Tiffany’s eyes widened, recalling what her mother had told her while helping her pack for the trip. Tiffany had asked Rose, “Why the new clothes, Mama? I’ll have no use for them on a ranch.”
“You will use them. You will not change your routines just because you will be in Montana. I citified your father while I was there. He became used to a house full of servants, formal dinners, and the finer things in life. He may have regressed after I left, but you need only remind him of what you are accustomed to and I have no doubt he will adjust accordingly, if he hasn’t already. He wrote that he’s hiring a housekeeper from Chicago to make you feel more at home.”
Tiffany hadn’t read that in his last letter, so it must have been in an earlier one that Rose hadn’t let her read. Could this young woman sitting next to her be that housekeeper? How many housekeepers from Chicago could be going to a small town like Nashart?
Tiffany laughed. “This could be quite a coincidence. I wonder if it is my father who has hired you. Franklin Warren?”
“Indeed!”
“I was under the impression you were already at the ranch,” Tiffany said.
“I should have been. I had to placate my family, and my fiancé, who wanted me to wait until he could come with me. It was his idea that we start our lives together on this side of the continent. Though he favors California, he’s willing to give Montana a try if I like it there. He’s still quite annoyed at me for not waiting for him, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity when my agency offered it to me because it pays so well. Your father must be quite rich.”
Tiffany had no idea if her father was rich, so she merely smiled in reply. Anna was giving Jennifer a disapproving look. Anna had met her fair share of housekeepers; so had Tiffany for that matter. Neither had met one who was such a chatterbox, or as young as Jennifer. But these were unusual circumstances, their traveling together on a hot, crowded train into a part of the country that was barely civilized. It could just be nervous chatter. Besides, Jennifer wasn’t working yet, so maybe she didn’t think she had to adopt a formal, professional manner with the daughter of her new employer until she reported for duty.
Jennifer continued to chatter about the trip. The farmer never said a word, didn’t even introduce himself, just kept his head down the whole while. It was highly inappropriate that he even be sitting at their table, but understandable considering more men than women were on the train. Anna made her disapproval known though, at least to Tiffany, giving her all sorts of glances and nods directed at her plate. Tiffany almost laughed at the maid’s facial contortions, but she got the message: to finish eating quickly so they could leave. She did, and after they said good-bye to Jennifer, who said she’d walk up to their car for a visit later that afternoon, they returned to their seats, where they found Thomas Gibbons, their well-armed escort.
The retired US marshal was on the back end of middle-age and not very friendly. The little that Rose had said about him before he joined them in Chicago was that he’d been recommended by the Pinkerton Agency, which she’d contacted. He worked for them occasionally if a job led anywhere near the Rocky Mountains, where he used to be stationed. He ate only twice a day, breakfast and dinner, so he hadn’t joined them for lunch. While he took his job seriously, he let them walk around the train on their own. Anytime they left the train, though, at watering holes or depots, he was right beside them, his hand never far from the gun he wore on his hip.
They were a long way between towns, weren’t due to reach the next one until evening, and Tiffany hadn’t heard yet if they would even be stopping there. The farmers were supposed to disembark tomorrow morning, which would give her and Anna some peace and quiet for the last few hours of their trip.
“We should have waited until the line for the dining car was gone,” Anna said, getting in one more complaint as Mr. Gibbons stood up and stepped into the aisle to allow Tiffany and Anna to reach their seats closer to the window.
He had gallantly taken the aisle seat, where he had to put up with a good deal of jostling as people walked down the aisle unsteadily while the train was moving. Since their car was pretty much in the middle of a long line of cars, many people walked through it on their way to and from the dining car.
“And risk their running out of food again?” Tiffany replied as she waited for Anna to take the seat closest to the window. “I didn’t mind sharing the table.”
Watching the countryside pass by was the highlight of the trip for both young women, so they were taking turns in the window seat. The view from the middle seat wasn’t obstructed, but the window seat provided a more panoramic view.
The train had cut through the southern part of Wisconsin where wheat fields abounded, but Tiffany had heard the farmers talking about how the land there was becoming less fertile, which was why so many of them were excited about starting fresh in Montana. Well, the men were. She’d caught some of the wives crying over having to leave homes that had been in their families for generations.
The terrain in Minnesota had been more interesting, with many pretty lakes and prairies, though it, too, had its fair share of farms. The Dakota Territory, in comparison, was sparsely settled and was still mostly wilderness and open plains. She’d seen a few settlers near their small sod houses. She’d seen her first buffalo! But what she’d seen that morning when she’d had her turn at the window had been a little unnerving: two men, sitting on horses with no saddles on a bluff, just staring at the train as it passed. The men were bare-chested and wore their long, black hair in braids. She’d craned her neck to continue watching them until they were out of sight.
Anna had been napping at the time, her head resting on Tiffany’s shoulder. Tiffany hadn’t woken her to show her the Indians and had decided not to mention it to her, either. Rose had assured her the Indian wars were over in Montana, the last major battle having occurred six years ago. The cavalry had lost, but a year later the soldiers had chased down the tribes and forced them to move to reservations outside the territory.
As Tiffany settled into her middle seat, the train lurched to a stop and Mr. Gibbons was almost thrown off his feet before he could resume his. Tiffany was confused by his worried expression as he sat down slowly.
Anna didn’t notice and was saying in exasperation, “Now what? I’ll warrant the train has broken down due to all this extra weight.”
“Nonsense,” Tiffany said. “It’s probably just something on . . . the . . . track.”
It was neither. Tiffany’s words died off at the sight of the man who entered the car with a gun in his hand and a bandanna wrapped over the lower half of his face.
Chapter Four
“DON’T BE MAKING NO sudden moves now, hear?”
The marshal started swearing foully under his breath. Tiffany’s mouth had dropped open. Anna was frozen and silent—for the moment.
Jennifer was dragged into the car by another train robber who came in behind the first. Tiffany thought the second man looked somewhat familiar, though she was too alarmed to figure out why. Jennifer must have been passing between the cars when she ran into him. The housekeeper was in tears as she hurried to an empty seat where she crouched down. She looked terrified, poor woman.
Tiffany didn’t feel too brave herself. The feelings that overcame her as soon as the surprise wore off were like nothing she’d ever before felt, almost like a wave of heat that left a slight trembling behind. Her palms began to sweat, her heart was racing. She wanted to slide down in her seat as Jennifer had done, but she couldn’t move!
Anna gripped Tiffany’s hand—to gain courage for herself, or to give some to Tiffany? Were train robbers violent, leaving no witnesses alive? No, the robbers wouldn’t have covered their faces if they intended to kill people—would they? The thought didn’t give Tiffany much comfort, didn’t end her paralysis either. She couldn’t even close her eyes. She just watched in helpless, fearful fascination as the scene unfolded.
With her eyes riveted on the pair of robbers at the front of
the car, it finally dawned on her why the second man looked familiar. She recognized his clothes and that misshapen hat. He was the farmer who had sat at her table in the dining car! But obviously he’d merely been disguised as a farmer so he would blend in with the other men on this train. No wonder he’d kept his head down during the entire meal and hadn’t said a single word that would draw her or Anna’s eyes to him. He didn’t want them to be able to describe him to the authorities. Tiffany clung to that hopeful thought, that they’d survive this terrifying experience and be able to give an account of it.
“Just hand over all valuables, then we’ll leave, and you’ll get where you’re going in one piece,” the first robber instructed in a gruff tone. “Something from everyone, and don’t try to pretend you don’t have any money or jewels. If we think you’re holding back, we’ll just take your clothes as well. So if you don’t want to arrive buck naked in the next town, fill the sack and do it quickly. But first, place all your weapons on the floor and slide them into the aisle. Now!”
With a few thuds and the sound of metal skittering across the wood floor, guns started landing in the aisle. Thomas wore two, but he only offered up one. The other he tucked under the edge of Tiffany’s wide skirt on the seat. She was too terrified to think about what he was doing. The passengers in front of her were turning their heads, looking at the back of the car. Tiffany turned, too, and saw a third robber coming down the aisle holding a sack out to each passenger he passed. He held the sack in one hand and a gun in the other to make sure the passengers complied. Tiffany noticed a fourth man, gun in hand, too, who was guarding the back door. Purses, watches, rings, money clips, all were hastily being dropped into the sack. More women were crying loudly and more passengers were hiding low in their seats, out of the line of fire in case any shooting started. At least one baby had started screaming.
When the robber with the sack had reached them, the marshal dropped a money clip and a watch in it, but Tiffany could still barely move and her eyes got rounder as the thief looked at her directly, waiting for her to contribute her share to the sack. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to oblige. She didn’t have much of value on her, wasn’t even wearing jewelry for the trip. She had a little traveling money in her purse and a little more pinned to her petticoat, but not much since her mother had transferred all she might need to the Nashart bank long before they’d left home. She simply couldn’t move!
Thomas took charge, lifting the purse from her lap and dropping it in the sack. Anna was another matter; her purse wasn’t visible and she wasn’t moving either. She was scrunched tightly against the window, as far from the outlaw as she could get. But the robber hadn’t seemed to have even noticed Anna yet; his eyes were still on Tiffany.
“I’ve a mind to take you with us,” he said to Tiffany. “I’d say you’re the most valuable thing on this train, fancy piece like you.”
Tiffany was sure her heart stopped beating, she was so scared. Oh, God, he was serious! She could see it in his dark eyes and feared he wasn’t talking about taking her for ransom. . . .
“Get on with your business,” the marshal growled at the man. “She’s not—”
“Shut up, old man,” the outlaw said, but that wasn’t enough, he actually raised his hand holding the gun to hit Thomas with it.
Horrified, Tiffany shot to her feet without thinking. “Stop it!”
She was desperate to keep the man from hurting the marshal. He was the only one who could keep these robbers from dragging her off the train, and he wouldn’t be able to help her if he was unconscious! But while she got the outlaw’s eyes back on her, she had no idea what to say or do, now that she’d stopped him. But she didn’t have to do anything else.
The moment she stood up, the gun her skirt had concealed on the seat was left in plain view, so she pretty much forced Thomas into action. He snatched the weapon up with one hand, yanked her down with the other, and shot the robber holding the sack in the belly. Almost in the same breath, he shot the man at the back door, too.
With no robbers behind him now, he ducked down behind the back of the seat in front of them, taking cover from the bullets that immediately came his way. Anna had already pushed Tiffany to the floor and fallen on top of her to protect her, screaming, “You’re crazy, you’re crazy, you’re absolutely crazy!”
Yes, she was. If she had thought about it even for a moment, she would never have deliberately drawn the robber’s attention back to herself. She would castigate herself later for doing something so impulsive—if they survived this ordeal.
There was more gunfire, quite a bit of it. Some of the other passengers had grabbed their guns back from the floor, inspired by Marshal Gibbons to join in the fight. As Tiffany lay with her face pressed against the floor and Anna wailing hysterically on top of her, she prayed for the deafening gunfire to end. She didn’t want to die! Suddenly, there was silence, although she heard shots in the distance.
Then she heard a short bark of laughter and a man say, “Good work, men, but this isn’t over yet. The engineer caught sight of one of them robbers racing toward the train, leading eight horses. He got off a lucky shot so the horses scattered, leaving the thieves with just the wagon they brought to cart away their loot. The horse count suggests there’s four more outlaws at the back of the train needing to be dealt with. I’ll welcome volunteers.”
Tiffany had no doubt that the marshal would be one of those volunteers. In fact, he leaned down and told her, “This won’t take long, I reckon. Just stay where you are and you’ll be safe.”
With the immediate danger over, Tiffany sighed with relief. And she could move again . . . well, not exactly. After a moment when Anna’s weight didn’t budge from her back, Tiffany said, “I’m sure he didn’t mean that literally. You can get off of me, you know. I’ll be the first to hug the floor again if those criminals come back this way.”
“I’m not sure what came over me,” Anna said as she got back into her seat and helped Tiffany up. “But what on earth came over you, to confront that man like that?”
Tiffany wanted to say it had been a good plan since she knew what Thomas was going to do, but of course that would be a lie. So all she said was “I was protecting our protection.”
“You could have been shot instead!”
Tiffany was distracted for a moment by the sight of several of the male passengers and train attendants removing the dead bodies of the four outlaws from the car. She couldn’t help shivering and then turned back to Anna.
“Didn’t you hear what that outlaw said? He was going to cart me off with the rest of the valuables as if I were a bauble! I was desperate to prevent that from happening. So I panicked. And since it worked out rather well, stop fussing about it.”
Anna sighed at that point, confessing, “I was so scared. I’ve had my purse snatched before. I’ve been pickpocketed twice. My father’s house was robbed while we were sleeping in it! So it’s not as if I haven’t experienced my fair share of robberies. I’ve just never had a gun pointed at me before.”
Tiffany knew exactly what Anna meant. There was a lot of crime in New York City, but Tiffany had always been sheltered from it. This was the first time she’d come face-to-face with a robber holding a gun. They’d been in serious danger. She refused to think about what could have happened if the marshal and those other brave passengers had lost the gunfight.
But the makeshift posse ended up winning the day with the help of the railroad employees, who were used to dealing with train robbers and traveled armed. The passengers in Tiffany’s car cheered when the train started moving again. Some of them were laughing and some of them were jeering as they crowded around the windows on the side of the car that afforded a view of two robbers who had just jumped off the moving train and were racing to catch up with the wagon full of stolen trunks and valises that was speeding away.
Tiffany kept looking at the back door expecting Marshal Gibbons to return. The passengers quieted down when one of the train attendants
announced that several of the passengers who had fought back were injured. Tiffany’s heart sank when she learned that Marshal Gibbons was one of them.
Chapter Five
THE MARSHAL DIDN’T REGAIN consciousness before the train reached the next town. Tiffany was beside herself with worry because one of the train attendants who was attempting to treat the wounded passengers told her the marshal might not make it. She didn’t know him well, he’d barely spoken with her, but he’d guarded her life admirably today. She would feel horrible if he didn’t recover. His critical condition made the loss of all but one of her trunks in that robbery seem inconsequential.
With the help of the stronger male passengers, the three wounded men were carried straight to the local doctor. The marshal’s wound was the most serious, so he was treated first. Tiffany and Anna waited anxiously to hear the doctor’s verdict. They paced up and down the entrance hall of the doctor’s home office for almost half an hour before the doctor approached them and said, “He’s starting to come to, so you can see Mr. Gibbons now, but only for a few minutes. I’m sorry if this isn’t your final destination because Mr. Gibbons isn’t going anywhere for a while. I’m confident he’ll recover, but he won’t be on his feet anytime soon.”
“Are we going to stay and wait for him?” Anna asked after the doctor walked back into the ward.
“We can’t when we don’t know how long that will be,” Tiffany replied. “But we’ll be fine. This is the last stop in the Dakota Territory. We’ll be in Nashart tomorrow. I’ll visit with the marshal while you go find out how much time we have before the train pulls out.”
Anna didn’t budge and gave her a pointed look. “Are you sure you want to go on alone?”
Tiffany tsked. “What are the odds of another train robbery happening?”
“Probably higher than we’d like.”