An eyebrow arched high on Marvella’s brow, and every ounce of stress immediately returned to Carter’s shoulders. He’d done it now. Marvella Ashbury would not rest until she’d matched him with Ellie. Him and his big mouth.
“How interesting that you mention marriage.” Her gaze flicked to Ellie and Carter’s followed. The poor woman looked like a startled deer. “You’re right, however, Mr. Brunswick. I’m sure the Lord will provide just fine. Like the Bible says, it’s not good for man to be alone.”
“Grant, it just ain’t right that the Hills don’t care about their workers! I think we might hafta do something drastic. Threaten Mr. Hill or his son. Maybe even shoot one of them.”
“You always want to jump from doing nothin’ to goingway past reasonable, Alvin. What’s wrong with you?” Grant didn’t really care about the answer. This was his brother.
“I’m a man of action, Grant. You know I’m not one to sit around doin’ nothin’ at all.”
“But shootin’ someone? That’s downright drastic, don’t you think?”
“Sometimes drastic measures are called for. Sometimes when you got a bad thing to deal with, you have to throw out something even worse to get a fella’s attention.”
Grant kept walking. Sometimes there was just no reasoning with Alvin. Grant wanted the Hills to change their mind as much as anyone, but he didn’t want violence and murder. After all, what good would it do if they changed the Hills’s minds but ended up in a hangman’s noose?
“You know, we could get some dynamite and blow a whole stretch of that new track. We always have a bunch of it on hand.”
Great. Alvin was getting excited.
“If we blew out the new track it would buy us time.”
Grant snorted. “Time forwhat? You heard Hill. They’ve made up their mind. The route from Columbia Falls is too dangerous and causes too many problems. They’ve already put money into the solution and if you blow it up, they’ll just rebuild it. You might buy us more time, but time for what? It ain’t gonna change anything.”
Alvin wasn’t listening. “I’ll talk to some friends of mine. We’re all thinkin’ that something needs to be done. They ain’t squeamish like you.”
Grant shrugged. “Do what you want to, but I’m not promisin’ to be part of it.”
Alvin chuckled. “You’ll come along with me on it onceyou think about it. Doin’ nothing for sure won’t keep your job. Trust me.”
Trusting Alvin was akin to trusting a stick of dynamite. Once their fuse was lit, both were deadly ...
And could go off without warning.
9
WEDNESDAY, MAY25, 1904
“I’m glad you made it.” Marvella ushered Rebecca Andrews into her small parlor and shut the door. “We have our work cut out for us.”
The mirthful grin on the new bride’s face was telling. “Us?”
“Yes,us.” Marvella winked and pointed to a chair. “We are in a dire situation, and I need your help. Now wipe that cheeky grin off your face so we can get down to business.”
“Dire, you say?” Rebecca’s brow crinkled, and even though the young woman tried to hide her sarcasm, it wasn’t lost on Marvella. “Which young man in our community are you attempting to match to the conservationist’s daughter?”
“Carter Brunswick.” Marvella waved a hand. “But that doesn’t matter at the moment. I’m more concerned about Eleanor’s faith. She walked away from God when her mother died.”
“Oh dear.” Rebecca put a hand to her throat.
“Never fear. I have a plan.”
“I would expect nothing less.” She folded her hands in her lap.
“We don’t have much time, as our guests are getting ready to depart.” Marvella leaned forward and filled Rebecca in on the pertinent details. Rebecca then offered to pray for Miss Briggs, for healing and restoration.
Armed for the next step in her plan, Marvella led the way up the stairs. At the rooms designated for Eleanor, she stopped at the open door. The young woman flitted around the room, neat stacks on top of the bed.
Marvella cleared her throat. “Miss Briggs?”
