“What happened to it?”
He shrugged. “My best guess is that Zetta Lee found it after the trial. She probably knew where it was all along. Same for Gideon’s and Jack’s.”
“Don’t you think your brothers might have gone back to Lander to get what they left behind?”
“They might have. Or they might not have seen the sense in it, knowing Zetta Lee the way they did.”
“Where did she keep her money?”
“I don’t know. Probably close. If something was important to her, she didn’t like to let it out of her sight.”
It was same if someone was important, Jane thought. She did not say it. Morgan was probably thinking it as well. “Her bedroom, then. In her mattress. Perhaps under the floorboards under the bed.”
“Maybe there was a false bottom in the trunk where she stored extra linens.”
“Hah! You could not resist reminding me, could you?”
“Apparently not.”
Jane injected some starch into her tone. “You must be very pleased to know you can get your hands on my money anytime you like. I have to present my savings book. You merely have to present yourself.”
He chuckled. “I have money there as well. And Cattleman’s Trust holds my mortgage. I have more to lose if Mr. Webb opens his safe than if he keeps it closed. And you heard me tell Bridger, given enough time, that 1884 Barkley and Benjamin he keeps in his office is probably not that difficult to get into.”
She feigned a disapproving sigh. “It is distressing that you know the kind of safe he has.”
“Again. My money is there.”
“Still, you know the year that safe was made, and you were in jail when it was manufactured.”
Morgan said modestly, “I did some reading.”
“You did some reading,” Jane repeated, shaking her head. “It is no wonder that Cobb Bridger walked in your footprints every time you came to town.” She poked him in the chest. “And don’t pretend you did not enjoy that just a little.”
CHAPTER 14
The thaw Gideon Welling had been waiting for finally arrived in the middle of February. He did not move his men out immediately, not when the trails and roads were muddy enough to trap a horse. Instead, he bet on a freeze to follow, and when it arrived bearing biting winds and no snow, when ground was hard and easy to cover quickly, he judged it was time to leave Rawlings.
No one objected. Marcie was pretty sure he had contracted the pox from one of the whores. Dix didn’t have much to show for all the nights he spent playing poker. Avery Butterfield was tired of drunks trying to pick a fight with him just because he was biggest man in the saloon and they figured—hell, he didn’t know what they figured. He was the biggest man in the saloon, for God’s sake.
They got their ten-dollar horses and forty-dollar saddles from the livery, mounted up, and set out for the Morning Star ranch.
“Hey, Marshal Bridger.”
Cobb was about to step inside his office when he heard the greeting. He backed up and turned to face the street. “Hey, Rabbit.” He put up a hand to greet Finn as well. The boys were riding in the buckboard they used to take visitors to the Pennyroyal, but this afternoon they were alone in the wagon. “Where are you off to?”
Finn, who held the reins, brought the wagon to a halt when it was abreast of Cobb. He pulled down his red woolen scarf so he could be understood. “We’re going out to Morning Star.”
Cobb’s eyebrows puckered as he frowned.
Rabbit said, “He’s talkin’ about Mr. Longstreet’s ranch. Sounds a heap better than callin’ it the old Burdick place.”
Realizing the boys had misinterpreted the reason for his look, Cobb nodded. “It does sound better,” he agreed. “So why you are going out there, and do your gran and pap know?”
Finn said, “You sure got a powerful interest in what folks are doin’.”
“Part of the job,” said Cobb. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his long coat to keep them warm. “And you haven’t answered the question.”
Rabbit jerked his thumb over his shoulder to point to the bed of the buckboard. “That crate is for Mr. Longstreet. Delivery all the way from Chicago. Probably something from one of those catalogs, but Finn and I are on our honor not to do any investigating.”
