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* * *
Leonard watched Effie sitting in her cell, staring at the wall. It had only been one day since her arrest, and already word had spread. Marshal Decker had seen to that.
Not only had the arrogant man contacted the newspapers in Elmwood, he’d contacted reporters all across the country. He’d sat at the telegraph machine yesterday for an entire hour sending out word about Effie, telling everyone he’d caught the head of the Beauty Bandit. Once a handful of reporters had found out the story, word had spread like wildfire.
Frankly, Leonard didn’t see how anyone with half a brain could believe Effie was the head of anything. She was clearly no more than a frightened girl without a home. He still didn’t know what had become of her family, but he assumed they must all be dead. Poor thing must have been through a lot in her time.
Blisspeak and Thunderbend, the towns nearest to them, had already sent their own reporters to cover the story, each hoping to talk privately with Effie. Amos would never allow that though. Leonard had the feeling that other towns from other states would soon follow suit, and any day now a whole bunch of newspaper men would be swarming all over Elmwood. The thought made his skin crawl, especially when he saw the way Decker was eating it all up.
“Maybe we’ve got the wrong woman,” Leonard managed to say to Decker in the early afternoon. He’d been waiting for the right time, and after lunch, when Decker was full and reveling in the attention he was receiving, seemed as good a time as any.
Decker looked over at him, his smile dropping slightly off his face. “What do you mean?” he asked, laughing. Inside her cell, Effie’s ears perked up slightly.
Amos was watching him, the expression on his face warning Leonard to be careful with his words. Leonard looked at Decker.
“It’s just that... I don’t think Effie fits the description of any of the Beauty Bandits as well as you think she does,” Leonard said, hoping that wasn’t harsh enough to set Decker off.
Decker only laughed again, louder this time. “Perhaps you need to get your eyes checked,” he said. “Miss Bates looks precisely like the sketch I had done based on the witness’s own description.”
“Yes, but I think if you look closer, you’ll see that Effie—Miss Bates—is far younger than the description the witness gave you.”
Decker shrugged. “Different people see ages differently,” he said as if that explained everything.
Leonard wasn’t entirely sure what that was even supposed to mean. There were only so many ways to look at a person’s age. A six-year-old would never be mistaken for a forty-year-old. Decker was talking out of his rear. He decided to try again, approaching it from a new angle.
“Wouldn’t it make a better story if you were to take this girl under your wing?” Leonard asked, and Amos gave him a strange look. Curt was nowhere around, so at least Leonard didn’t have to deal with his looks as well.
“My wing?” Decker asked, looking confused now.
“Sure,” said Leonard. “Imagine if you decided to help Effie instead of sending her to jail for the rest of her life. A young girl from the streets whose life was led astray by... by the bad crowd she fell in with.”
Decker was leaning back in his chair still looking puzzled. “Are you suggesting I help her get out of this?” he asked, astounded.
“Not precisely,” said Leonard. “She can serve time for the houses she broke into, but maybe that’s all she serves. Maybe the trains aren’t a part of it. Don’t you have aspirations higher than being a marshal? I rather thought you might like to be governor or even president.”
Decker’s eyes widened and a sly smile spread across his face. “President Decker...” he muttered to himself with a chuckle. “You’re just talking nonsense now, aren’t you?” he said, but the look on his face indicated he wished for Leonard to tell him otherwise.
“No, not nonsense. Imagine if you could show the people across this country that you were capable of reforming a young, troubled girl simply by taking care of her. They might think you’d be able to reform an entire country then as well.”
“‘Taking care of her?’” Decker said, seeming to snap out of whatever trance he’d fallen into. “Are you suggesting I make her my ward?”
“No, not at all. I just meant...” But Leonard was struggling to come up with exactly what he did mean. He was just making this up as he went along, and he wasn’t sure that was the best idea. “I meant that showing her mercy, and teaching her the right way to live, might be better than sending her to jail.”
Decker actually looked as though he were thinking it over. Amos was looking at him as though he were mad. Effie was watching them all with quiet fascination.
After a minute, Decker stood up, shaking his head. “No. If she wasn’t a murderer, perhaps I might be able to help her, but as things stand, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I’m not a murderer!” Effie shouted from her cell. Decker ignored her.
Leonard’s hopes plummeted. He had no idea what to do or say next. Nothing seemed as though it would get Effie out of her situation. At least, nothing short of another’s confession. But he refused to believe that was the only way. His reputation would dissolve in an instant if people found out he was married to a Beauty Bandit. More than that though, he would lose Lucille forever.
He still hadn’t made up his mind to forgive her for her lies, he wasn’t sure he ever could even if he wanted to, but he didn’t want the choice taken away from him. Yesterday, when he’d seen her cry and heard her willingness to confess in order to save Effie, he’d felt the prickling of his love returning for her. Maybe it had never actually left, just sort of hidden itself for the last few days.
Decker strolled towards the station’s door. “I’ve got an interview with a reporter in a few minutes. I’ll be back later. Miss Bates’ transfer to the state jail ought to be coming through today or tomorrow. When it does, let me know. I’m taking her there personally.” He left the station then, and Amos turned to him.
“What was that all about?” Amos asked.
Effie whimpered from her cell and they both looked at her, but she was just sitting on her cot.
“I just don’t think Decker’s got the right woman, is all,” Leonard said.
“Neither do I,” said Amos, “but you’re never going to convince him to just let her go if that’s what you’re trying to do.”
Leonard shrugged. “I figured it couldn’t hurt to try.”
Amos stared at him in disbelief. “Why the sudden interest anyway? Effie may not be a train robber, but we know she’s a thief. She broke into your own home, for crying out loud.”
Leonard shrugged. “I know. But the way Decker’s planning things, she’ll be in jail for the rest of her life when she didn’t do more than break a few windows.”
Amos frowned. “What do you think ought to be done with her then?”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Effie said. Amos shot her a look then returned his gaze to Leonard, who exhaled.
“I think we ought to let her go.”
Effie jumped up in her cell. “That’s a great idea,” she said.
Amos cocked his head to the side. “Have you gone mad? Let her go?”
“I know how it sounds,” Leonard said. “But it’s the only fair thing to do. She doesn’t deserve what Decker’s got in store for her, and I’m sure she’s real sorry about breaking into those homes, aren’t you?” he asked, looking at her.
She nodded fervently. “I am,” she said. “Very sorry. I’ll never do it again.”
Amos studied Leonard’s face. Slowly, he said, “I’m gonna pretend that everything you just said never happened. If you get any more fancy ideas, I don’t want to hear about them.”
Leonard’s face flushed and his stomach fell. “You’re right,” he said, realizing he’d been beat. This was never going to work. “Just chalk it up to a bad night’s sleep.”
“You’ve had a lot of those lately,” Amos said.
Leonard shrugged. “You’ve no idea.”
* * *
