Chapter Twenty-Eight
Three Days Later
Sam, Sadie, Ellen, and Ruby were on their way into town.
It was a gloomy-looking November morning and the wintery cold had finally arrived. There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground, so they all wore their scarves and gloves because the wind was whipping.
“We should really invest in an enclosed carriage,” Sadie called out. “This buggy is barely good enough during the summer.”
Sam briefly looked back over his shoulder. All three of them were wrapped up in a thick blanket with Ruby cozily in between them, while he was sitting up front on a seat that was barely covered.
“I’m all for it,” he replied, though his idea behind it was the added bonus that nobody would be able to see the girls if they were sitting in the back of an enclosed carriage.
“Then that’s a done deal,” Sadie said firmly.
Sam had another meeting with John and several sheriffs and he’d refused to leave the women and his daughter alone at home—despite Daniel offering to watch them with several of the ranch hands positioned as guards.
It wasn’t that Sam didn’t trust Daniel—he didn’t trust the ones coming after them.
Sam also didn’t want to put Daniel through that again.
Since things were noticeably heating up, if Walter or Briggs or both showed up again, they’d probably come with reinforcements. Sam just couldn’t risk it. Not again.
So, Daniel stayed at the ranch and guarded their home, while the ladies had decided that they wanted to visit several stores as well as the library that had recently opened. Sadie and Ellen were actually excited about new books to read.
The only reason why Sam was fine with them being out and about on their own was the fact that Sadie and Ellen were both armed. According to Sadie, she’d never felt the need to take her revolvers before when she went into town. Now, it made sense.
As Sam drove the carriage through Main Street, he was fighting nervous goosebumps and had his head on a swivel.
There was nothing amiss, but he was on high alert anyway.
Sam noticed that Sadie and Ellen had gotten very quiet, too.
One look over his shoulder told him that they were paying close attention, looking around as much as he was. Good. They should.
“Are you sure I can’t persuade you to come with me to the office today?” he asked the girls in the back. Ruby made a grunting sound.
“I refuse to live in fear,” came the reply from his wife.
“I have a knife in my sleeve, two small pistols in my skirt pocket and in my bag as well as my revolver inside my muff. Ellen has the same. I think we’ll be fine.
There’ll be people all around us, so I doubt that someone would attack us in broad daylight. ” Sam still wasn’t convinced.
“I agree,” Ellen said. “I’m pretty much the same, though I prefer to carry my revolver on my hip underneath my coat.”
“I don’t have one,” Ruby said matter-of-factly. “I want one, too.” Sam released a shuddering breath.
“You’ll learn how to shoot soon enough, Sweetheart,” he replied. “Right now, you are still a little too young for that.”
“My father taught me when I was five years old and able to hold a gun,” Sadie supplied helpfully. “I think we should start with your next birthday.”
“Ah, yes! Mine too!” Ellen said. “I remember your father showing both of us.”
Sam knew that children on the frontier started early in pretty much everything, but now they were talking about Ruby. His Ruby. It somehow felt a little different, even though it shouldn’t have.
“We’ll discuss that later,” he said firmly, hoping that his tone was enough to shut the conversation down.
“I want to learn how to shoot a shotgun!” Ruby exclaimed, which made Sadie and Ellen both laugh. “Daniel let me hold it once, but it was too heavy!’
Sam squeezed his eyes shut for a second, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He knew that he’d lost that argument. His daughter grew up too fast. But then he remembered how stubborn and brazen Elizabeth had been when he’d met her.
She probably would have taught her daughter how to shoot while feeding her.
They stopped in front of the library first. It was an impressive red brick building with tall white columns in the front of the entrance. The women couldn’t wait to get inside. Sam accompanied them through the front door to make sure that the place was safe.
It was filled with people. The new library was clearly the new place to be.
Sadie took his hand and squeezed it.
“I think we’ll be fine here,” she said to him. Sam sighed a heavy sigh.
“Do you mind staying here until I’m done in the office?” he asked cautiously. “I’d like to be there when you go to the stores.” Sadie nodded.
“We’ll be here,” she said with a soft smile.
“I’ll be quick!” Sam said. He kissed her on the forehead, then left.
Once outside, he almost ran to the carriage. He wanted to get this meeting done as quickly as possible.
***
After his interesting meeting with the sheriffs, where he’d relayed the important information about what Walter had said to him, the urgency regarding their investigations had shifted to a much more urgent status. The main focus was no longer on Briggs alone.
With a direct threat like that, Walter had now become a main suspect—which probably explained why nobody had seen him the last couple of days. The sheriffs agreed to issue a warrant for his arrest to find him quickly.
When Sam finally returned to the library three and a half hours later, he was surprised to see Sadie, Ruby, and Ellen surrounded by a large group of women in the foyer of the new building.
He’d been worried his whole way there, but the second he stepped foot inside, he was greeted by a rush of rustling dresses and giggling ladies.
Sam had forgotten that Sadie was a somewhat famous person in this town and that people flocked to her whenever they spotted her out and about. Part of him was glad about that, because it provided safety, but the other part worried that the wrong people would hear about her being here.
“Are you the hero who saved our Sadie from those nasty men?” one older woman with a very frilly bonnet on her head asked with a chirpy voice.
“Look at him! He must be!” another younger one with pale skin and hundreds of freckles exclaimed with a coy smile. A middle-aged woman with a gray coat held her back. Probably her mother.
There were many more, all of them rushing toward him, bombarding him with strange questions. Gossip really traveled fast in these parts.
Other women were cooing over Ruby, who clearly loved all the attention. One of them was feeding her something that looked like… cake? Whatever it was, it made Ruby’s eyes grow wide. Ellen was right there with her.
“Ladies!” Sadie called out with a pearly laughter to the ones surrounding Sam.
“Give my husband a chance to breathe!” She pushed through the small crowd and came to stand beside him, hooking their arms. Sadie squeezed his a little tighter than necessary, which told Sam that she needed him to play along.
“So, are there any new babies in the works?” the older woman asked curiously, which earned her a choir of agreeing noises.
Sam was slightly disturbed by the open interest in his marriage.
He was ready to leave them all standing there, take Ruby, Ellen, and Sadie and leave.
He opened his mouth, but snapped it shut again.
Sam looked down at Sadie, who clamped onto his arm.
“Why don’t you answer that?” he asked quietly. Sam wasn’t really sure yet what the situation was. Did Sadie need saving? She smiled at him and nodded.
“God will decide,” she simply said. “We leave it in the hands of the Lord to bless us with more children.” Sam nodded, glad that he’d left it to his amazing wife. The women didn’t seem too disappointed.
“Did you find some interesting books to read?” he asked her to stop the curious women from asking too many questions all at once. Sadie nodded excitedly.
“Yes!” she exclaimed happily. Her whole face lit up, and it made Sam forget everyone else for a moment. “We had to get registered and put a small deposit down, but we are allowed to take them home and have them for up to ten days.” He smiled at her warmly. He liked seeing her happy like this.
“That sounds great. I’m glad to hear it,” he replied with a pleased nod. “Well, if you are done here, I think we should make our way back home now,” Sam added. With all this attention, he didn’t want to hang around town longer than necessary.
That made the women complain, but Sadie seemed relieved.
When Sam caught Ellen’s gaze, he saw that she too was glad to hear it.
The only one who was completely in her element was Ruby, who was now intently listening to a woman with white hair and completely dressed in black, telling her about the puppies she had.
“Are you leaving already?” the older woman moped with a pout. Sam thought that she was coming on a little too strong for his liking. He had no idea who she was.
“Didn’t you want to walk around the stores with us?” another young one asked Sadie, clearly disappointed.
“I’d just like to quickly stop by at the general store, if you don’t mind?” Sadie asked Sam, ignoring the women. Sam couldn’t say no to her, so he nodded. It was on the way back home, so it wouldn’t be a problem, and the beaming smile it earned him was all the more worth it.
They said their goodbyes, which took another ten minutes.
Sam walked over to Ellen to take Ruby from her. He also took the small bundle of books they’d bound together with a thin leather strap. He was curious what Sadie had picked out to read, but he’d wait until they were on their way home before he’d ask her.
“The lady told me some tricks to teach Buster!” his daughter told him excitedly. “I want to go home now. I want to try them.” Sam chuckled at that.
“We’ll be home in no time,” he promised her, as he turned to slowly walk toward the double entrance doors. Looking back at all the women still surrounding Sadie, he was glad to see Ellen step into the center.