by Paty Jager
She lied. Her eyes looked everywhere but at him, and he’d seen the outlaw come out of the alley. What was she doing with a man like that?
Why did he even care?
“You need to be more careful.” He chucked her under the chin and hollered. “Lila! I’m out of here. She’s all yours.”
Darcy stared at the door as it closed behind Gil. She vaguely remembered him finding her under the pile of crates. And him carrying her. She looked around. He’d brought her to Mrs. Danforth. Did he think this was where she belonged? In a brothel?
Lila came down the hall.
“Where’s my clothes?” Darcy asked, plucking at the robe covering her naked body
“They’re in the yard with the rest of the mud,” answered the fresh woman.
“I need some clothes, so I can get back to work.” Darcy had planned to follow the man she saw with Craven. Now, she had to keep an eye on Craven and try to talk to the miners at the same time. Her head pounded, sending shards of light piercing through her head and making it hard to think. She’d have to enlist Jeremy to follow Craven while she went out to the mines. The idea didn’t set well, but she didn’t see any other way.
She had to find out why Craven wanted all the claims. And exactly what the big-eared man and Craven had planned.
Chapter 8
Dressed in pants and shirt, not nearly as large as her father’s, Darcy headed back to the jail to get Jeremy and fill him in on the job she wanted him to do. Gil tipped his hat and rode by smiling as she crossed the street to the jailhouse. She pretended to not see him. His laughter carried over the sound of a passing freight wagon.
“Hey, Gil!” Jeremy called from the jail doorway, nearly swinging his arm off.
“You got better things to do than wave at no-accounts like that man,” Darcy said, grabbing him by his ear and dragging him into the building.
“Darce, quit! That hurts. Why you mad at Gil? He bought you dinner last night.” Jeremy rubbed his ear and looked at her like her brains had spilled out all over the floor.
“Just because.” She sat him in a chair. Placing her hands on the arms on either side of him, she leaned down close to his face.
“I need you to do something real important. And you need to keep your mouth shut and just listen and watch. Do you understand?”
He nodded his head solemnly.
“If I didn’t need to go talk to some of these miners, I’d do it myself, but I can’t do both at once.”
He swallowed and nodded again.
Darcy looked into her brother’s eyes and hoped she wasn’t putting her only living blood kin in danger. Her heart ached at the thought of anything happening to him.
“I need you to keep an eye on Mr. Craven. He’s up to something. I saw him talking to a man—probably an outlaw—this morning. They were talking about taking something, and I could tell that something wasn’t theirs to be taking.”
Jeremy’s mouth dropped open. “You mean he ain’t a good guy?”
“That’s right. I’ve known for some time. But I didn’t know he had a plan. I’m getting close to figuring it all out.” She smiled. Wouldn’t it just wipe that smirk off Halsey’s face if she got the goods on Craven?
“Now you just follow and don’t let him see you. If he talks to a fella with big ears and yellar hair, try to move in and hear what they’re talking about.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “He’s dangerous. Don’t do nothing to get yourself in trouble.”
He shook his head. “Where’re you gonna be?”
“Talking to some men about land.” Darcy waved the list of names she’d salvaged from her muddy pants pocket under his nose and headed for the assayer’s office.
She had her doubts about letting Jeremy trail around after Craven, but she didn’t trust anyone else. She couldn’t let Halsey find out what she was doing. She still didn’t know how he fit into all of this. He didn’t seem to like Craven, but that could just be a ruse to see how much dirt she’d dug up on the crook.
She knew how her body felt about Gil Halsey. Just thinking of him made her heart race and her body heat. But she wouldn’t follow her heart on this. She had to follow her head, and it said to not let anyone know what she found.
At the assayer’s office, she located where each of the miners had their mines. They all paralleled one another along Buck Creek. Darcy shoved the paper into her pocket and headed to the livery to get a horse. She smiled. That was one good thing about being marshal. She had the use of any horse she wanted whenever.
Riding had always been one of her favorite things to do, but the last few years she hadn’t owned a horse and rarely had the extra money to rent one. She and Jeremy had traveled in the backs of freight wagons across the state. They’d met many nice people along the way, but nowhere had ever felt like home.
She smiled wistfully thinking a quiet ride would help her sort things out. Rounding the corner into the livery, her nose bumped into the leather back of a man as big and wide as the livery door.
“Hey, little man, you need to watch where you’re going,” the man said, twisting and looking down at her.
Darcy tipped her head back. She clutched at her hat to keep it firmly on her coiled braid and looked up at the man. He was big and solid. Shaggy brown hair stuck out from under a deformed straw hat. He didn’t smile just turned back to the person to continue his conversation.
“Sorry,” Darcy squeaked and stepped way around the man and his partner. She walked down the aisle looking for the liveryman. The scent of horse, hay, dung, and hot metal hung in the air amid the stomping of hooves and snorts.
“Hey, Marshal!” Ted Haskell called, as he came out from the feed storage room.
“Hi Ted. Who’s the big man over there? I’ve never seen him before.” Darcy looked over her shoulder at the two men still deep in conversation at the entrance. Her heart thudded in her chest when the other man turned in the sunlight. He was the man Gil had confronted in the jail and beat up saving her. She’d have to make sure he didn’t see her face.
“Ain’t seen him around here until today. He keeps to hisself and is real quiet.” Ted scratched his head and narrowed his eyes. “Now the other guy, he’s been up at the saloon playing cards and doing a fair share of winning. Not sure where he come from either.” He scratched his head. “Did see him this morning talking to the guy who rides a big buckskin gelding.”
“The guy with the long coat, low slung holster, and gray cavalry hat?” Darcy looked around Ted at the men still standing in the doorway.
“That’s the guy.”
“Uh-huh.” She wondered how much of the incident last night was staged for her benefit. Had Gil tried to scare her? What was he trying to hide by always dodging her questions about the man in the livery? She’d known all along he wasn’t to be trusted. No man had ever treated her like he did. His soft voice and concerned eyes had broken her defenses. She’d be on her toes from now on when he was around.
Darcy looked both men over good so she’d recognize them anywhere, even from a distance. “I’m headed out to Buck creek. You got a horse I could use?”
“Sure, take the gelding you rode the other day. He worked fine didn’t he?”
“Yeah, he was great. Thanks.” Darcy walked down to the stall housing the gray gelding. She walked slow and deliberate, trying to hear what the men at the entrance visited about.
She talked quietly to the gelding as she brushed and saddled him. A word or two would drift to her between shuffling of horse’s hooves, bored sighs, and Ted banging on metal in the back room. She heard the name of one of the prospectors she planned to visit and the “Boss” mentioned frequently.
After saddling the gelding, Darcy led the animal out of the building and headed off toward Buck Creek. The first prospector she planned to talk to was Gustafson. The name the big man mentioned.
*****
Gil smiled every time he thought of the marshal all covered in mud. She’d been a damn pretty sight even with all the filth co
vering her. But she was up to something. He could feel it. He wanted to follow her out of town, but he’d seen Pete standing in the livery when he brought his horse in to have Ted look at its shoes.
He’d ducked down the alley outside the livery and waited for the man to come out. Eventually he did and Gil popped out onto the street to watch where he went.
Craven came down the walkway across the street. Not far behind, Jeremy followed. Gil forgot Pete as Jeremy whistled his way down the street and bumped into Craven. The man gruffly grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt and shoved him backward into a sack of feed standing in front of the mercantile. It looked like clumsiness ran in the Duncan family.
Gil caught a glimpse of his prey crossing the street and entering the saloon. Craven shook his finger at Jeremy and proceeded down the street and down the alley where Gil had found Darcy earlier.
Gil pushed his hat back on his head and scratched. This was interesting. Jeremy followed Craven. At his sister’s orders, no doubt. And Craven had tried to get rid of Jeremy. He didn’t know who to be angrier with—Darcy for siccing her brother on Craven or Jeremy for being so blatant.
Shoving his hat down low on his head, Gil crossed the street and entered the saloon. He stopped inside the door and scanned the room. The sickening-sweet scent of tobacco spit and stale cigar smoke accosted his nose. Being the middle of the day, the place had sparse customers. Pete stood at the end of the counter alongside the large man with big ears.
Gil walked to the opposite end of the bar and ordered a drink. He turned enough to keep an eye on the door and the men. They didn’t talk much just sipped their drinks and stared at the bar.
“Want to play cards?” Ashburn Slaughter asked, patting Gil on the shoulder as he walked by.
“Sure,” Gil took a seat where he could watch the men and the door. He knew it wasn’t wise to be preoccupied while he played cards, especially with Ashburn, the town gambler. But he needed a reason to hang out in the saloon as long as the two men without them noticing his vigilance. Three other men joined the card game. Two were miners with gold nuggets the size of robin’s eggs and the third a salesman for mining equipment.
The game started out amiably. Gil managed to keep his money from dwindling even though his mind wasn’t on making any.
A saloon girl walked up to the man with big ears and whispered in his ear. He patted her on the backside and set his glass down on the bar. Without looking around, he wandered out the back door like he needed the privy.
Gil waited to see what Pete intended to do. He ordered another drink. Gil excused himself from the game and headed out the front door of the saloon. He hurried along the walkway and down the alley, keeping to the shadows and ducking behind boxes as he went. He nearly tripped over Jeremy hiding behind a box.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a whisper, dropping down behind the crate with the boy.
Jeremy looked at him and pressed his lips together. He pointed deeper into the alley and Gil saw Craven approach the man with large ears.
“Has he been standing out here the whole time?” Gil asked, watching the men. He felt Jeremy nod his head. “Did he talk to anyone else?”
“A saloon girl.” Jeremy wrinkled his nose. “They was running their hands all over each other and kissin’.”
Gil nodded. It had to be the one who brought the message to the man with big ears. “I’m going to try and get closer to hear what they’re saying.”
Jeremy grabbed his shirt. “I’m supposed to do that. It’s my job as deputy.”
“No, it isn’t. You’re too young to be a deputy. You need to be a boy.” Gil looked back at the men in the alley.
Jeremy jumped up and ran by him, darting around the two men, disappearing into the privy, and slamming the door behind him.
Gil ran a hand over his face and watched the men look around before continuing their discussion as though a boy hadn’t just nearly knocked them over to use the outhouse. He had to smile. Jeremy was a quick thinker, and the men probably didn’t even see who he was before he ducked in there.
The men talked for a few minutes more then went back in the saloon. When he was sure they weren’t coming back, Gil knocked on the outhouse.
“You can come out now, Jeremy.”
No answer. He tried the door. It didn’t budge. He pounded on the building.
Nothing.
He walked around. A board had been pried off the back. Jeremy was small enough to have squeezed out the hole and scurried away while Gil made sure the men wouldn’t come back.
Damn. The boy heard everything. Gil set out down the alley in search of Jeremy. He knew too much. If Craven even suspected the boy, he’d be dead by morning.
*****
Darcy rode up to the last claim on her list. So far she’d found none of the claims had a great production and most of the miners weren’t heartbroken to lose their claims to Craven. What puzzled her more, Craven allowed the miners to continue working the claims for a small percentage. Why would Craven go to such measures to secure land that was petering out of gold then allow the miners to keep digging?
A gunshot set the hair on her arms straight up. Darcy slid off her horse, pulling it behind a tree as she watched the shack in front of her.
“Get off my land!” came a shout from somewhere to the right of the shack.
“Mr. Haines?”
“Maybe.”
“Mr. Haines, I’m Darcy Duncan, Marshal of Galena.”
“You’re working for that shyster Craven. I know all about you.”
“You’re wrong, Mr. Haines. I’m trying to find out why Craven is buying all the land along this creek.” Darcy tied the horse to a low branch and cautiously worked her way through the trees to the back of the shack. She peeked through mountain berry bushes.
Mr. Haines was a small, dried-up, old man who could barely lift the shotgun he’d fired. She stepped out from behind the bush.
“Mr. Haines?”
BOOM!
The shotgun went off scattering birds from the trees around her and sending Darcy flat on the ground at the man’s feet.
“Mr. Haines!” Darcy screamed, jumping up and taking the gun away from him. “I’m not here to take your land. Blazes! Will you quit shooting? You’re going to hurt someone.”
Mr. Haines looked dejected and sat down on a stump used as a chopping block. “He sent you to get the deed didn’t he?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “I’m not here to get the deed. I’m here to find out why Craven wants the deed and the other claims along this river.” Darcy leaned the gun against the shack and pulled up a hunk of wood to sit on. “What is so special about this strip of land along this river?”
“Every man that’s worked it has brought up a good amount of gold. But it’s getting harder to find. Craven is trying to get the land free and set up a stamp mill here. Then he can make even more money off the miners in the area.”
“What’s a stamp mill?” Darcy watched the old man pull out a pipe so brown from tobacco it looked like grasshopper spit. He tamped a pinch of tobacco into the bowl and lit it. Taking a big puff, he eyed her.
“You don’t know anything about this business do ya?” He blew eye-watering smoke her way and closed his eyes. “I’ve been at this twice as long as you’ve been alive I grant ya.” He looked out at the creek and then at the mountain behind his shack. “You young bucks think you know everything, but when it comes down to it, none of ya know nothin’.”
Darcy settled back. She could tell it would be a long drawn out process to find out anything from this man.
He went on about all the places he’d mined and how he always managed to lose it all to whiskey, women, and cards. He laughed rakishly. “Not always in that order.”
“Mr. Haines, what is a mill stamp and why would Craven want one?”
“A mill stamp, Marshal, is a mill that crushes quartz, that’s the most common rock gold is found in. It releases the gold from the rock. Then mercury is used
to pick up the fine traces of gold. A man can literally squeeze gold out of quartz with a mill stamp. That’s what Craven plans to do. Squeeze more gold out of this crick.”
“Doesn’t it cost a lot to start up one of those places?” Where would Craven get the money for a mill stamp? The land was free since he took it away from the miners, but he couldn’t steal a mill. Could he?
“Most mills is started up by big money from back East or Portland.” The old man puffed on his pipe. “Why are you so interested in what your boss is doing?”
“He’s not my boss. I work for the town and not a man.” Darcy stood. “Thanks for the information.” She looked around. “Are you okay here by yourself?”
“I’ve stayed alive this long.”
“If you need anything just come by the jail. I’ll see if I can help.” Darcy walked back to her horse. She untied the reins and climbed up into the saddle.
She had a lot to think about on the way back to town. Mill stamps. Craven. Gil. What Jeremy may have found out. Her thoughts drifted as well as her horse.
Chapter 9
Darcy noticed the horses surrounding hers too late. She looked up and stared into the eyes of the man with big ears. Sitting alongside of him was the large man she’d bumped into at the livery. Three more men moved in around her. One was tall and skinny with a large mustache, and the other was short and skinny with red hair and a pockmarked face. The third man moved even closer.
It was the man Gil knew. She ducked her head to shield her face from his stare. He rode his horse around her in a circle. She watched him from under her downcast eyelashes. He wasn’t hard to look at. His brown hair touched his ears and teased his shirt collar. A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. She didn’t think he was as bad as the bunch he rode with. Or at least she hoped not.
Darcy swallowed and willed him to stop circling. She didn’t want him to recognize her as the woman Gil had protected. There was no telling what this group would do to a helpless young woman.
“What we got here?” asked the man with the pockmarked face. He nudged his horse forward and reached out, flicking the badge on her chest. “We got us a Marshal.”