Mr. Pelton’s eyes brightened. “Real money? Union money?”
“That work for you?”
“Yes, sir, it sure does,” Mr. Pelton said with a smile. “A lot of folks around here don’t trust Union money. Using greenbacks feels like fraternizing with the enemy to them, I guess. But I gotta keep food on my own table, and the folks I deal with, they’re mostly shipping goods on steamboats loaded up north, and they only want greenbacks, gold, or silver.”
“Fair enough,” Will said and counted out seven dollars and eight cents. “Thank you, Mr. Pelton.”
“Thank you, Will. This is the first actual money I’ve seen in a spell. If there’s anything else I can do for you, anything I can order, let me know.”
Will told him he’d let him know, and he and Rose left the store and stepped out into the sunny day, Will feeling good about rescuing her and filling the panniers with food and supplies.
But as they were loading up the goods, the door across the street opened.
Sheriff Rickert stepped outside, leaned back, and stretched his suspenders, squinting up at the sky, then swept his gaze along the street and saw them.
Sheriff Rickert’s eyes went from Will to Rose and back to Will.
The sheriff frowned and shook his head then went back inside.
Rose, who’d already mounted up, hadn’t seen the sheriff but noticed her brother’s expression. “What is it, Will? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said with a smile.
Not yet, anyway,he thought.Not yet.
CHAPTER 11
“Do you think Pew will bother us?” Maggie asked that evening, sitting outside the bunkhouse with Will.
Even though it was only dusk, Mama and Rose were already asleep, having finally given in to exhaustion and relief after the happy reunion and the feast the women had prepared.
Despite the simple ingredients, the meal was fantastic. It tasted, Will had concluded after eating so much that his stomach hurt, like home.
“I reckon he’ll try,” Will said. “Man like Pew, he’s used to having his way. We stopped him today.”
“You stopped him.”
“Well, whatever the case, he’ll be angry. He might even feel like he was the victim, not Rose. So yeah, I reckon he’ll try something.”
Maggie gave a little shudder. Her eyes scanned the surrounding landscape as if searching for attackers in the gathering shadows.
Will realized that this situation was probably dredging up memories and fears for the poor girl, whose family had been burned and shot just a short distance from where they now sat.
“Don’t worry,” Will said. “Pew will try something, but it won’t amount to much. And it won’t be tonight.”
“Why not?”
“He has no idea where we are. No one does.”
“Good. I’ll sleep easier knowing that. But someday…”
“Yes, someday, folks will know where we are. But we’ll be ready for them.”
Maggie smiled. “You don’t scare easy, do you?”
“Never saw much sense in it,” Will said.
“When Pew does come, what will he do?”
