winter stores waiting to see who kills him.”
“I’m right here.” Duncan glared at them. “I can hear and understand everything you’re saying, ladies.”
The both jumped back a step and stared, as if it never occurred to them that he was in his right mind and could speak.
“What’s your names?” Duncan said, simply because he could think of nothing else to say to these two women who looked like round little gingerbread cookies and smelled the same.
“I’m Rachel Elizabeth,” the first one who’d stepped into the room said, “and this is my older sister, Sarah J.”
“Duncan McMurray, Texas Ranger, at your service.” Curiosity got the better of him. “Mind telling me what you two are doing at a place like this?” He couldn’t see them as whores, and they didn’t fit with the mission trappings at the roadhouse.
“We’re murderers on the run,” Rachel whispered. “After we committed our crime, we loaded up our wagon and took off. I told Sarah J we should go north, but she thought south would be better. Warmer climate. Toledo found us lost, out of money, supplies, and luck six months ago. She offered us both a job as cooks. Apparently, she’d fired the one before, or shot him. We’ve heard conflicting reports. His food was so bad, half her guests and most of her hired help was sick.”
“You can’t arrest us and take us back, can you?” Sarah J asked, obviously finding no need to follow her sister’s chatter.
“No,” he said, not believing a word Rachel said. These two didn’t look like they could murder a goose, much less a person. “But I can’t believe you like it here.”
“We don’t,” Rachel whispered, “but we’ve not enough money to leave, and where would we go? Murderers can’t settle in just any place.”
“Good.” Sarah J smiled. “I didn’t think you could take us back.” She looked like she might break into a dance at any moment. “Well, Ranger McMurray, if you see a crime, you can go stop it, can’t you, even if you’re not in Texas. That is, if you have time before you die or get killed.”
Duncan saw his chance. “I’d need my gun and, of course, my clothes in order to do a proper job.”
“Rachel, go get them,” Sarah J said without moving. “I’ll tell the ranger of the problem.”
Duncan wasn’t sure he could stand, much less solve any problem, but this might be his only chance to get away and he planned to give it his best effort.
Sarah J crossed her hands in front of her, looking very much like one of the mission sisters as she began. “We first thought of asking you to kill Ramon. He’s no good to anyone but Toledo, and he bothers little Anna all the time, teasing her as if she were a mouse on a string. But Rachel pointed out that Toledo would just hire another guard for the kitchen rooms, and he might do more than tease little Anna.”
Rachel rushed back into the room with a stack of clothes and whispered before her sister stopped talking, “We love the girl and can’t stand how she’s treated here. I’ve thought of getting the butcher knife. . . .”
“Now, Rachel,” Sarah J said, “we’re finished with that kind of thing.”
Rachel closed her mouth and smiled sweetly. “Ramon doesn’t have use of all his parts anyway, maybe he wouldn’t mind if we cut off one small one.”
Duncan raised his eyebrow, wondering if he should be worried about these two. For all he knew they were cutting up everyone who crossed them and cooking the bones for stew. “What do you want me to do, ladies?” he asked as the room started to spin. Forget standing, sitting up now became his challenge.
Sarah J must have sensed he had little time left before he passed out. “If we can, we’ll help you escape, but if we do you have to promise to take Anna with you. The old woman will kill her in a fit of anger one of these days. She has no reason where the child is concerned. Some on the place say she’s a fair boss, but in the months we’ve been here she beats the child several times. Just ties her to a pole and hits her with whatever is handy.”
“I was already planning to take her with me,” Duncan managed as the darkness flooded his mind and he leaned back against the pillow.
As if in a dream, he was aware of Rachel shoving his clothes