The Last Ride of Caleb O'Toole Read Online Free Page B

up.” She rolled up the map and snuggled beside Tilly. Then she brought out the Colt pistol and rested it at her side. “Can you take the first watch?”
    Caleb nodded his head, then reached for the Sharps and brought a stool over to the window. No way was he going to let anything else happen that night. This time he stuck a spare bullet in his teeth.
    ***
    Seven days later, exhausted from the insufferable Kansas heat and nearly starving, they made it to Red Cloud. Caleb, his hands raw from handling the reins, drove the buckboard through the little town. The hammering and sawing of people building new shops echoed through the dusty street. Smaller than Great Bend, Red Cloud was booming in anticipation of the coming railroad. It seemed everyone was out making preparations for the Fourth of July. Banners were being strung, flags raised, and a brass band played in the town square. They rode past a mercantile, the undertaker, a bakery, and the drugstore. There was an outfitter store, dress shop, barber, church, hardware store, and a loan office. Cattle were driven through the street by dusty cowhands. A number of peaceful Pawnee Indians sat trading their wares. Compared to the troubles in Great Bend, Red Cloud was heaven. It all seemed so civilized. How strange it felt compared to what they had been through. Suddenly, Julie reached over and squeezed his arm.
    â€œCaleb, pull over into the alley.” Julie smiled at the Sheriff, who was watching them out of the corner of his eye as he talked with a well-dressed woman holding a brightly colored parasol. The woman pointed toward the wagon. “Real easy so we don’t attract attention.” She gave the Sheriff a polite nod as Caleb guided Dusty behind the Smith Brothers’ store.
    Caleb caught on immediately and gave the reins a shake. Dusty yanked the buckboard quickly down the alley and out of sight. Then they doubled back, bypassing Red Cloud, and came to a stop in a grove of trees near a wide river about a mile away. Julie began stripping off her filthy dress down to her undergarments.
    â€œShould have thought of this before.” She then grabbed Tilly’s clothes and nodded toward the river. “Let’s clean up before we head back to town. Folks seeing us come in from the south, frightful as we look, they may get suspicious. Chances are some will know of the cholera in Great Bend and they might be on the alert. That would scare the entire town of Red Cloud.”
    â€œShould dry in no time in this heat,” said Caleb as he jumped in the river, clothes and all. The cold water felt good. He squeezed his blistered hands, trying to get some life back into them. “I’ll head to that outfitter store later and see what I can get. You and Tilly should probably stay here.”
    â€œGo in from the north and if anyone asks…”
    â€œI’ll tell them I’m from Kansas City.”
    ***
    Caleb managed to lay in a few supplies for the trip north. They stayed hidden outside Red Cloud to rest for two days, bathing discreetly in the water from Republican River, sleeping at night under their wagon. Then they rode north without any trouble for four more days until they finally reached Kearney Junction.
    Caleb drove Dusty over the bridge that spanned the Platte River. In the distance, he saw railroad tracks and steered Dusty over toward the train depot. They had traveled nearly two hundred miles in a few weeks. They should be proud of themselves.
    â€œLooks kind of dead,” said Julie, looking around for signs of life. For a town that was a hub of the Northern Railroad, it seemed strangely deserted. A few people could be seen farther up the street, but it was eerily quiet. Two pack mules hitched to a railing brushed at flies with their tails in the summer heat. A lone dog sauntered slowly to the middle of the road and lay down, stretching without a care in the world. Caleb eased the wagon over to the train platform. He jumped