Dorothy Garlock (23 page)

Finally the scuffed boots were removed from the desk and Stoney carefully folded his paper.

“You still here?”

“I was the last time I noticed.”

“Pee-waddle! Whatta ya want?”

“I want to report that last night on a road north of town, I came upon a pile of tree limbs blocking the road.” Corbin spoke slowly. “Trying to get around them, I went down in a ditch and hit a mule. The rider was knocked off and hit the side of my car. I don’t know if the man was badly hurt. The mule certainly was.”

“Whatta ya want me to do about it?”

“Investigate it. Isn’t that what you normally do when an accident is reported?”

“No. I ain’t runnin’ around all over the country because some fool let his mule out on the road.”

“The
fool
was
on
the mule. The
fool
had set up a roadblock thinking I would stop. I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“For one reason, the main one, I didn’t want my head bashed in.”

“Good reason.” Stoney got to his feet and stretched his arms up over his head. “I got to get on down to the barbershop. It’s about time for the
Post-Dispatch
to come in.”

Corbin stood. “Sheriff, don’t you think you should go out and have a talk with Marvin Carter?”

“You tellin’ me how to do my job?”

“No. I’m suggesting that you talk to the Carters and tell them if they try to waylay me again, I’m coming out of the car shooting.”

“Hummm…How do you know it was the Carters? Did you see them?”

“No, I didn’t see them, but I had a set-to with Marvin Carter in the park last Sunday, and I’m reasonably sure he and his brothers were responsible for the roadblock.”

“I heard about that. Fightin’ over a woman, was ya?”

“He was forcing the lady to go with him. I intervened.” Corbin snarled the words.

“What are you doing here in Henderson?”

“Waiting around for a friend.”

“We don’t tolerate bums here. You got a job?”

“Not at the present.”

“Lookin’ for handouts in Henderson is against the law. You could find yourself in my jail.”

“I’m not looking for handouts!”

Corbin was having difficulty holding on to his temper and was about to tell the sheriff what he thought of him when, through the dirty windowpane, he saw a truck pull up and Annabel get out. She came toward the sheriff’s office with Jack close behind her. He lingered outside while she pushed open the door and came in. Her eyes met Corbin’s.

“Ah…morning, Mr. Appleby.”

“Ma’am.” Corbin quickly removed his hat.

Annabel turned to the other man. “Are you the sheriff?”

“Sheriff Stoney Baker.”

“How do you do? I’m Annabel Donovan.” She extended her hand. “My father and I live north of town on the old Miller place. Sometime yesterday or last night two of our horses were stolen.”

Stoney folded his arms across his chest. “They probably wandered off. We ain’t had no horse thieves around here since before the war.”

“They didn’t wander off. The fence was cut, and Mr. Boone, who works for my father, followed the tracks over onto the Carter land next door. The tracks then mixed with those of several horsemen headed west.”

“They’re long gone by now. My advice is to take the loss and forget it.” He went to the door and turned. “Next time, young lady, keep an eye on your livestock if ya want to hold on to ’em.” He waited with the door open for them to pass through, then locked it, put the key in his pocket and walked away.

“He isn’t going to do anything about our horses. Can you beat that?” Annabel stood with her hands on her hips, looking after the sheriff as he leisurely walked down the street.

“I think I can. Beat that,” Corbin added, when she looked at him. “Hello, Jack. Can you stay in town for a while?” he asked both of them.

“Boone didn’t say anything about hurryin’ back.” Jack looked at Annabel for confirmation and she nodded.

“Was there anything else you wanted to do while you’re here?” Corbin asked.

“Get ice before we go back. We used it all last night.”

“Then what would you like to do for an hour or so? Go for a ride? Sit in the park? Walk along the street and see the sights?” He smiled into Annabel’s eyes and she almost forgot they were standing on the sidewalk in front of the sheriff’s office.

“Any of those is all right with me.”

“You’re going to let me decide?”

“Why not? You’ve only three choices.”

“Jack, why don’t you park the truck up by the hotel. Annabel and I will walk, and on the way we’ll decide what we want to do until dinnertime.”

“I’ll amble on over to the billiard parlor and watch the fellows play a game of pool. Boone said if I saw a Carter in town, I was to get you, so I think he’d trust you to take care of her for a while. I’ll meet you at the hotel about noon.”

“We’ll have dinner there. All right with you, Annabel?” When she nodded, Corbin reached for her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. “I’m beginning to like you more and more, Jack.”

“Thanks.” Jack grinned and shrugged. “When Evan was courting my sister Julie, Joe and I learned that at times we needed to make ourselves scarce.”

“Smart boys. We’ll see you at noon.”

Walking beside Corbin, her hand held firmly in the crook of his arm, Annabel was unable to keep her foolish heart from fluttering like a caged wild bird. Nothing seemed real. She felt as light as a cloud.

“I’ve decided to be selfish and keep you all to myself for a while.”

“How will you do that?”

“We’ll take the car and go south along the river road away from town, find a shady spot to park and smooch.”

“Smooch?” She looked up into laughing, teasing eyes. “I haven’t heard that word for a long time.”

“Then you know what it means?”

“Of course I know what it means, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll do it.”

“I’m bigger than you are.”

“I’ll tell Boone.”

“Don’t do that! I promise to behave. That wild man would be after me with a buggy whip.”

Corbin pressed her hand tightly to his side, inhaled deeply and let the air escape slowly from his lips. She was every sweet dream he had ever dreamed. Engrossed in each other, they passed the drugstore, the photography shop and the meat market without even knowing it and continued on toward the hotel.

From different directions, two pairs of interested eyes followed Annabel and Corbin down the street and noted that the pair were totally absorbed in each other. The watchers didn’t take their eyes off the couple until they were out of sight.

When they reached the car, Corbin opened the door and helped Annabel inside, then hurried around to the other side. Before starting the motor, he turned his head to look at her. Their eyes held. Time seemed to stop. Without the slightest embarrassment, Annabel looked at him until she was sure that his features would be imprinted in her memory forever. A sudden smile formed on his lips and spread to his eyes.

“Last night, I forgot to tell you rules three and four in the
Appleby Rule Book on Courting.
”

“Are they important?”

“Absolutely essential, according to the author. When your sweetheart rides with you in a car, she is to sit close to you as soon as you leave town,” he quoted. “That’s rule three. Rule four is: Get out of town as quickly as possible.” He started the car.

Annabel’s delighted laughter filled the car and flowed over him like a warm blanket.

Corbin drove to the edge of town; and as soon as they passed the last house, he reached for her and pulled her over close to him. She came willingly and tucked her shoulder behind his.

“Isn’t that better?” he asked with mock seriousness.

They rode in silence, content to be together. When they came to a little-used road, Corbin stopped the car in a spot overlooking the river and turned off the motor.

“We have so much to talk about. I want to know all about you and I want you to know all about me.” He turned and placed his arm along the seat behind her.

“There’s not much to tell about me.” She spoke as if talking around a large lump in her throat.

“I already know you like music. I want to know what you like to eat, to wear, to read, to talk about.”

“I’ll write it all down…someday.”

Corbin felt a surge of pleasure. She overwhelmed him, driving all logical thought from his mind.

“What would you do if I tried to kiss you?” he asked suddenly.

“What does the rule book say?” Annabel’s heart jumped out of rhythm.

“Rule five says, in so many words, if you like him…let him.” His voice came on the breath of a whisper.

She turned her face and silently offered her lips. His arm slipped off the seat and around her shoulders. He kissed her, gently, reverently.

“I don’t know if I can stop with one.”

“What does the rule book say?” she asked again.

“It says kiss your sweetheart as many times as she’ll let you.”

“Two or three…is all right.” She lifted her lips, sweet and softly parted, to his.

The tenderness of his lips on hers bespoke his determination to express gentleness ahead of the desire to crush her to him and drink thirstily from her sweet mouth. When he finished, he cradled her face with his hand.

“I’m crazy about you.” His voice was quiet. “I hadn’t meant to say it like that, but I mean it with all my heart.”

“We don’t know each other—”

“I know all I need to know about you. You’re sweet and caring and loyal and about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re pretty too.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, sweetheart.” He hugged her to him, his cheek pressed tightly to hers. “‘But we loved with a love that was more than love—I and my Annabel Lee—’ ” he murmured in her ear.

Gradually a strange quiet enveloped both of them. Corbin lifted his head and looked into her eyes, green and shimmering and beautiful. She lifted trembling fingers and traced the scar on his face.

“Where did you get this?”

“During the war. A soldier went out of his mind and cut me while I was trying to subdue him.”

“Will you tell me about it sometime?”

“Sometime. I want to share everything with you.”

He kissed her lips again, gently. Then he sat back, holding her close to his side.

“I’m rushing you. This feeling I have for you came on awfully fast. I’m going to hate it when your father comes back and takes you away.”

“I’ll hate it too.”

“It will be good for you to get away from here. I’m worried about Marvin Carter. He’s prone to do crazy, unpredictable things, and we can expect no help from the sheriff.”

“I can see that.”

“I went in to report that I’d hit a mule last night. The rider was thrown off and flung against the side of my car. The sheriff wouldn’t even talk about it. I can’t help but think that he’s in somebody’s pocket.”

“You think it was one of the Carters on the mule?”

“I’m sure of it. Boone told me before I left last night that Marvin had sent his sister over to find out what I was doing there. The roadblock was set up a little past their place. I drove down into the ditch to avoid it and hit someone on a mule.”

“Jack and I saw a dead mule beside the road this morning and a bunch of tree limbs pulled to the side.”

“I figured someone would have to destroy the mule. I hope the man wasn’t badly hurt. That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to get away before I had to shoot someone.”

“Do you think it could come to that?”

“I hope not. Miss Carter told Boone that her brother was claiming you as his girl.”

“Boone told me that this morning. It’s scary. I don’t want you to get hurt on my account.”

“I suggested to him that you should stay in town until your father gets back. He didn’t seem to think much of the idea. He thought I wanted you in town to be near me. Which, by the way, was partly true.” He picked up her hand and laced her fingers with his.

“Papa will be back soon. If he got to know you, he would like you.”

“He doesn’t like me much now, but I’m going to do my best to change his mind.” He bent his head and looked into her face. “I’m not going to let you get away from me until we decide if we’re right for each other.”

“I want that too,” she whispered, her eyes on his mouth. She lifted them to his and saw aching tenderness there.

“We must wait, sweetheart, and see if what we feel is just mutual attraction or something more.”

“I know. It’s happened awfully fast.”

He kissed her then, a gentle sweet kiss that would allow her to turn away if she wanted. Her lips moved beneath his. He ended the kiss and lifted his head to look into her glazed eyes. She was so open, so loving and as innocent as a babe.

“We’d better get back to town,” he said softly. “Jack is probably at the hotel waiting for us.”

To all appearances, the two men who stood on the street corner had met there by chance and were passing the time of day. They were both well-known in town and it was a perfectly normal thing for them to do.

“Looks like that fellow staying at the hotel is hot for Donovan’s girl.”

“I saw them head out of town. Didn’t stay long. They’re at the hotel now.”

“Reckon she’s givin’ him pussy?”

“She don’t hardly look the type, but you can’t tell about women these days.”

“What’d ya find out about him?”

“Was Military Police during the war, then a policeman in a small town. Quit a few months ago. Went to Springfield to visit family. Came here to get the kid that’s working at Donovan’s.”

“It could be that he didn’t know the Donovans when he came here.”

“I’m not a believer in chance. I say he knew him or about him and set it up with the kid.”

“I just got word a barge is coming down in a few days with a hundred barrels.”

“And I got word that we’ll have help in a day or two.”

“I wish he’d let us handle it. Some of his goons get out of hand. They like bashing heads too much for my liking.”

“We should decide what to do about Appleby.”

“You want to get rid of him?”

“Humm…not yet. Marvin Carter’s blowing about what he’s goin’ to do to him. He might do it for us. If not, we’ll take care of him when the time comes.”