To Know Her by Name (26 page)

McKay didn't try to analyze his decision, but he decided to sleep with his door open. He didn't know if it had to do with the telegram Pup received or with the look on his mother's face. She was worried; he could see it in her eyes. His father looked uncertain as well. He could tell they wanted to ask questions but were restraining themselves. He knew their motives were driven by concern and not merely curiosity. McKay didn't have a chance to tell them that he had the same concerns for Pup's well-being, but there was little he could do about it at the time.

He fell asleep with his guest heavy on his mind, and while the night was still very black, woke suddenly and stared into the darkness. He didn't think he'd heard a noise, but he was certainly wide awake and alert. Lying very still, he waited a few minutes, and when he heard nothing, rolled onto his stomach to go back to sleep. He got as comfortable as possible, but sleep would not return. He made himself lie still: Tossing and turning never helped. Still he did not sleep. After only 20 minutes, he rose, pulled on his robe, went downstairs to the living room, and lit a lantern. He'd only been settled into a chair with a book for ten minutes when he heard steps on the stairs. A moment later he saw Pup come into the shadows of the room.

He was on the verge of asking her if she was having trouble sleeping when he saw that she was dressed. Turning the lantern brighter, he came out of his chair and went to stand before her. His eyes took in the bag in her hand and the shawl over her arm.

“I can't believe you would leave like this.”

“I have no choice.”

“Without word to anyone?”

“I left a note for your parents.”

“What was in that telegram, Callie?”

She shook her head. “You know better than to ask, McKay.”

Now he was shaking his own head. “This is foolishness, Callie; you can't get a train to Boulder at this time of the night.”

“I'm not going to Boulder.”

Pup very suddenly found herself nearly hauled up against McKay's chest. He'd taken her by the upper arms and moved her close so he could look down into her face. His own features were taut with severity.

“If there's an operation going down right here in Longmont, Pup, I want to know about it.”

“Then you'll have to ask Nick,” she said with more calm than she felt.

Suddenly he was angry. His heart told him to let her go, but he didn't listen.

“I don't know how you can stand to live like this.”

Pup didn't answer, and turning slightly away from her, he let go.

“Who will you be next time we meet? Bryan Daniels? Peter Crandall? Or maybe someone I haven't met yet?” His voice had taken on a measure of scorn, but Pup stood unflinching and silent. After a moment she heard him sigh. He turned back to face her.

“In all honesty, Callie,” he continued, his voice sounding slightly warmer, but also mirroring his genuine confusion and concern, “I don't know how you keep up the pretense.”

“I've thought a lot about that the last few days, McKay, but I still haven't come to any solid conclusions. With that in mind, I'm going to go back to work and keep thinking on it. It's tempting to up and quit right now, but Nick took the trouble of tracking me down here, so I know he needs me. It's for Nick that I'm doing this, McKay. I'm sorry you don't understand.”

She turned away, and just as McKay was opening his mouth to tell her he did understand, his father's voice called from the top of the stairs.

“Are you up, McKay?”

The younger man went to the stairway.

“Yes. I'm sorry we disturbed you.”

“Callie up, too?”

“Yes. In fact she has to leave. I need to take her into town.”

“Can't it wait until morning?”

“No.” His voice was soft and regretful. He turned back to Pup. “Wait here. I'll get dressed and take you.”

“No,” she said quietly. “The sky will be getting light soon. I have to leave now.”

“Callie,” McKay began, but she was already at the door. “I want you to wait.”

She didn't answer him this time, but opened the door and slipped quietly out. McKay dashed up the stairs and grabbed some pants, his boots, and a shirt, and then ran for the barn. He couldn't have been more than ten minutes behind her, but there was no sign of her. He hadn't even taken time to saddle the horse before he rode toward town, but she was gone. He wondered if there had been a ride waiting for her. It made sense, but who knew she was here? And wouldn't they have heard the horse? The sky was growing very light before he turned his mount around. Instead of finding Pup and answers to his questions, he was forced to return to the house with a dozen more riddles swarming through his mind.

While still sheltered by a large barn at the edge of town, Pup took the shawl and put it over her head and shoulders. She hunched her shoulders slightly and walked with a stoop. She knew her back would never be the same if she didn't find the house soon, but she had no choice. It was fully light now, and too many people had met Callie Jennings.

She hobbled along in this fashion until she came to a row of homes. Longmont was a fairly widespread town, and she had no choice but to start where she was. She had stopped for a moment to survey the line of homes before her when the sight of a small boy made her blink. He was crawling from the window of the end house. Shoeless, he was looking from side to side as he climbed, guilt written all over him. Where he didn't bother to look was directly behind him. He spotted Pup as soon as he turned around. Pup had to fight laughter when he looked completely deflated.

“You gonna tell my mom?”

“Not if you help me.” She made her voice sound old and rough.

“Help you with what”

“Charlie Barnes. Where does he live?”

“The shoe man?”

“Yeah,” Pup guessed, asking herself how many Charlie Barneses there could be.

“You need shoes made?”

She ignored the question. “Where does he live?”

“A block over in a white house. You gonna tell my mom?”

“Where you headed?”

“Fishin'. It's my gramps' birthday, and I want to catch him a fish for breakfast.”

“Where's your pole?”

The boy bent and retrieved a fishing pole from the ground. Pup's eyes had been so intent on his adorable, freckled face that she hadn't even seen it.

“Go on now,” she said, her voice still rough. “Catch a big one.”

She was rewarded with a face-splitting grin, and a moment later he was on his way. Pup continued her odd gait to the next block, and by the time she spotted the house with the shoe-shaped sign out front, the painful hobble was no longer a pretense—her back was screaming at her.

She moved slowly up the front steps and rapped on the door. It opened. A man stood just inside, but Pup only looked at him.

“Good morning,” he said quietly.

Pup didn't respond.

“May I help you?”

“I'm not sure,” she finally said, her voice now quavering a little, as though she were afraid.

“Well, what did you need?”

“To see Charlie Barnes.”

“I'm Charlie Barnes.”

“Are you a friend of Nick's?”

His demeanor changed in an instant. “Are you Jennings?” His voice was low.

“Yes, I am,” she spoke in her own voice, and a moment later Charlie Barnes stepped back so she could enter. The shawl came off her head as soon as the door closed, and she turned to face her contact.

The man facing her was Nick's age. His eyes were shrewd and yet kind. Shoes were stacked on shelves along two walls of the living room, but there was clearly more to this man than new leather. Looking at him, she could well imagine the work he must have done for Nick over the years.

“I thought you would be a man,” he admitted, his eyes watchful.

Pup's heart sank, but she didn't show it.

“So you don't have any supplies for me? Nothing has been delivered?”

A look crossed his face that told Pup she had just passed a test, but his voice was casual as he answered. “I do have some things.”

“May I see them?”

Still not sure this was the person he'd been informed of, Charlie moved to a door off the living room and stepped within. He returned with a parcel that he'd already untied. He now stopped in front of Pup and opened the paper so she could see.

Pup reached out and fingered the rough cloth and old felt hat.

“Anything else?” she wished to know.

Charlie's estimation of her grew as he brought forth a smaller parcel he had hidden beneath the larger, unwrapped one. The small package had not been touched.

“I thought after seeing what was in this one,” he admitted, indicating the larger of the two parcels, “I ought to leave the other intact.”

Pup took it in her hand. She knew without unwrapping it what it was.

“Tell me, Mr. Barnes, do you have any distant cousins you don't like and who would never visit you here in Longmont?”

A small smile came to Charlie Barnes' face. What a fascination. She was the strangest woman he'd ever encountered.

“Morton. Morton Barnes. Lives in Texas. Says Colorado is nothing but hills and should never have been made into a state.”

Pup nodded and asked, “Do you have a room I can use?”

“Certainly. Right here,” he pointed to the room from which he had just emerged.

Pup thanked him, picked up her bag, and disappeared inside with the parcels. She was gone for quite some time, but Charlie never moved from the room. He hadn't had breakfast and had things to do, but he wasn't moving until Jennings came from the room. When she did he was speechless. He wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He'd been doing small jobs for the U.S. Treasury Department for more than 20 years now, but this amazed him.

“The name's Barnes,” Pup said, approaching him and sticking her hand out. “Morton Barnes.”

Charlie shook the outstretched hand without thought and then watched a smile light Pup's eyes. He had one to match.

“You had breakfast?” he asked.

“No, sir, I haven't.”

“Come on in,” he said warmly and started toward the kitchen. “I'll put some food into you and tell you what I know.”

22

Harry and Liz said nothing to their son when he came down for breakfast. Upon returning to the house, he'd gone to his room to clean up. He'd also taken some time for prayer, but his parents didn't know this, having left him alone until the meal was ending.

“Callie left us a note,” Harry told him.

“She told me she had.”

“So you knew she was leaving, McKay?” his mother wished to know.

“Not until she came downstairs before daybreak.” He'd been looking into his coffee cup but now looked up. “What did the note say?”

“Just how much she enjoyed her stay and how thankful she was to God that we'd had this time.”

McKay looked into the confused faces of his parents and sighed. He had to tell them something.

“Callie doesn't just live in the mountains; she has a job,” he said quietly. “The job takes her to different locations. She had to leave because she was called back to work. It's not anything she would ever discuss with you, and I'm not at liberty to say more, but that's why she left. It wasn't because she wasn't enjoying herself.”

His mother looked so relieved that McKay said a word of thanks that he'd been able to give her that much. His father, however, was looking at him intently. Harry didn't say anything at the moment, but McKay was not at all surprised when he spoke to him privately before he left for town.

“It's not that simple, is it?” Harry said without preamble after he'd asked McKay to walk him to the barn.

“What's that?”

“This thing with Callie. You wanted your mother and me to feel at ease, but
you're
not at ease yourself. I could hear it in your voice this morning while Callie was still here and again at the kitchen table. I don't suppose you can tell me, Mickey, but I know you're not happy about this.”