Jodi Thomas - WM 1 (30 page)
Read Jodi Thomas - WM 1 Online
Authors: Texas Rain
He’d also told her why he thought the barmaids might be in trouble. If Seth Norman came in to visit his girl, Whiny just might be caught in the crossfire. There was enough money on the Norman brothers’ heads to make some men foolish enough to try and collect the bounty.
In her tiny bedroom she closed her eyes, almost still hearing Travis’s rich voice. No matter what they were talking about, she caught herself staring at his mouth and wondering what it would be like to kiss him once more.
She wished she’d come from a family like his, strong and honest. Her father never fought for anything except for more money. In fact, he’d given her, his only child, away just because he didn’t want to bother with her anymore. Most of her life she’d felt as if she hadn’t been important enough for him to even talk to. If he wanted her to do something, he’d say to her mother, “Tell the girl to do this,” and if she didn’t act fast enough, he blamed his wife by yelling something like, “Your daughter’s as slow as she is plain!”
But Rainey would show him. She’d make her own way in the world. She’d grown up hearing her father remind her mother that she’d be starving on the streets without him. Now he must think the same of his daughter. But she wasn’t starving. She had a business and she was making it just fine without him.
Voices drifted up from the alley. The drunk who stumbled out of one of the saloons every night to relieve himself swore against heaven because angels must have come down and moved the privy again.
A man sleeping a few doors down yelled for him to be quiet.
The drunk threatened to kill the man if he would only show himself.
Rainey laughed.
Then Snort’s voice sounded from almost directly below Rainey’s window demanding that they both be quiet.
Rainey leaned closer and waited, for if Snort were on the back porch it wouldn’t be long before Whiny showed up also.
Sure enough, the younger woman’s drawl drifted up to the window. “There ain’t enough men in tonight to keep me in smokes, much less beer.”
“It’s the weather, getting colder, makes folks want to huddle down in their own beds and sleep till spring.” Whiny mumbled her agreement and Snort continued. “I’m thinking of turning in early. I already got my bed bricks warming by the fire in the kitchen.” She laughed. “I could use a little beauty sleep.”
“Haskell won’t let you leave early. I heard him say he’s expecting somebody important to come by in the next few evenings. Says some fellow is going to get him a great deal of money.”
Snort sounded interested. “We’ll keep our eyes open. When Haskell gets the money, that’s when we should make our move. I’ve been thinking about it. We got to hit him before he puts it in the safe ’cause we’ll never get that thing open.”
“But we’ll be caught. I just know we will,” Whiny whimpered. “How are we going to look invisible in that little office of Haskell’s? If he even thinks we’re planning something, he’ll beat us to death, then throw us out with the trash.”
“All we got to do is get our hands on the money. Look at it this way, we works for Haskell. Any money he gets belongs to us, too. We just got to be brave for once and take it.”
“There ain’t no way.”
“Yes, there is. I’m working on something he’ll never see coming. By the time they find his body we’ll be long gone, and we’ll have enough to live in style for the rest of our lives. If Haskell says big money is coming in, this may be our one chance. All we got to do is kill one man. That ain’t much, ’cause he ain’t much of a man.”
The women talked on and Rainey listened for details, but they changed the subject.
Whiny said, “Wish that big fellow would come in again tonight. He bought us a whole bottle of whiskey and didn’t ask for nothing in return.”
“He’s got Indian blood in him, I’ll bet.” Snort sounded as if she were drinking during her break. “That dark hair and brown eyes marks him as breed.”
“I don’t care as long as he’s got money. Half the folks in Texas are mixed blood,” Whiny answered. “Long as he don’t try to scalp me, he can warm my bed.”
“You scared him off,” Snort scolded. “With men like him you got to act like a lady. Didn’t you notice how polite he was? His clothes were clean, too. A man like that has to be handled differently than most. He thinks you’re a tramp and he’s going to toss you aside.”
“I didn’t do nothin’!”
Snort continued. “You showed him too much of the merchandise.”
Rainey giggled, guessing who they were talking about. Travis had already told her he’d met them. Now she knew he also bought them a bottle of whiskey.
“I did not,” Whiny answered. “He said he was out of money. That’s why he left.”
“He weren’t out of money. Didn’t you get a look at those boots he had on? Those are handmade of prime leather down in San Antonio just for him. I’ve seen a few pair of them before. They say the cobbler makes one boot for each foot, not both just alike the way most boots come. I’ve heard ranchers say they don’t have to wear a boot six months to break it in when it’s made like that. Any man who can afford them kind of boots don’t run out of money.”
“You mean he paid for someone to make a pair just for him?” Whiny obviously didn’t believe Snort.
“Yeah, and you can bet they slide up his leg almost to his knee and got his name on the inside. If he ever comes in again, we got to ask Haskell to send over some of the special whiskey. Two drinks of it and he’ll be acting like he’s had a bottle.”
“But Haskell charges us for that stuff.”
“It’ll be worth ten times what we have to pay. When the big man wakes up in your bed, he’ll never remember what a great time he had, but he’ll pay up all the same.”
Whiny giggled. “I wouldn’t mind having a peep at what that one looks like without his clothes.”
“He’s fine, I bet, but I’m guessing he’s also picky about his women, not like some. He probably selects his women with twice the care he picked those boots.”
Someone yelled from inside and the women shuffled back to work. Rainey lay awake thinking of everything they’d said. She now knew that they planned to kill Haskell, but what bothered her more was that they planned to trick Travis.
She sat up in bed trying to think. They could have been talking about someone else. But Travis had been in there last night. He was a big man and probably had plenty of money. It all seemed to fit Travis, except for the boots. She’d never thought to look at what kind of boot he wore. He must have had something on his feet, but most of the time they talked they were sitting at a table, or walking in the dark.
It was almost midnight and she remained wide awake. She’d never be able to sleep, worrying about Travis. Tomorrow was Monday and she had to go to Judge Gates’s office the first thing. Travis had left her without making any plans to see her tomorrow, so she might have no way of passing on what she’d heard. Haskell must be expecting Seth Norman to show up. That had to be where his sudden fall of money was coming from.
Travis had commented that he would be sitting before a panel of lawyers to answer questions.
She couldn’t go to the saloon and head him off tomorrow night. She might be too late, and that street was definitely not safe for a woman alone at night. She couldn’t just stand around waiting for him to come by.
Rainey crawled out of bed and began to pace. She could write him a note. When they’d walked earlier, he’d told her that he and Sage were staying at the home of the Baileys, who lived just across the street from the capital. He’d even pointed in the general direction. She could find the house and deliver a note tonight, then he’d be prepared and know about both Haskell’s plan to collect the reward on Seth Norman and the barmaids’ plot to drug him. If he knew he was walking into a trap the next time he went to the saloon, they’d never be able to trick him.
Rainey pulled the ragged old clothes she’d worn when she’d ridden into Austin from the bottom of her tiny chest. The capital was only three blocks away. She could run to it, walk about the square, and find the home of the Baileys. If they rented out rooms, it must be a big house, and most of the big houses in this town had the family name on the door.
She’d find the place, slip a note to Travis under the door, and be back in her bed in minutes. As she pulled her hair up under her floppy old hat, she thought of the distance between the laundry room window and the street. She’d never made the journey alone.
This time she’d have to make it not only alone, but invisible. The only way she’d be safe was to pass through the streets unnoticed. She’d done it the first time running away from a marriage and a life she didn’t want. She’d do it this time to save a friend.
She glanced in the mirror. In the weeks she’d been in Austin, she’d gained a little weight. She didn’t look as much like a boy as she had when she’d been starving most of the time. But it was a moonless night and she would pass. Who would be on the streets to see her?
Only criminals and outlaws and murderers, she answered her own question. But she had to help Travis if she could. She’d never forgive herself if Whiny and Snort tricked him and she could have stopped them. Plus, if they thought he had money, they might decide killing him could be their ticket out of town. Travis had said Sage came to shop, so he might be carrying more money than usual.
Rainey scribbled the note to Travis, shoved it deep into her shirt pocket, and tiptoed down the back stairs. Even Mamie, who always worked late, had gone to bed. Rainey opened the laundry room window and slipped out, then put a stick at the frame so the window wouldn’t close completely. She was out into the alley before she remembered that without the stool she wouldn’t be able to crawl back inside.
Slipping into the night, she decided to worry about that later. The odds were good that she’d never make it back alive, so she didn’t want to worry about something needlessly.
The air hung cold and still. Rainey moved slowly, keeping to the blackness close to the buildings. She’d looked down the alley several times from her window, and, when the moon was full, she’d noticed where the drunks slept. She only hoped they were in the same places and she didn’t step on one.
Inch by inch she tiptoed along the alley until finally she reached the street. From there she turned north and crossed to the boardwalk. Here there were street lamps, but no one around. She could hear the faint sounds from the bars a few blocks over, but on these streets lined with shops and offices, nothing moved.
She crossed one intersection, and then another. The lanterns from the new capital building came into view. Rainey moved toward them.
A wagon rattled down the street and she slipped into the shadows until it passed. The driver looked like he was asleep on the bench and letting the horses lead him home.
She hurried on until she reached the fine houses. The expensive women’s boardinghouse was on the corner of the first block. She saw a candle shining from one of the upstairs windows. One of the women might still be awake, but the rest of the house was dark.
A few homes later she found a red stone house with the name Bailey on a plaque by the front door. As she passed, she noticed light still shining from one wing of the structure. Curiosity got the better of her, and she slipped into a tiny garden area only wide enough for a path leading to the back of the house.
Rainey walked slowly, thinking that, though only a few feet from the street, this would be a beautiful private space in the summer.
A light from the window flickered across the path. Rainey leaned to look in, hoping for a glimpse of what the home might look like inside.
To her shock, Travis sat not three feet from the window. His head was down, but the light still shone on the book he’d been reading. He must have fallen asleep.
She stepped closer and realized the window was open.
The thought that she could slip into his room and leave the note on his book almost made her laugh out loud. Before she had time to reconsider, she tugged the window opening wide enough to slide through. Warmth greeted her and the smell of tea drifted in the air. A fire in the hearth made the room dance in light and shadow off fine furniture and rugs. She tiptoed to the polished desk littered with papers.
Just as she laid the note in the center of his book, Travis said in the low voice of a man very much awake, “Good evening, my little thief. Looking for wine, or just breaking into homes tonight?”
Rainey jumped and would have screamed, but his hand brushed her mouth. “Not a sound, the boy is sleeping.”
She fought down the cry that was already halfway up her throat.
He stood, careful not to make a sound, placed his arm about her waist, and pulled her across the room. His strong grip no longer frightened her.
She noticed Duck sleeping on a huge buffalo hide by the fire in what looked more like a drawing room than a bedroom. A bunk had been shoved along the other wall that had windows. The covers on the bed were messed. She guessed that must be where Travis slept, when he slept. From that spot he could watch the boy and still have the fresh air blow across him.
She also noticed papers and books everywhere. He obviously had been studying hard for something, and here she was waking him. No, she corrected, she definitely hadn’t awakened him. He’d probably heard her from the time she left the street. He’d only been pretending to sleep, probably trying to figure out just how close she’d come.
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