Outlaws Of Phantom Canyon (Savage Series)

Colorado Territory,  Spring  1875

 
“Dear, you are going to get your fool head shot off if you don’t sit back from that window,” the elderly Rosa Radford exclaimed as bullets whistled by. “Now sit back before . . .” Was the nanny’s last words as she fell forward.

Julianna Whitaker screamed when the next bullet whizzed right by her head, just as the elderly lady slumped forward toward the stagecoach's floor.

  “Rosa, Rosa!” Julianna yelled above the noise of the attack, as she instantly pulled back on the old woman’s shoulder, and saw the bloody bullet hole in the nanny’s head. All the color in Julianna’s face instantly drained in horror as she quickly let go of the woman’s shoulder, watching the dear old lady’s stilled body slump down onto the dusty floor of the racing stagecoach.

Julianna was frozen in horror. She couldn’t speak nor move.
  The Phantom outlaw gang reined up the front horses of the stagecoach, and stopped the racing stage dead in its tracks. She could feel her heart leap all the way up in her throat.  Would the outlaws kill the rest of them now that they were stopped and surrounded?

While the rest of the Phantom gang had their guns aimed at the stagecoach passengers
, the driver, and the shotgun rider; Outlaw Victor Ortega, who had a scar on his face that ran the length from his right eye to his chin, and a Spanish accent yelled out to them, “Passengers inside the stagecoach, all of you climb on out, and keep your hands high where I can see them." Then emphasizing with his pistol as he waved it. "You two on top stay right where you are, and put your hands up high.”

Norman Lloyd and Wes McCormick, the two gentlemen that had been sitting across from Julianna in the stagecoach, cautiously climbed out first
, keeping their hands far away from their gunbelts. Wes, the last of the two out, turned to offer Julianna a hand in climbing out.
Julianna gladly accepted for fear that she would stumble over her dress, due to her shaking from fear. Julianna was doing her best not to appear scared, but the truth was, she was terrified. 

Worn out and sore from the long journey, and now just having seen her nanny Rosa murdered, this was turning out to be a lot more than the adventure Julianna had planned before she left New York.

 
 When Julianna turned and looked up at the robbers still sitting atop their mounts, she momentarily forgot that she was scared, and started to give them an ear full.  “What is the meaning of this? How dare you shoot at us.” Julianna couldn’t help it as tears welled up in her emerald green eyes. “You killed my nanny! Rosa was a very dear sweet lady and my friend. What did she ever do to deserve to die?"

As she was about to say more, the outlaw gang gave a “who-op” and whistled at the beautiful sight of Julianna when she turned towards them. Sam Tucker, one of the outlaws that had already climbed down from his horse
, and was the nearest to Julianna yelled, “Look-e what we got here boys! A perdy lady thet I bet she’s got somethin’ more than money fur us!” Toothlessly, he grinned from ear to ear as he started to reach out to grab a hold of Julianna. The outlaw gang cheered him on.

Just then Gabriel, another one of the Phantom outlaws who had also climbed off his horse, rushed forwards pushing his way in between Sam and Julianna. He slid one of his strong muscular arms around Julianna’s small waist before she had a chance to object; stopping Sam, the toothless short plump outlaw, from getting his grubby hands on her.

Sam declared to Gabriel, “Hey, I saw her first! As soon as I get done with 'er then you can have at 'er.”

With Gabriel’s strong muscular arm still around Julianna’s slender hourglass waist, he replied loud enough
for the whole outlaw gang to hear, and directed his deathly gaze right at Sam. “No, we are
not
going to harm this young lady. Men, we did not come here for her. We came after the gold an’ bank money in that there strongbox, up there on the stagecoach.” Gabriel pointed with his pistol to the strongbox as he was talking to the men.

This man that had stepped in just in time to save Julianna from Sam's stinky plump grasp and foul breath, was much taller than her five foot six inches. He had a ruggedly handsome chiseled tanned face with slate blue eyes that now looked deep down into hers, into her very soul it seemed! A breath-taking chill ran down Julianna's already tensed spine. The queer part of it was that she felt safe in his arms.

“Throw down that strongbox!” Clayton Garret, the Phantom gang's leader, yelled out as he stood in the back of the outlaws. With reluctance, the teamster driver of the stagecoach, Augustus Parker known as "Gus", quickly did as he was told. This wasn't the first hold up he'd been in, and he sure didn't want it to be his last. The strongbox hit the ground at the outlaw gang’s feet with a hard thud from its heavy weight, sending a cloud of dust flying up in the air.

Once the cloud of dust settled, one of the outlaws, young Chet Higgins, walked up and shot the lock off of the strongbox. He then squatted down and opened the sturdy trunk to make sure the money was there. With his eyes shining as bright as the gold double eagle coins in the stron
gbox Chet exclaimed, “Whew-e, we hit the jackpot this time boys!” Chet stood up and started dancing a jig with Sam.

Up on top of the stagecoach, Peter Roland
, who was riding shotgun for Gus, had already been shot in his upper left arm during the holdup; causing him to lose his grip and drop his shot gun off the side of the stagecoach. Now he pulled his Colt pistol out, aiming it at the outlaw gang, and managed to shoot Victor in the shoulder. Then he gut shot Sam, before Clayton and his younger brother, Ted Garret, filled Pete full of holes, knocking him backwards off the stagecoach. Pete was dead before he hit the rock hard ground.  

This action started a chain of reactions. Wes and Norman, passengers from inside the stagecoach that had been riding with Julianna and her nanny Rosa for the past couple days, pulled their pistols and were about to fire at the outlaw gang just as Gabriel, the outlaw that still held on to Julianna’s waist, swung her around to face those gentlemen. Gabriel used Julianna as a shield
. He put his pistol to the side of her head, threatening to shoot her if they did not put down their weapons. It was a dangerous bluff Gabriel was playing. One that could cost this woman her life.

They were at a Mexican standoff. No one wanted to die, yet no one wanted to give up without a fight. It was obvious to Wes and Norman that the outlaws had no plans of leaving without the strongbox of gold they came for. After a few seconds of sizing each other up, Wes and Norman finally agreed to drop their pistols, knowing they were far outnumbered
, and in hopes that the outlaws would let Julianna and them go unharmed.

Gabriel, who still held on to Julianna waist, started backing her up with his pistol still held to the side of her head. He told the rest of the outlaws, “Hurry up and get that gold from the strongbox loaded into our saddle bags.”

As some of the Phantom outlaw gang loaded their saddle bags with the gold coins and retied them onto the back of the saddles, Gabriel continued backing up with Julianna until they were next to his big bay stallion. Before Julianna knew what he was doing, Gabriel had lifted her up and set her up on his worn out Wade saddle. Then with a quick ease and no assistance from his stirrups, he swung himself up behind Julianna, putting his arm around her tiny waist. He lifted and pulled her back into his arms and lap as he settled himself down into the seat of the old saddle, for the long trip ahead of them.

With their pistols still aimed at Norman, Wes, and Gus
, the stagecoach driver; the outlaws helped Sam, who was badly injured, onto his horse. After they mounted their own horses, they backed the horses up slowly before turning and galloping away. 

As they watched these outlaws ride out of sight, it was obvious to Wes and Norman that Gabriel had no plans of letting Julianna go anytime soon. So they did not bother to hurry and retrieve their pistols from the dusty ground. To fire upon the gang now, they feared that the outlaws would either kill Julianna
, or the gang might come back and kill them. 

About twenty minutes after their getaway, Gabriel slowed down their fast pace a little to save his horse
, that was carrying both him and Julianna. Victor and Sam, who were both injured, were trailing behind the rest of the outlaw gang, but were still a little ways ahead of Gabriel and Julianna. As they slowed down, Julianna started playing back the whole day’s events in her mind . . .

*     *     *

   This beautiful chilly crisp spring morning had started out like most others . . . An occasional magpie or red tail hawk could be seen perched in the scrub oak trees along the rutted wagon wheel path known as the Cherokee Trail. Adult prairie dogs were sitting up on their haunches attentively watching out for their enemies, as they observed their young ones playing hide and seek in their playground of holes, and labyrinth maze of tunnels they had built under the prairie's surface.

The
bright
sun was steadily rising up behind the travelers as the stagecoach bounded westward towards the majestic lavender snow capped mountains. Pike’s Peak was the closest in the foreground,
with the Sangre de Cristo Mountains seen in the far distance.

Unlike all the crystal clear blue morning skies of the previous days during this weary long trip, today there were brilliant fiery red sun-rays shooting up across the skyline
, igniting the normally unseen deeper rich colors of the prairie. Such vibrant colors could only be seen on a morning like this when stormy weather was coming in.

 
Even though she was enjoying her newest adventure, Julianna was most eager to get to her final destination in the Denver area of the Colorado territory. Where her father, after moving to the Colorado territory two years ago
from their farm in the state of New York, had recently been elected territorial governor of Colorado earlier this year.

Julianna’s plans where to spend close to a year with her father at his horse ranch in Golden, Colorado just west of Denver, before going back east early next spring to finish her last year of schooling at the fancy finishing school in New York City. The school was around a hundred and thirty miles from the New York farm where she was born and raised.

Her mother died right after she had given birth to Julianna. Since Julianna did not have her mother around to learn from and teach her all the important things she needed to know while growing up, Julianna’s loving father had hired a nanny when she was just a baby. Later he made sure to send her to a fancy finishing school, to make sure she would learn all the ways a
proper young lady
is suppose to behave.

Julianna Whitaker had the deep emerald green eyes of her beloved father and the dark brunet hair of her deceased mother. Now going on 20 years of age, Julianna has turned into a confident high spirited woman. She had never backed down to a challenge or an adventure. Coming out West to be with her beloved father
, in a wildly dangerous territory filled with outlaws and Indians . . . well, she didn't even bat an eye at the thought that something terrible could happen to her.