part0004

Evangeline carried her bag despite the protest from Mark. It seems he was taking his husbandly duties seriously. But she’d kept her bag from him and stopped to put it in the rack above their seats on the train.

They had the row facing forward, but no one was sitting in front of them. Evangeline sat by the window, eager to be on her mission. Time was slipping away, and she needed to be underway.

One look at Mark and she wished she’d never applied as a Pinkerton agent, but then she wouldn’t have the credentials she needed to try and free her brother. How she was going to get her partner to go along with her she wasn’t sure or if she could.

Then again, she might be able to use his adoration to her advantage. She looked away from him. She had no feelings for the man, but still, to use him for her purposes left her feeling like a traitor.

“We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” Mark sat across from her and leaned back against the seat with his feet in the chair next to her. He smiled at her and pulled out a sack. “You like peanuts?”

Evangeline stared at his boots. She wanted to shove them from the chair, but decided if he fell asleep, he wouldn’t bother her, and she did love peanuts. Not wanting to encourage him she didn’t answer.

He broke one open and chewed. “They’re good.” He pulled out another bag. “I got you a sack, too.”

She gave him a slight smile and took the peanuts from him. “Thank you. Actually, I love them.”

Mark gave her that adoring look that she was beginning to dislike. “Good. At least I know one thing that can make you smile.”

She looked away and out the window, but also took a peanut and broke it open. She did love peanuts. Mark, not so much.

After what seemed like hours but was less than fifteen minutes, the train pulled out of the station. Mark settled back with his hat over his face and soon snored.

Evangeline pulled out the folder for the case and looked at the map. The train would stop in Fort Collins. Her brother was there. She had the money for horses, and in her reticule, she had the document she’d taken from Archie’s desk. Last night, she’d filled it in and made it official for the release of Sam into her custody.

What would happen after that, she had no idea. She stared out the window and whispered. “Sam, what have you done?” Growing up, they’d been so close. Then she hadn’t heard from him in two years until she got the letter a month ago and then his telegram two weeks ago.

Evangeline had dropped everything in her life and run to help him. She’d even written off Calvin. Though that hadn’t been hard. The man had courted her for three months, but she still felt little for him.

When she received Sam’s wire that had settled it. Afraid for her brother, she’d left Topeka, Kansas, that night, and saw that the Pinkerton agency was looking for female agents.

She’d arrived in Denver and sought the Pinkerton agency for a job. Three days later, she was on the train with her partner-husband, Mark Johnson, as a Pinkerton agent and with a plan to get her brother out of jail.

Evangeline sent up silent prayers for Sam. Praying that he was innocent. That Calvin wouldn’t hate her and would move on and find another woman who would love him. But mostly, she prayed that Mark wouldn’t love her although that prayer appeared to be a little too late.

The clickety-clack of the train seemed to be saying, “Hurry, hurry.” She stared at Mark and hoped he’d stay asleep until she could disappear from the train. She’d debated about jumping off but thought better of it.

The train would stop in Fort Collins. She’d excuse herself and slip from the car, hopefully, unnoticed by Mark. There was no way she could get her bag down without Mark knowing. She’d have to leave it.

An hour passed, and Mark still slept. Fear raced through her as she remembered hearing him open the door to his room late last night. She couldn’t handle having a man so near. Calvin had been safe. He barely acknowledged her. Although, there were times when she caught him looking at her in that way.

She shoved the bag of peanuts into her skirt pocket and stood only to remember his feet were blocking her from leaving. Evangeline tapped his boot.

Mark flipped up his hat and squinted at her from one eye. “Where you going?”

Evangeline rolled her eyes and gave him the look he deserved. “There are some things you don’t ask a woman.”

Both his eyes opened. “Oh. Well, all right. Need me to go with you? Protect you?”

“There are places that you don’t go with a woman.” She pushed his big feet until he dropped them and let her pass.

She turned to him. “I’m on a train.” With that, she walked down the aisle and out the door to the next car. Evangeline drew in a breath and watched the landscape go past her. She had hoped the train was near stopping at the outskirts of Fort Collins. She’d noted that according to the map at Denver, the depot would be on the south end of the town.

Stepping away from the door, she prayed that Mark wouldn’t come looking for her. A man came from the train car behind her and walked across to her platform and entered the railcar she’d come from.

The engine slowed. Her heart raced, and she clutched her reticule. With a look back inside the car to make sure Mark hadn’t followed her, she grabbed the railing and braced herself.

The train jerked to a rolling stop, released and rolled ten feet and then stopped amidst squealing brakes and steam.

Evangeline took a deep breath and stepped down. She looked around and ran behind the depot. She stopped and caught her breath. According to the ticket, the train was only making a thirty-minute stop.

She ran past the depot to the next street down to avoid being seen by Mark. She rested in the dark alley and took out her sack of peanuts and ate one before stuffing it back in the pocket of her skirt. In her other pocket, she felt the small gun she’d bought before leaving Kansas.

Bolstering her courage, Evangeline left the alley and strode past a saloon and ignored the whistles and rude calls from the men loitering in front of The Trooper’s Watering Hole.

For a brief moment, she wished Mark was with her, but he wouldn’t go along with her plan. The little she knew about him, Mark Johnson did things the right way. The main reason she didn’t involve him in her plan to free Sam.

She walked down the road to the livery. Seeing no one, she knocked on the office door. After a few minutes, a big man opened the door. “Yeah, what do you want?”

Evangeline stood up to the intimidating hulk of a man. “I’d like to have two horses.”

“I have money to buy them.” She opened her reticule and showed him her roll of cash.

The man’s demeanor changed. “My name’s Dan. Just Dan. I’ve got some fine animals back here in the corral.”

“All right.” She followed him but refused to give her name. She didn’t want Mark to come back and be able to follow her trail.

Dan opened the barn door to the back and held it for her. “I’ve got ten here that are all good riding horses.”

She stepped outside and looked at the animals. She pointed. “That bay, is he a good horse?” She cringed at sounding so inept as a horse trader. She said a quick prayer that Dan wouldn’t sell her nags ready to be put out to pasture.

The livery owner took a rope and walked into the midst of the small herd. “No, he’s green broke and has lung troubles.” He circled the rope and let it fall on the neck of a gray horse. It was a bit smaller than some of them but seemed to have all its legs working.

Dan glanced at her. “This is a good little mare. I’d recommend her for you. She’s gentle, ten years old, and solid. Her name is Blue.” He brought the horse to her.

“Forty dollars for her. Is the other horse you need for another woman or a man?”

Dan handed her the rope and then took down another lariat. He strode out in the center of the corral and swung the rope over a buckskin gelding. “This is the other horse that I’ll recommend to you.”

She believed she was getting two good horses. Evangeline was far from an expert, but she felt the man was being fair with her. “I’ll take them. Saddles and bridles too.”

“I’ll have both of them ready for you.” He stood and looked at her, his hand out.

“A hundred will cover it all.” Dan smiled at her. “I have a sister, and she’s told me how men try to deal unfairly with her. You can trust me.”

She counted out the money and nodded. “I do, Dan. Thank you.” She turned to go and stopped. “Dan, if anyone comes looking for me, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about me to anyone.”

He nodded. “I can appreciate that, too. My sister had to escape from her husband. She ran out on him to save her life. I’ll keep it quiet.”

“Thank you.” Evangeline sent up a silent prayer. So far, her plan was working. Now, to see if she could get Sam out of jail.

She heard the train whistle blow and held back behind a building while she watched the engine chug out of town. She dug in the bag and ate a couple more peanuts to stop her rumbling stomach. Evangeline regretted not eating more for breakfast.

She prayed Mark hadn’t left the train. When she could no longer see the last car, she made her way to the jail. As she approached the stone building, she heard hammering behind the jail. She didn’t need to be told that it was the gallows that they were going to use to hang her brother.

She pulled the document from her reticule and walked into the sheriff’s office.

Three scruffy-looking men turned and looked at her. At first, Evangeline thought there must have been a jailbreak, but then she saw the tarnished badges on their vests. The man she figured who must be the sheriff was sitting in a big chair with his feet up on the desk. A deputy stood by the stove, hovering over a steaming coffee pot. And the third was at the side cleaning a rifle.

The sheriff put his feet down and sat up. “You have a problem, little lady?”

Evangeline took the document and handed it to the sheriff. “I’m here to pick up one of your prisoners, Sam Russell.” She braced herself and looked the man in the eye and concentrated on not wavering her gaze. That her brother was going by his middle name and not their last name of Paxton turned out to be a blessing as Mark wouldn’t be able to connect her with her brother.

After reading the paper, the sheriff threw it on his desk. “You can’t be serious. Why does this Archie Gordon want my prisoner?”

“Questions regarding a gang of outlaws, he just sent me to pick him up.” She was thankful he couldn’t see her quivering knees. Sam was going to owe her that was for sure.

“Wilson, bring him out.” The sheriff turned back to her. “I can’t see why he’d send a woman to do a man’s job.”

“Well, sheriff, despite the fact you and your deputies are sitting around, crime is increasing, and all his agents are busy. We’re to turn him over to the Federal Marshal. I assure you that I can handle him. I have horses at the livery.”

The sheriff tossed his long hair out of his face and frowned. “Maybe I’ll send a telegram just to make sure. Never heard of women Pinkertons.”

One of his deputies came forward. “Boss, I saw one. Her name was Sabrina, and she could handle herself.”

The other deputy came into the room with Sam, whose hands were bound, and he had a cut over his right eye. “Here you go, Boss.”

The sheriff grabbed Sam by the shoulder and stared at Evangeline. “You have your own cuffs?”

She tried not to show her shock. “No, Perhaps, you’d let me borrow yours. I’ll return them to you after I reach Dodge.”

“Dodge? That’s a long ride. I didn’t know there were Pinkertons in Dodge.” The sheriff was eyeing her as if she were an outlaw.

“I’m based in Denver but make the rounds to the smaller towns. Wherever trouble crops up, we Pinkertons are sent.” Evangeline was becoming disturbed at her ability to stretch the truth. First to Mark and Archie Gordon and now to this sheriff.

Evangeline was thankful that she’d taken the foresight to pack a gun in her skirt pocket. She pulled it out. “Of course, I have a gun. What kind of Pinkerton agent do you think I am?”

“I wasn’t sure. You know, we were going to hang this fella tomorrow morning. Too bad you came along.”

Evangeline grabbed the document from the desk. She didn’t want to leave any loose ends. “And why were you going to hang him?”

“Sam here killed a man in a holdup. Right outside Livermore. He’s a cold-hearted killer. So, watch him. I can have one of my deputies go along if you want?”

“No, sheriff, thank you.” Evangeline went to her brother and shoved him roughly. “Don’t try anything. My paper says bring you in dead or alive.” She shoved her pistol in his back.

“Yes, sir. I promise.” She nodded to him and walked her brother out the door.

When they were far enough away from the jail, she whispered to him. “Stay with me. I have horses at the livery.” She wanted to add more. Wanted to scream at him that he better be innocent of the crime. But she held her peace. There would be a time for that, but this wasn’t it.

They reached the livery, and she saw their horses tied to the hitching post.

The man she’d bought them from came out of the office. “How you like those saddles?” He stared at her brother. “He’s the man they were going to hang?”

“Ha, a little lady. Well, you sure fooled me. I would have never guessed you were an agent. Good luck to you.” He glared at her brother. “I hope they hang this one in Dodge. I knew Andy Waters. He was a good man and left a wife and two little kids.”

“I’ll make sure he pays.” She mounted her horse and waved her gun for her brother to mount his.

Evangeline reined her horse past the street, then headed east. “Just ride with me, Sam. We’ll stop when we’re far enough out of town. Then you can explain to me why they were going to hang you.” She glared at him. “You better be innocent.”

On the edge of town, she pulled a couple of peanuts from her bag, cracked them open, and ate them. “Are you hungry?”

Sam grinned. “You always did like peanuts.” He held out his hands that were still cuffed. “Maybe you can unlock these and give me a couple of those goober peas.”

Evangeline wiped her hands and then dug in her pocket for the keys. She held them and stared at him. He’d changed. Maybe it was just the years and that they were older, but his eyes had lost the innocent look he had while he was a child. Then, perhaps hers had too. She’d lied easily enough to the sheriff.

Sam unlocked the cuffs and threw them on the ground. “Plenty of time to talk. Follow me.” He jabbed the horse and took off in a gallop.

Evangeline scowled at her brother but dismounted and picked up the cuffs. She’d made a promise to the sheriff, and she’d make sure that he got them back. She ate a few more peanuts and then mounted her horse and chased after her brother’s dust.