“So I’ve heard.” Lou certainly didn’t have much good to say about him.
“Why didn’t the rumors about me scare you away?”
“I, personally, haven’t seen evidence of you being trouble. Except that you keep telling me to leave. That’s not very nice.” She leaned back on her hands.
He snorted. “It’s the nicest thing I can do for you. At least promise me you’ll stay away from Lou’s place.”
“She’s my cousin. How can I stay away?”
“Lou’s all right. It’s her shack I want you to stay away from.”
Even if strange things were going on at Lou’s shack, that was the one thing she couldn’t promise. Uncle Dale was convinced the mirror was hidden there and, given what Winn had told her about the place, Uncle might be right. Something unusual was going on.
“If you want me to stay away, tell me why exactly.” Winn, not Lou, might be the key to uncovering Lou’s secrets.
“I’m afraid if you stay, you’ll stay forever. You’ll become like me. Not able to leave. Ever.”
Billie scoffed. She’d always had the freedom to travel. London, Paris, Rome. She’d been all over Europe. As long as the Bergmann business continued to thrive, she’d continue to enjoy her lifestyle.
“Did you consider that you’ve got a bad allergy or something? So many odd plants out this way, what if all this is just your body getting overwhelmed with pollen. Have you been to see the doctor?” A medical reason made much more sense than what Winn was proposing.
“Pollen.” He sat up and scooted off her skirt to sit beside her. “That’s the best you’ve got to explain what happens to me?”
“It makes complete sense.” Billie warmed to the idea, happy to have a logical explanation for what she just witnessed. The doctors had wondered if her mother’s illness was caused by a reaction to her environment, but still Mother had refused to come out to California, saying she knew it wasn’t that.
“Once you are removed from the source,” Billie explained, “your body doesn’t feel like it’s in crisis mode, so it recovers. I’ll prove it to you.”
He laughed. “What are you going to do? Swing me over your shoulder and pack me a mile down the other side of the mountain? Your mysterious plant could be growing for miles.”
It did sound ridiculous, the way he said it. Of course, that wasn’t what she had in mind. When she traveled, she liked to do so in style.
“You want me to leave town? Then in the spirit of our philopena game, don’t leave with me. Right now.” She stood and brushed the dirt from her skirt. “I’ll go grab my luggage, and we won’t catch the train out of here.”
He leaned back on his elbows. “You’re serious? You’ll leave if I don’t go with you on the train?”
“Sure will.” Though her definition of leaving included coming back. She’d made a deal with her uncle to help find the mirror. If it had the inscriptions on it like she hoped, there might be an ancient remedy to heal her mother.
A side trip with Winn didn’t have to stand in the way of that. As soon as she proved to him he actually could leave, maybe he would. Maybe by the time she was ready to go back to Boston he would consider coming with her. He would be fun to introduce to her crowd.
He looked hungrily off in the distance. “Deal. Next train out leaves at six o’clock.”
“Oh. So soon?”
“Look who can’t leave town now.” He scoffed and lay back, hands over his eyes. “I warned you, city girl.”
Irked, Billie huffed. “I didn’t say I wasn’t leaving. I only commented on how soon the train was. We best not dawdle. Can you stand?”
Once Winn had recovered from his spell, it took them no time at all to hike down the mountain. In town, Billie would have to do a quick search for Uncle Dale. They hadn’t spoken since before the play. She tried to part ways at Howell Avenue, but Winn wouldn’t leave.
“I don’t need anything.” He stayed at her elbow as if ready to protect her from the town. He even tried to follow her into the lobby. Here, Billie put her foot down. She couldn’t continue the charade if he didn’t give her time alone.
“Wait out here. It wouldn’t look proper.”
“Of course.”
She was testing him about leaving town, and he called her bluff. Which one of them would live to regret it? If he was telling the truth, he could be in some serious danger leaving town on the train. But if his fainting was caused by some medical mystery, Billie might be able to help him figure it out.
Uncle wasn’t in any of the public places in the hotel, and he didn’t answer her knock at his room. She’d have to leave a note and hope that was sufficient.
What to write? Uncle Dale would not be pleased if he thought she was taking a lover’s day trip to the next town. But she couldn’t tell him her true intentions, either.
She would be vague, a trick she’d learned from him, and let him come to his own conclusions.
Dear Uncle,
Running an errand. I’ll see you tomorrow. You can buy me breakfast, and we can discuss what we’ve each found out.
-Wilhelmina
She collected her empty carpetbag and then met Winn outside. His back was to her, and for a quiet moment she studied him. Her heart thumped against her rib cage. She’d run down the stairs, but that wasn’t what made her heart race. It was Winn waiting for her. Not meeting up by chance, but purposefully waiting.
“Ready?” she asked.
When he reached for her carpetbag, she hugged it close and shook her head. “I can carry my own.”
She couldn’t risk him finding out the suitcase was empty the same way she couldn’t risk Uncle finding all her belongings missing from her room. Billie tried not to think how many lies were piling up. Her mother would be mortified at what she was doing. Her father? Disappointed. But neither were here now trying to figure out this mystery. Her only guidance was from Uncle Dale, and he wasn’t the bastion of truth-telling either.
At the ticket counter, Billie stood in front of Winn. “I proposed this adventure, so I’m paying,” she said. Mostly, she didn’t want to embarrass Winn if he didn’t have the money, but also, she wanted to pick the destination. She needed to make sure they could have a round trip back to town that night. “We’ll go in small hops to see how you’re doing.”
When she reached for the tickets she knocked her reticule off the counter. It landed with a conspicuous thump and Winn was quick to pick it up.
“Wow, that’s heavy. You keep rocks in there?”
Billie snatched it back from him. “I’ve got a few pennies in the bottom, not that it’s any of your business.” She hoped she wasn’t blushing.
A stout miner behind them started laughing.
“She’s collecting ’em for her weddin’ shoes, jus’ like my wee bride. She was German, same as you, eh? That way the union starts off on the right foot.” He winked. “Catch the meaning?”
Billie nodded. Yes, I’m saving pennies for my wedding day, not that I wanted him to know. “Tradition,” she said proudly.
“Look out, boy,” he said, clapping Winn on the back. “Once they start saving up, you know you’re in trouble.”
Billie closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. In a town as diverse as this there had to be a friendly Irishman who had married a German woman. She nodded politely and walked away, refusing to look to see what Winn’s reaction was.
Chapter 20
Billie bounced on the thinly padded seats in the passenger train. They would do for the short run they were making. Winn insisted she take the window seat, so she could see the cacti before she left for good.
Luggage stowed, tickets collected, they were ready. Winn hadn’t backed down from his charade and neither had she. And now they were leaving town together. Billie paled. She hadn’t thought of it in those terms. She barely knew the first thing about him. She did a quick safety check. Public place. Lots of witnesses. If she wasn’t careful, her stubbornness would get her in trouble.
�
��Whatever happens to me,” Winn said, “you keep going until you get home. Don’t look back.”
“What are you talking about? If you faint, I’ll collect the doctor at the next town. You’ll be fine in no time. Just because the doctor in Bisbee can’t help, doesn’t mean we can’t find the answer.”
He wiped his hands on his pants and shifted in his seat. He licked his lips. “I’m not meant to leave. I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”
“Nothing, silly. You’ll be wondering why you didn’t take the train earlier.”
Winn continued to squirm.
“Relax. Let the engineer do his job.”
He could not relax. He kept swiveling his head, studying the people in the car, the people outside.
“Did you need to ask permission to leave from someone?” Billie didn’t know who he’d be beholden to, but he was more skittish than she was. She was the one who had genuine reason to worry if her Uncle ever saw her on this train.
“I just want it over with,” he said running his hands down his thighs.
The engine cranked up, releasing a burst of steam. The whistle blew, and they jerked forward. Winn lay his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. He let out a deep breath.
“Take your mind off it,” Billie said. “Tell me about your growing-up years.”
He cracked an eye open. “You think that will take my mind off the feeling of a thousand needles poking into my skull?”
Billie smiled. “It might.”
She tried to keep up her bravado, but he was scaring her. She recognized he was as stubborn as she was, but the look in his eyes was not stubbornness or bravery. It was fear. How much was she asking of him?
“I hope whatever happens scares you into leaving. I don’t know what else to do,” Winn said.
“You could tell me what you’re not telling me.”
“No. I can’t.” A bead of sweat formed on his forehead.
Billie began to regret making Winn do this. It was his choice, but if it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be going through this ordeal for the second time today.
What was happening to him didn’t make any sense, though. Just like her mother’s illness. Maybe that’s why she cared so much. If she couldn’t help her mother, maybe she could help Winn.
It was slow going out of the valley, but then the train began to pick up speed. “That’s better,” Billie said with false cheer. “You know, my mother has a strange illness that the doctors haven’t been able to identify. They’ve all but given up, saying it’s her nerves, but none of us believe that. We’re still trying to help her. Someone out there will know what’s wrong with her. How are you—?” Billie looked over at him.
Winn had fainted.
Incredible. There went Billie’s pollen theory. What if his body reacted to the minerals in town? She’d never heard of an illness like this, but it was a possibility. It made more sense than Lou’s shack being the center of some…what? Curse?
She felt his forehead. It was cold and clammy, but he was still breathing. She took hold of his hand. It, too, was cold and clammy. She encased his hands in her own, trying to warm him up. “Hang in there. I’ll get you to a doctor as soon as the train stops, and we’ll solve this.”
Bang!
The train shuddered. Metal screeched. And the passenger car lurched, sending everyone flying about the car. Screams mixed with sounds of bodies and luggage colliding. Billie hit her head on the seat in front of her and crumpled to the floor. Winn, in his relaxed state had flown even farther down the aisle.
Seconds after the train stopped moving, confused and bedraggled passengers picked themselves up.
“Everyone okay?” the conductor asked.
Folks stuck their heads out the windows trying to see what happened. Two men managed to wrestle the door open, and they left to investigate.
Meanwhile, Billie got help from an older gentleman to lift Winn back to the seat, where they let him sprawl out.
“Hit his head.” The man pointed to a spot of fresh blood on Winn’s forehead. Not again. She shouldn’t have baited him into getting on the train.
Billie examined the bloody spot on Winn’s forehead. The area round the cut was already starting to swell and turn red and purple. “Anyone a doctor?” she asked.
She wasn’t the only one calling for a doctor. Several passengers held their hurt arms or legs and sported bleeding scratches.
Her own head was sore, and she suspected she’d have a bruise or two to show for the sudden stop.
The men who left hopped back on the train. “Everyone out. This train isn’t going anywhere. You can stay here, or you can take the mules back. We’re lucky a half-empty mule train was passing by, and we’re not far from town.”
“What happened?” someone asked.
“Hit a wild camel,” the man said. He laughed. “That’s right. I said camel. Darndest thing. Engineer said the army brought ’em out during the civil war but turned them loose to run wild.”
The passengers looked dumbfounded at one another. Arizona Territory really was the wild west.
“Let the injured ride,” said the older gentleman. “Starting with this feller here. He still hasn’t woke up.”
Winn. He wasn’t leaving town today after all.
With help from the older gentleman and another man, they strapped Winn to a mule.
“A sturdy fellow, isn’t he?” said the gentleman as he struggled under Winn’s weight.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
The rest of the passengers also decided to march back into town. Billie opted to leave her luggage behind. It was empty anyway. They could ship it back once they’d cleared the rails and fixed the front engine. A camel.
Some things you had to see with your own eyes.
She joined the curious at the front of the train as the sun was setting. She saw tawny legs sticking out from the train, lying on the side of the rails. And there it was. The camel that stopped a train.
Winn couldn’t have planned that even if he could think it up.
The camel was thin, not too healthy looking even if it hadn’t been hit by a train. The musky smell of camel and blood turned Billie’s stomach, and she looked away. That was all she wanted to see. No need to stare at the thing.
It would be completely dark by the time they got back to town, so lanterns were being passed around. Billie took one and lit it. She followed the length of the train to the end, where everyone was beginning to set out.
She found the mule where she thought she’d left Winn. The mule with the black and white striped blanket and soft eyes. But Winn wasn’t there. She scanned the bundles on the backs of the other mules in the dimming light, but no frustratingly stubborn and handsome boys were to be found.
“Excuse me,” she said to the mule driver. “Did that boy wake up? Where is he?”
“What boy?” asked the driver. “There’s no one here.”
“The one who hit his head. We strapped him to that mule over there.” Surely, he noticed them strapping Winn to his mule.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, but we need to pull out now.” He turned around. “Let’s go, folks.”
Billie lifted her lantern and searched the crowd. She found the older gentleman who had been helping her. “Sir, sir! Can you help me find my friend? The boy who hit his head.”
He looked blank.
“You said he was sturdy?” she suggested.
“Sorry, miss. You were the one who hit your head and must be confused. Next time, you shouldn’t travel alone. At your age, it’s best to have a chaperone with you.” He brushed passed her to join the mule train.
She stared aghast as everyone started to leave. They were a bedraggled lot, carrying various amounts of luggage, following the mule train driver.
“Winn!” she called. She spun around. “Winn!” Her cries grew more frantic. How could he disappear like that? And why did no one else remember him?
The mule train was nearing the
corner, the lights bobbing farther and farther away. What was she to do? Stay here and search for Winn by herself in the dark? Get back on the train and wait for help? Neither option was appealing. What if Winn was in trouble? He could have woken up, untied himself, and stumbled over the edge of the dark mountain.
The engineer and several others had stayed with the train, working on removing the camel. They had stronger lamps than she had.
“Sir, sir, could you shine your light down there for me? I’m looking for my friend.”
“Everyone left,” he said, pointing at the disappearing points of light. “Better catch up.”
“Please, let me look, and then I’ll join them.”
He sighed, showing his annoyance, but he accommodated her. “Ain’t no one down there, miss. I counted all the passengers myself. Everyone is accounted for. Now off you go. Quit playing games. I’ve got to deal with this camel. Next time don’t travel alone.”
He counted wrong, then. Someone is missing. Why wouldn’t anyone listen to her?
“Could you keep an eye out anyway? I’m sure he’s not with the group.”
“Fine. You better run.”
The gap between her and the rest of the passengers was increasing. If she didn’t leave now, she’d be on her own going back to town.
I’m sorry, Winn.
Billie ran to catch up with the others. She tried to convince herself not to worry. Winn was familiar with the territory. He was tough. If she could survive a night out under the stars, so could he. How far could he wander away anyway? In the morning she’d make a report with the sheriff, and they could send a team out to find him.
Winn, where are you?
Chapter 21
The trainload of passengers stumbled into town before midnight. Feeling like she’d abandoned Winn to the wild, Billie had a hard time sleeping. She tossed and turned, waking up several times with worry.
At first blush of the day, she raced through her morning routine and dashed out the door before she saw her uncle. How would she even begin to explain yesterday? Furtively escaping town by train only to hit a camel, and then one of the passengers mysteriously disappears with the sun. They’d haul her off to the mental hospital and never let her leave.
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