�They wouldn�t hide in here, right in the house. There�s basements and things.�
�Them black, caving-in cellars? Not Violet. Scared of spiders, scared of the dark. And where the hell�s the station wagon? You think they went on down the hills?�
�Told you, car was damn near out of gas. Running on fumes. Told you I was out of canned gas. No, they hid the wagon somewhere; could be anywhere in this mess.� The other car door slammed, and their footsteps crunched across stones, the twin beams of their torches flashing up the steps and across the porch, then blazing straight in through the front door and across the tangles of fallen furniture.
Cage stood in the doorway looking in, seeming, in the flashlight�s reflection, as big as a giant. �You go find the station wagon. I�ll take care of this bunch. Still don�t know why you left the keys in it. If you can�t find it, look for tracks, try to make yourself useful.�
�Told you I didn�t leave the keys in it!� Eddie stood on the porch behind Cage, shining his light back into the ruins as if hoping the station wagon would miraculously appear and he wouldn�t have to go searching for it in the dark.
�You didn�t leave them in it, then you gave � em to Violet! Or you told her where they were. I swear, sometimes-�
�There,� Eddie shouted, jumping off the porch, swinging his light and running.
Cage turned and looked.�What the hell!� then took off after Eddie. When they were gone, Wilma rose and went to the window, stood watching them.
�They found it,� she said as Charlie joined her. They could see the men�s two lights shining down the embankment, could hear their voices clearly in the still night. Eddie began to laugh. �Guess that did �em.�
�What the hell?� Cage�s torchlight shining down silhouetted his tall bulk. �What you mean, that did �em? Ain�t nobody in the damn wagon. Damn women got out.� As he turned, staring back toward the house, Wilma grabbed Charlie�s hand, ready to go out the back.
But Charlie pulled away and moved to the front door, staring into the night.
�Come on!� Wilma said, grabbing her. �Before they come back.� Outside, at the wreck, the men were quiet for a moment, as if looking over the damage to the old car. When Wilma tried to pull Charlie with her, Charlie jerked away roughly.
�What?� Wilma snapped.
�Look,� Charlie said softly, slipping out onto the porch. �Watch, maybe half a mile back along the tree line-where the trees part. Watch the little dip, with the sky a shade lighter behind it. Watch right there, something�s coming, I saw movement farther back�� She gripped Wilma�s hand. �Horses. Horses on the trail�Max��
Wilma could not hear horses. This was Charlie�s wishful thinking. She had dropped Charlie�s hand and was starting to turn away when�
�There,� Charlie hissed. �There, see!�
Wilma glimpsed something moving past the little dip, then it was gone. Two riders, making for the ruins.
Terror filled Charlie�s voice. �Cage has a handgun, and there�s a shotgun in the Jeep. If he hears them�� She pulled Wilma through the front door and down the steps. �Go! Go down to Max�s men, tell them to come fast, on foot, and quietly��
�But you can�t��
�Go!� Charlie snapped. �Take the cats!� She snatched up Kit and shoved her at Wilma. �Go with her, both of you!� And she moved away through the blackness, toward the Jeep. Wilma wanted to drag her back, but knew she could make things worse by charging after her and alerting Cage. She could only go for help, as fast as she could go, down through the rubble and the dark road.
27
�D amn bitch!� Cage hissed, staring down the cliff. �How the hell did she get loose! That bitch Violet. Why the hell did you give her the keys! She cut that bitch loose and now she�s wrecked the wagon! Look at it! And both of �em gone!�
�I didn�t give her no keys, I told you! Maybe they hot-wired the car.�
�That�s sure as hell lame! Violet couldn�t hot-wire nothing, she hardly knows which end of a hammer to use! What�d you do, have extra keys made? I thought I could trust you!� He looked so hard at Eddie Sears that Eddie took a step back.
�I swear, I never had no keys made. I neverdrove the car, it�s your car�I thought you planned a few more heists and then would dump it�I swear, Cage��
�If you never drive it, how�d it run out of gas? Where�d you drive it to? What else have you been lying about?�
Eddie�s voice shook. �I swear, Cage, I never. You drove it two weeks ago. If I�d used it, you know I�d of put gas in!�
�And why the hell didn�t you work Violet over beforehand? Look at the mess you�ve made.�
�I should of,� Eddie said, backing away. �Should of beat her up good.� But then he rallied. �That old woman�ll show herself. She�ll come out when she knows you have her niece, when we drag the redhead out where the old bitch can see �er.�
As the men left the edge of the cliff, heading for the trailer, in the blackness beside a fallen wall Charlie slipped toward the Jeep. She could hear, above her, the soft hush of hooves on the trail and the occasional click of a shod hoof against stone as the riders approached and, once, the faint jingle of a bit. In another minute, Cage would enter the trailer and see that she was gone and come roaring back. Enraged, would he return to the Jeep to grab his shotgun? Max would be nearer, then. They�d hear the horses and shine their lights on Max like jacking a deer. She daren�t shout to warn him, daren�t telegraph his presence.
Racing toward the dark silhouette of the Jeep, she couldn�t tell where Max would enter the ruins. Would the horses spook among the unfamiliar night shadows, shy and make a fuss, rearing and backing, and give Max away? As well broke as their mounts were, this was no easy place for a horse in the pitch dark and looming shadows, when he couldn�t see where he was stepping, and with dark figures moving mysteriously in the night.
Peering into the Jeep, then slipping inside onto the seat, she snatched up Cage�s wadded jacket. Yes, beneath it, between the two narrow front seats was the sawed-off shotgun. It took her precious moments to find the bracket that held it in place, then to discover how it worked. She was sweating and shaky when at last the gun came free.
Carefully fingering it, she could find no lever. She decided the shells must be ejected by the movable portion of the stock, like Max�s shotgun. Everything was harder in the dark, more so with as little as she knew about shotguns, and her increasing urgency as the horses drew closer; she heard one of the horses snort.
Laying the gun across her lap and wrapping the coat around it, she snapped the stock to eject a shell. She felt the shell fly out inside the coat, against her thigh. With shaking fingers she found it and snatched it up. She explored the parts of the stock and barrel as best she could, then pressed the shell into what she prayed was the feed. She had no idea how many shells the gun contained, but her guess was, if it was loaded, it would be fully loaded. Maybe six to ten rounds? She didn�t like to depend on a guess. Feeling for the safety, she found the little button pushed in; pressing it to a protruding position seemed logical for it to fire, if the in position sent a bolt through the firing mechanism. She was praying hard that she was right when she heard the two men burst out of the trailer. They came pounding straight toward the Jeep. They weren�t swearing now, they were silent and fast, only the sound of their running and stumbling on the rocks. At the same instant, she heard a low exclamation from the trail. She heard the horses milling, as if they�d been pulledup short. She was scrabbling her hands over the dash trying to find the light switch-and the men were there, racing at the Jeep. She found the switch and pulled it.
Twin beams like lasers cut the blackness, catching Cage with a shock of light; he loomed out of the dark, diving for the Jeep, blinded by light, then dropped down behind the fender, taking cover as he reached beneath his jacket. Eddie had ducked down on the other side; Charlie saw the top of his head, his cap moving as he began to circle, to get behind her.