by Joyce Alec
There was a long, pronounced silence. Reuben felt shame creep over him, realizing that everything he’d thought about Gus being a coward and a brute might not actually be true.
“So why did she go with John after all?”
Reuben looked up to see his mother leaning forward in her seat, desperate for an answer.
“Because John threatened to take away everything I had,” Gus said hoarsely. “You’d never guess that my parents left this ranch to me, given that John always oversaw everything at the time. I knew far too well that he could get anyone he wanted to throw me out of here. John had a whole horde of men working here at the time, who’d do whatever he wanted. Laurel knew it too. That’s why she went with him and why she told the sheriff what she did.”
Reuben glanced at the sheriff, who was nodding slowly. “She told me that you’d tried to get her out of town by force, but that John had managed to come to her rescue,” he stated gruffly. “When they went out of town to start over, I thought that was just to get away from you.”
Gus let out a long breath, his whole body shaking with emotion. “It was,” he replied, his voice trembling. “John told me if I ever came near Laurel again, he’d kill her.” On hearing everyone gasp, he looked up at Reuben, who saw the hopelessness in his friend’s eyes. “No one ever really knew John except me. I knew he wasn’t pretending.”
Reuben shook his head, blowing out his breath as shock rattled through him.
“You said the ranch has always belonged to you,” Etta began in a quiet voice that held a trace of sympathy. “John’s the eldest, isn’t he? Why did your parents leave it to you and not to him?”
A harsh laugh broke from Gus’s lips. “Because they knew the kind of man he was,” he replied with a slight shrug. “They knew that he’d be a cruel master, that he’d show no compassion for any other living thing. They left it to me. I saw the will myself. But John didn’t much care for that. He ran this place just as he wanted. I tried to stand up for myself, but my brother has ways of making a man do just as he pleases.”
Reuben saw a shudder run through Gus’s frame and felt his anger flare. Gus had been carrying this burden for such a long time, he realized, and had been too afraid to tell anyone at all.
“What were you going to do when Laurel arrived?” Hettie asked, now looking a good deal less confused. “You said your brother isn’t actually dead. Doesn’t that mean that she’s still married to him?”
“It sure does,” Gus admitted softly. “I didn’t want to bring her name into disrepute, Reuben, which is why I told you John was dead. I couldn’t think of another reason for her to be coming on back to town. As for what we were going to do when she got here…” His gaze flickered back to Hettie. “I reckon we were going to do whatever we had to.” A steely glint entered his eye as his jaw clenched for a moment. “My brother’s terrorized Laurel long enough. I was gonna do anything I had to do just so long as she was safe.”
Blinking hard, Hettie sat back in her chair, her eyes awash with tears. “I sure am sorry, Gus, for thinking the worst of you,” she replied, her expression soft. “I’m sorry you’ve had to endure this for so long without being able to tell a single soul.”
Gus shook his head. “It ain’t your fault, Hettie. I let the fear of my brother and what he’d do to Laurel prevent me from telling anyone. I sure wish I had though. Then I might not be in this mess now. I might know where Laurel is.”
“You don’t know where she’s gone to?” Reuben asked, watching Gus closely.
Gus pressed his lips together tightly. “I thought she’d make her way out here,” he said slowly. “She had her own horse, so I reckoned she’d come here in her own time, carefully and slowly in case he was here.”
“He being John,” Etta interrupted, as Gus nodded.
“But she hasn’t turned up,” Gus continued sadly. “I think John must have found her.”
“How do you know John isn’t back in the city?” Reuben asked, frowning. “How can you tell he’s come out after her?”
Gus closed his eyes tightly as moisture dripped onto his cheek. “Emerson went up to the city to fetch Laurel. They were meant to come here together, where we could make sure she was kept safe from John in whatever way we had to. But, for some reason, Laurel had already left. When Emerson got to the city, he discovered that John had gone after Laurel and that he knew what she’d taken with her. He sent a telegram for her to Winchton.”
“Where she got the stage,” Etta interrupted, her eyes wide with understanding. “That’s why she was so afraid. She was so close to safety, and then suddenly, she realized John might be closer than she thought.”
“She had the brooch,” Reuben added slowly. “And John knew she’d taken it. That meant that he knew she’d be coming out here to give it to you.”
Gus nodded, his eyes glassy. “It was always meant to be mine,” he replied sadly. “It’s to do with the will. When my father wrote it, he knew that it could cause a ruckus, giving the ranch to the younger instead of the older. So, he wrote in it that I would have the evidence to prove his choice was genuine.”
“The brooch,” the sheriff muttered, shaking his head in bewilderment. “That was meant to go alongside the will, to prove that your pa’s decision to leave the ranch to you was a deliberate one.”
“Exactly that, sheriff,” Gus said heavily. “I have the will, but without the brooch, I can’t prove anything. I told you that I tried to stand up for myself when it came to running the ranch the way I thought it should be run – well, I threatened to take the will to the sheriff to prove that I was the rightful owner. I planned on throwing my brother out, along with all his men, and starting over right from the start.” His voice broke. “John just laughed. I knew then that he had me over a barrel. He could easily go to the sheriff, and then the question of the ranch’s ownership would be in doubt. It might end up that the will was discounted and my brother would get it entirely. So, I kept quiet and just prayed that, one day, I’d be able to get it back. You can’t imagine what I felt when I heard Laurel had found it.” Sniffing hard, he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I wanted to give her the best of everything, Reuben. I wanted to show her a life where she didn’t have to be afraid. I wanted to take her away from that life – and I very nearly managed it.” He sank back into his chair, regret filling his expression. “And then I lost her.”
“All of this makes me wonder,” the sheriff interrupted, before the silence became stifling, “what Etta has to do with this.”
“Etta?” Reuben asked, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” the sheriff continued, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “If it wasn’t Gus ransacking Etta’s room, and if it wasn’t Gus going and attacking her, then who was it?”
There was a short silence. Reuben looked across at Etta, who was now holding one of Hettie’s hands very tightly.
“It could only be John,” Gus breathed, his eyes fixed on Etta. “It has to be. It means he’s here.”
“And it means he knows that Etta was on the stagecoach with Laurel,” Hettie added.
Reuben felt a wave of fright crash over him. “And he knows that Etta has the brooch,” he finished, looking at the sheriff. “So that must mean that, somehow, he managed to find Laurel.”
Gus let out a low groan and put his head in his hands.
“I reckon you’re right,” the sheriff said slowly, ignoring Gus for the moment. “He’s found his wife, and now he’s after that brooch. He found out from Laurel who the lady was on the stagecoach and went searching for it. If he’s as malicious as Gus says, then it makes sense that he’d strike a woman in the way he did and then just leave her for the wolves.” Shaking his head, he shot a hard glance at Reuben, who knew exactly what the sheriff was thinking. “I reckon we’re gonna have to go in search of him,” the sheriff finished, tipping his hat back and glancing towards Gus, who looked as though he didn’t have even enough strength to stand. “That’s the only way this is gonna end. I�
��m sure not putting Etta or anyone else in any more danger because of this.”
Reuben nodded. “I’ll be coming with you, sheriff.”
“And me.” Etta had gotten to her feet, and the sheriff immediately began to argue—only to see the resigned look in Reuben’s eye.
“I’ll take care of her,” Reuben promised, just as the door opened and another man stepped inside, stopping dead just inside the door.
“Emerson,” Gus said, by way of explanation. “That’ll make five of us.”
“And we know John has to be around here somewhere,” Reuben finished, as Etta got to her feet and walked towards Emerson. “Do you reckon we can find him, sheriff? That’s a whole lot of land we’ve gotta search.”
As Etta began murmuring an apology to Emerson for not accepting his story the first time, the sheriff looked back at Reuben with a steady gaze, a small smile playing about his lips.
“I do wish I’d known about all this before now,” the sheriff began, with a weary shake of the head. “You see, there’s a few places near this town that I know of where any man might be hiding. We’ll try ‘em all, one after the other. Most of them are just sod huts or a rundown old shack, but they’re worth looking in. If we can’t find him there, then we’ll have to think again.”
Reuben nodded, feeling Etta’s hand slip into his. “Sounds like a good start, sheriff. When do we go?”
“Now,” the sheriff said with determination. “And Hettie, you go on back to town and tell the deputy to keep an eye out for any trouble coming his way. He’s gonna have to keep a good watch tonight. There ain’t no saying where John might be.”
“And you’ll be safest there,” Reuben added, seeing his mother nod her agreement. “And I’ll take care of Etta, I promise.”
Etta smiled up at him, squeezing his hand. “I know you will, Reuben,” she whispered, before the sheriff mustered them all and sent them out the door to begin the search.
11
Etta was glad for the thick, if not slightly too big, coat that Gus had given her, feeling the cold night air nip at her cheeks. They’d been riding for hours, looking at different places and carefully approaching a couple of huts that had looked to be lived in, only to discover that John hadn’t been in any of them. The sod huts had just held a couple of men on their way to Winchton, taking a rest for the night as they made their way out. There hadn’t been anything else to suggest that John was nearby.
Sighing heavily to herself, Etta swallowed her frustration and tried to focus on the belief that they would find Laurel. She truly did feel awfully sorry for Gus, realizing that she’d been thinking the worst of him only to discover that he’d been held back by fear and nothing else.
It was obvious that he loved Laurel and that he’d been trying to help her in the only way he knew how, only for things to go horribly wrong. He’d not wanted to ask the sheriff for help, fearing that John would do something terrible to Laurel in retribution. Even the thought that a man would do something as despicable as threaten to kill his wife sent a shudder through her.
She didn’t even know John and yet she despised him. To treat his brother and his wife in that kind of way was nothing more than cruel torment, and she couldn’t imagine what either of them had been forced to endure.
“We’ll find her.”
She glanced up to see Reuben looking at her, his face bathed in the moonlight. Her heart leapt in her chest, despite the gravity of the situation. He had been by her side almost constantly, and to see him so determined to do what was right made her respect and admiration for him grow all the more. Her heart was filled with nothing other than him, a deep love beginning to grow there.
“I know,” she said, despite the doubts clamoring in her mind. “Thank you for speaking to Gus, Reuben. I know you didn’t always want to.”
“Maybe if I had, then the truth would have come out sooner,” he replied with a hint of regret in his features. “I’m just sorry he had to struggle so long alone. He never said anything to me, not in all the years I’ve known him.”
“Fear is a terrible thing,” Etta replied with feeling. “I’m just hoping that the sheriff will find a way to get Laurel away from John and back to somewhere safe. Somewhere she can build a home of her own.”
“With Gus, you mean,” Reuben replied softly.
Etta smiled. “Of course, with Gus,” she agreed, her eyes traveling towards the slightly hunched figure of Gus as he rode ahead of them. “He loves her. It’s clear for anyone to see.” She let her smile spread, as Reuben’s eyes fixed on hers again, almost glowing in the moonlight. “Love can’t be hidden.”
“Or, at least, it shouldn’t be,” Reuben replied, his voice holding a deep tenderness that brought a warmth to her heart. “It ought to always be confessed.”
“It should,” she whispered, knowing that they had so much to say to one another. “I–”
“Hush!”
She jerked her horse to a stop, seeing the sheriff coming to a standstill in front of them. This was their last place to look before they headed back to town. It was an old barn, standing at a haphazard angle as though it was about to fall down at any given moment. The way the moon landed on it gave it an almost ethereal appearance, and Etta felt herself shudder.
“Look there,” Reuben murmured, pointing. “There, can you see the light?”
Etta could see the small glow that came from the broken slats of the barn wall. Her heart began to thump wildly, her hope rising steadily.
“I’ll go on in,” the sheriff murmured, sliding down from his horse and throwing the reins over an old post that would have once been used to tether horses. “Gus, you’d better stay here.”
“No!” Gus whispered fiercely. “No, I’m not staying.” He jumped down determinedly, flinging his reins over the same post. “If Laurel’s in there, then I gotta see her.”
“And me,” Emerson grunted, following Gus’s lead. “Etta can stay out here with the horses, and Reuben, you’d best guard the door. I’ll go around the back.”
Etta felt helpless, but knew she had no other choice but to agree. She wanted to go storming in with the rest of them but seeing the sheriff’s gun put other thoughts into her mind. Gently, she touched the wound on her head, reminding herself what John had done to her already without even the slightest consideration for her safety or her survival. No, it was best that she stayed here.
“I’ll be right over there,” Reuben promised, patting her hand as he left her holding his horse’s reins. “Don’t worry now. I’ll be safe.”
Etta reacted on instinct. Leaning down, she almost toppled from her horse as she tried to kiss him, finally managing to press her lips to his for just a moment. Her breath caught as she righted herself, her fingers scrambling to hold onto the pommel.
“I love you, Reuben.”
He blinked, clearly overwhelmed by what she’d just done.
“Go,” she said, a little more clearly. “Go on now. They’re waiting for you.”
Reuben blinked furiously, clearly a little surprised by what she’d done, only to step away, his eyes lingering on her for as long as he could manage. Etta watched the four men approach the barn, her heart in her throat as the sheriff slowly began to open the door.
The sound of a gunshot split the air, and Etta let out an involuntary cry, her hand clamping over her mouth as the sheriff, Gus, and Reuben all fell flat to the ground, desperate to avoid another bullet.
Emerson was still creeping around towards the back of the barn. Unable to simply sit still on her horse, Etta slipped down from her saddle and threw the reins over the post. She didn’t move forward, however, forcing herself to remain exactly where she was, as the sound of the sheriff’s voice broke through the sudden, deathly silence.
“John? You can’t get away with her now. We know you’re here. We know what you did.”
The sound of a sudden scream tore at Etta’s heart, and she stepped forward on instinct, her hand over her heart. That had sounded like Laurel. John
had her in the barn, a gun in his hand – and there was no telling what he’d do next.
“Laurel?” Gus shouted, pushing himself up to standing as he made to reach for the barn door, only to be hauled back by the sheriff. “Laurel, I’m here. I’m here, Laurel. I’ve come for you.”
“Gus!”
The sound of Laurel’s voice, desperate and afraid, forced Etta to move all the more quickly. Knowing she was putting herself in danger but finding that she didn’t care, she hurried towards the side of the barn, away from the door. Her heart was beating so loudly it felt as though it echoed across the plain. As she came closer, Etta crept forward on her hands and knees, seeing the gaps in between the planks of the tumbledown barn. It creaked ominously as a gust of wind suddenly shook it, making her afraid that it might soon tumble down around her ears.
Determined to press on and ignoring the shouting that was coming from the men, Etta looked through the gaps at the sight inside the barn.
Laurel was sitting on the hard floor, her hands tied tightly together and what looked to be a bruise marring one side of her face. Two lanterns were lit on either side of the barn, illuminating the scene further. Etta felt a shudder go through her as she caught sight of a tall, broad-shouldered man, dressed all in black, standing directly in front of Laurel with a gun in each hand. One gun was aimed directly at the door, and the other was pointed towards Laurel. John’s eyes were fixed on the door, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t shoot Laurel. All it would need was a simple turning of his head.