“Yolanda Ramirez. My parents own the boardinghouse.” She stared at Judith, hesitated and closed the door. Slowly she approached Judith then whispered, “You are Mac’s sister, are you not? He carries a photo of you.” She had tears in her eyes.
Judith took Yolanda by the shoulders. “You know of him? How is he? We came to help him but we don’t know what to do.”
Yolanda leaned her head on Judith’s shoulder and sobbed. “He’s a prisoner in his own ranch house because he won’t tell Lawson’s men where he hid the deed for the ranch. I can’t even visit him and he can’t leave.”
“Y-You’re sure he’s alive?”
Yolanda took a step backward and met Judith’s gaze. “He was yesterday but he won’t be able to last much longer. One of the men who works for Lawson is a friend of my brother. Carlos doesn’t approve of what Lawson does. You see, men who’ve tried to quit have suddenly disappeared or had mysterious fatal accidents.”
“Does no one go to the marshal?”
“Pah! Marshal Cain is paid by Lawson to look the other way. He is worse than having no law because he is crooked.”
Judith exchanged glances with Mama and then asked Yolanda, “Can you get word to this friend or does he come to Los Perdidos?”
“A couple of nights a week he comes to town. He usually stops by to see my brother.”
“Yolanda, if I tell you a secret will you swear on the Bible that you will not tell?”
The girl looked perplexed but wiped the tears from her face. “If it isn’t something against the law then I won’t tell.” She shook her hands in the air. “What am I saying? Even if it’s illegal who would I tell?”
“My husband and I are Pinkerton detective agents. We’ve come to help my brother but we only have ourselves and three men. We have to be very, very careful.”
Yolanda shook her head and her tears resumed. “You’ll never be able to get to him. Lawson has many people on his payroll. Not all approve of him but, like our friend, they’re afraid to cross him.”
Mama got out of bed and grabbed her robe. She donned it and paced the room. “We must plan carefully before we make a move to go to the ranch.”
Yolanda stared at Mama. “I thought you were very ill.”
“I am sick with worry but not as much as I pretended. You see, we’ve told people we are on our way to Kansas so no one would suspect we’ve come to help Josiah… you call him Mac. We needed a reason to stay in town.”
Judith looked at Mama before turning back to face Yolanda. “You must say that Mama is still very ill and in distress. We must have time to help Josiah.”
“I will do anything I can to help him. He stayed here before he found Mr. Corrigan. Mac and I became… well, he asked me to marry him. I am in love with him.”
Judith hugged her. “I know he must love you because he mentioned your name in his letters. He is very private about such things and would never have mentioned you otherwise.”
“He wrote you about me?” Yolanda dried her eyes. “You do not mind?”
Judith stepped back. “We are happy he has found someone to love. If only we can get to him in time to get him to safety.”
The young woman laid a hand on Judith’s arm. “You should remain here or in your room. Mac was so proud of you that he showed several people your picture. Anyone who saw it would recognize you—and that means the men who hold him prisoner and probably even Lawson.”
“That’s why I wore the bonnet that covered my hair and shielded my face. I was afraid someone would have seen the photo. Also, we had a problem in Santa Fe but I won’t go into that now. Come back when you can talk.”
After a teary backward glance, Yolanda left.
Tears pooling in her eyes, Judith hugged Mama. “He’s still alive. I knew I would feel it in my heart if he were not.”
Mama sat on her bed. Clutching her hands to her breast, she closed her eyes. “Praise the Lord, my boy is alive.”
“I wish Peyton would come so I could tell him.” Briefly she questioned why her first thought was to share the news with Peyton. Scolding herself, she decided she was only keeping him informed for their mission to save Josiah.
Chapter Twelve
Peyton enjoyed the meal but he was tired of talking about going to Kansas and any hazards his group might face. He made the excuse that he wanted to see how his wife was faring while nursing his mother-in-law. Letting the residents gathered in the parlor area know that he was terribly worried about his wife’s mother let him escape upstairs.
He checked the room assigned to him and Red. When she wasn’t there he rapped on Mama’s door.
Red opened it and pulled him inside then quickly closed the door behind him.
Although tears streaked her cheeks, her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Great news, the young woman who works here is the one Josiah mentioned. They’re in love. I’m so relieved. Oh, Peyton, she knows he was alive as of yesterday.” She spoke low but talked so rapidly her words jumbled together.
He took her hand and guided her to sit on the end of Mama’s bed. “Slow down, Red. Tell me everything she said.” He could see both of them from this position.
Judith related her conversation with Yolanda aided by Mama’s comments.
He pulled the only chair near her. “This is great
