ROMANCE: His Reluctant Heart (Historical Western Victorian Romance) (Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Fantasy Short Stories) (46 page)

              “Ah, we’d like to think that as well. But no, I fear they’ll choose another. Young Winslow will have his knee bandaged up, should be fine and dandy, then he’ll be thrown in jail. Personally, I’d like to see him face proper justice, but the crowd most likely will try hang him in the morning unless Garret can talk him out of it. Jim and Garret will likely have to do the honors. Afraid the authorities in our fair little town have been laid to rest for some months. The territory hasn’t seen fit to replace them either. No safety in taking him to the nearest territorial judge either; the gang would likely kill off anyone trying to leave.”

              “Forgive me, Mayor, but if that is your title, I should think you are among the authorities?”

              “Honorary title, my dear. Ah, Letty Holcomb!” He called out to an elderly, woman in an old-fashioned dress stepping out of a shop. “My dear, you are looking positively resplendent this afternoon.”

              “Oh, pish, you old flatterer.” The white-haired lady sighed dismissively. Even so, Annie thought she spied a shadow of a mile. “What do you want to do, bothering me after the fright we’ve all just had?”

              “The day I stop bothering you is the day they bury me up on Boot Heel Cemetery, Madame.”

              “That’ll come soon enough.” She sniffed. “If you didn’t spend half so much time swapping lies and upending the bottle at the Irish Rose as you do writing poetry, the good Lord would see fit to allow you many more years on this green and blessed earth. But now, what’s this? You’re not one of the new dancers at the Rose, I should hope?” She addressed Annie directly, appraising her travel dress. “I should hope you’ve not come here to embark upon a trade of sin!”

              “Nothing of the sort, I assure you ma’am.” Annie gave the woman her name and briefly summed up her situation. “I fear I was taken in by the worst sort of swindler, this Sullivan. However, I intend to make the best of things.”

              “That’s a brave girl.” The woman pronounced, allowing a hint of admiration into her voice. “However, Wide Bend is no place for an unaccompanied young woman. Have you any sort of work?”

              “It was my intent to begin inquiries this afternoon.”

              “And have you any place to stay?”

              “Mr. Beaufort…” she began to explain that the man was going to recommend a place for her, when both of her elders cut her off with a scoff.

              “Is a scalliwag.” Letty let the words drip with scorn as she continued. “Mother Nelson’s Room and Board for Ladies is none of what it says. Janet Nelson is no one’s mother, and no one who stays there is a lady for very long. She’ll rob you blind.”

              “That’s what I was explaining to the young lady!” The Mayor noted, trying to sound helpful.

              “Go on, Tom! But if you did try to warn her away, that was a Christian act.” She came to a decision with a curt nod. “You’ll be my guest tonight and until the next train arrives. I have a lovely spare room open since my son moved to Santa Fe. If you truly mean what you say and intend to stay, we may work out some sort of boarding arrangement, presuming you can find work of an honorable nature. If not, I really do think you would be wise to return to your parents.”

              “They’re dead, ma’am.” She didn’t like lying, but it was only a half lie; mother had been dead six months. Father- well, he may as well be.

              Letty sucked her teeth at this revelation. “Oh, well that is a shame. Alone in the world at such an age! All the same, you must have kin
somewhere
. There are certainly other places an industrious young woman such as yourself can find an agreeable arrangement. However, for now let’s put your worries to rest. Let’s see about your things. Tom, if you think you can make yourself useful for something other than being a receptacle for alcohol, you may as well return with us to the station.”

#

              Once she had settled her bags and trunk into Miss Leticia Holcomb’s small two-story home on the outskirts of town, the three met in her sitting room. Miss Holcomb served a slice of white cake along with tea. Annie ate daintily, trying to mind her manners, while Tom McGrath chomped down big chunks of cake with glee.

              “You must have heard the news, Miss Letty,” Mayor McGrath suggested completely oblivious to the fact he was talking as he ate. “Garret shot down Benji Sullivan not an hour ago, left him for the crows. Ooh, you should have seen it!” He laughed, clearly pleased to have been present.

              “Mr. McGrath, would you care to use your napkin perhaps a bit more? I think there is a veritable snowstorm of crumbs in your beard.” Letty suggested icily. The old man began aggressively flicking pieces of cake off the beard, allowing them to fly anywhere.

              “Now dear,” Letty turned gently in her seat to face Annie. “I am curious about one point you’ve shared with me. You say your beau wrote you and proposed you come to Wide Bend, is that correct?”

              “Indeed ma’am.”

              “Would it be too much of an imposition to see one of these letters?”

              “What?” McGrath suddenly stood, the cake in his lap falling icing first onto Letty Holcomb’s pretty red Persian rug. The man’s face turned bright red.

              “Thomas McGrath, whatever is the matter with you?” Letty cried, then added, “My rug!”

              “Well… now see here, Letty… I’ll…” He slowly got to his knees and started to sweep up the cake remnants back onto his plate.

              Annie sought to diffuse the tension a bit. “Will you allow me to return to my room? I have one I may share with you, if you so wish.”

              “Yes, that’d be fine dear.” Letty continued to scold her old friend- by now she was certain they were friendly, if not friends- while Annie ascended the staircase to her room.

              Annie dug through her things and brought out the most recent letter. As she looked at the kind, sweet words in such deep contrast to the strange, violent man who’d died on the street, she found tears welling up. She had genuinely thought she could build a new life for herself here with the good man she’d swapped letters with. It was all some kind of cruel joke.

              She went downstairs and saw that the catastrophe, such as it was, appeared to have blown over to some extent. Her elders were at the front door and Mayor Tom was scurrying through the motions of leaving. Tom was hurrying to put on his hat and was making his excuses to leave, which Letty was accepting with some degree of suspicion. “You are in a curious, all mighty hurry, Mr. McGrath!” she snapped, as the man dropped his cane by the door. He dropped it when Annie held out the letter.

              Seeing his reaction, Letty snatched the letter from her hand. “It would by my great honor to request your hand in…” she read out loud, then shook with righteous indignation.

              “YOU UNSPEAKABLE SCOUNDRAL!” The woman shouted, then began to bat the man about the arms. Annie intervened, stepping between them and holding up her hands.

              “Heavens! What is all of this?” She asked the older woman. Tom cowered by the door, his arms held up to ward off additional blows.

              “I had the responsibility of educating the youth of this town for many years and Benjamin Sullivan only attended one, mind you, ONE of my classes. The man was illiterate! I at once knew you could not have received a genuine letter from his hand, so I wished to discern who had sent it. And…” she seethed, “now I see why you took such an interest in this poor young woman! Of all the lecherous…”

              “No, no, you don’t understand!” Tom cried out. He heaved a mighty sigh. “I did write it. All right? I’m so very sorry, Annie dear. But I do promise it wasn’t for
me
.”

              Annie was shaking, confused and hurt by the door. What game were these people playing? “I don’t understand. Was it a matter of amusement?”

              “Never! I swear!” The little man drew himself up as best he could. “My intentions were entirely noble.”

              “Impossible. Not if you meant her to wed Benjamin Sullivan.” Letty proclaimed. “How abominably you have used this poor creature.”

              “I, well, I did write as Sullivan, sure. But I was actually hoping you’d meet my grandson and marry
him
instead. Look,” he mopped his brow with his handkerchief.

              Letty boxed his ears again. “You old incorrigible coot!”

              “Let me finish!” He protested. “Look now, you know now how reluctant he’s been to marry. I was going to get to the station and meet Miss Annabelle here, explain that Ben Sullivan was unsuited, and introduce her to my kin. Then I figured nature might take its course. Forgive me, ma’am, I meant no offense at all. Matters just took themselves into hand. I wasn’t expecting Sully himself to show up, guns blazing!”

              Annie shook her head sadly. “I will forgive it, if you will forgive that I am not entirely pleased at this dishonesty. Why not simply have your grandson write for himself? Or if he lacked letters, write on his own behalf?”

              “Well…” he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’m afraid that boy has life all planned out. I keep on him to marry, and he just keeps on saying no. Seems to think he hasn’t the time or inclination to settle down quite yet. It ain’t right, him being such a decent lad and all. Miss Leticia, you’ll back me up on that?”

              She nodded coolly. “Despite the tree from which he’s fallen, the young man is a proper gentleman and would his wife be the envy of any girl in the territory. He’s not unlettered either; one of my better pupils.”

              “There you have it, miss! A better recommendation you’ll never hear.”

She considered. “If that is all so, I suppose it will do no harm to meet the man, at the least to make up my mind for myself.”

              “Oh, but you did meet him!” The Mayor smiled. “Garret McGrath is the talk of the town! Shot down old dirty Sullivan and saved the town from a terrible fate- for now, anyway.”

#

              Garret was, at that moment, following a dry, dusty trail towards what he had long suspected to be the robber hideout. He had little hope of catching them this time, but it was good to get a better sense of where they might have their camp. They’d need a lot more than just the two of them to bring the gang to justice, and he knew it. The trouble had been getting anyone to drop their yellow streak and tag along to form a posse.

              It wasn’t as if he were really the sheriff, any more than his grandfather was the mayor. He didn’t have the authority of the territory. All he had was a right to self-defense, and that was what he was counting on.

              “You get a look at that little girl back in town?” Jim drawled. He had an easy-going way of coming around to making mention of his interests, as though they weren’t really of much interest to him at all. From long experience riding the trails and drinking with his friend, he knew Jim Montgomery’s round-about method of staking a claim on women was either casual or in earnest. Either way he stated it, he wasn’t going to show his hand.

              “Might have. Pretty. So?”

              “I don’t know. Thought I saw you eyeballing her, that’s all.” Jim hinted. “Probably another of them mail-order brides, if I had to suspect, got stood up by her man.”

              “Happening more often than I’d like, I’ll allow. Don’t seem proper to me.”

              “That’s what I say!” Jim heartily agreed. “So- you won’t mind if I come calling on her?”

              “Well, that’s just it, ain’t it? Where you going to call on her?”

              “Ma Nelson’s, I’d reckon.”

              Garret thought about that and chuckled. “Didn’t think of that, but you may well be right. Poor thing. Bugs gonna eat her alive tonight. Nah, I don’t care. Why should I care?”

              His friend shrugged. “Like I say, looked to be eyeballin’ her is all.”

              “Barely noticed her.” He tried to pretend to be nonchalant, but his words sounded flat as he said them. She’d been pretty all right- beautiful, if he were being honest. It was strange how matter-of-fact she’d been around the gunfight. She hadn’t gone into hysterics, nor had she been wailing about the injustice of her position as so many others had done before her. It was a curiosity that she should react as she had, and though he hated to admit it, Garret was intrigued by such curiosities.