by Jodi Thomas
The man shoved his large chest out farther and replied, “I’m Ward Hall, and I’m thinking you’re the woman I’ve been waiting to see.”
“What do you want?” Jennie could feel her teeth starting to rattle.
“I’ve been following my dear lost sister for over three weeks now. Stopped at near every town along the tracks. I know she got off somewhere. Finally found a fellow who remembered seeing a little woman in a wine-red coat getting on the train leaving Kansas City bound for Florence.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen such a coat. Maybe she moved on further down the line.” Jennie tried to sound convincing.
“No, miss, she stopped here.”
Jennie forced down a swallow. “What was her name?”
The huge man took a step down and answered, “Delta Criswell, but I think she registered here at the Harvey House as Delta Smith.”
Jennie looked at her feet as the man took another step. “If you’re Jennie Munday or Audrey Gates, my sister was your roommate when she first came here. I saw it on the hotel employee count.”
She finally looked up. “Did Mrs. Gray tell you that?”
The man smiled, showing most of his yellowed teeth. “She didn’t. Thought she’d put me in my place by telling me no in her high and mighty manner. But I outsmarted her. I waited until she got called away and looked for myself. I ain’t no fool. I went to school long enough to learn to read.”
Relaxing some, Jennie knew that once she told Delta’s lie, this horrible man would go away. “I don’t know a Delta Criswell, but I did meet a Delta Smith. She was injured in the train robbery that happened the day we got to Florence. She was very ill but lived a week before she died.”
The huge man jerked back as though she’d struck him with her words. “Dead! She couldn’t be dead!”
Jennie took the opportunity to move past him. “I’m sorry, but if Delta Smith is your sister, we buried her over two weeks ago. I could get someone to show you the grave if you like.”
“That can’t be!” He stormed at her as if he’d been wronged personally by her announcement. “I saw her here, myself, last night at the dance. She was dancing and walking in the dark with some tall gentleman like she was a lady and not soiled trash.”
Jennie stood her ground even when he leaned close enough to her to sour the air with his breath. “There was no Delta Smith, or Criswell, at the dance last night.”
“I should know what my own sister looks like!”
She took a step back. “I remember Delta Smith saying she had no kin. No brothers or sisters.”
Ward swore and spit in the flower bed beside the porch. “Well, maybe I ain’t no blood kin. But my pa married her ma, or at least he was planning on it. We was just one happy family before Delta run off in the night.”
Jennie knew he was lying, but she couldn’t tell him so without giving too much away. It was better if he didn’t know how well she knew Delta’s problem. “If you’re the only kin she had, we packed her belongings away in a small trunk hoping we’d have some word from family.”
Ward’s whole hairless face lit up. “Well, why didn’t you say so?” He tried to hide his delight. “Not that I’m not real sorry to hear about my dear sister, but if you have her things, at least I can take them home to her mother as a comfort during her loss.”
If it hadn’t been for the greed in his eyes, Ward would have almost looked as if he cared about Delta and her mother. But Jennie could see his hands opening and closing in anticipation of the trunk.
Jennie didn’t want to allow the man back into the hotel, but she had to move him off the porch before Audrey brought Colton over. She might convince him he didn’t see his sister the night of the dance, but if Delta came walking up the steps in daylight, the lie might be harder to get him to swallow. Jennie had to get him away from the front of the hotel and fast.
“I understand your concern,” she lied. “If you’ll just step into Mrs. Gray’s office, I’ll go get Delta’s belongings.”
Ward took a step, then stopped. “I caused such a ruckus,” he glanced at Jennie, “in my grief and worry of course, that I’m not sure I’m welcome back in the Harvey House.”
Jennie knew he must have made quite a fool of himself if Mrs. Gray had given up handling him and had him pitched out. She also knew there might be one too many questions if she tried to explain why she was talking to him. Mrs. Gray might even mention how much Delta and Mary Elizabeth looked alike. She needed a plan.
Using her best “welcome to church” smile, she looked down at Ward from the top step. “I understand your problem, Mr. Hall, and I’m willing to help in your time of grief. I didn’t know Delta very well, but I’m sure she would want her family to have her belongings.”
Ward seemed to relax a little, as if he thought himself skilled enough to have suckered her into believing his lie.
Jennie pointed toward the walk leading around the hotel. “I tell you what. If you’ll wait out back near the barn, I’ll bring down the trunk as soon as I finish my shift. Then you won’t have to face Mrs. Gray again or even walk past the front of the hotel. You can just head on down to the station and wait for the first train back toward Kansas City.”
She could almost see Ward’s mouth watering at the thought of finally getting what he’d spent three weeks looking for. She knew he figured the deed would be among Delta’s belongings, and she didn’t want to be around when he found out it wasn’t. “But if I do this, you have to promise to take the trunk back home to Delta’s mother without opening it. A mother should be the first one to touch her departed daughter’s things.”
Ward frowned, but like a child caught in higher logic, he didn’t have the faculties to argue.
“Promise?” Jennie knew he’d never make it back home without looking, but at least he might get out of her sight. He could hardly come yelling about something missing if she made him promise not to open the trunk until he got home.
“All right, I swear.” He folded his arms across his huge chest, trying to act like it didn’t matter. “There ain’t nothing among her things I’d care about.”
“Wait around back then, and I’ll be down just as soon as I can.”
He moved off along the path, then turned back. “You’re sure all her things are in the trunk? There won’t be nothing missing?”
“Everything Delta kept in our room will be there,” Jennie answered truthfully as she hurried inside. She couldn’t wait to wash up and hopefully rid herself of the ugliness of Ward Hall.
Ten minutes later True helped her pull the chest from beneath Audrey’s bed.
“You sure this is her brother?” True had heard most of the conversation on the porch but didn’t like the idea of Jennie handing over Delta’s things to the man. “That man’s so low-down not even the maggots would have a banquet if he died.”
“He’s her brother all right. If I’d have seen him the night of the train wreck, I would have killed him to keep him from finding Delta. Now all I have to do to get rid of him is give him this trunk. Then he’ll go away and never bother her again.”
“But he’ll know the deed ain’t in it.” True looked as if she could see trouble coming from a mile-high window.
“Hopefully he will wait at least until he’s a few miles out of town before he opens the chest. Then maybe he’ll just think Delta destroyed the deed.”
True played with the latch on the trunk. “Where’s the key to this lock? Maybe we could bolt it and throw away the key.”
Jennie shook her head. “I thought of that, but it’s just some old trunk a passenger left here and there was no key for the lock.”
True pulled a stick of taffy from a coat pocket and crammed it in an already full mouth before Jennie noticed “I best go down with you to meet this Ward. I wouldn’t want you going alone. He don’t look like the kind of man I’d want to even talk to without there being a crowd around.”
“No.” Jennie lifted the small trunk. “You stay here. I don’t want that man
even seeing you.”
True opened the door for her. “All right. But I don’t like this.”
As Jennie passed with the trunk, True pulled the taffy out and shoved it deep into the hole by the latch, knowing that unless someone opened the trunk within a very short time, the taffy would harden. “Take your time going down the stairs.”
Chapter 22
Delta rode on the wagon bench with Audrey toward the Harvey House. The sunny morning had turned cold, and low clouds rumbled, promising rain. Austin walked several feet ahead of the wagon with his rifle over his shoulder. His gait was casual, but his gaze constantly shifted from one side of the road to the other.
“Audrey,” Delta whispered in a voice too soft to draw Austin’s attention, “do you think if a man was dying, he’d tell the truth?”
Audrey glanced back at Colton. Though he rested quietly, the bandage she’d wrapped around him was already covered with blood. Delta didn’t look in much better health than her intended. “Are you all right?” Audrey asked.
Delta waved away her concern. “I’m fine. I just got sick last night from all the dancing. My stomach feels like it twirled once too often, but it’ll settle down now the excitement’s over.” She looked back at Colton and lowered her voice even more. “About dying men and the truth?”
Audrey shrugged. “I don’t know about that. I figure most good men tell the truth even on their deathbeds, and those in the habit of lying will do so even with their last breath.
“As for Colton, after the whopper we told him, I figure he’s got a right to one or two fibs,” she continued as she carefully maneuvered the wagon. “One time while I was nursing an old lady when I was in training, she told me some really bad things about what she’d done in her life. I asked my teacher about it, and she said a nurse never remembers what a patient says when the patient has fever. Even the nicest folks can get ornery as devils when they’re hurting.”
Delta nodded, making up her mind to take Audrey’s advice. Colton Barkley couldn’t have killed his wife and have both Sheriff Morris and Mrs. Gray think so highly of him. She’d act like she’d never heard him say such a thing.
Austin helped the women get Colton into a downstairs private dining room that had been converted into a bedroom. He didn’t see how the man was still alive. His blood loss seemed enough to fill a bucket. The sight of the bloody bandages made Delta have to step from the room. When she returned, her face was ghost-white, but she steadfastly refused to leave Colton’s side.
Within a few minutes Audrey had done all she knew to do, relying on Delta’s gentle touch to help as much as any doctor’s skill.
After he’d drunk a cup of coffee at the counter, Austin’s concern for Jennie’s whereabouts turned to worry. Something was wrong, or she would have been there to meet the wagon. At the very least she would have ducked out of her duties long enough to see about Colton.
Looking around, Austin searched the dining room and the hotel lobby. He didn’t have to wait for the uniformed girls to face him. Judging from their movements, he knew none of them could be Jennie. She had a formal grace about her, fluidity in the way she did simple little things. The polished, crowded room seemed void of beauty without her presence.
He thought of storming through the kitchen in his search, but that was off-limits to all but employees; so he went out the front door and headed around the path to the back of the hotel. She had to be somewhere.
As he rounded the corner, he noticed a man lurking in the darkness along the side of the barn. Austin slowed, choosing to remain in the shadows himself. With one glance he knew the stranger was the same one True had complained about hanging around the livery.
Jennie stepped from the back of the hotel, carrying a small trunk. She walked slowly to the barn entrance. Austin noticed that the stranger stared at her, but made no move from the shadows to help her carry the trunk.
When she reached the barn door, her back was to Austin. He moved closer without being noticed.
“I was about to give you up,” the stranger said in a voice layered with impatience. “I’m sure my mother will want to see these things.” His tone mocked any honesty in his words.
As she handed the trunk over to the man, Jennie didn’t smile. “Remember,” she ordered, “don’t open it until you’re home.”
The man almost jerked the trunk from her hands. “I’ll remember.” He shoved it into a bag and roped his load over his shoulder. “When I get home, I best find all my sister took when she left home, ‘cause anyone, man or woman, who steals from me or mine will pay dearly.” His dirty hands knotted around the rope. “Good day to you, miss.”
Jennie didn’t even bother to wave good-bye as she lifted her skirt slightly and turned back toward the hotel. She was glad to be rid of the man who called himself Delta’s brother. The underlying threat hadn’t missed her. Jennie had a feeling she’d be seeing him again.
Ward Hall swore suddenly and increased his pace down the road. She glanced first at his back, then at the hotel, where she couldn’t mistake the tall man coming toward her. Somehow she wasn’t surprised Ward Hall would want nothing of a lawman.
Austin was still ten feet from her, and she could already see he was angry. It was obvious his only interest was in Jennie. “You all right?” he shouted loud enough for Ward to hear.
Jennie didn’t move. She couldn’t tell if he was angry with her or with Ward.
At five feet away, Austin repeated his words more softly.
“Yes.” She tried to hide her fears. Maybe the man would never return. Maybe Austin just didn’t like seeing such a man hanging around town. “I just had to give Delta Smith’s belongings to her brother.”
Austin raised an eyebrow. What he saw in her emerald depths was something besides grief. Her whole body seemed to be shaking with more than the chill of the north wind.
He gently removed his coat and placed it over her shoulders as he had once before. “Walk with me, Jennie?”
Without answering him directly, she fell into step beside him. Only this time, instead of moving along the path toward the depot, where Ward had gone, Austin led her across the pastures behind the barn. The earth was dried with winter, making Jennie feel suddenly cold deep inside. The land had been grazed down to almost level with the road.
They walked as close to each other as they could without touching. His arm lifted twice, but he hesitated before reaching for her.
Austin didn’t know how to begin to say all that he needed to say to her. When they were several feet away from the back of the barn, he reached down and took her hand.
“Cold?” he asked.
“No,” she answered, suddenly fearing what he was about to tell her. The night before had been heaven to her, but what if it hadn’t been so for him? What if he’d come out back to tell her good-bye?
Suddenly she wanted to talk of anything except last night. “Did you move Colton yet?”
“Yes,” Austin answered, as she had, with a single word.
“Is he better?”
Letting out a long breath, Austin said, “He’s dying. I’ve seen it before. Men don’t lose as much blood as he’s lost and live. I’ve noticed Audrey change the bandage again and again so he doesn’t appear as bad as he is. But my guess is he won’t live the night.”
Jennie’s hand tightened in his as Austin continued. “That boy Link is extremely loyal to his boss. I finally got the kid to leave the room, but he took up squatter’s rights in the hallway outside Colton’s door. He told me Colton has no family to notify.”
Jennie’s voice was soft and slow, as if she were thinking her words through as she spoke. “Maybe, if he’s held in such high esteem by his men, he’s not as bad as I first thought.”
“Maybe not.” Austin smiled, remembering the reason Jennie had come to his office last night. “Maybe every man deserves a chance.”
She uttered a slight hum of agreement, and they continued walking, both caring little about any destination.
&nbs
p; Clearing his throat, Austin searched for the right words, but they wouldn’t come. Finally he asked, more to break the silence than for information, “Are you sure that was Delta’s kin?”
“Yes,” Jennie answered. “He only came for her belongings.”
Austin stared at the endless sky rippled in clouds. “Want to tell me the truth about Delta?”
Jennie’s fingers stiffened in his hand, and he wished he hadn’t asked. He no longer cared if she lied about Delta. What difference did it make to anyone? Did she think he was going to do something about their lie? In a few weeks he’d probably be back in Texas, and Colton Barkley would be cold in his grave. So what did the lie matter? Why couldn’t she end this farce between them?
He couldn’t help but hold Jennie’s hand tighter as he realized that even though the lie didn’t matter any longer, the fact that she’d lied to him did. If she’d just tell him the truth, he’d forgive her anything. But he couldn’t forgive her continuing to lie to him.
Jennie didn’t look up at him when she spoke. “Delta Smith died the morning after the train wreck. I walked behind the casket and watched it being lowered myself.”
He wanted to remind her of all the facts. Mary Elizabeth had been the one so badly hurt, not Delta. He’d seen them both, and bandages or not, he knew the two apart. He needed to tell her how True once had called Mary Elizabeth Delta. How in the middle of the trouble this morning she hadn’t questioned him when he’d called Delta by name. He wanted to call Jennie a liar to her face, but he couldn’t.
When the sun melted completely into the horizon, Jennie crossed her arms over herself, pulling his coat tighter around her. She seemed to feel the cold more than most people. Maybe she felt everything more than most.
He let out a long sigh. “We’d better get back. It’ll be dark in a few minutes.”
She nodded and waited for him to move.
Austin didn’t want to go back to where others could hear, but he knew they couldn’t stand in a field forever. Though they walked almost touching each other, he could tell they were moving miles apart. The end was coming; he’d felt it this morning. Soon all the feelings he now had for her would pass into memory.