PKept15

Chapter 15

Buck slammed the door behind him as he stormed into the Marshal’s office. The wild look on Buck’s face nearly caused Barnett to drop the broom he was sweeping up with.

“Where’s Teaspoon?” Buck demanded.

Barnett shuffled to the desk, “Well, that a fine how da ya do.”

“I ain’t got time for this, Barnett! Where is he?” he growled.

“He ain’t here,” the deputy answered.

Buck glared at him, “I can see that! Where’d he go?”

“Blue Creek. He left this mornin’,” he answered as he sat behind the desk. “He’s due back pretty soon.”

Buck shook his head in frustration. “I can’t wait!” Buck rushed behind the desk and flung open the top drawer, almost knocking over Barnett in the process. After scribbling a few sentences on piece of paper, he folded it and thrust it at the bewildered man beside him.

“Barnett give this to Teaspoon the minute he gets back. Do you understand? It’s very important.” he demanded as he bolted for the door.

“Sure Buck,” Barnett called after him, “Somthin’ wrong?”

“Just be sure he gets it!” he hollered back.

************************************************************

“Tom, we should start to head back to town if I’m to return before the children”, Camille stated. It had been a lovely ride through the country. She and Tom discussed Bill at length and she believed that Tom had found solace in hearing about his brother. When they’d first left town Camille questioned her decision to go for a ride in the country with Tom, but the lovely day and Tom’s impeccable behavior put all her fears to rest.

“ Yes, you’re right…I see a good place to turn around just ahead” he answered, as he motioned to the rise before them. He then added, “Camille, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your memories of Bill with me. Your stories have brought me great comfort”

“I hope so,” Camille answered, “Sometimes it can be painful to revisit the past, I’m glad that it’s not so in this case”

‘Painful? No, death is a fact of life…one we must all face.”    He was quiet for a moment. “Now betrayal, that is another thing all together,” He said bluntly. “There’s no amount of time or circumstances that can heal the hurt and disgrace of being betrayed by someone you love”

Camille was surprised by his comment, and left at a loss for a response. This was the first time he’d shared anything remotely personal about himself.

“I hope you aren’t speaking from experience?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, I am,” he said. He paused for a moment looking off into the distance and then continued, “Her name was Miss Emily VanBuren ” he said, “She was the most desired debutante of St. Joseph, Missouri. Of all the fine ladies in town, she was the loveliest.   She had many suitors vying for her affections, but I was the one who won her hand. The other men in town were jealous of me; I could see it in their faces but their jealousy only confirmed my victory. You know, our engagement party was held in the governors’ mansion with only the foremost members of St. Joe society in attendance.

“It sounds lovely,” Camille said.

“It was,” he said with disgust, “but she ran off with an other man just before our wedding.”

“Oh Tom, how awful!” she said empathetically.   Placing her hand on his arm, she added, “You must have been heartbroken. I’m sure you loved her very much?”

“Yes, I did and I always will. I will love her until the day I die. Just as my brother loved you!” he stated.

Instinctively, Camille removed her hand from his arm and sat up straight. His statement shook her some how. It felt more like an accusation than a remark made in passing. Suddenly the buckboard dipped to the side as the wheel went in a big hole. She grabbed at the seat for stability and could’ve sworn she heard him mumble something under his breath. She wasn’t quite sure but it sounded like he said something about “being fools”.

“You remind me of her, you know!” he stated.

Startled, she asked, “I do?”

“Oh, yes! You are like her in every way”, he said with a counterfeit smile.

Despite the pleasant tone of his voice and the smile he cast at her, Camille felt sure this wasn’t a complement. He was comparing her to a woman who’d “betrayed” him. It seemed to Camille that there were times when Tom’s outward expressions didn’t match the words that came from his mouth. She suddenly began to nervously wring her hands.   She needed to get back to town. Now.

“Tom, please I must insist that we turn around now,” her voice trembled when she spoke.

He looked at her condescendingly, “We can’t turn around, Emily! Not now!”

“Tom, you called me Emily. I’m Camille,” she reminded him. Camille found his blunder unsettling.

“Of course you are” he said, “it’s just that you remind me so much of her. Beautiful to a fault and you attract all sorts of men. Both of you know how to use your beauty to control the men in your lives.”

Had she heard him correctly? She was none of those things. Her heart was racing as he began to show the same erratic behavior as yesterday at the school.

She addressed him directly, “No, Tom you’re wrong….”

“DON’T…” he snapped, cutting her off in mid sentence, “don’t correct me, you’re always correcting me.”

In an attempt to diffuse him, she apologized, “I didn’t mean to upset you. It sounds like Emily hurt you, but I assure you I am not like her.”

“Oh, but you are!” he said firmly, “Your affections are as fickle as the weather.”

Camille felt anxious and she knew she was in a situation she couldn’t handle. She scanned the countryside in hopes someone else was out for a ride. But there was no one. They were alone. She inched a little farther away from him.

“You hurt me badly, you know.” He grabbed her arm to get her attention. “But worse than that, was the disgrace you brought on me and my family. How could you do it!” he exclaimed as his grip became painful. “I fought for you, I gave you everything you asked for! You were my prize, not his!” As he pulled her closer, his voice was full of repugnance, “I had everything he didn’t. He was just a poor dirt farmer.”

With one swift jerk, Camille wretched her arm free, “I’m Camille…not Emily! You’re scaring me! Why are you acting so crazy?”

“Shut up” he yelled as he backhanded her, “I’ve lived all my life being told I was crazy and I won’t hear it from the likes of you. You think I don’t know what they say about me. But none of them have the guts to say it to my face…those aristocratic leaches. If they did, they would no longer enjoy the pleasures and prestige of being associated with the Barlow Family.”

“Take me home, Now!” she shouted at him. He ignored her and continued driving. She grabbed at the reins to try to gain his attention, “Tom, listen to me! Look at me! I’m Camille…your brother Bill’s fiancée.”

“You didn’t look like you belonged to Bill when I saw you in the arms of your Indian lover,” he snapped at her.

Did he just address me as Camille? She thought to herself. His constant fluctuations to and from reality were leaving her unnerved. She felt her rapidly beating heart gradually climb into her throat.

“Neither of you saw me but I saw you. I followed you home that day and came back again that night,” he said with a sinister look on his face. “I saw your disgusting display beside the barn.” His penetrating gaze awaited her reaction.

She clasped her arms over her chest and vigorously rubbed her arms. Camille felt like she’d been violated. She’d thought they were alone. The revelation that Tom was there the night that she and Buck shared such a tender and intimate moment caused bitter bile to rise within her throat. Buck was right! Tom is everything Buck said he was! she realized.

“Please Tom, Please just turn the wagon around,” she pleaded with him.

“I told you I can’t do that, “ he said shaking his head.

“I remember the first time I saw you with that pathetic farmer with his hands on you. I was sure he had forced himself on you but then you left me that pitiful note,” he spat.

He brought the buckboard to an abrupt halt in the middle of a field and turned to her, “Really Emily, did you think I would let you break our engagement? That will never happen!”

Camille felt the blood run cold through her veins as he began to refer to her as Emily again. There was no predicting his mind. But what terrified her the most was the insane look she saw in his eyes as he helped her down from her seat “ I have one small detail to take care of and then we can return home. We can consider it a blessing that you chose to carry out your affair in another town. We’ll now be able to return to St.Joe and no one will be aware of your impropriety.”

“ You can’t be serious, I will not go with you!” she exclaimed. Every fiber of her being was engulfed in frenzy. She began to back away from him.

“Of course you will!” he said. He yanked at her arm bringing her body slamming against his, “You have no other choice. It would be foolish of you to test my patience. I’ve been more than generous by overlooking your lack of judgement. Once we are through here, we will return to the estate and speak of this no more.”

“Stop this…” she screamed. “I’m Camille! I’m from Rock Creek. I have friends there. When I don’t return they will come looking for me. Buck is probably on his way now. If we turn back now…”

“Oh yes…I’m sure he is,” he smiled with wicked delight, “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

“He won’t let you do this,” she said breathlessly. In her frantic attempt to thwart him, she’d completely missed his intentions toward Buck. “Please Tom listen to me. He’ll kill you if you try to take me with you.”

“I seriously doubt that,” he confidently replied.

She tried with all her strength to break free of his grip. “He will! Please believe me!”

“Emily, my dear,” he said, “your concern for my safety is touching, but I’ve nothing to fear from a dead man.”

Camille suddenly ceased her struggle as his words penetrated her consciousness.

“ I see you finally understand. If I’m correct your lover should be here shortly. I’ve made it easy for him to find us.” He turned to her and proclaimed proudly, “As soon as he’s within my range, I will shoot him down like a dog. He’ll never know what hit him.”

There was no doubt in her mind now! Tom was totally insane! His sole purpose was to make Emily return home, to make her his trophy wife and to kill her lover. Hysteria overtook her as she realized there was no way to convince him she was not Emily and worst of all, that Buck was not Emily’s poor dirt farmer.

Chapter 16

“NO”, she screamed, “you can’t do this! I won’t let you kill him”

“ I can and I will!” he exclaimed. “Now stand over there and keep your mouth shut,” he ordered her as he pushed her toward the buckboard. He drew his gun from its holster and opened the bullet chamber. “One wrong move from you,” he said as he eyed the chamber, “and I will make your lover’s death a long and painful one.”

Camille gasped at the magnitude of his cruelty, “Why are you doing this?”

“For you,” he said approaching her. She recoiled as he placed his hands on her shoulders, “I’m doing this for you. It’s the only way, my dear. As long as he’s alive I can’t trust you.” She felt the weight of the gun on her shoulder. The sensation of the cold barrel sent shivers through her spine. “You’ve proven yourself weak, Emily. So I intend to remove your temptation. Thus protecting your reputation and my family’s dignity.”

“You’ve left me no other choice.” He ran the tip of the gun along her cheek, enjoying the mental torture he inflicted upon her. “One day, you will thank me!”

“But I’m not Emily. Why can’t you see that!” she screamed out of desperation, “You can’t do this! You have no right! Buck is not who you think he is! You leave him alone.”

Camille didn’t see him raise his hand, but she felt the hard sting of his palm on her cheek. She closed her eyes from the pain. He shook her to gain her attention. What she saw there in his eyes was the hollow abyss of his insanity. “You’ll not raise your voice to me!” he bellowed, “I am in charge here, you’re in no place to make demands!”

She knew she had few choices. Nothing she’d said or done thus far had diverted him from his perverse plan. But even as she felt fear turn to sheer panic, she knew she must continue to try, at all cost, to divert him.

“Tom, if you kill Buck the law will follow you to St. Joe. The marshal of Rock Creek is like a father to him and he will never let you reach the state line,” she plead.

Tom let out a great laugh. “Emily, honey. You really must learn to trust me.” Camille flinched as he leaned toward her to kiss her cheek.

Camille resisted the urge to slap him. The touch of his lips seared her skin. But it was in her best interest to retain command of her emotions. He apparently didn’t consider the law a threat.   There was only one other thing she could think of that might change his mind.

“I’ll tell him I don’t love him. That I want to go with you!” she blurted out. Tom was obviously surprised.   She continued, “I’ll tell him to go back to Rock Creek. I’ll tell him I’m not going back with him.”

Tom looked amused by her declaration. Undeterred, she continued on, “I’ll tell him that I never loved him, that it was all a mistake. Ill make him believe he was a fool to think that I would leave you for him. Please Tom, please let me try.”

He spun the barrel of his gun and placed it back in the holster. Without saying a word to her, he turned to walk away. Camille knew he’d heard her and that this was another one of his sick ways of making her suffer. But she would play his game if it meant that Buck’s life would be spared.

“If you kill him you’ll be a wanted man. You may not be afraid of Marshal Hunter, but I don’t believe that to good citizens of St. Joe will accept a murderer living in their community. Even if he is Tom Barlow.”

Tom stopped. She held her breath as she awaited his response. Camille hoped his silence meant that he was considering her appeal, but he gave no indication of his feelings. Suddenly he’s attention was diverted to something behind her. She turned. What she saw would normally have brought her great joy, but the distant sight of the dark rider atop his horse sent Camille into hysteria.

She whirled back around to face Tom. “Please! Please! Let me try! I can do this!” she begged him.

He grabbed her wrist and squeezed it tightly causing Camille to wince under the pressure of his hand. “You better make him believe you! If you don’t, I’ll step in. Do you understand me!” he demanded. She nodded, paralyzed with fear as he released his grip to turn her to in the direction of Buck’s approach. “I’m warning you,” he sneered, “Don’t toy with me, Emily! You’ll live to regret it...but he will not!”

Camille wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. She wanted to run as fast as her legs would take her. She wanted to warn Buck of the danger he was riding into. What she didn’t want… was to stand calmly beside this insane man who held their future in his hands.

Tom stole her attention when he spoke with delight, “Smile, my dear. Your lover will soon be here.”

As Camille thought through exactly what she would say to Buck, her eyes reflected the pain that filled her heart. She knew she must convince him, if his life was to be spared. The words she planned to say hung in her constricting throat as it closed around them. This would be the most difficult lie she’d ever have to tell.

*********************************************************

Buck had no problem following their trail. From the tracks he surmised one of two things, either he’d overreacted and it was simply an extended ride in the country or Tom was making it very easy for him to find them. Buck’s instincts told him it was the latter. But never the less, he would approach whatever situation he found with caution.

He saw them clearly as he reached the top of the rise. The buckboard was parked in the middle of an open field; he could see Camille and Tom standing aside it, deep in conversation. From this distance Camille didn’t seem to be in danger or distress for that matter. Buck felt a slight bit of relief that she’d not been physically harmed. It was with cautious hope that he nudged his horse forward.

But any hope of a peaceful confrontation took flight when Buck saw Camille at close range. She looked at him fearfully through red swollen eyes and the dirty streaks down her cheeks proved she’d been crying. She tired desperately to look composed, but he knew her too well, and her appearance reflected the state of her torment.

She nervously pressed the pleats of her skirt with her hands as Buck stopped his horse several yards from them. Her expression reflected the events of the day. “Did he hurt you?” he asked with his attentions solely focused on Camille.

Camille knew it was now or never, she must convince Buck to go home without her. “I’m fine,” she said as she began to step forward, “Buck, I’m going....”

She never had the opportunity to finish the speech she’d planned. The words froze in her mouth as she heard a loud pop and saw a puff of smoke out the corner of her eye. All at once everything seemed to move in slow motion. She turned to her right and saw Tom holding his gun; weightless gray smoke drifted from the barrel. Her eyes moved down the barrel of the gun in the direction of its target. She desperately feared what she would find there. It felt like invisible hands were squeezing the air from her chest. She cried out in horror as she watched Buck fall from his horse to the ground.

“Noooo!” she screamed and rushed to where he lay on the ground. He’d landed face down on the hard ground and Camille pushed on his shoulder and side to turn him over. Once she had him on his side she lifted her hand to brush his hair from his face, but stopped in horror at the sight of the bright red blood that covered her hand. “Buck! Buck!” she begged for a response. But he offered no answer to her desperate request. She watched helplessly as Buck’s blood poured from his still body.   She couldn’t stop the flow of his blood, just as she could help but feel her own life streaming away.

She closed her bloody hand into a fist as she turned to Tom and cried, “You said you wouldn’t kill him! I told you I’d go with you! You said you wouldn’t shoot him!”

Tom cleaned his gun with the handkerchief from his pocket. He glanced at Camille and simply said, “I changed my mind.”

She was immediately to her feet as she rushed Tom, pounding on his chest with her fist, “You will pay for this! You’ll hang, do you hear me! I’ll see you hang!”

He grabbed her wrist. “Merely self-defense, my dear,” he scoffed at her, “now pull yourself together! We’re leaving!”

She was wild with fury and futilely struggled within his grip. “I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH YOU!” She yelled in his face, “I rather die first!”

Tom had no patience for her resistance and shoved her hard against the side of the buckboard. His face was so close to hers that she could smell his sour breath as he spoke, “I said.... Get In!” Her blank stare gave him confidence she would follow his instructions. He released her from his grasp to untie the horses from a stump.

Camille glanced back to where Buck lay on the ground. “I won’t leave him,” she said quietly to herself. “I won’t go.... I can’t leave him here!”

Camille was within a few steps of Buck when Tom grabbed her from behind and spun her around. Even the force of his hand across her face didn’t deter her. There was no pain greater than the pain of Buck’s death.

“Let go of me!” she spat,   “I hate you.... I hate you for killing him!” Tears were pouring down her dirty cheeks, but her vision was not clouded. She saw clearly that he was the personification of evil. “You should just kill me, too. Now! I have nothing more to live for...you’ve taken it all”

“Are you finish?” he asked flatly. Camille silently wept. Her hands hid her face and she gave no indication that she would respond to him. Enraged by in insolence, he grabbed the back of her head and yanked hard on her hair to force her to look up at him. “I won’t tolerate your tongue any longer, Emily.”

She could take no more of his madness.   “For the last time...I’m not Emily and I’ve done nothing to you. You’re out of your mind,” she sobbed, “No wonder Emily left you. Life with a poor dirt farmer would be better than being with a crazy man”

He hit her hard and she fell to the ground beside Buck’s body. “Don’t you call me CRAZY!” he exclaimed, then kicked her hard in her side.

Camille curled her body into a ball for protection from his next assault. For a brief moment she caught a glimpse of him as he bent down to hit her again. He was laughing at her. It was the same wicked laugh he’d emitted when he shot Buck. Sheer terror overtook her as she realized he would kill her too.

She scrambled to her hands and knees to get away from him, only to have him kick her back down to the ground. This time her face fell hard on Buck’s boots and sent her head spinning. She clawed at the dirt to pull herself away from Tom when she jammed her fingers against a hard piece of wood. She reached out for what she thought was a stick to defend herself. But she soon realized it wasn’t a stick after all.... it was Buck’s knife. His knife, still in its sleath, was hidden between the ground and his boot. She grabbed the handle tightly and held the knife in front of her as she rolled over. She’d only meant to use the knife to ward off Tom’s brutal beating, but he lunged toward her at the same time she turned over.

Tom landed hard on the large knife and it plunged deep into his chest. Tom’s eyes grew wide with the awareness of his injury. In his final assault on her, he cast her a demented smile that she knew would haunt her for years.   Camille trembled when Tom’s body went limp and she pushed hard to roll him off of her. She stared at Buck’s knife protruding from Tom’s chest in disbelief. What have I done, I’ve killed him she thought. She couldn’t suppress the heaves of bile that rose from her stomach as she cried in out in horror at what she had done. Camille was numb with shock. She sat in a lethargic trance between the man she hated most and the man she love desperately, both lying in a pool of blood.

She willed herself to look at Buck. She must accept that life had sentenced her to the cruelest punishment possible…life without soul mate. No longer was she whole. Her body would continue to live but her senses were dead. She would breathe, she would walk and she would eat. But she would never feel his rough hands in hers again or hear him say her name. She would no longer see the way his face lit up when he smiled or smell the hint of sage in his hair after he’d been to pray. She could no longer contain her tears. They rained down her cheeks, as she pressed her fingers to her lips in grief…never again would she taste his salty kiss at the end of a long day.

Her knees snagged on her skirt as she scurried to Buck’s side. Camille gently rolled him to his back and brushed the wild tendrils of his hair from his face. She placed her hand on the side of his face, tracing his brow with her fingertips. She ran her ivory finger down the side of his dark temples and across his high cheekbone. His skin was still warm and moist, it almost deceived her into believing he was not lost to her after all.   She willed him to open his eyes for her, allowing her access to his soul. Sorrow consumed her as she pressed gentle kisses to his cheek. She relished the sensation of his skin against her lips, just this one last time. Camille closed her eyes to beg their Kiowa Gods to grant deliverance, yet she knew there would be none. She shuddered against her desperate attempt to contain her sorrow as she brushed his lips to hers. Camille could taste her tears on his lips as she lingered, not wishing to end their final kiss. It was then she felt it. A brief delicate flurry touched her face. A breath. Camille lay very still, she held the air within her lungs and waited. There it was again.... she felt it again! She felt the gentle whisper of breath on her cheek. The gentle whisper of Buck’s breath. Buck was breathing! He wasn’t dead. He was alive!