by Smith, Bobbi
“If having that gun with you keeps you safe, that’s all that matters.” Anne kissed her cheek.
“You’re right. There won’t always be someone around like the handsome stranger at the saloon tonight to help out.”
“I sure am glad he was there.”
“I think he might have been my guardian angel,” Rachel said with a smile, her first in quite a while.
“He certainly was the answer to my prayer,” her mother agreed. “I’m just thankful nothing more terrible happened.”
“It was scary for a minute or two, that’s for sure.”
Rachel gave her mother another hug, glad they were back safe in the haven of their home, then she escaped to her room.
Rachel had planned to pack for the trip, but she could not forget the memory of Ed’s disgusting hands upon her. Desperate to bathe, she stripped off her clothes and scrubbed herself clean. Only when she’d finished bathing was she able to put the ugly memory of what had happened at the Last Chance from her. She donned her nightgown and started to pack.
Later, when she’d finally stowed the gun and ammunition in her satchel, Rachel went to bed. She found as she lay there that she was anxious about making the trip. It was going to be difficult for Eve, and Rachel knew the elderly woman was going to need all the emotional support she could get. She was facing the loss of her only son and his wife, and taking responsibility for her young grandson. Rachel would do whatever she could to help her.
Firm in her resolve, Rachel finally relaxed. As she started to drift off to sleep, her last conscious thought was of the mysterious stranger who’d rescued her. She wondered again what his name was and if they would ever meet again.
Clint was tired. He wanted to rest. He needed to rest, but now that he was in Dry Springs, he was on edge. He expected Tuck, Ax, and the others in the gang to show up any day now, and he had to be ready.
Clint had planned to lie low and just hang around the saloon, listening to all the talk. He hadn’t wanted to draw attention to himself, but his unexpected encounter with the preacher and his daughter tonight had changed all that.
As much as he’d wanted to stick to his original plan, Clint knew he could never have stood by and watched the innocent young beauty be abused that way. His mother had raised him better than that.
The thought of his mother stirred deep, troubling emotions within him and left him feeling even more angry because he had been unable to save her. When sleep finally did come to him, it was not restful but filled with torturous dreams of that terrible night at the ranch.
Rachel was packed and ready to go right on time the next morning. She and her mother left the house together to meet Eve and Martin at the stage depot. The reverend had already gone to the widow’s house to help her get to the station.
“I need to stop and see Michelle for a minute. Since I’m making this trip with Eve, I won’t be able to attend the social with her tomorrow,” Rachel told her mother.
Michelle’s family owned and ran the only hotel in town, and her friend worked there in the small dining room.
“All right. Give me your suitcase, and I’ll go on to the depot and buy your ticket.”
“I won’t be long,” Rachel promised. She hurried off to find her friend.
Michelle had just finished cleaning off one of the tables when she saw Rachel come in. There was no one else in the dining room at that moment, so Rachel had time to chat with her for a few minutes.
“Are you all set for tomorrow?” Michelle was eagerly looking forward to the social.
“That’s why I had to come and see you. I’m not going to be able to go.” Rachel went on to explain all that had happened.
“Tell Eve we’ll be praying for her and her grandson,” Michelle said with heartfelt emotion. She was very fond of the elderly woman, too.
“I will.”
“I’ll see you when you get back. I’m sorry about missing the social, but we’ve still got the Festival to look forward to.”
“Yes, we do.”
Rachel started from the hotel, anxious to get to the stage depot. She’d just walked out the door when she stopped. There before her on his way into the hotel was her mystery man.
“It’s you—” she breathed, smiling up at him. She’d thought he was attractive the night before, but in the light of day, he was even more so. Lean and darkly handsome, he had an aura about him that commanded attention, and he had hers—all of it.
“I could say the same thing, Miss—?” Clint was surprised to run into her again, and he was glad to see that she’d suffered no lasting harm from her ugly encounter with the drunk. She was even more lovely than he remembered, especially when she smiled.
“I’m Rachel Hammond,” she said, a bit flustered by her racing heart. “And you’re—?”
“Kane McCullough,” he answered.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. McCullough.” She was still smiling.
“Kane.”
“Kane,” she repeated, loving the sound of his name.
“You, too, Miss Hammond.”
“Rachel.” She laughed. “I realized after we left the saloon last night that I didn’t even know your name, and I wanted to thank you for your help.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So what are you doing in Dry Springs?”
“I’m just passing through,” he answered noncommittally.
“Are you going to stay around long?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“Oh. Well, I hope to see you when I get back.”
“Where are you off to?”
“I have to go to San Ramon for a few days.”
“Have a safe trip.”
“Thanks.” Rachel moved off down the street.
For a moment, Clint stood there watching her go. His gaze lingered on the graceful way she moved, the feminine sway of her hips. When he realized the direction of his thoughts, he forced himself to look away.
No matter how attractive or alluring she was, he had no time for any involvement with an innocent like her.
Rachel Hammond was a distraction he couldn’t afford.
Chapter Six
Three Days Later
Tuck, Ax, and a new man who’d joined up with them, Holt Richards, hid out in some rocks overlooking the main road into Dry Springs. They were smiling as they watched the stagecoach draw ever nearer to their position.
“It won’t be long now,” Tuck said.
“I’m ready. What about you, Holt?” Ax asked as he checked his gun.
Holt had only been riding with them for a few weeks now, and this would be his first stage robbery.
“Yeah. I’m set. You and Tuck take care of the driver and the shotgun, and I’ll take care of the passengers,” he answered.
“It should go real smooth. As quiet as it’s been around here for a while, they won’t be expecting anything,” Ax said.
“It’s time,” Tuck alerted them.
They went to mount up, ready to leave their hiding place and head down to the main road.
“Thank you so much for making the trip with me,” Eve told Rachel with heartfelt sincerity as she sat across from her in the stagecoach bound for Dry Springs. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Everything worked out well,” Rachel assured her.
They shared a sad and knowing smile as they glanced at Eve’s grandson Jacob, who was sitting quietly next to her and staring out the window. He was having a hard time dealing with his terrible loss.
Rachel fully understood how difficult this had been for Eve, and she could only imagine how devastated young Jacob was. They were almost home now, though, and it was time for Eve and Jacob to begin thinking about the new life they would have together. They had each other. They weren’t alone anymore. Rachel believed the worst was behind them.
And then she heard gunfire erupt outside the stagecoach.
“What’s that?” Eve gasped in horror.
“Somebody’s s
hooting at us!” Jacob exclaimed, scrambling to get a better look out the window.
“Get down!” Rachel warned.
She reacted quickly. She grabbed the boy and pulled him back inside so he’d be safe, just as Joe, the stage driver, whipped the team to a breakneck speed to try to outrun the would-be robbers. They could hear Hank, the man who was riding shotgun, returning the outlaws’ gunfire.
Inside the stage, Rachel, Eve, and Jacob were thrown around as the stage raced wildly on.
“God, help us!” Eve prayed frantically.
Rachel was silently praying, too, as she realized what she had to do.
“Both of you get down on the floor and stay there! Eve, hold on to Jacob!” she directed.
Eve did as she was told and watched as Rachel opened the satchel she’d been carrying and started to dig through it.
“What are you doing? You should get down here on the floor with us where it’s safe!”
“I’m getting this,” Rachel answered with fierce determination as she pulled the handgun out of her bag.
“You’ve been carrying a gun all this time?” Eve exclaimed in a shocked tone.
“My mother insisted I take it with me on this trip, and right now I think that was some of the best motherly advice she’s ever given me,” Rachel answered, cringing as another blast of gunfire blazed around them.
“Do you know how to use it?” young Jacob asked, watching her in wide-eyed wonder. Lady that Miss Rachel was, he never would have guessed she could use a sidearm.
“Yes,” Rachel answered as she carefully positioned herself at the window.
She peeked out and saw a masked outlaw riding at full speed, closing in on the stage. He was firing wildly at them, and she knew what she had to do. She took careful aim, which wasn’t easy with the jolting of the stagecoach, and managed to get off several shots.
Rachel was stunned when the man let out a yell and was thrown from his horse. Since she knew Hank was firing at him, too, she wasn’t sure if one of her shots had hit him or if it had been Hank’s, and it didn’t matter. All that mattered was there was one less outlaw to threaten them.
Even as she had the thought, though, another outlaw with the same deadly intent replaced the man who’d been gunned down. This gunman pursued them just as relentlessly, shooting continuously as he came charging toward the stagecoach.
Joe and Hank had been shocked when someone inside the stage started returning the outlaws’ gunfire. They had no idea which one of the ladies was armed, but they were more than thankful for the help.
Joe stayed hunkered down and tried to concentrate on his driving. He had to keep the team under control.
Hank kept firing at their assailants, but he took a bullet in his upper arm. It slowed him down, but it was only a flesh wound, so he was able to keep blasting away. He knew all their lives depended on his holding off the outlaws.
When Tuck, Ax, and Holt had first gone after the stagecoach, they had been confident it would be easy pickings and the robbery would be over in no time. They’d expected the driver to give up after the first couple of shots were fired. Sure, there had been a man riding shotgun, but there were three of them and only one of him. They’d been shocked when one of the passengers had started firing out the side of the stagecoach.
Still, Tuck and Ax weren’t about to give up. Even when they’d seen Holt take a bullet, they had refused to quit. They rode even harder, wanting to stop the stage as quickly as they could. But when Ax was wounded in his shooting arm, Tuck knew it was over.
“Give it up!” Tuck yelled to Ax, who was still trying to keep up the pursuit in spite of his wound.
Both men were furious at their failure as they turned their horses away and rode off. There was nothing they could do about it, though, for Tuck was the only one who could still handle a gun. In frustration, they headed back to check on Holt.
“They’re quitting! They’re riding away!” Rachel cried out as she watched the outlaws give up their pursuit.
“Thank God!” Eve rejoiced. “Rachel—you were wonderful! You helped save us!”
“Yeah,” young Jacob agreed, still looking at Rachel in amazement and awe. He’d never known a lady like her before. “You can shoot real good.”
“Thanks.” Rachel sat back, trembling. She smiled weakly at them from across the width of the stage. The gun battle had been frightening, but at least they were safe. When she realized she was still clutching the gun in a viselike grip, she quickly stowed it in her bag.
“You all right in there?” the driver shouted down to them.
Jacob leaned out the window and called out, “We’re fine. Miss Rachel helped save us!”
“Yes, she did, sonny. Now hold on tight ’cause we ain’t gonna stop ’til we’re in town! And tell Miss Rachel thanks. We sure appreciated her help.”
The boy sat back and grinned at Rachel. He was no longer terrified, but excited now that everything had turned out all right. “The driver said thanks.”
“I heard him.” She felt a little calmer.
“What does your father think about you using a gun?” Eve asked, still shaken by all that had happened. “He always preaches about loving one another and turning the other cheek.”
“It troubled him at first, but then he realized that there are times in life when you have to be able to defend yourself.”
“Like today,” Jacob put in.
“Like today,” Eve agreed, thinking once again how blessed they were that Rachel had been armed. She could only imagine what horrible things might have happened to them if the outlaws had managed to stop the stage. “I can’t wait until we get to town so we can tell Sheriff Reynolds. The faster he gets a posse together and goes after those men, the better.”
“At least one of them was wounded, so that’ll slow them down a little and give him a better chance of catching up with them,” Rachel agreed.
“Let’s just hope he does. Men like those shouldn’t be on the loose.”
“Grandma? Do bad things like this happen a lot around here?” Jacob asked, worrying about the new town he was going to be calling home.
“No, darling—and we can be thankful about that.”
They all managed a little laughter as they eagerly anticipated reaching Dry Springs
Tuck was furious.
He’d thought it would be easy to rob the stage, but he’d been wrong.
And Tuck didn’t like being wrong.
“What the hell happened out there?” he snarled as he tied a makeshift bandage around the wound in Holt’s chest.
Holt was bleeding heavily, and Tuck wasn’t sure he would make it. They’d retreated to the place where they’d camped the night before, to regroup and try to figure out what to do next.
“I wish I knew,” Ax said in disgust as he tended to his own wounded arm. “It was almost like they knew we were coming and were ready for us.”
“If Rick and Walt had been along, things would have turned out different,” Tuck said, missing their two cohorts. “Or even if we’d had John with us.”
Ax didn’t respond. There was nothing he could say. They’d gotten word that John had been killed, and they were due to meet up with Rick and Walt in Dry Springs in a few more days. They’d taken on Holt to replace John, but he’d proved useless in the holdup attempt today, and now he was wounded, so he wouldn’t be doing them any good for a long while—if ever.
“Rick and Walt should be showing up soon.” Tuck said. “Once they do, we can get something going for the boss.”
“We’d better. He ain’t gonna be happy when he hears what happened today.”
“You’re right. A posse will be after us real soon, so we’d better make some tracks.” Tuck looked at Holt. “You able to ride?”
“I’ll make it,” the wounded outlaw answered.
Tuck had his doubts, but a short time later, they were on the move.
The stagecoach didn’t slow down as it reached Dry Springs. It raced straight on down Main Street righ
t past the stage depot and didn’t stop until it reached the sheriff’s office.
“Sheriff Reynolds!” the driver yelled as he reined in.
People from town had seen the racing stage and had immediately known something was wrong. They came running out of their homes and businesses to see what had happened.
“Somebody get the doc!” Joe ordered as he helped Hank down from the driver’s bench.
Sheriff Reynolds rushed out of his office. “What’s going on here?”
“A gang of outlaws tried to rob us!” Hank told him, grimacing in pain as he came to stand before the sheriff, holding his still bleeding upper arm.
“How bad’s your arm?” he asked.
“It’s just a flesh wound, but it could have been worse—a lot worse.”
“You’d better have the doc take a look at it. Nick—help Hank over to the doc’s,” the sheriff ordered his deputy. Then he looked back at the driver. “What happened out there?”
“Three of them came after us about five miles out of town,” Joe explained. He went on to relate everything he could remember about the attempted ambush.
“I’ll get a posse together, and we’ll ride out after them right away. How much did they get away with? What did they steal? What were you carrying?”
“That’s the amazing part,” Joe told him as he opened the stagecoach door to let his passengers out. “They didn’t get anything. We held them off—thanks to some help from our sharpshooting passenger.”
“Are you serious?” the lawman asked, surprise in his voice.
“Yes. Thanks to Miss Hammond, we were able to get away. I know she winged one of them for sure.”
“Rachel?” Pete repeated. He was shocked to find out that she was onboard and that she had been carrying a gun and knew how to use it.
“Yes, I’m here,” she called out to Pete from inside the stagecoach.
“You were all lucky,” Pete told them.
“I’ll say,” Joe said. “Without Rachel’s straight shooting, this would have been a whole different story. We might have all been killed. Hank was doing his best to hold them off, but there were three of them.”
Joe helped his elderly female passenger down first, then waited for the young boy to climb out on his own.