Chapter 13
It felt exceptionally good to be clean. That swamp muck really could cling and seemed to be quite impervious to things like soap.
So, Kyle used a lot of the harsh stuff given to him at the bathhouse and emerged scrubbed pink, clean, and smelling strongly of said soap.
It wasn’t a bad smell, and it was at least fresh.
All that was missing was breakfast, which he hoped to remedy when he got back to the saloon.
When he and Warren entered, both having gone for a bath, Warren jabbed Kyle in the ribs.
“It looks like your young lady has been busy,” Warren said.
“My young lady?” Kyle asked with raised brows.
“Alice,” Warren pointed with his chin.
Looking in the indicated direction, Kyle’s breath caught in his throat. There was a table set by the window, and on it, someone, probably Alice, had arranged coffee, toast, sausages, eggs, and even some fried tomato.
Alice appeared with a milk jug in her hands and smiled. “Ah, there you are. All nice and clean, I see.” She sniffed. “And you smell much better.”
“That swamp muck was hard to get rid of. I thought it might have formed a permanent layer over me.”
“No, I think you got it all,” Alice said, inspecting him. “Except you left some soap behind your ear. Let me get that for you.” Reaching up with a dishtowel, she wiped the soap away, and Kyle felt a little tingle shoot through him.
Alice smiled at him in a very enticing way, and Kyle thought that maybe she was warming to him more. Perhaps she wasn’t so worried about what would happen in the future and was just glad to get to know him now.
She had also changed her clothes and cleaned up a bit. As always, she made Kyle smile with her effortless beauty.
“Did you do all this?” he asked, gesturing to the table.
“Mr. and Mrs. Benson insisted,” Alice explained. “I told them how you’re helping me with my sister’s problem, and they were very pleased. And you can practically walk on water, according to them. Mr. Benson said that anyone who tends the bar like you do is more than welcome to a good breakfast.”
“Oh, how unexpected,” Warren said with a frown. “They must not know you well yet.”
“Warren!” Kyle protested.
“Well, I still like you a lot,” Warren said, “but you are an acquired taste.”
Alice shrugged. “They’re very nice people, and I happen to think that Kyle is a wonderful person, deep, deep down inside.”
“Hey, that almost sounded like a snide remark,” Kyle protested. But she thought he was wonderful, and he was going with that.
Alice looked around. “Where is Michael?”
“He’s still at the bathhouse,” Kyle said. “He spent some time speaking to Sheriff Butler. I think he was making some decent headway there.”
Alice looked surprised. “Do you really think so? That man was like a rock when I tried talking to him. But at least he did agree to go rescue you.”
Warren nodded as though that was expected. “I suspect that having folks from his town shot at will change a lot of things for your sheriff.”
“Let’s hope so,” Alice said. “Now, come and sit before everything gets cold. I’ll make sure there is enough for Michael when he gets here.” She bustled off back to the kitchen.
Kyle and Warren went to sit at the table and began to dish up some of the food. Kyle was absolutely ravenous, and he put a generous helping of eggs, sausage, hash browns, tomatoes, and toast on his plate.
A couple of moments later, Alice reappeared with a jug of lemonade.
“I thought you might want something refreshing,” she said with a smile.
“Are you going to eat with us?” Kyle asked. “You were shot at too. You should get to share in the spoils.”
Alice looked nervous. She bit her lip. “I’m working now, Kyle. I would love to, but?—”
“It’s okay,” Mr. Benson said kindly from behind the bar. “You’ve had quite the adventure. I think a day off to get your head on right will do you good. You poor dear. I would be in bed for a week if people shot at me.”
“Thank you,” Alice said, taking a seat at the table. She dished up a portion of food on a plate and smiled at Kyle. His heart gave a little zing in his chest, and he found that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
As they began to eat and drink their coffee, she asked them what had happened to them once she rode off on the horse.
Kyle, exhausted as he was, began to tell the tale. He told Alice how they had run off into the swamp by accident and how they had almost been discovered by those bandits.
“Luckily, the storm forced them to leave,” Kyle said. “And then Warren fell into a bog and was dragged under.”
“Oh no. I was afraid that something horrible had happened. How did you get him out?” Alice asked, astounded. “Are you all right?” she asked, turning to Warren.
He nodded. “I even managed to hold onto my spectacles,” he said. “Didn’t want to have to see about getting yet another pair on this trip!”
“Weren’t you afraid?” Alice asked.
Warren shook his head and smiled. “I knew God would help my friends find a way to get me out of that pit. And they did. Kyle jumped in after me. He kicked me in the head, and I grabbed hold of his ankle, and then Michael pulled us out. It was all very heroic on their part. I just fell in a hole.”
Alice looked at Kyle with so much admiration in her eyes that his cheeks began to burn. She swiftly gave him a little kiss on the cheek and sat back, blushing prettily. “For being a real-life hero.”
“What’s going on?” Michael asked. He had reached their table without them noticing.
Totally lost in Alice’s eyes, Kyle jumped and looked around for the first time in a while and smiled. “Hi, Mike. Good of you to join us.”
Michael sighed and eyed the empty plates. “Any chance you left anything for me?”
“Yes, I put a plate aside for you in the kitchen,” Alice said. She rose to fetch it, but Mr. Benson brought it to the table and placed it in front of Michael.
“I think you gentlemen helping Alice is a wonderful thing,” Mr. Benson said.
“You’ve been so wonderful, helping everyone since you arrived.
I can’t help but think that the train accident was more divine providence than anything else.
You’ve made such a difference here. Especially to us.
We couldn’t have managed the other day without you. ”
“It was our pleasure,” Kyle said sincerely. He liked the Bensons. They were good people.
“And for helping Alice, well, there’s no way we can thank you enough for that,” Mr. Benson added. He patted Alice’s shoulder and then walked off.
“He seems quite fond of you,” Michael commented.
Alice shrugged. “I suppose so. I’ve been working here over a month. It was just the two of them before that. They couldn’t seem to find someone who didn’t steal and was a hard worker.”
“And then you came along,” Kyle said. “I can see the appeal.”
Warren gave him an amused look, and Kyle didn’t care if his friends teased him. Every day, he fell harder and harder for Alice.
“So, what were you talking about?” Michael asked as he tucked into his food.
“Kyle was telling Alice how you two saved me from certain death,” Warren said matter-of-factly.
“Was he now?” Michael asked. “Did he tell her about the vast number of snakes, toads, rat-like creatures, and other things we encountered?”
“No, he didn’t mention all the buzzing, stinging, and biting insects either,” Warren said, scratching his arm.
“It sounds like a nightmare,” Alice said, shuddering. “So, once you pulled them out of the bog, did you just walk back here?”
Michael nodded. “We got caught in the rain, which turned out to be a good thing. We looked a lot worse when we got out of the swamp, believe me. The rain washed some of that mud and slime off. Then we waited out the storm in an abandoned house on stilts in the swamp. When it was light enough to see outside, we found a trail leading from the house to the road. It was all thanks to God’s grace.
But I am truly glad that we aren’t in that smelly bog anymore. ”
“And your escape?” Kyle asked, turning to Alice. “Clearly, you made it okay.”
“Yes, but I nearly didn’t,” she said. “Those bandits were on me the whole way. I was lucky I got out of there alive.”
She put her fork down and told them about the man who chased her into the river and how he was eaten by an alligator.
“It scared me half to death,” she admitted, pouring herself a glass of lemonade. “I honestly thought that thing would leave him once it had killed him, and then it would come after me.”
Kyle’s heart sank to his knees. The thought of Alice being left to fight off an ancient reptile from the deep was not something he wanted to consider.
“I’m so glad you got away from it,” he said earnestly.
“Me too,” she admitted, smiling with relief. “What did you find out in town? We never really got to talk much about that, did we?”
“No, not really,” Michael said. Most of his food was already eaten. Clearly, he was also famished.
“Well?” Alice asked.
“Cherryville is not in a good way,” Michael said sadly. “I think that they were a quiet little community. You know, one of those places where nothing ever happened.”
“Until it did,” Kyle said ominously.
“Until it did,” Michael confirmed. “We found out that this group of bandits came to town and pretty much took over. They rode into town, caused a ruckus, and then told everyone they would be leaving again soon and not to make a fuss. They acted like it wasn’t going to be for long, and if the good folks kept their heads down and didn’t cause a fuss, then there would be no trouble. ”
“Ah, the go-along-to-get-along approach,” Warren said.
“What’s that?” Alice asked.
“Doing what is expected so as not to cause upset,” Warren said.
“It seems to be a good tactic. These large groups of bandits ride into a place and then tell the people there that they will leave them be, only the folks mustn’t cause any trouble.
No stopping them, no talking back, no doing anything they don’t like.
If the folks behave, the bandits promise to leave them alone. ”