two men riding alongside the lumbering stagecoach. Benjamin tipped his hat, but Tyler pretended to ignore her. The distraction worked, however, and Evie smiled as the fat man took a look at the rifle tied to Tyler's saddle and held his tongue.
"Are y'all going to Mineral Springs, too?" Evie asked the quiet woman in the corner. The silence inside the coach was too intimidating, and she sought the sound of another voice.
"We went to see after my sister in Houston. She's been down ill, but she's better now. Are you the new schoolteacher?"
Schoolteacher. Evie didn't glance at Daniel. She knew the look on his face without seeing it.
"I'm interviewing for the position. Will your young one be attending?" She cast the grubby youngster a dubious glance, but the child had gone back to sucking his thumb with his eyes closed.
"He's the baby. He's only four. But the others ought to go. I've only got one what's eager, but the others ought to know something of their letters. I don't want them to grow up as ignorant as their mother."
"There's all kinds of knowledge besides letters in this world, and I'm sure you possess many of them, Mrs.—" Evie left the sentence dangling while she waited to be supplied a name.
"Dabney. Mrs. Otis Dabney."
"I'm Maryellen Peyton, Mrs. Dabney, and this here is my brother Daniel. We're happy to meet you."
Daniel took his book from his pocket and began to read. There wasn't a thing he could do to keep Evie from doing just what she wanted, and there wasn't any sense in trying. She lived in a world all her own. He was just an occasional participant.
They stopped at a way station to rest and water the horses. Evie produced fried chicken and biscuits and fried apple pies from the huge sack she had insisted on carrying with her. The woman she had befriended brought out bread, jam, and boiled eggs, and they happily exchanged their various fares as if this were a family picnic.
Tyler appreciated the food, but he kept an eye on the fat man with the whiskey stains down his front. The man was watching the Peytons with a belligerent look that bespoke one of their more rebellious escapades, but Tyler knew it was worse than useless to question either of them. Daniel would merely look surprised and tell him everything was just fine, and Evie would produce some outrageous lie or another. He'd decided some time back if he didn't want to hear lies, he shouldn't ask questions. So he didn't.
The sun was even worse as they set out again. The terrain was growing steadily less forested and more shrubby, and the dirt beneath the horse's hooves flew up in a fine dust that coated everything in sight. Years in a Yankee prison camp had taught him to endure many things, but Tyler wasn't well pleased with having to suffer for the sake of a capricious brat and her brother.
But it was his own damned fault for continuing with this journey against his better judgment, so he would pay the price. He was beginning to realize that curiosity was as strong a factor as anything else in his pursuit of this insanity. He wanted to see what really awaited them in Mineral Springs.
So Tyler allowed the sun to lull him into a stupor as they rode steadily westward. He pulled his hat brim over his eyes to shade his face and pulled his neckerchief more securely around his nose until he looked like a Mexican bandit. His newly acquired horse had learned the gait of the stage and followed it obediently without much direction. A man could almost take a nap through this country and not notice the difference when he woke up.
That was the excuse he gave himself later when the thieves rode out of a stand of oaks, and he didn't see them until it was too late.
The horses screamed their fear as shots rang over their heads. The stage swerved perilously, and the passengers grabbed the straps over their heads to try to hang on. Evie searched for some sign of Tyler out the window, but he had been lagging behind these last few miles and she saw no sign of him now.
The two male passengers grabbed for small weapons hidden in the various folds of their coats and waistcoats, and Daniel gripped his cane like a sword as the coach rumbled to a halt. The shouts of the thieves could be heard ahead,