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  Published by The Hartwood Publishing Group, LLC,

  Hartwood Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona

  www.hartwoodpublishing.com

  Jo and the Pinkerton Man

  Copyright © 2017 by Dorothy A. Bell

  Digital Release: October 2017

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Jo and the Pinkerton Man by Dorothy A. Bell

  1889, Baker City, Oregon. Pinkerton agent Ryder McAdam enlists the aid of a novice schoolmarm by the name of Josephine Buxton to help him round up a family-run gang of train robbers and human traffickers. This passionate partnership proves uncomfortable, inconvenient, and unconventional, an unlikely match to last for all time.

  Dedication

  For Grandmother Cynthia, who did live in an army tent for the first year of her teaching career. She endured.

  Chapter One

  August 1898, Baker City, Oregon

  The elegant dining room of the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, Oregon, was the perfect venue to hold a family dinner. The Buxton family and their close friends the Bollos had a two-fold reason to celebrate. First Mathis Buxton —Buck to his family and friends— had taken as his lawfully wedded wife Adella Millican this very day. Everyone at the table highly approved of the union. Therefore, the party was a lively one.

  The second reason for the celebration was a tad bittersweet all the way around. Josephine Buxton had accepted a position as teacher at an all-girls school miles away from home. This was her going away party.

  Instead of enjoying herself and engaging with her family and friends, Jo sat distracted, staring at a man, an Indian. At the moment he was clearing dirty dishes from the table in the corner. She’d spotted him this morning outside the church. This morning she thought him an enterprising Indian to offer his services to see to the horses and buggies arriving for the wedding.

  One didn’t see very many Indians in Baker City these days. To find one here tonight, employed as a busboy in the fancy hotel dining room, struck her as odd. Boys, children usually picked up dishes and cleared tables, not grown men, and really, not Indians. Many of the saloons employed Chinamen to empty spittoons and scrub floors and pots, but not Indians. According to the current government, Indians belonged on reservations. Nevertheless, this particular Indian kept showing up everywhere she went.

  She made herself look away from the busboy and lowered her head and adjusted the position of the beaded reticule in her lap. Squirming in her chair and tipping a bit sideways, she elbowed her friend and sister-in-law, Birdie-Alice Bollo, in the ribs.

  Unruly blonde curls bouncing, Birdie shook off Jo’s nudge for attention. Across from them Birdie’s father, Rafe Bollo, drained his glass of whiskey and branch, cleared his palate, and dived into a ribald account of an incident in which Jo’s father Buck played the leading role. Both Birdie and Jo had heard this tale a hundred times, but Birdie refused to forgo the details, which Rafe embellished in greater, ribald detail with every telling.

  Impatient, Jo listened to what came next. Her father’s version, in contrast, inserted raunchy tidbits Rafe habitually omitted, possibly because those tidbits did not reflect well on Rafe’s character.

  Doreen, Birdie’s mother, hid a snicker behind the damask napkin she held to her lips. Adella, Buck’s bride of six hours and twenty-six minutes, blushed and giggled openly. Undercover and while Buck and Rafe debated the oft-told tale with the addition of commentary provided by Jo’s brothers, Gabe and Van, Jo elbowed Birdie again and whispered urgently, “Don’t look.”

  The fact Jo had commanded her not to look inspired Birdie to glance all around and over her shoulder to take note of everyone in the large dining room of the Geiser Grand Hotel. She even cast her gaze upward to the balcony that extended the length of the room.

  “I said don’t look,” Jo whispered, her chin tucked into her chest, trying not to move her lips or call attention to herself.

  Birdie lowered her head and spoke out of the side of her barely parted lips. “Exactly at what am I not supposed to look?”

  “That man over there. The one in the corner by the potted palm, surely you noticed him? I swear he was at the church this morning. And…and I think he was a guard in the room at the trial.”

  In the corner nearest their table, a boy of maybe ten or twelve made his way around the room serving customers fresh water. Jo shook her head at Birdie, who had looked in the wrong direction.

  “Not that corner, the far corner. The one in the vest and white shirt. He’s arranging dishes in the tray over there by the doorway.”

  Birdie frowned at her. “They’re all wearing white shirts and black vests.”

  “He’s the only busboy who isn’t a boy,” Jo said through clenched teeth.

  Smiling, Birdie straightened her shoulders, sat back in her chair, and glanced around the room.

  “Don’t stare at him,” Jo said, her lips in a tight smile and her eyes looking straight ahead. How Birdie could miss the man, the only Indian in the room, Jo couldn’t understand. There were three busboys cleaning tables in the big dining room of the Baker City Geiser Grand Hotel, but only one of them could be called a man. Dressed like the other busboys in a white shirt, black vest, black tie, and black trousers, he stood tall and broad of shoulder, definitely a boy no longer.

  Busboys were supposed to be invisible. Usually, no one gave them a second glance. Shortly after they were ushered into the dining room, the Indian had emerged from a shadow-filled hallway to the left of the entrance to the room. The hallway, lit with gas-fed crystal shaded scones, afforded enough light to see the sharp planes of his face and those dark eyes. She recognized him. Startled by his presence, she stumbled a bit, and her breath caught in her chest. He stopped and scanned the room, including her in his sweeping glance.

  A waiter rushed forward to usher their party to their table. Her mystery man stepped back and turned his back to their party. Curious to see if he’d enter the room, she glanced over her shoulder. He faced the room, squared his shoulders, draped a napkin over his arm, lowered his head, and staying against the wall, moved to a far corner.

  It had to be the same man. She was sure of it. The first time, at the trial a week ago, dressed as a guard, she hadn’t paid much attention to him. The stress of having to give testimony against horrible Ivers McDaniel, the mastermind behind her and Birdie’s kidnapping, had left gaps in her memory. She did remember the guard’s blue-black hair and long braid. Then this morning outside the church, he’d helped folks park their buggies and take their horses to the water trough at the stable across from the church. He’d been wearing a black hat pulled low over his brow, but she recognized those broad shoulders, narrow hips, and long legs. Now here he was in the Geiser Grand dining room dressed as a busboy—it was far too coincidental. Improbable it might be, but she was convinced the guard, the Good Samaritan, and the busboy
were all one and the same man.

  ∙•∙

  Faced with a head-on collision with Miss Buxton and her party, Pinkerton agent Ryder McAdam pulled back into the hallway and turned away. Damn, the girl had sharp eyes. He’d hoped to avoid taking her notice this evening. He couldn’t worry about how Miss Buxton fit into his plans tonight. He had to focus on the two salesmen and the old couple in the booth across the room.

  By chance, Ryder had met Sheriff Roy Phelps’ son, David, in his father’s office. David proudly announced he’d gotten a job bussing tables at the Geiser Grande. David talked fast, words and descriptions tumbling out of his mouth, but Ryder’s ears perked up when the boy reported on his very first night he’d overheard a couple of salesmen talking about the best place to ambush a train. Based on David’s sketchy and disjointed account, Ryder sent his younger brother, Jewel, and a family friend from Laura Creek, Percy Terrel, over to the saloon down the street this evening. He’d given them permission to cast out a bit of bait in the form of pure gossip about a big Wells Fargo gold shipment and O.R. & N. payroll going out on tomorrow’s train.

  Pinkerton had trained Ryder and taken him on to deal with corrupt Indian agents and the smuggling of illegal firearms on the reservations. But this, the chance to nab the Payasos gang train robbers, no, Ryder had to follow up this lead on his own. He couldn’t call in for help on a hunch. Damn it, salesmen didn’t normally discuss where to ambush a train, did they? They pushed their wares on folks, jawed them to death until they bought something. These salesmen didn’t appear to be selling anything. And the old couple, their hands, Ryder had noticed their hands. Earlier today, he’d followed them into the mercantile. The old lady couldn’t find a pair of gloves to fit, and the way they moved, and the sound of their voices, no, something didn’t smell right. The Payasos gang were notorious for their disguises.

  His adopted father Royce O’Bannon, Laura Creek’s sheriff Telt Longtree, and bank owner Howard Buttrum sat in the booth in the corner. All three men had handed over their affidavits in the kidnapping trial of Ivers McDaniel two weeks ago. Their testimony had more to do with McDaniel’s fraud and extortion than the kidnapping, but they’d stayed for the trial to be assured McDaniel faced the full extent of the law. Due to the length of the trial, they’d remained in Baker City to personally escort the OR&N payroll and the Wells Fargo gold to its destination in Laura Creek. All three men were shareholders in the OR&N And, as Longtree represented the law and Royce had been deputized and approved to escort the payroll, Ryder had assured Pinkerton no other guards were needed. As for Buttrum, he wasn’t about to let the Wells Fargo gold travel without his oversight. Ryder assured Pinkerton and his father, Sheriff Longtree, and Buttrum the payroll and the gold would be safe in his hands.

  He draped a snowy linen napkin over his arm and stepped into the room. No one must suspect him of being a Pinkerton man. Not that anyone would. Pinkerton, as far as Ryder knew, only had one Indian on his payroll. He’d met a few colored Pinkerton men when he’d gone back east to school. But Indians, no.

  Pinkerton men across the country had been trailing the Payasos gang of train robbers across Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and now into Oregon for nearly two years. They were being given credit for a bungled train robbery attempt not more than fifty miles south of Baker City two weeks ago. They hit a train in Boise a month ago and got away with twenty thousand in silver certificates. They were making their way north. Ryder felt it in his bones. The gang was desperate for a big haul. This was a big haul. And that clever, eagle-eyed Buxton girl kept popping up, watching him, sizing him up, taking his eye and his mind off his quarry.

  ∙•∙

  “Ohooo, I see him.” Birdie whispered behind her hand. Tipping her head to the side, she said, “He looks Indian, the clothes don’t hide the fact.” She shivered and pulled her shawl up around her shoulders. “He looks…I don’t know, not a boy, no, definitely a man and kind of dangerous. What’s an Indian doing here? I guess he could be a gambler, a sharp maybe, you know what I mean? Maybe he’s paying off a debt, had to do dishes and clean tables. Daddy says there’s poker games all the time in the back room here and the stakes run pretty high. His presence does set the imagination to wondering what he’s doing here, doesn’t it? I don’t think it’s his chosen profession. He’s not very good at it. He’s making a lot of noise, isn’t he?”

  “Who’s dangerous?” Jo’s brother Gabe wanted to know.

  Birdie blushed. Big brown eyes wide and innocent, she lied and said, “The banana cream pie. I hear it’s to die for here…dangerous.”

  Gabe leaned over his plate to share his warning with his sister as well as his wife of five weeks and three days. “Right. You two have your heads together as usual, trading secrets. And I, the stupid dupe, am supposed to go deaf and dumb. If you’re talking about the tall bumble-fingered Indian over there, the one breaking dishes, yeah, he looks dangerous and way too pretty. He should be on the reservation.”

  “Too pretty? Do you think so? Really?” Birdie said, batting her eyelashes at him. “I hadn’t even noticed,” she said, and leaned into him and planted a smooch on his jaw. In retaliation, Gabe folded her into his chest and kissed her on the lips.

  Jo looked away, uncomfortable and impatient with the lovebirds. Across the table from her, Buck and Adella, the newest newlyweds, had their heads together, billing and cooing, their eyes for no one but each other. She caught her brother Van pulling a face. His twitching lips exposed the dimple in his cheek. She put her napkin to her mouth to hide a snicker. He shrugged his shoulders and tucked into his meal of steak and potatoes.

  Jo couldn’t resist another glance to the busboy…man. This time she openly stared at him and asked herself why his presence bothered her. He certainly didn’t fit in with the elegant dining room décor: the polished wood paneling, the red damask upholstered chairs, the chandeliers, the gleaming glassware. She pictured him at home on a horse riding across the plains, spear in hand, hair flying.

  He also didn’t know a thing about stacking dirty dishes in a pan. He scraped then rescraped the same dishes. He never took the pan back to the kitchen. He simply rearranged the dishes. He folded and refolded, stacked and restacked the damask napkins. Head down, back to the wall, he gave the impression of being engaged in productive industry, but she knew the signs of someone wasting time. Both of her brothers were masters of the craft when called upon to assist in the kitchen.

  Was he eavesdropping? Near him, seated in the booth he’d just cleared, sat three gentlemen. She didn’t know any of them. The only one she could really see sat in profile, his silver mutton chops carpeting strong jowls. He had a round abdomen, no neck, and very broad shoulders, which gave him a very impressive, rather foreboding appearance. One of them, the one with the sandy blond hair, did look familiar. If she could get a look at his face, she might recognize him. She’d never seen the big, handsome man seated across from Muttonchops and Sandy. She’d remember a man who looked like that. Her daddy, Buck, had that look. It was the look of a man you didn’t want to cross. It was the look of a man who loved and lived hard.

  What in the world were these men doing here? Having coffee and cigars, yes, but if the busboy knew Mr. Sandy-Hair, Mr. Tough-and-Handsome, and Mr. Muttonchops, then why not sit in the booth with them? Maybe they didn’t want to be seen with an Indian? That could be it. Although the idea of making him clear away their table while they enjoyed their cigars and coffee didn’t make sense either. Could it be the only way the hotel would allow them to bring an Indian into the dining room? Jo shook her head at the thought. Silly, this exercise was silly and senseless.

  ∙•∙

  “For God’s sake, sit down, have a cup of coffee or milk or whatever it is you drink. Nobody believes for a minute you’re employed as a busboy. I’m not payin’ for those dishes,” Royce said without looking at him, speaking down to the last bite of his chicken and dumpling dinner.

  “I’m undercover,” Ryder hissed to his parent, removing his fa
ther’s plate before he could finish and snatching the silver fork out of his hand. Dropping the items in the dishpan, he said, “I’m observing the suspects. It’s what I do.”

  “You really think that old couple are train robbers?” asked Sheriff Longtree. The only person at the table with a view of the entire room, he eyed the old couple over the rim of his cup.

  “I don’t know. They don’t look or act right to me,” Ryder said. “They bought train tickets. The salesmen bought train tickets. I haven’t seen them sell one thing out of those cases. They were at the stable yesterday talking to three men about securing mounts, not in Baker City, but in North Powder. Jewel and Percy heard them. All four of those people over there are going to be on the train with your precious Wells Fargo gold, Buttrum, and Pinkerton’s O.R. and N. payroll.” Ryder accidentally on purpose dropped a napkin at the feet of the rotund banker, then shook it out, refolded it, and set it down on the table with the dirty dishes and the rest of the napkins. “I’m going to watch them. I have, in my mind, enough reason to watch them. David is over there. He’s trying to hear what they’re saying.”

  “I bought a train ticket,” said his father. “A lot of folks bought train tickets for tomorrow’s train, that don’t make them a train robber.”

  Ryder turned to remove Buttrum’s place setting and lowered his head and his voice, looking through his brows at his father. “But you weren’t overheard discussing where would be the most likely spot for an ambush.”

  “He’s got you there,” said the sheriff, easing his broad shoulders back, a big grin on his handsome face.

  Royce shook his head at his friend the sheriff and leaned across the table, lowering his voice. “I know, but all this…this play-acting, it’s ridiculous. I can’t wait to get the hell out of this town and back home.

  “Jewel is down the street in a saloon, of all places. He’s barely sixteen, and he’s…he’s out of my sight. The boy needs a short leash. Both you boys make me nervous. I need a smoke. Give me one of those cigars of yours, Buttrum.”