Lucky Penny

by Catherine Anderson

  She nodded, her green eyes clinging to his. “All right.”

  “Once you get well away, give Blue his head and tell him to take you home. He’ll make a beeline for No Name, but in the doing, he’ll come across railroad tracks. When he does, follow them. They’ll lead you into a town.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the roan. “Our marriage document is in the saddlebag along with plenty of money. Book passage on the train to Denver. Make sure the animals are comfortable in a stock car. When you get there, you’ll find contact information and a telephone number for my brother Ace in the same bag. He’s a good man, and you can trust him. If you’ve never used a telephone, somebody in Denver will show you how. Tell Ace you’re my wife, and he’ll send a couple of railcars to pick up you and the animals.”

  David yearned to tell her more—first and foremost that she’d need to ride for a goodly distance before she relaxed, and even then she’d need to keep looking over her shoulder, but he had to think of how his warnings might impact the child. He’d also run out of time. The men were closing in at a fairly quick pace.

  As he turned to meet the oncoming riders, Brianna called out, “Be careful, David.”

  He spun to walk backward a moment. “I’m always careful. Hurry up and switch horses, Shamrock. I want you ready, just in case.”

  David’s guts squeezed when he’d walked far enough to get a good look at the men. He’d been right to be cautious. They were a rough-looking trio. He hoped Brianna was on Blue and prepared to bolt. This could get ugly. He felt sure he could take three fast guns, but he also knew more than one man had gone to meet his Maker thinking that.

  The riders drew up twenty feet away, taking close measure of David as he stepped off another five feet to get within talking range. One was a huge man in bloodstained leathers that stank so badly David’s nostrils burned. The other two wore ordinary garb, equally filthy and streaked with crimson gone dark with time. Maybe they had skinned and gutted an animal, but David suspected their victim or victims had been the two-legged variety. They were bearded and yellow toothed, their eyes as hard and shiny as wet agates. Each was well armed, with rifles and side shooters. He knew their kind, ne’er-do-wells who’d sell their sisters for two bits and slit their mothers’ throats for a dollar.

  “Howdy,” he said, trying to muster a friendly tone.

  All three men looked behind him at the woman and little girl. The big lout in leather licked his lips. A tingle of warning shot up David’s spine. He weighed his chances and decided he’d dive and roll if this went south. His only hope was to become a moving target and count on his Colts to do the rest. Ace had made him practice with six-shooters for hours, and David knew he was accurate and lightning fast—no brag, just fact. They might take him, but at least two of them would go down in the attempt.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” he said. “I’m just passing through with my family.” He flipped back the tails of his duster so they could see his badge and his guns. “Name’s David Paxton, marshal of No Name.”

  He saw each man study his stance, and then they looked him dead in the eye. A man showed his colors when visual contact was made. If David blinked or acted nervous, they’d figure him to be an easy mark. With long practice, he had learned to keep his gaze steady and his body relaxed. A gunman with any sense realized then that he wouldn’t give up without a fight. Men like these, seasoned to violence though they were, usually had a yellow streak. If they decided he could take at least two of them out before he went down, they might ride on and toss the dice another day.

  “We ain’t lookin’ for no trouble, neither,” the big guy said. He gave Brianna another long stare. “Mighty fine-lookin’ woman you got there. Mighty fine.”

  David saw no point in denying the obvious. “Yep, and any man with a wife that fine doesn’t hesitate to put his life on the line to protect her.”

  The hulky one, apparently the leader of the group, leaned sideways to spit in the dirt next to his sorrel’s front hooves. “No need for that. Like I said, we don’t want trouble.”

  David turned as the men nudged their horses forward. “Cut my family a wide berth. I’ve got an itchy trigger finger.”

  They nodded and crossed the narrow stream to ride in a broad circle to the south. David stared after them until they disappeared over the rise, which happened pretty fast. Then he strode back to where Brianna waited with Daphne on Blue.

  “Is all well?” she asked.

  Concern filled David when he saw that she had tears in her eyes. As for her question, he couldn’t answer with any certainty. Those lowlife bastards had made his skin crawl. He also knew the prairie and had seen a whole herd of bison suddenly appear out of nowhere. Three men could just as easily remain hidden to stage an ambush. Brianna wasn’t an accomplished rider yet, but she’d managed to keep her seat for the last two days. He decided to let Daphne remain with her on Blue.

  “You can put the rifle back in the boot for now. If you need it later, it’ll be handy there. I’ll take the lead and ride the bay.”

  “You don’t want Blue back?”

  David didn’t want Daphne to be in a dither all afternoon so he kept his response short. “What I said earlier still stands. I prefer that you stay on Blue.”

  The remaining color in her face drained away. She studied the horizon. “Whatever you say. You’d be better with the rifle, though, in case it’s needed.”

  David wanted to keep his hands free, and there was no boot on the bay’s saddle. Besides, if those no-accounts came back and she had to make a run for it, she’d require a weapon to protect herself and the child. “You keep it. I’ll have no way to carry it.”

  David mounted the bay. He was concerned about letting Daphne ride double with someone as inexperienced as Brianna, but if those sourdoughs came barreling at them from out of nowhere, he’d be hard put to fight them off with a child in his arms. Not to mention that David had a bad feeling the polecats would be aiming for him, not the females. He didn’t want his daughter to be caught in the line of fire.

  Brianna accepted his decision without protest, but David saw the doubtful look in her eyes. He had to leave her wondering. If he spelled out his concerns, Daphne would be frightened all afternoon. For a long moment, they just locked gazes, then David clicked his tongue to the bay, determined to cover as much ground as possible before the light waned. He heard the clip of Blue’s hooves fall in behind him and bit back a grim smile. His Shamrock had the makings to be a fine life partner—as smart as a whip, with twice the bite if you crossed her. She’d be a good woman to have at his back once he taught her how to shoot that Henry and hit her target.

  Brianna caught herself squeezing her arm too tightly around Daphne. David rode just ahead of her now, Lucy bringing up the rear. She was acutely conscious of the rifle in the boot just behind her right hip. She stared at David’s broad back. At this distance, even a novice with guns would be unlikely to miss such a large target. Surely he realized that, yet he’d insisted she keep the weapon.

  If she lived to be ninety, she’d never forget that moment when he’d left her in charge of the horses, the mule, and all his possessions. He’d given her the opportunity to run. She could have left him afoot and unable to give chase. He wasn’t a stupid man. He must have considered that possibility. Yet he’d put his faith in her, not because she’d done a thing to deserve it, but because he’d been willing to die to keep her and Daphne safe. No woman with good sense could fail to be touched by that.

  Brianna also felt deeply ashamed. She had been suspicious of this man at every turn, thinking the very worst of him. And all the while, he’d been a fine man with good intentions who simply had his facts all wrong. She wouldn’t be forgetting that anytime soon. Maybe she hadn’t earned his trust, but he’d definitely earned hers.

  “Are those bad men going to come back and try to hurt us, Mama?”

  Daphne’s voice was little more than a squeak, a telltale sign of how scared she was. Brianna gave her a quick hu
g. “You have nothing to worry about, little miss. Papa will keep us safe.” With a start, Brianna realized she’d just referred to David as the child’s father, something she’d tried to avoid doing the entire trip. For reasons beyond her, it felt right. “He’s a marshal. I think he’s fast with those guns and knows how to handle bad men. We both need to remember that and do exactly what he tells us if anything happens, all right? No questions, no arguments. Will you promise to do that?”

  “I promise,” Daphne replied, her voice a bit stronger. “But what about you, Mama? You haven’t minded him very good so far.”

  “Don’t you worry about me. From now on, when he says jump, I’ll ask how high.”

  Daphne giggled. “Papa will be very surprised!”

  Keeping his eyes peeled, David settled back in the saddle, hoping against hope that they’d seen the last of those slime suckers. But a prickle at the back of his neck told him otherwise. He couldn’t explain it. It was just something he felt—as if the air around him was fraught with lightning that might strike at any moment. He scanned the horizon as he rode and kept a sharp watch on the bay’s ears. Horses had monocular vision—blind directly ahead but with a clear view off to the sides as far back as their rear haunches. If the gelding caught movement, he’d give a sign. David just hoped all that came near them were prairie creatures, not three ruffians in bloodstained clothing.

  David still felt itchy as the sun started to set. He picked a camp spot by the stream, making sure there were rocks for Brianna to use as mounting blocks in case she needed them. He considered leaving Blue saddled and Lucy bearing the weight of the packs so Brianna could make a quick getaway. In the end, though, common sense won out. If those bushwhackers circled back, there would be no time for her to reach a horse. And the animals had worked all day and deserved a rest. Otherwise, they’d be played out tomorrow. David hated to make them suffer simply because he had a hunch there might be trouble.

  He began doing the tasks that came habitually, thinking about what to fix for supper as he cared for the animals and then led them to the stream for a well-deserved drink. No hobbling them, not tonight. He’d already checked the species of grass and plants that grew nearby and had seen nothing poisonous. Better to merely ground tie the horses and mule so they’d be able to run if anything happened. David had seen some gorgeous horseflesh gunned down during a fracas, and he didn’t want Blue or Lucy to get hurt. Not the bay, either, so far as that went. He was proving to be a good old boy.

  Supper posed a problem. Normally David went out about this time to get a rabbit, but he was reluctant to fire a weapon. The sound could travel, and if those scoundrels were out there, doing their damnedest to track him, a shot might bring them into camp. All afternoon, he had ridden in a zigzag, crossing the stream and circling out, then angling back to the opposite side. Unless those yahoos were fine trackers, they’d play hell following him on grassland. On the other hand, if they were halfway smart—and he had a feeling the big fellow might be—they’d figure he’d stay near water unless he had headed west to reach a town. David hoped they decided he’d done the latter, because he didn’t have the heart to put a woman and child through the rigors of a dry camp.

  As for the evening meal, he had bacon in the packs, and Brianna had brought ham. They’d fare well enough with that and the plants he and Daphne had found that morning.

  When he walked back up from the stream, he saw that Brianna had already gathered tinder for a fire and was working with the spade to dig a pit. She was sore to the bone, but she was still doing all she could. The lady definitely had what it took to be a Paxton. His clan cut a high standard, but she had it in her to meet or exceed it.

  He hunkered beside her to take the implement from her hands. “We need to talk,” he told her softly. “Preferably out of Daphne’s earshot.”

  Daphne joined them at the half-dug hole. “Papa, shall we wash our vegetables? We found quite a few this morning before you stopped searching.”

  David had been too edgy that afternoon to keep an eye out for anything but two-legged predators. “We’ll do that here in a bit, pumpkin. First let me get a fire going. I think your mama could do with a hot cup of coffee laced with lots of sugar.”

  While he finished digging the pit and coaxed the flames to life, he was unable to shake the feeling that those lowlifes were somewhere close, maybe even watching them. He didn’t want to say anything that might scare Daphne, so as soon as the coffee was on, he took her to the stream to wash their vegetables. Once back at the fire, he assigned her the job of putting them into the pot to boil.

  “I’ve never done the cooking part.”

  “You’ve watched me. I think you’re ready.” David got her the salt. “Don’t add too much, now, and you need to stir constantly.” Stirring steadily wasn’t necessary, but he wanted to keep her busy while he laid out the hard facts to her mother. He handed the child a long-handled wooden spoon. “We don’t want our vegetables to scorch, now, do we?”

  Her small face solemn, Daphne said, “I’m a good stirrer. I won’t let them burn.”

  “Mind your cloak and skirt,” David told her. “Keep them tucked under your knees so they don’t flutter up into the flames.”

  Daphne anchored her clothing. David nodded in approval. “While you’re cooking supper, your mama and me are going for a short walk.” He pointed. “We’ll be over behind the elder and boulder, within hollering distance if you need us.”

  As recently as this morning, Brianna would have felt uneasy going off alone with David out of Daphne’s line of sight, but the events of the day had convinced her that he was an honorable man. When those miscreants had appeared on the horizon, he’d put his life on the line to protect her and the child. His actions had spoken more loudly than a million words.

  Her nerves prickled as she and David stepped behind the boulder, but she knew that feeling was due to her experiences with other men and had nothing to do with David Paxton. She turned with her back to the rock and foliage. He stepped around to face her, his burnished features drawn into an expression grim with worry. Placing his hands on his hips, the tails of his duster hooked back over his wrists, he sighed and searched her face. Then, without preamble, he said, “My gut tells me they may come in on us tonight. I need to know you’ll sleep with an ear cocked and one eye open. We also need to huddle up. If anything happens, I don’t want you and Daphne between me and them.”

  Fear trickled like ice down Brianna’s spine. “Wh-what do you think they want? If it’s money and valuables, can’t we just hand them over and be done with this?”

  David toed the grass. When he glanced back up, he shook his head. “They’ll take the money and valuables after they finish me, but I don’t think that’s all they want.”

  “What, then?” Brianna’s first thought was Daphne, and the possibility that those horrible men might get their hands on the child made her blood go cold.

  “You,” he said softly.

  Brianna jerked taut. “Me?” She knew some men found her attractive, but she’d been so focused on Daphne’s safety that she’d only fleetingly considered the dangers to herself.

  He arched a tawny eyebrow. “Shamrock, this may come as a big shock to you, but you’re a fine figure of a woman. Any man would want you.” He held up a hand. “That doesn’t mean a sane man will act on it. You’re in no danger from me.”

  Brianna already knew that, and the assurance was no longer necessary.

  “That big fellow—well, he had his eye on you. To him, at least, you’re the main attraction. Daphne will be a bonus. She’s worth a lot of money in certain circles.”

  “Down in Mexico?”

  His mouth twisted in a ghost of a smile. “Mexico doesn’t have a corner on evil, Shamrock. There are men everywhere who have a sick liking for little girls. Only a few, mind you.”

  Brianna shivered even in the heavy jacket. She cared about what might happen to herself, of course, but her main concern was still Daphne’s safety. “Wha
t—what’ll we do?”

  “If there’s trouble, you won’t have time to reach a horse. I’ll keep their attention on me. I want you to stay out of my line of fire, grab Daphne, and run like hell. Go as far as you can. When you get tired, slow to a walk, but keep going until your legs give out. Carry her if you must. Unless they’re good trackers, they won’t find you. The grasslands will help hide your footprints. Come sunup, head north. Eventually you’ll come to a railroad track.” From his trouser pocket, he drew the wad of money she’d been so impressed by that first night. “There’s plenty here for train fare and food when you reach a town.” He tucked the cash into her hand. “Once you reach Denver, find the sheriff and tell him you’re Ace Keegan’s sister-in-law. He’ll help you contact him.”

  “Ace Keegan?” Brianna’s mind tripped on the surname. “The Ace Keegan?”

  “He’s a fine man. You can trust him.”

  “Papa!”

  The child’s cry, laced with urgency, brought Brianna spinning around. David caught her arm and held her back. “Stay here. If there’s trouble, I’ll send her to you.”

  David took off for camp, only a stone’s throw away. Brianna stepped out from behind the scraggly tree and boulder, searching for her daughter. What she saw nearly made her heart stop. Those men had ridden into camp, and their horses were hemming Daphne in at the fire. David drew to a halt on the opposite side of the flames, spread his feet, and flipped back his duster, his hands hovering just above the butts of his revolvers.

  “Daphne, go to your mama,” he ordered.

  With a frightened yip, Daphne skirted the fire and came barreling toward the rock. When the child reached Brianna, they grabbed hands and turned to flee. The prairie, blanketed with the gray of twilight, stretched before Brianna like a yawning mouth. Run like hell, David had said. Clutching her skirt in one hand, she lurched forward, pulling Daphne behind her. Run. Don’t slow down.