The Marshal's Little Girl Read Free Page A

sheriff to start nosing around? What if he was one of these corrupt lawmen who’d find an excuse to come in and seize the money? How long would it take before he caught on that it was counterfeit bills?
    She’d paid for the horse with genuine money. Same for the board and train fare for the horse. Simon liked to launder money where he could, which is why he’d sent her here, to a hole-in-the-wall town known for horses and one decent bank. It was a win-win.
    Simon’s other bit of advice? Trust your instincts. Wilhelmina paced the small room, remembering how the tall sheriff had looked past her to the table. Even shaded by his hat, his eyes had been sharp and inquisitive. This was no simple bumpkin. She’d seen him go back to the auction house. No doubt he was asking questions. No doubt he had her name by now.
    It was time to accelerate her plan. There was a basin of water on the washstand. Wilhelmina quickly stripped herself of the blue gown and used the rough cloth in the basin to cleanse her face, arms, and legs. Next came a dusting of perfumed French powder. She donned stockings, thin cotton pantalets, and a linen dress with narrow beige pinstripes. A white bonnet followed over her neatly secured bun. Checking her reflection, she picked up the carpetbag and looked out the window. Her timing was perfect. Asa Pridgen, the banker, was walking to the saloon, just as he did every day at this time, leaving the operations to his less-than-sharp, bucktoothed son.
    She’d have to act fast.
    Lester greeted her as soon as she entered, slicking his greasy hair back as he smiled. Wilhelmina put aside her distaste for the ferret-like man and beamed her brightest smile in return.
    “Miss… James, right?” Lester said, taking her hand in a limp, sweaty grasp. “What can I do for you?”
    “Oh, Mr. Pridgen…” Her voice quavered as she made her way to his office. “I’m so beside myself I can hardly stand it. As you know, I’ve recently arrived and had the pleasure of buying a beautiful horse in honor of my recently departed uncle, whose deathbed wish when he bequeathed me his farm was to acquire good breeding stock.” She dabbed her eyes. “But in my rush to get to my new home in Texas, I was rash. I thought I could carry all this cash. But now I see the folly of that decision. I am but a woman traveling alone, and think it best now to deposit it somewhere safe.”
    “For withdrawal later when you are settled…?” Lester Pridgen sounded resigned to the promise of a short-term customer.
    “Oh, no,” she said, laying a small hand on his. “I’m impressed by all the prime grazing I see around me. I may buy some land close to the other wonderful ranches here. So I plan to leave half of the sum in this bag…” she patted the satchel, “…which comes to this amount.” She jotted a number down on a piece of paper and Lester’s eyes grew wide. “The other half, of course, I’d like in the form of a registered bank note, to be carried ahead to my destination.”
    “Of course. Of course!” The young man was breathless, both from her beauty and from the good fortune of having half her fortune in his keeping. “I can recommend investments,” he said hastily as he began to pull papers from the drawer of his desk, dropping some in his excitement. “Stocks, bonds, gold mines. It’s my specialty, making the wealthy even wealthier.”
    She forced a smile. “And we shall talk at length about that. But if we could complete the paperwork. I’m afraid I am overly tired.”
    An hour later, the well-counterfeited money was deposited and a very large bank note was on its way by courier to a bank in Texas. Wilhelmina walked to the stagecoach office and sent a telegram to Simon, announcing that all was in order. By noon on the next day, the money would be withdrawn from the Texas bank and she would be on her way out of Red Horse Gulch, leaving behind a nosy sheriff and a bank vault full of worthless paper.
    But now she still