by Chloe Carley
Mending. Laundry. Child rearing. Teaching. The list continued, and Sara Jane had to clench her fists while he was reciting it to keep from grabbing her rifle and shooting him just to shut him up. The sheriff had proven every horrible thing she’d ever thought about the man. He was an insult to his race with his opinions and views on what a woman could and couldn’t do.
At least Pa sees things differently.
“Sheriff, maybe you shouldn’t be walking right in front of those windows,” Sara Jane called out as he paced in front of the large picture window.
He gave her a funny look just as a bullet shattered the glass behind him and he dove for his desk. Sara Jane slid down behind the half wall that separated the office space from the jail cell. Rio Arriba rarely had any serious crime and a single jail cell was all they had needed. Until now.
Sheriff Parmele crawled to the side of the window and uttered a slew of curse words.
“What’s happening?” Sara Jane asked.
“The coach is here but the driver isn’t in the box. Looks like them outlaws stopped it.”
“Where’s the gunfire coming from?” Sara Jane asked, hearing multiple rifles going at one time.
“There’s men inside the saloon shooting at the men by the stagecoach.”
“That would be Pa and Shawn. What about up on top? They were supposed to have men on top of the buildings to offer protection and avoid surprises.”
“I can’t see anyone up there. Course, that don’t mean they ain’t there.”
Sara Jane tensed, growing more worried by the second. The plan was to take the outlaws when they stopped the stagecoach by surrounding them, both on the ground and from above. If the men on top of the saloon had been somehow taken from the fight, the town would have a struggle to keep from being completely destroyed.
“How many men can you see?” she asked the sheriff.
“Six, but two of them are on the ground. One’s still moving a bit, but the other looks pretty dead to me.”
“So, they only brought half a dozen men to take a town this size?” Sara Jane asked aloud.
“Cocky is what they are,” Sheriff Parmele stated. “That will be their downfall. Uh, oh.”
Sara Jane frowned. “What?”
“Two of them are looking this direction and pointing.”
“It’s about time,” Sara Jane muttered. She’d convinced them to let her come because she was an excellent shot and they’d needed an extra weapon. So far, she’d been lectured and bored to tears, but she hadn’t so much as seen an outlaw who needed to be shot. She didn’t actually relish killing another human being, but she was a good enough shot, and intended to injure anyone walking through the doors of the jail so that they were taken out of the fight for today and many days to come.
“It’s the least I can do after they’ve tried to destroy the town we all love.”
Sara Jane did love Rio Arriba. For the most part, everyone accepted the way she dressed. It was only a few busybody women who had taken it upon themselves to complain about her wearing trousers and how indecent it was.
There’s nothing indecent about wearing boy’s trousers. Now, climbing a tree in a skirt … well, that might have had the potential to become a little indecent, but I made sure my skirts were tied together front to back.
“We’ve got company coming. You get back there in the closet and stay there until I tell you to come out.”
Sara Jane rolled her eyes at the sheriff’s dictates and lifted her rifle, training the barrel on the doorway. The second it began to show signs of being opened, she pulled the hammer back and slowly let her breath out. One. Two. Three..
The outlaw pushed the door open and made the mistake of not getting out of the doorway quick enough.
Sara Jane hit him in the shoulder of the arm holding his weapon and the rifle fell to the ground with a loud clack. He grabbed for his wounded arm, stumbling backward, but not before Sara Jane put another bullet in his leg. Down he went and she watched as another pair of hands reached for him.
On their second reach, she placed a bullet in the back of one of them, eliciting howls of pain from both men as the bullet penetrated the man’s hand and entered the other man’s leg. Now both legs had been hit and both men were scrambling to safety.
Sara Jane wasn’t waiting for them to get back-up and she walked from her spot behind the half wall, ignoring the sheriff’s commands for her to stay hidden. She kept her rifle up, ready to fire instantly.
It proved beneficial as the man whose hand she’d wounded had his pistol drawn in his good hand, and was just getting ready to storm the jail door when Sara Jane put another bullet in the man’s chest.
Two down. There have to be more men somewhere.
There was no way a group of outlaws, with the reputation the Johnston gang had, would only bring a handful of men. No way at all, which meant there were more men, but where and what they were doing she hadn’t a clue.
“I’m going to go out there and see if I can take out a couple more.” The sheriff eased open the door, shoved the injured man and his dead companion out of the way and crawled behind a water barrel. As far as hiding places went, it wasn’t one that Sara Jane would ever choose. It wasn’t big enough and the sheriff’s body stuck out on either side, making him an easy target for the bad guys.
Sara Jane reloaded her rifle, checked to make sure her pistol was still fully loaded, and sat down to wait. From what she had ascertained when Gideon was talking about the Johnston gang, they were a greedy lot. There was no way they would leave the money sitting inside the jail, destined to help fund the new bank, without making a good effort to retrieve it.
She didn’t consider the two men who’d just been dealt with a credible threat. They’d acted like amateurs, opening the door and standing there just waiting to get shot. Or maybe they’d been so confident that they could handle whomever was inside that they’d let their guard down. They most certainly would have given Sheriff Parmele a challenge if Sara Jane hadn’t been there.
She heard more gunfire outside and watched as the sheriff returned fire several times. She hadn’t seen Riley’s brother yet, and wondered if Gideon had been successful in rescuing her. Sara Jane was personally hoping to see Slim. She owed him for not only deceiving her family, but for daring to take Riley and threaten her. If not for Carl having heard the commotion and witnessing her abduction …
At the thought of Carl, Sara Jane felt the familiar and unwanted flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
There was something about the cowboy, always had been since he’d been nothing more than a kid, recently orphaned and filled with sorrow. His quietness had appealed to Sara Jane, but she was almost five years younger than he was and it had only been in the last few years that she’d been able to keep up with him.
Not that he appeared to appreciate her skills.
Hearing boots on the front porch of the jail, Sara Jane pulled her thoughts back to the present. There’d be plenty of time to think about Carl and all of the other young men in this area that didn’t appreciate Sara Jane’s talents.
She lifted the rifle, balancing it on the leg she had propped up on the half wall.
She kept her eyes trained on the door and was so focused she totally missed the opening of the door to the sheriff’s office. It wasn’t until she saw one of the ugliest outlaws leering at her as he pointed two pistols at her head that she realized she no longer had the upper hand.
There wasn’t even time to find a place to take cover.
“Well, lookee here. They thought to stop us with a woman, Tseena,” the ugly man called out.
Tseena entered through the doorway, taking Sara Jane’s position in as well as the guns his second in command had trained on her. “Ma’am.” He inclined his head.
“Whatcha bein’ nice to her fer?” the ugly man asked in disbelief.
Tseena walked forward and apologized, “You’ll have to excuse Ollie, he has the manners of a snake. You’re Gideon’s sister.”
Sara Jane raised a brow at how well-informed the man was. “You’re Riley’s brother?”
“I am but it’s best if she just forgets all about me.”
Ollie’s impatience bubbled over and he stalked forward, ripping the rifle from her hands. “This little chat is sweet and all, but we came here for a reason. Besides, the wind’s picked up.”
Tseena shook his head. “Go make sure things aren’t moving too fast. Take all of the men we’ve disarmed and gather them together in the town circle. Tie them good and secure.”
“We gonna shoot them all together?” Ollie asked and Sara Jane didn’t like the way he smiled when he asked about murdering dozens of men in cold blood.
“We’re not gonna shoot anyone we don’t have to.”
Ollie definitely didn’t like that answer. “What’s got into you? We never leave any witnesses alive. Never.”
“We’ve never done our last job. Since none of us plan on sticking around this part of New Mexico, it doesn’t matter if they can identify us. After this job, we’re done-- I’ve decided to try and save what little sliver of a soul I have left within me. Now, can you handle your assignment or maybe I need to find someone else?” Tseena spat.
“I can take care of it, but we should be going out big, not like a yellow-bellied coward with his tail between his legs. We should be making a statement.”
“We will. We’ve just pulled off the robbery of a lifetime. Now, get out and have a couple of the guys bring a wagon by here to start loading everything up.”
Sara Jane watched Ollie leave through the office and saw him standing on the front boardwalk. “How did he get outside?” she murmured, not realizing that Tseena could also hear her.
“I believe he went out through the window, the same way he did a few moments ago. Now, enough about Ollie. Tell me where the money is, and then you can join the other townsfolk, including your pa and brother in the town circle.”
Sara Jane stared at the outlaw, easily seeing why he’d been able to strike fear in the hearts of so many people during his reign of terror.
His scraggly beard, and long braids, gave him the look of a fierce Indian, until one looked into his eyes. They were gray, but such a light color it was almost as if they were somewhat white. They were very distinctive and immediately brought to mind the eyes of a dangerous wolf.
Sara Jane remained quiet as she watched him walk around the front part of the jail. The money he was after was stashed in large wooden crates that sat against the wall of the prison cell. A large plank sat over top of them along with a couple of cinnamon rolls
“I can’t tell you where the money is,” Sara Jane said.
“And why is that?” Tseena asked, stalking toward her.
“Because I’ve never seen it. I heard it was here, but the sheriff is the only one who knows for sure where it is being kept.”
“That’s too bad, the sheriff and I couldn’t see eye to eye. I’m afraid he’s not able to join us at this time.”
“Did you shoot him?” Sara Jane asked.
“He was trying to shoot me.”
She stared at Riley’s brother for a moment longer. “So, you shot the sheriff?”
A ghost of a smile teased Tseena’s mouth. “I never said that.”
Sara Jane was frustrated and dropped her foot from the half wall, letting it fall harder on the floor than was necessary. “Did you or did you not shoot the sheriff?”
“I just hit him on the head with the butt of my rifle. He’ll wake up in a bit with a horrible headache, but at least he’ll be alive.”
“So, now what?” For the meanest and most ruthless outlaw known to roam Texas and the New Mexico Territories, he wasn’t living up to his past.
“Well, you need to tell me where the money is.”
“And I already said, I’ve not actually seen it. We were all told it was being stored here until the bank’s safe can arrive.”
“In that case, you can help me search for it,” Tseena suggested.
“I don’t—” Sara Jane stopped talking when the outlaw pointed his rifle in her face.
“I insist.”
Sara Jane held back the comments that wanted to spew forth, and followed him around the small space. There were no closets and no hidden areas, only the sheriff’s private office, the entry way, and the solitary jail cell. The search ended a few minutes later when Tseena tossed aside the blanket that had been used to cover the chests inside the cell.
“Now, this looks like something that could hold a lot of money.” Sara Jane watched him break open the lock on the first chest to reveal stacks of bills in a variety of denominations.
“Is that really worth all of this?” Sara Jane couldn’t resist asking.
“This? Oh, most definitely. Now, you just sit right there while I go get some men to load these up, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Sara Jane said nothing, but the minute Tseena stepped outside to talk to his men, she darted for the sheriff’s office, hoping he wouldn’t see she was missing until she had a chance to sneak away. The large window in his office was shattered and she crept to the side of it, listening for him to give his orders and then realize she was missing.
She heard his booted feet step back inside the jail and she knew this might be her only chance to get away. She climbed out the window and took off running down the boardwalk toward the mercantile. She passed the laundry and the claims office, and that’s when she looked up and saw the flames reaching skyward. The mercantile was on fire and no one was doing anything about it.
She came to an abrupt halt, watching in horror as the wind whipped the flames around, igniting the telegraph office next door. At this rate, the entire town would be ablaze before sundown. It wouldn’t matter that the outlaw had spared their lives; they wouldn’t have a livelihood to return to. Or places to live. Or places to purchase supplies.
He might have been willing to spare their lives, but by destroying the town, he’d left many of them with little or nothing to live for. Something had to be done and quick. Sara Jane liked living here and couldn’t stand to see everything people had worked for go up in smoke. Not without a fight!
Chapter 24
Riley’s heart was pounding so fast she was surprised it was still inside her chest. The closer she got to Rio Arriba, the larger the flames seemed to get. She rounded the large boulders marking the edge of town and stopped to catch her breath. The entire mercantile was ablaze. The telegraph office next door had just started to burn, and the wind was increasing.
She hurried forward, stopping just as she reached the edge of town to see a flurry of activity in front of the mercantile.
Men were doing their best to keep the fire from spreading, but the mercantile was going to be a complete loss. The entire structure was engulfed in flames and Riley felt badly for the town and the owners. She knew if the townsfolk survived this day, they would help rebuild the store, but until then, everyone would feel this loss.
The sound of gunfire had her jerking around to see men further down the street running for cover and firing at other men stationed along the roofs of the buildings.
Realizing she was standing out in the open and doing nothing to protect herself or help, she gauged the distance to the jail. It was too far and right in the middle of the gunfight that was taking place all around the stagecoach. Further down she could see the stagecoach driver.
