Brave Beginnings (32 page)

“Can a vice president of a bank be that
powerful?” Conrad asked.

“He can,” Erin replied. “And he is. He’s even
more so now that he’s the president. He got promoted a week
ago.”

“But he isn’t working at the only bank in
town.”

“He doesn’t need to be. He owns shares in
some of the more notable businesses, and you know what men will do
to keep their money.” Erin let out a long sigh and shook her head.
“It’s such a shame too. I remember him when he was just a boy. He
was always polite and quiet. He never gave his mother any problems
and sang in the church choir. I don’t understand where he went
wrong.”

“I think it was all a front,” Julia said. “We
never knew the real Ernest. We only knew the Ernest he wanted us to
see.” She shivered. One thing she could do without was seeing the
real Ernest. It was best if he kept his façade going, at least
around her.

Chogan gave her hand a light squeeze, and she
silently thanked the Lord, once again, that she married him instead
of Ernest.

Conrad leaned forward. “So when Julia said
no, he left for Fargo?”

Erin nodded. “He had a job at a bank there
and thought it was too good of an offer to pass up. His parents
were so proud. They still are. He’s exceeded their
expectations.”

“Are you close to his parents?”

Julia frowned, suddenly wondering why Conrad
cared so much about Ernest, but her aunt was more than happy to
answer any and all questions anyone ever asked her. This time was
no exception.

“We know each other fairly well, I suppose,”
Erin said. “We’ve had supper together a couple of times. Well, that
is until Julia refused his proposal a second time.”

“He didn’t propose again,” Julia told her.
“He asked to court me, and I said no.”

“But he wanted to marry you. He’s wanted to
marry you since you were children,” Erin said. “You just didn’t see
how much he wanted that.”

Rolling her eyes, Julia replied, “It wasn’t
meant to happen.”

“I know. But it still hurt him.”

“Why should we care if it hurt him? Look at
how he turned out, and his parents are blind to it!”

“Julia, you can’t blame his parents. Parents
want to see the best in their children. They don’t want to think
their children would do anything wrong.”

Conrad cleared his throat. “So you still
converse with his parents?”

Erin sighed. “No. They blame Julia for
breaking his heart, and they blame me since I let her marry Chogan.
They refuse to talk to me, which is just as well. I don’t need to
talk to the likes of them if they’re going to let a simple
heartbreak get in the way of our friendship. I don’t see what
Ernest and Julia have to do with us getting along, but it is what
it is.”

“They coddled him all of his life,” Julia
said, aware she was getting upset. “No wonder he thinks everyone is
here to do his bidding. You don’t need to be friends with people
who let their son dictate what they do.”

“So,” Conrad began, “would you say Ernest is
controlling?”

“That’s exactly what he is,” Julia
replied.

“And clever,” Chogan spoke up, surprising her
since he’d remained silent for as long as he had.

Conrad looked at him. “How so?”

“He confronted me a couple of times in
public. He was able to word things in a way so that he was the
victim. He’s no better than a rattler. He makes a lot of noise and
you can’t tell when he’ll strike, but when he does, he aims to
destroy.”

“But he failed,” Julia said, tightening her
hold on Chogan’s hand. “He didn’t destroy us.”

“Us?” Conrad asked.

“The only reason he came after Chogan with
the vehemence he did was because of me,” Julia replied, her voice
rising despite her effort to keep calm. “He kept expecting me to
leave Chogan, and when I didn’t, he made life so miserable for us
here in Bismarck, we had to leave. I can’t stand him! What kind of
man wants to ruin a marriage?”

Erin leaned forward and patted Julia’s arm.
“Honey, calm down. Ernest is no longer in your life. You’re happy
at the tribe, aren’t you?”

Julia blinked back her tears and nodded.
“Yes. They’re nice to Chogan and me.”

“And you’ve been hunting,” Erin added. “You
wrote about how much you’ve been enjoying that.”

“Yes. Yes, you’re right. I don’t regret
leaving Bismarck, but what irks me is that Ernest got what he
wanted. He wanted to get rid of Chogan and it worked.”

“But he didn’t get you.”

Releasing her breath, Julia felt her face
cool as the anger raging through her moments before subsided. “No,
he didn’t. And he never will.”

“The important thing is that you and Chogan
are together. You pressed through that rough patch.”

Julia nodded again.

Erin let out a relieved laugh and turned to
Millicent. “The secret to a good marriage is sticking together. You
and Conrad will be a team. Don’t let anyone come between you.”

Her eyes wide, Millicent jerked and faced
Erin. “Oh! Of course not.”

“So, I’ll get another fresh pot of coffee and
you can tell us more about your upcoming wedding,” Erin suggested.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”

Erin stood up and took the old pot. On her
way to the kitchen, she touched Julia’s shoulder, sending a silent
message that she loved her and understood her frustration. Julia
took a deep breath and looked at Chogan whose gaze sent a
reassuring message that even though what happened to him hadn’t
been fair, he was no worse off for it. She wished she could let it
go as easily as Chogan and Erin did, but sometimes, when she
thought about the grief Ernest had put them through, she wondered
if she could ever forgive him.

Of course, I can forgive him. I just need
time. It’s not going to happen overnight.
Reassured by the
reminder, she returned her attention to her pie.

Erin came back out with a fresh pot of
coffee, and Millicent picked up on the topic of her wedding. After
awhile, Julia was able to enjoy the evening again.

***

The next day as Conrad walked to his
brother’s house, he slowed his steps as Ernest’s house came into
view. The information he gathered from Julia and her aunt during
the supper had been the biggest break he’d gotten in this case
since he was assigned to watching Ernest.

The evidence has to be in that house.
There was nowhere else it could be. He and his partner had looked
everywhere else.

He glanced both ways before he crossed the
street. If he could get to the bottom of this, then he could
finally set this case to rest and the world would be better off
without the likes of Ernest Freeman on the loose. If people had any
idea who they were dealing with…

But they didn’t. Nor could he afford to tell
them. This case was far too important to arouse Ernest’s
suspicions. If Ernest had any idea that he was being watched, he’d
most likely slip out of town.

Julia was afraid of Ernest. Conrad saw it in
her eyes and the way she tensed at the mention of his name. Though
she did a remarkable job of hiding that fear from those who didn’t
know better, Conrad was trained to detect subtle cues when he
talked to people who were pertinent to whatever case he was working
on.

Conrad approached Ernest’s quaint two-story
home and glanced around. Ernest was at the bank, so there was no
reason he’d show up. For the moment, no one was outside watching
him on the quiet street. That wouldn’t last long, but it gave him a
moment to walk up to the porch and peer into the window. The parlor
was clean and neat, as much as he expected it to be from the way
Ernest’s house in Fargo had been.

What he needed, more than anything else, was
a way in. So far, Ernest did nothing to give Conrad the opportunity
to ask for a search warrant. He stepped back from the window and
tapped his foot on the porch. The evidence had to be inside this
house, and he owed it to Frank Jamison to find it. Then Frank could
put the tragedy to rest.

But how was Conrad going to get in? He sighed
and shoved his hands into his pocket before he turned from the
house and walked back down the porch, just in time for a woman
across the street to emerge from her house with a rambunctious
child who darted to the ball in the front yard.

Conrad headed down the street. He’d find a
way into that house if it was the last thing he did. One way or
another, he’d put this case to rest.

~~********~~

Citlali tried to ignore Sarita as he passed
by her on his way to the chief’s lodge, but she caught up to him
before he made it. He already knew what she wanted. She’d been
after him about it for the past three years, and since the chief
thought it was a good idea for Chogan to marry again in hopes of
increasing the number of Mandan children, Citlali went ahead and
arranged to speak to Chogan on her behalf. If there was something
he couldn’t afford to do, it was displease the chief.

He reluctantly turned to face her, keeping
his expression neutral so she wouldn’t detect his irritation.
“Sarita.”

Sarita crossed her arms and glared at him.
“How dare you tell Mankato I will marry him!”

“I didn’t tell him you’d marry him. I
discussed possible marital arrangements—”

“No! I will not marry him. Ever since I
turned fifteen, I’ve wanted to marry Chogan. I don’t want another
husband.”

“Chogan is much older than you. You might do
better with someone closer to your age. Mankato is twenty.”

“As are you,” she pointed out.

He resisted the urge to balk at the thought
of tying himself to her. If she found a way to grate on his nerves
for the past three years about marrying Chogan, then he could only
imagine what a lifetime to her would be like. He was relieved when
the chief finally relented on pairing her up with Mankato instead
of Chogan, but now he was dealing with other problems.

“Tell the chief I will not marry anyone but
Chogan,” she insisted.

“Chogan will not agree to it.”

“Make him!”

Taking a deep breath, he tried to determine
the best way to respond. “I can’t make Chogan do it. He must agree
to it.” Citlali recalled the physical strength Chogan used to make
it clear to him that he wouldn’t take a wife besides Julia. There
was no way he cared to repeat that confrontation. “Chogan is happy
with one wife. Leave him be.”

“But he can have more than one wife.”

“You will never be the one he loves
most.”

“He will in time. He doesn’t know me well
enough.”

Citlali slowly exhaled and stared ahead to
stay calm. Just because he was losing his patience, it didn’t mean
he had to show it. “Sarita, Mankato is a good hunter. He did well
on last year’s buffalo hunt. He is preparing an abundance of gifts
for when he asks to marry you. He is an honorable man and will make
a good provider. You can be happy with him.”

Sarita growled and stomped her foot. “No!
He’s all wrong for me.”

“Give him a chance.”

“I’ve loved Chogan since I was a girl. I will
not give up now.”

He studied her expression, noting her hard
look and the thin line of her lips. There was no reasoning with her
any more than he could reason with the chief. Both had him trapped
between a rock and a hard place. He drew in a deep breath, choosing
his words carefully. “It is not wise to embrace the past. You will
do well to seek happiness where you can find it.”

“I will find it,” she snapped. “I see that
you will not help me anymore. Your sole obligation is to yourself.
As long as you’re content, what do you care? But I won’t let
someone separate me from the man I love.”

“Then you will wait a long time. Julia is not
sickly like his first wife. She is a survivor.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You would pay a white
woman a compliment? After all the grief the white people have given
us?”

“Do not judge a person’s character by the
color of their skin, Sarita.”

“Will the chief approve of what you just
said?”

“The chief understands some white people do
us good. Gary has—”

“I don’t care what that one has done for our
tribe, and you of all people should be furious that he’s esteemed
so well. Maybe you don’t mind him marrying Woape when she was
promised to you, but I certainly mind when Julia took my place. I
was promised to Chogan before he married her.”

“No. You were not promised. We discussed the
possibility.”

“I’ve heard enough! Talking to you is
pointless. People are right. You do annoy everyone.”

He gritted his teeth, unwilling to show her
how her words affected him as she stormed off. Of course, he knew
what people thought of him. He wasn’t stupid, but the way she’d
said it, as if he wasn’t smart enough to figure it out…
Never
mind. I have more important things to do.
Straightening his
back, he continued on his way to the chief’s lodge.

***

Chogan stood by the front door and set the
carpet bag down while Julia hugged her aunt.

“I wish you’d already sold this house so you
could come with us,” Julia said, holding onto Erin’s hands.

“These things take time,” her aunt replied.
“I’ll be with you soon enough.”

“And you’ll stay in the lodge that Chogan and
I are in, won’t you?”

She laughed. “I already said I would. Julia,
I may love your brother, but I think of him as a son. You’re more
than a daughter to me. You are my dearest friend.”

“You’re mine too.” Julia hugged her
again.

Chogan hoped her aunt would be moving soon
because even though he liked seeing Julia happy, the constant
hugging and crying between the two women was too much to bear. They
never did this all the time when he and Julia lived in Bismarck. He
figured when Erin lived at the tribe, they would go back to how
they used to be, and he could deal with that just fine.