A/N: I am so sorry it has taken so long to get this chapter up, it didn't want to cooperate (see author's note at end). For this one, I decided that since Griff was going to have a bigger role than he did in canon, he might as well get an episode from his perspective. I hope his take on things reads correct for the character we know and love, they didn't really give us much to work with in the way of details so a lot of this is my own imagination.
Also, there is a content warning for this chapter. I don't usually use them, this is a western with the usual violence and some bad language now and then, and I don't veer into explicit content, but miscarriages are a sensitive subject. If you would prefer not to read this chapter for that reason, feel free to PM me and I can send you a brief summary.
Thanks for the recent reviews, I always love to read everyone's thoughts and ideas on this story! And of course, I own nothing but my OC and original chapters.
Today on Bonanza, Whitaker has made a move that will bring devastating consequences …
California, late February, 1871
He still couldn't figure them out. Why risk everything to help people they didn't even know? If they'd done the smart thing and left him back in Montana, Candy wouldn't have been shot, might not have come down with influenza.
The Sheriff back in Wells might not have recognized them either. Oh, they said it would have happened sooner or later, the man was too good at his job to simply throw wanted posters into a drawer and not even look at them, but Griff couldn't help but feel it was his fault they'd been found out. If he hadn't panicked and snatched that poster …
At least he knew not to do it again. Candy was right: her eyes did spark when she got mad. Unlike Candy, he didn't think it was pretty, more like dangerous. Nor did he see any resemblance to a horse; all he saw was pure mountain lion. Especially when she got mad. He fully believed that she was going to break the broom over that woman's head, and that she was going to kill Whitaker.
"There it is." Candy's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "Honey Lake." He reined his horse up on the ridge line. Annie stopped next to him and the two of them stared down at the glistening lake. "We made it, we're in California."
"Los Robles is just over the mountains."
"Two days, maybe three. Depends on how much snow is still on the mountains and if we can find a clear pass."
"I hope McPhail is already there."
"Yeah. Come on, let's go." Candy turned his horse and let the animal begin to pick its way down the ridge. They were both focused on the ground in front of them, so it was only Griff who noticed the flicker of movement to his left.
"Hey, Andy? We've got company." His voice shook despite himself as the riders seemed to pour out of the snow-covered trees at the bottom of the ridge. Three … five … seven, no eight. Heads jerked up and eyes widened. Annie hissed a cuss word and Candy added another one. Then he blinked.
"That's a cavalry patrol."
"What do we do?"
"I don't know … just – just keep going. They might not know … could be searching for Indians or moving between forts."
"If they're after us, they can't shoot, our bounties are live only." But she sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
"If they surround us, we've got problems. Keep moving." His voice hardened a notch. "We'll stay friendly as long as they do." Candy led the way down the ridge and Griff took up the rear. His mouth went dry when the patrol stopped a few feet from the base of the ridge and waited, watching them descend in silence. He fought the urge to kick his horse into a gallop and take off.
"Afternoon, fellas." Candy's tone was light as they approached. "Paiute aren't on the warpath are they?" The soldier in the front gave them a measuring stare.
"No." Griff swallowed hard. Oh, he didn't like that look. It reminded him of the times his ma had caught him in a lie. "The resemblance is remarkable." Shit. His ma would have slapped him across the mouth if she knew, but Griff couldn't bring himself to care. The way Annie's back had stiffened, he knew she was thinking something similar.
"What?" Candy sounded shocked, and Griff wondered how much of it was real. He couldn't figure out what was going on … had Whitaker gone to the Army? But why take the risk? Griff's heart beat faster. He's playing games …
"Candy Canaday –"
"Go!" The chestnut bolted with a snort, scrambling down the last few feet to the valley floor in a rush of snowflakes, spooking the patrol's horses. Annie's pinto jumped, landing in a dead run. Griff kicked his horse and leaned low over its neck, praying she'd been right in thinking they wouldn't shoot.
"Halt!" The urge to laugh hit him out of nowhere. Just who did they think was actually going to listen? "Detail, forward!" The rumble of hooves filled his ears and he risked a glance back. His heart leaped into his throat. They were right there, just a couple lengths off his gelding's flank.
But they weren't shooting.
Yet, a nasty little voice in his head whispered. Snow flew through the air as they wove between the trees, Candy leading the way. He hoped they knew the route, because he sure didn't know which way to go. Griff's stomach churned. He fought the urge to throw up when Annie turned in the saddle and fired off a couple shots over the soldiers' heads. A quick peek over his shoulder revealed it had the intended effect: the patrol had backed off, hanging right around the limits of pistol range. But they were still coming.
It was madness to ride this fast in the snow … there could be anything hiding underneath the pristine flakes … one of the horses could snap a leg in a hole and they'd be done for.
He'd thought just a few minutes ago that he couldn't figure them out, but there were some times he could and this was one of them. They'd take any death over facing a noose, and he couldn't blame them for that.
The landscape blurred white and brown. Muscles bunched and hooves rumbled on the hard ground. They were galloping upwards, higher into the mountains, weaving through trees that slapped at them with empty branches. His hat flew off and he ducked lower. They ended up on a narrow switchback and Griff looked down to find the patrol coming at them seemingly head on before the soldiers started up the trail themselves.
The trees ended suddenly and the next thing he knew, Candy was yanking his horse to a skidding halt, sending snow flying from the animal's hind hooves as it slid. Annie spun her mount away and then Griff yanked his horse up short. "Damn it," she hissed and circled her horse. Candy looked behind them and Griff could hear the soldiers riding hard.
"What now?" He turned his horse. "Guys?" She and Candy shared a look and his stomach flipped at the intense way she studied the steep drop in front of them. "A-Annie?" Suddenly he wished he couldn't ever figure them out because he didn't like that look in her eyes. Without a word, she drove the pinto over the edge, Candy on her heels. "If we get killed, I'm haunting both of you," Griff hollered as he pushed his gelding to take the plunge.
His stomach lodged itself in his throat as everything else was pulled down, down, down, to the pristine snow-covered earth far below. Hooves churned the snow, digging ugly furrows in the cliff face as the animals slid and scrambled downwards, fighting to stay on their feet. Annie's pinto picked up speed, practically jumping through the snowbanks in its haste to get flat ground under its hooves, despite her tight hold on the reins.
Candy's chestnut lost its footing and went down, throwing him clear. Both of them rolled the rest of the way down, accompanied by Annie's yelling.
Then her mount stumbled and she flew over the pinto's shoulder. The gelding staggered, scrambling to regain its balance, before losing the fight and tumbling nose over tail down the slope.
Griff's horse mostly managed to keep upright, rocking back on its haunches and sliding more than falling, before it too, went down and he crashed to the snowy ground and rolled. "Shit!" He spit out a mouthful of snow and clawed at the cliff in an effort to slow himself down.
The ground finally leveled out and he clambered to his feet, making a wild lunge for his horse's reins before the animal could even think about bolting. Griff was already in the saddle by the time they caught their horses and mounted up. Candy looked back up the cliff and whistled softly. "They'll never risk it," he insisted. "They'll have to go back and around. Come on." They took off at a gallop, but after that jump, it didn't bother him as much as it had before.
If he was gonna die today, it should have been back there.
He didn't know how they were going to lose the patrol with all the snow on the ground. If only they could find a main trail, but from the sound of it they were still a couple days away from those. "Do we need to wash his mouth out with soap?" Candy sounded like he was laughing. "I know I heard a cuss word back there."
"You're both crazy," he retorted.
"But it worked," Annie called over. "And you survived so you don't get to haunt us." She slowed her horse to a lope. "We've got to give the horses a break, it'll take them at least an hour to find a way around." She rubbed her lower back. "I think I found every rock on that cliff."
"If you didn't, I did," Candy replied, rubbing his shoulder. "Never would have figured you to do that. Seems more like Joe's style."
"Better than hanging," she replied. "Besides, once in a blue moon he comes up with a good idea. But I figure we used up our year's supply of luck back there so let's not try it again."
"Hadn't planned on it," Griff muttered. "Where the heck are we now?"
"Keep going due west and we'll be fine, just need to veer to the south once we clear the mountains. Los Robles is a few miles past the foothills. There's a basin that's mostly sandy scrub, not worth stopping for." He frowned and cocked his head. "Why did we stop there again?"
"We wanted to sleep in a real bed."
"Oh, right." He looked around. "I don't think we're too far off course. Two days and we should be dismounting in front of the church."
"Just don't take your hat off inside," she quipped, and for some reason, they burst out laughing. Griff cocked his head, wondering what was so funny.
"I thought you were supposed to take your hat off in church."
"Not in Agua Santos," Annie said between laughs. "It's a long story that'll have to wait until we get to town." She rubbed her back again. "I'm too old to go diving over a cliff."
They camped that night, hidden well back in a cave they'd wandered across just before sundown. Candy sat up on watch while Annie slept fitfully and Griff tried to do the same. "Think we lost 'em?" He finally said into the silence. Behind him the fire crackled, the flames shielded from prying eyes by a curve in the rock wall.
"Maybe." Candy said nothing else, just stared out into the night. Griff sat up and risked a glance behind him but Annie was asleep. Or doing a very good job of pretending that she was.
"You okay?" Candy jerked like he'd been stung.
"What?"
"You okay? God only knows what they think if that double fed them a pack of lies."
"He's got nothing on Paiutes on the warpath."
"Were you afraid?" Candy looked over at him sharply.
"My horse went down first," he said. "I was too busy rolling through the snow to notice much of anything."
"But when you did notice. Were you afraid? I know she was. For you." A grin cracked that lined face.
"I could hear that," he admitted. "If my horse understood English, he'd have kept running once he hit bottom. Wasn't his fault," he continued, rubbing his back. "That was a stupid move I can't say I recommend."
"Didn't have much choice," Griff reasoned and Candy gave a stiff nod. "Why stay?" Suddenly he had to know. "You got away clean, why hang around and risk getting caught now? You could have kept going and made a new life."
"I spent most of my life on the move, kid, whether it was a new fort or a different town there wasn't any difference." Candy leaned back against the rock wall and sighed. "It didn't matter if I lived or died, no one cared either way. I lost my parents before I was twelve, spent the next decade and a half wandering, looking for something to make life worthwhile. And then I argued with Jed Wheelock, fled Olympus, lost my horse to the Paiutes, and ran into the Cartwrights." He shook his head. "I don't think I realized just how important she was until I saw her staggering down that mine shaft covered in blood."
"What?"
"She hates being underground. Joe was possessed of his usual rotten timing and the corrupt mine operator planned to leave us all down the shaft to be buried when he set off the crates of dynamite sitting down a side cut. I pushed her back up the slope and she ran for help while Joe and I tried to stop the guy, but we failed. She fell at some point and hit her head on the rails for the ore carts. She could have escaped, we were on our way out by that point anyway, but she didn't know that. I about died when she came into sight, her head split open like that. I knew then I'd never met anyone like her before.
"Even before that, she took my side when I was accused of killing Jed Wheelock." He rubbed his forehead. "Any other rancher would have tossed me out on my ear to fend for myself as best I could, but not Ben Cartwright and his family. I loved her for a long time before I could even admit it to myself," he said softly. "I've almost lost her before." Candy finally looked up. "I was afraid," he admitted. "More than I've been in a long time. I think I could take anything but losing her."
"So why don't you just go? She said the same thing and I can't understand it."
"If we can't prove I'm innocent we will, but we've got to try, Griff. I never had a home until I found the Cartwrights and I'm not gonna let one woman's lies and a crazy double steal it from me." He glanced at Annie's sleeping form. "She'd ride out in a heartbeat if I asked but I won't ask her to give up everything unless we have no other choice."
"You mean more to her than any ranch, you've got to know that by now."
"She wants to see me cleared." His throat worked. "And he's made a move that we can't hope to match because we don't know what he did." He scraped a hand over his face. "I hope to God McPhail is waiting in Los Robles. He's our best chance right now, maybe our only chance."
"But what if one of you dies? How is that worth it?"
"You sure do ask a lot of questions."
"Because I can't understand it. If it was me, I'd have buried myself somewhere."
"You've backed us every time. Followed us over a cliff, too."
"You're the only family I've got," Griff admitted. "Where else would I go? Who else would care if I lived or died? Until I took a chance and followed you two, I'd never left Montana."
"You might wish you hadn't before this is over. It's not that far to the Ponderosa, maybe a week or two. Mr. Cartwright would take you in, I know he would. He treated me like another son …."
"If you're crazy enough to try and out think this guy, I guess I'm crazy enough to back your play to the end." Candy gave a short laugh and leaned his head back against the rocks.
"We'll make it up to you, as soon as we can, and that's a promise, Griff. Get some sleep, we've still got a ways to ride tomorrow." Candy turned his attention back to the glittering stars and Griff huddled in his bedroll.
Justice was all right and good, but what use was it if you died in the attempt? What would he do if he lost them in this crazy scheme? Oh, Candy said Mr. Cartwright would take him in, but Griff had his doubts. What big rancher in his right mind would shelter a no account orphan just because he claimed to know the man's daughter and her husband?
"Don't overthink it, kid," Candy's voice drifted through the darkness. "I did enough of that for both of us."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see when we get to the Ponderosa."
"You really think we will?" Candy sighed.
"I hope so."
"Come on." Annie pushed her horse to a fast lope now that they were down out of the mountains and Griff could see what they'd meant about the sand and scrub. It sure didn't look like a Montana winter.
"How much farther," he called up. He might be the youngest, but that fact didn't stop his back from hurting any less than theirs did after that idiotic jump. He wanted off his horse and someplace to relax with a cup of coffee without whiskey. Or maybe with, he wasn't sure. Frankly, he was surprised Annie could still sit a saddle after her impressive impersonation of an old, rheumatic woman, but she seemed to be fine now.
"Not long now," Candy replied as he reined his horse around a patch of scrub. "We'll send you in first, go straight to the church unless you see soldiers. If we have to change plans we will, but I hope they won't think to come here."
"He knows where we're going, maybe not Los Robles, but he knows we're headed for California." Annie sounded tired. "I hope this one horse town is too small to concern himself with."
"Well," Griff said after a moments thought. "If we ride into a hailstorm of lead, at least we don't have to worry about hanging." He was glad he sounded so calm, because his stomach sure wasn't.
"True." Candy sounded calm enough, considering.
"That's not funny," Annie practically snarled. She turned in her saddle, beaming Griff a wicked glare.
"Sorry." Griff ducked his head. Candy frowned and urged his horse closer to hers.
"Griff, go on and find Padre Javier, make sure there's no trouble. If it's not safe, come back and we'll keep riding. If you're not back in ten minutes we'll come in." Candy turned worried eyes on him. Did he really think the army would be lying in wait?
"You got it." He pushed his horse ahead of theirs and took off, not slowing until buildings came into view and he managed to enter the square at a halfway respectable lope. He didn't see any soldiers, nor did the handful of people out and about look scared. Gaze locked on the adobe bell tower, he worked his way across the square and dismounted at the hitch rail out front. He knocked on the wooden door and waited, hoping the man wasn't out somewhere.
"Quien es?" Footsteps scraped on the floor inside.
"Uh, I'm looking for Padre Javier." Griff raked a hand through his messy hair. He had no idea what the man had said but it sounded like a question. The door opened and a shorter man in a brown robe stood in front of him, frowning in confusion.
"How can I help you?"
"Um … they sent me ahead."
"They?" The man peered over his shoulder. "I am afraid I do not know you." Griff followed his gaze but saw nothing unusual.
"Uh … they um …" He rubbed his hands on his pant legs. "It's not what you do, but what they think you'll do," he said softly. The man's eyes widened.
"Thank the Father." He clutched at his rosary, fingers moving along the beads without conscious thought. "How close are they?" He ushered Griff inside with his free hand and closed the door.
"They'll be here in a few minutes."
"I will put coffee on the stove, no doubt it will be welcome." He bustled across the small room and grabbed things out of cabinets next to the tin stove. "How are they, oh I'm sorry, what is your name, young man?"
"Griff." The padre nodded, seeming not to care that he'd neglected to give a last name.
"And how are they, Griff?" He glanced over his shoulder. "The truth, my son, not whatever they told you to tell me lest I worry too much." His eyes twinkled. "They are as much my children as any other of my small flock. Do sit, I will have someone see to your horse." Padre Javier set the coffee pot on the stove and turned for the door. It opened before he could get there and a man burst in, gun in hand and a glittering star on his coat.
Griff's mouth went dry as the desert and he fought the urge to draw. He could almost hear Annie's voice whispering in his ear, wait and see before you make your play. If they killed a lawman, they'd never be free again, even if it was him and not them that pulled the trigger.
"That his horse outside, padre?"
"But of course." The priest didn't seem concerned and Griff's skin prickled. Had they misjudged the man?
"What's your name, boy?"
"To you, it's Mr. King."
"Don't get smart with me. What are you doing here?"
"Can't a man stop for a rest after days on the trail?"
"Wade." The padre's voice brought the newcomer's head around. "He is with them and they will be here shortly so unless you want to end up on the wrong side of her temper, I suggest you put that away," he continued with a nod at the gun. Relief threatened to turn Griff' legs to jelly.
"You're McPhail?" The stranger jerked like he'd been stung.
"If I had any doubts you just killed them, kid." He holstered his gun and dropped into a chair. "How they doing?"
"Surviving." Griff backed up and slouched against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "But they do find time now and then to live a little. We jumped off a cliff the other day, but I can't say I recommend it." McPhail did a double take.
"Do what?"
"Considering we had the army on our tail it was better than being the honored guests at a hemp party." Griff shrugged. "I don't know about them, but I never did learn to dance." McPhail snorted and shook his head.
"Kid –" Hoof beats rang out and they all rushed to the tiny window next to the door. The padre sighed heavily and murmured something in Spanish as he hurried to let them in. Griff followed him outside. Annie and Candy waited in front of the church, back lit by the setting sun.
"My children." Griff could hear the smile in his voice. "I am so glad to see you, though it has been longer than you promised."
"Padre." She sounded tired and her eyes closed for a moment. "It couldn't be helped."
"I know." He patted her knee. "But you are here now and –" She slid off the horse, the padre barely managing to catch her. Candy yelped and scrambled off his horse, yelling her name.
"Get the doctor, padre," McPhail hollered. "I'll take care of the horses." Candy scooped her up like she weighed no more than a kitten and bolted back into the church.
Griff couldn't take his eyes off the blood staining her saddle.
"What's wrong?" He dogged the pretty young woman to the stove and back. "What happened?"
"Maria, more water!" She turned and shook her head, tears glittering on her lashes.
"I am sorry, I must hurry." She closed the door in his face and Griff could only stare at the rough wood, heart in his throat.What was wrong? He stumbled back and sat down at the kitchen table, head in his hands. She'd been fine …. He peered between his fingers at Candy sitting across from him, the man looking like he'd seen into his own grave.
"I can't lose her," he choked out, his shoulders heaving. "I just can't."
"She'll be fine, she's gotta be," Griff said hoarsely. He might have only known them a few months, but already he couldn't imagine life without his sister. "She busted you out of jail, rode hell bent for leather across Paiute country, ramrodded how many cattle drives, and survived a gun shot to the chest … you really think she'd let a little thing like going over a cliff do her in?"
"We don't always have a choice," Candy said in a dead tone. The bedroom door opened and they jumped to their feet. Padre Javier closed it behind him, a tiny bundle wrapped in what looked like a pillowcase cradled in his arms. His eyes were red.
"I'm sorry, Candy."
"Wh-why? She's not –"
"No, she is not dead." He swallowed hard and presented the bundle to Candy. "She was with child, my son." Griff sat down hard.
"How? She didn't look –" The padre silenced him with a sharp look and he snapped his mouth shut. Candy took the bundle in trembling hands, his face gone white as the sheet. He pulled back an edge and stared down in silence for the longest minute Griff had ever lived through. His throat worked and he shoved the bundle at the priest and sat down hard himself, head falling into his hands, shoulders heaving.
"I'm so sorry, my son. I will bury the child behind the church, there is a tree there, a peaceful place it is. Know this little one will not be disturbed and is safe in the Father's loving hands." Candy didn't answer and the priest padded quickly outside.
Maria left the bedroom, the doctor with her, and Candy's head shot up. He leaped to his feet, shoved past them without a word, and slammed the door behind him. Maria choked on a sob and the doctor pressed a hand to his mouth.
"I don't care what he says about plans for everybody, what good can come of that?" Pain filled his voice. "Ben Cartwright getting shot, yeah, there might have been something there, but what kind of loving father takes a child from people who've already lost everything they had?" His eyes glistened. "It ain't fair, it just ain't fair." He dug into his bag and yanked out a silver flask. After two gulps he wiped his mouth. "They freed this town, all on their own." He slung his bag to the floor. "And this is the thanks they get." The doctor emptied the flask and hurled it across the room. Maria jumped when it crashed against the wall.
"How long?" Griff finally managed to ask and the doctor looked at him sharply.
"No more than four months," he said stiffly. "Probably less."
"Going over the cliff …" The doctor nodded and Griff buried his face in his hands until the priest returned.
"He is with her?"
"Where do you think?" The doctor's voice was sharp enough to cut. "Where else would a man be at a time like this?"
"You think I am not angry? You think I do not weep for their loss? I, too, want to know why, but seldom are we given that chance. All I can do is pray that some good will somehow come of this."
"If you say so, Padre." The doctor stormed out of the house, the door slamming behind him. Maria choked on a sob and hurried after him. Griff swallowed hard and stared at the little man who suddenly seemed so small and old.
"How could it?" The priest didn't answer immediately, his gaze going to the closed door and the muffled sobs beginning to make their way through the wood.
"All I know is they have lost something they never dared dream of."
"Anything?" Griff shook his head without bothering to look up from his cards. The padre sighed and fingered his rosary. McPhail laid down two pair and glanced at the still closed door.
"It ain't something they're gonna get over like that, Padre," the marshal said softly.
"I know, Wade, I was merely asking if –" the little man growled and lapsed into Spanish too rapid for Griff to even hope of understanding. "Never mind." He stalked over to a carved wooden chest in the corner and withdrew a packet of letters tied with string. The stack landed in front of Griff and he blinked.
"What's this?"
"The letters they asked me to watch for." Griff pushed them away.
"Those ain't for me to read, have McPhail do it. And it ain't because I can't read, I read fine, but …"
"It don't feel right, reading another fella's mail," the marshal finished, and Griff nodded. "I can't say you're wrong, but if the army has taken up the chase, we're running out of options. They know you came this way, maybe not exactly where, but they're in the right field. And all that snow on the ground means they're gonna eventually find your tracks."
"I know that, but she can't ride for at least a couple of weeks according to the doctor. Whether they find us or not, we gotta stay right here."
"But why would the army get involved in the first place? I do not understand." The padre wrung his hands. "Do they usually take up manhunts for civilians?"
"No." McPhail leaned back in his chair. "You're sure it was really a squad of cavalry?"
"They were in uniforms, sitting McClellan saddles, riding matched chestnuts and bays. The leader yelled at us to halt when we took off. They acted like cavalry, anyways."
"But what reason would they have?" McPhail scratched his chin. "It's not like those two have pulled a string of bank jobs or killed a bunch of people. That kid sheriff does want 'em real bad, but I don't see where he'd have the influence it would take."
"They've seen Whitaker, we know that much. The leader said the resemblance was unbelievable." A thought struck him. "He said to tell you hello." McPhail stiffened.
"What?"
"The double, calls himself Troy Whitaker –"
"Impossible." The marshal leaped out of his chair. "The only fella I know by that name was a deputy marshal who didn't look a thing like Candy. And I saw him die."
"They could be twins if it weren't for that drawl he's got." McPhail sat back down and ripped open the top letter.
"Get reading, kid. I hate riddles."
"He loves 'em." The man grunted and skimmed the page in his hands. The padre sighed again, made his way to the stove, and fiddled with the coffeepot.
"Good Lord, they're friends with Jocova?" McPhail raised his eyebrows. "Huh, guess those rumors were true. He wishes them good health and successful hunting but regrets he has no more information than when they left his camp. Damn … if that Paiute can't find nothing …" The marshal scraped a hand over his face. "Troy Whitaker … how would he even pick that name?"
"Who was there when your friend died?" Griff jumped; somehow he'd forgotten the padre was listening.
"I think I'd have noticed someone who looks like Candy."
"Perhaps he knows someone else who knew your friend."
"Anything's possible, I suppose, but how would he even know me?"
"Who killed your friend?" He threw Griff a sharp look.
"An outlaw. And I shot him not two seconds later so it couldn't be him."
"What about a brother?" The padre's voice was soft.
"I don't know if he had any kin or not. But even if he did, it doesn't make sense! Why frame Candy if he's out to get me? Besides, how could some random fella get the army involved? No, there's gotta be some other explanation."
"We should have let Joe catch up." Griff opened a letter and scanned the page. "I think this one is actually yours, Padre, I hope it wasn't urgent."
"But it was addressed to them." The man hurried over. "It is from Agua Santos, in Mexico." Griff reddened.
"I guess I forgot they can read Spanish."
"It is no matter." He sighed. "And no new information." He reached for the envelope and tucked the letter back inside.
"Who is Colonel Hudson?" McPhail asked. "Cause I'm fixing to buy him the biggest beer west of the Mississippi!" He leaped out of his chair. "Read that." Horses clattered outside in the square, freezing them in place.
"Detail, halt!" A chill ran down Griff's spine and they rushed the window. His stomach bottomed out and his mouth went dry.
"That's them." The padre hissed something sharp in Spanish and McPhail's head whipped around in surprise.
"Padre!"
"I will say a prayer later," the man said dismissively. "Hide under the bed, and if Candy will not hide as well, drag him under there." Griff swallowed hard.
"What about Annie?"
"We must pray they do not look too closely." The man pushed him at the bedroom door. "I will say her husband left to seek gold or something." The door slammed behind him and Griff laid eyes on them for the first time in a day and a half.
Wrapped in each other's arms, they hadn't even moved, and that scared him more than anything. "Candy, come on, the soldiers are here, you've got to hide," he hissed as he attempted to pull the man out of the bed. "You want Annie to die?" Something flickered in those ice blue eyes and Candy turned his head.
"What?"
"They're here! If they find us they'll kill you." Under her tan, her skin was almost as pale as the sheets. He'd never seen them this … dull. "And Hudson found something!" Those eyes flickered again and Candy was on his feet. He glanced down at Annie and swallowed hard. "You've gotta get under the bed."
"That's the first place anyone looks, kid," he mumbled.
"You have a better idea?"
"Hide … Candy, please." Her voice was wrecked and a lump in his throat choked Griff.
"I'll make him," he promised, and shoved at Candy's arm. "Hide." Rapid pounding threatened to break open the front door and Griff all but threw Candy under the bed, which he figured had more to do with her demand combined with the shock of the last couple days more than any strength he could muster. "The padre said to hide your face, he and McPhail will try and keep 'em distracted."
"He better say a prayer," she mumbled before burying her face in the pillow. Griff dove under the bed and discovered it was just as cramped as he'd figured it would be.
"Quien es?" The padre's soft voice filled the sudden silence in the other room.
"We're looking for a couple of killers out of Nevada, Candy Canaday and Anne Cartwright." Paper rustled.
"I have not seen these people," the man replied slowly. "Have you, mister?" The paper rustled again.
"I wish I had," McPhail's voice was tinged with bitterness. "I'd be a sight richer if I could bring 'em in. Carson raised the bounty, you know. Almost five thousand dollars to anyone who can nab the pair." A low whistle sounded. "I sure hope I find them first, Lieutenant. Why, I might even end up in a book somewhere."
"Not if I catch them first, bounty hunter. Anyone here but you, padre?"
"Only Maria, a woman of this village."
"Didn't think padres were allowed to have a housekeeper." The sneer in the man's voice clearly said he thought she was anything but that. Griff nudged Candy's arm; the man's eyes were dangerously dark.
"Her husband is away searching for gold." The padre's voice fell. "And when he returns I must tell him their child was lost."
"Sick, is she? Let me see her."
"What? But why?"
"Cause I don't believe you, I know they were heading for California."
"I'd sure love to know where you get your information, Lieutenant. It'd make my job a whole lot easier."
"That's none of your business," he snapped. "Open the door." A sigh followed and footsteps scuffed on the floor. The bedroom door creaked open and all Griff could see were the padre's sandals surrounded by a sea of boots with jingling spurs.
"She has no English."
"I bet she doesn't," the lieutenant muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing." The man stomped into the room and stopped at the foot of the bed, his dusty boots mere inches from Griff's face. "I caught him, Cartwright, and I'm gonna hang him higher than Haman, you hear me? I've got Canaday in chains outside right now!" Griff held his breath; was Annie alert enough to avoid the trap? There was dead silence for so long his heart skipped a beat when the sheets rustled. He could only imagine what Candy was thinking, much less feeling right now. There was a whispered stream of weak Spanish and the lieutenant cussed. "What did she say?"
"She was asking what you said." The padre's tone was perplexed. "Should I tell her now?"
"No." He cussed again and spun on his heel. "Hatcher! Search the town." Boots thumped out the door and Griff's stomach bottomed out, leaving him afraid he was gonna be sick. The front door slammed, and he would have crawled out if Candy hadn't grabbed his arm. He looked back, but the man didn't say a word. The padre returned, speaking in a whisper.
"All they will find is a town full of people who have no English and it will not be long before they give up."
"Thank you," she whispered back. The door closed quietly and Griff released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"What now?"
His tone was dead. "They find our horses, those pine tree brands will put a noose around our necks faster than you can say a prayer."
"But he said –"
"They won't care about English at that point, it'll be a house to house search until they get what they're after." Candy sighed. "And whatever Hudson found won't be worth a red cent."
"You can't give up."
"Maybe I did that when Mrs. Smith took the stand and told her lies," he whispered too low for Annie to hear. As it was, Griff barely heard him and he was scant inches away.
"You wouldn't be here now if you'd given up." Saddles creaked and horses snorted outside.
"Detail, mount!" The Lieutenant sounded disgusted. Hooves thundered over the ground and silence fell in the square. Griff could imagine a cloud of dust cloaking their exit. He sighed shakily and rolled out from under the bed. The bedroom door opened and the padre returned with McPhail.
"How are you, my child?" Griff sat up as the man crossed the room and laid a hand on Annie's forehead.
"How do you think I'm doing?" Her voice was weak and brittle, but Griff wanted to applaud. A trace of her usual spirit colored the words and that could only mean one thing, even if it was so faint as to be almost unnoticeable.
"What did he find?" Candy sat on the bed beside her and squeezed her hand, his other tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch, eyes closing, and Griff swallowed hard. How was any of this fair? How could there possibly be some grand plan like the padre seemed to think?
"We've got a name." The marshal gave them a feral smile and held up the letter from Colonel Hudson. "Troy Whitaker is really Beauregard Legare, an ex-Confederate soldier from South Carolina. His family is about as high placed down in Charleston as Cartwrights are in Nevada. A friend of his – who's also a cousin to the Legares – has a tin type of the boys and he picked out our double and got the whole story, at least as much as the friend knows anyhow.
"Course, now Hudson's confused, because as he heard it, only one son headed west about a year and a half ago, not three sons and a daughter – oh." The marshal's face tried on several expressions before he settled on what Griff would describe as turbulent. "He also saw a wanted poster." Candy muttered a word that would have gotten Griff slapped. "Well … he says he ain't gonna judge, but somebody has a lot of explaining to do."
"Guess he realizes now why he needs to get both sides of the story," Griff said only half under his breath.
"Does this Colonel Hudson say anything of motive?" The padre questioned. McPhail shook his head.
"He couldn't find anything. If only one son headed West, it can't be family." The marshal frowned and passed the letter to the padre, lost in thought. "If he likes to play games … maybe there ain't no true motive. Maybe he just did it because he could."
"What about a friend," Annie croaked. "Someone he went through the war with."
"Likes the James/Younger boys you mean? They did start out as bandits under Quantrill … not that big a stretch of the imagination for someone else to do the same thing. But how would we get that kind of information? His war records are likely buried in some musty basement if they weren't destroyed by fire or a storm."
"Pa could get it with a handful of wires," Annie pointed out bitterly.
"Emily would ask him. She could say it was marshals' business and he wouldn't question it. No one would."
"Joe might," Candy said.
"Depends on how distracted he is at the moment. He's been somewhat courting Alice Harper since the fall."
"Alice Harper?" Annie's brow furrowed, giving her the look of someone searching for something they knew but couldn't find. Griff's stomach knotted when she simply closed her eyes and burrowed deeper under the blankets instead of cracking a joke like she would have done if it hadn't been for … He got the feeling that a lot of things might be different now, maybe even his own place in their little "family."
"She's good for him," was all McPhail would say. "I'll write Emily and if we're lucky, we might even have a reply before we move on."
"We?"
"You heard me, kid. With the word of a respected deputy marshal added to theirs, proving there's two of them becomes a little bit easier. Not that it's gonna be easy."
"It's never easy," Griff and Candy replied in unison, and his stomach knotted again. He imagined soldiers riding off to battle and swallowed hard. Somehow, it felt like a turning point had been reached or a line crossed, but damned if he knew exactly what it was. Griff glanced at Annie, noted the look gleaming in her dulled eyes and decided maybe he did know, because he did know them after all.
The only way ending for Beauregard Legare now was a pine box.
A/N: Don't hate me. I went back and forth on this story line for so long it delayed the chapter for a couple weeks. There is a reason, I promise, but it won't be clear for a little while longer. I really tried to write it differently, but the story just didn't flow. I understand if you don't like it, I'm not satisfied with it either, but no flames please. Constructive criticism is always welcome and I would like to hear your thoughts. I know it seems like the Lieutenant gave up almost too easily, but did he give up or is he biding his time? They're not out of the woods yet, after all. He may show up again sometime …
Also, while there is/was a Legare family in South Carolina, I have no idea if there was a Beauregard. If there was (is?), I apologize for turning him into an evil nut.