Heart of Texas Vol. 3 (14 page)

“I'm feeling all sorts of things just now. Which feeling do you mean?”

“The one we felt when we entered the town.”

“I won't know until you kiss me again.”

“Quit joking! This is important.”

“I wasn't joking. I can't tell.”

“Never mind.”

“Why?”

“I have my answer.”

“And?”

“It
has
lessened,” she said. “I'm sure of it.”

He nodded. “You're probably right.”

Holding hands, they walked out of Bitter End. As they approached the outskirts, she felt a sudden sense of release—as though the bonds that constrained her had gone slack. A few steps outside the town, the feeling had all but disappeared.

After that, they concentrated on the arduous trek back to the road and said very little for some time.

“Are you okay?” Travis asked once.

“Fine. What about you?”

“Fine.”

Travis followed her in his rental car as she drove back to Twin Canyons Ranch. Ruth sat on the porch with the rocking chair positioned to face the road; she stood and put away her crocheting as soon as she saw them.

“Did you find the town?” Ruth asked when they entered the kitchen.

“We found it,” Nell told her.

She nodded. “I figured you would,” she said softly. “Travis, would you follow me upstairs? There's something I'd like you to bring down.”

T
RAVIS HAD ONE HELL OF A TIME
bringing the cedar chest down from the attic. It almost seemed as though it was reluctant to give up its secrets, he thought, knowing how whimsical that sounded. Then he needed all his strength to pry open the lid.

Nell stood back, while Ruth edged close to him, firm and purposeful.

With the chest finally open, the first thing Travis noted was how neatly packed it was. The top layer was folded clothes, which Ruth carefully removed and set aside.

They found an old family Bible beneath the dresses and men's shirts. Ruth held it respectfully with both hands. “It's exactly like the one Ellie has,” Nell breathed. “Ellie Patterson—used to be Frasier,” she explained to Travis. “Ellie owns the feed store in Promise. Her family came here when mine did, and Jake's.”

Travis could picture her easily. Ellie, as he recalled, had judged the chili cook-off.

“Ellie found the Bible while she was sorting through her father's things after he died,” Ruth said. “She used the Bible for her wedding ceremony. I was touched that she had, since she was so close to her father.” Carefully Ruth folded back the leather binding and examined the title page. “It says this Bible belonged to Joseph Savage.”

“Jerry's great-great—there are too many greats for me to remember,” Ruth said, “but the family's directly descended from Joseph's, that much I know.”

“I'm sure this Bible is identical to the one Ellie owns,” Nell said, moving in close and running her finger down the page.

“It wasn't unusual for a salesman to come into town and sell any number of the same item,” Travis said. “My guess is that's the case here.” In his research he'd come across references to old-time peddlers who rode from one town to the next selling their wares. More often than not, the men who sold Bibles were itinerant preachers, too, performing marriages, conducting funerals and preaching fire-and-brimstone sermons.

The next thing Nell extracted was an aged cardboard box. “Probably more clothes,” she suggested. “Someone's wedding dress?”

“Open it,” Ruth said.

Nell set the box down and with trembling hands removed the lid. She was wrong; it wasn't a wedding dress, not even an article of clothing, but parts of a quilt made of a cream-colored muslin.

“What is it?” Travis asked.

“The backing and some squares for a quilt, from the looks of it,” Ruth said. “Apparently someone started the project years ago and never finished it.”

“It's not any pattern I've ever seen,” Nell said. “Most quilts have an overall design.”

And most were a great deal more colorful than this one, Travis mused. The squares lacked the vivid and varied colors of others he'd seen.

“It looks like each square's a picture of some sort,” Nell said and held up one with an oak tree embroidered in the center. The detail was impressive, the stitches minute. She squinted and stared at the square, then shook her head. “I think there's something carved into the side of the tree,” she said.

Ruth looked at it and shook her head. “My eyes aren't what they used to be.”

Travis took a turn, as well, and after staring at it intensely, was able to make out the letters. “It seems to say,
cursed
.”

“Cursed?” Nell repeated. “Weird.” She set the square back in the box. They studied the other squares, but again didn't find them particularly attractive. Each had a different image, although it wasn't always clear what that image was meant to be.

Nell returned the pieces to the cardboard box and set it aside. Leaning over the chest, she reached in and said, “Doesn't this beat all?”

“What is it?” Travis asked.

“It's a doll.” Nell pulled out an obviously old rag doll, stuffed tight with a hand-stitched face. It had been made of white linen that had faded to a dull yellow, not unlike the color of the quilt squares. The red calico apron added a splash of brightness.

“I've seen one like that before,” Ruth said, frowning in concentration. “Oh, yes! Dr. Jane had one exactly like that in her office not long ago.”

“Dr. Jane?” Nell asked. “That seems odd. Are you sure?”

“Positive. She had it sitting on a bookcase. I remember seeing it the last time I was in for my physical. You remember, Nell? You drove me into town yourself. I needed my blood pressure medication renewed.”

“How would Dr. Jane come by something like this?” Nell asked. “She's from California.”

Travis listened to the conversation and shook his head. A doll identical to one that had come from Bitter End was owned by a California native? He agreed with Nell; it didn't make sense.

“Let's ask her about it,” Travis suggested.

“Can't hurt,” Nell said, and Ruth nodded.

The rest of the chest's contents consisted of old newspapers from the 1920s through the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, army discharge papers and the like. Those, too, were neatly filed in cardboard boxes.

As Ruth carefully repacked the chest, Travis helped Nell finish the chores around the ranch. And then, together, they drove into town.

“This is probably a wild-goose chase,” Nell said.

“Probably,” he agreed, wondering if she'd had second thoughts about pursuing the significance of their discoveries.

They parked in front of the medical clinic, and once again he noted Nell's hesitation. “Nell,” he said softly, “what is it?”

“Nothing,” she insisted.

Travis stared at her. Ever since they'd returned from the ghost town, she'd been quiet, withdrawn, speculative. He didn't know what to make of it.

Dr. Jane was with a patient. They sat in the waiting room, and Travis flipped through magazines until the receptionist led them back to Jane's office. Travis glanced around; he noticed no antique doll on her bookcase now.

Jane entered briskly and took a seat at her desk. “Good to see you, Nell,” she said. “Hello,” she added, nodding in his direction.

Nell introduced Travis and they shook hands. Dr. Jane Patterson's lovely blue eyes revealed a genuine pleasure at seeing Nell—and open curiosity about him.

“Ruth mentioned noticing a rag doll in your office a few months ago,” Nell said, getting immediately to the point of their visit.

“Doll?” Jane frowned as if she'd forgotten, but then apparently remembered, because she smiled. “As a matter of fact, I did, but I…no longer have it.”

“Would you mind telling us where you got it?” Travis asked.

Jane studied them both. “Is there a particular reason for these questions?”

Nell and Travis exchanged glances. “We found a doll very similar to the one Ruth saw here,” Nell explained.

Jane reached for a pen and started making small circles. “Can I ask where you found this doll?”

“Have you been to Bitter End, Dr. Patterson?” Travis asked abruptly. Then he remembered she
had
been. Jane was the one who'd found and treated Richard Weston.

He felt Nell's displeasure with him at the bluntness of his approach. But his curiosity was at a fever pitch. He was looking for answers, and the only way to get them was to ask the right questions. A growing sense of excitement filled him.

The doctor surprised him by asking a question of her own. “Have
you
ever been to Bitter End?”

Nell and Travis looked at each other.

“We were there this morning,” Travis answered.

“Did you find the doll there?”

“Not exactly,” Travis said. “It was in an old chest in Nell's attic.”

“I see.” Jane folded her hands and leaned back in her chair. “I don't suppose it would do any harm to tell you how I came to have that doll. Maggie Weston brought it to me.”

“Maggie?” Nell sounded shocked.

“This was months ago, before Caroline and Grady were married and he legally adopted Maggie. You might not be aware of this, but Maggie disappeared the same time Richard Weston did. As far as anyone can figure, Maggie must've been hiding in the pickup Richard stole from the Yellow Rose Ranch. For a whole night, Caroline and Grady didn't know where she was. Sheriff Hennessey's the one who put two and two together.”

“It must have been hell for Caroline,” Nell said in sympathy.

“I'm sure it was. The following morning Maggie reappeared as mysteriously as she'd vanished. She wouldn't say where she'd been, but the sheriff thinks Richard brought her back.”

“Thank God!”

“He'd taken her to his hiding place, then—in the ghost town?” Travis asked. His jaw tightened at the thought of a five-year-old in Bitter End.

“Apparently so,” Jane said. “No one knows exactly what Richard said to the child to convince her to keep his secret. But considering the type of person he is, it's not too hard to guess.”

“Prison's too good for the likes of Richard Weston,” Nell muttered.

The more Travis learned about him, the more inclined he was to agree.

“While she was in Bitter End, Maggie found the doll and tucked it in her backpack. Later it worried her that she'd taken something that didn't belong to her. She developed stomachaches, and that was when she brought the doll to me.”

“And the reason you had it on your bookshelf,” Nell added.

“Exactly! I didn't know at the time that the doll was from the ghost town. I'd hoped the rightful owner would see it in my office so I could simply return it without mentioning Maggie's name.”

“Where's the doll now?” Travis wanted to know.

“Maggie has it. Once the truth came out, Grady and Caroline decided Maggie could keep it.”

“The memory of how she got it doesn't bother her?” Nell asked.

“It doesn't seem to. She believes she saved that doll. So her feelings about it have become quite positive.”

“Good,” Nell said. “I'm glad such a horrible experience ended well for her.”

Jane smiled, then her gaze swung to Travis. “You're visiting Nell?”

“Actually I'm doing research for a story.”

“He's my first guest,” Nell explained. “The dude ranch hasn't officially opened, but he needed a room and Mary and Phil suggested my place.”

Travis didn't like the classification. A guest—a paying one at that. She'd said it as though there was nothing between them, as though their kisses meant nothing. Despite her tone, Travis couldn't make himself believe it.

“I see,” Jane said, sounding a little unsure.

She wasn't the only one. “Nell and I are finding out everything we can about Bitter End,” Travis explained. “It's time the mystery of that town was solved.”

Jane nodded. “I couldn't agree with you more. My fear is now that the word's out, someone else is going to decide to hide there. If something isn't done soon, there's every likelihood people will get hurt again. Some of those buildings aren't safe for people to explore. It's a wonder they've stood all these years as it is.”

“The entire town should be destroyed,” Nell said, her voice raised.

Travis disagreed with a sharp shake of the head. “Bitter End is an important part of Texas history. Why would anyone want to destroy it?”

Nell didn't answer.

C
AL AND
G
LEN TOOK
a long-overdue lunch break, letting their horses graze near Gully Creek while they ate their sandwiches. The morning had been spent vaccinating cattle. Cal felt they both deserved a respite while the crew, who'd lunched earlier, finished up.

Although Cal saw his brother every day, they rarely had a chance to talk anymore. Especially now that they were both married. Glen was busy with his life in town; he and Ellie had bought a run-down Victorian that they were fixing up. Cal and Jane were still newlyweds, still learning about each other. A lot had happened in the two men's lives in the past year, more than Cal could adequately take in.

Glen finished his lunch first, then stretched out on the cool grass, shading his eyes with his Stetson.

“Jane mentioned something interesting the other day,” Cal said, leaning back and resting his weight on his palms.

“What?”

“Nell Bishop was in to see her with that city-slicker guy from New York.”

“I wouldn't say that to his face,” Glen said, lifting the Stetson and grinning. “I think he wants to be a cowboy. Besides, the guy's bigger than you.”

“So what? Hey—I'm a Texan!”

“He went to see Jane? What's the matter,” Glen joked, “is he having trouble with the drinking water?”

“No, he's been to Bitter End.”

If Cal hadn't gotten his full attention earlier, he had it now. Glen sat up and looked at his brother. “Is that for real? How the hell did he find it?”