Page 51 of Follow the Lonesome Trail
“We’ve been around Silverstone plenty. We might have come across him,” Frank offered. “What’s his name?”
“Um…” Ruby faltered. It was her turn to look embarrassed.
“You don’t know his name?” Jimmy was downright flabbergasted. “And you’re gonnamarrythis fella?”
“Of course I know his name! I just don’t remember it at the moment,” Ruby protested. “I do know it’s from the Bible. Boaz… or something Old Testament-y like that. We’ve only had but a few letters. Mail from East to West is slow, and you people have a bad habit of interfering with delivery!”
It shouldn’t have surprised Jimmy when she produced an envelope from yet another invisible pocket, but it did anyway. She shook out the letter with a flourish, revealing a page full of tiny, neat script. Something about the letter made a prickle of unease crawl along the edges of Jimmy’s mind, like a spider that skittered out of sight before he could get a good look at it.
“Here it is!” Ruby exclaimed, pointing to the miniscule writing. “I was close, his name’s Obed—same Bible story as Boaz. Obed Birmingham, of Silverstone.” She clutched the letter to her heart and gave a dreamy sigh. “Mrs. Ruby Birmingham. It does have a nice sound, doesn’t it?”
“Mr. Birmingham sure writes purty,” Jimmy chuckled. “That ain’t the pen of a logger or trapper, that’s certain. Betcha a dollar that was written by a man with soft hands.”
“I’m writing this letter, ya ninny,” Ruby huffed. “It’s from me, to Obed. This ismyhandwriting.”
“Oh,” Jimmy said. “Guess that would explain the soft hands.”
“Guess you owe me a dollar.”
“Birmingham don’t sound familiar.” Frank shook his head and looked to Jimmy for confirmation. “Winthrop’s the name of the rich fella that owns the mines. Odds are this Birmingham’s a nobody.” Frank shot an apologetic glance at Ruby. “No disrespect meant, a-course.”
The look on Frank’s face told Jimmy that his partner was every bit as relieved as he was. The ransom plan was off, and neither of them was sad to see it go.
Jimmy glanced at the lengthening shadows on the mountain around them. He chewed his lip, hesitating only a moment before making up his mind. If they were going to make it to the rendezvous point by sundown, they’d need to make tracks, and quick.
“Well then, I guess we’re gonna take option three.”
Ruby and Frank turned questioning looks on him.
“We head to the meetup,” Jimmy explained. “Get Miss Ruby off our hands as quick as possible. She’ll be someone else’s problem then.”
“But ain’t that still kidnapping?” Frank asked.
“She claims she’s just a parcel in the mail.” Jimmy shrugged. “So, no. We’re just robbing the mail stage, like we were paid to do.”
“That oughta hold up in court just fine,” Ruby said, nodding earnestly. Jimmy couldn’t tell if she was joking or not, but her encouragement was starting to grate on his nerves.
“You know, for a piece of mail, you sure do an awful lot of talking,” he grumbled. “Did somebody forget to put sealing wax on that mouth of yours?”
Frank looked ready to haul off and hit him, but Ruby just laughed. The clear, bell-like sound shattered the tension.
“Fair enough, Mister Jimmy, fair enough,” she said. With a graceful swish of her skirts, she sank down onto the stagecoach steps, magically produced a pencil nub, and settled in to work on her love letter. “I’ll be good and quiet. Holler at me when you’re ready to go.”
Frank turned to Jimmy with a shrug. “I guess the new plan’s just the old plan, huh?”
Jimmy smacked his hat back onto his head, shoved his hands in his pockets, and gave a decisive nod.
“We take the lady to the meetup, get paid, get outta town, and then make sure wenevertake a job without asking questions again, no matter how good the money is.” Jimmy shook his head in exasperation. “Turns out some rubies are more trouble than they’re worth.”
The sun had dipped behind the western peaks by the time they reached their destination. They’d missed the rendezvous by over half an hour, thanks to the gathering darkness and Ruby having to pick her way along the mountain trails in her ridiculous pointy-toed shoes. Frank had tried to convince Ruby to let him carry her over some of the rougher stretches of the hike, but the mere suggestion of that indignity had been met with such a poisonous look from Ruby that he’d shrunk away like a whipped dog. Frank had to content himself with staying a step or two behind her the whole way, ready and waiting in case she needed his aid.
“It’s just up ahead,” Jimmy called over his shoulder. Ruby lagged nearly twenty yards behind him, with Frank trailing her like a faithful shadow. “Don’t make it take all night.”
“If you tell me to hurry one more time,” Ruby shot back, “I’m gonna trade boots with you and see how fastyoucan hike in these pretty little things.”
Jimmy rolled his eyes and went back to scanning the area. The bowl-shaped hollow was easy enough to pick out. According to his note, the cache was buried at the base of a tree on the far edge of the hollow. It would be marked somehow, but he couldn’t remember what the mark was. He reached for the letter to review the instructions from his client, but before he got a chance to unfold and read it, Ruby shrieked.
Jimmy looked up just in time to see her fall, her foot having caught in a tangle of undergrowth.
