Heartbreak Trail Part 27

"String him up!" came shouts from the crowd, but Americus again pounded for order.

The marshal leaned over his shoulder. "They can't hang him yet, Judge. The jury's got to give its verdict."

Americus addressed the jury. "We'll find a room for you if you want to deliberate."

One of the jurors, a seasoned old miner with a straggly gray beard, stood and spoke. "T'won't be necessary, Judge. I think we all agree." He turned to his fellow jurors. "What do you say, boys?"

"Guilty!" came from the throats of eleven men.

"Then we all find him guilty, Judge, and we think he ought to hang."

The marshal bent and spoke to Americus again. Above the noise of the crowd, the judge declared, "Tom says we've got to do this right. We need a vote from the spectators, as well as the jury's decision. Now, who makes a motion this man be hanged?" The motion was instantly made and seconded. "Should Abner Schneider be hanged?"

A vengeful, rancorous, roaring "Yes!" issued from the throats of hundreds of men, both in the Gold Dust Saloon and gathered outside in the street. Immediately, a group of men lifted Abner over their heads to carry him outside. They were jabbing, punching at him, and shouting terrible things.

"Lucy, they're taking him to the hanging tree," Cordelia shouted over the noise of the crowd. "Do you want to follow?"

"No, I don't." Lucy shook her head decisively. She knew this trial was a farce. She knew no one should be hanged in such a manner. Yet, when she thought of all the people Abner had hurt, including herself ... his sanctimonious, superior att.i.tude ... his cruelty ... she couldn't pretend to care and wasn't going to try. "I've seen enough. Let's get out of here."

They returned to Cordelia's boarding house and sat in the parlor, both numb with disbelief. Holding the baby tight in her arms, she fought for whatever fragile control she had left, telling herself she couldn't afford to break down now. In the distance, she could plainly hear the noise of the crowd. Suddenly a jubilant roar went up.

"Oh my Lord," Cordelia exclaimed, "he must be swinging from that tree right now. Sorry, but I can't cry."

"Don't apologize. I can't cry either. All I can say is, may G.o.d have mercy on his wretched soul."

"At least you still have the store. You can run it every bit as well as Abner ever could."

The store! In all the tumult, Lucy had forgotten. "I'd better pull myself together." She handed Amy to Cordelia. "Will you watch her for me? It just occurred to me the store has been left untended."

The first thing Lucy saw when she stepped from the boarding house into the crowded street was a wisp of black smoke curling toward the sky. It came from the direction of the store. As it grew heavier, she choked back a cry. It couldn't be! Not ...

"They've set Schneider's on fire!" someone shouted.

Oh, G.o.d, no! Lucy picked up her skirts and ran. By the time she reached the store, she found it engulfed in flames, the volunteer fire department only now arriving. An unruly crowd milled around in the street in front, some holding merchandise they'd looted.

Lucy watched in stunned horror as the store burned to the ground. Was it only hours ago she was having a lovely day, taking tea in Cordelia's parlor with the cream of Hangtown society?

But now?

Abner gone ... the store gone ... in the wink of an eye she'd lost everything except Amy and the clothes on her back.

Chapter 22.

Sacramento, California Charlie Dawes smiled gratefully at his partner. "You were right. Guess I did need a little help."

Clint suppressed a smile. Charlie's back had been in such bad shape he had laid in the back of the wagon most of the way to Sacramento. "I'm glad you're better now."

"Yep, I can get on my horse again. I know how anxious you are to find Lucy, and I surely appreciate-"

"You'd have done the same for me." Anxious was hardly the word. Since the day they began the last leg of their journey-the trek out of the Sierras to the flatlands of Sacramento-he'd had to curb his desperate urge to find her. "Now that you're all right, I'm going back. Leaving today. Right now."

"Well, I sure hope you find the little lady." Charlie's bushy white brows drew together in a frown. "Where will you look? There are mining camps all over the Sierras, and she could be in any one of them. Angel's Camp. Dutch Flat. Rough and Ready-"

"I'll find her." A mixture of rage and frustration welled up within him every time he thought of Lucy in the hands of that sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Abner Schneider. "I'll find her if it takes the rest of my life."

Had it not been for Cordelia, Lucy didn't know how she would've survived. What would she have done if Cordelia hadn't insisted she and Amy stay at her boarding house? For the first few days, she'd remained in such a state of shock she could hardly function. Cordelia stood by her, treating her like an honored and cherished guest. "Stay as long as you like. You have a home here. I'll help in any way I can." Lucy was grateful but soon realized she couldn't continue to accept her friend's charity. She began to help around the boarding house, cooking, making beds, washing clothes and linens, scrubbing floors. The hard work earned hers and Amy's keep, but she soon realized she couldn't work in a boarding house forever and must make other plans.

"Where would you go?" Cordelia asked when Lucy expressed her desire to leave. "I love having you here. Nothing would make me happier than if you made this your permanent home."

"I can't keep imposing."

"Imposing!" Cordelia declared indignantly. "You more than earn your keep, even though I've told you many times you needn't lift a finger."

"Even so ..." Lucy stifled a sigh. These days she had to fight to remain cheerful, especially when she felt as if the bottom had dropped out of her world. She didn't mourn Abner in the slightest, but since that horrible day he died, she couldn't keep herself from constantly wondering why so many things in her life had gone wrong. She had worked so hard-gone through so much-only to end up penniless and alone, living off the kindness of a friend.

Cordelia sighed. "If only you had a bit of money. You could rebuild the store and run it yourself. I know you could make a go of it. You were as responsible for the store's success as Abner was."

"I think so, too, but you know I lost everything in the fire." A rueful smile curved her mouth. "Perhaps I could get a job as a dancing girl at the Gold Dust."

"No, you won't." Cordelia didn't return the smile. "And if you think all those girls do is dance-"

"I know. Only joking."

"You could always go home to Boston."

"If I did, I'd have to ask my father for our pa.s.sage." Her spirits plunged even further, just picturing herself returning to Boston, appearing on the Beacon Street doorstep clutching the baby, ragged, penniless, a charity case depending upon Pernelia's benevolence for the rest of her life. "I could never go back."

"Didn't Abner have an account at the bank?"

Lucy was reminded of the bag of coins Abner had taken away from her-stolen from her and felt indignant all over again. If only she had them now! "He has an account there all right. Opened with my money, I might add."

"If it's your money, then why don't you just go get it?"

"I can't. Don't forget, I wasn't married to Abner. By law, the money will probably go to Abner's relatives back East."

Cordelia regarded her with astonishment. "So, he can send them your money?"

Lucy shrugged. "What else can I do?"

"Do?" Cordelia fairly leaped from her chair. "I'm surprised at you! Have you lost your s.p.u.n.k? Aside from me, does anyone in this town know you weren't married to Abner?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then you're going to get that money."

"But-"

"Grab your hat. We're going to the bank right now, Mrs. Schneider. Mrs. Abner Schneider."

"So what can I do today for you two lovely ladies?" Americus Washburn sent his most gracious smile across his desk to Lucy and Cordelia.

Cordelia cast a troubled glance at Lucy and patted her hand. "As you know, Mister Washburn, my dear friend has suffered a terrible loss." Lucy had never heard Cordelia talk with such a thick, cloying southern accent.

Americus looked properly grim. "A terrible, terrible thing. Mrs. Schneider, you know you have my condolences."

"Thank you. As you know, my dear husband opened an account here, and I thought-"

"You're wondering if we could put the account in your name," Americus interrupted. "But of course, we can."

"I'm familiar with the banks back East, so I'm wondering about papers to fill out ... legal procedures ..."

"This is Hangtown. I'll have that money in your name in about one minute flat."

"Thank you, Cordelia! I'm so glad you thought of it," Lucy bubbled on the way back to the boarding house. "It's wonderful to have money again. It was awful feeling so poverty stricken ... so utterly without hope."

"Now you can go back to Boston with money of your own."

"You know how I'd love to see my family again, but I shall stay right here in Hangtown."

"Waiting for Clint?" Cordelia gave a wise nod.

"I know he'll find me. If it takes forever, I shall wait right here until he does." Lucy's heart swelled with feeling. Never more than at that moment did she realize how strong and enduring was her love for Clint. He was going to find her, she was positive.

Days later, Lucy was surveying the blackened ruins of Schneider's General Store when she heard someone call her name. The voice came from a wagon halted in the street. When she saw who it was, she exclaimed, "William Applegate! What are you doing in Hangtown?"

"Looking for gold, what else?" William Applegate went on to explain that Agnes and the rest of the family were still at Angel's Camp, where he'd first gone to look for gold. "All the good claims were taken. Since then, I've traveled around, looking over several of the mining camps. That's why I'm here."

After they chatted for a while, Lucy asked the question uppermost in her mind. "I don't suppose you've seen Mister Palance, have you?"

"Clint?" William Applegate looked thoughtful. "I ain't seen him since he and Mister Dawes left for Sacramento with the rest of the wagon train."

She swallowed hard, trying to mask her growing consternation. "That was after I left?"

"That's right, ma'am, shortly after."

"He didn't say anything about wanting to search through the mining towns for ... well, anybody or anything?"

"Not that I know of. He seemed just his usual self, not caring about much of anything except leading the wagon train the rest of the way to Sacramento. I don't believe he was coming back. If he was, he surely didn't say."

Chapter 23.

San Francisco.

Waiting to board the clipper ship Flying Cloud, Lucy stood on the dock, Amy in her arms, taking in the incredible sight of a city caught in the madness of the gold rush. In the bay, she could see a tangle of masts where hundreds of ships lay abandoned, their entire crews having deserted to head for the gold fields. Behind her at least a thousand tents and canvas houses dotted the hillsides of San Francisco. Across the bay, the land rose gradually, lifting up into mountains in the distance and stretching off to where the peaks of the Sierra Nevadas were just visible, their snowy caps dotting the horizon. Strange to think that only a short time ago she'd been there.

Lucy inhaled a breath of tangy salt air while she listened to the harsh squawk of a pa.s.sing seagull. So like Boston! Soon she'd be home again, safe in the arms of her family, able to hold her head high, thanks to Jacob's money. She ought to feel ecstatic right about now, but indeed, she didn't. Instead, grief and despair tore at her heart.

How wrong she'd been to think Clint would come after her. She could've sworn he would, but now, thanks to William Applegate, she knew better. Clint hadn't cared enough to conduct even the shortest of searches. He'd just gone on with his life, as if she'd been nothing more to him than a casual dalliance.

A seaman from Flying Cloud came by. "How long will it take us to get to Boston?" she called after him.

"Don't know for sure, ma'am. Did you know we sailed New York to San Francisco in only eighty-nine days? Broke the record."

Only eighty-nine days? Three months on the open seas seemed an eternity. Three months where she'd have nothing to do but think about Clint and how she'd lost him forever. At least, when she got home, she'd keep busy. She would never marry again, but she could spend the rest of her life doing good work. She would help with the poor-join an abolitionist group so she could do her part to free the slaves. She would- "Out for a stroll, Mrs. Schneider?"

That voice! It came from behind her. She knew it couldn't be him. With her luck, nothing so wonderful could ever happen to her. She turned, all the same, and gazed into Clint's warm brown eyes.

A soft gasp escaped her. "Clint! How did you find me?"

He smiled. "By combing practically every mining camp in the Sierras."

"William Applegate told me you went on to Sacramento. You didn't look for me at all."

"William Applegate doesn't know everything." Clint proceeded to tell her how he had to stay with Charlie until they reached Sacramento. How he had rushed back and searched for any trace of her until finally he came to Hangtown. "Cordelia told me everything. How they hung Abner. How you'd booked pa.s.sage on Flying Cloud and planned to go back to Boston. I haven't slept for two days, trying to get here before your ship sailed."

It was then she noticed his unshaven face, dust-covered boots, and the tiredness in his eyes. "When William Applegate said you'd gone on to Sacramento, I was devastated. I'd been so sure you were going to come after me."

"Not try to find the woman I love?" Clint's gaze shifted to Flying Cloud where it sat gently rocking in the bay. "You're not going home to Boston."

"I'm not?"

"We're going back to Hangtown, where we're going to get married and settle down."

"I thought you weren't a marrying man."

"That was before I met you." He looked deep into her eyes. "So, what's it to be? Boston or me?"

"You know the answer to that." Amazing how, in the course of only a few seconds, her outlook on life had changed from bleak resignation to the rosiest optimism. Life was full of surprises, a fact she should ponder, but later. As for now ...

She smiled up at the man she loved, eyes filled with joy and contentment. "Come. Let's find a place where I can put the baby down. I want so much to kiss you!"

THE END.