by Jo Noelle
Kailin finally sat up with a smile.
“Rayna’s too young to travel that far with your aunt and uncle, and she’d be in the way in this kind of a move,” Pa finished.
“And illness is a concern,” Ma added softly.
Pa didn’t reply but clenched his jaw and nodded. Then he said, “Let’s have supper.”
Ellis and Eliza exchanged looks that seemed to give them confidence, which Eliza was sure she had little of right now.
3
KC Murray
On Sunday afternoon, KC stood at the front door of his new employer—sort-of employer. This might have been the worst idea for being incognito he’d ever had for an investigation. He’d already been hired by Mortimer Jackson to do deliveries for the mercantile, leaving him plenty of time to snoop around, but when an opportunity to be closer to Miss Turley came up, he had jumped at the chance—without thinking. And oh, his pulse had raced when he got the job.
He had stumbled upon being in the exact place where he wanted to be. He needed to find out what E. Turley knew—after he found out who E. Turley was.
He lifted his hand to knock, but Mr. Turley walked around the corner and onto the porch.
“Let’s start in the barn. You can meet my son. Then we’ll go in for dinner. Bring your horse and donkey.”
What? KC spun on his heels. Sure enough, the silver reins from MayBelle’s halter were tied around Merlin’s saddle horn. Her mouth was wide open in a toothy grin. Some private investigator I am. I’ve got a donkey following me around and didn’t even notice. She trotted to where KC stood, leading his horse behind her.
“That’s a well-trained, obedient animal right there,” Mr. Turley commented and then walked to the barn.
KC smiled, but under his breath, he said to MayBelle, “We both know that isn’t true.” The donkey pranced beside him to the door.
“Ellis, this is Mr. Murray. Show him around.” Mr. Turley turned to walk out. “Supper’s on. Come in when you’re done.”
KC followed Ellis around the stalls and tack room. “You’ll bunk up there,” Ellis said, pointing to the loft.
After he settled his animals, KC walked to the backdoor of the house and scraped his boots on the metal bar. His heart pounded, anticipating seeing Eliza again. He shook his head. What was he doing? He was spending time with a family who might be in harm’s way, getting to know them, and offering some kind of protection while the parents were gone. That was the sensible reason he told himself. Deep in his mind, he also said that he hoped the beautiful woman he’d met wanted to get to know him better, too.
Before he knocked, a girl in her early teens opened the door. “Come on in. We’re just sitting down.” She pointed to the chair nearest the door next to Ellis and across from Eliza. The parents sat on the ends, and the girl took the last seat. “I’m Kailin,” she said as she dropped into the chair.
Grace was said, and plates of food were passed. “Where are you from, Mr. Murray?” Mr. Turley asked.
KC spent so much time incognito that he had found it was better to stay as close to the truth as possible. “California.”
“What a romantic place,” Kailin said. “Don’t you think so, Eliza?”
Eliza didn’t answer, but her cheeks flushed. KC felt the whole family stiffen at Kailin’s remark. All except Ellis, who avoided eye contact and dipped his head. KC wasn’t sure, but the man seemed to enjoy the comment.
“I’ve heard the weather is very nice in California,” Mrs. Turley commented. “Yes, very nice.” Her voice sounded a little strained, and KC noticed she stared pointedly at Kailin.
“Are you married?” Kailin asked, undeterred.
KC choked a bit on his drink and set it down on the table.
Mrs. Turley put her spoon down. “What she meant to ask was, do you have family?”
Answering either question was difficult. His family—both parents—had died when a bandit entered their home, shooting them. KC had arrived home later and found them. That was what had propelled him to join the agency. And the first question—well, he’d likely never marry in his line of work. He wasn’t in a place long enough to court.
“No. I don’t have a family. I’ve been on my own for quite a while.”
For the first time since he sat down for the meal, Eliza’s face tipped up, and her eyes connected with his. He wondered if he saw compassion in her gaze.
The family began eating again, then Kailin piped up. “Do you want to have a family?”
Ellis barked out a laugh, and Mrs. Turley said, “What she meant is . . . well, there’s no way to make that one better. Just ignore the question.” To Kailin, she said, “You’ll eat now, and no more questions. Understood?”
“Yes, Mother.” KC noticed that Kailin’s face seemed sincere, but by the way she blinked repeatedly, he doubted that she would stop.
The family ate in silence. KC was glad for the respite until Kailin got a broad smile and said, “Eliza isn’t engaged anymore.”
Mr. Turley spoke up. “You’re finished with your dinner, Kailin. You may be excused.”
“But it wasn’t a question.”
Ellis laughed out loud, and Eliza turned as red as a beet. KC thought he might be red, too.
“I’ll be up to talk with you later, Kailin.” Mr. Turley picked up his fried chicken and took a determined bite.
“Will I get pie?” Kailin asked while standing in the doorway.
“No,” rang from both ends of the table. “Sorry,” Mr. Turley said.
“Enjoy your dinner,” Mrs. Turley added.
After dinner, KC helped Ellis with the evening milking.
KC settled beside a cow Ellis had introduced to him as Fancy. As he began milking, he asked, “How long has your family been homesteading?”
“Five years last summer. Pa owns this land now. Uncle Ted came at the same time, and he’s all proved up too. I guess my folks have dreams of having their family stay around them ’cause in a couple of weeks, Eliza and I turn twenty-one, and we’ll each file for another one hundred sixty acres that abut the first two.”
KC whistled. “That’s over seven hundred acres between you. I guess you can double your operation, then.” He admitted that having a large family around would make for happy times. The comfort of that kind of arrangement tugged at his heart.
“That’s the idea. My pa’s going back to Texas to see about his other brother. He’s got some kind of paralysis developing. Pa’s hoping to bring him out with his kids and pick up enough acreage to support that big of a family. Several of them can file for land, too.”
“Are there enough tracts of land near here to have you all together?”
“There are right now.” KC thought Ellis’s voice sounded uncertain. “The Turleys are going to fill up this little valley quick like.”
The conversation lulled with only the sound of cows chewing and the shish-shish of milk hitting the tin buckets to fill the silence. KC wondered how to turn their conversation toward the homestead mysteries.
That’s when Ellis spoke up again. “I reckon you should know. We aren’t sure, but it seems there could be someone threatening the homesteaders—well, some of them.”
“Have you been threatened?”
“No. But we’re going to stay alert. It’s a bad time for Pa and Uncle Ted to leave. They’ve been putting it off, and now they have to go. You might be needed for more than farm work.”
“Tell me what to look out for. What happened to the others?”
“The rumor about the first one was that there were threats made against those settlers, so they sold and moved. It didn’t seem suspicious at the time since we didn’t know if it was true, but now it does. The second homesteader suffered a house fire that also took the barn and fields. Fires don’t normally skip around like that. We all think several fires were started at once.”
“Any others?” KC thought with even just those two, it seemed suspicious. Eliza was right that there might be someone behind all this.
> “The third one was a big surprise—happened a week ago. The man who had set up on that land was as mean as a rattler—they called him Bad Egg Baldwin. He started fights in town, yelled at anyone who watered their horses at a pond near his property line, swore at people who crossed the street in front of his wagon, and made sure everyone in Creede knew he’d never sell. It seemed likely that the man could have died in any variety of ways by the number of enemies he was racking up.”
“Was he killed?” KC asked.
“Not that we know of. He had talked about receiving threats and putting out a fire on his place. One day, he was gone and hasn’t been seen since. Legal papers came, saying he sold.” Ellis removed the bucket from under his cow and set it on a table. Then he went to the head of the animal and untied the lead rope. “I don’t believe he sold it. I’m not sure he’s still alive, either.”
KC finished milking Fancy and led her out the barn door.
Ellis came to stand beside KC. “I’ll ask you to watch out for my sister, too. She’s taken it in mind to find out what’s happening. She goes out investigating—alone. I caught her coming back in the other night.” Ellis looked him straight in the eye. “Anything could happen. She’s tough, but things have happened before.”
KC nodded his understanding, and the two men separated ways.
That night in the barn, KC settled down on the hayloft and spread his bedroll. He pulled out his notebook and wrote up what he knew so far. One—there were three homesteads that had been sold suddenly. He’d have to find out where they were and take a look.
Two—he’d have to find out who bought them as well. It was always a good idea to follow the money.”
Three—KC learned that Ellis’s twin sister, Eliza, was the letter writer, the one who’d been spying on her own house. He still wondered why, but he thought she was seeing if the coast was clear to sneak back home.
Four—Eliza Turley intrigued him. By snooping around, she put herself in a windstorm of danger, and being around him made that a tornado. He told himself that he would have to stick close to protect her.
He’d just arranged his guns and ammo near the head of the bedroll when the donkey brayed below him, and the angel appeared, standing in the loft by the ladder that led back down.
KC tucked the last knife under his blanket and said, “You’re my guardian angel, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Would you say that guarding me is your job?”
“Maybe.” He drawled out the word.
“But you let me tackle that woman out of her saddle?”
The angel shrugged his shoulders and then picked up a piece of straw and stuck it in his mouth.
“If I’d sneaked up on an outlaw, there could have been a different outcome ending in my death.”
“Rein in your horses there. You ain’t that dumb or inept. Neither am I. I ain’t lost one yet.”
The donkey brayed and stamped her hooves.
“Well, of course I remember that man, MayBelle,” the prospector said. Then he faced KC. “There was one feller who slipped into the frozen lake. He weren’t right after that.” He shook his head slowly, sadly. Then in an aside to the donkey, he said, “But he ain’t dead.”
KC wondered if everyone the angel looked in on had a terrible near-death. “You knew I was sneaking up on a woman, didn’t you?” The old miner looked as if he was holding back a laugh. Guilty. “Well, you could have warned me.”
“Yeah . . . ” The prospector laughed so hard he couldn’t talk for a moment. “Yeah, I coulda.” The donkey snickered. “Glad I didn’t, though.” He laughed again. “In my mind, I just keep seeing you spring onto that woman,” His hand shot forward through the air. He doubled over, and the donkey threw its head upward and brayed. The miner turned toward the donkey. “I agree with you, MayBelle. This one’s gonna be fun, ain’t it?”
He walked to the top of the ladder, then turned back toward KC. “Eliza isn’t engaged anymore. Ha!” He laughed and slapped his leg. “Don’t that beat all?”
“You gonna eavesdrop on all my conversations?”
The old prospector called down below. “Have we got anything better to do, MayBelle?” The donkey snorted out a long sigh. “There’s your answer. I think we’ll listen in for a spell.”
4
Eliza Turley
It had been nearly a week that KC had been working at the Turley ranch. Eliza had found him quite the distraction from the very first day. She watched him work, chopping firewood and stacking it on the back porch. He was a powerful man. His broad shoulders swung with the motion of the ax. His slim waist swiveled, winding up for the next swing. He carried the logs like they were feathers. Eliza watched from the kitchen window as she cleaned the dishes, then from the window near the dining table as she darned socks. The hair in the front of his face fell out of the queue that held the rest behind his neck. Oh, my!
KC was a fine example of masculine beauty. Lance had been handsome—hadn’t he? She couldn’t imagine so now. He paled by comparison in every way.
When there were no more socks with holes, she had to start on the chores that would take her outside. She hoed a few rows in the garden, fed and watered the chicks in the brooder pen, then gathered eggs from the hen house.
Eliza tucked the basket in the crook of her arm and walked out the gate of the chickens’ roosts, latching it behind her. She’d left her bread rising when she’d started the outdoor chores. She hoped her bread wasn’t too big, or she’d have to punch it down again and wait. She swung around the corner and ran face-first into—KC—again.
He smiled and said, “Our lips need to stop meeting like this.”
Eliza’s cheeks warmed. The first mistaken kiss was clearly his fault. This one might have been hers. “I didn’t mean . . . the corner was . . . I’m sorry I . . . That was a mistake.” She quickly looked around, hoping no one had seen it. Then she said, “That was not a kiss.”
“Are you sure? It seemed like it might have been.”
“Of course I’m sure. I think if I’d kissed you, I’d know it.”
“Yes, ma’am, you would have.” He doffed his hat at her and continued walking the way he’d been going.
Eliza checked her basket of eggs. They were fine. She, however, felt more than a few cracks in her chest with bursts of excitement. She bustled toward the back door. A few feet away, she stopped. What did he mean by that?
Curiosity bubbled up. How would it feel different if she meant to kiss him or for him to kiss her? Her stomach fluttered, but she shook it off. It was silly to think about such things. They hardly knew each other. Still, she recalled the strength in his arms as she watched him work. She sighed. She imagined she’d feel protected and warm in those arms.
Eliza made sopapillas for lunch with the ham and beans. The time had come and gone, and KC hadn’t come in to eat. Kailin and Rayna ate and went to collect asparagus from the banks along the stream. Ellis rode out to Dorothy’s house, and still, KC hadn’t come in. She’d waited to eat when he did, but maybe he wasn’t coming in today.
She sat on a chair and pulled a sopapilla to her plate, poking a hole in the top and dribbling a generous amount of honey inside. She rolled her eyes at the first bite of the doughy pillow, closing them as she savored the taste.
“I think I’d like to have a little of that, Eliza.”
She opened her eyes, and KC stood in the doorway. “I’m late, but if you don’t mind, I’ll eat with you.”
“I’d like that. Have a seat.” Eliza got up and filled a bowl with beans and turned to see KC casually sitting in the chair next to hers, one arm stretched over the back of her chair.
As she approached, he sat up and moved his arm. She felt a little disappointment—how silly she was being. “What brought you to Colorado, Mr. Murray?” she asked, setting the bowl in front of him.
“I wanted to see the Rocky Mountains. I heard so much about gold and silver, I thought I’d come take a look for myself.”
Eliza sat back down in her chair. “Do you want to be a prospector?” She liked eating a meal, just the two of them.
“I don’t think so, but I’m undecided about what to do at the moment.” He ate a bite. “These are good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve been such a help to our family. I’ve watched you working. To anyone else, it might look like you own the place. We’re blessed to have had you stop by the very day when we needed someone.”
“You watch me work?” KC’s spoon was suspended above his bowl, and his gaze was on her. The corner of his mouth tipped up at one corner.
Eliza couldn’t tell if he was happy or surprised. She didn’t know how to answer his question. “Yes,” would be the truth, but she couldn’t make herself say it.
KC’s arm went over the back of her chair again. He leaned close to her and looked at her lips. Oh, my. She felt like she was sitting next to the fireplace.
“You have a little …” His finger reached up and touched her chin. “… honey right here.” He smoothed it away.
Eliza could barely breathe. She sat very still as did KC. She could see him thinking, his eyes searching hers. He had implied that she would enjoy kissing him very much—at least that’s the way she’d decided to understand his earlier comment. There was no time like now. They were alone and likely to be for some time. She smiled softly at him, tipped up her chin a bit, and waited.
On Sunday before the church meeting, Eliza joined a group of women in the churchyard, catching just the last part of a conversation.
“They had proved up on their land just last week, and now they’ve sold and left,” Mrs. Shaw said.
“Who left?” Eliza asked.
“The Henshaw family. They lived over by Lake City. The Watkins Spice lady came by my place yesterday and told me about it. She said that half a dozen of her regular customers along this byway have just up and gone. Most of them even left all their furniture when they abandoned their homes.”
