“Taint, no point. They all say the same thing.”
“Honey, you know I love you, but Melinda is a nice girl. You’re going to have to let her down sooner or later. How much longer can you keep her at bay?”
In coming to Cassandra’s aid, she had met a young woman named Melinda Novak After the adventure was over she lost little time in seducing her but like she was prone to do, Catalina had quickly moved on to new conquests. Perhaps it was a flaw, but she found such excitement seducing other women when the whole world frowned on her proclivities, even trying to dismiss them as a form of madness when it was nothing of the sort.
Now, however, the problem was that Melinda was not ready to move on. She had been the girl's first woman, and Melinda had taken to the pleasures two women could share and had been an "apt pupil" which was a term Honor Elizabeth had once chided her with. The girl was desperate to see her again, but Catalina had no idea what she was going to do about this. She didn’t want to hurt Melinda, but it had been just sex with her.
Cassandra continued to look at her expectantly, and it was a look she was well familiar with. Her mind flashed back to when she had seen it regularly as a child. She'd never known her mother, and with Cassandra eight years or so older than her, in many ways there were times she had to act almost like a surrogate mother to her. That look she was giving her now was the one she used when she had been naughty, and Cassie had demanded she explain herself.
She wasn’t sure how she was going to respond to Cassandra, but it turned out it wasn’t necessary because both sisters were distracted by the sound of shouting down the street. Way down at the far end they saw two figures standing out in front of the funeral parlor. There was no mistaking the undertaker in his black garb, but they were too far away to make out the other man.
They had to pass by there on their way out of town, so the pair mounted up and trotted along side by side on Lily and Pretty Feet who they pulled to a stop in front of the undertakers. Both men stopped their arguing to look at the sisters. Victor Landon was the very picture of an undertaker, tall, gaunt and with a pencil thin mustache and was attired in his long frock coat.
The other man was a complete stranger to them. He was a husky sort with unruly black hair sticking out of some kind of cap that reminded Catalina of the one sea captains wore, but they were miles from the nearest ocean, the Gulf of California. The man’s neck was thick, and his hands were the size of small hams she thought as she finished her appraisal.
“There a problem here?”
Her earlier frustration over the Melinda situation evaporated for Catalina as she loved to watch Cassandra operate. There hadn’t been a sheriff in Alamieda in some time, so she frequently used her status as a special lawman granted to her by their uncle the territorial governor to take matters into her own hands if need be.
There was a visible flush in Landon’s cheeks as he stepped closer and rested his hand on Lily’s nose, stroking the Missouri Trotter as he spoke. “I should say there is. This gentleman rides in from Overland Central Railroad, dumps a cadaver down on my table and waltzes out of here without discussing any compensation.”
Cassandra leaned forward in her saddle, “Would that be a fair accounting of what lead to the shouting we could hear all the way down the street?”
The man looked at her and seemed to adopt a challenging tone when he spoke, "One could look at it like that but there ain't nothing I can do about it. Mister Rhodes didn't send me any money to cover planting that stranger in the ground." He finished as the two sisters noticed he sported an Irish accent.
“Who’s Rhodes?” Catalina blurted out, instantly sorry, knowing she should just let Cassandra do her thing. She looked at her sister apologetically, but Cassie gave her a look that told her to think nothing of it.
“That is a good question actually.” She said more to Catalina than to the others and raised her eyebrow at the man.
“Mister Rhodes missy! From Rhodes & Belafonte! They is the surveying company working for the Overland Central as we lay out the new track out yonder between Pixley and Crabwell Junction!”
Both sisters were aware of the project. Originally the spur line had been under the province of the Grand Western Railroad, but several setbacks that the Wildes had personally witnessed including the recent destruction of their trestle at Devil's Canyon had forced them to give up the spur line. It seemed their resources needed to be directed towards rebuilding the trestle, and this time it would be made entirely of wood supplied by their brother Blue River who personally ran the timber operation.
“Would you like to tell me more about this body in Mister Landon’s funeral parlor?”
“Don’t know why I got to be explaining to no woman. Back in Ireland we damn well wouldn't. I'll tell you that!"
"Look around Amigo, this here sure as sugar ain't Ireland.” Catalina laughed making the man scowl, but he had decided to continue anyway.
"Yesterday me and the other tarriers were doing some blasting. Mister Rhodes's survey found we could shave a mile off the route if we punched our way through the Barbary Hills. I was taking a break while the blasting continued. Crew chief gave up tobacco two months ago because of the coughs, so he won't let anyone smoke around him. Slipped up near one of the hills to enjoy my smoke and I just came over a hill when one of the blasts went off as this fellow was riding up. Spooked the hell out of his horse and got thrown a county mile by it. Thing bolted off into the woods, and I ran to see if I could help but he'd given up the ghost the minute his head hit the ground. Split his skull right open it did. Damn shame. Anyway, my supervisor from the railroad was called away a few days ago to the head office, so that left the surveyors as the ranking people at the project. So, Mister Rhodes told me to bring the body over here in the morning and that what I just gone and done!"
“And who did Mister Rhodes think was going to pay for my services?” Landon crossed his arms and tapped his foot in the dusty street, but the tarrier just shrugged.
"Can't answer that. Got no good answer. Not the railroad's problem that some stranger come by and got himself accidentally killed getting too close to the blasting area. Now I gotta be on my way."
“See here!” Landon shouted after him, but the man pushed his way past him and the Wildes and headed up the main street. Catalina gave Cassie a look as to whether they should go after him, but she shook her head no.
"You mind if I have a look at the body Victor? I'd like to check his pockets to see if there is some identification on him. Somebody in this world is going to be missing him, and they need to know what's happened to him."
"And who to pay for the expenses!" Catalina added brightly knowing that would grease their way into the funeral parlor. Sure enough a few minutes later they saw on a table in the back room behind the viewing area, the body of a well-dressed man laying with his arms at his sides. He looked like he could be sleeping except one side of his head was stove in making it a bloody mess.
"That would have to be quite the fall from his horse to do that kind of damage." Cassandra was saying with her hands firmly planted on her hips. Catalina had her nose and mouth covered not caring for the smell of death, but suddenly she dropped her hand.
“Wait a minute now! I know who this is! I mean I don’t know who he is, but I saw him yesterday when I was in town visitin’ Naomi Dorrett. She wanted me to see her and her sister’s new sign. They just changed the name of their business to Dorrett’s Décor and More!”
A raise of Cassandra’s eyebrow told her she was expecting to hear more about the man and less about one of her lover’s expansion of her imported furniture business.
“Sorry, I saw him goin’ into Newell’s Livery, probably hirin’ out a mount so he could ride out to, to well, where he died.”
After giving some money to Landon to see that he properly prepared the body for burial, the pair had hastened over to the livery to see if they could learn the identity of the stranger. Upon arriving, they found the business to be closed.
Electing to pass on trying to find Ted Newell amongst all the people at the morning show at the rodeo they went to the Alamieda Inn but had no luck there either. The hotel was filled with people from places all over like Godspell, Halfmoon and Carlyle Springs. The clerk had rightly said that everyone was a stranger.
“Let’s ride out and see Mister Rhodes. Maybe he can shed some more light on this than that Irish blusterer.” Cassandra said surprising her as they rode away from the hotel.
"You sure we should do that? I know you're like a dog with a bone when somethin' gets your interest Cassie, but Lijuan needs our help remember?"
“Not to worry little sister. That’s this afternoon. We’ve got plenty of time to trot on over to the railroad project.
Deferring to her older sister, she coaxed Pretty Feet into the same trot that Cassandra had just put Lily into. As they rode past the newly rechristened Rock River Bank, now the Detweiller Savings and Loan her eyes caught sight of the back of a woman. She was standing there seemingly giving orders to a painter who was adding the DETWEILLER name to the glass window in the front in the same font as the sign hanging above the bank.
Catalina's eyes lingered on the back of the woman. She had a long shock of dark red hair neatly braided in a column running down her back ending just above a very shapely behind. Who was this she wondered? Even without seeing her face she knew she had never seen her before. She appeared to be perhaps connected to the bank.
The road took them out of the town, and she put her curiosity about the woman out of her mind, never knowing what a considerable shadow this woman would cast over her in a hazy future.
CHAPTER 2
Before arriving at the Barbary Hills, they had heard the muffled blasts of the tarrier crews working to cut their shortcut through the stubby hills. At a good cantor, they soon passed all the men working to clear away the rubble following the dynamiting and headed towards the railroad encampment. They made their way through the maze of tents and shacks housing all those laboring on the project. They were accustomed to the stares of the brawny men that were about and continued along following a pair of spur lines the curved into the mouth of a small canyon. As soon as they rode into it, the sisters immediately encountered a fine-looking pair of railroad cars that sat on the twin lines that shunted off the main track being laid down. They were just long enough to accommodate the railroad cars and afforded the cars privacy away from the hustle and bustle of the railroad camp.
Cassandra said she had been out here once before and knew that one of the cars was where the railroad officials were staying, and her guess was that the other one was for this Mister Rhodes whose name was part of the surveying company. This instantly pegged him as a very important man, worthy of a railroad car instead of sleeping in ramshackle tents like the tarriers laboring away on the cut.
As they rode up alongside one of the cars, Catalina was surprised to see a woman in a fancy dress carrying a bucket of water towards the railroad car. Her hair was elegantly pinned up, and she wore a hat with a feather in it. The dress, however, did not hide her pleasing curves from Catalina's approving eye. She turned to the pair of riders with surprise on her face that quickly turned into a smile. To Catalina, it looked like the woman's brown eyes that matched her hair seemed to dance.
“May I help you ladies this fine day?” she called out as the pair dismounted.
Catalina was surprised by the woman’s accent, she believed it was from somewhere in the northeast, but she hadn’t met enough people from that area of the country to be certain.
"Yes, please I'm Cassandra Wilde, and this is my sister Catalina. We're looking to speak with Mister Rhodes concerning a body that was brought into Alamieda by one of the tarriers."
“Yes, that was a tragic thing now wasn’t it? I trust Mister Doyle got him squared away.” She said idly swinging the bucket in her hand.
“Well, for the time being. Is Mister Rhodes available?”
"Oh, yes forgive me for delaying you and for my lack of manners. I am Phoebe Belafonte, and I shall take you to him."
Catalina stepped closer, "Belafonte as in Rhodes & Belafonte? You all are a partner?" She motioned them to follow her, and they headed towards the metal staircase jutting out of the back of the railroad car. She stopped just short of climbing up onto the first step and turned to them. The Wildes watched as she pulled a locket around her neck forward and opened it.
“That would be my husband! Rhodes & Belafonte are one of the biggest surveying outfits in America. We’ve done a lot of work for the railroads pushing west. It’s certainly not going to be partially run by me…a mere woman after all.”
Catalina watched as the color grew in the cheeks of her ordinarily unflappable older sister. The Wildes were living proof that women were just as capable of doing anything that a man could, and Belafonte's medieval view of her fellow women's capabilities flew in the face of everything the sisters believed in. However, the professional that she was, Cassandra merely smiled and looked at the pictures on each side of the gilded locket as Catalina did as well.
Cassandra back in form, let her face betray none of the surprise that Catalina's felt as her mouth dropped slightly open. One half of the locket featured the youthful Phoebe Belafonte, and the other was the picture of an old man who had to be pushing eighty.
"Very charming," Cassandra said as Phoebe thanked her and finished climbing up on the observation deck gracing the rear of the private car.
“I’ve recently arrived from New York to learn firsthand how the project is going so I can report back to him. I'm afraid he's been so ill lately that he couldn't make the trip himself." She explained just before she opened the door and the trio stepped across the threshold as a whistle passed through Catalina's lips as she took in the sight. It was the first time she'd ever been in a private car, and it was impressive.
Ornate cherry wood paneling adorned the walls that smelled of fresh polish. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling suspended by a brass chain. There was a plush sofa and a pair of easy chairs. More than that there was a dining table for two along the wall and opposite that a door leading to what had to be a stateroom for sleeping. At the far end of the car was a door that she suspected led to some type of small kitchen.
The final piece of furniture that drew her attention was sitting next to an oversized potbellied stove obviously used for heating the car in colder months. Her eyes fell on a Victorian leather top writing desk made of dark mahogany that seemed to gleam under the sunlight streaming in from the windows of the coach. At that desk was a figure that turned in the chair positioned in front of it and smiled at them. Catalina mashed her lips together to prevent herself from whistling in appreciation at him too. While it was true her preference nine times out of ten would be a woman…sometimes that number ten man would be one like this handsome gentleman.
The figure lithely rose out of the chair to cross over to them. His was a robust form of near five foot eleven if she had to guess. Two perfectly symmetrical pale blue eyes gazed out from his bronzed face which had an amiability stamped on it. The man's toffee-colored hair was trimmed as was his mustache.
“Prescott Rhodes, these are the Wilde sisters. It seems they are here about that poor unfortunate fellow that died out near the Barbary Cut.”
The man lost little time in bowing before each woman and kissing their hands. The subtle shift of Cassandra’s eyes to her told her she was thinking the same thing. This was indeed a most desirable man.
“I shall certainly be glad to help you in any way that I can ladies but please do not take this the wrong way but what is your involvement in this matter?”
Cassandra caught them by surprise when sh
e slipped out a shiny tin badge that she kept in the pocket of her jeans.
“A woman sheriff!?! Most remarkable!” Phoebe exclaimed as Catalina stuck her tongue into the corner of her mouth to prevent her from saying out loud to you it would be with your old-fashioned notions about women! Cassandra corrected her by saying that she was more like a special deputy for the governor which was met with even more wide-eyed astonishment from the pair. She relayed how they had been drawn into it by the argument outside the funeral parlor, and now her interest was in making sure the man's next of kin were notified and to do that she had to identify him.
At her request, Rhodes went over the events from his perspective given to them by the man they now knew as Doyle, and it was the same accounting. He admitted to being embarrassed at not thinking to send along some monies for the local undertaker. All the while he was speaking he was busying himself dropping some manner of food into a large fish tank that rested on a stand. The brightly colored fish that swam about in it was just one more lavish touch in the elegantly appointed rail car.
Cassandra thanked him and asked if he would kindly give her directions to where the accident took place. The handsome president of the surveying firm was more than happy to accommodate her request and returned to the mahogany desk to jot down a rough sketch of where it happened. As they waited, Catalina felt a breeze blowing down on her. Her eyes looked up at a glass hatch in the ceiling that she guessed had a dual purpose of letting the sunshine in as well as a breeze as she was feeling now. It was partially open a crack, and the gentle wind swirling down into the canyon was making its way into the car. Just another perk of the finally outfitted car she mused.
Renegades And Revenge: Daughters 0f HBH (Half Breed Haven Book 8) Page 2