Stagecoach to Serenity

by Steven Gray

  Without hesitating, she turned the gun on him and fired, hitting him in the leg. With a cry of pain he fell to the floor.

  ‘Orson!’

  ‘Pa!’

  Nothing and no one could have stopped the Peel women as they rushed to his side. Betsy dropped to her knees, cradling his head, murmuring his name, while Amelia quickly tore a strip from her petticoat to bind the wound.

  ‘How touching.’ Sarah seemed to find their concern funny.

  This was a different Sarah. No longer the naïve and pleasant farm girl. But someone hard and quite ruthless.

  Greeley’s heart thumped loudly as he demanded, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘What does it look like?’

  ‘You’re going to rescue Norton.’

  ‘Spot on.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Work it out.’

  ‘You’re involved with him, of course.’

  ‘Clever boy,’ Sarah laughed. ‘Right again.’

  Greeley cursed. He hadn’t once suspected that they even knew one another, let alone anything more. Not once had they acknowledged each other by word or deed and Sarah’s act of being scared of the young man had been convincing. While he’d ignored her completely.

  ‘Naturally you, like everyone else, never realized he was my lover. We both played our parts too well for that. Now we’re going places together and no one is going to stop me. Does that shock you, Gustavus dear? You might find it even more shocking to learn that I’m a whore.’ Sarah laughed at Betsy’s gasp. ‘That’s right, Mrs Peel, I’ve been one for years. They call me Sal the Gal. Actually, although I like the life, I’m hoping to give up that occupation quite soon and open a brothel of my own in San Francisco. With Darren. Pity, Gustavus, that you won’t be one of my first customers. I quite like the look of you.’

  Greeley had once liked the look of her too.

  Sal laughed again. ‘Your faces! You’re all oh so respectable, ain’t you? And now you know what I am, you consider me a nobody. Well, let me tell me I’m soon going to have more money than the rest of you put together. I shall become quite the lady. Own a horse and carriage and have servants of my own. What do you decent folks have to say to that?’

  Ruth cried out as Sal pressed the gun harder into her flesh.

  ‘Don’t,’ Greeley said. ‘She hasn’t done anything to you.’

  ‘Oh do be quiet. Instead of babbling away, make yourself useful. Push back the table and let Darren out of the root cellar.’

  ‘Please do as she says,’ Betsy begged, wiping tears from her eyes. ‘We don’t want Mrs Lewis to be hurt.’

  At which Ruth gave a little whimper of fright and pain.

  With little choice but to do as Sarah, no Sal, ordered, Greeley indicated to Anderson that they move the table. As he did so, he glanced at Daniels, unable to tell if the man was still alive or not. Thankfully Peel didn’t seem badly hurt. He was white-faced with pain and shock, but was sitting up, leaning against his wife’s knees. When Greeley pulled open the trapdoor, he saw Norton on his feet, looking up expectantly; he must have heard the shots and some at least of what was said.

  Pulling Ruth with her, Sal went up to the opening. ‘Hi there, Darren. Come on up, darling. We ain’t got all day.’ She grinned at his expression of delight.

  ‘Sal!’ he cried. He started up the steps and groaned. ‘My legs are numb from being down here for so long.’

  ‘Never mind that, just get on up here.’ When Darren joined her, Sal gave him a quick kiss and then said. ‘Get Peel’s gun. And, Gustavus, perhaps you’d like to remove your pistol from its holster and place it, CAREFULLY, on the floor.’

  Reluctantly he did as she ordered. And Norton picked it up, holding it awkwardly because he was still handcuffed.

  ‘Good. Now, all of you, get on down into the root cellar.’

  ‘That’s the thing, Sal! Let them suffer like they done made me. It was cold and dark down there. They didn’t care nothing about me.’

  ‘We fed you . . .’ Betsy began before her husband nudged her to keep quiet.

  ‘Anyone got any objections?’ Sal mocked. ‘No, I didn’t think so. You should be grateful I don’t shoot you all as well. Go on, quickly! Oh, don’t bother about the guard. Leave him lying where he is and, Gustavus, not you. You wait up here with me.’

  Betsy gave him a startled look.

  ‘It’s all right,’ Greeley said, although he doubted it was, especially when Sal laughed.

  Betsy and Amelia helped Peel down the steps into the cellar, with Anderson following close behind.

  ‘You too.’ Sal gave Ruth a hard shove so that she almost fell.

  Greeley caught her arm and helped the trembling woman follow the others. ‘She won’t hurt you now,’ he said to reassure her and she nodded gratefully.

  ‘Now, Gustavus dear, shut the trapdoor and move the table on top of it so they can’t get out. Good.’

  ‘What about these?’ Norton held up his handcuffed wrists.

  ‘Give me the keys,’ Sal ordered Greeley.

  As she held out a hand, he considered going for his gun and making a stand. He dismissed the idea just as quickly. There were two guns held on him now and he didn’t doubt that both Norton and Sal would use them. Sal had shown herself quite willing to fire a gun and Norton had nothing to lose. Best to submit now and hope to seize a better chance later on.

  That was if there was a later on for him, which he wasn’t at all sure there would be. Sal looked capable of anything.

  ‘Hurry it up,’ she said with a glance out of the window.

  ‘Here you are.’ Greeley gave her the key, scowling at Norton even while Norton smirked back.

  ‘Handcuff him in my place. See how he likes it. Stop him getting any ideas.’

  With her own smirk, Sal did so and then tossed the key into the far corner of the room. Turning she picked up her bag that she’d placed by the door and said, ‘Now, for chris’sakes, let’s get on down to the barn and, Gustavus dear, you can come with us. Then me and Darren will be on our way. Walk ahead of us.’

  ‘You won’t get away with this, you know.’

  ‘Don’t see why not. I usually get away with most everything I do. Even killing that stupid farmer. None of you so much as suspected me of any foul play. You thought it was an accident.’ Sal smiled. ‘It was easy. I just bided my time and then amid all the confusion at the ford, which I caused by the way by falling against you, Gustavus dear, I knifed him and held him under the water till he drowned.’

  Greeley was horrified at her boasting and he was amused to see that Norton didn’t look all that happy either.

  ‘Almost drowned you too when you went under. But I decided you could still be useful at some point.’

  ‘What had Lewis done to you?’

  ‘He said he recognized me.’

  ‘You knew damn well he said that to everyone. He didn’t mean it.’

  ‘I know. It’s a shame, isn’t it? But I couldn’t take any chances. Iffen you had learned I worked in a cathouse you’d’ve suspected me straight off of being involved with Darren. Besides I didn’t like Mr Lewis and the way he kept on and on and on. And as for the way he treated his poor wife and how he spoke to her was just plain horrible. And wrong. I did her a favour. She’s better off without him. Like my ma was better off without her husband though she never admitted it.’

  For a fleeting moment Sal looked quite sad, but the look was gone so quickly Greeley wondered if he’d imagined it.

  By now they had reached the barn.

  ‘Those two horses there, Gustavus dear, they look steady enough. That is one thing I told the truth about. I did grow up on a farm and I’ve been around horses all my life. Fetch them for us. And be quick about it. I don’t want any of the cowboys coming back and catching us before we can be on our way. I haven’t done all this and risked my life to be stopped by a bunch of hicks.’

  Greeley turned to the horses. As he did so, he heard movement close be
hind him. There was Darren’s snigger, followed by Sal’s giggle. Before he could do anything, Sal brought the barrel of her gun down as hard as she could on his head. Stars burst before his eyes and he collapsed to the ground with barely a sound.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Early in the morning, Marshal Rayner spent time walking round Serenity, inspecting people and the town.

  The storm had caused a lot of damage, with some flooding, serious in places, while several fences and walls had been knocked down by the wind. Holes had appeared in the streets and mud and debris piled up under the sidewalks. A few people were hurt, some with broken limbs, and a couple of men had almost drowned. Thankfully there had been no fatalities.

  And now at last the sun was breaking through the clouds, warming everything up and drying it out. Stores were reopening. The saloons had never closed, despite Rayner’s warnings. It would be soon be business as usual.

  On the way back to his office he called in on Greg Morgan. The telegraph operator didn’t look pleased to see him, nor pleased with life in general.

  ‘Telegraph is still out,’ he said abruptly. ‘So, no, there ain’t been a reply from Wells Fargo about who was or wasn’t on the damn stage. And, no, there ain’t been a reply from Talbot about Judge Quinn. You’ll just have to wait like everyone else.’

  ‘OK,’ Rayner said. ‘Let me know as soon as it’s back in action.’ And he left Morgan to stew in whatever was wrong. It was probably something to do with that sour-faced wife of his.

  Earlier he’d sent Frank Evans out to look at the river and he didn’t have long to wait before his deputy returned from the ride. Evans looked cold and miserable. As he took off his hat and hung up his coat, Rayner poured them both out coffee.

  ‘Well?’

  Evans shook his head. ‘It’s still awful out there. And, Charley, the bridge is well and truly down. The stage hasn’t a hope of getting through.’

  ‘Hell!’ Rayner looked shocked. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘There ain’t much of it left, except for some of the structure on both banks and a few posts in the river. The rest has been washed clear away. And the river is running higher and faster than I’ve ever seen it. There’s no way the stage can be driven through it, not like it is at the moment. It’d overturn or get stuck for sure. I doubt even a rider could get across.’

  ‘Hell,’ Rayner said again. He thought for a moment. ‘Well, if the stagecoach driver knows his stuff, and Bill Brown surely does, he could go a couple of miles out of his way to where there’s a crossing lower down.’ He frowned. ‘But even Bill might not want to do that when he’d have no guarantee the river’ll be passable even there.’

  ‘I didn’t ride that far to see.’

  ‘Didn’t expect you to.’ Rayner sighed. ‘I’m guessing we won’t be able to set about repairing the bridge just yet.’

  ‘Not till the river goes down.’

  ‘All the same you might start rounding up those men who’ll be willing to help in the rebuilding. Tell ’em they’ll be paid out of town funds. I know there are a lot of things here in Serenity need repair too, but the bridge is our priority. It’s our lifeline to Talbot and elsewhere.’

  ‘OK.’ Evans nodded. ‘There won’t be any shortage of volunteers. Everyone knows how important it is. What will you be doing?’

  ‘I’ll have to tell Artie what’s going on. He’s expecting the stage to arrive sometime today with Norton on it.’ Rayner shrugged. ‘Whereas we don’t even know if Greeley and his prisoner managed to catch it. And, even if they did, it’s obvious it’s going to be a while yet before they can get here.’

  ‘Can’t help the weather.’

  ‘After that I’ll ride round some of the farms, see if any of ’em need help. And on the way back I’ll take a look at the river for myself.’ He glanced out of the window. Perhaps with the improvement in the weather, things would start to get back to normal quite quickly, although that was probably a forlorn hope.

  ‘Charley, is it OK if I ride out to Irene’s place? Make sure she and her folks are all right?’

  ‘Yeah, ’course. Artie will want to know about them as well.’ Putting on his jacket, Rayner paused as he got to the door. ‘By the way, Frank, you see any sign of Sal the Gal out there?’

  ‘No, sir, nary a one.’

  ‘Pity.’ Rayner sighed again.

  He reckoned Sal was either dead or lying somewhere badly injured. Maybe she’d drowned in the river. He doubted they’d ever know for sure.

  ‘Ain’t much of a let up yet,’ Toby Williams said after he and Joseph had ridden a little way down the hillside, following the course of the river, which still showed little sign of abating. ‘The bounty hunter’ll have his work cut out iffen he insists on making the journey to Serenity today, especially if he comes this way. Reckon his best bet will be to make a long detour and come out further down the valley. Take him longer though. If he had any sense he’d leave it for a day or two, but I doubt he will.’

  ‘It is slightly better than yesterday,’ Joseph pointed out. ‘So maybe he’ll be OK. He seems pretty experienced. Up to him anyhow. Hopefully it’s better at the ford and the men will be able to get to Bill and the horses.’

  ‘One thing, Jo, we ain’t seen no sign of any stranded or dead cattle.’ The livestock was what the foreman was mostly worried about.

  ‘No . . . wait up, Toby, what’s that?’ Joseph pointed at the riverbank. ‘There see.’

  Something was caught up amongst the rocks and rushes on this side of the river. Something bulky, that shouldn’t be there.

  ‘I’ll go see.’ Williams dismounted.

  Pushing back his slicker so that if need be he could get at his gun, he made his way to the edge of the bank, careful not to slip in the mud. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that it wasn’t a dead animal but a man’s body. Some poor soul who had got caught out in the storm and landed up in the river. Thankfully not one of the OP men: they were all accounted for.

  Joseph joined him. ‘Hell. It must be that passenger from the stagecoach. If he was lost at the ford, the tide could easily have carried him all the way down here. Let’s get him out.’

  Williams braced himself against the bank and reached down for the body. Joseph held on to his legs to stop him from falling in as he grabbed the dead man’s jacket.

  Williams heaved. The body was stuck in the rushes somehow, but after a moment it came free with a horrible sucking sound. He fell backwards, pulling the corpse after him. Scrambling to his feet, he and Joseph dragged it to the top of the bank and there turned it over on to its back.

  Joseph swore. ‘What the hell is that?’

  The man hadn’t drowned as everyone had naturally assumed. He’d been stabbed in the throat, leaving behind a large, gaping wound.

  Murdered!

  ‘Who did this, Toby? Indians?’ Joseph looked nervously at the surrounding trees.

  Williams shook his head. ‘Can’t be. They wouldn’t’ve been out yesterday. They’d’ve had more sense. ’Sides we ain’t had Indian trouble in the hills for years. They don’t stab their victims neither. And the other passengers didn’t report seeing any sign of Indians or anyone else either.’

  ‘They believed Lewis was drowned. How could he have been stabbed without them seeing that either?’ Joseph pushed his hat to the back of his head and frowned, trying to puzzle it out. ‘So was he drowned first at the ford and then stabbed later by someone who wasn’t on the stage? No,’ he answered his own question, ‘that makes even less sense than an Indian attack.’

  ‘None of it adds up. But, Jo, this man has been stabbed and, think about it, it must have been at the ford. By someone who was clever enough to fool the others into thinking his loss was an accident. But why? Why was he, a farmer, killed, when none of them had met him before?’

  ‘Or at least said they hadn’t.’ The two men looked at one another and Joseph went on, ‘It must be to do with Norton.’

  ‘He couldn’t have stabbed anyone,’ Willia
ms objected. ‘He was in handcuffs and that bounty hunter, who surely don’t look like anyone’s fool, would’ve searched him for weapons.’

  ‘Perhaps he had an accomplice on the stage who had some reason of his own to murder Lewis.’

  ‘Well if so, and whatever the truth of the matter, whoever did this is back at the ranch-house with your family.’

  Joseph’s face whitened. ‘We’ve got to get back there quick. Warn them.’

  Williams was already picking up the corpse. He carried it up to where the two horses waited. He threw it unceremoniously over the back of his horse and mounted behind it.

  ‘Come on, there’s no time to lose.’ Joseph spurred away.

  Williams followed. He had an awful feeling that they were already too late. If anything had happened to the Peels. . . .

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Sal laughed and kicked out at Greeley’s inert body.

  Norton laughed too, but the look of awe he gave the girl was tinged with slight feelings of disquiet. Then she kissed him long and hard. And he forgot everything except how exciting it was to be with her. She was exciting.

  ‘You’re a wonder,’ he said, meaning it. ‘Has anyone ever told you so?’

  ‘They don’t call me Sal the Gal for nothing!’

  ‘Let’s get outta here.’ Norton went over to one of the horses. ‘What’s the plan, Sal?’ She must have one.

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Sal stopped him. ‘What about him?’ She kicked Greeley again.

  ‘What about him?’

  Sal sighed. Sometimes Darren could be so stupid. ‘Don’t you want to shoot him?’ She fingered the gun she’d stuck in the belt of her skirt. ‘You’d like to see him dead, wouldn’t you, after the terrible way he treated you?’

  For a moment Norton thought, yes, the bastard deserved to be killed for what he’d done. But it was one thing to fantasize about shooting Greeley, and the others too, what with the way they looked at him and talked about looking forward to seeing him hang, and quite another to actually do it in cold blood, especially when Greeley was lying unconscious and helpless at his feet.