As Uncle Dan led the women into the trees, Casey seemed to notice Dog for the first time. “Is that a wolf?” she asked worriedly as she shrank away from the big cur.
Preacher took the reins of the buggy horse to lead the animal into the woods. He laughed and said, “No, that’s just Dog. Hold out your hand and let him sniff it.”
“I’m not sure about that. He looks like he could bite it right off.”
“But he won’t,” Preacher assured her. “Dog, these are friends. Jessie and Casey. Friends.”
One by one, they let Dog sniff their hands. The big cur’s bushy tail began to swish back and forth.
“You’re safe from him now,” Preacher said. “He’ll never forget your scent. And he’ll die to protect you, if I tell him to.”
“I hope it won’t ever come to that,” Jessie said, “but with Shad bound to come after us . . .”
She didn’t have to finish that sentence. Preacher and the two women knew that even though they had made it safely out of St. Louis, they weren’t out of danger, by any means. In fact, you could say that even though they had reached the camp in the trees, they weren’t out of the woods, Preacher thought.
He unhitched the buggy horse and picketed it near Uncle Dan’s saddle mount and the pack horses. Meanwhile, the old-timer prepared supper over a small, almost invisible fire. When the food was ready, the four of them gathered around the embers to eat.
Jessie and Casey both said they weren’t very hungry after everything that had happened, but Preacher noticed that they put away plenty of food anyway. Having an appetite, even if they didn’t realize it, was a good sign. When they were finished with the meal, Preacher filled a cup with coffee and let the two women pass it back and forth, since he and Uncle Dan didn’t have any extra cups.
“All right,” the old man said. “Now you can tell me what happened.”
Preacher proceeded to do so, telling Uncle Dan about how he had fallen in with the campaign being waged against Beaumont by Jessie and Cleve. He drew a startled exclamation from the old-timer when he mentioned Buckhalter being alive and explained about running into the renegade wagon master at Jessie’s Place.
“When he recognized me, that tore it,” Preacher concluded. “There was some gunplay, and that fella Brutus who worked for Miss Jessie wound up dead, along with Buckhalter. Beaumont busted out through a window and got away.”
Uncle Dan let out a low whistle. “So the polecat’s still alive?”
“He is, as far as I know,” Preacher confirmed.
Uncle Dan shook his head and said, “That ain’t good. Beaumont’s so full o’ hate, he’ll have to come after the three of you. He’ll figure you double-crossed him, and he has to even the score.”
“That’s exactly the way he’ll react,” Jessie said.
Preacher clasped his hands together in front of him and leaned forward as he sat on a log. “Question is, will he send a bunch of hired killers after us . . . or will he come along, too?”
Jessie considered that for a moment, then said, “I think there’s at least a chance he’ll come after us himself. Along with as many men as he can gather up, of course. He’ll want the odds overwhelmingly on his side.”
“I was sort of hopin’ you’d say that,” Preacher replied as a grin stretched across his rugged face. “If Beaumont just sends men after us, Uncle Dan and I are right back where we started. But if he comes along, too, then we might be able to turn that to our advantage.”
“I don’t understand,” Casey put in. “What makes you say that?”
“St. Louis is Beaumont’s stompin’ ground. But once he gets out of town, then he’s in territory that’s more to my likin’.”
“He’ll try to recruit some experienced frontiersmen to come along,” Jessie warned.
Uncle Dan let out a cackle of laughter. “There ain’t no frontiersmen better’n Preacher. Shoot, I’m a lot older’n he is, and I’ll bet he’s forgot more about survivin’ out here than I ever knowed.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Preacher said. “But if I’ve got to fight Beaumont and an army, I’d rather do it out away from town.”
Jessie nodded. “That makes sense. You won’t be fighting that army alone, though. You have the three of us.”
“Not really.” Preacher shook his head. “I want Uncle Dan to take you two gals and get you as far away from here as he can, as fast as he can.”
Jessie and Casey both exclaimed in surprise at that statement.
Preacher held up a hand. “Hold on. I can do a better job of fightin’ Beaumont if I know you two are safe.”
“Forget it,” Jessie snapped. “We have plenty of reason to hate Shad, too. You can’t just send us away, Preacher.”
“And what about me?” Uncle Dan put in. “I thought we was goin’ after Beaumont together.”
“That’s the way it started out, but things have changed,” Preacher said. “It’s more important now for you to look after Jessie and Casey.”
“We don’t need looking after,” Jessie argued.
Casey was a little less vehement, but she agreed. “I want to help you, Preacher. I want to see Beaumont get what’s coming to him.”
“Oh, he’ll get what’s comin’ to him, all right,” Preacher said. “You got my word on that. No matter what else happens, Beaumont’s a dead man.”
“But what if you wind up the same way?” Casey said.
“Well . . . some things are worth the price, I reckon.” Preacher got to his feet. “I’m hopin’ it’ll be safe enough for the three of you to stay here tonight, so I can find you later.”
Uncle Dan stared at him. “What? Where in blazes are you goin’?”
“Back to St. Louis,” Preacher said.
Chapter 27
Even though it was too dark to see very well, Preacher sensed that all three of them were staring at him. Uncle Dan broke the surprised silence by saying, “Back to St. Looey? What in the blue blazes for?”
“Horse, for one thing,” Preacher replied. “He’s still in the stable behind Beaumont’s house, I reckon. That big fella and me been trail partners for long enough that I can’t just abandon him. For another thing, if I’m gonna be fightin’ a whole army, I want my rifle and my other pistol, and they’re in the servant’s quarters at Beaumont’s.”
“How in the world do you intend to do that?” Jessie asked. “You can’t expect Shad to let you just waltz in and take those things.”
“I don’t,” Preacher said. “But I’m a pretty fair hand at sneakin’ in and out of places.”
“You’ll need to be better’n a fair hand,” Uncle Dan said. “You’ll get yourself killed, that’s what you’ll do.”
Preacher shook his head. “I got to try. Simple as that. I’ll take one of the pack horses and ride back to town.”
Casey stood up and came over to him. She laid a hand on his arm and said, “That sounds awfully risky to me. Can’t you stay here with us? I don’t want anything to happen to you. You can get another horse and some guns somewhere else, can’t you?”
“You’re wastin’ your time, darlin’,” Uncle Dan said. “I never seen anybody get Preacher to change his mind once he’s got it made up. He’s just about the stubbornest ol’ cuss you’ll ever see.”
“That’s because I’m right more often than not,” Preacher said.
Jessie got to her feet and came over to Preacher, standing on his other side. She put a hand on his arm as well and said, “Are you sure that Cassandra and I can’t change your mind, Preacher? We could give you plenty of good reasons to stay here tonight.”
Uncle Dan let out a low whistle. Preacher had to laugh at the old-timer’s reaction.
“You gals make it mighty temptin’,” he said, “but like Uncle Dan said, my mind’s made up. I’ll be back by mornin’, and then we’ll figure out what to do next.”