Eli had his thinking face on. I gathered my new clothes and went in the bathroom to dress. I was tired of sitting around in a towel.
I put on the garter belt and the brassiere, then the hose, then the panties, then the slip. Though I’d seen garter belts and hose before, I’d never put ’em on. I felt I was already wearing a lot of items, and I hadn’t even finished yet.
Next I put on the blouse. The saleswoman had called the color “rose pink.” I guess some roses were that color.
As “accents”—that was what she’d called ’em—the blouse had a white collar, white trimmed pockets, and white cuffs on the puffy sleeves, which came halfway to my elbow, covering the bandage. The skirt was full and to my knees, and it was covered in flowers, some of them the same pink as the blouse. At least the material was cotton and the shoes were tolerable, though not real practical.
I hated to think what Eli had spent on all this gear. For a mean moment, I hoped it was a lot. If I had to wear this, he should pay for it.
I wanted to strap on my gun belt, but I knew it would look ridiculous on top of the skirt. Also, going armed openly would spoil the whole point of the… costume. I was wearing all this to blend in, which Eli had assured me was absolutely necessary in Dixie.
I told myself that several times.
I stood in front of the mirror while I combed my hair as much as I could. My curls were spring-loaded. I could only see myself down to the waist, but that was enough. I made a sour face. I looked like I was going to a fancy-dress party.
I made myself leave the bathroom. Eli glanced up, looked down, then looked up again with the funniest expression on his face. “You look very nice,” he said.
“I know you’re trying not to laugh,” I said, sounding just as snippy as I felt.
“Far from it.”
Then I correctly interpreted the look he was giving me. “No, sir,” I said. “It took me a long time to put on all this rig, and I’m not getting out of it anytime soon.” Our past history had not always been what my mother called “platonic.”
“There’s always later,” Eli said, sounding hopeful.
“Later is not now.” I didn’t want to promise anything. I didn’t know how this new Eli was going to act compared to the old Eli. If I had changed a bit, he must have also.
“So where to, Eli?” We needed to get out of this room, away from the bed.
“Just remember,” Eli said as he stood, “we’re married now.” He gave me a sly smile.
I could not forbear laughing. “Let’s get to work on that list of jobs.”
“If you insist.” His accent was right at the front. “First we will find out what we can about the chest.”
I had no idea how we were going to do that, but he sounded as though he had a plan in mind. We went down the stairs together and toward the front door. I had the gratification of seeing Mr. Mercer, who had a narrow face and receding dark hair, actually drop his jaw. I gave him a cool look to let him know I had registered his presence. I was tempted to raise my ring finger and waggle it at him.
We swept out the front door.
“That was fun,” I murmured.
“Yes,” he said, smiling broadly. “It was. Of course, we now have to walk all the way around the building to get the car.”
“It was worth a walk.”
Eli drove west out of town. We were returning to the site of the derailment.
I thought of it as a battlefield.
When we got out of the car, Eli insisted I put my hand in the crook of his arm, as if I needed support to walk on the grass. It went contrary to common sense, but I managed to match my pace to his.
“You looked like you were going to bite someone,” he whispered.
“Sorry,” I muttered. I made my face relax and go vacant.
“Much better. Now you look lack-witted.” We were approaching a short, stout man with a badge pinned to his coat. His face was full of a large, white mustache. The sheriff was giving instructions to a small group of men. He ended by saying, “And the sooner we get all this cleared up, the sooner the railroad crew can repair the tracks, and the sooner trains can come in and out.”
After a few comments, all the men dispersed.
“Yes, sir?” The sheriff turned to us, looking us up and down. Eli earned his deep suspicion because of the grigori vest. The sheriff looked at me with more favor, so the clothes were paying off. I introduced us, and the sheriff waited to hear what we wanted.
“My wife was going to be receiving a chest, arriving on this train,” Eli said. “It contained a wedding gift from my family. And two of our family friends are in the hospital in your town. We would like to check on their baggage. Is there a place where it’s all gathered?”
The sheriff looked real tired. He didn’t care that we were newlyweds, that we had injured family.
“Luggage and gifts aren’t important, considering the people who’ve died,” I said. “We’re doing what we can, Sheriff. Anything is better than hanging around the hospital.”
That struck the right note. The white-mustached man straightened his back, and after a glance around at the debris and the empty slope where the line of dead had lain, he said, “I’m Clyde Lathrop, sheriff of this county, Mr. and Mrs. Savarov. Do you know which car the chest was in?”
“It was in a car with a group of guards,” Eli said. “My brother told me the guards were in a passenger car, not a freight car.”
“Oh. Oh, my goodness.” The sheriff looked unhappy. “Well, the account we got, there was such a gun crew in one of the derailed cars, and most of the people in the crew are dead or in the hospital. In fact, just an hour ago, we found one of them in the field over there, with a very suspicious injury. There was a smashed crate beside him.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t understand. An injury not caused by the… derailment?”
“No, ma’am.”
I can’t tell you how strange it felt to be a “ma’am.”
Sheriff Lathrop continued, “I’m pretty sure he was murdered. I’m real sorry to tell you this, but maybe that crate was a temptation to someone who took advantage of the chaos.”
“Oh, no,” I said. I leaned heavily against Eli. That was easy, because I was just as tired as the sheriff. I tried to make tears come to my eyes as I looked up at Eli, but I could not make that happen. “We have to find out what happened to the poor man, and to the crate. I’m afraid your brother will take it personal, if we can’t retrieve…”
“It was a family piece,” Eli told Clyde Lathrop. “We’re very anxious to track it, if that’s possible. And of course, we want to claim the poor man’s body for burial.”
“Mr. Savarov, everything we’ve gathered together from the wreck is in that tent yonder, now that the injured have all been moved,” Sheriff Lathrop said. “The crates and boxes and so on are on one side, the personal luggage on the other. You are welcome to look. I don’t believe there’s anything that would shock your missus.” The sheriff cut his eyes toward me significantly.
I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep my face still.
“Thank you, sir,” Eli said.