The Heart's Pursuit (26 page)
Jared rode hard and fast toward Virginia City, leading Cinder behind him. He didn’t stop until night began to fall around him. Once the horses were cared for, he made a fire and warmed some beans, eating because he knew he should, not because it mattered to him what it tasted like.
Several hours later, he lay on his bedroll, staring at the sliver of moon overhead. Sleep eluded him despite his weariness. All he could do was think of Silver and wonder if she was all right and imagine what might have happened to her. If she believed Jared had left her without a word, then she must hate him now.
He groaned and rolled onto his side. Discovering his
money had been stolen and his note never delivered had been hard to swallow. It didn’t help to know the employee of Wells, Fargo was now sitting in jail. Ultimately, what had happened was Jared’s fault. He’d wanted to avoid a confrontation with Silver. That was the real reason he found himself lying on his bedroll too worried to sleep. That was the real reason Silver and Dean were in Virginia City without him there to protect them. It was his fault and no one else’s.
God, keep her safe. Please keep her safe until I can find her.
The prayer felt awkward, foreign. He’d pushed God away for years. Why should He listen to Jared now? And yet he pressed on.
Don’t let me lose her. Not now that I’ve found her.
The more he prayed, the easier it came. Until finally, a wall in his heart seemed to crumble and he felt himself stepping over the rubble into a place of trust.
After the early supper, all of the young women in their colorful gowns left the house in several carriages, bound for the Rainbow Saloon. Corinne remained behind with Silver.
“Well, what do you think?” Corinne asked as the two of them stood in the entry hall.
“What do I think?”
“Would you be willing to work for me?”
“Work for you?” She felt foolish, echoing the woman’s words that way, but she couldn’t seem to help it.
Corinne’s smile was kind. “I assure you, you will be protected from harm.”
Work in a saloon? It might not be the usual kind of saloon, but still . . . Her stepmother would die of shame. But what would happen to her and Dean if she refused?
“And you would be under no obligation to remain should you find you want to leave Virginia City.”
Silver drew in a long, steadying breath. “Miss Corinne, before I give you my answer, I need to tell you why I came here. You asked earlier if it was because of a man. It is, but not the way you think.”
An hour later, Silver opened the door to the third-floor bedroom, allowing a streak of yellow light to stream in from the hall. Dean sprawled across the bed, sound asleep. The sheet and blanket were twisted and shoved aside. The boy frowned as the light touched his face but didn’t awaken. Silver moved quietly across the room. Stopping beside the bed, she brushed the hair on his forehead to one side with her fingertips. He mumbled something unintelligible before rolling away from her.
Corinne had not seemed a bit surprised by Silver’s story. She hadn’t seemed to think it unusual for a young single woman to ride halfway across the country in the company of a bounty hunter while in pursuit of a thief and a killer.
She hadn’t thought it odd that Silver, when left behind by Jared, had continued on to Virginia City without him.
“You can rest your ankle for a few days,” Corinne had said at the conclusion of their talk. “Then we will take you to the Rainbow and see if the work will suit.”
What else could Silver do but agree to the arrangement? She and Dean would be housed and fed and safe. It was more than she had any right to expect.
With one last glance at the sleeping boy, she left the bedroom and descended the stairs to the second floor, making her way to the blue room. She was tired and ready for sleep. It had been an exhausting day, physically and emotionally.
She discovered a pretty satin nightgown awaiting her on the bed. It was amazing, really, the way clothes in her size seemed to appear out of thin air. She undressed, slipped the nightgown over her head, and got into bed, enjoying the feel of clean sheets on clean skin. Never again would she fail to appreciate the luxury of simple things.
For a moment, she wondered about Jared. Where he was. What he was doing. But even thoughts of Jared couldn’t keep her awake tonight, and she soon drifted into a dreamless slumber.
M
orning sunlight flooded the second-floor solarium where Silver reclined on a lounge. A fat, long-haired cat had curled up near her feet for a morning nap. The rest of the house seemed as lazy as the feline. Silver hadn’t heard a single sound since following Nissa—a lithe, fair-haired girl close to Silver’s age—into the sun-drenched room thirty minutes before.
As if to prove her wrong, the rattle of dishes reached her from the hallway. Chung entered moments later. He nodded to the two women, set the tray on a table, and left the solarium.
“You know,” Silver said to Nissa, “I’ve been here for several days, and I’ve yet to hear Chung say a single word. He understands English well enough. Can’t he speak it?”
“No one told you? Chung can’t say anything. He has no tongue. Someone cut it out.”
“How awful!”
“But he has no trouble communicating with Miss Corinne with grunts and gestures and smiles or frowns. I don’t know how she would run this place without him.”
Maria—one of the youngest of the girls who worked for Miss Corinne—entered the room before Silver could ask any more questions. “It is too quiet. I want to go shopping. Will either of you go with me?”
Where Nissa was tall and fair, Maria was petite and dark. Nissa’s speech rolled with the cadence of the Swedes, while Maria’s was sprinkled with words from her native Mexico. Silver liked them both a great deal.
Nissa shook her head. “I can’t. I have some letters to write. Mama, she has written twice since I last answered.”
“I’ll join you, Maria.” Silver rose from the lounge. “I could use some exercise, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of the town. Give me a few minutes to get ready, and I’ll meet you out front.”
Several hours later, her arms loaded with packages—all of them belonging to Maria—Silver stepped through the doorway of the Golden Emporium onto the boardwalk. Behind her she heard Maria’s rapid chatter as she shared gossip with the proprietress of the store. Silver decided to unburden her arms before going back inside to retrieve Maria.
She turned and began walking toward the horse and buggy tied two stores away. She’d taken no more than a half dozen steps when she stopped and leaned against the building at her back, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
It was Bob. Bob Cassidy. Riding toward her on a tall sorrel. His brown hat had a broad brim, shading his eyes from view, but she could see his face clearly enough. Only it couldn’t be Bob. She’d been beside Bob when he died. She’d seen him buried, prayed beside his grave. Bob was dead.
The man glanced in her direction, and she sucked in a breath as she pulled back, deeper into the shadows of the store awning.
Have I gone mad?
When the rider was directly opposite her, she was at last able to see the ways he didn’t resemble Bob. This man had a squarer jaw and a broader build. His blond hair was darker. The way he sat on his horse was different too. Yet even knowing it wasn’t Bob, she couldn’t stop shaking. It felt as if she were seeing Death riding a horse.
“
Amiga
?”
Silver jumped at the sound of Maria’s voice, and packages fell to the ground.
“Silver, what is wrong? Are you not well?”
“No. I’m fine. I was startled, that’s all.”
“You are as white as Miss Corinne’s cat.”
“I’m fine. Really. Let’s put these packages into the buggy and return to the house.”
Maria’s gaze seemed skeptical, but after a moment more, the girl picked up the spilled packages without another word.
I
f she’s as pretty as you claim,” the hotel clerk told Jared, “then you’ll likely find her living with Miss Corinne.”