by Ralph Cotton
Leo followed with Prudence in his arms. “I hope you know what you’re doing here. I can’t see why we don’t just do like everybody else…get our job done and draw our share.”
“Because that’s not the way to get ahead, Leo. You just go along with me. I’ll make us rich.” Payton Parker grinned, coughing as he led his brother out of the smoke and up into the cover of rocks along the hillside.
Chapter 4
A fly buzzed somewhere…but it seemed far off in the distance, Maria thought, until it landed on her nose and caused her to stir and try to raise a hand to brush it away. But her hands would not move. She batted her eyes, and through a lifting gray veil she saw the long shadows of evening stretched across the men and horses around her. Her hands were tied. For just a second she couldn’t remember why. Then it came back to her as her mind fashioned a glimpse of what had happened—the train, the gun battle, the deafening crash. She remembered flying backward, her hands coming off the brake lever. She remembered a great fog engulfing her as she somehow managed to make her way to Prudence Vanderman, who lay on the ground alongside the tracks. Then what…?
“She’s coming around, Bowes,” a voice said; and looking up from the ground, Maria saw the grizzled, bearded face hover near her and felt the wet bandanna press against her forehead. “Easy there,” old man Dirkson warned when she tried to struggle. “We’ve had all the fight out of you we’re gonna take for one day.”
Payton Parker stood over her, looking down with his hand on his pistol butt. “I say put a bullet through her head, after all the trouble she’s caused. That’s why we brought her to the major. Thought he’d want to kill her himself.”
“Oh, you did, huh?” Old man Dirkson glared at him.
“That’s right, I did.” Payton Parker gazed around at the others, seeing how well his story would set with them. “If he don’t want to, I will.”
Now Maria struggled upward onto her knees, lashing out at him with her tied hands.
“Why don’t you just shut up, Parker.” Old man Dirkson grabbed Maria and pulled her back. He glared up at Payton Parker. “You don’t want to start discussing who caused all the trouble back there.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Payton Parker took a step closer.
Liam Bowes shoved him to the side. “You know what he means, Parker. Don’t push it.” He stepped in between Parker and the old man. Past the men standing before her, Maria saw Prudence Vanderman on the ground, her hands tied behind her back. Prudence looked to be in a state of shock, staring wide-eyed at Maria.
Pushing his Mexican sombrero up on his forehead, Liam Bowes stooped down, gesturing a nod toward Prudence as he spoke to Maria. “She’s told us who she is…now who are you?”
Maria hesitated, stalling, wondering exactly what Prudence Vanderman might have said. “I…I do not know this woman…who is she?”
“Don’t get cagey on us, lady.” Bowes leaned closer, his expression tight and serious. “She’s one of the Vandermans. Who are you?”
“Oh.” Maria let out a breath. “I am no one of any importance.”
“It’s no use, Maria,” Prudence said in a shaky, hurried voice. “I told them who you are. That you’re my travel secretary. I’m afraid they already know everything about—”
“Shut up, lady!” Bowes looked back at Maria. “I want to hear from you.”
Travel secretary? Maria stared at her. Why had Prudence told them that? Didn’t this woman realize what the name Vanderman might mean to men such as these? But what was done was done, Maria thought. “It is true, I am her travel companion…her secretary.”
“She’s a damn liar,” Payton Parker said, stepping closer once more. “Look how she’s dressed—look how she dogged that train down.”
“So, what are you saying, Parker? She’s an engineer? For the railroad?” Bowes shot him a scowl. The other men had gathered closer now, a couple of them wounded and bandaged. A ripple of tired, muffled laughter moved through them.
Payton Parker’s face reddened. “I’m saying she’s lying. Maybe they both are.” He swung a dark glance to Prudence Vanderman, then back to Maria. “All they’ll do is slow us down, whoever they are. Shoot them and leave them here.”
Behind him, his brother Leo and a couple of others nodded, agreeing with him. “See?” Parker continued, “we all know it’s the truth. We’ve got enough problems, once those soldiers get regrouped and come up after us. Shoot these two, and let’s get on out of here.” As he spoke, he turned, making sure the other men heard him, wanting to get their support.
“Are you giving orders to my men?” The low voice of Major Zell startled the men like a clap of thunder. They stepped aside as he moved in. “Because if you are in charge, you may need to take this from me.” A slicing sound of metal across metal swished through the air. Zell’s cavalry saber streaked from its scabbard, and before Payton Parker could move away, the point of the long blade lifted his chin and held it high.
A gasp rose from the other men. Leo Parker’s hand went to his pistol butt, then froze under the harsh gaze of Liam Bowes, whose hand had moved quicker and came up with his own pistol cocked and pointed. “Turn it loose, Leo,” Bowes warned. “Your brother started it. Let’s see how he finishes it.”
Zell stared into Payton’s eyes, the saber out at arm’s length, the tip twisting slowly. Beads of cold sweat stood out on Payton Parker’s forehead as a tense silence passed. “Oh? You don’t want it?” Zell’s voice spoke low and calm, yet menacing. “Well…perhaps I was mistaken.” Zell shrugged his free shoulder. “Perhaps you’d like for me to say what we will or will not do here? Is that it?” The tip of the saber pressed a bit, coaxing an answer.
Parker tried to swallow down the tight, dry knot in his throat before speaking, but the tip of the blade wouldn’t allow it. “I…I’m only trying to look out for us, Major, sir.”
“Indeed…and well you should be, after your pitiful attempt at keeping watch for us back there.” Zell’s nostrils flared; his gloved hand tightened on the handle of the saber. “I’ve lost men because of you and your brother, Parker. The only good thing to come from this day is me running this blade upward through your brain!”
“Major Zell, sir”—Liam Bowes spoke, rising to his feet, his voice low and steady—“we can’t spare a man right now. We need to keep moving. Let me deal with him after we cross the border. Please, sir…if you will.”
Maria watched silently from the ground, taking it all in, remembering faces, names, getting a feel for her captors. Zell, the leader, trembling, his rage ready to boil over out of control. This man Bowes, moving in, calming Zell, taking charge in a subtle way. And these other two, one ready to die on the tip of a saber, the other ready to peel his pistol out and die with him. She glanced at the others, two of them ready to make a play. The way she saw it, they were on the Parkers’ side. There was division here. She took close and careful note of it. Her head throbbed with each beat of her pulse. She had to think past the pain and keep her mind clear.
“Very well.” Zell collected himself, eased down, and let out a tense breath. His saber lowered from Payton Parker’s chin and drifted down to his belly. “But only because, as Mr. Bowes says, we can’t afford to lose another man on this mission.” His eyes moved from Payton to his brother Leo, then back. “But if either of you fail to carry out whatever task you’re assigned, I will post your head on a stick and let it bake in the sun. I will not tolerate any man—”
As Zell spoke, his own words seemed to spark his rage once more; his voice grew stronger and stronger until Liam Bowes’s voice broke in. “They know that, sir. Now we need to carry on. Deliver this load and get our gold.” He stared with his pistol still cocked and pointed, only lowering it slightly when Zell let the saber slump in his hand and Leo Parker let his gun hand relax on his pistol butt.
Maria watched. Who had this man, Bowes, been pointing his pistol at near the end? she wondered. At first he’d trained it on Leo Parker, but at the last moment as
Zell started out of control again, she wasn’t sure. Across from her, she gazed at Prudence Vanderman, who sat transfixed, staring at the men before them. Prudence no longer seemed to be in shock. In fact, seeing a different look on the woman’s face now, Maria wondered what sort of change had come over her. Prudence’s eyes glistened and seemed to be drawn with keen interest on something that had been said.
“Here ya go, ma’am.” Old man Dirkson stood, lifting Maria to her feet as the others eased down a bit and milled in place for a lingering second before drifting away to their horses. “Let’s get you two women together and get ya into the wagon with me. We’ve got a hard push ahead of us.” He pulled Maria forward by the rope around her tied hands.
“Where are you taking us?” Maria hesitated, resisting as the old man dragged her forward.
“You’re heading for the border with us.” He pulled harder. Maria stumbled forward one halting step at a time until they stood beside the loaded wagon. When he’d pushed Maria upward onto the wagon seat and walked over to get Prudence, Maria looked at the wagon reins and thought about snatching them up with her tied hands and making a run for it. But how far would she get in this heavy tandem wagon? And even if she got away, what about Prudence Vanderman? No, Maria would have to wait, go along with things until she saw a chance for both of them to make a break.
When old man Dirkson came back, leading Prudence by her shoulder, he saw the look on Maria’s face and he chuckled, glancing at the reins, then back to Maria. “You’re a thinker, you are.” He winked at Maria. “I’ll have to keep a close eye on you.” He hefted Prudence up into the wooden seat beside Maria.
Once more Maria looked at the beckoning reins as old man Dirkson stepped around the wagon to the driver’s side. With a grunt, he climbed up and righted himself on the seat. He grinned, taking up the reins. Then before moving forward, he pulled on the reins and called out to the mules in a low voice, coaxing them back a step. Again, he winked at Maria, close beside him.
“Just a little precaution I always take with a valuable load,” he said. Leaning forward with the mules backed up close, he bent down, taking a thick steel pin from inside his dusty coat. For a second he was down between the front of the wagon and the mules’ sweaty rumps. He dropped the pin in the rear of the wagon tongue, securing it to the team, then came back up and settled onto the seat.
“Good thing you didn’t try something foolish, little lady,” he said to Maria as he slapped the reins and the four mules jolted forward against the weight of the wagon. “There’s some here who would just as soon put a bullet in your head as look at you.”
Little lady…God, how she hated that name! But she gazed ahead into the falling darkness and said nothing, watching the other riders move out in a single file along a thin elk trail leading upward to the high rock pass toward the border.
“If you gals will just do as you’re told, it’ll make things a lot easier on yas.” He slapped the reins again, harder this time, the mules settling into their heavy load with their sweat-streaked shoulders thrust forward. “The major’s a fair man…‘less you get him riled.”
“I understand the situation. We are hostages, to be used in case the army gets too close.” Maria turned facing him, studying his bearded face as he gazed ahead. “But what becomes of us once we are across the border?”
“See? You are a thinker.” Old man Dirkson grinned without facing her. “We’ll most likely set you free somewhere around Canyon Diablo. From there it’ll be up to you to find your way back.”
“This woman is not capable of withstanding such a trip.” She glanced at Prudence Vanderman beside her. Prudence was sitting loose and wobbling in the wooden seat, her hands tied behind her.
“Well, with a name like Vanderman, I don’t reckon it’ll be long before word gets back to town. Her daddy’ll have everybody and their brother out looking for her. Just be glad we ain’t holding her for ransom…that could be worth a lot, you know.”
Maria sat silent for a second. Why hadn’t they already decided to do just that? It made sense, if all these men were after was fast money. She turned her gaze to Prudence. “Look at her. You should at least tie her hands in front of her as you did mine. She cannot balance herself this way.” Maria lowered her voice a bit. “After all…we are only helpless women.”
“Helpless? Ha! Not you. I saw what you did at the train. Hadn’t been for you butting in, that train would’ve caught them soldiers before they ever got unloaded.” They rode on in silence for a moment, old man Dirkson seeming to consider something. Then he looked across Maria at Prudence Vanderman. “Soon as we get a chance, we’ll pull over and retie her hands in front of her.”
“That would be decent of you.” As Maria spoke, her eyes slid down to the pistol butt sticking up from the holster on his hip. No. Too risky right now. Besides, she still had the small derringer pistol in the well of her boot, thanks to one of the old miners aboard the train.
Dirkson slapped the reins again. “Meanwhile, you just settle down, and don’t do something stupid. There’s Mexican gold waiting for me and the rest at the end of this trip. We won’t let you or anybody else foul things up.”
“I give you my word that I will do nothing stupid.” Maria sat back and felt Prudence Vanderman lean against her side.
“I…I’m so cold,” Prudence said with a tremor in her voice. Prudence’s face bobbed gently on Maria’s shoulder.
“Try to get some rest,” Maria whispered. “We will come out of this all right.” Maria raised her tied hands and looped her arms around Prudence. She pressed her cheek against Prudence’s head lying on her shoulder. “Be brave, my friend. I will not leave you.”
“Thank you…you are so kind. I’m sorry we didn’t get along very well on the train. I must have seemed such a spoiled and terrible person.”
“Ssssh, please rest, regain your strength. We are in this thing together. All that matters is that we survive.”
“Yes…you’re right. We must survive.”
Maria pressed Prudence against her; and for a moment they moved along in silence amid the creak of wooden wagon and leather tracing, the mules handling the load now, their breathing deep and steady. And after a moment, Maria thought Prudence had fallen to sleep, until Prudence lifted her face slightly and spoke in a guarded whisper close to Maria’s ear. “Do I keep hearing someone mention gold?”
Sergeant Baines stood at attention amid the low, crackling flames of the campfire, even though young Lieutenant Howell had ordered him to stand at ease. Black powder soot streaked down the sergeant’s broad cheek beneath his right eye. He’d given the lieutenant the worst of the news—seven dead and four wounded among their ranks. He’d also reported on the dead engineer and the oiler found shot alongside the tracks. When the lieutenant had asked how in the blue-hell a ragged band of Mexican bandits could have inflicted such severe damage, the sergeant had braced himself and replied, “Begging the lieutenant’s pardon…this was not Mexican bandits, sir.”
Lieutenant Howell stared at him.
“No, sir,” Sergeant Baines went on to say, slightly shaking his head. “I’ve fought my share of Mexican bandits, sir. These men are Americans. If you’ll permit me to speculate, this is an old band of Confederate raiders called the Border Dogs…led by Major Martin Zell.” He lifted a bushy eyebrow. “Have you ever heard of Major Zell, sir? He fought the battle at Peach Orchard. At Little Roundtop. He’s tricky. If we stay right on his trail, he’ll lead us into a trap.”
“Zell has been dead for years, Sergeant.” Lieutenant Howell ran a dirty hand back across his sweaty, thinning hair, dismissing Sergeant Baines’s idea. “He died in Virginia, in an insane asylum, under heavy guard, if my memory serves. I’ve already sent a rider back to the fort, informing the colonel of what’s happened here. We have a bandit problem, Sergeant, nothing else. These are the same ones who hit our shipment of rifles and light field armaments.”
“Yes, sir.” Sergeant Baines tightened his jaw to keep from saying
any more. This was his first mission under Howell’s command. He’d known little about how to deal with this young lieutenant, but he’d been learning throughout the day. Whatever foolish order this man gave, it was Baines’s job to change it, but to do so in a way that still made it seem like it was the lieutenant’s idea. “Then I stand ready to carry out whatever orders you issue, sir.”
“Good.” The lieutenant let out a breath. “Let’s have no rumors spreading about some dead Confederate major, or how tricky he might be. It’s bad for morale. We’ll have our hands full as it is, once word gets to the proper sources about Jameson Vanderman’s daughter being taken hostage.”
“That we will indeed, sir.” Sergeant Baines glanced around at the troops where they stood gathered near their horses ten yards away. “I’ve instructed the men to step carefully should we run into these thieves tonight. They are all aware of the hostage situation.”
“Damn it.” The lieutenant lifted his hat and adjusted it on his head. “See, these bandits are smart enough to know we won’t take a chance on hurting those hostages in the darkness. Whether they know who Miss Vanderman is or not doesn’t matter. They realize we’re at a disadvantage here.” He glanced around, then back to Sergeant Baines. “Have you any idea who the other woman might be?”
“According to one of the miners, sir, the other woman got on alone, three stops back. He said she was carrying only a small spindle and a rifle. Said when the trouble started, she kept her head and got them all off the train, just in time.”
“A rifle, eh?”
“Yes, sir. We found it in the wreckage of the engine. The Border Dogs…that is, the bandits, got to her before we did.
The lieutenant’s eyes flared a bit. “No more talk about Border Dogs, Sergeant. I hope I’ve made myself clear on that?”
“Yes, sir, very clear…sorry, sir.” Sergeant Baines gazed straight ahead into the surrounding darkness. “She also has a pistol, sir—this other woman.”
“A pistol?”
