Soiled Dove (7 page)

“Leaving town, Reverend Langford?” a familiar voice asked as Cyrus leaned over Loretta.

“There, there, Mrs. Tobias. It won’t be much longer now,” Cyrus soothed. He smiled as he watched Jack Coulter approach. Dressed impeccably as usual, Jack puffed on a cigar as he glanced around the depot platform at the passengers waiting for the westbound train.

“How are you, Jack?” Cyrus asked, resting a hand on Loretta’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. “What brings you down here today?”

His eyes scanning the platform, Jack shrugged.

“I’m just keeping an eye out for a couple of friends I’m expecting to be here.”

“Are they coming in on this train?”

“No. Probably departing and I wanted to wish them well.”

“Really?”

“Have you see Retta or Amelia while you’ve been here?”

“No, I haven’t. I had planned to say goodbye and wish them both well before I left, but I was asked to assist a friend in getting her mother on board the next train and didn’t get the chance. I hope you will give them my kindest regards.”

Jack laughed and leaned closer. “I’m sure you’ll miss them, especially Retta.”

Loretta sat quietly in the wheelchair, barely daring to breathe as Jack continued his conversation with Cyrus.

“Oh, Cyrus. There you are!” Hettie said as she walked quickly across the platform. “Are you feeling all right, Mother?” she asked as she knelt beside the wheelchair.

Loretta nodded slightly and brought a glove-covered hand under her veil as if to wipe her nose.

“We should get mother into the shade, Cyrus. It’s getting terribly warm out here,” Hettie said.

Jack removed the bowler from his head and bowed in Hettie’s direction. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, ma’am. I’m Jack Coulter. The Reverend and I have known one another for quite a while. I’m sure I would remember such a lovely woman as yourself.”

“Hettie Tobias,” she answered as she shook Jack’s hand. “Reverend Langford and I only met a few days ago. My mother’s health has not been good lately and this trip has taken a toll on her, I’m afraid.”

“And what might your destination be?”

“Colorado. I’ve accepted a teaching position there and my mother, a widow, is making the journey with me. I feel much better knowing I will still be able to care for her.”

“How long ago did your father pass away?”

Hettie’s eyes shifted quickly to Cyrus. “Last month. It was quite unexpected and our travel arrangements had to be hastily made. That’s why it was such a blessing when I met Reverend Langford during our layover here in St. Joseph.”

A whistle sounding in the distance snapped everyone to attention. Small black puffs of smoke from the approaching train’s stack created a buzz among the waiting passengers. Some began rounding up small children and hoisting luggage from the platform, anxious to begin their journeys.

“Have you made arrangements with the station master to take Mrs. Tobias aboard?” Cyrus asked.

“Yes, he said it might be best to wait until everyone else boarded to avoid delay,” Hettie said.

“If you’ll excuse me, I should check Mother’s trunk. I had a difficult time with the latch this morning and wouldn’t want it to come open unexpectedly.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tobias,” Jack said with a charming smile as he tipped his hat. “I hope you have a pleasant and uneventful journey.”

“Thank you,” Hettie replied. She turned and quickly made her way to the far end of the loading platform toward the luggage dolly.

Jack extended a hand to Cyrus. “The girls and I will certainly miss you, Reverend,” he said with a wink. “If you decide to make a visit this way again I hope you’ll stop by. You’ll always be welcome.”

Just as long as I pay up front
, Cyrus thought as he took Jack’s hand. He watched Jack leave and stroll down the platform. He leaned over Loretta’s shoulder and mumbled, “That was a close one.”

“How is Amelia?” Loretta whispered.

“Hettie’s gone to check on her. It won’t be much longer.”

HETTIE MOVED QUICKLY down the steps at the far end of the platform, stopping halfway down to see where Jack Coulter was. Sure the coast was clear, she made her way to the large cart filled with trunks and valises. Pretending to examine the locks on a large black trunk she said, “Are you all right in there, Amelia?”

“It’s hotter than the devil’s own hell in here. How much longer?” a muffled voice asked.

“The train is nearly here. Once the train departs I will go to the baggage car and let you out. Jack Coulter is here.”

“Oh, no!”

“Sh-h-h. It’s all right. He stood less than two feet from the wheelchair and didn’t have any idea who was in it. Be patient and you and Loretta will both be safely away from here.”

Cyrus and Hettie waited until the final passenger boarded before rolling the wheelchair to the steps onto the passenger cars. Hettie smiled as she glanced down the empty platform and saw the trunk being loaded into the baggage car which was five cars from theirs. She looked over her shoulder and saw Jack Coulter leaning against the wall of the depot watching as she and Cyrus prepared to help her

‘mother’ onto the train.

“He’s still here,” she said under her breath as she pulled the lap blanket away.

“I know. Don’t pay any attention to him.” Cyrus bent over the wheelchair and saw Loretta’s hazel eyes staring back at him. “Just put your arm around my neck, Miss Retta, and I’ll carry you on board. I’ll try not to hurt you.”

Loretta did as she was told and felt Cyrus’ arms slip under her knees and around her back. Looking at Hettie, he said, “When I lift her, stand between me and Jack as you fold the chair so he won’t be able to see anything.”

Hettie nodded and stood behind the chair. Loretta was a small woman, no more than five-foot-three inches and barely weighed over a hundred pounds.

He lifted her easily from the chair, waiting as Hettie folded and lifted the chair behind him. Cyrus took the three steps onto the train, turning quickly into the passenger car while the conductor took the folded wheelchair from Hettie and stored it in a passageway compartment.

Halfway down the car, Hettie stepped into a seat next to a window and Cyrus placed the woman in black on the seat next to her before taking his own seat across from them. While they waited for the train to pull away from the station, Hettie shook out the lap cover and placed it over the woman’s legs as the train finally began to move.

They sat quietly until Cyrus let out a sigh of relief and smiled broadly. “I can’t see the depot any longer.

We did it!”

With a sweep of her hand Loretta pulled the veiled hat from her head and let her long dark blonde hair fall over her shoulders. Jerking the cover from her lap, she pushed her body up. Reflexively her arm went around her damaged ribs and she bit back the pain. “We have to get Amelia out of that trunk before she dies from the heat. And I have to get out of these God-awful clothes before I faint.”

Cyrus stepped into the aisle and escorted Hettie and Loretta toward the baggage car. As they walked between cars, Loretta took as deep a breath of fresh air as her ribs would allow. She hadn’t breathed air as fresh since she’d fled Ohio home nearly five years earlier. She was free of Jack Coulter at last, and so was Amelia. She smiled, enjoying the scent of freedom.

The baggage compartment attendant tried to explain to Cyrus that the baggage compartment was off limits to passengers. Aside from the passengers’

baggage, the compartment also held mail being transported west. The clerk stared suspiciously at the women standing impatiently beside Cyrus. His eyes were drawn to the diminutive blonde in particular.

She was a pretty young thing, but looked tired.

“Let me out of here!” a girl’s muffled voice yelled.

“Goddammit!”

His eyes wide, the clerk slowly approached the trunk at the back of the car. He glanced over his shoulder at Cyrus’ concerned face. Finally, he leaned down to the trunk and pressed his ear against it.

Amelia chose that moment to kick the top of the trunk with as much strength as she could muster. When Cyrus saw the clerk’s reaction he pounded on the door into the car. The clerk stumbled back to the door and opened it, allowing Hettie and Loretta to rush past him, leaving Cyrus to explain.

Hettie unlocked the clasp on the trunk and flipped the top open. “Are you all right, Amelia?”

“Yes, but I gotta pee somethin’ fierce!” the teenager exclaimed as she clamored from the cramped space.

“Hey! You can’t bring a person on board in a trunk,” the clerk said forcefully. “I’ll have to get the conductor.”

“Wait!” Hettie said, digging in her purse. “I have a ticket for her.”

“If you got a ticket, then why the devil is she in there?”

“She’s trying to get away from a jealous boyfriend,” Loretta said calmly, smiling flirtatiously at the middle-aged clerk. “I’m sure you can understand something like that, being such a fine upstanding gentleman yourself.”

Although it took her a few minutes, Hettie triumphantly pulled four tickets from her purse.

“There,” she said, thrusting the tickets at the clerk.

“Here are our tickets.”

“Still seems like a mighty strange way to travel,”

the clerk said as he examined the tickets closely.

Cyrus cleared his throat and said, “I’m sure you can understand, sir. It was either this sort of subterfuge or force this young woman to continue to fight off the unwanted advances of a man who simply refuses to take no as an answer. What would you do if she were your daughter?”

“I’d shoot the sonuvabitch.”

“Language, sir. Amelia is a young girl and still a virgin. She was in fear of losing her innocence to the unwanted advances of an impetuous and inpatient young man.”

Loretta stifled a laugh, while Amelia simply stood wide-eyed, staring at Cyrus. “I have got to get out of these widow’s clothes,” Loretta said.

“I still got to pee,” Amelia said, clamping one leg in front of the other.

“Loretta, take a dress from the other trunk and I will go with you and Amelia so you can change and…relieve yourselves,” Hettie directed. “Cyrus, is this gentleman satisfied with our tickets? We’re all tired and should return to our seats before the conductor comes by to collect them.”

Cyrus cocked a questioning eye at the clerk as Hettie closed and relocked the trunk. The confused clerk stared at the three women and shrugged as he handed the tickets to Cyrus.

“Thank you, sir. You are indeed a fine Christian gentleman. You will be remembered in our prayers for your assistance with this delicate matter,” Cyrus intoned.

“I don’t recommend it for your future travels.”

“I assure you it shall never happen again,” Cyrus said as he backed out of the baggage car behind the women.

As the door of the car closed, Amelia whispered,

“You told that man a lie, Reverend. You know I’m not a…”

“I’m sure God will forgive me, Amelia. It seemed the only prudent thing to do at the moment.”

While Cyrus returned to their seats, Hettie accompanied Amelia and Loretta to a restroom.

Loretta couldn’t wait to strip out of the heavy black clothing and into something lighter. Hettie carefully helped her lift the dress over her head and checked the wrappings around her ribs.

“Are they too tight and uncomfortable?” Hettie asked.

“They’ll be all right in a few days. I just need to rest and let them heal. Believe it or not, I have been hurt worse,” Loretta replied.

“God, I feel five pounds lighter!” Amelia said as she rejoined them. “I shouldn’t have drank all that water I had in the trunk, but it was damned hot in there!”

“Amelia!” Hettie said. “That’s no way for a young lady to speak.”

“Sorry, Miss Hettie. I used to have better manners.”

“And you will again now that you and Loretta are starting a new life and can forget the awful things that happened in St. Joe.”

Loretta washed her face and managed to make her hair more presentable as she listened to Hettie talk with Amelia. A new life, she thought, wondering if she would ever be able to forget her past or out-run it.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been happy and looked forward to the next day. She couldn’t begin to imagine what a new life might bring. Whatever it was would have to be better than what she had left behind. But she had been disappointed before. She thought she would find a better life when she escaped from her lecherous stepfather only to find Jack Coulter. Now that she had escaped from Jack, was the train taking her to something better, or something worse?

Chapter Six

Outside Trinidad, Colorado Territory, Early May 1876

CLARE MCILHENNEY REINED her horse to a stop behind half a dozen steers she was herding toward a mountain pasture higher in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near the Spanish Peaks. The sound of gunfire drew her attention toward the north. She turned quickly away from the cattle she was trailing and urged her horse in the direction of the sound.

She topped a hill half a mile away and spotted three of her hands caught in a crossfire by two small groups of riders. She pulled her rifle from its case behind her saddle and chambered a round as she dug her boot heels firmly into her horse’s sides. She raced toward the rear of one of the groups pinning her men down and began firing when she was barely within range, drawing the men’s attention to the new threat.

Clare was pissed off. This was the fourth time in as many weeks her men had been attacked as the dispute over the property boundary between her ranch and that of her neighbor, Thaddeus Garner, continued to escalate. A few feet of dirt hardly seemed like something worth dying over, but if she allowed Garner to continue encroaching onto land that was clearly hers she could eventually lose the whole thing. Tired of the fighting, she disregarded her own safety and plowed straight ahead into the faces of the men ahead of her, firing rapidly. Instead of stopping to join her men she galloped toward the second line of attackers. Two of the men ahead of her fell, wounded, as she flew through their line.

Out of the line of fire, she stopped, breathing heavily and reloading her Henry repeating rifle. It was old, but had served her father well, until that tragic day nearly twenty years before. The sight of her father and mother lying on the ground, dying, filled Clare with rage again and she spurred her horse forward. As a single unmarried woman, the law did not support her claim to her father’s land, but she would never give it up without a fight. By the time she approached the group attacking her men from the west again, she could see they were beginning to retreat. She kept up a withering fire in their direction, barely allowing them to mount their horses unscathed and ride away.