Page 12 of Follow the Lonesome Trail

Gold is Where You Find it

Allison Tebo

B rogan stuffed the deed into his pocket with a triumphant grin and spun the cylinder in his revolver, glancing at the couple who sat stiffly on the ground in front of him. “Any last words?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Ben Carstairs, his fine Eastern clothes sadly torn, his British accent stiffer than ever, turned his head in an attempt to face Caroline Weston.

It wasn’t easy when they were tied back-to-back.

“I have a complaint to lodge. Miss Weston, since I met you, a group of drunks has tried to hang me, I have been pursued by wild Indians, and I’ve been nearly torn limb from limb by the Dead River Gang. ”

Caroline Weston, gambler, horse-trader, stagecoach driver, alleged gold expert, and would-be partner in Carstairs’ claim, bristled with hostility.

“You’re the one who put him ,” Caroline jerked her head at Brogan, “onto our trail! If you would just stop showing your uncle’s map to every jackleg you talk to, we wouldn't have been bushwhacked!”

Ben glowered. “And how was I supposed to know he would ‘bushwhack’ us, as you call it? You’re supposed to be the expert out here.

And if we’re going to talk about blame, shall we talk about how you were the one who roused that crazed bear yesterday?

I told you to leave him alone but you never listen to me. Even if I survive this—”

“You won’t,” Brogan interjected grimly, fingering the butt of his pistol.

Ben forged on, too angry to be silenced. “You’ve completely turned my life upside down. You have forced me to do and say things I would never have dreamed of. You’ve driven me to the brink of ruin!”

“So?” Caroline huffed.

“So—” Ben paused. “I love you.”

He and the now-interested Brogan waited in the suddenly awkward silence.

Ben could barely believe what had just come out of his mouth, but as incredible as it seemed, it was the truth.

Somehow, during all of these ridiculous disasters, he had fallen in love with this beautiful, incorrigible troublemaker, and now it was finally out in the open and he found himself waiting, hoping , to hear those words repeated back to him.

Finally, Caroline sniffled.

Ben couldn’t stand the silence anymore. “ Well ? Don’t you want to say anything to me?” He was breathing very fast now, and noted with a touch of annoyance that Brogan appeared to be holding his breath.

“Me?” Caroline mumbled.

“Yes, you!” Carstairs fumed.

“Well . . .” Caroline coughed. “Eh . . . no.”

Ben exploded. “Of all the proud , pigheaded…I should have never said anything! To think that I could ever care about—”

Brogan waved his pistol at them like a teacher trying to get the attention of an unruly pair of schoolchildren. “All right now, that was more than enough last words.” Ben and Caroline glared at him, united once more in their mutual annoyance, and Brogan shook his head.

“I declare”—he looked just about as tired and fed up as Ben was feeling right now—“you two fight worse than a pair of wild hogs!”

“I resent that comparison very strongly,” Ben protested hotly.

Brogan rested the barrel of his pistol against Ben’s temple. “Shut your mouth. I have a gold mine waiting for me and a claim to see to.”

He pulled back the hammer.

“Carstairs, I love you!” Caroline screamed, and Ben felt her fingers close over his bound hands as he braced himself, preparing himself to die even as something joyful flared to life inside of him.

He squeezed her fingers and shut his eyes.

There was a long silence.

Ben had heard that getting one’s brains blown out didn’t hurt, but he had at least expected to hear a noise, however briefly.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see Brogan staring at his prisoners, looking strangely moved.

“Dadgum,” Brogan said speculatively, tipping his hat back with one hand. “I just can’t stand to kill a young couple in love.”

Ben had to swallow several times before he could form a coherent word. “Really?”

He sensed Caroline about to say something sarcastic and he elbowed her. It would be just like her to mock Brogan and get their heads blown off at the moment he was about to show mercy.

Brogan scratched his head and surveyed them with a perplexed expression.

“You really love him?” Brogan asked Caroline.

“Yes,” Caroline admitted.

Ben frowned. He didn’t think there was any need for her to sound so sulky about it. It wasn’t as if he had forced her to love him.

Brogan cocked an eyebrow at her tone, then glanced at Ben. “What about you, city dude? Do you love her?”

“ Yes !” Ben snarled. Good grief, hadn’t that been established already? How many times would he be forced to say it in front of God and Brogan?

Brogan looked back and forth between them. “I guess you are, judging from the way you fight. Reminds me of my old ma and dad.”

For one alarming moment, Ben actually thought the man was going to burst into sentimental tears.

Oh, just kill us quickly. To his relief, Brogan spared them the embarrassment.

If he hadn’t been trussed like a package Ben would have fallen over in shock when the bandit announced, “Against my better judgment, I’m going to let you two go.

I’ll be hanged if I kill a nice little couple like you in the first bloom of true love. ”

“We hope you are ,” Caroline muttered. Fortunately, Brogan didn’t appear to hear her.

“Here, I’ll even give you a head start, before somebody else happens by and shoots you just for fun.

” Brogan loosened their ropes, then backed away, still brandishing his pistol.

“But don’t you follow me! The claim is mine, and in exchange for you letting me keep it, you get to live.

Try to stop me again and I won’t be so easy on you. ”

Brogan dashed to his horse and leapt into the saddle.

It was hardly necessary that he expend so much energy, since Ben and Caroline were still tied up, but perhaps the considerable struggle he had undergone when he had first bushwhacked them—which had resulted in Brogan being much bloodied by Caroline’s teeth and Ben’s fists—had made him leery.

Or, more than likely, he was simply trying to leave before they started arguing again.

Ben and Caroline watched as he grabbed the reins of their abandoned horses and rode out of sight, then they began trying to untie themselves, wriggling and tugging until, at last, they struggled to their feet, panting and unbound.

They looked at one another. Ben felt a wave of frustration wash over him at the thought of being abandoned in the wild, but it was followed immediately by something far warmer. He hadn’t lost everything. He stepped toward Caroline, hands outstretched.

Caroline spun away from him and started after Brogan. “Come on, Ben! He made off with the deed to our claim!”

“ Our claim?” Ben began. “It’s my claim!” He stopped. “I mean.” His heart was suddenly beating faster. “It could be our claim . . . if you wanted it to be. . . . ”

Caroline kept walking and he followed her. “Miss Weston! He told us not to follow him!”

Caroline paused long enough to pick up Ben’s bowler hat from where it had fallen earlier and tossed it to him. “And you’re really going to listen to him?”

“Listen to Brogan? Well . . .” Ben stuck his finger in the hole Brogan’s pistol had put through his hat. He touched the lump on the back of his head where the outlaw had hit him earlier, and scowled. “I’ll be . . . hanged if I let him get away with this!”

Caroline cast a gorgeous smile at him over her shoulder. “That’s the spirit, darling!”

Darling ? His heart leapt. Why wouldn’t she stop ? “But Caroline —wait!”

“There’s no time. Come on!”

Caroline broke into a jog, and with a sigh, Ben followed her.

He had a feeling he was going to be chasing much more than gold for a long while.