by Jenny Plumb
Jude drove them directly to the town’s livery, where he promptly acquired the services of the stable boy to rub the horses dry. Then Callie and Jude made their way to the marshal’s office a couple buildings away and entered quickly to get out of the rain. Jude hoped this would be a quick visit. He wanted to get back to the warmth of their cabin as soon as possible.
Marshal Gregory was snoozing in his chair, his feet propped and crossed at the ankles on his desk. When Jude slammed the door, the marshal startled awake, placed his feet on the floor, and greeted them. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. What in tarnation are you doing out and about in this terrible weather? There hasn’t been a rainstorm like this in a coon’s age.”
Jude and Callie shook the marshal’s outstretched hand, and the three of them sat around the desk. “I’ve got some good news I wanted to share with you straight away,” Jude said, though he didn’t feel like it was good news at all. “I found the senator’s palomino. It’s now safe and sound at the livery.”
The marshal’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t say? Where’d you find it?”
“That’s the strange thing about it. Callie and I found it in our barn. We don’t know how it got there, but that’s where it was, fit as a fiddle.”
The marshal frowned and turned his attention to Callie. “Tom Tucker thinks you stole it.”
Jude stiffened. He didn’t like that the marshal was addressing his wife in a suspicious tone, but he bit his tongue and let her answer.
Callie nodded. “Yes, sir. I know. He doesn’t like me much, but I didn’t steal that horse.”
“The thing is, Marshal,” Jude inserted, “the senator and his wife, Virginia Tucker, were on my stagecoach. The senator took an immediate dislike to Callie and treated her badly. He even stole her satchel. He has a grudge against her, but that’s not her fault. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he set her up.”
“Hmm,” the marshal mused. “That’s not the way I heard tell of it. Senator Tucker told me that Callie stole his watch during your journey. I never heard anything about a satchel.”
Jude scowled with anger and opened his mouth to speak, but Callie got to the explanation first. “I did steal his watch, but I confessed and gave it back. That’s more than he did for me and my satchel of belongings, which was everything I owned in the whole world!” Her voice rose steadily during her explanation, and Jude could hear the fear in it. Jude placed his hand over hers in her lap.
“Let me get this straight,” the marshal said, his voice emotionless. “You just admitted that you stole something from the senator, but you claim the senator also stole something from you. Is there proof of that? Why wasn’t it reported?”
“We should have reported it, Marshal. Callie and I chose to let it go, since a lot happened after we arrived, including me and her getting hitched.”
“I see.” He folded his hands on the table and continued to frown at Callie. “You know there are witnesses that say you’ve been loitering around Eva’s Restaurant for weeks now. Folks don’t know why a woman would go to a restaurant alone nearly every day, and quite frankly, I don’t know why either.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Jude exclaimed. “She went to Eva’s Restaurant every day because she can’t cook. She’s been buying our suppers instead of cooking them. Ask Eva. I’m sure she’ll confirm it, and if that doesn’t convince you, I’ll give you a look at my bank account.”
The marshal scoffed. “A woman who can’t cook? I find that hard to believe.”
Jude’s temper flared. He looked at Callie and saw her face blushing red with shame. “See here, Marshal,” he said, working hard to control his temper and the volume of his voice. “Callie didn’t have a normal upbringing, not that it’s any of your business. She went to the restaurant for the same reason everyone else goes, to get food. That’s the long and short of it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Johnson,” the marshal said. “It is my business. This is a horse theft, and it’s my job to ask questions when things don’t appear normal. Your wife’s behavior isn’t normal, and I would be remiss not to take that into account.”
Jude sucked in a breath. He knew the marshal was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to witness his wife under scrutiny. He knew her heart, and he knew she was good and didn’t wish harm on people. He squeezed her hand and felt hers turn to latch on to his, palm to palm.
“We need to get on home, Marshal. I don’t want to wait for the storm to get worse. We’re already soaked and tired.”
The marshal stared back and forth between Callie and Jude, seeming to consider whether to detain them further, but he eventually nodded and stood to walk them to the door. “Thank you for bringing in the palomino. I’ll alert the senator.” He looked at Callie. “I’ll be talking to you again about this.”
“I understand,” she replied in a calm voice, though Jude could hear the tremor in it.
Jude held her hand firmly in his, and they rushed back to the livery, where the horses were now mostly dry, unlike the two of them.
“Please, Jude, can we just go home? I don’t feel like going to see Annie anymore.” Callie’s voice was sad and her teeth chattered from the cold.
“If that’s what you want, sure, honey,” Jude said, pulling her into a hug. “I reckon it’s best to get you home in front of a fire so you can warm up.” He rubbed her back briskly in an attempt to heat her a little.
Callie wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t forget yourself. You must be cold also.”
“Only a smidge.”
The two of them returned home, where they sat together by the fire. Jude once again had to assure Callie that she wouldn’t be locked in jail. That night, she suffered night terrors, so Jude held her in his arms until daybreak. He didn’t sleep for most of the night because he was trying to solve the mystery of why the senator’s horse had appeared in their barn. Someone had put it there, obviously, but who? And what did that person have against Callie?
Chapter 7
Christmas morning dawned. The rain had cleared, and the sun made a bright appearance. Callie fretted over the possibility that she was in trouble with the law, but her immediate worry was cooking supper for her friends.
First, she and Jude needed to eat breakfast. She walked to the barn with her pail, intent on getting some milk from the cow. That and the leftover bread would be perfect for their morning meal.
Inside the barn, she came to a dead stop. Something felt off. It wasn’t the different smell or the change in the pattern of straw on the ground that alerted her. Neither was it the fact that the latch on one of the stall doors wasn’t fully lodged, which she’d never seen before. Jude was fastidious about things like that. It wasn’t any of those things on its own; rather, it was the sum total that gave Callie the chill the crept down her spine.
An arm grabbed her suddenly around the waist from behind and a hand clamped down over her mouth. A woman’s voice whispered loudly into her ear. “If I let you go, don’t scream. Let me explain.”
Callie nodded her head as best she could with it being captured in that way, and the woman’s hand and arm loosened away from her body.
“Mrs. Tucker!” Callie exclaimed when she turned to look at who it was. “What’s going on? Where’s the senator?” Her gaze darted around the barn nervously, afraid he was going to jump out from behind a stack of hay.
“I ran away, Callie. You can’t imagine what it’s been like to live with that man all these years.”
Callie’s eyebrows lifted. “I think I can imagine, but what are you doing here?”
“Trying not to lose my mind, for one. When you and Jude came and took the horse, I despaired. Before you discovered her, I was planning to ride her to the next town as soon as it stopped raining. I needed to sell her. I have no money of my own.”
Mrs. Tucker seemed older than Callie remembered her looking on the stagecoach just a few weeks prior. Dark circles were under her eyes and worried lines etched her face.
; “We’ll help you, Mrs. Tucker, don’t worry. Let’s go talk to Jude.”
“No!” she exclaimed, reaching out and clasping Callie’s wrist. “You can’t tell your husband. He’ll turn me in. Stealing the horse from Tom isn’t a big problem for Tom – he can easily buy another – but the law doesn’t see it that way. I’ll go to jail.”
This seemed terribly unfair to Callie, and also quite likely. She shivered, imagining that the senator would punish his wife however possible, including turning her over to the law. He was a cruel man. She recognized the ever-present cold look in his eyes because Callie had seen the same look in Bentley’s eyes.
“I feel for you, Mrs. Tucker, I really do. But I have to tell Jude. I promise he’ll do what he can to help you.”
“All right,” she relented. “I suppose I can’t expect you to keep this kind of secret from your husband. Can I ask for one favor though?” When Callie nodded, she continued. “Please don’t tell him straight away. I need some time to think. Can you wait until tomorrow to tell him?”
Callie considered it and didn’t see how waiting would hurt anything, so she agreed. “I’ll tell him first thing tomorrow. Are you hungry, Mrs. Tucker? I can fetch you some vittles.”
“Thank you, dear. I am a bit hungry, and I would appreciate that mightily.”
“I’ll be right back.” Callie walked to the front of the barn, then stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Tucker. Everything will turn out all right. You’ll see.”
She smiled sadly, not looking convinced in the slightest.
Jude was buttoning his shirt when Callie entered. He looked up and smiled at her. “Hello, darlin’. Where’ve you been?”
Callie avoided his eyes. “Just out in the barn for a spell. I was going to milk the cow.” She realized right away that was the wrong thing to say to Jude. It would only invite questions.
“You were going to milk the cow? Why didn’t you?”
“I forgot,” she said lamely.
Jude frowned at her. “You forgot?”
“That’s what I said,” she snapped.
Jude placed his hands on his hips. “You seem quite defensive. Are you hiding something?” Callie opened her mouth to speak, but Jude stopped her. “I’d think very carefully about what you’re about to say. Don’t forget what happens when you lie to me.”
Callie closed her mouth and thought for a moment. Folding her arms in front of her, she said, “In that case, I decline to answer the question.”
“Unacceptable.” Jude’s response was clipped. “You’re also not allowed to hide things from me. Out with it.”
Callie stomped her foot. “That’s not fair. What if I were hiding something that had to do with your Christmas present?”
Jude narrowed his eyes. “Are you?”
“Well, no, but it seems unfair to have a blanket rule about me not being allowed to hide things, when that could very well be the reason. Merry Christmas, by the way,” she said haughtily.
“Your Christmas is going to be anything but merry if you don’t stop this nonsense and tell me what’s going on.”
Callie huffed. “I’m planning on telling you tomorrow. Is that good enough?”
“That depends. Does it have anything to do with the stolen horse?”
Callie gritted her teeth in frustration. “Yes, but nothing about it will change if I wait until tomorrow to tell you.”
Jude jerked his hand through his hair. “Are you kidding me, Callie? My stomach is in knots worrying about this situation. I’m not going to wait until tomorrow to find out something you know right now. Stop being difficult and start exercising your jaw!”
Callie could see he was running out of patience, but she felt obliged to keep Mrs. Tucker’s secret.
After a few moments of her stubborn silence, Jude slapped the riding gloves he was holding down on the table. “That does it. I’m not playing this game.”
“It would be very uncivilized of you to spank me on Christmas, Jude,” she pronounced, taking a step back. “It’s not in the spirt of things.”
“Oh, really? I think it’s you who’s not in the right spirit. Christmas is a time of sharing, but you’re refusing to share what’s on your mind.” He strode to her, bent, and hefted her over his shoulder.
“It’s also a time of peace on Earth.” She shrieked, as he gave her bottom a sound swat. She pounded his back with her fists as he carried her to the bedroom.
“And it’s the season of joy. Did you forget that?” she asked his back.
“I didn’t forget. I agree.” He sat on their bed and maneuvered her over his lap. “It’s going to give me great joy to turn your stubborn ass red.”
“What about goodwill toward your fellow man?” she demanded, squirming over his thighs in a useless attempt to escape his iron grip around her waist as he tossed up her skirts.
He shoved her drawers down her legs and applied his palm to her bare bottom right away. After a few smacks, he paused and retorted, “I have plenty of goodwill toward men, just not toward a naughty woman at the moment.”
Callie giggled. She found that response funny, and her giggling made Jude chuckle as well.
He sobered quickly. “Stop making me laugh, this isn’t funny!” He spanked her hard as proof.
She yelped and continued to squirm as the spanking commenced in earnest, firmly and without respite. Soon her bottom was stinging and smarting, but he continued on despite her whimpers of protest.
“Any day now, Callie,” he growled, increasing the strength behind the swats as she continued to remain silent about the matter at hand. “I can do this for a lot longer than you can, so make things easier on yourself and start talking now.”
She thought he’d been spanking at full force before, but now that the swats had become harder, she felt desperate to end the punishment. “All right!” she wailed. “I’ll tell you.”
He stopped spanking and caressed her aching bottom. That felt so good that she let out a moan of pleasure before drawing a deep breath and explaining. “Mrs. Tucker ran away from the senator. She’s the one who stole his horse, and she’s in the barn right now as we speak. I was going to get her some food, and she’s probably wondering why I’m taking so long.”
The sigh of relief that came from Jude after her explanation made Callie regret not telling him immediately. She felt his whole body relax against hers. He flipped her upright and squeezed her so tight she felt uncomfortable. Her still-bare bottom burned against his rough trousers, but she didn’t care. “Are you all right, Jude?” she asked softly.
He nuzzled against her neck and planted a firm kiss on her cheek. “I am now. We can explain to the marshal what really happened and you won’t be under any more suspicion.”
She leaned her head against his chest. “You were really worried, weren’t you?”
“I was, darlin’. If the marshal had tried to arrest you yesterday, I would be the one in jail right now. I would have knocked him to the ground so fast. I won’t see you locked up again like you were as a child.”
“Oh, Jude,” Callie said, tears coming to her eyes. “You must really love me to say you’d do a thing like that. I know you’re a law-abiding man who follows principles.”
“When it comes to you, little hellion, my strongest principle is loyalty.”
Callie smiled at him through her tears. He smiled back and kissed her lips. “Now let’s figure out what to do about Mrs. Tucker. I can hardly blame her for leaving that man.”
“That’s what I said,” Callie agreed, sliding off his lap.
Jude took her hand in his. As they walked to the barn, Callie asked, “She won’t go to jail, will she?”
“I don’t reckon so, but I don’t know. It’s up to the senator and the marshal, I suppose.”
Callie didn’t like that answer. It would be terribly unfair for Mrs. Tucker to be punished for trying to get away from the senator. Callie knew that according to the law, Mrs. Tucker didn’t own the palomino. It wa
s the man who owned everything in a marriage, but it wasn’t right. Surely Mrs. Tucker should have some means to escape if she no longer wished to be with such a terrible husband.
When Mrs. Tucker saw Jude entering the barn with Callie, she let out a fearful gasp and then moaned in resignation. She looked at Callie sadly, appearing betrayed.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Tucker. I wasn’t fixin’ to tell Jude about you today, but he…” Callie didn’t know how to finish that sentence. She blushed. It was one thing to be spanked. It was another to have folks know about it.
“I encouraged her to explain,” Jude supplied. “Now, Mrs. Tucker, I’m gonna do everything in my power to help you. I’ll tell the marshal you have good reason for wanting to get away from the senator, but that can wait until tomorrow. Why don’t you come on inside and have something to eat? It’s Christmas, and there’s no reason for you to be miserable on Christmas.”
Mrs. Tucker’s worried expression softened a little. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Sakes alive!” Callie exclaimed, feeling a surge of panic. “I have to cook Christmas supper! Annie and Billy will be here in no time.”
“I’ll help you with the cooking, dear,” Mrs. Tucker offered. “If you don’t mind me joining you, it sure would be nice to participate in something to get my mind off things.”
Callie’s face lit up, and Jude wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He smiled at Mrs. Tucker. “I reckon you just made Callie’s Christmas a whole lot less stressful. My wife here doesn’t know how to cook anything except bread, so she sure would love a helping hand when it comes to today’s supper.”
Callie frowned up at him. “You didn’t have to spill the beans about me not knowing how to cook, Jude.”
He looked down at her, and his expression grew stern. “I said it because I know you’re too proud and stubborn to admit it, and Mrs. Tucker is going to find out eventually if she spends time with you in the kitchen. Better for her to know now so she can help you properly.”
Mrs. Tucker reached out and gave Callie’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “There’s no need to be embarrassed about it, dear. I’m happy to help, and by the time we finish, you’ll be on your way to being a fine cook.”