H AV E N

C.J. PETIT
 Copyright © 2018 by C.J. Petit

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher

except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2018
ISBN:
9781092968638
 
 
 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
 

HAVEN
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
EPILOGUE
 PROLOGUE
October 2, 1872
Outside of Marquette, Michigan
 
It was the seventh night of the spectacular Andromedid meteor storm
and most citizens of Marquette had become almost bored by the spectacle
of thousands of shooting stars each hour. But Zack Dyer was far from bored
as he stood in his soon-to-be-harvested cornfield looking into the sky and
wondered why the rain of stars seemed even brighter than it had been
before. It was as if a message had been ignored and the sender was angry
that no one had taken heed.
He continued to stare skyward when two large fireballs simultaneously
rocketed across the horizon, their paths crossing before they vanished. It
was immediately after that strange heavenly event that Zack knew what he
alone was witnessing as he dropped to his knees onto the hard soil of his
cornfield and bowed his head.
He then fell prostrate onto the dirt with his arms outspread, thanking
God for His warning and promising to do as he’d been asked no matter the
cost.
_____
That Sunday, Deacon Zack Dyer mounted the pulpit of the First
Christian Church and looked out on the faces of the congregation,
wondering how many had faith that was strong enough to match his own.
He would soon find his answer.
“Friends,” he began in an impassioned voice, “we’ve all witnessed the
celestial display in the heavens over the past ten days. I’m sure that many of
you have wondered what the meaning of this spectacle was, as I have. It
puzzled me at first, but now it has inspired me. As I stood in my field, I
asked God why He was sending this rain of fire from his domain to ours,
and He spoke to me. His voice was as clear to my ears as mine is to yours
right now. He told me that he was displeased with the misguided direction
that His creation had taken with the development of so many devices that
now take noble work away from the hands of men and women.
“He told me that He would put an end to this blasphemy with a sudden
burst of fire and that only those who renounce the ways of the machine will
be saved. I will stay on my farm until spring, preparing to depart for a new
home shown to me by the Almighty. I will build a haven there and ask each
of you to look into your souls and follow me. Those who choose to remain
will be destroyed in a holy fire, and only those who join me and remain true
to His revealed word will remain on this earth. I am Zacharia and I am His
prophet.”
Zacharia then examined the stunned faces that stared at him, seeking the
eyes of believers, and finding some. It would be enough, he thought, as he
stepped down quietly and returned to his family’s pew.
He hadn’t told his wife, Lydia, or anyone else about his vision, wanting
her to hear it at the same time as the others. now he looked at his wife of
twenty years waiting for her reaction, but not getting one as she simply
stared straight ahead. When he moved his eyes further down the pew, his
son, Joseph, was staring at him as if he was Satan, while Myra, his daughter
looked at him in disbelief. Zacharia realized that perhaps it would have
been wise to have given them all advance warning of his decision, but it
was too late now.
As the rest of the congregation sat in stunned silence, Reverend Tom
Claggett climbed the four steps onto the pulpit and cleared his throat.
“My brothers and sisters, Brother Dyer spoke with great passion and
faith and I am sure he means well, however, let us not forget that after God
destroyed the sinners of the world in the Great Flood, He promised Noah
that He would never take such retribution again and sealed His promise
with a rainbow. I’m sure that Brother Dyer will soon see the error of his
interpretation and will correct his mistake next week.”
Reverend Claggett then smiled at his flock and turned to return to the
floor when Zacharia stood and shouted, “I will do no such thing, Reverend
Claggett! What I told you was the word of God and those who choose to
ignore His warning will perish in devastating fire. I will not attend this
church again, but those who embrace my revelation may join me at my
farm as I pray to God for more instruction and prepare for the journey to the
haven in the spring.”
With that pronouncement, Zacharia reached down, took Lydia’s hand,
and then pulled her to her feet and looked at his children. Myra rose, but
Joseph stayed sitting, just glaring at his father.
Zacharia looked down at his only son and said, “So be it,” then left the
church with his wife and daughter in tow.
_____
After the harvest and through the winter, Zacharia preached his vision to
a growing number of believers and his plans for establishing his haven
come springtime began to firm into a schedule, but only Zacharia knew
their destination, and he had only a vague idea, trusting in God to give him
the exact spot before they departed.
His son had left the farm and gone to work at Michigan Mining and
Smelting which would have been a devastating loss in labor for Zacharia
come springtime if he’d had to return to farming, but he’d already sold the
farm and the new residents would be taking possession on April 1.
Sixteen-year-old Myra rebelled at the idea of leaving but had no choice.
She finally acquiesced when Zacharia gave her permission to marry when
her betrothed, Abel Egan, agreed to accompany them. Having a strong back
would have been incentive enough, but young Abel had embraced
Zacharia’s revelation, which was the main reason he had allowed Myra to
wed before they left.
As the winter snows finally began to give way, at least enough to allow
wagons to roll, the final tally of pilgrims that would leave Marquette
consisted of thirteen families. There were only fourteen adult males in the
group, the adult and near-adult sons universally deciding to stay or go
elsewhere. There were thirteen adult women with Myra Dyer being the
oldest of the young woman. There were forty-four children, twenty-eight of
them girls.
 _____
March 27, 1873 – Thirteen days before departure
“Father sure was mad, Seth.”
“He’s been mad ever since you told him you were leaving, Abel. It’s just
that it’s getting closer and up until the wedding, he thought you might
change your mind.”
“He had to know I’d never let Myra leave without me.”
“Why would he know that? He doesn’t talk to us that much. I’m
surprised he even knows our middle names.”
Abel laughed and said, “He’s going to forget my first name after I’m
gone.”
“Just because he says he’s going to disown you doesn’t mean he’s going
to forget your name.”
“I’m sorry I’m leaving you here to have to take over, Seth. I know it’s
not what you wanted to do.”
“He says he’s still going to let me study my engineering, but I have to
take those business courses, too. It won’t be so bad. He can run the place
and I’ll have the workshop to use for my tinkering.”
“I don’t even know where we’re going, Seth. I’ll write to you as soon as
we get there.”
Seth put his hand on his older brother’s shoulder and said, “Just take care
of Myra, Abel.”
Abel nodded and gave Seth a soft punch on the shoulder before they
embraced. Then Abel turned and left the big house for the last time to join
his new wife and her father’s flock to ready the wagons for the long journey
ahead to an unknown destination.
_____
April 8, 1873
 The nineteen wagons with herds of horses, cows, sheep, and hogs left the
upper peninsula of Michigan early that morning. The party could have
taken the train if it wasn’t for Zacharia’s insistence that they resist the
temptation and use animals and hand-built wagons to transport them to their
haven. Their only concession to modern machines were the eight Colt
pistols, six Henry rifles, eight Winchester ’66 repeaters, and the ten
shotguns that Zacharia felt were necessary to their survival.
Seth Egan was one of the few to be standing at the end of the road as the
wagon train left Marquette and he waved to Abel and Myra as they walked
behind the last of the sheep, nudging them along with staffs.
After they were too far away to see clearly, Seth turned and walked back
to school. Miss Albright had given him permission to see his brother off,
but he knew she wouldn’t be much more lenient. It just wasn’t her nature.
This was his last year of high school and would be leaving Marquette in
August for Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.
His brother and Myra were only five miles away and he missed them
already.
_____
July 29, 1878
The Haven
Wyoming Territory
 
Zacharia pulled out his plain white handkerchief from his overalls and
wiped his sweaty forehead before the salty drops could sting his eyes. The
corn crop was going to be a good one this year as opposed to the last two
years when drought had severely impacted the harvest.
Things hadn’t gone well in Haven since their arrival five years earlier.
After they had settled in the spot that Zacharia had chosen, they spent the
first months building houses for the families and eating the food they had
brought with them. That first winter, the thirteen families had lived in just
six houses, and they’d lost almost a third of the livestock, which caused a
lot of grumbling. The next spring, as soon as the weather warmed enough,
three of the families had gone, taking their wagons and animals with them.
 They had planted their crops that first year and the harvest had been
good, but they lost two men to accidents while building barns and grain
bins.
The next few years witnessed the deaths of three more men and two
women, and the births of four babies, all girls. Although these were normal
and accepted occurrences for any new settlement, what was creating
disharmony in the community was Zacharia’s failed prophecy.
Most had expected the fiery wrath to descend on the rest of the world
within a year of their arrival, but Zacharia had preached patience and that
their faith had to be tested first.
His constant reassurances in the truth of his vision had lasted for only
two more years before the grumbling began to resurface and now as
Zacharia stood in the cornfield again, with his son-in-law Abel and John
Billups, he began to feel the first seeds of doubts of his own faith.
He stuffed his handkerchief in his pocket and turned to Abel, saying,
“Do you think our haven can last much longer, Abel?”
Abel stopped, leaned on his hoe, and said, “It’s been five years,
Zacharia. The weak ones left right away, but only the strong remained.”
“But is their faith as strong as their bodies?”
Abel paused before replying, “It’s not for me to judge.”
“I need another sign, Abel. I need confirmation that God is still with
me.”
“I’m sure you’ll get one, Zacharia,” John Billups said.
Zacharia nodded, then picked up his hoe and began to chop at the weeds.
Abel and John both resumed weeding as well and all three men began
working their way up the furrows.
Twenty minutes later, the field began to darken, as if a cloud had passed
in front of the sun, but the sky was clear when Zacharia looked up.
 He put his hand before his eyes and squinted at the sun then quickly
dropped his hand and shouted, “Abel! It’s here! The sign I’ve asked for!”
Abel and John Billups both turned to look at Zacharia, who was pointing
at the sun. As he had done, both men put their hands up over their heads
and squinted at the darkening sun.
“It’s an eclipse!” yelled Abel.
“No!” shouted Zacharia, “It’s a sign from God!”
Then he dropped to his knees, spread his arms wide as he closed his
eyes, and then fell prostrate onto the ground in a cloud of dust.
Abel and John alternated looking at Zacharia and then the darkening face
of the sun for the next twenty minutes as other members of the community
began to filter out into the fields.
As the sun slipped behind the moon and the corona erupted around the
moon’s edges, Zacharia returned to his knees, opened his eyes, and shouted,
“God is telling all of you to embrace your faith in Him and not to doubt His
plans!”
Then he fell once again to the ground, praying loudly and thanking God
for his new message.
Most of those who witnessed the celestial confirmation of Zacharia’s
prophecy took heart in its arrival, but there were many that did not,
including his own daughter, Myra, who had remained both a rebel and a
skeptic.
_____
August 3, 1878 – Marquette, Michigan
“I’m sorry, Seth. There was nothing I could do,” Doctor Blankenship
said quietly.
“Was it just bad food?” Seth asked.
“That would be my guess. Did they eat anything different than you did?”
 “They always ate things that I didn’t. They’d developed a taste for
seafood from the East and had it shipped in by rail. I pretty much stuck to
regular food.”
“Then I’d suggest you keep doing that.”
Seth just nodded and walked from the room, his head still reeling from
the shock. Just a few days ago, his parents had been robust and healthy, and
now they were both dead. He knew that his life would change dramatically
because he would have to take control of the company decades before he
had expected to have it thrust upon him.
After Abel left for Haven, his father followed through on his threat to
disown Abel and named Seth as his sole heir. That meant that Seth’s days of
following his own path were over and he was expected to learn the ropes of
iron mining, smelting, and commerce. He had been allowed to finish his
education in engineering because his father had believed it to be beneficial
to the company and it had been.
Because Seth had grown up in the bowels of Michigan Mining and
Smelting, he had learned how the company operated at an early age, and as
he improved his engineering knowledge and skills at the university, had
already made some improvements in the operation. His father made all the
business decisions, which was fine with Seth.
Now he would have to make those decisions, and frankly, it scared him.
He was only twenty-two, and he was sure that many of the men already in
positions of authority in the company would try to either manipulate him or
ignore him.
He wished that Abel were here to take over, but after he’d gone, Seth
had never received the promised letter from his brother letting him know
where he was. He didn’t receive any of the four letters that Abel had sent
because his father had burned each of them when they arrived, and Abel
had given up after not receiving any responses.
But as he left his parents’ bedroom, where their bodies lay awaiting the
arrival of the mortician, he willed away his fear. He may not have wanted to
run the company, but he would. He’d exercise his power over those that he
knew had been lining their own pockets at the expense of Michigan Mining
and Smelting. They may have thought they’d be in control now, but they’d
soon learn otherwise.
_____
September 4, 1882
Haven
 
For two years after the eclipse, things had gone well, and it appeared that
doubt and frustration were behind them. They’d had good crops and had
enough excess to sell meat and grain in Medicine Bow, about seventy-six
miles south of the settlement, increasing their dwindling supply of cash and
allowing them to buy things they couldn’t produce, like salt, sugar, and
ammunition.
But the trips to Medicine Bow had aroused the wanderlust among the
almost men of the community, and six of them, along with two of the young
women, had run off, taking four of the irreplaceable repeaters, two
shotguns, and eight horses with their even more precious saddles. It had
added a lot of strain to the remaining men, and the women had to increase
their workload by adding more outdoor work to their already full workdays
maintaining their homes, and caring for their children. Even six and seven-
year-olds were working the fields.
With four more deaths, the orphaned children and widows had been
reassigned to other families, which led to some awkward situations as the
girls who had been under ten when the wagon train had departed Michigan
had matured into young women. Two of them became pregnant by their
adoptive fathers, causing even more strife.
Abel and Myra had brought Rachel Winters into their home two years
earlier, giving them a crowded house, but relieving Myra of some of the
workload of caring for her three children while tending the fields and doing
all the other never-ending work of a housewife.
Myra had found a kindred spirit in Rachel, six years her junior. Rachel
was, if anything, more of a rebel than Myra, having a very inquisitive,
logical mind. Myra had found a sister and confidant in Rachel long before
she had moved into their house and had adopted Rachel as a younger sister
when they had left Marquette. From the very first, she had passed along her
own doubts and knowledge to Rachel. The knowledge itself was invaluable
to Rachel as she’d missed so many years of secular education. Myra also
served as her source of information about all those questions young girls
had about boys; questions that Rachel’s mother would never answer even
when she had been alive.
Nineteen-year-old Rachel was one of those young women that were
simply hypnotic. With her long black hair and dark gray eyes, it had been
very disconcerting to Abel having her almost omnipresent. Even though
Rachel had behaved with complete propriety since she had moved into the
house, he found it difficult to ignore her and had to use every bit of his
resolve to stay faithful to his beloved Myra.
Myra knew that Abel was affected by Rachel and could understand why
he would be but was also sure that nothing would come of it because of her
confidence in Rachel as well as her trust in her husband.
Myra and Rachel had quietly become the leaders of a group of women
who felt either neglected or ostracized by the true believers or just plain
disenchanted with conditions in Haven. There were just too many women to
do too much work.
The problem for the female insurgents was that none of them had any
idea of what they could do to change the situation. They surely couldn’t
leave the community and strike out on their own.
The change that was coming was not anything that they, or any of the
faithful, could possibly have expected.
_____
That night, Zacharia sat at the kitchen table with Lydia, painfully aware
of the troubles that beset his community.
“What can I do, Lydia? How much longer must I wait?” he begged as he
had his head bowed and stared at his gnarled fingers.
Lydia was torn between the love she had for her husband and her
growing belief that her daughter and grandchildren wouldn’t survive
another winter.
“Whatever you decide, Zacharia, it must be soon. It’s already getting
cold and the snows will arrive soon, and we may not be able to make it out
of here.”
Lydia touched his hands, then Zacharia nodded, stood, then left the
house, and two minutes later was stepping across the soon-to-be-harvested
fields where he had been when the eclipse had arrived and inspired his
followers. He remembered that it was in a field back in Michigan when he
had his first revelation and began to feel the power of God.
Now once again, he needed inspiration.
He reached the exact spot where he had stood when the eclipse darkened
the sky, dropped to his knees, bowed his head with closed eyes, and began
praying more fervently than ever before, begging God for enlightenment
before falling to the plowed earth, his tears wetting the soil.
For twenty minutes, he prayed, almost losing consciousness in his
passion. Finally, he pushed himself onto his knees, sat back on his heels,
and opened his eyes. He spread his arms wide and gazed skyward expecting
to see a sign then stared, but his eyes were still moist with his tears, so he
wiped them with the backs of his hands, blinked, and then looked again and
saw the Sign.
For almost two minutes he continued to stare at the night sky above his
head as a smile slowly crossed his lips as his eyes beheld the Sign. There
was a cloud of light that stretched across a few of the stars. It wasn’t a giant
streak, and he knew it was a comet. He had never seen one before but knew
how rare they were. This was more than just a comet. It was a message. It
would be the last message he would receive, and it would be the most
powerful.
As he stared at the starry messenger, he suddenly had the revelation he
had prayed for and understood why God had asked him to be patient. This
third and final sign awakened him to the truth of what he must do now.
He smiled and said aloud, “Thank you, Lord. I will do as you ask,”
before he slowly rose then turned and walked back to the house.
 Once inside, he found Lydia still waiting for him in the kitchen, and
when he looked at her, she saw the happiness on his face and knew that he
had received his answer.
“Zacharia, what is it? What did you learn?” she asked.
Zacharia stepped over to his wife, took her hands, and walked with her
to the main room where they both sat.
“Lydia, it is only now that I fully understand what is required of me.
Tonight, I saw a comet in the sky, and I know now what we must do. The
comet will soon fly into the sun, and when it does, the sun will explode in
God’s wrath, eliminating all of mankind, sinner and faithful alike.”
Lydia was shocked by what he said and asked, “So, we are to be treated
no differently than the unfaithful? We will not be saved?”
Zacharia shook his head slowly as he said, “Yes, we will be saved, but
not here in this world. We must already be with God before the comet
strikes the sun. We will all join God in heaven as a last act of true faith.”
Lydia then understood what he was telling her, and asked softly, “Even
Myra and our grandchildren, Zacharia?”
“Especially them, Lydia. I must prove my faith as Abraham did when he
prepared to sacrifice Isaac.”
“But Isaac was spared, Zacharia. Will you not spare Myra and the
grandchildren?”
“No, I cannot. Abraham was being tested. I have already been tested and
now I must do as I have been told.”
Lydia was having serious misgivings but asked, “Are you going to tell
them?”
“No, Lydia. You are the only one I can trust, and you must promise me
that you will not let anyone know what God has asked of me.”
Lydia nodded and smiled at Zacharia.
 Zacharia smiled softly back at his wife then rose and walked to their
bedroom while Lydia cleaned the kitchen. He was completely spent from
his emotional exertions, and without disrobing, just laid on the bed and was
soon in deep sleep.
Lydia was drying the last cup as she reflected on Zacharia’s plans. She
may have been a believer in her husband, but she was a mother first and
after setting down the cup, left her kitchen quietly and walked to Myra’s
house.
_____
Forty minutes later, a shocked Abel was sitting on the back porch of
their house in the dark with Myra and Rachel.
“He’s planning on killing everyone?”
he asked in disbelief.
“Abel, when will you understand my father? He believes only what he
chooses to believe. Do you honestly believe that a loving Creator would
destroy His greatest creation? now he wants to kill us and his own
grandchildren…our children!”
Abel recovered from his initial shock and asked, “What can we do,
Myra? We don’t have much time.”
Myra and her group had been trying to come up with something but had
never reached the point of making definite plans, so she had to improvise,
knowing the dangers.
Before she could answer, Rachel said, “Our biggest problem is that we
don’t know how the others would act, so we can’t say anything. We can’t
even tell our group yet because they might panic. If word got out about
Zacharia’s plans, then he might push them forward and he’d try to kill us all
sooner. Zacharia has all the guns, so we can’t force the issue, and he has
Bill and Charlie with him most of the time, so he’s protected. We need
outside help, but I have no idea how that is even possible.”
Myra turned to Abel and said, “We can’t ask for any help from the
government because as far as they’re concerned, we don’t even exist. Abel,
you need to go to Medicine Bow and send a telegram to your father asking
for his help.”
Abel looked at his wife, saying, “Myra, you know he won’t help. If he
had a pistol, he would have shot me when I said I was leaving.”
“Then maybe Seth will help. Send the telegram to your father and a
second one to Seth. Write a letter with all the details too but leave it at the
general store in Medicine Bow. No one else in Haven has anyone else on
the outside that could do anything. Only your father or Seth can help us.”
Abel thought about it for a while then said, “Myra, I’d be gone at least
three days, and if help comes, it won’t be here for a week at the earliest. We
need to make plans of our own and still keep them quiet or Zacharia will get
suspicious and might react badly and start killing people.”
“Mama said he was exhausted, so leave early in the morning. I’ll tell him
that I sent you to get more salt and baking powder. Rachel and I will begin
working on alternate plans.”
Abel wasn’t sure that Zacharia would accept the excuse but said, “Okay,
Myra. I’ll do that, and I’ll ride as fast as I can and be back quickly.”
Myra smiled then leaned over and kissed Abel before saying, “I’m sure
things will work out, Abel.”
Rachel remained silent, suspecting that Zacharia wouldn’t believe
Myra’s story, and would do what he believed God had instructed him to do
while he was gone.
Myra herself had doubted that her father would accept her word either
but was trusting that he wouldn’t do anything, at least not yet. They also
had no idea how long it would be before the comet struck the sun, which
would trigger everything.
_____
The next morning a little after seven o’clock, after saying goodbye to
Myra and their children, Abel mounted one of the community’s four
remaining horses and began the long ride south to Medicine Bow.
 _____
Two hours later, Zacharia was in the fields, working alongside Bill Smith
and Charlie Hotchkiss when he finally noticed Abel’s absence, set down his
hoe, and walked to Myra’s home, knocking on the door three minutes later.
Myra had been anticipating the knock and was in the kitchen with
Rachel. Both women wore flour-smeared aprons to reinforce the cover
story.
She opened the door and smiled at her father, asking, “Can I guess that
you are here looking for Abel?”
“Yes, I am. Is he ill?”
“No, Father. We are out of salt and baking powder and asked him to go
to Medicine Bow to buy more. He should be back in three days.”
Zacharia looked at his daughter and said, “You should have asked your
mother or Mrs. Smith. I know we have salt.”
“But not enough, Father. I asked him to buy enough salt and baking
powder to last everyone through the winter.”
Her father wasn’t quite sure about it, but it was Abel’s loyalty that tilted
his opinion in Myra’s behalf.
Zacharia then nodded and said, “He still should have told me that he was
leaving. We could use some more ammunition for the repeaters, too.”
“I’m sorry, Father. That was shortsighted of me.”
Zacharia grunted then turned and walked back to the field as Myra
closed the door behind her and blew out a deep breath as she looked at
Rachel.
After he had gone a hundred yards, Zacharia glanced back at Myra’s
house and then turned to go to his own home.
When he walked into the kitchen, Lydia looked up at him from doing the
laundry and asked, “Zacharia, what are you doing back? Is something
wrong?”
 “Abel left this morning to go to Medicine Bow to buy some salt and
baking powder without telling me. How are our supplies?”
“We don’t have enough of either to last another month, and with the
weather changing as quickly as it does here, I think it was a good decision
to buy some, but he should have told you first.”
Zacharia looked closely at Lydia, the only one who knew of his last
revelation and began to suspect that she had told Myra, and that was the
reason that Abel had gone to Medicine Bow. Abel was going to seek help to
stop him from doing as God had asked.
He was about to accuse her of violating his command to keep the news
secret but needed more evidence, so he nodded and said, “Yes, he should
have,” then turned and closed the door to return to the fields.
As he walked, he became convinced that Lydia had told Myra of his
revelation and that soon it would be common knowledge. He also believed
that if word about his intentions to follow God’s command reached his
followers, he would be in danger of being beaten and unable to fulfill his
destiny. He decided to tell Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss and arm them
both as protection against that possibility.
Why he chose to trust the two men was a testament to how out of touch
Zacharia had become.
_____
After Zacharia had told them of his suspicions about Abel’s true reason
for leaving which included his last vision, he had Bill Smith and Charlie
Hotchkiss stay in the barn while he returned to the house to retrieve some
guns.
“What do you think, Bill?” Charlie asked as they stared at Zacharia’s
house through the open barn doors.
“That crazy man is plannin’ on killin’ everybody, includin’ us.”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” said Charlie.
 “He said he’s gonna give us guns and ammunition. Do we kill him as
soon as we get ‘em?” asked Bill.
Charlie thought about it for a few seconds before replying, “No, let’s see
what happens. If we’ve got the guns, we can always shoot him first. We
shoulda gone with those boys a couple of years ago, but it’s too late now so
let’s just wait.”
“Wait for what?” asked Bill.
“If he even thinks about going through with it, we kill him. Then after
he’s dead, we’ll be in charge.”
Bill Smith smiled and asked, “If we’re gonna kill him, then what are we
waitin’ for?”
“You know that there’s just a chance that Zacharia’s right, you know.
Let’s play it by ear, but we can’t tell our wives or anybody else. If we make
our play, then we tell ‘em, so they’ll think we’re the good guys.”
Bill nodded and watched as Zacharia emerged from the house with
gunbelts over each shoulder and carrying two Winchesters.
After they were armed, all three returned to the field and Zacharia felt
safer with his two bodyguards.
_____
Later that day, Charlie Hotchkiss and Bill Smith continued to wear their
pistols while they worked with Zacharia. Two of the community’s four
remaining repeaters, each with full loads of .44 cartridges, were kept
nearby. With the loads in their pistols and the Winchesters, there was no
more ammunition in the community. The remaining two repeaters were
empty.
When she had seen Bill and Charlie armed, Myra knew that any plans
they made now might be too late.
 CHAPTER 1
 
 
September 5, 1882
Michigan Mining and Smelting Company Offices
Marquette, Michigan
 
Harvey Jacobs climbed the long staircase to the executive offices, turned
left at the top, and entered the outer office of the president of the company,
spotting John Elliott, the president’s personal and administrative secretary
at his desk.
“John, is Seth in?” he asked.
“Nope,” John replied, “he’s down in the workshop with Gus.”
“I shouldn’t have wasted the time coming up here, I guess,” Harvey
replied.
“Anything I can help you with, Harvey?” John asked.
“Nope. I just got two identical telegrams. One was sent to his father and
the second to him.”
John’s eyebrows rose as he asked, “You got a telegram for Adam?”
Harvey nodded, then replied, “If that wasn’t weird enough, the sender
was Abel Egan.”
That bit of news set John back in his seat.
“What did Abel want after all these years? Is it going to cause us
trouble?”
 “I don’t know about that, but I’ll leave Adam’s copy with you and bring
the other to Seth,” he replied as he slid one of the yellow sheets onto John’s
desk before turning and hurrying from the outer office and then down the
stairs to the workshop floor.
John turned the telegram so he could read it, and after he did, he tried to
think just how bad this would be for Mimi.
_____
Seth stood before the small locomotive and peered at the collection of
pipes that formed a lattice above the angled cowcatcher.
“Gus,” he shouted to the engineer in the cab, “do you have any leaks this
time?”
“Nope!” came the shouted reply, “Not one!”
“Okay, shut her down!” Seth yelled before breaking into a grin and
walking back to the side of the cab and looking up at Gus Wheeler.
“I think we’re ready for that long-distance trial, Gus,” he said as he
pulled himself onto the cab and automatically began scanning the floor for
any puddles, despite Gus’s report of no leaks.
“How far do you wanna go, Seth?” asked Gus.
“It has to be at least three hundred miles to be sure,” Seth replied when
he spotted Harvey Jacobs trotting across the workshop floor waving a
yellow sheet.
“Here comes trouble,” Seth said as Gus turned to follow his eyes and
saw Harvey.
“Looks important,” Gus commented as Harvey slowed down when he
neared the locomotive.
Seth hopped down from the cab and reached out for the telegram, but
Harvey held it back.
“Seth, this is an odd one. We received two copies, and the other one was
sent to your father. I left that one with John.”
 Seth had a reaction similar to his secretary’s as he said, “My father? Who
would send a telegram to my father? He’s been dead for more than four
years now.”
“Your brother.”
“Abel?”
he almost shouted as he wiggled his fingers for the telegram.
Harvey handed him the yellow sheet saying, “Yup. It sounds like he’s in
trouble.”
Seth took the telegram and before reading it, said, “I’d think so after
almost ten years of silence.”
He then read the telegram.
  
SETH EGAN MM AND S MARQUETTE MICH
 
ALL OF US IN TERRIBLE DANGER
MAY DIE WITHIN A WEEK
PLEASE HELP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
BRING GUNS
LEFT LETTER AT STORE IN MEDICINE BOW
MUST RETURN NOW
TIME CRITICAL
 
ABEL EGAN MEDICINE BOW WYOMING
 
Seth reread the telegram and then handed it to Gus as he turned back to
Harvey.
“Harvey, I’ll be leaving for Medicine Bow tomorrow morning. I’ll go
and see John about what we’ll need, but I need you to get permission from
the Double M Railroad and the Union Pacific for a run to Medicine Bow on
the Comet. Tell them it’s going to be a test run and I’ll be reaching speeds
in excess of sixty miles per hour.”
Harvey took the instructions in stride and asked, “Who are you taking
with you, Seth?”
“Just Gus and Joe Barker. Any more would slow us down.”
Harvey didn’t argue but turned to go to his own office to get the
permissions from the two railroads. He knew that they wouldn’t object
because both were very interested in The Comet’s revolutionary design that
could mean savings in the hundreds of thousands each year and the
elimination of unnecessary watering stations.
Harvey Jacobs was the chief of operations for Michigan Mining and
Smelting and had been appointed to that position four years ago when Seth
had taken over. He’d been a chief engineer in the development section and
had chafed under the previous head of operations who’d been there since
the company had been founded by Adam Egan. The man had foolishly
treated Seth as if he were an annoying child even after Abel had gone,
putting Seth in line to inherit the company. He believed that Adam would
live for another thirty years and even after Adam’s shocking death, the chief
of operations thought he could simply dominate the younger Egan when he
took over control of the company. He discovered differently and didn’t last
a week.
Seth had cleaned out many of what he considered deadwood in the
company, and it had suffered for almost a year until the new blood learned
all the ropes of their new positions. Then the company expanded and
modernized which allowed Seth to return to his passion as he made full use
of the company’s extensive workshop and engineering department.
At the age of twenty-six, Seth Egan was considered a rising star in the
business world, but it wasn’t his world. He allowed his trusted
appointments to run the company while he worked on his engineering
projects, many of which would improve the operation, and others were just
because they were interesting.
The current focus of his boundless energy was the Comet, a small
prototype locomotive that could only haul three cars at the speeds that were
necessary to make the innovative part of the locomotive work. The biggest
weakness of the current steam locomotives populating the railways was
their insatiable thirst for water. The engines would have to stop every
hundred miles or so to refill their large water tanks, but only every three
hundred miles to add more fuel to the coal car. His locomotive used an
ingenious system for collecting the steam that other locomotives lost as they
huffed down the rails and returned it to the water tank.
It currently had an eighty percent efficiency level for recovering the lost
water, but its appearance bordered on bizarre. It had large collection
cylinders around the pistons that drove the wheels, and large pipes to return
the steam to a series of pipes in the front of the engine where the steam
would condense like a giant moonshine still and then be returned to the
water tank.
The added advantage was that the returned water was distilled, greatly
reducing the buildup of scale on the surfaces that came into contact with the
water. The downside was the added complexity of the pumps and pipes that
had a tendency to leak.
Seth had tested his locomotive several times over shorter distances, but
never with a full load in the cars or an extended trip. This would be its first
full-scale test, although he didn’t think that he’d need to haul a full load.
He’d named it the Comet long before the appearance of the real comet in
the skies a few days earlier. Seth had been fascinated with astronomy before
the Andromedid Meteor storms and had followed the astonishing rapidity of
discoveries closely ever since.
Now Seth would test his Comet and use it to help his estranged brother.
After explaining to Gus what they would be doing, he left the workshop
and jogged up the long stairway to his offices to talk to John and give him a
list of things he’d need to be loaded in the Comet’s half boxcar and half
living quarters and said he wanted to be on the rails by the following
afternoon. John had looked at the list and said it would be difficult, but he’d
get it done.
Seth left his office to return to his house to start packing his own things
for the trip. After his packing was complete, Seth left his parents’ big
house, which he had never sold simply because he had his room there and
didn’t want to waste the time moving.
John had engaged a housekeeper to keep the place tidy and he had a
laundry service for his clothes and could cook quick meals for himself, but
mostly he ate at Maggie’s Diner, two blocks away, which was where he was
going now.
As he sat waiting for his dinner, he began to wonder about Abel and
Myra. It had been almost ten years now so Abel would almost be thirty.
Myra was his age and had been in his year in school, so she’d be twenty-
six. He had a hard time picturing a thirty-year-old Abel, although he
imagined that Myra hadn’t changed much.
Myra Dyer had been the prettiest girl in his class and one of the prettiest
in the school. Most of the boys had tried to win her attention, including
Seth, but it had been Abel whom she had chosen.
 He was curious how many children they had now. His engineer’s brain
began running through birth and death rates and guessed that she’d have at
least three or four living children now. Seth’s own parents had produced
five offspring, but only he and Abel had survived to start school.
With the death rate so high among women having children, he hoped that
Myra would be all right. Seth was pretty sure that she was because Abel had
stayed hidden for so long. If he’d lost Myra, he’d probably return to
Michigan with his children.
So, in a few days, he’d see Abel and Myra again and find out how many
nephews and nieces he had. He was snickering at the thought when Abby
brought him his food and smiled at him.
“Thank you, Abby,” he said as she poured him another cup of coffee.
“You’re welcome, Seth,” she replied as she smiled back and then left his
table.
As he ate, he shifted his thoughts to what possible problem they were
having in Abel’s community. After thinking about it, he realized he simply
had no idea at all. He was completely ignorant of where it was, how it was
organized, who was there, and why Abel thought they were all going to be
killed soon.
He’d have to wait until he read that letter that was waiting for him in
Medicine Bow.
Seth did wonder how much of a shock it would be to Abel to find out
that their parents were dead. Maybe Abel would come back with his family
and take over the company. That thought brought a smile to his face as he
took a bite of his baked chicken.
After leaving the diner, Seth did some shopping of his own at the large
mercantile, picking out gifts for his possible nieces and nephews, Myra,
Abel, and even Lydia, Myra’s mother. He didn’t bother buying anything for
Zacharia. He wasn’t very fond of the man who had taken Myra and then
Abel away, regardless of the reason.
_____
 After sending the telegrams, Abel made a trip to Wilmot’s Dry Goods to
drop off the letter and pick up the salt and baking powder. While he was
there, he bought five pounds of coffee and a sack of sugar for Myra,
knowing that she missed both. He used up all but three cents of the three
dollars she’d managed to squirrel away over the years. Zacharia had almost
all the community’s money in his house along with the only weapons and
ammunition, but Abel knew that even the community’s stash was growing
very small. It was another reason that he knew that Haven’s days were
numbered, even before this newest revelation that threatened them all.
He was twenty-one miles north of Medicine Bow when the telegrams
were delivered to the offices of Michigan Mining and Smelting and three
hours later pulled over to make his cold camp rather than try to find his way
in the dark.
As he laid down under his blanket inside his musty-smelling bedroll, he
could see the brightening comet overhead and wondered just how much
time they had left and if his father would do anything to help at all. He
knew that Seth would probably be studying the comet even now and even if
his father didn’t help, he believed that Seth wouldn’t abandon him. He
really hadn’t thought about his brother much over the past ten years and felt
strangely guilty about it.
He knew that when he left with Myra, he had effectively ruined Seth’s
dreams of being an engineer and inventor and thrust him into the business
world. Just as Seth had wondered about him, Abel began to envision Seth
with a wife and children and found it difficult to try to picture him with a
woman at all.
Seth had only been sixteen when he had gone, and his mind had been
filled with science and gadgets. He hadn’t even gone to any of the dances or
church socials to meet girls like the other boys. More than a few girls in
school had set their caps for Seth, but he hadn’t paid them any attention,
which had generated some gossip about him. Gossip that Abel knew was
totally unfounded.
Abel knew that Seth really liked girls because he had been in love with
Myra before he was. There had been some initial tension between the
brothers when Abel had first started seeing Myra, effectively supplanting
his younger brother. It hadn’t been anything malicious, it was simply that he
had fallen in love with Myra and she’d fallen in love with him. He knew
that Seth still loved Myra, but once Seth knew Myra had chosen Abel, Seth
accepted it and the tension evaporated. But he knew that Seth now
compared all potential mates to Myra and found them wanting.
Abel wondered what Seth looked like now. When he had gone, Seth was
still a thin sixteen-year-old but was already taller than he was. He didn’t
doubt that Seth had put on a lot of weight by now just as he had, once he’d
stopped growing. But it was Seth’s overall appearance that he wondered
about. He had freely admitted that Seth was better looking than he was, but
how had that translated from Seth, the boy, to Seth, the man?
Abel continued to look at the comet and smiled as he wondered if his
brother had finally found a good woman, settled down, and started a family
or just married because their father had laid down the law, as he tended to
do.
Either way, Abel still had a hard time imagining Seth with a wife, much
less children.
_____
After the children were put to bed, Myra and Rachel were alone in the
kitchen discussing Zacharia’s increased vigilance. Lydia had managed a few
minutes of private time with her daughter just before dinner.
“What did your mother say?” asked Rachel.
“She backed up my story about the salt and baking powder, but she
thinks that my father suspects me now. She doesn’t believe that he’ll do
anything until that comet is closer to the sun because he told her that God
had given him instructions, but that doesn’t mean he won’t shoot any of us
non-believers if we try anything.”
Rachel grimaced and said, “We’re really in a bind, Myra. We can’t just
take the children and run because it would be abandoning the others, and
we can’t defend ourselves when your father, Bill, and Charlie have all the
guns and ammunition.”
 “Those two scare me, Rachel. I think that once their sons ran off, they
thought about doing it themselves, but just stayed for some reason or
another. The fact that my father trusted them to have guns bothers me, too.”
“I feel the same way. Charlie Hotchkiss has made more than one
suggestive comment to me that gave me the creeps. We have to depend on
Abel’s father to send men to stop your father. He could hire Pinkerton
agents or send Seth and some men, couldn’t he? Or do you think there’s a
chance that he won’t do anything?”
“If it was just his father, I’d say there was a very good chance he’d just
crumple up the telegram and toss it away, but that’s why I had him send a
telegram to Seth, too. But that assumes that Seth is still in Michigan with
his father and not somewhere else. He could be in Timbuktu, for all I
know.”
“You’ve mentioned Seth before, but never talked about him a lot. Why
would he be in Timbuktu?”
Myra smiled and began to explain about Abel’s younger brother. She
loved Abel, but always had a soft spot for Seth, and it showed when she
told Rachel about him.
Myra told Rachel about how smart he was and his love of science and
engineering and how Abel’s departure had probably put him in a bind.
Rachel, who had lived her difficult girl-to-woman years in Haven and
had limited exposure to boys and men, was fascinated with the stories. She
asked what he looked like and Myra said that when she knew him, he was
tall and thin, but very handsome.
That night, as she lay in her small bed, Rachel began to imagine a life
with Seth Egan, but was pragmatic enough to realize that it was impossible.
Even if she met him, he’d probably be married and have three children. He
was important in a big company too, so he probably lived in a big house
with servants, wore fancy suits, and probably even smoked cigars.
She finally concluded that the real Seth Egan, even if he was unmarried,
would never pay attention to a young woman wearing homespun clothes
with no education.
 But still, she pictured an older version of the Seth Egan that Myra had
described and let it fill her dreams as she faded into sleep.
_____
The next morning at nine o’clock, Seth, dressed nothing like a business
executive, which wasn’t unusual, called John into his private office as he
walked quickly past his secretary’s outer desk.
Once inside his own office, he didn’t even sit down as he stood over his
desk and took out a pen and ink to sign anything that needed his signature.
As John walked in behind him, Seth began to dip the pen into the ink,
asking, “Where are we on preparations, John?”
“Gus has the coal car full and the clearance from the Double M, but the
Union Pacific is going to be a problem. You’ll have to use two sidings along
the trip.”
“That’s not bad, John. We need to pick up some coal twice anyway and
might have to top off the water.”
“I’ve already had all of the items on your list loaded into the second car,”
he said then he paused and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to take
some more men with you? That telegram sounded as if there’s going to be
trouble.”
“No, I’m not going to risk any of the workers, and that includes Gus and
Joe. That’s not what they signed up for or what they’re good at. Besides,
judging by the desperate nature of the telegram, I’ll want to move quickly.
Given the religious nature of the group, I can’t see it becoming a shootout,
anyway.”
John sighed and said, “Well, keep me informed when you can. When
will you leave?”
“In about three hours if everything on the Comet works.”
“Will it?”
“I don’t see why not. It’s really not that radical of a design, John.”
 Then he smiled at his secretary and said, “Do you want to know the
truth, John? I don’t think that the railroads will even bother with it no
matter how good it is. The new locomotives that they’re building are so
powerful that they can haul full water cars and cover the same distance the
Comet can without worrying about all of the Comet’s exposed plumbing.”
John looked at his young boss curiously as he asked, “Then why are you
still working on it, Seth?”
Seth laid the pen back down, turned to John with a grin, and said,
“Because it’s fun, John.”
As John snickered, Seth accepted the thick envelope of cash that John
had been holding out to him and said, “Take care of Mimi for me. Keep her
happy.”
John nodded and replied, “I will.”
Seth gave John a slap on the shoulder as he slid the thick envelope into
his vest pocket, walked out of the office, and then trotted down the stairway
to the workshop.
As he approached the smoking Comet, he spotted Gus walking around
the wheels doing a final check before departure then noticed that Joe Barker
was already in the cab shoveling more coal into the firebox.
“Gus!” he shouted as he drew closer.
Gus didn’t look at him but waved as he moved his attention to one of the
drive wheels’ bearings.
Satisfied with the recently greased wheel, he straightened, then turned to
face his boss as Seth approached the locomotive.
“We’re ready to roll, Seth. The switch has been thrown and we can roll
down the spur and connect to the Double M line. We’ve got to get moving
within the hour or those permissions disappear.”
As he walked past Gus and began to climb into the small locomotive’s
cab, he said, “John said the second car is loaded, are the horses on board?”
 Gus joined him in the cab as Seth was checking the pressure readings on
the boiler and the water level gauges and replied, “Yup.”
Satisfied with the pressure, Seth turned to Gus and asked, “Can you
think of anything I’ve forgotten, Gus?”
“Maybe a company of cavalry but other than that, everything you asked
for his on board, and I’ve loaded your things in the boxcar, too.”
Seth grinned then nodded, turned to Joe Barker, and asked, “How about
you, Joe? Everything ready?”
“We’ve got enough fuel to get us to St. Paul, and we’ll coal again in
Omaha and then Cheyenne.”
Seth shouted, “Let’s roll!”, then began to slide the throttle forward.
The Comet began to move, belching more black smoke into the well-
ventilated workshop, but no steam was being vented into the air as Seth’s
water recycling system began its work of saving the heated water vapor.
Seth gave two short blasts of the steam whistle, the only place that Seth’s
design intentionally allowed steam to be returned to the atmosphere, to let
workers know that he was leaving.
Ten minutes later, the Comet left Michigan Mining and Smelting’s spur
line and was switched onto the main line of the Michigan and Minnesota
Railway’s tracks heading southwest across Wisconsin to Omaha where they
would switch over to the Union Pacific’s westbound lines to Wyoming.
Normally, the trip would take almost three days, and even an express
would take two. But Seth’s contraption, barring mechanical breakdown,
could make the more than thousand-mile trip in a day and a half. The
limiting factors would be rest for the three men and other rail traffic, and
that was solved by having the accessible living quarters that had been built
into the front half of the lone boxcar. The stock car making up the last car in
the short train had enough room for six horses but no more. On this trip,
there were only two, which meant that the train was lightly loaded and
could reach speeds that most trains wouldn’t dare to achieve with
passengers on board.
 But rest would be haphazard as only one could sleep while the others fed
the hungry firebox and guided the train on the tracks. Seth and Gus were
both qualified as engineers, but Joe could only act as a fireman, at least
legally. He could drive the train but didn’t have the certificate yet to satisfy
the railroads.
The small train was soon flying southwest, occasionally reaching eighty
miles per hour on the empty straightaways, and entered Wisconsin before
noon.
Seth was exhilarated with the performance of the Comet as it blasted
along the tracks. He kept a watchful eye on the rails, knowing that even a
shoddy rail could result in disaster for his creation. If he saw the fearful
eyes of a big, hooved critter on the rails, there was nothing he could do but
close his eyes. He didn’t think even his large cowcatcher would be strong
enough to deflect a full-sized cow or bull, not at speeds over thirty miles per
hour.
Joe or Gus kept shoveling coal into the firebox as it raced across
Wisconsin and sometimes when Gus was at the tiller, Seth would shovel the
coal. It was a team effort and each of them wanted to make the trip in
record time.
Gus Wheeler had been a foreman on the work floor of the smelting part
of the company’s operation for years before Seth met him and Seth wound
up spending a lot of time with Gus as he was learning the ropes. He’d
adopted the grizzled foreman and when he suddenly found himself the
president of the company, he moved Gus from his position and made use of
his innate mechanical expertise in the workshop. The move had made Gus’s
wife happy when he was no longer in danger of serious injury or death on
the hazardous smelting floor and the increase in salary didn’t hurt either.
Joe Barker was a Gus friend who joined him in the workshop a year later
when Joe lost two fingers on his left hand in an accident on the smelting
floor. The three men spent long hours together in the workshop and knew
each other’s vagaries and interests as well as any brothers and probably
better than most.
 As the Comet raced southwest, Joe was the first to sleep after four hours,
and Gus took over shoveling coal while Seth kept a notebook log on the
rate of water loss as the Comet’s firebox boiled the water in its tank to
power the pistons that drove the wheels.
_____
As their small train flew down the rails across Wisconsin, four men
entered the First Colorado State Bank in Fort Collins. There were two
lookouts outside the building. One sat on his horse, a shotgun close against
his left leg, the second was leaning against the building eight feet from the
doorway with his Winchester propped against the outside wall.
As they entered with drawn pistols, the gang leader, Whitey Shultz
shouted his customary, “Everybody put ‘em in the air!” and most complied
with his order.
Bank president Art Andersen, sitting in his private office, heard the
shout, and not seeing how many robbers were outside, stood, pulled his Colt
Peacemaker from his drawer, cocked the hammer, and took a deep breath
before taking two strides around his desk and throwing open the door.
He was shocked as he was bringing his pistol level when he saw four
gunmen in his bank’s lobby, but it was too late to do anything but fire. He
hastily aimed and fired at the closest thief, Johnny Billups, but his .45
caliber round missed its target by more than a foot as it drilled through the
far wall and left the building before impacting into the outer wall of the
apothecary next door.
As he was drawing back his hammer for a second shot, Hank Olsen who
had been standing just two feet away from Johnny Billups, pulled his
trigger, sending a .44 slug into the banker’s chest and knocking him to the
floor. He shuddered as a large pool of blood spread across the tile then
stopped breathing.
The gunfire from inside the bank created chaos in the cobbled main
street of Fort Collins as pedestrians raced into the nearest buildings and
wagon drivers and riders urged their animals away from the explosive
reports.
 The two lookouts, Joe Cox and Charlie Lemmon, quickly pulled their
weapon into their hands, cocked their hammers, and scanned the streets for
incoming lawmen as three of the bank robbers began scooping out cash
drawers while Whitey kept watch over the remaining employees and
customers who were all frozen in shock at Art Anderson’s sudden death.
City Marshal Pete Kelsey heard the shooting from inside his office three
blocks down the street and shouted to Deputy City Marshal Joey Lipscomb
to grab a shotgun as he raced out of his office.
Joey pulled a shotgun from the wall rack while Marshal Kelsey grabbed
a Winchester and cocked the hammer and then both lawmen boiled out of
the office and turned right toward the bank on a dead run along the
boardwalk.
Joe Cox spotted them first and shouted, “Law comin’ from our right,
Charlie!” as he turned his shotgun toward the two lawmen, who were still
two blocks away.
Charlie, his Winchester cocked and ready, spotted them before Joe
finished his warning and aimed at Deputy Lipscomb carrying the more
dangerous shotgun.
Deputy Marshal Lipscomb hadn’t cocked the shotgun’s hammers yet, so
he glanced down as he ran, slipped his right thumb over the first hammer,
and was pulling it back when Charlie fired.
Less than a fourth of a second later, the .44 caliber bullet drilled into his
upper right chest, breaking ribs, punching through his lungs, and shattering
his scapula before exiting his body. The deputy spun clockwise and fell
face-first into the boardwalk with blood pouring from his wound.
Marshal Kelsey knew his deputy had been hit, but there was nothing he
could do for him except stop more shots from the outlaws, so he lurched to
a halt, took a knee, and aimed his Winchester at the man on the boardwalk
near the bank with the repeater who had just shot his deputy, perceiving him
to be the greater threat.
He was wrong.
 Joe Cox pointed his shotgun at the marshal and let loose both barrels as
he sat in the saddle.
The marshal wasn’t hit by most of the blast but caught enough of the
pellets to cause his shot to go almost straight into the air as he fell
backward.
Bloody from the hit, Marshal Kelsey regained his footing and tried to
steady himself for a second shot as he cocked his Winchester and aimed at
the mounted outlaw who had already shoved the shotgun into his scabbard.
He never got the second shot as Charlie Lemmon fired his second shot,
hitting him in the gut and dropping him sideways onto the cobbled street.
Blood poured from the wound for fifteen seconds before he died.
Fifteen feet away, Deputy Marshal Lipscomb was still alive but could
only watch as the four bank robbers ran from the bank and bounded onto
their horses as the second lookout mounted as well before all six men
galloped out of town riding west.
He passed out thirty seconds later.
Down the street, Larimer County Sheriff Pete Hinkley and both of his
deputies were in the courthouse at a trial for four rustlers when the shooting
began and by the time they had been notified of the robbery, the outlaw
gang had ridden three miles northwest into the mountainous land northwest
of Fort Collins. After the lawmen saddled their horses and organized a
posse, the gang disappeared into the rugged country.
After a full day’s fruitless search, all the sheriff could do was notify
other law offices of their descriptions and direction of travel.
_____
Joe was still sleeping in the cot in the living quarters of the second car
when they arrived in Omaha to make the switch to the Union Pacific tracks.
They were already coaling and topping off the water tanks, which awakened
him before he opened the doorway to the boxcar and stepped out onto the
coal car.
 “Why didn’t you wake me up?” he asked as he yanked his fisherman’s
cap onto his head.
“We’re almost finished, Joe, and we’ll be rolling in about ten minutes. I
figured we could swap places before we left but seeing as how you’re here,
I might as well head on back,” Gus replied as he pulled out a rag and began
wiping the coal dust from his hands.
Gus waved to Seth before he walked along the catwalk on the side of the
coal tender then entered the second car, closed the door and Joe took his
place in the cab.
“How far did the UP give us before we have to use one of those
sidings?” Joe asked.
“All the way to Kearney Station. It’ll be close too, but I figure we can
push our luck on the coal. We might have to slow down a bit to make it last
that far, though.”
Joe grinned and replied, “The hell we will! I’ll burn my britches if I have
to.”
Seth laughed and said, “I’d rather you didn’t, Joe. It’s not something I’d
look forward to seeing.”
Joe let out a loud guffaw as Seth waved to the coaling station manager
and opened the throttles.
Ten minutes later, Omaha was left behind, and the Comet was streaking
across the Great Plains toward Kearney.
Seth was more than just a little pleased with the locomotive’s
performance. It seemed that the increased airflow from the higher rates of
speed increased the efficiency of the steam reclamation. So, even as he
concentrated on the tracks ahead, Seth began to mentally design a more
efficient radiator for dissipating the heat from the steam and turning it back
into liquid water.
_____
 “We’re in trouble now boys,” Whitey said as they walked their horses
slowly over the rocky ground, “We’ve only got enough supplies to last us
four or five days and with two lawmen dead behind us, they’re gonna be
tellin’ everybody to look out for us.”
Joe Cox had to almost shout to be heard over the clacking of the twenty-
four shod hooves over the rocky ground as he replied, “Whitey, me,
Charlie, and Johnny came down this way a couple of years ago when we
ran off from this place named Haven. Medicine Bow is about sixty miles
north of here and there ain’t no law there. If we need a place to lay low for a
while, we head north for Haven about seventy miles north of there, and take
it over. All that’s there is some crazy Bible-thumpers and a lot of women
and kids. We could stay there over the winter.”
Whitey had to turn back to yell back at Joe as he asked, “How about
guns?”
Joe answered, “Nothin’ much. When we left, they had a couple of Henry
repeaters, two Winchesters, four shotguns, and a couple of pistols. But they
never had much ammunition and none of ‘em were any good with ‘em
anyway. Hell, me and Charlie were the best of ‘em, and the big prophet,
Zacharia, wouldn’t even let us practice.”
Whitey turned back to the front and shouted, “Let me think about it!”
_____
Zacharia grew more suspicious of his wife when he spotted her talking to
Myra and Rachel that afternoon while he was returning to the barn to
sharpen his scythe. What made it more obvious was Lydia’s sudden return
to his house when she had seen him looking at them.
He then began to watch the actions of the other members of the
community for any signs that they might be turning against him because
Lydia had betrayed him and told them of his revelation.
Like anyone else who looked for a problem, purely innocent behavior
was interpreted as malicious plotting and Zacharia was even more pleased
with his decision to arm Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss.
 _____
It was into that tainted atmosphere that Abel returned to Haven at five-
thirty in the evening. The weather was already below freezing and there was
a promise of snow in the air when he entered his house. It may technically
still be summer, but this wasn’t Texas or even Nebraska. This was near the
Continental Divide and anything was possible with the weather.
Myra and Rachel were in the kitchen when Abel walked in, and for just a
moment, Myra thought he was her father and had decided to execute
everyone in the house. Her heart stopped for a split second before she
realized it was Abel and a rush of relief exploded inside her as she bounced
from the chair and threw herself into his arms.
“Myra, what’s wrong?” he asked as he began taking off his coat and she
stepped away.
“My father gave Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss guns. I think he
knows that my mother told me his secret, Abel.”
Abel finished removing his coat, hung it on a peg, and replied, “What
can we do, Myra? We don’t know who we can trust, they have all of the
weapons and there are too many women and children to leave quickly.”
Myra nodded and said, “I know. Rachel and I kept trying to come up
with some plan but every time we do, we hit a wall.”
Abel said, “Then all we can do is hope that your father won’t act until
that comet is closer to the sun.”
Rachel then asked, “How do we know that it’s going to do that? What if
it just disappears?”
Abel answered, “A long time ago, when we were just kids, Seth and I
were lying in our beds and he began talking about comets as if I was
interested. I wasn’t, but I do recall that he said that comets were like the
planets, that they circled the sun, and that they didn’t burn like the sun but
reflected light like the moon does. As to whether or not it will disappear, I
don’t remember that he said any more than that.”
Myra asked quietly, “Is he going to come, Abel?”
 Abel stepped closer to put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her
worried eyes as he said, “Seth won’t let us down, even if my father does.”
Myra smiled weakly and nodded, not having as much confidence in Seth
as Abel did.
Rachel, on the other hand, believed that her new mythical hero, Seth
Egan, would arrive and save them all. He had to. He was already a legend
in her mind because of how Myra had described him and was reinforced
when she, and obviously both Myra and Abel believed he was their only
real chance to avoid the inevitable. He had to save them because no one else
could.
____
Two hundred yards away in Zacharia’s house, the prophet was eating his
dinner as Lydia sat opposite from him at the table poking at her food. She
noticed that he had taken to wearing a revolver as well.
Finally, she asked, “Why do you have the pistol, Zacharia?”
He looked up at her and replied, “I’m worried about Abel. The more I
thought about it, the more I think that he might be trying to stop me from
doing what God commanded me to do,” then after a pause he asked, “Did
you break your promise and tell Myra about my vision?”
Lydia knew she shouldn’t tell him, but couldn’t lie as she replied, “I did,
Zacharia. She’s our child and has our grandchildren.”
Zacharia stood quickly, threw down his fork, and shouted,
“How could
you betray me, wife?”
Lydia remained calm as she stared at him and replied softly, “I didn’t
betray you, Zacharia. I just didn’t betray our daughter. If your vision is true,
then anything that Abel or anyone else does cannot stop His divine hand.
Myra has told only Rachel and Abel of your plan and no one else. She will
not tell anyone else because of the panic and violence that will probably
result.
“So, my husband, you can punish me if you will, but if you act now then
you are telling God that He was wrong, and you no longer trust what He
told you. If you truly believe in what you heard, then you must ignore
whatever Abel, Myra, or Rachel do or say. You must either trust God or
your own fears. It is up to you.”
Zacharia glared at Lydia for a few more seconds before his face returned
to a calm façade and he slowly sat back down, picked up his fork, and took
another bite of roasted venison.
After he swallowed, he said, “What you said is true, Lydia. For me to act
now would be to disavow my faith, which I cannot do. But I will continue
to stay armed for my own protection and that of the true believers. When
the time comes for me to fulfill my vision, then I will act without
hesitation.”
Lydia nodded then picked up her own fork and began to eat.
_____
The gang was sitting around a campfire eating beaver meat and taking
advantage of the heat in the cold air.
Whitey said, “Joe told me about a place where we can hide out for the
winter without worryin’ about the law. It’ll take us about four days to get
there, but it sounds like a good hideout. It even has a lot of women to keep
us warm.”
The boys all exploded into hooting and laughing at the promise of
warmth and women, and with the haul of almost a thousand dollars from
the bank job, stayed in a good mood until they crawled into their bedrolls an
hour later.
All of them seemed pleased except for Johnny Billups, who thought he
might throw up when Whitey announced they’d be going to Haven. This
had all gotten so far out of hand now. It was nothing like he expected when
he rode out of Haven with Joe Cox two years ago, abandoning his family.
This was no adventure. This was misery. And now they’d be going back to
hurt his parents, sisters, and little brother.
_____
 Seth was in the boxcar’s living quarters catching up on sleep after they
left Kearney behind and had to spend almost half an hour on a siding to
boot. At least he was supposed to be sleeping. What he was doing was
running through possible reasons for Abel to have sent the telegrams.
He concluded that the difficulties had to be internal, or Abel could have
just gone to the law. But again, his lack of information left him unable to go
any further until he read the letter that Abel had left in Medicine Bow, and
hoped it gave him a lot more details.
Abel had said to bring guns, which meant that he didn’t have any. Seth
had brought six Winchester ‘73s along with a dozen boxes of .44 cartridges,
four Colt Peacemakers chambered for the same rounds, with their gunbelts,
two twelve-gauge shotguns, and then his own personal weapons, a Colt
Peacemaker that was chambered for the .45 Long Colt cartridge and his
beast of a Winchester.
It was a Centennial model, the ’76, in the musket version with a thirty-
inch barrel. But what made it special was that it was chambered to fire the
.50-95 Winchester Express cartridge. This gun was Winchester’s answer to
the buffalo guns that hunters had used to almost eliminate the giant herds of
bison that had covered the Plains. He had never used it for anything other
than target practice and had never even fired at another human being before,
which gave him some pause about what he might have to do over the next
week. All he could do was hope that his brother was exaggerating the
problem or that he would be able to reason or bluff his way through it.
He hadn’t told Gus or Joe that they would be staying with the Comet in
Medicine Bow but suspected that they knew they would be. He had Rowdy,
his tall chestnut gelding, and Jelly, his light tan Morgan gelding that he’d
use as a packhorse but had brought no animals for them to ride. He didn’t
want them to risk their lives for this and would rather that they stayed with
the train and prepared it for the return trip to Michigan. It would require
routine maintenance and they’d have to close off two leaks that had already
reduced the amount of distance between watering stops to just two hundred
miles.
As the train left Nebraska, Seth finally drifted off to sleep.
 CHAPTER 2
 
It was with some trepidation that Abel walked out to the fields that
morning, unsure of what Zacharia or his two well-armed followers would
do or say to him.
He was surprised when none of them treated him any differently as they
began to cut down the stalks of spring wheat and set it aside for the women
to toss into the wagon to return to the mill, but they worked all morning in
almost complete silence with only occasional comments to the women
when they walked too close to the swinging blades.
The day’s harvesting was done and after helping to bring the wheat in,
Myra and Rachel made dinner for the children and Abel. When Abel
returned to the house, Myra asked how things had gone and was surprised
to find that although Zacharia was hardly cordial to him, he wasn’t hostile
either.
Myra wished she could go over to her parents’ house and talk to her
mother but didn’t want to press her luck, not realizing that if she had
visited, it might have prevented a tragedy.
_____
Seth was on the throttle when they rolled into Cheyenne, grateful for the
heat from the firebox. Gus was standing behind him as they slowed and had
to be shunted to a siding to allow a coal train to pass heading east. They’d
have to wait in Cheyenne for two hours until the eastbound train arrived,
refueled, watered, and then continued its journey.
“What say we find Joe and get ourselves some hot food,” Seth said as he
pulled the locomotive to a stop and he and Joe began spinning valves closed
to shut down the engine.
“Sounds good to me, Seth.”
 Twenty minutes later, the three men crossed the platform and headed into
Cheyenne and the closest eating establishment they could find. The living
area in the boxcar had a unique combination heat and cookstove that even
had an oven, but it was still a good idea to have someone else do the
cooking if they could.
After they took seats in the diner and the waitress had taken their order,
they sat drinking their coffee and letting their ears adjust to the relative
silence of normal background noise.
Gus looked over at Seth and said, “You’re plannin’ on going up there by
yourself, aren’t you?”
“Yup. I want to move fast, and I don’t think it’s going to come to
shooting anyway.”
“Seth, I read that telegram and if I were you, I’d bring either me or Joe
along. We can just rent or buy a horse when we get there.”
“Gus, I just can’t see it getting that bad. Besides, we need to close off
those two leaks and get the locomotive and trucks on the other two cars
serviced before the return trip.”
Gus harrumphed as the waitress brought them their massive meals and
the three men dug in with a vengeance.
Forty-five minutes later, they returned to the Comet and while Joe began
stoking the fire to get it ready to move, Gus and Seth inspected the working
parts to make sure that there wouldn’t be any more problems. They didn’t
bother with the two small leaks yet, as it was only another hundred miles to
Medicine Bow and Seth figured that they’d get there no later than eight
o’clock that night.
The sun was already down when they regained the main tracks and
headed west, glad for the heat provided by the locomotive’s firebox. They
may all have grown up in the upper peninsula of Michigan, but cold was
still cold.
_____
 There was a siding a quarter of a mile east of Medicine Bow and the
Union Pacific had authorized him to use it to park his special train, but
when they pulled into the siding at seven-forty that evening, Seth was given
the news that his train could only stay in the siding until noon tomorrow
and would have to be moved to the yard at Laramie by three o’clock
tomorrow afternoon, making Gus’s argument for going with Seth moot.
Even though most of the businesses were shut down for the night,
including the dry goods store where Seth needed to pick up Abel’s letter, it
was good to finally arrive at Medicine Bow. Rather than get rooms in the
hotel, they simply went into the living area in the second car, made
themselves some coffee, and used the two beds and a bedroll to get some
sleep, making sure that the heat stove was churning out enough warmth.
_____
Zacharia lay awake next to his sleeping wife, simply staring into the
dark. Ever since she had told him of her own concerns for Myra and their
grandchildren, he had been struggling with his revelation that would require
him to murder his own offspring and her children.
Had he misinterpreted
what God wanted him to do?
He had been so sure when he was laying out
in the field after seeing the Comet in the sky but now began to wonder if he
had misinterpreted what he heard.
So, after laying silently for another hour, he slipped out of bed in his
nightshirt, tiptoed silently through the kitchen, and left the house to return
to the newly harvested field to pray for clarification.
As he walked, the cold Wyoming air didn’t bother him as his mind was
running wild with ways to ask God for wisdom without appearing to be a
doubter. His bare feet trod over the hard earth, sometimes crushing large
clods of dirt, or stepping on rocks that should have made him hop away in
pain but feeling neither. All that mattered now was that God spoke to him
again.
He went to the same spot where he had heard the revelation and looked
up into the heavens and saw the comet hanging in the sky overhead, even
brighter than it had been on that night, and continued to examine the
celestial body. For ten minutes, he stared overhead, ignoring his body’s
shouts about the cold. Then it came to him in a flash of inspiration. He
suddenly saw the comet not as a harbinger of death, but an angel of God
sent to free him of his promise to send his followers to heaven before the
comet struck the sun.
He began to weep in thanks to God as he continued to watch the comet
through his misting eyes, and after five minutes, fell to his knees then
stretched out his arms to his side and fell prostrate onto the field, tears still
streaming from his eyes as he sobbed in relief and gratitude.
He was praying silently in thanksgiving for his release and knowing that
life could go on. He finally stopped crying and just exulted in the feeling of
warmth from the emotion of the moment.
But the warmth was only in his heart and soul as the heat from his body
quickly began to flow into the cold ground. He stayed lying on his stomach
as he slipped into the first peaceful sleep he’d had in a long time.
At three-fifteen in the morning, Zacharia Dyer, self-proclaimed prophet,
slid out of life and into the waiting arms of his God.
_____
Lydia awakened early the next morning to an empty bed and quickly
trotted out to the kitchen where she started a fire in the cookstove’s firebox
before donning her boots and slipping on a coat for a rapid walk to the
privy.
When she returned, she removed her boots but kept her coat on until the
kitchen warmed from the cookstove and she began pouring some water
from the large pitcher into a wash basin.
She had just finished washing when she realized that she hadn’t seen
Zacharia yet. She had expected that he might have gone to the second
bedroom because he was still angry with her because of her disobedience,
so she decided not to bother him.
It was only after she had hung up the towel that she slowly made her
way to the second bedroom to wake him and found it as empty as the rest of
the house.
 She shouted, “Zacharia?” and after receiving no reply, began to panic.
Lydia then quickly yanked on her shoes again and left the house to hurry
to see Myra, hoping against hope that Zacharia hadn’t done anything to her
or the grandchildren. Her feet crunched on the heavily frosted earth as she
trotted toward Myra’s house, but before she reached the dwelling, she
glanced into the field and saw a shape on the ground and knew that it
belonged to her husband.
“Zacharia!” she shouted as she began to run towards him, thinking he
was just praying, but the heavy frost that covered him demolished that
hope.
Halfway there, despite his frozen coating, she repeated her cry,
“Zacharia!”
Myra, Rachel, and Abel were sitting at the kitchen table when they heard
Lydia’s panicked shouts, rose quickly, and trotted to the door. Abel threw it
wide and all three exited the house just as Lydia reached Zacharia’s
unmoving body, dropped to her knees, and began to wail as her hand
pressed against his back, ignoring the icy frost.
Other doors began to open around Haven while Myra and Abel raced
from their house with Rachel close behind as the three Egan children
clustered by the back door watching the adults leave.
Myra and Abel slowed as they approached Zacharia’s weeping,
disconsolate wife who was on her knees with her hands on her husband’s
still back. Myra walked to her mother and knelt beside her putting her arm
over her mother’s shaking shoulders.
Others began to walk toward the field, including many children, and as
they began to realize what had happened, an overwhelming sense of
confusion and uncertainty began to flow through the gathering crowd. Their
prophet and leader had suddenly and mysteriously died, and they felt lost,
wondering what it meant and how it affected their future.
As he stood looking at the scene, Abel himself didn’t know whether to
sense relief or a loss of direction. For ten years, he and many of the others
had depended on Zacharia for guidance and now he had been taken from
them. The prophet’s unrealized plan for the elimination of each of them was
now gone as well.
The villagers began to form a circle around the Dyers, alternately
glancing down at their dead leader and at each other.
As confusion reigned, Bill Smith stood beside Charlie Hotchkiss then
nudged him with his elbow and whispered, “Follow me.”
Charlie nodded and the two men backed away from the silent group
when they were fifty feet away, turned, and walked quickly to Zacharia’s
house and its weapons cache to make sure no one else could access
anything that could shoot.
After her initial grief had diminished, Lydia looked up at Abel, whom
she assumed would be the new leader of the group, and asked, “Abel, what
do we do now?”
He stepped closer and knelt next to his mother-in-law and said, “We
need to bury him, Lydia. At the ceremony, we’ll all discuss what we’ll do.
This may be the end of Haven.”
She and Abel slowly stood with Myra and Rachel as everyone looked to
Lydia for answers.
Lydia scanned the lost faces and said loudly, “My husband is dead, taken
into God’s bosom. We will have a burial service for Zacharia and after his
mortal remains are in the earth, we will all talk about our future here.”
There was general murmuring, but no specific questions, so Lydia turned
to Abel and asked, “Abel, can you and Bill Smith carry Zacharia’s body to
the barn?”
Abel nodded, then scanned the crowd, failing to see Bill Smith or
Charlie Hotchkiss, so she asked the only other man, John Billups, to help.
John nodded, stepped forward, and as they bent over to gently pick up
the frozen body of their prophet, they and the entire group were startled by
a single gunshot and everyone’s head quickly turned to face the southwest
where Bill Smith stood with a smoking Winchester in his hands and Charlie
Hotchkiss standing beside him with the second loaded Winchester. Both
wore their gunbelts.
Abel knew instantly what was happening, but there was nothing that he
or any of the others could do.
“Now that Zacharia is dead,” said Bill loudly as he and Charlie walked
slowly toward the villagers, “me and Charlie figured that somebody needs
to straighten you folks out. First off, you all gotta know that he was plannin’
on killin’ us all before that comet hit the sun. Ain’t that right, Lydia?”
Lydia didn’t reply but simply glared at Bill Smith.
“She’s not sayin’ anything because it’d scare you all. But she knew, and
so did Abel, Myra, and probably Rachel, too. But he’s dead now and he
ain’t gonna kill anyone. With him gone, me and Charlie figure you need
new leaders and we’re it. You all can behave yourselves and do what we tell
ya or, well, we’ll just do what old Zacharia was plannin’ on doin’.”
Charlie’s wife, Mary, began to walk sternly towards him, pointing at him
and shouting, “Charlie Hotchkiss, you put down that gun right now! I won’t
have this!”
Charlie simply pulled the Colt from his holster, cocked it, and shot Mary
when she was within fifteen feet, the .44 knocking her backward onto the
ground, gasping for air as her warm blood began to melt the thick frost. Her
eyes were still bulging in shock as she breathed her last.
Charlie then looked at the crowd and said, “You, Rachel! You’re my new
wife! Get over here!”
Rachel, like everyone else, was stunned by what had just happened.
Everything in their world had suddenly been so violently twisted that none
of them moved.
Charlie screamed, “Get over here now, Rachel!”
Rachel blinked twice and began to walk slowly toward Charlie
Hotchkiss as Bill Smith yelled, “Wilma, you, fat cow, I’m divorcin’ you
right now. Sarah, you’re my new wife. Get over here.”
 Sarah Klaus, a seventeen-year-old, began to shuffle toward the armed
men with her eyes glazed in a mix of terror and confusion.
Wilma Smith didn’t say anything but began to tremble when she thought
that her husband might kill her as well.
Before Rachel and Sarah reached them, Bill said, “Both of you go into
Zacharia’s house with Charlie while I talk to everybody.”
Charlie grinned at the two young women and waved his Colt Walker’s
barrel a couple of times toward the house to get them moving.
Rachel took Sarah’s shaking hand and as they walked slowly in front of
Charlie said, “Don’t worry, Sarah, it will be all right.”
Sarah glanced over at Rachel, who was smiling at her, and wondered
how she could be so calm but took some strength from her confidence and
nodded.
Charlie, walking four feet behind them, just snickered as Bill began his
speech announcing his self-appointment as the new leader.
“Now that I’m in charge, there are gonna be a few changes. First off,
we’re gonna bury Zack over there along with Charlie’s ex-wife. There ain’t
gonna be any ceremony or talk about what’s gonna happen. I’m makin’
today a holiday, call it our own Independence Day. So, after we get the
buryin’ done, nobody’s gotta work. I want everybody to go to their own
houses and stay there.
“Me and Charlie got to marry our new wives, but we ain’t gonna do it at
the same time. One of us is gonna be watchin’. You all behave yourselves
and things will be just fine. We know who the troublemakers are, and that
means you, Abel, and that wife of yours. now if you don’t want her shot
down in front of you, you’d better not give me or Charlie any problems.
You got that?”
Abel glared at Bill Smith and replied, “Yeah.”
Bill grinned and said, “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it? Now let’s get
those bodies into the ground.”
 While Bill directed the burial of Zacharia and his first wife, back in
Zacharia’s house, Charlie was eagerly awaiting his return so he could get to
know his new wife.
Rachel wasn’t sure what she could do as Charlie pawed her before he
shoved her into Myra and Zacharia’s bedroom and slammed the door
behind her. Rachel heard Sarah crying through the wall as she was locked
into the second bedroom.
But Charlie and Bill had made the mistake of assuming that because of
the remote location of Haven and the youth of the young women that
neither would do anything more than cower in fear as they waited in the
bedrooms for their new husbands.
Rachel scanned the room and after just thirty seconds, began to disrobe,
pulling off her homespun dress. Five minutes later, she was wearing two
pairs of Zacharia’s pants, which fit better than she had expected as she was
only an inch shorter than the five feet and eight-inch-tall prophet. She was
wearing three of his shirts, but still had her own shoes, which weren’t any
different than those worn by the men anyway. Going out the window was
going to be the problem because she didn’t know where Charlie was. If he
was just outside the door, he might hear the noise of the rusty hinges when
she swung open the shutters.
Rachel finally knew that this was going to be her only chance and it was
a risk she had to take, so she closed her eyes and slowly began to open the
right-hand shutter. Her eyes popped open when the hinges emitted a high-
pitched squeal. She stopped immediately and glanced back at the door. It
remained closed, but she needed to hide that squeal somehow.
She closed her eyes and recalled her mother’s death years earlier, letting
the tears flow as she began to sob as loudly as she could before yanking
both shutters open quickly. She stopped crying, again looked at the door,
then exhaled sharply before slowly sneaking her head out the window and
scanned for Charlie or Bill Smith.
Once she was sure that neither man was watching, she clambered
through the window and lowered herself to the ground. She didn’t panic and
just race away, knowing that she’d probably be seen by moving quickly and
attracting attention. Instead, she slowly walked to the western edge of the
house, the side away from the barn where she knew they’d be taking
Zacharia. Once she reached the edge, she stopped again and snuck a glance
around the end of the house and found no one there.
A hundred and fifty yards away, the forest began, but it would be a long
hundred and fifty yards. Rachel took a deep breath and began to walk
rapidly, but not in a panicky dash, to the safety of the trees.
She knew that if she was spotted by either Charlie or Bill, they wouldn’t
hesitate to shoot her, but kept the pace, glancing backward every few yards
to make sure that she hadn’t been spotted. If she saw any movement behind
her, she’d break into a sprint for the pines, but for now, she’d conserve her
energy.
It took her over one incredibly long, heart-pounding minute to reach the
trees, and once inside the darkness of the forest, she turned south. She had
no food or water, but she knew she was free and where she was going.
She had only one real hope, and that was if she met Seth Egan on the
long trail to Medicine Bow. If she didn’t, it would be a long, four-day walk
before she reached the town and sought help for the others.
_____
Charlie hadn’t heard her leave because he was in the kitchen eating. He
found that the prophet had more and better food than he had in his house
and was gorging himself before Bill got back.
Bill had Abel and John digging one hole in the village cemetery for both
bodies. He’d sent the others back to their homes, Lydia being told she was
living with Myra now and wasn’t allowed to remain for her husband’s
burial.
As he swung the pickaxe into the hardened ground, Abel kept trying to
fashion a plan for dealing with this unexpected disaster. When he’d seen
Zacharia’s body on the ground, he thought that the threat of death for the
villagers was over and that his telegram and letter were now nothing more
than an embarrassment.
 Now there was a much more immediate and real danger. Deep down, he
wasn’t convinced that Zacharia would go through with his stated plan to kill
everyone. Saying that he had to murder his own family and doing it were
two completely different things, but he had just witnessed Charlie
Hotchkiss murder his wife without a thought, and that meant he would kill
any of the others just as easily. Even if Abel managed to kill one of them,
the other would still be armed and could shoot Myra or his children. It was
an impossible problem, and now those telegrams were anything but an
embarrassment. They were his only hope,
but could they hold out another
week?
And then there was the letter he had left at the dry goods store. He had
described a totally different situation than the one that existed now. If Seth
arrived, he’d be expecting a misguided prophet, not two well-armed, power-
hungry men. It could lead to his brother’s death as well and he felt even
worse.
_____
Seth, Gus, and Joe were having breakfast at Mabel’s Diner in Medicine
Bow, and Seth was giving instructions to them about what to do with the
Comet when it was in the yard back at Laramie.
“After you replace the two leaking pipes, just give it a good once-over.
Once that’s done, just stay in the yard until I send you a telegram.”
Then he pulled out his thick envelope, opened it, and handed Gus a
hundred dollars.
“That should last you two a month, but I don’t think it’ll take more than
a couple of days to sort Abel’s mess out.”
Joe asked, “So, as soon as you pick up that letter, you’re heading out for
wherever?”
“Yup. That’s the plan.”
Joe mumbled something unintelligible under his breath before shoveling
some eggs into his mouth.
 After they left the diner thirty minutes later, they all walked to the dry
goods store and when they entered, they found John Wilmot, the proprietor,
beginning to move some outdoor display items to the boardwalk.
Seth asked, “Want some help moving some of your merchandise?”
“I’d appreciate it,” John replied.
Seth, Gus, and Joe rolled or slid barrels that John Wilmot indicated for
outside display and five minutes later, John walked behind the counter and
asked, “So, what can I do for you fellers?”
Seth replied, “My name’s Seth Egan, and I received a telegram from my
brother Abel telling me that he had left a letter here for me.”
“He sure did,” John said as he reached under his cash drawer, pulled out
a folded sheet of paper, and handed it to Seth.
Seth assumed the proprietor had read it but acted as if he hadn’t as he
unfolded the single sheet of paper and began reading while Gus and Joe
watched anxiously.
He finished, then looked up at Gus and said, “Abel says that Zacharia
Dyer is planning on killing everyone in the community before the comet
strikes the sun. He believes that the sun will then explode and kill everyone
on the earth.”
John Wilmot had been listening and suddenly asked, “Is that gonna
happen?”
Seth turned to the proprietor and replied, “No, sir. Even if a comet strikes
the sun, it wouldn’t even burp, but almost none of them hit the sun anyway.
They loop around the sun and come back. There’s nothing to worry about,
but the folks in Haven have a lot to worry about, so I’d better get ready to
go.”
He handed the letter to Gus who began reading. While he was reading,
Seth pulled out a Morgan silver dollar from his pocket and walked to the
counter.
 “My brother said there were a lot of children still in the settlement. Give
me a dollar’s worth of penny candy.”
Mister Wilmot replied, “That’s a lot of candy, mister. It’ll fill four bags
for sure.”
“There can’t be too much for that many youngsters, Mister Wilmot.”
He shrugged and filled five bags with the sweets, then put the five bags
into one larger bag.
Seth didn’t need any more supplies for the trip, so he took the bag of
candy, then left the store with Joe and Gus trailing. Gus was reading and
glancing up to watch where he was going as they stepped along the
boardwalk.
By the time they reached the railyard, Joe was reading and Gus was
following and talking excitedly to Seth about the letter’s contents. Joe
caught a toe on a rail, stumbled, and almost fell onto the opposite rail, but
managed to keep upright as Seth was opening the door to the stock car.
Neither Seth nor Gus commented on Joe’s misstep.
After Seth finished sliding open the car’s door, he and Gus pulled out the
stored ramp and soon both men strode up the incline as Joe stopped near the
bottom of the ramp finishing the letter.
Inside the car, Gus began saddling Jelly with the pack saddle while Seth
prepared Rowdy for the long ride ahead.
Joe finished reading, bounded up the ramp into the car, and handed the
letter back to Seth before he began to help with the supplies which were
mostly in the panniers already. The exception was the crate of six
Winchesters, the two shotguns, the four Colts, and all the ammunition that
Seth had packed.
Forty minutes later, Seth was mounted on Rowdy with a heavily laden
Jelly trailing as he leaned over to Gus and Joe.
“I’ll probably see you boys in five days,” he said with a tip of the hat.
 “You’d better come back in one piece, Seth. Mimi needs you,” Gus
warned as he shook his index finger at him.
“She’ll be fine, Gus. You just get the Comet to Laramie and get her all
fixed up for the return. Oh, and while I think about it, borrow a passenger
car from Union Pacific. We’re probably going to be transporting a bunch of
folks when we leave. We’ll at least be bringing back Abel’s family, but I
have a feeling that we’ll have a full car. Stock enough food for a crowd,
too.”
Then he opened the envelope again and handed another hundred to Gus.
“Pick up a bunch of clothes, too. It sounds like they don’t have much.”
Gus accepted the bills and said, “We’ll do that, Seth. We’ll be waiting for
that telegram.”
Seth gave them both a short salute, then set Rowdy off gingerly over the
east-west sets of tracks as he headed north to Haven to help Abel with
Zacharia.
After he cleared the railyard, he turned west on the main street of
Medicine Bow, and following the instructions in Abel’s letter, he turned
north at the end of the street and after searching for ten minutes, found the
ruts of years’ worth of wagon trips to Haven and followed them northward
at a medium trot.
As he rode with the morning sun on his right shoulder, he wondered if
Abel and Myra would even recognize him. He was five inches taller and
forty pounds heavier than he was the last time he’d seen them and smiled
when he thought of seeing his nephew and nieces hopefully by tomorrow
evening and wondering how many of each there were. Knowing how pretty
Myra was, he was sure that they would be handsome youngsters and had
been surprised that Abel hadn’t even mentioned her or the children in his
short letter, but he could understand.
There was a lot of rough ground over the next seventy miles, but the
wagons would have taken the best route and avoided most of it, so he
estimated he should be able to get at least fifty miles ridden before he set up
camp for the night.
 _____
Rachel had turned south and was walking at a brisk pace, still checking
behind her every hundred paces or so. Even though she was still hidden by
the forest, she knew she was leaving a trail that could be easily followed.
She estimated that she was about three or four miles from Haven and
wondered if they had noticed her absence yet.
_____
They hadn’t. After he had finished eating, Charlie walked out in the
warming September morning and watched the digging party in the distance
as Abel and John Billups continued to shovel earth out of the hole. He had
been letting his mind wander into the possibilities that had suddenly opened
for him and Bill Smith.
Somewhere in Zacharia’s house was Haven’s bank. Nobody knew where
it was except maybe his wife and Charlie was sure that Bill would be able
to get her to tell them where it was, but right now he just thought about the
fun he would have with his new young wife when Bill returned.
_____
Eighty-two miles south of Medicine Bow, the six bank robbers were
winding their way through the mountainous terrain heading for Wyoming
and eventually Haven. The temperature seemed to drop with each step
taken by their horses.
_____
Seth was making better time than he had expected as Rowdy maintained
a good pace and Jelly didn’t seem to be having much of a problem either.
Both horses had been reshod before the trip, so he wasn’t concerned about
that, although he did check their joints and hooves at each rest stop.
By the time his Comet had arrived in Laramie and assigned a set of
tracks in the railyard, he had already ridden thirty-six miles and still had
two more hours of daylight remaining.
 He decided to pull over at the next good camping site he found while he
still had sunlight, estimating that he’d be arriving in Haven a little after
noon tomorrow and finally find out what was going on.
_____
Rachel had slowed down after three hours knowing she was at least ten
miles away and was following the wagon tracks toward Medicine Bow. She
only had two concerns, if one discounted her need for food. The first was
that either Charlie Hotchkiss or Bill Smith would saddle one of the horses
and chase after her, but she didn’t think that was likely as it would leave
one of them alone and vulnerable.
Her second concern, which was much more important, was that Seth
wouldn’t be able to arrive yet. After listening to Myra and Abel, she was
sure that Abel’s father wasn’t going to come, and after making Seth her
knight in shining armor, she knew he would. But even knights had to deal
with the long distances and preparation necessary for the long trip. It had
only been a few days since Abel had sent the telegram and even if Seth had
departed Michigan right away, he probably wouldn’t be able to make it to
Medicine Bow for another three days at the earliest. Everything depended
on the railroad schedule.
But she had to believe that Seth was coming. She knew that walking
seventy miles without food through wolf, bear, and coyote-filled country
had a thin chance of success, but even if she made it to Medicine Bow,
what
could she do?
Even if they believed her, no one would risk their lives to go
to Haven and confront those two. The only man who would dare to take the
chance was her newfound hero, a man she’d never laid eyes upon.
As far as she knew, Seth Egan could have become a womanizing rich
man who would risk nothing that would interfere with his social schedule.
Rachel just refused to believe it. He had to come.
So, Rachel continued walking, stopping at every stream to drink while
she could. Her legs were strong from all the labor at Haven, so she wasn’t
concerned about losing her mobility, but the further away she walked into
the wilds of Wyoming, she began to worry about the critters that called it
home. She was in their domain now.
 _____
Seth called the day’s ride to an end when he pulled Rowdy beside a wide
creek that he’d have to cross in the morning. It took him more than half an
hour to get both horses stripped and then set them to grazing in a nearby
field. He decided to make a fire for the heat and to get something hot into
his stomach tonight because he might need the energy tomorrow.
Two hours later, with the sun down, Seth sat in front of his popping fire
eating some bacon and beans out of his small steel skillet still thinking
about his brother and his family as he had for most of the day’s long ride.
He hoped he would arrive in time before Zack Dyer, now referring to
himself as just Zacharia, decided to extinguish the lives of his followers.
_____
Rachel was curled up in a ball sixteen miles north of Seth, her stomach
growling as she tried to get some rest. Her legs may have been strong, but
they were still cramping from the long walk, and curling up to keep her heat
wasn’t helping as they would periodically spasm, making her cry out before
she could hurriedly straighten the cramping leg.
She had managed to make a bed of sorts using tall prairie grass as both a
mattress and blanket, wishing she had been smart enough to grab a blanket
before she left that bedroom.
As she drifted off to sleep, she imagined herself in that warm bed under
those thick quilts even as her stomach growled and burbled.
_____
Seth had slipped into his bedroll and had one of his spare blankets over
the top of the bedroll for added protection from the chilly air. He had his
unholstered Colt on the blanket with a flap of the heavy wool cloth folded
over the pistol to keep dew and frost from forming on the steel.
The clear, high-altitude air gave him a perfect view of the comet that
Zachariah had come to believe presaged the end of mankind. He was still in
awe of the celestial show and could understand why others would put some
significance into its arrival and wonder about its demise. He just hoped that
he would be able to logically explain the phenomenon to Zacharia, or at
least his followers, and prevent what his brother had told him was coming.
_____
Myra was curled up with Abel in their bed. The children were all quietly
sleeping, and Lydia was sharing little Ruth’s bed.
“Abel,” she asked quietly, “what can we do? This is worse than my
father’s plan because they’ve already murdered and done it so easily.”
“I know Myra. I’ve been torturing myself trying to come up with some
way to stop it, but they’ve got the guns and with only me and John Billups
left to stop them, it’s impossible.”
“I know. I feel so horrible for what Rachel and Sarah are going through
right now.”
“Me, too,” Abel replied as he pulled Myra in tightly.
_____
When Bill Smith returned, it was only then that Charlie found that
Rachel had escaped. After a short search of the grounds, an angry Charlie
Hotchkiss had simply stormed across the vacant Haven grounds, slammed
open the door to the widow Carson’s house, grabbed her sixteen-year-old
daughter, Miriam, and dragged her back to their new home to become his
third wife.
So, it wasn’t Rachel and Sarah that were experiencing the horrors that
Myra had expected, it was Sarah and Miriam.
Rachel was just shivering under her prairie grass blanket eighteen miles
south of Haven.
 CHAPTER 3
As the sun broke over the eastern horizon, a shivering Rachel Winters
was already moving, trying to restore her heat by walking quickly. At least
she had the three shirts on to keep whatever heat she generated from
escaping into the icy Wyoming air and none of the bad night creatures had
paid her a visit last night, for which she was grateful.
She had been fortunate last night in that it wasn’t quite as cold as the
night before and the sharp-toothed animals had stayed away, but she knew
that she couldn’t keep up this pace for the entire distance to Medicine Bow
and would probably have to spend another three or four days walking.
Then
what would she do when she arrived, assuming she made it at all?
She had
no money and knew no one that hadn’t lived in Haven. She’d been in the
community since she was nine and knew nothing of the outside world.
So, she just walked with her arms folded and her hands under her
armpits for heat because it was all she could do. Her feet crunched the
frosty earth as she stepped quickly along the path of the wagon trail, still
glancing at her backtrail for any sign of pursuit as she kept moving and
ignoring her protesting stomach. She’d been looking for some berries or
anything to satisfy its grumbling, but she simply wasn’t sure what was safe
to eat and what would be poison, so she stayed hungry.
_____
Seth had restarted the fire, made some coffee, and reheated the leftover
bacon and beans before finally saddling Rowdy and getting Jelly packed.
After soaking his campfire with water from the nearby creek, he mounted
and was heading north by eight o’clock.
As he rode, he reread Abel’s letter for anything he might have missed
that could help him but didn’t find anything. What did concern him was that
there seemed to be a preponderance of women and children and he saw that
as a problem. Gunfire had to be the last resort despite the arsenal Jelly
carried. With so many innocents in the settlement, it would be difficult to
prevent any from being caught in a crossfire if it came to that.
There weren’t many men in the settlement,
but what was to prevent a
woman from shooting him if she saw Seth as a threat to her prophet?
He swore he’d be better off taking on a tribe of angry Lakota or a gang
of outlaws than some armed religious zealots, but all he could do now was
to continue to ride north.
_____
In Haven, there was still confusion as no one other than Bill Smith and
Charlie Hotchkiss seemed to know what to do, and both of them were still
in Zacharia’s house.
It was Abel who finally returned some semblance of normalcy to the
situation when he walked out to the barn, picked up a scythe, and returned
to the fields to continue to cut down the spring wheat. John Billups joined
him after twenty minutes and soon, the women began filtering out of the
houses to begin to gather the cut stalks.
Abel had told Myra and Lydia that they needed to settle everyone down
into a routine and hope that his father or brother would arrive in the next
five days. His only concern was that if either did, he wouldn’t know what to
expect and would walk into a trap. He still didn’t know that Rachel had
made her escape.
_____
After a rest stop for the horses, it was just after ten o’clock and Seth
estimated he was within twenty-five miles of the community when he
spotted movement ahead. He hadn’t brought any field glasses with him, so
he continued to stare as he had Rowdy moving at his customary slow trot.
It took him another two minutes before he distinguished the shape of a
man, which caused him a bit of alarm as he realized that it had to be
someone from Zacharia’s settlement, and if he was walking rather than
riding, he must be an escapee or a survivor and hoped he wasn’t the last
survivor. He kept the slow pace and continued to stare as he felt a panicked
tightness grab hold of his stomach. He should have sped up Rowdy, but he
didn’t want to hear what the man had to say.
_____
Rachel hadn’t seen Seth on the horizon yet for one simple reason; she
hadn’t lifted her eyes that high in over two hours. She hadn’t even checked
her backtrail as she plodded on with her eyes focused on the wagon ruts just
twenty feet before her.
It wasn’t even noon, yet she was already exhausted. Her stomach had
stopped making noise but had started to cramp. She had a piece of prairie
grass between her teeth that she had alternated sucking on and chewing for
the past ten minutes. It was almost gone, but it didn’t matter. Rachel knew
now that she wasn’t going to make it anywhere. She may die out here, but
not for a single moment did she regret her decision to leave. The thought of
that hideous man violating her was worse than the idea of death.
_____
Seth was within half a mile of the walker when he realized the hiker
wasn’t a man, but a woman wearing a man’s britches. He suspected that she
may be the only survivor and somehow escaped the massacre that Abel had
described as being imminent, and his disgust with the man who had led
them to this place was only overshadowed by an enormous sense of loss.
He slowed Rowdy down to a walk to keep from startling her, but also to
delay the news that she was sure to give him.
When she was just two hundred yards away and apparently still
oblivious to his presence, he stopped Rowdy and just sat on his horse
waiting and watching as she slowly approached.
Rachel still hadn’t looked up as she put one foot in front of the other in
the warming September sun and began to wonder about Zacharia’s
prediction about the comet hitting the sun. It seemed plausible to her just as
it did to the others. It was such a bright object at night and now was even
visible during the day, only not as noticeable. Anything that burned as
brightly as the comet surely would have a devastating effect on anything
that it struck, but Myra had told her for years that her father wasn’t right
about any of his past predictions, so she shouldn’t worry about this one.
She had always believed Myra because she made more sense than
Zacharia or her parents. Now, none of it mattered. If the sun exploded, she
wouldn’t be there to witness the flash and feel the burn. Seth wasn’t
coming.
She closed her eyes to try to imagine it when she stumbled over a small
berm created by one of the wagon wheels years before and had to catch
herself. When she did, her head snapped up and she stopped suddenly as
she saw a man sitting on a tall dark horse a hundred and thirty yards away
looking at her but was unafraid.
She wasn’t concerned because she knew who he was. He had to be Seth.
Her hero had arrived to rescue her and the whole community.
She found strength she didn’t know she had as she began to run and
shouted, “Seth!”
_____
Seth had seen her stumble and then when she began to run and shouted
his name, he was startled and then nudged Rowdy into a slow trot to close
the gap. If she knew his name, then she must have bad news for him.
Rachel continued to run and felt tears in her eyes.
How had he found
her? How had he gotten here so quickly?
The questions didn’t matter now.
He was here, and she’d live and so would everyone else in Haven, except
for those two bastards. Seth would make things right.
She finally stopped running when he was within twenty feet and shielded
her eyes against the bright sun as she looked up at him high atop that tall
horse before he began to dismount.
He was so tall!
Seth stepped down and took two strides to stand before her, saying,
“Miss, you know my name, so can you tell me, are my brother and his
family still alive?”
Rachel nodded vigorously and replied, “Yes, they were when I left
yesterday morning.”
 Seth, before she could continue, quickly asked, “Why are you here then?
What happened?”
Rachel, breathing hard, answered, “I’ll tell you, but I’m so very hungry.
Can you give me something to eat? Please?”
Seth had been so relieved at the news that he had neglected the obvious
and replied, “I’m sorry, miss, I should have figured out that you’d be
hungry. Of course, I can give you some food.”
Rachel followed Seth as he walked back to his packhorse, flipped open
the flap on one of the panniers, rummaged around for a minute, and then
pulled out a butcher paper-wrapped package. He pulled his knife, cut the
cord then opened the paper and handed her a smoked sausage.
Rachel didn’t care about manners or even if it was cooked as she began
to take big bites out of the meat, chew quickly, swallow and then take
another bite. She had the entire sausage gone in twenty seconds before she
looked up at Seth with an embarrassed expression and said, “I’m sorry.”
Seth said, “No apologies are necessary. I’m sure you were starving. So,
can you tell me what happened and why you’re out here almost starving to
death?”
Before she answered his question, Rachel looked at the sausages still in
Seth’s hands and said, “May I have a second, please? I promise I won’t
make a pig of myself this time.”
He handed her a second sausage and then said, “I’m going to hitch my
horses while you eat that one. They needed a break anyway. Then you can
tell me what happened. Okay?”
Rachel nodded and took a more genteel bite of the incredibly tasty meat
as she watched Seth lead his horses to a nearby bush and tie off the one that
he was riding. She couldn’t help but notice that Seth was nothing like his
brother. He was even better looking than she had imagined and wondered
how Myra could have possibly chosen Abel over Seth.
After he had Rowdy hitched, Seth pulled one of the two canteens he had
hanging from the saddle and walked over to Rachel, who had remained
standing rather than sitting and not be able to rise again.
“You’ll need some water because those sausages are so salty,” he said as
he opened a canteen and handed it to her.
“Thank you,” she replied as she took a long drink of the cold water and
handed the canteen back to him.
“My name is Rachel, Rachel Winters,” she said before taking another
bite of the sausage.
“So, Rachel, what happened that drove you out of the settlement on foot
with no supplies or protection?”
She paused to swallow, then in a rambling, rushed manner, replied, “Two
men, Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss, had been given guns by Zacharia
because he was worried that some of the villagers would revolt if they
found out that he was planning on killing everyone. When Zacharia died
two nights ago, they kind of took over because they had guns and no one
else did.
“Charlie Hotchkiss shot his wife dead and said that I was his new wife.
Then Bill Smith kind of divorced his wife and he took Sarah Klaus. He sent
us both to Zacharia’s house and Charlie was supposed to watch us until they
finished burying Zacharia and Bill Smith’s wife. I changed into some of
Zacharia’s clothes and escaped through the window. What happened after
that, I don’t know.”
Seth just stood, took a minute to digest all the information she had
rushed to tell him, and pondered this entirely different set of circumstances.
With this radically changed situation, he would have to drastically alter his
plans.
“This changes everything. I had planned on just riding into the
settlement and talking to Zacharia and trying to convince him to change his
mind. I don’t know what I’ll do now but my first priority is what to do
about you. Now I’m guessing that Haven is about twenty miles north of
here, right?”
She continued to eat the sausage and nodded.
 “Okay. Given the new situation, I’ll take some of the guns and
ammunition from my packhorse and take them with me and store the rest of
it here. I’ll give you some money and you can ride him back to Medicine
Bow. Buy yourself some clothes and get a hotel room. I’ll give you
instructions on what to do if I don’t return.”
Rachel glared at him and quickly asked, “
You’re sending me away?
”
“I’ve got to act quickly, Rachel. You’ll be safe in Medicine Bow. If
everything works out, I should be back in four days or so and probably
bring the whole community with me.”
She shook her head slowly and said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m
coming with you.”
Seth was about to argue when he looked at Rachel’s fiery, dark gray eyes
and his brain froze.
Rachel thought he was about to argue with her and said forcefully, “I am
not
going to Medicine Bow alone!”
Seth finally nodded and said, “Alright. But I need more information
from you before I can decide what to do. I was planning on arriving later
today, but I don’t want to get there until we’ve had some time to talk and I
can come up with a better plan. We’ll make camp close by and leave in the
morning.”
Rachel exhaled and said, “I’ll help.”
Seth then tipped his Stetson back on his head and rubbed the back of his
neck as he said, “Abel’s letter said that there were only five men in the
entire village and all the rest were women and children. Is that right?”
“Yes. But now there are only four men, and two of them have control of
everyone else. The only other grown-up men are Abel and John Billups.
The oldest boy is twelve after that.”
“What happened to those in between? Abel said that some families left
after the first winter, but there should be some boys about your age.”
 “Six of them left two years ago with Fannie Bristow and Jane Klaus.
They took guns and horses, too.”
“How many adult women are there? Abel wasn’t specific.”
Rachel had to go through the population in her mind before answering,
“Including me, there are eleven women over sixteen, then there are sixteen
girls under fourteen and thirteen boys under twelve.”
Seth didn’t have to be a prophet to see that Haven’s future existence was
over but asked, “How many would you characterize as true believers of
Zacharia’s prophecy about the end of the world?”
“I’m not sure. I’d guess that about half do, but most stayed for other
reasons and some are there just on the chance he was right. I think Bill
Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss were in that group until Zacharia died, then
they must have figured out that he was wrong because he died.”
“Do you think that the others will cause a problem if we get rid of Bill
and Charlie?”
“No, not at all. They’re all terrified.”
“That can’t work very long, you know,” Seth said as he thought about
the situation.
“What can’t?”
“A couple of armed men trying to stay in charge of a large group, even if
they’re mostly women and children. They may think they can manage to
control that many people for a while, but they’ll figure out pretty soon that
they can’t keep vigilant forever. I think they’ll do what Zacharia intended to
do, but for a totally different reason, and won’t kill everyone. They’ll
probably keep a few of the women around for amusement, but when they
finally think it’s time to leave, they’ll just take what they can and head to
Medicine Bow.”
Rachel saw his logic and asked, “What can we do, Seth?”
“I don’t know, but I know I’ve got to do something. I have several
advantages over those two men. They don’t know I’m coming. I’ve got the
range advantage with my Winchester 76, and I’ll have you tell me where
everything is. They only have one advantage, and it’s a big one.”
“Which one do they have?”
“I’ve never killed anyone before, and they have. I don’t know if I can,
and any hesitation could be fatal.”
There was a slight pause before Rachel looked at him and asked, “How
can I help, Seth?”
Seth tried to avoid those gray eyes and their almost hypnotic impact, but
couldn’t and when he did make eye contact, he simply lost track of what he
was thinking again.
“Seth?” she asked after almost thirty seconds of silence.
Seth finally shook his head slightly and asked, “Can you shoot a rifle?”
“No, I’ve never shot any gun before. Only the men were allowed to
shoot.”
“So, who besides Abel can shoot?”
“John Billups was the only other man there, but I’m not sure if he ever
shot one of the rifles or the pistols. He only used the shotgun for hunting
birds.”
“How many guns are left in Haven?”
“I’m not sure, but I know there are four rifles, four shotguns, and the two
pistols that Bill and Charlie wear.”
“I don’t suppose you know how much ammunition there is?”
“No, but I know there’s not much. Abel said how Zacharia was always
complaining about having to buy ammunition for the guns because there
wasn’t a lot of money left. That’s why nobody practiced.”
Seth didn’t bother asking about the condition of the weapons. He
doubted that Rachel would know, and he guessed that if they didn’t
practice, then they probably didn’t clean them either.
 Seth then realized it would have to be him that did the shooting and
killing. He couldn’t afford to warn them either. One had already murdered
his wife and the longer he delayed, the more likely it was that they’d
murder again. Seth felt his stomach recoil when he concluded that he would
have to act as judge, jury, and executioner.
Seth closed his eyes and said quietly, “I’m going to have to do this.”
Rachel didn’t reply, understanding that he didn’t expect her to say
anything.
Seth committed himself mentally to his necessary action, then blew out
his breath and opened his eyes only to find Rachel’s startling eyes already
locked onto his. It was disconcerting, so he broke eye contact and scanned
the landscape for a camping location to the north, but not finding one.
“We’ll continue to ride toward Haven, but we’ll stop as soon as we find
good water and someplace for the horses to graze.”
“Okay. How am I going to ride?” she asked.
“I was going to put you on Jelly, my packhorse, but those supplies weigh
more than I do and Jelly’s not as strong as Rowdy. Do you have any
objections to riding with me? I know that you’ve lived in a religious
community most of your life, so if it would make you uncomfortable, I can
shift some of those rifles to Rowdy and you can ride Jelly.”
“I don’t mind, Seth. Besides, if I’m going to talk to you, I’d rather not
shout.”
Seth smiled at Rachel and said, “Okay. Let’s get ready to go. Do you
want any more food before we get mounted?”
She smiled back and asked, “May I have another sausage? Please?”
Seth held out the sausages to her and let her take one before he rolled
them back up in the butcher paper and slipped them into his saddlebags in
case she wanted another.
Then while she began to eat the sausage, he stepped up into the saddle.
Once he was settled, he held out his left hand and pulled Rachel onto the
saddle behind him and she put her left hand around his waist as she
continued to munch on her sausage.
Rachel had managed to maintain her composure as she settled in behind
Seth and pressed against him, feeling his warmth and masculinity. Myra had
told her all about men after the Joe Cox incident, but she had worried about
being close to one. But after seeing Seth’s smile and knowing how highly
Myra thought of him, she was far from afraid and was enjoying being so
close to him. He was no longer some imaginary hero. He was a real man
and she was holding onto him.
Seth started Rowdy walking north again, more than just mildly
conscious of Rachel. Those dark gray eyes were mind-boggling, and if she
wasn’t so pretty then maybe they wouldn’t have had the impact that they
did, but more than likely, they still would have. He’d never seen eyes like
that before.
Ten minutes later, he found a secluded bend in a creek that was a perfect
camping location. He wasn’t worried about anyone seeing their campfire, so
they could have a hot camp.
He turned Rowdy to the bend and when he stopped, he lowered Rachel
gently to the ground, dismounted, and hitched Rowdy to a nearby pine
before beginning to unpack Jelly.
He wished he had been able to study the new problem in greater depth
after Rachel had given him the news but having her pressed against him had
made it almost impossible.
One thing he did know was that had way too many guns in Jelly’s packs.
He had anticipated having to arm some of Abel’s friends, but that was no
longer necessary. With only two other men, he surely didn’t need to have
that many, but there was nothing wrong with arming the women either. He
was sure that Myra had the sand to shoot a gun and expected that other
women did as well, including the dark-eyed young woman helping to set up
camp. There was something about Rachel that told him she was special. She
had run from that camp with nothing expecting to walk over seventy miles.
Weak women, or men, didn’t do anything like that. They stayed put hoping
someone else would save them.
 Rachel Winters was different, but a very good different.
_____
Life in the community had settled into a workaday routine thanks to
Abel’s initiative. Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss left their new wives
alone in the house with the extra guns knowing that they were useless
without any ammunition.
They had conducted an almost destructive search for the colony’s money
and found nothing, and both men were now walking to Abel and Myra’s
house to have a word with Lydia about the hidden cache.
Abel was out in the fields and saw them walking to his home and
stopped cutting the wheat, debating about going to the house, but knew that
if he started walking that way with the scythe in his hands, he’d be shot
before he moved fifty feet. If he went there with his hands empty, he may
still get shot and would solve nothing. He felt so useless that he wanted to
scream as he continued to stare when they entered the front door of his
home where his wife, mother-in-law, and children were.
Charlie stayed in the kitchen and looked out through the open window to
make sure no one decided to come into the house while Bill had his chat
with Lydia Dyer in the main room.
Bill Smith had the entire family in the main room and his Colt in his
hand as a reminder of his authority even though the hammer wasn’t cocked.
“Now Lydia, your husband kept all of Haven’s money somewhere and I
want to know where it is. I’m guessin’ that he told you, so all you gotta do
is let me know where it is.”
“I don’t know where the money is because it wasn’t in the house.
Whenever anyone had to go to Medicine Bow to buy supplies, he’d leave
the house and then come back with the money.”
Bill half-cocked the revolver and began to rotate the cylinder as he said,
“Lydia, that don’t make any sense at all. When me or Charlie asked him for
money, he’d just disappear into the house and then a minute later, come
back with the cash and give it to us. He was always kinda cheap, too. Never
gave us a penny more’n he figured we needed. So, where is it?”
“I don’t know,” Lydia protested.
Bill looked down at Lydia and pulled the hammer back all the way
before he said, “Well, that’s a shame, Lydia. Now if you don’t know where
the money is, then we can’t buy any more supplies anyway, so those
young’uns over there won’t be able to get any food. Now I know you don’t
wanna see your grandkids starvin’, so I think I’ll just reduce the population
of kids around here so there’s more food for the workin’ folks like me.
Which kid eats the most, Lydia?”
Lydia had no doubt that Bill would carry out his threat, so she replied,
“Above the middle beam in the ceiling in our bedroom.”
Bill smiled, released the hammer, and said, “Now that wasn’t so hard.
Was it, Lydia?”
Lydia didn’t say anything, but Myra glared at Bill Smith who noticed
and said, “You’d better behave yourself, Myra. You’re still pretty enough
for me to take as a new wife once I get tired of Sarah, so I may ask you to
warm my bed.”
Myra looked away quickly as Bill laughed and strode out of the room.
After she heard the back door open and close, Lydia turned to Myra and
asked, “How could those two men have lived with us for so long and not
shown any of this kind of behavior before?”
Myra slowly shook her head as she replied, “I don’t know, Mama.
Maybe it was because they never had the opportunity before and now that
they suddenly had the power, they felt they could do whatever they wanted.
I just don’t know.”
“What do you think they’ll do with the money? There isn’t that much
anymore,” Lydia asked.
“I don’t know if they’re going to take it and leave or kill us all then take
it and leave. All I know is that time is running short.”
 “Do you think Adam Egan is going to show up?” Lydia asked.
“No, Mama. If anyone arrives to help, it will be Seth, but he can’t be
here sooner than four days, and by then it might be too late.”
_____
Bill and Charlie practically bounced across the central yard as Abel and
John could only watch from the field. After they disappeared into
Zacharia’s house, Abel dropped his scythe and trotted toward his house to
make sure Myra and their children were all right.
The two new overlords of Haven pounded into their new house and
opened the door to the main bedroom, and while Charlie held onto Miriam
Carson, he watched as Bill slid a straight-backed chair to the center of the
bedroom and stood on the seat. He reached over his head and slid his hand
along the top of the center beam until he felt a flat leather pouch and
grinned before he simply pushed the heavy wallet onto the floor and hopped
down quickly to pick it up, knocking over the chair as he did.
Charlie pushed Miriam away and slid his forefinger across his upper lip
as Bill quickly opened the leather folder and reached inside, pulling out a
quarter-inch thick stack of bills. There was some silver in a smaller attached
pouch on the front, but Bill didn’t care about it as he tossed the pouch aside
and sat on the bed to count the cash.
His grin began to subside as he said, “Ten…twenty…thirty…forty-one,
forty-two, and forty-three.
That’s all?
There was only forty-three dollars
left?
There were over a thousand dollars in here when we got here, and we
sold things in town.
What happened to all the money?
”
Bill felt his anger rise as he snapped, “That bastard musta took it!”
Charlie snapped back, “That’s crazy talk, Bill. Where the hell could he
have spent it? He never even went to town. If anybody’s got it, it’s Abel.”
“That’s it!” Bill shouted as he bounced off the bed, “Let’s go and see that
bastard!”
_____
 Satisfied that Myra and the children were okay, Abel was leaving his
house when he spotted Bill and Charlie walking quickly in his direction and
they weren’t happy. Lydia had told him that the two men were searching for
the community’s money and that she had told them where to find it, so he
had an idea why they were angry.
He stood in place until they drew close and Bill shouted, “What did you
do with the money, Abel?”
Abel shrugged and replied, “I have no idea what you mean, Bill. Didn’t
Lydia tell you where it is?”
Charlie growled, “All that was in there was forty-three dollars and some
loose change. Where’s the rest?”
“That’s all there is. When some of the families left, they took their
money with them, then when Joe Cox and that bunch left, they stole some,
too. We needed more money somehow, but Zacharia never told me how he
planned on getting it.”
As angry as they were, what Abel told them made sense because
Zacharia had almost constantly complained about the lack of hard currency,
but they had thought he was saying it just to keep everyone from knowing
just how much he had.
Charlie then said, “Well, you and the others better come up with some
way of makin’ more money then.”
It was a feeble threat, so Bill added, “Or else!” before the two men
turned and headed back to Zacharia’s house.
After they went inside, Abel returned to his home to tell Lydia and Myra
what they had found and that they weren’t happy about it which could
change things yet again, and not for the good.
_____
As they worked to build the campsite, Seth asked Rachel about Abel and
Myra, and he was surprised to find that Rachel had lived with them for a
while and was Myra’s closest friend. He didn’t say anything, but he was
sure that it was difficult for Abel to live in a house having Rachel walking
around. Even with her three shirts and two pairs of britches, she was an
impressive young woman. He didn’t see a wedding ring but wasn’t
surprised either.
In a community like Haven, jewelry of any sort would be rare. Most
would have been sold by now for salt and coffee, but he was sure that she
had to be married. No woman with her incredible gifts could still be single.
But then he remembered her saying that there weren’t many adult men, and
he began to suspect that polygamy might have been allowed by Zacharia.
Then he recalled that she said she was living with Myra and Abel and for
a brief moment, pictured her with Abel but knew that Myra wouldn’t have
stood for it anyway, so he dropped the idea. More questions were forming
by the second about Haven and particularly, Rachel’s place in the
community, but he would wait to ask them until after he let her tell him
about the situation.
An hour after stepping down, Seth and Rachel were sitting at the warm,
blazing fire pit and Rachel held Seth’s only cup between her hands and was
sipping the first coffee she’d had in years with her eyes closed. She’d spent
the last hour talking about not only life in Haven with its hardships and
shifts in moods but her life before she left Michigan as a nine-year-old. She
also told him about his two nieces and one nephew, which made him smile
and feel like an uncle.
Seth now had a better idea of life in Haven as well which he found
disappointing, if not depressing. It sounded like a prison without walls to
many of the young people like Rachel who had been brought there as
children and now were either young adults or teenagers. Some of the wives
must have felt that way as well.
When she opened those penetrating gray eyes of hers again, she smiled
at Seth and said, “I can’t believe how much I’ve missed coffee.”
“You’ve missed a lot of things, Rachel,” he replied then asked, “Rachel,
with so many women and so few men, does Zacharia allow for polygamy?”
“What’s polygamy?” she asked.
“It’s when one man is allowed to have many wives.”
 Rachel shook her head and replied, “Oh, no. He’d never allow that, but
there was a problem when some of the girls had to move into other
families’ homes and two of them had babies.”
“What happened after that?”
“Zacharia made them all leave, and that made things worse for the rest of
us.”
Seth nodded then took a stick in his hand and said, “Now describe
Haven’s layout. I’m going to start with Zacharia’s house because that’s
where Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss are.”
He drew a rectangle in the dirt, then looked up at Rachel and asked,
“Who do you think Charlie Hotchkiss took for his new wife after you got
away?”
Rachel hadn’t thought of that aspect of her escape and felt her now-filled
stomach recoil as she replied, “Um, that would be Miriam Carson.”
“So, I’ll assume that Bill and Charlie have Sarah and Miriam in
Zacharia’s house and that they’ve sent Lydia off to someone else’s house.
Now, where’s Abel and Myra’s house?”
For the next ten minutes, Rachel talked and pointed as Seth drew until a
reasonably accurate map of Haven stretched across a four-foot radius across
the ground, bordered by trees to the west and north and a large creek that
ran along the eastern border before it curved south.
“Okay, that’s Haven,” he said as he stood with the stick still in his hand
as he looked down.
Rachel had finished her second cup of coffee and stood beside Seth with
her eyes focused on the layout as well.
“How can we stop them both, Seth?” she asked.
“I’m still thinking about it. I’m an engineer not a general, but I know that
I’ve got to get them out into the open,” he replied then turned to look at
Rachel and asked, “You know them better than I do. Do you believe I’d be
able to talk to them, or do you think they’d try and shoot me on sight?”
 Rachel looked at Seth then glanced back down at the hand-drawn map
before saying, “I think they’d let you get close when they saw all of the
guns and supplies, but they’d shoot you before you could say anything.”
“Okay, that eliminates negotiating with them, not that I gave it much
chance in the first place, but I need to get them out of the house so they
can’t use Sarah or Miriam as hostages. I’ll have a bad enough time having
to shoot two bad men and can’t imagine what would happen to my soul if
any innocents are hurt or killed if I make a mistake.”
Rachel then said, “I can get them out, Seth.”
“I’m sure you can, Rachel, but I’m not going to let you walk into that
place again and risk yourself. I’ll get them out some other way. I just need
to think about it.”
Rachel set down her cup then put her hands on her hips and said, “I am
not a weepy little girl, Seth! I can do this!”
Seth couldn’t help smiling as he looked at her and replied, “Go ahead
and sit down, Rachel. I didn’t say that you were anything of the sort. I’m
sure that you have more courage than most men I’ve known, but I don’t
want to have that on my conscience. I fully intend for you to take part in
what I have to do, but I just think that having you walk into the settlement is
a bad idea.”
“What will I do, then?”
“Give me some time to come up with an answer to your question. It’s
still working its way through my brain. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said before sitting back down in front of the fire.
Seth then sat down beside her as she said, “You haven’t talked about
yourself at all. What do you do now? Do you work for your father?”
Seth replied, “My parents both died four years ago. They had developed
a taste for seafood and had arranged for delicacies to be brought in on ice
from Boston and Baltimore. I never cared for it myself, and I guess that
they got a bad batch because they both became deathly ill with a stomach
problem at the same time and by the time the doctor arrived, there was
nothing he could do. We didn’t know where Abel was, so he doesn’t know.
I’m not sure it would have made any difference to him anyway.”
“He never talks about his parents either. What were they like?”
“Oh, I guess like most parents. They still had their lives to live and we
had ours. My father was about as tall as Abel was when he left in ’73, but
heavier and he wore a full beard. He was a driven man and had built the
business that he intended his firstborn son to inherit. That didn’t work out
well for him at all when he lost his first son just six months after he was
born, then my mother had a daughter, and she died when she was three.
“Then Abel was born, and my father focused all his attention on him and
groomed him to take over the business. Abel would have done a good job
but then Myra happened, and Abel valued her over the business. My father
was furious and threatened to disown him if he left with her, but Abel
wasn’t about to give up Myra.
“After Abel left, he turned to me and made it clear that my days of, what
he called, ‘tinkering and book learning’ were over and I would learn the
business of business. I was already planning on going to college to study
engineering and he thought that was acceptable but only if I took business
courses as well. When I returned, he showed me the ropes, and then after
I’d been back less than a year, he and my mother died.”
“What about your mother?” Rachel asked quietly.
“My mother was very much a woman of her upbringing. She married my
father and he was in charge of the house as well as the company. In those
early days when my father was working hard to build up the company, she
worked as hard as most women do, getting up before sunrise to cook and
prepare the children for school. Then it was cleaning and laundry until they
have to cook again and by the time they finish cleaning up after dinner,
they’re exhausted and have to start again the next morning.
“I don’t envy the difficult lives that most women live, so by the time I
really got to know my mother, I didn’t begrudge her the less painful life she
had as the wife of a wealthy man. I imagine life for women in Haven is
even harder because they’re expected to work in the fields as well.”
 In a silent reply, Rachel spread her hands out in front of her and Seth
examined the calloused, scarred skin and nodded.
“What about your wife, Seth?” Rachel asked, hoping for a negative
answer, “Does she have to work hard?”
“Mimi has it harder than any other woman I’ve ever met. She works
sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, and only stops when we let her.”
“
We
let her?” Rachel asked curiously.
Seth laughed and said, “Mimi is Michigan Mining and Smelting. We all
refer to her as Mimi and talk about her as if we were married to her, which
is pretty close to the truth. She takes up all of our time and we demand a lot
from her, but she gives us more in return too.”
It was Rachel’s turn to laugh before she said, “Oh, you’re talking about
the factory. But what about your real wife?”
“I’m not married, Rachel.”
“You’re not? Have you ever been married?”
“No.”
“Is it because you’re too busy?”
“Partially, but mostly it’s because of Myra.”
“Myra?
” she asked with wide eyes.
“You forget that Myra and I were in the same grade in school back in
Marquette. Myra was the prettiest girl in school and had the eyes of most of
the boys, including mine. But it was more than that with Myra. She was just
a joy to be around. She was witty and could talk about things that other girls
didn’t.”
“You were in love with Myra,” Rachel said softly.
“I still am, and that’s why I haven’t gotten married for a reason that is at
least as important as my work.”
“So, do you hate Abel because he married Myra?”
 Seth looked at Rachel, tilted his head slightly, and replied, “Hate him?
Heavens, no. I love my brother. He’s a good man and the only man who I
felt was worthy of Myra. It’s just that Myra ruined me for other women. I’d
meet them and always compare them to Myra and found them wanting.
You’ve lived with Myra for a long time, so surely you must see that.”
Rachel smiled and said, “Yes, I can see that. It’s why she became such a
good friend. I was so lost when we first left Michigan and even while we
were on the trail, Myra found me and helped me to adjust to the change. I
found that she thought independently and that inspired me.
“Over the years, she became the rock that I’d cling to when things got
bad. She taught me all the things I’d never be able to learn in Haven or from
my parents. My father died the third year, and when my mother died two
years ago, I asked Zacharia if I could live with Myra and he granted me
permission. After that, she became even more of a sister.”
“So, now you know why I’m still single, but what about you? I would
have thought that one of those runaway boys would have gladly stayed or at
least tried to talk you into running away with him.”
Rachel debated within herself about how much information she should
give and finally answered, “Joe Cox asked me to come with him, but he
scared me. It was one of the things about Haven that really bothered me.
There were six boys within a year or two of my age, and I didn’t like any of
them. Do you know what it’s like to have such a limited choice and being
told that you had to marry one of them?
“Myra was able to intercede with Zacharia to prevent that and then they
all escaped to Medicine Bow, which eliminated that problem because there
were no more marrying-age young men. My problem was solved, but it
created a new one for Zacharia.”
“I imagine so,” he said before asking, “Rachel, assuming we can stop
those two, how many people do you think will want to stay in the
community now that Zacharia is dead?”
“That’s a good question. I know that Myra and Abel don’t want to stay,
and I’d be surprised if anyone else would want to either, but they have
nowhere else to go, and Haven is all that most of them know now so it
would be hard to change.”
Seth began thinking beyond the immediate problem as Rachel watched
him.
After a couple of minutes, Seth said, “I’ll have to talk to Abel about
this.”
“What are you thinking about doing, Seth?”
“Bringing everyone back to Michigan where they started, but a lot will
depend on Mimi and what Abel wants to do.”
Rachel then asked, “But I thought it was your company?”
“It is, but if Abel wants to come back and take it over, we’ll make that
happen.”
“You’d give it away?” she asked in disbelief.
“Abel was supposed to inherit anyway, but he married Myra and left
instead. It sounds as if Zacharia’s dream turned into a nightmare, so maybe
he and Myra can return to Michigan, take his birthright and provide for the
families that are here.”
“I’m just surprised that anyone would give up so much so easily.”
“I never wanted it in the first place. I’d rather do engineering.”
Rachel then asked, “They said that you were some kind of scientist. Is it
true what Zacharia said about the comet? That it would hit the sun and the
sun would explode? Even Myra wasn’t sure.”
“No, Rachel. It’s not true at all. The sun could swallow the earth and not
hiccup. And I’m not a scientist, I’m an engineer. Engineers use scientific
principles in design.”
“I’m just so ignorant about such things. We didn’t even have school in
the community, except for Bible school. I was in my third year in school
when we left Michigan, and if it wasn’t for Myra, I’d be even worse.”
 “We’re all ignorant about something, Rachel.”
Then Rachel surprised Seth when she asked, “Can you show me how to
shoot a rifle?”
Seth replied, “Surprisingly, I was thinking about doing just that, but I’m
only going to show you how to fire it. I’m not going to ask you to shoot
anyone.”
“You have a plan, then?”
“I’ve been thinking about a way to get them out of the house and still
have an advantage. Looking at the layout of the houses, I think we can
make it to those trees on the west side without being seen. Once in that
forest, we make our way to the edge of the trees and I’ll have you stay there
with Jelly. You’ll have a Winchester with you. It’s outside of the effective
range of the rifle, meaning that the bullet won’t have enough punch to do
serious damage at the end of its travel, but the bullet will be able to reach
that far.
“I’ll show you how to fire the Winchester and at the right time, it will be
used to cause a distraction. I plan on riding into Haven on Rowdy without
my ’76 in my hands, so I’ll appear to be ignorant of the situation. A lot will
depend on who sees me first. If those two are in the house, then maybe
Abel, the other man, or one of the women will see me and then I’ll play it
accordingly, but it’s important that I get those two bad men away from the
women. You’ll be able to see what’s going on from the edge of the trees.”
Rachel was studying the map in the dirt and said, “I have a better plan.”
Seth turned to face Rachel then said, “Then let’s hear it.”
She bent at the knees and still looking at the scratched outlines, said, “If
I walk into Haven, they won’t be surprised and think that I just gave up and
had to come back. I’ll be shouting that I spotted a rider coming in, so they’ll
be looking for you, not at me. I’ll have a hidden pistol that I can give to
Abel. Then I’ll go with Myra into her house while you and Abel handle Bill
Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss.”
 Seth had to admit that Rachel’s plan had a much better chance of success
than his, but he was concerned about Rachel, so he said, “You’ll have two
pistols. One goes to Abel and I’ll want you to have the second in case
something goes wrong.”
Rachel glanced down at her bulky wardrobe and asked, “How can you
hide two pistols under here?”
“Good engineering, Rachel,” he replied as she stood, then said, “Let’s
get started while the sun is still up.”
_____
While Seth was preparing to arm Rachel, Bill Smith and Charlie
Hotchkiss were doing some of their own engineering of sorts. They had
realized just after noon that maintaining constant vigilance over a large
group was almost impossible and at first thought it would be best to
eliminate the adults but agreed that it would create a bigger mess with that
many bodies around and no one to bury them.
So, they decided to use the large barn, the only building in the
community that could be locked from the outside as a makeshift prison.
_____
Rachel and Seth walked to the panniers and Seth flipped open the one
with the pistols and ammunition, then selected two of the gunbelts. Both
had all six chambers filled just for the extra rounds they could carry, but
Seth emptied one for the time being and handed it to Rachel. Luckily, with
her strong hands, she was able to handle the revolver without a problem.
“Now before I get to engineering your disguised pistols, you’re going to
learn to shoot one. The one you’re holding is empty, so you’ll learn by dry
firing that gun. Then when I think you’re ready, I’ll show you how to load
the pistol and let you take a few shots. Alright?”
Rachel had been getting the feel of the pistol in her hand as he talked
then she looked up and said, “Alright.”
Seth only went over the basics because if Rachel needed to use the
pistol, it would be a one-time shot.
 She absorbed his instructions easily as he described how the cartridge
was loaded and what happened after the hammer was cocked and the trigger
pulled.
Within ten minutes of beginning the impromptu training, Rachel was
standing with her arms extended, the Colt’s muzzle holding steady as her
left hand supported her right and her index finger was on the trigger.
She squeezed the trigger, the hammer snapped down and she quickly
pulled the hammer back with her left hand and fired again.
“Very good, Rachel,” Seth said as she lowered the pistol.
He took the Colt, loaded three cartridges, set the first live round into
position, and handed it back to her.
“Okay, the pistol is now loaded. Don’t worry if you don’t hit your target.
It’s not important yet. Just pick out your target and point the pistol like it
was your index finger. Be surprised when it goes off and don’t wait to see if
you hit anything. Just cock the hammer again and fire. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Rachel replied as she scanned for a target and found a branch
about forty feet away.
She brought the pistol to bear, used her left hand to draw back the
hammer before sliding it back under her right hand, and held her breath
before squeezing the trigger.
The Colt kicked back as the cloud of gunsmoke bloomed from the
muzzle after the report and the bullet exited less than a twentieth of a
second later, the .44 caliber slug of lead slammed into the tree trunk a foot
down and a foot left of her branch. But Rachel didn’t know where she’d hit
as she followed instructions, cocked the hammer again and fired less than
two seconds later, then fired a third time.
The echoes of the gunfire were still echoing off the nearby rocks and the
smoke still filled the area as Rachel lowered the pistol turned to Seth and
asked, “How did I do?”
“Your form was perfect. Let’s go down to the tree and see where your
bullets went.”
 Rachel kept the pistol in her hand as she and Seth ambled across the
rocky ground to the tall pine that she had selected as her victim.
When they were ten feet out, they could see the damage caused by two
of the bullets, both hitting the trunk. Where the third shot went was
anyone’s guess, and Rachel found herself disappointed, but Seth was not.
“I missed,” she said as they reached the tree, and her fingers traced over
the holes.
“What was your target?” he asked.
“The base of that branch right there,” she replied as she pointed at the
first thick branch.
“Both of those shots were within two feet of your target, which is very
good at this range for a new shooter. You did very well, Rachel.”
Rachel smiled as she turned and asked, “I did?”
“Yes, ma’am. With a little practice, I’m sure you’d do much better.”
“Can I take a few more shots?” she asked.
“I’ll give you five more, then I’ve got to clean the pistol while I figure
out a way to hide those pistols and still give you and Abel easy access.”
“Okay,” she replied, still smiling.
Rachel was surprised that shooting a pistol gave her such a good feeling
and had no idea why it did, but it did give her a sense of being able to be of
some use in this problem. She wasn’t helpless anymore.
If she’d mentioned it to Seth, he would have told her that he doubted if
she was ever helpless.
After she’d fired five more rounds, with no appreciable improvement,
she thought that she wouldn’t be getting any better, but Seth assured her
that she would, and pointed out that she had fired the last rounds at a faster
rate than she had fired the first three.
 After turning down her request for more practice, they walked back to
the fire pit and Seth cleaned the Colt before loading it with five cartridges.
When both Colts were in their gunbelts, he had Rachel stand before him.
“Okay, Rachel, let’s see how much room you have under those shirts.”
Rachel blushed and asked, “What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. How many shirts do you have on
right now?”
“Oh. I have three, but nothing under that.”
It was Seth’s turn to blush as he blinked and then said, “Okay. Are all
three shirts hanging out over the britches?”
“No, I had to tuck the inner two shirts inside to keep the britches up.
They were Zacharia’s and he was only a little taller than me, but the waist
was a lot bigger. I grabbed some of Lydia’s yarn and used that to make a
kind of belt, too.”
“Don’t be offended, Rachel, but I need to tug on the sides and see if we
can hide the gunbelts or I’ll just have to give you the pistols instead.”
“I won’t be offended, Seth,” she replied as she held back a smile.
Seth wasn’t so sure as he pulled the homespun cloth out and estimated
he had maybe eight inches of cloth in his hand before he released it and
then turned Rachel to look at her neckline. Then he tugged up on the
shoulders of the shirt until the sleeves pulled against her armpits before he
released the shirt again.
He then stepped back, glanced at the gunbelts, and then looked back at
Rachel’s shirt.
“I think with a little bit of modification, I can get both gunbelts under
that outer shirt. You can’t wear them around your waist because the shirt
isn’t long enough to cover the holsters. I was thinking about not using the
gunbelts and then sliding the pistols under your waist, and that might work
with one, but not two. If I trim the leather of the gunbelts and remove the
cartridge loops, you’d be able to hang them both over your shoulders.”
Rachel asked, “Could you show me?”
“Sure. I’ll need you to remove your outer shirt, though.”
Rachel quickly unbuttoned and removed the heavy shirt and handed it to
Seth, who just laid it across the panniers. He removed one of the pistols
from the gunbelt and stepped back to Rachel’s front.
“Now this still is a full-width belt, so it’ll be more uncomfortable than
the modified belt that you’ll be wearing. Just hang it over your shoulder like
a canteen.”
“Okay,” she replied as she accepted the gunbelt and stuck her head
through the looped belt, and then hung it over her left shoulder with the
empty holster hanging on her right side, the tip of the holster just an inch
above her hip.
“How does that feel?” Seth asked as he tugged on the holster, making
sure it wouldn’t drop any lower.
“As you said, it’s a little uncomfortable…um, up in front.”
Seth had noticed that problem and said, “It’ll be better after I trim the
leather. The holster won’t be seen below the shirt, so it’s good enough so
far. Let’s try it with the second gunbelt.”
After the second one was in place, making Rachel appear to be a
Mexican bandito with bandoleros, she admitted to even more discomfort,
but it still wasn’t too bad.
Seth then had her don her shirt again and once it was on, he stepped back
and walked around her looking for any sign that she was armed.
“It looks good so far, but I’m going to give you six pounds of steel and
lead now, and you’ll feel it, but the real problem will be if I can see it.”
“Okay,” she replied then asked, “Do I keep the shirt on?”
 “Yes, ma’am, just lift the shirt so I can put the Colts back in their
holsters,” Seth answered as he picked up the two pistols and slid one into
each holster, and then straightened out the shirt.
Again, he stepped back and walked around Rachel who just stood in
place.
“I don’t know Rachel. It just doesn’t look right. That shirt has odd angles
where the butts of the pistols stick out to the side.”
“What if we tie a cord around the gunbelts to tuck them in? Would that
work?”
Seth grinned and replied, “Yes, I believe it would. You’re a natural
engineer, Rachel.”
Rachel grinned and asked, “Are you going to try it now?”
“No, I think we’ll try it after I trim the leather. I don’t want to try it, then
discard the idea because I believe that it won’t work and only figure out
later it was because of the thick width of the gunbelts. Go ahead and take
off your shirt and the gun belts.”
“Okay,” she replied as she began to unbutton the shirt.
Seth walked to his own gunbelt and removed his knife then returned as
Rachel pulled off the shirt then slid off the first gunbelt and handed it to
him.
He took the gunbelt, sat on a rock, then removed the pistol, set it on the
rock, and began to carve the leather off in strips, slicing along the length of
the leather until it was less than an inch wide on the half that would cross
Rachel’s chest.
Rachel was watching as he slid the knife through the leather and began
to understand why he wanted the belts thinner, but they were only thinner
where the gunbelt would cross her chest. He left most of the belt alone,
including the buckle which would be near her shoulder, but not on top
where they might create sharp bulges that could attract attention.
 Once he was pleased with the first one, he slid the Colt back into its
holster and accepted the second gunbelt. He finished the second belt in less
time, but she wondered why he had thinned the other side of the belt rather
than just duplicating the first one.
As soon as he finished and was slipping the pistol back home, she asked,
“Why did you cut the other side of the second gunbelt, Seth?”
He locked the second pistol into the modified gunbelt and said, “I want
one pistol to be easily accessible, so you can just show it to Abel if he’s
standing nearby and he can slip it out of the holster. This way, whichever
one is left in its holster, you’ll still be able to pull it out with your right
hand.”
“Oh, I see it now,” she replied then asked, “Are you going to make the
cord now?”
“Two cords, I think. One to keep the pistols in tight, and the other on the
bottom of the holsters to keep them from flying out to the side and letting
anyone know that you’re packing iron.”
“Engineering again?” she asked with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied as he stood and took two steps to a different
pannier, opened it, and pulled out a small reel of cord.
He measured off two three-foot-long pieces, cut them with his knife, and
then used the knife to make holes in the bottoms of the two holsters.
Once that was done, he said, “Okay, Rachel. Let’s see how this works.”
Seth handed her the right-hand gunbelt and she slid her head through the
buckled loop with the thin, shaved part of the belt in front and snugged it
down across her chest before he handed her the second and she donned the
second pistol.
Seth ran the cord through the bottom holster holes and then let both ends
fall to her side.
Then he handed Rachel the second cord and said, “Thread this through
the lowest cartridge loop on each belt and tighten it enough to keep it in
place without causing you discomfort. Then do the same to the lower cord.”
She nodded then pulled the cord tight like a big shoestring and tied off a
double knot with a bow. She repeated it with the second cord, leaving an
excess of eight or nine inches on each end.
“I’m going to trim those cords to only leave three inches, so stay still.”
Seth cut each cord to the proper length and stepped back, trying not to
pay any attention to the unanticipated effect of the tightened cord that
pulled the leather belts tight and accentuated her impressive figure.
“How does that feel?” he asked.
“Odd. If I had any experience, I’d imagine this is what a corset would
feel like.”
Seth ignored the corset comparison and then asked, “Can you pull your
Colt?”
Rachel reached across with her right hand, released the hammer loop,
and yanked the pistol out of the left-hand backward holster without any
problem.
“Great. Now go ahead and put on your shirt.”
Rachel returned her Colt to the holster, then leaned over, picked up her
shirt, and put it on quickly as Seth examined the results of the
modifications.
Once it was on, Rachel walked around the camp as Seth watched,
looking for any evidence of the hardware.
“Outstanding! Rachel, I know those guns are there, and I can’t see them.
Now one last test. You stand still and just face away from me. When I get
close behind you, you pretend I’m Abel and you need to give me that pistol.
Okay?”
“Alright.”
Seth just walked close to Rachel and stood a foot away, waiting for her
to start the play.
 Rachel didn’t turn to face him, but said in a normal voice, “Abel, I have
a pistol in a holster under the right side of my shirt. When they aren’t
looking, I’m going to lift my shirt and you need to release the hammer loop
and take the loaded pistol quickly.”
“What did you say, Rachel?” Seth asked as if he hadn’t heard her clearly,
just to see how she’d react, hoping she didn’t turn and ask why he hadn’t
heard her.
He was impressed when she kept staring straight ahead and repeated, “In
a few seconds, I’m going to lift my shirt. There will be a loaded Colt on the
right side in its holster. Release the hammer loop and take it quickly.”
“Okay. I understand.”
Rachel played her part and kept staring off into the distance, watching a
scene in her imagination, using the memory of when Charlie Hotchkiss had
killed his wife.
Seth began to wonder why Rachel was delaying pulling up the shirt but
could see her still watching as if she was keeping an eye on Bill Smith and
Charlie Hotchkiss.
Suddenly, Rachel lifted the right side of her shirt with her left hand and
Seth was almost startled by the swiftness of the move and took a second to
reach over, flip the hammer loop off and slide the Colt into his hand and
then slip it into his waist at his back.
Rachel dropped her shirt but continued to look straight ahead for another
twenty seconds then turned right and walked calmly away before taking a
seat on a rock and looking back at Seth. She wasn’t smiling or showing any
other reaction, which surprised Seth because she had done so well.
He pulled the Colt from behind his waist, took four long strides, sat
down next to Rachel, and waited for her to say something, but after twenty
more seconds of silence, he finally spoke.
“You were magnificent, Rachel. It was as if we were there.”
Rachel replied quietly, “I
was
there, Seth. I started to just imagine seeing
them standing before me, but my mind blended it with the memory of when
they first took over and Charlie shot his wife right in front of everyone. We
were all shocked, and the next thing I remember is him calling my name
and telling me I was going to be his new wife. If I had a pistol then Seth, I
would have killed him.”
Seth didn’t know how to respond to what she had just told him, so he
remained silent as she continued to look ahead.
Almost a minute passed before Rachel said, “We have to stop them,
Seth. I feel so bad about putting Miriam, or whoever else Charlie may have
taken in my place. How can I ever make it up to her?”
“You can start by not blaming yourself, Rachel. You didn’t hurt Miriam
or anyone else. If you hadn’t made the incredibly brave decision to escape
into the unknown to find help, do you think that Miriam or Sarah, or any of
the others would be safe? What do you think would have happened if I had
ridden into Haven without knowing about the dramatic change in the
situation? Your courage and strength are going to save everyone, including
me.”
She turned her head to Seth and managed a smile before she said,
“Thank you, Seth.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Winters. now let’s get you out of that
contraption and if you’d like, I’ll let you fire one of the Winchesters.”
She didn’t smile but said, “I’d like that.”
Seth stood, held out his hand and she placed her rough hand in his then
stood, saying, “Your hands are worse than mine.”
He smiled and said, “They get abused regularly, ma’am. Burned, beaten,
cut, and abraded. I’m surprised I still have all of those dangly things on the
ends.”
Rachel smiled back as they walked back to the panniers where she
removed her outer shirt and then undid the bows and the cords before
removing the two gunbelts and setting them down on the ammunition
pannier while Seth pulled out one of the fully loaded Winchesters.
 When she was close, he handed her the repeater and said, “This is a
Winchester model 1873, the most popular repeater ever made. There are
lots of different versions of this Winchester. They have models that shoot
everything from the small .22 caliber cartridge to this one that’s chambered
for the .44 caliber. The barrel lengths go from the carbine, like this one
which is twenty inches long, the rifle is twenty-four inches and the musket
version which is thirty inches.”
“Why do they make so many different kinds?”
“It depends on what you need. A carbine is better if you shoot from a
horse, the rifle has more accuracy, range, and power, and the musket adds
even more, but it’s a bit unwieldy.”
“And this is the carbine?”
“Yes, ma’am. I only brought carbines because they’re the most popular
and I didn’t know who would be using them. As it turned out, I brought too
many. So, you get to keep this one, if you’d like.”
“I will. Thank you.”
Seth showed her how it worked, and then levered out all fifteen
cartridges before handing it back to her for some dry fire practice. Again, he
gave her basic instruction in its use because they were going to be losing
their light soon and he thought she wouldn’t really need to use it anyway.
After he reloaded the Winchester, he let Rachel empty the entire tube of
.44s at the targets she had selected. As with the pistol, she did well for a
first-time shooter, but most importantly to Seth, she was comfortable with
the repeater.
The sun was dropping below the mountains to the west as Seth cleaned
and reloaded her Winchester and Rachel prepared their dinner.
“Seth,” she asked as she dumped a can of beans into the skillet, “Do you
think that God really talked to Zacharia? My parents thought he did, but
Myra said it was all his imagination.”
“I don’t claim to know, Rachel. I’m sure that Zacharia believed it. Were
you there in church ten years ago on the day he preached about his
revelation?”
“No. I was at home sick with a cold, but my parents came home all
excited.”
“I was there, and I could tell how impassioned he was in what he was
saying. But even then, I knew what he had seen was nothing more than a
natural, well-documented phenomenon. It was called the Andromedids
meteor storm and they’d happened before.
“It’s spectacular, but Zacharia took it to mean something spiritual and
convinced himself that he was right. I’d agree with Myra, but who can tell
for sure? I think that seeing the comet may have pushed him to a different
level, but I think there was another reason driving his decision to kill
everyone before the comet disappeared.”
She looked up from the fire and asked, “What was that?”
“He was afraid of failure. It had been almost ten years since his first
revelation, and he was running out of time. Now he’d predicted the end of
the world when the comet struck. What if he brought everyone into the
fields and they all watched the sky when the comet disappeared, and
nothing happened? I don’t know if he could live with that kind of
disappointment.
“If he sent everyone to heaven beforehand, then it might be more
acceptable to him than the humiliation and failure he would feel if everyone
was still walking around a week later. He would have lost everything,
including his faith.”
“I never thought of it that way.”
“I knew him before he became Zacharia and was just Zack Dyer, mainly
because he was Myra’s father. He didn’t impress me as a bad man or a saint,
either. He was just Myra’s father. He did tend to preach to me and the other
boys that came to talk to Myra, which drove most of them away. Abel
listened to him more than most, so I wasn’t surprised when Abel left. Of
course, the real reason he went was that Myra was leaving, but that was
only possible because Zacharia had accepted Abel.”
 Rachel then asked the question that Seth had expected her to ask first.
“I never asked Abel, but what was your father’s name?”
“I was wondering when that would come up. His name was Adam, but
my mother’s name wasn’t Eve before you ask. My father named his first
son Cain, but he died soon after he was born, so he named his second one
Abel and I was Seth. My mother gave birth to daughters too, but none
survived.”
“Was your father religious?”
“No more or less than most men. I never asked about the names and I’m
not sure he even had a reason for it.”
_____
As the sun began settling in the west, Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss
were both in their new home enjoying their new wives at the same time,
knowing that no one could bother them now.
Myra, Abel, and the others sat on anything that could serve as a chair as
they gathered in the dark barn. The new overlords of the community had
them strip the barn of tools and lamps before they had been locked inside,
which also meant it was going to be a cold night for all of them, despite
being allowed to bring in their coats and some blankets.
“They’d do it, Abel,” Myra said while twirling a small piece of scrap
leather cord.
“I know. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to disarm them, but
they’re never that close together, so even if I could get to one, the other
would start shooting. I just don’t know how much longer they’ll keep things
as they are now. It can’t be long. Maybe Rachel will make it to Medicine
Bow before they do anything. Julia Carson said they took Miriam yesterday
in mid-morning, so if she kept walking, she could make it there tomorrow
and ask for help.”
Myra continued to swing her useless cord as she said, “She didn’t have
any food and couldn’t keep walking non-stop. Then even if she made it
after four days, who could she ask for help? The county sheriff is in
Rawlins, and that’s another hundred miles west. Even if Rachel sent a
telegram, no one could get here for another four or five days.
“So, we’re looking at least eight or nine days before even having the
chance of getting outside help. Our only real chance will be if your father or
Seth responds to the telegram you sent, and the earliest that could happen is
another three days or so.”
Abel sighed and replied, “I know. I’m just grasping at straws.”
Myra tossed the leather string aside and took Abel’s hands in hers as she
said, “I’m just worried about the children. They’ve never been on their own
before.”
“The older girls will watch out for them. They’ll be okay.”
“For tonight, but how much longer are those two going to put up with
this arrangement?”
Abel didn’t answer because there was no good answer to that question.
It had been the same question that the others had been asking as the
small amount of fading sunlight that had filtered through the cracks died
away.
_____
Seth was eating out of the skillet while Rachel ate from the only plate.
“This is really good, Rachel. I can’t imagine how well you’d do with a
real kitchen.”
“We all have to cook in Haven, Seth.”
Seth paused his spoon in midair and asked, “Rachel, what are you going
to do after we get rid of those two tomorrow?”
She swallowed and turned to look at Seth in the firelight and replied, “I
haven’t thought about it at all. Isn’t that strange?”
“No, not really. Every day of your life for the past ten years has been
dictated to you, and now you have no schedule or anyone ordering you
what you must do.”
“It has been that way for all of my life. I’m not sure how I’ll react to the
sudden change.”
“I think you’ll be fine, but I wonder about many of the others, especially
the children.”
“I know. You should have seen their faces when they realized that
Zacharia was dead. Even Abel seemed shaken. It was as if nobody knew
what to do anymore, like they had no purpose.”
“I’ve seen that look before in the faces of men that my father would fire
for one reason or another. The troublemakers didn’t care because they knew
it was coming, but when employees were fired out of the blue, they’d get
this vacant look in their eyes as if they suddenly had no direction.”
“Did you fire anyone?”
Seth smiled and replied, “I fired quite a few of them actually, and
enjoyed every single one.”
His answer surprised Rachel and she asked, “Why would you enjoy
taking away their livelihood?”
“The men I fired wouldn’t have any problems with money, at least for a
while. When my father died so suddenly, I was only twenty-two and there
were a few upper-level employees of the company who thought that I was
some sniveling little boy who they could control. But I had been working at
the company off and on for years and when you talk to the men who
actually keep the place running, you learn where the problems are.
“So, that first week, I called a meeting of the officers of the company
and handed more than half of them their pay envelopes and showed them
the door. It was quite a show. They screamed that the company would go
bankrupt in a week, or that I’d be in the poorhouse in a month, and other,
less repeatable comments. I put men into those positions who I could trust
to do the job and not line their own pockets. It was rough for a little while
as they learned the new jobs, but after a year, the company was running
much better and the whole atmosphere had changed. I didn’t have to fire a
single man after that.”
Seth finished talking and eating at the same time, so he stood and walked
to the stream to clean the empty skillet.
Rachel finished just a few seconds later and soon sat on her heels next to
him to wash off her plate.
“Seth, how exactly will we do this tomorrow?”
Seth shook the water from the skillet and said, “We’ll talk about that in a
minute because it’s going to take some time. Just understand that a lot, and I
mean a lot, of it will depend on you. When we did that practice run about
transferring the pistol to Abel earlier, you showed me that you could
improvise if you had to, and I’m sure that tomorrow will require a lot of
thinking on the fly.”
Rachel waved her tin plate in the air to dry it, then they both stood and
walked back to the fire.
After Seth had thrown some more wood onto the fire, they made
themselves as comfortable as they could on the chilly, hard ground before
Seth finally began to answer her question in more detail.
“Now first off, you’ve got to look the part of a woman who’s spent two
days out in the wilds. Your hair will have to be even more unkempt than it
is already, and we’ll toss some cut-up prairie grass on top of you, so it’ll
appear as if you’ve spent two nights sleeping on the grass. The most
difficult part, at least for me, is that you’ll need to go into Haven alone. I
know there are forests to the west and north that are closer to Haven, but
we’ll be coming from the south. How far can you see to the south if you’re
standing near Zacharia’s house?”
Rachel glanced down at the mostly intact drawing of Haven to her left
and tried to picture the southern horizon before replying, “The furthest you
can see if you follow the wagon trail is about a mile and a half, I think. It’s
not a pass, but the valley turns.”
 “Okay. That’s better than the flatlands. Three miles would be almost
impossible to get through without being spotted. So, tomorrow morning,
we’ll leave here early, riding as we had before. You’ll have your pistols
under your shirt. By the way, not that you didn’t think about this already,
but when you see Myra or anyone else, you can’t let them give you a
welcome-back hug. They’d feel those pistols and might react.”
She smiled and said, “Surprisingly, I already figured that out.”
Seth returned her smile as he replied, “I’m not surprised at all, ma’am.
Anyway, as soon as Haven comes into view, I’ll stop and find someplace to
hitch Jelly. I don’t want them to see those Winchesters and shotguns that
he’s carrying. Then I’ll let you go.
“You’ll be tired and stumbling but moving as quickly as you can. Right
from the start, you’ll have to begin making decisions depending on who you
see first. If you spot either or both of the armed men, then you’ll tell them
that a rider’s coming. If you make it to Haven and see Abel, Myra, or
someone else you know you can tell them what’s going on and give Abel
the pistol before hiding somewhere.”
“Then you’ll ride in?” she asked.
“I’ll be watching and when you near the edge of Haven, I’ll start Rowdy
at a walk. My Winchester will be in its scabbard, but my Colt will be ready
to be pulled if I have to use it. I’m going to appear to be ignorant of the
situation, and it’ll be up to you to either let them know who I am or tell
them I’m a stranger, depending on what works better. Like I said, most of
what happens will be your decision.”
“What if they start shooting?”
“That’s the big problem. I’ll be watching closely as I’m riding in. I’ll
focus on you, though. If you think that everything is quiet, wave over your
head and I’ll pick up the pace, but I don’t think that’s likely to happen.”
“Neither do I.”
“So, I’ll be riding in looking harmless, but if I see them draw a pistol, or
aim a repeater, I want it to be in my direction, and you might be able to get
them to do that. You know point at me and shout something about me
getting ready to fire. The second it looks like gunfire will start, get everyone
on the ground as fast as you can because as soon as I see everyone drop, I’ll
pull my Winchester and start riding fast into Haven.”
“What about the pistols?”
“That’ll be your call, too. It’ll depend on who is nearby, how many
innocents are close, and all sorts of other variables. Things will happen
quickly, and you’ll have to make instant decisions. Do you understand
that?”
Rachel nodded, unsure if she could do it. She didn’t think she’d ever
made any hard decisions in her life before, and now she’d be making life-
or-death decisions in a matter of seconds.
“The only other solution I could come up with would be for us to come
out of that forest to the west, but I like your idea better. If you don’t think
you can do it, we’ll go through the trees and see if we can sneak into
Haven. The biggest problem with that is that the second anyone sees us,
even if it’s a child, they’ll point us out and we’ll be too far away to protect
anyone.”
“No, I’ll do it, Seth. I have to.”
“Okay. We’ll get ready for sleep because we need the rest.”
“How is that going to work? You only have one bedroll.”
“You get the bedroll. I have extra blankets and I need to have my right
arm free anyway.”
“Okay.”
Forty minutes later, Rachel was snuggled under the bedroll and Seth was
sitting by the fire with one of his blankets over his legs as he oiled his
Winchester ’76.
“Why aren’t you using your second blanket?” she asked as she watched.
“I’ll use it later. I didn’t want to get any gun oil on it.”
 “Oh,” she replied then after a pause, she asked, “Seth, do you go to
church?”
Seth was rubbing a rag to remove excess oil as he answered, “Not since
my parents’ funeral.”
“Why not? Don’t you believe in God?”
“Oh, I believe in God, it’s just that, well, I don’t believe in churches.”
Rachel asked, “Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Nope,” he replied as he set the rag and the Winchester aside, “When I
sat in the church with my parents that day when Zachariah made his
impassioned plea and then Reverend Claggett stepped up into the pulpit and
essentially said that Zacharia was wrong because he forgot that God had
promised Noah that he would never destroy mankind again. I began to think
about what each man said, and it bothered me.
“Who was right? If one was right, then the other was wrong. Both men
believed in what they said, so how could one be wrong?
“After that, I began to study different religions and found that almost all
of them claimed to be the only true religion and that only their followers
would be admitted to heaven. They each had their own rules to follow and
some made no sense to me at all.
“For example, the Catholics have what they call mortal sins. Commit
one of those and if you don’t confess to a priest before you die, off you go
to eternal damnation. The problem was that in their rules if you don’t go to
church on Sunday, that’s one of their mortal sins, just as if you murdered
someone. Both have the same punishment and that seemed unfair at the
least. Some religions send you to damnation for eating bacon. Others for
just saying bad words.
“So, by the time I went off on my own to college, I had decided that
either I believed in a compassionate, loving God who created me and
expected me to be a good man but gave me the free will to do what I
wished, or a God who didn’t care one way or the other. I chose the first
option. I pray when I wish and where I wish. I don’t ask God for favors and
I don’t blame Him for bad things that happen, but I do thank Him for giving
me life and my conscience. So, Miss Winters, that’s why I don’t go to
church.”
Rachel lay in the bedroll and simply stared at Seth’s silhouette against
the fire as she absorbed his simple, yet logical philosophy.
After three minutes of silence, she said, “All the time I was in Haven, I
wondered why God was punishing the rest of the world. How could all
those people be sinners? Surely there must have been good men and women
among them, but I never asked my parents those questions because they
truly believed in Zachariah’s preaching. Myra didn’t though. She’s a lot like
you in her thinking. I think Myra would have been a good engineer if she’d
been a man.”
“I think you can be anything you want, Rachel, and you have an
advantage over Myra.”
“I do?”
“You’re not married yet, so you don’t have any children. You still have a
choice.”
Rachel replied, “That’s not much of a choice, Seth. I want to get married
and have children. I don’t want to be an engineer or a scientist. I suppose
you believe that makes me just a silly woman.”
“No, Rachel, it doesn’t. I can understand why you would want to have
children. Being able to bring another life into this world is the single most
incredible thing that humans can do, and only women can do it. I can’t
imagine the awe that women must feel when they feel that first kick. All I
can do is build noisy, stinking machines that belch smoke and steam.”
Rachel laughed lightly and said, “Babies are noisy and stinky too, you
know.”
“I know but they use less fuel.”
Rachel turned to look up, saw the growing comet, and asked, “What’s a
comet, Seth?”
 Seth automatically turned his eyes skyward and replied, “They have no
idea what they’re made of, but they don’t burn like stars or their light would
stay the same. They get brighter when they get closer to the sun.
Astronomers do know that they orbit the sun, just like planets, but have a
really long orbit and go way out past Jupiter. Halley’s Comet, which is the
best known, will come back in 1910 after its last visit in 1835.”
“What’s Jupiter?”
“Rachel, we’re going to be talking all night if we go on, and right now,
we both need to get to sleep. Okay?”
“Alright.”
“Good night, Rachel.”
“Good night, Seth.”
Rachel closed her eyes and rolled onto her side slightly as her mind
tumbled with all the things she and Seth had talked about.
There were so
many things she didn’t know!
She felt so terribly inadequate, but she knew
that Seth had trust in her to do what was necessary tomorrow, and she was
sure that she never wanted to disappoint him.
Seth gazed at Rachel as she lay with her eyes closed, knowing he was
asking so much of her tomorrow. He was already astounded by her quick
thinking and God-given abilities and was confident that she’d be able to
handle any situation tomorrow with aplomb, but he knew he’d have to be
ready to step in at a moment’s notice. He’d have no qualms about shooting
anyone who tried to hurt Rachel.
_____
The outlaw gang had made camp in a pass sixty miles south of Medicine
Bow and were decidedly uncomfortable when snow began to fall, and the
wind churned through the pass as it fought its way through the mountains.
They’d managed to get themselves and their horses into a rocky cove
that kept most of the wind away, but the snow had begun to accumulate.
 Billy Cross groused, “Where the hell did we get this snow? It’s still
summer, for God’s sake!”
“We’re up in the Rockies, Billy. I’ve seen it snow in August up here. It’ll
be gone when we get down that pass,” Johnny Billups replied.
“How far is this town?” asked Whitey.
“I ain’t so sure, but I figure about two more days’ ride,” Joe Cox replied
as he stood close to the fire with his gloved hands under his armpits.
“Are you figurin’ with the snow or without it?” he asked.
“Um, I figure the snow is gonna let up soon.”
“I hope so. We could be trapped up here if it doesn’t. We gotta get down
to lower country soon.”
Joe just nodded and tried to keep warm.
 CHAPTER 4
Seth had Rowdy and Jelly saddled and all the supplies loaded just twenty
minutes after sunrise. It had been cold, but the thick frost that had formed
on everything was now melting in the sun as he rebuilt the fire.
He managed to make breakfast and coffee by the time Rachel slid out of
the bedroll. When she did, she noticed that the second blanket was laying
atop her bedroll but didn’t say anything as she hurried to go behind some
nearby bushes.
On the way back as she walked through some tall prairie grass, she
reached down with her left hand and grabbed a handful of stalks then began
to rip them apart, crumple them into her hair, and sprinkle the grass pieces
over her shirt. Then she mussed up her hair even more than it had been,
giving her a truly unkempt appearance. It hadn’t taken much effort as she
was already pretty dirty.
She approached the fire and sat on her heels, holding her bare hands in
front of the flames.
Seth flipped a strip of bacon and then said, “I have another pair of gloves
if you’d like to wear them until we get to Haven.”
“No, I’ll be okay. Besides, once we get on the horse, I’ll be holding onto
you anyway.”
Seth just nodded and forked the bacon around the skillet to keep it from
burning.
After breakfast, Seth had Rachel remove her grass-covered shirt and
spent fifteen minutes getting the pistols in place and tied down. Once her
shirt was in place, Seth gave her a once-over, thought it looked good and
then after he’d finished his inspection, stepped closely in front of her and
stopped.
 “Don’t be alarmed, Rachel,” he said as he suddenly put out his arms and
hugged her to check how obvious it was if that happened to her in Haven.
Then he stepped back quickly and said, “Now that’s surprising. I know
those pistols are there, but I didn’t feel them at all.”
“That’s because you hugged me with my arms down and all that you
could have felt were the two front straps. Try this,” she said as she spread
her arms and hugged him as he wrapped his arms around her and felt the
butts of the pistols slam into his forearms.
He stepped back and nodded, saying, “You’re right. If you do the
hugging, I felt those pistols easily. So, if anyone wants to hug you, just
make sure that your arms are by your sides.”
Rachel nodded and noticed that Seth’s face and neck were a light red as
he had spoken.
Ignoring his flushed appearance, he said, “Let’s start riding to Haven and
see what happens.”
Rachel just nodded as they walked to Rowdy then Seth mounted and
helped Rachel onto Rowdy’s back behind him.
They set off riding north at a medium trot for Haven, just twenty-one
miles away.
_____
Normally, Haven would have been alive with activity by the time Seth
and Rachel had set out, but this was hardly a normal day.
The adults and older children were all still in the cold, dark barn and
were making breakfast out of the limited amount of food that had been left
for them. There were eleven in the barn and thirteen children in the houses
being tended by three twelve-year-old and two ten-year-old girls.
Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss were still sleeping in their respective
bedrooms while their new wives were locked in the bathing room with its
large, round steel tub.
 Sarah had been comforting Miriam as Rachel had tried to comfort her by
telling Miriam that Rachel had gone for help and that soon they’d be free
from their prison and the two men that slept in the house would be punished
by God.
Miriam wanted to believe Sarah but thought that God had forgotten
them, or He wouldn’t have allowed this to happen in the first place.
Sarah wasn’t so confident herself but had to believe that things would
change soon, or she would lose everything that she valued in life.
_____
As they rode north, Rachel continued her questions that she’d started last
night before her Jupiter question had halted the conversation.
With each of Seth’s answers, she found more questions that seemed to
have no end. Sometimes, even Seth didn’t know the answers, which
surprised her. But still, his depth of knowledge astounded her and at the
same time made her feel incredibly ignorant.
Seth was pleased that Rachel’s mind was focused on subjects other than
what she’d be having to do in a little while. As he’d been giving his
response to her question about what they would do when they arrived in
Haven, he’d begun to realize just how much depended on her quick wit and
calm reactions.
He’d already committed himself to shooting both men even if they
weren’t threatening Rachel, which had been difficult, but he knew it was the
only way that this would probably work. His biggest concern now was how
to protect the innocents, especially the young woman clinging to him.
_____
Charlie and Bill had visited the privy and released Sarah and Miriam
from the bathing room to fix them breakfast, so the only smoke visible from
Haven emanated from the fireplace and cookstove of Zacharia’s house and
one of the other houses where Mary Miller and Ellie Lemmon, the twelve-
year-olds, had gathered all of the other children into one house so feeding
them would be easier.
 It was after nine o’clock when Bill and Charlie began eating their
breakfast with Sarah and Miriam at the table, not wanting to allow either
young woman to be standing behind them with a knife in her hand.
_____
It was just thirty minutes later when Seth caught sight of Haven for the
first time, and let Rowdy take two more steps forward until the entire
settlement came into view. He was able to do that without concern because
he hadn’t seen any movement in the distance.
“Rachel, does that look right to you?” he asked while keeping his eyes
focused on the village.
She had already been staring at Haven and replied, “I was just going to
say something. Nobody is out in the fields or anywhere else, and the only
smoke is coming from Zacharia’s house and the Miller’s house.”
“Do you want to keep going as we are and see what happens, or do you
want to stick with the original plan?” he asked.
Rachel thought about it and said, “Let’s go with what we planned. If one
of them walks out of the house, then I can tell them you’re coming, but if
they don’t then I’ll wave you in.”
“Okay, that sounds good,” he replied before lowering Rachel to the
ground and then dismounting.
“I’m going to untie Jelly and hitch him in those trees over there. He
doesn’t have any water, but he shouldn’t have to be there very long.”
“I’m going to start walking. How do I look?” she asked as she turned
slowly with her arms out.
“You’re perfect. I’ll mount Rowdy and watch you from over there. Stay
safe, Rachel.”
She smiled back at him and said, “I will,” then paused and said, “Thank
you for coming and saving me, Seth.”
“I’m more than happy to have done both, Rachel,” he replied.
 She nodded, took in a deep breath, blew it out, then pushed down on the
hidden pistols and stepped away.
Seth watched her for a minute, and when she was fifty feet away,
mounted Rowdy and walked him behind a boulder until all he could see
was Rachel and half of Haven.
He released his holster’s hammer loop and hoped he didn’t screw this up.
_____
The six outlaws had been descending the pass for over two hours as their
horses struggled to fight their way through the deep, but now melting snow.
Their only break came when the sun came out and the wind dropped down
to just a breeze, which was highly unusual for this time of year in the high
pass that they had just crossed.
Just as Rachel had begun her walk, they finally made it out of the snow
and were back on dry ground as the wind had built up snowdrifts along the
sides of the mountains leaving the trail clear.
_____
Rachel had avoided turning to look back at Seth for more than half a
mile as she didn’t want to appear to know he was there yet, but as she kept
seeing no one in Haven, she finally turned back for a quick glance, spotted
him still watching her and then looked forward again. Knowing he was
there and could get there in less than a minute boosted her confidence in her
ability to get this done. She hoped that she didn’t screw anything up as she
passed the halfway point.
She walked for another fifteen minutes and still hadn’t seen any
movement and began to wonder if Bill Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss had
done what Zachariah had been planning, and it was only seeing that second
tendril of smoke poking out of the Millers’ house that kept her from
believing that they were all dead.
But where were they?
She knew that Bill, Charlie, Sarah, and probably Miriam were in
Zacharia’s house, so all she could do would be to walk to the Millers’
house, hoping that one of them hadn’t decided to move into the Millers’
house, too. It was her first decision and she hoped it was the right one. She
didn’t want to wave Seth in based on simply not seeing anyone yet.
Seth saw her getting close and was asking himself exactly the same
question.
Where was everyone?
He also concluded that there were four in
Zacharia’s house, but he knew that the other house wasn’t big enough to
house all the remaining members of the community. He should have asked
Rachel if any of the homes had locks but didn’t think so because of the
nature of Haven. Their plan was already having to be modified, so Seth
decided to make a big change himself.
He kept watching and waited for Rachel to reach the village. Then as
soon as she crossed an invisible boundary that Seth had imagined, he
walked Rowdy out from behind the boulder and kept him at a walking pace
toward Haven a little over a mile away always keeping Rachel in sight.
_____
After breakfast, Bill and Charlie had decided to enjoy the favors of their
young wives before leaving the house, which accounted for the empty
grounds.
As Rachel walked past Zacharia’s house about a hundred feet to the
south, she kept her eyes focused on the one doorway, just in case one of
them suddenly appeared. Her heart was pounding, and she desperately
wanted to pull open her shirt and grab a pistol but didn’t give in to the
temptation. She had only buttoned the shirt with two of the five buttons, so
she could rip it open quickly if it became necessary, but for now, she just
walked and watched.
Seth was still walking Rowdy, but the longer strides of the horse were
closing the gap between him and Rachel as both continued to move east. He
was getting closer to Zacharia’s house as she walked away toward the
Millers’.
She had finally stopped watching Zacharia’s door and turned to focus on
the Millers’ house another hundred yards away. She picked up the pace
slightly and then everything suddenly and dramatically changed.
 Bill Smith had finished with Sarah and was in the kitchen having a
second cup of coffee when he swung open the kitchen window’s right
shutter to make sure that the adults hadn’t tried to get out of the barn. No
sooner had the shutter revealed the open ground then he spotted Rachel
walking about a hundred feet away. It took him a few seconds to realize
who she was because of the shirts and britches, but her long black hair
solved that momentary confusion. He dropped his coffee and without a
word, turned and ran to the other bedroom and threw open the door
interrupting Charlie.
“
What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Charlie shouted.
“Rachel’s back and she’s heading for the Millers!” Bill exclaimed.
“Then just go and get her!” Charlie said as he slipped from the bed, his
focus changed.
Bill just turned and began walking from the house and grabbed his
Winchester as he passed through the kitchen.
Charlie had pulled up his britches and was tightening his gunbelt when
Bill left the house.
Sarah had heard Bill’s shout and wondered why Rachel had returned
while Miriam was just grateful for the reprieve and was pulling on her
clothes.
Rachel was within sixty yards of the Miller house when she heard Bill’s
shout coming from Zacharia’s place then turned and froze. She was all
alone in the middle of open ground and panicked.
Should she go for her
pistol?
She knew if she did, Bill or Charlie would shoot her on sight then
she quickly calmed down, took another breath, and began walking quickly
toward Zacharia’s house again. It was time to play her part.
Seth was still more than half a mile away when he saw Bill Smith trot
out of the house with his gunbelt and Winchester as he headed for Rachel
which made him reach for his ’76.
Then he saw Rachel turn and begin walking back to meet Bill Smith and
knew that she was following the plan after all, so he kept Rowdy at a walk
and left the Winchester in its scabbard.
Before Bill Smith could even call her name, Rachel shouted, “Where is
everyone? There’s a rider coming this way!” then pointed at Seth.
Bill had his mouth open and was about to threaten her when he heard her
warning and quickly turned to the west and spotted Seth. He wasn’t
carrying his rifle, so he wasn’t a threat, at least not yet.
He cocked the hammer to his Winchester as Charlie popped out of the
house with his Winchester and Bill yelled, “We got a rider comin’ in!”
“What?”
he shouted in surprise as he wheeled around to look where Bill
was facing and spotted Seth.
Bill trotted closer to Charlie and asked in a loud voice, “What do you
think?”
Charlie answered, “I ain’t sure. Your Winchester cocked?”
“Yup. You cock yours and I’ll see what he wants. Maybe we can just
shoot him and take what he’s got.”
“Okay,” Charlie said as the hammer of his Winchester clicked into place.
Neither man paid any attention at all to Rachel, who was standing just
fifty feet behind them, her right hand undoing her last two front buttons as
she stared at the two men.
Seth continued to walk Rowdy evaluating the situation. He noticed
Charlie hanging back, and that both of their Winchesters were cocked, but
he also noticed Rachel pulling open her shirt and sliding her hand into the
left side. Smart lady, he thought. She’d get her pistol ready to fire, but
behind the covering of the homespun cloth.
When he was within a hundred yards, Seth pulled up and shouted,
“Howdy! My name’s Gus Wheeler. I’ve been followin’ these wagon ruts
wonderin’ where they were goin’. What’s the name of this place?”
Bill Smith continued to walk but lowered Seth’s threat level in his mind
as he replied, “We call it Haven. Where are you from?”
 “I was ridin’ out of Medicine Bow and saw them ruts. I was doin’ some
wranglin’ for the Bar W ranch south of there. I’m sure you heard of it.”
“Nope. Why don’t you come on in and you can have some coffee?”
“I’d do that, but you and your friend there seem a might unfriendly with
them Winchesters cocked.”
“Just takin’ precautions, friend.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you’d take less of ‘em, or I’ll just head on out
of here.”
Bill thought he had the advantage and decided he’d make use of it and
didn’t reply, but quickly drew his Winchester level, sighted, and fired.
As soon as Bill began to bring his Winchester to fire, Charlie did the
same, and his carbine blasted its .44 caliber messenger past Bill just three
seconds after his. Both men then began to walk toward Seth as they levered
in new cartridges firing and decreasing the distance between them before
the rider could bolt away.
Normally, that would have been the right thing to do, but Seth knew he’d
never have a better chance at getting them both alone and outside, so he
forgot about his pistol and pulled the long Winchester from its scabbard.
He heard one of their shots buzz past his left ear, so he knew that he’d
better make his shots count.
He cocked the hammer of the ’76 as he brought the sights into alignment
on Bill Smith, who had just fired his second shot.
Seth took an extra two seconds to steady his aim and then squeezed the
trigger. The .50-95 Express cartridge ignited, and the heavy slug of lead
spiraled down the rifled barrel, exploding out of the muzzle at over thirteen
hundred feet per second. Unlike their ‘73s, his beast of a repeater’s lead
missile still maintained more than enough energy when it plowed into Bill
Smith’s upper left chest, obliterating two ribs, then chewing apart the upper
lobe of his left lung before it cracked through two more ribs and then the tip
of his shoulder blade before leaving his body. Bill Smith felt the hammer
blow from the bullet and the burn and pain as it passed through him as he
spun counterclockwise, his Winchester flying through the air as his hand let
it go.
Charlie had just fired his second round when Bill was hit and was
stunned by the sudden change in their situation but managed to maintain his
aim on the sitting rider until another report came from behind him and the
ground just fifteen feet in front of him exploded in a dirt volcano.
He didn’t know who had taken the shot but whipped his Winchester
around and blinked when he spotted Rachel Winters standing there with a
smoking Colt in her two hands.
But Charlie’s Winchester was already cocked, so he had the advantage.
He pulled the trigger and watched Rachel go down before he levered in a
new round and was rotating back to fire at the rider when Seth’s second
shot found the right side of his chest as he was facing to the south, halfway
through his turn. The massive .50 caliber bullet drilled into his right lung
and traversed his entire chest cavity, destroying tissue, blood vessels, and
bone before it finally stopped when it lodged in the left seventh rib.
Charlie dropped to his knees and then fell face forward into the dirt.
Seth had seen Rachel fall and kicked Rowdy into a gallop, but after he’d
gone just fifty yards, he was stunned to see Rachel picking herself up from
the ground and start to dust herself off before she looked up at Seth and
waved over her head.
He slowed Rowdy to a fast trot and soon reached the yard then passed
the two bloody bodies and quickly began to dismount.
“Rachel! Were you hit? I saw him fire at you!” he shouted before his
second foot touched the ground.
Rachel walked quickly to Seth replying, “No, I’m not hit. After I took
the shot, I knew I’d missed so I thought the best thing I could do was to hit
the ground, so when I saw Charlie getting ready to fire, I was already
dropping when he did. I swear I heard the bullet go whizzing past me.”
Seth was so happy that he simply reached out and hugged her, guns or no
guns, and began to laugh.
 Rachel dropped her pistol and hugged him back, laughing as well. It
wasn’t a laugh of humor, but one of immeasurable relief.
Finally, Seth stepped back and put both hands on Rachel’s shoulders.
“Let’s find out what’s going on, Rachel. We have a lot of work to do.”
Rachel quickly asked, “Seth, how are you doing? I know that you were
worried about having to shoot a man, and you just killed two of them.”
He looked into those dark gray concerned eyes and replied, “Once they
started firing, I didn’t think about it. I couldn’t hesitate, Rachel. When
Charlie turned to fire at you, I couldn’t pull that trigger fast enough. I knew
it had to be done and I’m just glad I finished him off before he had a chance
to do any more harm. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to see you getting
up off the ground and brushing yourself off like you had just tripped.”
Rachel nodded and replied, “I’m relieved that you’re not feeling guilty
about it. I’ll go into Zacharia’s house and see how Sarah and the second girl
are.”
“Okay. I’ll go to the other house with smoke and see who’s inside.”
Rachel then picked up her pistol, opened her shirt, and slid it back into
its holster, locking the hammer loop in place, and then walked past the two
bodies as she headed for the house.
Seth had watched her, shook his head in astonishment then jogged to the
more distant Miller house.
He reached the Millers’ place before Rachel reached Zacharia’s and
opened the unlocked door, finding dozens of small eyes looking at him,
most in total fear.
He smiled to let them know he was there to help and said, “I’m Abel
Egan’s younger brother. Rachel came and got me, and everything is okay
now. Where are my brother and his wife?”
An eight-year-old girl took a step forward and asked, “Are you my Uncle
Seth?”
 Seth’s smile grew much larger as he crouched down slightly and replied,
“Yes, I am. And I’ll bet you’re my niece.”
Mary Egan smiled back at her uncle and said, “I’m Mary and this is my
sister, Ruth, and my brother John. We don’t know where our mama and
papa are, though. They told us if we didn’t stay here, they were going to kill
them.”
“Mary, did you hear any gunshots after they put you in here?”
“No.”
“Then they’re here somewhere. Where could they lock people up?”
Mary looked up at Ellie Lemmon who answered, “The only place that
can be locked from outside is the big barn.”
Seth stood again and said, “Now those two bad men are dead out in the
yard, so if you want to come out of the house, you can, but don’t look if it
will make you afraid. I’m going to go to the barn now.”
As he turned, he felt a small hand take his and he looked down and
smiled at Mary before Ruth took his other hand and as Ruth took her
brother’s hand, Seth began to walk outside as the entire house full of
children exited behind him. They followed him across the open ground as
he glanced over to Zacharia’s, surprised not to see Rachel yet.
They reached the barn, and Seth let his nieces’ hands go and lifted the
heavy bar, set it down gently, then pulled the right door wide as the children
all stepped back. But before he could say anything, the children all poured
into the barn shouting for parents, adoptive parents, and older siblings as
some tried to tell the adults what had happened.
Seth just stayed in the doorway as the massive reunion took place, still
glancing back at Zacharia’s house wondering what Rachel was doing,
hoping that she hadn’t found Sarah and Miriam dead.
_____
Rachel had walked quickly into the house and had found both young
women cowering in the back bedroom in the corner, holding onto each
other after hearing all the gunfire, believing that Bill Smith and Charlie had
begun to execute the adults and that they would be next.
When Rachel entered the room, Sarah suddenly remembered hearing Bill
Smith saying that Rachel had returned but had forgotten about it when the
guns began firing.
“Rachel?” she asked quietly, almost in disbelief.
Rachel walked quickly around the bed and helped them to their feet and
then sat with them on the bed.
“What happened?” Sarah asked.
“Seth Egan is here. He came faster than anyone expected, and he found
me on the trail to Medicine Bow yesterday. We came up with a plan to deal
with Bill and Charlie, but everything changed when we got here. The entire
settlement was empty. Then when I was almost to the Millers, Bill Smith
came out and I didn’t know what I could do, but then Seth showed up and I
was able to do what I was supposed to do and pointed at Seth, so Bill would
turn around, but then Charlie showed up. But they both ignored me and
pointed their carbines at Seth.”
Sarah interrupted and said, “Carbines?”
Rachel said, “Their Winchesters. Anyway, they both turned to shoot
Seth, so I slipped my hand onto my Colt and as soon as they started
shooting at Seth, I pulled my pistol. Seth shot Bill, and I tried to shoot
Charlie. I missed, but I was already falling to the ground when Bill tried to
shoot me. He missed, so Seth shot him, too.”
“They’re both dead?” Miriam asked quietly.
“Yes, Miriam. They’re both dead.”
Miriam whispered, “It’s not good enough for them, Rachel.”
“No, it’s not. Miriam, can you ever forgive me for leaving? If I’d known
that Charlie was going to take you, I would have stayed.”
 “You didn’t do those horrible things to me, Rachel, Charlie Hotchkiss
did. I wanted to kill him, but he kept me tied up when he was sleeping. I’m
so ashamed, Rachel.”
Rachel then put her arms around Miriam who began to hug Rachel but
suddenly stopped and jerked away.
Rachel then said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten about these things. I’ve
actually grown used to wearing them. Seth did a great job.”
Sarah asked, “What things?”
Rachel stood, opened her shirt wide, and turned to show them both of
her pistols.
“You’ve got guns?”
asked a surprised Sarah.
“One was supposed to be for Abel, but I never got the chance to give it
to him,” she replied as she let the shirt close and took her seat on the bed.
“Rachel, what do we do now?” Miriam asked.
“I don’t know Miriam. We’re all going to get together today and talk
about that. Seth says everything will be all right now.”
“Is he going to take over like Zacharia now?”
“No, Miriam. Seth is an engineer and is about as far away from Zacharia
as you can imagine.”
“He drives trains?” asked Sarah.
Rachel laughed lightly and answered, “No. Well, he can, but he actually
designs and builds things, even a special train that he drove to get here so
quickly. If he hadn’t had that train, he calls it the Comet, by the way, it
would have taken him two more days to get here. But as soon as he got
Abel’s telegram, he raced out of Michigan where we were born, and flew
across the country. He got to Medicine Bow and rode right up here.”
“It sounds like you want to marry him, Rachel,” Miriam said.
 “I should be so lucky. He told me that Myra had ruined him for other
women and said he still loved her.”
“Myra? But she’s married to his brother!” Sarah exclaimed.
“Yes, and he’s very happy for them both. Now, are you both ready to go
outside? The two bodies are still on the ground, so if you’d rather stay in
the house for a while, I’d understand.”
“I’ll go outside, Rachel,” said Sarah.
“Me, too,” agreed Miriam.
Rachel smiled at them both then stood and took their hands.
_____
After the initial two minutes of excitement, Abel and Myra finally
walked out of the barn with their daughters and son in tow as they both
smiled at Seth.
“You’ve changed,” Abel said as he hugged his younger brother and then
stepped back.
“I’m older,” he replied then smiled at Myra and said, “but Myra is still as
pretty as ever. How are you, Myra?”
“A lot better now that you’re here, Seth. How on earth did you ever get
here so quickly? We thought that at the earliest, even if you received the
telegram, it would be a week at least.”
“I have my own train that I’m trying out and we made the run from
Michigan to Medicine Bow in thirty-four hours, averaging just about forty-
six miles per hour. We hit speeds of over eighty miles per hour in some
spots.”
“You have your own train?” asked Abel with raised eyebrows.
“I’ll explain it later, but I do have to tell you that our parents both died of
food poisoning four years ago.”
Abel didn’t pretend to be saddened by the loss, especially their father’s.
 “Then you’re the owner and president of Michigan Mining and
Smelting,” Abel said quietly.
“I need to talk to you about that while we all discuss the future of
Haven’s occupants. But first, we need to clean up the mess I left on your
front yard over there and I have to go and get my packhorse. I left him
about a mile out of town with his arsenal that obviously isn’t necessary.”
Myra then caught motion behind Seth’s left shoulder and asked, “Is that
Rachel?”
Seth quickly turned, broke into a wide smile, and replied, “Yes, Myra,
that most certainly is Rachel. She is an extraordinary young woman, and
she’s the reason we were able to stop those two without any innocents being
hurt.”
“Rachel is very special, Seth, and I’m glad that you noticed. Now let’s
start setting things right.”
_____
The first thing that had to happen was that the two bodies had to be
removed and buried. Seth let Abel and John Billups handle that while he
rode off to retrieve Jelly, which didn’t take long.
As he reentered Haven, he spotted Abel and John Billups at work
digging a grave and Myra and Rachel talking with all the women and
youngsters in a big circle near the Miller house.
He walked Rowdy close to the pow-wow and stepped down as the entire
group turned and smiled at him. He dismounted, smiled back, then walked
to Jelly, opened a pannier, and pulled out a large sack. He then wound his
way through the sitting children, teenagers, and women and joined Myra
and Rachel in the center.
He then turned to his anxious audience and said, “Now when I arrived in
Medicine Bow, I read a letter that my brother had left for me. He wrote that
there were a lot of children in Haven, so I asked myself, what could I do to
make all of those young people like me? Well, I have to tell you that it
didn’t take long for me to come up with the answer.”
 He then opened the large bag and pulled out a smaller, but still heavy
bag, and handed it to Myra.
“Mrs. Egan, if you would be so gracious as to be the purveyor of the
bribery?”
Myra glanced into the open bag, broke into a wide smile, and replied, “I
haven’t had any in more than ten years, Seth. Do you think it would be
alright if I took the first one myself?”
“I’m sure that you’ve earned it, Myra,” he said as Myra reached inside,
took out a peppermint disk, and popped it into her mouth before offering the
open bag to Rachel, who took a lemon drop.
Seth hadn’t realized that most of the children had no idea what was in
the bag as only the teenagers and older had ever tasted candy, so he watched
as each child tentatively selected a sweet and placed it on his or her tongue
and then broke into a wide smile. Soon, the entire group was chattering like
a group of squirrels under an acorn-dropping oak tree.
As Myra made her way through the gathering of youngsters, Seth said to
Rachel, “I have four more bags inside and I’m not sure that it will be
enough.”
She asked, “Could I try something different?”
Seth smiled at Rachel, picked out another bag, and just handed it to her
to let her choose her own.
As she rummaged, Seth said, “I’m going to go over and help Abel,” then
turned, stepped through the happy crowd and then took Rowdy’s reins, led
the two horses to the barn, and let them drink at the trough before tying
them off and walking to the half-finished hole.
When he was close, he removed his gunbelt and Stetson, then said, “I’ll
take over for a while. Why don’t you both go and get water? I left some
penny candy with Rachel and Myra, so you should go and get some while
there’s some left.”
John Billups crawled out of the three-foot-deep hole and handed the
spade to Seth, saying, “Thanks, Seth, and thanks a lot more for showing up
when you did. We were really in trouble.”
“You’re welcome, John,” he said as he took the spade and hopped down
into the hole with Abel.
Abel stopped digging and asked, “So, Seth, are you married? Do I have
any nieces or nephews?”
Seth laughed as he jammed the shovel into the ground and replied,
“Nope. Sorry.”
They managed another three scoops each before Abel asked, “How’s
Mimi?”
“She’s better than ever, Abel. I fired all the deadwood and replaced them
with men who knew the job and were willing to work. I made some
modernizations and our production is up over twenty-five percent since our
father died.”
“Wow! You’re doing even better than I could. That’s kind of funny, don’t
you think? You never wanted the company, and here you are stuck with it.”
Seth tossed a shovelful of dirt out of the hole and said, “Abel, I still
don’t want the company. You’d do me a real favor if you came back with
Myra and the children and moved into the big house and took over Mimi.”
Abel stopped shoveling, leaned on the handle, and said, “Are you
serious, Seth? It’s your inheritance now. I gave that up to be with Myra and
don’t regret it for a moment.”
“I’m serious, Abel. Now I’m not saying I’ll give it all up. I’ll still be in
charge of engineering and development and I’ll want a good salary, too. I’ll
expect to be allowed to do my goofy engineering things, too.”
Abel continued to stare at his younger brother and finally said, “If that’s
what you really want, Seth, I’m sure that Myra and the children won’t
mind.”
Seth smiled broadly then shook Abel’s hand, saying, “It’s a deal, Abel.
When this is all done, we’ll head back to Michigan and do all the
paperwork.”
 Abel smiled at Seth, resumed shoveling, and said, “This has to be the
weirdest burial in the history of mankind.”
Seth then asked, “Abel, what about the others? Will any of them want to
stay here? It’ll be almost impossible to maintain Haven with those who are
living here now.”
“I don’t believe any will want to stay. The only thing that is keeping
them here now is that comet. Some still believe that it might mean the end
of the world except for Haven, and a lot of the rest might not want to risk
leaving until the comet disappears.”
“That’s what Rachel said. We’ll have to have a meeting, so I can explain
all about comets and see if I can change their minds. Then there’s another
problem that might arise. They’ve lived here for ten years now and this is
their home. Most of the youngsters know nothing else and they might have
a problem with returning to the outside world.”
“I know. Myra talks about that all the time, about how we’re cut off from
everywhere else except for what Zacharia wanted us to know. Ten years is a
long time, Seth.”
“We’ll come up with something, Abel. I’m just glad to have my brother
back.”
Abel grinned at Seth then jammed the spade’s tip into the ground and
said, “Not nearly as glad as I am to have mine.”
_____
As they dug, the women began filtering with their charges back into their
own houses to get clean and make some normal food.
Rachel, Sarah, Myra, and her three children entered the Egan house and
Myra started the cookstove as the children went to their bedroom to enjoy
the extra piece of candy each had been given from the large bag that Rachel
still had with her. Lydia stayed with Myra rather than returning alone to her
own house feeling both the loss of her husband and the shameful use those
two had made of the house after they’d moved in.
 Rachel placed her bag of candy on the table beside Myra’s as Sarah
selected a cherry drop and popped it into her mouth.
As Myra was filling the coffeepot, Sarah candy-mouth mumbled, “Myra,
did Rachel show you her guns?”
Myra turned back to face the table and asked, “Guns?”
Rachel smiled then stood and spread her shirt out wide, exposing the
twin belted Colts and their corded lines.
“Why do I see Seth’s hand in this?” she asked with a grin.
“He designed it to be hidden, so I could walk into Haven and look
unarmed and get a gun to Abel. The one that faces forward is mine. You
can’t even tell I’m carrying one gun, much less two.”
“Can you use those things?” Myra asked.
“Not as well as I should. I missed Charlie Hotchkiss when I fired and if I
hadn’t dropped and Seth hadn’t fired, I might not be here.”
“
You fired a pistol at Charlie Hotchkiss?
” Myra asked, startled at the
thought.
“I’m just angry that I missed. He and Bill were firing at Seth.”
Myra looked closer at the gunbelts and cords and then asked, “Isn’t that
uncomfortable, Rachel?”
“No, not at all. I even feel safer wearing them.”
“Um, did Seth put them on for you?” she asked.
“No, why are you asking?”
“Well, it’s just that, well, never mind. Are you going to keep wearing
them?”
“Until we figure out what we’re going to do next. Do you have any idea
what happens now, Myra?”
 “I know I want to get the hell out of Haven, but I don’t know where
we’ll go or what Abel will be able to do, but I think that Seth will have
some answers.”
“He seems to have answers to everything, Myra,” Rachel said as she
buttoned her shirt.
“You seem to be quite impressed with my brother-in-law,” Myra said
with a slight smile.
“He’s an extraordinary man.”
Myra laughed softly before saying, “Did you know that he used that
same adjective to describe you? He seems to be quite impressed with you.”
“I don’t know how he could be. He knows so much and I’m so ignorant.
He graduated from college and I didn’t even finish my third year in primary
school. I wear homespun clothes and don’t have any idea how to function in
the world. I’d be nothing but an embarrassment to him.”
“I believe you should let Seth decide how much of an embarrassment
you’d be, Rachel.”
_____
The two bodies were under the ground, and Seth and Abel had just
finished tossing the last of the dirt on top.
It was a cool day, but the brothers were soaked in sweat as they walked
side-by-side back to the barn with their shovels. Seth had his gunbelt
hanging over his shoulder rather than around his waist.
“Can you shoot that thing?” Abel asked.
“Sure, but I’m better with my Winchester. It’s a musket with a thirty-
inch barrel and shoots a fifty-caliber cartridge. I’ve gotten good results at
four-hundred yards.”
“You’ll have to show me sometime.”
“I have a whole bunch of Winchesters with me, but they’re kind of
unnecessary now. They’re all ‘73s chambered for the standard .44 and I
brought a ton of ammunition too. I guess I’ll be bringing them back with
me.”
“You know Seth, while we decide what we’re all going to do, maybe we
should arm the adults and get them feeling less vulnerable. I know that the
danger is over, but after what they’ve just been through, maybe giving the
adults and the teenagers guns wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
“How many can shoot?”
“Most over twelve can shoot, or at least know how to handle a gun, but
ammunition has been so precious that we haven’t had much practice.”
“If they learn as quickly as Rachel did, then I’ll really be impressed.”
“Rachel shot a gun?”
“A Colt and a Winchester and did well with both. She’s wearing two
Colts right now. She was supposed to give you one if she saw you first and
keep the second for protecting herself and the others.”
“She had two pistols? Where? I didn’t see them at all.”
“When you see her in a little while, ask her to show you, but don’t
stare.”
“Why not?”
“Because Myra wouldn’t be pleased. Rachel is wearing two gunbelts,
almost like thin bandoleros with the two holsters strapped with cords
around her chest and waist to keep them tight under her shirt. She has two
other heavy shirts underneath, but the effect of the cords and the straps is,
well…just don’t stare.”
“Now I’m going to have to see those pistols.”
“Just remember that Myra will be right there.”
They entered the barn, set the spades in with the other returned tools,
then washed using fresh water from the pump near the trough.
 After cleaning up, Seth and Abel began unloading Jelly and Abel
whistled when he saw the large cache of repeaters, shotguns, the two
pistols, and then the boxes of ammunition.
“I said to bring guns, not the Winchester factory,” he said as he slid one
of the new ‘73s from the pannier.
“Keep that one. I know which one belongs to Rachel. The two gunbelts
that she’s wearing are pretty useless if they’re worn around the waist so that
only leaves two new gunbelts plus the two that those two used. It should be
plenty and I’m not sure Rachel will want to give away her Colts, either.”
After lowering the last pannier to the ground, Seth asked, “Why did Bill
Smith and Charlie Hotchkiss do this, Abel? I remember those two vaguely
back in Marquette, and I don’t recall that they were all that bad.”
Abel was leaning against a support beam and replied, “Over time, I think
that they were getting more disillusioned with Zacharia and the lack of
luxuries like coffee. They probably would have gone with the young men
when they made that mass exodus a couple of years ago, but I think that
inspired them to bide their time and see what developed. They were
shocked to find that Zacharia only had a little more than forty dollars in the
community’s bank. Haven doesn’t have long to live, Seth.”
“I brought a thousand dollars with me, Abel. I gave two hundred to Gus
and Joe to keep them in Laramie until I wire them to come and pick me up,
so money isn’t a problem.”
“We’re going to have to decide quickly, Seth. The weather is changing,
and it hasn’t been that cold, although it was cold enough to kill Zacharia.”
“I meant to ask about that. Rachel didn’t know how he died.”
“When John Billups and I buried him, we didn’t find a mark on him, so
he wasn’t shot or stabbed or even hit on the head. He was lying on his
stomach, and when we turned him over, he still had a smile on his face.”
“Maybe he got to see heaven before he left this earth, Abel.”
“Do you think he went to heaven, Seth? He was going to kill us all.”
 “But he didn’t. Who am I to say who is going to heaven or not? But I’ll
guarantee that those two bastards that we just put into the ground are going
to hell.”
“Amen to that,” Abel agreed as Seth picked up one pannier and slung the
straps over his shoulder.
“What’s in there?” he asked after glancing at the pannier as they began
to walk toward the house.
“Oh, some things I had packed for Myra and my nieces and nephew,” he
replied with a grin.
Abel just grinned back as he walked beside his brother with his new
Winchester in his hand.
_____
They entered through the only door and found everyone sitting in the
main room, filling the three chairs and much of the floor.
Abel entered first, and Seth had to turn sideways to make it through the
narrow entrance before turning back straight and setting the heavy pannier
down on the floor.
“My brother said that he brought some things for the family, so I’ll let
him take over,” Abel said as he walked past Seth and sat on the floor next to
Myra who was in one of the chairs.
“Okay,” Seth began, “First, I’d like to apologize if any of this is wrong. I
had to get ready to leave Michigan right away and shopped very quickly.”
“First, for my only nephew, Sir John Egan, I have this,” he said as he
handed his four-year-old nephew a wrapped package.
John’s eyes were wide open as his small hands took the brightly wrapped
package and didn’t even know he had to open it, believing that the package
itself was too beautiful to contain anything that could be any better.
“You have to open it, John,” Myra said with a smile.
“Open it?” How do I open it?” he asked with a scrunched face.
 Seth reached down and ripped open part of the paper and John glanced
up at his uncle, then his small hands tore apart the rest and pulled out a
small toy horse with a silver knight on its saddle. He simply stared at the
toy for a minute before slowly looking up at his uncle and saying, “Thank
you, Uncle Seth,” then returning his eyes to gaze at the incredible gift.
Seth pulled out two more presents and handed one to Mary and a second
to Ruth, who quickly followed John’s example and ripped off the decorative
paper. Both girls squealed when they saw small hairbrush and mirror sets.
After looking at themselves in their mirrors for the first time in their lives,
they began to brush their hair, forgetting to thank their uncle, as if he cared.
He then turned to his sister-in-law and said, “Now Myra, I brought you
two gifts. One is a practical gift that I thought would be useful for any
mother, and I assumed you and Abel had children.”
He handed Myra a large bundle as she smiled at him and then opened it
more gently than her children had. When she pulled back the paper, she
found herself looking at a black leather case and then turned her eyes
questioningly back to Seth.
“It’s what they call a home medical kit. It has everything you would need
to take care of sick or hurt children. It has a thermometer, tweezers, small
scissors, and bottles of all sorts of lotions and salves. There are bandages
and even some thread and a suture needle if you have to sew up a wound.”
Myra looked at the leather case and said, “This could have saved lives if
we’d had something like it over the years.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t know where you lived, or I would have done a lot
more.”
“Did our father destroy the letters I sent you?” asked Abel.
“He must have because I never saw one. I even asked him about it and
all it did was send him into an apocalyptic fit.”
“I figured as much when I never received any responses. Where were
you, anyway?”
 “I was in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan most of the time after
you left.”
As Abel nodded, Seth reached into the pannier and produced a second
gift for Myra.
“This is the real Myra gift,” he said as he gave her the six-inch-square-
wrapped box.
Myra took it in her hands and carefully unwrapped the paper and found a
maple box. When she opened the box, she saw a round glass orb and again,
looked back at Seth for guidance.
“Take it out of the box.”
Myra slid her fingers around the glass globe and pulled it from its felt-
covered home. Inside was a small house with model trees on either side.
“Now shake it,” Seth said.
She did, and everyone was amazed when snow began to swirl inside the
glass globe.
“I found that when I was in Ann Arbor two years ago and I knew that it
was made for you, Myra.”
“Thank you, Seth. This is incredibly beautiful.”
“And I didn’t forget my mother-in-law, either,” Seth said as he took out
another gift and gave it to Lydia.
Seth assumed correctly that after ten years away from civilization that
certain items would have been long gone from the settlement, so Lydia
found herself with a box of scented soaps and shampoos, which almost
brought her to tears.
“Thank you, Seth. This was very thoughtful.”
Then he turned to Abel and said, “Now big brother, you don’t think I’d
forget about you, do you?”
Abel smiled and said, “I don’t need anything, Seth.”
 “Sure, you do. I thought really hard about this one and I think I found the
perfect gift.”
He took out the package and handed it to Abel who looked at his brother
curiously because it was so light. He had been expecting something with
more heft and steel under the wrapping.
Everyone watched as Abel opened his package and pulled out a delicate
nightdress.
He turned to Seth and asked, “You expect me to wear this?”
“No, Abel, I expect you to give it to your wife, so she can wear it.
Hence, the perfect gift.”
The adults all laughed as Abel handed his gift to Myra who actually
blushed when she accepted it, then quickly folded it and put it with her
home medical box.
After the laughter subsided, Seth turned to Abel and said, “Abel, I think
we need to get everyone fed and then have a meeting about what to do.
You’re in charge now.”
Abel nodded then looked at Myra and said, “Seth and I will go and talk
to everyone and arrange for a meeting in the barn in an hour.”
“Okay. Are we cooking for everyone? We don’t have enough food in the
house.”
“I think there was enough in Zacharia’s house,” Sarah said.
“Let’s start getting things organized,” Abel said as he stood.
As Seth stood, Myra walked over, her gifts still in her hands, and waved
Seth over to the kitchen area to talk privately.
Seth thought that maybe some subdued tongue-lashing was forthcoming
because of Abel’s gift, but thought it was worth it.
Instead, once they were close, Myra asked, “How did you know we had
two girls and one boy? You must have bought these things in Michigan
before you left.”
 “I didn’t know. I did some quick math and figured out that at most, you
had three children and maybe a fourth that would either be too young or not
arrived yet. So, I bought three gifts for girls and three for boys. I have the
other brush and mirror set and a pocket knife and a toy pistol in the pannier.
I gave the toy horse to John because it seemed to be right for his age.”
“Well, that solves that mystery. But what are you going to do with the
rest?”
“I’m leaving them with you to distribute.”
“Rachel could really use the hairbrush.”
“I wish I’d known about Rachel. I’d have brought a lot more.”
Myra then quietly asked, “Seth, what do you think of Rachel? I mean, I
know you told me that she was an extraordinary young woman, and I agree
with you, but she believes that she would be an embarrassment to you
because of her appearance and lack of education.”
Seth’s eyebrows peaked as he replied, “Myra, I’ve only used that
adjective once before to describe a woman, and I’m talking to her right
now. Rachel has a quick, inquisitive mind and a wonderful sense of humor,
and I won’t bother mentioning her attractiveness.”
Then he paused and said, “You know I realize that I’m seven years older
than she is, and she was only nine or ten when she left Michigan, but I’m
still surprised that I don’t remember seeing her at all. Those gray eyes of
hers almost knocked me off my feet the first time she looked at me. She
must have been in Marquette Primary School while we were there.”
“No, she wasn’t. Her first year was the year you went to high school.
You were a year ahead of me by then, remember?”
“Okay, but why don’t I recall her from church or other places. Marquette
isn’t that big of a town.”
“I don’t know. You can always ask her later, assuming that you’ll still be
spending time with her. And you will, won’t you?”
 “I hope so, but first we need to figure out what we need to do over the
next couple of days. Can you guess how many will want to stay here and
how many will want to leave?”
Myra had already come up with an estimate and replied, “I think that the
Billups might stay because other than me and Abel, they’re the only couple
left. I’m pretty sure all the others will want to leave. But you need to
understand that many of them still are afraid of what will happen when the
comet strikes the sun. They need to be convinced that nothing will happen
if they depart Haven.”
“That’s what Abel said, so I’ll try to clarify that at the meeting. Thanks,
Myra. I thought you were going to smack me in the head for my gift to
Abel.”
Myra smiled and replied, “I was going to kiss you, but I didn’t want to
make Rachel jealous.”
Seth smiled back and said, “She’s got no cause, Myra,” then turned and
walked over to an impatient Abel.
Ten minutes later, Seth and Abel had finished their visits and told
everyone in Haven about the meeting in the barn in an hour where food
would be provided, while Myra, Sarah, Rachel, Lydia, and the three other
adult women began cooking food in Zacharia’s house.
While the food was being prepared, Seth, Abel, and John Billups sorted
out weapons and set aside other supplies that Seth had brought with him.
They checked the condition of the last three functional wagons on Haven as
well as the condition of the horses and oxen.
Seth wasn’t surprised when he found the horses unshod and the wagons
in serious need of grease. When the group had departed Michigan ten years
ago, they had all of the skills that they’d need to set up a community, but
the blacksmith and his family had been one of the first to leave and had
been followed by the wheelwright and carpenter, leaving them in bad shape.
“Abel, did Zacharia and the others know how close Haven was to
failure?” Seth asked as he examined one of the wagon wheels.
 “I think so, but he didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself. I didn’t
know how we’d get through the winter, either.”
“Let’s hope that no one wants to stay.”
John Billups then said, “I had hoped to stay in case my boy came back.
He was one of the six that left two years ago. He was a good boy, but Joe
Cox and Charlie Lemmon talked him into leaving but I guess there’s no
chance of his returning anymore now. I just wish I could know where he
and the others went and if he’s still okay.”
_____
Johnny Billups, along with Joe Cox and Charlie Lemmon were riding
north with the other members of Whitey Shultz’s gang and were just twenty
miles south of Medicine Bow and grateful to be out of the really bad
weather. It was too late to ride to Medicine Bow, but they were able to find
an excellent campsite with good water and windbreaks on the north and
west.
_____
In Laramie, Joe Barker and Gus Elliott were getting antsy. The Comet
was in great running condition and not hearing from Seth was making them
nervous, even though he had told them that it would be at least four days.
They had already attached the passenger car behind the stock car, so they
could get the Comet rolling west whenever they were ready.
They were at Willie’s Eats having dinner when Gus said, “Say, Joe, what
say we take the Comet out for a test run tomorrow. Seth always says it’s
better to keep it on the tracks rather than sitting in a railyard.”
Joe grinned and replied, “That’s a great idea. I think maybe a nice run to
Medicine Bow would be a good test.”
Gus nodded and said, “I’ll check with Union Pacific and see when we
can get it done and use that siding for a while. I was kinda surprised that
they needed it at all.”
Joe kept his grin and then shoved a big bite of beef stew into his mouth.
 An hour later, Gus walked into the Union Pacific office in Laramie and
got permission for an early morning run to Medicine Bow, but he had to be
on the siding in Medicine Bow by eight-thirty, so Gus didn’t see a problem.
_____
The barn was brightly lit, but still chilly as the entire community of
Haven’s residents crowded around eating.
Seth and Abel had already eaten and come up with a plan for the
remaining members of the community, so they stood in the front near the
closed doors and soon had everyone’s attention as Abel knocked loudly on
the barn door with a hammer.
“Good evening, everyone. I’ve called this meeting because of the
momentous changes that have happened to Haven in the past week. With
the loss of Zacharia, and then the attempted takeover of Haven by Charlie
Hotchkiss and Bill Smith, you’ve all undergone a lot of confusion and
strain. My brother, Seth, whom most of you have either known or just met,
arrived in time to stop those two from doing worse, but now we all need to
decide what to do next.
“Haven is dying. We have no blacksmith, no carpenters, and our
population is dwindling. We only have two adult men in the community
now, me and John Billups. I believe we need to leave soon before the winter
arrives because I don’t think Haven will survive the winter.”
Miriam’s mother, Julia Carson, asked, “But what about the comet? When
it strikes the sun in a few days, we’ll all be consumed like the others.”
Abel glanced at Seth who answered, “For those that don’t know my
background, I went to the University of Michigan to study engineering. I
also took classes in astronomy, which is the study of the stars and planets.
I’ll tell you exactly what will happen. Comets aren’t very big celestial
bodies. They’re actually much smaller than the moon, and probably not
larger than a locomotive, it’s just that long tail of theirs that makes them
seem larger. We don’t know what they’re made of, but we do know that
almost all of them just go around the sun and then come back around the
other side. Some have hit the sun and we’re all still here.”
 “Are you saying that Zacharia’s revelation was wrong?” asked Mary
Miller.
“I don’t pretend to understand what Zacharia heard or didn’t hear, but
I’m absolutely sure that the comet can’t cause the sun to explode,” he
answered, then saw a mouse scamper across the floor, quickly pointed and
said, “See that mouse? What if I were to make a snowball and throw it at
him and hit him right in the nose? What would happen?”
Jimmy Miller, Mary’s nine-year-old son laughed and shouted, “He’d be a
dead little mouse!”
“Probably,” Seth said, “But what if you were to take that same snowball
and throw it at a big old bull. What would happen?”
Willie Jacobs replied, “He’d be madder than all get out.”
“More than likely, but he might not even pay attention. Now imagine a
bull the size of a barn and you might have an idea how big the sun is. You
throw a snowball at a beast that size, he wouldn’t even notice it. A comet
hitting the sun would be like that snowball hitting the barn, but because the
sun is so hot, the snowball would be melted before it even got close
anyway.”
“So, you’re really sure we’ll be safe?” Mary Miller asked.
“I’m absolutely sure. You’ll be a lot safer away from Haven than here,
and every day that we spend here debating the idea, it’s more likely that
we’ll get snowed in.”
“How could we move the entire village?” asked John Billups.
“We don’t,” replied Abel, “We only have three wagons, and we’ll need
those to transport everyone, which means it will take us at least two days to
get to Medicine Bow providing the weather holds. We’ll need to bring
blankets and food for the trip, but little else.”
“Won’t it be dangerous?” asked Julia Carson.
“Seth brought a lot of guns and ammunition. Tomorrow, we’ll be doing
some practicing with them for those who would like to try, so we’ll be well
protected.”
“What happens after we arrive at Medicine Bow?” asked John Billups.
Abel stayed silent, so Seth replied, “In addition to being an engineer, I’m
also the owner and president of Michigan Mining and Smelting. When we
return to Michigan, I’m going to turn over the company to Abel. We’ve
already discussed what would work the best because you’ve been here for
so long.
What we decided to do is buy a farm near Marquette, build some houses
on the land and let anyone who wishes to live there move into a house.
We’ll provide a school for the children, too. I can’t imagine how difficult
it’s been for all of you, especially the past few years, but life will be much
better there. And…”, Seth paused before saying, “there will be plenty of
coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for the children.”
That liquid promise brought laughter from anyone over thirteen and
confusion to the youngsters who didn’t know what chocolate was.
“How would we get there?” asked Mary Miller.
Seth answered, “I have a train waiting for me in Laramie, and we’d be
back in Michigan three or four days after we arrive in Medicine Bow.”
With no more immediate questions and general chatting beginning
among the families, Seth glanced at Abel and shrugged. Both had
anticipated more discussion and doubt about the pending doom of Haven or
at the very least more questions about the return to Michigan.
Rachel had finished eating quickly and had spent the entire meeting
watching Seth. He was very aware of her intense attention but had to avoid
looking at those gray eyes or he wouldn’t have been able to answer
questions.
With the private discussions going on, he was finally able to make eye
contact, and after a few disoriented seconds, walked over to where she was
sitting on an upturned bucket and sat on his heels nearby.
“I think you convinced everyone that they’re not going to die from
heavenly fire, Seth,” she said quietly.
 “I don’t think it took much convincing. How about you, Rachel? What
are your plans?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been living with Myra and Abel for two years now
and I just don’t know what I’ll do if we go to Michigan. I can’t remember it
very well at all.”
“It’s a lot like it is here, only without so many tall mountains or rocks.
We have more trees though, and we have the Great Lakes nearby. Do you
remember them? They look like oceans.”
“Oh, yes, I remember the lakes.”
“Rachel,” he asked, “I was asking Myra why I didn’t remember you at
all when you were in Marquette. I know that I was in high school when you
started primary school, but I still should remember seeing you.”
“Why would you remember seeing a skinny little girl when you were a
teenager?”
“I’d remember those gray eyes of yours even if you were four.”
Rachel smiled before she replied, “I’d guess it was because I spent all
my time on the farm until I had to go to school. My parents didn’t believe
children should go to church until they were well-enough behaved to be
quiet during the service and I guess I was a problem child.”
“I suppose, but I’m still surprised that I never even saw you.”
“Why is that important?”
“It’s not, really. It’s just that I wondered how I could have possibly
missed noticing you at all.”
There were thirty seconds of silence before Rachel said, “Seth, I have to
confess that I’m afraid. It sounds so strange because when I ran away from
Haven with no idea where I was going or what I would do, I wasn’t afraid
at all. Now that I’m safe and will be leaving with everyone else, I’m scared.
Does that make any sense at all?”
 “It really does. When you ran, you were being driven away by the
knowledge of what was going to happen soon if you stayed. Whatever was
in front of you had to be better than what awaited you in that house. Now
there is no danger here, and the unknown future is more frightening. I’ll bet
that you aren’t feeling any different from most of the others who grew up
here. Some of those youngsters have known nothing other than Haven at
all. At least you have some memories of the outside world. All I can tell
you is that things will be better, Rachel. I’ll make sure of that.”
She smiled slightly and nodded, still disconcerted about her future.
Before the meeting ended, everyone agreed to meet in the barn in the
morning to begin taking the first steps to leave Haven and return to
Medicine Bow.
As the doors were swung wide, the cold night air rushed in and as lamps
were extinguished, the comet hanging overhead became brighter. By the
time they left the barn, the comet was bright enough to cast their shadows
across the ground, but all the eyes that looked up at it saw it differently than
they had before.
Seth stayed in Zacharia’s house that night and as he slipped under the
quilts, he wondered why Rachel seemed so unsure of her future. If anyone
other than Abel and Myra should look forward to what happened after
Haven, it should have been Rachel.
Rachel was in her bed in Abel’s house and worrying. When she had been
alone with Seth, it had been like magic. She had learned so much in such a
small amount of time, and Myra had even told her that Seth thought she was
extraordinary, but deep down, she knew that she wasn’t.
Once they were back among the others, Seth had spent almost all his
time with Abel and John Billups, which she understood, but with that
separation, she watched as he had taken control. He may have told Abel that
he was in charge, but everyone knew it was Seth who had all the answers.
The more Seth answered questions and provided guidance and
confidence to the residents of Haven, the more she felt inadequate. Maybe
things would be different if they could be alone together on Rowdy again.
Just maybe.
 CHAPTER 5
Gus and Joe had the Comet on the tracks out of Laramie before six
o’clock the next morning and Gus had the throttles wide open as it blasted
over the rails at a breakneck speed. The only reason for the display was
because he felt like it. After sitting still for three days, he wanted to feel the
power of the locomotive under his feet and see the Wyoming landscape
blurring past.
Joe was frantically shoveling coal into the dragon-flame-breathing
firebox to keep the pressure in the boiler at the top peg. Both wanted to see
just how quickly they could make the hundred-mile run. It was a guy thing.
_____
Twenty miles south of Medicine Bow, Whitey Shultz, Billy Cross, Hank
Olsen, and the three ex-Haven boys, Joe Cox, Charlie Lemmon, and Johnny
Billups were saddling their horses.
Whitey had originally planned on bypassing Medicine Bow, despite
Joe’s assurance that there was no law in town, but the need for supplies and
more ammunition changed his mind. He still understood that six men riding
into town together would stick out and might result in telegrams being sent
to the nearest law.
He decided that he and Hank Olsen would go into town, buy some
supplies, including more ammunition, and maybe even a packhorse and
saddle before they headed north. After listening to the three from Haven, he
was convinced that there would be no whiskey or other ‘sinful’ items to be
found in the settlement, and if they were going to spend all winter there,
they’d bring some of their own.
By the time Gus and Joe had the Comet just thirty miles out of Medicine
Bow, they were setting off north for the two-hour ride into town.
_____
 At the big morning meeting, Abel assigned different jobs to the adults
and bigger children, but first, he and Seth gave the four remaining
Winchesters to John Billups, Myra, Lydia, and Julia Carson. The four
shotguns were given to John’s wife, Hortense, the widows Anna Lemmon
and Winnie Cox, and twelve-year-old Ed Miller.
Seth had examined all of Haven’s weapons and found them all to be
marginal at best, if not dangerous, judging by the amount of corrosion in
their barrels. He was surprised that they had been able to fire at all, much
less come close to hitting anything, so he recommended that they be
abandoned.
Abel, at Myra’s suggestion, assigned Seth and Rachel to prepare the
wagons for the trip, so after everyone else had scattered to handle their
assignments, they found themselves alone in the barn.
Seth had noticed earlier that Rachel was still wearing Zacharia’s britches
and shirts, which surprised him.
Once they were alone, he asked, “Rachel, why are you still wearing the
shirts and britches? I would have thought that you’d have ditched those
things as soon as you could.”
Rachel replied, “I have two dresses and didn’t want to ruin them with the
dirty work we’d be doing.”
“But you didn’t know what we’d have to do when you were getting
dressed.”
“Abel told me that you and I would be greasing the wagon wheels, so I
dressed accordingly.”
“Oh. Speaking of that, I noticed that there isn’t any axle grease, just a
bucket of lard. Is that what you’ve been using to grease the axles?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, there’s not enough in that one bucket for all three wagons. We’ll
need more lubricant. It’s only going to be a one-way trip, and all I can think
of that we could use is butter. Do you know where we can get some?”
 Rachel nodded and replied, “Plenty. I’ll go get it while you start
removing wheels.”
“Sure, give me the hard job, woman,” Seth commented as he bent down
to retrieve the jack.
“You seem to like doing them,” she said as she walked away.
Seth watched her leave and wondered if she had given him the real
reason for her choice in wardrobe. She either left the pistols in the house or
was wearing them because she hadn’t given them back to him. He would
have asked her if she wanted to keep them anyway, but he was still curious.
Curiosity was put aside as he loosened the first wheel and then jacked up
the wagon. He had it off by the time Rachel returned with a large bucket of
butter, not all of it fresh.
“It doesn’t matter how old it is, does it?” she asked as she grabbed a
handful and slathered it around the axle.
“Nope,” Seth replied as he slid the wheel back in place and put the
retaining nut back on before lowering it to the floor.
As he was jacking up the other side, he asked, “Do you have your
pistols, Rachel?”
“Yes. Did you want them back?”
“No, I was just curious. Why are you still wearing them? Aren’t they
uncomfortable?”
“Not at all. You did a great job of engineering and I feel a lot safer
having them with me.”
Seth was releasing the retaining nut when he said, “Just don’t shoot me
and I’ll be happy about it.”
Rachel laughed and replied, “I’ll try not to.”
After the first wagon was done, they moved to the second, and when it
was off the ground, Rachel asked, “When we leave, how are we going to
move everyone?”
 Seth pulled off the wheel and rolled it aside before replying, “Well, Abel
and I figure the children can ride in the wagons under some blankets and
the adults will drive. I’ll be riding Rowdy and Jelly will be trailed behind
one of the wagons carrying as much food as he can in his panniers.”
“Will I be on one of the wagons?”
“That’s the plan. Why did you want to know?”
“Oh, no reason. I was just curious.”
Seth nodded and then added, “We’ll leave in the morning and I’ll be out
front on Rowdy, then after the first day, I’ll leave early, so I can get to
Medicine Bow and get everything ready.”
“Oh.”
Seth slapped some butter onto the axle, returned the wheel to the wagon,
and then after reinstalling the retaining nut, lowered it and began to jack it
up again as Rachel remained silent.
She had hoped that she’d get to ride on the back of Rowdy with Seth, so
they could be alone and close as they had been on the ride into Haven, but
once he had told her that she’d be in one of the wagons, she believed that
now that the problems were pretty much all solved, she had returned to
being just another of the Haven residents.
Seth had very practical reasons for his decision to ride alone, and if she
had asked, she would have understood why she would be in the wagon, but
she didn’t ask, so she was left with her own, erroneous, conclusion.
Seth’s reasons for not having Rachel with him, as much as he wanted to
have her riding behind him, were inspired by his concern that he didn’t
believe their problems were over yet. But not even in his wildest
imagination, could he have foreseen what was coming.
_____
Gus slowed the Comet to a walk and let Joe hop down from the cab then
run to the switch to the siding and throw it over, sending the short train onto
the parking tracks east of Medicine Bow. After the entire train was on the
siding, Joe swung the switch back into its normal position and trotted after
the almost-stopped train.
He reached the cab and climbed aboard to help Gus in shutting down the
locomotive’s powerplant.
“One hour and thirty-three minutes, Gus,” Joe crowed as he held out his
watch for Gus to admire.
“That’s near seventy miles an hour average, Joe!”, Gus shouted as he
spun a valve closed.
“It’s gotta be a record if there was such a thing.”
Gus pulled a locking lever into place and replied, “If there isn’t one yet,
we made one.”
Both men were grinning as they continued the long task of sending the
steam engine to sleep.
After the engine was silent, but still popping as the hot steel plates
cooled, Gus said, “How about some breakfast?”
“Sounds good to me,” replied Joe.
They both bounded from the locomotive’s cab, stopped at the Union
Pacific office to let them know that the track was clear, then walked happily
down the main street of Medicine Bow heading for Mabel’s Diner. It was
already past ten o’clock in the morning.
_____
Forty minutes later, six men sat on their horses just a mile south of town.
Whitey turned in his saddle and said, “You boys swing wide around on
the east and then keep riding north. Me and Hank are gonna head into town
and buy a packhorse and saddle and then load it up on supplies.”
“Why can’t we all go and get some real food, Whitey?” asked Johnny
Billups.
 “’Cause you three are known around these parts and I don’t want folks to
get any notions about notifying the law when they see six of us all together.
We’ll bring you some vittles. Just find a place a couple of miles north of
town along that trail you and Joe told me about.”
“Okay. I sure could use some bacon and eggs,” Johnny replied.
The four who weren’t going into town swung east of Medicine Bow
while Whitey and Hank trotted into town.
As they trotted along, Joe Cox pointed at the Comet and shouted,
“Lookit that thing!”
“If that’s a train, it’s the queerest thing I ever did see!” yelled Charlie
Lemmon as he and the others picked up the pace to go and examine the
unusual contraption sitting on the rails.
Joe and Gus were ambling down the street having left Mabel’s Diner
with full, contented stomachs as Whitey and Hank Olsen were tying their
horses outside the livery to see about buying a packhorse and saddle.
The two pairs of men glanced at each other with no particular intent as
Gus and Joe continued past and Whitey and Hank entered the livery.
Once they were out of hearing, Gus said, “That pair sure looked like
they’d been riding hard and long.”
Joe added, “Didn’t appear to be all that honest, neither.”
“We’d better get back to the Comet.”
“I don’t figure fellers like that would know how to run a locomotive,
Gus.”
“Nope. I figured that, but they sure as might want to get into the boxcar
and make off with some of Seth’s stuff that he’s got in there.”
Joe nodded, and they continued to walk toward the railroad depot at the
end of the street.
As they cleared the train station, they spotted four men stepping down
near their train and picked up their pace. The four men were all packing
sidearms and neither Gus nor Joe had guns with them, so all they could do
was appear friendly.
“Howdy, boys!” Gus shouted as he and Joe began hopping over rails.
Joe Cox turned and grinned at the two men, saying, “Howdy! Is this your
contraption?”
“Yup. She’s called the Comet and she’s an experimental locomotive that
tries to catch all that steam that other steam engines belch everywhere and
send it back to the water tank.”
“Is that what that mess of pipes is for?” asked Charlie Lemmon as he
pointed at the front-mounted radiator.
“That’s part of it. It kinda acts like a moonshine still, but all we get is
plain old water,” replied Gus as they reached the Comet.
“Maybe you oughta start puttin' some mash into your boiler and then
when you finish for the day, you’ve got yourself some first-rate drinkin’
whiskey,” Billy Cross said with a grin.
“I’ll mention that to the boss. You boys railroad men?” asked Joe.
“Nope, just ridin’ through,” replied Billy.
“Bad time of year to be riding through these parts, from what I hear,”
said Gus.
Johnny Billups said, “It’s not too bad yet, but we’ve got a good place to
spend the winter up north about seventy miles.”
Billy Cross shot an elbow into Johnny who realized he shouldn’t have
said anything, but then tried to minimize Johnny’s mistake when he asked,
“You fellers gonna stay in Medicine Bow long?”
“Nah, we’ll be heading back to Michigan tomorrow,” Gus replied,
“We’re making speed runs with the Comet and made it from Laramie this
morning in about an hour and a half. When we left Michigan, there were
some spots we were hitting over eighty miles per hour.”
 Billy figured no damage had been done then grinned and exclaimed,
“Wow! That’s really flyin’! I’ll bet you boys were about to pee your pants!”
Joe said, “Nope. We were too busy shoveling coal and watching the
tracks in case one of those workers didn’t do a good job nailing the rail to
the crosstie. Hit a bad one at those speeds and you’ll never know you were
dead until you were standing in front of Saint Peter asking when the next
train to hell was due to arrive.”
The four outlaws all guffawed at Joe’s comment then Billy said, “Well,
we’ll be headin’ out. You enjoy your trip back to Michigan, boys.”
“We’ve gotta get back before those snows arrive,” Gus said as they all
mounted.
They waved at Gus and Joe as they stepped their horses over the rails
and then once past the mains trotted away bypassing Medicine Bow.
Gus turned to Joe and asked, “Did you get a good description on those
boys?”
“Yup. I figure they’re with those other two, and did you see when one of
them jabbed the talker in the side after he said they were going north for the
winter?”
“Yes, sir. That’s when I started getting really suspicious. We’ll head over
to the general store in a little while and talk to the proprietor and ask if there
is anything north of Medicine Bow except that settlement that Seth was
headed for.”
“What can we do if those six bad boys are going his way, Gus?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see a jail or marshal’s office in town, did you?”
“Nope. If there isn’t one here, where would we find a lawman?”
“The county seat is way over in Rawlins, about sixty miles west of
here.”
“Is that place where Seth is heading still in the county?”
 “I’m not sure. If it’s seventy miles, I don’t think so, but all we can do is
ask.”
After the four riders had disappeared, Joe and Gus began their quick trip
to Wilmot’s Dry Goods, passing the livery where they could hear Whitey
still negotiating the price for the packhorse and saddle.
They reached the mercantile, walked inside, and headed for the counter.
They had to wait while John Wilmot totaled up an order for Jeremiah
Hopper.
After Jeremiah had lugged his order out of the store, Gus stepped up and
said, “Excuse me, but we were here with Seth Egan a few days ago and
wonder if you know if there are any other settlements or towns north of
here.”
“Well, that settlement they call Haven was the only one I know of until
you hit Casper and that’s another twenty miles or so, but it’s smaller than
their settlement and doesn’t have a railroad yet.”
“Where’s the nearest law?”
“That’d be Sheriff Davis in Rawlins. He’s got three deputies, too.”
“Is that settlement in the county?”
“Nope. I figure it’s in Natrona County by a good ten or twenty miles.”
Gus grimaced and turned to Joe, “What do you figure, Joe?”
“I’ve been thinking that if those six boys are on the run, then maybe we
should let Sheriff Davis know that they’re in his county and he might catch
up with ‘em before they make it to the settlement.”
“Good thinking, Joe!” Gus replied loudly.
John Wilmot asked, “Who are you boys talking about?”
Joe looked over at the proprietor and replied, “We had four rough-
looking young fellers looking at our train when we got back from breakfast
and one of ‘em said that they were gonna be spending the winter north of
here. Now if the only place north of here is that settlement, I think they’re
heading up there to hide out.”
John said, “A couple of years ago, there were six of them and two girls
that ran away from that place and stopped here before splitting up. I wonder
if those are the four that didn’t have girls with ‘em.”
“I don’t know but the other two are down in the livery and sound like
they’re trying to buy a packhorse, so they’ll most likely be paying you a
visit.”
“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be sure to be polite. What are you gonna
do?”
“We’ll send a telegram to Sheriff Davis and tell him six men are leaving
Medicine Bow riding north and include their descriptions including the
horses. Maybe he’ll go after ‘em.”
“Good luck.”
Gus and Joe quickly turned and left the store and as they walked east
along the boardwalk, they spotted Whitey Shultz and Hank Olsen leading a
packhorse west.
Ten minutes later, after sending their long telegram to Sheriff Davis, they
returned to the Comet’s living quarters and fired up the heat stove.
_____
Sheriff Matt Davis read the telegram from Medicine Bow and knew it
had to be the six outlaws who had murdered one lawman in Colorado and
almost killed a second. But there were six of them and he only had one
healthy deputy right now as one was sick with the mumps and another was
out on a job.
He tapped a pencil on his desk and began running numbers in his head.
The odds wouldn’t be good, they’d probably be in a different county by the
time he found them, and it was getting cold. He tossed the telegram into his
box and didn’t bother sending a reply, even though it had been marked
urgent and a reply had been requested.
 _____
Rachel hadn’t said another word while they worked on the wagons and
Seth knew he’d either said something wrong or she wanted to ask him
something but was afraid to.
When they finally lowered the last buttered wheel to the ground and had
the harnesses all coated and ready for use, Seth wiped his hands on a rag
and handed it to Rachel.
“Okay, Rachel, what’s bothering you?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she replied, “I was just thinking about leaving.”
“Okay. Let’s head back to the house for some lunch and then we’ll have
the firearms training before we start packing for tomorrow’s journey,” he
said as he pulled on his heavy coat.
Rachel donned her coat then they left the barn and headed for Zacharia’s
house where the other women were cooking.
_____
Whitey Shultz and Hank Olsen led the packhorse out of Medicine Bow
just after noon and caught up with the other four by one o’clock. After
building a fire, they cooked up some bacon and eggs and enjoyed hot food
for the first time since the robbery.
By the time they’d finished, they decided to make camp there rather than
pack everything for just a few hours' ride. Besides, among their other
supplies, were a few bottles of real, honest-to-goodness whiskey.
Billy Cross didn’t mention Johnny Billups’ mistake in talking to those
railroad men because they were leaving soon anyway, and nobody had
trailed them out of Medicine Bow.
_____
After their third trip to the Western Union office to check for a reply to
their request, Gus knew that the sheriff wasn’t going to do anything.
“What do we do, Joe?” he asked as they walked back to the Comet.
 “What the hell can we do? We don’t have any horses and neither one of
us has done much shooting. They’re riding two or three days north and
there aren’t any tracks heading that way.”
“I know and it really gets me riled up. All we can do is wait and hope
that Seth doesn’t run into those fellers.”
Joe nodded but knew that there was little chance that Seth wouldn’t run
afoul of those outlaws, whether it was in Haven or on the way back to
Medicine Bow.
_____
It was almost a carnival atmosphere as anyone older than twelve years
old had taken some shots with a Winchester. Abel and John Billups both
tried their pistols and Lydia, Myra and Sarah had all tried the shotguns.
There was no shortage of targets, as they chose some of the outer walls of
the houses that would no longer be occupied after tomorrow.
Seth had been very busy with all the new shooters, and there had been
two incidents of near tragedy when careless shooters pulled triggers when
they shouldn’t have, but overall, it went well.
It took Seth another two hours to clean and reload all the guns while the
others packed the wagons and the panniers with food for the three-day
journey. They decided not to drive any of the sheep, hogs, or cattle to
Medicine Bow but would roast one of the hogs for a farewell feast that
evening.
Seth hadn’t seen Rachel much even during the target practice, which
surprised him because he thought she might want to demonstrate her
prowess. He’d only caught glimpses of her in the distance, and she’d never
even so much as looked his way. He knew she wasn’t happy with him for
some reason and didn’t seem to want to talk to him at all. If he hadn’t been
so busy, he would have tried to find her and ask what the problem was.
After the weapons were ready and set aside for the trip, it was almost
time for the feast as the sun began to set. Seth left the barn to join the
gathering crowd and finally saw Rachel as she was carrying a pot filled
with baked potatoes out to the yard.
 He trotted in her direction and when he was close, thought about
relieving her of her burden, but decided against it and just slid in next to her
and matched her stride.
“How have you been, Rachel?” he asked.
“Fine. Did the shooting go well?”
“Hortense Billups and Mary Miller almost shot someone, but other than
that, it was okay. Where were you? I was expecting you to help with the
women’s shooting.”
“I was busy,” she replied as she lowered the pot to the ground near some
others.
Seth could sense the indifference in her voice and had no idea what had
happened.
“Oh,” was his short response as she quickly turned to go back to
Zacharia’s house for more food.
He watched her leave and thought that maybe he should ask Myra if she
knew what was going on with Rachel, but couldn’t see her anywhere either,
guessing correctly that she was still in Zacharia’s kitchen.
He spotted Miriam sitting with Sarah and headed that way, taking a seat
on the ground between them.
“So, ladies, are you both ready for tomorrow’s journey?”
They both smiled at him and began chatting about how happy they were
to be leaving. Seth could understand why they were so anxious to leave but
was still surprised at how normally they behaved after what had happened
to them.
As they talked, he began to wonder if what had happened to Sarah and
Miriam wasn’t uncommon in Haven and maybe Rachel had a similar
experience and was ashamed of it. She hadn’t acted as if anything was
wrong on the trail coming to Haven though, so nothing he could think of
made any sense unless the return to Michigan had triggered something.
 He would have asked Sarah about it, but he wasn’t about to discuss what
Bill Smith had done to her.
So, he just listened and answered their questions about the journey,
Michigan, and just about anything else they wanted to know.
Rachel and Myra brought out two trays of bread and biscuits, setting
them down near the potatoes as Abel and John began to carve slices of pork
from the hog. The feast had begun.
_____
Sixty-four miles south, Whitey Shultz and his boys had already been
having their own feast for the past three hours. There had been food, but it
had mostly been a liquid celebration, and the three Haven boys weren’t as
accustomed to the liquor as the older men.
Joe Cox had lasted the longest of the three, and he’d passed out before
sunset. Whitey, Billy Cross, and Hank Olsen had all thought it was
incredibly funny as each of the young men had collapsed to the ground,
leaving the serious drinking to the real men.
By nine o’clock, three full bottles were empty, and the three older men
were in their bedrolls, having left the youngsters where each had fallen.
_____
The feast was winding down early as everyone knew that they’d be
leaving at sunup the next day. Seth never had a chance to talk to either
Rachel or Myra as they had stayed with Abel most of the time. He’d talked
to quite a few of the others as he ate but kept glancing over at Rachel,
hoping at least to make eye contact, but it never happened.
Finally, everyone said their goodnights and Seth headed for Zacharia’s
house still uncertain about what was bothering Rachel.
Rachel, to put it bluntly, was sulking. Once Seth told her that she’d be
riding in the wagon like everyone else, she put herself into the same
category as ‘everyone else’ and slipped into a serious case of feeling sorry
for herself.
 She’d functioned normally but hadn’t talked much all night, and even
though Myra was well aware of her demeanor, wasn’t able to get her to talk
about it, which meant it was serious and almost assuredly involved Seth.
Normally, Myra would have spent time talking to Rachel that night, but
this wasn’t any night. This was the last night they would ever spend in
Haven.
 CHAPTER 6
Haven was alive with activity as the sun popped above the horizon.
Everyone seemed anxious to leave and it showed in the all-out race to pack
the wagons.
Seth already had Jelly’s panniers filled and had him ready to go as the
wagons were being harnessed. The corralled animals were released, the
fires extinguished and the supplies that were going on the wagons were
squeezed into place as the children began to board.
Seth had his ’76 in its scabbard, his Colt on his waist, and his
ammunition in his saddlebags along with the basics he’d need as he rode
out in front of the wagons.
At 6:43 on Thursday, September 14, 1882, three wagons carrying the
entire population of Haven rolled out of the settlement heading south for
Medicine Bow, sixty-nine miles away.
Seth spotted Rachel sitting in the last wagon and for just a moment, they
made eye contact before she hurriedly looked away.
Seth didn’t have time to ride over and talk to her, so he simply trotted
over to the lead wagon and pulled up next to Abel.
“I’ll stay out front about four or five miles. I’ll be able to see the
wagons, so if there is a problem, take a big, white cloth and wave it high in
the air and I’ll come back, but you have enough firepower to at least scare
off any big animals.”
“You know you’re being overly cautious, Seth. There isn’t anyone
between here and Medicine Bow.”
“Abel, it never pays to be too cautious. We’ve got a lot of innocents to
protect.”
 Abel nodded, then Seth smiled at Myra, tipped his hat, wheeled Rowdy
to the south, and trotted away.
As she watched him leave, Myra said, “I wonder if he ever got to talk to
Rachel before he left.”
Abel snapped the reins, starting the wagon rolling before asking,
“Why?”
“I’m pretty sure that he’s the reason that she is so upset.”
“She’s upset?” he asked in surprise.
“Never mind,” Myra replied.
_____
It wasn’t until almost nine o’clock before there was stirring in the outlaw
camp, when Joe Cox moaned, sat up, then quickly grabbed both sides of his
head.
After slowly standing, he unsteadily walked to where the horses were
tethered and emptied his bladder, figuring the horses had all used that
ground anyway.
By the time he returned to the camp and started the fire again, others
began to awaken. Some downed a quick slug of whiskey to alleviate the
throbbing before beginning to function.
More than two hours had passed before they finally were mounted and
riding north again at a slow, less jostling pace.
_____
By the time the six men were moving north, the wagons had already
stopped once for a break before rolling again. Seth had remained out front
and was already beginning to believe that Abel was right, and he was just
being overly cautious. He hadn’t seen anything of any possible danger to
the wagons except for a large brown bear that was trying to toss trout from
a stream and could have cared less about three wagonloads of humans.
 When lunchtime came, he remained out front, and by the time they were
rolling again, he was close to losing sight of the wagons when he realized
he was a good eight or nine miles away. So, he turned Rowdy back north
until he was about half that distance and then just dismounted for a while
and chewed on one of the sausages that he’d given Rachel the first day.
He’d been thinking a lot about Rachel as he’d been riding on his own.
She was only nineteen, and maybe the idea of returning to a real town
where there was more of an opportunity to meet young men her age had
suddenly dawned on her. It was logical, after all. It was only after he told
her that she’d be riding on the wagon that she suddenly acted indifferently
towards him and must have realized that she’d have her pick of younger
men when they returned.
Seth finally decided that Rachel had to make up her own mind about
what she wanted to do when they reached Michigan, as they all did. Right
now, he just had to make sure that they all arrived safely.
After they arrived in Medicine Bow tomorrow, he’d wire Gus and have
the train brought from Laramie with its passenger car. They’d buy some
supplies for the trip, but they’d be able to stop in cities along the way and
get hot food for everyone, so they shouldn’t have to buy much.
Then he thought it might be wiser to give Abel the money he had in his
vest pocket, so he could decide what to buy. Once they were on board the
train, Abel would take over managing the Haven folks while he drove the
Comet.
As his mind began to drift with that thought, he began to feel empty.
Abel would take over, as he should. He and Myra would move into the big
house, as they should. He never wanted the company or the big house,
so
why did he feel empty?
He’d been running the company for four years now
and he was honest enough with himself to admit that he’d done a good job,
but he still didn’t want the job or the house. He couldn’t shake the despair
that had suddenly overtaken him and began to feel a sense of doom, a
premonition that he would never return to Michigan at all.
He glanced up at the comet that was now plainly visible even during the
day and wondered if maybe Zacharia wasn’t right after all.
 Then after another minute, he shook his head and laughed.
Of course,
not!
He knew that the sun wasn’t going to explode. That was just illogical,
if not downright silly. Comets were just comets and were no more
predictors of the future than a chicken’s gizzards.
Yet he still had that sudden foreboding.
When the wagons were closer, Seth remounted Rowdy and trotted south
again, and by late afternoon began searching for a good place to camp for
the night. They’d traveled over twenty-five miles already and would be
almost halfway by the time they pulled over. It was better than he’d
expected. The buttered wheels hadn’t failed and there hadn’t been any other
disasters.
Just before five o’clock, he found a good spot near a large forest with
plenty of water and grass for the critters, so he turned and rode back to tell
Abel about the location, and maybe do something as insurance just in the
off chance that his feeling of dread was for a reason.
As he drew near, he smiled when he heard all the children and some of
the adults singing. He couldn’t make out what the song was, but it was a
sweet sound that filtered through the air over Rowdy’s hoofbeats. He waved
to Abel and Myra on the first wagon and then five minutes later, pulled up
next to them. The singing had stopped when he’d been seen, which was
disappointing.
“There’s a good campsite about two miles ahead to the west,” he said
loudly.
“Okay. We’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
Seth nodded then turned Rowdy back to the other wagons and was going
to ask Rachel if she wanted to ride on Rowdy with him when he noticed she
was wearing a dress, which made the question impractical, so he swung the
gelding back to the south and rode away.
Rachel had seen him glance her way, but then quickly change his mind
and ride back south, so she didn’t place any importance on it. She remained
in her funk and didn’t know how close she had been to having her questions
answered.
 Seth had arrived at the new campsite, dismounted, and had Rowdy
unsaddled and already grazing when the wagons began to arrive. He walked
closer to the lead wagon and waited for Abel to draw it to a stop, pull the
handbrake and step down.
“Good spot, Seth,” he replied as he stretched his back and rubbed his
backside.
“Let’s get everything set up and then I need to talk to you about
tomorrow.”
“You sound serious.”
“Not really, it’s just things we need to do.”
“Okay,” he said as he helped Myra down and the others all began to pile
out of the wagons and unharness the teams.
An hour later, as the campfire burned brightly, food was cooking, and
everyone was chatting, Seth had Abel alone near the bed of the first wagon.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ride ahead and get to Medicine Bow by noon, I hope. I’ll
telegraph Gus in Laramie and have him bring the Comet. The wagons and
the train should arrive around the same time, and that’s when things will
change.”
He pulled the envelope of cash from his pocket and before handing it to
Abel, took out his stubby pencil and began writing on the outside as Abel
watched.
When he finished, Seth handed the envelope to Abel, who asked, “Is this
really necessary?”
“Just insurance, Abel. You would have inherited it anyway if anything
happened to me, but I wanted it in writing to make the transition smoother.”
Abel stared at his younger brother and asked, “Seth, what’s going on?
We’re just a day away from reaching Medicine Bow and you’re acting as if
you’re going to die.”
 Seth laughed and replied, “I know that it’s stupid, but I just had this
feeling that I’d never see Michigan again and it gave me the willies. I know
there’s nothing to it, but I wanted to do this just to make sure. I was going to
give you the cash, anyway.”
Abel slipped the envelope into his jacket pocket and said, “I think you’re
just trying to get out of having to go back on that contraption of yours.”
Seth grinned and replied, “Maybe,” before he pounded Abel in the
shoulder with an open palm.
They left the wagon and walked to the gathering where everyone was
getting ready to eat.
_____
Twenty-four miles south, Whitey Shultz decided that the whiskey would
stay in the packhorse’s pannier until they reached the settlement. They’d
only ridden about twenty miles that day and he knew that they had to do
better.
“We start riding early tomorrow,” he said loudly as he glared at the
others as if he were blameless.
Everyone nodded in agreement as the intense hangovers were still fresh
in their minds.
_____
Seth’s nagging premonition of evil finally drove him to do what he
needed to do earlier; search out Rachel and talk to her about what was
wrong. He had no intention of leaving tomorrow morning and riding south
without knowing what was bothering her.
It didn’t take long to find her. It wasn’t as if he was in St. Louis or even
Marquette. He spotted Rachel in the moonlight sitting on the end of the
third wagon’s bed just staring off into the darkness. She didn’t seem to hear
his approach until he was six feet away and then she turned, saw him, then
quickly turned to look straight ahead.
 Seth made a point of taking a seat on the bed beside her by almost
bouncing onto the worn wood.
“Okay, Rachel, what’s bothering you?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she replied, still staring into the night.
“Rachel, I thought I’d never say this to you, but you are disappointing
me.”
She turned quickly to face him and asked, “What does it matter?”
“Because, Miss Winters, you matter, and until we had that talk in the
barn about where you would be when we left, you’ve been sulking.”
“I have not been sulking!” she replied emphatically.
“If this isn’t sulking, there are a lot of mothers out there
mischaracterizing their four-year-old’s’ behavior. You are ignoring me, and
I don’t know why.”
“It doesn’t matter,” she repeated.
Seth finally slid eighteen inches until he was up against her then put his
arm around her shoulder, which stunned Rachel.
“Now Rachel, if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you, then I am going
to hold you still and start tickling your sides until you give me a proper
answer.”
Rachel stared wide-eyed at him and said, “You wouldn’t!”
Seth held up his right index finger and made a tickling motion as he said,
“Oh?”
Rachel had no option but to giggle slightly, knowing he would do
exactly what he threatened, and her sulky mood evaporated.
“I guess I was sulking a bit,” she admitted.
“That’s the first step. Now I want to know what in tarnation I said or did
to make you mad at me.”
 She looked away again and said quietly, “I wasn’t mad at you. I don’t
believe I could ever be mad at you. It’s just that, well, when we were in the
barn getting the wagons ready and I asked you if I’d be riding in the
wagons, I was hoping that I’d get to ride with you, so we could talk like we
did when we first met.”
Seth laughed lightly and said, “Rachel, why didn’t you just ask me? You
wouldn’t have sulked and I wouldn’t have worried so much about you.”
“Then you would have let me ride with you?”
“No, I couldn’t do that. I had two very good reasons. I needed to be able
to ride faster and longer than we did when we were heading into Haven. In
that case, we had to ride slower because of Jelly. Trust me, Rachel, if I
could have had you riding behind me, I would have figured out a way to
make it happen.”
Rachel was very pleased with his answer so far and asked, “What was
the second reason?”
“I wanted to keep you safe and at the same time, knowing that you were
there with your Winchester and pistols would keep the others safe. By the
way, I noticed you’re wearing a dress, so where are your pistols?”
Rachel laughed and said, “I’m wearing them over my dress, but the
jacket hides them. Do you want to see?”
“No, ma’am. I’ll take your word for it. So, are you better now?”
“Much better.”
“Did you know that your decision to wear that dress turned me away
earlier? I was going to come back here and ask if you’d like to ride on the
back for a while, but I saw you wearing the dress and thought you were
sending me a message that you wanted to be left alone.”
“I swear, I’ll never wear a dress again.”
“I won’t either,” Seth said, eliciting a good laugh from Rachel.
 “Now Miss Winters, it’s not too cold, and even though we’re getting up
early again, would you walk with me?”
“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more,” she replied.
Seth slid from the wagon’s bed, held out his hand, and then Rachel
slipped off, took his hand in hers and they walked away from the campsite.
Myra had been watching them from the first wagon and when they
walked off into the night, she smiled, turned to Abel, and said, “Well,
Mister Egan, I don’t think your brother is going to be a bachelor much
longer.”
Abel turned to look where Myra had been staring, didn’t see Seth
anywhere, and asked, “What made you think that?”
“I believe that extraordinary young woman who he armed with those two
pistols has him wrapped up.”
Abel looked at Myra, grinned, and said, “It’s about time.”
_____
“Do you think we’re gonna have any problems when we get there?”
Whitey asked.
“None at all,” Joe Cox replied.
“You three boys ain’t gonna get all squeamish on me if we gotta kill your
kinfolk, are you?”
“Me and Charlie don’t have any parents left there anyway. Johnny is the
only one you gotta ask.”
“What about brothers or sisters?”
“I don’t care, and Charlie’s brother already run off, too. Johnny has three
sisters and a brother, too.”
Whitey grunted and then looked at Johnny Billups and asked, “How
about it, Billups?”
 Johnny had been worried about what would happen to his family since
Joe Cox had told Whitey about Haven but didn’t want to appear weak, so he
just said, “It don’t matter to me at all.”
Whitey glared at Johnny and said, “What if I was to rip off your sister’s
clothes and take her right in front of you. Would you like to see her naked?”
“I don’t care,” Johnny said but knew that Whitey wasn’t buying it so he
added, “but I get to go first.”
Whitey looked at him for another five seconds and then began to laugh,
igniting laughter from the other four.
Johnny Billups felt sick.
Then Joe Cox said, “There was one girl there that I want myself. That
Rachel Winters was really somethin’ to look at.”
Charlie Lemmon laughed and said, “And that’s all you could do too, was
to just look at her. She turned you down, Joe!”
Joe whipped a right fist into Charlie’s gut, bending him over, then
growled, “She’ll get a lot more than just my eyes this time, Charlie!”
Charlie didn’t reply but waddled, bent over at the waist to his bedroll,
and dropped onto his side.
Whitey snarled, “Alright, that’s enough of that. Let’s get some shuteye
and start ridin’ early tomorrow. I wanna see those women, too.”
As Johnny Billups slid into his bedroll, he wondered how he had ever let
Joe Cox talk him into leaving Haven in the first place. The thoughts of what
would be happening to his family tomorrow still caused his stomach to
churn.
_____
As they walked deeper into the night, Rachel said, “When you didn’t ask
me to ride with you, I thought it was because you’d be embarrassed to be
seen with someone like me when we returned.”
“Why on earth would you ever believe something like that?”
 “I don’t know. It sounds silly now but when you spent more time with
Abel and the others, I thought that you had only been nice to me because
we were alone. Then when I asked where I would ride on the way to
Medicine Bow, and you said that I’d be on the wagon, it confirmed my
fears. Looking back, I should have asked you if I could ride with you and
you would have explained your reasons then and I wouldn’t have sulked.”
“That’s what happens when people have questions and don’t ask. In
engineering, it can lead to real disasters like bridges collapsing, or boilers
exploding. This one could have been just as bad.”
“Worse than a bridge collapsing?”
“Probably not, but in the future, just ask me questions and never, ever
think that I could ever be embarrassed by being seen with you. Okay?”
“Okay, does this mean I can ride with you tomorrow?”
“No, ma’am, it doesn’t. I still have the same reasons that I gave you
earlier.”
“I just thought I’d ask.”
“Good,” he replied as they turned around to head back to the distant fire.
“Seth, what will I do when I get back to Michigan?” she asked quietly.
Seth’s nagging sense of doom was still there and made him hesitant
when he replied, “I think it’s too early to think about that yet, Rachel.”
Rachel halted then turned to Seth as she said, “Mister Egan, even in our
little world of Haven, when a young man asks a young woman to go
walking with him, there was some significance to his request. Now you
give me that answer!”
Seth scratched the side of his jaw before replying, “I know. When I
asked you to walk with me, I had intended it to be just what you would have
expected of a young man in Haven, but I have this silly notion bouncing
around in my head that’s making me, I don’t know cautious.”
 “Well, sir, I think you should throw caution to the winds and tell me
what’s bothering you. You just told me that I should ask questions, so I’m
asking you to tell me what’s the nature of this notion.”
Seth exhaled and even in the limited light of the distant fire and the
comet, her gray eyes still took hold of him for a few seconds.
He finally said, “When I was out front earlier today and began thinking
about what would happen when we returned to Michigan, I suddenly
couldn’t see Marquette, or the factory, or anything else. It was as if I was
never going to see it again. I know how silly premonitions like this are, but
it won’t go away, and I thought that coming and talking to you again and
telling you how I feel about you would make it go away. If anything, it’s
gotten worse. It’s as if there were a big curtain hanging in front of me.”
Rachel took his hand again and pulled him over to a rock outcrop and
they sat down.
“It sounds like how I felt about going to Michigan again, too. I felt lost
and uncertain. You’ve been in charge of the company and living in that
house for four years, and now that will change, and you’re probably as lost
as I am.”
Seth nodded and replied, “You’re probably right. I know I’m
overdramatizing this and I shouldn’t let it get in the way, but can you grant
me this concession, Rachel? You know that I think you’re the most amazing
woman I’ve ever met, including Myra. I haven’t told you how beautiful you
are, and you need to hear that. I won’t tell you the effect putting on those
pistols had on me, either.”
Rachel laughed and said, “Myra mentioned something about that. I
noticed and wondered why you didn’t mention it.”
“It would have been inappropriate, especially considering how you lived
the last ten years of your life.”
“Did you think I was a nun or something?” she asked as she smiled.
“No, maybe not that bad, but you’re still only nineteen and have let a
sheltered life.”
 “I’m a full-grown woman, Seth, and trust me, I’ve learned a lot more
about the ways of men from Myra than I ever did from my mother or
anyone else, so there’s nothing you can say or do that will shock me.”
“If I’d known that on the ride here, maybe I would have commented
about those pistols.”
“What to see them again?” she asked before lightly giggling.
Seth laughed and was happy that being with Rachel had silenced that
morbid whispering.
“Thank you, Rachel. You’ve set aside that silly voice and now maybe we
can spend a few minutes just being a young couple out for a walk on a cool
September night.”
“So, now that we have all of our silly behavior behind us, what do we
do?”
“First, let me ask you a question, o’ woman of the world. Have you ever
been kissed?”
Rachel answered quietly, “Joe Cox was trying to get me to marry him
and trapped me in the barn and…well, took liberties, including what might
be considered kissing. I finally pushed him away and he fell into a tool bin
and hurt his elbow. I was able to make it to Myra’s house and Abel warned
Joe not to try it again. He and the others left a few months later.”
“He was one of the six that I’ve heard so much about?”
“He was their leader. I was scared for months even after he’d gone
because he had a gun and two of the others took girls with them. I was
worried that he might sneak back some night and force me to go with him.”
“Well, you’re armed now, Rachel.”
“I am, and I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if I saw him again, but now
that I’ve answered your question, what happens next?”
Seth smiled at Rachel, who knew fully well what would happen next
when she felt Seth’s arms around her and then his lips gently against hers.
 This was so much different than that horrid experience with Joe Cox.
Rachel wanted this, and let Seth know.
For almost half a minute, they kissed until the need for oxygen took
precedence and they separated, both with smiles on their faces.
“That was so wonderful, Seth,” Rachel whispered as she looked into his
eyes six inches away, “I felt my toes curling.”
“You amazed me again, Rachel. I thought my heart was going to
explode.”
“Have you ever been kissed before, Seth?” she asked.
“Take a guess who the first girl I ever kissed was,” he replied still
wearing his smile.
Rachel leaned back and her eyes widened as she said,
“Myra? You kissed
Myra?”
“Just a few times before she met Abel, then I was relegated to second
place.”
“Did that break your heart?”
“Kind of, but at the same time, Myra set that standard so high, it kept me
looking until I found you. Now I think that was the best thing that ever
happened to me,” then after a short break, he said, “Correction, it was the
second-best thing. The best thing was finding you.”
“So, now when we get back to Michigan, we both have a future.”
“The same future, Rachel. I’m never letting you go.”
She pulled him close and kissed him again and stretched the demand for
air even further this time.
As much as they both would have preferred staying out of the camp,
each knew that they had to return because tomorrow, they’d reach Medicine
Bow, get on Seth’s train, and return to their new lives away from Haven.
 When Myra spotted them returning to camp holding hands and looking
at each other, she jabbed Abel in the side and said, “See?”
Abel turned, saw Seth and Rachel, and replied, “You were right again,
Myra. But then again, I can’t recall when you’ve been wrong.”
Seth separated from Rachel, knowing if he stayed with her, even if they
only talked, he’d stay awake too long. As he passed Myra and Abel to get to
his bedroll, Myra just smiled at him.
“Don’t be such a know-it-all, Myra,” Seth said in passing.
“Know what?” was her parting question as she giggled.
Seth was still smiling as he laid back in his bedroll and looked up at the
comet that still lit up the night sky, knowing that in two or three days, it
would be gone.
He closed his eyes and thought about Rachel and tried to push back
those stupid nagging whispers that had quietly returned.
_____
Twenty-four miles south, Joe Cox was thinking about Rachel, too.
Whitey’s overt permission to take the women in Haven had awakened
memories. He rubbed the scar on his elbow she had created when she
shoved him into that tool bin and knew that by tomorrow night, he’d be
getting his satisfaction in more ways than one.
 CHAPTER 7
The wagons were already moving as the sun rose and everyone was
excited about reaching Medicine Bow. After Seth had given Abel the thick
envelope of cash, he had suggested that it might be good medicine to let
everyone do some shopping at the general store when they arrived in town,
and Abel had let the word out as they were breaking camp, creating a
festive atmosphere. In the entire group, only four had ever been to town in
the past ten years, and now the chatter among everyone, even the penny-
candy-sucking children, was what wonders would be found in the store.
Seth had snuck a kiss from Rachel before he left, and noticed that
somewhere, she had managed to change into the britches and shirts. He
hadn’t asked how she’d managed it but had to restate his reasons for
denying her a place on Rowdy. Rachel accepted his reasoning and told him
how excited she was to be going home…home with him.
Seth rode out of the campsite barely feeling Rowdy beneath him as
visions of Rachel dominated his mind, many with her wearing the two
figure-enhancing gunbelts.
By the time the wagons were rolling, Seth was already four miles ahead.
_____
Despite his order from the night before, Whitey himself wasn’t out of his
bedroll until almost eight o’clock and spent the next five minutes kicking
the others awake.
By the time they were mounted and heading north for Haven, it was
almost ten o’clock, and the wagons had driven eleven miles, closing the gap
between them to just over thirteen miles. They were only moving at a
medium trot, but it was more than double the speed of the wagons.
_____
 Seth had returned from woolgathering about Rachel and settled into a
routine. He’d ride out about six miles then stop and rest Rowdy and let him
drink at one of the many streams that crossed the wild landscape. The long
trail between Haven and Medicine Bow followed three successive valleys
that varied in width from the wide southernmost valley just north of
Medicine Bow which was more than three miles wide, to the middle valley
where they were now which was almost as wide and then constricted to the
one closest to Haven that was just over a mile wide.
All of them were surrounded by either tall hills or mountains and were
heavily forested, making for an incredible view from the start of the trail to
the end.
But today, Seth wasn’t interested in sightseeing. He focused his attention
on the south but didn’t expect to find anything, especially as they were
more than halfway to Medicine Bow.
He had just finished watering Rowdy, refilled his canteen, and mounted
as he prepared to ride back to the wagons when he took one more look
south. He almost missed it when his head froze and his eyes squinted as he
gazed at the horizon.
There was a dust cloud coming north and he wasn’t sure what it was yet.
It was too far away, and he didn’t have any field glasses. So, he started
Rowdy south again to check out what was coming. At this distance, it could
be anything even a herd of buffalo, but he suspected it was a group of
riders.
If they were riders,
who were they?
He supposed it could be another
group hoping to join Zacharia, but Abel had told him that they hadn’t had
any new residents since they arrived, so he doubted if any would be coming
now.
If it was a wagon then it would make that much dust, but he still wasn’t
sure, so he kept Rowdy at a trot.
Ten minutes later, he had his answer. They were riders, and all he could
guess was that they were following the wagon trail for some reason.
 Now he had to decide whether to go and meet them and find out why
they were headed to Haven or go back and warn Abel.
He continued to ride south as he thought about the repercussions if they
were outlaws.
Who else would be leaving Medicine Bow heading north
across wild country?
After he was close enough to make a good guess as to
their number, he wheeled Rowdy around and set him back north at a fast
trot.
He had to warn Abel and get the wagons hidden because if they were
outlaws, then the recently indoctrinated shooters on the wagons would be at
a severe disadvantage, and he knew that any pretense at defense could lead
to a lot of casualties among the women and children.
_____
“Did you see that?” shouted Hank Olsen.
“He spotted us, Whitey. What do we do?” asked Joe Cox loudly.
Whitey yelled, “You figure he’s gonna go and warn them settlers that
we’re comin'?”
“That’s what I figure,” Charlie Lemmon shouted back.
“Let’s run him down before they can get set up,” Whitey yelled as they
all nudged their horses into a fast trot.
_____
Seth spotted the wagons after just twenty minutes, which meant that
those riders were another twenty or thirty minutes behind him. He’d
glanced behind and seen them match his pace which meant that they’d
spotted him and were trying to catch up. He guessed that they were heading
to Haven to use it as a hideout and were worried about any warning. It was
the only logical reason that he could come up with unless they were a posse
on the trail of an outlaw and thought he was their man, but he couldn’t take
that chance. He’d have to get those wagons out of sight.
Almost everyone in the wagons noticed Seth as he was throwing up a big
dust cloud of his own as he approached with hands waving, signaling them
to stop, then pulled up before the wagon and the cloud of dust followed.
His boots had barely touched ground when Abel and Myra bounded
from the first wagon and ran toward him.
“What’s wrong, Seth?” Abel asked excitedly.
“Wait for the others to come, especially Rachel. I need to make sure she
listens.”
The other adults were already heading their way as Seth and Myra
anxiously awaited the news.
As soon as Rachel was there, Seth said, “There are five or six riders
coming this way, about an hour or so behind me. We have to assume they’re
outlaws and will cause trouble. What we need to do is to get those wagons
into the trees over there and hidden from view. Wait for them to pass and
then give them an hour and head to Medicine Bow. I should catch up to you
in four or five hours.”
“Aren’t you coming into the trees with us?” asked Abel.
“No. They’ve seen me and know I’m here. I’ll lead them to Haven if I
have to, then cut around through that forest on the west side and ride back.
When you get to Medicine Bow, send a telegram to Gus Wheeler at the
Union Pacific railyard in Laramie and tell him to bring the Comet. If I’m
not back by tomorrow morning, get everyone on board the train and head
back. I’ll take the next train. Abel, you have to get everyone onto the train. I
can take care of myself.”
Before Abel could answer, Rachel said, “I’m staying. I’m coming with
you, Seth.”
Seth had anticipated her reaction and quickly said, “No, you’re not,
Rachel. All I’m going to do is lead them on a wild goose chase. No horse
can keep up with Rowdy when I let him go. I can’t wait for you. You’ll
have to wait for me in Medicine Bow. Okay?”
Rachel knew he was right, but it still didn’t sit well with her as she said,
“Okay.”
 “Abel, it’s not likely that they could hear anything over their horses’
hooves, but just the same, once you get into the trees, make sure to keep all
of the young children quiet. Penny candy will help. Just watch for them to
pass, give them an hour, then head south.”
“Okay, Seth. Let’s hope they’re just a bunch of cowpokes.”
“Always that chance, Abel,” Seth replied as everyone began trotting
back to the wagons.
Rachel walked over to Seth and said, “I wish I could go with you.”
“I know. I’m not being noble or anything, Rachel. I’d want to have you
along, but I will need the speed.”
“I know.”
Seth then kissed her once more before mounting Rowdy and turning him
south again toward the oncoming riders.
Rachel watched him ride off then exhaled sharply, turned, and jogged
back to help move the wagons into the trees a hundred yards away.
Seth kept his eyes ahead looking for the oncoming riders but glanced
back occasionally to check on the progress of the wagons and was pleased
after just ten minutes to see that they’d all disappeared into the forest, so at
least from this angle, there was no sign of the three wagons and the
residents of Haven.
He rode for another five minutes until he was sure that he’d been seen by
the riders again, but this time, he waited for them to get closer. He thought
about drawing his Winchester but didn’t want to appear hostile. His biggest
concern was that they’d see the wagon tracks going into the trees. If they
turned out to be hostile, he’d need to make sure that they were chasing him
and wouldn’t pay attention to any tracks on the ground.
_____
The entire gang had seen Seth as he reappeared over a shallow rise in the
distance and were surprised when they did.
 “What is he doin’?” asked Charlie Lemmon.
“Just takin’ another look,” Whitey shouted, “Let’s slow down a bit and
keep the horses fresh and appear to be regular fellers. Maybe he won’t run
again.”
They all reduced speed to a slow trot and kept Seth in view as they
closed the distance.
_____
Seth noted the speed drop when their cloud dust diminished
considerably.
What were they doing?
Maybe he was wrong about the whole
outlaw supposition and they really weren’t bad men at all.
Either way, their decision to slow down only served his purpose, not
theirs. It gave the wagons more time to get well placed into the trees and get
everyone settled down from the excitement that his warning had generated.
He was still planning on leading them past the wagons, but he could do it at
a slower pace and wait for those riders to get closer.
So, Seth stayed put on the top of the rise facing the southernmost valley
and watched them approach. He waited until they were about four miles
away and got a better count on their numbers and came up with seven
horses, but he wasn’t sure how many riders.
Then a random thought popped into his head and he wondered if it might
be the six boys who had run away two years ago. Six prodigal sons
returning to the fold after regretting their sins. If that was so, then there
would be nothing to fear from their return, although he would love to meet
Joe Cox.
That idea was quickly relegated to highly unlikely by his rational brain
and he continued to watch. When he firmed up the number of riders at six
with a packhorse trailing, he wheeled Rowdy back north and trotted down
the other side of the rise into the middle valley.
_____
“There he goes, boss!” shouted Hank Olsen.
 “Let’s go,” White yelled.
They accelerated to a fast trot as they headed after Seth who was less
than three miles ahead. Whitey wasn’t sure of the quality of the mount that
the unknown rider was on, but he was sure of his. He had ridden Blackie for
four years now and didn’t believe there was a horse that could match his
speed and stamina. He hated giving him the moniker, but with his own
nickname and the horse’s perfect, jet-black coat, he almost felt obligated.
The other horses ranged from very good to just barely good. The
packhorse was average at best, but if he had to, Whitey would leave him
and the others to run down the rider. Once he was within Winchester range,
that Bible-thumper would never get a chance to reach Haven.
_____
Seth had maintained that three-mile gap, so they could see him and not
pay attention to the surrounding trees or those wagon tracks. The good news
was that with the already hard ground and the not-so-full loads, the tracks
weren’t as noticeable as they could have been.
He was approaching their hiding spot and knew he couldn’t wave, but as
he rode, he scanned both left and right, suspecting that the six men probably
didn’t have field glasses, but didn’t want to take a chance.
He suddenly saw Rachel standing near one of the trees and wanted to
shout to her to get back but knew they couldn’t see her, and she’d step back
after he’d gone.
As soon as he spotted her, she opened her coat showed him the two Colt
pistols, and smiled. He just smiled back, nodded then turned quickly to the
front, and then looked to his right. He didn’t know if Rachel was telling him
that she was armed and ready to fight, or if she was just demonstrating the
unexpected, yet appreciated, effect of his engineering prowess. Either way,
it was an image that he knew would remain with him to his dying day, and
just hoped that it wouldn’t be today.
After Seth smiled at her, Rachel quickly returned to the wagon another
hundred yards into the forest and found Abel and Myra waiting.
 “He just rode past. He didn’t wave, so they must be close behind.”
Abel said, “Let’s get as close as we can and see what they look like but
stay hidden behind a tree.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Myra said as she, Abel, Rachel, and John Billups all
walked quickly toward the edge of the forest.
They each hid behind a tall pine, about thirty feet from the tree line as
they heard the distant sound of twenty-eight hooves. Each of them was
surprised at how soon the arrived after Seth had passed.
Suddenly, the riders appeared and twenty seconds later, they disappeared
again.
At a hundred yards, it was difficult to be sure, but as they walked back to
the wagon, Rachel felt her skin crawl after believing that she had seen Joe
Cox. Her identification had been supported by the likelihood that it was
Charlie Lemmon and Johnny Billups riding alongside him. She had no idea
who the other three were.
Her suspicions were confirmed when as soon as they reached the
wagons, John Billups rushed to his wife and said, “It was Johnny, Hortense!
I swear I saw Johnny riding with those men!”
Before Hortense could react, Rachel turned to Myra and said, “I did, too.
I saw Johnny, Charlie Lemmon, and Joe Cox, too. I didn’t recognize the
others.”
John Billups turned to Abel and said, “What can we do, Abel? Can we
go back and get Johnny?”
“No, John. We have to protect everyone here, including Hortense and
your children. We’re going to leave in an hour like Seth told us to do. I
know how hard it is to see Johnny again, but if he was riding with that
rough crowd, then he’s already lost to you, John.”
John Billups sighed and said, “He was lost to us when he began listening
to that Joe Cox.”
 Abel placed his hand on John’s shoulder before John turned to his wife
and just looked at her.
Hortense took John’s hand and led him back to the wagon where their
daughters and young son watched, having heard the news that Johnny was
with the bad men.
Myra then looked at Rachel and said, “You have to believe that Seth will
handle this using his brains. He’ll do as he said he’d do and then ride back
here. He might even beat us to Medicine Bow at the rate these wagons are
moving.”
Rachel nodded and then managed to smile at Myra before turning to go
back to the third wagon. When she reached the wagon, she looked long and
hard at Jelly with his pack saddle and panniers, none of which were that full
anymore.
When she sat on the wagon’s bed, she slid her Winchester into her hands
and then reached into her coat pocket where she had the box of .44
cartridges that Seth had given her. She had her two Colts, her Winchester, a
box of ammunition, and Seth’s packhorse standing ten feet away as she
began to do some minor engineering in her mind.
_____
Seth was playing a dangerous game of tag with his followers as he tried
to maintain a separation that would keep him in their sight but not get too
close when he reached Haven and then disappeared into the forest.
He kept an eye on his backtrail as he stopped to let Rowdy rest and get
some water and graze a bit whenever he could. They were almost two miles
back now and had stopped when he had stopped but had mounted and
started after him sooner than he had climbed into the saddle, cutting the
distance.
Seth didn’t mind too much, as he believed he had plenty of space before
they reached Haven, which he estimated was just another fifteen miles
away.
 They’d been playing their part in the little cat-and-mouse game for
almost two hours now so the wagons should be well on their way to
Medicine Bow and now all he needed was to lose the cats in that forest.
Seth had made one astronomical error in his planning. He believed that
once they found Haven empty, then they’d lose interest in him and not
bother to search for him after they lost him. But these men couldn’t afford
to have someone go and tell the law where they were hiding. As far as they
knew, there was only one man who knew that they were planning on
staying at the settlement over the winter, and he was right in front of them.
The last thing Whitey Shultz could afford to do would be to allow Seth to
return to Medicine Bow.
_____
The wagons were within twelve miles of Medicine Bow when Rachel
executed her own plan and first untied Jelly’s reins from behind the wagon
and let him drop back. Except for Mary Miller, who was driving the wagon,
she was the only adult on the last wagon, so none of the youngsters said
anything when she then slipped off the back of the wagon’s bed and began
to walk in the same direction as the wagons.
She let the wagons build up a gap of about a hundred yards then turned
and walked quickly back to where Jelly was grazing. The children watched
her walk away but were too busy chattering about getting to ride on a train
for them to say anything about her departure.
Once she reached Jelly, Rachel began removing panniers, and after they
were all on the ground, rummaged through the heavy bags finding anything
that would be useful.
She placed the necessary supplies into two of the panniers and hung
them on opposite sides, leaving out one blanket for a makeshift saddle seat.
She spent a few minutes fashioning loops that would act as stirrups and
attached them to the bottom sets of hooks on the pack saddle.
As she worked, she would glance at the receding wagons to make sure
that no one had noticed she was gone yet and was pleased with her plan so
far as she placed her foot into her makeshift stirrup and stepped up onto
Jelly.
 Even with Rachel, Jelly was now carrying less weight than he had when
he left Medicine Bow carrying all those guns, so he was more than happy to
head back north at a medium trot.
Rachel had no firm idea of what she was going to do. She hoped that
she’d just run into a returning Seth and they could spend the night together
as they had that first night, but she had seen Joe Cox and the looks of those
other men and it was that short look that had made her decide to return to
Haven as quickly as she could. That and Seth’s confession about his
whispering sense of doom.
She glanced up at the comet overhead and said, “You’d better be nothing
more than what Seth said you were,” then looked straight ahead again and
urged Jelly forward even faster.
_____
The sun was getting low in the sky and Seth knew that Haven was less
than five miles away, so he picked up the pace. The riders were less than a
mile behind now and he didn’t want them any closer.
When he noticed Seth’s acceleration, Whitey shouted, “He’s makin’ his
run into that town. I’m gonna run him down. You all follow and Joe, I want
you and Johnny to hold up about a mile north of that place in case he tries
to double back.”
Without waiting for a reply, Whitey kicked Blackie into a canter and
began closing the gap between him and Seth.
Seth was watching for the appearance of Haven, which would only give
him a mile and a half window to ride through Haven, make a wide U-turn,
and cut through the west forest to make his escape. He hadn’t checked his
backtrail soon enough to notice the quickly approaching outlaw, and by the
time he turned his head to look behind him, Whitey was only eight hundred
yards away and closing.
Seth cursed and asked Rowdy for his own burst of speed as they made
the gentle turn and Haven came into view. Rowdy exploded into a full
gallop and just forty seconds later entered Haven and blew past Zachariah’s
house.
 Whitey had been surprised by the rider’s sudden speed, but it didn’t
matter as he pulled his Winchester and cocked the hammer.
It took Whitey another thirty seconds to realize how empty Haven was.
There were no people anywhere, no smoke coming from the chimneys
despite the chill in the air, and even the animals were straying around the
buildings. He knew that the residents were all gone, but that didn’t matter
now. He had to make sure that the rider didn’t escape back to Medicine
Bow. The mystery of the empty village could be solved later.
He slowed Blackie to a trot as he entered Haven and scanned for the
rider, who had disappeared behind that big barn.
Seth, after passing Zacharia’s house had made for the barn because it
was the biggest structure and offered the best opportunity to cover his
break. He let Rowdy catch his breath as he stayed in position behind the
eastern wall. If he broke to the south, there was nothing there but open
ground until he reached the creek, and then there were just rocks and hills.
To the east were the creek and mountains. The forests to the north and west
were his best routes of escape, but if he went in either direction his pursuer
would spot him. Then there were the other five men.
Where were they?
Behind Whitey, Charlie Lemmon, Hank Olsen, and Billy Cross led the
packhorse toward Haven while Joe Cox and Johnny Billups waited just
where Haven became visible and were able to cover the only real escape
route from the settlement unless someone stayed in the forest.
As they sat, Joe Cox pointed to the west and said, “What if that rider cuts
through those trees over there?”
Johnny just shrugged and replied, “Why would he do that?”
“If he spotted us out in the open waitin’ for him, he could just stay in the
trees.”
Johnny didn’t reply but glanced at Haven in the distance, could see that
it was lifeless, and was wondering what had happened.
Joe said, “I’m gonna go into the trees and wait for him. You stay here
and if he pops out of the trees, shoot at him. I don’t care if you hit him, but
it’ll let me know that he’s there.”
Johnny said, “Okay, but Joe, did you see that Haven’s empty? I don’t
think there’s anybody there anymore.”
“They’re all probably hunkered down because that feller warned ‘em.”
“I don’t think so. There ain’t any smoke or anything, and the critters are
all loose, too.”
“It don’t matter. Just watch the trees and I’m gonna go and look around
in those trees.”
“Alright,” Johnny replied as Joe turned his horse west and trotted toward
the forest.
Johnny thought that Joe was just setting him up like bait, but he didn’t
care as he continued to look at Haven in the red light of the setting sun.
_____
Seth heard hoofbeats coming from the center of the village and began
walking Rowdy south then turned him against the southern wall of the barn,
keeping him at a walk until he reached the corner of the barn and stopped to
listen.
Whitey had approached the eastern wall warily with his Winchester
drawn then dismounted and after placing his back against the barn,
suddenly whipped around the corner, his Winchester pointed south and
found nothing.
Where had that rider gone?
He returned quickly, mounted Blackie again, and was about to walk him
along the eastern wall when he heard an explosion of hoofbeats and
wheeled Blackie back around to face west and saw a blur of a rider as Seth
raced past the barn heading north as he crossed the open common area.
“Son of a bitch!” Whitey shouted as he leveled his Winchester and fired
at the fast-moving target.
Seth heard the report and didn’t know where the bullet went but
confirmed his theory that these were outlaws seeking a hideout. He’d pat
himself on the back later.
But as he had begun his gallop toward the northern forest, he caught
sight of three more outlaws riding into Haven and two had their
Winchesters pointed in his direction. He yanked on Rowdy’s reins as they
both fired, and the third man was pulling his Winchester free.
In the dying light, the flames from the Winchesters looked enormous but
again, he didn’t know what became of the bullets that were intended to kill
him.
He didn’t have time to take his own Winchester from its scabbard as he
hunkered down over his horse’s neck and let Rowdy close the distance to
the safety of the forest.
He heard two more reports, then two more as he reached the tree line and
slowed Rowdy to avoid crashing into a pine trunk.
Once in the trees, Seth slowed him to a walk as Rowdy huffed from the
exertion and after fifty yards, dismounted, pulled his Winchester ’76, and
waited for them to come for him. As he waited in the dark forest, he finally
realized his miscalculation in being able to lead them into Haven and then
just being allowed to leave. Of course, they couldn’t let him return to
Medicine Bow. He chastised himself for failing to understand the criminal
mind, but then began trying to come up with a way to solve his dilemma.
He had the advantage of time and darkness. The sun would set in a few
minutes and the dark forest would become almost black. There was a new
moon, so there normally would be almost total darkness, but that comet was
now providing almost as much light as a half-moon, so once he left the
protection of the trees, he’d be visible.
He’d have to stay put until they either gave up looking for him or just
fell asleep, but sleep wasn’t a luxury he could afford. Food would be a
problem, too. All he had in his saddlebags was ammunition because he
hadn’t expected to stay away for very long.
But for now, he just stayed put, leaning against a wide pine tree with his
Winchester cocked as he listened for their approaching footsteps or
hoofbeats and letting Rowdy get some rest.
 _____
A mile and a half outside of Haven, Johnny Billups sat alone on his
horse and had heard the gunfire from the settlement. After it had stopped,
he assumed that they had killed the rider and soon he’d be ordered to go
into the empty village.
The lack of residents really bothered Johnny because his family was
doing better than most when he had gone. His parents, three sisters, and his
brother, Jack, were all healthy and had no reason to leave.
So, why did they
go?
Where did they go?
He missed his family and regretted his decision to leave with Joe Cox
and the others, but that was hardly a revelation, now it was just more
intense. He had always been a follower and Joe Cox had been their gang’s
leader, although they didn’t call themselves a gang.
After he’d gone, he knew he could never go back and had done bad
things since Joe had linked him and Charlie with Whitey Shultz. He wished
he could just erase the past two years of his life and had been able to stand
up to Joe that day when he’d first proposed grabbing guns and horses and
leaving Haven to go and have some adventures. But it wasn’t in his nature
to stand up to Joe or anyone else for that matter.
But now as he sat alone on his horse, he glanced west to where Joe Cox
had disappeared into the forest and suspected that in a few minutes Joe
would reappear, and they’d head into Haven. This may be his only chance
to make things right, but he had to decide now.
Johnny Billups took a deep breath, exhaled sharply, then turned his horse
south and set him off at a fast trot into the growing darkness.
When Joe Cox, who had also heard the shooting, finally emerged from
the trees, he assumed that Johnny had ridden into Haven and turned that
way without a single glance to the south where he might have spotted
Johnny Billups’ receding shadow in the distance.
_____
 Rachel had made good time and had passed where the wagons had
hidden in the forest, but the waning light had slowed her to a walk as she
feared that Jelly might be injured by a misstep and knew he needed to rest
anyway.
An hour after nightfall, she pulled Jelly off to the side of the trail, so she
could watch for Seth’s return, but still remain hidden from any of the bad
men. She didn’t set up a proper camp but was glad she had packed the
blankets. She unsaddled Jelly, let him drink at a nearby stream, and then
hitched him near a large area of prairie grass to let him graze as she sat on
the blankets and chewed on some of the smoked beef.
She knew for certain that something had gone wrong in Seth’s plan
because she should have spotted him riding south if all he’d done was to
circle through Haven and ridden back. The question that worried her was
that his premonition of doom might be right after all.
_____
“Where’s Rachel?” Abel asked as they stopped the wagons just north of
Medicine Bow to let the animals drink and noticed that Jelly wasn’t there.
Myra replied, “I imagine she’s gone back to find Seth.”
“Alone? What if she runs into those six outlaws?”
“I think she’d shoot Joe Cox on sight, but she’s smart and she’ll avoid
them if they come back, but I’m worried about Seth, too. He should have
caught up with us before we reached Medicine Bow.”
“Let’s get the wagons moving again and get into town so we can send
that telegram to Gus in Laramie. As Seth said, we need to take care of
everyone else.”
Myra nodded and said, “Let’s head into town.”
They all climbed back into the wagons and an hour later, the three
wagons creaked and rolled into Medicine Bow. Most businesses were shut
down for the night already, so when everyone was out of the wagons, they
all walked to the hotel, where Abel paid for all of their sixteen available
rooms, which still meant a lot of crowding.
 Once everyone was situated, the entire group then descended on Mabel’s
Diner and had to eat in shifts and use the wagon beds as makeshift tables as
the overworked staff managed to feed the group.
Six hundred yards away, Gus and Joe were in the living quarters of the
boxcar attached to the Comet and were discussing how long they should
wait for Seth’s return as they played a game of poker.
“I think we oughta head over to Rawlins and give that sheriff a piece of
our mind, Gus,” Joe said as he threw down his hand.
“I’m with ya, but I wanna give the boss at least another day to get those
folks outta that place. You know how he is. If he wants to do something, he
gets it done fast. Remember how he got rid of all of those snooty suits when
he took over?” Gus said as he dealt the next hand and laughed.
Joe snickered as he took his five cards and replied, “That sure was
somethin’. I hear two of ‘em crapped their pants when he handed ‘em their
pay and told ‘em to get the hell away from Mimi and never come back.”
“So, let’s give him another day, and if he’s not here, we’ll ask the Union
Pacific if we can make that run to Rawlins.”
“Sounds fair,” Joe replied as he looked at his cards and grimaced.
_____
Their boss was now sitting in the dark in the forest, not having heard a
sound in hours. Rowdy was already asleep, but Seth knew he’d have to get
some water for him. He had his canteen and nothing else, so his stomach
had to be satisfied with water for a while. He thought he’d be dining in
Medicine Bow tonight with Rachel wearing a real dress, although he
doubted if it would improve on the image of her wearing those two pistols
when he’d seen her as he rode past heading north with the six outlaws on
his trail.
In Haven, the five outlaws were meeting in the fields north of Zacharia’s
house, watching where Seth had entered the trees.
“When did you see him last?” asked Whitey.
 Joe replied, “About an hour ago, when I went into the trees to find that
rider.”
“Do you think he somehow got past you and killed Johnny?”
“Not a chance. Johnny was always weak, and I figured he’d run the first
chance he got. I think he’s heading back to Medicine Bow.”
“Son of a bitch!” cursed Whitey, then he calmed down and said,
“Alright, we can’t let him reach Medicine Bow and we have to find that
other bastard, too.”
Joe then said, “Boss, Johnny will do anything I tell him to do. If I can
find him, I can bring him back.”
“I don’t want him back. If you find him, then you kill him.”
“Okay,” Joe replied nonchalantly.
“Get going. You’ll have enough light from that comet to follow the
wagon trails.”
“I need some food, then I’ll head out.”
“Where is everybody, by the way?” Whitey asked.
Charlie Lemmon replied, “It looks like they just left, probably in the last
couple of days.”
“How could we not have seen ‘em, then?”
“Beats me, but there’s a lot of food here and plenty of critters. We’ll be
set up pretty good for the winter.”
“But no women,” growled Joe Cox, who had been eagerly anticipating
his reunion with Rachel.
“Just get on that horse of yours and chase down Johnny. Get back here
when you’re finished.”
“Okay, boss,” Joe said as he turned and jogged back to Zacharia’s house
where he could get some food.
 _____
After he’d gone, Whitey said, “Hank, you go with Joe and set up south
of that forest where we first came in, just in case he tries to work his way
through the trees and make his escape. Charlie, you, me and Billy are gonna
search this place to make sure it's empty, then if there’s nobody here, you’ll
keep watch on this side of the trees, so he can’t come out this way while we
set up the house for our use.”
Charlie Lemmon and Billy Cross both acknowledged his orders with a
stereophonic, “Okay, boss,” and the men turned to go back to the house.
_____
Seth had been near enough to hear them talking, but not close enough to
understand what they were saying, so he had no idea where they would be
when he moved, but he had to leave, and it had to be soon.
After the voices died away, he gave them fifteen more minutes before he
picked up his Winchester, released the hammer, and slid it back into its
scabbard before taking Rowdy’s reins and rubbing his neck to wake him.
Then after Rowdy had shaken his head, Seth led him as quietly as he could,
walking deeper into the forest as he headed west.
_____
Johnny had ridden away at a fast trot and had then slowed to a walk once
he thought he was safe from pursuit by Joe Cox or the mystery rider. He
believed that the rest of the gang would be glad to be rid of him and just has
Seth had expected earlier, thought that they would just let him ride away to
Medicine Bow.
He still had no idea what he would do when he got there, but he did have
more than eighty dollars in his pocket after the Fort Collins job. Whitey
kept most of the money, as he usually did, saying that they’d split it up
when he thought it was the right time, but none of them thought that time
would ever come.
After walking his horse for two hours, he pulled over to a stream and
dismounted. He had his bedroll and some jerky in his saddlebags, so he was
all right, and he was free of the gang…or so he believed.
He was just six miles north of Rachel’s cold camp when he slid into his
bedroll and focused on the bright comet overhead.
_____
Rachel was under her blankets looking at the comet and wondering what
had happened to Seth. She had been watching the trail, but mostly listening
for hoofbeats and not hearing anything except the normal sounds of the
night. It would have been such a wonderful night to spend with Seth alone
under the bright light of that short-lived celestial body overhead, but now it
was just another night. She knew it would be cold, but her stomach was full,
and she was under her blankets, so it was a lot better than the last night
she’d spent alone under the stars.
_____
Seth couldn’t see the comet or much else as he made his way between
the trees. He had no compass, but felt the tree trunks for moss, knowing that
the old saying that moss always grows on the north side of trees was mostly
true, at least in America and Northern Europe. It seemed the further north
you went, the more moss tried to hide on that side. He was pretty far north,
and like Michigan, most of the moss would be on the north side of the tree
trunks.
So, as he walked Rowdy, he felt the bark of the pines with his left hand,
and if he found moss, he knew he was walking west. now he had to guess
how far he’d have to walk until the northern forest joined the one west of
Haven that he had originally planned for his escape route.
_____
After Joe had ridden off south hunting Johnny Billups, Hank dismounted
and set up a cold camp smack between the wagon ruts east of the western
forest that was Seth’s anticipated escape route. He unsaddled his horse,
unraveled his bedroll, and took off his hat as he sat on the bedroll and
watched to the north, not really expecting to see anyone emerge from the
trees. He figured that the unknown rider was still near Haven and would try
and get to Whitey and all his cash. To Hank, this was a soft job and not
likely to be anything more than a nighttime picnic.
He took a drink of water from his canteen and then ripped off a piece of
venison jerky. As he chewed, he looked up at the comet and wondered
where it was going.
_____
Joe Cox could almost sense that Johnny Billups was nearby, but even
though he could see the wagon tracks, there were so many hoofprints on the
ground, he wouldn’t be able to find Johnny’s among the mess and began to
wonder if he’d already passed Johnny. He knew that Johnny wouldn’t be
riding in the dark and Johnny’s horse was the worst of the lot, barely above
the packhorse’s value. Johnny would have to stop and set up camp, but was
it in front of him or behind him?
Joe pulled up, stood high in his stirrups, and scanned the horizon for any
light that would have to be Johnny’s campfire, hoping that he was stupid
enough not to know he was being tracked. But after not finding any
firelight, he turned off the trail, dismounted, and led his horse to a stream.
As the gelding was drinking, Joe hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. If
Johnny had finally shown some gumption and headed all the way to
Medicine Bow, Whitey would blame him as much as Johnny, but with no
law in Medicine Bow, he’d be able to get to Johnny and talk him into
returning with him before he could do anything. That would mean he’d
have to get up early and ride hard.
His decision made, Joe Cox unsaddled his horse and set up his own cold
camp, setting his internal alarm clock for early in the morning. He wanted
to be on horseback at sunrise.
_____
Whitey, Billie, and Charlie had found Haven empty, and Charlie was
sent to the fields to watch for the possible reappearance of the mystery man
as Whitey and Billie set up Zacharia’s house for their use. They had moved
their supplies inside and left their four horses in the barn before building a
fire in the fireplace and the cookstove.
 They were having coffee at the kitchen table, and Whitey wasn’t happy
with their sudden turn of fortune. If they had just found the place empty it
wouldn’t have been so bad. They wouldn’t even have to hunt to have fresh
meat with so many critters running around loose. They would have missed
the company of the women, but it also meant there wouldn’t be any risk of
one of them getting shot. Even farmers with shotguns could be a danger.
But it was the presence of that lone rider and now the disappearance of
Johnny Billups that had Whitey more than just irritated.
“What do we do if we don’t get Johnny or that other one, boss?” Billie
Cross asked.
“We move on. Casper is another forty miles north or so, but I’d rather
find a ranch or farm nearby first. This would have been perfect if that
damned rider hadn’t seen us. If we can kill him and Joe can take care of
Johnny, we’ll be all right.”
Billie just nodded and took a sip of coffee. Those were two big ifs as far
as he was concerned.
_____
Seth had made his turn and almost made a big mistake when the forest
suddenly disappeared, and he almost walked into the open. Instead, he
suddenly stopped and scanned the area. He had exited the northern forest
almost half a mile before the forest curved to the south. He glanced east
back toward Haven and spotted the shadow of a man walking in the light of
the comet. He was only about eight hundred yards away and may have
heard Rowdy’s hooves, so Seth stayed frozen in place and watched the
small, distant shadow.
Charlie was already bored from watching the trees and had been looking
back at the house more than the forest as the smoke began to curl from the
chimney and the cookstove pipe. He wasn’t happy being out here in the
cold while Whitey and Billie were probably warm and having a nice hot
cup of coffee, so he continued to stare at the house and wondered how long
he’d have to stay out here.
Seth finally backed into the trees after ten minutes and walked Rowdy
back a hundred paces before resuming his westward trek. This time with a
better understanding of the distance he had to travel and began to count his
strides.
When he hit eight hundred, he curved Rowdy to the south and after
another hundred paces, knew he was finally in that western forest, and after
another half mile or so, he’d pop out at the other end and be able to ride
south free from detection, not having spotted Hank sitting quietly just eight
hundred yards south.
_____
Hank was still awake, but after sitting for so long, he realized he might
drift off, so he stood and then began walking to keep out the cold. He had
his gloves on but left his Winchester in its scabbard near his saddle. He had
his Colt at his waist and believed it was all he needed as nobody would be
showing up.
He was walking back toward his horse when he thought he heard
something behind him. The forest was a good two hundred yards away, so
he at first thought it was coming from somewhere else, so the stopped and
did a slow scan, expecting to see a coyote or maybe a mountain lion
stalking his horse.
He pulled off his right glove, stuffed it into his jacket pocket, then slowly
pulled his revolver and cocked the hammer as he looked around.
The sound he had heard was Rowdy’s shod hoof striking a rock and then
the twisting motion of his ankle causing him to snort in surprise. Seth had
instantly stopped moving and calmed Rowdy as he listened for any sounds
of nearby men, but not hearing anything, he began walking Rowdy south
again, knowing the edge of the forest had to be near.
Hank hadn’t seen anything, but the sudden sound had heightened his
awareness, and he decided to get his Winchester, so he released the hammer
to his Colt, slipped it back into his holster, and trotted over to his saddle
where he slid his carbine out of its scabbard and cocked the hammer before
maintaining his scanning of the now spooky darkness.
Seth still didn’t know that Hank was two hundred yards southeast of him
as he exited the forest slowly, but the light from the comet illuminated
Hank’s horse enough to make him stop in his tracks and freeze.
Hank’s scan had been west into the forest when Seth had appeared, so by
the time his eyes reached Seth’s location, he didn’t see any movement, so
he continued to the northeast where he could see the lights from Zacharia’s
house and had the same pang of jealousy that had gripped Charlie Lemmon
knowing that Whitey and Billie were warm and probably eating a hot meal
while he was out here in the cold and dark. As he continued to stare, Seth
dissolved back into the forest slowly.
He had expected one to be watching the forest, not two. He wondered if
any of the others were further south waiting for him to exit the trees.
Once he was fifty paces back into the trees, Seth swore silently and
figured his best option now was to continue west even further then swing
south through the forest to get past the last watcher. It would take him hours
to do that, and he wasn’t sure that he could stay awake much longer.
So, Seth decided to go as far as he could until he found someplace where
Rowdy could drink and graze while he got some sleep. He needed to be
rested and have his wits about him if he ever expected to see Medicine Bow
and Rachel again, and he wasn’t that concerned about seeing Medicine
Bow.
He walked deeper into the forest, counting his paces until he suddenly
popped into a small clearing and instead of a stream, found a small pond
that was just a depression that had filled with rainwater. It was just what he
needed, so he led Rowdy to the pond, let him drink, then let him graze as he
unsaddled his mount and set up his own cold camp.
When he was finished setting up, he opened his saddlebags and took out
his ammunition, and there, at the very bottom of the saddlebag, was a
crumpled mass of butcher paper. He smiled, pulled it free, and found a
lonely sausage inside. He was ravenous but recalled Rachel’s devouring of
the first sausage and had to suppress a laugh. He continued to smile as he
took his first bite and chewed slowly as he remembered her embarrassed
look when she had seen him staring at her, thinking he was shocked by her
lack of manners when it was those amazing gray eyes that had caused his
stare. Those extraordinary, hypnotic eyes he wanted desperately to see
again.
He finished his sausage, emptied his canteen and then walked to the
pond and filled it before returning to his bedroll. He took off his Colt and
set it nearby, just in case, then slid inside the bedroll, and looked up at the
comet through the hole left by the tall pines. He knew that it would be gone
in a couple of days but still was in awe of the sight. He was content that at
least the residents of Haven should now be safe in Medicine Bow,
especially Rachel.
_____
Rachel was already asleep under her blankets thirty-one miles south of
Haven. Johnny Billups was sleeping in his bedroll six miles north of her
camp and Joe Cox was three miles further north.
Only Joe Cox knew that there was someone close by, and that would be
Johnny Billups. Johnny thought he was safe but was still fearful that
someone was behind him, and Rachel was the most ignorant of the three,
not even suspecting that anyone was within twenty miles.
It would make for a morning of surprises.
_____
Charlie was the first to give up his watch and head to the house to get
warm. So, just before midnight, he began walking and after five minutes,
entered Zacharia’s house.
Whitey and Billie were playing cards, and both looked up as Charlie
entered.
“What are you doin’ back?” Whitey asked.
“It’s cold out there, Whitey, and he’s not comin’ this way. Not after all
this time.”
Whitey was going to order him back out but then recognized that Charlie
was probably right, so he replied, “Get some coffee and some stew that we
made. I’ll send Billie out to relieve Hank in a few minutes. I think he’s still
in those trees unless Hank fell asleep.”
“Thanks, boss,” Charlie said as he took off his coat and hung it on a peg
near the door.
_____
Thirty minutes later, Hank heard hoofbeats again and whipped his
cocked Winchester in the direction of the sound but held his fire as it was a
rider approaching from Haven and not the forest.
When the rider was close, he wanted to shout but didn’t because he was
still jumpy after that unidentified noise that he had heard three hours ago.
He kept his carbine aimed at the rider until he recognized Billie Cross.
“Billie, am I glad to see you!” he finally said loudly.
“What’s the matter, Hank? Boogeyman comin’ to get ya?” Billie asked
with a chuckle as he dismounted.
“Nah, but I heard something that sounded like a horse comin’ from that
forest just north of here. I ain’t heard a thing since, though.”
“Maybe it was a hoot owl or somethin’. Anyway, I’ll take over now. You
can head into that village and get some hot coffee and some stew that we
whipped together. It ain’t bad.”
“Thanks, Billie. I’ll go and saddle my horse.”
“Nah, just ride Bridger back. I’ll ride yours back in the mornin’.”
“I appreciate it, Billie,” Hank replied as he accepted the gelding’s reins
and pulled himself into the saddle.
“Keep an eye on those trees, Billie. I figure he’s still in there but had to
get some sleep.”
“I’ll do that Hank,” Billie replied as he pulled his bedroll from the back
of the saddle and his Winchester from his scabbard before Hank rode off to
Haven.
 After he’d gone, Billie set up his bedroll and just sat on top for a while
as he stared off into the blackness of the forests wondering if Hank had
been right and the man was sleeping.
 CHAPTER 8
Joe Cox may have set his brain alarm to wake him before sunrise, but he
must have forgotten to wind it because he was still asleep as the sun broke
over the horizon.
Rachel and Johnny Billups were both asleep as well, and the only ones
stirring were Seth as his stomach reminded him of its empty condition with
loud growling, and the boys in Zacharia’s house, who were already dressed.
Seth slid from his bedroll, happy just to be able to wake up at all, then
quickly took care of nature’s call and then began to saddle Rowdy.
As he was preparing to leave his campsite, Whitey, Hank, and Charlie
were having coffee in the house as they prepared to move out and help
Hank who was their lone guard against the unidentified rider escaping to
Medicine Bow.
Billie had drifted off to sleep around two o’clock but had snapped awake
just as Seth was mounting Rowdy. He stretched and walked a few feet away
and relieved himself before returning to his bedroll, saddled Hank’s horse,
and stowed the bedroll behind the saddle.
He had his Winchester in his hand and was mounting when he glanced
north and was startled when he spotted Seth emerging from the trees.
Seth hadn’t seen him yet as he had glanced to the northeast to see if
anyone was coming from Haven. By the time he looked southeast and
spotted Billie staring at him a hundred yards away, it was too late to duck
back into the trees.
Billie quickly cocked the hammer of his Winchester and dropped back to
one knee to keep a more stable shooting platform rather than making
himself a target on the back of another man’s horse.
Seth was pulling his Winchester free when Billie fired, and Seth felt a
burn on the outside of his left calf then there was the unmistakable
sensation of warm blood oozing down the side of his leg as he brought his
’76 to bear on the shooter.
Billie had quickly fired again, and as his .44 was racing through the air
toward Seth, Seth fired his musket and the .50 caliber round spun down the
barrel and exploded from the muzzle at almost fourteen hundred feet per
second. The boom echoed from the Winchester as the two bullets passed
each other by less than three feet, one its downward arc, the other rising.
The .44 passed to Seth’s right this time as Billie overcorrected from his
first shot, not knowing he had hit Seth. Seth’s first shot wasn’t exactly
where he intended to put it, but it was close enough as the massive slug of
lead plowed into Billie’s gut on the right side, just below his ribs. The bullet
punched into his body with an enormous amount of energy and destroyed
his liver and ruptured his hepatic artery before leaving his body and
crashing into the dirt behind him.
Billie spun clockwise once, his Winchester flying as he fell to the ground
with his life’s blood spreading across the frosty ground for eighteen seconds
before his heart stopped and the flow dropped away to nothing.
Seth didn’t have time to inspect the damage he’d done as he bolted
Rowdy from the trees and raced south away from Haven. As Rowdy
pounded the ground beneath him, Seth glanced to his left toward Haven and
spotted three riders already half a mile out of the village and chasing after
him.
He was depending on Rowdy’s speed and stamina to get him as far from
the outlaws as possible. He could feel his left pantleg soaking in blood and
knew he couldn’t ride very long in this condition. He’d have to stop and put
something on to staunch the flow of blood and that meant he’d need to find
someplace to set up a defense, so as he rode, he scanned for someplace
where he could hold off the three men. He didn’t want to go into the forest
again because with three of them, they’d have a big advantage and he’d lose
his one advantage, the longer range, and power of his Winchester. He
needed a small rock fort that could keep them in sight.
Whitey, Charlie, and Hank passed by Billie’s body without looking as
they chased after Seth, not gaining at all despite Whitey taking the lead on
Blackie.
Whitey was astounded that any horse could run away from Blackie, but
knew the stranger’s horse couldn’t match Blackie’s stamina, so he kept up
the punishing pace, leaving the other two behind him.
Seth had been glancing behind him when he could and saw one pursuer
break away from the other three and was almost matching Rowdy’s speed
which he found almost unbelievable. His eyes were being jarred out of their
sockets by the jolting ride as he tried to find that elusive fort. He thought
how odd it was with all the rocks and mountains surrounding him, he
couldn’t find what he needed.
He was just about to lower his standards when he spotted exactly what
he wanted when he saw a cluster of boulders at the base of a low ridge and
quickly turned Rowdy to his left to find his protection.
Whitey had seen the sudden change of direction and cut to his left to cut
the angle to reduce the gap between them. He was only six hundred yards
out when he saw the lone rider pull up and dismount. Even at that distance,
he could see the bright red covering his left leg in the morning sun. Billie
must have hit him. Now he had all the cards, he thought as he slowed
Blackie to let the others catch up.

Seth managed to dismount and hobble into the relative safety of the
boulder sanctuary, leading Rowdy with his left hand and holding onto his
Winchester with his right.
Once inside, he dropped the reins, unhooked his saddlebags, and then
staggered back to the front of the boulders to spot the pursuers and bring his
musket level. He was surprised to see that the one closest to the tall black
horse had slowed to walk and was waiting for the others to arrive. It was a
golden opportunity as he quickly pulled his knife, sliced open his pantleg,
and examined the damage. There was a lot of blood, but it could have been
much worse. He flipped open one of his saddlebags and pulled out his spare
shirt, wrapped the torso around his calf, and tied it off with the sleeves. He
knew he needed to have the wound sutured, but it was the best he could do
as he then turned back to see what the three outlaws were doing.
 When he saw them again, they were all in a clump about six hundred
yards out, staring in his direction. If they came within three hundred yards,
they’d be easy targets, but past that, things would get iffy at best. The fact
that they’d stopped meant that they weren’t stupid. He wasn’t going
anywhere, and they probably guessed he didn’t have much in the way of
supplies. What he did have is plenty of ammunition, but he couldn’t eat or
drink gunpowder or lead, so all he could do was watch and wonder what
they’d do next.
Whitey kept his eyes on the lone rider as he said, “I’m sure that Billie
got a hit before he was shot. His leg was bloody, so he might just bleed to
death if we wait him out.”
“All of us, boss?” asked Hank.
“For an hour or so. We’ll figure out how to deal with him after that.
We’ll spread out in a wide circle where he’s holdin’ up and see if he’s still
standin’. If he’s still alive after an hour, we’ll meet in the middle and figure
out what to do then. I’ll come up with somethin’.”
“What about Johnny?” asked Charlie Lemmon.
“Joe will handle Johnny. We need to keep an eye on this guy. He’s a lot
more dangerous than Johnny is.”
Whitey then told Charlie to stay in their current position, while he and
Hank rode south, keeping six hundred yards away. When he was looking
directly into Seth’s small fort, he stopped and stayed, then let Hank take
position another two hundred yards south. They had Seth pinned down, but
all they did was watch to see if he died.
_____
As the drama of the standoff took place twelve miles south of Haven,
another was about to start thirty-two miles north of Medicine Bow.
Johnny Billups was the first of the three riders to get on his horse that
morning and had ridden five miles by the time Joe Cox had finally managed
to get his horse saddled. He spotted Johnny crossing the rise about five or
six miles ahead after he was in the saddle and knew he had him. He was
certain that Johnny hadn’t seen him, and even if he had, Johnny’s horse
couldn’t come close to matching his own. He could run down Johnny at
will. It was just a question of when he chose to do it. He knew they were
still a good three hours north of Medicine Bow, so he could make his move
at any time, and began to get complacent, reveling in his role as
executioner.
_____
Rachel was up on Jelly as Johnny rode south and she had barely ridden
for ten minutes when she spotted an oncoming rider and her heart exploded
in joy when she thought it was Seth, but it didn’t take long for that
wonderful notion to be squashed with the heavy hand of reality when she
recognized that it wasn’t Rowdy under the rider, nor was the rider as tall as
Seth.
She kept riding and pulled her Winchester from the pannier, but didn’t
cock the hammer yet.
_____
Johnny had seen Rachel about the same time she’d spotted him, causing
him to stop. He stayed put for almost a minute before deciding that
whatever the threat was before him, it couldn’t be as bad as the ones behind
him, so he nudged his horse forward into a medium trot.
After five minutes, he noticed Rachel’s long black hair and breathed a
sigh of relief. It was just a woman.
But what was a woman doing out here
all alone?
Then less than a minute later, he saw the repeater in her hands
and the odd saddle she was using. He still hadn’t recognized Rachel, which
was surprising.
Rachel, however, just as Johnny was recognizing that she was a she, did
identify him as Johnny Billups, and she decided to gamble. She knew that
Johnny was weak by nature and was just a follower who had been drawn
into Joe Cox’s influence and probably just stayed with him because it was
easier than making it on his own. If he was riding south toward Medicine
Bow, then he might know what had happened to Seth.
She slid her Winchester back into the pannier and picked up Jelly’s pace.
 Johnny finally recognized Rachel and was more confused than before as
he saw her slide her rifle away. He sped up his horse as well and after ten
minutes of riding, they began to slow down enough to be able to talk, then
each drew their horses to a stop.
“Rachel? What are you doing out here? There’s no one left in Haven.”
“I know. They’re all in Medicine Bow. Your parents, sisters, and brother
all are there, too. What happened to Seth?”
“Seth? Who’s Seth?” he asked.
“Seth Egan, Abel’s brother. He led you away from our wagons, so
everyone could get to Medicine Bow safely, but he didn’t come back as he
should have.”
“That was him? I’m sorry, Rachel, but I think he’s dead. I heard a lot of
gunfire coming from Haven and then it stopped. I know they had him
trapped in there. Do you want to come with me to Medicine Bow?”
Rachel’s mind whirled with images of Seth riddled with bullet holes and
didn’t reply for almost a minute.
Then she shook her head and said, “No. I’m going to find him. You go to
Medicine Bow and find your family. They miss you.”
“I made a big mistake going with Joe, Rachel. He hooked us up with
Whitey Shultz and his gang and we robbed banks and they killed people. I
didn’t do anything really bad, though.”
“You let them do it, Johnny, but it’s not for me to judge. Where are they
now?”
“They’re all in Haven. You aren’t going to go there, are you?”
“Yes, I am. I’m not going to believe that Seth is dead. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m going to have his babies,” she said as she nudged Jelly
forward and shot past a staring Johnny Billups.
 Johnny watched her ride away then set his horse at a fast trot south to
find his family, having forgotten to mention to Rachel that he suspected that
he was being followed by Joe Cox.
____
Rachel was stunned by what Johnny Billups had told her. She kept going
back to Seth’s confession of a feeling of doom and his belief that he’d never
see Michigan again and hoped that it wasn’t true. He told her how silly it
was to believe in premonitions, and she had agreed with him, but it still
bothered her immensely as she rode north.
She was so caught up in her concerns about Seth that she wasn’t paying
attention to what was in front of her, not that it would have mattered as she
rode up the gradual incline to the crest of the rise that Johnny had just
crossed.
Just a half a mile on the other side of the rise, Joe Cox was trotting his
horse anxious to catch up with Johnny Billups. He had picked up the pace
to a fast trot after figuring he’d catch up with Johnny about noon just fifteen
miles short of Medicine Bow.
He was staring straight ahead when he spotted a horse’s head suddenly
appear in front of him, less than eight hundred yards away, and a few
seconds later a familiar face popped into view with her long black hair and
those dark gray eyes. He couldn’t believe his luck and kicked his horse into
a gallop as he reached for his Winchester.
Rachel had her mind filled with Seth memories when she was startled
out of her daydreaming by the sound of pounding hooves directly in front of
her and suddenly, over the rise, came a charging rider that it took less than
three seconds to identify as her worst nightmare…Joe Cox.
She knew she didn’t have time to pull her Winchester, so she turned Jelly
to the west and rode hard for the protection of the trees, two hundred yards
away.
Joe saw the move and quickly turned his bigger, faster horse to the west
and cut the angle to Rachel as she raced Jelly away. He made up the gap in
just seconds and was soon just sixty feet behind her.
 “Slow down, Rachel! I’m gonna catch you anyway!” he shouted.
Rachel knew he would but didn’t panic as she slowed Jelly down to a
walk. She was wearing the britches and shirts but also had her heavy coat
over the top. She was sure that he would never suspect she was carrying
two Colts and began to think of a way to put that advantage to use.
Joe was initially surprised that Rachel had slowed, but knew she really
had no choice, so he yelled, “Get down, Rachel!”
She stopped Jelly then slid down from her makeshift saddle and turned
to face Joe Cox, who had already slid his Winchester into its scabbard and
pulled his Colt then cocked the hammer before he dismounted and stepped
towards her.
“So, Rachel Winters, we meet again after all this time.”
Rachel didn’t reply but just glared at him, as she knew that was what
he’d expect.
He laughed and said, “Now Rachel, you aren’t still upset with me for
what happened in the barn way back then are you? I’m not too mad at you
for the scars I have from you shoving me into that tool bin.”
Rachel remained silent as he stared at her with that knowing grin.
“I may not be that mad, Rachel, but I figure you owe me, and I’m gonna
collect.”
Rachel finally asked, “Where’s Seth?”
“Who the hell is Seth?” Joe asked.
“Seth Egan. He’s the one who led you all back to Haven so the
community to reach Medicine Bow safely.”
“Oh, him? They were still lookin’ for him after I left. I guess he’s dead
by now. What’s he to you, anyway?”
“Everything.”
 Joe stared at those determined gray eyes and snapped, “Well, that’s too
bad. I’m gonna take everything from you and if you fight at all, I’ll kill you,
Rachel. Don’t doubt me, either. I’ve killed four men since I left, and I’ll kill
you without thinkin’ about it.”
“Johnny Billups is going to make it to Medicine Bow and tell them all
about your gang. You’re going to hang for what you did, Joe.”
“Johnny ain’t gonna make it anywhere, cause as soon as I’m finished
with you, I’ll chase him down and kill him, too.”
“So, you’re going to kill me anyway, whether I submit or not.”
“Maybe. If you decide you’ll come with me to Haven after, then maybe
I’ll let you live.”
“So, if I give you what you want, then you’ll let me live?”
“Sure. Let’s get goin’, ‘cause I need to catch up with Johnny.”
Rachel didn’t smile at him, but she let her glare soften as she slowly
unbuttoned her coat. After she tossed the coat to the ground, she unbuttoned
her outer shirt and asked softly, “Does it have to be out here in the open? I
don’t want anyone to see me naked.”
Joe was already seeing her naked in his mind and was running his tongue
over his upper lip before he answered, “There ain’t nobody anywhere
around here.”
Rachel glanced to the south and said, “Not even Johnny Billups?”
Joe Cox whipped his head to look for Johnny as Rachel slipped her hand
behind her outer shirt, shoved the hammer loop free, grasped the left-hand
Colt’s grips, and as she pulled it free, cocked the hammer as Joe’s head was
returning to look at her.
His mind had a hard time registering what he was seeing. Women didn’t
pull Colts out of nowhere and point them at men. He never even thought of
pulling his trigger when Rachel did.
 From less than four feet, she didn’t need any level of marksmanship as
the .44 blasted from her Colt’s muzzle crossed the thirty-two inches in
almost an instant then crashed through Joe Cox’s chest, shattering ribs,
blowing his heart apart and exiting before Joe even had a clue what had
happened.
By the time the gunsmoke had reached his nose, his brain couldn’t
recognize the smell as he fell backward onto the ground, his eyes still in
stunned disbelief.
Rachel didn’t weep or even shake as she reached down, unbuckled Joe’s
gunbelt, and pulled it free. She then picked up his loaded pistol, released the
trigger and slid it back into the holster, and locked it down with the hammer
loop. She then trotted over to Joe’s horse and knowing she was about Joe’s
height, was grateful for the normal saddle. Not wanting to leave Jelly
behind, she tied his reins to the back of Joe’s saddle, then after she picked
up and donned her coat, she quickly mounted and began riding north,
crossed the rise, and didn’t look back.
_____
Johnny Billups turned in the saddle when he heard the gunfire and turned
and didn’t see anyone, but wasn’t about to wait around for the shooter to
come after him, so he nudged his horse into a fast trot and continued south.
_____
While all the shooting was going on up north, most of the residents of
Haven were in Wilmot’s Dry Goods and just about cleaned out his stock of
dresses and other items that the women hadn’t seen in years. He was a
happy proprietor as they brought their orders to the counter.
Abel and Myra weren’t shopping but were talking to Gus and Joe about
what had happened and what they could do.
“Do you think Seth’s in danger?” asked Gus.
“I think so, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We lost Rachel
because she must have gone back north to find him,” Abel replied.
“Who’s Rachel?” Joe asked.
 “Rachel Winters. If they both come out of this alive, they’ll come out of
it as Mister and Mrs. Egan,” answered Myra.
“How did that happen?” Gus asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.
“I knew them both, and I was surprised it took them five days to figure it
out,” Myra replied then asked, “so, what can we do?”
Gus answered, “Well, Seth said to have the train ready to go, and she is.
We can move all the folk to Laramie later today if you want. It’s a lot bigger
and has more hotel space. We can be there in a couple of hours, then come
back and wait on Seth.”
“I don’t like this passive waiting,” Myra said as she turned to Abel and
asked, “Do you?”
“No, but we don’t have anyone who’s made for this. Where is the law?”
“We tried that, but the sheriff over in Rawlins didn’t even reply to our
telegram,” Joe replied.
Abel threw up his hands in frustration and then began to pace along the
crossties.
“I’ve never felt so damned helpless in my life,” he snapped then said,
“Gus, let’s plan on getting the families to Laramie. Myra and I will stay
here with our children and see if we can come up with something.”
“Okay, we’ll go and talk to the Union Pacific and see about getting the
tracks.”
Abel nodded as Gus trotted across the rails hopped onto the platform and
entered the Union Pacific offices.
He then turned to Myra and said, “Let’s go and tell the folks.”
Myra didn’t like the way things were going at all but nodded and hooked
her arm through Abel’s as they stepped carefully over the rails to go back
into Medicine Bow.
_____
 Seth was a bit dizzy, but not as much as he’d expected. He wished he
could give some water to Rowdy, but knew he had to keep it for himself. If
it came down to it, he’d just let Rowdy go so he’d be able to find water and
grass. He knew he’d have to keep his fluids up to replace the blood he’d
lost.
He checked his wound and found that the bleeding had stopped, which
was a positive, but his shirt was soaked in blood and he knew it would have
to come off soon. What made everything worse was that those three men
still stood out there next to their horses looking at him from six hundred
yards.
If he wasn’t so damned light-headed, he’d just cock the hammer to his
’76 and start walking straight at the one in the middle, almost forcing him to
start firing outside the effective range of the ’73, Then when he was still
more than two hundred yards out, he’d open up with his Winchester musket
and take him out, then the other two. But he couldn’t trust himself to make
that walk and still have the ability to make the necessary shots.
They were even taunting him by eating jerky and drinking water from
their canteens. None of them had shouted anything, though, and he
wondered why they hadn’t been in the least curious to know who he was.
Whitey was very curious to know who Seth was, but he had expected
him to die within an hour. Yet now it was almost three hours that they’d
been watching him, and he didn’t want to keep this up all day. Something
had to change, and it was up to him to make it change.
He pulled his Winchester from his scabbard and fired one shot in Seth’s
direction to get Hank and Charlie’s attention. Once they both looked his
way, he waved them over.
They mounted and began to trot toward the center as Seth watched.
As he did, he took a long drink of water, and without turning his head, he
said, “Sorry, Rowdy. I know you’re thirsty, and if I don’t get rid of those
three in another hour, I’m going to let you go and find yourself some
water.”
 Rowdy didn’t reply, so Seth just watched the three outlaws converge and
wondered what they had decided to do about him. He hoped that it was
something to do with rushing him with their three Winchesters to his one,
but he doubted it. They hadn’t done anything stupid so far.
Whitey kept his eyes on Seth as he said, “He’s still alive in there, but I
don’t think he’s got any food. I think one of us can keep him in view while
one of you gets some sleep and the other goes back and gets some supplies.
Not a lot, just some water and food to keep us for another day or so.”
“Why don’t we just rush him, Whitey? We outgun him,” said Charlie.
“Because it’s stupid, Charlie. We may have three Winchesters to his one,
but he’s got protection and we wouldn’t. We can afford to wait him out.”
Hank asked, “Why do we even care about him? We can leave him there
and even if he makes it to Medicine Bow, we can stock up with supplies
and head up to Casper.”
“Because if he makes it there, the law will know where we are. They
telegraph Casper and they’d be waitin’ on us.”
“I don’t think Casper has any law, Whitey,” Charlie said.
“I’m not takin’ that risk. Now, Hank, you head back and get those
supplies. It should only take you four hours or so. Charlie, you get some
sleep while I keep an eye on our friend.”
“Okay, boss,” Hank said as he walked to Billie’s horse and mounted.
He trotted away quickly reminding himself to find his own horse when
he got near Haven.
Seth watched as one rode north and then the other pulled his bedroll
from his horse and unrolled it across the ground. His chances of staying
alive just went up.
_____
Rachel was still riding north at a good pace and kept her eyes peeled for
any movement in the distance. She’d been too far away when Whitey had
fired his warning shot, but if he’d fire it now, she’d hear it just thirty
seconds after he pulled the trigger.
She was just about four and a half miles north when she made out the
two horses and then one man standing near the horses. It was getting late in
the afternoon and she knew that there were at most two hours of sun left,
but she also knew that she couldn’t just keep riding because she’d be
spotted if she hadn’t been already. She didn’t know who the man was that
was standing by the horses, but she knew in her heart that it wasn’t Seth. If
he was able to stand, he’d be riding south to be with her. There had to be a
reason why the man was standing there.
She slowed the horse to a walk and then changed her direction to the
northwest to head for the trees. She knew that if she reached the trees, she
could stay in the forest under cover and get closer to the man and figure out
what he was doing. She was almost sure it had something to do with Seth
because she couldn’t believe that he was dead.
Ten minutes later, she entered the trees with Jelly trailing and was able to
manage a slow trot north through the trunks keeping about fifty yards from
the tree line. As she rode, a feeling of urgency kept growing inside,
knowing that somehow, Seth’s life was in her calloused hands.
_____
Seth knew that he had to release Rowdy now. He owed him that.
So, he took a sip of water, and after his dry mouth could work again, he
shouted, “My horse needs water! I’m going to let him go. Don’t shoot him.
He’s a good horse!”
Seth’s shout startled Whitey who had been accustomed to the silence. It
also awakened Charlie, who suddenly sat up and turned back to where Seth
had just shouted.
Whitey yelled back, “Go ahead! We won’t shoot him. I don’t shoot
horses!”
Seth unsaddled Rowdy, removed his bridle, and rubbed his neck, saying,
“You go and find yourself something to drink, Rowdy. Have some nice
grass, too. I’ll come and find you when I get rid of those two out there.”
Rowdy nickered then Seth popped him on his hindquarter and the
gelding bolted from the small sanctuary and then turned southwest.
Three pairs of eyes followed him as he left the area trotting southwest
and then veered due west and crossed the valley into the trees where he
could smell water.
“You’ve got no chance now, mister!” Whitey shouted.
“I’ll be all right,” Seth shouted back.
“The hell you say! You don’t have a lick of water and I’ll bet you ain’t
got any food, either.”
“I’ll make do. I have plenty of ammunition, though,” Seth yelled.
At six hundred yards, their voices carried a long way, and even through
the trees and the muffled sound of her horses’ hooves over the pine needle-
covered ground, Rachel heard human voices but was unsure of what was
being said. She brought her horses to a sudden halt and sat still to listen, and
what she heard made her heart stop and then suddenly race.
“What’s your name, anyway?” Whitey yelled.
“Seth Egan. Who are you?”
“Whitey Shultz. You heard of me?”
“Nope, can’t say I have, but I’m from Marquette, Michigan so don’t feel
bad about it.”
Whitey laughed. If he wasn’t so intent on killing this man, then he’d like
him.
“What’s a man from Michigan doing way out here in the middle of
nowhere?”
“My brother asked me to help get some folks out of their village.”
“So, that’s where they went. They’re all in Medicine Bow now?”
 “Yup. You rode right past them when you were following me. That
means that they’ll be telling the law that you’re here. You may as well start
riding now before the sheriff arrives with a posse.”
“Good bluff, but that bullet is costing you a lot of blood, and it’s gonna
kill you long before a posse can get here.”
“I don’t think so. Nothing is going to kill me now. I have to get back to
Medicine Bow. I have a young lady waiting for me and I’m not about to
disappoint her.”
“Now ain’t that sweet. Well, Mister Egan, I hate to tell you, but she’s
gonna be mighty disappointed.”
“Well, come and get me if you’ve got the nerve. You’re not afraid, are
you?”
“I’ll tell you what. You walk out from behind those rocks and we’ll see
who has the sand.”
Seth knew it was the best offer he was going to get. There were only two
of them and his head wasn’t spinning at all. He had to take the risk.
“Okay, Whitey, let’s do this!” he shouted as he cocked the hammer to his
Winchester and limped out from behind his boulder.
He hadn’t counted on the setting sun that now blasted his eyes, but it was
off to his left enough that he could make out the two horses and one
standing man. Whitey was visible, but he couldn’t see the second man as he
began his hobbling walk toward the gang leader.
Whitey was surprised that he’d taken the bait, but said in a low voice,
“Stay low, Charlie. Get him in your sights and when he gets in range, let
him have it.”
Charlie was more than happy to stay on the ground and replied, “I’m
ready, boss.”
As Seth limped toward them, Whitey began to walk slowly toward Seth.
It was such a slow walk that a tortoise could have outrun him. He wanted to
get Seth closer to Charlie’s rifle.
 He had noticed the brass butt plate on Seth’s ‘76, which should have
identified it as a more powerful Winchester than his, but he didn’t pay any
attention, thinking it was nothing more than a personal adornment.
Charlie had his Winchester’s sights on Seth, but he was still almost five
hundred yards away, and all he could do was watch as Seth gimped toward
them. He noticed Seth’s flapping, bloody left pantleg and was surprised he
could walk at all.
As Seth walked, he wondered the same thing as each step shot a flash of
pain up his leg and his back. He kept his feet moving though, and after
walking almost a hundred yards, finally found the second man in a prone
position, his Winchester already pointed at him. He knew he was safe for a
while but had to get closer to be sure. He suspected that Whitey was the
true threat and the second man was just a backup.
_____
Rachel, after hearing Seth’s shout about having a young woman waiting
for him in Medicine Bow, hoped that he wouldn’t be angry with her for her
disobedience, but laughed it off as she started the horse forward again and
kept her eyes trained on the east waiting for the horses and men to come
into view.
She was startled when a horse suddenly appeared in front of her and
before it trotted past, it turned and nickered at Jelly, who nickered back. She
recognized Rowdy, so she knew she had to be close.
Five minutes later, she spotted the horses to her right through the trees
and was horrified when she saw Seth walking toward a man with a
Winchester pointed at him.
She quickly dismounted, wrapped the reins around a branch, and pulled
her Winchester from Jelly’s pannier.
She exited the forest almost two hundred yards behind the horses and the
men and began to jog with her cocked Winchester in her right hand. It
wasn’t until she had gone fifty yards that she caught sight of the second
man with his repeater trained on Seth, who was now about three hundred
yards away.
 It wasn’t a surprise that neither of the two outlaws had seen her, but
neither had Seth. His eyes were focused on Whitey as he hobbled along,
knowing he’d get one good shot from distance before the second man fired
and even at two hundred yards, could get a killing shot at this altitude with
its thinner air.
Rachel didn’t know about altitudes or thinner air as she slowed her pace
to a fast walk to control her breathing. Seth had told her that the sights had
to be steady before she pulled the trigger and knew she had to remain calm
if she was going to help Seth.
Seth was beginning to feel dizzy again and knew he’d have to take that
shot soon or he wouldn’t be able to take it at all.
Whitey had his eyes trained on Seth as he neared the two-hundred and
fifty-yard mark and decided it was close enough. That leg wound would
prevent him from running and if he turned to try to get away, he could run
after him and get closer to finish him off.
Whitey lifted his Winchester into a firing position, sighted on Seth, and
squeezed the trigger. His shot was low, and the ground fifteen feet in front
of Seth erupted as the .44 blasted into the rocky ground.
Seth took one more step, then brought his ’76 up to fire at Whitey as
Charlie fired. Seth felt the bullet whip the back of his shirt away from his
skin and knew he was out of time as he put Whitey back into his sights and
fired.
Whitey had been expecting his return fire and was preparing to leap to
the left when Seth’s flames reached his eyes, but before the sound created
by the .50-95 Express cartridge could reach his ears, the half-inch thick
tapered cylinder of lead ripped into his chest, throwing him back onto the
ground, gasping for air as the inside of his right lung was open to the sky
and air rushed in but did nothing except block his lung from working
properly.
In addition to the large holes in his lung, blood was rushing out of his
wounds onto the ground as he writhed in pain, unable to scream from the
loss of air.
 After he’d fired, Seth collapsed to his knees as his leg could no longer
support him, but he was still alert enough to try and bring his Winchester to
bear on the second shooter. But his angle was wrong now that he was on his
knees and he could no longer find the prone shooter. He had to stand up if
he was to be able to get the other one. He struggled to get to his feet, but
simply couldn’t. The only thing that would work was if he used his musket
as a crutch, but that would leave him vulnerable and unable to fire, but it
was all he had.
Seth grimaced as he grabbed his Winchester’s hot barrel with his left
hand, placed the brass-covered stock against the ground, and began to push.
Charlie had seen him drop and knew this was his chance and stood to get
a better target just as Seth was trying to stand with his Winchester.
As he was struggling to gain his feet, Seth glanced toward the second
man and saw him stand and aim his Winchester and knew he would die in
just a few seconds. But then at the edge of his vision, he saw the third man
who had ridden away earlier bringing his Winchester to bear.
How had he
returned without being heard?
He closed his eyes and all he could envision was Rachel standing there
with her coat open showing him her Colts. He smiled as he waited for the
punch of the bullet or the sound of the Winchester to arrive, but when he
heard the Winchester’s report, he didn’t feel anything.
Where was the pain?
He couldn’t have missed, not at that range.
Where was the second shot?
He opened his eyes and watched in astonishment as the last outlaw raced
toward him with his smoking Winchester. He remained confused until he
was close enough and saw the long black hair and knew it was Rachel. For
some reason, he wasn’t the least bit surprised, but he was most assuredly
grateful as he heard her shout, “Seth!”
Seth finally managed to push himself upright using his Winchester and
shouted back, “Rachel!”, but at a much lower volume.
He couldn’t move anymore but had to wait for her to reach him, and was
expecting her to plow into him, but she slowed quickly then walked the last
two steps, lowered her Winchester carefully to the ground, so Seth wouldn’t
be angry with her for abusing a firearm, then stepped before him, took his
one free hand in hers and asked, “How are you, Seth?”
He smiled and replied, “Alive, thanks to you, Rachel. They had me.”
She had seen his leg as she had been trotting toward Charlie and said,
“You’ve been shot.”
Seth glanced down at his leg and replied, “It seems that way. It’s not
bleeding now but I need to get it sutured. You didn’t bring Lydia’s medical
kit, did you?”
“I have it in Jelly’s pannier. I was going to leave it with the wagon, but
with everyone almost to Medicine Bow, I thought it might be better to take
it with me.”
“You are not only the most beautiful woman in the world, but I think
you’re the smartest one, too.”
“No time for compliments. Rowdy is over with Jelly in the trees to the
west. I’ll get their horses and get you on one and we can ride over there.”
“You’re in charge, ma’am. Oh, by the way, there’s one more that headed
back to Haven and two others that I lost track of.”
“One of the others is Johnny Billups and he’s on his way to Medicine
Bow to find his family. The other one was Joe Cox, and he found me a few
miles back and wanted to pay me back for refusing him a few years ago.”
“If you’re here, can I guess one of the Colts needs reloading?”
“I had to, Seth,” she replied softly, “Just like I had to shoot that one on
the ground. He was going to kill you.”
Seth reached over with his good arm and hugged Rachel as he said, “I
know Rachel. I felt the same way when I had to kill those men. How do you
feel?”
She sighed and answered, “Not as bad as I should feel, I suppose. I
should be a blubbering mess right now, but I don’t regret it for a second. I
suppose that means I’m not a very nice person.”
 “No, it means you’re a very strong person who knows that our world
isn’t perfect and unless some of us do the hard things that are necessary,
evil will win. We’ll never let that happen, will we, Rachel?”
She lifted her gray eyes to look at Seth and replied, “No, we won’t.”
“Now I don’t think that last one is going to be back until much later, so
let’s get things together and into the trees.”
“Yes, sir,” she said but before Seth let her go, he pulled her closer and
kissed her to let her know he had no intention of dying.
The message was received, and a reply transmitted before they separated
and prepared for the short trip across the valley. Rachel did most of the
work as Seth sat on Whitey’s big black gelding with his ’76 still in his
hands. Rachel took both gunbelts from the outlaws, rolled them and placed
them in their saddlebags, picked up both Winchesters and slid them into the
scabbards, and then mounted Charlie’s horse. They turned west and left the
two bodies as they trotted into the setting sun and soon reached the safety of
the trees.
Once inside the forest, Rachel gathered Joe Cox’s horse and Jelly with
the now all-important pannier and followed Rowdy’s trail west until they
came to a stream and found him grazing on some grass on the banks.
Rachel dismounted quickly and helped Seth out of the saddle and then
led him to the bank of the stream where there was enough light before she
led the other horses to the water and rummaged through Jelly’s pannier for
Lydia’s medical kit and brought it to Seth.
After he took it from her, she trotted back and pulled a towel from the
pannier and headed to the stream, dipped the towel into the water, and then
walked over to where Seth was removing his shirt-bandage.
She grimaced as she pulled it away from the wound and she saw the
damage done by the passing .44.
“What are you going to do, Seth?” she asked as she continued to stare at
the ragged flesh.
 “I’ll wash it with water then splash some of the alcohol on the wound
and sew it closed.”
“I can do it, Seth,” she said as she watched him lower the leg into the
stream and let the flowing water turn red as the dried blood dissolved.
“Are you sure, Rachel?” he asked as he studied the leg.
“I can sew better than you can.”
Seth laughed lightly and replied, “Anyone can sew better than I can. But
I can probably work iron better than you.”
“I don’t believe you’ll be doing any ironwork on that leg.”
“No, ma’am,” he replied as he left the leg in the cold water more to
numb it than clean it now.
“When I pull it out of the water, it’ll be numb with the cold for a while.
I’ll dry it and then splash some alcohol on it. Then it’ll be yours to sew.”
“Okay. But give me a minute to thread the needles.”
Seth nodded and continued to watch his leg while Rachel slid the silk
thread through the suture needle’s eye and set it aside.
“Okay, Seth. I’m ready.”
Seth nodded again then took the towel in his hand then pulled his
garishly white leg from the freezing water, dabbed it with the towel, and
then quickly unscrewed the bottle of pure grain alcohol and splashed it on
his leg, bringing tears to his eyes as he rolled onto his side to let Rachel
work.
Rachel exhaled sharply and jabbed the needle into Seth’s leg above the
wound and slid the curved needle through his torn flesh and then pulled it
through, tightened it, and because she needed to just close it quickly, just
continued down the wound, her teeth clenched as she held it closed with her
left hand and repeatedly had to push the needle though Seth’s tissue. He
never made a sound as she stitched the wound closed and when she finished
the job and tied it off, she sat back and exhaled.
 “It’s all done, Seth,” she said as she looked at him.
He rolled back on his back then took the still-open bottle of alcohol,
splashed more on top of her sewing job, and whistled before he sat up and
smiled at Rachel.
“I am not at all surprised that you were able to do so well, Rachel. I
haven’t seen anything that you haven’t been able to do yet.”
Rachel sat back and asked, “Do you want one of my pair of britches?”
Seth laughed and replied, “As tempting as that offer is, Rachel, I have an
extra pair in my saddlebags, but can I ask for something to eat?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have remembered that you hadn’t brought any
food with you. Just a moment.”
Rachel bounced away from the stream and reached into one of the two
panniers, pulled out a piece of smoked beef, returned to Seth, sat down next
to him, and handed him the chunk of meat.
“Does this sound eerily familiar to you, Rachel?” he asked as he ripped
off a piece of beef and began to chew.
“Oddly, enough, it has occurred to me. Now, what do we do, Seth? That
third one might be coming back soon.”
“I’m sure he will, and we just need to watch and see what he does. If he
sees those two bodies, he’ll probably run, but it’ll just be a question of
direction. Would he head back to Haven or would he run to Medicine
Bow?”
“Does it matter to us?”
“Not to us, but if he heads south, it’ll matter to the folks in town. He’s a
murdering outlaw with nothing to lose. I’d rather not let him loose in
Medicine Bow.”
“So, we’ll head back to the forest’s edge to watch?”
“It’s all we can do, Rachel.”
 Rachel sighed then looked at Seth and said, “When I left this morning, I
thought I’d find you riding back, but found Johnny Billups instead. Then he
told me you were dead, and I almost died inside. Then I ran into Joe Cox,
who was going to try to hurt me, but he said that they never found you, so
after I left, I was filled with hope again.
“When I heard your voice shouting that you had a young woman waiting
for you in Medicine Bow, I wanted to ride across the valley and throw
myself into your arms until that man said you’d been shot, and I was
horrified. Then there was that shootout. I’m just drained, Seth. I want this
all to be over. I want you to take me back to Michigan, marry me and just
have our babies. Is that asking too much?”
Seth leaned over, gave her a soft kiss, and replied, “No, Rachel, it’s not.
By this time tomorrow, we’ll be back in Medicine Bow and I’ll make sure
you never have to worry again for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t mind worrying, Seth, it’s this kind of frantic worrying that is
making me crazy.”
“Let’s leave Jelly and Rowdy here and we’ll ride back over to the edge
of the forest and watch for that last rider.”
Rachel nodded, pulled Seth to his feet then let him put his arm over her
shoulders as she helped him to Whitey’s big black gelding and let him
mount on the right side. Once he was in the saddle, she mounted Joe Cox’s
horse and they walked the two horses out to the edge of the trees and then
stepped down, hitched the horses to branches about thirty feet into the trees
before Rachel slid under his arm again and they walked to the edge of the
trees and sat with their backs against a wide pine trunk.
Seth looked up and said, “That comet won’t be with us in another two
days, Rachel.”
“Do you think that there’s even the remote chance that Zacharia was
right?”
“No, not even the tiniest possibility. It’s a funny thing about comets. For
thousands of years, different cultures thought that comets presaged the end
of the world, just as Zacharia believed. Some thought eclipses were a sign
of pending doom, too. But all those fears were based on ignorance. It’s easy
to point at something that most people have never seen before and scare
them. It’s a lot harder to understand what it is.”
“Zacharia used an eclipse four years ago to reinforce his claim that his
revelation was true.”
“Did you believe it?”
Rachel paused before saying, “Sort of. Myra told me what it was, and I
believed her, but deep down, it still frightened me.”
“I wish I had been here to see it. Where I was, we only got a partial
eclipse. I’ve never witnessed a total eclipse.”
She smiled at him and said, “Well, I guess I’m one up on you then. We
both saw all those shooting stars and the comet, but I got to see the total
eclipse.”
“I guess you’ll always be one ahead in celestial sightings, Rachel, but I
bet I’ll be the first one of us to fly.”
“Fly? Fly what?”
“Oh, not in a balloon. That’s floating. I’m talking about flying through
the air at speeds faster than my locomotive.”
She rotated to face him and Seth felt one of her Colts knock against his
ribs as she said, “You’re serious, aren’t you? You really think men will fly.”
“Of course, they will. George Cayley in England wrote this incredible
book about how to make flying machines. The only limitations are power
and control. I don’t believe steam engines will ever be light enough to
provide the power to get one airborne, but we’ll find other sources and I
can’t wait until someone makes that breakthrough. Imagine flying through
the skies hundreds if not thousands of feet above the ground at speeds over
a hundred miles an hour! It’s the second most thrilling thing I can think
about happening in the future.”
“Second only to what? Flying to the moon?”
 “No, Rachel. Second only to spending the rest of my life with you.”
Rachel leaned her head against his shoulder and admitted, “I know. I just
wanted to hear you say it.”
As they sat waiting for Hank to return, Hank was sitting in Zacharia’s
house. He’d found his horse and had led Billie’s horse into the barn with
his, unsaddled them both and walked into the house, started the fire in the
cookstove, hung up his gunbelt and hat on the pegs, leaned his Winchester
against the wall and took a seat at the table.
When he had watched the stranger with his air of defiance and that
Winchester at his side, Hank had a feeling that Whitey had bitten off more
than he could chew. That man was trouble, even if his leg was covered in
his blood.
As he made the ride back to Haven, he began to think about what he
could or should do. Hank was tired and cold and didn’t really want to return
with supplies for Whitey and Charlie. By the time he rode into the
abandoned settlement, he decided on doing precisely…nothing.
If they returned, he’d come up with some excuse or another. If not, he’d
stay right here. Somehow, the whole idea of being the man in charge, even
if his subjects were just a bunch of wandering critters appealed to him.
Hank Olsen decided he’d crown himself the King of Haven tomorrow if
they didn’t come back.

Johnny Billups arrived in Medicine Bow and had slowed as he walked

his horse into town, unsure of what he would expect. Rachel had told him
that they were all here, but where were they?
He walked his horse down the main street and couldn’t see any faces that
he knew until he was almost at the end of the road and saw Abel Egan
walking with two men he didn’t know. He was still unsure of what would
happen if he talked to Abel, but he didn’t have much choice now. So, with a
swarm of butterflies in his stomach, he slowed his horse down and turned
him to the nearest hitchrail, and stepped down.
 He tied off his horse as Abel and the two men drew near and stepped
onto the boardwalk, drawing their attention.
Abel looked at him then tilted his head slightly and asked, “Johnny?
Johnny Billups?”
Johnny replied quietly, “Yes, sir, Mister Egan. Um, I ran into Rachel
Winters on the trail and she said my family was here. Do you know where
they are?”
Abel ignored his question and asked hurriedly, “You saw Rachel? Where
was she going? What about my brother Seth? What happened up there,
Johnny?”
Johnny felt very uncomfortable by the questions and hung his head as he
answered, “Rachel said she was going to find your brother, so she could
have his babies. Then she rode away, and I heard one gunshot about twenty
minutes later.”
Abel felt his stomach flip thinking that Rachel could have been killed,
but asked again forcefully, “What about Seth?
What happened, Johnny?
”
Johnny was truly miserable as he replied, “I was in a gang with a man
named Whitey Shultz. He was a really bad man and Joe Cox had me and
Charlie Lemmon join up with him. We held up a bank and they killed
people. I never did, but I know that doesn’t make it right, but Joe Cox
enjoyed killing people. He said that he wanted to pay back Rachel for what
she did to him three years ago. Maybe he caught her and shot her. If he did,
then he’d be behind me unless he rode back to Haven. Is Seth the one who
rode north to Haven? He was riding a tall, dark brown horse.”
“Yes, that sounds like him.”
“He led the gang into Haven and Rachel said it was to get us past the
wagons full of folks from Haven. When we got into Haven, he disappeared
into the forest and they had me and Joe Cox set up to wait for him to leave,
but he never showed. I took the chance to escape from the gang and Joe was
chasing after me when I spotted Rachel.”
“And you haven’t seen Seth since then?”
 “No, sir. Can I see my family, now? Please?”
“They’re in the hotel. Just stop at the front desk and ask for the Billups
family.”
“Will they be mad at me?” he asked plaintively.
“I don’t think so. Your father asked if we could turn the wagons around
to go and get you.”
“He saw me with the gang?” he asked with wide eyes.
“Just go and talk to them. I’m sure they’ll welcome you back. I need to
talk to Gus and Joe here about the news you gave us.”
“Okay. Thank you, Mister Egan,” he said as he turned and jogged
diagonally across the main street toward the hotel.
Abel turned to Joe and Gus and asked, “What do you think?”
“I think we oughta take some of those Winchesters that Seth gave you
folks and set up outside of town in case that one that was following him and
killed Rachel shows up.”
“I hope that Rachel is okay,” Abel said, “If she’s not, I hope Seth never
learns about it.”
“If those bastards hurt Seth, I’ll go after ‘em myself! I swear to God, I
will!” exclaimed Gus.
Abel just said, “Let’s get those Winchesters.”

After waiting for two more hours, Seth stood on his own and Rachel
began to offer her support when he said, “I only let you last time to have
you close, Rachel. I can walk well enough.”
“I know. I enjoyed it myself,” she replied as she took his hand and they
walked slowly to their horses, mounted, and rode back to where Jelly and
Rowdy still grazed.
“What do we do now Seth? Do we stay here or ride into Medicine Bow
tonight?” Rachel asked as they arrived at the stream.
 Seth dismounted carefully then replied, “I’d rather just stay for the night.
We can be in town by ten o’clock tomorrow morning and I’m a bit tired.”
Rachel had stepped down when Seth had begun to dismount and said, “I
was hoping you’d say that. I don’t know if I’d last the trip without falling
off the horse.”
Seth began unsaddling the horse as did Rachel and ten minutes later all
four horses were quietly grazing and Seth had two bedrolls stretched out
across the flat ground near the stream.
With the horses stripped and content, Seth and Rachel ate more of the
smoked beef and drank some water before just lying on the bedrolls looking
up at the bright comet overhead as they talked.
“Seth, have you decided what you’ll do after we return to Michigan?”
“More or less. I’ve already signed over the company to Abel, but we’ll
have to make it official and establish my salary and position. Then it’ll just
be a question of deciding where we’ll live.”
“Aren’t we going to live in Marquette?” she asked in mild surprise.
“That was my original plan but, you know, I’m getting fond of
Wyoming. I wouldn’t mind living out here.”
“How could you do that if you have to work for the company in
Michigan?”
“There are always ways to do such things if you have the money to do it.
Now aside from any income that I’d get from working for the company, I
do have quite a healthy bank account at the Marquette Bank. Since I’ve
been the owner and president and the company has been so successful, I
made a significant amount of money. It will give us the freedom to choose
wherever we want to live.”
“How much is significant?”
“My last statement had my balance at just over fifty-two thousand
dollars.”
 Rachel was stunned as she looked at Seth in the comet-light and
repeated, “You have more than fifty thousand dollars and still risked that to
come here to help Abel?”
“Abel, Myra, and their children. They were all that mattered to me then,
Rachel. Now you matter the most to me.”
Rachel couldn’t fathom either the money or the ready willingness to risk
losing it.
“I can’t imagine anyone doing that.”
“The money meant nothing to me, Rachel. I lived in my parents’ big
house and had a fancy office, but I didn’t drive their splendid carriage or
use their silver plate or fancy china. None of that is me. When I received
Abel’s telegram, I didn’t give it a second thought.
“I hadn’t known where he and Myra were, and once I knew, I would
have gone to Haven even if he hadn’t told me of the crisis. I may have taken
a few more days, but I would have gone to ask him to return and take the
company off my hands. The company just gave me an opportunity to do
what I loved doing. Now I have you and that money will give us a chance
that few people have, especially young people. We get to choose where we
will live and what we will do.”
“Do you need to live in a city?” she asked.
“No, just near a railroad, so I can have equipment and supplies brought
in.”
“So, even a town like Medicine Bow would work?”
Seth rolled on his left side propped his head on his elbow, smiled at
Rachel, and replied, “I think a town like Medicine Bow would be perfect.”
Rachel then rolled onto her right side, assumed a similar elbow-
supported position, and asked, “Where could you build your workshop? In
Haven?”
“No, Haven is much too far away. I’d want to be within a mile of
Medicine Bow, so I could freight in some of the larger items like steam
boilers. So, how about on the ride back to town in the morning, we find a
nice site for our new home?”
Rachel smiled as she asked, “And then you’ll start giving me our
babies?”
Seth laughed before answering, “Rachel, you seem to be obsessed with
having our babies. You do know how that works, don’t you? It’s not like we
get married and suddenly your tummy magically begins to bulge.”
Rachel rolled back onto her back as she asked, “It isn’t just magic? You
mean there’s something we have to do to make babies?”
Seth gazed at Rachel as she lay on her back, her long black hair spread
across the bedroll as she looked at him with those astounding gray eyes then
whispered, “No, Rachel, I was wrong. It really is magic.”
Rachel said softly, “I think so, too.”
Seth leaned over and as he rolled over to kiss her, he was suddenly
reminded that Rachel Winters was carrying two Colt Peacemakers when the
right-side Colt’s hammer jammed into his side, forcing him to quickly flop
back onto his back.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, surprised that the magic moment had
evaporated.
Seth was smiling at the oddity of the situation as he replied, “I was just
stabbed by a Colt Model 1873 hammer.”
Rachel laughed and began unbuttoning her coat. Then after flipping it
open, she sat up, wriggled free of the outer garment, dropped it onto the
bedroll behind her, and then looked back at Seth.
“Do you wish to have the honor of disarming me, Mister Egan?”
Seth sat up quickly and replied, “I’d be pleased to assist you, Miss
Winters,” then reached over and pulled the top cord’s bow, undid the knot,
and let the cord ends drop to the ground while Rachel kept those deep gray
eyes trained on his.
 As he yanked the bottom cord’s bow free, he said, “You know how hard
it was to concentrate every time you put this thing on don’t you?”
“I was hoping that it was, but you hid it well.”
“It was difficult to do. Trust me,” he said as he dropped the cords
holding the holsters tight to the ground.
Rachel leaned back onto her hands to let Seth remove the gunbelts, while
still looking at him with those penetrating eyes. Even in the light from the
thin moon and the Comet, they were hypnotic to Seth.
He was surprised that his hands were shaking as he undid the first buckle
of the modified gunbelt and then as it dropped, let the weight of the pistol
swing it forward before he set it on the bedroll. He moved onto the second
gunbelt and after he placed it on the bedroll next to the first, he looked at
those eyes fully and let their full impact take hold of him.
He was so immersed in her eyes that he almost didn’t hear her husky
voice ask, “Are you going to stop there? I might be hiding something under
my shirts.”
Seth blinked then replied, “I’m sure that you are.”
“You’d better be sure.”
She then slowly lowered herself to the bedroll and kept her eyes on his
as Seth leaned forward and finally was able to kiss her without fear of any
deadly steel between them.
Seth never felt the pain from his recently sutured gunshot wound as he
was totally immersed in Rachel. He was surprised that a young woman who
had spent ten years in a religious community could be so uninhibited. He
had failed to account for the last two years she had spent with Myra, and it
was her advice and explanations that allowed Rachel to just let herself go
and let love’s passions envelop her.
Neither paid the slightest attention to the cold night air as homespun and
store-bought clothing was tossed aside until only skin was reflecting the
light from the comet and moonlight.
 It was only forty minutes later, as they lay breathing hard and a sheet of
perspiration covered their bodies that the low temperature made itself
known and both slipped into one of the bedrolls and let the heat that they
generated warm each other.
Rachel was snuggled in tight under Seth’s left arm, which wasn’t solely
due to the limited room in the bedroll, but the lack of volume did make it
necessary.
“Seth, that really was magic,” she whispered.
“You surprised me, Rachel. I thought you’d be more, I don’t know,
subdued.”
Rachel said softly, “After that experience with Joe Cox, I was so afraid
of what awaited me that I thought I’d never be able to be a good wife. Myra
knew how I felt, and she helped me to understand the difference between
what he was trying to do to me and what it felt like to be loved. After a
while, she got me to the point where I simply couldn’t wait to meet my
future husband and have him make love to me. That first night we were
together, I knew it had to be you, Seth. My only worry was that I wasn’t
good enough, but you made that worry disappear. Now I’ll be your wife and
we’ll have our babies. Maybe we already made the first one.”
“If not, we can keep trying.”
“Right now?”
“It would be difficult in the bedroll, don’t you think? But that’s the only
thing preventing me from ravishing you again.”
Rachel slid closer and kissed him, before sliding back down and sighing.

In Medicine Bow, Abel, Gus, and Joe finally gave up waiting for any
incoming riders and returned to the town. Abel returned to his room to tell
Myra what he had learned while Gus and Joe returned to the living quarters
on the Comet after having received their orders from their new boss.
As he passed through the hotel’s lobby, the Billups family was still there
surrounding Johnny as he told them everything that had happened in the
past two years, including tonight.
 He looked up at Abel as he passed by but didn’t ask any questions as
Abel just shook his head and walked to the Egan family’s room.
He rapped once on the door to let Myra know he was entering, opened
the door, and then closed it quickly once he was inside.
Myra was lying on the bed and quickly sat and asked, “Any news of Seth
or Rachel?”
“Johnny Billups returned and told us that he talked to Rachel, then she
rode north while he headed south. He heard a single gunshot about twenty
minutes later and that was all. He said they had Seth trapped in a forest and
assumed that they killed him. He had run away before anything happened
though.”
Myra snapped, “That little coward! He was always a toady for Joe Cox.
Why didn’t he at least go with Rachel?”
“As you said, Johnny is a coward. We can’t all be heroes, Myra. Do you
know what Rachel said to him as she rode away? She said she was going to
find Seth because she was going to have his babies.”
“If anyone could go and find him, it would be Rachel. I refuse to believe
that either of them is dead. I simply won’t.”
“Are Aunt Rachel and Uncle Seth dead?” asked Mary from her bedroll
on the floor.
Before Abel could reply, Myra answered, “No, sweetheart. I’ll bet that
they’ll come riding into Medicine Bow in the morning holding hands and
asking where they can find the justice of the peace so they can get married.”
Abel wished he could believe his wife, but deep down he knew she was
just saying what she hoped was true. His brother was dead and now he had
to really take charge. He’d already told Gus and Joe to be prepared to roll
out of Medicine Bow early tomorrow morning. He just hadn’t told Myra or
anyone else yet.

Gus and Joe were lying on their bunks in the living quarters in the Comet
just staring at the roof of the boxcar as they had for ten minutes now.
 “Do we do what Abel says now or do we wait for Seth?” asked Joe.
“I suppose we gotta do what Abel says, but it’s Seth’s train. Isn’t it?”
“I don’t know if it’s his or Mimi’s, but it’s not goin’ anywhere without
you to drive it, Gus.”
Gus snickered and replied, “You got that right, Joe. Besides, this here
train is experimental and temperamental, too. We could have all sorts of
problems I’ her fired up tomorrow mornin’ like Abel says. Why we might
not get her ready for a couple of days.”
Joe turned on his bunk and looked at Gus, saying, “Then we gotta get
permission from the Union Pacific, too.”
Gus rolled on his side and grinned as he said, “And they might not be too
happy with us for usin’ their rails so much, either.”
With their delaying conspiracy set, both men rolled back onto their backs
in a much better frame of mind.
 CHAPTER 9
Seth’s throbbing left calf woke him as the predawn arrived and its weak
light filtered through the trees. He had Rachel’s raven hair splayed across
his upper chest and he smiled as he looked at her peaceful face.
But as warm as he was, he was still naked inside the bedroll and there
was no way to extract himself without disturbing Rachel. So, he tilted his
head four inches and kissed her on her forehead.
“Rachel?” he said softly, “I need to get out of the bedroll.”
Her eyelids fluttered slightly before opening and then she smiled and
said, “You first. I’m too toasty.”
“Alright. I’ll have to be careful, though.”
Rachel slid as far as she could away from Seth to give him some room to
escape the confines of the sleeping bag and he began to slither out.
He finally was mostly free of the restrictive cocoon, and then bent at the
knees to gain his footing and was rewarded with a slap on the behind from a
laughing Rachel.
As he stood, he looked down at her grinning face and said, “I don’t know
how to take that, Mrs. Egan.”
Her grin quickly dissolved as she asked, “Did you say Mrs. Egan?”
“You don’t believe I’d be creating babies with a woman not my wife, did
you, Rachel? I married us under the light of that comet last night. We’ll
make it official later today in Medicine Bow.”
“Then I’m sorry I spanked your behind, my husband.”
Seth grinned and said, “Oh, that’s okay, wife. I’ll return the favor later.
Now I’ve got to go.”
 He jogged naked across the frosty ground and shocking his newly named
wife, waded into the icy water of the stream and then simply flopped onto
his back making a huge splash.
She rolled over onto her stomach and watched in amazement as Seth
used sand to scrub himself clean and after a few minutes, stepped out of the
water and picked up his underpants from the discarded clothing and pulled
them on, then threw on his shirt before reaching into his saddlebags and
taking out his replacement pair of britches. After he’d pulled them on, he
pulled on some clean, heavy wool socks and then his boots before standing
and pulling on his gunbelt.
“You don’t expect me to take a bath in that cold water, do you?” she
asked from the bedroll.
“It’s up to you, wife. It’s not that much worse than the air temperature.
When you get out of the bedroll, the cold hits you pretty hard, so while the
shock is still there, the second shock of the cold water isn’t so bad.”
Rachel thought about it, then asked, “Are you sure?”
“You have to take my word for it.”
Rachel looked at Seth, then turned and glanced at the stream. That water
sure looked cold, but Seth didn’t seem to be worse off for using it.
She took in a deep breath, exhaled sharply, then slid quickly out of the
bedroll, scrambled to her feet and tiptoed to the stream and stuck her toes
into the frigid water, and looked back at Seth, who was saddling the horses,
then took two quick steps forward and dropped into the water.
As soon as her skin was immersed in the near-freezing fluid, she knew it
was a mistake. Her head was below the water when she let out her scream,
and then quickly popped to the surface, ready to let Seth know that he had
tricked her, but then noticed it didn’t feel so cold anymore. She began to
scoop up sand as Seth had and rubbed them over her skin and was soon
happily scrubbing the accumulated dust and dirt from her limbs and torso.
The only part of her that seemed cold now was anything that was exposed
to the air.
 “I wish I had some soap,” she shouted to Seth as she worked the grains
of sand.
“I usually have some with me, but not this time. I’ll make it up to you,”
he replied as he moved onto the second horse.
By the time Rachel scampered out of the stream and made a beeline to
her homespun britches and shirts, Seth had finished saddling the horses and
set up a trail rope for Jelly and Rowdy, who needed his saddle.
A fully dressed Rachel approached Seth and said, “I was ready to give
you a good tongue-lashing when I first hit that water, but then it didn’t seem
bad at all.”
“I noticed.”
“I suppose you noticed a lot more, too.”
“Of course, I did. I’ll never let an opportunity pass when I can admire
the woman I love.”
Rachel stood on her tiptoes and kissed him before saying, “I love you,
Seth.”
Seth turned, hugged her close and looked into those gray eyes, and
replied, “I love you, Rachel.”
“Let’s get back to Medicine Bow. I’ll bet no one will even know I was
gone.”
“I think you’re wrong about that, ma’am.”
“You’ll see. They’ll be surprised to see us when we get there.”
“I think you’re wrong, but I need to pick up my saddle over on the other
side of the valley, so we’ll swing that way and I’ll just toss it on Rowdy
then we’ll ride into Medicine Bow.”
“Okay, let’s go and get your saddle,” Rachel said as she reached into the
pannier, found the last of the smoked beef, and gave a piece to Seth, and
took one for herself before they mounted and rode east out of the trees.
 They quickly rode across the valley past the two bodies that had
obviously been visited by night critters, and into Seth’s small rock fort. Seth
dismounted and had Rowdy saddled and bridled in ten minutes with the
trail rope hooked up to both horses and tied to the big black gelding.
Once they were riding south, Seth turned to Rachel and asked, “Rachel,
this is a really nice horse. I like him almost as much as I like Rowdy. Do
you want him?”
“No, he’s too big for me. If I could have a horse, I’d like one like Jelly.”
“Then he’s yours. I’ve had him since I arrived back from college. He’s a
good horse and very smooth and gentle.”
“Is that why you named him Jelly? Because he’s so smooth?”
Seth smiled and replied, “No, I had actually named him Sable, but that
only lasted two weeks and I changed it to Jelly.”
“Why?”
“Well, it was a nice summer day, so I rode him out to this pond that I
swam in since I was a boy, hitched him to a bush, and after ripping off all
my clothes, dove into the water. By the time I was finished with my swim
and my after-swim sunbathing, I returned to where I’d hitched him and
found that I’d left him in a blueberry patch, and he’d devoured three bushes
worth of blueberries.”
“Oh,” Rachel said, “So, you thought because he liked blueberries, he
was like blueberry jelly.”
“No, not exactly. Later that day, I was in the barn, tinkering with a small
steam engine, and Jelly was in his stall nearby suddenly, I heard this
horrendous sound and the room filled with a sickly, sweet odor and when I
looked at Jelly, there on the ground was this liquid mess that looked like
bad blue…”
“Stop!” Rachel shouted as she held up her hand, “I don’t want to hear it!
Just tell me that it was a one-time occurrence.”
 Seth laughed and said, “I just make sure I keep him away from berries of
any sort.”
“Then I’ll do the same.”
Seth looked over at a smiling Rachel and couldn’t have been happier,
even with his leg still throbbing.
_____
“What do you mean we can’t leave yet?” Abel asked loudly.
Gus replied, “We gotta have permission from the Union Pacific, and
they’ve got the westbound train comin’ through in three hours and then a
coal train comin’ through two hours after that and said we’ve gotta wait
until that coal train has gone by before we can use the main tracks.”
“Why didn’t you tell me last night?”
“We hadn’t asked permission from the UP yet.”
“I suppose you didn’t have any choice. I’m sorry for being so obnoxious,
but we’ve got to get these people moved.”
“Tell them we’ll start loading at two o’clock.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Gus,” Abel said before he turned and walked back
across the rails to Myra and the children who were waiting on the platform.
After he’d gone, Joe said, “Odd, ain’t it? We make all these plans for
delaying and it turns out that all we can do is hold it here for a few more
hours.”
“Well, at least it’s honest. We can always get them back to Michigan and
then come back.”
“If we get to Michigan and haven’t heard from Seth yet, then there’s no
point. Is there?”
“I guess not. Abel seems like a good man, though. I could see where he
could get frustrated with havin’ all those folks to look out for.”
“Yup. He’s a good man and will do right by Mimi, but he’s not Seth.”
 “Nope. Let’s start getting the Comet checked out for the trip.”
“Okay.”
_____
As they walked back to the hotel to meet with everyone, Myra asked,
“When do we leave?”
“Gus said to have everyone ready to go by two o’clock. He’ll bring the
Comet to the platform for loading like a normal train. He said that there’s
more than enough room in the second half of the boxcar for everyone’s
things and that the passenger car seats eighty-eight, so there’s enough
seating for everyone. We’ll stop at towns for food and should be in
Marquette in three days.”
“I’m going to wait for Seth and Rachel north of town. I want to see them
when they come riding in. Then we’ll need to go and find the justice of the
peace.”
Abel was about to challenge Myra’s belief in their return when he
glanced down at the children and kept his tongue.
After they reached the hotel and its packed lobby, Abel explained that
the train would be leaving a little after two o’clock and everyone would be
on board by then.
Then Myra made Abel cringe when she said, “I’m going to the start of
the wagon trail to Haven to wait for Seth and Rachel. They should be
arriving in a couple of hours and after they do, they’ll want to see the
justice of the peace to get married.”
Her statement caused an immediate buzz as she looked at Abel, smiled,
and then took Mary and Ruth’s hands and walked out of the hotel, and
turned right on the boardwalk.
Abel had no alternative but to take little John’s hand and follow, starting
a large flow of ex-Haven residents from the hotel.
_____
 Seth and Rachel were just six miles north of Medicine Bow and Rachel
had begun her search for their new home in earnest.
“What about over there?” she asked as she pointed to the east.
“I need water. Look for a good stream and lots of timber. We’re already
in the Union Pacific’s right of way, so we’ll be able to buy a full section
from them at a good price.”
“Do you need a whole section?”
“Probably not, but I’d like some privacy if you continue to make that
much noise when we go about the business of making babies.”
She laughed and replied, “If you think it’s business, then you’re a very
good businessman.”
Seth looked over and just smiled at Rachel.
It was three miles later that they found their spot. It was perfect, and it
was Rachel who had first seen it.
They were going to turn to inspect it more closely when Seth nodded
toward the south and said, “I think we have a reception committee in
Medicine Bow, Rachel.”
Rachel looked into the glare of the sun shielding her eyes and was
surprised to see a large group of dots in the distance.
“Are those people?” she asked.
“I think they’re all your neighbors from Haven.”
She continued to stare under her hand but still couldn’t make out
individuals, just a big mass.
_____
Not surprisingly, it was Myra who first spotted the two riders as they
crossed the northern horizon, and she shouted, “Here they come!”
Just as Rachel had done, dozens of hands went to foreheads to shield the
sun that was almost directly in their eyes to spot Seth and Rachel.
 Abel said in a low voice, “Myra, it could be two of those outlaws.”
Without turning, Myra replied, “Nonsense. That’s your brother and my
future sister-in-law.”
Abel opened his mouth to argue but then snapped it shut. When Myra
was like this, there were no arguments allowed.
_____
“My goodness! I think you’re right, Seth,” Rachel finally agreed after
another minute.
“Let’s pick up the pace and not keep them waiting.”
Rachel turned to Seth grinned and exclaimed, “Let’s go!”
They nudged their borrowed horses to a fast trot and Rowdy and Jelly
kept pace as they created a good-sized dust cloud.
When they got within half a mile, both Seth and Rachel began to wave at
the large group, and dozens of hands waved back in return.
Abel finally conceded to Myra, but said, “You were wrong, Myra.
They’re not holding hands.”
Myra laughed but didn’t care if she was wrong about that detail. Seth
and Rachel were back and seemed anxious to see the justice of the peace.
_____
Rachel and Seth slowed their horses when they were a hundred yards out
and walked them to the waiting crowd, then dismounted when they were
fifty feet away.
Seth then took Rachel’s hand, smiled at her and then they led the horses
to where Abel and Myra stood with their children.
Rather than release their hold on each other, Seth and Rachel dropped
the reins to their horses, and as Seth shook Abel’s hand vigorously, Myra
embraced Rachel as the sister she truly was.
Abel asked, “What happened, Seth? Are you and Rachel all right?”
 “They had me, Abel. I got a few of them, but the last one had me and I
thought it was over until Rachel shot him first. I thought I was dead, but
Rachel saved me.”
“All of them? You shot all six of them?” he asked.
“No. I shot two and Rachel shot two. One of them, Joe Cox, caught her
on the trail coming north and was going to kill her, but she shot him first.
He underestimated Rachel, which is something no one should ever do. Did
Johnny Billups make it here?”
“He’s in that crowd with his family. So, there’s one left somewhere?”
“I think the leader, Whitey Shultz, sent him back to Haven for supplies. I
just watched him ride away to the north after talking to the boss. Rachel and
I waited for him to come south, but he never did.”
“Do you want to go and chase him down?”
“You’ve got to be kidding, Abel. I’m an engineer and I have a wife to
marry. The last thing I want to do is chase after some outlaw. That’s the
law’s job now.”
“You’re getting married? Myra said you’d be looking for the justice of
the peace.”
“You’re married to a very smart lady, Abel. And in a few hours, so will
I.”
Rachel and Myra had listened to their conversation and both were
smiling when they finished.
“Will you and Myra be our witnesses after we track down the justice of
the peace?” Seth asked.
“We’d be honored. But is Rachel going to get married wearing britches
and those baggy shirts?”
Before Seth could answer, Myra replied, “No. When we went shopping
yesterday, I picked out a dress and other necessities for Rachel, and if you
gentlemen don’t mind, Rachel and I will adjourn to the hotel room, so she
can get changed.”
She then walked quickly back toward town and the hotel with a very
happy Rachel.
“Why the rush?” Seth asked.
“Gus has the train scheduled to leave in four hours.”
“He’s over on the siding with Joe?” he asked.
“Yup.”
“Okay, let’s get all this done. I’ll take the horses to the train. Can you
find the justice of the peace and arrange for the wedding? You know most
of my life details, and we’ll fill in Rachel’s when we get there.”
“Rings?” he asked.
“If you can find some, that’ll be good, but it’s not important. I can
always buy her a ring.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Seth mounted the big black on the right side and Abel asked, “Why are
you mounting him over there?”
“Oh. I was shot, but Rachel sewed it up.”
Abel never got a chance to ask for clarification as Seth held Rachel’s
horse’s reins in his right hand and set off for the siding as the rest of the
crowd began meandering back to town all talking about what they had
heard.
Seth was stepping the horses over the rails when Gus heard the hooves
as he was greasing a bearing on the front truck wheels. He glanced at the
sound and almost smacked his head on the pipes overhead when he spotted
Seth walking his horse and trailing Rowdy and Jelly and another one
behind.
 “Seth!” he shouted, which startled Joe who was already stoking the fires
in the firebox to get them ready for their departure.
Joe bounced out of the locomotive’s cab as Gus trotted over to Seth and
waited for him to dismount.
“Abel thought you were dead!” Gus exclaimed as Seth’s boots touched
the cinder-covered ground.
“He was almost right, too. They had me dead to rights, Gus. I was
already bleeding from a wound to my leg when I got one of them, but that
second guy had me in his sights when Rachel shot him with her
Winchester.”
Joe asked, “Who’s Rachel? Myra seems to think you and her are gonna
get hitched.”
“She’s right, as usual. Abel is trying to locate the justice of the peace,
and Myra is getting her changed into a dress for the ceremony. Is the Comet
ready to roll?”
“Pretty much. We just need to top off the water tank and build up
steam,” replied Gus.
“Then you both can come to the wedding in town. I need to get the
horses into the stock car, though.”
“Let’s get that done,” said Joe, “I gotta meet the woman that wrapped
you up so fast.”
“She’s the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met, Joe.”
“She’d have to be, Seth. I’m glad you found her,” said Gus.
“Me, too.”
They led the horses to the stock car, and Seth held them while Joe and
Gus slid the doors open and extended the car’s ramp.
After the horses were in the car, unsaddled and making short work of the
filled oat bins and trough, Seth, Gus, and Joe headed into town.
 Abel had found the justice of the peace, completed most of the
paperwork, and had even managed to find two rings that had been kept by
Lydia when widows and widowers had been created over the years. They
were simple rings, but Seth was sure that Rachel would appreciate their
significance.
He bought a new shirt and a pair of nicer pants than the ones he wore,
then used the backroom of Wilmot’s to shave and brush his hair.
He still wore his gunbelt and even after Abel suggested that it might be
inappropriate to wear it at his wedding, Seth thought otherwise.
A little before noon, Seth and Abel were waiting in the only church in
Medicine Bow that would allow a wedding to take place that wasn’t
officiated by the pastor. There was simply no other place that could
accommodate a group that large, not even the school.
The justice of the peace was ready and standing at the front of the aisle
rather than on the altar, and the church was full of Haven refugees as they
all awaited the bride.
Seth had no idea what to expect from Rachel as he saw her silhouette
suddenly appear, backlit by the bright Wyoming sun. It wasn’t until she and
Myra had walked almost fifty feet into the church that he saw Rachel’s new
dress.
It was a beautiful, light blue affair with a wide, dark blue bow around the
waist. But what made it truly memorable was that strapped in bandoleer
fashion across her chest were two gunbelts with Colt Model 1873s lashed
into their holsters.
Every eye in the church stared at Rachel, whether in disbelief or
admiration, which didn’t matter to Seth. He couldn’t imagine Rachel
wearing anything else that would be more effective in telling the world who
she was.
Seth smiled at Rachel, who smiled back, and he was sure that despite her
choice of an armed wedding ensemble, she was more feminine than any
woman he’d ever seen.
 He held his hand out to her, and she placed her calloused, hard fingers
onto his and he closed his hand over the top of hers before they turned to
face the justice of the peace.
When it came time to present rings, he could tell that Rachel was
surprised when he held the two rings in the palm of his hand and after she
slowly selected the larger scratched ring from his hand, she already
understood the source of the two bands of gold. These weren’t new, store-
bought pieces of jewelry. They’d been worn by a man and a woman who’d
followed Zacharia Dyer’s prophetic summons to a wild country and lived a
hard life only to succumb to some of the many dangers of life on the savage
frontier.
He slipped the smaller ring over her finger and then she did the same to
him, and after being shaken once more by her powerful gray eyes, Seth
kissed his true wife and whispered, “I love you, Rachel.”
Rachel couldn’t reply as she was already in tears as she just hugged her
husband for a good minute while everyone applauded.
Abel was finally able to kiss Rachel without any fear of retribution from
Myra, who just hugged Seth and then Rachel before the newlyweds walked
happily down the aisle as the church emptied behind them.
After completing the boring paperwork and with the marriage certificate
in his pocket, the work of getting everyone ready to return to Michigan
began.
The first thing Rachel asked was, “Where are we going to spend our
wedding night, my official husband?”
“I’ll let you know when the time comes. By the way, I thought your
choice in your wedding dress accents was perfect.”
She smiled and replied, “So, did I. Myra wasn’t so sure. She said it
looked too provocative.”
“She was right about that, but I’m not complaining. I get to disarm you
again soon.”
“You don’t want me to take them off yet?”
 “Not on your life. The horses and the panniers are already on the Comet,
and I need to make sure all the permissions are good from the Union
Pacific.”
“I’ll go down to the diner and get food enough for four and we’ll eat on
the train. Okay?”
He kissed his wife and said, “Perfect.”
Rachel smiled then turned and headed toward the diner that was already
building up a long queue. She was sure that the residents of Medicine Bow
would be more than happy to see them all board the train.
She still had never seen the Comet, so as she walked carefully carrying
the tray of food forty minutes later and caught sight of the odd iron duck,
she stopped and stared at it for a minute before beginning to walk again.
Seth was in the cab with Gus as Joe shoveled in more coal and the
pressure in the boiler grew. They’d already filled the water tank and there
was enough coal to get them well past Cheyenne, but they planned on
staying overnight there for the convenience of the folks in the passenger
cars.
“Seth!” Rachel shouted when she reached the bottom of the cab, and
Seth quickly left the controls and carefully hopped down in deference to his
recent bullet wound.
He relieved her of the tray, saying, “Thank you, Rachel. Let’s get Joe
and Gus out of there and make short work of all this food.”
Then he turned his head and shouted, “Gus! Joe! Chow!”
The two dirty men dropped down to the ground quickly and Rachel
asked, “Where do we eat?”
“In the dining area,” Seth replied.
Rachel looked around and asked, “Dining area?”
Seth handed the tray to Joe, who stepped up onto the locomotive and
turned left onto a narrow walkway beside the coal car, and then stepped
across a gap onto the boxcar. Gus followed him and opened the door, letting
Joe enter and Gus followed, leaving the door open.
Rachel glanced at Seth, who then stepped up onto the locomotive and
reached down, and took her hand. She was still wearing her wedding dress
and gunbelts, so it was awkward for her to make the climb but once on the
locomotive, she looked at all the valves, dials, and levers then asked, “And
you know how to drive this thing?”
“Sure. So, does Gus. Joe can, but he’s not licensed yet. It has quite a few
differences from normal locomotives that I can show you once we’re
underway.”
“Won’t we be in the passenger car?”
“No, Mrs. Egan, you and I will be in the honeymoon suite.”
Rachel looked askance at her new husband who just grinned and led her
down the siderail-protected walkway that Joe and Gus had just used and
when she stepped into the living quarters of the boxcar, she was astonished.
It looked nicer than any living room she’d ever seen. It had a table, four
chairs, two beds, a heat stove that looked almost like a small cookstove, and
even a privy.
Gus and Joe had already set the food on the table, so Seth walked over
and held the chair for his wife and Rachel took her seat.
After Seth sat next to her, she asked, “Why did you do all this?”
“We knew we’d be making test runs that could take days, so rather than
having to run to hotels or camp outside, especially in the cold weather, I
built this.”
He began to eat quickly, and although she had many questions, Rachel
followed suit as her eyes continued to take in her surroundings.
When they finished, Joe scooped up the plates and silverware, piled
them on the tray, and said, “I’ll run these back to the café, Seth. You and the
missus can relax for a while. We’ll be moving out shortly.”
“I want to show Rachel how the Comet works when we get ready to go.”
 “No problem, boss,” Gus said as he stood, then looked at Seth, smiled,
and nodded, giving his stamp of approval to Seth’s choice in brides.
Joe just grinned at him as the two men left the living quarters and closed
the door behind them.
“Seth this is amazing. Did you build all this?”
“Mostly. Gus and Joe helped, but the design is mine. The heat stove can
actually even be used as an oven. See that big flat thing against the wall
behind you?”
Rachel turned spied the heavy piece of wood and replied, “Yes.”
Seth stood, walked to the board, released two catches, and as he lowered
it, two strong legs began dropping from the sides and when it was flat, it
covered one of the beds but created a hard surface.
“I needed a bigger workspace, so I built that into it, and it comes in
handy for baking, too. I can’t cook very well, but Gus has been trained by
his wife, and can really cook.”
“Where do you get the food?” she asked.
“Under the two beds. They’re like flat pantries. We only keep enough
food to last three men for a week.”
“That’s still plenty.”
“Now my wife, we have an hour before they get the train ready to go and
you need to get changed.”
“But I don’t have anything else to wear.”
Seth smiled and walked to the back of the living quarters and slid the
door open that led to the back of the boxcar. Rachel followed and found all
the things that they had packed when they left Haven, but there was a large
chest of drawers anchored to the corner.
Seth walked to the chest and slid open the bottom drawer and pulled out
some denim britches and a belt, then closed that drawer and opened the top
drawer rummaged around, and extracted two shirts.
 He closed the second drawer and walked back to Rachel with the
clothes.
“I wasn’t sure if Ethan would need any more clothes or not, so I had my
personal secretary, John Elliott buy some men’s clothes that might fit him.
These would be too small for him but should be just your size.”
Rachel accepted the clothes and asked, “Why didn’t you bring them with
you to Haven? You brought those other things.”
“He’s a man and I figured he didn’t need them right away but might need
them when he returned to Marquette.”
“Then let’s go back to the other side and you can disarm me again.”
Seth raised his eyebrows smiled and said, “As you command, so I obey,
wife.”
Rachel smiled took his hand and led him out of the back half of the
boxcar to the good side and Seth closed that door behind him before he
attempted to disarm the dangerous woman.
_____
An hour and forty minutes later, a differently clothed but even more
spectacularly outfitted Rachel stood beside Seth as he showed her the
different reasons for the valves and switches, what the levers did and what
each gauge told him about the Comet.
He and Rachel then stepped back to let Gus move the train from the
siding to the main tracks by the depot.
The run to Laramie would be done backward, but once there, they’d be
able to turn the train around and look more like a train, or as much as the
Comet ever could.
The Haven residents all were excited as they lined up to enter one of the
two passenger car platforms, especially the children.
Seth and Rachel helped guide everyone to their seats and there was more
than enough room for families to stay together. Abel and Myra sat up front
with their children on the opposite side. There was a large tank of fresh
water near the front of the passenger car and a dozen tin cups hanging from
hooks.
“Okay, everyone,” Seth shouted, “We’ll be rolling in a few minutes. Is
everyone ready to go to Michigan?”
There was a cacophony of different forms of endorsement from the
passengers as Seth took Rachel’s hand and they stepped out onto the front
platform and waved to Gus, who returned the wave and opened the Comet’s
throttle.
The small train began to pick up speed and Seth led Rachel to the boxcar
and then into the living quarters. They took their own seat by one of the
windows and Rachel curled her legs under her as she snuggled under Seth’s
arm.
“Seth, did you notice that the comet was gone from the sky?”
“It was time, Rachel.”
“That means that the sun isn’t going to explode after all, doesn’t it?”
Seth pulled his wife closer and said, “Well, maybe. If the sun exploded,
it would take over eight minutes before we’d know it.”
A startled Rachel pulled away slightly and asked,
“What?”
“Light travels at around a hundred and eight-six thousand miles per
second, so if something happens to the sun, that light would take almost
eight minutes to reach us. For all we know the sun could already be a little
ball of cinder in the sky.”
She returned to her closely meshed position and said, “Well, if I’m going
to be roasted alive, I’d just as soon do it right here.”
_____
Back in Haven, Hank Olsen was more than just a little pleased with
himself. None of the others had returned, and Hank knew that they wouldn’t
be back. He was so happy with his decision to not return to help Whitey and
Charlie that he decided to celebrate with one of the three bottles of whiskey
that Whitey had stored in the house.
After opening the bottle Hank walked out of the house stopped outside
and waved the bottle in a wide arc in the bright sun shouting, “All hail the
King Hank of Haven! This is all mine!”
He laughed, took a long drink, then stepped out to do an inspection tour
of his new kingdom. He was almost giddy with his good fortune as he stuck
his head into empty houses, looked in the large barn, and appreciated the
loose hogs, sheep, and cattle that wandered the fields.
He took a deep pull of whiskey every now and then and was feeling no
pain as he stumbled through the fields with the half-empty bottle in his
hand. He was still laughing at his wise decision when he stubbed his toe and
took two long, wind-milling steps, and fell flat on his face into the grass,
startling a massive, four-foot-long prairie rattlesnake that had been stalking
a field mouse.
The snake quickly changed its target and struck at the new threat sinking
its fangs into Hank’s neck and injecting its venom before it recoiled and
raced away to safety.
Hank screamed grabbed his neck and tried to rise, then fell again before
making it to his feet and jogging drunkenly back toward the house. He
clawed through the door and began to panic as he felt his neck going numb
and then just as quickly, calmed down and headed for the cupboard where
Whitey had stored the whiskey. He opened one of the two remaining bottles
and upended it before falling to the floor in a stupor letting the rattlesnake’s
poison do its job.
An hour later, Haven was deserted once more.
_____
After overnight stops in Cheyenne and Omaha, the small train finally
switched over to the Double M railway system and headed north for
Michigan.
 Seth and Rachel had stayed in the boxcar at each stop while everyone
else, including Gus and Joe, had gone to the hotels in each city.
As they rolled along the rails, Seth and Rachel were able to make more
definitive plans for their future, and even Seth was getting excited at the
prospect. They both knew that they’d have to wait until the warmer months
to start building their new home north of Medicine Bow, but the time went
much quicker for the couple in the boxcar as they huddled over drawings
and outlines of their future residence, interspersed with more traditional
newlywed behavior.
By the time they finally rolled into Marquette without a single issue with
the Comet, Seth noted, everyone was anxious to depart. Those that
remembered the town wanted to see the changes, and Abel and Myra were
ready to start their new lives.
Seth and Rachel initially moved into the big house with Abel and Myra,
but with three busy children, it soon proved to be less beneficial to their
status as newlyweds, so after a week, Seth found a much smaller, but
comfortable house just two blocks away that suited them perfectly.
They kept all four of the horses from the trip, but Seth did buy a buggy,
just to have the advantage of being able to have Rachel close.
When the comet reappeared after its transit of the sun, Seth had to
explain to Rachel why it had and that it was now going away from the sun,
would soon disappear again, and they would never see it in their lifetimes.
The snows of northern Michigan arrived before Thanksgiving, and by
the time Christmas arrived, the expected tall drifts were commonplace and
the only method of travel that was comfortable was by sleigh.
Naturally, Seth didn’t buy a sleigh, but fashioned skis to replace the
wheels on the buggy, which actually worked better than most of the sleighs.
As Christmas approached, Seth was at a loss of what to buy for Rachel.
Right after they arrived, he had taken her shopping and her closets were
filled. She wasn’t a jewelry person, nor were any other typical womanly
gifts things that appealed to her.
 Eight days before Christmas, he took the Comet on a test run to Omaha
and returned three days later with her gift.
On Christmas Eve, Rachel was pulled in close to Seth, her long black
hair covering the entire top half of the bed, including her husband’s chest.
“Seth, it was very difficult to buy you a gift when you have everything. I
know you told me that you don’t want anything, but I think I did find
something that will make you happy.”
“You make me happy, Rachel. I don’t really need anything else, but
along that same line, I found it almost impossible to buy you anything.
Most women get all giddy about diamonds or emeralds, furs, or other
things, but you don’t. I found something that I think you’ll like, but I’m not
sure.”
“We’ll see tomorrow morning. Then we’ll go and see Abel and Myra. I
found a lot of nice things for the children, too.”
“Kids are always easy to please. I swear, you could give them an empty
box on Christmas, or their birthdays and they’d be ecstatic.”
“You seem to understand children pretty well, my husband.”
“I love children.”
“And I know you’ll love ours.”
Seth turned to his smiling wife and asked, “Ours?”
She slid his hand to her naked stomach and replied softly, “Ours.”
Seth pulled Rachel close and whispered, “Ours.”
_____
Christmas morning arrived, and Seth hurried around the cold house to
get the heat stoves lit and fires going in the fireplaces to make it warm for
his wife who was carrying their child.
By the time Rachel stepped out of the bedroom wearing one of her many
warm flannel nightdresses, the house was toasty and after using the privy,
she joined Seth in the kitchen as he prepared breakfast.
“Did you see your gift yet?” she asked.
“No, Mrs. Egan, I didn’t go snooping. I wanted it to be a surprise as your
gift will be.”
“I’m ashamed to admit that I did go looking but didn’t find it anyway.”
Seth laughed and poured her coffee as he said, “You’d have to be a
master detective to find it.”
“Then I guess I’m not one because I didn’t.”
Seth slid the two plates of eggs and pork sausages onto the table and sat
next to Rachel and smiled at her.
“I thought sausages were better than bacon for you.”
She smiled back and replied, “That first bite of sausage on the day you
found me was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
They ate their breakfast calmly, despite the awaiting gifts.
When they finished, Seth picked up the empty plates, put the used
silverware on top, and set them in the sink before turning to Rachel and
holding out his hand.
“Those can wait. Let’s go and open our presents,” he said as she placed
her hand in his and stood.
They walked hand in hand down the hallway to the parlor and before
sitting, Rachel let go of his hand and said, “This was very difficult to hide.
It was only delivered a week ago when you went on your test run to Omaha,
so that was good timing, by the way. Abel helped to hide it because it was
so heavy.”
“Where is it?”
She walked to the parlor closet opened the door and said, “I can’t move
it out of there, but it’s in back behind a black felt cloth.”
 Seth was intrigued as he stepped over to the closet and almost couldn’t
see the cloth at all, but then stuck his hand in back, found the fabric and slid
it free, and handed it to a smiling Rachel.
It was still pretty dark in the back of the closet, so all Seth could make
out was some brass fittings.
He reached with both hands, felt a thick, brass cylinder and put both
hands around it, and struggled to lift it out of the closet. As soon as it struck
the light, he broke into a giant grin.
“Where did you ever get this?” he asked as he spread the tripod legs of
the large refracting telescope out onto the floor.
“I contacted a company name Rothman’s in Minneapolis. They deal in
scientific instruments. John Elliott set it all up.”
“This is magnificent, Rachel! A four-inch refractor. I’ll be able to show
you the moons of Jupiter with this.”
Rachel knew she had done well and said, “There’s a case underneath
with all sorts of gadgets that are a complete mystery to me.”
Seth practically dove into the closet and emerged with a large, polished
maple chest. He set it down, unlatched it, and saw a felt-covered interior
with lenses, azimuth dials, and counterweights for the telescope. There was
even a spotting telescope that could be attached to the main tube.
Seth turned to Rachel and hugged her tightly as he said, “Thank you so
much, Rachel. This is perfect.”
Then he stepped back and said, “I’m not so sure that you’ll be as
impressed with the gift I bought for you.”
“It doesn’t matter what it is, Seth. It only matters that it came from you.”
Seth walked to the same closet and reached inside his coat pocket that
had served as part of the camouflage for the telescope, pulled out a thick,
red envelope, and returned to Rachel.
 He was almost embarrassed to be handing her such a plebian gift after
the thoughtful, magnificent gift that she had given him.
Rachel accepted the envelope, noted his obvious misgivings, and smiled
at him warmly as she untied the string holding it closed, opened the flap,
and pulled out the contents.
She read the legal document and then looked up at Seth with an
enormous, genuine smile on her face.
“It’s the deed to our property near Medicine Bow,” she said quietly.
“I went down to Omaha and negotiated with their land agent and their
head of operations. I wound up buying three sections north of Medicine
Bow, starting just at the tracks. Because of the way it works, we own three
sections, but those are the first, third, and fifth square miles north of the
town. The other two are owned by the government, as is the one to our
north. The UP is going to build a small spur line a mile up that valley on
our land. Of course, I had to pay for it, but they absorbed part of the cost. Is
it okay that I bought you something like this, Rachel?”
Rachel’s eyes glistened as she answered, “Okay? Is that all you think of
this, Seth? This is so much more than just okay. Since we’ve been back, we
haven’t even talked much about going back to Medicine Bow. We’ve been
so caught up in moving here to this house, getting the buggy or something
else, that I was afraid you might have forgotten how important it was to
me.”
Seth held her in his arms and said, “How could I ever forget that?
Besides, it’s what I wanted, too, Rachel.”
“I thought that once you returned here, you’d want us to stay.”
“It’s fine here, but I want to take you back to Medicine Bow, build our
house, and have all of our babies there.”
She wiped away a tear, laughed, and said, “All of our babies? How many
do you think we’ll have?”
“As many as you want. I figure a dozen should do.”
 Rachel kissed Seth and said softly, “I’ll see what I can do.”
_____
Later that day, Seth and Rachel rode the modified buggy sleigh to the big
house and celebrated Christmas with Abel, Myra, and the children. Gifts
were exchanged, and a big turkey was served by Abel’s new cook.
Myra wasn’t surprised by Rachel’s announcement that she was
expecting, but she and Abel were both surprised by their joint revelation
that Seth and Rachel would be departing in the spring to being work on
their new home near Medicine Bow.
“You’re leaving?” asked Myra.
“In April, I think,” Rachel replied, “Seth says it will take them a week to
run the spur, and then we’ll ship in all of the supplies to build the house and
workshop. He says he’s going to make it a special and unique house,
especially way out there.”
“But why are you leaving? Aren’t you happy here?” Abel asked.
“It’s very nice here, Abel,” Seth replied, “but we both feel that Medicine
Bow is where we belong.”
Myra sighed and said, “It’s going to be hard not having you both around.
We’re just getting used to it.”
Seth replied, “Well, pretty soon I’m sure you’ll be able to fly there in a
few hours.”
Everyone laughed, even the children and the cook. Everyone but Rachel
who didn’t doubt her husband for a moment.
_____
April 17, 1883
Seth and Rachel stepped down from the Comet’s boxcar after it came to
a stop on the new spur.
 As they walked toward the small locomotive, they met Gus and Joe as
they dropped to the ground.
“This is some mighty pretty country up here, Seth,” Gus said as he
scanned the horizon.
“We think so. The nice thing about the spur is that it’ll allow trains to
turn around here rather than having to go all the way to Laramie, which is
why the Union Pacific didn’t make me pay for all of it.”
“So, where are you gonna build your house?” asked Joe.
“See that graveled road right there? It goes about a half mile into the
trees where there’s a natural clearing surrounding a nice stream. We’ll build
this side of the stream, just enough to use the water pressure from gravity to
feed water into the house all year.”
“Won’t it freeze? It gets pretty cold up here.”
“No colder than the upper peninsula of Michigan but running water
doesn’t freeze. We just need to bury the pipes deep enough and insulate
them, too.”
“When is that first shipment coming in?” asked Gus.
“In a week. The construction company already has my plans. I think
their engineer believed I was loco, but they’ll do what I asked. They’ll take
three weeks to build the house and barn, and another two weeks to build the
workshop at the end of the tracks. The furniture and everything will show
up in a month and then Rachel gets to go to work.”
“As if I’m not working already,” she said as she rubbed the barely
noticeable bump on her belly.
Seth laughed, but Gus and Joe both blushed.
“We’ll head back to Marquette, Seth. I gotta admit, I’m sure gonna miss
the Comet.”
Seth glanced at Rachel then said, “Gus, if you and Joe want to move
your families out here, we have plenty of land to build some houses, and
you’d still be on Mimi’s payroll.”
“Abel said that’d be okay?” asked a surprised Gus.
“It’s my decision. I’m the vice president in charge of engineering.
Remember?”
Gus looked at Joe and said, “What do you think, Joe?”
“I’ve gotta run it by the missus, but I think she’ll be happy to come.”
“Mine will, too, Seth. Does that mean you gotta build two more
houses?”
Seth grinned and replied, “No, Gus. Five more. I’ve already offered to
build a house for John Billups and his family, and Sarah Klaus and Miriam
Carson both want to come with their families as well.”
“It sounds like you’re creating your own Haven, Seth,” Joe remarked.
“I hope not,” he replied as he took Rachel’s hand and smiled at her
letting her gray eyes take him away, “just our own bit of heaven.”
 EPILOGUE
July 4, 1890
Seth lit the fuse to the large rocket and raced back to where Rachel sat
with the children. He barely had a chance to sit down next to his wife when
the gunpowder ignited, and the rocket whooshed into the night leaving a
trail of light before it mushroomed into a magnificent show of reds, blues,
and greens, causing the expected “ooohs!” and “aaahs!” from the large
crowd of spectators. Seth’s firework displays brought out the entire
population of Medicine Bow.
“That was a good one, Seth!” Rachel exclaimed as she hung on tightly to
her youngest, one-year-old Michael.
“Boy, Papa! That was great!” six-year-old Sam said as he pointed at the
still descending lights.
“Is there gonna be another one?” asked five-year-old Millie.
“There will be four more,” Seth said as he stood to light the next one.
“That’s the same as me!” shouted Annie.
“That’s right, Annie,” Seth replied before jogging back to the line of
rockets waiting for an ignition source.
Annie turned to her younger sister and said, “The next one means it’s for
you, Ellie.”
Ellie grinned at her favorite sister and clapped her hands.
Seth set the rocket’s fuse on fire and raced back to his family again.
There was no two-year-old Egan, not because of some tragedy that
usually beset families, but it was just the math of nine months. Michael
would be two soon, and his newest brother or sister would arrive in August,
which did create a real year gap somehow that neither Seth nor Rachel
could explain.
Rachel had been that rarest and most fortunate of women in her time and
especially when considering her location. She had given birth to five
children in seven years and all had been born healthy and were still with
their parents. Not many families were so lucky.
It helped that Seth, when he had invited the families to live in their new
community just outside of Medicine Bow, that two of the women were
midwives. Rachel’s strength added to the likelihood that her children would
grow strong and healthy.
The large workshop where Seth worked on his engineering and
inventions had become a gathering place for the men in the area, just to see
what Seth was working on if nothing else.
Mimi hadn’t suffered in the least by his remote location, as he had
developed improvements in their smelting operations and in their drilling
equipment for the iron mines, increasing their bottom line and Seth’s bank
account.
Myra must have been jealous of Rachel’s fertility because just before
Seth and Rachel departed Marquette for Medicine Bow, she told Rachel she
was pregnant after four years of dormancy. She and Abel had added two
more children to their brood but were still one behind Seth and Rachel if
anyone was keeping count.
_____
On the eighteenth of July, just two weeks after Seth’s fireworks show, he
wanted to try his latest contraption, a steam-powered wagon and had the
beast sitting outside of the workshop with Gus and Joe. Both were still
doubtful that it would make it all the way to Haven and back, even though
Seth had driven it around for the past two weeks, but never more than five
miles, and had kept the speed to less than ten miles per hour.
The bet he’d made with Joe was that he could make it to Haven and back
in twelve hours. No one had been to Haven since they left it more than
seven years ago, and Seth was curious about what it looked like now. He
needed a distant location for his test and Haven had suited the bill because
he knew the route and if normal, horse-drawn wagons could make it, his
steam-powered monster could. His wheels were a full four inches wide to
support the extra weight and the wagon itself had been ruggedly built to
withstand the punishment it would take over the rough terrain.
“So, who’s coming to verify that I reached Haven?” Seth asked as he
stood in the small bed of the steam wagon.
Gus volunteered, and Joe was happy to let him have the honor.
A large crowd had assembled around the workshop after hearing of the
attempt, while Seth started the fire and then slammed the firebox door
closed.
He had climbed into the suspended and cushioned driver’s seat next to
Gus and was about to open the throttle when he spotted his very pregnant
wife waddling towards him with his Winchester ’76 in her hand.
She handed it up to him and said, “If you’re going to go to that
godforsaken place, I want you protected.”
“I’ve got my Colt, Rachel.”
“I’d feel better if you had the Winchester.”
Seth smiled at Rachel, set the musket on the floor then leaned over and
kissed her.
“I’ll be back in time for a late dinner.”
Rachel stood with her hand on her back and said, “Sarah’s cooking.”
Seth smiled and waved, then slipped back into his driver’s seat with a
fearful Gus beside him. As he opened the throttle, Gus waved goodbye to
his wife as if he’d never see her or their children again.
The steam wagon lurched and leaving a black, sooty cloud in its wake
rolled forward and accelerated away from the cheering crowd.
Rachel and the rest of the spectators watched until it disappeared over
the horizon just ten minutes after starting.
 Rachel walked back to their special house, entered, and took a seat, glad
to get off her feet then said to Sarah, “He’s off. I have to admit that I’m a bit
worried about this. Lord knows what he’ll find in Haven.”
“Aren’t you worried about that steam wagon?” Sarah asked.
“Not at all. I’m sure that it’ll do exactly as Seth said it would. I’m just
glad I was able to give him the Winchester before he left.”
She picked up Michael and sat him on her lap, then tickled his tummy to
get him to laugh.
_____
The steam wagon bounced along the ground at almost twenty miles per
hour and Seth admitted that the suspension needed work as his teeth rapped
against each other despite the suspended seat.
But the basic design of the wagon was working well. He’d had Gus
check the level of coal dust and water twice and Seth was pleased with the
levels of consumption.
“How much further?” Gus shouted as he held onto his hat.
“About another twenty minutes!” Seth yelled back.
Fifteen minutes later, just five hours after leaving the workshop, Seth
reduced the throttle setting as he neared the point where he knew Haven
would soon come into view.
Gus had never seen the settlement, so he didn’t know what to expect.
But when the more sedately rolling steam wagon reached that mile-and-a-
half window that brought Haven into view, Seth was startled to see dozens
of people working the settlement.
“What the hell happened?” he asked loudly.
Gus replied with his own question, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“There are more people in there than when it was first built.”
 Seth slowed the throttle even more as they rolled closer and both men
identified the current occupants as Lakota Sioux. Haven was nowhere near
their reservation, so they had to be a renegade band.
The Sioux had heard and seen the smoke-belching steam wagon, and
many had begun to walk toward them.
Gus said, “I think we oughta turn this thing around. I’ll give you the
bet.”
Seth then pulled the throttle closed and pulled the handbrake, stopping
the steam wagon just a hundred yards from the entrance to Haven.
“Stay here and keep the pressure up,” he said to Gus as he hopped out of
the wagon and stepped away to meet the Indians.
Gus glanced at the Winchester on the floorboard then watched as Seth
met the Sioux a hundred yards away and just stared as Seth and the Sioux
communicated using words and gestures.
For five minutes they talked and Seth shook a Lakota’s hand and then
laughed before turning with a big smile on his face and jogged back to the
steam wagon.
He waved to the Sioux, who waved back as they watched him release the
handbrake and then slowly push the throttle forward and turn the tiller to
the side. The wagon picked up speed and soon was rolling southward again
until it reached what Seth considered the safest speed over the terrain.
“What was that all about?” Gus finally asked loudly when they were far
enough away.
“They’re a renegade band that didn’t want to live on the reservation.
They weren’t warriors, but just wanted to live their own lives and not be
dependent on the white man for their food and shelter.”
“So, you weren’t in any danger of losing your hair?”
“Nope. now let’s see how fast we can go and keep our teeth in our jaws!”
 Gus hung onto his hat, understanding why Seth left his at home as Seth
opened the throttle even more.
_____
The crowd had gone to their homes and jobs after he’d gone but began
drifting back to the workshop nine hours later at six o’clock just in case
Seth made it back sooner than he’d even predicted.
The sun was low in the sky when they began pointing at the black cloud
approaching from the north thirty minutes later.
Sam Egan had never left the workshop and raced back to the house to
tell his mother that his father was returning in his steam wagon.
Rachel wasn’t surprised he’d made it back so quickly but was relieved
he made it back without being shot. Haven still had many bad memories for
her.
She left the small children with Sarah and herded the others down the
road to the workshop where she was given a chair by Joe as they all turned
to watch Seth’s arrival.
As the noisy, smoky mechanical beast rolled to a stop and Seth and Gus
began turning valves to shut the steam engine down and release built-up
pressures, Rachel stood and walked slowly to her husband.
Seth released one last valve, spotted Rachel, and then hopped down,
tossed his soot-covered jacket onto the seat and stepped close to her,
embraced her softly, and kissed her just as softly before he stood back.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“It needs either a much better suspension or a better road, but probably
both. It was just a lot of fun going that fast over open ground.”
He waved at the cheering crowd before taking Rachel’s hand in his right
hand and Millie’s hand in his left and starting to walk back to their home.
Sam had Annie’s hand in his as he held his mother’s free hand.
 The Egan family, less the two young ones already in the house, walked
up the porch steps and Seth held the door for his wife and children then
closed it behind them.
Seth ate a quick dinner while Sarah and Rachel put the children to bed,
then Sarah went back to her house, and Rachel joined Seth on the porch to
sit in their wide swing.
Seth had his arm around his wife as she asked, “What was it like in
Haven, Seth?”
“Would you believe it’s now home to over two hundred people?”
Rachel glanced at Seth and asked, “Are you serious? Where did they
come from?”
“They’re a group of Lakota. Technically, they’re renegades, but they’re
perfectly peaceful and just want to live their own lives in their own ways.
The place looked well-maintained and there were large herds of animals in
the pastures and crops of corn growing in the fields.”
“I’m glad that someone could turn that place into something useful.”
“Their leader, White Antelope, told me that they had been moving their
camp from place to place for three years until they discovered Haven. They
thanked their gods for their deliverance and cleaned it, rounded the animals,
and planted their crops. He said they only had a little over a hundred
members of the community when they arrived but have almost two hundred
now. I told him that I’d show up on occasion with gifts of firearms,
ammunition, and pots and pans. He was very happy with the offer, too.”
“I’d imagine that he would. Why did you make the offer?”
“They were making it work but needed help to make their lives better. I
figured if I could help, I would.”
Rachel smiled patted Seth’s leg and said, “I would have expected
nothing less from my husband.”
“Do you know what they call their village?”
 “I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“
Mahpiya.”
“Which means?”
“Heaven.”
_____
Seth and Rachel never made it to a dozen children but stopped after the
sixth, a daughter named Rebecca.
Seth made two runs to Haven each year delivering supplies in his
constantly improving steam wagon until August of 1893 when the Federal
government discovered the settlement and forced the Sioux to return to the
reservation.
White Antelope thanked Seth for his help but didn’t risk any of his tribe
in opposition to the order and by the end of September, Haven was returned
to its previous status as a ghost town and would remain that way.
Seth had electrified his workshop and home, as well as all of the other
homes in the community.
The two large Egan families alternated visits, with Seth and Rachel
returning to Marquette on even years and Abel and Myra traveling to
Medicine Bow on odd years.
_____
In June 1906, Seth realized his lifelong dream when he built his own
version of the Wright flyer in his workshop, and with his whole family
watching, including Abel and Myra’s family, finally took to the air and
reached an altitude of over a thousand feet and almost a hundred miles an
hour as he made wide figure eights in the skies above his workshop and the
town.
After setting down somewhat gracefully, he bounded from the airplane
and raced to snatch Rachel into the air and swung her around in a circle as
she laughed.
 “I did it, Rachel! I flew!” he shouted excitedly, as he held her tightly.
When he finally let her down, he looked at those still startling gray eyes
that could and did disorient him as she grinned, then opened her light jacket
and he saw that she had donned the twin Colts again for the first time in
years. He instantly recalled the nineteen-year-old Rachel standing in the
trees as he rode past leading Whitey Shultz’s gang to Haven, but now even
after six children and the intervening twenty-four years, she still took his
breath away.
She closed her jacket, hugged him closely, and whispered, “Care to
disarm me, sir?”
 
Author’s Note
The three celestial events used in the book happened on the dates listed.
The Andromedid meteor storm filled the skies for more than a week with
thousands of shooting stars illuminating the night each hour. The total
eclipse was the same one that was the background for
The Eclipse
, and the
Great Comet of 1882 was one of the brightest comets ever observed.
 
BOOK LIST
     
1 Rock Creek 12/26/2016
2 North of Denton 01/02/2017
3 Fort Selden 01/07/2017
4 Scotts Bluff 01/14/2017
5 South of Denver 01/22/2017
6 Miles City 01/28/2017
7 Hopewell 02/04/2017
8 Nueva Luz 02/12/2017
9 The Witch of Dakota 02/19/2017
10 Baker City 03/13/2017
11 The Gun Smith 03/21/2017
12 Gus 03/24/2017
13 Wilmore 04/06/2017
14 Mister Thor 04/20/2017
15 Nora 04/26/2017
16 Max 05/09/2017
17 Hunting Pearl 05/14/2017
18 Bessie 05/25/2017
19 The Last Four 05/29/2017
20 Zack 06/12/2017
21 Finding Bucky 06/21/2017
22 The Debt 06/30/2017
23 The Scalawags 07/11/2017
24 The Stampede 08/23/2019
25 The Wake of the Bertrand 07/31/2017
26 Cole 08/09/2017
27 Luke 09/05/2017
28 The Eclipse 09/21/2017
29 A.J. Smith 10/03/2017
30 Slow John 11/05/2017
31 The Second Star 11/15/2017
32 Tate 12/03/2017
33 Virgil’s Herd 12/14/2017
34 Marsh’s Valley 01/01/2018
35 Alex Paine 01/18/2018
36 Ben Gray 02/05/2018
37 War Adams 03/05/2018
38 Mac’s Cabin 03/21/2018
39 Will Scott 04/13/2018
40 Sheriff Joe 04/22/2018
41 Chance 05/17/2018
42 Doc Holt 06/17/2018
43 Ted Shepard 07/16/2018
44 Haven 07/30/2018
45 Sam’s County 08/19/2018
46 Matt Dunne 09/07/2018
47 Conn Jackson 10/06/2018
48 Gabe Owens 10/27/2018
49 Abandoned 11/18/2018
50 Retribution 12/21/2018
51 Inevitable 02/04/2019
52 Scandal in Topeka 03/18/2019
53 Return to Hardeman County 04/10/2019
54 Deception 06/02.2019
55 The Silver Widows 06/27/2019
56 Hitch 08/22/2018
57 Dylan’s Journey 10/10/2019
58 Bryn’s War 11/05/2019
59 Huw’s Legacy 11/30/2019
60 Lynn’s Search 12/24/2019
61 Bethan’s Choice 02/12/2020
62 Rhody Jones 03/11/2020
63 Alwen’s Dream 06/14/2020
64 The Nothing Man 06/30/2020
65 Cy Page 07/19/2020
66 Tabby Hayes 09/04/2020
67 Dylan’s Memories 09/20/2020
68 Letter for Gene 09/09/2020
69 Grip Taylor 10/10/2020
70 Garrett’s Duty 11/09/2020
71 East of the Cascades 12/02/2020
72 The Iron Wolfe 12/23/2020
73 Wade Rivers 01/09/2021
74 Ghost Train 01/27/2021
75 The Inheritance 02/26/2021
76 Cap Tyler 03/26/2021
77 The Photographer 04/10/2021
78 Jake 05/06/2021
79 R
iding Shotgun 06/03/2021
80 T
he Saloon Lawyer 07/04/2021