Under a Falling Star (17 page)

The door opened again, and Thom came in, Ivan at his side. The dog trotted up and sniffed at Nate, and Albert felt his son relax. A moment later, Nate squirmed down. Once on his feet, he lowered himself to his knees and buried his face in the dog’s thick mane.

Thom smiled at Albert, as if he knew just how medicinal that could be. He held a telegram.

“From the Union Pacific?” Albert asked.

Thom handed him the paper. “Just came in. Representatives should arrive on tomorrow’s stage.”

Albert felt Susanna inching toward the door as business as usual seemed to push her out once again. He raised his brows in question. “Do you have to go?”

She nodded. “I don’t want Julia to worry. I promised her I’d visit. She doesn’t have anyone else now that her aunt has passed on.”

Thom kept his attention on Ivan and Nate as Albert said goodbye to Susanna, feeling like he’d truly lost her. That was something that would take some time to get used to. He’d contemplated what this day would feel like when it arrived. Now he didn’t want to live it.

“I appreciate you bringing me the news about the house. If you see Maude before I do, please tell her I’ll stop by sometime today and pick up the key.” He glanced down at Nate and Ivan, then back at Susanna. “Living so close to other children, and boys in particular, will be good for him.”

“Yes, you’re right. You have a nice day.”

Her tone, light and airy, as if she’d accepted the inevitable and had already moved on, scared him more than he wanted to admit.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

S
usanna hurried toward the infirmary, trying to focus on anything besides Albert’s words tumbling around in her head.
I hope you’ll believe I never meant to hurt you.
I’ll respect your wishes. It’s the least I can do for all I’ve put you through.
She sighed, pushing away the huge, painful knot of sorrow inside her breast.

He’d looked tired, and a bit old. She prayed their situation wouldn’t distract him so much that he lost sight of the troubles at hand. She’d never want to put him in danger. As she rounded the corner, the infirmary came into sight.

Gabe came out the door, a cot hefted in his strong arms. He carried it to a buckboard parked in the shade, and stacked it in the back with others of the same. A patient, an older man, with his hand in the crook of his wife’s arm, tottered away, clutching a bag of his belongings.

“Morning, Susanna,” Gabe called as she approached.

“What’s going on?” She could hear voices within, fueling her curiosity.

“Only one patient left. Dr. Thorn gave the other three their marching orders this morning and they pulled up stakes.” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder at the retreating man and his wife. “We’re breaking down the place. Brenna, Mrs. Hollyhock, and a couple other women are in the kitchen putting things to right.”

“Oh. I best hurry before I miss all the fun.”

He wiped his shirtsleeve across his moist brow, and chuckled. “You’re right about that. It’s coming down a heck of a lot faster than it went up.”

She opened the door and stepped into the coolness of the large room, glancing around for Julia. Her friend must be the one patient left that Gabe had mentioned, but she wasn’t in her usual spot, and her cot was packed up, too. Susanna started for the kitchen but slowed a few feet away from the door when she heard her name spoken.

“I can’t believe how well Susanna is taking the situation. Seriously, a wife and son? I can tell you right now, I wouldn’t be if I were in her shoes. I’d dress that sheriff down so fast his head would spin, and I’d do it in front of the whole town. Then at least I’d have reclaimed a smidgeon of my pride. How does one get over such a shock?”

Susanna’s feet stilled, and humiliation burned deep in her gut. She
was
the laughingstock of the town. Roberta Brown’s voice droned on and on. “Perhaps Susanna’s feeling desperate. She’s no spring chicken any longer and perhaps—”

“Roberta,” Brenna interjected in a steady tone laced with steel. “Don’t say another word. I’ll have to ask you to leave if you can’t control yourself. Susanna would be extremely hurt if she heard you.”

“Brenna’s as right as rain!” Susanna would recognize Mrs. Hollyhock’s voice anywhere, especially as angry as it was now. The old woman’s loyalty felt good.

“I’m just stating what everyone else is thinking . . .”

Unable to listen to Roberta for another second, Susanna stepped across the threshold of the kitchen door, a strange-feeling smile plastered on her face. Roberta snapped her mouth closed, and her eyes popped wider than if she’d just seen an apparition.

“I’m touched by your concern, Roberta. The last person I had
the pleasure of thanking for looking out for me was Beth Fairington.
You’re both just too kind.”

The dish Roberta was drying quavered in her hands. Susanna’s words had hit their mark, and she was glad. She wasn’t a victim, and didn’t want to be made into one. Mrs. Hollyhock ducked her head as she scraped what was left of the wedding cake they’d been feeding to the patients into a bucket, probably intending to give the remainder to the hogs behind the butcher’s barn.

“I
am
concerned, Susanna, even if you don’t believe me,” Roberta said softly, still trying to sell her point. “I’ve only spoken the truth. If you have any sense, you won’t let that man—”

“Don’t speak about Albert!”

Brenna rushed forward and put her arms around Susanna, giving her a brief hug. “Forgive us.”

The news had been a shock to everyone’s systems, not just hers. Roberta Brown, a reformed busybody of the worst sort if there ever was one, had slipped back into her old bad habit. Working at the restaurant, Susanna had actually become fond of Hannah’s mother now that Roberta had opened her heart to Thom and others she’d held at bay for years. Susanna took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Holding a grudge would only hurt herself. “No harm done.”

Gabe knocked on the doorjamb and then stuck his head inside the room. “I’m all finished out here loading the wagon. If you don’t have anything else for me to do, I’ll start returning the things to the households who lent them. That should take an hour or two—or three.” He looked handsome as usual with his messy chestnut hair falling into his vivid green eyes. Susanna was always moved at what a sincere and responsible lad he was for his age. Maybe that came from losing his family when he was just a boy. He seemed not to notice the tension that still hung on the air.

“Nothing, Gabe, thank you so much for your help,” Brenna said. He was just turning to leave when Susanna had an idea. Julia had been in her thoughts nonstop since yesterday. She was missing her aunt Biddy terribly, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about that. Susanna assumed she was sitting out back in the rock garden. As of today, Dr. Thorn had given her permission to go and do, if she felt up to it. “Can you hold up for just one minute, Gabe? I’ll be right back.”

He looked perplexed at the request. “Sure, Susanna, I don’t mind. I’ll wait out front at the wagon.”

“Thank you. I’ll only be a minute, I promise.” She glanced at Brenna who still had a sheepish look on her face. Gabe ambled off, and a moment later the front door opened and closed.

“Is Julia out back?”

Brenna nodded.

Holding her head high, Susanna gathered what remained of her self-respect and left the room, happy to have someone or something else to think about besides her own troubles.

She spotted Julia immediately sitting in a chair among the moss-covered rocks and early spring flowers, her face raised to the sunshine. A gentle breeze moved the branches of the nearby oak and a folded plaid lap robe covered her legs. The sweet little smile playing around her lips was a welcome sight. Susanna wondered what she was thinking about. “Julia, you’re feeling much better, I see,” Susanna called.

Her eyes opened. “Susanna! You came!”

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

Julia’s eyes danced happily. “You did. But then Brenna said she’d forced you to stay home and take a day off, so I didn’t think I was going to see you.”

Susanna crossed the grass, thrilled at how different and strong her young friend looked in the fresh air and sunshine. She’d brushed her hair and let it lay across her shoulders. Her cast, as usual, was cradled by her good arm.

“The moment I awoke this morning, all the things I’d rather be doing popped into my head,” Susanna replied. “And visiting you was on the top of my list. How does your arm feel?”

Julia lifted her cast. “I hardly have any pain to speak of. It’s just clunky. I can get by.”

“Wonderful. How do you like being outside? Are you feeling up to it?”

“Absolutely. I was just thinking about Aunt Biddy and my last birthday.” Her smile wobbled, but she forged ahead. “We both dressed in our best Sunday dresses, donned our finest hats, and she treated me to high tea at the nicest restaurant in our town. I’ll cherish that memory forever.”

She unfurled the hankie in her palm and pressed it to the outer corner of one eye, then waved Susanna closer.

“What?”

“Come over here quietly,” she whispered. “I want to show you something.”

Julia pulled Susanna down to her level. Pointing east, she directed Susanna’s line of sight. “Do you see it? Look though that clump of trees. There’s a hawk sitting on the weathervane at the Red Rooster Inn. I’ve heard that if someone you love very much passes away, they can come back in the form of a hawk, to look after you and give you comfort.”

“Aunt Biddy?”

“Yes.” The answer was very soft. “I know it’s her. The moment before you arrived, I was thinking about her with a heart so full of love it hurt. When I looked up, the hawk was there. It hadn’t been there the second before.”

Susanna remembered the hawk she’d seen the day of the funeral, hovering above the graves.
Could what Julia thought be true?
“She’s come to check on you. And to tell you she’s fine. Not to worry.”

That seemed to please Julia, and she smiled. “I’m not daft.”

“I don’t think you are.”

Susanna stood and Julia set the blanket covering her lap aside. She stood too, stretching out her muscles. “Mrs. Hollyhock has invited me over for tea whenever I feel up to it. I think I’m ready today.” Her happy expression subsided, and she jerked her gaze away.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Susanna plopped her hands on her hips and gave Julia a withering stare. “Spit it out right now, young lady. You’re as transparent as a newly washed window. I can see something is troubling you.”

“I’m just worried about where I’ll go now.” She glanced over to the now-empty building.

“Susanna?”

At the sound of Gabe’s deep voice, she swiveled around, as did Julia. He’d retrieved his hat in the wagon and held it in his fingers. He was tall and broad of chest, and incredibly nice. Handsome too. As far as Susanna knew, he wasn’t sweet on anyone in Logan Meadows. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Gabe.” Susanna looked between the two young people. “Do you know each other?”

“Sure,” Gabe said. “I’ve been in and out since the train accident.”

Julia nodded a bit shyly.

“Of course, of course.” She struggled to hide her smile. These two would make a darling couple. “Since you’ve been cooped up for days, Julia, I thought it would be nice for you to get out and see some sights. Gabe is set to make deliveries of the cots and such back to their rightful owners. I’m sure he’d wouldn’t mind if you rode along. He could show you around and point out things of interest. You haven’t seen anything of Logan Meadows since you arrived except the inside of the infirmary.”

“I couldn’t,” the girl choked out. “I have to figure out where I’m going to go. I can’t just sit here and pretend nothing has changed.”

“That’s easy. For now, there are rooms open in the hotel. You can stay there temporarily until we figure out what your next move should be. As a matter of fact, Gabe can drop you there when he’s finished.”

Gabe just stood there.

“Well, what’re you waiting for?” Susanna gathered up Julia’s lap blanket, took a gentle hold of the girl’s good arm, and escorted her around the building before she chickened out. “Gabe has work to do and we don’t want to hold him up any longer than we already have.”

When they passed Gabe, his face pinker than the early blooms of shooting stars amongst the rocks, Susanna continued to hide her pleasure at playing matchmaker. He turned and followed along behind without an utterance of complaint.

CHAPTER THIRTY

O
ne hour past noon, Dalton stood guard in front of the bank when a broken-down wagon rumbled across the bridge, two men on the front seat. Dalton stepped to the edge of the boardwalk and gripped the wooden post next to his face. When he realized who he was looking at, he felt more relief than he had since they’d locked the money trunks in the bank’s vault. Pat Tackly!

The missing guard looked like he’d been roughed up and tossed into a dirt pit. When the wagon was within twenty feet, Dalton strode out to meet it. “Pat! You’re alive!” The old man driving the rattletrap of a rig pulled it over to the side of the road.

Albert must have noticed the reunion in the street because he exited his office and hurried over in time to hear Dalton’s words. “This Pat Tackly?”

Dalton nodded. Pat swayed, still looking weak. “What happened?” Dalton asked. “Where’ve you been? We’ve searched high and low for you.”

The old man smiled, while the tremors of old age made his head softly bob. “I found this fella stumblin’ down the road toward town and offered to bring him in the last couple of miles.”

With his sunken yellow cheeks, and the nasty cut across his brow that was crusted over, Pat wasn’t a pretty sight. “Pat?”

“Don’t know exactly. I guess I was knocked out awhile. I woke up in a thicket patch in a pitch-black night with a pain in my head hurting so bad I could hardly see. I found the tracks, and started walking—in the wrong direction.” He blinked in the bright sunshine and looked around. “What happened? Is the money safe?”

Dalton gave a wide smile. “Sure is. It’s locked up in the bank.”

“And Evan, what happened to him?”

“He’s under the doctor’s care, hanging on to his life by a thread,” Dalton said. “He hasn’t woken up. We’re waiting on representatives of the bank to get here, to tell us how to proceed.”

“So Evan never came around at all? Or said a thing?”

Dalton shook his head. “No. Nothing.”

“How’d you get the money out?”

“Blasted the roof off,” Dalton said.

As best he could in his weakened state, Pat looked Dalton up and down approvingly. “Ya done good then, Babcock. With me and Evan out of the picture, all the responsibility fell to your shoulders. I’d like to meet the bank owner, if I could,” he said, “then I’d like two full plates of food.”

“We’d be happy to oblige.” Albert’s tone was much more accommodating than Dalton had ever heard it.

Dalton helped Pat off the wagon as Albert went into the bank for Frank. He gave a quick scan up and down the street. He didn’t want to be caught off guard. A moment later, Frank stepped through the door, his face concerned.

He put out his hand to Pat and they shook. “I’m glad you’re alive, Mr. Tackly. Truthfully, we all had just about given up hope. Mr. Babcock said you’re the head guard and in charge of the shipment of cash. I want you to know, the money is securely locked in my vault, where it’ll stay until a proper way to transport it is worked out.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lloyd. We’d be in a real quandary if Logan Meadows hadn’t had a bank. I guess for now, I can breathe easy knowing that the money can stay just where it is.”

Frank smiled, then nodded at Albert. Seemed to Dalton, an unspoken meaning passed between the two men. Dalton didn’t appreciate being kept out of the loop, and he let his expression mirror his feelings.

“Babcock,” Albert said, “why don’t you take Pat down to the restaurant and get him something to eat. I’ll take over your shift until you get back.”

“You have your boy to look after,” Dalton replied cynically, still bent out of shape at how the sheriff had duped Susanna. “This is my shift. I’ll fill Pat in with all the information when I’m relieved.”

Albert shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll just gather Nate up from inside and we’ll head on down to the Silky Hen. I don’t mind having a bite myself.”

Now that Julia was taken care of for a while, Susanna intended to complete her last task quickly and then lose herself in the new bookstore. She entered the laundry house and tapped the bell.

Giggling came from the back room. An instant later, Lan raced into the counter area, a long piece of ribbon trailing behind her from one hand. When Tap Ling’s young daughter saw Susanna, a smile curled her lips and she sprinted around the counter and hopped into her arms.

Her mother, Bao, was next to appear from the back room, her face a glossy pink. She stopped short when she saw Susanna standing there with Lan in her arms.

“Oh, Miss Robin-
son
, you surprise me!” She laughed and gave her daughter an I-will-deal-with-you-later look. Lan wiggled out of Susanna’s embrace and dashed off once again into the back room.

“I hope she did not get you dirty,” Bao said, looking over Susanna’s dress. “That child keep me running.”

“No, no, she’s fine. I love that she’s so comfortable with me. How’re you? Are you keeping up? I’m sure everyone and their mother wants to have their things washed.”

Bao fanned her face. The petite woman only came to Susanna’s shoulder and her arms and wrists were as thin as a child’s. “Yes. But Mr. Ling work hard.”

Susanna knew that well. She also knew Bao worked just as hard by her husband’s side. For the last four months, they’d been in the process of trying to bring the rest of Bao’s family over from China. “What is the news on your sister and mother? Will they be arriving anytime soon?”

The happy expression slid off Bao’s face. She glanced away, clearly upset.

“What? Has something happened?”

Bao walked to the front door and looked out as if checking to see that the coast was clear and they wouldn’t be interrupted. “I no want anyone to hear,” she said softly. Bao’s regular speech was quite soft already so Susanna had to bend forward to hear what she was trying to say. “New law. Say no more Chinese.”

“What? I haven’t heard of this.”

At Susanna’s outburst Bao grasped Susanna’s wrists and pulled her close, shushing her. “We not want more people to know. Law pass, say no more immigration from China. People who come after 1880 get sent home.”

Fear streaked up Susanna’s spine. Tap Ling had been in town longer than Susanna, so he was in no danger of being deported, but Bao and Lan had made the voyage last year to reunite with Mr. Ling.

“Oh, Bao! I’m so sorry about your family not being able to come—but more, I don’t want anything to happen to you, or little Lan.”

The woman bowed her head, dejected.

“It’s not right! Maybe Albert can—”

“No! Promise you not speak of this to anyone. I am sad about family, but more, we do not wish to draw attention to us in any way. We work, eat, and stay out of sight. I don’t want family split up.”

Susanna took her friend’s work-roughened hands between her palms. The strong lye had chafed them so much they were almost raw. “I understand. Your secret is safe with me. How horrible to live your life worried about deportation. I just don’t understand people, I really don’t.”

Tap Ling came out of the back room, his hands filled with the laundry she’d dropped off Saturday morning. The items were pressed and folded in perfect squares. “Miss Robin-
son
, hello. Lan say her friend Miss Robin-
son
is here for her things.”

Susanna chanced a quick look at Bao. “Yes, thank you.” She went over and retrieved the heavy stack of bedding and towels as Mr. Ling gave a small bow and hurried away.

“You want help?” Bao asked. “That heavy.”

Susanna shook her head. “No, I can get this.” She gave her friend a long look. “Try not to worry, Bao. People love you. Things will work out.” But as Susanna left and headed straight to Dr. Thorn’s, she wondered if she was trying to convince Bao or herself. Her thoughts strayed to Albert, and the danger he’d perceived last night, and now this trouble for the Lings. Seemed she wasn’t the only one in Logan Meadows who had problems—and deadly ones at that.