Back to Tomorrow

Chapter 10-2

Hulk remained in his chair, sipping coffee as he followed her every move with his cow-like gaze. She suspected he was the one who had given Zach the cruel beating. Much as she wanted to extract some revenge, she wanted more to keep him as her ace-in-the-hole, convinced he might turn on Jake if approached properly. Nobody could enjoy being treated with the casual contempt the other two men exhibited toward him. He might look ox-dumb, but book covers sometimes lied.

After supper, of which Emily ate hardly a bite, Jake and Bucky got up and prepared to leave. Jake looked at Hulk. “We’re going to go back and get the rest of the miners’ pay to grubstake us. Since you’re as much use in a poker game as a teapot in a saloon, you stay here and watch missy. Don’t let her out of your sight.”

The two stalked out, and in a few moments the sounds of their horses’ hoof beats faded into silence. Emily washed up the few dishes they had used and put them away. Shoving sweat-lank hair back from her face, she moved to stand at the back door where a slight breeze stirred the air.

The big man watched her suspiciously. Her back itched with the intensity of his stare. Finally she turned away from the door. “Would you like some more coffee?”

He shrugged one heavy shoulder. “Sure, why not. Is there any sugar? It’s better sweet.”

Another rummage through the cupboard located a small jar with a few grayish lumps of sugar. Emily brought it to the table along with the cup of coffee and a bent spoon. Hulk stirred half the sugar into his cup and took a noisy slurp. She returned to the doorway.

As the last of the wispy sunset clouds faded from rose and gold to gray, she thought she heard a noise outside. It sounded as if someone had brushed or bumped against the wall, just to the right of the door.

Jake and Bucky hadn’t been gone long. They surely wouldn’t have returned yet, and they wouldn’t likely skulk outside, anyway. Perhaps it was just an animal. Still, something urged her to check. Emily glanced back at Hulk. He slouched in the chair, now appearing to be almost asleep. She reached for the latch to open the rusted screen door.

“Where you going, missy?”

So he wasn’t asleep, only playing ‘possum. Shoot. “I—er, to visit the necessary. I know the way. I’ll only be a moment.”

He started to heave his bulk from the chair. She shook her head.

“No, you can trust me. Where could I go in the dark? There’s snakes and everything out there. I’m not going to be stupid!”

“Awright. I’ll give you five minutes.”

How he’d know when that time had passed, she couldn’t guess, but it seemed reasonable. She pushed the door open and stepped out of the cabin. The flimsy door slapped shut behind her, loud as a shot in the quiet evening.

“Psst.”

Emily jumped, barely containing a startled shriek.

“Hush. It’s me, Zach. Don’t say anything. Just walk on toward the necessary, but keep going past it. My horse is there under the bank.”

“I’ve only got five minutes before the Hulk comes looking for me,” Emily whispered.

Zach chuckled. “The Hulk, huh? I think I’d call him Attila the Hun.

I heard him. It’s okay. We’ll be out of sight by then.” Zach patted her arm lightly before turning to disappear into the dusk.

Emily continued down the path, nearly a rut, leading to the outhouse. The door faced away from the cabin, for which she was properly grateful. She wrinkled her nose as she passed the odoriferous facility. That was one thing about the nineteenth century she would not miss when she went back. And she would go back, she had to believe that. More and more, she found she missed the conveniences and comfort of life in 2000.

Especially for women, the nineteenth century held little besides drudgery, danger, and discomfort. I’ll never look at history quite the same again. She smiled ruefully at the thought as she circled around the privy to the brink of the riverbank.

There she hesitated, not really wanting to step blindly into the thicket of small shrubs and weeds that hid the ground. When something rustled nearby, she froze in her tracks.

Please, don’t be a snake! Before she could gather enough courage to move again, two louder sounds came, almost simultaneously, the slap of the cabin door and the soft whuffle of Zach’s horse as it scrambled up the steep slope near her.

“Missy, you better come back now. You’ve took long enough to do your business.” The Hulk’s voice sounded as if he was right behind her, but she knew sounds carried at night in the quiet, moister air. She held herself stock-still, grateful now that there was no moon.

Zach and his mount loomed black against the charcoal sky. He reached down to her. “Grab my hand and I’ll pull you up.” With the sound of Hulk’s footsteps rapidly drawing near, Emily needed no further urging. She caught Zach’s hand and did her best to help him swing her up in front of him.

“Can your horse carry double? He’s not nearly as big as Hulk’s beast.”

“He’ll be all right for a while. He’s had most of the afternoon to rest. I was here just poking around when they brought you down from Tombstone. Then I had to wait for the chance to get you away.”

Emily tried to cooperate as Zach settled her across his thighs and kicked the bay into a lope. Behind them, Hulk’s angry curses echoed in the evening quiet. The big man hadn’t even brought his pistol when he came out to look for her so there wasn’t a thing he could do.

Before he could saddle his horse and attempt to follow them, they’d disappear into the darkness. Emily’s pounding heart gradually slowed to its normal rhythm, her whole body suddenly feeling limp and weak with relief.

“I let his horse loose,” Zach whispered, as if he’d read her mind.

“He won’t be chasing us for a while.”

“I would have stayed,” Emily said, “if it would have distracted them long enough for you to get Mary Ann to safety.”

Zach snorted. “No way! Jake would have left you with Hulk or Bucky and gone on trying to get Mary Ann back. ‘Course if he knows she’s sick, he might have second thoughts. I hear he’s about ready to leave town—having trouble getting people to gamble with him now.

Word’s out he cheats.”

Before long, Zach slowed his horse to a walk. Not only was it easier on the animal, but it was quieter so he could listen for pursuit. Moving slowly now, they followed a faint trail that wound among the hills in a southeasterly direction, the horse’s hooves making only soft, muffled plops in the white dust.

His thoughts whirled in frantic circles. Where should he go now? If it was back to Tombstone, he’d have to find a seldom-used path where he’d be sure not to meet Jake. He wasn’t sure either Emily or Mary Ann were safe at Nellie’s, but he couldn’t think of a better place to take them, especially since Mary Ann was still not well.

If he explained matters to Nellie, maybe she’d keep a close watch on Emily and not send her on any errands away from the boarding house. So long as she stayed inside, perhaps Jake would leave her alone.

The fact he was as concerned about Emily as he was about Mary Ann took Zach by surprise. Mary Ann was his sister; he’d been responsible for her for much of his life. So how had Emily achieved a place of equal importance in the few short days he had known her?

Certainly she was an unusual young woman, spunky and bold, very different from any of the ladies with whom he’d had anything to do in the past. Maybe it was just the novelty. She sat quietly in his lap now, leaning against him and apparently completely at ease.

She had one arm clasped around his waist, and her head rested on his shoulder, a few wisps of her hair tickling his throat and jaw. There was something very trusting in her posture and calmness. As small as she was, it was almost like holding a child—but Emily was no child and his body knew that very well.

Whether or not she was really from the future, this wasn’t her fight, but she’d been drawn into it and then made it her own. Zach vowed to himself to see she came to no more harm as a result of that involvement. That was the least he could do.

* * * *

Emily, worn out buy the harrowing experiences of the day and lulled by the gentle rocking movement of the horse’s ambling walk, dozed off. With Zach holding her securely, she felt oddly safe, in spite of the fact they wandered who-knew-where in the darkness with a bunch of outlaws on their track, no doubt bent on violence.

But this was an adventure, an adventure like none she had ever dreamed she’d have. Someday perhaps she could tell her grandchildren about fleeing from bad men in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. They’d probably think she was telling tall tales!

Even if she never did get back to her own time, in fifty years she knew how different life would be—automobiles and airplanes, radios and movies, and dozens of things no one had more than imagined yet.

In 1939, this time would seem almost as remote as it did in 2000—or as 2000 did from this moment.

She sighed and burrowed her head into the hollow of Zach’s shoulder. He might think her bold and fast, snuggling up that way, but it felt so good, so comfortable. Right now, that was all that mattered.

Some inner sense told her she couldn’t be safer in the care of anyone on earth, either of her time or his.

* * * *

At the sudden cessation of motion, Emily snapped fully awake.

Glancing around, she found they were in a narrow arroyo, the banks hardly an arm’s length to either side and reaching high enough to cut off her view of a good deal of the star strewn sky.

“What—”

“Shh,” Zach’s warning was a barely-voiced whisper. He eased himself out from behind and under her to swing to the ground. As soon as he lit, he reached to put his hand over the bay’s muzzle.

Emily clutched the saddle horn, feeling dizzy and exposed without Zach’s warm presence beside her. Then she heard the clatter of hoof beats pounding up the broad wash they had been following. If that was Jake and his friends, they were really pushing to catch up. She wasn’t sure how long she and Zach had been riding, for her intermittent naps had played hob with her normal awareness of time passing.

She nibbled her lip, trying not to make a sound as she breathed. The rhythm of her racing heartbeat thundered in her ears. The horse shifted slightly, but Zach held him steady. As the other riders passed the mouth of their hideaway, Emily realized they’d traveled several hundred feet up the smaller gully, probably around a bend or two, for the sounds were muffled. She could hear voices, but couldn’t make out the words or identify the speakers.

Zach stood unmoving, his hand over the bay’s muzzle until the sounds of the other riders faded into silence. “Whew, I’m glad they were making such a racket. And glad I noticed this little side canyon too.”

A chill settled in Emily’s stomach at the thought. Jake wouldn’t take kindly to being foiled. She didn’t envy The Hulk right now, as he’d probably borne the brunt of Jake’s wrath, but she had no desire to share in it. “Do you think they’ll come back?”