Page 50 of Follow the Lonesome Trail
“He didn’t mean that, ma’am,” Frank cut in, glancing at Jimmy. “He just gets uppity when things don’t go his way.”
Jimmy scowled. Uppity? Really? This wasn’t some throwaway job they could afford to muck up. This was a hundred dollars on the line! The presence of a lady notwithstanding, Jimmy was about ready to give Frank a piece of his mind, delivered by way of his fist. But then, like sunshine breaking through storm clouds, Ruby Hampton smiled again.
“Well, I suppose I can understand that,” she said. The honeyed voice was back. “As you might’ve noticed, my day isn’t exactly going as I planned either.”
“And we do apologize for that, ma’am, we sure and certainly do,” Frank said quickly. He nudged Jimmy. “Right, Jim? We never meant to inconvenience the lady.”
“Course not,” Jimmy mumbled grudgingly. He hated groveling, but they needed answers about the ruby they were supposed to steal, and Frank’s method of talking to Ruby was working better than Jimmy’s.
“Well, bless your hearts, you really are nice boys, after all.”
Jimmy cringed. It was so obviously condescending, but either Frank didn’t notice, or he didn’t care.
“Supposing itwasa normal thing for a lady to do…” Frank ventured cautiously. “What’d you mail yourself out to the Rockies for? It’s a rough life out here.”
“No rougher than back home.” Ruby twirled a silken curl around one delicate finger and her perfect lips turned downward in a pout. “My daddy gambled away all our money then up and died. A pretty face ain’t enough to land a good marriage back home, not without money or a good family name. But there’s this fella in Silverstone who needs a wife, and he don’t care if I’m penniless so long as I’m willin’ to live out West with him. So here I am.”
A poor little orphan and a hopeful love story on top of it? Jimmy wanted to gag. Maybe this wasn’t worth a hundred dollars after all. He had half a mind to walk away right here and now and leave Miss Ruby to whatever sappy sweet thing was bound to happen to her perfect little self next.
“Awful sorry about your pa,” Frank said, nodding sympathetically.
Jimmy couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Frank by the shoulders and gave him a good shake.
“You’re sorry forher? You ain’t figured out what this means yet, have you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “It means there’s no actual ruby, that we risked our necks robbin’ this stage for no good reason, and most of all, it means we ain’t gonna get paid!”
He shoved Frank roughly away and stomped a few paces down the road. He took off his hat, smacked it against his knee, and shoved a hand through his hair in exasperation. It was a mess, sure and certain. And to think, not half an hour ago he’d been congratulating himself on a job well done.
“Jimmy…” Frank began slowly, as if not quite sure he wanted to voice his next thought. “I ain’t so sure this is over yet. I get the odd feelin’ our man knew it wasn’t a jewel.”
Jimmy turned back. It wasn’t like Frank to be doing the thinking, but he felt a bit of relief that someone else was having the ideas for once. “What are you gettin’ at?”
“It’s like this, see.” Frank scratched uncertainly at his beard, looking a bit out of his depth but forging ahead valiantly. “He gave us her name and flat out told us where to find her. Like as not he didn’t wanna tell us outright what we were signing up for because kidnappin’s a hangin’ offence. He got us to do his dirty work by makin’ us think we’d just be pulling some low-risk robbery.”
“Sounds like you boys need to ask for more detail before agreeing to jobs,” Ruby remarked as she unfurled a delicate lace fan and began fluttering it. Jimmy was sure she hadn’t been holding the fan a second ago. How many hidden pockets did that dress of hers have, anyway?
“That’s rich coming from you, Little Miss Mails-Herself-To-A-Stranger,” Jimmy grumbled. It was infuriating that she was right. Maybe the whole mess could’ve been avoided by just a few more clarifying questions to their mysterious client. But he couldn’t go back and talk sense into his past self now. The only way out of this mess was forward.
“The way I see it, we got two options.” Jimmy ran his thumb over the frayed brim of his hat. “We can cut our losses and run, maybe search the coach first for anything worth takin’ with us. That way we keep our hands clean of kidnapping.”
“We can’t just leave her!” Frank’s protest was as immediate as it was emphatic. “Night comes on fast out here. All sorts of things could go wrong. Wolves, rockslides, bandits—”
“Not to complain or nothin’,” Ruby interjected, still fanning herself as properly as if she was sitting in a parlor, not stranded on a mountainside. “But I did already have some trouble with bandits today.”
“See, that just proves my point!” Frank threw up his hands. “It’s doggone dangerous out here!”
“We’rethe bandits she’s talkin’ about, you beanhead.”
Frank gave an embarrassed little cough and scuffed his boot in the dirt.
“But we ain’t those kind of bandits, ma’am,” he clarified. “We would never hurt a lady. Right, Jim? Or leave her out on the mountain all alone. Come on now, let’s hear option two.”
“It ain’t much prettier,” Jimmy warned. “But hear me out. This ain’t no ordinary woman. Look at her: fancy name, fancy dress, fancy manners…someone’s gotta want her back. Even if our man doesn’t, thenherman probably will. And he could be rich. There’s some well-to-do folk in Silverstone. Like the gent that owns the mines, ol’ What’s-His-Name.”
Frank’s eyes widened as he realized what Jimmy was implying. “You talkin’ ransom? That makes us full-blown kidnappers, Jimmy.”
Jimmy shrugged, trying to pretend that the idea didn’t bother him. He avoided meeting Frank’s eyes and turned to Ruby instead. “Your fella, is he rich?”
“Now, I don’t rightly know,” Ruby replied. “Never did ask him.”
