by Deeanne Gist
“When I left, Mr. Luke was holdin’ a gun on Frank, but Frank didn’t look none too worried. He just leaned back in his chair and tol’ me to come set you fellers free.”
Duane held out his hands. “Then, hop to it, gal.”
She scratched her thigh. “Well, I’m not so sure no more.”
“About what?” Blesinger growled.
“ ’Bout lettin’ you fellers go. Mr. Luke, he looked mighty sharp in his Ranger doodahs.”
Blesinger spit. “Now, isn’t that a typical female? Sees a fellow all spruced up and loses her head.”
“I ain’t, neither.”
He rattled the chains. “Then, get over here and let us loose.”
Georgie slowly lifted the gun, pointing it at the back of the hack. The men’s attention shifted from Bettina to her.
“No one is releasing anyone.”
“Now, Miss Georgie.” Duane gave her a winning smile. “You ain’t gonna shoot Bettina.”
“No,” she said. “But I might shoot you.”
He looked doubtful.
Cocking the gun with one hand, she made a circular motion with her other, indicating her torso. “I believe the instructions were anywhere in this area.”
The men froze.
“Bettina?” she called.
“Yes’m?”
“You will not release these men.”
The girl let out a sound of distress. “Frank’ll be really sore with me.”
“He’ll be much more upset if I shoot his men. And I’ll be upset if you force me to. Do you wish to upset me, Bettina, and risk losing your job?”
“Now, that ain’t fair,” Duane began.
Georgie pointed the muzzle of her gun at him.
“Though I can certainly see,” he quickly interjected, “why you’d not want her workin’ fer ya if she made ya shoot somebody.” He sliced a look at Bettina. “Ya prob’ly shouldn’t make her shoot nobody, Hyena.”
Georgie narrowed her eyes. “Her name is Bettina and if you call her anything else, I will be very displeased.”
“She don’t mind it.” He glanced at the gun, then swallowed. “All the same, I’m happy ta call her Bettina.”
Necker moaned and put a hand to his jaw.
“What happened to him?” Bettina asked.
Straightening her shoulders, Georgie gave the girl a knowing look. “He refused to do what Luke told him to.”
Her eyes widened. “He’s tough as a sow’s snout, ain’t he?”
“Yes, he is.” As the shock of seeing Bettina began to wear off, relief set in that the girl wasn’t alone on the road somewhere. On the heels of the relief, though, came a feeling of disappointment and deep concern. As soon as she had Bettina alone, the two of them would have a heart-to-heart.
“How vere you going to free us?” Finkel asked. “You haf die Keys for these things?”
She shook her head. “No, but Ragston does.”
“Vere’s Ragston?” he asked.
“Right here.” The farmer stepped out from the shrub, pistol aimed at Georgie.
She slowly unfurled her spine.
“Don’t make no sudden moves, now.” His eyes were so droopy they showed more pink than white. His oversized ears reminded her of the old men outside Schmid’s mercantile.
“I’m gonna have to ask ya to put that gun down now,” he said.
Her pulse began to race. “I will not.”
The men in the hack stilled.
Mr. Ragston gave her an indulgent look. “I know ya don’t wanna shoot nobody. So just put the gun down nice and easy.”
“No.” She tightened her grip on the gun. It was still aimed at Duane, but her focus was on Ragston.
“You’re outnumbered, girl,” he said. “You cain’t really believe the most renowned gang in the state could be rounded up in a single day, by a single man.”
“It already has, sir.”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. It hasn’t. Frank’s disarmed Ranger Landrum. It’s over.”
Her breaths came in shallow spurts. “I don’t believe you.”
“I’m afraid you don’t have no choice.”
“Oh, yes I do. And I choose to wait right here, with my gun, and see who rounds that corner. My money, sir, is on Lucious Landrum.”
He cocked his gun. “Put yer weapon down.”
Duane twisted around, looking over his shoulder. “Ya cain’t hurt her, Clem. I done gave my word.”
Ragston’s eyes widened in disbelief, their lids lifting momentarily. “Yer an outlaw, Pfeuffer. Yer word don’t mean nothin’.”
“It does ta me. It does ta her. And it does ta him. If ya plan ta shoot her, I’ll have to dive in front. But my chain’s too short fer a proper dive and chances are you’ll get my head. Now, that’d be just downright messy. If Comer’s really got the upper hand, then we’ll wait. If he hasn’t, then you can deal with Landrum. But ya leave the hello gal out of it.”
“She got into it the minute she agreed to drive that wagon. And yer crazy if ya think I’m waiting around fer Landrum.”
She quirked a brow. “I thought you said Luke had been overpowered?”
Hesitating, Ragston darted his gaze about the clearing. “He has.”
The men in the hack slumped with disappointment. Necker moaned again. Georgie let out a quiet breath of relief.
Reaching out a hand, Ragston snatched Bettina and put his gun to her head. “Ya give yer word about Hyena, Pfeuffer?”
The girl had no time to scream, much less react.
Gasping, Georgie swung her gun to face Ragston’s head, her chest squeezing, her breath trapped. “Let her go.”
Bettina held still, her lips screwed up in anger.
“Come on, now, Clem.” Finkel frowned. “I haf a Tochter about her age. Besides, she’s von of us.”
“She ain’t one of us. She was supposed to come out here and distract the driver so I could knock him out and set you fellers free. Instead she comes out here and ‘yes, ma’ams’ Miss Gail ’til the cows come home.”
Hands shaking, Georgie locked her elbows and looked down the barrel of the pistol. “Let her go.”
“She ain’t never used a gun a’fore,” Duane said, cleaning something from under his fingernail.
Ragston stumbled back a step, hauling Bettina closer. “You put that thing down right this minute or I’ll blow this girl to pieces.”
Bettina’s face lost all color.
“You harm a hair on her head and I’ll shoot, I swear I will.” Georgie’s arms trembled with fatigue and fear.
“You have to the count o’ three, missy.”
Water rushed to her eyes. “Don’t do this, Mr. Ragston. Please.”
“Then, put down the gun.”
“Will you let her go?”
“Yes,” he barked. “Now, put it down.”
She reached for the hammer.
“No!” Bettina screamed. “He don’t keep his word. He’ll kill us both!”
Scrunching up his face, Ragston ground the muzzle into the girl’s temple and raised his elbow.
“Don’t!” Georgie screeched.
The gun fired, the sound exploding in her ear. She screamed, the gun’s kick throwing her backward onto the seat and knocking the weapon from her grasp. She scrambled to get it, but Duane whisked it up and swung it toward Ragston. A livid but unscathed Ragston. He still held Bettina, though the girl had soaked her dress.
Georgie pressed a fist to her mouth.
“Let Hyena go.” Duane’s voice shook with fury.
Ragston tossed Bettina aside, sending the girl to the ground. “It’s about time. I cain’t believe you fellers sat here and let a female hold ya prisoner.”
“She seemed to hold you prisoner, Clem,” Finkel spat.
Ragston holstered his pistol, then yanked a key from his pocket and headed to the wagon bed. Scrambling to her feet, Georgie launched herself through the air and onto the man’s back, knocking the key from his hand.
She�
�d hoped to bring him to the ground, as well, but he did no more than grunt.
“What the blazes?” He stumbled forward. “Get off me, you confounded woman.” He reached around and grabbed her by the hair.
The men hollered, their voices ringing in the morning air.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs about his waist. “No, you can’t have—”
A huge explosion sounded by her ear.
Ragston froze. The men dove for cover.
Georgie opened her eyes.
The long barrel of a rifle now rested against Ragston’s temple.
At its other end, a very furious Lucious Landrum. “Get off him, Georgie.”
Joy burst inside her, despite his strident tone. She decided now wasn’t the time to express it, though. Sliding off the man, she waited for her feet to touch the ground, then raced to Bettina and dropped to her knees. She scooped the girl onto her lap, rocking and petting her. Hugging and cooing to her. Her little body trembled with a delayed reaction.
“Put the gun down, Duane.” Luke’s voice shook.
The boy immediately acquiesced.
Shoving Ragston forward, Luke secured him to the back of the wagon instead of inside it. “You can walk, Clem, and your pace will be set by Miss Gail. It is my deepest hope she wishes to return as quickly as possible, at which point you’ll have to step lively or be dragged.”
Skirting to the other side, he picked up the gun sitting beside Duane and tucked it in his waistband. Then he grabbed Duane’s arm, his chest lifting and falling like bellows, his nostrils flared.
He opened his mouth, but instead of saying whatever he’d planned, he clamped it shut again, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
Duane gave him an understanding smile. “Yer welcome, Palmer.”
Luke gave a nod, then whirled to face her, his eyes holding a suspicious sheen. He took one step after another, punctuating each with his words. “If you ever, ever, do such a fool thing again, I will skin you alive and feed your carcass to the buzzards.”
Though he was talking to Georgie, Bettina curled into a ball.
Georgie frowned. “Stop it, Bettina thinks you’re serious.”
“I am deadly serious.” His entire body shook.
She smiled at the telltale sign and placed her mouth next to Bettina’s ear. “He’s not serious. It’s nothing but male bluster. He’d never lay a hand on me with anything but the sweetest, most gentlest of touches.” She looked up through her lashes. “Isn’t that right, Lucious?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tell Bettina it’s bluster. She needs to be soothed.”
“She does, does she?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not bluster.” He handed her the pistol, then strode back toward the bend in the road.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To get . . . Comer. He’s waiting for me down by the house.”
Kissing Bettina on the top of her head, she helped the girl to her feet. “Come on. Let’s drive the hack down so Luke won’t have to walk back.”
By the time they were settled and on their way, Luke and Comer were hiking up the hill. She tilted her head, noting Comer walked as if he’d had a bit too much to drink. When they were within a couple of yards, she pulled to a stop.
Instead of taking Comer round back, Luke stopped next to her. “Georgie, I’d like you to meet—”
“Comer,” the man slurred, his face swollen, his eyes heavy. “Name’s Comer.”
Sorrow etched Luke’s features; then he nodded. “Frank, this is Georgie Gail. She’s . . .”
She smiled. “I believe we’ve met, Mr. Comer. You robbed a train I was on.”
He nodded. Though his eyes were glazed with pain, their color was so much like Luke’s she drew an unconscious breath.
“I ’member,” he said. “The tel’fen operator. The boys here ’bout died when they saw ya step outta the car.”
Eyes widening, she turned around. “Y’all were there?”
The men tucked their chins, mumbling indecipherable answers.
“Well, for heaven’s sake.” But when she turned back around, Luke was leading a weaving Comer to the wagon bed to join the others.
“What happened ta him?” Duane asked, indicating Comer.
“He ran into the butt of my rifle.”
Duane grimaced.
Luke secured Comer, jostling Necker in the process.
Necker gripped his knees, leaning against them. “What happened while I was out?”
Blesinger propped him up, while Duane filled him in on all he’d missed.
Georgie kept their pace leisurely so Mr. Ragston could keep up and had Bettina use her lap as a pillow. Stroking the girl’s hair, she scanned the trees for birds, listening to every song and puzzling out its owner.
Luke nudged his horse close to her. “I was thinking.”
She turned to him. “Yes?”
“Well, I was wondering, I mean.”
When he said no more, she gave him a strange look. “Wondering what?”
He pulled at his collar. “I was, um, wondering if you’d like to be my partner?”
She lifted her brows. “Why on earth would you want a partner who can’t shoot and who makes you so mad you want to feed her to the buzzards?”
The men in the back quieted.
Luke rubbed his forehead.
Sniggering, Duane leaned forward. “I don’t think he meant that kinda pardner, Miss Georgie.”
“Oh.” Her lips parted. “What kind of partner did you mean?”
Luke scratched underneath his chin. “Same kind as the cardinals?”
A tiny germ of excitement began to bubble inside her stomach. “Cardinals mate for life.”
He turned an intense gaze onto her. “Yes.”
She pulled the hack to a stop. “Are you proposing to me, Lucious? Right here in the middle of nowhere with a group of men in the bed of the wagon?”
Scowling, he straightened. “I’m not sure when I’ll see you next. I have to take them down to headquarters and talk to my captain. Your answer will determine what it is my captain and I discuss.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, if you agree, I’ll be turning in my badge. If you don’t, well . . . I don’t know.”
She stared at him. “But you love your job. You told me you did.”
Resting his wrists on the pommel, he scanned the horizon. “Not as much as I love you.”
She bit her lip. “Can’t you have both?”
“No.” He shook his head. “My job keeps me on the trail too much. I’m going to want something closer to home.”
“What would you do?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?” He looked at her then, his vulnerability apparent.
Smiling, she reached out a hand. “No, it doesn’t matter, and yes, I’ll marry you.”
He grasped her hand and released a pent-up breath. “You mean it?”
“I mean it.”
He glanced at the men in the back, then her.
“Go ahead,” Duane said, covering his eyes with his hand, then spreading two fingers so he could peek through.
Smiling, Luke raised her palm to his lips and kissed it, then mouthed, Later.
She nodded, faced forward, then gasped. A pair of eagles screeched as they flapped over the prairie, their heads and tails white, their wingspans as wide as Luke was tall.
The men shaded their eyes. Bettina stirred. Luke threaded his hand with Georgie’s.
The male and female birds ascended high into the sky, then in a heart-stopping ritual, clasped talons and spun head over tail like a whirligig. Over and over they went, dropping altitude while picking up speed.
The farther they plummeted, the harder Georgie squeezed Luke’s hand. At the last moment, the eagles released their hold and spun back up into flight.
Long after they’d flown out of sight, the group sat silent and awed. So beautiful the courtship dance. So clo
se it had come to disaster.
She looked at Luke. “I’m glad I’m a woman and you’re a man. And there are some things I do well, and some things you do well. And together, we know when to hold tight and when to let go.”
Lifting a corner of his mouth, he gave her hand a squeeze. “I love you, Georgie Gail.”
She smiled. “And I love you, Lucious Landrum. Name and all.”
Twisting around, he looked at Ragston. “Hop on up, Clem. I’m anxious to get my gal home.”
The men closest to him helped him up onto the flat of the bed.
Once he’d settled and his legs were dangling off the end, Georgie flicked the reins, just as anxious as Luke to return to the home that would one day soon be not only hers, but also his.
Epilogue
“Everybody off the train.”
Georgie and Lucious exchanged a glance, then corralled the children and shuffled past the man brandishing a gun. At the door, a man with a neckerchief about his face waved them off.
Jumping to the ground, Lucious turned and assisted her and their five daughters. He gave her waist a squeeze of reassurance, but it did little to comfort her. Would he try to disarm the man?
His job as general manager for SWT&T kept him serving the company in many capacities and occasionally filling in for their lineman and new operator. But it didn’t provide much opportunity for disarming outlaws.
Still, he’d kept up his membership in the Gun Club. Had taken the girls hunting every chance he could. And still went everywhere with Odysseus—having retired Penelope the day they were married, for Georgie was now closest to his heart.
He’d just taken little Julia into his arms when the bandit stationed at the car door stopped him. “Hand over yer gun, mister.”
Georgie tensed. Lucious would never willingly give up Odysseus.
He handed Julia to her. “You and the girls go on. I’ll be right there.”
Swallowing, she took the child. “Here we go, girls. You heard your father.”
When they were out of harm’s way, he turned back to the man. “You can have my bullets. The gun, however, is mine.”
“The only thing what’s yers is whatever I say is yers. Now, hand over the gun, real slow-like.”
Jaw ticking, Lucious lifted the Colt with two fingers.
The man glanced at it, then took a quick step back and placed both hands on the grip of his pistol. “Where’d ya get that?”
