Dorset fumed, but Tyler accepted the decision with a curt nod. He just hoped Daniel and Ben had found the boys and got them home to Evie so she wouldn't be worrying. There was no reason she ought to hear about any of this until it was all over.
* * *
Daniel and Ben had their hands tied and weren't going to be telling Evie anything any time soon.
Ben looked disgusted as he struggled with the rope wrapped around his wrists and ankles and tied in between. The bastards had done a thorough job for a change. There wasn't a chance in hell of getting out of this one.
"There might be a knife or something sharp farther down the tunnel." Daniel rolled into a sitting position and tried to see beyond the circle of light from the lantern beside them.
"Well, you'd better look quick. They had so much fun making a birthday present out of me, they're bound to come back to finish the job on you." Ben threw the two silent boys at the edge of the light a quick look. Bound as tightly as he, they looked terrified, but they hadn't said a word since he and Daniel had been thrown down to join them.
"I'm a cripple, remember? They won't be worried about me." Daniel's reply was bitter as he scooted carefully toward the darkness. "A cripple, a nigger, and two babes. I'm sure they're just as worried as can be."
"I'm not a babe." Jose was the only one to protest this assessment of their predicament.
"And Daniel's not a cripple. And just because Ben's a different color doesn't mean he's not a man. That's what Evie says. We're better than stupid crooks. We'll get out of here." Manuel spoke for the first time. His eyes were wider than saucers in the darkness, but his small face was set with determination. He began struggling with his brother's ropes from behind.
Ben chuckled. "You boys got spunk but not a whole lot of sense. Why didn't you tell the sheriff about what was going on in here?"
Manuel shrugged and kept working the ropes. "He don't listen to us. We're greasers. That's like being a nigger, isn't it?"
"I think you need to listen to Miss Evie a little closer." Muttering beneath his breath and working at his bonds, Ben kept an eye on Daniel, who was inching farther into the tunnel beneath the stable. They were in a hell of a fix, but he wasn't about to contaminate the boys with that knowledge.
"We were going to catch the thieves ourselves." Manuel said as if Ben hadn't interrupted. "Tom stole the livery from us. That's what Mama said. And he's stealing from people like Logan. And I bet anything, he's the one who's running the gang stealing from the stagecoach."
Considering the looks of the thugs that had caught them and put them down here, Ben wasn't willing to take that wager. He'd seen them coming and going from this hiding place. He'd reported it to Tyler. Tyler would know where they were. He just had to hope that Tyler would notice they were missing before the criminals decided to rid themselves of any witnesses.
"There's crates back here," Daniel called. "I don't know what's in these others, but there's sticks of dynamite in this open one."
"Well, I'm not about to blast ourselves out of these ropes. A crate of knives would be more useful."
Daniel disappeared into the darkness of the interior. Someone in the stable overhead slammed a boot against the trap door in the floor and yelled at them to shut up or they'd shut them up. Ben grimaced but quit talking. He didn't want to do anything that would bring anyone down here just yet.
He was afraid the boy was hurting his leg by moving around like that, but Daniel was the only one with freedom to move. The young ones were tied together, and he was bent backward so he couldn't even sit up. Ben wondered what kind of minds thought up positions like this.
Daniel slid back excitedly, a grin beaming from ear to ear. As he entered the lamplight, he turned around, revealing a sharp piece of metal caught between his bound hands. "Let's get busy. I got an idea on how to get out of here if we can cut these ropes off."
Ben didn't know how anyone could get two kids and a cripple past the passel of ruffians above, but he wasn't one to sit