Last Stage to Lonesome by Scott Connor

Author:Scott Connor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Culbin Press
Published: 2023-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Who’s Victoria?” Annie asked.

“What do you mean?” Carter replied, playing for time after her question had taken him by surprise.

“I saw the inscription on your watch: to Victoria, with Frank Doyle written underneath.”

The ferry was now drifting along, having settled with the back of the stage aiming downriver. They had had the luck to drift out to a point where they were a third of the way across the river, giving them some distance between themselves and the banks.

This also meant they were closer to the other bank and perhaps also sitting targets for the men who had let them leave Ferry Town and who might be keeping pace with them. With this in mind they were keeping on one side of the ferry to use the stage as cover from the near riverbank.

“When did you see it?” he asked, facing the water.

“I’d seen you holding it from time to time, but when the major dragged you out the water and you were resting, I looked at it.” She sighed when Carter bunched his jaw in irritation. “I’m sorry to have pried.”

Carter shook himself to free a surge of water from his clothes.

“I don’t mind, but the watch isn’t important.”

She frowned. “I thought it might be. You appear to have more on your mind than just our current predicament.”

He took a deep breath. “In that you’re right, but why should that worry you?”

She narrowed her eyes, her mouth opening to provide an answer, but then she closed it, her shrug suggesting she’d decided not to provide her original retort.

“Because I also saw you and Spike look at each other in an odd way.”

“Don’t let any of this worry you, and get back into the stage. The first we might know of any trouble could be gunfire.”

“I really am sorry I pried.”

She turned away and when she climbed into the stage to return to sitting with the prisoner and Kelley, Carter resumed his patrol of the ferry.

“When do you think they’ll try something?” Carter asked Louis when he stopped beside him.

Louis pointed downriver. “The river closes up around the next bend and the trees thin out. My guess is it could be there.”

“Then I hope Kelley’s ready for a gunfight.”

“It’s doesn’t matter so much whether he is. I reckon we all feel safe having you with us.”

“I’m obliged for your confidence in me, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy being stuck out here on the water.” Carter pointed ahead at the approaching bend and then at the Lonesome side of the river.

“Are you blaming me for us being out here?”

“Nope. You did the only thing you could do to keep us alive.”

Louis sighed. “Then don’t blame Kelley either. He wasn’t to know Spike would be waiting for us on the other side.”

“I can when he took control of us without asking and when his decision turned out badly. If we’d stuck with my plan I could have seen off those men who rode into Ferry Town. Now we’d have horses, be halfway to town and Spike’s men would never catch up with us.

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