Ben Cardwell had the supreme arrogance to believe that no one could touch him. Not the many partners he had double-crossed and left behind, and not the law. He was too smart for all of them, as evidenced by the fact that he was now riding alone, with all the money from Vengeance Creek.
He was heading north, with the intention of hitting the one bank he’d always wanted to hit—the Bank of Denver.
The Sangre de Cristo Pass was clear, which was good news for Thomas and Cory. The horses had made it fine, and Cory was pleased with his own performance.
“Maybe you’re not as old as you think,” Thomas said across the fire.
“Oh, yeah,” Cory said, “I’m as old as I think, but I’m in better shape than I thought.”
Thomas looked up at the moon, and the peaks silhouetted against them.
“Those are beautiful.”
“Las Cumbras Espanolas,” Cory said, “as our friend Rigoberto would say.”
“And what would we say?”
“The Spanish Peaks.”
“Right, right,” Thomas said, “the mountains we don’t have to go over.”
“It shouldn’t be very hard from here,” Cory said, washing down some jerky with water from his canteen. They had found a waterhole and had been able to refill the canteens with some ice cold mountain water.
“I hope James is all right,” Thomas said.
“Maybe you’ve got to stop takin’ care of him, Thomas,” Cory said. “Let him go off on his own sometime.”
“This was sometime, Ralph,” Thomas said. “This is the first time James and I have been out without Pa. I’ve got to look after him. If somethin’ happens to him, I’m gonna have to explain it to Pa.”
“Well, he’s got Rigoberto with him.”
“Considering Pa pulled Berto out of the back room of a saloon, that don’t make me feel too confident.”
“Berto’s a good man, Thomas,” Cory said. “Don’t worry. When they get to Denver, we’ll be there waitin’.”
“Hopefully ahead of Cardwell and Jacks,” Thomas said. “If he gets there first and manages to put some men together, we’ll be outnumbered.”
“I’ve been outnumbered before,” Cory said. “From what you told me about last year, you and your brother and your pa have been too.”
“Yeah, we have.”
“Get some sleep,” Cory said. “I’ll take the first watch tonight. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. I want to sit back and enjoy it for a while.”
“Sounds good to me,” Thomas said, pulling his blanket around him. “I’m beat.”
“Yeah,” Cory said, “you better rest your young bones while the old-timer stands watch.”
“Fine,” Thomas said through a yawn, “whatever you say…old-timer.”
When Dan Shaye opened his eyes, he looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. He didn’t think he had ever been in a bed, or a room, this plush and comfortable. Frowning, he tried to remember how he had gotten there.
He tossed back the blanket and looked down at himself. He was naked, except for a clean new bandage on his wound. When he heard the doorknob turn, he quickly covered himself before the door opened.
“Oh good,” the woman who entered said, “you’re awake.”
“Who are you?” he demanded. “How did I get here?”
“My name is Wendy Williams,” the attractive young woman said, “and you’re in my home. This is the Double W Ranch.”
“Double—I remember. I was talking to a man—your foreman—”
“Hal Forbes,” she said, smoothing down the front of her blue dress and perching herself on the edge of the bed. She smelled like lilacs. He knew that because his wife, Mary, had loved lilacs. “Yes, my foreman. You were talking to him and some of my men when you fell off your horse. They brought you here, and I had the doctor from town come and look at you.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that judging from the severity of your wound—which he judges to be anywhere from ten days to two weeks old—you should not be riding a horse.”
“I have to ride,” he said. “I have to find my sons.”
“Thomas being one of them?” she asked.
“Yes, and James.”
“Your sons…and your deputies?”
“Yes.”
“Have you not heard from them since they left Vengeance Creek to track those bank robbers?”
“No, I haven’t.”
She frowned and said, “Not very considerate of them not to have sent you a telegram, at least.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Or could it be they’re just doing their job, the way you taught them?”
Shaye looked at the woman sharply, then relaxed and said, “You’re a very smart young woman, aren’t you, ma’am?”
“I like to think so,” she said, “and please don’t call me ma’am. My name is Wendy.”
“Well, Wendy, I thank you for your help, and I’d like to have my clothes now so I can be on my way.”
“No.”
“I—What?”
“I may not be able to keep you from riding,” she said, standing up, “but I can keep you from riding anymore today. In the morning, if you still want to go, I’ll bring you some clothes. You’ll have to wear a pair of my father’s old pants. Yours were soaked with blood, and we had to cut them off you.”
Shaye studied the determined set of the young woman’s chin for a moment and knew he was licked.
“Can you at least have someone go to town and send a telegram for me?”
“I can do that,” she said. “I’ll get you some paper and pencil so you can write it out.”
“I’m much obliged to you, ma—Wendy.”
“I’ll be right back,” she said, “with pencil, paper…and some food. And if you don’t eat it, I won’t loan you a pair of my father’s pants.”
As she left the room, Shaye had to admit that he was feeling hungry. Some food and a good night’s rest in a plush bed like this one would do him a world of good, and then he could hit the trail again early the next morning.
When she returned and set a tray of stew by his bed—after eliciting from him the promise to eat it—he wrote out his telegram for her to have sent to Vengeance Creek for him. He hoped it would cross wires with something from one or both of his sons, so he could know where they were and how they were.
He never would have guessed the response he’d receive.
66
When Thomas and Ralph Cory finally rode into Denver, they were tired, hungry, dirty, and bearded.
“First thing we’ve got to do is talk to the local law,” Thomas said.
“That would be the police,” Cory said. “They have a police department here, like in the East.”
“No sheriff?”
“Oh, there’s a sheriff, but he’s not a sheriff like your pa is,” Cory said. “No, we have to talk to the chief of police—but before we do that we’ll have to clean up, or he won’t even see us.”
“What if Cardwell’s already here?”
“We’ll have to hope he’s not,” Cory said. “We have to hope we didn’t come over the mountains and through the pass for no reason at all. But either way, I’m tellin’ you the police chief won’t see us lookin’—and smellin’—like this.”
“All right,” Thomas said. “We’ll take baths, get shaved, and then go see him. Can we do that without actually checking into a hotel?”
“We could,” Cory said, “but checkin’ into a hotel sounds like a good idea to me. We’re likely gonna have to spend a few nights here, no matter what happens.”
“Ralph,” Thomas said, “we should probably get right over to the bank and warn them.”
“Thomas, do you know which bank Cardwell wants to hit?”