Frank and Pete left later that same day. Because Nagle was such a small, tight-knit community, it didn’t take much for them to be convinced that there was a gang of killers lurking about somewhere. After eating a quick lunch and stocking up on supplies, they put Nagle behind them.
There was a trading post which was roughly halfway between Nagle and the mining camp where they were supposed to meet up with Nate and Deaugrey. Having arrived slightly ahead of schedule, Frank found some other folks in need of a good conversation. Apart from the trading post, there was also a small platform and ticketing office used by several local stagecoach companies. Waiting on the platform were a family of four on their way to Nebraska and a man traveling on his own who was headed all the way to San Francisco. It did Frank a world of good to speak with them and, when Pete sauntered up to the platform, he went unnoticed for several minutes. Finally, Frank excused himself so he could stand by the burly tracker.
“You seem to be in better spirits,” Pete said.
Frank smiled and clasped the lapels of his black jacket. “I do, indeed! It feels nice to be among people who regard a man in my profession as a comfort instead of as a threat to their tainted souls. No offense meant, of course.”
“You think I got a tainted soul?”
After a short but uncomfortable silence, Frank asked, “Did you find anything in regards to Nate or Deaugrey?”
“Not a damn thing.” Pete’s words carried just far enough to catch the attention of a mother traveling with her two young boys. She was a pleasant woman with curly blond hair and a round face who quickly escorted her sons away from the source of the foul language to which they’d just been subjected. Pete tipped his hat to them and shrugged apologetically to the tall bespectacled man who walked over to accompany the woman and children.
“Did you check for a message?” Frank asked. “There’s a telegraph desk. That’s why Nate chose this spot to meet.”
“I know there’s a damn telegraph desk,” Pete snarled in a quieter voice. “I saw the damn wires. There ain’t no message waiting there, no telegrams and none of the folks working in this place have seen anyone that looks like Nate or Grey.”
Now worry began to show on Frank’s face. “It’s possible they might forget about seeing Nate. But Deaugrey . . . he’s memorable if nothing else.”
“That’s one way of putting it. How much longer do you reckon we should wait here?”
“We’ve got plenty of sunlight left. If we head out now, we should make it all the way to that mining camp by this time tomorrow.”
“Earlier, I’d say,” Pete told him. “I know some shortcuts we can take that may be a bit tougher of a ride, but will shave a good amount of time off the trip.”
“We can’t stray too far from the original trail,” Frank insisted as he and Pete walked to where their horses were tied. “There’s always the chance Nate and Deaugrey were merely delayed and are on their way to meet us. They’ll be taking the same route as we did but if we take another one, we might pass each other without knowing.”
Pete approached his horse to check the saddle’s buckles and reins to make certain all the essentials were securely in place. “I could always look for high ground every so often to check for anyone using that other trail.”
“Could you do that well enough to see that trail without losing any of the time we’d gain by taking the other route in the first place?”
It didn’t take long for Pete to arrive at his conclusion. “No.”
“Then we’ll do the most obvious thing,” Frank said. “You ride ahead on your shorter route and get to that mining town as quickly as you can while I ride the original trail back so I can meet up with Nate and Deaugrey if they’re headed that way.”
“I don’t know if I like that idea too much,” Pete said.
“Why? You think a preacher wouldn’t be able to handle himself if things got rough along the way?”
Pete grinned. “After what I seen over the last couple’a days, there ain’t no doubt in my mind you can handle yourself. Still, if you run into Dog Ear or any of his boys, that could be the sort of trouble that no man can handle on his own.”
“It’s not a very long ride. Both of us will move quickly and silently, avoiding trouble wherever possible. Besides,” Frank added, “if we ran into Dog Ear or his men, having one or two of us wouldn’t make a big enough difference to worry about. From what we’ve heard of the ordnance they’re packing, all four of us are going to have our hands full on the day we cross paths with them.”
“Yeah. I see your point. Can’t say as I like it any better, but you’re right. So we split up, and if you do happen to find Nate or Grey, the lot of you turn back around and head for that mining camp. No matter what, that’s where we pick up the next leg of Dog Ear’s trail.”
“Agreed.” Frank was about to snap his reins when he saw Pete reach one hand straight out to him.
When Frank shook the hand that was offered, Pete said, “My apologies for before.”
“No need for that,” the other man assured him.
“That’s where you’re mistaken. I wasn’t thinking too highly of you. To be honest, I never did quite warm up to the notion of Nate riding with a preacher. You always struck me as a burden that wasn’t good for much apart from steering a bit of suspicion away from us.”
Frank shrugged. “I doubt I’m really good for that, to be honest.”
“Right, which just makes you a burden.” Smiling, Pete surveyed his surroundings with the scrutiny of someone who had the skills to truly see everything there was to be found. “I was wrong about that, and I was wrong about you.”
“Lord, I hope so.”
“I can see why Nate has you as a partner. You did a hell of a job. I can’t speak for any of the others on Nate’s list, but I’m someone who’ll be more than willing to put his life into yer hands.”
“Thanks,” Frank said. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but thanks.”
The two men parted ways. Frank retraced his steps down the trail they’d originally taken to get to Nagle at a brisk, steady pace. Unencumbered by worry about anyone else keeping up with him, Pete snapped his reins to coax his horse to a gallop as quickly as possible. When he disappeared into the Missouri woods, they swallowed him up like a ghost.