Karina Halle - Donners of the Dead

But with Avery riding in front of us, it just didn’t feel right. Avery quite rightly knew there was something between Jake and I now. Even though we weren’t too physically affectionate with each other in the company of others, that didn’t stop us from trying to say everything with our eyes and body language.

It also didn’t stop Avery from addressing it midway through the day.

He cleared his throat and said over his shoulder, “So I take it you two are courting now, is that correct?”

Jake turned around in his saddle to look at me, waiting for my response. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his ruggedly handsome face. My goodness, I was lucky to have such a man when I used to not know what a man was. Jake had been such a surprise.

He smiled right back, white teeth against his dark beard, and said, “I reckon you’re correct, Avery. I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t trust you, Mr. McGraw, but I do trust Eve. Anyone she desires, she is fit to have.”

I changed the subject. “And Avery, with that question in mind, will you be courting Rose as soon as we get home?”

He shot me a smile over his shoulder. “Your uncle will fire me over it, but yes, I will be. Doesn’t matter since we still have those gold bars in Ali’s pack. I’ll buy Rose and me a new life.”

Just as me and Jake will , I thought. And my mother, of course, if she wishes to come with us . I started imagining the greener pastures ahead, the books I could read, the schools I could go to. A life with the bravest Texan the world has ever known. These thoughts kept me going during that long ride until the trees turned to grass and the grass turned to desert, and there was the civilization of River Bend before us.

I wanted to cry. As much as that place had been my prison, it had also been my home, and after everything I’d gone through, it shimmered in front of me like Mecca.

“There she is!” Avery announced. He spurred his horse into a trot, and we followed behind him, eager to reach our destination. I rode with the silliest grin on my face, my hair blown back by the wind.

But, as we rode, the more my grin began to fade.

There was something wrong. Even though Uncle Pat’s was at the outskirts of town, there was something so still about the place. No sign of life there or at the Millers across the way.

As we got closer still, I saw the doors to both houses were open and chicken and livestock were wandering freely on the streets, looking lost and agitated. Those were Uncle Pat’s animals—even with Avery gone, he would have never let that happen.

“Something is wrong,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if they heard me, but from the way they were slowing down and reaching for their guns, it was obvious they felt the same way too.

The horses were raising their heads and prancing underfoot as well, picking up on something. I breathed in deeply, trying to get my tracking skills back to the way they were. I wasn’t picking up anything, but that didn’t mean there was nothing there.

We dismounted by the gates and hitched our horses to the fence, not willing to let them run off. From the way Sadie was showing me the whites of her eyes, I knew that’s exactly what she would do.

“Guess we should find out where everyone is,” Jake said gruffly, eyeing the house suspiciously. I looked up at my mother’s window but the blinds were drawn.

“They could be inside,” I offered meekly.

He shook his head. “Nah. You know and I know it. Even Avery here knows it. There’s no one here. No human, anyway.”

He handed me the revolver. “Try not to set this one on fire.”

He gripped his axe and nodded at Avery who had his pistol in his hand.

As much as I liked that Jake was including me in this ambush, a part of me wanted to stay back by the horses and hide. But I couldn’t do that, not after everything we’d been through. This was still my house, my mother and family were in there, and I had to have a part in uncovering the truth.

We crept toward the porch, our footsteps echoing loudly on it. Jake raised the axe and nudged the door open with the toe of his boot. It opened wider with a loud creak. If there was anything in there, they definitely knew we were there too.

We stepped inside. The house was completely empty. There was no sign of a struggle, no nothing. There was an overwhelming smell of vinegar hanging in the air, and it was hard for me to get my bearings through it. We walked around the main floor while I kept an eye on my mother’s door. It was nearly closed and I swear I saw it open just a crack.

Was my mother in there? Did she know what was going on? It would be so like Uncle Pat to leave her behind if they suddenly up and left.

I broke away from Avery and Jake while they checked the kitchen and the room downstairs. I quietly ran up the stairs, hoping that my mother would come out if she saw me.

I stopped at her door and breathed in deep, filling my lungs, before I pushed it open.

It was empty and dark with the curtains drawn.

I stepped back into the hallway when Jake yelled from below, “What are you doing up there? Get back here goddamn it!”

I ignored him and looked at my aunt and uncle’s room at the end of the hallway. I walked toward it, the revolver getting slippery in my hands.

This room too was completely dark, the curtains also drawn. I could barely see a thing. I took a few steps into the room, heading toward the bed when I slipped and fell. I landed on the ground with a thunk as the smell of blood filled my head. I cried out, suddenly aware of what I had slipped on, and tried to get to my feet, only to slip again.

A half-eaten arm rolled out from under the bed.

I screamed.

A rusty creak sounded behind me.

I turned around, leaning back onto my elbows in time to see the doors of the giant armoire opening and Hank coming out of it. I barely had time to realize how badly he reeked of vinegar and how it had covered up the rotten flesh smell before he was upon me. This time, instead of snapping jaws, he was clumsily holding a knife, fierce hatred in his grey, dead eyes.

He stabbed downward and I rolled out of the way. He was moaning something that sounded like English but didn’t make any sense. Even if it did make sense, I couldn’t comprehend anything except that I had to fight back. I had to survive.

I screamed for Jake as the knife came down again. When he missed, he grabbed my arm and held it to the floor, poised to slice it right off. I had nowhere to go and Hank was too strong.

I closed my eyes, prepared to feel my limb being severed.

Suddenly there was a great thwack , followed by another one.

Warm liquid splashed on my skin.

His grip on my arm loosened.

I opened my eyes to see my mother standing over me with an axe in her hands, one foot on Hank’s back as she pulled and tried to remove the axe from the back of his head.

It didn’t matter though. He was dead enough. He collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. My mother gave me a short smile just as she got the axe back and swung one more time. Hank’s head came right off, washing me and the walls in blood.

“Can’t be too careful,” my mother said, staring down at his body.

The first words I’d heard her say in years.

Then Jake and Avery were at the door, guns and axes ready for battle. I quickly got to my feet while Jake inspected the body and Avery ushered me and my mother out of the room and into the hallway.

I collapsed into my mother’s thin arms and thanked her for saving me. She held me cautiously at first, as if she wasn’t really sure who I was, then her hug grew stronger. “I’m so glad you came back,” she said in a hush.