Forever and Always (26 page)

“I can't expect you to understand how I feel about finding my brothers. It's like finding a part of me that's been missing. They're really fine men. I'm proud to be their brother.”

“I'm sure they are,” Bridgette said, struggling to keep her voice calm, “but you can't have anything in common with them. Have they ever been to the theater, read a book, or consorted with educated men? You're part of a social elite they know nothing about.”

“Much to my surprise, I feel very comfortable here. I often felt I didn't belong in Chicago or in the
social elite
. I know my father didn't. Maybe you've forgotten, but he found me when he was traveling the Santa Fe Trail. For years we slept on the ground, fought Indians and flood-swollen rivers, and cooked our meals over an open fire. I was over twenty before we stopped.”

“That doesn't mean you have to do anything like that now.”

“I don't know how much time I have left, but I intend to enjoy it. And I've been happier here than anywhere since my father died.”

“You have friends in Chicago who'll help you enjoy your time,” Bridgette said.

“No, they won't. They'll be horrified by the way I look and worried I might get sick in front of them. They won't know what to say and will end up avoiding me. Besides, I don't have friends, just business acquaintances. That's my own fault, but it's also true.”

A soft knock preceded Sibyl's entrance.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it time for Logan to rest,” she said to Bridgette. “You can come back tomorrow.”

Bridgette ignored Sibyl. “I'm not giving up. You belong in Chicago, not here. I'll be back as soon as I'm allowed.” With that, she turned and sailed through the door without acknowledging Sibyl's presence.

“What was that about?” Sibyl asked. “I've never seen her so angry.”

“I told her something she didn't want to hear.”

“Warn me next time. When she started screaming, Kitty was sure she was going to attack you.”

“Tell Kitty I'm perfectly safe.”

“You can tell her yourself, but only after your nap. Is there anything I can get you before I go?”

“More time with you.”

Sibyl's expression softened. “That's why I'm taking such good care of you. I want the same thing.” Instead of leaving, she pulled a chair next to his, sat down, and clasped his hands in hers. “I know she's your cousin, but I don't like Bridgette coming here. She thinks she's doing the right thing, but she always upsets you.”

“She can't understand why I don't want to go back to Chicago.”

“You mean she can't understand why you want to be around people like us. She thinks we're hardly better than savages.”

“Bridgette can't imagine anything better than being part of Chicago's social scene. I can because I've found what I want right here.” Logan pulled Sibyl close enough for a quick kiss. “The swelling is going down. Soon you won't have to close your eyes when I kiss you.”

Sibyl pinched him. “I've never closed my eyes.”

“I know. That's just one more thing that has happened to me since I came to this magical town that I don't understand.”

Sibyl smiled and kissed him. “You don't have to understand. Just accept it. Now I want you to get your rest. Bridgette would wear down a saint. I want you here as long as possible.”

* * *

“Are you sure you're feeling up to this?” Sibyl asked for the third time in the last fifteen minutes. “Having all three families here at once will be exhausting.”

“I'm feeling fine. I wouldn't have missed a minute of this.”

Having learned that their husbands were Logan's brothers, Naomi and Laurie arranged a gathering of the clan at Sibyl's house to properly celebrate the brothers being together at last. All the children were included so they could be introduced to Logan as their new uncle. Peter and Esther were delighted, but Kitty was unhappy because she thought that somehow made Logan belong more to them than to her. He was sure the feeling grew stronger when Peter said they all ought to have the same name.

“We haven't talked about that,” his father told him.

“How can you be brothers if you all have different names?” he asked. “We changed our names when you got to be our papa.”

“The poor kids,” Sibyl said. “First they were Stuarts then Blaines. Now you want them to become Holstocks. They won't know who they are.”

“It would be strange calling myself Naomi Holstock,” Naomi said to Colby, “but not half as weird as calling you Kevin. I don't think I could do that.”

“Colby Holstock wouldn't be a bad compromise,” Laurie said. “I think I'd like being Laurie Holstock better than Laurie Smith.”

“Nobody needs to change their names,” Logan said. “You've gotten along just fine as Blaines and Smiths for the last two years. Don't change that because of me.”

“I don't agree,” Colby said. “I don't think I could ever get used to being called Kevin, but I would be proud to be called Colby Holstock. I spent years looking for my brothers. Now that I've found both of you, I want us to
feel
like brothers. I think changing my name to Holstock is one way to do that.”

“I feel the same,” Jared said to Logan. “I've always known I was a Holstock, so it won't be much of a change for me.”

“I don't see why it's such a problem,” Sibyl said. “Women have to change their names all the time.”

“I've had three names,” Laurie said, “and now you're thinking of giving me a fourth. I don't want to hear complaints from any of you men.”

“I'm hungry,” Peter announced. “When are we going to eat?”

“Leave it to Peter to remind us of the really important things in life,” his proud father said.

For Logan, the most important thing in his life right then was their coming together as a family. Eating together was just one more way to celebrate it.

* * *

“What are you doing out of bed?” Cassie was waiting at the bank door the next morning when Sibyl and Logan came to open up. “I'm sure the doctor thinks you're still in bed.”

Sibyl gave Logan a stern look. “He's here because he's too stubborn to listen to good advice, no matter where it comes from. I managed one small victory. He's not going back to his camp on the Rim. Colby said animals have destroyed it, and the doctor has absolutely forbidden it.”

“I can't see why you would want to go back there when you can stay in a perfectly good house with someone to wait on you hand and foot.”

Sibyl looked slightly discomfited.

“I feel fine, much better than I have on some days when I've come to work.”

“That's not a good excuse to go back to your camp or be out of bed,” Cassie said as she followed them into the bank. “The fact that you're feeling better just proves you should have stayed in bed. You didn't start feeling better when you were running all over town making a hero of yourself.”

Logan decided there was nothing he could do to stop people calling him a hero other than to ignore it. They didn't understand that when one was going to die, one didn't fear death. “I was bored, and Sibyl felt she couldn't leave me to come to work.”

“I even got Kitty to beg him to stay home,” Sibyl said. “She has more influence over him than I have.”

Cassie settled at her desk and began arranging the flowers she'd brought. “Don't try pulling that wool over my eyes,” she said. “I know you're in love with each other. Half the town knows it, and the other half suspects.”

Sibyl paled, but Logan experienced a sense of relief. If everybody knew or suspected, there was no need to hide his feelings any longer.

“They've been polite enough not to say anything—they're waiting for you to say it—but I don't think that'll last much longer.”

Horace breezed through the doors. “There's a crowd gathering already,” he told them. “The news is around town that Logan is out of bed, and they want to see what he looks like. It seems Peter has been telling everyone that you've seen God.”

Logan couldn't repress a chuckle. “I can't wait for that boy to grow up. The Territory will never be the same again.”

“That's what Naomi's afraid of,” Cassie said. “It's got me worried because Little Abe wants to be just like him.”

“I might as well be on one of the windows with Horace,” Logan said to Sibyl. “That way everybody can see that I'm alive without having to disturb you.”

“Most of the ones I saw have their accounts at the Community Bank,” Horace informed them. “They're just here to look.”

“Think we ought to charge them?” Logan asked. “What is it worth to see the local freak? Two bits? Half a dollar? Better yet, let's require them to make a deposit first.”

Sibyl failed to see any humor in Logan's remarks. “Don't you
ever
say anything like that again! And if anyone in this town dares, they'll never again set foot in my bank or my home.”

“Mine, either,” Cassie echoed.

Logan had been half serious—he still couldn't look in a mirror without feeling like a circus sideshow attraction—but it did his heart good to see how angry that made Sibyl. It was further proof that she didn't care how he looked.

“I wasn't serious,” he said, “but I should work one of the windows. That will leave Horace free to deal with the people who really do want to do business.”

Sibyl reluctantly agreed, but she made an angry remark about people treating Logan like a spectacle.

“I don't think that's it,” Cassie said. “People really like him. Besides, anyone who can stop a runaway wagon and shoot better than Colby is a celebrity in this town.”

Hearing that tempted Logan to hide in his office, but he resisted the urge. The only way to get this over with was to deal with it right now. People's curiosity never lasted long. Peter was bound to do something that would oust him from public attention soon.

“Okay,” Sibyl said before turning to her office, “but if anyone says anything rude or asks any question that's none of their business, let me know. I'm not going to allow anyone working for me to be harassed.”

“Are you ready for me to open the doors?” Horace asked.

“Let me do it,” Cassie said. “They might run right over you.”

There wasn't much of a crowd outside, just a few who went directly to Logan. After the first few, Logan was able to relax and enjoy it. It became clear that people were genuinely interested in him, not just as a curiosity.

One visitor in particular interested him—the Pinkerton who'd traced him from Chicago. The man spent a long time talking to Cassie before coming over to Logan—so long that Logan began to wonder if Cassie wasn't of more interest to the man than he was.

“What are you doing here?” Logan asked when the man came to his window.

“I want to open an account and make a deposit.”

“You should see Horace.”

“I'd rather see you.”

“Why?”

“I have some information I think you might want.”

“You worked for Bridgette Lowe. Doesn't it seem dishonest to you to turn around and offer information about her to me?”

“No. I did what she asked. The information I'm offering to you I gathered after I completed the job for her.”

“I'd rather not have it,” Logan said. “Now, if you really do want to open an account, I'll help you.”

After the agent opened his account and made his deposit, he said to Logan, “I'll be around for a while in case you change your mind.”

He left without waiting for an answer.

A steady flow of visitors came into the bank, more than any day since Logan had been there. Horace was tied up with a customer when a man wearing an army uniform entered. A number of people were in the bank, but all but one of them were gathered in small groups talking. Seeing Logan's window free, the man walked over.

“How can I help you?” Logan asked.

“My name is Major Killoran. I'd like to see Mrs. Sibyl Spencer.”

“Could I ask what about?”

“I'm looking into the disappearance of Raymond Sinclair. I'd like to see if she is able to help me.”

“I don't know anyone by that name in Cactus Corner.”

“I doubt he'd be here. He disappeared in Kentucky seven years ago.”

“Then why are you here?”

“The man's father thinks he was murdered, and he thinks Mrs. Spencer knows who did it.”

Logan hadn't realized it at first, but except for the voices of Horace and Cassie, the bank had fallen eerily silent. Several women were staring at the army officer with a look of horror on their faces. Others turned abruptly and left so hurriedly Logan could only think they were fleeing something that had frightened them.

“I'll get Mrs. Spencer,” Logan told the man.

Sibyl struggled not to show the panic that had her brain in a whirl and her heart beating much too rapidly. “I'm sorry, but I can't help you,” she told the major. “It's true that Raymond and I were seeing each other, but I don't know what happened to him.”

“His father said you were engaged.”

“That's not true. Raymond
did
want to marry me, but my father thought I was too young to marry a man ten years older, especially a soldier in the middle of the war.”

“His father says Raymond was willing to wait until after the war. Wouldn't that have removed your father's objections?”

Sibyl had done her best to erase the events of that momentous year from her mind. It had caused nothing but pain, horror, and a persistent fear that she would be accused of murder. It didn't matter that she was guiltless. She had been entangled in events she was unable to control. Now this man was forcing her to reveal information she had hoped would remain buried forever.

“That's not true, either. Raymond might have been willing to wait until the end of the war if he'd had no choice, but he tried to convince me to run away with him. I was a remarkably naive and romantic girl of fifteen, too foolish to understand what running away meant. My father found out and told Raymond he was never to come to our house again.” Sibyl paused only briefly because she'd known what to say for seven years. “I never saw him again.”

“His father doesn't believe that's true. He's never stopped trying to clear his name.”

“I think it's easy to understand why he would prefer to believe someone in Spencer's Clearing was responsible for his son's disappearance rather than be forced to admit he was a thief and a deserter.”

“Who told you that?”

“The army sent people to investigate right after Raymond disappeared. They came to see me for the same reason you're here. They're the ones who said Raymond stole an army payroll, and they're the ones who said he'd deserted. I'm sure there's an official record somewhere that says that.”

“There is, but his father doesn't believe that's what happened.”

“Then how does he explain the stolen payroll?”

“Another soldier deserted that night. He believes that soldier stole the money.”

“The army people said Raymond and that soldier were friends. That's why they believed they had stolen the money and deserted together. The last anybody heard, they never found either of them. I can't think of any reason they would have had for coming to Spencer's Clearing. I would have thought both men would have wanted to get as far away from the army as possible, as quickly as possible.”

“The army report said they traced them to your village.”

“It also said they found no proof that they'd ever been there. They found their horses a long way from Spencer's Clearing. The horses weren't together, so they figured they split up. I know this because my father was angry about the accusations and followed the investigation until it was over.”

Sibyl had told more lies in the last few minutes than she'd told in her whole life, but she wasn't about to stop now. Anything that hurt her would also hurt Kitty, and she would do anything to protect her daughter.

“I'm going to talk to other people in town. If I hear anything different, I'm coming back.”

The door to her office opened, and Logan walked in.

“You're going to leave this office right now,” he said. “And if you come back without making an apology for the way you've spoken to Mrs. Spencer, the army is going to think it has another deserter on its hands.”

The major stood, rising to his full height, which was several inches shorter than Logan's. “Are you threatening me?”

“Not at all. I'm merely stating a fact.”

“The army wouldn't stop until they found out what happened to me. A major is a person of importance.”

“That wouldn't help you if you were dead.”

The major looked as though he couldn't believe his ears. “I can report this.”

“Do as you please. I can also report
you
—or we can both deny the threat. Whichever appears to be most to our advantage.”

“I don't believe you.”

Logan didn't answer, merely drew a pistol and put a hole in the major's hat, which he'd been rude enough to leave on his head.

The hat having been blown off his head, the major clamped his hand down on his baldpate. His look of astonishment was comical. Recovering himself, he crossed the room, picked up his hat, and stared at the hole in it. He looked up at Logan, his expression a mixture of cold fury and shock. “You could have killed me.”

“Could have, but didn't,” Logan said.

Cassie burst into the office. “Did that army man shoot either one of you?”

“
Me
, shoot!” the major shouted, goggle-eyed. “That man tried to kill me.”

“If he'd wanted you dead, you'd be dead,” Cassie told him. “He can put three bullets into a hole so small it looks like just one. Ask anybody in town. They'll tell you.”

“The major is leaving,” Logan told Cassie. “See that he doesn't get lost on his way out.”

“Be glad to.” Cassie turned to the major. “I don't know what you're doing in this town, but you're not the first person to be shot at in this bank. All the others are dead. I suggest you don't come back.”

The major stared at his hat before putting it back on his head. “You haven't heard the last of this.”

“I hadn't expected to be that lucky,” Logan said. “Next time, I suggest you talk to the marshal before you go around threatening people.”

“There's an army post just up the river. I'm sure they won't look favorably on a fellow officer being shot at.”

“Jared Smith used to be the commander there. He can tell you all about it. He has a ranch between here and the fort. It'll be on your way. By the way, he's married to Mrs. Spencer's cousin. It's a very close family.”

The major looked about ready to say something else. Instead, he turned and marched toward the door. Horace practically fell into the room when he opened it. The major was momentarily stymied by the crowd gathered outside the office door. Then, with a look of determination, he charged through and out of the bank.

“I wasn't trying to listen,” Horace hastened to explain. “I was trying to keep everybody out. A couple of men raced off to get their guns.”

“All the excitement's over,” Cassie announced, “so everybody can go home.” With that, she firmly closed the door on all the curious glances.

Sibyl remained standing for a moment then slowly sank into her chair. “You're crazy,” she said when she managed to find her voice. “You do realize you just shot at a major in the United States Army.”

“I merely tried to teach a lesson to a brute who thinks a uniform gives him the right to mistreat a lady.”

“What if Jared can't get you out of this?”

“I'm not depending on Jared to do anything. I can defend myself.”

“
You shot at an army officer!
”

“I know, but he was a very poor example of one.”

Sibyl gripped the edge of her desk. “Are you trying to give Bridgette proof that your illness has made you act crazy?”

Logan lost a little of his imperturbability. “I won't allow anyone to treat you like that. I don't care who he is.”

“He wasn't going to hurt me. He was just annoyed I didn't give him the answers he wanted.”

Logan came closer, took Sibyl's hands in his. “I don't care whether he was annoyed or mad as hell. I won't let him treat you like that.” He pulled her closer. “I mean to protect you.”

Sibyl looked up at him. “I wasn't in any danger, and I'm not now.”

“That isn't the point. I won't let—”

“I understand,” Sibyl said, “but please don't do it again. I nearly had heart failure.” A slow smile appeared. “You really are a remarkable man. How did you ever manage to be tame enough to live in Chicago?”

Some of the tension left Logan, and he smiled. “I traveled the Santa Fe Trail until I was twenty-five. After that, I took up target shooting. Maybe that explains it. I don't know, but I intend to see you don't have to defend yourself.”

He didn't know what he was getting into, and she couldn't tell him. It was her past, and she had no right to draw him into it. “Thank you. Now you'd better spend the rest of the day in your office well out of sight. I don't know what I'm going to tell people when they ask why they heard a pistol shot in my office.”

“Why not tell them the truth? That major was being rude, and I thought a hole in his hat was the best way to make the point.”

She might as well. After the things he'd done, no one would question it. She hoped he was truly better. The world couldn't afford to lose a man like Logan Holstock.

* * *

“I don't know what's wrong,” Cassie announced to no one in particular, “but everybody's acting really weird. Anytime someone mentions that major's name, people act like they've seen a ghost. When he tries to talk to people, they turn into gobbling idiots. What's wrong with them?”

More than a dozen adults had gathered in Sibyl's parlor to discuss an event that had turned the whole town on its ear. The U.S. Army major had kept his promise and had started asking questions of everyone about the disappearance of Raymond Sinclair. Most of the people barely knew Raymond or his family, which had sided with the North during the war. Being on the dividing line between the two armies, the people of Spencer's Clearing had remained neutral. Both armies had claimed the surrounding territory from time to time, but no one had been killed.

“Before the war, Raymond Sinclair was sweet on Sibyl,” Dr. Kessling told Cassie. “He wanted to marry her, but her parents insisted she was too young. When he tried to convince her to run away with him, her father told him never to come back.”

Logan's gaze hadn't left Sibyl from the moment he joined the meeting. Sibyl had said there was no reason for him to be here, that he ought to rest, but he could tell from the change in her after the major's visit that something very important had taken place, or was about to. He was spending more time out of the bed than in it and was determined to protect her no matter what he had to do.

“In 1863, Raymond and another soldier disappeared about the same time an army payroll went missing,” the doctor continued. “The army investigated at the time, but they were never able to find either man or the money. However, Raymond's father was convinced he had gone to Spencer's Clearing, and that somebody there knew what had happened to him and the money.”

“What did happen?” Cassie asked.

“Nobody's sure,” the doctor said, “but we're sure something
did
happen. The problem is that only Norman Spencer and Vernon Edwards knew if Raymond Sinclair was involved and what might have happened to him. Everybody was sworn to secrecy and told never to divulge what they knew. Since they're both dead, we'll never know what really happened.”

“I think it's time everybody told what they do know,” Colby said. “I'm sure nobody here is guilty of a crime, but we need to come up with some answers. The major told me Raymond's father has become one of the richest men in Kentucky. He has enough influence to keep this going for years.” He turned to his wife. “You might as well start.”

Naomi didn't look happy, but she spoke with a firm voice. “I don't know anything about Raymond, but I know something about the other man. When my Grandfather Brown caught that man trying to steal from him, the soldier killed my grandfather. I came in at that moment. I barely remember what happened, but I know I shot the soldier. I don't know what happened to him or the money.”

Frank Oliver spoke up. “I know nothing about the money, but I know what happened to the body. We were afraid the Union Army would never believe we knew nothing about the stolen payroll or why the soldier had died, so we buried him in the bottom of the grave we used for Grandpa Brown.”

There was a long silence. Finally, Laurie spoke up. “I know nothing about either man, but I know what happened to some of the money. I took it.”

There was an audible gasp.

“I didn't know it was part of an army payroll, or I'd never have touched it. I found it in the soldier's saddlebags when I was helping clean up Grandpa Brown's house. I was desperate to get out of my marriage to Noah. I hid it in case I could use it someday.”

“Do you still have it?” Dr. Kessling asked.

“When I found out Norman intended to exercise even more control over me than Noah, I used it to buy a partnership in Jared's ranch. I can pay it back if it would help.”

“From what the major says, the payroll isn't the issue,” Colby said. “He's only interested in what happened to Raymond Sinclair because his father is putting a lot of pressure on the army to find out.”

One after another, everyone present said they knew nothing about Raymond.

“There was nobody out and about that night,” Virgil Johnson said. “All the men were off hunting, the women were at a sewing bee, and the children were with Flora Hill and Pearl Sumner. If Naomi hadn't gone home for some scraps she wanted to put in the quilt, nobody would have known about the other soldier.”

“Are you saying that if Raymond Sinclair was in Spencer's Clearing that night, nobody saw him?” Logan asked.

There were nods from all around the room, but Logan noticed Sibyl didn't respond with the others. Worse than that, she'd looked like she was about to faint all evening. She knew something, but she was too afraid to tell it. He didn't believe she had done anything wrong, but he was convinced she knew someone who had. She was a strong, sensible woman who didn't let herself panic when things went wrong. Now she looked as though she'd like nothing better than to run from the room and stay hidden until this whole thing blew over.