An Agent for Clenna

by P. Creeden

  His heart fluttered in his chest again. She was stunning in a way that not many women were. He learned new things about her each time he looked at her or she spoke. The way she’d laid down her feelings before they’d said their vows had been unexpected, and not at all what every woman would have said to him. He was right when he’d said she’d looked feisty.

  Her eyelids fluttered and she began to turn his direction, so he refocused his attention on his book once more, but for some reason, he couldn’t focus on the letters or the words. Everything on the page seemed to jumble together. He let out a slow breath. He needed to calm down if he wanted to get this case solved. The last thing he needed was to put her family in jeopardy. When Archie had told him the details of the problem up north, he’d been surprised to learn she was related to the bandits in question, and that they’d known she was applying for a job with the Pinkerton agency.

  The train whistled, and he peered outside the window as the train brakes squealed and the world outside slowed. A familiar landscape sat outside the window. They were in Wyoming Territory as the darkness began to descend on the land. He hoped that wasn’t an ominous sign as he peered over and found Clenna wringing her hands again. He wanted to set a hand on hers to stop her trembling, but she’d already warned him about touching her.

  She was a like a wild, untouched mare. If he was ever going to earn her trust, he would have to use a great deal of finesse. Not that he was one to manipulate others, he would just need to be patient and not make any sudden, forceful moves. Clenna didn’t seem like the type who could be forced into doing anything. Even this marriage of convenience—she had her reasons for doing it, and she didn’t like the pressure put upon her to do so, he could tell.

  Once the train came to a full stop, he stood and made a sweeping motion, careful not to touch her, or even offer her an arm. “After you, my lady.”

  She lifted a brow at him, but stood on her own and led him toward the train exit. He nodded from behind her as he stuck his novel back into his jacket pocket. Even if he couldn’t completely understand his new wife, he could at least work on gentling her wild spirit. If they trusted each other, this partnership would be a success. And they both needed to have that partnership to rely on if they intended to solve the case and save her two family members. If nothing else, Ben refused to let Clenna down.

  Clenna

  Even though it was late in the evening by the time Clenna had reached the sheriff’s office and jailhouse, she still knocked on the door desperately. Ben stood behind her, like a lump on a log, not taking charge of anything in the situation, but also not denying anything that she wanted to do. He just eyed her with that infernal smirk on his face. When there was no answer, she knocked again, harder this time.

  Finally a shuffling noise sounded behind the door, and a groggy voice said, “Coming. Coming, dangit.”

  The door yanked open, causing Clenna’s heart to leap in her chest and race harder. She took a deep breath before flashing her badge and steeling her voice and saying, “We’re from the Pinkerton Detective Agency, here to inform you that we’ve been hired to work the case for the Denver Pacific Railroad Company. We intend to work in full conjunction with the local law enforcement, and would like to visit with the prisoners to get a statement from them.”

  The sheriff tucked in the back of his shirt and gave her a bit of side eye and then looked back and forth between her and Ben before finally coming back to her and frowning. “You mean right now? It’s dang near midnight.”

  She lifted out the men’s pocket watch she carried. “Actually it’s only a quarter past ten. And yes, we’d like to get started on the case right away. We’re on a time schedule.”

  The sheriff blinked a few times, scratching his beard before finally taking two steps back and holding the door wide open. “All right then, come on in.”

  Her spine remained stiff and her chin lifted. Even though she did not feel confident, she needed to look and sound as confident as possible. If she could convince the sheriff she was just doing her job, she felt she’d have more success than in telling him that she wanted to see her little brother.

  Once they entered, the sheriff closed the door behind them and then shuffled across the hardwood floor, grabbing a lantern and fishing through his keys. “They’re held in the back over this way, if you’ll follow me.”

  He unlocked a door and then led them through to the dimly lit area beyond. In the two cells, men lay across cots with woolen blankets covering them. When one of them sat up, even though he remained in shadow, Clenna recognized him immediately. James. When his eyes widened, she shook her head slowly and narrowed her eyes at him. He got the hint and clamped his mouth shut with a click. She’d used the same expression in the past to let her brother know to stay silent in certain situations.

  Though when Declan sat up, he said, “You’re here!” Before James jumped from his bed, shushed him and stood against the bars shaking his head.

  The sheriff turned about, eyebrow raised, but he didn’t say a word about it. Instead, he asked, “Shall I give you a few minutes alone?”

  “Please,” she said, but her voice squeaked this time, betraying her feelings. She swallowed it down.

  Ben cleared his throat. “Thank you, sheriff.”

  Clenna blinked. She’d almost forgotten Ben was there, and to have him still support her in this endeavor made her thankful to him. Once the door clicked closed behind the sheriff, Clenna rushed toward the bars at the same time James did. Her brothers hand covered her fingers, and she relished in the warmth of his touch. Tears blurred her vision, and she took her other hand to swipe them away. A lump lodged in her throat, so that she could barely get a whisper past. “Are you all right? Are they treating you well?”

  James closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes, they are treating us fine. We didn’t do this, Clenna. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  She clucked her tongue at him. “How many times have I told you that you need to be more selective about your friends or it would get you into trouble?”

  “Or land me in jail,” he huffed with a laugh.

  “Exactly.” She swiped the tears gathering in her eyes as she tried to smile at him.

  Declan came over and let out a slow breath. “What are you going to do to get us out of this, Clenna?”

  She shook her head, the lump forming in her throat again, making it impossible for her to speak. Emotions overwhelmed her. Now that she was here, in Cheyenne, she really came to realize that she had no idea how to proceed. If she were strong enough to bend these bars and free her family, she would do it, but that would be impossible. And it would tarnish the name of the Pinkerton Detective Agency as well. How did she ever believe for a moment that she could do this job? Emotions clouded her vision and made it impossible for her to come up with any idea at all.

  “Why don’t you start by telling us what happened?” Ben said as he stepped up next to her. “From the beginning. And leave out no details. If we’re going to help you find a way out of this situation, we need to know everything.”

  Chapter 8

  Ben

  After her cousin had asked her the question, Clenna had just stood there and trembled. Ben knew he’d needed to step in and help even though he’d tried to just follow her lead up until that point. Her brother, James, stepped back and rubbed his hands through his hair. “We were at the saloon on Saturday. It was the first full week of work we’d done, and we all felt like blowing off some steam and just relaxing. Get a few drinks. Maybe talk to some saloon girls. Maybe even play a hand of poker if we were able. But after we got a few drinks in us, our accent started to come out. And by then, we weren’t much worried about it. Unfortunately, some of the other workers for the railroad company took notice and began having words with each other. One thing led to another and a fist fight broke out.

  Declan nodded. “But it wasn’t just us in the fight. Some of the German and Dutch workers on the railroad were throwing fists, and then
suddenly there were other Irishmen at our sides, helping us out and backing us up.”

  “They came out of nowhere, Clenna.” James’s eyes turned wide as he focused on his sister. “I didn’t know them, but when you brawl with another man, back to back, you start to feel an instant comradeship. Everything was going great, and we were gaining the upper hand when the bartender threw a bucket of mop water at us and told us to take it outside. At first, that’s exactly what we did. The German and Dutch workers had no intention of letting bygones be bygones, and wanted to keep up the fight. So, we obliged them, even though the mop water stench from our clothing gagged us all. “

  “Then those dirty scoundrels got more people involved than we could handle. More Dutch and German workers came out of the other saloons, and with them accusing us of fraud and lying our way onto the railroad jobs, the odds dipped heavily in their favor. There were about twenty or more of them, and only about six of us. So, our new comrades grabbed us and told us to make a run for it with them. And we did.” Declan cast his glance toward his feet.

  “That was where we made our mistake. The people we had met up with took us to a camp just outside of town. There, we were drinking hard cider and having a good time playing games and singing limericks. It felt good to just be ourselves after such a long week of pretending to be something we were not. Sometime during the night, we passed out. I don’t even remember exactly when we did.” James voice grew quiet. “When I woke in the morning, I found Declan and tried to get him up, too. Then the full weight of the night before came crashing down on us. Everyone in the railroad company now knew that we weren’t German or Dutch or British, and chances were that we didn’t have jobs any more. Despair crashed over us like ocean waves in a storm.”

  Declan shook his head. “We should have left right then, before everyone else got up. We should have just gone back to the railroad company and apologized and asked for our jobs back.”

  James whispered, “But we didn’t. Instead, we stayed.”

  “The couple of Irishmen we’d met there had joined up with some others and they started making plans. We didn’t know what they were up to, but they were talking about something big.” Declan’s eyes were round and watery as he passed his gaze between both Ben and Clenna. “Even though we didn’t know what was going on, I got goosebumps while they were talking. A chill went through me. I knew they were up to no good, but I ignored that feeling because I felt like I had no choice but to stay and see how things played out.”

  “It was already well past noon when a bunch of them rode out. It was just me, Declan, and two or three of the others. We went hunting. They even gave us rifles. It made me feel trusted, more comfortable with them.” James’s eyes had a far away look to them. “By the time we got back from our hunt the others got back, too. They were already in their cups, and we joined them, eating hare and drinking that good, hard cider.”

  “Then everything fell apart. A posse with torches came rushing the camp. There weren’t enough horses for everyone and me and James.”

  James’s eyes grew watery in the light of the lantern as he pressed against the bars of the cell. “They abandoned us. At first we didn’t know what was going on so we picked up our rifles. But as soon as they said they were the law, we dropped our weapons. The last thing we needed was to get shot.”

  “That’s how we ended up here.” Declan frowned. “Honest to God, Clenna. We didn’t know they were outlaws. We didn’t know they were robbing a train. We were just there because we didn’t know where else to go. All we did was go hunting, but we were in possession of the rifles and one of the saddlebags with gold from the train that was robbed. But we didn’t have anything to do with it. If the man from the railway has any say in it, we’ll be hung before the end of the week for something we didn’t do.”

  Clenna’s voice cracked as she whispered, “I won’t let that happen to you.”

  Ben’s heart broke for her and for her family members, but he needed to keep things focused on logic rather than emotion. No emotion was going to save the boys right now. They needed hard evidence that they weren’t part of the gang. He blew a long breath out. “Do you know any of the members of the gang’s names? Would you recognize them if we found any of them in town?”

  “Joe,” Declan said.

  “Robert,” said James at the same time.

  Ben frowned. “Any last names?”

  Both boys shook their heads. Then Declan said, “I’m sure we could recognize them if we saw them, though.”

  The frown tugging at Ben’s lips pulled harder. “Any chance either of you can draw well enough to make an image of one? We might be able to use it to help make a wanted poster of some kind.”

  James shrugged while Declan frowned and said, “Neither of us are practiced at drawing, I doubt we could do well enough to make something that would be recognizable to others.”

  Clenna’s wide watery eyes turned toward Ben while he’d been speaking. His heart leapt in his chest at the sight of them. He wanted to help her, desperately. With a sigh, he asked, “Is there anything identifiable on any of them? Something that stood out?”

  James snapped his fingers. “One of them had a scar down his right cheek almost along his jawline. It’s real obvious, the skin is redder than the rest of his face, and his beard won’t cover it.”

  “Yeah,” Declan said, “That’s the guy named Joe that I was talking about. I think he’s the leader of the group.”

  “A scar, you say?” In the back of Ben’s mind, he scanned through the faces of the outlaws that he’d seen down the scope of his rifle to find someone with a scar, but nothing came to mind. “And that’s all you two can remember to tell us? No other details.”

  After spending a few moments staring off into the darkness of the corners where the light of the lantern didn’t reach, the two of them shook their heads. James’s hair was a darker shade of red than Clenna’s, but his freckles and emerald eyes made it clear he was her brother. Both of the boys were a bit shorter than Ben, of medium build, and wearing brown working pants and shirts. They did have the appearance of men who’d been with the outlaws before. He swallowed down those thoughts and said, “In the morning, we’ll talk to the man who hired us and some of the other witnesses who are testifying against you boys to see what else we can learn. I know one of the hideouts the previous gang had used, so I’ll head that way and find out what I can see, as well. You two just sit tight and put your faith in Clenna and me. We’re on the case, and we’re the best hope you boys have right now. If you want to help in some way, pray.”

  Declan shook his head, his eyes still wide. “Trust me when I say that we’ve done little else.”

  Clenna

  As they stepped outside into the cool night air, Clenna’s heart wrenched. Even from what they had said, her brother and cousin looked guilty to her. They had gotten with the wrong crowd again and ended up getting too close to the hangman’s noose this time. How were they going to prove they had nothing to do with it when they were in the outlaws’ camp, armed with weapons, and had gold in their possession? Even the fact that they hadn’t know the bandits long wasn’t going to help their case. They were in the camp when the robbery took place. If nothing else, they were aiding and abetting.

  Her breath started coming out in pants and she felt light-headed.

  “You’re not doing well. Perhaps we should stop. If you need to, you can lean upon me. I don’t want you to fall and hit your head,” Ben said, a thread of worry in his voice.

  Instead of leaning upon him, she leaned against one of the posts on the porch of the jail house. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to breathe deeply. “I need no assistance. I’ll be fine in just a moment.”

  She knew she was being stubborn. She knew that Ben was only trying to help. But it didn’t matter to her. The last thing she needed was to rely upon a man for anything. She needed to prove to all men that she was just as smart and capable as they were. And it wouldn’t help her cause if s
he were to lean upon one of them and faint. She’d be like one of those swooning southern women with the vapors. No. Clenna did not swoon. Getting angry with herself, she straightened and stiffened her spine. “Is there any way that we can do something for them tonight?” she asked Ben, knowing the answer, but hoping he might have something up his sleeve.

  “Not for you. Now it truly is nearing midnight. I’m going to check you into the hotel and then head over to the saloon before it closes. Even if I just make a small appearance, I’ll look around to see if there is anyone with a scar that matches your brother’s description.” He pushed back the front of his hat, and the dark hair there curled slightly--appealingly.

  Clenna’s heart fluttered, and she jerked her gaze from him in the hopes of settling it down some. Her voice still squeaked as she asked, “Can I not come with you?”

  “It would be best if you don’t for several reasons. Firstly, it’s late and no respectable woman should be in a saloon on a Wednesday, at this hour.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but for the first time, Ben’s lips thinned and his smirk was gone. It silenced her because she knew that he wasn’t willing to argue about this.

  “And secondly,” he continued, “I was just in this town a little over a week ago and know some of the faces of the old gang of outlaws. If I see someone worth questioning, I’ll do it, but it may also come to blows. I don’t want you to be in the middle of a scuffle. It would be best if you just got some rest after our trip.”

  Her jaw clenched. She didn’t want to be swept to the side, but she knew this wasn’t going to be an argument she could win. And honestly, she was bone tired. She’d been uneasy the whole trip and worried for her family. That amount of worry had caught up with her. Even though she knew she wouldn’t get more than a shallow sleep, she needed to try.