Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins Read Free Book Online

please don’t delay your supper for me. I can sit outside until you all are done.”
    â€œNonsense. I’m not letting you spend another minute smelling or looking this way.”
    So Ian watched his tight-lipped prisoner be led down the hall. She glanced back at him for a second and then refocused her attention on whatever Betsy was saying.
    Rand’s voice made him look up. “Let’s get the water started and we can sit and talk.”
    Ian followed him out to the pump.
    O nce Maggie and Betsy were alone in Betsy’s bedroom, Maggie discreetly studied the room. It looked so normal and lived in, with its patchwork quilt covering the big bed. An upholstered wingback chair had a crocheted doily spread over the back and there were framed pictures of painted birds on the white plaster walls. Maggie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in a real home where a person could sense the love within its walls. She corrected herself. She’d been twelve years old and living with her parents. She buried those thoughts and concentrated on what Betsy was saying while looking through a large wooden armoire. “You and I are about the same size, so here’s a shift, a blouse, and a skirt.”
    â€œI can’t take your things, Mrs. Tanner.”
    â€œSure you can, and call me Betsy.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œNo buts, Maggie Freeman,” she countered with a look that was both stern and gentle. “I may not know you, but you’re in this mess because you defended yourself, and the least I can do is offer you a bath, supper, and clean clothing before you move on to wherever you’re going.”
    â€œI think Abilene. The marshal was supposed to bring me here and leave me with the sheriff but the deputy wouldn’t take me.” Maggie told her about Hank Langley and the vigilantes and what happened when Langley met the marshal.
    â€œLeave it to the Preacher to scare the pants off someone. He’s good at that from what I hear.”
    â€œYou heard right.” The shock on the faces of the men he’d shot would have been comical had the situation not been so serious. “He wasn’t pleased when Sheriff Wells gave me over to him, though.”
    â€œThat’s okay. Sheriff Wells put you in good hands.”
    Maggie scratched at what were probably the fleas she’d picked up from the straw-filled mattress in the Dowd jail, and was immediately embarrassed.
    â€œLet’s get you in some water.”
    Maggie had no idea what kind of bathing room the house had but finding herself outside was unexpected.
    â€œRand likes to tinker, and this is one of his contraptions.”
    It was built like a tall, closed-in horse stall. Betsy opened the door. “The water is placed in that barrel up top there.”
    Maggie looked up at the barrel curiously. The base of it was attached to a short piece of wood. Connected to the wood were two long lengths of rope.
    â€œYou pull this rope to tip the barrel so that water comes down like a rain shower. Then pull this one to return the barrel to an upright position.”
    Maggie had never seen anything like it before.
    â€œThe ground can get kind of muddy so he built that short platform of slats to stand on. It keeps your feet out of the muck.”
    â€œThis is very ingenious.”
    â€œWorks like a charm, too.”
    Betsy gave her soap and a washrag, some towels, and a robe to put on once she was finished. “I’ll get them to start filling the bucket. They’ll have to climb up there to fill it each time, so make sure you cover yourself until they’re done. And we have plenty of water, so don’t worry over how much you’re using. You get as clean as you need.”
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œYou’re welcome. I’ll send them right out.”
    Shortly after Betsy’s departure, Maggie heard Rand calling, “You ready, Miss Maggie?”
    â€œYes.” She was