by Reece Butler
“Goddamn!”
He slammed the chain down. Nevin whirled around at the noise, saw there was no danger, and relaxed. Byron rose to his feet. The others looked at him, questions in their eyes. But he was not going to give up Casey’s secrets. Her father had done this to her mother. It would have been done to Casey as well if that Death Bride fear hadn’t protected her. Finding this was exactly why he and Cole didn’t want Casey with them.
“There’s a shackle at one end,” said Byron, spitting the words in his fury.
“That’s how Rivers kept Grace from running away,” said Henry mildly. “Meant to bring something to knock it free but never got around to it.”
“I’ll come back and take care of it once this is over,” said Byron.
Henry and Barstow nodded at him. Nevin’s eyes said he knew there was more to the story but he wasn’t asking. Byron didn’t know the man well. He had deep claw marks across his chest from surviving a black bear attack as a boy. A grandson of the Bannock Chief and son of the chief of the MacDougal Clan, Nevin was no weakling.
“Well, there’s nothing here for us now,” said Barstow. He hitched up his pants and led the way outside. “These boys ain’t fit to shoot at when you want to unload and clean your gun. They’ll be holed up somewhere with grub and water. Like rats they’ll show up sometime, ready to gnaw on whatever they can find.”
Byron rode silently back to town with the men. Where were the men? Were they after Casey? At least she was safe at the hotel, blissfully ignorant of his worries.
* * * *
“I fired Maurice Lumley,” said Sophie to Lily. “Jennet is furious, which proves to me that Lumley was spying and passing things on.” She shivered. “I wish he’d leave town.”
Casey knew Sophie well, but the other two she’d only heard about. Lily Thatcher had once been the madam of the best-known gentlemen’s clubs in the west, operated out of the very house they shared their tea in. Rosa Henley had survived years of brutal rape as a slave of the Comancheros until Lily bought her and set her free. Everyone was shocked and happy when Rosa married Doc, sharing the ceremony with Lily and Judge Thatcher. Victoria and Jed Adams also married that day, for the second time.
“Do you have news, Rosa?” Lily sipped her tea, looking over the cup at her longtime cook and friend.
Rosa’s teacup rattled in its saucer. She put it down hastily. Twin spots of color appeared on her cheeks. Her hand came to rest on her lower belly.
“Oh, my dear!” Lily hurriedly put her teacup down, rushed over, and hugged Rosa as if they were sisters. “When?”
“George says it’s too early yet to tell if all will go well,” whispered Rosa. Rosa was the only one who called George Henley anything other than Doc. “But we’re hoping for the spring.”
Her smile, both worried and joyful, was the first Casey had ever seen on Rosa’s face. She was known as being gruff, avoiding all men like the plague. Sophie pulled Rosa to her feet and wrapped her arms around her.
“I’ll pray for you and Doc every day,” said Sophie gently.
Having only a hint of an idea what Rosa had gone through, Casey admired her for being able to marry, much less do what was required to have a baby. Casey’s eyes were just as wet as the other women.
“Enough of tea, shall we celebrate with blackcurrant cordial?” asked Lily.
“George said it’s best to avoid spirits,” said Rosa.
“We can celebrate with tea just as easily,” said Lily and raised her cup. “To springtime babies!” She brought her eyes to Casey and winked.
Casey barely managed to swallow before coughing. Sophie caught the reason why and laughed.
“Doc is going to be very busy with babies next spring,” said Sophie.
Lily patted Sophie’s hand. “Don’t you worry. I think there’s a young man in your future.” This time it was Sophie who turned pink. “Oh, do tell,” said Lily with delight. “Remember, one secret each.”
“You tell yours first,” said Sophie.
Lily shook her head. “Age has its advantages.”
“In that case, Casey should go first,” said Sophie.
All three women looked at her. She took a deep breath, held herself like Mama showed her, and lifted her chin. “I thought it was just Willy and me, but we have a grandmother, Cassandra Fenton Barkley. She’s my mama’s mother.”
“I knew there was more to you, girl,” said Lily. “I told the judge that you needed to be well married to those Southern boys. I’m pleased they smartened up and realized what was before their eyes. I don’t doubt you’ll be holding a baby of your own this time next year.”
“Sophie?” Lily arched her delicate eyebrow.
Twin spots appeared on Sophie’s cheeks. “I have taken a fancy to Mr. Gibson,” she said formally.
“The Pinkerton agent?”
Sophie nodded.
“And what does he think about you, my dear?”
“Sheriff Barstow said Mr. Gibson couldn’t understand why I’m not married if I can cook so well. Not that he’s interested in a wife,” she added. “Pinkerton agents can’t be tied down.” Her blush deepened. “But I don’t want to marry him. I want to try some of what Beth and the other valley wives have boasted about. I’m twenty-six, been married and widowed, and I’ve never had an orgasm.”
Lily’s cheeks were now as pink as Sophie’s. “Having just returned from my honeymoon, I can tell you that age has nothing to do with it. Why, Ambrose—”
“There’s something else you should know,” said Rosa, jumping in before Lily could give any details. “John Tanner’s great-nephew has asked Doc for Molly’s hand in marriage.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” said Lily. “I’m so pleased Molly’s found a good man. Remember, not a word of what is spoken here leaves this room.” She caught everyone’s eye, waiting for their nod. “And now for the real news. Anyone need fresh tea? Casey, you’ve never had one of Rosa’s lemon squares. You must try one.”
Casey bit into the square. Flavor burst on her tongue. Mama must have eaten dainty things like this when she took tea in a parlor as a girl. She decided to get the recipe. If there were teacups in that crate, she would make fancy little squares like this to serve to her friends. She had friends now. Not just these older women, but wives with three irritating husbands, just like her. They had a good education and she didn’t, but it didn’t seem to matter. They still accepted her, and even praised her for teaching them Southern cooking. Even better, they didn’t care that she sometimes wore pants, because so did Jessie. Smiling to herself, Casey reached for another lemon square.
“Frederick Smythe has had a bit of a setback,” said Lily, changing the subject abruptly. “That huge fire in downtown Helena a few weeks ago destroyed a number of his investments.” She raised a slender eyebrow. “Perhaps they should not have been so hasty in changing the name of the town from Last Chance Gulch.”
“Let’s hope Smythe just lost his last chance,” said Rosa with a scowl. “And that Isaac.”
“Speaking of Mr. Isaac,” said Lily, “he had another session in Virginia City. We came close to discovering his whereabouts, but he slipped away once more.”
“Who did he hurt?” asked Sophie grimly. “Please don’t tell me he killed them.”
“No, nothing that extreme. Orphan girls were brought in, lured by the promise of good marriages and homes of their own.” Lily turned to Casey. “This is not the first time this particular woman has used her pleasant appearance to gather unwilling women into her web. I’ve set the Pinkertons on her. That should stop her.”
“How badly were they hurt?” Rosa’s lips were tight, her face pale.
“Not excessively,” replied Lily, though her scowl suggested they had been injured. “One of them managed to avoid the laudanum tea. She played along, pretending to be drugged like the others until she had a chance to escape. She convinced her first man that she was not there by her own consent. Surprisingly, he believed her and raised a ruckus. By then t
he other five girls had been used, but only once. As they were drugged, their memories aren’t as horrid as they could have been. But they’ll carry Isaac’s brand all their lives.”
Casey shivered. She could easily have been one of those girls. Her boyish outfit would not have hidden her very long without Willy to stand in front of her.
“What about the other girl?” asked Sophie.
Lily smiled in satisfaction. “She’s already married to her knight in shining armor. The men who helped save the others are also interested in matrimony.”
“Good for them!” said Rosa.
“Some of my sources say there’s something else happening concerning Tanner’s Ford,” continued Lily. “A gunman has been brought in, but we don’t know who he’s to kill. Rumors are that it’s Hugh Jennet, perhaps for what he did to Orville Rivers.”
“And Sheldrake?” Sophie grimaced. “Is he still after the gold he thinks is in Sarah’s bakery?”
“He has a good idea the banker and his wife spent it long ago. That would make Mr. Sheldrake all the more eager to take the job of killing Mr. Jennet.”
Casey kept quiet and still, listening as the other three women spoke. Cole stuck her at the hotel as if she was worthless just because she was female. But she’d been taking care of herself all her life, as it seemed had Rosa and Lily. She might be able to help them by using her skills. One was listening and watching when no one knew she was there.
“I saw Joe Sheldrake sneaking between Emslow’s boardinghouse and Jennet’s home a bunch of times,” said Casey at the lull in conversation. “Sometimes he’d talk with Mrs. Jennet, and sometimes with the banker.”
Lily and Rosa shared a speaking glance. “Do tell us more,” said Lily.
Casey thought back to those nights when she couldn’t sleep from hunger. That changed when she and Willy started working at the hotel, but the first few months in town their ribs were mighty close to their backbones. She hadn’t paid that much attention to what went on, as long as it didn’t bother her or Willy.
“Back in the spring Sheldrake complained to Jennet one night that he’d left gold in Sarah’s bakery and he wanted it back. After I saw Luke and his partners talk to Sheldrake outside Baldy’s Saloon he hightailed it out of town and I didn’t see him again.”
“You said Sheldrake also spoke with Eudora Jennet. When was that?”
“Just before Sarah married Luke,” she said to Rosa. “Mrs. Jennet was hopping mad about something. She said she’d take back her gold and start her own bank, but she’d have to marry her new partner first.”
“Marry her new partner?” Lily tilted her head. From the small lines between her eyes, she was thinking, so Casey stayed quiet. “Surely Mrs. Jennet didn’t hire a gunman to kill her husband?”
“Why not? If she divorced him, she’d be left with nothing,” reminded Sophie. “He’s worth far more to her dead.”
“Mrs. Jennet also told Sheldrake she had to be in Helena, as a widow, before winter.”
“Perhaps if Sheldrake’s working for Eudora, he’ll be too busy to bother with you, Casey,” said Sophie.
“Unless he can hit two birds with one stone,” added Lily ominously. “You must be careful, my dear.” She patted Casey’s hand, a warm smile on her face. “You’re the type of woman we need in this town. Smart, resourceful, and able to think on your feet.”
Casey pinked up at the compliment. If only Cole, Byron, and Marshall believed it.
Chapter 25
“I want her gone. Permanently.”
Joe Sheldrake tilted his head. He didn’t crack a smile but this job was going to make him very happy. He’d also be settling a score, one the man across from him didn’t seem to know existed.
“What, that little bitty woman causing you trouble?” he replied with a sneer.
“Don’t start with me, Sheldrake,” warned the well-dressed man. “She’ll not make a fool of me. She’s caused enough trouble already, and I want her out of the way.”
“I think I can solve yer problem, but it’ll cost ye.” Sheldrake leaned forward. “In advance this time.”
“Half,” countered the other man. “You might not finish the job.”
“I took care of them Sinclairs, didn’t I?” replied Sheldrake. “Got that little filly to Rivers without bein’ seen.”
“Molly was just a farm girl. It will not be as easy to take this one from town.”
Joe poured himself another fingerful of the excellent whiskey provided by his reluctant host. “I can handle any woman.” He threw back the drink, gasping as it burned down his throat. It tasted so good he poured himself another. “You want anything special done before I kill her?”
“Help yourself,” his employer said with a snort. “I don’t care what happens, as long as her body’s not found before the snow melts next spring. After the animals have gnawed on her, there’ll be nothing linking her death to me.”
Or me, thought Joe. But that meant he could have himself some fun. He could take her someplace where no one would hear, tie her up and take his time. Been a while since he had hours to make a woman scream. His cock, which hadn’t been much good for anything but taking a piss for too long, stirred. Oh, yeah. Since the wolves, coyotes, and ravens would rip apart whatever he left, no one would ever know what he did to her first. Just like Molly’s ma. That was a fun time.
Though he was quickly handed a bag of gold, Sheldrake took his time leaving. He moved slow these days, thanks to that goddamn railway bastard that had him stomped. But he’d make a good bit of money from these two jobs. Both thought they were so smart to hire him, but he was smarter. After he killed them he might just sell the information. Buford Hames might give him a few dollars to know who had disappeared. Who knew what Rivers spilled to the newspaperman before he grabbed Jennet’s gun and got shot.
* * * *
Marshall relaxed in the chair, the heel of his boot resting on his opposite knee. Judge Thatcher had just returned from his honeymoon in Helena, though it seemed he’d spent it doing a lot more than taking his new wife out to dinner.
“I spent an hour with Seth Bullock,” said Thatcher briskly. “As he’s part of the Territorial Senate, he’s got a good eye on what’s happening.” He lifted the bottle of smooth whiskey, asking with his eyes if anyone wanted more. They each took a splash and sat back to savor it.
“What’s happening with that railroad land Rivers and his cronies tried to rope us in on?” Ross was alone for once, his twin sons at home with Nevin and the rest of their growing family.
“Seems Smythe has got himself in a bit of difficulty,” said Thatcher. He took another sip, inhaling through his teeth as the whiskey went down his throat.
“What about Sheldrake?” asked Luke Frost. “Anyone else stomp him since that railroad magnate set a posse on him?”
“Not that I heard,” said Thatcher. “He’s been seen drinking at Baldy’s. Now that Rivers is dead, Sheldrake needs a new boss.”
Marshall sat up. “I thought the mayor and banker were good buddies. Any idea why he’d shoot Rivers?”
“The Pinkertons took a good look at that and found out a few interesting things.” The judge set his glass on the table. He stared at it, slowly turning it. “The Jennets had a daughter who was sent back East to school a while back. At least, that was what was said.”
“I remember her,” said Ross. “Always had her nose in the air, just like her mother.”
“Turns out Rivers got her in the family way,” said Thatcher. “She said his name just before she died birthing the baby, which was stillborn. When Jennet went after him about it, Rivers said he wasn’t her first so it could have been anyone and to be glad the brat is dead. Eudora Jennet raged for years to her husband about losing her only grandchild. But he wouldn’t do anything since Rivers was an upstanding citizen with gold in his bank. All they had against him was their daughter’s dying words, as told to a priest. But once he was arrested, Eudora put the screws down and told her husband to kill Rivers. I
expect Jennet figured he could keep the mayor’s gold in his bank but put under his own name.”
“And since Casey shot the mayor, rather than Jennet, the banker and his wife get the job done without going to jail,” said Marshall.
“Well, if that doesn’t take the cake!” Luke Frost slammed his glass down. “That sanctimonious old biddy has been looking down her nose at women who were attacked against their will, yet her own daughter was a trollop?”
“Cain’t arrest them now,” drawled Sheriff Barstow. “But once the whole town knows about the girl, Eudora’ll be singing a diff’rent tune.”
“Maybe she’ll be so ashamed she leaves town,” said Luke, glowering. “Sarah and Molly won’t be the only ones happy to see her gone.”
Chapter 26
Casey hauled off her snug dress, corset, and all the folderol that stopped a woman from defending herself. Being a lady was fine when drinking tea, but she felt more herself in pants, boots, a shirt, coat, and hat. And not one of those big hats with feathers. She had a snug hat that would keep out the rain and sun and hide her face at the same time.
If she was at home she would be cleaning up after supper while the men did the evening chores. They’d have a bit of time to talk, read, or do handiwork. While she’d finished darning all their socks there were always buttons to attach or tears to mend. A tinge of heat crept up her chest. Some of those buttons were ones the men ripped off when they wanted her naked, now!
As it was mid-September the days had already grown shorter. It was dark well before eight, especially when the sky was cloudy and there was no moon. A perfect night to get into trouble. Or, she thought with a smile, to create some.
She never liked either of the Jennets. They were the type to kick her if she dared to come within a few feet. Mrs. Jennet thought she was so high and mighty, but that story about her daughter would soon make its rounds and lower her instep a bit. If she could find out what Eudora Jennet was up to with Joe Sheldrake, it might just send all of them from town. Tanner’s Ford didn’t need a bank, but with all the children being born soon, it would need a school. Jennet’s home would do well as a boardinghouse, cheaper than the hotel and more friendly than Rufina Emslow’s place.