Gambling on the Outlaw

by Margaret Madigan

  I studied her to determine if she was pulling my leg, but she was dead serious. I shook my head. “That’s the worst idea you’ve had yet. This is between me and Dearborn, and I’ll be damned if I haul you into the middle of a gunfight.”

  “You’re not hauling me anywhere. I’m going willingly.”

  It was time to put my foot down and put an end to her nonsense. She’d gone beyond helping me, or stubborn determination, into preposterous.

  I moved to the door and picked up the rifle she’d offered me last night. Hardening my voice, I said, “No. This is my business. You’re not welcome to join me. Now that I have a gun, I’ll take you back to your place, then head to Dearborn’s and wait for him there.”

  She ignored the tone in my voice that had made grown men cower.

  “What about last night?”

  “What about it?” I asked, wiping all expression from my face. If she wouldn’t listen to reason, I’d have to push her away, even if it meant hurting her. It hurt me, too, but it had to be done. I had to cut her loose once and for all, not fool her into thinking there was a chance in hell we could be together.

  Her chin came up an inch or two, a gesture I’d come to associate with Beth defending her pride. “I didn’t take you for the kind of man to use a woman then toss her aside.”

  “I ’spose you don’t know me as well as you think, then.”

  She lifted a brow and huffed. “Maybe I do.”

  “Not likely. If you think one night together means we suddenly have a future, you’re just kidding yourself,” I said. I planted my feet and stood firm, looking as menacing as possible. “My mind’s made up. I’ve got what I need to get the job done. Get yourself ready so we can leave.”

  “Fine,” she said, her face all hard edges and fuming anger. She marched to her saddlebag near my feet and dug through it, coming up with two pistols and a handful of ammunition. She shoved them into my chest, forcing me to take them. “I’m glad I could at least provide you with the weapon you need. But if that one’s not good enough, here, take these. I’m sure one of them will get the job done and maybe together they’ll be enough to hold off the posse and Clay’s men for a while. Perhaps you can have your own personal Alamo.”

  Tears streamed down her face as she stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Her words mocked me, especially since holing up at Dearborn’s place hoping to ambush him and his men would probably lead me to a situation very much like the one the men at the Alamo faced. It was a good plan, though, if I could catch Dearborn by surprise and put a bullet between his eyes.

  I laid the guns out on the table and loaded them one by one. I hoped she had some more ammunition in her pack. Three loaded weapons was good, but I’d like to have a better supply of bullets.

  While Beth blew off steam, I packed some supplies and made the bed, doing my best to keep thoughts of last night at bay. I’d escort Beth back home and then head to Dearborn’s spread where hopefully I could settle in before he and the posse returned from their wild-goose chase.

  With supplies packed and bed made, I poured some coffee for both of us and opened a can of peaches. It would be a long day of travel.

  Where was she? Even as angry as she was, she shouldn’t have been gone so long.

  Unless she up and left.

  I pulled on my boots and went to check the horses. There hadn’t been commotion to hint she’d saddled up and taken off, but if I’d learned anything about Beth it was to expect the unexpected.

  Outside, both the horses were still tied to the tree together, close and cozy. Lucky horses. Their lives were easy.

  I scanned the small clearing where the cabin stood. No sign of Beth. Where could she have gone? Unless she’d taken off down the trail on foot, she had to be somewhere nearby. She couldn’t be foolish enough to walk home, and I didn’t take her for a petty woman who’d hide and pout.

  “Beth?” I called. My voice echoed off the canyon walls, but she didn’t answer.

  I didn’t want to think she’d come to harm, but that seemed more likely than her running off. Heading back to the porch, I searched for her boot prints in the dirt and found them out behind the cabin at the beginning of an overgrown path.

  She’d probably just gone out to find a place to do her business, so she couldn’t have gone far. I followed the prints as best I could, where they were visible, but lost them not far in. The trail hugged the canyon wall and was mostly gravel and overgrown juniper and scrub.

  “Beth?” I called again. She could have left the path anywhere if her intent was to find a bush to relieve herself behind. But if she’d done that, wouldn’t she have just headed back to the cabin? “Where are you? If you’re hiding out here just to rile me, you’ve done the job. I’m good and riled.”

  I still heard nothing, not even crickets or birds chirping. It was too still. My heart kicked up a notch. Maybe she wasn’t hiding. Maybe something had happened to her. There were rattlers everywhere in these mountains, or maybe she’d startled a bear. Or she could have pushed through some scrub and stepped right off the ledge.

  I shoved aside a shrub and followed the trail farther, leaning into the rock wall for balance while I climbed over a pile of small boulders. As I made my way through the brush, I couldn’t help cursing her. It would be just like her to go and get herself in trouble and make me feel like a heel for having treated her so poorly. It was one thing to take her home and part ways, maybe with a broken heart, but at least in one piece. It was an entirely different thing to have broken her heart and driven her to whatever had happened to her. I couldn’t live with that.

  “Dagnabbit, Beth, where are you?” I hollered, squeezing between a large boulder and the canyon wall. I pulled up quick on the other side of the boulder as my boot disturbed some dirt and pebbles, sending them skittering down into a hole in the middle of the trail.

  The hole wasn’t all that big, maybe big enough for a badger or fox—or Beth. It looked fresh and deep. On my hands and knees, I peered down into it, but it was black as night.

  “Beth! Are you down there?”

  I didn’t want to think about her down there, but there was no other place she could be. If she couldn’t answer, that meant she had to be hurt. Part of me recognized that not even an hour ago I’d made it clear to her we had to part ways, that I’d see her home safely, and rescuing her from this predicament was only part of that obligation. But worry plagued another part of me. All I could think of was Beth in a broken heap in the dark, dying alone, thinking I’d used her and pushed her away. That thought was worse than all the lies Dearborn and Dawson had told about me because this time I was the one lying.

  “Hold on, Beth. I’m coming for you.”

  ~Beth~

  I felt like a monumental fool. I’d marched out of the cabin in a huff, angry at Isaac, but mostly angry at myself because I’d given into my feelings with the silly hope that one night in bed together would change everything. It had certainly been life-changing, but no matter how wonderful, or even how we felt about each other, it didn’t change the circumstances of our lives. Or that man’s stubborn determination.

  I’d just about walked off all of my anger coming to this conclusion, when I climbed around a boulder and with the next step the earth gave way and I’d plunged into darkness.

  I must have lost consciousness, but when I woke and tried to stand I just about passed out again from the pain in my left ankle.

  “Wonderful. Just what I need is a broken ankle,” I muttered to myself.

  Using the diagnostic skills I’d learned at my father’s side, I assessed my injuries. Aside from my ankle, which throbbed, I had various aches and pains associated with falling down a hole onto a hard dirt floor. None of them seemed serious. The back of my head hurt and when I checked with my fingers I found a knot the size of a walnut. At least I didn’t feel dizzy or like I needed to throw up.

  My eyes had adjusted enough to realize that although it was dark, it wasn’t pitch-black. I scooted to get a bette
r view of my ankle. It was swollen and painful to the touch, but I could force it through very limited range of motion. If I was lucky, it was just a bad sprain and not broken.

  I sighed and lay back, staring up at the hole above me in the ceiling. The blue sky visible from that small opening kept me connected to the outside world. I was grateful for that. It saved me from panicking in the darkness. I sensed openness around me, but had no real feel for the size of the cavern. I wondered if Isaac would come looking for me. I couldn’t imagine, no matter how angry he was at me, that he’d leave not knowing what happened to me. He’d see both horses still tied to the tree and start searching. At least that was what I hoped.

  While I waited, I watched the clouds float by and considered my choices. Assuming Isaac rescued me, I could try to change his mind and coax him to go north and start a new life together. I had a feeling if I turned on the womanly charm I might be able to convince him. But if he ever agreed to a life together, I wanted it to be of his own free will—his own choice—not because I finagled it.

  Besides which, he was right when he asked why I was willing to abandon my friends, my job, and my land for a man I hardly knew. I’d struggled to control my impetuous behavior. It was one thing for a young, impressionable girl to run off for a life of adventure, but I was a grown woman with responsibilities. I needed to be practical.

  Until Isaac, I’d had no problem being practical, but Isaac was the first man since Frank who made the possibility of marriage—of love—seem possible again. I recognized how dangerous, and exciting, men like Frank and Isaac could be, but wasn’t it possible to have excitement, and maybe even a little danger, and still be practical? There had to be some ground in the middle where we could settle down and be happy. If only Clay didn’t stand like an immovable obstacle between us. Damn him.

  A ray of sunlight breached the edge of the hole in the ceiling, shining enough light into the cavern so I could see my surroundings. It must be late morning if the sun was high enough in the sky to reach the little hole I fell through.

  I sat up to take a look around. The space was bigger than the cabin, but not by much, with a high ceiling. The most interesting feature was the vein of gold sparkling in the sunlight.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered.

  On my hands and knees I crawled over the rocky floor to examine the wall, hoping it wasn’t just my imagination. I shifted to a sitting position, trying to avoid hitting my foot on anything, and mostly managed. My focus was on confirming my find before the sun moved too much in the sky.

  The vein was a good size, maybe the length and width of my forearm, but I had no way of judging the depth. It could be a small deposit, or a mile-long ribbon. I’d be happy to settle for a few sizable nuggets. I grabbed a nearby rock and hefted it in my hand, measuring its weight and usefulness as a striking tool. It would do. I aimed it at a nub protruding from the surface of the vein, then brought it down with a sharp strike. The sound echoed in the room and the impact jolted my elbow and shoulder, but the blow flung the chunk of gold halfway across the room. It clattered into a shadow. I swung again, aiming the sharp edge of the rock at the stump of the protrusion, and another chunk broke off. The second piece didn’t bounce as far away. The rest of the vein shimmered in the sunlight, a golden siren.

  I hauled myself after the closest nugget, then crawled into the shadows in search of the other one. When I had them both, I scooted back into the pool of sunshine.

  I turned them over in my hands, unable to contain my excitement. The first one was about size of a chicken egg, and easily several ounces, it glittered like the promise of Christmas morning. The second piece was slightly smaller, maybe walnut-sized. Finding this gold changed everything.

  “Beth? Are you down there?”

  “Isaac?”

  Isaac’s head appeared over the edge of the ceiling hole, and I felt more relief than I could imagine.

  “It’s dark down there. I can’t see you,” he said.

  “I’m here. I hurt my ankle when I fell; otherwise I’m fine.”

  “I’ll throw down a rope. Tie it around your waist and I’ll haul you out of there.”

  He lowered a rope and I tied it around myself in quick order. “Okay.”

  He disappeared from the opening and shortly after that the rope went taut and I started rising from the floor of the cave. I hated the helplessness of not being able to assist in my own rescue—of being nothing more than a dead weight Isaac needed to save.

  When I reached the lip of the hole, I grabbed hold and scrambled out, landing on my back in the grass and gravel. Isaac sat next to me, still breathing hard from the effort of pulling me out of the cave.

  He didn’t say a word, just sat cross-legged and glared at me. I couldn’t read his expression, other than his furrowed brow and downturned mouth hinted that he was mad at me and maybe exasperated. While I’d been down in the hole all I’d wanted was to see his face. Now that he was in front of me again I remembered what made me walk out on him in the first place and I couldn’t help sharing his anger and frustration.

  “I’m sorry I walked out like that and caused you this hassle,” I said pulling myself into a sitting position, stiffening my spine, and refusing to meet his eyes. “If I could trouble you one more time to help me back to the cabin, then onto Little Sister, I’ll be out of your life.”

  More than anything I wanted to show him the nuggets I’d found and tell him about the rest of the gold down there and share my excitement with him. There were so many ways the gold could change our lives, but my stupid heart had a short memory so I reminded myself that his priorities didn’t include me. He’d used me last night, but it didn’t change his plans this morning.

  He took off his hat and swiped the sweat from his brow. His dark hair was damp from the heat and I recalled it damp last night in the frenzy of passion. It took more willpower than I knew I had not to reach out and tuck his hair behind his ear.

  “No need to be that way, Beth.”

  “What way? You mean angry? Insulted? Humiliated? I think there’s plenty of need. Thank you for rescuing me, but all that proves is that you have a shred of decency. I assume you would have rescued anyone from a hole in the ground. I’m no different from any other victim of circumstance.”

  All I wanted at that moment was distance. I crawled to the rocky wall and pulled myself up to standing, then began the trip back to the cabin one hop at a time. I heard him come up behind me and it didn’t surprise me when he swept me up into his arms, though it did irritate me. It felt perfect except that it didn’t mean anything.

  He walked without speaking, not looking at me, just watching the path ahead of us. The cabin was within sight before he said anything.

  “I’m sorry I hurt you this morning. If circumstances were different I’d be honored to spend my life with you.” He finally looked me in the eye and my heart leaped at the honesty I saw there. “But things aren’t different. They are what they are and you deserve better. I’m asking you to honor my wishes even if you disagree with them. Can you do that for me? Please?”

  Damn him. How could I say anything but yes? I chose instead to change the subject. I dug in my pocket as we approached the porch, pulling out the larger of the gold nuggets.

  “I found this in the cave.”

  He lowered me to the porch and took the nugget, stepping back out into the sun to examine it.

  “Holy shit, Beth, this is the real thing.”

  I beamed at him, pleased as pie. “You bet it is, and there’s a whole vein of it down there. We’ve got us a gold mine, partner.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me and handed the nugget back. “You and your friends are partners, not you and me.”

  “But—”

  He cut me off as if I hadn’t spoken. “This’ll solve your money problems, that’s for sure. But you’ll need to get to Virginia City and register the claim.”

  I turned the nugget over in my hand, studying it as I collected my thoughts. He was right. Thin
gs were what they were and the only way to make them any different was to move the immovable.

  “Will you do me one last favor and come with me to Virginia City?” I asked. “There’s plenty of time after that for us to head back to Palmer.”

  He cocked his head as if trying to figure out my hidden agenda, but I just hobbled for the cabin door. I didn’t know that I had a hidden agenda, other than to prevent him from following through with his stupid plan for as long as possible. I couldn’t stand the thought of Clay, or anybody else, killing Isaac. Every time he talked about exacting his revenge on Clay an image of Isaac lying cold and dead on the ground with a bullet through his head popped into my mind. I wanted to stop that from happening, but I didn’t know how just yet.

  It was clear we both had feelings for each other. The only thing standing between us was Clay Dearborn and his blasted lies. I needed time to figure another way around.

  “I suppose I can manage that. I don’t much like the idea of you showing up in Virginia City looking like that, and injured to boot.”

  He’d followed me to the cabin door. I looked at him over my shoulder from where I stood in the doorway and gave him my best smile.

  I was in deep trouble.

  I only had a few days to find a way to save Isaac from himself.

  Chapter Twelve

  ~Isaac~

  We rode into Virginia City at dusk a couple days later, after spending one more night and day at the cabin. While Beth rested her ankle, I covered and hid the opening to the mine as best I could.

  The entire trip to Virginia City Beth behaved as if we had a rosy future ahead of us. She snuggled up to me when we slept on the ground, and had nothing but smiles and happy chatter as we traveled. But it seemed forced to me. Maybe it was only because I knew nothing had changed and my conscience gnawed at me for not setting her straight from the outset.

  It seemed pointless to bring it up. It wasn’t something she didn’t already know, and discussing it again would only lead back around to the same conclusion. Without so many words we eventually agreed to a truce where Beth refused to admit the truth and I was torn between my wish to give her what she wanted and my need to avenge myself on Dearborn.