Rachel lay on the ground close to where the Blue Creek Marshal lay. The other Posse members were sprawled out around the dimming campfire. They had ridden hard for most of the day, and after a quick meal of beans and bacon, swallowed down by coffee, that they had forced her to make, the men had soon fallen fast asleep.
She couldn't sleep. As weary as she was from riding all day, it eluded her. She didn't like to be at the mercy of so many rough, unknown men. They weren't the righteous men they were pretending to be. Already she had caught a few of them staring lewdly at her, and could only hope the threat of Thad Browning would deter any of them from trying to attack her.
She worked her wrists, frantically trying to loosen the rope that bound them, hoping to be able to slip one hand free. Then she would untie the other and work on the next step of her plan.
The Marshal stirred and she froze. She couldn't risk him awakening and realizing she was trying to work her hands free so that she could flee. She held her breath and waited to see whether the Marshal would come fully awake or drift back to sleep. Moments slipped by before she heard the Marshal start to snore again and she let out a sigh of relief. She went back to work on trying to free her hands.
As she did, she mentally cursed herself. She had ridden for about an hour after leaving Sweetwater when she realized she needed to find a place to use the restroom. She had found an ideal spot with a couple of bushes, where she could let Sarsparilla graze while she emptied her bladder. She had taken care of her business but had lingered for a short time, letting her horse graze, and trying to rub the sore muscles of her bottom.
It was a mistake she wished she hadn't made. She had barely gotten back on Sarsparilla and nudged him into motion again when she was surrounded by the Marshal and his Posse.
Lou and Jimmy moved slowly together, guns out, ready to fire if they needed to, as they made their way around the perimeter of the fading campfire and the sprawled sleeping forms around it.
Kid covered his friends' backs, his eyes scanning over the sleeping forms as Lou and Jimmy neared where Rachel lay. He hoped to hell she didn't let out a startled cry when Lou woke her.
Jimmy paused a short distance away from where Rachel lay. His eyes joined Kid's in watching over the sleeping men as Lou crept forward to wake Rachel.
Lou crouched down beside Rachel and slipped her free hand over her friend's mouth. "Rachel."
Rachel came awake with a start. She must have fallen asleep while trying to free her hands. Fear threaded through her when she realized there was a hand covering her mouth. With her heart pounding, she tensed up, ready to fight whoever dared to put his hands on her. It was then that she realized that the person covering her mouth wasn't one of the men, but Lou.
Lou gestured for her to follow her. Rachel rose without hesitation mimicking Lou's movements, her heart filling when she spotted not only Jimmy but Kid as well. When they were away from the campfire, Lou cut Rachel's hands free.
"Go. Get her out of here." Jimmy whispered to his friends. " I'll cover you."
Kid and Lou raced over to their horses. They had already located Sarsparilla and moved him away from the Posse's horses. Quickly, all three mounted their horses and rode away.
Jimmy worked quickly using his Bowie knife to cut slices in all the Girths of the Posse's saddles before he mounted Sundancer and galloped after Kid, Lou, and Rachel.
"I don't know how to thank you for coming for me," Rachel told them.
"You don't have to thank us," Kid told her. "We want to help you clear your name."
"How?" Rachel said. "The Brownings run Blue Creek."
Lou unhooked her canteen and took a drink before handing it over to Rachel. " You said you thought you could get one of the brothers to admit what really happened if you could get him alone. Do you still think that?"
"Yes. Dennis isn't like his brothers." Rachel said.
Rachel took a long drink of water before handing the canteen back to Lou.
Lou pulled a folded document out of her coat pocket. "If we can get Dennis to write down what he saw and sign it we can prove that you're innocent and Thad is the murderer."
"We need to go to Blue Creek," Rachel said.
"Let's go then," Jimmy said. "I used my knife to cut slices in the girths on their saddles. It will slow them down, but I don't know for how long."
The foursome kicked their horses into gallops and headed for Blue Creek. Upon arrival, they went to the saloon where Rachel was certain they would find Ethan Browning. Once there, Rachel talked Jimmy into giving her one of his guns and hurried upstairs. Kid and Lou followed her to provide backup while Jimmy stayed downstairs to keep a lookout for any member of the Posse.
Rachel resorted to violence to get Ethan to tell her where she could find Dennis, and then she and the riders set out to find him. They used a ruse to get him to open up the shop and then forced their way inside.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Dennis asked in surprise. "Thad and the others have a Marshal and Posse out looking for you! You should never have come back here!"
"I came back here because it's the only way I can prove I didn't murder your brother in cold blood! It was self-defense and you know it!" Rachel snapped at him.
"Do you think that matters to Thad?" Dennis asked. "He's obsessed with you! He's never had a woman walk away from him! He thought for sure if you lost your husband you would come crawling back to him. He won't give up until you do!"
"You have to help me, Dennis," Rachel said. She took the paper and pencil Lou held out to her. She shoved it at Dennis. "If you write down everything you saw, it will prove I'm innocent."
"You want me to go against my own?" Surprise colored Dennis' face. "I don't know Rachel..."
"You're a good man Dennis. You aren't like Thad, Angus, and Ethan. If you don't help me, I'm going to end up in jail or as Thad's prisoner. " Rachel pleaded with him.
"Alright, I will do it," Dennis said reluctantly.
He took the paper and pencil Rachel held out to him. He moved over to the counter and started writing. Kid, Lou, and Jimmy kept watch out the windows while Rachel's eyes stayed focused on Dennis. She didn't think he would pull a gun out on them, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"Get out of here while you can," Dennis told Rachel as he handed the paper and pencil back to her. "My Father or brothers catch wind you're here, and there will be hell to pay."
"They're the ones who should be worried." Jimmy snapped.
" We've got trouble." Kid said. "Three mean-looking fellows are heading our way."
"Damn it." Dennis said. "Those are my brothers. Go out the back."
Rachel hurried toward a curtained-off section at the back of the store with Lou, Kid, and Jimmy following her. They made their exit only moments before Dennis's brothers entered his establishment.
"Where to?" Lou asked Rachel.
"The Marshal's office," Rachel said. "There should be someone left in charge while the Marshal is away."
"Can we trust them though?" Jimmy queried.
"I don't know. We're just going to have to find out." Rachel said as she led them down the street toward the Marshal's office.
They made it to the Marshal's office, only to find it empty.
"What do we do now?" Lou questioned Rachel.
"I don't know," Rachel replied. "We..."
A bullet shattered the glass of the window behind him, sending all of them ducking for cover. Jimmy crawled over to one side of the window and went up on one side of it, his back pressed to the wall, so he could peek out of it.
"Either Dennis never intended to help Rachel out in the first place or his brothers beat it out of him that we paid him a visit," Jimmy told the others.
"I'll cover the back." Kid said, moving in a crouch toward the back of the office.
Jimmy slipped a gun out of his holster and passed it over to Rachel who was crouched down close to him.
"Rachel, come out with your hands up!" A male voice called out from outside.
"Go to hell, Thad!" Rachel called back.
His response was to fire more bullets into the office.
Lou, who had kicked the door closed, after the first bullet had come through the window. She was now crouched on the other side of the window from where Jimmy was located. "There's more than three men out there now. I think the rest are part of the Posse that was with the Marshal."
There were the sounds of more gunfire outside, making everyone inside the Marshal's office tense, but none of the bullets came through the window or door at them. The gunfire ceased almost as soon as it started.
Before any of the three in the front of the office could say anything else, Kid let out a sudden cry, and there was the sound of scuffling coming from the back where he was standing guard. Rachel whirled to face that direction, ready to shoot anyone who came through the doorway to protect Lou, Jimmy, and herself.
Surprise made her let out a startled gasp as Teaspoon strolled out followed by Kid, Dennis, and another man with a Marshal badge pinned to his chest.
"Put down your guns." Teaspoon ordered Lou and Jimmy. " This is Marshal Billings. He and his men have been hired by some of the townspeople to get rid of the crooked Marshal and the Brownings."
"Really?" Rachel rose to her feet to stand beside Teaspoon. She pulled out the paper she had gotten Dennis to sign. "This is a paper filled with Dennis Browning's testimony that I only fired after Thad had murdered my husband, Henry Dunne."
"Teaspoon has already filled me in on why he is here in town." Marshal Billings told Rachel as he took the paper from her. "Thad Browning, his father, and brothers are all wanted on a variety of charges. We plan on putting them all away for a very long time."
"Not Dennis Browning," Rachel said. "He isn't like his brothers or their father. He runs a small shop here in town and he stays clear of trouble as best he can."
"I will make sure to keep that in mind." Marshal Billings. "For now Mrs. Dunne, you are free to go. We might have to call you back to testify against Thad and the others in regard to your husband's murder, but for now, you can leave Blue Creek with Teaspoon and his riders."
"Thank you." Rachel grinned at him.
She turned and looked at Teaspoon, Kid, Jimmy, and Lou. "Thank you for everything you've done to help me."
"You're family now, Rachel," Lou told her.
"Let's head home." Teaspoon told them.
Teaspoon, Rachel, and the three riders exited the Marshal's office, mounted their horses, and headed them out of town towards Sweetwater.