Changing Seasons

by Christine Sterling

  “And you couldn’t get help in all that time you were at the hospital?”

  “I was afraid. I was afraid of what they might do.”

  “I can tell you what they will do. They will kill everyone that gets in the way of them trying to leave town. You know they are responsible for killing Dawson’s first wife and child?” Lacy Lou gave a nod, a sob escaping from her throat. “So, if you are their sister, that makes you just as guilty as them. If you thought your life was difficult in town before, just wait until this gets out.”

  Lacy Lou ran around the bed. “Oh, Marty. You can’t tell anyone. Please, I implore you.”

  “It’s up for the Marshal to decide. I’m going to go to my room. Thank you for the box of clothes.” Marty stood and grabbed the clean clothes from the chair, leaving his dirty socks on the floor.

  Lacy Lou grabbed his arm. “You can’t leave. They think we are married. Otherwise Tucker would have killed you. If you go in the other bedroom, they will think something is wrong.”

  Marty raised his voice. “I don’t care what they think.”

  “Shhhh,” Lacy Lou pleaded. “I don’t want them to hear you.”

  Marty dragged his hand down his face. “Fine. I’ll sleep on the floor.” He pulled the cover off the bed and proceeded to make a place to sleep at the foot of the bed.

  “Won’t that be uncomfortable?” Lacy Lou asked.

  “Didn’t you hear your brother, Lacy Lou? We were in prison together.” Anger seethed through every word. “I’ve had plenty of nights sleeping on a hard surface. One more night won’t hurt. You’ll get rid of your brothers and then move your stuff from my house.”

  Lacy Lou sat on the edge of the bed. “How long were you in there?” she asked quietly.

  “Four years.” Marty turned his back away from her.

  “May I ask what happened?”

  Marty didn’t respond. He closed his eyes and tried to find a position that didn’t make his body cry out in pain.

  “I should have married you.” It was just above a whisper, so he wasn’t sure he heard it.

  He opened his eyes and rolled over. “You should have married me? If you had married me, Lacy Lou, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have been here living alone, which allowed your brothers to find you. I wouldn’t have been in jail for killing a man.”

  Lacy Lou gasped. “Murder?”

  Marty crossed his hands over his knees and hid his head. He mumbled into his arm.

  Lacy Lou sat on the ground. “I didn’t hear what you said.”

  “They called it accidental homicide. That is why I went to Yuma instead of the gallows.”

  “What happened?”

  Marty let out a sigh. “I went with a friend named Weaver to a saloon. We had landed a job working for one of the cattle companies, so we went out that night to celebrate. There was this really pretty girl that Weaver took a shine too. Well seemingly, someone else did as well. So, they started fighting over her. The man threw a punch and Weaver threw one back. The next hit put Weaver through the table we were sitting at.”

  Lacy Lou placed her hand on Marty’s arm. “Then what happened?”

  “Weaver didn’t move. He was just lying there on the broken table. All I could see was red. So I pushed this man as hard as I could. He fell backwards and caught his head on the edge of the bar. There was so much blood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much blood.”

  “Marty, that wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

  “But I did kill someone, Lacy Lou. Accident or not. I just hope God forgives me, because I know I can’t forgive myself.”

  “I hope you forgive me, Marty. I didn’t mean to hurt you all those years ago.”

  Marty nodded. “I’ll help you get your brothers from the house. We can even pretend we are married, but just know this, Lacy Lou Miller, you will never again have my love.”

  Lacy Lou was getting ready for her shift at the hospital. It took nearly a week for Marty to come up with a plan. During that time, she had to sleep in the same room with him and it just about killed her.

  He would sleep on the floor and his gentle snores would fill the room. She tried offering him the bed, and she could sleep on the floor, but he wanted none of that. She tried reaching out to him, but he didn’t want her to touch him. She tried to talk to him, and he refused to answer.

  She almost wished he hadn’t come home. At least when he was away, she didn’t have to see him and know he hated her.

  Lacy Lou felt the pocket of her nursing dress to make sure that the paper was there. It was. She patted her hair and went out to where her brothers were eating at the table.

  When she wasn’t cleaning and feeding people at the hospital, then she was cleaning and feeding four grown men at home.

  Her patience was wearing thin.

  “Any sign of whatever it is you’re looking for?” Lacy Lou asked, grabbing a piece of bread from the table.

  Yancy grunted. “It will be here soon.”

  “What is it?” Marty asked.

  Tucker let out a cackle. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  Marty sat up in his chair. “Why yes, I would like to know. This is my house and if there is something shady going on, I should know about it.”

  “The Pinkerton,” Yancy responded.

  “The Pinkerton?” Lacy Lou said.

  “Yep. Waiting for the right time to kill Dawson Elliot and his new family.”

  Lacy Lou gasped.

  “Come on now, sis. We can’t let you be late to work.”

  Tucker took her arm to head towards the barn. She broke free and ran back to give Marty a kiss. “I’ll see you later tonight.” Marty nodded.

  Tucker grabbed her arm again and headed to the barn. He fired up the engine of the horseless carriage with one turn of the crank.

  “I’ll be back for you around 6 in the morning,” Tucker said on the drive to town. Lacy Lou nodded. She patted her dress again. And shifted around the seat. “What’s wrong?” Tucker asked.

  “I’ve lost the list,” she said, panic edging her voice.

  “What list?”

  “The supply list.” Lacy Lou made a big show of checking her pockets. “I must have dropped the list. We need to stop by the apothecary on our way to the hospital. I have to turn in a list of supplies the hospital needs.” Lacy Lou reached down and picked up a piece of paper from the floor with her fingertips. “Oh, I’ve found it.”

  “Let me see that,” Tucker said, snatching the piece of paper from her hand. “I don’t want no funny business if you go in there.”

  “I’ll just drop it off and leave,” she said. “I promise.”

  Tucker glanced at the list and then handed it back to Lacy Lou. “Supplies,” she said as she put the list in her pocket.

  Tucker pulled in front of the apothecary. “It looks closed,” he said. He was starting to pull out. Lacy Lou needed to think of something quick.

  “The clinic is open. Let me run in there and give Doc Tory the list. She can give it to the pharmacist in the morning.”

  “Be quick. I want to see you at every minute. No dillydallying. You hear me, little sister?”

  Lacy Lou nodded and leapt from the carriage. She made a production of opening the door really wide so that Tucker could hear her.

  “Chelsea, I need to get these supplies for the hospital. Is there any way you can get this list to the pharmacist tomorrow morning?”

  Chelsea looked confused. “You don’t normally get the supplies for the hospital.”

  Lacy Lou grasped her hand and put the piece of paper in it. “It is really important that the hospital gets these supplies. Can you do that for me?”

  Chelsea looked at her for a moment. “Of course.”

  Lacy Lou gave her a wave as she left the clinic. “Thank you! I know the hospital appreciates you doing this.”

  She saw Chelsea open the folded paper and scan the words on the page. Tucker was pulling out and down the road when Lacy Lou
looked back to see Chelsea racing down the road in her horseless carriage.

  “I’m going to be headed to bed soon,” Marty said, raising his hands over his head. The Deevers were playing cards. Whiskey bottles littered the room. His Ma would roll over in her grave.

  “Don’t you want to stay here with us?” Brandt said, waving the bottle around.

  “We can play cards. I need to get some money.” Yancy was slurring his words. “Do you have any money, two three seven six?”

  “You are drunk, Yancy.”

  Yancy gave him a crooked smile. He took the bottle from Brandt and raised it to his lips, taking a large swallow. “Not yet, but I’m on my way.”

  “I don’t get you, boy,” Tucker said. “You have all this. You have my sister and you leave her alone for five years.”

  “Four of those weren’t my choice.”

  Tucker raised the bottle he was holding. “But why did you leave in the first place.”

  “Because I was stupid.”

  The Deevers laughed. Yancy wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve and then pointed his finger at Marty. “Now, that is the first truthful thing you’ve said all day.”

  “I need to check on the horses,” Marty said. “I thought I saw a wolverine in the area and if it gets in the barn it can tear the horses apart.”

  Yancy nodded to Brandt. “You go with him.”

  Brandt stood up and weaved his way to the back door. “After you, brother.”

  Marty walked outside. The moon was full, lighting the valley below. He could see the pen with Sugar and Dapple in it. They were grazing under the moonlight. The sounds of the chickens lightly clucking carried across the yard.

  “Thought those horses were in the barn,” Brandt said.

  They were, but Marty wasn’t about to let Brandt know that. “I guess I didn’t bring them in earlier. Let’s get the leads from the barn and then we can bring them back in.”

  He caught a movement from the side of the house. It was so slight he almost missed it. It almost looked like a woman in a dress, but he knew that it couldn’t be.

  “Hurry up,” Brandt said. “I need to make water.”

  “I’ll only be a minute.” Marty opened the door to the barn just enough to let light in. He heard Brandt gasp behind him. In the first stall was a muscular, large black stallion.

  “Whose horse is that?” he said.

  A whistle pierced the air and a figure appeared from the shadows. “Blackjack is mine.” Dawson leveled his gun directly at Brandt. The drunk man didn’t respond. Marty could actually see Brandt processing what was happening.

  Marty jumped into action and grabbed the rifle from Brandt’s arms and tossed it to the side. Dawson managed to twist Brandt around and throw him to the ground, holding one hand behind the outlaw’s back. Marty quickly pulled a bandana from his pocket and shoved it in Brandt’s mouth while Dawson finished tying him up.

  “You stay here with him, while we storm the house.”

  Marty nodded while Dawson slipped out through the barn door. Suddenly there were shouting and screams as a barrage of gun fire flooded the house.

  Marty’s heart sunk as he recognized one of the screams. Lacy Lou must have snuck home.

  Marty ran outside, leaving Brandt tied up on the floor of the barn. Dawson stopped him. “You can’t go in there.”

  “Was it Lacy Lou?” he asked. Dawson nodded, and Marty fell to his knees in the cool dirt. A sound emitted from him like he had never heard before. He screamed for his Ma. He screamed for the boy that was thrown in prison and came out a broken man. He screamed because the woman he loved was dead.

  No matter how hard he tried to push her away, his feelings didn’t change. He still loved Lacy Lou.

  The back door burst open and Marty could see Marshal Sewell appear. “They are still alive. Wounded but alive. We need to get them to the hospital.”

  Marty looked at Dawson. “There is a horseless carriage in the barn.” Dawson nodded and ran back to the barn. Marty saw the marshal come out with a limp Lacy Lou in his arms as Dawson pulled up alongside the cabin.

  Marty ran to the front seat of the carriage and reached out his arms for the marshal to give him Lacy Lou. As soon as Marty was seated, Dawson took off towards the hospital.

  He held her close, whispering loving words in her hair. She didn’t respond and Marty reluctantly placed her on the gurney when they arrived at the hospital.

  Doc Childs was there, so Marty knew that she would be in good care. He waited on one of the wooden seats while Lacy Lou was wheeled into surgery. Chelsea arrived shortly afterwards and sat next to Marty. Lacy Lou’s brothers had already been wheeled by headed to the operating table.

  “I couldn’t believe what I read when she handed me that note,” Chelsea said.

  “Yeah,” Marty said calmly. “She told Tucker it was a list of herbs.”

  “It was your idea to write a note telling Dawson and everyone else to meet you in the barn, wasn’t it?” Marty nodded. “That was very brave of you.”

  Marty couldn’t speak. He was too consumed with worry that Lacy Lou wouldn’t make it.

  Why did she come back to the house?

  “She was probably worried about you,” Chelsea responded Marty didn’t realize he voice the question out loud. “She has been worried about you for years. She probably wouldn’t have been able to take it if she lost you again.”

  Before Marty could respond, Doc Childs came out. There was blood on the jacket he was wearing. Marty stood. “Is she alright?”

  “We got the bullet out. She lost a lot of blood, but it was a leg wound, so she should make a full recovery.”

  “May I see her?”

  “Not yet. She needs to come out of the anesthesia first. I’ll have a nurse come get you as soon as she wakes up.”

  Marty nodded. He watched the clock tick by. The minutes seemed to drag. Dawson Elliot, the marshal and several of his deputies stopped by to get updates on the prisoners and Lacy Lou.

  The clock had just passed the third hour of waiting, when a nurse came out to get him. She was dressed in the same uniform Lacy Lou had been wearing.

  She escorted Marty to a bed in a line of beds. He sat down next to Lacy Lou and picked up her hand. She was so pale. Her dark hair was fanned out around her on the pillow.

  Marty could see the bandage on her leg under the blanket.

  The nurse closed the curtain between Lacy Lou and the other patients to give them a measure of privacy.

  “Wake up, Lacy Lou,” he pleaded. “I can’t bear to lose you again.” He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against it. “I know I said I would never love you, but I lied. I do love you, Lacy Lou. I’ve never stopped loving you.”

  “That’s good, Martin Gale,” came her hoarse whisper. “Because I love you too. I’ve loved you for all these years. Since you first came to the saloon after the disasters.” She rolled her eyes and slightly opened them. “Ask me again.”

  Marty didn’t care about the tears running down his face. “I asked you once, Lacy Lou. I will definitely ask you again. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes. I will,” she said. Marty lifted her hand back to his lips.

  “I promise I will never leave you again. As soon as you are better, we’ll go see the preacher.”

  “Get the chaplain.”

  “The chaplain?”

  “The hospital has a chaplain. I don’t want to wait another minute.”

  “Neither do I, Lacy Lou. Too much time has gone by.” Marty released her hand for a moment as he stood to find the nurse, so she could call for the chaplain.

  Marty knew everything was going to be alright.

  After all, their love had lasted through all those changing seasons

  Epilogue

  May 1906, New Harbor, Oregon

  Marty looked at the ships that were standing in the harbor. He could hear the cries of the men as they pulled the ship closer to the pier before tying her off.

  Th
e gulls were crying, looking for a handout from the merchants that were already unloading their cargo. The activity had been non-stop since before noon.

  The figurehead on the front of the large vessel, kept an eye on the workers trying to secure her to the pier. Once the ropes were tied off on the large metal cleats that ran along the pier, a shout rose up for the boat to unload. Men milled around the pier looking for work.

  Marty watched as a large door was opened and people started moving off the boat. Exhaustion lined the faces of the people disembarking. The ship must have come from the Orient.

  Many merchants’ ships came into New Harbor, their bellies filled with spices, tea and exotic items. They offloaded them the goods from the boats and then shipped the goods around the country via train. The freight station was right next door and Marty could see the crane moving items from the dock and placing it on a flatbed train car.

  He could see the movie theater up on the hill. He would start working there next week. He secured a job playing the piano for seven-minute short films. The films played up to ten times a day, so he would have plenty of work.

  When he auditioned for the job, he played a melody of rag time music and finished it off with a resounding Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey. He was offered the job immediately.

  Yes, this would be his life … next week.

  Today was for something else entirely.

  Today he was on his honeymoon.

  Even though they were married that night at the hospital, everyone at the clinic chipped in and presented them with a week by the sea. It would allow them enough time to have a honeymoon, as well as find a place to live.

  Once they were recovered enough, the Deevers Gang were returned to Chicago, accompanied by Dawson Elliot and Marshal Sewell. Marty knew that the outlaws were tried for the crimes they committed against Dawson’s wife and unborn child; as well as the robberies and swindling charges.

  With his dying breath, Yancy Deever was adamant that Lacy Lou knew nothing of what happened, and she was simply an innocent bystander and was never present when they carried out their horrific crimes.