She aimed at Olivia again. “She goes with me,” Mariah said.
Dustin felt something touch him—or almost touch him. He closed his eyes, praying that the real general had come. A man seemed to rise from mist and take shape before him.
It wasn’t the general. It was Marcus Danby.
“I am a ghost, Mariah. I’m a ghost because you killed me. And because you tried to ruin the good that honest, caring people were doing. You won’t join me, Mariah, when you die. I’m not sure what lies beyond this—where I am now—but I know you won’t be there. I can feel sun and light—and all you can feel is darkness.”
Mariah’s gun remained on Olivia. She frowned, as if trying to ascertain how they’d created the illusion she was seeing.
Someone else stepped forward, entering into the green shadows of the little cemetery.
Aaron.
“We tried to get the general to come, Mariah,” Aaron said. “But he doesn’t want to know you.”
“This is bullshit!” Mariah cried. She turned to take aim at Olivia again.
Dustin moved as he’d never moved before. He was out of the trees as if he were propelled by a sudden spark of fire. He caught Mariah in a tackle and brought her down, rolling with her.
She was strong; they fought for the gun.
A shot went off and Mariah screamed in agony. Dustin tried to wrench her gun from her but it eluded them both and landed several feet away. But the woman had been shot—and he realized that Olivia had recovered her own gun and managed to fire off a round.
Despite the fact that she was bleeding, Mariah strained to reach her weapon. Yet she suddenly went still and Dustin struggled with her weight, trying to move around her. And then he saw what she saw.
The general had come. He stood with his foot on the gun.
“Not on this land!” he said. “Not on this land. Cruelty and murder will not happen, not on my land.”
Dustin inched forward; his fingers grasped the weapon and he threw Mariah off him. She huddled in a ball, sobbing.
Malachi burst into the cemetery with Abby at his side.
“It’s done,” the general said.
And he faded away. The ghost of Marcus Danby grinned and saluted Dustin, then faded, too.
Aaron, also, was gone. Malachi had rushed to his cousin’s side, while Abby assessed Mariah’s injuries.
Dustin turned quickly to reach Olivia. She was hugging Malachi, but she pulled away and smiled tremulously at him.
“You’d make a horrible reenactor,” she said.
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. You, uh, need to learn how to shoot,” he told her.
She nodded. “I guess I do.”
She was shaking, but she appeared to be all right. She didn’t even seem traumatized. “The others?” she asked.
“Ambulances came pretty quickly to the Horse Farm. Sloan and Jane were already up. You managed to get the darts out of them?” he asked her.
She nodded. She started to take a step, but she wasn’t walking very well. He stopped her, looked into her eyes and muttered, “Oh, the hell with it.”
Then he swept her into his arms and headed out on the trail, leaving the shadows of the dead behind—and Malachi and Abby to deal with Mariah.
Epilogue
Mariah Naughton proved to be full of surprises—and her last surprise was especially dramatic.
She never reached a hospital, and she never explained her entire story. They had to piece together what they could from Jimmy Callahan, who’d been dating Mariah, and from Sandra Cheever, who was willing to do anything to get the D.A. to deal with her as leniently as possible.
What happened in the end was because Mariah had no intention of leaving “her” land. She had used a gun on Olivia, but she’d still had a supply of poisoned darts. Frank Vine arrived at the cemetery to arrest her, but before he could cuff her, she managed to use her poisons on herself—in a greater dose than she’d used on anyone else. Frank radioed for a helicopter; it came, but Mariah was pronounced dead on arrival.
Olivia tried to feel something for her. She couldn’t. She knew she should have sympathy for someone who’d lived with such a disturbed, tormented mind. She worked constantly with people who had issues and problems; she understood the addict and triggers and...
One day, she thought, she’d forgive Mariah. But it wouldn’t be for a long time.
The Horse Farm was a shambles. Mariah had set out to destroy it and she’d done an effective job. It would be hard to convince others of the good that had existed, now that Marcus, Aaron and Mariah were dead and Sandra Cheever was busy working out a plea bargain.
But on Wednesday morning, when she sat with the Krewe members and her Horse Farm team in the office, she was determined.
“We’re fired,” Drew said dully. “I understand.”
“Of course,” Sydney said.
“No. We’ll close our doors for about a week, but we’re actually in a sound financial situation. Of course, we can’t use our reserves forever or we’ll be left with no choice but to move on.”
“So what will we do?” Mason asked.
She pointed a finger at him. “Mason, you’re gorgeous—yes, we all know that and you could probably have a future as an actor or model. But you’re also a good therapist. You’ll be our new director.”
“You’re director,” he said.
“I’ll be an absentee director,” she told him. “You’ll take over as acting director. Sydney and Drew, if you don’t mind, you’ll continue sharing responsibilities as stable managers and horse masters.”
“But—” Drew began.
“I’ve already spoken with Mrs. Lockwood—Brent’s mother. He’s going to come back. Apparently he cries because he’s afraid he won’t be able to see us again. I spoke to Brent myself. He says he likes me best, but that’s okay, he’ll work with you.”
“Well, um, thanks,” Mason said, still confused.
“I’ve also spoken with Patty Sobles. Remember her? She’s one of the local women we work with. Anyway, she’s coming back. I’ve been on the phone with the parents of the kids at Parsonage House. They’ll give us another chance. As I said, we won’t open our doors for a week. Aaron deserves a good funeral with all of us at it, and Mariah... Well, we have to see that she’s buried, too. I don’t think she had any family left—maybe that’s why the land meant so much to her. Mason, you’re going to have to find a few more therapists. Oh, we’re going to steal Ellie Villiers from Willis House to run the office. She was only part-time there and she’s looking for full-time work. Mason, you’ll move into Marcus’s old house—that’ll save you from paying rent. I’ll just have you guys check on my place now and then, make sure everything’s all right.”
“So, you will come back?” Drew asked hopefully.
“I’ll always come back,” she replied. “Tennessee is my home. These hills are my home. We all have the right and even the responsibility to love the place that’s our home, to love our heritage. Mariah just let it consume her. But, yes, I will come back as often as I can.”
Sydney rose, rolling his hat in his hands as he did when he was a little nervous about what he was going to say. He looked at Dustin. “You treat her right, you understand? Your intentions had better be honorable!”
“The most honorable,” Dustin promised him. “Don’t worry—I work with her cousin.”
Sydney smiled and sat down again.
“This will work,” Olivia said. “The Horse Farm will survive. We will survive—all of us. Marcus Danby was an incredible man who did incredible things—and the Horse Farm will continue to rescue animals and we’ll continue to do our best to rescue people, as well. Just as Marcus always did.”