Doc Griffin's Christmas Sleigh: A Wyldhaven Series Christmas Romance Novella

by Lynnette Bonner

  Where would he be, this time of morning?

  Chapter 7

  Kin tromped up the Kastain’s kitchen steps and knocked on the door. Belle and Susan were of course in town at the boardinghouse, where they both worked in the kitchen. But Zoe ought to be home with her younger siblings.

  She answered the kitchen door with a towel in her hands and Kin swept off his hat, wishing he’d remembered to do it before she answered. He motioned with it toward the little family huddled in the yard. “Hi, Zoe. These are the Carvers.”

  Zoe’s quick gaze swept over them before she smiled. “Hello.”

  He swallowed. Zoe was quite stunning when her face lit up like that. Her red hair was piled high on her head, but several strands had escaped to tease her face. And her eyes… Had he ever noticed how blue they were before?

  “Kin?” She was frowning at him.

  “Uh yeah.” He cleared his throat and stepped back. “The older brother is down with something serious. They were going into town for Doc when I came across them. I wondered if they could stay in that room at the back of your barn?”

  To Kin’s relief she immediately took charge. “Of course.” She turned to the Carvers with a smile, tossing the towel she’d been holding onto the kitchen sideboard before she stepped out onto the porch. “We’d be happy to have you stay in our barn. I’m so sorry your brother is sick.” Zoe bounded down the steps and reached for the crate Maude was still holding. “Here let me take that from you. Is this your stuff?”

  “Be careful not to tilt that,” Kin rushed to say. With Zoe’s propensity to act first and think later, he didn’t want to end up losing the only part of this morning that might still be salvaged.

  Zoe stilled and met his gaze, then glanced down at the crate with curiosity.

  “Those are some pies I was supposed to be delivering out to the Rodante place on my way to the train station this morning.”

  “Oh. Well, we will get the delivery taken care of for you.” Zoe propped the crate haphazardly against one hip.

  Kin winced, imagining the contents of Mrs. Griffin’s pies sliding right on out of the pie tins.

  But Zoe didn’t seem to notice. She snapped her fingers at her little brother, Aidan, who had appeared in the doorway with the twins behind him. “Aidan you get some kindling chopped and get a fire going in that old wood stove in the room at the back of the barn. Shiloh, go into the house and get a set of sheets and every extra blanket we’ve got. We’ll need to make up the bed in that room. Sharon, here.” She thrust the crate at her younger sister, and Kin was much relieved to see that Sharon handled the cargo with much more care. “You take this down the road to the Rodante place for Kin. Make sure that Mrs. Rodante knows what it is. And make sure you don’t bobble it. We don’t want the pies to get ruined.”

  Kin almost grinned at that instruction.

  Thankful that Zoe was taking over the organization, he realized he’d better hurry to town and fetch Doc. He strode to the travois and leaned down to look at the man lying there. Kane, his sister had said, wasn’t it?

  The man’s eyes opened part way but then he squinted them shut again and lifted a hand against the light as though it hurt his eyes.

  “Hey there,” Kin said. “Name’s Kin Davis. I’m going to help you get inside where we will be able to get you warm. Get you some food. And have a doctor look at you.”

  The man frowned, shaking his head weakly. He moistened his lips. “Seth? Maude?” His voice was a barely audible whisper.

  “They are right here. Just relax,” Kin reassured him. “Do you think you can stand?”

  “Don’t want to be a burden.”

  “Nonsense.” Hands propped on her hips, Zoe leaned over him. “No one is being a burden. Don’t you worry about a thing.” Her gaze lifted to the porch. “Oh good, you’re here with the sheets. Hurry and help me make up the bed while Kin and”—her gaze flitted to the siblings—”Seth was it?”

  The boy nodded.

  Zoe gave a satisfied dip of her chin already shooing Shiloh into the barn. “While Kin and Seth help the patient.”

  Kin slung one of Kane’s arms around his shoulders and Seth did the same on the other side. Kane barely had any strength. They mostly carried him between them, and by the time they got Kane into the back-room Zoe and Shiloh had the bed made.

  Zoe plumped a pillow and laid it at the top of the bed. “There you go. Just rest yourself right here. My brother is getting the fire going. The room will warm up in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, then I’ll bring you some soup.”

  Kin left her there, still chattering, and hurried back to the yard. The sooner Doc saw that man the better. He rushed toward his horse, mindful that he needed to untie the travois, but he paused when he saw Maude still standing in the yard, huddled into her thin sweater.

  He stepped toward her and motioned to the barn with his hat. “Zoe’s got a room all ready for you. Fire going and everything. She said she’ll bring you some food in just a bit.”

  Maude glanced around the place. “We stole from these people.”

  Kin frowned. “That’s…” He was at a loss for words.

  “A rusty bucket and a spade. But we left their nicer pail and newer shovel. We wanted to take a bucket of milk, but they had so little. Just the cow and”—she swept a gesture to the little cabin—“what with the chinking needing so much repair, we figured they might be nearly as bad off as we were.”

  Kin followed her gaze to the cabin. Part of the foundation must have given way at some point, because the back corner of the house was canted at an angle. And Maude was right. Much of the chinking was missing from between the logs. A window that must have gotten broken somehow was boarded up. And several shingles were missing from the roof.

  Maude shrugged, drawing his attention back to her. “They have so little, and yet they’re willing to share? With complete strangers?”

  “That’s just the kind of people they are.”

  “Why?”

  Kin’s feet shuffled. He looked down and worked the toe of his boot into a patch of snow. He knew the answer. Had been forced to sit through enough of PC’s sermons to know what the Good Book said about hospitality and such. “They’re church-going folk.”

  Maude’s brow puckered in curiosity. “Church-going folk?”

  Kin was saved from needing to explain when Zoe rushed up and drew Maude to her side. “That’s right. We are. And the Good Book tells us that when we entertain strangers, we might be entertaining angels.” She giggled as she skillfully turned Maude toward the barn. “You aren’t an angel, are you?”

  Maude cast him a wide-eyed glance over her shoulder and he gave her a smile along with a you’re-on-your-own wag of his head before he turned to freeing his mount from the travois.

  By the time he trotted out of the yard, smoke poured from the back-room chimney, and Zoe was headed back across the yard to the house. Based on her no-nonsense stride, the Carvers would soon be filling their bellies with hot soup.

  Dixie was just crossing the street and trying to decide where to search for Flynn first, when a rider turned the corner by her boardinghouse and trotted toward her.

  It was Kin!

  With two fistfuls of skirts clutched firmly in her hands, she froze and gaped at him. He was supposed to be on the train on his way to Seattle right now! “Kin?”

  He reined to a stop in front of the alehouse and tossed his reins around the hitching rail, then swiped off his hat and lifted his hands. “I’m really sorry. I was on my way to the Rodantes’ with the pies and right on schedule to make that train, when I came across these homeless siblings. One of them is real sick and the other two looked so haggard that a stiff breeze might have done them in. I couldn’t just leave them there. I took them to the Kastains’. I’ll be on the very next train, but right now, I need Doc. Do you know where he is?”

  Dixie felt torn between frustration that Kin hadn’t gone to Seattle and pride because he’d made the right decision.

&nbs
p; Kin gripped the back of his neck. “I know you’re probably upset with me but—”

  “No actually.” Dixie shook her head, pride suddenly winning out. “I was just standing here thinking what a wonderful man you’ve turned out to be.”

  Kin smirked. “PC might take issue with your assessment. You’re not upset about the delay in picking up the sleigh?”

  She waved a hand. “A little yes. But it will still be there in a couple days. As for Parson Clay, if he gets upset with you for breaking his rules, it’s only because he wants a happy life for you and he knows that the choices you sometimes make are not taking you down that path.” She gave him a pointed look.

  “Yes’m.” Kin paused for only a moment before he averted the subject with, “So, do you know where Doc is?”

  Dixie decided to let the change of topic go. The reminder that she still needed to speak to Flynn about what she’d just learned, made her shoulders slump. “Unfortunately, no.” She turned her focus to the buildings along the street. “My guess is we start in the alehouse. He treated someone there last night.”

  “Okay. I’ll check. I’m sure you need to get back to your place.”

  Dixie sighed. She did need to get back to Ellery and Rose, but what she really wanted to do was have that talk with Flynn. It looked like that would have to wait.

  Kin started toward the alehouse.

  “Kin?”

  He stopped and looked at her over his shoulder.

  “When you find Flynn will you give him a message from me?”

  “Of course.”

  Dixie pondered what to say. “Tell him I love him.”

  Kin’s face turned a red to match the apples Jerry Hines had recently started selling in the mercantile. “Beg pardon, ma’am, but... How about I tell him you’re looking forward to speaking with him when he gets back home?” He gave her a hopeful wince.

  Dixie smiled. “I suppose that will have to do.”

  Kin blew out a breath of relief. “Good.”

  He rushed off and she had a feeling he was worried she might change her mind.

  Chapter 8

  Kin found Doctor Griffin in the alehouse just as Mrs. Griffin had suspected. He was concluding his examination of the patient he’d tended the evening prior.

  Doc glanced up. “Howdy, Kin. What can I do for you?”

  Kin explained about the Carver family.

  “At the Kastains’ you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll head right out there.” Doc set to washing his hands in a basin, but just as Kin turned to leave, he stopped him. “You don’t think these kids could be responsible for all the stolen things over the past few weeks, do you?”

  Kin paused by the door and swallowed. He had a good idea that they were the ones responsible, but he didn’t want to get them in trouble when they were only kids and had been trying to keep their older brother alive, so all he said was, “I can’t say for certain.”

  Doc gave him a look. “Well, best you mosey on down to the sheriff’s office and tell him what you just told me. He can ride out and ask them a few questions for himself.”

  Kin considered on that. “Truth is, I’m supposed to be running an errand for—” He bit off the words just in time as he realized that it might ruin Doc’s Christmas if he mentioned that he was taking a trip to Seattle for his wife.

  “For who?”

  Kin waved a hand. “Just for one of the townsfolk. But I’ll let the sheriff know if I see him.” He hurried out before Doc could question him further.

  And he checked the street carefully before stepping out onto the alehouse porch. If he didn’t see the sheriff, he couldn’t very well report to him, now could he?

  He leapt onto his horse and trotted it out of town. He would just ride to the train station and stay the night there. PC already expected him to be gone for a few days. And the truth was, Lord forgive him, he could use a break from Tommy’s incessant prattling tonight.

  And he wouldn’t let himself do any drinking, because it was imperative that he be on that train in the morning.

  Mrs. Griffin had been kind to him over the years. He didn’t want to let her down.

  Kin rented a stall and bought feed for his horse and then tossed his saddle blanket onto the hay and sank onto it. Thankfully, he’d escaped Wyldhaven without running into the sheriff. Hopefully, the Carvers wouldn’t have to face the wrath of the law anytime soon, though Parson Clay would say that people reaped the seed they sowed.

  Maude and her brother were young, and hopefully now that they’d seen how willing the people of Wyldhaven were to help them if they only asked, they’d do a little more asking and a lot less taking in the future.

  He passed a restless night and was grateful to see the hint of new day touching the sky the next morning.

  The closer he got to Seattle, the more excited he grew. Maybe he’d have time to line up a job and a place to live. Then when he went back home, he’d tell Parson Clay that he was moving on.

  As the train chuffed into the Seattle station, he peered through the grimy window and his anticipation grew.

  Everywhere the streets teemed with people. Pushing carts, pulling carts, hawking wares, selling newspapers. The sound of all the hubbub crashed over him as he stepped from the train car.

  An old woman stood on the platform with a basket of apples around her neck, and Kin paid her the requested five cents and munched on the juicy tart fruit as he stepped to one side and checked the address Mrs. Griffin had given him.

  He looked at the old woman. “Which way to Stewart Street?”

  She gave him a once-over, as though trying to determine if she could extract any more money from him, then must have decided she couldn’t for she tilted her head to the north. “Thet way.”

  Kin tipped his hat. “Obliged, ma’am.”

  It only took him a few minutes to walk the blocks to Stewart and the store was easy to find. He tossed his apple core into the gutter where several birds immediately converged on it. The bell above the door dinged a welcome as he stepped into the warmth of the interior.

  There were sleighs in every stage of completion throughout the workshop. But one at the front stood complete, with a new coat of glossy red paint making it shimmer in the light streaming through the big picture window.

  Kin smiled. That must be Mrs. Griffin’s order.

  At the counter, he offered the proprietor his hand. “Name’s Kin Davis. I’m here from Wyldhaven to pick up the sleigh that Mrs. Dixie Griffin ordered.”

  The man didn’t take his hand. In fact, he didn’t move. Only blinked.

  Apprehension seeped into Kin’s excitement. “She wired you that I was coming.”

  Finally, the man stepped forward and took his hand. “I’m Walt Fordham. But you were supposed to be here yesterday.”

  Relieved that the man had at least been expecting him, Kin loosed a breath. “Yes, sir. Something came up and I couldn’t make the train yesterday. But I’m here now.”

  “I sold the sleigh to someone else.”

  Kin stared at the man. “What do you mean you sold her sleigh to someone else? We told you we were coming for it.”

  Mr. Fordham shrugged. “She telegrammed to say her plans had changed and she wasn’t going to be able to pick it up right away.”

  “But then she sent another, telling you she was sending me.”

  He gave another indifferent lift of his shoulder. “You were supposed to be here yesterday. I sold it this morning.”

  Kin gripped the back of his neck. “Well do you have another? One substantially similar?” His gaze turned to the one shining in the light of the front window. “How about that one?”

  The sleigh maker shook his head. “Afraid not. That one’s spoken for. And it’s a busy time of year. I’ve sold everything I’ve made this year.”

  Kin’s stomach clenched. He hated to go back to Wyldhaven with such disappointing news for Mrs. Griffin. He glanced around the man’s shop. How did he fix this? “Well,
I need to get Mrs. Griffin’s money then.”

  The sleigh maker folded his arms, leaned into his heels, and glowered down the length of his nose. “And how do I know that she actually sent you, kid?”

  Kin sighed. Was this what compassion got him? If he hadn’t taken the time to help the Carvers… But could he really have done anything else? “You said yourself that she sent you a telegram saying that I would be picking up the sleigh for her.”

  “Yes. But I have no way of knowing if you’re him. The man she said was coming.”

  Kin tossed his hands in the air. “Who else would I be? If I’m not him, how would I know about you having her sleigh?”

  The sleigh maker gave his habitual shrug that was beginning to wear thin on Kin’s nerves. “Suppose you could’ve knocked this Kin Davis fella out and come for the money yourself.”

  Kin clenched his teeth. “And I suppose you could be attempting to swindle a woman who is simply trying to give her husband a present at Christmas.”

  Mr. Fordham shook a finger at him. “Aw no you don’t. Don’t go trying to lay the blame for this at my door! Prove you are the fellow she sent and I’ll give you her money, certain sure.”

  “Look I don’t appreciate being called a liar.”

  The sleigh maker shook his head. “Can’t be helped. I’ve got a business to protect here.”

  Kin would have liked to reach across the counter and take the man by the front of his shirt, but instead he forced himself to take a breath. Parson Clay would be mighty proud of him if he could see what he wanted to do and how he actually responded. “What’s something only Mrs. Griffin and her messenger are likely to know about? Ask me anything.”

  Mr. Fordham narrowed his eyes. “Why did she send a messenger to pick up the sleigh in the first place?”

  Kin lifted his chin and rose to the challenge. “She gave birth to a baby girl. Ellery Rose, her name is, if you must know.”

  Mr. Fordham grumbled his acquiescence to the fact that was true. “Fine. I’ll give you her money. But not before I take down your name and description. If she doesn’t get it back, I’ll be sending the law to hunt for you.”