A Man With a Pure Heart Page 9

  “Ya’ll just stop right there. What you doin’ trying to sneak up on a ol’ woman?” The voice was a little high, but definitely not a child.

  Samuel would have laughed if that rifle hadn’t been pointed right at him.

  It was an old woman, and that thing on the ground appeared to be a dead bear.

  “Morning, ma’am. My name is Samuel Hinton. I’m a deputy with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. Ma’am, if you could just lower that rifle, please? I’m gettin’ off my horse now, real slow, so you just be careful with that gun.”

  Samuel slowly dismounted, then kept both hands in the air as he approached. He could see the white hair now, and the lined face that had been shielded by a large sunbonnet. The rifle was beginning to waver as those thin arms strained to hold it.

  “Ma’am, I promise you, I mean you and yours no harm. I’m just in the area searching for a bad man. I’ve got a picture here in my pocket. If you could just take a look at it and tell me if you’ve seen him?”

  Between holding the rifle and tilting her head so far back to look up at the man, Granny was getting a little dizzy. She had to lower the stock to the ground and lean on the barrel to get her head to stop spinning.

  “All right, young fella, you just don’t make any quick moves. You the first man I seen here in years, exceptin’ for my nephew, so I reckon I ain’t seen whosever you be lookin’ for.” Granny looked him up and down. He seemed clean and neat. Not like he’d been living off the land. And his horse was in good shape. Maybe he was who he said.

  “Now, you tell me, you said you was a lawman? That mean if’n a body had a problem a’ sorts, you supposed to help ’em, right?”

  Samuel smiled. “Do you have a problem I can help you with, ma’am?”

  “Well…” The old woman stopped to cackle. “I sure could use some help convincin’ that mule to help drag this carcass back across into the wood-line afore those buzzards overhead start feedin’. It’s gonna take ’em a few days to finish him off, an’ I ain’t lookin’ forward to the smell. But that ain’t the main problem.”

  Samuel waited for her to get to her main point.

  She looked him up and down again. “I’ll tell you what. You help with this carcass, and I’ll fix you a good breakfast, and let you in on a little somethin’ you might be interested in.”

  Samuel was in no hurry. She was an interesting soul, and she might just know something. So…

  “Well, ma’am, between my horse and your mule, we ought to be able to move that carcass.”

  A half hour later, Samuel was pumping water for Zeus and the mule, and the buzzards had started to check out the carcass in its new location.

  “Ma’am, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “You can jest call me Granny Pearl. That’s what all the young’uns call me. And can you pump that bucket over there full, and tote it in when you come inside? I’d appreciate it.”

  Granny entered through the back screen door while Samuel washed up at the pump and filled the tin bucket.

  He took a good look around the place. Someone was obviously keeping the place up. The chicken house was in good shape, and the wire around the coop was drawn tight. No sagging to let the possums and ’coons in underneath. Granny must be near ninety years, and while she moved like a younger woman, there were just some things she couldn’t have done. Like those newer boards on the roof of the barn.

  Samuel took off his hat, knocked twice, and then entered through the front door. His gaze took in the inside in three seconds, and then settled on the young woman sitting at the table, her badly swollen foot resting on a chair. But, it was the cuff and chain around her ankle that held his attention.

  No one spoke for several heartbeats.

  Finally, Granny Pearl lifted the coffeepot she’d been holding. “You want some coffee, son, afore we get to the main problem?”

  Samuel gave his almost smile and nodded. “I think that might be a good idea, Granny.”

  He took one of the ladderback chairs, turned the back toward the woman, and straddled it, folded his arms across the top ladder, and got comfortable.

  “Good morning, miss. That’s a mighty painful-lookin’ foot you got there.”

  “My name is Iris,” was all she seemed able to get out while keeping her eyes downcast.

  Samuel waited. He was good at waiting.

  The woman tried to sit a little straighter and grimaced with the pain. She finally met Samuel’s gaze.

  “Are you really a lawman?”

  “Yes’m, I am a sworn deputy with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. My name is Samuel Hinton, and I’m thinkin’ you have a story you’d like to tell me. Is that right?” Samuel took the cup of coffee Granny handed him and settled back to listen.

  A half hour later, Iris ran out of steam. Samuel had listened carefully, but quietly, while she related how she came to be here with Granny Pearl.

  Samuel stretched his long legs out, set the now empty coffee cup on the table, and reached into his pocket for the folded paper and the pouch of Perique.

  “Ma’am, I’m gonna ask you a few questions now. You just answer the best you can. Is the man about my size?”

  Iris nodded yes. “But bigger, you know, broader.”

  Samuel nodded. “All right. Does he have a scar on his right upper arm?”

  Iris’s eyes opened wide as she nodded, “Yes. I always believed it looked like a bullet wound.”

  “Well, ma’am, you thought right. Now, did he smoke a pipe, and did it smell sorta like this?” Samuel stretched out an arm with the pouch of Perique.

  The woman recoiled when the pouch got close enough for her to catch the scent.

  Samuel could see the same fear on her face he had seen on Emma’s.

  He slowly unfolded the wrinkled flyer, and turned it around for Iris to see.

  The blood quickly drained from her face, leaving her pale and shaking.

  That was all the answer he needed.

  He folded the paper and returned it and the pouch of tobacco to his pocket.

  “Well, I’d say the first thing we have to do is get you to a doctor. That chain has to come off soon. Just so happens my brother-in-law is a doctor, and my sister is the woman you were searchin’ for when you left Pensacola two years ago.”

  An hour later, Samuel had harnessed the mule to an old but still sturdy wagon and laid a pallet on the back for Iris to rest on. The only hard part was Granny Pearl.

  “Granny, that man has already killed one woman, and I suspect him of three others. Ma’am, my mama in heaven would have my head if I left you here and somethin’ happened to you. Now, let’s just think of this as a big adventure. Haven’t you ever wanted to see the city? I promise that as soon as we get this man, I will personally bring you home, if that’s what you want. I’ll put out plenty of water for the chickens, and when I come back for the man I’ll run by here and check on them. Please, gather up a few things, and let me put you in the wagon.”

  It finally took Iris’s pleading that she was afraid to go alone that moved Granny. By noontime, Samuel had the ladies loaded, Zeus tied to the back of the wagon, and was headed home.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was near midnight by the time Samuel stopped the wagon at the village. Iris had been asleep for a while, but moaned every time the wagon hit a bump or a hole in the road. Samuel looked over at Granny. The woman was a rock. She hadn’t complained once, and her back was still ramrod straight.

  The windows lit up inside Roxanne’s kitchen, and as he climbed down from the wagon, a rifle barrel eased out through the front door.

  “You can stop right there, mister. I got a rifle, and I know how to use it,” she shouted.

  “Roxanne, it’s Samuel. I’ve got a couple of ladies who need help. You want to put that rifle down and come give me a hand?”

  Roxanne had been Mae’s first boarder at the village. She was now Eleanor’s right hand at Taylor’s, and was like a sister to Samuel.

  She propped th
e rifle in the corner and ran out to help him with Iris. After a brief introduction and explanation, Samuel carried a groggy Iris inside and placed her in a bed. He could feel the heat from her body and was sure he needed to get Edward out here soon.

  “Roxanne, I’m leaving Iris and Granny to you. I’ve got to get Edward.”

  Roxanne shooed him out. “Just go, you goose. I’ll have them settled by the time Edward gets here. And I’ll have Bobby unhitch that mule and water him. Now, go!”

  For once, Samuel was glad that Roxanne was so independent. She would manage fine.

  Samuel considered all he had to do, as he rode Zeus across the fields to the manor. He needed to notify Captain Lance. He needed to get some deputies and some boats rounded up…but all that would have to wait ’til morning. Right now, all he really needed was a good doctor.

  Ah, good. The kitchen door was still unlocked. That meant Edward might still be awake.

  Samuel surprised Cyrus with a forkful of chocolate cake halfway to his mouth. Samuel laughed out loud. Cyrus’s eyes were almost as wide as his mouth.

  “Don’t have time to talk, brother. Has Edward gone up yet?”

  Cyrus lowered the fork. “He’s in the library with Pa. Mae went up a couple of hours ago. What’s up?”

  Samuel brushed right on by his younger brother, headed to the library at a trot.

  Garth and Edward were resting comfortably in front of the fireplace when Samuel burst in.

  “Edward, I’ve just dropped off a sick girl with Roxanne. She has a badly injured foot and is running a fever.” Both men jumped to their feet.

  Edward said, “I’ll grab my bag and meet you at the truck.”

  “Good. I’ve got to run and get a pair of bolt cutters,” Samuel replied as he turned and trotted back through the kitchen.

  Garth stood in the library, holding an almost empty glass of brandy. He finally drained the glass and sat back down. He knew they would tell him what he needed to know when it was over.

  As the two men sped down the road to the village, Edward said, “All right, I have to ask. What are the bolt cutters for?”

  Samuel chuckled, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. You’ll just have to see.”

  Five minutes later, Edward stood at the foot of the bed. He shook his head in disbelief as Samuel cut the bolt holding the cuff to Iris’s ankle. He wrapped the four feet of chain around his big hand, turned to Edward, and said, “She’s all yours.”

  Edward again shook his head and said, “Check with Roxanne, and if there’s not a lot of ice in the icebox, you run into town and get some.”

  A half hour later, Edward met Samuel in the kitchen. “Well the ice is too late for the swelling, but maybe it will excite enough blood flow to the foot to keep from losing it. Did you know the girl is pregnant?”

  Samuel’s head jerked up. “No. She didn’t say a word. Lord a-mercy, is she going to be okay?”

  “If I can get the fever to break, and she gets some rest, she should be okay. You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  As Samuel told him Iris’s story, Edward’s face got redder and redder.

  “What the hell kind of beast is this guy?”

  “A pretty bad one, I’d say. But I’ll let you know when I get him. And I will get him,” Samuel replied, as he stared at the chain coiled on the floor.

  ****

  Samuel was up at daylight. He had the chain and Mary Elizabeth’s dress wrapped in a sheet and tucked into the saddlebag attached to his motorcycle. He’d just grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen and be off.

  Mae was sitting at the kitchen table when he entered.

  “Now, what are you doing up so early?” he asked.

  “You try sleeping with a little angel kicking your bladder.” She smiled. “And what is your excuse? Edward told me you delivered me another mother late last night.”

  “I’ve got a lot of work to get through today, so that tomorrow I can go get the killer and put everyone’s mind at ease. And yes, I did furnish you with a new resident, and she’s gonna need a lot of your tender love and care, Sis. She’s been through her own hell on earth for the last two years. Oh, I almost forgot Granny Pearl. She’s the little woman that rescued Iris from a bear. She’s probably gonna fuss and say she wants to go home. You just remind her that I’ll take her home as soon as it’s safe.” Samuel drained his cup and then patted Mae on the head as he strode out of the kitchen.

  Mae’s eyes filled with tears. Samuel was a pillar of strength for the community. The whole family had depended on his calm demeanor and clear head at one time or another.

  He hadn’t always been calm. When he was young, before Mama passed on, he’d had a terrible temper, and would fly off at the least little thing. Between Mama’s prayers and Hansu’s guidance, Samuel had learned to control his inner beast. But he was still her little brother, and she wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. And safe.

  ****

  “Well. I guess the sister can tell us if it is, in fact, the schoolteacher’s dress.” Captain Lance raised his eyes from the dress Samuel had unwrapped. “And you say she still had that chain attached to her leg?”

  Samuel nodded his head. “The other end will be attached to a metal bed frame when we find the cabin.”

  “All right, Detective, this is your show. How do you want to do this?”

  “I think it would be best if we have a couple of men in each of two boats. The girl was very clear. If we entered the river where she left the canoe, that the only cleared spot we find, albeit a small one, on the west side of the bank, would lead us to the cabin. We can have another man on the road, in case he gets by us. He put a sack over her head the only time she was off the property, so she was unable to describe where he left the road with the wagon, so the river is our best bet. She seems to think she rowed a few miles, but it was upstream, and I figure it was closer to one mile. We can find the spot, wait until dark, and then sneak up on the cabin.”

  “Well, get with Sergeant Wilkes. He asked specifically to be included in the capture. He regrets that one of his men was on duty when old McDuff was killed. He’ll help you line up the equipment and men that you need. Do I need to tell you to be careful?”

  Samuel gave that half smile. “No, sir. I can think of three women who each tell me that at least once a day.”

  ****

  Samuel was on his way to pick Kathleen up from school. The plans had been made. Sergeant Wilkes had chosen three of his best men. The men were getting the canoes and weapons lined up this afternoon. Samuel would drive Pa’s truck to headquarters tomorrow. They would load the supplies up and drive them to Granny Pearl’s, and then trek out to the river.

  Samuel didn’t want to think about any of that now. He just wanted to spend some time with Kathleen and his family tonight.

  The last of the children were coming down the steps when Samuel pulled up to the school. He climbed the steps and watched Kathleen, inside cleaning the chalkboard. He leaned against the doorframe and drank in the sight of her. While her tall frame was well proportioned, there was grace in her every gesture. Good golly, she took his breath away. He even loved the wild red hair…a shudder took over his whole body. My Lord, her red hair! She was a target for that monster.

  Well, not after tomorrow. Samuel pushed off the doorframe and strode to the blackboard. Kathleen turned at the sound of his boots. Her entire face lit up when she recognized him, but before she could speak, he had wrapped his arms around her and crushed his mouth to hers.

  The kiss was unlike any they had shared before, and was a little frightening. Kathleen finally turned her mouth away, and looked up at him questioningly.

  When Samuel saw how red her lips were, he was ashamed. He buried his face in her neck and whispered, “I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to be so rough. It’s just that I’m so glad to see you, and you looked so darn good, and I just wanted…well, I just wanted you.”

  Samuel’s whispers worked their way straight to her core
and lit a flame that weakened her. She clung to him until she could speak. “Samuel, don’t ever apologize for that.” After several moments of just holding each other, she spoke again.

  “I didn’t expect you back until Saturday.” She laughed aloud. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’m thrilled you’re home again. I’ve been so worried.”

  “Well, tomorrow I’ll be leaving again, but only for one night. Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

  Kathleen arched her head back, and in a hushed voice said, “You’ve found him, haven’t you?”

  He pulled her back into his arms before he answered. “Tomorrow I will bring him in, dead or alive.”

  ****

  Samuel stared at Kathleen across the dinner table. She was deep in conversation with Mae on the merits of musical training for young children. She caught his gaze on her and turned to him. The look he gave her was enough to set her heart racing. When she turned back to speak to Mae, her face was flushed.

  Mae burst out laughing.

  Every head turned to the sound of Mae’s laughter, and Edward asked, “What’s so amusing, sweetheart?”

  Mae hesitated a moment and then replied, “Oh, just your son, kicking like a mule.”

  Kathleen gave her a grateful smile.

  Charlotte swallowed the last of her milk, wiped her mouth, and stood. “Haven’t I been good, Mama? Haven’t I been a good girl and didn’t make a mess? Now can Kath’een play the piano for me? Huh? Can she now, Mama?”

  Mae let out a long sigh. “That’s Miss Kathleen to you, little missy. And yes, you’ve been a good girl, but Miss Kathleen may not feel like playing the piano.”

  Kathleen smiled. “I would be honored to play for you, Miss Charlotte.”

  Charlotte squealed with delight and took off running to the back parlor.

  Mae shook her head and lifted her pregnant bulk from her chair. “Thank you, dear. She carried on for a week after you played for us the last time. She wanted to know how you could make the piano sound so beautiful, when it only made noise for her.”