Mail Order Tangle, page 28
“I’m so very grateful, Mrs. Paxton. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you in return.”
“Not a thing, dear.” She squeezed Laura’s hand and grinned wide. “Except be happy.”
Less than an hour after the quilting club ladies left, another wagon pulled up carrying a beautiful old armoire from the Idaho Hotel. “The manager said we can’t use this anymore since the new rooms have closets,” the driver said. He and Jed grunted and groaned at the weight of it, but finally got the thing in the house and situated in Matt’s bedroom, where it fitted nicely.
Laura took Matt’s belongings out of the crate and put them in the armoire, but hesitated about unpacking her own valise. What a boon! He couldn’t say he didn’t have anything to offer a wife now, what with the house nearly furnished. She didn’t mind used things—they were all new to her, and all in decent enough shape to be presentable. A scratch here and a dent there could be fixed.
She’d barely found places to put everything when another wagon pulled up, this time loaded with bolts of material for curtains, sewing supplies, pillows, sheets, and towels from the Iversons’ church friends. All the available drawers and closets had already been filled, so she stacked the rest of the boxes in Kage’s old room.
To top it off, Helga and Gus brought a bed frame, straw mattress, washstand, and ewer. Jed helped Gus set everything up.
“The boss is sure gonna be surprised,” Jed said.
“He’ll really be surprised when Pete George brings over a milk cow on Monday. We’re not giving that boy any room to wiggle,” Helga said when Laura hugged her. “We know he’ll stick to his guns but if we take the bullets out of them, he’ll have to think on it long and hard.”
“And understand,” Gus said to Laura, “that fifty percent of all this stuff delivered today belongs to you. That ought to get him thinking.”
“We’ll be on our way now so you can fix a nice supper.” She followed Gus out the door but then stuck her head back in. “By the way, the Deuce High crew will be eating at my place tonight, so it’s just you two.”
She left before Laura could say a thing. The kindness of the folks who lived in Owyhee County overwhelmed her and she visited every room with a smile and a touch of euphoria. Except for the curtains and a few rag rugs she’d make, it was very comfortable and homey.
By then it was nearing four o’clock and near time to start fixing that special supper—she had a plan. It was so exciting to fix dinner with her own pans—fifty percent, anyway—and serve it in her own dishes on her own table. She’d never, ever had anything of her own before.
She washed her hair and brushed off her spare dress and let it hang to get the wrinkles out, and after that she set to cooking the best meal she’d ever made. Too late to make a buttermilk pie, but enough apple pie was left for the two of them. The meat was especially well-marbled and she set that to marinade in garlic, onion, molasses, and a dollop of vinegar. She made a batch of biscuits and set them aside while she peeled and sliced some carrots and made a salad from the greens one of the ladies brought.
After she dressed and gussied up her hair as best she could with the minimal number of pins available, she sat on her new couch and waited.
And waited.
At six o’clock, Jed knocked on the door and told her that he’d finished all the chores, three cows had been serviced, and he was heading for the Iverson ranch for supper. “It’s getting late—do you want to go with me and stay there tonight?”
“No, I have supper fixed here. I’ll wait.” Not wanting to seem like a worry-wart, she put on her best face and bid him a safe trip.
But she did worry. What if he’d come upon some sort of calamity in that cave?
By eight o’clock, her stomach rumbled and she fried up the steaks. He still didn’t come home.
Finally, she ate her special meal alone—or at least nibbled as much as her upset stomach would allow. Darkness shadowed the house by then and she cleaned up by kerosene light, put on her nightgown, and went to bed.
Not that she slept. Matt should’ve been in the bed with her. Where was he?
Chapter Twenty One
Matt tried for the hundredth time to get his hands loose from the rope. The cold rock floor didn’t help his bones any, and spending the night there was miserable. Poor Joe and Septimus had both spent a couple nights there and both had bouts of rheumatiz. Luckily, their captors had a good supply of coffin varnish to ease the pain.
“What we gonna do, boss?” Joe asked when their two captors went out of the cave to relieve themselves.
“Get loose and get the hell outta here.” Matt had no idea how to go about it, but he’d think of something. He sure didn’t want the captive men to lose hope, so his first job was to get them in fighting form. Hard to do when they groaned in pain with every move.
“At least we get good food,” Waylon said. “A helluva lot better than the slop Joe cooks.”
“It ain’t that bad. And if you keep it up, I’m gonna spit in your soup next time.”
“Your soup’s so bad, I likely wouldn’t even notice.”
“Wonder what my little Greta is doing. Think she misses me?”
“Yep,” Matt said. “In fact, all the brides are disgusted at Fogarty and went out to my aunt and uncle’s place. Helga’s helping them with their wedding clothes and such, but they ain’t too excited about a wedding with no grooms.”
“Someone better fetch us,” Septimus said. “I plumb lost track of time but we’s all s’posed to get married on Saturday. I’m not of a mind to let any other feller have my Beth. She’s a prize.”
“Same with Sandra,” John Emery said. “There’s no other woman for me.”
Matt felt the same about Laura but he’d been putting her off. What kind of red-blooded man avoided spending every night the rest of his life with a wonderful woman like her? “I proposed to Laura. She didn’t exactly say yes, but she didn’t say no.”
Waylon wiggled to his side and groaned. “From what Janet said, you’re the reason Laura picked Silver City.”
“I’d marry her in a minute if I had two cents to rub together, but I have to spend every dime on the ranch right now. Hell, even the pots and pans belong to Joe, and Greta will need those at his house once they’re married.”
“There sure are some interesting geological formations in this cave,” John said as he gazed around. “And in our current situation, you might start contemplating the aspects of true importance to you. I’ll to see my Sandy again, and I don’t plan to let her go anytime soon.”
“Same with my Greta,” Joe said.
“And Janet,” Waylon added. “There’s a lot of her to love and it’s gonna take me a while to get to it all. And Matt, a man don’t build a ranch alone. Your grandma worked her fingers to the bone right alongside your grandpa to build the Rocking J. My guess is Miss Dickerson has every bit as much spirit as your grandma.”
“I do have one saucepan. The pup drank out of it, but she doesn’t know it.”
Joe chuckled. “There ya go. A good washin’ and it’s good as new. I bet that woman of yours can make some mighty fine soup in that saucepan, too.”
“We’ll see if she wants to marry me once she finds that out.”
Vincent sighed and stared at the floor. “We’ll be let loose as soon as Fogarty leaves town.”
“How do you know that?” Matt asked.
“My mother hired these men.”
“To hold her own son captive?” Matt knew the woman was barmy, but he’d never thought she’d harm Vincent.
“I don’t know what she wants, to tell you the truth.” He shrugged toward the cave entrance. “Those men were hired to abduct any man who proposed. I didn’t think that included me, but it did. Mother wanted me to marry Miss Dickerson, so maybe she’s mad because I proposed to Ruth instead.”
“Or maybe she’s just mad,” Waylon suggested.
“That, too. Right now, I just want to get out of here. Mother and I are gonna have words when I get home, lemme tell you.”
Matt didn’t much care about Vincent’s mother, nor did he know how capable the two scoundrels were, but he’d learned long ago never to underestimate an enemy. Grandpa Bert always told him to divide and conquer, and that tactic seemed the best plan in this case.
“Here’s the plan. I don’t think these two are all that experienced and neither seem like hard cases.”
“They’re not,” Vincent said. “They’re out-of-work actors. I hired them.”
Matt could strangle Hamilton right about then, but he had other more important business. “When they take me out to pee, you men do something to keep the other one in here—maybe Septimus could belch and cry of a bellyache. While that one’s occupied, I’ll try to get the best of the one with me, then I’ll use his pistol and come for the other one.”
“Got it,” Septimus said. “What with these gray whiskers, I could have a fit or something. Might give me some of that there soda and I’ll foam at the mouth.”
Joe smirked. “We ain’t got any soda.”
“I’ll think of something.”
“We’ll wait for the right time then.” Matt flexed his arms and legs to get the stiffness out in case he had to mix it up with the guard.
* * *
Laura knew where Matt had gone and she wasn’t about to sit in the house alone for one more minute. She strapped on one of Matt’s pistols after checking the load and headed out to the barn, stopping for Killer to do his business, then seeking out Jed, who’d just come to work.
“Jed, would you saddle a horse and strap on the puppy basket?”
“Glad to. Where ya headed?”
“I’m riding to Iversons to talk to the brides, and then I’m going to the cave.” She followed him to the corral, telling him what Matt had told her, and waited for him to rope a horse. “Do you know where the cave is? Because I’d like you to ride into town, get the sheriff and the doctor, and take them out there.”
He threw a pretty loop around a nice-looking red roan. “Best we do it the other way around—I’ll go to the cave and you fetch the sheriff.” He led the horse to the barn near the tack room.
“Do you honestly think he’d believe me? I’m a woman. He’ll just say I need to sit home and wait, implying he’s on a bender or something.”
“I s’pose that’s so.” He handed her a brush. “You give him a good brushing while I fetch the tack.”
The bull bellowed and she took the time to scratch his head before she left. “Sorry, Casanova. You’ll have to stay here—you have work to do.”
Ten minutes later, she’d put Killer in his basket, mounted up, and was on her way. Jed insisted he go with her as far as Iversons and he led Joe’s saddled horse. “Just in case,” he said.
When they loped into the yard, Helga came out, likely to holler at them for kicking up dust.
“See you at the cave!” Jed hollered as he rode on to Silver City.
“Cave?” Helga came out and caught the roan’s headstall. “What cave?”
“Helga, Matt’s missing!” Laura said as she slid off the roan and took Killer out of his basket.
The other five brides rushed outside and circled her.
“Did he propose?” Sandra asked.
Laura blushed. “After a fashion, but he’s been gone since yesterday morning early.”
“Gone?” the brides chorused.
“Gone. Without overnight gear. And I know where he went. He had a suspicion that Joe might be in a cave near here.”
“I’m going with you,” Greta said.
“You can ride Joe’s horse. Matt found him but didn’t find Joe. That’s why he left yesterday morning—to see if Joe was there. Might be hurt or something.”
“I’m going with you,” Janet said. “He might need help. And maybe my Waylon’s there, too.”
“Matt didn’t see his horse, but if Waylon went looking for Joe, then they both could very well be there.” She gave the pup to Helga.
“We might as well all go.” Sandra turned to the others. “Ladies, let’s get some horses saddled.”
Janet did most of the work but they managed to get four horses saddled and ready to ride.
“You sure you know how to get there?” Helga asked as the ladies led their horses to the mounting block.
“Yes, Matt told me. It’s not too far from here—we’ll find it.”
“Best you take a torch, some food, bandages, and extra water, too. There’ ain’t none up that way.” She went to fetch the supplies.
Beth seemed nervous but managed to climb onto her horse. “I’ve never ridden before.”
“We’ll take it slow. Just hang on to the saddle horn if you feel off-balance.”
“We ain’t takin’ it slow,” Janet said. “Pull leather, honey, we’re ridin’.”
They had their trials, but they rode as far as they could, then tied their horses to the biggest sagebrushes they could find, hiked up their skirts and tucked them into their drawers, then climbed the hill. Ruth had a hard time, stumbling several times, and Laura wouldn’t have been surprised if Ruth swooned, but she was the one who spotted the entrance to the cave.
“We best be quiet,” Janet said. “Two-legged or four-legged, some varmint has your man, and maybe mine, too.”
Ruth huffed and puffed. Between huffs, she said, “He might have fallen or twisted his ankle—there might not be anyone else to deal with.”
“We’re not taking the chance.” Laura put her forefinger to her lips to quiet them. “Hand signals from now on,” she whispered. She drew her pistol as did Janet and Sandra. Ruth had a butcher knife but she also picked up a stick, Beth had borrowed Helga’s shotgun, and Greta carried the rope.
One way or another, Laura would get her man.
* * *
Amos poked Matt with the rifle. “Time to do your business. I might shoot something for supper while we’re at it.” He led Matt out to take a pee.
Matt soon discovered that getting to the meat of the matter wasn’t easy what with hands hands being tied and all, but he finally did. As he cut loose, he took the opportunity to look around. That’s when he briefly saw a blue bonnet—a bonnet that was blue, not the flower. Laura had a blue bonnet! What the ever lovin’ hell was she doing here?
The bonnet disappeared and he thought he must be imagining things, and he kept peeing. He’d spent a long night and he had a lot stored up. Next thing he knew, a bullet whizzed by his ear and Amos let out a howl.
“My arm!”
“Take that, you rascal,” Laura shouted.
Miss Bufton charged up the hill as Matt was still hanging out. “Well, I can see why Laura wouldn’t settle for another man.” She chuckled.
He tucked in as best he could and spun around. Laura was pistol-whipping poor Amos on his head and shoulders while Greta looped the rope around his feet and cinched it tight.
“Be quiet, or the next loop will be around your neck,” Laura said.
“Good shot!” Matt couldn’t get to her fast enough, although the rope tied around his ankles didn’t make it easy. “Are you all right?”
“Easier than shooting a fox. Of course I’m all right, but why are you tied up?”
“Did you find Joe?” Greta asked.
“Yep, him and all the rest of the men, but another guard is in there. Name’s Ted.”
The women all started chattering at once, each wanting verification that her man was in the cave and unharmed.
“No one’s hurt, although a few days and nights of sitting on a rock can make you a mite miserable.” Ruth cut the ropes off Matt’s ankles and wrists, then he tightened the rope binding Amos. “Miss Howell, you aim that shotgun at his gut and if he moves one danged muscle, you pull the trigger. Got it?”
“Don’t shoot!” Amos broke out in a sweat. “It’s Mrs. Hamilton’s idea—we just followed orders. We didn’t hurt anyone.”
Beth ignored his words and pointed the barrel of her shotgun at his midsection. “I understand fully, Mr. Johanssen, and I’m not in the least averse to inflicting bodily damage upon such a miscreant, especially after this disreputable malefactor and his equally squalid accomplice put my Septimus through such a harrowing experience.”
Matt rubbed his stinging wrists. “That’s a yes?”
She nodded.
He turned to the other ladies. “Your men are all tied just as I was, plus they’re tied back-to-back. I’ll keep Ted busy, then Greta, you cut Waylon loose as fast as you can—he’s tied to John, and he’s by far the best fighter of the bunch. Laura and Miss Bufton, you cover me. Miss Straight, I’d like to borrow your pistol, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” She gave it to him. “Just so you know, I can shoot, too.”
“Don’t doubt it, but I need you and Miss Nash to get the others untied.” To all the ladies he said, “Keep your heads and don’t panic.”
“No bother,” Janet said. “We’re here, six of us, and we ain't takin’ no crap off one scrawny-ass guard.”
“Scared scrawny-ass guard with a pistol,” Matt reminded her.
* * *
Laura had never shot a man before, and she didn’t know whether to feel bad about that, hug Matt, or what. Best she take care of the situation at hand, then decide. He lit the torch and motioned for them to stay low, which they all could do since their skirts were still hitched up. Just before he reached a bend in the cave, he pointed, which she could barely see, but understood that the men were just around the corner. Besides, she could hear them talking.
“Don’t you worry none, boys,” she heard. “Amos just shot us a rabbit to eat, is all.”
Matt rounded the bend with his pistol pointed, ready to fire. “Hands up, Ted. Your partner is outside, tied up, and with a hole in his arm.”
Ted made an odd noise, halfway between a shriek and a whine. “Don’t shoot, Johanssen. I’m putting my pistols on the ground—both of them.”
