by Paty Jager
“They’re gonna need to be tied on, but they’ll be a spit more respectable than them white flashy drawers.” He smiled. “Though I was having some really nice thoughts about how the two of us could run away and forget about my little brother.”
Darcy glared at him. “You’re too ugly for me.”
Clay doubled over with laughter. Zeke just grinned as Jeremy slapped him on the back.
“Now that you’ve all had a good laugh, Jeremy, come stand in front of this horse.” She crooked her finger at her brother. When he joined her, she untied the blanket on the back of Zeke’s horse and held it out to Jeremy.
“Hold this so they can’t see under.” She walked to the opposite side of the horse and dropped the petticoats. With some degree of muscle she pulled the Levis up over the poofy drawers.
Zeke was right, the Levis were plenty big. It was a good thing or else she wouldn’t have been able to stuff her chemise in them. She ripped a strip of fabric from a petticoat and tied it around her waist to hold the pants up.
“Okay,” She stepped from behind the horse and watched the stunned looks on the men’s faces.
“I know the kid slippers and dress bodice doesn’t really go with large Levis, but at least I’m decently covered.”
“I was going to say, no matter what you put on, you look adorable,” Clay said, opening the carpetbag.
“Yeah, Gil’s a lucky man,” Zeke said wistfully.
Darcy couldn’t believe two men other then Gil thought she was a catch. Had her uncle been so demented with vengeance he’d seen her as ugly when she wasn’t? She looked at Clay and Zeke to see if they were fooling with her, but both men seemed embarrassed by what they’d just said.
“Let’s split the gold between the horses since we have to carry Darcy and Jeremy,” Clay said, handing a bag to each person. They carried the bags to the respective horses until the carpetbag was empty.
Clay and Zeke mounted their horses.
“Zeke, you take the boy,” Clay said, leaning down to help Darcy swing up on behind him.
“Okay, but we’ll switch off later. I want to visit with my new sister.” Zeke winked and jabbed his heels into the horse’s ribs.
Darcy wasn’t sure she wanted to ride with Zeke and have him question her about his brother. Clay followed the other horse, and they were soon on a direct course toward the Elk Mountains. Contentment set in as they rode steadily toward the tree-topped mountains in the distance. Clay told her they would reach Sumpter by the following day if they didn’t stop to sleep.
The thought of riding so many hours along with worrying about Gil had her nerves on edge. She was the first to spot riders coming up on their left. Darcy tugged on Clay’s arm and pointed them out.
“Anybody you know?” he asked and whistled softly between his teeth to get Zeke’s attention.
The silhouettes were of three men. One large, one small, and one tall. As they drew closer, she could make out large ears on the lead rider. She sucked in air and clenched the material of Clay’s shirt.
“It’s the rest of the gang that was on the train with Gil.” Every nerve in her body tightened. “They know me as a dance hall girl.”
Clay turned and looked at her. “I thought you said you were a marshal?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later.” She squirmed as the men rode straight for them. “Act like you just picked me up out here wandering around. The way I look they should believe you.”
“I’m not letting them take you. So don’t go thinking you can go with them and find Gil.” His voice was steady and carried a warning. He wouldn’t be so easy to get around. He wasn’t interested in her feminine wiles. And she wouldn’t stoop that low to put him or herself in that position.
She unclenched her hand from his shirt and pasted a smile on her face as the horses circled then came to a stop.
“Where you headed boys?” Charles asked.
“Sumpter.” Zeke said, moving his horse closer to Clay’s.
“You’re taking a dangerous route. Why aren’t you going down the railroad and up the draw?” The other two nodded their heads.
Darcy snorted. Like they had enough brains to think of that themselves. Clay had kept her hidden, but when she snorted, Charles moved his horse so he could see her. She knew the minute he recognized her.
“You get around, girl,” he said, sneering. “I thought you burned up in the cabin.”
“I got out. These men found me wandering and were nice enough to give me a ride.” She smiled back.
“Why it’s that dancing girl,” Red said, slapping his hat on his knee. “If Skunk was here we could finish our dance.”
“Yeah, we could,” she answered, thinking there was no way she was dancing with any of them again.
“I’m glad you all got a chance to reminisce, but we need to get going. My brother’s expecting us.” Clay urged his horse forward.
Charles reached out and grabbed the horse’s bridle. “I’m not through talking with the lady.”
Chapter 21
Darcy grimaced. She should have stayed hidden. Her impulsive nature may have put all their lives in danger.
“The lady’s with us now and no concern of yours.” Zeke moved in, putting himself, Jeremy, and their horse between her and the outlaws. Darcy looked over at Jeremy. His eyes were round and eager. He took the whole thing in like a theater play.
“Maybe I should decide who I want to ride with,” she said, glancing from man to man. Clay and Zeke scowled while the not-so-bright bunch looked at her with sappy grins. Good looking, decent men or misfit thieves—sheesh, it was a tough choice.
She looked at Charles and his group. “Sorry boys, but I like where I’m headed just fine. It was good seeing you though.” She grabbed the reins from Clay, turned the horse, and kicked it in the ribs. Clay slid sideways, but gained his seat and yanked the reins from her hands, as the horse bolted through the trees. Zeke and Jeremy crashed through the brush beside them.
She twisted her neck to see if the gang followed. The robber’s horses circled one another as the men argued, flailing their arms in different directions. She laughed and hugged Clay.
“Tell me about how you met those men,” he said, keeping the horse at a steady lope.
Darcy closed her eyes and thought back to the first time Gil made love to her. What a wondrous night it had been, until she crept out of his bed.
Leaving out the intimate parts, she explained ending up attached to a robber’s horse, the pile of stolen goods in the cabin, the dancing, flying embers, and finally her abduction by Craven.
She finished her story. Her eyelids grew heavy, refusing to stay open no matter how hard she tried to hold them up. Clay’s hearty laugh and Zeke’s snorts didn’t even raise her temper. She was too tired to care. Let them laugh at her expense. All she wanted was sleep. The horse had slowed to a walk some time before. The rhythm of the rocking horse and her rubbery neck, whipped her head back and forth.
“Lay your head against my back and wrap your arms around my waist. I’ll grab you if you start to fall,” Clay said when her forehead slammed into his back.
“Thanks, I don’t know why I’m so tired.” She rested her cheek against his scratchy wool shirt and dreamed Gil had his hand over her clasped hands.
*****
“Damn it, Pete! I don’t care what you do with your life, just let me loose.” Gil struggled against the ropes binding his hands and feet as he glared at a man he’d once called a friend. A friend wouldn’t truss you to farm implements. A shuffling noise swung his attention to his right. Craven was tied to a piece of farm equipment as well.
“I can’t. Knowing you, you’d try to take Craven, and I have to keep him here until the boss shows up. We want to know what he,” Pete pointed the knife he was using to clean his fingernails at Craven, “did with the gold.”
“You idiot. I told you, the gold was in the carpetbag this cowboy tossed off the train with his girlfriend,” Craven said, his face flushing a bright scarlet
.
Gil thought the man might collapse from all the stress. He didn’t like the idea of carting a dead man back to Galena. It would be hard to get him to confess to what he’d done.
“That wasn’t the gold.” Pete scoffed. “It would have needed more than one bag. You forget I helped load all the gold into that wagon?” Pete tapped Craven on the shoulder with his knife. “Don’t be lying to me.”
Craven’s face puckered in indignation, proving he would rather die than tell where it was hidden. Gil knew where the rest of the gold was buried. He wasn’t saying a word. He’d sent Jeremy to dig up the sacks and didn’t want the robbers riding up on the boy and Darcy as they obeyed his orders.
“How do you know he didn’t stash the gold in a bank in Baker City?” Gil asked to take the conversation in a different direction.
“The boss and Al are checking on that.” Pete pushed his hat back and looked at Gil. “Why do you want this guy so bad?”
“He told the town Darcy stole the money from the bank. I want to take him back to prove he was the thief, and she had nothing to do with it.”
Craven flinched and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “That girl on the train was Marshal Duncan?”
“Yep, so was the harlot who kicked you.” Gil grinned as the man’s jaw dropped.
Pete chuckled and leaned toward Craven, taunting the man. “You mean that pint-size lady got the best of you?” Skunk and Pete whooped it up, harassing Craven and wiping the tears from their eyes.
Gil used the distraction to work on the rope bound around his wrists. He rubbed the hemp back and forth on the metal strap of the farm implement he was tied against.
Pete looked his way. He stilled his hands and wiped imaginary tears of mirth from his eyes with his shoulder. Hopefully, Darcy and Jeremy made it somewhere safe. The two of them lugging the carpetbag would be slow traveling. He’d told Jeremy to use a nugget to get horses at the first place they came to. He didn’t think the town would mind the contents being used for a good cause—bringing their gold back.
All heads turned at the sound of horse’s hooves. Pete stood and motioned for Skunk to check the door. Gil’s headed pounded with urgency. He’d hoped to be loose and gone before the rest of the gang arrived. Getting Craven out of here with two men to overcome was hard enough. He didn’t need more obstacles.
He worked harder at freeing his hands as the two men watched the door. Craven observed his movements and smiled slyly.
The man knew Gil wanted to take him back to Galena. Gil figured Craven thought he had a better chance talking his way around the good people of Galena than the robbers.
Gil’s heart pounded as he vigorously rubbed the rope back and forth. The heat of the friction scorched his wrists. The muscles in his arms twitched and ached as he pulled his hands apart tightening the rope. The hemp fibers bit into his wrists, but he worked feverishly to get loose.
Craven cleared his throat and Gil stopped. Pete walked back from the door.
“Nobody important.” He smiled and sat down on a keg of nails. “Skunk go round us up some grub.”
The other man didn’t appear happy to take orders from Pete. “Why me? Why can’t you go look for some grub?” He stepped away from the door and faced Pete.
“’Cuz, I’m bigger and can shoot better.” Pete stood, dropping his right hand to the butt of his pistol. His voice was noncommittal, but his stance issued a warning. “And if you see the boss, point him this direction.”
Skunk stared at Pete’s hand resting on the gun. The smaller man’s feet shuffled a little as the air crackled with tension. Gil’d seen Pete face down wranglers before. If egged on, he rarely backed down. One thing Pete thrived on was proving his power, because his father always made him feel so insignificant.
If he could get the two fighting against one another, it could cut his odds.
“I’d do what he says. I’ve seen Pete. He’s fast.” Gil said, nodding his head solemnly.
“Who says I ain’t fast?” Skunk squared up with Pete.
Gil looked at Craven. “What you want to bet Pete, here, downs Skunk in one shot?”
Craven grinned as he caught on to the ploy. “I think Skunk is tougher than he looks,” Craven countered.
“Really?” Gil squinted and looked Skunk up and down. The man looked about ready to jump out of his skin. Gil had a feeling the robber had never really been in a gunfight. His pants shook from his knees knocking together. If he didn’t need to get one of them out of the way, he would have found it all downright comical.
Before the bet could be made, Skunk opened the door, darting out at a run. Pete doubled over laughing, and Gil ripped the rope apart, lunging for Pete. Gil was at a disadvantage with his feet bound together, but determined to out wrestle his friend.
They rolled.
Gil’s shoulder slammed into the point of a plow blade. Pain shot down his arm, but he didn’t let go of Pete or take his eye off the gun in Pete’s hand. Rolling about the dirt floor scattered hay and dust. Gil squint his eyes to keep from being blinded by the debris kicked up.
The door swung open.
Pete sneezed, and Gil wrenched the gun from his hand. More dust plumed around them as they struggled for possession of the weapon. Gil squinted to see through the dust and into the sunlight streaming through the open doorway.
“What the?”
Gil had never been so happy to hear his brother’s voice.
“Over here.” Gil stood, pulling Pete to his feet. The man sneezed and sneezed, rendering him helpless.
Hank walked into view as the dust settled in the building. Looking past him, Gil spotted Skunk trussed up like a calf about to be castrated.
“How’d you find me?” Gil asked, tying Pete’s arms behind his back with the rope that once bound him.
“Followed your trail. These guys are easier to follow than a bunch of drunken miners.” Hank clamped a hand on Gil’s sore shoulder. Pain shot through him, making his knees buckle under this brother’s touch.
“Sorry. Didn’t know you were hurt.”
“More pride than skin.” Gil motioned to the corner. “Craven’s over there. Let’s leave these two and take him back to Galena.”
Hank’s face went blank. A sick sensation squeezed Gil’s gut. He looked at the corner where Craven was tied and found rope with frayed ends piled on the floor.
“Damn!” Gil shoved Pete at his brother and ran to the door. In all the commotion the man had gotten away. If he caught Darcy and Jeremy taking the gold there was no telling what he’d do to them.
*****
Darcy woke when the horse stopped.
“Wake up sleepy head.” A male voice seeped into her dream. “The horse needs a rest and so do I.”
She raised her head and wiped at the drool sliding down her chin. Whose back was she sleeping on? She looked down at the torn bodice and Levis covering her body. Gil? Where was Gil? She scanned the area. Zeke and Jeremy stood a few feet away. She pulled her arms from around Clay and placed her foot in the empty stirrup. Her groggy body moved sluggishly as she slid her leg over the horse’s rump and dismounted.
“You were dead asleep,” Clay said, dismounting and loosening the cinch. He pulled the saddle and blanket from his horse and tied the animal to a tree where it could reach tall clumps of grass.
“I didn’t think I could sleep on a moving horse.” She rubbed a hand over her face, trying to scrub the sleep away. “Do you think Gil’s okay?”
Clay’s face stayed rigid. “He’s a smart man, I’m sure we’ll see him soon.”
“You don’t look like you believe what you’re saying.” Her heart clenched. Would that brief, desperate kiss before he pushed her from the train be her last memory of him? Her heart hoped not, but her head said it was nearly impossible for him to get away from two ruthless men with guns. She knew Craven would never help him. He was a man only out to save his own skin.
“He seems to be able to land on his feet,” Zeke squeezed her shoulder. “I
wouldn’t worry about him.”
“Why didn’t you go find him when you saw Jeremy and I were safe?” She rammed her hands on her hips and stared at the two men settling down against their saddles like they didn’t have a care.
“Gil made us promise to take care of you two no matter what happened to him.” Clay motioned for her to sit. She shook her head. Jeremy was already fast asleep curled up in a ball on the horse blankets. How could he sleep when Gil was in danger? She cringed. She’d slept when exhaustion swallowed her.
“You mean a lot to Gil, and we aim to take care of you.” Zeke yawned. “Even if you are a contrary woman.”
“I take offense to that,” she said, pacing back and forth.
“I figured you would, you take offense to most things a body says.”
“Well!” She turned her back on the men and marched into the dark forest. They didn’t really want her around. They were just keeping her because Gil asked them. She’d become a prisoner of the Halsey brothers. At least the robbers hadn’t bad-mouthed her.
She sat down on a log. Gil where are you? Are you dead or alive? She didn’t like the idea of the Halsey brothers watching over her. It would be nice to have a place to live and food. But she couldn’t stay with them without Gil.
Her chest ached as loss crept into her heart. What if Gil was dead? She wrapped her arms around her body, trying to keep the sobs of despair contained. She would take the gold to Galena, but she wouldn’t live with the Halsey’s. Their resemblance to Gil would be too much for her to look at every day. If Jeremy wanted, he could live with them, but she’d stay in Galena. Where her wonderful memories of Gil were vivid.
A tear trickled down her cheek. A sob broke through her clenched jaw. As much as she wanted to believe Gil was alive and would return to her, she knew it would take a miracle to bring him back to her arms.
Chapter 22
Darcy was drained and dry, when she heard the men saddling the horses. She straightened her clothes and patted her cheeks. They didn’t need to know her despair. She pasted on a smile and walked back to the makeshift camp.