“Slim!” Sister Michael flew into the hotel lobby, her black skirts hiked up to her knees as she ran. “Slim! Scott!” She spotted Slim talking to Scott and Pearl by the front desk. She skidded to a stop and held onto Slim’s arm with both hands as she heaved, dragging air into her starved lungs.
“They’re…gone!” she gasped.
Pearl moved around Slim and took Michael in a bear hug patting her lightly on the back. “Now just calm down, sweetie. Tell ol’ Pearl what’s wrong.”
Michael heaved some more, pulling away from Pearl and bending at the waist, hands on her knees. After several more deep breaths, she felt like she just may keep from passing out. “Kate and Isabelle…I went to go…pick up Isabelle…and they were gone…”
Percy materialized behind her with a chair and Pearl pushed her down into it as a glass of water magically appeared in Michael’s hand. She looked at it in tacit acceptance of the divine intervention and gulped it down.
Scott squatted on the floor before her and took the glass. “Angie, tell us what happened. Who’s Isabelle?”
Slim answered for her. “She’s one of the children from the orphanage. She came into town with me and Sister Michael and she went over to visit her friend Kate.”
Michael nodded wordlessly, wagging her finger first at Slim and then at Scott, nodding her head as if conveying her agreement through the air with her hand. Suddenly she remembered the note. Shuffling desperately though her skirts, she pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of a hidden pocket and shoved it at Scott.
Scott paled as he read the note. Then he rose to his feet as if the anger were pushing him up. “Damnation! They took them!”
Pearl was fanning herself with a lacy hankie that she’d pulled from her voluminous sleeve. “Who took them?”
“The same ones that took Johnny! Dammit, I should’ve known they’d do something like this.” He pushed the note at Slim.
Slim read it quickly.
Reverend Mother- your charge and the woman are safe for now. You will pack up the children and whatever belongings you wish to take and be ready to vacate my property by tomorrow morning. I will take possession at ten am by whatever means necessary to secure what is rightfully mine. I have made arrangements for you in Salinas and shall see you safely there. The two redheads will be returned to you there if you cooperate. Please don’t force me to be unpleasant. Your servant, Clayton Elizondo.
Slim put a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “You couldn’t have known, Scott.”
Scott scrubbed a hand through his blonde hair and paced quickly back and forth. “We need to get out to the orphanage.”
Pearl snapped her fingers at Percy, who seemed to know telepathically what she wanted. He scurried away to do her bidding.
“The wagons, and as many men as I can spare will be out front in a few minutes.” She bent and put her arm around Sister Michael’s shoulders. “You stay here with me, honey. Scott and Slim are going to bring the children back here to the hotel.”
“No!” Michael lunged to her feet. “I have to go. I have to get back to the children!” She knew she was losing control and forced herself to calm down. She looked at Pearl’s kind face and eyes full of un-shed tears and she deflated. “I’m so sorry, Pearl, I just have to go. You understand, don’t you?”
“I sure do sweetie. I’d be goin’ myself if I didn’t have so much to do here to get ready.” She pulled Michael into another embrace.
Scott had re-read the note several times, the anger rising with each read-through.
Pearl released Michael and turned to Scott. “Sweetie, you be careful and you bring that handsome brother of yours back here, and both of you bring my Katie back.”
Scott’s eyes met hers and he smiled. “Yes, ma’am. I’m gonna make Elizondo sorry he messed with us, especially Kate,” he added absently, almost to himself.
Slim, Pearl and Michael had all turned to look at him, stunned by his declaration that seemed to omit Isabelle and Johnny.
Scott’s eyes darted from Slim, to Michael, to Pearl and back to Slim. “We had a date!” he spat, his eyes flashing. He crumpled the note in his fist, threw it on the floor and stalked out the front door.
Slim’s blue eyes twinkled and a smile threatened to break through. He nodded to Pearl and pulled Michael to her feet. “Guess we’d better go find Scott’s date,” he said with amusement and lead Michael out into the morning sunshine.
Chapter 41
It was mid afternoon by the time Scott and Slim, and their caravan reached the orphanage. Pearl had supplied three large wagons and three men from her kitchen and janitorial staff.
As soon as they pulled into the compound, children gathered around the wagons, and several of the boys helped Sister Mike down. Their excited voices hinted that something had happened while they’d been gone. Everyone was trying to talk at once. Michael noticed that all of the boys were filthy dirty and some had torn clothes.
“Hold it! Hold it! One at a time! What’s happening?” she shouted. Scott and Slim had come around the wagon to stand next to her.
Felix grabbed Sister Mike’s hand and pulled her toward the chapel. “Come see, sister! Come see!”
They all followed curiously. As they approached the arched entrance to the ancient building, Jess emerged, slapping dust out of his jeans and shaking his head. He bent over and coughed hard as he rubbed a dirty hand through his dark hair causing a cascade of loose dirt to fall.
Behind him serenely stood the Reverend Mother with her hands buried inside the sleeves of her habit. The smile on her dirty face was beatific.
Sister Mike laid a hand on Jess’ back and slapped him, trying to help him cough up whatever he was trying to cough up. He raised a hand and she stopped. “It’s okay, I’m fine,” he said hoarsely.
He straightened up and she could see his watery eyes with red rims
“Jess, what in the world are you doing? You’re going to make yourself sick again!”
He held up a hand to silence her while he coughed again. Then he stood and looked her in the face, a grin spreading slowly from ear to ear.
She couldn’t help but smile back. “What?”
Slim stepped forward. “Jess, tell us what’s going on around here right now, or I’ll pound you!”
Jess quietly took Michael by the hand. “Come with me,” as he turned and led her into the chapel.
Slim and Scott looked at one another perplexed and followed behind.
Jess led the group down the old stone steps to the cellar. The temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees as they descended the age-smoothed stone. Slim could see right off that the place had not been cleaned out much since he’d left this morning.
Jess led them unerringly through the basement to an open doorway in the far back wall. There was a pile of rubble near the door that had been pushed out of the way. “That was an old wooden armoire that we tried to move and it fell. Look what we found behind it.” He grinned at Mike as he grabbed a lantern and pulled her into the dark room.
Jess held the lantern high as the others crowded in behind him. He could hear the collective intake of breath in the silence. The room had been fashioned out of earth below the house. No walls, no floor as such, just hard packed dirt and lots of it.
Mike was the first to recover her speech. “Wh-wh-what is this? Where did this come from?”
She moved slowly among the neatly stacked and sorted relics. The gold shown brightly in the lantern-light, and seemingly moved as the shadows washed over them. The faces on the icons were yellowed with great age, but the colors of the paint were still vibrant enough to see the reds and blues of the ancient artist’s palette. There was statuary, some as tall as Jess, others as small and fine as any porcelain figurine.
“This is…this is incredible!” Scott allowed as he walked among the relics, careful not to touch them. He knew they wouldn’t disintegrate under his touch, but reverence prevented him from laying a hand to them.
Slim stood still, hands on hips as his head nodded up and down. “Elizondo,” he said simply.
“Aye, Mister Sherman, this is what he’s after, and no doubt about it. He doesn’t give a fig about the orphanage, it’s this priceless treasure that he wants for himself I’m afraid.” The Reverend Mother had come in behind Slim. Even though she’d seen the treasure and had spent several hours with it, studying it, it still awed her. The Catholic church was rich in antiquities, but to find such a bounty in such an unlikely place was almost unfathomable.
Sister Mike had turned to the Mother with her jaw hanging open. “What’ll we do with it, Mother?”
“Well, for now, I say leave it where it is. It’s safer here than if we try to move it. My guess is that Mister Elizondo doesn’t know exactly where it is, or he would have come straight for it, perhaps in the dead of night. He wanted the property so he could search at his leisure.”
“I’m sure you’re right, ma’am,” Scott said. He put his hands on his hips as he walked around. “Well, this certainly explains a lot, but we have other problems to worry about right now.” He turned to the Reverend Mother. “Elizondo has my brother at his camp, and he’s taken Kate Finney and Isabelle.”
The Reverend Mother gasped and put a wrinkled hand to her mouth. “Oh dear! Little Isabelle!”
Jess had frozen to his spot. Slim could see his jaw muscles working, his blue eyes flashing in the dim lantern light. Jess’ rage was barely contained and Slim knew the men who had taken Isabelle had made a serious error in judgment. They would pay at the hands of one seriously pissed ex-gunfighter.
Sister Michael moved to the Mother’s side and put an arm around her shoulders. Words did not come easily and they contented themselves to stand quietly. Scott came over to stand beside them.
“Ma’am, I’d suggest we seal this up again as best we can and start getting ready to leave. We have wagons outside and Pearl has agreed to put you and the children up at the hotel until this is over.”
The Reverend Mother looked at him as if this were too much to absorb all at once. Sister Michael decided against giving Mother the note.
No,” the Mother said. She looked steely eyed at Scott. “I’ll not be leaving; the children, yes, but I’ll be stayin’. God has led us to this wonderful treasure and I’ll not abandon it. We are the stewards of it now.”
Scott looked at Slim who was still looking around the treasure-filled room. He glanced over to Scott and met his eye, knowing Scott wanted his help, but just as sure that no help he could render would be enough. He shrugged, palms up. “You want to argue with the lady?” he said lightly.
Scott scowled.
Slim clapped his dusty, gloved hands together and went into his take-charge, let’s-get-this-show-on-the-road attitude. “Jess, I want you out of here now. This dirt and dust isn’t good for your lungs.” He paused as Jess shot him daggers. Slim stepped over to him and pulled up to his full height, hands on hips, “and there will be no arguments.” There weren’t any as Jess’ snapped his mouth shut.
He turned to Scott. “Scott, you and me will shore up this opening and move some stuff in front of it to hide it. Make it look like the junk has been here a thousand years. I don’t want any of those men we brought back down here. The fewer people who know about this, the better.”
“What about the kids?” Sister Michael asked.
“Let’s put them to work. Keep ‘em busy. We gotta pack ‘em up and haul ‘em out of here before dark.”
Chapter 42
It was a clear night. The moon was still almost full and cast light and deep shadows. Johnny was grateful for the shadows. He looked at the stars and listened to the night sounds. His right ear was still useless so turning his head to the left to listen had become habitual. He squatted silently in the dark shadows behind Elizondo’s tent with his good ear cocked for any sound from within.
The voices had quieted and several men had left, but at least two remained. Throughout the day, the word had come down that the compound would be taken tomorrow. There were orders to not kill unless necessary.
Elizondo told the men that the property was legally his and the orphanage was there illegally. He had tried all legal means to regain his property, and was now forced to take it. Whether the men believed him or not was irrelevant. He had paid well for their guns and their loyalty.
Elizondo had purchased twelve wagons to transport the children and the nuns off the property and had already made arrangements for them to be moved to Salinas. By the time they arrived there, the deed to Our Lady would be in his hands. Murdoch Lancer would gladly hand it over to keep his precious Lancer from the threat of land pirates once more.
The bitter taste of Day Pardee and his backers was still fresh in the mouth of the old man. Elizondo was certain that his much larger, and well-financed threat would convince Murdoch Lancer to acquiesce. In the year and a half since the Pardee raid, the law had moved in to the area, but not enough to be a threat. Small towns and local sheriffs were no match for an ambitious businessman such as himself.
Elizondo knew that Brubaker intended to continue on and take Lancer, and Elizondo had continued to allow him to believe that his ambitions lay in that direction. The destruction of Lancer was the threat he used, but the truth was, Our Lady was much more valuable than even Lancer and no one but he knew it.
