by Tanya Hanson
One more time Redd heard the fake nun’s pain, his brain spelling out the rest of her unspoken words. Reward and justice. But Jessy Belle shook her head so fast her face fuzzed before his eyes.
“That he is, Sister,” said Jessy Belle. “But I cannot put you in danger. Ahab must never know I was here.” She pulled from her pocket the stick Redd recognized. The stick that had been her grave marker. She handed it to Redd. The scrawl would take too long for him to cipher, but the panic rolling Jessy Belle’s eyes got him scared enough to sweat.
Chapter Six
Redd rolled his eyes, but Jessy Belle now knew he was no ignorant fool like her brother. Not this kind, good man who she loved. Even so, the heat of shame colored Redd’s face.
“Spell it out for me, Jessy Belle,” he said, holding the stick back to her. “Reading’s never made much sense to me. No matter how much alphabet I tried.”
Jessy Belle shook her head, knowing it all by memory. “‘Little Sister, I’ll be joining you soon.’”
Renegade whined. Bad quivers crawled up her spine just saying words. Redd opened his mouth to react, but she shook her head again, hugged the dog’s neck to calm down. “Ahab knows nothing about reading or writing. Somebody else wrote this.”
“Let me see it.” Sister Adelaide held out her hand, squinted at the hatchings. “So...he’s coming to find you?”
“Thought he always left folks behind.” Redd spoke up, gazing upon Sister Adelaide’s wrinkled up forehead.
Jessy Belle’s hand left the dog to wipe her nose, but she was done crying around Redd. He needed to see her brave and durable. Not tears sprouting. “That’s true enough,” she said, all ten fingers wrestling with ’Gade’s coat. “It means the whole gang’s coming back for me. I mean...”
“Why, child? Do you bear a secret?” Sister Adelaide’s asked, fingers uniting in prayer.
Jessy Belle reached for Redd’s arm and squeezed so hard he jumped. “I mean, they’re coming for Ma’s pearls.” She grabbed the hem of her dress.
“Then we must contact the sheriff immediately.” Sister plunked her hands down on the arms of her chair like she was readying to get up.
“No. No.” The loudness of Jessy Belle’s voice surprised ’Gade so much Redd smiled even in this dangerous time. “No. You can’t let anybody know I’ve been here. Teresa and Sister Avery and Veronica and Will...I can’t bring Ahab’s treachery upon their very lives.”
Sister Adelaide’s face grew stern. “But you’ve tried to assure me the gang does not kill.”
“It’s been true in the past, and I believe it yet. But there are others with Ahab who hold no disinclination toward fire.” Jessy Belle peeked out at the ramshackle buildings. “And well...” Mortification grabbed her. “The postulants are beautiful. Get enough likker inside some of those scoundrels and...”
Jessy Belle shuddered. Teresa’s painful words slammed in her brain again. “It’s best I sneak off. I know the tricks that will keep Ahab off my heels.” Across the table she reached for Adelaide’s hands. “I thank you for all you did. Someday I’ll restitute you, Sister, for all you spent on me. Including the purchase of Blossom. But leaving here, please, Sister? Redd? My leavin’s the only way.”
Redd’s fingertips danced on the tabletop. “She’s right in some respects, Sister. We need to draw Ahab away from the mission. He knows she’s not dead. Right as rain he’d track her here and do your group no good. You nuns, bless your souls, have no defense.”
“We have...Padre Cardeñas,” the nun said, slow.
Jessy Belle had no choice but interrupt. “He’s a holy man, Sister. He knows nothing about guns and outlaws. Prayer won’t hold off Ahab. Believe me, Mama tried it enough against Pa.”
Sister Adelaide closed her eyes. “I can assure you Padre can handle a gun. But perhaps we should give you sanctuary nonetheless. Jessy Belle, I cringe at the thought of you loose in the wild. Alone.”
Sister Adelaide’s words warmed her to the tip of her toes. Nobody since Mama had ever cared much. But Redd rushed in before she could get in even a sideways word.
“Nope. Jessy Belle’s right,” he said. “Her being here puts your...postulants in danger. We can’t chance it.”
Jessy Belle whirled her own fingers now. “I could confess to the sheriff. I could keep safe in jail. But I know Ahab. He won’t ever creep around near prison guards.”
“If Tinker Lewis stands up for you revealing the thievery, you likely won’t face jail time.”
Jessy Belle shrugged. “Fine by me. Whatever way, it’s me out and free and alone that’s the easy taking for Ahab.”
“Too easy.” Now Redd’s fingers ran like a toy horse across the table. “I think I have a plan,” he said after a fashion. “It’s a good one. I’ll take Jessy Belle with me. To Whisper Ridge.”
“Take me? To Whisper Ridge?” An unimagined joy burst inside Jessy Belle’s spirit, for she loved him and longed to be with him. ’Gade licked her hand like he understood. But of course Sister Adelaide, a holy nun who couldn’t ever love or wed, would discount such a notion. Turning, Redd met Jessy Belle’s gaze full on. Her bones turned to water but she had strength enough to take his hand.
“I can truly keep you safe. Keep an eye out for the gang....” he said.
His words were soft, almost love-filled, but when he stopped talking, Jessy Belle heard the words anyway. Nab your brother and claim a reward. Same as he could with her. But she loved him. Tinker Lewis would stand up for her.
She had to try to get Redd to love her back. He might be her only chance at a good decent man. And Sister herself had said the sheriff might go easy...
But Sister Adelaide gasped, and it wasn’t a good sound.
“Redd, that can’t be a good idea!” She grabbed the beads hanging from her belt. “Jessy Belle’s assured us that her brother protected her virtue. For that reason, I could not allow her off alone with a virile man.”
The insult stabbed Jessy Belle. “Why, Sister, Mister Redd protected my virtue just fine alone on the trail.”
“I assure you, Sister.” Redd hissed hard but tossed Jessy Belle a glance full of gratitude. “I am a true gentleman. You got my word. Jessy Belle is perfectly safe with me.”
Tied as it was with her black veil, only an itty bit showed the nun’s face, and it turned purple. “I know that. I assure both of you I know that. But Ahab Perkins does not. We want to draw him out for capture. Not avenge any perceived wrong against his sister.” Her lips pursed like a tight string had a hold of them, and she glared. “Meaning: Kill you, Mister Redd, to avenge her honor.”
“The gang don’t kill, Sister.” Jessy Belle spoke up, loud as she could for her condition. “You have my word on that.”
Now Sister glared at Jessy Belle, reminding them all of Elena being killed in her own home. But that wasn’t one whit important now.
“Well, if I can’t be a nun here, or on the run, or in jail, or at Mister Redd’s ranch, just what’s left?”
Sister Adelaide gazed off toward the sunset, hummed to herself for a long while, fingers praying again. Jessy Belle couldn’t resist a prayer of her own, now that she knew how. Whether or not Redd would ever love her, she would lament forever if she had to leave him.
“What...what do you think she’s considering?” Jessy Belle whispered to Redd, ’Gade’s eyes wide.
“I can’t imagine,” Redd said. He shrugged, close enough to Jessy Belle for her to feel it. She tingled. “She’s very wise. I reckon we ought to trust her.”
“Here is it, Redd, Jessy Belle. My plan. You two post banns in Pioneer Meadows, and anywhere else pertinent. Jessy Belle, your true name will be revealed, as well as your intention to wed Cleeland Redd. Here at our chapel. Padre Cardeñas will marry you.”
“Marry?” Redd and Jessy Belle shouted at once. Well, he did. She still spoke soft as a mouse.
****
“Yes, Redd,” Sister said. “It’s a wise idea if you think it through. We let loose Jessy Belle’s real n
ame, and yours. Your location, too. Arrange protection. A posse. Perkins will have no choice but to head into the trap.”
Redd considered the sense of the nun’s words. After all, the padre was a U.S. Marshall, no true churchman. Sister Adelaide ran an entire enterprise of successful fakery. He’d trust her. A sham marriage over with soon as Ahab met his Maker, being that Redd was still vowed to Tawana.
“I see your sense. And I’ll do it.” Of course he’d agree, if it kept Jessy Belle safe. Something he hadn’t done for Tawana. Grief grabbed his gut but it went easier this time. Whether or not it meant he was starting to love Jessy Belle.
For a while, nobody said a word. Jessy Belle didn’t look at him, busied both hands in kneading the back of Renegade’s head, then starting in on her own. Her hair sparkled down her back like sun’s rays glistening with dust motes. Redd wanted to touch it, touch her, but the marriage meant nothing. It was all to be fake, no matter the love knots starting to knit up in his heart.
“Well, I suppose it’s a sensible plan. I could talk some wisdom into Ahab should we meet up.” Jessy Belle nodded. “No matter any of this, he is my mama’s son.”
As Sister Adelaide’s teeth worked inside her cheeks, Redd scratched his head at this outlaw gal’s tender heart for the man who had left her behind.
Something he’d done with Tawana. Pain started up again, like always, but diluted somehow. Like he was healing fast.
Like Tawana had forgiven him and wanted something more for him.
Sister Adelaide stood up. “Let’s get Will saddled up. If he hurries, he can make Pioneer Meadows tonight. It’s a full moon. He’ll get the news spread. Padre will be back by noon tomorrow. You two will be safe in Whisper Ridge by tomorrow afternoon.”
“Not Will.” Jessy Belle stood up, too, face washed with worry. “No. Not him. Not alone...out there.”
Redd’s heart had been happy because even a fake marriage might lead to another kiss or two, but disappointment clogged his veins. Inside his head danced the recollection of the handsome young lad kissing Jessy Belle’s hand. Was it Will she loved? Had she been dissembling once more about loving Redd?
Grumbling deep down, he reckoned Sister could hear.
She ignored him. “Will’s a talented rider, Jessy Belle. Smart and safe.”
But Redd above all knew what she meant. He was needed to stay behind as protection. Who knew where in hell the marshal was.
Or Ahab himself.
“But Will’s alone. And lost.” Jessy Belle almost sobbed. “I know the type. Been around kids like that my whole life. Run into the gang and, well, he’ll catch Ahab’s fever. He’ll stick around and...do bad things.”
By this time, Sister Adelaide had reached Jessy Belle’s side and drew her close. “Will is the best we’ve got, dear. He’ll be safe in the Lord’s hands. Now come. Let’s plan your wedding.”
Jessy Belle’s gullet moved.
“Are you ill again, child? Some water?” Sister Adelaide pushed the pitcher across the table.
“No.” Jessy Belle’s gaze pointed past Redd’s. “I..need some fresh air, Sister. That’s all,” she whispered. “Just for a flash. If you please.”
After she dashed out the door, Redd half-rose to follow.
“No, Redd. Stay seated. She’ll be all right.”
“What if she takes off?” He whistled for ’Gade to stay.
“She won’t. This plan has overwhelmed her, that’s all. I’ve seen the...light of interest in the way she looks at you. Please remember she almost lost her life just days ago. Life is rushing quickly at her. Give her a few minutes.”
Redd’s flesh goosed. Sister could sense Jessy Belle’s love for him? Did everybody else see it, too? “Sister, I...
She held up her hand again in her schoolteacher way. “It might do you well, Redd. To tame her. She’s got natural gumption. Bring her to a good life. You’re a fine man, and life will get lonely without someone at your side.”
“An outlaw girl..?”
“A full grown woman, Redd. And she’s renounced her ways. Truth to tell, my friend. I’ve seen the same light in your eyes as well when you look at her.”
Something terrible and wonderful gurgled in his gut. “I...I don’t deny the Ridge gets lonely at times. But I lost someone who still lives in my heart. I don’t know...” Natural gumption rang in his thoughts. Sounded like they could make a good match but...
“I’ve lost loved ones, too, my friend. For many years, I couldn’t bear to celebrate New Year’s Day.” Sister smiled at him even with her sad words. “I lost my husband on that date in Galveston County under General Magruder. But the day came again when I could.”
“But your Elena?”
“It’s not revenge I want, Redd. It’s justice. She knew the love of a fond husband before...she died. I treasure such goodness.”
“But Tawana...the one I loved.” He tried to see Jessy Belle out the window but had no luck. For once, though, Tawana didn’t paint a picture behind his eyelids. “If I’d taken her to wife, made her a home, she’d been far away from the danger. But I didn’t. I wasn’t there for her when the Cavalry came and massacred her village.”
Across the table, Sister Adelaide took his hand like a true friend. “Well, Redd, you’re here for Jessy Belle now.”
He squeezed her hand, then pulled his fingers away. Hesitated. “I’ll protect her, sure enough. You got my word. But wedding up with her? Not certain, Sister, I’m meant to be a husband.” He peered at the tabletop, seeing where somebody once had carved a name.
“What do you mean? You seem a healthy man.”
“I...evaded vows with Tawana,” he said with new pain. “My pa left my ma the day I was born. His blood runs deep in my veins. Her second man who raised me up killed her dead. Same as happened to Jessy Belle’s ma.”
“Not all men behave so. I knew true love. And as I see it, you’ve learned the kind of man not to be.”
How could he not recall almost those very words of Jessy Belle, who with her natural gumption had professed to Teresa? How getting let down by a grown up taught you how do to right by your own kids.
And he furthermore recalled the thought, the longing, out on the trail. Him and Jessy Belle a true couple camping out with their dog. Staggered, leaning weak against the rickety chair...how might it be, Jessy Belle his wife nurturing his child deep inside?
Were knots of love already tied up?
“You might consider making the marriage real some day.” Sister Adelaide interrupted his contemplation.
He hesitated. “I admire and trust you, Sister. I make that plain. But that day won’t be tomorrow. I need time. And Jessy Belle needs the truth.”
“The truth?”
“Aw, I won’t spill it, you being fake and padre a marshal. I know you’ve got the rest to keep safe. I’ll tell her I’m just going along for show. Until Ahab’s caught.”
****
She was getting married tomorrow! Jessy Belle spun like a dust devil until she came to rest against a lonely mulberry tree. She missed Renegade but she missed Redd more.
The heat of the day was chilling fast, but excitement was the reason for the tingles that raced across her neck. Her heart beat her ribs like a fist. Breath heaved her chest so hard she wrapped her arms across it. Thinking the thought of Redd’s fingers wrapping there, too, started hot blood in her veins.
A blush fired her body. Redd would soon be her man, and she’d spend tomorrow night in his arms. Even with the kindness of this place, a convent full of prayerful women wasn’t the life for her. She was far more accustomed to men. Now that she knew Cleeland Redd, was betrothed to him, she fully realized the flaws in the males of her previous acquaintance. He was kind, smart, handsome. The man she deserved in her new life.
The wind slapped Mama’s pearls against her leg. Tomorrow she’d rip them out of her hem, wear them at her neck for her vows. Likely the nun dress would be ready for the ceremony. True it was ugly, but it was new. The pearls would shine fi
ne against the gray.
A wedding! Hers. She peeked across the wilderness. Truth to tell, wildflowers had all bloomed out with summer long over, but she ought to find cattail along the creek. Maybe cocklebur. Tie a pretty ribbon and it would make do for a bouquet.
“Jessy Belle?”
Redd’s voice covered her like a cloud. Her heart clobbered itself. How had he come upon her without her knowing? In her past, she could hear a hay straw fall half mile away. Those ears had made her a good scout for her brother. And...she flushed. The gang had found it easy to rustle an entire corral, her on the watch, even with a ’hand sleeping in the barn.
She turned, ran to him. Raised her mouth. “I’ll die if you don’t kiss me right now, Redd.”
“Jessy Belle.” Redd ignored her outstretched arms. “It’s not what you think.”
Her heart sank into the dust. “What isn’t what I think? How do you know what I think?”
“It’s a fine plan, but a fake marriage.” He wasn’t looking at her, and she held off a kick. “Padre won’t really perform the rite. It’s all to be a masquerade. Once Ahab is caught, Sister and I will see to your future, somehow. But it...it just won’t be a true union.”
Her dreams dashed. But she refused to let him see her cry. “Why not? You don’t want me?”
Peeking close into his eyes, Jessy Belle longed to see herself, like a mirror. To read a happy ending. But Redd turned away.
“I wanted you since I first found you. Found out you were a full-grown female, that is. That night, holding you in my arms, well, I had many manly thoughts. But you needed me to keep you safe. You still do. I can’t forget any of that.”
“Why not?” she asked again. The wind turned cold.
“My ma.” He looked at his feet. “And Tawana.”
“I’m not seeing it.”
He started to walk down the dusty path, out toward the wilderness, and she reckoned that meant he wanted to be alone. But she kept right up with his fast pace. “Tell me, Redd. I don’t imagine by now there’s anything about me you don’t know.”
“Ma and me.” He didn’t slow down. “She got with child. Her pa tossed her out, but her gram-maw snuck her a gold locket with many diamonds. She sold it, kept us in good money. We were all each other had. Until she married the devil himself. He found the money almost run out and killed her dead. I should have stopped him.”