Authors: Rita Lawless
Justice's shock turned to humor. "You old matchmaker. What made you decide on now?"
"Coming close to death makes a person think," Miss Agatha said. "I've loved my life, and I knew the two of you love each other. I thought making you search for the loot would bring you together. Turns out, I was right."
"I'll make you my maid of honor for forcing me to take a good look at things," Justice said. She put her arm around her future grandmother-in-law. "Thank you."
"Give me another grandchild before I die," Miss Agatha said. "That will be thanks enough."
"We may need a few years together alone," Justice said. "That means you've got to stick around for a while."
"Deal." Miss Agatha stood. "I'm ready to go back to the events and then go eat some barbeque."
Justice wanted to tell her she shouldn't be eating barbeque, but she knew Miss Agatha loved it, so she kept her mouth shut. They made their way to the museum where games for kids were taking place. Later in the afternoon, Zander would take part in a horse race, using Bandit as his mount. After that, the two of them, along with Emily and Brice, would take part in the scavenger hunt where people found fake money and gold, in honor of the legend that made Bandit Days possible.
The amount of people this event attracted never failed to amaze Justice. It seemed to grow every year, which meant more money for the museum, which was a good thing.
They found the rest of the family waiting for them at the lunch tables. The ladies sat together while the men gathered food, using some of the younger volunteers to help them carry trays.
"We're going to find more loot than you do," Brice said to Justice and Zander. He had a fork in his hand and he pointed it at Zander, and then Justice.
"I thought we were working on this together," Justice said.
"No way," Brice said.
"The men decided to make it a competition between the four of us," Emily told Justice.
Justice turned to stare at Zander. "Really?"
"Yup, and we're going to win."
"What is it with you guys? You have to make a competition out of everything. Should we bring a ruler to the finish line so we measure the two of you in case there's a tie?"
Zander narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't sass me, woman, or I'll…"
Justice waited on him to finish the sentence. While they'd been talking, all of them had finished eating. The young volunteers, working for tips to pay for a trip to the state agricultural event, had cleaned their plates, leaving the table spotless.
"Or you'll what?" she stuck her tongue out at him, knowing full well he wouldn't do anything to her in the middle of the crowded park. "You'll sass me right back? I guarantee that I can give out more sass than you can. If giving out sass was a race, you'd be at the starting line and
I'd be two laps ahead of you before you broke out of the gate. You need a dictionary to look up the word sass. You need to take sass lessons."
Justice was rather enjoying the look on Zander's face, a cross between shock and humor. Something told her this would be fun to continue later tonight at the house.
"You need a spanking," he said, which shocked her. Around them, people snickered. Justice wasn't exactly sure what to say, because his words had made her wonder that maybe he would spank her here in front of all these people.
"Really, that's all you can come up with? I need a spanking. You would need lessons on how to spank someone, I think." That might get her a few good swats when they got home that evening. "Maybe Brice should spank Emily so you can watch, and learn."
"Watch it!" Emily said. "Don't be dragging us into this argument. I have no desire to be spanked, thank you very much."
Justice wasn't sure if that was true or not. She and Emily had never discussed that part of sex because Justice had always worried her friend would think Justice was strange. And there was that part about Zander being Emily's brother. They'd had a hard time getting over that, too. It was the man reason Justice and Emily had never discussed sex before.
"Hey, Zander, do you remember that John Wayne movie where he spanked his wife?" Brice asked. "There was a good crowd for that event. Seems like there is a good crowd here, today."
"It wasn't just one movie," Zander said. "I believe he spanked women in several of his films."
"Go ahead, Zander, give her bottom a swat or two," someone yelled from the crowd.
"Excuse me," Justice said, standing up to look around to see who made the remark. "You need to mind your own business, and that goes double for you, Brice."
But Brice didn't listen to her. "Do you need a paddle, Zander? This isn't a movie set, so one can't be found readily, but I'm sure I can find something."
"No, that's okay, my hand will work." Before Zander could stand up, Justice pushed away from the table. Since it was a bench, it took her a few seconds to move her feet over the wood, and she felt as if she were about to lose her footing when her feet got caught in the skirt she wore.
She stumbled, and would have hit the ground of Emily hadn't grabbed her arm. That little misstep was all Zander needed. He was around the table in a shot, grabbing her around the waist. Justice twisted and turned, but it was no use. Within moments, he was seated at the bench with her thrown across his lap.
There was no warm up, nothing to prepare her, but this was done more in fun, she knew. He swatted her ass and people laughed and cheered.
"Stop it!" she screamed, wishing she could come up with something more original. He swatted her again, and again. There was no real pain, since she had on several layers of clothing.
There was only the mortifying thought that half the town watched.
"You pig!" Another swat.
"You…" she didn't finish. What would someone in this situation say back in the mid-eighteen hundreds? "Swine!" she finally said.
"That's the same as pig," someone yelled from the crowd. Zander swatted her ass again.
"You're just a big old brute, you… you… Zander! Stop it this minute."
Zander ignored her and delivered three more swats.
She thought he was done, but before she could stand he slapped her ass once more and said, "And one to grown on."
This time he did help her to stand. She glared at him as she faced him, standing on her tiptoes and shaking her finger in his face. "You're in big trouble, mister."
"Oh please," he said. She could tell he was trying to hold back laughter. "It was funny, and you know it."
The crowd was dispersing, some of them wandering off, some of them going back to their food. As they left, one woman walked by and wished Justice a happy birthday.
"It's not my birthday," Justice said with a laugh after the woman was gone.
"I purposely said and one to grow on so people would think it was," Zander said as they sat back down. "I knew some people wouldn't appreciate my spanking you in the square."
"You… you…" Justice wiggled her finger in his face again. She wanted to be mad, but she couldn't help but giggle. He was right, the scene was straight out of a western movie.
Zander laughed. "You can thank me later. Right now, I have a horse race to win."
"And we have a scavenger hunt to win, too."
He stroked her face before he leaned over and gave her a kiss, one that was sweet, almost chaste. It sent tingles down her spine and made her want to kiss him more. From his next words, it was obvious he had the same thought. "We'll finish it later tonight," he whispered against her lips.
"Hey you two," Emily said. "I hate to break up the love fest, but we have guests."
Justice didn't want to look away from the seductive look on Zander's face, but she finally managed to tear her gaze away. She looked at Emily, who was talking to Louisa Gunner. Justice didn't know when the woman had walked up, but she'd obviously been there long enough to introduce herself to Emily and Brice, who were talking to her and Abel, who sat in a wheelchair next to them.
"Louisa," Justice said. "What a surprise."
Louisa smiled at her. Then she held up a manila envelope. "We have things we need to discuss."
Justice's eyes widened.
She wanted to believe that one little overlooked clue all those years ago could now lead to discovering something the people of Bluefield had been searching for during the past one hundred years plus.
"Is that…
" Justice glanced at Zander, who was staring at Louisa. "Is that the map?" she finished.
"Yes, it is,"
Louisa said. "Let's find a quiet place to sit so we can chat."
* * * * *
Zander pulled a chair out for his grandmother. They were all back at the house, and it was now close to seven. The original plan had been to be here by five, so that they could talk about what Louisa had found, and possible go to wherever the map pointed them. But things got out of hand, as they always do with large events, and starting times for the race and the scavenger hunt were pushed back.
Zander wanted to forget both events, but his grandmother had reminded him that she was on the committee, and couldn't leave. And, she warned, if they discussed the hidden loot without her she would "Tan his hide," and he didn't doubt that she was telling the truth.
His mother had just finished passing out glasses of iced tea, and it was all he could do to contain his excitement and not rip open the envelope Louisa still held in her hand. One look at Justice and he could tell she felt the same way.
Finally, Miss Agatha asked Louisa to tell them what she'd located in her father's things. It didn't take Louisa long to relate the tale. After Zander and Justice had left, she and her father had gone through his papers, and she'd found nothing. But then an idea had crossed her mind. Her father had a safety deposit box in an Austin bank.
The next Monday they'd gone to the bank. She found several pieces of family jewelry, her father's will, her late mother's wedding rings, and, on the bottom, the envelope she now held in her hands.
"We didn't open it until we got home," Louisa said. "But basically, it's a letter from Jeremiah Gunner, the lawman who had been alive during the time of the robberies. The letter stated that he had a run in with Frank Miter, one of the leaders of the gang, years after everyone thought the loot was gone and would never be found again."
Louisa took a deep breath. "You have to believe I had no clue this was in my father's things, or that my family had anything to do with the legend."
Zander grabbed his tea and took a swig. He wanted to scream at her to get on with it, but he knew that wouldn't be the right thing to do.
"You act as if your family is guilty," Justice said. "What did the letter say about this run in with Frank Miter?"
Louisa sighed. "Miter had come back to Bluefield to get the loot. He'd figured enough time had gone by that he could safely recover the cash and jewelry and make off with it, and he'd get it all to himself."
Almost as if he'd written the letter himself, Zander could see where this was going.
"My ancestor says he came into the sheriff's office one day and someone rushed in saying they'd seen Frank Miter out near the creek. Jeremiah rushed out there, and sure enough, he found him. He had a shovel, and was digging. Both men drew their guns, and Jeremiah won."
It was Miss Agatha who spoke next. "If that's what happened, this should be in the city archives. There would be a record of the sheriff recovering the money and jewelry and catching the last bandit."
Louisa looked down. "Not if he buried the body near the creek and took the loot home with him. In the letter, he apologizes to his family, both present and future, for letting greed get the best of him."
"Oh my stars," Miss Agatha said. "I never in a million years would have guessed that."
"Me neither," Louisa said. "Nor would I have guessed that my family kept such a secret for more than one hundred and fifty years. Dad never once said anything about it to me until he mentioned the map the other day. When we brought it home, I asked him about it. He said his father had given him the map when he died, and dad planned on giving it to me when he died, since he had no sons."
Zander wanted to ask what she would have done with it if he and Justice hadn't come to visit that day, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer. It showed to her character that she'd brought the letter to them now. He was pretty sure the mystery would have been solved upon Abel Gunner's death.
"There is more to the letter," Louisa said. "Jeremiah relates how he used some of the money to buy things for his family, but then his guilt got the better of him. He would have been hanged if he'd let the truth be known, so he took the rest of the loot and buried it near Frank Miter's body. He drew a map, and told his son to report it to the authorities after his death, but he didn't. None of my ancestors did."
That surprised Zander more than anything she'd said that afternoon.
"So the remaining money and the body are still out there?" he said.
Louisa nodded. "If I'm reading this map right, I think it's on your land."
Now that part didn't surprise Zander. The ranch had grown in scope over the years, buying up both private and public lands to house their cattle and horse operations. He reached for the map and studied it. If he was reading it right, the burial spot was about thirty minutes from where he and Justice now made their home.