Herman was engrossed with her words. Sara and Lisa listened politely. And Jacob and Gregory seemed to hang on to Deborah's every word. Gregory with the enthusiasm of the delightful child he was, Jacob with the starstruck eyes of a besotted puppy.
Really, thought Robin angrily, in one of her weaker moments during the meal. Must all men react in that same, charmed way when confronted with a woman such as Deborah Rankin? Young and old, she seemed to have them bewitched. Robin scolded herself silently for sinking into a bout of old-fashioned jealousy. Had Laura, too, possessed that unmistakable female charm?
No one mentioned the hunt that had gone on for Robin the evening before, for which she was grateful. She did not want to broadcast her fears or her interpretations of the incident, and was glad that she didn't have to answer any difficult questions in public. Alex had evidently satisfied their curiosity at some point and had commanded the subject dropped.
When the luncheon things were finally cleared up and the group began to disperse for their afternoon plans, Robin and Sara started out in the jeep for a trip into town and a visit to the doctor. Sara was hoping fervently that his diagnosis on this checkup would mean that the time to move her burdensome cast had come.
She chattered endlessly as they drove to his office, a white clapboard building on the main street in town.
Robin left Sara in the cozy waiting room with a jolly, round-faced nurse and a handful of other local patients, planning to do some errands while they were in town.
"Don't hurry," Sara said with a smile. "When I'm done I'll stop over at the coffee shop and see who's around. I guess the time has come for me to think about finally making some friend who are my own age, don't you think?"
"I'm all for it." Robin said happily, proud of the dark-haired girl, who was trying so hard to forget her recent disappointment in her relationship with the hand from the ranch. "I'll meet you over there when I'm all done then."
She made the rounds of the local shops: the grocery store, drugstore, five-and-ten cent variety store, storing her bundles in the jeep. Her purchases made, she consulted her watch and was relieved to find that she had made good time and still had a few minutes to spare.
She had one more errand on her agenda, and its time had come. She took a determined breath, and started off down the street, turning up the walk that led to a house that she had visited once before. She knocked on the wooden door, and very soon was looking once again into the aged but wise face of the retired Ridley housekeeper, Mrs. Manchester.
"Why if it isn't Robin from the ranch. Come in, my dear, and I'll put on the teakettle."
Robin followed the apron-clad figure into the kitchen, and perched herself at the table of the sunlit room as Mrs. Manchester puttered about with teacups and spoons and saucers.
"I've been hoping I'd see you soon, Robin. It's been weeks and weeks since your last visit and I must admit I've been as curious as a kitten about what has been going on at the ranch. At my age, I don't get out much, and the trip out to visit can be tiring."
"Of course, Mrs. Manchester. I haven't been into town too terribly much myself. And things haven't exactly been calm at the ranch..."
Robin told the woman the whole story of the things that had occurred since her last visit to the retired housekeeper's home. The old eyes snapped sharply a bit at hearing of the jeep accident, of Sara's injury in the stall, of the radio placed maliciously in the pool. But she took all of the information in with a look of considerable concentration, nodding occasionally, and sometimes injecting a question as the tale went on.
The visit was an enlightening one, from several points of view. Deborah had been in town a few weeks before. Many folks had seen her car, and had recognized her, but her visit had not been a long one, and as far as Mrs. Manchester knew (and she prided herself on knowing much of what went on in Hamilton, Montana), no one had heard of the reason for her visit. No one had claimed to know where she had gone or who she had spoken to. She disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived.
After a few more short questions, Robin was relieved to hear that to the best of Mrs. Manchester's knowledge. Herman and Lisa had not been seen at any time prior to their arrival at the ranch. Robin felt as though a nagging worry had been lifted from her shoulders at that. It had bothered her horribly to think that her cousin, whom she truly cared about, could have been involved in n'some way with this unexplained visit by Deborah.
She went over the details of Laura's death once again with the housekeeper, refreshing her memory and listening with rapt attention for any miniscule fact that might not have concurred with the versions that she had heard before.
Mrs. Manchester, even though well up in her years, had a sharp and clear memory, but she could glean no new information.
Robin finished sipping the refreshing tea and, after bidding farewell to Mrs. Manchester, with a promise to keep in touch, hurried down the block to the coffee shop to meet Sara.
There was a lively chatter in the air as Robin opened the door of the luncheonette. Two large fans rotated overhead, stirring the hot summer air slightly, taking the edge off the heat of the day. A jukebox piping out the latest popular dance number, its beat lively, created a happy atmosphere of noise and activity. There were a handful of couples in the booths that lined the walls, two elderly ladies resting from a shopping spree, a middle-aged couple deep in conversation, two cowboys hoisting large mugs of ice-cold soda to quench their thirst from long hours on the range.
In the back corner booth was a sight that gladdened Robin's eyes. Sara sat with a group of lively teenagers, their laughs and lighthearted voices ringing occasionally over the music pouring out of the jukebox. There were two boys and three girls, all approximately Sara's age, obviously enjoying each other's company as they enjoyed crispy French fries and cola. Sara seemed so natural, so alive.
"Hi. Robin," her voice rang out as she caught sight of Robin in the doorway. "Come on over!"
She met the group gaily. Tom, Steve, Carol, and Heather, all local teenagers who had met here for a short afternoon break before getting back to their various summer jobs. Carol and Heather worked part-time in a local shop. Steve made deliveries for the drugstore, and Tom helped out the manager of the auto service station at the far end of the town. Sara had been determined to meet and get along with the teens from town, and she was doing well.
Robin was thoughtful as Sara made her goodbyes, promising to return to town another afternoon to rejoin her newfound friends. Her face was radiant and happy as she climbed into the waiting jeep.
Had the time come for people to forget the past? Or had the worries about being unaccepted been fostered more in the minds of the Ridleys themselves?
What would the emergence of the truth do to the situation?
Perhaps the past was better left as it was, dead and buried, or at least ignored. After all, just who would be found to be the culprit?
Robin looked over at Sara, who was riding peacefully beside her, preoccupied with her own thoughts, but wearing a happy little smile, and still humming the refrain of the tune that had filled the air at the coffee shop.
Please, Robin said in a silent prayer. Let her still be humming when the truth comes out.
Chapter 15
Robin took a refreshing bath before the dinner hour, washing her long blond hair and brushing it until it glistened. She slipped into a colorful flowered dress and a pair of perky sandals. The thought of constantly facing Deborah's extensive wardrobe and dramatic makeup made her more conscious of her own appearance, and made the thought of facing the group across the dinner table in her usual casual attire not appealing.
She wasn't one to fuss over her appearance, but, as she ran the brush through her shiny hair once more and gave a quick check in the mirror, seeing her glowing complexion—with its creamy tan—and the brightness of her dress, she felt assured and confident about herself.
She would never look like a cover girl on a magazine, or catch everyone's eye as Deborah did with her tre
mendously glamorous looks, but she was a healthy, attractive young woman, and she had no intention of trying to be other than herself.
Deborah monopolized the conversation at the table, as was becoming the pattern at meals, and after losing an interest in the woman's endless monologue about the mysteries of South America and the luxuriousness of the Riviera, Robin slipped into her own thoughts, noticing that Alex, Herman, and Jacob seemed to be hanging on every word they heard.
Had Laura really been involved with another man here around the ranch?
Robin looked at Alex's proud profile across the table, his wavy, full hair, the straightness and strength or his wide shoulders. It was difficult to believe that a woman would care for someone else... and yet? Mrs. Manchester was definitely not the type of woman to be prone to imaginings or exaggeration. And she had been sure.
What did Robin know about Laura, anyway? She had heard bits and pieces from everyone over the course of the weeks, and she had put them together in her own head to make a composite of a woman she had never even known.
She had been beautiful... dark... like Deborah? But because Laura happened to sound like a description of Deborah, Robin could not jump to conclusions and assume that her personality also matched, She had come from the east. Loved money. Loved excitement... she had been unhappy on the ranch.
For Robin, who had fallen in love with the peace and beauty of these open spaces, it was difficult to imagine. And yet, for someone who was attracted to those exotic far-off places—the places Deborah spoke so romantically about—the ranch would probably seem a confining and secluded spot.
Deborah and Laura had been friends. For how long? Robin wondered. What type of friendship had they had? Was there jealousy, resentment? Laura resenting Deborah's freedom and travel and excitement ? Deborah resenting Laura's handsome husband and secure financial position? Because it was obvious that Deborah found Alex attractive.
The thought churned around in Robin's stomach. Did he return the feeling? Would they marry someday? Would Alex remain at the ranch that he loved so well, Deborah giving up her world-wide tours, or would he, as Deborah had once suggested in conversation, sell the ranch and move to a city where he would work in an office and accumulate more "financial success?"
Either alternative made Robin mentally object. The idea of Alex and Deborah together was something that would never sound right.
Robin turned her mind back to Laura. If she had been involved with someone associated with the ranch, as Mrs. Manchester was suggesting, would it be difficult to discover who the person was? One of the ranch hands? Duke? Mac? Both handsome and virile in their own way, though Mac would have been a few years younger at the time of Laura's death. Still, stranger things had been known to happen. And in the house? The only man at the time had been Herman, and Robin's mind revolted at the idea of her cousin being involved with his dear friend's wife. Yet Herman seemed enthralled with Deborah, her stories and her attractive, flirting eyes. Lisa sat quietly by, never reacting, never seeming to notice the way her husband seemed to glow under the glamorous woman's attention.
But did Lisa mind? Had Herman reacted the same way to Laura? And had Lisa finally quietly, violently, objected? The thought was repulsive to Robin, unreal. She had never seen Lisa on a horse. For all she knew, the woman hadn't ridden in all of her life. She definitely did not seem the type to smash someone's head with a rock.
The table was being cleared away, and Robin quietly got up to help. She was glad the meal was over, glad to get away from both the group and her own thoughts. She was making her mind face any hypothesis about what had happened when Laura died, but the process was a painful and ugly one.
She retired to the clatter of the kitchen and assisted Cook as she scurried around cleaning up for the night.
Robin's dreams that night were unsettling ones. She tossed and turned relentlessly, drifting off to an uneasy sleep only to be awakened by an unhappy dream. The thoughts of the past few days raced through her tired mind, over and over again. She imagined, she hypothesized, she tried to make sense out of the facts that she knew about the happenings on the ranch, she dreamed about the different people involved, awakening constantly with a clammy, uncomfortable feeling all over.
She relived her accident in the jeep. She remembered the moment long ago when she had been so frightened by Sara and Devil on the prairie. Visions of Deborah, her face determined and angry as it had been when she had warned Robin of her intentions with Alex, danced before her, taunted her.
She even dreamed of Alex, his face relaxed in one of those rare moments of communication that had come to mean so much for her. But that dream, though happy in nature, only brought her pain and anxiety in the dark of the night. Because it was followed by the vision of him walking evenly across the yard, Deborah on his arm, the sound of her gay laugh drifting across to the kitchen window. The feelings that Robin had for Alex were going to have to be kept in check. It was pretty obvious that Robin did not belong in that picture, and the thought of that through the numbness of fatigue and attempted sleep was a painful one. But the next few days were routine.
She awoke extremely early one morning the next week, long before the alarm on the table next to her bed had had a chance to ring. She glanced at it through the first rays of daylight. Five. Her muscles and body felt tight and even more tired than they had been the evening before. Her spirits were low, a condition that she was not prone to, even in times of stress.
Glancing out the large window, she found the view did not help her mood.
The sun was not at all visible in the eastern sky. The entire panorama was gray in color, as if a huge cloud had totally descended on all of Montana. The air was hot and dry, and amazingly still. The lack of sunlight made the prairie beyond the house look colorless and barren. Cloudy days were a fairly rare thing for this time of year, and Robin was dismayed to see that nature had picked this particular day to change the scenery. Her mood being what it was already, she would have loved to be cheered a little by the promise of sun.
She sighed in a resigned way and slipped from under the covers, rubbing eyes that were still scratchy from lack of sleep. She padded across the carpeted floor in her bare feet to her bathroom and, within a few short minutes, was enjoying the cascade of the shower.
When she was dressed and more awake, her mood seemed to brighten a bit, even if the day outside did not.
Would there be a storm? The stillness outside did not seem to point to that fact, but the cloudiness was certainly suspicious. The calm before the storm, perhaps?
Chapter 16
The day progressed much as usual, despite the grayness of the sky. Robin finished her tasks shortly after lunch, heaving a sigh of tired relief and looking forward to a quiet, restful afternoon to make up for her scanty sleep. The group dispersed for their various activities, Alex back to the ranch office to work, Herman, Lisa, Deborah, and Jacob to the study for a round of cards. Robin watched Jacob's puppylike stares as he gazed at Deborah, enamored by her beauty and sophistication. It was a shame, she thought, for the seventeen-year-old to have developed such a crush, but probably far from unusual.
Sara was meeting her new friends from town in the coffee shop after lunch, and her tanned face beamed with excitement at the thought of it.
"They are such nice kids, Robin," she chattered in the kitchen before she took off in the jeep. "They are so full of fun, and so natural, and, well, they even seem like they like me!"
Robin laughed and gave Sara a hug.
"They'd be fools not to, Sara Ridley. You are a very marvelous young person, and I have a feeling that there are going to be more and more people who begin to see that if you give them half a chance. Run along now and have a fantastic time. Just be back for dinner. We certainly don't need a repeat of the scene when I was missing."
Sara gave her a knowing smile. "Thank heaven it worked out okay. By the way, could you do me a favor sometime this afternoon? Devil seemed to have a sore hoof when I brought him in
from our run this morning."
Since she had had her cast removed. Sara and Devil had been a familiar sight coming and going from the stable. She had been taking it easy, compared to her usual bouts of hard riding, but the two had already spent hours on the range, making up for the lost time, so to speak. Riding a horse, for Sara, was as natural as breathing to most other folks.
"I checked his hoof and leg and couldn't see any problem at all, so I thought I'd let him settle down for a few hours after I rubbed him down. I think he was just suffering a minor cramp or something, but I was wondering if you would take a look at him and make sure he looks like he's back in good shape."
Sara ran a hand through her shiny hair, freshly brushed and gleaming. She was wearing a neatly fitting pair of rose-colored jeans and vest.
"I'm not exactly dressed for the stable..."
Robin gave an understanding smile, wondering suddenly, which of Sara's newfound friends had especially caught her eye. A friendly, natural young boyfriend was just what she needed!
"Sure. Sara, I'll be glad to check Devil over. If I see any trace of a limp remaining, I'll call the vet and have him stop by on his rounds tomorrow to see what he can do. Now you hit the road before your friends wonder what has happened to you."
She was gone, whistling as she left by the front door, and Robin heard the sound of the jeep engine as it started up in the drive.
Still longing for the nap she had promised herself, she decided to go out immediately to the stable to check on the proud black horse. If what Sara had said was true, the horse was probably back in tiptop shape, and in a very short while, Robin would be able to collapse on her comfortable bed and close her tired eyes.
The corral was empty and quiet as she approached the stable. The air was still heavy, and there was not a sound of human life in sight.
Season of Fear Page 11
