by Liz Harris
The doctor was coming out of the town hall just as he reached the door.
‘Ah, Conn!’ he exclaimed, stopping in front of him. ‘The sheriff knows you’re seeing Niall this morning. He said that if I saw you before he did, I was to tell you that you could go straight over to Niall’s lodgings. We told Mrs Palmer to leave her house till Niall had left, just in case there was shooting. You’ll find Zack Carter there. He took over the watch again this morning. Reckon he’s pretty fed up with seeing Niall by now.’
‘Right, I’ll do that. I’m keen to get this over with. It’s been preying on my mind since I learnt what happened.’
‘It would. I’ll let the sheriff know you’re with Niall. When he’s finished what he’s doing, he’s gonna check that he’s got enough men going to Laramie. That’ll take a bit of time, so you’ll be able to sit with Niall for a while.’
‘I appreciate that.’
‘Leave Niall’s door open. Zack’s armed, and he’ll stand just outside.’ He paused. ‘I’m sorry, Conn, but you know how it is. I’m on my way to the livery stable to let them know how many wagons to hitch up. Niall will sit up front on one. We’ll have one of our guns in the back of each wagon, watching the men there, but our thinkin’ is that he’d be a mite safer up front.’
Connor nodded. ‘I reckon you’re right about that. OK, I’ll get over to him now. And while you’re at the stable, ask them to saddle up a horse for me. I’ll leave my wagon there if it’s not needed. I’m gonna ride with the sheriff so you can tell him to count me in. Ellen knows I won’t be back tonight, and she knows not to let Bridget go to school tomorrow, not till I’ve spoken to her.’
‘I dunno. I reckon the sheriff will have enough men without you. And without Jeb, too. We’ve told him to go back to his ranch. He’s pretty shaken about what a man he’d liked so much has done, and I reckon he was glad to be out of the way this morning. No, I’d go home, if I were you. This is going to be hard enough as it is, saying goodbye to Niall, knowing what he’s done. Don’t make it harder on yourself. When the sheriff comes for him, walk away, get on your wagon and go home to your wife and daughter.’
He nodded slowly. ‘Maybe I’ll do that. But if you find you need an extra man, my offer’s still there. Seeing those killers get justice, including Niall, is more important than anything else.’
‘I think we’re all agreed on that. See you later, Conn.’ The doctor went back into the town hall. Connor turned around and made his way back to Main Street.
As he reached Main Street, he saw a number of men on the sidewalk, walking towards him from different sides of the town. They’ll be making for the sheriff’s office, he thought. Doc was right – he wouldn’t be needed.
His head down, he turned right and headed for the wooden house where Niall lodged. Yes, he’d go back to Ellen as soon as he’d seen Niall. And he’d look in on Daisy to see how she was doing. Both he and Aaron had thought that there were signs of improvement that morning, and Bridget had been beaming as she’d run out to the wagon, waving her school bag and pail.
He lifted his head and looked around him. He’d say goodbye to Niall and then he’d start living a life that a year ago he’d thought he’d never have again. His steps speeded up.
Reaching Mrs Palmer’s house, he lifted the latch and walked in. He glanced quickly at the door leading to Mrs Palmer’s rooms, saw that it was shut, and walked straight through to the back of the house where Niall had a room.
Niall’s door was closed. He knocked on it. ‘It’s Conn Maguire, Zack,’ he called, and he stepped back and waited for Zack to open the door.
There was silence.
He knocked again. ‘Niall. Zack. It’s Connor.’
Still no reply.
Frowning, he leaned close to the door and listened. A faint, intermittent sound came from inside the room. But hard as he tried, he couldn’t make out what it was.
‘Zack,’ he called again, and he rapped on the door.
He pressed his ear to the door and strained to hear. The muffled noise coming from inside the room sounded louder, more urgent.
He moved back slightly and tried the door handle. It turned, and he cautiously opened the door. Frantic thudding came from inside the cupboard on the far wall of Niall’s room. So that’s where Zack is, he thought. By the sound of it, he was gagged and in the cramped space of the cupboard, was trying to kick at the inside of the door.
He pushed the door to the room wider open so that its back touched the wall. There was no one behind the door, and there was no one inside the room. Apart from Zack, he thought dryly as he walked into the room and looked around.
His eyes settled on the flimsy cotton curtain that was fluttering in the breeze that blew in through the open window. Well, Niall would hardly have gone out through the front door and run the risk of being seen.
The movement inside the cupboard took on a new desperation. Ignoring it, he hurried out of the room, and peered inside Mrs Palmer’s rooms. They were empty, too, as he’d thought they would be. Niall wouldn’t have hung around the house. Assuming he could take a horse without being seen, he’d have got far away from Liberty as quickly as he could.
Or would he?
He paused and leaned back against the wall.
Niall would know that it wouldn’t be long before they found he’d escaped. And he’d know that neither the sheriff nor any man in town would let him get away without giving chase. Their anger against him was such that they were sure to go after him, and there were enough of them to split up and cover the most likely routes of escape. They’d be fresher than he was, and with horses that had been newly fed and grained, and they’d outride him. Niall would know that.
No, he wouldn’t do anything as hopeless as attempting to outrun them. That wasn’t Niall’s way. He’d find somewhere to hide, somewhere in the hills where his horse wouldn’t be seen, and he’d stay there until he was sure that they’d given up, no matter how long he had to wait. Only then would he make his escape.
So where would he go to hide?
He thought back to the things they’d done together as children. The trouble was, he’d rarely played with Jeb and Niall when they were young. And on the few occasions he’d done so, he’d never been allowed to visit the secret places they used as hideaways, so he had no idea where they were. The only person who’d been permitted to visit their haunts had been Oonagh.
He straightened up. Oonagh! Of course!
Oonagh would remember where they used to play. Niall could even have reminisced with her about them in the last few weeks. When people came back after a long absence, they often talked about things they’d done in the past, and about the places they used to go to. He might even have taken her to some of those hideaways since he got back.
The townsfolk must have seen them together often enough to think that they were likely to wed. Oonagh’s folks would never have allowed a man in her room, no matter how innocent the purpose, and it may well be that on occasions she and Niall had taken the buggy and gone for a drive together. One of Niall’s hideaways would have been a likely place for them to head for.
He went quickly to the front door, and stopped. If he went out that way, someone would be sure to see him and might send word that he’d left. If so, they might come for Niall earlier than they’d planned, and he wouldn’t have time to try and stop things from being worse for his brother than they already were. If he could get Niall to give himself up, they might still go easier on him.
But that meant that he’d have to find him first.
He glanced back towards Niall’s room. Overcoming Zack Carter and locking him in the cupboard will have been a spur of the moment action on Niall’s part, and from the noise Zack was making, he hadn’t been hurt. It couldn’t matter if he stayed in the cupboard a mite longer.
If he was quick, he had time to get to Oonagh and ask for her help. She’d know, as he did, that at heart Niall would never wish to become a man with his face on a wanted poster, at risk of arr
est if he ever again entered the territory in which he’d been born.
He ran back to Niall’s room and climbed out through the window, deliberately deaf to the sounds of Zack Carter.
Keeping close to the back of the houses and shops, he made his way towards the schoolhouse. Oonagh would be inside with the class and he’d have to attract her attention from the outside. He’d make for the window that looked towards her desk, and he’d have to hope that she’d see him standing there and come out to him at once.
If she did, he’d beg for her help. She’d know of Niall’s guilt by now, and if she had any feeling at all left for him, she wouldn’t want him to become an outlaw on the run, any more than Niall himself would, when he had time to stop and think.
He reached the schoolhouse without seeing anyone, and without being seen, he hoped. He edged around the wooden building, and paused when he reached the window that would give Oonagh a clear view of him, should she look in his direction.
Carefully inching forward, he looked through the window into the room, but it was one of the older pupils who was standing in front of the class, watching the pupils do their work. There was no sign of Oonagh. He jumped quickly back against the wall, his heart racing. What to do now, he wondered.
She must be somewhere else in the schoolroom, he decided, and he edged towards the window again. To his great relief, the older pupil was bending down, talking to one of the children in the front row. She was pointing to something on the child’s slate, and had her back to him.
Taking advantage of the moment, he crouched low and crossed swiftly to the other side of the window. Cautiously raising himself up, he glanced at the back of the room. Then he slid down from the window again, his heart pounding in his chest, hoping he hadn’t been seen. She wasn’t with one of the pupils at the back, nor was she heating a lunch on the potbelly stove, which Bridget had said that she sometimes did. She definitely wasn’t in the schoolroom.
So where was she?
And then he heard the faint hum of voices coming from beyond the building. He moved away from the window, stood up and ran along the side of the wall towards the noise. Peering around the end of the building, he saw Oonagh standing with Niall a little way off at the edge of the long grass. Niall had his back to him, and Oonagh was half turned away.
He couldn’t hear what they were saying from where he was standing, but from their tone of voices, and from the way in which they were using their hands and arms, Niall seemed to be trying to persuade her of something, but she wasn’t of a mind to listen.
He left the cover of the building and walked over to them.
‘Conn!’ Oonagh exclaimed.
Niall spun around and stared at him. ‘Ain’t that the darndest! I might’ve known.’
‘I haven’t told anyone you’ve escaped, and I’ve left Zack in the cupboard. But they’ll find out soon enough that you’ve gone. Hand yourself in before they do, Niall. If you do …’
‘Save it. I know the arguments, brother, and I’m not convinced. I’m choosing freedom, and I’m off. Unless of course, you’re planning to arrest me.’ He gave him a dry smile. ‘If you are, you should know that I won’t go quietly. Brother will take up arms against brother.’ He pursed his lips, drew in his breath and shook his head. ‘I reckon Ma and Pa wouldn’t like that. No, sir, they wouldn’t.’
‘I don’t wanna take you in. I want you to give yourself up.’
Niall laughed in his face. ‘That’s never gonna happen.’ He turned to Oonagh. ‘So are you coming with me or not?’
She gestured helplessly. ‘Like I said, I’ve got a job, Niall. I’ve got a home. I live my life in comfort. What can you offer me? Nothing.’
‘You call what you’ve got a life! Sewing bees and Sunday School. Rules and regulations. The moral folk of Liberty, upright, deadly dull, around you night and day. Oh no, not at night. Your folks would never allow that, would they?’ He threw back his head and laughed.
His laughter died away. He took a step closer to her.
‘It’s your choice, Oonagh,’ he said, his voice caressing her. He trailed his fingers slowly down her cheek. ‘A lifetime of knowing that you’re dying inside before you’ve even had a chance to live, or a lifetime of what I can give you. Excitement, fun, places you’ve never been to before, people you’ve never met before. I’m offering you the freedom to be you, Oonagh – to have the next best thing to what you really want.’
‘How do you know what I really want?’
‘You want my brother, honey. You have for years, from when we were very young. I seen the way you moved when he was near, the way your skirts were always slipping up, your bodice always that bit undone. I wished you luck, thinkin’ it might loosen him up a bit, but my good brother turned his back on the sins of the flesh you offered. He—’
‘Don’t listen to him, Oonagh,’ Connor cut in. ‘You’re worth more than life on the run with an outlaw, ’cos that’s what Niall will be if he runs from this.’
Niall’s eyes didn’t leave Oonagh’s face. ‘You couldn’t get him then, and you ain’t gonna have him now, not ever, but you can have me, and that’ll be a helluva lot more fun, I can promise.’
She stared up at him. ‘I don’t know what to do. For once I really don’t.’
He smiled at her. ‘I do. You and me, we’re alike. We both want to live life to the full, and if we want a thing and have to do something we shouldn’t in order to get it …’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘If you dare to start living, you’ll get your bag, get on your horse and ride out next to me. It’s decision time now, Oonagh. Either way, I’m off.’
‘Don’t go with him, Oonagh. He won’t get far,’ Connor said. ‘I’m going for the sheriff.’ He made a move as if to run.
‘No, Pa!’ Bridget’s cry came from behind them.
He turned sharply.
Bridget was standing there, fear on her face.
‘What’s happening, Pa?’ she gasped. ‘I saw you through the window. Why are you and Uncle Niall arguing?’
‘You’ve no coat on, Bridget. Go back to the schoolroom. I’ll explain later.’
She stood firm on the ground, her face white. Her gaze went to Niall. ‘Why are you leaving? I don’t want you to go.’
He stepped forward, his face softening. ‘I’m sorry, Bridget. I’ve let you down. I’ve done something wrong and I’ve gotta leave town.’
She stared up at Niall’s face. ‘But I thought you loved me.’
‘I do, honey. You’re the best thing about this place. But I’m in trouble and they’ll come after me if I stay here. Your pa’s gonna try and stop me from going.’
She looked at Oonagh, then back at Niall. ‘Is Miss Quinn going with you?’
Niall turned to Oonagh. ‘Is she?’ he asked.
She looked from him to Connor, then back at Niall. She nodded. ‘Yes, she is.’
Niall grinned broadly. ‘And she’s gonna get me a horse?’
She nodded. ‘You can have Pa’s.’
‘Get a few things from home and go for the horses. I’ll see you behind the horses’ shed. Be quick.’
Oonagh nodded. She looked down at Bridget.
‘I’m sorry, Bridget,’ she said. ‘But I’ve got to do this.’ And she picked up her skirts and started running in the direction of her house.
‘Get back to the schoolroom, Bridget,’ Connor said. ‘I’m off to the sheriff.’
Niall lunged towards him, but Bridget moved faster.
‘You can’t,’ she shouted, lurching forward and grabbing Connor’s leg. ‘I love Uncle Niall. Please don’t tell the sheriff, Pa. Please don’t. I love him,’ she cried, tears streaming down her face as she clung to his leg.
‘Bridget, honey,’ Niall said. ‘I’m so sorry.’ His voice caught in his throat.
Connor glanced at him. He was staring down at Bridget, his face full of wonder as he gazed at her, and of regret. And he looked down at Bridget, hugging his leg tightly, stopping him from moving.
He fel
t a tightening in his chest. ‘I think we’ll go straight home now, Bridget,’ he said quietly. ‘The wagon is across the street.’
Her body relaxed and her arms fell to her sides.
‘And we’re not gonna tell the sheriff, are we?’ she asked, looking up at him.
‘No, honey, we’re not gonna tell the sheriff.’
Turning his back on Niall, he held out his hand to Bridget, who took it, and together they started to walk towards Main Street.
‘Bridget’s with Daisy,’ Ellen said, coming into the living room as Connor was bringing in an armful of wood for the stove. ‘Daisy’s definitely on the mend, but Aaron thinks we’ll be going through something like this with her again before too long.’ She went across to the front door and closed it behind him.
‘I’m sure he’s right,’ he said, dropping the wood into the basket. ‘So sure that I think we’ll leave her stall in East Barn. Bridget can fuss over her when she gets back from school in the evenings. It’ll be good for her to have something to take her mind off what happened today. I’m just glad that she doesn’t have to say goodbye to Daisy as well, right now.’
‘And it’s been a difficult few days for you, too. Why don’t you sit down for a while and have a coffee? Lunch will be ready before too long.’
‘That sounds real good,’ he said, and he went across to the dinner table.
‘Bridget left her lunch pail at school. She said she’ll bring it back tomorrow night,’ she told him, coming back into the room with a mug of coffee. ‘She insists on going into school tomorrow, although there may not be any school, not if there isn’t a teacher.’ She put the mug in front of him and sat down opposite him.
‘I’ll take her in with me. I’ll obviously have to go into town.’
‘Will you get into trouble?’ she asked, her eyes anxious. ‘For leaving Zack where he was, as well as for letting Niall go?’
‘I doubt it. Maybe folks will be less than friendly for a while, I don’t know. But I doubt there’s any man in town who could’ve turned his brother in, and they’ll know that. They’re fair people and they’ll not hold it against me for long.’
