Dorothy Garlock - [Wyoming Frontier] (42 page)

“See what you’re going to have to put up with, Sam? She’ll talk your arm off,” Charlie teased.

“Do ya reckon a gag would help?” Sam asked. His usually serious face was creased with smiles.

“Don’t know, but I’d be tempted to try it.”

“Oh, you! Just for that I’m going to the mercantile to buy some dress goods. Thanks to you, Sam, I can see all the things in the store.” She hugged his arm.

“Charlie, I’m thinkin’ I might a made a mistake gettin’ those glasses,” Sam said seriously as Charlie pulled the team to a stop alongside a building.

“And I’m thinking I ought to make her wait until she’s wed to you before I turn her loose in that store,” Charlie growled.

Emily laughed happily. Sam helped her down and went to fasten the team to the post with an iron ring. He took Emily’s hand and drew it into the crook of his arm. They waited for Charlie, and the three of them stepped up onto the boardwalk that fronted the Railroad Hotel. The walk was crowded with loafers and travelers who had come in on the train. They edged their way through the crowd and went on down the street past the barbershop. Emily walked with her head up, looking at everyone and everything. Sam held her proudly and securely to his side.

Zachary Quill came out of the Diamond Saloon and paused to light his cigar. The thump of Charlie’s peg leg on the boardwalk drew his attention. Then he saw Sam walking with a peg-legged man and a slim, blond woman.

“Sam,” he called and hurried after them.

After glancing over his shoulder, Sam pulled Emily to the side of the walk next to a building.

“Just a minute, honey. Here’s someone I want you and Charlie to meet.”

Charlie moved over beside Sam before he looked back to see the tall, distinguished looking man approaching them. It took less than a dozen heartbeats for Charlie to recognize him. By then the sharp blue eyes had honed in on his face and every nightmare Charlie had ever had came rushing back at him.

“My God! Charlie! Charlie McCourtney!” Zack smiled broadly, but Charlie didn’t. “Why, this is wonderful! Imagine seeing you way out here.” He shook Charlie’s hand and slapped him on the back.

Sam noticed immediately that Charlie’s face had gone chalk white and Emily’s a pale pink. Her fingers on his arm tightened as if she were about to fall off a cliff.

“Hello, Zack. It’s been a long time,” Charlie said.

“It sure has.” Zack turned to Sam. “I’ve known Charlie since he was knee-high. And is this Emily? Why, of course it is.”

“This is Emily, my intended,” Sam said. “If you know Charlie you must know his sister.”

“Little Emily McCourtney! You’re the one Sam wanted the glasses for? Well, can you beat that?”

Emily glanced at Sam’s expressionless face and held out her hand. “Zachary Quill. I’ve heard all about the Quills from Mama and Papa.”

“My parents and Uncle Rain and Aunt Amy thought the world of Eleanor and Gavin McCourtney. I sure was sorry to hear that they had passed on.”

“Mama just seemed to wither away after Papa died.”

“Charlie, you look more and more like your pa.” Zack stepped back to allow a woman with a small child to pass. “It’s almost dinner time. Come be my guests for dinner at the hotel. Meeting someone from home is almost as good as Christmas.”

“Sam and Emily were on their way to the mercantile, Zack,” Charlie said evenly. “But I’d like to buy you a drink and find out about the folks back at Quill’s Station.” Charlie’s eyes sent Sam’s a silent message.

“Sounds good to me. We can meet Sam and Emily in the lobby of the hotel. Is that all right with you, Sam?”

“Why sure. Emily and I will be back in about an hour.”

“Charlie—” Emily reached out and clasped her brother’s arm. An almost desperate look came over her face. Charlie patted her hand and smiled with his mouth around the pipe stem.

“Run along with Sam. I promise to tell you all the news I get out of Zack.” He turned abruptly and walked away, his peg making a hollow thumping sound on the boardwalk.

Emily stood for a moment looking after him. When she looked at Sam there were tears in her eyes.

“I never thought it’d be like this,” she murmured.

“Come on, honey. Let’s get off the street.”

“Charlie was going to tell you before the wedding.”

Sam took her arm and they walked around the corner, past the livery and on out past the wagon yard. They stopped beneath a shade tree. Tears were on Emily’s cheeks.

“What’s wrong, honey? I’ll fix it if I can.”

“You can’t fix this, Sam. They’ll take Charlie back and . . . and hang him for killing those men who—”

“Zack won’t turn him in.”

“There’s a reward. A big reward. If Zack doesn’t, someone else will. Charlie said it was just a matter of time. There are bounty hunters all over the country.”

“He was worried ’bout me?”

“At first.”

“I can’t blame him for that.”

“It hurt Charlie to have to deny Papa’s name. McCourtney is our name.”

“Does Pack know this?”

“He knows.”

“It must have been a load for Charlie, but he don’t have to go it alone now.”

“Sam, I’m so afraid. It was all because of me!”

*  *  *

The hour passed quickly. When Sam and Emily walked down the street toward the hotel, she kept her eyes down. Her bonnet hung from one arm while the other was held tightly against Sam’s side. Her face was sad, but her eyes were dry. The joy she had felt when they arrived in town had turned to a cold lump of dread that hung on her heart like a stone. Sam could think of no words to say to comfort her.

The hotel lobby was cool and quiet. The builder had taken pains to make it as elegant as possible with limited supplies and unskilled labor. The plank floor had a large square of carpet in the center and runners that led from the desk to the stairway. Deep leather couches forming an L were placed in the two corners. Charlie and Zack sat on the couch at the back of the lobby, deep in conversation.

Both men got to their feet as Sam and Emily approached.

Charlie was smiling, a genuine smile. He stumbled in his haste to get to his sister and put his arms around her.

“It’s all right, Sister!” Relief boiled out of Charlie; his voice vibrated with it. “Zack says there are no charges against me. No reward posted!”

“What?” Emily didn’t dare believe her own ears. “What?” she stammered again.

“No charges were filed!”

“Not two weeks after you left there was a secret meeting between the sheriff, the judge and an undisclosed number of men and their wives,” Zack explained. “It seems the three who attacked you had also attacked other women in town. It had become a game for the wealthy, idle scoundrels. They wore masks each time except the time they attacked you. They didn’t think you could see well enough to identify them.”

“But I can see up close. I knew who they were, and when Charlie came home he made me tell him.”

“There were never any charges filed against Charlie. Folks were rather grateful that he had saved the families the shame of a trial. They decided you had left because it was too painful for you to stay and face folks.” Zack turned and put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “I sent out a few feelers when I discovered you’d had your things shipped to Kansas City. If I had only known you thought you were a hunted man, Charlie, I would have scoured the country looking for you and Emily.”

“Oh, dear! I’m going to cry.”

“You’ll get spots on your glasses,” Sam teased.

“It’s such a relief. We don’t have to worry that every man that comes to the house is . . . looking for Charlie.”

“Emily, I’m going to work on the new penitentiary. Zack wants me to work with a Mr. Brown who is the Superintendent of Construction. Later he thinks there’ll be a permanent position for me. This is, if he can convince the governor.”

“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble convincing the governor, Charlie. You’re the most qualified man I know.”

Charlie was so excited he stuck his pipe in his mouth with the bowl upside down.

“Charlie, you’re spilling your tobacco!” Emily exclaimed happily. “Sam, Charlie has a degree in engineering. This is something he’s always wanted to do.”

“Looks like you and Emily can take over the Rivers’ place, if you want it, Sam.”

“If it’s what Emily wants, we’ll settle on a price.”

“If we don’t get in that dining room it’s going to fill up.” Zack placed a hand on Emily’s back and on Charlie’s shoulder and urged them toward the door. “When’s the wedding going to take place, Sam? By God, I’m going to be there.”

TWENTY

Mara moved the heavy spider skillet to cover the round hole after she lifted the lid from the top of the cookstove. The hot flames licked at the bottom of the skillet and soon the strips of meat were bubbling and shrinking.

“It’s going to be a nice day for the wedding.” Pack came into the kitchen. The screen door slammed behind him.

Mara remained facing the stove. “I’m glad. Will you fill the reservoir, Pack? It’s almost empty.” Moving the meat aside with a two-tined fork, she broke an egg in the pan.

“How come I’m getting eggs this morning, Mrs. Gallagher?”

“Because we have a surplus at the moment.”

Pack emptied the water bucket in the tank at the side of the stove and went out to the well. Mara dished up the meat and eggs. She was taking bread from the oven when Pack returned.

It was hard to act normal this morning. She took a deep breath, put the hot biscuits on the table, and filled the coffee cups, giving that chore her full attention. She could feel the tension in Pack. It had been growing steadily since she had discovered him in the barn pounding on that damn gunnysack. Then it accelerated after Sam came to tell them that he and Emily were being married in Laramie and invite them to come to the wedding.

Pack was the same gentle lover, but at times he held her so tightly she could scarcely breathe. Last night his loving had been intense and he became almost desperate in his attempt to hold back his release to make their joining last. Mara had searched her mind for a reason for his unease and came up with only one: He didn’t want her to go to town. But why? Her mind worked overtime for an answer. She was sure that Pack loved her, and so it couldn’t be because of the woman at the Diamond Saloon.

As Mara moved the caster set so that she could place the butter crock within his reach, she waited for her mind to empty and her nerves to calm. She had worked on being serene; it was what she relied on.

“I ironed your good shirt. You really need another one. While we’re in town today we should buy one.”

“They usually don’t have any big enough, honey.”

“If they don’t we’ll get some material and I’ll make you one.”

“Did Miss Fillamore teach you to sew too?”

“She couldn’t even thread a needle,” Mara scoffed. “She hired a woman to give sewing lessons. They cost extra, of course, but Cousin Aubrey came up with the money.”

“I told the boys to be ready in about an hour. They’ve never been to a wedding, and when Sam said they were welcome, you’d a thought he’d given them a silver dollar.”

“I should have cut their hair, but I couldn’t corral them long enough.”

Even normal conversation was somehow strained. Mara picked at her food and drank her coffee. When they had finished eating, she filled the dishpan with the dishes and poured water from the teakettle over them.

Pack was in the bedroom when she went upstairs to change her dress. He was standing beside the bureau with her ivory-handled brush in his hand. He placed it beside the matching mirror and grinned at her sheepishly.

“A Christmas present from Miss Fillamore, or rather, from the funds she kept to buy gifts for those who would otherwise not receive anything. Regardless, they’re my treasures.” She opened a small box and took out a brooch. “I got this when I graduated. Isn’t it beautiful? I don’t get to wear it very often.”

“Are you going to wear it today?”

“I’ll wear it to Emily’s wedding. I didn’t—” She paused and looked up at him.

“You didn’t get to wear it to yours,” he finished for her and drew her to him. “Honey, you got cheated. You should have had a pretty dress so you could have worn your treasure. Instead you wore that ugly old black thing and was married after a funeral by a preacher who was less than willing.”

“You don’t hear me complaining, do you?” She wound her arms about his neck and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

“Besides, it will be something to tell our children and our grandchildren. You were so mad at me you could have bitten a nail in two, and I wanted to kick you for being so bull-headed. But, darling, I wouldn’t change one thing!
You
are my treasure.”

The kiss they exchanged was long and sweet. She felt the trembling in him and wanted to reassure him. But reassure him about what?

*  *  *

Mara, on the wagon seat beside Pack, held her parasol over her head to keep the sun off her face.

“You look mighty pretty, Mrs. Gallagher.” Pack’s eyes swept admiringly over her from the perky straw hat trimmed in wide ribbon that matched her light blue dress to where soft kid shoes peeked from beneath the hem. The neckline of her dress was low, and nestled between her breasts was one of her treasures, the brooch.

“This is the first time you’ve seen me dressed up.”

“Keep the parasol up, honey. I don’t want you getting a sunburn.” His eyes lingered on the neckline of her dress and he made a growling sound deep in his throat.

“Behave yourself, sir, and pay attention to your driving. This is not the time for you to get amorous,” she said with mock hauteur.

Behind them the boys were scuffling.

“If you boys get your shirts dirty before we get to town I’ll box your ears,” Mara threatened.

“Ahh . . . you wouldn’t do that.” Travor gave his brother another push. “ ’Sides, you couldn’t catch us.”

“You’re right about that. But Pack could. He’ll hold you while I slap you good.”

The twins hooted with laughter. They were in good spirits. They had a little money in their pockets and they were headed for town.