A Heart's Blessing - Linda Ford Page 0,28

didn’t have time to dwell on what it meant to her and the children. She was kept busy filling plates and setting aside the empty soup bowls.

Finally the men all had food before them. But they’d no sooner finished serving the meal when it was time to dish out dessert.

A few minutes later, Laura went to the counter and took the payment from each man. Then blessed quiet descended on the place.

Delcie sucked in warm air. “It’s always a challenge when muleskinners come.”

“Thank you for setting them straight,” Laura said to Mr. Remington.

“I’m glad I was here.” The look he gave both of them seemed to suggest he meant more than helping out in the dining room. Of course, he also helped with the preacher. What about the woodbox, chopping the wood, carrying in water?

But what about his sneaking around outside?

They gathered around the kitchen table and ate dinner. They had just finished when the preacher started to mumble and yell. Both Delcie and Mr. Remington hurried to the room.

Mr. Remington held the preacher’s head up, and they managed to get him to swallow a bit of water.

The preacher ranted like a madman. She could make out very few words. Stop and no were clear enough, but nothing else. Delcie could only think of one way to calm him. She began to sing as she had yesterday. She sang every hymn she could remember. Every time she stopped, the preacher’s restlessness returned.

Finally the man slipped back into blessed unconsciousness. Except it was a worry to think he might slip permanently into that state.

Delcie sat back, exhausted. Mr. Remington had restrained the preacher and seemed as exhausted as she. “I could use some coffee,” she said. “Would you like some?”

“I would. But I’ll come with you to get it. Ezra seems to be settled for the moment.”

“Likely because he’s unconscious.”

“I know, but I prefer to think of it as an improvement over his agitation.”

“I wish there were a doctor nearby. Has anyone sent to Fort Macleod for one?” She poured coffee into a cup then held the pot toward Mr. Remington’s cup. He lifted it for her to fill.

“Thanks. Someone went yesterday.” He rubbed a finger to his brow.

“But?”

“I wonder how safe it is to be on the trail when whoever did that to the preacher is out there.”

She considered him a long, silent moment until he looked out the window as if seeing something extremely interesting. “I haven’t been out west very long, but it’s been long enough for me to know that in the absence of the Mountie, local men would put together a party to go after this man. Or men. Am I wrong in assuming that also happened yesterday?” The preacher was an easy target, but the evidence pointed to at least two having attacked him.

“You’re not wrong.” Weary resignation seemed to fill his voice.

“And what did they find?”

His gaze returned to hers, steady, almost challenging. “They lost the trail.”

She nodded, guessing there was more to it.

“About two miles from town.”

The news sank in. She swallowed hard. “So they could be anywhere nearby?” Was that why he had been skulking about this morning? Looking for the culprits. She couldn’t be sure the two events were related.

She was about to demand more information when Burnsie hurried into the café and right to where they stood. Laura came indoors at the same time. Behind Burnsie were Ike, Big Sam, the blacksmith, and two other men from town.

Burnsie appeared to be the spokesman. “The search party ain’t found no trace of the men who done this to the preacher. Could be they is close to town or even hidin’ right beneath our noses. We all need to be watchful and careful.”

Icy fingers squeezed Delcie’s spine. Her first thought was of the children. She hurried to the door to call them in and told them to play quietly in their bedroom. They must have heard something in her voice because they cast her a worried look and went to obey without arguing.

Her second thought was it wouldn’t take a smart man to figure out that the café and bakery took in goodly amounts of cash. She glanced at Laura and knew from the set of her mouth that she had the same thought. Hilda had a strongbox hidden behind a board in the pantry cupboard. No one would know where to find it. But that didn’t mean they were safe. Those men had almost killed the preacher for the few coins