The Train To Destiny
Chapter 2
Layne Richards
Ben lay awake for a good portion of the night, thinking about Emmy. So, she'd decided to get out of Bisbee after all, after turning down his invitation to go to Mexico. Her refusal to go with him had stung, although it had hardly been unexpected. She wasn't the first woman he'd asked to leave with him, or the first to say no.
Emmy's being on this train changed things, though. She knew who he was. Would she tell anyone? At that saloon back in Bisbee, he'd seen a regretful look on her face when he was being led away in handcuffs and put into the marshal's coach. Had it been regret that she hadn't gone with him, or regret that she wouldn't be the one collecting the bounty on his head?
No way to know unless he talked to her. Which he had plans to do at breakfast in the morning. Unless she turned him in before then, which was a real possibility. Ben dozed off and on that night, never totally losing consciousness, and always touching the Hand of God under his pillow.
The next morning, he made it to the door of the dining car early and was there when Emmy came in. "Mornin', ma'am." Ben gave her his widest smile, but with a look in his eyes that would have chilled the milk already in glasses on the tables. Giving her no chance to object, he followed her to a table and joined her there.
"Ben." Emmy's eyes went immediately to her hands and her plate. Ben Wade knew nervous when he saw it, and this woman was nervous. Was it simply because of who he was, or was there something else behind it?
"So, Emmy," he was saying heartily, as he watched her closely. "You get tired 'a saloon life, did you? Goin' back to be Leadville to be a singer again?"
"Shhh!" Incredibly, she was shushing him. "Keep your voice down, will you? No one knows anything about any saloon. Far as anybody on this train knows, I'm a respectable woman headin' back east to visit family."
Ben chuckled a little, even as his eyes narrowed. "Respectable, huh? Well, I guess you didn't tell any of 'em about you and a certain outlaw, now did you? 'Course, I guess you thought you were too good for him anyway, or you might be in Mexico by now."
In a fierce whisper, Emmy told him, "I never thought I was too good for anyone! I just didn't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. You-" She caught
herself before the words slipped out.
"I mean, he- Might not be wanted by the law in Mexico, but there's always bounty hunters, gunslingers wanting to see if they're faster than he is, all kinds of things waiting to happen. A body might think I didn't have much of a life in Bisbee, but at least I wasn't living like that!"
Emmy had looked up briefly, but now her eyes had dropped to the table again. His piercing gaze never leaving her, Ben considered her words. They made sense--but she was hiding something. There was something she wasn't saying.
He'd allowed this woman to distract him once to the point of being captured by the law--almost ending up in Yuma for the third time. His time with her had set in motion the chain of events which had ended with the death of Dan Evans. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Having finished his coffee and toast, Ben rose from the table. Stepping briefly to Emmy's side, he bent to her ear. His voice low but intimidating, he told her, "Anybody else on this train finds out who I am, I'll know where they got the information. You keep that in mind. Emmy."
Despite the hardness of his words, her name was spoken almost as a caress. Emmy shivered as she watched him give her a brief smile, then turn and stride away down the length of the car. She took a sip of her coffee with a shaking hand.
Sitting two tables away from the door, Ben spotted Katie Richards. She smiled at him, and he nodded and smiled in return, as he continued on to the door.
Katie drank her own coffee, wondering exactly what was going on with Ben Weston. In spite of his smile and nod as he passed her, she could tell from the look on his face that, whatever his business had been with the pretty woman halfway down the dining car, it had not been pleasant. His expression had looked like a storm cloud. And Katie could tell even from this distance that the woman was shaking like a leaf as she picked up her coffee cup.
An old girlfriend of his, she wondered. Or maybe a more recent one? One from whom he'd been trying to escape? From the first time she'd spoken to him, Katie had gotten the impression that Mr. Weston was leaving something unpleasant behind. Maybe it had been that woman, and he'd been displeased at finding her on the same train with him?
Katie sighed, as she let her speculations have free rein. It wasn't any of her business, but she wasn't hurting anyone by thinking. And it was a sight better than thinking about where it was she was going.
Already, she missed the ranch. Missed being out on her horse beside her pa, helping keep an eye on the cattle and the ranch hands. Missed riding the fences, inspecting for damage.
After stopping to wash her face, Katie returned to her seat, only to find Ben Weston had taken hers. He stood when she approached.
"Mind tradin' seats with me for a bit, Miss Richards?" he asked in his polite drawl. "I feel like a little change."
"Not at all." Katie smiled at him, as she took the seat opposite. "I hope you had a restful night. And that you enjoyed your breakfast?"
It sounded like a probing question. Ben was a little annoyed by it but, at the same time, impressed by her sharpness. "I did, thank you," he said calmly. "Met an old family friend."
His voice and expression told her to drop the subject there. Katie read it perfectly, and she did just that. Friendly as he might have been to her up to this point, this was not a subject he wanted to discuss further.
Seeing she understood, Ben smiled pleasantly at her. "You have any more trouble out of Mrs. Do-Gooder across the aisle there?" He nodded toward the empty seat across from them. Apparently, the lady in question hadn't returned from breakfast yet.
"No." Katie chuckled at the name he'd used for the woman. "Maybe she's learned her lesson."
"I wouldn't count on it," Ben said thoughtfully. "People like her never do."
It sounded as though he spoke from experience, Katie thought to herself. She wanted to talk more with Ben Weston, but he didn't seem to be in a chatty mood this morning. Reaching into the small bag she kept on the seat with her, Katie pulled out a book to read.
It was a history of Rome, one she had been reading for a couple of days now. Trying to lose herself in the pages and forget the trip and her destination, she was unable to shake the feeling that Ben Weston's eyes were on her constantly. Out of the corner of her own eye, she managed to notice that it was not herself but her book that held his attention.
Finally, Katie looked up at him, smiling. Obviously, the man liked to read. "I've got a couple more here if you want something to read." She opened her bag again and pulled out a copy of 'The Odyssey'. "How do you feel about this one?"
Ben looked at the title and then studied her face curiously. "Been a long time since I looked at that one," he said, reaching out to take it. "How is it you come to be readin' this?"
"It's one of my Pa's favorite books. He read it out loud to me before I ever learned to read myself." Her eyes shone at the memory. "What about you?"
"Me?" Ben quirked an eyebrow at her, puzzled.
"Your pa or ma ever read to you?"
"My ma used to. Long time ago, when I was real little." Ben's eyes softened a bit at the memory, hardened again immediately at the thought of what came after.
Katie caught the changes in his eyes when he spoke of his mother. From little-boy worship to adult anger in a fraction of a second. Oh, well, she didn't have a good relationship with her ma either. She wondered what could be behind this man's anger toward his mother. Another subject she was sure he wouldn't want to discuss.
Casting her eyes down to her own book again, she said. "Hope you enjoy it."
Ben spent the next few hours alternating between the pleasures of the written word and keeping an eye toward the back of the car, where Emmy was sitting. Her back was to him, but he never saw her so much as speak to another passenger.
Occasionally, he looked over at the young woman who had given him the book. She had her legs drawn up underneath her, with her long skirts tucked down over her feet. Looked like a kid enjoying a storybook. He noted that Mrs. Do-Gooder across the aisle had returned to her seat and was still giving Katie Richards the occasional haughty look.
Katie, however, was so engrossed in her book that she never even noticed. He grinned to himself, and went back to his own book. He hadn't lied to her. It had been a long time since he'd read Homer, and he found it enjoyable to get into the story once more.
As the noon dinner hour approached, the conductor announced that there would be an hour's stopover and the passengers could leave the train and eat dinner at the hotel, rather than in the dining car.
"Oh, good. Fresh air." Katie Richards stretched and yawned, putting her book to one side. She looked over at Ben. "You enjoying that?"
"Yes, thank you kindly," he replied, with a grin. "How 'bout lettin' me escort you to dinner in return for it?"
"Deal," Katie said quickly, with a grin of her own. "But I'll need to wash up some before hand."
When they had exited the train and walked to the hotel behind the station, it was obvious that every woman on the train had that same idea. The hotel washrooms had lines and Katie had to wait her turn behind several other women, as Ben found a table for them in the dining room.
Finally, her turn came and Katie washed her face and hands and fixed her hair. As she left the washroom, she was intrigued to notice that the woman with whom Ben Weston had had breakfast was leaving the hotel by a side door, accompanied by two, somewhat-rough-looking men. Katie's curiosity got the better of her. She slipped out the side door to follow them.
They didn't go far. The three of them had stopped behind the saloon next door to the hotel, and Katie had to flatten herself against a wall hurriedly to avoid being seen. She prayed that no one would come around from the front of the building and see her, but she didn't wonder why she was doing this. At home, she was the curious daughter, the bothersome daughter, the one always getting into trouble. It was her nature.
Besides, what she was hearing made the risk of getting caught more than worthwhile. The woman Mr. Weston had sat with that morning was talking furiously to her two male companions. "I'm telling you, that man's name is not Ben Weston. It's Ben Wade!" she was saying in a low, but forceful voice.
Katie was startled enough to bite her lip at that information.
"And just how do you come to know that?" At least one of the men was skeptical.
"I was in Bisbee when he was caught a little while ago," the woman replied.
"That don't mean you know who he is," the other man said.
"All right!" The woman hissed angrily. "I was workin' in the saloon there. He and his gang came in for a drink, right after they robbed that last coach! I served him whiskey!"
"From the looks of that red face of yours, whiskey wasn't all you served him." The first man who had spoken said in a sly tone of voice.
"Anything else I might have served him is none of your business!" The woman was still angry. "Now, are you two going to help me or not? At our next stop, I can get him off by himself. You two will be waitin' for us and you'll surprise him. We'll turn him in and split the reward fifty-fifty."
"Seems to me, it oughta be split three ways." The second man spoke up slowly. "Seein' as how it'll be us takin' the biggest risk."
"You?" The woman was incredulous. "How do you figure that? What do you think he might do to me for turning him in? I'd be too afraid to do it, except I need the money real bad."
Katie hung around another minute. Just long enough to hear the two men agree to the woman's plan. Having heard enough, she slipped back into the hotel via the side door and stopped long enough to catch her breath, thinking furiously. So, the man she'd been sitting and talking with, loaning her book to was-
"Miss Richards?" The smooth drawl interrupted her thoughts and Katie nearly gasped out loud. Ben Wade had stepped into the hallway from the dining room without her seeing him. "You all right?"
"Oh! Yes! You scared me!" she blurted out. "I was just stretching my legs a little before I sat down to eat.
There was a look of fear in her eyes, but Ben put it down to the way he had startled her. "You'd best get in here," he told her with a grin. "Before this hungry bunch eats everything."
Katie followed him, a little nervous, but practically dying of curiosity. So, this man was Ben Wade, the outlaw. She'd heard people talk about him, had even read a little bit about him. This man seemed miles away from the man she'd heard about. Katie was intrigued.