“Of course, we can,” Sally replied. “My brother, Richard, and his son, Mark, just helped my pa add a large dining room to the house.” With a glance at Angela, she added, “Richard and Mark build houses and businesses.”
April laughed. “Your mother is the only person I know who’s happy when there are so many people in her house that she needs to build an additional room to fit them all.”
“April, how long does it take Joel to get back from Jenny’s?” Sep asked, interrupting them.
“He didn’t just go to Jenny’s,” Sally said. “He went to tell everyone in the family about Opal’s birth. How else do you think I found out?”
Sep had been so nervous that he hadn’t even thought about how Sally had found out. Now, he realized he should have. Why did Joel have to go out and tell his whole family that Opal was born? Couldn’t he have waited? Sep hid his irritation the best he could and looked back out the window, hoping against hope that Joel would show up.
The women, in turn, ignored him and continued gushing over how cute Opal was.
***
Joel didn’t return for another two hours, which was just at the time supper was ready. Sally and Laura had helped Angela make the meal before leaving. And it was five minutes after they left that Joel finally walked through the door.
Without waiting for Joel to say anything to the women or children, Sep urged Joel into one of the bedrooms and shut the door so they could speak in private.
“If you’re trying to be subtle, it’s not working,” Joel said.
“I’ve been waiting all day for you to return. I don’t want to wait until after supper to find out what’s going on. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m stuck in a serious situation here.”
“I understand that. Why do you think I waited so long to return? If I only went to speak to Jenny, whoever is after you would’ve been suspicious. By going out to everyone in the family, no one will suspect a thing.”
“I wish you’d told me you were going to do that before you left.” Sep ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you know how hard it is to act like nothing is wrong so that I don’t panic my wife and sister?”
“If you were trying not to get them to panic, then you should have calmly asked to talk to me instead of dragging me in here like your tail was on fire.”
“I would’ve done that if you had returned sooner.”
Joel shook his head. “You’re anxious. I suppose your actions were to be expected.”
“Especially since you didn’t bother to tell me what you were going to do.”
Joel sighed. “Are you interested in what I found out or not?”
Pushing aside his irritation, Sep nodded and gestured for Joel to speak.
“I went to Jenny’s first, and when I was done talking to everyone else in the family, I returned to her. The men that Owen arrested a couple of weeks ago are still in jail. None of them escaped.”
It took a moment for the news to sink in. “How is that possible?”
“It’s possible if there was another person involved that wasn’t arrested.”
Could this be true? Was it possible there was someone else involved who wasn’t at the livery stable that night? There were so many men who had been arrested that Sep couldn’t imagine there being another one. But, as Joel pointed out, it was possible. Perhaps the extra man had been in town getting things ready for the auction. Maybe he was bringing back something for the men and women to eat and drink. Or maybe he didn’t have to be there for the lookout. Maybe he didn’t have to get involved until the next day.
“I think we should go to Owen about this,” Joel said.
“The person who wrote me that missive specifically told me not to go to any lawmen.”
“It also told you to bring money, but if I recall right, you said you were only going to pretend to get a loan from the bank.”
“That’s because I can fool him by doing that. If he sees me going to Owen, then it’s over. I’ll lose the only advantage I have.”
“Well, I can go to Owen.”
“No. This person knows that I’m here at this house. If you go to Owen, he’s going to know that I talked to you about this.”
“Then I’ll go after you leave. You believe he’s going to follow you back to your home, right?”
“Yes, but there could be more than one person. I think I’m dealing with just one, but I don’t know that for sure. I’m leaving Angela here tonight to make sure she’s safe. I don’t think anyone will go near her while she’s here.” Then as an afterthought, he asked, “How many men do you think would be involved in something like this?”
“I don’t know. While $300 is a lot of money, if you spread it out too many ways, it’s not enough to do much of anything for someone who is an outlaw. So, I’m guessing no more than three.”
“Do you think this man, or these men, are still working with Mr. Dodson?”
Joel shrugged. “They could be. This could be just one scheme they’re running before they managed to break Mr. Dodson and the others out. Or they might plan to leave Mr. Dodson and the others in jail. Anything’s possible.”
Well, it was obvious that the deputy was taking the matter seriously since he was on careful watch in the town. Maybe that’s why he kept patrolling the same area over and over. This house wasn’t far from the jailhouse. Maybe Owen suspected there might be more men involved in this whole thing and was having his deputy keep watch for anyone who seemed suspicious. And if he was only having the deputy keep watch, then there couldn’t be more than a couple of them running loose.
“I think we can do this without Owen or Deputy Barnes,” Sep finally said.
“Maybe, but we need a good plan. Have you come up with something?”
“Yes, but I need Fred’s help. He’s excellent at tracking animals and people. I plan to have him sniff out the man’s hiding place at the farm, but I’ll wait until you’re there before I confront him.”
“Well, you better hope there’s not more than two or three. Any more than that and it’s going to get tricky.”
“My gut tells me there’s only one.”
“For both of our sakes, I hope you’re right.”
Chapter Sixteen
During supper, Angela had a difficult time eating the food on her plate. And she soon realized she wasn’t the only one. Sep ended up pushing his food around instead of eating it. He sat next to her at the table, and he had his hand clasped around hers. Since their hands were under the table, she doubted anyone else noticed. It was a nice gesture. In his way, he was letting her know that he was doing everything he could to make sure she was safe. She might not know what she was safe from but she was safe all the same, and that spoke volumes of his love for her.
She hadn’t had time to tell April what she had discovered about Deputy Barnes. So for the moment, she was keeping the information to herself. She didn’t know when she would get a chance to tell April what she had found out, and she didn’t know if she should tell Sep. If Sep would tell her what was going on, she might better understand why the deputy was so interested in him.
The problem with this whole situation was that nothing was black or white. There didn’t seem to be a right or wrong way to handle things, and because of that, she didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t know if Joel had picked up on how awkward everything was. He was the only one, besides the children, who ate the meal with gusto. He was also the only one who jumped into the conversation his children were having.
“I think Opal should sleep in our bedroom because she’s a girl,” Nora told Hannah.
“But she’ll cry all night,” Hannah replied. “Rebecca said that her baby sister kept her up all night after she was born.”
Nora glanced over at Angela and said, “Rebecca is Hannah’s friend.” She turned her attention back to Hannah. “She won’t cry all night. She’ll be just fine after I help Ma with her.”
“Opal will be in our room until she sleeps through the night,” Jo
el spoke up. “Nora, you need to sleep during the night so that you can help your ma with the house during the day.” He gave her a wink. “You’re a big help around here. She’s going to need you to be wide awake and ready to go in the morning.”
“What about me?” Hannah asked. “I’m a big help, too.”
“That you are,” Joel replied. “But Nora is older, so she’s expected to do more around here.”
April wiped her mouth with a napkin and cleared her throat. “Nora, why don’t you get those cookies you made the other day?”
Looking pleased to be given the task, Nora jumped up from her chair and hurried to the kitchen.
Sep straightened up and let go of Angela’s hand. “I should probably get going. It’ll be late by the time I get back to the farm.”
Angela rose to her feet. “I’ll see you to the door.”
Since he didn’t argue with her, she left the dining room and followed him to the parlor. Usually, he would take the time to say goodbye to everyone, but in this case, he had just bolted out of the room as if something bad was going to happen to him if he didn’t.
“Sep, won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked once they were at the door.
He turned to face her, and she thought he might finally tell her. But in the next moment, he only cupped her face with his hands and gave her a kiss that was much longer than it should’ve been considering the fact that they were at someone else’s house. She would have enjoyed it if she didn’t know he was so worried. It seemed as if he was kissing her for the last time, and that frightened her.
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him. “I don’t want to worry you. This is something I’d rather handle alone.”
She thought of telling him that there was nothing wrong with getting help, but he probably wouldn’t believe her. He would probably think that it made him weak if he were to admit he needed someone. Her father and uncle were the same way. They didn’t want anyone to think less of them. If she were to try to impose her will on him, he might resent her, and that was the last thing she wanted.
Sep was by no means perfect, but he was a good man. She couldn’t begrudge him the spark of male pride that made him take on dangerous things by himself. But she could offer him a warning that might help him. “Sep, there’s something I need to tell you. You see, while you were gone, I –”
“Aren’t you two going to eat the cookies?” Nora asked as she hurried over to them. “I made them myself.”
“I’d love to,” Sep began, “but I really need to go.” He gave Angela another hug and kissed her again. “Everything will be alright. You’ll see. I’ll come back for you tomorrow.”
Angela was ready to protest when he called out for Fred to go with him. The dog hurried over to him, and the two left before Angela could stop them.
“It’s alright,” Joel told her as he came into the room. “He’s not going to be doing this alone. I’m going to be helping him. I promise you that I won’t let anything bad happen to him.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” Angela asked.
Joel nodded but glanced at Nora. He patted Nora on the back and said, “Go on back to the dining room. I have something I need to tell your aunt.”
“Good,” April spoke up from the doorway in the parlor. “I’d like to know what is going on, too.”
Nora glanced from one adult to another. It was obvious she wanted to ask them what they were talking about, but she was old enough to know they weren’t going to tell her.
April settled Opal on her chest and patted her back. “Nora, why don’t you make sure Hannah and Levi don’t make a mess with those cookies? The adults have something they need to talk about, and we need to do it in private.”
Nora, being a good sport, headed on out of the parlor, leaving the three alone.
April closed the distance between Angela and Joel. “Now that she’s no longer in the room, what do you know about Sep?” April asked Joel. “We’ve been unable to figure out what’s going on.”
“Well, I did figure out something,” Angela said, “I did see Sep at the bank. That’s where he went when he was gone for an hour. And on his way back, I noticed that the deputy was following him.”
Joel looked at Angela in interest. “The deputy was following Sep?”
“He had been watching Sep at the bank, too,” Angela added. “I came back before either man noticed me. Do you think that’s something Sep should know?”
“Are you sure it was the deputy? Maybe he was someone who looks like him,” Joel replied.
Angela shook her head. “No. I met the deputy the night I married Sep. He was rounding up the men who were going to auction me off. I know it was him.”
“We need to talk to Owen right away.”
“So this is important?”
“It is. And I’m going to need to get Owen right away.” Joel reached for the doorknob. Glancing back at them, he said, “I don’t want to lose time by explaining everything, but you can hold onto this.” He gave Angela a folded missive. “Sep gave it to me earlier today. It explains most of the things that are going on. I’ll explain everything else later.” Joel left the house.
“Isn’t it just like a man to run off before a woman can get more questions in?” April asked, shaking her head.
“Joel did leave us some answers,” Angela replied as she skimmed the missive. “He just didn’t answer enough of them.”
Like, was the deputy in on the auction scheme the whole time? Did the deputy plan to release the prisoners? Was the deputy going to take the prisoners with him when he went to the farm? Or was the deputy acting on this alone? Why did he demand $300? Why not more? Why not less?
As Angela thought over the questions she still had, it occurred to her that there was no way Sep or Joel could know the answers, either. This was something only the deputy knew. Since Owen was a member of the Larson family, she knew he was innocent in this whole thing.
“I guess there’s nothing you and I can do except wait and see what happens,” April said.
As much as Angela hated to admit it, April was right. Sometimes, things were better left to the men. Meanwhile, all she could do was stay safe, just as Sep wanted. At least she was giving him one less thing to worry about by staying here with his sister.
Hoping she didn’t show how anxious she was, she turned her attention back to April. “Why don’t you rest? I’ll clean up the kitchen and put the kids to bed.”
April bit her lower lip. “I suppose there’s nothing we can do but wait. Alright.”
The two left the parlor, and Angela hoped that everything would really be alright, just as Sep had promised.
Chapter Seventeen
Sep led the horses to the front of the barn and then pulled back the reins so they stopped. He glanced over at Fred, who was sitting beside him on the seat. He really hoped he wasn’t going to do anything stupid that would put either himself or his best friend in danger. At least Angela was safe. He had that one comfort in all of this.
He pulled his Colt .45 out of its hiding place from under the seat. He quickly slipped it into his pocket, hoping the maneuver was fast enough so that the man wouldn’t notice him. That was if the man was watching him at the moment.
He set the brake and then hopped down from the wagon. He urged Fred to follow him, and Fred, being the ever so faithful companion, obeyed without question. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like knowing he was purposely leading the dog into a dangerous situation. But he had a feeling that if he could give Fred a choice in the matter, Fred would choose to go with him because that was the kind of dog Fred was.
There wasn’t much sunlight left. It would be dark soon. Supper ran later than he had expected. This made it more difficult to check the area for fresh footprints, but he managed to find a set in the dirt just in front of the doorway.
With a glance around to make sure no one could see him, Sep glanced at Fred and gestured to the footprints.
It was something they often did when hunting for deer. Sep would find a set of tracks and have Fred sniff them, and then Fred would find the deer for him from there. And Fred was good at it, too. Of all the dogs in the world, he thought he would be hard pressed to find a dog who could track something as well as Fred could.
Fred sniffed the footprints. There was only one set. If Sep remembered right, they were the same ones he had seen that day when he and Angela were coming back from the garden. This only confirmed his suspicions. He was dealing with one man. He could still be wrong about that, of course, but in his gut, this all seemed like the work of one person.
He knelt beside Fred and whispered, “Find the man for me.”
Then he straightened up, mindful of the gun in his pocket. From his other pocket, he pulled out the envelope and went into the barn to put it in the bucket. Even if the man hadn’t left town until he did, the man had the advantage of going on horseback. Wagons slowed things down. There was a good chance the man was already somewhere on the property, watching him. Just because Sep didn’t see a strange horse nearby, it didn’t mean the man wasn’t here. There were enough trees and buildings along the way where someone could hide a horse.
Sep was just going to have to go by instinct, and his instinct told him that the man was close by. After the envelope was in the bucket, he put his hand on the handle of his gun. Then he watched Fred as Fred sniffed the inside of the barn. Fred sniffed all the way from the doorway to the bucket to the window in the back and then to the ladder which led up to the loft. Fred glanced over at him expectantly.
That loft hadn’t been used in years. In the past, Sep would hide there to get away from Harvey, but he hadn’t had any need for it since then. Well, it looked like he had a use for it now.
He pulled the gun out of his pocket and looked up the ladder, taking a moment to scan as much as he could of the loft. He mostly saw shadows, of course. He couldn’t make out everything from this angle. It was possible the man was up there. That being the case, he motioned for Fred to get out of the barn. Fred had done his part. He wasn’t willing to put Fred through any more danger than he already had.
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