Wolf Creek Read Free

away, making note of Childress ’ s tight grip on
Maudie ’ s
arm.

    * * *

    “ Well, well, Maude Cherise. I thought I
might never catch up with you, ” said Lyle Childress, as he guided her along the
darkened boardwalk. She glanced through the lamplit window of the
marshal ’ s office
to see deputies Quint Croy and Seamus O ’ Connor seated across the desk from
Marshal Sam Gardner. Childress quickly pushed her forward, staying
to the outside of the walk to avoid passersby.
    “ I thought you might have realized by now
that I don ’ t want
you to catch up with me, ” Maudie snapped.
    “ You sound so … peeved, Maudie, ” Childress crooned, with little
sincerity. “ Whatever have I done to deserve that? ”
    They walked
alongside Isabella ’ s Restaurant. Maudie so wished she could call for the help
Antonio had offered her earlier, but the restaurant windows were
dark. Once they turned the next corner, it would be only a short
distance to her little house by the creek. Now that they had left
the main business district, there were no boardwalks and no one
could be seen out walking. A three quarter moon gently illuminated
the quiet residential end of Lincoln Street.
    Childress and Maudie reached the picket gate
in front of her rented cottage.
    “ This is far enough,
Lyle, ” said
Maudie. “ You are
not welcome here. ”
    He feigned
shock. “ Oh,
really? I don ’ t
believe you ’ ll be
able to deny my entrance, sweet Maudie. After all, you are still … my wife . ”
    Maudie turned
her head away from him. “ Only because I made the most
ill-informed decision of my life. You know the truth, that the war
was over and I had no money. ”
    “ Ha! ” answered Childress. “ And little Maudie could be bought
for a price. So I gather you have not shared the small fact that
you are a married woman with your new acquaintances. By the way,
why in God ’ s name
did you take off to Kansas ? Is there possibly a more
desolate, hopeless place you could have chosen? Why Kansas,
Maudie? ”
    “ That ’ s none of your business. Nothing I
do is any business of yours anymore. ” Maudie ’ s voice was edged with
hate.
    “ And I suppose you think
you ’ ll find a
better husband out here in this wasteland. Hmph.
I ’ ll bet there
are plenty of other details you ’ ve neglected to tell your new
friends. ”
    Childress
gripped a handful of Maudie ’ s black ringlets and pulled her
face close to his. She smelled the sourness of whiskey on his
breath. “ Do they
know about your noble upbringing back in New Orleans? Do they, Maudie? That your
father was a well-born ne ’ er-do-well who became a riverboat
gambler? That he met your mother at a quadroon ball ? I ’ ll bet you
wouldn ’ t be
sitting with the town ’ s dignitaries if they knew that bit of
information. ”
    Maudie struggled
to get free from Childress ’ s hold. “ And what are you, Lyle?
You ’ re a
ne ’ er-do-well
gambler who isn ’ t
even the least well-born! If you think so little of my pedigree, why did you
marry me? ”
    Childress let go
of her hair and, instead, locked both her wrists in one
hand. “ It ’ s the
only way I could have you, Maude Cherise. You were being such an
impudent little snob. ” Maudie stepped back and tried to twist free. Childress
slapped her cheek with his free hand.
    Blood trickled
from the side of Maudie ’ s mouth. “ I … I ’ m divorcing you, Lyle
Childress. That ’ s why I am
in Kansas! ”
    “ You can ’ t divorce me, you black
wench, ” Childress
hissed.
    “ Forgive my intrusion,
but … yes, she
can. ”
    Childress jerked
his head around. Jules Traynor stood with arms crossed in the
middle of the street, flanked by a flint-faced Quint Croy and
Seamus O ’ Connor,
who looked freakishly tall in his top hat. The deputy marshals were
slowly advancing toward Childress and Maudie.
    Jules cleared
his throat. “ According to the General Statutes of the State of Kansas,
Article Fifteen, Section Six Thirty-nine