The Heart's Pursuit

by Robin Lee Hatcher

  The bedroom she’d been given was, indeed, blue—the paper on the walls, the Persian rugs on the floor, the bedspread on the large bed, and the curtains over the windows. All were in varying shades of blue, from the delicate hue of a robin’s egg to the vibrant color of an indigo bunting. And when she returned to the room after her bath, instead of her own travel-stained clothes, she found a dress—every bit as lovely as the violet silk Corinne had worn earlier that day—laid out on the bed. Beside it were all the necessary undergarments. Silver picked up the dress and held it against her chest. It seemed it would be a perfect fit.

  From somewhere in the house a clock chimed the quarter hour. She’d best get dressed or she would be late for supper. After the kindness of her hostess, she didn’t want to appear rude. She dropped the towel and began to dress.

  Beyond the bedroom door, the house came alive with sounds. Footsteps. Closing doors. Soft voices. Silver had thought Corinne Duvall lived in this big house by herself with just her servants. Obviously she’d been mistaken.

  At a minute before the hour, Silver opened the bedroom door and made her way down the grand staircase and across the parquet floor, guided to the dining room by the female voices spilling into the hallway through an open door. Her stomach seemed filled with butterflies.

  She stopped beneath the transom and surveyed the room.

  The women were arrayed in a spectrum of colors, no two the same. There must have been close to twenty of them, ranging in age from fifteen or sixteen to perhaps thirty or so. Jewelry glittered at their throats and on their earlobes and fingers. They stood in small bunches, visiting, laughing. On the table, fine china and crystal sparkled in the light shed by the candelabras.

  What on earth would Jared think of this?

  She clenched her jaw, the thought unwelcome. What did she care what Jared Newman thought? He’d left her without a backward glance. Not so much as a by-your-leave.

  Squaring her shoulders, she stepped into the dining room.

  CHAPTER 27

  Each girl had a story of her own, some of the stories exciting, most of them sad. As the sumptuous meal was served by Corinne’s servants, Silver heard bits and pieces from each of them in turn. With every new story, Silver’s understanding of this house and its inhabitants grew.

  Corinne Duvall had saved all of them from a life of starvation or abuse or prostitution. In return for a place to stay, good food to eat, and fine clothes to wear, the girls worked in Corinne’s Rainbow Saloon. But they were not the usual dance hall girls, serving liquor to drunken miners—or worse. They were forbidden intimacies beyond simple conversation. But, according to the girl seated on Silver’s left, there was the occasional love story that ended in a wedding.

  She learned one more thing during the meal. The Rainbow Saloon had honest gambling tables, and because of that, more men came there to gamble than any other saloon or gaming hall in all of Virginia City. If Matt Carlton was in this town, he would end up at the Rainbow sooner or later.

  And if he’s who Jared believes him to be, one of the girls at this table could be his next victim.

  Even as a shudder passed through her, fresh resolve stiffened her spine. She meant to do everything she could to make certain there was no next victim. She wanted and needed the reward in order to help her father, but there were some things even more important than money.

  Jared rode hard and fast toward Virginia City, leading Cinder behind him. He didn’t stop until night began to fall around him. Once the horses were cared for, he made a fire and warmed some beans, eating because he knew he should, not because it mattered to him what it tasted like.

  Several hours later, he lay on his bedroll, staring at the sliver of moon overhead. Sleep eluded him despite his weariness. All he could do was think of Silver and wonder if she was all right and imagine what might have happened to her. If she believed Jared had left her without a word, then she must hate him now.

  He groaned and rolled onto his side. Discovering his money had been stolen and his note never delivered had been hard to swallow. It didn’t help to know the employee of Wells, Fargo was now sitting in jail. Ultimately, what had happened was Jared’s fault. He’d wanted to avoid a confrontation with Silver. That was the real reason he found himself lying on his bedroll too worried to sleep. That was the real reason Silver and Dean were in Virginia City without him there to protect them. It was his fault and no one else’s.

  God, keep her safe. Please keep her safe until I can find her. The prayer felt awkward, foreign. He’d pushed God away for years. Why should He listen to Jared now? And yet he pressed on. Don’t let me lose her. Not now that I’ve found her.

  The more he prayed, the easier it came. Until finally, a wall in his heart seemed to crumble and he felt himself stepping over the rubble into a place of trust.

  After the early supper, all of the young women in their colorful gowns left the house in several carriages, bound for the Rainbow Saloon. Corinne remained behind with Silver.

  “Well, what do you think?” Corinne asked as the two of them stood in the entry hall.

  “What do I think?”

  “Would you be willing to work for me?”

  “Work for you?” She felt foolish, echoing the woman’s words that way, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

  Corinne’s smile was kind. “I assure you, you will be protected from harm.”

  Work in a saloon? It might not be the usual kind of saloon, but still . . . Her stepmother would die of shame. But what would happen to her and Dean if she refused?

  “And you would be under no obligation to remain should you find you want to leave Virginia City.”

  Silver drew in a long, steadying breath. “Miss Corinne, before I give you my answer, I need to tell you why I came here. You asked earlier if it was because of a man. It is, but not the way you think.”

  An hour later, Silver opened the door to the third-floor bedroom, allowing a streak of yellow light to stream in from the hall. Dean sprawled across the bed, sound asleep. The sheet and blanket were twisted and shoved aside. The boy frowned as the light touched his face but didn’t awaken. Silver moved quietly across the room. Stopping beside the bed, she brushed the hair on his forehead to one side with her fingertips. He mumbled something unintelligible before rolling away from her.

  Corinne had not seemed a bit surprised by Silver’s story. She hadn’t seemed to think it unusual for a young single woman to ride halfway across the country in the company of a bounty hunter while in pursuit of a thief and a killer. She hadn’t thought it odd that Silver, when left behind by Jared, had continued on to Virginia City without him.

  “You can rest your ankle for a few days,” Corinne had said at the conclusion of their talk. “Then we will take you to the Rainbow and see if the work will suit.”

  What else could Silver do but agree to the arrangement? She and Dean would be housed and fed and safe. It was more than she had any right to expect.

  With one last glance at the sleeping boy, she left the bedroom and descended the stairs to the second floor, making her way to the blue room. She was tired and ready for sleep. It had been an exhausting day, physically and emotionally.

  She discovered a pretty satin nightgown awaiting her on the bed. It was amazing, really, the way clothes in her size seemed to appear out of thin air. She undressed, slipped the nightgown over her head, and got into bed, enjoying the feel of clean sheets on clean skin. Never again would she fail to appreciate the luxury of simple things.

  For a moment, she wondered about Jared. Where he was. What he was doing. But even thoughts of Jared couldn’t keep her awake tonight, and she soon drifted into a dreamless slumber.

  CHAPTER 28

  Morning sunlight flooded the second-floor solarium where Silver reclined on a lounge. A fat, long-haired cat had curled up near her feet for a morning nap. The rest of the house seemed as lazy as the feline. Silver hadn’t heard a single sound since following Nissa—a lithe, fair-haired girl close to Silver’
s age—into the sun-drenched room thirty minutes before.

  As if to prove her wrong, the rattle of dishes reached her from the hallway. Chung entered moments later. He nodded to the two women, set the tray on a table, and left the solarium.

  “You know,” Silver said to Nissa, “I’ve been here for several days, and I’ve yet to hear Chung say a single word. He understands English well enough. Can’t he speak it?”

  “No one told you? Chung can’t say anything. He has no tongue. Someone cut it out.”

  “How awful!”

  “But he has no trouble communicating with Miss Corinne with grunts and gestures and smiles or frowns. I don’t know how she would run this place without him.”

  Maria—one of the youngest of the girls who worked for Miss Corinne—entered the room before Silver could ask any more questions. “It is too quiet. I want to go shopping. Will either of you go with me?”

  Where Nissa was tall and fair, Maria was petite and dark. Nissa’s speech rolled with the cadence of the Swedes, while Maria’s was sprinkled with words from her native Mexico. Silver liked them both a great deal.

  Nissa shook her head. “I can’t. I have some letters to write. Mama, she has written twice since I last answered.”

  “I’ll join you, Maria.” Silver rose from the lounge. “I could use some exercise, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of the town. Give me a few minutes to get ready, and I’ll meet you out front.”

  Several hours later, her arms loaded with packages—all of them belonging to Maria—Silver stepped through the doorway of the Golden Emporium onto the boardwalk. Behind her she heard Maria’s rapid chatter as she shared gossip with the proprietress of the store. Silver decided to unburden her arms before going back inside to retrieve Maria.

  She turned and began walking toward the horse and buggy tied two stores away. She’d taken no more than a half dozen steps when she stopped and leaned against the building at her back, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.

  It was Bob. Bob Cassidy. Riding toward her on a tall sorrel. His brown hat had a broad brim, shading his eyes from view, but she could see his face clearly enough. Only it couldn’t be Bob. She’d been beside Bob when he died. She’d seen him buried, prayed beside his grave. Bob was dead.

  The man glanced in her direction, and she sucked in a breath as she pulled back, deeper into the shadows of the store awning.

  Have I gone mad?

  When the rider was directly opposite her, she was at last able to see the ways he didn’t resemble Bob. This man had a squarer jaw and a broader build. His blond hair was darker. The way he sat on his horse was different too. Yet even knowing it wasn’t Bob, she couldn’t stop shaking. It felt as if she were seeing Death riding a horse.

  “Amiga?”

  Silver jumped at the sound of Maria’s voice, and packages fell to the ground.

  “Silver, what is wrong? Are you not well?”

  “No. I’m fine. I was startled, that’s all.”

  “You are as white as Miss Corinne’s cat.”

  “I’m fine. Really. Let’s put these packages into the buggy and return to the house.”

  Maria’s gaze seemed skeptical, but after a moment more, the girl picked up the spilled packages without another word.

  CHAPTER 29

  If she’s as pretty as you claim,” the hotel clerk told Jared, “then you’ll likely find her living with Miss Corinne.”

  After eight days of hard riding, Jared had camped last night a few miles outside of Virginia City. He’d been up at the crack of dawn, determined to find Silver without delay, anxious to know that she was okay. “Why is that? Who is Miss Corinne?”

  “Corinne Duvall. She owns the Rainbow Saloon. Fanciest place this side of the Mississippi, I reckon. Some folk here in town turn their noses up at her ’cause of her past. But I kinda admire what she’s done. For herself and others too. Guess no one could call Miss Corinne a real lady, but she keeps those girls from goin’ down a bad road, if’n you know what I mean.”

  Jared wasn’t sure if he understood or not, but he didn’t want to waste any more time trying to find out. “Where do I find this Miss Duvall?”

  “Just turn left at the bank, and you’ll see the house up on the hillside. Can’t miss it. Looks like a palace, it does. And she’s got terraces all around with flowers growing everywhere. Don’t know how her gardener gets ’em to grow like that. My missus surely can’t.”

  Jared thanked the man and left the hotel lobby. The pinto and Cinder stood in the street, tied to a post. Jared stepped into the saddle and rode in the direction the clerk had indicated, turning at the bank. There was no doubt he’d gone in the right direction, not once the house on the hillside came into view. It did resemble a palace.

  A circular drive brought him to the hitching rail in front of the veranda. He dismounted and tied the horses, then went up the steps into the shade of the porch. He removed his hat and smoothed his hair with his free hand. The air was still and already growing warm. In the distance, he heard the sounds of the mines—ore cars rolling on tracks, the grind of heavy chains, the rumble of wagons, the pounding of picks—but here on this hillside, there was an aura of serenity.

  Just who was this Corinne Duvall?

  He rapped on the door.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw a lace curtain flutter at the window. High-pitched giggles reached him from beyond the beveled glass. He turned his head, but the curtains dropped back into place. At the same moment, the door opened. A slightly built Oriental man, clad all in black, stared up at him, saying nothing.

  “I’m looking for Miss Matlock. Miss Silver Matlock. I was told she might be staying with Corinne Duvall. Is she here?”

  The manservant motioned for Jared to follow him, and he was led into a large parlor and left there. An enormous painting commanded his attention from the far end of the room. He walked toward it, captured by the look of love on the subject’s face. He supposed it must be a portrait of the lady of the house. If so, she was a remarkable-looking woman. Not to mention wealthy. He’d been in some fine homes in his life, but nothing like this.

  “Chung tells me you are looking for Silver.”

  He turned around. It was the woman in the portrait, older now but just as beautiful. She wore a morning gown of sunshine yellow, something light and breezy with plenty of froth around her neck and wrists.

  “I don’t believe I’ve seen you at the Rainbow. Are you new to Virginia City?” She indicated they should be seated.

  “Yes, ma’am. Just got here this morning.” He sat in the nearby chair. “I’m a friend of Miss Matlock’s and was told she might be staying with you.”

  “Ah.” She raised a brow, her expression thoughtful. “So you’re the one.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Nothing.” She smiled. “We seem to have forgotten the formalities. I’m Corinne Duvall.”

  “Jared Newman.”

  “A pleasure, Mr. Newman. Silver is here, but she isn’t up yet.”

  Not up by this hour? That wasn’t like her. “Is she ill?”

  “No, she isn’t ill. But it is rather early for callers. I’ll let her know that you’re here and see if she’s ready to receive you.”

  There was a light rapping on Silver’s door and then Corinne’s voice. “Silver, may I come in?”

  She groaned and rolled onto her other side, pulling the pillow over her head.

  “My dear, you have a gentleman caller.”

  A gentleman caller? She’d been working at the Rainbow Saloon for only a week, but she knew Corinne Duvall’s rules. She didn’t allow men to call on her girls at the house. Not unless there was a serious relationship developing that might lead to marriage.

  Corinne entered the room and came to the side of the bed. She gently pulled away the pillow. “Are you unwell? I can tell Mr. Newman you’re not able to receive him.”

  “Mr. Newman?” Fully awake in an instant, Silver sat up. “Jared’s here?”
r />   “Yes. In the parlor. He seems quite anxious to see you.” Corinne smiled. “He is your bounty hunter. Yes?”

  Jared was here. She’d thought he’d left for good, but he was here and asking for her. Her heart raced at the news. It shouldn’t make her feel so relieved. She should stay angry with him. He’d left her, after all. But now he was here, and that was all that seemed to matter to her.

  “Shall I tell Mr. Newman you will see him, or shall I send him away?”

  “I’ll see him.” She pushed aside the bedding. “I’ll be down shortly.”

  Corinne chuckled as she turned away. “I’ll tell him.”

  As soon as the other woman left the room, Silver rose and hurriedly washed and dressed, her mind churning the entire time. What would she say to him? What would he say to her? Should she forgive him at once for abandoning her and Dean in Winnemucca? Or should she make him suffer first?

  Jared felt himself being observed from the doorway.

  He turned and met the curious gazes of two girls. They were young, midteens at most, both of them wearing morning gowns similar to the one Corinne Duvall had worn, except the colors were different. Were these her daughters? He doubted it. They looked nothing like her. One was a redhead, the other a brunette.

  “Hello,” he said.

  They giggled.

  Ah. They were the ones who had watched him through the window. He stood. “I’ve come to see Miss Matlock. Do you live here too?”

  The redhead opened her mouth to reply but was cut short by Corinne’s reappearance.

  “Idonna. Helene.”

  They jumped and turned toward the woman.

  “Can you explain what you’re doing here?”

  “No, Miss Corinne,” they answered in unison.

  “Then I believe you had best excuse yourselves and return to your room. We’ll talk about this later.”

  They obeyed without a backward glance.