My Heart Belongs in Ruby City, Idaho

by Susanne Dietze

  “I asked her, and she said she didn’t see their faces. Same as you.”

  Rebecca’s mouth opened, but another knock sounded at the kitchen door. Pa turned around. “Come and join the party, whoever you are.”

  Theodore stepped in, his eyes wary. “Johnny said I could just go on in, but I thought I should knock.”

  “What can we do for you, Theodore?” Tad tried to keep his gaze on his cousin, but he couldn’t help watching Rebecca, whose mouth set in that grim line that told the world she was angry. What had happened?

  “I saw Rebecca hurry up the street.” Theodore glanced between them. “Is everything well?”

  Rebecca hoisted the tray of sops. “I’m glad you’re here. We were just about to speak to Dottie.”

  “What’s wrong?” Theodore gave voice to Tad’s question.

  “I promised to let her tell you.” Rebecca strode into Pa’s bedroom.

  Dottie rested against the pillow, her hair in disarray. Her eyes widened at seeing them, but then she winced. “I’m so glad you’re here. My wound’s aching somethin’ fierce.”

  Theodore tutted. “Is it time for more tonic?”

  “No.” Rebecca plunked down the tray. “It’s time for you to tell these gentlemen something.”

  “Well, yes.” Dottie ducked her head then looked up at them through her thick lashes in a way that made her look young and vulnerable. “Tad, Theodore, I’m sorry I played you false. The truth is, I couldn’t pick between you fellas, so I married Ralph. Forgive me?”

  Rebecca rolled her eyes.

  Theodore rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure, Dottie.”

  “I forgave you a long time ago.” But there was no way Tad believed she ran off with Ralph White because she couldn’t decide between the Fordham boys. Tad leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles. “That’s not what this is about, is it?”

  “No,” Rebecca barked.

  “Of course it is. You need to understand why I was coming back to Ruby City.” Dottie glared at Rebecca then turned a softer gaze on Tad. “Ralph wasn’t who I thought he was. He had a wild streak a mile wide.”

  Ralph had been just like Bowe Brown: brash, good-looking, with a thirst for trouble that landed him in front of the sheriff more than once. “My mule Madge has better manners than Ralph. What were you expecting?”

  “Don’t be jealous, Tad.” Dottie offered a coquettish smile. Wasn’t she supposed to be in great pain? How did she manage to look downright flirtatious?

  “I don’t much care who you married, or when or why or how. Was Ralph with you when you got shot?”

  “You could say that.”

  Rebecca sucked in a breath. “Tell them now, Dottie, or I will.”

  Dottie’s chin trembled. “Theodore, you won’t hate me, will you? You’ve always had the sweetest heart. That’s why Rebecca’s marrying you, you know. You wouldn’t hate me, with that heart of yours.”

  He stepped closer to the bed. “Of course not—”

  “Enough.” Tad pushed off from the wall. “What’s going on, Dottie?”

  She started plucking the yarn ties on her quilt. “Rebecca says the judge will be lenient if I cooperate, which I will do to the best of my ability. You’ll protect me when the time comes, won’t you, Tad? Because you won’t find the Gang without me.”

  “Why not?”

  “I know where their hideout is.” Her fingers stilled.

  A shroud of dread settled over his shoulders. “How do you know that?”

  Her gaze dropped to his boots. “Ralph is part of the Gang of Four.”

  Theodore sputtered like a dying wick. “But they shot you.”

  “I know.” Dottie sniffled, her chin trembling again. “Ralph would’ve helped me, but they heard Tad coming and had to run. I’m sure he’s worried sick.”

  What sort of bizarre marriage did Dottie and Ralph have? Tad shook his head. “Ralph would’ve helped you. Does that mean he didn’t shoot you?”

  “I’m sure he didn’t. But I can’t say who did.”

  “But you can say plenty more.” Rebecca shook her head. “Who else is in the Gang, for instance.”

  “Skeet Smucker and Flick Dougherty.” Now that she’d started, the speed of her words picked up, and there was no trace of tears in her eyes. “Flick’s the one that made eyes at you, Rebecca. He thought you were real pretty, despite your being thin as a stick, and that’s why he tried to—oh, sorry.”

  Tad’s hand fisted, as if Flick Dougherty were in the room ready for a smack to the jaw. God, help me.

  Rebecca had gone white. “So it was Flick I saw in town.”

  Tad forced his fingers to relax and to behave like the officer of the law that he was. “So Flick, Skeet, and Ralph. Who else?”

  “I couldn’t get away.” She batted her eyes, not answering. “Ask Rebecca. She knows what it’s like to be stuck in a bad situation you can’t get out of no matter how bad you want to.”

  Theodore’s head jerked around. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Rebecca sputtered while Dottie laughed. “Not you, Theodore. I meant in her past. She didn’t tell me about it, but I can tell. It’s called intuition. I read about it in a gazette.”

  Rebecca’s jaw clenched. “My intuition tells me you’d better start talking, and not about me, Dottie. We’re talking about you.”

  Dottie stuck out her tongue at Rebecca.

  What had Tad ever seen in this woman beyond her pretty face? Then he recalled how she was neglected by her grandfather, teetering on the edge of the sorts of choices a person can make when she’s lonely, and he’d thought he could help her. He wasn’t sure now if she’d ever wanted help, but he thanked the good Lord that He’d never had Dottie in mind as Tad’s wife. “Where’s the hideout? Who is the fourth man?”

  She pouted. “I don’t want to say.”

  Rebecca hung her head in disbelief, and Tad brushed past her toward Dottie. “They shot you. You deserve justice.”

  Dottie covered her eyes with her arm. “I lied. It wasn’t Ralph. I was just mad at him, so I said it to get him into trouble. I don’t know who’s in the Gang. They set upon me and took my horse. I was comin’ to visit my granddaddy, that’s all. I don’t know anything—”

  Rebecca shoved past him to gently but firmly take hold of the arm Dottie used to shield her eyes. Dottie shrieked in protest, and Theodore burst forward. “Rebecca, stop this, you’re hurting her. I never thought you capable of violence like this—”

  “I’m not hurting her. Look.” Rebecca pointed to a pink scar on Dottie’s forearm. “I told you the Gang had a boy in it. I stabbed him with my paper knife.”

  “It’s from a rock,” Dottie whined, but Theodore fell back.

  “You’re the fourth man.” Tad stared up at the ceiling.

  “Her valise contains evidence. Trousers and my hairbrush.” Rebecca dropped Dottie’s arm.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Theodore’s question wasn’t for Dottie, but Rebecca. “You knew this when, last night?”

  “She asked me to allow her to confess, so the judge will be lenient—”

  “You should have told us.” A muscle worked in Theodore’s cheek. “I didn’t think you were like Dottie, keeping secrets from me.”

  “Theodore.” Rebecca gaped.

  Tad held up a hand. “Don’t take it out on her, Theodore. She didn’t withhold it from you as much as she granted Dottie the chance to demonstrate remorse. It has nothing to do with you.”

  “All of this concerns me.” But he glared at Rebecca. “This is like ten months ago, all over again.”

  It was nothing like ten months ago. “Rebecca never asked to be dropped into the middle of the mess between you, me, and Dottie, and she’s done what she could to help each of us. Even Dottie, allowing her to speak for herself.”

  Theodore mussed his perfect hair. Rebecca chewed her lip. They had some talking to do—all three of them—but now wasn’t the time. Tad tipped his head toward the door. “Why don
’t you go on and get ready for worship? Send the sheriff over first, though, please, and I think it would be best if neither of you told anyone about Dottie just yet. I don’t want anyone in town hearing the news and coming here with vengeance on their minds.”

  Waving his hand in halfhearted dismissal, Theodore turned on his heel and left. Rebecca watched him go, sighed, and then followed. As she passed Tad, her fingers landed on his arm. The contact was brief, but her touch set his skin on fire. “Thank you.”

  He was still rubbing the spot on his arm when the kitchen door shut behind her. Tad pulled Pa’s chair around to face Dottie, took a seat, and bent to rest his elbows on his knees. The milksops would be stone cold by the time they got to them this morning.

  “So, Dottie, care to tell me why they really shot you in the back?”

  Why did the Gang shoot Dottie in the back? To keep her from informing on them, of course, but in the back, right in front of her husband? All through the worship service in the flat space behind the livery, Rebecca’s mind struggled to focus on the word from Galatians on freedom. She lent her voice to the others in their makeshift outdoor chapel as they sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving, but her gaze kept flitting to the livery.

  Neither Tad nor the sheriff emerged to join worship, and Rebecca’s curiosity burned holes through her best intentions to give the matter over to the Lord.

  When she wasn’t thinking of Dottie, though, her thoughts wandered to Theodore, who lurked in the back. Once the service was finished, he didn’t attend the picnic by the creek.

  Tad had been kind to defend her this morning, but his heart might harbor disappointment that his words didn’t convey. He might be just as frustrated by her choice to allow Dottie to turn herself in as Theodore was. And he was absolutely disappointed. Even when the day progressed and then, toward supper, he avoided her, setting up a table of rosettes, nuts, and other treats near the end of the parade route. She busied herself, too, helping Mrs. Horner spread red-checkered tablecloths over the plank tables set up at one end of the street, her gaze flitting between the mercantile and the county offices.

  So far, no one seemed to know about Dottie. Tad had asked her to stay quiet, probably until Dottie was secure behind bars, but it felt odd not to discuss it with anyone, especially Mrs. Horner.

  “Where’s Corny?” Her landlady glanced up. “I thought she would help us. She’s been wonderful, pitching in lately.”

  “I expect she’s at home, putting the finishing touches on her party dress.” Rebecca couldn’t help but smile.

  “I thought she’d wear it to services this morning.”

  “Oh no. She wanted to save the dress and her hairstyle for this evening. It’s as you said a few weeks ago. Cornelia has grown up, and she’d like to make an entrance.”

  “For a young man?”

  “For herself.” But maybe the fellow Cornelia admired would appreciate it, too.

  “I haven’t made an entrance since I got married twenty years ago.”

  “Residents of Ruby City!”

  They looked up at the booming voice. Mr. Orr wove through the people gathered on the street and climbed the steps of the county offices. He waved his arms, flapping his blue frock coat. An enormous red, white, and blue rosette pinned high on his lapel tickled the underside of his chin. “Come one and all, small and great.”

  “Some folks always make an entrance.” Rebecca laughed.

  “I’m glad the biggest rosette sold. That one Orr’s got on has to be a three-center, and that’s a penny and a half for me. Come on. We’re finished here, anyway.”

  Rebecca took her landlady’s arm, and they ambled to the shady side of the street. Uncle Giff, dressed in his finest striped shirt and smelling like bay rum, joined them.

  Rebecca peered around him. “Are Tad and the sheriff still with Dottie?”

  “Not since noon. Dottie’s asleep, but Johnny’s keeping an eye on things so Tad could run out. He said something about Dottie knowing where the hideout is, so a posse will set out at first light.” He rocked on his heels. “The sheriff sure relies on him. He won’t be able to do without him in Silver City if he follows through with that ranching idea.”

  The comment set Rebecca’s teeth on edge. It was no light thing for Tad to go out after the Gang again, and Uncle Giff repeatedly seemed to ignore Tad’s desire to turn to ranching.

  Before she could reply, Mr. Orr waved his arms again. “It is my honor and privilege to read a copy of the Declaration of Independence to you fine citizens.”

  The gathered crowd hushed.

  The words were ninety years old but still as powerful as the day they’d been put to paper. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—the words swirled in Rebecca’s thoughts and touched her heart. Freedom came at a steep price, and her forefathers had made tremendous sacrifices during the Revolution.

  Her greatest freedom, however, came from God’s sacrifice for her. Did it bother Him that she made mistake after mistake, taking His provisions for granted?

  After the final words of the Declaration faded, her head turned toward the mercantile. Theodore smiled at Eloise Evans, who bent to pin rosettes to her nieces’ collars.

  She joined him. “Theodore?”

  He came around the table to meet her. “You don’t need to help, Rebecca. You’ll miss the parade.”

  Sure enough, the first notes of “Yankee Doodle” carried from the far end of the street. “I can see them fine from here. Besides, I don’t yet have a rosette.”

  He stepped behind the table and offered the basket. “Take your pick. Even one of the large ones. You, Mrs. Horner, and Corny worked hard on these.”

  “Small’s fine.” She chose one with more red than blue and pinned it to her bodice. They stood watching the band march toward them, and Rebecca expected them to stop at the end of the road—a short parade, indeed. Instead, the eight men with gleaming brass instruments turned off the road and marched through the rows of tents and back again in an improvised route. Eloise Evans’s nieces chased after the band, playing pretend trumpets and lifting their knees high in the air in imitation. It was sweet and delightful, but standing here with Theodore, her heart ached.

  “I didn’t really come over here for a rosette, Theodore. I couldn’t go any longer with you angry at me.”

  He sighed. “I was shocked, but I shouldn’t have blamed you. Tad was right. I’m sorry for accusing you.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not sure I was right. I did what I thought was best, for Dottie’s sake, but the way it unfolded, well, I’m sorry, too.”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything more, leaving her a moment to think. They’d both apologized, but something still felt hollow between them. Despite his apology, it seemed like he tended to think the worst about her when conflict arose, attributing her motives to malice. Was it because she had proved herself untrustworthy to him, or because he bore the scars Dottie inflicted? Or was there something else about their relationship that needed to be examined?

  The band finished, and the sun began its steady descent in the west, leaving a pink glow to the sky.

  “Supper!” Mrs. Croft rang a triangle bell. “Brisket and corn bread.”

  “Will you join me?” She tipped her head at Theodore.

  He shook his head. “I don’t want to leave the wares unattended.”

  “Then I’ll join you. Wait here.”

  He held up his hands as if to tell her no, but she moved to the food line, took two plates, and returned to Theodore’s little table. He wasn’t alone when she returned, however. Tad stood beside him, a smile on his lips but fatigue lining his eyes.

  “Here.” She offered both men plates. “Eat while they’re hot.”

  “Thanks.” Tad took his plate but set it down. “First I must buy one of these rosettes. I don’t feel totally dressed without one.”

  He was dressed impeccably, rosette or not, in his white shirt, plaid vest, and string tie. Still, she offered the basket. “Two pennies, Deput
y.”

  “Two?” he teased. “Are there rubies in them?” He scooped a rosette without looking and pinned it with haphazard swiftness to his vest.

  “It’s not a deputy badge, Tad. It’s a rosette.”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “It’s too low on your chest, and you pinned it sideways, so it’s floppy.” She pointed, because it wouldn’t do to adjust the rosette herself. She glanced at Theodore.

  Tad feigned exasperation. “It doesn’t matter how you pin it. Maybe the rosette is floppy.”

  “Our rosettes are not floppy.”

  He grinned and refastened the pin. “How do I look?”

  Handsome, but she couldn’t say that. “Better.”

  “How’s Dottie?” Theodore set down his plate. Rebecca startled, amazed that she’d worked so hard to keep her focus off of Dottie and the whole Gang mess all day, but thirty seconds with Tad, and the matter had flown right out of her head.

  “Less pain, and once she got started talking, she didn’t stop,” Tad said. “She said the hideout’s an abandoned mine shaft, like we thought. She left because she’d had enough of living there. Flick Dougherty is probably the one who shot her because she took his horse and the contents of his wallet when she left.”

  Shuddering, Rebecca imagined the scene. “Wouldn’t Ralph be angry about Flick shooting his wife?”

  “I’d imagine so, even if she had left him, but I take it she’s done this before to get his attention.” Tad’s gaze scanned the gathering. “If Ralph hasn’t retaliated against Flick by now, I’d be surprised.”

  “And there’s the third fellow, Skeet.” Rebecca chewed her lip. “Do you know him?”

  Tad shook his head. “Not well, but he struck me as being more of a follower, so I expect he’s along for the ride.”

  Theodore scraped the last of his supper from his plate. “And Dottie’s behind bars?”

  “That’s what I’ve been up to most of the day.” Tad tipped his head back to the county offices. “Sheriff Adkins and I have been fashioning a temporary cell for Dottie in that room with the cot, so she’ll be separated from Bowe and the Andersons. The sheriff is finishing it up right now.”