Thanks for all the awesome reviews/PM's + I was very excited to see we reached 1000 views in under a fortnight :)
I promise I'll update as often as I can, but the next few chapters may need a bit more research so I can get my head around the time period. (Plus there's always that little issue of having a newborn and a toddler to take care of – eek! *insert exhaustion face here*)
4. Her Good Reputation
'I'm a mess,' Lisa exclaimed in horror, surveying her dirt-caked, sunburnt image in the mirror above the washstand.
Rose had just plopped down heavily on the end of their bed in the Greenston Hotel, sighing in pleasure as she flopped backwards onto the coverlet with her arms outstretched. The mattress was feather-soft by comparison to their last few nights of sleeping rough, and Rose had to make a conscious effort to focus on what her friend was saying. Casting a sleepy glance at the tall, slender figure hovering by the mirror, she couldn't help rolling her eyes. 'You could be dressed in a sack and covered in horse dung and you'd still look lovely, Lis,' she chastised.
Lisa Draymore was one of those rare people who possessed good looks, elegance and inner beauty in equal measure, and it would take more than a bit of dirt to render her unattractive. 'But I am dressed in a sack and covered in horse dung, Rose,' the blond girl moaned, dabbing fretfully at something brown and unidentified that was smeared on her cheek.
The dressmaker they'd stayed with at the last town had made a point of kitting the girls out with modest servants' attire – long, shapeless dresses that did nothing for the figure – and while the layer of muck that coated their clothes and faces was probably just dust from the trail, one could never entirely rule out the alternative.
'And, as I said, you still look amazing,' Rose insisted. 'If you think you're dirty take a look at the state of me!' she added drily, grimacing as she inspected her own spectacularly mud-caked attire before rolling onto her stomach with a groan of humiliation.
Rose's current state of dishevelment was entirely her own fault. After travelling for two days and nights under the ever present and watchful eye of Mr Belikov, Rose felt cooped up. In a fit of bold independence, she'd insisted on dismounting from the bounty hunter's horse without his help. Unfortunately, she mistimed the jump and landed face first in a muddy wagon rut in the middle of the road, to Dimitri's great amusement and her chagrin.
Lisa turned her head. 'Sorry, what did you say?' she asked, when Rose mumbled something into the covers.
'I wonder what Mason Ashford would think if he saw me now?' came the muffled reply.
'Mason drives cattle for a living, Rose,' Lisa smiled crookedly. 'He'd probably prefer you this way.'
The recumbent girl was about to reply when they were interrupted by a knock at the door and an excited voice piped up from without.
'Let me in, girls. I have presents!' It was Natalie.
The filthy Miss Hathaway half-lifted her head to look towards the door then collapsed back onto the covers with a muted groan. Natalie was very sweet and always tried her hardest to please, but her unquenchable enthusiasm made Rose tired just thinking about it.
'Put them here,' the newcomer instructed self-importantly, bustling through the doorway with a heavily-laden servant girl in her wake.
Nearly buckling under her load, the servant unburdened herself of a huge armload of bags and boxes, laying them out in a pile on the bed beside Rose then retreating from the room with a quick dip of her knee.
Natalie beamed at the shocked expressions on her friends' faces. 'Daddy wanted you to be comfortable so he had me pick out some fresh outfits for you,' she explained happily. 'I had to sort through your belongings in storage – I hope you don't mind?'
'Mind?' Lisa gasped, a look of joy and relief on her face. 'You're an angel!' She descended on the small mountain of dresses and hats and underwear and shoes with gay abandon, immediately zoning in on a pale-blue day dress with white lace detailing at the collar and sleeves. 'I thought I'd never see you again,' she murmured, nuzzling her face lovingly into the fabric and inhaling, taking in the scent of all the familiar things from home that she'd missed so much.
Given how soiled she was, Rose was also grateful for fresh clothes, but her heart sank at sight of the pile that towered beside her.
Rosemarie Hathaway had always been suspicious of women's fashions. When she was only six, Alberta had taken her to the dressmaker and said she might have any of the latest styles made up. The precocious child announced that she would like a pair of trousers and a shirt with rolled-up sleeves. And a belt with a gun holster. Alberta berated her harshly in front of the horrified dressmaker – saying a proper lady would never speak or even think of such indecent things – but when her next birthday rolled around, Rose found a little pair of trousers folded neatly on the end of her bed, along with a note that read; to be worn under dresses!
Needless to say, seventeen-year-old Rose had taken quite a fancy to the simpler style of clothing they'd adopted on the road, and the thought of wearing hoop skirts and endless layers of petticoats again was not a welcome one. Spying one of her own dresses on top of the pile – a puffy-sleeved plaid creation that had been a gift from the Dashleys when Natalie first came to board at Lisa's ranch – she held it up and forced herself to smile. 'Thanks, Natalie,' she said as graciously as she could, setting the plaid day dress aside for tomorrow's journey and hunting through the clothes in search of a nightgown.
The following morning Rose awoke early and dressed herself begrudgingly in Natalie's smart, plaid gown, piling her long, wavy hair back into a low bun. Checking first that Lisa was still sound asleep, Rose crept stealthily to the door and turned the handle with great care, drawing the door open a crack in order to peek out into the hallway. Alas, the moment she pulled at the door an unexpected weight pressed back against her, and the girl overbalanced with a fervently hissed 'dadgummit'. Regaining her footing, Rose was surprised to see Dimitri Belikov rising quickly from the floor in the doorway.
The bounty hunter must have sat guard there all night – still wearing his duster, boots and hat – and he hastily removed the latter, pushing his hair back from his eyes as it fell down loosely around his face.
The girl froze. She wasn't sure how she'd missed it before, but this Mr Belikov wasn't just handsome. He was gorgeous. And he was staring at her. Flustered, Rose took a sharp intake of breath and their eyes locked for the longest moment before Dimitri finally remembered his manners.
'Good morning, Miss Hathaway. I trust you slept well?' he asked, his voice warm and gentle.
'Yes thank you, Mr Belikov,' she replied formally, her heart racing in her chest. Why was he staring at her like that? Did she still have dirt in her hair from yesterday or was it something more? 'And you?'
'I got a bit in here and there,' the corners of Dimitri's mouth tugged into a smile as he continued to study the woman's face. He knew he was staring but he couldn't help it. The truth was, Rose Hathaway fascinated him – the wild, mud-spattered runaway he'd been travelling with yesterday, and this beautiful, refined young lady who stood before him now. Knowing they'd be arriving in Saints Town by tomorrow evening, he realised he was beginning to miss her already. 'Not trying one last escape are we?' he asked semi-seriously.
Rose's brow furrowed in a self-conscious frown. Of course it was stupid to read anything more into the bounty hunter's searching expression. His only interest in her was collecting the price on her head. 'Depends if you count a visit to the outhouse as escaping,' she shot back quickly, a hint of the old snarkiness evident in her voice.
Dimitri looked away, embarrassed. When they were on the desert trail he'd accepted the necessity of the ladies relieving themselves in close proximity to him (though he always turned the other way), but here in town – surrounded by the rules and niceties of genteel society – it seemed improper to be discussing such private matters with a woman. 'My apologies, Miss Hathaway. Please don't let me detain you,' he said, coughing uncomfortably and standing aside to allow her out of the room.
'Mr Belikov,' Rose stepped past him daintily, dipping her head in farewell and looking up at him from under her eyelashes.
The doorway was quite narrow, and when Rose's arm accidentally brushed against Dimitri's the big man shifted awkwardly on his feet, his hand darting in a nervous movement to tuck his hair behind his ear. Neither of them acknowledged the faux pas, but as Rose exited down the hallway her face lit up steadily with a dawning realisation. Dimitri might technically be the one in charge until he delivered her home to Sheriff Peterson but, for whatever reason, she held a little bit of power over him too.
The rest of that day passed in much the same way as the next. Victor Dashley and the girls travelled in the comfort and safety of the coach, chatting and napping to pass the time, with the silent and foreboding manservant Spiridon at the reins. Two other men – Mr Dashley's work associates, apparently – followed on horseback, and the bounty hunter rode alongside them on his stallion, sometimes ranging ahead of the party or drawing up close to inform Spiridon of a hazard on the road.
Rose listened half-heartedly as the others in the coach talked among themselves, but her attention frequently wandered to the open window to observe Mr Belikov. She wished she was riding too – not penned up in this stuffy carriage. Even riding trapped on the same horse as a surly, sweaty cowboy would be better than this. Actually, it would be a lot better than this, she thought, biting the inside of her lip.
'What are you thinking, Rose?' Lisa's voice broke through her reverie. 'You've got the strangest look on your face.'
Her friend shifted guiltily and gave a nervous laugh. 'Just worrying about what Alberta is going to say to me when we get home,' she lied, with a blush.
'You're a fool, Rosemarie Hathaway - a damn fool! What on God's good earth am I going to do with you, child?!'
If Sheriff Peterson wasn't bruised and bed-ridden she would have been absolutely terrifying. As it was, Rose felt so intimidated by the older woman that she half-hoped their conversation might be interrupted by a band of whooping Indians raiding the hotel where Alberta was recuperating, but as that was unlikely to happen on cue, she braced herself and summoned the courage to respond. 'I'm sorry, Alberta, but we had to leave. Lisa was in danger,' she explained, with a determined set to her jaw.
The two women had squared off countless times since the sheriff became Rose's guardian when the child was four years old. Both had quick tempers and strong wills, but they had a genuine respect for one-another as well, and always found a way to see eye to eye once the initial sparks died down.
'So you've said,' the sheriff huffed, exasperated. 'I'm going to need a better explanation than that, I'm afraid. This wasn't just a broken window or a missing bottle of wine. You and Lisa were gone for over a year. Do you have any idea how worried we were? I'd nearly given you up for dead.'
She paused then, overtaken by a severe coughing fit – wincing in pain and clutching at her ribs as each choking breath rocked her battered body. The horse fall had done more damage than Alberta cared to admit and she wished she could put this whole sorry business on hold, but that's not how life worked. Being a sheriff in the West meant you were always too damn busy to die.
Rose wished Lisa was here right now. She'd watched her father treat numerous patients over the years. She might have a better idea of how extensive Alberta's injuries were or know what could be done to ease her suffering. But Lisa had already been whisked away to Cottonwood Creek Ranch – the family property that would become hers upon her eighteenth birthday – where she was probably having a very similar conversation with Madam Kiroy. Hopefully the pair would have a chance to catch up together before long so they could work out what to do next.
'And I'm truly sorry we put you though that, Alberta,' Rose said in her best soothing voice, 'but you know I'd do anything to keep Lisa safe. I can't tell you exactly what we were running from, but I promise you we weren't just making it up. Lisa was scared. She'd seen things out on the ranch that really frightened her. Just ask Miss Karp. She was the one who urged us to leave in the first place. You trust her don't you? Just get her in here and she'll confirm everything I've said.'
Alberta's coughing had died down, and there was an uncomfortable silence as the sheriff eyed her foster daughter keenly. 'So you don't know, then,' she finally spoke. 'Sonya's gone.'
'What?' Rose frowned, trying to figure out what was going on. 'When will she be back?'
Another silence.
'Never, I'm afraid. She's dead.'
Rose's knees buckled and she clutched at the bedpost to stop herself from falling. 'How?' she whispered, sinking to slump on the covers beside Alberta.
'We don't know for sure. The body was never recovered, but Reverend Karp found a note from his daughter that lead us to believe it was suicide. The preacher has always been one card shy of a full deck, as you know, but the shock of Sonya's death has just about undone him.'
'I don't believe it. I won't believe it,' Rose choked out, glaring at the wall in defiance. 'I saw Miss Karp the night before we left. She said she'd stay behind and do everything in her power to keep Lisa safe. She seemed so strong and determined.'
'Lesson number one, Rosemarie. People aren't always what they seem,' the older woman replied, not unkindly. 'I'm sorry to break the news to you like this – I know Sonya was more than just a tutor to you and Lisa, and I wish I had something better to tell you, but—'
Rose stiffened suddenly, her gaze snapping to Alberta. 'Wait on. You said there was no body?' her eyes narrowed in concentration. 'Then how can you be sure Miss Karp is even dead? Maybe she's alive out there somewhere and you just didn't look hard enough?' she challenged, but she knew she was grasping at straws. Her throat felt constricted as she valiantly tried to hold back the tears that threatened to flow. Running away from home had been the hardest thing Rose had ever done in her life, but now it seemed that returning home was going to be even harder. Sonya was dead, Alberta was gravely injured, and she could only assume that Lisa's life was still in danger.
'Go home to bed, Rosemarie,' her foster mother instructed quietly. 'I'm stuck here in the hotel for the time being – can't manage the stairs at the sheriff's office in my current state – but you can come by and visit me tomorrow when you've had time to recover from your journey. I still don't know exactly what we're going to do about this runaway mess – Ellen Kiroy is going to want your head on a pike for taking Lisa away – but for now, I'm just happy you're both back safely,' the sheriff concluded, reaching out to pat the back of Rose's hand in a gesture of empathy and reconciliation.
The teenager nodded grimly and stood, leaning down to kiss Alberta on the cheek. 'I'd like to say it's nice to be back, but…,' she trailed off meaningfully.
'Oh, just get out of here before I change my mind and have you locked in the jail cell until I'm ready to deal with you,' Alberta retorted, shooing the girl towards the door. 'And send in the bounty hunter,' she added as an afterthought. 'I need to have a word with him.'
Dimitri had been waiting at a table in the quietest corner of the saloon for nearly an hour. It was a busy night and the patrons were willfully exercising their right to drink themselves under the table and lose all their earnings at cards. The hotel's owner was in the thick of it all, drinking and smoking alongside his customers, and Dimitri was just beginning to wonder if the sheriff had decided to kill Rose and be done with it, when the young woman in question approached him from across the room.
The Russian stood respectfully as she reached his table and offered her a chair, but she refused – her eyes cast down in an effort to conceal the fact she had been crying. 'Are you alright, Miss Roza? Dimitri asked quietly. 'She wasn't too hard on you?'
The sheriff of Saints Town had a reputation for making hardened criminals weep, and he could only imagine what she might do to punish her own ward.
'I'm fine,' the girl answered in a small, tight voice, not elaborating any further. 'Alberta wants to talk to you.'
Dimitri eyed her closely but could see she wasn't in the mood for talking. 'Very well,' he nodded curtly, but before he left he thought of something. 'I imagine this will be a quick meeting, Miss Hathaway. How about you sit down here and relax for a minute. As soon as I'm done with the sheriff I can walk you home,' he suggested.
It had clearly been a long day for Rose and the cracks in her defences were beginning to show. The girl looked like she was going to refuse but then she lifted her eyes to meet Dimitri's gaze. 'I could use a drink,' she asked hopefully, with a wobbly attempt at a smile.
The bounty hunter pulled a chair out for the lady and set his own flask on the tabletop in front of her. 'This isn't the finest quality whisky but it will be a step up from the coffin varnish they sell here,' he informed her. 'A nip of this should do the trick. Just don't drink all of it or I'll have to carry you home.'
Rose shot Dimitri a strange look that sent a blush to his cheeks. This woman would be a lot easier to figure out if she would just make up her mind, he thought, thoroughly confused. In the past sixty seconds she'd gone from sullen and reserved, to shy and vulnerable, and now – unless he was mistaken – her expression suggested she would be quite pleased if he did wrap his arms around her and carry her off to bed.
'I'll be back soon,' he said hurriedly, not wanting to let his mind get away with itself, and a few minutes later he was standing in the fearsome gaze of Sheriff Peterson.
'So you managed to bring her back then,' the woman began, eying him with a degree of intense scrutiny that was uncomfortable, to say the least.
Dimitri didn't have to ask which 'her' Alberta was referring to. 'There were times when Miss Hathaway proved to be a challenge, but a challenge I was able to meet nonetheless,' he replied evenly.
'And for that I am truly grateful, Mr Belikov,' the sheriff gave him a thin-lipped smile, nodding over at a small table next to her bed. 'The money for your services is in the drawer, but before you collect your reward I'd like you to consider another offer.'
The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow but stood quietly and waited for her to finish.
'The thing is, Mr Belikov, I'm not doing so well. I've taken serious falls before, but this time I think I've broken at least two of my ribs, and you don't even want to hear about the state of my rump.'
Dimitri's face remained impassive but he was recoiling on the inside. The woman was right. His interest in her rump was non-existent.
'I'll be out of action for at least another month, maybe two,' Alberta continued, finally coming around to her point, 'so what I'm after is a deputy. I thought you might consider taking the job?'
'You want me to be your deputy?' he clarified, not quite believing what he'd just heard. 'I'm not sure the townsfolk would warm to the idea of having a foreign bounty hunter as their lawman.'
'Well they can just stick it in their pipes and smoke it,' Alberta replied snottily. 'It's their right to elect their sheriff but it's my right to deputise whoever I see fit. You managed to find Rose and Lisa, which means you've got a brain in your skull, and you managed to bring them back, which means you must be more pig-headed than my foster-daughter, and that's saying something. Plus, Hank Croft over in Greenston speaks highly of your work and he hates everybody, so as far as I'm concerned you're the perfect man for the job.'
Dimitri's mind was racing. This might be the opportunity he'd been waiting for – respectable work in an established town that paid a steady wage. Even if it was just a short term position it would provide him with a good reference to take to a new employer. He could start saving properly for a house and finally afford to bring his mother and sisters here to live with him in America.
'There's just one catch,' the sheriff warned.
Of course. There was always a catch.
'Rose,' she said darkly.
'Sorry?' Dimitri asked, confused.
'I need somebody to keep an eye on the girl,' the sheriff explained. 'I didn't have the heart to tell her tonight, but Lisa's governess Ellen Kiroy has made it very clear that Rose will no longer be welcome as a guest or pupil at Cottonwood Creek. The old cow has even threatened to take Lisa away from Saints Town to remove her from Rose's bad influence altogether.' Sheriff Peterson's face was a thundercloud - she clearly didn't agree with the Kiroy woman's judgement. 'Those girls have grown up together and losing that bond will be a great blow for Rose,' she continued. 'With Lisa out of the picture, me stuck here in bed, and the girls' tutor Sonya Karp gone now as well, I'd hate to think what Rose might get up to if left to her own devices.'
Dimitri grimaced in understanding. 'So what exactly do you want me to do with her?' he asked dubiously.
Alberta thought a moment before replying. 'Take her in hand. Scare some sense into her. Do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble. Our Rose isn't likely to win herself an easy life by a convenient marriage, and while it's possible there might be some poor fool out there willing to take her on, I can't rely on that slim possibility as a way of safeguarding her future. What she really needs right now is a mentor. Someone to teach her the difference between bravery and recklessness. Someone who can show her how to survive out here in the West and still have some manners about her. A woman is nothing without her good reputation after all, and as of now Rosemarie's reputation is hanging by a thread. Do you think you can handle all of that?' she eyed the bounty hunter in a steely challenge that made Dimitri realise exactly where Rose got her spunk.
'Yes, ma'am,' the words fell out of his mouth before he had a chance to fully process what was being asked of him. Being made a sheriff's deputy was an opportunity of a lifetime, and the prospect of spending the next few months in the company of Rose Hathaway was just the icing on the cake. Dimitri was certain the girl would find a thousand ways to make his life a living hell, but he also had a feeling it would be worth it in the end. 'Yes,' he repeated more softly to himself.
The sheriff and her deputy chatted a while longer before Dimitri finally made his way to the door.
'—And remember to report back to me if you run into any trouble,' Alberta called after him as he left.
'Of course,' Deputy Belikov replied with a final nod, his pulse quickening slightly as he headed off to inform Rose that she wasn't rid of him yet.
.
Author's Note:
The cards are on the table. Let's see how Rose reacts to Dimitri's new job! And what he has in mind for her too :)
Things don't look so good for Sonya at the moment, and I wonder who the mysterious owner of the hotel is?!
Until next time...