Without an answer, Ira dismounted and entered the cabin with his hand still on the butt of his Colt. He wasn’t sure what he was about to find but he wanted to be ready for anything.
As he began to look around the cabin, he saw signs of what happened that an experienced tracker could interpret.
There were some small blood droplets from the facial wound that Uriah sustained at the hand of Virgil, and across the room, some more blood from where Virgil was shot.
The ropes that Virgil and his brothers tied Uriah with were still lying on the cabin floor. Ira picked one up, noted its length and that the ends had been cut.
Ira stepped outside and walked around the cabin. As he looked around, he saw the sign Millicent left as she crawled back into the cabin to help Uriah. The dress she wore left an odd impression in the ground, and he wondered how the woman had crawled through the brush without being heard.
Ira scratched his head, went around to the front of the cabin, and looked down at the tracks. He began to tell his gray what he’d seen.
“Well, my friend, it looks like two people walked in here. One of them was in moccasins with small feet and the other a large man in boots. It appears there was a struggle inside the cabin after three riders rode in, and the two people in the cabin had to defend themselves.
I found a little material in there from a woman’s dress. I’m having a little trouble believing that a man traveling with a woman started a fight with three armed men out here all by himself. It seems like we stumbled onto quite a fray.”
The gray shook his head and appeared as though he understood everything that Ira was telling him.
“Looks to me like we’d better keep following these two yahoos to make sure they don’t finish what they started here.”
The gray shook his head up and down, and Ira smiled as he rubbed the gray’s face.
“You’re a pretty smart fellow for a horse, you know that?” Ira said as he rubbed the horse’s snout again.
Ira watered the gray and then ate a few bites from some biscuits that Miss Sullivan wrapped him for the trip. He smiled at the gray, as he tasted the biscuit. After taking a bite, he passed a few pieces to the gray and smiled as the horse gently took the bite from his hand. The horse nibbled on the biscuit and nudged him as if he wanted more.
“A man could do a lot worse than that Miss Sullivan, you know?”
Once again, the gray seemed to nod in agreement, and then the horse nudged him with his snout.
“I know, I should tell her I’m interested, but then, why would a woman like that want to be courted by a small town marshal like me?”
The gray snorted and took a step back, and Ira seemed to get the message.
“I guess you’re right, if I don’t try, I’ll never know.”
Ira rolled up what remained of his snack and slipped it into his saddlebag and stuck his boot into his saddle stirrup. As he lifted himself into the saddle and turned the gray back onto the trail, he rubbed the horse again on its neck.
“I’m glad we had this talk. I’ll try a little harder when we get back to town.”
The gray must have liked what he heard for he seemed to go into a prance as they returned to the trail.
As Ira and the gray rode off from Kingman’s Ridge, Ira took one look back and thought about what he’d found that day on the trail.
There were signs of a train robbery, the two dead cavalrymen and the struggle between the McGinty’s and the two people from the train. There was a whole lot of nonsense going on out here, and he seemed to be a little too far behind to be of much good.
He’d have to remedy that and get on top of this. Maybe, just maybe, if he picked up the pace he could at least help those folks from the train. Just a few overheard words and what little evidence he’d seen made him believe that the McGinty’s were most likely a pretty unsavory lot. They were up to no good that’s for sure.
He turned south and rode about three miles before he saw a dust trail coming in his direction. The riders were a good two or three miles off in the distance. He knew what they were, he could tell from the column. It was a cavalry patrol. He decided to wait right there for their arrival.
He hoped he could send them to join Lupe and the search party from town. A few extra men to aid in the search couldn’t hurt. He figured they were probably looking for the passengers and his information might get them there a little faster.
Ira sat patiently on his gray as the cavalry patrol approached. He was unaware that only a few miles back down the trail they had passed the two McGinty brothers hiding in the brush. They saw the patrol approaching and got off the trail and hid, choosing not to encounter the patrol and stand for whatever questions the army might have for them.
After the patrol passed, the brothers waited until they were out of sight and then resumed their trip south.
The lieutenant raised his right hand to halt his patrol as he approached Marshal Beckam. Ira smiled when he saw how young the officer was. The seasoned sergeant read Ira like a book and nodded as he scanned the brass star on the lawman’s shirt.
“I’m Marshal Ira Beckam from Bensonville,” he said immediately, not wasting any time. Ira knew the cavalry patrol was needed back at the robbery site.
“The train was robbed about 12 miles back, and the passengers were herded into a thick stand of woods. I’ve got a search party from town going out there now to help find them, but you and your men would surely help.”
The lieutenant nodded and decided to tell the sergeant to give the men a five-minute break.
“Let the men step down for a few minutes,” he commanded. “It’s likely we’ll be riding hard for the next two hours.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant answered and he quickly repeated the command to his men. All of them stepped down and began tending to their horses.
“Where are you going, Marshal?” The lieutenant asked Ira.
“I’ve been tracking two of the passengers that wandered this direction. They seem to have gotten into trouble with an unsavory bunch, and I believe those men are after them right now.”
“According to the sergeant there were a lot of tracks down the trail behind us. None of them seemed related to the train so I had the patrol continue in this direction.”
“What happened to the train?” Ira asked.
“Without a tender to shovel coal, it ran out of steam about thirty miles south of here and just came to a stop.”
Ira knew it wouldn’t be pleasant, but he had to tell the lieutenant what happened to the cavalrymen on the train.
“I found two dead soldiers back there. One of them wore captain’s bars,” Ira said as he watched the lieutenant’s demeanor change. It was obvious that he knew the captain and was saddened by what Ira had told him.
“How were they killed?” the lieutenant asked.
“It looked like they were shot during the robbery.” Ira replied. “They must have made a stand.”
“I knew Captain Flannery, he was good man,” the lieutenant injected.
“I buried him along with the trooper that was with him. You’ll find them with a makeshift cross I placed over their graves.”
“I thank you for that, Marshal, and the Army thanks you.”
Ira nodded and clutched the gray’s reins a little tighter. The horse stepped forward and back slightly as if to signal it was time for them to move on.
“Seems like we’ve gotten our business done now and I need to get back on those tracks I was following.”
The lieutenant smiled and reached up to shake Ira’s hand.
“You be careful, Marshal, and watch out they don’t ambush you.”
Ira nodded and turned the gray slightly to the south.
“I hope you and your men have some luck finding those folks. Folks that live around here don’t go back in those woods alone or unarmed. Those woods are a dangerous uncharted place.”
“We’ll be careful and hope for the best.”
At that, Ira nudged the gray and r
ode past the men standing nearby. As he started down the trail, he could hear the sergeant giving his men the command to mount up.
Chapter 9
There’s Trouble Everywhere
Uriah was unaware of what was happening behind them, and he was fixated on one thing, getting Miss Millicent to safety. In changing direction and going southeast towards Richmond, he’d missed the northbound cavalry patrol and had no idea of what happened to the train. As far as he knew, there wasn’t a soul looking for them and they were on their own.
During his Army days, he’d traveled this area and he knew that it was sparsely populated. The mountains and the thick woods coupled with heavy snowfalls during the winter months made the area beautiful, but hard to settle.
He felt they’d do better by making the direction change and riding towards Richmond. It was a large populated community not that far to the southeast, and he was certain when they reached it that they could find help for the other passengers. From there, he also thought he could get Miss Millicent on her way to her destination.
Since the woman had saved his life, he felt close to her and intended to make sure nothing happened to her. In just the short time he’d been traveling with her, he found her intriguing. He also knew that she was naive to the wilderness around them. She had a strong spirit, but she was definitely a city woman.
She didn’t appear to have many people skills, so he was concerned about what to do with her. Although she wasn’t his responsibility, he knew she was in uncharted territory in both the countryside they were in and with the type of people they’d already encountered. He felt that she’d led a sheltered life in the city.
Because she was a woman, Uriah was concerned that outside the structure of her train trip, she was like a duck out of water. On her own, she’d never last.
Once he got her to Richmond, he might be able to get her on her way. Being she was a woman, he figured he’d slow down their pace and make the trip as easy on her as possible.
This desire to make things easier for her continually played right into the hands of the McGinty’s.
After the patrol passed, they got back on their trail and were quickly closing the gap between them.
By late afternoon, Harvey actually caught sight of them off in the distance from a hilltop.
“There they are right there,” Harvey exclaimed.
He had a good enough eye, and he could tell they were only hours behind them. The brothers picked up the pace and moved quickly down the trail in pursuit.
Uriah, confident that there was no way they could be this close, wasn’t watching the trail behind him and had no idea the McGinty’s had almost caught them.
Near nightfall, Uriah spied an old burned out spread up ahead, and he and Miss Millicent rode into the place to find that only an old barn was still standing.
The main house might have been burned during the war or even recently. It was hard to tell because the brush had grown up all around the burned structure.
It looked like a safe enough place to camp, and the old barn’s rotting wooden walls would offer them some shelter from the night wind, so they lit a fire inside what remained of the structure.
The brothers rode as long as the light would allow, but as the darkness closed in, they were still short of their mark and had to make camp for the night.
Rafe was anxious, he knew that they would catch up to them in the morning and was trying to sift through what he intended to do with them. He paced their camp like a man with troubles.
He’d begun this endeavor with intentions of making Virgil proud, but as the distance between them increased, he began to search his own soul for what he thought was right.
Only four miles back and traveling slowly, Ira had dismounted and was walking his gray. The trail was dark, but at a walk, he could follow it well enough in the moonlight to make up some time. He figured the McGinty’s would stop for the night. He also wondered if they knew he was behind them.
If they did, they might try to bushwhack him. If they didn’t, then he’d have the element of surprise when he did catch up. So far, he didn’t have anything he could charge them with, and he was hoping that his presence would stop whatever was happening before it escalated.
Whichever way it turned out, he knew he was running out of time to intercept them. If he didn’t get to them before they encountered their prey, the brothers were likely to kill either one or both of those poor unfortunate souls from the train.
They might have gotten the drop on Virgil McGinty in the cabin, but he was sure the brothers wouldn’t let that happen twice. Now they had Virgil’s shooting to fuel their rage. All these thoughts went through Ira’s mind as he walked.
Occasionally, he’d think about Miss Sullivan and her café. He loved her cooking. He was thinking about the last beefsteak she’d cooked for him, and he caught himself licking his lips.
“Darn, boy, that woman sure can cook,” he said to the gray.
The horse whinnied and pranced almost as if he agreed with Ira.
“Soon as we catch these men, we’ll get back to town and get some of that good home cooking.”
The gray groaned a little at his remark, and Ira looked over at the large horse walking next to him.
“Don’t worry; I’ll get you an apple and some oats. Don’t I always look out for you?”
He rubbed the gray’s head, and they continued prodding along in the moonlight following the sparsely marked trail.
The brothers were concerned that a fire might alert Uriah and Miss Millicent to their presence, so they chose not to light one. This lack of illumination kept them hidden in the thick wooded area. It also kept Ira from knowing their exact location. He knew they were ahead but wasn’t sure exactly where or how far.
Ira walked the gray for another two miles before making camp. By then, he was getting tired and knew that a lone lawman with sleepy eyes had already put one of his feet in danger.
When he and the gray finally stopped for the night, they were a little more than a mile from the McGinty brothers’ location. There was something afoot with Ira that kept him safe; he was 40 percent careful and 60 percent lucky.
Though none of them knew it, they were all poised for a confrontation before the new day would hardly begin.
To the north, the cavalry patrol had come upon Lupe and the townspeople. They’d lit a large bonfire at the train robbery location and set up camp. Lupe and several of the town’s men were putting together a plan to start searching the densely populated woods at first light.
The temperature on the hillside was dropping rapidly and there was a possibility of an early snow. If it snowed before they got the search started, they might never find any of the survivors. With the cold bearing down on them, the level of urgency increased.
Now it wasn’t just the threat of wild animals and being lost in the forest that besieged the stranded travelers, it was the possible onslaught of that bitter cold.
The arrival of the cavalry patrol was a welcome sight. As the men rode in, the townspeople stood and greeted them joyfully. None of the town’s people knew exactly what to do. They were extremely unorganized.
Lupe stepped up as the town’s spokesman.
“We’re sure glad to see you men.” he began, “We need some help to search these woods for some stranded train passengers.”
The lieutenant smiled as he dismounted and gave the sergeant the order to have his men make camp.
“I ran into your town marshal several miles back, and he told me all about what happened,” the lieutenant said, addressing Lupe.
Lupe smiled. He had more than one reason to be relieved. The news that Ira was okay and still tracking the McGinty brothers was good to hear. He knew that Ira wouldn’t stop until he caught up with them.
Command of the situation seemed destined to fall into the lieutenant’s hands, and the townspeople didn’t seem dismayed at all when he told them he was taking over command of the search.
The lieutenant informed t
he town’s men that at first light they would stretch out all of the men at their disposal, and with them at a distance of about 15 feet apart, they would enter the woods. His plan was to march this line simultaneously into the forest and search for any sign of the passengers.
With the number of men he had and the plan he’d devised, the lieutenant believed they could enter the woods and easily find some of the people that were lost there. As they marched the tree line, they would mark the trail where they went in to insure they stayed in a proper line. The marks would also help them when they needed to find their way out after the search.
The night sky closed in around them as the bonfire at the robbery site burned brightly. There was always hope that the light would bring someone out of the darkness to safety, but the odds after so long a time were growing slim. The sentry’s watched the tree line throughout the night for any sign of life.
First light would find them all with a solitary purpose. The importance of the mission was truly foremost to them all.
As the night passed, four men must have had an ominous feeling about the new day. Not one of them could put their finger on what was bothering them, but for them there would be little sleep. Their night would be filled with soul searching and their inability to sleep.
Ira would nap and then sit up and look off into the darkness. He sat with his hand on the butt of his Colt, wondering if he’d have to use it come first light. He thought about his life and the direction it was taking.
He’d been in Bensonville for a few years now, and the days of having to take a life were behind him. He’d found it easy to be the town marshal without using violence. He’d kept his speed with his pistol razor sharp, but all the while, he hoped he’d never have to use it against a man again. His conscience was far removed from the man he’d been not so long ago.
He’d been a soldier, a bounty hunter, and even a hired gunman before he decided to stay in Bensonville.
The possibility that he might have to shoot one or more of the McGinty brothers was weighing heavily on him.
The Delivery Page 9