Wanted! Belle Starr! (22 page)

“
No!” Florence denied
vehemently, having sat on the bed and made a visible effort to
regain some control of her emotions. Then her expressive face
registered indignation and, starting to rise, she went on, “You
needn’t worry, even if they had, Miss Benkers would never split on
where to find you!”

“
I never for a moment
thought she would,” Belle drawled, her manner reassuring. “But I
can’t start figuring out how I can help her until I know what’s
happened.”

“
Sorry, Miss Starr,” the
maid apologized, sinking back on to the quilt with an air of being
mollified, “It’s just that—!”

“
I know, honey,” the lady
outlaw said gently, as the explanation was brought to an
inconclusive end. “Tell me everything you know.”

“
You wouldn’t think there
could be such lousy luck!” Florence commenced, her tone bitter. “A
bloody Pink-Eye recognized her from the last time she was over here
and knew she’s still wanted for a job she pulled in New York. So he
brought the marshal and had her arrested to be held until he can
arrange for her to be taken back.”

“
There has to be more to
it than that,” Belle asserted. “From what I know of him, with the
kind of reputation she’s made for herself and the company she’s
been keeping, the marshal would want something a whole heap
stronger than just a Pink-Eye’s word before he’d chance taking in
tthe Honorable Drusilla St. John-Bellweather’.”

“
He’s been given more!”
the maid replied angrily. “When he searched the suite, he found
some tom that’d been stolen from another room in one of her
bags.”

“
Tom?” the lady outlaw
queried.
^xxvi

“
Jewelry,” Florence
translated, agitation once again having caused her to employ the
jargon of British criminals.

“
Benkers never mentioned
having taken any to me,” Belle commented, despite feeling sure the
stolen property would not have been found so easily if she had done
so.

“
She never took the bloody
stuff!” the maid denied. “That bastard Pink-Eye must have got in
while neither of us was there and planted it.”

“
I’ve heard of such things being
done,” the lady outlaw admitted. “Although, by all accounts, Allan
Pinkerton always says he doesn’t countenance his Pink-Eyes doing
things like that.”
^xxvii

“
This one did!”

“
I’m not saying you’re
wrong, honey. The trouble is, I can’t see the marshal being willing
to take your word, or mine, that he did it. There’s one chance,
though. Have you any idea when the jewelry was taken?”

“
Around noon yesterday.
Does that help?”

“
Not a whole heap,” Belle
sighed. “The only way we could prove Benkers has an alibi would be
to tell how we were with the butler, paying him off for letting us
cheat those women at the mansion.”

“
Then she’s done to
rights!” Florence estimated with a groan. “The Pink-Eye said she’s
sure to get jailed when he’s got her back to New York.”

“
How did you get away?”
the lady outlaw inquired, then raised her right hand in placatory
gesture as she saw her words had been misconstrued. “Now don’t take
what I said the wrong way, honey. I’m more than pleased you did.
Tell me everything that happened. Start from the beginning and try
not to leave anything out.”

“
I was down in the lobby.
Miss Benkers had told me to go and listen to what those ‘votes for
women’ crowd were saying about some big parade they’re holding
tonight.”

“
I know the one she meant.
It’s going to be around the Capitol Building and they’re thinking
of stirring up trouble.”

“
It sounded that way.
Well, I was on my way back when I saw the marshal and that Pink-Eye
going up ahead of me. I knew about the tom being nicked, but didn’t
think anything about it until I saw them making Miss Benkers let
them into our rooms. They hadn’t seen me and I listened at the
door, which’s how I found out what was going on. Then, when I heard
they were fetching her out, I took stoppo and come here. You don’t
mind me coming, do you, miss? Only I couldn’t think of anybody else
to turn to.”

“
I’d have been annoyed if
you hadn’t come,” Belle drawled, thinking how fortunate it was that
the most important of Benker’s belongings had been transferred to
the boarding house as a precaution against the need for them to
leave Austin hurriedly.

“
Can you do anything!”
Florence pleaded, close to tears.

“
I don’t know,” the lady
outlaw confessed. “One thing’s for sure. There’s no legal way of
getting her out.”

“
Then she’s done for,” the
maid moaned.

“
Not if I can help it!”
Belle claimed, pensively and yet with a ring of grim determination
in her voice. “I’ve never pulled a jail break, but I’ve always been
told birds of a feather stick together and, as sure as sin’s for
sale in Cowtown, I’m going to give it a try.”

“
If anybody had told me
that I would ever be grateful to those awful women, I’d have
thought they were daffy,” Amelia Penelope Diana “Benkers” Benkinsop
declared, reminding herself to keep walking in a manner suitable to
the masculine attire she was wearing. “But, after all the dear
girls have done for me, I’m almost sorry I let you browbeat me into
helping fleece some of them.”

“
You’ve got the easiest
brow I’ve ever come across to beat,” Belle Starr asserted. Having
had more practice, she was experiencing less difficulty in ensuring
her gait matched the garb she had on, despite it also being that of
the opposite gender. “Why you was like to chomp, whomp and stomp me
when I said it wasn’t cricket—don’t you Lime-Juicers say—to take
advantage of those poor lil ole Yankee soft-shells.”

For the rest of her life, the lady outlaw
would always claim the rescue of her English friend was her finest
achievement!

Having set her mind to the task of freeing
Benkers, Belle had displayed a planning skill many a military
commander would have envied!

Despite Florence Drakefield having suggested
there might be better opportunities while the beautiful prisoner
was being taken to New York, the lady outlaw had concluded there
were factors which favored taking action without delay. For one
thing, a rescue bid was unlikely to be expected so soon after
Benkers had been taken into custody. Another reason, even more
important, had been an appreciation of the benefits which might
accrue as a result of an event which was scheduled to take place
that night. Taking the latter into account, she had checked upon
the various clothing and disguises stored in a well concealed
hiding place below the boarding house owned by her aunt, and had
selected the costumes which she believed most suited to her
purpose. Having explained what she meant to do to the maid, they
had made arrangements for a speedy departure from Austin if they
should meet with the anticipated success.

Everything hinged upon one factor!

It was common knowledge that some of the
advocates for women’s suffrage did not intend merely to parade in a
passive fashion around the Capitol Building, but were determined to
draw attention to their cause by actions intended to bring about
their arrest. Therefore, Belle had felt sure the town marshal would
assemble as strong a force as possible in an attempt to keep the
peace. Clad in the fashion she had selected, she and the maid had
kept watch from near the jailhouse and satisfied themselves that
her summation was correct, thereby increasing Florence’s admiration
for her. As the maid had remarked, probably on no other occasion at
that hour would there have been only two deputies present in the
office.

Confronted by what appeared to be a pair of
nuns, neither peace officer had been suspicious when asked if
religious solace could be given to the only prisoner held in the
cells at the rear of the building. Nor, presented with a half empty
bottle of good quality whiskey supposedly taken from ‘a poor sinner
who knew not what he did’ and asked to dispose of what was left,
had they resisted the temptation to sample the contents. In doing
so, they had saved themselves from being subdued by less peaceful
and painless measures. Proving as effective as when used against
David Icke and Benkers, the potion which Belle had added to the
liquor rendered them unconscious speedily.

Dragging the deputies into the cell area,
the rescuers had used the keys from the desk in the office to set
the honey blonde free. The removal of their habits had revealed
that, in addition to wearing other clothing to be used when taking
their departure, they had brought suitable attire including her
Webley Royal Irish Constabulary revolver and gunbelt to replace the
garments she was wearing.

Clad and armed as a cowhand, with a loose
fitting jacket to help conceal her feminine contours as Belle was
Benkers had found the key on the ring which unlocked the safe in
the office. While Florence kept watch on the street, dressed after
the fashion of a ‘lady of easy virtue’, they had retrieved such of
her property as had been put there by the marshal. She had declined
the suggestion of the maid that, as she had already been accused of
stealing it, she should also take the jewelry which the supposed
Pinkerton operative had hidden in her room and which was being
retained as evidence for holding her until extradition could be
arranged. The lady outlaw had agreed with the decision and it was
subsequently proved to have been justified.

Leaving the building, their activities in
the office having gone unnoticed due to the fact that people who
might otherwise have been in the vicinity had gone to watch the
parade by the suffragettes at the Capitol Building, the three young
women had made their way to the boarding house. Their arrival
having also gone unquestioned, they had stayed no longer than was
required to leave the nuns’ habits in the secret hiding place.
Arrangements had been made for their departure from Austin,
including the means of transport and their belongs had been made
ready during the afternoon. They had not changed the clothing they
were wearing, gambling upon it helping to prevent them being
connected with the escaped prisoner and her female rescuers should
the alarm be raised sooner than anticipated. This had not happened
and they were approaching their destination.

Hearing the sounds of a disturbance some
distance away, Benkers had made the reference to the people who had
unwittingly helped to bring about her liberation.

“
I haven’t mentioned it
before, old thing, but you do tend to over exaggerate somewhat on
occasion,” the honey blonde remarked. “By the by. I haven’t thought
to ask, but what have you in mind for us after we’ve left this
charming city?”

“
We’ll start by heading
south, as if we’re figuring on crossing the Rio Grande into
Mexico,” Belle replied. “Then, once we’re clear of Travis County,
we’ll make a swing around and lie low at a safe place I know until
we’ve found out how much of a hunt there’s being made for you. When
we know that, we can decide upon the best way to get you out of the
country.”

“
It’s your home range, as
I believe you colonials put it,” the honey blonde assented. “So
I’ll leave myself in your hands and plead insanity when we get
arrested.”

“
How soon will they be
after us?” Florence asked, walking arm in arm with the other two as
might be expected of the kind of people they were pretending to
be.

“
Going by the racket over
to the Capitol, we ought to have a good head start before the
marshal gets to know what we’ve done,” the lady outlaw estimated.
Then she waved her free hand in the direction of the small livery
stable, owned by a retired outlaw who was another trusted
acquaintance. “Here we are, so we’ll soon be on our
way.”

“
I hope your friend will
be there,” Benkers commented, seeing no sign of life although the
inside of the main barn was illuminated. “I’d like to give him
something for his help.”

“
I’ve already attended to
that,” Belle answered. “Going by what they were saying, Sam and his
boys were figuring on walking over to the Capitol to watch what’s
going on. He gave me the key to the storeroom and promised they’d
leave the horses and rig ready before they left.”

Entering the building, the Englishwomen
found it appeared to be as the lady outlaw had claimed. There was
no sign of anybody else present, but the fine buckskin gelding
which she had used while travelling through Texas was saddled and
an equally good quality horse stood harnessed to a buckboard.
Seeing everything as she expected, she led the way towards the
animals.

“
Hold it there and keep
your hands still!”

Hearing the words, spoken in a harsh Chicago
accent, Belle and her companions did as was ordered. Turning her
head, she saw three men in travel stained city style clothing
holding revolvers and coming towards then from empty stalls in
which they had been hiding. She recognized one as Joseph ‘Church’
Steeples and, from the family resemblance, concluded the other two
were his brothers, Albert ‘High’ and Wilfred ‘Little’. Aware that
they were too far apart for her to take any action, she made no
attempt to do so. Much to her relief, Benkers was showing an equal
grasp of the situation and refraining from making any kind of
movement.