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off the box. Pressing close to her sister, she whispered, “Pa said a few spoonfuls of this would settle a man into the arms of Orpheus.”
    “Morpheus,” Beth corrected softly. “Orpheus charmed wild beasts with his music. Morpheus made people sleep and dream.”
    “Well, we want to charm a wild beast and make him sleep.”
    Beth laughed. “That we do.” She took the bottle and poured a liberal dose into a fresh cup. “If a couple of teaspoons is good, a couple more ought to be great.”
    “Just don’t kill him,” Lacy whispered. “I don’t want to have to explain that to Dave Shepard and the sheriff. They’d never understand.”
    Beth nodded. “No, I suppose they wouldn’t.” She put the cup down on the counter. “Mr. Bishop,” she called as she moved into the dining room. “I have a bit of coffee left over if you’d care to finish it.”
    At first it looked like he wouldn’t go for it, but after a moment Hank nodded and handed her his cup. “It is good coffee. Thank you.”
    Beth smiled sweetly even though she felt like tearing the man’s eyes out. “You like two sugars, right?”
    “Yes, and cream, please.”
    “Of course.”
    She hurried into the kitchen and switched out the cup. Pouring the coffee to join the laudanum, she quickly added the sugar and cream. “There. It’s perfect.” She exchanged a glance with Lacy and smiled. “Mother’s milk, as Pa used to say.”
    Beth made her way to where Hank Bishop sat. “Would you care for some more pie to go along with this?”
    “No, I’m quite satisfied with this,” Hank said, taking the coffee. He took a long sip and smiled. “Thank you.”
    Beth smiled again and removed the remaining dishes from the table. “Just let me know if you need anything else.”

    Half an hour later, Lacy wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea to drug Mr. Bishop. “He must weigh two hundred pounds.”
    “It just seems that way,” Beth said as they wrestled Bishop’s sleeping form up the back staircase.
    Thump! Thump! As Lacy pulled Hank up the steps, his backside smacked against the stairs while Beth fought to control his legs.
    “He’s gonna wonder what hit him,” Lacy said, gasping for breath.
    “Let him wonder. Maybe he’ll . . . think twice . . .” Beth strained for air, “before insulting . . . our sister again.”
    “What if Gwen catches us?”
    “I suppose we’ll just try to explain.”
    They heard raucous singing coming from the main staircase as they managed to drag Hank into his room. They’d barely closed the door before several men stumbled up the stairs and made their way to their own rooms.
    Beth leaned hard against the door just in case any of them mistook Bishop’s room for their own. In a few minutes, however, it quieted in the hall, and she felt certain the crisis had been averted.
    “Come on, let’s get him into bed.”
    “I can’t lift him into bed,” Lacy protested. “Let’s just get him a pillow and a blanket and let him sleep on the floor.”
    “That won’t be very comfortable,” Beth said.
    “It’s the best we can do. Come on.” Lacy pulled a pillow off the bed and motioned Beth to take the covers. “He’s gonna wonder what happened to him anyway. Might as well not get ourselves injured in the process. I’m gonna need to soak in the springs tonight, for sure.”
    They quickly tended Hank, tucking him in rather like a mother might a small child. Beth frowned and took up the lamp Lacy had positioned on the nightstand before they’d retrieved Hank’s sleeping form.
    “Let’s get out of here,” Beth said, opening the door, “before someone finds us and wonders what we’re up to.”
    “Someone is already wondering what you’re up to,” Gwen said.

CHAPTER SIX

    Hank awoke slowly, as if from a deep, clouded dream. His mouth tasted awful and had a cottony dryness to it that made him long for a tall, cold drink of water. Yawning, he sat up and winced at the pain in his back. Looking around him, Hank’s