Coal Black (Book 5)

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

A New Look

Monday night, Judge Olson invited Sadie to the Redwood hotel for supper. The rain continued into the evening, and Walter picked her up in his buggy. She wore the green suit dress she had worn to the trial. They enjoyed a delightful meal together, just the two of them.

During their after-dinner drinks, Sadie explained to the Judge her meeting with Mr. Sanderson and the meeting at the bank. Sadie told Mr. Kennedy that she wanted to discuss the terms with a friend and would be back tomorrow morning to sign the papers.

"I think the conditions are fair, and you should accept the bank's offer."

Then, the judge waved over the waitress and ordered two more drinks.

"I sure have enjoyed our evening together. I don't want the night to end."

"One more and I need to call it a night," said Sadie.

The judge wanted to be honest with Sadie, but he didn't want to worry her about the escape of the prisoners, so he keep his news to himself. He could tell she had enough on her mind this evening without worrying about Cooper.

Inside, Sadie felt guilty about keeping the information about the money from the judge. She knew there was stolen money in those safe deposit boxes, and he was an officer of the law. She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.

"Mr. Sanderson and I will be in town for a few more days until the roads are passable. I hope we can spend more time together while I'm in Redwood."

"I would enjoy that. Let's have dinner tomorrow night in my office, just the two of us. I will have Lupita make us a meal."

"That sounds delightful."

When Judge Olson drove Sadie to the saloon that night, Sadie received her first kiss from the Judge. It was magical and felt so right. They both admitted to feeling like youngsters kissing in the buggy. Judge Olson ushered her into the saloon and stayed for a nightcap before leaving to go back to the hotel.

Yes, sir. That is a woman I could spend time with, thought Judge Olson as he snapped the reins and steered his horse and buggy back to the hotel for the evening.

* * *

On Tuesday morning, everyone in the Taylor house slept in except Edwin. Nicholas had kicked him several times during the night, and Edwin got up at sunrise, covering his cousin up before getting dress. He was the first one downstairs.

He stoked the cookstove and move the coffeepot to the fiery side of the stove. Then Edwin went in the pantry and saw the buckets from cleaning the turkey. He dressed for the rain and carried the slop buckets to the pigs and then gathered the eggs.

Once he returned to the pantry, he picked up the milk pails and went back out in the rain to do chores in the barn. It surprised Edwin to see how full their barn had become. He made a round of the animals. He saw the new mother cow standing in her stall and the calf nursing.

Edwin set to milking before feeding and watering the animals. He saw the dead body of the trapper laying on his father's worktable. He saw the pile of supplies along with the hides, remembering the story his father had told last night. Ethan's oldest son admired his father and wanted to prove to him he was a hard worker.

After carrying the four pails of milk to the doorway, he hauled buckets of water from the trough and watered the cows, and then he filled the pails in front of the horses. He saw his father had thrown the oats on the ground. Edwin filled the grinder by the feed room with corn and ground the feed into a pail with a hand crank for the cows. He searched for extra pans for the animals when the door opened, and his father walked into the barn. Ethan saw the four pails of milk, and the animals drinking water.