Shotgun Groom

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Do you take me for a fool?”

  “No. I’m just stating a fact. We found the safe and lugged it to town. If you were watching us, you know this. No one opened it up.”

  Lou chuckled and slipped his free hand into the pocket of his coat. “While that’s true, I know the kind of man my brother was. He wouldn’t leave the gold in there. He’d take it out and hide it somewhere. Then he’d bury the safe to throw his enemies off track. So, since he’s done and got himself killed before he met up with me in Ontario, the gold is somewhere on this property.”

  Joel shook his head. “I’ve looked all over that house. There’s no gold in there.”

  “Oh? You were looking for it?”

  “I was looking for a safe. I didn’t find one, and while I was looking for the safe, I didn’t see any gold.”

  “It’s not out here. I checked this whole barn.”

  Joel sighed. “Then doesn’t it stand to reason that it’s still in the safe? Maybe your brother didn’t know the combination.”

  “Oh, he knew it alright. I got it out of Randolph before I killed him.” He snickered. “Harvey thought he got him, but Harvey was a lousy aim. I knew he wouldn’t get the job done, so I kept myself out of sight and shot when Harvey did.”

  “If you got the combination, then why didn’t you open the safe when you both stole it?”

  “I ask myself the same thing every day. In my naivety, I assumed Harvey wouldn’t be dumb enough to go to the saloon where Randolph’s uncle frequented.”

  Joel glanced back at Sep who squeezed his eyes shut tight in pain and wiggled on the stool. Blood soaked through the sleeve of his coat, and though Joel knew the wound wasn’t fatal, he knew it had to hurt something awful. “Look, Sep’s hurt. You made your point. Let him go to the house so his sister can tend to him.”

  “Not until I get that gold. You give me the gold, and I’ll let the boy live.”

  A movement from the doorway of the barn caught Joel’s attention, and for a moment, he feared it was April coming to check on him and Sep, but then he realized the figure was male. It was hard to tell if this man was working with Lou or not, so he hesitated to react.

  “What’s it going to be?” Lou demanded, his tone sharp. “How much is the boy worth to you?”

  “I’m telling you, I don’t know where the gold is or if it’s out of the safe,” Joel said, his gaze flickering to the man in the shadows who held a gun.

  Lou’s eyes met Joel’s and then he spun around, firing his gun. The man ducked, and Joel took the opportunity to whack Lou in the back of the head with the rake. Lou stumbled to the ground, so Joel threw the rake down and jumped on him. Lou grunted and elbowed Joel in the gut. Joel gasped but continued reaching for the gun in Lou’s hand. Lou’s grip on the gun remained firm while he rolled over, pinning Joel beneath him. Grabbing for Lou’s wrist, Joel tried to steady Lou’s hand so he couldn’t shoot him or Sep. Lou fired the gun, but Joel couldn’t tell where the bullet went. Lou grunted and rolled over again, making an attempt to kick Joel away from him.

  Just as Joel felt his grasp slipping from Lou’s wrist, the click of a gun settled right by Lou’s forehead. “Now hold it right there, Lou Edwards,” Owen said.

  Joel looked up and saw his brother-in-law, surprised Owen had gone from the novice deputy who had to use a fishing pole to get criminals to one who knew what he was doing with a gun.

  “Let go of the gun,” Owen ordered, leaving no room for argument in his tone.

  Lou glared at Joel for a moment before he obeyed.

  Owen retrieved the gun and motioned for the men to stand up. Joel gladly did, brushing the dirt and hay off his pants. Though everything turned out alright, he realized he was trembling. He’d never been close to being killed before, and getting into skirmishes wasn’t his thing. After this ordeal, he decided he wouldn’t participate in brawls ever again, if he could help it. He certainly hadn’t asked for this one!

  “You’ll be coming with me,” Owen said. “You alright, Joel?”

  “I’m fine.” Remembering Sep, Joel went over to him and untied him and undid the gag around his mouth. “I can take care of that bullet wound. It’ll sting, but it won’t kill you.” Joel helped Sep up and led him over to Owen who was securing the handcuffs on Lou. “Sep’s got a bullet wound I need to tend to. Can I wait to tell you what happened?”

  Owen glanced at Sep with a concerned look on his face. “Is he going to be alright?”

  “Lou got him in the arm. He’ll be fine, but I don’t want to wait to take care of him,” Joel replied.

  “You can come to the jailhouse tomorrow,” Owen said.

  As Owen directed Lou to head out of the barn, Sep cleared his throat. “I have something to say, if I may?”

  Stopping, Owen and Lou turned back to look at him.

  Holding his arm, Sep winced. “I was recalling some things Harvey used to say. I didn’t understand why he thought it was funny at the time, but I think I do now. He’d say, ‘The miller’s daughter had Rumplestiltskin spin gold three times, but I got Nora to sleep on mine.’”

  Joel blinked. “The gold is in Nora’s mattress?”

  “I knew it was in the house,” Lou muttered.

  “Let’s check it out,” Owen said.

  Owen motioned for Lou to walk in front of them, and Lou led the way to the house, shoulders slumped. Joel released his breath, glad his racing heart was finally slowing down. Next to him, Sep, still favoring his arm, seemed equally relieved the whole ordeal was over.

  “I wouldn’t want your job,” Joel told Owen as they neared the house. “There’s too much anxiety involved.”

  Owen’s eyebrows rose and he chuckled. “This coming from someone who’s assisted the doctor in life or death surgeries?”

  “Well, no one points a gun at me while I do that.” They went up the porch steps, and Joel turned to Owen. “It might be best if Lou stays out here. I don’t want to upset April by bringing him into the house.”

  Owen nodded. “We’ll wait here.”

  Joel opened the kitchen door and led Sep into the house where April was placing the sandwiches next to the bowls on the table. Looking up from the plates, her eyes grew wide and she let in a sharp intake of breath. Nora stopped playing with her doll and stared at Sep.

  “It’s alright,” Joel quickly assured April as he led Sep to one of the chairs and helped him out of his coat.

  April rushed over to her brother and lifted the sleeve of his shirt, making Sep wince. “How bad is it?” she asked Joel while she inspected the bloody gash on his forearm.

  “It looks like the bullet skimmed his skin,” Joel said, gently moving Sep’s arm. “If your arms hadn’t been tied behind your back, you might not have been so lucky,” he told Sep who was gritting his teeth in pain.

  She gasped. “A bullet? What happened?”

  “It’s a long story, but Lou shot him. I’ll tell you everything later. Right now, Owen’s outside with Lou, and I have to check Nora’s mattress. We think Harvey hid the gold in there.”

  “Nora’s mattress?” she asked.

  “Have you noticed if it’s heavier than it should be?”

  “I haven’t moved it, so I don’t know.”

  If they had moved Nora to the third bedroom already, they would have noticed if the mattress was heavy, but that was a moot point. Patting the small of her back, he said, “I’m going to check on it. In the meantime, press a clean cloth to Sep’s wound to soak up the blood. I’ll be back in a moment to tend to him.”

  As she went to retrieve a clean towel, Joel hurried up the stairs to his bedroom where he pushed aside the blanket. He picked the mattress up from the crib and noted how heavy it was. “There’s something in here, alright.”

  He dumped the mattress on his bed and turned it over. He separated the sheets that surrounded a bunch of feathers and dug inside it until he felt cool coins. Pulling out a couple of the coins, he inspected them in the moonlight. Sure enough, they were gold.

/>   He slipped them back into the mattress and carried it downstairs. On his way out the kitchen door, Joel called out, “I’ll pad Nora’s crib with blankets tonight.”

  April looked up from where she placed the towel against Sep’s wound, but he left before she could respond. He was glad to get rid of Lou. It made sense that Lou had to be watching them at some point since he knew about the safe, but he also liked to think most of the time he’d been living out here, Lou had been somewhere else healing from the grazing bullet wound Sep had given him. Even something that scratched the surface needed time to heal. Comforted by this reasoning and deciding he was better off not asking Lou for details, he waited until Owen had Lou secured on his horse before going over to him.

  Once Owen was on his horse, Joel handed the mattress to him. “Thanks, Owen.”

  Owen smiled. “I’m just glad no one got seriously hurt. It doesn’t always end well.”

  Joel waited until Owen and Lou left before he returned to the house to take care of Sep.

  ***

  Six months later

  The evening summer breeze wafted through the open window in the third bedroom as April rubbed Nora’s back. Nora’s eyes grew heavy. Shortly, she’d be asleep. April scanned the light green room with the yellow curtains that blew gently in the breeze. It’d be comfortable in here tonight. There were times when it was still hard to enter the room, but each day got easier and the cheerful look of it helped a lot toward that end.

  Turning her eyes back to the small child’s bed, she smiled at her daughter who had drifted off to sleep. In January, Nora would have a little brother or sister who would sleep in the crib waiting in this room. She sighed and brushed the girl’s curls from her eyes. It sure didn’t take long for her sweet baby girl to grow into a small child. Soon enough, she’d be too big for the bed and they’d have to move her into a larger one.

  The sound of footsteps made her look up, and her lips turned upward as Joel softly walked into the room. “How’s Mrs. Peabody?” she whispered.

  He knelt beside her and kissed her cheek. “She’ll be fine as long as she stays off her ankle for a few weeks.”

  “That’s easier said than done for a mother with three children.”

  “Thankfully, her sister is helping her out.”

  She nodded and stood up. “Nora missed having you here to tuck her in. I had to promise her you’d be here in the morning when she woke up.”

  He grinned and patted Nora’s back. “It’s nice to be missed.”

  Giggling, April wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “I missed you, too.”

  With a sly look in her direction, he asked, “Yeah?”

  “Yep.”

  He lifted her in his arms. “Well then, I’ll have to make coming home worth your while.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘my’ while?”

  “That’s what I said,” he teased.

  Snuggling in his arms as he carried her to their room, she giggled again. He took her to bed, and indeed made it worth her while to have him home before he held her in his arms. And she slept straight through the night, safe and sound.