Long Road to Cheyenne Read Online Free PDF Page B

her what Bob had told him. In the end, he felt it would be wrong not to tell her. “Mrs. Bishop—” he started.
    “Mary,” she interrupted.
    “Mary,” he corrected. “I don’t like bein’ the one to tell you this, but I think it’s somethin’ you oughta know.” He proceeded to tell her about the fatal holdup. Her expression was one of profound shock, but she managed to hold on to her emotions. He could guess the total despair his news had wrought, and he tried to give her some hope. “That mighta been some other man named Bishop. The stage company oughta be able to tell you the man’s name. If you want, I’ll go with you to the telegraph office here and see if they can wire Custer City and find out.” He paused, seeing she was trying to collect her nerves. “Or I can go find out for you,” he suggested.
    “No,” she said softly, “I can do that myself.” Feeling suddenly faint, she fought to maintain her composure. She had tried to steel herself to the possibility of finding out such news, for deep down she had known that something this tragic had to have happened. But to actually hear it was devastating. In a moment, she felt she was in control again. She pulled herself upright and announced, “I’ll go do that now. I’ll let you know what I find out when I get back.” She got up to go. “Where can I find you? Do you have a room in the hotel?”
    “No, ma’am. I’ll be sleepin’ in the stagecoach tonight, so I’ll be there.” He walked out the door behind her and stood watching her from the porch as she made her way across the clearing toward the telegraph office.
Well, I didn’t hold that job for very long,
he thought, certain that the murdered man had to have been her husband.
    •   •   •
    It was a couple of hours before she returned. Walking out to the corral where the stage was parked, she found him already in his blanket, asleep in the coach. She called out his name softly and he immediately responded. “Were you asleep?” she asked.
    “Yes, ma’am. I just naturally wake up easy.” He stepped out of the coach and stood up. “I had a little fire goin’, but it went out.” Actually, he was surprised to see her again. He assumed that if she verified her husband’s death, she’d cancel her trip to Destiny and go back home, wherever that might be. Had he not thought so, he would not have turned in for the night. “Did you find out about your husband?” he asked.
    “Yes, I did,” she replied. “The man murdered by that outlaw was my husband, William Warren Bishop. He still had the watch I gave him on our fifth anniversary. The bandits didn’t even take it.”
    “Well, I am right sorry, ma’am. I hated to be the one to tell you about it, but I figured you’d surely want to know, instead of goin’ all the way to Custer City to find out. I expect you’ll be stayin’ over here and wait for a coach headin’ back to Cheyenne.”
    “No,” she said. “I’m still going to find Destiny. My poor husband’s brother should know that Warren never got back. If I don’t find him, he may never know that his brother was killed.”
    He was surprised, but when he thought about it, he could see that it was the right thing to do. “So you still want me to go up there with you?”
    “Yes, I do. I’ve never had to hire a guide before, so maybe you have a figure in mind. How much do you think it’s worth for your help?”
    “I’ve never done it before, either,” he replied, and gave it a few moments’ thought. “I don’t know. Is ten dollars too much?”
    She couldn’t help chuckling. “No, that’s not too much. It’s worth more than that. I was thinking more along the lines of fifty dollars.” When he hesitated, she said, “You know you’re going to have to travel with two precocious little girls. Fifty might not be a fair amount.”
    He shook his head and grinned. “Why don’t we settle on forty?” he said.
    “Agreed,” she said at once; then she