No. She really couldn’t start her job doing something self-serving. Anyway, she didn’t want to.
The Legend of Ruby McKee was well-worn and overtold in the town of Pear Blossom. And Ruby knew it best of all.
She got up and made her way over to the wardrobe. And opened it. The garments were stored in bags, and she unzipped the first one, pulling out a beautiful muslin dress with pin tucks around the dropped waist. There was another in a beautiful calico. And a rich green-and-purple plaid. She found a fur and a matching muff.
She went over to the computer and sat down, tapping on it and waiting for it to wake up. And once it did, she started searching different shops. That would be an interesting display. The history of fashion in Pear Blossom. In the whole of the West. How it was shaped by where people came from. She felt that she had her first solid idea.
She found ads for different fabrics and trims. And that led her on a rabbit trail, down to digitized Sears and Roebuck catalogs from the late 1800s.
She got up and began to peruse the shelves. And found some hard copies of the catalogs. She opened the first one and began to flip through the pages. It was remarkably well preserved. From March 1901. The catalog had everything. It boasted the latest in home conveniences, ads for electric lights and indoor plumbing apparatus. Victrolas. Stereoscopes. Clothing, fabric. Even houses. It made her smile. This sort of remote shopping that was so popular now was nothing new.
Her stomach didn’t growl until five o’clock. She hadn’t realized that she’d been sitting here that long. Hadn’t realized that she’d gotten so lost in looking at everything. But she’d always been like that.
She went over to the files. There were police records. Stretching back to the 1860s. And newer...
She found the bundle that was labeled December 2000.
She grabbed hold of that file, and then the one for January 2001.
She’d never had a look at actual police reports from either Caitlin’s disappearance or her appearance. And it made her feel... Like she was being slightly nosy when it came to digging into Caitlin, because of Dana, but...
She was curious.
Emerging from the room and out into the hallway startled her. Because she hadn’t realized how dim it was in there. But there was only one window for the whole large room, and as a result the large windows that lined the hall made her feel like a bemused bat emerging from a cave before its time. She nearly ran into Dana, who was halfway up the stairs when she was going down. “I was just coming to get you. I’m ready to leave and lock up. I won’t have a copy of keys for you until Monday.”
“That’s okay,” she said, feeling slightly edgy and a bit like she’d been caught, even though she was allowed to look at whatever she wanted. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
Dana always pushed off overly friendly gestures, but Ruby had always wondered if she secretly liked them.
“I know. You’re always telling me what I don’thaveto do, Dana. I don’t listen—you know that.”
“Your sister listens,” Dana said.
“Dahlia is a fake rebel.”
“I like her.”
That was exceedingly high praise coming from Dana.
Ruby and Dana walked out the front door, and Ruby paused for a moment to take in the golden evening. The sun was beginning to lower, but the air still had that rich cast to it. There was something about October. It was particularly beautiful here. She’d always thought so.
A crisp breeze blew up, and she held the strap of her bag more tightly, lowering her head, her hair blowing in the wind.
As they made their way down the street, no one stopped to chat. A few people waved at Ruby, but several people looked away quickly and acted like they didn’t see them. Ruby had never been quite so conscious of how different it was than when she walked alone—or with one of her sisters or a friend.
“I saw Heath earlier,” Ruby said, determined to push past the odd sensation inside her. “You remember Heath? He was my... I dated him in high school.”
“Yes,” Dana said. “Floppy-haired boy. He used to hang around waiting for you to be finished with your shift.”
“Yes. That is him. Floppy hair and all.” She cleared her throat. “He called me the town mascot.”
Dana did something totally unexpected then. She laughed. Rusty and in the back of her throat, like it wasn’t a sound she was accustomed to making. “Well, he isn’t wrong.”
“He isn’t?” Ruby asked, feeling betrayed by this.
Dana should have said it was ridiculous and validated her earlier feelings, identified it as stupidity. Silliness.