“If you are prepared to speak on our behalf,” she added.
The captain took in a deep breath and held it as he made a big lot of noise over standing up and away from that table.
“Why, of course, I’m prepared to speak. Shall we?” He offered her his arm, which Mae took.
Cedar clenched his hands into fists and worked on not imagining clocking the captain for that smile he was giving to Mae.
“Keep the pot hot, Mr. Seldom,” Captain Hink called. “I have a feeling I’m about to work up an appetite.”
They’d get medicines for Rose, he told himself. That’s all he was talking about.
Captain Hink had proved he could be trusted so far.
The captain wasn’t drunk, and yet he was acting like it. Who was he trying to fool? Beaumont? His passengers?
He wasn’t going to send Mae off on her own with him. Cedar strode over to where Wil stood in the shadows just inside the doorway to the sleeping quarters. He looked down into his brother’s copper eyes. “Watch Mae for me,” he whispered.
Wil padded out into the room, then through it with grace and speed.
“My word!” Mr. Theobald said.
Joonie reached for something that was not a spatula.
Mr. Seldom caught her hand before she could pull whatever sort of gun she had hidden in her skirts.
“Flapjacks are burning,” was all he said.
But by the time she looked back out in the room, Wil was gone.
Cedar strode over to the table where Mr. Theobald stood, the lens over his eye a hard red. He still smelled like fear, but he was steady on his feet, his hand tucked in one pocket, where no doubt he had some kind of weapon he felt confident using. His expression held more than a little bit of curiosity.
For a brief moment, that look reminded him of the Madder brothers.
Miss Dupuis sat straight-backed and proper, as if she expected tea service to arrive at any moment.
“Though we haven’t been made full acquaintance,” Cedar said to Mr. Theobald, “I’d be obliged if you kept your hands off your weapons around that wolf of mine. I wouldn’t want him to think you meant to harm him.”
He said it quietly. But it was a threat.
Miss Dupuis smiled, the curve of her full lips not quite showing her teeth.
“Where are my manners?” Mr. Theobald said, his voice smooth, friendly, and inviting in a way that was hard to resist. “I am pleased to introduce Miss Sophie Dupuis, Miss Joonie Wright, and I myself, Otto Theobald. We are traveling east to Miss Dupuis’s father’s estate before the winter sets in. And whom do we have the pleasure of speaking to?”
“Cedar Hunt,” he said. “Most recently out of Oregon. Good evening, Miss Dupuis, Mr. Theobald. May your travels be smooth.”
“Please,” Miss Dupuis said. “Sit with us, Mr. Hunt. Join us for our meal. Joonie is a wonderful cook.”
Mr. Theobald looked at him expectantly. As if he had a rack of questions he was hoping Cedar would hang answers on.
“No, thank you, Miss Dupuis, Mr. Theobald. Perhaps tomorrow. I have other matters to attend.”
“We understand,” Mr. Theobald said. “I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.” He held out his hand and Cedar shook it.
The look on Theobald’s face changed to something more like stunned respect, which didn’t make a lick of sense.
He certainly was an odd man. Cedar couldn’t quite get a bead on him.
“Ma’am,” Cedar said, nodding to Miss Dupuis, who gave him a soft smile.
“Good evening to you and yours, Mr. Hunt. I do hope we’ll have a chance to catch up tomorrow.”
Cedar walked to the bedroom. The sleeping quarters were a barracks that could bunk about a dozen people. Cots were lined up against the walls with empty shelves and coat hooks beside them.
Rose was settled in on a bed toward the end of the room. Molly sat on the cot next to her.
“Smells good out there,” Molly said. “Captain set Seldom loose on the griddle?”
“He did. How is she?”
Molly sighed. “Sleeping, I think. Or fainted. As comfortable as we can make her. Mrs. Lindson is hoping there’s some herbs in Jack’s stores that will help.” Molly paused, and looked over at Rose, who was pale and still. “That infection’s gone worse in a terrible short time,” she said. “I don’t know how long she’ll hold against it.”
“She’s strong,” Cedar said, stepping over to see her more clearly.
“I can tell she is,” Molly said. “You said my kinsmen thought kindly of her?”
Guffin, who had been lying on a cot toward the front of the room with his hat over his head, groaned and sat up. “I’ll leave you two ladies to your gossip. My belly’s chewing on my spine anyway.” He left the room.