by Reina Torres
“I sent Clay off to get Captain Merrick from his ranch. He’ll be able to sort through this mess and tell us what we should do.”
“Clay?” Olivia’s confusion was obvious. “He’s never been out that far, has he?”
“I gave him directions to the ranch,” he explained, “And Clay knows enough to follow the signs the rest of the way. I copied the schedule for the Burroughs’ station for Luke and sent him off with the mochilla. Someone has to get the mail through to the next station. We’re behind, but we’ll fulfill our obligation.”
Ransom saw Delia’s skin lose its color.
She focused her reddened eyes on his face. “I should head back to the station and start packing our things.”
“Nothing is going to be decided now,” he reassured her, but Ransom felt no change in the rigid lines of her body, “let’s take care of one thing at a time.”
“And right now,” Olivia added, moving closer to Delia, “let’s get you a washcloth and some cool water to freshen you up and then food and tea, maybe a short nap until Anselm can get here.”
Ransom narrowed his gaze at the other woman. “Is that Captain Merrick?”
Olivia’s head bobbed with her grin. “Yes, most of us call him Captain by habit, but every once in a while, I forget myself and enjoy the name just for the smile it gives me. “He’ll no doubt want to speak with you at length my dear.”
As Olivia helped Delia to rise from her place on the settee beside Ransom, Levi rose to his feet and he did too, eager to make sure that Delia was recovering nicely. Anna seemed torn as her mother led Delia into the kitchen, but it only took a single pointed look to send the girl after her mother.
Levi waited a long moment to make sure that the women were safely in the other room before he spoke to Ransom again.
“I’m not a man who angers easily.”
Ransom didn’t say a word because what Levi said was the truth. Levi was a man of even temper. A man who didn’t let his emotions rule him, but his intellect, his common sense, and his faith.
“But there is something that has been gnawing at me, perhaps even before you came to me with your concerns.” Levi tried to settle into his chair, but he couldn’t seem to get comfortable, even after he tried a few different postures in the chair. “I’ve met many men with questionable morals, but it seems to me that Cordell has little or no concern for the people he may have hurt with these… with these attacks.
“How could they have hired such a man? How could they have sent him here to live and work so near to my family? What Cordell did was inexcusable!”
Ransom understood the hard cut of Levi’s tone. He sensed that the man was struggling with his confidence, worried that he hadn’t seen Cordell’s true colors before now. Ransom understood the signs on Levi’s face, he was having an issue of his own. Ransom was struggling with his heart.
Ransom felt betrayed. While he felt that the danger to Delia was a palpable thing, long before they’d realized who was behind it, he was also feeling a loss he didn’t expect.
Cordell had never been close to any of them, but he had lived in the bunkhouse, shared meals with them. It was hard for them to believe that someone they’d spent so much time with, could be such a man. And yet they had their moments when they worried about him. When they’d questioned his loyalty.
Lifting his worried gaze to Levi’s face, he asked him about the connection.
“I’ve known Reuben for quite some time,” Levi began his answer and then stared down at his hands and the cup of water he’d barely touched, “I know how upset he was about the Express, but I don’t think he’d approve of this kind of behavior. He sees us as a threat to his business, but I can’t see this being something he’d be involved in. He knows Delia is out there at the station.”
Ransom weighed Levi’s words. “Maybe he’s changed. Mr. Burroughs has changed.”
Levi had considered the same thing. “Several times, and I’m happy to say that this time Frank’s changed for the better.”
“I wholeheartedly agree, sir.” He stood up and paced to the front door. “I would stay here but I think I’d be crowding Delia, she needs her rest. I’ll go see to the chores and make sure everything is running smoothly.” He could see Levi nod out of the corner of his eye.
“I’ll send someone for you when she wakes up.”
Chapter 14
Whenever Captain Merrick rode into town, it felt like a holiday. Doorways and windows were suddenly filled with curious townspeople and one would almost expect to see children lining the streets waving paper flags with thirty-five stars on them. The only building that remained closed and dark on this day was the Stage Depot.
Riding at the head of the column, his coat still the navy blue of his old uniform without the gold braid, you wouldn’t know it by the deference that people showed him. Wagons and riders didn’t just move to the side of the street to give him the right of way, they came to a full stop to watch the men ride by.
The Merrick Ranch’s men rode side by side behind their boss, and if anyone had bothered to count, they’d have numbered six, but the way people continued to stand and stare, one would think a whole regiment had trundled, accompanied by artillery and wagons.
The riders at the station rushed to the side of the corral and each stepped up on a rung of the fence to watch as the men slowed and came to stop behind Captain Merrick. They waited for him to dismount, his boots standing squarely on solid ground and his hat tucked under his arm, before they dismounted as a unit in a single breath of movement.
Levi was the one to greet him at the gate. The two men had a few quiet words, leaning in to speak to one another, even though no one else stood close enough to hear their conversation. Delia stood on the porch with Olivia and took strength from the fingers that were laced with hers. She’d met Captain Merrick before, but had rarely addressed him alone and had never been the sole focus of his attention in a conversation.
All she could do was focus on the matter ahead of her and the distracting sight of Anselm Merrick advancing past the gate and heading straight for her. His boots were buffed clean, even after the ride into town. His buff pants were made for wear and tear but seemed more like a pair of tailored pants beneath his double-breasted coat. As he took the first step up toward the porch she caught sight of the full beard and mustache that still seemed untouched by the silver streaks she knew were at his temples, but she was waiting to see his eyes.
As a young girl, she had always had a fascination with his eyes. Contrary to the cool luster of his raven-black hair, his eyes were a warm brown, ringed with a touch of dark chocolate that never failed to draw her eyes. She knew that if she had any hope of making sense when she spoke to him, she’d have to look away.
Reaching the top step, Merrick bowed to Mrs. Hawkins, offering her a gentle salutation that made her blush. He then turned to Anna, who stood just behind her mother’s shoulder as if she was hiding from him. At last he gave a short bow to Delia before straightening and meeting her eyes with his.
The look was a revelation.
Unlike her usual reaction to him, one look into his incomparable eyes told him what she needed to know. His chocolate eyes no longer had the power to melt her heart.
“Miss Burroughs,” he held out a hand, indicating the front door, “if you don’t mind.”
She shook her head and moved to precede him, walking with Olivia’s calming presence at her back. Delia was eager to get this over with.
Ransom finished his chores and made a few of the others happy by working through some of theirs as well. Still, he hadn’t worked off the nervous energy of the morning. At some point, he just gave up the ghost of trying to avoid the obvious. He wanted answers and that’s what he was going to get.
Dropping the handle of the rake against the wall, Ransom turned and walked out of the livery barn.
“Hey,” Wyeth saw him leaving and set down the pitchfork that was in his hand, “where are you going?”
Ransom off
ered no answer, he just continued to walk.
Wyeth had to jog for a few steps to catch up, and long forced strides to keep up with him as they walked between the corrals toward the west end of town.
By the time they reached the smithy, Wyeth had apparently given up trying to get answers on his own and decided to just go along for the ride.
There was only a moment of hesitation when Samuel Cooper turned around from his place at the forge and gave the two young men a look. “You boys armed?”
Ransom looked at the man, whose shoulders were nearly broader than the anvil he lived for, and saw the curious look in the older man’s eyes. Samuel may have seemed strong enough to wrestle a full-grown bison to the ground, but he was a man with a ready smile and a soft-spoken manner to him most of the time. Knowing what Samuel was getting at, Ransom answered for them both. “I just have some questions that need to be answered.”
Samuel measured the words and the person who spoke them. “Keep in mind that my duty is to the town. If it’s revenge you’re looking for, you won’t get it here.”
Ransom held up his hands in surrender. “You have my word.” With that said, and nod from the burly man, Ransom and Wyeth walked the last few feet to the cell. Ransom’s eyes were fixed on the man within the bars, he’d seen the structure before when he’d arrived in Three Rivers.
The town didn’t have a big enough population, nor enough crime, to warrant a jailhouse or a full-time lawman, but there wasn’t a building within the town limits that was willing to house the occasional criminal within its walls. That was why Samuel Cooper had offered his services. Using the spare iron from his work, he’d fashioned bars and constructed a free-standing cell. It wasn’t the roomiest of structures, nor was it very comfortable when temperatures were high. That in and of itself was a deterrent for any would-be criminals to think twice.
And as for Samuel acting as a guard, no one wanted to go up against the man and his hammer. The one man who had tried to escape from the jail cell was wrestled to the ground and held immobile until help arrived and the petty thief, was burning with shame.
Cordell shook the bars a bit as he stared back at Ransom. “Come to gloat?”
“I’ve come for answers.”
He released his hold on the bars and leaned back into the long shadows. “You can try, but I’m not in a helpful mood.”
“Since when have you been helpful?” Wyeth’s wry chuckle didn’t sit well with either of them.
Ransom pressed on. “Why did you do it?”
Cordell leaned his head back against the bars. “I haven’t done anything.” A long sigh escaped his lips. “Someone certainly has it in for me, accusing me of all manner of horrible things.”
“You attacked an unarmed woman, pinning her to the ground, what could you have hoped to accomplish with that?”
Cracking open one eye and twisting the corner of his mouth up into a smirk. “Well, I guess that’s the difference between the two of us, Ransom.” He swung his gaze over to Wyeth as if he wanted to make sure they were both listening intently to his answer. “At least I know what to do with a woman beneath me.”
Wyeth dove for Ransom, managing to grab his arm and try to hold him back, but Ransom fought him, throwing him off twice before Samuel stepped in between the young man and the cell.
Ransom wasn’t going to let it go, grabbing handfuls of the blacksmith’s shirt and his apron. “You heard him, Samuel,” he dragged his eyes away from Cordell’s laughter and into the gentle reproach written in the older man’s features, “you heard what he said.”
“He wanted to get a rise out of you, son. He wanted you to be angry and go after him. So far the only one getting what they want out of this little meeting of yours is that boy right there.” Samuel tilted his head back toward the cell. “I think you’d find a better outlet for all that energy,” he changed his voice from a harsh pointed tone to one of gentle persuasion, “in doing something for Delia. Don’t waste your time and effort on a man like him.”
Cordell approached the front wall of bars again, wrapping his hands around the iron rods. “That’s it?” he scoffed at Ransom. “You’re going to just stand there?” His eyes were full of contempt. “That’s why you’re never going to win, you know. You don’t have what it takes to follow things through to the end.”
“I do just fine, Cordell, but you don’t know me well enough. You spent your time skulking around, disappearing for hours on end. You didn’t do enough around us for there to be anything more between us than contempt.” He shared a look with Wyeth as he released Samuel’s shirt from his hands. “We gave you a chance, but you didn’t care to even try. You could have explained yourself. That is, until you said something crass about Delia. No more chances, Cordell. None. Whatever happens to you, it will be because you’ve earned it.”
Wyeth set a hand on Ransom’s shoulder and drew him back and away from the cell. “Come on, Ransom, we need to get back.”
Ransom heard the words and nodded slowly before he turned his back on Cordell and walked away.
Due to the events of the day, the second and third meals had been condensed into one and only a few of the riders had been grumpy enough to complain about it and incur Olivia’s penalty of doing the dishes. No one complained when Ransom offered Delia his arm and suggested they go for a walk through town. Better yet, no one offered to go along and chaperone them. It seemed like everyone understood the gravity of the situation and didn’t give the two any problems.
And Ransom seemed to understand more than most, waiting until they’d made a circuit down main street and back before he spoke. “How are you?” He felt her draw in a breath and then slowly let it out as she leaned slightly on his arm.
“Tired. I know that answer must be frustrating to hear.” She looked down at the ground before her feet.
“If that’s how you feel,” he shrugged even though she couldn’t see it, “then that’s your answer.” They continued on a few more steps before he asked another question. “Have you made a decision?”
She lifted her gaze to meet his eyes for a moment and then turned away, to look at the quiet street around them. “Levi must have told you. That’s fine, I had planned to ask you your opinion tonight.”
He waited for her to continue on.
“The Captain spoke to me, heard what I had to say and spoke to Cordell as well.” She nodded slowly, her mind working over her thoughts. “I didn’t see Cordell,” she explained. “I can’t say that I did. I can’t even say I recognized his voice. When he started to speak to me when he arrived, he didn’t sound familiar.”
“But you said,” Ransom took a moment before he spoke, “the scent of his skin-”
“I thought it mattered,” she trembled slightly, “but the Captain pointed out that everyone in town that goes to the bathhouse uses the same soap.” He couldn’t see her very well in the twilight cast of light, but he could see her grimace and could imagine the uneven flush of her skin. “I hadn’t thought about that, but it’s true. How could I say that it was just him?”
“And the scratches?”
She shrugged and forced a light tone to her voice. “They could have been from the nails on the fencepost. It could have been any number of things that made those marks.” She stopped a few steps before the General Store, her shoulders sagging slightly. “Everything can be explained by something else. Unless someone actually saw him hurt me, or do the damage to the lean-to, or any of the other mischief, it’s his word against mine.”
Ransom wanted to argue on her behalf, he wanted to fight, but he realized that it wasn’t Delia he wanted to fight against. He just needed to be there for her, be a strength for her instead of a weakness. “I believe you.”
Her sudden smile filled him with hope. “Thank you. I just wish it was so easy.” She didn’t make him ask the next question, she just continued on. “He explained it to me. The only thing he can be tried on is the attack on me, but the evidence,” she shook her head at the strange word, “i
s really just my word against his. The trial will take time, perhaps as long as a month. I’ll be away from my father for most of it as we’d likely have to do the trial in Laramie.” She turned slightly and grasped his arm with her once free hand. “I’d have to tell my story over and over and hope that the judge finds him guilty.”
His stomach twisted in his middle. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say that I haven’t made up my mind. It’s not just about me, Ransom. This would affect all of us, probably my father most of all-”
“He would want justice.”
“He would want me to be safe,” she countered and he heard the truth in her words, “and I am now. Levi told me that he’s firing Cordell no matter what my decision is. He can’t have Cordell around Olivia or Anna.”
“And you,” Ransom reminded her about the person that meant the most to him, “I wouldn’t want him anywhere near you.” He gently drew her closer, countering her natural inclination to stand on her own two feet, until she relaxed against him, her head leaning against his shoulder. The gentle touch rolled through him like a quake through hard rock, there wasn’t an inch of him that didn’t feel the satisfaction that he could give her comfort with a simple embrace. He wanted to let the moment go on forever, but he was the one that broke the quiet reverie. “I could ride out in the morning and take your father’s place at the station if you’d like him here with you. You could talk to him before you make your decision.”
She stepped back and looked up into his eyes. He could see the soft glitter of emotion in her gaze and wondered what words lay behind those beautiful eyes. “There’s already been so many adjustments made to make sure that both the swing station and Three Rivers are covered. I have support here and that’s enough.” She lifted a hand and set it on his shoulder. “Levi is like a father to me, but I would like to know that you are close by, should I…”
