Kate couldn’t argue with the glare his wife shot him. “I’m terribly sorry this happened,” she told them both. “But Alberta has dinner almost ready, and we’ll do all we can to make the rest of your stay safe and comfortable.”
Mrs. Barksdale nodded. Her husband looked relieved.
Kate excused herself and headed up the stairs to see Elijah.
Danny was with him in his room on the staff corridor on the top floor of the hotel. During the season, he spent four nights a week at Kate’s and three in his own home with his wife, Elnora, and son, Markus. A simple iron-framed bed, side table, chair, and trunk were all that graced the room, but Elnora had sewed the red-and-blue-patterned quilt across the bed, and Kate had seen where some of the stitches spelled the word love.
Elijah was standing beside the bed, coat off and sleeves rolled up, examining a bruise on his arm. The purple and rose spread across his dusky skin.
Kate knocked on the open door, and he looked up.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
He put his hand on the back of the chair as if to steady himself. “I’ve been better, but you’re welcome to come in and join us.”
“He flew one hundred feet, Ma,” Danny said as she ventured into the room across the plank floor. “And landed on his head.” He sounded positively awed.
“Probably the best place,” Elijah said with a ghost of his usual smile. “Hardest part of me, my mother used to say.”
“You’re fortunate to be alive,” Kate said. “Lieutenant Prescott told you what we found?”
He nodded, then winced as his head must have pained him. “Yes, ma’am.”
She glanced at her son, who was watching Elijah avidly, as if expecting him to jump up and fly again. “Danny, why don’t you go downstairs and see if Alberta has pie ready? I think Elijah could do with a slice.”
“A big slice,” Elijah corrected her.
Danny dashed out the door.
“Step outside with me,” Elijah said.
She doubted anyone would question her checking on him, but she appreciated his care for her reputation. She moved out into the corridor, and Elijah joined her.
“You know why this happened,” he said.
Kate shook her head. “No. Why?”
He glanced both ways as if thinking his enemy was lurking among the staff rooms. Then he leaned forward. “Someone doesn’t like you.”
Kate recoiled. “Me?”
“The Geyser Gateway, in any event,” he clarified, straightening. “Your hotel was the last hope for the Virginia City Outfitters to gain a foothold in the park. This accident was a warning.”
“But to cripple a coach?” she protested. “You could have been killed!”
He eyed her. “You really think they’d lose any sleep over killing me?”
There were still those who lamented the end of slavery and saw a man like Elijah as less than others. She was thankful only a few such people had visited her hotel over the years. “Maybe not, the cowards, but they could have hurt four visitors too, and that’s not good for anyone’s business.”
“Better to hurt a few now than to miss out on the dozens this hotel houses every year,” Elijah retorted.
Kate shook her head. “This is ridiculous. I can’t believe they’d stoop so low.”
“I can,” Elijah said, turning for his room. “And you better decide what you intend to do about it before someone really is killed.” He reached for the door as if to shut it.
“Wait,” Kate said, and he glanced back at her.
“I don’t want anyone hurt because of me or this hotel. If you need to take your passengers to another hotel instead of the Geyser Gateway to keep you and your team safe, I’ll understand.”
His smile was grim. “I won’t be going anywhere until I can repair that coach. And when it’s repaired, it won’t be the Geyser Gateway I’ll be avoiding. Old Faithful can rely on Wakefield and Hoffman from here out.”
“Are you sure you want to lose that business?” she pressed.
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “I may not have any business next year. Captain Harris is renewing the contracts for the stages as well as the leases on the hotels. With this accident on my record, I may not be back next year.”
She could hear the bitterness in his voice. He’d worked hard for his concession license. It wasn’t right that this accident should force him out of the park.
The clatter of footsteps on the stairs sounded a moment before Danny arrived, holding a generous slice of huckleberry pie, juice pooling on the plate. Two forks stuck out of the pocket of his short pants. “Miss Pringle and Mrs. Pettijohn want to help Elijah too.”
“I know they do,” Kate assured him, mind humming with Elijah’s warning. “But I know someone better. How would you like to spend the night with him?”
Danny’s eyes widened. “Would I!”
Elijah looked at her askance.
“If you need anything,” she explained, “you can send Danny for me or Alberta.”
Danny moved into the room as if ready to report.
Elijah went so far as to salute her. “Yes, ma’am, and I hope Alberta sends up a big dinner, with more pie, for me and my helper.”
Kate promised to see to it and left Danny perched on the bed and peppering Elijah with questions about the wreck.
But her coachman’s accusations remained on her mind. The Virginia City Outfitters had tried to buy her out, then run her out with rumors. Would they really go so far as to harm a driver or her guests? Had they had an agent at Old Faithful? Perhaps one of the other coach drivers?
Yellowstone had seen stagecoach accidents before, but the causes had always been put down to inebriated drivers or dangerous road conditions. Elijah never drank on the job, never drank at all, that she knew, and the road to Old Faithful had been fine for her and Will, even after the snow yesterday. But if Will hadn’t noticed the broken bit under the coach, she would
