“The train comes at six,” Betsy yelled over the sound of crashing branches. They broke out of the trees and thundered into a shallow river, breaking the icy crust along the bank and crashing through the freezing water. “If they are sure enough going to Springfield, we don’t have long.”
“But that was a lie.” Joel leaned forward to duck beneath the limbs once they’d gained the opposite bank. “The trial isn’t in Springfield. Taney is out of options.”
He didn’t want to scare her, but he didn’t give Scott much of a chance once Taney got him well enough away from town that no one could hear a pistol shot. Scott was the one witness who might be able to convince a jury that the man in the mask he’d tussled with was none other than the sheriff. For Taney’s purposes, Scott had to disappear.
They cut across trails, bounded through thickets, and took shortcuts that felt impossibly treacherous, but their mountain-bred mounts never faltered—something that even this Texan was beginning to appreciate about the Ozark horses. The train whistle sounded. Betsy spurred her horse again as they flew down the last section of road before reaching the depot.
There it was. The same sorry log depot with the stubby rock chimney he’d encountered when he arrived. But if he could see it, they could see him.
“Whoa!” He pulled up short before cresting the hill. Betsy skidded to a stop, then her agile pony reversed back down the road.
“What are you stopping for?” she asked.
“Taney might be watching. We don’t want to scare him away.”
“You want me to hide? That’s a change.”
They directed their horses off the road and waited for the churning, smoking engine to pull into the station.
Only a porter got off the train. He stood on the empty deck. The door to the depot opened, and a woodsman in moccasins chewing a piece of straw came over. They talked until the porter checked his pocket watch. Joel’s legs tightened in the saddle. If Taney wasn’t here, then his intentions were much darker.
But then a figure emerged from the trees. Two figures. Scott’s head hung, his shoulders slumped. Taney’s hand rested on his shoulder in a fatherly manner. At Joel’s side, Betsy made a strangled noise. He laid a hand on her arm to calm her. So far Scott hadn’t been harmed.
The porter waved the sheriff over. Taney handed the depot man some cash, and he hurried away to return with a slip of paper for the porter. The porter nodded, then motioned Scott toward the train. Scott halted at the doorway and turned to face the mountains.
Joel felt that moment with his whole heart—the moment a man said good-bye forever to his homeland. A moment he’d always regret.
The horses leapt forward and tore up the road like they were fleeing a pack of wolves. Scott looked up and rubbed his eyes, then, realizing they weren’t a mirage, his face crumpled in wonder. Taney, too, stood in shock, but when he tried to move, it was too late. With his recent injuries, escape was impossible.
Betsy flung herself off the horse and, ignoring Joel’s caution, ran to her cousin. She didn’t care that Taney wasn’t secured. She knew Joel was right behind her, and the sheriff would dearly regret any move he made against her person.
“On account of your age and injury, I won’t throw you on the ground just yet.” Joel held Taney’s arms behind him. “But give me an excuse, and you’ll see how fast you eat dirt.”
Scott shook his head. “It’s not his fault. He’s trying to help me. Don’t blame him.”
Betsy threw her arm around her cousin’s shoulders—a feat, considering his height. “How is he trying to help you?”
“He thought they’d find me guilty, so he told me to run. Even gave me some money to get a new start.”
Betsy closed her eyes and thanked God for the bit of conscience Taney had retained.
“Is that what he told you?” Joel asked.
Taney studied the ground. “I never was going to kill him. Even that night, I wanted to scare him with the knife so he’d come back to town and insist that the Bald Knobbers had roughed him up. Then you’d need my help and I could prove myself. I didn’t know he had a gun.”
“That was you?” Scott’s upper lip rose as he stared at the sheriff. “Why would you do that to me?” He turned his face away, hiding his anguish.
Betsy rubbed his back. “We’ve got it all figured out, Scott. You’re not in any trouble. No more hiding. You can come home.”
Joel’s eyes flickered to hers, but she didn’t see the joy she expected. His head dropped as he led Taney away, and only then did she realize that going home to his family was the one thing Joel couldn’t do.
Chapter 44
One Week Later
“Three cheers for Sheriff Puckett!” Uncle Fred punched his fist into the air and led the townspeople gathered at the jailhouse. “Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!”
Betsy’s laughter turned to cheering when Joel removed his Stetson and waved it grandly from the step.