inside. His gaze was on the crowd sitting at the long tables waiting
for their food to be served. He kept Grace tucked into his side,
spotted the stairs in the corner, and headed across the room.
As they raced up the narrow steps, he glanced back at the sheriff.
"What about the woman Marshal Cooper was traveling with? Where is
she?
" "There weren't no woman."
"Yes, there was, " Daniel muttered.
"The porter told me the marshal had a woman with him, and other folks
remember seeing her getting on the train. She might have been there
when they started, but she weren't there when the train was stopped.
That's the God's truth."
"What about her things? " Grace asked.
"Did you find a valise or a bag? " "No, ma'am. We didn't find
anything. That compartment was empty, and there weren't nothing left
behind to prove a woman had ever been there." They reached the end of
the hallway, where the physician was standing.
He nodded to Daniel and then opened the door and went back inside.
"Grace, wait with the sheriff out here, " Daniel said. "Sheriff, don't
let anyone up those stairs. You understand me? " "What do you want me
to do if someone wants to come up? " "Shoot him." The sheriff's eyes
widened. Grace waited until Daniel had gone inside Cooper's room
before bowing her head and saying a silent prayer that his friend would
survive. "Was the missing woman Marshal Cooper's wife? " Bobcat
asked.
"No, " she answered. "They weren't related. Marshal Cooper was
escorting Rebecca to Texas."
"Well, where in tarnation is she? " Grace shook her head. "I don't
know, " she whispered.
A shiver passed down her arms. Rebecca had vanished.
God help her.
Xaniel kept vigil by his friend's side all through the night. Cooper,
locked in a fitful sleep, was having nightmares and mumbling words
about monsters and traitors that didn't make any sense.
Grace took care of practical matters. She asked the porter to remove
their bags from the train, ordered a tray of food be sent up for Daniel
to eat later if and when his appetite returned, and kept Sheriff Bobcat
company at the small round table in the corridor adjacent to Cooper's
room.
The sheriff kept up a constant flow of chatter while he and Grace ate
supper together. The food was bland but filling, and an hour later she
couldn't remember what had been served. Her mind was filled with fear
for Marshal Cooper and Rebecca.
The physician came out of Cooper's room around nine that evening. He
shook his head sorrowfully and told the sheriff there was little
improvement.
"I opened the wound near the rib cage to drain the infection. I don't
know what good it will do now, though. The man's burning up with
fever. I mixed up a batch of my herb brew, and if I could only get him