Silver Belles and Stetsons

by Caroline Clemmons

  Following them outside, Jamey helped tie Radley to the saddle and handed the reins to Handley so he could lead them both back to the jailhouse.

  “O’Donnell, do you think you and the missus can come in to give your statements?”

  “I’ll ask her what she wants to do.” He glanced over at the gravesite. “We’ll see what she can manage.”

  He watched the two men ride off toward the town road and dreaded the next step.

  The burying of Will Rivers.

  Back inside the cabin, he joined her in righting the furniture and picking up the various items on the floor from dishes to cooking utensils. When he saw her scrambling around the slightly leaning Christmas tree in search of something, he went to her.

  “What is it, Colleen?”

  “My mama’s pinecone ornament isn’t on the limb where I hung it. I have to find it.”

  He knelt beside her in front of the tree to get a closer look and found the ornament nestled near the trunk, safely cushioned in cedar branches and needles. He grabbed it and handed it to her. “Here it is, Colleen, all safe and sound.”

  “Oh—” Her voice broke. She took the decoration from him, held it close to her heart and closed her eyes. Tears sparkled on her lashes. “Thank you. I know it’s silly and weak to cry over a piece of metal.”

  “Ye’re not weak. It takes strength to handle what ye’ve been through today. Ye’ve done it admirably.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m going out now to finish the grave and I’ll be back in to get ye, all right?”

  “Yes, I’ll finish cleaning up.”

  After he’d gotten the homemade casket into the ground and covered it with dirt, he went to the cabin to retrieve Angel. She’d put most everything back in order and was straightening the Christmas tree.

  “If ye’re up to it, I’ve laid Will to rest and we should say a prayer over him.”

  “I’m ready.”

  They stood beside the mound of dirt under the grouping of oak trees. The spot was far enough from the cabin to offer privacy, near enough to afford time to visit, and a large enough area for future family graves when needed. He removed his hat, bowed his head, and recited the Lord's Prayer.

  Softly, she repeated his amen then knelt to smooth out a few dirt clods. She ran her fingers over the small cross he’d made with Will’s name carved into the wood. “Thank you for doing this. It’s a nice gesture.”

  “Everyone deserves a marker.” He helped her stand. “Can I help ye back to the cabin? I don’t want ye slippin’ on the ice.”

  “No, I’ll be all right. I’ll take it slow. You can go ahead and finish up so you can come inside to get warm. I’ll have hot stew for you.”

  He gave her a quick wink. “My mouth’s waterin’ now just thinkin’ about it.” Turning serious, he said, “We should talk later about our situation.”

  “I agree, there are decisions to be made.” Silently she turned and walked to the cabin.

  He followed her inside after locking the barn. It was quiet and Angel wasn’t in the main room. A bowl sat beside the pot of hot stew along with a thick slice of the fresh bread she’d made this morning. The gloves she’d worn lay on the table and her coat was on the floor by the bedroom.

  At the door, he saw her sound asleep on the bed. Her attempt to cover the open window where Marshall Handley had come through earlier was ineffective and the room was too cold for him to leave her there.

  He touched her shoulder and shook gently. “Colleen?” When she didn’t respond, he shook her again. “Angel?” She’d begun to shiver, so he picked her up and carried her to the pillows and blankets near the fireplace in the main room. As he laid her down, she whispered something he couldn’t make out.

  “Tell me again, Colleen, I didn’t hear ye.” Still unable to understand her mumbling, he stood, closed the bedroom door against the cold, took off his coat, and laid beside her.

  Turning into him, her arm slipped around his waist and just before she fell back into a deep sleep she said, “Jamey?”

  He brushed stray tendrils of blonde hair away from her face. “Yes, love?”

  “Ummm, warm . . . love . . . stay . . . don’t go.”

  He thought she said something else but couldn’t make it out. Stretching out his full length, he began to relax. They didn’t have their talk tonight as he’d wanted, but tomorrow would do fine. They had all day.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mid-morning the next day, Angel and Jamey entered the marshal’s office. She hated to go over everything another time but she had to get every detail on record so that when Radley’s trial came up the judge would have the facts.

  “Good morning, Marshal. How are you?”

  Offering her a chair, he said with a grin, “A whole lot warmer than yesterday.”

  Jamey sat beside her.

  “I imagine so.” She pulled a folded piece of stationary from the pocket of her skirt and handed it to him. “I went ahead and wrote everything down this morning for both of us. I didn’t know if you had a specific form for us to fill out or not.”

  “This’ll do. You’ll both be around for the trial so there’s nothing else needed at this time.”

  The marshal said it so matter-of-factly like he knew something she didn’t. He hadn’t been privy to her and Jamey’s agreement, though, and he didn’t know her husband would be leaving her to go to Leadville, Colorado to mine silver.

  “You know where to find us,” she said.

  They stood to leave as the front door opened. Cleve Moran thundered in wearing a coat with the biggest fur collar she’d ever seen.

  “Handley, my boys tell me you’ve arrested my foreman.”

  “Yes.” Handley leaned back in his chair. “Curly’s made threats to the O’Donnell’s and I have reason to suspect him in the murder of Will Rivers.”

  “I assume you have evidence?”

  “What I have so far is I found him in possession of Will’s horse and saddle and no explanation as to how he got them. He forced his way into the O’Donnell’s cabin yesterday and insisted she turn over the deed to her property. He roughed her up and did damage to their place.”

  “Can I talk to him?”

  Handley grabbed his keys from his desk drawer. “I’ll give you five minutes.”

  “That should be all the time I need.”

  Angel sat back down. Everyone in town thought Cleveland Moran was an honest, fair man. Since she’d already formed her own opinion, she wanted to find out for herself.

  A few minutes later he came out of the back room where Radley was being held. “Marshal, I believe I’ve convinced Curly to confess to the murder of Rivers. Has my ranch hand, Charlie Bailey, showed up yet?”

  “Not yet, is he . . .”

  A commotion outside on the walkway interrupted him and drew their attention. The door busted open with a young boy attached. He carried a large grain sack stuffed with something. “Ma’am, Mr. Moran, sir, Marshal.”

  “Get on with it boy,” Moran urged.

  “Well, sir,” Charlie continued. “Mr. Radley told me if I talked he’d hurt me so I buried these like he said.”

  Jamey spoke for the first time since entering the office. “What’s in the sack?”

  “These.” Charlie removed saddle bags from the sack and handed them to the marshal and then stood beside Moran.

  “I’ll be damned.” Handley held up the bags showing the “WR” tooled onto the flap. He addressed Angel, “I’m going to go out on a limb and say these belonged to Will.”

  She could only nod her answer. Poor Will. He didn’t deserve the fate that had befallen him. She watched Marshal Handley empty the contents. Among the things were his utensils, a plate, some ointment he used for cuts, and a few bullets. The last item she recognized was his small leather-bound bible. She picked it up and when she flipped through the pages a paper fell out into her lap. She opened the folded document and recognized it immediately.

  “Jamey look, it’s the de
ed to the Double R.”

  “Sure is. Radley had it the whole time and didn’t know it.”

  “I guess Will knew the sort that would be looking to steal wouldn’t expect to find anything important in the bible.”

  “Well, I have enough to keep him in jail until the judge swings back around to see if we have ample evidence to hold a trial.”

  “Thank ye, Marshal.”

  “Yes,” Angel agreed. “We’re very grateful.”

  As Jamey and Angel headed for the door, Moran called out, “O’Donnell since you now have the deed, shall we go to the bank and settle out today?”

  “That works for me. Are you all right with that decision, Colleen?”

  She knew this was the best way to get the debt resolved but also knew she didn’t need to be there for the transaction, as she still had issues with banks. The Double R belonged to her husband until he left or she had the funds to buy it back from him, whenever that might be. “It is better to get it done while we’re in town. And, if you don’t mind, I’d like to visit with Calliope before we go home.”

  He smiled. “Sure’n I’d like ye to visit with yer friend. I’ll meet ye at the hotel and we’ll have dinner before headin’ out.”

  “Mrs. O’Donnell.” Marshal Handley rounded his desk and came up beside her. “I believe you’ll find Miss Calliope at the hotel. She’s living there now.”

  “Oh?” She couldn’t imagine why Calliope wouldn’t be in her own place but took it as a positive sign. “That’s where I’ll go then.”

  Angel entered the hotel lobby, walked directly to the desk and waited for the clerk to acknowledge her. She didn’t recognize him, but then she hadn’t been inside the establishment in over a year. As a matter of fact, there were several whose faces she hadn’t seen before.

  “May I help you, ma’am?”

  “Yes. I’d like to see Miss Calliope Thorne.”

  “I’ll send a message up to her room. May I say who wishes to see her?”

  “Thank you. Mrs. Angel Rivers O’Donnell.”

  “If you’ll have a seat, please. It’ll be just a few minutes.”

  She headed over to a grouping of velvet upholstered wing chairs but halted mid-stride when a familiar voice rang out from across the lobby.

  “Angel? Angel Clemens?”

  She whirled around to see her friend standing at the foot of the stairs.

  “Cissie!” They met in the middle and hugged each other tightly. Angel couldn’t have said who got there first. It didn’t matter. “Oh, good Gussie, I can hardly believe you’re here! I just received your letter yesterday.”

  “Really? I sent it two weeks ago.” Cissie pushed away enough to gaze at Angel. “It’s so good to see you. I could hug you for days!”

  “Same here. When did you arrive?”

  “Just this morning on the train.”

  “Who all’s with you?”

  “Everyone. Brandt and our three children, Carty, and the twins, Patti and Lucie. They’re upstairs taking a nap.” She laid her hand at her waistline and grinned. “I tried to rest, but this one is hungry and I came downstairs to find a bite to eat.”

  “You’re expecting again?”

  “I know we’ve only been married three years and it’s so soon after the twins, but Brandt hopes for a boy this time.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” And she was, except she couldn’t help being a little envious. Cissie interrupted her thoughts with another question.

  “I didn’t expect to see you here in town. We’d planned on renting a wagon tomorrow to come out to your place. When can we meet your husband, Will?”

  Angel’s ability to speak left her temporarily. So much had happened in the last year, not to mention in the last two weeks. She hated to have her friend think less of her, but she would find out eventually. She ushered Cissie over to one of the comfortable chairs and sat beside her.

  “Will passed away almost a week ago.”

  “I’m so sorry, I—”

  “I remarried the day before Christmas Eve.” There, she’d said it. Let the opinions fall where they may.

  Cissie hugged her tightly and asked, “Are you all right?”

  “I will be.” Across Cissie’s shoulder she noticed Calliope walking toward them. Patting her on the shoulder, Angel said, “Here’s someone I want you to meet. Cissie, this is Calliope Thorne. She looked after me when I first came here.”

  The two women exchanged greetings with each other and gathered Angel into a group hug.

  Calliope spoke first, “Why don’t we go to the dining room and have some tea?”

  “I would love a cup of tea with my two most favorite people.” Angel stepped between the two women and smiled happily.

  “Good,” Calliope said. “Because I have news to share.”

  ***

  Jamey stepped onto the wood planked walkway in front of Krutchmeyer’s store. This was his last stop before heading over to the hotel to meet Angel. He placed the small velvet drawstring bag into his vest pocket along with a few items from their neighbor Moran and then closed his coat against the cold wind.

  He’d had quite a successful day all-in-all. The money would be transferred to Moran’s account, effectively terminating Will’s debt. After the bank, he’d gone to the recording office to gather the information he’d need to transfer and file the deed in his name.

  The letter from Archer Benning Associates had been a copy of Will’s Last Will and Testament. Evidently Will had sent Ian Benning a letter asking him to draw up the document according to his specifications. Jamey had visited a local attorney in order to honor Will’s wishes for Angel.

  He now found himself outside the hotel entrance about to set his life on its final course and hoping he was making the right decision. Well you’re not going to find out standing out here.

  Once inside the lobby, he only had to follow the sounds of talking and laughter to find Angel in the dining room. She was surrounded by two women, a man and three babies. Marshall Handley appeared beside him.

  “That’s quite a group.”

  “Yes, it is.” The babble reminded him of his own family gatherings in Ireland and Dallas. He found himself wondering if he’d be welcome or should he continue with his original plans.

  “Jamey?” Angel called, motioning him over to join then.

  Handley clapped him on the back. “You can’t back out now.”

  Jamey realized he didn’t want to back out, he didn’t want to go to Leadville, Colorado. The camps and hard, mostly disappointing work in the mines finally held no appeal. He wanted to stay right here if she’d have him. This was what he wanted, his own family.

  Angel made the round of introductions. He nodded to the women and shook hands with the husband who seemed somewhat overwhelmed by it all. Brandt Howard held one small child while the slightly older one climbed all over him. The woman he now knew as Cissie held an identical copy of the child her husband had.

  Handley pulled another chair over and sat beside the woman, Calliope, who whispered something in his ear. The marshall smiled at her and took her hand in his.

  Jamey garnered a chair for himself and sat beside Angel. She was the happiest he’d seen her in the short time he’d known her.

  Tapping her spoon against the side of her cup, she gained everyone’s attention. “Now that we’re all here, I want to say something. This has turned out to be possibly the best day of my life. Some things have been resolved, another will be in the near future.

  “And the most important, at least to me, is that I finally have my family. You may not know each other but I know and love each of you, and that makes you my family.” She grinned glancing at each one. “Whether you like it or not.”

  Calliope and Cissie beamed their confirmation, while Jase and Brandt chuckled at her declaration. Jamey thought this couldn’t fit any better into his plan.

  Angel tapped her cup again and said, “Now, there is good news to be shared. Calliope?”

  The woman
looked at the Marshall then smiled and said, “Jase and I are getting married. He asked me and I said yes.”

  Angel and Cissie had heard the news already, but they oohed and ahhed again, and Jamey and Brandt clapped Jase on the back in congratulations.

  “Cissie? What’s your news?”

  “Brandt, the girls and I have come to Texas to live. We, too, want to be with family.” She reached across the table for Angel’s hand. “With Angel’s help, we’ll work on a plan.”

  He thought to offer a temporary if not permanent arrangement to be decided later, when Angel turned to him quickly.

  “I’ve already figured out they can live on the Double R either in the repaired barn or in another cabin Brandt can build. We won’t be a burden to you and you’ll be compensated.” She took a deep breath then continued, “After you’ve gone, I’ll have family close by.”

  Suddenly, their whole situation got to him. He pounded the table in front of him with his balled fist. Startled, everyone looked at him, including Angel. Good, I have yer attention.

  “Listen to me, Colleen, and listen good. That agreement we made is now null and void. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

  “You aren’t?”

  “No.” He gave her a tentative smile. “May the saints be with me for I think I’ve yet to see yer true stubborn nature. For all that bein’ married entail’s, I’m in this marriage for the duration.

  “Now, we’ll all work together to figure out the living arrangements for Cissie and her family. There are a couple of other things.” He pulled the cache of items from his vest pocket and handed the silk handkerchief from Moran to her.

  She opened it and gasped. “Papa’s watch and Mama’s brooch. Where did you get them?”

  “Moran gave them to me at the bank. Apparently, Will had given them to him in exchange for gambling money. Moran wanted ye to have them back.”

  “Perhaps he isn’t the monster he’s been made out to be.”

  “Perhaps,” he agreed. “Now, here’s the second.”

  Angel took the small, deep purple velvet bag from him, opened it, and inhaled sharply when a gold band fell into her hand. She looked at him in question, her blue eyes full of unshed tears.