a few minutes, and then Lewt said, “She shouldn’t come along. It’s too dangerous. Can’t you talk some sense into her?”
“She’s a better rider and better shot than most rangers I’ve ridden with. I’ve watched her for years, that one. She’s shy, afraid sometimes, but she’s got spirit. She’ll be fine.”
“So you’re not going to try to talk her into staying here?”
The old man shook his head. “It’s been my experience no one can talk a McMurray into anything. You just got to ride with them or stay out of their way.”
Great, Lewt thought, the old man is playing along with the lie that she’s really Emily McMurray. In two days he’d be crossing the border with two crazy people and a ranger who had a death wish. The odds weren’t good. If he had any brains left, he’d turn around and go back to the ranch himself. Maybe it wasn’t too late to talk the real Emily McMurray into marrying him. Or maybe he could give Rose one more try? She didn’t seem near as crazy about Boyd as Boyd seemed to think she was.
Lewt shook his head. He knew he wouldn’t, couldn’t turn back. For once in his life he had to play full-out against all the odds. Duncan was the best friend he’d ever had, and he wasn’t prepared to lose him without a fight. Even if he hadn’t known Duncan, he couldn’t let Em ride into trouble alone. Much as he hated to admit it, he cared about her.
Heaven knew why. She hated him right now. She was a thousand miles away from what he wanted for a wife, and even if he did want her, she’d made it plain she didn’t want him or any other man.
Lewt decided he fit right in with this group of nuts. He was as crazy as the rest of them. “What do you think our chances are of coming out of this alive?” he asked Sumner.
“Does it matter?” the old man answered.
Lewt laughed. “No.”
CHAPTER 24
EM WALKED TO THE LITTLE HOUSE HER FAMILY owned in town while the men talked the station manager into letting them ride on a freight train at least as far as Austin. If he let them travel farther south, they could save a day’s ride.
The railroads had a strict policy against riding with the animals, but a few dollars in the right palm usually got a cowboy a straw bed for the night. The main office might set policy, but the men who worked the line knew that times were hard and folks needing to get from one part of Texas to another didn’t always have money. So, for the price of transporting a horse, the cowboy sometimes got to ride free, even on trains with no passenger cars.
She tapped on the door to the “little house” and was glad to find her sisters home. Mrs. Allender had decided to take an afternoon nap, so the women came back to the house while the men elected to have a drink at the saloon.
Em followed her sisters to the kitchen, where Rose poured tea and they talked quietly.
After Em explained what had happened to Duncan, Bethie cried. They’d all hated and loved him as a child, but he was family, and family to the McMurrays came first.
“There’s no sense wishing Papa were here. He’s not. We’ve got to do what we can. I’ll go get him, guessing he must be injured somehow or he would have come out with the others. Rose, you and Beth will have to take turns watching over the ranch as soon as you say good-bye to our guests. Sumner tells me the men know what to do, but have Danny, the kid who’s always hanging around the barn, ride with you on rounds. Sumner says he’s a good shot if trouble comes up.”
Beth nodded. “I’m sure Davis will go with me while he’s here. He rides well and I feel comfortable with him on guard. That will relieve one hired hand to work in the barn. With Sumner gone, they’ll have their hands full.”
Rose stared at her sisters. She hadn’t been out riding with her papa for years. The idea of spending an entire day in the saddle didn’t appeal to her. “I’m not even sure I know who Danny is,” she complained. “Em, don’t you think we should wire Papa and ask him to come back?”
“No,” Em said. “I promised I could handle whatever came up. I’ll handle this. I’ll