Though This Be Madness

by Penny Richards

  “Gently, there,” the boy said, straightening the collar of his scruffy jacket as if he were wearing a finely tailored suit instead of a coat at least two sizes too small.

  “Well?”

  The bravado slipped from the boy’s face, and he gazed up at Cade with bleak brown eyes. “Aye, ya did.”

  “What are you doing here, Jenks?” Cade asked in a gentler tone.

  The boy swallowed hard, and his gaze slid from Cade’s. “I only got to see ya for a couple of hours when you come back from yer last job, and I . . . I didn’t much like being left behind again.” He found Cade’s gaze once more. “I thought we were mates.”

  If Cade didn’t know that the child was as tough as shoe leather, he would swear the boy’s bottom lip and voice quavered the slightest bit.

  “I missed spending time with you, too,” he said, going straight to the heart of the matter. “And we are mates, but I’m working again, so there’s no way I can spend as much time with you as I did before.”

  “Done with me, are ya?”

  Cade knew the boy was remembering the family who’d left him sitting in a graveyard while they went “to find a bite to eat” and never came back.

  “Of course I’m not done with you. I’m eternally grateful to you for all you’ve done for me, but I cannot take you with me when I’m working.”

  “I’m not going back.”

  Well acquainted with the child’s stubbornness, Cade said, “We’ll talk about it later.”

  The boy glared up at him, as if to say he’d said all he intended to about the matter. Cade sighed and changed the subject. “I take it you’re hungry, since you were going to filch that man’s wallet.”

  “I could use a bite,” he said, his tone carefully nonchalant.

  “Come along. We’ll see if we can’t find something to tide you over until dinner.”

  * * *

  Cade and Jenks whiled away some time walking the decks and looking at the passing scenery. Around six, he went to wake Lilly, figuring she would need the better part of an hour to ready herself for dinner.

  When he pushed open the door and stepped inside, he found her still asleep. Stripped to ruffled pantaloons and a lacy chemise, she lay on top of the pale green-and-white quilt, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, her wavy red hair loose and spread over the pristine whiteness of the pillow. Looking at the pretty picture she made, his irritation at being stuck with her dwindled. But not his curiosity.

  It hadn’t taken the agency long after hiring her to check into her past, and William had wasted no time passing that information on to Cade, the senior agent. They’d established that her mother had been killed by a lover when Lilly was a child, that Pierce Wainwright and his wife, Rose, had taken her in, and that she’d recently been married and even more recently filed for a divorce after the cad had stolen her savings and nearly killed Wainwright’s wife. Cade couldn’t say he blamed her. Nevertheless, it took a lot of spunk to fly in the face of convention in such an obvious way. The lady was definitely different from the norm, in many ways. He just wished he had more information. The last thing they needed were unexpected skeletons from her past popping up when least expected and undermining their whole operation.

  Since there’d been little time for her to wind down from her first assignment, he backed out the door. He’d let her sleep. Then, knowing full well that he was inviting complications to an already complex task, but at a loss at how to handle the situation with Jenks, Cade paid the boy’s way to New Orleans.

  After delivering a dinner plate to Lilly’s stateroom for when she awakened, he sauntered into the main cabin and joined a friendly game of cards.

  Contrary to public conjecture, riverboats were not floating casinos inhabited by professional gamblers. The thought that polite society and reputable captains would condone such questionable behavior was ridiculous. While games of chance were common, for the most part they were an enjoyable way for the gentlemen onboard to pass the time, and it was common to see women included. Like any game, the stakes could get high on occasion, and there was the chance of a few gamblers making a trip now and again.

  After playing a hand or two, Cade left the game and went on deck to check on Jenks. He was surprised to see that the boy had obeyed him for once and was sound asleep in an empty deck chair.

  Cade took off his jacket and laid it over the child, then settled into the chair next to the boy. He crossed his arms over his chest to ward off the chilly nighttime air and closed his eyes. His last coherent thought was to wonder if Lilly was still sleeping and what her reaction would be to young Robert Jenkins.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lilly awakened with that heavy lethargy that came from sleeping too long, too hard. She covered a wide yawn and slanted a look at the light coming in through the high window, then swung her legs to the edge of the bed and stood. The engines throbbed, and though the floor was very steady, she was not unaware of the sensation of movement beneath her feet. A glance at the small watch pinned to the front of the traveling jacket she’d slung over the back of the chair confirmed that she’d slept away the entire afternoon. Why, it was almost eight! Why hadn’t Cade tried to wake her?

  It was then that she noticed the tray sitting on the small side table. He must have had someone bring her dinner while she was sleeping. A crystal stemmed glass with the Anchor insignia etched into its side stood next to a china plate with the same logo at the edge.

  She lifted the silver cover and saw her dinner—chicken, potatoes, and fresh green beans. Her stomach growled, reminding her that it had been hours since she’d eaten. She picked up the fork and was about to lift a bite of potatoes to her mouth when the sound of a knock and the simultaneous grating of the key in the lock stopped her.

  Cade stood in the doorway, his black hair slightly mussed and a day’s growth of beard shadowing his lean cheeks. A raggedy, wide-eyed boy stood behind him, craning his neck to see into the room. Becoming aware of her state of undress, she snatched up the wrapper lying on the foot of the bed and slipped it on.

  “I wouldn’t eat that if I were you,” Cade warned. “It might have gone bad since last night.”

  “Last night?”

  “It’s morning.”

  “Morning!” she cried, glancing up at the window again. The brighter sunshine said that it was indeed eight in the morning, instead of eight at night, when it would be much darker.

  “I came to wake you for dinner, but you were sleeping so soundly I didn’t have the heart to rouse you. I brought you the plate, but it can’t be fit to eat by now.”

  She pushed the tangled hair away from her face. The boy watched her every movement as carefully as she watched his. “I must have been more tired than I thought.”

  “Evidently.”

  “Who’s your friend?” she asked, since it appeared Cade had forgotten the child.

  He stepped more fully into the room, taking the boy by the shoulder and propelling him inside. He offered Lilly a wry smile. “Since he is too old to be the son we have always longed for, I suppose he will have to be my younger brother.”

  “What?” Clearly her head was still sleep muddled, since the comment made no sense.

  An ironic smile hiked one corner of her partner’s mustache. “Jenks, this is my colleague, Miss Long. Lilly, meet Robert Jenkins. Better known on the streets as Jenks.”

  She eyed the child’s scruffy attire and the dirt on his narrow face. “You know him?” she asked, somewhat aghast at the notion.

  “Unfortunately.”

  The boy sketched a cocky bow, as if she were royalty and he didn’t really give a rat’s behind. “Ma’am.”

  Lilly inclined her head in dubious acknowledgment. “Robert.”

  “It ain’t Robert; it’s Jenks,” the boy corrected. “I ain’t been Robert since . . . well, since my mum . . . went away.”

  The child was definitely of Irish lineage. Even more apparent was the fact that he needed some parental guidance.

  “Don
’t be so brassy when you speak to the lady,” Cade told him. He scowled at the boy but spoke to Lilly. “Ever since we left Chicago, I’ve had the feeling we were being watched. And then yesterday afternoon I spotted him, but he got away. After I got you settled in, he became a bit careless and I nabbed him smack dab in the middle of a whisk.”

  “A whisk?” she asked, slanting a glance at the young ruffian.

  “He was about to relieve a poor, unsuspecting gentleman of his money.”

  Jenks pushed out his chest in pride. “I’d figgered out the swell’s wallet was in his left kick, don’t cha know.”

  “That would be his left pocket,” Cade explained.

  “And how is it that you know what a left kick is?” she asked, her eyes wide with astonishment.

  “Let’s just say that Jenks’s childhood is running parallel to mine.”

  Her eyes widened. “You were a pickpocket as a child?” she screeched.

  “I’d have cut the president’s throat if it would’ve meant food for my sisters and brothers,” Cade said without a hint of apology.

  Shocked and frowning, she looked from one male to the other. “How is it then that you rose above your . . . upbringing and became a man who enforces the law?”

  “As I said once before, you ask too many questions.” His lips twisted into another of those acerbic smiles, but he added, “The good sisters did a first-rate job of convincing me I was headed straight for hell, so I went from stealing to battering other people senseless in a boxing ring to make a bit o’ change.”

  It was the most he’d ever talked about his past, and Lilly suspected he wouldn’t tell her much more. She decided to change the subject. “So he”—she glanced at the boy standing next to Cade—“has been following us all this time?”

  “So it seems.”

  “How?”

  With the assurance and worldliness of a much older person, Jenks moved past Cade and began to meander around the small cabin, touching the richness of the appointments.

  “Don’t even think of it,” Cade warned.

  The boy replied with an impudent grin. “Weren’t hard. I had a bit o’ money McShane left for me, but not enough to buy a ticket an’ food, so I hopped one of the freight cars when you two left Chicago and I slipped onboard this tub right behind ya, I did.”

  Somewhat unnerved by the offhanded manner in which a mere child related how he’d followed them for hundreds of miles, Lilly shifted her gaze from the boy to Cade. “What do you propose we do with him?”

  “He’ll have to come with us. I can’t just put him ashore at the next stop. Besides, I’ve already paid his fare.”

  “We can’t take a child with us on an assignment. It would complicate things, and we will not have time to care for him. I suggest that when we stop next, we buy him a ticket back to Chicago.”

  “I won’t go.” Jenks glared up at her. “And I’m all paid up to New Orleans. Besides, I don’t need nobody to take care of me.”

  Cade was familiar with the boy’s tone. “Steady there, lad,” he said in a soothing voice, turning the boy to face him. “If you listen well and promise to do as I say, I’m sure we can work this out to everyone’s satisfaction.”

  Lilly’s arms were folded across her chest and she was regarding him with raised eyebrows.

  “I told you Miss Long is my colleague. The truth of the matter is that we are traveling to New Orleans as a married couple to work a case.”

  She gestured toward the boy. “He knows what you do?” she asked, shocked.

  “He does.”

  Jenks glared at Lilly and said, “I know more about him than you do, I’ll wager.” To Cade, he said, “What kind of case? Whatever it is, I can help.”

  “No doubt you’ll get a chance to help. Lilly and I will be posing as Bran and Brona Sullivan.” He gave him a sketchy overview of what they’d be doing. “You will be my little brother, Robbie.” Cade was hoping the child would agree to go back to being called by the name he’d once confessed his mother had called him. “I think we should start getting used to calling each other by our new names.”

  “Robbie Sullivan, eh?” Jenks squared his shoulders, raised his pointed chin into the air, and looked at Lilly down his narrow nose. Then he swaggered toward Cade with a self-satisfied grin. “Bloody good, McShane. If that don’t make me a huckleberry above a persimmon, nothing will!”

  Lilly gasped at hearing the curse word coming from the child’s lips.

  “Oh,” the boy crooned with an impish grin. “Brona don’t like little Robbie, Bran.”

  “I don’t know you,” she snapped, resisting the urge to grind her teeth. “Suffice it to say that I am a bit taken aback by your unexpected arrival. But I do know that you should not be cursing like a grown man, and if you are to be in my—our—care, you can be sure that as your big sister I will wash out your mouth with soap if you do it in front of me.”

  To her surprise, Cade smiled. “She’s right, Robbie,” he said, taking the boy by the shoulders. “Listen, lad. We’re a team. You, me, and Brona. We’ve a job to do, and we can’t give it our best if we don’t work together. It is very important that you don’t take it upon yourself to meddle in our affairs, and it is imperative that you do as I tell you and that you mind Lilly, just as you do Meagan when you’re with Seamus. If you don’t, I will personally take you back to Chicago and leave you with the nuns. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Aye,” the boy said, hearing the explicit warning in Cade’s voice.

  “Then let’s shake on it.” They shook hands all around. “You might be interested to know that Brona has asked that I teach her how to defend herself on the street.”

  The child’s eyes bugged in disbelief. “You’re joshing me.”

  “Would that I were. I’m sure that there are things you can teach her that might come in handy, too. There will be plenty for you to do.”

  He gave Lilly a considering look. “I might be willin’ to pass on a trick or two if you think she can take it.”

  “She can take it,” Cade assured the boy. “She’s pretty tough for a colleen.”

  Despite his use of the hated name, Lilly could not find it in herself to chastise him. It promised to be a long few weeks, and when it came to her association with Cadence McShane, she doubted Robbie Jenkins would be the only thing she’d have to deal with.

  CHAPTER 6

  Dressed in a plain white blouse and the olive-hued skirt she’d worn for one of her interviews with the Pinkertons, Lilly, now fully invested as the character of Brona, along with her two male escorts, left behind the wonderful time aboard the Belle of Memphis.

  After days of hearing nothing but the thrashing of the paddle wheels, feeling the lift and fall of the boat, and seeing the lush landscape along the Mississippi slip by, the raucous activity at the Canal Street wharf was somewhat grating. The smell was unpleasant as well, she thought, hoping the shallow breaths she took would lessen the sickening odor of decaying fish and vegetation and God knew what else that hung in the humid atmosphere. The heavy air seemed too moisture-laden to even breathe, though they were still weeks from the oppressive heat of summer. But despite the uncommon trials associated with her arrival, she could not in truth say the ordeal lacked interest.

  Since this was the Belle’s maiden voyage, the curiosity seekers were out in full force. Inquisitive about the engines and eager to reconnect with friends and hear the latest gossip, well-dressed men made their way onboard while their feminine counterparts wandered along the dock, discreetly studying the ladies who disembarked. Fancy buggies waited to take fares to the local hotels.

  Robbie stood at the railing, an expression of longing on his face as he watched children running and playing among the stacks of new wagon wheels and grain-filled tow sacks, and between the dark, sweating roustabouts unloading barrels and crates of merchandise. When the wagons were loaded, they would take the goods into town to distribute among various merchants. Seeing the wistful look on his face, Lilly wondered
if the boy had ever had the opportunity to partake of the simple pleasures of childhood. If he’d ever had a real friend until Cade.

  Cade whistled for a cab and Robbie’s attention darted back to his mentor. The yearning gaze she’d seen in his dark eyes had been replaced with one of studied nonchalance as Cade assisted them into the buggy, helped load their trunks, and climbed in himself, instructing the driver to take them to the nearest telegraph office.

  The diversity of the city was fascinating, Lilly thought as they made their way to the Louisiana Telegraph Company. The architecture, wrought-iron fencing, and aboveground sepulchers were things she could look at indefinitely. She glanced at Robbie, who she’d learned was ten, though he often seemed as jaded as someone three times that age. Caught up in the sights and sounds, he was unable to squelch his excitement. Cade’s face showed no marked emotion, but as usual, she had the impression that he was taking in every sight, noise, and nuance around him, something she had yet to learn.

  The telegraph office was situated near the railroad depot, a practice that had been in place since someone noted that the two activities complemented each other. Most telegraph companies strung their lines along railroad rights-of-way, and when, for whatever reason, it became necessary to deviate, the lines followed established stagecoach routes.

  She watched as Cade disappeared through the door of the telegraph office. As befitting his new station in life, he was dressed in heavy work boots, brown twill trousers with braces, and a white collarless shirt. A cloth cap with a bill sat atop his dark hair. She had to admit he looked every inch the young Irish worker.

  While he sent news to William of their arrival and the new addition to their “family,” Lilly wondered again about the relationship between her partner and the boy. He’d assuaged part of her curiosity, explaining that the two had met at pivotal times in each other’s lives, and that the child had become a bit possessive, which was natural since he had no family of his own. So far, she hadn’t developed enough spine to question either of them about that time in any detail. When she’d asked Cade if William Pinkerton knew Robbie, he informed her curtly that the two had met.