The Shepherd's Voice (39 page)

There was no sound as she neared the top of the rise, except for the snow crunching beneath her boots and her collie’s persistent growls. Then the valley came into view, and her heart stopped at the sight before her. Dozens of sheep lay scattered across the ground, their blood turning the snow to crimson.

“Mark?” she shouted, not seeing any sign of the young man.
“Mark!”

No answer.

She looked over her shoulder. “Ethan, get Gabe. Quick!”

The boy dropped the plates of food and took off at a run. Akira didn’t watch his race back toward the ranch house. Instead, she hurried down the slope toward the slaughtered sheep.

“Mark!”

No wild animal had done this. Only man was capable of this carnage.

“Mark!”

The cold air stung her lungs. She stumbled more than once in the snow, but caught herself each time before she fell.

O God
,
help me find him.

“Mark!”

She saw him then, a crumpled form beneath a misshapen Ponderosa pine. For a moment she couldn’t move toward him; she seemed to be frozen in place. Then she heard a soft moan. The sound broke the spell of fear.

“I’m here, Mark. It’s all right.” She made her way to him as fast as she could.

As she fell to her knees on the ground beside him, he touched the back of his head with one gloved hand and groaned again.

“Don’t move,” she ordered.

His eyelids fluttered, then opened. “What happened?”

“You’ve been hurt.” She leaned forward for a better look. There was a stain of blood on the snow beneath his head. “Someone hit you from behind, I think.”

“Hit me?” Mark groaned again as he closed his eyes. “Why would anybody do that?”

“Let me see that wound.” She didn’t mention the sheep. He would know soon enough.

Before Akira could lift Mark’s head for a better look, she heard her name shouted from over the rise. Gabe appeared a moment later, Brodie, Charlie, and Ethan hard on his heels. Relief flooded through her, and her vision blurred with tears.

“Gabe,” she whispered, choking on a sob.

It didn’t take him long to reach her.

“Are you all right?” he demanded as he took hold of her arms.

“I—I’m fine.” She sniffed. “It’s Mark who’s hurt.” She turned to look behind her.

Charlie and Brodie were kneeling on either side of the young man. Charlie was examining the wound on his son’s head while Brodie supported Mark.

“Why would anybody do this?” she whispered.

“It wasn’t
anybody
,” Gabe answered, his voice harsh. “This is Hud’s handiwork.”

“Oh, Gabe. You don’t think he would —”

“I don’t have to think. I know. If he can’t take your land any other way …” He didn’t finish.

Akira pressed her face against his coat. “Mark could’ve been killed.”

“Thank God he wasn’t.”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Thank God.”

Danny felt like puking again. Killing those sheep hadn’t made him feel better about himself, hadn’t made him feel strong and powerful, the way he’d expected it to. All that blood. All that death.

He swallowed the bile in his throat as he inched toward the ranch house. It was a fool thing to do. Even he knew that. He should have made tracks for town as soon as he’d finished the gruesome job.

But he had to know what Ethan Jones was doing at Dundreggan Ranch.

When Akira found the sheep, the boy had run back to the house for the men. Danny figured the chances were good only womenfolk were left inside.

He sidled up to the window and peeked in.

There was Lindy, looking thin and lots older than when he’d last seen her. She was holding the girl in her lap. He thought her name was Fern. She wasn’t a baby no more. Time had a way of doing that with kids. How many years had it been?

Another woman stood at the sink, washing dishes. When she spoke, Lindy twisted to look at her. That’s when Danny noticed that the chair she was in had wheels.

You should’ve known,
an accusing voice whispered in his ears.
If you wasn’t a worthless drunk, you would’ve known what’d happened to your own sister and her kids.

If the Lord had taught him nothing else in recent months, He’d taught Gabe to bridle his anger before acting.

It was a lesson Brodie Lachlan could use right about now.

“I’ll see Talmadge hangin’ from the nearest tree,” the Scotsman vowed as he paced the parlor.

“No, my dear friend.” Akira placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “We mustn’t act in hatred, or we’re no better than the person who did this. Besides, we have no proof Hudson was behind what happened to Mark and our sheep.”

Brodie rolled his eyes.

“She’s right,” Gabe said, albeit reluctantly. “There’s no proof he’s involved.” He raised a hand to stop Brodie’s expected expletive. “Yes, I think he hired someone to do it, but my opinion doesn’t count for much. We’ve got to have solid evidence or a confession. I doubt we’ll get the latter, and Andy doesn’t seem to think we’ll find the former.”

“Are ye sayin’ ye mean to do nothing? Do ye know what the loss of so many ewes will mean to ye and Akira? ’Tis no small matter. Ye’ll feel it for years to come.”

Gabe released a deep sigh before answering, “Believe it or not, I
do
realize what it means. But there isn’t much else we can do for now. Except forgive whoever did it.”

“Ach!”
Brodie marched across the room and jerked open the door. “I’ll never understand ye two. Turnin’ the other cheek and prayin for yer enemies. Daft, the both of ye, and all those who think like ye besides.” He stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

“Not daft,” Akira said softly. “And it isn’t easy, either. To forgive.”

Gabe nodded as he placed an arm around her shoulders.

She turned into his embrace, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. “So what are we to do besides pray?”

“I’ve got to try talking to Hud one more time. Not about what happened with the sheep. About Christ. I feel as if time’s running out for him.”

“Do you think he’ll listen?”

“I don’t know. Probably not. But I’ve got to try. Whether he
wants to admit it or not, like it or not, he’s my father.” He shook his head slowly. “He’s trapped in a prison far worse than the one I was in.”

They were silent for a while.

Finally Akira said, “I suppose we should go first thing in the morning.”

“We?”

“You don’t think I’d let you go alone, do you?”

“Well, I —”

“We’re in this together, Gabriel. You’ll need me to pray while you speak, if for nothing else.”

“You’re right.” He leaned down, pressed his forehead against hers, closed his eyes. “What would I do without you?”

“I have no intention of letting you find out, my love.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

The green sedan chugged along Main Street, the sound of the engine disturbing the strange silence of the otherwise deserted streets.

Akira read the signs posted in shop windows and on store doors:

Closed.

Out of business.

Shop for sale. Inquire within.

“Oh, Gabe,” she whispered. “It’s so awful.”

“I’ve been through a lot of towns between here and Seattle. Ransom hung on a lot longer than some.” He shook his head. “It isn’t like we didn’t know it could happen. With the mill closed …” He didn’t finish, and she didn’t need him to.

She thought of the Dundreggan sheep that had been needlessly slaughtered. The men had been able to save only a portion of the meat. The remaining carcasses had been burned this morning. What a waste when so many of her neighbors were out of work, some now homeless besides.

It made her want to cry.

Gabe took hold of her hand. “Hud’s in worse shape than I thought.”

She looked at him.

“He’s lost his town. Ransom was his empire. Somebody will have to pay for his losing it.”

Something in his tone caused a shiver to run up her spine.

“I know my father. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he gets angry, and when he gets angry, he takes it out on those around him.”

“Pauline?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

She looked at the road ahead of them. “Hurry, Gabe.”

The Duesenberg was gone, which meant Hudson wasn’t at home. Gabe didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

The moment the Ford stopped, Akira opened the passenger door and got out. She hurried toward the entrance of the Talmadge mansion, not waiting for Gabe nor looking behind to see if he followed.

He caught up with her as she knocked for the second time.

“Where is everyone?” she asked after a lengthy silence.

“I don’t know.” Gabe frowned. “His butler should have answered by now.”

“Maybe he gave the help time off for Thanksgiving, and they haven’t returned yet.”

“Hud?” He released a humorless laugh. “Not likely.” He pounded his fist against the door and shouted, “Is anybody home? Come on. Open up.” He pounded again.

Akira took hold of the knob and turned it. The door opened an inch. She stepped back, glancing at Gabe in question.

“We’re going in,” he said as he pushed it all the way open. “Stay close.” He led the way.

All was silent. An unnatural silence, Gabe thought. As if the house was holding its breath.

“Brrr.” Akira shuddered. “It’s cold in here.”

A look in the formal drawing room revealed a dark hearth. The same was true in the dining room. Had it gotten so bad Hudson couldn’t afford to build fires to heat his house?