by Ana Seymour
“What do you have in mind?” Benton’s flaccid face was wrinkled with worry. “‘Cause I think Tichenor’s going to keep after this—”
“Just shut up about him. We’ve got something else to think about.”
“Something you want me to do?”
“No, you’re too well-known. I’ll use a couple of my men.”
“What are you planning?”
Jeremy tapped his fingers together and smiled. “Perhaps Molly will be a little more willing to accept my help if the next thing to turn up missing at the Lucky Stars is not cattle, but one of her pretty sisters.”
Mary Beth and Ned looked around the little room they’d used as a rendezvous through the cold winter. Their kisses and caresses had grown increasingly urgent as the season wore on, and that afternoon they’d come closer than they ever had before to giving themselves to each other completely.
“I don’t care about waiting anymore,” Mary Beth said with a touch of petulance.
But Ned gave a half-desperate laugh and said, “We’ve waited this long, Bethy. I guess we can make it to your birthday. It’s only a week now.”
“But that’s just my birthday. Then we have to get engaged and set a date for the wedding…”
He leaned over and kissed her. “I’m telling your sister she has a month to make whatever plans you ladies seem to think necessary for a wedding.”
“A month!”
“One month from your birthday. I’m not waiting another day.”
“Or night,” she agreed, snuggling against him. “Maybe we should come here for our honeymoon. I’ve grown awfully fond of this place.”
“I want to give you a proper honeymoon—a suite in a fancy hotel in Denver.”
“Molly’s been to Denver, but I never got to go.”
“Well, now you will. In a private sleeping car.”
She gave a sigh of contentment. “I love you, Ned Dickerson.”
He took a deep, calming breath. “I love you, too, Bethy, but I’m sending you home now before that honeymoon gets started a little too early.”
“Just a little longer?” she pleaded, kissing the underside of his chin.
“No.” He stood and lifted her to her feet alongside him. “It’s getting dark, and I don’t like the thought of you riding back all by yourself.”
“Silly boy. One thing you should have learned by now, Ned. The Hanks sisters can take care of themselves.”
Mary Beth had arrived late to supper several times recently, and Molly had resolved to speak to her about it. She knew that girls of Mary Beth’s age sometimes needed time to themselves, but she was worried about having her out alone after dark.
“I need to talk with Mary Beth about these lone rides,” she said as she and Susannah started to put together a supper of cold chicken and boiled potatoes. “And where in tarnation are Smokey and Parker? They should’ve been back hours ago.”
Susannah hesitated a moment, then said, “Well, you know that Mary Beth’s not really alone.”
Molly’s jaw dropped. “What in blazes are you talking about?”
“Honestly, Molly. Open your eyes. Do you think you’re the only one in the family who can fall in love? Mary Beth and Ned Dickerson have been sneaking away together all winter.”
“Mary Beth and Ned?”
Susannah nodded.
“But she’s just a baby.”
“A baby who’s as old as our mother was when she was bouncing you on her knee with me in the oven.”
“Well, hell’s bells.”
Susannah grinned. “It’s not the end of the world, sis. We’re just growing up—all of us. Mary Beth, too.”
As they carried the plates to the table, Molly looked out the dark dining-room window. “So you think she’s with Ned right now?”
“Probably. Young love, you know. You lose track of time. At least, that’s what they tell me,” she ended with a sour face.
“Your time will come soon enough.” Molly laughed. “You certainly have enough offers these days.”
“Yes, but all the young men in the area are so…boring. There’s not a one who can hold a candle to Parker.”
Molly tried to tamp down her feeling of jealousy. Susannah had never made a secret of her opinion of Parker. “That’s because we haven’t known him all our lives.”
Susannah gave her an exasperated look. “No, Molly, it’s not. It’s because he’s as charming and handsome as a prince with the wit of a scholar and the physique of a high-rigger lumberjack.”
Molly smiled, but the little worm of jealousy squirmed around in her middle. “You’ll find someone like that one of these days.”
“Sure I will,” Susannah said with a roll of her eyes.
“You will,” Molly said firmly. “Should we go ahead and eat without them?”
Before Susannah could answer the question, the front door opened and Parker came in, followed by Smokey and Marshal Tichenor. “Good, you’re just in time,” Molly began, but she stopped as she saw their sober expressions. “What’s the matter?”
“Did you go to the Lazy D today?” Parker asked.
Molly had almost forgotten that morning’s argument. “You know I did.”
“You were with Jeremy?”
She put her hands on her hips. “What’s this all about?”
The marshal removed his hat and said, “We’ve just come from the Lazy D, Miss Hanks. We went to take Jeremy Dickerson into custody.”
Molly braced herself against the thick oak table. “Because of the lynching?”
“No,” the marshal answered. “We went to arrest him for the murder of the man known as Johnny the Oyster.”
“There’s an eyewitness who can testify against him,” Parker added. With an angry glance at Molly he added, “I told you I didn’t trust the guy.”
“What about Ned?” Susannah asked.
Tichenor turned to her. “The brother? I don’t think he was involved. He wasn’t around the night of the lynching, from what I hear. I don’t know about their father, though. He was there.”
“Not Hiram,” Molly said, still holding the edge of the table for support. “He couldn’t have had anything to do with this.”
The marshal shrugged. “Once we make an arrest the story usually starts to unravel. We’ll see how it all plays out.”
“But you haven’t arrested him yet?” Molly asked.
“He wasn’t there. We told his father we needed to talk with him and that we’d be back later this evening.”
“I can’t believe it,” Molly said, shaking her head slowly.
“I can,” Susannah said dryly.
Smokey had walked into the room and was eyeing the plates of cold food with disdain. “You call that a supper?” he asked.
“Smokey,” Molly admonished. “Who can think about eating—”
Before she could finish there was a pounding on the front door. Parker and the marshal moved to one side as Susannah walked across the hall to open it.
It was the last person Molly wanted to see. “Jeremy!” she exclaimed, her eyes going from him to the marshal.
He was accompanied by Sheriff Benton, and both looked surprised to see Tichenor standing in Molly’s front hall. But Jeremy recovered quickly. “I heard you were looking for me, Marshal,” he said smoothly as Susannah stepped back and let him enter. “What can I do for you?”
Tichenor had moved slowly back against one side of the dining-room door frame, giving him a view of the front hall, the living room and the dining room. His right hand rested easily on the revolver strapped to his hip. Parker took up a position directly across the hall. For the first time Molly noticed that he, too, was wearing a gun belt under his jacket.
“This may be all a misunderstanding, gentlemen,” she said, walking toward the group.
“Stay right where you are, Molly,” Parker snapped.
Dickerson’s eyes grew wary as he looked from her to the marshal. “What’s going on?” he asked. Sheriff Benton was standing directly
behind him as if ready to use Jeremy as a shield if things got violent.
“I’ll ask you to stay calm, Mr. Dickerson,” Tichenor said. “We’re willing to hear your side of the story, and I can promise you that you’ll receive a fair trial if it comes to that. But at the moment I’m putting you under arrest for the murder of Johnny the Oyster.”
Jeremy moved so quickly, Molly didn’t even see from where he’d pulled the gun. Suddenly he had an arm around Susannah’s waist and a long-barreled revolver pressed to her temple. In a lightning second Tichenor had drawn his weapon and was aiming it at Jeremy, but with Susannah in front of him, there was no chance for a clear shot.
“Jeremy, no!” Molly yelled.
He looked over at her with a smile. “If you hadn’t been so damned stubborn, Molly, none of this would have happened. I’d have married you, taken over the Lucky Stars and we’d all have lived happily ever after.”
“Don’t do this, Jeremy,” she pleaded as he slowly backed toward the door, still holding Susannah. “Let her go and turn yourself in.”
“Get the horses ready, Benton,” Jeremy told the sheriff over his shoulder.
“If you had nothing to do with this, Benton, you’d better think twice about helping him,” the marshal argued in a dispassionate tone. “It’ll make you an accessory to murder.”
Benton looked nervously from Dickerson to Tichenor. Finally he stepped inside the room and held up his hands. “I can’t do it, Jeremy,” he said. “Things have gone too far.”
Jeremy cast him a glare of disgust. “As if I need your help, you fat old windbag. Just stay out of my way. All of you,” he added, pressing Susannah’s waist more tightly until she gave an involuntary groan.
“It’s a sad day for your pa, Jeremy Dickerson,” Smokey said.
“Shut up, old man.” He half dragged Susannah across the threshold. “In case you have any ideas of getting a shot in while we’re mounting up, I’d advise against it. You might have noticed that there’s another Hanks sister missing at the moment. If you ever want to see her safe again, you’d better let me ride on out of here.”
“Mary Beth? Where is she?” Susannah asked, trying to wriggle loose.
Dickerson pushed his arm brutally against her ribs. “Just stay clear away from me,” he said, addressing the marshal and Parker. “Unless you want these ladies hurt.”
Then he and Susannah faded from view in the blackness of the night.
Chapter Seventeen
Molly stared after them in stunned silence, but both Parker and the marshal went into action. Tichenor grabbed the sheriff’s gun from his holster and slammed him up against the wall, while Parker ran to the front door to see which direction Dickerson was heading.
“What’s he done with the other girl?” Tichenor demanded, pressing his forearm painfully against Benton’s throat.
“Two of his men… Holding her…” Benton gurgled. The marshal eased his choke hold a little. “We found her riding back this way. Jeremy was going to have her turn up missing so that Miss Hanks would have to ask him for help finding her.”
“Where is she?” Molly asked. Her body finally unfroze and she came running toward them. Parker caught her in his arms.
“Take it easy, Molly,” he said. “We’re going to find them. He won’t dare hurt them.”
Molly looked at him with anguish in her eyes. “He’s a murderer.”
With another disgusted shove, Tichenor released Benton. “Yes, ma’am,” he said to Molly. “He’s a murderer. And we’re about to bring him to justice. As soon as I get this sorry excuse of a lawman locked up in his own jail, we’ll get back over to the Lazy D. Someone there is going to know where we should start looking.”
“I’m going with you,” Molly said firmly.
The marshal looked doubtful, but before he could protest, Parker said, “They’re her sisters. She has the right to come.”
“That buffalo rifle of hers won’t hurt none, either,” Smokey added.
Tichenor looked around the group and made up his mind quickly. “Let’s get on with it, then.”
It seemed to take an agonizingly long time to ride to town, lock away the sheriff, then get out to the Lazy D. When they arrived, Hiram and Ned had already retired, unaware of the awful turn Jeremy’s life had taken. A sleepy Ned answered the door, then listened with his father in stunned silence as Tichenor, in a blunt but not unsympathetic way, told them the story.
Hiram had to be seated, looking suddenly much older than his sixty-five years. Ned had the same look of shock that Molly had had at first. But finally, his usually pleasant face pulled into tight lines, he grimly told them that he knew where his brother and the sisters might be found.
“There’s an old cabin up on our north forty. Nobody uses it these days. At least…” His voice cracked a little, then recovered. “We’ll start looking for them there.”
“You’re coming with us?” the marshal asked.
Ned nodded.
“It might get rough for your brother.”
Ned’s eyes were hard. “If he’s harmed Mary Beth, I’ll kill him myself.”
Hiram gave a moan from his seat on the sofa, but his son’s expression remained implacable.
A quick trip to the Lazy D bunkhouse to talk with the cowhands confirmed that two of their number had ridden out with Jeremy and the sheriff earlier that afternoon. When the events of the day were explained to the remaining crew by a stone-faced Ned, every one of them volunteered to join the search party.
“Our main concern is the safety of the Hanks sisters,” the marshal told them all in a loud voice. “Remember that Jeremy Dickerson is no longer your boss—he’s a wanted man who by now should be considered unbalanced and dangerous. If you see any sight of him or the girls, you’re to ride back here as fast as possible. We’ll all meet up here again in three hours.”
As the men headed out in opposite directions, the marshal’s group followed Ned to the cabin he’d told them about. Molly rubbed Midnight’s neck as if it would make her fly faster across the still-frozen grasslands. After what seemed like an eternity, Ned pulled up his horse and pointed. “That’s it,” he said in a low voice.
They all stopped riding and there was a moment of silence as they strained their eyes in the dark to make out a faint light in the distance. “Well, someone’s there,” the marshal said. “Now we just need to do this thing right so no one gets hurt.”
He swung off his horse and motioned for the others to do the same. When they were standing around him, he said, “I need cool heads, now. If anyone feels like he can’t handle that, I want you to stay behind.” He looked first at Molly, then at Ned, but neither one said a word.
“All right. We go in together.”
The cabin had only one door, but there was a window around the back, so Tichenor sent Smokey to cover them from that side. Parker and Molly would each take one of the two front windows while the marshal and Ned went in through the door.
“I know those men, Marshal,” Ned said in a low voice. “I’m sure they’re only here because my brother ordered them to do it.”
“Well, they’re kidnappers now, good men or not.”
“Once they see it’s the law, I don’t think they’ll give us trouble.”
“I hope you’re right.”
They left their horses behind and made their way quietly to the little house. There was no sound from inside and the only light appeared to be from a dying fire. Molly edged over to the window and felt her heart leap as she peered in and recognized the huddled forms of her sisters.
“Will the door be latched?” Tichenor whispered to Ned.
He shook his head. “The latch is broken. If I kick on the door, it’ll open.”
Smokey disappeared around the back of the cabin. Parker was ready at his window with his six-gun drawn. Molly held the rifle ready, pointed at the ground.
The marshal made a signal with his hand, then Ned kicked the door open with a crash and both men stepped into the room, gun
s up. Everything seemed to happen at once. There were shouts from inside, a scream from one of the sisters and the sound of bro ken glass as Parker and Smokey smashed in their windows. After a minute Molly followed suit, hammering at the glass with the barrel of her rifle.
The two Lazy D cowhands had been sleeping. One leapt to his feet, half babbling a question. The other stayed prone and stuck his hands above his head. “Don’t shoot,” he said.
Molly’s eyes went directly to Mary Beth and Susannah, clutching each other against the far wall, their eyes big and scared. Mary Beth’s long hair had fallen down around her shoulders. She looked haggard but unhurt.
Tichenor trained his gun unerringly on Jeremy, who was standing next to the fireplace, a log in his hand. “Nobody move,” he ordered.
The log clattered to the floor. Mary Beth cried, “Ned!” and sat up on her knees, holding her arms toward him.
At a cautioning wave from the marshal, Ned stayed where he was, but he told her, “It’s all right, Bethy. You just sit right there for a minute more.”
“So you’ve turned against your own brother,” Jeremy sneered at him. Molly hardly recognized his voice, and she suddenly realized that the marshal’s comment about “unbalanced” might be close to the truth.
“It’s over, Jeremy,” Ned told his brother sadly. “I’ve covered up for you all our lives, it seems, but this time you’ve gone too far.”
“You always were a little coward, Ned. The kind who would betray his own blood to a complete stranger just because he’s wearing a tin badge.”
“You’re the one who’s betrayed us, Jeremy, with your obsession for power. We never needed more land. The Lazy D was just fine—”
“The Lazy D’s going to be the finest spread in Wyoming,” Jeremy yelled. “And I’m not about to share it with a brother who goes sniveling off to the law.” As he spoke, his hand suddenly snaked down to the revolver at his hip. It left the leather so fast the gun itself was a blur. There was another scream from Mary Beth, then a deafening blast from the window where Parker was positioned.
