Patty's Gamble

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  John gave her a hearty pat on the shoulder, almost knocking her over. She had to grab the edge of the table to steady herself. He stood up and walked away, leaving her alone. She gulped as she thought over her options. She could always do it, of course. But if she did, then she’d end up being the kind of person she didn’t want to be. Tricking Greg into marriage was one thing. Stealing was something else.

  John had mentioned Boaz Grady. She wondered if Boaz ever had any dealings with the mayor. After thinking of who else she might talk to, she came to the conclusion that she could only go to Boaz. As she rose to her feet, she realized her hands were trembling. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. She was officially stuck between a rock and a hard place, and she didn’t know how to best get out of it.

  She’d talk to Boaz. That’s what she’d do. At least he might give her some ideas. Maybe Boaz knew something about getting out of a tough situation she didn’t. Yes, that’s what she’d do. She’d talk to him. Moving her stiff feet forward, she left the saloon.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Please be home, Patty silently prayed and knocked again on Boaz’s door. She knew he was often busy training horses but hoped this wasn’t one of those times.

  She made a move to knock again, but the front door opened and Eva shot her an uncertain look. “May I help you?”

  Patty could only guess how she looked, standing in front of her with clothes too big for her. But more than that, she worried that Eva would recognize her. She did talk to Eva when she went to Heather’s to seek her advice. Forcing out a low voice, she asked, “Is Boaz in?”

  “Actually, he left for Conner’s not too long ago. Do you want me to tell him you stopped by?”

  “Conner. You mean Josh Conner?”

  Eva shrugged. “I don’t know. How many Conners are there?”

  “Several. A lot of people are related to each other around here.”

  “Well, this Conner is older. From the sound of it, he has grandchildren and lives on a ranch just outside of town.”

  “I think I know who you’re talking about.” And if Patty guessed wrong, she’d ask the Conner she talked to which one had the horse Boaz was training. “Thank you.”

  Patty tipped her hat and hurried back to her horse before Eva could have time to recognize her. By the time she found Boaz, she had seen two different Conners. She glanced at the sun and saw she had stayed away from Greg longer than she expected. She hoped he wouldn’t start looking for her. If he found her wearing this outfit, who knew what he’d think?

  She pushed the thought aside and rode up to Boaz who was leading the horse in a circle with a rope. She waited until he noticed her before she waved to him. He returned the greeting and slowed the horse to a stop. He walked over to her, still holding the rope so the horse went with him.

  “Afternoon, sir. May I help you?” Boaz asked, squinting in the sunlight as he looked up at her.

  “It’s me, Boaz,” she said in her normal voice.

  He frowned as she got down from the horse. “Patty?”

  “Yes. That’s the ‘me’ I’m talking about,” she joked.

  “What are you doing dressed up as a man?”

  “It’s a long story.” After trying to decide on the best way to proceed, she finally settled for a simple, “I need your help.”

  “With Greg?”

  “No. With John Meyer and Mayor White.”

  “What are you doing getting involved with the likes of them?”

  She grimaced but decided she might as well tell him. He already knew she was disguised as a man. How much worse could it get? “I had John and the mayor’s help when I married Greg. You know Greg saved me from marrying John who won my pa’s land in a game?”

  He nodded.

  “There was no game. John made up the whole thing, and the mayor came along to make sure Greg believed it. I had no idea the mayor was a…a…” Not wishing to use the word her pa’s ranch hands used when they were frustrated, she said, “You know.”

  His eyes grew wide then he swallowed. “What do they want?”

  “They want me to help Lyle steal some of Greg’s cattle.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. I’m afraid so. And they want me to do this tomorrow night.” She shifted from one foot to the other. “What should I do? I know John’s bad enough, but from the way he made it sound, the mayor is worse. He said the mayor cut off someone’s hand. Is that true?”

  “Bill Walter? Yeah, it’s true.”

  “The mayor seems like such a nice person when you meet him.”

  “He is…as long as you don’t cross him.”

  “I didn’t do anything to him,” she said. “All he did was witness the wedding.”

  “Did he say you owed him a favor?”

  “No.”

  “Then you have nothing to worry about. John’s just trying to scare you into doing what he wants. I bet John’s the one who owes the mayor a favor, and this favor involves cattle.”

  She relaxed. Well, that was good news.

  “Patty, you’re going to have to tell Greg the truth. If you help them steal a cow tomorrow night, they won’t be satisfied. They’ll want you to do it again. If they don’t ask for more of Greg’s cattle, they’ll ask for help with someone else’s. And if it isn’t cattle, it’ll be something else. They’re not going to go away. At least all you have right now is the fact that you made an arrangement with them so Greg was fooled into marrying you.”

  Her grip tightened on the horse’s reins. Boaz was right. It was the best course of action. If she didn’t do this now, things would only get worse. “Thanks, Boaz,” she replied then got on her horse.

  “Patty,” he called out.

  She turned her gaze back to him.

  “I won’t tell anyone you were here,” he promised.

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  It took all her strength to head back on home instead of going up to Canada. But she got herself into this mess, and now she was going to have to dig her way out of it, even if she had to lose Greg to do it.

  ***

  Patty sat by the kitchen table, her head hung low. She hadn’t made anything for supper. Her heart just wasn’t in it. She had to tell Greg the terrible truth, and once he learned what she’d done, she didn’t know if he could stand to have her in his home anymore. Heather was right. She shouldn’t have consulted John Meyer to help her get Greg.

  All Patty could do at this point was go back to her father’s ranch if Greg didn’t want to see her again. But she owed it to him to tell him the truth about the cattle. He didn’t deserve to lose any more of them. He’d worked too hard to keep losing them.

  The front door opened, and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She could do this. She had to do this. And it was better to do it sooner rather than later.

  “Did you want to eat Marv’s slop tonight?” Greg teased as he came over to her.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry.” After she told him, she might never eat again.

  “How come?” he asked as he plopped down in the chair next to her. He reached out and stroked her leg affectionately. “I missed you while you were gone.”

  “I missed you, too.”

  “Good. Then it won’t be hard to convince you to go out to the field and spend the night with me. I have to take a turn and let the other ranch hands get a good night’s sleep. But,” he added with a twinkle in his eye, “I have a very comfortable bedroll we can share. We’ll put the other one underneath us so we can have extra cushioning. We won’t have to risk getting sore from all the activity we’ll be doing.”

  As much as she didn’t want him to stop touching her, she rose to her feet and went over to the window so she wouldn’t have to look at him while she made her confession. This was going to be hard. Lassoing an ornery bull was easier. But it needed to get done.

  Crossing her arms, she watched as Lyle took a horse into the barn. “When will Lyle be out to do his watch?”

 
; “Tomorrow night.”

  “He’s not going alone, is he?”

  “No. I’m sending Marv out with him. You needn’t worry. I told Marv to keep an eye on him.”

  She nodded. That lined up with what John had told her, which meant Lyle had told him when it’d be his turn in the pasture to keep watch. She wondered how long they’d been talking to each other without Greg knowing. She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them, continuing to stare at the landscape in front of her. This had become her home in such a short time. She was going to miss being here.

  The chair scooted across the floor, and she heard Greg’s footsteps as he walked over to her. “What’s this about, Patty? You think Marv might be in on it, too?”

  “No, you can trust Marv.” He was a good man. There was no way he’d be caught doing anything wrong. “But,” her lip trembled and tears welled up in her eyes, “I…I lied to you.”

  “When?”

  Surprised by the soft tone in his voice, she dared a glance in his direction. Through the tears in her eyes, she saw that he loved her. Years ago when he walked her home, he had the same wonderful look about him. And now he had it again. How long had she waited to see it again? Hoped for it? And now that he was finally doing it, she was about to crush the future she’d fought so hard for.

  Finally, she turned her gaze back to the window and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I wasn’t really going to marry John Meyer. It was a lie we came up with to get you to marry me.”

  “I know.”

  It took his words a few seconds to register in her mind. She kept waiting for him to scream at her, to tell her that he’d never trust her again, to order her to return to her father at once. But he didn’t do any of that. And when she looked over at him, that same devoted expression was still on his face. Only this time, there was a hint of a grin as well.

  She blinked a few times, not trusting her eyes but seeing the same thing, no matter how many times she expected his expression to change. “You know?”

  “Sure. Why else would you let someone like Meyer kiss you?”

  For some reason, his question struck her as so out of place with what she’d told him that she burst out laughing, even as a tear slid down her cheek. “It was a disgusting kiss.”

  “I bet it was,” he replied. “It was hard enough to watch.”

  Noting the way he grimaced, she laughed harder. It felt good to laugh. She’d been so tense ever since finding that letter from John Meyer at the post office.

  When her laughter died down, she asked, “If you knew, why didn’t you say something?”

  He shrugged. “It didn’t seem important.”

  “But it is.”

  “Not so much that it changes anything. So what if you got Meyer to pull such a clever ruse? It only goes to show how much you wanted to be with me. In a way, I’m flattered.”

  “Yeah, well, he sent me a letter the other day and asked me to meet him today.”

  At this announcement, Greg frowned. “What did he want? More money?”

  “No. He,” she cleared her throat, “wants me to help him steal from your herd.”

  “He’s behind the cattle rustling?”

  She nodded. “Lyle’s been helping him. The reason they want my help is because you have your ranch hands watching everything that’s going on during the night. They think if Lyle can distract Marv, it’ll give me a chance to get a cow to them.”

  “They?”

  “Mayor White is in on it, too.”

  Greg’s eyes widened. “Mayor White?”

  She nodded. “If anyone else is, I don’t know. John said if I didn’t help, he’d tell you about the way we tricked you into marrying me. I’m sorry, Greg. This is all my fault.”

  “No, it’s not. You didn’t tell them to steal some of my cattle.” He reached for her and took her in his arms.

  Relieved, she clung to him. He didn’t hate her. He wasn’t going to send her home to live with her pa. He still loved her. She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shirt. If time could stand still at this very moment, she would be content.

  “Patty, I’m going to beat them at their game, but I’m going to need your help.”

  She pulled away from him enough so she could meet his gaze. “What can I do?”

  “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

  “Alright.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You have nothing to worry about. We’ll make sure the men involved in this will get everything that’s coming to them.”

  Good, because she’d be happy if she never had to deal with any of them ever again.

  “I don’t know about you,” Greg began, “but I do my best thinking on a full stomach. Let’s get some of Marv’s slop.”

  Chuckling, she slipped her arm around his waist and let him lead her out of the house.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You remember what I told you?” Greg asked Patty the next night as he came up to her.

  She nodded in the kitchen that was lit only by the moonlight streaming through the window. “I lead a cow to the corner east fence. You, Archie, Randy, Herb and the marshal will be watching everything that happens.” After a moment, she glanced over at him. “Are you sure the marshal isn’t involved in this?”

  “I’m sure.” Greg rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. “Mitch knows the marshal and can vouch for his integrity. As for the mayor, he probably doesn’t want the marshal to find out what he’s doing.”

  “And John?”

  He shrugged. “John is already known for his shady dealings. This will just get him caught in something illegal. In a way, it’s good that you got stuck in the middle of this.”

  She shook her head.

  “These men will get caught before they can do this to anyone else,” he whispered in her ear. “The fact that John felt comfortable enough to make you a part of this makes it that much easier for us to catch them.”

  “I suppose.” From that perspective, he was right. It was a good thing. But she wished it wasn’t happening at all. Chances were they would never recover the cattle Greg already lost. The mayor and John were smart enough to get rid of them—probably by selling them to someone else—right away. Anyone would be able to recognize Greg’s cattle by their branding.

  Greg kissed her. “I didn’t take you for a worrier.”

  “I’m not. Usually.”

  “Well, between all of us, the men involved won’t get away. We have different areas we’ll cover, so no matter which direction they go, someone will be waiting.”

  That made her feel better. Greg was good at planning.

  “Are you ready to go?” he softly asked.

  She nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” She glanced at the clock again. It was almost midnight. If they were going to do this, they needed to do it now.

  “You can do this.”

  “Yeah, if I can walk into a saloon dressed up as a man, I can do anything.”

  He chuckled at her joke. “Now that’s the Patty I know. Always scheming to get her way, making sure her victim has no choice but to bend to her will—”

  “Victim?”

  “Lucky man. I mean, lucky man.”

  Noting his teasing tone, she smiled. “Of course.”

  “You got your gun?”

  Patting the Colt .45 in her holster, she nodded.

  “Good. If anyone gives you any problems, you shoot first and ask questions later. We don’t want to take any chances.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment to gather up her courage then opened the kitchen door. The plan was a simple one. There should be no reason why she couldn’t do her part. But she hoped that neither John nor the mayor was going to suspect anything was up. If they did, Greg’s plan would be for nothing.

  She stepped outside and shut the door behind her, aware that John or the mayor could be watching her at that very moment. She made a show of scanning the land, as if she was afraid Greg or one of the ranch hands might spot her. After a
few moments, she proceeded down the steps and headed for the barn. Everything was eerily quiet. She’d had her share of going out at night, but this was downright spooky. It was because she was being watched. She could feel it. But at least Greg was watching her, too, and that made her feel better.

  She made it to the barn and got her horse ready, working quickly. A couple times, she slightly jumped when she heard an odd creaking sound, a coyote howl, or some small critter run by the barn. Pausing, she took a moment to steady her nerves. She didn’t consider herself squeamish, but she’d never been stuck in the middle of something potentially dangerous. It was very possible that someone could start firing their gun, and if that happened, who knew if others would start shooting as well?

  Once she was done saddling her horse, she grabbed the lasso. Then she rode out of the barn, careful to make her way around the edge of the property so Marv and Lyle wouldn’t see her. As John had promised, Lyle was distracting Marv so that she had no trouble capturing a cow. It was a good one, too. One of the best of Greg’s stock.

  She led it to the east side of the pasture in the quiet night. Not a single cloud was in the sky, but for all the beauty the stars provided, she couldn’t push aside the creepy sensation that she was still being watched. She wiped sweat from her forehead.

  How did outlaws live, going from one act of theft to another? Even though Greg and the ranch hands knew what she was doing, she didn’t like how she felt. She’d be glad when this whole thing was over.

  Just as John told her, he was waiting for her where he said he’d be. She didn’t recognize the other man who was with him. She looked for the mayor but didn’t see him. Was John bluffing about the mayor? Or maybe the mayor didn’t get involved in the actual crime even if he helped organize it. Maybe he didn’t dare risk getting caught in the act.

  In that case, it was a smart move, but it wasn’t going to do her much good. Sure, John, this other man, and Lyle would go to jail, but the mayor would be free to keep doing his dark deeds by hiding behind other undesirable men.