The Bride's Prerogative (97 page)

Trudy shrugged. “I’m willing if you are.”

The waitress poured tea for them. “There is one saloon on the other side of the street, shortly before you get to Hubbard’s. Just be aware and keep moving.”

When they’d finished the meal, they got their wraps. Trudy put her pistol in her purse. Vashti hadn’t brought a handbag, but she tucked her gun into her waistband, beneath her vest and coat. She took the umbrella, but the rain had let up.

“I don’t suppose we dare leave this here.”

Trudy shook her head. “If we do, it will pour just when we’re ready to come back.”

They walked quickly down the street. Few pedestrians were out. A wagon occasionally rattled past them. As they approached the store, it was easy to pick out the saloon. On the far side of the street, a dozen or more horses were tied to a hitching rail before a low log building. Laughter and tinny music reached them. Vashti swallowed hard at the vivid reminder of her past life.

“Come on.” Trudy hung on to her sleeve and steered her quickly onward, to the quiet store. “I’m glad we didn’t have to walk on the same side of the street as that place.”

Inside, ready-made clothing for the entire family was displayed. Vashti hadn’t been in a store bigger than Libby’s Paragon Emporium since she’d come to Fergus five years ago, and she suspected that for Trudy it had been longer. They walked slowly around the perimeter, stopping to look at whatever caught their fancy—a silk shawl draped over an open chest, a pair of children’s overalls on a large doll, or row after row of shoes.

“This place could outfit everyone in Fergus,” Trudy said.

Vashti nodded, eyeing the headless display form that vaguely resembled a woman’s body. The shimmering gown it wore caught her eye, but the decapitated figure made her shiver. “They say there wasn’t even a town here thirty years ago.”

“It wasn’t nearly so big when I last came here,” Trudy said. She fingered a challis blouse in a muted pink and white print. “Sort of wish I’d brought more money. But that’s silly. I have all the clothes I need.”

“It’s fun to get something new now and then.” Vashti turned to her with a smile. “Help me pick out a nice gift for the bride and groom.”

Trudy joined her quest, and fifteen minutes later they left the store with an imported china platter, hand-painted with flowers and nesting birds, wrapped with several layers of newspaper and tied up in brown paper. Vashti had spent a little more than she’d planned, but the birds were so dear she couldn’t resist it.

“When Libby and Hiram have you and Ethan over at Thanksgiving, she can serve her turkey on it,” she said to Trudy.

Her friend laughed and pulled on her gloves as they left the store. They walked toward the hotel.

“Know what I’m going to do with the ring tomorrow?” Trudy asked.

“What?”

“Now, mind you, I don’t think we’ll get held up. But just in case we do …” She leaned closer and whispered, “I’m tying it into my corset.”

Vashti laughed.

“You think it’s funny,” Trudy said, “but I heard about a robbery down in California where a lady put nine hundred dollars in her bosom. All the men got robbed. She gave the outlaws her reticule with a couple of dollars in it, and they never suspected she had more.”

“Right.” They were even with the saloon, and Vashti flicked a glance toward it. A man came out the door. He appeared to be sober, and he headed diagonally across the street toward Hubbard’s. She would have kept going without another thought, but he turned his face into the light flowing out the store’s front window, and she caught her breath. Her step faltered, and she nearly dropped the platter.

CHAPTER 24

A
re you all right?” Trudy asked, putting out a hand to steady her friend.

Vashti whipped her head around, her heart racing. “Quick,” she whispered and dashed along the sidewalk, hugging her awkward burden.

Trudy raced along beside her, craning her neck to look back and then turning forward again. “What is it? That man? He went into the store.”

“Good.” Vashti slowed to a brisk walk, panting. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right. Do you know him?”

Vashti felt a sick knot in her stomach. “I’m not sure. He looked like someone I used to know. But not here.”

“Let’s get back to the hotel, and then you can tell me about it.”

They hurried along, slightly uphill. The platter grew heavier, and Vashti’s feet began to drag.

“Here, let me take that.” Trudy reached for the package.

Vashti didn’t protest. She climbed the hotel steps wearily and went to the front desk to retrieve their room key. One more flight of stairs, and she could relax. Trudy held the package and the umbrella while Vashti unlocked the door.

Their room would be their fortress. With the door closed and locked, Vashti sank down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let him scare me like that. It startled me, though.”

“Are you sure it was the man you knew?”

“No. I hope it wasn’t.” Vashti gulped and pulled off her gloves. “The man he looks like is one I never want to see again.”

Trudy laid the platter carefully on the dresser and came around to sit beside her on the quilt. She put her arm around Vashti. “I’m sorry. We were having such a good time.” Her eyes filled with sympathetic tears, and Vashti felt a pang of guilt.

“I didn’t mean to get you upset, either.”

“I’m all right. Do you want to tell me about this fellow, so that I’ll know how to act if we meet him again?”

Vashti pulled in a long, slow breath. “I thought he was Luke

Hatley.”

Trudy frowned. “Don’t know that name.”

“He was a gambler. I met him back in Independence.”

“Was he good at it?”

“At gambling? Very. But not so good at winning.”

Trudy snorted a laugh. “So what happened?”

“I first met him when I was thirteen, outside a bakery. I was sniffing the bread baking and wondering if I could steal some.” She tugged off her coat and laid it, with her hat and gloves, on the bed. “Anyway, I was young, and I was desperate. I figured being with him was better than being with half the men in town, so to speak. He liked me, and he seemed decent. I guess that must sound funny to you—a fellow who would do to a thirteen-year-old what he did to me. But he seemed like a way out for me. A way to survive without …”

Trudy stroked her back gently. “And then what? Did he leave you?”

“Sort of.” Vashti jumped up and turned to face her. “Look, I didn’t mean to tell you all this. Haven’t told anyone but Bitsy. Well, I told Griffin some, but not this part.” Trudy seemed surprised, and Vashti felt she needed to explain. “He came to talk to me shortly after Justin came. I wanted him to understand how it is if you’re young and alone. If you don’t have a good, honest person like Griff to take care of you.”

Trudy nodded. “Justin could have gotten into all sorts of trouble, I suppose.”

“He’d already started to back where he came from. It wouldn’t take much for him to run away from Griffin and try to make it on his own. And then what? He’d end up with some toughs like those road agents or take to gambling and drinking. But one person—one good person—can turn a kid’s life around.”

“I think you’re right.”

“I thought Luke might be that for me, but I was wrong. He took me deeper into … what the reverend would call lasciviousness. And then crime.”

“So you left him?”

Vashti walked over to the dresser and opened her canvas bag. “No. He left me. When it was convenient, he dumped me and rode out of town, never looking back. See, he’d gotten into debt to a fellow who owned a place.”

“What kind of place?”

“A saloon.”

“Oh.”

Vashti turned to look at her face. Would Trudy still want to be her friend if she knew everything? “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, I want to know. It helps me to understand some things.”

Vashti pulled out her bandanna and dabbed at her cheeks. “Well, Luke gave me to this fellow Ike to cancel his debt. Ike said I had to work for him. I tried to get away, but he kept a strict eye on me and the other girls he had working there.”

“You mean—”

Vashti turned away, unable to meet her gaze. Trudy cleared her throat. “Well, obviously you got away after a while.”

“Yes. Thanks to Bitsy. I ran away, and she helped me. But just seeing Luke tonight—or someone who looked a lot like him—gave me a turn. I … Trudy, I don’t want to see him again. Ever.”

“That was—what? Five years ago?”

“More like eight.”

“So you worked for that Ike person for three years.”

The tears flowed steadily, and Vashti nodded. She mopped her face again with the bandanna, conscious that Trudy was studying her profile.

“I’m so sorry,” Trudy said.

Vashti tried to shrug it off, but she couldn’t stop the tears. The intensity of her dread when she thought she’d seen Luke surprised her. Still, he hadn’t been mean to her during their time together. But at the end, he proved that he didn’t really care for her as much as he cared about money and winning and a good hand at the poker table. “It could have been worse, I guess. At least Luke, taking me with him like he did, put off the inevitable for almost three years.” She sat down again with a sob. “I thought he’d marry me someday. Was I ever wrong.”

“You said Bitsy helped you.”

Vashti sniffed. “Yes. My life is good now. I have a family. I have a good place to live and a real job and friends.”

Trudy smiled and stood. “Let’s not think about that man we saw. It probably wasn’t him, anyway. A lot of men drift around the West, especially since the gold craziness.”

“True.”

Trudy eyed her anxiously. “Are you sleepy? You’ve got a long drive again tomorrow.”

“Not really.”

“Tell you what: I’ll go downstairs and see if we can get a pot of tea and maybe some cookies.”

Vashti smiled. “That sounds good.” She fished in her pocket and brought out two dimes. “Take this and use it if they won’t add it to my bill.”

“All right. Lock the door while I’m gone. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

She whisked out the door. Vashti walked over and locked it. She hung up her coat and put her hat and Trudy’s on hooks beside it.

The window fronted the street. She walked over and moved the curtain aside with one finger. Lamplight lit the hotel’s dooryard and several other buildings down the street. At least they were a good distance from the saloon. But that man could have a room right here in this hotel. She shuddered and let the curtain fall into place.

“Dear God, I guess this is one of those times when I should call on You. Please don’t let me see that fella again. Help me not to even think of him. And if he is Luke …” She stopped, not knowing what to say next.

Griffin dashed for the smithy, holding a mule’s bridle in his hand. How on earth did Marty do it? He was always busting something. Griffin grabbed his leather punch off the wall of tools and rummaged in a crate of leather straps for one the right width. At least the mule’s mouth wasn’t torn up. A shadow fell across his work as he lined up the new strap with the one on the bridle.

“Anything I can do to help, Uncle Griff?”

The blacksmith paused and looked at the boy. “That’s nice of you to ask, Justin. You can run up to the office and tell Josiah Runnels we’ve got a small delay, but the team should be ready when the stage comes in. Ten minutes. And ask him how many passengers today. We’ve got two sacks of mail going out.”

Justin sped off without another word. Griffin punched a couple of holes in the straps and turned to his workbench for rivets. His quick fix might chafe the mule’s cheek, but what else could he do? He didn’t have another harness bridle on hand to fit the mule. That robbery had really cut into his assets.

At last the bridle was patched together. He’d have to stitch it tomorrow, when this harness came home to him with the stagecoach. He dashed out the door and headed for the back of the livery. Ethan was dismounting near the corral gate.

“Hey, Griff! Thought I’d turn Scout out while I wait for the stage.”

“Sure, go ahead.” He hoped Ethan wasn’t upset with him for letting Trudy act as a shotgun messenger. “They’ll be here any minute. I’ve got to have this team ready, or I’d stop to chew the fat.”

Ethan waved. “No problem. I’ll mosey on up there.”

Griffin bridled the near swing mule. Done. He turned and looked for Marty. Found him sitting on a barrel of oats, chewing a straw. Griff felt like tearing into him. The man moved slower than a snake in winter.

“Uncle Griff?”

Justin stood in the open front door of the barn.

“Yeah?”

“Josiah says seven passengers to Silver City.”

“Good.” There’d be room for all seven inside the coach, along with the mail sacks.

At last the team was ready. Griffin pulled out his watch. The stage should arrive any minute.

“Marty, you step lively when they bring the stage in.”

“Sure, boss.”

Griffin tried not to let that rankle him. Pastor Benton’s last sermon had included some warnings about anger. As he strode up the sidewalk to the Wells Fargo office, he tried to think about better things. Technically, Isabel still owned the building, but if his application for the mail contract came through for another year, he could buy it from her. That and a pile of new harnesses and maybe even another coach. He could hire more drivers and messengers….

Ethan lolled against the wall of the office, and a few people who planned to meet passengers milled about on the walkway. Griffin went to the door. Peter Nash stood inside talking to Josiah Runnels. Two sacks of mail sat on the desk.

“Hey, Griffin,” Peter said. “I’d better get back to the post office.”

Griffin nodded. “We’ll take care of the mail, Mayor.”

“Do you need me to help with the team?” Josiah asked.

“Wouldn’t hurt. Marty moves slower every day.”

“I’ll get over to the livery, then.” Josiah put on his hat and went out.

Griffin took out his watch again. The stage was five minutes late. His stomach started doing odd things. Those outlaws—he couldn’t stand another robbery. Especially not with Vashti driving. Trudy was on the stage, too, and her husband waited outside, looking relaxed but probably tied up inside. At least it wasn’t raining today.

As if Griffin’s thoughts had drawn him, Ethan appeared in the doorway, squinting into the dimly lit room.

“Are they late, Griff?”

Griffin snapped the watchcase shut. “Not much.”

Ethan came in and leaned on the edge of the desk. “Can’t help fretting. Guess that doesn’t do any good, though.”

“I know what you mean.”

Ethan bit his lip and nodded. “Maybe I should ride out and meet them.”

“They’ll be fine.” Griffin wished he believed it. He kept seeing that narrow place in the rocks.

“Trudy’s pretty headstrong, but I didn’t expect her to go off overnight like this.”