"Alright folks, no one's gonna get hurt if you just stay calm and come across with your valuables"
"You there" one of the men pointed his weapon at Ben "sit down. And all of you put your hands where I can see them" at that one of the ladies let out a moan and seemed to faint while the others put their hands in the air or behind their back. Someone was praying and Cecilia put her hands on James' back while Ben just crossed his arms and seemed to watch the guys intently. They had split up and went from compartment to compartment, taking the passengers' stuff. The fifth one just stayed in the middle of the corridor, pointing his weapon at anyone who moved unexpectantly. Two of the men seemed to get in a small argument over something until a third one gave a whistle and they broke apart. Cecilia leant a little closer to her husband and slightly nodded her head in the direction of the one that had broken them apart.
"Leader?" she asked in a hushed voice. When Ben smiled she knew she had guessed right and smiled too. One of the men reached their compartment and ordered Ben to give him what he had with him.
"Now, I got part of the money in my jacket. In my bag" he said, nodding his head down at the bag "Means I'll have to pick that up and open it, right"
"Hurry up a lil'. I ain't got all day"
"Just wanted to make sure you don't just gun me down if I bend down" but when he picked up the bag, Cecilia knew that he was slowing it down on purpose. She quickly looked at the robber and saw that he glanced to his pocket where she suggested a watch. So they probably had a time schedule they wanted to go by. Ben had found his jacket but now seemed to have troubles finding his pouch, explaining he never knew where he put it. "Ah well here it is" he handed the guy the purse then turned to Cecilia "See, told you the rest of the fortune would be safer with the horses" he said in a hushed tone but loud enough the other man could hear them.
"The rest of the fortune?" he asked. Ben winced, winked at Cecilia and turned back to the man
"Oh well, guess I shouldn't have said that" the guy looked around, then turned to his leader, and walked over to him, talking to him in hushed voices. Ben seemed satisfied when the boss himself came over and asked how much money he had.
"Wait, do I know you from somewhere?" Ben looked at him
"Well, I just know I haven't seen you around before. Should be around $6,000, I guess." the leader seemed to consider it then gave a nod.
"Ey Riley?"
"Yeah?" one in a grey shirt turned to them
"You finish with them folks here, I'll bring that gentleman to the horsecar. Says he's got 6,000 there. You know where we'll meet"
"Yes, boss" he confirmed with a nod and then turned to Cecilia, ordering her to empty her pockets while his boss told Ben to get up, who obeyed and then walked in front of the leader.
"I uh…" Cecilia said, shifting her hold on James.
"What's that in your arms?" Riley asked with a nod in her direction "Drop it"
"Oi that's my son! I was just figuring what to do with him so I can give you my money"
"Put him on the seat"
"He could fall"
"Put him on the ground" the man that had originally come to their compartment said.
"All right" Cecilia said "But just you know, he might start crying if I do this. So don't... well you know"
"Stop talking and do as we say"
"Yeah" she muttered getting out of her seat and carefully putting her son on the floor "You'll stay right there, I'll be right back with you, little sun. Everything is alright" she sat back up and put her hand in her pocket "You know, he's got a problem with separations at times. Ah" she pulled out a few coins "I'm sorry it isn't much. He's got all the money usually."
"Do you have any jewelry?"
"Not with me. I mean it's in my suitcase in the back" she smiled at him "But I do have some food if you'd like" she pointed at the bag on the opposite seat that Ben had bought earlier. She gasped when Riley backhanded her in the face and she stared at him in disbelief.
"Oh wow that was something... You offer him food and he hits you…" she muttered to herself.
"Hey" the other man said "That wasn't necessary" he looked at her "I'm sorry 'bout him, Ma'am" she let out a snort and rubbed her face. "Come, let's go"
"I don't like the way this one talks to me" Riley said nodding at Cecilia "She's bold"
"Bold?" Cecilia asked in disbelief "I was just trying to be friendly!"
"Well" the guy said, leaning closer "All other ladies I've met were almost trembling and did what I wanted without backtalk" she raised her eyebrows
"They must have been scared of you"
"And you?" Riley asked, taking out a knife, flipping out the blade and holding it against her cheek "Are you scared, Missy?" she had a retort on the tip of her tongue but decided to play along.
"I… now I am. Please don't hurt me. I didn't want to upset you, Mr. Riley" Riley gave her a dirty grin and let go of her. She breathed out in relief, picked up James and watched how they continued robbing the rest of the passengers while rocking her son in her arms. She wondered where Ben was since she was sure he was planning something. Finally, the robbers were done and ordered everyone to remain silent and seated with their hands up and count to one hundred before they moved. From the corner of her eye Cecilia saw how they went to the wooden door, probably intending to either change the wagon or get off the train. But they didn't get that far because seconds after the door was open, she heard shots. Some of the women cried out, while Cecilia only smiled and crouched down. That had been Ben's plan. To separate them from their leader and get in a good position where he could easily gun them down when they leave. She was one of the first to move and threw a look in the corridor.
"Is it over?" one of the men asked quietly while in the other part of the wagon, the second class part, cheers and clapping erupted. Breathing out, Cecilia got to her feet and ran to the crime scene, wanting to know her husband was alright.
"Are you hurt?" she asked him and he shook his head.
"I ain't gonna ruin my new clothes, you know?" one of the men came over to them and shook Ben's hand.
"Thank you, Mr…."
"Nickelson" Ben replied with a smile "Benjamin Nickelson. You're welcome, Marshal"
"Former Marshal" the man corrected and turned to Cecilia
"Your husband is a brave man, Mrs. Nickelson" she smiled
"Yeah, I know" Ben put a hand on her back
"Well, Mr. Nickelson, I'll handle the rest, you did more than enough"
"I'm not in trouble because I killed them?"
"Of course not. One of them hit my wife. But I couldn't have taken them down alone"
"Me neither" Ben said with a smile in Cecilia's direction. She smiled back and Ben started leading her back to their seat, ignoring the other people of the first class trying to talk to them. Meanwhile, the Marshal announced that the danger was over and the people could reclaim their valuables.
"How did you do it?" Cecilia asked as they were seated again
"How did I do what?"
"Well everything?" he chuckled and pulled her closer, against his chest to whisper in her ear.
"First I needed to watch 'em a little, see how they tick and what their dynamics are. Then I decided to separate them. Best by getting their leader away"
"So you mentioned the money. Make it enough to get his interest – the leader's I mean that he wants to go - but not too much that he asks stuff"
"Exactly. Like that I also saw who's the second in charge and what he's like" she gave a nod "So I let him take me away and took him out. Then I ask the folks who can help me shoot the rest as they come and the Marshal offered help. We got the other people in the back of the car to have them out of the line of shooting. I hid next to the door to have their backs in my direction when I start shooting and as they turn back they have their back to the Marshal" she chuckled
"Bet it was weird to collaborate with a lawman"
"A little" he nuzzled her hair "What about you? Did you have any troubles with the rest of 'em?"
"Well, this Riley found I wasn't scared enough of him and decided to threaten me with a knife after hitting me" a smile formed on her lips when Ben pulled her closer.
"What'd you do?"
"Well, nothing. Just wasn't scared and talked to him a bit. He didn't like that and wanted to play the big guy" he chuckled
"Yeah. Sounds familiar. Would've been a question of time 'til he found that he wants fame and stuff like that and not just live in his boss' shadow"
"Like Quill" she said "He too seemed to know it better and thought he'd do a better job as outlaw boss. Guess it served him right that one of his ideas got him killed"
"Yeah. He was the rebellious kind. The one I'd have needed to take care of sooner or later or he'd have done something stupid" he chuckled "Towards the end also Charlie seemed to want more recognition. But see, he was the loyal kind. He'd have rather left and founded his own gang than taking over my people"
"He wouldn't have needed that. After all you planned to put him in charge officially" she sighed. A part of her had wanted to ask him many times why he had shot all his men in Contention. But she figured it had to do with the fact he had come to like Mr. Evans in a way and he knew that if he pulled his gun on one of his men for something like this he had to kill them all or he'd be dead. "What about you?"
"What'd you mean?"
"Well, have you ever been like that? Wanting more than just living in somebody's shadow?"
"I went from gang to gang because I didn't quite agree with some of their morals or tactics. For about two years I tried it alone. Went back to pickpocketing. Then I met Charlie and that kid followed me everywhere and so I figured it couldn't hurt to try and build up my own gang. With my own rules" he pressed a kiss to her hair "Enough of that now"
"Yeah. Shouldn't we get back the money he stole us?"
She was glad that the rest of the journey went by easily. It seemed that Ben's leading role in catching the robbers had mad the people in their wagon a bit more open towards them. At least those that weren't appalled to sit in the same train as a murderer as they said. When the train halted and the former Marshal helped getting the bodies of the train, a worker of the train had come to congratulate and thank Ben. He had even gotten $500 for catching the criminals because there had been a bounty on them. Later Ben had told her that he found it funny how he had gotten money through a robbery although he had done nothing illegal and that he doubted the stolen goods were worth that much. Cecilia understood the hidden message. That he was starting to believe an honest life does pay off. But he had declined her suggestion to go bounty hunting, saying he didn't want to attract more attention.
The train halted in Colton and somehow Cecilia could not really believe it. She stopped and watched the town while Ben went to get the rest of their belongings. Only later she snapped out of her reverie and joined him to at least take one bag more. It appeared that neither the horses nor the mule had really liked the train journey, so they let them rest a little outside the train station before they mounted up. As agreed they first wanted to find the place where her father worked so that he could take them to their house. The closer they got, the more nervous she became. Finally, she spotted her father and halted Cherry.
"What's it?" Ben asked
"I saw him. My Dad" she nodded her head in his direction.
"Why don't you go to him?"
"I don't know. I don't know if I even should" she swallowed and just stared at her father, unable to believe it. "May-maybe we should just find Allie and Luke, tell them hello and disappear when my father shows up"
"You're scared"
"Yes" she admitted
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No. Guess I should go alone" she needed another thirty seconds before she dismounted her horse and gave the reins to Ben, who was already holding their son and had been leading the mule.
"It's gonna be alright, Missy. He'll be very happy to see you, trust me" he chuckled "And don't forget. No more 'Ben' from now on, yeah?" she gave a nod and took a deep breath before she slowly walked over to her father. She wasn't even sure what to say. Her heart started beating wildly and she just wanted to turn around. Why hadn't she sent them a telegram in Tucson to let them know when exactly they arrived so someone could have come and pick her up at the train station and this wouldn't be difficult? The first time, she just looked down and walked past her father. A few steps later, she stopped and noticed she was trembling. Taking an even deeper breath, she slowly turned around and now directly approached her father. He looked up, she winced and something told her to run when he smiled and came closer.
"Cecilia. You're here" he said and pulled her into an embrace with his good arm. For a while she stilled, then hugged him back and tears were rolling down her cheeks. "I've missed you, Cilia"
"I missed you too" she whispered only now realizing how true it was. Virgil Earp let go of her and studied her face instead
"You look good. A bit tired and worn out but fine"
"I also feel good" she said, wiping her tears away before her eyes fell onto his left arm that just hung by his side. Allie had written her that her father couldn't use it anymore. She swallowed, not sure what to say "And how are you doing? A-all of you"
"Good. We're doing fine. Luke couldn't wait for you to come"
"Oh that's nice" she toyed with her sleeve "What about grandfather?"
"You know him. He was cursing around, saying he'd make you see sense and things like that. But I'm sure once you come through that door it won't be that bad"
"I hope so" she said quietly
"And I thought you'd arrive with your baby and your… friend?"
"Yeah. Jamie, he's taking care of Jimmy" she nodded in their direction "Do you want to meet them?"
"I don't want to miss meeting my grandson" she smiled
"I…" she said, not sure what she exactly wanted to say "I'm sorry. For everything. Running away and all that"
"Hey" he said, placing a hand on her arm "Allie told me how Grant Dawson treated you. I think you were in the right to leave. As for the rest…. we can discuss this another time" she gave a nod "But you know, your little Jimmy is not his father. So there's no reason to resent him for anything" she gave another nod and smiled as they walked over to where Ben and her son were. When he saw them approaching, he dismounted his mare but kept his head down. Cecilia could see that he was a little nervous. Whether it was because he was meeting his father-in-law or didn't want to be recognized as Ben Wade she didn't know.
"Well" she said when they stopped "Dad, this is Benjamin Nickelson, Jamie, this is my father, Virgil Earp" now Ben lifted his head and after looking at him for a while, Virgil extended his hand, which Ben took.
"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Nickelson" Ben only gave a nod
"Your daughter has told me much about you, Mr. Earp"
"And this is our… well I mean my son James" she placed a hand on the baby's back
"He's asleep" Ben said "But I'm sure he'll want to meet you when he wakes up" her father gave a nod.
"Might I ask in which relationship you stand to my daughter exactly?"
"We're courting. With the intention of marrying if we get your blessing. You see, she was insisting to get married right away in Bisbee, for her own and little Jimmy's sake but I insisted we come here first, as it has been the plan anyways before we move up North."
"I understand" Virgil gave a nod "My father was recently elected justice of the peace. I'm sure if he approves of you as well, he can marry the two of you right away"
"Oh" Cecilia just said
"But first things first. You must be tired" he checked his watch "I believe I can get my work finished within an hour. There is a little inn at the end of the road where you could eat something and then I'll meet you there to take you home"
"That sounds good. What do you think?" she turned to Ben and he agreed.
"Good. Then I'll meet you there in about an hour"
"Thank you" she smiled and turned to Cherry.
"Cecilia?"
"Yeah?" she asked turning back to him "I'm happy to see you. And be careful on the horse. Remember to…"
"I know, Dad" she chuckled "I can ride very well now"