by Ember Pierce
* * *
“That doesn’t make sense, does it? I mean, you’re a businessman Mr. O’hara, does that make sense to you? Does that sound logical?”
* * *
Some of the anger eased out of O’hara. His voice dropped a bit.
* * *
“I merely wanted to help the young man. And I hoped he would get himself straight and stay away from the poker tables.”
* * *
Bonny said nothing but slowly shook her head, indicating she didn’t believe O’hara’s answer. “As I said, I probably lived something of a sheltered life back east.
* * *
“My days were spent dealing with eight kids, or nine. Sometimes, even I miscounted. But do you know the one plus in dealing with so many kids?”
* * *
He shook his head. “No, I was an only child.”
* * *
“Parents didn’t want two of you, did they?” She shrugged. “No matter. But with eight kids around, one was always trying to get away with something.
* * *
“And when he or she got caught, they would always try to tell you a tall tale to cover up their misdeeds. They would spin amazing tales of why they did what they did.
* * *
“I got very good at catching them in lies. They would always act a bit different, their body movements would be slightly strange, their voice might be off in tone or texture.
* * *
“If you listened to such evasions, as I did almost every day, you could catch them almost every time. As I caught you.”
* * *
“And how, in fact, did you catch me? I was trying to help your husband. That’s all.”
* * *
“No, you weren’t. When you see a man drinking too much, you don’t give him liquor. You do your best to keep bottles away from him and tell him to stop drinking.
* * *
“If a man is losing and going into debt due to gambling, you tell him to keep away from the poker tables. The last thing a good friend would do if a friend was going into debt is lend him money to gamble.
* * *
“That doesn’t make sense. You lent him money for poker and that kept him going into debt. You lent him money for whisky and that kept him drunk.
* * *
“It was a vicious cycle and you keep it running.”
* * *
O’hara sat back in his chair but said nothing. The grin changed to become menacing.
* * *
Bonny leaned forward and tapped her finger on his desk. “Do you want to know what I think?”
* * *
O’hara puffed on his cigar again. “With all honesty, I do not want to know what you think, and I don’t particularly care. I think it’s time for you to leave.
* * *
“Go back and milk the cows on your farm or bake some bread or tend your garden or do something like that. But from now on, stay out of this office.
* * *
“Just make sure your husband brings me back my money.”
* * *
“Oh, you already have most of that money back.”
* * *
O’hara gasped. The cigar dropped from his fingers and plopped on the desk.
* * *
He hastily grabbed it and smashed it out in an ashtray on his desk, then jumped up and swept the ashes from his desk. Still standing, he glared at her.
* * *
“What do you mean by that?”
* * *
“You realize, of course, that much of the money won at the poker games where my husband was, was won by Wes Harky.
* * *
“Mr. Harky is apparently a very good poker player. Of course, with the husband there drinking, he had easy pickings, didn’t here?”
* * *
“Mr. Harky likes to play poker. So what?”
* * *
“And he liked to play in a game that you had practically set up. You gave my husband money to get him into the game, and he played about as well as any drunk man would play.
* * *
“So he went into debt to you, Mr. O’hara. You just told me a businessman needs to think ahead. I think you were grooming Kristian for something, but I don’t know what for.
* * *
“You didn’t really have to worry about your money. I think you were partners with Wes Harky. After he won, he would split the night’s profits with you.
* * *
“You got half your money back and my husband went deeper into debt. It was a vicious cycle.
* * *
“And although you already had half your money back, you still demanded my husband pay you all the money you loaned him. A very nice, and profitable, deal.”
* * *
“Your charge is utterly outrageous. No one will believe it. You’re a silly woman from the east that lost her senses when she came west.”
* * *
“Maybe, but I don’t buy that. I think this story will ring true to the people of Red Desert.
* * *
“Besides, there’s an easy way of proving what I’m saying is true. Would you like to talk to the sheriff about it?”
* * *
“No, I prefer that you leave, and not come back. I won’t regret not being in your company again.”
* * *
Bonny gave a satisfied smile when she stood up. She held up her finger. “I still wonder, though—I don’t think that was the only scheme you had with my husband.
* * *
“It’s too small for you. Say you loaned him three hundred dollars, which he then loses in a poker game. Good old Wes takes more of it.
* * *
“Let’s say he wins two hundred and fifty of it, Wes gives you back a hundred and twenty-five and keeps the rest for himself. Then my husband pays you about the full three.
* * *
“It’s a profit of a hundred and twenty five dollars. Not bad, but I got a hunch you think big, Mr. O’hara, and you want out of Red Desert.
* * *
“And Kristian has got something to do with that scheme. I think I know how, too, but I’m trying to firm up the details.”
* * *
“Let the details go. That is a piece of good advice. I can’t emphasize that enough. Let the details go.”
* * *
Bonny kept smiling as she walked out of his office and back onto the street. “Let it go?” she said. “Not likely.”
* * *
The rest of the day, Bonny walked hard all day, mainly to exhaust herself so she could fall right asleep that night. She’d put on a good front with O’hara that morning.
* * *
She thought she had handled herself well, but at night in her room, she didn’t feel at all that brave. Still, she had a few facts and logic on her side.
* * *
Or, at the very least, she had a few facts that O’hara didn’t want to go public. To be honest, a shifty little trickster such as O’hara wasn’t that hard to see through.
* * *
She had dealt with eight kids who constantly tried to put things over on her. If she could see through eight children, some of whom had excelled with lies and deceptions, O’hara’s pretence at honesty couldn’t convince her.
* * *
She had made herself a simple supper of cornbread and beans, which she had eaten in her rocking chair by the fire. Idly she wondered what Kristian was eating that night.
* * *
She hoped that he wouldn’t go to a saloon looking for food. If he went there, then surely he would start drinking.
* * *
She was also worried about Kristian. He had assured her of his skills, or at least about his skills before he began bending his elbow.
* * *
But he was tracking a killer, a killer who had murdered a man. Kristian was putting himself in danger by hunting the man.
* * *
Certainly, this man would be on his guard. He woul
d be constantly on the alert. And he had nothing to lose by fighting to stay on the run.
* * *
He was accused of murder and, if caught, he would be hung. If challenged by a bounty hunter or sheriff, there was no reason for him not to fight it out.
* * *
She sighed. But Kristian knew that. She hoped he would be ready.
* * *
After she had finished eating, she had gone out to the porch to shell peas for supper tomorrow. As she sat down on the one wooden step that was the porch for their home, she wondered when she would be eating the meal with her husband.
* * *
Now, a disagreement over a drink—whether he had taken one or not—seemed a bit petty.
* * *
She wondered if she should tell the sheriff about her confrontation with and her suspicions about O’hara. If he was running a scheme with Kristian, he could be running other schemes with other men.
* * *
Bonny sighed, setting the bowl she had brought out with her on the ground. She didn’t feel like doing anything at the moment.
* * *
Inertia threatened to swallow her whole, and she wondered if she should just go to bed. The sun hadn’t even set yet, though. She had plenty left to do for the day, too.
* * *
Sometimes, being busy was perfect, and sometimes it was just plain exhausting. Now was one of the latter times.
* * *
Just as Bonny was about to get up to go back into the house to find something else to do, she saw Mrs. Downing coming across the yard.
* * *
Bonny paused, the bowl propped against her hip. She felt a ripple of nervousness as the older woman approached.
* * *
After their talk that morning, Bonny wasn’t sure how she felt talking more about Kristian. She knew Kristian’s parents would like her to forgive him, listen to him, reconcile with him.
* * *
She just wasn’t sure she was ready for that just yet.
* * *
“Bonny! Just who I was looking for,” Mrs. Downing said as she got closer.
* * *
Forcing herself to smile despite her nerves, Bonny said, “Well, here I am.”
* * *
Mrs. Downing seemed to sense that Bonny was bothered. She smiled a sincere smile and said, “Don’t worry, I come bearing good news. I have a letter that John picked up in town. It’s for you.”
* * *
Bonny opened her eyes wide in surprise. A letter from back home?
* * *
She took the envelope from Mrs. Downing with trembling fingers. Her family had held this letter, and now she had it.
* * *
“Thank you,” Bonny said. She stared at her name written on the paper. Her heart leapt to her throat.
* * *
Mrs. Downing reached out and squeezed her arm. “I know how hard it must be for you to be away from the family you grew up with. I meant what I said earlier about us being your family now.”
* * *
“Thank you,” Bonny said again. “I appreciate that.”
* * *
She watched as Mrs. Downing walked back to the main ranch house. She really did feel like Kristian’s parents had welcomed her into their family.
* * *
Before Bonny had caught Kristian in his lies, she had even felt like the two of them had made a good start at a family of their own. Now, she just hoped they could overcome the problems that had come between them.
* * *
She turned into the house and put her bowl in the kitchen. Then she went back to sit down in her rocking chair.
* * *
Carefully, she opened the envelope. She had never gotten a letter before she had started the whole mail-order bride business.
* * *
Remembering how thrilling it had been to receive mail, she wondered why she hadn’t written home before. Surely, her siblings and her parents would have enjoyed getting a letter from her.
* * *
Shamed that she hadn’t done so, she almost didn’t pull the letter out. Then, she decided that was silliness.
* * *
Her family had written her a letter and they would obviously want her to read it. She took a deep breath.
* * *
Unfolding the single page, Bonny instantly recognized Katie’s handwriting. Her younger sister had worked hard to improve her penmanship, and it had certainly paid off.
* * *
Tears blurred her vision and she wished that Kristian were there with her, to support her while she read what her family had to say.
* * *
“Dear Bonny,” she read aloud.
* * *
She knew that she could read it to herself, silently, but she wanted to hear what her family had said. It would almost be the same as if they were there with her, telling her all their news.
* * *
“The whole family has elected me to write the letter because I have the best handwriting now. Mother and Father would like you to know that they miss you.
* * *
Mother says she misses you terribly. Father hopes that everything is going well with your new husband. They would both like to hear all about him and the place you now live.”
* * *
Bonny paused. She had neglected to write home about Kristian and Red Desert. Shame colored her cheeks again.
* * *
She knew she had been selfish, and she would have to correct that soon.
* * *
“Both Emily and Mary have written to us that they are expecting babies next spring. Roderick has moved home because he lost his job at the factory.
* * *
Though he is looking for a new job, he is also considering moving west. He wonders if there might be work for him in Red Desert. When you write back, please let him know.”
* * *
Tears leaked down Bonny’s cheeks. She couldn’t help it. Just hearing about the trials and triumphs of her older siblings made her homesick right to the core of her being.
* * *
She made a mental note to ask Kristian if he knew of any jobs that Roderick might be able to take. The thought of having one of her siblings out here nearby made her feel lighter.
* * *
Despite the fact that she had been desperate to get away from Philadelphia, she still loved her family. Her parents had done the best they could, even if her father drank, even if they had always been dirt poor. They had been there when it counted.
* * *
“I, of course, am taking on all the things you used to do around here, and I have to say that I don’t think I ever properly appreciated how much you did, how hard you worked for us.
* * *
“I have been continuing to work on my education whenever I can. This letter is helping me practice my penmanship.
* * *
“I miss you, Bonny. I wish that I could come out and join you. Maybe if Roderick comes, I could come, too.”
* * *
Katie’s words made Bonny’s heart ache. Her sister had grown up in the months that Bonny had been gone.
* * *
It was a hard thing to read, because Bonny knew exactly how the girl felt. The desire to see what more there was to life gnawed the inside of the gut until it was almost too much to bear.
* * *
That, and the fact that Katie would be eighteen before she knew it. Maybe Bonny could help her start a new life in Red Desert.