"A boy like that needs a good military school."
"Jacob! He was my only living relative!"
He reached for her arm again. "It's pointless to have this conversation on the street. Now get your bag and come before I truly grow angry with you."
She took a step back, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I said I'm not coming."
"You have to come," he snapped. "I need those papers."
She grimaced. "What papers?"
"You know very well what papers! The stock certificates, of course!"
Jessica was utterly bewildered. She stared at Jacob's handsome face in the bright lamplight. There was something strange and unnerving about the way he looked at her. "All I took was the cash from the sale of Papa's farm. I don't have any of your stock certificates!"
"We'll speak of this later. Now come along."
Jessica stepped sideways. "You're crazy. You're out of your mind . . ."
Jacob grabbed for her and she darted right. She ducked under a hitching rail and ran for the steps on the far side of the train platform, her skirts bunched in her hands.
"Come back here!" Jacob cried, trying to follow her. "Come back this minute!" He bumped into a brute of a man, and the man gave an angry bellow. "Excuse me! Excuse me," Jacob apologized. "But that's my wife! That's my wife getting away."
"I'm not your wife!" Jessica shouted as she passed above him on the platform. Her feet pounded on the wooden planks as she ran. Her hat flew off her head, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get away from Jacob. She stole a glance over her shoulder. He had gotten tangled in the crowd. She was losing him!
She ran to the far end of the platform, ducked under the rail, and jumped four feet to the ground below. She raced as fast as she could toward the end railway cars. She bumped into men leading horses and cows. "Sorry!" she cried. She could feel her heart pounding. "Adam! Adam!" She dodged a woman herding a dozen bleating sheep.
She passed one car and then the next. There was livestock everywhere. "Adam!"
"Jessica!"
She spotted Adam's tall imposing figure in the dim lamplight. "Adam!" She ran to him.
He turned around. "Jessica, what's wrong?"
She flew into his arms and leaned against him, panting. She couldn't tell Adam about Jacob! The man was crazy. She hadn't stolen any silly stock certificates. What was he trying to do, blackmail her into coming with him by accusing her of theft?
Adam grasped her shoulders and gave her a shake. "Jess, what's wrong?"
She swallowed, trying to calm herself. "A thief," she lied. "He . . . he tried to steal my purse!" She shook the black velvet drawstring purse she wore looped over her wrist.
Adam looked skeptical. "A thief?"
"He tried to pull my purse off my arm, but I wouldn't give it up."
He looked over her head. There were patches of light and darkness. There could have been a thief lurking near the station. "Where did this thief go?"
She took a step back. "I . . . I don't know. I ran."
"I've made arrangements for Hera and Zeus to be stabled. Our bags are on the way to our hotel." He took her arm and began to lead her toward the depot. "I think we should speak to a law officer."
"No." She shook her head, pulling away from him. "Let's just go on to the hotel. I'm sure he's long gone and . . . and I didn't get a look at his face. It was too dark."
Adam hesitated. Jessica wasn't a good liar. Someone had scared the living daylights out of her back there, but it wasn't a thief. He turned in the opposite direction. "I'm losing patience here, Jessica. A man can only take so much. I don't know what you're keeping from me, but you sure as hell had better make up your mind to tell me!" Adam thought of the man he'd seen in Blades, the man looking for his wife. Could that wife be Jessica? If she was, what would he do? He couldn't give her up. He wouldn't. He'd kill her husband first.
Jessica rode up to a pretty gingerbread-style house on the edge of town and dismounted. She tied Hera's reins to the hitching post and then wiped her damp palms on her skirt. Adam had had no trouble locating the gunsmith, Elsmere Wiedenhoeft, and Elsmere, a jolly red-faced man had given directions on how to reach his brother Billy's place. Elsmere had heard the tale of Jessica and had been delighted to meet her. He'd thrown his big beefy arms around her and hugged her as if she was some long lost sister. He'd been able to tell her that the Wiedenhoefts had faired well, but didn't know if her apple saplings had survived the trip. Jessica knew there was only one way to find out, so here she was.
She walked up the painted white steps and across the porch. Every window in the house was framed in filmy white curtains, and the sound of children's laughter could be heard faintly from inside. She took a deep breath and rapped on the door. It swung open immediately and there was Kat, grinning, her arms opened wide.
Jessica accepted Kat's embrace, hugging her tightly. It was so good to see her freshly scrubbed face, those bright laughing blue eyes and thick yellow plaits of hair. "Oh, Kat . . ." was all Jessica could say.
"We didn't know if we'd ever see you again," Kat told her. "Now step back and let me get a look at you."
Jessica took a step back, touching her cheeks. "I'm sunburned and covered with freckles. I know I look awful."
Kat stood with her hands shoved in her skirt pockets. "You look healthy is what you look." She wrinkled her nose playfully. "And just a tad thin."
Jessica removed her wide-brimmed black hat and hung it on a peg on the wall. She wanted to ask Kat about her saplings, but she was almost afraid to. After all it wouldn't be Kat's fault if they'd died. Even as badly as Jessica wanted the saplings alive and healthy, her friendship with the Wiedenhoefts was more important. She ran her hand over the smooth whitewashed wall of the entryway. "It seems like it's been an eternity since I last saw you, and Billy, and the kids get on that train."
"Seems like just yesterday to me." Kat looped her arms through Jessica's. "Now come on into the kitchen and say hello to the girls while I finish up my biscuits. Billy'll be home directly and you know how a man is if his supper's not on the table when he steps foot in the house."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your meal. I can come back tomorrow."
"Has the sun dried up your head, girl? You're staying for supper. I killed an extra rooster, you've got to stay." Kat started leading her down the hall toward the kitchen. "So just close your tater-trap and come on."
Just then Jessica heard a squeal and the pounding of footsteps on the stairs. She looked up to see Emily bounding down the staircase, with little Holly in hot pursuit.
"Girls! Girls!" Kat scolded.
Emily and Holly froze on the steps and stared down through the spindles at their mother.
"If you two wake your brother, I know two little girls that are going to have their tails burned! Now slow down and walk like the young ladies you are!"
The two girls came down the remaining steps at a walk, turned the corner at the banister, and then screamed with delight and raced into Jessica's outstretched arms. They hit her so hard that they knocked her from a squatting position over onto the polished floor.
"Girls!"
Jessica laughed, tickling first Holly, then Emily. "Oh, it's all right, Kat, we're just glad to see each other, aren't we?"
"Yea!" they shouted in unison.
Jessica put out her arms. "All right now, heave ho, and get me up off the floor before I get my tail burned for waking the baby."
The girls giggled with delight as they each grasped one of Jessica's hands and helped her to her feet. Then they all went into the kitchen.
The room was filled with the heavenly aroma of frying chicken. The sound of it sizzling in the pan was tantalizing to Jessica's senses. "It smells wonderful, Kat."
"Well, have a seat and tell me how you've been. I'll just finish up these biscuits." She pushed up her sleeves and reached for the ball of dough lying in the center of the pine table.
Jessica took one of the four chairs. "Not muc
h to tell. We're still on the Black Bandit's trail. But we're close, Kat, real close."
Kat dipped her hands into flour and began to knead the biscuit dough. "We, is it? You and that fine-looking Mr. Sern."
Jessica couldn't resist a smile. "Yes. Adam and me."
"Newspapers say you and Adam have had quite the time. Captured by Mexican bandits, thrown from a moving train?" Kat lifted an eyebrow.
Jessica laughed. "Mexican bandits, were they? Funny, because they thought they were Utes."
Kat's jaw dropped. "You really were kidnapped?"
"Calm down." Jessica gave a wave. "I'm fine. They didn't hurt me. The snake bite, now that hurt."
All Kat could do was stare with those wide blue eyes of hers. "Snake bite?"
"A rattler got you did it? Sssssss . . ." Emily took the tie of her crisp, starched apron and snaked it across the table. Kat caught the tie with a floured hand and threw it off the table. "Emily Rose!"
"Yes, Mama."
Holly came around the table to stare at Jessica with eyes identical to Kat's. "A snake bited you? Where?"
Jessica lifted her skirt and pulled down her wool stocking. "Right there." She touched a purple bruise. But it's all better now. I feel just fine."
"So"—Kat began to roll the biscuit dough with a rolling pin—"this fine-looking Mr. Sern ask you to marry him?"
"Kat!"
Kat flipped the flattened dough over and began to roll again. "What? You're telling me you don't want to marry him? What's the matter with him? He have seizures? Coughing fits? Are his teeth bad?"
"Kat. . ."
"Well, if he doesn't ask you, you're just going to have to ask him! If I'd have waited for Billy Wiedenhoeft to ask me to marry him, I'd still be waitin'!" She winked. "Of course I'd still have these three fine young'ens." She reached for a glass and began to cut out her biscuits. "Nope, a woman's got to take matters such as this into her own hands."
Just then the front door banged open. Holly and Emily gave a squeal and raced down the hall. "Papal Papa!"
A minute later Billy Wiedenhoeft appeared in the kitchen doorway, a daughter propped in each shoulder, the ruffles of their dresses and aprons nearly covering his face.
"Billy."
"Jessica!" He grinned. "I was so glad to hear Elsmere had talked to you. Sorry I wasn't there when you came by the shop." He lowered both girls to the floor and went to give Kat a kiss on the back of her neck. "Looks like our sharpshooter friend is just fine, Kat. I told you she would be."
"Oh, get out of here." Kat gave him a push with a floured hand. "You help the girls set the table. By the time the bunch of you've got it right, supper ought to be set."
Supper was a pleasant meal with fried chicken, mountains of boiled potatoes and butter, fresh peas, and Kat's buttermilk biscuits. Kat and Billy and Jessica talked and laughed through the entire meal. It was as if they had been friends all of their lives. Billy and Kat told about the remainder of their train journey. Jessica told about her and Adam's hunt for the Black Bandit. She was careful not to say anything about the relationship she and Adam had, and they were kind enough not to ask.
Finally, after a huge slice of apple pie, Kat slid out of her seat and began to pick up the dirty dishes. The girls had been excused an hour ago and were in the parlor busy playing blocks with the baby, Paul.
Jessica stood up and reached for her plate, but Kat took it from her hand. "Oh, no you don't. You're the guest. Guests don't wash dishes in my house."
"Neither do wives," Billy teased, talking the dirty dishes from Kat. He glanced at Jessica. "Dishes are always my job and always have been so don't let her fool you into thinking she slaves over a pan of dishwater." He picked up several more dishes and carried them to the sink. "You two go on into the parlor and I'll be in shortly."
"First we've got something else to do." Kat took Jessica's hand and led her out the back of the kitchen, grabbing a lit lantern that hung near the door. In the lean-to off the kitchen, Kat handed Jessica one of Billy's work coats. She slipped a shawl over her own shoulders.
"Where are we going?" Jessica asked.
"I can't believe you haven't said a single word about them."
"About what?"
Kat took Jessica's hand and led her outside into the crisp night air. The dark sky was filled with bright twinkling stars. The three-quarter moon hung low on the horizon, just beginning to make its ascent.
"About your apple trees, goose!"
"My saplings? You still have them?"
"Of course I have them. You asked us to take care of them until you made it here, didn't you? What kind of a friend would I be if I couldn't do such a simple thing?" Kat came to a halt and lifted her lantern.
Jessica took a deep breath, her lungs expanding with relief, with excitement. By the light of the lantern she could see her saplings planted one next to the other.
"With winter coming, Billy thought we'd best get them planted. We figured they'd be safe from the wind here near the barn. Come spring we'll just dig them up and plant them on your land."
"Oh, Kat." Jessica reached out to finger a leafless branch. It was soft and flexible, alive and well. She brought her fingertips to her nose and smelled the sweet aroma of the bark. "How can I ever thank you?"
Kat dropped her hand on her friend's shoulder. "We don't want any thanks, Jess. We just want you to be happy." She smiled and then reached out to brush away the single tear that slid down her friend's cheek.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"You understand the plan?" Adam repeated.
Jessica spun the cylinder of her Smith & Wesson and watch the way the lamplight gleamed off the six bullets as they went round and round. "I understand."
Adam watched her from across the room. She was dressed sensibly in a brown wool skirt and a beige striped shirtwaist. She wore no bustle or other women's trappings. Soft doeskin gloves covered her hands. Her hair was tied back, a black wool hat pushed down over her forehead. She looked like a female version of Adam and he didn't like it.
Since they'd arrived in Seattle nearly two weeks ago, she'd been irritable and jumpy. She continually looked over her shoulder. She refused any intimacy or tenderness. Once she located the Wiedenhoefts and found her saplings safe, she wanted to talk of nothing but the plan to capture Caine.
Adam had eventually located Caine's brother, Toby, in a rundown shack near the wharfs. Adam and Jessica had watched the house four nights running. Last night Adam had finally been rewarded with his first glimpse of Larry Caine, the infamous Black Bandit.
Caine was nothing like Adam had pictured. He was small and unimposing. He had a shock of feminine blond hair and wore a gaudy red hat. Obviously he thought himself safe, or he would have been more cautious. He wouldn't have been walking down the center of the street with a whore on each arm and the three of them singing "Dixie."
"What are you staring at?" Jessica asked, her tone short and accusing.
Adam blinked. "What?"
"I said what are you staring at me for? Are we going or aren't we?"
Adam eyed the pistol in her hand. She'd spent the entire afternoon cleaning it. She'd methodically disassembled it, polished every piece, and then reassembled it. She seemed obsessed.
He tried to make eye contact with her, but she looked away. "You know you don't have to go," he said. "I'd just as soon go alone."
She rammed her pistol into her holster and jumped up from her chair, her eyes flashing with anger. "I've come six hundred miles from Utah. I've been mauled by buffalo hunters, bit by a poisonous snake, and captured by renegade Indians!" She took a deep breath. Her voice was threatening and low. "If you think I'm going to sit here and drink tea while you stroll in and take my brother's murderer, you're wrong! I have to be there. You can't stop me from going. If it hadn't been for me, you'd still be riding through dust in Utah. You owe me!"
Adam put up his hands in protest. "Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute! I didn't say you couldn't go, I just said you didn't have to. I could do it al
one. It's my job, Jess."
She flung open the door and walked out without a reply. With an exasperated sigh, Adam followed, a rifle in hand.
They were in their positions by nine o'clock. Then there was nothing to do but wait. Jessica was hidden behind a parked wagon just past the door of Toby's shack. Adam waited directly across the street where he could see Caine as he came around the corner.
Because they were separated, Adam couldn't talk to Jessica, he could only watch and wait. Everything had been going so well between them when they'd been on the train. After the incident the first night in the dining car they had had no more trouble. The trip had been delightful. The last night Adam had nearly gotten up the courage to ask her to marry him, secrets be damned, but then at the last minute he decided to wait until he had Caine safely behind bars. Once his name was cleared with the Union Pacific, he would give them notice. He'd be free to concentrate wholeheartedly on Jessica and whatever it was about her past that clouded her future.
Adam checked his pocket watch. Almost midnight. He looked over at Jessica. She sat perfectly still, but she wasn't asleep. Keep a sharp lookout, he had warned, and that was precisely what she was doing. Adam sighed, shifting his weight to keep his legs from going to sleep on him. Damned if the Union Pacific couldn't use some detectives like Jessica. She'd be the best of the lot. He couldn't resist a smile as he stared through the darkness at her. Prettiest, too.
When Adam saw Jessica's head snap around, he immediately turned to face the hill where the road turned around the bend and came down in front of Toby's house. Sure enough, here came the Caine brothers, arm in arm, drunk by the looks of their meandering walk.
Adam had hoped Larry would be alone, but had realized there was the possibility he wouldn't be. With Toby along, things might get sticky. The trick was to take Larry unharmed, without having to shoot Toby.
Adam concentrated on the two men coming down the steep, muddy hill. He could hear their voices now. They were laughing and talking about a hand of poker. One of them had been cheating for the other, but their voices were so similar that Adam couldn't tell who was speaking when.
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