Bitterroot Crossing (23 page)

    I could still smell Crow which meant he hovered somewhere nearby. I jumped up on the bench. “You know darn well that Zedekiah will be up here any minute to fetch me. Then you guys are going to find yourself in pieces. I saw what he did to Axel the other night.” I figured I would try the fear approach and scare them into releasing me. It didn’t work.

    Crow squeaked out a mean laugh and pressed his face into the hole again. I backed away. “You’re pretty but silly. Steamer and Butcher are keeping Zedekiah plenty busy down below. Besides, we’re in the middle of nowhere. Even Zedekiah has never come this high up the mountain.”

    I plopped down hard on the bench. “Darn it.”

Chapter 31

    The frigid air was biting at our wet skin as we flew down the road. I needed to drop-off Baxter and hurry back up the hill. There was no telling what the gang was up to, but something deep inside told me Jessie needed me and fast.

    The scene was nearly comical as I pulled up to the makeshift command post Fielding had set up directly in front of our house. Several more people and several more dogs had joined the team, although most of them were still standing around, nursing cups of coffee, and studying the town map.

    The sound of my bike caught their attention. They all turned and stared at us open-mouthed. Baxter got off the bike. It took them a moment to figure out that the object of their massive manhunt was standing directly in front of them. Berta finally screamed and broke free from the shell-shocked crowd. She ran to her brother and threw her arms around him.

    “Nick saved me from the swamp,” Baxter said proudly.

    “Thank you so much,” Berta said with tears in her eyes. She’d definitely inched up higher on my people to like list. She was genuinely crazy about her little brother.

    “Where’s our dads?” I asked.

    Berta pulled out her cell phone. “Someone had reported strange noises coming from behind the town’s water tanks. They drove over there to check it out. I’ll call them right now and let them know you found Baxter.”

    The others walked over to greet us, but I had no time to waste. “I’ve got to go. Someone else is in trouble.” Sheriff Fielding put up his hand to stop me but I just waved.

    I spun my bike around and headed back to the hill hoping my clothes would dry soon and the early morning sun would warm up because I was freezing my butt off. The cold had stopped my arm from bleeding, but it looked nasty. It had temporarily occurred to me to let the sheriff and his team know there was more trouble on the mountain, but they’d been kind of useless so far. Not many of the town’s citizens were daring enough to go near the swamp. In fact, after tonight’s search, it appeared that even Sheriff Fielding went out of his way to avoid it.

    The search dogs had given me an idea though. I raced as fast as I could to the Sterling farm. I could see a cloud of smoke still lingering above. The farm came into view. It was completely quiet. No sign of anyone and no sign of the barn that once housed Mandy. There was no sign of the horse either.

    I got off my bike and ran up to the house. My knuckles stung as I knocked loudly on the door. No answer. I tried the knob. It was open so I stepped inside. The house was dark and empty. Jasper hid in the corner until he recognized me. Then his tail wagged wildly and he ran out to greet me. I was happy to see him too. 

    “Come on, Jasper. Let’s get that nose of yours working again. We need to find Jessie.”

    I really had no idea where to start but I’d been at the swamp with Zedekiah. We hadn’t seen them there. It had to be up. Unfortunately there weren’t too many ways to go up. Not far past the farm, the trees grew thick enough that there were only narrow, shady trails to walk.

    I hadn’t realized how tired I was until Jasper and I started climbing higher. It felt like I’d been up for days. My legs were like rubber from swimming and nearly drowning in the swamp. The arm that had been clawed by Steamer’s skeletal hand stung like mad and I was way past hungry.

    Jasper seemed to know exactly what we were doing. His nose dropped to the ground the minute we left the farm, and he had not lifted his head since. We trudged on hoping for some sign of Jessie or a ghost. Once Baxter and I had left the swamp, I’d lost track of Zedekiah. Even though my guy pride made it so I wanted to be the first to reach Jessie, I hoped Zedekiah was looking for her too. Especially now that he seemed to be on my side. Although can you ever really trust a dead outlaw?

    After what seemed like an hour, I understood exactly what the phrase
felt like I was walking in circles
meant. Jasper seemed to be picking up only his own scent, confirming my suspicion that we were definitely retracing our steps. Then we had a breakthrough. An unnatural breeze shot through the trees dropping a mass of pine needles to the ground. They were swept up and carried away, but the collector remained invisible. Jasper growled, stuck his nose against the ground, and trotted in the direction of the floating debris.

    Within moments the dog had found a scent on the trail. His tail went crazy and he picked up his pace. I followed close behind. I kept telling myself Jessie was alright. She had to be. I really needed her to be alright. Ghosts or not, I was going to hurt these guys badly if they’d harmed Jessie at all.

    Jasper picked up his pace. We were getting closer. Even I could sense it. I braced myself for my biggest ghost showdown yet. My body was weakened by a long night and I was completely defenseless. As handy as the fire extinguishers had been, they were definitely more cumbersome than the usual pistol or knife. And riding on a motorcycle with a bulky extinguisher was just plain hard to do.

    There were plenty of broken tree branches on the ground so I picked up a few that were sturdy enough to disrupt some ghost molecules. I’d seen what Zedekiah had done to Axel hours earlier and decided temporarily separating them from their own body parts was my safest bet. I only hoped that Steamer and Butcher were still hunting down Steamer’s dismembered hand. I didn’t need to take on all four at once. In fact, with the way I was feeling, I wasn’t too confident about taking on two.

    I glimpsed some movement through a break in the foliage and reached down to grab Jasper’s collar. The dog whined disappointedly but then sat quietly as if he understood that I planned to sneak up on them. Axel was busy building what looked to be the fuel for a gigantic bonfire while Crow sat perched on a large stone. The stone sat pressed against the door of a small cabin.

    Suddenly Axel picked up his kindling, flew to the top of the cabin, and shoved the pine needles through a hole in the roof.

    Jasper chirped out one shrill bark and wagged his tail.

    “Yep, Jasper, think we found her.” I needed to move fast. The hole in the shelter would make it easy for Axel to start a fire from within. He wouldn’t need to be invited inside. The opening gave him free access to the interior. The wood of the shelter was old and rotted and would catch fire instantly. I took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing brandishing my mighty tree branch.

    Crow glanced up and laughed so loud I thought he’d fall off the stone. Axel laughed with him. There was no time to plan. I stormed toward Crow and sliced my tree sword down through his head and right through the center of him. He came apart like a banana peel. It definitely put an end to his annoying bout of laughter. Both halves of Crow fell off the stone as I swung my branch back up and heaved it into Axel’s head. His head tore off and flew into the bushes still attached to the front of my branch. Before they could pull themselves back together, I grabbed hold of the stone and pulled. It was way heavier than I’d expected. I barely budged it when I heard a soft, sweet voice inside.

    “Hello? Anyone out there?”

    I pressed my face to the crack in the door. “Jessie, I’m going to get you out of there. Just hold on.”

    “Nick! Be careful. They want to kill you too.”

    “That’s why I’m hurry--” Just then fingers burning with ice wrapped around my throat. Crow had zipped himself back together. He swung me around, flew with me across the clearing, and smacked me against a tree. Getting plowed into rough tree trunks was really starting to get on my nerves. His grip on my neck had not loosened and I couldn’t take even a small breath. My feet and hands flew uselessly through vapor as I tried to free myself. Jasper raced toward us and tried to bite Crow’s feet. He was having no more luck than me.

    Flames shot up, temporarily lighting the entire clearing. Axel had found his hideous head. He held a ball of fire up high in his hand and smiled proudly at it. I wanted to yell out but couldn’t. Axel carried the fire to the roof and shot it through the hole. The shack went up instantly. Axel gave it a solid push and sent it rolling down the small hill it had sat upon for years.

    The intensity of the fire increased as it rolled along the forest floor finally stopping against a rock. I could feel tears at the back of my eyes. My lips and face were numb and I was fading in and out of consciousness.

    Suddenly the grip on my neck loosened. Crow’s hands were turning back to vapor. Zedekiah said they could solidify body parts only temporarily. Crow’s eyes filled with rage as he realized he was losing his grip on me. I gasped for breath and jumped through him. I stumbled forward, got my balance, and ran to the burning shelter. It was completely engulfed in flames.    “No!” I dropped to my knees and tried to climb through the smoke and flames to get through the open bottom. It must have been a thousand degrees inside. Before I could push past the intense flames, I heard a voice from behind. I twisted around.

     “Why are cobwebs always so sticky?”

    Jasper barked and ran up the hill where the shack had been rocked off its foundation. There standing in the filtered rays of sunlight, holding open what appeared to be a trapdoor, and wiping wildly at her sweater, stood the girl who had stolen my heart.

Chapter 32

    I wasn’t totally sure what scene I would find when I climbed out of the hole, but this one surprised me. As Nick spoke to me through the slats of the shed, I was so excited I’d nearly bounced through the rotted roof. Then his words were choked off midsentence, and I was sure Crow had hurt him or worse. Now he stood below, in front of the burning heap that was my prison moments before. He looked weary and pale but happy to see me.  

    A broad, white smile spread across his face and he lifted his arm and waved weakly.

    My elation at seeing him alive and well ended quickly. “Nick, watch out!”

    Crow jumped out of nowhere with thin, reedy tree branches. He grabbed Nick’s hands and yanked them above his head. Axel swooped in and grabbed his feet. Within seconds he had Nick fastened to a tree, his hands and his feet bound tightly and, no doubt painfully, with the long twigs.

    I stomped down the hill toward the ghosts.

    Nick looked in agony. “Jessie, run! Get away from here.”

    “I have no intentions of leaving without you, Nick.” I put my hands on my hips and scowled at Crow and Axel. “You know, I’ve been fairly polite as a hostage. But now my feet are freezing and they hurt like the dickens. I’m very hungry, and I’m very tired.” I was near enough to the burning heap of wood to be warmed by it. The flames were diminishing and some of the planks glowed nicely as if they sat in the fireplace. The bottom edge of the shack that had been buried for many years in the damp soil had not caught fire.

    I grabbed the unburned end of one plank and broke it off just as Crow swept down on me. The hot glowing portion skewered him like a hot toothpick through sausage. I yanked it back out. A circle with a foot long diameter melted out of Crow’s center. He stared at it almost as if it pained him, but I was certain it didn’t. A horrible smell filled the air, and I thrilled at the possibility that I’d done some permanent damage. Again, my elation was cut short when the smoldering, gaping hole closed up leaving only traces of putrid smelling smoke lingering in the air around Crow.

    Crow’s cruel glare did not leave me or my glowing stick as he spoke to Axel behind him. “Give that boy a good lashing with one of these hot pieces of wood, Axel.”