The Five Dollar Mail Book 3: The Road Home

23: Until the Hour of Separation

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. Chapter artwork of Bender by Diego Candia. All graphics by me.

Book 1: The Green, Book 2: Lynch's Boys, Book 3: The Road Home, and the Riders & Kickers Anthology are available on Amazon under the name Regina Shelley. So if you hate waiting for chapter posts and/or want a more polished read, the finished product is available now.

Whatever I say, no matter how I say it...it's going to make sweet Miss Lil cry. And that's the dinkum oil.

Bender hurried through the dim tunnel, bearing his weight forward to keep his boots from clicking on the stone floor. He didn't know what he'd find back where he'd left Miss Lil and Saint, and he was half expecting to be ambushed. He tried not to think about how he'd had to leave the two of them alone, woefully under-equipped and with Saint injured.

I buggering sure don't want to startle them. They might shoot me. He could hear the sound of splashing water echoing against the rocks ahead and quickened his pace. Cupping his hand to his mouth, he called out, "Miss Lil! It's me, love." He realized he could be walking straight into an attack, that Rodriguez could have come back this way. But he also realized he had very little to lose at this point. If his companions had been recaptured or worse, he knew that there would be nothing he could do about it. It'll be the end of the buggering line.

Ripples of dancing light were swirling across the rock walls and he cautiously stopped at the entrance to the water cave, pistol at the ready. "Mates?" The scent of fire and damp ash curled in his nostrils. His eyes fell on Miss Lil and Saint, huddled around the tiny campfire on the sandy beach and he sagged with relief. They were stumbling to their feet, scrambling to join him.

Lily's face, pinched with a heartbreaking combination of dread and anticipation, twisted with defeat when she saw that he had returned alone. She gave a wordless cry and stopped in her tracks, pressing her hands to her face. Her pain was like a knife stroke through him. Saint closed his eyes and gripped her shoulder, pulling her hard against his side. "Where is he?" he whispered. "Did you find him?"

"Miss Lil," Bender stepped forward and put a hand on her shaking back. "I picked up his trail. I don't have reason to think he's dead, love. I think he's...captured. Near as I can tell, by Indians."

Lily whirled around, out of Saint's arms, her eyes wild. "Oh, Jon. Oh..." She was breathing hard. "How do you know? Did you see him?"

Saint stumbled backwards, sitting down hard on a rock and pressing his fingers to his watering eyes. He looked to be in agony, leaning forward hard onto his elbows. "Don't tell us that," he groaned, his voice hitching. "Dear God."

"I didn't see him. No," he said. Lily was reaching for him, and he pulled her into his arms, feeling her body shake with desperate sobs. He stroked her hair, feeling helpless and lost. I don't need to tell her how I found Galloway. And I don't think she needs to know I found Jesse's clothes cut up and discarded in an old camp. Although that there was no blood is maybe a good sign. His mind raced, following a glimmer of a hunch. They hadn't stolen or destroyed Galloway's clothing, so why do it to Jesse's? He had a sudden mental flash, remembering how he'd sliced through Storm's shirt as the scout lay unconscious in the parlor after being beaten. I didn't want to bugger him up worse wrestling him out of his clothes. He nodded to himself. It makes sense. It might be that Jesse's been injured and someone's taking care of him. He grabbed onto the shred of hope and held tightly to it. "I tracked him. It looks like he was picked up by a small band a good ways downriver, where he was probably trying to cross. I didn't see any signs of...well..." He swallowed hard. "Let's not panic yet. There's no reason to think he's not alive."

Saint roached back hands through his hair. "Hungerford...we have to..."

"I know. I'm going back after him," Bender blurted. "I only came back because I don't know how long it will take. I will bring him back or find out what happened to him. That's my word, love. But you two have to go back home without us."

Saint jerked his head up to look at him, pain and grief etched across his face and streaking unheeded in grimy trails down his stubbled cheeks. "The hell with that," he spat. "You think we're gonna go back while..."

"Listen to me," Bender said. "If I can't get him myself, then having you two along won't make a buggering bit of a difference. If he's taken by Indians, we won't be able to fight our way out of there. It'll be words or nothing." And if I die trying, so buggering be it. I have some crimes to pay for anyways. He eased Lily down to sit on the rock beside Saint. She leaned over, resting her head on Saint's shoulder. Bender had never seen two people look so dejected.

"We're out of supplies," he said softly. "You're both sitting ducks here, and Saint's too buggered up to come anyway. It's some rough terrain and no telling what's ahead."

"I can ride," Saint snapped.

"Let's hope you can," Lily murmured, her eyes squeezed closed. "Pete...you're not going to get your strength back sleeping in a cold cave and eating scraps of hardtack. We're out of coffee and we don't dare go into town to get more. If Jesse's...if we can't..." She drew in a shuddering breath, lifting her head and looking into his face. "I can't lose you, too. I just can't." Her voice came out in a sob. "I have to get you back to the Green."

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