His head shot up. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I didn’t mean to bother you making light of it.”
She opened her mouth to say something when a loud knock sounded on the door. “Who can that be?”
She opened the door and found a young man standing there. He wore chaps and spurs and a handkerchief tied around his neck. “Can I help you?”
The man tried to glance around her into the kitchen. “Uh…sorry, Ma’am. I…uh…Well, you see, I’m here to see Jed Wilcox, but I seem to have made a mistake.”
“There’s no mistake,” she replied. “He’s right here.”
She moved aside to give the man a view into the kitchen behind her. There sat Jed with his shoulder trussed up in a bandage. The two men met each other’s gaze. “Kelvin Kirk!” Jed exclaimed. “Come on in.”
The man cast a sidelong glance at Betsy.
“Don’t worry about her,” Jed called. “That’s only my new wife.”
The man jumped back with a start. “Wife!”
Jed chuckled. “For heaven’s sake, son, come in and shut the door. We were just getting ready for supper.”
Kelvin stepped into the kitchen, and Betsy shut the door behind him. He hesitated to come in. He kept throwing furtive glances at Betsy.
“Sit down, son,” Jed told him. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your call?”
Kelvin sat down at the table. He looked around. Then he took off his hat. “Sorry, Ma’am. I wasn’t…you know…I wasn’t expecting to see a lady here.”
“That’s all right, Kelvin,” she replied. “I wasn’t expecting you, either.”
“Calm down, son,” Jed told him. “I just got married yesterday. Betsy here is a mail order bride.”
“Mail order bride!” Kelvin cried.
“You must have heard about that before,” Jed remarked. “Men on the frontier put ads in the Matrimonial Times. They write letters to women Back East, who come out West to marry them.”
“I heard of it,” Kelvin replied, “but I never met one before. I never thought I’d meet a fella that actually went through with it.”
“Well, now you have.”
Jed eased himself out of his chair and shifted over to the table across from Kelvin. Kelvin noticed his bandaged shoulder for the first time. “What happened to you?”
“I fell over,” Jed replied.
“He got shot in a gun battle,” Betsy interrupted from the other side of the kitchen.
“A gun battle!” Kelvin exclaimed. “With who?”
“With Wendell Fox,” Jed replied. “He didn’t fare so well.”
“He’s dead,” Betsy chimed in.
Kelvin looked back and forth between the two of them. Then he stared at Jed. “You killed Wendell Fox?”
“I guess it’s gonna get out sooner or later,” Jed replied. “Yeah, I killed him.”
“This is incredible,” Kelvin murmured. “I never thought I’d live to see the day.”
“He was just as mortal as the rest of us,” Jed remarked. “A guy like that was bound to come to a sticky end sooner or later, especially after all the evil things he did to people in this town.”
“It’s just incredible,” Kelvin replied. “I came over here to talk to you about Wendell, and now this.”
“You came here to talk to me about Wendell?” Jed fired back. “What about him?”
“He’s been acting weird lately,” Kelvin replied. “He showed up out at the ranch. Beggin’ your pardon, Ma’am. I work on a cattle ranch.”
“I gathered that,” Betsy replied.
Kelvin turned back to Jed. “He started poking around the stables, and then he made a thorough search of the corrals. He went over them with a fine-toothed comb, and then he told me he planned to come out later this week and inspect the bunkhouses. You could have knocked me over with a feather, ‘cuz you know his father owns that ranch.”
Jed frowned. “That is weird.”
“What’s weird about it?” Betsy asked. “If his father owns the ranch, he must have had a lot to do with its operation.”
“Wendell never had anything to do with any of his father’s operations, especially not the ranching ones,” Jed replied. “He never touched a rope or a branding iron in his life, and he certainly never set foot in a stable before. He never wanted to get his hands or his clothes dirty. He was a dandy.”
“He was a lot more than that,” Kelvin went on. “When I asked him what this was all about, he got all anxious and secretive. Most times, if you asked him something he didn’t want to talk about, he would fire back and tell you to mind your own business. He would make a big noise about shoving it in your face that you worked for his father. You remember how he got.”
Jed nodded. “I know.”
“Well, he didn’t do that this time. He got shifty and nervous like he didn’t want his father to know he’d been out there. He just sort of shrugged the question off and said he’d be back out on Thursday to keep looking.”
“What do you reckon it’s all about?” Jed asked.
“Well, you know the stories,” Kelvin replied.
“That’s impossible,” Jed exclaimed. “You don’t actually believe that, do you? You know the ranch better than anybody. If it was there, you would know about it by now.”
“What are you talking about?” Betsy asked. “What stories?”
Kelvin turned away. He compressed his lips and didn’t answer. Jed sighed. “Listen, darlin’. The ranch Kelvin works on, it’s got some stories surrounding it. They say there’s treasure buried out there, and that ghosts guard the treasure and visit bad luck on anybody who goes near it.”
“It’s hogwash,” Kelvin chimed in.
“It does sorta explain Wendell’s behavior, though, doesn’t it?” Jed replied. “He could have been after the treasure.”
“Malarkey,” Kelvin snapped.
“He did sort of encounter a run of bad luck,” Betsy offered.
Kelvin exploded. “Will you both cut it out? There is no treasure on the ranch. I’ve been working on that ranch for ten years, and I’ve been foreman for the last four. I’ve been all over every inch of that ranch, and I sure as blazes haven’t had any bad luck.”
“Cool your pistons, son,” Jed replied. “I never said there was any treasure. I’m only saying it sounds like Wendell thought so. Maybe he had gambling debts we don’t know about, and he wanted to find the treasure to pay them off. I don’t know.”
“Sounds like he won’t be going after it now,” Kelvin remarked.
“Would you like to have supper with us, Mr. Kirk?” Betsy interrupted. “There’s plenty of ribs.”
Kelvin snapped out of his reverie. “Sorry, Ma’am. I should go. I didn’t realize…”
“Hey!” Jed called. “You still haven’t told me why you came to see me. I don’t know anything about the treasure.”
“I need a good man to help me investigate it,” Kelvin replied. “I know you had a beef with Wendell, but I guess now you don’t anymore. I thought maybe you could…you know, help me look into it.”
“I can’t, son,” Jed replied. “I’ve got a business to run, and now I’ve got a wife.”
Kelvin jumped. He whipped around to stare at Betsy. Then he sank into his seat. “Sorry. I shouldn’t hang around and disturb you. I didn’t know.”
“Nothing to worry about,” Jed replied, “and you’re not disturbing us. You just heard the lady. Stay and have supper with us. You’ll be our first guest as a married couple.”
The words shot through Kelvin again. Every reference to Jed and Betsy as a couple startled him. Then his shoulders slumped again. “Sorry. I should get out of here and leave you alone. I just…you know, I didn’t know you were getting married.”
“It’s all right, son,” Jed replied. “I would help you out if I was single, but I have responsibilities to consider now, and we wouldn’t invite you to supper if you weren’t welcome. Come on and sit down. How long’s it been since you had a home-cooked meal?”
&nbs
p; Kelvin kept stealing glances at Betsy. Then he cocked an eyebrow at Jed. “Are you sure about this? I mean, you don’t even know her, and now you’re married to her.”
Jed burst out laughing. “I think it’s gonna be all right. I didn’t agree to marry her until I met her in person, and as you can see, she’s pretty nice. Besides, she can make a mean rack of ribs. Now are you gonna eat or not?”
Kelvin scratched his neck. “You know what? Maybe I should think about getting married.”
“You should do it,” Jed replied. “You should check out the Matrimonial Times. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Kelvin frowned. Then his eyes flew open. “You know what? I think I will. Thanks, man. Have a good night.”
He jumped up from his seat and bolted for the door. Jed called out one more time. “Hey, wait a minute!”
It was too late. Kelvin stuck his hat on his head and touched the brim to Betsy. “Evenin’ to you, Ma’am.” Then he was gone.
Betsy stood still and stared at the closed door. Jed chuckled and broke her out of her trance. She turned around. “What’s so funny?”
“The treasure,” he replied. “I knew Wendell was a blamed fool. I never expected him to be that much of a fool.”
“I’m sure glad you turned down Kelvin’s request to investigate it. It’s a fool’s errand, and no mistake.”
“I would do it if I wasn’t married to you,” he replied. “If it’s out there, it could be worth a lot of money.”
“What about the curse?” she asked. “What do you make of that?”
“I don’t make anything of it since I don’t know anything about it,” he returned. “That’s why I would investigate it.”
“You don’t think Wendell got too near the treasure and got himself in trouble with the ghosts, do you?” she asked.
“Last time I checked,” he replied, “it was a gun that killed Wendell, not a ghost.”
She set the ribs on the table and sat down across from him. She laid her napkin in her lap. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Sorry, darlin’,” he mumbled. “You’ve outdone yourself again with these ribs.”
She beamed at him. “That’s a little bit more like it. That’s a subject we can talk about all night.”
“We won’t be talking about it much longer.” He picked up his knife and paused. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to cut this up for me.”
Chapter 8
Betsy took her shopping basket into town and turned her steps toward the General Store. She collected the thing she wanted and took them to the counter. She laid everything out next to the scales.
The storekeeper greeted her. “Good morning, Ma’am.”
“Good morning, Sir,” she replied. “Put all of this on Jed Wilcox’s account, if you please.”
The storekeeper paused with his pencil in his hand. He studied her over his spectacles. “I’m afraid I’ll have to check with Mr. Wilcox before I do that. May I ask what name?”
“My name?” Betsy exclaimed. “I’m Betsy…Betsy Wilcox. I’m his wife.”
The storekeeper blinked. “Wife? Jed Wilcox isn’t married.”
Betsy blushed to her eyelashes. “He is now. Go ask him yourself if you don’t believe me.”
The storekeeper went into the back room and came back a moment later. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Ma’am. I just sent my boy around to the forge to ask. This won’t take a minute. Now if you don’t mind stepping aside, I’ll serve the other customers while you wait.”
Betsy turned away, too embarrassed to look at anybody. She expected something like this to happen, but for some reason, she wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. She fooled herself she would just blend into the background and the town would accept her.
Everyone in this town knew Jed Wilcox. They didn’t know her. She would probably have this conversation dozens of times today until word spread that Jed got himself a mail order bride.
She fidgeted while she waited for the boy to come back. She did her best not to notice the other customers staring at her. After a few minutes, the boy entered and whispered in the storekeeper’s ear.
The man finished serving the other customers before he nodded at Betsy. “My apologies, Mrs. Wilcox. You’ll have to forgive me. This sort of thing doesn’t happen every day around here.”
“Nothing to apologize for. Now could you please add my groceries to Jed’s bill? Then I can get going.”
She hurried out of the store as fast as she could. She hated to think of facing that man whenever she needed supplies. With any luck, they would both put this unfortunate incident behind them.
She set off down the street on her way back to the forge when she spied a woman crossing the street. For the first time, she noticed there were almost no other women in this town. Everyone she’d seen so far were men.
This woman wore a faded calico dress that needed trimming. Her sunbonnet drooped over her eyes, and a section of the ribbon came loose where it attached to the bonnet itself. What kind of woman let her clothes go like that?
At the same time, Betsy recognized her as the woman from the church. Jed called her Abigail Duncan, the laundress. Betsy rushed forward to intercept her. “Oh, Mrs. Duncan!”
The woman turned around to frown at Betsy. “Who wants to know?”
“I’m Betsy Wilcox. You acted as a witness to my marriage to Jed Wilcox at the church. I just wanted to thank you and introduce myself. I haven’t seen many women around this town. You’re the first…and only.”
Abigail’s face cleared, and she laughed out loud. “Oh, that’s all right. Think nothing of it.”
She started walking again. She headed for a grimy little alley between the Jail and a boarding house standing next to it. Betsy lunged forward to catch up with her. “Maybe you could come over to the forge sometime. We could have tea together. If we’re the only two women in town, I’d like to get acquainted with you…if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t have time to go prancing around town on social calls,” Abigail replied, “but if you want to get acquainted, why don’t you come down to the laundry? We can talk there, and Catherine Marsden works down there, too. You can get acquainted with us at the same time, and then you’ll know all the women in town.”
Without waiting for an answer, Abigail set off again. She walked into the alley and disappeared down a set of steps. She passed through a door into the boarding house’s basement. A massive cloud of steam billowed out when she opened it.
Betsy followed her and made her way into a room damp with steam. She swam through clouds of hot mist until she found Abigail. The old lady took off her shawl and bonnet, rolled up her sleeves, and tucked her skirts into her apron strings. Then she bent over a wash tub and started scrubbing laundry.
“This is Betsy Wilcox, the lady that married Jed,” Abigail said to no one in particular. “You remember I told you about that.”
“Oh, yes,” a voice replied. “Very nice to meet you.”
Betsy looked all around her, but she couldn’t see anybody through the steam. Just then, the veil parted, and Betsy saw a stout, middle-aged woman seated on a chair nearby. She knitted so fast Betsy could barely see the needles in the fog.
“I’m sorry,” Betsy began. “Would you be Catherine Marsden?”
“That’s me,” Catherine replied. “My husband was Jack Marsden. He used to be the doctor in this town, but he died a few years back. I’ve been in this town ten years. I was the only woman here for the first six years of that time until Abigail here came along, and now you.”
“What about Martha Wilcox?” Betsy asked. “And Mrs. Wilcox, Frank’s wife? They were here.”
“Mrs. Wilcox died years before I came along, and I forgot about Martha. She was so much younger, I didn’t really have much to do with her. I couldn’t exactly talk to her, could I, with her being unmarried and all.”
“I don’t know how you could stand it,” Betsy exclaimed.
�
��Oh, I managed all right,” Catherine told her. “It wasn’t as hard as all that, but now that Abigail’s here, I spend my free time down here so we can talk.”
“You’ll have to come over to the forge sometime,” Betsy offered. “I’d love to have you. I’d love to hear all about how things used to be when the town first got started.”
“Things were a lot more peaceful then,” Catherine muttered.
“In what way?” Betsy asked.
“For a start, there was no Sheriff,” Catherine replied. “Believe it or not, the men behaved themselves perfectly well without a Sheriff around telling them what to do.”
“I believe it,” Betsy murmured, “especially a Sheriff like Max Rupert.”
Catherine’s head shot up, and she fixed Betsy with a sharp eye. “So you found out about Sheriff Rupert already, have you?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Betsy replied. “I fear I haven’t seen the last of him yet, either.”
“There were no Foxes around back when I first came, either,” Catherine went on. “That’s another reason why thing worked better back then, but that’s a story for another day.”
“Maybe things will start to quiet down, now that Wendell’s dead,” Betsy suggested.
Catherine stopped knitting, and Abigail stopped scrubbing. They both stared at her. “Wendell Fox is dead?”
Betsy inspected her fingernails and nodded. “Jed shot him in a gun fight last night.”
Catherine and Abigail exchanged glances. Then they both went back to what they were doing.
“If Jed shot Wendell, you definitely haven’t seen or heard the last of Sheriff Rupert,” Catherine replied. “Oh, that I should live to see this day! I’ve been waiting five years for someone to come along and put that scoundrel in his grave. I should have known all along it would be Jed Wilcox. Jed Wilcox is a prince among men, and I’m not saying that to butter you up or because he killed Wendell. I’ve always said it. He’s one of the kindest, most honest, most generous men in this town. You mark my words.”
Betsy flushed. “Thank you for saying so. I think he’s pretty special myself.”
“Wendell Fox killed my husband,” Catherine went on.
The Blacksmith's Bride (Brides 0f Brimstone Book 1) Page 5
