a two-year-old. She would at least look clean and unrumpled for a while. Glancing at the loose gold ring on her finger, she carefully set it in her jewelry box. She wouldn't want to lose that; Tyler might want it back.
She looked in on Daniel and found him engrossed in a deadly game of checkers with Manuel. Neither of them paid her much notice, other than to complain that they were hungry. Evie glanced out the window, saw that the water had almost retreated to mud-puddle level, and left them to the battle. It was time she learned what had happened to Mrs. Rodriguez.
Benjamin was carrying the tray upstairs as she started down. Evie had him set it in Daniel's room and explained her problem. She wasn't about to ask where Tyler had gone. Maybe if they pretended this whole thing hadn't happened, it would go away.
Benjamin gave her a look that said he knew more than he was telling, but he agreed to go looking for Mrs. Rodriguez. After questioning Carmen, he set out, leaving the children to their noisy meal together.
Tyler didn't return. When the sun came out and set the spongy mud and puddles of the main street to steaming, Evie finally gave Manuel permission to check their home for clean clothes. He came back with tales of a snake in the rafters and mud over everything, and Evie's heart plunged a little lower. What was she going to do with these children?
She owed a gown and an explanation to Starr, but there wasn't a chance of going to her under the circumstances. Starr would certainly understand, but Evie could use the money the other woman had promised for the gowns. Eventually, somebody would come collecting for these rooms, and she didn't have the cash for both.
As the day wore on, Evie kept telling herself to be grateful that she wasn't pregnant. Watching Maria and Jose jumping on the bed and Manuel running up and down the staircase on mysterious errands, she was doubly grateful that she wasn't pregnant. She had always got along well with children, but children needed the firm hand and discipline that only a father could provide. Tyler was never going to be that father.
Jason Harding appeared late in the afternoon, hat in hand. He asked to speak to Evie alone, and when they were out of hearing of the children, he offered her a chair he appropriated from a nearby room.
"You'd better tell me straight out, Mr. Harding. After these last few days, my nerves aren't likely to take much hemming and hawing," she told him bluntly.
"There isn't anything to tell you straight out. We found the place where Mrs. Rodriguez went Friday night, but they say she left early in the evening." Jason's solemn face hovered near, his eyes a kind gray as he watched her.
Evie twisted her fingers in her lap, thinking of the four rambunctious children bouncing around in the rooms overhead. Mrs. Rodriguez would not have willingly left them alone all this time. She knew what Jason was trying to say.
"How do people usually cross the river?" she asked.
"It's usually so low, a horse can cross it."
"And Mrs. Rodriguez had a horse?"
Jason nodded slowly. "It was part of the deal when she sold the livery. Tom had to supply her with a horse whenever she needed it."
"And the horse isn't back, either, is it?" At Jason's shake of the head, Evie sighed. That was that, then. Mrs. Rodriguez had tried to cross the river to get back to her children. Somewhere, far down stream, they would find her body one of these days, if the coyotes and buzzards didn't get there first.
"Do they have any relatives in the area?"
Jason twisted his hat. "Rodriguez wasn't from around here. I don't know his family at all. Angelina grew up here. I don't remember the family name right off; I was just a boy when her folks died. She had a brother, I recollect. He went off to California to find gold. I don't know if she kept in touch. You might ask the kids."
Evie assimilated these facts and stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Harding. Have you checked the school yet? Will it be in any condition for use tomorrow?"
"I'm sending some of my men over to clean it out. It may be a week or so before we ought to put school back in session. There's too many need the children at home right now."
Evie was afraid to ask what