Levi (Prairie Grooms, Book Five) (16 page)

“Fina and Lena are here?”

“Down at the mercantile,” said Chase. “Now get on down there and stay put, you here?”

Tears spilled down Apple's cheeks, as the gravity of the situation hit. If they didn't get the man out in time, he was going to die. She sniffed back her tears, left the bank and ran as fast as she could to the mercantile. Levi worked at the bank; surely he would have the combination!

She ran through the mercantile doors and straight to her sisters. “Fina!”

Fina turned to her. “Apple! What are you doing here? I didn't think you were coming.”

Apple shook her head. “Harrison and Colin were too busy to bring me. I went off by myself.”

“You did what?” asked Lena in a stern tone.

“Apple, there could still be outlaws around. It's not safe to go by yourself. What were you thinking?” asked Fina.

“That's just it. I came to town to get information for you, but when I was in the bank, a man came in to rob it and… and I pushed him into the safe … and closed it on him!”

“Land sakes, you did what?” Grandma said as she came into the mercantile.

The sisters turned to her. “It was the only thing I could think of to do,” cried Apple. “What if he was the one who shot my intended? I had to do it!”

Grandma marched toward her. “Calm down, child.” Apple stilled and hugged herself.

“Now, are you telling me that there's a man locked in the bank safe?”

Apple nodded and then burst into tears.

“Good Lord!” cried Grandma. “Where Cyrus?”

“The sheriff said he's… at home… sick.” Apple sputtered.

Grandma spun to Fina. “Where’s Levi?”

“He rode out to the Triple C to help Colin and Harrison for a few hours, while Lena and I attended the sewing circle.”

Grandma pressed her lips together, eyes narrowed in concentration. “Now listen up; we only have a few minutes to save him, even if he is a no-good outlaw.”

“But how?” Apple asked as her tears spilled down her cheeks. “He's going to die and it’s my fault!”

Grandma ignored her and turned to Lena. “Run across the street and tell Doc Drake what's happened. He just got back this morning.”

Lena nodded and hurried out the door to do as she said.

“But what can Dr. Drake do?” asked Apple as she gasped for air. “Pronounce him dead?”

“No, child,” said Grandma as she took her in her arms. “He's going to save him.”

* * *

“It's going to seem boring around here after the excitement of the big city,” Bowen Drake told his wife as they sat at the kitchen table.

Elsie smiled at him. “I can do with a little peace and quiet after this trip.”

“I guess I can, too,” he said with a sigh. “No time like the present to start being bored.”

There was a sudden banging on the front door just before it opened. A young woman came running down the hall and into the kitchen, her face frantic. “Dr. Drake!” she cried, out of breath. “We need you down at the bank right away! A man is locked in the safe!”

Bowen stood so fast he knocked his chair over. He didn't speak, didn't ask questions, but moved to the door and shoved past her. Elsie stood and followed. “What happened?” she asked.

Lena hurried after her. “My sister was in the bank, when an outlaw came in and tried to rob it. I don't know all the details, only that she shoved him into the safe and closed it.”

“Oh, good Lord!”

“Mr. Van Cleet is at home, indisposed, and Levi has left for the Triple C.” Lena explained in a rush. “They’re the only two with the combination to open it!”

Elsie stopped at the open front door and grabbed a small bag off of a table next to it. “They're not the only ones who can open that safe,” she told Lena, then turned and left.

Lena followed her down the boardwalk and saw Apple and Grandma come out of the mercantile, Fina right behind them. Soon all of them were hurrying down the street to the bank, behind Bowen Drake and his wife. By the time they reached the bank, the good doctor had knelt in front of the safe, his ear to its door, listening; a grave look on his face.

“What are you all doing here?” Chase hissed. “Get back to the mercantile! This is no place for womenfolk!”

“Please,” Lena whispered in his ear. “Apple is beside herself and terribly upset. She's got to know if that man is going to be all right.”

“I can understand that. But it's still no place for you women. Once Doc Drake gets that thing open and pulls him out, what if he’s dead? Do you really want Apple to see that?”

Lena bit her lower lip to stop its trembling and shook her head.

“Then take your sisters back to the mercantile. Stay there until I come fetch you.”

Lena nodded her head, took Apple and Fina by the hands, and headed for the door.

Apple wrenched her hand out of her sister’s. “How can he open the safe?” she asked, her voice full of panic.

“Shhhhh!” Bowen whispered, one hand on the tumbler, and waved her toward the door.

“How is he going to get him out?” Apple whispered, her voice still frantic.

“Stop it, Apple, and let the man work.” Lena scolded. “We have to go.”

“My husband can get him out,” assured Elsie. “Trust me on this. What shape he’ll be

in, when we do, will depend on how long he’s been in there. Run along now.”

Apple started to cry again as her sisters escorted her out of the bank and into the street. “I feel terrible! What if I’ve killed him?”

“You haven't killed anyone!” Fina told her. “Don’t do this to yourself. You did what you thought you had to do at the time.”

“I was doing it for you! I'm so sorry; I just wanted to help!”

Fina took her into her arms and held her tight. “Apple, my sweet Apple; everything is going to be all right. Mr. Van Cleet gave Levi the money as a wedding gift. As soon as we’re able to, Levi is going to take me to Paris!”

Apple stood, stunned at the words. “You mean he didn't steal it?”

Fina shook her head. “Of course not, silly, and I was an idiot for thinking he could even do such a thing.”

“You mean he… didn't… do anything… ohhhh,” she moaned as her knees gave out.

Her sisters each grabbed an arm and held her up. “We should get her back to the mercantile,” said Fina.

“I quite agree,” said Lena as they lifted her between them and guided her down the street.

At the mercantile, Grandma was ready and waiting. She'd left the chaos, knowing how she’d be needed. “Here, put her in this chair,” she ordered Lena, “and I’ll fix her something to calm her nerves.”

Lena helped Apple to sit as Fina followed Grandma through the curtained doorway. Mrs. Dunnigan was just coming down the stairs from the living quarters. “Grandma,” said Fina. “What if that man dies?”

“Well then, child, we’ll just have to deal with it. It would be a tragedy, for sure, but worse things have happened to good folks, as well as bad.”

“What a shame, even if he is an outlaw.”

“Yes, I'll agree with you, it is shame. But he ain’t dead yet.” Mrs. Dunnigan handed Grandma a glass of water. “Thanks, Irene.” She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small bottle full of white powder. “I took this out of Doc Drake’s bag. I'm sure he won't mind.” She poured some of the powder into the glass and stirred it with her finger. “There now, you give this to your sister, ya hear?”

Lena came through the curtain to join them. “I think she's calming down, but she's still very upset and frightened.”

“I just mixed up something for her,” said Grandma. “You get that down her gullet and she'll be fine after a little while.”

“What is it?” asked Lena.

“Laudanum powder. It'll calm her nerves and probably put her to sleep. Seeing as how Cutty's staying at the hotel now, she can rest in our patient room until you can get her home.”

“Thank you, Grandma,” said Lena as she took Fina’s arm. “Come on, let's have Apple drink this and then go over to the Wallers’ house.”

Fina nodded. But when they went back into the mercantile, Apple was gone.

The Weaver Farm, 1871

“Whoa!” cried Tom. “What in blazes do ya think you’re doin’? Put that gun away!”

Calvin stood, and pointed his gun at him. “No, finish the story!”

“Put that thing away before I take it away!” Arlan yelled across the table.

Calvin grimaced, and sat. “Fine! Ain’t loaded anyway,” he grumbled.

Tom fell into his chair and turned to Rose. “You all right?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.” She looked at Calvin. “That was a very foolish thing you just did!”

“No more foolish than what Apple did. You gonna tell us what happened? Or leave us hangin’ again? ‘Cause if’n you are, then that’s it! I’m finished! I don’t wanna hear no more of your stories!”

“Boy’s upset,” Calvin’s mother said to no one in particular. “Never seen him so upset before.” She turned to her son. “What ails ya, boy? It’s just a story.”

“I know what it is,” said Benjamin with a smile.

“What?” sneered Calvin.

“You’re sweet on Apple.”

Calvin jumped to his feet and tried to take a swing at him, but Tom was faster, and grabbed his arm before he could punch him. “Sit down! You’d think you’d never heard about someone being upset with themselves before.”

“Well, I ain’t! And neither has Benjamin or Daniel,” Calvin shot back.

“Yeah, but they didn’t pull a gun on the storyteller, did they?” Arlan pointed out. He let out a heavy sigh and looked at Tom. “Maybe we’d better call it a night.”

“I guess we’d better,” Tom agreed. “But first, let me tell ya some things, so you can go to bed without a lot of questions floatin’ around in your head. But if’n ya don’t calm down, I ain’t gonna tell ya, ya hear?”

Calvin swallowed hard, and sat. Benjamin watched him, compassion in his eyes. “What happened? Where did Apple go?”

“Don’t ya wanna know how she came across that key in the street?”

“I do!” said Samijo. “But I bet I can guess.”

“What makes you so smart?” asked Daniel.

“Because I’m a woman,” she said with a smile. “And, like your Ma, I pay attention.”

“Ok, so how’d she find it?” asked Calvin.

“Remember the part when Levi asked Fella to mend his pants?”

“Yeah; so?”

Samijo smiled. “Fella can’t sew.”

The twins looked at each other, then at Samijo. Benjamin smacked himself with his

hand. “I see! And I bet he went to the bank to put his money in and …”

“Discovered that Mr. Van Cleet wasn’t there,” Daniel finished for him. “And so used his own key to open the door, but put it in his pants pocket instead of his shirt pocket.”

“And it fell out, probably when he got on his horse or something,” added Ma.

“Yep, I think that covers it,” said Tom. “Ya see, Lena, Chase, and Fella used the wagon to come to town, while Levi brought the horse. He planned on riding out to the Triple C to talk to Harrison and Colin about the steers he’d bought and kill time, while the women folk attended the sewing circle. When he came back, he’d leave the horse for Chase, and take the women home in the wagon.”

“Was Levi always in the habit of carrying his key with him?” asked Samijo.

“Clear Creek’s a small town, full of good people. But things do happen, and ya never know when a hot game of checkers is gonna come up,” explained Tom. “Levi was used to Cyrus taking off for a game or going to the hotel for lunch. So, yeah, he always had his key on him. But as Cyrus was a trusting sort, he didn’t think much of it if he left the safe open, and did so most of the time, so long as the bank itself was locked.”

“But there was money in the safe; you said so,” argued Daniel.

“Yes, but it was all Mr. Van Cleet’s money,” Tom told him. “Cyrus would have been the only one to suffer a loss.”

“Clear Creek is one strange town …” Samijo commented.

Tom chuckled. “You have no idea.”

“Did the outlaw die?” asked Rose.

Tom took her hand in his. “No, he didn’t die.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” she said.

“And he wasn’t no outlaw neither.”

“What?” Arlan exclaimed. “What do you mean? Who was he?”

Tom smiled. “You really wanna know?”

“Yes!” everyone cried in unison.

Tom laughed. “Okay, I’ll tell ya, and then we call it a night, agreed?”

The twins grumbled as Daniel played with a spoon and frowned. Finally, Benjamin spoke for them. “Agreed, but it doesn’t mean we like it.”

“Okay then,” Tom said and leaned his elbows on the table. “What Apple didn’t know, was that Sheriff Hughes sent his deputy to Mulligan’s and the Dunnigan’s mercantile to secure their cash, take it over to the bank, and put it in the safe. He figured that with all the trouble there’d been with outlaws lately, folks oughta start using the bank, on account that’s what it was for in the first place. Mr. Mulligan and Mr. Dunnigan both agreed, and so gave most of their money to the deputy, who was to take it to the bank and give it to Cyrus, only Cyrus wasn’t there.”