FLAME SERIES #20 SO SWEET THE SMILE

CHAPTER 18

Your Newly?

By the time the two women reached the Ragger home Calleigh was beginning to feel the effects of the pills. She slipped down from Belle and then hung onto the faithful friend for a few moments to get her bearings.

"Calleigh. Are you all right?" Cicely stepped closer to offer a helping hand.

Calleigh gave her head a couple of quick shakes to clear out the cobwebs. "Just a little light headed. I'm fine." The grin she offered was a weak imitation of the real thing.

"Why don't you go in and sit down?" Cicely pointed toward the sofa in the living room as she backed toward the kitchen. "You look pale. I'll get you a glass of water."

"Yeah, maybe I will sit for just a minute." Calleigh's steps were unsteady as she made her way to the couch and fell against the heavily padded camel back. Blurry eyes blinked rapidly and struggled to bring the floral print into focus.

Cicely stood just out of sight at the edge of the doorway. She could see Calleigh was fighting to shake off the dizziness. Putting her best smile into place, she entered the room with the water in tow. "Here I hope its cold enough."

Genuine fear crossed Cicely's face when Calleigh reached out and slapped the glass from her hand. She flinched back as the beautiful Moser tumbler crashed to the floor shattering into a dozen violet pieces. "I'm a doctor!" Calleigh screamed, "Did you think I wouldn't know that I had been drugged! Why!" Her attempt to stand was in vain and she toppled back onto the cushioned seat.

Cicely's shock was only momentary. ""Why? Hmmm. That's a good question." She pushed the broken pieces of glass aside with the toe of her shoe. "Momma would be so upset. This was her best crystal." She was careful to keep her distance when leaning in for a closer look at her prey. "Why you asked. Well it's simple. You have something I want."

The drug was slowly blurring the world around her. Calleigh blinked hard to bring the blonde into focus. "What…what do I have?"

"Newly." Cicely was gaining confidence as she watched her captive slump to the arm of the couch. "Tsk, tsk. You don't look good."

"My…my Newly?" Calleigh was too numb to offer an expression of surprise but it was in her voice. "But…Gaith…"

She erupted in laughter as Cicely drew herself to her feet. "Gaith! He's a boy. I need a man." The laughter stopped as suddenly as it began. Her voice had assumed a bitter shrieking tone. "And stop calling him my Newly! He's not yours any more."

"Always be mine." Calleigh whispered. She pressed her hand against the cushion and pushed herself up as far as possible. "Always."

Cicely squatted down in front of her victim. She tilted her head to one side to see eye to eye with Calleigh. "Once you're dead – he'll be mine. And 'I' will give him sons."

"What?" That comment stunned her even more than the drug.

"That's right. He told me he wanted a son and you couldn't give him one."

"No, he wouldn't…" Calleigh lost the battle and fell back down.

"Yes he did. How else would I know?" Cicely stopped her face contorting into a repulsive grimace. "Your Newly told me." She rose back to her feet and stepped away from the couch. "I would love to sit here and talk more but I have things to do."

Calleigh fought to hang on to the world around her but it was slowly disappearing into an abyss of nothingness. She was oblivious to her capture as her wrists and ankles were bound. Cicely pulled her from the sofa and began to drag her down the hall toward the kitchen.

Ironically enough, the grunts and groans were uttered by Cicely. She had failed to realize that an unconscious body was not easy to manipulate. Even one that topped the scale at a hundred pounds. The deadly trek came to an end when they reached the door to the cellar.

Cicely stood up and took a moment to catch her breath. She had already opened the heavy wooden door and secured the hook in the iron ring. "Whew, you sure are heavier than you look." She wiped the tiny beads of sweat from her brow. As she stared down at her rival with mocking disdain. "Looks like this is where we say good bye!" It only took a bit of pressure with the tip of her black leather boot to push Calleigh onto the stairs leading to the cellar. Gravity worked against the unconscious woman bouncing her down the steps until she landed on the ground with a thud.

Just watching her antagonist suffer blow after blow of the wooden steps brought great joy to her blackened heart and a malicious smirk to her lips. She reached up and released the hook allowing the door to slam down into the wooden frame. Snatching up the hammer from the tool box she had retrieved from the barn, she began to pound the latch out of shape making it impossible to open.

It was like watching a macabre ballet the way the willowy blonde danced around the formal sitting room dousing the curtains and furniture with kerosene. "Oh he'll be sad – at first." Cicely splashed the pungent liquid in a trail behind her as she left the room. "But when he realizes you are gone for good, he'll get over it. It won't be like the other times! Newly will want to marry me."

Cicely was in such a state of euphoria she was losing focus. Without thinking, she poured the remains of the can into a puddle in the foyer. She quickly retreated to the kitchen, tossed the container into the corner and began to rummage through the drawer for the box of matches. Without a care or a conscience she hummed a tune and sashayed back to the living room. "Oh Calleigh, I wish you could have been awake to see this but…" With a callous shrug she struck the wooden match and touched it to the curtain.

The flame licked across the brocade drapes melting the tiny threads into a dripping pools of gold. The satin material puckered under the searing heat. Bits of fabric fell to the floor causing the fire to feast on the trail of kerosene that trailed around the room. The fire wasn't satisfied to gobble up the decorative satin covering. It soon began to belch out a ribbon of choking black smoke as it burrowed into the thick muslin and cotton lining underneath.

Cicely became mesmerized as she watched the red hot blaze devour the room, ravaging everything her mother had taken such pride in. The crackling of glass as it desecrated those sacred photos. She watched her family melt away, one by one shrinking under the intense heat until they were nothing but bits of distorted faces. So much pleasure. So much satisfaction. In her euphoric state even the smoke smelled sweet as it smothered the life out of the velvet cushions. She closed her eyes and turned up her face needing to feel the heat yet knowing enough to fear it. It was wild and untamable.

As the beast leaped across the front of the house, even she was forced to abandon her deity. When she was making her exit from the kitchen door, Cicely stopped for one last glance back at the cellar. "Thanks again Calleigh. I'll take good care of him."

0O0O0O0O0O

Kitty could see the smoke as soon as she topped the hill not more than a mile away. She pushed M'Lady as fast as she would go and it still wasn't fast enough. Flames had burst through the glass of the front windows terrifying Belle. Kitty jumped down instantly freeing the frightened animal from the hitching post.

Greedy tentacles of fire leaped feverishly out the windows and front door lapping up the blistering paint on the porch. Realizing the front of the house was impassible, Kitty quickly ran around to the back.

Smoke had fled the dominion of the flame in search of its own kingdom. It soon found its way to the kitchen. Kitty was forced to her knees as soon as he entered the house. She started to crawl to the sitting room when she noticed the battered latch on the cellar door. In the process of beating the metal, Cicely had splintered the wood enough to see into the basement.

A primal scream ripped from Kitty's throat when she spied her daughter lying unconscious on the dirt floor below. "CALLEIGH! CALLEIGH CAN YOU HEAR ME!"

Kitty clawed at the wooden barrier unaware of the splinters tearing at her fingernails. She pounded and pulled on the busted latch until it became saturated in the blood from her hands. Before long her screams were strangled by the smoke. Eyes blurred by the burning tears frantically scanned the room, searching for something, anything to pry open the door. Soot attached itself to her hands as she wiped away the tears leaving black and red streaks across her face.

Feeling around like a blind man she somehow managed to find the hammer that Cicely had left behind. As she crawled back toward the cellar she tried to call out to Calleigh again but it was no use. Her throat had swollen shut from the searing heat. Once she reached the wooden door she began to beat on the mangled latch. Her strength was ebbing away with each swing of the hammer. It was only the adrenaline from fear that had pushed her thus far.

Kitty could feel the flames coming closer. When she drew back her hand for one more swing five large fingers closed over hers. Frustration and panic triggered her aggression towards Matt as he pulled her away and carried her outside. She fought him as if he were the enemy.

"Cel…cell…cellar." She finally managed to choke out the single word.

"Stay here!" Matt tied his handkerchief around his face and charged back inside. With only two powerful blows of the hammer the latch flew across the room. Even if Kitty had managed to bust the metal barrier the door had been torqued and she would never have been able to open it. Relying on adrenaline and a prayer, Matt braced himself and pulled for all he was worth. The twisted wood screamed as it was ripped from the metal hinge. In as few steps as possible, he reached the bottom of the cellar and scooped Calleigh up in his arms.

The fire had reached the kitchen just as he ran out the back. Gluttonous flames shot out the door like a belching dragon grasping for the last survivor. Matt held his daughter tight to his chest as he stared at the man in front of him. For a second he thought he was delirious.

"Festus?" Eyes stretched wide peered over the top of a red handkerchief. He rubbed his chin along his shoulder to dislodge the makeshift mask. "What are you doing here?"

The frightened hill man rushed towards him. "She okay Matthew?" He peaked into the marshal's arms at the unconscious woman. "Who hog tied her?"

"Festus how-"

"One of the boys cum riding up to the ranch. He seed the fire from the top of the hill." Festus had already pulled out his pocket knife to cut away the bindings. "She don't peer to be hurt cept for a couple of bruises, Ya best let me have her while ya go see ta Miss Kitty. Doc's with her now."

"Kitty? What's wrong with Kitty?" Matt leaned to one side to look behind Festus. When he pulled Kitty from the kitchen she was struggling so hard and he was in a hurry to go back after Calleigh that he didn't really look at her. But he was looking at her now and did not like what he saw. Her eyes were red and swollen shut. Even from this distance he could see that her hands were covered in blood. Doc was trying to hold her up while she emptied her stomach on the ground.

"Matt is she all right." Kitty was unable to see him when she cried out. She tried to pull away from Doc but his grip was too tight.

"You just sit still. I need-"

"You need to look at my daughter Doc!" Kitty screamed as she jerked free of Doc's hands. "Now!"

Yielding to his irate redhead, Doc pulled himself to his feet and walked towards the marshal. "It's not as bad as it looks Matt. Just keep her calm until I get done with Calleigh."

Doc quickly walked over to Festus and began to examine the young woman in his arms. "She's got some bruising on her face, nothing broken." He gave a closer look at her eyes checking the pupils. "She's just asleep. Looks like she's been drugged."

"Doc is she okay?" Kitty called out again.

"She looks a sure sight better than you. Now you just calm down." He yelled back. "Festus lay her down in my buggy."

Festus quickly did as he was told and then joined the marshal and his wife. Doc had a bottle of something clear and was trying to wash out her eyes. The burning haze had left them raw and swollen. All three men stared at the woman that had fought so valiantly for her child. All knowing how much pain she must be in.

Kitty could feel Matt's arms around her. "Doc says she's okay Matt. She is – isn't she?"

"Yes baby, she's going to be fine. Oddly enough, the cellar was the safest place to be. No smoke – no fire. She's just got a few bruises where she fell down the stairs." Kitty looked so tired, so fragile. Matt desperately wanted to scoop her up in his arms but he knew he couldn't until Doc was finished.

"I've done all I can here. I need to get her home to clean out those wounds but I don't think there's room in the buggy." Doc fought to keep his professional perspective but he couldn't stave off the grimace as he looked at his surrogate daughter. "Do you think you can you get her up on Buck without hurting her?"

"Sure can Doc. Festus can you give me a hand?" Matt turned back to his wife. "Ready to go home honey?" Kitty barely had enough strength left to nod. He carefully slipped his arms under her and carried her over to the patiently waiting quarter horse. Festus held her while Matt mounted Buck and then gently handed her up into a pair of loving hands. "Thanks. Why don't you go in to town and get Newly."

"Sure will Matthew. Ya all be careful."