should try to hide ...” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened. “You’re dressed like one of the Mexicans!”
“That’s going to help us get out of here,” The Kid told her. “Come on. Your mother’s waiting.”
“Is she all right?” Elsie asked anxiously.
“She is.”
The next few minutes were busy ones as The Kid gathered the four women. He gave Valdez’s revolver to Jess. The Rurales guard he had killed hadn’t been carrying a handgun, but he had a rifle, so The Kid turned that weapon over to Elsie and showed her how to shoot it. All of them stuffed as much extra ammunition as they could into their pockets.
