A/N: Up next is The Witness. Had never seen this one before either and all I have to say is I can't stand either of the Winters. Also, the ending confused me. Orville claims Jenny was lying about him having a horse ranch, then he tells Candy they did – with some quit obvious fibs – but they still use her "growing up on a horse ranch and knowing everything about horses" as proof she was lying about seeing an Appaloosa at the holdup because she would know how rare they were, etc. Scriptwriter having an off day or something?
Anyway, I own nothing but my OC. Enjoy!
Anyone who ever said Joe wasn't good with horses, was a liar. Confronted with a stagecoach lacking a rear wheel, most animals would have bolted the second that rattling monster came to life behind them, but not with her brother on the seat. Even Scout wasn't too pleased at the prospect, and she was leading him behind it, along with Cochise.
The coach dipped and swayed, making her feel sick just to watch it, much less have to ride in it as Candy was. Murph, on the other hand, probably had no idea what was going on, if he was even still alive.
The coach rattled down the street and a crowd swarmed them. She pulled Reno up and left all three horses at the hitch rail a ways down, then ran to the battered coach. "Tell Burt they got his currency shipment," her brother said as he jumped off the seat and practically ripped the door off the side of the coach. Not that it would take much.
Their father rushed over, eyes dark with concern. "Where'd it happen?"
"We found the wagon center of Rock Canyon," Annie supplied, and his hand landed on her shoulder, giving it a brief squeeze in relief. "All dead but Murph."
"Easy," Candy insisted as he helped guide the unconscious man out of the coach. Others carried him away to Doc Martin's and Annie bit her lip. It didn't look good, not at all.
"Any idea who did it?" Ben set his hand son his hips, but that tone wasn't going to help them in this instance. Intimidation failed when the object of said intimidation was long gone. Candy shook his head.
"Murph came around very briefly, said it was three men with masks." Her father nodded slowly.
"Roy was just telling me the Logan brothers might be headed this way from Laramie."
"There's only two of them," Candy pointed out with his usual infuriating calm.
"Easy enough to get a third gun," Annie said, just as calmly. He nodded, looking away down the street after Murph.
"It has their brand on it: no witnesses."
"I hope Murph pulls through," Ben said softly. Candy swallowed hard.
"I don't give much for his chances." Her father looked away and sighed.
"Better go talk to his wife." Candy nodded, and they all turned to leave, when a girl called out behind them.
"Hey, mister!" Annie turned back, saw a blond girl wearing faded, patched britches and a too-big shirt hurry over. "I seen 'em. I seen who done it." Ben frowned.
"Who?"
"Stretch and Bo Logan."
"You saw the hold up?" Annie demanded. There hadn't been evidence of any one else out there, just the killers and the stage coach.
"No. I seen 'em right afterwards."
"What about the third man?"
"I didn't see him too good. Why … why it could be anybody." Her nervous gaze flitted sideways to an older man, who by the state of his dress was probably her father. Annie glanced over herself, but nothing seemed amiss.
"Candy, get Roy. We'll get her off the street while she's still alive." Ben moved to collect the girl, then Hilda and Jim hurried over.
"We'll take her to our place." Ben nodded and the four of them headed for the cafe, called back by an irritated voice.
"Hey, mister, I'm her father." Annie glanced back, her eyes narrowing. He was all but rubbing his hands together and counting a reward right here and now. They hurried inside the cafe, and Jim closed the shades, flipping the open sign to closed, and locked the door. The girl's father slipped over to the jar of doughnuts Hilda kept on the counter, eyeing them with delight, and opened the lid, jamming his dirty hand inside. Annie shook her head in disgust.
Utter trash.
Kept his daughter barefoot, in ragged clothes, and he steals doughnuts.
A commotion sounded at the door, and Jim flipped the lock, letting Roy into the room. "Ain't nothing to see here, folks, and there won't be nothing to see," the grizzled sheriff remarked. "Get on home."
"How's Murph?"
"Not a chance, Ben." Roy shook his head. "Doc says it's a matter of hours now." Her father sighed again and lowered his head for a moment. Then he sighed again and nodded at the girl.
"This is the young lady who saw the holdup."
"What's your name, honey?"
"Jenny," the girl said softly with a hesitant look around, and fidgeted on her chair. "Jenny Winters. Um … coming here, we passed that place where it happened – Rock Canyon. It was maybe … oh, half an hour when we heard some shooting, remember, Pa?"
"It might have been hunters," he dismissed, scratching at his scraggly beard. Roy held up a hand to silence him.
"Go on." Jenny licked her lips and looked around nervously.
"Well, we come to a stand of trees off the road, near a pond." Roy looked up.
"Indian Grove?" Ben shrugged.
"That's where we made camp." She licked her lips again. "Pa … Pa fell asleep, so I went down to the pond to take a bath. And … that's when I seen them."
"Jenny," Ben asked slowly. "How do you know the Logans by name?" The girl's face shuttered and she bit her lip.
"I seen 'em once … at a dance in Laramie. I wasn't supposed to go." Ben sighed and parked his hands on his hips.
"What about the third man?"
"Oh … well … he was sort of hidden, you know. He was watering the horses and they was between him and me. But old Bo and Stretch, they was laughing about having enough money to open up their own bank." She looked around, face bright. Annie worked her jaw. Roy sighed.
"We know who, now we got to catch 'em. Until then, missy, I have to lock you up." The girl's father stepped forward, hands on her shoulders, and Annie was positive Jenny flinched.
"Now, Sheriff, she ain't done nothing wrong, you can't lock her up."
"Just for her protection," Ben explained. "She's a witness." Any half wit should be able to understand that much, but maybe this fellow couldn't even lay claim to that. Annie scoffed under her breath.
"Until we catch the killers," Roy added.
"But how long will that take?" Hilda protested, silent so long Annie had half forgotten she and Jim were there. "Days, weeks, months?" Roy shrugged, and the girl's father spoke up.
"You can't keep her in jail no month. We're going to Reno. Yea, Reno."
"Put her up in the hotel," Hilda suggested. "The bank should be glad to foot the bill."
"Both of us, then," Jenny's father said before anyone else could reply. "You can't leave me standing out in the street." Annie bit back a disgusted snort. Roy glanced at her father and Ben shrugged.
"Yeah, both of you." Roy turned to leave and Jim stopped him.
"What a minute, Roy." He came around the counter. "Hotel would be worse, it's harder to guard." Jenny's father leaned over to Ben.
"Didn't know waiters was in charge around here." Annie didn't bother to hide it this time. She snorted and shook her head.
"Jim Cutter was a marshal at Abilene for fifteen years," she explained slowly, as though she was talking to a child. And she wasn't completely sure she wasn't, for that matter. "He and his wife also run the cafe."
"Oh, I didn't know."
"You do now." Her father gave her the look and she smiled sweetly. He raised an eyebrow and ambled over to Roy and Jim.
"Now, I don't think the Logans will show up here, too many people know them. But that third man …"
"Yeah." Jim nodded slowly. "The hotel would work, for a decoy. One room for Mr. Winters, and the other locked, guarded, and empty. Then, we need to spirit that young lady out of town. Preferably to someplace where anybody who didn't belong could be spotted a mile away." Roy nodded and turned to her father with that familiar look, as did Jim. Annie leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms.
Um-hm. She knew that look. And so did her father.
"You mean the Ponderosa?" They nodded. "All right. Only thing is, we can't be standing guard all day. Some of us would have to be riding with the posse to avoid suspicion."
"Even if the Logans get wise, they wouldn't attack till night." If he said so. Personally, she wouldn't be counting on that. "I'll go out every evening after closing. I can still use a gun."
"So can I," Hilda added as she rounded the counter. "Besides, it's not fair to Annie to expect her to drop everything and watch Jenny." Hilda wrapped the young girl in her arms and led her across the room. "Come on, honey."
Metal rasped and Annie glanced sideways. The old man unscrewed the jar lid and stuffed a doughnut in his mouth, chewing with abandon. She shook her head. At least he wasn't coming.
Now, they just had to keep Jenny hidden until nightfall.
"Hey, they're here." Candy leaned over the back of her mother's settee and woke Joe from his doze. Annie smothered a snicker. He tossed her a grin on his way back to the door. A buggy rolled to a stop in the yard.
"Out, get in the house, hurry!" Two dark shapes separated from the night and Hilda rushed Jenny into the house, a blanket over the girl's head.
"I'll take that." Candy reached for the rifle Hilda carried. "Come on in." The girl looked around with wide eyes. Had it been her father, Annie would have said greedy eyes. "You're safe now, honey. Jenny Winters, this is Joe Cartwright and Candy, do you remember seeing them in town?" The girl shook her head slowly, still staring around the living room.
"Welcome to the Ponderosa." Joe grinned and Annie rolled her eyes. It never took him long, did it? "I'll take you up to your rooms." He started to lead them to the stairs, but Candy put a hand on his shoulder.
"I can do that."
"No, I've got it."
"You said you wanted to take the first guard trip." Joe threw him a look.
"You said she was old and fat." Candy's eyebrows rose.
"I said that?"
"Mh-hm, you did." Candy held out the rifle without a word and Joe sighed.
"I'm on guard duty." Annie snickered and he threw her a warning look that she ignored, instead wiggling her fingers in a mocking wave as he headed out the door. Candy bolted the door behind him and turned around, eyes dancing.
"He ought to know not to believe you by now."
"So why does he?" She shrugged and he laughed, then headed for the stairs. "Jenny." He held out his hand and they started up.
Annie collected a rifle from the rack beside the fireplace and took up a position on the settee, waiting for Candy to return, which he did less than ten minutes later, shaking his head. "What?"
"That girl up there is awestruck by all this, and it isn't even that fancy."
"From the looks of her father, I'm not surprised. He looks like he spends most of his time complaining and the rest of it drinking."
"Sure it ain't the other way around?"
"We'd have to ask him, and I hadn't planned on anything of the sort." She leaned back against the cushioned back and glanced up the stairs. "They say anything after Jenny was settled in?"
"They weren't followed. But then, they don't really need to be, the Ponderosa isn't exactly difficult to find."
"No," she agreed. "Jim had a good idea, but only if no one slips up and they realize she's here instead of up in that hotel room."
"And by no one, you mean her father." Annie threw him a look.
"Who else?"
"Ms. Cartwright?"
"Yes?" Annie turned, keeping one eye on the roast, and found Jenny hovering in the kitchen doorway. She wasn't really in the mood for more questions about the house, or the furniture, or whatever else Jenny had found that attracted her interest. She'd been on guard duty most of the day and she was tired. Which didn't bode well considering she was trespassing in Hop Sing's kitchen. She'd swear the man had the layout of his cabinets memorized.
"You, uh, need any help?"
"No, everything's ready, why don't you go on and sit down? I think Candy already set the table."
"I guess so." Jenny shot a glance at the table and her expression turned wistful. She wandered over, running her hand over the carved chair backs. Annie turned her attention back to the roast and carefully carried it to the table.
"Let me get that." Candy hurried down the stairs.
"Nonsense. Sit down." His lips twitched and he pulled out the chair at the foot of the table, since Jim had taken his. Hilda sat beside her husband and Annie took her father's usual place at the head of the table. Jenny fidgeted and picked up her fork.
"It's so pretty … is it real silver?"
"Yes." The girl set the fork down and wrung her hands. Hilda raised an eyebrow and dished up a chunk of roast onto a plate, then passed it down the table.
"Eat hearty, dear. Have some potatoes and peas." Jenny accepted her plate with a shy smile and scooped up a pile of the potatoes. She scraped the serving spoon with her finger and stuck it in her mouth with a nervous glance around, then reached for the peas. Some rolled over the edge of her plate onto the tablecloth, and she looked around again, a flush rising in her cheeks.
"It's no secret I ain't got no table manners." She picked up the peas with her fingers and put them back on her plate. "And I don't talk too good neither. Either," she corrected with a laugh.
"That doesn't matter, just bring your appetite."
"Well, I've got that." They all laughed, but to Annie, Jenny's seemed forced. Granted, knowing a couple of killers wanted you dead could do that, but it was like it went deeper. The girl looked around the room again, absently chewing on a bite of roast. What was she thinking? Annie found Candy's eyes and raised one brow. He shrugged and kept eating, but his gaze lingered on their guest every now and then.
If Jenny Winters was hiding something, between the two of them, they'd figure it out.
"Did she say anything today?" Annie lounged against the wall while Candy prowled the hallway akin to a caged wolf.
"She shoots with her eyes closed," he said offhandedly. "And we had to move closer to the target, she could barely see it." He ran a hand through his hair. "There's something off about her, but I can't put my finger on it."
"Aside from the closing her eyes while she shoots?"
"Yeah."
"Her father?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure. I –" Strains of music floated up the stairs and Annie blanched bone white. Oh, good Lord in Heaven thank God her father wasn't here. She darted past Candy without stopping to think. No one touched Elizabeth's music box, it was all he had left of his beloved first wife save one picture. She reached the landing and Candy yanked her back, arms around her waist. She stared at him over her shoulder in shock. He nodded down at the living room and she turned, found Jenny whirling across the polished wood as graceful as any lady, her steps in perfect time with the lilting tune.
How?
They watched in stunned silence as she kept dancing. Across the room, Hilda and Jim had stepped out of the kitchen and were watching, too, beaming smiles on their faces, Jim's arm around Hilda's waist, and Annie bit her tongue. Hilda began clapping and Jenny missed a step, her face burning bright red. She stopped dancing completely, retreated to the end table where she'd put the music box, and closed the lid. "Sorry, I didn't mean to … I mean, I … I don't know what I mean."
"Jenny, you've made an old man's day," Jim said happily. "Good night." He led Hilda towards the stairs. "Remember when we used to dance like that?" Candy tugged her aside so they could pass, then he let go and sauntered downstairs.
"Where'd you learn to dance like that?"
"I didn't. I just tried to think of what the tune was saying and do it," the girl said with a shrug.
"But you've been to dances." Annie left the staircase and moved to Candy's side. Jenny shrugged again.
"Just to watch."
"No one asked you to dance?" She couldn't believe it, the girl was too good at it to have never done it before.
"Sure they did, but I told them my foot hurt or something." She moved past them. "I couldn't go out on that floor and make a fool of myself in front of everybody." She stopped in front of Ben's favorite chair and sat down.
"It's not hard," Candy said. "I could show you." Annie's chest tightened. Please, not again. Something always happened and he ended up hurting in the end.
"Oh, no. No, thank you, kindly."
"Where did you learn to dance, Canaday?" Annie asked with a forced smirk.
"Here and there," he retorted with a smirk of his own. "Come on." He tugged Jenny to her feet. Something caught his attention; he glanced down at her hand. "What happened to your finger?"
"Oh, I got that caught in a door once. It's been crooked ever since." He looked over at Annie and Jenny fidgeted. "You think that's bad?" She pulled her long hair out of the way and pointed at the back of her neck. "You see them two marks, right there?" Candy hummed agreement. "A big old rattler tried to kill me." Annie's smile froze on her face. Only if the girl was flat on the ground at the time, or foolishly draping the snake around her neck like a fur stole.
"That's not a snake bite," Candy said evenly, his gaze flitting over her shoulder to Annie.
"Well, it is, too!" Candy shook his head.
"He must have been an awful big snake, because his teeth are about that far apart." He gestured with his hand and Annie's eyes narrowed. No rattler was that big. Jenny's face cooled.
"Well, it wasn't funny seeing him come flying through the air at me like that."
"Flying?" Candy laughed and her face darkened.
"You can laugh! Must have been more than a week they was expecting me to die." He shook his head.
"Jenny, a rattler can't strike more than half his own length."
"Now, look here, Candy, I'm telling you how it was."
"And I'm telling you that's not a snake bite! You wanna see a snake bite?" He propped his boot on the parlor table, moved to pull his pant leg up.
"No, I do not." Jenny spun away from them, almost crashing into Annie in the process. She recovered herself with an embarrassed apology, then kept stomping away. "You and my pa, you're just alike. You think you know everything without waiting to be told. Good night." Her voice could have frozen water as she stomped up the stairs. Candy moved, might have stopped her, but that would be the worst thing he could do. Annie grabbed his arm, warned him off with her eyes. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"We both know that isn't a snake bite."
"Yeah."
A horse neighed in the yard and they both moved. "Jim?" Annie grabbed the rifle she'd left near the settee and joined him at the door. Jim ran down to meet them and both men slipped outside, leaving her to cover them.
They returned in less than two minutes with Jenny's father in tow, the man stumbling drunk. Joe followed them in and rolled his eyes. "Where you followed?" Annie demanded. Her brother shook his head.
"Too dark to tell for sure, but I don't think so." Winters landed in the floor, babbling like an idiot, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Does he think this is a game?"
"Ask him," Candy said. Jenny appeared at the top of the stairs, her face darkening.
"Oh, Pa, why can't you never do nothing right?"
"Aw, shut up," the man mumbled. Annie's finger twitched and Candy hid a smirk. Her eyes narrowed and he shrugged.
"We'll take care of him," Jim said as he helped Winters to his feet. "Just tell me which room." Annie fought a growl.
"Put him in Hoss' room. Last door on the right."
"I didn't want my daddy here. Honest I didn't." Jenny flounced across the room, her gaze slipping sideways as Joe helped her father upstairs.
"You better hope nobody followed him."
"If Joe says they didn't, they didn't," Candy said with a chuckle. Annie glanced at him.
"We're not taking chances. Your turn for guard duty." He chuckled again and offered her a salute, then collected his gun belt and headed outside. Jenny sank into a chair and kicked her feet under her skirt. Annie cleared her throat, and the girl froze mid-swing. She sauntered over and propped one foot up on the parlor table, the rifle draped over her arm. Scared eyes met hers. "Do you think we're stupid?"
"What? I-I don't know what you mean."
"If he said it wasn't a snake bite, it wasn't."
"Of course it –"
"Candy doesn't lie." At least not without good reason, she mentally added, and never to them. "So. I find myself wondering why you'd make up a story like that." She let her gaze drift towards the staircase, hoping Jenny would take the hint.
"It ain't no story." The girl shot out of her chair and fled. Annie watched her scramble upstairs, knowing her normally intelligent brother would take one look at a pair of teary baby blues and ignore simple facts. So, she stayed where she was until he stormed downstairs and met her in front of the fireplace.
"Why are you being mean to Jenny?"
"She's making up stories, Joe. Claimed a rattler flew at her through the air and bit her on the back of the neck. Even though she saw him flying at her which means the blasted creature would have bit the front of her neck."
"Maybe she was a kid and didn't understand."
"Oh, stop it." Annie dropped her foot and straightened. "If she'll make up stories about stupid stuff like that, what's a jury going to think when this goes to court? She starts embellishing what happened out there, the Logans will walk."
"She wouldn't do that, she knows what's at stake."
"You sure about that?" His mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. "That's what I thought." She handed him the rifle. "I'm going to bed, call me at two."
"It doesn't add up, does it?" Candy reined up alongside and Annie tipped her hat back, enjoying the breeze on her face. "Joe tell you what he told me earlier?"
"Nope."
"Seems her pa wants to help around the ranch." Annie snorted and he slapped his hand over his heart. "Promise. I asked if he was sober and Joe said he thought he was. He was also curious as to why Jenny doesn't seem to like me. I told him about her flying rattlesnake, but he wasn't too impressed."
"I tried to tell him last night, but he started making up excuses for her." He hummed agreement.
"Apparently, he owned a horse ranch until her mother died."
"He believed every word out of her mouth, didn't he?"
"As good as." Candy sighed. "Are we getting too suspicious in our old age?" It was like someone threw a bucket of ice water over her head. Did he think she was old? She wasn't even twenty-eight, yet. There was a grin on his face, maybe he was just being his normal self, joking around and all that. As she watched, his smile faded. "Annie? Something wrong –"
"You going to town for the mail?"
"I planned on it." He studied her face.
"Check on Murph, would you?"
"I will." He turned his horse with a tip of his hat, the remnants of a frown creasing his forehead, and rode off, the Honeycomb gelding picking up a lope. She spun Reno and bolted into the pines.
Of course she'd seem old next to Jenny, the girl was barely out of her teens, if that. But he was ten months older, had he forgotten that?
What was wrong with her? They had bigger problems than her petty jealousy. If Jenny was making up stories, what did that say for her credibility on the stand? All it would take was one mention of her flying rattlesnake and it was over.
She arrived home in time for supper, walking inside just as her brother pulled out a chair for Jenny. The girl giggled, the sound dying instantly as her father stumbled into the room, a half empty bottle of Ben's wine in his hand.
"You thief," Annie breathed. The man yanked out a chair and sat down hard, not letting go of the bottle. Hilda cleared her throat.
"I hope you like goulash, Mr. Winters."
"Huh?" He stared at Hilda, eyes crossing slightly, and laughed. "Beggars can't be choosers. Besides, I'll eat anything that don't eat me first."
"Pa, you're drunk," Jenny said with a nervous look around. "You make me sick to my stomach."
"Huh?"
"I bet you stole that bottle, too."
"I know he did," Annie seethed. Before she could move, Jenny surprised her by prying the bottle out of her father's grasp.
"You better hand that back to me, Miss Uppity."
"You've already had too much." A cold gleam lit the old man's eyes.
"I expect she told you about that horse ranch I used to own." He threw Jenny a look and licked his lips. "There was no ranch, all I owned was a clod of dirt. Just one of her whoppers," he said with a mean laugh. "She tell you her mother died of the cholera?" He turned and looked at her over his shoulder. "You want to pass that bottle back to me, sweetheart?" Jenny didn't move and he sneered. "Her mother run off with a soldier and left me alone with an eight year old brat!" Tears glistened in Jenny's eyes. She fled upstairs and her father gave a nasty laugh, then dug into the plate of food Hilda had dished up.
"I better see to her." Hilda rushed after Jenny, and Winters laughed again. Joe stared at him in silence, which only prompted more laughter. The man leaned out of his chair and reached for the wine bottle.
Annie drew and fired, blasting the bottle to smithereens, spraying the greasy man with dark red wine. He spluttered as he wiped his face. "What's the meanin' of that, girl?"
"What's wrong?" Hilda appeared on the stairs. Annie waved her back.
"I missed," she said calmly, and stalked over to the table, graceful as a cat, pistol still in her hand. "I see you with another bottle of Pa's liquor and I'll break it over your filthy head."
"You can't talk to me like that!" He surged up out of the chair, and she cocked the hammer, freezing him in his tracks.
"You're sitting in the middle of six hundred thousand acres of Cartwright land. I can do whatever I damn well please to a drunken thief. Get outside and get to work, or I'll throw a rope around your neck and drag you back to town."
"You –" She fired again, drilling a hole into the floorboards next to his worn out shoe. He jumped and stumbled back.
"Outside, before I lose my temper." She cocked the hammer a third time and Winters swallowed hard. He snatched up his limp hat and scrambled for the door, slamming it behind him. She turned slowly, meeting her brother's eyes. Joe threw up his hands.
"How Pa thinks you got the cool head is beyond me."
"What'd you do? He's actually working." Candy shook his head and Annie turned slowly, keeping one eye on Winters flinging straw everywhere in his haste.
"I threatened to shoot him." Reno shifted his weight and raised his head when Candy brought his horse closer. The geldings eyed each other before they settled down again. Candy chuckled.
"I didn't think he'd give in that easy."
"He's a coward. Stayed outside for close to two hours last night before he stumbled back, whining it was too dark to work."
"Looks like he's doing a pretty good job right now."
"About as good as an eight year old brat." Her voice rose and Winters flinched, letting her know the message had been received. "Take over, Canaday, I'm heading back to the house." Their eyes met, and silent instructions were exchanged with Winters none the wiser.
"Yes, ma'am." Candy tipped his hat and leaned on his saddle horn. She rode away and he chuckled again. "Hey, Orville. How long did you work that little horse ranch, anyhow?"
She reached the house and started upstairs. Voices in the hall froze her in her tracks. They had to have heard her come in, so why weren't they checking to see who it was? "I just wanted to be someone, you know?" Jenny's soft voice drifted down the hallway. "I got all these dreams." She sounded frustrated.
"Everybody does," Joe said softly.
"You, too?"
"Yeah. You should get some sleep."
"Joe, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm only gonna sleep when you do, so's we can always be awake at the same time." Her brother's amused chuckle reached her ears. "I love you something awful, Joe." Annie choked on a furious retort, straining to hear what he said to that. Heels clacked on the floor. "You don't even have to love me back." Silence was his only answer, then a door closed. She took the rest of the stairs two at a time and rounded the corner, hands flying to her hips. Their eyes met and she raised a brow.
It was inevitable: a woman in trouble lit on Joe as the solution to all of her problems and saw wedding bells in her future. His face went through several of his normal expressions and he shrugged, before disappearing into his own room.
Annie fixed her gaze on Jenny's closed door. Normally, she'd welcome someone like Jenny, glad to help her out of a bad situation, but something didn't add up and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She was hoping Candy had better luck with the drunken old codger, they needed to figure out what the missing piece was.
When they returned for lunch, Candy had a triumphant gleam in his eyes as Winters staggered to the table and snatched up his water glass, draining it in seconds. "I think he's done more work today than he has in years."
"That's for sure," Annie said, one eye on the exhausted drunk. "It better be nice and neat, too, or you're going back to town."
"Oh, it is, it is, Ms. Cartwright." Her gaze slid sideways and Candy nodded in confirmation. Winters was subdued all through the meal, until Hilda brought out a chocolate cake. The man reached for the knife and Annie cleared her throat. He froze and she glared at him in silence until he lowered his hands to his lap. Candy smothered a snicker. Hilda permitted herself a tiny smile as she cut the cake.
"Candy, Doc sent a rider out with a note for you. Murph came around this morning and was able to talk some." She retrieved the folded note from her apron pocket and Candy eagerly took it, scanning the short message quickly. He didn't say anything when he was finished, merely stuck it in his own pocket and went back to his food. "Mr. Winters, you'll be doing the dishes." Hilda untied her apron and collected a piece of cake for herself, then took a seat on the settee.
The man looked like he wanted to protest, but one raised eyebrow from Annie was enough to silence it. "Pleasure," he mumbled, and stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth. Annie took hers to her father's desk and Candy joined her, perching on the edge as he ate. Jenny finished her cake and scurried upstairs.
Winters finally carried the empty plates to the kitchen and Candy lowered his fork. "She ain't the only one tells whoppers," he said under his breath. "He claimed they had all breeds on that ranch he told you he didn't ever own, even a stallion, 'come all the way from Arabia'." He cocked his head. Did you know that's in Europe?"
"Really." She stared at the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. Did he or didn't he? "What was the note about?"
"I asked Murph what color horses the robbers had."
"You have something in mind?"
"I might," he said with his usual grin. Good. They needed this mess sorted out, for better or worse.
"Why do I have to tell it again?" Jenny flounced over and sat down in the chair.
"You might have missed something," Annie replied easily. "Humor us. You were bathing in the pond when you first saw the Logans, right?"
"I was hiding in the reeds," she said nervously.
"And then you went back to the wagon, but you didn't tell your father." Candy shifted his weight and leaned over the back of her chair. "Why?" Jenny looked up at him, her eyes going dark.
"Because of him. I can't talk to a man or go dancing without him making something wrong out of it. Just like my mother." Her gaze dropped. "He'd say I was in the water cause I knew they'd be there."
"That pond is thirty feet wide, maybe forty." Annie leaned back in her chair. "You saw the Logans plain as day, but you couldn't see the man with them?"
"He was hidden behind the horses."
"You saw the horses?" Confused eyes latched onto hers.
"Yes." Annie looked up at Candy and he nodded slightly. She could sense Joe's hesitancy from across the room, but at least he was keeping his mouth shut and letting them run with it. Candy crossed his arms over his chest.
"When we found Murph that day he was delirious, kept mumbling something about an Appaloosa. I thought he might have been talking about one of the bandit's horses. So I left a note with Doc and he was finally able to get me an answer." He left it at that, and Jenny looked around as the silence lengthened.
"So?"
"Appaloosas are pretty rare around here."
"Pretty rare anywhere," Winters mumbled from the kitchen doorway. Annie glanced over and he sat down in the closest chair with a hard swallow. "Sorry."
"Something like that, why didn't you tell the sheriff? That horse would be easy to find."
"Oh. I just didn't think of it at the time." Jenny giggled nervously. "Yes, one of them was an Appaloosa." Annie could feel Joe's disappointment like a heavy fog. Candy traded looks with her and she nodded once. Joe stood up and stalked towards the stairs without a word. Jenny watched him go, then jumped to her feet. "Joe? What's the matter?" Her brother stopped at the foot of the stairs and leaned on the railing as he fixed the girl with a hard stare.
"Candy told me you couldn't see a target thirty feet in front of you, but you have no trouble identifying the Logans across the pond."
"A bottle's a sight smaller than a man. Besides, I seen that Appaloosa." Annie left the sofa, hand out as she passed Candy. He dropped the doctor's note into her palm and she carried it to Jenny. "What's this?"
"The note describing the three horses. A black, a sorrel, and a chestnut. There wasn't an Appaloosa." The girl's face hardened and her chin came up.
"Says who?"
"Somebody who was really there." Candy joined them, Winters dragging behind him, a sneer growing on the drunk's face. "Murph." Jenny's confident air crumbled and she looked around, her teeth catching her lower lip.
"She lied!" Winters stabbed an accusing finger at his daughter. "You see, it's in the blood."
"Shut up." Annie's voice didn't rise above normal levels, but he snapped his mouth shut without a hint of protest. "You did lie, didn't you?" Jenny turned her back, head hanging.
"I didn't see anybody," she said softly. "I guess I lie so much I don't even know the truth my ownself anymore." She bolted, would have fled, but Joe wheeled around and grabbed her arm.
"You would have gone into court and accused three men of murder, three men who might hang on your testimony."
"She wanted that reward!" Annie threw Winters a glare and he shut up.
"That's not true! Joe, you don't believe that, do you? I didn't know nothing about that reward until I got here. Anyways, everybody says the Logans done it."
"Public opinion doesn't matter," Annie hissed. If it did, all of them would have been dead long ago. "What if they're actually innocent?"
"Now, there ain't gonna be no reward." She whirled on the drunk, eyes flashing, and he shrank back, sitting down hard in a chair.
"One more word out of you and I'm going for a rope."
"Jenny, why?" Her brother's voice was thick. Please, do not tell her he actually had real feelings for the little waif. He needed to stop taking everything he heard at face value just because it came from the lips of a pretty woman. Pretty did not mean honest. The girl swallowed hard.
"Cause I wanted to be somebody."
"No, she wanted that reward! You get that rope if you want, but I'm gonna say it anyhow: she's a liar, she wanted that money."
"You're right." Jenny pushed past Joe and stomped over to her father. "I did want that reward money, cause if I got it, I'd have had a chance to get away from you," she spit venomously, then whirled around and bolted upstairs. Her father was taken aback, gaping like a banked fish. A buggy pulled into the yard and she jerked her chin at the door. Candy nodded and made his way over. Winters gave her a nervous look and followed Candy.
"How do you like that?" He muttered. "After all I done for her?" Annie's head came around slowly. He licked his lips, but kept going. "She's no good, just like her mother."
"And you're a worthless drunk," she said without a shred of emotion. "Get him out of here."
"Huh?"
"I said get out." She stomped across the room, but Candy beat her to it, unbolting the door and swinging it wide.
"You heard the lady, move!" He grabbed Winters by the arm and tried to shove him out the door. A scream split the night, followed almost immediately by a gun shot from upstairs.
"Drop them guns!" Two men burst through the open door, weapons raised, as the screaming continued. Jenny tore into view on the stairs, stumbling and falling in terror, as a third man chased her. Annie wanted to tell her to shut up and do something useful, but it was clearly pointless. She and Joe locked eyes, and he leaped for his gun hanging on the back of the chair. Annie shoved the man closest to her, giving Candy the opportunity to dive at the second one.
Joe fired, hitting the third man, and sending him crashing through the stair railing. Jenny kept screaming, and scrambled behind the parlor table.
A rifle barked, and the first man staggered backwards and fell across the threshold. Annie turned, found Hilda on the stairs, working the lever on her rifle a second time. Candy drove a punch into the last man's jaw and he collapsed. Jenny finally stopped screaming and silence descended. The three of them traded glances, then looked to the dead man sprawled in the doorway.
He was wearing Jim Cutter's clothes.
Annie had one second to process the implications before Hilda was rushing downstairs, sparing no more than a cursory glance at the man Joe had shot. "I heard our buggy." She looked past them. "Jim?" Annie swallowed hard. Joe sighed heavily and walked over to her, so slowly it hurt to watch. He took the rifle from her and grasped her hand.
"That wasn't Jim, Hilda," he said hoarsely, his voice thick. Hilda's face crumpled and her eyes brimmed with glistening tears. "It was a man dressed in Jim's clothes."
"No." She staggered back a step. "Oh, no." She slipped to the stairs, wailing in anguish. Annie bit her lip, choking on the lump rising in her throat. Candy's arm slipped around her shoulders and she looked up. He shook his head slowly and rubbed her arm. Both of them turned to stare at Jenny, still huddled in the floor.
Movement caught Annie's eye and she glanced over in time to see Winters slink out of the kitchen. Anger flared. She wanted him gone, right now, along with his lying daughter who didn't seem to care that she was the reason a good man had lost his life.
But she wouldn't make a scene in front of poor Hilda. Jenny looked up at them with wide eyes. Her throat worked and she crept to her feet, watching them, while she made her way to the staircase. Slowly, Jenny crouched beside Hilda and took the older woman in her arms. Hilda curled into the girl's embrace, still sobbing. Jenny stared at them with tear-filled eyes and Annie saw her grow up in that instant. Whether or not she'd truly understood the deadly game she'd chosen to play, she knew it now. For all the good it would do.
"Joe, she's not staying. I don't care that she's just a girl, that she didn't realize what she was doing, or whatever excuse you can come up with. She doesn't stay here." Only a child would stomp her foot for emphasis, but Annie felt like it. Jim Cutter was dead and saying I'm sorry wouldn't bring him back. She wanted to say she couldn't believe Hilda had offered Jenny a job at the cafe, but that was Hilda – generous to a fault.
"Hilda doesn't blame her," Joe said quietly.
"She should, that girl's lies –"
"Jenny knows that, sis. And she can't ever forget it." Joe put his hands on her shoulders and sighed. "I'm taking her into town after she tells her father she's not going with him." Annie backed up, arms folded over her chest.
"She doesn't deserve to get her way, not after lying. And for what? It wasn't like she was trying to protect a friend, she just wanted to be somebody, wanted everyone to see her, to think she was important."
"Can you really blame her, Annie?"
"Yes. What if it hadn't been the Logans after all? What if she'd accused innocent men and it had gone to trial? How would you feel if she admitted to her lies after they'd been hung?" Her brother swallowed hard, but said nothing. "We've been on the wrong side of false accusations too many times for me to ever forget it. Don't ask me to wish her well, because I can't. And if that drunken lout isn't off the Ponderosa in the next hour, he's getting a load of buckshot." Joe cracked a grin.
"It'll take him longer than that with a wagon."
"You know what I mean," she seethed. "Pa's not going to be happy that he was lied to and it led to his friend's death." Roy would be fuming once the rider caught up to the posse and turned them around, if they hadn't already. "Candy questioned if we were getting too suspicious, but what about the flip side? Are we letting sad stories destroy our better judgment?" Joe was silent for so long she thought he might not answer.
"I don't know," he said at last. "But we can't refuse to help someone in need."
"I never said that. All I'm saying is stop losing your head over a pretty girl." Annie stepped back. "Stop ignoring what doesn't fit." She turned and stalked back into her room, slamming the door with a touch more force than necessary.
She should have made Candy explain the note sooner, maybe they could have caught the brat out in time to save Jim. Annie tipped her head back against the door, eyes closed. If she started in on ifs and maybes, she'd never have any peace. They couldn't change what had happened, anymore than they could change the wind, or the ocean waves.
Had Jenny really learned her lesson? Annie didn't know and right then, she didn't much care. All she could see was Hilda, robbed of the man she loved, and sobbing on the stairs. Her gaze flitted to the window.
What was better – to love and lose it, or never love at all?