convinced they wouldn't let him out of their sight until they reached their destination. There was a certain tenacity in their innocence that he respected.
The alternative of waiting a week for the next stage, however, was equally reprehensible. Another week and he would no doubt either bed the brat or strangle her.
Leaning over the counter, Tyler began counting out his money. "Give me the two tickets for tomorrow and tell me where I can find the nearest livery."
Daniel and Evie took the news of his purchase of two horses with questioning looks but no overt objections. Tyler charged them only one half the cost of the horses, but they didn't even seem aware of that. They were damned babes in the wood and lucky he'd found them instead of someone less scrupulous, but he wasn't feeling particularly lucky when they set out the next day.
A wagon had to be hired to haul Evie's numerous trunks since the coach could only carry limited baggage. She had taken that news with casual aplomb, selecting her most important valise as the one she wished with her and admonishing the wagon driver to be careful with her mothers' "best linens" destined for her "sister" in Mineral Springs. The wagon driver might buy that story, but Tyler had seen mountains of feminine fripperies in some of those trunks, and although at least one carried linens, the others weighed too much to be either clothing or sheets. He was secretly harboring the gold bullion theory himself.
Both Evie and Daniel were bubbling with excitement as the stage set out, but Tyler and Benjamin looked forward to the dusty trip following the stage with a great deal less pleasure. By mid-morning the hot Texas sun had confirmed their expectations, and they were covering the bottom half of their faces with the crude neckerchiefs they had bought back in Houston to keep the dust out of their lungs.
Although out of the sun inside the stage, Evie was feeling the heat just the same. The leather shades on the windows kept out the light, but kept out any breath of fresh air, also. Since the stout man across from her was busily puffing on a cigar while inspecting her bodice waist with unnatural interest, Evie felt certain the queasiness in her stomach would soon lead to further unpleasantness.
"Sir, if you wouldn't mind, I am feeling quite faint. The smoke is making my head spin. If you could just put out the cigar until the air clears..."
He tapped the cigar end out the window and blew a long spiral of smoke into the thickened air. "You'd best get accustomed to it, little lady. We Texans like our tobacco and whiskey strong. If you don't like it, just go back where you came from."
So saying, he drew out a flask of whiskey and began to imbibe.
The sales drummer next to him looked disgusted, but half the other man's girth and height, he didn't interfere. The faded farmer's wife in the other corner looked resigned, and the child across from her was asleep. That left only Daniel and Evie to protest the man's rudeness.
They exchanged glances. What would Pecos Martin do in a situation like this? Daniel gripped his gold-knobbed cane in the middle and grabbed for the strap overhead as the stage swayed when it hit a rut. The cane swayed with him.
The flask the fat man had been about to cap encountered the cane and flew out of his hand, spewing its contents over his lap until the entire interior reeked of whiskey. Even the farmer's wife watched with a degree of interest as the man shrieked his rage, until the child woke and began to cry.
"So sorry, sir. It's this deuced leg of mine. Doesn't support me even sitting. I'll buy you a fresh supply in the nearest town." Daniel apologetically produced his large handkerchief to dab at the damage.
Evie sweetly reached over and removed the cigar from the astonished man's hand, flinging it out the window. "You'll catch fire if that falls on your trousers. Why, I had a neighbor once who spilled some brandy all over his best jacket, and he was so surprised that he dropped his cigar, and before anyone knew it, he went up in flames. Rather like a dessert flambé, only not so amusing."
The slender drummer chuckled, and the child quit wailing as it watched the fat man slowly turn purple. Blithely ignoring his fury, Evie pulled back the shade and waved at the