Joe’s face twitched and then softened more.
“All right, but just as soon as Miz is taken care of, we’ll come back.”
It wasn’t a question, but I still said, “Yes.”
“Go. I’ll follow.”
I hurried back to the car.
“Jerome, can you get to Gram?” I said.
“I need to stay with you, Isabelle. I’m sorry.”
I nodded. “Jake, call everyone—Cliff, Jim, Jenny. Don’t call Teddy. Don’t call Opie. But call everyone else. Get them to the campsite.”
The car started with the first turn of the key. I straightened the tires and sped my way toward the campsite. Joe and the horse followed behind, looking like what I imagined most Express riders looked like when they’d delivered letters. I’d seen it a little when we’d gone to visit Opie, but the visual was even stronger now. He was bent over the horse as the front flap on his hat flew back from the effort, and his eyes were focused straight ahead, forward on the path that would take them to their next stop, their one and only destination in mind. I was cooling off from my scorching anger, and I managed to take a moment to wish Jake could get a glimpse. Because, no matter how many pictures one sees, no matter how many reenactments one might participate in, there is nothing like the real thing. And seeing the real thing in my rearview mirror suddenly made me understand and appreciate it on a level I’d never been able to reach before. The riders had given their all, and it seems that in some cases, their all had included their lives. The horses had given their all, too. I’d seen something in the eyes of Joe’s horse, something that had made me wonder just how highly intelligent the creatures were. Though it was too light outside and the horse was moving too fast for me to see his eyes, I knew he was just as intent and focused on the ride as Joe was. History books would never be able to do the Pony Express justice.
We were a few minutes later than I thought we would be. Joe’s barricade hadn’t diverted us for long, but I hoped that Gram had waited for us before looking for Orly.
I parked in the same spot I had earlier and bolted out of the car toward Orly’s tent. I yanked the flap open.
“Betts?” he said as he sat on a stool and held a pair of underwear over an open bag. “Everything all right?” He noticed the underwear and placed them in the bag before he stood up.
“Gram? Has my gram been here?” I said.
“Not yet. I called her, though. I think she’s on her way. She said she’d be here.” Orly stepped forward.
I backed out of the tent and into Jake. Behind him were Jerome and Joe and the horse.
“I called the police, too. I remembered the people I thought had access to my truck. I had to leave a message with someone named Jenny, though. I’m sure I’ll be able to talk to Officer Morrison or Sebastian, your boyfriend, soon though.”
“Okay, so why did you call Gram?” I said.
Orly blushed. “I hoped to spend a little more time with her. I thought Miz and I could chat over coffee and maybe she’d want breakfast or something. It’s a quiet morning, but I’m not sure the afternoon will be the same. She’d mentioned that she was an early riser. I took a chance that that was so and called her.”
“She said that you said you wanted to show her something,” I said.
“Oh, yes. Hang on, I’ll grab it.” Orly disappeared back into the tent.
I looked at Jake and then at the ghosts behind me. At the moment, we were a rather pitiful group of heroes.
“I wanted to give this to her.” Orly said as he emerged with the item he wanted to show Gram.