Buried Secrets

14

Opal stared at Mellie like she'd never seen her before as she breathlessly said, "Bodie? You're not talking about that bank robbery that was in all the papers, are you?"

Mellie nodded.

Opal's eyes widened, her skin took on an ashen hue in the golden glow from the table lamp, and she moved her trembling hands to her lap. "Then that makes you—"

"Helena Barnett," Mellie stated.

"And the man that attacked you tonight was—"

"Billy," Mellie began

"Barnett," Opal finished with a whisper. She licked her lips and clutched her throat. Then, walking to the sink, she filled the pitcher. "I'm parched as a three-legged turtle in a desert. Anyone else thirsty?"

Delphine mumbled unintelligibly, and moments later, Opal returned to the table with two cups filled nearly to the brim.

"I read he'd died in that explosion. 'The Outlaw Billy Barnett is Dead and Buried in Bodie Cemetery' was what the paper headline said," Opal murmured, plunking down in her chair.

"He would have been," Casper admitted. "So would Mellie here if a doctor in Sunnycreek hadn't paid Orie and me to dig them up."

Opal's gaze flew to his. "No."

Casper and Oren nodded, and then Casper added, "Both were buried alive."

Opal turned to Mellie, her eyes filled with compassion. "Oh, my poor dear. What a horrifying experience that must have been for you. I can't even imagine..."

"It's fine. I don't think I was down there all that long," Mellie lied, fighting a wave of sheer panic. If everything she remembered was correct, she'd laid in the coffin for at least six torturous hours.

A relative eternity spent penned in pitch-black confinement.

Needing to escape before the walls closed in on her and more than ready to heed her body's incessant screaming for the comforts of her bed, she bit back a groan and rose to her feet. "If you'll excuse me, I think the excitement of tonight finally caught up with me—"

"I'll take you," Oren softly said, scooping her into his arms. "You shouldn't be walking on your injured leg."

A startled gasp escaped her, and she awkwardly latched her arms around his neck and torso. "But you're arm—you're not supposed to do any heavy lifting—"

"I'm carrying you," Oren grumbled. "And that's that."

"Goodness, look at the time," Opal said with a tender smile in an apparent effort to ease the tension descending over the moment seconds before the clock struck three. The cuckoo bird popped out of its home, chirped the hour amongst the gentle metallic whirring and clicking of gears, then slid back inside. "I suppose you all better be off to bed."

"What about you?" Delphine asked.

"Oh, I'll help Irving finish with Mr. McNab and clean up, then we'll both—"

"WHERE IS SHE?" Gilbert cried, storming into the hallway. His eyes darted around, landing on Casper's revolver on the entryway table directly to his right, then Mellie cradled against Oren's chest.

Before anyone could move to stop him, Gilbert snatched up the weapon, aimed, and fired.

Mellie didn't flinch or utter a sound of protest. Billy had pointed a loaded gun at her enough times that she no longer feared staring down the muzzle.

However, everyone around her didn't react as calmly.

Oren tensed and shouted so loud that Mellie's ears rang.