Angel Gone Bad

by Sabine Starr

  Three black-and-white dogs raced down the road, announcing their presence with loud barks.

  “Hey, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis! Good doggies!” she called happily.

  “What did you call them?”

  She laughed. “I named them. I’d just finished reading The Three Musketeers when I met them as puppies. I also renamed their owner Crowdy. He’s now d’Artagnan.”

  “I think I’ve heard of that book.”

  “It’s the wonderful French novel by Alexandre Dumas that was first serialized exactly forty years ago. Four young men have great adventures and live by the motto, all for one and one for all.”

  “First, the French roof. Now, dogs with French names. Is there something French in the water around here?”

  Angel laughed, shaking her head.

  “You’re having a lot of adventures, too.”

  “So true.” She held out her hand. “Shake. One for all and all for one.”

  He clasped her hand, but didn’t shake. Instead, he felt her warmth, her strength, her sincerity. He squeezed and let go. “One for all and all for one.” And he realized that he meant it.

  “Go tell d’Artagnan we’re here.” She clapped her hands and sent the dogs running ahead of them.

  “I didn’t know you had a way with animals.”

  “They have a way with me. I love them.” She gestured toward the horses. “Aren’t they beautiful? And this land is just as wonderful.”

  “It’s a fine mountain valley.”

  A moment later, Rune heard the thunder of horse’s hooves racing down the road toward them. Instinctively, he dropped his hand to his six-shooter. Most likely not trouble, but he didn’t take chances.

  A man with black hair wearing a blue shirt and Levi’s rode into sight on a dark-red sorrel horse.

  “D’Artagnan! Copper!” Angel called out.

  “Mornin’, Crystabelle . . . Angel.” He expertly turned the stallion and fell into step beside them.

  “Copper looks great. How is Jipsey?”

  “Good. Life floats like clouds across sky.”

  “Stop that!” Angel chuckled. “Don’t play that Cigar-Store Indian with me. I don’t want to interpret you all day long.”

  “You don’t appreciate word play?”

  “You know I do, but we’re here on serious business.”

  “And your friend?”

  “My name’s Rune Wulfsson.” He’d known enough Cherokees to recognize a man of that nation by the tall, lithe body, high cheekbones, square jaw, and light bronze skin. No way to tell his age. He could be anywhere from twenty to fifty.

  “Good to meet you. I’m Crowdy.”

  “He’s ranch foreman,” Angel said. “Plus, those mustangs over there belong to him.”

  “What’s the trouble?” Crowdy asked.

  “It’s complicated. Rune, would you explain?”

  “We were at New Boggy Saloon night before last.”

  “Oh, no!” Angel covered her face with her hands, and then looked over at Crowdy in embarrassment. “New Boggy Saloon burned down.”

  “The saloon burned down again? What happened?” Crowdy stopped Copper and looked at her in surprise.

  “She started the fire,” Rune said.

  “You burned down New Boggy?” Crowdy threw back his head and laughed so hard he wheezed. “First, Lady burns down Boggy. Now you burn down New Boggy.”

  “It’s not funny,” she insisted.

  “There was a shoot-out between horse thieves and the AHTA. Only way she could save De Luca and Eagle Road,” Rune explained.

  Crowdy gave a final chuckle. “Know them. Good men. Glad they’re alive.”

  “They’re wounded, but okay.”

  “Wait till I tell Lady,” Crowdy said. “Bet she writes a new ballad. ‘Angel Gone Bad’s Firefight at New Boggy Saloon.’ You like?”

  “That’s not funny. I’m trying to reclaim my reputation.”

  Crowdy laughed again. “Burning down a saloon is one way to do it. Glad I wasn’t the owner this time.”

  “I’ll leave you money to repay him.”

  “Okay. I’ll see Milton gets it.” Crowdy looked from Angel to Rune. “Now tell me what brings you here.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  “And that’s what we’re doing here.” Rune finished explaining the situation that had brought them to Gone Right Ranch.

  “I don’t know about any Choctaw gold shipments.” Crowdy appeared puzzled. “But maybe it’d be kept secret.”

  “The Verdigris Gang is planning their robbery in a couple of hours,” Angel said.

  “You shouldn’t be running with that outfit.” Crowdy gave her a stern look. “The V Gang is bad, and the Badgers are worse. Lady is used to handling outlaws. You’re not.”

  Angel raised her chin, wishing Crowdy had more confidence in her. “If she can do it, I can do it.”

  “Don’t doubt you can, but at what price?”

  “No point bickering about it,” Rune said. “Only reason we’re with the V Gang is to get to the Badgers. From what we’ve learned, I don’t think we need them much longer.”

  “Then what are you doing here?” Crowdy asked.

  “Didn’t I make it clear? We don’t want to see the Choctaw robbed,” Angel said.

  Crowdy looked up and down the road. “Far as I know, H. T. Jackmon was contracted for thirty thousand dollars to build the Choctaw Capitol. He’s got five sawmills at work in the Potato Hills. They’re hauling clay out of the Hills. Thirty men are firing it in brick kilns on the Capitol grounds. Ox-drawn wagons are bringing dressed lumber from Stringtown. Window and door frames are coming from Paris and Fort Smith.

  “It’ll be two-stories high with a garret. Eighteen-foot ceilings inside. That gives you an idea as to size.”

  “Okay, it’s a big, impressive job,” Angel said impatiently.

  “What I’m saying is that the gold shipment could be payroll money.”

  “Sounds about right,” Rune agreed.

  “On the other hand, gold makes little sense. Silver, maybe. Still, how’d that gang find out about it? Up here, not much news gets out. And it wouldn’t be that big a haul.”

  “I don’t like where this is headed,” Rune said.

  “Are you saying, you think they lied?” Angel felt a shiver of alarm run up her spine.

  “I hadn’t heard a stagecoach was coming through about this time.” Crowdy looked from one to the other. “How well do you know the V Gang?”

  “Not well enough to get shot up or arrested on their say so,” Rune said.

  “You think it’s a setup?” Angel asked.

  “I sure wouldn’t go in with guns blazing,” Crowdy said.

  “If we’re here, where are they?” Rune asked.

  “Horsethief Spring.” Angel rolled her eyes. “And they’re telling who knows what kind of lies about us.”

  “What are you gonna do?” Crowdy asked.

  “First, get the facts straight,” Rune said. “If what we’re thinking is true, then we’ve got to oust the fox from the hen house.”

  Crowdy nodded. “How do you want me to help?”

  “Is there a bluff or a good hiding place where we can watch the coach, if there is one, come through? If the gang attacks, they told the truth. If they don’t show, they lied.”

  “If they rob the Choctaw, we can’t let them keep the money,” Angel added. “What will we do?”

  “Nothing,” Crowdy said. “I’ll gather a few cowboys. I know the right bluff. You two get on one side. We’ll get on the other. If the V Gang shows, we’ll get them, hold them, and telegraph the U.S. Marshal’s office in Fort Smith to come pick them up.”

  “And we’ll go on to Horsethief Spring,” Angel said.

  “With nobody the wiser,” Rune added.

  “If I can’t talk you out of hooking up with the Badgers, this sounds like the best plan. Hope you can find your friend. Now, do you want some chow?”

  “I’m starved,” Angel said. �
��And you don’t know how bad I want to get off this horse.”

  “Come on then.”

  They rode forward, moving at a quick pace. When they came around the bend, Angel saw a big, red barn.

  “Are you telling me that you still haven’t built a house?”

  “Horses come first. Besides, I want Lady to have the best dwelling around here. I’m talking with Mr. Jackmon about constructing a house and a bunkhouse while he’s still got equipment and workers in place.”

  “Lady must have taken to robbing banks to afford it,” Rune said. Crowdy frowned. “She’s got more goin’ on than you can shake a stick at. Besides which, a big outfit back East is putting her ballads on sheet music. She’s got them copyrighted.”

  “How exciting!” Angel said. “She’s so smart to protect her wonderful music. I hadn’t heard that news.”

  “You’ve been holed up down in Texas,” Crowdy said.

  “I’ve been teaching, and promoting my novel.”

  “We’re right proud of you, too. Sam Bohanon down at Bohanon Place is carrying Sweet Rescue in his store. I’ve got my copy in the barn.”

  Rune chuckled. “How do the horses like it?”

  “Just fine. I’ve been reading to them in the evenings.”

  “You two! Be serious. We’ve got a problem on our hands.”

  “Only problem I’ve got right now is how much food I can tuck away,” Rune said.

  “You’re in luck. I’ve got a venison stew simmering over hot coals. Blackberries and cream.”

  “Let’s go!” Rune urged his gelding faster.

  As they rode up to the barn, Angel sighed in relief. She’d barely stopped Emma before she slid out of the saddle and planted her feet firmly on the ground. “That feels wonderful. Two feet firmly fixed on the earth instead of dangling in the air.”

  “Where’s the grub?” Rune hit the ground and headed toward the barn.

  “Over here.”

  Crowdy led them to a brush arbor. Inside, a big black pot hung over a smoldering fire. Thick logs for seating had been placed around the fire pit. Blue enamel tin bowls and cups were stacked near the pit, along with a bunch of spoons.

  “Smells like heaven.” Angel sat down on a log, grabbed a big ladle, and started spooning stew into bowls.

  Rune took one and sat down across from her. Crowdy accepted another, taking a seat. She tucked into a third bowl of stew.

  “This is wonderful.” She moaned in delight around a chunk of venison. “Crowdy, are you the cook?”

  “Yep. I got a few dishes down pat. I had to serve something when I ran the saloon.”

  Rune held out his empty bowl. “I’ll take seconds.”

  She ladled out more, finished off her bowl, and started on another.

  Crowdy ate his stew and set the bowl aside. He walked over to the nearby well, wrenched up the bucket, and brought back a jar of cream and one of blackberries. He set them down beside Angel, and then took his seat again.

  Angel unscrewed the lid from the jar and took a sniff. “Wonderful. It’s cold, too.”

  “Got to keep milk in the well in summer or it’ll go bad fast.”

  She put blackberries in bowls, poured in cream, and handed the dessert around. “Dig in. I haven’t eaten this well since Bonham.”

  “If I get to eat like this all the time, I’m moving into your barn.” Rune smacked his lips.

  “Some days are even better.” Crowdy chuckled. “Depends on what we can scare up in the fields or finagle out of a farmer.”

  Angel set down her bowl and patted her stomach. “What I’d really like now is a long nap.”

  “Got a comfy spot up in the hayloft.”

  “I’d like that, too,” Rune said. “But we better head out soon.”

  “Baines!” Angel glared. “Does he really think we’re so stupid?”

  “Not dumb,” Rune said. “Something made him not trust us.”

  “You kept trying to take control of his gang.”

  “Didn’t help when you won all his cash.”

  “If he hadn’t been such a smart mouth, I’d have gone easy on his money.”

  “If he hadn’t had such a big head, I wouldn’t have had to try to ram some sense into it.”

  Crowdy sighed, setting down his bowl. “You two are the most unlikely outlaws I ever saw. I don’t know if you can get anybody to believe you.”

  Offended, Angel straightened up. “I’ll have you know, we’ve been doing just fine.”

  “Till your partners set you up?”

  “That’s beside the point.”

  Rune stood up. “One way or another, we’ve got to find out what’s going on here, and then set out for Horsethief Spring.”

  “If that’s the way you want it,” Crowdy said. “I’ll get some cowboys together.”

  Angel put her hands on her hips. “That’s exactly the way we want it.”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  “Do you feel like a fool?” Rune lay prone atop a bluff, gazing down on a totally empty road. Crowdy and several cowboys crouched behind brush on the other side of the road.

  “No. I feel like I’d like to strangle Baines.” Angel brushed loose sand from the limestone rock.

  “It’s past time. The V Gang isn’t here. The stage isn’t here.”

  “And they won’t be here.”

  “Looks like it.”

  Angel snorted an unladylike sound. “Meanwhile Tate, or another man, is being mistreated, maybe killed. Time lost we can’t regain.”

  “After that wild ride, we’re still ahead of the game.” Rune glanced over at her, noticing how sunlight brightened the red in her hair. “They don’t know for sure where we are or what we’re doing.”

  “Will they be looking over their shoulders?”

  “Ought to be. I would be after playing somebody for a fool.” He stroked the bristle on his face, knowing he needed a shave but not much caring.

  “What are we going to do?”

  “What would you do in a novel?”

  “I’d outfox them.”

  “How?”

  “They’re going to the Badger Gang empty-handed, aren’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if we arrived fresh from a triumphant robbery?”

  “With money to burn?”

  “Money to share.”

  “I like it, but where do we get the cash?”

  She winked at him. “You don’t realize how well I did at the tables in Delaware Bend and at New Boggy Saloon.”

  “Guess I don’t.” He grinned, feeling like they might have a chance to carry out their goals after all. “But it’s your money.”

  “Easy come. Easy go.”

  “It’d sure cement our credentials.”

  “But where did we get it?”

  Rune thought a moment. “Make it simple. We robbed a Choctaw home. Some of them are known to stash money.”

  “We’re on the run and want to hook up with a bigger outfit?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about the V Gang?” she asked.

  “We parted ways after the fire. Thought we’d see them up here, but they didn’t show.”

  “They won’t dispute our word. It’d make them look bad.” She eased onto her side to face him.

  “Even if they do, they’ll still look weaker than us because we got away with a robbery.”

  “Everything depends on if or when we can find even one Badger at Horsethief Spring.”

  “That’s what we’ve heard, so let’s count on it,” he said.

  “Okay. But now what?”

  “We let Crowdy and his cowboys get back to work while we head for the Ouachita Mountains.”

  Rune got to his feet, helped Angel up, and motioned to Crowdy. They slipped and slid down to the bottom of the bluff, where their horses were tied in the shade.

  “Sent the cowboys on home to look after the stock.” Crowdy joined them. “Guessed right, didn’t we?”

  “Yes,” Angel said. “We’re
sorry to have bothered you.”

  “Don’t be. Pleasure to have your company and meet Rune. You’re both welcome back anytime.”

  “I can’t wait to see the house,” Angel said.

  “Hope it’s complete by the end of the year.” Crowdy looked from one to the other. “Are you going to Horsethief Spring now?”

  “Might as well get on our way.” Angel gave him a quick hug. “Thanks for packing cornpone and jerky for our trip.”

  “Best I could do on short notice.”

  “Appreciate the fresh horses.” Rune shook his hand.

  “Let me know how it works out,” Crowdy said.

  “When we return your horses, we’ll tell all.” Angel swung up on the back of a chestnut gelding. “And pick up Emma and Traveler.”

  Rune mounted a bay pony. “Thanks again.”

  “Good luck and take care.”

  As they rode away, Rune glanced at Angel. “Fine man.”

  “He’s the best. Lady’s known him a long time.” She turned and waved to Crowdy before she followed a turn in the road and lost sight of him.

  “Let’s cut across the Kiamichi River and hit the Fort Towson Trail. It’ll take us northeast toward where we want to end up.”

  “Are we pressed for time?”

  “No. I’d like for the Verdigris Gang to get there before us. Baines can be a big braggart. He can cheat at cards. He can make people mad.”

  “You’re thinking that when we arrive they’ll figure he tried to put one over on us, but we came out ahead.”

  “We won’t have to say a thing. We want to act loyal, sharp, and dedicated to our outlaw ways.”

  “Okay. But I hate to let any grass grow under our feet,” she said.

  “We’ve got to be smart now. We can’t slip up. I don’t want to get us hurt or killed.”

  “If cautious is better, I won’t complain.”

  “Best plan I’ve got.” He looked at her. “Maybe you ought to consult your cards.”

  “Are you making fun of me?”

  “No. You were right about the road. I was wrong about Baines. I’m not too proud to ask for help.”

  “Even from a fortune-teller?”