Page 82 of More Than Meets the Eye

Carrying the hot drink, she hurried back to the main room, approached her brother, and gently touched his shoulder. “Here, Seth. Drink.”

Slowly, he straightened, reaching for the mug as he unfolded. He staggered over to the faded yellow armchair and sat, bringing the coffee cup to his mouth.

“I saw the wagon,” she blurted, needing to tell someone of her discovery.

Seth took a healthy swig of the hot brew, but his gaze zeroed in on hers from above the mug’s rim.

“From the kitchen window,” she said, turning to point to the room she had just vacated. “It’s here. The one Christie’s attacker used to cart her to the river. Do you think—?”

The front door slammed open and banged against the inner wall. “I knew you’d come crawling back here, gal. Been watchin’ for ya.” Earl limped through the door, spittle spraying his unruly beard under the force of his words. “Ungrateful wretch. Leaving me to do your work. You’ll feel the back of my hand before you fill your belly with any of my . . .” His words faded, and his brow crinkled. He squinted at Evangeline. “You’re not Christie.”

Evangeline willed her hands to cease their trembling as she reached for the revolver. “No,” she said as she pulled the gun from behind her back. She pointed it at Earl and cocked the hammer. “But I’m a friend of hers, and I won’t let you or anyone else hurt her ever again.” Behind her, she heard Seth stand.

Earl’s eyes widened at the sight of the gun, then narrowed as he discounted the woman wielding it. “You’re tresspassin’.” He took a step forward and gestured viciously back toward the door. “Get out!”

Seth stepped forward, jaw set, nostrils flared. No one would think he was still recovering from an asthma attack, not when he looked that mean. Pride and confidence in her brother steadied Evangeline’s hand.

Earl’s attention swung to Seth. He halted his advance but not his bluster. “You, too,” he demanded. “Out!”

“No, Earl,” a quiet voice said from behind Evangeline. “We aren’t leaving until I get what I came for.”

Earl staggered back a step. “Christie. You’re . . . you’re talkin’.” His Adam’s apple plunged up and down as he gaped. “But I thought . . . I thought . . .”

She advanced into the room, chin high. “You thought I was an imbecile. I know. But I’m not. I’m deaf. That’s all, just deaf. My mind is as strong as yours. Stronger.”

Earl glowered. “Why, you disrespectful little—”

Seth shifted into his path. “I’d watch what you say if I were you, mister.”

Shaking his head and muttering something Evangeline couldn’t understand, Christie’s stepfather retreated.

“Where’s Archie?” Christie’s voice grew stronger as she faced down her tormentor. “I want him, Earl. Want to raise him, take care of him. You owe my mother—you owe me—that much.”

“I don’t owe you nothin’, you ungrateful—” His attention caught on the lockbox in Christie’s hands. “Oh, I see how it is. You came to rob me.” He gestured to the room at large. “Thieves, the lot of you. Breaking into a man’s house, stealing his valuables. I’ll bring you all up on charges.”

Evangeline squared her shoulders. “Not before we bring you up on charges of our own. Attempted murder, for starters.”

“What the devil you talkin’ about, woman? I ain’t never kilt nobody.”

“Not for lack of trying.” Evangeline advanced a step. “I saw the buckboard in your yard. The very same buckboard I witnessed at the river the day someone tried to drown your stepdaughter. She was wrapped in a blanket as if she were some kind of animal. Dumped. Shoved under the water with the kick of a man’s boot. That man deserves to rot in prison.”

“Well, it weren’t me!” Earl roared. “I might have smacked her around a time or two, but I never tried to kill her. What would be the sense in that? I need her to make my deliveries. My bum leg can’t handle the mileage.”

“Then someone used your wagon,” Evangeline pressed.

“But no one’s driven that thing since . . .” Earl’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Why, that slimy snake! Sabotagin’ my business. I’m gonna chop Benson down at the knees for this.”

Evangeline’s stomach flip-flopped. The evidence they needed to prosecute Benson. Right here. Growling and stomping about like a riled bear. Earl was the key. He could testify against the schoolmaster. And judging by his demeanor, he’d be more than willing.

She looked at Seth, understanding and agreement passing between them. Seth moved forward, intent on taming the bear, but before he could get within reach, a loud explosion boomed, shaking the walls of the cabin.

Earl yelped. “My still!”

Without warning, and moving much faster than a man with a gimpy leg should be able, he sprinted out the door.

With a roll of his eyes, Seth downed the last of his coffee, traded his mug for Evangeline’s revolver, and gave chase.

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