The Ridge: The Whisper of the Leaves - Chap. 43

“Ere they go.” Lawrence said to his Katie as he pointed at the two figures walking away from the ditched police sedan.

He and his daughter had been waiting six miles south of Wynne at a village called Colt. They knew that they would be driving up from Forrest City and wanted to grab Marshall before he got to Wynne. The snow, however, had thrown a kink in their plan.

There was hardly any traffic, so it was easy to spot the Texas license plates when the car came by. Lawrence had tried to pull out immediately behind them but had gotten stuck in the ruts of the gravel road he had backed into. After a couple of minutes of rocking back and forth, he managed to pull the car onto the highway.

“We gonna be able to catch ‘em ‘fore they get ta town?” Katie asked, her face almost against the windshield trying to see better. Her father did not respond.

A mile out of Colt, they came around a curve which put them into a two-mile straightaway. They should have been able to see the ranger’s car, but there was nothing ahead of them. Then after navigating another mile, Katie suddenly pointed into the ditch ahead.

“Daddy look,” She said. “At’s their car.”

“I got eyes, girl!”

He stopped on the highway next to the car and Katie jumped out to see if anyone was in it when she saw the two figures down the road.

“There they are,” she pointed and jumped back into the car.

“Crawl in da back seat.” Lawrence said when they were still a hundred yards from the pair. “When I stop, open at door and throw down on ‘em with ya gun and I’ll get ‘em from da front.”

“We gonna shoot ‘em here?” Katie said as she climbed over the back of the seat.

“No!” Lawrence said. “I want dat boy ta see his sister die. I want him ta hurt.”

Katie swung the door open when Lawrence stopped and aimed her 12-guage squarely at the Ranger since he was closest to the car. Lawrence in the meantime, had rolled down his window and was leveling a 45-caliber pistol at Marshall.

“Either’uh Ya’ll move and ya dead,” Lawrence said. “Lawman, open ya coat.”

When Conner didn’t move, Lawrence cocked the pistol and aimed it squarely at the Ranger’s head.

“Ain’t tellin’ ya again!”

Conners, seeing no bluff in the man, slowly opened his coat to reveal a Colt revolver in a shoulder holster.

“Take’it out slow, wit two fingers, and throw it in dat ditch ‘hind ya,” Lawrence said. “And ya do anythin’, I’ll kill ya where ya stand.”

Conners believed him and did exactly as he was told.

“Now both of ya get in tha back’a tha car.” Lawrence motioned with the pistol. “Katie, get in tha front.”

Katie stepped out of the car; gun still aimed at Conners midsection when a voice called out.

“Marsh, Marsh! Is that you?”

It was Miriam calling from the house.

Katie jerked at the sound. Conners leaped forward and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun. He shoved it into the air just as she pulled the trigger. The angle of the gun’s kick plus the slipperiness of the snow caused Katie to fall flat on her back.

Conners flipped the gun over and swung it around at Lawrence, but then realized that it was a single shot. He looked up just as Lawrence fired a shot from his 45. The bullet went in at the knee shattering the kneecap. He went down instantly causing the second shot to miss altogether.

Marshall snapped up the empty shot gun from where Conners had dropped it. He swung around the open rear door and holding the barrel, brought the gun butt down on Lawrence’s outstretched arm. Lawrence still managed to get a third shot off, though.

Marshall grunted and felt a sudden burning, realizing Lawrence’s bullet had found its mark. It entered his left side, just above the hipbone and exited just above his left buttock. The noise of the third shot caused him to miss the sound of Lawrence screaming as his forearm hung limply having been snapped into.

As Marshall grabbed his side, grimacing from the pain, he saw the sedan speed away as quickly as the snow and Lawrence’s injury would allow. He also saw that Lawrence had left two things behind.........his pistol which he had dropped when struck and Katie who was still laying in the snow, groggy.

Marshall reached down and picked up the pistol, then suddenly felt someone’s hand on his back. He whirled around and the saw it was Miriam.

“Marsh,” She said. “You’re shot.”

“I’m okay,” Marshall said as he shoved the pistol into the waistband of his pants. “Where’s Daddy and Momma?”

“They went up town to wait on ya. Who’re they?”

As his sister said this, he remembered Conners and the girl.

“He’s a Texas Ranger,” Marshall nodded at Conners. “See if ya can help ‘im into the house.”

Marshall then looked at Katie who was at that moment, shakily getting to her feet.

“This one,” Marshall said as he took a couple of steps and was behind Katie. “This one, is one of the ones who has Jenny.”

Marshall grabbed her right arm and curled it up until her wrist was between her shoulder blades, then he wrapped his other arm around her neck.

“Looks like ya all by ya self, now.” Marshall said and applied pressure to Katie’s neck.

She growled something at him that he could not completely understand, then cursed him. In response, he pushed her arm farther up her back causing her to screamed in pain.

“He left ya alone here. Just you ‘n me now. Where’s my sister,”

Katie gritted her teeth this time and said nothing

“Ya really think I won’t break your arm, woman? I’ll snap it clean in two if you don’t tell me where my sister is.”

She was still silent, so Marshall inched the arm up a little farther causing another scream and she was suddenly begging him to stop.

“Where is she,” Marshall repeated.

“At our house,” Katie gasped. “Sally’s holdin’ her.”

“Who’s Sally?”

“My sister. She’s my sister.”

Marshall knew where the Lawrence place was. The old man had run him off when he was hunting there a couple of years before. He had the information he needed now, so he turned Katie around and brought a sweeping right across her left jaw. She dropped in a heap at his feet, unconscious.

“That’s for Jenny,” He said as he reached down and swung her up onto his shoulder. As he did this, her arm lifelessly arched over his back and her hand slapped his exit wound, causing a searing pain that almost crumpled him. He steeled himself, though, until it passed then carried Katie to the barn.

He tied her securely in the feed room, locked the door and went into the house. He looked at the wall clock when he went in and saw it was 1:00 a.m.

“Where could they be,” Edna asked Carl, who was seated beside her in the car again. The motor was running and the heater pumping warm air, but she was freezing.

“If it’s snowin’ this bad to the south, then it may take longer for ‘em to get here than they thought.”

“But they’ve got Jenny. They’ve got my baby.”

Edna began sobbing again and Carl pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. He had been holding her for about five minutes when he saw the black sedan rush by. It threw a spray of snow up as it turned from Highway One onto Union Avenue and headed east toward the Ridge.

“Stay here,” Carl said, pulling his arm away from Edna and opening the car door.

“What’s the matter,” Edna sobbed.

“Just stay here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Carl ran, sliding often, to the sheriff’s off and threw open the door.

“Does Cubby Lawrence have something to do with this?” Carl shouted as he burst through the door.

Lampkin and Talmadge stood simultaneously.

“Why?” Talmadge asked.

Carl grabbed Talmadge’s shirt with his left hand and reared back with his right fist, ready to strike.

“I said, is Cubby Lawrence in on this?”

“Yes, Carl,” Lampkin said. “We know he and his girls did this.”

Carl turned slowly to face Lampkin, then lurched toward him, grabbed him, and pulled his face close to his.

“You’ve known this all along and you ain’t done nothin’?”

Every vein in his face and neck was protruding. At that moment, Steve Frost swung the door wide.

“Sheriff,” he said. “Lawrence just came by. He was comin’ from the south and headin’ east.”

“Probably goin to his place. Anyone with ‘im?” Talmadge asked.

“Didn’t see nobody.”

Carl had let Lampkin go when Frost came in and the chief looked at Talmadge, then they both looked at Carl. Talmadge spoke first.

“Carl,” He said, “You need to get Edna home. I know ya want ta go to the Lawrence place with us, but you need to get her back to your other kids.”

Carl opened his mouth to protest, but Lampkin cut him off.

“Carl,” he said. “Ya need to see ‘bout Marshall. He was comin’ in from the south, so we need ya to go and see if ya can find ‘im. Lawrence mighta’ done somethin’ to’im.”

“That’s right, Carl,” Talmadge spoke again. “We’ll go get Jenny. Ralph’s already up there so we’ll have an extra hand there anyway. You can’t do both. Let us do our job and please go do what we ask.”

“And please don’t argue, Carl,” Lampkin added. “Time’s wasting.”

Carl stared from one to the other for a moment then said, “Go. Hurry. Get my girl. Please get Jenny.”

“Let’s go,” Talmadge said then he, Lampkin and Frost ran out the door. They yelled instructions to Champion as they ran to their cars.

Carl rushed back to his car and jumped in. Edna was wide eyed from all the commotion.

“Carl, what’s happening? Have they found Marshall or Jenny?”

Carl did not respond fast enough causing Edna to scream. “Carl, what’s happening?”

“Cubby Lawrence has Jenny.” Carl said as he pulled onto the street. “That’s who came by a minute ago. They’ve gone to get her now. We’re goin’ to see about Marshall.”

Edna did not know what to say to this. She wished she could be split in two to help both of her children. But instead, she sat silently as Carl drove.

“You look on that side of tha road,” Carl said and glanced at Edna who began looking out the side window for her son even though they had not driven a block yet.