The Enchanted Land Read online

  “Had they hurt her?”

  John remembered Morgan standing nude, but he also remembered that Cat Man had not touched her, and that he had forbidden the others to bother her.

  “No, they hadn’t hurt her, but that Cat Man is evil.”

  “Did they do that to your leg?” Seth motioned to a wound that still seeped blood onto John’s pants.

  “This is the least of what they did to us.” Seth’s eyes followed John’s to the cabin, and understanding passed between the two men. “If you catch them, mister, I hope you kill them.”

  “I plan to.”

  Seth returned to his horse and mounted to leave.

  “They dressed her in boy’s clothes,” John said. “But she’ll still be easy to find when it’s known that she’s riding with that Cat Man.” Quickly, he described the men and their horses.

  As Seth prepared to leave, they shook hands and exchanged names. “I hope you get ’em,” John called after Seth.

  “I sure as hell do too,” he whispered into the darkness.

  Days later, as they came over a ridge and looked down at the little town, Morgan knew it was a mistake to even call the place a town. There were only five or six buildings, each looking as if it might fall down at any minute. A little apart from the other buildings stood a large white house. They started down the hill before she could see any more.

  “Cat Man! Good to see you again.”

  “Joe, honey, where you been so long?”

  Morgan looked around. The woman who had called to Joe was lounging in the doorway of a derelict, faded building. Her reddish hair was matted and filthy. Her dress revealed most of her sagging breasts. Morgan guessed that at one time the dress had been red and gold, but now stains and several unmended rips obscured the material. The woman returned Morgan’s stare boldly.

  “What you got here, Cat Man? Pretty little thing. Can I have her when you’re done?”

  Morgan felt a rubbery palm on her leg, and looked down to see a short, fat man, with a large nose and thick, protruding lips, staring at her. His greasy hand was caressing her thigh. Quickly she jerked her leg up and out to kick him hard in the chest, just at the base of the neck.

  Unprepared for the blow, he landed sitting in the dust and refuse of the street. In front of her she heard Cat Man’s low chuckling.

  “That serves you right, Luke. Keep your hands off from now on. She’s the Boss’s woman.”

  Morgan heard laughter from the other people as they watched the fat man pick himself up from the dirt. She shuddered at the hate-filled look he sent her.

  Several people had come out to see the little procession, and they all seemed to know the three men. There was much interest in Morgan.

  “You say she’s for Boss? I bet Boss’s Nancy ain’t gonna like that.”

  The four riders rode out of the tiny town to the white house that Morgan had glimpsed briefly from the hill. The townspeople did not follow them to this house.

  It was two stories high and very well kept. A porch ran around two sides of the house, and the second story had a large, round turret on one corner, with a conical roof. Everything was trimmed in brilliant green, making a sharp contrast with the stark surroundings.

  At a motion from Cat Man, Morgan threw one leg over the saddle and slid to the ground. She was so tired that it seemed as if none of this were really happening to her. She moved automatically, and felt very little.

  The front door was unlocked, and Cat Man led Morgan into a spacious entryway and up a wide, carpeted stairway. She had a brief sight of carved furniture and lush red curtains.

  To the right at the top of the stairs was a door, and Cat Man opened it to reveal a large, bright room. Against one wall was a spacious fourposter bed, draped in a silky, white fabric. There were sprigs of sea-green flowers all over it. The carpet, walls, and the rest of the room echoed the colors of the pale green and white. The room was refreshing and inviting.

  At Cat Man’s hand on her arm, she stiffened. His cat-laugh sounded low in her ear, and he jerked her to a mirror over a chintz-covered dresser. She was startled by the sight of herself. She was as dirty and unkempt as the woman she had seen in the town. Her face was smudged, and her eyelids drooped. But what caused her to gasp was the sight of her own body in the tight pants and shirt. Her breasts strained against the fabric, and her nipples stood out taut and rigid. There was a gap between two buttons exposing the curve and roundness of her breasts. The pants fitted sleekly over her thighs, and the belt showed off the roundness of her hips.

  “Like yourself, don’t you?” Could Cat Man read her mind? His hand caressed her thigh. “Too bad I said I’d give you to Boss,” he murmured. “But he’s not too happy with me now, and I know what he likes.” His hand lightly cupped her breast, and the thumb moved over the already taut peak. “I think he’ll be real grateful to me.”

  He moved his face close to hers as if to kiss her, and she turned her face away. She heard his warning growl in her ear.

  “That’s all right, little princess. You think you’re so good now, but a few months with Boss Martin will change your mind.”

  He moved away from her. “We’ll stay here two days. Then we leave. I want you to get some sleep. Tomorrow you’ll have a bath. If I took you to Boss now, he’d think you were a polecat.”

  She looked for something to throw at him.

  “Don’t.” His voice was deadly, and after the last spurt of energy, Morgan realized how tired she was. She had been insulted too much to let another taunt hurt her.

  “Now get some sleep, and don’t try anything.” His eyes went to the open window. “If you should get out, you’d be facing Luke, and I don’t think he’d treat you with respect.”

  Morgan felt chills on her back as she remembered the fat, dirty man pawing her leg. Cat Man had made his point.

  When Cat Man left the room, all ideas of flight left Morgan. The room was cool, and the green-and-white bed beckoned. She removed her boots, her pants, and then the tight shirt. As she crawled into bed, she marveled at the difference between men’s and women’s clothing. Women had to wear so much more than men.

  The sheets were cool and clean, and felt good to her bruised and chapped body. She was so tired that she didn’t even mind the dirt on her body. Cat Man was right—she did smell terrible. Just before she drifted into an exhausted sleep, she saw Seth’s smiling face, saw him standing with his arms extended to her.

  When she first awoke to the sounds of Ben and Joe’s voices just outside her door, she thought she had been asleep only a few minutes. The sun was low in the sky and slanting across the thick, green carpet.

  “Watch where you’re goin’! You hit me in the leg with this thing.”

  “I don’t see why we have to carry this up here anyway. Who the hell wants to take a bath?”

  Morgan still wasn’t awake when the door opened to admit Joe and Ben carrying a large copper bathtub. Morgan turned over on her side, pulling the sprigged sheet to her neck.

  They put the tub down in the center of the room and turned toward her. At the sight of Morgan’s lush curves, covered only by a sheet, the frowns left their faces.

  “I sure would like to climb in there with that little girl.” Joe took a step toward the bed, but Ben grabbed his arm.

  “Let’s go get the water.”

  In a few minutes they came back with four large buckets of hot water, and poured it into the tub. When the two men left, Morgan nearly ran to step into the steaming water. She lay perfectly still for several minutes, allowing her body to luxuriate in the hot water. Gradually, she became aware of her surroundings again, and began to scour her body and hair. As she scrubbed, she noticed that clean, fluffy towels had been placed in the room, and that her shirt and pants were clean, and had been draped across the end of the bed.

  Now she realized that she must have slept for twenty-four hours, an entire night and day! Her mind was less cloudy. She began to think.

  Somehow, she must escape. What wou