| |
* * *
A few days later, Leonard and Amos sat in the sheriff’s station waiting for Decker to finish gathering up his things. Lucille was with them, keeping Effie company. After spending the last couple of days with her, Lucille had finally gotten the girl to open up about her family. It seemed that Effie’s father had left her mother for his mistress. That had been a year ago and she hadn’t seen him since.
Effie’s mother had struggled to find work, and in order to keep her four younger brothers and sisters fed, Effie had begun to steal. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone in the process and had felt particularly terrible about breaking into the church. She said that she’d only taken the money from the poor box because she and her family were poor, and therefore she had thought it only right that it went with her. After all, was she not the exact person the money was meant for? Though she admitted now that had been wrong to do.
She’d only come to Elmwood in the first place because one of the homes she’d been robbing in Thunderbend, where she lived, had caught her in the act. The person who lived there was her old school teacher and would have been able to identify her, so Effie had fled the town fearing she would be caught and disgrace her family. She had ended up in Elmwood after catching a ride and when the trains that ran between the two towns.
Reverend Lerner had come by yesterday and led her in prayer, telling her that he, along with God, forgave her for her sins. Effie had begun to cry and Reverend Lerner had promised to help her and her family, starting by writing to her mother to let her know where she was in that she was safe.
Effie had asked the reverend to leave out the part where she was in jail, and the reverend had taken Amos aside for a little talk. Reverend Lerner had agreed to Effie’s request so long as she promised to help him at the church for the next week. She would be cleaning and helping him with repairs in exchange for her freedom.
Amos had agreed to release her in the reverend’s care once Decker was gone. She was too young to be a hardened criminal. Trying to feed your family wasn’t a crime far as he could tell, though he wasn’t at all sure Decker would agree with him on that.
Lucille watched Decker move like a turtle around the sheriff’s station. He sure was taking his time about it, drawing everything out as though he didn’t want to leave. She couldn’t understand it. She’d have thought the marshal would be anxious to get going, especially after the news that had just come in over the telegraph.
“You’d better hurry if you want to catch the noon train,” Amos said when another fifteen minutes had gone by and the marshal was still pulling things out of drawers.
“I’ll catch it,” Decker grumbled. He picked up a pen and started to put it in his bag.
Amos jumped up and grabbed it from him. “That’s mine,” he said.
Decker’s grumbles increased in both frequency and volume. “My mistake,” he said and continued shuffling around. Finally, Leonard couldn’t take it anymore.
“I thought you’d be happy to leave Elmwood,” he said as if he’d been reading Lucille’s mind. “I mean, after all that’s happened, it seems to me that you’d be anxious to get to Texas.”
Decker’s eyes flashed irritation. “Texas?” he said. “Have you ever been to Texas? Do you know how hot it gets there?”
Leonard shot a look to Amos, and Lucille knew what he was thinking. He was wondering if he ought to have gone for the coffees instead of Curt. He was at his wit's end with Decker. If the man hadn’t been leaving today, Lucille was quite certain Leonard would have punched the man.
“Yes,” said Lucille, “but at least you’ll finally have the Beauty Bandits.”
Decker waved her off. “They’re not the real Beauty Bandits,” he said. “They’re just imposters.” He groaned again, except this time he sounded like he was in pain when he did it. “They’re not even women, for goodness sake.”
He let out a sigh and fell into a chair, burying his head in his hands. “Three men dressing up like women.” He looked at Leonard. “When you tried to confess to doing the very same thing, I thought you were mad. I never thought that anyone would want to do such a thing, but I suppose it makes perfect sense.”
Leonard exchanged a look with Lucille, who was trying not to giggle. Decker had given her so much grief while he’d been here she found it hard to sympathize with him now. If he’d only been doing his job, she could have respected that, but he’d tried to send Effie to jail for the rest of her life with made up accusations. Telling lies was one thing, telling lies on purpose to hurt someone else and satisfy yourself was another.
“So what about the real Beauty Bandits?” Effie asked, curious.
Decker looked at her and shrugged. “Not a word. They were so close, and then they just disappeared.”
“Maybe the bandits who robbed that train out of Elmwood’s station weren’t the real bandits either,” said Effie. “Maybe they were more copycats like the ones in Texas. Only these copycats didn’t hurt anybody. Those men in Texas killed a lot of people.”
“Three men,” Decker said immediately. “They only injured the last one there in Texas; he survived his wound. That’s how they were caught. He was able to identify them conclusively, and when the sheriff in that town searched their rooms, he found everything they stole from the passengers. One them crumbled and admitted to everything just to save himself.”
“Is he gonna go free?” Effie asked.
“Free?” asked Decker. “No, not if I’ve got anything to do with it, which I will as soon as I get there. But he may bet a reduced sentence for cooperating as he did. I’m willing to stick by that deal.”
“At least three criminals—three killers—will be behind bars now,” said Lucille.
Decker seemed to brighten at her words. “That’s true. And you know, it occurs to me now that maybe these three men know the real Beauty Bandits. Maybe they got the idea to rob the trains after talking to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those men was married to one of those women.”
“I’d hurry up and get down to Texas then if I were you,” said Amos. “Before someone else gets the same idea and claims it as their own. You’ve spent too much time on the Beauty Bandits to let someone else catch them first.”
“You’re right,” Decker said, looking determined. He gathered up his bag and shook hands with everyone, including Lucille.
When he was gone, Amos walked over to the cell, opened it up, and let Effie out. She exited the cell hesitantly. “You’re really just gonna let me go?” she asked.
“No,” Amos said. “You’ve got to keep your word to the reverend. I expect you to help him with whatever he needs for the next week. You can sleep at the church; he’s got a room all ready for you.”
“And my mother?” Effie asked.
“Won’t know a thing about what happened here. I checked with the sheriff in Thunderbend, and that old schoolteacher of yours, Miss Brown, doesn’t want to press any charges, she just wants to help from the sound of it. She knows all about your family’s situation, according to the sheriff, and she’s got a job for you as an assistant. Provided you don’t get into any more trouble when you get back there.”
“An assistant to Miss Brown?” Effie asked excitedly.
“Come on,” said Lucille, “I’ll walk you over to the church.” Effie skipped merrily out of the station. Leonard told Amos he was going to accompany them to the church, then took her hand and walked out of the station with her.
His warmth spread through her fingertips, up her arms, to her chest, stopping at her head, which began to get so hot she almost couldn’t see straight. They made it to the church in what felt like record time, and though Lucille was happy to leave Effie with the reverend, she was sad that she no longer had an excuse to sit at the sheriff’s station. She had enjoyed going down there these last couple of days, it had allowed her to spend time with Leonard that she wouldn’t normally have had.
Before leaving Effie altogether, Lucille pressed an envelope into her hand. “Tell no one you got this from me,” she said.
“What is it?” Effie asked.
“It’s from me and Irene. A gift for you and your family.”
As casually and secretly as she could, Effie peeked into the envelope and her eyes widened at all the money that was in there.
“Where did you get this?” Effie asked in a whisper while Leonard and the reverend talked together.
“I’ve been saving it. Irene too. We don’t need it anymore and we want you to have it.”
Tears filled Effie’s eyes and overflowed. “I can never thank you,” she said, choking on her words.
“You don’t need to,” Lucille said. “Just use it wisely.”
As she and Leonard walked slowly back towards the station, he said, “I was thinking... Maybe I ought to start taking my lunches at home from now on. Lord knows I’ve got to keep an eye on you, there’s no telling what sort of trouble you might get yourself into.” He chuckled and squeezed her hand, bringing it to his lips.
“I think I’ve proven I can look after myself,” she said, her legs starting to tremble as he pulled her close to him.
“You’ve proven that you’re excellent at taking care of other people, but yourself... that needs some work.” He grinned at her. “But don’t worry, that’s what you’ve got me for.”
She realized then that they were heading back towards their home, not the station. “Aren’t you going back to work?” she asked him.
“Yes, a little later. I thought I’d take an early lunch today.”
“I haven’t any food ready,” she said, frowning.
“That’s all right,” he told her. “I’m not hungry. At least, not for food.”
“But I thought you said—”
Her words caught in her throat as he stared at her, his eyes darkening. His hand came around her hips, resting on her lower back just above her buttocks. She inhaled sharply at his touch and felt heat creep into her cheeks.
“I thought an hour ought to be enough time,” he said to her.
Her blush deepened. “Yes, an hour ought to be good.” She looked coyly at him. “Though maybe we could stretch it just a little... an hour and a half?”
His laugh dazzled her. “You must be hungrier than I realized.”
She smiled back at him. “I’m starving.”
When they got to the house, he led her over the threshold and she shut the door behind them, making sure it was locked. The last thing she wanted was for them to be disturbed during their lunch.
* * *
