If Jeremiah Hammond knew anything about men like Robert Barker, then he guessed that for the first half hour or so, the man would be turning in the saddle every thirty seconds, in order to peer back for signs of a posse coming after him. Once he was clear, then he would relax a bit. At this point, one of two things would happen. He would either abandon the girl so that he could make better speed or he would hang onto her for a day or so and hope to use her as a bargaining counter if apprehended. There was a third option, but it was one that Hammond could not bear to consider. This was that Barker would kill Esther out of spite. True, Seagrove thought it unlikely that he would behave in this way, but there was no real accounting for the ways of wicked men.
Before saddling up and leaving Wichita, Marshal Hammond bought a few basic provisions, including a warm blanket. It was not the weather to be sleeping out in the open, but it might yet come to that pass. He called in at the office to bid Jack Seagrove farewell.
“I do not think that I will be gone that long,” Hammond said to the deputy, “With good fortune and the will of God, I might catch up with him by nightfall.”
It was a little after three in the afternoon by the time that Jeremiah Hammond left the town. He purposed to ride along the road that he thought Barker would be taking and to keep a sharp eye out for the man. If he saw him, Hammond intended to ride cross country and so outflank him. Barker’s horse was carrying two people, which would tend to make for slow travelling. If the Marshal kept a fairly lively pace, then he could well overtake the man who was holding his daughter before nightfall.
As he rode, Hammond considered the events of the last week. He had come to realise that for all his talk of raising up a child in the way he should go, that he did not really know his daughter at all. His sister Caroline had hinted that the girl was not as God-fearing as he had believed, but what this might mean in practice; he had not the least notion. It had been enough for him that Esther’s outward behaviour had been respectable and correct. He had given little thought to what she was like within. Which, thought Hammond, just about sums up how I have been working for most of my life; judging by appearances. The godly go to church and the wicked hang round bar-rooms. He knew of course, deep inside, that often it was the other way round and you found wicked men in the house of god and devout ones in a tavern. After all, didn’t our Lord himself consort with publicans and sinners? Never the less, he had got into the way of taking these things at face value.
***
The effects of the whisky that she had drunk earlier had altogether worn off and there was no bravado about Esther Hammond now. She was a thoroughly scared young girl who wanted her father to take care of her. Almost all her life, she had been trying to free herself of his interference and control; now, she would have welcomed it. However harsh he might be with her, she just wished that she could be back in her bedroom, with Aunt Caroline and her father sitting downstairs. As she thought of this, tears began to prick her eyes and she gave a muffled sob.
“Hey,” said Bob Barker, “What are you about? Crying, is it? There is no need. I am not about to harm you. Don’t set mind to what I said back there about shooting you. I have never harmed a female in the whole course of my life. I ain’t about to start now.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“I ain’t exactly taking you anwhere in particular. I cannot just set you down here in the middle of nowhere. When we get to Abilene, I will let you go. In the meantime, do not be afeared. No harm will come to you.”
They were proceeding at a trot and it was a pleasant enough evening, although a little chilly. Esther said, “How far is it to Abilene?”
“Some miles. We shall not reach it this day. Tell me now, is your father that Bible thumping lawman from Linton?”
The girl smiled at this succinct description. “He is Jeremiah Hammond, if that is what you mean.”
“Well, I have a crow to pluck with him and that is a fact. He killed a good friend of mine some time since and in the past few days has massacred my entire family. I never knew one man who has caused me more harm.”
***
Marshal Hammond rode on, sometimes at a trot and then at other times cantering along at a brisk pace. He could see no sign of his quarry ahead of him and kept a sharp eye on any cover on either side of the road. He did not aim to fall victim to an ambush. And still, his mind wrestled with the question of his daughter and the extent to which he was to blame for how she had turned out. If it was true that she had turned out bad, and from all that he had been able to collect in recent days, nothing was more likely, then he would have to help her get straight again; but how that was to be done, the good Lord alone knew.
By the time that twilight arrived, Hammond had still not caught up with Barker and his daughter. He slowed right down and let Buster proceed at a walk. Whatever else did or did not happen in the future with his child, the one thing he surely had to tell her was that he had a measure of guilt for how things had happened. He had often enough condemned some mother or father for the way that their offspring turned out and he was not a big enough hypocrite now to reject that same line of reasoning for his own family. The sins of the fathers had been visited upon the children and if Esther Hammond was really a thief and a killer, then the responsibility for those crimes could be laid just as much at his own door as they could be blamed on Esther.
***
“I do not aim to be riding in the dark,” Barker told the girl that he had seized, “It would be a bad business for the both of us if this beast were to break a leg or something of that sort.”
The girl craned her head around and looked in every direction. “I see no lights,” she observed, “Where are we to stay? Is there a town nearby?”
“No and even were there was to be, I would not be planning on staying in it. There is an old place that me and my boys use, it is just off the road aways. We will have to get down and lead the horse a little.”
Barker dismounted and then helped down the girl. He said, “You are not about to run off or scream or anything, I suppose?”
“No,” said Esther, “It is powerful dark and I would not know where to go.”
“I was thinking more on your own interest, anyway,” said Barker, “Having dragged you out here, I feel kind of responsible for you.”
The two of them walked up a grassy slope in companionable silence. Esther was not the least bit scared, which she found strange. This man was, after all, a coldblooded killer. The Lord knew what his future plans might entail. At length, they came to a ruined stone building; little more than two standing walls of which remained. “There’s no roof!” exclaimed Esther, “What sort of shelter do you call this?”
“I call it the only sort of shelter we will have this night.”
Bob Barker secured the horse to a nearby tree and then came back with the saddlebag. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
“I am very hungry.”
“Well, there is only bread, cheese and cold meat. We can wash it down with water from yonder stream. I will fill the canteens.”
When he rturned, Barker said to the girl, “You look cold.” He ferreted around and produced a thick army blanket. “Here, wrap this around yourself. You will need it to keep out the chill at night, in any case.”
“Won’t you be cold, though?” asked Esther.
“That’s nothing to the purpose. I have slept out without a blanket before and in colder weather than this.”
***
An hour after the sun had slipped below the horizon, Jeremiah Hammond was quite sure that he would have overtaken the man who had his daughter. He reined in and considered the matter. Either this was the wrong road and Barker had been bound for Lincoln after all, or he had left this road to rest up for the night. Marshal Hammond turned these possibilities over in his mind. Then it came to him that a desperado like this must have little boltholes scattered here and there. He hated the idea of his daughter being compelled to spend the night with such a man as this, but what can’t be cured, must be endured and he gave this aspect of the thing no further thought.
Thinking of the man as a “desperado” set Hammond on the right path and he knew at once just precisely where Barker was going. It would mean riding through the night, but that was nothing, as long as he did not push his horse too hard. As long as they took regular breaks, it should be possible to get ahead of Barker and meet him on Jeremiah Hammond’s own terms. And then, by God, there would be a reckoning.
***
“I’m afraid that we cannot light a fire,” Barker told the girl, “I do not know who is pursuing me and I am loathe to give them any help in running me to earth.”
“That’s fine, thank you,” said Esther, “I am warm enough in this blanket.”
“Him that I shot, was he your sweetheart or beau or something of the sort?”
“Yes, kind of, I guess.” Esther realised with a shock that she had not even thought of Chris since he had been gunned down by this man.
“I’m sorry I shot him and I can say no more than that. I had need and the thing is done. Still and all, I am sorry about it.”
“Have you killed many men?”
“That is a strange question. You are a cool one, I have never known the like! Yes, I have killed enough men in my time. I never yet harmed a woman or child though, so you need not fret about that.”
It was strange, but Esther believed this villain. In a curious way, she felt safe with him; safer than she would with many a more respectable person. True, he had grabbed her to stop anybody shooting at or arresting him, but she knew without his telling her so that he would no more think of harming her than he would of flying to the moon.
“What were you and your pa doing in Wichita, anyway?” asked Barker.
“We did not go there together. I went there and he came to fetch me back home.”
“Oh, that’s the way of it, is it? You have run away from your home. Was he awful strict with you? Them religious type often are.”
The girl thought about this for a moment and then said, “No, I could not say that he was terrible strict. he never beat me or anything. It was more that he did not seem to like folk having fun. Everything that I wanted to do was sinful. By which, I mean dancing, reading novels, walking for pleasure and talking with boys.”
The man threw back his head and laughed. “And so you lit out and he came after you. You should be glad that he cares that much. I wanted to kill your father, I still do, but I would not say that he sounds like he has mistreated you too dreadful.”
“Did you love your own father?”
“I may as well tell you now, your father killed my own pa less than a week since. Yes, I loved him. He raised all five of us by his own self. I have lost all my family now and your pa is answerable for it. What affair of his was it to come here and start shooting my brothers so?” Barker jumped up and walked off a little way. He stood there just staring into the night and it came into Esther’s mind that he was crying. She shrugged off the blanket, got up and went over to him. Taking his arm, she said, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Bob Barker turned to her and said:
“You are a right kind person. Your father might be a devil, begging your pardon, but you are kind.”
They went back and sat down once more. Why she did so, she had no idea, but Esther Hammond began to tell the outlaw about what had chanced to bring her to this pass. He listened silently, without once interrupting. She even told him about the murder of Grover McPherson. When she had finished speaking, Barker said, “That’s the hell of a tale, if you will forgive the expression. How much of this is known to others?”
“Since Chris was killed? Nobody, I guess.”
“Then if you will take my advice, you will keep it that way. Do not be tempted to unburden yourself to anybody else. The law has a long memory.”
“I thought that you might know what it was like to have done such things.”
“As to that,” said Bob Barker, his voice tinged with bitterness, “Yes, I understand what it is like. I have done worse than you and started younger, too. But it is not the same for boys. We begin by pulling the wings of flies and then progress naturally sometimes to mayhem and murder of other men. It is not to be thought of that a girl would carry on so. I am honoured by your confidence, but keep quiet about this and for the love of God, do not get mixed up in such tricks again.”
“I am sorry for what I did.”
“Yes, I am sure of it. But try to be a good girl for the future. I know where this road leads one and you would not wish to end up a hardened wretch like me, now would you?” He reached over and patted Esther’s arm. “let us try to get to sleep now, and in the morning I will take you to a town where you may wire to your family or something to come and fetch you.”
***
As he and Buster trudged north along the road, Marshal Hammond resolved that when once he had his daughter safe back home again, there would be changes made in the domestic arrangements. he minded that his sister had her own thoughts on this subject and it might be no bad thing to let her have more say in the matter. What did he know of young girls; their hopes and dreams, fantasies and fears? Little wonder that the girl had strayed from the right path. It had taken the death of several people to bring it home to him, but he was certain-sure now that the blame for all this was his as much as it was Esther‘s.
As the night wore away, Hammond became incresingly optimistic and almost cheerful. He was ever so when he had a job of work to do and a plan in his own head for how best to accomplish the end. In the present case, the matter was plain. He would intercept Barker and persuade him to give up Esther to him. He would then compound a felony to the extent of letting the man walk free. Marshal Hammond had bent the rules enough in the last few days that one final instance would make little difference.
Part of Hammond’s optimism was derived from his working out what Barker was about and where he was heading. Fort Kerney, indeed! Why would he want to be travelling all the way up to that little place when a good deal closer lay the perfect location for a bad man to hide out in and meet up with like-minded souls? Abilene was only a few miles from here. That would be where that rascal was headed, for a bet. All that would be needful was to wait outside the town and then offer to exchange Barker’s freedom for the release of Jeremiah Hammond’s daughter. From Hammond’s point of view, this would suit both sides. Perhaps the law in Wichita would catch up with Bob Barker at some stage or maybe they would not. What counted was having his child safe again in his home.
Esther woke to the smell of woodsmoke. She sat up and Barker turned from the fire that he was lighting. “A good morning to you. Posse or no posse on my tail, I am not setting out this day without coffee inside me. I always keep the makings in my bag. It is what you might term a peculiarity of mine.”
“I never slept out in the open before,” said Esther, “Does one always get so cold and stiff?”
Barker laughed. “Cold? Why it is not even winter yet. These present conditions are nothing to speak of. wait until you wake up with snow tickling your face as it lands on you. That’s cold, let me tell you.”
“I prefer my bed, thank you. What are you going to do with me today?”
“I’m not about to do anything with you. I thought that we might ride on to the next town, where I have some friends. Once there, I will set you free and you may go your own way. If you would rather, I can leave you here when I go and you can make your own way to Abilene on foot.”
“Abilene? Is that not one of those places full of gunfighters and suchlike?”
“Not overmuch, no. It is a cowtown. Like Wichita, only a sight rougher. The law there is not too well organised, which is why it suits me and others of the same brand to stay there when we do not feel up to meeting folk like your pa.”
They each had two cups of strong black coffee and some bread. Then Barker tidied up the shelter and helped Esther onto the horse. The most that could be expected was that that they could proceed at a walk, with a little trotting thrown in when the beast felt up to it; burdened as it was with two riders.
When once they were on their way, Barker said, “I have been thinking on what you told me last night. You took a wrong turning because your father was strict on sinning and looseness and with me it was altogether the other thing.”
“How do you mean? What other thing?”
“My own father is dead now and I do not wish to speak ill of him. Howsoever, he was an old sinner and we learned nothing from him as children about the right way to live.”
“Didn’t he take you to church or teach you about stuff?”
“Not he,” said Barker, with a brief laugh, “He did not much care what mischief we got up to, as long as we were not caught. If a neighbour came telling tales of us, he would whip us and ask how we dared to make him at outs with those in the nearby area. The lesson that I learned from all that was that the biggest sin of all was getting caught.”
“Why,” said Esther, “That is just the same as me. As long as nobody found out what I was up to, I figured that everything was fine.”
“See now, that is what you might call a curious circumstance. You was raised strictly and learned to hide your misdeeds and I was not raised at all in that line, but still picked up the same lesson.”
“You think we are alike?”
“Lord forbid,” said Barker, sincerely, “I was thinking more that you have to teach little ones about right and wrong in a way that they know those things in their hearts. It is too late for me, but not for you. I hate to think of your following a similar road to my own.”
“It is not what I aim for.” said the girl.
A very interesting twist.