Back to Tomorrow

Chapter 14-1

Chapter 14As he headed off up Tombstone Canyon, Zach let Rusty set his own pace. Although the gelding seemed refreshed and no longer limped, Zach didn’t want to push the horse too hard. Tombstone was thirty miles from Bisbee by the most direct route, and the day promised to be another scorcher.

As he neared the pass between the two higher massifs of the Mule Mountains, Zach caught up with another team of freighters. Just as Zach and Emily’s benefactor had said yesterday, these freighters were hauling crude ingots of ore to the railroad in Benson. Although their pace was slower than his had been, Zach decided to ride along with them, just in case Jake and his cronies were still searching for Emily and perhaps also for him.

Would they assume he had rescued Emily since he hadn’t been seen in Tombstone since two mornings ago? Probably. Jake would be angry, without a doubt. The gambler didn’t like to lose, either at cards or any other endeavor. And he couldn’t always stack the deck to be sure the game played out in his favor. This had been one of those times. Zach intended to see he kept on losing, at least as far as Mary Ann and Emily were concerned.

Zach spoke briefly to the driver of the lead wagon, a chap more taciturn than the driver they’d shared the wagon seat with yesterday.

The bewhiskered freighter said he didn’t mind if Zach rode along with them, but he didn’t invite any idle conversation. The few remarks he made were addressed to his mules.

That left Zach free to reminisce over the past two day’s events. His memory tended to linger over the moments he’d spent with Emily in his arms. Though all too short, they had certainly been memorable, making him long for more. The sweetness of her kisses and the lushness of her small form were heady enticements.

But how many times had his parents lectured that nice girls didn’t do such things, that he shouldn’t ask for kisses and liberties unless he intended marriage, and even then he shouldn’t demand too much before the nuptial event? He sighed.

Even in Philadelphia, there’d been painted and spangled young women who hung around the saloons, dance halls, and similar establishments. They were available for an evening at a price even a cub reporter could afford, and some of them had found him attractive enough to reduce their normal fees to near-nothing. His experience with genteel young ladies, however, was slight indeed.

Emily was certainly a lady, although some of her ways were strange. She didn’t seem to mind his attentions, having made no move to slap him or even push him away. But he didn’t want to be a rascal like Jake and simply take what he could as if it were his due. What a dilemma!

He recalled the comments of one of his older colleagues at the Star-Chronicle. A total cynic, the man always said there were good girls and nice girls, but no point at all to getting mixed up with the latter unless some older relative with money insisted on marriage and a potential heir before leaving you his fortune.

To the best of Zach’s knowledge, no one was likely to leave him anything. Thus the necessity to associate with a nice girl was nonexistent. Where did that leave him with Emily? Was she perhaps actually good rather than nice? Now, that was a thought.

He looked up at that moment to see a billowing cloud of dust approaching from the direction of Tombstone. More than one horse and ridden hard, from the looks of things. Who could it be and why were they moving so fast near noon on a hot May day?

He reached down to loosen his pistol in the holster, tightened his hold on Rusty’s reins, and moved up even with the lead mules.

Moments later, the approaching riders reined in, barely short of collision with the freighters, dust spinning around them like a whirlwind.

Zach recognized the lead rider as the Tombstone City Marshal. The small man pushed his hat back and nodded at the freighter before addressing his remarks to Zach.

“Have you seen a group of riders, moving fast, headed south?”

Zach shook his head. “No, we haven’t passed anyone this side of Bisbee.”

A rueful expression crossed the marshal’s face. “Should’ve known we were bein’ decoyed. Five men robbed the Miners and Merchants Bank this morning, right after they opened. All the witnesses said they headed south.”

The posse muttered among themselves while the marshal sat a moment, contemplating what to do next. Zach hesitated. As much as he wanted to get back to Tombstone and assure himself Mary Ann was getting better and Jake hadn’t tried any new tricks, he also felt an urge to join the posse. Wasn’t it even possible that Jake had been involved in the robbery?

The marshal turned to the dozen or so men who accompanied him.

“We’re going to have to split up. Them robbers may’ve gone south, but they didn’t stick on the road, so we’ve gotta look for tracks. Wes, you take six men and go back along the west side of the road and I’ll take the rest to check out the east. They could’ve headed for Douglas and the border, down past the Cowan and Davis ranches, or they may’ve gone right down the San Pedro.”

Zach pulled out the pencil and notebook he always carried in his shirt pocket. He scribbled a quick note, tore the sheet out, and folded it.

Turning to the freighter, he handed note to the man.

“Could you see this gets delivered to Mrs. Cashman? It’s important.

My sister is staying there and this concerns her welfare.”

The freighter nodded, clearly impressed by Zach’s sober expression and serious tone. “Shore can. Guarantee it.”

“Marshal, I’ll come along with you, if it’s all right. You might have need for an extra man at some point. But I won’t be running my horse.

He’s put in a lot of miles the past two days and I don’t want to abuse him.”

The marshal nodded. “Reckon I might. Say, aren’t you the young fellow Tug Gallager was beatin’ up on the other night? Looks like you recovered pretty fast.”

“If Gallager is the big brute who follows Jake McEuen around, I am. It just occurred to me that Jake could have been involved in this robbery. Anyone seen him lately?”

The marshal paused. “You just might have something there. I couldn’t say. None of the witnesses seemed to recognize anybody, but that don’t prove a thing. If we can’t find their tracks, I’ll check into that when we get back to town. Let’s go.”

The marshal turned his big sorrel off the road and headed toward the pass between the Mules and the south Dragoons. Zach reined Rusty around and fell in with the other men, following the marshal. At least he could write a whale of a dispatch to send back to the Star about riding with a posse after a pack of real outlaws. And if the outlaws turned out to be Jake and his cronies, that would be even better.

He brushed aside a slight twinge of uncertainty. With Emily safe in Bisbee and Mary Ann in Mrs. Cashman’s capable care, Zach could afford to obey the instinct that suggested he go with the marshal.

* * * *

Although her little mare was eager, Emily didn’t try for too much speed. She knew better than to run a horse uphill in rugged country, and she found trotting too uncomfortable. She couldn’t ever get both feet secure in the stirrups to take some of the weight off her bottom. Still, the buckskin had a nice quick walk that was smooth as cream. The little mare fell willingly into the gait too.

In less than an hour, they had crossed the Mule Mountain pass and were well down into Banning Creek canyon. At one point, Emily could see some distance out into the valley. She spotted a cloud of dust, as if a group of riders were coming east at a good clip.

The more she thought about that, the less secure she felt. What if it were Jake and his men? She couldn’t think of a reason for them to come to Bisbee, unless Jake’s crooked tricks had become too well known in Tombstone, forcing him to go elsewhere to separate miners from their hard-earned wages.

But what if they had caught up to Zach and found out he’d been to Bisbee, deducing from that her whereabouts? Although Emily was sure Zach wouldn’t voluntarily give away the fact he’d taken her to Bisbee and left her there, Jake had the animal cunning to figure out answers from a few small clues. Scary thought!

As soon as she got out of the canyon where there was more room to maneuver, she’d definitely leave the road. Tombstone was on the other side of those rugged gray hills. She could get there by going through them or around them to the south as easily as following the road, which crossed their northeastern edge.

Awkward as it was to trot, Emily urged the mare into the brisker gait. They hurried down the canyon. Before she reached the valley, her bottom felt bruised and her knees ached from trying to ease the steady thumping on the saddle, but she knew she’d traveled a lot faster than she could have at a walk. At least so far, no mounted group had appeared. Perhaps she could manage to evade them.

Near the canyon mouth, Emily detoured to the stream where she and Zach had rested the previous day. Since it was off the road, that stop should be safe enough. And necessary. One thing she had forgotten to buy was a canteen. A foolish error on her part, and one she already regretted.

Slipping from the saddle, she stretched her weary legs and rubbed her abused backside before dropping to her knees at the water’s edge.

She drank as much as she could and let the mare drink her fill too.

Then, she soaked her hat and put it back on as she had seen Zach do.

The resulting coolness amazed her.

She recalled then how houses in Fort Huachuca—in 2000—were effectively cooled by drawing air through pads saturated with water.

Evaporative cooling really worked in the desert. How long before people figured out that principle and put it to work? If she could find a way to do it here and now, she could get rich!

With a wry laugh at her flight of fancy, Emily climbed back into the saddle and headed off in a northwesterly direction.

Now she held the mare to a walk. She kept both eyes and ears attuned for any hint of other riders in the vicinity. If she got wind of them before they noticed her, she could easily slip into an arroyo or a thicket of mesquite and hide until they passed. The buckskin mare’s tawny hide almost matched the dull dun shade of the ground, so she’d blend easily into the scenery.

As the day wore on, the heat built until Emily felt as if she were riding in an oven. The slow pace began to wear on her. The hills between her and Tombstone seemed no closer than they had been hours ago. Even the perky little mare showed signs of weariness and began to stumble now and then.

Going across country proved to be harder than following the road.

Emily often had to turn back or go around a barrier such as a sheer-sided arroyo or cliff that blocked her path. Maybe that was why her progress seemed to be so painfully slow.

Her mouth was parched now, and even with the hat, her face burned from the heat and light reflecting back off the pale rocks and ground.

Following a particularly deep and rugged arroyo, seeking a place to cross, Emily drifted farther and farther to the west.

Suddenly the mare flung her head up and snorted. Sitting up straighter in her saddle, Emily looked ahead. She saw the green tops of cottonwood trees peeking over the rock and mesquite—they were almost to the river!

Scenting water, the little mare picked up her pace and all but ignored Emily’s tug on the reins. They passed a spot where the arroyo could have been crossed and headed straight for the river. With a sigh, Emily gave in to her mount’s wishes. The idea of water and shade was too tempting to deny.

Moments later, they slid down a bank into the riverbed and moved under the welcoming shade. Only then did Emily see several other horses, loosely tied to trees, grazing along the grassy bank. And the six dusty, grim looking men who lounged in the shade while their sweat-frosted mounts rested.