A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose) Read online

  “Justice,” I said. “Listen, can you look for my bag? Do I have my rifle and my Colts?” Suddenly, I decided to sleep a little.

  I woke up, alone, in the same spot. I felt a little bit better. There were more bodies laid in the line on the slope, which seemed very far away. Women wearing white nurse uniforms were going around from one bandaged person to another. Some men had almost completed setting up a tent to shelter them.

  I could not spot Sarah Byrne or Harriet Ritter. I could not see anyone I knew over by the tent. By the sun, it was afternoon. I turned my head to the left and discovered Maddy, who had a bandage around her left thigh. It was stained with blood. Her eyes were open.

  “Where’s the crate?” I said.

  “Under Jake’s arm. He’s propped up against that tree yonder.” She pointed.

  I followed her finger to see Jake maybe twenty feet away, kind of behind me and to my left. He was under a big tree, which was smart, since the sun was beating down. There was a bandage around his head. The crate was by his side.

  “My guns,” I said.

  “You’re still wearing ’em. That gal with the scab put the rest of your stuff over by Jake. He’s got my bag, too. He was scared someone would steal our things while we were out of it. That Harriet Ritter helped me get over to you, keep an eye out.”

  “Think we could go over there?” It felt wrong, being away from the cargo and my Winchester. Would be nice to have my extra clothes, too, considering I was spotted in blood.

  “We ought to,” Maddy said. “But I’m scared about walking on this leg. It stopped bleeding. Don’t want it to start again.”

  She was white as a sheet and sweating. She looked bad. “They should have taken you to the wounded tent.”

  “Couple of men said they’d come get me, but I guess they forgot. Lots of hurt people here.”

  I rolled to my hands and knees and slowly pushed up to my feet. Didn’t feel too bad. I held out my good arm to help Maddy pull up.

  Maddy was heavier than me, but between us we got her upright. “Don’t put weight on that leg,” I said. We hobbled and hopped over to the tree. I helped her to sit by Jake. It was a big tree, so she got a share of it to lean against.

  “Might as well change from the Lucky Crew to the Cripple Crew,” he said by way of hello.

  “I guess we’re lucky we ain’t all with Charlie over there on the slope,” Maddy told him.

  “True enough.” Jake made a weak try at a smile. He looked like death warmed over.

  “Is the crate okay?” I said.

  “Have a look.” Jake eased away so I could see.

  A few slats were broken. What was in the crate was an old chest. I was only able to make out a little, but the dark wood looked heavily carved and had some gold glinting on it.

  We’d been guarding a box that held another box.

  “It weighs the same,” Jake told us. “I was out for a bit, but it sat exactly where it had been when I came to.”

  “Last I knew, I was on top of it,” I said.

  “I was by the side of it. After you got clipped on the head, some farmworkers came in who’d seen the wreck. They were helping people out. Right away, the two men who’d been about to take the crate pretended they were there to help people too. They were going to lift you off first, so they could get a chance to grab it, but a doctor came in just then with that Ritter woman and Seeley, who had their guns out. The doctor got the farmhands to take other people out first. The gunnies lost their chance. By the time the farmhands carried you and Maddy out, I was myself enough to wrap my arm around it. The men who carried me out carried out the crate too. Then Ritter and Seeley got that Sarah Byrne to sit with me. But she said she had to walk to town after you came to, and that’s what she did. Ain’t seen the other two since then. So here we are.”

  “Then we’re okay. We’ve done good.” Maddy gave a firm nod.

  I wasn’t too sure about that. “We killed some people,” I pointed out. “You think we’ll get called out on that?”

  That wasn’t necessarily something the law would get us for at home. We’d been doing our jobs. But the law in Dixie could be different.

  “I don’t think any of the other people in our car are in any shape to call the sheriff on us,” Jake said. “Most of ’em are up there on the hill.”

  “Where’s Rogelio?” Maddy glanced around.

  “See that tent over there?” Jake said, pointing. It was all fixed up now. “That’s the wounded. You should be over there. They’re doing good for a little town, one not expecting this to happen. I wished they’d come get you, Maddy.”

  “What about you, Jake?” I said. “You need some doctoring, seems to me.”

  “After we get Maddy some help, we’ll figure out a way to get me and the crate to town together.”

  They’d left the side flaps up on the tent. Lots of movement inside it. A big wagon was pulling up to it now, and I figured they were going to load up the ones who needed to go to the hospital. I could just hear a distant siren. There must be an ambulance, and it had already gone. Maybe it had made several trips. Didn’t know how long a time I’d lost.

  “We’re close to Sally?” I looked at the landscape as if that would tell me, but the plain was broad and featureless except for a few low, rolling hills.

  “We almost made it to town. This is the second time the wagon’s come back to fetch wounded to take ’em there.”

  “I will go see what’s happening with Rogelio,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. I had to do something. I reloaded my guns, put ’em back in their holsters. I started to sling my rifle over my shoulder, but I hesitated. I was doing good to take one step after another, much less carry any more weight than I had to.

  “Jake, I’m gonna leave the rifle and the bag with you,” I said. “I’ll be back for ’em.”

  “Not too many armed women in Dixie,” Jake reminded me. “Specially not ones in pants.”

  “Maybe they’ll think I’m a boy,” I said.

  Finally, I’d said something Jake thought was funny. He laughed long and hard.

  Walking to the tent was an adventure. The ground was hummocky, and it didn’t stay put, thanks to my head. Each step had to be careful and slow. But I got there.

  I stepped into the tent without anyone looking interested, though I had drying blood everywhere on my shirt and my head. I felt invisible. I’d been that for a while on my last job. It was weird.

  The shade of the canvas was welcome. There was a lot of movement inside, nurses in their uniforms and conscripted men (all black—these must be the farmworkers who’d taken people out of the cars) helping with the wounded as needed. The lucky ones were on canvas-and-wood cots.

  I went from bed to bed, looking at the faces. Finally, I spotted Rogelio. I wasn’t at all surprised to see a nurse in a starched white uniform, complete with a white apron, squatting by him. How did she keep the apron and her white stockings clean?

  Rogelio looked past her and saw me coming. To my amazement he smiled. He could see me. That was good.

  The nurse looked over her shoulder to see what Rogelio was grinning at, and she could not hide her surprise that it was me.

  Since Rogelio was going to so much trouble, I smiled back. The bump on the back of my head throbbed.

  “Hey, Rogelio,” I said, when I came up to him. His broken nose was all swollen up. Maybe he was smiling because his looks were no longer perfect and he felt obliged to make an extra effort.

  I nodded to the nurse, being polite. I thought about kneeling to talk to Rogelio closer—felt like I was shouting down at him—but wasn’t sure I’d be able to stand.

  “Lizbeth.” Rogelio reached out to pat my calf, which was all he could reach.

  “How you doing?”

  “I think some of my ribs are cracked, and my arm is banged up. Only thing broke is my nose. This lady has been taking good care of me.”

  Thus acknowledged, the nurse turned red.

  “Thank you, ma’am,�
� I said. No one minds having respect, I figured, though she wasn’t much older than me. She had a fuller body and strong shoulders. She was wearing a name tag on her uniform. It read FINCH.

  “Do you want me to see if I can find your luggage?” Nurse Finch said to me. “So you can change?” The nurse seemed sure that that was something I needed urgently.

  I couldn’t understand what she meant. Then I realized she thought I was a scandal, had maybe had to wear someone else’s pants while my dress was being mended by a maidservant, or something. Ha!

  “Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. “I got a friend guarding my bag. These are my clothes, and I intend to keep wearing them until I get to a hotel. In my line of work, dresses are not practical.”

  Nurse Finch stared at me like she’d stare at a snake crawling from under a rock. “Oh, my Lord, honey, what do you do?”

  Probably the guns should have been a big clue. “I’m a shooter,” I said. “A gunnie.”

  Nurse Finch shrunk away from me like I’d told her I had the plague. Rogelio smiled wider. “Lizbeth is a famous shooter,” he said. “She’s the best.”

  “Why, thank you, kind gentleman,” I said, fluttering my eyelashes.

  He laughed again. Probably a record. “You had some drugs, Rogelio?” I had figured out where the cheer was coming from.

  “Maybe they gave me something for the pain,” he admitted.

  “I suspected that was the case. You gonna ride to Sally in the wagon?”

  “If Maddy can come in the wagon too. She don’t need to be on that leg for long until she’s had some days to heal. It’s worse than she thinks.”

  Not only had Rogelio smiled, he was thinking of another person. Had the real Rogelio vanished in the wreckage, and another one been substituted? I wished he were on pain medicine all the time.

  “Would that be okay?” I asked Nurse Finch, since she was still standing there with her mouth open.

  “Okay to … ?”

  “Bring our crew member, Maddy, over here to get on this wagon to ride into town,” I said, holding on to my patience with both hands. “Better if a stretcher team went and got her. Her wound is pretty bad.” I was trying to be patient. I hadn’t had any pain medicine, and my arm was throbbing with my heartbeat, felt like.

  Might have shown on my face, because Nurse Finch said, “You got hurt in the wreck.” Her eyes went from the dried blood on my face to the bloody bandage around my right arm.

  “I got hit on the head.” I felt around for the wound on my scalp. Wasn’t but a lump.

  That was too much for Nurse Finch. She mumbled something about telling someone and hurried off.

  “Sorry to scare your friend away,” I said to Rogelio, only half-joking. “You need something?”

  I could see him open his mouth to make a joke out of that, and I could see him change his mind. Which was good.

  “Can you get Maddy over to the wagon?” he asked instead. “I don’t see any men who aren’t already busy, and if you can help her, she’d be able to leave for the hospital now.” Sure enough, I could see two big men raising up a stretcher from the ground, which was a hard task, and loading it onto the wagon.

  “I’ll try.” I trudged back to the tree and told Maddy that Rogelio’s deepest wish was to have her by his side when he rode into Sally.

  She laughed, but she flushed, too, and I could tell I’d embarrassed her. “Sorry,” I said. “He is sure different when he’s full of drugs.”

  “Good,” Jake said. “Because he’s been a pain in the ass on this trip.”

  “He’s not always like a sore bear?”

  “No, and I thank God for it. Maybe getting hurt knocked something off his shoulders.”

  I shrugged. “Okay, Maddy, let’s do it again,” I said, trying not to sound as tired as I felt. Once again, I pulled her to her feet. I left my rifle and bag with Jake, because I figured I’d come back to get him and the crate.

  I hesitated for a long moment. Maybe I should get Jake to the wagon first. Jake’s color was bad. But I’d already gotten Maddy up, and I couldn’t see repeating the process.

  After ten halting steps with Maddy’s arm around my shoulders, I knew I needed help.

  But there was none. I had to keep my eyes fixed on the ground to avoid any rocks or ruts that would upset our wavering progress. The sweat was running down my back. My arm throbbed worse and worse. I glanced up to see the tent was not as close as I had hoped. I forced myself to lurch ahead, Maddy hanging on to me silently as she struggled.

  “Do you need help?” an accented voice asked.

  I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked to my left, real slowly, not breathing, which didn’t help a bit. There stood someone I’d been sure I’d never see again.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I felt like someone had struck me in the chest. I sucked in air from deep in my middle.

  Maddy said, “Is this guy okay?” She began to reach for her gun with a trembling hand.

  “He’s a friend,” I said, my eyes fixed on his. “Maddy, this is Eli Savarov. I worked with him a few months ago.”

  Eli looked down at me steadily. I could not read his face.

  I had so many questions and I could not squeeze out a one of them. They’d kind of gotten stuck in my throat from all trying to get through at once.

  Eli bent a little to put his arm around Maddy. It touched mine. I said, “Now.” We began moving again. Eli was a lot taller than me, but he bent and I stretched, and we got her there much faster than if I alone had been supporting her.

  Maddy surely had a lot of questions, but the pain sapped her curiosity. I was glad of that.

  We delivered Maddy to the wagon as it was about to leave. There was just enough room for her next to Rogelio, who had already been loaded up. He looked pleased when Maddy was deposited beside him, to the point of grinning at her. Even with the broken nose, it was not a bad effort.

  “I’ll see you in town,” I told them, and Rogelio blew me a kiss. The wagon lurched into motion.

  “Those are friends of yours, I take it,” Eli said in a funny way. He was standing about a foot from me, too close, but it would be prissy to tell him to take a step away.

  “New crew,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “You first,” Eli said with a polite smile.

  Huh. Okay. “I’m on a job with my new crew,” I said. “Hardly likely I’d come to Dixie for sightseeing.” I glanced up. Eli’s eyes were narrow and green, just like I remembered.

  “That’s for damn sure,” Eli said, and it sounded funny, with his slight Russian accent.

  “How’s my sister?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  Eli took my hand. “Felicia’s well. You got her letter?”

  “I think I’ve gotten three now. I hope she keeps writing.” I took a deep breath. “Why are you here?”

  He did not let go of my hand. “I’m on a … business trip.”

  Since Eli was a grigori, a wizard of the Holy Russian Empire, which used to be California and Oregon (my mom had taught me), that might mean almost anything.

  “Got a partner with you?” His previous partner, Paulina, was dead. She’d died twice. That I knew of.

  “No. I had hoped to hire you.”

  “I didn’t see you in Segundo Mexia knocking on my door,” I said, my voice level. I had to stay hard.

  “You were already gone when I got there,” Eli said. “I missed you by a few hours.”

  I didn’t know what to do with that news. “I’ve got to get back to Jake,” I said. Eli let go of my hand and we began walking to the tree. My crew leader was where I’d left him. But now he was sitting funny.

  A few seconds ago I would have told you I couldn’t run, but I did. When I was close enough to see clearly, I stopped dead and covered my face with my hands for just a moment. Then I made myself look again.

  Jake still had his back against the tree, but now he slumped to his left. His shirt was soaked dark with blood from w
here he’d been stabbed in the throat. His eyes were open. He was dead. The crate that was tucked under his arm had been pulled away and ripped apart. The chest inside it was gone.

  “I left him alone for ten minutes,” I said through clenched teeth. I felt Eli behind me, but I wasn’t exactly talking to him. I just had to say it out loud. “Ten damn minutes. And he couldn’t even stay alive that long.” Dammit. I was yelling when I finished.

  After a moment of letting the world settle into a new pattern, I was able to understand that my Winchester and Jake’s guns were still on the ground by his side. In fact, one of his guns was in his right hand. Whoever had killed him had wanted to get away with the chest so bad they hadn’t stolen the guns along with it.

  Nothing was more sellable than guns. And my leather bag was lying right there too.

  I was so angry I was shaking.

  Eli said, “This was your new crew leader?”

  I jerked my head in a nod.

  “And two of your crewmates are hurt badly enough to be going to the hospital in Sally?”

  “Yes. One’s already dead, in the crash.”

  Then there was a lot of silence from Eli.

  I wheeled around to face him. “You didn’t … ?”

  “I did not make your train derail,” Eli said.

  Because I knew he could. I had seen grigoris do things that made even me feel queasy.

  “All right.” I believed him. “But someone did.”

  “I know. What were you here to guard? People? A thing?” When I didn’t answer—I was still too stunned about Jake—Eli said, “What will you do now?”

  That was an important question. I fumbled through my thoughts. It felt like I had fog in my brain. I fixed my gaze on my feet, noticed my boots were bloodstained, and shoved that thought away while I pondered.

  There weren’t going to be any trains leaving out of Sally for a while. How long would it take to clear and repair these tracks? How would I pay my fare?

  I could go into Sally and consult with Rogelio and Maddy. Or maybe Harriet Ritter would help me find the chest. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what part Ritter and her henchman had to play in this, whether she was a friend or foe. I thought about joining up with Sarah Byrne for about a second, but I was obliged to find whatever had been in the crate. I was the last crew member standing.