Page 28 of A Letter to Adaya
That meant he was still alive.Letting out a deep breath, she slid down to sit on the top stairs. Why would he send someone for her instead of coming himself? She must have said the words out loud because the cowboy spoke once more.
“He couldn’t come himself. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She shook her head, waving off his concern before gathering her wits and rising. “Where is Walter? I’m not sure I’m comfortable going with you alone. I don’t know you.”
Ranger’s eyes widened, and he let loose a half-cough, half-laugh. “Ma’am, I’m a married man, and gossip travels faster than the wind in this town. The old man is fetching the buggy. He will drive you and you’ll follow me.”
Nodding her head, she stood, reaching inside the door to grab her cloak. Looking at her flour covered skirt, she tried brushing off some of the baking from earlier. “Do I need to change my clothes?”
“You’ll be fine.” Simon handed her a rag from the porch rail. “But wipe the flour off your face, perhaps.”
Walter pulled up beside the cowboy in a two-wheeled buggy pulled by a tan horse. Simon helped her onto the bench.
“Do you want the cover up?” he asked Walter.
“It will go faster with it down.” He slapped the horse on the rump with the reins, and the buggy lurched forward.
Adaya held onto the side of the carriage and pulled her wrap tighter around her. It was faster and more agile than the wagon they had used to get here, and it didn’t appear to have a back at all—just a folded down top against the bench seat.
“What do you think is happening in town?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” He wore a determined expression, and his hand seemed to hover near the butt of his pistol as he urged the horse to keep up with the rider in front.
With every jolt of the buggy, it seemed the dread that had lingered since her return from Virginia was rearing its ugly head once more. This time, the feeling was stronger than before. All she wanted to do was shake off the feeling of impending doom.
As the buggy made its way through the countryside, Adaya couldn’t help but wonder what Beau could want. Her mind raced with possibilities, each one more concerning than the last. She knew she needed to do something, so she did the only thing she could in a moment like this.
She prayed.
Beau’s eyes were heavy with exhaustion. He had been in town for three days and he was ready to go home.
He had been brimming with heartache and nervous energy as they headed into town, but Ranger and Spades had convinced him to rein in his enthusiasm until they had a clearer plan of attack. Even Spades had pointed out how emotionally invested Beau was in the situation and insisted that he should be by Jesse’s side that first night. Bass promised that they wouldn’t leave him out of what was going on in town.
As Beau waited with Jesse, Bass and the rest of the men went to Miss Marcy’s waiting for the posse to show up.
Ingrid Chapman was bound to find out soon enough about the townsmen gathering at the saloon that night, despite her stern encouragement to stay away. She had an opinion on most of the behavior in town, and that included him as he and his brothers were growing up. But he was a man now, as much as anyone could be in this small town. She was always looking out for him and his friends, but for once, he wasn’t going to worry about what she would think. It didn’t matter that she was one of his mother’s closest friends.
Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself when he finally joined everyone at the saloon two nights later. He left Jesse with Carolina and Nate and headed out to the card game to see what would happen. It hadn’t taken long for word to spread that Spades was running a game for the night with the lowest buy-in ever. His heart raced as he surveyed the room full of townsmen crowded into the saloon. A piano gathered dust in one corner, and he slumped down into a chair beside it, trying to blend into the walls.
The gang had strolled in about eight-thirty, and Beau’s gaze landed on the older man with the “kind eyes”, as Izzy had referred to him. That wasn’t what Beau saw, however.
Those eyes resembled the ones that had shone with unwavering love and understanding two mornings ago, when Adaya gave him a bag of food rations and a crumpled letter filled with honor and words meant to inspire hope. There was no doubt in his mind that this man was her relative.
Now, Beau had a lot of questions for old Walter, and he knew it would break the woman he cared for. She’d spoken fondly of her father and her childhood, avoiding her mother. He wondered what she would think once she found out what her father was capable of.
The events of the previous evening were still fresh in his mind as he washed his face, trying to scrub the sleepiness away.
“Do you need anything else?” Carolina asked, setting out a new razor next to the washbasin.
“I don’t think so.” He reached for the towel and dried his face. “Carolina?”
“Yes?” She turned to look at him.
“Do you have any paper and a pencil?”
She pursed her lips to the side. “I think there is some paper in the desk drawer out front. I’ll check. If there isn’t I’ll make sure there is some on the kitchen table for you.”
“I appreciate it. Nate’s a lucky man.”
