Chapter 10
Chapter
Everything was most assuredly not fine. Feminine chatter echoed through the jailhouse, bringing a frown to the face of James’s companion.
“I thought you only locked up one woman, Paxton.” Sheriff Adair brushed past James and pounded up the stairs to see for himself.
James dogged his heels, trying to think of an adequate explanation for what they would find, but since he wasn’t precisely sure what that would be, he had little to offer.
The sheriff reached the top of the stairs, then turned to glare down at James. “Why’s the parson’s daughter behind bars? She don’t exactly strike me as the criminal type.”
Noreen jumped out of the chair she’d positioned outside Mrs. Hanover’s cell and spun to face them.
“Sheriff Adair. You’re back.”
“Observant of you to notice.” Adair used a thumb to push the brim of his hat higher on his forehead as he strode forward and took in the scene.
“Was riding in to see my family before heading out to Fort Griffin to track down a lead on the rustlers I’m chasin’ when I ran into Paxton coming back from the Hanover place.
He told me about the shooting. Didn’t tell me we’d turned the jail into a henhouse. ”
The sheriff shot an irritated glance over his shoulder, and James mentally winced.
His ignorance of the goings on in his own building didn’t exactly portray him in the best light.
As he struggled to formulate a response that didn’t make him sound completely thickheaded, Noreen addressed Adair.
A frightening prospect, since one never knew what might come out of her mouth when addressing a male authority.
“Now, Sheriff, you should be commending Deputy Paxton, not taking him to task. He’s handled a delicate situation with great diplomacy.
Not only did he provide privacy for Mrs. Hanover in an otherwise inhospitable space, but he personally delivered her grandchildren into the care of their uncle.
He also arranged for Miss Cowan and me to keep Mrs. Hanover company until he returned, knowing, as he did, how worried she would be for the welfare of her charges until he reported back. ”
Actually, he hadn’t really given that much thought, but now that he considered the notion and saw Edna’s questioning gaze raking his face for an answer to that very question, he recognized the truth of the situation.
He dipped his chin toward the woman seated near the table with a pile of mending in her lap—mending that hadn’t been there before he’d left.
“Tom and Lionel are safely delivered, ma’am, as is your wagon and all your chickens.
I explained the situation to Elijah, and he said he’d see you bright and early Saturday morning. ”
Mrs. Hanover nodded. “Thank you, Deputy.”
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
Well, his argument with Elijah hadn’t been too pleasurable, what with the man yelling at him for putting his mama behind bars for breaking a bit of glass.
She wasn’t a criminal, for pity’s sake. It had been an accident.
James didn’t blame the man for being upset.
He’d be fighting mad, too, if the situation had been reversed and his mama was the one behind bars.
Still, he hated being made to feel like a villain when he was enforcing the law.
“Ain’t you that temperance woman who’s always stirrin’ up trouble at the saloon?” Sheriff Adair scratched at his beard as he narrowed his eyes at Noreen.
Her smile flattened, and a spark of ire lit her gaze, sending warning bells gonging in James’s head.
“Observant of you to notice.” Noreen shot back the sheriff’s earlier words in blatant challenge.
He stiffened. “You hankerin’ for a cell of your own, young lady?”
“You would imprison me unjustly?”
Gads! This was going downhill fast. “Noreen,” he murmured from behind her, “I don’t think—”
A book slammed, drawing everyone’s attention.
Jane Cowan rose from her chair inside the cell—a chair that looked suspiciously like the ones in his office.
She offered a tremulous smile as she clutched a copy of Little Women to her chest and took a single step toward the door.
The locked door, he was happy to note. Wouldn’t do for his prisoner to be dawdling about in an unsecured cell.
“Sheriff Adair,” she said, “you must be tired after your long ride. Let me cut you a slice of my mama’s peach pie. I know it’s one of your favorites.”
Jane smiled shyly as she tucked her book under her arm and reached for the half-empty pie tin sitting on the table next to Mrs. Hanover. Holding the pie in front of her to give Sheriff Adair an unimpeded view, she approached the bars.
“Mama sent it with me when she heard about Mrs. Hanover’s incarceration.
It is our Christian duty to minister to those in prison, yet it’s not proper for a woman to tend to a male prisoner’s needs.
So when Mama learned of a female in the jailhouse, she encouraged me to come and support Miss O’Sullivan’s ministry to the less fortunate. ”
Noreen pressed close to James’s side and slid something into his hand. The key to the cell. He took the hint and moved forward to unlock the door and let Miss Cowan out.
“Jesus himself said that when we feed the hungry and visit those in prison, we are ministering unto him.” Jane stepped out of the cell, and Noreen moved forward to take the book from under her friend’s arm.
The table knife balancing on the edge of the pie tin rattled louder the closer she came to the sheriff.
“I’m sure you don’t mean to oppose such a charitable endeavor.
” She held the pie out toward him, strategically positioning it just below his nose. “Do you?”
Sheriff Adair frowned at Miss Cowan, but his gaze soon shifted to the pie, and his jaw clenched.
The sheriff did love his pie, and the parson’s wife had won a blue ribbon at the Albany Independence Day picnic for her peach pie last year.
If James recalled correctly, Sheriff Adair had served as one of the judges, making this particular dessert the perfect weapon to wield in an attempt to win the sheriff’s favor.
Apparently, the unassuming Miss Cowan possessed a rather cunning mind.
Adair huffed as his fingers closed over the edge of the pie tin.
“I guess if your mama sent you, I won’t object, but don’t be making a regular practice of lingering.
” The sheriff grabbed the knife and sliced off a large wedge of peachy goodness, then lifted it straight from the tin, not waiting for a plate.
“Prison ain’t meant to be a social shindig, you know.
It’s meant to be miserable, so a man will reconsider his life choices.
” He chomped off a bite from the end of the slice.
Ecstasy flashed across his features before quickly retreating behind his usual stony facade.
His gaze darted toward Mrs. Hanover. “Or a woman,” he said around his mouthful of pie.
“Mrs. Hanover has already expressed remorse,” Noreen informed them, the sass noticeably absent from her voice thanks to the calming effect of her friend’s earlier interruption. “Perhaps in light of this you would see fit to shorten her detainment period?”
“That so?” The sheriff raised his handful of pie again but stopped it just short of his mouth. He glanced into the cell. “You sorry for shooting a gun off in my town, Miz Hanover?”
The widow rose from her chair, setting aside the mending items she’d been sewing. “I am.”
Adair nodded. “Good. Be sure to tell that to the judge when he weighs in on damages. In the meantime, get used to your new home, ’cause if you ain’t got the funds to pay the fine, you’ll be staying here for the full three days.
” His head swiveled, and his gaze targeted James with pinpoint accuracy. “Ain’t that right, Deputy?”
“Yes, sir.” He knew his duty. The law was the law, and he was paid to uphold it. Even if this felt like one of those go-and-sin-no-more moments, he didn’t have the authority to extend mercy. Only the judge could do that. James prayed he would.
“Good.” Sheriff Adair tipped his head toward the extra chairs cluttering the area. “Now, ladies, I want you to close down this here quiltin’ bee or whatever you’ve got goin’ on and head home. It ain’t fittin’ for you to be here after dark, and sundown’s headin’ this way mighty quick.”
Noreen turned a pleading look on James, but he made no argument.
His silence led to a narrowing of her eyes and a tightening of her mouth that sizzled a warning through him much like the electricity that collected in the air right before jagged lightning bolts shot from the sky.
What did she expect him to do? He couldn’t gainsay the sheriff. Not if he wanted to keep his job.
Just go along, he tried to communicate with his gaze. Not every battle needed to be fought on the front lines. Some were better waged with diplomacy and patience.
Thankfully, she held her tongue, but she punctuated her verbal silence with the scrape of chair legs against the floor and the clang of dishes being packed with little care. If looks were bullets, his hide would be sporting several new holes.
In contrast, her friend moved about the cell like a shadow trying to escape notice as she collected the mending items from Mrs. Hanover and placed them in a flour sack. James did what he could to assist, toting the extra chair downstairs after handing off the key to the sheriff.
Once everyone was back in the office, Sheriff Adair licked a bit of peach filling from his hand, then dusted his palms together to dislodge any clinging crumbs. “Thank your mama for the pie. It hit the spot.”
Jane ducked her head as she scuttled past. “I will.” She stopped suddenly, as if she’d just remembered something, then swiveled to set the pie tin on the table she’d just hurried past. “I’ll leave the rest of the pie here so Deputy Paxton can have a piece as well.”
A grumbly female voice murmured something about him not deserving pie, but James chose to ignore it.
“That’s very kind of you, Miss Cowan.” He dipped his head in her direction. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “Mama and I can retrieve the baking dish tomorrow when we pay a call on Mrs. Hanover.” She glanced back at the sheriff. “If that’s all right with you.”
Adair waved his hand in front of his face as if he were shooing a fly. “As long as it’s a brief visit and the two of you don’t pitch tents in here, I ain’t got no objection.”
An audible huff echoed near the doorway.
“Thank you, Sheriff.” Miss Cowan turned to leave, then paused and took a step closer to James. Leaning in, she whispered, “Noreen fixed a supper plate for you and placed it in the warmer above the stove. She wanted to make sure you had a chance to eat after your trip to the Hanover farm.”
She’d saved back food for him? James shot a glance toward the door, where Noreen stood, arms crossed, toe tapping. She met his gaze long enough for him to tug on his hat brim in thanks, then jerked her head in the opposite direction and stepped out into the street. Ornery woman. Yet thoughtful too.
And expressive. A smile tugged one corner of his mouth upward. A man didn’t have to guess what she was feeling. She made it quite plain. Wasn’t always fun, but it was honest. A fella could figure out right quick where he stood. And where James stood at the moment was squarely in the doghouse.
“Can you believe the nerve of that man?” Noreen tramped down the street as if she were personally in charge of flattening the ground. “Kicking us out as if we were vermin underfoot. He had no right.”
“Actually, he did. He is the sheriff. The jailhouse is his jurisdiction.”
Noreen shot a glare at her friend. “Must you always be so . . . amenable? For goodness’ sake, Jane. Doesn’t it make you angry that poor Edna is there all alone?”
“She’s not alone. I slipped her my copy of Little Women.” Jane smiled, as if having a book was all a person needed to be content. Perhaps for Jane that was true, but Edna didn’t particularly strike Noreen as a big reader. “And Deputy Paxton is there,” Jane continued. “He’ll look out for her.”
Argh. Deputy Paxton! The traitor. Making her feel needed and appreciated one minute, then standing back and doing nothing to stop her being evicted in the next. “I doubt we can count on him. His principles seem to crumble the moment someone with more authority enters the picture.”
Jane took hold of Noreen’s arm and tugged her to a halt. “That’s not a fair assessment.”
“No?” Noreen flung an arm out in the direction of the jailhouse. “He didn’t say a single word in our defense when Sheriff Adair ordered us out. Just stood back and let it happen. Even helped us on our way.”
She’d looked to him for help. Practically begged him with her eyes. And what had he done? Nothing. She never should have expected more from him. But she had. Her mistake. One she’d not be making again.
“What good would have come from him speaking up?” Jane had the nerve to ask.
“You and I both know Sheriff Adair isn’t the type to change his mind once he makes a decision.
If anything, when challenged, he just digs his heels in deeper.
Mr. Paxton would know that. Had he argued for us to stay, he would have risked damaging his relationship with his employer, and for what?
To make us feel better? We were planning on leaving after he returned anyway.
The only difference was that we didn’t leave on our own terms.”
Noreen sighed, and her chest deflated as her friend’s words defused some of her indignation.
Jane reached for her hand and gave it a sisterly squeeze. “Perhaps this ejection hurt more than it should because it followed so closely on the heels of what happened with your stepfather.”
“I . . .” Noreen peered into Jane’s gentle eyes and saw a truth she probably never would have seen on her own. “I hadn’t considered that.”
Perhaps James wasn’t the complete villain she was making him out to be. Perhaps her lingering hurt over her mother’s silence had colored her perceptions. Time would tell, she supposed.
Linking her arm through Jane’s, she started the two of them walking again, this time at a more sedate pace. “How did you get to be so wise?”
Jane grinned up at her. “By reading books, of course.”
Noreen chuckled. “Of course.”
If only there were a book on how to earn a man’s esteem and gain his willing assistance without endangering one’s heart in the process. Such a manual would prove exceedingly instructive.