The Sheriff & Camille
Rowdy conversation and piano music permeated the floorboards beneath Camille’s bed causing sleep to elude her. She turned onto her side and folded the other half of the pillow over her ear to drown out the cacophony. Maybe, I should have hired a driver to take me to the hotel in Rapid City. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about what goings on had taken place in the bed she now occupied. Jane’s family should never know this, she thought. They worried enough about her without learning the truth of her circumstances in Red Gorge.
At least, Jane was no longer involved with bad company. How had she let herself get tangled up with a murderess? Jane had always been wily when it came to character—with the exception of Zeb, a hardheaded cuss who could aggravate the devil himself. Combined with Jane’s red-haired temper, they’d been a volatile couple. No one could fathom what had kept the two of them together since they were young teenagers.
Along with those thoughts, lingering regrets about her failed marriage entered her mind. Will I ever stop feeling like the biggest fool in the world? I should have been able to see that he didn’t love me. Why was it easier to pick up the clues in hindsight? She rolled over onto her other side and became aware that the noise beneath her room had died down. She took deep breaths, closed her eyes, and counted imaginary sheep. One, two, three, four…
A door slammed. Camille shot up in bed. Nothing but silence. Maybe I was dreaming. She settled back onto the bed. Her head had barely touched the pillow when she heard Jane’s voice saying, “No, you’re drunk.” She swung her feet over the side of the bed and sat up. Some kind of commotion had broken out downstairs. Again, Jane yelled, “No…Don’t…Please.” Is someone trying to hurt Jane?
Camille felt around for the matches on her nightstand and lit the lamp. Another cry from Jane pierced the quiet as she got into her dressing gown. She struck a second match to the light the candle on her dresser and opened her reticule. She’d purchased a Remington derringer for protection during the long trip out west. She loaded the gun and held it in her right hand while carrying the candlestick in her left.
The candle cast a sliver of light in the darkened hallway. She crept forward. A crash, like the sound of breaking glass, came from the bottom of the stairs. Camille raced down, brandishing her weapon. A man had pinned Jane against the bar. He held her wrists on either side of her body. He'd ripped one shoulder of her gown. Camille took aim.
“Let her go,” she said.
The man twisted his head in her direction and leered at her. He had well-groomed, dark hair streaked with gray at his temples and was dressed in the type of suit worn by men of substance. She stared him in the eyes and cocked the hammer.
“Let her go, or I will shoot,” she said.
He released his grip on Jane’s wrists and backed away. Jane pulled up her gown to cover herself.
“Camille, please put the gun down,” Jane begged. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I know that when a man tries to take liberties with a lady, and she says ‘no’, a gentleman should respect her wishes.”
The man snickered in a way that turned Camille’s stomach.
“I’d hardly call Jane a lady,” he said.
“And I only called you a gentleman as a figure of speech,” Camille said.
When he picked up his hat from the table near the door, Camille noticed a gold band on the third finger of his left hand. He’s married. All of her ill feelings toward Matthew and his mistress surfaced. If her better judgment hadn’t taken over, she might have been tempted to wound him in a delicate part of his body.
“Listen to Jane and put the gun away, ma’am,” he said. “Matters between me and Jane are none of your concern.”
“I was awakened by what sounded like my friend being attacked,” Camille said. “I hardly believe that it isn’t my concern.”
Jane picked up her discarded shawl from the floor and tied it around her shoulders.
“You misunderstood what was going on,” Jane said.
Camille eased the gun’s hammer into place and lowered the weapon to her side.
“I’ll forget this happened,” the man said. “And won’t press attempted murder charges with the sheriff.”
“Attempted murder? I thought you were attempting to rape my friend.”
He chuckled as if it were all a joke. “Well, that would be your word against mine…and Jane’s, of course.”
Nausea gripped the pit of her stomach. She had no acquaintance with this man, and yet, she hated him. Yes, hate was a strong word, and an emotion that a well-brought-up lady should suppress. Still…his cold eyes and cocky self-assurance repulsed her. He presented himself as the kind of man who took whatever he wanted by any means necessary.
“I’ll deal with you later,” he said to Jane. “Tell your friend here that she should be more careful about who she threatens with a gun.”
“I can assure you that I’m not frightened of you—whoever you are,” Camille said.
He strutted past her, and she watched him until he had closed the door firmly behind him.
“Attempted murder, he said. I’m surprised someone hasn’t murdered him already.”
Jane shuddered as if she’d been frightened. “Oh, Camille, I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Hadn’t done what? Stopped you from being molested by that cad?”
“That cad is my business partner. You remember me telling you about Samuel Barnes. You don’t know that man and what he’s capable of doing.”
Camille swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “Jane? What happened here? Are you…?” She paused and studied her friend’s face. Jane could never fool her. “Is there something untoward going on between the two of you?”
Jane closed her eyes and shook her head. “Untoward,” she said echoing her friend. “Camille, go home to Memphis. You don’t belong out here.”
“Then, you are…”
“Doing what I have to do to survive,” Jane said.
For a moment, silence hung between them as thick as morning fog on the Mississippi River back home.
“You can go home with me, Jane. When the stage comes through day after tomorrow, close this place up and leave with me.”
“No.” Her answer came back sharp and clear. “I can’t…I won’t go home.”
“Jane, please, your Ma loves you. Your family loves you. If they knew…”
“They wouldn’t know me now and neither do you.”
“How can you say that?”
Jane extinguished the lamp behind the bar leaving only Camille’s candle to light the stairs.
“It was nice of you to come here to tell me about Maggie,” Jane said. “But I think you should go home.”
Camille noticed Jane’s tear-stained cheeks as she hurried past her and made her way upstairs. She had the urge to run after her. However, an overwhelming sense of disbelief kept her glued to the spot where she stood. Before she left Red Gorge, she had to get Jane out of her current situation.
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ISBN-13: 9781370903115
Words: 36,276
Published: Dec. 16, 2017
Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Cozy » Historical » Western Fiction
The books in the Dakota Lawmen Mysteries series are available in ebook and paperback.