PENNY M. AND SHELLIE W.
PART 3
Buck and Vin rode side by side toward Eagle Bend, keeping their horses at an easy canter. When they passed the halfway point and still hadn't met J.D., Buck pulled his horse back, then allowed it to walk up to where Vin stopped just ahead of him.
"We shoulda met him by now."
Vin nodded and squinted into the distance. "He just coulda been delayed, Buck. We'll head into town and talk to the sheriff, heck, he may not 'ave even left yet."
Buck nodded. "Well, if he hasn't, the sooner we get there, the sooner I can ring his scrawny neck for worryin' us to death." Buck urged his horse forward into a fast gallop. Vin shook his head.
"Thought you weren’t worried." Vin smiled as he quickly caught up to Buck’s speeding horse. They arrived a few hours later and stopped in front of the jail. Buck dismounted quickly and tied his horse to the hitching post, then hurried into the sheriff's office.
The man looked up quickly when Buck entered in a rush.
"Sheriff." Buck nodded a greeting to the lawman as Vin followed him in. "We're looking for a friend. J.D. Dunne. He was headed this way to pick up those wanted posters the express riders left behind."
The Sheriff stood up. Yeah, he was here. Picked up the posters and told me he was going across the street to get a bite to eat before heading back to Four Corners."
"What time today was this?"
"Today? No, that was yesterday. Said he decided to go back a day early."
"You sure?" Vin winced at the worried look Buck shot him.
The older man shrugged. "That's what he said. You might check over at the hotel in case he changed his mind. Let me know if you find him."
"Much obliged." Vin touched his hat brim and reached over to pull Buck out with him. "You go check the saloon, I'll ask around at the hotel." Waiting for Buck's acceptance, Vin strolled across the street toward the hotel. He could see the tension building in his friend and knew it wouldn't be long before panic set in.
"Evenin'." Vin nodded toward the man behind the desk at the hotel and leaned on the counter. "I'm looking for a friend of mine, goes by the name, J.D. Dunne."
The man pulled the open book around and ran down the names listed, then looked back up at Vin and shook his head. "Nope, sorry, no Dunne here."
"He might nota stayed here, but the Sheriff said he ate dinner here yesterday. Young man, dark hair, about --" Vin held his hand about eye level "--this high. Wore a bowler hat."
"Oh yeah! I remember him. He sure enough did eat here, then paid me and said he was heading back to Four Corners. I just happened to be sweeping the front porch about the time he left, too."
"Yesterday?" Vin's heart dropped when the man nodded. He thanked him and left to find Buck.
When they met again on the boardwalk just outside the saloon, Buck's face showed his disappointment. "He didn't go in the saloon."
"Man at the hotel said he ate there yesterday, then left for home. Even seen him ride off."
Buck's frown grew deeper with worry. "Something's happened then. He should have made it back to Four Corners by now. Let's go." Buck took a step away, but Vin grabbed his arm.
"Not now, Buck. It's gettin' too dark, I won't be able to see well enough to track for too much longer. We can wire Chris, then get started at first light."
"I got a bad feeling, Vin. I don’t think we got any time to waste here, he’s been missing too long." Buck yanked his arm from Vin's hand and strode toward his horse.
"Buck! Listen to me!" Chagrined at having to chase his friend down, Vin hurried over and held Buck's horse by the bridle. "If you go out now, I'll be lookin' for both of ya come morning. If J.D.'s really in danger like you think, then I ain’t got time for that. Kid needs us to be rational. 'Sides, once the wire reaches Four Corners, Chris will send someone to help, and we'll need it with this large a territory to cover."
Vin read the conflict running through his friend’s mind as he weighed reason against instinct. Buck fingered the leather reins he still held loosely in his hands, and gazed up at the darkening horizon.
"I just hope he has till morning."
Quietly, they led their horses to the livery stable and walked to the telegraph office. Later, after a quick, silent supper, they retreated to their rooms, knowing they'd be up before dawn to start tracking their friend.
*******
The late evening sun glowed through the room when J.D. opened his eyes. The familiar gloom surrounded him and his stomach rumbled with hunger. Movement to his left caught his attention, and he turned his head to find the professor walking toward him with another syringe.
"W-why are you -- doing this to -- m-me?" His voice shook and he trembled as he looked up at Treadly. The man grinned down at him and lifted the syringe higher as if making sure his victim could see the instrument.
"For the good of science, my boy. This is simply an experiment for the betterment of mankind. No one's ever discovered the line between sanity and insanity, and I intend to find it. There have been others before you, but they succumbed to the madness. You can be the first to open the portal within your mind."
J.D. groaned and rolled his eyes shut. Oh, my God, he's done this to other people! J.D. pulled his arms tight against the ropes and gasped when a hot dry palm rested on his belly. He opened his eyes and found the old man leaning over him and he shifted his hips, trying to dislodge the repulsive touch from his body.
Treadly seemed to sense his victim's unease and leaned closer, then looked at J.D. and moved his hand farther down. Powdery fingers spidered across his flesh and he froze when the man's touch drifted too close to his groin. The professor smiled, then moved his palm back up to caress across the painful bruises he'd made. J.D. helplessly squeezed his eyes shut as he was soothed and rubbed like a favorite pet.
"Skin like velvet . . . satin under my hand . . . "
The slurred words made him open his eyes again. The professor still smiled at him.
"Get your hands off me, you bastard!" J.D. bucked against the table and screamed defiantly as Elmore rushed forward and backhanded him viciously across the face. "Uhhhhnn!" J.D. felt his cheek bone crack under its mass and prayed he'd just black out.
Elmore's haste knocked the syringe from his father's hand and it shattered on the floor. J.D. hoped it would buy him some time and he struggled harder until a flash of pain caught him in the gut. The punch left him weak and gasping for air as Elmore stood over him, his meaty fist ready to strike again.
"No, that's enough." The big man stood down, his face as expressionless as a child's doll as he moved behind his smaller father.
"Why --" J.D. coughed and swallowed hard as the words strangled him. Fear threatened to tear his thoughts from his mind and he took a deep breath, determined to get through this time. "Why are you hurting me?"
"Oh, rest assured, young man, your hurting has a purpose." Treadly's voice held a note of insolence and he stepped back to his worktable and J.D. hitched in a painful breath as the man filled another syringe. "Your suffering has a purpose. Everyone's suffering has a purpose. My poor Velma couldn't see that, she --- well, no matter." He cleared his throat and stared grimly at J.D. "What we learn here will benefit mankind."
The syringe was held up and waning sunlight from the windows sparkled against the glass tube, shining dull through the yellow liquid it contained.
J.D. shook his head, fighting the tears forming in his eyes as he squirmed on the table and twisted his body in a futile attempt to widen the distance between himself and his tormentor. He tugged at the ropes holding his wrists and kicked his legs in the desperate chance he'd break free this time. "NO! Wait, please!"
"Think of it, boy. You're helping advance science. We'll go down in history as changing the course of human life." J.D. watched as Treadly lifted the syringe and pointed it needle down on the top of his bare flesh, pushing his cold palm into his belly. J.D. writhed beneath his touch, muscles rolling and clenching as he vainly fought against his captor.
The insane man’s eyes danced with amusement as he glared down at him. "Fight it if you want, boy, it won’t do you any good!"
J.D. knew he didn’t have much fight left, but overwhelming fear kept his exhausted body moving as Treadly laughed and poked him lightly with the needle. "Now, be a good boy and hold still now." Treadly’s voice strained with sudden impatience and he grunted in frustration as J.D. dislodged his aim again.
"Elmore! Hold him still!"
The giant moved forward with the speed of a man half his size and pinned J.D.'s hipbones to the table. J.D. gasped as a cramp shot through his pelvis and lanced through his thighs, his body felt as if he was being ripped apart. Helpless against such powerful strength, J.D. succumbed and the professor lay the needle in a sore spot on his lower abdomen. He held the vile instrument steady for a beat, then slowly stabbed it deeper.
J.D. screamed and strained against his holder. The foreign object sinking farther into his body became his focus and the silence in the room allowed him to concentrate on the feel of the perverted intrusion into his belly. His head fell back with the horrible sensation of layers of muscle and tissue popping as his body yielded to the inexorable stab of the needle. Burning followed as Treadly depressed the syringe and whatever potion the man had concocted flowed into him.
"Nnnnnooooo!"
"Tell me! Does the fire reach your mind? The pain that begins here --" Treadly pressed one palm to J.D.’s forehead placed his other hand on his abdomen, pushing his point home by compressing J.D.’s tender belly "--can travel up through your body and burst inside your brain. Can you feel it?"
The man leaned over and drew within inches of J.D.’s, his fervent words hammered against his face and J.D. cringed away. "Get away from me!"
"Tell me what you feel! Is insanity clawing at your mind, begging you to yield?"
Madness hovered over him and J.D. screamed then jerked his head away from Treadly's touch. Spasms racked his body as the blooming pain injected into his belly spread upward. The drug slid through his veins, sending the flaming potion through his limbs and chest, exploding in his already pounding heart. His head felt tight as he fought the digging torment that reached for his sanity.
J.D. began to pant, gulping in air as his vision tunneled with fright and agony. A low, animal-like wail echoed off the walls as J.D. begged for the darkness he sensed was just within his reach. As the pain flared again, he allowed his weakened body to give in to the beckoning oblivion that promised relief from the evil around him.
*******
Elmore watched as the boy’s suddenly limp body collapsed onto the table and his father shook his head sadly. Treadly's thin shoulders slumped in defeat and he turned to his son, but his discouraging words were only for himself. "He's still succumbing too quickly. I need him to stay awake longer and experience the pain, so he can tell me what he's feeling, what his thoughts are."
"When he wakes up, untie him, let him relieve himself, then put him back."
Elmore watched his father leave, then stood silently studying the pinched features etched on the unconscious boy's face. The young man mimicked J.D.'s expression with the intensity of a child. He glanced down at the exposed body and lightly wiped across the blood oozing through the last puncture wound, staring at the red streak left on his fingertip. Elmore roughly probed the other marks left by the needle, seeing if they also bled.
J.D. jerked back to consciousness, his eyes wide with fear as he looked up into Elmore’s face. "Don't . . . . please, don't."
Elmore didn’t like the sound of the boy’s sad voice and he hurried to finish the task his father had entrusted him with. He swiftly untied the ropes holding J.D. and lifted him effortless into his arms and carried his charge up the dark staircase.
*******
Cold night air raised goose bumps on his skin and J.D.'s heart thumped wildly in his chest. Elmore set him down beside a small outhouse and pushed him through the open door. J.D. hurried to do his business, worried that if he lingered, that creature would just come in after him. He finished and tried to button his pants but even the slight pressure against his bruised belly stopped him. He took a deep breath and prepared to try again, but his strength was waning and he couldn't force himself to withstand the pain the attempt at modesty would cost.
Tears of misery and frustration welled in his eyes and were wiped angrily away when he realized this might be the perfect opportunity to escape. Just as the door began to open, he reacted and threw his entire weight forward. The surprise more than the force knocked Elmore off balance and J.D. heard the big man cry out when the door slammed into his nose. A deep bellow of anger echoed through the woods and followed J.D. as he ran.
He tried to hurry but the ground stabbed at his tender feet and he felt like he was wading through waist-deep mud because he couldn't get up his speed. Gasping for breath already, he was too afraid he'd see Elmore or the Professor behind him, so he didn't look back. Abused stomach muscles worked against him sending spasms that made him clinch his teeth to stifle his screams when flashes of pain spread down through his belly and legs. He wrapped one arm around himself in an effort to try and find some relief from the torment and kept running. The terrifying alternative of returning to what had to be the bowels of hell behind him dampened his fear of dropping dead in his tracks, so he kept pushing, kept going despite the spear of agony each step sent through his body.
He was more or less just staggering from side to side by the time Elmore caught up to him, and his heart dropped when monstrous hands clamped around his shoulders. Motivated by fear and determination, he fought with more strength either could have thought possible and struck out at his opponent; kicking, hitting and finally biting, sinking his teeth into the giant's forearm as he tried to hold him still.
Elmore yelled like a stricken child and lashed out sending J.D. staggering from a backhanded blow. He felt his head jerk back as his hair was yanked, then felt the immense arms as they closed around his chest in a suffocating embrace. J.D. let out a weak grunt as the breath was expelled forcefully from his lungs then he collapsed limply in his captor's arms.
The ambiance changed and he opened his eyes to the lab just before he was dumped onto the table's surface. His wrists and ankles were quickly tied in the same position he held before, his shoulders ripping in their sockets as despair swelled in his chest and tears continued to stream down his face. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded, his voice raw and shaky.
J.D. flinched and moaned as Elmore touched the tear-streaked skin on his bruised cheek. The simpleton reached up slowly and touched his own face, hissing when his thick fingers moved across his broken nose and he stared at the blood from his own body this time.
"I hurt too." J.D. whispered in desperation. He'd become aware that this man-boy didn't understand what he was a part of. In the brief moments of lucidity between injections he'd caught glimpses of the simple, innocent expression Elmore wore, and he suspected the Professor merely used his son because of his ignorance. But J.D. wanted to make him understand his actions were wrong. If he could get through to the son, maybe he had a chance of escape.
Elmore stared at J.D., blinked slowly, then turned and left the room.
J.D. let his head loll to the side and squeezed his eyes tight against the hopelessness he felt invading his soul. He wanted to stop thinking and instead convince himself it would all be over soon, but he couldn't. He shivered as the cold settled into his bones. Even if he weren't half-naked, scared to death and lying on what felt like stone, the growing discomfort in his gut wouldn't allow him a moment's rest. He felt sick, violated and helpless and he prayed someone would find him before the Professor did any more vile experiments to destroy his body and take away his will to live.
He heard heavy footfalls and held his breath. No, God, no more.Elmore's huge shadowy form stood over him and J.D. bit his lip and trembled. Just as he thought he would go insane with worry, he felt warm softness and opened his eyes to watch Elmore spread a blanket over his legs and his bare chest. The big man gently tucked the edges under J.D.'s body, then turned and left the room. Confused and numb, J.D. laughed weakly then closed his eyes and allowed his weary mind to slip into a restless sleep.
*******
Elmore Treadly walked quietly out of the house and through the backyard. Darkness shrouded the trees and turned familiar landmarks into hideous shadows, but he navigated through them easily. He'd traveled this route many times when his thoughts began to trouble him, so the way was well known to him.
Irregular shapes showed up as darker forms against the ground at his feet and he stopped and knelt by one. He ran his thick fingers over the rough wood, and though he didn't know the letters, he knew the name by heart. It was the only marker with a name.
"Mom."
Velma Treadly, RIP. The first victim of his father's demented experiments had died in retched agony in her own home. Elmore had stood back and watched, his simple mind unable to connect with what he was seeing and offer the help she so desperately called for. The woman was dying, eaten alive by a sickness no one knew about, or knew how to cure, but to have her last moments filled with unbearable pain was enough to send anyone over the edge. Intrigued with the mind's response to pain, the Professor had withheld the laudanum she so pitifully begged for. She'd died with a curse on her lips, the last words to her husband.
Elmore stood up and tenderly brushed away a leaf that had fallen onto the wooden marker. Blood on his hands shown darkly against his skin and he lifted his fingers to touch his nose. Pain shocked through his system and he twisted his face with the discomfort he felt. The hand that rested on his face traced the creases in his brow and he remembered a similar expression on the young boy laying in his father's lab. The boy was in pain. Until now, the comparison had been unreachable, but after experiencing it for himself, Elmore began to realize what his father was doing was wrong.
The thought of defying his father sent fear through his heart, and for the moment, the courage needed to help his father's subject was buried beneath fright. Slowly, the simple giant turned and lumbered back to the house, his shoulders slumped with a sadness he couldn't understand.
PART 4
Pre-dawn found Buck and Vin leaving Eagle Bend. They knew J.D. had left yesterday, but neither wanted to risk missing any signs of tracks, so they traveled down the road slowly. They bent over their horses as far as they could and began searching the dusty road for anything than might help them figure out what had happened to J.D. or lead them to him.
Just as the sky began to lighten, Vin pulled his horse up and dismounted. Buck followed.
Vin kept his eyes on the ground. "We're a couple of miles from town and I don't want to chance missing somethin.'"
Buck nodded in agreement and stood silently watching the tracker as Vin walked carefully around the area. He pulled bushes back with his hands and searched the ground for any sign of struggle, or that someone had left the main trail. When he was satisfied he'd missed nothing, he walked carefully forward, his eyes constantly scanning the earth.
Several minutes passed before Buck's impatience got the better of him. "This is going to take awhile, ain't it?"
Vin didn't look up, but he pressed his lips together and nodded. "Yep. I told you there's a lot of territory to cover. When I wired Chris, I told him to look for signs along the way, so whoever he sends will be searching from Four Corner's way. That'll help some."
Another few minutes dragged by before Buck sighed heavily and adjusted his hat farther back on his head. He shifted the reins in his hands and reached back to pat his horse. "You ever get the feeling something bad's going to happen?"
Vin stopped and looked at his friend. "Yeah, I've had that feeling a few times in my life. Used to know an old Indian that swore he could tell when somebody was gonna get hurt, or killed. He said he could read the signs in the clouds."
Buck looked up at the dark sky above. The sun was just beginning to brighten the distant horizon and color was seeping into the world as if God were pouring it in from above. "Kinda like Josiah's crows, huh?"
"Yeah, kinda."
Worry had settled in his stomach like a cold rock and Buck clenched his jaw in frustration with his inability to see into the future. Something told him J.D. needed help *now*. A hand rested on his arm and he turned to find Vin watching him with an expression of deep understanding on his young face. "We'll find him, Buck. Don't you worry."
Buck smiled even though his worry didn't lessen with Vin's sincere words. "I know. I just got this feeling of urgency, like we need to find him soon."
Vin nodded once in quick acceptance and dropped his hand to his side. "Then let's get to work."
The sun rose to warm their backs as they worked on opposite sides of the road, looking for signs that would lead them to J.D.
The thundering of a rider coming in fast arrested Vin and Buck's attention. They both reached for their guns but relaxed when the familiar figure of Josiah arrived.
He pulled his horse up sharply and held a hat out for their inspection. "Found this about five miles down the road." J.D.'s hat, dusty and a bit bedraggled, was clutched in his hand and Buck reached for it.
"Damn it, something's happened to him." He looked up at the ex-preacher, his face hard with determination. "Can you remember exactly where you found it?"
"Yep, marked it."
"Then let's ride."
Buck and Vin mounted their horses and the three men urged their rides forward. Several minutes later, Josiah pulled his horse to a stop and dismounted by the time Buck and Vin caught up. The ex-preacher hurried to the bushes and pushed them aside then held up the colorful wrap he wore when the weather turned cold. "This is where I found it."
Vin pushed past him and studied the ground, then moved farther into the overgrown weeds and bushes. A few yards away, he stopped and sank to his haunches. Buck and Josiah came closer, but didn't join him for fear of disturbing the signs he'd obviously seen.
"Someone hid a wagon here, but there's only one set of footprints."
"You thinkin' J.D. went with this person?" Josiah's brow creased as he frowned, apparently trying to follow Vin's train of thought.
"No." Vin stood. "I think he was carried to the wagon and took away. There's only one set of footprints, and they're too big to be J.D.'s"
"But what makes you think he didn't go willingly? Maybe someone was sick on the side of the road, and J.D. stopped to help, went with them?"
"You found his hat, he wouldn't have left that. Besides, I just got a feelin' is all, kinda like Buck."
Josiah stared at him grimly, then suddenly craned his neck and looked up into the sky. Buck followed his gaze and shivers ghosted down his spine when he caught site of a lone crow, high over their heads. The bird circled lazily then rode the thermal away, shrinking into the distance.
Buck caught a glimpse of the uncertainty in Vin’s eyes before the tracker averted his glance.
"Let's see where these wagon tracks lead us." Vin adjusted his hat on and began to follow the slight marks the wagon wheels had made in the dirt. Buck and Josiah followed silently behind. None of the men voiced their worries, but Buck felt the urgent tension that held them all and he said a silent prayer that J.D. was or would be all right.
*******
The Professor bent over his subject and pulled the blanket away. Some of Elmore's doing, no doubt. That boy was simply impossible.
The syringe was cool where it rested against his palm and he ran his thumb back and forth over the glass, enjoying the smooth surface. He liked soft, smooth things. They made him feel comfortable and calm. Frantic, disquieting thoughts had kept him up lately, stolen away his sleep, and he craved rest.
The youth who lay before him was an endless supply of smooth textures. His skin, his hair, even the pants he wore felt satiny soft against his palm. It looked as if the boy was sleeping peacefully. But instead, the pain he'd inflicted had driven his victim into oblivion and the thought sent shivers of unmerciful power through his soul. He reached out with one trembling hand and rested his palm on the young man's forehead. His skin felt slick and warm and Treadly smoothed over the curved brow to J.D.'s cheek. Though he judged the boy to be at least 19, the look of innocence he wore in his sleep and the unaged quality in his face made him appear as a child.
The boy flinched and opened his eyes and immediately drew back when he saw who was touching him.
Stubbornly, the old man followed his movements and kept his hand on his victim's face. "You can't get away, boy. You're helpless. I decide whether you live to see another day. How does it feel to have your delicate young life held in another person's hands?"
"You don't hold my life." J.D. spat defiantly. "*I* decide whether I live or die."
Professor Treadly lifted his eyebrows in surprise. "We shall see about that."
He pulled back from the boy and held the syringe up in both hands, turning the glass container so that J.D. could see the pale amber liquid within. "My purpose is to find your center. Once I discover that, I shall be on my way, and nothing can stop me. I'll be able to control the mind."
He leaned over again, his face inches from J.D.'s. The boy turned away and his neck curved dramatically as he tried to hide from the professor's view. Chuckling softly, Treadly placed his hand on the kid's belly. The soft flesh rolled beneath his palm as he drew circles on J.D.'s body. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, almost losing himself in the calm that settled in his brain with the sensation of velvet softness against his skin.
"Stop! Don't touch me!" J.D. bucked on the table, his strong back bowing his body up and then down again as he struggled to dislodge the professor's touch.
"Keep still!" An overwhelming sense of superiority swept through him and he curled his hand into a fist and brought it down like a hammer into the boy's abdomen. J.D. grunted and his body lunged the few inches the ropes would allow off the table, trying to double over with the pain. He groaned and drew in deep breaths that kept hitching through his billowing chest.
Treadly hurriedly rubbed a spot on the boy's quivering belly with his fingers and plunged in the needle.
"Yes! It works faster when the subject is highly agitated!" Cackling with glee, he thrust the needle up to the hilt of the syringe into his victim's body and shoved the plunger home. J.D. pulled in a sucking breath. His chest expanded and his ribs swelled and he arched off the table.
The professor held the syringe like a knife, pushing it like he would a blade deeper into J.D.'s body, uncaring of the deep impression he was making in the boy's abdomen.
The boy cried out, his spent voice merely a hoarse whisper and fell limply back to the table. His head lolled over and he stared out at the professor, but didn't pass out.
"Now you feel it, don't you?" Treadly leaned in close and wiped his free hand across J.D.'s brow, pushing heavy dark locks away so he could look into the boy's eyes. "It starts in the belly, but soon it will warm your spine and explode into your brain. You must stay awake, boy. You must tell me how it feels."
J.D.'s brow creased and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Oh, God - hurts!!"
"Yes? what else?"
"BUCK, please help me......Buck, PLEASE!"
"Nobody's coming for you, boy! No one can find us here or hear your screams. I have a whole graveyard full of proof. Scream all you want, call for your friends all you want; they'll never hear you!"
Treadly drew back and cruelly yanked the needle from J.D.'s body. The boy jerked up with the abrupt removal and a scream was forced from his raw throat as he fell back to the table.
"Buck will." With those quiet words, the boy breathed deeply and passed out. Disappointed, Treadly walked over to his worktable. His shoulders drew up tight and he clenched his fist around the empty syringe in his hands.
Suddenly, he threw the vial across the room, ignoring the spattering of broken glass when it smashed into the wall. "This isn't working!" His anguished cries echoed through the house and he began snatching up small sacks and bits of herbs in his hands.
Treadly's head spun, he'd tried so many different mixtures, none were ever just right. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at J.D. The boy wasn't moving, but the professor could see the nightmares attacking him behind closed lids. He's still feeling it. That's it! Treadly's brain screamed to him and he laughed outloud. Take him to the brink of death! Why hadn't he thought of this before? All he had to do was add more tensia root, keep him awake then administer a stronger second dose!
With renewed vigor and a giggle he couldn't contain, Treadly picked up more containers from his worktable and stumbled with his load to the door.
