Cassandra Austin (16 page)

She found a crate to stand on and looked over the crowd. She caught a glimpse of Val following the banker through the back door of the bank.

Instinct made her step down and walk away. When she was far from the crowd she quickened her steps toward the hotel. Only then did she try to piece it all together. If Val followed the banker into the bank, the money was still there. He would have no reason to go inside if Terris had gotten away with it as planned. Was Val going to make another try for the money? She didn’t know, but she knew they would have to get out of town quickly. For whatever reason, the original plan had fallen apart.

She nodded her usual greeting to the hotel clerk and walked gracefully up the stairs, though she wanted to run. In her room she began throwing her things into her bags.

Val crouched beside the unconscious banker and practically held his breath. His only hope was that everyone would be concerned enough about their fallen sheriff-turned-bank-robber that they wouldn’t check inside the bank. Val felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck. In spite of the confusion someone might have seen him slip inside the bank. It would only take one curious witness to ruin everything.

The sounds in the alley told him the crowd was moving away. He didn’t dare go to the door to look.
He had to stay out of sight until he was absolutely sure.

At the sheriffs office, the doctor sent everyone outside except the deputy. Cally had to push through the crowd that drifted away and pound on the locked door. She was ready to break the door in when the deputy finally unlocked it.

He opened it only a crack. “Go on home. The robbery was foiled, there’s nothing to be alarmed about. Right now the doctor needs quiet to work on the sheriff.”

Cally stuck her foot in the door just as the deputy would have closed it. She summoned all her courage and stated, “I need to be with Andrew.”

The deputy was taken aback. He glanced over his shoulder once then opened the door, closing and locking it quickly behind her. Cally stood just inside, afraid to look toward the doctor and Andrew. She didn’t realize the deputy had been watching her closely until he caught her as she started to sway.

“You better sit down,” she said. “Say, aren’t you the girl that brought the muffins?”

Cally nodded. Yes, she had to sit down. She hadn’t come here just to faint. She came to help Andrew.

The deputy led her to a chair. “My name’s Bill,” he said as if he were talking to a child. “You must be Cally.”

She nodded again. She felt a little better now that she was seated and looked across the room for the first time. Andrew lay on a bed in one of the cells and the doctor bent over him. There was blood, and
she looked away. The image stayed in her mind, and she felt dizzy again.

Suddenly she realized what she had seen besides the blood, and her eyes flew back to Andrew. There were bars separating them! “Andrew didn’t rob the bank,” she blurted.

Bill pulled up a chair near her. “Did you see what happened? Were you with Andrew when he…I mean, someone robbed the bank?”

Cally swallowed hard. She wanted to clear Andrew but he was already lying on the ground when she reached the alley. After that there was buzzing in her ears and shouting in the distance, and she had nearly fainted. Just thinking about it made her feel sick. She bent over, lowering her head almost on her knees.

“Put a wet cloth on the back of her neck,” the doctor suggested. The words helped revive her. She couldn’t have the doctor worrying about her when Andrew could be dying! “I’m all right,” she said, making an effort to sit up.

The deputy handed her a damp cloth which she used to wipe her clammy face. He asked, “What were you doing in the alley?”

“I came to find Andrew because…Royal!” She stood up suddenly, causing Bill to reach out to steady her. “Royal’s still guarding that awful man that sent Andrew the note that wasn’t from me.”

She started for the door and the deputy followed. “Do you want to explain what you’re talking about?”

“But we have to hurry.” Cally ran down the dark street, the deputy close on her heels.

*   *   *

At the hotel, Fancy carried both her bags to her door and peeked out. Val’s room was across the hall, overlooking the alley. In a pinch, she could go out the window, but first, she would pack Val’s bags. Seeing that there was no one about, she slipped out her door, closing it quietly behind her. She set her bags at her feet at Val’s door and looked up and down the hall again before trying the knob.

It was locked. Whispering a curse, Fancy removed a pin from her hair and quickly picked the lock. She eased the door open, set her bags inside and slipped in after them, closing the door gently behind her.

She lit the gaslight on the wall by the door and turned around. And stared. Val’s bags stood at the foot of his bed, obviously bulging with his belongings. The door to the wardrobe stood ajar; it was empty.

At first she was relieved. She wouldn’t have to waste time packing his bags. When he arrived with the money, they would be ready to go.

They
would be ready to go? He had been ready all along! He had said nothing about leaving tonight. He couldn’t have known ahead of time what would happen. Why the sudden hurry?

Unless,
she thought.
Unless he planned to have the money.

She walked toward the bags, thinking. He had planned a double cross all along. Val, who had never broken the law, at least not much, had masterminded a plan that fooled two experienced criminals. The fact that one of them was her brother bothered her for a
moment. But she couldn’t get over the notion that her Val had planned it all.

Of course, he had also planned to leave without her.

She walked to the window and pulled aside the thin curtain. The window was open a couple of inches. Crates were stacked below making an easy climb to the alley. Or up to the room.

Fancy moved her bags and Val’s nearer the window and turned down the light. She pushed the window all the way open and waited for her lover to appear below.

She didn’t have to wait long.

Val crept toward the pile of crates, the carpetbag full of the bank’s money clutched in his hand. He had minutes to get his bags and make it to the train station in time to catch the ten o’clock. Unwilling to leave the money even for a moment, he carried it with him up his makeshift stairs.

When he reached for the windowsill he found the window open and Fancy waiting for him. Uncertain what conclusions she might have come to, he whispered what he hoped was the right thing. “Fancy! I was just coming to get you!”

She returned his kiss but didn’t move aside to let him through the window. “Why are your bags packed, dear?”

“I see yours are packed, too. Pass them to me, and I’ll drop them to the ground.”

“Yours were packed when I got here, Val. Were you planning on going somewhere?”

Val felt the press of time. He could explain. He
really could if she gave him a moment to think. But they didn’t have a moment. He heard the train whistle in the distance or imagined he did.

“I had a bad feeling, Fancy.” He braced the money between his feet on his precarious perch and reached past her for one of the bags. He let it drop to the alley below. “I just had a feeling so I packed.” He grabbed a second bag. “I wanted to tell you but you were already out looking for the deputy.”

This time he did hear the whistle, distant but definitely the train. He grabbed another bag, one of Fancy’s. She must have caught his urgency because she helped him with the last. He reluctantly dropped the money after the bags and started down the crates, helping Fancy as she struggled down above him.

When his feet were on firm ground again, he lifted Fancy down beside him and they turned to grab up the bags. Terris waited for them.

“I shot Haywood,” Terris said.

“Good for you,” Val said, his own sense of urgency making him incautious. “From what I heard, I don’t believe he’ll die. Why aren’t you away from here?” He couldn’t read Terris’s face in the shadow, and in the best of times the man made him wary.

“Things went wrong,” Terris accused.

“Well, don’t look at me. Stedwell’s the one who didn’t do his job.” He heard Fancy’s gasp behind him and wished he’d been more careful. He had to get out of here.

“I came to split the money,” Terris said, setting the carpetbag on a crate and preparing to open it.

Val reached out and caught his wrist. The train whistle sounded on the edge of town. “There’s no
time. You were the one who cracked the safe. My plan failed. You keep the money. We’re leaving. You should be going too.”

He knew his voice was rising in his panic, but he couldn’t help himself. He heard Fancy’s weak protest behind him and shoved two of their bags toward her, gathering up the others. “Have a good life,” he said over his shoulder as he urged Fancy down the alley.

At the train station, he left Fancy with the bags, all but one. “I’ll get our tickets,” he said, hurrying toward the office. The train chuffed expectantly, but they had time enough now. They were all but away.

At the office he glanced over his shoulder toward Fancy before saying softly, “One, please.” He retrieved his own ticket from his pocket and held the two together when he returned to Fancy.

In a few minutes they were seated across from each other on the train. Val sighed with relief, then looked at Fancy. Her beautiful face was composed, giving him no idea what she was thinking. Finally he ventured, “I wasn’t going to leave without you.”

She smiled. “Of course not, dear. I wouldn’t have let you.”

That answer wasn’t reassuring. He waited until the train was moving before he tried again. “I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Thank you, Val. Did he really ruin your plan?”

His plan. How much should he tell her? “I don’t know what happened, but we couldn’t stay around to see.”

“I understand.”

Val wondered if she did. He tapped his fingers on the carpetbag in his lap. Perhaps the easiest way to
regain her trust was to show her. He opened the bag, peeking inside before holding it toward Fancy. He yanked it back again, opening it wider. Newspaper! The bag was full of newspaper!

He started to stand, having some thought of going back. Terris must have switched the bags while he and Fancy were climbing from the window. And he had generously told the man to keep the money! Damn!

“What is it, dear?”

Something in her voice made him think she knew. He had no idea how to answer.

“Val, darling,” she said. “I was very impressed by your scheme to frame that sheriff.” She ran her fingers down the pleats on her dress and looked up at him through her dark lashes. “I was even more impressed when I realized that you had another plan that was just for you…and me.”

Val swallowed and snapped the bag shut. “Fancy,” he started but didn’t know what to say.

“But if you had kept all that money, you’d be rich. I don’t think you would have needed me anymore.”

She smiled at him sweetly and adjusted herself in the seat as if intending to take a nap.

Val sighed.

“W
here is this awful man you mentioned?”

“He’s at the creek this side of my farm.” Cally thought it was sort of stupid for the deputy to waste his breath asking questions when he needed it to run. He was puffing already and they had only run one block.

“Damn,” he gasped. “That’s a mile and a half! I’ll have to get my horse.”

Cally rounded a corner and found Jewel just where she had left her. “I’ll meet you there,” she said, swinging onto the mule’s back.

“Wait a minute,” the deputy called.

But Cally didn’t; she was too worried about Royal. And the boys, too, if they had stayed. Bill caught up with her so quickly she wondered whose horse he had borrowed. He didn’t offer an explanation.

They heard the man talking before they saw him. “Nice doggy. Now I’m just going to…All right, I won’t. I’ll stay right here. Nice doggy. Ow! Will you boys stop that!”

“There he is, Deputy,” Cally said, dismounting next to Royal.

“Oh, thank God! You came back.” The man’s voice cracked. “Call off your crazy dog. And tell those boys to stop throwing rocks in my face.”

“I told you two to go home,” Cally said.

The boys rose from their squatting position deeper in the trees. “We stayed to throw rocks at him every time he tried to get free,” Taylor said.

Mikey added, “We was starting to have a hard time finding rocks.”

“Who is he?” asked Bill, swinging off the horse.

“I don’t know,” answered Cally. “Who are you?”

“Nobody. I’m nobody. I was just out for an evening ride and when I stopped for a drink from the stream, this crazy girl set her dog on me. Then she and these little thugs tied me up. I’ve been here for hours!”

“He pointed this gun at me and these two little boys!” Cally declared, pulling the offending weapon from her pants pocket and pointing it at the man. The man ducked, and Bill took the pistol away from her.

Taylor stepped forward. “This is a bad man, and he sent a note to Sheriff Haywood that wasn’t from her, and said she’d have to go with him. Her dog bit his arm, and we kicked his legs. Then she took that gun away and tied him up with our slingshots. Us and the dog made him stay here.”

Cally nodded. The boy’s explanation was fairly complete. Surely Deputy Bill would arrest him now and let Andrew out of jail.

“Look,” the man said, his voice sounding far too friendly. “The boys and this girl are obviously nuts. If you’ll untie me…”

Royal growled deep in his throat and edged the man back against the tree.

Cally glared at the face in the dark. There was a little moonlight, but the man was in the shadows. She couldn’t even see the deputy well enough to know if he believed them. “Royal and I’ll just wait here until you tell the truth, mister. Then the deputy will arrest you.”

“You want we should go find some more rocks?” asked Mikey.

The man’s voice took on a note of desperation. “You can’t listen to her, Deputy. I’ve lost a lot of blood where that dog bit me. I could die here while you humor this lunatic!”

“Then you better hurry up and talk,” Cally said, hearing that familiar buzz at the mention of blood. She used all her strength to fight against it.

“All right. I’ll tell what happened. Just call off the dog!”

“Perhaps you should,” started the deputy. “If he’s hurt.”

“After,” Cally stated.

The man gave in. He gave in completely. Cally listened in fascination as he started with his sister breaking him and a cell mate out of prison and ended with a description of how things were supposed to have happened tonight. When he finished, Cally spoke quietly to Royal, and he turned and trotted to her side. As soon as the dog was clear, Cally stepped forward and kicked Stedwell as hard as she could. He went down on his knees.

The deputy grabbed Cally’s arm and pulled her away. “What are you doing? Get away from him.”

“He stole my farm.” She turned on her heel. “Come on, boys,” she said, indicating the mule. With
them aboard and Royal at her side, she led Jewel back to town.

Out of habit, Cally tied the mule in front of Mr. Lafferty’s and told the boys goodbye. They seemed reluctant to leave and she wasn’t sure she had seen the last of them.

She and Royal walked to the sheriffs office, where she sat in a chair and stared at the unconscious Andrew. Royal lay on the floor watching them both.

The doctor had dug the bullet out and was bandaging the wound. She knew he gave her curious glances from time to time, but she couldn’t take her eyes off Andrew’s pale face. She was afraid to ask how badly he was hurt.

When the doctor packed up his bag and left the cell, Royal trotted in and sat beside Andrew’s bed. Cally stood and approached the doctor. “You can’t leave him there,” she said.

“He’ll be all right, miss.”

He patted her shoulder, moving around her toward the door. Before Cally could think of a way to stop him, Bill and Stedwell entered. Cally and her slow old mule had beaten them and their horses by a good ten minutes.

“Got another customer for you,” Bill told the doctor, giving Royal a wary glance. “I wrapped it up the best I could out there in the dark, but you better have a look.” Bill took his prisoner to the cell next to Andrew’s. Royal turned to the prisoner and growled softly.

The doctor, following Bill into the cell, glared at the dog.

Cally moved closer to the cell where Andrew lay.
“Can’t Andr…Sheriff Haywood go home now?” she asked the deputy. Andrew stirred in his sleep.

“He just needs to rest,” replied the doctor.

Cally glanced at the bars that separated her from Andrew. The door standing open didn’t make her feel any better. She couldn’t help thinking of her father. “But he’s not under arrest, is he?”

“No, ma’am,” the deputy answered. He stood guard over his prisoner as the doctor bathed a small hole in his arm.

“But…” Cally hated to admit that it gave her the creeps to see Andrew in the cell. She wanted to take care of him, but she couldn’t bring herself to step inside. “I don’t think he should be in jail.” All three men looked at her, then returned to their business, dismissing her.

Cally scowled at them, then turned her attention back to Andrew. He was stirring quite a bit, now. She wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not. Dr. Briggs didn’t seem concerned.

When the doctor was finishing with Stedwell and about to leave the cell, Cally stepped up to block his way. “He’d rest better at home, wouldn’t he, Doctor?”

“The deputy’s here to watch him, Miss DuBois. He shouldn’t be alone.” He pushed her aside slightly so he could walk around her, then patted her arm as if everything was settled.

Everything was not settled! Andrew should be in his own bed. Somebody who loved him should be looking after him. As she tried to form a sensible argument, the deputy strode toward the door.

“I’m going to see if I can round up the gambler
or—” he thrust his thumb over his shoulder “—this fella’s sister.”

“See!” declared Cally. “Now he’s alone. That prisoner will torment him. I can look after him if you’d help me take him home.”

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile. “Dear, I know you mean well, but I can’t let you do that. People would talk. I’ll stay here with him until the deputy returns.” Cally started to protest, but he raised his hand. “You’re welcome to wait with me if you wish.”

Andrew stirred and groaned. As Cally’s attention shifted, a thought occurred to her. She would have to talk fast; she didn’t want Andrew to hear. In the end she convinced the doctor and followed him outside.

Several townspeople were waiting for word on Andrew and the robbery, and two men were enlisted to help Andrew from the cell. The doctor was quickly swallowed by an inquisitive crowd.

Andrew was conscious enough to protest the mode of transportation she had chosen, and Cally was pleased with herself enough to ignore him. The two men walked on either side of Jewel to steady him, though Andrew insisted he was fine. By the time they reached his back door he did seem quite recovered. He was helped up the stairs by one man while the other turned Jewel into the corral. .

Cally told Royal to stay in the yard, thanked both men profusely, and bade them good-night. She leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief that they were gone, then hurried up the stairs. A light cast a golden square on the floor of the hallway, leading her to the open door of Andrew’s bedroom.

Andrew was sitting on the side of the bed. “You’re
supposed to rest!” she cried, running to push ineffectually at his chest to get him to lie back down. It was like pushing a brick wall. She stood back and scowled at him, her hands on her hips.

Realizing that wasn’t working either, she tried to smile sweetly. His eyes narrowed suspiciously and made her wonder if he had heard her conversation with the doctor. No, he would be more upset than this if he had. In fact, she suspected he would be furious. “You’re supposed to rest,” she repeated. “And I’m supposed to look after you.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Because I—” She stopped herself in time.

He grinned at her.

She scowled back. “No reason.”

He grinned all the wider.

“All right,” she relented. “I’ll say it. Because I love you.” His grin was becoming annoying. “But I still don’t believe you love me.”

“You don’t, do you?”

“No,” she said with a pout, but he had already come to his feet. He should be lying down and letting her fuss over him, she thought. Instead he towered over her, teasing her cheek with his fingertip.

“Do you want me to prove it?”

His voice was tantalizing, but Cally wouldn’t be seduced so easily this time. She looked him in the eye and tried to scowl. It wasn’t easy. His chest was warm, and he was very close. She gritted her teeth. “You already refused to
prove
it,” she said. “A wife would ruin your edge.” She hoped she sounded appropriately sarcastic.

She decided she had failed when he laughed.
“Sweetheart, a wife couldn’t possibly ruin my edge any more than you already have.”

He kissed her, but when she would have pulled him into a firm embrace he moved away. “Stedwell’s in jail,” he said casually. “What about the others?”

She decided he must be hurting more than he let on and urged him back toward the bed. “We got the whole story from Stedwell. Deputy Bill has gone to look for the others. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

He nodded. “I’m hungry. Run down to the kitchen and fix me something.”

Cally grinned at her victory and turned to hurry down the stairs. Andrew’s kitchen was smaller than the Gwynns’, but still it was full of interesting cupboards and drawers. She lit the gaslight and explored while she tried to decide what to fix.

Royal’s sharp, insistent bark made her turn toward the door. She pushed a curtain aside to look through the window but the yard was dark. Opening the door, she stepped out and away from the light.

Royal barked again and growled. She thought she saw a shadow move near the barn, Royal or an intruder, she wasn’t sure which. As she watched, the shadow spit a flash of light, and the sharp crack of a pistol made her jump. The next instant she heard a yelp.

“Royal!” she screamed. She ran into the yard. “Royal, where are you!”

Andrew had been halfway down the stairs when he heard the shot. He ran through his kitchen in time to see Cally rush into danger after her dog. His gun was drawn before he stepped through the door.

The light from the house was behind him and he
knew he made an easy target. But so did Cally. “Get down,” he shouted as he moved away from the door.

Light from the open doorway glinted off a gun barrel, and Andrew fired. The grunt of pain told him he had hit his mark.

Cautiously, Andrew approached the fallen man. He could hear Cally’s concerned murmurs nearby, but, though it tore at his heart, he needed to know that they were in no further danger from this one before he went to her.

The flare of a match revealed the man’s gun inches from his still fingers. Andrew stuck it in his waistband before he knelt beside the man. Terris. He wasn’t especially surprised. He felt for a pulse, found none and closed the man’s eyes.

His bullet had gone straight through Terris’s heart. That had been his intention, of course, but his target had been merely a guess in relation to the gun barrel, the only thing he had seen.

He rose to his feet, shaking out the burned-down match. He could hear voices in the street, Bill’s among others. “Back here,” he called. “Cally,” he said more softly. “Where are you?”

“We heard some shots. Everyone all right?” Bill held a lantern high to illuminate more of the yard.

“Terris is dead,” Andrew said. “Bring the light over here.”

Bill held the light, while Andrew tried to calm Cally and examine the dog’s wounds at the same time. Others had gone to see Terris’s body.

“I was just coming to talk to you,” Bill said, obviously wishing he was with the other group. “The banker woke up by his safe with a bump on his head. The money’s gone. Stedwell’s sister and her gambler
friend left the hotel without checking out. I figured Terris was long gone, too.”

“Cally, sweetheart. He’s not hurt bad. The bullet just grazed him.”

“But it’s bleeding something awful,” she whispered into his shoulder.

“Shhh, I know. You don’t have to look. But you have to let me go so I can help him.”

A shout from across the yard caught Bill’s attention, and Andrew lost his light. He stood and turned, Cally in his arms.

“Where’d you find that?”

“Right over in those bushes.”

“By, God! It’s the money!”

The banker ran toward them, the open carpetbag clutched in both hands.

“
He
had the money?” This was from Bill.

Andrew shrugged. “He could have gotten away if he hadn’t wanted his revenge.” The banker stood before them now, rumpled and pale but delighted. “Go with him to the bank, Bill, and see that he gets it locked in the vault.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” said the banker, starting to turn away. “Oh, and congratulations.”

Andrew frowned at the banker’s odd comment, but the man was a bit preoccupied. Royal whimpered behind him, and Cally slipped from his arms to comfort the dog.