Роберт Паркер - Robert B. Parker's Revelation

Then, like a turtle, her head disappeared back behind the screen, leaving Driggs only to smile at the man in the mirror smiling back at him.

Then she stepped out wearing a yellow silk organza dress with a deep and revealing décolletage and moved in front of the mirror. The dress’s hem was trimmed in deep plum brocade with sewn seed pearls that rustled as the princess crossed the shop.

Driggs whistled and said, “Look at you.”

“A perfect fit,” Margie said.

“You look like a princess in that dress,” Allie said.

“Looks like? Why, she is a princess,” Driggs said, then winked at Allie.

Allie blushed as the presumptive princess turned to Driggs.

“Do you like, really?” she said.

“Very much,” he said.

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Come here,” he said.

She walked to him, taking delicate steps, almost childlike steps, lifting her skirt to reveal several layers of laced and embroidered petticoats underneath, and stopped in front of him. He reached up with his muscled arm, slid his strong fingers behind her dainty neck, and pulled her to him.

“Look at me,” he said with a smile. “I never say anything I don’t mean. You of all people should know that.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He remained holding her by the back of her head. She bit her lip a little as he stared at her for a steady moment.

Margie looked to Allie.

“Well,” Allie said. “We are so delighted... our first customer. Thank you.”

Driggs released the princess’s neck and sat back in the chair, looking at her.

“Turn around,” he said.

She turned, then he smiled and looked to Allie.

“Exquisite.”

“She is,” Allie said.

“Would you like to change back to your dress or do you prefer to wear this now?” Margie said. “You look so truly lovely, it’d be almost a crime not to wear it out.”

The princess looked to Driggs.

“I think you should wear it another time, dear,” he said. ”For a special occasion.”

“Agreed,” she said.

“Won’t you need matching gloves and this perfect little thing?” said Margie, picking out a small beaded purse from the display counter at the back.

“Oh, my, what is that?” said the princess.

“It’s a reticule,” said Margie. “To keep your handkerchief and perfume, of course.”

“Of course,” said Allie. “It completes the ensemble.”

Driggs turned his head slowly and looked to Allie. His eyes wandered down below her waist, then slowly moved up to her eyes.

“Good,” he said. “We’re in agreement. Let us complete the ensemble.”

Allie’s lips quivered into a smile.

The ride Virgil and I took was hot and dry, and it took the better part of two days to get to San Cristóbal. We arrived in the city just prior to sunset and our first stop was at the Western Union office. We wired Sheriff Chastain straightaway in Appaloosa to let him know about the situation regarding the escapee Driggs and the warden’s wife.

In the telegram, Virgil sternly instructed Chastain to make certain all law enforcement stayed clear of the Boston House. Virgil next gave Chastain a detailed description of Driggs and Eleanor. He ordered Chastain to personally be on the lookout for the pair but to make damn certain the couple did not notice him. He instructed Chastain to be very careful and that if he did identify Driggs and Eleanor to avoid any and all confrontation with them. Virgil commanded him not to inquire with any of the Boston House staff regarding the guest. He stated he did not want any employees to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. He also instructed Chastain to make no attempt to arrest the couple, unless they attempted to depart Appaloosa — and, most important, to exercise extreme caution.

The operator in Appaloosa was Willoughby and he let us know he would deliver the message to the sheriff and that we should expect a reply within the hour.

Virgil and I had spent some time in San Cristóbal a few years back dealing with a bank robbery, and were familiar with the stately community. San Cristóbal now supported a turntable for the Santa Fe and the Transcontinental. The rail direction table that handled twice the amount of travel was something San Cristóbal didn’t have when we were previously in the town. But it was obvious that with that addition, San Cristóbal was a good size bigger than it used to be.

Virgil and I bought tickets for the train to Appaloosa that would depart the following morning. We stabled our horses at the livery and checked into the hotel. It was the same hotel we stayed at when we were previously in San Cristóbal, the Holly House. We got some food and drank a beer, then walked back to the Western Union office.

The operator saw us through the window as we walked up the boardwalk to the office and opened the door to greet us. He was an overgrown young man with a wide face and rosy cheeks.

“Good timing, just got a reply,” the operator said excitedly. “Just this instant it came in.”

He held out the note.

“Everett,” Virgil said, nodding to the note.

I took the note from the operator, read it quickly, then looked to Virgil.

“We got a problem,” I said.

“Driggs?”

I shook my head.

“The other one,” I said. “Degraw.”

“What about him?”

“Sheriff Stringer and his posse tracked Degraw and cornered him in a mine just outside of Bridgewater. It says here that the posse attempted to apprehend Degraw in the mine when Degraw or somebody dynamited the shaft. The fate of the posse and Degraw himself remains uncertain.”

“That from Chastain?”

“Is,” I said. “He says this information was received here in Appaloosa from Bridgewater.”

“Who in Bridgewater?”

“Doesn’t say, just states the telegram was intended for us, the U.S. Marshals. Signed the Bridgewater Emergency Department.”

“Say anything about Sheriff Stringer?”

“No,” I said.

“Goddamn,” Virgil said, shaking his head.

We responded to Chastain, trying to gather more details about Stringer, and his reply told us that the telegram simply originated from the Bridgewater Emergency Department. There were no additional details regarding Stringer or his posse.

Virgil told Chastain to stay put and we contacted Bridgewater. Within a short time the sounder clicked and Bridgewater wrote back.

The operator copied the note, then handed it to me.

I read it and looked to Virgil.

“They don’t have any more information to offer other than they believe the posse and the escapee they were after were all trapped in the shaft. There is no sign of Sheriff Stringer. They all could be alive and they all could be dead. At this point and time they do not know. This, too, signed the Bridgewater Emergency Department.”

The sounder clicked and the rosy-faced operator copied the next incoming telegram, then turned again to me with the note.

“Chastain says he understands your orders regarding Driggs and the woman. Says he will stick to your directions exactly as you detailed them. He will only make moves to arrest Driggs and the woman if in fact the two of them are indeed still there and make an attempt to depart Appaloosa.”

Virgil shook his head and looked to the floor.

“Seeing how there is no telling what is happening with Driggs, if he is even still in Appaloosa,” I said, “we might want to get to Bridgewater first... don’t you imagine?”