Marna (37 page)

The rifle spat and her shoulder jerked. She heard the
man curse and her eyes flew open. The figure came to a
halt, but only momentarily. He had only been blinded
by the gunpowder and now came toward her. Yielding
to the panic that gripped her, she turned and raced
toward her room. There was a bolt on her door that
would hold long enough for her to scream. Her mouth
flew open to yell her first cry, and the man was upon
her. As they wrestled back and forth on the floor, the
firelight fell on his face. "You!" she whispered in terror.

Corey's thick lips twisted into a leering grin. "Yeah,
me."

Gaining strength in her desperation, Marna struggled
all the harder. "Get your hands off me!" she gasped
out. "You turn me loose immediately."

His eyes fastened on her heaving breasts, Corey
sneered, "Not on your life. I mean to take you away
with me. Back in the hills I've got a cave all fixed up,
and that's where I'm takin' you. I been gettin' it ready
ever since the first time I saw you naked. I got enough
food stashed there to last us six months. I figure I ought
to have my fill of you in that length of time."

Corey's grimy hand was inside her shirt. With all her
strength Marna struggled to get from beneath his great
weight and free her wrists, held by his large hand. She
opened her mouth to scream, then snapped it shut. If
Grandma should come running in, the hunter wouldn't
hesitate to shoot her.

Marna's threshing about had only fanned Corey's
lust. His fingers kneaded and pressed her breasts
roughly. His face flushed with excitement, he muttered,
"I wish I had time to lay with you now. Soon as we get
a ways from the cabin, I'm gettin' between them fine
legs."

Her eyes full of fear and revulsion, Mama shrank
away from him. "You'll never get away with it. You'll
be tracked down and killed."

Corey's lips pulled into a wolfish smile. "Who'll
know I've got you? The old woman is out in the barn,
and Matt left for Philadelphia this mornin'. Besides,
nobody knows you're back."

Marna's body went stiff and she stared up at him.
"Did you say Matt? Matt Barton?"

Corey's smile faded to annoyance. He hadn't meant
to tell her yet that Matt lived. It had been his plan that
he would wait until she lay helpless beneath him before
he spit the news out at her. He would brag that the idea
was his. He would tell her it had cost him a piece of
money to convince the soldier to tell her that Matt
Barton was dead.

He gave her breast a tweak and growled, "So now
you know." Seeing the gleam of gladness and hope that
lighted Marna's eyes, he snarled confidently, "Barton
won't do you any good. We'll be long gone by the time
he gets back. And you'll never tell him. By the time I'm
finished with you, you won't even know your own
name, much less be able to rat on me."

Corey jerked a dirty rag from his pocket and shoved
it in Marna's mouth. Then, grabbing her arm and twisting it cruelly behind her back, he dragged her to her feet and steered her out the door. Half led, half dragged,
she stumbled blindly alongside him, barely able to
breathe. They came to the fringe of the forest and
stopped beside two saddled mounts. Corey gave her a
sharp shove and ordered, "Climb up on that roan."

She stared at him defiantly, shaking her head. His big
hand came up and slashed across her face. She staggered back and grabbed at a tree to keep from falling.
While her head spun dizzily, he picked her up and
tossed her into the saddle. She grabbed wildly at the
mount's mane as they tore off through the forest.

As Marna fought to control the beast, she heard
Hertha scream her name. She threw a look over her
shoulder in time to see the old woman rushing after
them. Then they were out of sight, and she tried to
console herself with the thought that in time Matt
would learn that Corey had taken her. For Grandma's
sake, if nothing else, he would hunt this animal down
and kill him.

As they raced along, Marna was sure her head would
be torn from her body. At their breakneck speed,
branches whipped at her face, and brush tore at her
clothing. Still, she dreaded the time when Corey would
draw the horses to a halt. His voiced intentions beat at
her mind, and she shivered. God only knew what would
happen to her then. Dove had told her some horrifying
stories about the man.

Twice she tried to draw her mount away from him,
but each time, his mouth spewing curses, he caught her.
Finally he jerked the reins from her hands and guided
the animal himself.

Suddenly they were bathed in moonlight as they
raced across a small, burned-out clearing. When they
reentered the forest, Corey brought the mounts to a
rearing halt. Trying to keep her balance, Marna was
unprepared when Corey jerked her from the saddle. He
tried to embrace her immediately, but automatically she
brought her knee up sharply between his legs. Letting out a howl of rage and pain, he struck out at her.
Desperate in her fright, she managed to avoid the punishing fist. Her mind screaming escape, she eluded his
reaching hand and sprang into the saddle. She dug her
heels into the little roan, and he raced away. But her
long hair, streaming behind, was caught and held by her
tormentor.

With one quick jerk she was torn from the saddle
and sent sprawling to the ground. While she lay stunned,
Corey yanked a piece of rawhide from a pocket and
stood over her. She grew uneasy at the crafty gleam in
his eyes, and pulled in her feet to rise. But, surprisingly
fast for his bulk, he grabbed her hands and tied them
behind her back. Panting from his exertion, he rasped
out, "Sit still now while I build us a fire." His face
took on a leering smile. "You can think on the lovin'
you're gonna get after a while."

Corey's freakish laugh floated back to her as he went
off to gather wood. Marna's eyes searched the forest
frantically. Somehow she had to get away from this lustcrazed man. She twisted her legs beneath her and jerked
to her feet. Should she try to get on the horse? It was
doubtful if she could with her hands tied. Her best bet
would be to run, to lose herself in the trees.

Corey's hateful cackle sounded behind her. "You
wasn't thinkin' of leavin' me, was you?" he bated,
throwing down an armful of wood.

With a ragged sob she sat back down and watched
through dull eyes as Corey built a fire. When it burned
to his satisfaction, he sat down beside her and removed
the rag from her mouth. Taking a piece of smoke-cured
meat from a pocket, he held it to her lips. She jerked
her head away and spat out at him, "I don't want your
filthy food. I want you to turn me loose."

His grating laugh came again. "I couldn't do that,
Missy. I've waited a long time to get you out here. Old
Corey don't waste his time." He urged the meat on her
again. "You'd better eat. You're gonna need a lot of strength for what I got in mind. I guess you've heard I
take a lot of pleasurin'."

Marna looked away from him to hide the terror that
had leapt into her eyes.

When Corey finished his meal, he brought a bottle
from his saddlebag. Mama heard the stopper pop, then
the gurgling sound as the liquid rushed down his throat.
Then, without warning, his rough and dirty hands were
upon her. "I've been waitin' a long time to see these
purty white tits again," he mumbled, pulling at the laces
of her shirt. In his haste the buckskin tore and she
was bared to his view. Her hands tied behind her back,
she was helpless as his hands ran over her shrinking
flesh.

His breath coming hot and fast against her face, he
mumbled, "Did a man ever see such a sight. God, are
they gonna be sweet to suck."

Repulsed to her very soul, Marna shrank away from
him. His hand fastened in her hair and he growled
darkly, "You come here." Before she knew what was
happening, he had thrown his head in her lap, and had
jerked her forward so that she hung over his face. He
stared a moment at her suspended breasts, then his
thick lips reached up and clamped onto a nipple. She
pulled away and opened her mouth to scream, but the
viselike grip in her hair grew tighter, and Corey removed his mouth long enough to growl, "If you scream,
missy, I'll bite your tit off."

Marna went still. He had done exactly that to a
young squaw one time. As his mouth closed over her
again, she bit back her loathing and endured him.

It seemed to go on for hours, first one and then the
other breast savagely attacked. When she thought she
coufd stand it no longer, the sound of drumming hooves
cut through the night's stillness.

Corey jerked erect and bounded to his feet. Hastily
he cut her bonds and tossed her into the saddle. She
heard him mutter angrily, "The bastard has picked up our tracks." He swatted her mount on the rump, sending it springing away.

Once again they were ripping through the forest, a
raw wind chilling Marna's bare chest. One hand struggled to hold the shirt together, while the other gripped
the reins, trying to slow the mount. But its terrified eyes
rolled and it plunged on. Caught up in trying to control
the animal, she didn't even think to scream.

Praying as she had never prayed, Marna heard a
bloodcurdling yell rip out of the forest. Corey threw a
startled, frightened look over his shoulder. What he'saw
made him bend over his mount and lash it savagely
on.

Marna's mind spun crazily. What to do now? A rider
raced out of the woods and grabbed the reins from her
hands. The little roan was jerked to a halt, swiftly
turned around, and sent on again.

The pace of the horses blurred the ground beneath
Marna, and branches lashed at her head and shoulders.
Dumbly she gripped the flying mane and hung on.
Whoever held the reins now had to be better than
Corey, even if it was a warring brave.

The stride of the roan broke, then slowed, and her
companion brought the mounts to a halt. Marna was
surprised to see they had returned to the nearly dead
campfire. Fearfully she directed a glance at the figure
sliding off the little shaggy pony. Her eyes went wide,
and she gasped, "Dove!"

Dove leapt to catch her slowly tumbling body. Giving in to her relief and terror, Marna wept hysterically,
crying over and over, "Oh, Dove, Dove, you don't
know what I've been through."

Dove let her cry a moment longer, then held her
away. "Marna, you forget that I know very well what
that man is. You were lucky he didn't have time to
really show you."

Marna gazed into the haunted, knowing eyes and felt
ashamed. Her suffering at Corey's hands had been minute in comparision to what Dove had suffered from
the brutal hunter. "Forgive me, Dove," she begged. "It
was a senseless thing for me to say to you."

"That's all right," Dove said, beginning to lace
Marna's torn shirt together. "You spoke without thinking."

When Dove had finished with the lacings, Mama
asked, "How did you happen to be out in the forest at
this hour?"

Dove motioned toward the two mounts standing with
sweated hides. "I'll tell you while we ride."

Riding at a slow walk, Dove began. "Just before
dusk I went looking for dandelions for Henry's supper.
I had my basket almost filled when I saw Corey ride by.
I became suspicious, as he kept in the woods instead of
following the trail. I knew he could only be going up to
Hertha's place, and I wondered why he was being so
sneaky. At first I was going to follow him, but then I
decided I would cut across the forest and keep an eye
on the old woman's cabin. He's had it in for her ever
since she took after him because of me."

Dove paused to hold a branch out of their path, then
continued. "I arrived on the hill and hid back in the
trees. I could see Hertha tending her stock, and mostly
I kept my eyes on her, not knowing that you were there.
When Corey came out of the cabin, pushing you in
front of him, I nearly fainted." Dove patted her rifle. "I
was afraid to shoot at him for fear I'd hit you. I decided
to follow you and grab your mount the first chance I
got. Then, just before he stopped here to make a fire, I
was knocked out of the saddle by a low-hanging
branch. By the time I caught the spooked animal, I
glimpsed Matt racing by, looking like the devil himself."

Dove paused again, as though remembering the still,
set features of Matt's face as he tore through the forest
Then, giving herself a small shake, she took up her
story again. "When Corey saw Matt on his heels, I
screamed, hoping to throw more fear in him. The rest you know. I wanted to get you out of the way so that
Matt could use his rifle."

There was silence for some moments, then Marna
said in a cold, hard voice, "I hope Matt tortures that
animal before he kills him. For the first time in my life,
I want vengeance."

Dove threw her a grim smile. "You can rest your
mind on that. When Matt gets his hands on Corey, it
won't be pretty, what he does to him." She nudged her
rested pony into a slow, rocking lope. "I saw Hertha
take off down the hill when I raced after you and
Corey. I'm sure she's waiting at your cabin for news."
She tossed Marna a grin. "I wouldn't be surprised if
someone else doesn't show up there later, looking for
you.,,

Her heart raced joyfully, Marna gathered the reins
tighter and lunged ahead of Dove's little pony. To see
Matt again. To feel him, maybe be held in his arms.

Dove smiled and raced after her.