Counterfeit Cowboy

by Lacy Williams

  At last they were nearing the next stop—a place where they could get off and stretch their legs while they ate the noon meal. They’d have an allotted time to eat and then get back on the train. Erin hadn’t paid much attention to the disembarking and reloading of passengers on the trip from Boston to Chicago, but now that her stomach was rumbling for some sustenance, she was ready to pull into the station.

  When the call finally came from the conductor, who passed quickly through the car, she already had her coat and scarf on.

  “Take your satchel,” Jesse cautioned her, half turned toward the aisle and glancing over his shoulder at her. “And keep a good hold on it. You don’t want it to fall—or someone to grab it—in the hurry to get off.”

  The train pulled up to the platform with a hiss of brakes, and Jesse grabbed her arm and hauled her into the aisle in time for the other passengers to get out of their seats as well, pressing in on her from all sides. The crowd surged forward and Erin received an elbow in her back as she tried to maintain her balance.

  “Jesse!” she cried out when she lost her footing.

  “I’ve got you.” He kept her upright with his hand beneath her arm, and when he could manage it, passed her beneath his arm, so she was in front of him. He changed his grip so his left hand rested beneath her left elbow and his right arm snaked behind her back, steadying her further.

  “Watch it, bud,” he called over his shoulder as he was jostled. “Better?” he asked, right in her ear.

  She nodded, unable to find air in the press of bodies to answer him verbally.

  They passed down the steps to the platform and she breathed a little easier as the fresh, cold air hit her face and the dispersing crowd gave her a little more room to move.

  “Next time, I might wait until the crowd passes,” she panted as Jesse moved in front again and pulled her in the same direction the crowd was going. She realized she had no idea if Pete had made it off the train with them.

  “Pete? Pete!”

  “Right behind ya, Miss Erin. Ya know I’m not going to miss the noon meal.”

  She didn’t have time to turn her head, but she could hear the grin in his voice.

  “If you wait until after the crowd gets off the train, you’re likely not to get a seat,” said Jesse as he ushered her into a ramshackle building full of long tables, already filling up with other passengers. “Hurry up and find a place.”

  Erin climbed onto the bench seat in the first location where there were three seats together, and before she’d even settled herself, a steaming plate appeared in front of her, along with a sweating mason jar of iced tea and a mug of coffee. She turned to ask for a glass of water instead of the tea, but the girl who’d plunked down her plate was already gone, bustling down the line of patrons.

  “Best eat fast, miss,” said a snaggle-toothed man across from her. “Be gettin’ back on the train afore you know it.”

  Erin glanced over to see Pete shoveling food into his mouth—the sharp lines of his face had already begun to soften after only a couple of days of eating well—and Jesse, too, was digging in. She followed suit. Apparently, they weren’t going to share any scintillating conversation over this meal, but that was all right.

  The chaos of other diners talking, clanking silverware and people shouting for the server had Erin on edge but she attempted to ignore it all and just eat.

  Her stomach appreciated the food more than her tastebuds. The meat was flavorless and hard and smothered with some unidentifiable gravy. And she didn’t particularly like tea; the coffee was much too strong. She ate anyway, conscious that they wouldn’t get another chance until the evening meal.

  She noticed Jesse pushed all his potatoes to one side of his plate. He had ordered steamed carrots last night at the restaurant and she’d meant to ask him about his aversion to potatoes but gotten distracted from her aim.

  She opened her mouth to ask him now but looked up and saw a frazzled-looking mother with several children huddled around her like a mother hen with chicks. The little group stood just away from the edge of the tables, with the mother craning her head as if looking for a place they could all sit together. None of the other passengers seemed to pay her any mind, but Erin couldn’t ignore the hungry gazes of the young children.

  She pushed away from the table, nearly toppling Jesse as she used his shoulder as leverage to disentangle herself from the wooden bench and table.

  “What’re you doing?” he asked, reaching out one hand to steady her even as he took a drink from his mason jar.

  “There’s a mother, just there—” Erin pointed “—looking for a seat. She looks worn out and she has small children. I count...one, two, three, five of them. I’m going to send her over to sit here.”

  “What about you— Erin!”

  She shrugged as she passed Pete, and called back over her shoulder, “I can certainly eat standing up.”

  She made her way back through the tables, excusing herself when she couldn’t avoid bumping into other patrons, some of whom shot her disgruntled looks. Some even cursed her, but she wouldn’t be deterred.

  Erin reached the young mother and pointed out her now-empty seat, and Jesse, who stood half out of his seat now. He was waving down the server who’d brought their food and was now at the other end of the long tables.

  The mother slanted a suspicious look at Erin before she guided her children down the way Erin had just come, and again the passengers they couldn’t get around complained.

  “Excuse me,” Erin called out to a man who’d said a foul word right in front of the children. “But the children need to eat, too. Would you like to give up your seat for one of them?” she asked sweetly. He went back to his food in silence, shooting a glare at her.

  Jesse joined her a moment later, juggling two tin plates. He thrust hers into her hands with a mock scowl. “You couldn’t just stay in your seat, could you? Can’t let anyone fend for themselves....”

  “You gave yours up, too.”

  He smiled crookedly. “Only because I thought I’d better keep you from causing more trouble.”

  She nudged his elbow with hers as they both stood with backs to the walls and ate. There really wasn’t much room between the edge of the tables and the wall, but there was enough.

  “Feels good to stretch my legs,” she said at one point and Jesse only raised his eyebrows at her. She shrugged. It also felt good to provide a kindness for someone, and as Erin watched the young mother try to corral her five children to eat and behave at the crowded table, she was glad she’d done it. Although the woman hadn’t exactly been grateful.

  Eating so quickly while standing up caused the food to settled like a lump of lead just behind Erin’s sternum, but there wasn’t time to ask for a seltzer water as shouts from the conductor from outside indicated they needed to hightail it back onto the train.

  As the passengers started moving and standing up, Jesse waved Pete to hurry up. The boy stuffed one more roll between his teeth and stood up, jostling the little girl who’d been squished in next to him. She started to wail, but the sound was lost in the noise of passengers leaving.

  “We should help them get back on the train,” Erin said, having to shout a second time for Jesse to hear her.

  He rolled his eyes, but didn’t argue. He pushed back through the crowd, Erin following close behind, and stopped Pete with a hand on the boy’s arm, then approached the young mother and her brood and Jesse leaned down to speak with her.

  Erin couldn’t hear what was said over the hum of passengers, but the woman looked over his shoulder at Erin with narrowed eyes. She didn’t protest as he loaded Pete’s arms with two small children, then scooped up another two and moved toward Erin, ushering the young mother with him.

  The conductor called out from the platform again and Jesse ushered them all toward the train,
rushing now. Erin took one of the small children from Pete—a girl of about two—and led the way back to the train. They were some of the last ones on, and had to take the last two and a half rows, those closest to the door, where they’d get a draft at each stop.

  Jesse shot her a wry smile, but she was starting to see that beneath his bluster was a kind heart. Whether he wanted to admit it or not. He never would have helped Pete—deception or no—if he hadn’t seen that the boy was in trouble.

  “I’m Erin. This is Jesse and Pete,” she introduced as the young mother and her brood began getting seated. The children shed their coats and scarves like an instant molt of feathers.

  “I’m Andrew!”

  “I’m Matt! And we’re twins!” chorused the two boys.

  “Oh, my,” Erin murmured with an amazed look at their mother.

  “I’m Nora,” the woman said with a frown, juggling baby and bag on her lap as she struggled to loosen her own coat. “And these are Emma and Rachel and baby Roy. Boys, sit in your seat.”

  The two younger girls, probably two and three, pressed their faces shyly into their mother’s arm, while the baby gave a gurgle and a toothless grin.

  “You got a lot of kids,” Pete said bluntly.

  “Pete!” Erin exclaimed, while Jesse only chuckled. When Erin scowled at him, he only shrugged.

  “What? Five is a good number of kids.”

  “Humph,” Nora said, blowing air through her lips to move her bangs off her face. “At home, they aren’t such a handful.”

  Erin could only imagine.

  As if to illustrate her statement, one of the twins pinched the other, who slugged him in the arm and they tumbled to the floor, wrestling and writhing, knocking into passengers across the way.

  “Boys!” Nora cried out, but with the baby in her lap, she only had one hand to reach out and try to grab them, but nearly unseated herself trying to do it anyway.

  “Here!” Erin scrabbled in her purse to find her sketchbook and two pencils.

  Jesse cleared his throat from beside her and she turned a glance on him that revealed a crooked smile. She knew he was thinking about lunch and giving up their seats. She shrugged. He could think she was silly or interfering if he wanted, but what could she have done differently?

  She tore several blank pages from the back of the book. “Here—”

  “C’mere, you two.” Jesse pulled the fighting boys apart. “Miss Erin is going to show you something fun to do to pass the time.”

  They goggled at her as Erin handed them both a sheet of paper and a pencil.

  “You’re old enough to know your letters, aren’t you?”

  “Most of ’em,” one of the boys answered, wiping beneath his nose with his sleeve.

  “Well, why don’t we practice them? And then when that side of the paper is full, you can draw a picture on the other side.”

  Erin helped settle the boys on the floor between the two facing seats. When she righted herself in her own seat, Nora grimaced at her, suspicious again.

  “Well, thank you, I guess.” She didn’t sound very thankful. “Most of the other passengers would’ve just ignored us.”

  * * *

  Jesse read the tension between Nora and Erin, but the kindhearted girl beside him seemed oblivious. He’d seen Nora’s suspicious look when he’d approached in the restaurant with an offer to help them get on the train. It seemed her suspicions about Erin’s motives remained.

  It was some comfort to him that someone else thought Erin’s kind actions were unusual.

  Unaware of the vibes, Erin asked, “Where are you traveling to?”

  “Oregon.”

  “We’re meeting our auntie,” one of the boys said, looking up from the floor.

  “Just in time for Christmas, hmm?” asked Erin. “I’m visiting relatives, too. My brother and his family.”

  One of the smaller girls came hesitantly across the space between the two benches, shyly holding up her ragdoll for Erin’s inspection.

  “Emma, leave the fancy lady alone.”

  “Oh, I don’t mind,” Erin told Nora. “May I see your doll? Thank you.”

  As she leaned forward to engage the little girl, Jesse caught sight of Pete’s face where the boy was catty-corner, sitting across from Erin in the other. The boy’s face was confused, as if trying to understand Erin’s interactions with the other children.

  After the confessions they’d made to Erin yesterday, Jesse knew a bit more about the boy’s past, that he’d lost his mother and been separated from his sister. Was he feeling a bit of jealousy to see Erin sharing her kindness with these other passengers? Or was it something else?

  Self-preservation urged Jesse to put some distance between himself and Erin. But with her generous outlook, she made him want to be better than he was. She thought he was noble, and good, and he wanted to be those things. But he knew he wasn’t.

  The conductor came through the car, calling out the next stop.

  Pete stretched his arms above his head and stood. “I’m going to visit the washroom.”

  There was only one washroom on this car and it was at the opposite end from where they sat. Pete looked back from halfway down the aisle and a gut feeling had Jesse out of his seat and following the kid before he realized he was up.

  There were a few folks standing near the outer door—probably anticipating a quick jump off at the stop. Pete seemed to have disappeared until Jesse noticed him wedged between a portly man and the wall, in a narrow corner. Jesse edged close and the kid’s face changed color when it was clear he’d been spotted.

  “I’m not gonna stop you from getting off, if that’s what you want,” Jesse said, keeping his voice low so the other passengers wouldn’t pay them any attention. “Erin wouldn’t, either, if you would’ve told her you wanted to go.”

  “She’s too busy with her next charity case to even notice.”

  Jesse spotted the insecure boy behind the words just as he’d spotted Pete trying to hide. “She doesn’t think you’re a charity case. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s special.”

  Much too special for the likes of him.

  One of the disembarking passengers stared unabashedly, obviously listening to their conversation. Jesse resisted the urge to tell him off. He only had a few minutes to convince the boy to stay.

  Pete kept his eyes trained on the wall, chin raised in that familiar defiant posture.

  “For some reason, she seems to genuinely like us both, even after we let her think we were brothers.”

  Pete’s eyes flickered once to the opposite side of the car, where Erin remained, but he made no other sign he was listening.

  “I think we owe it to her to go to Wyoming with her—”

  “You just want me around to look good to her,” the kid spat.

  “Maybe so.” Although the kid was starting to grow on him. “But our deal was you had to come to Wyoming to get your half of the cash.”

  The kid raised his chin, staring at the wall.

  Jesse wasn’t getting through to him. The train started to slow, and Jesse knew he was running out of time for talking. Why did it matter to him anyway? This was just another kid. Who reminded him of Daniel.

  “I wish I’d had someone like Erin to try to help me when I was fifteen—just a couple years older than you. I was living on the streets with my younger brother, Daniel. I was in charge of us both.”

  Saying the words aloud seemed to release something in Jesse—he’d never talked about it before. “We were doing all right, finding enough food, mostly warm places to stay. There were times we went hungry, but I thought we were making it...and then Daniel got sick. I couldn’t help him and he just kept getting sicker and sicker...”

  Jesse had to swallow hard before he could go on. “And th
en he died.”

  Pete’s eyes were on Jesse now, but he remained silent.

  “If I would’ve had someone like Erin to help me, maybe Daniel could’ve got the help he needed. Maybe he would’ve lived.

  “She’s already saved your hide once,” Jesse said with a pass of his hand over his mouth to still his rising emotions.

  The train stopped and Jesse knew the kid was going to get off. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the reward money. Peeling back a couple of bills, he shoved them into the kid’s hand. “Here.”

  Then he turned to go back to his seat. He’d done all he could to convince the kid to stay.

  When he slid into his seat, Erin looked up at him curiously, a child perched happily on her lap, although Nora looked a little disgruntled. “Where’s Pete?”

  He hesitated. He wanted to spare her knowing Pete had snuck off the train, but he didn’t want any more secrets to come between them—not with what he was already keeping back about his past.

  “He...”

  “Had to wait for the washroom,” came the kid’s voice and then he appeared in the aisle and went back to his seat. He met Jesse’s eyes and nodded slightly. Jesse’s words had penetrated, had made some difference to the boy. Or maybe he just wanted the rest of the money Jesse had promised him.

  Jesse returned Pete’s nod, settling back into his seat. He caught an enigmatic glance from Erin, but she didn’t ask him about the exchange between him and Pete.

  “We’re just about to read some more of the story I’ve been reading to you and Pete,” Erin said. Jesse noticed what he hadn’t before, that she had her Bible open on her lap, juggling both it and the sleepy toddler.

  Jesse tuned out, not wanting to hear a sermon, until she read, “‘And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.” When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt—’”