It had only been a month since Bill Langley arrived in town and started courting Lizzy Smith, the daughter of a well-respected Cheyenne businessman. A month later they were married in secret. Mr. Smith knew they were spending a great deal of time together, and he sensed they were getting emotionally close. His daughter was prone to making quick decisions once her mind was made up, so their secret marriage did not come as a surprise.
But the marriage came with other secrets. Lizzy married a Texas outlaw, and she was carrying his child. The two had plans to share their news with the Cheyenne community but circumstance intervened.
Lizzy’s father had been made aware of Langley’s outlaw past before they were married. “Bill Langley’s past is just that!”, she told her father. “And our future is solid!”
Mr. Smith trusted his daughter’s instincts and she trusted her husband, even after her husband left Cheyenne, with a posse in pursuit. Lizzy’s father understood a woman’s instinct. Before he had met his wife, Smith had a questionable past and overcame it because of a woman.
But the town was not so trusting. And they had reason. The Bank of Cheyenne had been robbed and Bill Langley had been seen high tailing away from the town with the gang of thieves who tried to rob it.
The town had been thrown into chaos; people were scurrying around ducking bullets and dodging horses. But not Lizzy. She stood in the middle of the street watching her husband gallop away.
Amidst the chaos, the townspeople watched Langley split from his gang, ride back to Lizzy, yell something to her, then make a fast get away out of town. Lizzy was left alone in the street. She had been seen romancing the outlaw. Lizzy Smith had become an immediate outcast.
Until that moment her future was bright. She had a man she loved, a man that loved her, and a baby on the way. The bank was robbed, and he was riding away with the men who obviously did it. Did it all just gallop away out of town?
“I had to Lizzy. They told me they’d kill you if I didn’t!” Then he galloped away amid the flying bullets.
What did he mean?
Lizzy was numb to the commotion around her. Her father suddenly appeared beside her, grabbed her by the arms, and pulled her to safety.
The secret about Langley’s outlaw past had been uncovered. It didn’t seem to matter that the bad man had turned his life around and his new wife was responsible for it. The evidence pointing toward her husband being involved in that bank robbery was substantial.
She would have to find a way to live without him.
Edmond P. DeRousse, Author of
Check out my work on:
You Tube: Ed DeRousse Common Man Adventures
&
www.storystar.com Ed DeRousse
