by Chloe Carley
Ma released him then instructed her husband, “Help me up.”
Once she was on her feet, Gideon took a step back, but she grabbed him by the arm and held on.
She clasped either side of his face and, with tears in her eyes, she kissed his forehead, forcing him to bend over more than half a foot. Pearl Lawson was a strong woman but contained in a very tiny package. The top of her head barely reached her husband’s shoulder.
Gideon ignored his protesting muscles and complied with her wishes. A tight knot began to ease in his chest. She flung her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her back, relieved when his pa finally took mercy on him and pulled his wife away.
“It’s okay, Pearl. Gideon’s okay. He’s home now.”
She pinned Gideon with her gaze. “You’re not leaving again, right?”
“No, ma’am. I’m home for good.”
She forced herself to stand tall. “Sara Jane, you finish hanging up the wash while I goes and sees about something special for supper. We’re going to celebrate tonight and Gideon can tell us the stories about where he’s been.”
Gideon tried not to let his expression give away the fear provoked by his ma’s words. He couldn’t tell them that he’d been living the life of an outlaw, and yet, he’d never lied to his family before. He truly didn’t want to start now.
For the next hour, while everyone bustled around to finish up the chores and get dinner prepared, Gideon struggled with what to tell them about his adventures.
As Ma called them in to eat, he was still confused and didn’t have the right words to say yet. He could only offer a silent prayer and hope that his plea was getting through. He needed help. Now. He needed to be welcome here, at home.
Chapter 3
Just outside El Paso, Texas…
Riley Sewell couldn’t remember a time when she’d been more uncomfortable than she was at this particular moment. She’d boarded the train back in St.
Louis, and after reaching Fort Smith, she’d boarded another train, headed for the State of Texas. The journey was in its second week and she was plumb tired and irritable. Not to mention the fact that she’d spent the last two weeks in petticoats and dresses.
Why any woman would willingly wear such uncomfortable clothing she couldn’t fathom. She couldn’t wait to reach her destination and change into the boy’s trousers that were currently tucked away at the bottom of one of her trunks.
She muttered, “I need a bath and a decent bed. That would go a long way toward helping to improve my disposition.” She didn’t worry about anyone overhearing as she’d been one of only a handful of passengers in this car for the last two days. Besides the purser that is, but the man had other matters to attend to and couldn’t very well sit down and keep her company all day long. I should really find out the man’s name. He must think I have no manners at all.
She looked out the window, hoping that when the train stopped in El Paso, her errant brother would be somewhere waiting for her.
She’d thought maybe he was still in Fort Smith, not having realized that he’d left for Texas and the territories beyond it more than two years earlier. Having no one to go home to, and nothing else to do with her time, she’d bought a ticket to continue moving westward. She wasn’t going to stop until she caught up with Roy.
He was all the family she had left.
Riley’s parents had both perished several months earlier, having succumbed to cholera. Riley had managed to stay healthy, but the months since she’d buried them had been anything but easy.
At twenty, she wasn’t a candidate for the orphanages that were springing up around the city. But she also had no means of supporting herself other than selling off her parents’ belongings and finally, the house her pa had built before Roy and she had been born.
Once the house was sold, she’d gathered up her meager possessions and set out to find her brother. Roy was ten years her senior, but they’d always had a close relationship--until he’d left St.
Louis in pursuit of fame and fortune. She knew he’d never made it to the gold fields of California but had instead decided to stay in Texas. She wasn’t sure why, but she guessed it didn’t really matter.
“Miss, we’ll be pulling into El Paso shortly. Do you have someone meeting you?” the purser asked by her side.
“I hope so?” she answered with a question in her voice. “I sent a telegraph to my brother informing him of my impending arrival.”
“Very well.” The purser tipped his hat to her and Riley hurried to stop him from leaving by reaching out her hand.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to keep you from your duties, but I’ve been very remiss in asking … what is your name?”
“Walter, miss. Walter Jenkins.”
Riley stood up and offered her hand. “Mr. Jenkins, my name is Riley Sewell and I wanted to personally thank you for making this last leg of the journey tolerable.”
“Thank you, miss. I enjoyed conversing with you as well.” He tipped his hat toward her again and proceeded to move about the rail car, informing the other passengers that their journey was almost over. Riley turned her attention back to the landscape outside her window. It looked … well, sort of barren. There were rocks and a few mesas in the distance, but everything was in neutral colors of browns and muted greens. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was blue without a cloud to be seen.
In the distance a few large cacti rose majestically like sentries, but other than rocks and dirt, and a few scrub brushes here and there, the landscape looked … well, miserable. Why on earth did Roy decide to come here?
The train finally pulled into El Paso. Riley gathered up her belongings and prepared to disembark. As she approached the doorway, she was hit with a wave of heat that literally took her breath away. She gasped. “Is it always this hot here?”
“Seeing as it’s the middle of August, yes. It’ll cool down a bit come September, but it won’t ever get as cold as what you’re used to. It doesn’t snow in El Paso.”
Riley digested this information and then, with a nod, she stepped into the doorway and carefully navigated the steps down to the wooden platform. The purser carried down her carpetbag and set it near her feet. “Will there be anything else, miss?”
“Well, my trunks …”
“Will be unloaded and taken inside. Don’t you worry none about those. Once your brother arrives, they can be retrieved by asking at the ticket counter.” He tipped his head toward the small building standing at the front edge of the dock.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you very much.”
“Now, is there anything else?”
“No. You’ve been very helpful.” Riley offered him a smile, picked up her bag and started walking in the direction everyone else was headed. She found herself standing on the outside of the train station, staring at the streets of El Paso, without having seen any sign of her brother. There was a bench a short way down the boardwalk and she headed for it. Surely Roy was just running a bit behind and would be with her momentarily.
Almost an hour later, Riley realized she was probably wasting time. Either her brother hadn’t received her last telegraph, or something was preventing him from coming to get her. Either way, she was drenched in sweat, her clothing was sticking to her, and her face was most definitely getting burned by the sun.
She stood up and took a long look at the town and her surroundings. The sun would be going down soon and she couldn’t very well spend the night outside the train station.
There was a saloon several buildings away on the opposite side of the street, but given the type of individuals she’d witnessed going into that establishment, and the loud music and laughter coming from within, it was not a place where Riley was likely to fit in.
She turned her head the other direction but didn’t see any answers there either. The ticket agent was just getting ready to close his window and she hurried forward, asking, “Sir, is there a boarding house in town you migh
t direct me to?”
“A boarding house? Well, I don’t see how it would be seemly for a young woman like yerself to be staying at the boarding house, but Mrs. Jensen has a few rooms she rents out to the women who travel to El Paso and need a place to rest for the evening.”
“That sounds like just the place. Could you direct me to this establishment?”
The ticket agent tipped his head toward the street. “Three blocks down and on your left.”
“Thank you. My trunks …”
“Are fine here for a day or two, until your brother arrives to get you. That is correct? Your brother is coming to get you?”
Riley nodded. “He is, something must have delayed him. He has a ranch somewhere in this part of Texas. I’m sure he’ll show up tomorrow or the next day.”
“Well, your trunks are safe here with us. Just come back when he arrives, and I’ll see to it that you get some help loading them into his wagon.”
“I’ll do that.” Riley gave him a parting smile and retraced her steps. She located the two-story house with the clapboard windows and flower boxes on the porch. A small sign indicated this was the place she’d been looking for and she gingerly climbed the steps and knocked on the door. A few moments later an elderly woman appeared in the doorway.
“Yes, dear. May I help you?”
“Are you Mrs. Jensen?” Riley noted the white hair that had been carefully styled on top of her head. She was wearing a dark green, almost emerald, dress with lace accents and a delicate brooch at her neck. She looked very sophisticated for someone living in what appeared to be a very backward town.
“That’s right, dear. What can I do for you?”
“The gentleman at the train ticket counter said you rent rooms, and I find myself in need of one.”
Mrs. Jensen stepped back and waved her inside. “Come in, child. I have a vacant room. How long will you be staying?”
“I’m not really sure. My brother was supposed to meet me, but he seems to have been detained.”
“Oh, dear. I do hope nothing has happened to him?”
“You and I both.”
“Well, you don’t worry about a thing. You are welcome to stay here until he comes for you. The second door at the top of the stairs on your left is vacant. The fee is a dollar a week …”
“Thank you.” Riley dug in her reticule and withdrew the proper payment and handed it over. “I don’t know that I’ll be here a week …”
“If your brother shows up earlier, I’ll give you back whatever portion is owed.”
“That is very generous of you.”
“Well, it’s nice having company in the house. Supper will be served in an hour.”
“Is the telegraph office close by?”
“A few blocks away.”
“I thought maybe I would send my brother another telegram to make sure he knows I’ve arrived safely,” Riley answered the questioning look Mrs. Jensen sent her. “I don’t want him wondering where I’m at. I thought to direct him here.”
“Very good. That’s exactly the right thing to do. Just walk down, past the jail, and then turn to your left. The telegraph office is across the street and one block down.”
Riley headed upstairs and deposited her bags in the small room. It was clean, relatively inexpensive, and would prevent her from having to sleep beneath the stars.
She didn’t see anyone when she came back down the stairs, so she let herself out of the house and headed down the boardwalk. Her bonnet protected her eyes from the sun that was beginning to set, and she took the opportunity to look around.
There were several different types of businesses along the boardwalk, including a mercantile, a laundry, a second saloon, and a jail.
A board outside the jail caught her attention. She stopped to look at the sketches of men who were wanted by the law for various things.
Most of the men whose visages were posted belonged to an outlaw group that had been terrorizing the southern parts of Texas and even further west. Their crimes were listed, and Riley’s heart sympathized with their victims. These men didn’t just rob and steal--they caused destruction, burning entire towns in their wake and taking numerous lives in the process.
“Howdy, ma’am. Them there’s some of the worst outlaws we’ve seen in these parts. They’ll get caught one of these days, hopefully sooner than later.”
“They don’t appear to be very nice men.”
“Nice ain’t even in their vocabulary. These men are scoundrels of the worst sort. You new to town?”
Riley nodded her head at the man wearing a law badge. “I just arrived on the train today.”
“Well, welcome to El Paso. What brings a beautiful gal like you to Texas?”
“Family. My brother is out here and he’s all I have left. I thought to join him and settle down.”
“Well, I might be a bit biased, but Texas is a fine place to do that. Will you be staying in El Paso?”
“To be honest, I’m not sure. I believe my brother has land out here, but I’m not positive where it is. Something has detained him from picking me up today, but I’m sure he’ll show up in the next day or so. In the meantime, I’m staying with Mrs. Jensen.”
“Darling old lady. She’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“I’m sure she will.”
“As for your brother, well, I wish I could be of some help there, but I’ve only been in the area for a few weeks myself. The previous sheriff went and got himself shot trying to stop that group of outlaws a few months back.”
“Those men shot a sheriff?” Riley asked, wondering what kind of man could kill another man and not feel horrible remorse for it.
“Yes, but don’t you worry your pretty little head about them. We’ve got this town fairly secure and we’re ready for them if they show up here.”
“That’s very good to know. I was actually headed to the telegraph office …”
The sheriff pointed to her left. “At the end of the next block.”
“Thank you. Have a nice day.” Riley looked before crossing the street. She arrived at the telegraph office and sent a message to her brother. The woman behind the counter looked at her very strangely when she gave the telegraph office in El Paso as the destination for her missive.
“Ma’am, you do know you’re in El Paso, right?”
Riley laughed. “Of course, I do. I was expecting my brother to meet me here and I don’t want him wondering where to come find me when he does arrive. I don’t want to worry him, you see?”
“Of course,” the woman replied. A gentleman behind her coughed and Riley looked away as he quietly chided what she assumed was his wife for asking questions.
“Here’s your receipt,” the woman said a moment later.
“Thank you.”
Riley returned to Mrs. Jensen’s house and, after a delightful dinner with the old lady and her two other boarders, retired to her assigned bedroom. There was a bathing room upstairs and hot water could be carted in buckets, but Riley was too tired to even contemplate putting that much effort into getting clean tonight.
Instead, she took up a single bucket of water from the hearth and did her best to wash the dirt and sweat from her person with a small piece of cloth, and a larger piece she used as a towel to dry her skin. She brushed her hair out and plaited it in a single braid down her back.
