by Lori Wick
“Honorable or not. I like things just the way they are.” Nick’s voice had become a bit threatening, his eyes on the cold hearth.
Carlyle wisely let the matter drop.
“And then I remembered, Camille.” Pup’s eyes shone with wonder. “As a child I’d come in faith and believed in Jesus Christ. As McKay talked, all the memories came flooding back. There’s so much I still don’t understand, but it’s been so special to know that I’m truly a child of God.”
Camille was silent, as she had been for the last several minutes. The women were sitting in Pup’s room upstairs. Miranda had brought them some coffee and sandwiches, and they’d been catching up for more than an hour. Just a few minutes earlier Pup had shocked Camille by suddenly telling her the story of her conversion. In truth, Camille didn’t know what she believed, but never had she been this close to someone who’d had a religious experience. If Pup’s eyes could be believed, something had really happened.
“I’m happy for you, dear, but I must admit that I was hoping you’d have more to say about McKay.”
Pup laughed softly, her eyes turning dreamy. “He’s in love with me.”
Camille’s eyes were just as soft. “I figured as much. Does he realize it yet?”
“I think so. He said he wants to talk to me.”
“And you, Callie?” The older woman’s tone grew excited. “Do you also want to talk with him?”
“Oh, yes, Camille,” her voice was whisper soft. “I’ve never known anyone like him. Without even knowing it was me, he helped me up in an alleyway. I was dressed like a filthy drunk, and with gentle hands he bent over and helped me to my feet. And then when he hugged me goodbye at the station—” here she had to stop.
This was the first time in several hours that she had allowed herself to remember, and right now it was too much to take in.
“And this was all just this morning?” Camille asked.
“The hug? Yes. He took Carlyle and me to the station, and then we talked while Carlyle bought the tickets.” She looked Camille in the eye. “Was it like this for you, Camille? Is this how you fell for Nick?”
Camille smiled. “He came to see my father on business. He was in a suit, so tall and handsome. I was young, only 17, but our eyes met when I brought them some coffee. I was so preoccupied that I burned my hand. Nick jumped to his feet and wrapped his handkerchief around it. I melted inside.” Her eyes clouded then. “I thought I would die when he signed up to join the fighting. I thought he would never come home to me.” Her voice caught, but she seemed to give herself a little shake. She looked into Pup’s eyes. “But he did, and he brought you with him.”
Pup smiled at her in genuine love, and the women embraced. They continued to talk until Nick sought her out and said that he and Carlyle were hungry. Only then did Camille remember that Miranda had already left for the night. The rest of the evening was spent preparing the meal, and around the table the discussion was all business.
Nick decided to let Pup go home on Monday. He liked the idea of getting her into the Phipps mansion, but he was in no hurry to move on it. Agents in the field were still gathering information. He would need Pup, but not for a while. As he looked across the table at her, he couldn’t help but smile at the way she’d volunteered.
McKay’s not going to take this woman from us, Carlyle, Nick thought to himself. She’s treasury through and through.
25
Longmont
Stan and Lisa had been married for more than 24 hours, but McKay felt he could still see them coming back up the aisle. Or was it someone else he was seeing?
What a time to attend a wedding, Lord, he prayed. I put the woman I love onto the train and then have to watch my cousin marry and kiss his bride. There’s something You want to teach me in this—I know there is—but right now I can’t think what it might be.
McKay lay on his bed, trying to get a nap in before the night’s work began, but thoughts of Pup drove all fatigue away. A week ago she had sat in church with him, her whole body bent with intensity as she read his Bible. Now she was in Denver, or so he thought, doing the work to which she seemed so well-suited.
Actually, she could be headed home, McKay reasoned. If Nick only wanted to debrief her, he might not have a reason for her to stay.
McKay pushed the thought away. If he continued to dwell on it, he’d be headed back to Boulder and up the mountain like a lost sheep. If his time were his own, he could take that liberty, but he was still on the job. Carlyle had ordered him to spend the evening in town on Saturday night and again tonight. On Tuesday he was to start spot checks on two banks, one of which was Richard Stuart’s.
He didn’t think he was going to be welcomed with joy for the simple reason that spot checks were not standard in Longmont. It also didn’t help that he was a local; Richard Stuart had watched him grow up in this town. However, he would do as he was told. The night Carlyle had come home with him, McKay had asked whether this spot check might spook Duncan Phipps. He was clearly behind the whole false mining operation they had unearthed, but Carlyle had said they wanted this.
“Duncan is too often at ease,” he had said. “His setup is so large he feels he’s above the law. If we close down some of the smaller banks it might make him sweat a little, and in the process make a mistake. At this point if he had just one slipup, we’d arrest him.”
McKay now looked at the watch he had laid on the table by his bed. It was almost time to go. He freshened up at the washstand in his room and went down to the kitchen. His parents were at the table.
“I was just about to come up to find you,” his mother said.
“I’ve got to go pretty soon.”
“Again tonight?” His father’s brows rose.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, McKay.” Liz’s voice betrayed her disappointment. “We’ve asked the Stuarts over. I wish you could be here.”
McKay shook his head, and his mother rushed to reassure him.
“I’m not pushing Brita at you, dear.”
“I know that, Mom,” he said kindly. In truth, Brita hadn’t even come to his mind. He continued quietly, “I’ve been called back to work for the whole week, not just last night and tonight. I might as well tell you now because you’re going to hear about it later: I start spot checks on two of the banks in town this Tuesday—one of them is Rocky Mountain Savings.”
“Richard Stuart’s bank?” Liz exclaimed incredulously.
“I’m afraid so,” McKay told her quietly.
The three of them fell silent. McKay had remained standing during this whole interchange, so he now moved to the counter by the stove and prepared something to eat. There was leftover fried chicken from Sunday dinner and a hot potato dish. He grabbed an apple to add to his plate and joined his parents at the table.
“You understand that we’re not upset with you, don’t you, Mickey?” His father was the first to speak.
“I do understand, Dad. And I wish there had been an easier way to tell you.”
“The shock is not so much that Richard’s bank is under suspicion,” the elder Harrington went on, “as it is the thought that the long fingers of crime have now stretched from Denver. There isn’t a time that you leave us, Mickey, that we don’t wonder if you’ll come home alive, and we’ve had to surrender you to the Lord time and again. But the hint of crime right here in Longmont takes a little getting used to.”
McKay nodded in understanding. He well remembered the way he had felt just a few nights earlier when Pup told him she was being called back to work but that she wasn’t leaving Longmont. He felt a protectiveness so strong for the city in which he was raised that he could have burst with it. He was certain his parents were feeling the same way, but they also must be knowing some fear.
“I can’t make any promises; you already know that,” McKay began, “but I hope what I uncover will take some of the problems back to Denver.”
Small bankers were easy prey for men like Duncan Phipps, and of course
he was the man they were after. It would have further helped his parents’ peace of mind to know that although Richard Stuart would have to pay for any crimes he’d been involved in, at least the main man was more than a hundred miles away.
“Be careful tonight, McKay,” his mother cautioned, her voice a bit emotional.
He smiled at her. “I will, Mom. And when this is all over, I’ll come and be here for a real vacation.”
“With or without Callie?” she couldn’t help but ask.
McKay stood and reached to where his hat hung on a peg by the door. When it was in place, he turned back to her.
“If I have anything to say about it, she most definitely will be with.”
Before either of his parents could comment, he swung around and moved outside toward the barn.
Boulder
The train ride home this time seemed the longest ever. Pup climbed wearily from her seat, having already checked to see that her dark wig was in place, and moved with the others out into the aisle and onto the platform.
It had never before bothered her to come home on her own, but as she watched a woman embrace her children and reach on tiptoe to kiss her husband, she felt a strange longing. McKay’s face came to mind, but Pup stubbornly pushed it away. This was no time to think of him. When she arrived at the cabin maybe, but not now. With a determined move she shifted her satchel to the other hand. Her destination: the livery.
“Hello, Pup.”
Surprised to hear her name, Pup looked up to find she was walking right past Travis Buchanan.
“Hello, Travis.”
“Just off the train?” the tall man wanted to know.
“Yes.” She stopped before him. “Are you meeting someone?”
“No, but I’m expecting some supplies.” He paused and looked at her for a moment. There was something different here, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on it. He opted for a question.
“Have you seen or heard from McKay?”
“As a matter of fact I have seen him. He’s doing well.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
“How’s your wife?”
Travis smiled. “Still waiting. I don’t think it will be long, but still we wait.”
Pup smiled, too. She continued to look up at Travis. His height never failed to surprise her, but this time she studied his face, trying to gauge his response to her.
In turn, Travis could see that something was on her mind. His supplies were probably being unloaded right now, but he pushed work to the back of his head and told himself that if it took an hour, he’d wait to see what she had to say.
“You in a hurry to be off, Travis?”
“As a matter of fact, I’m not that pressed right now.”
Pup nodded. It was so difficult when you couldn’t get close, but she had some things she had to know.
“You go to the small church on Second Street, don’t you?”
“Yes. My sons and I attend each week.”
“What time does it get started?”
“The church service begins at eleven o’clock. We’ve just started a short service for the children that starts at half past ten. Pastor Henley’s wife takes the kids for a short time and tells them a Bible story with pictures. During that time the adults have fellowship. The kids then come back to us, and like I said, the service gets started at eleven.”
Her dark, intelligent eyes surveyed him.
“And your beliefs—” she began, “does Pastor Henley follow the Bible?”
“To the letter,” he said softly but with firmness. “We’re working our way through the book of Philippians right now. That’s usually the way Pastor Henley works. He starts at the beginning of a book and preaches and teaches out of it until the last chapter and verse.”
“Can you ask questions?”
“People usually don’t ask questions during the service,” he told her honestly, “but there are some small Bible studies that meet during the week. Those are good places to have your questions answered.”
Pup nodded but didn’t go on. The Lord was teaching Travis not to be surprised by anything, and never was he more thankful that he had remained calm.
“Do you think you’ll join us, Pup?” he felt bold enough to ask.
“Yes,” she surprised him by answering immediately. “I’ll be there this Sunday.”
“That’s great,” he told her sincerely. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
She nodded. Travis could see that she’d gained the information she sought and was now ready to be on her way. Indeed, a moment later she thanked him and started off. However, Travis had one final thought.
“Pup,” he called, starting toward her.
Pup’s long legs had already taken her off the platform, so she turned and stopped, waiting for him to approach.
“I don’t want to nose into your business,” he said as he stopped before her, “but I just wondered where you’re going to stay Saturday night.”
“I was going to come partway down the mountain and camp in the woods.”
He blinked at her. “There’s no need for you to do that.”
“It’s no trouble, Travis. I’ve done it before.”
He was again reminded that she was probably the most self-sufficient person he’d ever encountered. However, he was not going to let this drop.
“There are homes right here in town where you would be welcome on Saturday night—mine for one.”
Pup surveyed him. Clearly the thought had never occurred to her. “Somehow I don’t think your wife would appreciate that,” she said.
“On the contrary,” he told her sincerely, “she would be pleased to have you. The ranch house is huge, and we have folks in on a regular basis.”
“Even now, in her condition?”
“Even now. Our housekeeper, Lavena, is doing a lot right now anyway, and she finds extra work a challenge. I assure you, Pup, you would be welcome.”
Again Travis found himself under her scrutiny. He could see that she was considering his offer.
“I’ll tell you what,” he suggested. “We eat dinner about six o’clock; you’re welcome to join us for that, too. On Saturday night we usually turn in around ten o’clock. You would be welcome anytime all afternoon, including for dinner, but if that won’t work out, come before ten and one of us will show you to a bedroom.”
He was serious. Pup had always known he was special, but never had she expected this.
“Do you need to know now?”
“No. Just consider it an open invitation.” He couldn’t help but add, “I want you to meet my wife and boys; I hope you’ll come.”
She was silent for just a moment and then said softly, “I just might do that. Thank you, Travis.”
“You’re welcome. Take care as you head up the mountain.”
She acknowledged this with a nod and again turned away. This time Travis let her go, but he stood watching her until she disappeared into the crowd.
Who would have thought, Lord? I haven’t seen her in weeks, and now she comes off the train and asks about the church. Bring her back to town, Lord. Bring her back so she can learn about You.
Travis would have been surprised to know that Pup was doing some praying of her own. The feeling of loneliness that had come with her on the train had lifted the minute Travis had asked if she would be coming back for church on Sunday. As Mickey saddled her horse, she stood quietly and savored the invitation.
It had to have been Your planning that I saw Travis, Lord. I was hoping to get down to church but hadn’t given it much thought, and then he was standing there. He invited me to his home, and I know he meant it. Thank You. Thank You for caring about the small details.
Pup was so focused on this line of thought that she nearly forgot to pay the livery owner. It didn’t get better when she finally left the livery. In fact, at the edge of town she had to backtrack to the mercantile, having almost forgotten to purchase supplies before heading up the mountain.
26
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As McKay had suspected, Richard Stuart was not thrilled to see him on Tuesday morning. After asking Richard to speak to him in his private office, McKay quietly explained his presence. The bank owner had tried to keep his feelings masked, but the fleeting moment of panic and then anger was unmistakable. McKay waited patiently while Stuart got himself under control.
“Are you checking all the banks in town?” Richard finally asked.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that with you, Mr. Stuart.”
“Why my bank?” he tried again.
“Because I’ve been told to; it’s part of my job.”
It was not the answer the banker was looking for, but he fell silent. McKay felt himself being weighed. Mr. Stuart did not want to accept him at face value, and he now watched McKay’s eyes to see if he could gauge an added motive.
From years of practice the treasury agent was able to arrange his features into a bland mask. The expression must have worked with Richard Stuart: Only a few seconds passed before McKay was directed to a table in the back and asked what years’ books he wanted to examine. McKay had orders on this as well and requested January 1876 to June 1878.
The heavy account books were delivered by a silent bank employee. McKay thanked him and was left on his own. However, he knew he was not ignored. The table he worked at was in an out-of-the-way corner in the bank, but every time he glanced up he found Mr. Stuart’s eyes either just leaving him or resting on him in thoughtful speculation.
Boulder
A smile of peace and comfort lit Pup’s face when she woke up Tuesday morning. She’d been away from the cabin for much longer periods of time, but never had she needed to get home more. So much had happened in her heart and life in the last few days.
Not surprisingly, McKay’s face immediately sprang to mind. What was he doing? Had he been ordered back to Denver? Pup would have loved to see him, to look into his eyes again, and to hear his deep voice. But right now she needed to be home.