Chapter 22 - Sneaking
It was all rather exciting. Pierce picked them up with a private carriage and driver. Annie wore a new dress for the occasion, a deep magenta fabric that complimented her pale skin and natural blush. The seamstress raised an eyebrow at the bold color that Annie chose when she ordered the new dresses, but when Annie tried the dress on, the seamstress also agreed that she looked rather handsome, bright like a pink orchid in the gray winter. This morning Jeff hugged her from behind as she fastened the front buttons over the corset, placing his chin on her shoulder. "New dress?"
"For our trip."
"For Pierce?"
She laughed and turned her face to an angle that allowed her to kiss his cheek, and whispered, "Of course it's for Pierce."
Jeff chuckled, graciously accepted his defeat, and told her he liked the dress on her.
Pierce picked them up from their house, then the nurse and the deputy from the inn. Brita and Troy filled the drive with talk, and Pierce occasionally intervened, adding his opinions. Brita wore a new dress as well, in blue and purple plaid, but her skirt was half the size of Annie's - the cut was firstly because Brita couldn't afford enough fabric, but the narrower skirt suited Brita's rebellious nature. And she said it was more comfortable for work than the fashionable bowl-shaped, heavy skirts, anyway.
Jeff sat quietly next to her, and after pretending to suffer for a while, turned and looked out the window. Annie grabbed his hand and didn't let go until they reached the mine.
Jeff helped her off the carriage, carefully helping her to the ground. It seemed as if only yesterday he was leaning on her, and now he was her crutch. He didn't regain his original strength before the injury, but he was mostly healthy, which was the most important thing.
Troy offered Brita his hand to get out of the carriage, and she was visibly debating whether or not to take it. Finally Pierce said, "Miss Perry, are you coming or not?" And she hurried to take Troy's hand. "Just to be clear, I could do it by myself," Brita told him. Troy nodded: "Of course."
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," Pierce led them to the entrance and waved his hand, "to the Cornelius Hawthorne Gold Mine."
The mine fit the reports that said that it was located across the lake on the outskirts of town. The land rose and became small mountains, and the entrance to the mine was at the beginning of the slope. Wooden beams held the ceiling and a crumbling sign hung to the right of the entrance on iron chains. Annie tried to read the writing but the letters were too faded.
"We'll put up a new sign, of course," Pierce told her. "I think maybe in all capital letters 'HAWTHORNE & SONS', what do you think?"
"Splendid idea."
Pierce brought lamps, and each man took one. Annie folded her hand into Jeff's arm, hiding her smile as Brita did the same with Troy. The lad was beaming.
Pierce walked first, and they followed him into the darkness.
Annie clung to Jeff's side. He was holding the lantern high, to fill the entire hallway. The ceiling wasn't much higher than his head. "Are you alright, little one?" He asked in a low voice.
Annie nodded, her eyes moving across the dirt floor, the stone walls and supporting beams. There were niches in the wall, a place for a lamp or a candle. But apart from them and the bats, whose wings rustled as they flew over them, no one was there.
"How dark it is," she whispered to him. "It's like the middle of the night." She wondered what her magenta dress would look like when she stepped back outside, and bent down to raise the hem of the skirt, to minimize the damage.
"And cold," Jeff said, kicking something on the ground. It was cold, but they were dressed for the winter outside and Annie drew heat from him.
Pierce walked in front of them, chattering, unaware that they were only half-listening to him. He talked about his father, his investments, the history of the mine - which apparently was very old, older then the town itself.
Behind them Troy was telling Brita the story of Shirley's Spoons. Brita laughed when Troy told how they found alcohol in the suspect's room, and gasped when he recounted how he and Annie had almost been caught trespassing. Troy found the ideal person to hear his stories.
Jeff passed the lamp to her, so he could tear down cobwebs on the ceiling. She raised the lantern when they passed the corner and Pierce said, "There's a chasm here, be careful."
The chasm to their left was as deep as Annie could see, but thankfully surrounded by a wooden fence. Jeff circled her waist as he looked over her shoulder, his hand resting on the side of her belly. After a few minutes' walk the chasm was replaced by a wall again, and they went down another tunnel. Pierce led them until they reached a wider room and stood at the entrance. "I want to show you something. Let's wait for Miss Perry and Mr. Barnes."
It was a railroad track with carts, an old iron track mostly covered with dirt. Pierce stopped to explain the track's purpose and how it worked, and Troy and Brita responded enthusiastically as he showed them how to move the carts. He tried to push the lever that should start the mechanical moving, but it's been a long time since the carts had been moved, rust accumulated in the joints. Pierce asked Troy to help him push the lever.
Annie was standing behind Brita, who was impatiently waiting for the men to move the metal carts.
Jeff whispered in her ear, "Come with me."
She let him lead her out of the great room, into a new tunnel. "Jeff, where are you taking me?" She asked, giggling, trying to keep the lantern high enough, since without Pierce in front of them and Troy behind them, their small lantern didn't reveal much.
"You'll see soon." His big hand cupped hers and pulled her down the tunnel impatiently. There was a split to the right, and Jeff led her there. "Do you remember the way back?" Annie asked, looking back at the darkness that followed them.
"I remember, don't worry." After a few more steps he stopped, looking around.
Annie moved the lamp right and left, and saw nothing special. "Why are we here?"
Jeff turned to her, his arms wrapping around her easily, caressing her back under the cape she wore, and he guided her until her back touched the cold stone wall. He smiled down at her, his face mostly in the dark, shadows flashing across his face from the lamp she held behind his back. Annie wrapped her empty hand around his waist, and raised the hand with the lamp to see his face better.
"I wanted to take you away from everyone," Jeff smiled, smug, "so I can kiss you."
He leaned to her until his nose brushed hers, and the darkness and cold no longer bothered her. His breath on her mouth was warm, and his body almost completely surrounded her. But he waited, and she finally understood what he was waiting for, and pressed her mouth to his.
It got dark as she lowered the lamp to concentrate on his kiss. Jeff was impatient, his tongue seeking immediate entry, and she opened her lips in the dark, allowing him. The wall was cold and lumpy, but that didn't bother her when he held her. It wasn't an appropriate place for fooling around, in an empty mine not far from their friends, but it was part of what accelerated her pulse. Her hand sneaked under his long coat, caressing his back muscles through his shirt and vest.
It was all feelings now, as the darkness swallowed them both; sense and sounds. The mine was almost completely silent. The voices of Pierce and the others absorbed into the ground and could barely be heard two corridors away. More than anything, Annie heard their quick breaths, the sighs of pleasure, and the sound their mouths made as they kissed. Jeff realized they were running to a destination they couldn't reach, and slowed down, stopped his frantic ravishing of her, and changed to long, slow movements with his mouth and tongue that made her stomach tighten with desire.
The lantern began to weigh on her, and the light didn't even reach their eyes. She tried to blindly search a dent in the wall behind her, and Jeff let go of her when she became unresponsive. She used the pause to search with both hands, and when she couldn't find a dent, she bent over, grabbed Jeff's hand so as not to fall - and put the lamp on the ground by their feet.
He helped her up and resumed the kiss, pinning her to the wall and demanding her mouth again in the cool quiet.
She didn't know how long they stood in the dark, lost in kiss, lost in time, in each other. But it was heaven. If she knew this was waiting for her after Jeff returned from the war, she wouldn't have worried for a moment.
Someone's voice finally reached them, and Annie put her hand on Jeff's chest to keep him at bay. Pierce was calling their names, looking for them.
"We're here!" Jeff called in the direction they came from. Then he kissed the back of her hand and murmured, "M'lady."
Annie couldn't help but smile. She was happy. It was strange to figure it out in the depths of an abandoned gold mine, but it was true nonetheless. Thank God she convinced Jeff to come with her. "M'lord."
Jeff stepped back, bent down to pick up the lantern from the ground, and stopped, looking at the floor. "What is this?"
"What do you mean?" Annie followed his gaze. Jeff picked up the lantern handle, moving it back and forth, and Annie saw a rope on the floor, twisting like a snake into a room she hadn't seen until now, two feet away. Jeff took her hand and stepped to the doorway. Annie stopped beside him as he illuminated a room full of barrels, dirty with coarse black sand.
"Jeff? Miss Annie?" Pierce called behind them. "Where are you?"
"We're here!" Annie called, and Jeff snapped his head to her. She wanted to ask him what's wrong, but Pierce was already there.
"Oh! There you are! You gave me a fright. What were you doing... here?" The last word died in Pierce's mouth.
Jeff said without turning, "Pierce, what the hell is this?"
Pierce stood behind them, and his lantern added to the light in the room, and Annie finally knew what she was looking at: gunpowder. Barrels upon barrels of gunpowder.
"Crap," Pierce whispered.
Annie raised an eyebrow at the curse.
Jeff shot a frown over his shoulder. "Remember yourself, we're in the presence of a lady."
"Pardon, Miss Annie," Pierce immediately apologized. "It's just… you weren't supposed to find it."
"So it's yours?" Jeff didn't sound pleased.
"Listen, no need to linger here. I left the young couple behind, we should return, they are without a chaperon."
"I'll assume it's yours for now," Jeff said, turning to Pierce and starting back down the path they came, pulling Annie with him. "But I'm expecting explanations when we're out of here."
"Jeff, we're pals," Pierce followed them, trying to keep pace with Jeff, who remembered the way back, as he said.
"I'm still the sheriff," Jeff answered. "So you'll give me all the information. I'm in charge of the security of the town, and I'll give you a chance to explain to me why a bomb-filled room isn't a danger to the town."
"Jeff," Annie murmured, squeezing the hand holding hers as he walked hastily, his steps longer than hers. "You're running."
"We're holding fire," Jeff hissed, "and the room back there is full of black powder, some of which is visible. I won't stay another minute."
She didn't think of that. Visible powder, accidental flame touching it, and they are in a mine that reclined on wooden beams. She imagined the ceiling cracking and breaking over them, burying them alive, and understood his need to get out of the mouse trap they found themselves in.
They reached the room where Brita and Troy were waiting. Jeff commanded, "We're going out! Follow me!"
Although Pierce was behind them and could lead, no one argued with her husband. Something in his voice told them it was better to listen to him.
:::
That crazy man held Black Powder - and he kept it in a damn mine. In the middle of the mine! What was he thinking?
Pearce explained that he had bought the powder from someone who wasn't supposed to sell powder to civilians, so he had to hide it. And what better place to hide than an abandoned mine?
"Did it occur to you that you might start a fire and the whole mountain would fall on you and kill you?" Jeff yelled at him in the back room of the saloon.
"A little powder doesn't do any harm," Pierce said. "The fire will consume the outside powder and stop when it reaches the barrels..."
"Which is made of wood!" Jeff wanted to shake him. "They'll burn and explode faster than you can say Geronimo!"
"No way," Pierce made a face. "Pfff, that won't happen."
Jeff thought of Annie, the baby she was carrying in her womb, and how close she was to the barrels as they stood together in the doorway. "Can you fathom that you brought my pregnant wife to a bomb-filled mine?!"
"You weren't supposed to go there," Pierce said. "I just wanted to show you the carts, and then we would have gone back."
He was actually blaming him for sneaking with his wife into a place he didn't know was dangerous. He thought about the kiss in the dark, long moments when he was on top of the world, when Annie let him kiss her like a lustful boy and wanted it, and all this time there was a room full of exposed bombs. And Annie put the lantern on the floor! What would have happened if they had kicked it by mistake?
"You'll find another place to put your bombs," Jeff said, shoving his finger in Pierce's chest. "I don't care where. Find another cave, less deep. Dig a hole. I don't know. But get them out of there. If you plan to reopen this mine, it must be safe." Jeff took a deep breath and rubbed his face. "If not for me, at least do it for the sake of my wife. She believes in you and likes you, so man up and do the right thing for her."
When Jeff walked out of the saloon, he had Pierce's promise to do whatever Jeff said.
:::
It was his third day following Stephen James. The man was easy to spot when he walked out of the inn, dressed in his stylish pin-striped gray suit.
Jeff remained at a safe distance, tailing the tall man around the quiet Greendale streets. The rain ceased for a week now, and an intrusive wind replaced it. Brita was right: his ribs hurt in the winter. But he was dressed in a warm coat that reached the middle of his thighs, and he wasn't going to let anything stop him from fulfilling his duty to the town. Stephen was trouble, he was sure of it.
The mayor's office stood almost on the town square. Jeff watched as Stephen entered the building, taking off his bowler and closing the door behind him.
What did he want from the Mayor? Jeff hadn't thought about it in years, but the memories came back easily. How he arrived at Greendale at night, at a similar time - close to the end of winter, and rented a room in Shirley's inn. How he assimilated in the town, drinking in the saloon with Greendale's men, and charmed Shirley and other females with his irresistible smile and wit. And how he talked to the mayor, all friendly-like and prepared the ground for the raid. Most of what he did previous to the raid was no sin, except for the fact that he lied about his intentions. What came after the raid was the issue.
He was right: Stephen walked out of the building accompanied by Mayor Pelton, who was patting the lawyer's back, laughing at something he said. They shook hands and Stephen went on his way. Jeff continued after him.
He walked up to James' house. He did claim Kyle James was his brother. Now that Jeff thought about it, they looked similar: the same skin, the same hair, smooth face. Kyle was stockier and his face rounder, but there was no doubt they were brothers.
Jeff hid in an alley when Stephen walked over to the house. Mrs. James stood outside hanging laundry on long ropes, and didn't see him until he called her name. As soon as she heard him, she ran to him and pounced on him, hugging him tight.
Jeff strained his ears to hear the conversation.
"...Stephen! You're finally here!"
"Dear sister. How good to see you. It's been a long while..."
"...Ten years. I can't believe you are..." Her voice didn't carry well. Jeff saw her touch his shoulder, her hand sliding to his arm, in a move that many women made on him as they tried to seduce him without being too obvious.
"...Where's my younger brother?" Stephen asked.
"Inside. Maybe you'll be able to get him to..." They walked away and Jeff didn't hear anymore. They entered the house and closed the door behind them.
He was done here. The sun was setting, and he already knew why Stephen was in town. And Annie would worry if he was late.
He got out of his hiding place and went past the James' house.
"Jeffery?"
He looked left and right, and on the other side of the house he found Annie, hidden behind the clothes Nicole had hung, in a brown daytime dress that blended in with the winter mud. Her eyes were wide, her hand resting on her heart.
"Annie?... What?.."
She walked over to him and grabbed his hand. "You're going home, right?"
"Yes..?"
"We'd better go."
Jeff didn't ask and didn't ask and didn't ask, until he couldn't anymore. "What were you doing there?"
"I… wanted to tell her that I asked the women to let her back in the gathering. I wanted to tell her that they agreed."
"You're a bloody saint," Jeff groaned, raising her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles. "You shouldn't have done that."
"What's done is done." Annie shook her head. "But maybe I'll ask someone else to tell her she can come back. I thought I could do it, but when I saw her, I couldn't even show myself." She was disappointed with herself, her voice small. "I was... scared of her."
"Understandably," Jeff reassured her. "She's a scary woman."
"She's just a woman." But she said it without her usual spunk. She still remembered the pain, the looks, the insults and harassment that one woman brought with her bad words. "So I held back, and saw her with... with her brother-in-law."
"I saw them too," Jeff admitted.
"She's... did you see that?"
"Yes, I did." In fact, he wasn't sure if she was saying what he thought she was. "What did you see?"
"I saw how she... hugged him. And looked at him. And touched him."
Jeff nodded. That's what he saw. "Yes. She seems to have a devotion for any man whose surname is James."
"Jeffrey," Annie whispered. "I think her devotion is reserved for only one man whose surname is James."
"Not her husband?"
"No."
They were both silent until they reached their house, and it was only when they stood at the door that she looked at him wonderingly. "What were you doing there? Were you following... Nicole?"
He couldn't tell her. She would worry to no avail, since she could do nothing about it. It's bad to worry a pregnant woman. He can't tell her about Stephen. "I was just passing," he said. "And I, too, like you, didn't want Mrs. James to see me."
Annie believed him, and turned to go in without any further questions.
:::
Shirley was livid.
She bustled around the inn's kitchen, tending to bubbly stews, large pots and rolls in the oven, tasting and seasoning and making sure nothing burned, while Annie sat at the table in the middle of the room cutting vegetables. Some of the food will go to families in need, and the rest will go to Shirley's and Annie's households. Annie worried that if Shirley continued her frantic movements, she would get a burn sooner or later.
"Why did you do that?" Shirley demanded. "She did everything in her power to ruin your life! She doesn't deserve a lick of kindness!" She let an iron lid fall back to the pot in a furious crash. "Especially not from you!"
Shirley didn't take the news about Nicole with the same understanding that Jeff had. But she was about to burst before Annie came. She's been like that for a while, ever since Andre came back.
Things weren't good between them. Not as Shirley hoped they would be. Andre was aloof and distant. Shirley deduced that he had returned out of no choice, since the war meant he could no longer trade in the South, but he denied it. He wanted to be there, he told her, with his wife and sons. He loved the boys, this much was obvious, and they were excited to have their father again. But Shirley wasn't sure he was happy with her.
Annie couldn't help. She couldn't give advice, when her relationship with Jeff was so quirky: born out of necessity, with feelings she had to hide in a box locked deep inside her heart - none of it was helpful to Shirley. And she didn't want to rub in Shirley's face how affectionate Jeff was being lately - he didn't have to tell her he was happy to be with her; He showed it in dozens of different ways.
"I see what you're saying," Annie said, tentative. "But I don't think she's acting out of malice. And I think this punishment isn't for her, but for her family, and they're innocent in this."
"Oh boo-hoo. So she's treating her family the way she treats you?"
"I don't know for sure," Annie sighed. "But Woody misses more and more school days, and every day he misses, it makes it harder for him to study when he does come. He was a good student, and now he's the last in my class. Something goes on with him, and he didn't tell me, but I bet it's Nicole."
"If there's a woman who lashes out at her family, it's probably Nicole," Shirley put out the fire under a few different pots. "But that's no reason to give her a prize!"
"It's not a prize though." Annie finished chopping the vegetables and pushed them over to Shirley, to signal that they were ready for cooking. Shirley opened one of the simmering pots, and unceremoniously tossed the vegetables into the water.
"Oww!"
Annie's prophecy came to be: Shirley was burned from the boiling water. She was sucking her fingers, folded over with pain.
Annie got up from the table as quickly as possible, running outside to bring cold water to cool the hot skin. She had to slow down, putting her hand on her belly. She could no longer run with this stomach.
To her relief, Abed appeared, and complied without hesitation when she ordered him to bring water from outside for Shirley.
Shirley immersed her hand in the bucket of frost water that Abed had placed on the bench, and sat down for the first time since Annie entered the kitchen. Annie took her place and kept a watchful eye on the pots and oven.
"How are you, Mr. Nadir?" Annie asked. She hadn't seen much of him lately, and she realized that she was missing him.
"I'm doing well, thank you. How are you? How is Jeff? How is the baby?"
"Oh!" Shirley gasped loudly, though the pain took half of her usual volume. "Mr. Nadir, you simply cannot ask a woman who hasn't given birth about her baby. It's so impolite!" Annie was glad to see that Shirley wasn't angry anymore. The burn distracted her from Andre, and Abed had an overall calming effect, even when he broke the rules of etiquette. Maybe the cold water contributed as well - Shirley submerged her arm in the bucket to the elbow.
"I wasn't aware of that," Abed said, his eyebrows furrowed. "In the book I've read, there were no comments about pregnant women."
"That's because it's rude to talk about it!" Shirley rolled her eyes. "It's just not done."
"Why?"
"If you can't figure it out for yourself, I can't tell you."
"That's preposterous. How can I learn what I'm not supposed to do, if no one is willing to tell me what I'm not supposed to do?"
Annie chuckled. "It is unfair," she agreed. "Abed, I think it's because a woman 'in the family way' is the result of unmentionable issues in proper society, if you gather my meaning."
"That's a very vague explanation," Abed said unemotionally, and she wasn't sure if he was cynical or honest. "But I appreciate the effort."
"Don't mention it."
"Do you know what I don't appreciate?"
"Please, enlighten me," Annie waved generously. Shirley smiled absently, staring at the table while listening to them, as the burn forced her to rest and do nothing for now. Annie smiled to herself and checked how the meat was brewing. It wasn't soft enough, so she gingerly closed the pot.
"I don't appreciate you and Jeff going without me to cute capers. Now that I have a girlfriend, this is a perfect opportunity to do things as a group. And what are you two doing? Going to a forgotten mine with Troy and the nurse." Although his voice was mostly emotionless, some irritation crept in. "The nurse! You didn't even know her until a month and a half ago."
"Abed, it wasn't on purpose."
"I wouldn't mind so much if Rachel didn't find out about it, but she was hurt. I don't like it when she's sad."
"Aww, Abed," Shirley said softly. "That's nice."
"I'm sorry," Annie said honestly. "It didn't occur to me. I didn't invite Troy and Brita, Troy asked Jeff to join us. And I admit I wanted to help him with Brita. Rachel and you have been together for a while, you don't need to impress her as much. But Troy just started courting her... You have to tell Rachel that I didn't mean any harm. Please."
"Invite them over," Shirley suggested. "To show goodwill."
"Right. Abed, would y'all like to come to dinner?"
Abed tilted his head. "Yes, that's an idea. And if you can let Rachel interview Jeff about his war experience, she'll feel even better."
Annie frowned. It felt like this whole conversation was Abed's roundabout ploy to force Jeff to give an interview for the paper.
"Abed, I can't promise anything like this in Jeff's name..."
He was still routinely awakened by war nightmares, and though he told her more about them, it didn't seem to help. She pondered it so much that she began to dream of the cannon smoke herself. And he didn't sleep well, though he insisted he felt as strong as a stud - and also tried to act like one. She wanted him to sleep more. One solution was to make love to him every night until he was thoroughly satisfied and tired of the act, and she wasn't a woman to oppose the pleasure he gave her, but it wasn't a perfect solution. He still woke up in the middle of the night. There were mornings she woke up to find him lying with his eyes open, after being awake for hours.
"All right, I'll tell Rachel that you'll ask him to do the interview," Abed said. The fact that he didn't regard her invitation reinforced her suspicion that his goal was the interview all along. "And we'll come to you next week. Make peas if you can. Rachel likes peas."
"Aww," Shirley let out a high pitched, dreamy sigh, probably over the way Abed spoke of Miss Duncan.
"Maybe you can come too?" Annie asked her. "You and Andre? I can finally find out what his job is. And I'll make the cake he likes." They hardly made cakes and cookies anymore (to Troy's sorrow) since there was a shortage of sugar. But to help Shirley, Annie would gladly give up a sugar ration or two.
Shirley smiled kindly at her, the water from the bucket creeping up the plaid sleeve of her dress. "Thanks, Annie. I'll ask him."
:::
Troy demanded answers.
Jeff disappeared every day for a week to follow Stephen, and Troy was bound to notice that his boss wasn't around the office half the time. Jeff had to tell him something, eventually.
"I'm tailing Stephen James."
"The brother of Kyle? From the bank?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Jeff scratched his stubble. What can he tell that won't give him away? The best route would probably be a clean version of the truth. "I've known him from the time that I was a lawyer. He was an attorney too, and our offices were close to each other. I collaborated with him once, and saw that his methods... weren't legal, per se."
"Percy?" Troy blinked. "Like Pierce?"
"What?" Jeff was taken aback for a moment, then recovered. "No! He was crooked, I mean!"
"Oh," Troy nodded. "A lawyer who works against the law! I see."
"Only problem, I had no way to prove it," Jeff moved on. Here he was entering the falsities territory. "He was smart about it, always conducted his actions in a way you couldn't pin anything on him. But I haven't seen him in years. And now that he's here, I'm not sure his intentions are pure, even though his brother lives here."
"May I come with you?" Troy offered. "You're still recovering from the injury."
"I'm fine," Jeff snapped. "I can even run, if need be." Run in pain. His ribs started to pound in unexpected moments due to any wrong move, sometimes for the mere wind passing through him. But Troy might find the truth about Jeff's past, which was undesirable.
"Boss, you call the shots... but I think you're wrong."
"That's right, I call it." Jeff stated. "Better me than you. I have tracking experience. And it's better one man than two."
He was still thinking about this exchange when he stood outside of the mayor's office, waiting for Stephen to leave the building. When he did, Jeff was after him. This time he didn't try to hide himself - he wanted to confront him.
Stephen noticed Jeff quickly enough, but didn't slow down, letting him follow until he reached an empty alley. There he halted, turned, and shoved his thumbs in the belt of his striped trousers.
"Sheriff," he smiled at Jeff, demonstrating how he had settled in the city so much that he addressed him the same way the townspeople did. "What's this about?"
"Cut the crap," Jeff snapped. "I know why you're here."
"Is that so?" Stephen smiled, tilting his head. "Why?"
Jeff walked over to him, clenching his fists at his sides. "You're preparing the city for a raid," he said quietly. "And the sting that will come later."
"And what if I do?" Stephen shrugged. "What will you do about it?"
"This is my town," Jeff said. "I'm the sheriff. My job is to protect the town."
Stephen threw his head back and laughed, and his cynical laugh filled the alley. "Look who's talking. Only ten years ago you were in my place, and only a coincidence and a well-placed lie put you in the sheriff's position. I pity the town that got you as a sheriff."
Jeff's tongue held an objection, reciting all his actions since he was appointed to the position: fighting the raiders, his time with the army - but he held back. Stephen didn't lie, even if he didn't know everything that happened, and was of the opinion that Jeff still held the same values he did when he first arrived in Greendale. Instead he went over Stephen's words again in his head, and acknowledged what was important. "So you admit it? You are here to swindle the town?"
Stephen shrugged again. "Clearly. What other reason do I have to be here? Seeing the nephews? They got along nicely without me. They could have carried on with their lives without ever meeting 'Uncle Stephen'."
He confessed. This was the first part of Jeff's plan. The second part was... to threaten Stephen so he would return to the raiders and tell them not to raid the town. There was only one problem: Jeff had no means of threatening anyone.
The town was almost empty of men. Those who weren't recruited couldn't threaten anyone, and Jeff himself, though he had combat and leadership skills, and though he worked out every day, was at half his former strength. He couldn't ask for help from the governor - to send troops and policemen - because the rest of the state suffered from the same deficiency. And even if he did ask, he would have to explain how he knew that raiders were coming to town, which would expose his past crimes - to which the statute of limitations still applied.
He lay awake until the wee hours of the night, wandering if he could threaten Stephen with lies and half-truths, but when he tried the made-up threats, alone in the office, the taste of lies was bitter in his mouth. He was unable to create a convincing lie, and Stephen was a fabrication artist, able to detect a sloppy lie from 50 miles away.
"You've got nothing to say? Then let me talk." Stephen tipped his bowler against the wind that was blowing through the short alley, and walked closer until they were six feet apart. "We both know that you don't have people to fight the raiders, and that you can't turn me in because then you will have to turn yourself in as well. I'm not upset that you antagonize me, it's natural. But I have to tell you, your talents are wasted in this town, mate. You are a rhetoric genius. I've seen you persuade an Indian to buy from you horses that your client stole. You were a serious asset to Dirty Bob before you betrayed him. They talk about you to this day."
"You work with Dirty Bob?"
"Not at the moment, no. But I spent some time with them."
"Stephen, what do you want?"
"What do I want? Join us," Stephen replied. "If you help us get inside the bank, fewer people will get hurt, and we'll leave town faster." He smiled again. "What say you?"
Jeff looked on with a blank face. His options were not great. He didn't know how to get rid of Stephen and his band of bandits, but couldn't accept the offer as it was. He took the only safe way at the moment. "I'll have to think about it."
"Of course, of course. An important decision. I entirely understand. Take your time." Stephen walked past and almost through him, and Jeff had to pull away so he wouldn't bump into him. "You have two weeks."
Jeff was left alone in the alley with the wind blowing around him, flicking the flaps of his black coat in every direction. He smashed the bridge of his nose with his fingers; two weeks to think what to do. He hoped he would find an answer by then.
:::
The winds changed into a thunderstorm. Brita lay in her bed in Ms. Bennett's inn and pulled the blanket up to her chin. She didn't like winter, rain, cold... But thunder was the hardest part. She buried her face in her pillow and hoped it would muffle the bewildering noise, which was dead similar to the boom of the cannons in camp. She covered her head with the blanket.
Doctor Baker was amiable enough to her, and although he didn't initially know what was to be Brita's role in his clinic, he found things for her to do and slowly came to trust her more with medical tasks. She began by cleaning the place and tools, advanced to bandaging and writing the medications that Dr. Baker prescribed. Her writing was more readable than his (but only slightly).
There was no doubt that working in a sleepy town was calmer than working in a military camp, and less challenging. Brita intended to stay in Greendale only until she saw that her patient, Commander Winger, was recovered enough and wouldn't need her help anymore, and then she would return to the military base. But as she settled in Greendale there were more and more reasons not to go.
The storm outside raged, a rolling thunder shocking the inn building. Brita couldn't stop the outcry from leaving her lips. The blanket didn't help block the blast from echoing inside her head. She tried to distract herself and think of other things.
She got to help significantly less people in town, but here she wasn't stressed all the time. In addition, there were other women in town, like Annie and Shirley. So far only Annie was actually friends with her, but Brita always struggled with friendships, and one friend was more than she had for years. With the army she was surrounded by men, and not all were well-intentioned. More than once she had to knee a man who gave her unwanted attention.
And finally, in Greendale there was Troy Barnes.
Another thunder came unto the world with a raging roar, causing her heart to pound frantically, and she screamed and buried her head under the pillow.
It was embarrassing. She, the fearless Brita Perry, was afraid of something: an unassuming thunder. They sounded like the war was chasing her, and their force rattled her as if she was a brittle twig.
She jumped from a knock on the door, followed immediately by someone entering. "Miss Brita? Are you alright? I heard a scream."
"Troy!" Brita gasped and sat up, the blanket falling from her shoulders. The candle on the table flickered over the worried face of the handsome young man, who was standing in her bedroom in pajamas and nothing else. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I had to check that you were fine..."
BOOM! The thunder shook the room and Brita screamed, hiding her face in her hands.
"Miss Perry! Brita! It's fine, I'm here..." The mattress sank as Troy sat beside her and a pair of strong hands surrounded her.
Brita was a strong, independent woman who studied in New York and worked for a living, but she was a woman. And her heart skipped a beat.
"There there, it's all fine," Troy muttered over her head, stroking her back. She was nearly naked, dressed only in a nightshirt, and the touch of his hands gave her goosebumps of the best kind. Brita surrendered and nestled to his chest, burying her face between his shoulder and neck.
"Thank you, Troy," she said in a small voice.
Brita wasn't naive. She had kissed men before. As she grew older, it became increasingly difficult to find a man who wanted her - for kissing or for marriage. It got particularly bad towards the end, when her parents looked at her in despair after another suitor changed his mind and left her for lonesome. It was one of the things that made her pack her things and move to New York, where she was lucky enough to break her leg and be brought to a clinic where the German deaconesses worked. It was the first time she had ever seen women in medicine, and after fixing her leg with admirable dexterity, she wouldn't stop badgering them until they found someone who could teach her everything they knew. And after two years studying and working with them, Brita was proud of herself. Nonetheless... something was missing.
She volunteered to join a physician in a military camp to help with the war effort, and thought this would fill the space in her stomach, but that wasn't it either. Not because the work was hard; but because the men who took interest in her were all detestable, and those she wanted to take interest - ignored her. Then came Rick.
But Rick, too, was revealed as nought and nothing.
She was a bit starved, truth be told. For male attention. For a man to hold her. She was nearing her thirties and felt it every day. Troy looked at her and made her feel young and dewy. Troy looked at her, and offered his incredible smile, with no hint of bitterness or resentment to anyone, and she wanted that in her life.
Thunder blasted upon her, and she clutched his neck with both hands, her body shrunken from the noise.
"Shh, sweetpie. I'm here. I won't leave you."
He was so wonderful she could kiss him.
She kissed him.
Troy knew how to kiss, and after the initial surprise, he reacted enthusiastically, tilting his head to hers and his lips performing a kind of strange magic on her mouth and brain. She had wanted to kiss him for a while, but wasn't brave enough, and Troy was the perfect gentleman and didn't try anything inappropriate.
But apparently he wanted to kiss her, too.
"Wow, Brita," he breathed when he broke away from her, his hand on her neck. "I didn't know you... I..."
Her face was warm and probably red. "I didn't mean to jump on you like that," she murmured, touching her mouth with her fingertips. Her lips pulsed; maybe she was too eager.
"No, it was just fine, more than fine. Great idea." Troy licked his lips abstractedly. "Jump on me whenever you want."
Her whole body was warm with embarrassment, despite the satisfaction she drew from his response. "I'm not like that... I don't jump on men," she had to make it clear. "But thunders make me lose all sense..."
"If thunder makes you behave like this, I'll come every night."
He joked, but she wouldn't object. She murmured, "Thunder... scares me."
"Really? But it's just... a sound. That's all it is. If you want to be scared, be scared of lightning. Lightning electrifies people."
Brita lowered her eyes to her lap. "I know, it's stupid. I'm stupid."
"Are not!" Troy opposed. "Not at all! You're one of the smartest women I know... talented, educated, pretty..." The last adjective had nothing to do with the rest of the list, but she would take it. Troy thinks I'm pretty.
"Hey," Troy raised her chin to look at him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. Please explain to me why thunder scares you."
Brita bit her lip and looked him in the eyes, dark, deep, somehow containing her, all of her. "The cannons made such a loud noise," she told him quietly. "If they were shot in camp for training, or if they were shot during battle. The explosions were so forceful that the tents' fabrics would stretch and whip with each blast. Sometimes you could even feel it in the ground you were walking on. And after each blast, someone was hurt. The Mexicans were supposed to fall from the cannons, but our people were killed as well. And all the wounded came to the clinic eventually."
"So every time you'd hear the blast..."
"...I knew people were dead, or injured."
"Brita." He raised his hand to her face, wiping away the tear that ran down her cheek. "I'm sorry the thunderstorms remind you of the war. No wonder you don't want to go back there. It sounds awful."
She didn't think it was so bad at the time, when she was busy with the daily tasks, the wounded soldiers, their friends who came to visit them. There was so much to do, and no time to dwell on what was happening. But as soon as the first thunder crashed on Greendale, Brita was there again.
"Thanks, Troy," she swallowed the rest of the tears and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "You're a good man. Every woman needs a Troy in her life."
"Psh, you're exaggerating," he smiled and looked aside, before returning to look into her eyes. "Do you think you can go back to sleep?"
"No," Brita heaved a sigh. "I'll probably lie awake for another hour until I manage to fall asleep."
Troy glanced at the door of her room, the door that he had unwittingly closed after running in at the sound of her scream. He started to get up, but Brita clasped her hands around his shoulders. "Don't go," she said hastily. "Stay here. With me. Until the thunder stops."
"But you... what if we both fell asleep and people saw me exiting your room in the morning?"
"Listen at the door before you leave. Or I'll go out first, and make sure no one's there."
"Alright."
Brita gripped his shoulders and layed down on the bed, resting her head on the pillow. Troy climbed onto the bed and tried to lie beside her, but she pulled him to lie over her, opening her legs to allow him room. His eyes widened as his body perfectly fit with hers, and after a moment he flinched away and raised his body, holding himself in the air above her.
"Brita, I..."
"Don't think," she breathed. "Don't go..." She raised her head to kiss his lips, and slowly he sank until he was completely sprawled on top of her, his body crushing her into the mattress, and she felt as if she drank a whole bottle of wine. She knew what happened between women and men, though she didn't experience it herself. She always thought she would be married by now, so she would know how it felt. She wasn't growing any younger, and Troy was close and sweet, and his body made her feel exciting things. She was being reckless, but at the moment she didn't care.
"Yes?" Troy said hoarsely, his hand caressing the side of her body, traveling until it rested on her hip. His eyes looked into hers, and he wanted her, but gave her the opportunity to change her mind. She made a decision.
"Absolutely."
:::
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AN: It appears I'm aiming for TroyXBrita. I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed or not.
Thanks for the reviews! You are the best 3
Next up: confronting bad guys, Dinner party at the Wingers', and the consequences to Brita's actions.
Sweet birthday, baby!
...
P.S., PSA: "The Bride" by LauraNightingale at AO3: it's a Rey/Kylo.
It's adorable and funny, depicting Kylo as an introverted actor who wound up in "The Bachelorette" where he's the bad guy because he looks the part. And Rey is America's Sweetheart who claims that "she gets him", while Twitter (and the other men in the competition) is baffled at what she sees in him.
It checks off all the reality shows tropes (like "the confessional") but still shows us the things that the cameras miss.
I'm mildly obsessed. Don't say I didn't warn you ;)