Chapter 29

“She already left this morning.” Mr. Reid’s voice.

“Left? Where did she go?”

Eliza started frantically pounding on the door, shouting Ford’s name. She knew he must hear her, must know that she hadn’t gone anywhere. To her surprise, the door opened almost instantly, but it wasn’t Ford standing in the hallway. Elsie pointed her gun at Eliza’s chest, touching her lip with her index finger. “Shhhh.”

“What was that?” Ford asked.

“Elsie,” the mayor answered.

“Where did Eliza go?”

“She caught the mail coach out of town this morning, before breakfast.”

Eliza opened her mouth to protest, but Elsie thrust the gun in her face, silencing her. Why were they doing this? What did they have to gain by lying to Ford? Especially since Ford was there to help them, wasn’t he?

“Did she say anything before she left?” Ford asked.

“No,” the mayor replied, “just that she hoped to reach Silver City before it got dark. The mail coach travels pretty fast, so I thought she had a good chance.”