Hell for Leather

As they rode on towards her life and her eventual return to her husband, Alaine was surprised by how strongly she wished she didn’t have to go. It was more than a passive apathy, it was outright disdain. Even if she couldn’t stay with Zeke, she wanted to stay out there, somewhere in the big world, anywhere that wasn’t her small universe of housewives and humdrum that was waiting to swallow her whole. She briefly considered running away but Zeke needed her in order to get his life back. She owed it to him and she would honor that debt.

For his part, Zeke was thinking about more practical matters. Alaine was a married woman after all and therefore any thoughts of the two of them running off together were pure folly and a waste of his time. Instead, his mind turned to the lawyer. Was he really good enough to do what he promised? Zeke did not trust the law, but this lawyer had been clever enough to find him, not to mention Clayton. At least he was smarter then Zeke who had tried unsuccessfully for three years to find that double crossing bastard.

“Zeke?” said Alaine after a long spell of silence, “May we stop for a moment?”

“Why?”

“I must attend you my toilet needs.”

“What?” Zeke was confused.

“Just stop for a moment.” Zeke did as he was told. Alaine dismounted and headed for some bushes near a small gully.

“Oh.” realization dawned on Zeke, “Don’t take too long.” He said, trying to be kind but firm. Alaine turned and fixed her eyes on him.

“I shall take as long as I require, sir, no more, no less.” She smiled at him and he thought for a fleeting second that she had something up her sleeve, but quickly dismissed the thought.

As he waited, he thought about how different she was from the girl he had found, half starved and nearly dead. She was just as clever, but now she seemed more able. True, she had gotten the jump on him and brained him with a rock, but that seemed little more than survival instincts. Any wounded animal will react with extraordinary tenacity when cornered. No, what she had now is different. More profound. It was as though she had been awoken to the possibility that she had no limits. The thought made him smile. He had always been a sucker for capable women.

Zeke sat and waited patiently for what seemed like thirty minutes but was probably more like ten. He peered in Alaine’s direction trying to get a glimpse of her but he could see nothing behind the row of bushes she had chosen.

“Alaine?” he called out after a time, “You all right?” There was no answer. Maybe she’s been attacked by another rattlesnake, he thought to himself, first as a joke then more seriously. He dismounted, suddenly worried and headed over to her spot. “Alaine!” This time much louder. Still nothing. He drew his pistol and hurried over both scared and hoping that he would simply find her in an embarrassing pose.

He reached the bush he was sure he’d seen her go behind but there was nothing. The gully was about fifteen feet further on. He moved to the edge and peered over. Nothing. She must’ve gone down there, he thought, that’s why I can’t hear her. “Alaine!” he hollered at the top of his lungs. Fury swept through him. She’d lit out. He calmed himself. She couldn’t have gotten far and in this soft ground, her tracks would be easy enough to spot.

He started his search and quickly found her dainty tracks. He followed them behind a bush and then spotted something that froze his bones and fill his belly with ice water, another pair of tracks, two more in fact and signs of a struggle.

“Goddamnit.” he hissed to himself. Clayton. They had dragged her into the gully and then commenced to carrying her. Zeke slid down the steep edge to the bottom and moved quickly and quietly after the tracks. Clayton was a dead man, he decided. There would be no bargaining. No talking. As soon as he saw his face, Zeke resolved to put him in the ground. He cocked both the hammers on his guns and went forward with one purpose: to kill everything that stood between him and Alaine.

He should have stopped for a minute to think. He could have saved himself some pain if he had simply taken a moment to calm himself and use his head, but he didn’t. He shifted his gaze up and down, looking for signs, thinking they’d be moving as fast as they could. He should have known better.

As he rounded a bend in the gully, he had about enough of a second to register a man’s shape up ahead. Before he could focus on it, he saw a puff of smoke, heard a gunshot and felt a piercing hot pain shoot through the left side of his chest. His reaction was instantaneous. He brought his pistol to bear and fired, striking the shooter in the throat and spraying blood across the gully wall. Samuel, that other son of a bitch, fell dead. Zeke instinctively dove for cover as another shot whizzed past his ear.

“Zeke?” called Clayton from a distance, “You still alive?”

“Clayton,” answered Zeke fighting back against the fire in his lungs, “I swear when I get my hands on you I’m gonna skin you alive.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, old buddy, but you’re interfering in a business transaction and you know I can’t abide that. This girl is worth a lot of money. You should have taken my offer.”

“Go to Hell!” shouted Zeke.

“No doubt that’s in the cards, Zeke, but in the meantime, I aim to have myself a time. We’re both going to Hell for what we did that damn war. Might as well enjoy our time until then, right?” Clayton moved from behind cover holding his gun to Alaine’s back and using her as a shield. Zeke aimed his guns straight at Clayton but there was about forty yards between them. He couldn’t risk hurting Alaine. Clayton was slowly backing up. Zeke could hear horses nearby. “Speaking of the war,” continued Clayton all the while getting farther and farther away, “do you remember that general you killed at Spotsylvania?”

“He was a lot farther away than you are right now, Clayton.” Zeke kept his pistols trained on the retreating cur.

“You ain’t gonna shoot, Zeke. If you had your rifle I’d be scared, but we both know that those pistols aren’t nearly accurate at this distance. You know they say that was the longest shot of the war? I’ve always wondered, do you think he was alive long enough to be surprised that you could hit him from that distance?”

“You can ask him yourself soon.” growled Zeke through the pain. It took all his concentration to keep the pistol in his left hand aimed and steady. His whole body begged him to just let his arm drop so the red hot spike of torment in his shoulder would relent, but he refused to waver, let alone drop his arm.

“I don’t think so. If you move one inch, I’ll kill her right in front of you.” Zeke watched them near the wall of the gully. Jeremiah and Theodore appeared at the edge and Clayton passed Alaine up to them. As they hoisted her, her gag fell loose.

“Zeke!” cried Alaine, “Please! Help me!” Jeremiah clenched his big paw over her mouth.

“Shut up!” he said. Theodore helped heave her out of the gully. Standing on the ridge, Clayton called back.

“Don’t follow us, Zeke. Don’t make me kill her.” Clayton turned back and the lot of them disappeared. Despair crashed over Zeke and he felt sobs pressuring his throat but he pushed it back. Taking a deep, painful breath, he started back towards his horse as fast as his searing lungs would allow. He pressed his hand to the wound. The blood was light pink. He was hit in the lung. If he didn’t stop the bleeding, he would drown in his own blood. He stumbled along the bottom of the gully until he reached the point where he had entered.

The edge was steep and the rocks loose. Getting down it had been easy, but now he was fighting gravity and bleeding. With one hand on his wound, he tried to climb with the other hand seeking purchase. He made it about six feet up when his strength failed and he tumbled back to the ground. Lying there on his back, staring at the sky, he thought about giving up. There was no real hope of catching them and even if he did, there was no way he could get Alaine clear without injury. And if it all went perfectly, he would most likely die before returning her to Smythe. He could just let Clayton do it. There’s no way he’d kill her if that meant money. Then again, he’d been told what to do if Alaine was dead when he found her. He might have told Clayton the same, then all he needed was the locket.

Zeke decided he didn’t care. Not about going home. Not about exoneration. Not even about his own life. He only cared about Alaine. He had to know that she was safe.

Summoning everything he had, Zeke commanded his muscles to pull his skeleton back up the gully wall. With great pain and after what felt like hours, Zeke reached the edge and crawled onto the higher ground. He could see his horse standing about fifty feet away without a care in the world. He truly regretted not having named it. If he had, he might have been able to call out now and have it come to him, but it had no name.

“Hey you!” he called out, “Horse! Come here.” He was delirious. The anonymous horse did not move. Zeke cursed under his breath. This wouldn’t be easy.

The climb had sapped most of his strength but he found it in himself to struggle to his feet. He probably fell to his knees four or five times as he stumbled towards his steed. He lost count after the third tumble.

Eventually he reached his mount and collapsed against its flank. He fumbled for the flint inside his bags and drew his knife. Kneeling, he gathered a small pile of twigs and dried leaves. Striking the flint with the blade, he started a small fire. When it was a sturdy enough flame, he laid his blade within it and started to remove his coat, vest and shirt. He could see his wound clearly now and blood was still oozing in little pink waves with every labored, ragged breath he took.

He removed the knife from the fire and bit down on a stick. He wanted to close his eyes but he couldn’t. He had to see what he was doing. Steeling himself, he thrust the knife deep into his wound. Pain unlike anything he had ever known spiked every nerve ending in his body. A deep, guttural scream erupted from deep within him. The world went black.