The girl flushed. She didn’t know where to look while she talked to someone as outlandish as Eli; her big brown eyes went from his long braid to his neck (his collar was askew and one of his tattoos was just visible) to his grigori vest. And back again.
“I hope you have a lovely morning, Miss Mercer,” I said, and started toward the front door.
When we were safely out the door, I said, “Eli, never be alone with that girl.”
Again, he looked puzzled. “I don’t plan on it,” he said.
“I think she does,” I told him. Eli flushed and we walked the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. I watched my feet in their strange shoes move across the sidewalk. Today I wore my pale-blue skirt with little white flowers, and the white blouse. I felt like an idiot.
Maddy was awake, but right away I saw she had a fever. Her face was flushed, her eyes were dull, and she was listless. “Good to see you,” she said. “I was glad to have my bag. But one of the nurses locked it up with my guns in it. She said we couldn’t have those lying around.”
“Are you okay with that?” I didn’t know what I’d do about it if she wasn’t, but I’d try to do something.
“Yeah, I guess. I ain’t going to be doing any shooting for a day or two, I reckon.” Maddy managed a smile. “And I don’t need my clothes.” She plucked at the white hospital gown.
“What does the doctor say about your fever?”
“You can tell, huh? He gave me a shot to kill the germs, he said. I should start getting better today.” Maddy tried to smile.
“Can I trouble you for Jake’s boyfriend’s name and how I can send him a telegram? I figured he’d want to claim the body.”
“Burke Printer. He prints the newspaper in Sweetwater. His office is at… let me think… it’s on Armstrong… sixty-two.” I checked on Charlie’s information while we were at it.
Eli wrote everything down on one of the scraps of paper he seemed to always have in one of his pockets. “I hope you get better,” he said. “If you need us, ask the nurse to call us at the Pleasant Stay Hotel.”
Maddy looked a little surprised at the offer. “Thanks, I will.”
I spent a little more time with Maddy. We talked about the food, which she said was fine, and her leg, which looked okay. I wondered where the fever was coming from. Was the wound infected? Or one of her cuts? But I could tell Maddy was nervous about the fever and didn’t want to discuss it.
I asked Miss Mayhew, on duty at the entrance desk again, where the telegraph office was. I’d figured it would be somewhere around the train station, and it was, from her directions.
Eli and I decided to go there first, then work our way from the station out through the town looking for Ritter and Seeley, or Rogelio, or Sarah Byrne. Anyone familiar. “We can cover ground faster if we split up,” I said, which was common sense.
“I think we need to be together,” Eli said, sounding real firm.
“Yeah? Why?”
“For one thing, we’re married. For another, women on their own here can…” Eli stopped, at a loss for words.
“Do you think I can’t take care of trouble?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing.
“You can’t wear your guns,” he said, taking care to speak really quietly. “You don’t want to draw attention to yourself. I know you can take on a small army by yourself when you’re armed. But Dixie is different, and believe me, we want to get in and out of here with as little notice as possible.”
“Why don’t I want to draw attention to myself?”
“Lizbeth, can’t you take my word for it?”
That was a good question. I looked up at him and thought. Eli’s face showed worry rather than anger. Eli was seriously troubled about my well-being in Dixie… yet he’d seen me fight. I had to take him seriously.
“All right,” I said slowly.
He bent to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks,” he said. “This is a terrible place, sometimes.”
“You’ve been here before.”
“Yes, I came last year.”
“With Paulina?” She’d been his partner. She’d died twice.
“Yes. It was a nightmare. You knew Paulina. How could she comply with the rules here?” Eli looked away. And then he said in a completely different voice, “Could this be your gunnie from the train?”
“Yes! Sarah Byrne.”
Sarah was still wearing pants, but she was not toting her guns. She spotted me the next minute, and made haste to join us. “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she said. Her eyes went up and down me. “Wow, you look different! Did all your clothes get burned up in the crash?”
“Sarah, this is my friend Eli.” Sarah looked up at him, and a little line appeared between her eyebrows.
“Grigori, huh? I never talked to one before.”
“I am a grigori, yes,” Eli said, springing all his charm on her. He had quite a bit, when he chose. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Uh-huh,” Sarah said, looking back at me. “Well, if you say so. Lizbeth, your arm feeling better? Any muscle damage?”
“No, just sore,” I said. “Harriet’s salve and Eli’s healing helped a lot.” I paused; this was going to be awkward. “Jake died, though.”
“Sorry to hear it. He didn’t seem that badly hurt.” She shifted her feet. “Well, if you need me… I’m at the Darby Hotel, one block over. It’s real cheap.”
“I’ll remember. Hey, have you seen Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley since yesterday?”
“No, but I ain’t like to. Why?”
“You do see ’em, tell ’em I’m at the Pleasant Stay, and we need to speak. Or Rogelio, too. He kind of vanished.”
“Lots of people trying to find other people in this town. Hope they’re not down at the funeral homes.”
“They’re not,” I said.
Sarah was surprised that I’d checked. “Oh, what happened to your cargo?”
“Stolen from Jake. He was murdered.”
Losing your cargo was a disgrace. Sarah made an effort to look like it wasn’t such a big thing. “Well,” she said abruptly. “You know where I am if you need me. If I’ve left there, I’ve found some means to go on to my sister’s place.”
“Good luck with that,” I said, and Eli told her good-bye. Sarah gave him another doubtful look and was on her way. I had no idea where she was going, but she walked with purpose.
I didn’t feel easy about the whole conversation. I didn’t know for sure why. Eli, too, seemed uneasy. He asked me exactly how I’d met Sarah, where she was from, where her sister lived. I didn’t know all the answers.
We passed a drugstore on our way to the next hotel. The gold lettering on the window read BALLARD PHARMACY, SODAS AND SHAKES. When I glanced in the window I saw familiar faces.
“Speak of the devil,” I said to Eli, gripping his arm to make him stop. “Those two, Eli, are Harriet Ritter and Travis Seeley.” I was as proud as though I had planned this. “We been looking for ’em and we found ’em.”