Coming Up Roses (23 page)

“
I have lots of contacts on the streets
of Chicago, Miss Gilhooley. Many of them aren’t the sorts of people
you ought to be involved with. However, I’ll bet I can find out
where a kidnapped boy might be taken. We’re fortunate in that the
fellow who took him is a distinctive one. There can’t be too many
wooden-legged, black mustachioed man nabbing children around
Chicago.”

“
I hope not,” Rose said
glumly.

“
Me, too. So, since it’s almost time
for your performance, I recommend you and Little Elk go back to the
Wild West. I’ll get in touch with my informants during your show,
and meet you afterwards. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so you don’t need to
worry about getting back at any particular time.”

Rose wasn’t sure about this. “You mean, you
think we ought to look for him at night?”

“
That’s probably the best time. Oddly
enough, it’s when most criminal activity takes place.”

Rose ignored his smirk. “Bear in Winter was
snatched in broad daylight,” she pointed out.

“
Right, but wherever they took him, I
expect they’ll be transporting him to wherever they want him after
dark. Darkness is the criminal’s friend.”

“
I see.” Her flesh crawled, actually.
But Little Elk would be there to protect her, she reminded herself,
and felt better at once.

“
Also, you won’t like this,” H.L.
continued, “But I think you’d better not come with us, Little
Elk.”

“
What?” Rose regretted the shrillness
of her voice, but she’d been too startled by this pronouncement to
modify her tone.

“
No,” said Little Elk, sounding much
less hysterical than Rose, but exceptionally firm.

H.L. shook his head. “I know you want to come
along, Little Elk, but you’d attract too much attention. If you and
Miss Gilhooley discuss the matter before we set out, if she’s as
good at tracking as she says she is—”

“
I am,” Rose cried, stung.

“
I’m sure.” H.L. sounded as if he were
attempting to placate a squawking child, and Rose wanted to thump
him. “Anyway, if . . . I mean since she’s good at tracking, if I
can get any firm leads, she and I can follow up on them without
attracting the amount of attention an Indian might. Don’t you
see?”

Little Elk’s frown was about as black a one
as Rose had ever seen on his generally impassive face. “No,” he
repeated stubbornly.

Scowling furiously, Rose considered H.L.’s
statement. She absolutely hated to admit he might be right about
anything, but she feared in this case, he just might be. “Wait a
minute, Little Elk. He might have a point.” Because she didn’t want
H.L. to think she approved of him, no matter how right he might be
every once in a while, she shot him a scowl. He grinned back. This
time she did thump him, with the toe of her foot against his
shin.

“
Ow! Dammit, why’d you do
that?”

Rose was pleased when his smirk vanished. She
batted her eyes at him. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. May. I’m sure I
didn’t mean to kick you.”

He leaned over to rub his shin. “I’ll just
bet.”

She ignored him and spoke to Little Elk. “But
in this case, I’m afraid he may have noticed something important
that we didn’t think about. Especially if, as he suspects, we’re
going to have to go into some rough neighborhoods where people
might decide it would be fun to taunt an Indian.”

She knew Little Elk was familiar with people
like that, since there were scads of them around Deadwood. The only
places where people didn’t seem to take delight in being cruel to
Little Elk and his kin were in lands far, far away from any
lingering memories of the Little Big Horn and other of the
so-called “Indian troubles.”

As much as she deplored the slaughter of
General Custer and the Seventh, she imagined she’d fight anybody
who tried to take her home away from her, too. She could,
therefore, sort of understand the Sioux point of view on the
matter. Besides, Rose knew Sitting Bull, who sometimes traveled
with Buffalo Bill, and she liked him as much as she liked Little
Elk.

The “Indian troubles” were too complicated
for her, so she left them to others to figure out. All she knew was
that she didn’t want her friend to get hurt by any Chicago
bullies.

“
I don’t like it,” Little Elk said
stubbornly.

She sighed. “I know, and I don’t blame you.
But it might be best for Bear. If whoever took him sees you, he’ll
probably know immediately that you’ve come to take him back, and
that would give him an advantage. He won’t think anything at all
about seeing Mr. May and me wandering about.”

“
He will, too, dammit,” H.L.
interrupted. He sounded crabby. “You’re going to have to wear
something that doesn’t make you look like a sweet little girl from
the sticks, Miss Gilhooley, if you aim to pass unnoticed in some of
the neighborhoods we’re probably going to be searching.”

Rose stared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“
If my suspicions are correct,
somebody’s grabbed the boy for a specific purpose. Otherwise, he’d
have taken a kid who was easier to snag. I mean, who’d go to the
World’s Fair, with people all around, not to mention the Columbian
Guards patrolling—”

“
Ha!” Rose interjected, having formed a
rather unfavorable opinion of the one representative of the
Columbian Guard she’d met thus far.

“
Right, I know you don’t think they’re
worth their uniforms, but they do create a presence, and people
intent on kidnapping children don’t generally like to do it where
they can be overseen by the authorities.”

“
That didn’t stop Bear’s
kidnapper.”

“
Exactly. That’s why I think there’s
more to this than a simple kidnapping.”

“
Simple!” Rose was offended and didn’t
bother to hide the fact.

H.L. patted the air in a soothing gesture. “I
know, I know. Kidnapping’s a rotten pastime. But, you see, there
are various business enterprises that buy children.”

“
Buy
children!
Good gracious, are you serious?” She was both scandalized and
horrified. Not only that, but she was unable to comprehend the type
of villainy that must be behind such enterprises, if they existed.
She doubted it. Squinting at H.L. hard, she said, “I don’t believe
you.”

He shrugged, as if he’d expected nothing else
of her. “Fine, don’t believe me. Nevertheless, I’m still going to
question my resources while you perform.” He broke off suddenly and
gazed at her fixedly.

“
Say, Miss Gilhooley, are you in any
shape to perform tonight? Are you too worried to concentrate? If
you fall off that horse when it’s going a hundred miles an hour,
you’d probably kill yourself.”

Rose’s exasperation and indignation spiraled.
“Thank you so much for your concern, Mr. May, but I shall be fine.
I am a professional, in case you’d forgotten.”

“
Oops. Didn’t mean to offend you.” As
usual, he sounded not the least bit contrite. Rose thought about
kicking him again but decided against it. He’d only chalk it up to
emotionalism, and she didn’t want to give him any
ammunition.

“
I go,” said Little Elk, cutting
through their fight with ease and determination.

Both H.L. and Rose turned to gaze at the
Sioux, who sat like a boulder, his arms crossed over his chest,
looking implacable and immovable. Rose sighed and decided to give
up sparring with H.L. May. Bear in Winter was in danger, and as
much as Rose hated to give Mr. May credit for anything, she feared
he might be right about having better luck if Little Elk stayed at
the encampment while she and May went hunting.

It took another forty-five minutes to
convince the stubborn Little Elk of the wisdom of H.L.’s proposal,
and another half-hour before Rose conceded that she’d best array
herself in trousers for the evening’s excursion. As little as she
wanted to look like a hick from the plains, H.L.’s vivid
descriptions of what might happen to her if the scoundrels in
Chicago’s worst slums realized she was a woman, finally convinced
her.

They parted at the Wild West arena about an
hour before the show was scheduled to start, and not on the best of
terms. H.L. May promised to pick Rose up after the show, and swore
he’d be loaded with information. Rose hoped he’d choke on it—after
they got Bear in Winter safely back into the arms of his
family.

Chapter Twelve

The show was over. The crowd, after swarming
Annie and Rose and the Indians and the soldiers and the colonel,
had finally left the arena. Rose had stabled Fairy as usual, giving
her the treat she always got after a successful performance, and
Rose and Annie had trundled off to Rose’s tent.

Rose was nervous about the night’s impending
hunt for Bear in Winter, but she wasn’t going to back down. The way
she looked at it, the entire Sioux ensemble traveling with the Wild
West was depending on her, and she’d sooner shoot herself than let
them down.

Before the performance, she’d assembled an
outfit to wear during her tracking mission. She’d had a little
trouble buttoning the trousers up, not having had much practice in
such an endeavor. Now, however, as she stuffed the plaid flannel
shirt into the waist of the trousers, she was beginning to feel
rather free. “These really are comfortable, Annie. I expect they
wouldn’t be if they were tighter, but they’re plenty loose.” She
performed a kick with her right leg and then with her left leg.
“You can really get around in them.”

Annie frowned heavily as she looked Rose up
and down. She addressed Rose’s comment in a roundabout manner. “I
don’t like this, Rose. I’m worried about you running around after
dark with that man.”

Rose was, too, although she wouldn’t admit it
to Annie. “It’s for a good cause, Annie. The police don’t want to
do anything about getting Bear back, and Mr. May does, and I really
don’t want to go out there and try to track him by myself.”

Aghast, Annie cried, “For heaven’s sake,
Rose! I wouldn’t let you do such a thing. But I do think you ought
to take Little Elk with you.”

Peering into the mirror and trying to make
the best of a costume that, while comfortable, was at best
outrageous if not indecent, Rose tugged at the big Stetson hat
under which she’d crammed her thick, wavy hair.

“
No, I hate to say it, but I think Mr.
May’s right about Little Elk. He’d attract too much
attention.”

Both women silently observed Rose in
the mirror. Rose didn’t have to guess at the thoughts in Annie’s
head: If Rose thought Little Elk might attract attention, what did
Rose think
she
was going to
attract? Flies? Rose admired Annie’s restraint in not asking the
question.

Because she was so uneasy about the night’s
endeavor, she answered Annie’s unspoken question anyway. “I doubt
that anyone will look at me twice. In the dark, I’ll look like Mr.
May’s kid brother or something.”

Annie sniffed. “Or something, is right.”

“
I think I look very much like a little
boy,” Rose said, feeling defensive.

Her bosom didn’t want to squash flat, blast
it. Rose had tied a bandage around it, but she still looked too
bulky on top. Squinting at her reflection, she turned to get a side
view and sighed heavily. “I’ll wear that vest and jacket. That
should take care of any . . . bulges.” This was so
embarrassing.

“
I want you to take my Colt, Rose. I
know you have your Smith and Wesson and your derringer and a knife,
and I know you’re good with them all, but I want to be sure you
have a weapon I can trust.”

“
I’m going to be better armed than the
United States Army,” Rose mumbled, feeling silly.

“
Better to be safe than sorry,” Annie
reminded her. “And I don’t trust that man to know what to do with
weapons. I’ve heard the myth is that the pen is mightier than the
sword, but I doubt that he’d get very far in fending off villains
with an ink pen, however sharp might be.”

Rose chuckled. “You’re right about that.” She
sat on her bed and drew on some heavy socks. “I hope to goodness we
don’t have to face down any villains.”

“
Face it, Rose, it’s not generally the
cream of society that goes around kidnapping little boys.” Annie
sounded exasperated.

Rose didn’t blame her. “I know, I know. We’ll
find him. I hope Mr. May was able to dig up some clues from his
friends about where to start this evening. It will take him less
time than it would me, since I don’t know anybody in Chicago.”
Except H.L. May, who was rapidly becoming a very large presence in
her life. Rose wouldn’t admit that, either.

“
His friends.” Annie huffed as she
picked up the vest Rose aimed to wear and held it out for her to
slip into. “If his friends are the sorts who know where to find
kidnappers, I question his value as a proper companion for you, my
dear.”

Getting up from the bed to take advantage of
Annie’s help, Rose muttered, “He says the people he was going to
question help him with stories, Annie. I don’t think they’re his
friends. Exactly.” She stuck her hands through the armholes of the
vest and turned around to face Annie as she buttoned it up. “I
expect a good reporter needs to know all sorts of people in all
walks of life. They’re probably a gold mine of information when
he’s doing research on criminal activities.”

Rose didn’t understand why she felt compelled
to defend H.L. May against Annie’s suspicions. He aggravated Rose
nearly to death whenever she saw him, yet she hated it when Annie
disparaged his morals and character. Rose didn’t like to think of
H.L. May as a vile seducer of young ladies—Rose, for example—as
Annie obviously did.