After the Ashes(105)

The man grabbed Archie by the shirtfront and shoved him hard. “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you the moment I saw you.”

Archie landed on his backside in the stream.

The gunman turned back to Lorelei, apparently not giving Archie a second thought. “Open your mouth.”

Lorelei clamped her lips together, her jaw clenched.

She didn’t even have time to consider how he would take her defiance before he slapped her hard across the face with his open palm. She stumbled back, but somehow caught herself from dropping to her knees. Never had she been struck before, not even by her parents for punishment or her brothers in play. And this man was definitely not playing. Stars danced before her eyes. Pain and shock squeezed her throat. She righted herself and opened her mouth obediently.

He placed the front of the bandanna across her open mouth and tied the ends behind her head. Before he could secure the knot, a moving blur caught her wide gaze. Archie lunged at the man, using all his body weight to shove him away from her. They landed on the ground in a shower of dust. Archie reared back to hit the other man, but was easily thrown off. The man quickly got to his feet, a knife in his hand.

Archie struggled to regain his balance, but his own equilibrium swayed him like a slowing top.

The stranger gripped and ungripped the knife in his right hand. His face shone with a combination of hatred and pleasure. Archie didn’t have a chance, and neither did Lorelei if she didn’t do something fast.

She thought to run, but the two men were blocking her path to the house. If she headed toward the desert, he would surely find her.

The man stalked to Archie, a smile on his face. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, you two faced drunk. You’re the one who hooked us up with Sullivan in the first place.”

Archie backed up no more that a few feet, then apparently braced himself for his assailant’s attack empty-handed. He never glanced her way, but she noticed he had left her room to dart past once the other man was close enough to attack. Archie had said she should save herself. Though she hated to leave him, she saw no other choice.

Once the other man had his back to her, she inched her way forward. She searched the ground and found a good sized rock. Maybe she could hit their assailant on the back of the head. He wasn’t tall for a man, but he was still taller than she.

The outlaw laughed when he came in striking range of Archie. The fact that Archie held his ground seemed to amuse him. “You gonna dance for me?”

He jabbed at Archie’s head, forcing him to duck to miss the blow. The madman then thrust to Archie’s left side, then stabbed at his right shoulder. He pulled back the blade at the last minute. His soft laughter echoed with each twist and jerk Archie made.



The man’s perverse game cemented Lorelei’s resolve not to let Archie be cut down. She came up behind the knife wielding lunatic, the rock she had spotted earlier lifted above her head. She hoped using both hands would give her the strength she needed.

Just as she rose up on her toes, the man dipped his right shoulder and jabbed the knife into Archie’s midsection. He arched the blade upward, practically lifting Archie off the ground.

Lorelei brought the rock down on the man’s head as hard as she could. As soon as it connected with a sickening thud, she dropped the stone and ran. In a brief burst of hope, she thought she had escaped.

When the hem of her dress caught, she tugged as hard as she could, not caring if she tore the garment. She didn’t dare turn around.

When she couldn’t free the dress dragging her backward, she knew she hadn’t come close to escaping.

Finally she twisted to face her opponent. He lay on the ground with his hands securely wrapped in the end of her skirt. She kicked at his face in an attempt to dislodge him. The movement was a mistake. He easily caught her ankle and brought her to the ground hard on her rump. He dragged her to him and yanked her up by her neck as he got to his feet. He held her tightly, cutting off her breath.

Before she could worry about being choked to death, he slapped her hard across the face with his palm, then with the back of his hand. She sagged, the grip he had on her neck the only thing keeping her upright. The permanent sneer on his face, the deep green shrub behind his right shoulder, blurred. Darkness crept around the edges of her vision. Just as she thought she had taken her last breath, he released his stranglehold.

He prevented her collapse to the ground by gripping her shoulders and shaking her hard. She was too stunned to keep her head from snapping back.

“You do something like that again and you’ll be sorry, you little bitch. I’ll work you over good.”

His angry red face invaded her senses and sharpened her return to reality. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see him. Not wanting to be conscious at all. He slapped her again lightly, not to hurt her, but to get her attention.