“Is that dangerous?” Renee asked.
“It’ll be okay,” Rusty said as he bent his head and concentrated on cutting out gingerbread men.
Within minutes, Tessie came over.
“This cookie cutter is bent,” Rusty complained as he lifted one up and examined it. “My men don’t have heads. They have mushrooms sticking out of their necks. Huge, fat mushrooms.”
Tessie giggled.
“Here, you use them,” Rusty said as he gave the cutters to the girl.
She took them with delight.
“You can help me pick out lips,” Renee said as she moved the bowl of dried cherries so it was between them. “All I find are frowns.”
“We want kisses,” Tessie exclaimed as she pressed the cutter down into the thick layer of cookie dough. “And buttons for their bellies.”
They were late for lunch because the gingerbread men were still baking. Karyn agreed to set the table. The stew was already in a large slow cooker, so she would just set that on the table and take the lid off.
Tessie didn’t mention princes or castles once while she was making her gingerbread men, and Renee was hopeful she might be ready to give up her fantasies.
Something about the day marked it as different, though. The tree lights were on in the living room. Renee had cut twenty red ribbons to use as hangers for the gingerbread men on the tree.
Tessie had decorated one gingerbread man and called it Rusty. Then she decorated one that was supposed to be a woman named Renee. Last, she made a girl for herself.
Then she frowned and looked up at her mother. “Do I make one for Daddy, too?”
Renee wished she knew. “If you want.”
Tessie seemed to consider it before nodding. “I’ll make one to take when we go see him. He probably doesn’t have Christmas in his castle.”
“No, he probably doesn’t,” Renee agreed softly.
Renee almost sighed. When she’d bought the pine tree in Miles City and brought it home to decorate, she had been determined that she and her daughter would have one of those storybook holidays this year. The Christmas tree. The turkey. The presents.
Now she wondered if this Christmas wouldn’t just break their hearts. Tessie would likely lose her father and her prince. Renee would lose the green shoots of love that had started to appear in her heart. She was going to have to tear them out.
As she’d made cookies today, she realized that there was no reason for Rusty to refuse to talk about his conflict with his brother unless it was related to the cattle thefts in some way. Eric wore his guilt visibly and had muttered something to Karyn about stolen cattle that she hadn’t been able to figure out but had confided to Renee.
The man with the cookie cutter in his hand now was too good to be true and she knew it.
* * *
Rusty put on the coat Renee had lent him and walked back to the bunkhouse at three o’clock in the afternoon. He kept an eye on the few trees that ran along the edge of the corrals and the openings into the barn. He didn’t think the man in the orange parka would know to look for him or Eric at the Elkton ranch, but he wasn’t taking any chances. It reassured him somewhat that Dog was on patrol—he wouldn’t tolerate a stranger snooping around.
The sheriff had been in Miles City for a dentist appointment and was coming to the bunkhouse as soon as he could get there, he said. The lawman had put in a request for the county to run the snowplow down the gravel road to the Elkton ranch so he could talk to Eric. Of course, Sheriff Wall wanted to convince Rusty’s brother to reveal the man he was shielding. Rusty doubted the lawman would have any better success getting Eric to talk than he had. But it wouldn’t hurt to have the sheriff assure the boy once again he and Karyn would be safe if he told what he knew.
Dog slipped around the side of the barn and loped over.
Rusty squatted down in the snow so he could rub the dog’s ears. It was a habit he and Dog had formed when the animal was a puppy.
“Good Dog,” Rusty assured his pet. They’d both stopped to visit Annie several times already today. The mare was comfortable in the Elkton barn and she didn’t lack for company. He noticed one of the ranch hands had given her some oats midmorning.
He stood up and gestured for Dog to continue on patrol. Then Rusty finished walking through the snow to the bunkhouse. He stomped along the walkway when he arrived, hoping to loosen the snow that was packed on the soles of his boots.
The sheriff’s pickup was driving down the lane before Rusty opened the door to the bunkhouse. He could not see the vehicle, but he could hear it, and the gray smoke of the exhaust told him the pickup was there.
Rusty could still smell the stew from noon as he stood inside the door. The ranch hands were all out in the barn and corrals. The card table that he had set up for Eric and Karyn so they could do their homework was empty. For a moment, Rusty feared his brother had managed to run away from the Elkton ranch after all.
But then he heard a giggle coming from the room at the end of the hall.
He made enough noise walking down there in his boots that he figured he’d given the two teenagers ample notice he was coming.
Eric was the first one to put his head around the door and say “Huh?”
Karyn followed seconds after, smoothing down her hair and trying to look serious. “Hello, Mr. Calhoun.”
Rusty had to admit that put him off his stride. He had always been addressed by his first name or his rank in the service. His father had been the one to answer to Mr. Calhoun.
Rusty figured a responsible parent would have something wise to say to the two young people at a time like this. He looked over their clothing, though, and figured they hadn’t been breaking too many rules. And if a kiss or two would soften his stubborn brother into cooperating with the authorities, it was okay with him.
“Sheriff’s coming,” Rusty said as he turned and walked back to the main room in the bunkhouse.
“Oh.”
Rusty heard the girl behind him gasp in alarm.
“I’m not going to tell him anything,” Eric said, his voice filled with resolve. “He can come, but I’ll just sit there and stare at him.”
“The sheriff wants to help you.”
Eric snorted. “He’s an old man. Sheriff Wall wouldn’t know how to find his way out of a paper bag in the dark.”
Rusty turned around to face his brother. “Keep a civil tongue in your head.”
“I’m just saying what Dad used to say.” Eric defended himself. “He didn’t think much of the sheriff.”
Rusty shook his head. “I hope you don’t take our father as an example of the way you want to live your life.”
Eric was silent at that.
Rusty heard a slight bark and recognized it as Dog’s. “The lawman will be here soon.”
The bunkhouse phone rang and Rusty stepped over to answer it. There was a pen and message pad beside the phone and all the calls were recorded there. “Hello?”
“I thought Karyn might want to come over here and have a cup of hot cider and a cookie with Tessie and me,” Renee said.
“I’ll let her know,” Rusty replied.
After saying goodbye, he gave Karyn the message. The teenager smiled in relief and said that sounded good to her. Then she stood on her tiptoes and gave Eric a kiss on the cheek.
The gesture made Rusty blink a couple of times. He and his brother hadn’t known much love in their lives. He couldn’t fault Eric in his choice of a girlfriend; he could only hope their affection for each other would last long enough for them to get an education before they thought of marriage.
The sheriff knocked on the bunkhouse door and Karyn let him in as she slipped out, her coat and multiple scarves pulled snugly around her.
“Come have a seat.” Rusty invited the lawman over
to the couch area. Then he stopped and put another piece of wood on the fire. “We might as well be comfortable. Like something to drink?”
Renee kept large thermoses of coffee on a buffet by the window, along with creamer and sugar. The ranch hands told him that was something she had added to her duties. Most afternoons she also left a snack there for any of the men who wanted to come inside for a break. None of the men said it outright, but Rusty could tell they were very fond of Renee and Tessie.
The sheriff sat down. “I’m fine, but thanks for the offer.”
“Eric,” Rusty said as he sat down on the sofa opposite the lawman. His brother reluctantly sat on the couch a foot or so from Rusty.
They were all silent for a moment. All Rusty heard was the crackle of the fire as the flames covered the wood he’d added. He glanced toward the windows on the opposite wall of the bunkhouse and confirmed no snow was blowing. He was almost ready to count the planks in the flooring when the sheriff finally started his conversation with Eric.
“I understand you have been in contact with one of the rustlers,” the lawman said. “Care to tell me more about him?”
“Not particularly,” Eric said, his voice indifferent.
Rusty held down his frustration with his brother. He could understand the teenager was scared, but he didn’t have to antagonize anyone.
Sheriff Wall shrugged. “Your choice. I can pull you in for questioning if you want.”
Eric’s face went white. “I’d be dead by morning. I have strict instructions not to talk to the law.”
“I see,” the sheriff said as he nodded. “I could put you in a safe house.”
“Same thing,” Eric said. “This man says he has contacts. I don’t know who they are and I don’t want to know.”
The sheriff leaned back into the cushions on the sofa and waited a bit. “He almost killed your brother, you know? I would think you’d want to do something about that.”
“I am doing something,” Eric said as he stood up. “I’m trying to keep him alive.”
With that, Eric walked down the hall and into the bedroom he’d been given permission to use. Then he slammed the door, the echo reverberating in the bunkhouse.
“I’m sorry,” Rusty said when the noise had subsided.
“Not your fault,” the sheriff said as he stood up. “Now, let’s get the microphone set up for your big day tomorrow.” He stopped. “And before I forget, I have Renee’s papers for her. The lawyer gave them to me this morning and asked me to pass them on to her. The guy has his office in the same building as my dentist.”
“That saves us a stop in the morning,” Rusty said as he stood up.
“I’ve already left a message for my contact at the prison. He’ll know how to get the rumor started that you’re running on the wrong side of the law.”
“I appreciate it,” Rusty said as he walked over to the dining table. “I’m going to sit down so I can loosen my sling. That way it’ll be easier to get a small microphone hidden in there.”
The sheriff bent down to study Rusty’s sling before sliding a clip-on recording device into the fabric at his elbow. “You bring this back to me when you’re done and we’ll see what we have.”
Rusty nodded. “And you want me to mention the rustling and see if he gives up any names of others doing the same kind of thieving.”
“Pretty much,” the sheriff agreed. “It’s only a hunch that he knows anything. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to start over.”
“With Eric?” Rusty asked.
The sheriff nodded. “I’m trying this way first, but if we don’t find anything useful, I’ll have to bring Eric in. He’ll get a lawyer and he’ll be advised not to talk, but he might want to cut a deal for himself. He’s guilty of obstruction of justice if he doesn’t tell us what he knows.”
“He’s only seventeen.”
“That’s why I’m giving him another couple of days to come to his senses. I figure he has tomorrow, when you go the prison, and then the next day is Christmas Eve. I can’t pull someone from the pageant at the last minute. At least, not someone who has a major role. The ranch hands won’t let him out of their sight between now and then, anyway.”
Everyone concerned had decided the best safe place for Eric and Karyn was at the ranch. The hands were sharp enough to keep the two teenagers there.
Rusty nodded. “I’ll do my best to get you what you need to know.”
“Eric is right about one thing,” the sheriff said. “Whoever is behind this rustling isn’t somebody to be messed with. Take care of yourself.”
The sheriff turned to leave. “Oh, and you might want to put this back in your boot.” He reached into his pocket and drew out the knife they had taken in the hospital. “You’ll need to give it up when you go into the prison, but you’ll have it with you for the rest of the trip.”
“Thanks,” Rusty said as he pocketed the knife.
When the sheriff left, he sat back down on the couch and stared into the fire. He and his brother were going to have a hard time if Eric refused to name the mystery man was who was using their barn.
Rusty couldn’t imagine the unknown man was any of the other ranchers around here. The drought had already taken their profits for the past few years. Stealing cattle could put most of these ranches out of business.
Ranching was a hard business, but like his brother, Rusty still had strong ties to the land that had belonged to his family for three generations. He didn’t suppose there was much hope of it happening, but after Christmas he intended to find out what corporation had bought his family’s ranch and see if he could buy it back. He had a down payment—not much, but maybe enough to tempt a group that wasn’t using the place anyway.
His father used to have a friend at the bank in Havre. Rusty decided that maybe he’d go in and talk to the man. Otis something was his name, and he talked with a lisp. His father had had so few friends that Rusty remembered the tall, skinny man from a visit he’d made with his father to the bank one spring day. His father had needed money for seed and Otis was the one who approved the loan. He even added a line of credit, saying it was because he was his father’s friend.
Rusty reminded himself that it was that loan, or one like it, that the bank had used to foreclose on the ranch. They denied receiving the payment his father said he’d made.
It was so unlike his father to lie that Rusty had always believed he’d made that payment. But now he wondered if his father and not the bank had been cheating. His father had changed over the years, and not for the better. Maybe he hadn’t made the payment.
Rusty stood as he reflected again that ranching was a difficult way to make a living. But then, he told himself, his most recent job involved getting shot at on a regular basis. Maybe the Calhouns were not meant for desk jobs.
He looked over at the thermoses on the buffet again. Renee wasn’t a routine person, either. She put everything she had into what she was doing. He wondered how their visit to the prison would go tomorrow. He had been thinking so much about how to get her ex-husband to talk about rustling that he had almost forgotten that the main thing the man needed to do was talk to his daughter.
He shook his head. He couldn’t believe any man would give up a wife like Renee and a daughter like Tessie. Some men were just fools. He only hoped that this fool would help bring down another crook.
Chapter Ten
Renee had set her alarm for six o’clock in the morning and it rang loudly in her ear. The bedroom was dark and she looked over at the illuminated hands on the clock to be sure it was indeed that time.
She was hoping for a reprieve, but there was none to be found.
“Tessie.” She reached over to wake her daughter. The girl was practically buried under blankets. She groaned as she turned over and then pulled the top blanket closer.
Neither of them was going to bounce out of bed this morning. Renee wondered if Rusty was moving any faster in the bunkhouse. He had suggested they get an early start and leave at a quarter to seven.
It had sounded like a good idea then, Renee told herself, since the drive over to Deer Lodge would take five or six hours.
Fortunately, Renee didn’t have to worry about the bunkhouse today. Karyn was spending the night in the cook’s quarters and had agreed to fill in for Renee today for all three meals, and Renee was grateful. Food was much more important to the ranch hands in winter than in summer—when cold seeped into their bones and their arthritis was painful, they liked a few extras with their meals, too. So they’d be happy. Karyn had promised to make buttermilk pancakes for them and heat the maple syrup the way they liked. She might even fry some of that smoked bacon Renee had bought recently.
“Mommy,” Tessie finally muttered.
“Time to get up,” Renee said as she pushed herself up with an elbow.
“Do I see Daddy today?”
Renee let herself fall back to the mattress. “Remember what we talked about last night?”
She could see Tessie nodding even in the gray light.
“Well, we’re going to where Daddy lives now.” Renee repeated the words from yesterday. “If you want to see him and talk to him, you can. If you want to see him but not talk to him, that’s okay, too. If you want me to talk to him for you and bring a message out to the car, that’s fine, too. You have three choices. You get to pick.”
“I don’t know.”
Renee reached over and rubbed her daughter’s back. She’d called the therapist in Billings and the woman had said Tessie was likely ready to speak with her father but shouldn’t be forced. “You can think about it on the way over to Deer Lodge. You won’t have to do anything you’re not ready to do.”
Tessie was silent for a moment.
“Will he remember me?” she finally asked, her voice a whisper.
“I’m sure he will,” Renee assured her. Even her ex-husband could not be so cruel.
“Okay,” Tessie said as she rolled over to the edge of the bed. “Is my prince going, too?”
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