Nineteen

A dousing of ice water couldn’t have made her colder than the Ranger’s statement. Glory tried to swallow. Nothing got past the grim dread blocking her throat.

“Last saw him three or four days back, Captain. My sister-in-law and her two daughters here might tell you more on account of he stays with them occasionally,” Aunt Dorothy supplied.

“Why are you looking for him?” Glory blurted the question through stiff lips.

“Sorry, miss, but I really can’t tell you. Now, is there any truth to McClain frequenting your home?”

“He’s shown us extreme generosity with my Jack away.” The cultured voice belonged to her mother. “We hold that man in the highest regard. I won’t abide a slanderous word, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

A sound she couldn’t quite place filled the store. Tilting her head slightly, she determined it came from the Ranger. Something striking against an object.

“For God’s sake, Ruth. Far as we know, he ain’t trying to accuse the feller of nothing. Are you, Roberts?” Uncle Pete asked.

“Not yet.”

“We haven’t seen him.” Nor would Glory tell if she had. She adjusted her hat.

Though it galled to owe the man, and he made her so mad she saw crooked, she’d not offer him up as a sacrificial lamb. The debt she owed amounted to much more than dollars and cents. No amount of money could ever repay him for giving her a brief taste of things other young girls took for granted. Of letting her know how nice kissing felt, how her insides melted. And of the special quiver his mere presence brought. To her those things were worth a king’s ransom.

“It’s imperative I find him, miss. Or maybe you’d rather the group outside get him first.”

Glory wavered. The man made sense.

Silent until now, Hope spoke up. “Luke spent the night in our barn Monday. He left by the time we woke the next morning. None of us have a clue where he went. That’s the honest truth.”

“Thank you, ladies, for your cooperation.” The loud noise Glory recognized was leather slapping together. Probably gloves of some sort. Gauntlets maybe? “I intend to be in and out of Santa Anna should you remember anything else…or happen to see him. I bid you all good day.”

By the time the bell announced the Ranger’s leaving, her frayed nerves had come within an inch of snapping. She prayed they hadn’t made things worse.

“Girls, I’m getting tired,” Ruth declared. “Find your baby sister and let’s go home.”

“I’ll get her, Mama,” Hope said. “Be back in a minute.”

The shadow Glory knew as Hope had no more disappeared when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned toward the source, not distinguishing the form.

“Can I talk to you a minute, girl?” Uncle Pete whispered in her ear.

She slid off the stool and followed the footsteps. “What is it, Uncle Pete?”

“Didn’t want to spill this in front of the rest. Sam Sixkiller told me your feller got in a scuffle with a guy named Foster over at the Oak Vale stage stop.”

“McClain?” She didn’t like the way her stomach flopped. More suspicion. A bigger wall of doubt. “When?”

“Day before yesterday.”

Dear Mother Mary! A troubling stillness murmured that it had to do with the stage robbery. Or similar mayhem. Though she immediately ruled out Luke’s involvement in Mrs. Tucker’s murder. Whatever else, the man wasn’t the cold-blooded, heartless kind. Still, she couldn’t totally erase his sudden reversal of fortune. Too much money too fast.

Her uncle wasn’t finished. “Also been meaning to mention I saw McClain riding from your house last week. Now that I recollect, it was the morning of those last stage holdups. Didn’t see fit to share his destination, but he appeared to tote a powerful heavy load. Just thought you oughta know.”

A fit of nausea rose. “I appreciate it.” Whatever it meant probably didn’t pertain to the good variety. Damn her luck to hell and back! All these years of waiting for kissing and romancing only to find her Prince Charming may have tarnished the princely part.

“Glory, girl, when did this other problem come on you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t see the hand in front of your face, that’s what.”

Hell’s bells! Her playacting skills must sorely need improvement.

“No need for the whole wide world to know. Hope…and one other person are all I’ve told. How did you figure it out?”

“Didn’t take no brains. You can’t fool your old uncle.” His hug relayed deep affection. “You and I know a little secret—that there’s ways of seeing without looking through your eyeballs. We see things no one else does—we see with our hearts.”

“Oh, Uncle Pete.” She laid her head on his chest to hide the tremor of her chin. “I miss my papa.”

“So true, girl. But I’m gonna shoulder some of the burden. The world is a lonely place when you’re by yourself.”

“You won’t tell anyone else, will you?”

“They’ll discover it eventually. You can’t hide it.”

Glory stepped from the comforting circle. “Just a little longer.”

What sounded like wood scraping against the floor aroused her curiosity but she kept silent.

Uncle Pete placed a smooth walking stick in her hands. “Take this.”

Dear heavens, no one but toothless old men and crotchety old ladies used such. She supposed virtue must come before pride, however. And if it staved off the inevitable a few more days, so be it. She’d have to become a better actress though.

“Put it out in front of you when you walk and you can find what’s ahead. Keep you from falling and breaking your noggin.”

“Won’t it draw more attention to my problem?”

“Nah, just tell ’em you turned your ankle.”

She didn’t have the heart to debate the major differences between leaning on the stick to take the weight off a limb and wielding it as some sort of pointer. He wanted to feel useful.

“But I can’t pay you.”

“My gift.” He cleared his throat. “Shoulda paid more attention to family ’stead of hunting for buried treasure.”

“Stop it. I won’t have you apologizing for being who you are and doing what you love. You’re a rare jewel. Besides, you have always been near whenever we needed you.”

“But I hafta do more. Bless your heart, you can’t take care of Ruth and your sisters now that you can’t see. You’ll need help.”

“I’ll manage; don’t worry. It’s simply a matter of setting my mind to it.” She’d never admit the task ahead broke her out in a cold sweat. She prayed for courage and stubborn will.

He leaned to whisper in her ear. “Your ma is up range without a horse. How long’s she been like this?”

Glory took it he meant Ruth’s wandering mind. “Awhile.”

“Think it’s a tad too much laudanum?”

“What are you talking about? Mama don’t…” Her voice trailed. That could certainly explain things. “Uncle Pete, if you know anything, tell me.”

“Thought I was helping her. Dorothy, me, and you girls are all Ruth’s got. For months, I kinda been giving her bottles of the stuff. Only now she’s drinking it faster’n I can say ‘lickety split.’”

“You only did what you thought right. I don’t fault you for that. But please don’t give her more until I can ask Dr. Dalton.”

“Wisht I’d knowed. Gave her a fresh bottle today. Could kick myself all over Georgia and into Mississippi.”

“Don’t worry. Hope and I will try to watch her.”

The words came before she thought. Not very likely she could keep an eye on things. She’d have to get accustomed to life as it was and not as she wished it. If only she could. One thing about it—good, bad, or indifferent, changes came whether you whistled for them or not.

The door jangled the bell again and she cursed her shortcoming.

“Patience is waiting for us in the wagon,” Hope called.

Glory gave the man a reassuring squeeze. “Thank you for telling me about Mama. I’ll treasure the walking stick.”

“Reckon I’ll come calling in a day or so.” He gave her a peck on the forehead. “Hold down the fort till I get there.”

“Sure will.” She moved cautiously toward the sunlight.

“Wait a minute, Ruth.” Dorothy’s heels clicked on the floor. “There’s a letter from Jack.”

“I’ll bet he’s coming home. I just know it.”

Ruth’s excitement colored the shadows about her a darker black. Glory thanked Providence that Caesar knew the way home. She untied him and climbed up, wondering how to break more complications to Hope.

Loud sniffling came from the bed of the wagon. Patience? The logical choice since she knew Hope and Mama sat on the seat beside her. Probably pouting again. She flicked the reins and they began their trip back to the farm.

“Patience, baby, what’s wrong?” Ruth must have turned, because she exclaimed, “Oh, dear God, look at your face! Who did this?”

“No one.” Patience seemed sullen and withdrawn, not at all her usual talkative self.

“Hope? Where did you find her? Do you know anything?”

“No, Mama. I saw her coming alone from behind the livery. She wouldn’t tell me how she got a bloodied nose.”

Unless Glory was ready to tell her mother about the vision loss, she had to wait until she could get Hope alone. Though the children in town showed a mean streak from time to time, they’d never actually harmed Patience.

She flicked the reins again. “Get on, you pokey old beast!”

No use. The mule continued at his sedate pace. Damnation, they should’ve stayed home today.

“Baby, tell me what happened this instant and who to blame.”

“It’s nothing, Mama. I fell, all right?”

“I’ll put some liniment on your face the moment we get back.”

The sniffs appeared to quiet a bit.

“Mama, I tore my dress. Are you mad?”

“Don’t worry, dearest. Hope can fix that. You know how handy she is with a needle and thread.”

Silence, broken only by Caesar’s snorts and the familiar creak of the wagon, lasted until they reached home. The seat shifted when Hope and Mama climbed down.

“My poor baby. I’m puzzled how a fall could do this. Come, let me doctor you up.”

Glory grabbed her middle sister before she could follow. “Tell me what happened.”

“I think she got into a fight, but she denied it when I asked. Do you need some help unhitching?”

“Not today. I’ve done this so many times, I can do it with my eyes shut.” And a good thing, she thought, feeling her way with the cane. The mule followed, his breath on her neck.

“Where did you get the walking stick? Uncle Pete?”

“He said it couldn’t hurt anything.”

“You told him about your eyes?”

“Didn’t have to. Our uncle seems to have a sense about certain things.” She lifted the bridle and rigging and threw it over a stall. “I hate to be the bearer of more bad news. Lord knows you’ve had it dumped on you by the bushel of late.”

“What other kind is there?”

Hope’s dejection almost changed her mind. “Uncle Pete confessed he’s kept Mama supplied with laudanum and that she’s become as dependent on it as drinking water.”

Her sister gasped. “Doesn’t he realize the danger?”

“Only occurred to him after he saw her today. He warned me that he gave her a new bottle. We need to watch her and speak to Dr. Dalton after church tomorrow. It could explain Mama’s madness.”

“Glory, what do you suppose will happen to us?”

“We’re going to be just fine. Don’t you worry.”

Glory sank against Caesar’s stall after Hope went inside.

You can always marry Luke.

The thought flickered and died, leaving only ashes of a beckoning dream. If he hadn’t proposed for all the wrong reasons…

Love seemed a small thing to ask of a husband.

Besides, it was obviously too late to accept his offer. Even if she wanted to consider it, which she didn’t. She had enough troubles. Didn’t need to take on his too. And he’d probably fled the country anyhow. Left her behind just like her father.

Well, she didn’t need anyone with wandering feet.

McClain could peddle his sweet talk elsewhere. A pure blessing she hadn’t married him.

All of a sudden, a figure dashed past. From the slight build, she gave the blur Patience’s name. She followed to the far end of the row of stalls.

“Squirt?”

Sobs made finding her easy. Patience lay on a pile of hay.

“Leave me alone.”

Glory sat down and rubbed the small shoulders. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.”

“Mr. Luke didn’t kill ol’ lady Penelope. I know he didn’t.”

“Of course not, honey.” She pulled her sister to her. “You didn’t fall today, did you?”

“Nope.”

“Fight with someone?”

“I couldn’t let them say those horrible things. Luke’s my friend. He’s not a murderer. Or a thief either. How come those kids are so mean?”

The thin girl snuggling against her aroused Glory’s protective tenderness. She kissed the top of the pigtailed head. “I wish I could tell you justice and truth always won out. Only I’d be lying. Life isn’t fair. People are quick to point fingers, especially if they’re scared.”

But wasn’t that what she’d done from the first encounter with Luke? Fear, both then and since, had led to the final push that sent him away…maybe forever this time. It was her fault. She knew that. In fact, she took the entire blame for the family’s present mess. He’d wanted to help and she gave him grief for his trouble.

“Why don’t they like me, Glory?” Fresh sobs broke loose. “Am I ugly or bad?”

“Let me tell you something, Patience Ann Day. You are the prettiest, most special little sister anyone could have.” Glory smoothed her hair. “Another thing—you have true courage, the kind I wish I had. You’re ten times braver.”

“I am?”

“You sure are. I’m nothing but a big chicken. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“I’m real lucky to have you for my sister.” The truth of it hit her. The girl irritated her to death at times, but maybe little sisters came into a body’s life for the simple reason to add balance. Like a pair of scales. Patience offset her sour disposition. A person needed excuses to smile occasionally.

“You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“No kidding. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Patience gave a loud sigh. “I love you, Glory.”

She gently ran her fingers over the puffy eyes, discovering scratches on baby sister’s cheeks. Anger blazed along with self-loathing. She should’ve stood up for Luke, not left it for Patience.

“I love you too.”

“You’re not still mad about your private book, are you? I’m sorry about finding it.”

Ha, leave it to Squirt to throw more whitewash over the truth. She gave her a fierce hug. “I’ve already forgotten the incident. But now that you refreshed my memory…” She held her down and tickled her until squeals filled the barn.

“I do declare, ladies! About time you learned the finer points of having fun. Can an outsider join in?”

The sensual drawl could only belong to one man. But was it real, not merely a trick her mind played?

Patience jumped up from the straw. “It’s really you!”

“Is it too late for an invite?”

Excited tingles collided in their goings and comings along Glory’s spine. And he hadn’t laid a hand on her.

The charmer had returned. For the first time that day, Glory felt like smiling.