Lincoln County Series 1-3 (31 page)

Renewed with energy and his mission, Jake pushed Hunter hard to get back to the ravine. Once there he walked the horse and searched for any more clues left by Andrew. Finally the gully ended and Jake was on flat land again. Soon enough another patch of beige fabric was poking up from beneath a well-placed rock. Jake tucked the piece away and surmised which way they were headed. Not fully sure, he put his head down in thought and noticed five small rocks, in the shape of an arrow. “Well Andrew, you’re gettin’ all the wiser. Just stay alive buddy.”

He took a few minutes to regroup and have some food and water, then pushed hard until once again the day turned to night.

As the moon lit a nice path for him on even ground, Jake heard gunfire and the shrill of a woman’s scream.

Chapter Three

Andrew Jackson had lost count of the days. It seemed an eternity ago since the horrific train robbery, but in keeping up with the patterns in the weather he surmised it had been a month or so. His faith in God never wavered; His will was His will, period. But as the nights turned into days and days to nights, he had to wonder if anyone was coming to their rescue. Was it a foolish notion to leave behind bits of fabric? No one would come across them, and if they did it might not be in the same location as where he’d dropped them with the winds and all. But if someone was on the lookout for him, he assumed it’d be Thomas. Though he doubted Thomas would find him to be recognizable. Andrew was a far cry from the polished preacher hailing from back East. He looked down at his rough hands and dirty fingernails and exhaled—he was filthier than a pig in a pigpen and stank to high heaven. Although his hands were bound he pulled them up to pluck a bug out of his full beard. Anyone who knew him had never seen him without a clean-shaven jaw. And with his pants to near shreds, he wondered how his captures could even stand him. Too bad odor and looks weren’t enough to make them be done with him. He lay back against the large rock that was to be his bed for the night and prayed as he did, every moment possible. Cameron was always on his mind and their child—they were what he lived for.

He’d fallen asleep and woke up shivering. The bed of fire was on its last spark and he made a motion to his guard, Milton, for permission to toss a log onto it. Milton pulled a revolver onto his lap, displaying the ability to shoot within a split second. Andrew was beyond their intimidation and ignored him. They hadn’t tied his feet up yet for the night so he was able to get in the last of his exercise and set a couple chunks of wood onto the coals and even coax it to life. They seemed to be getting more lax where he was concerned. He questioned if they were as worn out as himself and contemplated when they would all be done running.

“Not too high,” said Milton.

Of course. If it was too visible, someone just might stop by and pay their campfire a visit.

As Milton got his own self situated on his bedroll, Andrew heard Bethany and her husband, Jimmy. Their tones were surprisingly calm, given their history, and muted enough so he could not make out what they were saying. Jimmy had finally eased up with Bethany and no longer treated her like the hostage she’d been initially. Once he finally believed that she was not on the train with the preacher he let her loose, even if she was never out of his sight. For a while, Andrew thought they were both going to die at his erroneous assumption, but Bethany must have had her way because he was still alive. Knowing that Jimmy kept him around for negotiation purposes wasn’t all that comforting. His life was in the madman’s hands every day and the longer they were running from the law without a destination, the more leery Andrew got of his erratic behavior. He looked over at Milton when he heard soft snores escaping his mustached mouth and realized that he’d not been bound for the night. He really was slacking in his kidnapping duties and Andrew feared what Jimmy would do to Milton if he knew this.

With ease, Andrew drew himself up—for a stretch—he would say, should he be caught or questioned. He relieved himself, and as he did, he took in their surroundings. Two days ago, he’d spotted a town far away in the distance, and kept the geography of it in the forefront of his mind. Pulling all of this together, his unbound feet, the town and Milton’s relaxed guard, made this day the first ever in the way of possible escape. To test Milton’s slumber, he kicked at a stone for its noise. Nothing. Milton hadn’t even changed his breathing nor showed a twitch of movement. Chancing all, Andrew took cautious steps towards Bethany, Jimmy and the other guard Ben. Hiding behind a boulder, he crept low to observe their campsite. What was not good was the absence of Ben. Where was he?

Bethany and her husband were settling in. He thought of the sacrifice she’d made while on the trail. The only reason she was on that train was to leave him and his criminal activities behind. She was going to begin life over and go back home to her parents. When Jimmy found out, he’d not only wrecked the train by putting debris on the tracks, but he’d robbed everyone, killed the conductor and the soldier guarding the safe, and plucked Bethany right off of it, accusing her of running off with “the preacher.” That’s what he got for trying to protect her when his gang came aboard. She’d wanted nothing to do with Jimmy or their old lifestyle and now, as Andrew peered at her through a crevice of rock, he realized all she’d given up to maintain peace on this horrible trek.

Suddenly her head came up and she focused her eyes on the rock, as if she knew she were being watched. In panic, he sat on his haunches and waited with abated breath. Would she inadvertently give him away? He heard crackling noises on the ground and squeezed his eyes shut at someone coming. Ben must have seen her look and come to check it out. With hands bound he would be powerless to defend himself. A knap sack was dropped near him and Bethany’s voice accompanied it. “Leave this place. Tonight.”

“Not without you.” He’d never leave her alone with them.

“It’s too late for me, I’ve made my bed.”

Jimmy’s voice boomed, “That’s far enough sweetheart, do your business and get back over here.” He laughed and Andrew was further disgusted when he added, “I’ll have you warm my bed tonight in this blasted cold!”

Knowing she’d used that excuse to speak to him, Andrew peeled away from the boulder, still unsure what to do. Surely the Lord wouldn’t present an opportunity such as this if it meant going against his convictions and leaving Bethany behind to be abused. What of Cameron? Shouldn’t he be putting her first, above all else, and at least try to make his way to her? He eased back to his place against the rock, taking care not to disturb Milton, prayed and waited. All of the signs around begged him to flee and most likely it would be successful, but something nagged the pit of his stomach about leaving her behind. That, and not knowing Ben’s location. He weighed out options and risks and then his mind was made up for him. A shadow came between him and the campfire. He’d found Ben.

“What have you got there, preacher?” He pulled Andrew from his place, which covered the knapsack Bethany snuck him. They both would have been better off if she hadn’t been so thoughtful. Ben poured out its contents, and to the ground fell a pouch of water, some hard tack and a can of beans. Andrew closed his eyes, knowing a blow was forthcoming. The disturbance woke Milton, who shook his head in puzzlement.

Andrew’s eyes burned from Ben’s backhand meeting his temple. Sadly, he was so used to being struck he’d ceased giving them the satisfaction of seeing it affect him. Milton stood. “What’s this?”

Ben scolded, “How did he get these supplies?”

“I snuck them throughout the day,” Andrew admitted.

Milton looked him up and down. “I’ve had my eye on you. No way you could’ve got ahold of these things.” He kicked the can of beans and brought up the revolver.

“How long ya been sleeping? Wait ‘til Jimmy hears of this!”

“Now hold on,” Andrew interrupted. “I got my hands on those items, just deal with me. No need to bring Jimmy into this.” He waited in surrender.

Unfortunately Jimmy heard the commotion and crossed campsites, Bethany in tow. Her eyes met his and she looked dejected. They were in trouble, no doubt about it. Everyone was at their wits end with the dirt, the cold and the not knowing when or if the law would catch up to them. Jimmy sized Andrew up and down, trying to figure it out. Then it dawned on Jimmy and he began to make his way to Bethany, but he had to get past Ben and Milton to do so.

Within a flash, Jimmy had his gun trained on his very own wife. “You betrayed me! You were going to run off with
him
, help him escape!”

“I wasn’t!”

Andrew’s heart was sick. They were not going to make it out of this one. Fuses were too short. “She wasn’t!”

“Shut-up, both of you!” Jimmy’s gun went between both of them. Andrew couldn’t risk him shooting her and he made one last attempt to keep attention focused on him.

“I gathered those items. She knows nothing about it. I planned to escape tonight, you’re right about that. But not with her. She’s nothing to me. I have my own wife I want to get home to.”

Jimmy got a mad look in his eyes and turned the gun on Bethany. “Then you won’t mind if I just shoot her now and be done with it.”

“No!” Andrew couldn’t believe his strength as he lunged at Milton, straight into his gut, and sidestepped Ben, getting out of reach from his grasping hands. He made his way to Bethany just as Jimmy fired the gun.

Andrew fell to the ground at her feet, hot blood oozing out of his left side.

Chapter Four

Jake was on his feet and ready to run to the sound of gunfire and screaming when a click of a gun echoed in his ear. How did someone get the drop on him? Out of instinct, he held his hands up in surrender, wondering who the fool was holding him up.

“Mister, take that gun out of your holster and toss it.”

Jake didn’t have time for this. “I’m a bounty hunter. Name’s Jake Collins. I need to get to that campsite.”

“You going after Hoffman?”

Relieved, he said, “I’m going in for his hostages. You can have Hoffman.”

The barrel of the gun was removed from the back of his neck and he breathed easier.

“Some bounty hunter, giving up Hoffman.”

“I’d love to get my hands on Hoffman, but like I said, I’m here for the preacher.”

“Well why didn’t you say so?”

Jake was not up for joking and strengthened his stance. He had no desire to waste time but he wanted to know who he was dealing with. “You after the bounty?”

“I’m Preston McBride, a United States Marshall. Thought you might be one of the gang.”

“If you’re like me, you just heard that gunfire. What are we waiting for?”

“After you, Jake Collins.”

They left their horses behind, better to sneak up on foot. Although sneaking up was not what they needed to concern themselves with. The camp was in chaos. They each took position, hidden in crevices of large rocks. Jake spotted a man he figured to be Andrew, although he couldn’t be sure with everyone’s bearded faces. But the other men were armed and so the process of elimination wasn’t too difficult. That and Andrew was lying in a pool of blood. The glow from the fire lit the area just enough to see that he was bleeding badly. Another man was doubled over, catching his breath while another, he assumed to be Jimmy, went at Bethany. He watched Jimmy take possession of her. She was hollering and cussing him out for shooting Andrew and swiped and swatted at him. Jake signaled to the Marshall to get in there while there was commotion. Jake would take the big guy who looked to be deciding if he should shoot Bethany or not while she cat-scratched her laughing husband. Surprisingly, Andrew was lifting himself off of the ground in defense of Bethany. Jake had a split second thought of why this was. She was the reason he was in this mess and shot to boot, he didn’t doubt. Just as Andrew made his presence known, the big guy wielding his gun towards Jimmy and Bethany swung it in his direction. Not wasting a second, Jake shot him center of the heart and yet he still did not go down. Jake received fire from the other man and barely escaped. He felt the heat of it as he dove for cover. He watched from the ground as Preston took a second shot at the big guy until he landed hard on the ground. By now Jimmy’s full attention was on his wife, rebelliously aiming his pistol at her. Clumsily, Andrew reached for Jimmy’s leg and pulled. Jake saw what was about to happen and stood, no longer concerned about getting shot at. He needed to intervene, and fast.