by Paty Jager
A hiss of air eased out between her teeth. She didn’t want to aggravate the men. One look told a body they weren’t law-abiding miners and were dangerous. But it was downright rude of the man to even touch the badge let alone make fun of her. She was an official after all.
“Kind of scrawny for a marshal.” The pockmarked man stopped his horse directly in front of her.
The big-eared man, who appeared to be in charge, walked his horse up alongside the scrawnier man. “Leave him alone,” he said gruffly and boxed the scrawny fellow alongside the head.
“Hey!” The smaller man grabbed his ear. “Whatcha do that for?”
Darcy breathed a sigh of relief. If the boss didn’t want her hurt, she’d be fine.
“Can’t you see the marshal is headed back to town? Let him go.” The boss smiled maliciously. “I bet he’s looking for some bad men, and they’re all in town.” The whole bunch laughed loudly and spurred their horses on down the trail.
Darcy sat where she was, waiting to see if they kept going or were playing with her. When she was certain they weren’t coming back, she turned her horse and followed.
Her heart beat frantically in her chest as she eased the horse forward, keeping a firm grip on the reins. If she came around a bend or a tree and they’d stopped, she wanted to be ready to run the other way.
She tilted her head and heard the sound of many male voices headed her way. Had she walked into the robber’s hideout? Fearful of being caught, she started to slip off her horse and dive for the underbrush.
Her foot caught in the stirrup. She bounced around on one foot trying to untangle her big boot. The sound of footfalls on the path made her look up as a flock of miners came into view.
Her heart slowly resumed its normal beating. She swallowed, reviving her mouth that felt as dry as an old creek bed. Several of the miners she’d talked to earlier in the day came into view.
“You dancing with your horse, Marshal?” one man called out, and they all burst into jovial laughter.
Darcy pulled herself back up onto the saddle and looked down at the men. They ranged in age from gnarled, barely able to lift a shovel and pick, to only a few years older than Jeremy. She didn’t know what made a man live by himself and dig in the ground hoping for riches when there were other things in life that took less energy.
“I was checking his hoof and the fool horse decided he’d rather I walk than ride.” She smiled, as the group broke into another round of good-natured laughing. She couldn’t figure the men out, but she liked them.
“You’re headed the wrong direction, Marshal,” Mr. Gustafson said, pointing toward town. “There’s a dance tonight in the meeting hall.”
Another miner said, “We’re hoping the ladies show up so we don’t have to dance with each other.” A loud roar of laughter echoed through the trees.
What ladies? There was a shortage of women in town. The few respectable ones she’d met were married to the businessmen.
“Mrs. Danforth, she will have her girls there. She is céstmagnifique,” Pierre La Rouge said, putting his fingers to his mouth and kissing the tips.
The men standing around her horse thought she was a man. Her cheeks warmed at the mention of prostitutes. She ducked her head, so they wouldn’t notice how their conversation affected her, and turned the horse back toward town at a trot.
A miner shouted, “Hey marshal, wait for us. You can’t have all the girls to yourself.” A roar of laughter followed her down the trail.
Darcy kicked the horse into a lope. She would attend the dance, but not as the marshal. She might have a better chance of getting information out of the men if they thought she was one of Mrs. Danforth’s girls. She’d heard men tell women things they would never tell another man.
Darcy trotted into Main Street and straight to the livery. The street was quiet for the time of day. Everyone must be resting up for the big doings tonight. She left the horse in the care of Ted and headed to the jail. Her feet thudded on the wood walkway and echoed down the calm street as she made her way to the jail.
“Jeremy. Jeremy!” She walked across the small room and sat down in the chair. Where could she find out more about stamp mills? Rubbing a hand over her face, she wondered if she could get some information out of Craven tonight if he didn’t know who she was.
“Jeremy!” She looked around and started to worry. Where could he be? She stared across the street. What if Craven caught Jeremy watching him? She jumped out of the chair and hurried out the door. With determined steps she headed down the street to Craven’s office. Relief flowed through her when pot-bellied Craven came out of the saloon laughing with another man.
“Marshal Duncan, where have you been all day?” Craven asked.
“About.” Darcy watched him carefully to see if he knew what she’d been up to. He seemed in good spirits. “Have you seen my brother?”
“The little brat ran into me this morning, but I haven’t seen him since.” Craven pointed a stub of a cigar at her. “You should keep him locked up in that jail.”
The other man laughed, and they ambled off down the street.
So Jeremy had blundered. He was probably hiding because he didn’t want to tell her he didn’t get any information and was caught while trying.
She headed to the restaurant for a meal and mentally ticked off where Jeremy might be hiding.
*****
Gil had spent the better part of the day looking for the boy. He needed to know what Craven and the outlaw talked about. It hadn’t looked like a friendly chat; it looked like business. He turned a corner in time to see Darcy walk into the restaurant. She’d been up to something today, and he didn’t have a clue what that was either.
Damn. The brother and sister were getting the best of him, and he didn’t like it. What really rankled was the fact he shouldn’t care about the two and get on with the business of taking Pete back to the ranch. He didn’t need to worry about anyone but himself. That was the way he liked it.
He started to cross the street when a group of miners entered town. They were joking and jostling each other. He hadn’t seen so many or so lively a group in one spot since his arrival in Galena.
“What are you so excited about? Someone find a gold mine?” Gil asked jokingly.
“We’re getting ourselves cleaned up for the dance tonight,” one said with a rotten-toothed grin.
“There’s going to be a dance?” He’d been so busy trying to find Jeremy, he hadn’t talked to anyone.
“Didn’t you hear? There’s a big dance in the hall tonight. Tobias Craven invited all the miners to attend. Said there’d be girls and whiskey.”
Gil looked at all the anxious faces and wondered what was going on. It didn’t make sense Craven would start a rumor of a dance and provide the drink.
“Where’d you hear about this?” he asked as a wagonload of woman rolled down the street.
The men began hooting and hollering and ran for the wagon. The women in the wagon stood ramrod straight and stared at the jovial men. A couple of women bent over and urgently said something, but for the most part they looked scared out of their minds.
Gil sauntered over to the wagon. He looked at the driver and recognized a lowlife who hung around Baker City.
“Where’d you get all these girls, Clyde?” Gil asked, motioning to the ten girls standing in the wagon. They didn’t look like prostitutes. They were dressed in homespun and shawls. Their hair was tightly wound around their heads and tucked under bonnets.
“I’m making a delivery, so get outta my way.” Claude slapped the reins on the mule’s backs, jerking the wagon forward. A scream pierced the air as one of the woman toppled over the edge of the wagon bed.
Gil and the miner nearest him caught the woman before she hit the ground. She was about the same age as the marshal. He surveyed the wagon to see if anyone else had fallen out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marshal Duncan hurry out of the restaurant and straight for the wagon load of women.
&
nbsp; “Halsey. I should have known it was you causing all the raucous.” The marshal looked at the girl in his arms and shook her head. “Did she scream when she looked at you?”
The miners roared with laughter, and the women in the wagon looked at each other.
“No. She screamed when this jug head made the wagon lurch and caused her to fall over the side.” Gil couldn’t believe he stood in the middle of a street holding a young woman in his arms and defending himself to another. He saw the look of unease in the marshal’s eyes before she turned to the driver.
Darcy looked up at the man on the wagon seat.
“Why’d you bring a wagon load of women to this town?”
“I’m just following orders, Marshal. There ain’t a law that says I can’t give a ride to some ladies if they want it.”
“But do they want it?” Darcy turned to the women. “Ladies, are you being hauled around in this wagon of your own will?” She watched as they turned to one another. A rush of gibberish she’d never heard the likes of before came out all at once as each woman opened their mouth.
Darcy looked at Gil, and he shrugged.
Gustafson stepped forward. “They are German.” He began an animated discussion with them and smiled at the end. “Mr. Craven has brought these women to us with the prospect of marriage.”
A roar went up from the men who had by now gathered around the wagon.
“I want that one!” shouted a man.
“I want the blonde with the big chest,” shouted another.
“Halsey, put that woman back in the wagon,” Darcy ordered, noticing Gil hadn’t relieved himself of the woman in his arms. The woman had become aware of the man holding her and clung to him like a scared child.
“You,” Darcy pointed to the driver, “follow me.” Grabbing hold of the headstall on the nearest horse, she walked the wagon up the street to Mrs. Danforth’s bathhouse. It was illogical to take the women to the brothel, but she didn’t know who else had the space. She wasn’t about to give them to Craven until she made certain they were here of their own will and not forced to do something they didn’t want.
At the bathhouse, she motioned Gil to grab the horse’s head so the driver wouldn’t decide to tuck tail and run.
She walked up to the door and was about to knock when Lila answered.
“What you all making so much ruckus about?” she asked. When she saw Darcy, she sniffed. “Oh, not you.”
“Please get Mrs. Danforth, Lila.” Darcy stepped inside and waited for the only person she trusted, even if she did run a brothel.
“What have you brought me today, Marshal?” Mrs. Danforth asked, smiling and floating down the hall.
Some day I’m going to walk as smoothly as that. Darcy smiled. “Well you ain’t—”
“Aren’t.” The woman frowned at her.
“You aren’t going to believe this, but I found a wagon load of German woman in the middle of the street.”
Mrs. Danforth crossed to a window and looked out. “That you have, Marshal. Why did you bring them to me?”
“I trust you.”
The woman turned from the window, and Darcy held her gaze. “Craven brought those women here. I don’t know why, and I don’t know if they came willingly. Can you keep them until I get to the bottom of this?”
“Tobias Craven ordered German brides for the miners?” She sneered. “How generous of him.” She looked at Darcy. “He’d never part with money to bring happiness to others. He’s up to something.”
“That’s my thoughts. I’m hoping to go to this dance he’s hosting tonight and see if I can find out what.”
Mrs. Danforth looked her up and down. “Like that?”
Darcy’s cheeks heated. “No, I was going to wear the dress you gave me.”
“Come back about dark. I’ll fix you up so Craven won’t recognize you.” She smiled. “We’ll pull one over on him.”
A smile spread across Darcy’s face. It was nice having Mrs. Danforth on her side. “I’ll be back. I’m going to send the women in. Also Mr. Gustafson. He speaks their language.”
The woman nodded assent.
Darcy walked across the porch as Craven came waddling up the street. Everyone parted as he neared the wagon.
“Aw, I see my brides have arrived. And right on schedule.” He waved a hand. “Take them to the dance hall, Claude.”
“No.” Darcy grabbed the headstall of the lead horse. “Mr. Gustafson, tell the ladies to get out of the wagon and go in the house. Mrs. Danforth will put them up a night or two.” She looked into the reddening face of Craven. “And Gustafson, you stay with them until they are settled since you can talk to them.”
The miners looked from Craven to the marshal and back as Gustafson talked to the women. Her stomach rolled over a couple times as Craven’s gaze drilled holes right through her.
The woman started to climb out, and Gil stepped forward to assist. When he did, several miners stepped forward to help the women. Gustafson herded the group like a bunch of quail up the steps and into the house.
When the women were in the house, Darcy started down the street. It puzzled her Gil and the other miners accepted her word so quickly over Craven. It surprised and humbled her that the men went against the mayor who seemed to have a hold on everyone in the town. She needed to think about this.
A hand grabbed her arm, spinning her around. The action happened so quickly, she lost her balance and landed on her backside in the street.
“Don’t you ever interfere with my business again.”
She looked up into the red face of Tobias Craven. He pointed a stubby finger at her.
“Hauling people around against their will is my business.” She lifted her badge out of the folds of her shirt. “You made me marshal, and I take my responsibilities serious.”
His face puffed up, and his lips squeezed together before he blew out the words. “You’re fired! You and your brother better be out of my town by morning or you’ll regret ever setting foot here.”
He grabbed the badge, ripping it from her shirt.
Darcy clutched the hole in her shirt as he stomped down the street. You may have taken my badge, but I’m still going to find out what you’re up to. She stood, dusting the dirt from her pants. Being dirty was getting old. She needed to find Jeremy and get back to Mrs. Danforth’s. She had a lot of work to do in order to attend the dance and not have people recognize her. There were a lot of unanswered questions she intended to investigate.
Chapter 10
Darcy climbed the ladder to the room above the jail. Her stomach churned with worry. She’d hunted all over town for Jeremy, and no one had seen him since morning. It had been a stupid idea to have her only kin follow Craven. She shook her head sadly and pulled herself up the last rung.
Before she got her feet under her, a hand snagged her leg. She fell to her knees with a crunch. Tipping her hat up off her eyes, she looked into the scared face of Jeremy. She glared at him and rubbed her smarting knees. When the stinging abated, she turned her full anger on him.
“I’ve been looking all over town for you.” She grabbed his ear and twisted. “If you’ve been hiding up here all afternoon how come you didn’t come down when I called your name earlier?”
“I didn’t know if you were alone.” He swatted her hand away from his ear and plopped his bottom on the floor “I’ve been hiding from Gil. He knows I spied on Craven, and he knows I know something.”
“Gil saw you spying?” Darcy slapped her head. She had put her only living family member in danger.
“He was spying, too.”
“Halsey was spying on Craven? This is all starting to make my head hurt. I thought he worked with Craven.”
“I don’t think so. He’s been asking all kinds of questions about you and Craven. Wanting to know if you knew the mayor before he pinned the marshal’s badge on you.”
Darcy ran a hand over her face. They both thought the other worked for the crook Craven. She shook her head to cle
ar the thoughts bumping into each other. Now was not the time to figure it all out.
“What did you see?”
“Craven talked with a big-eared man. He said something about a dance and getting everyone in town. And that all the drunk miners and the women he brought in would make a lot of noise to cover. And he’d meet them at the cabin day after tomorrow.” Jeremy stared at his boot scraping back and forth on the floor.
“I couldn’t hear much more ’cuz they was talking quiet. I pressed my ear to the cracks of the privy, but that’s all I could get. As soon as they left, I shimmied out a loose board in the back of the privy and ran so Gil wouldn’t find me. ’Cuz, he knew I was in there.”
Darcy smiled and rubbed his head. “You did good. We know something is going to happen tonight during the dance.” She rested her chin in her hand. The dance was a cover. For what, she didn’t know, but she’d be there and watch Craven when he made his move. She definitely needed Mrs. Danforth’s help in painting her up, especially now that Craven had threatened her and Jeremy. She didn’t want him to recognize her before she knew his plan.
“I want you to find a good spot up on a building tonight where you can see the full length of Main Street. I’m going to the dance to see if I can get some more information out of the miners and Craven.”
“But, Darce, you can’t ask Craven what he’s doing!” Jeremy grabbed her arm in a grip that brought tears to her eyes. She uncurled his fingers and patted his hand.
“I’ll be disguised as one of Mrs. Danforth’s girls. He won’t know who I am.”
“Ma wouldn’t like it.” The disapproval in his voice made her take a good look at her younger sibling. He’d grown up, and she’d not noticed.
“Yes, she would. I’m trying to find out what is going on around here. I won’t go off with any of the miners. I got business to attend.” She patted his head. “Try to sneak into the restaurant and get some food. Then get up on a roof and keep a look out for the big-eared man. When you see him, come get me at the dance.”