When the town was busiest, hoping the crowd would provide cover, they moved through the streets, Jonah and Millie keeping their heads down. Clara walking ahead. They reached the steps of the Grand Imperial. A towering structure of brick and stone. Sheriff Cable was waiting.
He stood at the top of the stairs, flanked by two deputies. He was cleaning his fingernails with a small knife, looking bored until he saw them. He straightened, a slow, predatory smile spreading under his mustache. "Well, now," the sheriff said, his voice carrying over the noise of the street. "Look what the wind blew down. " "We are here to see Judge Thaddius," Jonah said, stepping up to the first stair.
He kept his hands away from his coat, palms open. The judge is busy, the sheriff said. "And vagrants aren't allowed in the lobby. Especially not kidnappers. " "I am not a vagrant," Jonah said. "And she is not kidnapped," the sheriff descended one step.
His hand rested on the pearl handle of his revolver. "You are under arrest, Crow. for the abduction of Amaly Laroo and the theft of county property. He signaled to his deputies. Take them. Run.
Jonah hissed to Millie. He shoved a deputy backward, sending the man stumbling into the sheriff. Chaos erupted. Jonah grabbed Millie's hand and they bolted, not up the stairs, but sideways, diving into the narrow alley that ran alongside the hotel. After them, the sheriff roared.
They ran. The ice in the alley was treacherous. They scrambled over crates and debris. their breath tearing at their lungs, they burst out onto the side street and ran toward the rail yards, hoping to lose the pursuit in the maze of tracks and freight cars. Jonah heard boots pounding the frozen mud behind them. A shot rang out, chipping the brick wall inches from his head.
In here, a voice hissed. A heavy wooden door to a blacksmith's shop swung open. A large man with soot-stained skin and dark eyes beckoned them. It was Matteo, the blacksmith. a man Jonah had traded with once. A man who knew what it felt like to be looked at sideways in this town.
Jonah and Millie threw themselves inside. Matteo slammed the door and dropped a heavy iron bar across it. Silence, Matteo whispered. Outside, the deputies ran past, their boots thundering on the boardwalk. They went toward the depot.
One of them shouted. Matteo waited a full minute before he turned to them. He handed Jonah a ladle of water from a bucket. They are hunting you like dogs, Matteo said. They don't want us to speak to the judge, Jonah replied, wiping his mouth.
Matteo nodded. Then you must make sure the whole town hears you. They waited until the deputies had moved on, then slipped out the back. They circled around, aiming for the town square where the courthouse stood opposite the hotel. They were crossing the main thoroughfare when luck ran out.
A young deputy, barely 20 years old and eager to prove himself, stepped out of the saloon. He saw Millie. He didn't hesitate. He lunged, grabbing her by the back of her coat. "Got you! " he shouted.