Jesse by Barbara Goss (namjoon book recommendations txt) 📕

“I bet he has every penny of the bounties he’s collected, too.”

Delia sighed.  “How can you possibly know that?”

“Well,” Roy said, “It’s a moot point now since you blew it.  He’ll never let you near him again.  Did you tell the other woman what a womanizer he is?”

“Yes, I told Charlie.”

“Do you think she believed you?”

Delia threw up her arms.  “I don’t know, Roy. How could I tell?”

“We need another plan,” he said, rubbing his forehead.

“Just rob the bank and be done with it.  I don’t like being in on a plan that entails killing someone.  I’m relieved the plan failed because I just couldn’t stand by and let you kill Jesse.”

“It was going to be an accident.  I’d mess with his saddle or something.”

“No.” Delia walked to the door and opened it.  “Rob the bank and I’ll drive the get-away buggy.”

Roy walked to the door.  “I want his money, but I want to get it legally.”

“Just rob the darned bank. I’m sure his money is in there and you’ll get it that way,” Delia said.

“Wait!” Roy said.  “I know a teller at the bank.  Tom Hutchinson.  I’ll find out how much Jesse has, and we’ll go from there.”

“I can’t tell you how much money a client of the bank has,” Hutchinson said.  “That’s personal information, and I could lose my job.”

“Who would know?” Roy slipped a few coins into Tom Hutchinson’s palm. “Just this once.”

Tom sighed.  “Who’s the client?”

“Jesse Morgan.”

Tom scratched his head.  “Wait—he doesn't have an account at the bank.  I don’t even know the man.”

Roy held his hand out. “I want my coins back.”

Tom gave him back his coins.

Delia opened the door to see Roy standing there.  “Now, what?”

“I just found out that Morgan doesn’t have a bank account.”

Delia shrugged.  “So what?  Maybe he spent all his money on the house.”

“No, I think he’s one of those ‘under the mattress’ bankers.”

“And?” Delia said.

“And we’re going to rob his house while he’s away, and you’ll be my look-out.”

“What’s a look-out?” Delia asked.

“You stay outside the house and alert me if someone comes around while I look for the money,” Roy explained.

“If they went to Cheyenne, Jesse will be gone for a few weeks.”

“Yes, but he has that friend of his living nearby, and he might be watching the place.”

Delia sighed.  “All right.  I’ll be your watchdog.”

Delia sat on her horse near where she and Jesse had picnicked while Roy pried open a window at the back of the house.  He’d just about gotten it open when Delia rode past him and said,  “Someone’s coming on horseback through the field.”

“Drat!” Roy jumped on the horse behind Delia, and they rode away.  As they rode, Roy asked, “Do you think whoever it was saw us?”

Delia shrugged.  “It was a man, and I’m not sure if he saw us or not.”

“Maybe Jesse has someone checking his home in the mornings.  We’ll try again just before dark,” Roy said.

Just before the sun had set, Roy and Delia rode double to Jesse’s house.  Delia sat on the horse and watched in case someone came while Roy climbed into the window and looked for Jesse’s money.

Jesse woke first and built a fire.  He rolled up his bedding and made some coffee in a frying pan.  He threw the ground coffee beans into the boiling water and saw Charlie stir.

“Hmm,” she said,  “is that coffee I smell?”  She sat up and smiled at Jesse.

Jesse laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Your hair is sticking up, and it looks like a rooster’s tail.”

Charlie patted down her short blonde hair.  “I’m not used to short hair.  I used to braid my hair before bed.”  She rolled up her bedding.  “Do you mind if I bathe in the stream?”

“No, but don’t go too far from camp.  If you go just around those trees, no one will see you, including me.  When you’re done, I’ll take a swim, too.”

Charlie took some clean clothes from her duffel bag.  “When I’m done, I want some of that coffee.” She marched off to where Jesse had instructed.

Jesse took the tin cups and a table knife from his saddlebag.  He held the knife over the frying pan in such a way as to hold back the coffee grounds as he poured it into their cups so they each had a groundless cup of coffee.  He then wiped the frying pan clean, fried some bacon, and opened a can of beans.  He wished he had some eggs.

Charlie came back with wet hair and a rosier complexion than usual.  “The water was wonderful.  It was chilly but invigorating."

Jesse handed her a cup of coffee.  “I don’t have cream or sugar.”

Charlie shrugged.  “This is roughing it, so I don’t mind.  That bacon smells heavenly.”

“Sorry I don’t have eggs and toast.”

“Next time.” She laughed.

Jess was relieved that Charlie was so easy to get along with and so easy to please.  Most women would be complaining about the roughness.

As Jesse put their food on the plates, Charlie said, “Last night you said you’d have a solution to our problem... or rather, my problem.”

“Eat your breakfast first, Charlie.  After my swim, we’ll talk before we hit the trail again.”

“Why not now?”

“I need time to think of how I’ll word my idea, is all.  Now, eat.”

After they’d eaten, Charlie offered to clean the dishes while Jesse bathed.  She picked a place by the stream where they were both hidden from one another.  When she had everything clean and packed away, she sat down on a nearby log with her elbows on her knees, and her head resting in her hands as she thought. She wondered what Jesse’s solution would be?