A Lust For Lead (21 page)

Shane woke from his memories, hearing footsteps outside his cell. He rose slowly, not daring to get his hopes up in case they were for nothing, and crossed to the window.
Madison and Chastity stood in the alley outside. Madison looked nervous and glanced repeatedly towards the street, afraid that somebody would see her. Shane’s sudden appearance at the window startled her and she recoiled with a gasp, only to be brought up short when Chastity refused to follow her. The little girl stared up at Shane with what looked like wonder, her eyes focussed and oddly intense.
‘Shit!’ Madison exclaimed. ‘You scared me.’
‘You got my message?’
‘Yes.’ She looked down at Chastity, who still stared fixedly at Shane. ‘What’s the matter, honey?’ Madison asked her.
‘She recognises her own kind when she sees one.’ Shane muttered.
Madison glanced sharply at him. He was surprised to see that she understood his meaning. He guessed that Nathaniel had been educating her. How accurate Nathaniel’s information had been, and how much of it had been shared with her, Shane was curious to know. The more ignorant she was, the easier it would be for him to manipulate her.
‘I want to get out of this town tonight,’ he told her. ‘How about you?’
‘I’ve got no reason to want to stay,’ she agreed. ‘What’s your plan?’
‘First I need you to get me out of this cell. Buchanan keeps a key around his neck and acts like it’s the only one there is. That’s bullshit. Nathaniel’s the sort who’d want to have one as well. Think you could get it for me?’
‘If I can’t, I’ll take Buchanan’s.’
‘Go after Nathaniel’s.’ Shane told her firmly. He did not rate her chances of tackling Buchanan. ‘Bring it to me here after it gets dark tonight,’ he said. ‘And bring food and water for the three of us.’
‘Three of us?’
‘Chastity as well,’ he said.
‘Okay.’ She was secretly relieved that he wanted to take Chastity. Despite the circumstances under which they had met, Madison had grown quite protective of the little girl. Like her, she was trapped in Nathaniel’s service and that had forged a bond of sorts between them, at least so far as Madison was concerned. She did not want to leave her behind to what Nathaniel had in store for her. ‘I have a condition,’ she added.
‘What?’
‘Nathaniel’s money; the bounty he put out for your capture. I know where he’s keeping it. I want half of it. You can have the other half if you want.’
Shane frowned at her. ‘Getting out of here is going to be hard enough as it is,’ he started.
‘It isn’t guarded,’ she said quickly. ‘Nathaniel keeps it in a locked room on the ground floor of the Grande. I’ve got a pretty good idea where he keeps the key.’
Shane was not interested in going after the money. They would have problems enough to contend with without adding to their burdens, but he needed Madison’s help if he was to get out of his cell and so he nodded his head. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘But get me out of my cell first. We’ll get the money together.’
‘Sure.’ Madison cast a hurried glance back towards the end of the alley. ‘I’d better get going. I told Nathaniel I was taking Chastity for a walk but he’ll get suspicious if I’m gone too long. I’ll be back later.’
‘Be careful,’ Shane warned, and watched as she hurried away. He was not happy placing his trust in her; she did not seem like the sort of person who could be relied upon, but he presently had no other choice. She was the only ally he had.
As soon as she had served her purpose, however, he decided that he would kill her.

That afternoon passed slowly for Madison. The hours dragged by torturously. She tried to go about her activities as if everything was normal, but every time she saw Whisperer and Nathaniel look at her she felt certain that they would observe something in her manner that would betray her plans.
Whisperer especially seemed aware that she was more nervous than usual. Several times, she got the impression that he was spying on her. He appeared no matter where she went and she often caught him looking at her with a strange look in his eye and a half-smile on his lips, as if he knew something secret. He unnerved her, and she dared not do anything to prepare for Shane’s escape while he was around.
At supper, she picked listlessly at her food and retired early, claiming that she was fatigued by the sun and the heat. The lie gave her a good pretext to go to the well and draw some water, supposedly to cool her down but in reality to fill the canteens that would see her, Shane and Chastity safely across the desert. She hoped that her alleged sickness would also discourage Nathaniel from demanding her presence in his bed that night.
She put Chastity to bed early and lay in the darkness, listening to the eerie melody of the town. Nathaniel and Whisperer stayed up late making preparations for the final round of the tournament and Madison fancied that it was past midnight when they finally retired. She waited a while longer to give them time to fall asleep, then threw back the bedcovers and hurriedly got dressed. She put on a pair of black pants and a black shirt that had once belonged to Kip, and tied her hair back in a pony tail.
Grabbing her carpet bag, she filled it with the things that she did not want to leave behind and stuffed in some of Chastity’s clothes as well. She could not take everything but that didn’t matter; she figured that she could buy plenty of new clothes with her share of Nathaniel’s twenty-thousand dollars when she made it back to civilisation, and the thought lifted her spirits a little.
She tucked her only weapon into her right boot. It was a straight razor that a previous boyfriend had given her years ago, fearing for her safety. She had seldom found need to use it and had never killed anybody before, but if Nathaniel woke while she was lifting his keys from him, she felt certain that a quick slice across the throat would deal with him.
The hotel creaked about her, sounding as if it approved of her murderous thoughts. She shivered and made sure that Chastity was sleeping soundly. Then, with her heart beating furiously in her chest, she opened the bedroom door and crept soundlessly into the hallway.
She timed her descent down the stairs to coincide with building’s rhythmic creaks and groans, letting them mask the sound of her footsteps. The grey light of the moon pierced through cracks in the boarded-up windows and provided the only illumination. The shadows were deep and seemed to shift in strange ways, as if the source of the faint light kept moving. Madison could not shake off the sensation that she was being watched.
She crept up to Nathaniel’s door and put her ear to it. There was no indication that he was still awake and, cautiously, she turned the handle and opened the door a crack. Peering through, she could see that Nathaniel lay on the bed with his back to her. He looked to be asleep but Madison was not convinced. She lingered in the doorway, too afraid to go any further.
Seconds ticked by while she wrestled with her anxiety. If somehow he had learned about her plans to escape, he might only be pretending to be asleep, waiting for her to come inside and walk into his trap. She tried to dismiss the thought as simple paranoia, but it was not easy. The fear remained and it took all of her courage to finally enter the room.
She padded softly to the side of the bed, where Nathaniel’s waistcoat hung on the back of a wooden chair. She had seen him put the key to her room in his waistcoat pocket the day before when she had first been pressed into caring for Chastity, and hoped that he kept the rest of his keys there as well. She was right. She found three keys: one of which was probably the key to Shane’s cell, another the key to the locked room where the money was kept, and the last no doubt fit the room where she and Chastity slept. She was glad that she had made an effort to win his trust and that he had not felt it necessary to lock her in overnight.
She pocketed all three keys and turned to leave. At that moment, Nathaniel rolled over and turned his face towards her.
Her heart froze. His eyes were still closed, she realised with relief, but for a moment she had thought he was looking at her. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, making her feel light-headed and weak. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then crept urgently back to the doorway. She closed the door softly behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. The first step of her ordeal was over.
Next came the tricky part.

She woke Chastity and dressed her. The girl was docile and did not make a sound but, to be on the safe side, Madison put the rag doll in her hands. She seemed to have grown fond of it in as much as she was capable of liking anything, and she clutched it to her chest.
Madison hefted her carpet bag over her shoulder and took Chastity by the hand. There were butterflies in her stomach as she left the room and made her way downstairs again in the dark. She raided the drinks cabinet in Nathaniel’s study and stole a bottle of cognac, which she slipped into her bag. In the kitchens, she grabbed some bacon and flour, enough to last a few days, and slipped out the hotel through the back door.
The night air felt hot and sultry, bitter with the coppery scent of gunsmoke. She dragged Chastity down and hid in the shadows while a couple of invigilators walked by. The town’s song growled at the furthest edge of town, the sound turning as she listened to roll back towards her like an approaching tide.
It creaked past her as she dragged Chastity across West Street and over to the side of the courthouse. She knew that Shane was probably expecting her to bring the keys to his window, but that was not her plan. She knew what sort of a man he was and suspected that he would probably abandon her as soon as he had no more need of her. If she was going to get his help, she needed to prove her worth to him.
Avoiding the invigilators, she crept around to the front of the courthouse and let herself in. It was dark, but a lantern burned in a distant room. As Madison made her way towards it, she freed her hair and arranged it so that it fell attractively about her shoulders. Her looks couldn’t actually kill, but they could easily stun a man for a while.
There was only a single invigilator standing guard in the room. Madison had gotten to know several of them since her arrival in Covenant. She had flirted with the better looking ones even while Kip had been alive, favouring them with a smile and a lingering glance. She knew that this one’s name was Jeff, and she had seen him admiring her when he didn’t think she was looking.
He looked surprised to see her. ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he said.
Madison put a finger to her lips and shushed him. ‘The girl wouldn’t go to sleep so I thought I’d take her for a walk,’ she told him.
‘The Colonel’s orders are for nobody to come in here. That includes you, miss. I’ve got to ask you to leave.’
‘My feet are sore. Do you mind if I sit down for a moment? Come on, what harm is it going to do?’ She did her best to look helpless and appealing.
‘The Colonel’s orders–’ Jeff began, but she interrupted him before he could finish.
‘The Colonel wants Chastity fit to beat Ennis in the fight tomorrow. Please, I’ve got find a way to get her to go to sleep or he’ll be really angry in the morning. Just let me sit down for a couple of minutes. I won’t cause any trouble.’
She picked her words carefully, knowing that Jeff wouldn’t want to do anything that might put him on the wrong side of Nathaniel. Reluctantly, he stepped aside and let Madison take his chair. She perched Chastity on her lap.
‘Are you any good with that thing?’ she asked, gesturing towards the Sharps rifle that he had propped against the wall.
Like any man in the company of a pretty woman, Jeff was only too happy to boast about himself. ‘It depends,’ he said. ‘If you call twelve shots grouped in a five-inch bull at three-hundred yards good then, yeah, I am.’ He thought for a moment and decided that she might not understand what a measure of his skill that was. ‘That is good by the way,’ he added.
She smiled. ‘I’m going to have a drink,’ she announced, digging the bottle of cognac out of her bag. ‘Would you like one?’
‘I can’t, miss. The Colonel’s orders.’
She set the bottle down on the table. ‘You’re good at following orders, aren’t you,’ she teased.
‘The Colonel would have my hide if he caught me.’
‘Well, you’re a good boy. Oh!’ Madison bent forward sharply as if hurt. ‘Oh, my leg! I’ve got cramp. Take the girl, quick!’
She pushed Chastity into Jeff’s arms before he could object and stood up, making a show of stretching the muscles in her leg. Jeff held Chastity awkwardly with both hands. He bent over to put her down and, as he did so, Madison stepped behind him and grabbed the bottle of cognac. She brought it down hard across the back of his head and he sank to his knees. He was dazed but not unconscious, and she hit him again before he could recover his senses. This time, she put her weight into the blow and he collapsed against the floor. Hastily, she pulled off his belt and used it to tie his wrists behind his back, then gagged him with a neckerchief and bound his ankles. He was coming round by the time she was finished.
She took his knife and revolver from him and opened the door that led to the cells. ‘Wait here, hon,’ she told Chastity.
Shane had been alerted by the noise and was waiting at the door to his cell. ‘What was all that about?’ he growled.
She put her hands on her hips. ‘You had a better way of dealing with the guard?’ she challenged him.
He thrust a hand through the bars of the cell. ‘Give me the key.’
Madison gave it to him. ‘I’ve also brought food and water,’ she said, as he opened the door. ‘Oh, and you’ll want this.’ She offered him Jeff’s revolver.
Shane sprang back in horror. ‘Take it away!’ he snapped.
‘What’s the matter?’
He pointed into one of the open cells. ‘Throw it in there. Now!’ He did not trust himself to be near a gun tonight, not when he was so close to escaping. The temptation was too strong.
Madison tossed the gun away. ‘Jeez, I’m sorry,’ she said, a hurt look on her face. She walked back into the next room and picked up her carpet bag. Jeff had woken up and was struggling against his bonds. ‘Did he have a knife?’ Shane asked.
‘Do you want it?’ Madison asked.
He held out of his hand. She gave it to him and was startled when he knelt down and slid the blade harshly across Jeff’s neck. There was a bright splash of blood and Jeff made a horrible, gurgling cry. His body jack-knifed and he flapped about like a fish thrown on dry land, his movements becoming slower as the blood drained out of him, stealing his life away.
‘What did you do that for?’ Madison hissed.
‘It wouldn’t have taken him long to work himself loose. Now, he’s no longer a problem.’ He wiped the knife off against Jeff’s shirt and sheathed it. ‘I’ll take the girl,’ he said. He lifted Chastity into his arms and carried her to the door.
‘Are we taking his rifle?’ Madison asked.
‘No.’
‘But we’ll need it.’
‘I said, no.’
Madison pouted angrily. ‘How are we going to escape from this town if we don’t have a gun?’ she asked.
‘Very quietly,’ was his answer.
They made their way out onto the street. The crossroads was lit by smouldering torch fires that illuminated the town with a reddish hue. Invigilators could be seen patrolling in the distance. Shane made for the nearest alley and ducked in out of sight. Madison followed and crouched beside him, pressing her body against his as she pointed over his shoulder towards the Grande. ‘Nathaniel keeps the money in a locked room on the ground floor,’ she said. ‘It’s the fifth one on the right from the lobby.’
She dug the keys from her pocket and gave them to him. ‘One of these should open the door.’
Shane could see that she had her mind set on taking the money. He decided not to risk starting an argument with her now and said nothing of his intention to leave it all behind. ‘Horses first,’ he told her.
Keeping to the shadows, they made their way towards the stables. The town creaked and groaned around them, maintaining its usual rhythm. The sound crawled out towards the edge of town and then turned about and came rumbling back in again.
In and out. In and out.
In.
The noise abruptly stopped. Shane looked over his shoulder in alarm. All along West Street, the invigilators were turning to face the crossroads, confused by the silence.
And then the clock above the town hall began to chime: dull, leaden peals that echoed ominously throughout Covenant, striking the count of noon.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Madison asked shakily.
‘The Cordites,’ Shane whispered. ‘I don’t think they want me to leave.’