Something Blue

Chapter 13

Gabe

It was a complex operation-- damn near theatrical, with all the secrecy and moving pieces.

In the dark, silent hours of the morning, just after the brothel closed for the night, a patterned knock sounded at Gabe's door. He opened it to reveal Melissa Tucker, dressed in her usual plain, practical dark garb. At her back, Paul Haversham, the foreman of the Tucker family ranch. Gabe knew Josh trusted Paul with his life, and had been warned of the man's involvement in the plan. Even so, the sight of the relative stranger raised his hackles.

There was no time for pleasantries. Katherine and Isobel were already prepared for travel-- both dressed in borrowed clothing the Tuckers had brought the day before. Only the day before... Gabe had known they would be leaving, but he hadn't imagined it would be so soon. He wasn't ready, but Katherine clearly was, and Melissa had declared her fit to travel. So here they were.

He wanted to scoop Katherine into his arms and carry her to the waiting wagon, but she insisted she could walk and it was Melissa whose arm she leaned on. In the end, it was Isobel he carried. She asked him to, reaching up with wide eyes and a quiet, "mister?" and what kind of monster could refuse her? He hefted the little girl into his arms and she wrapped her own around his neck, and he was a rat bastard for the selfish hope that flooded his chest at the gesture. For whatever reason, Isobel liked him, and if Isobel liked him maybe she would ask her mother if he could visit. Maybe this wouldn't be the last he'd see of them.

In the darkness of the stables, Isobel and her mother were stowed amongst the crates and burlap sacks in the back of the Tuckers' wagon. Isobel wasn't afraid. He and Katherine had made up a grand story about the adventure they were going on. Her excitement was palpable, a strange clash with Katherine's stifled fear.

Miles away, another one of Josh's trusted employees was huddled in the woods by the church. Reverend Jacob Peters had turned down his lanter and gone to bed hours before. If he hadn't, Paul and Melissa never would have come. If the spy had detected movement of any kind on the still church grounds, he would rush to warn them.

But no runner had yet appeared, and Paul and Melissa had arrived on the dot. Everything was proceeding as planned.

Katherine and Isobel were leaving.

While Melissa helped settle her patient, Gabe saddled Reaper. With a nod to Paul, he rode out into the darkness to play his part in the puzzle-- riding ahead to scout for other travelers. It wouldn't be the first time he'd ridden out in the dead of night, and if he encountered some other rider nobody would question him. The Devil's Spawn was a frightening enigma no one ever dared attempt to solve. It was his God-given right to ride a pale horse in the night time, just as it was their God-given right to form small, impromptu mobs and attack him in the streets.

It was a cloudy night-- no moon, no stars to show the way. The road was a pale ribbon stretching out before him, the trees a looming darkness all around. He felt no fear, but for the nagging discomfort of Katherine and Isobel's distant presence, somewhere on the road behind him. The knowledge of their vulnerability was a troublesome weakness in his own fortification. He felt as if he'd ridden out without his shoes-- wrong and exposed.

The wagon, he knew, would have a lantern to light the way. Katherine and Isobel, he knew, would be resting on folded blankets to protect against the rough ride over bumps and rivets. They would be covered with a quilt to ward off the early morning chill, and a tarp to shield them from prying eyes.

Gabe was not scouting to ward off fellow travelers. It would be suspicious, after all, if he wheeled around upon the encounter and galloped off in the opposite direction. Should he pass someone, he would wait until they disappeared into the inky darkness and then follow them. If they greeted Paul and Melissa he would lurk in the shadows and listen.