O’Dell interviewed Ruby also. He showed her some sketches sent from the Boston Pinkerton office. The sketches were of five missing women who had answered ads and then disappeared when they arrived in Denver. The lead agent had compiled the sketches using descriptions or photographs provided by family members.
Ruby studied each one carefully. “That ’un looks a bit like Cookie. That’s what they call her, but I think she said her real name was Gretchen. No, Gretl, like ‘Hansel and Gretl.’”
O’Dell grinned but it wasn’t a pleasant grin. “Gretl Plüff. She went missing 18 months ago. You said you’ve been at the house six months and that is how long they usually keep the girls there?”
“Yes sir.” Ruby answered O’Dell carefully, intimidated by his wolf-like grin. “But they kept her on t’ cook, see? Cookie. She’s a better cook than a whore.”
O’Dell and Joy exchanged looks. O’Dell’s face was implacable; Joy was near tears.
Later that evening Joy asked Ruby the question that had kept her awake. “How did you know to come here? How did you know we would help?”
The girl pursed her lips. “Guess it don’t make no difference. Heard that pig Banner and his lap dog Darrow talkin’ ’bout you. You, ’specially, miss. Said they knew you helped those high-dollar girls. Jest couldn’t figure how.” She laughed harshly. “Banner’s got it bad ’bout you, lady.”
Joy shivered. They weren’t fooling Banner after all.
Well, that changes things, she thought. That . . . and the date . . . Joy sought out the calendar on the kitchen wall. April 14.
Joy nodded. “We’re going to take you off this mountain. Soon. Within the week.”
“In front o’ Banner’s men?”
“Yes. Right out in the open.” Joy shivered, but set her mind resolutely.
This time it was Ruby who trembled. “You’ll take care o’ Beth?”
“Yes. And you, too.”
“’Cause she cain’t take what he done t’ her again.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Not sure I can neither.”
The following day, in the late morning, Joy called a meeting with O’Dell and her staff. She didn’t mince words.
“I sent Arnie and Anna a wire this morning and am waiting for their reply. I have asked them to take in Ruby and Beth. As soon as they can meet us in Denver, we will take the girls down on the train.”
“And you plan on hiding them how?” O’Dell was irritated and worried.
“That’s the thing, Mr. O’Dell. I don’t plan to hide them. Sheriff Wyndom and I will escort them to Denver. I will ask Domingo and Gustavo to set up here at the lodge while we are gone.”
The resentment and anger toward Banner and men like him smoldered in her eyes. “Ruby is 14 years old. Beth is 13. They have been beaten, bitten, starved, and savaged.”
She took a deep breath. “We don’t hide any longer.”
She looked around the room and saw the slowly nodding heads. It was Breona, her feisty Irish friend, still stubbornly resisting God’s gift of salvation, who answered firmly: “Amen t’ that.”
O’Dell, however, stomped off in disgust. Joy was refusing to allow him to come on the train with them. “Can’t you see? It is more important for you to maintain your guise as a guest here and protect the lodge while we are gone.”
O’Dell did see, but he didn’t like it. He chewed the stump of a cigar and pondered when he needed to call in reinforcements and how long it would take them to mobilize.
He would send immediate updates to Parsons in Chicago and Groman in Omaha, but would have to call on the Denver office for men when the time came. He scribbled out the wire’s contents and walked it over to be sent.
After the meeting, Billy and Joy took the lodge’s buggy to the sheriff’s office. She met briefly with him and later that day he paid a visit to the lodge.
Beth and Ruby were staying in the room next to Rose. Beth had finally awakened and eaten a little. Rose stayed with the girls at all times, hoping to draw Beth out of the stupor she so quickly lapsed into.
Mei-Xing helped Rose with the girls, too. For some reason, she was drawn to Rose and Joy found them talking earnestly several evenings. Once Joy saw Rose lay her hand on Mei-Xing’s forehead and caress the girl tenderly. Mei-Xing had closed her eyes, tears running down her face as Rose simply loved on her.
Joy explained to Ruby and Beth that the sheriff would come and talk to them. She asked Ruby if she minded showing him the bite marks on her arms and shoulders. Ruby shrugged.
When Wyndom arrived, he was accompanied by a young man wearing a deputy badge. Joy nodded to both of them. “Ruby and Beth are both children. Ruby will show you some of what Banner did to her two nights ago.”
When they returned downstairs from meeting with the girls, Wyndom was gray and sober. Joy lost no time pressing her advantage. “This is your opportunity, Sheriff Wyndom, to do the right thing. I am taking those girls down to Denver in a few days. I expect you to provide an escort.”
Wyndom sighed in defeat. “You win, Miss Thoresen. I’ll do it.” He turned to the young deputy. “Just so you know, Luke here is my nephew, outta St. Louis. Corinth can’t afford any deputies, but I am permitted to deputize volunteers. He’s backing me up on a volunteer basis.”
“I’m glad you are here, Luke,” Joy said with sincerity.
“Yes’m. Thank you. Banner’s men have been up and down the back trails searchin’ for those girls. I heard they found a piece of one of the girl’s dresses snagged up on a bush.” His eyes twinkled. “Heard they ain’t had any luck, though.”
The corners of Wyndom’s mouth turned down. “It’s not tomorrow or when we take those girls down the mountain I’m worried about. We’ll only be gone maybe eight hours. It’s what happens after you poke that snake with a stick that has me concerned.”
Joy nodded. But she knew they could not turn aside.
~~**~~
Chapter 36
At their usual morning devotions Rose asked Joy, “Have you studied the new birth yet, Joy?”
Joy stared at Rose for a long moment. “I haven’t, Mama! I don’t know why I haven’t thought to do so.” With all the responsibilities that preoccupied her mind, she did know, and gratefully turned the morning study over to her mother.
Rose smiled at the faces around the table. “I think it is wonderful that this house commences each day with prayer and study in God’s word. But just as every journey has a beginning, a starting point, each person’s spiritual journey also must have a beginning, a starting point.”
“You see, the Bible tells us that even as we are physically born, we must also be spiritually born. Jesus called it being ‘born again.’ He said until we are born again we cannot see his kingdom—but, after we are born again we become not just part of his kingdom but part of his family also.”
“If you have been struggling to understand the things in the Bible, I venture to say it is because you have not yet experienced that spiritual birth. I remember how much I wanted to know God and to know about him, and how hard it was—until I received that spiritual birth.”
Attentive eyes watched Rose and she warmed to her message. Breona’s brow was furrowed deeply as she listened. Mei-Xing sat impassive, eyes cast down.
Rose continued, “The most precious thing about this new birth is that it is free. Jesus offers it to anyone who desires it. And, oh! What a great thing it is! Let me read you something about it.” Rose opened her Bible and began to read aloud:
Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new
For he hath made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin;
that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him
Rose looked at each person around the table again. “Let me tell you in plain language what this passage says. First, it says, ‘if anyone, man or woman, be in Christ.’ To ‘be in Christ’ is
to enter his kingdom and his family. Second it says, if you are in Christ, you are a new creature.”
Rose looked down for a moment. “Third, it tells us old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Please hear what God is saying to us, to all of us. If we bring our lives to Jesus, our sad, broken, even ruined lives, he tells us that we become new creatures. Not only that, but our old lives pass away. All things—all things—become new in him.”
She looked intimately at each person around the table. “We get to start over, brand new, clean, forgiven, and fresh. All Jesus asks is that we confess him as the Lord of our lives. It is as simple as this,” and Rose read aloud:
. . . if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed
“Shame is a horrible thing to live with. Sometimes shame comes from what we have chosen to do. Sometimes it comes from what others have done to us. But Jesus tells us whoever believes on him—Jesus—shall not be ashamed.”
Joy watched in awe as hungry hearts received the simple words Rose spoke. Thank you, Lord, for bringing my Mama to help! O God, you knew my limitations and brought her to fill up what I lack and what we so desperately need.
Heads bowed and hearts prayed. Tears flowed. And so did forgiveness and grace.
~~**~~
Chapter 37
Like a spring wound tighter and tighter, the tension heightened over the next five days. Then Joy received the anticipated wire: Arriving Denver Wednesday.
Tomorrow.
Joy surveyed sober faces around the dinner table that evening. “Sheriff Wyndom and I will take Ruby and Beth to Denver tomorrow. Mr. Wheatley, I would like you to drive us to the train in the buggy. Billy, I would like you to accompany us onto the train. I will have you buy a ticket, but as soon as the train moves past the platform, please step off and come straight back.”
Beth gripped Rose’s hand. Ruby stoically studied her plate. Mei-Xing, as usual, remained quiet but looked a question at Joy.
Joy felt for the young woman. “Mei-Xing, from what Tory told us, Banner and Darrow’s employer considers you to be a much more valuable ‘commodity,’ and your, er, departure still has them very incensed. Since they searched the house, they think you are already safely away. I wouldn’t want to show them otherwise.”
She gave the girl a sorrowful smile. “We are, as Sheriff Wyndom called it, ‘poking the snake with a stick.’ We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I have a strong sense that you are actually safer here for now.”
Mei-Xing seemed to accept Joy’s answer with more peace than Joy expected. “It’s all right, Miss Thoresen. I . . . I like it here. With all of you.” She looked at Rose who took her hand and held it. “I have nowhere else to go,” she added softly.
The following morning Joy, Ruby, and Beth climbed into the lodge’s small covered buggy. They took no luggage. Billy had already walked to the siding and purchased two tickets to Denver. Flinty joined him and purchased a single ticket. Then they sauntered back to Flinty’s smithy to wait for the buggy to arrive.
The usual two watchers at the siding had grown to three and were immediately alert. As Mr. Wheatley pulled the buggy up to the siding, Sheriff Wyndom and his nephew Luke were just purchasing two tickets.
Five minutes still remained before the train was scheduled to depart. Joy and the girls would wait, concealed in the buggy, until the conductor signaled the train’s imminent departure. Five minutes later the man stepped out onto the siding, puzzled that five ticket holders had not boarded nor were nearby to board.
Wyndom nodded toward the buggy, strode up to the siding, and handed two tickets to the conductors. Billy walked up just then and handed him three. Both men headed over to the buggy where Joy, Ruby, and Beth were climbing down. Joy saw one of the watchers nudge another and then the three of them jumped to their feet.
“Back off, boys,” Wyndom’s rifle was out and pointed in their direction. Luke mirrored his uncle’s stance. Billy hustled the three women onto the train.
As the sheriff turned to board the train he roughly addressed the shocked conductor. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get this train moving. Now.”
Wyndom stood between two cars, rifle still pointed at the watchers, while Luke began backing away.
The train sent out its shrill wail and eased away from the Corinth siding. Luke and Mr. Wheatley with the buggy hustled back to the lodge. Down the track and out of sight, Billy Evans dropped off the train’s last car and quickly made his way back to the lodge also.
Joy and Sheriff Wyndom returned late that afternoon—accompanied by Arnie Thoresen.
Marit put together a celebration dinner of sorts, and Wyndom and Luke joined them. Rose gave Arnie a long and heartfelt embrace before demanding to know why he was not with Anna and the girls on the way back to Omaha.
“Brought one of Groman’s Pinkerton men with me,” Arnie explained. “He’s seeing they get back safely. Groman sent his latest report with me.” He handed Joy a thick envelope. “And I also brought this, Cousin Joy.”
Joy eyed the second envelope with relief. “Thank you, Arnie.”
“I knew you would want it as soon as it was available.”
Arnie turned to O’Dell and Wyndom. “Will this escapade push Banner to move against us?”
“Us, Arnie?” Joy asked.
“I’m here and I’m not going anywhere until this is resolved. Groman is willing to send men, but why don’t we get the Denver office involved instead?” Arnie directed this question to O’Dell.
“It’s time,” O’Dell agreed. “You have all of the evidence the Omaha office has dug up on Morgan and we have Ruby’s identification of Gretl Plüff. I suggest you and I head down the mountain tomorrow, meet with Beau Bickle, and get some reinforcements up here, pronto.”
He eyed Wyndom and Luke. “I don’t think Banner will wait long to hit back. That man has a short fuse.”
Wyndom nodded in agreement. “If you’re headed down tomorrow, we’ll make a point of walking the lodge perimeter all day. You’ve got some good men here, but a show of force is a nice deterrent.” He chuckled shrewdly.
That evening O’Dell and Arnie Thoresen walked the property line around the lodge. The new moon provided little light for their reconnaissance.
As they cautiously made their way through the trees, Arnie remarked, “O’Dell, I like you. You’re a good man to have around right now and I want you to know I appreciate you.”
Arnie’s statement was patently an overture to something else. O’Dell stopped and faced him. “Thanks, I think. Is there something you’re working your way up to?”
Arnie nodded. “Can’t help but notice how you look at my cousin.”
O’Dell blew out a frustrated breath. “I’ve tried not to, believe me.”
“She’s a good woman, O’Dell, but she has been through a lot, probably more than you know. I don’t want to see her hurt again and . . .” Arnie’s words trailed off.
“And I’m not the kind of man she should be with?” O’Dell asked. Arnie detected a hint of anger in his question.
“As I said, you are a good man, O’Dell. But you’ve heard Joy say she is a Christian. I haven’t heard you say the same.”
O’Dell was quiet several moments. “Well, you’re right. I’m not much of a Christian. Haven’t been to church since I was a kid.”
“O’Dell, church is important, but church isn’t really what we mean. For a Bible-believing person, being a Christian is much more than a church affiliation or attending church—it is a relationship with God through Jesus. It’s a living, daily, walk with him.”
O’Dell sighed
. “It means so much?” he finally asked.
Arnie prayed for the right words. “Yes, it does. Jesus is the foundation of our lives—of Joy’s life. He is the one who led her here. You heard what she said about her plans, her dream? She is not talking about a social program to help girls—she’s talking about Jesus helping them, changing and healing them on the inside so that they can walk free from the life they were either forced into or chose willingly.”
O’Dell stood in silence.
Arnie soldiered on. “You said that I thought you weren’t the kind of man she should be with. I want you to know that perfect behavior isn’t my concern. I think, given your line of work, that you would understand how ‘good’ people make mistakes or can sometimes get caught up in unsavory or disreputable events. Even though Joy is a Christian, she is not perfect. You don’t know everything about her, but she would be the first person to tell you so.”
“I may know more than you think,” O’Dell said quietly. He indicated the benches near the overlook and they sat down. O’Dell rested his shotgun across his lap and slid a cigar from his breast pocket. As he lit it and puffed on it to make it draw, he stared out into the dark valley.
Finally he spoke, “Arnie, if it is all right with you, I’d like to tell you a story.”
Arnie glanced at O’Dell. “All right. I’m listening.”
He waited until O’Dell spoke again.
“I’ve been with Pinkerton for 12 years. Started out in Chicago and it’s still my home office. As I came up through the Pinkerton ranks, my bosses noticed that I had a mind and an aptitude for a certain line of investigation. Turns out that I am pretty good at solving kidnapping and missing persons cases.”
“After a few years with the agency, those were the only cases Pinkerton assigned to me. Other Pinkerton offices began calling on me to advise on their missing persons cases, especially the high-profile ones where leads had gone cold.”
Arnie looked at O’Dell with new-found respect. “That’s a valuable and honorable service, O’Dell, finding lost people.”
Joy on This Mountain (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) Page 26