Page 57 of The Heart’s Charge

“We’re trying to find him. He was staying with Miss Palmer at Harmony House, but he ran away. We think he may be in trouble.”

The porter wagged his head, a quiet chuckle on his lips. “Ah, those boys are slippery. They’re good kids. Not too fond of boundaries, though.” He patted Katherine’s arm. “Don’t worry, mi ángel. He’ll turn up when he’s ready.”

That wasn’t good enough. “You don’t understand,” she said, but the stationmaster’s call cut her off.

“Lopez! Stop lollygagging and finish prepping the carts. The 6:50 will be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll have them ready.” Mr. Lopez shot her an apologetic glance, then started shuffling back to the depot building. “Sorry, mi ángel. I have to go. Al’s a good boy. He’ll show up.”

Sensing they were about to lose their only lead, Katherine leapt forward, took hold of the older man’s arm, and played the only card she could think to play. “Al’s not a boy. She’s a girl. Alice. Rawley kicked her out of his gang when he learned the truth, so she’s out there all alone. Please. If we don’t find her before dark, there’s no telling what might happen to her.”

Mr. Lopez looked stricken by her pronouncement. “Little Al es una niña? I . . . I never would have let her go had I known.”

“Let her go where?” Mark asked, his voice sharpening.

Mr. Lopez twisted to face the Horseman, his face etched with remorse. “She came by about an hour ago. Asked if I had seen Rawley and the others. I told her they’d hopped the spur into Burnet County. They said something about looking for the man in black.”

Katherine darted a glance at Mark.

“Al said she’d take the bridge. Mumbled something about how Rawley didn’t know what to look for, but she did.”

Katherine’s stomach clenched. Alice was going after the snatcher alone? She’d barely seen the man. She’d said so herself. How did she think she would recognize him? Especially if he wasn’t wearing his black camouflage? Katherine clutched Mark’s arm. It didn’t matter if Alice could recognize the snatcher or not. She was putting herself in his path, and if he spotted her, she could be taken, just like the others.

“We’ve got to get to her. Now!”

Mark nodded but took the time to shake the porter’s hand in thanks. Katherine didn’t. Leaving the men behind, she hoisted her skirt above her ankles and sprinted across the platform and down into the street. People turned to stare as she raced past, but she paid them no mind. Her only thought was to follow the railroad tracks and get to the bridge.

Mark called out to her, but she didn’t look back. He’d catch up soon enough. Nor did she hesitate to mount the tracks and start across the bridge. People crossed this bridge on foot every day. Heavens, children from Hoover’s Valley walked across it every morning to come to school in Kingsland.

Once on the bridge, she hiked her skirt up a bit more and watched the placement of each hurried step. There were no railings and no trestles to protect her from falling into the Colorado River below should she lose her balance.

“Kate!” Mark called, much nearer now. “Stop!”

She lifted her head to judge how far she’d come. Almost halfway. And there, across the river, she spied a pair of horses at the end of the bridge. A small child in boy’s clothing moved between them. Alice! Katherine’s heart soared.

“I see her!” She halted momentarily and glanced over her shoulder, her excitement building.

Mark stood on the tracks at the edge of the bridge, waving her toward him. “Come back!” he yelled.

Go back? No. They had to go forward. Get to Alice before she was lost to them again. She shook her head and resumed picking her way across the bridge. Faster now. Nearly at a run. Alice was on the other side. In danger. Nothing else mattered.

But two-thirds of the way across, she realized she was wrong. Something else did matter. Something barreling toward her with such speed that the tracks convulsed beneath her feet. The deep, haunting moan of a train whistle pierced her ears and her heart.

The 6:50 from Burnet. Heading straight for her.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

The instant Kate turned away from him, Mark sprinted forward, his heart pounding faster than his feet.

God, help her!

She might make it. Might clear the bridge before the train arrived. He calculated and recalculated distances as he ran. The distance to the shore. The distance between each stone pier. The distance between him and the water. Fifteen feet. Maybe twenty. He could survive the plunge if necessary. But Kate? Between the currents of the Colorado and her layers of petticoats dragging her down, she’d never make it. For the first time, he prayed for her to run faster.

Then the train appeared. Its whistle blew. And Kate stopped in her tracks.

No! Run, darlin’. Run!