Robert started to paint a picture of Elsa's life to himself, and it would be proven true or false after he spoke with people that knew her. After she was forced to quit doing something she clearly loved, the display in the living room spoke volumes about how she settled here, alone, on a big horse ranch.
As of late, she was somewhat limited because of her illness. Robert found all kinds of remedies, so she sold most of her horses. Probably keeping only the ones she loved fiercely and couldn’t bear to depart with. There was even a raw draft of the last will and testament on the table. She knew she was dying, he realized with a frown. She was even using the downstairs bedroom, clearly too weak to climb up and down the stairs daily. Then who would want to kill her in the first place? Robert couldn't help but wonder. Someone who didn't want to wait for her to go on her own, or peacefully for that matter.
Overall, it stood as a testament of her character and strong will she endured everything and lived despite being in pain, which only made Robert repeat his previous question. If she was already dying, who became impatient and needed her dead now? As far as he knew, she had no kin, so inheritance was out of the question as a motive. Based on the will, Elsa Potter was leaving everything to the church. Was that a motive he needed to suspect Father Mathew? No, he dismissed that immediately.
Over time, Robert became pretty good at reading people. It was all in the eyes. The priest didn't have it in him to do such a thing, Robert was sure of that. This was personal, Robert continued to muse. Now more than ever, Robert wanted to discover what actually happened to her.
Returning everything as he found it so he could revisit if needed, Robert left the house, closing all the windows and doors anew. He was prepared to leave when something occurred to him while looking at Duke. This was a horse ranch and Elsa ran it all alone. Who will take care of them now? he wondered.
According to that will, they belonged to the church now. That cannot happen overnight, and certainly not while he was conducting an investigation. Going to the stables, Robert was surprised to see that the stalls were all cleaned up, and all the horses had clean water at their disposal and enough hay to last them for the entire day. They were completely taken care of. Robert frowned, scratching the back of his head.
Apparently, someone visited the ranch and made sure the animals were cared for. Despite that being an act of kindness, he did not like it one bit for obvious reasons. He didn't want anyone lurking about while he investigated a murder. On the other hand, he couldn't see a murderer coming back simply to feed the horses. That would be one peculiar individual. So, this had to be done by someone else. Someone who knew what happened and was close to Elsa.
Like a friend, neighbor, or both. The Laurels' farm was close by, so it was probably the daughter who played good Samaritan if the mother was as sick as Father Mathew suggested. Did Geraldine Laurel have a heart of gold, or was she simply snooping about and needed an excuse? He would discover soon enough.
Robert found it interesting that both Stephanie Laurel and Elsa Potter were sick. Did they suffer from the same illness? He was going to find out. For a brief moment, he debated if he should visit the Laurels, and ruled against it. He promised the priest they would go together out of respect, and he would definitely use that opportunity to confirm his theory about both mother and daughter.
Checking the time, he hoped the good Dr. Carmichael had arrived at Oatman, so Robert jumped up on Duke and rode back into town.
* * *
Geraldine woke up feeling more tired than ever. Her eyes would fill with tears anytime she thought of Elsa, which was all the time, so she tried to keep herself busy. She didn't have to try hard since she truly was busy with her never-ending list of chores. Her mother, understandably, refused to leave the bed that morning.
“Good morning, Mother.” She tried to appear cheerful, yet her mother remained quiet for the longest of times, and no matter what Geraldine did or said, it did not work. Please, Mother, I need you, Geraldine thought in her rare moments of weakness.
“Just let me be, Geraldine,” her mother pleaded, clearly losing her patience with Geraldine, so after she made sure her mother ate something and drank her medicine, Geraldine let her be. She needed to grieve her friend. Geraldine needed that as well; still, they were two very different individuals that reacted to life differently and, by the same logic, grieved in a different way.
Geraldine liked to keep herself busy, her mind occupied so she wouldn't dwell on the things she could not change when she was having the hardest of times. That helped her process everything and move on. So after she finished her work around the farm, she packed a fresh load of products to sell at the market and was prepared to leave when something alarming occurred to her.
Elsa's horses, she panicked. They were completely alone and would certainly starve to death if left unattended. Not being able to bear such fate for those beautiful animals, Geraldine made a quick stop at Elsa's ranch to feed them and make sure they had plenty of food and water to last them throughout the day. On second thought, she cleaned all the stalls as well since it looked like that particular chore hadn't be done in a while. She did not know what would happen to the ranch in the future. Geraldine would do her best to keep the horses healthy and happy in the meantime.
In the long run, she would have to find a more suitable solution; for now, this would do. Maybe it would be for the best to simply let them roam free across the mountains, only that was not her decision to make. The ranch would certainly get sold since Elsa did not have heirs. Do not think about that, Geraldine warned herself while petting Seabiscuit. It felt unimaginable to Geraldine that someone else could be living here. Not wanting to start crying again, she quickly finished up, making sure she gave a little treat to all the horses.
Satisfied with her work and saddened she couldn't release them even for a little while to stretch their legs in an enclosed field Elsa made for that very purpose, Geraldine got back on her cart and urged Whitey away from the Black Tail Ranch, feeling almost physical pain while doing it, as if she was visiting it for the very last time.
Don't be daft, Geraldine, she snapped at herself.
Checking the time, she pushed Whitey to move a bit faster toward Oatman. She was already late, and she had some eggs to sell within a very short period of time.
Chapter Ten
It was fascinating for Robert to see Oatman in its busiest time of the day. There was a small market assembled in the center of the square, vendors selling all kinds of goods and by instinct and curiosity, Robert started walking toward it after he secured Duke in the corral.
He realized with a frown that he was starting to get hungry again and hoped he could have a quick bite to eat before finding Dr. Carmichael. He wouldn't mind waiting for me a few minutes, Robert rationalized. If he arrived at all. There was a very distinct smell of freshly-baked bread in the air and naturally, Robert started orienting towards it. His mouth practically watered as he tried to match the taste with that smell. Oh yes, delicious.
Suddenly, a girl carrying a basket crossed his path and managed to trip.
“Oh, no,” she exclaimed as the basket smacked right into him.
“Ooof,” Robert wanted to grab the basket, but she surprised him and some of her skirts got tangled between his legs, and he managed to miss his step. Oh no!
He started to fall backward pulling the basket and the girl with himself since she didn't let it go either. They tumbled down with Robert at the bottom and a full basket of eggs between them. To make things even worse, since the fortune wanted it, every single one of those darn eggs broke. Most of them landed on his face and shirt. There was a substantial amount of it in his hair, as well, he could feel it dripping down on the dirt underneath him.
Perfect. I guess I won’t be needing that meal, after all, he thought without actual humor.
“No!” the girl exclaimed, looking at him in horror. She had the most beautiful pair of green eyes Robert saw in his life. They hit him really hard as s
he looked at him like she could see directly into his heart that started to beat just a little bit faster. Clearly from the fall. “Oh, no, no, no.”
As they were falling, her clasp must have broken because her unruly dark blonde hair spread all over them, framing her face perfectly. She is quite lovely. What he started to feel next was completely wild and out of his control. He did not like to see her distressed and would do anything to remedy whatever was bothering her. The urge inside of him to protect her was so strong, he barely stopped himself from hugging her, simply to make sure she was alright.
The smell of raw eggs, however, helped him return to reality. Keep it together, Robert, he snapped at himself. You are not some boy that is still wet behind his ears. She was beautiful, only Robert wasn't usually affected by such things. Usually, was the operative word here. Or try, never. He banished those thoughts.
“It's all right, Miss,” Robert tried to comfort her. “I did not hurt myself,” His backside would say otherwise. “And everything on me is washable. So, no harm done.” He even smiled, showing how genuine his words were.
Suddenly those beautiful emerald eyes were trained back on him, and she looked at him incredulously. “No harm done?” She repeated his words as if she could not believe he said something like that to her, as if it was the most disgusting of insults. “That was my day's earnings,” she snapped in a manner of explanation.
Well, damn. He didn't think about that at all; he was too busy admiring her beauty like some adolescent. Stupid. Robert was about to offer this strange young woman to buy everything she just lost when something occurred to him. “You should have been more careful then,” his tone was unintentionally harsher than he intended. It was an occupational hazard that he couldn't shake when he wasn't on the job, in all honesty, he was always on the job.
Her facial expression changed once again; he managed to annoy her which wasn't Robert’s intention. He simply meant she should have been more careful so as not to get hurt, unfortunately, she took it as if he was trying to scold her.
Perfect. “I was minding my own business when you got in my way,” she replied all haughty, raising her chin ever so slightly.
“It was the other way around.”
“Excuse me?”
“Were you minding your own business before or after you tripped and attacked me?” Robert said in one breath.
“I did not attack you,” her voice raised by an octave and Robert barely controlled himself not to laugh. I think I rather like her spirit. He wanted to tease her some more.
He cleared his throat. “I think my face speaks volumes about that.” He was certain he won their little banter when she surprised him once again.
“Didn't you say it was washable?” She countered, without a thought. She got him there. “Besides,” she continued conversationally. “I heard an egg works wonders on the skin, rejuvenating it instantly.”
Was she teasing him back? The skin around her lips was trembling as if she was working really hard not to laugh in his face. She is teasing me. Robert was dumbfounded. The nerves of this girl! He rather enjoyed it and could definitely continue to play that game.
“Really?” Robert said in an exaggerated manner.
“Oh, yes.”
“Splendid,” he said with a smile and taking some of the goo from his shirt, he splashed it across her hair and face.
She squeaked in surprise and just a bit of outrage, just the way he wanted her to. “I cannot believe you just did that,” she snapped, looking like a riled-up kitten, adorable.
Robert could not believe he did that as well. “Why not?” He countered, unrepentantly. “It's good for you, besides you started it first.”
Only then did he realize that she was still, somewhat uncomfortably, awkwardly because of the basket, laying on top of him. She realized that at the same time, it was plain in her eyes, and her cheeks turned pink.
His mystery girl moved over, allowing Robert to remove the wretched basket and sit up. The broken eggs started to ooze down his face more freely now, dripping into his eyes, and he wiped his face with his sleeve so he could see again.
I am never eating eggs again. With that settled, he looked at his attacker more closely. She was a rather beautiful girl in her early twenties, unfortunately, she had dark circles around her eyes as if she had trouble sleeping. Or lacked the time. By the way she looked at her broken basket with sorrow, he guessed it was the latter. She was trying to remove the eggshells from her hair and Robert instantly felt sorry for doing that to her. It was quite juvenile, and he didn't know what came over him to act in such manner.
You are an idiot, Robert, that made you act that way.
He felt compelled to explain himself as if he was to blame for everything, when she beat him to it.
“I apologize for running into you. I guess I wasn't paying attention where I was going.” It looked like it pained her to admit that which impressed Robert in return. It showed strong character to admit her wrongs. “I am more than happy to help and clean your attire,” she offered, making him realize he did not have any spare clothes with him.
Robert, you are an utter idiot. In his defense, he could not predict something like this happening to him, ever. “It was completely my fault,” Robert was quick to reassure her. “I was following my nose instead of my eyes.”
“Let me guess, bread?”
“Oh, yes,” Robert replied in earnest.
She offered a smile as if understanding him perfectly which made him smile in return. “I will compensate you for your loss, of course,” he added.
She looked at him as if she wanted to argue, and Robert was prepared for that, thinking on the spot of ways to counter her decline, eventually, she simply sighed and nodded.
“That is mighty generous of you. Thank you.”
“Do not mention it, it is my pleasure.” Robert realized they were attracting a lot of attention, sitting in the middle of the town's square. Some were laughing, probably at his spectacular appearance, some were shocked. All were gawking. Despite the fact Robert wanted nothing more than to stay right there to converse with this girl a bit more, he knew he couldn't. This was precisely how the rumors started, and he needed a certain level of authority to maintain if he wanted to solve Elsa's case. Remember that? The case you came here for in the first place. He reminded himself sternly.
Without further delay, Robert jumped back up on his feet, offering a hand to the young woman next to him. His hand was a bit sticky, so he wiped it on his pants. She accepted it, and Robert was pleased to see she managed to do that without stumbling again. Something was telling him she had some balance issues, to say it politely, so he remained on guard.
The money! He reminded himself.
Somewhat awkwardly he offered her all the money he currently had on him, hoping it would be enough. He had a bit more in his saddle bags; however, he did not know how to politely excuse himself to get it. Robert was certain she would leave without it. As predicted, the girl started to shake her head as if to refuse it altogether.
“You do not have to pay me, it was all my fault.”
“I was to blame as well. Please, I would feel better if you would accept this,” he insisted.
Reluctantly, after a bit more coaxing, she accepted the money from him, and Robert sighed in relief. “In return, I would offer to wash your clothes for you,” she said surprising him.
“Oh, that is quite all right, it is not that bad,” and as if to demonstrate, he scraped some of the remaining eggshells from his shoulders. He was starting to get a bit odorous as well. I need to get away from this sun. It was not kind to him at the moment.
She chuckled at his lame attempt, and he had to laugh as well. This whole situation was utterly ridiculous.
“Robert?” Someone called out to him, and he turned to see who it was. It was Dr. Carmichael. Robert was pleased and quite relieved to see him. Finally, he would get some real answers.
While Dr. Carmichael approached him, the girl excuse
d herself in a hurry and walked, actually, practically ran away. “I feel terrible about everything. Do excuse me.”
Robert wanted to stop her, caution her not to run as well, but stopped himself at the last minute. He couldn't abandon Dr. Carmichael; they had an important job to do, and that was the most urgent thing at the moment. A part of him was a bit saddened about that rash departure. He didn't even get a chance to ask for her name.
“Hello, Dr. Carmichael. Did you travel well?” Robert greeted his friend cheerfully. In return, Dr. Carmichael was horrified.
“What on Earth happened to you?” He demanded to know, in concern.
The Sheriff's Rebellious Bride (Historical Western Romance) Page 10