by Jenna Brandt
“Good morning, ma’am. We were just dropped off by the stagecoach,” Nadine explained. “We didn’t mean to bother your family.”
“You’re no bother,” the woman said, coming to stand in front of them. She wiped her hand on her apron, then stuck it out to first Nadine, then Josiah, giving them both a friendly smile. “I’m Miss Rebecca Caldwell, and from the sound of it, my siblings were the ones doing the bothering.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Rebecca. I’m Mrs. Dina Ringer. This is my husband, Mr. Joe Ringer,” Nadine said, returning the smile and remembering to use their undercover names.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. My family owns the livery here in Rockwood Springs, so if you have any questions, I’m sure I can answer them.”
“Well, we were told the only place to stay in town is at the saloon, so can you direct us there?” Nadine asked with apprehension. The look of worry from the young woman’s face confirmed Nadine’s trepidation. “How bad is it?”
“Well, there’s a fight outside nearly every night, but you have your husband here to protect you. You should be all right,” Rebecca said, though Nadine could tell she was forcing herself to be optimistic without true belief behind the statement.
“I can show you the way. I need to purchase a few items from the general store anyway,” Rebecca offered. “Just give me a moment.”
She headed back to the house, leaving them alone with the children again. “So, you wanna bet how long before they take off running for the hills? I’ll give you my dessert for a week if they make it past two days,” Georgie stated with a smirk, addressing his sister while staring at the newcomers.
“Georgie, I think these two will make it a lot longer than that. I mean, look at his gloomy face. He’ll blend right in with the men at the saloon. I give them at least a week.”
Before either of them could speak further on their bet, Rebecca returned without her apron, carrying a small bag. “I’m ready to show you around.” Looking at her siblings, she then added, “Go on inside and keep an eye on Mama for me.”
The children didn’t argue and did as they were told. The trio headed down the dirt road, with the first plain, wooden building coming into view. It had the words ‘General Store’ stenciled across the top. “We are on Main Street, which is aptly named since it’s our only street. That is the general store, owned and operated by Mr. Paul Breecher. He’s only been in town a couple of years. He came after his wife died in childbirth. He decided to move out West and start over. When the previous owner passed away, leaving no one to run it, Mr. Breecher bought the place.”
“Is he a fair man?” Nadine asked, wondering if he was the type to consort with the cattle rustlers they were looking for.
“Mr. Breecher’s on the town council, and one of the few men around these parts who is honest as the day is long. He hasn’t remarried, but if any woman is ever lucky enough to land him, they would find themselves in a good marriage.” Gesturing to the next building, she continued on with the tour. “We have a feed store next to the general store since we have a lot of ranchers nearby. Across the street is the land office—though no one buys much land around here these days. On the corner, we have the church which doubles as the schoolhouse during the week. We also have the town square between the general store and the church.”
“The stagecoach driver said there is a makeshift jail. He made it sound like it gets a lot of use,” Josiah relayed.
“It’s really just a wooden shack with a lock on it, but it works when some drunk needs to sleep off his drink until morning. If it’s something worse than that, the menfolk will round up whoever is causing the problem, and secure them there until a deputy sheriff can arrive from Abilene.”
“The nearest deputy is in Abilene? Isn’t that a full day’s ride from here?” Nadine probed with concern.
“Half a day, but we seem to manage just fine without any local lawmen to speak of,” Rebecca defended. “Our menfolk protect the women around here.” Gesturing to another wooden building with the words, ‘Long Reach Saloon’ scrolled across the top, Rebecca added, “And here we are. If you need anything else, feel free to stop by the livery, or you can stop by the general store and tell Mr. Breecher that Rebecca Caldwell sent you.”
The friendly blonde sauntered off down the road, shifting from a smaller to smaller figure, until she was simply a tiny dot on the horizon.
“Are you ready for this?” Josiah asked, reaching out to place Nadine’s hand in the crook of his arm. “We need to play the part.”
She didn’t want to admit it, but she liked the feel of his strong arm under her hand. She wondered if the rest of him was as muscular as the small space her hand currently occupied. She could get used to touching him, which both frightened and tantalized her all at the same time.
Josiah pushed the door open and guided them both inside. The handful of men in the dark, smoky room stopped what they were doing and turned to face them. Not simply because they were strangers, but because Nadine was a proper woman, and they obviously didn’t get those in there often.
They made their way over to the bar. “We’re here to see Mr. Weston. Is he in?” Josiah asked.
The barkeep raised an eyebrow, then gestured with his head behind him. “He’s in the back.”
“I’m here for the cook’s position,” she explained. “Can we go speak with him?”
The barkeep shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Mr. Weston was sitting at a small desk that was pressed up against a wall. There were several shelves of boxed liquor in the room, and little else. There was also a secondary door just past the desk, and Nadine suspected it led to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Mr. Weston,” Nadine said, causing the man to look up at her. “My name is Dina Ringer. I wrote to you about the cook’s position.”
He looked her up and down first, then glanced over at Josiah and did the same. “I wasn’t expecting someone of your…refinement, or marital status showing up for the position.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” Josiah said in a way that made it sound like it better not be. She could feel his body stiffen where her hand rested, and she worried this might escalate into a fight.
“Of course, not…Mr. Ringer. I’m assuming it’s Mr. Ringer since I see you both are wearing wedding rings,” the saloon owner stammered out. “If you find it acceptable to let your wife work in a saloon, who am I to question it?”
Josiah relaxed, causing Nadine to do the same. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath during the exchange.
“I was wondering if there are any other positions open here at the saloon?” Josiah inquired, though Nadine knew he was hoping to obtain the position that his brother previously had. It would give him the opportunity to observe the crowd without anyone noticing.
“As a matter-of-fact, I lost one of my card dealers recently and haven’t had a chance to fill the position yet. Do you have any experience?”
Josiah nodded. “I’ve worked at several saloons in New Mexico as well as here in Texas.”
“Okay, why don’t you show me what you can do,” Mr. Weston said, standing up from his chair and gesturing towards the door.
They made their way back into the other room where the handful of customers had gone back to drinking. Mr. Weston took a seat at one of the tables, gesturing for Josiah to sit down across from him. He also called over the barkeep to join them.
Nadine wondered if Josiah actually knew what he was doing, or if he was going to fake his way through the demonstration. If he didn’t manage to convince Mr. Weston of his ability to deal cards properly, Nadine would be left to work in the saloon alone. Though she wanted to prove herself a capable agent, that wasn’t the way she would want to do it.
Josiah took the deck of cards that was sitting on the table, arched them, and expertly let them shuffle into place. He swiftly dealt five cards to each player, which they took and reviewed. Nadine didn’t know much about cards, but Mr. Weston seemed to accept
how Josiah navigated the game. By the end of several hands, the saloon owner nodded his head in approval. “You can both start tonight. In the meantime, you can take the last room at the end of the hall upstairs as part of your pay. It isn’t much, but it’s clean and secure.”
“Thank you,” Nadine said with a gratitude. “I’d like to freshen up before my shift starts.”
“You should probably get some rest, too. A group of cowboys just came back from a drive. It’s going to be a doozy of a night.”
After Josiah finished putting away the last of his clothes and personal items, he decided to review the case file a final time before slipping it under the mattress to make sure it wasn’t found by the wrong person. It was a habit he formed after his room got ransacked on one of his earlier assignments.
He doubted he needed to go over the file, but he couldn’t rest. It was better than burning a hole in the floor by pacing back and forth across the room. He was certain he had every detail memorized down to the type of women and liquor the gang reportedly liked. He wasn’t sure what he would do with all the information, but it was better to know it than to miss something that later would prove crucial.
“Can I help you with anything?” Nadine inquired, coming up behind him and placing her hand on his shoulder as she looked over it at the file. “You know, I have every detail of that file memorized.”
A small smile curved his lips as he realized she was as diligent at her job as he was. “I do, too, but I can’t think of anything better to do with my time. I can’t relax.”
“Me either. I feel like I might burst out of my skin at any moment,” Nadine confessed. “Is that normal when you’re about to start a case?”
He nodded, turning in his chair to face her. “It’s the anticipation.”
“I can’t quite describe how I’m feeling, but it almost feels like…excitement,” she said right at the same time he used the same word.
Their eyes locked for a moment, and he could almost swear it was desire he was seeing in them more than any other emotion. He had to fight the urge to reach out and have his lips caress hers. He wondered what it would be like to kiss her perfectly pink mouth, and whether she would sigh if he did so. As quick as the moment came, it left when Nadine spun around and made her way over to the dresser. “Should I wear a pair of earrings?”
Josiah shook his head. “You could lose them in the food, not to mention it will draw the wrong kind of attention. We want to fit in with the clientele below. I’m guessing the rest of the women working in the saloon don’t have gem encrusted earrings at their disposal.” Gesturing towards the mattress, he added, “Make sure to put them back in their case and place them under the mattress.”
She laughed as she shook her head. “Wouldn’t that be the first place a thief would look?”
“Why do you ask that?” Josiah inquired with curiosity.
“Because it would be for me. I’d know that most people wouldn’t leave their good items anywhere obvious, so I would look for ones that aren’t.”
“In all the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never had anyone find my stash under my mattress.”
She shrugged. “How about this, you take my word on this and let’s hide the documents and my jewelry somewhere else.”
“Where were you thinking?”
Nadine glanced around the room, stopping a few times before finally pointing to the window. “How about behind the curtain valance? I don’t think anyone would look there.”
“Okay, let’s try it your way,” Josiah relented as he stood up and came over to place the documents behind the valance in the curve of the fabric. He stepped back and looked at it. Sure enough, it was covered up completely without giving away anything was there. “Not bad.”
“Is that a compliment from the best Pinkerton agent in all of the country? I daresay, I think I might be dreaming,” she teased.
He chuckled. “I can give compliments when they’re warranted. In this case, it is. It’s a smart hiding place, Nadine.”
“Thank you,” she said, her face beaming from his praise. “Should we head downstairs? I want to check the kitchen and see what I have to work with.”
“Before we do, we need to go over how you will cue me if you’re in trouble or if there’s someone you want me to check out.”
“Wouldn’t I just tell you?” Nadine questioned.
“Sometimes we might not be able to get away to talk privately. Other times, things might happen too fast before you can say anything. We really need to have a way to communicate non-verbally.” As soon as he said the words, he realized how they sounded, which from Nadine’s wide eyes and pursed lips, it was clear that she recognized it, too. “I mean for the case, non-verbally for the case.”
She laughed lightly. “I knew what you meant. Fine, what should our cues be?”
“Let’s see, if you are in trouble, I want you to cross your arms over your chest. If you see someone you think I should investigate further, I want you to touch your ear. And if you need me to intervene and get you away from someone, I want you to rub your neck.”
“Got it,” she said with a smile. “But I think that you’re overthinking this way too much.”
“You’ll see soon enough that I was right, and thank me for coming up with our cues.”
As they headed downstairs, Josiah noticed that the place was filled with over a dozen patrons already, and it was barely dusk. Mr. Weston wasn’t exaggerating that the place was going to be packed tonight.
There was already one card dealer at a table filled with four men. The bar had another five men drinking, as well as a few others sprinkled around the room. They were either talking to the waitresses or one another.
“This place really is busy,” Nadine observed. “I sure hope I can keep up with their orders.”
“You’ll do fine,” Josiah encouraged. “Remember, you only have to do this until we catch the gang. The sooner we do that, the sooner you can go back to reading books and pulling pistols out of your purse.”
Before she could form a rebuttal, one of the waitresses came up to them. “You must be the new cook and card dealer Mr. Weston hired,” the tall red-headed woman with painted lips and dark eye makeup said as she scanned them both. Her eyes settled on Josiah in a way that made it clear she was interested in him as more than just a co-worker. “My name’s Nettie, and if you need anything, sugar, just let me know.”
Nadine reached out and placed her hand on Josiah’s arm. “My husband won’t need anything from the likes of you.”
If Josiah didn’t know any better, he would think his wife was jealous of the other woman flirting with him. Part of him liked the idea of that, and then he quickly rebuked himself for it.
“Oh sweetie, married men come in here all the time. He wouldn’t be the first that doesn’t get what he needs from the little wife.”
“Believe me, he gets everything he needs,” Nadine chastised. “And you’d be smart to remember that.”
“I didn’t mean anything about it sweetie—”
“My name’s Dina, not sweetie, and considering that I don’t think we’ll be friends, I think you should call me Mrs. Ringer.”
“Sounds about right for a stuffy old cook,” Nettie said with a huff. “I have to get back to work. I would suggest you both do the same before Mr. Weston sees you standing around.” Nettie spun around and took off towards one of the tables where two new patrons had just sat down.
Nadine leaned over and whispered only loud enough for Josiah to hear, “Should I have rubbed my neck?”
Josiah had to force himself not to chuckle at her barb. “Yes, that definitely qualified for a neck rub.”
Both Nadine and Josiah settled into their jobs at the saloon. Men came and went, talking about the cattle drives, the current auction prices, and the upcoming social. Though Josiah suspected several of the men might know members of the Wilkins Gang, he knew he needed them to get comfortable enough with him to open up. It was a delicate business cultivating
someone to turn informant. It wasn’t something that could be rushed, and he knew when someone was ripe for the picking. He hadn’t gotten there with anyone yet.
Over the course of the night, Josiah wondered how Nadine was doing in the back. By mid-evening, the saloon was so busy the two waitresses seemed overwhelmed. He saw Mr. Weston ushering her out of the kitchen with a tray of food. “You need to help the girls deliver food when the place gets like this,” he overheard the owner chastise her. “You can’t hide in the back when we need you out here.”
Nadine looked frazzled. Half her hair had fallen out of the tight bun she had started the night with. Her blue dress had several splotches of flour and some sort of brown substance all over it. He hoped for her sake the sauce would come out of it, otherwise she would be spending her first paycheck replacing the dress. The longer Josiah watched Nadine, the more he realized she must have never had to work so hard in all her life. She had said as much when she explained first her parents, then her brother, took care of her. Once she served the last of her dishes, Nadine disappeared as quickly as she could through the back door.
When Josiah finished his current hand, he stood to his feet and made his way towards the kitchen. He wanted to check on his wife to make sure she was okay.
He found her hunched over the stove, checking a couple of pieces of meat. Even though she looked worn out, he still found her adorable. He came up and placed his hand on her arm. She jumped slightly, turning around to face him. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on me like that when I’m cooking. I could have pulled the pan off on top of myself, or even you, for that matter.”
“I’ll take my chances if it means I can see your eyes twinkle like that again.” As soon as he said the revealing comment, he realized he shouldn’t have. He wasn’t even sure where it came from, considering he was doing his best not to see Nadine in a romantic light. Try as he might though, he couldn’t seem to help himself.
