One More Sunrise (37 page)

Kathryn was feeling some guilt over the plight she had put Lucinda in by giving the note to Howard Spalding. For the time being though, she would go along with Lucinda’s desire to make their home in Rawlins. She told herself that her time in this part of the country was limited. Not too long from now, she would take her share of the money and go to sunny California.

She was eager to get started in her new life: a life free from all that had to do with the gang, and from Lucinda, who was still a part of it because she had a husband she would be visiting in the Wyoming Territorial Prison. She smiled at Lucinda. “All right, let’s plan to move to Rawlins.”

Lucinda nodded and returned the smile. “We’ll do it. I’d like to wait a few days though, give my nerves a little time to settle down.”

“Sure.”

All was quiet around them, save the slight sound of the breeze in the surrounding trees and the periodic chirp of a bird.

Kathryn found herself daydreaming about California: the sunshine, the flowers in bloom year round, a place with a view of the blue Pacific Ocean, no snow or frigid temperatures.

She smiled to herself.
That sure does sound good! Maybe with my share of the money, I can open my own boutique. I’ll live quietly and enjoy every day to the fullest!

On Thursday, May 19, at Central City, Dr. Dane Logan was seated in the office of his medical practice with Dr. Robert Fraser and Nurse Nadine Wahl.

Running his gaze between them, Dane said, “I want to thank both of you for your great help in taking care of the practice when I’ve had to be away. And now, I want to thank you that you will do the same so I can marry Tharyn and we can have a three-day honeymoon in Colorado Springs.”

Dr. Fraser smiled. “Esther and I would like to attend the wedding,
and so would Nadine, but we can’t do that and take care of the practice at the same time. But we certainly wish you well, and we’re very much looking forward to having Tharyn living here in Central City.”

“We sure are,” said Nadine, her eyes bright. “And isn’t she going to be surprised when you bring her here after the honeymoon and she finds out you bought that house over on Spruce Street?”

Dane laughed. “She sure
will
be surprised, Nadine. And since you and Esther looked it over and gave your opinions about the woman’s touch already evident in the house, I’m so excited I can hardly contain myself!”

“She’ll love it, Doctor; I guarantee it.”

Moments later, Dr. Fraser and Nadine stood on the boardwalk in front of the office as Dr. Dane mounted his horse. As he settled in the saddle, he said, “See you in a few days, and I’ll have my beautiful bride with me!”

Both of them waved as he rode away.

It was a glorious spring day in the Rocky Mountains, and as Dr. Dane guided Pal along the winding path that led eastward toward Denver, the sky was clear. Wildflowers were poking their heads up through the soil, and green buds were evident in the aspen and birch trees.

Drawing in a deep breath of the pure mountain air, Dane spoke to the birds that were twittering in the trees around him. “Thank you for your congratulations! You are certainly right. I
am
going to marry the most wonderful and most beautiful woman in all the world!”

As he guided Pal down the steep path, Dane whistled a happy tune. It was a long arduous ride down the mountains to Denver, but it didn’t bother Dane. His mind was focused on Tharyn, their wedding, and their future together.

“Just think,” he said aloud, “the next time I make my journey to Central City, my bride will be by my side.” He looked skyward. “Thank You, Lord, for Your abundant blessings. Truly, my cup
runneth over.”

On the same day at sundown, Lucinda Moran and Kathryn Tully were preparing supper for themselves in the kitchen of the old cabin when they heard horses blowing.

They looked at each other, eyes wide.

“Who in the world can that be?” whispered Lucinda.

Both women left the kitchen and rushed into the parlor. They hid themselves behind the drapes at one edge of the large window and peered out.

Lucinda felt her pulse leap and gasped. “Kathryn! It—it’s T-Tag and the others!”

“How do you suppose they escaped?”

Lucinda was on her way to the door, and Kathryn caught up to her just as she plunged out on to the porch and down the steps. Kathryn paused on the porch, watching as Bart quickly dismounted and gathered Lucinda into his arms.

“What happened? How did you escape this time?” Kathryn asked the other men as they were leaving their saddles.

Tag started up the steps. “Let’s go inside,” he said, his voice void of emotion. “Then we’ll tell you.”

Suddenly Kathryn’s heart lurched in her breast. Could Tag possibly have found out about the note I gave Howard Spalding? If he knows, he will kill me. Maybe not immediately, but he will find a way to do it so the others don’t know it was him.

The fear that gripped her was building a pressure inside her head. Her neck muscles stiffened as she walked inside the cabin with the others.

When everyone had gathered in the parlor, Bart and Lucinda sat on the sofa together, and the others took chairs. Kathryn’s blood felt like it had turned to ice water, and a dagger of fear stabbed her heart.

Tag Moran told the women about Doke Veatch, having hidden the Derringer at the base of a fence post in the stockade fence at the prison, and how Bart used the gun to free them from the prison by holding the gun to the head of the captain of the guard. Tag warned the warden and the guards that if they followed, he would kill the captain. He also told them that once he and his gang members were a safe distance from the prison and were not being followed, they would leave the captain alive and tied to a tree where someone could find him.

Tag explained that when they were across the border into Colorado, they gagged the captain and tied him to a rancher’s tree at night. They then entered the barn and stole four of the rancher’s horses, along with bridles and saddles. They rode for the hideout, certain that no one had followed them.

Kathryn’s fear suddenly grew more intense when Lucinda said, “Tag, how did the law know you were going to hold up the Cheyenne banks?”

Tag shrugged. “I have no idea. We asked them, but they refused to tell us.”

Kathryn quickly averted her eyes from Tag’s face for fear that her guilt would show.

“We figured since Tag was gonna hang and the rest of us were in for life,” put in Bart “they could at least tell us how they found out. But not a peep from any of them.”

The pressure Kathryn was feeling abruptly eased. But she was upset in another way at Tag’s next words.

Vengeance was burning in his eyes as he said stiffly, “I’m still gonna get my revenge on that no-good Dr. Dane Logan. Since I promised Doke I wouldn’t kill Logan, we’re gonna go ahead with the plan to abduct his bride at the wedding. You gals can keep her here at the hideout until I’m satisfied Logan has suffered sufficiently thinking she’s dead. Then we’ll set her free.”

Kathryn wanted to tell Tag he shouldn’t make Dr. Logan’s
bride suffer for something the doctor did, but she knew better than to cross him.

“Anyway,” Tag went on, “we’ll pull several more bank robberies in Colorado and Wyoming between now and September, then we’ll hightail it for California. Even though we won’t have the quarter of a million each that we had planned on, we’ll live on what we’ve accumulated. No more of the outlaw trail after that.”

Lucinda smiled at Kathryn, who was feeling some relief.

Kathryn told herself that one day she would rid herself of the gang and go on to live her own life.

On Friday morning, May 20, Dane and Tharyn stood in Denver’s Union Station with John and Breanna and David and Kitty, waiting for the train from Cheyenne to come in.

They were talking excitedly about Dane’s parents being on the train, as well as Dane’s friend, Kenny Atwood Ross, and Tharyn’s friend, Leanne Ladd Ross. Kenny and Leanne had taken a train from their home in Bozeman, Montana, to Cheyenne and met up with Dane’s parents for the trip to Denver.

The Tabors and the Brockmans understood that Tharyn and Leanne—who was blind—had been on an orphan train together in late 1871; that Dane and Kenny—who had a wooden leg—had been on an orphan train together in early 1872, and that both Kenny and Leanne had been adopted by attorney Mike Ross and his wife, Julie, who lived in Denver at the time. Leanne was now twenty-two, and would be one of the bridesmaids in the wedding. Kenny, now eighteen, would be one of the groomsmen.

They also discussed the fact that Melinda Scott Kenyon was also a bridesmaid and Dr. Tim Braden was the other groomsman. Dane told John Brockman how happy he was that the chief had agreed to be his best man, and Tharyn told Breanna how honored she was that she had agreed to be her matron of honor. Both Dane
and Tharyn told the Brockmans how glad they were that Paul would be the ring bearer and Ginny would be the flower girl.

At that moment, the sound of the train chugging into the station met their ears. The small group drew near the track on the platform.

Soon the train came to a stop and they saw Dr. Jacob Logan and Naomi coming out of the second coach, followed by Kenny leading Leanne.

Jacob and Naomi were thrilled to meet Tharyn, as well as the Brockmans and the Tabors. Leanne was thrilled to meet Dane. It was a joy for the Tabors and the Brockmans to be with Leanne and Kenny again.

The Brockmans invited Kenny and Leanne to stay in their home, and the Tabors invited the Logans to stay in theirs. The four of them would catch a train for Cheyenne on Monday.

As the group was walking out of the railroad station, Dane and Tharyn were holding hands. He looked down at her and said, “So your wedding dress really turned out good, eh?”

“It sure did. I’m very pleased with it.”

“Well, sweetheart, I can’t wait to see you in it, walking down the aisle toward me on your daddy’s arm.”

That evening, the wedding practice was held at the church. The practice went well, with Pastor Nathan Blandford standing on the platform, watching David Tabor walking Tharyn down the aisle toward a nervous Dane Logan.

When the practice was over, and the wedding party was sitting in the fellowship hall enjoying a dinner provided by the women of the church, the men talked to Chief Brockman about the Tag Moran gang’s escape from the Wyoming Territorial Prison, wondering how Bart Moran got his hands on the Derringer.

John told them he wished he knew. He explained the details of how the gang left the captain of the guards tied to a tree on a ranch
just south of the Colorado-Wyoming border, and got away clean. It was anybody’s guess where they were holed up. He and his deputies were ready to go after them once they made an appearance somewhere.

Later that evening, Dane and Tharyn were alone on the front porch swing at the Tabor house while both sets of parents were getting better acquainted in the parlor.

The stars in the black velvet sky were twinkling and seemed to be smiling down on the happy couple, who were holding hands.

The evening breeze ruffled Tharyn’s auburn hair, blowing wisps across her forehead as Dane met her soft gaze.

“I still feel like I’m dreaming, like I’m going to wake up in the morning and find that none of this is real,” Dane said.

A slow smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, then spread all the way to her starlit eyes. “I know what you mean, but it’s real, all right. The Lord made it real. He has been so good to us. And speaking of waking up in the morning, just think, darling—one more sunrise and I’ll be Mrs. Dane Logan!”

Dane felt as though his heart would explode with ecstasy. He pulled her close, kissed her softly, and said in a whisper, “You are so right, sweetheart. You sure will!”

They sat on the swing, holding hands for a few more minutes; then they prayed together, asking God to bless their marriage and their lives together.

Dane kissed her good night, saying he would be eagerly watching for her to come through those doors at the back of the auditorium on her father’s arm. He then mounted Pal and rode away into the night, heading for the Brockman place in the country where he would spend the night as their third guest.