Catch Me If You Can (21 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The Lady in Peril

Eleanor stopped and yanked the rope that held her wrists together.

The man on the other end turned to look at her. She nodded over to her horse, stomping her foot in frustration. The younger of the two men walked back.

“That must be her stuff, Kevin.” 

“Don’t say my name, stupid,” the other responded, annoyed. “We can’t take your horse, we’re going by foot.”

She stomped her foot again, gesturing toward her saddlebags.

He followed her gesture with his eyes. “I guess she wants her stuff. Okay, bring the bags and the coat, she may need it, I s’pose.”  He looked back at her. “You got another shirt in there?”  She shook her head. “Better get her a shirt from the wagon, and get some food while you’re there, Leo.” 

The other paused on his run from the horse to the wagon. “I thought you said no names. Who’s stupid now?”

He laughed at his companion, before turning to the wagon.

The other man chewed the corner of his mouth and glanced at Eleanor sheepishly. She sensed she was relatively safe with them, but she couldn’t work out why they took her with them instead of letting her go – and why did they keep her gagged? The younger one, Leo, as she now knew him to be called, popped up in front of her, her black Stetson perched on top of his own hat.

“This yours?” He grinned at her.

She nodded and he pressed it firmly onto her head. Then he gathered up the rest of the things in his arms and headed off. He paused by the other man and they had a quiet conversation. She gathered they were discussing their destination. It struck her how ironic it was that she was relieved to be saved by two young men who kept her tied up for some unknown reason. The relief in her bones encouraged giddy laughter, relief that she’d been saved from that vile man in the wagon.

The older brother, Kevin, came back toward her. “Oh God, she’s suffocating!” His face was horror struck.

She shook her head slightly, gesticulating with her hands that they could go on. Eleanor was content to follow them, although her limbs ached and her wrists were especially sore, it was better than being alone. With a regretful glance back at the horse, who the trader would no doubt keep when he came round, she hurried to keep up with the gentle tug of the rope.

Leo led the way, balancing the pile of stuff he’d gathered up from the wagon in his arms and hopping from rock to rock, smiling when he paused to look back at them. The other negotiated the path, leading her and allowing plenty of slack on the rope that joined them.

Eventually they reached a narrow ravine and the younger brother led the way into a well-hidden cave. As she bent down to squeeze into the space after Kevin, Leo spoke, “I thought we’d seen the last of this place.” 

Glancing around in the dim light from the entrance, she saw the cave was quite large and the remnants of a fire lay in the middle of the space. Somewhere high above, a chink of light fell from the rocky ceiling. Leo arranged some wood on the fire and lit it. When the flames flickered up to light the area, Kevin walked behind her and pulled some dried husks of bush scrub in front of the entrance, closing them in.

“You won’t scream will you, lady, if we take the gag off?” He looked sincere. She shook her head. He lifted her hat off and fiddled with the knot at the back of her head. She watched him as he struggled with her hair and the gag.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice croaky from containment, when the gag was finally gone.

He started, and looked down at her wrists. “We got to keep you here for a while, ‘cos we’re hiding out,” he said, quietly, as he examined the knot. “I can untie you, if you promise you won’t try to escape. It’s only for a day or two. You can go free when we head off.”

“I won’t try to escape. I owe it to you for saving my life. Thank you.”

He drew a narrow blade from a sheath at his belt and carefully cut the rope.

“Oh, Jesus,” he muttered, “the rope’s cut right into you.” He shouted over his shoulder. “Leo, get down to the creek and get some water.”  He looked back at Eleanor. “I’m sorry, lady, we should have untied you straight away.” 

Eleanor looked down at her wrists as he threw the bits of rope across the cave. A bloody mess of dirt and threads from the rope covered the surface, and a line of blood crept into the palm of her right hand. She felt numb and dizzy. “It’s not your fault, I struggled.”

He nursed her hands in his, then indicated a place for her to sit against the wall of the cave, near to the fire. Leo returned soon after with a tin water bottle and Kevin ripped up some strips of cotton from the pile of things they’d brought into the cave with them. Eleanor watched in a numb stupor while he gently cleaned her wrists, which didn’t look half as bad when the dirt and blood had gone, then bound them with more strips of the material. She winced as he pulled the material tightly on her right forearm, suppressing the trickle of blood.

“Sorry,” he breathed, his eyes on her.

She nodded and gave him a slight smile, indicating he should finish. When he did, he offered her some water to drink, and held the bottle to her lips. When she relaxed, he stood and turned to his brother. “You watch her. I better go out and cover our tracks.”

Leo sat close to her when Kevin had gone, smiling sheepishly at her and examining the bandages his brother had made. “Does it hurt much?”  

“A bit. It’s easing now though.” She managed a smile.

“What happened?” he asked, his youthful curiosity aroused.

“I was traveling west and wanted to buy some supplies. That disgusting pig crept up on me.” She glanced at him. His face was avid with interest. “If it hadn’t been for you and…your brother?”

He nodded.

“I don’t think my journey would have gone much farther.” 

“We’re going west too,” he said, pleased at the discovery.

“Are you?” she asked, wondering if it was too early to ask why they were “hiding out.”

“Yeah, we got to make a new start you know. The West Coast is the place to be. That’s where we’re headed.” 

“Why the new start?” she asked, gently.

His brow furrowed and he looked into the flames of the fire. “Our mother was killed. There was a whole heap of trouble, we had to get away.” His voice trailed to a stop as his brother returned, arranging the bush securely against the entrance behind him.

“How you doin’ now?” he asked Eleanor as he walked over to them.

“Better,” she said, smiling up at him.

“You hungry?” 

“Oh, yes,” she said, laughing. “I haven’t eaten since yesterday.” 

Leo leapt up, obviously the chef duties fell to him.

They ate strips of ham frazzled over the fire and corncobs baked slowly in the edge of the glowing embers. She told them about her journey while they ate, and they listened, fascinated by her words.

“Weren’t you worried any about traveling alone?” Kevin asked at one point.

“I wasn’t, but obviously I should have been more cautious than I was,” she replied, and her thoughts inevitably went to Rivers. She felt foolish, embarrassed even. What might have happened to her had these two not come along? “Did you hear me scream?”

He nodded.

“Who are you hiding from?”  She directed the question at Kevin.

“The law. I killed a man.”  He looked quickly at her face. She met his gaze steadily and he carried on. “He killed our mother, tried to get us to leave our land. He was going to kill me too. I had to, but people won’t believe that” 

“Who was he?”  

“Worked for the judge, wants to own the whole county.” His tone was resentful.

She didn’t push him any more and tried to make sense of what he’d said. After a while, he got up and went to the back of the cave, collected some blankets and passed them out.

“Thank you,” she said looking up at him. “My name is Eleanor Craven,” she added, smiling at him. He looked at her, relieved that she’d not shrunk from him in horror at his confession.

“Eleanor,” he repeated.

She pulled off her boots and stretched out her toes in front of the fire, which they kept low to reduce the risk of the smoke being seen emerging from the hilltop. The evening passed and the three of them talked in the warm gloom of the cave. Eleanor told them about her home, her father, England. She sat curled close by the fire, her bare toes wriggling at its heat. They didn’t seem surprised she was from another country. Eleanor got the impression that anywhere outside of their own county would seem far away to them.

They were particularly interested in the sea voyage. Neither of them had ever seen the ocean. It kept their minds off their own predicament for a while. Toward the night, Kevin risked loading more wood on the fire and Leo went in search of food outside. Kevin’s eyes followed him as left the cave.

“I’m scared for him. What will happen to Leo?” He looked at her beseechingly.

“If you are caught?”  

He nodded then looked down at the ground as he spoke, his voice quiet and serious. “He’s only sixteen. We don’t have any other family.” 

Eleanor thought couldn’t be more than seventeen himself.

“It will probably be better for him if I give myself up. What do you think?”

Something twisted inside her.

“They’ll hang me,” he added, slowly and deliberately, as if voicing it would prepare him somehow.

Compassion made her reach out and put her hand on his shoulder.

Kevin looked up at her and his pale blue eyes were full of pain. She embraced him and he clung to her. He drew away when his brother returned.

Leo chatted about the journey west, assuming now that the three of them would travel together. Eventually his brother’s silence subdued him and all three sat quietly around the fire.

“We’ll leave in the morning,” Kevin said. “Let’s try to sleep,” he added, reaching for his blanket.

As Eleanor lay down on her side of the fire she faced him, as if watching over him. She wanted to take them on to a better life in California. When she eventually fell asleep, her dreams were beset with strange images of her travels and the two brothers who had rescued her. Then she was in Oaklands, and the two boys were young and chased each other through the halls on a bright, sunny day.

* * *

The sound of thundering hooves reached them over the bluff and Rivers hauled up his mount and looked over his shoulder. Daniel, one of his men, was rejoining them after dropping down into a sheltered ravine to question some people he’d seen camped there.

“Anything?” 

Daniel shrugged. “A lone rider passed by yesterday, no telling whether it was a man or woman, wearing a big long coat and a hat, didn’t say howdy.”  He shrugged again. “They seemed mighty scared. Seems there’s something bad on the loose, a trader was attacked this morning, yonder.”  He gestured beyond the bluff. “They said he was hit on the head and some of his goods were stolen.” 

Rivers nodded, his mouth set in a stern line. He looked at the sky. The sun was starting to sink low. “We’ll head on for another hour before we set up camp for the night.” They had to be close now. News of lone travelers being attacked wasn’t welcome though, and he gestured them on quickly, his eyes scanning the horizon.

* * *

Eleanor awoke to the sound of the two boys whispering urgently to each other. As she sat up, she grew dizzy and disoriented, as though still dreaming. She tried to focus her eyes in the gloom and as she did, two men with rifles emerged into the cave. Their figures were outlined by the light behind them.

“So this is where you’ve been, Kevin,” said the first man, who wore a sheriff’s badge. She watched in a daze as he put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. “It was only a matter of time, son,” he said, evidently regretful at the situation.

Kevin nodded and glanced over at Eleanor. “She’s not with us, Sheriff Jackson, she’s traveling west to her family. You gotta let her go.” 

He looked at her with a frown. “The judge will decide. Let’s get you back to town.”

Eleanor walked as if in a dream while she followed instructions.

Outside, in the harsh sunlight, four more men stood by, and they looked at her with surprise. She moved her torpid body where directed and mounted a horse, following closely behind the sheriff. Lethargy commanded her, her body barely resisting the urge to lean over the horse’s neck and sleep. She didn’t know how long they rode. Eventually they came into a small town. It was still early in the morning yet people gathered in doorways to watch as the procession moved along the street.

She soon found herself in a cell with Kevin and Leo. There was one small barred window, and no furniture other than a bench along one wall. Kevin sat on the bench, his head leaning into his hands. Leo walked over to look up, toward the small square of light high up on the wall.

Eleanor slid down one wall to sit on the floor.

Kevin developed a look of acceptance, an inner strength he’d mustered from somewhere. Leo leaned against the wall, his head hanging down, his usually happy face sad and withdrawn.