Chapter 18
Delaney braced herself to take a reckless dive at whoever was ahead. She was grimly determined to do it before Ma.
Then a few paces away, a man howled like a wolf on the hunt, and then the howler fell silent seconds later.
“We got ’em.” Morgan spoke out loud from right in front of them. “Two men, both knocked cold.”
“Is everyone all right?” Ma shoved herself off the ground with a groan. Delaney would tease her ma about getting old if she hadn’t groaned herself when she stood.
“Everyone except our prisoners.” That was Owen speaking only a few feet away. “They ain’t so good.”
Morgan said, “I’m going to check the camp. Marley, come along. Owen, bring the prisoners.”
It was all happening in darkness.
“I’ve got one of them.” That was Pa, and she wanted to jump and scream and maybe cry. She was so happy to see her parents. Not that she could see much.
Ma dragged Delaney into her arms. “Are you all right?”
“Boone was shot and knocked cold. His head was grazed, but he’s up and moving. He’ll be fine.”
“Don’t be saying I’m fine, baby sister.” Boone moved Delaney firmly aside, then hugged Ma. “How am I supposed to get any tender loving care from Ma if I don’t tell her how grievously wounded I am?”
She heard bodies being dragged along. She hadn’t seen Pa yet, but she saw Owen go past with someone tied up behind him.
Ma slung an arm around Boone on one side and Delaney on the other. Then Pa was there hugging Boone, then hugging her.
“I’m so glad to see both of you. How’d you find us?”
Pa had her between him and Ma, both of them with an arm around her. She felt so safe, she felt the burn of tears in her eyes. And she didn’t let a single one fall.
Ma said, “Lots of stories to tell. Let’s make sure these men are tied up tight before we start yarning.”
They walked back to the camp together. Roz had the fire going. Jesse was busy stoking it. Boone had a coffeepot filled with water and heating up.
Ma got the skillet heating up as well while Delaney found what she needed for making biscuits.
“Morgan Sawyer, I’m Colonel Bridger. We met in the war.”
The two men clasped hands and shook warmly.
Marley came up next. “Name’s Marley Tweedt. I served in the war, spent some time at Vicksburg and ended up marching to the sea with General Sherman. I heard tell of you, Colonel. We’ve been on short rations for a while. Hope there’s enough coffee left for me to have myself a cup.”
“We’ve got plenty, especially since we’re cutting this trek through the mountains short. We’re getting out of here.” Pa looked around. “If anyone knows how.”
The men all laughed. Delaney didn’t think it was that funny. She got biscuits on to bake using Ma’s pans and flour while Ma got some bacon frying.
“Roz,” Morgan said, “how far would you say it is to town? We could maybe go back the way we came now without those fool Duncans on our backtrail.”
“We’ll meet up with a good-sized trail tomorrow. That’ll take us almost straight to the road that leads north to Fort Collins.”
Morgan’s brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you tell us we were so close?”
Roz shrugged. “Hard to judge how long it’d take with us having to stop and chase prisoners, or tend the wounded, or search for missing Marshals all the time.
But I reckon we can put in a good solid day tomorrow and make the trail to Fort Collins.
It’ll be late, but we should be in Fort Collins tomorrow night. ”
Owen came over from where he’d been tending the prisoners. “I started this journey with one prisoner and am ending it with four.” Owen reached over and shook hands with Pa. “I appreciate the help.”
“It came at a high price. You lost a man. And I can see Marley’s leg is hurt, and Boone got shot in the head.” Pa rubbed his hand over his eyes, then straightened and looked at Owen.
“Yep, a youngster. Stan. A Deputy Marshal who worked with Tex.” Owen stopped talking.
“And another Marshal was with us, Tex Mitchel. Tex went after Stella Duncan when the three prisoners we took earlier escaped.”
“They had a woman outlaw?”
“We’re not outlaws!” Sly Duncan hollered.
Owen had all the Duncans bound and separated by plenty of space.
“Stella’s gone?” Another shout, this voice slurred, probably from the whack on the head. “Where is she? Is she alive? What happened to her?”
Owen ignored the questions. “That old coot had his daughter running in the wild with him. All three of them busted loose and went their separate ways. Marley joined Tex in going after Stella, and he saw them disappear over a cliff. Long fall into the river. No way to get down there. We’re going to have to go to Fort Russell, drop off these Duncans, and if Tex hasn’t turned up, we’ll ride back here and search for him. ”
“Wild land to get lost in.” Pa had the right of it. Delaney saw the first black of the night give way to the darkest gray of impending sunrise.
Ma said, “Coffee’s ready and bacon. Delaney, check the biscuits.”
They were all eating in a few minutes. Begrudgingly, the men even gave the Duncans a biscuit each.
“I’ll admit that when I said there was plenty for everyone, I wasn’t counting these outlaws,” Pa commented, looking around.
“You can’t starve us. And I told you—we ain’t outlaws.” Sly Duncan was talkative for a man tied up and under arrest.
“You can defend yourself in court,” Owen said.
Delaney saw him scowling as he gathered food for the Duncans. He walked around and gave each Duncan a drink of water. Then, with Morgan beside him, he untied their hands to let them eat a few bites.
Delaney heard some muttering between Owen and one of the outlaws. She heard the name Stella but nothing else. She was surprised when Owen and Morgan came back to the campfire with an older man, not Sly, who’d been their prisoner for days.
“What are you doing, Gord?” Sly asked suspiciously.
The man, whom she could now see strongly resembled Sly, said, “I’m asking about Stella. Shut up, Brother. I care what happened to her even if you don’t.”
Sly grumbled but quit his hollering.