The Kissing Stars (14 page)

Gabe rubbed his hand along his jaw. “I do know that during my time here, I’ve not seen any indication of their involvement in any type of sabotage. I don’t know what happened before I came. I hope they haven’t done anything stupid I like these people. They’re good folk. Eccentric as all git out but that’s not criminal behavior. I may not share their beliefs, but as long as they don’t hurt anyone in the pursuit of them, I see nothing wrong with how they choose to live. It’s not a crime to be different.”

“But it is a crime to bum out a supply depot or take a sledge hammer to machine parts.”

Again, he heard Twinkle’s voice in his head.
I didn’t do anything this time
. “Well, like you, I don’t work for the railroad building the spur so I guess it’s not my concern.”

Mack studied his fingernails. “Never knew you to let a skirt convince you to duck your head on justice.”

Gabe leaned back, in his chair and took a defiant bite of bacon. “If I didn’t know how much you like to badger a person, I’d deck you for that.”

Mack laughed. “One of these days I’m gonna get you good and riled, Montana. It’s a goal of mine, you know.”

“I suggest you concentrate on your train robbers instead,” Gabe dryly replied. “Your investigation might take more effort than you anticipate. From what I’ve seen it’s a hard-scrabble life out here in West Texas. Men who live in this part of the world are bound to be tougher than most. You may have to don your spurs to dig your way to the bottom of this particular pile of trouble.”

“And what are you going to be doing while I’m busy cozying up to murderers and thieves?”

“I’m going to look into that recent fire.” Then, because the governor’s request established a deadline for him to leave Aurora Springs, he thought about his wife and added, “And I’m going to start one of my own.”

“What?” Mack reared back in shock.

Gabe’s lips twitched with a grin, but before he said any more, a disturbance at the door grabbed his attention.
Twinkle?
“Hold on a minute, Mack.”

The woman dashed into the cafe as Gabe pushed to his feet. Beneath her multicolored go-to-town turban, her face was pale, and she literally wrung his hands. “What is it?” Gabe demanded.

“Oh, Gabe, it’s terrible. You’ve got to get them out.”

“Get who out?” Gabe replied, already headed for the door. “What happened?”

Twinkle launched into a tale that slowed his steps and soon had him biting the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing. Poor Tess, all in a tizzy about that damned hunk of ham. “Tell you what,” he said when the older woman finally wound down, “You see about getting one of the wagons hitched while I see if I can’t free the prisoners. We’ll likely need to head home early after this.”

She sagged in relief. “Thank you, Gabe-dear. I knew you’d help. I’ll go for the wagon.”

When Twinkle rushed off in the direction of the livery, Gabe returned to his table where he retrieved his hat and paid his bill.

“What’s going on?” Mack asked as Gabe motioned for him to join him. “Seems that my wife and her friends have stirred up a little trouble.”

Mack polished off his drink and stood. “Where we going?”

“The jail.”

Mack’s eyebrows arched. “One of those Aurorians been arrested?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Gabe snagged his hat from the rack by the door and sauntered outside.

CHAPTER 8

AFTER YEARS OF LIVING in the wide open spaces of West Texas, Tess didn’t cotton to small, enclosed places. Five steps by three steps. There was room for a fourth, but the foul smelling bucket in the corner kept her turning around before she took the final step.

Tess paced the confined area, careful not to trip over her four-legged cellmate who had plopped herself down on the floor in front of the barred and locked door. “It’s a case of false arrest, that’s what this is. It has nothing to do with assault and everything to do with one hardheaded, mean-spirited man. I’d like to tell that Bart Collins to go sit on a cactus.”

On the other side of the bars, her Aurorian family nodded in agreement. Jack’s expression dipped in a scowl. “I never liked that man. There’s something sinister about him.”

Andrew folded his arms and grunted. “His eyes are too close together, have you noticed that? I don’t trust a man whose eyes are too close together. Bad confirmation, don’t you know.”

“He is somewhat heady-eyed,” the colonel observed, thumbing his lapels. “I wouldn’t want him standing with me in battle.”

Andrew reached through the bars and took hold of Tess’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Bart Collins is trouble, no doubt about that. I’m sorry none of us were there to help you when it happened. It wouldn’t have gone so for if we’d been with you.”

“Why did you go off on your own?” Colonel Jasper asked.

A new voice entered the fray. “That’s a good question, Colonel,” Gabe said striding into the jail. “Darlin’, why were you in the alley between the whorehouse and the saloon with nothing more than a pig for protection?”

Tess drew herself up and folded her arms. She wasn’t about to reveal her private vice, not to him and not under these circumstances. Adopting a false air of bravado, she did her best to change the subject. “Gabe, I’m glad you’re here. Please tell me you have enough money with you to bail us out of jail. We’ve already spent most everything we had on supplies, and considering the circumstances, I doubt Bart Collins would give us a refund anyway.”

Gabe chastened her with a gaze, letting her know he was aware she hadn’t answered his question. She looked away from him when another man, a stranger, entered the small jailhouse behind her husband. He snapped his fingers and said, “Now I place the face. The peach colored dress at the pig race at the fair. You’re the phantom wife?” Then he slapped Gabe on the shoulder and said, “You sonofa…uh…gun. No wonder you ‘bout tore up the Texas State Fair looking for her.”

Obviously, a friend of her husband. The smile she aimed at Gabe dripped sugar. “Phantom wife?”

He arched a brow. “An alley?”

Damn the man. He had the tenacity of the dromedaries on the trail. Tess thought it best to move on. She turned a genuine version of her smile toward the stranger. “I’m eager to meet a friend of my husband’s, but I hope you’ll understand I prefer to be out of jail for proper introductions.”

He swept his hat off his head and gallantly placed it over his heart. “I shall count the minutes.”

“If that’s the case, then your friend best be counting out his cash so you’re not counting minutes for days,” grumbled Jack Baker. He stepped toward Gabe, held out his hand, and rubbed thumb and fingers together.

Ignoring him, Gabe looked at Tess. “Now, let me get this straight. You belted this Collins fellow because…?”

“He fired a gun at Rosie because she was rooting through his trash.”

Gabe froze. “A gun? This incident involved a gun?”

The stranger exclaimed, “Collins shot at another lady and they arrested you for assault?”

“Rosie isn’t a lady,” Gabe said, his glare locked on Tess. “She’s a pig.”

“Dang, Montana. That’s a little personal, isn’t it?”

Ignoring his friend’s question, Gabe pushed his way past the Aurorians and stopped directly in front of the cell door, his hands braced on his hips. “Tell me exactly what happened. Every little detail.”

Tess didn’t care for his autocratic attitude, but since she was at the mercy of his wallet at the moment, she chose to comply. “I was visiting with a friend and not paying attention to Rosie. She wandered down the alley a bit. First thing I know, she’s snorting and squealing and Bart Collins is kicking her in the ribs.”

“He’s the swine, not our Rosie,” Colonel Jasper declared.

“Where does the gun part come in?” Gabe asked, a muscle working in his jaw.

Anger washed through Tess anew as she remembered the events. “Of course Rosie didn’t like being kicked, so she turned to run and that’s when she knocked him down. At that point, he lost all control and started shouting and swearing, and then he pulled the gun and pointed it at Rosie.”

“So, you attacked him?”

“I don’t know that
attack
is the best term. I hit him, is all. I defended Rosie.”

Gabe’s voice climbed with every word he spoke. “You defended your pig by attacking a man holding a gun.”

Indignant, she drew herself up. “I couldn’t let him shoot Rosie.”

“So you thought you’d offer yourself as a target.” His harsh bark of laughter held no tone of amusement. “Well, lady, I reckon those spooklights sucked up all your brain power, because that was nothing short of—” he shouted the final word “—
stupid!
”

Tess knew that charging Collins wasn’t the smartest thing she’d ever done, but she thought “stupid” went a little far. Her chin went up. “I will defend my family under any circumstances.”

“It’s a pig!”

“She’s
family!
”

Just then Twinkle swept in through the front door. “All is ready, Gabe. Don’t worry everyone, I have a hunch everything will turn out fine.”

“Good.”

“I don’t think
good
is the word,” Jack said, having edged over to the window and turned his gaze outside. “Let’s get ‘em out of jail and away from town before Collins incites a riot. He’s chewing the sheriff s ear and a crowd is gathering. Looks to be some of the same folks who jumped into the colonel’s fray last time.”

“Oh, no.” Andrew winced with disgust. “The last thing we need is another riot.”

“Riot?” the stranger asked.

Tess answered. “We’re not especially well-liked in town these days. Some of these ranchers around here think we’re behind the pranks being played up along the railroad spur being built out of here.”

“Are you?”

Catching the significant glance the fellow darted toward Gabe, she declared, “No, we certainly are not.”

Twinkle, being Twinkle, said, “Well, that’s not quite true, Tess. Remember how I—”

“Andrew, why don’t you take Twink outside,” Tess interrupted. “You know how the old souls around jails distracts her. I’m sure she can use some air. Gabe, are you going to bail me out of here or not?”

“Oh, I’m gonna get you out,” he replied, saying it like a threat as he reached for his wallet. “How much does the sheriff want? Five or ten dollars?”

“Fifty.”

“Fifty!”

“Twenty-five for me and twenty-five for Rosie.”

“Twenty-five dollars to take home bacon I can’t even eat?”

The Aurorians turned toward him and as one protested, “Montana.”

“Watch your language, young man,” the colonel added.

“Touchy bunch, aren’t they,” the stranger observed.

“Just get her out of here, please?” Andrew said, escorting Twinkle toward the door. “The sheriff is still right outside, but the crowd is growing. We need to leave.”

“Run out of town again,” the colonel said with a sigh. “This is getting to be a habit.”

Gabe murmured something to the stranger, then stormed from the jailhouse yanking bills from his wallet. Jack watched through the window and provided Tess a running commentary while Gabe forked cash over to the law. “Looks like Sheriff Marston is headed this way. Wake up Rosie, Tess. It’s time to go home.”

“Yeah,” Andrew agreed. “I don’t like the sounds that crowd is making. They’re saying some bad things about Rosie. They’re as wrong as they can be. All she did was defend herself. Besides, she didn’t know she was knocking that Bart Collins into a pile of dog sh…uh, stuff.”

But as the sheriff led Gabe inside the jailhouse, Jack tossed them a problem. “We can’t leave yet. Amy won’t be through with her doctor’s appointment for a good half hour.”

Sheriff Marston cleared his throat, spat and missed the spittoon in the corner, and said, “Half an hour’s too long to let that animal hang around. If you don’t fancy seein’ a hog slaughtering this afternoon, I suggest you get it on out of town.”

“I’ll take them back,” Gabe said, his gaze on the cell door as the sheriff inserted the key and the lock clicked open. “We’ll take the supply wagon and y’all can follow later in the stage.”

“That will work,” Twinkle replied, nodding with satisfaction. “The wagon’s all loaded and ready. It’s parked in front of the mercantile.”

Gabe nodded, then said, “It would probably be best if Tess and the pig went out the back way. Mack,” he said, addressing the stranger who stood just inside the front door. “Would you go get the wagon and drive it around back?”

“Sure, Gabe.” The stranger tipped his hat toward Tess, and said, “Looks like we’ll need to catch that introduction later.” Then he exited the building.

The sheriff snorted. “This is a jail. There ain’t a back door.”

“You’ve got a window,” Gabe explained as Mack departed.

The sheriff’s bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows arched as he eyed the narrow window skeptically. “You’re gonna shove the pig through that?
This
I gotta see.”

Shaking his head, Gabe took hold of the lawman’s arm and led him toward the door. “But what you don’t need to see is what’s beneath my wife’s petticoats. You’re going to go out there and distract the crowd.”

“Now, wait a minute. I’m the sheriff.”

“And you have both bail money and a bribe in your pocket, so I suggest you help us out here.”

Tess vacillated between relief and trepidation while she watched Jack and Colonel Jasper escort the sheriff to assist in creating a diversion, leaving her and Rosie alone with Gabe. Although she was happy to be out of that cell, she dreaded the ride back to Aurora Springs. Her husband looked mad enough to chew bullets. “I knew I should have stayed in bed today,” she muttered.

Gabe fired a glare her way and she recognized the look. He’d heard her, and he had something he wanted to add Tess knew that something wouldn’t be anything she wanted to hear. In the old days, that particular look always precipitated a particularly sarcastic remark. It was enough to get her back up under the circumstances, and she shot a scowl of her own right back at him.

The air between them all but crackled as they stood without speaking, waiting for the man he’d called Mack to arrive with the wagon. Gabe faced the window, leaned his arm against the wall, and stared outside. She kept quiet when he started drumming his fingers against the plaster. When he added a toe-tapping thud against the floor planking, she reached her limit. “I don’t know why you’re in such a snit.”

His fingers stopped mid-thrum. “Pardon me?”

“Bart Collins is the one at fault here, not me.”

“Uh huh.” He slowly turned his head to look at her. His narrowed eyes glowed like hot coals. “You did nothing wrong by throwing yourself at a bullet to save a rack of ribs waitin’ on the barbeque.”

She wrinkled her nose in a snarl. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times. Don’t call Rosie names.”

“She’s a pig. You risked your life for a pig.”

“I don’t believe it was that big of a risk. Bart Collins would not have taken a shot at me. Rosie, yes. But not me. The lawmen around here may not hold those of us from Aurora Springs in high regard, but they couldn’t ignore us being shot at. Collins must know that.”

“Dammit, Tess, you don’t mess around where guns are concerned. Bad things can happen too easily. I can’t believe you were this stu—”

Luckily for him, he bit off the word when the noise of a wagon rolling up filtered in through the back window. Tess was willing to concede he had a point about the danger of firearms, but she wouldn’t allow any man to call her stupid.

Gabe pointed at Rosie, saying, “Stand by to help me with this overweight, stinking sausage-on-feet if I need it.”

Tess clamped her teeth against commenting on the name calling and positioned herself to assist if needed. Rosie, bless her heart, squealed and snorted but didn’t squirm overmuch when he hefted her up and out into Mack’s waiting arms. Now her turn, Tess felt his hands grasp her waist. Expecting him to lift her feet first through the window, she was unpleasantly surprised to find herself pointed head first. His helpful shove to her bottom felt entirely too much like a swat and if the stranger hadn’t been there to help she’d have dropped in an undignified heap. Cognizant of the value of picking one’s battles, Tess chose not to mention her thoughts on his high, or more aptly, low-handedness, when he followed on her heels, literally, a moment later.

Gabe set about shifting boxes and unfolding a tarp and soon had created a hiding place for her and Rosie for the flight from town. “Think you can keep the porker quiet as we head through town?” he asked as Tess settled in beside Rosie. “I’d rather not fight off a rioting crowd this afternoon.”

“Rosie won’t be a lick of trouble,” Tess replied with confidence she didn’t honestly feel. Rosie had been acting especially ornery of late, and Tess believed the dear was pining for Will.

A particularly loud snort reinforced her unease.

Tess scratched Rosie’s snout as Gabe bid his friend good-bye. “Sorry we didn’t have more time. Make sure you look me up on your way back.”

Mack glanced at Tess, then said, “This assignment may take awhile. Don’t know that I’ll finish by the first of the year.”

Now, Gabe looked at her. “In that case, check with the governor.”

Tess realized the men had passed some sort of message, but she didn’t have the energy to try to figure it out at the moment. Gabe gave a farewell wave to his friend, then climbed up into the driver’s seat. Just before she pulled the tarpaulin over her and her pet, she said, “Gabe? On the way out of town you need to take us by way of the bordello.”