Catch Me If You Can (25 page)

His doubts hankered on as he left her side and he was mighty reluctant as he turned his horse back toward Fort Bridger. Behind him, the sun was going down over the little town of Clearwater Creek, and the shadows grew long.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Lady Challenged

Eleanor took Leo with her to the tiny bank at the far end of Clearwater Creek, as soon as it was open the next morning. She smiled at Charles, the teller, remembering his visits to Bella’s house and Clare’s comments about him. He was all polite charm and efficiency. He wired her account in New York and they waited for the funds to be confirmed and released. She requested some extra money for Bella as a contribution for her keep over the past weeks, as well as some for both her and Leo to buy clothes and supplies.

She told Leo about the plans while they waited. He asked if he could go and say goodbye to his neighbors before they set off later that day.

“Hurry back, we must be ready to leave this afternoon,” she said as they separated outside the bank. He tipped his hat and set off. She watched his retreating back with a sense of misgiving. The ghosts in the gloomy corners of the town were creeping out to remind her of their presence. Eleanor shook the feeling off and told herself he would be back and they’d be on their way soon enough.

She crossed to the store to buy her provisions. The storekeeper beamed at her while the pile of things on the counter grew, topped finally by the two pistols she’d selected from the special drawer behind the counter. When she got back to the house she pulled on the riding breeches and crisp cotton shirt and folded up the dresses and petticoats that had been lent to her during her stay.

She examined her old boots, deeming them sturdy enough to complete the journey, and thumbed the edge of the hat she’d bought earlier.

A sound attracted her attention from below.

It must be Rivers
, she thought, although it was still early. No, it sounded like a woman’s voice and she crept to the top of the stairs, curiosity drawing her.

She looked through the screen.

It was Clare. There was a large male hand heavily across her mouth, and an expression of fear in her eyes. She was trying to shake her head but the man’s hand was holding her tightly.

“Take it easy, my pretty,” he said.

Eleanor put her hand over her mouth to catch the sound of warning that rose in her throat. Her mind was racing. The man was grappling Clare’s skirts with his free hand – he truly meant to harm little Clare. Her heart beat loud in her chest. An image of the leering trader flashed through her mind. She couldn’t let this happen, but there was no one around to call for help. She backed into her room where the pistols and holster lay on the bed. Her heart ached for Rivers, for his strength and willing protection. He’d wanted to take her away from this place, but who would have been here to help Clare?

Would you be willing to get blood on your hands, as well as dust on your boots?
His question echoed around her mind, yet again. She swallowed.

A muted scream reached her from the hallway.

She grabbed the holster and strapped it round her hips. As she walked back to the landing she let her hands slide across the weight of the guns on her hipbones for reassurance, then walked unseen to the top of the stairs.

The sound of ripping fabric reached her. The man was tackling Clare’s resistance with brute force, his knee sliding between her legs, his body pressing hers over the table in the hall. Eleanor grew mighty angry and wondered where everybody else was, but as the thought grew it faded, to be replaced by the realization this man was familiar to her, for he was the man she’d seen in the store.

It was the judge himself.

As Clare struggled, she caught sight of Eleanor and her eyes pleaded for help.

The man looked up at Eleanor.

She moved her hand along the length of her right pistol then slid it out of the belt, aimed, and waited. A sense of power touched her, bestowing her with its air of command. His face twisted into a sneer, a comment of dismissal. What a repulsive creature he was, assuming his power omnipotent. He may rule the town, but right now she was taking control of this particular situation. She jerked the pistol sharply. He removed his hand from Clare’s mouth. She gasped and whimpered, but he kept hold of her, watching Eleanor all the while. She pointed the pistol at him and stepped down one stair, indicating her seriousness.

“Get back, get away from her,” she said.

Still he didn’t move.

“Get back,” she seethed.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, trying to gauge her intentions.

“This is the whorehouse, if I’m not mistaken.” He chortled.

She stepped down again, the pistol leveled at his head.

Fear flickered across his face. He knew she was serious now. She wanted him to be afraid. If he’d made the rules of the game, he had to learn to play by them too.

The man moved back, his hands lifting, his eyes still narrowed and fixed on her. Clare shifted and moved slowly along the hallway – pressed against the wall, where she could see the door.

“I’m sure we can work this out. Come on…let’s get Bella in here.”

Clare’s whimpering halted him.

“Move right away, Clare, get right away from him.”

Eleanor’s eyes and the gunpoint never left the judge.

He lost the jovial look. His fingers twitched. A dark shadow on the inside of his jacket made itself known to her consciousness. He was going to try to out shoot her. The knowledge of it brought a cynical smile to her face. The corners of his mouth tightened when he saw the pleasure she got from his discomfort, and he reacted. In a flicker of a second, she caught the movement of his hand toward his jacket with a shot perfectly centered on the palm of his hand. The sound of it seared through the silence.

His hand seemed pinned to the air by the bullet, the only movement blood covering the palm. He cried out, his other hand going to his wrist, blood pouring quickly down his arm. He looked at her, his eyes filled with rage.

“You bitch!” he cried.

“And what does that make you?” She glared at him, weeks of frustration spilling out. All the injustices she’d witnessed flooded into her mind. “Presumably I’m not following the rules of your game. I’m following the rules of decent people and justice.”

His eyes were filled with fury, his hand clutching at the wrist, stemming the blood flowing from his palm. “You’re going to see justice all right, Missy, you’re going to see it in jail, and if I’ve my way you won’t even live to see that!”

Clare pushed herself further into the corner, crying and shaking.

His visceral rage was as real a threat as his physical violence. His threats were despicable.

She thought of Kevin, his family ruined, his young life ended by this monster.

His blood on your hands?

She recalled the man’s wife, the shadow of fear on her face. Yes, she would be willing to get blood on her hands, to end the false etiquette of violence spawned by this one man. A sense of calm fell over her, a sense of what was right. She stepped down into the hallway.

“Eleanor, watch out!”

The movement caught her eyes before the sound did. Rivers had stepped in through the front door.

The judge went for the gun with his good hand.

“Hold it right there,” she shouted. “I don’t care what happens to me, I’m not going to let you ruin anybody else’s life in this town.” She leveled the pistol at his chest.

He grappled with his coat, blood-soaked fingers finding their way inside toward the butt of the gun. Only a moment’s hesitation crossed her mind before she pulled the trigger and shot the bullet deep into his heart.

As he crumpled to the floor, the rage on his face turned slowly into a void.

A woman cried out. Bella stood in the doorway at the far end of the hall. Clare ran into her mother’s arms, sobbing. Bella looked at the torn clothes and at the pistol in Eleanor’s hand.

Blood seeped from the wound in the judge’s chest. His arm slid slowly down against his body to rest when it met the obstacle of his leg. Eleanor resisted the momentary urge to walk forward, pumping bullet after bullet into him, until there was nothing left. She breathed deep and let the pistol hang down at her side. A great weight seemed to be lifted from her body, a shadow removed from her mind. She trembled, then unseen hands lifted and held her, and the familiar feeling of strong, safe arms around her.

“Rivers,” she mumbled.

He’d pushed past the body, moving rapidly to where she stood, faltering at the bottom of the staircase, one hand gripped onto the carved globe at the bottom of the banisters. He held her against him, rocking her safely in his arms. She stared at the body as he gently removed the pistol from her hand. He threw it down on the floor. She looked up at him as he took both her hands in his.

“What in God’s name has happened here? Oh, my love, I shouldn’t have let you stay here,” Rivers said, rubbing her hands in his. “I should have forced you to stay at the lodge with me.”  He glanced back at the body. He grabbed her again, drawing her close against him. “I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.” His voice was hoarse.

“It had to be, there is much to tell… this man was bad.”  Her heat ached at the strength of emotion she saw in his face, and she rested her forehead against his shoulder, taking comfort in his embrace.

The front door opened, breaking the silence and the women turned as Leo came in. His paces slowed when the sight inside met his eyes. He paused, his eyes riveted to the body of the judge.

“The judge, it’s the judge.” Leo whispered. “Did you …?” He looked at Eleanor, who nodded.

“Eleanor was sent to rid this wretched town of its curse,” Bella said, her eyes filling with tears. She ushered Clare from the hallway. When she came back in, the three of them were still staring at the body, Eleanor pressed tightly against Rivers, his hand soothing her head. She became calmer, but was still unable to move.

Rivers beckoned Bella and Leo away from the body. “We need to decide what to do…are you Leo?”

Leo nodded.

“You take Eleanor up to her room and stay there with her until I get you, later. Don’t come out. Bella, you get the sheriff. Were there any other witnesses?” Rivers was frowning, his eyes bright as his mind moved through their options, trying to formulate a feasible story.

“Sure, I’ll get Sheriff Jackson to come and I’ll tell him exactly what happened, I’ll say I shot him.”

Eleanor’s head jerked up. “You can’t.” 

Bella nodded with resolve, her face set in a determined expression. “There’s no point in you getting mixed up in it, not with all that’s happened. People know you were a friend to the Nelsons. If I say I did it, nothing else will matter, only what he tried to do to my little girl.”

“It sounds as if she may be right,” Rivers said.

There was logic to what Bella said, but she wanted to be sure Bella wouldn’t get any trouble for it. “You think it will be okay?”

Bella nodded again. “I know Sheriff Jackson and he’s no real friend to him.” She jerked her head toward the body. “He won’t make a fuss. It will make his life easier to have this tyrant out of the way.” 

“She’s right,” Leo said, focusing his attention fully on the conversation. “Sheriff Jackson told me and Kevin the judge don’t let him use his power for the good of the county, only for what he wants.” 

Eleanor looked at him. Deep inside a spark of pain flew against the wall of her stomach at the mention of Kevin’s name, the needle of pain in the hollow spot inside her seemed to strengthen her. She breathed in deeply. “Okay, we’ll try. If it fails, you tell the truth, Bella. I’ll come down whenever you need me. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” 

Bella flashed a quick smile and winked. “Don’t worry. I got my witnesses.”   She called out to May and Pearl, then ushered Rivers, Eleanor and Leo upstairs to the long thin room where they had nursed her back to health.

* * *

They gathered around the big table in the kitchen late in the evening after the sheriff had long gone, taking the body and its terrible legacy with him. There was an air of weary relief amongst them, camaraderie against adversary. Fern and Pearl served up bowls of stew and plates of bread and cheese, but the residents of Bella’s house barely ate. Rivers’ men joined them, expecting to be on their way home at long last. Instead, they ate heartily, then took their leave for one last night in Fort Bridger.

Rivers stood quietly in the doorway watching the scene, observing Eleanor most of all, the way she was with the others, her changing expressions. She looked tired yet at peace. He could tell she cared for the family of women around her and for the young lad, Leo. She kept him at her right side and talked reassuringly to him, between passing the dishes of food and speaking to the others. It suited her.
She should be surrounded by family basking in her affection
, he thought to himself with a slow smile.

She’d grown up this past few months. His precious love was no longer the naïve little hothead marching out across the world. She was a woman – a woman who could clearly hold her own and who gained the love and respect of those she came into contact with. She smiled up at him, and sipped from the glass of brandy Bella had forced into her hands. He looked deep into her eyes, wondering if she would ever be his, truly his. They both had to sacrifice their independence, and whilst he’d come to terms with it, he didn’t yet know if she would do that for him.