Mountain Jewel

by Tracey Lyons

  “Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning who you really were?”

  “It would have put you and your family in grave jeopardy.”

  “You don’t consider having our barn torched by some madman putting us in jeopardy?” Her voice rose.

  “I miscalculated my opponent.” Something that never happened before.

  “Is that how you’re going to set about explaining yourself, Chase?”

  “Hannah, I know that I owe you a lot of explanations, but right now it’s important that I look at all the evidence while it’s still fresh.”

  “All right, if that’s the way you want it.”

  He looked at her, wondering what was going on inside her mind to let him off so easy. “It’s the way it has to be—for now.”

  He left her sitting on the bed looking like she’d just lost her best friend. He wandered out onto the porch to get a look at the destruction in the morning light. The screen door swished open and he turned to find Clara Jackson standing with one hand against the doorframe and the other resting on her hip.

  “What a mess.”

  Chase followed her gaze and stared at the smoldering remains of the barn. He said nothing.

  Mrs. Jackson let go of the screen door and walked to the top porch step. “Thank God, no one was seriously hurt,” she said in quiet tones, the sound of her voice filling the stale, smoky air.

  She leaned against one of the posts that supported the overhang. “We can rebuild it, hopefully before it gets to snowing. As soon as Matthew’s up and about we can get started. Tragedies such as this always bring out the best in our neighbors. By now I’m sure the news of our loss has traveled.”

  As if on cue, two wagons came lumbering up the drive. “Look, here comes Joe McCleary.” Shielding her eyes with her hand, she peered out. “It looks like Sheriff Curtis is following him in.”

  “I’ll go talk to Joe and the sheriff.” He started down the porch steps.

  She sighed. “I’d best be getting on in the kitchen to make up a big pot of coffee. Looks like it’s going to be a long morning.”

  He had to agree. The sheriff had already left his buckboard and walked over to meet him at the bottom of the wooden steps. He looked mean and mad.

  “Mind telling me what happened here, Malone?” The sheriff turned to stare at the barn.

  “I’m not sure. By the time I followed Hannah back here last night, the whole barn was engulfed in flames.”

  Without taking his eyes from the barn, the sheriff asked, “Anybody get hurt?”

  “Matthew swallowed some smoke. He should be up and around in a couple of days.”

  “So you got back last night?”

  “No. I’ve been back for three days.” Chase sucked in his breath.

  Curtis turned and looked Chase level in the eye. “You didn’t see the need to check in with me?”

  “You know something, lawman? I’m getting real tired of you second-guessing my moves.”

  “Is that so? Well, let me tell you a thing or two, city boy. This is still my town, and you and that government boss of yours don’t run it.” He stabbed a finger in Chase’s chest. “You understand that?”

  Chase ground his back teeth together, keeping tight control of his anger. “I had other orders, to proceed out to the mine to continue the investigation there.”

  The screen door tapped shut. Chase turned to look over his shoulder and found Hannah standing in front of the door. She was wearing a fresh pair of denim pants and a red checkered shirt. Her hair was pulled back, tied off in a bright red ribbon. Her face was still rosy from being scrubbed.

  “It’s nice of you to stop by, Sheriff Curtis. And you too, Joe.” Hannah cast a shaky smile at the two men.

  “I smelled the smoke in the air this morning when I got up.” Joe looked down at his feet. “I only wish I wasn’t such a heavy sleeper. I might have been able to help out last night.”

  “Joe. Please, don’t worry about it.”

  Chase watched Hannah closely as she brushed a tear from her eye.

  She took a moment to compose herself before she continued, “You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

  “Joe rode into town to get me as soon as he realized.” The sheriff’s gaze cut from Chase to Hannah. “The missus and Julia will be out later this morning.”

  “I suppose we might as well get started with the cleanup.” She came down the steps to stand next to Chase.

  The sheriff laid a gloved hand on Hannah’s upper arm. “I’d like to have a look around before you do anything. Why don’t you go in and see if your grandmother has any coffee ready? I sure could use a cup.”

  She looked at Chase. He knew that she wanted to be a part of the investigation, but he needed to settle some things with Curtis. He nodded in agreement with the sheriff’s suggestion. Her gaze didn’t leave Chase’s. “All right. If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what I want.” The sheriff’s tone was stern. “Joe, you go on in and help Hannah get the coffee. Chase and I will go take a look around.”

  Matching his stride with the sheriff’s, Chase walked alongside him to the barn.

  “Got any ideas about this fire, Malone?” Smoke wafted in front of them. The sheriff waved his hand in front of his face.

  “Matthew mentioned that he went to the barn to find Hannah. He thought he saw her go in before the fire started.” He carefully skirted around a piece of charred beam.

  “Was she in the barn before the fire?”

  “No. Hannah said the barn was already burning when she arrived.”

  “Well, perhaps Matthew imagined he saw her. Maybe he saw a shadow of a branch blowing in the wind.” The sheriff stopped to poke his toe around in the dirt.

  “No, I don’t think a branch is what he saw. Matthew was sure he heard a horse enter the yard. That was why he came out to see what was taking Hannah so long.”

  “Got any ideas?”

  Chase thought it could’ve been Amos. It fit. The whole time he and Hannah had been sneaking around the cabin last night there was no sign of Amos. He’d ridden out earlier, with the rest of his crew.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Chase replied, “Maybe.”

  “Mind sharing them with me?”

  “It could’ve been Amos’s doing. He was pretty mad at Hannah for running him off their property.”

  “You think he’d be mean enough to burn down a barn?”

  “He was mean enough to knock Hannah out that day.”

  “Now, we’ve never been able to prove that.”

  The two men walked around the perimeter of the fire. They checked the ground for any tracks that might have been left behind by the horses.

  “I don’t know, lawman. It’s hard to tell if there are any extra sets of prints. I know my horse ran off last night.”

  The sheriff pushed his hat back and wiped a thin sheen of perspiration from his brow. “You know something, city boy? This whole time we’ve been looking around, I’ve been thinking there’s something you’re not telling me. Why don’t you fill me in on some of those details concerning last night, the ones you’ve conveniently forgotten to tell me about?”

  Chase knelt down and poked a twig around the rubble, buying some time. He felt the pressure of the sheriff’s hand squeezing his shoulder. It appeared his time was up. He stood and faced the ruddy-complexioned man.

  “She saw me in Amos’s cabin. I’d found the box. I opened it up and found the sticks of dynamite that had been emptied of their powder and filled with garnets. That’s how he’s been moving the stones. Radley found the same thing in New York City.”

  Chase took a deep breath. Boy he sure could use a smoke. “I had just poured the stones out into my hand to get a look at them when Hannah recognized me. I let her go. Then I got on my horse and came here. By the time I got to the clearing,” he nodded in the direction of the glade he’d ridden through the night before, “the whole sky was lit up. I found Hannah helping her grandfather out of the barn.”
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  “She knows who you work for?” The sheriff raised his eyebrows.

  “I told her.”

  “How’s she taking it?”

  “We have a lot to settle.” Chase wanted to close this case as soon as possible. “I think it’s time we paid Amos a visit.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “I want to see Hannah first.”

  “You talk to her and I’ll see to it that we have enough men to stay here and watch over things.”

  Hannah was on the porch waiting for him. When she saw him coming, she rushed down the steps to meet him. Before she could say a word, he drew her close to him.

  “The sheriff and I are going out to the camp.”

  “Do you think you’ll be safe?”

  “I’ll be safe. I just want to talk to Amos.”

  She hugged him close. “Take care.”

  “Hannah, I’ll be back and then we can talk.”

  As painful as it was for him, he let her go.

  By the time the two men rode into the mining camp, the sun had risen in the sky. They went right up to the front door of Amos’s cabin and dismounted. When Chase attempted to go up to the door first, the sheriff nudged him out of the way.

  Chase stepped aside. “Didn’t know you were that anxious to talk to Smitty, lawman,” he drawled, amused by the sheriff’s need to take charge.

  Curtis looked down his nose at Chase. “This is still my jurisdiction, city boy.”

  He shrugged his shoulders and waited near the single plank step that served as the front stoop. He looked around the camp. It was quiet. Too quiet.

  “Sheriff. I don’t think there’s anybody home.” Then he spotted the small contingent of men coming toward them. Chase stepped aside, tapped Curtis on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the open pit. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a welcoming committee.”

  Hank led five men as they made their way toward the cabin. He carried a broken tree limb that could serve quite nicely as a club, thumping it against the open palm of his left hand.

  “You looking for somebody?” Hank asked as he spit a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground at Chase’s feet.

  “Sheriff, why don’t you answer him?” Chase didn’t take his eyes from the group. The men moved from behind Hank to stand alongside him. From the look in their eyes, none of them were prepared to fight with him or the sheriff. Maybe they’d come along with Hank because they’d been ordered to.

  “We need to see your foreman. Is he around?” The sheriff eyed the crowd warily.

  Hank looked from side to side at his cohorts. “Nope. We ain’t seen him all day.”

  “Is that so?” The sheriff’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Well, I ain’t seen him since late last night, after we got back from town,” one of the men said.

  “Shut up, Toby!” Hank turned a menacing sneer toward the redheaded lad.

  The sheriff looked at Chase and then nodded his head in the direction of the front door. “What do you say we take a look?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  The crowd of men gathered behind them at the door, but none of them crossed the threshold, not even Hank. Chase entered the dank room on the sheriff’s heels.

  “I found the box hidden in the floorboards under the bed.” He indicated the second room of the cabin.

  In the light of day the place appeared just as shabby as Chase had imagined. There were no curtains on the windows, just thin tattered pieces of cloth tacked up to keep out some of the light, but providing little, if any, privacy. In the front room there was a table with two rickety chairs at either end, a wood stove with a small cooking area on the top and a worn rag rug thrown carelessly onto the middle of the floor.

  The bedroom had been ransacked. Clothing and bedding lay strewn all over the room and the bed was overturned in a heap on the floor.

  Turning, the sheriff looked at him. “You do this?”

  “No. I didn’t touch a thing except for the bed and the box.” Chase was surprised at the mess.

  The sheriff knelt down at the place where the box had been hidden and removed the plank flooring. He peered inside the hole. “It’s empty.” He stood and brushed the dust from his trousers. Curtis looked at him. “Maybe he’s on to you, Malone.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hannah covered the remaining loaf of bread with a soft cotton towel and left it on the end of the table. She’d carry the basket into the kitchen after she was certain everyone had eaten.

  It was two o’clock in the afternoon and most of the men were finishing up with their midday break. Several more of their neighbors had arrived shortly after Chase and Sheriff Curtis left, and it had been a busy morning.

  Every time more men arrived they brought food, thoughtfully prepared by their wives. By noontime she and her grandmother had been forced to set up a makeshift table on the front porch just to hold all the donations.

  Turning, she managed a smile for Julia, who’d come to stand beside her in the sunshine. Julia and her mother had arrived shortly after the men, their buckboard loaded with shovels, rakes and extra pairs of leather work gloves.

  Julia placed her arm around Hannah’s waist. “How are you holding up?”

  Brushing a stray tendril of hair from her eye, Hannah tried her best to force some cheerfulness into her voice. “I’m all right.”

  “You must have been scared to death last night when you saw the barn burning. It’s a good thing Chase was here to help you.”

  Hannah’s smile dipped. “There wasn’t much left of the barn when he arrived. And if Chase hadn’t arrived when he did…” Overcome with emotion, she swallowed back the tears that threatened. “Oh, Julia, there’s no telling what could have happened.”

  “It’s a wonder you’ve been holding up at all.”

  “Preparing the food for all of our neighbors has helped.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it has, but right now we’re going to sit and take a rest.” Julia took hold of her elbow, guiding her to the rocker.

  Hannah allowed herself to be led to the chair and coaxed into sitting down. She’d been on her feet since dawn. Keeping busy had been her only saving grace. She was so afraid that if she sat still for long enough, all the horror of last night would return. She had to be strong for her grandparents and their friends, but mostly she wanted to remain strong for Chase.

  She wanted to cry, and yet she wouldn’t give into the weakness—not when there was still so much to be settled. “Tell me about last night.” In long soothing motions, Julia ran her hand down Hannah’s hair.

  Slowly Hannah raised trembling hands to her face and massaged the ache at her temples. “I hardly know where to begin.”

  “There’s no rush. We could sit here all day if it makes you feel better.”

  She looked at her friend. Dear, sweet Julia, always there for her whenever she needed someone. Hannah managed a smile. “It won’t take all day to tell you what happened last night.” She took a shaky breath, and decided to leave out the part about going out to the camp. “Somehow the barn caught fire and my grandfather ran inside because he thought I was in there.”

  She paused as the memory of last night’s horror returned. She’d felt so betrayed by Chase. Then to return home to find the barn ablaze and her grandmother shouting at her to get her grandfather out of the barn—for several terrifying minutes she’d thought she’d lost everything in her life that held any meaning. Julia squeezed her hand. “It’s all right, Hannah. You don’t have to continue if it’s too difficult.”

  “I need to say this. As I was bringing my grandfather out of the barn, Chase was there to meet us. If not for him, we wouldn’t have made it out of there.”

  She turned her gaze to the burned rubble, thankful that he’d arrived when he did. “I found out some things about Chase last night.”

  “Good or bad?”

  What an odd question for Julia to ask. She hadn’t thought of Chase’s confession in terms of good or bad. She’d been shocked by t
he things he’d told her—she was still in shock. “I suppose in the long run what I know about him will be good.”

  “What? Tell me what you know.” Julia’s pale eyebrows shot up and Hannah knew from the gleam in those green eyes that she was eager to hear more.

  “He works for the United States Customs Service. Chase has been tracking Amos Smithson and Harold Tyler for several years. His employment with Tyler Mining was a ruse.”

  “I see. Tell me the rest.” Julia literally sat on the edge of her seat.

  “They’re smuggling the garnets out of the mine. Passing them off as rubies.” Hannah went on to explain the rest of what she knew, ending with, “Last night Chase told me that he loved me. In the middle of the fire and finding out what he does for a living, he told me that he loves me.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  “Yes. I believe every word he said.” Tears came to her eyes then as the full realization of his love hit her. He did love her, but why couldn’t he have told her the truth? Why did she have to find out in a moment of crisis? He could have told her before he went to New York City.

  Julia was watching her intently, a slight smile curving her full lips. “Oh, Hannah, I knew Chase Malone was in love with you,” she said in hushed tones.

  “The rest of what I’ve told you doesn’t bother you?”

  “I’d much rather that he worked for the government than Tyler Mining. At least we now know he’s on your side.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Hannah knew that he didn’t feel the same way she did about the mining. Even if he worked for the Customs Department, that didn’t change his convictions. In keeping up the ruse, he couldn’t have been deceptive about his beliefs, too, could he?

  He’d told her several times that he believed in the expansion of the mine, and that it would bring much-needed prosperity to North Creek. Hannah knew that he hadn’t been lying to her when he’d said those words.

  The screen door squeaked behind them as Gram and Mrs. Curtis stepped onto the porch. As the sound of riders coming in reached them, the women turned to look down the drive.