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“As a matter of fact, she plans on living there, and running the ranch, she just wanted some company. She’ll be alone out there and this will solve her problem.”
When the lawyer frowned, she added, “Besides, I really can’t take her back with me to Boston, she’d be lost living there. It’s another world there.”
The lawyer shrugged, his bushy brows nearly meeting as he spoke. “Well, I guess that’s settled. But I must warn you. Even though you two have the land and money back, you could still face problems with this Harry.”
Riley nodded. “I think I have some evidence that Harry was involved in a stage robbery not long ago. I think we won’t be having any more trouble with him.”
“I’m glad everything worked out for you. And I appreciate you settling my bill before you leave for your home in Boston.” The lawyer smiled and stuck out his hand when he saw Riley counting the money out.
“The Morgan’s always take care of their business.” Riley twitched her mustache and, with a handshake, left.
She headed for the Sheriff’s office next.
The sheriff was a tall, broad man of middle age, but agile enough to get about well on his own, Riley decided, when she witnessed him handling a drunk cowboy who was looking for trouble. The Sheriff wasted no time in throwing him in the jail and locking him up.
Then he came back toward his desk and glanced at Riley.
“Do you have any proof of this accusation that you are making?” The Sheriff finally acknowledged her as Ethan Morgan and Riley nodded.
“Of course I do. He wore silver spurs like my cousin told me about in her letter.”
“You mean your cousin told you about his spurs in a letter? Why would she do that?” the Sheriff questioned.
“She wanted me to recognize him when I arrived at the ranch and beware of his devilry.” Riley smiled. “She wasn’t sure she’d be there when I got to the ranch or not and she didn’t want me getting shot for one thing.”
“I see. Alright, if I send a posse out to round this Harry up, we’ll check out your story. You might have to testify if you want to send him to jail,” the Sheriff insisted.
“Just get word to my cousin at her ranch then.” Riley nodded and left.
“I’ll do ‘er. And will any of the other ranch hands need arresting?” he asked.
“I’d expect they were all in on it. My cousin was outnumbered or she would never have run,” Riley acknowledged after careful consideration. “Oh…one other thing I should mention, Sheriff. The cook put a snake in the bed of an old ranch hand out there, name of Gordy. A poisionous snake. It was intentional. Riley was pretty tore up about that, she’d known old Gordy for years.”
“Well now, that’s serious. Thank you for all the information sir, and give my regards to your cousin.”
Riley tipped her hat and smiled then left.
Back at the whorehouse, Miss Tilda was busy with a regular of her own and Riley had to wait to tell her the news. She was almost bursting at the seams to tell someone. But after eating, she went to her room and lay on the bed.
She had to admit she missed Sam more and more every day. She wondered if he got to Arizona yet and if he was all right. She wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him. Before she knew it, her eyes closed and she was dreaming about meeting up with Sam again. It was a pleasant dream and she didn’t want to wake up, but a knock on her door had her scrambling half-asleep to answer it.
“So how did it go today?” Miss Tilda burst into her room.
Riley tried to shake herself awake. “It went fine, Miss Tilda. The lawyer said there was little anyone could do as long as I approved and since there was no law out there. But that when the law did come things could change.”
“I’d expect that anyway. I wouldn’t sit there on your ranch forever anyways. Well, now I’m gonna put it before the girls and see what they think. If most are a mind to follow, then we’ll go with you when you are ready. If not, I guess we’ll have to do some thinkin’ on it. But are you sure you wanna do this?”
Riley nodded. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it will be kinda nice havin’ you there. I can still ranch, run things like I always do, but we’ll have to lay down some rules about the cowboys I hire.”
“I guess you aren’t too familiar with a whorehouse, but I already have a lot of rules laid out and most know them. Won’t take no married men, no sick men, no city officials either, too much trouble with that.” Miss Tilda chuckled.
“Fine, I’ll let you run it the way you see fit, then,” Riley said quietly.
“Riley, what’s wrong with you? You seemed to have a lot of steam and fire when you first came to us, but now it’s like…I don’t know. Almost as if you’ve given up. I can’t put my finger on what’s wrong.” Miss Tilda’s face showed concern.
Riley shrugged. “Everything is fine…I just miss Sam.”
“Would you have married him, if’n he’d asked?” Miss Tilda asked.
