Catch Me If You Can

by Juliette Cosway

  Clare pushed herself further into the corner, crying and shaking.

  His visceral rage was as real a threat as his physical violence. His threats were despicable.

  She thought of Kevin, his family ruined, his young life ended by this monster.

  His blood on your hands?

  She recalled the man’s wife, the shadow of fear on her face. Yes, she would be willing to get blood on her hands, to end the false etiquette of violence spawned by this one man. A sense of calm fell over her, a sense of what was right. She stepped down into the hallway.

  “Eleanor, watch out!”

  The movement caught her eyes before the sound did. Rivers had stepped in through the front door.

  The judge went for the gun with his good hand.

  “Hold it right there,” she shouted. “I don’t care what happens to me, I’m not going to let you ruin anybody else’s life in this town.” She leveled the pistol at his chest.

  He grappled with his coat, blood-soaked fingers finding their way inside toward the butt of the gun. Only a moment’s hesitation crossed her mind before she pulled the trigger and shot the bullet deep into his heart.

  As he crumpled to the floor, the rage on his face turned slowly into a void.

  A woman cried out. Bella stood in the doorway at the far end of the hall. Clare ran into her mother’s arms, sobbing. Bella looked at the torn clothes and at the pistol in Eleanor’s hand.

  Blood seeped from the wound in the judge’s chest. His arm slid slowly down against his body to rest when it met the obstacle of his leg. Eleanor resisted the momentary urge to walk forward, pumping bullet after bullet into him, until there was nothing left. She breathed deep and let the pistol hang down at her side. A great weight seemed to be lifted from her body, a shadow removed from her mind. She trembled, then unseen hands lifted and held her, and the familiar feeling of strong, safe arms around her.

  “Rivers,” she mumbled.

  He’d pushed past the body, moving rapidly to where she stood, faltering at the bottom of the staircase, one hand gripped onto the carved globe at the bottom of the banisters. He held her against him, rocking her safely in his arms. She stared at the body as he gently removed the pistol from her hand. He threw it down on the floor. She looked up at him as he took both her hands in his.

  “What in God’s name has happened here? Oh, my love, I shouldn’t have let you stay here,” Rivers said, rubbing her hands in his. “I should have forced you to stay at the lodge with me.” He glanced back at the body. He grabbed her again, drawing her close against him. “I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.” His voice was hoarse.

  “It had to be, there is much to tell… this man was bad.” Her heat ached at the strength of emotion she saw in his face, and she rested her forehead against his shoulder, taking comfort in his embrace.

  The front door opened, breaking the silence and the women turned as Leo came in. His paces slowed when the sight inside met his eyes. He paused, his eyes riveted to the body of the judge.

  “The judge, it’s the judge.” Leo whispered. “Did you …?” He looked at Eleanor, who nodded.

  “Eleanor was sent to rid this wretched town of its curse,” Bella said, her eyes filling with tears. She ushered Clare from the hallway. When she came back in, the three of them were still staring at the body, Eleanor pressed tightly against Rivers, his hand soothing her head. She became calmer, but was still unable to move.

  Rivers beckoned Bella and Leo away from the body. “We need to decide what to do…are you Leo?”

  Leo nodded.

  “You take Eleanor up to her room and stay there with her until I get you, later. Don’t come out. Bella, you get the sheriff. Were there any other witnesses?” Rivers was frowning, his eyes bright as his mind moved through their options, trying to formulate a feasible story.

  “Sure, I’ll get Sheriff Jackson to come and I’ll tell him exactly what happened, I’ll say I shot him.”

  Eleanor’s head jerked up. “You can’t.”

  Bella nodded with resolve, her face set in a determined expression. “There’s no point in you getting mixed up in it, not with all that’s happened. People know you were a friend to the Nelsons. If I say I did it, nothing else will matter, only what he tried to do to my little girl.”

  “It sounds as if she may be right,” Rivers said.

  There was logic to what Bella said, but she wanted to be sure Bella wouldn’t get any trouble for it. “You think it will be okay?”

  Bella nodded again. “I know Sheriff Jackson and he’s no real friend to him.” She jerked her head toward the body. “He won’t make a fuss. It will make his life easier to have this tyrant out of the way.”

  “She’s right,” Leo said, focusing his attention fully on the conversation. “Sheriff Jackson told me and Kevin the judge don’t let him use his power for the good of the county, only for what he wants.”

  Eleanor looked at him. Deep inside a spark of pain flew against the wall of her stomach at the mention of Kevin’s name, the needle of pain in the hollow spot inside her seemed to strengthen her. She breathed in deeply. “Okay, we’ll try. If it fails, you tell the truth, Bella. I’ll come down whenever you need me. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Bella flashed a quick smile and winked. “Don’t worry. I got my witnesses.” She called out to May and Pearl, then ushered Rivers, Eleanor and Leo upstairs to the long thin room where they had nursed her back to health.

  * * *

  They gathered around the big table in the kitchen late in the evening after the sheriff had long gone, taking the body and its terrible legacy with him. There was an air of weary relief amongst them, camaraderie against adversary. Fern and Pearl served up bowls of stew and plates of bread and cheese, but the residents of Bella’s house barely ate. Rivers’ men joined them, expecting to be on their way home at long last. Instead, they ate heartily, then took their leave for one last night in Fort Bridger.

  Rivers stood quietly in the doorway watching the scene, observing Eleanor most of all, the way she was with the others, her changing expressions. She looked tired yet at peace. He could tell she cared for the family of women around her and for the young lad, Leo. She kept him at her right side and talked reassuringly to him, between passing the dishes of food and speaking to the others. It suited her. She should be surrounded by family basking in her affection, he thought to himself with a slow smile.

  She’d grown up this past few months. His precious love was no longer the naïve little hothead marching out across the world. She was a woman – a woman who could clearly hold her own and who gained the love and respect of those she came into contact with. She smiled up at him, and sipped from the glass of brandy Bella had forced into her hands. He looked deep into her eyes, wondering if she would ever be his, truly his. They both had to sacrifice their independence, and whilst he’d come to terms with it, he didn’t yet know if she would do that for him.

  Bella fussed over the girl, Clare, who had a shy withdrawn look about her. When Bella had taken her off to bed, Pearl and May chatted to Leo about the journey west, working their magic and lifting his mind with their attention. The Indian woman, Fern, sat close to Eleanor’s left, looking at her.

  “You ever had to kill anyone before?” she asked, eventually.

  “No,” Eleanor replied, glancing at Rivers. Her eyes gave little clues as to her thoughts. She smiled and put her hand on Fern’s shoulder. “I hope I never have to again.”

  So do I, Rivers thought to himself.

  Bella came back in, her expression determined.

  “When you go in the morning, I want you to take Clare with you to California,” she said to Eleanor, glancing over at Rivers to include him. The room fell silent and everyone watched her. She looked emotional but determined. “I been thinking it would be good for her to get away, start fresh, away from here. At least for a little while, see how it goes.” She looked at Eleanor. “Would you look after my littl
e girl for me?”

  Eleanor looked briefly surprised, but they could all understand Bella’s reasons for the request. Rivers realized it must be heart wrenching to make this decision, to send her child away. Ghosts echoed through his soul as he thought briefly about his own departure from family and home many years before, and how hard that had been. He had to admire Bella’s selflessness in thinking of her child’s future.

  “Of course,” Eleanor replied. “I would be glad to have her with me, if you think it right for her, but are you sure?”

  Bella looked down at her hands, nodding. “I’m sure. She’ll be sixteen next month and grown up enough to manage without her mother.” Her eyes clouded and her voice was brusque. “I asked her if she’d go with you and she said she would, if you wanted her to come.”

  “I’ll willingly take Clare, she’s looked after me and I’ll gladly do the same for her.” She asked for a pen and paper and wrote. “This is where we’re going. You can send letters to Clare and you’ll be welcome to visit us there, Bella.”

  The older woman nodded and took the piece of paper from her, folding it carefully into her hand.

  “We’ll leave at dawn,” Rivers said, joining the conversation for the first time. “Make sure everything is ready for we leave at first light.” He looked at Eleanor and she knew he meant to stay with her that night, and she willingly stood.

  They rested in the room where they’d spent their time in passionate abandon the day before. So much had happened since then.

  Eleanor curled into his arms on the big bed. They didn’t talk. He held her safe in his arms until she slept. As he observed the moonlight’s passage across the polished wood floor, Rivers vowed to himself that she would never again be put into a situation like that, not while there was breath in his body.

  Is this the nature of love? he asked himself, and the fierceness that roared in his heart confirmed it. It wasn’t only passion he felt for her but respect, and undeniable affection. It was all of those things and more. This was a type of commitment he’d never known before, yet had sometimes seen between others. He’d fought it, but from the first moment he’d seen her it had been lodged in him and now he knew there was no denial.

  In the early dawn light, he kissed her awake with gentle touches of his lips upon her eyelids. When her eyes fluttered awake, she smiled, still locked in his arms.

  She giggled, and gently beat her hands on his chest. “Set me free!”

  “Never...” he replied.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  A Damsel in Distress

  The party of seven riders took their leave of Clearwater Creek before the rest of the town had awoken. Several more horses followed, laden with supplies.

  As the countryside unfolded around them, so did Eleanor’s story of what had happened to her and how she’d come to be in Clearwater Creek.

  “You certainly had your adventure,” Rivers commented. The deep concern in his expression showed her he didn’t approve.

  What could she expect in all honesty? Eleanor regretted telling him. Luckily, it was too late for recriminations and once the tale was told, they looked forward instead of back.

  They steadily made their way across the plains of Utah. The warm hazy days and comfortable nights made their passage easy and they rode until darkness fell before setting up camp, covering the ground quickly. Their two youngest companions were quiet at first, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

  After a few days, Clare complained about her aching bones.

  “Haven’t you ever been riding before?” Leo teased.

  “Sure I have. Not all day long.” He laughed at her and she rode over to him and gave him a playful slap. They chattered.

  Eleanor let the sound of their voices accompany her with growing pleasure. She enjoyed the responsibility of having the young people with her and wondered at life’s rich pattern – the people she’d met and grown close to, how their mutual destinies had woven them together.

  “Leo Nelson, if I’d known I was going to get stuck with you, I wouldn’t have come.” Clare’s voice lifted in mock objection.

  Eleanor and Rivers smiled as their words drifted over. Apparently the two had been to school together, and they fell easily into conversation after the land distanced them from the ghosts of their past.

  “They are as bad as us when we first met,” Rivers commented.

  “No! Please tell me we weren’t that bad.” Eleanor blushed.

  “Not far off, if you recall our ill-fated meeting in Southampton.” He smiled the teasing smile she loved.

  “I fear you’re correct.” Eleanor had to laugh. “I cried a bucket full as soon as you stepped outside the door.”

  “Oh, my poor love,” he said, guiding his horse closer to hers. “To think I could have been comforting you in your bed, instead of drowning my sorrows at a ghastly inn down at the waterfront.” He leaned over and kissed her until the horses moved apart again and a low whistle emanated from behind them.

  Eleanor glanced back at Leo and blushed when she saw the wide grin on his face. It was true, she supposed, they had bickered like youngsters, each with their own high and mighty stance. However, things between them had altered dramatically since then. No matter if he was every bit the scoundrel and womanizer Frank had led her to believe, she’d well and truly lost her heart to Mr. Peter Rivers. She loved him, and he knew that. There was something else there, an unspoken agreement or consent between them. Perhaps that’s what would happen to these two young people. It was clear there was some flirtation going on – they were negotiating their way around obstacles and unknowns.

  She glanced back at Rivers, wondering to herself how many obstacles they might yet have to surmount to be truly comfortable together. Would she ever know everything there was to know about him?

  Sometimes Rivers rode alongside Leo and the two talked, Rivers pointing things out to him on the way and telling him stories about California. Eleanor was pleased he took an interest in the lad and wondered if he would be able to find a place for him on Frieda’s estate.

  At night, they gathered round the campfire and exchanged tales. Eleanor realized how different it was to be part of a group, to look back over the day’s ride with the others. She thought about her lonely nights on the journey from St Joseph and was glad to leave them behind.

  The mountains of central Utah were dotted with huge cedar trees, six to ten feet high and when they camped in the shelter of them, the scent refreshed their tired bones. She and Rivers captured quiet moments alone, walking off into the rocks after the supper was eaten and everyone rested. Their relationship evolved during the time spent covering the last stages of the journey. Whilst it was still driven by the fierce desire they had for one another, it was now tempered and enriched by amiability.

  “I believe I had more success at getting you into my arms during those weeks in New York than I have since we embarked on this stage.” His eyes were hungry on her as they secured the horses for rest one evening.

  “Rivers, we have others to consider.” She heated quickly. She agreed with his comment, she was as hungry for his lovemaking as he seemed to be for her.

  “Concerned about others now are we, Miss Craven?” His eyes flashed at her.

  Even the slightest remark or glance from him could set off that leaping flame of reciprocated desire inside her, that ready, willing response.

  He closed on her. “Eleanor,” he murmured, his fingers lowering to slip undone the buttons of her shirt. “I cannot stand much more of this, when you are there, yet I’m not at liberty to touch you.”

  “Yes,” she breathed. “I cannot agree more.”

  He took in the hot look she gave him then glanced round up at the rocks above.

  “We’ll make camp up there.” He shouted across to the other men, indicating the shelter of a cave opening, high up on the rocks. He reached down and kissed her neck before they stepped out from behind the shelter of the horse, lingering until she moaned. Eleanor was on fire.<
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  She fidgeted while they set up camp, and during the meal they ate. His eyes watched and spoke to her silently all the while, keeping her stoked inside, ready for him. They lay until they were sure the others were asleep then he sat up and nodded toward the back of the cave, where the passage narrowed in the darkness. Eleanor stood. He followed and they crept into the narrow space there, feeling their way in the darkness.

  The air was heavy with a damp musty smell and her senses responded to its earthiness. She paused where the rock sloped away to her right, thinking it a good place to lie. She pulled at his hand, and he turned toward her. She could see the outline of his face in the dim light of the fire that still reached them. His features were in stark outline, his eyes dark and full of animal passions. He moved and she gasped at the bulge within his breeches.

  “Pardon, my love, I’m eager for your sweetness.” His voice was low against her ear.

  “My need equals yours, rest assured,” she murmured, heart pounding as she undid her belt and let her breeches slip down. She took his hand and slid it down to her groin so he could feel the answering heat inside her there.

  “You are indeed.”

  “Hush, I blame you. You make me weak with desire.”

  He moaned quietly against her mouth and kissed her deep while they both fumbled with his buttons. He was hard and long in her hand, rearing up for contact.

  He gasped when her hand tested him. The light caught his expression, wild with lust, and she had to have him inside her. She reached for his hand and quickly pulled him against her, their love making fast and furtive in the forbidden confines of the dark passage. She leaned back against the rock, bracing herself as she edged his hardness inside her sensitive niche.

  “Rivers,” she gasped.

  “Oh yes,” he replied as he slowly eased his way inside, groaning as he experienced her flesh on his. “This is too good to keep waiting.”