Chapter 3
Diving behind the altar, Bonnie clasped her hands over her head as, around her, guns began to boom. This was not how she had envisioned her wedding!
Where was Jeff? Was he okay? Where was Uncle Leo?
She poked her head out from behind the altar and quickly drew back as a bullet smacked into the wood right by her, sending splinters flying.
“Bonnie, keep your head down!”
Uncle Leo came crawling behind the altar too. He had a scratch on his cheek that was bleeding, but other than that he seemed okay.
“What are you doing?” Bonnie asked.
“Checking on you,” he said. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t have a gun. I brought a cup to a gunfight.” He offered her the chalice.
“What’s it made of?” she asked, testing the weight.
“Lead or something like that. It’s only gold-plated,” Uncle Leo said, pointing to where some of the plating had scraped off.
“Well, it knocked one ruffian out,” Bonnie said. “Maybe it can take care of another one.” And with that, she crawled out from behind the altar, ran to a pew, and sank down behind it.
Looking out from behind the pew, she saw Jeff behind another one, pinned down by gunfire.
As she watched, a man came sneaking around the side, heading toward Bonnie’s new husband.
Oh no, you don’t!
Taking a deep breath, Bonnie snuck after the villain. Raising the chalice, she brought it down with all the force she could muster on the back of the man’s head. It was a good thing he was crouching, or she would never have reached him. He went down face-first on the floor.
Jeff turned at the noise and saw her crouching beside the man, who lay very still. He smiled at her, filling her heart with pride. She’d helped.
“Okay!” Jeff yelled. “Look, we’ve knocked out two of you and wounded another three. Maybe we should call it quits. You leave now as free men and never bother Father Sumner again, and we don’t come looking for you to make you stop. You understand?”
“You can’t do that!” one of them cried.
“Are you really willing to take that chance?” Jeff asked. “I’m from the mining town down south. Surely you’ve heard of us.”
There was a hastily whispered discussion. Bonnie could imagine the remaining thugs having a quick chat.
“Yeah, okay, we’ve heard of you folks,” one of them said. “You blew up the dam.”
“Yes, that was us,” Jeff said.
“And you blew up that house on the hill,” another man said.
“That too,” Jeff said. “So how about it, fellas? We coming to blow up something of yours too?”
“Ah, no,” one of them said. “We’ll go peacefully.”
It was odd to watch the ruffians who had come barging into their wedding leave so sheepishly. The ones who could walk carried the others out, and before Jeff and Kevin could count to three, they were gone on their horses, kicking up dust on the trail.
“That was exciting,” Bonnie said, placing the chalice back on the altar. “Sorry this got a little dented, Father.”
Father Sumner, who looked ashen, just nodded. “It’s fine. No one comes here for Mass anymore anyway.” He sighed. “And now the place is all shot to heck and gone.” He looked around mournfully at the destroyed interior of the little chapel.
Bonnie had an idea. “So, come with us,” she said.
Everyone stared at her.
“What?” Father Sumner asked. “What do you mean, come with you? To that cursed town? Are you crazy? I’ve heard all the things that happen there.”
Jeff shrugged. “Well, it’s up to you, Father, but I don’t know how intimidated those bandits are. They might decide a little way down the road that they can take us and come back to rob you blind.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Father Sumner said. “You’re trying to scare me into leaving my chapel and coming to live with you crazy people.”
“That’s a harsh thing to say,” Bonnie chided him.
“Well, it’s true,” Father Sumner said, his eyes bulging. “You’re new here. You don’t know the half of what’s going on in these parts. None of it is good.”
“That’s not true,” Kevin said vehemently.
“You and Jeff are such naysayers. Such harbingers of doom and destruction. You both act as though nothing good could ever come of all of our trials and our sacrifices. Well, I don’t believe that.
I believe that we have a lot of good that happens right alongside the bad.
We have explosions and fires, and yes, a madman is on our tails night and day, but despite all of that, we have built a mine and a town, and we even managed to befriend some farmers who vowed to never have anything to do with us.
So, where you’re seeing nothing but darkness, I’m looking at the light. ”
Bonnie was deeply moved by Kevin’s speech. “There’s always light at the end of a dark night,” she agreed.
Leo shook his head. “Can we get back to the part where it’s possible those gun-happy thugs might come back? I’d like to not be here for round two, if there is one.”
“He has a point,” Jeff said. “So, Father, you coming or not?”
Father Sumner groaned. “Fine, you make a good point. I’ll go and pack.”
“I’ll help you,” Uncle Leo said. “Let’s get to it.”
They headed for a door in the back and soon vanished. Bonnie kept herself busy by packing up the items from the altar and anything else that she could find of value in the chapel. There wasn’t much in there but the hymnals.
Soon Father Sumner and Uncle Leo were done packing, and everyone was ready to go.
“You got the harmonium organ in?” Father Sumner asked in surprise on seeing the musical instrument carefully balanced in a corner of the cart.
“We weren’t about to leave that for the bandits,” Jeff replied.
When they were all in the cart, they set off again. Bonnie wanted to sit up front with Jeff, but instead she was wedged in the back with Father Sumner and her godfather. The two men struck up a conversation and Bonnie was soon bored.
“Did you really blow up a dam?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kevin replied. “We had to. El Aguila, that’s the leader of the bandits who keep troubling us, instructed them to build it to cut off our water supply.”
“And then he blackmailed the farmers not to sell us food,” Jeff said, “right before he blew up our bridge. So now we have to go the long way around to get to a place where the cart can cross to the other side of the creek.”
They had to go slowly, with the harmonium making odd noises as it went over the bumps. Father Sumner winced and frowned each time.
“Tell me about our house,” Bonnie said to Jeff. “What’s it like?”
“It wasn’t damaged in the blast from the bridge,” he said. “Thankfully. The sheriff’s station was damaged, but it’s mostly been repaired. We got some glass to replace the broken windows.”
“She asked about your house, Jeff,” Kevin said. “Go on. Tell her about it.”
“It’s a house,” Jeff said, shrugging.
“What is the matter with you? It’s two stories and has big windows and space for a bit of a front garden,” Kevin said, shaking his head at his friend. “There’s a big backyard with a kitchen garden that Jeff has been lovingly tending for you.”
“I planted an apple tree by one of the main bedroom windows. It’s only a little sapling now, but it will grow, and in the spring we’ll always get the smell of apple blossom in on the breeze,” Jeff said.
“I got the idea from that letter you wrote about the time you went to that farm in the country for a couple of years.”
“Oh yes, where that cow knocked over the pail of milk and then stood on my foot,” Bonnie said. “Gosh, I’d forgotten I wrote about that. It was so wonderful.”
“How old were you?” Kevin asked.
“About twelve,” she said. “I went with my friend Audry. She moved to the farm permanently when the trouble started back home. Uncle Leo and I should have moved too, but we thought we could stop it. We were wrong.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeff said. “Really, I am, and I’m sorry you almost got shot at our wedding.”
Bonnie shrugged. “It’s fine. It’ll make a great story to tell the children one day. Can you imagine the looks we’ll get?”
“Children?” Jeff asked, looking startled. “Are we starting a family straight away?”
“No, of course not,” Bonnie said. She blushed a little. “But eventually they’re bound to happen.” She grinned.
Jeff sighed. “Just promise me that we’ll wait until we’ve dealt with El Aguila. Okay? I’m worried enough about you coming to Unity without adding a child into the equation.”
“Not that again,” Kevin said. “You just got hitched. You should be happy! Now stop fretting and talk with your wife. You never even asked her how her journey was or anything.”
After glaring at Kevin, Jeff turned to Bonnie. “How was the train ride out here?”
“It was a little dull,” Bonnie said with a grin. “How are you enjoying being a deputy sheriff?”
Jeff considered the question. He hadn’t written much about it, and Bonnie had figured that it was just because it was so new. How could he have a proper opinion about the job until he’d done it for a while?
After a bit of a pause, Jeff said, “I’m enjoying it even though it’s a lot of riding around at the moment. We promised the farmers that we would check in with them once a week to make sure nothing like what happened before ever happens again.”
“Yes, that sounds like it was terrible,” Bonnie said soberly, recalling the few details he’d shared in his letters. “Those poor people. Are they okay?”
Jeff shrugged. “They’re trying to be. I think maybe they could do with some help. You know, someone to talk to who will be understanding and able to offer them advice.” He looked pointedly at Father Sumner.
The priest seemed to be oblivious, watching the scenery go by.
“Then it’s fortuitous that you’re coming with us to Unity, Father Sumner,” Bonnie said, prompting the man to turn and regard her with a frown.
“Why?”
“Surely you can help counsel the good folks who were kidnapped,” she said.
Father Sumner looked unhappy, but he nodded. “I will do my best.”
There was something there. Bonnie could see it in his eyes.
Perhaps the ordeal of coming out west had taken something from him.
She suspected that he had endured a lot.
This area that they had all chosen to call home did seem to be largely lawless and wild.
Why they had all decided to settle there, and why the bandit leader who was causing all the trouble wanted it was beyond her.
Perhaps, when things settled down a bit, Jeff might be more inclined to tell her everything.
She was sure she hadn’t heard the whole story, but if she’d learned anything living with her uncle, it was that men needed time to get to the truth.
It didn’t just bubble out of them. Especially when they thought they were protecting someone by not telling them what was actually going on.
As though that someone was blind and deaf and couldn’t work things out for herself.
She shot a look at her uncle, who shrugged. He knew at least some of what she was thinking.
And so, for a while, they traveled in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Soon they came to the banks of a creek that was flowing swiftly and deeply. The banks were high on both sides, and although it was only about six feet wide, it was too wide to get across without a bridge or something.
They turned and followed the bank for a while. They went on until they came to a copse of willow trees that dipped their roots into the flowing water. Here the bank leveled out, and the creek slowed to a gentle, easy flow, with large boulders and rocks forming pools.
Kevin halted the cart under the shade of the willow tree. He and Jeff looked suddenly on alert.
“What is it?” Bonnie asked.
“Ssshhh!” Jeff said, gesturing for her to sink down in the cart. “Sometimes they’re waiting here on the other side of the bank.
“What?” she asked, lowering her voice. “Who?”
“El Aguila’s men,” Kevin said, looking through the hanging fronds at the other side of the creek. “This is the only place to cross to the other bank for miles and miles. They know that and sometimes, when they have a mind to do it, they wait here for us and take potshots.”
“How do you know if they’re here or not?” Uncle Leo asked
“We don’t,” Jeff said. “Not until we cross.”
“Right,” Uncle Leo said. “Wonderful.”
“It’s not ideal, but we have no choice until we can rebuild the bridge at home,” Kevin said. “Troy and Lizzy are on the job.”
“So, everyone has to come down here to get from one side of the town to the other?” Bonnie asked, thinking that was ridiculous.
“No,” Jeff said, shaking his head. “There’s a footbridge. They built that in no time, but it’s not strong enough to handle a cart. So, it’s just us.”
“We’ve crossed here loads of times,” Kevin added.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Uncle Leo asked.
Jeff shook his head. “Just keep as low as possible.”
Bonnie didn’t like the idea of Jeff and Kevin staying up there on the front seat like giant targets, but there was nothing for it. She and Uncle Leo slid down so that the sides of the cart were level with their heads.
“Okay, it looks clear; let’s go,” Kevin said.
They took the ford at a quick pace.
Bonnie and Uncle Leo sat in the cart, their heads down, and gritted their teeth. She could see the cords in her uncle’s neck as he tensed, waiting for the gunshots she too was waiting to hear crack the air.
Nothing.
There was nothing to hear but the splashing of the horses’ hooves and the rattling of the wheels.
And then came a strange noise. It was a bang and a thump—and then they were canting to the side. The harmonium slid and, with a terrible wheezing, clattering sound, it tipped out of the cart as Bonnie, her uncle, and Father Sumner all slid into the creek after it.