Chapter Forty-Four
Iris sat at the kitchen table, trying to read the newspaper but unable to concentrate on the words before her. The Rumlows had received an urgent telegram only days prior, and had promptly ordered their things packed and had then sent for their lawyer before departing to Texas.
That was not a good sign.
Titus had not been able to get a glimpse of the contents of the telegram, so he and Iris were in the dark about what had happened. There had been no debate about sending a telegram to Runa, and Titus had promised Iris to send the missive after he saw the Rumlows off at the train station.
Iris looked up sharply as Titus burst through the kitchen door, a telegram in his hand. “Iris!” He called, before seeing her at the table. He strode over to her, and held out the telegram. Iris took it with shaking hands, and unfolded it to read it.
Brock Rumlow imprisoned for attempted murder and kidnapping stop Runa safe stop Request Iris Pendragon and Titus Blake to come to Amaranto Springs as character witnesses in trial stop Please leave ASAP stop For tickets and travel expenses please go to local Pinkerton office and reference Phil Coulson and Runa Freydis stop Will wire instructions to office to provide services stop
“Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Iris whispered, looking up at Titus. “Titus, what if he hurt her? Like he did me?”
“Then he’d better hope he stays in prison for a long time, because I would happily go to prison myself to make certain he never hurt her or anyone else again.” Titus said grimly. “I’m going to Amaranto Springs. I intend to take all my belongings and give notice to the Rumlows once there. I won’t serve anyone who tries to protect that beast.”
“I’ll do the same. Surely Runa and her husband will let us stay on the ranch until we can find other employment.” Iris bit her lower lip. “I’ll start packing immediately, and write a letter to my sister to let her know that I’ll be moving on.”
“I’ll go down to the Pinkerton office and make arrangements for travel.”
~*~
Coulson rode ahead of the wagon on the way back to the ranch, so that when they arrived Pietro and Wanda were ready to help bring everything into the house. The first thing unloaded from the wagon was the rocking chair, which Sam placed in the sitting room where Runa usually sat, putting the hard chair she had been using aside. While he did that, Coulson helped Runa down from the wagon, and assisted her to the rocking chair, which she almost collapsed into. Upon seeing the state Runa was in, Wanda prepared a partial dose of laudanum and got her to drink it down, before bringing her a cold lunch of sandwiches and sliced vegetables from the garden. Runa tried to protest that she would eat at the dining room table with Sam and Coulson, but Wanda refused to listen. So, Runa ate her dinner in the sitting room, and was more than half asleep when Wanda came to take her plate away.
She remained in a partial doze until the others returned to the house for supper, when Steve stormed into the sitting room, causing her to startle awake, blinking owlishly. Steve winced at that, not having realized she was dozing.
“Steve?” She asked, confused as she looked up at him.
“You ordered lumber?”
“I did.” She said, sitting up straight in her seat, rubbing at her eyes. “We need to start rebuilding-”
“We can’t afford to rebuild until after we sell off some of the cattle.” Steve protested.
She looked up at him. “Yes, we can. Or at least I can. That was part of why I needed to go to town today. Mister Coulson told me about the accounts I inherited from my family, and I verified things with Mister Stark today. I am your wife, Steven, even if you don’t particularly want me, and that means this is my home just as much as it is yours, and I have every right to spend money on my own home. Don’t I?”
Steve sighed, deflated. “No, you’re right. This is your home, and you can spend your money however you want, I just… I’m supposed to provide for you.”
“Marriage is a partnership, Steve. We provide for each other. I can do more than cook, sew, and do laundry, so I’m going to do more.”
“All right. And you need to understand that I do want you here, Runa. But like I said before, it’s… Complicated. I’m trying to figure it out.”
“I know.” She reached out a hand, taking one of his. “And like I said, I can wait. I just… We’ll figure it out together.”
“Together.” He agreed, giving her hand a soft squeeze. “Now, what was this Sam told me about a gun?”
“Well, I’m not going to be helpless again. The Rumlows are still out there, and we don’t know if Brock had other friends or not.”
“All right. But if you’ve got a gun, you’re going to learn to shoot properly.” Steve told her firmly.
“I can help with that.” Bucky said from the doorway. The two looked over at him and saw him leaning against the door frame, looking grim. Steve scowled slightly, before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“He should be the one to teach you. He’s the better shot, out of the two of us.” Steve agreed.
“We’ll start tomorrow after dinner. I’ll stay behind and we can work on it a while. I’d say tonight, but you look done in.” Bucky frowned. “From what Sam told us, you did too much today.”
“Maybe a bit, but it needed to be done.” Runa smiled softly. “I, ah, also paid off the mortgage on the ranch while I was at the bank.”
Steve closed his eyes, looking as if he was fighting back the urge to shake her, while Bucky let out a sharp bark of a laugh.
“You can’t go spending all of your money on us-”
“Believe me, I’m hardly even spending a fraction of it.” She sighed. “And I ordered what Mister Parker at the lumber yard thought we would need to rebuild the barn and stables. He is also sending for someone to help with designing and building the house.”
“We can just fix-” Steve started, but Runa shook her head.
“It isn’t going to take repairs well. I described the damage to Mister Parker, and he said that we would be better off building an entirely new house. We also need to redesign the bunkhouse entirely, it was too small by far, so… I asked him if he knew anyone who was in the business of designing and building homes, and he is sending for someone from Houston to come and speak to us after looking over the ranch.” She said quietly. “I… I was thinking… We could keep the bluestone floors, since that’s how the ranch got its name, maybe expand on them a bit, and a slate roof, in case there is another fire…”
Steve managed a smile. “All right. But we’re deciding on all this together from here on out, all right?”
She smiled. “All right.” She looked to Bucky. “It’s half your home too, so don’t think you’re getting out of the planning either.”
Bucky hesitated, before nodding, though he didn’t look convinced. “All right. Not going to argue with the General.” He stood awkwardly a moment, “I’ll go wash up before supper, leave you two alone a bit.”
“We don’t get much of that with the house this full.” Steve agreed.
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Bucky agreed with a slight smile, before turning and leaving the two.
Steve looked back to Runa, still holding her hand. “Thank you.” He said after a moment. “I’m not pleased with how you went over my head to do it all, but… Thank you. And you’re right, marriage is a partnership. Or it should be. It just… I don’t feel right, you paying for things.”
“We wouldn’t need to rebuild if it wasn’t for Brock chasing after me.” She said softly. “It only happened because I was here, so I might as well pay for the rebuilding.”
“You know it wasn’t your fault. Not a single person blames you for what he did.”
“I know. It’s just… It’s hard at times to realize it isn’t my fault, when it was all because of me. Not my fault, but I was the indirect cause.”
“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” Steve told her softly, “And if I have to tell you that every day for the rest of our lives, I will.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you.” Her smile widened. “And thank you for this chair. It’s very comfortable.”
He grinned at her. “I’m glad you like it. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“Oh, it was definitely a surprise.”
“I need to go wash up for supper myself, but then I’ll help you in, all right?”
“All right. I think I’ll need it.” She hesitated. “Could… Tonight could you help me in the bathhouse again?” She asked softly, cheeks heating up as she asked. “I still can’t lift my arms very far over my head-”
“-I’ll help you.” Steve promised her. “I’ll start the water heating after supper.”
“Thank you.”