Innocent Bystander

by C. A. Asbrey

  “Still sticking with that Mr. Quinn nonsense, Abi?” Nat’s brows rose. “Even after yesterday?”

  Abigail flushed puce. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

  “Nope, just strange,” murmured Nat, rising to his feet and striding over to the dresser. “There could be another way of findin’ her, though.”

  She sat bolt upright. “How?”

  “Your sister is a beautiful woman. People notice her.” Nat rooted around in a drawer. “We did.”

  Abigail’s deflated posture spoke of the hopelessness of her task. “I know that. But I can’t question everyone from the train.”

  Nat pulled out the address book they had taken. “I mean, we noticed her enough to speak to her. When we realized that she was your sister, we took this from her bag.”

  He slowly pushed the small, blue address book across the table with his forefinger. “David Bartholemew’s address is in there. He’s in San Francisco.”

  Abigail’s jaw dropped open. “Just how long were you going to keep this from me?”

  Nat’s face dimpled with devilment. “Just long enough for you to realize you need some help to stop this dragging on for months. We’re coming with you, Abi. And before you start arguing, you can’t get out of here without us.”

  ♦◊♦

  Nat and Jake escorted the young ‘man’ from Ghost Canyon, kicking their horses into a lope as they reached the wide open plain. Jake had spread rumors that Nat had been heavily involved with the ‘boy’s’ mother and while the lad was too old to be the outlaw leader’s son, he was considered to be a father figure to the lad. Nat was determined to return him to the bosom of his family with a sound telling off for being stupid enough try to join a gang of outlaws. That would buy them some time away from Ghost Canyon, and their last venture had been successful enough to make them lie low for at least a couple of months, in any case.

  “I want to know what you’ve got planned, Abi,” asked Nat. He spoke thoughtfully and carefully, with undercurrents of suspicion bubbling behind every word.

  “I have to speak to Madeleine.”

  “She don’t seem like someone who’ll listen to reason,” said Jake. “When she’s made up her mind, it sounds like it’s pretty much set.”

  “You’re right Jake, she’s willful. But what else can I do?”

  “I told you. We can take her out of there.”

  Abigail shook her head. “I can’t allow that. Apart from anything else, you’d have a kidnapping charge to face. That wouldn’t be fair on you. It’s moving into crimes against the person and that will lose you public sympathy entirely.”

  “She needn’t know it’s us, Abi,” said Nat.

  “Of course she’d know. She’s met both of you.”

  “We were masked.”

  Jake stared ahead into the blazing plain. “What if we didn’t kidnap her? What if someone else did, and we rescued her? Even if she did recognize us we’d still be on the side of the angels.”

  “That could work.” Nat turned to face him. “Who were you thinking of for the kidnapper?”

  “Doesn’t Gary Morgan live out Frisco way? He owes us a favor.”

  “I’m not having my sister dragged off to who-knows-where by some criminal.” Abigail’s mouth firmed in determination.

  Nat ignored her. “It could take a while to bring her back to civilization if it was done right. It could keep her right out of the way, for as long as you needed. You’d be a rescuer, not a kidnapper.”

  “Me?” Jake snorted. “How come I get landed with the job?”

  “You’re a perfect gentleman and women love you—when you’re not robbing them, that is. You’re perfect for it.” Nat glinted a dimpled smile at his uncle. “And if Abi’s dealing with a scientist, I’ll be more help to her than I would be babysitting her sister.”

  Abigail pulled her horse to a halt. “You’re not listening to me. You’re not taking her anywhere. Got that?” Both men stopped their mounts and twisted back in their creaking saddles to face her, cynical smiles playing over their faces.

  “How are you going to stop us, Abi?” Nat removed his hat and ran a hand through his brown hair. “We don’t want to see any woman killed. Think about it. Sure, she’ll be scared for a day or so, but she’ll be safe. She’ll also be in the hands of her rescuer soon enough, and he’ll lead her all around the hills while you and I see what we can find out about this Bartholemew.”

  Jake cut in. “Could you live with yourself if anythin’ happened to her when you had a chance of gettin’ her out of there to safety?”

  Abi paused, her eyes downcast. “No. I couldn’t.”

  “She might be scared for a while but she’d be as safe as she would be in her own home,” said Jake. “If she was my sister, I’d sure as hell take her out of there any way I had to. She’d be gone no matter what she wanted. Sometimes, folks don’t know what’s good for them, and you need to take charge.”

  Doubt fluttered through Abigail’s voice. “I suppose that could work. You wouldn’t frighten her, would you? She’s not like me. She’s been very sheltered.”

  “She’d be a bit scared Abi,” Jake replied with a soft smile. “Normal women are scared of strange men who take them where they don’t want to go—but I’d be real gentle. I’m gentle with you, ain’t I? And you ain’t even close to normal.”

  She flicked up an eyebrow and hooked Jake with a glower as Nat jumped into the void. “—and Gary’s a good guy. He’s a real family man and he hasn’t stolen anything for years. He gave it up and went straight. He’s got three daughters and a son. He’s as playful as a puppy. He hasn’t got a mean bone in his body.”

  “Then why is he wanted?”

  “He stole a few things back when he was younger.” Nat’s beaming smile was just slightly too bright to be credible.

  Her gaze searched them both in turn. “How old is he?”

  “Gary? He’s gotta be over fifty.”

  “And you’re what?” Abigail examined Nat’s intense brown eyes set above chiseled cheekbones, the sun till glinting on the auburn lowlights in his brown hair. “Thirtyish?” She turned back to his gunman uncle with the dishwater-blond curls and eyes as blue as the endless sky above them. “That would make you about thirty-eight. By my estimation, this man must have been a career criminal well into his forties. What did he do?”

  “Nuthin’ big, just a few banks, and rustled a few head of cattle.” Jake shrugged. “He didn’t do anythin’ cruel. He got married and gave it up. We were young when we last saw him. It was years ago.”

  “So how does he owe you, as you put it earlier?”

  Jake shifted in his saddle and glanced at Nat whose dimples deepened as he prepared a charm offensive. “Well, we might have—” Nat paused, reconsidering his words. “We helped him settle down and live a quiet life. We helped him go straight. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

  Her brows met, suspicion burning in her dark eyes. “You sprung him from jail, didn’t you? That’s why he’s lying low and avoiding anything where he might be recaptured.”

  “As if we’d do a thing like that.” Nat shrugged, but the glimmer in his eyes did nothing to pacify Abigail. “And even if we did, it’d mean he’d been rehabilitated and wasn’t costing the authorities a dime. There’s nothing to complain about.”

  “You’re incorrigible.” Abigail rolled her eyes. “No, I can’t have Madeleine alone with a man like that, especially when I haven’t checked him out. I won’t have it.”

  Jake’s nose crinkled. “Abi, I don’t know how to put this, but I met your sister. I read her diary, too. It’s kinda racy.”

  “That’s an outrageous invasion of privacy—”

  Jake help up a hand to quench her flow before it started. “Yeah, let me finish my thought before you clutch at your pearls. We’ve got all day for that. She’s kinda man-hungry. I ain’t complainin’. I like that in a woman as long as she ain’t mine. It’s just an observation. Maddie’s also a real looker, and I wouldn’t put it
past her to use her womanly wiles to escape a kidnapper. The good thing about usin’ Gary is that ain’t gonna work.”

  “Why not?”

  The men exchanged a silent conversation in a glance.

  “Gary’s immune.” Nat grinned. “He’s—” He squirmed, “How do I put this nicely for a lady?”

  “He’s a back-door gentleman,” Jake blurted out.

  “Jake! You can’t say that to Abi.”

  His uncle threw out his hands. “What? It’s the politest term I know for it. The priest used to call it that. She probably doesn’t know what the word punk means, and callin’ him queer or bent just seems plain mean. He’s a decent fella. I like him.”

  “I’m well aware what all those terms mean.” Abigail cut in, “not to mention many more. Is this man an Urningtum?”

  “Huh?” Jake blinked blank blue eyes at her. “A what?”

  “Is he an adhesive. A homosexual? The love that dare not speak its name?”

  “Dare not speak its name? There are hundreds of names for it.” A smile tugged at Jake’s lips. “He likes men better’n woman. Is that what you mean, Abi?”

  Nat hung his head and sniggered. “Yeah, Jake. I guess she’s got the general idea.”

  “Right.” Jake nodded. “So you see. Maddie can flirt with him as much as she wants. It ain’t gonna work. He ain’t gonna meddle with her, either. It’s perfect.”

  “I thought you said he was married.” Abigail’s eyes narrowed.

  “He is.” Nat’s smile widened. “He’s settled down with a widow. He gets a comfortable house and all his meals cooked, she gets a man to support her and her kids and doesn’t get bothered in the boudoir. They’re friends. He gets respectability. It works.” His eyes twinkled amorally. “I’ve seen a lot worse grounds for marriage than that in my time. I’ve got no problem with it. It’s none of my business.”

  “You two hang about with homosexuals?”

  “I think you’ll find everyone does. They just don’t know it. Rules matter less out West, Abi.” Nat replied. “At dances, you’d know the men prepared to play the woman by the patch on the front of their trousers, and there sure weren’t enough women for everyone. Some fellas are into that. It’s nothing to do with me what folks do in private. It frees up the women.”

  She frowned, a parade of expressions flickering over her face before she eventually spoke. “It could work. She can be a real handful, and at least that gives me one less thing to worry about.”

  “Two,” Nat said. “You won’t have to worry about her getting killed, either, and you’ll have evidence on Bartholemew by the time she does surface. You might even be able to put him in jail.”

  “Hmm, yes, but then there’s Jake and all the violence to be considered.”

  Jake glowered. “Abi. I ain’t never—if you’re talkin’ about that time in the woods, I thought you were goin’ to hand us over to a killer and I still couldn’t— I weren’t well.”

  She waved a dismissive hand. “I know that. I’m talking about her. I’m not sure you can handle her.”

  “Abi. She’s what? Five foot? How can she hurt me?”

  “The very fact that you asked that question gives me pause, Jake. She’s difficult. Very demanding, and an expert at manipulation.”

  Jake turned in his saddle, gesturing with a jagged thumb at his nephew. “Abi. I’ve known Nat all his life. I can handle that.”

  Nat’s glare burned with indignation as Abigail continued. “You’re a man. She’ll get things by you. Both of you.”

  “Jake’s doing it, Abi,” murmured Nat, still glowering at his uncle. “I’m sticking with you. You aren’t dealing with a murderer on your own, not after last time. Jake can do this.”

  “No one invited you, Mr. Quinn.”

  “Nope. But we got a friend who can take your sister. We can always make sure you’re there, too, if we have to. That should throw her off the scent good and proper.”

  “Stop throwing your weight around. Just how do you think you’ll explain that to her?” barked Abigail.

  Nat delivered one of his most persuasive smiles. “I’ll think of something. I always do when I have to. I’m not going to let anything like that happen to you again. Get that through your thick skull, Abi.”

  “I don’t suppose I can stop you if you decide to tag along, can I?”

  Nat turned to face her. “No, you can’t and I’m not leaving you to face a killer on your own. Either I go with you, or Jake does.” He paused. “Oh, while I think about it, I need to give you the names of some telegraph stations we collect messages from in case we get split up again. That way you can always contact me. It might take a while, but I’ll get the message.”

  Abigail pursed her lips in defiance.

  “Fine. You’ve clearly thought this through. How about letting me in on your little plan?”

  “Gary’s six-foot tall and has a beard you could hide a grizzly bear in. He should be scary enough to take her. Jake should seem like light relief in comparison when he rescues her.”

  “I don’t know.” She wrinkled her brow with uncertainty.

  Jake glinted at her simmering resentment. “You got anythin’ better Abi? If Bartholemew is a murderer, we can’t leave her there. Gary’s a frightenin’ sight, but he’s a gentle giant with the patience of Job.”

  “I’ll think about it, but promise me one thing, Jake.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t fall for her. She’ll draw you in. She’ll use you. If that doesn’t work, she’ll attack in ways you can’t imagine.”

  “I ain’t a boy Abi. I can handle a tiny woman on my own.”

  Abigail’s groan came with a shake of her dark head. “Now, I’m worried, Jake. Really worried.”

  Chapter 4

  One Month Later

  Madeleine sat by the fire and bit down on the gag, balking at the bitterness of the revolting fabric which had been forced into her mouth.

  It had been four days since she had been bundled into a wagon by these two men. All she’d been doing was walking back to her newly-built marital home in San Francisco in broad daylight after a little shopping. She had no idea why she’d been taken, and they’d treated her worse as time wore on. What a way to end a beautiful honeymoon!

  A thick, heavy anxiety sat in her chest, stifling her appetite and ability to sleep as she strove to understand what was happening to her. She had been bound and gagged at first until they were in the wilderness of the surrounding hills, but they had released her when it was safe to do so. The big man was terrifying at first. His hairy face looked like he’d been caught in an explosion in a brush factory, but the eyes blinking from the bush of bristles were soft and gentle as he explained they were going to ask her new husband for a ransom and that she would be perfectly safe as long as she did as she was told.

  It was a crying shame that was not one of her strengths.

  Her other kidnapper was only in his teens with brown hair and awe-stricken, gray eyes. She had caught him staring at her so often that she had decided that he was a better bet for escape than the brutish, hirsute behemoth who seemed to be in charge.

  Madeleine had instantly honed in on the young man, dripping honey in her most mellifluous tones until he started to believe that she would love to be alone with him, but the big man had caught them together and made it clear that he would deal with her himself rather than risk an escape attempt.

  She then started to play the younger man off against the older one, accusing him of using the less experienced man to do his dirty work. This provoked arguments and rebellion amongst her kidnappers until they realized what she had been doing and refused to listen to her poison.

  Furious that her plan had been scuppered, she went to her fallback position of sulking crying, complaining, throwing things, and fighting every inch of the way until the men decided that they couldn’t take any more.

  By day four, she’d had her hands bound behind her back and left to sit on the ground, fuming and impotent.
When dusk fell, they’d added a gag as the men couldn’t tolerate her outraged, demanding prattle any longer.

  If only her David was here, he would protect her. He was afraid of nothing. He wasn’t even afraid of her mother, and everyone was afraid of her. The thought of her husband’s face started to make her emotional again, and she sniffed back tears before mewling another wail through her gag.

  The large, hairy man darted yet another look of annoyance at her before the sound of an owl drifted through the balmy evening air.

  “Look after her, Ben. If I find you untied her, I’ll skin you alive. Got that?” Gary barked. He stood and walked into the dry bushes surrounding the campsite.

  Gary picked up a deceptive amount of speed for a man of his bulk. He loped in the direction of the owl call in search of the man who had made it. He was desperate to get rid of the virago who had been making his and his stepson’s lives a complete misery for the last four days. He stepped into a clearing as he heard a familiar voice behind him.

  “Gary?”

  He turned, the light of the evening gloaming illuminating the man’s face. Jake caught his breath at the raw, bloody tracks of well applied fingernails across his forehead and left eye. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “What do you think? That little—” Gary shook his head in frustration. “If she was one of my girls, she’d catch it good and proper,” he growled.

  Jake snorted with laughter. “Gary, I bet you’d like to think that they’d fight as hard if someone took one of them. She’s probably terrified.”

  “Terrified? She ain’t done nothin’ but cause trouble and bleat the whole time. This didn’t happen when I took her. This is from when I stopped her moonin’ at Ben this mornin’. She’s been tryin’ to get him to help her escape. I can’t wait to get shed of her.”

  Jake shrugged. “Well, I’m here to take her off your hands. Are you two ready?”

  “I was ready two hours after I took her. I tell you, no wonder her husband was goin’ to kill her. There ain’t a jury in the land who’d convict him.” Gary shook a head matted in thick, wiry, black hair. “You broke me outta jail to suffer four days of torture with the world’s most annoyin’ woman. This don’t make us even. Not even close.” He thrust a thumb into his expansive chest. “You owe me now. I tell you, if’n I didn’t favor men before this, she’d have turned me for life.”