Chapter Nineteen
IT WAS PAST NOON THEfollowing day and the inaction was making Roman restless.
There wasn’t much the marshal could do, not without some sort of lead. He’d been out to the creek, but there was no sign of the men Clara had seen. They were long gone, of course, with two stolen horses in tow. Wright said he’d alert the law in the mining encampment and in Cañon City, but Roman doubted that would do much.
He’d sold his last remaining rental horse, Georgia, yesterday, and then paid a visit to the banker. To Roman’s surprise, the ornery man had not only said he’d continue to keep his carriage and second horse at the livery, but he also turned down Roman’s offer of compensation for Tartan. And that was just as well, because the only way Roman could have paid for the second missing horse would be to sell his own mount, Thunder.
Then just that morning, two men had arrived early to retrieve their horses and stable them at the hotel livery instead.
Roman scowled as he passed the hotel on his way down to the creek. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault, not by any means. But he couldn’t keep bleeding business away to them, not if he wanted to survive. He and Jeremiah could guard the livery from sunset to sunrise for the time being, but they couldn’t do that forever. And it hadn’t worked two nights ago.
He needed to find a way to stop these men.
He walked along the bank of the creek until he was in the general area where Clara had said she’d seen the men two days ago. There were remnants of a small fire and some horse manure, along with plenty of footprints. But that was all. Roman bit back a curse. What had he expected to find out here? The men’s names and whereabouts written out?
He glared at the charred remains of the fire. So this was where they’d sat and plotted on how to steal his horses. Why him? Why hadn’t they also targeted the hotel livery? It made no sense at all. If these were desperate men looking to sell stolen horses, why wouldn’t they expand their reach? What was it about his stable that made it so easy to rob?
Perhaps he should pay another visit to the hotel livery and see what they had that he didn’t. Was it extra men? Maybe they had several men out and armed at night. That would certainly be a deterrent. Or was it the location? He’d thought of that before. Being on the edge of town likely made him a target. The hotel livery was close enough to the hotel itself that perhaps its remote location atop the hill didn’t matter. And yet, it sat much closer to this place by the creek than Roman’s stable.
Roman sat on a large rock, staring out at the slow-moving water of Silver Creek. He needed more men, but had no way to pay them. As of right now, he couldn’t even pay Jeremiah. It was up to him and Jeremiah, if his friend didn’t up and find work elsewhere. And so far, they’d failed. How many more horses could he stand to lose before he no longer had a business?
He reached down to pitch a pebble into the water, his fingers closing around something metal instead. He lifted the item and brushed the mud from it.
It was a hair comb. A fancy one, with filigree and little shiny baubles like a woman concerned with her looks might wear.
And it looked oddly familiar.
Roman stood, staring at the thing in his hand. Clara had been nearby here, but he didn’t think he’d seen her wear such a thing. She was far less given to ornate pieces such as this one.
He squinted at it as the metal caught the sunlight.
And then he remembered.
“Roman?”
He whirled about, half expecting to see his memory come to life behind him. But it was Clara.
Clara, who was down here, by herself, expressly defying what he’d told her to do to keep her safe. This headstrong woman was going to be the death of him.
You can’t protect her, a voice whispered in his head. And as he glanced at the comb in his hand, he knew it was right. He couldn’t protect her. He certainly couldn’t provide for her, not with everything falling apart as he looked on. He was utterly helpless.
Why he’d ever thought he could be anything like his brothers, he didn’t know. He never would be, that much he was sure of at this point.
It was time he faced that fact. And moved on.
