B y the time that Dorothy reached the Pavilion, her chest ached from her pounding heart. Someone had followed her all the way from the shack. She knew it. She could hear him. It nearly drove her insane that she never saw him.
She fought back the tears that threatened when she considered the walk home. Being followed for reasons she couldn’t comprehend wore her down in ways that she could not have predicted.
She searched the area around the Pavilion for the sheriff, but she didn’t see him. She felt reluctant to walk closer, despite knowing that she ought to.
Stepping onto the raised Pavilion, she kept to the edge. She watched the dancers fly around, certain that her mysterious stalker would probably leave her alone while near such a crowd. Unless he chose to pick a moment and blend in. She shuddered.
The band music kept the time to the tapping feet and swirling skirts. Dorothy rather enjoyed watching.
“You’re here again.”
Dorothy searched for the voice in alarm. A man crossed the short distance between them rapidly.
What is his name…Ted? I-I can’t leave this time, if that is what he wants. Which I’m sure he does.
Fire seemed to leap from the man’s eyes. “Didn’t you learn your lesson last week? You are not welcome!”
“I-I was told—”
Ted didn’t let her finish. “We don’t want murderers around here. I told you that before!”
“I—”
“As a friend of the Sinclairs, I am telling you that we don’t want you hanging around. You can’t murder one of our own and expect to be allowed to stick around.”
“As one of the Sinclairs,” Dorothy had not seen Artie walk up behind her, “I’m going to tell you to back off, Ted.”
Ted’s jaw dropped and Artie waited. Dorothy decided not to say anything.
Ted didn’t take long to regain himself. “She killed your father, Artie! How can you defend her?”
“You don’t know that she did any such thing.”
“The evidence points that way!”
“Don’t you think,” anger began to tinge Artie’s voice, “if we had any conclusive evidence to prove that Miss Dorothy murdered anyone, that she would be in the sheriff’s custody?”
Ted started to reply, but Artie kept going.
“And do you honestly believe that if it was clear that she did kill my father, that I wouldn’t be doing everything in my power to get her into the sheriff’s custody? As it happens, I don’t believe that she did any such thing and there is no clear evidence to the contrary.”
Ted took a step back. “She still has some nerve showing up here!”
“That’s how much you know. She was asked to show up here. Even if she wasn’t asked, she is not required to stay away because you believe she is guilty. Further, I do not believe that I need you to defend my father’s honor, Ted. I can do it myself.”
Ted stared, his mouth agape once more.
Dorothy jumped when Artie took her arm.
“I’m sure Kat will be happy to see you, Miss Dorothy.”
Dorothy took the hint, letting the man lead her away, not daring to look back when Ted called after them.
“It sounds like I might care about justice for your father more than you do!”
Artie kept moving. “I haven’t seen Sheriff Wright yet. I saw Kat talking with my brother a short while ago though.”
Dorothy couldn’t be certain that she looked forward to seeing either Kat or Theo again. How do I know they won’t agree with Ted?
As they made their way across the Pavilion, she had not expected to see the man who gave her the gold. She wondered if she should have expected it, as she had seen him on a previous occasion. They passed quite close to him. He gave her a knowing look and nodded.
Artie noticed, glancing behind her as they left the man behind. “Do you know him?”
Aware of her promise not to tell about him, but unwilling to lie, she shrugged a little. “I haven’t known him for very long.”
“I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.”
She looked up into Artie’s face. He appeared quite serious. “He seems friendly enough. Do you know him?”
“Not personally.” Artie nodded at someone who passed them. “Kat’s father, Mr. Gilbert, does. I have heard enough from him not to trust the man.”
“Do…” Dorothy wondered if she ought to ask, but curiosity overcame her caution. “Do you know his name?”
He gave her an odd look. “I’ve never heard his real name, no. Just what people around here call him.”
She would have asked for the name, but Kat trapped her in a hug, so that all thought of the strange man’s name vanished from her thoughts for the moment. Theo merely nodded in her direction.
“Oh, sweetie, you look smashing! ” Kat held her at arm’s length. “The hairstyle becomes you just swell!”
Uncertain how to take the compliment, Dorothy smiled a bit. “Thank you.”
Kat looked up at Artie, but he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her. She shook her head. “What brings you here today, sweetie? You know, I thought about switching up your moniker to Dottie, but even in your new rags you just look like a Dorothy!”
Dorothy could only smile at that.
Kat didn’t seem to have expected an actual answer. “Have you decided to try dancing, sweetie?”
Dorothy felt a rise of panic. “Oh, no. I don’t know how!”
“That doesn’t signify.” Kat grinned. “Artie could teach you. He’s a smashing hoofer!”
Artie noticed her this time and Dorothy saw the look of horror on his face. Probably one she mirrored.
“I-I don’t really want to dance.” She wondered where Sheriff Wright had got to. “I enjoy watching, but I really have no desire to join.”
Kat sighed and, despite the shadow hanging over his every movement, Theo smirked.
“What does bring you here? Or did you miss me?” Kat smiled brightly.
Dorothy pulled at the strap of her canteen. “I’m here to meet the sheriff.”
She saw Theo look at his brother in question, but Artie shook his head.
“I haven’t seen Sheriff Wright around here.” Kat stood on tiptoes to see around the Pavilion. “Are you certain?”
“I’m certain.”
It seemed a long wait until she saw him. Artie stayed with her, though he spoke little. Dorothy couldn’t help being thankful, as Ted didn’t seem likely to bother her with Artie nearby. Theo remained absolutely silent; she had yet to hear him speak at all.
Kat disappeared twice to dance, returning each time with amusing anecdotes regarding her partners. When Sheriff Wright did make an appearance, Kat spotted him first.
“They must teach that bluenose, determined expression to the deputies, so they have it down pat when they reach sheriff status.”
Despite her growing dread, Dorothy smiled at Kat’s commentary.
Sheriff Wright asked her to walk nearby, just the two of them. With a prayer that she could answer clearly and without fear, Dorothy followed.
Sheriff Wright chose his words carefully. “Miss Dorothy, how long did you say you have been acquainted with Charles Sinclair?”
Dorothy prayed for a steady voice. “Not quite a year. He came to the house to talk to my father…seven or eight months ago, I think.”
“I see.” Sheriff Wright pushed up his glasses. “How frequently did he come?”
“Once a month a-at first.” She didn’t like to remember the visits. “Then, he started coming every two weeks.”
He asked me all this on the first day.
Sheriff Wright stopped to face her. “How long has your father been acquainted with Charles Sinclair, Miss Hodges?”
“I-I don’t know, sir. Since before I was.”
“Had he already borrowed from Charles Sinclair by the time you met him?”
Dorothy nodded, willing herself not to clasp her hands together. “Y-yes, sir.”
The sheriff finally began pulling out his notebook. “When did Charles Sinclair end his visits and you begin to meet his son in Apache Junction?”
“J-just over a month ago, sir.”
He looked up from the notebook. “Why did you meet with him, if it is your father’s debt?”
Dorothy remembered with pain the conversation that switched all responsibility of the debt onto her shoulders. “Because my father says that he is too busy and transferred the charge to me.”
Sheriff Wright studied her for a long moment. “Miss Dorothy, where was your father on Wednesday, April 24th ?”
Dorothy caught the implication, shivering. “Y-you could ask him.”
“I could. At the moment, I am asking you, Miss Hodges.”
“He…” She felt dizzy but did her best to ignore it. “He came back from the Superstition Mountains that day.”
The sheriff wrote in his notebook. “How long had your father been in the mountains, Miss Hodges?”
The girl didn’t want to answer. She couldn’t control the slight tremor in her voice when she did. “H-he left for the mountains a week and a half prior.”
Sheriff Wright nodded down at his notebook. “One last question, Miss Hodges. The relationship between your father and Mr. Sinclair.” He looked up at her. “Are they friends? Enemies? Purely business?”
“I…” She thought back to the visits and their tone. Her father’s words after Artie tried to talk to him bothered her. Why can’t he talk to my father? Why must he ask me?
“I really must ask you to respond, Miss Hodges.”
She took a deep breath, unable to bring the sheriff into clear focus. “M-my father isn’t fond of Mr. Sinclair, and I don’t think Mr. Sinclair likes my father either. He often threatened my father.”
Sheriff Wright made another mark in his notebook, then pushed it back into his pocket. “That will be all, Miss Hodges. Thank you.”
Dorothy rejoined Kat and the Sinclair brothers in a daze. Her head pounded and spun. She didn’t hear a word that Kat said to her. The dancers blurred together before her eyes.
“I-I should probably start for home.” Only later did she realize that she cut Kat off. “I—it’s a long walk.” She lost her voice at the memory of her pursuer.
She did not wait for a response. She bade them farewell and started walking, hoping that she made some semblance of walking in a straight line. She had made it a short distance from the Pavilion before she realized that Artie had followed her and tried to get her attention.
She fought back the tears in her throat. “Yes, Mr. Sinclair?”
“I’m sorry. I should have thought of it before; you walked here alone. Do you think you were followed?”
She surprised herself by wanting to retort that she thought the question absurd, but she held her tongue. “I-I heard him.”
Artie grimaced. “Would you mind if I walked you home? I should have offered to walk you here.”
A month ago, Dorothy would have laughed at herself for wanting to agree. “Y-you don’t have to. I’m really not feeling very well and I’m not up to conversation. And i-it’s a long walk.”
“All the more reason why you should not be walking through the desert alone.” Artie shook his head. “I don’t mind the walk. Truly.”
She turned to gaze in the direction of home. The walk seemed to stretch out interminably with her follower almost anywhere. She shuddered.
“Let me walk you, Miss Dorothy.” He ducked his head to meet her eyes. “You don’t have to say a word. We’ll walk in silence if that’s what you would prefer. It is safer if you’re not alone if you have someone following you.”
She tried to think of a reason to continue arguing, her head pounding. “Won’t your brother miss you? I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
Artie put on his hat with a smile. “You’re no inconvenience. I already told Theo that I might be gone for a while. He won’t worry.”
She tried to force a return smile. “Th-thank you, Mr. Sinclair. I-I’d appreciate it.”