Kruger, you got to.”
Jason fumed silently, staring at the little man. Duncan was a good worker, nimble and surefooted in his job herding the great logs down the river to the millpond. He’d been loyal too. Turnover in the logging camps was high, but Duncan had stuck around. The only trouble he’d ever caused was bringing his wife here with him.
And now she’d been accused of stealing. Jason wouldn’t tolerate theft in the camp. He needed order and discipline among his crew to bring down the giant redwoods and Douglas firs, get them out of the rugged mountains, run them through the sawmill and send them off to market.
He couldn’t let a theft go unpunished. Female or not, he needed to put a stop to this.
Jason blew out his breath, tapping off some of his anger.
“All right, Duncan, I’ll take care of it,” he said.
“I’m beholden to you, boss, I am.” Duncan eased out the door. “I’ll go get my Gladys. That Miz Minton is here, too. I’ll fetch them both. They’re right outside.”
“Women.” Jason pulled on the back of his neck and dropped into his chair again. Bad enough dealing with the problems his crew created. Fights, mostly. A shooting every once in a while. Disagreements between his men could be settled quickly. But women…
Jason mumbled another curse.
The office door opened and Polly Minton and Gladys Duncan walked inside. Jason knew them both. He knew everybody in his logging camp and in the tiny town that had sprung up on its outskirts.
They were both big women. Jason was over six feet tall and Gladys could just about look him square in the eye. Polly ran the laundry and had scrubbed up some mighty impressive arm muscles.
Duncan eased between the women, still twisting his hat.
“Now, Mr. Kruger here, he’s agreed to hear you both out,” Duncan said, “and he’s going to settle this thing once and for all.”
Gladys and Polly glared at each other, then turned to Jason.
“All right,” Jason said. “Tell me what happened. You go first, Mrs. Minton.”
Polly Minton squared her shoulders, enjoying her moment.
“I was just doing the neighborly thing, the Christian thing,” Polly said. “I invited Gladys over to my house a few days ago and we sat a spell before I had to get supper going. Then today I dropped by her place—just to be neighborly—and sitting right there on her windowsill, pretty as you please, there it was.”
Jason frowned. “What?”
“She stole it!” Polly said.
“I did no such thing!” Gladys shouted.
“Stole what?” Jason asked.
“Look here. See for yourself. I brought it along for evidence.” Polly pulled back the cloth cover on the small hamper she’d carried into the office with her. She lifted out a half-eaten apple pie.
“I sneaked me a bite of this pie when Gladys wasn’t looking,” Polly said. “It’s my recipe. No two ways about it, Gladys Duncan stole me apple pie recipe!”
“I did no such thing!” Gladys declared.
“A pie recipe?” Jason got to his feet and turned to Duncan. “You’ve got me involved in this over some damn pie recipe?”
Polly gasped. “That recipe has been in my family for generations. It’s a treasure.”
“Some treasure!” Gladys tossed her head.
Jason pointed at Duncan. “I ought to fire you right now.”
He twisted his hat. “But Mr. Kruger—”
“She stole it while my back was turned,” Polly said. “Stole it because she’s jealous of my cooking.”
Gladys planted her hands on her ample hips. “You’re the jealous one. Jealous because everybody loves my roast chicken.” Gladys turned to Jason. “She’s been after my secret ingredients ever since I came here.”
Polly gasped. “That’s a lie!”
“It is not! You’re the jealous one!”
Jason waved his arms. “All right, now, hold it down.”
“It’s my recipe! I tasted my special ingredients the minute it touched my lips! And Gladys stole it from me! Taste it for yourself, Mr. Kruger. You’ll see.” Polly shoved the pie toward him.
“Mr. Kruger doesn’t want to taste your ol’ pie!” Gladys reached for the pie, bumped the plate and jarred it from Polly’s hand. It landed with a thud on Jason’s desk. Apples splattered across his papers, over his shirt and down his trousers.
There was a collective gasp, then a tense silence filled the office. Jason looked down at the gooey pie clinging to his clothing.
“Where’s my gun?” he asked softly.
Polly whimpered. Gladys groaned.
Duncan pushed his way between the two women. “Now, Mr. Kruger, think about what you’re saying. You can’t really shoot these women.”
“I’m not going to shoot them.” Jason lifted his head slowly. “I’m going to shoot you!”
Gladys burst into tears.
“Now, Mr. Kruger, you don’t want to go and do that.” Duncan wrung his hat fitfully.
“Get these women out of here!” Jason pointed toward the door. “I don’t want to see another woman in my camp!”
“But Mr. Kruger—”
“No more women! Ever!”
The office door opened and Shady Harper ambled inside.
“What do you want, Shady?” Jason snarled.
Shady took in the office with squinted eyes. “I brung you back something from town, boss.”
His face brightened. “My package?”
“Naw. Weren’t no mail today.”
Jason’s frown returned. “Leave it outside, Shady.”
“Don’t think I’d better do that.” Shady wiggled his fingers toward the door. “Come on in here.”
A delicate fragrance drifted into the office seconds before a woman stepped inside, bringing a hush to the room and freezing Jason in place.
She blinked up at him with big blue eyes. “Mr. Kruger? I’m Miss Amanda Pierce from San Francisco.”
He scowled at her. “Yeah?”
“I’m here at your request,”
