Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1)(79)

They’re deep in conversation, him leaning in, her using her parasol as an effective barrier against him getting too close. My boots echo on the boardwalk as I approach, and he glances over his shoulder and grunts. “I daresay you’re safer with me than anywhere else in Summerland. Why don’t you send your girl to see to your house and I’ll drop you off after we enjoy a short stroll?”

Katherine gives the sheriff an indulgent smile. “A lady’s Attendant is not there just to protect her from the restless dead. She also protects my virtue and my reputation, Sheriff.”

“Miss Deveraux, do you think that I am a threat to your virtue or reputation?”

“I would say that you are the only one who knows the answer to that question, sir.”

The laugh that booms out of the sheriff is genuine, and an ugly feeling rises up in me. He’s looking down at Katherine like he’s a starving man and she’s a steak that just landed upon his plate. It’s an expression I don’t care for one bit. I could kill the man without a single shred of remorse, and I’m near about to do just that when the sound of hoofbeats stays my hand.

“Sheriff! Sheriff!” A man I don’t recognize rides up in a cloud of dust, and both Katherine and I shrink back into the shade of the boardwalk while the sheriff strides out into the middle of the street to meet the rider.

“What is it, Bean?”

“Bob, Bill, and now Bean,” Katherine mutters. “Is it a requirement your name has to start with the letter B to work for the man?”

I only catch snippets of the conversation, but I do hear the words breach, eastern fence, and townsfolk. Whatever is happening, it’s enough to turn the sheriff’s expression stormy, as he sends the rider off with low-voiced instructions.

Sheriff Snyder comes back, giving Katherine a deep bow. “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, Miss Deveraux, but there is an urgent matter I must attend to.”

Katherine actually manages to look disappointed. “What seems to be the issue?”

“Nothing that me and the boys shouldn’t be able to take care of, but I’d caution you to get inside of your house and stay there. Keep your girl close. There might be some trouble afoot, and I wouldn’t want you to get caught up in it.”

“Thank you, Sheriff.”

He gives Katherine one last tip of his hat before striding out smartly back toward his office, yelling for Bob and Bill. They come running, rifles in their hands. All three of the men jump on their horses and ride off, kicking up a generous cloud of dust as they go.

“Well, that is interesting,” Katherine says, eyes narrowed.

I grab her by her elbow and pull her a little. “Come on, this is our chance.”

“Chance for what?”

“To snoop around the sheriff’s office. If you haven’t noticed, there’s still too much about this land that we don’t know. They might have a map and compass so we can navigate once we hightail it out of here.”

I leave Katherine sputtering on the boardwalk and make a beeline back to the sheriff’s office. It’s nearly midday and the streets are deserted. The morning patrols would be out and the evening patrols getting what sleep they can, so this is the perfect time to get in a bit of uninterrupted sneaking.

I dash down the boardwalk, skidding to a stop in front of the office. Katherine is close on my heels, huffing and puffing even though it was only a couple hundred feet. I glance at her over my shoulder. “Are you wearing a corset?”

“Yes, Jane, I am. Because a lady wouldn’t go about without one.”

I shake my head and walk inside, pulling Katherine in as well. She leans back against the wall next to the door, fighting to catch her breath.

“What is it you said you’re looking for?”

I shrug. “A map, a compass . . . Anything that seems like it could be useful.”

Katherine’s eyes skim around the room. “Well, that’s vague enough.”

I roll my eyes. “Why don’t you search that room over there? I’ll go poke through his desk.”

Katherine heads over to the room off the main office and I hurry over to the desk, opening drawers and peering at their contents. I have a flashback to the last time I went snooping where I didn’t belong, and for a heartbeat I wonder if maybe I should’ve learned my lesson. If we get caught our situation will be dire, but I have no idea what the next closest town might be, or even how far. A map and some kind of direction finding will be vital for our escape.

I also want to see if prying through the sheriff’s belongings reveals anything about him. The sheriff has weaknesses. I already know Katherine’s pretty face is one of them, so what others does the man possess? The more I know about the sheriff, the easier it will be to get quit of him.

Well, at least that’s what I’m hoping.

The drawers I open reveal nothing remarkable: rolling papers, some loose tobacco, a few bullets. There’s an apple and a nice hunk of wax-wrapped cheese in a bottom drawer, and I have to fight from snatching it up. Even after days of doing nothing and eating decently in the Duchess’s care, I’m still as hungry as I’ve ever been; but if I take it, the sheriff will know that someone has been in his desk, and him being suspicious ain’t in the plan.

It doesn’t take long to figure that there’s a whole lot of nothing in the sheriff’s desk. I close the last drawer and stand with a sigh, moving to check on Katherine. I’m halfway there when boot steps echo outside on the boardwalk.