and plunging down into the water. The poor fella hit hard and went
right under, but Billy fished him out, and that's when he noticed the
man had been shot. I'm thinking he was thrown off that train.' Grace
was horrified. 'How awful, ' she said.
'Is the gentleman going to recover? ' Bobcat mournfully shook his
head. 'Doc says he's in a real bad way, ma'am. Real bad. The bullet
went through, so Doc didn't have to dig it out, but infection already
set in. I figured you'd want to know, Marshal, being as the dying man
is one of yours.' Daniel was already reaching for Grace to pull her
off the train.
'He was wearing a badge, ' Bobcat explained. 'And the porter told me
his name is Cooper. Do you know him? ' 'Where is he? ' Daniel asked,
his voice sharp with fear and anger.
'Inside the way station. Doc wouldn't let us take him any further.
He's in one of the sleeping rooms upstairs. The marshal's fighting for
his life, but Doc doesn't think he's gonna make it.' Shaken by what he
had just heard, Daniel grabbed Grace and quickened his pace toward the
building. The sheriff ran by his side.
'Did you question everyone on the train? ' Daniel demanded.
'I did, ' the sheriff answered. 'One woman saw him going over the
trestle, but she didn't see anything else. No one heard the gunshot
either, ' he added in a pant. 'A window was shattered by one bullet,
and I figure two were fired. The second went through the marshal. '
Daniel reached the door to the way station, threw it open, and rushed
inside. His gaze was on the crowd sitting at the long tables waiting
for their food to be served. He kept Grace tucked into his side,
spotted the stairs in the corner, and headed across the room.
As they raced up the narrow steps, he glanced back at the sheriff.
'What about the woman Marshal Cooper was traveling with? Where is
she?
' 'There weren't no woman.'
'Yes, there was, ' Daniel muttered.
'The porter told me the marshal had a woman with him, and other folks
remember seeing her getting on the train. She might have been there
when they started, but she weren't there when the train was stopped.
That's the God's truth.'
