Friends in Need
by
Janice Sagraves

ONE

He lunged forward and grabbed the man’s gun hand in an effort to get the weapon and put a stop to this foolishness. Where the bastard’s two compatriots had gotten to he couldn’t tell, his main concern being the one he grappled with. There wasn’t really any pain, only creeping numbness and the smell of burnt gunpowder. His knees began to buckle and the massiveness of his bulk pressed on them to drag him down. He thought he heard a woman scream, but the rush blood in his ears left him uncertain. Then there was the shock and jolt as he hit the floor. For less than a second he thought of his wife and daughters and what they would do without him. Then the blackness engulfed him, and he passed into its endless void.

*******

Adam Cartwright and Juva Bailey had been out most of the day looking for strays. Winter had collided with October to leave almost a foot of white stuff everywhere and temperatures were well below freezing. It wasn’t an ideal time to be out trailing misbegotten cows, but at least the covering on the ground made them easier to track.

The big black and the stubby buckskin came to the crest of a rise and were pulled to a stop. Adam leaned down, and his dark hazel eyes ran over the uneven terrain.

“Somethin’ wrong, Boss?”

“There’re tracks here right enough, but I don’t think they were made by any cows.” Adam got down and ran his fingers over the indentions in the snow. “I was right. These were made by shod horses, and from the way they’re deeper at the front they were moving at a pretty good clip.” He stood, and his manner had become more wary. “And they look fresh. We may not be alone out here.”

Juva saw the glint of sunlight on something, and it took less than a second for his brain to make a connection. “Boss, look out!” He lunged from his saddle and sailed over Dusty’s back. The two men landed in a cold, wet heap, Adam crunched on the bottom.

Juva came quick to his knees, and his pistol cleared leather. A shot rang out, and he dropped, the gun still clutched in his fist. With neighs of fear, Dusty and Broomer scattered and headed for points unknown.

“Juva!”

Everything had happened so fast, and Adam reacted on survival instinct. The big .44 came into play as his eyes scanned about them. He kept low as he inched to Juva, no sense giving them something else to pop away at. “You all right?”

“I been better.” Juva reached up and squeezed his bloodied shoulder. “It feels like somebody just run me through with a hot poker.” He cursed under his breath, and his head thumped back against the bumpy ground.

“You coulda been killed. Next time just shout.”

Juva winced, and his fingers clawed into the flesh in an effort to ward off the encroaching pain. “I did.”

Adam gave him a quick, sharp glance. “Don’t be facetious.”

“I’ll do that.” Juva grunted and grimaced. “After you tell me what that means.”

“Never mind.”

Adam’s eyes continued to run along the line of pines where the shot had originated. He didn’t want to get caught off guard again. Next time someone could get killed, and he would die before he let that happen. One corner of his mouth crooked at his pun. The cold had begun to seep through his clothes carried by the wetness of the snow, but he felt more uncomfortable with the thought of getting up. “You still with me?”

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere. So whadda we do now, Boss?”

“We lay here until they’re gone.”

“They? It could be only one man.”

“Stop splitting hairs. One man can kill you just as easily as ten.” Then Adam thought he discerned movement, and he tuned in his finely honed ears. All those years of training at the knee of Chief Winnemucca sure came in handy sometimes. It had kept him and others alive more than a few times, and he hoped it did so this one. Juva started to speak but got a curt shush. There it was. The unmistakable sound of horses – though muffled by the snow – as they were rode away in great haste. “I think it’s clear. I just heard them ride off.”

“I didn’t hear nothin’.”

“Trust me.”

“I always have. I don’t see no reason to stop now.”

Adam took a deep breath and started to get up.

“You sure that’s such a good idea?”

“No, but we can’t lie out here all day.”

A trickle of sweat ran down between Adam’s shoulder blades as he continued to rise. Once, in a situation much like this one, Hoss had called him a tall target, and right now he felt like a bull’s-eye had been pinned to his chest. He tried to swallow the knot in his throat and smacked his dry mouth. His body continued its slow uncurl like a snake from a basket until he stood on his knees at his full, glorious length. Seconds passed and nothing happened. They both gave a collective sigh, and Adam felt some of the tension leave him.

“I guess they are gone. Good call, Boss.”

Adam took his bandana from his back britches pocket and bent over Juva, who had set up. He unbuttoned the young man’s coat and shirt and peered in at the wound. Air rushed through Juva’s teeth as he sucked in when Adam pressed the wadded cloth against it.

“That should hold you until we get back to the house, and Gibby can have a look at this.” Adam looked around to where their mounts stood at the other end of the pasture. “You just sit here while I go get the horses.”

“All right, Boss.” Juva’s face crimped with disgust. “Danged broom tail, he never has liked gunshots.”

“He’s not the only one.” Adam gave him a pat on his good arm. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Juva watched him as his long legs took him off, then he turned back to his injury. He hated like poison to get shot, but if he had to he counted his blessings that he had been with the Boss. His eyes came up as Adam started back with the retrieved horses. If he had to do it again just as he had, he would. Men like the Boss didn’t come along all that often, and they couldn’t afford to lose one when he did. So Juva put himself in some jasper’s gun sights, and the Boss was still alive. All-in-all, it had been a good day’s work. He just hoped he wasn’t called on to do it again because he knew he would do the very same. And next time he could wind up dead.

*******

Chris McCutcheon blanched when he saw them as they came around the barn. Juva sat slumped against his horse’s neck, and the Boss had hold of his arm as they rode close together.

The horses reined up in front of the barn as Chris came to a halt before them.

Adam brought a leg across in front of him and slid down. “Help me with Juva.”

Adam and Chris went around to the other side of Broomer, and eased Juva from the saddle. He looked like every ounce of blood had drained from him, and his eyes were reminiscent of a sick puppy’s.

“What happened?”

“We flushed somebody who apparently didn’t want it known they were there.”

Chris felt a slow burn crawl up his back. “Who?”

“Don’t know. They shot at us from the trees. If not for Juva, I’d probably be cold as a fish. Now let’s get him to the cook shack so Gibby can fix him up.” Adam turned to Juva. “You think you can go a few more feet?”

“If there’s some hot coffee waitin’ I can go a mile.”

“Good man.”

Adam and Chris got on either side of him and put his arms over their shoulders. Juva bit back the pain that ran from the roots of his hair to those of his toenails. The toes of his boots scuffed the hard packed ground as he forced his legs to follow each other. He had come too far to quit now. Even with being shot and frozen to death, giving in still wasn’t an option.

Adam gave Chris a look of disquiet. “Just a couple more steps, Juva. We’re almost there.”

TWO

Adam had just stepped into the deep front porch of the big log house when a party of riders rode into the yard. He recognized every one of them – seven in total – and a tiny voice at the back of his head said posse.

“Good morning, Dan, Steve.” He nodded acknowledgement to the other men. “Is this what I think it is?”

Sheriff Dan Jillian shifted his butt in his saddle. “If you mean, are we after somebody, you’re right. The First Lumberman’s Bank was robbed of every bit of money in the safe. And they weren’t even gentleman enough to leave the patrons alone. Then they shot it out with me and Cash.”

Adam’s eyes darted to the square-built, middle-aged deputy on the husky steel gray horse beside Jillian’s.

“Once we got after them it didn’t take long to realize they were headed onto the Angel. We lost ‘em by that creek just onto the property.”

“It’s not easy to get lost in all this snow.”

Dan just shook his head. “They musta stayed to the water. So I thought we should let you know, and see if maybe you or your men might’ve seen something.”

“I think me and Juva ran into them about an hour ago. Somebody fired at us, and Juva got hit. He took one in the shoulder, but Gibby says he’ll be all right with some rest.”

“Where was this?” Dan said, and pushed his hat back to release a fawn hank.

“The west range, out by what we call Buck’s Woods. They were back in the trees, and we never did see them, but we sure knew they were there.” Adam crooked a grin. “I bet Sid’s hopping mad.”

“Siddon was in the bank,” Steve Balsaco said, and crossed his arms on the pommel. The light caught his charcoal eyes to throw pewter sparks. “He’s been shot, Adam.”

Adam’s cadaverous eyes flew to his brother-in-law. His brain didn’t want to accept what he had just been told. “How bad is it?” Then he held his breath.

Steve took off his flat-brimmed hat and riffled his fingers in his thick, chocolate brown hair. “It’s not good, but at least he’s still alive.”

Adam went pensive for a second. “I know Siddon has a bit of a temper, but he knows to just let something like that run its course. This isn’t his first bank robbery. What reason could they have to shoot him?”

Dan’s skin turned an angered red. “One of ‘em tried to take Mrs. McBride’s purse, but she wasn’t about to let him have it. The little wildcat fought him until he slapped her in the mouth.”

“You don’t need go any further. Siddon would never stand by and let somebody get away with that.” A chill ran through Adam like turbulent cold water, but it couldn’t squelch the flames that burned at the back of his head. “You know I’ll be coming with you.”

Dan grinned. “I kinda figured you would. We sure can use you and any of your men that want to come with us. These are bad hombres, and I feel better with as many men as I can get. We’ll wait out here for you.”

“Steve, you’d best tell Chris so he can tell Amelia. She’s gonna wantta be with her father. He’s in the bunkhouse.”

Steve agreed, put his hat back on, and stepped down. With one last glance at the men of the posse, Adam turned to go inside. It broke his heart to have to tell Angelica this. She thought very highly of the Bannings, and he knew she wouldn’t take it well.

*******

Angelica Cartwright sat in Adam’s favorite chair with Elizabeth in her lap. Tears flooded her deep violet eyes and ran down in rivulets. She held onto the baby like a tiny lifeline as she fought a loosing battle with grief. “Poor Carolyn. What this must be like for her, and the girls. I hope someone has told Amelia.”

He got onto his knees before her. “Chris is on his way.”

Angelica’s dark brown head bowed over her daughter.

Adam began to rub his wife’s back in circles. “Siddon is not going to just give up, and we mustn’t give up on him.”

Her head jerked up. Purple lights danced in her eyes, and determination had set hard in her elegant features. “We certainly will not. And Carolyn is going to need all the help and support we can give her. I will take the children and stay with her while you are gone.”

“I think that’s a splendid idea.” He rubbed the baby’s soft red curls then his hand went to Angelica’s cheek. “You know I havta do this. I owe Sid that much.”

“Friends don’t owe friends anything. They do for each other out of love and closeness. Of course, I don’t want you to go, but I know why you are. Friendship, most of all the deep, abiding kind you and Siddon share, isn’t an obligation, it’s an honor. So you will go, and I will tell you to be careful, and we will get through this to the best of our ability. That is all we or anyone can do.”

Adam took her face in his hands, and his thumb played over her lips. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

Her smile bore no hint of happiness. “You had better. For some reason I have found that I can’t live without you, and I look terrible in black.”

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to be the cause of that.” He gave her a peck.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he enfolded her in his arms. Now she let go of her tears again as her thoughts ran to Carolyn Banning, and what the poor woman must be going through. Please protect our husbands and bring them back to us, she thought and snuggled closer to Adam. She would not and could not let herself think of any other eventuality than his safe return. It simply wasn’t an option.

*******

Amelia McCutcheon sat in the front seat of the buckboard next to her husband – four-month-old Sarah in her lap – and tried to figure out how this had happened. Her father, her wonderful father, had been gunned down buy a common hooligan who went around hitting old ladies and shooting their rescuers. Sarah wriggled in her blankets, and Amelia looked at her. How happy he had been when he had returned home from his trip to find that he had a new baby granddaughter. She could just imagine that bellow of his when her mother had first told him. Her poignant blue eyes closed to force out more tears as she brought the baby to her shoulder and patted the tiny back.

Chris looked over at his wife and he wished he could do something to alleviate her anguish, but he knew he couldn’t. Being only a mere mortal, this was beyond his power. The reins snapped against the horses’ backs, and their pace increased. He had wanted to go on the posse, but the Boss thought it best for him to stay behind and keep an eye on things. And he suspected that it wasn’t even the real reason. It wasn’t something he liked, but, being the foreman of the Angel, he did as told. Still, he wanted a piece of the men who had injured his father-in-law so much that it left a bitter taste that he couldn’t rid himself of.

The buckboard rounded a curve in the road, and the big log dwelling came into view. For the first time since they had left their home, Amelia felt a sense of solace. Soon they would be on their way into town then to the house that she had called home for so many years. To the house that her father had toiled and slaved to give to his family, and that he now laid terribly wounded in. The house he could die in.

THREE

Late afternoon had come when the buckboard clattered up the drive to the Banning mansion at the end of town. Chris pulled the team to a stop before the portico and got out while the ladies and children waited. The heavy brass knocker announced their arrival, and the door opened almost in an instant.

Mason Giles, the Banning’s houseman and former lumber camp knockabout, helped Mrs. McCutcheon down with her daughter. “It’s good to have you home, Miss Amelia. Your mother’ll be mighty glad you’re here.”

“It’s good to be home.” Amelia choked for a second. “I only wish…” The words ceased.

“I know, ma’am. It was good of you to come too, Mrs. Cartwright.”

“At times like these we need our friends and family the most. How is Mr. Banning doing?” Angelica said, and took her youngest son’s hand. She jostled Elizabeth who decided she wanted to get testy.

“About the same, I’m sorry to say.” Giles’ angular face seemed to become longer. “Doc Robey has taken a room so he can stay close. I’m afraid he ain’t real hopeful at this point.” His eyes flicked to Amelia. A single gold tooth glinted in his grin. “But Mr. Siddon ain’t any quitter, and he’s proved folks wrong before. This ain’t the first time he’s been knocked down. Now, if you ladies’ll go on in I’ll help Mr. Chris with the luggage, and we’ll get you settled for your stay.”

Maggie O’Shea, who had come along to help with the children, took charge of the other two boys. She followed Angelica and Amelia up the steps and inside. The light of the large chandelier lit the spacious foyer like a faceted jewel. Maggie’s nutmeg eyes ran over the glistening marble floors then up the grand staircase. This house was a testament to Siddon Banning. She crossed herself and said a silent prayer then turned back to her mistress.

Giles came in with a valise in each hand. “If you’ll please follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

Chris came in with two more valises and pushed the door together with his foot. “I’ll bring the trunks in before I head back to the ranch.”

Giles led the way up with the women and children between the men. As they left the stairs, Amelia’s gaze darted toward her parents’ bedroom. A rush of breath swelled her lungs, and her eyes burned. She didn’t know if she could make herself go in there. The thought of seeing her father – always such a hearty, robust man so full of life and energy – as he was now tortured her. And then she thought of her mother.

Carolyn Banning sat in a chair pulled to the side of the bed that she shared with her husband. Her right hand held one of his and her head rested in the other. Her shoulders were slumped, and her back had taken on a beaten curve. Strands of golden blonde hair had fallen loose from the chignon at the nape of her neck. His breathing – heavy and labored – was the only sound in the room to be punctuated by the occasional ragged sob.

“Carolyn.”

A light touch on her back drew more attention than the sound of her own name, and she looked up. Sympathetic violet eyes greeted her and beneath them spread the warmest smile. She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t even seem to be able to acknowledge her friend.

Angelica understood the lack of recognition. She had been where Carolyn was now, and she knew what a toll it took on mind, body and spirit. She then looked to the bed and it sent a shockwave through her.

Siddon Banning was a bear of a man, but now he looked small and frail. His usually dark skin had become wan and ashy. His black hair and mustache – a fairly recent addition – stood out more. Snapping brown eyes were concealed by sunken lids and his chest raised and fell in arduous breaths. Still as death he lay, and Angelica feared it portended a dire outcome that would shatter the lives of all those who cared for him, most especially Carolyn.

As Angelica knelt beside the chair the taffeta and lace of her skirt and petticoats rustled.

“I’m glad you have come, Angelica. Where is Amelia?”

“She’s helping Maggie with the children and the unpacking.”

Carolyn’s brow took on a stern wrinkle. “I would have thought she would have come in straightaway.”

“She asked if I would first. She’s afraid, and I think she wanted me to make a way for her, and I didn’t mind.”

“Still, she should be here.”

“She will be. This is her beloved father, and nothing could keep her away forever. On the way here, she told me that she had to be strong for you.”

Carolyn sighed. “As she has always been. But we must all be strong for each other. Did Adam come with you?”

Some of Angelica’s fine coloring faded. “No, he went on the posse with Sheriff Jillian. They won’t let these men get away with what they have done. I could see it in all their faces. You know, I found myself wishing that I could go with them.”

“And Siddon would be with them if it had been Adam.” Carolyn turned her attention back to the bed. “What on earth was he thinking?” Her mask of civility and self-control had begun to fracture. “To do something so reckless.”

“We both no why he did it as Adam or any man of good conscience would have.”

“And they would have been shot, too.” Misty blue eyes turned on Angelica, and specks of fire glittered within them. “He has always had to be the guardian for others. When trouble comes you can always find Siddon Banning right at the center of it.”

“It’s the same thing with my Adam, and we wouldn’t have or want them any other way. A man who won’t stand up for what is right, even though he knows it is dangerous, is no man at all.”

“I know, but I just get so angry. At Siddon for acting so rashly, at those men, and at myself. He had tried to get me to go with him this morning, but I felt I had too much to do here. If I had been there maybe I could have dissuaded him in some way.”

“Do you really believe that? If you do then you must know a different Siddon Banning from the one I do.”

“Oh, Angelica, I can’t lose him.” The break was complete as she leaned forward against the women who had become like a sister. “I can’t imagine my life without him, and I don’t want to. The long, empty nights and endless days, and everything in this house to remind me of him. The house itself.” A deep inhalation made her shudder all over. “It’s too soon, Angelica. It’s too soon.”

Angelica’s arms squeezed around her. “It is always too soon.”

*******

Dan Jillian leaned forward against the pommel. “Horses or cows?”

“It’s definitely horses and not the wild variety either, unless they’ve started shoeing their own feet.” Adam climbed back onto Dusty. “They’re headed in the general direction of Reno.”

“All right, let’s get going. They’ve already got a good four hour lead on us.” Jillian gave his horse his heels and moved on behind Adam.

Adam had pretty much been relegated to taking point by virtue of his ability as a tracker. It had often been said that he could trail a fly over a flat rock. However, in this snow, a blind man could follow his quarry with a stick.

Alfonse Sweet and Jed Desdain rode together at the rear of the pack. Every man on the Angel had wanted to come so the Boss had made the choice.

“Boy, I ain’t never seen the foreman so spittin’ mad as when the Boss told him he couldn’t come,” Jed said, as his odd eyes, one blue, the other russet, ran ahead of them. “He fuzzed and fumed, but he didn’t argue about it.”

“He knew it wouldn’t do no good.”

Jed snorted. “Don’t I know it. I worked on the Ponderosa for nigh to a year back in ’62, and I found that out durn quick. Even his brothers walked on eggs most times.”

“They’re tight as the bark on a tree, and Chris has got a lot o’ respect for him, just like we all do.” Fonse’s attention turned to the big man on the black horse. “And I think he kinda knew why the Boss didn’t want him comin’ along.”

“I thought it was to look after things while everybody’s gone,”

“That’s a part of it, I s’pose. But I think it’s mainly ‘cause there’s likely to be some gunplay before this is set to rights, and the Boss figured the Bannings’ve had enough grief to last ‘em for a while. One man shot in any family is more ‘n enough.”

Yeah was all Jed could say before the two men dropped into silence.

*******

The strongly made man that crouched at the edge of the creek cursed as he applied icy water to the long, deep scratches that ran down the side of his face.

A gawky, insipid type that sat atop a stocky grullo mare laughed. “You never have had a good way with women, Pony. Even the old hags give you fits.” He laughed again.

Pony’s falcon eyes turned on him. Water dripped from his jaw, and the corners of his mouth pinched. “How’d like you like it, Hank, if I jerked out of the saddle and…”

“Shut up,” a sapling lean man with hardened features said, as he came out of the trees. He did the last button on the fly of his britches then raised himself onto his horse’s back. “Pony, get mounted and let’s go.” He looked to the ground and made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction. “I have no doubt there’s a posse hot after us, and this snow make’s us easy to track as a train.” His annoyance now turned to Pony. “And the next time you get outta line on a job you won’t like it. I’ve told you time and again not to get greedy.”

“How’d I know she was gonna fight me like a cougar. And you shot that man, not me.”

“It wouldn’t have been necessary if you’d left the woman alone. Now get on your horse, or maybe you’d like to stay here and wait for the posse.”

Hank went just the color of the snow. “He’d talk to save his own skin, and he’d put all the blame square on us.”

Evil sparkled in the stormy eyes of the obvious boss as he fingered the big Navy on his hip. “He wouldn’t talk.”

Pony stood up and shook the water from his hands. “All right, Latt, all right. No need to make threats.”

“Then get on your horse, and let’s go.” Latt looked to the sky. “It’ll soon be dark, and I’d like to put as much distance between us and that town as we can before we settle in for the night. We’ll stay to this creek like we did before, and that should give us some cover. Now let’s ride.”

Pony wiped his hands on the front of his coat then stepped into the saddle. The horses wheeled almost as a unit and splashed into the creek. They were headed for Reno, that sleepy little dot on the landscape that one could miss if he blinked. It would be a good place to provision up, though, before they headed for Virginia City. There they hoped to be swallowed up in the bustle of that boomtown, three more newcomers among the numbers that blew in every day. And maybe even a trip to the bank wouldn’t be such a bad idea on their way out.

*******

Amelia McCutcheon knelt at the side of the bed, her father’s hand clasped on both of hers, and her golden head bowed in silent prayer. Angelica had talked the young woman’s mother into letting them be alone together for a little bit. A soft ‘amen’ floated to deafened ears, and she looked at him through a veil of tears.

“I love you, Daddy. Please don’t leave us.” She looked to the ceiling. “Please don’t take him yet.”

Then her head dropped, her eyes closed, and she began to pray again.

FOUR

The hems of Angelica’s skirt and cloak brushed over the street as her brisk walk took her toward the center of town. With Amelia and Maggie there to help Giles and be with Carolyn she felt she could leave for a little while. She hadn’t seen her sister in a couple weeks and, what with Steve away and a baby to care for, Angelica wanted to check on her.

Her shoes clipped the boardwalk as she stepped onto it. A bracing wind swirled snow from the rooftops, and puffed the hood from her head. Jack Frost nipped at her ears, but she was almost there so she didn’t worry about it.

The picket fence that enclosed the yard hadn’t felt the bristles of a brush in too long and needed a good coat of whitewash. Even the house it wouldn’t hurt. As she went of the steps to the porch fond memories pushed their way into her mind. When they were first married, she and Adam had stayed here with her mother and sister. It was also here where she had told him about their first child. She smiled. If they had only known.

She knocked at the door then waited.

It took a couple minutes for her knock to be answered, and her expression spoke volumes. Her narrowed eyes ran the length of the woman. “I have come to see my sister.”

The woman’s painted face broke into a broad smile. “Then you’re Mrs. Cartwright. Steve speaks of you a lot when he’s out of the saloon. Please come in and get out of that biting cold.”

Angelica stepped into the entryway, and the woman closed the door.

“I’m Jesse Whitney. I work at the Wooden Nickel, and me and Steve are old friends. He asked me to stay with his wife while he’s gone. She’s such a dear little thing and so easy to get along with.”

Angelica unfastened the clasp at the throat of her cloak and removed it. “Where is she?”

“She’s in the bedroom. The baby messed her little self and needed to be changed.” She reached out. “Here, I’ll take that for you, and you can go right on in.”

Angelica handed over the garment, thanked her then started along the hall past the dining room and toward the back of the house.

Fiona Balasco, still in her late teens and quite a bit younger than her husband, sat in a rocking chair in the corner. Melissa, now four months old, slept in her lap to the hum of her soft voice. Someone knocked. “Come in, Jesse.”

“I’m not Jesse, but will I do?”

Fiona looked up, and her soft brown eyes went round as dinner plates. “Angelica. Yes, you most certainly will do. Come in and close the door.”

Angelica did so then stepped to the chair and looked down at the baby. “What a lovely child she is becoming. She looks more like you everyday.”

Fiona beamed like any proud mother. “Well, I can see some of her father in her, too. I know she didn’t get that nose from me.”

“Yes, I can see some of Steve, too.” Angelica kissed the top of her sister’s ash brown head then took the young woman’s chin in her fingers. “I don’t think I need to ask if you’re happy. I have never seen you look so bright.”

“Any woman fortunate enough to be with Steve Balasco couldn’t help it.”

Angelica sat down on the side of the bed. “You make it sound as if he has been with many other women.”

“He assures me that he hasn’t, and I believe him, but I would love him just the same even if I knew he had. That would be in the past, and I know he loves me and our daughter. So that is enough.”

“I understand. When I married Adam I knew that there had been other women in his life, but, like you said, that is in the past.”

Melissa squirmed, and her mother began to jounce her. “Is he with you?”

“No, he went with Steve and the sheriff. I’m staying at the Banning mansion. I came with Amelia. We brought the children and Maggie came along to help.”

Fiona became sullen. “That dear man. How is he?”

“The doctor isn’t very hopeful at this stage, but we keep hoping and praying that things will change for the better.” Angelica took a heavy breath. “I don’t know what we will do with Carolyn if we should lose him. I don’t think she will be able to go on without him, and I know exactly how she feels. When we thought Adam…” Angelica capped a hand over her mouth to hide the quiver of her chin.

Fiona put a compassionate hand on her sister’s knee. “Sometimes it is so hard to be a woman. Our husband’s and our children are at the center of our lives, and what happens to them, happens us. They hurt and so do we.”

Angelica wiped a tear from the corner of one eye. “You grew up when I wasn’t looking.”

“I had to. Men like Steve don’t marry children.”

“Speaking of Steve,” Angelica’s gaze flicked toward the door, “what was in his head when he asked a saloon girl to stay with you?”

“Oh, it’s all right. I know Jesse, and I like her. And this isn’t the only time she has been here.”

Angelica’s eyebrows arched. “Is it common practice for him to entertain these women in his home?”

“It’s nothing like that. She came here in back in the summer to tell him that he had to work after another bartender got sick. While she waited to talk to him we got to know each other, and I found that I like her. We have had her to dinner and supper more than once, and she is wonderful with Melissa.”

“Don’t people in town talk?”

“I would think that you, of all people, wouldn’t bother yourself with what other people think. This is our house, and who we invite into it is no affair of anyone else’s.” Her eyes zeroed in on her sister’s. “Not even yours.”

“You’re right, and I apologize. You indeed have matured. In Bangor you never would have dreamed of entertaining a saloon girl.”

“In Bangor I was a child. Now, tell me about Elizabeth. Has she gotten prettier than the last time I saw her?”

*******

Adam stood and his eyes traced the other side of the creek bank. “They’re staying to the water again.” He gestured toward his feet. “Here’s where they went in, but they didn’t come out on the other side. And there’s no way to know if they went up or down.”

Dan cursed. “Well there’s only one thing we can do. Split up and half go one way and the rest the other.”

Adam nodded. “That’s what I’d do. And whoever catches up to them will still outnumber them five to three.”

Chase Barrymore eased his horse forward. “That’s not much of a margin.”

Dan looked over at his deputy. “I’ve worked with less and still got the job done, even though I’m not partial to it either. Sometimes only one man can make all the difference.” He turned back to Adam. “Would you do different?”

“No, but I think we should stay out of the water and close to the bank so we can see better if they come out. That way we can hear them, but they won’t be able hear us coming for their own splashing. That is, assuming they’re in too much of a hurry or too stupid to curtail it.”

“Sounds good to me. Adam, Steve, Sweet and Desdain, you come with me, and we’ll head toward Reno.” Dan turned to his deputy. “Chase, you’ll take the rest and go the other way.”

Chase tugged his hat down in front. “Sure thing, Dan. All right, fellas, let’s go.”

The sheriff and his small party watched as the others rode away, but no one said anything.

Adam took his reins from Fonse, and rose into the saddle. “Do you still want me on point, Dan?”

Dan crooked a wry grin. “Getting a little uncomfortable?”

“A little, maybe, but this is still your posse.”

A thoughtful frown turned Dan’s brows. “It’s Mr. Banning’s posse.”

With that, they headed off again in silence.

*******

Angelica stepped onto the boardwalk and pulled the hood over her head as she started uptown. It had been a marvelous visit with Fiona, even with the ominous cloud of Siddon Banning’s life in the balance and their men being on a dangerous manhunt hanging over them.

She had just gone into the street when the shouting of her name snared her attention. Her head came up into the cold wind and the suddenness of it made her eyes water, and she blinked to clear them. Her feet held their place on the hard ground.

“Angelica! Angelica!”

Angelica grasped the black-haired fifteen-year-old’s shoulders as the girl stopped before her. “Juliet, what is it?”

Juliet Banning had to catch her breath before she could say it. “It’s Daddy.”

Stark emptiness filled Angelica, and she tried to choke back the fear that rose into her throat.

Juliet took her hand and began to tug. “You have to come.”

She gave Juliet a nudge, and it didn’t take a second one. They ran as fast as their legs would take them, and Angelica’s purple cloak billowed out behind her. Townsfolk stopped what they were doing to watch them go, and two Irishmen in front of a saloon made the sign of the cross.

FIVE

Carolyn sat on the settee against the balcony railing near the top of the stairs. Her elbows rested on her knees and her hands covered her face and eyes. Seventeen-year-old Marjorie Banning sat next to her mother and her little sister, Juliet, sat in the floor at their feet. Angelica stood at the other end of the wide hall at the window. Her eyes scanned the far off range of pines, and her fingers bunched in the heavy fabric of the draperies. Amelia came out of one of the bedrooms with Sarah wrapped in a blanket. Angelica looked around, but Carolyn and the girl’s didn’t even notice.

“Have you heard anything?” Amelia said, as she came to stand beside Angelica.”

“No, Giles and Dr. Robey are still in there.” Her breast swelled with a breath. “The clock just struck the quarter hour. It has been almost two hours.”

“It seems longer.” Amelia shifted the baby. “Like an eternity.”

“I know. The waiting is always one of the hardest parts.”

Amelia looked toward her mother and sisters. “It isn’t often that you see the girls this quiet and still.” A whimper escaped her, and she hid her face against her daughter.

Angelica began to rub Amelia’s back. “We have to believe that he will be all right.”

“I know that, but right now it is so hard.” Amelia looked up, and her face had flushed. She threw her head back in a valiant effort to be brave. “I will believe.”

“A course you will.” Angelica pulled the blanket away from the baby’s face, and touched a pink cheek. “She has really filled out in the last month. When she was born she was so tiny that we all worried about her.”

“I remember when Daddy saw her for the first time. He was so eager to get his hands on her that he could hardly wait until she woke up.” She snickered. “I went into the kitchen for something and when I came back, he had her. I just stood and watched him for several minutes before I let him know I was there.”

“I think a man with a baby is one of the sweetest things. The first time Adam held ours is a memory that I will always treasure.”

“Where are yours?”

“Maggie got them to sleep. The last thing we need right now are little boys running around and touching things they shouldn’t. And when they get rambunctious and won’t settle their little sister becomes hard to manage.”

“She is such a beautiful little girl. I can’t imagine how her own grandmother could just give her away like that.”

“Adam and I are only glad that she did, and don’t concern ourselves with her motives.” Angelica squeezed Amelia’s wrist. “And she is proof that miracles do happen.”

“We certainly need one now.”

“Amelia, can I hold Sarah?”

“Of course, you can, but be careful not to wake her.” Amelia handed the child over to her youngest sister, and the teenager went back to sit at their mother’s feet. “Marjorie and Juliet look so much like Daddy. I sometimes…”

The opening of the bedroom door interrupted her. Carolyn’s head rose with a jerk. Dr. Elias Robey stepped out into the hall and pulled the door together behind him. Lines of fatigue were etched into his face to make him look older than his actual age. His sleeves were rolled past his elbows, and one had been stained with blood. It was obvious that the doctor had been in a fight for a man’s life, and they had no way to know if he had won.

Elias found himself encircled by anxious females. Only the youngest one was at peace and undisturbed.

The pupils had enlarged to almost obliterate the blue from Carolyn’s eyes. “Siddon.”

“He’s still alive, but dangerously weak. His coloring told me that he had started to bleed inside, so I operated and got it stopped. We can only hope that it doesn’t happen again. I don’t think he could stand a third operation.” He reached out and took one of Carolyn’s hands. “But he is still alive, and I’m going to do everything in my power to see that he stays that way. Now, I know you would like to sit with him. He won’t know you’re there, but I think it will do you the world of good just to be with him.”

Amelia took hold of her mother’s arm. “You go ahead, we can come in later.”

Carolyn could only nod. Dr. Robey had to lead her into the bedroom.

To muffle her gasp, Carolyn’s hands went to her mouth. She had not thought it possible, but her Siddon had become even pallid than before. Dark smudges beneath his closed eyes only accentuated his paleness, and he seemed to hardly breathe at all. His large hands, which had caressed and held her many times, were at his sides, and his sweaty black hair clung close to his head.

Elias had to steer her to the chair and push her down into it for she was incapable of doing so herself. The moment he did, she took one of the large hands and pressed it to her lips. “Siddon.” She pushed his hair back from his forehead, and her hand trembled. “I’m here, my sweet, my beloved. I’m here and will be for always.”

To see a family suffer in such cases had always been one of the harder parts of Elias’s profession. The only thing worse was the death that sometimes followed, as it could this time. He turned away to give them some privacy, but part of the gesture was purely selfish. He had seen wives go to pieces at the loss of a husband before, and he knew he would for as long as he practiced. He released the air from his lungs, and his gaze rose to Giles, who stood in a corner like a dutiful watchdog. The men’s eyes said all that filled their minds. Siddon Banning wasn’t out of the woods yet, and neither was Carolyn.

*******

The flames of the campfire snapped and stretched orange-red fingers toward the navy blue sky. Bacon sizzled in a pan and mingled its aroma with that of cooking coffee. Dan Jillian and the men in his half of the posse had settled in for the night, but the seriousness of their task had laid a mute blanket over them.

“Fonse, that’s an egg.”

Fonse, who stooped before the fire, looked up at the Boss then to the perfect brown ovoid held in his fingers. “It sure is. I brought enough for everybody to get one, but since we spilt up we’ll all get two apiece now.”

By this time Fonse had everyone’s interest.

Adam scowled and pushed his hat back on his head with a thumb. “Nobody packs eggs in a saddle bag unless they’re looking to make a cake.”

Fonse’s pride in his accomplishment had become very evident. “Neither did I.”

Jed had crawled away from where he had been spreading his blanket. His eyes were set right on that tasty little gem Fonse held. “Then how…?”

“I took some o’ that cotton that comes in the packing crates and wrapped around each one. Then I put ‘em down in a little wood box with a lid, and rolled the whole shebang up in my bedroll. Didn’t even crack a one.”

Jed smacked. “I like my yellows runny.”

Adam nodded. “We all do tonight.” He slapped a hand onto Fonse’s back. “Good work.”

“Thanks, Boss.”

Fonse cracked the egg on the rim of the skillet and emptied its delectable contents into the hot grease to sizzle beside the bacon. Thanks to his resourceful ingenuity, they would eat well tonight.

*******

Pony tore off a bite of the dried jerky, made more brittle by the cold. His nose wrinkled as his jaws worked. “This is like trying to chew an India rubber ball. I sure do hate making a cold camp.”

“I ain’t so keen on it m’self. Most especial this time o’ the year. And if you’d left that old woman alone…”

Pony’s bedroll being slammed to the ground punctuated that last word. “Oh, so we’re onto that again. Like I said before, I didn’t shoot that man. Latt did.”

“And if you hadn’t been slappin’ that woman around that man wouldn’t o’ done nothin’ and Latt wouldn’t o’ had to shoot nobody.”

Latt lounged back in his overturned saddle. A red glow surged on the end of his cigarette as he drew on it. He took the smoke into his lungs and let it out through his nose. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the squabble.

Pony stomped over to Hank, who sat on a dead log, and glared down at him. “And what makes you all the sudden so dadblamed smart? I had my eye on that big man the whole time.”

“Then your eye musta slipped, ‘cause you shoulda seen that we was itchin’ to do something. Well, you give him cause to.”

Pony grabbed the lapels of Hank’s coat and jerked him to his feet. “I’ve had about enough outta you.”

“I’ve had enough outta both of you, so shut up and turn in.”

“But he…” Hank started in his own defense.”

“I said shut up.” Latt flicked his cigarette into a mound of snow where it fizzled out. “Now we’re gonna get an early start, and I don’t want either of you falling out of the saddle half asleep. If you do I’ll leave you where you drop for the posse to find.” He turned onto his side with his back to them and pulled the blanket up around his ears.

Pony glowered at Hank for a few seconds then shoved him back onto the log. “I ain’t finished with you.”

“Oh, yes, you are,” came from Latt’s dark corner. “Now go to bed.”

Pony spun and retrieved his bedroll from the frigid ground. Hank straightened his coat as he watched him with nothing less than fervent hatred. He had been with Latt for a couple years now and trusted him. But Pony had only joined up with them in the last month, and Hank trusted him about as far as he could spit a cannon ball. His eyes narrowed on the object of his derision. Then he slid from the log and began to spread up his bed. Yep, he wouldn’t mind seeing old Pony stretch a rope.

SIX

Angelica had started down the staircase with a tray, the food and coffee she had taken to Carolyn untouched, when someone knocked at the front door. She put it on the black marble topped table – a recent acquisition from San Francisco – that sat in the center of the large entry.

“Mrs. McBride, you shouldn’t be out on such a blustery day.”

“This weather is of no consequence, and I had to come.”

“Then, by-all-means, come in before you catch your death of cold.”

Ester McBride, a wizened little woman of sixty years plus one, stepped inside and removed her bonnet. For her age, her eyes were clear and bright as a topaz, and a single shock of sable remained at the front of her silver hair.

“Let me take your wrap.”

“No, I won’t be staying that long. I only came to see how that dear man is doing, and to let his family know how terribly sorry I am.”

“I know they will appreciate your concern.”

“It was not only concern that brought me here but guilt. This is entirely on my shoulders.”

Angelica went aghast. “It absolutely is not.”

“Yes, my dear, it is. If I had let that man take my purse instead of fighting for it like the old fool that I am there would have been no need for any shooting. But, you see, my Charles gave me that purse for the last anniversary we had together, and I simply could not…”

Angelica gave her a pat. “I think Carolyn would understand that better than you think. I believe any woman who loves a man would.”

Ester produced a linen hankie from the little paisley print balloon purse and daubed at her eyes.

“Would you like to see him?”

“Oh, no, I could not possibly impose.”

“It would be no imposition at all…,”

Angelica and Ester looked to the stairs as Amelia came down.

“…and we would be pleased if you would.”

“Your father…” The wadded handkerchief pressed against Ester’s lips silenced her.

Amelia took the elderly woman’s arm in her gentle grasp. “My father did what he knew to be right and the only thing he could have done, given the situation.”

“But the situation was of my making. I should have known better that to fight that beast over something as trivial as a purse.”

Amelia took a firm hold of the woman’s shoulders. “Love is never trivial. Do you see this brooch I wear? My husband gave it to me for my last birthday, and it is one of the most precious things I own. And I would fight if someone who had no right to it tried to take it from me.” The sternness melted away from her. “Now let’s go up and see Daddy.”

“I can’t. I have no right to. I…”

Amelia held Ester’s wrinkled face in her hands. “You did not shoot him, and you are not to blame. And I think Daddy would be very disappointed if you came here and didn’t come in to see him.”

Ester dissolved into tears. Amelia put her arms around the woman and comforted her as she cried, and let herself sink into her own grief. Without a word, Angelica picked up the tray and went toward the back of the house. She would only be in the way here.

*******

The three horses topped the ridge and were reined to a halt. Latt stood in the stirrups, and his head swiveled as he took in their surroundings. They had run out of water to hide their tracks so they were out in the open. He looked back toward the trail they had left in the snow and smothered a guttural snarl.

Hank took his canteen from where it hung around his saddle’s horn. “So whadda we do now, Latt?” He removed the stopper and took a swig.

“We keep headin’ for Reno, just like we planned. Right, Latt?”

Latt only nodded.

“What’d you think we was gonna do?” Pony backhanded Hank across the arm and caught an icy glare.

Water ran down Hank’s chin and wet the front of his coat. “You lookin’ to get shot? ‘Cause if you are, you’ve come to the right one.”

Pony laughed with derisive glee. “You? You ain’t even got the stomach to shoot a ground squirrel.”

Latt’s head snapped around. “Leave the kid alone, Pony. We ain’t got time for this, and if anybody’s gonna do any shooting it’s gonna be me. You both got that?”

Hank paled and Pony flushed, but both acquiesced.

“Now let’s get going.” Latt’s hardened, round eyes turned back toward the way they had come. “There’s a posse doggin’ us, and I know it. I can feel ‘em.” Then he turned on the others. “So unless you wantta stay here and welcome ‘em I say we ride. Any objections?”

“No objections, Latt,” Hank said, as he hung his canteen back on the horn.

A confident grin covered Pony’s face. “You’re the boss.”

“And don’t you forget it. Now let’s go.”

Heels were applied and the horses shot down the other side of the small rise of ground.

*******

Adam still held his point position with the rest of the posse behind him. His dark hazel eyes kept to the tracks in the snow. “If they keep heading this way they won’t have any more creeks to give them cover unless they really veer out of their way. And if they’re unfamiliar with the territory, they may not wantta get too far off their course.”

Fonse snorted. “Now wouldn’t it be just too bad if they got lost. Why we’d havta go find ‘em and take ‘em back and warm ‘em up in the jail.”

Jed laughed. “Yeah, a real pity.”

Steve’s eyes rose to the slate sky. “I hope the snow holds off.”

Dan looked up, and his nose crinkled. “If we lose ‘em now no telling when we’ll pick up their trail again.”

“If we pick it up,” Adam said, as he continued to scrutinize the line of tracks.

“Oh, we will,” Fonse said with a sly chortle. “With you along, Boss, they ain’t nothin’ so sure. And won’t they be surprised.”

“It’ll be worth a month’s pay just to see the looks on their faces. And we owe ‘em a bullet for Mr. Banning.”

Jed’s remark struck Adam hard. He hated to admit it, and he wouldn’t to anyone except for Angelica, but in a deep well he found himself hoping they did have to shoot them. In all the years he had known Siddon he had never given much thought to losing his friend. Siddon was the kind who just always seemed to be there, and this had jarred his faith in that. The thought that his friend would be gone when they got back was a constant companion, and it inflamed his sense of vengeance. His hand wrapped around the grip of the big .44 he wore. He didn’t like to shoot people, but in this case he could make an exception.

******

Angelica sat at the work table amid the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen. The heat from the twin stoves kept everything nice and toasty, and it made the perfect place to feed her daughter. Angelica didn’t trust the bottles of the day, and breast feeding was out of the question, so she improvised. A china cup of warm milk and a petite silver spoon that had belonged to one of the Banning girls did the trick. She dipped it into the warm liquid and scraped the excess off on the rim. It hadn’t taken Elizabeth long to learn what to do, and the tiny mouth opened. Angelica smiled as the baby took it, her clear blue eyes set on her new mother’s face. Her heart beat with love for this child who had been placed in their keeping by way of terrible tragedy. She kissed the diminutive, soft forehead, but as she leaned back in the chair darkness overtook her. Her Adam was out in search of the man who had shot Siddon Banning, and would do so again to avoid capture. The idea of her husband and those who rode with him in the presence of such peril caused no small measure of anxiety. She gave Elizabeth another bite and fought against her fears. In so few days everyone’s world had been turned upside-down. Siddon Banning lay near death, Juva Bailey had been shot in the shoulder, and now a posse followed after three dangerous and desperate men. In an effort to not dwell on it she returned her attention to her little girl.

“Daddy will be back soon,” she said, too low for anyone else to hear above the flurry of activity.

Then she fed Elizabeth another spoonful.

SEVEN

Latt reined up his horse with such abruptness that it sat back on its haunches and its tail drug. His face had set like mortar and conviction made his eyes glitter like chips of coal. “I’ve had enough.”

Pony and Hank spun their animals to a stop.

“Huh?” Hank said, as he glanced at Pony. “Enough o’ what?”

Latt rested his hand on the cantle and turned in the saddle to look behind them. “I’m tired of running.” He looked back at his men. “We’re gonna find us some cover, sit tight and wait right here for that posse to come to us.”

Hank went stark white, but he didn’t say anything. He had learned a long time ago to keep certain opinions to himself. In the past, Latt had always known what he was doing, and he didn’t like to have his authority questioned or challenged.

A toothy grin of malicious intent spread across Pony’s cruel visage as he pulled his rifle from its scabbard. “I like the way you think, Boss.”

Hank gulped. “What if there ain’t no posse, after all, we ain’t seen or heard anything to make us think there is.”

“Oh, there’s a posse right enough, you can take that to the bank.” Latt sniggered at his own joke. “I’ve been dogged so much that I’ve got so I can just feel when they’re after me, and I’m sick and tried of running. There’s no way to hide out here so I say we pick ‘em off and be done with it.”

“Latt,” Hank held his hands up as if to fend off a blow, “and don’t take offense, but what if there’s too many? Anything more ‘n three or four, five at the best, and they’ll most likely run right over us.”

“Not if we get the drop on ‘em before they even know we’re here. It’ll be like shootin’ birds off a fence. Ain’t that right, Latt?”

“That’s right.” Latt began to look around them. “Now let’s find us some good cover ground where we can just sit tight and wait.” He took out his rifle. “And unless I miss my guess, we like as not won’t havta wait too long. Now let’s find that ground.”

*******

Adam scooped up a handful of snow and poked into his mouth and just let it melt. Evidenced by the trail left, they were still behind the robbers, but he had no way of knowing how far back. Dusty shook his head and his bit rattled. Adam patted him on the neck. “Me, too.” Then he got mounted.

Adam went back to the small cluster of men that made up the posse and reined in the black next to Dan Jillian’s horse. Dan had seen that look before, and he knew that something bothered him.

“What is it, Adam? You don’t look like that for no good reason.”

“I don’t know, Dan, but I’ve got a feeling that I can’t really put a moniker to.”

“What kind of feeling?”

“I’ve been trying to put myself in those men’s place and…”Adam huffed and began to chew on his lower lip. “Dan, if you were being followed by a posse you knew you couldn’t shake what would you do about it?”

“Oh, come on, Adam. How can they even know we’re back here?”

“It you had robbed a bank of most its assets, slapped around a woman and shot a man, what would you think?” Steve said, as he brought his horse forward. “Sheriff, I learned a long time ago to go with Adam’s gut. What is it you’ve got in mind?”

“Just that we move with a little more prudence from here on. I could be wrong but, like I’ve always heard, it’s better to err on the side of caution, and nobody ever got shot from being too careful.”

Dan scratched the side of his head. “Makes good sense and it may be a good idea to ride single file with a horse length between us instead of bunched in a knot. We’ll make a longer target that way.”

They all agreed to a man, and this time when they started off, Dan took point. He was the sheriff, and these men were his responsibility, and if they were about to ride into something he should be at the head of his posse. It wasn’t that he was looking to get shot, far from it, but he had never shirked his duty, and he wouldn’t start now.

*******

Angelica came into the kitchen and inhaled the smells of supper. While Marjorie and Juliet entertained the children she thought a spot of hot tea would revive flagging spirits. Maybe she could even induce Carolyn – who hadn’t been away from her husband’s side all day – to take a wee bit. She went into the pantry and found a tin of imported Chinese tea then went back out.

As Angelica opened the tin the corners of her mouth pinched. “Mrs. Mapes, this is the only tea I could find.” She raised it and gave it a jostle. “It’s nearly empty, and I doubt there is enough here for a good pot.”

The gray-haired woman looked up from where she had been mixing biscuit dough. “There should be more. I sent Patsy to do the shopping two days ago, and I know I put it on the list. I usually check to make sure everything is there, but I am afraid I forgot this time. And since that girl had gotten serious about that Stiverson boy down at the freight office I don’t know where her head is these days. Please let me go look.”

The woman wiped her floury hands on her apron then disappeared into the pantry. In the meantime, Angelica got a copper teakettle from the breakfront near the back door, and filled it from the pump at the sink. She sat it on one of the stoves then went back to the work table.

“Here you go,” Mrs. Mapes said, as she returned with a new red tin. “I knew I put it on the list.”

Angelica thanked her and took it, and the woman resumed her biscuit making. She opened the tin and sniffed the pungent aroma of the fresh tea. This would make a good strong brew, so she would need to be careful in her measurements.

*******

The sun had long ago started down the other side of the sky, and the men of the posse guessed that they had two hours of daylight left. They were strung out like a long rope, and no one was in any real big hurry. Then, out of the blue, Dan, still in the lead, stopped. He raised his hand, and Adam rode forward while the others waited.

“What’ve you got, Dan?”

“They stopped here for some reason. Look at the jumble of tracks. Then they headed off in pretty much the same straight line they’ve been going.” Dan gestured toward a rise several yards ahead and off to the right. “Whadaya make of it?”

Adam scanned the ground, and his brain clicked the whole time. A sudden rush of cold air swirled into his lungs, and his head yanked up hard. “Take cover!”

Just as Adam shouted a shot rang out.

*******

The tray clattered to the floor on the heels of a scream. A sterling silver tea set scattered with a metallic smash and spread amber liquid and sugar cubes along with it. English china cups and saucers broke with a shower of white porous shards.

“Mrs. Cartwright?”

Angelica looked into the plump woman’s face, her hands still clasped over her mouth. She knew she had heard the report of a gun.

EIGHT

Angelica sat at the work table in the kitchen, her hands, which still trembled, wrapped around a cup of water. She took a sip and tried to collect herself.

Giles crouched in front of her. “Are you sure you’re all right now?”

Angelica nodded. “Just give me a few more minutes to collect myself.” She took another sip. “What happened? I thought I heard a gunshot.”

“You did.” Giles angular face pinched into a scowl. “One of the servants took a shot at a fox that’s been nosing around the chicken house for the past three weeks, and he has been seriously read out. He didn’t stop to think that a few rocks woulda run it off just as easily. I’m sorry it frightened you.”

“It didn’t frighten me really, it was just so sudden and unexpected and with Adam and Siddon…” She took a drink.

“I don’t think there’s a soul in this house that doesn’t understand. It might be a good idea for you to go upstairs. The shot really upset the children, and the girl’s have their hands full.”

Angelica’s eyes drifted to the floor. “But I made such a mess.”

“Don’t worry about that. Me and Mrs. Mapes can clean it up.” He took the cup from her and set it on the table then held his hand out to her.

Angelica just looked at him then took the proffered hand, and he helped her to stand. With an abbreviated start, she turned and her legs shook. As she went out into the hall she heard Mrs. Mapes in a low tone say, “Poor little thing.”

She didn’t feel like a poor little thing, but she had been badly jarred. Her hand ran along the cool polished wood of the banister as she started up the stairs. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to gunshots, what with living around a rowdy bunch of cowboys. A few times an errant wolf or cougar that had strayed too close to the house in search of food had been discouraged with gunfire, and she had thought nothing of it. For a few minutes she paused just short of the top landing. Tears burned at her eyes, and she fought to hold them back as veracity dawned bright and clear. Guns had brought much grief and could bring more. It would be nice to be able to blame an inanimate object for all this but it would be to deny reality. It wasn’t the guns that caused the problem – it was some men who used them.

*******

Jed winced and massaged his thigh. “Do you havta make it so danged tight?”

Fonse gave the tourniquet another twist. “You wantta lay out here and bleed to death.”

“That ain’t likely. I’m gonna freeze long before I can do that.” Jed shivered. “It’s cold as blue whizzes out here, and it’s gonna get colder when the sun goes down. Boy, we sure walked ourselves into a fine passel o’ mess. I got a hole blowed clean through my leg, and those jaspers are just settin’ out there waitin’ for somebody to poke their nose out from behind these rocks so’s they can shoot it off.”

Adam kept low and made his way over to his men. “How is it, Jed?”

“It don’t hurt much, but I sure could use a good stiff belt o’ whiskey.”

Adam gave him a cuff on the arm. “Right now I think we all could.”

Steve looked over at them. “I’ll set ‘em up when we get back to town.”

Fonse sat back on his heels, and pushed his hat back on his head. “Boss.”

“Yeah.”

“We found ‘em.”

“That we sure did.” Adam’s lone eyebrow rose. “And we’ve got them right where they want us.”

“So whadda we do now, Boss?”

“Somebody needs get around behind them.”

“To do that we havta draw their fire away from whoever tries it,” came from Dan’s end of the large pile of rocks. “And we need to do it before it gets too dark.”

“I’ll be the bait, Boss. I can run like a jackrabbit. ”

Steve leaned back and stood his rifle on its butt end between his legs. “It makes good sense, and it could be our only chance.”

Adam didn’t like it, and he let it show. “All right, Fonse, but you keep low and move like you’ve got wings. No sense making this easy for them.”

“I will.” Fonse frowned. “But who’s gonna be the one to get around behind ‘em?”

The sheriff crawled forward. “I’ll do it.”

“No, Dan, you stay here. I’ll go.”

“This is my posse, you said so yourself.”

“That’s right, I did and it is, and I’m not trying to undermine your authority, but can you move through the trees like a ghost? Paiutes can, and they taught me.”

Dan thought it over, and a harsh glower preceded the voicing of his decision. “All right, but I’ll thank you not to put me in the position of having to tell your wife she’s a widow.”

“I’ll do my best. Now if I’m successful, I’ll signal with three close shots.”

Adam and Fonse took up their positions at either end of the ersatz fortress. Adam checked his weapons; just to be on the safe side then gave the sign that he was ready. Seconds ticked off like hours then Dan’s hand fell heavy on Fonse’s back.

Fonse crept low through the brush, which obscured him in the waning light. The idea, however, was to be seen, much as he didn’t like it. With a deep breath he rose up and looked around. The first shot buzzed past his head like an incensed hornet. He pulled back into the screen the undergrowth afforded and crouched there. “All right, Alfonse Sweet, you volunteered for this, so just do it.” His finger found the trigger – he took another deep breath then stood up and fired back. Now they shot at him in earnest as he took off in the opposite direction from his comrades. If he could make it to the lone boulder ahead, he could get his second wind and take it from there. He kept running.

Adam slipped into the trees without as much as one bullet coming his way. Thanks to Fonse, he had made it. All he had to do now was get around behind those men and even things up. His breath held for a second as the shooting stopped. He thought of Siddon and Juva and Jed and Fonse maybe lying dead. The muscles in his jaws knotted, and he started to make his way through the trunks that stood as monoliths in the growing dusk. Then he thought of Angelica and his children and kept going.

“Do you see Fonse?” Jed said, as he scooted along the ground.

“No, it’s gotten too dark to make out much at that distance.” Dan’s head thumped back against rock. “I still think I shoulda gone instead of Adam.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry too much about the boss. He can move like air through screen wire, and be on top o’ you before you even know he’s around. He’ll make it, right enough.”

“Jed’s right. If anybody can make it, Adam can.”

As Adam edged around behind the ridge he could hear voices, indistinct at first but they became clearer as he went along, and he could make out the words.

“You think we got ‘im? I didn’t see ‘im go down.”

Adam’s throat constricted.

“I saw ‘im duck over behind that big rock. I don’t think he was hit.”

Adam blew out a quiet breath. Fonse had made it.

“So whadda we do now, Latt?”

“We sit tight until it gets good and dark then we slip down and…”

“Stay as you are.” Adam trained his rifle on their backs and cocked it. “The first man to get rash is gonna get shot.”

The three men froze.

“Throw your guns away and do it easy.”

The men flung their long guns aside and had started to divest themselves of their pistols when the heavily built gent on the left end spun, a fist wrapped on his. Adam didn’t wait for him to get aim and act on his intention, and his rifle answered the threat. Before he could even squeeze off a shot the man flopped forward. The ungainly fellow at the other end watched as his cohort rolled onto his back with a deadened stare. As the man’s watery blue eyes ran over the prostrate form, a weak chortle left him.

Adam kicked the gun away from the dead man’s hand and it skittered over the trampled snow. “Anybody else wantta try something stupid.”

“Not me.” The sinewy man whose countenance made Adam think of a cliff face leaned back, and his hand rose to the front of his coat. “You mind if I take out my fixin’s?”

“For now I think it’s best you just keep your hands where I can see them. You can light up later unless you do something impulsive now.” Adam took his .44 from its holster, pointed it toward the heavens and fired off three rapid shots. “Now we wait.”

“Wait for what?” the skittish one asked.

“The sheriff and the rest of the posse.” Adam returned the .44 to his hip, and took the rifle in both hands, the business end still leveled on the remaining two men. “I hope you didn’t think I was empty-headed enough to come after you alone.”

The mouth of the man Adam assumed to be the leader formed into a Cheshire cat-like grin. “A man can hope, but I’ve found that most of those don’t pan out. Just out of curiosity, how many are with you?”

The pound of approaching hooves answered him and four riders – one leading a black horse – soon appeared.

“I knew you could do it, Boss.”

Adam gave Fonse a cursory glance. “I’m glad somebody did.”

As the men dismounted – Jed stayed in the saddle – their attention went to the dead man. The second thing they noticed were the scratches along the side of his face.

“Well now we know which one slapped Mrs. McBride,” Steve said, as he nudged the body with the toe of his boot. “She’ll be glad to know she got a good piece of him.”

Dan collected one of the discarded rifles, and his gaze ran to where the sun sank toward the horizon. “We’ll make camp here for the night, and head out at first light.” He looked at the prisoners and gave his head a sideways jerk. “On your feet.”

“So wha… whadda you gonna do with us now?” the skittish one said, as he scrambled up.

“We oughtta string you both up to the nearest tree. You’re just plain lucky the sheriff and this man,” Fonse gestured to Adam, “are here or you most like as not would be. You picked the wrong town to rob a bank in, and the wrong man to shoot.”

The kid’s skittishness now seemed to border on panic. “Was he somebody important?”

Fonse yanked the man’s arms up and began to bind his wrists with rope. “Siddon Banning, only the man who owns the town. That’s why it’s named after ‘im. You oughtta be careful who you going around puttin’ bullets in.”

“I didn’t shoot ‘im.” His tied arms rose in a motion to the other man. “He did. Latt, you shouldn’ta…”

“Shut up, Hank.”

Jed snorted from his perch. “Now we know which one to hang first.”

Somebody tossed Fonse a rope, and he moved to the one called Latt. He raised the man’s arms but got shoved backward. Latt started to make a break for it, but the cold, hard metal of a rifle barrel pressed against his temple gave him second thought.

Latt’s gaze turned to the face of the large, raven-haired man in the black hat that held the weapon. He had always thought himself a hard customer, but he could see his own death in the cool, menacing eyes, and it unnerved him. That this man would pull the trigger and splatter his brains over the snow, Latt had no doubt. And for the first time in his life, he could feel the noose tighten around his throat.

NINE

Hank sat on top of his bedding and leaned back into his upturned saddle. The one they called Fonse had made it up for him. The fellow wasn’t as bad as the first impression he had given, but Hank was still scared out of his skin.

“I brought you some beans and bacon.”

Hank looked up from his musings as the tall, hazel-eyed man crouched next to him and held out a tin plate.

“Thanks.” Hank took it. “I guess I am a might hungry at that. Since we been on the run and what with makin’ cold camps and all, jerky’s been all we’ve had.”

“Then this’ll make a pleasant change. It always does a man good to get something hot in his belly after a cold, hard day in the saddle.”

“I s’pose.” Hank didn’t think beans had ever tasted so good.

“Your friend over there called you Hank. What’s your last name?”

Hank went still with his head down, and the spoon hovered over his food. “Why? So’s you’ll know what to put on my headboard?”

“Nobody’s gonna kill you, Hank. We’re not bad men; we’re just doing a job. I rode with a hanging posse once, but I assure that this isn’t one.”

Hank looked up. “You mean you ain’t friends o’ that man Latt shot?”

“Yes, we are, but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna wind up like the one I hadta shoot.”

Hank snorted. “That Pony was a bad ‘n right enough, and I can’t say as I’m sorry. He scared the water outta me. If it weren’t for Latt, I think more ‘n once he woulda killed me. He was the kind who woulda shot a dog just for scratchin’ fleas and liked it.”

“You think a lot of Latt, don’t you?”

“Why sure. He’s always done right by me. He’s never treated me like I’m hog-headed stupid like most, and he’s real smart.”

“He’s always thought up the robberies, hasn’t he?”

“Why sure. He’s got real brains for that sorta thing.”

“And he’s always managed to get you outta these scrapes, ever if it meant killing those that were dogging you.”

Hank’s guilt edged its way into his enthusiasm. “Yeah, but he always had no choice.”

“And he shot my friend when he came to a lady’s aid, didn’t he?”

Hank’s enthusiasm evaporated altogether, and he stared at his bent knees. “Yeah.”

“He doesn’t sound so smart to me.”

“Since you put it that way, I guess he don’t to me either.” Hank looked at him. “Mister, I ain’t never killed nobody in my life or even shot ‘em when they didn’t die. That was always Latt or Pony or somebody else that happened to be ridin’ with us. But I never did, never wanted to. I don’t like guns so much. Why I didn’t even know how to use one ‘til Latt found me wanderin’ the streets o’ Laredo and showed me how. He showed me real good, but I just never could draw down on nobody. I shot at a sheriff who was gonna shoot me once, but I missed, and I was glad. I just plain don’t like killin’.” He sniggered. “O’ course, when you did Pony that so much I didn’t mind. He woulda killed you, and I think some day he woulda done me, too.”

“Well, he won’t do anybody ever again.”

“Mister, when you and that other man was shot at from the trees, it was Pony. I remember how he laughed when he saw he hadn’t missed. The other man, he ain’t dead, is he?”

“No. He got a painful wound in the shoulder, but I’m assured that he’s gonna be all right.” He gave Hank a whack on the arm. “Eat your food before it gets cold, and I’ll bring you a cup of coffee.” Then he started to leave.

“Oh, mister, it’s Tashlin. My last name, I mean.”

“All right, Hank Tashlin. I’ll get you that coffee.”

The flicker of the campfire danced in the depths of Steve’s charcoal eyes as he spooned more beans onto his plate. He looked up as Adam crouched and picked up one of the cups from the stones that ringed in the flames. “We saw you talking to that one Hank. Did you learn anything new?”

“Quite a bit, actually.” Adam wrapped one of his gloves around the handle of the coffee pot and began to fill the cup. “He’s not like the other two. He’s just a scared kid whose been used for some years by this Latt, and he hasn’t shot anybody.”

“If you choose to believe him.” Dan said, from where he sat on a rock next to Steve. He bit the end from a strip of bacon and washed it down with a slug of coffee.

“I do. He strikes me as being too scared and not bright enough to lie about it. Or, at least, that’s the impression he gives me, and I don’t think I’m wrong.”

“That’s the notion I got when I made up his bed for ‘im,” Fonse said, as he joined them. “He thinks too high o’ that fella Latt for his own good.” He bent down and picked up a plate and spoon. “I’ve seen a lot just like ‘im. It’s just plain, blind luck he ain’t wound up dead before this.”

“Well, I can’t think too high o’ nobody who has a party to shootin’ people,” Jed said from where he sat beside the sheriff, “dumb or not” He started to massage the thigh of his injured leg. “You’re just as dead if a stupid man puts a bullet in you as a smart one.”

“I’m not saying he’s innocent by virtue of being slow, but I do think the fact the he’s never actually shot anybody and his unwillingness to do so should have a part in his defense.” He glanced back to where the other outlaw sat alone. “Has anybody fed him?”

He got a round of grumbles, muffled answers and one loud, emphatic no.

“Fonse, take the kid his coffee, and I’ll make up another plate.”

Fonse’s face pulled into a sour pucker. “All right, Boss.” He took the cup and went off.

Latt looked up, and there were those eyes that portended what he didn’t like to think about.

“I thought you might be hungry.”

“I’m surprised you even bothered.”

Adam stooped and handed over the plate. “I’d feed a hungry dog.”

Latt took a bite. “You don’t think much o’ me, do you?”

“How could I? You shot one of my two best friends in the world, and for all I know, he could be dead right now.”

“Then why don’t you just go ahead and string us up like that other fella wanted to?”

“I’m not the type and neither is Steve, it isn’t in the sheriff’s job description, and the other two work for me. But I figure the law will deal with you right enough.”

“And what about Hank?”

“Why don’t you tell me about him?”

Latt laughed and fed himself another bite. “He plain perplexes me most times, but I can’t help but like ‘im. He’s a crack shot, in fact, one of the best I’ve ever seen. He could kill you if he wanted to, but the thing is that he doesn’t want to.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“That all depends on which side of the fence you happen to be on. Whether you’re robbing a bank or trying to bring in those that did it. You killed Pony and had no problem with it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I have a big problem with killing anybody, but I have a bigger problem with dying. Why did you take the kid under your wing?”

“Why not? He was wandering the streets like a scruffy stray. I took ‘im in, fed ‘im cleaned ‘im up, taught ‘im to shoot and made a man out of ‘im.”

“You made an outlaw out of him, and given a bit more time you might’ve even succeeded in making him a killer.”

The scrape of the spoon against the plate was the only sound between them for a few seconds.

Adam jerked to his feet. “I’ll get you some coffee.” Then he stomped off toward the others.

Latt took a bite of his bacon as he watched the man stalk away, and it had no real flavor to speak of. He had always known that someday someone would come along that would put an end to him. There was that sensation of a noose around his throat again, and he cringed at the thought of returning to that town.

TEN

It took the posse a shade longer to get home than it had taken to catch up to their quarry. A couple more inches of snow had fallen, and Jed had kept threatening to fall out of the saddle. They had made it, though, and Bantree got tantalizingly closer with each plod of the horses’ hooves.

As the posse rode in along the main thoroughfare, town’s people came out of buildings and forgot chores or where they were going as they lined the boardwalks or stepped into the wagon rutted street. It didn’t take long for the shouts and taunts to start, and women and children weren’t exempt.

Adam led the scruffy bay with the dead man thrown over its saddle. He hadn’t seen such hatred as he now saw in the faces of those he rode past in a long time. Dire threats and calls for ropes, among other things, rose on the chilled afternoon air. Maybe the most beloved citizen in town had been gunned down during the execution of a crime, so they had a right to be angry. Siddon Banning took care of his people, and now it appeared as if they fully intended to return the favor. Adam only feared that it could go beyond yelling and promises of retribution.

They were about to the sheriff’s office when – from the corner of his eye – Adam caught sight of Mrs. McBride in the crowd. Never before had he seen her aged face so twisted in fury.

“How does it feel now?” she screamed, as she came down into the street. She started to move alongside the horses, her eyes never off the two outlaws. “You’ll pay. You’ll kick your lives away at the end of a rope, and I will be there to see it.” Then she stopped long enough to bend over.

Adam started to shout a warning, but he didn’t have time before the rock struck.

*******

Angelica had to force her legs to propel her down the stairs and into the foyer. On her way to the kitchen, she had to pass the immense mirror in the gold gilt frame that hung on the wall, and she froze in her tracks. The person that looked back at her was a stranger. Fatigue and anxiety marred the woman’s delicate features, and even some of the luster seemed to have faded from her hair. Then a cold blast rose up behind her, and she didn’t really notice. Her gaze shifted from her own reflection to the dark figure that drew closer behind her. At first she thought that exhaustion was playing tricks on her, then the image placed its hands on her shoulders, and that familiar, rich baritone said her name.

She whirled. “Adam.” Her hands went to his cheeks, reddened from the cold, and the touch sent a rush through her. “I thought my eyes were deceiving my mind and making me see what I desired.”

“I’m here right enough.”

She threw her arms around him and pressed the side of her face against his chest so that she could hear his heart to convince herself.

Adam pulled his gloves off and began to stroke her head. He wanted to feel the silken hair beneath his fingertips and nothing must come between them. Then a hint of melancholia tarnished his gladness at being with her again. “How’s Siddon?”

With a brief hesitation, she leaned back so she could look at him, but her arms stayed around him. “He still isn’t awake, and Dr. Robey says that the longer he remains unconscious the greater the chance that…” A jagged breath made her shake. “Carolyn hasn’t left his side in days.” Tears pooled and edged the borders of her thick, black lashes. “And I know exactly how she feels.” Then something bleak and sinister rose up in her face. “Did you catch those men?”

“Yeah, we caught them, and Jed got shot in the doing.”

She gasped. “Is he…?”

“Graham says that a few days rest oughtta fix him close to new, but he might wind up with a limp. We’ll just havta wait to find out.”

“What about those men?”

“Two of them are down at the jail, but I had to kill the other one.”

“I can’t say that I’m sorry. Was it the one who shot Siddon?”

“No. It was the one who assaulted Mrs. McBride. The side of his face was scratched pretty deep.”

“Good for her.”

Adam ducked his head and tried to stifle a snicker.

“I fail to find any humor in all this.”

He shook his head. “You had to be there, I suppose. When we rode in people got all worked up, and Mrs. McBride was right in with them.” This time he didn’t try to sequester the snicker. “That little firebrand threw a rock and hit the one who did shoot Siddon right in the face. It brought the blood, and I thought he was gonna fall off his horse.”

“I frankly can’t say that I blame her, and it certainly is better than he deserves. Those three men have caused so much sorrow and all because they wanted what they had no right to.”

“It is unfortunate that men like that exist.” His finely sculpted mouth curved in a faint smile. “Where are the children?”

“Upstairs with Marjorie and Juliet having a story read to them.”

“I’ve missed my family something awful, and it’s good to be back.” He squeezed her closer. “You feel good.” Then he gave her a passionate kiss. “Now, as much as I hate to part from you again, I want to go see Siddon.” His hand ran along her cheek then he started for the staircase.

Her eyes stayed on him until he disappeared beyond the top landing. She could only hear the thump of his boots draw away from her, and it reassured her. For the first time in days she felt some of her heaviness fall away. Her hand went over her mouth as if to seal his kiss to her lips, then she turned and went on toward the kitchen.

A second rap sounded on the bedroom door, but still Carolyn made no attempt to answer it. Then it opened. A familiar figure stood against the light from the hall, and her heart thrilled. “I’m sorry, Adam; I didn’t know you were back. Do come in.”

He closed the door and crossed to the foot of the bed. “Angelica told me that he still hasn’t come out of it.”

Carolyn’s grip tightened on her husband’s hand. “No, and Elias is losing hope that he ever will. But I won’t do that, I can’t do that. So, were you successful in running those animals down?”

“Yes, we caught them.”

“And did you have to shoot them?”

“Just one. He drew down on me.”

“What a pity that they all didn’t. Was it the right one?”

Adam’s single eyebrow rose. It didn’t take a scholar to know what she meant. “It wasn’t the one who shot Sid. But you needn’t worry that we won’t make sure that he’s punished. What with the sentiment in this town right now, he’ll be lucky if he only gets a prison sentence.”

Carolyn’s eyes flashed on him like blue daggers. “I hope that they hang them both in the middle of the main street and leave them there for the buzzards and the greenflies as a warning to others like they did with the pirates of old. They have earned no more consideration than that and will get no sympathy from me or my daughters.”

“I’ve never heard you talk this way before.”

“My husband has never been shot and on the brink of death before. And let me tell you, Adam Cartwright, that it burns the compassion right out of a woman.”

“But you can’t really want them lynched. Why one of them didn’t hurt anyone, he only collected the money. He’s just a dull kid who doesn’t want to hurt anybody, and I don’t think that stupidity is a valid reason to be hung.”

“Angelica told me that you and one of your men were ambushed from the trees, and he was shot. For all you know, it could have been this man.”

“It wasn’t, they both told me so. And if you’d been around him and talked to him, you’d know that he just isn’t the type. It even makes you wonder how he got hooked up with the other two in the first place.”

“He was there, and that is enough to suit me.”

“Carolyn.”

“I don’t want to talk about it any more. I want them hanged and that is final.”

“No.”

Carolyn looked down at the large hand that rested on her arm then to the bed and her heart raced. The tired brown eyes that met with hers were like water to someone dying of thirst. “Siddon.” She ran her fingers back through his bedraggled black hair.

“No… lynch…” came rough and coarse. “Carolyn.” Siddon turned his attention to Adam. “You see…”

“I will. There won’t be any lynching, and on that you have my word.”

The sides of Siddon’s mouth crooked and it seemed to take his greatest effort.

“I’ll go get Elias.” Adam reached down and patted his friend on the foot. “Welcome back, Sid.” Then, with a wink, he left the room.

Carolyn leaned down against her husband, and all at once everything let go. Her pitiful, uncontrolled sobs would have made the most hardened of men crack. Siddon’s arm closed around her, and it only reinforced her weeping.

“All right.” He managed to put his other hand on the back of her head. “All right.”

Adam had started down the stairs as Angelica was coming up, and they met in the middle. “Where’s the doctor? He isn’t in his room, and I need to find him.”

“He’s in the kitchen having a sandwich and some coffee.” Her eyes darted toward that bedroom. “Siddon.”

“He’s awake.”

Angelica’s hands clasped together at her throat. “Thank Heaven. I’ll go get Dr. Robey. I want to be the one to tell him.” With a girlish squeal, she whirled and went back down.

When she disappeared from his sight, Adam started back up, but the urgent bang of the door knocker stopped him. Whoever was on the other side, they were upset about something, and it chilled Adam to think of what the trouble could be.

Adam jerked the door open, and his brother-in-law, his Sharps clutched in his fist, stood before him on the portico. He had seen Steve Balasco in many states before, and this one caused alarm, as it always did.

“They’re gonna do it, Adam. There’s an ugly mob gathered at the jail, and they’re getting uglier by the second. They’ve got rope and sledge hammers and axes to break down the door, and if they get inside I don’t think Dan and Cash can hold them.”

“All right, Steve. Let’s go.”

Adam grabbed his rifle from the black marble-topped table and rushed out. The door slammed just as Angelica and the doctor came into the foyer. Her eyes flitted toward it for a second, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Siddon was awake.

ELEVEN

The horde gathered before the jail appeared to be comprised of every able-bodied male over the age of thirteen, and even a few of the less dainty flowers in town. They were as vociferous as the men, and their language maybe even a bit more indelicate.

The closer he and Steve got the more Adam’s blood rushed through his veins. This whole thing had turned into a powder keg just waiting for the right spark to set it off. Adam sucked in a cold breath, and his grip tightened on his rifle as his eyes lit on the fuse. Vint Calder, a man who always managed to find himself at the center of any trouble, yelled louder than anyone. Adam glanced over at Steve and knew he read the same thoughts that were going through his own mind. If Calder had his way, this would blow up in everyone’s face.

Adam and Steve bounded up onto the boardwalk and made sure their guns were in plain sight.

An insidious smirk took over Calder’s craggy features, and his eyes burned with the exhilaration of the moment. “We don’t need you here, Cartwright! We know how to deal with those two!”

The crowd roared in agreement and ropes and implements were shaken in the air.

Adam held up his free hand. “My main reason for coming here is to tell you that Siddon Banning is awake!”

Calder snorted and looked at those around him. “Nice try Cartwright, but that ain’t what we heard. We know why you’re here. It’s to save those killers!”

The crowd roared again.

“Only one of them is a killer, but it wasn’t here. Siddon Banning is alive. In fact, he’s the one who sent me down here. He doesn’t want any lynching.”

Calder grew bolder. “Yeah, sure, it’s easy to say what a dead man would want.”

“It tell you, Siddon isn’t dead! If you don’t believe me go on up to the Banning house and see for yourself!”

Calder made sure he still held the attention of those around him. “Ah, he’ll say anything to keep us from stretching their necks. Come on; let’s go get ‘em!”

The door to the jail opened and Dan Jillian stepped out with a shotgun, several inches sawed of the end of the barrels. His face was hard as ice, and he let the weapon do the talking.

Adam thudded down the steps and stopped toe-to-toe with Calder. “I don’t take being called a liar from any man, and most especially not you.” He grasped the rifle with both hands and gave Calder a shove with it. “Now do you, do any of you want to be the ones who brought about a lynching in Siddon Banning’s town, even if he is dead?

One intrepid soul came forward, his voice slurred with whiskey. “Well if he is dead then it don’t matter.”

Adam turned on him, and the man paled a tinge. “His widow, daughters and grandchild would still havta live here. Or maybe you’d want to force them away from their home.” Now Adam spread the scope of his oration to everyone. “Siddon has always been proud of his town. And many’s the time he’s told me about his pride in his people. Is there a man jack, or lady, among you who wants to destroy that? I haven’t once said that Sid is out of danger, but if he lives do you want to be the ones to tear down his pride in the town he helped to build? Who knows, he might even pack up his family and leave out of disgust, and then where would you be? Left to wallow in the stigma of a lynch town.”

Silence fell like a lead curtain and for an eternal minute the agitators only looked at one another. Then the hum of mingled voices rose. The burly, ebony-bearded blacksmith pushed his way through the throng and stopped at the foot of the steps.

Adam gulped. This was it. Raise or call.

“I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m satisfied that Mr. Banning is still alive.” The beefy man glanced at Adam. “We’ve known Adam Cartwright for a long time, most of us, and he wouldn’t lie to us.” Then he turned back to Jillian. “Sheriff, if you’ll gimmee me your word that those two’ll be dealt hard with, I’ll go home. I can’t talk for the others.”

“You have my word on it, Burt.”

“Good enough.” Then the blacksmith turned and walked away.

Adam shifted his focus back to Calder. “Do you wantta show some common sense and do the same thing? Or maybe you need for me to ring the barrel of this rifle against the side of your head. The choice is yours.”

Calder knew that what happened next hinged on what he said and did. He also knew that Adam Cartwright didn’t make idle threats. If the man said he would wrap his rifle around his, Calder’s, head, he for sure would. The thought of being backed down didn’t sit well, but then neither did being humiliated before much of the town. “All right, Cartwright, but we’re not finished with each other.”

An ominous light sparked in Adam’s eyes. “I’ll remember you said that, and so will everybody here.”

Calder went a shade green around the edges, and the defiance in his eyes flared then settled into a slow simmer. He had been called out so for now he had no choice but to capitulate. But Cartwright was a fool if he thought this the end of the animosity between them. If anything, it had just heated up. “All right, Cartwright, you win..., this time.”

Dan loomed behind Adam like the sudden appearance of a giant. “It’s not a smart thing to threaten a man so everybody can hear. Now go home before I throw you in jail just for that heck of it.”

Calder looked at the crowd then – without a word – spun and stomped off.

“Thanks for the hand, Adam, but I think your troubles with Calder just got bigger.”

A grimace distorted Adam’s handsome face. “I’m sure of it.”

Dan gave him a cuff on the arm then went about dispersing the crowd. Adam’s gaze turned back until he caught sight of Calder and stayed on him until the man disappeared into one of the myriad of saloons that dotted the town. Vint would sit in there and get himself swozzle-eyed drunk and stew. This indeed wasn’t over.

Hank’s knuckles whitened as his hands squeezed on the bars of the cell he shared with Latt. Adam could see from the moment he stepped from the office that the kid was scared. Latt, on the other hand, lounged on one of the bunks and rolled himself a cigarette.

“There won’t be any lynching in Bantree.”

Hank puffed out a breath, and his head clunked against the bars.

Latt stuck the quirly between his lips and took a match from his vest pocket. “See, kid, I told you there was nothin’ to worry about.”

Adam tucked his rifle under his arm. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”

Latt drug the match over the wall, and it sputtered to life. “It wasn’t me I was sure of.”

Adam snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Latt blew a smoke ring. “Don’t mention it.”

“Mr. Cartwright, are we gonna go to prison?”

“A jury will decide that, not me, but I think I can safely say that you will. But when you get out you can start over fresh and clean.”

Latt tittered and took another drag from his cigarette.

“Hank, when you get out, if you want a job, just look me up.”

Hank’s obvious surprise stuck out all over. “You mean that?”

Adam crooked a grin. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

“But why would you wantta give me a job after what I’ve done?”

“I think every man deserves the chance to start over if he wants to. Now try to just settle down and don’t worry about getting lynched, we won’t let that happen.” Adam’s eyes trailed to Latt. “To either of you.” He started out.

“Mr. Cartwright.”

“Yes, Hank.”

Hank managed to muster a weak smile. “Thanks.”

Adam nodded toward Latt. “Like he said, don’t mention it.” Then he went out.

*******

Adam bent over the cradle and collected his baby daughter and held her against his chest. My little miracle, he thought. He kissed her on the forehead then took her to the bed and put her down with her brothers. His hand cupped around the top of the lamp’s globe, and he blew out the light then climbed in with his family. Loving parents closed in around their contented children and embraced them beneath the covers. In the darkness, Elizabeth’s dove-like coos only added to the cozy atmosphere.

Adam felt Angelica’s hand on the side of his face. He brought it to his lips, kissed the palm of it then clasped it to his heart. They didn’t say anything, but then someone had said that love spoke louder than any words.

*******

The door opened a crack, and Adam poked his head inside. “I hope I’m not intruding too much.”

A bright smile illuminated Carolyn’s face. “Not at all. Come in, come in.”

Adam eased in with a certain amount of hesitation and crossed to the foot of the bed. “You look better today, Sid.”

“Elias is very happy and surprised at how well he is doing since only yesterday.”

“That’s wonderful.” Adam’s smile broadened into a knowing grin. “Any man would come back for this.”

Siddon’s feeble grip squeezed his wife’s hand. “You’d think… I’m a king.”

Carolyn brushed her fingertips over his colorless cheek. “To us you are, and always will be.”

“Sweetheart, would you mind leaving us…? Adam and I …need to have some man talk.”

“I understand.” She rustled out of the chair beside the bed. “It will give me a chance to go check on dinner.”

They waited until she had left the room, and the door had closed behind her.

Pale and drawn as Siddon was, Adam could still read that something troubled him. The two men had known each other for over ten years, and each had learned the other as a brother would.

“Now what is it that you didn’t want Carolyn to hear?”

“When a man finds himself in a situation like this… his mind can… conjure up all kinds of things.” Siddon’s frown furrowed his brow with a deep crease. “But sometimes… it’s hard to tell what is real from what is imagination…. Adam…, I think I was dying.”

Adam physically flinched. “I think you should rest. We can talk about this when you’re stronger.”

“I need to now.”

“All right.”

“I was in a dark place…, darker than any dark I’ve ever seen…. It was bottomless… and empty with no sound and no movement. I don’t know how long… I was there when a soft white light… began to shine in what felt like some sort of distance…. I can’t explain any feeling… other than I felt compelled to go toward it.”

“And did you?”

“I started to, but then something stopped me.”

Adam’s head cocked to one side. “What?”

“Carolyn’s voice.” Siddon began to really pant at the effort, but he continued on. “She was angry. I had never heard her so angry before…. She wished those men dead, and it frightened me…. I knew I had to come back…. I knew I couldn’t leave her this way.”

Adam sat down in the chair. “Well, if anything can pull us back from death, it’s certainly love. I know that my father and brothers have pulled me back more than once, and my Angel has picked up where they left off. I’m gonna tell you something that I haven’t told anybody…. When I came so close back in May while I was unconscious…, I saw my mother. Now I don’t know if it was real, or I was seeing what my mind wanted me to see. Either way, I know she was with me.”

“I’m glad you told me that, and it’ll stay between us…. I guess there’s still a lot that we just don’t understand.” Siddon winced. “Just because a person dies, doesn’t mean that the bonds are severed…, not completely.”

“I’ve learned along the way that love doesn’t kill that easily.”

The door opened and Carolyn floated in with a tray, her smile bright as the dawn rays of the sun. “I hope that you both had a nice talk, but after so many days without, Siddon needs his nourishment.” She placed the tray on the bedside table. “I know that you would like to have some of Giles’ tender roast beef and butter glazed parsnips, but I’m afraid that for the next few days broths will be your staple diet. We certainly don’t want you sick from taking solid food too soon.”

Adam chortled. “You’d better listen to the boss, and I’d better go and let you eat.” He stood and gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll have some of those parsnips for you.”

Siddon’s face pulled into a dour scowl. “Thanks, I appreciate that.”

“Not at all, anything for a friend. Now I’ll go and leave you to Carolyn’s tender care.”

Siddon turned to his wife and adoration was way too inadequate a word for what welled in his eyes. “Right where I want to be.”

“I know what you mean, buddy. I know what you mean.”

As Adam came out into the hall Angelica stopped at the top of the stairs with Elizabeth. Maggie, with the boys in tow, stood with her.

“How is Siddon doing today?”

“Better than I think anybody expected.” Adam gathered two of his sons into his arms. “He’s in the best of hands, and I think tomorrow we can go home.”

“Then after we eat, Maggie and I had better do some packing. Would you mind watching after the children?”

Adam looked at each one of his sons and his daughter then his warm smile turned to his wife. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the day.” He perched the boys up in the crook of his arms. “Now let’s go eat so we can start getting ready. It’s good to be with friends, but there’s nothing like home, and I miss ours.”

They started down the stairs, and Elizabeth began her sweet coos. Home beckoned to them all.

THE END

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