by AmyFleming
Death In Bandit Creek
A Bandit Creek Mystery
by
Amy Jo Fleming
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Amy Jo Fleming
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Praise for Amy Jo Fleming
Amy Jo Fleming "blows me away with her amazing, layered story. I know it will make a terrific addition to the Bandit Creek Series." CJ Carmichael, Romance and Intrigue Author
"What a ride. I was totally drawn in by this action-oriented story. Amy Jo Fleming is a master at weaving a plot." Suzanne Stengl, Romance Author
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Suzanne Stengle, CJ Carmichael and Lawna Mackie for reading my book. Thanks to Steena and Alyssa for all the technical assistance and to the crew at Bandit Creek, Vivi Anna, Dara-Lee, Steena, Shannon and Jill who put this fabulous Bandit Creek project together.
For David, Cat & Scott
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Bandit Creek
Quinn’s Christmas Wish
About The Author
Death at Bandit Creek
By Amy Jo Fleming
Chapter One
Bandit Creek, Montana
October 18, 1911
Eileen McArthur knew she was in danger. She just didn’t know why. An icy feeling crept along her shoulder blades. She could sense someone watching her through the classroom window, but every time she looked up, no one was there. The last student had left the classroom hours ago, but she was still agonizing over her letter. She just had to finish it before she went home. The sun’s last pale rays touched the tops of the mountains and it would get dark in the valley fast. After last night, she didn’t want to walk home in the dark.
The letter finished, she looked for a place to hide it. She pulled a few books from the bookcase at the back of the classroom and hid the letter behind David Copperfield. Tomorrow, she would walk over to the post office at lunchtime and mail it. She said a brief prayer over the letter. Neill had to come and get her now. He just had to.
She picked up a gold locket from her desk and made a quick decision. She pulled the book out of the bookshelf again and put the locket in with the letter. This time the book stuck out a little bit, but that was all the time she had.
She pulled her blue wool coat over her shirtwaist and slid the matching hat on her head. Outside, a wind blew down off Crow Mountain. The cold wind cut through her coat. She shivered and a skittering noise behind her made her gasp. When she looked back, there was nothing to see.
Home for Eileen was the house on the Dredger ranch outside of town where she boarded with the Dredger family. She had to walk through the town, past the cemetery and on towards the mine. The road branched off to the Dredger place just around a bend in the road, outside of town. The road ran up a canyon that ended in Deadman’s Gap. Most days she walked to and from school with the Dredger children, Maud, Elyse and Tommy. Maud and Elyse would each hang on to one of her hands while the eight-year-old Tommy raced on ahead, chasing butterflies in the summer or kicking piles of leaves in the fall. Today the leaves were gone -- blown off by the wind. The walk passed quickly when she was with the children, but tonight it seemed endless.
Ahead at the corner in the lights of the Powder Horn Saloon, she could see the red dress of Annie Hamilton, a prostitute who worked in the building beside the saloon. Annie was talking to Luc Branigan.
Luc was a rancher. He used to be her friend and she didn’t know why he would be talking to a prostitute, but after their last conversation, she didn’t want to find out.
Eileen heard some of the words, Dredger and money. They both looked in Eileen’s direction and Eileen hurried across the road to avoid them. No decent woman would pass by Annie Hamilton on the street.
In the growing darkness, Eileen stumbled into Jack. She didn’t know very much about him except that he was the town drunk. People called him Jack or JD because of the bottle of whiskey he was usually carrying. He leaned against the wall, out of sight, but watching what was going on in Main Street. Jack grabbed Eileen to prevent her from falling. She could smell the liquor on his breath.
“You don’t want to be going this way,” he mumbled.
“What are you talking about?” she answered before she could think. She didn’t want to have anything to do with Jack. He had the stale day-old stench of yesterday’s alcohol.
“Don’t let them catch you alone,” he whispered.
Eileen shook loose from his grasp. Crazy old man. She ran down the street away from him.
How could she have let it get so late? Here she was alone on the road at night without even a light. The clouds rolling in from the west were darker now than when she’d left the school.
Normally, she could have caught a ride to the Dredger place with Luc Branigan or one of the ranch hands he sent to pick up his brothers and sisters, but after her run-in with Luc, she wanted to avoid him.
The road curved past the cemetery. Poor folk were buried in this cemetery. Chinese miners, ranch hands, anyone without money, this was where they ended up. The wind whistled through the trees and the branches moaned. What an awful place to be, Eileen thought. And then she saw a light shining in the cemetery.
Who goes to a cemetery this late at night? This was a night to be at home in front of the fire, not out roaming in the graveyard.
Boots thudding softly on the road, Eileen went as fast as she could past the cemetery and around the bend in the road. The light was moving but it got brighter now and she could see it at the foot of the road leading to the Dredger place.
Tommy Dredger stepped from behind a tree. Tommy was small for his eight years. In the lamplight, Eileen could barely make out the color of his blond hair.
“My God, you scared me,” she gasped. “You should have gone straight home after school with your sisters. What are you doing, jumping out from behind trees like that?”
“I came to watch for you,” he said.
“Why?” Eileen was surprised.
Tommy’s eyes were dark. He spoke quickly, “The bridge is blocked. A wagon from the mine spilled its load. Come around by the ford in the river. I’ll show you the way.”
Eileen peered down the road. She couldn’t see the bridge. The night was pitch black, not even the moon to light her way. Tommy had moved off, back in the direction of the cemetery. Eileen looked down the road again. She knew the ranch house was about a mile down the road. Would she ever be able to find her way in the darkness on her own?
Tommy and his light disappeared along a path that ran beside the cemetery and then straight on to the Branigan ranch. There were so many old mining roads crossing
the mountains, Eileen could not be sure where he was going. She decided to go after him.
Eileen followed Tommy into a clearing. His light fell on a man, someone waiting for them.
Tommy said, “We’re here now.”
“You’re a good boy, Tommy. You go home now,” the man said.
Eileen felt a hand on her arm.
“What about Miss McArthur?” Tommy asked.
“She and I need to do some talking. Remember, I told you, it’s a secret.” In the darkness, the boy held up his light.
“Are you sure?”
“Tommy, wait for me,” she pleaded
“You don’t want to be frightening the child,” the man said.
Eileen felt cold steel against her throat. She wondered if Tommy could see the gun in the darkness. Probably not. She watched the boy disappear into the night.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Eileen croaked.
There was no reply.
Chapter Two
November 1, 1911
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The train depot in Kalamazoo was filled with people rushing to catch the train. Charlotte Fraser checked her blue trunk and watched it disappear. It held everything she owned and she wouldn’t see it again until she reached Bandit Creek. She turned and walked with Mr. Sharp out onto the platform.
Charlotte did not feel like talking, she wanted to be on her way. Mr. Sharp would be expecting her to be her normal bubbly self. He looked puzzled and then he asked, “Are you sure you don’t need any money, Charlotte?”
Charlotte still had some of the money he had lent her a year ago, to pay her tuition at the Normal School. “No, Mr. Sharp. I owe you enough already.” She added, “I don’t know what to say. You and Mrs. Sharp have been so good to me, since my family went west.”
“We both love you, Charlotte, you know that. So does Ora.”
Charlotte only smiled. Then she said, “Ora will always be my best friend. No matter what.”
“I wish you were staying for her wedding,” Mr. Sharp said.
She patted her handbag. It held her contract with the Bandit Creek School Board. It was unusual to be starting in November, but the old teacher had left unexpectedly. Charlotte would earn the incredible sum of $800.00 to teach until June next year. “I need to start working Mr. Sharp. I want to pay you back the money you lent me to go to school.”
“Surely they can wait until after Thanksgiving,” he said. “It would mean a lot to Ora.”
“I’m sure the wedding will be beautiful,” Charlotte said. She couldn’t bear the idea of going to Ora’s wedding. Not to see Ora marry Gilbert.
Mr. Sharp looked at her thoughtfully. It seemed like he only now realized that Charlotte didn’t want to go to Ora’s wedding.
“You’ll get over Gilbert, one day.” Concern filled his voice and he patted her arm.
Charlotte knew she wouldn’t get over Gilbert. She loved him and he’d told her that he wanted to marry her. She had believed him. And now this.
She looked Mr. Sharp directly in the eye now. She wanted to ask how Mr. Sharp could possibly let Ora marry Gilbert. Instead she said, “I hope they’ll be very happy.”
“He’s a good man, Charlotte.”
“Yes, he is,” Charlotte said carefully.
“I only want to see Ora happily settled.”
Charlotte wondered if Ora would be happy. She doubted that Ora really loved Gilbert. The Sharps had refused to let her marry the mechanic she had fallen in love with. Now she was punishing everyone by marrying Gilbert.
Charlotte knew Gilbert didn’t love Ora. But Mr. Sharp owned a hotel and Gilbert hoped that he could be made a partner in Mr. Sharp’s business. Marrying Ora wouldn’t hurt Gilbert’s chances.
Charlotte bit her lip and wanted to get through with this conversation and on to the train. Her heart was broken. She couldn’t pretend anymore, pretend she wasn’t jealous, pretend she was happy for Ora. Pretend she wasn’t angry.
Gilbert and Ora were getting married and Charlotte would not stay for the wedding. Nothing would change either of those things. Charlotte gave Mr. Sharp a little hug. It was the first time she had ever touched him. He hugged her back.
“You and Mrs. Sharp have been like family to me. I can’t tell you how much you mean to me.”
He patted her arm again and she continued, “Thank you for everything. I’ll pay you back the money I owe you as soon as I can.”
Charlotte left Mr. Sharp on the platform and found a seat on the train. If she was going to cry, she didn’t want him to see it.
Chapter Three
Bandit Creek Montana
November 7, 1911
Sheriff Alec Forrest spent the morning riding out along the mining roads that criss-crossed Crow Mountain. Yesterday, he’d told his deputy, Frank Waters, that they would be riding out in the morning to take another look for the missing teacher. This morning, Frank had sent his oldest boy to the Sheriff’s office to tell him he was too sick to come in.
Alec was appointed Sheriff in 1909 when he was only twenty years old. He knew Frank wanted the job, but the town council had hired Alec. Most people considered Alec too young for the job, but on the other hand, too young was better than too lazy. Alec never applied for the job, but after the two-year stint with George Stiles as sheriff, the town wanted a change. Stiles, corrupt and unpopular, had hired Frank Waters as his deputy and Alec was stuck with him.
Frank’s main qualification as a deputy was that he could shoot fast and straight but no one would say he was dedicated to his job. If he could be home snoring in front of the fire, that was where you would find him.
Alec could not be sure himself what he hoped to accomplish by riding out in the mountains. The teacher, Eileen McArthur, had been missing for two weeks. At first, no one reported she had disappeared. School had been cancelled and most people believed she must be sick and staying out at the Dredger’s ranch. Then people started asking questions and Mrs. Miles, the pastor’s wife, spoke to the sheriff about it. He checked the schoolroom and found many of her things were still there.
The sheriff had ridden out to Otto Dredger’s ranch but the teacher wasn’t there. The Sheriff had spoken to Eliza Dredger and some of the ranch hands, but the teacher had not come home from school one day. It was very unexpected. Eliza had wanted to contact the sheriff but she didn’t want the trip into town. She didn’t mention why, but Alec could see she was expecting despite her loose clothing. She told him Otto had taken care of alerting the students and the school board.
Over the years, teachers had frequently left Bandit Creek, but Eileen McArthur was the first one who had simply disappeared leaving all of her possessions behind.
The sheriff had checked with the stationmaster down at the train station, but the teacher hadn’t bought a ticket for the train. She hadn’t taken a stagecoach either, so she must be somewhere close.
It was either scout out some of the trails on Crow Mountain or sit in his office waiting for something to happen. Alec couldn’t believe she still could be alive if she was lost in the mountains, but he always preferred action over waiting and so here he was riding alone in the hills.
The sun glinted off the snow and Alec narrowed his eyes looking for tracks, for any sign of the teacher. Despite the sun, he was glad of the warmth from his shearling jacket.
A storm had blown down off the mountains on the day the teacher disappeared. It had left a blanket of snow covering the peaks and the high alpine meadows. If she got lost somewhere in the mountains, Alec should be able to find her tracks. If she was still alive. If something had happened to her, then she could be hidden under a blanket of snow and they might not find her until the spring.
Alec crossed over Bandit Creek at a ford near Deadman’s Gap and turned back towards town. Everyone who saw the teacher on her last day in town said she was walking toward the Dredger ranch. She couldn’t have come this far on foot.
Chapter Four
Luc Branigan spurred his horse, Re
bel, out to the front of a herd of yearling steers, turning them down towards Bandit Creek and the cattle yards at the train station there.
Branigan’s brother, Ty, and their cowhand, Dusty Lowe, tailed behind the steers, riding herd on any who lagged. They rode on Branigan land, the land along Bandit Creek on the ranch Luc had inherited from his father five years before.
In a bluff near the creek, Luc spotted some cow and calf pairs. He gestured to Dusty who rode over to check on the cattle.
Dusty caught up to Luc to report. “The cows have our brand. The calves following them all have the Dredger brand.”
Rage engulfed Luc. “Dredger,” he shouted, disgust in his voice.
“What are we going to do, Boss?” Dusty asked.
Luc thought about it for a minute. “Time to eat,” Luc said. “Start a fire and get the coffee going.”
Ty opened a can of beans and heated it over the fire. They had a meal of biscuits and beans. After they finished, the three men crouched around the fire, drinking their coffee.
“I can’t let Dredger get away with this,” Luc said. “Every spring he’s out on the open range, putting his brand on every new calf he finds.”
“We should talk to the Sheriff. Alec Forrest can help,” Ty said.
“What’s the point? Dredger is a big rancher with a host of cowboys working for him.” Luc thought about the new sheriff, Alec Forrest. “The Sheriff can’t help us.”
“It’s his job, Luc. Alec Forrest is a good man.”
Luc shook his head. “The Sheriff is barely more than a kid. Dredger will just say it’s all a mistake. We may never even find these calves again. No, we have to take care of these calves ourselves. Today.”
Luc took a branding iron out of his bag, a large size running B and settled it onto the remaining coals of the fire. The color of the branding iron turned ashen and Luc took it out of the fire. He tested it on a nearby log.
Luc looked over at the two men. “Drive those calves over here, and tie them down.”