Maddy smiled, a little shy now. “I feel the same way. You’re good to have on a crew, Lizbeth. You’re a fine shot and a reliable woman.”
“You know it’s going to be days before anything moves in or out of here,” I reminded her. “They got to clear away the wreck. They got to repair the track. I’ll figure out a way to get us home. We’re owed.”
“Watch out for that grigori,” Maddy said, just as I was turning away. “Trust him or not, you know he bears watching. And that woman, that Harriet Ritter, and her sidekick. Those two are wrong.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open,” I said. I was glad she hadn’t noticed the wedding ring. I gave her a final wave before I followed Eli out to the main hall.
Maddy was right to think the man and woman we’d met on the train had a lot they should tell me… if they would. But tracking down Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley wasn’t at the top of my list.
First we needed to visit Rogelio, and then we had to track down Jake’s body, since I’d been so stupid I hadn’t gone through his pockets.
Eli was waiting for me in the hall. It took me a minute to spot him because there was so much traffic. Doctors, nurses, visitors, patients who could walk… on their own, or with crutches. Orderlies who were mopping or sweeping or pushing rolling bins of laundry.
“After we finish here, we’re getting some sleep,” Eli said, putting his big hand on my shoulder. He looked as tired as I felt.
“You’re right,” I said. “But first…” We went back to the desk at the entrance, and I asked where Rogelio was.
“Who?” Miss Mayhew shook her head. Her white starched cap was anchored so firm to her scalp that it didn’t wobble. “We haven’t admitted anyone by that name. I’d remember. We don’t get many Mexicans.” She was matter-of-fact about that. To give the woman credit, she checked the list of patients despite her doubt. But after, she looked up at us and shook her head again.
I was stunned.
Eli didn’t seem so surprised. “He must have been well enough to walk away on his own,” Eli said. “Miss Mayhew, we need to find the body of another friend. Where would we be able to view the dead?”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Nurse Mayhew said automatically. “The unclaimed deceased have been taken to Hutchison Funeral Home or Debenham’s Funeral Home. Here are the addresses.” She handed us two business cards. I didn’t know if it was funny or outrageous that the funeral homes had cards at the hospital desk, but at least it was convenient.
“Can you tell me if the bodies will be autopsied?” Eli said delicately. Miss Mayhew, a nurse but also a Dixie woman, might find this unseemly.
“I doubt it,” Miss Mayhew snapped, kind of angry, kind of shucking him off. “Sally has four doctors total. There are lots of the living to take care of before they can start looking at the dead.”
“Thanks so much for your help,” I said. I let Eli take my arm and lead me out of the hospital. We went down the steps and past the benches and bushes and flowerbeds. Everything was decorated here.
We turned right and began walking.
Eli said, “We need to talk. And how long has it been since you ate or drank anything?”
“I’m real thirsty.” I was trembling, which is one of the things that happens to me when I’m parched. It had been the longest day of my life and it wasn’t over yet.
“There,” Eli said, pointing to a sign that read BEVERLY’S RESTAURANT. The dim coolness of the place was welcome. It was quiet after the clamor of the hospital. A gray-haired woman in a flowered dress seated us and said, “Your waitress will be right here.” It was too late for lunch and too early for dinner, and there were only two other customers having a quiet, sad talk. We could speak without being overheard.
“You’re thinking… what are you thinking?” I said, after the ancient waitress had brought our sodas and glasses full of ice. Eli called her back and asked her if they had pie. They did, banana cream or buttermilk. We got one piece of each. “You reckon Rogelio died? I didn’t think he was hurt bad enough.”
“He’s the kind of man who stands out,” Eli said. “Maybe he had treatment at the hospital but didn’t need a bed, since the place is so full right now.”
“Maybe he had bleeding in his brain? Or he was kidnapped right off the wagon? We could question the nurses in the men’s ward.” I was eating the banana cream pie. I couldn’t put myself into the right frame of mind to enjoy it a lot. But it was much better than going back to the hospital.
Eli made the buttermilk pie vanish. He yawned widely. “I need sleep,” he said, and he sounded utterly tired.
Once Eli had mentioned the word “sleep,” it was all I could think of. I had to make myself sit up in my chair and down my drink. It had chipped ice in it. It felt like heaven going down.
“We have to check the bodies,” Eli said, with great regret.
“Yeah.” We couldn’t wait on that.
We finished our drinks and set out for the funeral homes.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The closest one, Debenham’s, was swamped with the dead. The men who worked there were completely overwhelmed.
One employee, a man about my age, was sitting on the front steps, his head in his hands. When we told him why we were there, he simply pointed to a gravel path leading around the building to the backyard. “They’re in the shed,” he said. “The refrigerator’s full of locals.” He closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to think about us anymore, or anything else.
The Debenham’s people had tried to be respectful—but when you place twenty bodies in an area meant for four, it’s not possible to mind your manners. They’d piled the women to the left and the men to the right, which was… well-intentioned, best I could come up with.
There were fewer women. I recognized the old woman who’d been in our carriage when Maddy and I had shot the two young men. Wondered if her husband had survived. I also spotted the woman whose husband had been beating her. She wouldn’t get to enjoy being free of him.
Eli and I began looking through the men.
This was not the most unpleasant half hour I had ever spent, but I was glad I had a strong stomach.
I regretted my nice clothes more than ever. I had to take care not to get anything on my skirt. Eli couldn’t identify Jake, so I had to stay close while he moved the corpses around so I could see each one.
Neither Jake nor Rogelio had been brought to Debenham’s.
We left without talking to any of the staff. Aside from the one young man, I don’t believe anyone noted our presence or departure. There was an old pump in the backyard of the funeral home, and Eli held his hands under the water while I pulled the handle.
Hutchison Funeral Home was larger and fancier-looking than Debenham’s. The yard and the business itself teemed with people, a lot of them weeping. Parking in front had lost all order. Apparently most of the local victims’ bodies had landed here, families had already identified their own, and funeral arrangements had begun.
Hutchison had all hands on deck. Four men and two women in dark suits were moving from group to group being quiet and smooth. I liked that. I hoped the place was so busy our request to see the bodies would be automatically granted. But the man who glided over to us—he introduced himself as Donald Barton—was only persuaded to let me see the bodies after I told him I was the only one who could identify my brother, and my parents were desperate to learn his fate.