Cold Gold (10 page)

Randolph
made his decision and settled his back against a nest of scrub brush and rocks. He tucked his hands under the edges of his coat, dropped his chin on his chest, and waited.

Chapter
Ten

“We have a problem.” Maggie pushed her way inside as soon as Serena opened the door. “The church committee has refused to allow us to use their hall. Someone informed them we were intending to stage a burlesque show, and they won’t condone that.”

Serena’s eyes widened in dismay. “But who would do such a thing?” she asked. “Only you, me and Lorelei knew...”

“And Hetty and whoever is helping her make your costume,” Maggie added. “I suspect, if she used Dollie’s girls to help her as she said she would, it was one of them. Silly girls probably told their tricks what they were working on.”

“So what can we do now?”

“Something you won’t like.” Maggie looked grim. “Our only option is to ask Douglas King if we can use the stage at his club.”

“
There’s a stage there?”

Maggie nodded. “It’s not used very often. King thought to bring in vaudeville acts, but Cold Creek’s not big enough for any good performers to want to come here. The stage isn’t very big, but that really doesn’t matter. Just think of the size audience that could be accommodated. You’d make more money for sure.”

“The last thing I want to do is ask that man for anything,” Serena muttered. She crossed her arms, shuddering at the prospect. King would no doubt be delighted, but what price might he try to exact? The thought sent quivers of alarm riding up and down her spine. She had refused to have dinner with him at the club, fearing for her reputation. Now she faced the unthinkable prospect of asking him if she could perform there. But, after everything her new-found friends had done for her, she knew she had no choice. “I’ll go and see him.”

“I’m sorry, Serena.” Maggie’s eyes showed concern. “If there was any other way...”

“I know, don’t worry.” Serena smiled and gave her an impulsive hug.

She put on her rubber boots and overcoat and
speared a pin through her hat to secure it to the top the chignon twisted at the back of her head. She picked up her purse. “I’ll be along to see you as soon as I can. Will you be at the house or the bakery?”

“Come to the house, it’ll be more private.”

Serena nodded. They walked downstairs in silence and parted company at the front door. This morning the goods on display in the stores she passed held no interest for her, and she would have walked right by the sheriff’s office without noticing Sheriff Johnson had he not interrupted her thoughts.

“Have you a minute to spare, Lady Buxton?” he asked quietly.

“Why, yes, of course.” Serena stepped into his office and waited while he shut the door. “What can I do for you?”

“I just wondered how things are coming along for you,”
Johnson said in a friendly tone. “I heard that Frank Harris was not especially helpful to you. If you need any financial help, you know you only have to ask. I keep a small stash of bucks on hand for contingencies, usually the cost of a ticket to get someone out of town.”

The sheriff’s kind tone took her by surprise. For a moment Serena contemplated sharing her woes
with him, but then she shook her head.

“I do have some skills,” she told him. “I intend making use of them in order to support myself until Randolph returns.”

“You really believe he will come back?”

“Oh, yes.” Serena nodded her head. “I know it.”

“That’s what Lorelei Sutton thought and Eddie was found dead anyway.” The sheriff regarded her with concern in his sharp, blue eyes.

Serena bit her lip to stop it quivering. “I believe Randolph’s disappearance has something to do with the mine and not the gold fever that consumed
Eddie Sutton.”

“So you have been asking questions?”
Johnson cocked a wiry eyebrow.

“No, only listen
ed to what I have been told. Everyone here seems to have such interesting histories. Does that include you, Sheriff Johnson?”

He laughed at that. “I could tell you a tale or two, but won’t hold you up. Can I walk you anywhere?”

“I’m going to the mine office to see Mr. King.”

Sheriff
Johnson straightened up. “Then I’ll step around the corner with you and see that you arrive safely.”

The sheriff, no longer spry, walked with a rolling gait more suited to that of a sailor
. Serena slowed her pace to match his and, at the mine office door, he raised his hat to her and smiled. She passed through the doorway but stopped, sensing a shadow in her peripheral vision. A shiver of sudden fear took hold of her. Alarmed, she looked around but could see no one. She found a bell on the counter, picked it up and rang it.

King came
from a back office, his eyes narrowed with frustration and a frown on his face. If he was annoyed at being disturbed, he quickly hid it on seeing her.

Serena
swallowed her apprehension and forced a smile for him. “Should I perhaps come back later?”

“No, not at all.” He
invited her into his office. “What can I do for you?”

Serena twisted her fingers together. Now that she was here
, she wished she could bite out her tongue rather than ask the question that would almost choke her.

“You undoubtedly know that Mr.
Harris refused me funds,” she began, “and that without Randolph I am hard pressed to support myself.”

“I did hear something of the sort, but I really don’t pay attention to gossip.”

Serena didn’t like the bland look on his face but continued anyway. “I do have one skill that would enable me to earn some money, but for that I need a stage.”

“
I’m intrigued.” King purred. “Please tell me more.”

His
comment was innocent enough, but she didn’t believe for one moment that he did not know her intentions. Could he have influenced the church committee to refuse Maggie’s request for a booking? She wouldn’t put it past him in the least. She gritted her teeth.

“I can sing
.”

“Fascinating. So how will my stage help you?”

Serena clenched her fist. King was playing with her, enjoying her discomfort. How she would like to wipe the smug grin from his face.

“Although I have not yet seen it, both Mrs. O’Connor and Mrs. Sutton assure me it is the only venue in town suitable for the kind of performance we intend to stage.”

“They are right.” King sat back in his chair, now smiling broadly.

“Then I would like to arrange a booking with you. We thought a Saturday night performance would be best and were thinking of
March 30, if that would be agreeable to you?”

“
I believe I can accommodate you for that evening.” King stroked his chin and then sent a calculating look her way. “And what do you propose my percentage to be?”

“Ten percent.”

King’s laugh held no humour. “I’m a reasonable man, Serena, but not that reasonable. I still have to pay my staff and if my patrons are watching you they are not upstairs gambling or visiting my upstairs girls. Fifty-fifty.”

“
Eighty-twenty.”

“Not good enough, my dear. Try again.”

Serena caught her breath and clenched her jaw. “Seventy-thirty.”

“
You bargain like a horse-trader.” The calculating look on King’s face disappeared to be replaced with a broad, self-satisfied grin. “I like that. It’s a deal, Serena, and I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll let you perform for free. Keep the take, all of it. But if the audience likes you, and I don’t know why they wouldn’t, your second performance will be on my terms.” His eyes hardened like obsidian when he noticed Serena shudder. “Take it or leave it.”

“I’
ll take it,” Serena ground out, knowing she was out of options. “But there are a few things I must specify.” She almost quavered under the fierce light she saw in his eyes, but took a deep breath and continued. “For the night of my performance I insist that Maggie O’Connor takes care of the entrance fees. We will be responsible for all the staging, paying all the stage hands and performers, but I understand you may have someone who knows about the stage lights?”

King laughed. “You have been a busy little bee, Serena. No doubt your, ah, lady friends have made use of their contacts. But will you pay my man, too?”

“Of course.” Serena inclined her head as graciously as she could.

King
nodded with satisfaction. “Perhaps you’ll join me for a little light lunch, just to seal the deal before you return to the hotel?”

She shook her head, knowing that
she wouldn’t be able to eat a morsel of food. “I have things to do.”

The grin had not left King’s face. “I’m sure you do. Fittings perhaps? Maybe
a flounced skirt? I must say I can’t wait to see you in that.”

A flush of anger rose up Serena’s neck and stained her cheeks
, but she kept her tongue between her teeth and turned on her heel. If he intended to humiliate her, he was well on the way to succeeding. His mocking laughter followed her out into the street and Serena could barely hold back tears of anger.

Lorelei
had been right. A penniless woman alone in a frontier town was in a terribly vulnerable position. She hurried down the sidewalk, paying no attention to the people she brushed past or the catcalls that drifted her way. News of her performance was already making the rounds and, rather than hold her head high, she more than anything wanted to hide herself away. She almost ran to the boarding house and the refuge of Maggie’s parlor.

“Maggie, I think I must have lost my mind.” Her legs
shook and she sank into the chair. “I can’t do this, I really can’t.”

“Too late to back out now
, me darlin’. Half the town knows of it and will soon inform t’other half.” Maggie lifted the teapot. “Tea?”

“No,” Serena replied. “Gin. A lot of it.”

“Dutch courage now, is it?” Maggie lifted the bottle from her side cupboard and poured a generous portion into a teacup. “Here you go. You’ll be right as nine pence with that inside you. Tough time with King?”

Serena told her
, and Maggie shook her head at King’s ultimatum. They heard footsteps in the hall and both looked up when Lorelei walked in.

“I heard the news
that we have the club,” she said. “It’s all over town already. But I have news, too. I know who let the cat out of the bag.”

Chapter Eleven

“Who?” Serena and Maggie asked in chorus.

“George Stiles visits that little redhead, Kitty, at
Dollie’s place, and she helped sew Serena’s costumes. I talked to Kitty today, and she told me it was Stiles that stirred up the church committee to turn down our booking.”

“Maybe it’s just as well,” Maggie said. “With all the uproar ther
e is now, they’ll be packing King’s club like sardines in a can. You’re going to earn a fortune, Serena. Enough for sure to repay me and Lorelei and get yourself back to England before King has a chance to get his take.”

“What’s this?” Lorelei pounced. “What take?”

Maggie told her.

“Well, of all the sly moves,” Lorelei started, but stopped when Serena held up her hands.

“It’s business,” she said. She rubbed her temples to contain the headache that thrummed there. “Just business. And I am not going home until I know for sure what’s happened to Randolph. I’m positive both the sheriff and Douglas King know things they are not talking about.”

“Why are you so sure?” Lorelei asked.

“Because Douglas King had Randolph’s watch, a watch that Randolph prized too much to ever be careless with.” Serena told them about her evening with King. “And I know Sheriff Johnson has his suspicions. He watches everything and everybody like a hawk.”

“Maybe you’ll be lucky, Serena,” Lorelei said wistfully. “Maybe your Randolph will reappear just as suddenly as he disappeared.”

“Oh, I do hope so.” Serena hiccuped and slid gracefully out of the chair onto the floor.

Maggie looked at the empty cup Serena
still clutched in her hand, then at the bottle of gin.

“Oh, my Lord,” she said. “I do believe the girl’s drunk. Come on, Lorelei, help me get her up.”

They sounded a long way off, as if in a fog, and Serena giggled before she sank into oblivion.

~*~*~*~

Randolph waited until well after dusk before he moved further down the creek. His food supply was almost gone, and he had half filled his water bottle with snow and tucked it inside his jacket. At first the casing chilled him, but gradually his body heat warmed it and thawed the snow inside. It was better than nothing and the liquid took the edge off his thirst. If he timed it correctly, he could clamber up the trestle and be up on the track in time to climb aboard the six-fifteen to Yreka.