Wilderness Double Edition 15, page 24
Puzzled as to what good that would do, Zach had an inkling when both rushed him, Abner swinging the belt at his face while spearing the dagger at his stomach. The buckle sizzled past Zach’s eye as he twisted, parried Abner, twisted again, and parried Will. Never still, he spun to the right.
The fickle throng roared their approval, some clapping as if they were applauding actors in a theater.
“Well done, Injun!”
“Where’d you learn a move like that?”
Zach hadn’t learned it anywhere. He was simply reacting, relying on his instincts and his reflexes. His father once told him that the worst mistake a man could make in the heat of combat was to do too much thinking.
“Ten dollars on the Indian!” someone bawled.
Abner was livid, Will gnawing on his lower lip. “On the count of three,” Abner called out. “And this time, we don’t hold back. We kill him or die trying.” Abner resumed swinging the belt. “One!” he yelled.
The crowd fell silent, intent on the outcome.
“Two!” Abner bawled.
Only Zach observed a tall man dressed in an expensive black suit, frilled white shirt, and wide-brimmed black hat step into the open space. His angular features were framed by brown hair graying at the temples. Eyes tinted an icy grayish blue focused on the two rivermen. “That will be enough,” he said softly.
Growling like a beast, Abner half-turned, his growl fading when he saw the man in black. “You!” he blurted. “What’s your stake in this?”
Murmuring broke out, spreading like wildfire. In the front row a stocky man exclaimed, “It’s Tyler!”
Will jerked his dagger down as if to hide it behind his leg. “I’m not about to buck you, Mr. Tyler. If you say it’s over, it’s over. If I’d known this Injun was a friend of yours, I’d never have picked on him.”
Abner was fit to be tied. “What the hell are you doing, Will? That ’breed cut me. We’re not backing down.”
“It’s Adam Tyler,” Will said.
“So? I can see that for myself,” Abner grated. “We don’t meddle in his life, he has no right to meddle in ours.” He shook his belt at the calm figure in black. “Interfere and we’ll bust your skull!”
“You’ll try.” Adam Tyler had a low, resonant voice that carried far. Holding his right arm out, he bent his elbow and wrist at an odd angle.
Just like that, it was over. The onlookers began to disperse. Abner, grumbling fiercely, trailed Will into the night. Soon only Zach and Adam Tyler were left.
“You possess remarkable skill, young man. My compliments.”
Zach was perplexed. Why had a total stranger come to his aid? In light of how the crowd behaved, maybe Tyler was a constable. “They started it. My fiancée and I were minding our own business.”
“Fiancée? Where is the lady? I’d enjoy meeting her.” Only then did Zach awaken to the terrible truth. He scanned the immediate area and almost shrieked in fury. Louisa had vanished!
Chapter Seven
Louisa May Clark’s heart was in her throat. She kept pleading for someone to break the fight up, but none of the onlookers were willing. To them it was a spectacle. Great sport. They reveled in the violence. More and more of them shouldered her aside to get a better view, so that within moments she had been pushed from the foremost row to the fourth or fifth.
Lou was intent on the struggle to the exclusion of all else. Although she had every confidence in Zach’s prowess, although he could handle himself extremely well, the odds were skewed in favor of his foes. And, too, she fretted that friends of the two rivermen might jump in, which would prove Zach’s undoing.
“Oh, please!” she cried. “Won’t anyone stop it?”
A recent arrival to the crowd glanced at her. “What’s got you so upset, girl? It’s just a stinkin’ Injun they’re fightin’.”
Lou contained an urge to kick him where it would hurt the most. She tried to push forward, but a solid wall of broad backs foiled her. “Let me through!” she hollered again and again. For all the effect it had, she might as well be hollering at a real wall of stone and mortar.
That was when a rough hand fell on her shoulder and she was forcibly spun around. Confronting her were three men. Not rivermen or frontiersmen, but city dwellers attired in costly suits and high hats. Two carried mahogany canes. They were all young, all clean-shaven and neatly combed.
“What have we here, gentlemen?” asked the dandy in the center. From under his hat spilled blond curls. The handle of his cane was polished ivory, carved in the shape of a dragon.
“By all that’s holy! Ellery, it’s a white woman!” replied a companion at his elbow whose brown eyes danced with devilish glee.
“Yet she’s dressed like that Indian,” chimed in the third. Ellery raked Lou from head to toe with a look of mild distaste. “This simply won’t do, my friends. She’s an affront to fashion. I say it’s our civic duty to remedy the situation.”
Lou resented being manhandled. She resented how they were treating her, how they talked about her as if she weren’t even there. Slapping Ellery’s manicured hand off her shoulder, she said, “Leave me be!”
“Tart little wench, isn’t she?” commented the jackanapes with dancing eyes.
“That she is, Mr. Payne,” Ellery said, grinning. “She needs to brush up on her manners as well as her fashion sense.” Payne nudged the third man. “How about you, Bellows? Do you agree? Should we take on the burden of turning this poor wretch into a proper lady?”
Bellows had a smile as oily as his black hair. “All for one and one for all. Isn’t that the quaint motto we’ve adopted, from that new book by that French fellow? Yes, I’m in. If nothing else, this lass will provide us with some small measure of entertainment.”
Lou turned, showing her back and her contempt. She saw Zach take a vicious blow. Forgetting about the coxcombs, she attempted to shove past a couple of onlookers, but they refused to budge. “Please!” she pleaded. “For the love of God!”
Once again a hand fell on Lou’s shoulder. Seething, she whirled, only to have her wrists seized by Payne and Bellows. Ellery promptly stripped her of all her weapons. “Let go of me!” she objected, seeking to pull from their grasp.
“Not on your life, my dear,” Ellery said. “We have appointed you our new mission in life. Or, more appropriately, our mission for the night. So off we go.”
The men formed into a wedge, with her in the middle. In a compact knot they pushed outward, away from the circle and the fight. Others were only too eager to let them by, the gap filling immediately with those desiring to witness the outcome.
“No!” Lou shrieked. “You can’t! That’s my fiancée back there! I can’t go anywhere!”
“You’re engaged to one of those simpleminded rivermen?” Payne responded. “How crass of you, girl.”
Bellows was sharper than he appeared. “By my word, Teddy! I do believe the wench means she’s engaged to that other fellow. To the Indian.”
Ellery glanced at her. “Is that true? You’d stoop so low as to give yourself to a wretched savage?”
“His father is as white as you and I!” Lou declared. She sought to dig in her heels and looked back to see how Zach was faring, but Payne and Bellows jerked her onward. “Damn you! What gives you the right to treat me like this?”
Teddy Payne shook a disapproving finger at her. “A true lady never, ever swears. It’s most unbecoming.”
“And demeaning,” Bellows added. “Why, it’s almost as grievous a slight as belching or farting.”
The trio laughed. Once more Lou tried to halt, but they hurried on, moving faster as they neared the outskirts of the crowd. They pressed so close against her, she couldn’t lift either arm. In desperation she bent to bite Payne’s shoulder, but he twisted, then jabbed the tip of his cane into her side.
“None of that, wench! We’re doing you a favor. So behave.”
“But I don’t want you to do me any favors!” Lou said, to no avail. Another few yards brought them to the junction with another street. The dandies slowed, debating which way to go. Their grips slackened.
Lou heaved backward, kicking at the pair holding her. Bellows yelped like a whipped dog. Payne swore and almost lost his hold. But before she could capitalize, Ellery had whirled and grabbed her by the chin.
“Enough! Another such attempt will be soundly punished.”
“You can’t do this!” Lou reiterated.
Ellery straightened and sniffed. “Obviously, my dear girl, you have no idea who your benefactors are. I am Ellery Quinton Worthington the Third. Teddy, here, is Edward Simon Payne. And that man holding your left arm is none other than Reginald Barclay Bellows.”
“Is that supposed to mean something?”
Ellery Quinton Worthington rolled his eyes skyward. “You must be new to St. Louis. Everyone knows who we are. Our families are three of the wealthiest in the city. Our fathers are all high in city government.” He said it matter-of-factly. “All we need do is snap our fingers and our every wish is granted. In short, we can do anything we please. So if it amuses us to transform you from a caterpillar into a butterfly, you’ll simply have to indulge our whimsy.”
“Money is power, my dear,” Payne elaborated. “What we want, we get. What we desire to do is as good as done. No one dares oppose us for fear of risking the considerable wrath of our combined families.”
Bellows puffed out his slim chest. “Why, we once met the President himself, at a banquet my father threw in his honor.”
They were moving again, briskly, pedestrians parting like blades of high grass before a strong wind. Ellery strolled along with his cane resting on his shoulder and his high hat tilted at a rakish angle. “St. Louis is our city. What we don’t own, we influence.”
Louisa didn’t care how rich and powerful their families were. It didn’t give them the right to treat her as their personal plaything. They were spoiled brats, nothing more. She had to bide her time and make a break when a chance presented itself. But waiting was nigh impossible when each step took her farther from Zach. She couldn’t shake the gnawing worry that something had happened to him.
The din of the crowd grew fainter with every corner they rounded. Grasping at a straw, Lou said, “If you’re truly the gentlemen you pretend to be, you’ll let me go this instant.”
“Nice try,” Ellery said. “But true gentlemen always do what’s right. Even when the recipients of their kindness are too dense to appreciate it.” Payne and Bellows laughed at his ready wit.
“Why me?” Lou wondered. “Surely you can find someone else to pick on?”
Ellery smiled. “You were convenient, my dear. A perfect remedy to the bane of our existence.”
“Boredom,” Payne clarified.
Bellows added, “Don’t take this personally. Why, just last month we decided to turn a pathetic wretch we found lying in the gutter into a gentleman. It took some doing, I don’t mind admitting, but when we took him to our club on a lark, none of the other members guessed the truth.”
Payne chuckled. “What great fun that was.”
“And now we intend to repeat our triumph,” Ellery said.
“We’ll treat you to the finest clothes money can buy. We’ll take you to the headmistress of a school for young ladies for a few lessons. Before you know it, you’ll be a lady yourself.”
Lou couldn’t believe it. She’d almost rather be in the clutches of Sylvia Banner than these simpletons. “But I don’t want to be a lady. At least, not the kind you want me to be.”
“Your wishes are totally irrelevant,” Ellery said. “So hush up.”
“Hush,” Payne stressed.
“Hush, hush, hush.” Bellows wasn’t to be outdone.
Lou opened her mouth, but Payne placed a finger to her lips and gave her a stem look. She would love to box each of them on the ears. Better yet, to punch each in the mouth! They weren’t truly dangerous, not the way Sylvia had been. Yet their refusal to take no for an answer, their insistence that she go along with their addle pated plans, their use of force to make her comply, were aggravations she could do without.
Another intersection appeared, brightly lit by lamps, filled with people and passing carriages. A knot of nicely dressed women, chatting gaily, drew Lou’s attention. Smiling slyly, she marked each step until the women were only yards away, then she suddenly cried out, “Help! Please! These men are abducting me!”
Ellery, Payne, and Bellows all halted, too surprised to say anything. The four women turned toward them.
“They’ve taken me against my will!” Louisa hollered. “Please do something! I must get back to my fiancée.”
A statuesque beauty with raven hair coolly regarded Ellery Quinton Worthington. “Is this true, handsome?”
His reply astounded Lou. “Definitely true, my sweet Venus. We’re dragging her off to a horrible fate.” Ellery winked. “We’re going to introduce this lowly wench to the pleasures of polite society.”
The beauty swayed up to him and delicately stroked his chin with a long fingernail painted bright blue. Her eyelids were the same hue, her cheeks dappled with rouge. Perfume reminiscent of lilacs added to her allure. “Then why is she raising such a stink? I’d give anything, Ellery, to have you do the same with me.”
Lou was flabbergasted. “You know him?”
“Honey, everyone knows Mr. Worthington and his friends,” the beauty answered. “At one time or another all three have paid for my services. And I must say, they are three of the most generous gents anywhere.” The other women nodded in agreement.
“Services?” Lou said, then felt her cheeks burn. “Oh. I see. How silly of me.”
Ellery was more amused than mad. “We tried to tell you, girl. We know more people than you can imagine. And those we don’t know have heard of us. So spare yourself further embarrassment.”
The beauty traced the outline of his left ear. “How about me, lover? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not that I can think—” Ellery said, then snapped his fingers. “Wait a moment. Perhaps you can, Venus. As I recall, isn’t Madame Bovary’s shop nearby?”
“Sure is. Care for me to take you there? She’s closed at this hour, though.”
Ellery patted a pocket on his tailored jacket. “Not to worry. I have just the inducement to convince her to open up.”
Venus hooked her elbow with Ellery’s and guided them into a side street. Every now and again she would glance over a shapely shoulder at Louisa, plainly curious.
The feeling was mutual. “Is your name really Venus?” Lou inquired.
“Of course not. Most of us in the trade use nicknames. I got mine from a guy who paints and sculpts for a living. Peculiar loon, that one. I always had to tie him to the bedposts and whip him to get him excited. And when we were done, he’d sit and sketch me for hours.” Venus laughed. “Men are so strange.”
Payne swatted her backside. “And women have room to talk? Remember what you did with that cigar?”
“Only because you asked me to,” Venus said.
“No, only because I paid you to,” Payne amended good-naturedly. “It never ceases to amaze me what money will buy nowadays.”
“Cigars are nothing,” Venus said. “Remind me to tell you about Phyllis. She has this trick she can do with a flute. You’ve got to see it to believe it. She can actually—” Venus stopped, her green eyes darting toward Lou. “Well, remind me later.”
Ellery twirled his cane. “There’s an idea. Maybe we should hold auditions, boys. We’ll take a suite at the Imperial. Offer money and clothes as prizes for the most inventive doxies in the city.”
“Sheer inspiration,” Bellows said. “We’ll have categories they can enter in. Music. Dance. Poetry. With more points for those who perform naked.”
The dandies and the courtesan cackled, but Louisa didn’t share in their mirth. For all their wealth and power, they were unbelievably crude. As for the fallen lovely, Lou had to admit a certain secret fascination. She’d always wondered how any woman with a shred of self-respect would allow a stranger to fondle them. She’d rather slit her throat than live like that.
Payne and Bellows still held her by the wrists, so Lou had no choice but to be steered to a two-story brownstone that billed itself as “Madame Bovary’s Palace of Exquisite Finery.” A huge window on the bottom floor displayed mannequins dressed in glittering dresses and sparkling jewelry.
“I love to come here to browse and dream,” Venus commented.
Payne peered at a mannequin in a bright pink outfit. “Say, I recognize her! She and I frolicked under the sheets once. Talk about wooden lovemaking!”
Bellows roared and clapped him on the back.
“Stiff as could be,” Payne quipped.
“Her or you?” Ellery asked as he pounded on the door. Lou found their humor vulgar. She saw a light come on in an upstairs window. Curtains parted and the sash rose.
“Go away, whoever you are! Can’t you see I’m closed?” Stepping back and craning his neck, Ellery said, “Surely not for me, sweet Bovary! Admit us and you’ll make more in one night than you do in a month.”
A great moon face poked out. Brown hair fell in ringlets to shoulders gone plump. Lips as thick as sausages flapped. “Who in the world? Worthington, is that you? My old eyes must be deceiving me again. You haven’t graced my establishment since last August.”
“An oversight I’d like to make up for,” Ellery responded. “Throw a robe on and waddle down here, you magnificent hussy.”
Madame Bovary’s fleshy features creased in mock indignation. “Were anyone else to call me that, I’d drop a vase on their head. But in your case I’ll make an exception. You’re still the same gloriously vulgar scoundrel you’ve always been.”
“Why tamper with perfection?” was Ellery’s rejoinder. Merry guffaws were cut short by the closing window. Lou glanced at her rifle, which Bellows held, then at her pistol and knife, tucked under Payne’s belt. She would give anything to get her hands on a weapon!
Venus had molded herself to Ellery and was puffing lightly on his ear. “After you’re done here, lover, how about the two of us go off alone for a while? I’ve missed you terribly.”
