Tattered Hearts: Mail Order Brides of Spring Water Book One

by Ball, Kathleen

  “I might as well sleep in my own bed.” All she wore was her shift, and she wanted to get to her room before Taggart decided to light a lamp.

  “Fine, but I’ll be right behind you. I have to take off the door. You can’t be trusted.”

  She walked out of the study. Her back hurt with each step, but somehow she managed to make it up the stairs and into her room. She lay in her bed and covered herself as she watched Taggart remove her door. She didn’t care anymore; in fact, that might make it easier to sneak out.

  When he finished, he stared at her. “I bet the Captain had a high old time breaking you in before he left. Must have hurt. There was a lot of blood on the sheets.” He snickered before he left.

  If it was the last thing she did, she’d get revenge and Taggart would be made to suffer. She’d have to sleep in her shift. It was already beginning to stick to her broken skin.

  * * *

  Six weeks after leaving his new wife asleep in their marriage bed, Parker had finally inspected his entire ranch and made it to town where he would finish up with some business. He was just leaving his lawyer’s office with maps and titles to all of his holdings. No one was going to take his land. They’d found a homesteader building a house on his property. The homesteader hadn’t bothered to make a claim or pay for the land.

  Parker had a few of his men disassemble the house. He’d given the man one week to get off his land. He left two of his men there to make sure it got done. Parker had thought that when the war was over there wouldn’t be a need always have a gun strapped on but it was a necessity.

  “Mr. Eastman! Yoo hoo, Mr. Eastman, I have to talk to you!” A stout woman in her thirties came running down the boardwalk. As she got closer, he recognized her as Mrs. Bowman. She’d tried to help with his mother, but it hadn’t worked out.

  He nodded his head. “Mrs. Bowman, slow down. What can I do for you?”

  Her breathing was labored and she put a hand to her chest. “You’re needed at home. A man named Mr. Stookey is dead, and your poor wife has fallen ill.”

  Fear clutched him. “What? Wait, slow down.”

  “Mr. Stookey’s body was found in a ravine, and someone remembered he’d been under your command in the war. How they figured out it was him, I’ll never know. The Commander here took his Union troops out to your place, and found your wife in bed burning up with fever. He sent a doctor out. I haven’t heard anything else.”

  He reached out and gave her arm a quick squeeze. “Thank you.” He raced through the street to his horse, yelling for his men to follow him.

  Stookey dead? Were Taggart and his mother sick too? Stookey had always been a bit shy but he’d been a good soldier. And Taggart had proven his loyalty again and again.

  “What’s up?” Maxwell asked as he caught up to Parker.

  “Stookey is dead and Georgie is sick. I hope she’s still alive when I get there.”

  “What about your mother and Taggart?”

  Parker shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  It was one of the longest rides of his life. He prayed the whole way. Georgie couldn’t die.

  Finally, the house was in view. Parker barely slowed his horse before he jumped down and ran into the house. He was stunned that his mother and Taggart sat in the dining room eating.

  “Where is she?” he demanded.

  “Before you go up to her, you need to know she’s prone to making up stories—” Taggart started to get to his feet, but Parker pinned him down with a harsh glare.

  He took the steps two at a time and the smell coming from her room was nauseating. He expected to find her dead body, but she was alive. She looked so very tiny in the bed. He rushed to her side and was shocked at how sunken her eyes were.

  “Georgie?”

  Her eyes flickered open for a moment, and they seemed unusually bright. “My name is Georgia. Please I can’t afford to get into more trouble.” Her eyes closed and her head rolled to the side.

  Parker touched her forehead and sure enough, she was burning up. He looked around for water and a cloth but they weren’t there.

  “Maxwell!” Parker called when he heard the sound of Maxwell’s boots coming up the steps. “I need a pail of cold water and as many cloths and towels as you can find. She’s burning up.”

  Parker pulled back the sheets on the bed and found them to be soiled. He seethed. There seemed to be blood too. He cut off her chemise and cursed. The whip marks were numerous and they crisscrossed from her neck down. He ached for her. He went to lift her but the soiled sheet stuck to her body. How? Why? He covered her with a clean sheet he found in the wardrobe.

  “Got what you need. Here you go…” Maxwell’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes filled with despair.

  Parker took the bucket and put it on the table next to the bed and wet a cloth. He wiped her forehead, but she didn’t respond.

  “First we have to get her cleaned up.” He shot a meaningful look at the other man. “Never tell her you saw her without clothes on.”

  “I promise,” Maxwell vowed.

  Parker kept her as covered as he could while he showed Maxwell the sheet. “We’ll have to wet the sheet and hope it doesn’t hurt too much as we peel it away from her skin.” Parker swallowed hard. He was going to kill Taggart.

  Together they wet the sheet and peeled as gently as they could. She cried out, but her eyes didn’t open. Both men had tears in their eyes as they worked.

  Parker opened the window and threw the chemise, dirty sheet, and used cloths out the window. The he turned her onto her stomach and cleaned her the best he could.

  “I’ll get the salve I have in my saddlebag,” Maxwell said as he hurried from the room.

  Parker continued to wash her down as gently as he could. The slashes from the whip were angry and red, and some had become festered; they went all the way to her knees. He put the clean sheet over her for a moment and kissed her temple. “I’m so sorry, Georgie. How could they have done this to you?”

  She opened her eyes. “I fought with everything I had, but I didn’t win.” Tears seeped down her face. “It started the day you left and only got worse. I can’t bear the pain. Please no more pain.”

  His heart ached. “I’ll find something to help with it.”

  “The doc gave them laudanum, but they wouldn’t give it to me.” Her voice was barely audible.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Parker ran down the steps intent on beating Taggart, but only his mother was sitting at the table. “Where’s Taggart?”

  “He said he had somewhere to be.” She seemed unconcerned.

  “Where is the medicine the doctor gave her?” Parker thought he’d snap.

  “Why, it’s on the kitchen counter, dear.”

  He glared at his mother and hurried into the kitchen. He grabbed the full bottle, a spoon, and filled a glass with water.

  “Are you going to give that to her? What about the baby? It can’t be good for the baby.”

  God, I need your help. He went back upstairs. He stood at the door for a moment. She hadn’t looked the least bit pregnant. But he’d have to ask before he gave her the medicine.

  Maxwell was slathering the salve on her back and legs. When Parker put the medicine, water, and spoon on the table, Maxwell handed him the jar. “Here, you do the rest. It isn’t right for me to touch her that way.”

  Parker nodded and took the salve. Maxwell went to the window and stared out. Parker rubbed the salve on Georgie, and he wasn’t sure if he would have survived such a beating. She hardly cried out. He finished, and it was time to ask her.

  He covered her with the sheet again and the knelt on the floor so he could see her eyes. “Georgie, I have to ask you something. Are you pregnant?”

  Her wails of grief tore through him. He wished he could take her into his arms but he’d only end up hurting her. She sobbed so hard he was afraid she’d make herself sicker.

  “Please, I need to know before I give you the medicine.” He str
oked her hair and then her cheek.

  “There’s no need for you to worry about another mouth to feed. I barely knew I was with child before it was beaten out of me. There isn’t a baby anymore.” Her voice shook with despair.

  Parker glanced at Maxwell and saw anger on the other man’s face. “Find Taggart. No not you, I need you with me. Send four of the men, and I want him alive.”

  He didn’t even hear Maxwell leave. He was too focused on his wife. “I’m going to need you to hold up your head so I can give you the laudanum, my love.”

  She stiffened when he said “my love,” and he could only guess what those two monsters had told her.

  He poured the medicine onto the spoon and carefully put it in Georgie’s mouth. He followed it with a few sips of water.

  “I’m going to move you to my room. The room you should have been in from day one. It’s going to hurt a bit, but it’s clean and it has a door.” He sure as heck was going to find out why the door was gone.

  Gently, he lifted her. She weighed hardly anything, and when he looked, he could see her ribs. He wouldn’t blame her if she hated him. He carried her across the hall and set her on the big, clean bed in his room. He used more of the cool water and a clean cloth to try to keep her fever down. Guilt ate at him. He should have guessed that this would have happened. He’d known his mother was mad, but he hadn’t realized she would go this far. And now they had killed his child, their child, and they’d almost killed his wife.

  He strode to his window overlooking the front of the property, opened it, and shouted for someone to go and get the doctor. Two of his cowboys instantly mounted up and headed for town. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted his wife in peaceful slumber and sighed. Next he took off his boots and lay on the bed beside her, being careful not to touch her.

  He was the protector, and he had failed to protect what was most precious to him. He hadn’t been too keen on having to marry her, but he had missed her terribly while he was gone. His eyes misted. They would have had a child if not for his inept decision to leave her with his mother. He’d just been so hopeful they would get along, that Georgie would be able to reach his mother in her madness and bring back the woman she had once been. Had the babe been a boy or a girl? They probably didn’t know. She had lost it—no it had been murdered—early in the pregnancy. Would there be other children?

  Georgie whimpered in her sleep, and he stroked her hair and the side of her face. That calmed her. It was going to take a long while to get her trust back. She hadn’t given it lightly the first time. Hopefully, there was still a chance for them.

  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

  He remembered that passage from the bible and it was fitting. With God’s help, he’d be able to comfort Georgie. Parker’s heart felt lighter and a sense of peace washed over him.

  * * *

  Georgie opened her eyes and cautiously peered at her surroundings. She was in Parker’s room. He must have come home. For some reason, she’d thought it a dream. Bless him, he must have bathed her. She had a soft nightgown on. The pain was so bad she wanted to weep, but she wouldn’t just in case Parker had left. Taggart couldn’t abide tears, and his reaction to them was to use the crop on her. There wasn’t a spot on her back that didn’t sear with pain. She could only imagine what it must look like.

  Did Parker know about the baby? Her heart squeezed, and as hard as she tried not to, tears trailed down her face, making her pillow wet. She’d had such high hopes for a life here with Parker, but it wasn’t to be.

  She heard two sets of boots on the stairs and tensed, only making her agony worse. She turned her head, though she didn’t truly want to know who was coming in the door. It didn’t matter. In fact, nothing mattered except getting strong enough to leave.

  When the doctor came into view, she cringed. He’d been summoned when she’d started losing the baby. He hadn’t been any help, and he obviously hadn’t reported what was happening to the sheriff. All he’d said was there was always next time. She hadn’t wanted to hear about next time. She wanted to grieve the baby she’d just lost.

  He reached out and touched her forehead, and she turned her head away from him. She found herself looking right into Parker’s eyes. The sorrow she saw reflected her own suffering. Maybe he understood her grief. She wanted to turn away from him but she couldn’t look at the doctor. She just couldn’t.

  “What do you think, Doc? Has her fever gone down?” Parker sounded hopeful.

  “You and your friend, stripping her down and washing her with cold water must have helped.”

  “You’re not leaving are you? You haven’t checked her back, and what about her, er, where babies come out? I don’t want any infections setting in. She’d been lying in filth for days. There was still blood on the sheet from the miscarriage.”

  “I blame your man and your mother. I gave them strict instructions to keep her wounds clean. Now, looking at her, she could use some water. If she can keep it down, give her tea and broth. Start slow. I don’t know when she last ate. Has she always been this thin?”

  “If you’ll step outside, I’ll take her gown off so you can examine her back.”

  She heard the door close. “Please, Parker, the pain is too much to bear.”

  “I know, love. I’ve got your laudanum right here.”

  She watched as he poured some of the liquid onto the spoon and helped her to get her head up far enough so as not to spill it. He also had her sip some water afterward. He then carefully took her gown off. She bit her bottom lip hard to keep from screaming.

  “That doctor is useless. He saw the conditions I was being kept in and never said a word. He could have alerted the sheriff, but he didn’t.” She shifted and hissed through her teeth as the throbbing sting increased. “He didn’t put anything on my back. I’m not sure if he even looked at it. He just made sure everything about the baby came out of my body. It was humiliating to have everyone watching.”

  Parker closed his eyes and winced. Then he opened his eyes and they were full of anger. “Let’s just have him look at your back. Then I’m going to pull him out of the house by his ear. I know a woman I can ask to come and make sure the other part of you is fine.”

  She should be grateful, but why hadn’t he used such care when he’d left Taggart behind to watch over her? And Parker’s mother needed to be locked away, but he’d left without so much as a warning regarding how mentally damaged she was. He was her husband, but Georgie couldn’t help the rage building inside of her.

  Parker opened the door and let the doctor in. She just closed her eyes and tried to think of something pleasant but not much came to mind. When she’d discovered she was having a baby that had been the best day. She’d found hope. But now here she was. All of her joy had been cruelly taken from her.

  Hasten, O God, to save me; come quickly, LORD, to help me. She repeated those words over and over in her mind. It was the only way she obtained peace.

  The laudanum and her prayers calmed her, and she jumped when Parker shoved the doctor out of the room and slammed the door while the doctor was still sputtering excuses.

  “He didn’t think any of the stitches were necessary.”

  “Stitches? I don’t have stitches.”

  He sat on the bed next to her. “A few of your lashes were rather deep so I cleaned them and then stitched them. You were sleeping.”

  “I trust your judgement more than the doctor’s. Most of the pain has faded away for a while. I keep asking myself what crime I committed to deserve what happened to me. The worst part was losing the baby. I took their punishments, but while I was lying in pain, I’d think about how happy you’d be when I told you. I’m so sad about it, and I can’t seem to shake it. No more babies.”

  Parker lay on the bed so they were eye to eye. “Is th
at what the doctor said? Are you unable now? I’ll get Mrs. Hanks here this afternoon to make sure you’re all right.”

  “No, the doctor didn’t say I couldn’t. I just can’t go through that again.”

  He took her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. “Next time will be different.”

  “I’m not sure it will be. It came to be that it didn’t matter if I broke some nonsensible rule or not. I still got whipped. I’m a nervous wreck.”

  “I wish I had done things differently. I am so sorry, Georgie.”

  She didn’t know what to say so she was silent. He kissed her cheek. “I’m going to send for Mrs. Hanks. She’s a midwife. I’ll be right back.”

  She tried to give him a small smile. She tried hard, but it wouldn’t come. She closed her eyes, the medicine made her so sleepy.

  At the sound of voices, Georgie opened her eyes. Her eyes widened, and she closed her legs. “What are you doing?” Her voice trembled and her body began to shake.

  Parker came to her side. “Mrs. Hanks was examining you.”

  Georgie peered down to the end of the bed and saw a kindly looking woman with white hair and a youthful spark in her brown eyes. “What do you think, Mrs. Hanks?”

  Mrs. Hanks set Georgie’s nightgown to rights and pulled the sheet up to her neck again. Then she put her hand on Georgie’s forehead and smiled. “You’ll be fine. Let’s get you turned over. You must be in pain lying on your back. Would you mind awfully if we took your gown off. The air will help you to heal better.”

  Georgie turned toward Parker. She still felt a bit confused from the medicine. “What do you think?”

  “I think we should do what Mrs. Hanks suggests. I’ll be the only one in and out of this room. No one will see you.”

  She nodded and allowed them both to slip the gown off her back.

  “Did the doctor give you anything to put on your back?” Mrs. Hanks asked her. Georgie liked that Parker wasn’t the one she asked.

  “No, he’s not much of a doctor. At first we put some salve on it, but I think it’s all gone.”