Page 63 of Calder Country

He was silent for a long moment. “I was a sharpshooter in the army. That’s what got me hired as sheriff. But who wants a sheriff who can’t ride, drive a car, or even walk?”

“You could hire deputies for that. They could do the legwork and drive you when you needed to go somewhere.” Britta applied a fresh dressing to the shoulder wound and pulled his shirt back into place.

“That won’t be my call,” he said. “I’ll be up for reelection in November. I was planning to run, but nobody’s going to vote for a sheriff who can’t do his job. I should probably withdraw now and give others a chance to campaign.”

“Why close that door so soon? I know people respect you. Let them decide on election day. You might be surprised.”

“Or humiliated.”

“Oh, hush! Hold still.” Bending close, she pulled away the tops of his trousers and drawers, needing to reach the dressing on the crest of his hip. She had never touched him—or any man—in such an intimate place. Her senses tingled as she leaned close to loosen the dressing over his wound. His hair brushed against her cheek. His skin smelled of sweat and disinfectant—the mixture strangely erotic as it seeped through her senses. His uncovered skin was pale and satiny, his lower body sculpted with muscle. A line of crisp, dark hair traced a narrow path down his belly that vanished under the edge of his open trousers.

The house was chilly, but Britta felt strangely warm. As she uncovered the dressing, the words he’d spoken earlier came back to her.

I don’t know if I’d be able to satisfy you as a husband or give you children.

Britta had spent her early years on a farm. She knew the facts of life. But knowing and experiencing were two different things. Now, looking down at his body, imagining what her eyes couldn’t quite see, she understood the real reason why Jake had refused to marry her. And she had no answers.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

HUDDLED IN THE FRIGID SECOND-CLASS CAR, RUBY RODE THE EAST-BOUND Northern Pacific train as far as Glendive. By the time the morning sky had begun to pale, she’d made up her mind that she was traveling in the wrong direction.

There might be safety in the East. But how could she leave Mason to risk his life avenging her father’s murder? She knew that she couldn’t go inside the prison. But at least she could stay close by in case he needed her.

After leaving the train, she checked the schedule posted next to the ticket window. The westbound train wouldn’t be coming through until late this afternoon. Until then, she’d have a few hours to rest and make plans.

In a drab café across from the station, she treated herself to coffee, toast, and scrambled eggs. Mason had given her several hundred dollars, enough to give her a new start anywhere she wanted to go. But when she imagined him walking defenseless into that prison, dressed in the ugly black-and-white prison garb, and meeting his old enemies face-to-face, a shudder of dread passed through her body. Her father had been murdered in that place. Mason could easily meet the same fate.

She couldn’t just disappear and leave him there.

But if she went back, her life would be in danger, too. Mason’s prison boss had ordered her killed. Colucci could be looking for her, as well. And she couldn’t count on any help from the two government agents. They’d be just as likely to put her behind bars.

The waitress stopped by the table and refilled her thick porcelain coffee cup. As Ruby sipped the hot, black liquid, a plan sprouted in her mind. By the time the cup was empty, she’d thought it through and made her decision.

That afternoon, as the westbound train pulled into the station, a changed figure waited on the platform. Only the duffel and sturdy work boots were the same as before. The shorn hair, the workman’s clothes, purchased in a secondhand shop, the cap that shaded a beardless face, and the warm sheepskin coat, painted a convincing picture of a boy in his teens.

Ruby’s transformation had been as complete as she could make it. She had abandoned her purse for a wallet. Even her underclothes and the extra things in her duffel were made for a male. Only her voice, and furtive visits to the women’s restroom, threatened her disguise.

She had bought a ticket for Miles City. From there, she could transfer to the Milwaukee Road, which would take her directly to Deer Lodge.

Boarding the train, she found an empty seat at the back of the car, pulled her cap down to conceal her eyes from above, and pretended to sleep.

She lost track of the times the train stopped to deliver passengers and cargo and take on more. It was night once again when the train pulled into Miles City. This was the most dangerous part of her journey. There could be people looking for her here. No one would have expected her to be on this train, especially in disguise. But she couldn’t be too careful.

After checking in both directions, she made her way to the smaller Milwaukee Road station house, which was closed. A lone bench stood against one outer wall. Turning up the collar of her coat, she huddled in the shadows to wait for the morning train to Deer Lodge.

The snow was gone, but the night was cold. A stray dog, its ribs outlined through its brindled hide, padded along the platform, looking for tidbits. It sniffed at Ruby’s shoe, then moved on to gobble a discarded sandwich crust.

Ruby was tired, but she was too nervous to sleep. When a big man in a ragged Mackinaw meandered past her, slowing his step for a closer look, she shrank into her coat. Why hadn’t she bought some kind of weapon—a knife or even the gun she’d been forced to leave in her hotel room? When the man moved on, she began to breathe normally again. But danger was everywhere, and she was as defenseless as that poor, hungry dog.

By morning, other passengers had gathered to buy tickets and wait for the train. Ruby joined the line. Many of the passengers, she noticed, were sad-looking women, a few with older children. Maybe it was visiting day at the prison.

When the train came in, gliding under the power of overhead electric wires, she found a seat. A middle-aged woman in a shabby coat sat down beside her. Ruby gazed out of the side window, hoping to be ignored, but that wasn’t to be.

“Who are you going to visit, young man? Your pa?”

Ruby nodded, not wanting to use her voice.

“Johnny, my boy, isn’t much older than you,” the woman said. “He got locked up for stealing a watch to sell. Three years just for that. And him in there with those awful men. What kind of deviltry will they be teaching him? It breaks my heart, I tell you.” She dabbed at her eyes with a wadded handkerchief. “I tell him to say his prayers every night. I only hope God can hear him through those thick prison walls.”

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