by Paty Jager
He didn’t stay to the flat land along the river. The horse climbed steadily up the side of the mountain. Darcy tucked her knees to use her skirt for protection against the tree branches and brush clawing at her legs. They rode at the break-neck pace for hours. At least it felt like hours to her clenched hands and bent legs.
Darcy tried to notice the lay of the land as they rode. The path the robber took, led them up and over a hill. The horse lunged and huffed over the rise. Lights flickered in the trees ahead. Her heart raced with the anticipation of seeing someone and getting away from the man whose arm clenched around her like a barrel hoop.
The robber kept the horse running along the top of the hill and far enough up from the light no one would see or hear them. She sighed and looked up at the moon slipping behind the mountain. Jeremy would be frantic with worry.
They rode on until the sun was well up in the sky. Still the man’s arm held her tight. Loose strands of hair fluttered across her face, but she refused to let go of the arm for fear of falling.
He pushed the horse through a heavy copse of trees. On the other side she spotted a small log house surrounded by brush and tall pine trees. The man reined the horse to a stop in front of the cabin. She heard another horse, the one she’d long since decided wasn’t her savior, stop a short distance behind them.
Darcy didn’t have time to look around. The man straightened his arm, and she dropped to the ground, barely landing feet first. The movement jarred all the way up to her teeth and sent prickles of nerves dancing through her cramped leg muscles.
She looked up at him as he dismounted. He looked just as mean in the light of day as he had in the moonlight.
“What’cha got?”
Darcy turned and found the man who’d resided in her jail walking toward her. Her heart rammed into her throat. If he recognized her, she was dead. He had to have heard some of the conversations between her and Jeremy and her and Gil. Would he put all he knew together and figure out who she was?
He walked up to her and stared at her bare shoulders and chest, making her skin crawl. She wanted to run, but stood her ground and even managed to smile back.
“Found her clinging to my horse. Couldn’t leave her behind to tell the marshal what we look like,” said the big-eared man.
Darcy swung around and looked at him. He didn’t know she was the marshal. That would give her time to think up a plan of escape. They didn’t look like the type that would let her go alive.
“I wouldn’t have told the marshal nothin’. He’s a no-account.” Darcy smiled and ran a finger down the saddlebag. “You don’t look like a no-account.”
“Charles, I like this little lady,” said Red.
“Red, she ain’t a lady. Look at how she’s dressed.” Charles flicked one or her shoulder straps down her arm.
Darcy resisted the urge to pull it up and hide. She knew to stay alive long enough to escape, she would have to play the strumpet they thought her to be.
“Don’t touch the goods unless asked,” she said, playfully pushing his hand away.
Three more horses came thundering up to the cabin.
Charles turned to the horses, and Red sent a lecherous grin her way. She smiled back. I hope they get drunk and fall asleep.
“What took you so long?” Charles asked, walking to the back of their horses and looking out through the trees. “Where’s the wagon?”
“Craven took off with the wagon. Said he was going to bury the gold until things cooled down. Then we could dig it up,” said the tall skinny man she’d seen with the bunch before. Darcy ducked her head, hoping Pete wouldn’t take too much interest in her.
“Skunk,” Charles pulled the man out of his saddle and down to the ground. “Didn’t I tell you he can’t be trusted?”
Darcy stifled a giggle. There wasn’t honor among thieves. Charles swung around and looked at her with the coldest eyes she’d ever seen on a man or beast.
“You said his name in front of the girl. Now we have to kill her.” He said it like the thought hadn’t crossed his mind before, but she could tell by the set of his shoulders and icy stare, he’d already made up his mind.
Darcy started humming. “I didn’t hear nothin’.” She walked around looking at the plants and swinging her backside like she’d seen some the prostitutes do when they walked around town.
“Do we have to kill her?” Red asked, following her every move, his eyes bulging and his tongue licking his lips.
“It ain’t good to have a woman around,” the large, shaggy haired man said, looking at Charles. “You know how they always cause trouble.”
“But she is a nice distraction,” said Pete, dismounting and walking towards her. She saw the flicker of recognition in his eye as he approached.
Darcy wondered if he was going to be an ally or a problem. His face turned blank the minute she looked back at him.
The leader looked at the young man and then at Darcy. “You’re right, Al. We’ll get rid of her right before we head out. She might come in handy until then.” Charles grabbed her by the arm, dragging her into the cabin. “You know how to cook?” he asked, and shoved her toward the fireplace.
“If I said yes would you let me live?” She batted her eyelashes and nearly vomited when Charles grabbed her breast. His eyes looked cold as a winter storm.
“You won’t be shimming up to any of the boys. The first time I see you trying to get them going against one another, I’ll shoot you faster than you can blink them gray eyes.” He squeezed and let go. She wanted to turn from his vicious touch and glare, but knew to show any kind of weakness, would have them falling on her like coyotes on a rabbit.
Darcy gulped. She was in deep, but she wasn’t going to break down. She’d remain calm and form a plan to get away.
Charles thrust a frying pan at her. “There’s flour over there. Mix up some food.” He turned to the men. “Red and Skunk, get the fire going. Pete, unsaddle the horses. Al show me where you last seen Craven.”
Darcy set to work making biscuits and frying venison, while Charles and Al looked at a map drawn of the surrounding area.
“I still can’t believe you let him take the gold,” Charles said, slamming his fist on the table.
Al sat up to his full height, which dwarfed the other man. “I thought you trusted him. That’s why we was working with him instead of doing it by ourselves.”
“I was using him.” Charles stood. He looked across the table. “I don’t trust anyone who comes looking for someone to rob his own bank.”
Darcy watched the men’s hackles go up and wondered at the closeness of thieves. None of them seemed to trust the other. Pete had returned from taking care of the horses. He sat in the corner watching everyone and smiling at her. Red and Skunk returned. Red leered at her whenever Charles wasn’t looking, and Skunk pulled up a chair and started whittling. All the while Al and Charles glared at one another in a silent battle.
She didn’t know much about men, and how they interacted, but she felt there would be trouble between them before she got away. And she would get away. Charles was not going to fulfill his threat. She planned on being far from the cabin before he realized she was missing, and he wouldn’t have the chance to shoot her.
The others didn’t scare her, but they followed Charles. Why? He wasn’t that much smarter than the rest. She also couldn’t figure out why Craven would rob his own bank and virtually his town. He owned nearly all the real estate in the town and surrounding area—mostly through the way he received the mines from the men he had her throw in jail.
“If you didn’t trust Craven why work with him?” she asked, placing a plate of food on the table in front of Charles. He looked at the food then at her.
“What do you care for?”
“I just find this whole thing interesting. Why would he ask you to rob his bank, then take the gold and leave you with the money?” She looked around the cabin at each man. They were definitely not the smartest band of outlaws. Ruthless? Yes. Sm
art? No.
“So no one would know he’d done it.” Red looked at her as if she’d just sprouted horns.
“But it is more or less already his money. He could take it out a little at a time and no one would know.”
“He needed a large sum for some investment,” Charles said, scratching his head.
“Exactly, he had you risk your lives for what – a fifth of the money. When he will make thousands from his investment.” She saw the thoughts whirling around in the heads of her capturers.
“He’s fooling with us!” shouted Pete, looking across the table at Charles.
Charles sat down. “Get them some food and keep your mouth shut,” he said, motioning for Darcy to feed the rest.
She handed them each a plate and took a seat on the dirty cot along one wall. Silently she watched them eat.
*****
“Gil! Gil!” Shouts and pounding on the door woke Gil. He smiled and reached across to cover Darcy.
She wasn’t there.
He sat straight up. When did she sneak out? Why did she sneak out? Damn, they never really talked about what Jeremy overheard.
“Gil. I can’t find her nowhere!”
Gil pulled on his drawers and pants before crossing the room. The key was missing. He tried the knob. It didn’t work. The contrary woman locked him in.
“Stand back.” With the heel of his foot, Gil kicked just above the doorknob. The door popped open. Jeremy stood against the opposite wall staring.
“Wow. Why’d you do that?”
“Your sister locked me in,” he growled, stepping back in the room. He picked up his shirt. As he slipped his arms into the shirt he spied a corset on the chair. He looked at Jeremy, but the boy was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t see the undergarment.
“Then you’ve seen her?”
The look of relief on Jeremy’s face made Gil’s gut twist.
“Not since last night. Why?”
“The bank was robbed early this morning and no one can find Darcy. Mr. Craven is calling a posse and claiming if the marshal ain’t around he’s in on it.” Jeremy caught his hand. “Gil she ain’t in on it. She was going to keep an eye out last night, ’cuz we knew something was happening.” He looked up with tears forming in his eyes. “I was up on the mercantile roof watching just like she said, only.” He gulped. “I fell asleep.”
“It’s okay. She shouldn’t have asked you to stay up there and watch.”
“But I’m the only person she trusted, and I let her down.” He wiped at the tears pooling at the corners or his eyes. “You don’t think she went after’em do you? She can’t really shoot worth nothin’.”
Gil put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Damn. He shouldn’t have let the way she looked last night interfere with his finding out what she knew.
“Go to the stable. Get my horse and one for you. We’ll go see if we can find her.” Gil didn’t have a clue where to start, but if Craven was headed out with the posse, chances were he would take it in the opposite direction of the real bank robbers.
If it was the group Pete ran with, he hoped he could talk his old friend into telling him what happened and where he might find Darcy.
Jeremy ran out of the room, and Gil picked up the corset. He held it to his nose and breathed in Darcy’s scent. Why did you slip away from me in the middle of the night? He squeezed the corset. How could he have been so naive as to think she would tell him what she had planned? From the first time he laid eyes on her, she held secrets.
He threw the corset back on the chair and jammed his hat on his head. They’d find her. And when he did, she was going to tell him everything and then he’d lock her in her jail until he had this whole thing sorted out. He stomped out of the room and down the stairs.
Jeremy stood out front holding two horses and looking nervous.
“Which way did the posse go?” Gil asked, taking the reins of his horse.
“They went that way.” Jeremy pointed down the river.
Gil scratched his head and thought. No one who’d just robbed a bank would stay out in the open by following the river. He looked to the south and then the north. To go south wouldn’t take them anywhere to spend the money, not without a long ride. But heading north would get them into some of the larger settlements, where they could blend in and spend the money without rousing suspicions.
“Let’s go this way.” Gil turned his horse northward. They’d check out the mining towns along the way and see if a group with a woman had rode through. That’s assuming she was still dressed as one of Mrs. Danforth’s girls. He groaned and hoped the men didn’t take liberties with her. Jabbing his heels into his mount, he urged it forward at a lope. He had to catch up to them before it was too late.
Chapter 13
Darcy woke with a stiff neck. She was thankful nothing else was sore. The robbers had been so busy the evening before bickering over whose fault it was Craven took the gold, they’d ignored her. She’d curled up on the dirty bed and fallen asleep.
It surprised her she could sleep knowing they were robbers and planned on killing her. But she’d had little sleep the night before in Gil’s arms. Her heart fluttered. She would either get away from them or Gil would find her. Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander to their loving. She definitely wanted to repeat the experience. Just thinking about him made her warm all over.
She squirmed, imagining his hands on her. The movement started the dull ache of sore muscles. The cot was harder than any ground she’d ever slept on. Darcy rolled over and looked around the cabin. Not a soul slept on the floor or the hard chairs.
She was alone. Her little act must have convinced them she didn’t care they were robbers as long as they had money.
Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stood and surveyed the interior of the cabin. The night before the dark corners weren’t visible. This morning the sun skimming through a small window, revealed mounds of odds and ends piled in the shadowed corner farthest from the door. She didn’t remember seeing the pile earlier, but she’d been hunched over the fireplace cooking before she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Crossing the floor cautiously, she tried not to kick anything and let anyone outside know she was moving around. She picked through the contents of the pile. There were fancy silverware, pocket watches and fobs, and a pearl handled pistol. She checked it for bullets and found none. Pulling up her skirt, she tucked it in the top of her stockings anyway. If a bullet were to be found for it somewhere in the mass of belongings on the floor, it could come in handy. Several tintypes and personal belongings she knew no one would part with willingly were scattered throughout the mound.
She picked up a tintype in a frame the size of her hand. Staring back at her was a man about ten years older than Gil, but no doubt a relation. He sat while a pretty woman stood next to him. Mischief wrinkled the corners of the woman’s eyes, and Darcy knew this had to be Gil’s parents.
How did a tintype of his parents come to be in the outlaw’s hideout? She checked it over carefully. The tintype was made in Baker City. The frame wasn’t gold or fancy. Why would they take such an item? Her finger traced the rugged jawline of the man in the picture. Gil would find her or she’d find him. She placed the frame upside down on top of the pile.
Footsteps crunched on the pinecones outside. Darcy ran across to the bed and jumped onto the piece of furniture, landing on her knees. The thin mattress did little to protect her fall and the frame cracked. Landing as she did, pulled the bodice of her dress down nearly popping her breasts over the top of the frilly neckline.
Charles came through the door. His eyes narrowed when he saw her rearranging her dress.
“What’re you doing in here?” he growled, crossing the room in three long strides.
“I stood to straighten my skirt, and I fell onto the bed.” Darcy smiled up at him. When his eyes lowered to her bare chest and breasts nearly spilling out of her dress, a shiver ran down the length of her back. She didn’t want this man or a
ny of the men outside touching her. She needed to get into some decent clothes and out of the dancehall dress.
“When you get yourself straightened, start on some grub for the boys. We’re hungry.” He reached out a hand and grabbed her dress, yanking the front nearly up to her chin. “I told you last night there’ll be no teasing with my men. I don’t want them going after each other ’cuz of you.”
“Yes, sir.” Darcy straightened the front of her bodice, keeping everything well hidden.
“Get some food ready.” He stomped out of the cabin.
A long sigh of relief escaped her lips and eased the tension in her shoulders. He didn’t seem to like women even though he sure liked to look at her. Darcy wasn’t going to worry over his problems; she had enough of her own. The first problem to take care of was her need to use the bushes.
She grabbed a bucket by the door and stepped out into the gentle sunshine. The warmth and friendly glow made her forget she was a prisoner. Raising her face to the golden rays, she breathed deep of fresh air.
“Can I help you, Miss?”
Her eyes opened wide. Red stood only a few feet in front of her. The smell of his unwashed body hit her nostrils the same time Pete hurried over.
“I need some water to start your meal, and I need a trip into the woods.” She looked at both men and smiled. “Could you get the water?” She handed the bucket to Red and scanned the trees around the cabin. “Where is the water?”
“Over there behind the cabin.” Red pointed to the right of the building.
She nodded her head and started off in the opposite direction.
“Where’re you going?” Pete asked, snagging her skirt.
Darcy slapped his hand away and looked at him with as much dignity and haughtiness as she could muster.
“I said I needed a trip into the woods.”
“What for?”
She looked down her nose at him like she imagined Mrs. Danforth would if she were in the same situation. “To take care of some womanly business.”
The man’s face reddened as he grabbed her by the arm.
“We need to talk,” he said quietly and with authority. He took her by the arm, guiding her out into the trees.