Lee (The Landon Saga Book 6)

by Tell Cotten

  “We wouldn’t have to mention anything important,” Brian objected. “We could just ask Yancy to come visit. Yancy would know.”

  “That would still raise suspicions,” I disagreed. “Two jailbirds writing Yancy Landon? We’d be questioned for sure.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We’ll wait and see what develops.”

  It was silent as Brian thought on that, and then he sighed.

  “I reckon there’s not much else we can do,” he said broodily.

  “No, there’s not,” I agreed.

  Chapter forty-nine

  Another week came and went.

  The only change in our routine was that a new inmate was assigned to the brickyard, and Brian got promoted to shoveling sand. That was an easier job than mixing, and I was glad for Brian.

  Reilly Parker came to see us one evening in the prison yard. We were standing in the corner, and we were alone.

  “I received word yesterday about you two,” he said in a low voice.

  “You heard from Ike?” I asked, and there was excitement in my voice.

  “Keep your voice down,” he growled, and then he nodded. “Ike wants both of you out.”

  “When?”

  “Tonight.”

  Reilly glanced around. Nobody was watching, so he eased in closer to us. He held something in his hands, and he slipped it to me.

  I didn’t look, but I could tell that they were keys. With as little movement as possible, I slipped them into my pant’s pocket.

  “The little key is for the cell, and the bigger one is for the prison yard,” Reilly said. “Wait until dark. After things settle down, make your way to the prison yard. There’ll be a wagon over by the wheelwright’s shop, and you’ll find a tarp in the back. Climb in and cover yourselves up. I’ll be along directly, and then we’ll leave. Got it?”

  “I think so,” we nodded.

  “One last thing,” he said. “I’m taking a woman prisoner out of here too. While you two are making your way to the wagon I’ll be getting her.”

  “What if something goes wrong?” Brian spoke up.

  “Then you two will be in a lot of trouble,” Reilly grunted, and then added, “See you boys tonight.”

  We nodded, and Reilly strolled away.

  Chapter fifty

  Life moved at a slow pace in prison, and it seemed even slower after our talk with Reilly Parker.

  Prisoners were allowed to stroll around the prison yard until the whistle blew, and we waited impatiently. The whistle finally blew, and all the prisoners made their way to their cells. Once inside, the guards walked down the long hallway and counted us off. Everyone was accounted for, so they slammed the doors shut and left.

  Brian paced back and forth at the door. As usual, Hardin ignored us as he read his law book.

  “How long should we wait?” Brian hissed at me.

  “We’ll wait a few minutes and give the guards a chance to get settled,” I said.

  We heard a chuckle. We turned, and Hardin was looking at us.

  “I knew it,” he said. “You boys are going to attempt an escape.”

  “That’s right,” I confirmed, and then I asked warily, “What are you going to do about that?”

  “Nothing,” he waved his hand at us. “You won’t make it anyway.”

  “I think we will,” I replied.

  “What’s the plan?”

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys, and Hardin snorted.

  “I already tried that. You won’t get out of the prison yard.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Hardin snorted again and went back to his book. I studied him a moment, wondering if he was going to cause us trouble, but he seemed absorbed with his reading.

  A few minutes passed, and I glanced at Brian.

  “You ready?” I asked.

  He nodded, and I moved to the cell door. I glanced down the hallway, and it was clear as far as I could see.

  Being as quiet as possible, I reached through the bars and inserted the key. It made a loud grating sound as I turned the key, and the door opened.

  I glanced at Brian and grinned, and we stepped out into the hallway.

  As I shut the door I looked back at Hardin, and he was watching us from his bunk.

  “I’ll see you boys when you get out of solitary confinement,” he said.

  I didn’t have an answer for that, so I just nodded. He nodded back, and we left.

  “His confidence in us is overwhelming,” Brian whispered wryly.

  I smiled, and then we were quiet.

  We stayed in the shadows as we went down the hallway, and most of the prisoners didn’t even notice us. Those few that did just stared at us.

  We reached the door to the prison yard. The yard looked empty, so I rammed the big iron key into the lock and ground it back.

  The door opened, and our excitement mounted. We eased into the yard and locked the door behind us.

  Keeping low, we crossed a patch of bare ground, cut around the wood shop, and came up behind the wheelwright’s shop.

  Just as Reilly had said, a team and wagon was in the shadows beside the shop. We hurried over to it, and in the back was a brown tarp. There were also several baskets stacked on the ground beside the wagon.

  Moving quickly, we climbed into the back of the wagon and covered ourselves up with the tarp.

  I hadn’t realized how excited we were. But now, lying under that tarp, we panted hard, and my legs trembled in anticipation.

  A few minutes passed, but to us it felt like forever.

  “What’s taking Reilly so long?” Brian sounded irritable.

  “He’ll be along,” I whispered reassuringly.

  “What if he doesn’t show up?”

  That was a disturbing thought, and I frowned.

  “I reckon we’ll hightail it back to our cell,” I said.

  “How long do you think we should wait?”

  “Let’s not get too carried away. He’ll be along. Stop worrying.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  “Me too,” I admitted, and then it fell silent.

  Another thirty minutes passed, and we heard some movement.

  “Somebody’s coming,” I whispered, and we hunkered down.

  Several tense seconds passed. We heard the sound of footsteps, and they drew close to the wagon and stopped.

  “You boys there?” We heard Reilly’s voice, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.

  “We’re here,” I said.

  “Good. Make room for another passenger.”

  We scooted over, and Reilly pulled the tarp back. Our heads were down, but I couldn’t help but peek at the lady inmate.

  She had a small build. She wore dark prison clothes, and she also had a dark shawl that covered her face. Her back was to us as she crawled in beside us.

  “Now you three keep quiet,” Reilly growled as he covered us back up. “We’ll go out the main gate, and I’ll have to talk to the guards.”

  I nodded, but then I realized that he couldn’t see me.

  “Will do,” I said instead.

  “Keep quiet!”

  I didn’t reply. A few seconds passed, and then something heavy was placed on top of us. I was confused, but then I realized that Reilly was putting the baskets that had been beside the wagon on top of us.

  We felt a jerk as Reilly climbed onto the wagon seat. He clucked at the horses, and we moved out.

  We went a hundred yards or so, and then we stopped. I heard him talking, and I figured we were at the main gate.

  I heard footsteps beside the wagon, and I didn’t dare breath.

  It was then that the woman moved beside me, trying to get comfortable. I winced, but I couldn’t do anything.

  After what seemed forever, the wagon finally started moving again, and I relaxed a bit. We also picked up speed, and it was real rough under that tarp.

  The wagon hit a hard bump in the road, and the lady made a slight whi
mper. It rocked the wagon, and we rolled back and forth.

  We traveled on and on, and the road got rougher. But each second took us further from Huntsville, so I didn’t mind.

  Another half hour passed, and the lady just couldn’t take it anymore.

  “I’ve got to get out,” we heard her say. “I’m suffocating under here!”

  There was an abrupt movement beside us, and the lady shoved at the baskets and threw the tarp back. We helped, and then we all sat up in the wagon.

  My back was to her. I stretched my cramped muscles, and then I turned to greet her.

  She turned towards me at the same time, and we were both startled when we saw each other.

  It was silent for a few stunned seconds, and her face turned cold and hard.

  “It’s you,” she said in a contemptuous voice.

  “Hello, Lucy Wells,” I said.

  Chapter fifty-one

  I had forgotten all about Lucy being at Huntsville, but it was obvious that she hadn’t forgotten about me. In a mere matter of seconds, her face became twisted with hate.

  Lucy was Ike’s daughter-in-law, but we had heard that Ike wanted nothing to do with her. He hadn’t approved of their marriage, and he was upset when he found out about it.

  But Lucy had loved Ike’s son Tanner, and she vowed to get revenge when he was killed. But then Judge Parker found her guilty and sent her to Huntsville, and that was the last I’d heard about her.

  Brian was stretching his cramped muscles, and he had hadn’t seen her yet. Reilly still sat on the wagon seat, and we traveled in a brisk trot.

  Lucy and I stared at each other, and her glare turned more hateful with each passing second.

  There was a rifle leaning against the seat next to Reilly, and Lucy and I spotted it at the same time.

  “Don’t,” I said tersely, but Lucy ignored me.

  We both leaped for the rifle. Our movements spooked the horses, and they lunged into a lope.

  “What’s going on back there?” Reilly yelled savagely.

  We both had our hands on the rifle. She tried desperately to point the barrel in my direction, but I pushed the barrel back.

  She suddenly lunged forward as we wrestled for control, and I fell backwards into Brian. We collided hard, and Brian was taken by surprise.

  With a loud yell he fell backwards out of the wagon, and I heard a loud thump. He hit the ground rolling and disappeared into the bushes.

  Lucy was on top of me, and she had her finger on the trigger as she tried to point the rifle into my gut. But I managed to shove the barrel away right as she pulled the trigger.

  The rifle boomed in our hands, and I heard a scream as the bullet hit flesh. We both looked, and Reilly had been hit in the back. The impact threw him forward into the horses, and then he fell.

  One of the wheels hit Reilly, and it made a big bump. Lucy was pitched forward, and I fell backwards. The horses were running wild now, and they swerved all over the road.

  I had lost my grip on the rifle, and I suddenly realized that Lucy had it. She was leaning against the seat of the wagon, and her eyes were lit up with triumph as she lifted the rifle.

  There was no time to defend myself. With a yell, I rolled to my feet and jumped blindly. I heard a rifle shot, and a bullet whistled by my head.

  My arms were flailing as I fell. I slammed into the ground, and the impact knocked the breath out of me. I did a few flips and then rolled to a stop.

  I gasped for air as I watched the wagon racing away. Lucy had dropped the rifle and had grabbed the reins, and she was trying desperately to slow the horses down.

  I got my breath back, and then I sat up and checked myself over. I had scratches and cuts all over, but nothing appeared to be broken.

  I stood and looked down the road, and by now the wagon had disappeared into the darkness.

  I smiled at that, and then I limped back down the road to find Brian.

  Chapter fifty-two

  I found Brian knelt beside Reilly Parker.

  Even in the moonlight, I could tell that he had scratches all over. There was also a little blood, but other than that he looked fine.

  Reilly was lying in the middle of the road, with his mouth open, and his eyes staring at nothing in particular.

  “Are you all right?” I asked as I walked up.

  “I’ll live,” Brian said and gestured at Reilly. “But he’s dead.”

  I nodded as I studied him.

  “He got shot in the back,” I explained.

  “What happened in the wagon?”

  I explained about Lucy Wells, and Brian looked surprised.

  “Of all the women in prison, it had to be her,” he grumbled.

  “I know.”

  “I don’t think she likes you very much.”

  “I noticed that,” I agreed, and added, “And I’m not the one who killed her husband. Ross did that.”

  “Do you think she’ll come back?”

  “No. By the time she gets those horses stopped, she’ll be halfway to New Mexico.”

  Brian nodded thoughtfully while I knelt beside Reilly.

  He had a Colt and a gun-belt, and I unbuckled it and looped it around my waist. I checked his pockets next and found sixty dollars.

  I stuck the money in my pant’s pocket, and we dragged Reilly off the road and covered him up with some brush. Then we stood there and looked around.

  There was a full moon, so it wasn’t as dark as usual. Near as we could tell, we were in the middle of wide-open hills.

  We could see the silhouette of some ridges to the west in the far distance, and I gestured at them.

  “Let’s head for that higher ground,” I suggested. “Mebbe we can spot a town or something when it gets daylight.”

  “We can’t just walk into a town,” Brian objected as we took out. “We’re in prison clothes.”

  “We’ll think of something,” I replied.

  Chapter fifty-three

  I usually didn’t care for walking. However, our legs were in good shape on account of stomping bricks, so we didn’t mind as much.

  We walked all night, and come daylight we reached the top of the ridges. It was a steep climb, and we could see a long ways from the top.

  We were afraid of pursuit, and we studied our back trail for movement. To our relief, we didn’t see anything.

  We turned and studied the country in front of us. There, in the distance, we could see a few buildings scattered about.

  “What do you think?” I asked as we squinted our eyes.

  “Looks like a village of some sort,” Brian commented.

  “We need a horse,” I said. “Let’s go see if they have one we could buy.”

  “And if they don’t?” Brian looked at me.

  I didn’t answer as I led out.

  It was several miles to the buildings, and it took us half the morning to get there.

  As we got closer we figured out that it was a small Mexican village.

  Small adobe buildings, baked and crumbling in the sun, were scattered all about. Goats, dogs, and children ran all around.

  The village was busy and loud, but things quieted down as we walked up, and everybody stared at us.

  I’m sure we made a sight. We were hatless, scratched, bruised, and bleeding. On top of that, we were also in prison clothes.

  A thin, old Mexican with a white moustache sat by the doorway of the nearest adobe building. A dark, plump woman stood just inside the door, holding a broom. They both watched silently as we walked up.

  “If nobody makes trouble,” I said, “there won’t be any. We just want to talk.”

  They nodded, but that was all.

  “This isn’t what it looks like,” I tried to explain.

  The old Mexican remained quiet, and his face was blank.

  “All right, mebbe it is what it looks like,” I admitted. “But we aren’t looking for any trouble. Isn’t that right, Brian?”

  He nodded.

  “We nee
d a horse and a change of clothes,” I continued. “We have money.”

  The old Mexican held up one finger.

  “You have a horse?” I asked hopefully.

  “Si, but he no look so good,” he spoke in broken English.

  “Long as I can ride him, I don’t care what he looks like,” I replied.

  “He’s gentle, senor. Real gentle.”

  “Let’s go have a look,” I suggested.

  He nodded and stood. He walked with a limp, and everybody watched as we followed after him.

  There was a small corral behind the house, and a horse stood by the gate.

  I was surprised when I saw him. He was tall, big boned, and mighty stout looking.

  “He looks just fine to me,” I said, impressed. “How much do you want for him?”

  He held up five fingers.

  “Five dollars?” I asked, surprised.

  “Si,” he nodded.

  “That’s it?” I frowned suspiciously.

  He nodded again.

  “He no look so good,” he repeated.

  “We’re talking about that horse?” I pointed to the fine, stout looking one in front of us.

  “Si.”

  The thought occurred to me that this might be a stolen horse. However, I wasn’t about to question our good fortune.

  “We’ll take him,” I said, and asked, “Do you have a saddle we could buy?”

  He nodded his head.

  “How ’bout some food and clothes?”

  “Si,” he nodded, and then he headed back towards the house.

  I glanced at Brian. He shrugged as we followed after him.

  Chapter fifty-four

  They fed us a meal of beans and tortillas, and we tore into the food with a vengeance. It was a bland meal, but it tasted wonderful compared to prison food.

  After we ate, they fixed us up with some clothes. They were dirty, worn rags, and we could poke our fingers in and out of the holes. But we didn’t complain, and it felt good to be wearing something else other than prison clothes.