“He’s not certain,” Doolin told her. “But he’s got no doubts you’re here. Hell, he even knows what room you’re in. He’s just waitin’ for me to show up.”
“And if you don’t show up?”
“Then he’ll stick with you till hell freezes over. He knows you’re the only link to me.”
She lowered her head. In the darkness, Doolin heard a sniffle, and then a choked sob. He moved to her and knelt on the floor. He took her hands.
“Don’t go teary-eyed on me.”
“It’s not that,” she said miserably. “It’s just so … unfair.”
“What d’you mean?”
“I saw the doctor today. The spotting has stopped, Bill. We could have left for California tomorrow.”
Doolin laughed ruefully. “Honey, you haven’t got the picture. We’re damn lucky we didn’t try boardin’ that train yesterday. Or any other day.”
She looked at him. “Why do you say that?”
“Because our friend out there would’ve followed you to the train station. Sure as God made little green apples, he’d have waited for me to put in an appearance. Then it’d all be over.”
“Over?”
“Yeah,” Doolin muttered. “He would’ve collared me or killed me. Whichever come handiest.”
“Sweet Jesus,” she moaned. “Won’t it ever end?”
Doolin rose to his feet. He began pacing the room like a trapped animal pacing a cage. His mind whirled, exploring and discarding ideas for a way out. There was no sense in sending her on to California, for Tilghman would just follow. Nor was there anything to be gained by leaving her here, hoping Tilghman would weary of his vigil and leave town. The last year had proved that Tilghman hung on like a bulldog.
For a moment he toyed with the idea of killing Tilghman. But that, too, posed a host of risks. The major one being that he might himself be killed. To leave behind a widow and a fatherless child was not an option. Not after he’d come this far, this close to a new life. Hard as it seemed, there was only one way to handle the situation.
“Hate to say it.” Doolin stopped pacing, halted in front of her. “You’re gonna have to go back to your folks.”
She bolted from her chair. “What are you talking about?”
“Edie, I don’t like it any better than you do. But we’re gonna have to start all over again.”
“Start where?”
“Here’s the idea,” Doolin explained. “Sell the wagon and horse for whatever you can get. I don’t want you busted up again makin’ that trip in a wagon. Then you and the boy take a train back to the territory.”
“But why?” she demanded. “What does that accomplish?”
“That jaybird outside will follow you all the way back to Lawson. So we’ve got him off my trail and we’ve bought time to come up with a new plan. I’ll think of something.”
“You mean you’d stay here?”
“Nooo,” Doolin said in a musing tone. “You know what that sawbones told me about the mineral springs over in Arkansas? I might give it a try. See if it’ll help my foot.”
“And then what?” she persisted. “How long do we wait?”
“Just till things cool down. Nobody’ll think to look for me in Arkansas. Couple of weeks, and they’ll get tired of watchin’ you. Then we’ll make our move.”
“How will I know where to reach you?”
“I’ll write you through Mary Pierce. Tell her I’ll use the same name as before—Tom Wilson.”
“Oh God, Bill.” She slumped against him, tears flooding her eyes. “I can’t bear to leave you after all this. I’m afraid I’ll never see you again.”
“What a way to talk.” Doolin gently stroked her hair. “Have I ever let you down before?”
“No … never.”
“Well, I won’t now, either. Trust me a little longer, and you’ll see. We’re gonna get to California—the three of us.”
She sniffed, tilted her head back. “You’re proud of him, aren’t you?”
“Proud as punch,” Doolin assured her. “A man’s naturally partial to havin’ a son.”
“We’ll have more, won’t we, Bill?”
“Have ourselves a blessed litter. You got my word.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. Doolin wrapped her tighter in his arms, rocking back and forth in a snug embrace. He wanted nothing more than to take his wife and child and move on, put the past behind them. Yet, unbidden, her words of a moment ago echoed through his mind.
He too wondered where it would end.
CHAPTER 34
Tilghman was at a loss.
For three days he had tagged after Edith Doolin. Whenever she left the hotel, he had followed her around town. At night, from his lookout across the street, he’d kept watch on her room. Yet, in all that time, he had seen nothing to indicate that she was in touch with her husband. He began to wonder if Doolin somehow got messages to her.
Yesterday morning, to his surprise, the Doolin woman had not visited the doctor. The only reasonable conclusion was that she, or her baby, whichever had been ill, was now well. But it that were so, he had to ask himself why she continued to stay on in Burden. Which raised the greater question of why she’d ever come there in the first place.
Then, one surprise following another, the situation became even more murky. Yesterday afternoon Edith Doolin had emerged from the hotel with her baby and walked to a livery stable on the south edge of town. There, with a man who appeared to be the livery owner, she had inspected a wagon parked at the rear and a horse in the outside corral. The livery owner had then counted out a small stack of greenbacks.
Tilghman had no doubt that it was the horse and wagon she’d used on the trip to Burden. He was no less certain that he had just witnessed her selling them to the livery owner. To confound matters even further, she had then spent the rest of the afternoon on a shopping spree. She’d bought herself and the baby some new clothes, as well as a matched pair of suitcases. On her last stop, at a novelty store, she had purchased what appeared to be