Lacey had been mounting and dismounting her horse unaided for days now, but she couldn’t resist Sam’s boyish charm. She flushed slightly pink, and took his hand as she slid from her saddle.
Alec recovered from his dizziness and looked around. Ethan Oldfield had arrived too, slightly breathless and with a worried expression on his long face. His expression didn’t worry Alec much, it was normal for Ethan, who played the role of pessimist as Sam played the role of clown. Both men were intelligent and loyal, and Alec was glad that all three of his deputies had quit the army at the same time he had, and continued to work with him.
‘Ethan, take our horses,’ Alec ordered. In spite of the dizziness, his mind had already been working on the forthcoming fight with Alcott. ‘Miss Fry, please go into the bank over there and stay away from the door and windows.’
She looked at him anxiously. ‘Take care, Sheriff.’ When Alec nodded in reply, she hurried across the street.
Her words reminded Alec of something. He drew out his marshal’s badge and pinned it to the front of his coat.
‘You look pleased to be wearing that again,’ Karl said.
Alec smiled. ‘I am.’ He glanced around at his deputies. ‘I don’t want a firefight on the main street; let’s get ready to meet them as they come along the railroad.’
Sam grinned. ‘We sure want to be ready for our guests when they arrive.’
The lawmen headed between buildings back to the railroad that ran along beside the town, Ethan hurrying to catch the others after hitching the horses. Alec limped, but kept up with the others. After a quick look about, he headed along the tracks towards the station. The others followed, confident that he had something in mind.
‘Ethan, I want you over there.’ Alec gestured to a shack on the far side of the tracks. ‘Sam, at the ticket office. Karl and I will use this wagon as cover. I’ll let them see me, so they come in past the ticket office and we’ll be surrounding them.’
Ethan and Sam hurried off to their appointed places. Three men were waiting beside the ticket office and Alec sent Karl to move them, while he unhitched the heavy-legged horses from the empty buckboard wagon. He hurried them over to the group of men who were reluctantly leaving the ticket office.
‘We don’t want to miss the train,’ one of them was protesting. ‘It should be here any minute.’
‘We’ll hold it,’ Alec said firmly. He handed the horses’ reins to him. ‘Take them through to the main street; I don’t want them spooking or getting hurt when the shooting starts.’
This convinced the men more than Karl’s warnings had, and they hurried away. As the lawmen headed back to the wagon, Alec heard a new sound.
‘I think the train’s coming,’ he warned.
‘And Alcott too,’ replied Karl, who had looked the other way.
The piercing whistle of the loco sounded as it approached the station in a sudden rush of sound and steam. The lawmen sprinted for the buckboard, Alec’s injury forgotten in the tension. They scrambled aboard and climbed over into the back to use the seat as cover. Drawing his gun as he turned, Alec saw the loose group of four horsemen pounding along beside the tracks. As usual, the lanky figure of O’Leary, on his bay with its white face, was out in front.
‘Stand and fight, you gutless law-dog!’ O’Leary yelled, pulled his gun.
Alec stood up. ‘Surrender. All of you drop your guns!’ He bellowed in his best parade ground voice to be heard over the hissing and rumble of the train as it puffed to a halt alongside them, blowing off clouds of steam.
O’Leary let off a shot as he hauled his restless, blowing horse to a halt. It didn’t come anywhere near close enough to worry Alec.
‘Double on him,’ Alec said, loosing off a shot that purposely came close to O’Leary without hitting him. He shifted sideways and dropped lower as Karl popped up and fired off a shot in turn.
More shots began to crash from around the station. Behind O’Leary, Houston had come under fire from Sam. Alcott and Hannigan had crossed the tracks to the other side of the train, where they were hidden from Alec and Karl. Gunfire from that direction suggested that Ethan had challenged them. Swirls of smoke and steam, from the locomotive and gun barrels, curled in the air. The smells of gunpowder, hot oil and metal were sharp in Alec’s nose, after so many days out in the clear air of the mountains. O’Leary’s horse whinnied as he fought it with legs and reins, to keep it facing the lawmen in the wagon.
He fired back, bellowing in frustration as the two lawmen took it in turns to take shots at him. O’Leary fired back frantically, his gun weaving around as his horse pranced beneath him. Alec fired, changed position as Karl fired, and fired again. One of O’Leary’s shots hit the rear of the wagon seat, a few inches from where it covered him, making his pulse spike. Alec’s mind stayed calm, in spite of the adrenaline running through him. He knew what he was doing and that the odds of O’Leary hitting either of them were small.
Then O’Leary pulled the trigger and nothing happened: he’d emptied his gun. It was the moment Alec had planned for. Both lawmen rose, aiming straight at the outlaw.
‘Surrender!’ Alec shouted. ‘Drop your gun.’
O’Leary screamed and hurled his revolver in Alec’s direction. Alec stayed dead still, as it flew past, a couple of feet from his left shoulder. As soon as it left his hand, O’Leary was bending in his saddle. He grabbed his rifle and began to haul it from its scabbard. Alec and Karl fired simultaneously and this time, neither man missed. O’Leary rocked in his saddle, dropping his hold of the rifle, and toppled sideways. He hit the ground, one foot still tangled in the stirrup. His bay bucked a couple of times, hoofs coming down onto the limp body, then it stood still, snorting. O’Leary hung from the stirrup, anchoring the anxious horse in place.
Alec and Karl scrambled down from the buckboard. A quick glance showed Alec that Houston was also on the ground, near the front wheels of the locomotive, Sam standing over him.
‘What did you do to annoy him so bad?’ Karl asked, indicating O’Leary as they cautiously approached the horse, guns still in hand.
‘Stopped him from having his fun with Miss Fry, for one thing,’ Alec replied. ‘I think he had just one oar in the water though.’
Karl’s reply was interrupted by a shout from the cab of the locomotive.
‘Lawson, you two-faced skunk! Drop your gun!’
Alcott had hold of the driver, his revolver pressed against the man’s head. The engineer was just visible behind them, his face fraught with helplessness. Alec halted, mentally cursing Alcott. He took a long breath.
‘You can’t get away,’ he replied. ‘Let the man go now.’
Alcott shook his head fiercely. ‘I’m having this out with you now, Lawson. You killed Jacob, you killed Chuck, dammit. You’re gonna pay for it. Both of you, drop your goddam guns now!’
From the corner of his eye, Alec saw Sam moving. He was crossing the tracks and going out of sight behind the locomotive. Alcott hadn’t seen him, and so long as he kept looking at Alec, Sam could get around behind him without being noticed. Ethan was already there, though Alec didn’t know if he’d been hurt in the shooting. It was Sam who had the best chance of bringing Alcott down though, for he had an uncanny knack with firearms. Alec had trusted his life to Sam’s gun skills before, and was prepared to do so again. He just had to keep Alcott occupied while Sam got into position.
‘I didn’t mean for Jacob to die,’ Alec said, fixing Alcott’s gaze with his own.
‘I don’t damn well care!’ Alcott’s hand twitched and the driver gasped, his face drawn in fear. ‘Don’t make me tell you again, drop your guns, both of you.’
Karl bent and gently tossed his to land a few feet in front. Alec slowly followed suit, never taking his gaze from Alcott. The outlaw was on a knife edge, liable to act at any moment, and although his gun wasn’t pointed at Alec, the sheriff felt horribly vulnerable. As he released his gun, he took a deep breath.
‘It doesn’t have to be like this,�
� he said, wondering whereabouts Sam was. ‘You canna get away, Alcott, so why make it harder on yourself?’
‘What have I got to lose?’ Alcott hissed. Sweat was rolling down his face. ‘Most likely I’ll die, but I’ll see you dead first.’
Alec’s heart was pounding in his chest. He didn’t know where Sam was, didn’t know if he’d got a clear shot at Alcott. He did know that Sam wouldn’t dare shoot while Alcott had his gun pressed to the driver’s head, with the hammer cocked. He had to take the chance. Slowly, Alec raised his empty hands level with his shoulders.
‘Go ahead then,’ he said. ‘Shoot me.’
Alcott’s eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed as he focused. Alec saw the small movements, and as Alcott’s hand moved, he was throwing himself sideways. A gun crashed, and for a few seconds Alec didn’t know who’d fired. He landed, rolled and ended on his stomach, straining to see inside the cab. His leg hurt, but after the first moments, he knew it was the wound he’d already taken.
‘Great shot,’ Karl yelled.
The driver was standing by himself, gasping and shuddering. The sprawled form of Bill Alcott lay across the footplate, his head and one arm dangling over the edge. Blood dripped from his hair to the ground.
‘It weren’t so hard,’ came Sam’s drawl from the other side. ‘Any crack shot could have done it.’
‘Luckily for us, you managed it too,’ Karl replied drily.
Alec grinned, happy to hear his deputies in their usual form. He tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness struck and he ended up sitting, his head bowed as his vision dimmed.
‘Hey, careful there, Alec.’
He felt Karl beside him, supporting him as the greyness passed.
‘I’m all right,’ Alec insisted unconvincingly. He made no protest as Karl carefully helped him to stand.
‘Hannigan?’ Alec made the effort to call the question towards the locomotive.
‘Down and done,’ came back Ethan’s reassuring answer from the other side. ‘Alcott slipped aboard while I was busy with Hannigan.’
‘Good.’ Alec’s voice faded as he swayed against Karl.
‘Let’s get you somewhere you can lie down,’ Karl said. ‘Sam and Ethan can take care of things here. You need to get that leg seen to before you bleed out, you stubborn, Scottish fool.’
‘I’ve missed you, too,’ Alec said sincerely.
‘Alec? You have visitors.’ Karl pushed open the door between the office at the front of the building, and the lawmen’s quarters at the rear.
Alec placed the leather bookmark in the copy of Treasure Island he was reading and put the book on the small table beside his armchair. He’d spent the last two days in bed, which would normally have bored him, but he’d slept much of the time. He’d certainly appreciated the comfort of a mattress, a feather pillow, walls and a roof. There had also been the quiet nursing of Mrs Andersen, the comfortable middle-aged Swedish widow who had been taken on as housekeeper during the winter. Getting a housekeeper had been Alec’s idea, and although they had been used to looking after themselves in the Army, it was good not to have to worry about cleaning, mending and laundry after a long day. Mrs Andersen had brought Alec tasty soup for his meals in bed and gently mothered him as he recovered. Lacey’s aunt and uncle had paid a brief visit the day after his return home. They had thanked him profusely for taking care of their niece, and left a bottle of excellent Scotch in gratitude. Lacey and the dun horse returned with them to Leadville.
Now he was well enough to get dressed and come downstairs to sit in his wing-backed armchair. Alec’s face lit up in a smile as he saw his visitors and he started to get to his feet.
‘Oh, no, Sheriff. I’m sure you mustn’t stand up,’ Mrs Brown said firmly.
Alec gave in, not too reluctantly, and gestured to the other chairs. ‘Please, come and join me. It’s good to see ye, Mrs Brown, Lily.’
The two women joined him, but Alec’s attention was almost entirely on the younger woman, Lily. The young, Chinese woman wore plain, unsophisticated clothes of muted colours, her black hair concealed beneath her bonnet. To Alec, the ordinary outfit made her delicate face, with the black, almond eyes, even more exotic and lovely. She smiled as she approached, and sat on one side of him, with Mrs Brown settling herself on the other.
‘We’re glad to have you back in town again, Sheriff,’ Mrs Brown said. ‘The Reverend Brown has been saying prayers for you in church.’
‘I have been praying for you too,’ Lily added, her voice soft. She spoke carefully, making the effort to articulate her words clearly, though she retained an accent.
‘Thank you both,’ Alec answered, smiling at each woman in turn.
Karl had returned to the offices, leaving the three alone.
‘How are you?’ Mrs Brown asked, looking at Alec’s leg.
There was a bandage under his trousers, but luckily the wound had not got infected.
‘I’m recovering well, thank you,’ Alec replied. ‘I’ll not be very active for a while yet, but I should be walking around fine in a few days or so. How have you been getting on since I last saw you?’ he asked Lily.
‘I have been sewing,’ she replied. ‘I like sewing.’
‘Lily is a natural with a needle,’ Mrs Brown said. ‘She keeps house quite nicely now, though she lacks experience of course. But she’s a very neat sewer. I’m hoping she can get work sewing, or helping in a dry goods shop, later in the year.’
Alec let Mrs Brown do most of the talking: he was always happy to hear of Lily’s new accomplishments. After the weeks with the outlaws, and the last few days riding through the mountains with Lacey, it was wonderful to be at home, quiet and relaxed for a little while. He was content just to sit and smile at Lily.
Settling back in his chair after the women left, Alec realized he was more tired than he’d thought. He needed to rest and recover for a while, but in a couple of days, he’d be strong enough for a short walk. He’d certainly be able to walk as far as the Browns’ house, to call upon them, and Lily. This evening he would talk with Karl and the others about the work they were doing now, and what had happened during his time away, but for now. . . . Resting his head against the high back of his chair, Alec closed his eyes and began to doze.
Outlaw Express Page 12
