Once everyone had left the jail-turned-courthouse, Ray, Rebecca, and her father slipped out the back door of the jail and into the doctor’s office. Father led them through the place, up the stairs, and into their library.
“If you two will please take a seat.”
Rebecca sat, and Ray moved a chair to sit right beside her. He reached for her hand. “Sir, I would like to apologize for not coming to you to court Rebecca properly.”
Her father nodded.
“I can’t believe you knew,” Rebecca said. “I’m sorry too, Father. Ray wanted to keep it a secret from his family. He thought it would have harmed your business if the Harrisons didn’t approve of our relationship.”
Her father cleared his throat. “Ray, I wasn’t certain what kind of man you were, hiding about with my daughter. But when you left, the light left her eyes, and even a year later, it had not returned. So I conducted my own search for you. It took some time, but once I found your location, it was simple enough to seek a position as Grant’s Landing’s doctor. They were in desperate need, as I’m sure you know.”
“What? Father, you moved out here to be by Ray?”
“Naturally.” His eyes welled up. “When you turned down happiness with the man you love so that I wouldn’t be left alone, you thought you were doing the right thing, but squelching your own path to please mine would never do.”
“And what about you? Do you not prefer to be in Boston?”
He smiled. “I do. But this life on the frontier has been eye opening in many ways and has improved my abilities. When we return, I shall be all the better for it.”
Her mouth dropped. “Return?”
He turned his perceptive eyes on Ray. “Why did you leave?”
“Sir, if I may, I want to thank you for coming out here, for bringing Becky, but I’m afraid you may have put yourselves greatly at risk.”
“Yes, we’ll talk about that. First, your reasons for leaving Boston.”
He looked away. “The more I think on them, the more I realize I could have fought Father and created my own path in Boston.”
“I’m not sure you could have then. Now, certainly, with the courage and grit of two years on the frontier, you will have no problem, but then?” Father shook his head.
Ray sat taller, seeming to gain strength from Rebecca’s father’s support. “Father had my life all mapped out, including negating any choice I might have in marriage. I felt restricted, trapped, unhappy. Once I met Becky, I knew I couldn’t marry anyone but her, but even then, I tried to find a way, any way to remain. Then I stumbled upon a meeting Father was having with some local disreputes. I learned of his shady dealings, and then I learned of the depths to which he has stooped to maintain the Harrison wealth. Some of his most lucrative clients are crime bosses and worse.” He looked away. “When I told him I refused to work with them, he became angry, struck me, and then threatened my life.” He sat back, the pain etched in his face. “I had to leave.”
Father nodded. “And I’m proud of you for doing so. It takes great strength in a man to walk away from wealth and power.”
Rebecca squeezed Ray’s hand. “I can’t believe it. You never told me. That’s just awful.”
“If you’d known, I was worried your life would be at risk, even if it was by a small amount.”
Father frowned for a moment and then stood to look out the window. “And now? What problems are we facing?”
Ray sighed. “For the record, I asked Becky to take you and run. I don’t see an easy way out of any of this.”
“Hmmm.”
Rebecca would have laughed at his typical distracted response were their situation at all humorous.
Ray ran his thumb along the back of her hand. “I work for the federal military. I report to General Decker. My assignment in Grant’s Landing has been to discover the identity of a known bandit boss who is controlling several gangs all over the frontier.”
“Sheriff Travis.”
“Yes. I discovered his identity just recently, and we have an arrest planned, but because of a dumb move on my part, Johnny—my partner and another spy for the government—was captured and is about to be sentenced to death.”
Father nodded. “I knew our patient to be a good man.”
Rebecca smiled. Caring for patients was a little like having children, she imagined, and perhaps her father was blind to their faults.
“And now?” Rebecca hoped there was a plan.
“Now, I’m unsure. We wait for the general to come and arrest Travis. But he doesn’t know yet of my capture, and Travis will come tonight, now that he knows both of us are here. He will burn the building or shoot us by bandit mob.”
“Your fellow bandits would shoot you?”
“Well, they wouldn’t have. But he will tell them that I’ll squeal. I don’t believe he knows my connection to the general.”
“He came to the church after the general left.”
“What?”
“We were there. I saw your meeting with the general, but Travis showed up while you were with the bandits.”
“So that’s how he knew.” Ray frowned. “And how did you come to be in the church?”
“I saw you and followed.”
“With Travis right behind.”
She sat back. “Well, I didn’t know he was right behind.”
“I told you to run away.”
“Are you saying all this is my fault? That I led him to you?”
Father held up his hands. “So we leave tonight.”
Rebecca sat forward. “Yes! We leave now.” She stood.
“I’m not leaving Johnny.”
“Then let’s break him out of jail.”
“Stanford is tougher than you think. He’s in on some of this, but the man believes in due process of the law, and he’s bound and determined it be carried out.” Ray cleared his throat. “So, some of the bandits know already that I’ve been captured. I saw a couple of them watching in the crowd.”
“Would they break you out?”
“Yep. Me and Johnny. But they’re not going to have any patience for you or your father, and they’re a rough crowd. I’d just as soon not involve you with them. But even though you’re not wanted by any law at all, you are at great risk because of your betrayal of Travis. I don’t feel comfortable with you anywhere but near me or near Stanford when I leave.
“But then what? You go ride with the bandits again and never show your face here in town? Then you’ll really be wanted by the law.”
“We hope the general would clear him.” Father stepped away from the window. The sun had set.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got company.”
The door downstairs banged.
“Who is it?” Ray was on his feet, hand on his gun belt.
“It’s Henry.” Her father grinned.
“Oh, bother.” Rebecca stood and made her way downstairs.
But when she opened the door, Henry’s urgent expression made her heart pick back up. “What is it?”
He held out a basket. “From mother. We saw what you did to defend the prisoners. We don’t like Sheriff Travis. No one around here trusts him.”
“Thank you.” She smiled.
“I’ve a trapdoor behind the store. I’ll leave it unlocked in case you need it.” He stepped away and hurried back across the street.
His mother watched from the door. Rebecca lifted a hand, and she nodded.
She brought tea and the goodies from the store up to her father and Ray. For a moment, the atmosphere felt quite cozy. Her father and Ray got to talking about all sorts of things—the study of medicine, the people in Boston, the news since Ray had left. She sat back and watched the two men she loved most. A feeling of almost peace settled around them. After a time, as the night grew darker, she picked up their things.
Father stood. “I don’t know if any of us will sleep much tonight, but you are welcome to take a bed in my room.”
Ray nodded. “Thank you, but I’m going to keep watch.”
“We could take turns.” Rebecca called out as she went downstairs.
If there was no incident during the night, they would all have a trial first thing in the morning. The general and his men would be there, and hopefully, Ray would be cleared. And then what? Would they really be heading back to Boston? Everything was happening so quickly.
As Rebecca cleaned up their tea and put away the leftover supplies sent from the store, she considered her life in Grant’s Landing. It had been lovely in many ways, but she felt her father would agree that their purpose was to come for Ray. She smiled. And all this time . . .
“Rebecca.” Her father stood in the doorway.
“Oh, Papa.” She embraced him. “You came out here to the frontier for me.” She squeezed him tighter.
“I did.” He wrapped his arms around her. “But I, too, have benefitted.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t confide in you.”
He nodded against her head. “All will be well, I hope, and we will still have many years to practice confiding all manner of things.”
She laughed. “That sounds heavenly.”
Rebecca and her father went to their rooms. Ray stayed by the window. But she suspected no one slept. She lay fully clothed with her boots on and a satchel by her bed. Neither she nor her father wished to leave Ray by himself. He hadn’t complained, but she knew he was worried.
Hours later, she was startled from a doze by the crashing of glass and a rush of sound. Crackling and burning sounds made her leap from bed. “Father!”
He stepped out into the hall. “I’m here.”
A line of men stood at the front of the jail with guns out. Behind their backs flickered light from a newly started fire.
“They’re going to burn the whole thing down.”
Ray joined them. “Those are Travis’s men.”
Gunshots came from down the street, and a bunch of men on horses arrived. Bullets went flying. Ray shouted, “Get down!” He waved at them, then dove forward, crouched down, used his rifle to break their window, and started shooting through it.
Rebecca and her father raced down the stairs. Men blocked the back door as well. Rebecca felt her heart in her throat. “What about the roof?”
“What?” Her father’s eyes widened.
Someone had to get Johnny out, get them all out. “I’ll get the sheriff and bring Johnny back here.” She nodded and raced back up the stairs, lifting her skirts. They had an attic space. She opened the space in the ceiling and, while standing on a chair, climbed up inside. It was dark. She waited for her eyes to adjust, then she crawled along the boards that spanned the space. It looked as though it might go the length of the structure. But as she got closer, the heat increased. Smoke started to rise, and she knew her efforts were futile.
She was about to turn back when the boards beneath her crashed through, and she felt herself falling.
Smoke caught in her lungs. The heat was almost unbearable, but she saw no immediate flames. It looked like she had fallen into a back storage room. The entire ceiling above her had crashed through on the jail side. Loud crackling and burning sounded almost everywhere around her. But hanging on the hook was a set of jailer keys.
“Yes.” She stood, grabbed the keys, and reached for the knob. With a cry of pain, she withdrew her hand, cradling it. The knob was scorching hot.
A pile of folded linens on a shelf might do. She wrapped her hand in one and grabbed the knob, turning as quickly as she could. Flames rose up in the hall to her front. She clutched the linens to her face and ran toward the front, toward the cries for help.
Sheriff Stanford lay on the floor unconscious, a line of blood on his forehead. “Help!” The men in the cells were coughing. Johnny reached out a hand. “Save us!”
“I’ve got keys!”
His fingers widened. “Toss them.”
She did, and they missed his hand but landed nearby on the floor.
“I’ve got them.”
She turned to Stanford. “Oh, wake up. Wake up!” He was alive. She coughed, starting to feel dizzy. Sweat dripped from her forehead. She could no longer hear shooting outside. She didn’t know what that meant. Were they safe to simply walk out the front door?
She lifted the sheriff’s arms to drag him, but the way to the front door crashed down around them. They must make it to the back.
She blinked. Stanford was not moving one inch no matter how she tugged. The linens fell from her face, and her arms were not responding. The world faded to a gray, then black, as thicker smoke filled the air around them. Someone lifted her. Voices didn’t make sense to her ears. And then a sudden cool air. She gulped in deep breaths of it. They’d made it out the back.
“Ray. Father.”
“I’ll get them.” He nodded.
The other prisoner, who had been there for weeks on end, grabbed hold of Stanford’s arms. “Where’re we taking him?”
Rebecca pointed. “Behind the general store. There’s a trapdoor.”
He nodded and grunted.
“I’m Rebecca.” She tried to help by lifting Stanford’s legs, but the man was just too heavy.
“Clint.”
Footsteps came around the back of the jail.
She and Clint froze, but the man paid them no mind and ran to the other side, ducking and hiding. All the commotion came from out on the street, from the front of the jail, while the men faced Ray’s bullets from the window and watched the jail burn to the ground. In no time, the doctor’s office would also burn. Rebecca’s heart clenched.
They moved along at what seemed too slow a pace behind the jail, but at least they were making progress. Soon, the back of the store rose up in front of them.
The door opened and candlelight shone out. Henry’s mother frowned. “I’ll take Stanford. The prisoner, no.”
Rebecca nodded. With her help, the sheriff was soon laying inside their kitchen.
Clint nodded. “I’ll be off then.” Before they could so much as thank him or say goodbye, he had disappeared in the darkness.
“Get in here, child. This is no place for you.” She ushered Rebecca in.
“Thank you.” Rebecca started to shake. Her whole body trembled. “I—I don’t know wh-what’s wrong with me.” Tears fell.
At once, Mrs. Halstead encircled her in her arms. “There now, dove. There.”
Rebecca clutched her, melting into the softness of a woman’s hug. Was this how it might have been to have a mother?
The shots stopped, but a loud cracking and crushing sound brought both women to the front window.
Rebecca gasped. The jail was no more. The flames were spreading. And a line of buckets had begun being passed from the pump. “Oh, they are so dear.” She wiped her face. “I have to help.”
“Yes, we all do. As long as they’ve stopped shooting.”
It seemed they had.
“Henry!” Her shout made Rebecca jump.
“I’m here, Mother.”
“Oh, yes. Let’s join them.”
He already had three buckets. “We’ve more in the back.”