The Sheriff (Historical Romance)

by Nan Ryan

  Kate hurried the remainder of the three blocks to Barton’s Emporium. Inside the cavernous establishment, Clifton Barton sat on his stool behind the counter. As usual.

  “Good morning, Mr. Barton,” Kate said in greeting. “Nice day, isn’t it?” She knew he would have a comment on the weather. He always did.

  “Nice? Why, it’s so damn hot even the lizards are looking for shade!”

  Kate smiled and went about her shopping. She moved among the large tables stacked high with various merchandise. There were dishes and fabrics and pots and pans. Hats and hammers, saddles and salt, cradles and crackers, bread and bibles. Anything a customer might want or need could be found at Barton’s.

  Except kid gloves.

  After a thorough search, Kate returned to the counter. “Mr. Barton, I’m looking for a pair of white kid gloves. Could you point me in the right direction?”

  He chuckled and didn’t move. “Miss VanNam, where do you think you are? New York City?” He shook his head. “Only gloves we have are men’s work gloves.”

  “Not a single pair of ladies kid gloves?” she asked.

  “Now what did I just say?”

  Kate nodded. “How foolish of me.”

  She was disappointed, but she doubted that the other ladies who would be attending the theater would be wearing gloves. If Barton’s didn’t carry gloves, then gloves could not be found in Fortune.

  Kate went back out into the blistering sunshine and hurried toward Dr. Ledet’s office. She was still a couple of doors away when a woman stepped out of the doctor’s office. She was a beautiful, curvaceous woman with incredibly white skin and gleaming midnight hair. She was dressed elegantly in the latest fashion. Her waist was cinched, her bosom was generous and the flowing skirts of her pastel summer dress stood out in the shape of a perfect bell, indicating there were hoops and lacy petticoats beneath.

  And on her small hands were pristine white kid gloves.

  The beautiful lady looked up, saw Kate and smiled warmly. Then she raised a silk parasol and walked away, with Kate staring after her.

  “You going to stand out there in the hot sun all morning?” the white-maned physician said from the doorway.

  “No…I…no.” Kate, frowning, came inside. “Who was that lady, Dr. Ledet?”

  “Valentina Knight,” said the doctor, then changed the subject. “What brings you to town this morning, child?”

  As if he hadn’t spoken, Kate said, “Why didn’t you introduce me to Miss Knight? Or is it Mrs. Knight?”

  “It’s Miss. I don’t think you two would have a great deal in common.” His eyebrows lifted.

  “Why not? Miss Knight looks patrician and prosperous. Does she own a gold mine? Is that why she’s here in Fortune?”

  Dr. Ledet chuckled. “She owns a gold mine, all right, one that’s made her a very wealthy woman. It’s called the Golden Nugget.”

  Kate made a face. “But that’s…The Golden Nugget, why, it’s a saloon, isn’t it?”

  “The most successful saloon in Fortune,” said the doctor. “And you know why?”

  “No, why?”

  “The lovely Valentina sings at the Golden Nugget nightly. The miners adore her.”

  “I’m sure they do,” Kate said.

  Dr. Ledet studied her and easily read her thoughts. “Bless your heart,” he said kindly, “you’re lonely. Lonely for female friends. Aren’t you, Kate?”

  “Yes, I am, Doctor. That’s why when I saw Miss Knight I immediately hoped that…” Her words trailed away and she shrugged slender shoulders.

  The physician rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Women are scarce as hen’s teeth in Fortune. Young ladies like yourself are nonexistent. We’ve had a few young wives come to Fortune with their husbands, but most didn’t stay long.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Kate assured him. “I have you and Chang Li for my friends.” She smiled then and added, “And I have a handsome suitor.”

  The doctor frowned. “How much do you know about Winn DeLaney?”

  “Enough. I know that he’s a wealthy gentleman and that he is mannerly and charming and likable. He’s kind and gentle and good-natured.” Kate made a face. “Which is more than I can say for some people in this town.”

  “Aren’t I good-natured?”

  “Yes, of course. I didn’t mean you, Doctor.”

  “Who then?”

  Kate’s delicate jaw grew tense. “Travis McCloud. He’s bossy and cold and sullen. I don’t like him.”

  “Now, now, Trav’s all right. You don’t know him like I do. The sheriff is a man who has lived.” Dr. Ledet paused as if in deep thought. “He’s been disappointed. He understands the reality of the world.” A slight smile lit up the physician’s craggy face when he added, “And he’s still in the game.”

  “Disappointed? How?” Kate’s blue eyes were wide with interest.

  The doctor shook his head. “Never mind that, child. I talk too much. Pay me no attention.”

  But Kate wouldn’t let it go. She said, “Remember that prisoner on the steamer calling Sheriff Mc-Cloud a murderer? Is it true?”

  “No. The sheriff’s no murderer,” the doctor said. Kate gave him a questioning look. Finally, he admitted, “All right. Travis killed a man in a duel back in Virginia. Shot him dead.”

  “No! What were they fighting the duel over?”

  “Doesn’t matter. The incident happened more than ten years ago, when Travis was quite young. Now that’s enough about it. He wouldn’t like me gossiping about him.”

  “But I want to know why….”

  “And I want to know more about this new beau of yours.”

  Kate knew she could get no more out of him. At least not now. Smiling, she said, “Winn’s taking me out to dinner this evening. And then to the theater to see Miss Lola Montez.”

  Sixteen

  The Bird Cage was Fortune’s newly built opera house. It was an imposing three-story brick structure with wide swinging doors opening into a spacious antechamber with a floor made of gleaming white marble. A lush carpet of deep turquoise covered the grand staircases at each side of the vestibule.

  All stairs led up into the large audience room, where row upon row of adjustable seats afforded patrons an unobstructed view of the stage. Turquoise velvet curtains trimmed in gold were yet to be raised as an eager assembly predominantly of men scrambled into their seats on this hot Saturday night.

  Directly below the curtained stage, an eight-piece pit orchestra tuned their instruments.

  Half a dozen private boxes flanked the walls on either side of the stage. They, too, were upholstered in turquoise velvet, and featured gold lace curtains that allowed the occupants a degree of privacy.

  It was to one of these private boxes that Winn DeLaney and Kate VanNam were directed by a helpful usher. Kate was aglow with excitement as she sat down upon a gilt-and-turquoise chair. Her escort, handsome in his dark evening clothes, motioned for the usher to draw the curtains at the back of the box.

  Leaning forward on the gilt-painted railing, Kate eagerly looked all around the impressive theater. Below, on the main floor, every seat was taken, but there was not a woman in the crowd. She wondered if she was to be the only female present.

  Then she noticed that in a private box on the wall directly across the auditorium, the beautiful Valentina Knight sat alone. Valentina was stunning in a low-cut gown of ice blue taffeta. Sapphires and diamonds flashed on her pale throat, and a snow white gardenia was placed in her dark hair.

  “You’re much lovelier than she,” Winn DeLaney whispered.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  He smiled and nodded to the dark-haired woman in the box across from them. “You were staring at that lady.”

  Kate flushed. “Yes, I suppose I was.”

  Winn reached for her hand. “She’s pretty. But not nearly as pretty as you.”

  “You know her?”

  “She sings at the Golden Nugget,” Winn stated matter-of-factly. “I stopped
in there on my second night in Fortune.” His fingers closed around Kate’s and gently squeezed. “Before I met you. I haven’t been back since.”

  “Did I ask?”

  “No, but I wish you had.” He turned his most dazzling smile on Kate. “I’d like you to be a little jealous.”

  Just then the heavy turquoise curtain began to slowly rise. The whistles and applause were deafening.

  The celebrated Lola Montez sang and danced to the delight of her captive audience. Kate accepted the opera glasses Winn magically produced, and gazed at the woman on stage. She had read about the celebrated entertainer’s three marriages and numerous love affairs, so she was surprised to see that Miss Montez was not particularly beautiful. Nor was she all that talented.

  But the lusty miners whistled and stomped and were soon chanting, “Do the spider dance! Do the spider dance!”

  Leaning close, Kate said in Winn’s ear, “What do they mean? What’s the spider dance?”

  “I don’t know, but I imagine we’re about to find out.”

  The dark-haired Lola gave the miners what they wanted, though Kate found the performance startling, almost laughable. Montez engaged in a series of whirling motions, during which spiders made of cork, rubber and whalebone were shaken out of her full skirts.

  Kate looked at Winn.

  He winked at her.

  “Silly, isn’t it?” he whispered. And before Kate could answer, he raised an arm, laid it along the back of her chair and said, “I’m not interested in Lola Montez. I’m only interested in you. Kiss me, Miss VanNam.”

  “Winn DeLaney! We’re in a crowd of people.”

  “Ah, but no one’s looking at us,” he pointed out. “They’re all watching Lola.”

  The prospect of being kissed in a roomful of people was, for some reason, incredibly exciting to Kate. Suddenly she wanted to be kissed.

  “Yes,” she whispered, and closed her eyes. “Yes, kiss me, please.”

  Winn smiled, laid a hand on her cheek, turned her face more fully toward his and kissed her. His lips were warm and smooth on hers, but the kiss was as chaste and as brief as the others they had shared. In the blink of an eye it was over.

  You call that a kiss? The sheriff’s taunting words instantly flashed into her mind, and she had to agree that Travis had been right.

  Kate felt disappointed. And guilty.

  The kiss had not been thrilling. It did not send a flush to her cheeks.

  It wasn’t remotely like the one time Travis Mc-Cloud had kissed her, and he hadn’t even asked if he could. He had just reached out and hauled her into his arms. The vivid recollection of that dazzling kiss still had the power to make her tingle and squirm.

  And to want more.

  Kate nervously glanced at Winn. He was looking directly at her. She stiffened. Had he read her guilty thoughts? She hoped not. She didn’t want him ever to know that she fantasized about the brash, seductive sheriff.

  Winn DeLaney was the consummate gentleman and she was grateful that he was. He could have kissed her the way McCloud had, but he had too much respect for her.

  “A penny for your thoughts, Kate,” Winn whispered.

  “I was thinking,” she lied, “that I wish you’d kiss me again.”

  “Ah, Kate, sweet Kate,” he said, and brushed his lips to hers.

  The pair held hands through the rest of the performance and whispered to each other. Kate was pleased by Winn’s interest in her. He asked dozens of questions. He wanted to know all about her, including her previous life back in Boston. He teased her about her search for gold, then seemed truly engrossed when she declared that she believed there was gold in the Cavalry Blue.

  “I’m convinced there’s gold in the mine,” Kate said. “It’s not just some pipe dream. My great-aunt’s husband, Benjamin Colfax, was given the claim by Colonel Freemont himself for charting and mapping the Sierras in 1844. Uncle Benjamin was an educated geologist with mining experience, and on his deathbed he told Aunt Arielle that there was gold, lots of gold, in the Cavalry Blue. He told her to keep it in the family, to never give it up. She kept the promise, but she returned to San Francisco and an easier life.” Kate abruptly stopped speaking, embarrassed by her fervor.

  But Winn had not missed a word. “Go on, my dear, I’m fascinated.”

  “It’s there, I know the gold is there, and I intend to bring it out one day.”

  Kate told Winn about Chang Li, disclosed the location of the mine and said that she and Chang Li were about to give up on finding any more placer. They were now focused on quartz—or hard rock—mining.

  Kate talked and talked, and the attentive Winn hung on every word. He looked directly into her eyes and made her feel as though she were the most entertaining company he had ever enjoyed.

  When Lola Montez’s performance ended, they wisely waited until the thirsty miners had exited the auditorium and headed for the saloons.

  The crowds had dispersed when Kate and Winn came out of the Bird Cage. The sidewalk in front of the opera house was nearly deserted.

  But not quite.

  Marshall Travis McCloud stood just outside, leaning back against the wall, his thumbs hooked in his gun belt, one of his knees bent, his foot raised so the sole of his boot rested against the building’s rough brick facade. The sheriff glanced at the pair and nodded.

  “Evening, Miss VanNam, Mr. DeLaney.”

  Winn laid a proprietary hand on Kate’s arm and drew her closer. “Sheriff,” he acknowledged. “Did you catch Miss Montez’s performance?”

  Travis grinned and lowered his foot to the sidewalk. “I was inside,” he said. “But I didn’t see much of her act.”

  “Late to arrive, Sheriff?” Winn asked politely.

  Travis shook his head. “I was there the whole time.”

  “Oh?”

  “In an official capacity. Watching the crowd.” Travis looked directly at Kate. “Making sure everyone behaved themselves.”

  Seventeen

  Kate had given up on finding any more placer.

  She now joined Chang Li in the Cavalry Blue, working alongside him, hacking at the stubborn rock, hoping to find the illusive vein of color. She quickly realized what a monumental task lay before them.

  As good as his word, Chang Li knew a great deal about mining for gold. He had already built a rocker, which was a necessity to the quartz mining they were undertaking. The sturdy, oblong wooden box was three feet in length and mounted on curved wooden rockers.

  Chang Li had nailed wooden bars that he called “riffles” along the cradle’s open end. He’d stretched a piece of canvas over the wooden frame and placed it at a slant inside the upper end of the rocker. He had then fitted a handle on a metal screen called a hopper, and placed it at the top of the cradle above the canvas.

  “Just tell me what we’re supposed to do with this contraption,” Kate said on her first morning at the mine, when a beaming Chang Li proudly showed her the hopper.

  She was dressed for the undertaking in a pair of britches and rubber knee boots she’d bought at Barton’s Emporium. She looked from Chang Li to the hopper and said, “Together we’re going to find gold in the rock, aren’t we?”

  Chang Li bobbed his head and demonstrated how the hopper worked. Kate quickly learned that this phase involved hard, backbreaking work.

  First, they would hack at the stubborn stone. Once they had filled a couple of big buckets with the loosened rock, they carried the buckets out of the shaft and dumped the ore into the cradle.

  Then they had to trudge all the way down to the lake, fill the buckets with water and return to the hopper. Kate poured water over the rock and gravel while Chang Li rocked the hopper. The rocking motion caused the water to wash over the gravel, which strained through the hopper and canvas screen, allowing any gold sediment to gather in the riffles below.

  Nothing gathered in the riffles.

  There was no gold in the rock.

  The tedious exercise had to be repeated over and
over again. At day’s end, Kate was more tired than she’d ever been in her life.

  As she and Chang Li walked down the mountain, she said, “Chang Li, I’m beginning to think they’re right. There’s no gold in the Cavalry Blue.”

  The little man frowned and shook his head. “Not give up! Not quit! Will find gold. Just take a while.”

  Kate tried to rally. “You’re right. We can’t give up, can we?”

  “No, not ever. If give up, then Missy have to leave Fortune. And I never bring wife and child to America.”

  Kate smiled and said, “I’ll meet you at the mine bright and early tomorrow.”

  “I be there,” he said, and left her.

  When she got home that evening, Kate was so bone tired she wanted to do nothing but lie down and rest.

  Cal greeted her when she came into the yard, but it was not the “I’m glad to see you” sweet meow. Instead it was the “I’m starving, where’s my food” mewling as he rubbed up against her aching legs.

  “Okay, okay,” Kate said to the whining feline, and went inside with him close on her heels. “Why don’t you get out and hunt food like you did before I moved in?”

  Cal ignored the question and raced toward the kitchen. He devoured the leftover pork she gave him, while Kate stood at the cabinet and ate a cold supper of bread and cheese and jerked beef. After only a few bites, she made a face and tossed the beef to Cal. He pounced on it, ate it quickly, licked his chops and then begged for more.

  “It’s all gone,” she said, then turned and walked toward the drawing room.

  Cal passed her in the corridor. He raced toward the open front door, shot out onto the porch and disappeared as the last light of day cast long shadows throughout the silent mansion.

  Kate lit the coal oil lamp and sank tiredly down onto the rose sofa. She bent forward, drew off the rubber boots and stockings, then leaned back and sighed. She was dirty. She badly needed a bath. But she was tired. Dead tired.

  She yawned, rose from the sofa, walked out into the corridor and closed the heavy front door against the gathering night. She went back into the drawing room, blew out the lamp, stripped down to her skin and drew on her nightgown.