“Very well. I never gave Mr. Pye’s choice any thought.”
“Think about it now.”
She did. “Penelope has strength and stamina, maybe more than others that were available that night, but not as much as my Abby. The only good sense he showed was not taking her. I believe I would still be hunting him.”
“Hmm. Anything else about Penelope?”
“She doesn’t have any special markings. We would know her on sight, but to describe her, well, she looks like a lot of others. You worked for Overland. You understand the stage animals don’t belong to me. I care for them as part of my agreement with Henderson Express.”
“I see some of them have the HE brand but not all. What about Penelope?”
Laurel closed her eyes and tried to form an image of the horse. “No,” she said finally. “No brand. She hasn’t been on the trail very long. If anyone even noticed, I suppose one station was deferring to the next.”
“So no brand makes her even harder to identify,” saidCall. “Worse, she can be branded with someone else’s marking.”
Laurel nodded. “Perhaps that’s why Mr. Pye took her. He can hide her anywhere. That stops his trail cold.”
“His trail has been cold for a long while, but you’re right. Pye’s made it as difficult as he possibly could.”
“I never thought of him as this clever.”
“I still have doubts that he is.”
“You want to tell me about that?”
“Not yet.”
Laurel lifted a hand to acknowledge Rooster as he walked out of the bunkhouse and headed toward the kitchen. “Where did you go after services this morning?”
“I think you know, or at least that you have your suspicions, else you would have asked me in front of everyone while we were at dinner.”
“Mrs. Fry’s.”
“Yes. I wanted to see Desiree again, and I would have done it the same evening that I went to Sweeny’s with Dillon. That didn’t work out. I didn’t have any purpose other than my investigation.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I’m very aware.”
“Did you learn anything from her?”
“No. She didn’t want to talk to me. Mrs. Fry made her take me to her room because I paid for her time. She read. I napped.”
“Oh.” Laurel thought she should not feel relieved to hear that. It was foolish. “What were you hoping to learn?”
“How much time Digger Leary spent with her when he was here the last time. I know he was there because I learned that from someone at the saloon who saw him go in, and one of the younger women confirmed it when I asked about Desiree and Digger. Mrs. Fry shooed her out of the parlor before I could ask anything else, and the madam was as tight-lipped as Desiree turned out to be.”
Laurel was sure that she didn’t want to think aboutDesiree and Digger. She shifted uncomfortably on the rail.
“I’m sorry.” He meant it. “I’ve said too much. I should have never told you about the resemblance between you and Desiree. That’s it, isn’t it? It’s what’s bothering you now.”
“A little. I’d rather not think about it, if you don’t mind.”
“It’s a comparison without foundation. You don’t look anything at all like her.”
Dark humor edged Laurel’s short laugh. “I saw her in church, Call. Now that I know what to look for, even I found the similarities. It’s no good backing away from what you spent time convincing me. Can we agree to be done with Mrs. Fry’s house?”
He nodded. “I really am sorry.”
