Bitterroot Crossing (24 page)

    Obviously excited about the prospect of torturing his prisoner, Axel shot over to the burning wood. He leaned over to rip off a red hot strip. I plunged my own burning stick through his face. His entire head melted like wax on to his shoulders. It was a hideous sight.

Unfortunately I forgot to retrieve my stick from his melted head.

    Nick yelled out a warning just as I turned right into Butcher’s icy clutches. The way his now solid fingers bit into my arms told me he was an extremely angry ghost with alarmingly strong hands. I struggled to free myself, but his grasp strengthened to the point where I was sure he’d snap my arm bone.

    “We figured you two were going to botch this up.” Steamer was up on the hill looking down at the hole I’d hidden in when they set the shack on fire. His sinister glower landed on Axel. “Idiot.”    

    Butcher spoke above me sending his foul breath cascading over my face. I held my breath. “Get that head of yours back together, you fool, and gather some more long twigs. We’re going to truss her up just like the boy.”

    Within seconds Axel’s head reappeared. Poor Jasper snapped and bit at their legs the entire time they tied me up but to no avail. It’s hard to get a good toothy grip on vapor.

    Crow glared menacingly at the dog, and I feared for his safety.

    “Jasper, run.” The dog looked hesitant to leave. I motioned with my head, the only part free to move. “Go, now.”

    Obediently, he loped off down the hill.

    “We were finishing them off just fine.” Crow barked. He grabbed his own burning weapon, flew over to Nick, and held it menacingly close to his throat. “But it looks to me like this Crush is still alive, for now. Thought you two were going to take care of him.” Crow pressed his face into Nick’s. “How’d you like a branding, boy?” He pushed the stick toward Nick’s throat. Nick pulled his head back but the tree stopped him.

    “Stop!” I screamed and struggled against my bindings. Then something odd happened. Crow’s head popped off of his neck. It hovered several inches above his body. The ghost looked as surprised as the rest of us. He dropped the glowing wood and reached blindly for his disembodied head.

    Axel thought it amusing and laughed wildly until his own head flew off in the same manner. He, too, raced blindly around, stumbling and trying to catch his own head.

    “What the hell are you two up to?” Butcher asked. His head was next.

    “Damn you, Zedekiah,” Steamer yelled into the air. Wisely, he reached up and held onto his before it drifted away like the others. Rage filled his expression. “I’m finishing this now.” With one hand placed firmly on the top of his head, he used the other to pick up a piece of glowing wood. He raced between the two trees touching the kindling with the stick. Thin swirls of smoke began to drift up and snake around our feet.

    I could turn my head enough to see Nick. He could do the same.

    “Thank you for coming up to save me,” I said.

    “I was quite the hero, wasn’t I? Now we’re both going to be barbecued. Thanks for trying to save me too. You’ve got a good arm.”

    “I think it’s from all that needlepoint.” I gazed at his handsome face for a long moment. “You look tired, Nick.” I wanted to reach over and smooth the lines from his forehead.

    He nodded. “It’s been a long night.”

    I looked down at the kindling. Red sparks began to fly out of it. Just a week ago I was trying out my boots, hoping to perfect a walk that didn’t attract too much attention. Blending in had been my biggest worry. Now I was tied to a tree next to a boy who I’d fallen completely in love with, and we were both destined to die a horrible death. If I survived this, I would never fret about my uneven gait again.

    “You guys all suck, do you know that?” Nick said. He was struggling to free himself but it was impossible.

    I started to tremble now. Death by fire seemed like the most torturous death there could be. I struggled against my restraints as well but only succeeded in having them cut in to my skin.

    Only Steamer had managed to hold himself together. The other three were still stumbling around in a horrid display of headless bodies trying to catch up with their tops. Their heads were yelling at each other as they bobbed around in the air.

    “This is all your fault, Crow,” Butcher’s head yelled as it wobbled past Crow’s. “You always were a worthless fool.”

    “Why you rancid-breathed, sour-faced old shit,” Crow said, “When I get my head back I’m going to take you apart limb by limb.”

    “Shut up, all of ya,” Steamer said. “As usual I had to finish this without any of you.”

    Heat circled my feet and ankles now. Ironically, it felt comforting at first, but then the temperature rose and I tried in vain to lift them away from the fire.

    “Nick, do you think he’ll still come?”

    “Yeah, I think he might. He likes to make a grand entrance.”

    The comforting warmth had turned menacingly hot. The reedy branches held fast to my arms and legs. I could not avoid the flames that began to tickle the soles of my bare feet.

    “I’ve always found--”

    The words rolled out from the surrounding trees. In my state of fear, it took me a minute to decipher whose voice I’d just heard. But then a black hat appeared. A small cry of joy escaped my lips. Just like always, he was breathtaking. “Zedekiah,” I said in an awed whisper.

    He tipped his hat at me. “-- like I was saying, I’ve always found that the ladies like a grand entrance.”

    “Yeah, that probably works better when the said lady is not on fire,” Nick said. “You want to hurry, pops, before we ended up squashed between two graham crackers and chocolate bars.”

    Steamer still managed to hold on to his head. “Hey, boss, which one you gonna save? Looks like you’ll have to choose between the pretty girl and your own kin.”

    Zedekiah stared at his ex-gang member with cold-hearted derision. It looked as if he was hiding something behind his back. “Steamer, want your head? Catch.” He hurled something round and white at Steamer. The ghost let go of his incorporeal head and caught the object. As his ghostly head separated from his neck it yelled. “Damn you, Zedekiah!” The object in his hands was an old white ball I used to throw for Jasper.

    As usual Zedekiah’s demeanor stayed cool and confident. “Don’t you worry,
gang
, your ugly heads are safe and sound. They just aren’t attached to your skeletons anymore.”

    Flames were dancing around our legs. “So, Gramps, are you going to stand there with that cocky grin for the rest of the day or are you going to get us off these trees?”

    Zedekiah strolled toward me and started breaking my bindings. “Well, I’m definitely going to untie Jessie. I’ll decide about you later.”

    “Zedekiah, the fire is getting higher,” I said in a panic. “Hurry, Nick will be burned.”

    He turned toward Nick’s tree and blew an icy wind toward it. The fire went out instantly. He did the same with the flames around my tree. He winked at me. “Sometimes it’s good to be a ghost.”

    “Thank you, Zedekiah. It was getting close,” I said.

    His dark blue gaze softened as he looked into my eyes. “I never would have let them hurt you,” he said in a near whisper. For a spirit, he was an incredibly skilled flirt. I could only imagine how formidable he’d been in the flesh. No wonder he’d left broken hearts in every town.

    He glanced over at Nick. “I wouldn’t have let them hurt the boy either, but don’t tell him that.” Zedekiah had broken the bindings from my legs but stopped suddenly. He was staring at the locket. His face tightened and he lost that cocksure expression he’d worn just moments before.

    “I’m sorry, Zedekiah. I put it on a few days ago and I couldn’t get it off.”

    He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. It belongs to you anyhow. I’m glad to see you wearing it.” He continued untying me. Then we both untied Nick.

    Nick took hold of my hand the moment he was free. “Jessie, you are amazing.”

    “You’re not too shabby yourself, Nick Crush.” I tried to sound nonchalant but inside my heart was doing full somersaults. We hugged for a long time, but I really wished he’d kiss me already.

    In our elation at not dying a horrendously painful death, we’d quite forgotten about our headless captors. They pranced around the clearing grabbing for their heads.

    “That’s the most terrifying yet hilarious thing I’ve ever seen,” Nick said. “Great idea. I’m glad I thought of it.”

    Zedekiah laughed. “You? This was my plan.”

    “Down at the swamp, I put the notion in your head and you know it,” Nick said.

     I cleared my throat. “I’m starving and I’m cold.”

     Nick glanced down at my feet. “You’re feet must be freezing. I’ll carry you down.”

    Zedekiah stepped closer. “I’ll carry her down.”

    “I don’t think so, old man. I’ve got plenty of energy left. I can carry her. Besides your hands can only stay solid for so long. Thankfully.” He rubbed his neck and for the first time I noticed a red burn mark around it. “You might drop her.”

    Zedekiah’s mouth opened to protest. I stopped him.

    “While I’m completely flattered by this little debate, my feet are turning a rather unseemly shade of blue at the moment. Why don’t you take turns?”

    “I’ll go first,” Nick blurted.

    “Fine,” Zedekiah said sounding a bit hurt. “But you’d better hurry in case those guys manage to grab hold of their heads.” He turned and left.

    “I think it’s easier if I climb on your back like a piggy back ride,” I said feeling even more foolish now for not having any shoes. “What a helpless ninny I am. It’s just I left the house so quickly, I didn’t have time to put on shoes.”

    “The barn . . . You raced out to save Mandy, didn’t you?”

    “I couldn’t let her die. I just couldn’t.” My words broke up and I was holding back tears. The stress of the entire night had finally gotten to me. His shoulders felt strong and solid beneath my hands. He reached around and pulled my legs around his waist.

    Nick smiled down at my pajama pants. “Pink and white sheep. Just what I would have expected on your P.J.s. Is there anything about you that isn’t adorable?”

    I leaned my face over his shoulder, kissed him on the cheek and then pressed my face against his. “Personally, I think on this particular morning, I would have been more adorable if I’d been wearing shoes.”

    “To be honest, I’m kind of liking the no shoe thing.” He pulled my legs tighter around his waist and trotted toward home.

Chapter 33

    Nana!” Jessie slid down from my back. Her grandma was riding Mandy up the mountain trail.

    Jessie climbed up behind her grandma and hugged her tightly. They both cried happiness tears the entire way home.

    We got to back to the farm. Zedekiah was leaning against the fence post smoking his never-ending cigarette. The pile of ashes that was once their barn was still smoldering. Jessie released Mandy into her pasture.

    “You’re dad was here a bit ago with the sheriff. I let him know you were alright,” Jessie’s grandma said.

    Jessie joined us, but she kept staring over at Zedekiah. He looked sort of out of it, like he was deep in thought about something.

    “They’ve gone back to town to get a crew together,” her grandma continued. “They’ve got to dredge that swamp and bring up the rest of the remains. I’ve got the skulls hidden in a safe place in the meantime. That way those darn spirits will stay out of the way.”