Chapter Sixteen
Audrey felt her blood freeze in her veins. Rodger? He was alive and in that wagon? What if he had heard her voice?
Dammit! No, Audrey wouldn't be afraid of him. That man had nearly cost her her daughter--she would get into that wagon and finish the job she had thought she'd completed at their campsite!
Audrey made a step toward the wagon but was stopped when Penelope's grip tightened on her hand. Audrey remembered then that her daughter was with her and they were in the middle of town with witnesses. Her next move would have to wait.
Audrey glanced at Ance and realized he was studying her carefully. He then turned his attention back to the young man driving the wagon. "I've heard of him. Real jackass if you ask me but, then again, I never have been too fond of the law. How the hell he get burned up?"
The young man shifted on the seat and shrugged. "He was traveling with a woman and somehow they got separated. I guess he was looking for her when he tripped and fell into his own campfire. He wanted to keep looking, was desperate to really, but I told him he had to get himself took care of first--then he came down with this fever."
"Did he say her name?" Audrey asked quickly, thanking her lucky stars that Penelope had been too upset over Ance leaving and nearly being trampled to hear the man say Rodger's name. "Did he say the woman's name?"
The man frowned as he appeared to think deeply for a moment and then he nodded. "A Miss Reynolds is all he said, ma'am."
Audrey felt her stomach roll. Penelope sniffed. "That's your name, mama."
Ance stepped forward and swatted one of the horses on the rump gently. "You should be getting him to the medicine man. We'll be on our way now. And slow down from now on, will ya?"
"Sure thing," the young man tipped his hat and then continued on his way.
"Are you still leaving, Ance?" Penelope whispered shakily.
Audrey once again had that sensation of being a small creature caught in the trap of a large predator as Ance studied her carefully. "Not just yet," he finally replied. "I think your mama and I got a few more things we need to talk about."
***
Ance caught Irish by the arm just before the man entered the saloon a little before noon. "Where you going, you damn drunkard. It's not even noon yet."
"Aye, I know how to tell time, Ansel. I was merely goin' to have a chat with the bartender about the bit of rheumatism that's been plaguing his bones. I think my elixir might be just the thing he needs."
Ance snorted. "Yeah, and once he's done sippin' that horse piss he'll need a pine box."
"Ya speak such poetry, Ansel," Irish grinned and threw him a wink. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"
Ance rolled his eyes at the man and nodded toward the hotel. "Go stay with Penny while her mother and I have a talk."
Irish waggled his brows. "Are ya sure it's a talk ya plan on havin'?"
Ance smacked the Irishman in the back of the head. "Yeah, I'm sure," he grumbled. "There's something going on that I intend to get to the bottom of."
"I don't know if I have what it takes to watch a wee child," Irish admitted. "I'm not much more than one myself."
"I'll buy you a jug of whiskey if you'll watch Penny. And I'll buy you two and spare you a bullet to the head if she's safe and sound when I get back," Ance offered.
Irish laughed. "Well with terms like that who could say no?" Then his expression sobered. "Ya sure seem worried, Ansel. Should I be expectin' trouble while I'm watchin' the lass?"
Ance sighed. He hated the way Irish seemed to be able to read him. The Irishman was too damn smart for his own good. "Shouldn't be. I'm fairly certain there's a man at the medicine man's house that means harm to Penny and Audrey but I can't say for sure. That's what I gotta go talk to Audrey about. The man shouldn't be a threat just now though. He's burned up and has a raging fever."
"Bad day for the lad," Irish lamented.
Ance grunted. "Gonna get worse if what I'm thinking turns out to be the truth."
Irish nodded. "Go have your chat, Ansel. I'll keep the lass company and keep her safe as well. I'll teach her a bit of Irish poker."
"You'll teach her to cheat you mean," Ance grumbled.
Irish laughed and patted him on the back. "O'course that's what I mean."
***
"I don't have anything to talk to you about, Ance. I appreciate all you've done for my daughter and I could never repay you for that but I will take care of her from here on out," Audrey assured him stubbornly from where she sat on a rickety bench behind the mercantile.
Ance leaned against the building and chewed on his cigar. "Your reaction to hearing that name this morning tells me something different. Now normally I wouldn't give a damn except that I happen to have a soft spot for that girl and don't want to see her hurt."
"I won't let anyone else hurt her," Audrey vowed, temper flashing in her brown eyes.
Ance sighed. She was something else. Ance could certainly see where Penelope got her personality from... If all women were more like these two then Ance might not dislike the softer sex quite so vehemently. "Audrey, dammit, I'm not a patient man. Now are you going to tell me what the name Rodger York means to you or should I go have a talk with the man myself?"
Audrey nibbled at her bottom lip and Ance let his gaze take in just how full that soft, pink piece of flesh was before mentally scolding himself and returning his gaze to her eyes. Audrey swallowed hard. "He's a man I've known for a while. He was helping me look for Penelope."
"And?" Ance urged.
"And I realized that I couldn't trust him and ran away from him in the night... that's when I met Irish."
Ance grumbled under his breath, tossed down what was left of his cigar and squished it beneath his boot. "Fine, if you won't tell me then I'll talk to him myself. I won't let anyone, not even her own mama, put Penny in danger."
"And what makes you think I'd put my own daughter in harms way?" Audrey snapped as she got to her feet.
Ance shrugged. "It's been my experience that most mama's just don't care."
They held each other's gaze for several long moments. Ance realized that she had golden flecks in her eyes. Damn but she was a pretty woman.
Finally Audrey flopped back down upon the bench and stared at her hands folded in her lap. "I always felt there was something off about Rodger but I never knew what it was and I never imagined it to be anything terrible. Truthfully I just believed that the reason he made me uncomfortable was simply because he wanted to marry me so badly and so quickly after my husband was murdered five years ago. I always denied Rodger's requests to court me and I focused instead on Penelope and the ranch... then she was taken from me and my entire world turned upside down. I didn't know where to turn so I asked Rodger for help and he was quick to agree.... He told me about a man named Barnaby who was known to kidnap children so we took off looking for the man." Audrey paused and looked up at Ance. "We ended up in Briggston and that's where I learned you had Penelope with you and everyone there seemed to believe you cared about her. I immediately wanted to search for you, Rodger seemed focused on Barnaby and we argued but I won. Then I realized he was leading me in circles instead of tracking you as he'd promised. I found a book--a journal--that he was keeping and I opened it...." her throat bobbed. "Rodger killed my husband all those years ago and he sold Penelope to Barnaby. He hoped to ride to the rescue, earn my gratitude and convince me to marry him once he'd become a hero."
Ance stood there for several moments, thinking about what Audrey had said. Rodger York showed determination if nothing else. But now he had an enemy that he'd probably wish he hadn't made. Ansel Adams was not one to put up with backstabbing liars and it seemed that's exactly what the U.S. Marshall was.
What kind of yellow-bellied coward sold an innocent little girl to a man like Barnaby? Had the man been daft enough to truly believe that Barnaby would uphold his end of the bargain and keep the girl until Rodger could make his grand rescue? Or had the good Marshall known that Barnaby wouldn't and had instead planned to consol Audrey and be her shoulder to cry on when they realized Penelope was gone for good.
Ance nearly growled out loud when he remember the abuse Barnaby had given Penelope and the way Vern had nearly had his way with the girl before Ance had slit his throat.....
The joke would be on U.S. Marshall Rodger York because just as soon as night came and the town of Grandy went to bed, Rodger was going to die.