***
Nettie made breakfast for all of the brides the next morning, and they gathered in her cabin to eat and share their concerns.
“How’s Bryce feeling today?” Josie asked.
“He’s all right. His head aches a little bit and he’s still regaining his strength, but Dr. Miller is amazed at how quickly he’s healing up. I told him it’s because he’s so hardheaded.”
The women all laughed. “Well, that might be true, but it’s coming in handy,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m just so glad you were able to have your wedding day after all.”
Nettie and Kathryn both nodded. “Now we’re all brides, like we were supposed to be from the start,” Kathryn said.
They finished their breakfast and helped Nettie clean up, then decided to go for a walk over to the general store to see if the new shipment of fabric had come in. Old Joe had been promising it to them for a few days now, and he seemed perplexed as to where it had gone.
As they stepped outside, Kathryn paused. “Oh, I wanted to show you something.” She reached behind her neck and unhooked the clasp of the necklace she’d been wearing since the night before. “Michael gave this to me before he left. Isn’t it pretty?”
The girls gathered around and looked at Kathryn’s palm, where a delicate heart-shaped pendant lay. “It’s beautiful,” Elizabeth said. “A perfect wedding gift.”
“He told me that he sent away for it the same day he wrote to request his bride,” Kathryn said, her heart beating a little faster. “He was so sure he was going to fall in love with me that he wanted to have something on hand to give me on our wedding day.”
“That’s so sweet,” Josie chimed in.
Just then, something gray and furry attacked Kathryn’s hand. She shrieked and jerked back before realizing it was Rocky, and that he’d glided down from above to steal her necklace.
“My necklace!” she gasped, realizing that her hand was now empty and that little rascal was scampering away as fast as he could go. Funny, he didn’t look as fat as he had the last time she’d seen him.
“Chase him!” Nettie cried, and all four girls took off in hot pursuit. That, of course, made Rocky run even faster. Kathryn was glad he didn’t have actual wings. If he was able to take flight, that would make the chase impossible.
They followed him to a tree on the edge of a clearing and watched him run up the trunk and into a hole about eight feet off the ground.
“Could you girls give me a boost?” Kathryn asked. “If I could just reach my arm inside, I could grab the necklace.”
“And hope your hand doesn’t get bit off in the process,” Nettie said. “You don’t know what’s in there, and Rocky could have rabies.”
“Do squirrels get rabies?” Elizabeth asked.
“Oh, gracious, I don’t know. But I don’t think we want to take that chance.”
Kathryn didn’t want rabies any more than any other sane person would, but that necklace was special, and she wanted it back. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“What about a ladder?” Josie said. “Then you could climb up and look inside before you ever put your hand in there. We have a ladder that’s about six feet tall, you’re over five feet—that’s plenty, don’t you think?”
The girls all agreed that sounded like a good plan. Elizabeth stayed behind to keep an eye on the tree—they wanted to know if Rocky left again, carrying something shiny. The other three went back to Josie’s to get the ladder. Kathryn was on the brink of tears. She’d been married just twenty-four hours, she hadn’t seen her husband in twelve of those hours, and she’d lost the gift he’d given her before leaving. She felt so foolish—why had she taken the necklace off? She should have kept it fastened.
When they arrived back at the tree, Elizabeth reported that Rocky hadn’t made an appearance. Kathryn nodded and steeled herself for the climb. Josie and Nettie held the ladder on either side, and after she shook the ladder to make sure it was as steady as she could make it, Kathryn began her ascent. The feet of the ladder sank into the soft dirt as her weight pushed on it, but she pressed her lips together and kept on.
When she reached the hole, she peered inside, and then gasped.
“What’s the matter?” Elizabeth called up. “What do you see?”
Kathryn turned and smiled down at the girls. “I know why Rocky’s not fat anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” Nettie asked.
“Rocky isn’t a he—he’s a she, and she just had babies,” Kathryn said, turning to look back inside. Six naked little squirrels lay snuggled up to Rocky’s chest, eating their breakfast, and Rocky looked like the proudest mama who ever was.
The girls all exclaimed and wanted a chance to climb up and see. Kathryn agreed that none of them should miss out, but first, she pulled a pin from her hair, reached in, used the pin to hook the chain of her necklace from the top of the squirrel’s hoard, and dragged it toward her. Rocky looked up, but didn’t seem to object.
Once Kathryn was back on the ground and her necklace was fastened around her neck, the other girls took turns climbing up.
“Cutest things I’ve ever seen,” Nettie said as she descended. “I wonder if Rocky will teach them to steal from people too.”
“Oh, I hope not,” Elizabeth said. “But I have a feeling that Kathryn’s going to need to sew us more bonnets so we’ll have an ample supply.”
They all laughed as they walked back to town, carrying the ladder between them.
Chapter Ten
None of the Mounties had seen anything during the night. Now that the sun was up, they left Aaron on lookout above, and Ernie and Michael climbed down to the cove. From this perspective, it was easy to see three caves that had been carved out of the cliff face by years of water lapping up onto the shore. They were fascinating to look at—Michael wanted to bring Kathryn down here someday to see them.
When they entered the first cave, they saw that it was quite shallow, and the water from the waves kept the floor rather damp. It was unlikely that anyone had been hiding out in here.
The second cave, however, was much deeper, and toward the back were the remnants of a fire and some empty cans of food. “Could just be someone passing through,” Michael said, even though his heart was pounding and he was sure they were on to something.
“Could be, but wasn’t.” Ernie bent down and picked up a scrap of silk, the same sort Nettie’s scarf was made of that Old Joe had confessed to buying at a discount. “There’s no reason for this to be here unless Joe’s suppliers were here in this cave, and there’s no reason for suppliers to be in this cave unless they’re hiding out.”
“So we’ve definitely found a smuggler’s cave. We just need to link it to the MacDonalds,” Michael said.
“With this as our evidence, we can make Joe talk.” Ernie shoved it in his pocket, looking angry. “He should have told us the truth from the beginning instead of lying to us.”
“At the very least, given us the name of his supplier,” Michael agreed. Without evidence, they hadn’t been able to press the man for information, but a law-abiding citizen would have voluntarily told them. He couldn’t wait to get back to town and show Old Joe what they’d found. He’d be talking up a storm before suppertime for sure.
***
Ernie charged into the general store, Aaron and Michael on his heels. Joe looked up from his ledger. “Hello,” he said, a lazy smile on his face. “What can I do for you?”
Ernie glanced around. “You have a private place where we can talk?”
“Like I told you before, I’ve got nothing to hide. Why can’t we talk about it here?”
Ernie reached into his pocket and pulled out the scrap of silk. Joe’s eyes widened, and then he swallowed. “This way.”
He led them to a store room in the back and closed the door. “Now see, I’ve already told you. I buy that at a discount, and I have no idea where it comes from.”
“Oh, but you do know who’s selling it to you,” Ernie re
plied. “We want a name.”
Joe shook his head. “I know my rights. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“This scrap was found in a highly suspicious place. A place where it had no right being,” Michael said, taking a step closer. “And you are linked to this scrap, which makes us think that you’re also highly suspicious. I suggest you tell the commander here where the silk came from.”
Joe turned as if to leave the room, but Aaron had leaned against the door, looking rather casual, but also looking like a barricade. Joe swallowed. “What’ll happen to me if I tell?”
“I’m sure it will be much more pleasant than if you don’t tell,” Ernie replied.
Joe sank down onto the top of a barrel. “If they find out I’m the one who told you, I’m ruined,” he moaned, shaking his head from side to side. “They threatened me. They said they’d hurt me.”
“As it stands, right now we have you as an accessory to smuggling,” Ernie said. “We might even have you as an accessory to murder. What do you know about that?”
Joe’s head jerked up. “I didn’t know about that until way after. Way after! It had nothin’ to do with me. He just did it, and I didn’t know! I told him he’d done wrong. I told him.”
Ernie turned to Michael. “Now, that’s rather interesting,” he said conversationally. “Joe here knows about a murder. The only murder we’ve had here for a long, long time. And the murderer has confessed, so we know who it was.”
“That really is interesting,” Michael said. “It sounds to me like Joe knows Jamie MacDonald pretty well. Well enough that they’ve been chatting about things like murder and whether it’s right or wrong.”
“I didn’t say anything about talking to Jamie MacDonald!” Joe came to his feet. “I didn’t say anything like that!”
“Oh, but you did,” Aaron said, still leaning against the door. “I heard it. Clear as day.”
Joe sank back down to his barrel. “You’ve gotta help me,” he whined. “You’ve gotta get me out of this.”
“There’s not a ton we can do,” Ernie replied. “You’ve gotten yourself buried pretty deep. However, if you’ll tell us where to find the MacDonalds now, we’ll tell the judge that you were very helpful.”
“Will I go to jail?” Joe asked.
“That’s for the judge to decide. It all depends on just how much you knew and how much you helped the MacDonalds.”
“Not a lot. I swear.”
Michael wanted to believe the man. He’d always liked Joe. But he couldn’t let his personal feelings get in the way—the man had obviously been walking on the wrong side of the law for a while now.
“Well, let’s take it a step at a time. Where are the MacDonalds now?”
“I don’t know, but I’m supposed to meet them late tonight. I have a payment for them—a pretty decent payment. They’ll definitely want it.”
“No chance they’d skip out without it?”
“None. I don’t think they could skip out without it—they’d need it to get wherever they’re going with Jamie.”
Ernie nodded. “All right, where’s the meeting place?”
Joe licked his lips. “I’m supposed to row a mile out from the cove and meet them there.”
“At what time?”
“Midnight.”
Ernie nodded. “All right, Joe. Let me explain what’s going to happen. Michael and I are going to be in that boat with you. We’re going to hunker down in the bottom, and you’re going to row out there just as planned. We’ll do the rest.”
Joe’s face was a mask of terror. “But . . .”
Ernie held up a hand. “I’ll put in a good word with the judge.”
Joe slumped back down. “Yes, sir. Meet me on the beach at eleven thirty.”
***
Kathryn startled when the front door to the cabin opened. She got up and raced across the floor, throwing herself into Michael’s arms. “You’re back! You’re safe! What happened?”
“We’re going back out tonight. The MacDonalds have a secret meeting arranged with Old Joe, and we’re going to be there with them.” He walked toward the bedroom. “I need to get some sleep—I’m exhausted.”
“Don’t you want any food first?”
“When I wake up.”
He draped himself over the bed and was asleep within seconds. Kathryn wanted more details, but knew she’d have to wait until everything was wrapped up. She wouldn’t disturb his sleep for anything—he needed it too badly.
She spent a little time putting together a nice roasted chicken. If he had to go back out, she wanted him to go on a full stomach. By the time he woke up, the house smelled wonderful, and he came out of the bedroom with a sleepy smile on his face.
“Best wife I’ve ever had,” he said, pulling her into his arms.
“How many wives have you had?” she asked teasingly.
“I don’t remember. You’ve chased them all out of my mind.” He gave her a quick kiss, then sat down at the table. As they ate, he told her everything that had happened the previous night and that morning.
“I’m sorry you had to spend the night like that for no good reason, but that’s really an incredible find,” she said, handing him the plate of biscuits.
“It wasn’t wasted time. It helped us eliminate that cove as their current hiding spot.” Michael took another bite and swallowed. “When we got home, Aaron took over for Bryce at the station so Ernie and I could sleep. It’ll be nice when Bryce is well and this is all over so we can get back on a regular routine.”
Kathryn had fun telling Michael their discovery about Rocky the squirrel, and he laughed heartily. “I wish I could have seen that,” he said, wiping his eyes. “Four women chasing a squirrel through town.”
“I’m sure we looked quite the sight. I’m just sorry that I let your necklace get stolen in the first place.”
He grinned. “I don’t know—it made for a great story. I needed that, so I’d say it was well worth it. Plus, you got it back.” He nodded at her neck, where the chain was visible above her collar.
“Yes, thank goodness, and I’m never taking it off outside again.”
By the time Michael had to leave, Kathryn felt that he’d had enough to eat, and he also held her just long enough before walking out the door again. This part of the plan was the most dangerous of all, and she kept a prayer in her heart as he walked off to meet with Ernie. The last time Bryce had interacted with the MacDonalds, he’d come home with a gash in his forehead. She prayed for safety for her husband, for Josie’s husband, and that God would help them bring justice to all those who needed it.
***
Old Joe was a jittery mess when they met up with him on the shore. “Now, you’re not gonna get me killed, are you?” he asked as they climbed into the boat. “I didn’t wager on getting killed today.”
“We’re going to do our very best to make sure no one gets killed,” Ernie said. “You do realize, though, that when you do business with dangerous men, dangerous things happen.”
Joe nodded. Michael figured the man had spent some time reevaluating his life choices since they’d talked earlier that day.
Michael and Ernie flattened themselves on the bottom of the boat, again wearing dark clothes. Joe rowed them toward their destination, at one point saying, “I see them up ahead. About ten minutes now.”
Michael pulled in several deep breaths to help him stay calm. Every second of this encounter was going to be crucial. If they took one misstep, someone would get hurt or even killed. And of course, the biggest question—would Jamie be on the boat, or would the rest of his family have come without him? If Jamie wasn’t with them, who knew what they’d have to do to find him. Michael knew without any doubt that none of the MacDonald clan would give up his location, regardless of the consequences.
“Ho there!” Joe called out a moment later, and a reply echoed across the water. Michael drew his pistol from his belt and held it at the ready. He sensed from Ernie’s movement that he was doin
g the same. Now it was up to Joe to play his part.
“I have your payment,” Joe said as he dropped anchor. Lanterns on the other boat helped illuminate the scene, casting shadows and making the water look as black as ink.
“It’s a good thing,” said the raspy voice of Angus MacDonald. “You owe us plenty.”
“Every penny is here.” Joe reached out with a packet that he had taken from his coat pocket.
As they’d planned, as soon as the packet had changed hands, Ernie and Michael came to crouching positions in the bottom of the boat and trained their pistols on the occupants of the MacDonalds’ boat. “Hands in the air,” Ernie barked.
Angus startled and dropped the packet. Then anger fell like a mask over his features. “You double-crossed us, Joe,” he growled.
Michael glanced over the other men in the boat. Sure enough, Jamie was in the back, trying to hide in the shadows, and Michael exhaled with relief. They wouldn’t have to look for him any further.
“All your weapons. Now,” Ernie demanded.
Angus flicked his eyes between the two Mounties. Then he reached under his jacket and pulled out a pistol of his own, tossing it to Ernie. Several other guns were surrendered the same way, but Michael noticed that Jamie hadn’t moved.
Suddenly, Jamie stood up and brought his pistol to firing position, aiming right at Ernie. Michael brought his up as well and shot Jamie’s pistol arm, causing the man to wail as he dropped his gun and clutched at the wound.
“Every gun now,” Michael said through gritted teeth.
After the surrendered guns were gathered up, each MacDonald was handcuffed and searched. Then Michael took the helm of the MacDonalds’ boat, and together, the two boats returned to shore. Just as the sun was peeking over the edge of the horizon, Michael and Ernie marched the MacDonald clan into the jail and clanged the door shut, promising Jamie they’d send for the doctor if he’d stop his sniveling.
RNWMP: Bride for Michael (Mail Order Mounties Book 24) Page 8