“Bad news to be sure,” Flick said before he nodded to the man at the ticket counter. “How far would the next town be, but one that’s not right along the tracks?”
“About two miles south.” The man gave a jerk of his head past a grove of trees. “You just go in through those, walk straight south, then you’ll run into it.” He scratched his chin. “There’s not much there except a saloon, general store, diner, and livery. If you’re wanting to hire horses, though, know that the pickins are slim.”
“And the next closest town after that one?” Flick asked.
“’Bout twenty miles past that.” The man nodded down the tracks. “There’s a large town forty miles that way, where that train up ahead will stop once they get the passengers who wanted to stretch their legs back into their seats.” He gave his nose a scratch. “Where is it all of you want to go?”
“We’re going after the train robber,” Flick said, earning an immediate shake of his head from the man.
“Not something I’d recommend since the conductor told me that train robber is a real nasty piece of work. Be best if the two of you avoid playing hero and let the authorities do their jobs.”
“Except that there’s no telling how long it’ll take for the authorities to track Paulie down, and he’s got my sister,” Seth said before he thanked the man for the information and headed for the Pullman car, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of Annaliese leading a pack of five donkeys his way. Harriet was already sitting on one of the donkeys, riding as if she’dbeen born to a saddle—not that there were any saddles, merely blankets thrown over the donkeys’ backs.
“I found us some rides in the livestock car,” Annaliese said, giving the donkey closest to her a pat on the nose. “They’re certainly not horses, which is why I think no one mentioned the donkeys when you first talked to the people on the train that was robbed. But, luckily for us, the man who sold them to me assured me they were accustomed to being ridden, although I’m not sure that black one is.” She frowned as she glanced at the black donkey in question. “He doesn’t seem all that familiar with reins, and he’s already been shying away from me, but I imagine he’d be okay with Harriet on his back since she weighs less than a small bag of flour.”
“Harriet’s coming with us?” Seth asked.
“Since she jumped out of the Pullman car and is now refusing to get back in, we don’t really have a choice in the matter. But...” Annaliese smiled. “Considering we have limited weapons on hand, she might come in useful as a distraction, as will Pippin, if I can convince her to get out of the basket she’s been sulking in from practically the moment we left Chicago.”
“And here I was beginning to think that ferrets slept more than I thought they did.”
“She does enjoy her naps, but not that much. She’s simply possessive when it comes to me, doesn’t care for Harriet in the least, and I think she’s even annoyed that we brought Pierre along, even though Pierre prefers Louisa.” She nodded to the donkeys. “Here’s hoping those donkeys won’t give us as much attitude as Pippin’s been giving me.”
Less than ten minutes later, it became crystal clear that all the donkeys except for the one his mother was riding had attitudes.
From the moment Flick hoisted himself onto a gray donkey, it had been trying to unseat him, with Seth’s doing the same, while the black donkey Harriet had gotten on after Louisa took the original one Harriet had been sitting on, had alreadygalloped a good hundred feet away from them, Harriet clinging to its back as she chattered madly away, quite as if riding a runaway donkey was the most fun she’d had in ages.
Even Annaliese, who had a way with animals, was having a difficult time of it as her donkey kept kicking up its hind legs, trying to dislodge her.
Impressively enough, Annaliese continued to maintain her seat, keeping hold of the reins in a practiced hand as she bounced up and down on the donkey’s back, the donkey suddenly freezing on the spot when Pippin came charging out of the Pullman car, shrieking up a storm. Pippin stopped directly in front of Annaliese’s donkey, rose on her hind legs, and proceeded to give said donkey what could only be described as a ferret slap to the nose.
Once Pippin delivered a slap that left the donkey releasing a bray, it didn’t start trying to unseat Annaliese again, and Pippin scurried over to Annaliese, who bent over, scooped the ferret up, and smiled when Pippin curled around her neck.
“Seems that even if Pippin’s still put out with you,” Seth began, “she doesn’t want to see you harmed.”
“Of course she doesn’t,” Annaliese said before she kneed her donkey and headed toward the grove of trees the ticket man had pointed out, leaning forward to snatch the reins of the donkey Harriet was on, that donkey having stopped in its tracks because Harriet had taken to standing on its back, performing what seemed to be a dance routine.
“Harriet used to earn Alfred a lot of money with that dancing of hers,” Flick said. “Sure is nice to see her dancing just because she wants to, and that’s all thanks to Annaliese rescuing her.”
Seth opened his mouth to agree but couldn’t manage to get a single word out because his donkey suddenly lunged forward, forcing him to grasp hold of its shaggy mane right as Flick bolted past him, hanging on for dear life as his donkey dashed straight toward some trees.
It took a good fifteen minutes to catch up to Annaliese, what with how his donkey, one he’d decided to call Cantankerous, kept getting distracted by every squirrel they passed and would unexpectedly lurch after them. Once he finally pulled Cantankerous to a stop by the tree Annaliese and his mother had stopped underneath, he found himself on the receiving end of Annaliese’s grin.
“Everything alright?” she asked.
“In all honesty, no. If you haven’t noticed, this donkey is a menace. And, to add insult to injury, I’ve lost Flick because his donkey kept turning around in circles and then just took off into the trees, but my donkey refused to change direction to follow, hence the reason I now have no idea where Flick is.”
“Flick seems like a competent sort, so I’m sure he’ll catch up to us at some point,” Annaliese said before she nodded up ahead. “I think that’s the town we’re looking for.” She gestured to the rucksack that was tied behind Louisa, a prudent place to tie his bag since it probably would have been lost if it had been on one of their other donkeys. “It might be a good idea to divvy up your gadgets. I have my pistol with me, but your mother isn’t armed, nor do I believe Flick is.”
“Mother already made off with my gun torch, but I’m not sure it would be wise for me to disembark to look through the sack for something to give Flick just yet since Cantankerous might not let me get back on him.”
Annaliese edged her donkey closer to his, which left Cantankerous taking a few steps backward. “You already named your donkey?”
Seth slid a bit to the left when Cantankerous decided to walk him right into a hedge. “You’ve told me, and numerous times, that all animals deserve names, especially those we’ve domesticated. Granted, it’s questionable how domesticated Cantankerous is, or that contrary beast Flick’s out there trying to control right now, but they didn’t seem to come with names. I took theliberty of choosing Cantankerous for mine, a fitting name if there ever was one.”
Before Seth could say anything else, Cantankerous began scooting directly into the hedge, but Seth barely noticed the limb that immediately began stabbing him because Annaliese was suddenly settling a brilliant smile on him, one that had the immediate effect of allowing Seth, for the very first time, to understand exactly why she fascinated him.
Yes, he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and yes, he found her captivating, but ... she was all those things to him because, somewhere along the way, and perhaps from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her symmetrical face, he’d fallen a bit in love with her.
