“Why do you suppose that is?”
“Roen.” Lily interrupted him. “It doesn’t matter. Accept that it is.”
Roen nodded and switched tacks. “Do you know what business brings him to Frost Falls?”
“No. There’s speculation that it has to do with the railroad. Not the one you work for. A different one.”
“Victor Headley’s railroad company.”
“I suppose so. Ellie thinks he’s here to spy on you.”
“Maybe he is. The rail lines are rivals.”
“I don’t know anything about that.”
“What if I tell that I know for a fact he’s working for Mr. Headley’s railroad? Would you shoot at him, too?”
Except for the slight tremor that moved through her from head to toe, Fedora didn’t stir. She stared straight ahead, unblinking. Lily began to extend a hand toward her, but Roen warned her off with a look.
“Is that why I’m here?” Fedora asked. “Is the sheriff coming to arrest me?”
“No. No one is going to arrest you. Unless you told someone, no one but Lily and I know the truth.”
“How long have you known?”
“For certain, only now, but I’ve had an inkling ever since you went target shooting with Ellie and Hitch.”
“I told her I didn’t want to go.”
“You could have made a poor job of sighting your targets.”
“Pride. I couldn’t do it.”
“Hitch says you’re terrible with a gun.”
“I am.”
“How did it happen, Fedora, that you were out there on Double H land?”
So she told him how she had done it, sparing herself nothing in the retelling. She explained that when Roen told her he was doing a survey near Double H land, she decided right then that she was going to follow him. She didn’t know it was Clay he was taking with him. There was an incident with Hitch in the kitchen that morning but it worked in her favor. Ellie could see she was upset about it and allowed her to leave for the day. She couldn’t attract notice by taking the train to Liberty Junction, so she walked. She was familiar with the route, having worked briefly in one of the pleasure houses before escaping to Frost Falls. It was hard to say this last and she had to stop, inhale, and begin again.
She went on to describe how she stayed clear of Roen, and since his progress was slow—on account of Clay, she knew now—she was able to get out in front of them and find a protected place in the crags and crooks of the mountainside.
Lily’s eyes widened fractionally as she listened. “Where did you get the rifle, Fedora?”
“From the hotel. It was Ellie’s. I hid it under my coat until I was out of town.”
“You went to great lengths to shoot Mr. Shepard. It’s a little frightening.”
Fedora nodded. She set her hands on the table, folded them. “Yes. I understand why you think that, but it was never my intention to shoot him. I meant to scare him away. These railroad men frighten easily when they’re on their own. Without thugs to protect them, they scatter like roaches.”
Roen cleared his throat to remind Fedora he was still sitting at the table. Sometime during her recitation she seemed to have forgotten that. It was Lily’s faint smile of amusement that made him get over himself. She would remind him about the roaches remark later; he was sure of it.
Lily asked, “What if one of the Hardy brothers had been arrested for the shooting? Had you considered that?”
“Yes. I would have turned myself in.”
Lily had no reason to doubt her. “My son was there.”
