Outlaws Of Phantom Canyon (Savage Series) (8 page)

"I need to feed and care for my horse first. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here now," Gabriel protested half asleep.

"I'll feed and take care of him for you
. You just get in here and rest," Julianna told him as she helped him undress and climb into bed. "I'll be right back."

Julianna went to care for the big bay stallion that carried her loved one to safety. After she unsaddled him, she gave him a large portion of grain to eat while she brushed the dirt off his sweat dried body. Once the horse finished his grain, she took him to the meadow full of buffalo grass where the rest of the herd was kept, and turned him loose to graze his fill. But first the horse went and rolled in the dirt, showing Julianna his appreciation for brushing him clean. Then he stood up, shook, and started hungrily grazing on the buffalo grass.

When Julianna returned to their shack with the heavy saddlebags, Gabriel was sound asleep and snoring. She couldn't help herself as she just stood there and watched him sleep like a baby. Content that he was now safe, she headed out to the cook's shack to help Barry for the day while Gabriel slept.

Not wanting to disturb Gabriel while he slept, Julianna went to see Ruby as usual after cleaning up from the breakfast crowd. When she walked in she could tell by the look on Ruby's face, that Ruby was just as relieved and worried as she was. "I take it Ted already told you what happened?"

Nodding her head Ruby said, "Yes. He said it was a very close call. Almost like the Calvary was expecting them."

Julianna was wondering on that very thought when a loud commotion started up outside. The women, in curiosity, went outside to see what it was about.

The majority of the Phantom outlaw gang stood outside arguing and cussing each other. Victor spotted Julianna, walked up to her angrily, and grabbed her arm demanding, "Where is Gabriel?"

Terrified by Victor, all Julianna could say was, "Asleep."

"Go get him and tell him to bring his saddlebags," Victor ordered. When Julianna didn't instantly move he yelled in her face. "Now!"

Flinching at his nearness and loud voice, Julianna turned and ran to their shack. As she burst through the door, Gabriel bolted up out of the small bed, grabbed for his gun and took quick aim. Seeing it was Julianna he lowered his pistol.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asked when he saw the upset and scared expression on her beautiful face.

"Victor
." was all she could say to begin with as she caught her breath.

"I'll kill him!" Gabriel roared as he assumed that Victor had tried hurting her in some way.

"No. No." Julianna held up her hands to stop him. "He wants to see you right now. The whole Phantom gang is in front of the mercantile store. They are all upset, about what, I don't know. He just said to get you now and for you to bring your saddlebags."

Confused, Gabriel wondered,
my saddlebags?
This didn't make any sense. "Where are my saddlebags?" he asked Julianna.

"By the door. They were so heavy, I left them there."

Gabriel dressed, put on his low-hung gunbelt and grabbed the saddlebags like they were empty as he headed out the door with Julianna right on his heels.

As he stormed across the compound, it was all Julianna could do to keep up without running. When he neared, he saw the whole Phantom outlaw gang in front of the mercantile store with Clayton, Ted, and Victor right in the middle of them all.

Once Gabriel was within ear shot of the Phantom gang he yelled at them, "What the hell is going on?"

Victor walked up to Gabriel. "Empty your saddlebags on the ground."

With a confused and bewildered look on Gabriel's face, he did as he was told. Besides the bags of gold, the only thing he had was a small sack of hardtack and jerked meat that he kept in there for emergencies.

"Open and dump
the bags of gold on the ground," Victor ordered.

Filled with curiosity now, Gabriel dumped the first bag onto the ground. It was only filled with pieces of lead, not gold. Hurriedly he dumped the rest of the bags only to find
the same thing. "We were set up." was all Gabriel could say.

Knowing he had to make it look good, Gabriel stood up and angrily went towards Clayton as he yelled, "You risked our asses for this. Bags of lead!"

"You said it yourself, we were set up," Clayton yelled back. "But they're not going to scare us off. In a few days, after we rest up, we are going to rob the Well Fargo bank in Colorado Springs."

"I thought you said we was to never rob close to home?" Gabriel asked worriedly.

"Yes I did, and that's exactly why they won't expect it!" Clayton said with a crazed evil look in his eyes.

Gabriel didn't like Clayton's plans anymore than the rest of the outlaw gang, who had any brains, did. Gabriel needed to find out when Roark would be in camp, and to get a message out. With the Calvary hanging around, the gang Roark was in should be coming into the Phantom outlaw camp soon too, to hideout for a while.

After picking up his saddlebags, Gabriel turned to Julianna and gently took hold of her arm, and lead her back towards their shack. "Come, let's go home."

Once safe inside their shac
k, Julianna asked Gabriel again, "When will you stop? You can't seriously be going to rob that bank in a couple of days."

"Until I have everyone where I need them to be, I don't have a choice." Gabriel knew that didn't make her feel any better, but he wasn't going to lie to her about i
t. She needed to know the truth, as much as he could safely tell her, that is.

"Now come here an
d remind me how much I love you," Gabriel said as he pulled Julianna into his arms and kissed her with unbridled passion. He then picked her up and placing her on the small bed, after he had removed all of their clothes.

*     *     *

Hours later they laid spent in each other's arms. For those few hours they did not think about the danger Gabriel was in, but enjoyed the pleasure they could give each other. When Gabriel's stomach growled, their minds returned back to the present.

Julianna sat up and went to get dressed. She looked out the old window and realized the sun was setting, and soon Barry would be busy at the cook's shack. "I'll go get you something to eat before I go help Barry
," Julianna said wishing she could just spend the evening in bed with Gabriel. The camp was starting to get busier as outlaws were coming in to lay low for a while, and Julianna knew Barry needed her help. She didn't want to let him down.

"If you see Angel tell h
er I want to see her right away," Gabriel told Julianna before she went out the door.

Nodding, Julianna headed out their shack door. She knew Gabriel told her that Angel was only a messenger, but she still didn't like Angel. Julianna couldn't put her finger on it, but she could tell that there was something between Gabriel and Angel.

Upon entering the cook's shack, Julianna sees the place is busy and spotted Angel on the far side of the room. Angel had just finished up her supper and was sitting by herself. Julianna made Gabriel a plate of food and took it over to Angel and said, "Gabriel wants to see you now and this plate is for him. He's in
our
shack."

Angel noticed the emphasis on the word 'our' and figured Gabriel still hadn't told Julianna everything. Thinking she could have a little fun, Angel rose with the plateful of food and smiled mischievously. "I'll take it right over."

As the cook's shack door shut behind Angel, Julianna whispered to herself, "Bitch!"

*     *     *

Angel knew she shouldn't have done that to Julianna. It was obvious Julianna was in love with Gabriel, but she couldn't help making a little ripple in their pond.

When she entered the shack, Angel could tell Gabriel wasn't his happy usual self and asked, "What's troubling you?"

"I need you to deliver a message first thing tomorrow."

While he ate, Gabriel explained what happened with the stagecoach robbery, sacks of lead, and the Calvary chasing them. Then he told her of Clayton's plan to rob the Wells Fargo bank in a couple of days, and of the message he wanted her to deliver before he asked Angel, "Any idea where Roark is?"

"Roark and his bunch went down by Hole in the Rock a few days back. I suspect they are probably in Cucharas right now drinking it up for the night. They should be here by the end of the week."

"Good. You make sure to come back then too. With the Calvary in the area, the
timing couldn't be more perfect," Gabriel said as he was giving Angel a hug and kiss goodbye.

When Angel turned to leave, they both saw Julianna standing in the doorway of the shack looking like she was ready to commit cold blooded murder.

"Let me handle this Angel, you go ahead and go," Gabriel said as he stared into Julianna's fiery emerald green eyes . . .

Chapter 6

"Gabe! Don't you dare try to tell me again that she is
just
a messenger. I could see in your eyes that you love her," Julianna said angrily with tears in her own eyes.

"You're right. I do
love her very much," Gabriel replied smiling. "Because she is my sister."

Shocked, the on
ly thing Julianna could say was, "She's your sister?"

Laughing, Gabriel was still smiling as he pulled Julianna into his strong arms and kissed her hard at first, then softening to a gentle caress of her lips.

"Jules you have no reason to be jealous of any woman. You are the
only
woman I love, and when this is over I will prove it by marrying you."

Overwhelmed, tears ran down Julianna's smiling face now as she cried in happiness. "Oh Gabe!" Thinking of the future she said, "I can't wait for you to meet my father. I wish I could let him know I am safe."

"Tomorrow Angel will be leaving to go send your father a message to let him know you are okay," was all Gabriel told Julianna, leaving out the rest of the message that Angel would be delivering.

"Now let's go to bed and I'll show you just how much I love you!" Gabriel said as he picked Julianna up and carried her to their small bed, and playfully dropped her on it. She laughed at his silly behavior.

*     *     *

After leaving Gabriel to face Julianna's fiery anger all by himself, Angel couldn't help but giggle to herself as she headed for the outlaw camp's saloon. Upon walking through the batwing doors, she spotted Barry standing up at the bar and went to join him. "Evening Barry."

"Good evening Angel. May I buy you a drink?"

"Yes, a beer and some company sounds good to me tonight."

"Tommy, get this lady a beer!" Barry told Tommy Richardson the Phantom outlaw gang's saloonkeeper.

Tommy had been Clayton's saloonkeeper for the past twelve years. Ever since he took a .45 round in his right hip leaving him partially crippled. Now he walks with a cane and can no longer ride with the gang like he use to.

"So how have you been Angel?"

"I've been staying busy down in Colorado City. Mainly at the
Wolf's Den Saloon playing poker," Angel told Barry.

"I hope you aren't taking those boys for too much money. They can get right unfriendly when they get unhappy."

"Oh I let them win a hand here and there," Angel replied laughing with a beautiful smile. She wasn't about to tell Barry the truth that she purposely lost most of the time just so she was welcomed in the poker games, and could listen in on the town gossip.

That beautiful smile melted Barry's heart. Now that Angel wasn't Gabriel's woman anymore, she was spending most of her time with him while she was in the outlaw camp, and he looked forward to it!

"How long are you staying this time?" Barry asked hoping she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. He wanted a chance to spend more time with her.

"I'm afraid I have to leave out in the morning."

"But you just got here!" Barry exclaimed.

"I Know, but I have some things I need to go do down in Canon City. I thought I'd stop by on my way the
re and see how you was doing." Angel lied on the first part, but she honestly meant the latter.

Touched by Ang
el's words, Barry bravely asked, "Would you like to go for a moonlit walk with me?"

Unable to speak as bashfulness overcame Angel, she nodded her head yes, and followed Barry out through the batwings of the camp's saloon. Once outside they silently walked
side-by-side through the camp towards the narrow trail, that went up a canyon ridge to an lookout over the vast canyon below.

Angel led the way up the narrow trail. Once they arrived at the top, Barry took hold of Angel's left hand turning her towards him. For a while they just stood staring into each other's eyes, until finally Barry took the bit and leaned down and kissed Angel gently.

Barry didn't want to push his luck and scare her off, so he suggested, "Maybe we should head back to camp so you can get some sleep."

Reluctantly Angel nodded her head yes, as shyness overtook her again.

Barry turned them towards the narrow trail and she lead the way back down. Once they reached the bottom of the canyon they shyly held hands as they walked to his cook's shack. Inside Angel saw that Barry had already made up a cot for her to sleep.

"Thank you B
arry. I had a wonderful evening," Angel said shyly with a beautiful smile.

"My pleasure Angel. I hope you will be back soon?"

"Yes, I should be back later this week."

Smiling, Barry gently kissed Angel on the lips again and then headed to his small room in the back of the cook's shack, where his little cot was, and went to bed.

Dreamily Angel laid on her cot thinking about Barry and the evening she just spent with him. She couldn't believe she had become bashful around him. She had never been bashful around anyone before . . .

*     *     *

Having awakened before daybreak, Gabriel laid in bed while Julianna slept peacefully in his strong arms. He hated not telling her the whole truth, but he had felt she was safer not knowing. She already knows about Angel now, and she will soon be meeting Roark probably later this week.

Should he go ahead and tell her everything? He also wondered how mad she would be when she found out what he was not telling her. After arguing with himself the pros and cons, Gabriel finally decided to tell Julianna the truth later today when they had time to talk. What he was doing was very dangerous and she had the right to know as it could affect her life, and the right to change her mind about being with him if she so chose.

With his decision made, Gabriel quietly climbed out of the small bed, dressed, and headed outside to take care of his chores for the day. The sun was just rising above the canyon walls when he finished putting the last horseshoe on his big bay stallion. His horse had thrown a couple shoes in the mud during their last hurried escape from the stagecoach robbery, and Gabriel had been lucky that his horse didn't go lame from the rough ride.

*     *     *

When Angel woke at daybreak in the Phantom outlaw gang's camp, she hurried to head out of camp before others woke up. On her way out of camp she saw Gabriel at the blacksmith's shop shoeing his horse and stopped for a moment.

"So did Julianna skin you alive last night after I left your shack?" Angel asked laughing.

Smiling Gabriel said, "I thought she was goin' to, till I told her who you really was."

"Before I go, anything else you want me to pass along?" Angel asked Gabriel.

"No, nothing I can think of. I just hope you can get the message to him in time."

"Me too Gabriel, me too,
" Angel said as she rode off out of the Phantom gang's camp, headed for Beaver Creek.

*     *     *

The Phantom outlaw gang had a blacksmith in the camp to shoe the outlaw's horses, but Gabriel never let anyone touch his bay stallion but himself. As Gabriel was putting the shoeing tools away at the blacksmith shop, he saw Levi headed his way after having stopped at a couple shacks, before heading towards him. Gabriel wondered what was up?

"Mornin' Gabriel."

"Mornin' Levi. Who's got you playin' messenger boy this mornin'?"

"Clayton wants us all to meet at
his place in 'bout ten minutes," Levi answered.

"I'll head that way as soon as I put my horse out to graze."

Nodding his head, Levi turned and headed to go tell the rest of the gang about the meeting. While Gabriel headed with his horse towards the canyon meadow, that was full of buffalo grass, to turn the big boy loose to eat.

Walking into Clayton's shack, Gabriel saw most of the Phantom gang was already there waiting. He walked over by Alex and idly chatted with her while they waited for the meeting to start.

Of all the Phantom outlaw gang members he rode with, Gabriel liked Alexandra the best. It was probably because deep down she was a good hearted woman who tried to do her best, and make the best of a bad situation.

She never wanted to become a whore, but she had no choice after her husband died and left her penniless. With hard work and smarts she became a madam
, and was doing well for herself until the night one of her girls was getting badly beaten up. Alex wasn't about to stand by and just let it happen, so she shot the man after he refused to stop abusing her girl.

It turned out the man was a well known businessman in Denver
, and the city was not about to let the crime go unpunished. When it came to the law, whores had very little legal rights. So when the sheriff came knocking on her front door to arrest her, Alex was running out the back door to a horse she had already saddled up and ready to go.

Whispering to Gabriel Alex asked, "Do you think Clayton has gone loco wanting to go rob that bank with the Calvary so close?"

"Yes, he's going to get us killed if we don't watch it."

Alex nodded her head in agreement with Gabriel as Clayton walked into the room and said, "Quiet down boys so we can get this meetin' started."

The room in Clayton's shack hushed to a couple whispers, then silence just before Clayton began to speak again. "Tomorrow mornin' we head out right after an early breakfast. We will stop in Colorado City for the night, and leave early the next mornin' for the Wells Fargo bank in Colorado Springs. I want to get there when they first open up, so that they will still have the safe unlocked and opened while they are filling their cash drawers.

"Levi, Alex, and Chet, I want you three to keep watch outside the bank. Chet
, you stay with the horses," Clayton ordered as he continued on.

"When the rest of us leave for Colorado Springs, Victor I want you and Tate to get the supplies we need from the Owens Mercantile loaded on our pack horses, and go ahead and start headed back towards camp. By the time the rest of us head back, after we rob the bank, we should catch up with you around Rosemont."

"Any questions?" Clayton then asked.

"Does this mean we get to have some fun while we are in Colorado City?" Chet asked excitedly.

"Yes, but take it easy on the whiskey. We got to be up early the next mornin'."

*     *     *

Leaving Clayton's shack, Gabriel headed to the cook's shack for a late breakfast. Inside he found Julianna washing dishes from the morning's breakfast meal, and walked up to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek, before going to sit in his usual spot at the table in the back corner.

Barry brought Gabriel a cup of steaming hot coffee
, and told him he'd have him some breakfast ready in a few minutes. Soon Barry was back with a plateful of scrambled eggs, sausage, fried potatoes, and biscuits. Then he came back to refill Gabriel's cup.

When Julianna had finished with the dishes she grabbed herself a plateful of food and joined Gabriel to eat. They ate in silence for a wh
ile, then Julianna asked him, "Where have you been all morning? When I woke up at daybreak you was already gone."

"I had to re-shoe my horse, then I had a meeting over at Clayton's about the Wells Fargo job we're getting ready to do."

"Then I take it you still plan to go on that job?" Julianna asked Gabriel sadly.

"Jules, you know I don't have a choice in the matter."

"Yes you do!" Julianna said with anger and tears in her emerald eyes, as she stood up and stormed out the cook's shack door.

Gabriel started to follow her, but then thought maybe it's best if he let her calm down first. Besides it was almost time for him to go do his duty of standing guard in one of the small canyons, that led into the outlaw camp.

Julianna hurried off to their shack and once inside, plopped down on the small bed and turned the waterworks on full force. She cried till the well went dry and she couldn't cry anymore.

She just couldn't understand why Gabriel had to risk his life right now when the Calvary was watching so closely. The Phantom outlaw gang barely escaped last time
, only to find out they had been tricked with bags of lead. If he is so determined to kill Victor, Clayton, and Ted, why don't he just do it, so Gabriel and her could get out of this outlaw camp?

Julianna couldn't believe what she was just thinking. She actually wanted Gabriel to kill those awful men just so this nightmare would be over! Had she been living in this outlaw camp long enough, that now she was starting to think like an outlaw?

*     *     *

The Colorado sun was setting as Angel dropped down out of the Pikes Peak mountain range into the Upper Beaver Creek area. Within a couple hours she was hoping to reach the Glendale Stagecoach Inn, that was further down along the creek, to stay for the night.

The Glendale Stagecoach Inn was a two story stone house on the stagecoach route between Canon City and Colorado Springs.

It wasn't long before she spotted a couple Calvary scouts patrolling the area. Once she got closer she saw that the Calvary was camped out along the Upper Beaver Creek. About this time one of the Calvary scouts spotted Angel and they headed her way. Angel thought the timing couldn't be more perfect and headed towards them too.