Birds of a Feather II

Tilly

It had been such a calm morning. The gang was getting on their feet again and things seemed to be looking up. Even Miss Grimshaw had been in better spirits, or maybe she was satisfied with the laundry being completed so early in the day, since Charlotte had lent a hand.

There had been some sewing for the girls to do. There was always sewing, but even that task had made everything seem...normal.

The only thing Tilly had been missing was her best friend. Since she knew Mary-Beth moved on to better circumstances, she couldn't feel too bad for her absence.

But everything went wrong in an instant. They didn't even have time to grieve over Hosea before Milton's voice boldly rang through the clearing, announcing his intention to kill or capture them all.

"Tilly, we can't stay here," Abigail said to her where a few of them had taken cover behind one of the canopied wagons.

As the bullets started flying, Abigail, Mr. Pearson and Jack broke from cover and took off. Tilly made to follow, but gunfire splintered wood off the wagon close to her and she ducked back in fear. The others went on without her and she found herself stuck in place.

She wasn't sure how long she remained in a crouch, hidden from sight, but eventually Grimshaw came upon her, her hands full of shotgun.

"What are you doing on the ground?" Grimshaw clamped Tilly's wrist and dragged her to her feet. "Get a move on, girl!"

Grimshaw's shrill command was enough to snap her from her fear and listen to direction.

"We'll make for them caves," Grimshaw told her. "There's a way out through there."

Grimshaw continued to fire back at the Pinkertons, furiously reloading her shotgun over and over, shells spilling to the ground. Tilly didn't watch to see if she made contact every time, but stayed at her back as they inched closer to the cave entrance.

As far as she could tell, the boys were holding off the Pinkertons well until another wave of them came in and Dutch yelled, "Let's go!"

Miss Grimshaw had been so focused on the firing on the fringe of camp that she missed the enemy at her side. Tilly dropped down beside Grimshaw when she collapsed to the ground, shocked to see the blood flowing from her chest. She looked up and stared into the eyes of Miss Grimshaw's killer and knew for a certainty she would be executed next.

Then bullets from the agents clipped the dirt beside her and she instinctively took cover for herself again. She made it, checking herself for any wounds even though she would have felt them if she'd been hit. She didn't know how she was going to survive through all this shooting.

Tilly hesitated behind the wagon for too long to make an escape with the others. She just couldn't catch her breath, still in shock at witnessing Miss Grimshaw's sudden and unexpected death. However, the gunfire in camp ceased abruptly and she knew for certain everyone else had to be gone. She could only hear shooting in the surrounding trees, where her friends were being chased.

When Tilly finally risked leaving cover after everyone else had fled, she took one step and was tackled to the ground by a Pinkerton she hadn't noticed in time.

She tried to lift her head, but the agent forcibly shoved her head down again, into the dirt. "I've got one of 'em!"

In her direct line of vision was poor Miss Grimshaw's body, her wide, lifeless eyes staring into the sky. Tilly cried, "Please! Someone! Help!"

"Shut it!"

With her cheek pressedpainfully in the ground, she whimpered. True panic took hold when the man holding her down didn't ease up. She struggled uselessly against him and when that failed, she screamed.