Grooms with Honor Series, Books 1-3

by Linda K. Hubalek

  She turned back to the track and started walking again. They just as well hike while they argued.

  “Start talking, Daisy. I want every detail before we reach town. I have to report to the sheriff and the railroad company why people were killed and the train was robbed!”

  “I swear I didn’t know they were going to rob the train! I thought they were just a friendly group of men touring the area too.”

  “Who were ‘they’? I need names, Daisy.” Angus huffed behind her. The high altitude was bothering Angus as much as it was her, so she slowed down again.

  “They introduced themselves as Misters Nelson, Smith, and Johnson.”

  “Simple names, and probably all fake.”

  “How was I to know that? They were friendly, polite and we were having a good visit while viewing the scenery,” Daisy shot back.

  Angus didn’t say a word as they walked on, probably thinking of more questions to ask her.

  “Remember when Lorna Elison and Helen Paulson married the same man back home, when we were younger? Whatever his name was, he’d write an advertisement for a mail-order bride, marry them, steal their money, then disappear until he needed more gambling money and then advertise for another bride?”

  “Of course I remember that. But it wasn’t their fault the man was a con artist!”

  “Exactly. So I’m not blaming you if you were taken in by these men. But I want to know how you met them and how you ended up being an accomplice on a train robbery.”

  “Angus, I was not a part of this robbery! Although I think I’ve seen one or two of them around town, I got on the train by myself!”

  “But they visited with you!”

  “Yes! They asked polite questions of me and I of them. I have a pounding headache and I hurt all over, so shut up and keep walking!”

  Angus didn’t answer so Daisy peeked over her shoulder to be sure he was still following her. He was watching where he stepped, but was still limping behind her. Good. Maybe he’d save his breath for hiking up this incline instead of asking questions she didn’t know how to answer.

  Chapter 3

  “Let’s stop here for the night.”

  Daisy turned back to him, then looked up at the sky. It wasn’t dusk yet, but the sun would sink over the mountains faster than on the plains at home. Besides, his leg was about to give out.

  Not far from the tracks was a wall of rock, with the stream ten feet away. They could use the protection of the rock behind them, and build a fire between them and the water, and whatever creatures might check them out tonight.

  There was no wind where they were on the mountain, but the dampness chilled his bones, right through his union suit, or maybe it was through the tear in the backside of his trousers.

  “Maybe we should look a little further down the stream. There could be a shelf in the rock giving us more overhead protection,” Daisy said over her shoulder as she continued to walk on.

  “Stop, Daisy. Now.” Angus growled while leaning over to rub the back of his thigh. A sharp cramp hit the back of his leg, stopping him in his tracks. Now the blood rushed to his throbbing head and he fought to keep conscious. He could pass out any second. What would happen to Daisy if he couldn’t make it to town?

  “Sit down before you fall down,” Daisy scolded him while grabbing his arm as he tumbled sideways, taking Daisy down with him.

  “Oh, Leviticus! I got a cramp in my leg.”

  She sat up behind his back. “Lay on your side and try to straighten your leg to get the cramp out.”

  Angus knocked his hat off and laid his head on his folded arm. Maybe if he just rested a bit he’d be able to get back up, eventually. Angus leg jumped when the heel of Daisy’s hand rubbed down the back of his leg.

  “What the...are you doing?”

  “Trying to work the knot out of your leg to ease the pain. What do you think I am doing?”

  She ground her fist into the muscle this time, moving up and down the length of his upper leg.

  “Where’d you learn that trick?” Angus hated to think of Daisy doing that to another man.

  “Grandma has done this to Gramps’s legs for years. Whenever he gets a Charley horse in a muscle she rubs it out. Relax so I can work on your muscles.”

  Angus willed his body to relax while Daisy worked on his leg. He had to admit it was helping, but it felt strange to have a woman rubbing the back of his leg like that.

  It took a second to realize Daisy had stopped rubbing his leg and her hand was poised over his head, like she wanted to stroke his hair.

  “Uh, thanks. That did seem to help.” Angus slowly sat up, not wanting to move too fast and set his head spinning again.

  Daisy sat down beside him, pulling her knees up against her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

  “I never thought I’d be walking through the Rocky Mountains. Riding the train to see the tree’s fall beauty, yes. Being a part of a train robbery? No.”

  Angus reached an arm around her shoulders, trying to give her a little comfort, without speaking his mind.

  “How long did you say you’ve been in Denver?” Maybe Daisy would get around to talking about these men she’d seen before and he would figure out some more clues.

  She sighed before looking at him, then at a point in the distance.

  “About six months.”

  Daisy stood, effectively pushing his arm off her shoulders, apparently not wanting to talk with him being so close. She brushed at the back of her skirt to knock off the damp leaves they’d sat down in, and then stood with her back to Angus.

  When Daisy didn’t say anything else he asked, “Since you traveled through Kansas, you stop in Clear Creek to see your family?”

  “Of course. Spent a few weeks with my grandparents, Nolan and his new wife, Holly.”

  “I met Holly this past July when I stopped to see my family. Heard how they met in Montana after Nolan left the army.”

  Nolan was stranded in Sweetwater Springs, Montana last December due to a snowstorm. He helped a woman at the only café in town to feed all the waylaid train passengers. Nolan was heading back to Kansas to take over his grandparents’ café in town and offered Holly a job.

  Angus’ parents told him how Holly, the daughter of an Army scout and a Cheyenne woman, had grown up on forts in Kansas and Montana. The connection of forts and cooking had sparked their interest in each other, resulting in a happy marriage.

  “Holly’s such a sweet person, taking care of my grandparents besides baking for the café.”

  Angus winced as he stood up, but he was glad his head was clear again and his leg didn’t throb as bad. Taking the time to stop and rest had helped, but he’d be awful stiff in the morning.

  “I ate at the café one meal while I was home. Holly’s pies rivaled Millie Wilerson’s and I didn’t think that was possible.”

  Daisy nodded in agreement. “Holly’s a great baker, and a good mate for Nolan.”

  Angus followed Daisy as they picked up sticks and worked their way to the point he’d pointed out for their evening fire.

  “When I came home, I had planned to work in the café, but Nolan has Holly now, so I moved on,” Daisy confessed, finally starting to open up to Angus.

  “So their marriage led to your move to Denver?” It was the perfect line to get her talking about why she was on the train today.

  Daisy stopped to stare at him through her swollen eyes, then walked over and dropped her armload of branches.

  “Yes.”

  She pointed to a dense clump of trees to the left of them. “I need to...find a bush for a bit.”

  “Look for anything we can eat too.”

  Angus watched where she wandered to, letting her have a little privacy but keeping a watchful eye just the same. Daisy knew not to go far, but they had to be on alert just the same.

  His stomach growled at the thought of food. No hunting game without a knife or gun. Angus felt unprotected without his weapons, especially with the robb
ers still out there somewhere, let alone cougars and bears.

  Eventually there’d be a search party once someone realized the train’s employees were missing, but it wouldn’t happen until morning. Until they were found or walked to Bailey, they were on their own.

  ***

  “What I wouldn’t give to walk into work and take the medicine I need to dull these pains.”

  Angus shifted his position beside her, but stayed against her back. The extra coat was draped across both their backs and they didn’t dare move much because they’d lose their body heat. At least their feet were warm being close to the fire.

  “You hadn’t said where you worked.” Angus mumbled from the other side. He seemed to be able to drift in and out of sleep, but Daisy hadn’t been able to sleep a wink yet.

  “Capital Pharmacy on Broadway.”

  “Huh. I figured you were a chef at some fancy restaurant like you were in Chicago.”

  When Daisy first moved to Chicago, she was a housemaid for a couple of years. Then she waitressed at a nice restaurant until the owner found out she had, literally, grown up in the business. Eventually she did everything from baking, to cooking, to finally managing the business for the owner.

  It dawned on her one day she should go home and do this for her grandparent’s café. She missed them, and the simple town she’d grown up in. Chicago had been exciting, but she longed for family instead of just a handful of friends, and her grandparents were getting up in years.

  Daisy lived in a boarding house for years so she had little to pack but her clothing. She quit her job and boarded the train for Kansas, intending to arrive home at Christmas time to surprise her grandparents.

  But the surprise was on her because her brother had already moved home, cleaned up the café to reopen it and had a wife to help him. The newlyweds were living with her grandparents and Daisy felt like she was in the way. It was Nolan’s dream to run the café again, so she didn’t ruin their plans.

  “No. Decided to do something different, so I’ve been an apprentice, learning the trade so I could open my own pharmacy in Clear Creek.”

  “Really? In what building?”

  “Your brother Mack’s been building a new block of businesses in Clear Creek. He telegraphed me that my building is ready and I could move upstairs.”

  “I knew the town council, with Isaac Connely backing the project, had hired Mack to expand downtown, but I didn’t know you were involved.”

  “I asked what businesses they were wanting to come into town, and they mentioned a pharmacy as well as some other businesses.”

  “Instead of opening a business, why not just get married and enjoy taking care of your husband and a houseful of children?”

  “You just lost your half of this coat for your remark, Angus!” Daisy hissed as she tugged the coat out of his grasp.

  “Hey! Give me my share of the coat back. You have more layers of clothing on than I do.”

  Daisy let the coat slide out of her fingers to a certain point then held on tightly so he wouldn’t take the whole thing.

  After a moment Angus sighed, probably knowing he’d hit a nerve with her. “I’m sorry. I thought most women would like to have a family, and assumed you would too.”

  Yes, Daisy would have liked that, but the man of her dreams ran off to work on railroads instead, so she took off the other direction herself. Now here he lay, his back touching hers, still not having a clue.

  “Why did owning a pharmacy interest you?”

  “There was a woman in my boarding house who worked for a pharmacy. She talked about mixing medicine recipes, how they needed to be exact measurements to help, not hurt a patient, and I found that fascinating. I even went over to watch her work when I had time off from the restaurant.”

  “Whenever us kids were all in the café, making cookies or helping out, you’d be the one following the recipe in your grandma’s recipe book, where Nolan would just be tossing in the ingredients instead.”

  “Yes, that’s true so I’ll still be following recipes.”

  “So, when are you going to Clear Creek?”

  “As soon as I was done sightseeing through the mountains one more time,” she answered dryly. She would have snorted at the irony of it, but it would hurt her nose. Her trunk was already on its way to Kansas and she planned to switch trains in Denver and follow it.

  “As soon as I can get back on the train, heading east. This was just one last trip to see the mountains before I headed home to the plains.”

  “Rotten timing, huh.”

  “I couldn’t say it better. At least I only had a small carpet bag and my reticule with me. Luckily I had wired my money to the bank in Clear Creek instead of keeping it on me, except what I needed on the trip home.”

  “Once we find the missing train, I imagine you can retrieve some of your things.”

  “I sure hope so. All my jewelry was in my bag.” And her watch was in her reticule. The pin clasp, used to pin the clock on her dress, had broken just after she boarded the train. She’d have to find a jeweler to fix it before she could wear it again.

  Angus was stretching his leg again. “So, what would you recommend on my sore muscles, Miss Pharmacist?”

  “I’d recommend you rub Minard’s Liniment into your leg, after a hot soaking bath.”

  “Thanks for your recommendation. I’ll look forward to both tomorrow night.”

  Angus sat up, chucking a couple more broken branches into the fire, then laid back down, snuggling his back to hers.

  “Let’s try to get some sleep, Daisy. We have a long day ahead of us.”

  She listened as his breathing evened out, curious to think what it would feel to lay like this—or their fronts to each other—every night in their own warm bed. Just as well forget it and get some sleep, because his life was on the rail, and her life was starting anew in Clear Creek.

  Chapter 4

  “What the...” Angus took a deep breath, wondering what book in the Bible he was up to now. He’d already passed Jonah, Micah, and Nahum in the Old Testament before finally being rescued by a handcar this afternoon...about two miles from town.

  “What do you mean I’m fired?”

  He’d bypassed walking—no, limping—straight to the Bailey Hotel for a hot bath and a bed, to dutifully report the details of the robbery to the sheriff.

  Yesterday the train stopped two miles west of Morrison, where someone had horses ready for the robber’s getaway with the payroll. The engineer had been shot, and the passengers who weren’t in on the robbery were left to walk for help.

  Once the Morrison sheriff was notified, he telegraphed the Bailey sheriff of the situation and two men went out on a handcar looking for the missing train crew.

  When the men found them walking along the tracks, they took one look at Daisy and decided to return to Bailey before going back to retrieve the bodies of the crew.

  Daisy was taken directly to the doctor in town while Angus was grilled on why he hadn’t prevented the robbery and murders.

  Angus felt bad enough as it was, because he knew the crew, spending many trips with them over the past year. He’d even been welcomed into some of their homes, enjoying meals with their families. He’d never get over their senseless deaths, although they all knew they were always at risk of injuries or death in their line of work.

  “Now how did Miss Clancy play a role in the robbery?” Mr. Murfitt, the representative of the railroad continued with his grilling of Angus.

  “Since you fired me, why should I answer another question?”

  Angus and the sheriff had gone over all the details of the robbery, and he thought that was all that needed to be reported until he had time to rest and think again.

  Then the local mine owner and some bigwig railroad representative arrived at the sheriff’s office and started in on him again.

  “Because you could be charged with obstructing justice, and Miss Clancy could be thrown in jail for being an accomplice to the robbery,�
�� the railroad man sneered.

  “Uh, you wouldn’t think that if you’d seen Miss Clancy,” the sheriff nervously replied, probably scared of speaking against the men who run the town. “She was definitely caught off guard and I don’t think she was a part of this robbery at all.”

  “So the robbers decided she was no longer any use to them and threw her off the train,” the man shrugged his shoulders as if it was an easy way to get rid of some evidence.

  The door to the inner office slammed against the wall so hard everyone jumped from their chairs and the sheriff pulled his revolver out of habit.

  “I am Miss Daisy Clancy, and you are—?”

  Oh boy. Daisy had slipped into the jailhouse and heard the conversation in the office. Now the men were in for a tongue lashing.

  The two men reluctantly stood up. “Mr. Murfitt, representative for the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad, and this is Mr. Warren, owner of the Warren Mine, whose payroll was stolen.”

  “Mr. Murfitt, I can assure you I had no idea there was going to be a train robbery when I boarded your train for a scenic view of the mountain’s beauty. In fact, I will sue you for the harm that was done to me if you don’t compensate me and the other passengers who had to go through this ordeal.”

  All three men stared, and then cringed seeing Daisy’s swollen, bruised face. Her forehead now had a row of neat stitches across it so Angus had been right that her cut needed stitches.

  “Not only am I now disfigured,” she pointed to her face, “but I had to go through the agony of walking ten miles—overnight—to safety.”

  “I’m so sorry, ma’am. Your doctor’s and hotel bills will be taken care of.”

  “What about my ruined clothing, lost luggage, reticule, money, and jewelry, Mr. Murfitt?” Daisy glared at him through her swollen eyes.

  “If you’ll give me an estimate of their value, I will reimburse you, Miss Clancy.”

  Angus looked down at the floor, trying not to smirk. Daisy was livid with indignation and wanting to make the man pay.