Rocky Mountain Oasis (28 page)

Sky set the jar of preserves on the counter and let her stir for a moment, then gently took her hand, turning her so that she faced him. He bent down, gazing into her eyes. “I’m sorry I brought up a painful subject. But you don’t know how happy it makes me to know that you are finally relaxed with me. I think that means you know I will never, ever, harm you in any way?”

She nodded.

A wide grin of relief split his face, and she couldn’t help but smile in return. They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Then he tapped the end of her nose in a teasing gesture and asked, “How about breakfast?”

“Oh!” She turned away with a little gasp to rescue the very-well-done eggs.

16

As Sky stood up from the table, Brooke was surprised to see him pull a box out from underneath the bed. He opened the lid, pulled a gun belt from the box, and slung it around his lean waist in one smooth motion. He then removed a mean-looking revolver, much heavier than the one they had used the night before. He spun the cylinder, checking the load, then set it firmly into the holster. As he slid the box back under the bed he reached down to the floor and picked up something that Brooke had not seen earlier. It was the small .22 that he had taught her to use the night before. He had set it on the floor by the bed without her noticing.

“Brooke, I want you to keep this close to you at all times during the next couple of days. In fact, does your dress have a pocket?”

She nodded.

“Good. When you get dressed, I want you to put this in your pocket and take it with you everywhere. Do you understand?”

She nodded again, but said, “Sky, I don’t think I can shoot anyone.”

“Let’s hope it won’t even have to come out of your pocket, Brooke. But I will feel much better knowing you have the gun. Just carry it for my peace of mind, all right?”

She nodded a third time. Having the gun might ease her fears a little.

“All right, I’ll see you tonight. I’ll probably be late, so don’t wait up for me. Tell my parents I said good morning, will you?”

Brooke’s jaw clenched as she remembered she’d have to spend the day alone with Sky’s mother and dad. How was she going to keep them busy all day long?

“Brooke, honey.” Sky tilted her face up with a gentle caress. “My parents are going to love you the way you are. Like I do. You don’t have to worry about what they’re going to think of you, or even how to entertain them for that matter. Just try to enjoy the day with them, okay?”

She licked her lips and gave him a weak smile. “I’ll try to remember that they raised you and anyone who taught you to be the way you are must be very special.”

Sky looked thoughtful.

She swallowed, wishing she could read his thoughts. It was the closest she had come to saying she cared for him.

He chucked her under the chin. “That’s the spirit. See you tonight.” He stepped out, leaving a cold draft in his place.

Sky rode Geyser quickly through the brush, intent on reaching town before any of the posse from Lewiston arrived. He could see his breath in the chilly morning air, but it looked as though the sun was going to come out and warm the day up. The sprinkling of snow from the night before would be gone by the end of the day.

He pulled up in front of Jed’s boarding house as the first rays of sunshine peeked over the horizon. Jed already had good, strong coffee in his pot by the fire.

“Were things quiet during the night?” Sky asked as he poured himself a cup of the brew.

“Hmmph. Quiet, you say. The night of the murder ‘twas quieter ‘n last night.”

“What happened?”

“You ever hear tell of a fella by the name o’ Lon Sears?”

“Seems like I do recall that name from somewhere. He from around here?”

Jed scratched his head, pondering this last question. “I reckon he is, sorta. He’s got hisself a mine back in the hills a ways. He don’t come to town very often, though. Maybe once a year. Anyhow, that don’t rightly matter. What matters is that he speaks Chinese.”

Sky sipped his coffee, watching Jed over the rim of his cup. “And?”

“Well, a couple o’ the fellas had this here idee to sorta disguise Lon there as a drunken injun an’ throw him in the jail with them jail birds to sorta see if he could make out any information, or a confession like. Only trouble was, they was all so excited about their idee that they all stayed here a chattin’ an’ a wond’rin’ whether it was gonna work, an’ I couldn’t sleep for all of the ruckus they was makin’.”

“So have they pulled him out yet? Do we know if he heard anything?”

“Yeah, they took ‘im out this mornin’, early. He didn’t hear nothin’ except the younger ones that been arrested plannin’ to blame the whole shebang on the older ones ‘cause they ain’t got that long to live anyway, they said.”

“Well, it was worth a try, I suppose.” Sky tossed the dregs of his coffee into the fire. “I’m going to head over to the livery and stable my horse for the day.”

Sky was headed out the door when Jed stopped him, “Oh, I plum forgot. One o’ them there men confessed last night after you left.”

“One of them confessed? A man
confessed,
and you are telling me stories about Lon Sears disguised as a drunken Indian?”

Jed had the presence of mind to look sheepish.

“If one of them confessed, why did you all go to the trouble of disguising Lon in the first place?”

“Well, the man—it was the one you an’ I arrested that first morning after the murder, by the by—that one with the blood on his shirt. Anyhow, he tells us that he an’ four others were involved, including Lee Chang, you should know. But none o’ them other men will cop to the confession. They be stickin’ to the story that they is innocent. So we wanted to see ifn we sorta caught them off guard like, if we could hear somethin’. But no such luck.”

Jed turned to refill his cup but paused, looking back. “Oh yeah, an’ one more thing. Carle an’ Gaffney brought in another man this mornin’. So that makes nine down to the jail now.”

Sky shook his head. One man had confessed and another had been arrested, but Jed had thought to tell him about Lon and his Indian disguise. A grin split his face.
Good ol’ Jed
.

Suddenly from out on the street Sky and Jed heard horses approaching. Sky opened the door and stepped out onto the boarding house porch. Six riders cantered up the street on spent horses.

From behind Sky Jed spoke up. “Only six o’ them?”

“There will be more. Lots more.”

The riders pulled to stop and looked up at Sky. A short balding man wearing a red bandanna around his neck spoke for the group. “We got the town surrounded—about seventy-five of us. John Bymaster’s my name. The men have elected me to be captain of the posse. I had them form two lines of about thirty each and surround the town in case anyone saw us coming and thought about making an escape.”

“Don’t think that be necessary,” said Jed. “We got nine in the jail now—most probably all, if not more ‘n those involved.”

Sky wasn’t so sure, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

Bymaster looked up and down the street. “No building in town big enough to hold all of us. We’ll have to set up court outside somewhere.” He glanced around a little more. “Down there I think, by that tree at the end of town.”

A signal was sent to the posse that surrounded the town and they made their way in, tightening their circle as they came. Soon the main street teemed with swaggering men and their horses. Bymaster directed all of them to hobble their horses and find positions at the end of the street near the tree.

As Sky led Geyser through the men to the Livery he heard more than one racial slur.

“Those Chinks are gonna get what’s comin’ to them now!”

“Cussed Celestials! Comin’ west an’ stealin’ our jobs! Now they be murderin’! Best we set a good example here for others to take note of!”

Sky knew what that meant. Nothing short of a lynching would satisfy these men. He sent up another prayer that nothing would spin out of control.

Wild Bill looked grim as he took the reins from Sky. “You think we ever gonna get to the bottom o’ this thing with all them men out there wantin’ to showboat their prowess?”

“We’ll just have to pray, Bill. Ask God to keep things under control and orderly.”

Bill gave Sky a skeptical look. “You do the praying, Sky. Me, I plan on
doin’
somethin’ if things get out of hand.” He pulled back the flaps of his long, ankle-length overcoat to reveal a Colt strapped to his side.

Sky eyed the gun. “Bill, don’t do anything rash, okay?”

“Don’t you worry about me, Sky. I don’t plan on pullin’ this baby out unless I have to.”

Leaving the livery, Sky walked down the street. He noticed a difference about town today. Normally there were Chinamen everywhere, but today Sky had not seen even one. They were staying away, he assumed, to keep from being falsely accused, yet the town was far from quiet. It teemed with movement like never before. The warming sun shone brightly on the street and everywhere he looked groups of distraught men discussed the recent tragedy. The atmosphere in the town was tense to say the least, and Sky knew it wouldn’t take much to increase that tension to the point of explosion. He prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

Sky headed to Chang’s store. He pushed open the front door, and the bell jangled as he stepped inside. Jenny glanced up from behind the counter. Although she looked calm, her eyes were red-rimmed as though she may have spent the night crying.

“Hello, Jenny,” he murmured.

She nodded. “Sky.”

“I’m sorry about Lee.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “I love my husband, Sky. He hard man, but I love him. I pray for him every day. Pray he change heart, but...” She shrugged.

“I know, Jenny. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“The inquiry is going to start soon, and Brooke wondered if you would come out and spend the day with her on the farm.” When he saw her hesitation, he added, “My parents came yesterday, and she is a little nervous being around them, so your presence might help her relax a little.”

Jenny smiled sadly. “I go for Brooke then.” Yet she seemed reluctant to leave.

Sky nodded. “Good. If you get the things you’ll need, I’ll escort you to the edge of town and make sure you get on your way safely.”

Minutes later, Sky, leading Jenny’s horse behind him toward the end of the street heard a strident, nasal yell. “You there, where are you taking that woman?”

Sky and Jenny turned to see a short, enormously fat man lumbering toward them. Sky thought fleetingly that the man’s high-pitched voice certainly didn’t match his size.

“I am not taking her anywhere,” Sky spoke calmly. “She is leaving town for the day. I will be staying here for the trial.”

The man eyed Jenny coldly. “She’s not going anywhere. How do we know that she didn’t take part in this crime?”

Just then, Bymaster, who had heard the loud commotion, approached. “Smyth, what’s goin’ on?”

The obese man spoke in what could only be described as a whine. “This man, here,” he dipped his head at Sky, his jowls jiggling, “is letting this Chinese woman leave town. What if she was an accomplice?”

Bymaster turned to Sky for an explanation, but Sky thought he saw a glint of irritation in the depths of the man’s eyes.

“I can vouch for this woman, Bymaster. She had nothing to do with this crime. I’d wager that any man from town would vouch for her too.”

“Thet’s right!” hollered Jed, as by now the whole group of men had become quiet and focused their attention on the ruckus at the end of the street. “I’ll vouch for her! Jenny Chang wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Me too!” yelled several of the other men in unison.

“Chang?” whined Smyth. “Isn’t one of those men in there her husband?” He gestured toward the jail.

“Smyth, shut up,” snapped Bymaster as he focused his attention on Sky. “Where is she going?”

Irritated by this obviously prejudicial questioning, Sky clenched his fists at his sides. He wanted to slug someone, but for the sake of peace he answered, “She is going to spend the day with my wife out at our farm.”

Bymaster eyed Sky coolly, then turned to Jenny. “Ma’am—” he touched the brim of his hat—“feel free to be on your way.”

Smyth looked as if he’d been denied a chance at a million dollars. “If she runs off and we find she had anything to do with this, I’m comin’ after you!” Smyth jabbed his fleshy finger into Sky’s chest, having to squint up a good ways to glare into Sky’s face.

Calm as the eye of a storm, Sky looked down into the face of the loudmouth. His eyes narrowed. Smyth took a step back and licked his fat lips. The threat was empty. Sky knew it, and all the men standing around knew it.

When Sky continued to eye him indifferently and made no reply to his threat, Smyth stepped back further. Then, in a show of bravado, he pulled the front of his vest downward with a short jerk and swaggered off as though he had conquered the world.

Sky looked back at Jenny and she nodded her gratitude to him, turning her horse toward the woods. He watched her go, praying she would make it safely to the farm.

Swinging back around, he surveyed the men in the crowd thoughtfully, but they had already resumed their conversations. He didn’t think there was any danger to Jenny, or he would have accompanied her. Knowing it was still early in the day with the trial not even started yet, he figured any potential troublemakers would still be interested enough in the goings-on to stay in town. And Jenny had her rifle in the scabbard of her saddle.