Dottie stepped up on a low stool below the window. She pulled her hood over her hair and slipped out the long narrow opening without a sound. She seemed to disappear into the night.
Mamie handed Rainey her navy cape. 'I got this for you from the front hall. I figured you'd be needing it. Anybody within a mile could see that yellow hair of yours even if there's just one slice of moon left. You pull up that hood good, child.'
Rainey circled the cape over her shoulders and head as she slipped out the window. To her surprise, her foot touched another stool on the outside of the window, making the escape easy.
It took her a few seconds in the dark alley to make out Dottie's form. Once she nodded, the widow began to move along the alley, staying close to the wall. They crossed a street and entered another alley, then another.
Rainey's senses came alive in the blackness. She heard the sound of music and laughter, and then shouts. Between the buildings came the noise of the night, the odd mixture of barking dogs, babies crying, and horses galloping. Bits of conversations drifted to her from open windows.
Dottie linked her arm in Rainey's, grounding her, and whispered, 'When my husband died, his partner claimed he couldn't afford to give me half the worth of the saloon and restaurant they owned together, so he split the place and closed off the restaurant. He said it was mine, but I couldn't run it alone, and because my husband loved it so much, I couldn't sell it. What the partner didn't know was that I worked there some at night before my Henry had to take a partner. I knew what lay hidden in the cellar.'
'You were a barmaid?' Rainey would never have guessed the widow to be anything but a proper lady.
Dottie shook her head. 'I ran a gambling table in the back of the restaurant. Only a high-stakes game a few times a week.'
Rainey thought of about a hundred questions she'd like to ask, but this was not the place, so she picked just one. 'What's in the cellar?'
'Wine,' the widow whispered. 'Twenty-dollar-a-bottle wine. I can't very well pull up a cart and unload my half. The partner would never allow that. But if we can take a few bottles at a time, I know a man who'll buy them, and the money can go to Mamie. One bottle will be worth more laundry than she could do in a month. I wouldn't bother to collect it for me, but for Mamie's freedom, it's worth the risk.'
In the third alley Dottie stopped at one of the cellar doors. 'If it worries you that someone might think we're stealing this, I can do it by myself. All you have to do is be lookout so I don't come up from the cellar and stumble into a drunk. And with two bottles in my hands, I'll need some help with this heavy door.'
'I'm with you.' Rainey decided this was far more fun than borrowing a horse. She didn't want to consider the fact that she might be turning toward a life of crime.
Dottie pulled a key from her pocket. 'I kind of forgot I had this after my husband died.' She slipped the key into the lock and turned. 'Lucky for me so did the partner. He hasn't bothered to change the lock.'
The cellar door creaked as they lifted it only enough to slip inside. Dottie went first, then Rainey. The stairs were made of dirt with a few bricks shoved into places where rain had washed out what had been a rough step. As Rainey lowered the door closed, total blackness surrounded them.
Rainey was afraid to move. All her life she'd hated total darkness. When her father had taken away her candle at night, she'd cried for weeks and screamed for her mother. Her mother never came, and finally she'd learned to curl up into a ball and survive the night. But she never lost the feeling that something waited in the blackness only inches away. Something evil.
'Put your hand on my shoulder and follow me down,' the widow whispered.
Rainey felt for Dottie's shoulder. At first there was nothing and she was a breath away from panic when her fingers finally connected with the widow's coat.
One step at a time they moved. The smell of dirt surrounded them, closing in as they lowered into the basement. Rainey felt like she was descending into a grave. A thin lace of spiderwebs brushed past her cheek, and she heard something far bigger than a spider scamper out of their path.
Dottie heard it, too. The widow was shaking so badly Rainey could feel it through her clothes. 'There's as many rats down here as there are upstairs,' she mumbled to herself.
When they reached the floor of the cellar, Rainey let out a breath and heard the sound echoed by Dottie.
'I know where the wine is hidden. It's only three steps away. If you'll stay exactly where you are, I'll get the first bottle and hand it back to you. If I only get two bottles, no one will notice. Then, to get out, all you'll have to do is turn around and go back up the steps.'
Rainey nodded, then realized it was a waste of time. 'I won't move until you return,' she whispered. It took all her strength to let go of Dottie's shoulder.
'Hum,' Dottie whispered. 'So I won't lose my direction.'
'Hmm, hmm.' Rainey couldn't think of anything to hum. Not one song came to mind. 'Hmm. Hmm.' She sounded more like she was snoring. She giggled, then covered her mouth and tried to stop giggling long enough to hum. 'Hmm. Hmm. Hmm,' she tried, sounding flat and toneless.
Dottie's soft laughter came from a few feet away. 'Stop laughing or I'll hit you with one of the bottles,' she threatened through her own giggle. 'If I ever find one. The stash is not nearly as big as it was when my husband lived.'
Rainey closed her eyes and tried to pretend she wasn't standing in a cold damp cellar.
It didn't work.
She tried humming again but couldn't manage to carry a tune. After a few minutes she could stand the silence no longer. 'Dottie,' she whispered. 'Dottie, are you all right?' Surely if the widow fell over something, Rainey would have heard the crash. 'Dottie?'
Rainey considered running, but in the blackness it was hard to tell where the stairs were. Had they stepped one or two steps across the floor? If she moved and guessed wrong, she'd be lost down here with the rats until dawn. Or until someone came down from above, and she didn't even want to think about what the partner would do if he found thieves in his wine cellar.
'I got one,' Dottie whispered. 'Hold out your hand.'
Rainey did, waving her hands slowly through the thick air.
A bottle tapped against her little finger a moment before she gripped it solid in her hand. 'Got it.'
Dottie's hand let go of the other end of the bottle.
Rainey waited again, hugging the wine against her.
'I've found another. Now, let's get out of here. I think I can make out a tiny bit of light where the cellar door didn't close completely.' Dottie brushed against Rainey as she passed, and Rainey raised one hand to her friend's shoulder. As before, Dottie lead the way.
Within minutes they were back in the alley and retracing their steps. As before, they stayed well out of the light. Rainey counted her breaths until they were back at Askew House. Dottie passed the wine to Mamie and slipped through the window of the laundry room. Rainey handed over their treasure and followed. As soon as she was standing inside the laundry room, the two women hugged wildly, laughing and talking at the same time.
Mamie made tea and wanted to hear every detail of their adventure. They talked for an hour, then hid the bottles amid the stacks of dirty clothes and said good night.
As they climbed the back stairs, Dottie thanked Rainey. 'I'll sell the bottles next week. If it's not enough to buy Mamie, are you willing to go with me again?'
'Yes,' Rainey said without hesitation. 'I've never had so much fun.'
Dottie laughed. 'I owe you one. Next time you want to commit a crime, just let me know and I'll go with you.'
Rainey hugged the widow good night and climbed on to her room. Once she was in bed, she smiled, thinking that for the first time in her life, she had friends.
CHAPTER 18
As he drove the wagon toward Austin, Travis tried to think of the test he would take when he reached the capital, but his thoughts were full of the fairy. He relived every word they'd said to each other a hundred times. He thought of the way she'd felt, the way she kissed him, the way she jumped into his arms that first meeting as if she
