Snowflakes and Stetsons

by Jillian Hart

  At that her eyes widened, but he’d had to warn her.

  “Don’t shoot at a bear, though. A bear will eat and move away from your scent, unless you startle it or attack it.”

  “Go.” She got up to carry out his instructions with the meat.

  He stood and caught her sleeve. He couldn’t straighten to his full height under the rock ceiling, and his position forced him to lean over her.

  She looked up into his eyes.

  “I will come back for you.”

  “I know.”

  “No one can find you here.”

  “We’ll be fine, Jonah.”

  He wanted to kiss her. His gaze dropped to her lips, now chapped from the cold and wind, and he wanted to press his mouth against hers and feel her sweet warmth.

  She knew what he was thinking, because her eyelids fluttered and even more color than what the cold created rose in her cheeks. “You may kiss me.”

  She never stopped surprising him. Hayden was probably watching, but Jonah didn’t care. He loved that she was fearless and headstrong. He loved that she spoke her mind and asked for what she wanted.

  He hadn’t realized how cold his nose and cheeks were until he pressed his lips to hers and found hers warmer. Apparently, she didn’t care that his face was cold, because she returned the kiss in wholehearted, unrestrained abandon. He was the one who ended it and glanced at Hayden.

  The boy was petting the cat while deliberately not watching them. “I’ll be back for you,” he said to the boy.

  Hayden looked up then, but said nothing.

  Jonah turned and left them in their shelter.

  Chapter Nine

  Midmorning, from a ridge on the opposite side of the tracks, Jonah discovered the perfect vantage point from which to observe Bloom’s gang below. They went about what he figured was their plan to dynamite the car. If he went now, while they were absorbed in their task, he might catch more of them together.

  He crept down and made his way closer. Their unsaddled horses were tethered at the front of the mail car, under a crude lean-to created from a tarp and stripped lodge pole pines. Smart of them to protect their mounts. If he didn’t have so much climbing to do, he’d take the horses. But he could move around more easily unburdened.

  The outlaws couldn’t get away without their mounts, though. While the four men were busy between the Pullman and the luggage car, Jonah crept up and pressed his gloved hand over each horse’s nose to quiet it and familiarize the animals with his scent. Rapidly, he untethered all seven and led them north, then down the ravine, where he removed the tethers. Without saddles and in this weather, the beasts were likely to simply wander off. He was counting on it.

  Jonah slapped two on their rumps, and they took off, the others joining them. He watched to make sure they had a good start, then darted back to find cover and creep closer.

  One man was under the Pullman. One sat on the platform of the luggage car, and the other two were crouched near the track. One of those two was Roscoe Bloom.

  Jonah took aim at Bloom, held his breath and fired three times in rapid succession.

  Bloom collapsed over into the snow. The man beside him crumpled and the one on the platform shouted, grabbed his neck and flattened himself against the rear wall of the car. Seconds later, he let himself inside.

  Jonah didn’t wait to see what would happen next or if the outlaw under the Pullman came out shooting. He turned and hightailed it back up the hillside on the opposite side of the tracks and away from where he’d left Meredith and, the children. He wouldn’t lead them to her.

  He figured there were some hoppin’ mad robbers down there if they’d discovered their horses gone. He didn’t think they knew the Pullman was empty yet, so they had no idea who had fired upon them.

  From his vantage point above the tracks, he observed the scene below. No movement. No one headed after him.

  Apparently, they’d gone back inside whichever car they were using. One of the men was surely licking his wounds. Jonah wondered how they liked it now that the shoe was on the other foot, and they were the ones holed up in a railcar. Feeling pretty satisfied with himself, he almost didn’t hear the low rumble behind him.

  The hackles on the back of his neck rose. With unhurried movements, he turned.

  A cougar perched on a boulder above him, its ears pitched backward, its teeth bared. A quiver of anxiety rippled through Jonah’s cold limbs. He eased his revolver from its holster and lowered the Winchester. The .45 would fire more rapidly and was still fully loaded.

  There weren’t a lot of options. Risk his location being discovered…or a wrestling match with the prospect of having his throat slashed open.

  The enormous cat leaped toward him. Jonah fired four times and it landed on the rock at his feet with a solid thud.

  Checking the railcars, he saw no movement. He reloaded both guns and headed out.

  An hour later, he’d canvassed the entire area. If anyone followed his tracks, they’d be led in circles. Eventually he worked his way behind and above the overhang where he’d left Meredith and as darkness fell, he called out. “It’s me.”

  Jillian ran to him, grabbed his leg and clung for dear life. “Oh, I missed-ded you!”

  He patted her back through layers of coats and wraps and gave her a reassuring smile. “I missed you, too.”

  “Did you bwing a wabbit?”

  “Not this time. We can’t have a fire just yet. There are still two bad men down there.”

  Meredith picked up on his hidden message. Two more down. She and Hayden exchanged a satisfied look.

  “One more is hurting tonight,” he added.

  “How about some ham?” Meredith asked.

  “Better than nothing,” he replied. “Though it will likely be a while before I want another ham dinner.”

  “You sleep first,” she said, after he’d eaten a small portion.

  He made himself comfortable and closed his eyes.

  Meredith was dreaming of taking a hot bath when the distant sound of a train whistle disturbed the pleasantry. Annoyed at first, she buried her head below the blanket and deeper into the collar of her coat, but the piercing sound came again.

  She sat straight up.

  Jonah was already out from under the overhang. She shrugged out of the blanket and dashed after him. On his heels as he took long strides and climbed the hillside, she determinedly kept up. Her heart raced with anticipation.

  They reached a flat rock that overlooked the landscape below. Sure enough, coming from the north puffed a locomotive with a coal car and one freight car behind it. A huge wedge-shaped plow on the front shoved the deep snow to each side. The whistle sounded once again, louder this time, echoing up to where they stood.

  From the mail car, two figures, tiny from this height, darted away and headed east up the other side.

  Before the engine slowed to a stop, the wide door rolled open and men poured from the freight car and gave the outlaws chase.

  Meredith squealed and grabbed Jonah, trapping his arms at his sides. He smiled, broke free and turned her around. “Let’s go!”

  They gathered the children and their meager belongings. He led the way in the straightest path available down the hillside.

  In the distance shots rang out, volleying across the canyon.

  They neared the tracks. Now men were searching the cars, two standing at the rear of the Pullman.

  “Daddy!” Meredith spotted her father and ran toward him.

  Jonah followed with the children.

  “Meredith!” The tall deep-voiced man ran to meet her and enveloped her in an embrace.

  “You’re well? I’ve never been so frightened in all my life.” He framed her face with both hands and pressed a kiss soundly on her forehead. His astute gaze took in her disheveled appearance. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Thanks to Marshal Cavanaugh.” She detached herself to step back and wave Jonah forward. “Jonah—er, Marshal, this is my father
, Nicolas Abbott.”

  “Marshal,” Abbott said, reaching for Jonah’s hand and shaking it heartily. “They assured me you’d take care of my daughter, but I was concerned. I haven’t slept a wink since the train arrived in Denver without her.”

  “Cavanaugh!” came a shout from one of the lawmen.

  Jonah set down Jillian beside Meredith and shook hands with Jeremiah Thorpe, one of the other marshals who’d been on the train he’d abandoned. “What happened when you came into the open?”

  “They came at the train like we figured. Faver took a bullet. He’s doin’ good. Then they saw the mail car was gone. Turned and high-tailed it outta there. We got Faver to Denver, but it was a slow trip in that blizzard. After that we waited for the storm to let up so we could head back for you. Looks like you’re both safe, but where did these two come from?” The other marshal looked over Hayden and Jillian with a question on his face.

  “We need to talk about that,” Jonah replied. He turned to Meredith’s father and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “That fortress saved us.”

  Abbott seemed pleased at that. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” On closer inspection he frowned at the bullet holes scattered across the entire side and the broken windows. “A little damage is a small price to pay for my daughter’s life.”

  Meredith shot a glance at Jonah. It was far more than a little damage, and her father would see that once he got inside.

  “Oh. And this.” Jonah handed Abbott the Winchester. “Handsome weapon, sir.”

  Abbott looked at it. “This was probably fired more these past days than the entire time I’ve had it. I shot a few clay pigeons a year or so ago.” He extended the rifle. “You keep it.”

  “Thanks, but I couldn’t take it.”

  “You saved my daughter’s life.”

  “I was just doing my job.”

  “Take it now or I’ll ship it to you later. It’s yours.”

  Jonah accepted the gift. “Thank you.”

  “I’m not the one who deserves thanks. Thank you.”

  Jonah merely nodded. He called to Thorpe, who had turned away. “Have them check under the Pullman. I’m pretty sure they’ll find dynamite ready to be lit.”

  “Why didn’t they light it?”

  “They came under fire and ran to hide.”

  Thorpe instructed his men. Within a few minutes they produced a bundle of explosives. “I can’t wait to hear this whole story.”

  “We ate wabbits! An’ had a Chwistmas twee.” After her cheerful revelation, Jillian clung to Jonah’s leg until he picked her up again.

  The lawmen took the bodies to the freight car while the railroad employees coupled the disengaged cars to the engine.

  “All aboard!” shouted the engineer.

  Jonah joined the lawmen, and Meredith ushered the children back into the Pullman. Her father joined her, and she saw the devastation through his eyes.

  “You must have been terrified.” His voice was gruff with emotion.

  “We can use the heater back in your compartment,” she said and led the way, carrying the satchel that held Hercules. “And there’s not as much glass.” She stirred the coals, which were still hot, and added more. Once Hayden and Jillian were settled on the bed, she opened the valise and let out an angry Hercules. He arched his back, so that his white fur stood on end, gave her a scathing look and darted under the bed.

  She and her father took chairs. His gaze went to the scorched corner of the mattress and silk counterpane.

  “I wasn’t as frightened as I might have imagined. Not nearly as much as you’re thinking. There wasn’t time to have a fit of vapors. There was only time to react wisely and do what needed to be done.”

  “Your mother is going to be so relieved to see you. Mr. Kingsley, as well. He visited our hotel every day to see if we had news and to comfort us. He’s such a nice young man.”

  She said nothing, but closed her eyes as the train got underway and the car picked up speed. “At last we’re on our way to Denver.”

  Chapter Ten

  Soaking in a tub had never felt so good. After two nights of lying on a rock ledge, with only her coat and a blanket for padding and experiencing the bitter cold, her body ached all over. The steaming hot water soothed her muscles. Finally, she felt clean. Her dry skin absorbed the oil her mother had lavishly poured into the water, while the soothing scent drifted around her.

  She had bathed the children first, and then tucked them into the wide bed with satin sheets. Meredith smiled at how lovely Jillian’s glossy dark hair had looked, clean and brushed and dried before the fire.

  Hayden had figured out she meant business about his ears and fingernails and set to work on them until his scrubbing met her approval.

  The City Marshal who’d met them at the station had immediately wanted to take them into his custody, but she had convinced Fred Swope that after the trauma they’d been through, the Langley children needed to stay with her.

  She advised him, perhaps a little too bossily, to search for their father while she got them clean and fed them and saw to it they were comfortable that night.

  Her father had told her that Ivan would be by to see her later that evening. She tried to muster up some enthusiasm about that, but she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to take her bath, then join the children in plush comfort and sleep with no one waking her. She asked him to make her excuses and assure Ivan she’d see him tomorrow.

  Her mother had wept and hugged her and supervised the filling of the tub three times. She’d laid out Meredith’s clothing and fussed until Meredith kissed her cheek and told her she’d love to tell her everything after she’d slept for several hours. The woman had taken the hint and reluctantly excused herself.

  “I’ll check on you during the night,” Deliah assured her.

  “Thank you, Mother.”

  Before she fell asleep right here in the cooling water, Meredith stood and dried herself, then folded her robe around her and padded out to slip into her nightclothes.

  She fell into exhausted slumber and dreamed she was sitting beside Jonah on the seat of a buggy. The day was warm, with the scent of lilacs on the air. They crossed a bridge and rode through an arbor of blooming trees, where apple blossoms rained from the sky like huge flakes of feathery light snow.

  Jonah reigned the horses to a halt and held her by the waist to set her upon the ground. In the next moment, she was in his arms. She’d never wanted anything as badly as she wanted him to kiss her. She leaned into him and strained upward.

  He released her to turn away. “I can’t kiss you.”

  “Of course you may,” she urged.

  “No. Not now.”

  “Why not now?”

  “You’re a married woman, Meredith. We won’t be seeing each other again.”

  Meredith woke with a sinking sensation in her stomach. She lay without moving, the urge to cry welling up and threatening to spill out. She’d never felt so disappointed and sad.

  The dream receded and reality swam into focus. Jillian lay beside her, smelling little-girl clean, and on the other side of his sister, Hayden’s deep breathing reached her ears.

  They were all safe.

  They’d made it to Denver.

  She wasn’t married to anyone.

  A puzzling sense of relief washed over her. It had only been a dream. But it had seemed so real, and the memory of her deep despondency was vivid.

  She closed her eyes.

  Her mother had breakfast sent to Meredith’s room. “You don’t even have to dress if you prefer comfort today.”

  But of course she did, donning a blue-and-gray silk dress with a ribbon-trimmed taffeta overskirt. One of the deputies had delivered a bag containing her jewelry, and she opened it to select earrings and a watch brooch.

  After arranging her hair, she brushed and braided Jillian’s hair, as well. “After breakfast we’ll shop for clothing and shoes for you and your brother. New coats, too.”

 
; “Can I get a bwue dress like yours?” Jillian asked.

  “We’ll have to see what’s available. We can have one made, but it won’t be ready today.”

  “You look so pretty, Miss Meredith.”

  “Thank you, sweetie. You’re awfully pretty yourself.”

  Meredith’s mother ate with them, and it became apparent that she, too, was touched by these children’s story and their charming innocence. Jillian dropped a splat of preserves on the white tablecloth and attempted to wipe it off with her napkin, making an even bigger mess.

  “Here, honey, we’ll just cover that with a clean napkin so you can finish eating.” Deliah covered the preserves, wiped Jillian’s hand and sat back down. When she found Meredith grinning, she gave her a sheepish smile.

  “We’ll speak later,” Meredith said. She had a lot to tell her mother, but she wanted to let her know about the Langley children’s situation. “Will you join us on our shopping trip?”

  Deliah gave her a delighted smile. “I would love to. I don’t want to let you out of my sight, actually.”

  After being cramped up for so long, it was a pleasure to walk along the paved streets of the city. Their hotel was only a few blocks from most of the shops, so Meredith declined a buggy, and her mother indulged her. The children peered in windows, pausing often to comment. Jillian skipped, her braids bouncing against the back of her coat.

  “Christmas was dreadful,” Deliah told her, hugging her arm through her coat sleeve. “I couldn’t eat nor sleep for worry.”

  “It must have been awful for you.” Meredith gave Deliah’s gloved hand a pat. “It wasn’t so bad. We were warm and safe in the Pullman. I don’t have a hat left that hasn’t been plucked, but the children and I even decorated a little tree.”

  They reached a shop she wanted to enter, and the rest of the morning was spent trying clothing on the children and going from place to place until she was satisfied they had proper clothing, shoes and coats.