“Pardon?” Doc asked with surprisingly convincing ignorance written upon his face.
Leaning forward, she whispered, “I thought I heard you say something about wanted men. There was some sort of shooting outside of Deadwood last night, you know.”
Doc recoiled a bit and placed a hand to his heart. “Dear Lord. Are you joking?”
While Caleb shot a warning glance to Doc, it seemed that the dramatics weren’t being laid on thick enough to do any damage just yet.
The woman nodded at Doc and said, “I heard it just this morning. Someone broke out of jail and was chased from Deadwood by a whole posse of armed men.”
Caleb felt the bottom of his stomach drop as a chill went up his back that had nothing to do with the weather.
Doc scowled a bit and asked, “Do you think they caught those men?”
She scowled as well before shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know, but there was an awfully big ruckus outside of Deadwood and I think those wanted men got away.” After she’d said that, the woman turned away from Doc and took a hard look at the gun hanging from Caleb’s hip.
“Well,” Doc said quickly, “it’s a good thing we’re careful when traveling.”
“Yes,” she said slowly. “I suppose it is.”
Before the silence could get much thicker, Doc pulled in a breath and let it out with a series of convulsive coughs. He dabbed at his mouth with his handkerchief, picked up his coffee, and sipped the murky brew.
“Thanks for the breakfast,” Caleb said. “How much do we owe you?”
The change in the woman’s face was subtle but noticeable. Instead of eyeing Caleb suspiciously, she now seemed slightly ashamed for wanting to put some distance between herself and the pale, wheezing man in front of her.
“A dollar for the both of you seeing as how you’re guests,” she said quickly. “I’ll add it to your bill.”
Despite the fact that Doc eased up on his cough once his audience was gone, it was obviously still a chore for him to draw an unimpeded breath. “You see?” he said with a smirk. “The rumors are already flying. If anyone with any real authority knew for certain who we were, they would have spread our names far and wide by now.”
“She’s one lady who serves biscuits in a tent, Doc. Don’t get too proud of yourself just yet.”
“This is also one of the closest settlements to Deadwood,” Doc pointed out. “This should be the first place any pursuers would look.”
“True, but I still don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.” When he took a bite of his biscuits, Caleb found his spirits brightening. He dug his fork into another piece, sopped up some of the thick gravy, and then smiled as he chewed it up. “I think these biscuits made everything else worth the trouble.”
“That and the gold.”
“Yeah. Whatever’s left of it.”
“We’ve got enough to travel on,” Doc said. “And enough to get us both rolling once we find a good game.”
“That game had better be far away from the Black Hills.”
Doc scowled and shook his head. “Why, Caleb, I thought you’d be the last person frightened by a bit of bluster and wild gunfire.”
“Not frightened,” Caleb said simply. “Just practicing what you preach. I don’t think Bullock is a man to be trifled with and I sure as hell don’t think he’s happy about me leaving his jail so far ahead of schedule.”
The scowl on Doc’s face shifted a bit. Some folks might have mistaken the look as something more sinister, but Caleb knew he was being watched like a hawk for a reason that should be revealed when Doc opened his mouth next.
“And what,” Doc asked carefully, “would you do if Bullock did come after you? I doubt you’d get such civil treatment as before.”
Caleb didn’t think too long about that one. “I’d gun him down where he stood,” he replied before taking another bite of his breakfast. He barely got through chewing those biscuits before cracking a smile. “Hell, I don’t know what I’d do. For a moment, you really looked like you believed I was cold enough to kill him.”
A wide grin appeared on Doc’s face that shaved ten years off of his haggard facade. “Just checking to see if you’ve changed very much since we left Texas. I’ve heard some stories about what you do when you’re on your own and not all of them are complimentary.”
“You’re the last man to knock someone for having rumors circulating about them, Doc. From what I’ve heard about you, I’m lucky to be alive after being in the same room with you for more than an hour.”
“You are lucky,” Doc said as he tapped the table. “After what you stirred up in Deadwood, I should be rid of you right here and now.”
“I’d say I pulled my weight more than enough to earn back some of what Rudabaugh stole from me. Nothing too unreasonable. Just enough to get me started again once we get away from here.”
“Reasonable, huh?” Doc muttered. “I would have thought you’d forgotten the meaning of that word right before you let me charge up to that posse with guns blazing like a damned madman.”
Caleb chuckled and shook his head as he kept shoveling more biscuits and gravy into his mouth.
Taking the pouch from his pocket, Doc tossed it to Caleb. “How’s that for reasonable?”
Keeping his fork in one hand, Caleb picked up the pouch and hefted it for a second. “It’s light,” he said.
Doc nodded. “I already split it up. Take a look and if you disagree with my division . . .”
“Nah,” Caleb replied as he tucked the pouch into a jacket pocket. “Feels about right since you already split it up.”
“Good. Now I was thinking we could surely throw anyone off our tracks if we head west. We may skirt past Deadwood again, but I doubt Bullock will be looking for us in that neck of the woods.”
“You really are crazy,” Caleb grumbled.
“Not crazy, but not afraid of someone pretending to be a sheriff and a few prospectors who decide to play at being a posse.”
“And you think I am afraid of them?”
“I don’t know,” Doc said evenly. “Why don’t you tell me?”
What followed was a few tense moments that might have gone unnoticed until one of the two partners decided to take a shot at the other. Caleb’s gaze became as cold as the air that ripped through the tent, while Doc stared back at him as if daring Caleb to make a move.
Finally, Caleb asked, “What about Rudabaugh? After the way he slapped you around, I’d think you wouldn’t be so quick to step where he might be watching.”
Where some men might have gladly jumped at the invitation to take a swing at Caleb, Doc grinned. “He’s made his play,” Doc replied. “He meant to get us killed and he failed. As for the rest of it . . . you’re right. He did manage to catch me at a disadvantage. You can be certain it won’t happen again. By the way,” he added, “I may have done some overstepping of my own. Of all the things someone could call you, a coward isn’t one of them.”
Caleb accepted the apology with a nod and then went back to the posture he’d had before things had gotten tense. “You think Alice is being held somewhere?”
“That was just a way to get me to jump,” Doc admitted. “I’m ashamed at how well it worked. If he really did have Alice, he wouldn’t have bothered having his man tip off Bullock. Dave’s probably scampered back to Texas by now, but we can check on Alice when we pass through.”
“I’m through running in circles around here,” Caleb said as he waved his fork in the air to illustrate his point amid a few threads of loose gravy. “I say we steer clear of the Dakotas and head back to somewhere we had some better luck.”
“It’s not as if the rest of the continent knows what goes on in mining camps and every saloon. We need to go where the money is and that’s west.”
“That’s a gambler talking. I’d say the only sort of gambler I’ve proven myself to be is one who’ll starve to death without a penny to his name.”
Doc fought to hold back a smirk at
his partner’s expense. “There’s always medical school.”
Shaking his head, Caleb did his best to keep from laughing at Doc’s jab. He held out for about two seconds. Before too long, his eye was drawn to the tailored vest beneath Doc’s coat. More specifically, he caught sight of the diamond stickpin that was the one constant piece of finery he wore. “Your father gave that to you, didn’t he?” Caleb asked.
Doc’s hand reflexively went to the stickpin as if he was guarding it from attack. “That’s right. He gave it to me before I left home. You know that.”
“When’s the last time you saw your family?”
All of the humor drained from Doc’s face, leaving him more like a ghost than the jovial man he’d been moments ago. “What business is that of yours?”
“You suggested we go visit your aunt,” Caleb replied as he raised his hands. “All I’m saying is that you do that rather than head off to gamble some more. The cards will still be there when you’re feeling better.”
Doc sat motionless for a few seconds, but then he blinked and nodded. After pouring some more coffee from the kettle left in the middle of the table, he added a splash of whiskey and said, “Perhaps I will, perhaps I won’t. What about your family?”
“They’re in Texas. I have an uncle who’s not far from Dallas.”
“And when’s the last time you checked in on them?”
“It’s been a while,” Caleb replied.
“Then why don’t you bring your whole life to a halt so you can go swap childhood remembrances? Some of us don’t have that kind of time to pass around.”
“And you’ll have even less if you keep things up the way you have.”
Doc shook his head and drank half of his coffee in one sip. Gritting his teeth as the whiskey worked its way through his system, he said, “You’re my partner, Caleb. Not my nurse-maid. If you insist on being the latter, I’ll just have to dismiss you from service. I’d prefer someone who fills out a nurse-maid’s dress a hell of a lot better than you, anyway.”
“Point taken.” Caleb sighed. “Just trying to—”
Before Caleb could finish that sentence, the sound of hooves thumping against the frozen ground rumbled through the air. Thanks to the canvas walls of the tent, the sounds of horses and their riders could be heard as clearly as if they were galloping straight up to Caleb’s table.
“Take a look inside each of those tents,” one of the men outside said. “We’ll be right here if you flush one of them out.”
Caleb jumped to his feet. “Aww, hell. Is that Bullock?”
Doc grinned and replied, “Maybe paying a visit to the family isn’t such a bad idea, after all.”
15
The woman who’d served them breakfast was heading toward the table when Doc and Caleb bolted past her. She started to ask them where they were going, but didn’t get the chance before they were gone. When she looked at the table where they’d been sitting, she saw some money lying there beneath the plate of mostly eaten biscuits. Since there was enough money to cover the price of what they’d ordered, she shrugged and walked outside to see what all the commotion was about.
Caleb led the way through the little room that serviced as a kitchen. Sure enough, there was a flap next to a pile of crates that was held up by a hook. “You don’t think they got a good look at you, huh?” Caleb asked.
After checking to make sure his guns were fully loaded, Doc nodded. “I think there’s a good chance that—”
“Fine. See if you’ve got enough steam to get the horses before we’re caught.”
“A challenge?”
“Sure.”
“Perfect.” Doc stepped through the flap, but paused before going too far. “Care to make it interesting?”
“What?”
“If I make it back with the horses without stirring up too much of a fuss, I win your portion of the gold.”
Caleb could hear footsteps drawing closer. In fact, the longer he listened, the more it seemed the footsteps were closing in on him from all sides. “Jesus, you truly are crazy.”
Waving his hand impatiently, Doc said, “I’m Georgia born, Caleb. I thrive in the heat.”
“Fine, fine. It’s a bet.”
Doc nodded and started to walk away. This time, he was stopped when Caleb reached out to grab his elbow.
“Wait,” Caleb snapped. “What if I win?”
“If you win, I think we’ll have bigger problems than this wager.”
“It’s not a wager if I’ve got nothing to win.”
Shaking his head in a mix of admiration and disbelief, Doc said, “If I draw too much attention, you can have all the gold and I won’t ask about it again.”
“Deal,” Caleb said with a grin.
As he hurried away from the restaurant, Doc grumbled, “And he says I’m the crazy one!”
Caleb listened carefully for what was going on around the other side of the tent. The horses weren’t moving. The men weren’t talking. Everything was fairly quiet. That was more than enough to get Caleb worried.
As soon as he heard the woman in the restaurant greeting her new guests, Caleb knew it was time to get moving.
“Good day, Mr. Bullock,” she said. “What brings you out here?”
“Looking for some men who might be dangerous,” Bullock replied. “I don’t suppose you’ve . . .”
Caleb didn’t stick around to hear any more. Instead, he left through the flap and made his way toward the back of the neighboring trading post. Doc was nowhere to be found, which wasn’t too big of a surprise since the horses were kept in another tent.
Silently cursing every crunch made by his boots against the frozen ground, Caleb kept moving until he spotted someone else poking around the back of the trading post. The other man was leaning forward and trying to get a look through a rip in the canvas wall of what had been Doc’s room. His back was to Caleb, making him unable to turn around fast enough to stop what was about to happen.
One of Caleb’s hands clamped over the man’s mouth and the other hand reached around to pluck the gun from the man’s holster. In one powerful movement, Caleb pulled the man away from the side of the tent and spun him around. When he got a look at the man’s face, Caleb was too surprised to keep quiet.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Caleb snarled.
Since he couldn’t speak at the moment, Brad delivered an elbow to Caleb’s ribs that loosened his grip on him. “Dave still wants his gold, asshole,” Brad grunted.
“You’re riding with Bullock?”
“I don’t explain myself to dead men.” With that, Brad reached across his belly to draw the knife that hung from his belt. He pulled it from its sheath and slashed at Caleb’s face in one quick motion.
Caleb batted the knife away and snapped a quick punch into Brad’s gut, then pulled back his arm and sent his fist forward a second time. “Tell Rudabaugh his chickenshit trap didn’t work,” Caleb said as he ducked beneath another quick slash from Brad’s knife. When he came up again, Caleb lifted his knee to slam it into the other man’s gut.
All those blows were more than enough to rob Brad of his breath. He staggered back while swiping at the air with his knife.
“I’ll bet Bullock would love to know you ride with the likes of Rudabaugh,” Caleb said.
Despite the effort it took to fill his lungs, Brad hacked up a laugh and smiled. “Why don’t you tell him yourself? He’s dying to get his hands on you.”
“What’s going on back there?” Bullock shouted from somewhere nearby. “Did you find someone?”
Caleb watched Brad closely. He wondered if the outlaw was going to risk continuing the fight or gamble with whatever partnership had been struck with Bullock. Caleb got his answer even quicker than he’d expected.
“I found him!” Brad shouted. “He’s right back here!”
Caleb thought about shooting Brad right then and there. He also thought about how quickly the sound of a gunshot would bring Bullock to the spot where Caleb w
as standing and how bad it would look to have killed a man when he was already wanted on suspicion of murder. Whether Bullock knew about Brad’s ties to Rudabaugh or not, shooting a member of a posse never worked to a man’s favor.
All of that flashed through Caleb’s mind in the time it took for him to draw his gun and slam the pistol across Brad’s face. Before Brad could drop to the ground, Caleb was running around the back of the trading post.
As he rounded the corner of the larger tent, Caleb heard more horses coming around to cut him off. He swore under his breath and tightened his grip on his gun, hoping he would be given more choices than shooting Bullock or catching a few bullets for himself.
Waving to Caleb as he rode into Caleb’s sight, Doc said, “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
Caleb didn’t let out the breath he’d been holding until he saw that Doc was holding on to the reins of two horses as opposed to just his own. Scrambling into his saddle, Caleb wheezed, “We need to get the hell out of here.”
“Is that Brad?”
“Yeah, I’ll explain later,” Caleb snapped. The next thing he snapped was his reins as he dug his heels into his horse’s sides for good measure. The animal let out a whinny and bolted away from the settlement.
Doc rode directly behind him and leaned forward while holding his hat in place with his free hand. Turning to look back at the camp, Doc calmly reported, “They’ve seen us.”
When Caleb took a look back for himself, he saw several horses clustered in front of the trading post. Already, the men riding those horses were motioning to one another and pointing toward Caleb and Doc.
Caleb needed to shout to be heard over the thunder of the horses’ hooves and the rush of blood through his own veins. “What the hell do we do now?”
“We can make a stand if you want,” Doc shouted back. “But even I was planning on living past today.”
“Then we run?”
“We’ve already got a head start on them and there’s plenty of trails winding through these hills.”
“Yeah, and Bullock probably knows all of them,” Caleb shouted.
The Accomplice: The Silent Partner Page 14
