Chapter 3
Ethan leaned back against his upturned saddle and watched the man seated across from him. The glow of the fire lit up his face and something about it niggled at him. He knew many of the local guns for hire, but there was something different about this one. Ethan had spent almost his entire life living on his instincts and he could not reconcile what little he knew of the man and what his gut told him. Not that there had been any time for casual conversation since their hasty departure, but he was deliberately evasive or gave the barest of answers when questioned. Ethan figured he could respect that. After all, he could count on one hand the number of people who really knew him and his real history, not the exaggerated nonsense he had allowed to circulate unchecked for years. If even half the rumours were true, he had shot and killed at least a hundred men.
Still, he could have sworn the man was running from something and he aimed to find out what that was in case it was going to be a problem for them. Before he could ask another question and prod a little more, Morris sauntered back into the camp.
"Ethan, Hank's on first watch and Jacob and Matt are bunking in the wagon for good measure." Morris snatched a mug and poured himself a coffee before turning back to Joe. "You can take second watch, Cartwright and I'll take the third. Ethan, old man, you get a good night's sleep tonight and we'll put you on tomorrow's rotation."
Cartwright. How had he missed the man's last name until now? He must be slipping.
Ethan leaned forward and poured himself another coffee as he tried to look closer at the man again.
"Somethin' wrong, Ethan?'
He glanced up to see Morris watching him.
"What?"
"You okay with the watch rotations?"
"Uh, yeah. They're fine."
Ethan looked again and tried to call up a memory from so long ago to see if it matched the scruffy face reflecting the firelight. Despite the fact Morris had assigned him a full night's sleep, it would be a long time coming as he lay in his bedroll and trawled through every memory he could muster from so many years ago. Time had muddied some of them, but he'd never forgotten that name. The name of the man who had saved his sister's life and then run out on them when he'd promised to come back.
Clare watched as Becky counted out the coins before handing them across the counter.
"I'm glad your chickens are still laying so well. A couple of foxes got into some of the coops on the west side of town and we've been in short supply for our customers. I don't suppose you could bring any more next time, could you?"
It would have been very helpful to make the extra money, but Clare shook her head. "The way Ben and George are eating at the moment, it's a wonder I have any left at all to bring you!"
Becky was only a few years older than Clare and had been allowed to leave school to work in her family's mercantile, but that didn't mean she missed any of the gossip from the school. "I heard the boys were off school with that nasty fever. I do hope they are both getting better."
"They'll be fine. Thank you for …" Before she could finish, Joseph came hurrying through the door and grasped at her arm.
"Clare, I gotta talk to you."
Becky looked at the younger boy with an air of annoyance. He was still a little rough around the edges, but then Mama did say that had a lot to do with living with an uncle who knew next to nothing about raising God-fearing children.
"Joseph!" Clare began to chide her brother before really looking at him. He was scared. Perhaps petrified would be a better word. She quickly made her apologies to Becky and hurried her younger brother outside.
"Joseph, what's wrong?"
"It's Uncle Ethan," Joseph whispered to her.
Clare felt the unwanted sense of panic rising up her throat and she tried to force it back down.
"What about Uncle Ethan?"
Joseph grasped her arm and pulled her away from the mercantile door. He had no idea who could be listening.
"I was just down at the livery and I heard two men talking. They were at the back of the livery and I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard them talking about Ethan Cord and how he'd be dealt with before the end of the week!"
Clare tried to allow her rational mind to settle her brother's panic and struggled to find a logical answer.
"You must have misunderstood. Uncle Ethan can't be back from Redding by then."
"They don't intend to wait for him to get back. One of them said they had somebody travelling with him who would kill him on the road and make it look like they got bushwhacked. He said they knew all about the decoys and it didn't fool them."
Clare frowned at her brother. Joseph had an active imagination and had been known to get things wrong before, but this wasn't a schoolyard misunderstanding. This could mean the difference between them having a guardian and a home or being left to fend for themselves. Clare shook her head to clear the ugly thoughts that rose up to frighten her. Mrs Lawson would know what to do. That was it. She always knew what to do.
Amelia sat at her desk and signed off on the last of the ledgers for the day. It always felt satisfying to finish up the columns and see that everything was in its place and added up correctly. It was a skill that had been underestimated by her husband when he'd bought the bank, but it had proven to be her saving grace when others had also underestimated her. Being a woman, especially an independent and vocal woman, had proven challenging, but she had never backed down from a challenge in her life.
As she stood up to place the ledger back on the shelf, she heard somebody rapping on the door. The bank was closed already but that didn't stop some of the townsfolk thinking they could ask for out of hours service, especially since she was a woman and some of them thought she still needed to be put in her place. Amelia frowned as she headed for the door and was about to give somebody a piece of her mind when she realised it was Clare and Joseph hammering on her door.
"What's wrong?" It was an obvious conclusion since she knew Ethan had ridden out two days ago, but not before dropping in and asking her to keep an eye out for the children in his absence. She knew it tugged at him to be leaving so soon after the boys were so ill and yet she also knew he needed to take the jobs that paid when they came along.
"Sorry to bother you, but Uncle Ethan said we could come to you if we needed to."
Amelia swung the door open and gestured for them to come inside.
"Is something wrong with the boys? Are they sick again."
"No," Clare rushed to explain. "It's Uncle Ethan!"
"He's back already?" Amelia looked confused, as he wasn't due back well into the next week.
"No. He's not going to make it back unless we help him!" Joseph clenched his fists in frustration as he tried to explain what he'd overheard.
Amelia listened as Joseph talked and tried to think of a way to calm him down.
"Your uncle is a very experienced …" She was about to say gunslinger and barely managed to stop herself. "He is well able to look after himself. And he …"
"But he …"
"And he is not travelling alone. He has five men with him. They will be doing what they need to do to be safe."
At least she hoped they would be.
"Ben, can you go and wake Joseph please? He should have been up already!" Clare kept filling the lunch pails while keeping an eye out to see that George was eating his breakfast.
A minute later, Ben stuck his head around the corner and pointed back over his shoulder. "He's not in there. Maybe he's outside."
Clare frowned at him as she hadn't heard Joseph get up or leave the house and she'd been up for at least an hour.
"Boys, finish up getting ready for school. I'm sure Joseph must be in the barn."
Ben shrugged at his little brother as he began to pull on his boots and reached for his school satchel. Clare tried to keep a calm face as she headed outside, but her stomach was clenched into a knot. Joseph had argued with Mrs Lawson the night before that she needed to do something to warn their uncle and she had agreed to send out some wires, but it wasn't like Paradise had a bunch of deputies the marshal could send out after them. He'd lost patience with her and said that he'd go himself if need be while Mrs Lawson had told him to leave it to the adults to take care of.
"Please don't tell me you were that stupid, Joseph!"
Clare stalked into the barn and stared at the empty stalls. She expected her uncle's horse would not be there, but she fully expected to see the only other horse they owned and needed for the wagon.
"Joseph!" Fear clutched at her as she stared at the place where the saddles usually hung. "What were you thinking?"
"Clare."
She didn't hear the footsteps behind her until George tried again. "Clare … what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
George frowned at her as Ben piped up. "Then where's the horse? And Joseph?"
Clare swallowed down the lump in her throat and smiled at her little brothers.
"He's gone to take a message to Uncle Ethan. He'll be back soon. Now finish getting yourselves ready for school as we'll need to walk today."
"Awwww. I don't wanna walk to school."
"I know. But we need to get to school."
Clare waited until the boys had headed back to the house before unfolding the note nailed to the railing.
Clare,
I know you are going to be real mad at me but I have to go. You didn't hear those men. I did and they aim to kill Uncle Ethan. I won't let that happen.
Joseph
Clare sucked in a sob and straightened up before folding the paper closed again. She needed to see Mrs Lawson and maybe this time she would do something more than send a wire.
The first two days out of Paradise had been fairly uneventful which was just the way Ethan liked it. Not that he expected it was going to be smooth sailing all the way to Redding and his senses were on high alert. The marshal from Redding had suggested they arranged another two wagons as decoys and he hoped the three teams would not cross paths. It was one of the reasons he'd been so anxious to leave on time so the three were separated by enough miles to make it look plausible. He'd asked Morris to only bring in two hired guns instead of the bigger team he would have preferred and made it look like just another regular job. The father and son driving the wagon were unknown to him, but the marshal had assured him they were the best. He assumed that meant he knew what was riding in that wagon buried inside the kegs and boxes of supplies.
Ethan glanced across at Cartwright who was riding on the far side of the wagon. Over the course of the two days, he was now firmly convinced that he was the same man who had stopped and scooped Lucy out of the dirt all those years ago. Joe had confirmed he was from Virginia City and had family there, but not much more. He'd clammed up at the questions asked around the campfire each night and snapped at Matt's nosiness more than once. What had happened to the young man with the ready smile and tender hands that had tickled his ears as he cleaned behind them? Ethan tried to shove the thoughts aside as he focussed on the job at hand, but he couldn't help being drawn back.
Joe felt the man's gaze on him and it irked him. It felt like he was being measured somehow and he chafed at the thought. Truth be told, he didn't measure up. If Cord knew the truth, he never would have taken him on as a hired gun. Oh sure, the shooting skills were still there when he was aiming at a tin can, but he stared at his gun nestled in its holster and was once again reminded that he'd failed when it really mattered. And Candy had paid the price for his failure.
Joe felt his gut twist into a knot as he recalled how much blood had pooled on the ground beneath them. He'd watched as Candy tried to muster one last grin for him and almost managed to pull it off. He'd gripped onto his friend's hand as it went slack and he was sure his own heart had stopped beating too. He pulled up with a jerk and tried to focus once more on what he was supposed to be doing. Reliving that nightmare moment was not helping anybody and was a distraction he didn't need if he was going to do his job.
Morris was riding drag along behind the wagon and he noted the strange reaction. There was something odd about the man and he wondered if they were going to have some trouble with him. He needed to talk with Ethan, but it would have to wait until they stopped.
Joseph pushed the horse as fast as he dared. It wasn't like Uncle Ethan's horse that could sustain a long gallop. She was a good wagon horse and well suited in temperament to allowing the boys to climb up on her back, but she simply wasn't up to what Joseph needed her to do. Still, he kicked at her sides again and urged her to a faster pace. He didn't care what his sister or Mrs Lawson said. He'd heard those two men as they discussed their plan and he couldn't afford to waste time.
The first part of the ride had brought him down out of the foothills, but for the last two days, the road had been fairly flat and he'd been able to push harder. It still wasn't fast enough since he hadn't caught up to the wagon yet. Joseph felt the horse slowing her pace and he reluctantly allowed her to as he led her towards the nearby creek. He slid from the saddle and watched her take her fill as he topped up his own canteen and took a deep drink. His stomach rumbled in response and he rummaged in the saddlebags for something to eat. His hand wrapped around some jerky and he pulled out a couple of pieces from the calico wrapping. It wasn't something he generally ate by choice, but it wasn't as if he'd been able to get Clare to help pack his travel rations.
Joseph looked up at the sun and noted it was already dipping close to the horizon. He had maybe another two hours of daylight left if he was lucky and he tugged at the horse's reins, eager to get moving again.
