Otto's Offer (Lockets And Lace Book 3)

by Zina Abbott

  “I ate in town before I came out here. This isn’t a social call. Have some questions for you.”

  Otto could hear footfalls and Henry’s heaving breaths as he rushed from the field to join the two.

  “Morning, Sheriff. Or, I guess it’s about afternoon, huh? You find that Warren Murray scoundrel yet?”

  “Depends. I’m here to talk to your brother.”

  “Oh. All right.” Put off by the sheriff’s response, Henry stepped away, but not so far he couldn’t hear what was said.

  The sheriff turned back to Otto. “Where have you been the last four days?”

  “Right here.”

  “Who can vouch for that?”

  “My brother, Henry, and Miss Jones.”

  The sheriff smirked. “Not what I’d call real reliable character witnesses. Probably would lie for you, push come to shove.”

  Otto directed a piercing glare at the sheriff. “Why would you say something like that? Far as I know, no one around here has any reason to call my character into question. Same for my brother and Miss Jones.”

  “I told you not to try to take the law into your own hands, Mr. Atwell. It’s up to me to determine whether or not you took my warning.”

  “Since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I can’t respond one way or another other than to say, again, I’ve been here working my farm and keeping an eye out to make sure Murray and his two cronies don’t come back.”

  Libby left the house and walked towards them until she stood next to Henry.

  The sheriff nodded to her then turned back to Otto. “You mean the two bushwhackers you claim rode into your place the same time this Warren Murray attempted to capture Miss Jones and steal her away? The same two men no one around the county has seen, except your two witnesses here?”

  Otto refused to look away from the sheriff’s stare. “I have no control over whether or not anyone else saw those men. All I know is what I told you the other day. They rode in, threatened us, we stood up to them, I shot the gun out of the hand of one of them, and they rode away. You can try to look for prints from their horses on our lane. Except for our trip into town in the wagon, we’ve not been on it.”

  “Wind blows in these parts, and it rained two nights ago. Doubt there’s any sign left—if they came like you said.”

  Henry stepped forward. “I got the gun that one of them bushwhackers dropped when Otto shot it out of his hand. It’s in the barn. You want to see it?”

  The sheriff fixed a glare on Henry. “Yeah. It would’ve been nice if I’d seen it the day you folks came to me with your story.”

  Henry ran to the barn and returned with the gun. “You can see it’s all busted to pieces. I don’t think it’ll ever shoot true again.”

  The sheriff turned the pistol over in his hand as he studied it, his eyebrow lifting when he noted the dried blood near the grip. “All right, that fits your story. Reckon I’ll keep this for evidence.” He turned and fixed his stare once again on Otto. “You sure you and your brother haven’t been out riding, and maybe run across Murray?”

  Otto shook his head. “First of all, Sheriff, I only have the one horse. You can check with the neighbors. They know that the horse now in the barn and the two mules over there in the corral are all I have.”

  The sheriff nodded towards Henry. “What about his horse?”

  “My brother’s horse is back where he normally lives with our parents. Our father brought him and Miss Jones here in a wagon. Will you please tell us what you’re getting at?”

  “I think I found your man. Long black hair and bushy beard, a lot of white mixed in, dressed in buckskin head to foot. Looked like he’d been shot in the right shoulder a few weeks back and had a fairly fresh nick on the top of his other shoulder. Don’t suppose you’d know anything about that.”

  Henry pointed to his chest. “I shot him in the shoulder. He pulled out his big, old knife about a foot long and was going after Otto with it, so I got him first before he could stab Otto.”

  “Didn’t find no knife on him. Then again, looked like he was stripped of anything of value.” The sheriff turned to Henry. “So, you’re admitting you tried to murder Warren Murray?”

  Henry stepped back, a look of confusion on his face. “No. I just wanted to wing him so he couldn’t knife Otto. I didn’t aim to kill.”

  “What about the other shoulder, the crease on top?”

  “I shot him when he tried to attack me and force me to go with him.”

  The sheriff turned to Libby. “So, you tried to kill him?”

  Libby shook her head. “No. I tried to scare him away. I won’t go back with him.”

  Excited, Henry blurted out his next words without thinking. “You should see Libby shoot, Sheriff. She can hit a gnat at a thousand yards. We had this warren of rabbits eating on our garden until she went after them with that rifle. Got each one of them in the head so she’d get the most out of the meat and the pelt. Never seen nothing like it before. I hope she got the last of them, though, because I’m getting right tired of eating rabbit.”

  “Henry…”

  At the warning sound in his voice, Henry turned towards his brother. He threw his hands in the air. “What? What did I say wrong? All I said was Libby sure knows how to shoot, and she’s right on target with her aim.”

  Embarrassed, Libby stared at her feet. “At home, we couldn’t afford to spend much for powder and lead, so I learned to make every bullet count. We didn’t have a fowling piece, so if we were to have meat, I had to learn to kill even small game with as little waste as possible.”

  The sheriff’s eyebrow twitched as he studied her. He turned back to Otto. “So, you’re telling me if I was to look around your place, I’d only find the one horse?”

  Otto nodded and gestured towards the barn. “Yes. And as for me riding a horse, due to my injury, I can only ride for maybe an hour before the pain becomes unbearable. That’s why I take the wagon with the mules just about everywhere I go. You can check with the neighbors on that.” Otto stepped closer to the lawman and took a deep breath. “Sheriff, Warren Murray—where did you find him?”

  “About a day’s ride south from here. I could make out the hoofprints for three horses. All three horses rode away, south towards the Arkansas River.”

  “Well, it couldn’t have been Otto, because he can’t ride that far. And unless one of them was a mule, it wouldn’t have been me along. Then again, I don’t cotton to riding Otto’s mules. I mean, could you be sure they were all horses and not a mule or two mixed in?”

  The sheriff glanced at Henry with a disparaging look. “Don’t insult me, young man. I can tell a shod horse from a shod mule. All three were horses.”

  Libby swallowed and cleared her throat. “Sir, where is Warren Murray now? Is he locked up, or is he still free?”

  The sheriff turned to Libby and sighed. “I buried him where I found him. Someone shot him in the chest. I said a few words over the grave. After what I was told about his inclinations, I won’t promise all of them would be considered real Christian. Even though it’s good riddance, I still had to make sure you folks didn’t go outside the law to bring him to justice.”

  Libby began to tremble from head to toe. “Then he’s really dead? I don’t ever have to worry he’ll come after me again and try to take me back with him?”

  The sheriff shook his head. “Where he’s probably going, I doubt you need to concern yourself with him coming after you.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff.” Tears in her eyes, Libby turned to Otto. “Please, Otto, I beg you. I need to go to Grandma Mary’s. There’s something I must do, and I hope I’m not too late. But, I need to talk to her first.”

  Caught off guard by her request, Otto blinked. “All right. I suppose we can leave in the morning. Now the danger’s passed, there’s nothing keeping you here.”

  Except me. Obviously, I’m not enough.

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  C
HAPTER 25

  ~o0o~

  Otto dropped Libby and her bundle of things off at the Palmers’ before he continued on to his parents’ farm. His father and Carl worked a horse in the corral. He stopped the wagon by the barn, set the brake and eased off the bench. By the time he had stretched to work the kinks out so his hip stopped aching so bad, his father stood by his side.

  Jefferson glanced at the wagon and back at Otto. “Where’s Henry? You bring him back with you?”

  Otto shook his head. He looked up at the sound of the back door slamming. His mother, trailed by Hannah and Magpie, hurried towards him, their faces full of questions. He waited until they arrived to answer his father. “No. Henry is still at my farm. He said he would stay to watch my animals while I brought Libby back to Palmers’.”

  With a cry of distress, Carlotte threw up her hands. “Brought Libby back? And your brother you left by himself while that man still runs free? He could be hurt or killed.”

  Otto shook his head. “Warren Murray is dead, Mutti. Henry’s okay.”

  Jefferson cut off further discussion. “Otto, go in the house and rest that leg of yours while Carl and I see to your mules.” He assumed his most stern voice and shook his finger at Otto. “And no telling your ma and your sisters the story until Carl and I get in there.”

  Once everyone gathered around the kitchen table, Otto took one last sip of water before he told his family all that had taken place since his father had left his farm.

  Jefferson leaned forward with a piercing look. “And you’re sure those other two outlaws won’t be back? I don’t like the idea of Henry having to deal with them if they do.”

  “Sheriff said they were headed south. He’s put the U.S. Marshals onto them since they’ve gone out of his county. I don’t think they took kindly to Warren feeding them false promises and using them. I also suspect they have no intention of staying where they might get caught.”

  Carlotte placed her hand on her chest and sighed. “I hate to say it, but it relieves me the man is dead. Poor Libby. What she has been through.” Carlotte gave Otto an inquiring look. “Now she no longer worries about him, maybe you and she…”

  Otto shook his head. “Once she knew he was dead, Libby couldn’t get away from me and my farm fast enough.” Otto repeated what Libby had said. “I don’t know what she hopes she’s not too late for, but it’s something to do with Mary.”

  Carlotte sat back in her chair, a doubtful look on her face. Her gaze never left Otto’s. “Something’s not right. Our supper we eat then we visit with Mary and Edward. We talk more with Libby.”

  Otto brushed down his mules and made sure they had everything they needed while his mother finished their supper. Afterwards, Jefferson hitched his horses to his buckboard. Otto knew, as close as the two farms were, if it weren’t for his weak leg on top of his drive to his parents’ farm, his father may have suggested they walk to Palmers’. Carl and Hannah opted to stay at home. Otto and Magpie climbed into the bed of the wagon while his parents rode on the bench.

  A dishtowel in her hand, Mary stepped out her back door when the Atwell wagon drove up behind her house. She waited until they all arrived at her porch before she spoke. “If you’re looking for Libby, she’s gone. Edward took her into Salina.”

  Otto stared at his parents, and then he turned back to Mary. “She never said anything to me about needing something in Salina. As close as the town is to your place, I could have taken her. Did she say why she wanted to go there?”

  Mary shook her head. “No, but she did ask for a loan. She promised to pay me back. I told her she’d more than worked off that marriage fee we paid for her, and she had earned money on top of it. Since I have a little nest egg I keep hidden here, I was able to give her what she thought she might need.”

  Otto looked away. He didn’t have much, and what he had told the bushwhackers about him needing to buy supplies on credit was true. However, if she had asked him for money, somehow he would have found a way to get some for her.

  Mary interrupted Otto’s thoughts. “Edward should be home soon. Perhaps he can tell us more.”

  Otto ignored the social chatter between his parents and Mary while they waited for Edward to return. Finally, his wagon pulled into the yard next to the Atwell wagon. Otto was off his chair and out of the door before Edward could alight. He held up his hand to steady the older man with the weak knee to climb down from the bench seat.

  Mary called from the back stoop. “Don’t say a word until you’re inside, Edward. We want to hear about it, too.”

  Once all were seated around the table, and Mary had brought cups of coffee to those who wanted some, Edward grinned at his anxious audience. “She got on the train going east.”

  Mary sat up straight in her chair. “East? What does she want back east? She came here to get away from whatever was back there.”

  “What was back there was Warren Murray.” Everyone turned to look at Otto. He continued. “Actually, they’re from up north in Minnesota, but she followed the Mississippi River south when she ran away from him.”

  Jefferson eyed his son. “You told us Warren Murray is dead. You think she wants to go home now he’s gone?”

  “Not unless home is St. Louis. All she talked to the ticket seller about was getting to St. Louis.” Edward smiled and looked around. “Sometimes, it pays to be an old man that everyone thinks is getting too senile to pay much attention to things. You learn a lot when people are ignoring you.”

  Carlotte patted her lips as she thought. “Something for her in St. Louis. But, what?”

  Mary turned to her. “When that man first showed up, he said he tracked Libby to St. Louis.”

  Otto thought back on that day with all the new revelations about Libby. Warren had said he learned of Libby’s name change from the nuns.

  “The nuns were very helpful.”

  Otto felt himself shatter inside as the implication of those words, coupled with Libby’s urgency to return to St. Louis struck him. Although he felt his heart breaking, he voiced his conclusion aloud. “She was with the nuns. Warren found her by talking with the nuns. Now that he’s gone, she’s free to go back and become a nun.”

  Except for the sound coming from the living area where Magpie hummed to herself as she choreographed her own dance routine, silence reigned around the kitchen table for several seconds.

  Finally, Mary shook her head. “No, I don’t think she went back because she wants to become a nun. Otto, you told us she said she had to do something, and she hoped she wasn’t too late. She said the same thing to me. I don’t think there’s a deadline on becoming a nun. She left for another reason.”

  Carlotte raised her hands and looked at the ceiling. “But, what? A big city St. Louis is. It is not safe for a young woman by herself.”

  “I reckon someone will have to go after her and make sure she’s all right.” Edward grinned and reached inside his vest. He pulled out a train ticket which he placed in the center of the table. “That’s why I bought another ticket to the same place. I waited until she boarded the train, and it left the station first. That’s what took me so long.”

  Mary offered her husband a searching look. “And who did you have in mind to go, Edward? You?”

  “Well, I thought about it. But since Otto is here, I think he needs to go after her.” Edward turned to Otto, his grin growing wider. “Get yourself ready to travel, young man, and I’ll pick you up in the morning after breakfast to take you to Salina. I know Mary didn’t give Libby all her nest egg. We can make you a loan so you have travel money.”

  Jefferson cleared his throat. “Thanks, Edward, but that won’t be necessary. We can see he has what he needs to get to St. Louis and back.”

  Otto regretted voicing his fears as soon as the words were out of his mouth. “What if she doesn’t want me there? What if she truly wants to become a nun and wants nothing to do with me?”

  Mary shook her finger at Otto. “She cares for you, young man. I have seen her
when she didn’t know anyone was looking, and she cannot keep her eyes off you. It is these other burdens in her life that are keeping her from listening to her heart. That man is dead and buried. You need to find her, discover what else there is and help her settle it.”

  Jefferson turned to Otto. “She’s probably right. And, I know you, son. You won’t rest until you know why she went and what she wants. You might as well follow her and make sure she doesn’t come to harm.” Jefferson heaved a sigh. “Meanwhile, I better plan to go check on Henry.”

  “He’s doing fine, Pa. Believe it or not, I think our Henry is growing up.”

  “Still, I think maybe I’ll go keep him company and take him some airtights so he doesn’t starve to death before you get back. I sure wish you could have found a place to homestead closer to us instead of one almost to Abilene.”

  ~o0o~

  Before Edward picked him up the next morning, Otto sought out his mother. “Mutti, do you still have the locket I asked you to keep safe for me—the one I gave you before I left to go to Wyoming?”

  “The one from the Bavarian jeweler in St. Joseph? Ya, I have. It is for her, then?”

  “Yes. Can you please get it for me so I can take it with me? If I can find Libby—if she hasn’t already joined a convent and become a nun—I want to give it to her. Somehow, I need to persuade her that I love her, so I can convince her to come home with me and become my wife.”

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  ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – JULY 1868

  CHAPTER 26

  ~o0o~

  Otto clenched his teeth in frustration when he learned there was more than one Catholic church in St. Louis. However, when he mentioned the nuns, his informant directed him to the charity hospital and orphanage run by a local convent.

  After asking around, Otto found the office of the mother superior and requested an interview with her.

  Otto found it interesting that the mother superior studied him quite closely. She never admitted to knowing Libby before Libby traveled west to Junction City to marry. Nor did she admit that she had seen or spoken to Libby within the last day. Instead, she questioned him carefully about how he and Libby had met, what he knew of her life from the time she arrived in Junction City to present and what his interest was in finding her.