but the familiar sound made Ruby’s heart leap. She’d never tiptoed all the way across the porch without Mama hearing that hinge and ordering her back to finish chores. Ruby Gail! Stop right there, missy.
Apprehension and uncertainty rising, she pushed open the unlocked interior door and entered the front room. In the remaining light of day it took a minute for her eyes to adjust enough for her to tell the furniture had been arranged differently, and the curtains at the windows were unfamiliar. The farmhouse sat eerily silent. No cooking smells met her senses; in fact, she wrinkled her nose at a faint antiseptic scent mingled with lingering lemon wax.
She hung her hat on a doorknob, lit the lantern sitting on a nearby table, and held it high to investigate. In the golden glow, she noted a light film of dust covering the wood furniture. Ruby frowned. Her mother dusted this room every day.
Stifling her unease, Ruby tiptoed across the dining room and through the open door into the nearly dark kitchen. Half a dozen dirty coffee cups sat on the sink board, but other than those, there was no sign of occupancy.
“Mama?” Ruby called. Striding to the back door, she flung it open and studied the dooryard. Chickens squawked from inside a wire enclosure. The plot where her mother always grew a vegetable garden was overgrown with weeds and a scattering of volunteer beans. Concern grew to a heavy weight in Ruby’s chest.
Lighting lamps as she went, she searched each room. Finding no one downstairs, she headed up the worn front staircase.
“Mama?” Ruby’s voice echoed throughout the upper hallway, and her unease rolled over into trepidation.
All the doors were closed. She went to her mother’s straightaway, a flicker of panic pumping her blood faster as she stood with her hand on the faceted glass knob. “Mama?” she called, more softly this time.
The bed was neatly made with a plain wool blanket, instead of the quilt she remembered. On the dresser sat an ivory-handled comb and brush set Ruby recognized. She picked up the comb and ran her thumbnail across the teeth. On the surface of the bureau remained a clean outline where the comb had lain. Her heart skipped a beat. She placed the comb back where it had been.
In the mirror over the bureau, a worried face—a face that had seen too much sun this past week—stared back at her. She looked down. Opening a few drawers revealed neat stacks of clean stockings and underclothing. The scent of lavender offered a small measure of reassurance. Dozens of memories washed over her, some of them good. In the armoire, Laura Dearing’s dresses and cotton shirtwaists hung in neat order. Ruby caressed a sleeve and drew it to her cheek. Where was her mother?
From the doorway, she peered into her sister’s room. It, too, seemed unused. Pearl had undoubtedly married and moved to town or to another farm. Perhaps she lived a far distance and her mother had gone visiting. If that was so, however, Mama would have taken her comb and brush.
After finding the other two bedrooms unoccupied as well, Ruby at last entered her old room. Pink-and-white flowered wallpaper had been added. Lace curtains replaced the faded checkered cotton of her girlhood days. She didn’t recognize the doll on the bed. Another child had apparently stayed here.
Opening drawers and checking the wardrobe, Ruby found nothing familiar—nothing at all. The few pieces of clothing she discovered belonged to a small girl, which was puzzling. It was as though Ruby had never been here. But of course, what had she expected? She hadn’t been home for eight years. Any clothing she’d left behind wouldn’t fit her fuller figure now, anyway.
Back on the main floor she did a closer inspection. There were staples in the pantry: coffee, flour, beans. The bin beside the stove held chunks of firewood, but even the stove was coated with a layer of dirt.
Ruby headed out the way she’d entered. She untied her bundle of belongings from the saddle, set it inside the door and then led the Duchess to the barn. “Hopefully, there’s something tasty for your supper, girl,” she said to the horse. “You deserve a treat and a nice long rest.”
As she approached the structure in the near dark, she spotted a building she hadn’t seen before. Farther to the west and bordered by rows of cottonwoods stretched a long low stable.
She led the horse to the trough first, then unsaddled her and walked her indoors. The three nearest stalls were occupied by very pregnant mares. Ruby spoke to each of them and rubbed their bony foreheads. “Who’s taking care of you ladies?”
The oats in the bin were fresh, so she scooped a pail, set it inside a stall in the back corner and led in the Duchess. The impeccable neatness of the barn contrasted with the evident neglect in the house.
Her mother’s absence grew more troubling, and Ruby didn’t like the growing feeling of dread. Heading back to the house, she found supplies in the pantry, lit the stove and made herself a pan of biscuits. She’d hoped for something more than what she’d been eating on the trail, but this was quick and filling.
She prepared coffee, washed all the dirty cups and then filled a pail with sudsy water and wiped every surface in the kitchen, changing the water twice. Wherever her mother was, she’d be mortified if she knew how much dirt had settled in her house. Speculation spun in Ruby’s mind. Someone was taking good care of those horses out there.
It was foolish to leave all the lanterns burning, so she moved through the rooms, turning down the wicks. Back in the kitchen, she was so tired she could barely think. She’d figure out things tomorrow and do more investigating when it was light.
She’d pour one more cup of coffee and then go up to sleep. Ruby settled herself at the table.
* * *
A sound woke her.
Disoriented, Ruby sat up with a crick in her neck and groaned. She’d fallen asleep with her head on the kitchen table. It was full dark, and someone was outside. Perhaps her mother was returning!
Ruby jumped up and peered out between the panels of the curtain. In the moonlight, a tall, broad figure moved toward the house. Certainly not her mother and definitely not anyone she knew.
She held her breath, waiting for the man to pound on the door. Instead of a knock, the doorknob turned and he entered the house uninvited. The hair on the back of her neck rose and her heart rate accelerated.
She shrank back against the still-warm stove, her hand coming in contact with the skillet she’d set there to dry. As silently as possible, she picked up the heavy pan and got a two-fisted grip on the handle.
The stranger fumbled in the dark, most likely looking for a match. He groped along the shelf beside the door, coming closer to where she stood. If he found the matches and lit the lamp, he’d see her standing there.
She was trapped in the kitchen with an intruder.
She stood in the moonlight that arrowed through the slit in the curtains. He stopped short.
He’d spotted her.
Shooting into action, Ruby lunged forward with the skillet.
Moving with more agility than she’d expected, the intruder ducked, and the pan whacked him on the back of the head. With an “oomph,” he crumpled sideways, striking a chair and knocking it over. As though fighting for consciousness, he groped for the table, but fell forward directly onto it and lay unmoving.
Heart pounding, Ruby reached for the matches and lit the wall
