Hellbound
A Laramie Tale for Halloween
By
Barbara Taylor
Chapter 4
The trail they followed was barely visible in the weak moonlight that broke through the thunderheads. Jess’ always-present headache seemed to be building in its intensity but he refused to think about it. Instead he watched the others as they walked steadfastly forward against the biting wind that seemed to be trying to blow them right back to where they had started. He had automatically taken the rear position, so he could pick up any stragglers and help if any of his small family seemed to falter.
Slim was in the lead, setting a brisk pace despite his ankle. Periodically Jess squinted through the sheet of rain, watching for any sign that Slim’s limp was worsening. The stinging ice-cold rain felt like needles as it hit their faces and eyes, so they kept their heads down most of the time, focused on the trail immediately beneath their feet. Perhaps that was just as well as it was difficult to see more than a few feet ahead.
Though they fought valiantly against the angry elements, the struggle began to take its and their originally brisk pace slowed. Exhaustion, fed by the bitter cold rain, crept up on them, and their steps became heavier as they battled onwards. Valiant Daisy was the first to succumb, and she stumbled over the uneven ground. Jess heard her surprised cry and lunged forward to try and steady her, but Mike, who had been directly alongside her, had managed to catch her flailing arms and support her.
“Slim!” Jess’ strained shout reached Slims ears, barely audible above the howl of the wind.
The man in the lead heard the appeal in his best friend’s voice and twisted around to face the rag tag group. He was just in time to see Jess reach Daisy and help her over to a downed tree trunk.
Though the offered seat was wet, it was a seat, and right now Daisy needed to rest, if only for a minute. She had been determined to keep up, and not let any of them down, but the effort had taken its toll and now she really needed to rest.
“I—I’m sorry, Jess, Slim,” Daisy stated. “Just give me a minute to catch my breath and then I’ll be ready to carry on.”
“It’s alright, Daisy. Reckon I could taking a break.” Jess said, trying to ease her guilt. He hunched down in front of her and Mike, as the small boy had now sat next to Daisy, cuddling in close to share their bodies’ warmth.
Jess looked like he had casually positioned himself in front of the two most vulnerable members of their small party, but Slim knew that he had placed his own body between them and the driving rain, hoping to give them a small measure of protection. The tall rancher joined them, squatting next to Jess; as best he could with his ankle, hoping to increase the sheltering wall the two men’s bodies provided.
Slim rubbed his hands together, chilled despite his gloves, trying to warm them through his gloves and force some feeling back into his numbed fingers. “ How are you doing? Think you can keep going. It shouldn’t be too much farther,” Slim asked, trying to sound more positive than he felt. His ankle twinged in objection to the semi squatting position Slim had attempted to achieve. He was unable to hide his grimace of pain from Daisy’s keen eyes.
“Is it that bad, Slim, dear?” Daisy’s voice was sharp with concern.
Smiling ruefully, Slim stood up as he replied. “Only when I do something stupid like trying to fool you into thinking nothing is wrong.”
“Daisy is far too astute for you, Pard. Best just own up to it. I’ll help you if’n you’d like when we start out again.” Jess held Slim’s shoulder as he steadied himself, trying to avoid putting much weight on his protesting ankle.
Jess’ moment of gloating was quickly snatched away by Daisy’s next comment. “ I don’t know why you are looking so smug, Jess. After all you have been trying to pretend your head wasn’t troubling you since we set out this morning.”
Jess’ jaw dropped open, and for a brief second, he was actually lost for words. He was well aware that Daisy could see right through his ‘devil may care’ act, but she still managed to catch him totally off guard at moments like this. “I--I I’m fine,” was all he finally managed to say.
“Yes, I’m sure you think you are,” Daisy artfully emphasised the word ‘think’ and Jess looked away guiltily, unable to meet her eyes. In fact, Daisy’s eyes danced with mirth, as she tried to improve the mood of her sodden family. She was no fool and knew their situation wasn’t good, but while it was not pleasant, it was not truly life threatening. At least not if they kept their spirits up and carried on.
“What about you, Mike? You seem unusually quiet.” Slim spoke to the usually boisterous boy, who was indeed sitting still and quiet at Daisy’s side.
In an exact mimic of his hero, Mike gave a small smile and answered with a brief “I’m fine.”
Hearing the echo of his own false bravado in his young charges words, Jess dropped back down to Mike’s side again and fixed the boys gaze with earnest blue eyes. “Mike, I know you are taking this like a man, but I know I’m feeling the pace a bit. There ain’t no shame in admitting if you need a bit of help,” Jess stated earnestly, ignoring the suppressed laugh that escaped Slim at the absurdity of that statement coming from Jess.
Under his penetrating gaze, Mike gave in a little. “Well,” he hesitated, then plucking up his courage, he continued. “My hands are a little cold.”
Jess snatched up Mike’s hands into his own, annoyed with himself for not noticing sooner that Mike had not brought any gloves with him. Removing his own black gloves, Jess felt the chill in the small hands now clasped in his. He started rubbing them vigorously and soon they were somewhat warmer. Satisfied that the circulation was now restored, Jess stood up.
“Here,” he said gruffly. “You put these on.” He held out his own gloves to Mike.
Bewildered, Mike shook his head, “B--But what about you, Jess,” he queried.
Tousling Mike’s hair, and then pulling up the collar on the boys jacket so that it was higher round his ears, Jess dismissed Mike’s fears easily. “ We’ll take turns, Mike,” he stated lightly, fully aware that he would not accept his gloves back until they where all safe under shelter. “Now, come on, let’s get going. I’ve a hankering for a hot coffee and a warm bed.”
The storm had seemed to move off slightly while they had rested, and although the rain was still heavy the clouds had parted enough that they could see a little better as the full moon lit the storm swept landscape. Wearily, but with renewed determination, they trudged on again, their minds fixed firmly on their goal and their bodies warmed by memories of cosy nights around the fire at the ranch.
Slim now took up the rear as Jess led the party onwards, trying to stay on the trail, It was not an easy task, even with the aide of the moonlight. Soon Jess began to feel the loss of his gloves, and he marvelled at how long Mike had managed to ignore the cold ache in his hands. In an effort to ease his own frozen extremities, Jess crossed his arms across his chest and tucked his hands under his arms. It was only a slight improvement as Jess’ clothes where soaked through and stiff with the cold.
Bringing up the rear, Slim noticed this, and hobbled up to Jess, using the branch to support his weight as he hurried forward. “ You okay, Jess?” he prompted, then continued before his partner could answer. Why don’t we share?”
Jess scowled at him, uncertain as to what Slim meant, and then he glanced Slim’s outstretched hand and the glove it held. Jess shook his head in the negative. “You need both those gloves to protect your hands on the wood and you can’t walk far without that crutch, so’s there’s no use giving me an argument on the subject, Pard, cause you’d lose.”
Exasperated, Slim turned to glare ahead of them, “Damn you Jess, why are you always so stubborn?” he said ‘ and why are you always right?’ he thought to himself.
Jess was also looking straight ahead, stubbornly refusing to meet Slim’s eyes. This was not the time to get into a battle of wills. In silence, the group pushed onwards. The clouds started to draw inwards again, hiding the moon and slowing their progress down again as the path became obscured from view.
None of them could really say at which point they lost the path, but at some point that is exactly what happened. The path just faded from view, petering out and blending into the general muddy dirt beneath their dragging feet. By the time they realised it was too late, rain had obscured their footprints and made the possibility of back tracking as unlikely as finding the path ahead of them.
Frustrated, Slim raised his right hand, effectively bringing the group to a standstill. Mike had been trudging determinedly onwards, his head down and shoulders hunched against the cold. His first awareness that the others had stopped walking was when he walked right into the back of Jess, knocking the dark haired man forward. Jess managed to stop himself from falling by grabbing a nearby branch, as his feet did a dance in the slippery mud.
“Sorry, Jess,” Mike mumbled through teeth clenched against the cold, but Jess gave him a weak smile of forgiveness and turned his attention on the person he saw a the cause of the incident.
“What now?” Jess asked, somewhat irritably. His earlier headache had returned with a vengeance now and a warm bed, any dry place in fact, was looking real inviting.
“I’m not sure, Jess.” Slim replied truthfully. “Things don’t look right.” Slim simply could not find any familiar landmarks. He had grown up around here, and even without the trail, he should be able to take them in the general direction of the relay station that was their home. ‘It must be the shadow caused by the moonlight and storm clouds making things look different,’ he thought to himself by way of self re-assurance.
Before an equally puzzled Jess could ask the obvious question, Daisy spoke for them all. “Are we lost?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
Looking around at his “family”, Slim was tempted to spare them further worry with a lie, but decided that Jess, although not as familiar with this area as Slim, knew enough to have realised they had strayed into unfamiliar territory. “ In this moonlight everything looks a little different, but we can’t be that far off the trail,” he offered. “What do you think, Jess”
Both men stood tall, turning in a slow circle, peering through narrowed eyes, trying to see a familiar landmark through the heavy curtain of rain and the moon cast shadows. Thunder rolled around them, seeming to bounce of the hills and echo through the surrounding landscape. It sounded as though the storm was circling around and heading back towards them again. As if joining in a macabre dance to the beat of the thunder’s drum, lightening flickered across the sky, giving the two friends a momentary clearer view of their surroundings.
“What the---“ escaped from a surprised Jess. He had been standing with his back to the others, looking toward the gently rising hills to the west, in the general direction of where he thought the ranch house stood. Not believing his own eyes, he rubbed at them with the back of his hand. When he looked again, it was too dark to see anything in the direction he was searching.
“Jess, what is it? What did you see?” Slim spun around to look in the same direction as his best friend, peering into the darkness.
“I--I thought,” Jess started to say, then thought better of it. “Naw, it couldn’t have been. It must have been a trick of the light,” Jess concluded.
But Slim was desperate now, worried for the safety of his adopted family. He knew how badly he was feeling so the good Lord knew how bad off the others were. He pushed Jess for an answer. “ Come on Pard, you don’t spook easy. What did you see?”
With a shrug, Jess responded. “ For a moment, just as the lightening came, I thought I saw the outline of a house, silhouetted against the sky over there.” Jess’ dark head nodded in the general direction of his gaze, the movement shaking off the heavy raindrops clinging to his rain soaked hair. “Can’t be though,” he continued. “Like you said, there ain’t no homesteads out here.”
“No-one’s lived out here for a generation Jess. Even the old Jameson ranch house was reduced to a pile of stones when I was a child. It must have been a trick of the---” Slim stopped, his words choked of in his throat, as the thunder cracked directly overhead, and lightening flared simultaneously, signalling the return of the full storm. But it was not the flash that stopped Slim in mid sentence. It was the sight of what appeared to be a large ranch house atop the hill directly ahead.
Slim and Jess turned to each other, both surprised by the apparent closeness of the dwelling, but before either could speak, Mike’s small voice piped up. “Gee, that sure don’t look like a shack. Do you think they’d mind if we woke them up, Aunt Daisy,” he asked hopefully, his eyes glowing with the idea of being warm and dry again.
Daisy had seen the welcome sight also, and though the absence of any yellow warming glow in any window that she could see told her the household was likely tucked up in bed, she knew that no decent person would turn away a distressed traveller on a night like this. “I don’t think they would mind at all, Mike,” she answered his concern with a smile. “Well, boys,” she now addressed the two men, “You can leave the discussion about the house being out here until we are safe inside of it. Come on.”
With renewed vigour, she set off, Mike’s small gloved hand clasped firmly in hers as the two headed in the direction that they had seen in the distance.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Jess,” Slim said, a frown marring his features. “Don’t you think we’d have heard something if a new family had moved in this close to Laramie. I mean that house looked pretty solid, like someone has been taking a bit of time to build it.”
“Oh, come on, Pard. What are you trying to say? It ain’t likely a passel of outlaws trying to hide out would have taken the time to build a hideout as imposing as that house looked.” Even Jess was smiling now, relieved and returned to good humour now that safety for Mike and Daisy was within reach. “ I reckon a family has moved in, but we haven’t been in Laramie much lately, so it’s a safe bet we’d not have heard about it. Need any help,” he offered his best friend, still concerned over Slim’s pronounced limp.
Slim batted his helping hand
away, and his own spirits now considerably higher, he started out after Daisy
and Mike. “Bum leg or not, I can still outrun you.” He stepped out as best he
could, and with Jess close beside him, the two friends headed toward the much
desired shelter and safety.
Chapter 5.
Their progress toward the building was faster than anticipated. It was almost as if Mother Nature, having lashed them with her fury throughout the night, making them fight the driving wind and rain for every step closer to home, had now relented her cruelty. The rain eased almost to a gentle shower, and the wind switched direction to come up from behind, almost propelling them along the path that had now materialised beneath their feet.
Jess stayed close to Slim in case his friend stumbled, but he needn’t have worried. The wind seemed almost to buoy Slim up, as they narrowed the distance between them and their to goal.
Daisy and Mike were already on the broad porch when they caught up to them. Awed by the size of the structure they had all hesitated for a second as they drew closer. In the near blackness no detail could be seen, but the house was substantial. It was a two-story building that looked as if it could easily boast four or five bedrooms.
If any of them allowed themselves to consider how such a big structure had come into existence without even a hint of its construction reaching their ears, none of them voiced this concern. Each member of the rag tag family was close to exhaustion, the brief spurt of energy that the sight of their salvation had given them had now drained away as they reached their goal. They focused now on gaining safe entry, and once warm and dry, letting themselves slip into a deep recuperating sleep.
“I’ve knocked several times already Slim,” Daisy said as Slim raised his fist intending to rap on the door. “Maybe there is no one at home. It is very dark”
“Or maybe, given the noise of the storm, they can’t hear us.” Slim rejoined. Then he knocked again, with considerable force. Even though they where expecting it, Mike and Daisy jumped at the sharp sound. Even Jess was startled at the ferocity with which Slim had banged on the door.
Ever since he had set foot on the darkened wooden porch, Jess had been peering around anxiously trying to pierce the gloom that pervaded the recesses. The air felt really cold, a different cold than the damp chill of the storm filled night. This cold was biting into his bones, gnawing at his gut. He shivered involuntarily, forcing himself to focus on Slim as that worthy raised his hand again.
This time Slim added his voice to the general noise. “Hello, the house. Is there anyone home?”
A minute later, when there was still no reply, Slim tried the handle on the door. It refused to budge. A small hand reached up and tugged at Slim’s sleeve, and the tall rancher looked down into Mike’s cold, pale face. “ S----Slim, I---I’m r--really c--cold,” the young boy shivered. Mike had put on a brave face throughout this disastrous night, determined to show how adult he was. But now, with rescue so close at hand, his last reserves of strength left him.
“I’m sorry, Daisy, but I think we may have to break in, I’ll pay the owners for the damage later.” This time Slim took a few steps backward, preparing to put his shoulder against the door and force it open. Before he could put this plan into action, Jess stepped between him and the door.
Knowing how proper Daisy could be, Jess could see by the look of concern on her face that she did not approve of forcing an entry into some-one else’s home. “Wait a minute, maybe there is a back door, or they sleep at the back of the house,” he said, “I’ll go take a look round the back. Feels like we’ve been in this storm for hours, a minute more won’t harm us, even you, Tiger.” Jess reached forward and made a feeble attempt to tousle Mike’s hair.
Also aware of Daisy’s high regard for proper behaviour, Slim nodded his agreement and hugged Mike against his body, trying to share what little body warmth he had with the boy.
Jess stepped of the porch and headed into the shadows at the side of the house. As he went around the corner and lost sight of the others, he shivered once again as that bone deep chill crept over him again. He squinted into the dark, trying to make out the ground in front of him. Despite the fact that the moon was now out from behind the clouds, the shadows close to the house where as black as pitch.
Jess hoped he could find a way into the house, then at least he would be instrumental in some small way, in bringing his family to safety. He just could not shake off the feeling that their current predicament was his fault. If he hadn’t overslept then they would have been safe at home when the storm struck. If he had spotted the deep hole in the road then the wagon would not have had such a disastrous end and, just as bad, he had then been too slow to prevent the horses getting away.
Jess placed the responsibility for all these unfortunate occurrences on his own broad shoulders, adding them to the weight of guilt he had taken up since the night his family had died in the fire. Strangely too, his headache was back, throbbing over his eyes.
Reaching out, Jess placed his hand against the wall of the building, seeking extra support should he trip. As his palm rested on the wall, a cold so deep it burned, caused him to pull his hand back sharply. He raised his hand close to his face, trying to make out just why it was aching so much. Was it his imagination, or did the skin look an angry red. Even as he stared, the redness seemed to fade and his hand returned to normal.
Jess started off again, this time avoiding touching the wall. It was stupid, he knew, but the experience had left him with a feeling of unease. But it was already too late.
Something inside the dark heart of the building had felt the life within that brief touch. It sensed the presence of a good soul, but also a soul tortured by a deep self-doubt and recrimination. A soul it had waited for, over an eternity of time. It awoke; stretched forth inky tendrils of black thought, tasting and testing the immediate area, and something akin to satisfaction crossed its equivalent of a mind. Yes, it was time to wake. It was time to feed!
As Jess tried to peer into the blackness beyond the windows at the rear of the house, he carefully avoided touching the walls. It was a stupid reaction, he reasoned, but just the same, he couldn’t shake off the feel of the burning cold that had shot through his hand and up his arm. He couldn’t dismiss the feeling of utter despair that had touched his mind during that brief moment of contact.
He smiled weakly as he imagined what Slim would say if he knew how he was reacting right now. It was stupid and silly yet, there had been something, strangeness like an evil presence, when he had touched that wall.
Turning the last corner before rejoining the others, Jess gave himself a mental shake. He caught sight of the shadowy outline of Daisy, Mike and Slim and dragged his errant imagination back to the reality of a cold, stormy but perfectly normal night.
“Well?” prompted Slim, anxiously.
Jess shook his head as he neared them. “ Couldn’t see anything through the windows, no sign of life at all. Odd thing though, for a house this size, there’s no backdoor.”
It was strange for a house not to have at least one other door, especially out west where a quick escape might be needed. Right now this structure offered the only available shelter to the weary group, so no one gave it anymore thought.
Once more Slim stepped back preparing to break down the door, but before he could complete the action Mike had placed his hand on the door knob, and responding to a slight twist from his child’s hand, the door swung slowly open.
“Well. Mike, how on earth did you do that?” Daisy asked, before raising her eys to look at Slim. “I thought you said it was locked?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Slim smiled weakly. “Guess I was mistaken,” he said by way of exclamation. He put his arm out across the doorway, still cautious despite his own desire to get out of the biting cold winds. “Best let Jess and I check it out.”
He stepped forward into the doorway, Jess at his side. Both men knew it was probably unnecessary, and yet they both kept their hands hovered over their guns.
As Jess crossed the threshold, he shuddered, the tremor racing through his body. He felt as if icy cold fingers where running up and down his spine. A nervous laugh escaped him before he could stop it. “ Reckon it’d colder in here than out there. It’s like an ice room” he said, his voice echoing in the hollows of the room.
Slim’s eyebrows raised quizzically. He hadn’t felt that it was particularly cold, but he was slightly bothered by the fact he had been sure the door had been locked when he tried it. Someone must have unlocked it from the inside, and yet, apparently there was no one in this room that he could see. “Hallo the house,” Slims voice boomed out. “Is there anyone here?”
Jess had nearly jumped out of his skin at Slim’s loud shout. He was far from a nervous man, in fact to all outward appearances; he had nerves of steel, as many a witness to his facing down a gunfighter could attest.
The silence that greeted Slim’s call was deafening. There was no sound at all, no creak of branches against the windows, no whine of a draft down a chimney. There was just a black, thick, and heavy nothingness that seemed to soak up all noise.
“Can we come in?” Daisy’s soft inquiry broke the silence, “I really think if there was anyone here, they would have answered by now. You’re shouting was loud enough to wake the dead, Slim.”
Slim stepped further into the room, allowing the two remaining members of the group to come inside. They now stood just inside the doorway, outlined in a weak pool of light from the pale, partially cloud covered moon.
Jess had moved deeper into what he assumed was the lobby, carefully feeling his way through the blackness. “Ugh!” he exclaimed as his thigh bumped sharply against an object that his questing hands soon identified as a table.
“Are you all right, Jess?” Daisy enquired.
“Just fine, Daisy. Hold on a second,” he instructed. His questing hands had found what he was looking for. He fumbled in his jacket pocket, hoping the rain hadn’t got in thee as well. A few seconds later and there was a flare of light as Jess managed to get one of the few working matches he had, to light. He fiddled with the storm lamp he had found, and finally it sputtered into life. Jess lifted it above his head, trying to spread its sickly weak glow further.
A few steps brought him back to Slim and the others. “This may help,” he said, his voice quiet. For some reason, since stepping over the threshold of the house, Jess had felt reluctant to make too much noise. He couldn’t put his feelings into words, but deep inside him something was telling him it would not be wise to draw attention to himself. He tried to tell himself that it was all in his imagination, a product of his exhausted, chilled body and perhaps that bump on the head from the previous night.
Jess glanced down at his hands, trying to ignore the lingering dull ache that was still plaguing him since he touched the outside wall. Like a child, he was beginning to think irrationally, letting his imagination run away with him. Mentally he shook himself, and forced himself to get a grip and act sensibly. “Close the door, Slim. We need to get this place warmed up and see if we can find something dry for us to wear while our clothes dry.”
Before Slim could respond, behind him the door swung shut, closing with a dull thud that seemed to echo around the house.
“W---What was that?” Mike asked anxiously pressing himself close to Daisy’s skirts.
“A gust of wind must have caught it, Tiger,” Jess re-assured. Slim nodded, re-enforcing Jess’ statement, but both men knew that they had not felt even so much as a faint breath of moving air since entering the room. Perhaps they should have crossed back to the door and tried it, but right now that was not important, and neither man had any reason to be suspicious of the situation. If they had tried it they would have found it locked tight. Unyielding and unresponsive, re-enforced by forces incomprehensible to the people now trapped within their dark grasp, the door would not have budged.
But the priority for the men now was to check out the rest of the house, to see if anyone was here at the moment, and to find some means to light a fire and start the process of getting them all warm and dry again. ‘That achieved a nice strong coffee wouldn’t go amiss either’ Jess thought.
Holding the light ahead of them, like a weapon against the darkness, Jess led them further into the room until he found a chaise lounge actually set close by a large fireplace. Unfortunately the fireplace was empty, devoid of any means of getting a warming blaze started.
They may have found a haven from the cold and rain, but they were not safe yet. They were all still soaking wet and exhausted. If they did not get dry soon their temperatures would drop dangerously as their wet cloths dried on their bodies, sucking what little warmth they had left, out of them. All the adults in the small family were well aware of this still present danger.
“There’s got to be some dry cloths or at least a blanket or two around here somewhere,” Slim stated.
“Yes, and some firewood” Jess rejoined looking longingly at the empty fireplace. He felt a desperate need to see the welcome, soul-warming glow of a roaring fire in that empty cold maw.
Eyes narrowed, Jess peered around the room, trying to see if there was another lamp they cold use. He could see none. What grated on his nerves even more was the fact that everywhere look spotlessly clean, no dust or dirt anywhere, and yet no one seemed to be in residence. He turned toward the door they had entered by. Something was worrying at him grating on his already raw nerves. There was something very wrong, but he couldn’t pin the abstract feeling down long enough to give substance to his thoughts.
He dismissed his unease by moving toward positive action. “Here,” he placed the lamp on a small table next to the chaise lounge. “You two need this at the moment. Slim, you take left, I’ll go right.”
“Right. I’ll see you back here in twenty minutes,” Slim instructed, but before either man could move away, Mike spoke again.”
“Can’t I come with you, Jess?” he asked.
Jess glanced quickly at Slim, who, in turn, shook his head quickly. “Tiger, I appreciate the offer, but we need a man to stay here to protect Daisy,” Jess explained.
“That’s right, Mike. We can’t go off looking for supplies and leave Daisy here unprotected. We need you here to make sure she is safe. It’s a big job for a gown man, Mike. Do you think you are up to it?”
With great insight into the workings of the young boy,s mind, Slim had said the magic words. “Gee, Slim, I’ll stay here and look after Aunt Daisy. You don’t mind do you Jess. You will be able to manage without me, won’t you?” Mike didn’t like to think he was letting his hero down, but Slim had just asked him to do a real man’s job, and he desperately wanted to prove he could do it.
“I reckon I’ll just have to manage, Mike,” Jess cocked his head to the side, giving Slim a knowing smile, before looking down into Mike’s eager face again. ”I could have really used your help, but, well, I don’t want anything happening to Daisy. I mean you know how I can’t survive without her apple pie.” Jess felt better for the humour Slim had injected into the moment, and joined in himself.
Placing her hands on Mike’s small shoulders, Daisy turned him to face her. “Thank you Mike, I will feel much safer knowing you are here,” she added her persuasive voice to the men’s.
After settling himself on the chaise next to Daisy, Mike watched as the two men he considered his older brothers, walked away into the darkness. “Take care,” he called after their retreating backs.
The conversation with Mike had briefly lifted the uneasy feeling Jess had been experiencing since entering the house, but now, as he moved off into the cloying gloom, he could no longer see even the vague shapes of his family. He felt suddenly alone, and like a thick coat, the feeling of foreboding came back to settle on him.
Chapter 6
Moving through the darkness, Jess lost all sense of time. The darkness seemed to smoother everything, even the sound of his footsteps as he stepped cautiously forward, avoiding the furniture that seemed to loom up at him, solid black shapes barely discernable in the pervading dark.
No light permeated through the windows, no drafts stirred the curtains. If he didn’t know better, Jess could almost believe he was the only living thing in the mausoleum like interior. Three immaculate unlived in rooms later, Jess came to a dead end. His search had proved fruitless. Each room luxuriously furnished, but strangely lacking in any sort of covers, clothing or lamps.
The last room appeared to be a kitchen, with a small scullery off to the side. The table was set for a full meal, yet no food was in view, the oven was stone cold, spotlessly clean and obviously long unused. There was no wood in the wood store to offer the warmth of a fire or the hope of a warming cup of coffee.
Jess shivered, goose bumps moving up and down his spine. He had been forced to live a hard life, surviving on instinct alone , and right now his instincts were screaming at him to find the others and get out of this place.
It bothered him, this silence and pristinely clean house It was shrouded in blackness far more sinister than the mere absence of light. “Slim would no doubt laugh at me, the big bad gunslinger being spooked by an empty house.” Hell, he felt like laughing at himself, but the feeling of foreboding persisted and grew. His skin crawled and he felt he was being watched. Turning in a slow circle, his eyes narrowed in an attempt to pierce he gloom.
He could see nothing to account for his unease. With a frustrated sigh, Jess turned, intending to head back the way he had come. Then it hit him. That small thing that had nagged at him suddenly became a crystal clear realisation.
He was wet, muddy and miserable. Water had relentlessly fell from him in a steady drip since entering the house, and yet he’d not heard a single splash of water. Jess cast his eyes downwards to look at his mud-covered boots, then, reluctantly, almost fearful of what he would see, he raised his gaze slightly to take in the floor across which he had walked a few scant seconds before.
Nothing! There was nothing to show he had walked across the polished wooden floor and ornately patterned rugs. Not one single patch of moisture or splatter of mud disturbed the perfect appearance of the room. He was an intruder here, and whatever forces were at work in this strange building, they were trying to wipe out all evidence of his presence.
Jess was by no means stupid. A hard childhood and a need to grow up fast after his family’s death had limited his schooling. He had survived by his quick wit, even quicker gun hand, and a strong sense of justice. He was not a young man given to flights of fancy and imagination. His life had not given him the advantages of book learning, but he had learned early that not everything could be explained away, and it was sometimes safer to act first and ask questions later. Right now it was time to act. He could ponder on it once they where all safe, back at the ranch.
With increasing speed, the young rancher headed back to where he had left his ‘family’. Heedless of the pain and bruises he was causing himself as he bumped into furniture in his haste, Jess pushed forward through the dark. Some remote part of his mind was telling him that if he looked behind him, the room would be exactly as if he had not passed through, but there was no way Jess was going to stop long enough to confirm his suspicions. He had to get back to Slim and the others.
In reality Jess knew it had only taken him a couple of minutes to search through the rooms, and it should only have taken a few brief seconds to get back to the people he cared for more than life itself, but it was as if the house itself was seeking to slow him down. It felt like he was running for hours before he finally found himself back in the room where he’d left Daisy and Mike.
At least, he thought it was the room where he had left them. Jess took a few deep breaths, trying to control the panic rising in his chest again. Yes, it had to be this room. There was the chaise lounge by the empty fire, illuminated by the pale glow of the lamp he had left on the table. The only trouble was Daisy and Mike were not sitting where he had left them.
Frantically, Jess’ gaze raked the room. He wanted to call out to them, but something told him it would not be a wise thing to do. Somehow he felt that it would draw unwanted attention to himself. The attention of something resting within this house that was best left undisturbed.
Finally his gaze fixed on the door by which they had entered, for what now seemed like an eternity ago. Logically, he reasoned that Slim had returned for them. Maybe Slim had had more luck than he had, and had taken them somewhere they could dry off. But then, why hadn’t Slim come after him. Perhaps they to had noticed something very odd about the house, and decided it was better to brave the storm outside rather than whatever lurked within.
Resolutely Jess stepped over to the door and pulling down on the handle went to open it and check outside. He pulled hard, but only succeeded in jarring his shoulder sharply. The door remained shut. Jess now employed both hands and put all his strength into wrenching on the door, but it refused to open. Refusing to panic, but now growing more and more concerned for Daisy and Mike’s safety, Jess forced himself to fight down the urge to shoot the lock. It was obvious the two missing members of his adopted family had not left by the front door.
Taking deep breaths again, using cold reason to suppress his growing fear for their safety, Jess strode over to the lamp, intending to use its meagre light to go in search of Slim and the others.
Picking it up he hefted it higher, trying to force its sickly glow to illuminate the room. It failed to cast a circle bigger than an arms length from Jess. Recent experience told Jess that there would be no trail to follow. As much as his logical mind told him there should be some water or mud, his recent discovery of the macabre lack of any evidence of his own movements was firmly etched in his befuddled mind. Jess dropped his eyes to the floor, the part of his mind still grounded in reality insisting he search for some sign to indicate which way Daisy and Mike had gone.
He was about to move off, heading in the direction he knew Slim had taken, when his keen eyes picked up a darker patch on the shadowed floor within the small circle of light. It seemed out of place on the spotlessly clean, dust free floor. Jess stared at it for a moment; sure it had not been there when he had left to search the house.
Dropping to a crouch, he reached forward gingerly and touched his fingertips to the stain. Slowly, fearful of what he would find, Jess raised his fingers towards his face, bringing them in close to give him a good view of the sticky fluid now covering them. His heart leapt into his throat as his senses recognised the deep red colour and metallic smell of blood.
As the full impact of his discovery hit him, Jess felt the room swing around him, his shocked senses reeling. With a shaking hand he reached out to the table to steady himself.
Eyes wide, trying to see into the dark recesses of the room, Jess drew a ragged breath. He tried to think his discovery through logically, but it was difficult. His head was still reminding him of the head injury he had received less than twenty-four hours ago and now he was reeling from the shock of his discovery.
Perhaps Mike had hurt himself when he fell from the wagon. Perhaps a cut had opened up and Daisy had taken him off to find somewhere to clean up the cut. ‘Yes! That was it. A perfectly innocent explanation for the blood and the absence of Daisy and Mike,’ Jess tried to reassure himself. But deep inside, that primitive part of all human beings that sees the boogey man in the shadows, was screaming at him to get away, and that it was too late to help those already lost to the evil that was this house.
Sanity and logic won out and Jess set about following the small dark stains that marked the trail of blood that would soon see him reunited with his family. He never once allowed himself to question why, when every other sign of their passing was silently wiped away by the house, the blood trail was left clear and untouched to guide him on. Even so, while his left hand hefted the lamp ahead of himself like a weapon against the encroaching blackness, his right hand hovered over his gun butt, ready to grasp its reassuringly hard reality.
Moving forwards, Jess was even more unnerved by the fact that these new rooms seemed as untouched as those he had recently checked out. Only the blood was different, and, much to Jess’ growing fear, these dark spots seemed to be growing steadily larger.
The anxious young rancher was becoming increasingly fearful for the health of the person losing so much blood. He stopped trying to look around the rooms through which he was passing, and kept his eyes downwards, fixed on the trail. Hurrying forward, he turned a corner and came to a dead stop, frozen in place by the sight before him.
‘No!! It couldn’t be. There was no way that was-?’ Jess mind balked at formulating the rest of this thought into words. His stomach churned and threatened to empty its contents. Standing still, willing the nausea to pass, Jess was unable to take his eyes of the object that lay on the wooden floor.
He forced himself to reach out towards it, but just as it was within reach he snatched his hand back, almost as if it had been burned. There was no way he could pick it up. As the significance of what lay there worked fuzzy mind, he began to shake, not worried for his own safety, but terrified for his missing family.
The object lay in a pool of blood, but apart from the jagged edge of skin where it had been torn away, the small, delicate ear was undamaged.