Chapter Thirty-Seven
As Steve and Bucky left Bruce’s, he quietly told them that the cabinetmaker had finished the coffin for Falsworth and it was ready to be picked up. Steve and Bucky went there first, stopping to speak to Erik Maximoff, the cabinetmaker.
“We are glad your wife is safe.” He said after Steve had made arrangements to pay for the coffin and it had been loaded onto the farm wagon. “Magda was at the mercantile when Thor carried her past to the doctor’s. She said that she did not look well.” Magda was his wife, a friendly woman, but a little bit nosy. Steve and Bucky knew her only in passing.
Steve shook his head. “He hurt her pretty badly. Doc says she’ll need to rest for a few weeks.”
Erik gave a grim nod. “Magda said she looked like a broken doll.”
“That’s a pretty good description, actually.” Bucky sighed.
“Magda and I spoke to the twins. Times like these, neighbors need to reach out to help one another. Our twins could help you on your ranch. Pietro is good with horses, and can help until you hire a new wrangler, and Wanda can help with the cooking and cleaning while your wife heals from her ordeal. There will be nothing inappropriate with her staying on the ranch, not with Pietro and your wife as chaperones.”
Steve looked torn. “Thank you, but-”
Bucky placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder, stopping him with a look, before he looked back to Erik. “We would appreciate the help. We’ll be able to pay Pietro what we were paying Falsworth, plus room and board, and we’ll figure out a wage for Wanda.”
Erik shook his head. “They are not employees, just neighbors, come to help.”
“If they’re going to be doing the work, we’re going to pay them for it.” Bucky said firmly. “We won’t take any argument on that point.”
“All right. I will let them know and drive them out tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Mister Maximoff.” Steve managed a smile. “We appreciate it.”
“No thanks are needed. It is what neighbors should do for one another.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries, before leaving the building, only to be stopped outside by Reverend Fury.
“I was hoping to speak to you two. I want you to bring your wagon around to the church. The members of the congregation who have been able to respond have something for you. We’ve taken up a collection to help out with a few necessary items.”
“Reverend, we appreciate it, we truly do, but-” Steve started, but Fury silenced him with a look.
“This congregation looks after one another and helps those who are in need. Right now, the folk at Bluestone Ranch are in need, so the congregation wants to help. It isn’t much, mostly old blankets and quilts, but it should be enough to make sure everyone on your spread sleeps comfortably. And when you’re ready to rebuild, we’ll be there to help.”
“We can rig up the blankets so Runa can lie on them in the back of the wagon on the way to the ranch.” Bucky suggested after a moment. “I don’t think she’ll be able to sit on a wagon seat for the trip.”
Steve nodded after a moment. “All right. Thank you, Reverend.” He said quietly. “We’ll bring the wagon around before we go to the mercantile.” He looked up as sheriff Rhodes approached, nodding at them as he did.
“Sheriff.” Reverend Fury inclined his head to him. “Trial will be when Judge Murdock comes through in a few weeks?”
“I can keep him locked up until then, but we could shorten the time frame a bit and save a lot of trouble if we just lynched him.” Sheriff Rhodes said in response.
“Amen to that.” Fury agreed, earning a look of shock from Steve. As much as he would like to put a bullet in Brock himself, there was a certain way things were done, and lawmen were not supposed to go around advocating mob justice. Neither were men of God.
“Sheriff, you’re supposed to uphold the law.”
“I also happen to believe in justice. I’m still worried he won’t get it.” Rhodes scowled. “Both your wife and Sam Sawyer identified him as the one who shot James Falsworth, but with the past history between Rumlow and your wife he could spin it that they were conspiring together against him and you were all in on it. He’s also sticking to his story that you and Sawyer were the ones to work her over, and he was trying to save her and take her back East. The man has money, and isn’t from around here. Someone could believe his bullshit story. No one intelligent, but it does cast reasonable doubt.”
Steve shook his head. “Anyone who knows me knows I would never.” He looked to Fury. “What about you, Reverend? You’re a man of God. You can’t truly condone-”
“-A shepherd watches over his flock.” Fury interrupted. “A good shepherd knows when to shoot the wolves to keep them from decimating that flock. This particular wolf went rabid, tried to kill four of my flock, succeeded in killing one, and tried to carry off a fifth. What would you do if a wolf did all that to your cattle? Lock it up?” He shook his head. “No. It would get out eventually, be meaner, more dangerous. Might set out to finish what it failed to do last time. It’s best to kill the wolf now and make certain that it won’t be a problem in the future.”
“We might want to kill off the rest of the pack while we’re at it.” Bucky chimed in. “Mama and Papa wolf are not going to be happy when they find out about all of this.”
Sheriff Rhodes gave an unsettling smile. “Don’t worry. That Pinkerton man and I have come up with a plan for that.”
~*~
Some time later, Coulson stepped into the Sheriff’s office, tipping his hat to the deputy who was behind the desk.
“Here to see the prisoner?”
“I am.” Coulson agreed blandly. The deputy motioned to the back of the small building, where there were several small cells. Phil strode over to the only occupied one, where Brock was lying on a cot, an arm thrown up over his eyes. “Mister Rumlow, I thought you were on your honeymoon in Europe.” Phil called with a bit of a smile. Brock lowered his arm and raised his head to see who was speaking, before scowling and letting his head fall back onto the cot.
“Just a bit of a misunderstanding.” He replied. “She got cold feet and was convinced by some sweet-talking cowboy to run off to Texas. I just came here to get her back. Now they’re saying I killed a man, then burnt down a ranch, but I didn’t have any part of that.”
Phil frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the Brock Rumlow I investigated in Washington D.C.” He agreed. “I’m certain this is all a misunderstanding that will be worked out soon. Is there anything I might be able to do to help?”
“Do you think you could send a telegram to my parents? A man’s parents deserve to know when he is in legal trouble.” Brock said, still staring at the ceiling of his cell. “They might be able to send me a lawyer or character witnesses before the judge arrives. Arrives.” He sneered. “Town is so small it doesn’t have its own judge.”
“I will happily send your parents a telegram explaining the situation.” Coulson gave him a bland smile. “Anything else?”
“Not unless you’re for hire, Pinkerton.”
“I’m already on another assignment at the moment, the best I can do is small favors.”
Brock scowled at the ceiling. “I thought as much. Here to tell Runa about her inheritance?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact.”
“Might want to get her away from that cowboy. He worked her over before I was able to get her away.”
“I’ll take her away from the ranch to the boarding house myself if I think that necessary.” Phil said quite seriously. In that, he was not acting. If he thought for one minute that Runa was in danger with Steve Rogers or James Barnes, he would get her as far away from them as he could.