READ AN EXCERPT:
As Mona and Robert compared notes
while riding back to the hotel, both of them heard a loud cracking noise that
traveled through the car.
“What was that?” Mona asked. “It
sounded like the snap of a bullwhip.”
Robert ordered the driver, “Slow down,
please.” He rolled down his window and listened.
“There it is again,” Mona said.
“Driver, stop.” She got out of the car and looked about, but it was dark with a
moonless sky. Mona couldn’t see anything.
Another crack sounded.
The Pinkertons in the car following
them also got out and looked about.
A fourth crack pierced the air.
“It’s gunfire! Take cover,” one of the
Pinkertons shouted.
Mona ducked down by the side of the
car as Robert joined her. “Turn the car lights off!” she yelled.
Robert threw Mona on the ground and
shielded her with his body, but they both lifted their heads upon hearing a
rumble.
“AVALANCHE! AVALANCHE!” Robert yelled,
as he dragged Mona to the side of the mountain and frantically covered both
their heads with his arms. Their driver huddled with them. Since darkness
prevented them from seeing which direction the snow was headed, there was no
use in running. Some of the Pinkertons realized they were in the path of the
descending wall of snow and ran. Their shrieks could be heard above the roar of
the torrent as they got caught in the avalanche and were hurled down the
mountainside.
“Oh, God!” Mona murmured upon hearing
the men scream.
Robert whispered into her ear, “Don’t
listen. Don’t listen.” He put his hands over her ears.
The rumbling abruptly stopped and was
replaced by a haunting silence. Robert and Mona waited a few minutes before
climbing out of the snowbank which had fallen about them. Luckily, they had not been hit with any of the
displaced rocks and boulders propelled by the tumbling snow. Robert cleared
snow from their driver who also was unharmed.
Shouts came from the Pinkertons who
had been in a car ahead of them. They had not been involved in the avalanche.
“Anyone hurt?” one guard shouted.
Robert yelled, “Second car is fine
except we are bound by snow, but the third car got the brunt of the slide. We
think there are casualties, but we can’t see and no one is answering our
calls.”
“We are digging you out now. Can you
get into your car?”
Robert replied, “Negative. The doors
are blocked by snow.”
“Stay where you are. We are
coming.”
Mona, Robert, and the driver helped
each other get the snow from around their collars, inside their gloves, and
tops of their boots. Each gave a vigorous shake to remove snow from their
coats. Both the driver and Robert dug snow away with their hands from the trunk
of the car to access a shovel, emergency blankets, and a first-aid kit. Mona
moved to the back passenger door and pulled snow away from the car with her
hands. The work kept them all warm.
As the Pinkertons in the first car
were making headway with the fallen snow, Mona and Robert saw car lights in the
distance behind them, curving the bend in the road. They heard the roar of the
car engine and saw beams of flashlights.
“HELLO? HELLO?”
Robert shouted, “WE’RE HERE!”
Mona grabbed Robert’s arm. “Robert, be
careful. These could be the men who caused the avalanche.”
“WE’LL HELP YOUR MEN. THE CAR’S GONE
OVER THE SIDE.”
Robert yelled back, “YES, DO THAT!
WE’LL FREE OUR CAR AND THEN START DIGGING TOWARD YOU.” Turning, Robert asked,
“Do you have your gun on you, Mona?”
“It’s in my purse which is in the car.
What about your six-shooter?”
“Under the snow somewhere.”
“I’ve got one in my shoulder holster,
and there’s another gun in the glove compartment if we can get to it,” the
Pinkerton driver announced.
“Good man,” Robert said. “Put your gun
where you can use it in a hurry.”
Mona, Robert, and the driver dug
around their car finally clearing the snow away from the trunk. The driver took
the shovel and shoveled the road while Robert put several blankets around Mona,
whose hands had frozen so badly that she lost the feeling in them.
After an hour, the Pinkertons from the
first car cleared away the snow and reached Mona and Robert. They put Mona in
their vehicle which was still warm. She was grateful for the warmth and rubbed
her numb hands in front of the car’s heater.
Robert worked with the Pinkertons to
reach the third car, but once they broke through a wall of snow, there was no
third car. It had careened down the mountain. Its blinking taillights were
faintly visible beneath the snow.
They found four men hoisting bodies
through a series of ropes tied to a truck. A man wearing a Stetson and standing
near the road’s edge, watched them bring the bodies up. Upon seeing his milky
eye, Robert recognized the man, who worked for Margaret Daly.
Robert walked up to the man. “Is
everyone dead?”
“No. I have two men in the truck. They
are banged up a bit, but otherwise fine. They told me that someone repeatedly
fired a gun, which caused the avalanche.”
“How did you happen upon us?” Robert
asked.
“Miss Margaret gave orders to follow.
She felt you were in danger although we never expected anything like this.
You’ve got to admit it was devilishly clever.”
Not sure the Stetson man was speaking
the truth, Robert gave him a long stare before stating, “Thank you. Our other
two cars are working, so we’ll take the injured men into town and send help
back.”
“We’ll stay and clear the road. If the
law doesn’t come soon enough, we’ll bring in the bodies and leave them at the
funeral home.” The Stetson man tried to peek around Robert. “I trust Miss Moon
is fine.”
“Fit as a fiddle,” Robert replied,
coldly. “I’ll collect those injured men and be off. Thank you again, and
chin chin.” He nodded to the Pinkertons to gather their associates.
The Stetson man tipped the brim of his
hat.
Robert walked back with the Pinkerton
men, all the while wondering if he was going to be shot in the back. Once
safely ensconced in the first car with Mona, he turned to her. “You’ll never
guess who turned out to be our savior.”
Mona pulled her blanket over Robert.
“Who?”
“Margaret Daly. She ordered the
Stetson man to follow us.”
“She could have ordered him to start
the avalanche.”
“I thought it odd myself that her man
happened to arrive a short time after the avalanche. I’ll guess we’ll never
know the real truth, but she did warn you of danger, Mona.” Robert lit a
cigarette as his nerves were frayed. “What do you want to do now?”
Mona didn’t chide Robert about smoking
as she knew he was upset. She was disturbed as well. “We’ve got three managers
to deal with. We need to stay in Montana until this mess is cleared up.”
“We got out by the skin of our teeth
tonight, Mona, and two of our men didn’t make it. We need to make changes fast,
and then get the heck out of here.”
“I don’t like putting our men and
ourselves in danger, but we’ve got to see this through, Robert.”
A Pinkerton knocked on the car
window.
Mona rolled it down.
“Sorry, folks, but we need to put one
of the injured men in this car. It’s pretty tight in the other vehicle.”
“Assuredly, bring him here,” Robert
said, before turning to his wife. “I’ll drive and we’ll put two men in the
back.”
Mona got out and stood aside as
Pinkertons carried their injured comrade. They eased him into the back of the
car. Mona took off her blanket, wrapping it around the injured man. She said to
the non-injured Pinkerton, “You’ll stay with him?”
“Ma’am, he can use my lap as his
pillow. We’ll get him to a hospital all right.”
Mona replied, “We shall fly to the
nearest hospital like the fastest hawk.”
“Better make it a night owl.”
Mona gave a ghost of a smile at the
Pinkerton’s jest. She slid into the front seat and turned to Robert. “We’re
ready. Let’s get back to Butte.”
Robert took off the emergency brake
and depressed on the clutch, putting the car in first gear. The car began to
roll downward and Robert put the car in second gear. “Here we go, ready or
not.”
But Mona didn’t hear Robert. She was
deep in thought planning her next move.
Someone was going to pay for the death
of those two men as well as Piotr Wojcik and Dr. Driscoll.
Someone indeed!
REVIEW:
Her Last Best Friend by Nellie H. Steele
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