The Ways of Heaven

by Lindsey Barlow

  Cade glanced down before asking, “Is that when you began drinking?”

  “Like a fool,” Jeffries answered. “Drinking and fighting was what kept me alive, or so I thought, and then it became a compulsion I could not escape. One night I lay in a prison cell dreaming of Camille. When I awoke, I realized I was becoming like the men she served: hard, drunken, and violent. It was divine intervention that Clark came down and brought me back here.”

  “How did Clark know you?” Cade leaned forward. “Rose mentioned you worked on his father’s plantation. Were you friends?”

  Jeffries smiled. “Yes, friends, close friends—possibly blood brothers.”

  When Cade nearly choked on the cider he was sipping, Jeffries laughed. “Clark’s father was one to abuse his power, and my mother was a meek thing who would do anything to protect her son. I can’t say for sure Clark’s father is mine; there were other white men on the plantation, but Clark so wishes it, and so do I. Either out of reality or desire, we made it true and are brothers, which is why he fought so hard to get me over my drinking.”

  Cade rubbed his eyes. “Here I thought my past was hard. Goodness Jeffries, I don’t know if I could have survived what you went through.”

  “I did not go through it alone, Cade. Somewhere along the way, I discovered that Christ also went through that pain long before me, and so He knew what to do with it.”

  Cade lowered his hand. “What will He do with mine?”

  Jeffries shrugged and took the empty mug, then walked over to the pitcher of cider and filled it up again. “Well, it depends on what you need, or what Christ needs you to do. I would start by asking him to heal you from your father’s stern nature. The gambling is a bandage to the wound, but it does not heal it. I would also continue to stay busy with work and any other good things, which will be the part you play in the healing process.”

  “What about Rose?” Cade rested his elbows on the table. “What if God heals me and Rose still doesn’t forgive me?”

  Jeffries set down the mug of cider in front of Cade. “First of all, even if you are able to give up gambling, recognize that the devil will still lurk in the shadows, waiting for a weak moment where he will snag you again. It was ten years before I realized I no longer had an inclination to drink. Even still, I am careful.”

  Cade nodded. “I understand. And Rose?”

  Jeffries sighed and sat down squinting his eyes in thought. “Rose needs healing too, but you can’t do that for her, nor can you force it. All you can do is pray for her.”

  Cade let out a frustrated groan causing Jeffries to chuckle.

  Cade shook his head. “Sometimes I wish there was a quicker way.”

  Jeffries nodded his head side to side. “Quicker is man’s way, but God’s way is the right way.”

  “Can I start calling you Preacher?” Cade teased, raising his mug in a toast.

  Jeffries raised his own, “I like Manager. A white man calling me Manager gives me great satisfaction.”

  The two laughed before emptying their mugs. “Manager it is,” Cade agreed.

  Thirty–Three

  “It is their birthday!” Meg held the skillet threateningly and Jeffries held up his hands defensively.

  “Now, Miss Meg, calm down. I make sure every year those boys get a cake.”

  She threw back her head and placed a hand on her hip. “A cake?” She smacked the word on her tongue. “You think a cake is good enough for my boys?”

  Jeffries scowled. “They love their cake.”

  “Do you have presents? A feast? When have those boys ever had all the attention on them?”

  Jeffries chuckled. “They may live on the dairy Miss Meg, but they are employees. We can’t throw a huge birthday party for every worker here.”

  She set down the skillet and folded her arms. “Well, I don’t care what you do with the other workers, but Bill and Frank call me Mama Meg for a reason. They are special to me, and as such I am going to throw them a special party.” She nodded with resolve and strode past Jeffries. “If anyone asks where I am, tell them I am speaking with Mrs. Castle.”

  Jeffries laughed and followed. He hoped his eyes did not betray that he was hiding information. He’d found footprints outside the windows of the kitchen, and a week ago one of his hounds had chased off an intruder. He wasn’t about to tell that to the little cook, though. He was sure it was just one of the workers sweet on Meg and trying to sneak a peek at her. Though some of the workers had complained about seeing someone run out of the barns early in the morning. Chances were they could also have a poor homeless man sleeping in their barns. Either way, he needed to find out.

  /

  Meg clapped her hands when she saw Rose standing by the books shelves and holding three books in her arms.

  “I thought I smelled beauty,” Rose laughed and walked forward to embrace Meg. “Mother is measuring Daisy for a dress she is making. They should be down any minute for tea.” She grinned and pulled one more book off the shelf.

  Meg smiled and began telling her about the twins and their impending birthday. Her face suddenly sobered; turning to Rose, she added, “And how is Cade?”

  Rose tilted her head and clicked her tongue. “He went out the other night after … well, after punching a gentleman in the face for flirting with me.”

  Meg choked on her own breath. “You had two men fight for you?”

  Rose frowned. “It is not as romantic as one might think. Anyway, he went out after that and he swore he did not gamble, but I am afraid that lying and keeping secrets is just part of his nature.”

  Meg suddenly brightened. “You said this was a few nights ago?”

  “Yes, four to be exact.”

  Meg snapped her fingers. “He was with Jeffries. Late, too. The next morning Mr. Jeffries looked awful and I told him so. He said he had been up late with Mr. Cade Walker.”

  Rose lifted her brows. “Why was he with Jeffries? Whenever we are here he is with Jeffries. Jeffries, Sheriff Ben—”

  Anna walked in and Rose eagerly held out her arms for Daisy. “What do you think, Mama? Any ideas for the twins?” she said, changing the subject.

  “Oh, I am thinking of gifts for them. I can help Meg with the food. Rose, you do the decorations, and I will wrap a present for each of them. Meg, you can also help me with that since you know them so well.”

  Meg bit her lip excitedly. “This will be so wonderful! Jeffries must attend since he is a father-figure to them.”

  “Of course he will,” Anna said, adding a few spoonfuls of sugar to her tea. “Speaking of Jeffries, he spoke to me about letting the dogs sleep outside. Have they chased the cats back to the barn? Jeffries said they’ve been breaking into the kitchen.”

  Meg nodded, unable to control the chill in her spine. A knock on the door made Meg bite down a smile.

  Anna grinned. “He never misses a Monday, does he?”

  Rose looked perplexed. “Who doesn’t?”

  Anna raised her eyebrows at Meg. “You know he will want his walk with you.”

  Meg smiled and showed her teeth. “Clean? I had ribs for lunch.”

  “Perfectly clean,” Rose laughed as Meg skipped off. She whisked her head towards Anna. “Is that Jonathan?” she mouthed hearing the front door open.

  Anna nodded and waited until the heavy oak door shut softly. “He has been courting her for two weeks now and brings flowers on Monday and Thursday.”

  Rose laughed and aimlessly kissed Daisy on the head. “Well, I guess that leaves you and me to plan this party.”

  Thirty–Four

  Ben pointed at the two bodies. “Found this morning by Mic Finnegan. Vultures were circling his wheat fields and he rode out to see if it was a dead animal. Found these two poor souls instead.”

  Cade slid off his stallion and squatted down looking at the strange shape drawn around the two bodies and a horse. “They were moved to this location.”

  Ben nodded. “Yes, I saw the tracks. But they were covered
up pretty good.”

  Cade stood up and the horse whined; it was tied to its owner and apparently very spooked. “This horse has been sliced up a bit.”

  “Sure has. I have no idea why. Nor why these two were cut throughout every limb with odd markings painted on them, nor why a snake is drawn around them.”

  Cade walked around the bodies, careful not to step on the odd snake figure. “You think they died from these wounds?”

  “I imagine so. The damage is pretty severe—looks fatal to me.”

  Cade frowned. “Not a lot of blood for being cut open. Even if they bled out before they were moved, there should be more.”

  This time Ben frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Cade motioned his finger in a circle around the bodies. “Their clothes should be sopped in blood, and there aren’t signs of defensive wounds. You would think two big men who were attacked would have fought back, and yet the only bruising is in the heavier parts of the body.”

  “You think they were killed prior?”

  “Perhaps. I would get Jonathan to examine them before we move them.”

  Ben walked forward, “Jonathan?”

  Cade did a one-shoulder shrug. “Rose heard him say that he was interested in forensics. He may know more than us.”

  “I’ll see if Finnegan can send someone for him.” Ben rode off around the wheat field, leaving Cade to walk around in a circle, trying not to spook the injured mare. “Easy girl,” Cade stopped walking. He knew them: Jim and Theodore, the cowboys he’d gambled with on his first day in Tall Pine. He’d known they were into something irregular, but it must have been more serious than he thought since they ended up so brutally killed.

  He imagined the murders were committed by more than one man. Jim and Theodore were big boys and would likely be able to take down one assailant, unless they knew their attacker and had let their guard down. He carefully stepped closer to one of the bodies, not wanting to disturb it until Jonathan looked them over. The men were dressed lightly, no jackets, and he could see where one had a pocket watch and the other a wallet. This was not a robbery, but the intricate way they were killed should have told him that.

  What were you boys into? Cade asked himself. He walked over to the saddlebags hanging on his horse and pulled out paper to take notes. By the time Jonathan arrived, followed by Ben, he had sketched the snake, the bodies, and the markings drawn on the faces.

  “This is pretty gruesome Jonathan,” Ben warned, as the doctor carefully treaded towards the chestnut mare while averting his gaze away from the bodies.

  “This poor girl is shaken up quite a bit,” Ben noted, shaking his head.

  Cade nodded. “I’ve seen horses become depressed, even crazy when they witness their owner’s death, let alone be tied down to the body.”

  “No kin,” Ben sighed. “No family other than themselves. I was around when their father drank himself to death.” The sheriff folded his arms. “I see fathers, then I see their sons, and I don’t know who to blame.”

  Cade had squatted down again looking at the drawn-out snake. “Southern snake,” he stood up. “I thought maybe this was some Crow ritual, but the markings on this snake made with scratches and pine cones are made to make it look like a copperhead. As far as I know, there aren’t any copperheads in Colorado.”

  “Why would someone take the time to detail a copperhead?” Ben walked over to examine the details.

  “Well, this day seems to be getting less and less cheerful,” Jonathan said sourly. “What happened here?”

  Cade jerked his head at the circle. “We were hoping you could help us figure that out. There is not a lot of blood for such a gruesome killing. Even the bruising seems off.”

  “May I check?” Jonathan asked.

  The sheriff nodded. “Please do. Cade has everything drawn out so you can proceed with examining the bodies.”

  Jonathan walked over to the snake and looked pale as he knelt down beside Jim. He took his time with each body while maintaining an uncanny composure. After some time, he took out a small box from his case and gently placed in it what looked to be some sort of petal. A few minutes later he put some small strands in the box. After a good thirty minutes he stood up and walked away.

  “Death was caused by a blunt instrument to the skull. On Jim it was directly on the back of the head and on Theodore more on the left.”

  “Like he was turning?” Cade asked.

  Jonathan shrugged. “Possibly. Could be that Jim was attacked and Theodore began to turn before he, too, was clobbered in the head. As far as the wounds, those were made postmortem. So were the drawings and any other cuts you see. All was done quite some time after death, which is why the bleeding is so minimal.”

  “And the bruising?” Sheriff Ben asked, folding his arms.

  “Blood sinks to the heavier or lower parts of the body, and this causes bruising. These bruises aren’t from a beating.”

  Cade took out his notes and began writing again. “How long have they been dead?”

  Jonathan sighed and set down his case. “A full day; killed Monday, I reckon. They have obviously been dragged, but why here?”

  “So they’d be found,” Sheriff Ben replied, looking around. “Mic Finnegan has the largest privately owned wheat fields in Colorado, and as such, he has dozens of workers every day circling about his land. This is on the outskirts of his land, so dumping them could be clandestine, but the killers knew the bodies would be found.”

  Cade nodded his agreement. “Well, someone went through a lot of trouble to make this look ritualistic.”

  Jonathan shuddered, holding the small box tightly in his hand. “You don’t think this is one of those serial murders? In my studies I came across a few stories of crazed men who liked their killings witnessed.”

  “I don’t think so,” Cade said his words drawn out, reflecting the slightest doubt. “Maybe if there was one, I would think so, but two men and a horse? What you’d find there?”

  Jonathan sighed and opened the box. “A reddish pink petal, a few actually, were shoved under their shirts along their backs.”

  “Dragged?” Cade took the box.

  Jonathan nodded his head. “There are no flowers like that around this clearing.”

  “Do you know what it is called? Perhaps we can track it down.”

  The doctor shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  Cade looked at the petals. They were tiny and the color of rust. “I’ll ask Rose. She loves gardening and can name just about any flower or weed around.”

  “Are you going to tell her about this?” Jonathan asked, his jaw stiff. “I would not recommend it: She has enough worries.” He looked at Cade pointedly.

  Cade arched an eyebrow. “I don’t need to be told how or what to communicate to my wife.”

  Sheriff Ben cleared his throat. “Gentlemen.” He addressed them slowly. “We still have quite a lot of work to do. Cade, we need these bodies moved to the morgue.”

  “Tall Pine has a morgue?” Cade scowled, crossing his arms.

  “We do now,” Ben said. “Only holds three bodies so we’ll need to bury these fellas fast. Jonathan, have you studied much about finding evidence.”

  Jonathan clicked his tongue. “Very little, mostly from reading.”

  Cade gave a curt laugh. “You like reading about dead bodies, Doctor?”

  Jonathan glowered at Cade. “When a man isn’t gambling and drinking, he usually uses the time to work or improve his mind.”

  “Why you—”

  “Gentlemen,” Ben nearly shouted. “Doctor, congratulations: you are our new medical examiner. Let’s get these bodies to the morgue and then you can do a more thorough examination.”

  “I have appointments this evening.”

  “Tomorrow morning, then,” Ben concluded. “Cade, you’ll meet Jonathan to take notes of his finding and then join me to go talk to the Hughs. Since these boys have no family, we’ll talk with their bosses.”

  Cade n
odded and shot a stiff glance at Jonathan. “See you in the morning, Doctor.”

  Jonathan looked hesitant. “I should mention there were a number of hairs. I placed them in the box along with the petals.” He inhaled sharply before saying. “Black hair, coarse and curly. Only one man has hair like that around here.” Then before either Ben or Cade could reply, he turned and left.

  Ben looked at the box Cade had handed him. “Jeffries?” he asked out loud.

  Cade shook his head. “Other men have coarse black hair,” he said briskly, dismissing the idea immediately. Then shooting a curt glance at the fading silhouette of the doctor, he added, “He’s in a bad mood lately. Wonder what that’s about.”

  “A woman would be my guess,” Ben said, taking his eyes off the bodies.

  Better not be Rose.

  It was another three hours by the time Cade had helped Sheriff Ben deliver the bodies, and now he had the poor mare in tow.

  “See you tomorrow, Ben,” Cade wiped his brow and put on his hat; at least it wasn’t one of those bowler hats expected in the city.

  “Wait a moment, Cade,” Ben trotted his horse beside him. “Listen, I know you and Jonathan both have a right to be protective over Rose. You’re her husband and Jonathan has been a near-brother to her since they were babes in arms.”

  “He doesn’t wear a ring saying he belongs to her or her to him,” Cade said slowly looking off at the sky where the sun was beginning to inch lower.

  “Look, all I’m saying is Jonathan is a good man, and one we need in this town, one who can help you and me with our work.”

  Cade nodded. He knew Jonathan was a good man, and that was the problem. He was the kind of man Rose deserved. He was gentle, kind, honest, and without vice.

  “I’ll keep that in mind, Sheriff,” Cade promised.

  Thirty–Five

  Meg looked at the cake. It was perfect! She looked at the table set with garlands and popcorn strings that Rose had made. Things had taken longer. Five days longer. It was past the twin’s birthday, and she had not seen Jonathan at all. What happened to the courting? Meg swallowed, suddenly feeling a little sick. She’d told the twins to not come to the kitchen until the afternoon because it needed to air out due to a skunk. It was a lie, but one she hoped they would forgive once she explained that she and Rose had spent the morning decorating the kitchen, and she had prepared a feast for them. Anna had helped, even Rose had given a hand with some of the recipes Meg had given her.