Chapter Thirty-Seven

"A hero is an ordinary individual

who finds the strength to persevere and endure

in spite of overwhelming obstacles."

~Christopher Reeve

Outside the saloon, Bill had sent for Henry Gowen ten minutes ago. Every minute of so, he'd glance down the street to the mine office but had yet to see Gowen exit the building. His head pounded and his blood pressure was rapidly rising as he waited for the mine boss. Finally, he saw Gowen walking towards him with his two Pinkertons. Bill frowned, noting that the threesome were certainly not in any hurry.

"Mr. Avery?" Cat called, prompting Bill to turn around. "What is your plan if Gowen won't loan the money for the ransom? Because I really don't see him doing that. He's not a generous man by any stretch of the imagination!" She shook her head and swallowed hard, trying to tamp down her fear. "So, how are we going to get our children out of there if we can't offer this man what he wants?" Her voice trembled, though she tried to keep it even.

"We're working on that out here, but Jack's inside," Bill assured her. "I'm sure he's getting in position to disarm Allen and get the children out of there safely." Bill glanced back and saw Gowen was just a couple of yards away.

"I understand you summoned me, Mr. Avery," Gowen called to Bill, sounding irritated. "What do you want?"

Bill took a deep breath before making his request. "There's a man holding the children hostage in the saloon. He's requesting five hundred dollars ransom. I'm told that you are the only one in this town who could make such a loan."

Gowen's eyes narrowed. "I heard the man holding the school hostage is the barkeep that Trevoy recently hired. Perhaps Trevoy should donate that money," Gowen directed.

"Mr. Trevoy said he doesn't have that kind of money," Bill countered.

Gowen scoffed. "I'm sure," he spat out sarcastically. "Look, Mr. Avery, the mine is in no position to make such a donation. And it is a donation, not a loan, as I'm sure you cannot guarantee me that this criminal won't run off with the money."

Bill stared at Gowen angrily. "You won't help the children? Children of the men who work in your mine? Children of the men killed in your mine?" he asked.

Gowen narrowed his eyes. "The mine will be happy to help in any other way," he stated firmly.

Bill and Gowen stared coldly at each other for several seconds, neither man blinking.

"Bill!" Abigail's voice pulled Bill's attention away from Gowen.

"Abigail!" he called back. "What are you doing out here?" He looked back at the saloon, checking for any new activity, before turning back to her. "You need to go back at the cafe," he directed firmly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Gowen and the Pinkertons heading back to the mine office, at a much quicker pace than they'd arrived.

Abigail shook her head. "No," she replied. "No! You need to hear this." She moved aside and Bill saw Trevoy behind her.

"What?" Bill asked, confused as to what was so important Abigail would risk her safety.

Trevoy hesitated for a moment before explaining. "Well, I just remembered that there's only one bullet left in the gun that Allen stole from my cash register. I did some target practice last week and, well, I forgot to get some more bullets from Yost."

Bill's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well, that might be a bit of good news for us," Bill remarked. "But, I take it Jack doesn't know this?" he asked Trevoy, who shook his head and looked down. Bill exhaled loudly before continuing. "Well, no way to get word to him now. And even with just one bullet, the children are still in danger. We can't rush in there..."

At that moment, the saloon doors flew open and Allen charged out, with Trevoy's gun in his hand. As he stepped off the porch, he was surprised to see so many people in the street in front of the saloon. Bill reached for his gun and started to move towards Allen as the others stood in shock.

Allen spotted Bill and stopped short. As he frantically searched for an escape route, Jack rushed through the doorway and stopped a few steps outside. Allen turned around and raised his gun, aiming it at Jack, as Trevoy, Cat, and Abigail looked on in horror. Elizabeth rushed to the open saloon doors and took in the scene. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw Allen pointing his gun at Jack.

Jack had his gun pointed at Allen. "Lower it, Allen!" he yelled. "Now!"

Allen shifted his gaze frantically between Jack and Bill.

"Drop it, Allen! You've got nowhere to go!" Bill yelled, his gun aimed at Allen, too.

Allen turned back to Jack. Jack saw desperation creep into Allen's face and he noted that Allen's hand and the gun began to shake. He realized Allen was preparing to fire. "Don't do it! We both have you in our sights. Stand down! Lower the gun!" Jack told him authoritatively.

Allen shook his head. "I'll take you with me!" he taunted Jack.

Behind Jack, Elizabeth screamed, "NO!"

Allen hadn't noticed Elizabeth standing in the doorway before she screamed. Seeing her there, his mouth curled into a wicked smile as he looked back at Jack. He moved his gun to aim at Elizabeth. "Or maybe I'll just take your sweetheart!" he spat at Jack.

Fury filled Jack's face as he suddenly ran toward Allen. Allen was surprised by Jack's reaction and pulled the trigger. Only a hollow clicking sound escaped the gun. Shock and anger filled Allen's face as he pulled the trigger several more times but all that came out of the gun was more muffled clicks. Jack was just a few feet from Allen, preparing to tackle him again, when Allen heaved the now useless gun at him. The weapon hit Jack in the jaw causing him to fall to his knees.

"Jack!" Elizabeth screamed as she rushed toward him.

Allen took off down Main Street. Bill fired his weapon at him, but Allen managed to avoid the bullets before running around a corner and out of sight. Bill rushed toward Jack, who was already back on his feet.

"Jack?!" Elizabeth called to him as he stood. He turned to her and pointed back to the saloon. "You're hurt!" Elizabeth cried, noting his bloody chin. Jack reached for his chin and wiped the blood away before looking back at her. "Get back inside! Stay with your students!" he urged her and then took off in pursuit of Allen. Bill followed just behind him.

Allen proved to be a very swift runner, as Jack rounded the corner and spotted him several yards away. They continued down Main Street and it became clear that Allen was widening the gap between him and his pursuers. In fact, he was fast approaching the turn that would lead him to the trail out of town. Allen glanced over his shoulder and was pleased to see that Jack was a good distance back and Bill was even further away. He turned around, uttered a loud laugh, and quickened his pace as he anticipated his escape. Then, suddenly a horse appeared in front of him and he came to an abrupt halt, stunned.

Reverend Anderson was just returning from Heatherwood, riding back into Coal Valley very much as he had left with his horse galloping rather recklessly at full speed. As the reverend and his speedy horse turned into town, he was startled when the horse reared up, his front legs flailing. As the reverend fought to stay in the saddle, he spotted Allen.

Allen fell backwards, howling with fear, sure that the horse was going to trample him. However, the good reverend managed to hold onto the horse and turn him away from Allen. The horse, with the reverend amazingly still in the saddle, retreated down the street toward the stable still at top speed. "I'm terribly sorry," Reverend Anderson called over his shoulder to Allen.

Jack rushed to where Allen lay on his back in the street, rolling around in distress, and commanded him, "Get up!"

Allen looked around, frantically searching for a way to escape.

"You're done," Jack told him firmly, pulling handcuffs from the pocket on his belt and slipping one cuff on Allen as he rolled onto his side. Allen, still in shock from his encounter with the reverend and his horse, didn't fight back as Jack finished cuffing his other wrist. "Get up!" Jack ordered. He pulled Allen to his feet and pressed him to walk.

Bill arrived and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. Jack turned to face him and Bill told him, "Jack, you're still bleeding. You need to get that tended to. You may need a stitch." He reached to grab Allen's arm. "Let me take him," he offered.

Jack hadn't been aware of his injured chin during his pursuit of Allen. After Bill's comment, he touched his chin. He winced in pain and could feel the blood still coming from the cut. He released Allen to Bill before pulling a handkerchief from his pants pocket and pressing it against his chin.

"Abigail could probably sew that up for you," Bill told Jack as he pushed Allen down the street. "She's pretty good with a needle and thread."

Jack frowned. "I don't know about that," he replied a bit nervously as he followed Bill and Allen back toward the saloon and jailhouse.