“Yes, and I promise you,” Longarm said, gazing deep into the azure pools of her lovely eyes, “before we get to Reno you shall see my big gun.”
Caroline just smiled and sipped the champagne, but Mrs. Addie, older and wiser, had caught a hint of Longarm’s lecherous intentions and she was no longer smiling.
I am, Longarm warned himself, going to have to be more careful if I want to fool this old crone and make love to royalty. Much, much more careful.
Chapter 3
After the champagne and a long and sumptuous feast with Lady Caroline and her watchdog, the suspicious Mrs. Addie, Longarm tramped back to his cramped little compartment and wedged himself into an S-shape in preparation for a long nap. He was still very tired, and knew that he needed to physically replenish himself for whatever ordeal awaited him in Nevada.
“But I will make it a point to take Lady Caroline out to see the mustangs north of Reno,” Longarm mumbled just before he drifted off to sleep about forty miles north of Denver. “And maybe I can manage to lose Mrs. Addie, or at least see that she is captured by some friendly Paiute Indians.”
Longarm slept until well after sunset, when he was awakened by the train blasting its whistle announcing its arrival in Cheyenne.
“Cheyenne station!” came the porter’s call. “Everybody prepare to unload.”
Longarm shook the cobwebs from his mind and forced himself into a sitting position. He struggled to his feet.
It took several minutes for him to come fully awake. Finally, he reached for his hat, gun, and holster. By the time he was able to collect his gear and get outside on the station platform, Lady Caroline and Mrs. Addie were already speeding off toward one of the hotels in a rented carriage.
Longarm wasn’t pleased. Not only had he missed the opportunity of dining a second time with the lovely Caroline, but he’d also lost the chance to squire her around Cheyenne and maybe, just maybe, end up in her royal embrace.
“Well, it’ll take four nights for this train to get us to Reno, more if I get lucky and the damn thing breaks down,” Longarm muttered to himself.
“Marshal, good luck to you on that Donner Pass train robbery,” Arnold said.
“For the love of Mike, do you know about that too?”
Arnold shrugged and worked up a smile. “Sure. Jess told me. I hope that you find them thievin’ bastards. You know, they pistol-whipped one of the Union Pacific mail room clerks when he was slow handing over the federal accounts. Pistol-whipped him so bad he’s still unconscious and not expected to live.”
“I didn’t hear about that,” Longarm said.
“Well, you can bet that every railroad man on every line west of the Mississippi River has heard about it and we’re all pulling for you, Longarm.”
“Does everyone on this train know about my business in Nevada?”
“I expect so,” Arnold said proudly. “And there’s little doubt that the telegraph operator will send the message along to Reno and east to Omaha and-“
Longarm swore in frustration. “That’s the very last thing that I wanted to happen! The entire reason I’ve bought new clothes and am traveling firstclass is that I’m supposed to be traveling incognito.”
“Yeah, that’s what Jess said. But it’ll never work, Marshal. Too many people know you ‘cause you’ve been comin’ and goin’ on the Union Pacific for too many years.”
In his heart, Longarm suspected this was the truth. The only comforting thing was that he’d be leaving Reno and riding out into the barren hills of Nevada to find Helldorado and Matthew Killion’s gang of thieves. Perhaps they wouldn’t recognize him and he could be among them just long enough to get enough evidence to make his arrests.
“Arnold, did you happen to hear where Lady Caroline was spending the night?”
“Probably at the Winston House. That’s the fanciest boardinghouse in Cheyenne.”
“Yeah,” Longarm said, “I suppose that it is.”
“Good-lookin’, isn’t she!”
“No doubt about that.”
“Marshal, I wonder if she …” Arnold’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment and the porter could not continue. “Aw, never mind.”
“What?”
“Well, you know.”
“No,” Longarm said, “I don’t. What are you wondering about?”
“Well, if she … you know.”
Longarm had to work not to keep from smiling. “You mean if she’s any different physically because she’s from a royal family?”
“That, and if she … you know, enjoys a man in bed.”
Longarm shrugged. “I’ll be honest with you, Arnold. I never even met a royal lady and I don’t know what they do in bed. But when you get right down to the basics, royalty are human beings just like the rest of us commoners.”
