Bitterroot Crossing (17 page)

    He dropped back to the ground and stared off into the distance for a minute as if he were contemplating something. “It was her nineteenth birthday. She looked like a candy confection in her new dress.” He looked back at me. “Unfortunately a week after I’d bought it-- and, yes, I bought it--”

    “--with stolen money,” I added.

    He shrugged. “Quite possibly. Now may I continue?”

    “Yes, of course.”

    “A week before her birthday, I realized that Bridger had been courting her. Butcher had told me the news gleefully one night over a poker game . . . which he was losing badly.”

    Zedekiah’s expression hardened as he spoke about his loyal gang member. It was the first time that he actually looked frightening to me. I took a tiny step back now regretting that I’d even brought it up.

    “We should talk about something else,” I said hastily.

    Possibly sensing my angst, his expression softened instantly. “I gave her the necklace and told her she could decide whose picture to put in it, just as long as I never knew what was inside. Now I’m sure it’s Bridger’s photo inside that damn locket.”

    Mandy’s hooves pounded the dried, packed ground as she and Nana returned with the mail. Zedekiah watched her come up the hill. “This is my cue to disappear. That mean old lady hates me.”

    “You scared her daughter out of town. She’s got reason to hate you.”

    He nodded in agreement. “I was only after that rotten husband of hers. I’m just glad your mother came to her senses and returned without him.” Now his dark blue gaze washed dreamily over my face. Everything about it reminded me of the way Nick had looked at me. I had to quickly remind myself that Nick’s gaze had been an act before the bleakness gripped me again. “If you’re mother hadn’t returned, I would never have been able to see that face again. Now that would have been a grim eternity indeed.”

    I blushed. “Boy, you are a sweet talker, Zedekiah Crush. I’ll give you that.” Nana drew closer and he vanished.

    Nana dismounted and walked Mandy to the pasture with our mail clutched in her hand. She seemed agitated, and I could swear she was talking to herself.

    I picked up the remaining candy and stood. “Nana, what is it? Did the mail bring bad news?”

    “No, just bills. But I stayed to have a quick cup of tea with Ruby and do you know what she told me? I’m so mad I could spit fire.”

    “What has you so upset, Nana?”

    “Apparently that ridiculous mayor has called a town meeting. Seems they’re planning to drive us out of town. They’re blaming us for all the trouble those damn ghosts are causing.” She turned and marched toward the house. “Well, I’m plannin’ to attend that meeting. I’ve got a few choice words for that mayor.”

    I followed her into the house. I wasn’t too worried. I knew nothing could pry my grandma off this hill. Not even the ridiculous, callous town below.

Chapter 23

    I opened my eyes and squinted into the darkness. The last thing I remembered, I’d come home from school, shoved on my earphones, and cranked my tunes. I’d gone through the entire day like a zombie and apparently I’d fallen asleep in my room. My head felt groggy. The swelling in my hand had gone down but it still hurt as I opened and shut my fingers. The ride on the dirt track yesterday probably hadn’t helped it much.

    I’d spent the school day in a confused haze first hoping I wouldn’t see Jessie, then thoroughly disappointed that she hadn’t come to school. I had no idea what to do. I wanted to be with her so badly my entire body ached just thinking about her. But if something happened to Baxter, I’d never be able to forgive myself. My only solution was to get rid of Zedekiah and the whole fucking gang. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to do that.

    I didn’t know how long I’d slept for but it was dark now. The house was quiet as I walked down the hallway and slipped into the kitchen. Mom had stuck a note on the fridge explaining that they’d gone to the town hall meeting. Good riddance, I thought. It was rare when I had the house to myself.

    I made a dinner of peanut butter toast before taking a much needed shower. I’m not totally sure when the feeling hit me. It was somewhere between the shampoo and the conditioner, but something made the hairs stand up on my neck. Something deep in my chest told me I needed to get to that town meeting tonight. There was going to be trouble and Jessie was going to be in the center of it.

     I toweled off, dressed, and got on my bike. The streets were exceptionally quiet and when I reached the shabby building that Bitterroot Crossing proudly called its town hall, I knew why. Every citizen must have been packed in to the place. There was standing room only as I squeezed inside. I seemed to be receiving a crapload of dirty looks from the people lined up along the newly painted walls. The city council was convinced that slapping up a new coat of paint every six months gave the building a professional look. There was usually a two week debate just to decide on the appropriate color. This time they’d obviously decided on puke green.

    Metal chairs had been brought in from the high school, and they scraped loudly on the floor as people settled into their seats. Tall as I was, I had a tough time seeing the front of the room where a microphone had been set up on the small stage. I couldn’t see my family or Jessie. I doubted she would come anyway. That feeling I’d had must have been my imagination. Or maybe it was because I’d been thinking about her so much. Baxter was standing along the back wall looking uncomfortable in such a big crowd. He waved to me and I returned the wave. The mayor cleared his throat into the microphone and began his attack.

    “Quiet down, everyone. As you know, our quaint, scenic town has been traumatized by a rash of attacks from the Crush Gang. And as you all know, after several decades of his absence, their horrifying leader, Zedekiah Crush, has once again risen from his grave.”

    “It’s that Sterling girl!” someone yelled from the side of the room. Dozens of people agreed loudly.

    “She should never have been allowed to attend school.” Some other ignorant ass exclaimed. I stretched up and peered over the tops of heads. It was Tina’s dad. Tina was slumped down in the chair next to him.

    “Get rid of that girl and her grandmother and burn the place to the ground. Then the gang’ll leave town for good.” That charming sentiment came from the bank owner. Now I was pissed I’d come at all. This ugly scene was only going to put me in a worse mood. I really wanted out of this town.

    “And what about the Crush family?” A woman’s voice carried over the bobbing heads.

    “What about the Crush family?” This voice I recognized. It was my dad’s. He was standing with his arms across his chest. He’d gotten rid of the robe and cleaned up. He actually looked decent. Mom looked pale and shaky, but she stood up next to him along with Bobby.
    There was some mumbling in the crowd. The mayor lifted his hands. “Decorum everyone, please.” He looked over at my family. “Frank, you have to understand why the citizens are upset. It is your ancestor who is causing all this trouble, after all. The gang had been pretty manageable up to his reappearance a few days ago. Now they’re worse than ever. Dangerous, in fact.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Maybe it’d be better if you and yours packed up and found a different place to live.”

    This idea pleased the crowd.

    I pushed through the onlookers throwing a few good elbow jabs as I went. There was a small clearing around my family as if they might be contagious or something. I joined them. Dad looked over at me. We stared at each other for a minute then he gave the slightest nod of approval. He stretched up taller to speak again. “Well that’s fine, Mayor. We’ll just pack up.”

    My mom whimpered softly.

    “And, of course, the others will be packing up too,” Dad continued.

    Heads turned back and stared in confusion at us. Dad surveyed the crowd then pointed rudely across the hall. “Baines, over there, he and his family are direct descendants of Butcher, as you all know.” My dad jumped on a chair now and scoured the back of the room. It was awesome watching him in action. He was once again the dad I’d been so crazy about growing up. “There you are, Hector.” He looked around at the shocked faces. “Some of you, may or may not know this, but Hector’s great-grandma was Axel’s sister. Then, of course, there’s the Blakely family.” Dad’s attention returned to the front of the room where the entire Blakely brood had found seats. “They’ll have to pack up as well seeing how they’re related to Steamer.” He gave the room a once over before jumping down and standing between Mom and me. “I guess we all know Crow didn’t ever marry or have children, so that probably covers it.”

    The crowd had grown silent with their ignorant thoughts and sudden realization that Dad was right. We weren’t the only descendants of the Crush Gang. The town was filled with them.

    “The trouble all started with that girl. She’s the one that needs to go,” someone shouted.

    I was about to open my mouth to protest when another familiar voice shot out from the back of the room. “So is this what you people do with your spare time?”

    Everyone twisted around. There, standing in the doorway, was Jessie and her grandma. Just seeing Jessie standing there, tiny and sweet, in the vast sea of angry faces made my heart race. I had to fight the urge to run back to her and pull her into my arms.

    “You people think if you put all of your half-baked heads together, you’ll be able to come up with one solid idea,” Jessie’s grandma said. She took hold of Jessie’s hand, plowed through the crowd and headed straight to the mayor’s podium. ‘Out of my way, Mayor.” She elbowed him back and stepped up to the microphone. “Look at yourselves. Why, you’re no better than the group of citizens that hung the gang a century ago. This ghost problem didn’t just happen because my granddaughter left the house.” She smiled down at Jessie.

    I looked around at the faces as they all stared at the petite figure up front. Most people had never seen her and a murmur seemed to be inching through the crowd now. I’d seen her many times and still her face seemed almost too beautiful to believe. And that face seemed to be doing its magic on this crowd too. Angry shoulders and vicious scowls seemed to be dissolving as people saw the innocent angel they were accusing of causing the town’s troubles.

    Jessie’s grandma spoke again. “It seems the only people to blame for this mess are the folks who lived here back when the Crush Gang was alive. Dumping them in that swamp was wrong, and we’ve all been paying for it ever since. Let’s not be ignorant likes those folks. It won’t get us anywhere.”

    “What should we do about it then?” a voice cried out. It was instantly followed by several ear-piercing shrieks. There seemed to be a small stampede of people heading to the back door as

the lights in the hall flickered and a disgusting smell floated through the air. The two back doors slammed shut and several women slumped to the floor in a heap.

    Baxter grabbed my arm suddenly. His face was white. “I didn’t mean to, Nick, honest.” His voice shook uncontrollably along with his entire body. “I just walked outside for a minute and they said they would kill my mom.” He burst into shoulder wracking sobs. People were clawing at the doors and windows in terror but there was no escape.

    My gaze shot to the front of the room. “No!” I yelled out. Steamer had Jessie tight in his icy grasp. She was kicking and screaming but it had no effect on the ghost. Her grandma lay motionless on the floor several feet away as if she’d been thrown. Crow dangled from the light fixture above Steamer. It was hard to tell where the others were. No sign of Zedekiah.

    The crowd backed away nearly crushing themselves along the back wall in an effort to distance themselves from the ghosts. Mom grabbed my arm, but I yanked out of her grasp and raced to the front of the room.

    I glared up at Steamer. “I’ve been keeping to my end of the bargain, now let her go, you dead piece of crap.”

    Steamer laughed angrily. “You fool. Don’t you know never to strike up a bargain with the ghost of an outlaw?” He laughed again and his grip seemed to tighten on Jessie. She stared down at me with those incredible green eyes and it was all I could do to keep myself from jumping up there and ripping Steamer’s head off.