His dark, bushy eyebrows rose. He blinked. “George?”
“Is that any worse than Sam?”
“No, I s’pose not.”
“Good. Didn’t you read that paper I signed all legal-like for you? If you look close, you’ll see that’s what I put. Georgia Edwards. Only I smeared the I-A a tad, so’s anyone might think it said George.”
He nodded slowly. “All right then. Let Bill in on it once you get going.”
She nodded and winked. He jerked his head back.
“Come on inside. I’ve got your shotgun in there. I’ll carry the strongbox out, and you look sharp, up and down the street, while I load it.”
They stepped into the office, and Griffin took a gleaming shotgun with a cherry stock from a rack on the wall and placed it in her hands. Vashti held it to the light streaming in the doorway and admired the fine tracery on the lock. Any man or woman in Fergus would be proud to own this gun. She nodded and hefted it. Not too heavy.
“Thank you.”
“That’s on loan while you’re working for me.” Griffin crossed the room and stooped to open the safe. He brought out a sturdy wooden box, painted green and bound with bands of steel.
“You go out first and make sure it’s clear.”
Vashti stepped out onto the boardwalk. As if anyone in Fergus would hold up the stagecoach right in town. Especially with the sheriff loafing around.
She glanced at Chapman. He stood with his hands on his belt, his right hand close to his six-shooter, looking up the street toward the Nugget Saloon. Vashti looked the other way, southward along the boardwalk and the dusty street. Beyond the emporium, Oscar Runnels, the freighter, was climbing the steps to the post office.
Griffin came out and went straight to the coach. He heaved the treasure box up and settled it on the boards where the driver and messenger rested their feet. Bill helped him slide the heavy box under the seat. They fussed for a moment, making sure it was secure; then Griffin stepped back and turned to her.
“All right, George. Time for you to go.”
Vashti walked over to the step at the front of the coach and climbed up. Settling onto the seat beside Bill, she smiled at him.
“Morning, Mr. Stout.”
“How do, Sam.”
“It’s George, but that’s all right.” She looked down at Griffin, whose head came up as high as where her feet were braced. A strange look crossed his face. Was he thinking he ought to tell Bill to take care of her, instead of the other way around? For a moment, Vashti was afraid he’d make her get down again and tell her she couldn’t go.
“We’ll be just fine, Mr. Bane,” she said. “I hope you and your nephew have a nice trip.”
“Godspeed.” Griffin stepped back.
Bill lifted the reins and let the horses have an inch or two of slack. “Get up!”
They rolled out of Fergus with the wind whistling in Vashti’s ears below the hat’s brim. As they passed the Spur & Saddle, she glimpsed Augie and Bitsy standing at the front door. She raised the shotgun in triumph and waved.
CHAPTER 6
Griffin paced the porch in front of the Wells Fargo office in Boise. He had another half hour before the stage was due. He could step down the street for refreshment, but he wanted to make sure he was here when Justin arrived.
After a few minutes, he went inside. The ticket agent looked up and smiled. “Cup of coffee, Mr. Bane?”
“Thanks.”
The man nodded toward the potbellied stove in the corner. “I make a fresh pot before the Mountain Home stage comes in. The cups on the shelf are clean.”
Griffin poured himself a serving of the boiling, dark brew. The stove’s heat made the room too warm, and he stepped away from it, toward the counter. He set the hot cup down for a minute to let the grounds settle.
“How’s business up to Fergus?” the agent asked.
“Tolerable. I’m having a little trouble keeping enough drivers and messengers lined up.”
“We’ve had a big turnover here, too,” the man admitted.
“Thought I might talk to your division manager to see if he had any suggestions.”
The agent shook his head. “Mr. Nelson’s gone to Glenn’s Ferry. I don’t expect he’ll be back for two or three hours at least.”
Griffin picked up his tin cup. The small, curved handle was hot, but not so bad he couldn’t hold it. The worst part was that the curve was so tight he couldn’t get his large finger through it. He managed to raise the cup to his lips and took a cautious sip. He’d had worse coffee. Once. He grimaced and set the cup down.
“Did you get the new rate table?” the agent asked.
“Yup.”
The door opened. Two men came in.
“Afternoon,” one of them called. “We need tickets to Mountain Home.”
Griffin stepped outside, leaving his cup of brew on the counter. He paced back and forth, ignoring the passing wagons and foot traffic. If he were home, he could be shoeing Oscar Runnels’s mules, or working with the bay colt, or mending harness.
And what about the Silver City run? He’d put Vashti with his steadiest driver, but maybe he’d lowered Bill’s chances of a safe run by giving him a green shotgun rider. What if road agents tried to stop them and she panicked? Griffin turned and walked the length of the porch again. Best not to think about the Silver City stage when it was too late to change things.
Ten minutes later, the ticket agent came out and piled luggage and mail sacks near where the stagecoach would halt. The two men who’d come for tickets and a few other prospective passengers milled about, making small talk.
Right on time, a bugle blew. Griffin heard the pounding hooves and rattling wheels before he caught sight of the stage. His chest swelled a little, and his throat tightened as the red and gold coach flew down the street. People scattered and stood admiring the sight or cursing the driver, who popped his whip more for show than practicality. The six bay horses—nearly matched—slowed to a trot then drew up right where the pile of luggage waited.
Griffin laughed. Those horses’ flanks were dark with sweat, but their breathing wasn’t labored, and no foam had formed along the harness straps. The good drivers knew how to pace the team and still put on a performance when they neared each stop.
The messenger hopped down and flung the door open.
“Welcome to Boise, folks.” The ticket agent offered a hand to a middle-aged woman who climbed stiffly down from the coach. She was followed by a string bean of a boy. Griffin looked no further. The gawky lad had the Bane chin and his sister, Evelyn’s, dark doe eyes, with which he warily scanned the people on the boardwalk.
“Justin.” Griffin stepped forward and held out his hand.
The boy snapped his head around and caught a quick breath. “Uncle Griff?”
“That’s right.” His hand closed over the boy’s. “Glad you got here safe. Do you have a trunk?”
“No, sir. Just a satchel.”
Griffin turned to the back of the coach, and they waited for the messenger to toss down the luggage.
“We’ll stay in a hotel here tonight,” he told Justin. “Then we’ll take the stage back to Fergus in the morning.”
A battered leather bag landed with a thud beside them, and the boy stooped to grab the handle. As he straightened, he flipped his overlong hair back from his forehead.
“Just so’s you know, I don’t want to do no smithing.”
Vashti clung to the curved metal on the side of her seat. The coach swayed on its leather straps as they barreled around a corner. She was grateful that the sheer drop-off was on Bill’s side, not hers, but she realized two things: If she was going to become a top-notch driver, she’d have to get used to flying along these precarious roads. And coming back downhill tomorrow, she’d be on the side edging what amounted to a cliff.
The horses slowed to a walk as the grade increased. Bill let them lumber along up the incline. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, brought out a small hunk of tobacco, and bit of
f a piece. Stuffing the wad back into his pocket, he glanced over at Vashti.
“I like a chaw while I’m driving.”
She nodded.
“Griff says you want to learn to drive.”
“I know how to drive.”
“That so?”
“I can drive two and four.”
“So you could drive a stage on the flat, with four horses?”
“I could.”
“Huh.” They rode on in silence until the horses gained more level ground. Bill snapped the reins. “Up now.” The team picked up a steady jog. “We’ll trade for mules at the next stop. It’s a little over halfway to Silver. The last half’s the worst.”
Vashti clenched her teeth and nodded. She’d never been up to the mining town before, and the road was a bit rougher than she’d imagined. The hairpin turns and sheer drops gave her pause. And Bill said the worst terrain lay ahead of them.
She watched his hands as he worked the lines gently, making fine adjustments with subtle movements she could barely see. Not one horse broke stride as they clopped through a wooded area and splashed across a shallow creek.
“Pull now,” he called, and the six leaned into the harness to carry the coach up the next grade without losing speed.
“How’d you learn to drive so well?” she asked.
“Oh, I been driving since I was one-sixteenth your size.”
She smiled.
“Hold on.”
She grabbed the metal bar again and tried not to look toward the far edge of the road as the coach careened down a dip and up the other side. The wind tugged at her sleeves and whistled past her ears.
“That gully took my hat off the first time I ran it,” Bill said with a laugh.
The horses slowed to their businesslike jog for another half mile. Bill bent down and took a bugle from beneath the seat.
“Are we nearly to the swing station?” Vashti looked ahead but saw no signs of civilization.
“Around the next curve.” He put the horn to his lips and blew a long blast. Lowering the shiny instrument, he smiled at Vashti. “Now Jules Harding, he could play a right smart tattoo on the horn. I just give it a lungful.”
They swept into the yard of the stage stop, and Bill pulled the team up.
Two men came running from the cabin to help unharness the blowing horses. Vashti jumped down and winced as her feet hit the ground. She hadn’t realized how long she’d braced her legs on the footboard. She took a few steps to get her blood flowing and opened the coach door. “Do you gentlemen want to stretch your legs? We’ll leave in about ten minutes.”
The two passengers climbed down. One of them eyed her keenly as he made his exit. Vashti looked away, hoping she wouldn’t blush. That would surely give away her secret. As the two men ambled toward the house, the one who’d stared at her said something to the other. The second man turned around and looked at her. Vashti turned her back to them and shut the door of the coach. Bill came around from behind the coach.
“The necessary’s out back. I suggest you wait until the passengers come back.”
She nodded, staring at the ground. Her face was scarlet for sure.
“You want some coffee?” Bill asked.
She shook her head.
The hostler led a team of mules out of a corral, where he’d had them hitched up and waiting in their harness. In no time flat, the bay horses had been turned out and the six mules put in their place before the stagecoach. Bill came around the corner of the cabin and nodded to her. Vashti ran around the other side of the little building. Within two minutes she was back, panting as she climbed up. The passengers had boarded, and the station agent and his helper stood leaning against the corral fence.
Vashti felt their eyes on her as she climbed aboard. The rough boots made her feet feel clumsy, but she sprang as quickly as she could up to the seat beside Bill. “What are they staring at?”
“You, of course. They think you’re awfully young to be riding shotgun. I told them you’re a top marksman.” He spit tobacco juice over the side. “Melvin said, ‘Oh, that’s what you call it in Fergus.’ “
He laughed.
“So he knows I’m a woman?”
“I’d say so. He guessed.”
“I think the passengers are suspicious, too.”
“Makes no difference, so long as the lawless part of the population doesn’t know.”
“Word will get around.”
“Mebbe so.” Bill gathered the reins. “Up now, you lazy mules!”
The team began the merciless uphill pull. Another eight miles of hard going.
“You ever been held up?” Vashti asked.
“Sure.”
She eyed him in surprise. “Really?”
“Every driver who’s been around awhile has been.”
“Here? I mean, on the Fergus line?”
“Once. Before that I was down on the Wyoming run. Wild, oh, that route was wild, especially during the war.”
“You mean the War Between the States?”
“That’s right. It was like the Injuns knew most of the soldiers were busy elsewhere, and they attacked all up and down the line. Stole horses and food—burned everything else. Hay, grain, stations. Everything. Times were hard then, and it cost a pretty penny to keep the line running.”
“Mr. Bane told me it cost a lot more then to ride the line.”
“Sure it did. But most people were afraid to ride anyway, at least on certain parts. If it hadn’t been for the mail contracts, the stagecoach companies would have folded.”
Vashti clung tightly to her shotgun and the edge of the seat as they took a curve.
“So what was the worst scrape you were in?”
Bill spat over the side. “About twenty Injuns come after me. Old Ben Liddel was sittin’ where you are. He pumped the lead, I’m telling you.”
“How’d you get away? Outrun ‘em?”
“Nope. A team of horses hitched to a coach can’t outrun their horses. Mules even less likely. No, we drove into a piece of road between some rocks and stood ‘em off for three hours. We weren’t far out from Julesburg. Finally, half a dozen men came riding out to see what had happened to us. They ran the Injuns off. Good thing, because Ben and me were about out of lead.”
Vashti eyed him for a long moment. “You telling it straight?”
“I sure am.”
“Did you have any passengers?”
“Not that day. Had five sacks of mail, though. And we got it through, yes sirree. ‘Course, I took a bullet in my hand.”
Vashti stared down at his tanned, leathery hands. “Which one?”
“That one. The right.”
“Did it heal up good as new?”
“Pretty good. Still bothers me some, especially in cold weather or when it’s going to rain. But I was mighty glad they didn’t hit me in a worse place.”
The wheels hit a rut, and Vashti lurched forward, nearly flying over the footboard.
“Hold on, there, Georgie!” Bill grabbed the back of her vest and yanked her back up onto the seat.
Vashti gasped and looked up into his placid blue eyes. “Thank you, sir.”
“Don’t need no ‘sir.’ I’m just Bill.”
“Thank you kindly, Bill.”
He nodded. “So, you want to drive.”
“I do. I surely do.” For a split second, she thought he might offer to let her take the reins.
Bill spit a stream of tobacco juice off into the brush. “What’d you ever drive before?”
“My daddy’s horses.”
“How long ago?”
She couldn’t hold his gaze. “Awhile.”
“Like ten years or more?”
“Something like that.”
“Hmm.” They were approaching a steep incline. Bill let out a little rein and called to the mules, “Hup now. Step along, boys.”
Vashti held on and kept quiet. When they got to the top of the rise, the road leveled out for a short stretch.
“Driving a farm wagon h’ain’t like driving a stage,” Bill said.
“No, sir, I expect you’re right. My daddy had a carriage and four.”
Bill’s eyes narrowed, and he shot her a sidelong glance. “That true?”
“Well … the team of four is.”
“Ha.”
“Johnny Conway said when he was a nipper, somebody made him a rig to practice driving on.”
“That’s a passable way to learn. At first. If you can’t learn on real horses.”
“Well, I don’t see how I can learn on real horses when I don’t have any of my own and Mr. Bane won’t let me drive his.”
“Hmm.”
Vashti watched him cautiously for a bit then cleared her throat. “Would you make me a rig, Bill? I’ve got a place to put it.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, sir. I mean Bill.”
He pursed his lips and, after a moment, shot more tobacco juice over the side. “I’ll think on it.”
They rode along for another hour without much talk. Vashti stared out over the valley below them and across at the distant peaks and rock formations. Some of the stone columns had fanciful shapes. She imagined one group as a quartet of trolls, watching them strain up the ribbon of road.
“Look ahead now,” Bill said.
She turned forward. They approached a place where a huge boulder crowded to the edge of the road.
“Anyplace there’s cover, you need to be watching.”
“You think there might be outlaws hiding behind that rock?”
“You just never know. They say that back in the old days when the most ore was coming down, this was a favorite spot.”
Vashti’s neck prickled. The road was so steep, the mules walked slowly, leaning into their collars. She sat straighter and flicked glances at every conceivable hiding place along both sides of the road, always coming back to the base of the boulder. The only sounds were creaking leather, the mules’ labored breathing and snorting, and the crunch of the wheels on the sandy ground.
When they’d passed the spot, she sighed and relaxed a little.
Bill nudged her with his elbow. “It also makes a good courting spot, on top of that boulder.”
She laughed. “Did Mr. Bane tell you his nephew’s coming?”
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