Authors: Ashlynn Monroe
Fallen-Angels (7 page)
“Good
morning, Beauty.
How are you?”
She
detected a note of honest concern and his noble consideration made her duck her
head to hide her small smile.
“Right as
rain.
Did you get any sleep?”
She felt
guilty for having slept well while he lay awake guarding her from the critters
in the night.
He smiled. “You
snore like a banshee, woman!
I didn’t
have to worry about scorpions or anything else because you scared them all
away.”
Now blushing
fiercely, she smacked his shoulder playfully.
He threw back his head and laughed. “No, you didn’t really
snore.
I couldn’t sleep.
I was too busy looking at you.”
She hoped
that blushing wasn’t becoming a new bad habit. She sat up and Jeremiah turned
away and headed into the kitchen.
Before
she could begin to dress, he was back with fresh water in a ceramic basin.
He handed her a rag and left again.
She was surprised by his thoughtful foresight,
the water was even warm, obviously he’d had it ready.
She washed her body as well as she could, feeling
wonderfully fresh as the cool morning air dried her skin.
Jeremiah returned with a parcel this time.
He handed it to her with a smile.
“I knew
you’d agree, so I picked this up on my way here.
The wife of the shop keeper helped me with
the sizes.
I hope she was right.
I described you as well as I could.”
She untied
the string around the brown paper. Inside there was a small jacket, a
chemisette, and full skirt in a light egg shell blue.
He had the appropriate under garments and
even a hairnet trimmed with ribbon.
She
touched the white high button boots lovingly.
Normally she wore pants and a corset with nothing over it but her trench
coat and hat, which were like a second skin.
It was intimidating, playing dress up and pretending to be a respectable
woman.
Jeremiah
must have noticed her hesitation because when he spoke, his tone was full of
promise. “Justice, you have every right to be a woman.
Put them on, I’ll be waiting outside.
Leave your pack and clothing here, we’ll come
back for everything.”
He stepped
out the door.
She began to awkwardly
dress herself in the strange clothing, resisting the urge to call out for help.
She didn’t want him to know how inexperienced
she was with respectability. The weight and the heat of the new ensemble made
her glad that she could be herself again tomorrow.
She stepped
out into the morning sun, waiting hesitantly for Steel’s response.
He stopped what he was doing and a wide smile
spread across his face.
He hurried over
to help her down the steps.
Frowning,
she knew that if she were in her typical clothing he would never have felt the
need to be a gallant gentleman. Obviously feminine power worked in mysterious
ways.
Steel pulled her to him and kissed
her with a tenderness that she hadn’t expected.
“Ms.
Smythe, are you ready to go respectably rob a train?”
She replied
back with a smile, “Mr. Wall, I do believe I am ready to do just that.”
Chapter Five
Justice
waited nervously with her ticket, and her sand and rock filled bags.
A friendly looking young man picked up the
bags with an "oomph".
He
glanced over at her, surprise widening his eyes.
She addressed
him in her best sweet
“It’s going
to be an awfully long trip.
My poor old
mother is very ill and I’m going up to tend to her.
Thank you for your kind assistance.”
He managed
to smile, even with the strain of the weight he carried, and replied in a
thickly accented voice, “My pleasure, Miss.”
Justice
nodded, the conductor punched her ticket, and she took a seat in the very back
of the train, feeling an immense sense of relief when the train finally whistled,
hissed, and pulled away from the station.
She tried
not to look uneasy, sitting and watching out the window in anticipation of the
little town that would mark the moment she was supposed to stand and make her
way to the caboose. Steel would be waiting only a few miles down the track, and
by then she needed to be waiting outside the back door with her suitcases full
of money, ready to take one helluva leap of faith into his arms.
She hoped he was as good on a horse as he
claimed to be.
Otherwise, her days of
being a rich woman would be very short lived.
A portly
man sat down beside her.
It took all of
her self-control to be polite as he tried to start up a conversation with her.
“Hello,
Miss, where’s your chaperone?”
Using her
best sweet tone of voice, she batted her eyes as she spoke, “She became ill at
the train station and had to stay behind, but the conductor will be looking out
for me.
Please don’t trouble yourself
over my situation, sir.”
“I’d be
honored if you will allow me to watch over you, Miss.”
The way he
said ‘Miss’ made it obvious that he wanted her to supply him with her name, and
the look in his eyes made it more than obvious that he wanted to get to know
her much better, wearing much less clothing.
“I am so
grateful for your kindness, but I would hate to trouble you.”
She noticed
that they had just passed the town that was her cue to go to the baggage area
of the caboose.
The portly man continued
to insist that he fulfill the role of chaperone.
It was time for drastic measures.
“Oh my,
Sir, I don’t think the motion of the train is sitting well with me. I must
hurry out for some air before I embarrass myself.” She darted away from the
man, rushing to the back of the train, hoping he would be polite enough not to
follow her. Looking back, she breathed a sigh of relief—the man hadn’t been
quite noble enough to deal with potential vomit.
Greatly
relieved, she found the baggage area empty and she quickly began to look for
the large crates marked fragile.
They
were sitting near the back, just as Steel had said they would be.
Justice
took the small crowbar out of her purse and, and with some difficulty, managed
to loosen the lid.
Gazing warily into
the box, she saw the money and her small cry of joy made her look back with
caution.
She dumped out one suitcase of
rocks and sand and began refilling it with money.
She set it near the door when she finished and
began to work on the second case.
When it was
almost full, she heard a sound and decided not to press her luck.
Closing and locking the bag, she opened the
caboose door and soon had both bags ready to toss.
She saw the railroad sign painted with a big
black “X”, easy to confuse for common graffiti, and tossed the first case.
Wind whipped her hair and the motion of the
train made her stop and hold onto the railing, afraid for an instant that she
was going to fall.
With a deep breath,
she tossed the second bag more carefully.
She didn’t see Steel anywhere.
For
an instant she worried that she had been duped, but the sound of hooves to her
right made her turn.
It was Steel,
pounding toward her. Carefully, she made her way to the other side of the
landing and readied herself for his signal to jump.
Suddenly a
hand clamped down on her arm.
Startled,
she jumped and nearly fell.
It was the
conductor, trying to drag her back inside of the caboose, his eyes blazing with
anger.
Justice
slapped at him and shrieked in terrified outrage.
He grabbed her arm, slapping a handcuff to
her before she had the chance to stop him.
Looking out the still open door she watched as Jeremiah’s horse slowed
down and then stopped.
He grew smaller
and smaller before the conductor finally slammed the door shut.
The jig was up, and Justice’s luck had
finally run out.
Jeremiah
was going to cut his losses and escape with the money that she had stolen for
him, she realized, feeling like the queen of fools.
He had played her and played her well.
She had been so taken in, she had even spread
her legs for the bastard!
Apparently a man
could use a pretty face to his advantage as well as a woman could.
The
conductor began to shout questions at her, demanding the names of her
accomplices and if they were on the train. Giving Jeremiah up would do her no
good. He was long gone.
“I don’t
know what you’re talking about sir.
I stepped
out to get air and you accosted me,” she cried, hoping the conductor hadn’t
seen the flying luggage.
“Don’t give
me that little lady!
I know who you
are!”
He shoved
one of her wanted posters in her face.
Why did the conductor have her poster?
She
wondered if she had been set up.
Her portly
friend, the unwanted chaperone, stepped up behind the conductor.
He flashed his badge.
His voice was firm and unfriendly when he
spoke this time.
“You don’t
think we would transport this much money without protection.
It took me a moment to recognize you, but as
soon as I did, I knew why you had gone running this way.
Who are you working with?”
“I have no
idea what you’re talking about.”
The ranger
slapped her painfully across the face.
“I cannot
abide lying females,” he huffed. “Tell me who you’re working for.”
He slapped
her again, harder this time.
She could
feel her eye beginning to swell. She spit the pooling blood out of her mouth
and answered him, dangerously calm and steady.
“It takes a
mighty brave and noble gentleman to slap a woman who’s chained up and can’t
defend herself.
I’m glad to see that the
great state of
He reddened,
and pulled back to hit her again.
She
braced for the impact.
The conductor spoke quietly,
“Sir,
if you do that again, I’ll be forced to stop the train and have you thrown
off.
There is no good cause to hit the
woman.
She won’t talk any louder with
her mouth swelled shut.”
Justice
could taste the blood where his first blow had split her lip.
She was thankful that the conductor had the
good sense to stop the man or she’d never make it to
The ranger was clearly angry, but he stepped
back.
For the
rest of the trip, the ranger, the conductor, and Justice all sat in uneasy
silence in the caboose.
Justice could
see that the conductor didn’t trust the ranger enough to leave him alone with
her, and for that she was grateful.
The
ranger clearly resented her earlier refusal to answer him, and his anger that a
woman had stolen money right from under his nose was written in the hateful
glint in his eyes.
Justice
laid her head back and drifted.
She
wished she would have missed this particular train.
Steel was probably in another county by now—happily
ready to spend the money alone.
His plan
to dupe her had been brilliant.
She had
to give Steel credit for his ingenuity.
Why
had she let his delicious body and handsome face convince her that this was a
good idea?
She bit her lip to keep
herself from growling her frustration.
She
was only sure of one thing—she would never see Steel Wall again.
