Micah said, “Why not go to the sheriff? Report that he’s beating her?”
“Her word against his?” She turned to me. “Have you ever actuallyseenhim hit her?”
“Well, no. Heard it. Seen the marks.”
“And that’s not evidence. He says she fell. I’ve tried to peek and bear witness, but he has her keep the curtains closed when he’s home. Plus, the courts don’t come down hard on a man who hits his wife. Not unless it’s torture. You know, she says the worst part is, he makes her have relations with him, no matter how sore or sick or pregnant she is, no matter how she begs him not to. And it’s all perfectly legal.” She turned a glare on Micah. “Conjugal rights, you know. If a strange man forces her, degrades her, then he can be sent to prison, but put that ring on her finger and suddenly he has the right to have her, any way he wants, any time he wants.”
“There’s what’s fair, and there’s the law,” Micah said, like it was a quote.
“Exactly. Although even that’s optimistic. She can have that assaulting stranger sent to prisonifshe can prove it was rape,andshe has three unimpeachable witnesses,andhe left bruises.”
“Or if she’s white, and he’s not,” Micah suggested.
“Oh.” Mrs. Beaufort blinked and hesitated, looking him over as if seeing him for the first time. “Well. Perhaps. But none of that helps Peggy. She needs to escape, far enough Chuck can’t find her.”
“Then she’ll be out there alone, with a baby coming and no means of support,” I pointed out.
“Better than with him. She’s saved a bit of her pin money, and I’m giving her all I can.”
“So what’s the plan? Are you asking me to drive her somewhere?”
“I’d like to, but no. She’s not willing to be alone in a car at the mercy of any man, not even you.”
“Seems like we’ve hit an impasse,” I said.
“She wants to take the bus. By Greyhound, it’s a ten-hour ride to Salt Lake City, and from there, she can catch another bus to anywhere in the nation.”
“Good thought. What do you need me for?”
“We get one Greyhound bus stopping a week, and Chuck knows that very well. If he sees that she’s gone missing on a Greyhound day, he’ll track the bus down and haul her off, and I doubt a driver would stop a man retrieving his wife.”
Micah said, “Surely someone would, if she refuses to go with him. They’re not going to let a man drag her down the steps.”
“She’s afraid that if he tells her to come along, she will, out of habit or fear. She’ll get up and off the bus and walk back into his trap.”
I exchanged glances with Micah. Some men might not believe an abused woman would do that for the man she hated, but we’d lived with a powerful hierarchy, Alpha to Second to Third to Fourth to Fifth, all the way down the pack. A low ranked wolf in that same situation might also bow his head and submit to his Alpha, no matter what horrors would follow. “Do you have a better plan?” I asked.
“We do, if you’re willing.” She raised her chin and stared me in the eyes. “If you’re not afraid of Chuck Fletcher.”
I smiled, and perhaps some of my wolf leaked into my eyes, because Mrs. Beaufort took a step back. “I’m not afraid of Chuck, Mrs. Beaufort,” I assured her as softly as I could. “How do we help?”
Her spreading grin held a little wolf too, as much as I’d ever seen in a human woman. “Call me Hannah, for a start, if we’re co-conspirators. And our plan is for you to drive out of town with a dummy dressed as Peggy. Let Chuck see you go by and chase after you, but then eventually lose him. If he thinks she’s with you, he won’t pursue the bus. The longer you can keep him following before you return home, the safer she’ll be.”
And then he’ll come after me.ButI welcomed that. Legally, I couldn’t attack him first, but if I was defending myself, I’d have the law behind me. “You think a dummy of Peggy will fool him?”
“She has a church hat with daisies that no other woman in town owns. And a green shawl. Put those on the dummy and drive by fast.”
Micah said, “I’ve a better idea. Let me dress up as Peggy. My hair’s about the same length as hers and I can put it up in a ponytail. I can move and gesture, where a dummy wouldn’t.”
I stared at him. “You want to dress up as her?”
“To save a beautiful woman from an abusive bastard? You bet your sweet patootie I do.” He grinned. “Sounds like fun.”
I couldn’t help grinning back. “All right then. We have the start of a plan. How will we get Chuck’s attention at the right time?”
Hannah said, “The bus arrives at twelve-thirty on Fridays. Chuck takes off work for his lunch break at noon, and this time of year he always sits outside at the picnic table under the trees, watching people go by while he eats. If you cruise past around twelve-fifteen, he should be there.”
“As long as it’s not raining, then. Sure.” I pictured the corner with Fletcher’s pawn shop. “I can gun the engine leaving the stop sign, if he’s not watching. Or tap my horn. We could pull in at the Gas N’ Food on the next corner and swing back around once. Not more than that, or he’ll get suspicious.”
