Chapter 10
Alice asked the Bensons when she could take another day off, and they said that if she could wait until next Monday, that would be wonderful. Monday was generally a very slow day in the saloon.
“In fact, they said that until Wednesday, they could manage without me,” Alice said later that evening when she met up with Kyle.
The bar was just about closed, and they sat together at the bar, having a last cup of coffee before bed. Alice had come to enjoy these moments just between her and Kyle. If Chrissie hadn’t been in such dire straits, Alice would have considered herself truly happy.
“In a strange way, it’s not the worst thing in the world that the train crashed,” Alice said.
“I know how horrible it sounds, and I’m probably a terrible person for thinking it, but since that happened, I’ve actually had hope.
I’m sure that we’ll find a way to save Chrissie. I just hope we won’t be too late.”
“You’re not a terrible person,” Kyle said with his easy grin. “You’re wonderful. Some of the folks around here seem to be dead set on being rotten with you. You know, if you’d come to our sheriff in Unity about this, Robert would have flown on eagle’s wings all the way here to save your sister.”
Alice chuckled. “I doubt that.”
“No, it’s true; he would definitely do something like that. He wouldn’t have ignored you,” Kyle said sincerely. “And neither would I.”
“You certainly know how to make a girl feel seen,” she said with a chuckle.
“I should hope so,” he said. “You’re worth seeing.”
“Kyle,” Alice said quietly. “You’re very kind, but where is this going?”
“What?”
“This,” she said, waving at the mugs between them. “What are we hoping for?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted with a sigh. “Look, I like you a lot. I would happily stay here with you if that’s what you wanted. Only I did promise my friends I would help them in New York, so?—”
“I like you too, but I don’t know where this is going. Our lives are in separate places, Kyle.”
“Does it matter right now?” he asked. “We’re getting to know each other.
Neither of us is leaving tomorrow, and we’re getting along.
Let’s just acknowledge that we like each other, and we want to find out where this could lead once your sister is safe.
” He put his hand over hers gently. “I’m not looking to pressure you into anything.
Chrissie is our top priority, okay? So, let’s just let things unfold as they do. ”
She would have thrown her arms around his neck and hugged him if it wouldn’t have complicated things even further. Luckily, she had just enough self-control to stop herself from doing that. Instead, she squeezed his hand again and thanked God for sending this wonderful man into her life.
For the next few days, Kyle and his friends were very busy working on plans for approaching the sheriff in Cherryville.
Meanwhile, Alice tended the saloon. The weekend was busy, and she had little time for anything but work.
She made sure to see Kyle before heading off to bed, and usually they had a few minutes alone in the morning.
Whenever he could, he helped with chores around the saloon.
Mr. and Mrs. Benson had started to think of Kyle as one of their employees, and he worked behind the bar most evenings now. He was so immediately comfortable around people that it was a joy to watch him interact with the bar’s patrons.
And then, before she knew it, it was Monday, and they were in the cart once again, heading off to Cherryville.
“So, what’s the plan? How are you going to get Sheriff Wilkes to do anything to help my sister?” Alice asked as they trundled along.
“We have a twofold plan,” Warren said.
“Oh?”
“Yes,” he said. “Our plan is to approach the sheriff first and talk to him. If he refuses to help, we’ll ask the saloon owner, Sylvester, what he thinks we can do. We might get lucky, and he could know of some folks who are keen to get rid of the bandits.”
“That sounds like a long shot,” Alice said.
“It is, but we’re just trying to get some information,” Kyle said. “The only way we’ll know if there is help to be had here is to ask.”
“Right,” she said, nodding. “Well, I hope luck is on our side.”
“If that isn’t, God is,” he replied with a wink that made her flush all the way to her toes.
Soon, they rode into Cherryville. By then the day was bright, with a few white clouds dotting the sky. Alice was nervous. Would the sheriff treat them the same way that Sheriff Butler had?
The sheriff’s office was on the main street, and they stopped the cart out front. They entered the office and found him sitting behind his desk.
Sheriff Emmit Wilkes was a tall man. He was almost willowy, with a long face and thin hair that had been allowed to grow a little too long.
Looking up from his paperwork, he frowned. “You folks aren’t from around here, are you?”
“No, sir,” Kyle said, smiling. “We’re travelers just passing through.”
“Oh, well, nice of you to stop in our little town,” Wilkes said.
He had small, piggy eyes set too close together.
“Actually, we came here for a reason,” Michael said. “May we sit? We have business to discuss with you.”
“Uh, okay,” Sheriff Wilkes said. “But I don’t have enough chairs for you all.”
“Just one for the lady will suffice,” Kyle said gallantly.
There were two in front of the desk, so Alice and Michael took the chairs, and Warren and Kyle stood behind them.
Alice wasn’t sure this would work. The sheriff didn’t look any more interested in them than Sheriff Butler had been.
And Wilkes gave off rather a less honest aura, although she couldn’t put her finger on exactly why.
That made her think of Kyle’s intuition about the bank robbery that never happened, and she scolded herself for prejudging this sheriff without any evidence.
“So, what’s this about?” Sheriff Wilkes asked.
“It’s about Alice’s sister,” Michael said. “Chrissie married Jason Holt. Maybe you know him?”
“Sure,” the sheriff said. “Jason’s been part of this town for quite a few years. Good man.”
“Well, it seems Jason’s kind of gotten them into trouble,” Michael continued, although they didn’t actually know if Jason was the reason the bandits had taken a shine to Chrissie. “We would like to help them get out of the trouble.”
“That so?” The sheriff managed to look both bored and interested at the same time.
“Yes.”
“And what trouble is that exactly?”
“Bandits have moved into their farm and are holding them hostage,” Alice said, butting in. She’d had it with this tiptoeing-around nonsense.
Silence descended on them.
“Is that right?” Sheriff Wilkes asked. “Well, I will take it under advisement, and I will send someone out there as soon as possible.”
“Who?” Kyle asked. “If you don’t mind my asking. Who will you send?”
“There are at least twenty-two bandits,” Warren offered. “So, you might want to send a lot of someones.”
Silence again.
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Sheriff Wilkes said. It sounded as though he had rehearsed it and was parroting.
“But—” Alice began.
“Please, Sheriff,” Michael said, placing a hand on her arm. “This is very serious. These people are your responsibility, and they are in trouble. Can’t you help them?”
“I will take it under advisement and send someone out as soon as possible,” Sheriff Wilkes repeated.
“I don’t believe this!” Alice snapped, deciding her hunch had been right in the first place. “We’re wasting time.”
She got up and left the office, spending a couple of minutes pacing on the porch before the others joined her.
“What took so long?” she demanded.
“We tried to get him to see reason,” Kyle said.
“And failed,” Warren said.
Alice looked in through the window at the sheriff and thought she saw two men appearing out of the doorway that no doubt led to the jail cells. Were they his deputies?
“Well, there’s always the saloon,” Kyle said brightly. “We can speak to Sylvester and see if there are options.”
“The poison is starting to look good,” she said softly to Kyle. He gave her a look.
How dare the sheriff treat them like that? It was his job to keep his town’s citizens safe! She had half a mind to go back in there and tell him exactly what she thought of his attitude. Alice didn’t get the chance as Kyle slipped his hand in hers and drew her away.
As they walked to the saloon, Michael spoke up. “Did anyone else get the feeling that maybe he’s not really in charge here?”
“Definitely,” Warren said. “I think he’s scared.”
And that was it. That was exactly what Alice had seen in that man’s eyes. Fear—and a lot of it.
The saloon turned out to be quite pleasant. They got a table in the back, and Sylvester was happy to talk to them again.
“Gee, that’s a tall order,” he said when they had told him about Alice’s sister and the trouble she was in. “I don’t think there’s much that can be done until they want to leave.”
“They meaning the bandits?” Kyle asked.
“Exactly,” Sylvester said. “See, they’ve made it clear that they’re leaving.
They called a town meeting two nights ago and once again told everyone that soon they would finish their business and go.
They made promises, gave some assurances, and folks drank it up like mother’s milk. No one wants a fight.”
As he spoke, Alice saw all hope of helping her sister slipping away. “So, you’re saying that Chrissie just has to survive until then?”
“That’s it,” Sylvester said.
“But she might not be able to!” Alice cried.
“We’re all in the same boat, little lady,” Sylvester said sympathetically. “Those criminals are all over our town. We’re powerless to do a thing, especially since they took our guns. We have nothing now.”
They spent a couple of hours in the saloon having something to eat and talking, but it was no good. Alice wanted to go by the farm again, but Kyle said it was too dangerous.
“I can’t help but feel that there are eyes on us all the time here,” he said. “We need to rethink this.”
Michael nodded. “Let’s head back.”