Dread Nation

by Justina Ireland

  “I just didn’t think to share it. I’m sorry. I know you fancied him.”

  “I did not fancy him,” she says. “I don’t fancy anyone. But he was a good person, and his passing is unfortunate. In the future you need to tell me these things instead of suffering the truth in silence.” Katherine’s tone is haughty, even as she whispers. “And if I’m meant to get close to the sheriff and get his guard down, I ain’t doing it alone.” She jumps off the bed, and I notice she’s wearing a lovely blue silk day dress, akin to what the ladies of Baltimore used to wear. “I appreciate your dedication, Jane, but I’ll not have you injured so badly again,” she says, loud enough for anyone to hear. Her tone is polished, befitting a lady of her supposed station. “As soon as you’ve mended enough to be useful you will return to your Attendant’s duties. Understood?”

  “Of course, Miss Katherine,” I say, slipping into the characteristic speech patterns of an uneducated serving girl. “I’ll try to get better lickety-split. Don’t you worry none about me. I’m a real fast healer.”

  Katherine shoots me one of her too-familiar dirty looks, an expression I haven’t seen in a while, and I smile as she slips out the door.

  I feel better than I have in weeks, even with my mangled back. I’m confident that I will be en route to Rose Hill and my momma soon. If it means playing lady’s maid to Katherine in the meantime, so be it.

  How bad can it be?

  Auntie Aggie sends her love, by the way. She wants me to remind you to keep out of trouble, and to always wear your lucky penny. She also wants me to tell you that the beets just haven’t grown right since you left. It seems even the garden misses your presence.

  Chapter 29

  In Which I Struggle to Keep from Committing Homicide

  I discover even before joining Katherine in the rich end of town that she has taken to her role of displaced lady like a duck to water. A very arrogant, snobbish duck.

  After a week of rest I’m mostly healed up. The cuts and raw spots have crusted over enough that I can mostly move around, and even though my back twinges when I move too quickly, it’s nothing I can’t ignore.

  When the Duchess brings me clothes to put on they are nothing like the trousers and rough-spun shirt I was given before. I stare at the lovely calico dress in awe, fingers grazing the fine blue-patterned weave. Blue is my second favorite color, and I’m almost afraid to contemplate that the lovely dress might actually be for me.

  “What’s going on?” I ask.

  “Since the story of Miss Deveraux’s dire straits have made the rounds, Sheriff Snyder has been bending over backward to see to her comfort. Katherine asked that you be given a new dress, since it is unseemly that her Attendant should be seen in the garb of a field hand.” The Duchess says this last bit in Katherine’s accent, and I snort to keep from laughing out loud.

  “Yes, that sounds like my Miss Katherine, all right,” I say, going along with the act just in case anyone might be listening. For the sheriff to believe that Katherine is a lady, he needs to believe that I’m her faithful companion. A month ago, it would’ve been a hard sell. But my time in Summerland has most definitely changed that, and I am willing to pretend to be just about anything in order to win my freedom from this place.

  Luckily, Katherine has already laid most of the groundwork for me.

  I dress quickly, the movement tugging the scabs in an uncomfortable, but not painful, way. The dress fits perfectly, as though it were made for me. The hem is a little shorter than could be considered modest, hitting me just above the tops of my knees, right where I like it to be. What I like to think of as fighting length. There are a pair of loose trousers to go underneath for modesty’s sake, and although I don’t have all of the weaponry, I’m wearing a very close approximation of an Attendant’s garb.

  I pull on my boots and stand, feeling pretty good even though I’ve been abed the past week. The Duchess purses her lips and hands me the Confederate sword I’d been using. Someone found a scabbard for it, which raises all kinds of questions. “They sent this on over for you as well. The Lady Katherine is waiting for you in the sheriff’s office.”

  I nod and take the sword, belting the scabbard around my waist. I feel better having a real weapon, but I still ache for my sickles. Swords are nice and all, but they don’t much compare to a pair of well-made short blades.

  “You have any luck with that medicine I was asking about?”

  The Duchess shakes her head. “The girls’ been suffering through their menses, even though I been asking. Guess your Miss Katherine is going to have to suffer as well.” The meaning behind her words is clear: no laudanum.

  “I don’t suppose there are any opium joints in town?” It’s a stretch, but I’m thinking that maybe I can lace one of the sheriff’s cigarettes with the drug, make him compliant, and then just finish the job.

  The Duchess purses her lips and shakes her head. “We don’t allow any Chinese folks in town, the preacher’s made that clear.”

  I sigh. “Well, thank you for your help anyway, Duchess.”

  She nods. “You can repay me by convincing the tinkerer to fix my bath, since you seem to have his ear.”

  I raise my eyebrows in surprise but say nothing.

  I leave the saloon through the side entrance my patrol used every morning, brain working through the possibilities. I need to find a way to get out of town once the sheriff is put down, and fast. I get the feeling that the sheriff’s men will quickly be able to ascertain what transpired and who the likely culprit is. I have my concerns about making it back to Rose Hill in one piece anyway, but I ain’t getting out of town at all if I’m lynched.

  So outright murdering the sheriff in broad daylight is off the table, more’s the pity. But there’s a hundred ways a man can end up dead without any kind of real knowing who did it.

  I’m working through a couple of scenarios, one of them involving rat poison and soup, even though poison is a cowardly way to murder a man, when I stop short. A few feet away, decked out like the belle of the ball, is Katherine, surrounded by a few of the drovers. That ain’t at all unusual, since from what I’ve seen there ain’t many unattached ladies in Summerland, and those that ain’t spoken for make a living on their backs.

  But what ain’t normal is the look of sheer panic on Katherine’s face.

  I duck my head and make a beeline to the group. “All right, fellas, move it along.” I make a shooing motion with my hands, falling right back into my Attendant training.

  A couple turn to look back at me, but no one steps away from Katherine. They’re like bees on a particularly sweet flower, stubborn and focused. Good thing I know how to handle bees.

  I draw my sword and smack the nearest suitor across the back of his head with the flat of my blade. “Hey, what’s the big—” His eyes go wide when he realizes my blade is now only a few inches from his eye.

  “Move. Now.”

  He scampers off, along with a few other fellows, the lot of them muttering curses but too cowardly to do anything more than that. Their departure clears enough of a path that I can grab Katherine’s arm and wrench her away from the rest of her suitors without any further violence. The men say nothing, not even a single swear, and I take that to be because they’re still trying to put their best foot forward with the mysterious Katherine Deveraux, fine lady from the east.

  “Thank goodness you got here when you did. I was about to wield my parasol,” Katherine says, scowling.

  “I would think a Miss Preston’s girl would know better than to let herself get so hopelessly outnumbered.”

  “I’m a lady, Jane. I would never turn my hand to violence; that is what my Attendant is for. Besides, as long as I am trapped in this godforsaken place I will have to do all my dealings in the currency of besotted idiots. What would you have me do, alienate the entire town? It is not as though I have a fortune at my disposal. I must be charming no matter the predicament.” She snaps open her parasol and gives me a haughty look over he
r shoulder. I can’t decide if she’s brilliant or utterly insane. She’s playing the role of debutante so well that I’m wondering if maybe Katherine ain’t really the daughter of some long-lost princess. It would explain quite a bit.

  She sniffs, and gestures toward the boardwalk. “Now, let us go call upon the sheriff. I believe he might have something for us. Try to look contrite, would you?”

  I give Katherine my best puppy-dog look, but she only rolls her eyes heavenward before marching out smartly across the dusty lane.

  I have to run to open the door for Katherine, she’s set such a frightful pace. She sails into the sheriff’s office unannounced, like she owns the place. The bastard sheriff and his boys are guffawing at something, and an ugly emotion rises up in my chest—part rage, part indignation, mostly bloodlust. What he did to me, what he’s most likely done to others before me . . . My vision goes dark as I imagine taking my fists to the sheriff’s face, pounding away until it loses shape and resembles nothing more than a mound of meat. I blink quickly, clearing the savage vision, a sick feeling settling in my middle.

  There is nothing I want more right now than to kill Sheriff Snyder. Not my freedom, not to return to Rose Hill, nothing. Just the sheriff, on the ground, his lifeblood seeping into the boards.

  The strength of my rage is terrifying. It’s all I can do to swallow my fear and anger as the men jump to their feet at Katherine’s presence, as if they have some sense of civility.

  “Miss Deveraux,” the sheriff says, tipping his hat. His gaze barely flickers over me, and I keep my eyes downcast so he won’t see how much I’d like to stab him in the heart with my rusty cavalry sword.

  “Sheriff, I have a request to make of you.”

  “Well now, I reckon you been doing a lot of that lately.” There’s bemusement and affection in the sheriff’s voice but no anger, and I’m relieved to know that I didn’t misread his fondness for Katherine. It’s a sad thing, but there are few men that can’t be softened by a pretty face. For the first time I can remember I’m thankful that Katherine is fetching enough for two girls.

  “My girl needs a better weapon than this woeful sword, something more befitting an Attendant. I was hoping we could have your leave to procure some proper weapons for her.”

  The sheriff strokes his yellow mustache as he thinks, and I fight to keep the excitement from my face. A genuine weapon would be more than I’ve been hoping for. Not that I couldn’t kill the sheriff properly with my cavalry sword, or my bare hands if it came to it.

  “You want me to give your darkie a gun?” the sheriff says with a smirk. His gaze is heavy on me, waiting for a reaction, a flash of indignation or anger. But I am playing the role of a faithful Attendant, so I school my expression to blankness. Luckily his eyes are on me, so he misses the anger that flashes across Katherine’s face before she smiles politely.

  “Of course not, Sheriff. Jane is terrible with a rifle. I was thinking more along the lines of the sickle, a weapon designed specifically for the close-combat techniques of an Attendant.”

  Sheriff Snyder’s smile fades and he nods. “Hold on a moment, I think I got something.” He disappears into a room off the side and returns with a pair of sickles.

  My sickles. My much-loved and much-used sickles.

  “That man Redfern left these behind. If you think they’d be useful, your girl can have them.”

  Katherine inclines her head regally. “Thank you, Sheriff. And as soon as I am able to reach my uncle by telegram, I am sure he will tell me how happy he would be to repay your generosity.”

  “Not necessary.” The sheriff approaches Katherine, reaching around her to offer me the sickles. He’s closer than would be considered decent by any standard, but Katherine doesn’t step backward. “Would you privilege me with a moment of your time?”

  “Of course, it would be a pleasure.” Katherine’s smile reveals none of the discomfort that emanates from her. Maybe the sheriff doesn’t notice how she’s shifted her weight back, putting a few more inches of space between the two of them, but I do. I’ve known Katherine for a long time, and the last thing she wants to do is spend another moment in the sheriff’s presence.

  But this is the role that I’ve asked her to play, and Katherine is not one to back down from what’s required of her. She’s a much better person than I am.

  I take my sickles from the sheriff, then open the door. Katherine exits, the sheriff close behind. I’m about to follow when from behind me one of the men calls out.

  “How’s that back of yours?”

  It takes every bit of discipline I have to keep walking, to not look back. Mocking laughter follows me as I leave the building, hurrying after the sheriff and Katherine.

  They’re deep in conversation, him leaning in, her using her parasol as an effective barrier against him getting too close. My boots echo on the boardwalk as I approach, and he glances over his shoulder and grunts. “I daresay you’re safer with me than anywhere else in Summerland. Why don’t you send your girl to see to your house and I’ll drop you off after we enjoy a short stroll?”

  Katherine gives the sheriff an indulgent smile. “A lady’s Attendant is not there just to protect her from the restless dead. She also protects my virtue and my reputation, Sheriff.”

  “Miss Deveraux, do you think that I am a threat to your virtue or reputation?”

  “I would say that you are the only one who knows the answer to that question, sir.”

  The laugh that booms out of the sheriff is genuine, and an ugly feeling rises up in me. He’s looking down at Katherine like he’s a starving man and she’s a steak that just landed upon his plate. It’s an expression I don’t care for one bit. I could kill the man without a single shred of remorse, and I’m near about to do just that when the sound of hoofbeats stays my hand.

  “Sheriff! Sheriff!” A man I don’t recognize rides up in a cloud of dust, and both Katherine and I shrink back into the shade of the boardwalk while the sheriff strides out into the middle of the street to meet the rider.

  “What is it, Bean?”

  “Bob, Bill, and now Bean,” Katherine mutters. “Is it a requirement your name has to start with the letter B to work for the man?”

  I only catch snippets of the conversation, but I do hear the words breach, eastern fence, and townsfolk. Whatever is happening, it’s enough to turn the sheriff’s expression stormy, as he sends the rider off with low-voiced instructions.

  Sheriff Snyder comes back, giving Katherine a deep bow. “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, Miss Deveraux, but there is an urgent matter I must attend to.”

  Katherine actually manages to look disappointed. “What seems to be the issue?”

  “Nothing that me and the boys shouldn’t be able to take care of, but I’d caution you to get inside of your house and stay there. Keep your girl close. There might be some trouble afoot, and I wouldn’t want you to get caught up in it.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff.”

  He gives Katherine one last tip of his hat before striding out smartly back toward his office, yelling for Bob and Bill. They come running, rifles in their hands. All three of the men jump on their horses and ride off, kicking up a generous cloud of dust as they go.

  “Well, that is interesting,” Katherine says, eyes narrowed.

  I grab her by her elbow and pull her a little. “Come on, this is our chance.”

  “Chance for what?”

  “To snoop around the sheriff’s office. If you haven’t noticed, there’s still too much about this land that we don’t know. They might have a map and compass so we can navigate once we hightail it out of here.”

  I leave Katherine sputtering on the boardwalk and make a beeline back to the sheriff’s office. It’s nearly midday and the streets are deserted. The morning patrols would be out and the evening patrols getting what sleep they can, so this is the perfect time to get in a bit of uninterrupted sneaking.

  I dash down the boardwalk, skidding to a stop in front of th
e office. Katherine is close on my heels, huffing and puffing even though it was only a couple hundred feet. I glance at her over my shoulder. “Are you wearing a corset?”

  “Yes, Jane, I am. Because a lady wouldn’t go about without one.”

  I shake my head and walk inside, pulling Katherine in as well. She leans back against the wall next to the door, fighting to catch her breath.

  “What is it you said you’re looking for?”

  I shrug. “A map, a compass . . . Anything that seems like it could be useful.”

  Katherine’s eyes skim around the room. “Well, that’s vague enough.”

  I roll my eyes. “Why don’t you search that room over there? I’ll go poke through his desk.”

  Katherine heads over to the room off the main office and I hurry over to the desk, opening drawers and peering at their contents. I have a flashback to the last time I went snooping where I didn’t belong, and for a heartbeat I wonder if maybe I should’ve learned my lesson. If we get caught our situation will be dire, but I have no idea what the next closest town might be, or even how far. A map and some kind of direction finding will be vital for our escape.

  I also want to see if prying through the sheriff’s belongings reveals anything about him. The sheriff has weaknesses. I already know Katherine’s pretty face is one of them, so what others does the man possess? The more I know about the sheriff, the easier it will be to get quit of him.

  Well, at least that’s what I’m hoping.

  The drawers I open reveal nothing remarkable: rolling papers, some loose tobacco, a few bullets. There’s an apple and a nice hunk of wax-wrapped cheese in a bottom drawer, and I have to fight from snatching it up. Even after days of doing nothing and eating decently in the Duchess’s care, I’m still as hungry as I’ve ever been; but if I take it, the sheriff will know that someone has been in his desk, and him being suspicious ain’t in the plan.

  It doesn’t take long to figure that there’s a whole lot of nothing in the sheriff’s desk. I close the last drawer and stand with a sigh, moving to check on Katherine. I’m halfway there when boot steps echo outside on the boardwalk.