“About an hour east of Belleville,” the man said. “We dropped two passengers off there and spoke with their sheriff who told us the robbers had hit them too.”
This band was getting more dangerous every day. Three attacks in less than three days? The sheriff might be content to sit and wait for them to come back, but Jesse was beginning to feel more strongly that they would have to go after the men to get them to stop.
“Thank you both for your accounts,” Jesse said, placing the paper and pencil back on the desk. “Mr. Cooper, let’s get you settled in the inn and then I’ll take you to the Masterson’s, Miss Whidby.”
Jesse led the way out and locked the office behind him. “The inn is run by Clark and Martha Davis,” Jesse said. “I think you will find them quite accommodating.”
“As long as it’s a place to sleep, I’ll be fine,” Mr. Cooper answered.
The inn door was closed when they arrived, but after a few hard raps at the door, a light shone out of the window. A short older woman with grey hair and kind eyes answered the door.
“Hi, Miss Martha,” Jesse said. “I’m sorry to bother you so late, but Mr. Cooper here is a stagecoach driver. They were robbed earlier today. He has no money to pay you, but he needs a place to stay.”
Martha nodded and ushered the driver inside. “Of course I will find him a place to stay. Do you need a place too, Miss?” she asked, turning her attention to Miss Whidby.
“No, thank you. I’m staying with Mrs. Ellen Baker.”
“She’s staying with the Mastersons, Miss Martha,” Jesse said, trying to squash the emotion threatening his voice. “But thank you.”
Martha’s eyes widened, and she nodded knowingly. “Alright. Well, you have a good night, Deputy.”
Jesse nodded and tipped his hat her direction. “Well, Miss Whidby, I have no wagon. Will you be opposed to riding on my horse?”
“Of course not,” the young woman said with narrowed eyes. “I am an accomplished rider.”
“I meant no offense, ma’am,” Jesse said. Though he would never say so out loud, he admired this woman’s spunk. “I was more concerned with your comfort because of the forced proximity between us on horseback.”
“Oh,” Miss Whidby dropped her eyes. “Thank you for your concern, but as there is no other option, it will be fine.”
When they reached Molly, Jesse helped Miss Whidby onto the saddle first before swinging up behind her. Though he tried to keep as much distance between them as possible, he couldn’t help smelling the intoxicating sweet scent of lavender wafting his way.
She turned slightly in the saddle, so she could see him and asked, “Ellen’s granddaughter was your fiancée?”
Jesse looked away as he nodded. “Her name was Pauline, and yes, she was.”
The woman opened her mouth as if to ask another question, but his cold gaze must have changed her mind as she shut it and turned forward again.
The rest of the trip to the Masterson residence occurred in silence. He pulled Molly to a stop, dismounted, and reached a hand up to help Miss Whidby down.
When her feet hit the ground, she looked up at him and said, “I’m sorry about your fiancée. I hope you find the men who did this. Thank you for the ride.”
Before he could respond, she turned on her heels and walked away. Jesse waited until she was safely in the residence before mounting Molly and steering his horse towards home. Her last statement rattled around in his head. Would he ever find Pauline’s killers and be able to avenge her death?
Chapter 7
Kate swallowed her fear as she hugged Ellen goodbye on the platform. Though she knew she needed to get to Lisbon, a large part of her was afraid to step in the coach. What if the robbers struck again? Or worse yet, what if an entirely different band of robbers struck?
“How far is it to Lisbon?” she asked Mr. Cooper as he loaded her now much lighter trunk.
“It’s about an hour, Miss.”
“It will be fine,” Ellen said, reassuring her. “You’ve told Deputy Jennings the story.”
Kate glanced over at the stony-faced man on horseback near the coach. Evidently, he would be escorting them out of town. “I’m not sure what good it did.”
Ellen followed Kate’s gaze. “I know he seems stoic now—and I never met him before—but I knew Pauline, and she would not have settled for anything other than a great man.”
“All set, Miss,” Mr. Cooper said from the front of the coach.
“I guess that’s my cue,” Kate said with a sigh. She hugged Ellen again before climbing into the coach once more. The driver shut the door, and Kate waved out the window.
When the buildings faded away, and the sagebrush took over the view, Kate sat back and thought about her future. She found herself wondering what her husband would be like. Would he be tall with broad shoulders? Would he have a beard? Would he have kind brown eyes?
Roughly an hour later, the coach stopped, and the door opened.
“Welcome to Lisbon, ma’am,” Mr. Cooper said, holding out his hand for her to step down.
Kate glanced around as she took the driver’s hand. Lisbon didn’t appear much different from Sage Creek. As the platform was empty, Kate wondered how she was supposed to get in touch with her future husband, Bill Easterly.
Before she had time to worry, a wagon pulled up, and a man who appeared about thirty climbed down. He had average brown hair and eyes which narrowed slightly at her before he pasted a smile on his face. “You must be Miss Whidby. I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m Bill Easterly.” He held out his gloved right hand to take hers though Kate noticed he grimaced slightly.
Kate wondered if he were not pleased with her appearance. She had tried to fix her curls and smooth the wrinkles from her dress the best she could. With a tight smile, she placed her hand in his and nodded. “I am Kate Whidby. It is nice to meet you, Mr. Easterly.” She had hoped to feel some sort of attraction with this man, but there was nothing. Did this mean she was in store for a loveless marriage?
“Oh, please call me Bill. After all, we’ll be getting married shortly, won’t we?”
Something in the way he said the words in a lecherous tone sent a shiver down Kate’s spine. What had she gotten herself into?
“Do you have much luggage?” he continued.
“Just this trunk,” she said, pointing to the large chest Thomas had gotten down for her. “I would have had a little more, but we were robbed on the way here.”
“Oh, that’s awful. Were you harmed?”
He was saying the right words, but there was still something about him that bothered Kate.
“No, thank goodness. They took my jewelry, but I did manage to convince them to let me keep my wedding dress.”
“Well, that is all that matters,” he said as he began to move her trunk into his wagon. “We can always make more money.” Though he tried to hide it, Kate heard a small grunt as he lifted her trunk, and noticed he wasn’t lifting the right side as high as the left.
“Did you injure your shoulder?” Kate asked.
Bill turned toward her, a hardness in his eyes.
“You appear to be having some trouble lifting with your right side,” she said, pointing.
His gaze softened, and he smiled. “Oh, yeah, I hurt my shoulder roping some cattle the other day. I reckon it’s still a little sore. It’s nothing to worry about though.”
Kate nodded. “I’ll pray for a speedy recovery for you.”
“Well, that’d be mighty nice of you,” he said. “You ready?” He held out his left hand to her this time.
Though some intuition told her she should not get in the wagon with him, she had no excuse and she had made a promise, but she would be vigilant and keep her eyes open until she said “I do.”
When the wagon headed out of town, Kate turned to Bill. “Aren’t we heading to the preacher?”
“I thought you might like to see the farm first and get changed there,” Bill said, flashing her a smile.
; “Oh, that’s nice of you,” Kate said. It would be nice to see the place she would be calling home from now on.
“So, you said you were robbed,” Bill said, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. “Did you get a good look at them?”
Kate had no idea why, but her inclination was to withhold the truth from him. “No,” she said, shaking her head and hoping her voice wouldn’t give her away. “I was too scared to notice much, and they wore masks. I only know that there were three of them.”
“Ah, well, that’s too bad,” he said. “That isn’t much to give authorities.”
“No, it isn’t,” Kate agreed. “I doubt I shall ever see my things again. Most of it doesn’t matter to me, but I do wish they hadn’t taken my mother’s brooch.”
“It was important to you?” he asked.
“It was one of the last things I had of my mother’s. She died a few months ago.”
“Oh, that’s too bad, but such is the nature of life I suppose,” Bill said.
“I suppose,” Kate begrudged, slightly shocked at his blasé dismissal of her mother’s death. She was not the best at directions, but she tried to memorize the way out to Bill’s ranch in case she needed to find her way back to town on her own after they were married.
“Well, there it is,” Bill lifted his arm slightly to point.
The landscape dipped and allowed Kate to see a small ranch house. A horse was corralled on one side, and on the other side, a small creek ran by the house. Though this part of Texas didn’t have many trees, Bill seemed to have several on his land.
“It isn’t much I know,” Bill said, “but I’m planning to expand soon.”
“I’m sure it’s lovely,” Kate said. This time the smile Bill flashed her was sincere, and Kate almost forgot her misgivings. Almost. He stopped the wagon in front of the house moments later and helped her down.
“Would you mind if we just got your dress from the trunk?” Bill asked. “My shoulder is aching a bit, and I’m not sure I could carry it inside at the moment.”
“No, that’s fine,” Kate stated. “I can take out what I need.” She walked around to the back of the wagon and opened her trunk. Kate moved the other dresses aside until she found her mother’s wedding dress at the bottom. It was of a cream silk, which had recently become popular when her mother married, and though it had a round skirt, rather than the now fashionable bustle and fish tail, Kate had always loved it. The neckline scooped just low enough to show off her collar bones and tiny rosettes lined the neck and sleeves.
Kate removed the dress—careful not to pull too hard—and then grabbed the matching gloves. The shoes didn’t match exactly, but as Kate’s feet were two sizes larger than her mother’s feet had been, she had needed to supply her own shoes. She also grabbed her coat. Though it wasn’t cold enough to need it, she still didn’t want her groom to see her in her wedding dress before the ceremony, and as they had to drive back to town, that would be nearly impossible unless she were covered up.
“Alright, I’m ready,” she said.
“Wonderful. Follow me, and I’ll show you your room,” Bill said, leading the way into the house.
The front door opened into a small main room. Kate imagined it could look a little homier with a handmade quilt. The kitchen was to the left, which appeared to have an older stove. Perhaps they could purchase some new cookware and utensils. There was a door at the back of the main room, which Kate assumed led to his quarters. Bill opened the door and held it open for her. It held a single bed and a small chest for her to put her clothes in.
“I’ll leave you to get changed, and I’ll freshen up myself,” he said. “I rescheduled the wedding for dusk today when I received word your stagecoach was delayed.”
Kate nodded and waited for him to shut the door before collapsing on the bed. The quilt covering it was tattered and threadbare. Nothing about this room seemed to show he cared about his future bride, deepening Kate’s apprehension. Perhaps her brother had been right. What had she been thinking marrying a complete stranger?
Kate sent up a prayer for wisdom as she changed out of her traveling dress and into her mother’s wedding dress. The dress still fit as perfectly as it had a year ago when she had snuck into her mother’s closet and tried it on but wearing it now didn’t hold the joy she had always believed it would. Was that because she didn’t want to be married? Or because she might be marrying the wrong man?
She sighed and pushed the thought from her mind as she pulled on the gloves and slipped her feet inside her shoes. Then she folded her traveling dress and draped the coat about her shoulders. There was no looking glass in this room, so Kate was unable to check her appearance, but she tucked her hair back into place as best she could and pinched her cheeks to add some color before exiting the room.
Bill was sitting in the main room as she entered. “My, my, aren’t you a sight?” he whistled.
The words should have brought a smile to Kate’s face, but instead they caused the hairs on her arms to stand on end.
“Time’s a wasting,” he said, standing. “Let’s head back into town, so I can make you my wife.”
Kate noticed he was still wearing gloves as he held out his arm to her. Had he injured his hands or were they deformed in some way?
She took his arm and followed him out to the wagon where he again helped her get in before climbing up beside her. The ride back to town was quiet as Kate’s mind was on her future, and she had no idea what Bill was thinking.
The church was a small clapboard building with a single steeple which housed a bell. Though probably a bright white at one time, the paint was now faded and peeling, giving the church a dilapidated appearance. Kate wondered if anyone had any pride for this church.
Bill helped her down and led her inside. Rows of wooden pews lined either side of the aisle, and a single reed organ sat at the front of the church under a stained-glass window.
“Welcome,” a voice said from the front. “I’m Pastor Jacob.” A short man clad all in black stepped out from behind the pulpit at the front.
“Pastor, it’s Bill Easterly. I’ve come with Kate Whidby for you to marry us,” Bill said. To Kate he whispered, “Pastor Jacob has trouble remembering things from time to time.”
“Oh yes, Bill,” the preacher said. “I’ve been expecting you. Do you have the rings?”
“I do,” Bill stated, patting his pocket.
“Wonderful,” Pastor Jacob said. “If you are both ready, please remove your coats and gloves.”
Kate removed her coat and gloves and laid them on the pew in the first row. Bill hesitated but removed his gloves as well.
“Please join hands,” Pastor Jacob instructed, waving his hands in a motion to get them to step closer together.
After another small hesitation, Bill held out his hands to Kate. It was only a momentary flash as he quickly turned them palm up, but it was long enough for her to see the white puckered skin on his left hand. Her eyes widened slightly, and she forced herself to remain calm. What nightmare was she living in? This man wasn’t just creepy; he was the robber. There was no way she could go through with this marriage, but how was she going to get away without arousing his suspicion?
“Do you have any guests?” Pastor Jacob asked, moving from side to side and scanning the church.
“No, it’s just us,” Bill said. “Can we get on with the ceremony?”
“I suppose, but it will change my wording. It’s hard to say dearly beloved when there is no one out there.”
Perhaps this was her chance. “I’m sorry,” Kate said. “This was my mother’s dress, and I think my corset is too tight. Is there a place where I might loosen it? I’m feeling rather faint.”
“Are you alright?” Bill asked.
“I just need a moment. I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Kate said. “I just need to let the corset out a bit. My mother was a little smaller I guess.”
“You can use my study just through that door,” Pastor Jacob pointed to a door
way behind him.
Kate couldn’t tell if there was an outside door attached to the room Pastor Jacob had pointed to, but she had no other choice. “I’ll be right back,” she said, smiling sweetly at Bill and hoping she looked convincing.
Kate hurried to the room, frowning slightly at the thought of leaving her coat, but there was no way she could grab it. The room held a small desk, and even more importantly, it had another doorway. As Kate put her hand on the handle, she prayed it led outside.
The light had receded while she’d been inside, and the air had cooled, but Kate didn’t care. There was enough light from the moon to light her path. She took off running to the right. As she rounded the church, she saw a horse tied up to a nearby post. While Kate didn’t believe in stealing, this might be her only chance to escape.
With one swift motion, she untied the reins and swung herself up onto the saddle. The wedding dress groaned in agony as it stretched in unexpected ways, and Kate found her airways slightly constricted. She dug her heels into the horse, urging it into a run.
She was almost past the last building when the shot rang out. It wasn’t near her, but she could hear yelling behind her. Kate hunkered as low as she could on the horse and rode on, praying Bill would not find a horse or get his own unhooked from the wagon in time.
Chapter 8
Jesse had just finished feeding the livestock when a movement in the nearby brush caught his eye. Dropping his hand to the hilt of the revolver on his side, Jesse approached the brush.
He expected a wild animal or perhaps an escaped calf, but he was unprepared for the tattered and dirty creature he found instead. “Miss Whidby?”
Her dark hair was a tangled, matted mess with stray grass and weeds sticking out of it. Her dress, once probably clean and beautiful, was now covered in dirt and ripped in several places. Scratches lined her arms and face, their angry red marks standing in steep contrast to her alabaster skin.
“Bill?” she asked in a soft, confused voice as her eyes fluttered open for just a moment.
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