How likely was it that a man born in the first quarter of the 1800s would walk away from everything he’d worked so hard toward. Especially when he and his partner were on the verge of success beyond anything they’d imagined? Not very. Despite his declarations to the contrary, he had no intention of relocating to the twenty-first century.
Daniel had tossed out his line, and now he believed all he had to do was reel her in with the promise of a good life for the little woman. She wanted to shake him awake and let him know she was on to him, but something held her back.
She hadn’t been any more honest with him about her intentions than he had with her. That left them back at square one, and she suspected the real conversation wouldn’t happen until the moment of truth was at hand.
16
Daniel took the handle on one end of the wooden box, and Charles took the other. They heaved it into the back of the wagon, which was hitched to the mules and ready to go. Instead of gold or silver ore, they’d filled the box with gravel—doing so after sunset the day before in case the thieves were spying on them. The decoy load had to appear as if it had weight to be believable.
“Danny, we need to head to the sawmill tomorrow. Our engineer will arrive within a month, and I’ve been thinking. He’ll need a place to live. We’ll start building a bunkhouse with separate quarters for the engineer and the foreman.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Daniel said as he pushed the heavy box up flush with the back of the buckboard. Then he clambered over the seat to take his place at the reins.
Charles hopped off the back of the wagon and strode to the front. “What am I doing?” he asked as he climbed aboard.
“You’re trying to keep your mind occupied with anything other than what is going to happen twenty minutes from now.” Daniel blew out a breath. “I swear my heart is pounding so hard the sound is echoing inside my poor head. My hands are icicles, and my brow is beaded with sweat.” He glanced at his partner. “And not from exertion, it’s the the cold, clammy kind.”
“I know what you mean.” Charles grunted. “My mouth has gone as dry as the dust on my boots, yet I keep swallowing over and over. Everything in me is screaming do not enter the ravine. I’m just praying I don’t lose control over my bladder.”
“No one will think poorly of you if you do. Very likely we’ll both need a change of trousers before the morning is through.”
Charles started to rise. “We should bring—”
“Sit down, Charles. Let’s just concentrate on breathing and get this over with.”
Charles sat back down. “What if—”
“Don’t start.” Daniel released the brake and started the mules moving. Worrying about what could go wrong had kept him up all night. “Tell me again about the hydraulic mining method your uncle’s letter described.” Up until now, they’d used pickaxes and a sluice box to separate the gold from the quartz gravel they’d laboriously extracted. Hydraulic mining was said to be safer and much more efficient. “We do have a river running through our claim.”
“A river you say? It’s more like a spring-fed creek, enough for our wee sluicing operation, but that’s about all.”
“Fine. We’ll compromise and call it a stream.” Daniel flashed Charles a wry look.
“Anyway,” Charles continued. “Other prospectors in the area won’t take kindly to our diverting or damming said stream. The crushing method will be more effective for our operation. Our gold is threaded through quartz, not lying about in gravel on the ground.”
He and Charles continued to discuss their plans, and way too soon the ravine came into view. Impending doom gripped Daniel, and his blood chilled in his veins. Not a bird sang or a cricket chirped. None of the winged insects dared to buzz. Daniel glanced upward toward the clear blue sky, and in that instant it seemed the entire world held its breath.
Somewhere in the rocks ahead, three men waited to brutally murder them. He prayed six men also hid, waiting to save their lives. “It’s going to be mighty difficult to feign carefree laughter,” he whispered.
“Aye. Hold on the signal until the wagon’s rear wheels are completely inside the ravine, and we’re near the center point.”
“You too.” Daniel glanced as his best friend.
“Of course me too,” Charles hissed.
Daniel drew in a long breath. “Look, we should be conversing normally, not whispering like a couple of old biddies passing along a juicy bit of gossip.”
“Right you are,” Charles said in a more normal tone. “As I was saying, the crushing method will work better for our operation, don’t you agree?” Charles asked.
“It makes no difference to me, so long as we manage to extract a fortune.” Daniel shifted nervously as they drew closer. Once the mules passed the entry point. Daniel could hardly breathe. “Say, why don’t we try that new hotel for lunch today. I hear the food is quite good.” His slightly raised voice bounced off the granite walls and came back to him.
“Can’t beat Prudence Klein’s desserts though,” Charles replied.
“Two stops then.” Half the wagon was now inside, and Daniel had to force himself not to reach for the gun at his waist. It would be so easy to just shoot the man who would soon appear at the other end. The outlaw’s rifle would be proof enough he’d intended to rob them.
“The hotel for lunch, and Klein’s Diner for pie.” The back of the wagon cleared the entrance. “Hell, we can afford two lunches and two desserts if we want,” Daniel declared.
He and Charles gave the signal, laughing loudly as if stopping at two places for lunch was the funniest thing ever to pass through Daniel’s lips. All the while he feared he might lose his breakfast at any moment. They continued to talk loudly enough for their voices to echo off the jutting rocks as the wagon approached the midpoint.
As expected, a figure appeared at the end of the ravine, a bandana covering the lower half of his face. He aimed a rifle their way. “Stop right there, boys,” he called out. “Slowly unbuckle your gun belts, and drop them to the ground.”
Gorge rose up Daniel’s throat as he engaged the brake. He and Charles did as they were told, and their gun belts landed on the ground, creating a dull thunk.
“Get down from there and keep your hands where I can see ’em. I’ll be taking the wagon from here,” the outlaw said as he slowly approached.
Keeping their eyes on the man with the gun, exactly as they had when they’d been murdered, he and Charles climbed down. The back of Daniel’s neck prickled and sweat dripped down his temples at the barely audible sound of footsteps coming from behind them. Where the hell were their men?
“Now,” Daniel shouted. He dove under the wagon, snatched his gun belt, and dragged it toward him. He drew his revolver, cocked the trigger and aimed it at the man holding the rifle.
“Hands up. We have you surrounded,” Sheriff Ramsey’s voice boomed through the ravine.
All hell broke loose then. Shots zinged through the air, the sound echoing off the walls. Daniel aimed carefully, pulled the trigger, and hit the rifleman in the knee. The mules brayed and tried to bolt, but the weight of the wagon held them.
Charles gasped and cried out. “I’ve been hit.”
“Where?” Daniel dragged himself through the dirt to get to Charles.
“My right side,” Charles bit out through gritted teeth.
One of the mules shrieked in terror. A loud CRACK echoed through the ravine, and the mules bolted, taking the wagon with them a several yards before breaking free. Blood spattered the ground as the pair tore off, dragging the wagon’s tongue behind them. “Damn,” Daniel hissed as he pressed his hands against the wound on Charles’s side, trying to slow the bleeding. They were fish in a barrel now—without cover as bullets continued to ricochet off the cliffs. He threw himself over his wounded friend and closed his eyes.
Everything went quiet. Daniel remained where he was, protecting Charles from further injury.
“We got all three,” the sheriff said
as he and Nathaniel lifted him from Charles. “Let me take a look at Hannigan here. I have some experience with gunshot wounds.”
Daniel’s hands were covered with sticky blood, and his entire body shook. His eyes stung as he watched Bill gently turn Charles to his back. Charles groaned, and his face was tight with pain and pale as milk.
“The bleeding is slowing, and I believe the bullet it lodged in muscle. Doesn’t appear as if vital organs were hit. If he hadn’t been on the ground, it might’ve gone on through.” the sheriff said. “Let’s get him to the doc in town. He’ll check him over and patch him up.”
His knees went weak with relief, and Daniel let go of the breath he’d been holding. He took off his shirt. “Here. You can tear this up and use the strips to bind the wound. How’re we supposed to get him to the doc with no horses. The hitch of our wagon broke free, and God only knows where the mules are or what shape they’re in. I know for sure one of them took a bullet.”
“Ben and Fred are out looking for the mules, and Anthony is on his way into Garretsville for help. Besides Charles here, we’ve got three corpses to haul to town.”
“Don’t … want to … ride in the same wagon as … the dead,” Charles eked out between gritted teeth.
“Can’t say as I blame you.” Bill used a knife to cut Daniel’s shirt into strips. “Help me sit him up, Dan. We’ll get him bandaged as best we can, and you and I will carry him to town if we have to.”
Daniel sank to the ground beside the man who’d been his best friend since the two of them were wee lads still in nappies. He couldn’t prevent a tear or two from sliding down his cheeks. Thank God he was sweating profusely enough to camouflage the drops running down his face. He propped Charles up to sitting and helped strip him to the waist. The sheriff folded a strip into a square and covered the oozing bullet hole in Charles’s side.
“Hold this in place,” he instructed Daniel. Then he wrapped the strips of cloth around Charles, splitting the last layer down the middle so he could tie it off.
“It’s over, Charles. It’s over and we’re both alive.”
“For now,” Charles grumbled.
A nervous laugh escaped as wave after wave of gratitude and relief flooded through Daniel. They’d done the impossible and changed their fates—thanks to Meredith, the woman he loved with all his heart.
“It’s been too long,” Meredith said as she began to pace around the cabin’s first floor. “Something must have gone wrong.” Her hands balled into fists and her stomach roiled. Had her journey through time been for nothing?
“Or …” Oliver lifted his gaze from the book he’d been reading. “They’re busy with details, like taking the criminals to town, going through wanted posters, tending the wounded, stuff like that. They’ll also be dealing with all the curious people in town who’ll want to know what happened.” He shrugged. “I never expected they’d return here immediately after the shooting stopped.”
“Shooting? Wounded?” She swallowed the bile rising up her throat. “You think there were shots fired? The posse had the three completely surrounded. They’d be fools to start a gun fight in a ravine. That would be like … like bullets in a pinball machine.”
“Hate to break it to you, Meredith, but this is the wild, wild West. Without a doubt gunshots were fired.” Oliver went back to his reading.
She headed for her bonnet. “I’m heading to town. I can’t stand this … not knowing.”
“Fine,” Oliver huffed. “I’ll go with you. Charles would skin me alive if I allowed you to walk into town alone.”
“Allowed me? Like I need anyone’s permission to do anything or go anywhere?” She tied the bonnet’s ribbons a little too tightly beneath her chin and had to undo them and start over.
“Again. I hate to break it to you, but this is 1854. Women can’t vote. Those who work outside the home have to turn their money over to their husbands. Women have very few rights in this century, and even fewer opportunities for economic advancement.”
He shook his head. “You might as well get used to the idea that you can’t just walk out the door, get in your car, and go off by yourself like you’re used to.” Oliver strode after her, grabbing his wide-brimmed hat from its peg. “Let’s go.”
True, but right now Daniel was all she could think about. She needed to know whether or not he’d survived. She followed Oliver out the door. The day was hot, and the yards of fabric covering her were a nuisance. Meredith unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse and rolled up her sleeves. “Shorts, a tank top, and sandals would be nice about now.”
“I’m sure, but you’d be wearing less than the whores in town.” Oliver’s brow creased as if considering the prostitutes. “Come to think of it, I might have to do a little experiential research and—”
“Catch a sexually transmitted disease while you’re here?” she finished for him. “Charles and Daniel would skin me alive if I allowed you to visit one of the bawdy houses.”
Oliver laughed. “Yeah, I suppose they would. You do realize how exceptional those two are in this time and place, don’t you?”
“I do.” Her heart swelled. Daniel’s moral compass always pointed true, and so did his friend’s. “They have a plan, and they don’t intend to allow vices to distract them from their path.”
“Exactly.”
They continued on in silence until they reached the ravine. The area was empty except for the wagon that belonged to Charles and Daniel. Her hands went clammy as they approached. Meredith studied the wagon and found the front part where the mules would’ve been harnessed was gone, and only the ragged beam where the wood had broken from the metal remained.
“Oh shit. This is not good,” Oliver said.
Meredith whipped around. Oliver had his hand on the side of the wagon. He was leaning over and studying the ground beneath. “What is it?” A shiver slid down her spine, and she knew what Oliver was about to say. She just knew.
“A lot of blood.” Oliver straightened. His eyes took on a haunted look. “Daniel and Charles were going to dive under the wagon once they were held up. That was the plan,” he said, his voice a rasp.
“Oh God.” Meredith wrapped her arms around herself as she began to tremble. “Oh God.” Worst case scenarios played through her mind, and as hot as the day was, icy dread chilled her to the bone.
“Let’s keep going,” Oliver said. “We’ll find Sheriff Ramsey. He’ll know where Dan and Charles are.”
Nodding, she joined him and they continued on toward Garretsville. Her vision blurred with tears, and she stumbled over a protruding stone. Oliver caught her before she fell, and he continued to hold her arm as they went on in silence.
They were almost to Garretsville when they were met by a wagon hitched to a horse heading their way. Meredith cried out. Daniel sat beside Fred Klein, who held the reins. She broke free of Oliver and ran toward Daniel as he climbed down. The came together like opposite poles on two magnets.
“I was so worried,” she cried. “We saw blood on the ground, and I … I was so afraid,” she said, as a sob broke free. She drew back studied him, looking for signs of injury.
“I know. I know, love.” Daniel drew her back into his arms and held her, catching the tears on her cheeks with kisses. “I’m fine,” he murmured, rocking her back and forth as she cried on his shoulder.
“Charles was wounded, but the doc says he’ll recover all right so long as we keep an eye on the wound to make sure it doesn’t fester.
Frederick cleared his throat. “So the rumors about the two of you are true,” he said.
“Aye, the rumors are true,” Daniel confirmed. He released her and stared deeply into her eyes. Cradling her face between his hands, he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
“Gonna be a wedding soon?” Frederick asked. “Prudence and I love weddings, and it would be a fine way to celebrate catching those thieving murderers.”
“That is my hope and my dearest wish,” Daniel said, his gaze still b
oring into her.
“My Prudence will bake you two a fine wedding cake, and we can scare up a few musicians for a dance,” Fred continued. “Seeing you wed will make my wife happy. Don’t know why exactly, but she’s always had a soft spot for you and Charles.”
Maybe on some level Prudence sensed that Frederick’s life had been saved from a horrible fate today, and Daniel and Charles were responsible. She hoped the couple would have many more years together. Meredith placed her hands on Daniel’s chest. “Where is Charles?”
“He’s in the back of the wagon. Doc gave him laudanum to keep him asleep and out of pain during the ride home.” He took her by the hand and led her to the wagon. “Come on, Oliver. You can sit on the buckboard with Mr. Klein. Meredith and I will ride in back with Charles. Let’s go home.”
“Where are the mules?” Oliver asked as he took his place on the buckboard.
“They’re stabled at the livery in town. Lucy took a stray bullet, and the livery owner knows quite a bit about doctoring animals. He’s tending to her.”
Daniel helped her get settled before he sank down beside her and took her hand in his. “I left both mules there for the time being. They don’t like to be separated, and Lucy will heal better if Harriet is nearby.”
Oliver snorted. “You named one of your mules Harriet?”
“Not that it makes any difference, but they’d already been named when we acquired the pair.” Daniel leaned back against the side of the wagon and closed his eyes. “Lord, I’m spent.”
“Stress will do that.” Meredith sniffed and swiped at her eyes, glancing at Charles’s prone, sleeping form. “I don’t suppose you have a handkerchief. I can’t seem to stop these tears.”
“I’m sorry, Meredith. I didn’t think to put one in my pocket this morning.”
“Here you go, Miss MacCarthy,” Frederick said. He handed her a neatly folded square of cotton.
“Thank you, and please call me Meredith.” I know your great-great-granddaughter. She longed to tell him, but couldn’t. She accepted the handkerchief, wiped her eyes and blew her nose, but still the tears kept coming. All the pent up fear and worry must be seeping out of her in a single deluge.
Summoned in Time: A magical, ghostly, time travel romance... (The MacCarthy Sisters Book 3) Page 22
