sheriff here. Between the two of you, the women will be safe.’’
Jason nodded with pride and ran to fulfill his assignment.
Wes returned to his chair beside Hardy’s makeshift bed. ‘‘It makes no sense,’’ Wes mumbled. ‘‘Surely, one man’s not planning to attack this place.’’
‘‘Could be he came in to kill a single person.’’ Worry lines rippled across the old man’s forehead. ‘‘I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a few enemies. Maybe he plans to slit my throat, then get a fresh mount and ride out.’’
Wes shook his head. ‘‘No, if it’s personal, looks like he’d wait until we all split up tomorrow. Why attack when the headquarters is full?’’
The old sheriff leaned back against his pillows, holding his side as though it were an effort to breathe. ‘‘Years ago,’’ he whispered, ‘‘back in the days of the first three hundred who came with Austin, I got to where I could talk with the Karankawas who made their camp around the settlement. They saw the settlers as about as important and pesky as mosquitoes. Austin’s colony thought the Indians were unfriendly, but mostly, the Karankawas just didn’t bother trying to communicate.’’
Though Wes was starting to wonder if this story had a point, he didn’t interrupt.
‘‘One night, I was in the camp and one of the braves gave a report almost identical to Attenbury’s. Seems men had heard a rider coming, but no one broke the trees around the camp. Then they noticed a horse with markings unlike any of them had ever seen.’’
‘‘And?’’ Wes encouraged.
‘‘I’ve heard many names other tribes use, but the best translation is ‘smoke warrior.’ The Karankawas have an old legend that ghosts walk among our midst, unnoticed for the most part. No one can see them most of the time, they float like vapors at sunrise. But once in a while, they get strong enough to take on form solid enough to ride a horse. When that happens, they only have one mission.’’
Wes leaned forward.‘‘What?’’
‘‘To take another soul with them when they cross over to the next life.’’ Hardy’s face left no doubt he was deadly serious. ‘‘Some folks don’t want to cross over to the hereafter alone.’’
‘‘But who?’’ Wes shook his head. ‘‘That makes no sense.’’
Sheriff Hardy swallowed hard and opened his mouth to argue, but before he could form a word, a scream shattered the stale night air.
Wes was on his feet running before the sound died in his ears. ‘‘Watch the entrance!’’ he yelled over his shoulder as he took the stairs three at a time.
Another scream came from above.
‘‘Allie!’’ he shouted as he rammed their bedroom door at full speed.
TWENTY-FIVE
WES BROKE INTO THE QUARTERS WITH ADAM ONLYa step behind. The room was exactly as it had been an hour ago when he’d left. Only, Allie was missing.
‘‘I’ll check on Victoria!’’ Adam backed out the door and tried the next room. ‘‘She had one of the girls show her upstairs ten minutes ago.’’
Empty!
‘‘Maybe they went back to the kitchen for some reason?’’ Adam checked the old woman’s room carefully, as though he thought she might be hiding somewhere amidst the lace and drapes.
‘‘Then who screamed if they went downstairs?’’ Wes inspected the windows. They were locked from the inside. No one could have gotten in or gone out and relocked them from inside.
Daniel thundered into the room like a freight train having trouble stopping. ‘‘I came up the back stairs from the kitchen. No one passed me. Who screamed?’’
Adam shook his head.
Wes stepped to the landing. ‘‘Hardy!’’ he yelled down the stairs.
‘‘Yeah!’’ the old sheriff answered, out of breath.
‘‘Seen anyone come down?’’
‘‘Not a soul! Is Victoria all right?’’
Wes raised his gaze to the ceiling. There was only one place they could have gone. ‘‘They may be on the widow’s walk.’’
‘‘And, from the screams, they’re not alone,’’ Adam whispered as if whoever had the women might hear them through the ceiling.
Wes glanced toward the end of the hallway where a tiny staircase led up to the trapdoor.
Jason lay curled in the shadows at the bottom of the steps. His body rocked back and forth in pain.
The brothers reached him in seconds. ‘‘
‘‘What happened, son?’’ Wes asked.
Adam examined the boy, slowly testing for broken bones.
‘‘Where are Allie and Victoria?’’ Wes pushed for an answer. ‘‘Are they all right?’’
The boy jerked when Adam brushed his hair away from a badly bruised forehead.
‘‘Jason?’’ Adam turned his face to the light. ‘‘Jason? Can you hear me?’’
Trying to turn away from the men he mumbled, ‘‘I can hear you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’’ He looked at Wes. ‘‘You told me to watch the women. I tried, but when we were climbing the steps, the man hit me hard in the face. He knocked me down the stairs. The trapdoor closed before I could follow.’’
‘‘You tried, son.’’ Wes comforted the boy. ‘‘What did this man look like?’’
‘‘He was real tall, and thin, with a gun in one hand and a long stick in the other. He wore a great coat that folded around him like a bat’s wings. He kept shoving the women along with his stick. I heard him whisper that he’d kill Victoria first if any of them made a sound.’’
Holding his head, Jason rocked slightly. ‘‘I didn’t cry. Not even when he kicked me. Allie tried to protect Victoria when the man didn’t think they were moving fast enough and swung the stick wildly. She didn’t say a word when the blows hit her, but Victoria screamed.’’
Dread shook Wes to the core. There was only one man who reminded him of a bat. Only one man who would risk anything to kill Allie.
Wes bolted halfway up the stairs before Daniel and Adam’s grip pulled him down.
‘‘Let go!’’ Wes jerked at their holds. ‘‘I have to get to Allie. He’ll kill her this time for sure!’’
‘‘There’s no way to open the door without the man on the widow’s walk seeing you.’’ Adam stated the obvious. ‘‘It would be suicide.’’
‘‘I don’t care!’’ Wes fought at their arms. ‘‘Allie’s up there.’’
‘‘And once it’s open, whoever has Allie will have a clear shot at you.’’ Daniel’s grip was iron around his brother’s arm, but his face showed his understanding.
‘‘You’re no help to Allie dead!’’ Adam shouted.
His words penetrated Wes’s mind. He had to fight not only his brothers but himself to keep from invading the walk.
Wes moved back down the narrow stairway barely the width of his shoulders. Storming the roof would be ridiculous, he realized, but he had to do something. If the preacher named Louis had Allie, he’d been willing to risk a great deal, even his life, to kidnap her. After all, he’d been willing to kill Wes for taking her from the cage. There was no telling what the man might do if cornered.
Gideon hurried up the stairs and darted into the first bedroom. ‘‘Miss Victoria’s missing!’’ he yelled. ‘‘ Outside, the guards said they could see shadows on the walk.’’
‘‘How many?’’ Wes knew the answer.
‘‘Three. One tall man, two short women.’’ Gideon glanced in Wes and Allie’s room. ‘‘They’re both gone? Miss Victoria must be on the walk!’’
‘‘They didn’t go willingly. I think I know our intruder.’’ Wes began to pace, reasoning out his strategy. There had to be something he could do.
‘‘The walk was built into the roofline. It would be impossible to get off a clear shot at night and little better in
