Maude stood up and craned her neck to see out the window of the stagecoach and past Rafael. The man had dropped back from traveling in front of the stagecoach, and now rode his horse to deliberately block her view. She caught a momentary glance past Rafael, and saw a herd of red cattle and two Mexican cowboys not far off from El Camino Real. The cowboys were watching the stagecoach.
Rafael looked at Maude and saw her standing. He motioned angrily for her to sit down and out of view of the cowboys. She gave him a hard look and shook her head. He had no right to order her to do anything. She continued to stand holding tightly to the leather hand strap fastened to the side frame of the coach to maintain her footing in the lurching, swaying vehicle.
Rafael reached out and jerked loose the tie strings that held the curtain in front of Maude. The sheet of leather fell, unrolling to obscure her view.
Maude took her seat. She didn't want to show it but she was frightened for she was a prisoner and being carried to an unknown fate in a foreign land.
She turned away from the window and looked down at Rachel, lying on the pallet of blankets on the narrow space of floor between the two seats, one facing forward and the other to the rear. The two women took turns on the blankets and tried to rest during the endless traveling. "Rachel, I'm worried that we will never get a chance to escape," Maude said anxiously.
"There hasn't been an opportunity yet," Rachel replied, a deeply troubled expression on her face. "But we must be ready to grab it when it does come."
"If it ever does."
Maude and Rachel had talked often of being rescued. But how could anybody know what had happened to them, or where they were being taken? They were completely on their own and must escape by using their own wits and strength. They knew that to run into the desert without water, without any knowledge of the land at all, was no escape at all. They had to make their break for freedom while passing through a town where there were people who might help them elude their captors. They had been too closely guarded so far for them to make that attempt.
Maude heard Emanuel, the driver of the stagecoach, shout a curse at the horses. His bullwhip cracked as he lashed the horses. He was a cruel man and relentlessly used the whip to drive the animals onward. In those few times when Maude was allowed out of the stagecoach, she had observed the backs of the horses were cut and bleeding from the strike of the iron tip of the whip. Emanuel scared Maude almost as much as did the silent, always watchful Rafael. However, it was Leo Valdes, who commanded the two men, who was Rachel's true enemy.
The iron-rimmed wheels of the stagecoach struck a dusty place on the road and a cloud of brown grit streamed in through the windows. The women's clothing, faces, and hair were covered with the dust that had settled on them during the journey. Maude breathed shallowly until the dust was whipped away by the hot wind.
The evening of the third day was near. Leo had hurried them through the first day, then the night, and until the middle of the following day. Then they had stopped in the shade of some trees set off from the road far enough that passersby couldn't see them. Leo had allowed them out of the stagecoach to walk about a bit to relieve their tired and cramped muscles and to eat. They had spread blankets on the ground and slept through the few hours when the sun was highest in the sky.
During the race down the El Camino Real, they had stopped several times at freight stations and quickly exchanged the exhausted horses for fresh ones. At the stations and during the passage through the towns, Leo always tied the leather curtains down tightly and warned Maude and Rachel not to try to see outside, or to make their presence known in any manner. Rafael stood guard beside the stagecoach at those times to insure they obeyed the order. Twice he had warned off an inquisitive man who had wanted to look inside the curtained vehicle.
Maude heard Leo shout at Emanuel, and the stagecoach began to slow and veer to the side. Maude thrust her head out the window to look ahead.
"What's happening?" Rachel said rising up from the blankets.
"We're turning off the road and up a lane to a hacienda," Maude said.
As Maude watched a man came out of the moderate-sized hacienda, made of adobe and whitewashed with lime, and stood and looked in the direction of the approaching stagecoach.
Leo shouted again at Emanuel, and the stagecoach stopped a couple of hundred feet from the man. Leo rode his horse to the window where Maude sat. He gestured for her to lower the curtains. At the same time he ordered brusquely, "Drop the curtains and don't let anyone here see you. I'll tell you when you can come out. Tonight you'll have good food and a soft bed." He smiled, pleased with himself.
Leo spoke to Rafael, who had ridden his mount up and was listening. "See that they do as I said."
"St, patron."
Leo turned and went toward the man waiting at the hacienda.
Rafael reined his horse close to the coach and watched Maude and Rachel untie the curtains and let them unroll to completely cover the windows. Satisfied with their actions, he sat alertly in the saddle, watching Leo and the man from the hacienda.
Maude and Rachel looked at each other. With an unspoken agreement, each woman pulled the edge of a curtain aside a tiny crack and put her eye to it.
"Looks like he's trying to give the man something," Rachel whispered, seeing Leo take an object from his pocket and offer it to the man.
"I'd guess that would be payment for that food and soft bed he promised," Maude whispered back.
Maude saw the man shake his head in obvious rejection of the money. He started to face away. Leo caught him by the shoulder and said a few words and again held out the money.
The man jerked loose from Leo's hold and spoke rapidly. He pointed at the stagecoach and then at El Camino Real. Evan at the distance, Maude saw the man's anger, and knew he was telling Leo to take his stagecoach and leave.
Rafael spurred his horse and sent it bounding ahead. He reined the big animal to a sliding stop barely in time to prevent running over the man confronting Leo. The man sprang back and looked up at Rafael. The pistolero put his hand on the butt of his pistol and stared threateningly down.
Leo again offered the money. The man looked at Rafael and then Leo, and seeing the deadly intent in their faces, took the money.
The man pivoted around and went hastily into the hacienda. A moment later Maude heard a woman shouting in a complaining voice, and the man shouting back. Then there was silence. In less than a minute, the man reemerged with a woman and two half-grown girls. The woman stopped and looked angrily at Leo and Rafael, then followed after her husband who was moving hastily toward the barn and corral located to the right of the hacienda. Shortly the man and his family, riding in a two-seated buggy, went past the stagecoach and off along the lane.
Leo motioned for Emanuel to bring the stagecoach forward. When it stopped Leo untied the doors and held out his hand to Maude. Maude ignored Leo's offered hand—she didn't want him to touch her—and started to climb down. Leo moved quickly, caught her by the arm, and pressed her flesh as he helped her to the ground.
Rachel stepped down and stood beside Maude. Leo's attention to Maude and his almost total lack of interest in her, except to see that she didn't escape, told her clearly that the brothers had made their choice of women. She was to belong to Carlos.
"This nice hacienda is ours for the night," Leo said. "The Beremendes family was glad to allow us to use it."
He smiled at Maude, glanced at Rachel, and swept his hand in a gesture for the women to enter before him.
"You knew the people and still took their home?" Maude said.
Leo saw Maude's disapproval of his eviction of the man from his home by threatening him. He believed this event would be a fine lesson for her, that he would take what he wanted and when he wanted it. If it wasn't given freely. "Beremendes owns a store in Ahumada and I have had dealings with him. I've never liked him. So his home was the perfect choice for us to rest. Now let us go in and enjoy its comfort."
Leo turned to Rafael. "Help Emanuel with the horses and then both of you come inside for some food."
Rafael touched the brim of his hat and moved away.
Maude felt the pleasant, shadowy coolness of the house immediately upon entering. It felt grand after the dusty coach and burning sun. They were in the sala, the main gathering room of the hacienda, a room with a carpeted floor and overstuffed sofa. Straight ahead of her through an arched doorway was the dining room. She saw the table had been set for the evening meal, with several dishes of food and a bottle of wine in sight.
"Now wasn't that thoughtful of Beremendes's wife to have done all this for us," Leo said.
"May we bathe before we eat," Maude said feeling grimy.
"Yes, please," Rachel added.
"Certainly. There will be a bath somewhere. Come with me and we'll find it."
* * *
Maude's and Rachel's spirits recovered somewhat as they bathed in the huge tub of water in a room at the rear of the house. They did not speak, trying to find some sense of solace as captives by the simple task of bathing.
At first they had looked at each other with an expression saying that maybe this was the chance they had been waiting for to escape. Then they had heard Leo tell Emanuel to go outside and stand guard under the single window of the bathroom, and Rafael to guard the door.
After a few minutes a knock sounded on the door and Leo spoke. "I have found both of you clean clothing." His arm appeared holding two dresses.
"I don't want stolen clothing," Maude said.
"You will wear them," Leo said firmly. He stepped through the door and into the bath. He halted and swept his eyes over the naked women. He smiled pleased at what he saw. He ran his sight over them for a second time, doing it very slowly. Then smiling more broadly, he hung the clean dresses on hooks fastened on the wall, grabbed up their soiled garments, and left.
Rachel looked at Maude. "Damn him," Maude said.
"Yes, indeed" Rachel said. "But just his looking won't hurt us." She tilted her head at the dresses. "One thing is for certain. We either wear them or go naked. I choose to have clothing on."
"Same here," Maude said reluctantly.
Rachel leaned close to Maude and whispered. "Don't be so belligerent with him. Maybe that way he'll not watch us so carefully and we'll get a chance to run."
"You're right," Maude whispered back. "I'll be sweet to him."
"Don't overdo it, for then he'll be suspicious and watch even more closely."
"I know."
They dressed in the garments of the Beremendes women and left the bath.
Rafael motioned for them to go into the dining room. He followed behind them.
Leo rose from the chair at the head of the table. "You are both very beautiful, even with clothing on." They would give Carlos and him fine sons. He hated the waiting for the lovemaking to begin, and hoped Carlos would hurry and catch up with them.
"Now let us dine," Leo said.
Maude and Rachel seated themselves on opposite sides of the table at the far end. "Not there, here near me," Leo said. They were contrary, aggravating women. Once Carlos came and took Rachel off his hands, then he would turn his attention to Maude and teach her the proper respect for a husband's wishes.
Maude rose and moved to sit in the seat on Leo's right. Rachel took the seat on his left.
"Aren't you worried that the owner of this house will bring the sheriff to arrest you?" Maude said.
"Beremendes knows that I'm a Valdes, and that it would be dangerous for him to cause me trouble. And besides, he took my money so how can he complain."
Maude almost burst out to remind Leo that he had forced the man to take the money. However, she caught herself, remembering to be more agreeable during any conversation she held with Leo in hopes he would let down his guard.
"Beremendes is nothing. Let us talk of something else."
"Like setting us free," Rachel said. "Let us go and we won't tell what you did," Maude said. "We'll tell our friends in El Paso that we had gone off together for a visit in Mexico."
Leo's face became stone as he looked at Maude. "You will have freedom where I'm taking you. But within the bounds that I set. My family is very rich and you will have everything you desire. I will build you a magnificent hacienda all your own. There will be many servants, and money to purchase anything you want."
"A captive bird in a gilded cage," Maude said.
Rachel gave Maude a warning look. Leo did not see Rachel's look for he was staring steadily at Maude. It was not necessary to reply to her barb. She would very soon be trained to do exactly what he wanted, everything he wanted.
They continued the meal with Leo doing the bulk of the talking, and speaking mostly to Maude. The women replied with enough words to keep the conversation moving. Toward the end, Leo called Rafael and Emanuel in and they filled plates and carried them into the kitchen.
"I have a surprise for you, something I found," Leo said to Maude. He rose from the table and left the room. He returned carrying a silver music box about one foot in diameter and half that dimension in thickness. He wound it and sat it on the far end of the table.
"Come and dance with me," Leo said to Maude. He wanted to caress the white skin of this beautiful, golden-haired woman. His woman. Madre de Dios, he desired her so much. Her sharp mouth was nothing for soon he would have it trained to speak softly, and gently, and to give loving kisses.
"I don't feel like dancing," Maude said and remained seated. "I'm too tired."
"We can change that," Leo said. He pressed the release on the music box and a delightful piece of music filled the room. He caught Maude by the hand and drew her to her feet and into his arms.
"Listen to the music and it will take away your weariness," he said. He moved away with her across the room.
Maude was tired and stiff from the long, arduous journey. Still, she knew she must somehow trick this man into making a mistake and allowing Rachel and her to escape. Rachel was correct, belligerence wasn't the way. Sweetness would do it much better. She focused on the music and brought her movement into rhythm, and let Leo guide her around the floor.
She thought of her dance with Ben in the darkness in Canutillo and the pleasure she had felt in his arms. Just imagine it is Ben who is holding you, Maude told herself. That did help. How strange it was to prefer Ben's scarred face to be next to hers over that of the handsome Leo. Her heart ached with the thought that she might never see Ben again.