Kane left the room without another word.
The jewels glowed in Houston’s lap and, without another glance, she turned the blanket down to cover them as she stepped out of bed.
She spent the days in her sitting room reading. The servants came to her to ask questions, but otherwise she stayed alone. Her only hope was that Kane would see that she didn’t want to live with him and would release her.
A week after she’d returned, he came storming into her room, papers from the bank in his hand.
“What the hell are these supposed to mean?” he shouted. “The account of Mrs. Houston Chandler Taggert has been charged for bath powder, two yards of ribbon, and for paying the telephone bill of the Taggert household.”
“I believe I’m the only one who uses the telephone, therefore I should pay the expenses.”
He sat down in a chair across from her. “Houston, have I ever been stingy with you? Have I ever complained about how much you spend? Have I ever done or said anything that makes you think that I’d ever withhold money from you?”
“You have accused me of marrying you for your money,” she said coolly. “Since your money is so precious to you and not to me, you may keep it.”
He started to speak, but closed his mouth. After a long moment of looking at the bills, he said softly, “I’ll be goin’ to Denver tonight, and I’ll be gone for about three days. I’d like you to stay in the house. I don’t want you doin’ anything to get in trouble, like tryin’ to start a riot at the coal mines.”
“And what will you do to innocent people if I do? Will you throw three families into the snow?”
“If you haven’t noticed, it’s still summer.” He walked to the door. “You don’t know me very well at all, do you? I’ll tell the bank to send your bills to me. Buy whatever you want.” With that, he left her alone.
As soon as he was gone, she went to the window to look at Chandler below. “You don’t know me very well, either, Kane Taggert,” she whispered. “You’ll not be able to keep me chained inside this house.”
Three hours later, after she saw Kane drive away from the house, she called Reverend Thomas and told him to prepare a wagon because, tomorrow, Sadie would visit the Little Pamela mine.
Chapter 27
Houston, dressed as Sadie, eased the wagon up the hill toward the coal mine and, as she maneuvered the horses around a long, deep rut in the road caused by the recent heavy rains, she thought she heard a sound in the back of the wagon. Last summer, a cat had been caught under the canvas that was tied down so tightly, and she was sure that was what was making noise now.
She flipped the reins to the horses and concentrated on getting up the hill. At the gate, she prayed the cat, or, by the sound, several cats, would be still long enough for her to get past the guards. She’d hate to have the men’s curiosity aroused so they’d feel compelled to search her wagon.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she was past the guards and into the camp. She’d called Jean this morning and, in between Jean’s breathless announcement that Edan had asked her to marry him, Jean had said that Rafe was now working the graveyard shift and would be at home when she brought her wagon. Rafe didn’t know about Houston, but he was willing to introduce Sadie to another woman who’d help her with the distribution of the vegetables and the contraband goods. Jean didn’t know whether the new woman was aware of Sadie’s true identity or not.
Houston pulled the wagon over in front of the Taggerts’ company house and halted just as Rafe came out the door.
“Mornin’ to you,” Sadie called as she struggled to get her fat old body down from the wagon.
Rafe nodded in her direction, looking at her so hard that Houston kept her head down, the sloppy hat shading her face. “I hear you’re gonna find
me somebody else to help me get rid of this stuff. Now that Jean’s gone to be a lady, I don’t guess I’ll get to see much of her.” Sadie began to untie one corner of the canvas. “I got me some cats caught under here and I got to get ’em out.”
She glanced up at Rafe as she tossed the canvas back and picked up a head of cabbage, meaning to brag a bit on her fine produce. But when she looked back at the wagon, her knees buckled under her and she grabbed the side of the wagon for support. Under the head of cabbage was Kane Taggert’s face and he gave her a lusty wink.
Rafe grabbed Sadie with one hand and looked into the wagon at the same time.
Kane sat up, food falling over the side of the wagon. “Are you deaf, Houston? Couldn’t you hear me callin’? I thought I was gonna pass out, since I couldn’t breathe. Damn it, woman! I told you not to go into the mines today.”
Rafe looked from one person to the other before he took Houston’s chin and held her face up to the light. If you were looking for it, you could see the makeup. Over the years, Houston’d become an expert at keeping her face down and she’d soon learned that people rarely look at each other critically. They saw at first glance that she was an old woman and they never questioned that first impression.
“I didn’t believe it,” Rafe said under his breath. “You’d better get inside and start talkin’.”
Kane stood beside her, gripped her elbow painfully and half pushed her inside the little house of Rafe’s.
“I told you not to do this,” Kane began. He looked at his uncle. “You know what the ladies of Chandler are doin’? There’s three or four of ’em that dress up like this and they carry illegal things inside the food.”
Houston jerked away from Kane’s grasp. “It’s not as bad as you make it sound.”
“What’s more, Fenton knows about the women and he can prosecute ’em at any time. He must hold half the leadin’ citizens in the palm of his hand, and they don’t even know it.”