“I’ll pair one of them with my Katie. That gal can talk the skin off a turnip. She’ll keep ’em awake.”
“Better put her with Bertie, then,” Emma recommended, a soft chuckle escaping at the thought of Henry being saddled with such a chatterbox. “Henry’s liable to throw the girl from the ramparts.”
Betty chortled. “Ha! Right you are.” The sound of a door slamming had Betty’s gaze lifting over Emma’s head. “Speaking of . . .”
Emma turned. There was Katie, traipsing down the front steps wearing a different dress. One she usually saved for Sundays.
“There you are, Betty!” She bustled over to where the three of them stood and neatly slid her arm around one of Malachi’s elbows as she insinuated herself into the circle. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Apparently everywhere meant the wardrobe and bureau drawers. Not only had Katie donned a new dress, but she’d put her hair up. And Emma was pretty sure she smelled rose water, as well.
Betty frowned. Malachi fidgeted. Emma fumed.
Why was she fuming? She tried to tell herself she was angry at Katie’s flirtatious manner because it would likely get Malachi into trouble, but she feared it was Mal’s slowness in disengaging the other woman from his arm that had her hackles up. Which made no sense. She didn’t have a claim on Malachi, at least not a romantic one. They shared a bond forged in childhood, a powerful friendship, but it was nothing more than that. It couldn’t be. She had her work with the women’s colony. He had his demolition job with the railroads. No two paths could be more divergent.
Katie scooted even closer, leaning in toward Malachi until her skirts pressed against his legs. In the process, she bumped against the burlap sack he carried.
“Careful, miss.” Mal finally found his voice. And his feet, thank heavens. He sidled away from Katie and held the sack between them as a buffer. “I wouldn’t want you to soil your dress.”
Katie wrinkled her nose as if only just noticing the stained burlap. “What is it?”
“Turpentine.” Malachi looked to Betty. “Wanted to see if you recognized the canister. We found it by the garden this morning. It might have been used to start the fire. It’s possible that whoever lit the blaze stole the stuff from somewhere close at hand, then left it behind. We’re hoping that figuring out where he got it from will help us track his movements.”
Betty frowned, but made no effort to deny that the turpentine might be hers. “Well, let’s take a look-see, then.”
Malachi opened the sack and pulled out the dented, slightly rusted can. “This look familiar?”
Betty leaned closer to examine it. “Could be. Only one way to tell for sure. We need to check the supplies in the barn. See if ours is missing.” Swinging her shotgun off her shoulder to clasp it across her body in a more ready position, Betty pivoted and started marching toward the barn. Malachi and Emma followed.
Katie hesitated for a moment, then hurried after them. “Wait,” she called, her voice suddenly void of all flirtatious tones. “Are you saying that man was here? On our farm?”
Emma halted then retreated a few steps to intercept Katie while the others continued on. Hating the fear she saw etched in the young woman’s face, Emma set aside her earlier frustration and laid a comforting hand on Katie’s arm. “We don’t know he was here, Katie. We don’t even know that the turpentine we found came from Betty’s farm.”
“But if it is ours, that means he was here, right? Here. Where we sleep. Three women alone.” The poor girl was shaking in earnest now.
Emma wrapped an arm around Katie’s shoulders. “We don’t know that. Someone else could have borrowed the turpentine and forgotten to return it. There are a hundred different explanations.”
Katie looked directly into Emma’s eyes. “But you don’t believe any of those other explanations, do you?”
Emma sighed. “To be honest, Katie. I don’t know what to believe right now. Mr. Shaw found that turpentine and is determined to learn where it came from. He believes it can help us figure out how the man is stirring up trouble in town without our being alerted. If we can unravel his methods, we can take steps to stop him. That’s the plan, anyway.”
Katie nodded. “I understand. I just . . .” She glanced past Emma to the barn and bit her lip. “His attacks always seemed to happen in other areas of the town. Not where I lived. It was easier to pretend the threat wasn’t real when it was distant. Now it’s here.”