Maude knew the other wives of Lester Ivorsen were jealous of her. They tried not to show it, and were succeeding as far as Lester was concerned. However, Maude felt the jealousy as a palpable force filling the big communal room where Lester met with all his wives every evening. Maude was seventeen and the sixth wife.
Lester was seated in a big leather chair positioned with its back against a wall. He was a big-boned, muscular man with sandy-colored hair and gray eyes. His six wives were seated in favorite chairs in a semicircle a dozen feet or so away. Two of the women had babes in arms. The larger of the children of his various wives were seated next to their mothers. The small ones who could walk, regardless of who their mothers were, sat intermingled on the floor at Lester's feet. He was smiling as he talked to the wee ones. He seldom smiled when addressing the wives, or the larger children.
Lester had told Maude that he wanted a child by her. She hoped that never occurred. What little feeling she had held originally for the man had quickly faded during the two months she had been married to him. She knew she had made a terrible mistake in marrying him. Hurry and end the evening gathering, she willed silently. End all the playacting.
A little blond-headed boy toddled up to Lester's knee and looked up at him. The father lifted the lad and placed him on his lap and held him as he continued to talk with the small children. After a few minutes Lester placed the blond child back on the floor. He pulled his watch and checked the time, as he did every evening when he grew weary of the children.
"Skedaddle to bed," he said to the small ones, and waved them away with his big hand.
Maude watched the children run off laughing. She, same as the other wives and larger children, straightened in her chair and became attentive. Now it was time for Lester to give instructions for tomorrow's operation of his several businesses. Then there would be time for domestic matters, and to settle any disagreements that might have developed between any of his wives.
Lester's rulings were final. Maude recalled that evening shortly after she had come into the family when Lester had grabbed Alice, wife number five, who was two years older than Maude and had been married to Lester two years, turned her over his knee, and spanked her severely for arguing with him. Maude believed the woman had argued because she was angry with Lester for taking a new and younger wife. The woman had never argued with the man since that day, at least not to Maude's knowledge.
Lester had assigned each wife, with the assistance of her children if they were large enough, the task of operating a specific enterprise. Lester gave overall direction and controlled the flow of money, and banked the profits in his name. Wife number one managed the general store of Canutillo; number two, with her three large sons, operated the cattle ranch in the hills north of town. Then there were the two boardinghouses, and the dress shop to be run. Lester had instructed Maude to work with wife number one, Marie, and learn all the aspects of managing a general store.
Lester completed his instructions for the conduct of the businesses. He again pulled his watch, the signal that he was now going to make his choice of the wife for the night The procedure for him to do that had been established for years. Maude had learned it the first night of her marriage to Lester. The last one he spoke to in the evening was the one to receive his favors and to prepare herself for him. Lester had chosen Maude practically every night since she had come into the family. She prayed that tonight he would select one of the other wives.
She was certain the other women felt neglected. This evening, as every evening, every one of them had done her best to entice the lusty man to her bed for the night. Each had carefully prepared herself, freshly bathed, hair neatly done, and clothing laundered and ironed. All the children had been presented to their father as well groomed as the mothers.
Maude listened with sinking heart as one after another of the women was dismissed. Lastly Lester looked at her.
"Good night, Maude," Lester said with a penetrating look in his eye.
"Good night," Maude replied.
She left the man standing watching her and went out onto the porch. The building consisted of a large central complex of rooms for communal use and wings extending left and right, each containing three apartments, one for each of the wives. Maude walked toward her newly constructed rooms on the far right end.
The mistake she had made in marrying Lester weighed heavily on her shoulders. Lester was a very handsome man; all of the unmarried girls of Canutillo had spoken among themselves of that. Maude had also thought him handsome. Several of the other men of the town had multiple wives and the young women were used to that, and so Lester's several wives did not seem to concern the girls. He was wealthy, they had said, and a wife of his would never want for anything. They had not recognized the fact that the wives earned their own way by hard work. Maude, once Lester had begun to come to her father's house to court her, had taken special notice of his wives and saw their busy workdays.
She had remained hesitant to accept Lester's proposal of marriage, unsure of her feelings toward him, of how she would fit into the man's large number of wives. However, at the strong urging of her father, a good friend of Lester, she had finally been swayed to accept the man's proposal.
Now she knew that having a handsome husband could never compensate for all the heartaches of being wife number six. Or for even being number two, Maude was certain. She should have defied her father. She wanted out of the marriage. That wasn't easy to do in the small, closed community. She had mentioned to her father that she wanted to leave Lester. Her father had flown into a rage and forbidden it. So Maude had developed a plan. All was in readiness. She just needed a head start.
She entered her apartment, where the odor of the new plaster was still noticeable. There was but a few minutes before Lester would arrive. She gathered her boots, pants, shirt, and hat, and hid them in the chest that sat under the window near the front door.
She had barely closed the chest lid when Lester shoved open the door and came inside. He immediately took Maude into his arms and crushed her to him. He kissed her roughly.
Maude steeled herself to endure the next hour or so, until Lester tired and went to sleep.
* * *
Lester's deep breathing, brought about by his exertion during the lovemaking, had eased and now came slow and regular. Still, Maude lay motionless in the darkness of the bedroom and waited. His arm rested across her breast, and she must be sure he slept before she tried to remove it.
She looked up at the ceiling, invisible in the darkness of the room, and listened carefully to the man. Was he truly asleep, or had he somehow guessed her intention and was now only pretending so as to trick her? Had she unknowingly given herself away by some action? She must not make a mistake for should Lester catch her trying to run away, he would surely hurt her.
Maude cautiously took hold of Lester's arm and lifted it, and slowly began to slide from under. She had moved only inches when the man's breathing halted. She froze. But then after a few beats of her pounding heart, Lester recommenced his regular breathing. She moved on and was clear, and lowered the man's arm to the bed.
She came to her feet and, naked, crept across the room and to the chest near the front door. Careful not to make a sound, she dressed in the riding clothes from the chest. She went out the door and hastened through the light of the three-quarter moon to the rear yard, and onward to the barn and corral behind the communal house. She wanted to be miles away when daylight arrived.
In the corral, Maude whistled softly for the gray mare. The horse came trotting. Maude had been feeding the mare tidbits from the garden and orchard for days so that it would come at her call. She led the mare into the barn, full of the odors of fresh-cut hay, manure, and feed grain, and to the half-dozen bridles and saddles that hung on a long, waist-high rail. With practiced skill she slipped the bridle on the mare's head and fastened the saddle upon her back.
Maude looked out the big double barn door toward the house and watched for movement. Had she been seen or heard? The house loomed dark and foreboding in the night. She saw nothing move around the house or in the yard.
Hurriedly she went into the gloom of the room at the end of the barn and retrieved a blanket roll from where she had hidden it behind the sacks of feed grain. Wrapped inside the blanket were enough provisions for three days and a canteen of water. The blanket roll was tied behind the saddle of the mare.
Maude climbed astride the mare and reined it toward the yard. Freedom lay but seconds away. She pulled a trembling breath of the moonlit air. She was going to make it, make her escape.
She jerked, shocked. The figure of a tall man had stepped into the open doorway. He stretched out his arms to block her way.
"Going somewhere, Maude?" Lester asked.
Oh, my God, thought Maude. I'm so near. So near. She screamed and kicked the mare with her heels.
The startled horse lunged forward directly at the man in front of it. More swiftly than the horse, the man dodged aside, and at the same time his long arm reached out Maude leaned far to the side to avoid the extended arm. But she couldn't move far enough and the strong arm hooked her, and raked her from the saddle. She rolled backward across the rump of the animal and tumbled to the hard ground.
Lester was upon Maude instantly. He grabbed her by the shirtfront and the hair of her head and hoisted her to her feet.
Half unconscious and with legs too weak to hold her, Maude started to fall. Lester, his hands tearing at her hair as he lifted, again set her on her feet.
"Stand up, woman. You're not hurt that bad."
The pain from her pulled hair helped Maude to draw back from the partial unconsciousness caused by the fall. She stiffened her legs and stood erect.
"Turn me loose," Maude said. She twisted suddenly and was free.
Lester reached out swiftly and caught her by both shoulders. He dug his fingers painfully into her flesh. "Now you wouldn't leave your loving husband, would you?" His fingers stabbed more deeply. "None of my wives ever will, unless I want them to."
"Get your hands off me," Maude said, fighting the fear that chilled her.
"Soon," Lester said. He drew Maude closer.
"Don't you dare spank me," Maude said belligerently.
"Why, that's not what I had in mind." He released Maude and slapped her left and right with his large, bony hands. Maude's head snapped back and forth. Immediately he slapped her twice more.
Maude staggered under the onslaught of blows, and a multitude of red stars wheeled and exploded in her brain. Blood from her split lips was suddenly salt and copper in her mouth. She fought not to fall, waiting for the whirling, flaming stars to burn out. Finally she straightened to an upright position.
"See, no spanking," Lester said. "But if you ever try to leave again, I'll beat you black and blue from your ass to the top of your head. Do you hear me?"
Maude heard the threat, but remained mute. The man's blows upon her body had hurt, and for a moment she had been frightened, but in the end they had hardened her determination to escape. This wasn't the last of her attempts to flee. It was only the first.
In the moonlight, Lester saw Maude's cold, defiant stare, and her face with its bloody mouth rigid as stone. The woman was an iron-jawed beauty. He had watched her grow up and had known she would be difficult to control. He had desired her even when she was still a child, a hazel-eyed, silver-blond girl running about the streets of Canutillo. As she grew and rounded into a woman, her hair had darkened to a golden blond. She was more exciting by twofold than any of his other wives. He would never let her go.
"Get back to the house," Lester ordered "And don't ever come close to one of the horses again." He spun her to the rear. "Move!" he ordered.
"Hurry it," he said and struck her a stinging blow across the hips with his hand.