Breathe: A Novel of Colorado (52 page)

"Those are terrible things to say, Odessa, terrible. I'll remind you
I'm a lawman, well thought of from Denver to Albuquerque. Better
not level such accusations again, or it'll come back to bite you and
yours, understand me?" He patted her hands again and tipped his
head toward Bryce, who stared furiously back at them. "Understand
me?" he repeated.

"I understand," she said. "Pause up ahead."

"At the arroyo?"

"Yes." They pulled up alongside it. "Sam's poem? He wrote, `See
God's finger pointing southwesterly.' See it?"

"I see it," Doctor Morton said. He moved off ahead of them.

They rode for some time, entering a winding trail up between
two steep cliffs that bordered a stream. "Dess," Bryce said, nodding
up and to the left.

"What is it?" Reid asked, looking up to the rocks.

That was when she spotted it and murmured, "`Lady and child,
now pillars of stone, who lead the way."'

"Very good," Reid said. "Very, very good. If that part of the old
man's poem is correct, perhaps the rest will bear out too." He glanced
back at Bryce. "But you know the way, McAllan, already, don't you?
Stay ahead of us here, where the path narrows."

Bryce moved ahead of him, and Doctor Morton and the two men
trailed behind. In minutes, they reached a ramshackle homestead and
a mine, worked by what looked like ten men, mostly Chinese laborers. "The DeChants' old place," Bryce said over his shoulder to Odessa.
"Apparently, someone else has laid claim to the mine. The sanatorium?"

"Just keep moving and keep your mouth shut, McAllan," Reid
returned.

But Odessa's eyes covered the men moving in and out of the
mine. They each nervously glanced their way and either picked up
their pace or scurried to work, clearly recognizing and fearing Reid
and Doc Morton. Reid kept his eyes on Bryce, but Odessa was thinking about the sanatorium files, of the claim upon the DeChant land
for a debt of less than a hundred dollars. She thought of Amille, mad
with worry for a child long dead, of John and his stooped, heavily
burdened shoulders as he walked away that day, of a small child,
innocent.... If these people were willing to kill the entire DeChant
family, why would they keep Bryce and her alive?

She considered it now, no longer weeping, but with a certain
distant, factual process after she could no longer see the mine laborers. You brought me into this world, Lord. You gave me brothers and
You took all but one of them away. You gave me love, when I could not
imagine anything more than survival. And You gave me life again, when
I thought I was to die. just as You did with Bryce. She moved to look
over Reid's shoulder at her husband, ahead of them.

As if he could feel her, hear her prayers, Bryce turned in the
saddle and looked back at her, his eyes wide and sad, saying goodbye, I love you, Dess. I've loved you with everything in me.

She closed her eyes, unable to bear the wrenching sadness of such a silent parting. You gave me that man to love, Lord. You gave me
love and life. And with every breath I take, it is Yours to do with what
You wish. I am giving You myself, Jesus. I have borne sorrow most have
not had to, but I understand I have also been granted a gift most never
receive. I understand what it means to breathe another breath and be
thankful solely for that. I dreamed for more, Lord. A life. A future. But
in this moment, on this day, in this place, hear me when I say, I am
Yours. Save us, or welcome us into Your kingdom. I am Yours.

Reid shivered, squirming beneath her grasp, and glanced over his
shoulder. "What are you doing, woman?"

"I am praying."

"Well, quit it. We're not in church, and where we're going, I'm
all the god you need." He laughed then at his own joke.

The path widened before them, and Bryce paused. Beyond him
was a small cabin beside a stream. Sam's home.

"What is it?" Doctor Morton asked.

"We need to go up, higher," Bryce said, eyes on Odessa.

"Sam's poem," she said. "`Land in my mother's name, within an
old sheepherder's cabin, in high hills of pinon pine."'

"Louise O'Toole was her name," Bryce said tiredly. "Part of Sam's
estate, now signed over to me, along with Sam's property."

"Why, that clever old coot," Reid said, shaking his head in admiration. "That's why we couldn't find it. You know how to get there?"

"Up until this week, I thought Sam's property ended here.
Judging from the poem and the land assessor's description, it should
be just over that rise and around the bend."

"Lead on, then." He chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath
Odessa's hands. So he was about to get to what he wanted. What he and the doctor so desperately desired. They moved up the path, the
horses working hard now with the steep incline. Odessa glanced
back and saw the mountain ranges rising above these pinon-clad
hills-the Sangres in the distance, the Wet Mountains just above
them.

They rounded a bend and there it was, a decrepit old cabin with
a roof that appeared ready to cave in with the first snow. Reid looked
around. He gestured to the men. "I want you on either side of this
place, arms at the ready while we're inside. Understood?"

"Got it, Boss," said one. The other just nodded.

Doctor Morton pulled his mare to a stop beside them and
immediately began to dismount. Bryce was already tying his horse
to a tree near the tiny structure. Reid dismounted and reached for
her, but Odessa kicked her leg over and slid down on the opposite
side. She ignored his low laugh, concentrating on her husband, who
reached one arm out to her. She hurried over to him, nestling underneath, closing her eyes as he wrapped it around her, as if she could
memorize the feel of it.

"After you," Reid said, gesturing forward.

Bryce climbed the rickety stairs and opened the door. "Go on,
Dess. It's all right," he said, saying more to her through his eyes than
his words.

She stepped forward, wishing he could read the love in her
own.

"Get going," Reid said, pushing Bryce and then her inside. Doc
Morton followed behind.

They looked around. But the room was entirely empty.

Reid knelt and started knocking. He glanced at Odessa. "I remember. `Chest beneath the floor.' Something about wealth, right?
Help me."

Doctor Morton immediately began his own search in the far
corner. Odessa and Bryce, acknowledging the inevitable, joined in.

"Here," Bryce said, going over a section again with one knuckle.
He reached for his knife in his back pocket, realized it had been
confiscated, and looked up at Reid. The sheriff reached for his own
knife, glanced at them all, and then pried up the first board.

They could see it immediately. Three more boards and it was
half-uncovered. Five more, it was totally free. A trunk, as if brought
over from the old country decades before. Reid brushed off a thick
layer of dust, unlatched the lid, and slowly pulled it open.

Bryce laughed aloud.

Inside was only a Bible.

"Wealth that is eternal," Odessa muttered.

"What?" Reid asked, jerking his head toward her.

"Wealth that is eternal," Odessa said with a small smile. She
knelt and gingerly picked it up, then opened the cover. "I think it's
in Gaelic," she said.

"Appropriate for an O'Toole," Bryce said with a grin.

Reid pulled the trunk out and flung it to his left. He dropped
down into the narrow crawl space and peered around, as if he expected
to see a trapdoor or an opening. His face grew flushed, and when he
did not find anything, he stepped out of the hole and glowered at Bryce
and Odessa. "What else?" he seethed, taking a step toward Odessa.

Bryce stepped in front of her.

"What else?" Reid roared. "What else did O'Toole write about
this?"

Odessa shook her head, finding it hard to breathe in the face of
his wrath. "`Chest beneath the floor, wealth that burns, and that that
is eternal."'

He bumped into Bryce and Bryce shoved him backward.

"No!" Odessa cried. "That's it. I promise. There was nothing
more."

Doctor Morton took the Bible from her hands and rifled
through the pages. He threw Reid a helpless look. "She's right. It's
all in Gaelic."

"Any messages on the inside? Notes?" Reid asked, pacing now,
running a hand through his hair.

The doctor glanced through it again. "Nothing. I see nothing
but the text."

Reid stopped suddenly, paused, and then stared at Odessa. "There
is something more." His hand went to his revolver and he pulled it from
the holster, just as the doctor set his own gun against Bryce's temple.

Odessa shook her head, backing up until she hit the wall. The
doctor drove Bryce sideways, clearing the way for Reid. He didn't
stop until the gun was centered between her brows, until she could
feel the cold ring of it. Dear God, are You waiting for me? Please don't
let me feel alone as I die, Jesus. Hold me close. My life is Yours. My very
breath is Yours, Savior.

"Odessa!" Reid roared again. "Where is it? He told you something else, didn't he?"

She focused on the sheriff. He was shaking in his fury, his pupils
unnaturally dilated. He abruptly holstered his gun, grabbed her wrists,
and slammed both up against the wall until his face was right beside
hers. He was so close she could feel the heat emanating off his body.

"Odessa." He waited for her to look him in the eyes.

"Get away from her!" Bryce screamed.

Reid's eyes shifted to her husband. "Maybe she told you where it
is, Bryce. What will it take for you to tell me?" He touched Odessa's
face and gave her a lopsided smile, but his eyes went back to Bryce,
seeing how his action was affecting him. His finger traced down, past
her jaw to her neck. "the greatest fear of a consumptive is suffocation, right?" He pinched her throat a little.

Bryce, no longer able to remain idle, immediately pushed past
the doctor and a shot rang out. It was so close that both Bryce and
Odessa felt the bullet go past them. Both froze.

"Tell me, Odessa," Reid said, tightening his grip on her throat.
"Or do you no longer fear death? Maybe it'll take you watching me
place your beloved's head under the stream until he ceases writhing.
Is that what it will take?"

Lord? Please, God. Not Bryce. Please don't let them take Bryce.

"Tell me," Reid whispered, letting up on the pressure at her
throat. "Tell me what I want to know, Odessa, or Bryce will die first.
I'll make you watch."

She closed her eyes and panted in fear. Not that, Jesus. Please
don't let them take him first. So much death, Lord. Please don't make me
endure this, too, Father. I can't endure it.

You can endure all things with Me at your side. Lean on Me, child.
I will give you strength.

Her breath quickened at this word. Was she imagining things?
Or had God spoken to her?

Outside.

"Outside. It's outside." She closed her eyes, wondering at where the words were coming from. Moreover, she wondered where the
sudden hope was coming from. She felt a burst of power, a thrill raise
the hairs of every inch of her body. Hope. As surely as if she were
surrounded by God Himself. It can't be....

Reid released her throat and backed a step away, as if repulsed.
As if-"What are you doing?"

"Doing?" She moved forward and glanced over her shoulder.
"I'm showing you the way." Boldly, she continued walking, dimly
wondering if a bullet would pierce her back at any moment, but
unable to stop her momentum. She paused at the door. "Coming?"

Reid frowned, but the doctor was already pushing Bryce ahead
of him. Slowly, Reid followed.

The four of them stepped into the bright light of a summer afternoon, brilliant blue, cloudless skies above that Odessa hadn't noticed
on the way here. A man moved on her left. The guard. She glanced
to the right. There was the other.

I got them outside, Lord. Now what? She waited, but heard nothing. Had it all been in her head? A fervent dream made real? God
didn't speak to people anymore, did He? Had she slipped into madness like Amille DeChant?

A gunshot sounded, and then another. Five more, in rapid succession. Odessa felt the impact of a man's body, felt herself going down as
if she were no longer in her own skin. Was she hit? Dying? Is this what
it would feel like to give in to the death that had hunted her for years?
The monster that had taken her brothers, her mother, her father?

From far away, she heard more gunfire, looked for her husband ...
discovered him beside her ... gazing down at her. He took her face in
his hands. She could see him mouth words. Odessa. Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe, Odessa, echoed her God. Live. You are Mine.

As if remembering that it was what she was supposed to do, she
made herself pull air in through her nostrils, felt her lungs inflate,
saw Bryce smile, saw hope enter his eyes. And then she did it again.
And again.