Outlaw Express

by Gillian F. Taylor

  ‘I reckon we can jump across here,’ he said. ‘I’ll go first, and remember. . . .’

  ‘Jump exactly where you do,’ Lacey finished, smiling for the first time in hours.

  Alec grinned back at her. Studying the river for a few moments, and making sure his horse was alert and paying attention to him, he circled away at a jog. As he turned back, Alec pushed his horse into a lope, increasing speed to a gallop as they reached the last few strides. Moray stretched out in a great leap, the chilly water flashing by beneath them. For a few, glorious moments, Alec experienced the feeling of flying, poised lightly on his horse’s back. Moray landed on the far bank with a grunt, cantering on with a light-hearted buck of celebration that made Alec laugh. He slowed his horse and turned to watch Lacey and the dun approaching in turn.

  Lacey was concentrating grimly, but showed no hesitation as she pushed her horse on. It, too, leapt out boldly, keen to join its friend on the other side. Lacey grabbed the saddlehorn just as it took off and hung on, not keeping as well balanced as Alec had done, but staying safely in the deep saddle as the horse took her over. She lurched forward as they landed, but there was a smile on her face as she straightened up again.

  ‘Oh, that was . . . exhilarating!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Och, we’ll make a pretty wee horsewoman of ye yet,’ Alec promised. With a grin, he nudged his horse into a canter, challenging Lacey until she was laughing breathlessly with pleasure at the joy of the ride. When he slowed again, her good temper was recovered and they talked as they rode, and admired the scenery.

  It was a little past noon when Alec called a halt for lunch. The horses were tended to, with Lacey helping out more confidently, even borrowing the hoof pick to scrape out her horse’s hoofs under Alec’s tuition. Alec built a small fire to brew coffee and Lacey sweetened hers with a small piece of the candy, sipping it with pleasure as she ate sausage and bread. Once her initial hunger was satisfied, she began to look about at the wide river valley and surrounding hills.

  ‘Where are we going?’ she asked.

  ‘To my own town, Lucasville,’ Alec told her.

  Her round eyes widened. ‘Lucasville? Is that on the way to Leadville?’

  Alec shook his head. ‘Alcott will be expecting us to go to Leadville. With the head start they had of us, they can turn southwards and hit us on the way there. We go north-west, and in a couple o’ days we can reach Dronfield, and I can send a wire from there to my deputies, to let them know we’re alive and where we are. We can take the train from Dronfield to Lucasville an’ you’ll be safe there. Your uncle and aunt can come an’ fetch you. I’ll talk to my boss, the state marshal, and we’ll see about tracking down Alcott. He’s weaker now; if we can keep him on the run, we can wear him down and mebbe corner him.’

  ‘So, more sleeping outdoors on the ground?’ Lacey gave a resigned sigh.

  ‘Aye, but we’re on the home stretch now,’ Alec reassured her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The rest of the day’s journey passed uneventfully for Alec and Lacey. A lot more of the snow had melted here, but the ground was very wet and soft underfoot. Alec was pleased to see that the more generous feeds had improved the horses’ condition, and that their mounts were not so tired at the end of the day in spite of the poor going. They weren’t getting the amount of hard feed ideal for horses doing a full day’s work and staying outdoors in hard conditions, but he was being as generous as he could with the oats. When they made camp that evening, Alec was as careful as ever to groom all the sweat from their thick winter coats, but without grooming so much as to remove the natural oils from their skin, which protected them. Moray butted his head against Alec, who scratched his ears fondly in return.

  Lacey laughed gently. ‘I see why you chose the cavalry.’

  Alec smiled as he made his way back to the fire. ‘I figured it would save me a lot of walking. I didn’t reckon for all the mucking out and grooming, let alone keeping the horse’s tack clean, as well as my own equipment.’

  ‘You don’t mind it though, do you?’ Lacey asked shrewdly, pouring him a cup of strong, unsweetened coffee.

  Alec nodded thanks as he accepted the cup. ‘I remember we had an old garron on our croft, back in Scotland. A garron’s a pony,’ he added, at Lacey’s look of confusion. ‘She was a kind old beastie, an’ I used to feel like a king, perched on her back when she went about the croft to her work.’

  ‘You remember what Scotland was like?’ Lacey asked.

  ‘Aye. It was so different tae Chicago, where we settled, that all my memories of clean air, and green, growing things, and space, were kept separate. I’ve nothing but happy memories o’ that time.’ He looked out through the trees that surrounded the camp to the rolling lands beyond. ‘I always reckoned those memories are why I like Colorado so much. When I retire from law work, I aim to buy some land here and set up a horse ranch.’

  ‘You’re planning to quit working as a lawman?’ Lacey asked, surprised.

  ‘Not any time soon,’ Alec replied. ‘But it’s not a job a man can do for a lifetime.’ He stopped there, his eyes changing at the knowledge that he could be killed in pursuit of his job, and never have the chance to retire.

  Lacey saw his altered expression. ‘I see. I guess you might want to retire sooner if you got married, perhaps?’

  Alec had a sudden vision of Lily, with her straight, black hair and curious, black eyes, so exotic and beautiful. ‘Aye,’ he replied rather abruptly. ‘I guess I would.’ Draining his mug of coffee, he got to his feet and went to the saddle-bags. ‘We’d best be starting some supper,’ he said briskly.

  ‘All right,’ Lacey answered quietly.

  The next day, Alec took things at a steady pace. The horses weren’t the only ones feeling the effect of their long ride. Lacey had woken grumbling about being stiff and sore after spending the night on the ground again.

  ‘We’ll be in Dronfield tomorrow night,’ Alec promised her. ‘You can sleep in a bed there, an’ we’ll take the train tae Lucasville in the morning, if you want.’

  ‘What about the horses?’ Lacey asked, patting her dun’s neck. ‘How long would it take to ride to Lucasville?’

  ‘We could get there by noon, riding,’ Alec said. ‘Otherwise, there might be suitable space in a box car to take them by rail, or else they can stay in a stable in town overnight and one of my deputies can fetch them back the next day.’

  ‘I like this horse. Do you think I could keep him?’

  ‘He was Manny Houston’s horse. I guess he’s property of the state now, but I expect you could buy him from the state if you wanted him. He’s a kind horse and you’ve not done so bad with him,’ Alec added.

  ‘I’ll have to think of a name for him,’ Lacey said, smiling fondly at the horse.

  Her stiffness eased during the day, but towards evening it was plain that she was struggling. The long days in the saddle, often over difficult terrain, were taking a toll on her. Her youthful reserves of energy were running low, without the rest needed to replenish them. Lacey stubbornly made the effort to look after her horse when they made camp, but Alec had to encourage her to finish her supper, pointing out that she needed the energy. She turned in soon afterwards and was quickly asleep.

  The following morning, she allowed herself grumbles of complaint as she pulled herself out of her bedroll.

  ‘Feathers,’ she remarked decidedly. ‘I swear I’m sleeping on feather mattresses for the rest of my life. Even if it means becoming a bad woman,’ she added with a touch of defiance.

  Alec chuckled. ‘I’m not sure if the hotels in Dronfield have feathers in their mattresses; more likely to be straw, I reckon. But I’m sure they do have mattresses.’

  ‘So long as it’s a mattress,’ Lacey replied. ‘And I can stay in it for as long as I want.’

  Alec set an unhurried pace, concerned for Lacey. He knew that she liked riding, but he reminded himself that she was not only a sheltered Easterner, but a woman. He didn’t know
if the prolonged exercise of days of riding might harm her in any way, but he was feeling a little guilty over how much he’d been expecting her to do. She’d complained less than some of the recruits he’d trained, though, which Alec admired her for. The morning’s ride was a hard one, winding their way up a trail to a pass through a line of mountains. Though the horses were crunching through snow as they climbed, the sun was hot on their backs.

  At last, the trail reached its summit and Alec drew rein.

  ‘Congratulations,’ he said to Lacey, breathing deeply in the thin air. ‘You’ve reached the continental divide.’

  ‘Really?’ She looked out, shading her eyes with her hand. ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘Pretty much,’ he reassured her. ‘We’re near enough on my own territory here. I reckon Dronfield’s over that way.’ Alec pointed to the north-west.

  ‘Will we make it by this evening?’

  ‘All being well.’

  A bright smile blossomed on her face. ‘Than let’s go. I want a mattress tonight, remember?’

  ‘An’ I want my lunch. We’ll stop when we reach somewhere suitable.’

  Lacey laughed. ‘I guess stopping for lunch is all right.’

  Alec insisted that she sat and rested through lunch, while he tended to the horses alone. She didn’t argue, but fetched some firewood before sitting down. Alec didn’t hurry lunch, giving her time to recover from the morning’s ride. The rest, food and coffee had the right effect, and Lacey swung herself into her saddle afterwards without too much effort.

  She kept in determined good spirits for most of the afternoon, continuing to ask questions about the plants and animals they saw. She exclaimed over the beaver dams and lodges along the river, and was the first to spot a herd of mule deer, that bounded away in long hops. As delightful were the white corn lilies and the yellow glacier lilies that spangled the grass. By the later afternoon though, the golden light faded from the sky as heavy clouds swelled up. Lacey looked at the dark sky, and sucked in a long breath of suddenly cold air.

  ‘Is it going to snow?’ she asked.

  ‘Aye,’ Alec answered. ‘And soon.’ He thought for a few moments. ‘I’m not sure we can get to Dronfield before the snow sets in.’

  She stared at him disbelievingly for a moment. ‘But I want to sleep on a mattress tonight! Can we make it if we gallop?’

  Alec shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, lassie, that storm’s coming on fast. We can hustle but you don’t want to be riding when the snow arrives. If we’re mebbe a mile or so from Dronfield when it starts, we’ll ride on, but if I think we’re too far away, we’ll have to stop and make shelter for the night. There’ll be no time for arguing, unless you want to sleep cold tonight.’

  Lacey looked back at the thick clouds gathering, and gave an impatient sigh. ‘All right,’ she said tautly.

  ‘Good lass; come on, then.’ Alec nudged his horse forward into a steady lope.

  The door to the saloon opened, letting in Eli Hannigan and a whirl of snow. He shut the door quickly and brushed the snow from his hat and coat, adding to the dampness of the dirt-tracked floorboards. Ignoring a greeting from a saloon girl with a shawl wrapped around her bare shoulders, he joined his friends at a table close to the stove.

  ‘Are the horses all right?’ Alcott asked, pulling out a chair for him.

  Hannigan slung his coat onto the back of the chair. ‘Warmer than we are, I bet.’ He sat, and took the glass of whiskey that Houston pushed towards him. ‘No sign of Tur . . . Lawson, and if he ain’t made town by now, he ain’t coming today.’

  ‘What if he went to some other place, instead of this town?’ Houston asked.

  Alcott shook his head. ‘I asked at the railroad depot. If he’s following us, he’ll end up here, in Dronfield, same as we did. If he went up the Blue River and turned east, he’ll come by here, ’less he goes more north east and comes back down towards Narrow. But he’d then follow the railroad from Narrow down to here, to get back to Lucasville, so why bother? It’s quicker to come directly here, and this is his territory; he knows his way about.’ He drew deeply on his cigarette.

  Hannigan grinned evilly. ‘I sure hope he is camping out somewhere in this snow. Serves the Scots bastard right.’

  ‘He’s got that girl to keep him nice and warm,’ O’Leary said.

  ‘Yeah, she sure looked plump and ripe for the picking,’ Hannigan replied.

  ‘You reckon she’s giving as good as she gets, or just letting him get on with it?’ O’Leary wiggled in his seat to indicate what he meant.

  Hannigan laughed. ‘I like me a go-er,’ he said, smiling loosely.

  Alcott tuned out their conversation as it got lewder. He’d been able to ignore them in the past, because he’d had Chuck to talk to. A sudden wave of grief for Chuck struck him, and he took a deep breath, trying not to let it show. Alcott held himself very still until the pain eased up a little. He took a slug of whiskey, almost welcoming the harsh, cheap taste. It was poor whiskey because he didn’t want to spend money on anything better; there just hadn’t been much money from that last robbery. His grief and resentfulness found an easy target. It was all Lawson’s fault. It was Lawson’s fault that they were scraping by and it was Lawson’s fault that Chuck was dead. Alcott took another sharp swallow of whiskey, drew on his cigarette, and lapsed into a daydream about confronting the lawman and shooting him down.

  ‘Did you sleep all right?’ Alec asked Lacey as she untangled herself from her bedroll under the low shelter he’d contrived the night before.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ she answered, attempting to tuck stray corkscrews of chestnut hair behind her ears. ‘These tree shelters do keep you warm, though it seems a shame that you have to break the trees to make them. All the same,’ she added firmly. ‘I’m expecting to sleep in a house, with a proper bed tonight.’

  Alec chuckled. ‘I’ll do my best.’

  They took a leisurely breakfast, eating generous portions with the comfort of knowing their hard journey was almost over. As soon as Lacey finished her coffee, she began to hustle, gathering up the plates to clean them in the snow.

  ‘I’ll see to these and the bedrolls while you get the horses ready,’ she said briskly.

  Alec smiled and gave her a salute. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered crisply.

  She coloured slightly but smiled back as she stood up.

  Lacey had got practised at packing up the camp and they were soon mounted and on their way. The sun was already warm when they left, the horses crunching their way through the fresh snow.

  ‘How long till we reach the town?’ Lacey asked.

  ‘Och, it’ll not take an hour,’ Alec replied.

  She gave him a mock scowl. ‘I bet we could have made it last night if we’d hustled.’

  ‘You saw how hard it was snowing last night, time we got the supper cooking. You wouldn’t want to be riding in that for half an hour or so. An’ we wouldn’t be able to go faster than a walk in that weather,’ Alec said reasonably.

  Lacey glowered briefly, then dropped the act. ‘This town, Dronfield, what’s it like? Is it big, are there many stores, how old is it?’

  ‘Half of it’s a lot newer than the rest.’

  ‘Did it grow a lot suddenly?’

  Alec shook his head. ‘Not at all. Half of it was destroyed when two locomotives and two cars of explosives blew up there last fall.’

  Her eyes became circular. ‘Oh my gosh! Really? Did you see it? What happened?’

  Alec half-smiled at her amazement. ‘Aye, I was there. The blast knocked me clean off my feet, too.’

  Lacey listened, rapt, as he told her the story about a murderer he and his deputies had been chasing, and the train wreck the killer had caused.

  When they reached the edge of the small town, Alec pointed out the newer railroad tracks, laid over the filled-in crater.

  ‘I can see the difference in colour,’ Lacey agreed. ‘And the nearer buildings look pretty new, too.’

  Alec took out h
is pocket watch and looked at it. ‘If this is still keeping the right time, I reckon there’s another couple of hours or so until the next train’s due.’

  ‘There’ll be time to look around, and arrange things then?’ Lacey asked.

  ‘Aye, there’s no hurry.’

  The horses picked their way over the railroad tracks, and headed along the main street, leading away from the station. Lacey gazed about eagerly, letting her horse make its own way along the slushy street.

  ‘Oh, just look at that darling hat!’ she exclaimed, pointing to the window of a draper’s store.

  Alec reined in his horse. ‘Do you want to stop here an’ look in the window while I go on to the telegraph office? I’ll not be a few minutes, an’ once I’ve wired my deputies, we can see about the trains.’

  Lacey nodded happily, so they hitched their horses outside the draper’s and parted ways. Alec strode a few doors along to the telegraph office and waited in line for a couple of minutes, taking the time to think out the message he wanted to send. He also checked his pocket watch against the clock in the office and was pleased to see it was only a few minutes slow. He adjusted it and relaxed, knowing there was plenty of time before the next train to Lucasville.

  When it was his turn at the counter, it only took a minute or two for the message to be dictated, paid for and sent. Alec nodded his gratitude to the operator and left, feeling relieved at being able to get in touch with his friends at last. All he’d done was to notify them of where he was, that he had Lacey with him, and thought Alcott was in Leadville, but he knew his friends would be glad to know all was well. He’d had no contact with them for nearly a month, and worried about them, as he knew they’d be worrying about him.

  Leaving the office, thinking of his friends, Alec nearly bumped into someone outside on the sidewalk. Neatly stepping back half a pace, he was on the point of apologizing, when he realized it was Manny Houston he’d almost collided with. Houston was equally startled, but it was Alec who recovered first.