by Caroline Lee
Speaking of justice, there wasn’t much else to do for the rest of the day besides work on his standing, and read. He was almost done with the book that she’d left, and then he figured he’d have to start over again, to re-read it. Unless, maybe, if she came back, he could talk her into loaning him another one?
Bear shifted to one side, reaching for the book, and gratifying in the stretch of his muscles. He might not be able to walk again easily, but he was healing, and that was something. But when his fingers closed around the book, he noticed another, lying on the dirt floor right where Rose had been sitting. Had it fallen out of the pocket of her coat?
Forgetting Black Bart for the moment, Bear snagged the little book, which turned out to be a journal. But not just any journal; on the front page was written, in a lady’s neat handwriting, Sheriff Caraway at Gumption Gulch, part Two of ??.
Curious, Bear flipped through it. Each page was full of the same flowing script. Occasionally there’d be sections crossed out, or notes in the margins… But there were also chapter headings and page numbers. The second page picked up in the middle of the story:
Since Miss Molly’s kidnapping, Sheriff Caraway hadn’t been able to eat. The food all turned to lead in his stomach, just like the lead he’d pumped into Murderous Mitch’s brother. The thought didn’t ease his worry though. On the contrary; Caraway never liked taking a life, and knew that this life would mean Mitch had a reason to want revenge on him. Maybe even at the risk to Miss Molly’s delicate person.
Bear was hooked. Forgetting all about the last chapter of Black Bart’s Revenge, he settled down to read through this intriguing little book. The plot was just as good as Black Bart’s, and he found himself rooting for Sheriff Caraway immediately. Sure, he wore a big ridiculous white hat and didn’t know much about caring for his horse, but he loved Miss Molly and was determined to get her out of Mitch’s clutches, and that was good enough for a reader like Bear. It was just a shame that he didn’t have Part One, to read the whole thing from the beginning. Oh well, Part Two was a pretty good read on its own.
The rest of the day didn’t seem so lonely, after all.
Chapter 6
He’d touched her! Oh, sure, she’d touched him plenty over the last days, but for him to actually reach out and touch her? Rose stopped her frantic search for the missing journal, and stared out the window over her desk, one hand cradling the other, trying to recapture the feeling from that morning. Her hand in his much larger one. His skin cradling hers. Warm, tingly.
It was exactly the way Sheriff Caraway would touch Miss Molly, once he rescued her. But he couldn’t get around to rescuing her until Rose found the second installment of the book. As she sighed and went back to sorting through her stacks of ledgers, she realized that Bear had been helpful after all. Sure, he hadn’t given her any insight to the criminal mind, but he’d helped her understand the feelings that could grow between a man and a woman.
A very handsome man, who was a terrible person to be mooning over. But that didn’t seem to stop Rose.
“What are you mooning over?”
Her sister’s words—so closely matching Rose’s thoughts—caused her to drop the stack of books and swing around. Oh dear, she’d forgotten Snow was sitting in the little parlor as well. “What? What do you mean, mooning? I’m not mooning. There’s no mooning. What do you mean?”
Snow just chuckled, and bent back over the pillow with her half-finished piece of lace. Her fingers could move so quickly and so accurately that she almost didn’t need the light from the window at her shoulder that made her dark skin glow. Rose knew that soon the lace would adorn a sweet little gown, which some rich parents would pay handsomely for, and the White family would be able to survive another month. Rose’s own income from her stories was pitiful compared to her sister’s, but had hopes that one day she’d have enough life experience to be able to write really good full novels. Sheriff Caraway was to be her first… and her last, if she couldn’t find Part Two.
She began to shift the books around again, not quite ready to ignore her sister. “Besides, who’s mooning?”
“You’ve been looking for that book in the same place for the last twenty minutes. And you’re doing just as much sighing and staring out the window as looking.” Snow hadn’t even glanced up from her work, but Rose could hear the smirk in her voice. “I don’t suppose this has anything to do with all the food you’ve been pilfering, and the time you’ve been spending out in the barn?”
Rose felt her chest tighten. She hadn’t realized anyone had noticed… “Does Mama know?”
Snow looked up there, her brows drawn down and her lips pursed in disappointment. “You can’t honestly think I’d tell that woman anything about you sneaking around, do you?”
That woman. Mama didn’t think much of Snow, and the feeling was mutual. The three of them lived together, and supported one another—at least, the sisters supported Lucinda White. But they were hardly a family. They’d have to love one another for that, and there was little love lost between Snow and her father’s widow.
It was usually exhausting, to be surrounded by so much tension, but this time Rose was glad Snow hadn’t mentioned anything to Mama. Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Sorry. Thank you, I mean.”
“So, you want to tell me what’s going on?” Snow’s fingers hadn’t stopped. “With all your mysterious disappearances, I mean.”
“Not really.”
“Rose…?” Snow’s tone was needling, like when they were children and the older sister could convince the quiet, bookish little red-head to do all sorts of things. “I’m going to keep bugging you, you know. Unless it’s some kind of Christmas present, in which case I don’t think I want to know why you needed a whole chicken breast last night, and that half-loaf this morning.” She gasped, her eyes bright. “Unless it’s a puppy. Is it a puppy?”
Rose had to giggle at her sister’s excitement. “No, it’s not a puppy.”
“A kitten? A new mule?” Snow’s perfect nose wrinkled. “Do you have a new pet out in the barn?”
“No! It’s a—He’s a… Well…”
“He, Rose? Ewww, it’s not a new hog, is it?”
“No, he’s a man.”
The silence after her confession seemed to stretch into next week. Snow’s fingers stilled, her shoulders straightened, and her eyes widened. Finally, she breathed, “A man, Rose? You have a man in the barn?”
Rose glanced towards the door, worried that Mama could somehow overhear them. “It’s not like I’m keeping him a prisoner or anything. He’s wounded. I’m fixing him up.”
“You’re fixing him up? Why not take him to town?”
She couldn’t very well tell her sister that she was kind of keeping Bear prisoner, what with having hidden his horse and guns from him, and him being too weak to escape otherwise. And she was honest enough to admit that she was planning on keeping him prisoner at least until he could teach her more things. Things about the outlaw life, not necessarily the way she felt when he touched her. “We don’t have money for Doc Carpenter. And he was too badly hurt to move. So I’m tending him.”
“You’re tending him. Alone in the barn. Twice a day.” Snow’s tone was flat, and her brow was raised speculatively. “You know how bad that sounds, don’t you?” Because she did, Rose didn’t answer. “Is he the reason you’ve been mooning around?”
Sinking down into her desk chair, Rose knew there was no use denying it. “Yes, I think so. I didn’t mean to, though. He was just…”
“Just someone who needed your help?” He was more than that, but Rose nodded anyway, and Snow sighed, putting aside her lace. “Rose, honey. You know I love you, don’t you?”
“And I love you.”
“I want the best for you. And you know that I don’t think the best place for you is here.”
Rose swallowed, and looked down at her hands in her lap. Even now, she could feel his touch. “Here, in this house?”
A snort. “Here in Ever
land. Your Mama is making you miserable, your talents are wasted, and you haven’t let yourself really live. You need to get out of here.”
It was hard to deny, but she had to try. “I couldn’t leave you alone here with Mama.”
“Don’t you worry about me, honey. I can handle your mother alright.” Yeah, by ignoring her, which irritates her to all get-out. “I’ve got my sewing, and we get by. But you? You need to get away from here, away from her. You need to live.” Snow sighed, and Rose met her eyes, only a few shades darker than her own. “I always figured that you’d get married and move away, and that would be that.”
“You know Mama doesn’t approve of any men around Everland.” Lucinda White had this silly notion that her daughter had to marry a blonde man, so that Rose could have little perfect blonde sons. Reginald White had had hair so blonde it was almost white, and Lucinda’s shame was that she passed her own red hair down to her only child. Hair color was a stupid reason to turn down a man, but the town had come to realize that Mrs. White was very particular. “And I haven’t exactly had a glut of offers.”
“So, don’t wait for your mother’s approval. If you find a man you think you could love, Rose, you snatch that opportunity. You marry him and move away from here and write the books you’ve been longing to write.”
“I…”
Snow must have seen her hesitation. Standing, she crossed the room to crouch beside the chair, and took Rose’s hands in hers. “Honey, I mean it. Your mother and I will be fine here. You don’t belong here. You need to get away, to have an adventure. Marry your man.”
Your man. “My man? You mean the man in the barn?” Marry Bear? But Bear was… Bear was an outlaw. An attractive, well-read outlaw who admittedly made her pulse pound in her temples, but a criminal nonetheless. “I couldn’t…”
Snow clucked dismissively. “Then not that one. But find one, Rose, is what I’m trying to say. Either one of the men in town, or someone in Chicago where you send your stories, or something. Find someone who’ll take you away from all of this.”
Marry. Move away. Away from Mama’s meanness and Snow’s quiet suffering. Have her adventures. Adventures with a man. A man like Bear? No, no. Rose shook her head. She couldn’t possibly…
But her sister had planted the idea, and it wouldn’t be weeded out of her brain. Marry Bear. He was a bad guy, one of the ones who lost. But she’d been drawn to him from the beginning, and there was something about him… Something safe. Something honorable, almost, at the way he hadn’t once threatened her, or made her feel in danger. Something good.
Good Heavens, maybe she was one of the bad guys, too! Here she was, contemplating the possibility of running away—well, hobbling away, considering his wound—with an outlaw. Maybe she wasn’t as devoted to Law and Order as she’d always thought? Maybe that was why she hadn’t turned Bear over to Sheriff Cutter before he’d left for Granger?
Oh dear. This was quite a lot to think about.
Snow patted her hand, and stood. “I don’t know what’s going on in that head of yours, Rose, but your eyes just got real wide and you quit breathing for a bit. Maybe this man of yours is the answer, after all. Can I meet him?”
Her sister’s question pulled Rose from her musing. “No! No, you can’t meet him. I mean…” She stood as well, trying to straighten her skirts. “I mean, please don’t bother him. He’s still recovering.” Why was it so important to keep Bear for herself? Was it because she didn’t want anyone to know about him, so that she could get all the credit for turning him into the Law? Or because she secretly wanted to run away with him?
Snow’s eyes were sparkling with laughter when she pulled Rose into a gentle hug. “Well, alright then. I don’t really want to go visit your hogs, either. But you keep thinking about what I said, honey. Alright? Go live your life, and don’t let your Mama tell you how.”
After her sister sent her a gentle smile and returned to her tatting. Rose turned back to the window. This had always been her favorite room in this house—a little sanctuary from her mother—and there’d been a reason she’d set her desk in front of this window. In the spring, she could see wildflowers clear across the meadow to the little copse of trees. In the fall, the breezes coming across Lake Enchantment made the grass ripple beautifully. And now, at Christmastime, the snow coating everything to the distant mountains gave the whole world a sort of beautiful equality. And there, on the edge of her vision, sat the barn. The barn with Bear in it.
Go live your life. It’s what she’d wanted. Mama would never allow it, but what if she did as Snow suggested and just…left? Just fell in love and got married and left? And what if…what if Bear was the one to do it with? The one to have an adventure with?
But she was keeping him a prisoner, and that was a poor way to start anything together. Oh, he could easily overpower her, but she’d known almost from the beginning that he wouldn’t. She’d just brought one of his revolvers along each time because…well, not because she needed it, but because she needed him to think that she wasn’t helpless. He’d been nothing but polite and gentlemanly so far, which was part of the problem.
While she knew that he was an outlaw, she also knew that he was a gentleman, and that was confusing. Perhaps the best thing to do was to give him back his guns and send him on his way. That would certainly be less confusing.
But without her keeping him here, she wouldn’t have the chance to hear his stories. On the other hand, he hadn’t told her anything really useful yet, either. She was in real danger of losing her heart—and her future—when she hadn’t even achieved her objective. But Snow’s words kept running through her mind. Go live your life. That was the hard part; she liked Bear. Could she live her life…with him?
Forget her missing journal, forget the upcoming Christmas celebration. Rose had plenty to think about, right here and now. Like who Bear really was, and if she could be happy running away from everything she knew…if he was the one beside her.
Chapter 7
Three days. Three days since he’d last seen her. Oh, there was food left for him in the mornings, meaning she’d snuck in when he was asleep—and how embarrassing was that, to know that he never even heard her? But three days since she’d last been here, last sat beside him, last checked on him. Last touched him. Of course, he didn’t think he’d ever forget the feel of her little hand trapped between his and the bare skin of his thigh…not that he’d ever want to.
But in three days, plenty had changed. He was able to stand upright for much longer, and even hop around a bit, using the pig sty’s railing for support. He explored the barn—slowly—and had found a nice reading nook in the corner with some natural light. Once, he’d even ventured to open the door and stare out at the white expanse, but the temperature quickly reminded him that he wasn’t wearing pants, and his long johns had been torn up his right leg.
Yeah, he was getting stronger alright. But he wasn’t ready to leave yet. For one thing, he needed his horse and his guns back. For another thing, he didn’t know where he was—opening the barn door had revealed only a pretty little snow-covered cottage—or how to get to the nearest town. He figured he needed Rose for that, and she hadn’t been back to see him since he’d scared her off, dangit.
At least he had the new book. Sheriff Caraway’s adventures made for fun reading, and Bear found himself taking his time, savoring the words. He forced himself to put down the book every ten pages and get up to exercise. Because of that, he was stronger than he’d be if he’d sat on his butt all day, and the book had taken the full three days to read. He’d found himself smiling as he read the words, recognizing the phrases and the tone. Miss Molly sounded downright familiar.
It was just too bad that the volume ended right as the story was getting good. Mid-sentence, in fact. It obviously wasn’t a published book—the handwriting proved that—but where in the heck was the rest of the story? How would he find out if Murderous Mitch got away with his bank-robbing scheme?
One part of t
he book kept coming back to him; Sheriff Caraway teamed up with a circuit judge to bring one of Mitch’s other brothers to justice. Bear had done the same many times, and even counted a few of the more scrupulous judges as his friend. But reading about Judge Banner had gotten him thinking about what Bear might do if his leg was too busted to walk properly again. The life of a circuit judge wasn’t exactly quiet, but it wasn’t as hard as a US Marshall. And he’d always enjoyed reading about the law… Maybe he could get appointed somewhere nearby. So that when all this was over, when Quigg was behind bars and he could tell Rose who he really was, maybe he could see her again.
His musings were cut short by the scrape of the barn door. Instantly, all of his senses jumped on the alert, because this wasn’t the normal time for Rose to visit. But he had to unclench his hands—fisted in helplessness—when he saw that she was the one to slip through the door. She pushed it closed behind her, and then stopped. She hadn’t hesitated since that first day, and Bear wondered why she was staring at him like that. Like she was trying to remember every dip and crag of his face.
“Hi.”
“Hi.” Why did he sound like he was chewing gravel? Was it just because he hadn’t seen her in a million heartbeats? “I missed you.” Dangit, he probably shouldn’t have admitted that, based on how her cheeks immediately pinked and she looked away.
There was snow on the shoulders of her green coat and she was holding an oilcloth-wrapped bundle and a basket. His stomach growled, even though there was still bread and meat leftover from this morning’s secretive food drop-off. Maybe she heard it, or maybe she just got her gumption back, because he watched her square her shoulders and harden her jaw, and begin to move towards him again.
“Sorry. I’ve had a lot to think abou—to do.” She sunk to her knees beside him, just as she’d done all last week, like she hadn’t hesitated earlier. Graceful and sure and just as sweet as Christmas pie. Bear found himself leaning forward, eyes roaming over her lovely face. Like he was hungrier for the sight of her than he’d thought.