How happy her ma had been at Joel’s proposal. It was a crying shame they couldn’t celebrate proper, but once Scott was free, they’d do it up right.
But there was still something unresolved, something that would shadow their happiness, and while Betsy knew it didn’t possess the power to dislodge her affections, it was better to air it all out. In true journalistic fashion, Betsy would rather know all the facts than be left to speculate.
Joel mounted his horse and motioned to the borrowed one he had saddled for her. He didn’t have to wait for her to lead, she noticed. How easily he’d become accustomed to the winding paths and trails.
Once they’d left town behind, they were free to speak.
“So Bullard is dead?” Betsy asked. “Then he can’t be a suspect for the Hart County crimes.”
“We have Scott and we have Taney, but we have to find the third man,” Joel said. “Otherwise, Detective Cleveland has decided that if it’s between Scott and Sheriff Taney, he figures Sheriff Taney is the victim and Scott’s to blame. Even Scott’s injury and the knife your pa found haven’t convinced him that Scott was attacked. I’m afraid nothing’s going to prove it to him.”
“But if only Taney and Scott were there that night, why would Sheriff Taney hurt Scott?” she said. “Did Taney think that Scott was Bullard?”
“I’ve wondered that. And then instead of admitting his mistake, he swears that Fowler attacked him? Both Scott and Taney swear they were attacked by a Bald Knobber, so who was the man in the mask?”
Betsy had been over the conundrum dozens of times and still had no answers. But someone did have answers to another issue she’d been curious about. Unable to hold it in any longer, she blurted, “Tell me about Miss Blount.”
His horse stumbled. “What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Everything.”
She’d decided to believe him, decided that this woman had lied about him, but at the same time, she knew that she’d always wonder, always fear that some undisclosed, unsavory news would emerge. Even now her innards clutched, not sure she was going to like what she heard.
“I reckon that’s your right,” Joel said. They continued around the mountain toward the ravine as Joel started his story. “Back home, I didn’t much care for the girls in town. I wanted to be a lawman. That’s all I ever wanted, and that’s all I had time for, much to my ma’s consternation. I did a fair job at scaring all the girls away, but one day Mary up and appointed herself as my handler. She pretended to shield me from the girls trying to get my attention. I didn’t need her to do that, so I mostly just ignored her.”
“Was she vulgar? Unladylike?”
“No, just persistent. And counterfeit. I’d sit on the porch of the hotel for half an hour and not say a word. If I cleared my throat, she’d hoot and carry on like I’d said something hilarious. Didn’t take long to grow tired of that.” His voice slowed. “I was at the jail with Sheriff Green when we got word that a buggy had been overturned out by the river. It was nearly dark, but I set out to check on them. When I got there, sure enough, it was Mary’s buggy, and she was left stranded.”
Betsy’s head popped up. “Wait a minute. Who told you it was overturned? Why didn’t they bring her back?”
“Good questions I should’ve asked at the onset. When I got there, I thought she was alone, but her brother stood up from behind the buggy. I got off my horse and walked around the wagon to see if there was anything to use as leverage and get it right-side up again. As I was scouring the banks of the river, I heard a horse. It was mine, and it was leaving.” The last words were spoken through grinding teeth.
“Go on,” she said.
“Mary laughed, like it was a joke, but it wasn’t no joke to me. A deputy losing his horse is a serious matter, but what was I supposed to do? Shoot her brother? If I’d known what they had in mind, I don’t think I would’ve regretted doing it.” He ran a hand over his face. “That’s how I came to be stuck all night with her. We could’ve walked to town and made it before morning, but she refused to even try. And then the next day . . . well, you can imagine how it went. She and her pa were at the sheriff’s office, insisting that his deputy had compromised a young lady.”
“Didn’t they believe you?”
“It didn’t matter. All I had to do was marry her, which is what she was after all along, and the problem would go away—protect my honor and her reputation. Sheriff Green was running for re-election and didn’t want a stink. Everyone thought that was the simplest solution.”
“Everyone?”
“Even my mother. She was furious with Mary and her brother, but she thought me tying the knot was long overdue. It’s no surprise she saw this as her best chance.”
Betsy’s eyes narrowed. “It’s hard to believe she’d do that out of the blue. Did you talk all sweet to her, or . . . ?”