In a Cowboy’s Arms (13 page)

“I believe you, dear. Truly I do. But I’m not the one who is determined to stir a pot best left to cool.”

“The banker?”

Mrs. Gant nodded. “Lionel Payne is not a nice man.”

Maggie already knew that after that scene in the street today when Payne flung those accusations at Dade. “He tried to get folks to suspect that Dade purposely left the town unguarded today when he was simply riding out to the Orshlin homestead to see how I was doing.”

Not the truth, but only she and Dade knew the truth.

“I know you went with Doc to help him, and that Dade rode out with Doc to bring you home.” Mrs. Gant gave the room a quick scan, but still lowered her voice as if fearing they’d be overheard. “Lionel Payne has had dealings with that evil man in the past.”

“How do you know that?”

“I was friends with Lionel Payne’s wife. She’d married him at the urging of her family and hoped in time she’d come to love him. But it never happened. She was miserable with him and begged him to agree to a divorce,” Mrs. Gant said. “Lionel was violently opposed to it and told her flat out there was only one way they’d part. Death.”

Maggie shivered, thinking that would be her fate as well if she was forced to marry Whit Ramsey. “A pity the poor woman was trapped in a loveless marriage.”

“Oh, she left him.” The older woman looked away as if suddenly troubled. “I knew she was going to run away from him, and I knew he’d be furious. But I never thought he’d hire a bounty hunter to track her down like she was a criminal.”

Maggie could certainly understand how the woman must have felt. “Did he find her?”

“That depends on who you ask,” Mrs. Gant said. “According to Lionel Payne, his wife was set upon by a ruffian while she was traveling by train to Omaha on a visit to her sister. In the struggle, she fell off to her death.”

“You don’t think that happened,” Maggie said.

Mrs. Gant worried her hands together and frowned. “Oh, I think she was attacked all right. But I believe it was arranged by Lionel Payne.”

“You think the bounty hunter pushed her off the train?”

“Or threw her off. Payne met with him the day after his wife disappeared. Two days after that Lionel announced his loss to the town.”

Maggie’s stomach heaved. If Payne couldn’t have his wife, then he’d see that nobody else would either. Just how she expected Whit Ramsey to be. And since she’d jilted him at the altar, he’d have reason to want her dead as well.

A new worry seeped into Maggie’s bones. All along she’d been worried that the bounty hunter would drag her back to Burland. That she’d be forced to marry Whit Ramsey, the man she’d publicly jilted.

Now she wondered if this bounty hunter had been hired to eliminate her. Yes, it made sense. Harlan Nowell had accused her of stealing, and few folks would question anything bad befalling a thief.

Maggie laid a hand on the older woman’s and started at the tremors she felt racing through her. “You’re sure the man who came here looking for Margaret Sutten is the same bounty hunter that Lionel Payne hired?”

“Yes. It’s been years since I’d seen him, but I know it was him.” The older woman grasped her hand, her eyes wide with fear. “That poor Sutten woman. I dread to think what will happen to her if that bounty hunter finds her.”

It was Maggie’s fear as well, and that trepidation exploded in her as she stared into the older woman’s eyes and saw that her concern was directed toward Maggie. My God! Mrs. Gant knew, or suspected the truth.

Dare Maggie trust her? She wanted to, but trust wasn’t something she gave easily.

“Maybe Miss Sutten will outwit him,” she said.

Mrs. Gant just stared at her, like a parent would to a child who’d just told a whopping lie. “If she’s got any sense, Margaret Sutten will run far from here and never look back.”

The Denver & Rio Grande came through Burland twice a day on the narrow gauge line and occasionally it arrived on time. Today the morning train was late by nearly two hours, prompting many in town to speculate whether it had been held up along the way.

The train was the only means to ship silver from the mines to the smelters, which made it a temptation to those looking to fatten their pockets without laboring. Those narrow mountain passes made an ambush an easier feat for those inclined to live by their guns.

Nobody mentioned the Logan Gang were the likely villains, but Dade knew that was on the townsfolk’s minds. Hell, it was on his as well.

He shrugged his shoulders against the unease he’d been unable to shake since coming back from yesterday’s trek with Duane and strode down the boardwalk toward the small depot at the edge of town. He tipped his hat to the few ladies who were out this crisp spring day and dipped his chin to the gents. Some folks smiled. Some stared. More than a few turned their heads.

Yep, it was clear that he was about as wanted here as ants at a picnic. Good thing they had a deputy who could shoot straight, though Dade worried how Duane would fare in a draw.

Most lawmen knew that their lives depended on how fast they could clear leather. Duane’s injury was a hindrance.

Dade stepped inside the cramped depot and gave the room a quick glance. It was empty save for the regular loungers. A few old men met here every day to swap lies.

“That’ll be fifty cents,” the ticket agent said to the woman standing at the window.

“Mighty expensive for no more than I had to say,” she said.

“That it is, but a telegram is still faster than the mail.”

“I’ll wait for a reply.” She bustled to the bench against the wall and eased down to do just that, earning her a grunt from the agent.

Dade offered her a brief smile. She turned her head and denied him the same.

He snorted and glanced back at the train. If not for Maggie, he’d be tempted to hop on and put this town behind him.

Soon. Once the deputy was settled in, he’d head east and begin his search for Daisy all over again.

He didn’t doubt that Maggie Sutten had been on the orphan train with Daisy. But had they been as close as Maggie claimed?

Maggie wasn’t a scatterwit. If she’d befriended Daisy like she claimed to have done, his sister would’ve shared her fears and memories with her friend.

To convince him that she was his sister, Maggie would have trotted out a memory or two. But she’d been stunned to learn that Daisy had a brother.

If Maggie was telling the truth, then his sister lost all her memory of her family. How the hell long would something like that last? He’d have to ask Doc Franklin.

Surely Daisy’s memory had returned over time. Surely she knew who she was now. And if she didn’t?

His reasons for enlisting Maggie’s help solidified in his head. He couldn’t let her go. Not now.

Dade stepped up to the window. “Anybody get off?”

“Nary a one.” The railroad agent looked around the deserted platform. “Don’t look like anyone is leaving either.”

“Nothing unusual about that.”

Life moved at a snail’s pace here, and that’s just the way most folks liked it. The main reason the train stopped here at all was to deliver the mail and freight.

“Got a telegram that just came for Doc,” the agent said. “Would you mind dropping it off at his place?”

“Sure thing. Going right by there.” Dade took the note and caught Daisy’s name midway down it. “What do I owe you?”

“Not a thing. Never take a red cent from the doc,” the agent said. “Never know when I’ll need his help.”

One back scratching the other.

He left the depot and started back through town. The telegram was private, yet catching mention of Daisy made it his business. Never mind that the Daisy Logan Doc Franklin was referring to was Miss Margaret Sutten.

Still and all it was to his advantage to pay attention to what that woman was fixing to do.

He paused in the alley and gave the telegram a quick read. His temper erupted in a slow boil.

The headmaster at the John Sealy Training School for Nurses in Galveston was responding to Doc’s telegram. They could enroll Daisy Logan in their late summer session and provide a room for her while she worked in the hospital and took classes.

Hell, Dade would bet if he hadn’t seen this telegram, he’d have had no idea what Maggie was fixing to do with Doc’s help. He’d have just woken up one morning, and she’d have been gone.

He barged into Doc’s without knocking. “You busy?”

“Nope,” Doc said. “Come on back to the kitchen.”

He strode right there and came up short in the doorway. Maggie sat at the square table with Doc, a cup of coffee before her.

“Were you going to tell me about this nurses’ school?” Dade asked by way of greeting.

Her lips parted but no sound emerged. Good. At least he’d gotten an honest reaction from her for a change.

“The more folks know her plans, the less safe she’s going to be,” Doc said.

Dammit all but Dade couldn’t find fault with that logic. But he was still the law in this town, duty bound to protect everyone in it. He couldn’t do that if he was kept in the dark.

He handed Doc Franklin the telegram and noted the letter lying between him and Maggie. “How many of these hospitals have you contacted?”

“Just three,” Doc said. “One in Denver, one in Galve-ston, and one in St. Louis.”

“Which other one have you heard from?” he asked.

Doc glanced at the new telegram. “All of them. But Maggie feels that Denver is too close to Burland.”

She wasn’t just fixing to get out of town. She was planning to leave the state.

“What’s this one say?” she asked Doc.

Tension hummed in the air as Doc read the telegram. He passed it to her and heaved a sigh. “They’ll take you too, but their next class doesn’t start until late summer.”

“I can’t wait that long.”

Dade helped himself to coffee in hopes he’d calm down a spell. The thought of Maggie heading south or east didn’t sit well with him.

Which was stupid when he thought on it.

She wasn’t his kin or his responsibility beyond the fact that she was a lone woman living in Placid. He should be glad to see her go, for she’d be more hindrance than help as he set off in search of his sister.

“When are you fixing to leave?” Dade asked her point blank. He had the satisfaction of watching her cheeks turn a dusty pink.

“I’m not sure.” She toyed with the letter and frowned. “The school in St. Louis can promise me a place in the upcoming class, but I’m not fond of the wait or their rules.”

“Didn’t know you was a rebel,” Dade said.

Doc muffled a laugh. “Can’t say as I blame her for being hesitant about the school. It’s run by the Sisters of Charity. She’ll work and learn nursing around the clock seven days a week.”

Hell, even cowboying gave a man time off to relax some. “They give students rooms there too?”

“A ward, just like the other, though I’d imagine this is going to feel more like being in a nunnery.” He caught the nearly perceptible shift of her shoulders and guessed this was a hot topic.

Not the most inviting situation. Even Maggie’s excitement seemed to dim. Or was that simply worry he was reading on her face?

Doc tapped the second paragraph on the letter. “I know it sounds like a prison sentence to you and all, but you’ll be safer at the Mullanphy Hospital under the nuns’ tutelage.”

“The problem is remaining safe while I wait for the time that I can enroll,” she said, flicking Dade an uncertain glance that had him questioning her thoughts.

Doc bobbed his head in agreement. “I could ask a friend in St. Louis to put you up in his home until thattime comes. I’m sure he and his wife would welcome the company.”

Dade wasn’t surprised that Doc knew of someone who’d take her in. But they’d likely get more than they bargained for if Allis Carson picked up her trail.

“I don’t know.” Maggie chewed her lower lip, and he wondered if the same thought had crossed her mind. “It’s a risk no matter what I do. Staying here surely isn’t an option. It’s a fact that trouble could follow me to St. Louis, so unless I can get right in the school, I’d be better off if I kept moving.”

The curling of Doc’s fingers was the only evidence that he disliked the idea of Maggie traipsing from town to town on her own in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the bounty hunter. Carson was no fool. He’d figure out where she was heading and beat her there, catching her when she got off the train.

“You’ll never give Carson the slip if you travel by rail or stage,” Dade said.

“What other choice do I have?” she asked.

Dade took another gander at the plan that had formed on his walk over here. Maggie had a month-long wait and needed protection. He needed her to identify the man who took Daisy.

The way he saw it, his way satisfied both wants. As long as he didn’t think about those times when just the two of them would be alone God-knows-where, they’d be fine.

“Well, spit it out, boy,” Doc said at last.

“I’m heading east in search of my sister, thinking the best way for me to find out what happened to her is by visiting the last place Maggie saw her.” Dade caught and held Maggie’s steady gaze with his own. “Come with me, Maggie.”

“You think we’ll just happen on the man who took Daisy?” she asked, the incredulity in her voice loud and clear.

“It’s a long shot, but you’ve got a month to stay one step ahead of Allis Carson,” he said. “Being on the move will work to your advantage. And yep, if we’re lucky, we’ll find out who took Daisy off that orphan train.”

“You’d leave the town in the new deputy’s care?” Doc asked.

“In a heartbeat. Only reason I took on the job was because most folks believed my sister would come back here.” He flicked Maggie a look that made her squirm, but he derived no pleasure from her discomfort. “As far as folks around here need to know, my sister and I have headed on.”

“I dislike the idea of us traveling together as siblings,” she said, not mincing words. “It will be too easy for the bounty hunter to follow us.”

Dade nodded, having already deduced the same. “We’ll leave here as siblings. Didn’t say we’d stay that way for long.”

But he didn’t intend to advertise they were traveling as husband and wife unless it became necessary. Better to let folks draw their own conclusions; that way he wouldn’t be obliged to carry on an act twenty-four hours a day.