Chapter 4
Hunter felt bad about leaving Grace at the house, but she assured him she was fine. She said she had a lot of things to unpack and didn’t mind spending some time in the house, getting acquainted with it.
That was how she had put it, as though the wooden walls were alive and she needed to speak to them or something.
He didn’t think he would ever forget the sight of his newly married wife slung over the back of another man’s horse.
That had shot such a visceral fear through him that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be the same person again.
It was the first time in his life that Hunter ever had anything to lose—and the thought that Grace might be gone forever from his life after he’d only just met her in person …
It had lit a fire under him so no bandit stood any chance of outrunning him.
Heading to the sheriff’s office, he and Jeff arrived to find that everyone had left.
“That’s odd,” Hunter said.
“Not really,” Jeff said. “What are the odds that Robert chased everyone away?”
“You’re probably right,” Hunter agreed.
They went up the steps and found Robert, the sheriff, behind his desk, looking annoyed. His brows were knit together, and he had a sour expression on his face when he looked up from whatever he was writing.
“Oh, it’s you two,” he said without any enthusiasm. “I see you came back in one piece. That’s good.”
“Yes,” Hunter agreed.
“It was touch and go there for a bit,” Jeff said. “We ran into some bandits.”
“What else is new.” Robert sighed and shook his head. “Well, you’re not the first to come to me with that story today. What would you like me to do about it?”
“Nothing,” Hunter said, frowning. “Hey, you’re in a worse mood than you usually are. What happened while we were out?”
Robert sighed. “Nothing happened here. As you can see, the town is peaceful as can be.”
“So why the sour look?” Jeff asked, perching on the corner of Robert’s large and paper-strewn desk.
Robert made ineffectual swatting motions at Jeff to move. Typically, Jeff ignored him.
“It’s the farms,” Robert said eventually when he gave up trying to unseat Jeff. “They’re being targeted by …” He looked at them expectantly.
“Bandits?” Hunter asked.
“Exactly,” Robert said. “And the message each time is that they must stop selling to us.”
“Oh,” Hunter said softly. “That is not good news.”
Jeff pulled a face and shrugged. “So what if some farmers can’t sell to us anymore? We’re doing fine.”
Hunter stared at his friend. For a really smart man, he could sometimes say foolish things without thinking them through.
“Losing the farms is a big deal,” Hunter said softly. “We have one dairy farm and it’s not even operational yet. The cows are still pregnant and not producing milk. Without the farmers that we’ve been buying from all this time, we can’t feed our town.”
“Give the man a prize,” Robert said, gesturing to Hunter. “He understands. And now Andrew has abruptly dropped this problem in my lap and told me to fix it. Somehow I must magically track down these elusive bandits who have been a thorn in our sides for … how long?”
“Ages. At least that’s what it feels like,” Hunter offered.
“I think it’s closer to a year, maybe,” Jeff said, scratching his head. “So, what does Andrew want you to do?”
“Like I said, he wants me to find them so we can get rid of them once and for all. The term he used was ‘find the cockroach nest so we can destroy it,’” Robert said, drawing in a deep breath. “And there’s just me in this office.” He shook his head. “How the heck am I supposed to do that?”
Hunter considered this and then asked, “If you had deputies, how would you go about finding them? The bandits, I mean?”
“I know what you mean,” Robert snapped and sighed. “Sorry. Okay, let’s see. If I had two deputies, maybe we could go out to the farms and find out what’s going on.”
Hunter nodded. “And if you waited at one of the farms that hadn’t been targeted yet, you could capture a bandit and make him talk.
Something like that would at least give us a fighting chance.
If we could find their base, that would be big news.
I’m sure Andrew would send a posse and things could finally settle down around here. ”
Robert stared at him. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. How nice it would be for things to settle down around here. That idea of lying in wait at a farm isn’t a bad one. It could work if the farmer was willing to play along.”
Hunter nodded. “Okay. So you like my idea? Then deputize me.”
There was a stunned silence in the room.
“You?” Robert asked. “But you don’t know the first thing about investigating anything.”
Hunter shrugged. “So what? I’m keen to learn. Anyway, no one you find here will be any better. You’re the only one with law enforcement experience.”
Robert grimaced. “Oh, I hate it when you make a good point,” he said. “Fine. I’ll deputize you.”
“Hey, me too,” Jeff exclaimed, standing suddenly. “What?” he asked as Robert and Hunter looked at him in surprise. “I’m not being left out of this. It’ll be more fun than hacking at rocks all day. Admit it; mining is some dull work.”
“You’re right. But more importantly,” Hunter said, “we need to make this area safe for ourselves and the farmers who have been supporting us. That’s what’s important here. Not the adventure of it all.”
Robert stood and shook his head. “If you’re sure you want to get your hands dirty with this, then repeat after me …”
Hunter and Jeff raised their right hands.
Robert led them through an oath Hunter suspected he had just made up. The oath basically meant they swore to defend, protect, and serve the town, which still didn’t have a name, uphold the laws of the state, and so on.
Jeff and Hunter so swore without hesitation.
“Meet back here tomorrow morning,” Robert said. “We’ll go through the statements I have so far and then head out to the farms and see who is likely to be the next target for a bandit visit.”
Hunter and Jeff headed to the door. As Hunter’s hand closed over the handle, Robert spoke up.
“Hey, Hunter, nice plan you came up with there,” he said with an appreciative nod. “That was good thinking.”
“Thanks,” Hunter said, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Jeff snorted and shook his head when they were outside the office. “I should have known you would go out of your way to be the teacher’s pet.”
“Funny,” Hunter said. “I’d better head back to Grace. See how she’s doing settling in.”
“Sure, and you’d better tell her that you’re a deputy now,” Jeff said with raised brows. “You don’t want her angry with you again.”
As he said it, Hunter realized that Jeff was right.
He had volunteered to be a deputy without a thought for how Grace would feel about it.
Would she be proud of him for stepping up in a time of need, or would she see this as another dangerous task he was taking on that might make her faint or throw up?
Jeff headed off to his house, which was down the street, closer to the bridge, while Hunter went the opposite direction toward his own house.
He had chosen a patch of land that had a lovely view of the meadow beyond the borders of the town.
It was the last house on the street, and from the parlor’s windows, all he could see was grass and trees.
He loved to eat his breakfast there at a little table he’d set by the window so he could watch the sparrows and starlings flit through the air.
He found Grace sitting there now. Although the afternoon shadows of the house had settled over the meadow, it was still beautiful, and the birds were still eagerly snapping up the bugs that droned and buzzed through the air.
She looked beautiful too, he thought, her golden hair gleaming in the late afternoon sun.
“I see you’ve found my favorite spot in the whole house,” Hunter said as he walked over to her.
Grace turned in her seat and smiled at him. “It is lovely. I should imagine that in the mornings it must be spectacular.”
“Oh, it is,” Hunter said, taking a seat opposite her.
She was really very lovely. He reveled in the innocent, pure joy on her face as she watched the birds.
“You know, having a porch on this side of the house would be ideal, don’t you think? We could watch the sunrise,” she said.
“Consider that my new project,” he said.
“Oh, Hunter, it was just a suggestion,” Grace said with a laugh.
“One that I take seriously,” he said, taking her hand. He liked how her fingers immediately wrapped around his. “Grace, this is your home too now. I want you to feel comfortable in it.”
“You’re very sweet,” she said. “But wouldn’t it be difficult to add a porch at this late stage?”
“Nope,” he said. “Not a problem at all.”
She nodded. “All right then. So long as it’s not too much work. I wouldn’t dream of making you more exhausted than I’m sure you already are from working in the mine all day. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Actually, I need to talk to you,” Hunter said. “You know that Jeff and I went to the sheriff’s office to see what was going on.”
“Yes?” she said. “Is it terrible? Is it bandits again?” Her voice rose in both volume and pitch.
Hunter realized that he would have to tread very carefully. Grace was most likely still shaken from her near-kidnapping today. He would have to be mindful of that.
“Well, in a way, yes, it is the bandits,” Hunter said.
“They attacked some of the nearby farms from which we’ve been buying our food and supplies.
They want to chase us from this land, heaven above knows why, but they do.
And now we have the problem that if they scare the farmers, then we won’t have any food. ”
“Oh my goodness!” Grace said, her hand going to her mouth in shock. “Is someone going to do something about it?”
This was it. There was no turning back now and if he chickened out and lied, she would be very angry with him when she found out. He had to tell her the truth.
“Actually, I sort of suggested a plan of action and Robert deputized me and Jeff. The sheriff is all alone and needs help,” Hunter said.