Rooster gave Call a knowing look. “Told you.”
Laurel frowned. “What? Penelope is perfectly suited to her name.”
“Uh-huh,” said Rooster.
Not for anything was Call going to involve himself in what appeared to be a long-standing difference of opinion. “I’m going to go outside. Maybe take a walk into town. I didn’t look around much when I came through.” When no one offered him a reason to stay at the table, he stood. “Will there be another stage tonight?”
Laurel shook her head. “There’s nothing on the schedule. Take your time.”
Call did. There were not many people out after dusk, but he talked to folks closing up their shops or sitting out in chairs on the boardwalk. He met Dillon and Hank’s father, who invited him to play a game of checkers. Call accepted, was roundly beaten both times, and learned more than he ever wanted to know about Falls Hollow. Mr. Booker roused himself enough to leave his chair and accompany Call to Sweeny’s, where Call bought him two shots, one for each of his victories.
Call asked casually after Josiah Pye to get a sense of how well the man was known. The answer appeared to be not well at all. Pye mostly kept to himself, drank alone, and if he did sit down for a couple of rounds of poker, he was a quiet sort, good with a bluff, but seemed to lose as often as he won. They agreed he wasn’t particularly upset when he lost or excited when he won. Even-tempered, they said. Someone mentioned Pye was a more regular visitor to the brothel than he was to the saloon, and Call let that pass while making a mental note of it.
Laurel was sitting in one of the rockers on the porch when Call returned to the station. Night was coming on quickly, and she was as much shadow as she was substance. Her head rested against the back of the rocker; her eyes were closed. The only indication he had that she was awake was the slow, steady lift and fall of her heels as she pushed the rocker with her toes.
“You can say something,” she said, her eyes still closed. “I know you’re there.”
“I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“No? Then you should have gone straight to the bunkhouse.”
Call could not remember being set in his place so neatly. “I guess what I meant was that I didn’t want to frighten you by speaking up.”
“Then you should have said that.”
“Maybe so. May I join you?”
“Suit yourself.”
A slim smile lifted one corner of Call’s mouth. If she thought he would be deterred by her lack of a genuine invitation, she was about to learn differently. He eyed the rocker on her left and the swing on her right and chose the swing, which was some distance away. He sat at the end farthest from her so he could stretch his legs on the seat and still be facing her. It took a few moments for him to find the spot for his maximum comfort, and when he did, only a hammock could have offered better.
“You’re prickly this evening,” he said. “That’s an observation, not a conversational gambit.”
She snorted lightly and continued rocking.
“I met Mr. Booker when I was in town,” said Call. “He beat me at checkers. Twice. Also gave me a history of Falls Hollow. Did you know he was an early settler? I didn’t realize there was mining around here.”
“For about a minute,” she said. “The mine played out quickly. A lot of men moved on, most to Stonechurch, some to Leadville. This valley is better suited to farming.”
“That’s what your family did?”
“Early on. I don’t really remember that. The success of Stonechurch Mining brought the stage line, and my father got a contract to operate the farmhouse as a home station.”
“You’ve got a nice spread here.”
“Mm.”
“And what appears to be a successful operation.”
“We do all right.” She stopped rocking. “For now.”
Call waited for her to resume the gentle back-and-forth rhythm of the rocker. If he watched her for too long, hethought he might fall asleep. Except for the chance that he could fall off the swing, he would have given into the urge. “You have a plan for when the railroad comes?”
Laurel opened her eyes, turned her head, and stared at him. “You know about that?”
His eyebrows lifted a notch. “The railroad coming or your plan?”
“The railroad.”
