Bounty for an Innocent (Preview)

Chapter One

Ten miles south of Fort Collins, Colorado

The Pierce Ranch

1877

“Tess!”

Tess Whitlow almost dropped the dish she was cleaning and peered out the kitchen window. Her name had been screamed, and the frantic voice belonged to her sister, Nora. She dropped the dish and hurried out onto the back porch in frowning alarm.

“Tess, help me!”

To her amazement, her younger sister was running down the ranch drive toward her, her hair and her skirts flying. But her hands and her skirts were covered in blood, and Tess put a hand to her mouth and rushed out to meet her.

“Nora, are you hurt?”

Nora threw herself into her arms and collapsed against her, sobbing. Tess struggled to hold her sister upright and threw an arm around her shoulder. “Come to the house. I’ll get bandages to stanch the bleeding until the doctor can get here. Try not to talk!”

Nora was babbling, crazy. “I’m not hurt,” she gasped. “It’s him, him!”

She broke into renewed sobs, and Tess hustled her into the house as fast as she could and sat her sister down in a chair at the kitchen table. She searched Nora’s dress, felt frantically of her arms and ribs. She didn’t seem to be cut anywhere.

She took Nora’s face in her hands. “Nora, look at me and tell me what happened. Are you sure you aren’t hurt? Why is there blood all over you?”

Nora shook her head and moaned, “He’s dead! What are we going to do?”

Tess frowned at her in confusion. “Who’s dead? What happened?”

Nora turned wild eyes to hers. “Mister Pierce is dead, Tess, and… oh, it wasn’t my fault, I swear it!”

Tess felt the blood draining from her face. Harlan Pierce owned the ranch they worked on, and Nora was talking as if she…

Tess swallowed and gripped her sister’s shoulders. “Slow down and tell me exactly what happened. Mr. Pierce is dead?”

Nora pulled her mouth down and nodded. “It was horrible!”

“Are you sure he’s dead, and not…not just wounded?” She glanced out the open door. She should go check on him. “Where is he?”

Nora seized her arm. “On the edge of the yard, down near the garden. But oh, don’t go out there!” she begged. “It’s awful to see! I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my—oh, Tess, do you think they’ll hang me?”

Tess frowned at her, then gathered her skirts up and hurried outside. She flew down the porch steps, across the yard, and down to the garden, to the very edge of the rows.

She slowed, then stopped. Mr. Pierce was lying on the ground with his hands clutching his chest. His head of thick gray hair was bowed, almost curled into his chest, and bright red blood stained his hands, his shirt, and the ground under him.

She took one trembling step closer. The dead man’s hands were curled around a wicked-looking knife sunk handle-deep into his heart.

The sound of distant shouts made Tess’s head come up. She glanced back over her shoulder toward the barn. The hands were coming in from the fields, drawn by Nora’s screaming.

They had only minutes before everyone knew.

Tess picked up her skirts and flew back to the house, bounded up the porch steps, and blew into the kitchen. She found Nora where she’d left her, and she knelt beside her sister.

“Nora, tell me exactly what happened, and be quick. We don’t have much time.”

Nora dragged her hand across her eyes and quavered, “It was an accident, I swear it!”

Tess closed her eyes and willed herself to be patient. “Just tell me what happened.”

“Well,” Nora dithered, “Mr. Pierce wanted me to bring him his lunch out in the garden. He said he wanted beer and a sandwich, so I made him a tray and took it out to where he was. But he was already falling down drunk, he could barely stand up. And he was mad about something, I don’t know what. He was talking to himself, mumbling and grumbling, as if he wanted to fight. I set the tray down on the garden table and he went straight for the beer. I… I said that maybe he should wait a little while before he had another beer, and he got mad.”

The sound of voices outside made them both look up. The ranch hands were calling, “Is anybody home? Is everything all right?”

Tess jumped up to lock the kitchen door, then dragged Nora to her feet and out of the kitchen. She set her down on a hall bench and sat down beside her.

“Tell me the rest. Hurry!”
Nora closed her eyes and shook her head, as if she was about to burst into tears again. “He, he grabbed the glass of beer and sucked it down in one gulp. Then he pulled a big knife out of his belt and waved it at me,” she wept. “He called me Ambrose and said he was going to cut my throat!”

The kitchen door rattled as someone outside shook the knob. A man’s voice yelled, “Hey in there!”

Tess gripped Nora’s shoulders and shook her. “How did he die?”

Nora bowed her head and sobbed, “He tried to cut me. I… I jumped away, and he fell down on the knife. It went right through his heart!”

“Why is there blood on your dress?”

A piercing scream from the direction of the garden made them both raise their heads. Mrs. Pierce had found her dead husband, and her wails clawed through the open windows.

“Harlan! Oh, God help me, Harlan’s been murdered! Harlan, Harlan!”

Tess turned back to her stunned sister and urged, “How did his blood get on your dress?”

Nora put a hand to her head. “I, I tried to stop the bleeding,” she replied faintly, as if she was about to keel over.

New voices answered Mrs. Pierce’s keening. The ranch hands had evidently joined her.

A male voice exclaimed, “Law, Mr. Pierce’s dead! Knife through the heart!”

Another one chimed in, “That’s why that little redhead at the house had blood all over her! Should’ve heard her yelling!”

Panic scrabbled at Tess, and she dragged her sister to her feet. “They can’t find you. There’s no time to run, so you’re going to have to hide until I can smuggle you out.”

She hustled Nora down the hall, opened a tiny door in the paneling, and pushed her down a dark, narrow stair to the root cellar. She followed with her heart in her throat and struck a match with a shaking hand.

The root cellar was bigger than usual for a farmhouse, almost as big as the kitchen itself, and it was dark and cool and full of barrels. There was a little nook behind an empty barrel, a niche cut out of the dirt walls where they usually stored sacks of dried apples. Tess rolled the empty barrel aside and pushed her sister into the little cubbyhole.

“Hand me those sacks of apples. I’ll put them in the barrel so it’ll look full.” Tess filled the barrel with the lightweight bags, then commanded, “Sit down and be quiet. Wait here until I come for you.”

Nora hesitated. “How long will I have to stay down here?”

“I’ll come as soon as I can. Just sit tight and don’t try to come out. They’re going to send for the sheriff, and we can’t let him find you!”

Nora crouched down into the nook and Tess rolled the barrel in front of her, checked to make sure it hid her, and flew back upstairs to the hall.

She hurried into the front parlor, tossed the spent match into the fireplace, and smoothed her hair, her skirts, and her composure. She looked around, pulled a rag from her skirt pocket, and got busy dusting the furniture as heavy footsteps thundered on the porch steps outside.

The front door burst open, and Ida Pierce stormed in. She paused in the entrance and swept the room with tearstained eyes. Her face contracted into a knot of fury at the sight of Tess.

“You brazen hussy, where’s your sister?”

She stepped up and fetched Tess a slap across the jaw that popped like a gunshot, and Tess gasped, dropped the rag, and put a hand to her burning cheek.

The hands in the doorway moved up behind Ida and murmured, “Ma’am, maybe you should let us talk to her. There’s no call to go hitting anybody.”

But Ida glared at her and clenched her fists. Her voice jumped to a scream. “Where is she?”

Tess rolled her eyes to the foremost ranch hand, as if she didn’t know what was going on.

He answered her unspoken question in an apologetic tone. “Miss Tess, do you know where your sister is?”

Tess frowned, hoping that her face communicated confusion. She shook her head. “I heard her screaming, but I didn’t see her. I was down by the well, drawing water to wash the dishes, and I heard her voice. I came back to the house, but by the time I got here, it was empty. I don’t know where she is. I’m worried about her.”

Ida spat, “Worried about her! That little hellion murdered my husband. A half-dozen men can testify they saw her with his life’s blood still, still on her hands!” She collapsed into a chair and put a hand to her head as she wept.

Tess stared at her in genuine compassion but shook her head. “There must be some mistake. Poor Nora wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

Ida’s head snapped up as she screamed, “She killed him! I know he wasn’t happy with her work. He probably fired her and that was why she stabbed him! I’m going to see that she swings for it if it’s the last thing I do!” She heaved convulsively.

One of the hands commanded, “Take her upstairs. I’ll send for the doctor and the sheriff.”

One of the men bent over Ida and murmured, “Let’s get you in your own bed, Mrs. Pierce. You’ll feel better when you can lie down. Come on.”

To Tess’s relief, Ida allowed herself to be led away. But after she’d gone, the others stood around and stared at her until she became uncomfortable. She bit her lip and ventured:

“If my sister had blood on her clothes she might be hurt. Are any of you going to go out and look for her?”

They were silent for a moment, then one of them replied dryly, “Don’t worry, ma’am. They’s gonna be plenty of men out looking for your sister today.”

He put his hat back on his head and walked out, and the others followed silently. Tess watched them go, and when the door had closed behind them and the last one was out of sight, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. But it was only a little break.

Soon the sheriff was going to be out there, and he’d be a lot harder to satisfy than those men. She had to get her story straight and stick to it.

She paced the floor and gnawed her thumbnail. She’d gone down to the well, she’d drawn water to wash the dishes, so some of them might’ve seen her do that.

The only problem was, it had been twenty minutes before Nora had come running to the house, and she’d left the house to run down to the garden just before Ida had found her husband.

If Ida had seen her there, or if someone could place her in the house at the same time as Nora, her story would fall apart.

And that was if they didn’t find Nora hiding in the cellar when they searched the house.

Tess continued chewing her nails. Ida knew the little hidden door was in the paneling, of course. But Ida was beside herself, and if she was lucky the doctor might sedate her. If the doctor showed up before the sheriff, he might never find the door at all. It looked like any other part of the hall paneling.

She wracked her brain to remember if anyone else knew about it, but to her knowledge, it had only been the Pierces, herself, and Nora. As house workers, they knew. The other employees were hands who worked outside. They might not.

She had to hope they didn’t, anyway.

Tess spent the next hour doing useless busy work to hide her nerves and keep from losing her mind. Her thoughts were straining toward poor Nora, crouching miserably in that dark cellar and scared to death.

She stopped dusting to catch her breath. Her gentle sister was barely capable of defending herself, much less attacking another person, and least of all their employer. They depended on their jobs to survive, and Tess was stabbed by fresh panic to realize that was over. They had to flee, if they could, and start fresh someplace far away.

Probably with new names, too. Tess closed her eyes and rested her brow against the wall. She could still hardly believe the magnitude of their disaster. That morning, they’d been content and secure. That evening, they were going to be homeless fugitives fleeing for their lives.

The sound of wheels in the drive brought her head up. Tess hurried to the window and pulled the curtains back. To her overwhelming relief, it was the doctor’s black buggy, and as she watched the elderly man pulled the rig to a stop and climbed out, slowly and stiffly.

Tess dropped the curtains and hurried to the kitchen. She didn’t want to talk to anyone she didn’t have to, and she pulled the kitchen door closed behind her.

She listened as the hands called out in greeting and traced the sounds of footsteps climbing the porch steps, walking into the house, and climbing the stairs.

She stood there, clasping her hands in suspense as the sound of footsteps creaked overhead. She closed her eyes and willed the doctor to give Mrs. Pierce a sedative.

Give her laudanum. Put her to sleep for a good long time.

Soft voices mumbled upstairs, too soft for her to make out. She waited in miserable suspense as they murmured on, then held her breath as she heard the upstairs door open. Footsteps walked down the hall, then the stairway.

She moved to the kitchen door and opened it just a crack. The doctor was saying, “Just let her sleep until morning. If she’s still hysterical then, give her a few drops of laudanum in a glass of water. Not very much, mind.”

“We’ll take care of it, Doc. Thanks for coming by.”

Tess sank against the door in relief. At least now she didn’t have to worry about Ida rearing up and ruining her story to the sheriff.

Meeting him was an ordeal she’d face better without a suspicious wife at her elbow.

She let the footsteps and voices fade away, then wiped her hands on her apron and crept out of the kitchen. The bedroom that she and Nora shared was in a little add-on room at the end of the back porch. She opened the door to the walk-through pantry and closed the door behind her.

She had to get everything they were going to take with them packed and ready to go. And it was better to do it when there was no one around to see.

She glanced around, then yanked the pillowcases off the pillows and started stuffing their clothes into them: pantalets, corsets, stockings, dresses, shawls, nightgowns and boots. She paused as her eye fell on the little battered dresser they shared. They had a hundred dollars saved between them. It would help them survive until they found new jobs, and she could only pray it would be enough.

Tess walked to the dresser, pulled the bills out of a little envelope in the top drawer, and stuffed them down her blouse. She swept a half-dozen daguerreotypes of family members off the top and threw them into the pillowcases on top of the clothes. She paused, running a mental inventory of any other keepsakes, and slapped the second drawer open. There was a pile of family letters there, and Tess grabbed them and stuffed them into the pillowcases, then tied them both up tight.

The sound of a rider in the drive outside made her rush to the little window. She could just see the edge of the yard, and her stomach knotted to see Sheriff Eli Callahan dismount his horse. Some of the hands were hanging around on the porch, and one of them walked out to greet him.

Tess grabbed the pillowcases, hurried to the corner of the little room, and knelt to pry up a couple of loose floorboards. There was a space just big enough to hide the pillowcases, and she stuffed them in, replaced the boards, and stepped down on them to make sure they were level.

Muffled voices echoed through the house as the front door opened. As the heavy footsteps got closer, she could make out their words.

“She was here a little while ago, Sheriff. I’ll go see if I can find her.”

Tess closed her eyes and rehearsed her story again in her mind: she’d been down by the well, drawing water to wash dishes. She’d heard Nora scream and had started to the house, but by the time she got there, Nora was gone.

“Miss Tess, are you here?”

Tess tidied her hair and skirts, then rushed out of the room, through the pantry, and out into the kitchen, as if she’d been there all along. She arrived a split-second before the door opened and the puzzled hand stepped in.

“Oh, there you are! The sheriff’s here, Miss Tess. He wants to talk to you for a minute.”

Tess clasped her hands and put on a helpful expression. “Of course.”

She followed him back to the parlor, trying not to let her eyes wander to that one panel in the hall she didn’t want them to notice.

The sheriff was standing in the middle of the parlor and mostly filled it up. He looked close to six feet tall, and he took off his hat as she walked in.

The hand gestured to her. “This is Tess Whitlow. Her sister.”

The big man nodded respectfully. “I’m Sheriff Callahan, ma’am. They tell me that Harlan is dead, and I’m going to have to ask you a few questions about your sister.”

Tess’s heart was slamming against her ribs so hard that she was sure it was visible, but she nodded. “I’m worried sick about her,” she quavered. “I haven’t seen her for hours. I hope you have men looking for her!”

The sheriff searched her face with his eyes. “Yes, ma’am, we do. We’re going to search the house and yard, too, just to make sure there’s nothing we missed.”

Tess maintained an expression of grave attention, but she was in such suspense that she caught herself holding her breath. “I’m grateful, Sheriff Callahan. I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

“I appreciate that, ma’am. Can you tell me where you were at two o’clock today?”

Tess gathered herself and answered earnestly. “I was down at the well, drawing water to wash the dishes. I’m the cook here, and my sister Nora is the maid for the family.”

“I see. When was the last time you saw your sister?”

“About one-thirty. We were in the kitchen together. She was helping me clean up after lunch.”

“Where did she go after that?”

“I don’t know. I had to go to the well and draw water to wash the lunch dishes. I was tired, and it took me longer than usual.”
“She didn’t come with you?”

“No. When I left, she was in the kitchen.”
The sheriff paused to digest what she’d said, and Tess waited in suspense. The sound of boots on the porch made her glance at the door, and it opened to admit two men she assumed to be deputies.

The sheriff turned to them. “Clem, I want you to go down and look at the body. Make sure nobody messes with it until I get there. Bob, search the house. I want to make sure Nora isn’t hiding around here someplace.”

The hand was still there, and he murmured, “The doc sedated Mrs. Pierce. She’s sleeping upstairs.”

Bob spoke up. “I’ll be quiet.” He nodded to Tess. “Ma’am.”

Tess looked down at her boots, because she was afraid her eyes would follow the deputies as they walked out of the room. Her ears were straining for any hint of what they were doing.

For the sound of footsteps stopping in the hall.

The sheriff resumed, “The men I talked to told me you said you heard your sister screaming.”

Tess forced her attention back to the sheriff. “Yes.”

“Tell me more about that.”

Tess gave herself a moment to recalibrate. “I had just finished filling up the bucket when I heard Nora screaming. It sounded like she was on the other side of the house. I ran up the hill and into the house, but by the time I got in, she was gone.”

“So you never saw her after that?”

Tess forced herself to look him dead in the eyes. “No.”

The sheriff nodded and rubbed his nose. “One of the hands said he saw her run into the house through the kitchen door, but he was pretty far away. He says that by the time he got to the kitchen door, it was locked. Did you lock it?”

Tess shook her head. “Nora must’ve done it.”

“Hmm. The hand says he could’ve sworn he heard voices inside the house when he got there. He said it was more than one.”

Tess blinked at him and summoned an expression of faint confusion. “I don’t know anything about that.”

The big man crossed his arms and looked down at the floor, and then up at her. “Thank you, Miss Whitlow. I hope your sister is safe. I promise you we’re going to do our best to find her.” He paused for a beat, then added, “But it’s my duty to inform you that it’s your legal obligation to tell me, if you see her.” He gave her a keen glance.

Tess felt her face going hot in panic, and she struggled to keep her voice even as she objected, “But…surely you need more proof to arrest her? More solid evidence than just…the way it looks?”

The sheriff searched her face. “No, ma’am,” he replied slowly. “I have enough witness statements to take her in. It’s up to a jury to decide if that’s enough to convict her.” His eyes narrowed. “Remember what I told you. If you see her and withhold that information, I’ll take you in, too, for aiding and abetting.”

“I promise you, Sheriff, I’m as anxious to find her as you are.”

He nodded grimly. “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate your help. Excuse me.” He stepped around her and walked through the house and out through the kitchen door. Tess stood there, hands clasped, and listened to his footsteps fade away.

She looked up to see the hand’s eyes on her face. He said nothing, but his expression suggested that he thought she was lying through her teeth.

Chapter Two

Tess couldn’t bring herself to leave the house, and she puttered around, pretending to work as the deputy moved systematically from one room to another. She listened as he pulled back the curtain below the kitchen sink, opened the pantry door, and went into their bedroom. She heard him open the closet door, pull out the drawers, and move the beds.

She swiped the fireplace mantle with a rag and bent over a side table as the deputy moved out of the kitchen. He paused in the hall for a minute, two minutes, three. Tess kept her back to the hall, because she feared her expression would betray her terror.

“Ma’am, is there a root cellar in this house?”

Tess froze and closed her eyes. At last she called, “There’s a spring house down by the creek.”

“How about an attic?”

“There’s a trap door in the hall ceiling upstairs. You need to stand on something.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

She stood perfectly still, listening as he walked out of the house and down the porch steps. When he was gone, she hurried to the kitchen window and peered out. She could just see the sheriff and the other deputy down in the garden where Mr. Pierce’s body was lying. The sheriff nodded at something, then glanced back toward the house.

Tess stepped back and hoped he hadn’t seen her. She knew it looked suspicious for her to be watching, but she couldn’t help it. Her nerves were on fire.

How would they get out of there without anyone seeing? She and Nora needed horses, but how could they get them when the barn was sure to be watched?

After the day’s uproar, the hands were sure to have someone guarding the barn in case Nora tried to escape. In fact, the sheriff would probably leave at least one of the deputies there overnight.

Maybe the man would even stay in the house with them!

Tess bit her thumbnail and paced the kitchen floor. She had to forget about stealing a horse from the Pierce barn. That was out. It would be safer for her and Nora to cut across country to a neighboring ranch and steal a couple of horses from there.

They’d ride to the train station to catch the last run out of town. It would be the safest and fastest way to get clear out of Colorado.

But it also posed a big risk. The sheriff would probably sent telegrams to other lawmen to be on the lookout for Nora. And he’d naturally have somebody watching the train station in Fort Collins, just in case they did what she was planning.

But they’d be looking for two women. Maybe if they…

Tess bit her lip. Maybe if they stuffed their hair up under hats and dressed in men’s clothes they could get away. But the only man of the house was Harlan Pierce, and his clothes were upstairs in the bedroom where Ida was asleep.

Tess wrung her hands and paced back and forth. Did she have the nerve to go in there and steal them, knowing what would happen if Ida woke up?

Tess glanced at the kitchen window again. She was startled to see the sheriff crossing the yard on his way to the kitchen door, and she hurried back to the parlor to keep him from catching her there.

She took a deep breath and summoned all her skill to face him with the same expression she’d worn before: worried, puzzled, frightened for her sister and grieving for Harlan Pierce.

Making that face wasn’t as hard as she’d feared. She did feel all those things.

She turned to face him as he walked into the room, trailed by a deputy and two of the ranch hands.

Tess searched his face. “Did you find anything to tell you where Nora might’ve gone?”

The big man sighed. “No, ma’am. Nothing. There are no horses missing and she couldn’t have got far on foot without somebody seeing her. I believe she’s hiding around here somewhere.”

Tess held his eye, because she knew if she looked away, she’d seem guilty.
“Did your sister have any place around here that she liked to go to…be alone?”

Tess dropped her eyes to seem to consider his question. “She goes down to the creek on hot days to eat her lunch. It’s cooler there.”

“We’ve already been there. Is there any place else?”

Tess paused again and put on a thoughtful expression. “N-no, I can’t think of a special place. My sister isn’t a loner. She likes to be where people are.”

“I see. Well, thank you, Miss Whitlow. I appreciate your help.”

Tess stepped up and gripped his arm. “You will send word to me right away if you…find her?”

“I promise, miss.”

Tess nodded and affected distress.

The sheriff touched his hat and turned to his deputy. “Bob, go find Clem. Tell him he’s staying here tonight in case the girl tries to come back. You’ll take your turn tomorrow.”

“Yessir.”

Tess watched him go, then turned her eyes to the sheriff as he walked to the doorway. “If you need anything, or if you see your sister, you just tell Bob, miss.”

“I will. Thank you, Sheriff.”

She stood in the middle of the parlor, ramrod straight, with an expression of grave concern, until they were all good and gone. Then she turned in agitation and spat out a word she hadn’t used in years.

What was she going to do with Bob hanging around all night? As long as he was standing guard, her hands were tied.

She bit her lip and glanced at the open door. She hurried over to close it, then swept around and hurried up the stairs. She only had a few moments before Bob came back to the house.

If she wanted Harlan Pierce’s clothes, now was the time to get them.

Chapter Three

Tess paused at the foot of the stairs, glanced down the hall at the front door, then pulled off her boots. She carried them with her as she crept up the creaking wooden stairs in her stocking feet. She had to be quieter than a mouse and fast as a cat.

If Ida woke up and caught her in the bedroom, she could always claim to be checking on her. Whether the bereaved woman would accept that excuse was anyone’s guess, but she had it ready, just in case.

She paused outside the bedroom door and pressed her ear to the crack. To her relief, the sound of deep, regular snoring traveled through the door. Ida was fast asleep.

Tess curled her fingers around the doorknob and turned it ever so softly. The door creaked softly as it opened, and she grimaced and glanced at the sleeping woman’s face. She was lying in bed with her eyes closed and her mouth open.

Tess slid her stockinged feet over the floor to avoid making noise, skating past the bed to the closet door. She pulled on the doorknob, then frowned.

The closet door was locked!

She muttered impatiently in her mind and glanced at the bedside table. The only things on it were a lamp, a glass of water, and a bottle of laudanum. But the table had a little drawer, and Tess moved to the bedside as quietly as a breath of air. She pulled the drawer out slowly and smiled to see a key lying there. She took it quickly and moved to the door. She slid the key into the lock, and it turned with a loud click.

Ida murmured in her sleep and changed position, and Tess froze. She stood there, hardly daring to breathe, until Ida settled down and began snoring again.

Tess exhaled in relief and opened the door, slowly and softly. She was just stepping into the big closet when a noise on the hall stairs made her turn her head in alarm.

The sound of footsteps!

The deputy’s voice called, “Miss Whitlow, are you up here?”

Tess gasped, dove into the coats and dresses, and pulled the closet door closed. Not a moment too soon. It had barely closed behind her when the outer door creaked open. She stood with her hand on the doorknob, hardly daring to breathe. She could see the deputy in her mind, scanning the room, checking on the sleeping woman. The door closed with a soft, metallic click, and heavy footsteps moved down the stairs again.

Tess exhaled and pressed her brow against the wooden door for an instant, but she didn’t have time to be relieved. She turned to pull jackets, shirts, and trousers off the rack. She grabbed a couple of belts hanging on the wall and was about to step out when she remembered shoes. They’d need boots, and she was already carrying hers.

She bent to set her boots on the closet floor and picked up two pairs she found beside them. Her arms were full now, and she paused to listen before stepping out of the closet.

Ida’s snores still filled the room, and the dim sound of the front door closing wafted up the stairs. Tess bit her lip. She couldn’t know if that sound was the deputy going outside or coming back in, but she had to get back downstairs fast, or it would look suspicious.

She didn’t want him to find Nora while looking for her.

She pushed the closet door open with her hip and slid her feet across the floor. She glanced over at the bed as she passed, and her eye fell on the bottle of laudanum. She juggled the clothes in her arms, then reached out and took it. She dropped the little bottle into her skirt pocket and slid her feet smoothly across the floor.

She pressed her ear to the door. She didn’t hear anything, and she inhaled, turned the knob, and opened the door just a crack. The hall outside was empty.

Ida suddenly cried out, and Tess almost dropped everything. She glanced over her shoulder to see the older woman tossing in the bed, rolling in the arms of a nightmare.

She hurried out and down the stairs, then turned into the kitchen, through the pantry, and into her own bedroom. She pushed it shut behind her and hurried to the bed to toss the clothes onto it.

“Miss Whitlow?”

Tess gasped, balled the clothes together, and bent down to stuff them under the bed, then sat down and spread her skirts over her stockinged feet.

There came a soft knock on the door. “Miss Whitlow, are you in there?”
Tess put a hand to her galloping heart, gathered her nerve, and replied: “Yes, of course. This is my own room.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to bother you, ma’am. That must be why I couldn’t find you in the house. I’ll be out in the parlor if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

The footsteps moved away again, and Tess closed her eyes and almost fell backward on the bed in relief. But once the surge of alarm had passed, her thoughts turned to what had to be done next.

She pulled the little bottle out of her skirt pocket and set it on the bedside table. She had to put that deputy to sleep somehow. Four drops would do the trick.

But a heavy meal, and a big glass of milk to make him drowsy, should help that along. Tess sat up, smoothed her hair back, and gathered her nerve for the next phase of their ordeal. She went to her closet to pull on another pair of boots. She was going to be busy that evening, and she needed to be ready.

Her next task was to prepare a big, delicious meal to tempt the deputy.

Chapter Four

Tess closed the oven door and pushed her damp hair back from her brow. The scent of roasting chicken was curling through the house, and right on time, the sound of footsteps approached down the hall.

The kitchen door creaked open, and the deputy stuck his head into the kitchen like a hungry boy. “Evening, ma’am.”

Tess turned to smile at him weakly. “Evening, Deputy. I thought I’d make dinner. It helps to keep busy. It keeps me from worrying about my sister so much.”

His expression softened. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Would you like me to make you a plate?”

The fellow couldn’t keep his eyes from moving to the oven door. “If you don’t mind, ma’am. That sure does smell good.”

“Certainly. Sit down at the table.” Tess opened the ice chest and pulled out a big glass of milk and set it down in front of him. She’d pinched out four drops of laudanum into that milk earlier and sweetened it with a dollop of honey.

She smiled at him and turned to the stove. She cut a generous slice of roasted chicken, then added mashed potatoes drenched in gravy, hot buttered biscuits, sliced tomatoes, and fresh corn on the cob.

His eyes lit up as she set it down in front of him. “Thank you, ma’am. I haven’t had a meal like this in a while. A single man like me doesn’t have home cooked meals every day.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it.”

Tess turned to the stove and made herself a plate. She intended to eat well. It might be the last good meal she had for a long time.

She took a seat across from the deputy and made small talk with him for about a half hour. He ate hungrily, and she watched as he sipped the milk and ate with gusto.

At last he leaned back and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “That was real good eating, Miss Whitlow,” he told her with a nod.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

He pushed back from the table. “I’ll be out in the parlor if you need anything.”

kitchen. When she was sure he’d settled down in a chair in the parlor, she grabbed a kitchen rag off the counter, spread it out on the table, and filled it with biscuits and chicken. She tied it up hastily and carried it back to her bedroom, then came out again.

She moved to the oven and set about putting the uneaten food away and putting the dishes in the sink. The familiar sounds would reassure the deputy that she wasn’t trying to escape and hopefully lull him to sleep faster.

She’d given him enough laudanum to knock him out. Now it was just a waiting game.

When she was finished cleaning she sat at the kitchen table, listening with all her mind. She heard him moving around at first, walking from one side of the parlor to the other. She heard him settle into the big stuffed chair.

The clock in the hall chimed nine, nine-thirty. The deputy hadn’t made any noise in a long time, and at last Tess felt brave enough to go to the kitchen door.

She pushed it open a crack. She could see him on the other end of the hall. He was sitting in the big stuffed chair with his legs stretched out and his hands folded on his stomach. His head was slumped over on his shoulder and he was snoring softly.

Tess closed the door and sat down to remove her boots again. Now was her moment, and she had to make the most of it.

She turned down the lamp, opened the kitchen door soundlessly, and peered out to be sure he was still asleep. Once she was sure, she slid down the wooden floor of the hall like someone walking over ice. Slowly and carefully.

She glanced at the sleeping deputy. She was in full view. All he had to do was open his eyes, and he’d see her.

She reached the panel and pressed her fingers to the crack, pulling the door back with agonizing slowness. She ducked her head and stepped into the darkness, then turned to pull it almost closed, with just a tiny crack showing.

She struck a match and took hold of the stair rail, inching down the creaking steps. Every tiny squeak made her wince, but she reached the dirt floor at last.

She hurried to the apple barrel and pulled it out. Nora’s tearstained face turned up to hers, and she pressed a finger to her lips and pointed to the top of the stairs.

“Don’t make a sound,” she breathed. “There’s a deputy in the parlor. We’ll have to sneak out the back way. Take off your boots. They’ll make too much noise.”

Nora’s eyes widened in terror, and Tess gripped her arm and helped her to stand. She helped steady her sister as she pulled her boots off, then took her hand to lead her up the stairs.

Tess paused at the sliding door and put her ear to the crack. She could still hear snoring from the parlor, and she released Nora’s hand to slide the panel open.

She listened again before stepping out, then carefully crept through the narrow opening. She turned to help Nora through, then took her hand to hurry down the hall and into the kitchen. She pressed a finger to her lips and hustled her sister to their little bedroom, then closed the door.

Nora turned to her with a question on her face, and Tess shook her head. “Be quiet,” she whispered, and turned to lock the door and pull the curtains. “I stole Mr. Pierce’s clothes. We’re going to dress like men. It’ll help us get away.” She pulled the clothes out from under the bed and tossed a pair of trouser to her skeptical-looking sister. “Hurry and dress. We have to be long gone by the time he wakes up!”

Fifteen minutes later, Tess cautiously opened the bedroom door, moved into the pantry, and peered out into the kitchen. It was empty. She’d left the kitchen door unlocked to make it easier for them to leave through it.

She walked to the door and opened it a crack. The porch outside was empty, and she scanned the yard. It was very late and pitch dark, but both knew the yard and the surrounding countryside blindfold. They’d worked there for years.

She glanced over her shoulder at Nora. They’d both stuffed their hair up under hats and were dressed like working men. They were carrying Mr. Pierce’s big boots to keep from making noise and would have to run across the yard in their stocking feet.

Tess took a deep breath and moved out onto the porch, down the steps, and around the house. She could feel Nora moving behind her as they flitted into the horse pasture like ghosts.

They’d go cross country to the next ranch over, steal a horse from the barn, and ride it into town. The last train out of Fort Collins left at ten-thirty, and they had to be on board.

Maybe if they pulled their hats low and didn’t talk, they could get away with it.