“Well, you’ll be happy to know Garet’s dead,” Stella said. “Died in Black Hawk about a week back. Hattie sprung Jehu from jail and they took off to I don’t know where, left me and Joanie by ourselves, but told us the ranch is ours. So we’re back, and you and your gang can get on back to murdering Mexicans. We ain’t gonna be pulling any more jobs, what with Joanie being in the family way. We’ll even give you some horses for your string, as a peace offering.”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Stella say so many words in a row. She can talk in complete sentences, and even make a coherent argument.”
“There’s no need to be cruel,” I said.
“So why are you here?”
“To live, of course. They’ll need an extra pair of hands when the baby comes, and I loved it here.”
“That’s awfully nice of you, to live in the middle of nowhere to help out two ignorant girls who you barely know. I guess your dream of opening your own detective agency is shattered, what with you helping Hattie break Jehu out of jail. It was a ballsy plan, but I expect nothing less from Hattie. That’s one smart nigger.”
That’s when I knew who was behind the door. I tried to keep my expression neutral as Dorcas Connolly walked out of Jehu and Hattie’s room.
Everything about Dorcas was different, save her appearance. She wore the same simple black dress unadorned with lace or frills and the cameo brooch at her neck, her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled into a tight bun, her face plain and unremarkable. But the air around her shimmered with self-confidence and power. I’d seen the longing for it during our meeting in May, but it had been tempered by the reality of a patriarchal world. The power she’d longed for suited her, made her plain face somehow more handsome, her dull brown eyes spark with intelligence and cunning. Her lips were curled into a self-satisfied half smile. Everything that had led to her being there, in that ranch house, on the trail of her family’s nemesis, had been down to her and her alone. She was delusional, in a way, and I felt sorry for her. Society wouldn’t make it easy for her, most like. She would have to struggle to keep her power for the rest of her life. I knew that now she had tasted it, even for a few days, Dorcas Connolly would do anything to keep it. I suppose she was like a man in that way. Was there so little that separated the sexes, after all?
“I am so glad to see you, Claire.”
“Dorcas. I should have known you wouldn’t waste your time looking for us in Denver. You came straight to their North Star, their home.”
“And I was right. Here you are.”
“The men outside are Pinkertons?”
“Yes. Allan Pinkerton is on his way to Denver. He said he will take care of you himself. I’m not sure what that means. It’s so difficult to interpret nuance in a telegram.”
“I’m shocked you came all this way to apprehend me. I felt sure you’d be swamped running your new business. My condolences for your loss.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’ll admit that seeing you ride up was a bonus. I felt sure you would have left town after you helped spring Jehu from the cooler. Yet here you are. You have turned outlaw, completely. No, I’m not here for you. I’m here for Garet.”
“She’s dead,” Joan said.
“How many times do we have to say it?” Stella said.
“She died in Black Hawk, Dorcas. I was there.”
“Yes, Callum told me about the whole bloody affair in Black Hawk. He can’t stand the sight of blood, a remnant of the war, which is why he left. I knew as soon as he told me he left the transportation of Garet’s body to other people that she wasn’t dead.”
“Are you actually implying she arranged for the shootout in the kitchen, while in a coma upstairs, so she could mastermind an escape? You really do admire her; otherwise why would you concoct such an absurd fantasy?”
“No, I believe Margaret Parker is eighty percent lucky, twenty percent intelligent.”
“She’s a lot fucking smarter than you are, grandma,” Stella said.
“I have no idea who you are, and I don’t care. But if you don’t shut up, I’ll have Deacon here take you outside and do whatever it is he likes to do.”
“Spooner, you’re awfully quiet,” I said. “Letting a woman take charge isn’t like you, from what I’ve heard.”
“She pays me enough, I’ll do whatever she wants.”
“Yes, Jed Spooner is on the Connolly payroll now, thanks to Salter, may he rest in peace. I believe you said in our first meeting, hire a woman to catch a woman. Well, who better to be in charge of my company’s security than a man who thinks like a crook? He will spot the weaknesses, and I will keep him so well compensated with money and whores, he will never feel the need to stray.”
“How could I turn that offer down?” Spooner said.
“Jed, what about me? Our baby? We’re getting married. You said so.”
“You can have it if you want, but there’s ways to take care of it. I don’t care one way or the other. But we aren’t getting married, sweetheart.”
Poor Joanie. I’ll never forget her expression, and I’ll never forget the growl of anger that emanated from Stella.
“You bastard,” Stella said. “You take her maidenhead, get her hard up, and toss her aside like she’s some whore?”
“Stella, I hate to ruin your rose-colored opinion of your little sister, but she wanted it. Practically begged me for it. There ain’t no man alive that would turn this down. Not even Luke Rhodes, that holier-than-thou hypocrite.”
“Enough about the farm girl. Where’s Garet?” Dorcas said.
“She’s dead.”
Dorcas nodded, and something hard hit me on the back of the head. I dropped to my hands and knees, my eyes going in and out of focus. The ground swayed beneath me and I fell onto my side. Joan was trying to get to me, but Spooner held her fast. Deacon had Stella’s arms behind her back, but her face was red with anger. Her mouth was open as if she was screaming. I heard only the ringing in my ears.
Valentine kicked me onto my stomach and pulled my hands behind my back. With one hand in a viselike grip on my wrists and the other in my hair, he jerked me up off the floor. My feet dangled in the air for a moment before he set me on the ground with a knee-jarring thud. Through my swimming vision, I saw a moment of doubt in Dorcas’s expression before she pushed it away.
“Two men were found murdered, shot in the back, down a ravine near Black Hawk. One of them had a telegram from Allan Pinkerton in his pocket, addressed to Salter. There were five people and one dead woman in that wagon. None of them made it back to Denver. I know, because I waited at the graveyard. I wouldn’t believe Margaret Parker was dead until I saw her.”
My stomach roiled with fear and nausea. My vision swam, and two shaky versions of Dorcas stood close before me. “Why do you hate her so much?”
“She murdered my nephew.”
My voice was hoarse, and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. “You have a vendetta against her, have from the beginning. Why?”
“She humiliated my brother, my family, stole from his bank, his businesses, and continued to do so even after he was dead. The vendetta is hers. Now she is reaping what she sowed.”
She nodded again, and I knew something was coming, but was still stunned when Valentine’s fist connected with my side. My shaky vision went dark, and I lurched to the side protectively, opening myself up to another fist, this one to the side of my head. I fell into a heap on the floor, unconscious. I don’t know how long I was out, not long I think. Stella and Joan were shouting and struggling against their captors, and through narrowed eyes I saw Spooner talking to Dorcas, but what they said was lost beneath the sisters’ yelling and the loud hum in my head.
When I woke up, the three of us were in Jehu and Hattie’s room. Joan sat on the edge of the bed, dabbing my head with a wet cloth. Stella stood next to the window. It was dark outside, but the moon showed a man standing outside the window easy enough. They filled me in on what had happened when I was un
conscious. Spooner had convinced Dorcas that beating me, as enjoyable as it was to watch, was a waste of time. Garet, if she was alive, Jehu, and Hattie would be coming along soon enough if we didn’t return.
“Spooner said we’re the scouts,” Joan said, “and that the cavalry would be along tonight.”
“Is he right?” I asked, and immediately wanted to vomit. Joan put a glass of water to my lips and I took a tentative sip.
“Yep,” Stella said.
“And here we are with no weapons to help.”
Stella said that wasn’t entirely true and was about to say more when the door opened and Mingzhu was pushed into the room. The door slammed, and a board scraped across the door, locking us in.
Mingzhu saw me and came to my bedside. “Claire, what did they do to you?”
“What does it look like?” Stella said. “They beat her almost to death.”
Mingzhu held my hand and pushed my sweaty hair out of my face. “No, it wasn’t that bad,” I said.
“You sure looked dead for a bit,” Stella said. “Put a mirror up to your nose just to make sure.”
Mingzhu swore in Chinese.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Opal,” she said. “She resented that I went off on an adventure without her. To appease her, I made the mistake of telling her a little of what happened, nothing about Jehu’s plan, but I did tell her about helping Jehu escape. Opal’s a shallow, vain person. I should have known she would take revenge, especially when I came back without extra whores.”
“Did they hurt you?” I asked. I hated that my voice was weak, that I was laid up in bed like an invalid.
“No. Opal isn’t cruel, just selfish.” Mingzhu’s small hand still held mine, and I squeezed it. She covered my hand with her other one and looked to Stella when she started speaking.
“Hattie is a distrustful person, and she’s never far from a weapon. She has them stashed all over the ranch.” Stella leaned forward and whispered, “When we made this bed, we chiseled out spaces for rifles and shells on the platform. Lift up this mattress and there will be three guns hidden there.”
“There’s four of us.”
“Can you shoot, Ruby? I know Grace is terrible,” Joan said.
“I’m not a good shot, but I know how to,” Mingzhu said.
“I’m not terrible,” I said.
“Hattie said you were.”
“You two can fight over the shotgun,” Stella said. “Buckshot will scatter and give you a better chance of hitting something.”
“Just don’t hit us,” Joan said.
“You need to be at the back, Joanie,” Stella said.
“Why? I’m as good a shot as you are.”
“You got a baby in there, or have you forgotten?”
“What do you care? You hate babies.”
A muscle in Stella’s jaw pulsed, but not from anger, from hurt. “I loved you even though you were a red-faced screaming pain in my ass until you could crawl. Then you got into everything. You were a lot to handle for a seven-year-old,” she said. “But I did it, because I love you. Always have, since I set eyes on you. It was the damnedest thing. So if you want to keep some crying, shitting baby, I’ll damn well make sure you’re both taken care of.”
Joan leaped off the bed and hugged her sister. “I knew you’d come around. You’re a big boll of cotton beneath that crusty shell. You’re like a turtle.”
“I see that look on your face, Joan Jennifer Elbee. Don’t you even think about calling me Turtle.”
“That’s a great idea.”
“No, it ain’t. And I ain’t changing no diapers, so get that straight out of your mind. I did my time with the nappies. Thank God I’m not going to have to live with the bastard Jed Spooner.”
“If y’all get a clear shot, aim that shotgun at his pecker,” Joan said.
The guns were under the mattress, and all the guard had to do was look over his shoulder and he would see we were up to something. Stella opened the window, and the man leveled his rifle at her. She held up her hands. “I ain’t trying to escape. My friend here is hurt, and there’s a tin of salve in the tack room over there that will help ease her pain. I can’t get it, for obvious reasons. Will you get it for us?”
“You’re trying to trick me.”
“No, I’m not. We can’t get no one’s attention in the front room there. Maybe they’ve gone outside since we’re so good and locked in.” Stella leaned forward a bit and stage-whispered, “Look, I’m tired and want to get some rest, but she’s groaning and it’s gonna keep me up all night, I just know it. That salve will help her.”
“How?”
“How would I fucking know? I ain’t no doctor. We aren’t going anywhere. She can’t be moved and we aren’t going to leave her.”
“Move aside so I can see her.”
Stella did and I closed my eyes and tried to look as miserable as I felt. I groaned loudly for good effect. Mingzhu stroked my arm, and I shivered.
“See that guy by the barn? Tell him to keep an eye on me. I’ll stand right in this window, with my hands up the whole time,” Stella said.
“All right. What does the tin look like?”
Stella went into a detailed description of it and sent the guy off, blocking most of the window with her body. I moved as quickly as I could, and Mingzhu and Joan got the guns and ammunition and hid them in the wardrobe. When the man came back with the ointment, we were back in our positions, thinking of what lay ahead.
35
Margaret Parker’s Journal
Events of September 4, 1877
Written October 2, 1877
Heresy Ranch
Timberline, Colorado
It wasn’t easy for me and Hattie to stay up on Cold Spring Mountain while all of you went down to scout. We were used to making the plans, being in charge, and to lose that control was a tax on our patience. Jehu and Newt sat on a rock whittling, while Newt told him about his time in Cheyenne and learning photography from Rosie.
—Hope she ain’t sore I left without a word. She’d said I could be her apprentice. Learn the business.
I asked him if that was what he wanted and he said maybe, that it was a damn sight better than blacksmithing.
I knew something was wrong before Luke rode up the coulee to our camp. When I saw the expression on his face I knew it was bad.
—Dorcas Connolly has them.
—Bloody hell.
—Ruby, too? Hattie asked.
—Yep. It would seem Opal’s in with them.
—Where’s my dad? Newt asked.
—Thrown in with Spooner, they say.
—He won’t last long with them. He’s too drunk to be any help outlawing.
—You’re with us now, whether you like it or not, Jehu said.
Newt grinned.
—Change of plans, I said.
Luke removed his bedroll and tossed it on the ground along with his saddlebags.
—Got us some supplies.
The saddlebag was filled with bullets and shells, the bedroll revealed a shotgun and a rifle, and there were gun holsters on both sides of his saddle.
—Four guns along with what we already have gets us to seven rifles and six pistols, Luke said.
—We’re just gonna go in with guns blazing? Is that our plan? Jehu said.
—No. The plan is to get our friends out alive, no matter what.
—Which means killing. You OK with this, Sheriff?
—I don’t see any other way. This Connolly woman is going to take Garet in, and I’m not going to let that happen.
—Not concerned about her taking us in, I see, Hattie said.
—I guess it’s easy to let your morals and standards go when you’re getting snatch on the regular.
—Jehu! My God, what has gotten into you? I said.
—I’ll tell you what’s gotten into me. You’re gonna be dead soon, so you aren’t gonna get any blowback if we go down there and murder a bunch of men. Me and Hat
tie and the sisters and everyone else, though, we’ll be on the run from it forever. So you can talk all you want about wanting to leave us with a stake to start over, but it’s looking more and more like you want to have a final adventure before you turn to dust. Maybe sate your bloodlust while you’re at it.
I half expected Hattie or Luke to stand up for me, but everyone remained silent, except Newt, who came to stand next to me.
—You take that back, Jehu. Miss Margaret wouldn’t do anything to put y’all in danger. You’re family. Family is thicker than blood, ain’t that right, Miss Margaret?
Jehu was the only one looking at me, with a defiant expression I rarely saw. His plain talk about my mortality cut me deeper than I would have expected. The past few weeks I’ve made my imminent death something of a badge of honor, a joke even, to avoid the reality of it. Standing on the top of Cold Spring Mountain, I faced a beautiful sunset I would soon never see again, I felt a cool breeze on my face that portended a winter I wouldn’t experience, I looked at friends I wouldn’t watch grow old, and I thought a little goddamn selfishness on my part was in order.
But Jehu was partly right, and I didn’t want to part ways with him on bad terms. We’d been together too long, had meant too much to each other, for me to dismiss what he said. I don’t know what he went through in jail, but I suspect that was the source of his anger, and for that I couldn’t blame him. What kind of friend was I if I didn’t respect my friends and their opinions and feelings? I figured this would end in bloodshed, but I had to at least give the other option a try.
—That’s right, Newt. Which is why we’ll try reason first.
—See? What’d I tell you?
Jehu nodded, but Hattie’s gaze was questioning.
—First thing in the morning, we need to reconnoiter the ranch, see how many men they have. Then we’ll make our plan. One we all agree on. Deal?
—Deal, Jehu said.
Of course, I had no intention of waiting around. Dorcas wanted me, and I figured that if she got me, she’d let my family be.
It was a weak, optimistic plan, and Hattie let me know as much when she caught me trying to sneak away around midnight. Specifically, she called it the stupidest damn fool plan she’d ever heard.
Heresy Page 34
