Page 29 of Into the Starlight (Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing #3)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The satchel was heavier than she’d realized. Joanna shifted it from one shoulder to the other as she approached the house that would soon be her home, then paused when she saw Gertrude approaching from the other direction. The way the older woman waved left no doubt that she wanted to talk.

“Are you ready to move in? I heard you were waiting until after Della’s wedding, but I hadn’t realized you’d move the very next day.”

Joanna laid the satchel on the ground next to her. It might not be polite, but she didn’t want to invite Gertrude to come inside today. The house was not quite ready, and when it was, she’d decided that the first visitors would be her family and Della and Harold.

She probably should have brought her sisters here weeks ago, but she’d needed more time to recover from the discoveries she made and—surprisingly—neither Emily nor Louisa had pressed to visit.

Today Joanna wanted to walk through the house, envision ing it not only as her home but as Burke’s. While it was nowhere near as large as either Finley House or the one Louisa and Josh were building, she and Burke had agreed that this was where they’d begin their married life.

Managing a small smile for Gertrude, Joanna said, “It’ll be another three weeks before I move.” Three weeks and two days until the January 19th wedding she and Burke had decided on. Since Gertrude seemed to expect an explanation, Joanna gestured toward the satchel. “This is most of my sheet music. I’ve started practicing here each day.”

“That’s probably a good idea. It’ll give you a chance to become accustomed to living alone.” Gertrude frowned. “I’m not sure you’ll like it. You probably don’t remember, but I tried living in town when I first started teaching. It was convenient, but I was lonelier than I expected, so I moved back to the ranch.”

Her frown turned into a smile. “I love that place. When my parents started talking about selling the ranch to Thomas, I didn’t want to leave all the memories. Fortunately, Thomas still wanted to marry me.”

Joanna hoped her confusion wasn’t apparent. She’d thought that the Albrights had moved after Gertrude announced her engagement so that she and Thomas could build a life as a couple without others interfering, but it appeared that the actual sequence of events had been different.

“You can always move back to Finley House if you don’t like being alone.”

“I won’t be alone.” The words came out before Joanna had a chance to consider them, perhaps because Gertrude seemed to have reverted to her schoolmarm days and was giving unsolicited advice.

Her former teacher narrowed her eyes in a gesture Joanna knew meant that a lecture was forthcoming. “Of course you won’t be alone once the baby comes, but that’s months from now.” Before Joanna could reply, Gertrude continued. “I wanted his baby so much, but he wouldn’t agree. Foolish, stubborn man.”

Once again, Joanna was confused. Louisa had told her how Gertrude and Thomas’s baby had been stillborn and how Gertrude had grieved. Now she was acting as if there’d been no baby.

Sensing that Gertrude needed reassurance, Joanna said, “I won’t be alone at all.” She hadn’t told anyone other than her family and Mrs. Carmichael, because she and Burke had agreed that the official announcement would come in church on Sunday, but there was no reason not to confide in Gertrude, particularly if it might comfort her.

Joanna had never seen her former teacher in a mood like this. Perhaps she was having regrets over giving her home to Della and Harold, even though it was only for a few days. Perhaps hearing some good news would jolt her out of her melancholy.

“Burke and I are going to be married.”

For a second Gertrude stared, her expression incredulous. Then she shook her head vehemently. “You’re mistaken. He would never marry you. He’s promised to someone else.”

Though she wondered how Gertrude had learned of Edna, Joanna did not ask. There was no reason to add to Gertrude’s distress. Instead she said, “Burke’s first sweetheart married someone else, and Kurt died. There’s nothing keeping us apart.”

“Are you certain?” Gertrude’s question surprised Joanna with its ferocity. She had expected congratulations, not an almost hostile interrogation.

“Absolutely.” When she was met with silence rather than felicitations, Joanna decided to say nothing more. If she was fortunate, Gertrude would leave and she could enter her house, put this awkward conversation behind her, and do what she could to make the house into a home for her and Burke.

“When’s the wedding?” Gertrude’s question sounded almost grudging, as if she still did not believe Joanna.

“January 19th. You’ll come, won’t you?”

“Of course.” Gertrude stared into the distance for a moment, then shook her head. “You’ll have to excuse me now. My mother’s waiting for me.”

“Horse!”

Burke smiled at the boy who was pointing out the front window. Noah’s enthusiasm for horses was well known, and yet Burke couldn’t dismiss his sense of apprehension. Why was a horse outside before breakfast on a Monday morning? He rarely saw any on this part of Creek until later in the day. The Albrights did not venture out until midmorning, and the men working on Josh and Louisa’s house approached from the opposite direction. The only explanation Burke could find was that someone had come to summon either him or Louisa.

He joined Noah at the front window. Though he expected to see someone mounted on a horse, it was riderless. The second surprise came when he recognized the horse. “It’s Enoch.”

“Enoch?”

Burke hadn’t realized he was speaking so loudly, but his words must have carried to the hallway, alerting Joanna as she descended the stairs.

“Why is Thomas in town so early?”

He wished he could answer the question, but the sight of Enoch filled him with apprehension. As much as he wished there were an innocent explanation, he feared there was not.

“Thomas isn’t riding Enoch. The horse is saddled but running loose.”

“Horse loose.”

“Yes, Noah. He’s running loose.” Burke laid his hand on the boy’s shoulder and urged him to return to Emily in the kitchen. The child didn’t need to overhear Burke’s concerns.

“I can’t imagine why.” Joanna stood next to Burke and peered out the window. “Thomas is so careful with Enoch. He’d never leave him like that.”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Thomas had mentioned that Enoch considered the Albrights’ other horses his herd and that he headed to the stable whenever they came into town, but he wasn’t doing that this morning. Instead, if Enoch were a human, Burke would have said that he was pacing.

Joanna spun around and grabbed her cloak from the coat-tree. “I’m going to ask the Albrights what happened.”

His sense of dread increasing, Burke nodded. “I’ll go with you.” It was possible Thomas would need his medical skills again, but even if Burke’s concerns were unfounded, he did not want Joanna to be alone.

Without bothering to don his coat, he hurried across the street with her and waited impatiently while she knocked on the Albrights’ front door.

“Joanna. Burke.” Mrs. Albright’s face mirrored confusion and concern when she opened the door. “Is something wrong?” The apron she wore and the flour on her hands told Burke she was in the midst of preparing breakfast, oblivious to anything that might have happened outside.

“That’s what we came to ask you.” Joanna gestured toward Enoch. The horse was pawing the ground and whinnying. “Is Thomas here?”

“No. He and Gertrude went back to the ranch after church yesterday. I don’t expect them in town again until Saturday.” Mrs. Albright gave Enoch another look, then shook her head. “I can’t understand why Thomas’s horse is here.”

Unwilling to distress the older woman with the possible reasons, Burke said, “Thank you, Mrs. Albright. Joanna and I’ll let you know what we discover. You might want to ask your husband to take Enoch back to the other horses. That might calm him.”

As they walked toward Finley House, Joanna laid her hand on Burke’s arm and looked up at him. “You believe Thomas was riding and Enoch threw him.”

“That’s possible. Horses will normally return home after throwing a rider, but from what Gertrude said, Enoch considered his home to be with her parents’ other horses. That could explain why he’s here.” But it did not explain why Enoch hadn’t gone to the stable behind the Albrights’ house.

“I thought Enoch was a gentle horse. He must have been spooked by a snake or a javelina. Or maybe he caught his foot in a hole the way Josh’s horse did. It might have been an accident.”

Burke hoped that was the case. “We’ll know more when we find Thomas. Let’s take your buggy.”

While Burke harnessed the horse, Joanna went inside to retrieve Burke’s medical bag and to tell Emily they wouldn’t be back for breakfast.

“Which way to the ranch?” Burke asked as he guided the horse past the front pillars. The sun had begun to rise, dispelling the darkness but not his fears.

“West.” Joanna’s face reflected her concern. “You’re afraid Thomas is badly injured, aren’t you?”

“My instincts say yes. It’s the only thing that seems to make sense.” Burke took a deep breath, trying to calm his thoughts. “I wonder if Thomas was on his way here because Gertrude is ill.”

Joanna’s eyes closed as if she were offering a silent prayer. When she opened them, she said, “I hope not, but I can’t imagine any other reason he’d have come into town so early.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes, each lost in thoughts of what might have happened.

“The entrance to the ranch is on the right,” Joanna said as they crested a small hill. “You can’t miss it.”

What Burke couldn’t miss was the form on the side of the road near the open gates. He reined in the horse and jumped out of the buggy, racing toward the man who lay so still. When he reached him, Burke knew there was no need to search for a pulse. The man lay on his back, his eyes staring sightlessly into the sky.

“It’s Thomas.” Joanna’s voice reflected the horror Burke felt. When she gripped his hand, Burke did not know whether she sought to give or receive comfort. All he knew was that they were bound together by a new tragedy.

“This was no accident. Thomas was murdered.” Burke pointed toward the blood-soaked coat and shirt.

Joanna shuddered. “I don’t understand. Everyone liked Thomas.”

“Someone didn’t. He was shot at close range.”