The Romantic Ruse (Historical Christian Romance)

by Barbara Goss

  Gus plopped heavily into a chair. “I think something's wrong. The woman I told you about, the one I corresponded with? She arrived yesterday. She is staying with the Widow Barkley while I court her properly. Her name's Emma, and when I stopped by this afternoon, she told me you rode out with a message this morning that Maud’s daughter in Texas took sick. According to Emma, Maud left quickly for Texas. When I returned to take Emma for dinner, the place was empty.”

  Howard gave Gus a sad look. “I’m sorry, Gus. It looks as if Emma did a runner on you and Maud helped her.”

  “I must have pushed her too far too fast,” Gus lamented.

  “Better to know now than later,” Howard said as if trying to cheer him up.

  Gus sat quietly for a moment, lost in thought, then sprang up from his seat. “No, I don’t think that’s what happened. I’d swear the feelings between Emma and I were mutual. She couldn’t fake something like that. Something had to have happened to her and Maud.

  "What do we know about Maud?”

  “She is rather new to the area, and I don’t know her except for an occasional nod in church,” Howard said. “I think you should talk to some of the others in the congregation.”

  “If it were merely Emma doing a runner, why would Maud’ve made up a story about her daughter being sick in Texas? Maud would’ve been home by now.” Gus questioned out loud.

  The sheriff simply shrugged.

  Gus visited every business establishment in town but found no hints or clues at all until he visited the hardware store, owned by Jed Stone whom everyone called “Stony”. He was in his mid-fifties with balding hair and glasses.

  After the greetings, Gus said, "I’m looking for a young lady, new to town, and also Maud Barkley, or if you’ve seen anything unusual.”

  “I didn’t see the lady or the Widow Barkley,” Stony said, scratching his chin. “But I did see something a bit odd. It may not mean anything, but you did ask for anything unusual.

  "A man came in a while ago and bought a huge padlock. I wouldn’t ordinarily find that strange, except most people who buy padlocks are locals, and have property around these parts. Why would someone just passing through town need a padlock? In all my years behind this counter, I never sold anything like that to a stranger.”

  Gus took a moment to digest this information. Stony, known as the town gossip, knew everyone in the town and their business. Gus couldn’t be sure if this information meant anything, but he knew that a padlock was used to lock animals or people to or in a place.

  “Any idea where he went after he left your place?” Gus asked.

  “No. He had his horse tied there…” Stony pointed to an empty hitching post. “He rode a black horse with a white arrow marking on his nose.”

  Gus walked to the door. “Thanks, Stony.”

  Gus left and made his way to the saloon, figuring that, if there were a stranger in town, he’d eventually end up visiting the saloon. Gus was not in the habit of visiting the saloon, and when he entered, many heads turned in his direction.

  He approached the bartender. “Have you seen any strangers today?” Gus asked.

  The bartender, busy drying a glass with a white towel, nodded in the direction of a man sitting at the far side of the bar, alone.

  Gus whispered his thanks, and sat down next to the stranger. He ordered a beer and one for the man, which was common bar courtesy. The man simply nodded his thanks. Gus took a gulp of his beer. “You new in town?” Gus asked, trying to sound casual.

  “Yep,” the man answered. He wiped the beer foam from his mustache.

  “Plan on staying long?” Gus asked. He took another sip of the beer.

  “Nope. Just until my job is done.” The stranger finished his beer, wiped his mouth with his hand, and then grabbed the fresh beer that Gus had bought him.

  “Are you working for one of the local ranchers?” Gus asked, wiping the foam from his lips with the back of his hand as he’d just seen the stranger do.

  “Nope—a private job.” The stranger guzzled down the last of his beer, slammed his mug down onto the bar, and walked out.

  Gus threw a few coins onto the bar and started to follow him, but stopped at the front window, where he watched the man mount a black horse with a white arrow marking on the forehead. After the man turned his horse away from the saloon, Gus ran out and mounted his horse.

  He tried to follow the man without being seen, but after about a mile, the man turned and fired a shot at Gus. He kept firing until Gus fell off his horse and lay still on the ground.

  Gus felt searing pain where a bullet had entered his shoulder, but he had the awareness to watch the man turn his horse west. Up until that point they’d been traveling south. Gus tried to think, despite his pain, which ranchers lived in that direction, and why an innocent man would shoot him simply for following him.

  As soon as he felt able, he got up and struggled to mount his horse, and then rode, one-handed, all the way back to town. After a painfully slow ride, he finally made it to the sheriff's office, hitched his horse, and stumbled inside.

  “What in blazes happened to you?” Howard cried, jumping from his chair.

  “Shot by a stranger.” Gus moaned.

  “Sit,” Howard ordered. He tore the sleeve of his flannel shirt off at the shoulder. “You’ll live, but we need to get that bullet out. Wait here; I’m going for Albert.”

  For the first time, Gus wished the town had a real doctor, but he supposed that Albert was probably just as good at treating bullet wounds as he was pulling teeth, birthing babies, and barbering.

  Lily lay on the mattress, contemplating her dilemma. Should she reveal her true identity to Maud? Or should she wait until the messenger came back with word that the senator’s daughter was alive and well and in St. Joseph?

  She thought about Gus, sure she'd never see him again. Even if she got out of this mess, she’d not return to face Gus with her lie, as he’d most likely hate her for it because she hadn’t told him the truth when she’d had the chance. She thought she might be in love with him; how else could she account for the way she missed him? She thought about his kisses again and sighed. He was worth the risk. She’d find a way to get to him and explain. She owed him that much.

  St. Joseph, Missouri

  Senator Flannery worked at his home office desk surrounded in paperwork when his butler, Graham, knocked and entered. “You have a visitor,” he announced.

  When Ian started toward the front door, Graham corrected him. “No, sir. I sent him to the back door. He’s not a gentleman.”

  Surprised, Ian headed for the back door, through the kitchen. He opened the door to a man dressed in dusty, dark clothing. “Can I help you?” Ian asked the man, expecting him to plead for food or money.

  “I have a message for you,” the man said.

  “Are you sure it’s for Ian Flannery?” Ian asked, not knowing anyone who had a servant such as this man.

  “Yes, sir, for Senator Flannery.”

  “Well, that’s me.”

  The man reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a crumpled envelope, and handed it to Ian. The man started to walk away, but Ian called him back. “Wait, please. I might want to respond.”

  The man waited and watched as the senator opened the envelope and read the message.

  Ian frowned. “Tell whoever sent you that my daughter is right now in the house, having tea with her husband. Someone is mistaken.”

  “Huh?” The man’s mouth hung open in surprise.

  “This message says to leave the money on the front porch of Maud Barkley’s house in Hunter’s Grove, Kansas. Who is Maud Barkley, and why does she think she has my daughter? Does she realize it is a crime to kidnap a person for ransom?”

  The man turned, ran to his bedraggled horse, and rode away. Ian shrugged and walked back into the house. He headed for the parlor. When he entered, he laughed as he approached Emma and Charles.

  “You won’t believe this,” he said. “Some man sent
me this message.” He handed it to Emma.

  Emma read the missive. “What?” She handed the paper to Charles.

  “Is this a joke?” Charles asked.

  Emma grabbed the message from Charles. “It's a strange coincidence though, Father. Hunter’s Grove is where James preaches, and where August Tanner lives.” She grimaced at Charles, “I never told you, but I corresponded with August Tanner from Hunter’s Grove while we were apart. On our wedding day I wrote him a letter telling him I was marrying you, and gave the letter and the train ticket he sent me to Lily to post.”

  “Lily!” All three of them cried at once.

  Emma gasped. “I think I know what happened. Lily traveled to Hunter’s Grove in my place. I’m not sure why, but her father has been frantically searching for her for days now.”

  Ian agreed. “Could she have been trying to get away for a specific reason?”

  Charles answered. “My father promised Owen Matthews he could court Lily. Maybe my father put too much pressure on her. He has a way of doing that.

  "I bet she is the hostage. We have to do something. I thought she might be hiding out at a friend’s house all this time.”

  He turned to Emma. “Why would this man send you a train ticket?”

  Emma put her hand over Charles’s hand. “I think it’s time I confessed the whole story.” Charles looked at her expectantly, and she continued. “I wrote to August Tanner in Hunter’s Grove for over a year. We became close through our letters, and finally Gus sent me a train ticket to Topeka, the closest train depot to Hunter’s Grove. I think Lily used that ticket and someone kidnapped her thinking she was me and is holding her for ransom.”

  Charles gasped.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I…”

  “It’s all right…I understand, but I’m afraid for Lily. If they find out they have the wrong person they may harm my sister.”

  Emma turned to her father. “What should we do?”

  Ian frowned. “I already told the man that my daughter was fine and in the house.”

  Charles hung his head.

  “Maybe we can catch him,” Emma suggested.

  “And tell him what? That I mistakenly thought my daughter was sitting in the parlor with her husband?”

  “Oh,” Emma moaned.

  “Let me think,” Ian said, his hands rubbing his chin nervously.

  “I’m going there,” Charles said, standing. “I have to find Lily and bring her home.”

  “We’ll all go,” Ian said. “By carriage we can be there in a day or two.”

  “We need to pray,” Charles said, “before we do anything.”

  Chapter 5

  Maud finally untied Lily’s hands. Using the commode would be a lot easier now. Lily still hadn’t made up her mind what to do, but she’d grown tired of the ugly, stuffy room. It was hot, and with little ventilation. She'd begun stripping down to her chemise, which helped some. She hung her dress and stockings from one of the rafters. As the days wore on she became increasingly tempted to tell Maud of her real identity, if for no other reason than to get out of the sweltering attic.

  After Lily had been in the attic for a week, Maud unlocked the door and came into the room, looking incensed.

  “Who are you?” Maud demanded. She stood, hands on hips, waiting for an answer.

  “What do you mean?” Lily felt ill with the fear of what Maud and her friends might do to her, now that they'd evidently found out she wasn’t Emma.

  “Emma Flannery is at home with her husband and father, so who the devil are you?”

  Lily gulped, and then confessed coyly, “My name is Lily and I came in Emma’s place.”

  Maud stood with clenched fists, spewing out swear words Lily had never heard before. “Does Gus know about this?” she asked.

  “No. I’d planned to tell him the night you had me kidnapped.”

  “Well, I can’t let you go back there now, you little fool!” Maud hissed. She left the attic, slamming the door behind her. Lily cringed when she heard the metal clasp of the lock click loudly into place.

  The bullet was removed from Gus’s shoulder and after a few days of rest, he mounted his horse, and pursued the rider who’d shot him. He followed the path he’d seen the man take, and eventually found a two-story home, set back, near the woods. Gus remembered that a family named Sullivan had lived there, and that they'd moved on some time ago. He remembered that an old man named Garcia had bought the place. Garcia had died a few months earlier, and the house had since stood empty.

  He jumped down from his horse, tied it, and walked up to the door. A short, stocky, Spanish-looking man answered.

  “I’m looking for Emma Flannery or Maud Barkley,” Gus said.

  The man looked surprised at hearing the names, but quickly recovered. “Never heard of them,” he said. Gus thought maybe the man was simply stunned that someone would be looking for two women in this nearly deserted area.

  Gus thanked him and rode further down the trail, wondering if Garcia had passed his house down to a relative.

  Manny hurried to find Maud who was standing at the sink, washing dishes.

  “Some man came here looking for you and that woman.”

  Maud gasped. “What did you tell him?”

  “I said I never heard of either of you.”

  “It had to be Gus! He’ll be back. We have to get rid of that woman and get out of here. Saddle the horses,” she ordered.

  “How many?”

  “We need four horses. You can lead the girl’s horse until Abilene--that’s far enough away that he’ll never find the girl—then we’ll continue to Mexico.”

  Lily became immediately alert when she heard more than just Maud's footsteps coming up the stairs. While they fumbled with the lock, she quickly threw her dress on. This time, when Maud came through the doorway, it was with Manny, who once more bound her hands and feet. When he stuffed her mouth with a cloth, she knew they were about to take her somewhere. Minutes later Manny threw her onto a saddled horse. Manny held her reins, and pulled her along behind him. Instead of taking the main road they cut through the woods. It was rough riding. Branches kept hitting her in the face, and she nearly lost her balance, more than a few times, probably due to the fact that, with her hands tied, she found it difficult to hold onto the saddle horn.

  Before long, they'd broken through the trees and were riding along a narrow road. When other riders approached, Alf led them all into some nearby woods until the riders had passed.

  Later, after they had traveled a good distance from Hunter’s Grove, Maud ordered the cloth removed from Lily’s mouth. She was thankful that she’d shed her dress in the attic in favor of her underclothes, for now her dress still looked somewhat presentable, which was good, since she had no other clothes.

  “Manny and Alf’ll take turns riding behind you. So you'll know, the gun's on your back, should you decide to do something stupid like cry for help. So just keep quiet and ride.”

  As night fell, the group made camp and slept on the cold ground with only the horse's blankets to lie on.

  The men shot game, which was cooked over a rough fire, while drinking clean water found on the trail. They traveled for days; Lily grew weary.

  Finally, they arrived at the outskirts of Abilene, Kansas. The town appeared larger than Hunter’s Grove, but smaller than St. Joseph. Lily wondered what they would do with her, now.

  Maud pulled Lily from her horse. “If you tell anyone what’s happened," she said, in a threatening tone, "your deception will be discovered and people will label you a liar. And don’t try to contact Gus, either, because he knows the truth now, and he hates you for it. Everyone back in Hunter's Grove hates you, so you might as well make Abilene your new home, and keep your trap shut.”

  They untied her hands and left her sitting under a tree. After they'd gone, Lily ambled down the hill and into the town. At the bottom of the hill she rubbed her wrists, and took a deep breath. Relieved as she was to be free
, her heart felt heavy to learn that Gus now hated her.

  She approached the first building she saw, which happened to be a saloon, but hesitated outside of the door. She’d heard saloons could be rowdy places. Would someone inside help her, or would she meet more trouble?

  As she took a step to enter the saloon, the sheriff stepped in front of her. He appeared middle-aged, and wore a flannel shirt adorned with a shiny badge. Lily’s first thought was that she’d found trouble, once again.

  “What can I do for you, miss?” the sheriff asked. “Ladies don’t usually enter saloons.”

  “I need some help,” she explained. Lily feared that what Maud had said was true, so she simply replied, “I traveled to meet my fiancé, but when I met him, he turned out to be a nasty person and I ran from him to…whatever town this is. Is there a safe place to stay here?”

  “That is a shame. Pretty gal like you deserves better treatment than that,” he said. “Are you looking for work?”

  “Yes, I do need a job, as I left in a hurry and without money.”

  He removed his hat. “Sheriff Frank Smith, at your service. Sadie’s always looking for good lookin’ women down at the Silver Slipper Saloon, if you’re interested. Other than that, the only other jobs here are not for decent woman, such as yourself.”

  “What would I have to do at the saloon?” she asked.

  “Simply look pretty and make sure the customers have a good time. You don’t need to give out any favors, mind you, there’s plenty of that going on down the road. You just keep the customers drinking and happy. You might have to sit on a lap or two and get your backside slapped now and again, but you’ll get used to it, soon enough.”

  Lily had a flashback to Owen Matthews and his sloppy kiss. She thought about Gus briefly, and the way he'd pulled her onto his lap after she'd accept his proposal. Besides, she told herself, what other choices do I have? “Where would I find Sadie?”

  “I’ll walk you to her,” Sheriff Smith said.