In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

he hadn't filed them, the best thing do with them would be to destroy them. We'll burn them in our suite later tonight."

He and Henry had found Hennessy at home, but a search of the house had proved futile. He didn't have any incriminating documents hidden there, but Henry was sporting a black eye given him by Mrs. Hennessy, who had objected to his searching her underwear drawer.

Giselle's lips twitched, but she took Henry up to her room to apply a poultice to take the swelling down.

A Rat In The Stone Pile

IT HAD TAKEN MORE TIME than he had planned on for Franks to make the journey back to River Crossing. Handling the boat had proved harder than he had expected. Although much smaller than the Tumbling Gem, the Blue Lion had been intended as a three-man craft. To keep the steam constant, the engine had to be adjusted every hour. To do this, Franks had needed to stop manning the tiller. After a few near disasters when the uncontrolled craft had run aground on sandbars and narrowly missed smashing itself on rocks, he had resigned himself to traveling slowly so he could anchor the boat to adjust the steam.

He was hungry most of the time as well because although the Blue Lion had been stocked with bluestones, the owners hadn't yet stocked the galley, and Franks was a poor fisherman. He resented the time needed to stop to catch fish out of the river, but he had no money to buy supplies since the Bardeoux brothers had relieved him of the money he had been carrying for his trip. In any case, he was wary of stopping at any of the hamlets along the route back. Right now, he believed himself safe from pursuit because he was sure he had left too much chaos behind him when the Tumbling Gem blew up for the Bardeoux's to start hunting for him. Besides, anywhere he stopped there was a good chance the Blue Lion might be recognized, and questions asked about why he was in possession of it. He had no desire try to outrun the river posse which would form if he was suspected of stealing a boat.

Dusk was falling when he arrived back at River Crossing, a month after he had left for Junction City. Abandoning the stolen boat a few miles upriver, Franks walked into Minerstown. To his fury, he found the room he had been renting before he left had been taken over by squatters. The money he had hidden there was gone.

Deciding to see Lutz, he snuck aboard the crowded ferry to ride over to River Crossing. Since he was broke and couldn't pay, he avoided the issue by slipping over the side into the water just as the ferry was docking. He got soaked, but the water at least washed away some of the stink he had been carrying for the past few weeks.

As he pulled himself up on the dock, Franks saw the man descending the gangplank from the evening steamer. He didn't recognize him, but he knew an enforcer when he saw one. Franks watched as the man paused on the wharf, checking his surroundings. The enforcer had the dark sauterne face and sharp cut features of the Jones family who used to run Copper City. His face was marred by a ragged white scar running the length of one side of it. Franks wondered who the enforcer was here for, and decided it couldn't be himself since no one knew he was back yet, and went on into town.

The bank was closed, but when he entered by the back door, he discovered Lutz unloading the safe and packing all the money into two satchels.

"Robbing your own bank, Jacob?" Franks inquired, leaning casually against the doorway.

Lutz jumped and whirled, his lips drawing back over his teeth in a snarl.

"What the hell are you doing back, Franks? I heard you'd left the country."

"I've got some unfinished business." Carelessly, Franks stepped forward and picked up a bag out of the satchel nearest him. He weighed it in his hand, decided it was a little light, put it in his pocket and selected another. "I'll just take these with me, I think. What happened? Did the St. Vyr's discover your little plot to take over their ranch and mine? Is that why you're running?"

"I'm not running," Lutz blustered. "I have to make a trip back east to visit my wife's family. This is to cover the journey."

Franks made a rude noise. "Sure, you are."

Lutz closed the now empty safe and fastened the clasps on the satchels. "Get out Franks. I've got a boat to catch."

"Johnson in town?" he asked.

Lutz snorted. "Yeah, he's crying in his beer over at the Hotel. He's done for."

"Why? What happened?"

Lutz shrugged. "Johnson won't be marrying any of his sons to St. Vyr's daughters; the two oldest girls are married now, and the word is the youngest eloped with some farmer, so any chance of making a takeover look legal is long gone. Anyway, all his sons are dead or gone too. Abner's dead, Emory got himself killed over at the St. Vyr place, and Sam's been gone for a while."

"Iris is married too?"

"Yep. She and her new husband rode the train up to the mine this morning. Guess they're going to honeymoon up there."

"Thanks," Franks turned to go. "Oh, by the way, I saw an enforcer get off the steamer this evening. He looks like a Jones. The enforcers must have gone freelance after the family lost Copper City. I wonder who he's hunting?"

Lutz turned white, and Franks grinned to himself as he left. He got a room at the Hotel, sent a bellhop over to the general store for some clean clothes and took a much-needed bath before presenting himself at Johnson's suite.

Lutz hadn't exaggerated Johnson's state of mind. He was unshaven and from the smell, and number of bottles lying around, he had been drinking a lot.

He