The Lumberjack

by Kelli Ann Morgan

  Snow.

  It was too early for snow. Usually, they didn’t see the first fall until sometime mid-November. With a sudden chill to the air, she decided it was probably time to get back to the ranch. She raised her foot as high as she could so that her toes could slip easily into the stirrups, grateful that no one was there to see her impropriety. With a couple of jumps and a little twist, she was able to pull herself up onto her enormous horse.

  As she sat in the saddle and glanced over the orchard, she reveled in the beauty that had already begun to stick on the ground. An early winter would mean hardship for many Kansas towns, especially after the destruction that followed the sudden influx of grasshoppers to the area, but her father had been working really closely with Mayor Nichols and several of his contacts back east to import and store as many goods as possible to help those who’d suffered the most.

  She knew she should be getting home, but instead of going back the way she came, she decided to pass by the Stillwells to see if she could speak with Brant and get an update about Maeve. With a click of her tongue, she nudged Whisper forward.

  By the time she reached the road, her hair draped over her shoulders, clinging to the sides of her face. Snow flurries still drifted downward, though lightly. She hadn’t gone very far when she caught glimpse of a buckboard leaning heavily to one side just ahead. As she approached, she saw that one of the wagon’s wheels was sitting at an odd angle and appeared to have several broken spokes.

  At first glance, the driver was nowhere to be found, but both horses were still hitched to the front. Upon looking closer, she could see beneath the wagon bed a pair of denim-clad legs bent at the knees, kneeling on the snow-covered dirt.

  “Hello?” she called. “Do you need any help?”

  “Hannah, is that you?” Brant peered out from behind the wagon, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He got to his feet and walked around to greet her. “You are a true godsend, Hannah Redbourne. Maeve is coming in on the stage and I’m supposed to go into town to collect her, but as you can see, I didn’t get very far.”

  All she wanted to do was to jump down from her horse, throw her arms around her friend, and offer comfort, but chose to avoid any appearance of impropriety. “Brant, Ethan told me about the baby. I am so sorry for your loss.”

  It took a moment before he could respond.

  “Thank you. Me too.” His jaw clenched and he swallowed hard.

  “What happened?” Hannah asked, nodding at the broken wheel.

  “I’ve been meaning to fix that rut in the road, but with everything else, I had forgotten it was even there. I hit it just so, and well, here we are.”

  “Maeve is blessed and wonderful, but a stubborn woman. She was supposed to be staying with my folks for the next few weeks and I was going to join her after taking care of a few things around here, but I got a telegram, after I saw Ethan yesterday, informing me that she just wanted to be home and would be coming in on the stage today.”

  The stage between Stone Creek and Platte Woods generally only ran once a week, but not so consistent that it arrived at the same time every day.

  “Maeve is coming home?” she said with a little too much excitement, but by the look on the man’s face, quickly realized that Brant did not consider the situation ideal.

  “My wife should be resting, not bumbling about in the rickety conditions of a stage. If she’d wanted to come home, she should have waited for me to come and get her.”

  Hannah didn’t have the heart to point out that the situation would likely have been worse had the wagon broke down with Maeve in tow.

  “Come on,” she said. “We’ll go get her together.”

  After only a moment’s hesitation, Brant quickly set to work unhitching the team.

  “Would you like me to go get your saddle?” Hannah knew that Brant had grown up in the city and not around horses. She doubted the man could ride bareback.

  He paused a moment to look up at her, relief visible on his face. “That would be great. Thank you!”

  “Brant,” she said, locking eyes with him, “it’s going to be all right.”

  He exhaled, nodded, then continued with his task.

  It didn’t take long for her to find the saddle hanging in the stable, but as she strode from the building, she saw something move across the window from inside the house.

  She froze, then slowly backed up into the stable and out of visibility.

  Who could possibly be inside?

  Brant hadn’t said anything about having someone staying with them, and with everything that had happened in town yesterday, she had no desire to follow in Miss Hampton’s footsteps.

  You are just being paranoid, she told herself. The house is empty.

  The bulky saddle made it difficult for her to stand up straight, but Hannah did her best as she stepped out of the stable once again, closed the door by backing herself up against it, and walked stiffly over to where Whisper stood just a few feet from the corral fence. With her head focused straight ahead, she tried to glance toward the window from the corner of her eye.

  Nothing.

  Silly.

  She relaxed a little as she looked down at the saddle in her hands, unsure how she would be able to climb up with the load, so she straddled the tack over the top rung of the fence, then used the bottom rung to give herself enough leverage to pull up onto her horse’s back, then she laid forward as far as she could and reached down for Brant’s saddle’s horn and heaved it up into her lap.

  Her eyes fixated on Maeve’s yellow gingham curtains as they swooshed across the window as if someone had been staring out at her and just let them go.

  “Come on, boy. We’ve got to get back to Brant.” She pulled on the reins and urged her mount ahead with a quick squeeze of her legs.

  It only took a few minutes to get back to the broken wagon and Brant. He’d already let one of his horses free in the fenced field to the east, but the brown and white paint mare stayed by his side, a saddle blanket already placed on her back. He quickly jumped down to meet her, relieving her of the awkward load.

  “Do you have company staying at your house?” she asked as casually as she could, unable to stop herself from looking over her shoulder.

  “No,” he shrugged as he heaved the saddle up onto his horse. “Why?”

  “My mind may just be playing tricks on me, but I could swear I saw someone hiding behind the curtains inside the house.”

  “I just left there, and I didn’t see anyone. Are you sure it wasn’t just the snow? Sometimes the flurries can make things look like they are moving when they’re not.”

  “I guess it could have been,” she said, but could not shake the feeling that something was amiss.

  “We should probably get Raine to check it out, just in case.”

  “You know, now that you mention it, when I got home last night, the front door was wide open. I thought maybe the Peterson boy had just forgotten to close it when he stopped by to pick up the money I’d left for him as payment for feeding my livestock while we were gone. You don’t think it is something more than that, do you? We’ve only been gone a week longer than originally planned. I doubt anyone has taken up residence so soon. At least I hope not. I stayed there last night.”

  “I do think it’s enough to tell the deputy sheriff and have him take a look.”

  “If someone is in my house,” Brant said, cinching the tie strap snugly around the horse’s girth, “we need to get him out.”

  “Do you have a gun on you?”

  “No.”

  “Then, we should leave it up to Raine. And Rafe’s in town. If there is someone in your house, they’ll take care of it. Let’s ride out to Redbourne Ranch. I’ll tell them what I saw, and then we can hitch a wagon to ride into town to meet the stage.”

  Brant finished securing the saddle and reins, and lost no time pulling himself up.

  “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Several times on the ride home, Hannah felt the nee
d to check behind them, but she didn’t see anything, but a sinking feeling gnawed at her as they crossed the bridge onto the main road. The snow still fell in big, fat flakes, but it wasn’t enough to block her view. She just couldn’t rid herself of the odd feeling that pricked at the back of her neck.

  As they pulled up to the ranch, work seemed to be progressing as normal. The men, not allowing a little snow to get in their way, set about working with the new horses Jonah and Eli had brought back with them from Tag’s place, mending fences and outbuildings, and feeding the rest of the livestock.

  Handy was the first to pay them any attention.

  “Hey, Hannah, I’ll take Whisper,” he said as he held out a hand to help her down.

  “Thanks, Handy.” She handed the reins to him. “Hey, have you seen my brother? I need to talk to him.”

  Handy stared at her a moment, jutting his chin forward and twisting his head.

  She narrowed her eyes at him until she realized that currently four of her brothers were on property.

  “Raine,” she said. “I’m looking for Raine.”

  “Ah,” he said with a nod, “I believe that particular brother is with Rafe and Eli in your father’s study.”

  “Thanks, Handy,” she said with a quick squeeze to his forearm. She started toward the house, but stopped. “Hey, Handy?”

  She waited until he looked at her.

  “Would you mind helping Brant hitch up the surrey? Maeve’s coming home.” She could hardly contain the excitement of seeing her friend.

  The ranch hand didn’t say anything, but nodded.

  Hannah dashed into the house and around the corner, pushing on the door into her father’s study. She was met with a little resistance as she realized that she’d just run into one of them.

  “Pardon me,” she said as she slipped into the room, heat rising in her face when she saw that it was Eli who had partially blocked her entrance.

  The sound of tapping metal clicks meant they were using the printing telegraph.

  “Who is it? Is it Will? What does it say?” she asked with interest. It had been a while since she’d seen her brother, Will, or Elizabeth, his wife, as they’d decided to move back to England for a while.

  With two sons deciding to build a home far away from Redbourne Ranch and Kansas, Jameson and Leah Redbourne had been eager to find an easy way to stay in contact with them and he’d ultimately chosen to run a telegraph line directly onto the ranch. Some of their neighbors had used the machine on occasion, but most travelled into town to have their messages sent across the miles. For the family, however, it made it a lot easier to keep in contact with each other.

  “It’s information from the children’s orphanage in New York.”

  Suddenly, a pit formed in Hannah’s stomach. The only reason her brothers would have to contact the orphanage was if they thought that Miss Hampton had been a target and not just a victim.

  What if the children were in danger?

  “Where are Archie and Mirabelle?” she asked.

  “They’re still with Mama and Grace. Don’t worry. Cole, Alaric, and Jack are all over there with them. We think the man who killed Miss Hampton may still be in Stone Creek.”

  “I think he may be at the Stillwell’s.”

  All eyes turned to look at her.

  “I was just there.” She held up her hand in case of weird questions about Maeve not being there and continued. “Long story, but somebody pulled back the curtains and was watching me through the front window. Brant said they haven’t had any company staying with them. And, since Maeve’s been in Platte Woods for a couple of weeks and is coming in on the stage today, no one should be there.”

  Raine grabbed his hat and threw open the door. Rafe snatched the newly printed paper from the machine and followed. Eli stopped in front of her, reaching out to place his good hand on her upper arm and craned his neck downward to look at her.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She hadn’t remembered just how striking his eyes could be when he looked at her like that. It had been too long, and she missed how it made her feel.

  “I’m fine,” she said, wishing she could throw her arms around him and revel in the protection of his embrace.

  “Good.” He dropped his hand, leaving a sudden chill in its wake, then turned to follow her brothers out the door.

  “Not that fine.” Hannah raised her hands to scrub the gooseflesh from her arms as he disappeared from the room.

  Eli peered around the door. “What was that?” he asked, obviously having heard something.

  Now was neither the time nor the place to tell him how she felt. There was too much going on. Too much at stake. She pulled the door open fully. He rose to his full height, his brows scrunched together, one rising higher than the other.

  “Don’t go,” Hannah said instead.

  “What do you mean, don’t go? If there is someone threatening the people of this town, I want to help however I can.”

  “I know, but Raine and Rafe have experience hunting,” she stopped at her own choice of words, “finding people like this,” she corrected. “And you—”

  “And I’m just a lumberjack. Only good for climbing trees and cutting logs.” He shook his head.

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “You didn’t have to.”

  He turned away from her.

  How had that gone so wrong?

  “Eli,” she called after him, moving her feet as fast as she could to catch up with him.

  He came to a halt and she smashed right into the back of him like running into a stone wall and had to catch herself from tumbling backward onto her hind end—though it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d seen her fall this week. He spun around, his face mere inches from hers, his jaw pulsating, his mouth twitching.

  She sucked in a breath.

  “Look, Hannah,” he lifted his hand as if it somehow helped him to formulate his thoughts, clenched it into a fist, then dropped it to his side. “What do you expect me to do? Sit around here and...and...” he threw his good hand up in the air, his eyes darting around for something, “...and wait? I’m not very good at waiting.”

  She hadn’t really thought about what she’d expected him to do.

  “You’re hurt. It’s going to be hard enough for you to ride, let alone confront a killer.”

  “You don’t even know that whoever is at that...that farm...is a killer.”

  He was right, but so was she.

  “Eli,” her voice grew soft as she met his eyes, so filled with hurt and had to make it stop. She decided to take a softer tactic and she stepped forward, placing her hand on his unslung arm and tell him the truth. “I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.”

  “Whittaker,” Raine said, pulling up next to them on his horse, “we’re headed out to the Stillwell place. I know you’ve kind of had a rough day of it, but I need your help.”

  Eli and Hannah exchanged a glance.

  “What can I do?”

  “If this intruder turns out to be the man who killed Miss Hampton, he’s seen Hannah. She won’t be safe. You’ll need this.” Raine held out a pistol, but Eli shook his head.

  “I’ve got one of my own.”

  “Ethan and my dad are rounding up all the ranch hands. They’ll stand guard around the house, but I want someone to be with her at all times.”

  “But, Raine, I’m going into town with Brant. Maeve is coming in on the stage and I want to be there to greet her.”

  “Then, you’ll just have to take him along.”

  He’d get no argument from her.

  The deputy brother turned back to Eli. “While you’re in town, will you check to see if the sheriff has returned?

  Eli nodded.

  “If he’s there, let him know what’s going on. I’ve already got several men in town on the lookout.”

  “Raine, are you planning a Sunday social over there?” Rafe called from the edge of the main gate
. “Let’s go.”

  “Be safe.”

  Without a word, Eli marched toward the house.

  “Where are you going?” Hannah asked, watching his retreating form with only a hint of exasperation.

  The stage would be arriving anytime now, and she had no idea in what condition Maeve would be—especially after a couple of hours in a bumpy coach. Her friend had been through a lot over the last couple of weeks and Hannah fought the wave of guilt that washed over her at not having known what was going on or not having checked in on her sooner.

  “Eli!”

  “To get my gun.”

  Chapter 19

  How was a man supposed to compete with the ever-so-perfect Redbourne brothers?

  Eli cursed the fact that his arm had failed him today. Frustrated at the white cloth that strapped his arm to his side, he tried to remember how grateful he was things hadn’t turned out differently this morning.

  He didn’t know what he would have done if anything had happened to that little girl if he’d had anything to say about it, and the fact that a killer might be after her and her brother irked him to no end. He couldn’t just sit idly by and allow it to happen.

  When he reached the bedroom he and Jonah had been staying in, he got down on his knees and pulled out his travel case, grateful it had not been his other arm that had been injured. The box, which contained his travel clothes, wallet, and a few other personal items also housed his gun belt.

  It took a little maneuvering to get his pistol loaded and his belt strapped on, but the pain reminded him that he was alive.

  By the time he got back downstairs, Hannah was already sitting on the front seat of the surrey. He watched a moment through the window next to the door. By the way she sat, with her hands curled together in front of her and her shoulders scrunched, he could tell that she was still cold, despite the oversized coat she now wore over her clothes.