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“I have to trust you, but the moment we’re free, I want answers,” Jeremiah said when Corrigan joined him beside the door.
“You’ve got nothing to fear from me,” Corrigan said.
Jeremiah sneered before he pointed out into the corridor.
“You can start earning my trust again by telling me how we get out of here.”
Corrigan listened to the men moving around at the top of the stairs and then pointed to the right.
“The same way I came in,” he said. “There are two sets of stairs; the other set leads out to the back.”
“You know plenty for a man who was in town for only a few days.”
Corrigan didn’t reckon he had enough time to argue his innocence, as orders were being given at the top of the stairs. He moved past Jeremiah and confirmed that nobody had come close yet and that the route to the stairs was clear.
“I’ll lead,” he said. “Move fast and keep your head down.”
He fired blind to the left while turning to the right. Then, with his head down, he sprinted for the corner of the corridor. He didn’t dally to check that Jeremiah followed, but when he’d passed two of the four doors on the corridor, rapid footfalls pattered behind him.
The men at the other end of the corridor didn’t shoot at him, so when he reached the corner he moved on for two more steps until he was against the wall. Jeremiah was ignoring his instructions and shuffling along sideways with his gun trained down the corridor, keeping the other men from venturing out.
Then he disappeared from view as Corrigan pounded along the next corridor. The stairs and the short corridor at the bottom were in darkness with only reflected light from upstairs to light his way.
He slowed and then took the stairs cautiously with one hand on the rail. Despite his slow speed, he missed his footing and he went clattering down several steps until he righted himself. When he came to a halt, Jeremiah was at the corner of the corridor with his gun thrust forward.
Corrigan moved on, but he’d managed only another two steps when someone moved in the darkness below. Instinctively he ducked while turning and his action saved him from a gunshot that whistled by his head and then sliced into the ceiling.
The movement unbalanced him and he tried to keep his footing, but his boot missed the step and his hand slipped from the rail. The next he knew he was tumbling head over heels down the stairs.
With no way to stop himself he drew his arms in. Then he rolled on until he slammed down onto the floor and barreled into someone, who then clattered down on top of him. He’d come to shuddering halt when he realized that he’d rolled into the gunman, who was now lying at the bottom of the stairs while Jeremiah hurried on to take advantage of the situation.
Corrigan shook himself and then got to his feet groggily where he faced two more men stepping out of the shadows. Only then did he realize that when he’d fallen he’d dropped his gun so he leaped at the nearest man.
His uncertain gait let the man step to the side and avoid his lunge. Then the man helped him on his way by slapping his back and shoving him toward the wall. Corrigan got his wits about him fast enough to throw up his hands and cushion the impact.
Then he shook his head and centered his balance before he turned around. His assailant was already aiming a blow at the back of his head so Corrigan jerked away from it. This time the man hammered his fist into the wall.
His assailant grunted in pain and Corrigan added to his discomfort by grabbing the back of his head and slamming his forehead against the wall. He repeated the action and then kicked the man’s legs from under him before he turned away.
He found that Jeremiah had come down the stairs. He was tussling with the man Corrigan had tripped up while the other standing man was jigging from side to side, seeking an opening.
The man got his chance when Jeremiah slammed a fierce uppercut into his opponent’s chin that sent him reeling into the corner post. His head collided with a thud and he went down heavily.
Jeremiah then turned quickly, ducked under an aimed blow from the other man and headed back to the stairs. The man moved after him so Corrigan followed hurriedly and gave him the same treatment that Jeremiah had handed out.
By the time the man had rebounded from the corner post and had hit the floor, Jeremiah had reached the bottom of the stairs and was holding out Corrigan’s gun. Corrigan took the weapon.
Then they hurried out into the night. Behind them, people bustled in the saloon while distant raised voices showed that others would soon get involved.
“What now?” Jeremiah asked.
“We leave town,” Corrigan said.
He turned away from the sounds of the commotion when Temperance came riding closer from out of the gloom. Jeremiah nodded.
“Agreed,” he said. “Escape first. Then you’ll explain later.”
––––––––
Midnight found the three people holed up in the best cover they could find of a dried-up wash ten miles out of town. Since fleeing the saloon, there had been no signs of a pursuit. That didn’t mean there wouldn’t be one so Corrigan expected that tonight would be fraught.
Then tomorrow they’d face a long day of traveling quickly, while always checking behind them. With the seriousness of the situation, since fleeing they hadn’t discussed the events in the Long Trail, but Corrigan wasn’t surprised that Jeremiah was the one who broke the silence.
“It’s later now,” he snapped, turning to Corrigan. “Explain.”
“We shouldn’t argue among ourselves,” Temperance said with a weary tone before Corrigan could reply. “You should have accepted by now that Corrigan is on our side.”
Jeremiah didn’t reply so Corrigan shuffled closer to them.
“Why do you think I’m against you, Jeremiah?” he asked.
“Back at the Devil’s Hump I got chased for several days,” Jeremiah said. “I barely escaped with my life. Then, despite Virgil’s orders for everyone to carry on to Independence, I find you and Temperance back here. Those events don’t sound right.”
“They don’t.” Corrigan paused, giving him a hint that he was about to deliver bad news. “A raider called Eleazer Fremont attacked the wagon train beyond the Devil’s Hump. That chase ended more disastrously than yours did.”
Jeremiah gulped. “How many?”
“Most of the settlers are fine. After the raid, I led them to Independence, but Milton Burke and Ralph Crowther had been shot and killed.” Corrigan took a deep breath. “Virgil Michigan was the last to die.”
While Temperance lowered her head, Jeremiah winced.
“What did Eleazer want?” he asked, his tone distracted.
“He took no supplies, no valuables, no nothing. He was looking for something, and I reckon he didn’t find it.”
“Why?”
“Because afterward he went after you.”
Jeremiah hunched his shoulders and, although there was no sign of a pursuit, he turned toward the terrain back to Pearl Forks.
“Talking won’t help us,” he said, his voice gruff. “My boy’s still missing. You two can do what you want now, but he’s my responsibility.”
“He is, but you know something about this, don’t you?” Temperance said, speaking slowly with a lowered tone.
Jeremiah rounded on them, but when both people didn’t react, he lowered his head. He fidgeted, seemingly considering whether to answer until, with an angry gesture, he yanked a folded sheaf of papers out of an inside pocket. With his upper lip curled in disgust he tossed them to the ground.
“Eleazer would have been looking for these,” he said.
Temperance picked up the papers, but in the poor light the small writing was impossible to read.
“What are they?”
“It’s my gold mine.” Jeremiah shrugged. “Well, my sixteenth share in a gold mine’s profits.”
“You never mentioned this,” Temperance said, holding out the papers.
“That’s because it doesn’t matter none.” Jeremiah snatched the papers from her hand and slipped them back in his pocket. “It’s only money and that can’t buy you nothing you want.”
“As Milton, Ralph and my brother found out.”
Corrigan braced himself for Jeremiah’s ire, but he gave only a sorrowful nod before he slumped down to sit on the ground.
“I lived in a settlement with three other families and we were content,” he said with his head bowed and his voice so low the others had to sit beside him to hear. “One day we struck gold. We weren’t looking for it and we didn’t know what to do, but the men who came later did.”
“They bought you out?” Corrigan prompted when Jeremiah said no more.
Jeremiah nodded. “They were more reasonable than we expected. They made us an offer where we had to do nothing in return for a quarter of the profits. We accepted the deal, but then our problems started. The Wilde family got killed by men looking for the money they hadn’t received yet. They were the lucky ones.”
“What can be worse than that?”
“Living can. The Shepherd family got excited about the riches to come. They changed, for the worse.” Jeremiah waved a hand, seemingly dismissing them from his thoughts. “The Parker family started going the same way. I couldn’t let that happen to my family. I packed up, moved out and later joined up with Virgil’s wagon train.”
Jeremiah turned to Temperance, his jaw grinding and his eyes blank.
“What happened wasn’t your fault,” Temperance said. “I assume other people got to know about what you had, even if we didn’t.”
“Perhaps someone overheard me arguing with Florence and Gabriel.” Jeremiah sighed. “I didn’t want them to mix with the kind of men who think the dollar is all that matters.”
Jeremiah sneered at Corrigan, but Corrigan couldn’t help but smile.
“Except you kept the papers, so—”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. I tried to reason with Florence, but she wouldn’t listen. So I left her and tried to save the boy.” Jeremiah slapped a fist into his palm. “Until you arrived I was winning that battle.”
“I only spoke with him a few times. You can’t blame me for that.” Corrigan waited until Jeremiah’s eyes opened wide as he registered who he did blame, and then continued. “All that matters is what we do now, and I know where Gabriel’s gone.”
“How can you know where. . . ?” Jeremiah trailed off and then thumped the ground in frustration. “He’ll have gone to Eureka to look for his mother.”
They sat in silence until Temperance asked the obvious question.
“Which leaves us to decide whether we all go looking for him first,” she said, “or we go looking for the men who killed our friends?”
“We do both,” Corrigan said before Jeremiah could reply. He stood up and turned toward his own land of lost dreams. “Because we’ll find them all in the same place.”