All My Tomorrows (17 page)

With that, Deena began to sob.

Norma moved up and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’re just upset, Deena. I know everything that happened to you before you came here was enough to do anybody in. You go on up to your room for a while and get a grip on yourself. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you to do the washing.”

Deena sniffled again, looked at Norma through her tears, then turned without another word and hurried out of the kitchen.

When she entered her room, she threw herself on the bed face down, and wept like her heart was going to break in two.

“Oh, Donna, I miss you so much! I hope things have worked out better for you than they have for me.”

On Wednesday morning, April 12, the train was nearing Colorado Springs and was on a long curve that allowed Sheriff Clay Bostin to look past his prisoner and see snow-capped Pike’s Peak glistening in the sun.

Lord,
he prayed,
Mary will be waiting for the train, not even knowing I’m on it. She’ll have to look the children over by herself,
since I’ve got to take Gatlin to the jail. If the child You have chosen for us is on this train, please guide Mary to him or her.

Soon the train was pulling into the station. Bostin leaned close to his prisoner. “We’ll get off after the other passengers do.”

Shad Gatlin nodded grimly, his arms aching for their cramped position behind his back.

When the train stopped and those passengers who were getting off lined up to leave, Gatlin flicked a glance to the rear and saw Bart Caddo in line, facing the rear door. He had no idea what Caddo had in mind to free him, but he knew it was coming.

In the orphan coaches, the children waited patiently on their seats, knowing they would line up on the depot platform immediately after the passengers in the other coaches had gotten off the train. As they looked out their windows, they saw that the prospective foster parents were in full view as they were being questioned by the Children’s Aid Society sponsors.

A large number of people were milling about.

Among the prospective foster parents was Mary Bostin. When Lorinda Radcliff had finished questioning her and she had been approved to pass through the line of orphans when they came out, Mary stepped away. “Lord, I wish Clay was back, but since he’s not, I’ll have to do this alone. Please show me if the child You want us to have is among the orphans.”

Moments later, the children were being brought out of the coaches, and were lining up at the same time that Sheriff Clay Bostin and his prisoner were coming out of their coach.

Gatlin let his line of sight stray to the children as he and the sheriff stepped down on the platform.

Bostin looked toward the rear of the train. “Okay, Shad, we’ll head for the cattle car and get our horses.”

Suddenly Gatlin caught a glimpse of Bart Caddo as he slipped up behind the sheriff, gun in hand. Caddo rammed the muzzle of
the revolver tight against Bostin’s backbone and snapped back the hammer. “Take the cuffs off Shad, Sheriff, or I’ll squeeze the trigger and cut your spine in two!”

A few people close by saw what was happening and looked on in frozen astonishment.

Bostin’s mouth went dry. He knew better than to try resisting a friend of Gatlin’s with a cocked gun pressed against his back.

“Okay, okay, just take it easy, fella. There are innocent people all around. Don’t do anything to hurt them.”

“I won’t if you’ll do as I say.”

Reluctantly, Bostin unlocked the handcuffs. Gatlin snatched the sheriff’s gun from his holster and looked at the children a few feet away, who were now standing in line, waiting for the procession to begin.

In the line, Teddy Hansen and Johnny Smith were talking to each other past the girl who stood between them.

Gatlin set his jaw and looked at Caddo. “Wait right here and keep your gun on the sheriff.” With that, he moved toward the line of children and grabbed Johnny Smith, locking the boy’s neck in the crook of his free arm. Quickly, he cocked the gun and pressed the muzzle to Johnny’s head.

Bostin’s stomach wrenched. All his senses wound tight. Shad Gatlin possessed a menacing quality like no killer the sheriff had ever encountered before. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill the boy.

Frozen with fear, Johnny let out a gasp. Teddy and the other children looked on in terror. Men were looking on wide-eyed, women began to scream, and most of the children in the line began to cry.

The sponsors observed helplessly. A few feet away, Mary Bostin looked on, her blood curdling.

“You do what I tell you now, kid,” Gatlin said, “or I’ll blow your head off.”

Johnny’s heart was thundering in his chest. His pulse throbbed and his skin tingled. While Gatlin forced him toward the spot where Caddo and the sheriff stood, he repeatedly gasped for breath.

While Gatlin and the boy were moving his way, Clay Bostin caught a glimpse of Mary’s white face among the group of prospective foster parents.

With the gun muzzle pressed against Johnny’s head, Gatlin growled, “Bostin, I’m takin this kid as my hostage. If I so much as see you followin’, I’ll kill ’im. You got that?”

The muscles in Bostin’s face tightened and the veins stood out in his temples. “Yeah. I got it.”

Johnny put terror-filled eyes on the helpless, unarmed man with the badge on his chest. Bostin’s emotions were mixed: wrath toward Gatlin and his accomplice, and empathy for the frightened boy.

The outlaws hurried out of the depot with Gatlin keeping Johnny locked in his arm and the gun muzzle pressed to his head.

As soon as they passed from view, the sheriff rushed up to the stunned sponsors. “What’s the boy’s name?”

“Johnny Smith, Sheriff,” said a dry-tongued Dale Radcliff. “He’s twelve years old.”

“I want you to know that I am going after those outlaws, and I will rescue Johnny.”

At that moment, Clay saw Mary move up beside him, her face still pale. “Honey,” she said, her throat somewhat constricted, “you’re not going after them by yourself, are you?”

“I must, sweetheart, for the same reason that I went after Gatlin by myself. I can’t leave just one deputy to watch over the town and the county. My horse is back there in the cattle car that is hitched to the train. I’ll ride to the office, tell Brent and Randy what happened, then go in pursuit of Gatlin and his outlaw friend and rescue the boy.”

“I heard what Gatlin said about killing the boy if he sees you following.”

“I’ll be extremely careful, but I must do it, Mary. Gatlin has already proven that he will indeed murder a child. My going to the office first will give the outlaws time to get out of town and head into the mountains.”

“How do you know they’ll head into the mountains?”

“Because staying on the flat land north, south, or east would make it too easy to spot them. It’s much easier to make an escape in the mountains.”

Mary’s brown eyes were clouded with concern. “But can’t you take at least one of the townsmen who have served in your posses when you’ve gone after outlaws? I don’t like to see you go alone.”

“It’s much easier for one man to keep himself from being seen than two men. I’ll catch those outlaws and rescue the boy. You’re aware that I know these mountains like I know the back of my hand, Mary. I was born and raised in them.” His keen eyes went to his beloved snow-capped Rockies. “Nobody can hide from me up there when I have a mind to find them.”

He looked at her again. “I’ll lay my plans well and take no unnecessary risks.” He gave her one of those special smiles that always melted her heart. “And besides, I won’t be alone. Jesus said He would never leave me nor forsake me. I can’t have a better companion than Him, can I?”

Mary managed a smile of her own. “When you put it like that, who am I to argue? Go with God, my love, and my heart and prayers go with you.”

Clay took Mary in his arms, kissed her and hugged her tight, told her he loved her, then hurried to the cattle car. He found the conductor, who told him that both horses had been taken to the hitch rail at the front of the terminal.

Ten minutes later, he drew up to his office with the stolen
horse in tow and found Deputies Brent Davis and Randy Ashbrook talking to one of the townsmen, whose name was Edgar Talmadge. When he rushed up to them, he learned that Talmadge had been at the depot, and had hurried to the sheriff’s office to alert the deputies so they could give the sheriff some help with the outlaws. The deputies were just about to jump on their horses and ride to the depot.

Bostin thanked Talmadge for his deed and explained that the outlaws had escaped, taking a boy from among the orphans as hostage. He was going after them.

The sheriff then took his deputies inside the office and explained in detail how he caught Shad Gatlin, and what happened when they arrived at the Colorado Springs depot.

“Once I got a good look at Gatlin’s accomplice,” said Bostin, “I remembered seeing his face on wanted posters. His name is Bart Caddo.”

“Oh, sure,” said Davis. “I remember seeing posters on him too. He’s a cold-blooded killer.”

“Sheriff,” said Ashbrook, “I’ll go with you. I don’t want you having to track them down by yourself.”

“I can’t leave the town and the county with only one deputy, Randy. Besides, I didn’t tell you about Gatlin’s threat. He said he’d kill Johnny Smith if he so much as saw me following. By myself, I’ll have a better chance of staying out of sight, than two of us would. Gatlin
is
a child killer, you know. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill that boy. Once I spot them, I’ll figure out a way to move around in front of them without being seen and surprise them.”

Both deputies nodded.

“All right, Sheriff,” said Randy. “I understand. Go rescue that boy.”

Bostin nodded. “One of you needs to take that horse Gatlin stole and put it in the stable. When I get back, I’ll have to see if
we can find its owner, who no doubt lives near Canon City.”

“We’ll take care of it, Sheriff,” said Brent. “You just go rescue that boy.”

Returning to the depot with another revolver in his holster, a spare one in a saddlebag, and his rifle in the saddle boot, Sheriff Clay Bostin learned from the townspeople that the outlaws had stolen two saddle horses from the hitch rail outside the terminal and headed toward the mountains. One of them had the boy in the saddle with him.

Leaving the depot, Bostin mounted his gelding and put him to a trot.

Just outside of town on the west side, he talked to people who saw the men with the boy riding into the mountains.

Being an expert tracker, Bostin soon picked up their trail.

As he rode into the high country cautiously, eyes peeled ahead of him, he said, “Lord, please give me wisdom in this pursuit. Help me to catch up to them by surprise somehow, and to save Johnny’s life. I know that once Gatlin and Caddo figure they are safe, Gatlin will kill the boy anyhow and ride on.”

A
t the Colorado Springs depot, the orphan children were extremely upset because of what happened to Johnny Smith. Many were saying that Johnny was going to be killed by the bad men.

Two boys and a girl had been chosen by foster parents, and as they were leaving, Dale Radcliff spoke above the loud cries. “Boys and girls, listen to me! I want us all to gather in the girls’ coach so I can talk to you.”

The Nelsons, Lorinda, and Mandy Hillen quickly ushered the children into the girls’ coach, and when all were seated—with some of them bunched up four to a seat—Dale stood before them at the front of the coach while the other sponsors and the nurse were trying to quiet those who were wailing the loudest.

Holding up his hands to get their attention, Dale said loudly, “Please, children, stop crying.”

The other adults worked at calming and quieting those who were most disturbed, and after a minute or so, there was almost total silence. Every eye was on Dale. “Boys and girls, I want us to have prayer right now for Johnny. Let’s all bow our heads and close our eyes.”

Dale led in prayer, asking the Lord to keep His hand on Johnny Smith, and to protect him from harm. He asked that Sheriff Clay Bostin be able to track down the outlaws and subdue them, and to bring Johnny back to Colorado Springs safely.

After the amen, Dale ran his gaze over the faces of the children. “I talked to one of the railroad executives in the terminal a few minutes ago. He told me he would send a telegram to the home office of the Children’s Aid Society and let them know about Johnny being taken by those men. He will keep in touch with Mr. Brace by wire and let him know when Sheriff Bostin returns to Colorado Springs with Johnny. He will ask Mr. Brace to wire a message ahead of the train so we can be told the news upon arrival in whatever depot it happens to be. So let’s keep praying, okay?”

Heads of the older children were nodding.

The boys were then taken to their coach.

The train pulled out, and as it headed into the mountains on its way to Utah, some of the younger girls began crying again. Lorinda, Shelley, and Mandy went to those who were crying the loudest and tried to comfort them.

Near the rear of the coach, one of the little girls—six-year-old Nellie Thompson—was curled up on a seat alone and unnoticed, trembling and sniffling.

Nellie’s once well-ordered life was now in a disordered state. She had lived in a beautiful house on Long Island with her loving parents and had lots of toys, dolls, and games. And now they were all gone. Her parents had been killed suddenly, leaving her all alone.

Nellie’s mind went back to that fateful night that changed her life drastically…