Devil in Texas(39)

As the sky finally dimmed and the moon disappeared, Cass dragged his bandanna over his nose.

Time to make my own mischief.

With the stealth of his coyote namesake, he passed through cedar needles and thorn scrub, crossed the crackling grasses of the thirsty yard, and skirted the parlor window, where Cotton entertained himself by sharpening a 10-inch blade. No doubt the spinning whetstone was the Cajun's way of discouraging vandals.

By the time the racing cloud had thinned, allowing a few silver moonbeams to poke through the night, Cass had picked the lock on Wilma's gate and slipped inside the protective darkness of her tool shed. The smell of compost, chiefly potato skins and pumpkin guts, made his nose wrinkle. He let his eyes adjust to the moonlight, stabbing through the chinks in the roof.

Careful not to cause a resounding crash, he avoided the clutter of shovels and axes as he tiptoed across straw to reach the trap door in the northwest corner. Just as Collie had described, the tunnel's entrance was cannily disguised beneath the long, brown drape of a gardener's table, piled high with flower pots, muddy gloves, herb bundles, and a handy lantern.

A satisfied smile curved Cass's lips as he turned up the sputtering wick, raised the door, and poked his head into the blast of air that assailed his face.

Stairs. With little, woman-sized shoe prints. If he sucked down a deep enough breath, he could detect a lingering trace of patchouli, Sadie's favorite perfume.

Drawing a gun, he crept down the steps. The subterranean air was damp and refreshingly cool. He was almost sorry when, 50 paces later, he encountered another door. A rectangular peep hole was cut into the oak portal and set at the height of a man's eyes. Cass figured the hole had been used by the Confederates to identify friend from foe. Right now, yellow lantern light was pouring through the hole into the tunnel.

Cass doused his own lamp to avoid discovery. He'd staked out the house long enough to know Gator was manning the brothel's backdoor, and Cotton was stationed at the front entrance. Nevertheless, things could have changed in the six minutes he'd walked through the tunnel. God only knew who might be stationed in the cave. The smell of bourbon was strong—either from a recent spill, a leaking keg, or a bawd secretly bent on a bender.

Cass flattened himself against the wall to peer furtively through the hole. He couldn't see any humans among the crates and barrels. The space where Sadie had set up a rustic, folding bed and vanity was also clear.

Relieved by the observation, Cass tugged the bandanna off his chin and starting wielding his lock pick.

But when he shoved back the door on well-oiled hinges, he found himself tripping over a kid-sized broom, twined with black and red ribbons.

"Careful, clumsy. I'm warding off witches."

He nearly jumped out of his skin to hear that pipsqueak soprano with the Cajun accent. Only then did he spy sausage-style curls and smell the sweet scent of strawberry cologne. He cursed himself for being an idiot. How could he have missed the kid? She was sitting in plain sight on a barrel!

He glanced tensely at baskets of potatoes, crates of apples, kegs of liquor, and crates of cosmetics, but he couldn't see any other pint-sized spies. Of course, that didn't mean this kid wouldn't start screaming for Cotton and his pigsticker.

"Don't worry," the child said. "I don't want witches to know I'm here, either. That's why I was hiding."

She sat cross-legged on her throne, dressed in a beaver hat, strings of pearls, gobs of bracelets, and a dusty silk chemise that looked suspiciously like a ruined version of Sadie's old, rose-patterned negligee. Cass tamped down a flare of irritation. There was no helping the fact that the kid had seen his face. That meant he'd have to waste time, making friends. And fast.

Pasting on his Coyote grin, he mustered his notorious charm. "Well, you're doing a fine job, hoodwinking those witches, sugar."

She giggled. "I'm not Sugar. Sugar has dark hair. My name's Jazi."

"I reckon I owe you an apology, then."

"Naw. That's okay." She shrugged. "I come here when I can't sleep. It's a lot cooler than the attic. 'Sides. It's Devil's Eve. Who can sleep?" She held out her paper sack, with its caramelized pecans. "Want a praline, Cass?"

He choked down an oath to learn the kid knew his name. He wondered if she was the "neighbor child," who'd been eavesdropping on him and Gator.

"Wilma said you wear guns to stop bad men."

"She did, eh?" Cass frowned, still pondering the mystery of Jazi's origins. Why would Wilma take a neighbor's child to the Gala? Maybe the kid was related to one of Wilma's girls.

"Can you stop the witch too?" Jazi blinked big, hopeful eyes at him.

"Well, sure." Crossing the uneven limestone, he accepted her caramelized peace-offering. Mostly, he was stalling for time, since he had to invent some plausible excuse for being in the cave.

She loosed a gusty sigh of relief. "That's good. I told Mama we shouldn't come to this town. On the day she got the letter, I told her the evil witch wrote it to trick her. Why don't grown-ups listen to kids?"

"Hmm." He shot her a sideways glance. "I reckon they don't understand the dangers of witches, like you do."

She nodded, looking sad. "Mama doesn't even believe what Wilma says about witches."

Suddenly, Jazi started coughing. She seemed to have trouble catching her breath. Faintly alarmed, Cass patted her back until she recovered enough sensibility to retrieve the tin of Serenata's lemon pastilles under her thigh. She popped a couple of lozenges into her mouth and began sucking with great gusto.

"Better?" Cass demanded.

She nodded, but a few more moments passed before her labored breathing slowed, and she was able to speak again.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she rasped.

"Sure."

She fidgeted. She seemed to be mustering her courage. "The real reason I can't sleep is because... Well, because I keep dreaming about the witch. Mama said I can hide in Wilma's attic until after the farmers convention is over. But that means we'll be here for Halloween! And Halloween is the most powerful time for witches! I'm scared she'll find me and do something awful!"

Cass frowned. He didn't like anything to inspire so much fear in a child. Lowering to one knee before Jazi's barrel, he doffed his hat and took her hand. "Who's this witch that's got you so scared?"

She worried her bottom lip. "I... I don't know. But I can see her in my nightmares. Her head's on fire, and she's got bloody claws. She eats souls, and she makes folks sick with bad medicine."

"That sounds like a terrible nightmare, all right," Cass commiserated. "But honey, nightmares aren't real."

"I know what I saw!" Jazi snatched her hand away. "Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not real!"

"I meant no offense," he soothed, chagrinned by the tears glistening in her eyes. "So this witch was doing bad things, huh? Was she hurting people you know?"

She nodded vigorously, the beaver hat plunking to the bridge of her nose. "She hurts you, and Collie, and maybe even Vandy!"

"Hmm." He darted her a sideways look. He wasn't terribly concerned about witches. To his way of thinking, they were women, and he'd been wrapping women around his little finger ever since he'd hit puberty.

He decided to change the subject. "So you know Collie, huh? How'd that happen?"

Sneezing now, thanks to the dust billowing off the critter on her head, she wiped the back of her hand across her nose. Cass solemnly offered her his neckerchief.