A Worthy Pursuit (28 page)

Stone glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the lawman striding into the alley. “Toby.”

The marshal fingered the brim of his Stetson. “Stone. Dan.” His casual glance passed over the other two men. “Buck sent a messenger to fetch me. Said there was some trouble brewin’. Am I gonna find posters for these two back in my office? Been a while since you two brought me a bounty.”

“You might find something on this one,” Stone said as he hauled Winston to his feet, “but right now I ain’t interested in collecting. I got to retrieve the little girl these yahoos kidnapped before she gets on a train in the morning.” He shoved Winston at the marshal. Toby caught him with no difficulty. “Lock these two up for kidnapping and assault. We’ll stop by on our way back to give a statement.”

The lawman nodded even as Winston started sputtering.

“Assault? We didn’t hurt no one. Just tied up the teacher and the kids and nailed the doors and shutters closed so they couldn’t escape until morning.”

Stone’s fists itched to pummel the man just for touching Charlotte, to crush him with blow after blow until he lay as helpless and powerless on the dirt street as he’d made Charlotte feel in that cabin. “I’m sure they just sat idly by and let you bind them,” he ground out, his sarcasm slicing like the blade he wished he could wield. “No struggle. No fight. No need for you to use force.”

His gut churned at the images flooding his brain. Lily crying and terrified. Charlotte brave and desperate, fighting off two men all on her own. Stephen trying to be a man but being too young to defend the women. And John. Poor kid probably wouldn’t talk for weeks after the fright he’d had.

Then all at once, Winston’s words hit him. He’d nailed the door shut? And the storm shutters? In his hurry to leave, Stone hadn’t paid the cabin any heed. It was a miracle Charlotte and the boys had escaped. Charlotte’s ramblings about Stephen freeing the pins finally clicked. The boy had taken the door off its hinges. That’s how they’d gotten out. Thank God for smart kids.

“I’ll hold ’em for ya, Stone.” The marshal fastened a pair of handcuffs around Winston’s wrists then looked at Jimmy. “Ya gonna come quietly, son, or do I have to chain you, too?”

Jimmy hung his head and moved forward. Dan divested him of his gun belt and the knife at his waist. Stone gave Winston the same treatment. Toby strapped the belts through his own, letting the holsters slap against his left thigh then pulled his own weapon and started marching the brothers off to the jailhouse.

Stone turned and jogged toward the horses. They had serious ground to make up and not much time to accomplish the task.

“Nice doin’ business with you again, Dan,” the marshal drawled as he crossed in front of the Lonely Coyote.

Stone didn’t pay attention to Dan’s reply. He mounted Goliath, grabbed Ranger’s reins, and aimed the animals up the road.

“C’mon, Dan. We got a train to catch.”

Dan mounted in a swift, easy motion, catching the reins Stone tossed his way, and the two rode off, this time heading north to Corsicana.

27

Goliath and Ranger had both been trained for endurance riding, but the nearly thirty-mile trip stretched them to their limits. Stone pressed them hard at first, hopeful they’d overtake Franklin since he was weighted down with Lily. Then he’d spotted the second set of tracks in the soft dirt of a creek bed where they’d watered their horses. Stone had stared at the marks, his entire body aching as if he’d just been felled by a tree. Dan knelt down beside him, took one look at the tracks, and hung his head. He knew what they meant. Franklin had a spare mount. Overtaking him would be impossible.

After that discovery, Stone slowed the pace, no longer racing against Franklin but against the sun. If they could reach Corsicana before the train pulled into the depot, they had a chance. If Franklin managed to get Lily on board . . . well, the additional witnesses would make things a bit tricky. If they missed the train altogether? The thought twisted Stone’s gut. Facing Dorchester in a place where he controlled the stage and all the players would be like battling a wildcat without a weapon. Stone had survived it once, but as he recalled, the cat had suffered very
few ill effects. Stone had been the one to lose a pound of flesh. Not exactly a scenario he wanted Lily mixed up in.

So when the sunrise bathed the countryside in golden light, Stone cringed. When the first birds began to sing, he nudged Goliath from a walk to a trot. And an hour later, when a distant train whistle pierced the air, he leaned over the horse’s neck and begged him to run.

“Follow me.” Dan urged a lathered Ranger into the lead. He nodded to a path leading east through the trees.

Stone nodded. Speed was essential, but so was secrecy. If they could avoid the main road into town without losing time, they might be able to get the jump on Franklin. Oaks lined the path, blinding Stone to what lay ahead. Then all at once, they hit open space. Open space that butted up against railroad tracks. Tracks that still rattled from a train that hadn’t yet come to a halt at the station.

Thank you, God!

“Come on, Goliath. Almost there,” Stone urged. “I promise to pamper you for a week after this.”

The horse, noble beast that he was, stretched his stride just a little wider. Stone murmured praise in his ear and gave him his head. Whatever the animal had to give, Stone would take. For Lily.

The first buildings came into view, and Dan signaled with a wave of his hand for Stone to cross to the east side of the tracks, where stockyards and cotton gins would greet them instead of houses and storefronts. Stone followed without question—until they passed the train station. Where was Dan going? Instinct screamed at Stone to split off down W. 8th toward the depot, but years of proven trust kept him following his partner on the perpendicular trail down S. 9th. They passed a flour mill, a cotton yard, and even a gin before Dan finally turned down E. Collin. There, they crossed the tracks, and Dan directed Ranger south
toward one of the many freight platforms along the rail line. A painted sign advertised Frank Root’s Livery. At once, Dan’s intent became clear. Hide the horses. Scout the area. Locate Franklin and Lily before giving away their position. Indian-like stealth instead of a cavalry charge. The wiser option.

A man forking hay into a feed rack frowned at them when they brought their mounts to a halt beside the small corral to the right of the main building. He eyed the lather on the horses’ chests with stark disapproval. He leaned the pitchfork against the wall and stomped over, no doubt ready to blister their hides for their treatment of their mounts. But when his gaze climbed to Dan’s face, the creases of anger on his brow cleared into lines of concern. He broke into a jog.

“What’s wrong, Barrett? Never known you to push Ranger like this before.”

“A little girl’s life never hung in the balance before.”

The man slid a leg through the corral’s fence slats, bent his body, and emerged on the other side. As soon as Stone and Dan dismounted, he collected their reins and clucked soothingly to the exhausted animals.

“I’ll pay double your boarding fee, Frank, if you cool them down for us and see to their care. We pushed them through the night.”

“Don’t you worry none,” he said, already leading the horses toward the shade of the stable. “I’ll reward these two warriors right and proper.” He called to a lad already inside and handed the reins over with instructions for the boy to start rubbing them down. Then he pivoted and pierced Dan with a thoughtful stare. “Had another beast come in this morning in similar condition. Wasn’t as lathered, but I could tell he’d been ridden hard.”

Stone had started scouting the best route to take between buildings to get to the depot unseen when the livery owner’s
words carried to him. He spun and nearly lunged at the man. “Was it a palomino? Fancy tooling on the saddle?”

“Yep. Along with a dun mare I recognized from Thompson’s Livery down in Steward’s Mill.”

Franklin.

“Did he have a child with him? A girl?”

Frank leaned a shoulder against the livery wall. “Yep. Said it was his daughter. Didn’t look much like him, though. Her bein’ blond and him bein’ dark.”

Stone’s heart thumped wildly. They’d been here. They were close. “How long ago?”

“First thing this mornin’. Said they was gonna grab a bite at his hotel before catchin’ the train. Fellow said he’d send for his horse once he got the girl home.”

“How’d she look?” Dan asked.

Stone held his breath, bracing for the answer.
Please let
her be all right.

“Couldn’t see much of her. Fellow had her wrapped in a blanket. Carryin’ her while she slept. All I could see was her hair.” Frank shrugged. “Truth to tell, I was more concerned with the horses than the kid. That palomino was limpin’ a bit. Had a rock in his hoof.”

Stone shifted his gaze to Dan. “He probably dosed her with laudanum.”

Dan nodded. “Good way to keep her from causing a scene when they board. It’ll mean she won’t be able to run away from him, too. Retrievin’ her won’t be easy.”

Stone clenched his jaw. “Then we’ll just have to retrieve
him
instead.”

Dan grinned.

“So . . . how do you want this to play out?” Dan asked from his position in the alleyway across from the Commercial Hotel.

Stone scanned the street. Too many people coming and going, what with the hotel across the way and the boarding house on the other side of the alley wall. “Long-lost friend. Anything else would draw too much attention.”

Dan nodded then slid his revolver from his holster. Stone opted for a blade.

They’d already scouted the platform and surrounding area. No sign of Franklin. But then, he’d wait until the last minute to board, not wanting anyone to grow too suspicious about him carting around a sleeping child who was well past the age of being carried.

Behind them, a train whistle pierced the morning air with its final call for boarding. A minute later, a handful of businessmen exited the hotel. Then a family with a pair of squabbling kids. Then two ladies with fancy plumes on their hats. Stone scanned each face, tension radiating through him, ready to strike.

Franklin was a hulking brute with long, straggly hair and a penchant for wearing buckskin britches dripping with fringe. The man’s costume begged the dime novelists of the world to immortalize him on the page, but as far as Stone knew, no one had. Restored a bit of his faith in the authorial profession.

Another man exited the hotel. Tall. Broad shoulders. Sack suit. Bowler hat. Well-trimmed hair. Stone nearly looked past him until the man tugged a young boy out from behind him. The lad, clothed in worn trousers, baggy shirt, and knit cap, didn’t seem to fit with the immaculate man. And he staggered about as if he wasn’t sure where the ground was. Stone’s nape tingled. Something wasn’t right.

Stone took a step out of the alley, needing to get closer, to try to make out the faces.

“What are you doing?” Dan hissed.

“That could be them. The man and the boy. Franklin could have changed their clothes.”

Dan edged closer. “Are you sure? If we go now and it’s not them, we risk scaring him off.”

“And if it
is
them and we don’t go, he could get Lily on that train.” Pulse roaring in his ears, Stone took another step. If only he could see their faces.

Dan’s voice echoed behind him. “Make the call.”

Stone hesitated, his gaze combing over the man making his way toward the station with the boy then shifting back to the handful of other people exiting the hotel. No one else matched Franklin’s build.

His gut told him to go. His
spirit
told him to go.

“We go.”

Decision made, the men wasted no time. Hiding their drawn weapons in the folds of their coats, they laughed and jostled each other as they made their way toward the depot. Stretching their stride to make up ground, they circled around and came at Franklin from the side. Dan waved at an imaginary comrade to excuse their change of direction while Stone steered them directly toward the boy.

“Walt Franklin?” Stone called out. “Is that you?”

The man’s shoulders flinched, but he didn’t turn. Stone grinned. He didn’t need him to turn. The flinch gave him away.

“It
is
you!” Stone and Dan maneuvered around him, cutting off his path to the station. “I haven’t seen you in a coon’s age, you old rascal. And look, you’re all gussied up. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Franklin twisted his face to glare at Stone, finally removing all doubt of his identity. “Get out of my way, Stone,” he growled through gritted teeth as he smiled at the few people who had slowed to observe the reunion.

“And the lad,” Dan enthused loudly. “You must’ve grown a foot, boy. I wonder if I can still hoist you on my shoulders like I used to when you were little.”

Stone slung his left arm over Franklin’s shoulders, fanning out his coat to disguise the blade that he shoved against his rival’s side. He twisted the point just enough to let Franklin feel the threat and release his hold on Lily.