Page 30 of Love and Order
CHAPTER 13
“I consider myself a better-than-average tracker, and I struggled to follow his trail.” Arms folded, Seth leaned his hip against the kitchen counter and stared at Rion as Lu checked his wounds and changed the bandages.
Rion shot his brother a teasing grin. “Oh, quit your joshin’. You’re average at best.”
Seth grabbed the dishcloth from the counter and launched it at him, Rion barely batting it aside, left-handed, before it hit him in the face. The damp cloth landed on the table, fluttering several of the wanted posters from the stack as Calliope showed Joe those he’d pointed out earlier.
“Boys!” Calliope gave them a mock glare, then set the cloth aside to straighten the pages. “Somebody gets fussy when these papers are out of order.”
Rion wrinkled his nose at her, and she wrinkled hers right back, both chuckling as she did.
“Anyway, it was a long, frustrating day with little to show for our efforts.” Seth received a freshly washed plate from Lena beside him and turned to dry it.
Once his back was to the room, Rion snatched the damp cloth and hurled it, again left-handed, hitting Seth square between the shoulders.
The room erupted in laughter, and Seth spun to face him.
“Well, somebody’s obviously feelin’ better.” He scowled Rion’s way.
“After sleepin’ most of the last few days, I am—thank you very much. But that wasn’t me. It was Joe.” He hooked his thumb in the other man’s direction.
Joe jerked his gaze up, first at Rion, then Seth. “Leave me out of this. I’m working …” He turned again to the wanted posters, only to be hit a moment later in the ear with the cloth.
More laughter ensued as Joe scooped up the cloth, ready to hurl it, though seemingly torn on whether to pitch it in Seth’s or Rion’s direction. Deciding, he tossed it at Seth, who ducked. The cloth landed in the pan of sudsy water where Lena was washing the dinner dishes, splashing water over her and the counters.
Mouth agape, she stood for a moment then fished for the cloth, but before she found it, a soft knock sounded at the door.
The laughter died, leaving the room eerily silent. For only an instant, they all stared. Then Seth hurried to jerk the trapdoor open.
“Downstairs. Now!” He mouthed the words, and both Rion and Lu grabbed whatever they could of their belongings and darted into the dark cellar, Lu following him with partially applied bandages trailing between them.
At the base of the creaky stairs, they looked up, and Seth put his finger to his lips and closed them into the dark.
“Finish this. Quick.” Rion tugged on the bandages.
Lu continued to wind the remainder around him.
Above, footsteps sounded and the door opened.
“Can I help you?” Seth’s voice broke the stillness.
Lu tied off the bandage, and as she did, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the end of the cellar where the cot sat. Setting his shirt and her journal on the shelf, he felt for his gun belt, hanging from the corner of the shelf, and drew his pistol. As quietly as possible, he checked the cylinder and found it just as he’d last left it: five bullets, with the hammer resting on an empty chamber. He eased the cylinder closed and, feeling for her arm in the darkness, pressed the pistol into her hand.
“Hold that, and don’t go anywhere.”
“Shouldn’t we get in the tunnel?” she whispered.
“No time.” He tugged his shirt over his head, then pulled the gun belt down from its place. Before he could swing it around his hips, the trapdoor lifted again. In one motion, he tossed the belt toward the bed and pulled Lu behind him.
“Rion?” Seth came partway down the steps, then bent to peer into the darkness. “You ought to come up here.”
“Is it safe?” He hissed the words, loud enough only he and Lu would hear.
“There’s no danger.”
He released a breath, and tension drained from his muscles.
Behind him, Lu pressed one hand to his back, her head resting against him. With the other, she pressed the pistol to his right side. He took the gun, turned, and tugged her against him.
“You all right?”
She nodded. “My heart’s in my throat, but yes.”
He squeezed her a little harder, then released her and eased the Colt back into its holster on the bed. When they started toward the stairs, Seth stepped back up to the main floor and held the trapdoor open for them. As they emerged, Rion found a woman, probably in her middle fifties, with short-cropped white hair, clad in trousers and a man’s coat and shirt. He glanced at the others in the room, eyes settling on Seth.
“Who’s this?”
Seth set the door back in place. “Our nearest neighbor, Ollie Sapey.”
At her name, Lu inhaled sharply, and she trembled beside him. He squeezed her wrist.
“The woman Lu went to see last night?” He scowled in her direction, ready to tear her head from her shoulders.
Seth seemed to find his voice then. “Yes. But she’s come in good faith today.”
Her light eyes flicked toward the door. “I got the woman. The one you asked about last night?”
“Hattie!” Calliope gasped.
Joe looped a protective arm around her shoulders. “Is she all right?”
“No. She was stabbed. A few times. They were shaving her hair when I rescued her.”
“They—” Rion breathed the word, but Ollie had already pressed on.
“I’ve been nursing her, but she’s unconscious and not well. I didn’t know who she was. Didn’t really know who y’all were. But if she belongs to somebody, she needs to go back to her kin so’s I can get back to livin’ my life.”
Rion glared. “You saw who did this?”
She gave a defiant shake of her head. “One, a tall, broad-shouldered man about your height, dark hair, and a beard. In the darkness, I coulda mistaken him for you—but there were subtle differences. Not sure how to describe it …”
Irritation clawed at him.
“The other person I saw was smaller. I didn’t see that one as well.”
“When did this happen? Where?”
“During that heavy rain a few days back.” She turned toward Seth and Lena. “I heard screams coming from the direction of that old mining shack west of my place. Then they stopped. I went out in the storm to look for who was in trouble. Was about to give up when lightning struck a tree and split it in half, then three horses came racing by. Not long after, the two I described came huntin’ ’em. I went into the shack and found the woman, so while they were chasing their horses, I took her.”
Seth shook his head. “I know that old shack you’re talkin’ about. That’s an awful long way to reach your place. How’d you carry an injured woman that far without leavin’ a trail?”
“Ain’t none of your business. I got my ways.”
Rion’s thoughts spun with all the information. “Can we see her?”
“You asked for her last night. Come get her.”
Wednesday, July 2, 1873
Lu sat beside the bed in the cellar, now occupied by Hattie Ingram, as she tended to her wounds.
“Her fever seems better,” Calliope whispered from beside her.
Lu smiled. “The fact that she’s still alive and fighting is a testament to how much Ollie did for her. If she’s made it this far, I choose to believe she’ll pull through.”
Calliope nodded. “Hattie is a fighter. She was the only survivor of a house fire when she was just a wee thing, badly burned. But she survived that, and I do believe, if she’s still here, she’ll make it through this too.”
Hattie groaned as Lu cleaned the largest of the wounds, and for a moment, her eyes fluttered open.
“Calliope.” Lu tapped her new friend’s thigh, and Callie leaned over and smiled at the injured woman.
“Hattie, it’s Kezia.” She brushed some of Hattie’s unshaved hair back. “Can you hear me?”
She blinked and seemed to make eye contact, a tiny smile curving her lips.
“That’s right. You’re safe, and we’re going to get you back home soon, all right? To the boardinghouse and your mother.” She nodded, and Hattie’s smiled deepened. “Just rest now.”
Hattie held her eyes for a couple of seconds, then let them close again.
Lu grinned at Calliope. They would need to get Hattie back to Cambria Springs—very soon. But after the move from Ollie’s place to Seth’s had set the worst of her wounds to bleeding again, they’d decided to wait a day or two to see if they could get her stronger before making that bigger journey. In her estimation, one more day and Hattie might be ready.
“I need to go upstairs and prepare more tea and poultices. I’ll be back soon.” Lu covered Hattie, then rose.
Making her way up the steps, she found Rion and Joe in conversation at the table. Lena was nowhere in sight, but the door to the bedroom was closed. Movement outside the window drew her eye to the corral, where Seth worked with one of his horses.
“How’s Hattie?” Joe asked.
“She woke up for a minute, made eye contact with Calliope, and seemed to react favorably when she heard we’d be taking her home soon.”
Rion grinned and rubbed at his shoulder. “That’s an improvement, right?”
“A small one, but yes.” She motioned toward his shoulder. “Is it hurting you?”
“Itchin’ like mad.”
She patted his other shoulder as she walked past. “That’s a good sign too. Where’s Lena?”
“Resting. Seth thinks the baby’s comin’ soon.”
Lu stopped short at his matter-of-fact announcement. She turned back. “ How soon?”
“I don’t mean today—but a week, maybe ten days. When do you reckon Hattie might be ready to move?”
She glanced to the bedroom door then toward the cellar. “She might be able to make it today, but I was thinking tomorrow or the day after would be better.”
“That’ll probably work.”
She’d overheard some of their conversations in the days since they’d arrived. Seth and Lena had planned to head into Cambria Springs before her time came so that she was near women who could help with the birth.
She blew out a breath. Neither she nor Calliope had any such experience.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He grinned. “Seth’s assisted plenty of foals into the world.”
“Foals?!” Her jaw cracked open.
Both men chuckled, and Rion acted as if he might speak, but before another word left his mouth, Seth hurried through the door.
“Posse’s comin’.”
The mirth trickled off Rion’s and Joe’s faces, and Rion stood.
Her mind jolted. What did she need to gather? “I have to get my journal and the other set of clothes.”
She started for the bedroom, but Rion caught her wrist.
“No.”
“What?” She darted a look toward the yard, then back to him.
He turned on Seth and Joe. “It’s time y’all go to town. Take Lu with you, please, and get Miss Hattie home.”
“No!” She tried to pull free of his grasp. “I’m going with you.”
He shook his head. “You’re not.”
“What’re you plannin’ to do?” Seth’s voice reflected his concern.
“Now that I’m stronger, I’m gonna take a crack at findin’ that fella leavin’ the boot tracks.”
“Braddock, I need to lock you up!” Joe balked.
“You have my word that I’ll turn myself in, but I need to find that fella, and I’m feelin’ up to the task now.”
“I’ll go with him,” Lu whispered, mind reeling with the sudden change. “And I’ll—”
He spun to face her. “You’re not goin’, Lu. I need you to go with Hattie. You’re makin’ a difference for her. Aside from the fact that she doesn’t deserve to die, I need her alive to say I wasn’t the one what took her. And I need you to tell my story. Our story. Please.”
The intensity in his brown eyes sparked something in her, and despite the ache in her chest, she nodded.
“All right. I will. But promise me you’ll come back to me.”
He cupped her cheek with his hand. “There’s no doubt.” He bored a glare into Joe Trenamen. “And when the time’s right, I’ll find you and Calliope, and I’ll turn myself in. I want this done. I want my name clear.”
“All right.” Joe nodded. “I’ll give you ten days—and if you don’t do what you said, I’ll be on your trail.”
“Rion, you don’t have much time. Go!” Seth motioned toward the trapdoor. “I’ll get everyone together and we’ll go to town. You hide until we’re gone. Trouble and Mischief are up the mountain with the herd.”
With one curt nod, Rion headed for the stairs, and Lu trailed him down to the cellar.
He moved the burlap sacks aside, then stood to face her.
“What about your things?”
“After the night Ollie came by, I stashed everything inside.”
Fighting tears, she slipped into his arms. “Please be careful! They could’ve killed you before.”
“You have my word—and if I promise somethin’, I do it. So I’m promisin’ you now, Lucinda Peters, you’re gonna see a lot more of me, and not too far off in the future.”
He brushed his lips across her forehead and, releasing her, wiggled into the tunnel, feetfirst. She took one last look at him and, as a loud knock came at the door above, moved the heavy burlap sacks into position again.