ROMANCE: His Reluctant Heart (Historical Western Victorian Romance) (Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Fantasy Short Stories) (44 page)

              “Exotic? In what way?”

              “She was a traveller in a ‘Wild West’ show for a few years prior to settling down with the Sheriff. That’s where she honed her craft. Though, to be fair, her father and brothers had taught her the skill in Arizona, I am told.”

              “And how would you feel if I were to learn to shoot?”

              He laughed at this. “You have no need for that, I assure you. Any protection you may need, rely upon me.”

              “I see.” I could feel tension rising in my chest. “And business- you expect me to partner with you in this hotel as your wife? I know nothing about hotels, and I feel there is much to learn if I am to run one.”

              He looked uncomfortable with this proposition. “Partner? That is… I will inherit, and naturally a wife’s duties to her husband mean you will share in it. Obviously you will own it. But you don’t need to know anything about running a hotel. What feminine charms and graces you can put to use in the service of the hotel, I should be grateful for, of course, but…”

              “So I am to bow and scrape and smile. Be a pretty face, nothing more.” I think he took heed to the warning in my voice, for he immediately began to stammer.

              “Not entirely! That is, you needn’t put yourself to any rigorous effort to learn my trade, my dear. That’s all I mean. You see, you see… well, you could supervise the maids, of course! There’s always cleaning. Surely, you must know about that.”

              We were at the hotel. I forcefully extricated my hand from his arm and, with a hint of steel to my voice, I proclaimed, “Good night, Mr. Pierce.”

              “I- yes, good night.” He sounded quite small, no taller than a dog, which I will say is roughly how I viewed him.

              The next morning before breakfast, sitting as I was doing my correspondence, I began to find cause for reproach with myself. I had asked him questions. Had I stated my desires? If I wanted to take a more active role in managing a hotel, it would seem logical that I would state categorically where my interests lay. I was vowing just to myself to do just that and was about to finish my overdue letter to Anna Belle when I smelled smoke on the air.

              The smell and the sound of wild whooping and shouting corresponded one with one the other. I had been sitting at a small nook of the hotel lobby where a pleasant little table made a good writing desk. But as I stood up sniffing the air, Elias looked up from his book behind the counter. “What is that?” He asked. We had been very stiff with one another, and this was our first real conversation of the day. He was just about to finish his long night’s shift.

              I went to open the door, and only a moment later, the window near my desk shattered as something was thrown in. I quickly spied that it was a branch, and at one end was a flame. The thing struck the desk, bounced off, and lit the rug on fire.

              Elias was a marvel to witness. He placed both hands on the counter, vaulted over it, and snatched up the branch. With a great heave, he threw it back out of the shattered window.

              I hadn’t any time to register what was happening, but I could see from the doorway that there were men on horseback shouting and shooting in the street. An unfortunate who crossed their path was gunned down mere steps from the entrance to the hotel. I screamed at the sight.

              Elias was struggling to put out the fire with boot and coat, but then we heard another crash from an adjacent room. I rushed in that direction only to find that our customer dining room, where several guests were taking their bacon, eggs, and coffee, was the victim of an attack as well. The great curtains were already in flames, and the fire raced across the ceiling.

              “Everyone leave, this instant!” I shouted. The clientele were obliged to do so, but I stopped them with upraised hands. “Not out of the front! The back. There are gunmen!” It was fortunate there were only three guests, as they were able to do as I suggested quickly enough, exiting through the kitchen.

              I went back to the lobby, finding the fire had been extinguished, and waited for my chance to escape. The men moved away soon after, so I ventured out. From behind me, I heard a rush of feet. Elias had gathered the remaining guests from the upstairs, and they were all rushing out in a tumult.

              “What was that?” I cried out to Elias as we saw the group retreating. All about us were bodies and burning buildings, including our own hotel.

              “Charles Gang!” He shouted back. We all of us tried to put together a water brigade and set about rescuing the Chase Hotel.

---

              You have never seen so dejected a body of people as the people of Chase after the great Charles Gang Raid.

              It had all gone wrong with an attempted bank robbery. A group of a dozen or so gang members were confronted by the Sheriff and his deputy as they tried to flee. For their thanks, the two men were killed. They managed, however, to kill Ike Charles, leader of the gang. Worse for them, they hadn’t managed to steal hardly a dime; the bank had sent funds ahead just the day before, and the people of Chase found their money was safe in Sacramento. That set the surviving robbers into an orgy of killing and revenge-seeking. They’d lit the town on fire, and in the process killed five people, including poor innocent Cassie Brown of the sewing circle. They’d burned down the town’s only store, one of its two churches, and a saloon.

              They’d also mostly destroyed the Chase Hotel.

              Uncle Cyril was beside himself with grief at the destruction of his grand old building. His brothers tried to console him, but he wept openly as a man would the loss of a child. “We did nothing to them! Why take it out on us?” He cried out.

              “Because men like that take and don’t care who they take from.” Elias had replied grimly. I’d noticed a hardened edge to him over the matter, the mood of a man who was both angry and determined to see things set right. He’d been so easy-going and almost careless in his concerns in the weeks before, this new attitude, given the circumstances, held some appeal for me.

              I was fortunate. While much of the hotel had been destroyed, some rooms managed to survive unscathed. My room, though only accessible by a ladder from the outside, was untouched, and so my belongings were retrieved. I was to stay in a boarding house for the time being. But the grand old building was lost.

              When we were alone together later on, I walked with Elias to the river. It had become my favored place to go to with him, to watch the water roll by while we conversed and grew to know one another’s hearts.

              “What will you do now?” I asked Elias. He and I had spent much of the day doing what we could to help the town by putting out fires and trying to find places for the hotel guests to stay the night.

              “One of the first things I plan to do is offer my condolences to Jody McCormack.” He said, sternly. “Then I’m going to offer to be her deputy.”

              I was surprised by this. “Deputy? Not the sheriff?”

              “No. She’s the best shot in town, and it’s her husband. It’s true, it’s the sort of job a man would usually take. But I think she’ll refuse. You didn’t see her today; I did. Not a tear came to her eye. She’s of a mind for revenge against that gang and, well, I would like to see justice done as well.”

              “I’ll support you in it.” I offered cautiously. “Now, if you’re of such a broad mind about that, I would ask you to support me in my thought as well.”

              He nodded. “Whatever it is, you have my pure resolve to see you through in it.”

              “Good.” I smiled. “Hope you’re in as much of a mood to build as you are to shoot down bad men.”

---

              “I declare that I haven’t seen you so industrious in ten years, Cyril!” Josiah yelled up to the aging man as he balanced precariously on a ladder. He was hammering in nails to the sideboard of my new store, built on the ashes of the ruined hotel as its foundation. Brother Wilbur was standing on the finished second floor, holding up the board for him.

              “What would you know of industry, Josiah? All you do is cut hair!” The man yelled down, looking cheerful as he did so.

              “And pull teeth!” His brother corrected, holding the ladder.

              “Yes, and that. I could yank a man’s tooth out clean as you like. It’s no art. Blast! Now you’ve made me bend a nail.”

              I chuckled to myself, watching the trio work. Even as old age was descending on them, it was pleasant to see them tease one another as boys would.

              Elias had been gone for three days. He, Jody, and a small group of townspeople who’d been quickly deputized as a posse, had been following a lead on the whereabouts of the Charles Gang. Once merely a nuisance to the area, it had been definitely decided to see to it they were laid to rest or brought to justice, once and for all.

              On the homefront, the town was in the throes of rebuilding since the earlier attack. A month had gone by, and we were all ready to see our livelihoods and normalcy re-established. I had my small funds to draw from, while Elias had chosen to use his life savings to help me in the building of my own dream; a dry goods store.

              “I want to call it Wilson’s. That was the name of my father’s store, and though I’ll take your last name in a week, Elias Pierce, I want to honor his memory and start something in my own name.”

              “Agreed.” He’d told me as we held hands after church the morning before he left with the posse. “Though, I will enjoy being your lesser partner in the store. I’m only a simple deputy now, you see.”

              “Ah, but you’ll have family involved besides me, you see.” It had been agreed that Uncle Cyril would be offered the chance to work in the store. Though I would spend some time behind the counter, it was my intent to focus upon the finances and the running of the business as much as possible.

              “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He’d assured me.

              Before he’d left, Elias had also taken me aside and given me a surprising gift. “Here.” He’d handed me a pistol.

              I blushed to feel its weight in his hands. “What is this?”

              “A gun. If you’re going to live in the West, you should know how to defend yourself.”

              “I couldn’t.” I said, handing it back, but he insisted.

              “I want you to be able to look out for yourself. Jody and I will teach you everything you need to know about it. Might come in handy in that store of yours; you can’t ever tell.”

              I had never fancied such a thing would be a necessity, so it was with great reluctance that I accepted his suggestion. But regardless of his intent, his determination, confidence, and growing support for my dream venture had caused me to reappraise Elias W. Pierce. For when the fire had started, I had been uncertain in my love for him.

              Out of the ashes of Chase, I discovered that my love for Elias rose like a phoenix.

              The downstairs of the store was in full, working order, and I walked in to look it over. Tomorrow, we would open for the first time. The upstairs was to be our living quarters, or would be when Elias and I had married. Though the entire town had pitched in, there was much to do beyond boarding up the simple skeletal framework. There were windows to install, a proper roof to be placed, and interior walls to construct. Still, with the downstairs ready and nearly completely stocked, I was feeling confident about the state of my store. I was even enjoying the look of the drying, plain sign with “Wilson’s Dry Goods” boldly stated over the doorway.

              It was midday and I was about to encourage a break when I saw the dust rising from the road. I grinned. Elias must be returning to bring word of the capture of the desperados. I paused at the doorway, my hand over my eyes, shading them so I could see more clearly.

              There weren’t as many of them this time, but within a certain distance it became clear I was seeing the bandits returning.