Chapter 25

The snow let up a bit, although the sky threatened to open again at any time so Violet picked up the pace. There were two other stops on the list, and she wanted to get to both, and then get back home.

She walked past the schoolhouse and church, toward the blacksmith and livery. Seeing the deserted back street between the wagon repair shop and land office, she cut through and walked past the Five Star Saloon.

If it were Saturday evening instead of morning, she never would have taken that route. Saloon clientele could get rowdy, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. An unescorted female shouldn’t walk the back street past midafternoon but on this snowy morning nothing stirred on the short stretch that passed by the side of the saloon.

Relief washed over her when she made it back to Old Cheyenne Road and some distance from the Five Star. Day or night, she didn’t feel comfortable being so close to the drinking establishment.

The Union Pacific came through once a week, on Sundays, so tomorrow there would be lots of activity but when Violet passed the train depot it looked tucked in for the day. She stopped to peek at the tracks headed out of town. She had never been past Wylder, although someday she planned to visit Cheyenne. Who could tell? Maybe she would go further than that, even. One could never know about such things.

But today, the second target on her must-do list came into view.

The post office building had been built right beside the telegraph office. They were this side of the railroad tracks.

Past the telegraph office, on the other side of the tracks, stood the Wylder County Social Club. It was more likely she’d see the Pacific Ocean before she got a gander at the inside of the club.

It wasn’t that she had anything against the girls or Miss Adelaide. Violet simply did not have any business in a whorehouse. Truth be told, most schoolteachers probably never set foot inside such spots. That opportunity didn’t often offer itself up to women who weren’t “in the business” of doing what was done inside the walls of the building she now gawked at with open curiosity.

She tipped her head to one side as she examined the front of the building for clues. The occupants of the social club were most likely either resting or primping for the Saturday-night rush. She had no idea if a rush occurred any night of the week, but she imagined there might be. And she guessed at what the women inside were doing because she had no actual knowledge of what kept them busy and staring at the building provided no enlightenment. It all seemed very glamorous and so removed from her own dull life that as she stood in front of the post office, craning her neck and picturing life in the social club, she had a pang of disappointment that she would never know for sure whether any of what she imagined was true.

For the first time in her life, Violet wished she had been born a whore instead of a schoolteacher. Not permanently, but for a day. Maybe two. Or even a month, if it all turned out to be as titillating as she dreamed it might be.

She shook her head and turned away. Dreaming of being something she would never be was a waste of time.

And the sky above told her she didn’t have time to squander so she went into the post office, paid her three cents postage, and dropped off her weekly letter to the family back home.

She moved a bit more quickly when she left the post office and went straight up Buckboard Alley. It led past Culpepper’s Boarding House.

Violet didn’t have business at the boarding house, but it wouldn’t hurt to walk past, would it? Her vow to avoid Mister Harvey didn’t include sidestepping his sister, who might be boarding at Culpepper’s. Likelier, perhaps, that Miss Harvey stayed with her brother, but one never knew. Violet wasn’t sure what, if anything, she would say to the woman if she saw her again. But if the other did strike up a conversation, she planned to mention that the Union Pacific came through tomorrow…and led directly out of town, if she and her brother were interested in making their way back to whatever northern hole they’d crawled out of.

Good Lord, whatever am I thinking?

She gave herself a mental shake, passed the boarding house without turning her gaze toward it as punishment for having such a horrid thought, turned right at the corner, and headed down Wylder Street.

Had she been paying attention instead of chastising herself for her lapse in kindness, she wouldn’t have run smack dab into the sheriff.

But she wasn’t—so she did.

Thankfully, he grabbed her by the shoulders before she could slip on the snow and ice and disgrace herself.

“Whoa there, Miss Bloom! Easy now, get your feet under you.” His thick moustache moved when he smiled down at her. “Wouldn’t want our schoolteacher to take a tumble right out here in the middle of the street, would we?”

“Oh, my! How clumsy of me, turning a corner without watching where I was going. I’m sorry, Sheriff. Please forgive me.”

He dropped his hands when she steadied herself. The fact that he knew her name came as a surprise, but she supposed a man in his position must know—or know of—all the townsfolk. And those on the homesteads and ranches, as well.

“No clumsiness, and nothing to forgive.” He looked up to the darkening sky and then back down to meet her gaze. “I think we’d all be wise to get about our business and go on home. It looks like we’re going to get some more snow before the day’s out.”

“I agree. Pardon me, but I’ll be on my way now.”

Violet took one step, but the sheriff’s words stopped her. The rasp in his voice hinted at countless nights spent breathing in campfire smoke.

“Not so fast, ma’am. Now that we’ve run into each other, do you mind if I ask you a question? Being in your position, you know many of Wylder’s citizens so you might be able to assist me with an investigation. Can you spare a moment, and maybe help me out?”

She couldn’t deny his request although she didn’t imagine she could be of any use in an investigation. Unless his search included looking for the McGuffey she had taken from the schoolhouse—and fully intended to return when Lin finished with it—she had no information of a disreputable sort.

“Of course. I’m happy to help if I can.”

“Good to hear.” He took a step toward her and closed the gap she had made when she tried to walk away. The lawman limped, as if his knees pained him. He fixed his probing gaze on her. “I’m looking for a woman who seems to have gone missing. I wonder if you know of any such person. Perhaps one of your pupils mentioned a lady showing up suddenly in an unusual place?”

“My pupils? No, I haven’t heard any of them mention anyone—man or woman—who appeared unexpectedly.”

The sheriff ran a slow hand over his beard. “Maybe you know of a woman who seems out of place, then. This woman who disappeared, she’s a Chinese lady. I need to find her and speak with her, that’s all. Have you heard any of the other ladies in town mention such a person—a Chinese woman who seems to be without a place to stay?”

Her blood ran cold. “No, sir. None of the women have mentioned anyone like that to me.”

He touched the brim of his worn hat. “Thank you, Miss Bloom. I appreciate your taking the time to speak with me. Now get home safely, you hear? Storm’s coming and you don’t want to be caught out in it.”

“Will do, Sheriff. But I’m curious…can you tell me why you want to question the woman?”

He tucked his thumbs in his belt loops and rocked back on his heels.

“Won’t do no harm to satisfy your curiosity, ma’am. Chinese woman’s wanted for questioning in connection with a death. Her brother was killed. The ones who killed him, they say he had something that belonged to them and when they demanded he return it, he tried to shoot them. So I got a case of self-defense, a missing Chinese lady, and property that ain’t been found.”

She tried to hide her amazement by asking a final question, the way she thought an interested but completely uninvolved person might do. “How awful. Whatever did the man have that would cause such an unfortunate outcome?”

“Well, I’m told it’s a very large, valuable black pearl.”