“She was engaged to be married.”
“She’s not anymore,” Dan said. “But she won’t last long out in this part of the country. You can bet that every eligible bachelor in northern Arizona will want to court her.”
Longarm watched Victoria disappear around a building and then he turned back to Dan, smiled, and said, “You know something, I like you better when you are asleep.”
Preacher Dan cackled, then closed his eyes and did go back to sleep.
Chapter 17
At high noon, the fire bell rang out sharply and Longarm went to his window to see everyone scattering down the main street of Wickenburg. A few blocks away, he watched a plume of black smoke billowing into the clear blue sky and knew that Victoria had kept her promise.
“It’s time,” he said, going over to help Dan. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What if someone comes in and takes that treasure chest while you’re helping me down to the carriage?”
“Well,” Longarm said, “if you want, you can hang on to it and I’ll hang on to you and we won’t have to worry about that.”
“Sounds good,” Dan grunted.
Longarm picked up the treasure chest filled with the Spanish gold coins. It probably weighed thirty pounds and he really wondered if Dan had the strength to hold it, but that doubt was soon erased. Dan hugged that treasure chest like a pretty woman, and they made their way out of the room and then down the back stairway to the alley.
“There it is,” Longarm said, grinning. “Just as promised.”
Longarm helped Dan into the carriage. “Lie down on the floor,” he ordered, covering the man and the treasure chest up with a big purple blanket. “I’ve got to go back up to our room and get my rifle, shotgun, and a few other things that I can’t afford to leave behind.”
“Hurry back!”
“Don’t worry,” Longarm promised. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
Longarm returned to his room. He had already arranged everything he needed to take so that it only took a moment to gather his bags and weapons, then he hurried back to the alley, his mind racing as fast as his feet. He tried to prepare himself for anything that might go wrong while attempting to leave Wickenburg undetected.
The carriage was gone!
Longarm couldn’t believe his eyes. The alley was empty. What in blazes was going on here?! He followed the tracks out into the street, still hearing the loud clanging of the fire bell. A volunteer fire company of six men pulling a water wagon careened around a corner and almost trampled Longarm. No one seemed to notice him; everyone was running toward the fire, most with buckets of sand or water. Longarm had seen this kind of panic before. Frontier towns were extremely vulnerable to being razed by infernos.
There were so many people rushing toward the fire that Longarm had some difficulty following the carriage tracks, which were already being trampled into oblivion. Still, he could see that they were leading out of town heading north.
When Longarm reached the end of town, he staggered to a standstill and gazed out at the northern horizon. He couldn’t see anything. Whoever had taken the carriage had driven it out of Wickenburg very fast and was no doubt already miles away and putting more and more distance between him and Longarm with every passing moment.
Longarm wheeled around and studied a pair of horses tied in front of a saddle shop. Stealing a horse was a hanging offense, but he was a United States marshal and had the authority to take extreme measures during times of great emergency. Well, this was sure as hell an emergency. Longarm chose what appeared to be the biggest and strongest of the pair, then used an extra few minutes to tie his saddlebags and shotgun down. Satisfied, he untied a muscular but jug-headed bay horse and climbed into the saddle with his Winchester clutched in his left hand and the reins in his right.
“Ya!” he shouted, booting the bay into a gallop.
The horse was no prizewinner, but it quickly proved it had excellent speed. Trouble was, the stirrups were far too short, so Longarm had a devil of a time riding after the carriage. Finally, he just let his feet dangle and pushed the bay gelding on to the north just as hard as it would run. And sure enough, in less than two miles he saw the distant outline of the carriage.
Longarm really worked over the bay, and the animal soon closed in on the carriage, whose team was already badly winded.
“Stop!” Longarm shouted.
The carriage slowly came to a stop, and when Longarm drew up beside it, he had his second big surprise of the day. There was no driver and the Spanish treasure box was open and empty. Dan lay sprawled and unconscious on the floor of the carriage.
“Damn!” Longarm swore, leaping from his saddle and tying the bay gelding to one of the wheels before he dragged Dan back up to the seat.
The old man had been savagely pistol-whipped. Longarm felt for Preacher Dan’s pulse, afraid that someone might have finished him off once and for all. Dan was still alive. There was a canteen in the carriage, and Longarm used its contents to wet his handkerchief and then to slowly revive the unconscious preacher.
“Dan! Dan, wake up! Can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” Dan whispered, his voice groggy.
“Who did this?”
“I … I don’t know. I was hiding under the blanket, remember?”
