by Trumbo, Kari
“That’s a big draw, since I want to save every cent.” Aiden rested hands covered in black ink on the table. He’d washed, but the ink wouldn’t budge. She glanced up to his eyes to find him staring at her, she turned and went back to her counter, the tension in her belly twisted tighter.
“The choice is yours, but you don’t have to worry yet because I haven’t heard from Ferguson.”
Aiden nodded and downed the rest of his water. “We’d best get back to it.”
Beau finished his bite and washed it down. “Yup. Thank you, Ruby, for letting us mess up your table.”
She stood and kissed him on the temple. “You can dirty my table whenever you like.”
Jennie wiped the crumbs while Ruby saw the men out.
After they’d left, Ruby returned and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m tired of being cooped up in here like a nesting hen. I wanted to come here for the wide-open spaces and I haven’t seen a single thing besides the doctor’s office.”
A sweat broke out on Jennie’s forehead and her stomach turned from tight to sour. “But, Ruby, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out. Beau will find us a place with peace and quiet and then we can all enjoy the out of doors again.”
“I just want to go to the store, buy some flour and salt, and come right home. I think there’s a mercantile just a few blocks down from here. If I can’t walk a few blocks, we have no business in this town. If you’d rather stay here, then do so. I’ll take Jack.”
Jennie stood in indecision. It would be good to get out of the house, but if anything happened to Ruby, the others would be left alone until Beau and Aiden returned. Ruby reappeared with her hat in her hand.
“Well? What do you say? Are you coming or staying?”
Jennie glanced down at her feet, the overwhelming cloud over her pressed down hard. “Why don’t you take Hattie with you? Two are better than one, but I’d best stay here with the younger ones.”
“Wise plan. In case anything should go wrong, not that I expect it to, you’ll be here.” She called up the stairs for Hattie and turned back to Jennie. “Do take a few minutes this afternoon and work on your dresses. It would be worthwhile. You’ll just have to trust me on that.”
Jennie refused to think too long on Ruby’s words. She and Beau spoke in whispers every night, but she didn’t take to listening to them. She sighed as Ruby and Hattie left, clicking the lock into place. The heaviness in her chest nearly crushed her as she prayed they would return safely.
Chapter Twelve
AIDEN FOLLOWED BEAU into the house, wiping his feet by the door as Jennie ran into the room. Her eyes were wide with tear streaks down her face, and all the air in his lungs slammed into his chest at the sight of the fear in her eyes.
“Don’t take off your boots! Ruby left just after lunch with Hattie to go to the market and hasn’t returned.”
Beau turned back to the door and shoved Aiden out of the way as he rushed out.
Aiden searched Jennie’s face. Her forehead was lined with worry and she clasped her hands in front of her.
“Oh, Aiden. What if…”
“Shh.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close, willing her to stop trembling. She fit just perfectly in his arms and her shaking seemed to dissolve as he held her close. “I’ve got to go help Beau. He’ll need me. Don’t hold supper, feed the others.” He allowed himself to brush his lips over the top of her head, then he pulled himself away and followed Beau.
“I’ll wait up. Please find them!” she called after him.
He dashed outside, smiling when he heard her lock the door behind him. Aiden ran and caught up to Beau a few blocks ahead of him.
Beau slammed his fist into his hand. “Why would she leave, Aiden? I told her to stay put. I just don’t understand how the house could get under her skin so quickly.”
“Well, didn’t you say you used to take odd jobs just to get out of town? Maybe she’s cut from the same cloth? How long could you stay pent up in the house?”
Beau shook his head. “I should’ve made time to go shopping with her. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t find her.”
“We’ll find her. Jennie said she went to the mercantile. Where is it?” He stopped and glanced up and down the street.
“It’s a little further down, but there’s no chance she’d still be there. It’s been hours since lunch.”
“I think we should go see if she made it there at all.” Aiden pushed him further along the street but kept his eyes open for any sign of bright red hair. That hair might be worth a fortune to a madam. Beau pushed his way through a clutch of men by the front door and strode up to the front counter.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for someone who may have come in here earlier. She’s about six inches shorter than me, dark red hair, with a younger blond about the age of sixteen.”
The shopkeeper scratched his chin. “An old man came in after they paid for their purchases to help them home. Don’t know where they went to after that.”
“An old man… was he in a preacher’s collar?” Aiden rested his hands on the counter to keep from clenching them.
The shopkeeper laughed. “No, he surely wasn’t.”
“Come on, Beau. Let’s ask around in the street. Someone was bound to notice something.” He pulled Beau’s arm and could feel the tension. Beau didn’t look outwardly scared, but Aiden could tell he was in knots. He would be.
Beau wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand and followed Aiden out of the mercantile. “Ruby wouldn’t have accepted help from just anyone. She isn’t that trusting. Hattie tends to want to attract attention and that’s what scares me. Hattie may have put them both in danger.”
“I think Hattie has too long been a child in the middle of a big family. She wants people to notice her away from her sisters.” Aiden looked up and down the street and dodged between passing wagons, leading Beau through town. “I guess I should’ve paid more attention to her when she was looking for it, but I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea.”
Beau’s bottom lip disappeared as his mouth flatlined. “I don’t need anyone giving attention to Hattie just yet. Not for any reason.”
Aiden stood as tall as he could and noticed a squat building on the other side of the street. It gave him an idea.
“Where’re you off to?” Beau asked, his voice high.
“The stage coach station. If Ruby and Hattie were taken, the scoundrels wouldn’t keep them here in Deadwood, or we’d find them right away. I’m going to check and see if any women left on the stage this afternoon.”
Beau yelled over the din. “Pray they didn’t. Those stages make a lot of stops and if the girls were taken, they could force them off anywhere and we’d never find them.”
A sick feeling left Aiden trembling all the way down to his boots. If they ended up down in one of the cribs in the shantytown… No, he wouldn’t even give that thought credence. A few men hung around the front of the station. It was a low, one-story log building, with a plank roof. It looked like it had been thrown up in a pinch and then was just left to run as it was. Aiden rushed through the door into the dark interior. A man with a corncob pipe sat on a stool behind a counter reading a newspaper. He glanced up at them and set down his reading.
“What can I do for you? Stage won’t leave again until morning.”
Beau pushed forward next to Aidan and spoke first. “I’m looking for two young women. A redhead and a blond that may have been taken by stage out of town.”
“Been taken? I don’t know what kind of establishment you think I run here mister, but I don’t like what you’re suggesting.”
Aiden cleared his throat. “Two ladies are missing, we’re looking for them, that’s all he’s saying, sir.” He shot a warning glance at Beau. Riling up the locals would only make the job more difficult.
“A young blond lit out on the three o’clock stage to Lead. She was leaning and pawing all over the man she was with, though. Don’t sound lik
e she was taken anywhere.”
Beau shook his head. “That wouldn’t be our girl. She may want attention, but not that badly, and she’d be with Ruby.”
Aiden nodded and touched his hat. “That doesn’t sound like our blond. Thank you for your time.”
Beau and Aiden left the dark building and continued their search. “Let’s go talk to the reverend, then the hotel owner, they are the only two people we know in town. Maybe they heard something.”
Aiden scoured the street for familiar faces as he kept up with Beau. He pushed his way into the hotel and rang the bell at the front desk. An older man came out from a small door behind the counter.
“Beau, can I help you?” He pulled on the garter around his arm and shifted his gaze from one man to the other.
“I hope so, Lance. When I came home today, two of my girls were missing. They went to the mercantile and never returned. Has anyone said anything to you or have you seen them?”
Lance scratched his head. “I haven’t heard anything, Beau. I’m sorry. I’ll keep an ear out. I hope you find them.”
Aiden cocked his head to the side and frowned. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen Ferguson around?”
Beau glared at Aiden. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Lance scratched behind his neck and gave a noncommittal shrug. “I saw him this morning. Not sure why it matters.”
Aiden rested his hands on his waist, the man’s eyes were too shifty, as if he were hiding something and this wasn’t the time to let something like that slide by. “It matters because if Ferguson mentioned he was thinking about hiring Beau, it would mean you would lose the rent on that big old house.”
Lance’s eyes flashed and he slammed his hands down on the front desk. “Hogwash. I’ll be selling that house soon. I wouldn’t do anything to anyone.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at them.
“Come on, Aiden. Let’s go check with the reverend.” Beau pulled Aiden’s arm as he left the hotel. “We aren’t going to get anywhere with Lance. If we don’t find anything else, we can always go back to check the hotel again. But… I’ve got this terrible feeling she isn’t here anymore.” Beau trudged to a small house on the edge of town.
“I didn’t even know where the Reverend lived.” Aiden looked around at the small houses shoved together without an inch of space between them, yet clean, with tidy painted fronts in a row.
“I wouldn’t say he lives here…” Beau turned back to him. “He stays here while he preaches. I’m not even sure if he’s still here or if he’s moved on.” He strode forward and knocked on the door of one of the homes.
A little old woman answered. “What can I do for you, sir?” her voice waivered and she stared up at him.
“Is Level still here, or has he moved on, ma’am?”
She stepped to the side and opened the door further. Beau stepped inside and Aiden followed. Reverend Level sat on a chair next to the couch. Someone lay on the couch, red hair peeking from beneath a blanket.
Beau rushed to the couch and knelt in front of his wife. He brushed the hair back from her face to reveal a dark knot on the side of her head.
Level cleared his throat. “Just who I was hoping to see. A friend brought Ruby to me earlier. She was screaming in the street and someone hit her over the head. My friend took exception to anyone treating a lady like that and removed her from the situation. Ruby has quite a lump on her head, but we’ve been caring for her as best we know how.”
“I can’t tell you how glad I am that you have her. Did your friend mention any other women? Her sister Hattie was with her.” Beau pulled the blanket down and touched her hands and shoulders gently, checking for injuries. Aiden stepped forward and winced, her temple was a vicious purple.
“He didn’t mention anyone with her. Just that she was screaming which drew his attention, then he saw her get hit. I don’t know what transpired that he ended up with her. I didn’t ask for specifics.”
Beau laid his head against Ruby’s. “We’ll never find her. She could be anywhere.”
Level stood and patted Beau on the shoulder. “I will pray for her and so should all of you. I didn’t know Hattie was missing, or I would’ve asked more questions, but I can seek out information tomorrow. Perhaps I’ll find out more.”
“Thank you, Reverend. I’ll get her home and let her sisters take care of her, if you think she’ll be okay to move.”
“You’ll draw attention to her without a cart. You may use mine. Allow me to hitch up my horse.”
Beau nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
The old woman approached him and gave Beau a cloth. “For her bump.” She touched her own head.
He brushed Ruby’s red hair away from her face and laid the cloth over the large bump. Beau cradled her head in his hands and kissed her forehead and cheeks, mumbling something Aiden couldn’t hear. Until a few days ago, if he’d seen that, he would’ve called the man a fool, weak. Now, he knew better.
Aiden shook his head. “What in the world did he hit her with?”
Beau closed his eyes. “I don’t know. Something weighty enough to do this. I don’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if Level’s friend hadn’t heard her scream.”
“Odd that he didn’t mention the friend’s name.” Aiden sat in the chair the reverend had vacated.
“Maybe the friend asked that he not say who he was. We don’t know. I trust the reverend. If he doesn’t want to tell us, I’m all right with that.”
Aiden nodded. “I think I’ll run back to the house and let the girls know. Level’s cart is pretty small for all of us and it’s a short walk.”
“Good idea. Have them get our bed ready for her.” Beau continued tenderly combing Ruby’s hair with his fingers. Aiden prayed they’d find Hattie, and his stomach met his boots when he thought about telling Jennie what had happened.
Chapter Thirteen
JENNIE SAT AT THE TABLE with the rest of her sisters, drumming her fingers and waiting for any noise at all from outside. Eva laid her hand on Jennie’s arm. “Do you think we should do anything while we wait? What if they don’t come back tonight?”
“Please, don’t say that. They have to come back and they have to find Ruby and Hattie.” Jennie stood and collected two of the plates from the dinner that no one had touched.
Drawing hot water from the reservoir on the side of the cook stove, Jennie lathered some soap on a rag to wash the dishes. Eva brought in the rest of the plates and slipped them into the water. “I’ll dry for you.” She picked up a towel. Eva hated change and had always been the sister who tried to keep the peace among all of them. She was generally so quiet, everyone would forget she was even there.
Jennie needed the quiet ritual of doing the dishes to let her mind settle, so having the quietest sister help her was the best option. She’d been too upset to eat. Why hadn’t she tried harder to stop Ruby? While she’d sometimes thought about what things would’ve been like if Ruby hadn’t brought them with her, she knew Ruby had sacrificed a lot to do it. She and Beau were newly married and both were filled with a wanderlust that normally might make having a family difficult, but they had agreed, even before they were married, that Ruby’s sisters would be with them.
Jennie shook her head as she wrung out her washcloth. “Thank you, Eva. I’ll dump this outside, then we should get ready for bed.”
Eva nodded. A knock sounded on the front door and they both gasped and ran for it. Jennie lifted the wood slide of the peep hole. “It’s Aiden!” she yelled, her spirit soaring with hope.
Jennie swung the door open and saw the weary smile on his face. She ran into his arms without thinking and he wrapped them around her, holding her tight. “Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you what I know.” He whispered in her ear as he placed his hand on her back. Warmth spread over her, strengthening her. He indicated that Jennie and Eva should sit on the couch then knelt in front of Jennie.
“We found Ruby with Reverend Level. She was
hit over the head and has a pretty bad bump. She won’t be able to work for a few days once she wakes up.”
He searched Jennie’s eyes and she wanted desperately to know what he was trying to tell her.
“Hattie’s gone. She wasn’t with Ruby and we have no idea who took her, much less where. Level is going to ask around tomorrow and we hope to find out more. Beau is pretty shaken up about it.”
Jennie shook her head, her thoughts spinning out of control. She reached out and clutched Aiden’s hand. “No, she can’t be gone.” Jennie felt tears well up and made an effort to slow her breathing, but the more she tried, the worse it became, until her stays bit deeply into her and the tears fell anyway. “This is Beau’s fault. He brought us all out here. He knew the danger and still brought us out here!”
Aiden stood and yanked her up off the couch and into his arms, tucking her head under his chin. “Don’t say that. Beau couldn’t have foreseen this. He told Ruby to stay in the house and for whatever reason, she decided not to. But whatever your feelings, Ruby needs you to get her bed ready and manage the house. We’d planned to tell you all we’re moving out to the ranch next week, but now everything’s on hold.”
Jennie pulled away from him. “We can’t leave now! What if Hattie finds her way back and looks for us? She’ll never find us out on some ranch. She’d look here first.”
Aiden backed away. “It isn’t for me to say, Jennie, or you. You’ll need to do what Beau and Ruby decide.”
“And what about you, where will you go?” Jennie crossed her arms, all the mixed feelings inside of her swirled and flashed, turning to an anger she couldn’t manage.
“If Beau’ll have me, I’d like to work out on the ranch for the next month until I can earn my money to go home. I can help Beau keep looking for Hattie if he wants, but we’ll probably just take it to Seth Bullock. If anyone can find her, he can.”