Page 77 of The Heart’s Charge

Katherine’s stomach had been uneasy all afternoon. She knew fretting served no purpose beyond making her ill, but a heaviness had settled over her that she hadn’t been able to shake. Hoping to distract herself with a change of scenery, she’d collected Alice and taken her to town to buy shoes. The battered, boy-style footwear the girl wore was at least one size too small and riddled with holes. They found a sturdy replacement pair in her size without much difficulty, which proved a blessing to Alice but a curse to Katherine. With her task now completed, her distraction dwindled, and Katherine’s belly became a bowl of knots once again.

When they exited the mercantile, she couldn’t keep her gaze from traveling down the road leading out of town to the west. Where are you, Mark? He’d warned they might be late coming home. Cautioned her not to worry. Yet she was doing exactly that.

She prayed for greater faith and less fear, but the knots remained. Even tightened.

Alice tugged on her hand. “Can we stop by the depot, Miss Katherine? I want to see if Rawley is there. He might know something about Wart.”

Surely the boy would have already reported any discoveries he had made on that front, but Katherine didn’t have the heart to turn the girl down. Rawley was like a second big brother to her, and she’d be comforted in seeing him, whether or not he had any news to share.

“All right.” She squeezed Alice’s hand and forced a cheery smile to her face as she turned away from the road that led to Mark and, instead, marched toward the train station.

Alice led her around to the rear of the depot, where empty freight cars waited on a sidetrack for loading. None of the boxcar boys were in residence, however, and Alice’s posture drooped like a flower with failing roots.

Determined to bolster the girl and herself, Katherine led Alice toward the platform. “Let’s find Mr. Lopez. Maybe he’s seen Rawley.”

Alice’s dragging feet quickened at the idea. She even beat Katherine up the steps and called out to the porter. “Mr. Lopez? Are ya here?”

A man ducked out of the baggage room and grinned at the sight of the little girl. “Al! Is that you? I look for a boy and here is a lovely niña.”

Alice blushed and ducked her head, but a smile curled the edges of her mouth.

Mr. Lopez glanced at Katherine and winked. “And look what I happen to have in my pocket, eh? Candy! Would you like one? I have a few left over from yesterday.”

Alice looked to Katherine. “Can I?”

Katherine smiled and nodded. “Yes, you may.”

Mr. Lopez pulled a brown paper packet from his coat pocket and offered it to Alice. She pinched a candy between her thumb and forefinger and drew it out, the distinctive red and white stripes giving the flavor away.

Peppermint.

Katherine’s abdomen went as hard as a rock. Hadn’t one of the snatchers smelled of peppermint? The one who’d tried to take Rawley? Yes, she was sure of it. Mark and Jonah had rehashed all the possible identifying traits of the kidnappers so many times, she could probably recite the list in her sleep.

Katherine placed a hand on Alice’s shoulder and drew her back to her side. The girl turned her head, her eyes questioning.

Doing her best to keep the alarm out of her voice, Katherine smiled at the porter. “Do you often eat peppermints, Mr. Lopez?” It seemed more of a child’s treat than something a grown man would keep on hand. One of the reasons it distinguished Rawley’s snatcher.

His brows rose slightly, but his cheerful disposition never flagged. “No.” He chuckled softly as he put the packet back in his coat pocket. “Only when Señorita Gordon comes to see me. We started chatting after one of her trips to see her sick padre a couple months ago. I tried to lift her spirits. Her padre, I think, isn’t long for this world. She’s been coming to see me every week since then. Leaves candies with me after our chats.” He grinned. “She knows about my sweet tooth, eh?”

“That’s nice.” Though something about it felt wrong. Althea Gordon had always seemed a very private sort of person. Eager enough to talk about her students and her love of history but rarely speaking of anything personal. The only reason Katherine knew about the teacher’s ill father was because Althea had asked the church to pray for him. Katherine didn’t even know where he resided, only that it was someplace near enough for Althea to make weekend visits by train.

“Sí. She treats me like one of her students,” Mr. Lopez said, drawing Katherine back to the conversation. “Rewarding me for a job well done.”

Katherine’s heart pounded in her chest. “What job are you doing for her?”

Mr. Lopez shrugged. “Just chatting. You know how teachers are. They think boys should be in school, not roaming the streets. She comes by the depot to ask me about the boys who ride the rails. Have I seen them? Do I know where she might find them in the evenings? Where do they sleep? Can she take them food or blankets? She worries for their safety. Wants to get them in school. The candies are payment for the information I share.” He winked. “If she ever catches up with Rawley, she’ll need an entire jarful to bribe that wild one into a classroom.” His face grew more serious. “But it’s not good for him and the others to roam the rails like they do. They need schooling. And homes.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” About the schooling and homes, anyway. The rest made her chest ache.

Had Althea Gordon rewarded another man for a job well done? A job involving snatching young boys? Surely the peppermints were a coincidence. Althea couldn’t possibly be involved with the abductions. She was a teacher. A protector of children. Mark had trusted her and included her in their investigation.

Yet who else would be in a better position to know precisely which children in town had no families who would miss them? What if Althea’s visits to Harmony House had not been a matter of professional curiosity, but as a way to take inventory of the children there? She was an expert on local history and geography. Those field trips she’d taken to Packsaddle Mountain to teach about the Moss brothers battling the Apache proved she knew the area. Would know where boys could be hidden. But for what purpose?

She must talk to Eliza. Get another opinion.

“We need to be getting back,” she said, smiling at the porter even as she steered Alice toward the steps. “Have a lovely evening.”

He waved. “You too, Señorita Palmer.”