Page 80 of A Steadfast Heart
In a matter of moments, the McGraws were out of their cell. Wallace returned the guns he’d taken from them.
Drew turned to his cousin. “Merritt, can you keep the kids?”
Merritt agreed.
Danna led the way out of the jail. “The train pulled out quite a while ago. I’m going to send telegrams to the sheriff’s offices along the railway. No way you can catch up.”
How long had Kaitlyn already spent with Michael? Two hours? More? She’d have new bruises, no doubt. But Michael couldn’t shoot her. Not in front of a train full of witnesses. “She’ll get off the train somehow. I’ve got to be there when she does.” He swallowed hard. Away from the train, it’d be easier for her brother to get her by herself. He had to find her before that happened. He never should have doubted her.
Ed stepped up next to Drew, Nick close behind. “We’vegot to be there, Drew. Not you. We.”
We. What a beautiful word. The bands around Drew’s chest relaxed a fraction to allow a slightly deeper breath. He wasn’t in this alone.
Maybe he never had been.
* * *
It was hopeless.
A porter passed by their seat, but Kaitlyn didn’t try to catch his eye. What was the point? He wouldn’t believe her. No one ever had.
No one except Drew.
Yeah, and look how that’d ended. Kaitlyn closed her mind to the still, small voice she had begun to think she could trust. Look where trust had gotten her.
Michael nudged her shoulder.
She didn’t look away from the sun-drenched prairie outside the window. It was easier to pretend she was free if she couldn’t see him. Imagining herself far away had saved her sanity when he’d locked her in the storage room back home.
A clatter drew her attention to the seat across the aisle. The boy had dropped his toy soldier. He picked it up and hugged it to himself, just like Tillie had hugged her doll. Jo and David had loved the bridles she’d brought, and Drew had loved his hats.
He’d worn the dark Stetson while he’d worked on Ed’s cabin, at least until the sun had gone down. When she’d asked him to stop and eat, he’d said this was going to be a new chapter in the McGraw family legacy. He couldn’t give up. McGraws didn’t quit.
McGraw. Drew had given her a new name.
She was a McGraw. Drew never gave up. She couldn’t either.
But she’d have to wait for her opportunity.
The car swayed, and Kaitlyn brushed against Michael. Hard to ignore him when he sat so close. Her stomach complained, since she’d missed lunch. Michael hadn’t brought any food with them. Dinner was a long time away. She settled in to wait. It wasn’t the first time she’d gone without. Probably wouldn’t be the last.
Her brother shifted again, then eased his pistol into his coat pocket and poked her with the barrel. “If you weren’t so valuable, I’d take care of you right here.” He snickered. “At least you’ve caused me the last trouble you ever will. Brian is just the man to teach a woman how to behave. I’m looking forward to watching.”
Kaitlyn glared at him. “What will you do when you go into debt all over again with no sister to sell off?”
He poked her with the gun barrel harder. “Shut up.”
She turned her back to him.
The porter came through again. “Next stop, Blackthorn. Blackthorn, ten minutes.”
She didn’t take her eyes from the window but felt someone’s gaze on her. A man’s reflection flashed across the window. She glanced over her shoulder. The man who had been a few seats behind them had moved across the aisle to be behind the mother and little boy. He’d looked puzzled in the brief moment a trick of the changing light allowed his image to be seen. Inwardly, she shrugged. She’d never understood her brother either.
The constant bumping emphasized another need. She was going to have to find a toilet.
And wasn’t Michael going to love that. Still, he could hardly keep her chained to his side for the entire three-day trip. Could that be her chance?
She nudged his arm. “I need the lavatory.”
